the œcumenical, but others admit it only as to the last sessions, and as to those actions against the errors of Wicklif and others, which the same Martin V. approved.

"The sixteenth is the Florentine, commenced at Ferrara, A. D. 1438, under Eugenius IV., but transferred to Florence on account of the plague, and there dissolved, A. D. 1439; in it the Greeks agreed with the Latins concerning the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son, concerning purgatory, concerning the Supremacy_of the Roman Pontiff over the whole earth, concerning the Eucharist, that it may be prepared equally with unleavened and fermented bread, and concerning various rites. The union of the Armenians with the Roman Church followed the reconciliation of the Greeks with the Latins, (which, however, did not last long ;) who (the Armenians) received from Eugene IV. letters of union, containing in a compendium the Catholic doctrine.

"The Seventeenth is the Fifth Lateran, commenced in the year 1512, under Julius II. and Leo X., of 114 Bishops, against the Conventicle of Pisa, and for the reformation of morals; in this it WAS SETTLED THAT THE RATIONAL SOUL

IS IMMORTAL.

"The eighteenth is the Council of Trent, commenced Dec. 13, A. D. 1545, under Paul III.; on account of a pestilence affecting the city of Trent, it was transferred to Bononia; afterwards it was brought back to Trent; on account of threatening wars, it was again interrupted; finally, on the 4th day of December, A. D., 1563, it was dissolved under Pius IV.; 255 Fathers subscribed. This council was celebrated especially against the errors of the Lutherans, Calvinists, and other heretics, at that time rampant.'

Concerning the authority of Councils. (89.)

66 'May ecclesiastical councils err?

"All admit that particular councils, or such as are not general, may err; yet even they themselves have seldom erred, if their great number is considered, and if reference is made to councils of Catholic Bishops.

"If a particular council, in which heresies are condemned, is approved by the Supreme Pontiff for the whole church, it

obtains infallible authority in the faith, founded indeed on the infallibility of the Pope himself; and thus the Roman See has approved two African provincial councils, the Milevitian and Carthaginian, against Pelagius and Celestius; and hence St. Augustine, in discourse 131, concerning the words of the apostle, judged that the matter against the Pelagians was altogether concluded, saying' Answers have come from Rome, the question has been decided, would that an end might sometime be put to error !'

"In our day, says Benedict XIV, bk. 13, concerning the diocese, synod, ch. 3. (vol. 3, p. 287 and 290, Mechlin edit.) in particular councils, questions of faith are not wont to be discussed, but decrees are passed, relating merely to discipline; yet it happens sometimes, that these also are approved by the Apostolic See; and hence it might be doubted whether from this confirmation, they acquire the power of obliging the whole church? To which the same Pontiff replies, that confirmation, indeed, adds strength to these confirmed decrees, but that they by no means extend to other dioceses, unless the Pope has otherwise expressed: hence the Provincial Synod of Mechlin, in the year 1607, although confirmed by Paul V. does not transcend the limits of the province. "Can general councils err?

"General councils, without the confirmation or approbation of the Roman Pontiff, are fallible, and have frequently erred, as is plain in the Ariminensian, Second Ephesian, &c. because thus they do not represent the Church, but a body without head, to which Christ has not promised infallibility.

"But if the assent and confirmation of the Pope is afforded only to some decrees of the council, then they alone will have plenary authority; as was done in the case of the decrees of the Council of Constance.

"Yet the promises of Christ, made to the Church, appear on the whole to require that a general council, held when the Pope is dead or doubtful, may have passive infallibility, or guard the faith and customs, and not define anything contrary.

"That general councils, approved by the Supreme Pontiff, cannot err in defining matters of faith and customs, is certain as a matter of faith; and hence they are immediately regarded as manifest heretics, who presume to call in ques

tion any things decreed by such councils: hence St. Gregory, bk. 1. epist. 24, says 'THAT HE RECEIVED AND VENERATED

THE FIRST FOUR COUNCILS JUST AS THE BOOKS OF THE HOLY GOSPEL.'

"This infallibility is proved by No. 80, from which it is plain that the Church is infallible in matters of faith and customs but a general council represents the whole Church, therefore, &c. Hence the statutes of a general council are said to be from the Holy Spirit, according to Acts xv. 28. 'IT HATH SEEMED GOOD TO THE HOLY GHOST AND TO US.'

