Pope's primacy, or the rights of the bishops."

As the proceedings of this Congress, containing many interesting articles of ecclesiastical discipline, are stated at length in one of the official papers referred to the examination of your Committee, they have annexed it to their Report, in the Appendix; and as the abuses and encroachinents upon the German church are traced in a great measure to the fabrication, about the middle of the 9th century, of the decretals, known by the name of their alleged collector Isidorus, your Committee have made an extract from Professor Pütter's "Historical Developement of the Constitution of the German Empire," a work of much credit, and which treats the ecclesiastical affairs of Germany with great intelligence. From the same work the Committee have extracted a letter of Pope Leo III., to the Emperor Charlemagne, written in the year 798, when he demanded the archiepiscopal pall to elevate the Bishop of Saltzburg to the primacy over the other bishops of Bavaria. The style and tenor of this letter denote the relations at that time subsisting between the chief of the cmpire and the head of the Roman church.

It may be proper to observe, that all these official documents relating to the Congress of Embs, and the encroachments which occasioned its convention, were published also in France, by authority of the crown; this remark being added to the official approbation of Monsg. Le Garde des Sceaux, " que l'impression en sera utile." A Paris, le 30 Juliel, 1787.

In the article No. II. of the Appendix, relating to the period of the decline of the Carlovingian race, your Committee have been induced to add a short extract of a tract, by Mr

Brown, a gentleman at the bar, sometime since transmitted to the office of the Secretary of State for the Home Department, and recently published, which traces back the exercise of ecclesiastical jurisdiction by temporal sovereigns, to the period of Constantine the Great. From the evidence adduced by the author, he arrives at these conclusions: That" the Emperor presided in the ecclesiastical councils of his empire:-That there are no traces of any distinction then existing between the supreme head of the church, and the supreme head of the state:"-That "the Emperor, in his character of guardian of the peace of the church, convened the general councils :"-That" from the decision of those assemblies, he received and heard appeals, in causes ecclesiastical, at least, as they' respected matters of external discipline; and that the Bishop of Rome then possessed no authority over his fellow bishops, except that which might arise from the patriarchal dignity, or from the voluntary respect which was paid to him as presiding over one of the largest and oldest dioceses, generally believed to be founded by St Peter."

Your Committee having examined the authority upon which the document, containing the resolutions of the Congress of Embs, has been transmitted, beg to state, that it was received at the office of his Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Af fairs, from the British envoy at the court of Munich, and was printed by an order of the House of Commons, of the 4th of July, 1815.

It has been thought advisable also to annex in No. II. of the Appendix, certain articles of the treaty of Westphalia, which was considered as a fundamental law of the empire, and which regulated, in a great measure, the chief points at issue between the

states of the empire, of the Roman communion, and those of the Protestant churches.

In examining and reporting upon the state of the laws and ordinances of the Austrian dominions, and of the proceedings and result of the Congress of Embs, your Committee have gone into greater detail than may be deemed necessary in the further stages of their inquiry, as affecting other states. The ecclesiastical code of the Austrian empire, regulating the external discipline of the Roman Catholic church and its relations with the See of Rome, has implicitly adopted that, which constituted the more general law of the empire of Germany, anterior to its dismemberment: and the proceedings of the Ecclesiastical Electors of the Empire, in conjunction with the Prince Archbishop of Saltzburg, at the Congress of Embs, although originating with themselves, were sanctioned by the Emperor in his character of Advocate and Protector of the German Church. For these reasons your Committee were induced to be more particular in their Report, under the preceding heads, as well as in the selection of authenticated documents substantiating it.

III.-The States of Italy: The Mi

lanese, and Austrian Lombardy.

From the hereditary dominions of the House of Austria, and the Ecclesiastical Electorates of Germany, your Committee proceed to those Italian States, which, by the recent arrangements, have for the most part been re-annexed to the Imperial Crown of Austria.

To the Milanese, and the whole of Austrian Lombardy, the Emperor Joseph II. extended most of those regulations which still constitute a great part of the ecclesiastical law of Aus

tria, and which your Committee have already detailed.

I. As it respects the nomination of Bishops, and the collation to Ecclesiastical Benefices, "no further admission into Austrian Lombardy was allowed of any provision or collation to any clerical benefice whatever, which had, till then, been made by the Holy See, by virtue of the reservations stated in what are called the Rules of the Apostolical Chancery."

