has its particular secretary, who draws up the letters, according to the Decrees which are established in full congregation, and every Cardinal-head subscribes the letters of his own congregation, which are afterwards sealed by each Secretary with the seal of that Cardinal who hath subscribed them; and the register of them remains in the hands of each several Secretary. It is to be noted, that whilst there is a Consistory, no Congregation is ever held; and if any one be intimated, and the Pope holds a Consistory, they leave the Congregation and go to the Consistory; which is always held every week, either on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday; and that Congregation which was intituled before, is usually held after dinner the same day, for the Consistory is ever held betimes in the morning.

Thus all Roman Catholics obey their Bishops-the Bishops the Metropolitans-the Metropolitans the Primates and Patriarchs-and all of them their head, the Pope;* and of all

* Before their consecration the Irish Bishops take what is literally and veritably an oath of fealty and allegiance to the Pope. They swear that they will be faithful and obedient to St. Peter the Apostle, and to the Holy Roman Church, and to their Lord the Pope, and to his Successors; that they will not knowingly reveal to any to their prejudice the counsels with which they may be entrusted by themselves, their messenger, or their letters. They swear that they will help to defend and keep the Roman Papacy, and the ROYALTIES OF ST. PETER, against all men. They swear that they will endeavour to preserve, defend, increase, and advance the rights, honours, privileges, and authority of the Holy Roman Church, of their Lord the Pope, and of his foresaid Successors; that they will not be in any action, counsel, or treaty, in which shall be plotted, against their said Lord, and the said Roman Church, any thing to the hurt or prejudice of their persons, right, honor, state, or power; and that if they know any such thing to be treated or agitated by any whatsoever, they will hinder it to their power, and signify it as soon as they can to their said Lord. They swear that they will observe with all their might,

these is composed one Church, having one faith under one Head.

Clerical celibacy, as to the higher orders, is a point of very ancient discipline, and had been received and practised always, both in the Eastern and Western Churches, until, by a council, held in the year 692, at Constantinople, which was never sanctioned by a General Council, or the Chief Pastor, some alteration in this discipline took place in the Greek Church. By this Council, Priests, Deacons, and Subdeacons were allowed, under certain restrictions, to cohabit with the women they had been married to before their ordination; but no Priest, Deacon, or Subdeacon, once ordained, can marry in the Greek any more than they can in the Latin Church. As to their Bishops and Monks, celibacy is no less rigorously ob

and cause to be observed by others, the rules of the Holy Fathers, the Apostolic Decrees, Ordinances or Disposals, Reservations, Provisions, or Mandates. They engage to visit Rome in person every ten years, there to give an account of their pastoral office to their Lord the Pope, and humbly to receive his Apostolic commands; or, if detained themselves by any lawful impediment, they engage to send a messenger fully instructed in their stead. The concluding clause is noticeable-hæc omnia et singula, eo inviolabilius observabo, &c.—“ all and every of these things I will observe the more inviolably, as being certain that nothing is contained in them which can interfere with the fidelity I owe to the Government of the Country."

This oath was drawn up by Pope Hildebrand, and few persons can be so little versed in history, as not to know what he intended by these Royalties of St. Peter, and those rights, honors, privileges, and authority of the Roman Church, and of their Lord the Pope, which the Bishops are thereby sworn to preserve, defend, increase, and advance.

This oath is the same with that taken by all other Bishops, except that the clause," Hæreticos, schismaticos, et rebelles eidem Domino Nostro, pro posse persequar et expugnabo," is herein omitted by special permission of the Pope.

served by them, than by the Bishops, Priests, Deacons, and Subdeacons in the Latin Church.

