Papacy and the Reformation

During the early part of the middle ages, the papacy was nothing, in fact, / but a confederation of the learned men in the west of Europe against the / barbarism and ignorance of the times. The Pope was chief of this / confederacy; and so long as he retained that character exclusively, his / power was just and irresistible. It was the principal mean of preserving / for us and for our posterity all that we now have of the illumination of / past ages. But as soon as the Pope made a separation between his character / as premier clerk in Christendom and as a secular prince; as soon as he / began to squabble for towns and castles; then he at once broke the charm, / and gave birth to a revolution. From that moment, those who remained firm / to the cause of truth and knowledge became necessary enemies to the Roman / See. The great British schoolmen led the way; then Wicliffe rose, Huss, / Jerome, and others; -- in short, every where, but especially throughout the / north of Europe, the breach of feeling and sympathy went on widening, -- so / that all Germany, England, Scotland, and other countries started like / giants out of their sleep at the first blast of Luther's trumpet. In / France, one half of the people -- and that the most wealthy and enlightened -- / embraced the Reformation. The seeds of it were deeply and widely spread in / Spain and in Italy; and as to the latter, if James I. had been an / Elizabeth, I have no doubt at all that Venice would have publicly declared / itself against Rome. It is a profound question to answer, why it is, that / since the middle of the sixteenth century the Reformation has not advanced / one step in Europe.

In the time of Leo X. atheism, or infidelity of some sort, was almost / universal in Italy amongst the high dignitaries of the Romish church.