"The Archbishoprick of Milan, as well as the bishopricks of Pavia, Cremona, Lodi, and Como, were declared to be at the immediate nomination and presentation of his imperial and royal Majesty, who would, however, with regard to the four latter bishopricks, principally appoint those subjects that might be recommended to his Majesty by the Pope." But before they entered into possession of their respective churches, both the archbishop and bishops were obliged, like those of the other Austrian dominions, to take a special oath of allegiance to their sovereign before the imperial governor.

II. As it respects the intercourse of the ecclesiastics of Lombardy with the See of Rome, it was expressly declared, that "the sovereign right of the Royal Placet and Exequatur remains in its full force and exercise. But it follows, of course, that bulls concerning dogmatical points are submitted to the royal inspection, only so far as this is necessary to ascertain that they are purely dogmatical, and that they contain no improper article."-Applications to Rome for dispensations in matrimonial causes, were allowed under very similar restrictions to those which have been already stated to prevail in Austria, and it is expressly declared by an imperial edict, that "he who wishes to have recourse to Rome, is to apply

to government and to expose his motives, and wherever these are deemed frivolous or insufficient, government is to dismiss the petition" but if they be found of the nature stated above, (that is, for matrimonial dispensations,)" government is to apply to the King for his permission, and when this is obtained, it is for the bishop to solicit the papal dispensation for the parties."

III. Under the third, or miscellaneous head of this Report, may be stated, "the royal right of superintendence over the episcopal seminaries and other colleges for ecclesiastical instruction, which was directed to be enforced with regard both to the discipline and the doctrines taught in the same."

The censure of books, which was committed to the royal censors, which regulation was not, however, "to prevent the bishops making, as formerly, their representations to government respecting the books which they deem injurious to religion; and, in case of such a remonstrance, government was to determine how far it may require a remedy, either by advising the Emperor to prohibit and suppress the work, or by soliciting orders to be given by government to the royal censors, according to the regulations in force in Lombardy."

That "all monasteries were rendered so entirely independent of any foreign jurisdiction, that the law of Lombardy only allowed the provin cials, or heads of national congregations, who might have been newly elected, to apprise the general of the order of their election, by a simple letter of notification, under a loose seal, which letter was to be laid before the government, and if it were found conformable to its regulations the government was to send it to the imperial minister at Rome, and the answer of the general was to be re

ceived in like manner; and if any thing of consequence occurred on such an occasion, the government was to inform the chancellor of it." Indeed the generals of such of the orders, which were not suppressed, as were allowed to have generals at all, were to be nominated by the Archbishop of Vienna: for the first class of monks, for life; and for the second, for seven years; the third not being allowed to have a general, and the fourth being entirely suppressed.

That it was strictly prohibited to every person to dispute in future, either viva voce, or in writing, for "or against the propositions condemned in the well-known bull, Unigenitus; professors of theology being directed to confine themselves to give their pupils the necessary information concerning the existence and the contents of the said bull, without proposing any thesis or controversial arguments or disputations concerning it."

From the very recent restoration of Lombardy to its former sovereign, no information has yet been received how far these laws are still opera, tive.

In the Appendix III. (A,) is ins serted an extract from a work printed at Venice, under the authority of the government and the inquisition, in 1783, which corresponds with the preceding statement.

IV. The Venetian States.

In the Venetian States, during the period of their independence, it appears from the information adduced,

I. That the two Patriarchs of Venice and Aquilea were chosen by the senate, and that the latter, whose jurisdiction extended over all the continental possessions of the republic, was compelled to choose a noble Venetian for his coadjutor.

With the collation of the inferior

clergy to ecclesiastical benefices, it also appears that neither of these prelates were permitted by the secular power to interfere.

On the vacancy occurring in any episcopal see, the names of three ecclesiastics were transmitted by the senate to Rome, and the requisite bull of institution was sent by the Pope to the first on the list.

II. As to the intromission of papal bulls, and appeals to Rome, the severe struggles in which this Republic so often engaged with the See of Rome, from its opposition to these and other claims, considered equally injurious to the state, are points of history too well known to require any other notice than a brief statement of the regulations which they were the occasion of more firmly establishing in the Venetian states.

So long since as the year 1483, the Council of Ten ordered all bulls from Rome to be sent to the Inquisitors of State," without the seals being broken."

