commonly call him a French dog-a figure of rhetoric which is neither just to the dog, nor polite to the man.

The delicate Homer introduces the divine Achilles telling the divine Agamemnon that he is as impudent as a dog-a classical justification of the English populace.

The most zealous friends of the dog must, however, confess, that this animal carries audacity in its eyes; that several are morose; that they often bite strangers whom they take for their master's enemies, as sentinels assail passengers who approach too near the counter-scarp. These are probably the reasons which have rendered the epithet dog insulting; but we dare not decide.

Why was the dog adored and revered (as has been seen) by the Egyptians ?— Because the dog protects man. Plutarch tells us, that after Cambyses had killed their bull Apis, and had had it roasted, no animal, except the dog, dared to eat the remains of the feast, so profound was the respect for Apis: the dog, not so scrupulous, swallowed the god without hesitatiou. The Egyptians, as may be imagined, were exceedingly scandalised at this want of reverence, and Anubis lost much of his credit.

The dog, however, still bears the honour of being always in the heavens, under the names of the great and little dog. We regularly record the dog-days.

But of all dogs, Cerberus has had the greatest reputation; he had three heads. We have remarked that, anciently, all went by threes-Isis, Osiris, and Orus, the three first Egyptian divinities; the three brother gods of the Greek worldJupiter, Neptune, and Pluto; the three Fates, the three Furies, the three Graces, the three judges of hell, and the three heads of this infernal dog.

fishes, hares, and dogs; but, in rec pense, the cat has been consecrated revered, or adored (de dulie) as partu of divinity or saintship in several to and (de latrie) as altogether divine L small number of women.

DOGMAS.

We know that all belief taught by church is a dogma which we must brace. It is a pity that there are dog received by the Latin church, and reje by the Greek. But if unanimity is w ing, charity replaces it. It is, above between hearts, that union is required

I think that we can relate a dres the purpose, which has already four vour in the estimation of many peace disposed persons.

"On the 18th of February, in the 1763 of the vulgar era, the sun ente the sign of the fishes, I was transpo to heaven, as all my friends can witness. The mare Borac, of Maho was not my steed, neither was the chariot of Elijah my carriage. I was carried on the elephant of Somonoco the Siamese; on the horse of St. Ge the patron of England; nor on St. thony's pig. I avow with frankness my journey was made I know not h

"It will be easily believed that I dazzled; but it will not so easily be dited that I witnessed the judgme the dead. And who were the jud they were-do not be displeased at all those who have done good to Confucius, Solon, Socrates, Titus, A ninus, Epictetus, Charron, De T Chancellor de l'Hôpital, and all the men who, having taught and prac the virtues that God requires, seem be the only persons possessing the of pronouncing his decrees.

"I shall not describe on what the We perceive here, with grief, that we they were seated, nor how many cel have omitted the article Cats; but we beings were prostrated before the et console ourselves by referring to their his-architect of all worlds, nor what a e tory. We will only remark, that thereof the inhabitants of these innume are no cats in the heavens as there are worlds appeared before the judge goats, crabs, bulls, rams, eagles, lions, shall not even give an account of se

little interesting peculiarities which were { But there suddenly arose at his side a exceedingly striking. heap, consisting of two thousand lettresde cachet A Jansenist set fire to them, and Le Tellier was burnt to a cinder; while the Jansenist, who had no less caballed than the Jesuit, had his share of the flames.

"I remarked that every spirit who pleaded his cause, and displayed his specious pretensions, had beside him all the witnesses of his actions. For example, when Cardinal Lorraine boasted of having caused some of his opinions to be adopted by the council of Trent, and demanded eternal life as the price of his orthodoxy, there immediately appeared around him twenty ladies of the court, all bearing on their foreheads the number of their interviews with the cardinal. I also saw those who had concerted with him the foundations of the infamous league. All the accomplices of his wicked designs surrounded him.

"Over against Cardinal Lorraine was John Calvin, who boasted, in his gross patois, of having trampled upon the papal idol, after others had overthrown it. I have written against painting and sculpture,' said he; I have made it apparent that good works are of no avail, and I have proved that it is diabolical to dance a minuet. Send away Cardinal Lorraine quickly, and place me by the side of St. Paul.'

"As he spoke there appeared by his side a lighted pile: a dreadful spectre, wearing round his neck a Spanish frill, arose half burnt from the midst of the flames, with dreadful shrieks. 'Monster,' cried he; 'execrable monster, tremble! { recognise that Servetus, whom thou caused'st to perish by the most cruel torments, because he had disputed with thee on the manner in which three persons can form one substance.' Then all the judges commanded that Cardinal Lorraine should be thrown into the abyss, but that Calvin should be punished still more rigorously.

"I saw a prodigious crowd of spirits, each of which said, 'I have believed, I have believed!' but on their forehead it was written, I have acted,' and they were condemned.

"The Jesuit Le Tellier appeared boldly with the bull Unigenitus in his hand.

47

"I saw approach, from right and left, troops of fakirs, talapoins, bonzes, and black, white, and grey monks, who all imagined that, to make their court to the Supreme Being, they must either sing, scourge themselves, or walk quite naked. 'What good have you done to men?' was the query. A dead silence succeeded to this question. No one dared to answer; and they were all conducted to the madhouses of the universe, the largest buildings imaginable.

