Excerpt from The Public and Private History of the Popes of Rome, Vol. 1: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time; Including the History of Saints, Martyrs, Fathers of the Church, Religious Orders, Cardinals, Inquisitions, Schisms, and the Great Reformers A short but spirited review of the political condition of the world until Christianity was placed on the throne of the Roman empire, with the various heresies that have occurred, with their leading doctrines and principal actors, are set forth with great clearness and com prehensiveness. In a word, the reader of this work will find himself, at the close of its perusal, acquainted with all the leading facts, connected with the history of the Christian church, and the accompanying political history of the world. Coming from the pen of a Roman Catholic, but one who is enabled to see that good may be found out of the pale of his own church it may be read without the suspicion of its truth, naturally attendant on such a production from the pen of one of adverse faith. The vices of the men who claim to be the vicars Of Christ on earth are not slurred over; the horrors at tendant on religious bigotry and fanaticism in the persecution, torture and murder of fellow men, are truthfully portrayed; and the claim for the popes to infallibility best exposed by the record of their ambition, avarice, public dishonesty and private turpitude. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.