To the same principle we may ascribe the prohibition of marriage to the Clergy, by which artful measure they are rendered a compact and efficient corporation, less liable to be affected by the opinions and influence of the laity—a more distinct and independent community, and, of course, more subservient to the ambitious designs of the Roman See. By matrimonial alliances the Ministers of religion are intermingled and connected with the mass of the people; but by the practice of Celibacy, they become so insulated and remote in their feelings and interests, that the impulse communicated at the centre of the system, is instantly transmitted to all its extremities, and the circles of vibration are unbroken and complete. The constitution of Religious Orders, and the high eulogium pronounced on the duties of a useless and selfish retirement from the world, in consequence of which thousands were formed into Monks and Nuns, who ought to have been the "lights of the world," " and the salt of the earth;" but who imagined that it was far more pleasing to the Deity, to be drones in society, chaunting their matins and vespers, and spending their time in drowsy meditations, than occupying their various talents for the good of their fellow-creatures, may be traced to the same refined and Machiavellian policy. Out of the same principle arose the veneration of hermits, and the senseless adoration of those who inflicted on themselves corporeal austerities-all tended to exalt the prerogatives of the Priesthood, to separate men from the interests and relations of social life, to increase the dependencies of the Church, and to establish the empire of ecclesiastical despotism over the consciences and understandings of mankind.

CHAPTER X.

OF CLERICAL VESTMENTS.

THE use of sacred vestments, as well as various ceremonies, have been universally adopted by the Roman Catholic Church, for the display of pomp in her public worship. To pass these by, entirely unnoticed, would be disappointing; we can, however, only notice the principal, and even these only cursorily.

It is usual for the Priest, before Mass, to go round the church, and sprinkle the congregation with holy water, repeating at the same time these words of the fiftieth Psalm, in composing which David evidently had in his mind the waters of lustration, mentioned in Numb. xix. 18, 19: "Thou shalt sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed; thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow." This is done, it is said, to remind the people of that purity with which they ought to enter into the temple of God, and to engage them to pray more earnestly for that disposition, which, if it were not for such a ceremony, they might perhaps forget to do. In smaller chapels where this ceremony is not observed, there is, nevertheless, always a vessel containing holy water, placed near the door, that the faithful, on entering the house of God, may sprinkle themselves therewith, and repeat the words above named. It is also usual for the people to take home with them some of this holy water, either to use in the same spirit at their private prayers, or to sprinkle in their rooms, on their furniture, &c., as the Jews also did on their tents and furniThe water is first blessed, as every thing else is which is used in the service of God; then with this water is mixed a little salt, over which a prayer has also been read, and the

ture.

T

blessing is completed. In all the public functions of his office, the Priest has also certain appointed robes or vestments to wear, and most of all when he offers sacrifice. The common garment of a Priest, which he ought at all times to wear, should be his cassock, and over this he has others to put on during his public duties. The Priest first puts on the Amice, which is a small piece of white linen, which, being put over the head, is suffered to rest on the shoulders. The meaning of this is easily collected from the words he repeats at the time, which are these: "Put, O Lord, on my head, a helmet of salvation, to repel all the assaults of the devil." The Alb, which is a white garment that covers him all over, is next put on, and represents the purity and innocence with which he ought to be present at the altar, as is also expressed by the prayer, "Cleanse my heart, O Lord, that being made white by the blood of the Lamb, I may possess eternal joys." This Alb is tied up by a cord, as well for convenience, that it may not hinder the motions of the Priest, as to remind us of the necessity of girding our loins with the virtue of purity. The Maniple is next put on the left arm; it formerly had its use, perhaps, in some way as a handkerchief, but now is only an ornament, or an emblem of virtue, and the prayer used on the occasion is, "May I deserve to bear the maniple of weeping and grief, that I may receive the reward of labor in exultation." The Priest then puts the Stole on his neck, and crossing it on his breast, fastens it by the girdle. The Stole is the emblem of authority, and is worn by the Bishop hanging strait down in front-by the Priest, crossed on the breast-and by the Deacon, upon one shoulder only, like a soldier's belt. The Subdeacon does not wear it at all. These are all arbitrary signs of the different degrees of authority possessed by the different degrees of Holy Orders. The prayer, on putting it on, expresses a