AN

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY,

Ancient and Modern,

FROM

THE BIRTH OF CHRIST,

TO THE

BEGINNING OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

IN SIX VOLUMES.

IN WHICH

THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND VARIATIONS OF CHURCH POWER

ARE CONSIDERED

IN THEIR CONNEXION WITH THE STATE OF LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY,

AND

THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF EUROPE DURING THAT PERIOD.

BY THE LATE LEARNED

JOHN LAWRENCE MOSHEIM, D. D.

AND CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GOTTINGEN.

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN, AND ACCOMPANIED WITH

NOTES AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.

PRINTED BY AND FOR W. GRACIE;

ALSO, FOR R. BAYNES, LONDON; I. WILSON, HULL; A. AND J DUNCAN, GLAS:
GOW; AND J. MAITLAND, ABERDEEN.

1819.

THE

SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

SECTION I

THE GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN

CHURCH.

XVII. SECT. I.

Propagan

Rome.

I.HE
HE arduous attempts made by the pontiffs, CENT
in the preceding century, to advance the
glory and majesty of the see of Rome, by ex-
tending the limits of the Christian church, and The Col-
spreading the gospel through the distant nations, lege de
met with much opposition; and as they were da fide,
neither well conducted nor properly supported, founded at
their fruits were neither abundant nor permanent.
But in this century the same attempts were re-
newed with vigour, crowned with success, and
contributed not a little to give a new degree of
stability to the tottering grandeur of the papacy.
They were begun by Gregory XV. who, by
the advice of his confessor Narni, founded at
Rome, in the year 1622, the famous Congregation
for the propagation of the faith, and enriched it
with ample revenues. This congregation, which
consists of thirteen cardinals, two priests, one
monk, and a secretary [a], is designed to propa-
gate

[a] Such is the number of members belonging to this Congregation as they stand in the original Bull of Gregory XV. See Bullarium Roman. tom. iii. p. 472. edit Luxemburg.Cerri mentions the same number, in his Etát Present de l'Eglise Romaine, p. 259. But a different account is given by VOL. V. Aymon.

B

SECT. 1.

CENT. gate and maintain the religion of Rome in all XVII. parts and corners of the world. Its riches and possessions were so prodigiously augmented by the munificence of Urban VIII. and the liberality of an incredible number of donors, that its funds are, at this day, adequate to the most expensive and magnificent undertakings. And, indeed, the enterprises, of this Congregation are great and extensive: By it a vast number of missionaries are sent to the remotest parts of the world; books of various kinds published, to facilitate the study of foreign and barbarous languages; the sacred writings, and other pious productions, sent abroad to the most distant corners of the globe, and exhibited to each nation and country in their own language and characters; seminaries founded for the sustenance and education of a prodigious number of young men, set apart for the foreign missions; houses erected for the instruction and support of the Pagan youths that are yearly sent from abroad to Rome, that they may return from thence into their respective countries, and become the instructors of their blinded Brethren: not to mention the charitable establishments, that are designed for the relief and support of those who have suffered banishment, or been involved in other calamities, on account of their stedfast attachment to the religion of Rome, and their zeal for promoting the glory of its pontiff. Such are the arduous and complicated schemes, with the execution of which this Congregation is charged; but these, though the principal, are not the only objects of its attention; its views, in a word, are vast, and its exploits almost incredible. Its members

Aymon, in his Tableau de la Cour de Rome, part III. ch. iii. p. 279. for he makes this Congregation to consist of eighteen cardinals, one of the pope's secretaries, one apostolical protho notary, one referendary, and one of the assessors, or secretaries of the inquisition.