The spirit of the Vatican...during the reign of Henry the second

Preface

In a day when honourable men, holding the reins of government, are not afraid to expose public safety, as well as the holy faith of the land, upon the wild cataract of expediency ; and whilst some of the chief Dignitaries of the Reformed Church are seen chambering with the Mother of Harlots and abominations of the earth, we need not apologize whilst we humbly endeavour to increase the attention of Englishmen to the history oi England, — and especially to that period when the Vatican struggled to obtain an entire dominion over the civil power.

These pages are written with that object, and to furnish additional evidence that intrigue and physical force have ever been, and are still,* some of the means used for the advancement of Romanism ; and that the love of power is the essential passion of the Roman Hierarchy. At the same time, we have aimed to point out the tendency of the doctrines of Romanism to lower the standard of morals in kings and people.

Although the period occupied is but one reign — viz. that of Henry II., the first of the Plantagenets — yet that reign was long, and contained within it peculiar facts demonstrating the innate jealousy and hostility of the Vatican towards the monarchs of Europe, as well as exposing some of the insinuating vices and secret powers of Romanism in private society.

* See important Extract from The Times, in Appendix, p. 221.

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This historical glance may fail to furnish complete proof of all the charges against Romanism ; yet it may engender inquiry and awaken caution in relation to some questions, the decision of which may extricate the Reformed Church from the crafty toils cast about her by the Vatican, and prevent that false alliance which the morbid liberality of some modern Constitutionalists would consummate. There is a zeal in the Roman Church, and an attribute of silent and stealthy progression, which its history * reveals ; and whilst these are elements that may sustain one earthly church against another earthly church, and are quite enough to break down the earthly barriers raised by temporizing expedient-mongers ; yet, if the Reformed Church will keep its first love, it will hear the echo of Miriam's tuneful voice, and the sound of the loud timbrel ; whilst the horse and the rider of Modern Paganism must sink as lead in the mighty waters.

* See Appendix, XXIV.

Temple, August 1845.

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SPIRIT OF THE VATICAN.

The Church has at all times commanded the attention of the reflecting philosopher and active politician. It is very ohvious that she took the lead in most things which advanced the comfort and taste of society: whilst some systems were but imperfect imitative theories, wanting order and state, the genius of the Hierarchy was exact and well delineated. This is not surprising ; for she was announced as the bride of Divinity, having the robes and elements of Divinity girt about her. She was of God ; and although the sinews of earth had soon incased around her, defacing in parts the perfect comeliness of her beatific nature, yet she still retained within her essences which defied time, and required not an epoch of ages to perfect: and though her foot was on the earth, yet she quivered not, whilst she marshalled all her properties with an energetic movement and order wholly irresistible by all things of the earth ; for from them she had ever secured awe, and, for a time, obedience. She once wore a grace and auspiciousness, contradistinguished to all the conventions reared by the Magi of this world. Her divine lineage and her sublime vocation commanded for her an imperial position and state. Her vocation rendered her a leader and dictator ; for her end was vast and immeasurable — viz. to arouse the million of spirits of men to a sense of their own dignity and power.

Mighty were the functions entrusted to her chiefs for placing before man, as in a glass, his own nature, with its degree of individual power and honour attainable in this world ; and in the alternate scale to lay open before him the jewels of the treasury of heaven, with the crown to be given by the Lord of all, to them who deposed the earthen god, and bowed before the One God. Yes ! it was with a spirit's power, and by the voice of an archangel, they were charged to open the archives of Heaven, and unfold the Book of Life, that man might read his easy duty, his unknown path on earth, and the certainty of death and judgment.

We shall have occasion to notice some of the many instances of unfaithfulness and impurity which disgraced those who administered in holy places during the middle ages.

