she not adopt the same process
respecting them? As she has not done so, the undoubted inference is,
that these writings are not disapproved of by the church. It is not
possible for any Romanist to object to this line of argument; nor can
it be charged with unfairness.

[Footnote 29: DENS. ii. 288. Reiffenstuel quotes the third canon
of the fourth Lateran no less than eighteen times in one
chapter, and he declares that impenitent heretics are to be put
to death. This work is a class-book at Maynooth.]

Nearly allied to the punishment of heresy is the question of the pope's
deposing power. It is asserted in the canons already quoted, and which
cannot be disputed; and it is also asserted by numerous writers, whose
works have never been censured in an _Index Expurgatorius_. Bellarmine
says, "It is agreed upon amongst all, that the pope may lawfully depose
heretical princes and free their subjects from yielding obedience to
them." Can it be denied, therefore, that such was the doctrine of the
church of Rome in the time of Bellarmine? And if such was the doctrine
of that church then, it must be the doctrine of the same church now,
since none of her articles of faith have been changed, none of her
doctrines have been repudiated. It is true that the doctrine is not
insisted on by modern Romanists; but what security have we that the
claim would not be revived if the church of Rome should ever possess
sufficient power to enforce it? We must therefore insist on charging
these and similar doctrines on the church of Rome, until she renounces
them by a solemn and public decision.

Tillotson's observations on this question, in his sermon on the fifth of
November, are so just that I shall make no apology for quoting them.
"Indeed, this doctrine hath not been at all times alike frankly and
openly avowed; but it is undoubtedly theirs, and hath frequently been
put in execution, though they have not thought it so convenient at all
times to make profession of it. It is a certain kind of engine, which is
to be screwed up or let down as occasion serves: and is commonly kept
like Goliah's sword in the sanctuary behind the ephod, but yet so that
the high-priest can lend it out upon an extraordinary occasion. And for
practices consonant to these doctrines, I shall go no further than the
horrid and bloody design of this day."

It is singular that there is no express mention of the deposing power in
the council of Trent. The po