warlike, or the most wicked of them, succeeded in deposing his less cunning, less powerful, less warlike, or less wicked opponent. For the proofs of all that is here said, let the reader peruse Platina's Lives of the Popes, Bishop Jewel's Apology, and the "Defense" of that Apology; as well as many other authorities of a like nature. Now, who can trace the true succession, when the whole church was divided against itself? cardinals against cardinals, councils against councils, and nations against nations? Could faction, and poison, and murder, and wars and bloodshed, which alone decided in these schisms, could THESE settle the TRUE suc cession? Answer, ye modern boasters about your spiritual descent through this unbroken line!

Dr. Wells, indeed, says, "The plurality of popes at the same time doth not in the least prejudice the succession of ordination: and your [Mr. Dowley's] thinking otherwise is only a proof of your not knowing, that the same person which is not a rightful pope, yet may be a rightful bishop; and, consequently, may have a just right to exercise the power of ordination, though he may not have a just right to exercise the papal authority, as received in the Church of Rome. And this consideration being of universal extent, I purposely pass by others, which might be urged in reference to our church in particular.' Now, to prevent any high Church doctor of divinity injuring the opinion of his "SUPERIORITY" over a dissenting teacher, it may not be amiss to give him the following information :

1. That the translation of bishops from one see or bishopric to another, was prohibited by several important councils; as the council of Nice, can. 15; council of Antioch, A. D. 341, can. 21; council of Chalcedon, A.D. 451, can. 5, and several others. This, therefore, as a rule, would prevent any individual previously a bishop from being › elected bishop or pope of Rome.

2. That for nearly a thousand years it does not appear that any individual, previously a bishop, was elected bishop of Rome. During this time there had been one hundred bishops, or popes of Rome, and thirteen SCHISMS in the popedom; that is, there had been thirteen times two or three pretenders, at the same time, to the same chair or

* Dr. Wells' Answer to Mr. Dowley's Letter, p. 39, edit. 1716, 12mo. Lond.

bishopric. The man, therefore, who was a usurper as a pope, was no bishop; yet the succession comes through these numerous USURPERS and MURDerers.

3. That, according to the general principles of the church, no man can be a bishop who was not previously a presbyter: all others were really no more than laymen. The consecration of a bishop was not ordination to the Christian ministry, but a mere ecclesiastical ceremony. Now, numbers of the bishops of Rome were nothing but laymen at their consecration. They never were, therefore, ordained to the Christian ministry. They had no Christian orders; of course they could not give what they had not. Yet the succession, the spiritual descent of ordination, comes through these mere laymen to our high Church clergymen; and to all who depend upon Popish succession, and Popish episcopal ordinations, for the validity of their ministry.

4. Several of these pretenders to the popedom being nothing but presbyters, were, after being elected bishops of Rome, deposed as usurpers: yet these mere usurpers, who never were really bishops, ORDAINED SEVERAL of the ENGLISH BISHOPS and ARCHBISHOPS, who, according to this scheme, continued for many years to give false orders to the BISHOPS and CLERGY in England. See the twelfth section, and the notes to the table of bishops there.

The EARLY HISTORY of the bishops of Rome abounds in contradiction; the later records are all confusion; the lections were frequently scenes of bloodshed; and the numerous schisms about the popedom were interminable. Therefore

HISTORIC EVIDENCE of an "unbroken line of descent from Peter" down to the present bishops of England UTTERLY FAILS. The bold bravado is a FABLE; and is discreditable to those who make it.

SECTION XI.

NULLITY OF THE POPISH ORDINATIONS-CHARACTER OF THE POPISH CHURCH, AND POPISH BISHOPS, BEFORE AND AT THE REFORMATION.

WE have seen the ROOT of this high Church scheme of Anglican Popery cut up in the proof of the equality by divine right of all Christian ministers; and, in the last section, the boast of an unbroken line of power to bind als consciences to that scheme has perished in the fire of probation. Another point remains to be a little more dis tinctly examined: it is the question of the validity of Popish ordinations. The spiritual descent of our high Church succession men essentially depends, among other things, upon the validity of Popish episcopal ordinations, before and at the Reformation. We shall show these Popish episcopal ordinations to have been no ordinations in a Scriptural sense; to have been null and void to all intents and purposes as ordinations to the Christian ministry. In this section, we will first give a brief character of the Church of Rome, and of the bishops of Rome, before the Reformation.

As to the CHURCH of ROME, the REFORMERS, with one voice, declared it to be ANTICHRIST, and guilty of

IDOLATRY.