The influence of the Church in England was much increased by the introduction of the Papal Power, until which time the Archbishop of Canterbury was considered the head and ruler of spiritual matters, and the King the head and ruler in temporal matters. The folly and fear of one William of Corboil betrayed the liberty of the English Church. This imprudent Archbishop procured a bull from the Pope, appointing him pope's legate in ordinary, which at once acknowledged that the power and authority which were vested in him were derived

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from the Pope of Rome. The Pope soon made an occasion for sending his own legate, (an Italian priest), to England, whose presence superseded all bishops and archbishops during his stay in England. The effects of the introduction of the Papal Power into England became very alarming, even so early as the 12th century; the great and the humble felt environed by elements which were new and indefinable. In the reign of Henry II., Popery had scarcely ascertained the nature of its powers or the most effective mode of using them. Its acute eye perceived that there revolved in the spirit of the English monarch many sublime principles, which were not easily bent to subjection. It had not determined whether the king of England was better suited for an ally or a victim of the hierarchy. In its vacillations and hesitations, it may be compared to a young vulture, who could just espy her prey flickering below the craggy height, where misfortune or circumstance had cast it; but who dared not pounce upon it with that eagerness her carnivorous nature dictated, lest her half-fledged wing should fail, or her intended victim o'ermatch her strength. In the 12th century, the Papal Power was a new element, and by no means comprehended. The sovereigns of Europe, and England in particular, suddenly saw a monstrous thing stalking forth upon the earth, with the mien and comeliness of an angel, but with the action of a fiend. Its ends and purposes were impervious to the common ken ; but its nature was power, irresistible, and unprecedented. For a time, kings and princes and warlike men fell back ; and like frighted steeds, with distended nostrils and ears erect, snorting and champing, yet gazing intently on some strange object, they paused to gaze at what they could not understand. For a while, their eyes were

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THE SPIKIT OF riveted upon it ; yet they soon returned to their respective vocations; for they felt incompetent to contend with a being which, they thought, belonged to the divinities of heaven or hell. In other words, a new principle had come to herd with the attributes of earthly power. Its nature was too sublime and active to submit to a common vassalage; indeed the monarchs of the earth already displayed both jealousy and deference ; for they believed it had within its grasp some vast treasury and mystic panoply, which was as unfathomable as august, and sufficient to render it either a valuable ally or a dangerous enemy.

There were some natural channels in which the Church continued to distinguish itself from all other conventions.

The light which emanates from knowledge glowed upon her brow, and associating with her divine pretensions, secured for her real grandeur and power. She was conservator of the arts and sciences — of all knowledge — and all those elegant attainments which should regulate and refine society. This was one part of her earthly foundation. The priesthood pretended to be learned in legal, and even medical and surgical lore ; and were resorted to in most cases of sickness or accident. However, M. Paris says, that the persecuted people, the Jews, in the 12th century maintained at London, York, and Lincoln very extensive schools for learning, into which Christians were freely admitted. In many instances the Jewish physician was preferred to the Christian priest. The vast profit tempted many monks to neglect their conventual duty, so that they might attain a smattering of medical science ; insomuch that it was found necessary at the Council of Tours, in 1163, to form a canon to restrain this practice by the monks. Giraldus Cambrensis states, that the

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Latin and Oriental languages were much cultivated by the monks. The works of Walter Mapes, Hanoi, and others of this date, are in excellent Latin.

The priests of all ages have been the earliest students of medicine ; for in Exodus xiii, 2, we learn that the leper was brought to the priest for examination, that he might determine whether the leprosy was of the virulent and contagious character. (See Appendix, No. I.)

The priesthood were the chief chroniclers during the middle ages, and furnish the accounts of the ecclesiastical transactions. They were also ambitious to be regarded as poets, especially those who lived secluded.* St. Grodric was a severe anchorite recluse ; he wore an iron shirt next his skin, and it is recorded that he wore out three by constant use. He mingled ashes with his flour ; and lest it might be too palatable, he kept it four months before he ate it. One scrap from the mind of this recluse is imitated by Andrews thus : —

" I weep while I sing For anguish to see Through my fast -gushing tears, all nailed to a tree, My Saviour so good, while his heart's dearest blood

Is streaming for me.