"One cried out that he believed in the metamorphoses of Xaca, another in those of Somonocodom. 'Bacchus stopped the sun and moon!' said this one-The gods resuscitated Pelops!' said the other Here is the bull in cana Domini! said a new comer-and the officer of the court exclaimed, 'To Bedlam, to Bed{lam !"

"When all these causes were gone through, I heard this proclamation:By the Eternal Creator, Preserver, Rewarder, Revenger, Forgiver, &c. be it known to all the inhabitants of the hundred thousand millions of millions of worlds that it hath pleased us to form, that we never judge any sinners in refer{ence to their own shallow ideas, but only as to their actions. Such is our JUSTICE.'

"I own that this was the first time I ever heard such an edict; all those which I had read, on the little grain of dust on which I was born, ended with these words: 'Such is our PLEASURE.'

tony, and afterwards Octavius, gave the little kingdom of Judea to Herod.

Under Trajan, the famous medal was struck of regna assignata, kingdoms bestowed.

Cities and provinces given in sovereignty to priests and to colleges, for the greater glory of God, or of the gods, are seen in every country. Mahomet, and the caliphs his vicars, took possession of many states in the propagation of their faith, but they did not make donations of them. They held by nothing but their Koran and their sabre.

The Christian religion, which was at first a society of poor people, existed for a long time on alms alone. The first donation was that of Ananias and Sapphira his wife. It was in ready money, and was not prosperous to the donors.

usurper gave, or was able to give, the exarchate of Ravenna to the pope. It is at most an evil thought, a venial sin, which does not endanger the loss of body or of soul.

The reasoning of the German lawyers, who have scruples in regard to this donation, is as follows:

First. The librarian Anastatius, whose evidence is always cited, wrote one hundred and forty years after the event.

Secondly. It is not likely that Pepin, who was not firmly established in France, and against whom Aquitaine made war, could give away, in Italy, states which already belonged to the emperor, resident at Constantinople.

Thirdly. Pope Zacharias recognised the Roman-Greek Emperor for the sovereign of those lands, disputed by the Lombards, and had administered the oath to him; as may be seen by the letters of this bishop, Zacharias of Rome to Bishop Boniface of Mayence. Pepin could not give to the pope the imperial

territories.

The Donation of Constantine. The celebrated donation of Rome and all Italy to Pope Sylvester by the Em-{ peror Constantine, was maintained as a part of the creed of Rome until the sixteenth century. It was believed that Fourthly. When Pope Stephen II. Constantine, being at Nicomedia, was cured of a leprosy at Rome by the bap-in the hand of St. Peter, to Pepin, to produced a letter from heaven, written tism which he received from Bishop Syl- complain of the grievances of the king of vester, though he was not baptised at all; the Lombards, Astolphus, St. Peter does and that by way of recompense, he gave forthwith the city of Rome and all its not mention in his letter that Pepin had western provinces, to this Sylvester. If made a present of the exarchate of Rathe deed of this donation had been drawn Peter would not have failed to do so, venna to the pope; and certainly St. up by the doctor of the Italian comedy, even if the thing had been only equivoit could not have been more pleasantly cal: he understands his interest too well. conceived. It is added, that Constantine declared all the canons of Rome consuls and patricians-"patricios et consules effici"-that he himself held the bridle of the mare on which the new bishop was mounted-"tenentes frenum equi illius." It is astonishing to reflect, that this fine story was held an article of faith, and respected by the rest of Europe for eight centuries, and that the church persecuted as heretics all those who doubted it.

Donation of Pepin.

At present people are no longer persecuted for doubting that Pepin the

Finally, the deed of this donation has never been produced; and what is still stronger, the fabrication of a false one cannot be ventured. The only proofs are vague recitals, mixed up with fables. Instead of certainty there are only the absurd writings of monks, copied from age to age, from one another.

The Italian advocate, who wrote in 1722, to prove that Parma and Placentia had been conceded to the holy see as a dependency of the exarchate, asserts that the Greek emperors were justly despoiled of their rights, because they had excited

the people against God. Can lawyers write thus in our days? Yes, it appears, .but only at Rome. Cardinal Bellarmine goes still farther. "The first Christians," says he, "supported the emperors only because they were not the strongest.' The avowal is frank, and I am persuaded that Bellarmine is right.

The Donation of Charlemagne.

those who have accommodated themselves with the property of others.

Donation of the Countess Matilda.

The most authentic and considerable of these donations was that of all the possessions of the famous Countess Matilda to Gregory VII. She was a young widow, who gave all to her spiritual di rector. It is supposed that the deed was twice executed and afterwards confirmed by her will.