The Homilies of the Church of England are decisive as to the views of the English reformers. "Now, concerning excessive decking of images and idols, with painting, gilding, adorning with precious vestures, pearl and stone, what is it else, but for the further provocation and enticement to spiritual fornication, to deck spiritual harlots most costly and wantonly, which the IDOLATROUS CHURCH understandeth well enough. For she being indeed not only an HARLOT, (as the Scripture calleth her,) but also a foul, filthy, old, withered harlot, (for she is indeed of ancient years,) and understanding her lack of natural and true beauty, and great loathsomeness which of herself she hath, doth (after the custom of such harlots) paint herself, and deck and tire herself with gold, pearl, stone, and all

kinds of precious jewels, that she, shining with the outward beauty and glory of them, may please the foolish phantasie of fond lovers, and so entice them to spiritual fornication with her, who, if they saw her, (I will not say naked,) but in simple apparel, would abhor her as the foulest and filthiest HARLOT that ever was seen; according as appeareth by the description of the garnishing of the great strumpet of all strumpets, the mother of whoredom, set forth by St. John in his Revelation, who by her glory provoked the princes of the earth to commit whoredom with her." "Wherefore it followeth, that there is like foolishness and lewdness in decking of our IMAGES AS GREAT PUPPETS FOR OLD FOOLS, like children, to play the wicked play of idolatry, as was before among the ethnicks and gentiles. Our churches stand full of such great puppets, wondrously decked and adorned; garlands and coronets be set on their heads, precious pearls hanging about their necks, their fingers shine with rings set with precious stones, their dead and stiff bodies are clothed with garments stiff with gold. You would believe that the images of our men-saints were some princes of Persia land with their proud apparel, and the idols of our women-saints were NICE and WELL-TRIMMED HARLOTS, tempting their paramours to wantonness: whereby the saints of God are not honoured, but most dishonoured, and their godliness, soberness, chastity, contempt of riches, and of the vanity of the world, defaced and brought in doubt their sober and godly lives. And because the whole pageant must thoroughly be played, it is not enough thus to deck idols, but at last come in the priests themselves, likewise decked with gold and pearl, that they may be meet servants for such lords and ladies, and fit worshippers of such gods and goddesses. And with a solemn pace they pass forth before these golden puppets, and fall down to the ground on their marrowbones before these honourable IDOLS, and then rising up again, offer up odours and incense unto them, to give the people an example of double idolatry, by worshipping not only the idol, but the gold and riches wherewith it is garnished. Which things the most part of our old martyrs, rather than they would do, or once kneel, or offer up one crumb of incense before an image, suffered most cruel and terrible * Homily against Idolatry, third part.

deaths, as the histories of them at large do declare."* Such is the view given by the reformers of the Church of England, ratified by convocation, and established as the doctrine of the Church of England on this point. See the 35th article. Dr. Hook, the Oxford Tract-men, &c., have solemnly subscribed to this article, declaring that the Homilies "contain godly and wholesome doctrine." And yet these men defame and hate the Reformation and the reformers, despise the name and the principles of Protestantism, and openly declare their design to form a half-way house, a "via media," between Popery and Protestantism!

Let us come to the bishops of Rome. In the Common Prayer, as published in the time of Edward VI., the fol lowing petition made part of the LITANY" From the ty ranny of the bishop of Rome, and all his detestable enormities, good Lord deliver us." The Convocation at Dublin, 1615, says, "The bishop of Rome is so far from being the supreme head of the universal church of Christ, that his works and doctrine do plainly discover him to be the man of sin, foretold in Holy Scripture, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and abolish with the brightness of his coming."

The reformed church of France, in Synodo Papinsensi, article 31, says, "Whereas the bishop of Rome having erected to himself a monarchy over the Christian world, doth usurp a dominion over all churches and pastors; and hath rose to such a height of pride, as to call himself God, will be adored, and all power to be given him in heaven and earth; disposeth of all ecclesiastical things; defines articles of faith, saith the authority of the Scriptures, and the interpretation of it, to be from him; maketh merchandise of souls, dispenseth with vows and oaths; institutes new worships of God. As also in civil affairs, treads upon the lawful authority of the magistrate, in giving, taking away, translating of empires; we do believe and assert him to be the very proper antichrist, SON OF PERDITION foretold in the word of God, the scarlet harlot, sitting on seven mountains in the great city; which hath obtained a rule over the kings of the earth and we do expect when the Lord, according to his promise, and as he hath begun

* Homily against Idolatry, third part.