For me. too, each wound is torn open again, While Mary's deep sorrows still add to my pain,"

There are several scraps which were the produce of this period. In one of the Harleian Manuscripts are several, addressed to the Virgin. "We will venture to quote the following specimens, given by Mr. 'Wharton.

* The austerities of some of the priests were most extraordinary, The names of St. Polycronus. St. Burnadotus, St. Adhelm, St. Dorothea, and St. Macarius, stand eminent in the list of these visionaries. They bear a very strict affinity to the Pagan fanatics, and help to prove one allegation — viz. that Romanism is Paganism.

" Blessed be thou, Levely, ful of Heavene's blisse, Sweet flower of Pareys, moder of mildness, Pray ye, Ihesu, thi sone, that he may rede and wysse So my way for to you, that me he never mysse."

The above has been modernized by a very able author, thus : —

" Maiden mother mild, hear my humble prayer : From shame thy suppliant shield, and from vice's snare. For thy Blessed Child, me from treasons keep. I was loose and wild ; now in prison deep."

There is also a love song, which we will dare to quote : —

" Blow, northern wynd, seate thou me, my sueteynge blow, Northern wynd, blow, blow, blow ; Ich of a burd in boure bright That fully seemly is on sight."

The language is so obscure, that we may give the following translation of an industrious author : —

" Bleak dost thou blow, oh ! northern wind ; Yet could I hail thee soft and kind, Were thy harsh -howling blast inclined To waft my charmer hither.

" Bright in her bower sits my fair, Gay as the songsters of the air.

None with sweetness to her can compare : Ah ! would that I were with her."

Whilst referring to the poetry of this age, we will quote one more piece, warranted by Camden as thrown out by Hugh Bigod, a turbulent Earl of Norfolk, against Henry II., who, however, soon brought the boaster low : —

" Were I in my castle of Bungay, Upon the river Waveney, I would not care for the Kynge of Cockneye."

The most popular poetry of the twelfth century was

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that of the provincial troubadour. Perhaps the following may form a suitable specimen, written on account of Eleonora's long imprisonment: — "Daughter of Aquitania, fair fruitful vine, thou hast been torn from thy country and led into a strange land. Thy harp is changed into the voice of mourning, and thy songs into sounds of lamentation. Brought up in delicacy and abundance, thou enjoyedst a royal liberty, living in the bosom of wealth, delighting thyself with the sports of thy women, with their songs, to the sound of the lute and tabor ; and now thou mournest, thou weepest, thou consumest thyself with sorrow. Return, poor prisoner, — return to thy cities, if thou canst; and if thou canst not, weep and say, ' Alas ! how long is my exile !' Weep, weep, and say, ' My tears are my bread, both day and night!' Where are thy guards — thy royal escort ? Where thy maiden train, thy counsellors of state ? Some of them, dragged far from thy country, have suffered an ignominious death ; others have been deprived of sight ; others banished, and wandering in divers places ! Thou criest, but no one hears thee ! for the King of the North keeps thee shut up, like a town that is besieged. Cry then ; cease not to cry. Raise thy voice like a trumpet, that thy sons may hear it ; for the day is approaching, when thy sons shall deliver thee, and then shalt thou see again thy native land!" This extract, from Chronic. Ricardi Pictarrensis,, reminds us of Ossian's wild and sublime style. The scraps we have set out are mostly to be found in that excellent collection by Andrews.

Amongst the monks of the twelfth century were several good musicians. Guido Ardin is named by Baronius, as having made great discoveries in music for the use of churches. A monk (Ailred) ridicules the practice*

" One," he says, " restrains his breath, another breaks his breath, and sometimes they fall a quivering like the neighing of horses. At other times they appear in the agonies of death ; their eyes roll ; their shoulders are moved upwards and downwards." It is recorded that the Saxon Matilda was a great and constant patroness of music. The organ, the harp, and the horn were much used.