By more recent decrees of the Council of the Pregadi of Venice, in 1754, made to renew and confirm all the ancient laws on the subject, it is not lawful for any one, under any pretence whatever, "to execute any bull, patent, brief, rescript, citation, monitory, or general letter, of what soever nature it may be, that came from abroad, if it be not first laid before the College of Senators, to be examined and licensed; under the penalty of the nullity of the execution, and of such punishment as the quality of the offender, and the magnitude of the transgression shall deserve,"

"All those briefs are not, however, to be licensed that may in future be obtained, nor is the public permission to be granted in various cases, such as to obtain holy orders, extra tempora,' not observing the proper inter

vals, and before the age fixed by the canons for ordination; the number of priests (says the decree of the senate) being but too large already, without being admitted at an improper age."

All subjects of Venice are, by this decree, expressly prohibited "having recourse to Rome for any sort of dispensation whatever that can be obtained from the bishops; and in all

cases when recourse must be had to the See of Rome, it must be through the bishop, and without expense."

Your Committee beg leave to state, as a further proof of the jealousy entertained by the government of Venice, of the encroachment of the ecclesiastical, on the rights of the secular power; that while the inquisition existed at Venice, the inquisitors consisted of the Patriarch, the Papal Nuncio, and the Superior of the Dominicans, but that three senators always attended their meetings, whose presence was necessary to give validity to every act; when the senators disapproved, they immediately left the room, and put an end to all further proceedings.

The same reasons which prevented your Committee stating to the House the actual state of the laws at this moment in force, on the subject of their Report, in the Milanese, operate alike with respect to Venice with reference to its ecclesiastical regulations. Since the annexation of the Venetian States to the House of Austria, the Austrian code will probably supersede that of the Republic. The controversies which existed, for so many years, between the Republic and the See of Rome, on account of the ecclesiastical censures of Pope Paul V., would have been of more interesting reference, had the Republic still existed. The works of Paul Sarpi are of easy access, and it is, therefore, unnecessary for your Com

mittee, by making any extracts from them, to add to the volume of their Appendix.

V.-Tuscany.

Of the ecclesiastical regulations of the State of Tuscany, the most am. ple information has been obtained, through the exertions of the noble lord, who is accredited in the character of envoy extraordinary to that

court.

From documents laid before your Committee, expressly drawn up to afford the desired information, and of ficially communicated to the British minister, it appears,

I. That, on a vacancy occurring in any bishop's see, the Tuscan government. "presents to the Pope the names of four individuals, recommending, at the same time, by means of the minister at Rome, the one more particularly designated to fill the vacancy."

That"in cases where, by any extraordinary event, the subject, so recommended, meets with just objections, the nomination and recommendation is changed; but, if those objections be either exceptionable, or untenable, the Pope chuses always the recommended person, the three remaining being considered as objects of simple formality."

That "there is no example in Tuscany of any appointment to bishopricks having taken place in favour of a person, other than the one thus designated and recommended by the sovereign; and if difficulties have been sometimes raised to it, rather than recognise or accept of any other bishop, the see has been left vacant, until the differences have been ultimately arranged, without detriment to the original right of sovereign presentation."

With respect to the inferior clergy,

the laws of Tuscany provide," that no other individual shall be appointed by the bishops, in all cases, to the vacant benefices of free nomination and ecclesiastical patronage, than he who, without paying the least regard to any other private consideration, shall be esteemed by the bishop the most fit person, after the necessary examinations held before him; and the Apostolic Dateria, notwithstanding its pretended reservations, shall concur in the selection made by the bishop.

That "the same mode of election shall be followed, without any excusable deviation, in regard to the first dignities after the episcopal, or any other of a free nomination or ecclesiastical patronage, the conferring of which may belong to the Holy See, or to the chapters, whether collegiate or cathedral, of the Grand Duchy, however vacated in curia, or under whatever pretence they may be considered to fall within the asserted reservations of the Roman court."

If benefices are not granted according to these directions, permission to take possession of them is ordered to be withheld.

II. On the Regium Exequatur. The official document on the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, which was officially communicated to the British minister at that court, distinctly enforces the necessity of the Exequatur, which has always been the hinge on which have turned the sovereign rights, and has been constantly recognised under the Medicean government, as well as under that of Austria, in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany; nor has any objection ever been raised against this maxim, which has been preserved with so much jealousy, and observed in reference to acts derived from foreign powers, and more especially from the court of Rome."