Moreover, if a general council, approved by the Pope, has not infallible authority, it would follow that there is not a certain and undisputed authority in the Church for settling controversies; which is against No. 69.

"Obj. St. Augustine, bk. 2, concerning baptism against the Donatists, chap. 5, says that the former plenary councils themselves, are frequently amended by later ones; but that which may be amended is not infallible; therefore, &c.

"Ans. Several answers to this passage may be given: "1. That St. Augustine is speaking of plenary councils in general, as well of those not approved, as of the approved : and thus it can happen that the former, which had not been approved, and contained errors, may be amended by later approved (councils).

2. St. Augustine appears not to speak concerning general councils properly, but improperly, just as national councils are called general, and as he calls the Hyponeusian Synod plenary.

"3. If it be understood concerning councils truly œcumenical, it must be said that St. Augustine only means, that the former may be amended by subsequent ones in simple facts, and in those things which relate to discipline, ceremonies, and other ecclesiastical customs; and hence he subjoins to the same passage: As in the course of experience that which had been hidden is opened, and that which was concealed becomes known;' but these things which belong to the faith, are known not by experience, but by the Word of God written or handed down.

"Yet do not infer from this that it can happen that the church may introduce or approve a general discipline that may be hurtful to the salvation of her own. In the apos

tolical decree already cited, abstinence from blood and things strangled, was a mere point of discipline, and indeed not to be of long duration; and yet, in enjoining it, the apostles say: It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us :' by which words they sufficiently intimate that the church, in sanctioning general discipline, has the Holy Spirit as president and assistant. Therefore, although the reason of acting is various, yet it is always wisely accommodated to the various circumstances of times and persons.

"4. Finally, certain subsequent councils, define more clearly some things which were not yet sufficiently settled in former ones; and thus the former councils are elucidated by subsequent ones.

“It is here to be observed with Estuis, in Bk. 2, &c., ‹ Not all things which are said in any way whatever in the decrees of councils, are to be considered as settled; but those things only to which the intention of the persons resolving and defining is properly directed. But this is known from the circumstances of the case, and from the causes or occasions of framing the decrees.

"Melchior Canus gives the following rules, by which a definition of a council pertaining to the faith may be discriminated, Bk. 5. de locis theol. ch. v. 9, 4.

"1. The first is, if those who assert the contrary are considered heretics.

"2. When the Synod prescribes decrees in this form, ‘If any one shall think so and so, let him be accursed.'

"3. If sentence of excommunication is passed by the law itself against those who shall contradict.

"4. If it is said that any thing is to be firmly believed, expressly and properly, by the faithful; or is to be received as a doctrine of the Catholic faith, or, in other similar words, that any thing is contrary to the gospel, or the doctrine of the apostles. But it must be said, not as opinion, but as a certain and firm decree."

I presume my readers will excuse me for not offering an elaborate refutation of the infallibility of the general councils of the Romish Church. They were composed of frail

and fallible men, as was but too often signally manifest in the intrigues and animosities by which they were marked, and in the preposterous absurdities, which were defined and decreed as the results of infallible deliberations and disputes.

Not a few of these councils, so far from being assemblies of pious and learned divines, were mere cabals; the majority of which were quarrelsome, fanatical, domineering and dishonest prelates, who, as Dr. Jortin says, "wanted to compel men to approve all their opinions of which they themselves had no clear conceptions, and to anathematize and oppress those, who would not implicitly submit to their determinations."

The audacious attempt to make the statutes of such councils equivalent in authority to the precepts of the Word of God, and the impious assertion that these quarrelsome cabals were directed in their deliberations by the Spirit of God, so that they might properly say in the language of the apostles, "it hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us," are nothing short of rank blasphemy!

To the faithful, it would no doubt be consolatory to know that in the sixteenth century, the immortality of the rational soul was definitely settled, by the Fifth Lateran Council, were it not, that they, alas! expect their immortality to be verified and almost eked out in purgatory.

For a succinct vindication of the doctrines and practice of the Waldenses, and a narrative of their persecutions and sufferings, I refer my readers to a little work by Dr. Brownlie, recently published at the office of the Protestant Reformation Society of New York.