During the reign of Henry II. there was a practice of illuminating missals, which the monks themselves executed in a most perfect and beautiful style; and so durable, that they still dazzle our eyes with the brightness of their colour and the splendour of their gilding. The art of portrait painting had attained great excellence. William of Malmesbury tells us, that when a certain bandit wished to waylay Archbishop Anselm, they sent an excellent artist to Rome, who took his likeness without his knowledge; which coming to the hearing of the Archbishop, he avoided them, knowing that no disguise would protect him.

In agriculture the priests were much skilled. The foreign monks brought many improvements from Normandy. The monk Gervaise says, that Thomas a Becket condescended to go with his clergy and assist the neighbours in reaping their corn and housing their hay. Indeed, the knowledge of husbandry was considered so fundamental and meritorious, that a decree in the Lateran Council (a. d. 1179), encourages every monk to be a farmer, and holds out to him, while so employed, indulgences and protection.

There was a most sweet and palatable wine (almost equal to Champagne and the superior French wines) produced by a monk in Gloucester. The state of agriculture, during the twelfth century, will be fully seen by perusal

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of an elaborate work written by a monk of the name of Grervaise. From his description of the implements of husbandry, Mr. Strutt thinks they were very much like those now in use.

It was in the year 1176, that one Coleman, a priest, began to build London Bridge of stone. It was about thirty-three years ere it was finished, and the course of the Thames was changed during that time. It is not too much to say, that modern architecture is only truly beautiful and permanently useful when it partakes of the principles dictated and involved in the works of our ancestors. I refer particularly to the ecclesiastical fabrics of the middle ages; and, notwithstanding the destruction and rapine during the reign of Henry the Eighth, and the period of the Commonwealth, as well as the violence of barbarous and wicked men at various times, there are still remaining many reliques of the architectural beauty, of rich and exquisite finish, displayed during this age.

Indeed the Christians of the nineteenth century must feel much abashed when they observe the splendour and expensive elegance of the cathedrals and churches of our ancestors. Their rich and elaborate masonry and sculpture, as well as the beauteous and masterly paintings in windows, and other suitable ornaments, create a certain exquisite thrill in the beholder, almost amounting to veneration.

It may be true that much superstition and extravagant ceremony existed at the time we are referring to ; yet it is most reasonable to presume, that devotedness and veneration for the Deity dictated the liberal and magnificent expenditure with which our ancestors built and ornamented those places in which they met to worship their God. Alas ! these are days when men build ceiled houses for luxury and self-indulgence, regardless of expense ; whilst they use the meanest calculation in the disbursement of any portion of their riches for the honour of that place where God hath promised to meet his people. It is scarcely more than twenty years since the commission was issued, under which a great number of churches have been built ; and although many of them are large and commodious, yet they all want in that massive splendour and holy beauty which characterize the churches of our ancestors. Some Apologists and Utilitarians may reply, that mere accommodation is all that has been aimed at, or is required by such persons. We admit that a luke-warm spirit may be satisfied; but a truly fervent spirit will repeat the thought of the prophet, " Ah ! ye build to yourselves ceiled houses, but the mansions of Christ are left waste."

The monasteries contained many men of learning and study ; for at this time the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge could afford but an insecure and very scanty asylum for students, having been so often plundered by Dane and Norman successively. It was not until the very end of the twelfth century that these sister-seminaries flourished. Anthony a, Wood states, that at this time Oxford had about 4000 students, and Cambridge about 3000. Some of the provincial academies were much preferred. The accomplished Alexander Neckham speaks (a little after this period) in terms of deep affection when referring to St. Alban's Academy ; he says,

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Which perhaps may be rendered thus : —

In this retreat young life thus stole away : What peaceful nights ! whilst science ruled the day. 'Twas here I gathered all of learning's weal, Which won that fame I own and none can steal.