At a time when the court of Rome believed itself deficient in titles, it pretended that Charlemagne had confirmed the do-ficulty. It was always believed at Rome However, there still remains some difnation of the exarchate, and that he added to it Sicily, Venice, Benevento, Corsica, and Sardinia. But as Charlemagne did not possess any of these states, he could not give them away; and as to the town of Ravenna, it is very clear that he kept it, since in his will he made a legacy to his city of Ravenna as well as to his city of Rome. It is surprising enough that the popes have obtained Ravenna aud Rome; but as to Venice, it is not likely that the diploma which granted them the sovereignty will be found in the palace of St. Mark.

that Matilda had given all her states, all her possessions, present and to come, to her friend Gregory VII. by a solemn deed in her castle of Canossa, in 1077, for the relief of her own soul and that of her parents. And to corroborate this precious instrument, a second is shown to us, dated in the year 1102, in which it is said, that it is to Rome that she made this donation; that she recalled it, and that she afterwards renews it; and always for the good of her soul.

How could so important a deed be recalled? Was the court of Rome so

written at
Rome?

mean?

All these acts, instruments, and diplo-negligent? How could an instrument mas, have been subjects of dispute for Canossa have been written at ages. But it is a confirmed opinion, says What do these contradictions Giannoni, that martyr to truth, that all these pieces were forged in the time of souls of the receivers fared better than All that is clear is, that the Gregory VII. "E costante opinione the soul of the giver, who to save it was presso i più gravi scrittori che tutti questi obliged to deprive herself of all she posistromenti e diplomi furono supposti nèsessed in favour of her physicians. tempi d'Ildebrando."

In short, in 1102 a sovereign was deprived of the power of disposing of an

Donation of Benevento by the Emperor acre of land; yet after this deed, and to

Henry III.

the time of her death, in 1115, there are still found considerable donations of lands made by this same Matilda to canons and monks. She had not, therefore, given all. Finally, this deed was very likely made by some ingenious person after her death.

The first well attested donation which was made to the see of Rome was that of Benevento, and that was an exchange of the Emperor Henry III. with Pope IX. It only wanted one formality, which was that the Emperor who gave away Benevento, was not the owner of The court of Rome still includes among it. It belonged to the dukes of Bene-its titles the testament of Matilda, which vento, and the Roman-Greek emperors confirmed her donations. The popes, reclaimed their rights on this duchy. But however, never produce this testahistory supplies little beyond a list of ment.

It should also be known whether this; from a received principle consequences the most favourable to themselves or his party. But is the principle true? Is the first fact by which it is supported incontestible? It is this when should be examined. It resembles our ancient romance-writers, who all take it for granted that Francus brought the helmet of Hector to France. This casque was impenetrable, no doubt; but had Hector really worn it? The holy Virgin's milk is also very respectable; but do the twenty sacristies, who boast of having a gill of it, really possess it?

Then countess had the power to dispose of her possessions which were most of them beds of the empire.

The Emperor Henry V. her heir, possessed himself of all, and recognised beither testament, donation, deed, nor right. The popes, in temporising, gained more, than the emperors in exerting their authority; and in time these Casars became so weak, that the popes finally obtained the succession of Matida, which is now called the patrimony of St. Peter.

Donation of the Sovereignty of Naples

to the Popes.

Men of the present time, as wicked as foolish, do not shrink from the greatest crimes, and yet fear an excommunication, which would render them execrable to people still more wicked and foolish than themselves.

The Norman gentlemen who were the first instruments of the conquests of Naples and Sicily, achieved the finest exploit of chivalry that was ever heard of. From forty to fifty men only delivered Salerno at the moment it was taken by an army of Saracens. Seven other Norman gentiemen, all brothers, sufficed to chase these same Saracens from all the country, and to take prisoner the Greek emperor, who had treated them ungratefully. It was very natural that the people, whom these heroes had inspired with valour, should be led to obey them through ad-derbolts like the princes of Italy, beat miration and gratitude.

Such were the first rights to the crown; of the two Sicilies. The bishops of Rome could no more give those states in fief than the kingdoms of Boutan or Cachemire.

Robert and Richard Guiscard, the conquerors of Apulia and Calabria, were excommunicated by Pope Leo IX. They were declared vassals of the empire; but the emperor, Henry III., discontented with these feudatory conquerors, engaged Leo IX. to launch the excommunication at the head of an army of Germans. The Normans, who did not fear these thun

the Germans, and took the pope prisoner. But to prevent the popes and emperors hereafter from coming to trouble them in their possessions, they offered their conquests to the church under the name of oblata. It was thus that England paid the Peter's pence; that the first kings of Spain and Portugal, on recovering their states from the Saracens, promised two pounds of gold a-year to the church of Rome. But England, Spain, or Portu

They could not even grant the investiture which would have been demanded of them; for, in the time of the anarchy of the fiefs, when a lord would hold his free land as a fief for his protection, he could only address himself to the sove-gal, reign or the chief of the country in which it was situated. And certainly the pope was neither the sovereign of Naples, Apulia, nor Calabria.

Much has been written about this pretended vassalage, but the source has never been discovered. I dare say that it is as much the fault of the lawyers as of the theologians. Every one deduces

never regarded the pope as their sovereign master.

Duke Robert, oblat of the church, was therefore no feudatory of the pope: he could not be so, since the popes were not the sovereigns of Rome. This city was then governed by its senate, and the bishop only possessed influence. The pope was, at Rome, precisely what the elector is at Cologne. There is a