The Power of the Popes

THE Work of which the following is a translation, had its origin in the transactions which took place between Pius VII. and the French Emperor, relative and subsequent to the restoration of the Roman Catholic religion in France. Its object appears to have been, to exhibit to the world the unreasonable pretensions of the Roman Court, and to appeal to public opinion for support in resisting claims deemed incompatible with the independence of the civil power, and derogatory to the honour of the French throne. In pursuance of this object, an investigation was entered into, to ascertain with precision the line of demarcation which separated the recognized authority of the Papal See in France, from the rights appertaining to the civil power, and the indisputable privileges of the French Church. This investigation naturally led the enquiry up to a remote period, and the present work may be considered an epitome of the political history of the Roman Court, and of its relations with the other Courts of Europe, from the period in which its spiritual authority began to merge into temporal power, down to the occasion of the present essay in the pontificate of Pius VII.

In the former period of this enquiry, the pages of early history afforded the materials from which the requisite information was to have been derived. This source was open to all; and the merit of the work is here confined to the discrimination exercised in the selection of the scattered parts, and the judgment with which they may be found combined into an uniform whole.

In the latter period, the advantages possessed by the author were peculiar and important. Access to the papal archives appears to have opened to him abundant sources of information, which a patient investigation enabled him to avail himself of, in applying those documents, otherwise perhaps destined to oblivion, to the illustration of the object which he had in view. These documents give to this portion of the work a peculiar interest. For, though the period to which they relate is recent, the circumstances in which Europe was placed during the transactions more immediately referred to, and the extraordinary revolutions to which both public opinion and political institutions were subjected, not only give to it the charm of novelty, but confer on it an interest similar to that derived from the dust of antiquity. Whatever the defects of the translation, it will I trust be found a valuable addition to our historical records, and a source of much useful and interesting information.

R. T. H. Montmorenci, 1825.

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD EDITION, ORIGINAL

WE have introduced into this Third Edition some developments which were not in the two former. We have inserted many justificatory pieces, some of which have never before been published. These pieces, and the reflections induced by them, occupy the second volume, which is divided into three parts, containing:

1. Exposition of the Maxims of the Court of Rome, since the fabrication of the False Decretals, and especially from the time of Gregory VII. to the present day:

2. Exposition of the Maxims of the Gallican Church, from St. Louis to the Emperor Napoleon: 3. Exposal of the actual conduct of Pius VII. with some observations on the effects it may produce.

CHAPTER I. ORIGIN OF THE TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES

WHOEVER has read the Gospel, knows that Jesus Christ founded no temporal power, no political sovereignty. He declares that his kingdom is not of this world;¹ he charges his apostles not to confound the mission he gives them, with the power exercised by the princes of the earth.² St. Peter and his colleagues are sent not to govern but to instruct³ and the authority with which they are clothed, consists only in the knowledge and the benefits they are to bestow.