Many of the priests, including Thurston, Archbishop of York, and A'Beckett, previous to his primacy, did not scruple to join in the field of battle, and harangue the soldiers with that energy and sublime eloquence which their superior education and holy profession gave great effect to. M. Paris states, that combats often decided ecclesiastical causes. The Prior of Tinmouth, Ralph Gussion, fought, by his champion, a man of gigantic stature, one Pegun, concerning a species of exhibition for the maintenance of students. During the Toulouse wars, A'Beckett, when Archdeacon, engaged in single combat and conquered Elgeran de Tres, a French knight, famous for his valour. Indeed, it may be assumed that the army was always attended by many priests, and other holy men, to comfort the dying, and officiate generally. The Cross, the emblem of peace, was too often raised as the banner of war, to urge men to defy death, and seek the blood of their foes with redoubled energy. The soldiers were oft told, that it was a war for home and religion ; and the cross was raised, bearing the figure of our Saviour pierced with wounds, round which chief and serf bowed in humble veneration, vowing to stand or fall by this sacred banner. Indeed it may be said — which cannot be said in these temperate and reforming days — religion was in all their ways. Without desiring here to discuss any of the doctrines of Catholicism, it may be enough to say that its administrations were fascinating to all. They brought the poorest in communication with the priesthood, and were conducted so as to suit the taste of the elegant and refined, as well as to associate with the main interests and objects of those kings of the earth, who were willing to concede to the Church supremacy and divine immutability. But whenever any of the Church's assumptions were disputed, the head of that Church became maddened, cunning, and relentless; and perverted her heaven-born nature, for the purpose of securing the honour and dominion of this transitory world.

The year 1160 produced great excitement. The ecclesiastical powers were suddenly ruffled and distended with the hideous passions of party ; and the gorgeous mantle of the order was to be seen struggling promiscuously with the mass of disputants. The whole Latin Church reeled in discord, owing to the sudden death of Adrian, the only Englishman who ever occupied the Papal chair. This was followed by an unusual circumstance — viz. a double election by the cardinals of Octavian and Orlando to the Roman pontificate: Orlando taking the name of Alexander III. ; Octavian, Victor IV. There had been many earlier disputes between Popes, from 900 to 1120, wherein many (eighty) bloody battles were fought ; and terms, ungrateful to truth and honour, often served as a compromise. The greatest and the bravest of emperors were insulted by the violence and treason of these dissentient priests. Frederick Barbarossa was struggling to rescue so much of the power as his predecessors had lost ; and cited all Europe, both Popes, and all the Cardinals, Bishops of Germany, Italy, &c. Victor obeyed ; but Alexander refused, replying, " Christ has given to St. Peter and his successors the privilege of judging all cases wherein the Church had concern; which right the see of Rome has always exercised, and has never submitted to any other

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judgment." At this council were fifty bishops, the King of Bohemia and Denmark, with almost all the distinguished princes of Europe. The Kings of England and France sent their ambassadors ; yet Alexander resisted their summons, and denied their right. This was one of those occasions, when the veneration which time had granted to the Pontificate was rent aside by its own hand. It was then and thus that the multitude were able to discern the earthly parts of that system they once thought altogether immutable and divine. It was then that the tongue was seen in the adder ; it was then that the poison was detected in the soporific draught, which had for ages been administered to the docile and unsuspecting millions, who supplicated the priesthood for the charity of intercession with their Maker. The power of nominating, or rather determining, the title to the pontificate, eventually turning between France and England, became very much a matter of state policy, and, in Henry's mind, but one of the many atoms of which he fashioned his power,

In the midst of many distracting circumstances, with a constant succession of new and important anxieties, the mind of the king was constantly assailed by the strategetic appeals of the respective cardinals who sought the title and supreme power of St. Peter's chair. (See Appendix, No. II.) Indeed, the First Plantagenet was sometimes compelled to make terms with the evil spirit of Papacy ; for, whilst he was executing the arduous and active duties of a sovereign possessing an extensive and divided territory, the Vatican was employing every attribute and function belonging to its being, for the purpose of suppressing the influence of the independent spirit of the King of England, and occupying that ambitious disposition which diverted him from the cause of civil and religious liberty.

