The-papacy-its-history-dogmas-genius-and-prospects-wylie

;148 PRINCIPLES OF SUPREMACY UNCHANGEABLE.by a guilty ambition into an act of flagrant usurpation?The contrition must be as public as the crime is notorious.But there exists no such deed ; and, in lieu of a public andformal renunciation, wo cannot accept the explanations andapologies, the feeble and qualified denials, of modern writers.It is the interest of these writers to keep discreetly in theshade claims and pretensions which it would be dangerousmeanwhile to avow. And even granting that these disavowalswere more explicit than they are, and granting, too,that they were sincerely made, they carry no authority withthem. They are merely private opinions, and do not bindthe Church ; and there is too much reason to believe thatthey would be repudiated by Rome whenever she found itsafe or advantageous to do so. The case stands thus:—theChurch of Rome, in violation of the principle of a co-ordinatejurisdiction in spiritual and civil affairs, and in violationof her own proper character and objects as a church, hasclaimed and exercised supremacy over kings and kingdomsbut she has not to this hour acknowledged that she erredin doing so, nor has she renounced the principles which ledto that' error; and so long as she maintains an attitudewhich is a virtual defence and justification of all her pastpretensions, both in their theory and their practice, thecommon sense of mankind must hold that she is ready torepeat the same aggressions whenever the same occasionsand opportunities shall occur.It is also to be borne in mind, that though the Church ofRome is silent on her claims meanwhile, we are not warrantedto take that silence for surrender. They are notclaims renounced ; they are simply claims not asserted. Thefoundation of these claims, and their desirableness,remainunchanged. Moreover, it is important to observe, thatwherever the action of the Romish Church is restrained, itis restrained by a power from without, and not by any principleor power from within. Her prerogatives have sometimesbeen wrested from her, but never without theChurchof Rome putting on record her solemn protest. She has