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minutely and precisely defined and published. Let him, moreover, consider how intimately the subject is connected with the ordinary and daily occupations of every individual of Papal society, and particularly with the duties of Papal confessors. Let him then weigh well the awful authority, as it must be to every sincere Romanist, of the maledictory judgment of the Great Head of his religious communion, the successor of Apostles, the Vicar of Christ, the Vicegerent of God, his Sovereign Lord on earth. And then — then — let him say, whether he believes it possible, that a sincere member of the Church of Rome, whether laic or cleric, can set at nought the published judgment of such authority, without either gross irreligion, or gross hypocrisy? That the hypocrisy may have considerable advantage, both negative and positive, to recommend it, I am very far from denying. But hypocrisy must not be allowed to escape under such a screen.
But that the authority of Papal restrictions in literature is felt and respected, we need not the simple, though irresistible, deductions of reason. It is proved by facts.
We might naturally expect that it would