The Toulouse war happened in the reign of Hen. II., and attracted adventurers from all orders of society, and many priests of various nations. Indeed, in this age, all things were devoted to war, and bore its impress. It was then, as now, an occupation which raises a standard before the eyes of men, which challenges many of the noblest parts of their nature, tendering gauds and honours in exchange for blood, and shewing pyramids for their manes to rest under. It takes man away from the lingering sorrows of domestic life, and makes an independent way to Death's domains. We may loathe when we look upon the ravages war has made ; yet we must admit that it has scenes in which the leading parts of the soul must be brought into vigorous action ; and all that is solid and brilliant in the spirit is elicited and concentrated in one focus of bold and dauntless resolution. Such an organization then takes place, that soul and body seem electrified into one excited and impassioned power. This was an age of chivalry ; and all orders of society, including even the priesthood, seemed ever ready to follow the clarion trumpet of war. It was a disposition gratifying to the monarch, and aggrandizing to the people.

Perhaps one of the most remarkable facts during this distinguished reign, was the subjugation of Ireland to the Papal Power, which involved the assertion of the papal right to bestow kingdoms and empires, and is the origin of the connection between Great Britain and Ireland. The Irish Church had been united in fellowship with the Romish Church by the exertions of Saint Malachi ; but the claims of the prelates to exclusive privileges were long resisted by the native Irish princes and the inferior clergy, who were strongly attached to their ancient institutions.

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In the year 1155, Pope Adrian had issued a bull granting Ireland to Henry II. By reading this bull (see Appendix, No. III.) it will be seen how the Pope and Henry dissimulated. This was communicated to the Irish hierarchy by Henry ; yet some years expired ere the Irish hierarchy were subdued to acquiescence in this violent and unholy proceeding. About 1171, circumstances effected a lodgement for the English arms in Ireland, and then the brief was read at Cashel, with a confirmatory letter from the reigning Pope, Alexander III. ; and the severest censures of the Church were threatened on all who should ever dare to impeach this donation of the holy see. The Pope pretended that he thought Henry was seeking the conquest of Ireland for the purpose of weeding it of sin ; whilst Henry pretended to believe the Pope's dissimulation, at the same time alleging false pretences for seeking Ireland. When we consider the proximity of Ireland and England, and the fertility of the former, we need not be surprised that it attracted the eyes of Henry, who set no bounds to his ambition. Ireland had not yet acknowledged the supremacy of the Pope, and Henry's power began to assume a very extensive and independent character ; indeed it is easy to understand the Pope's anxiety to attract Henry by a new temptation, and therefore promised him that Ireland should bow before his arms, upon terms including its subjugation to the Papal Power. This was an epoch when the greatest power and splendour distinguished England, and the glory and power of the Vatican began to fade before the greater glory of England's monarch; and it is probable the Pope considered that the enterprise to Ireland would be just enough to distract and divert Henry from his main occupation.

The conduct of Henry in this affair was unlike his usual policy; it weakened the power and reduced the dignity of the civil monarch, whilst it rendered the ecclesiastical power confident and intolerant.

There have been modern statesmen who have thought that the pure things of heaven may be bartered at the shambles of expedient-mongers, or sacrificed at the altar of the demagogue. This is an error which will cost them all their fame, and mark them as the enemies of sound government. Henry's bold and striking character might have served the cause of civil and religious liberty (by which we mean, not freedom from laws, either religious or civil, as some term civil and religious liberty, but a living under good laws both civil and religious) much more extensively, and kept the Papal domination down ; but, amongst other imprudent concessions, was that of receiving Ireland * as a gift from Pope Adrian ;f and, at the same time, and in the very grant, as appears by M. Paris, he submitted to be told of his own acknowledgment, " That every island in which no Christianity had gained

* Ireland, Irin, Ierna, Iuverna, Ionerma, Bernia, or Hybernia. The origin of the word Erin, is by some considered to be derived from an Irish word meaning west. The Irish are by some historians traced beyond the flood. Others, less prejudiced, say that from the third age of the world, Ireland was inhabited by Scyths, who were afterwards augmented by Spaniards. Religion and learning flourished in Ireland, but a civil war rendered it an easy prey to foreign invasion. During the Saxon Dynasty, many Saxons were educated in Ireland.