ther, adjudged to be valid and good, and that it ought not to be recalled or rescinded; but they, if a man has once bound himself by a vowalthough he is afterwards burnt- although he whores-although he lives never so lewdly and dissolutely, yet they will never suffer him to marry; or, if he does perhaps marry, they deny that it is a lawful marriage; and they teach, that it is much more holy to keep a concubine, or a whore, than to live in a state of matrimony. 4. St. Augustine, an ancient father, complained of the excessive number of impertinent ceremonies with which the minds and consciences of men were, even then, oppressed: they, as if God regarded nothing else, have since swelled the number of them to so immense a quantity, that there is scarce any thing else left in their churches. 5. The same ancient father denies it to be lawful for a monk to live lazily in idleness, and, under the show and pretence of sanctity, to live on what is another's; and the ancient father Apollonius saith, such a monk is no better than a thief. But they have whole flocks, or herds shall I call them, of monks, who do nothing, nor do they so much as pretend to any show of holiness, and yet do not only live by the labour of others, but fare deliciously and luxuriously. 6. An ancient Roman council decreed, that no man should be present at that divine service which was celebrated by a priest which he knew kept a concubine; but they permit the priests to keep concubines for money, and, by force, compel men to be present at their sacrilegious services. 7. The ancient apostolical canons command that bishop to be deposed, who shall exercise at the same time the office of a bishop and the functions of a civil magistrate; but these men do, and will exercise both, or rather, indeed, totally neglect that which is most of all their duty, and yet there is no man to remove and punish them. 8.

The ancient council of Gangra forbad any man to put such difference between a married and a single priest, as to esteem the one more holy than the other upon that account; but they put such a difference, that they think all the holy services which are performed by a pious and good man who hath a wife, are profaned. 9. The ancient emperor Justinianus commanded all things in the divine service to be pronounced with an audible, loud, clear, articulate voice, that the people might thereby reap some benefit by it; but they, that the people may never understand them, whisper their divine service not only in an obscure and low tone, but also in a strange and barbarous tongue. 10. The old Carthaginian council forbad any thing besides the canonical Scriptures to be read in the holy assemblies of the church; but they read in their churches, what they themselves do not doubt to be mere lies and silly fables. And now, if any man think these things are of no great consideration, because they were decreed by emperors, and small councils, consisting of bishops of less esteem, and not in full councils, and therefore are more fond of the authority and names of the popes. 11. Julius expressly forbad the priest, in the celebration of the holy communion, to dip the bread in the chalice; but they, contrary to this decree, do divide the bread, and dip it. 12. Clemens the pope saith, it is not lawful for a bishop to bear both (the spiritual and civil) swords; and (saith he) if thou wilt have both, thou deceivest thyself and those that hear thee; but now the Pope claims both, and bears both and therefore the wonder ought to seem the less, if that hath followed which Clement foretold; and he hath accordingly deceived himself and those which have heard him. 13. Pope Leo saith, it is not lawful to celebrate more than one mass in one

day, in one church; they say every day sometimes ten, at others twenty, and at others thirty, and sometimes more in the same church, at the same time; so that the miserable spectator knows not which way to turn him. 14. Gelasius the pope saith, that if any man divide the sacrament, and, when he has received one part, refuseth the other, he doth act wickedly and sacrilegiously; but they, contrary to the word of God, and the decree of this pope, command only one part of the eucharist to be given to the people, and, by so doing, have made their priests guilty of sacrilege.

6. But now, if they shall pretend, that all these things are antiquated and worn out of use, and so are, in a sort, dead, and do not concern our times, yet that men may see what faith is to be given to these men, and with what hope they call councils, let us consider, in a few instances, how well they observe those things which have been ordained of late years, and which are fresh in memory, by councils which they pretend were lawfully called, and in which they themselves decreed those things I shall mention, to be religiously observed. In the last council of Trent, not much above fourteen years since, it was decreed, by the common vote of all orders there present, that two benefices should not be committed at one time to the same person. Where is that sanction now? Is that so soon antiquated and dead too? for they do frequently give not only two benefices, but sometimes, also, several monasteries too, and sometimes two, three, or four bishoprics, to one man, and he, too, sometimes not only unlearned, and consequently thereby unfit for them, but a soldier. In the same council it was decreed, that all bishops ought to preach the Gospel; but they never preach, nor ever coine in a pulpit, nor do they think it in the least any part of their duty. What,

then, is the meaning of all that show of antiquity? why do they glory so in the names of the fathers, and of the ancient and modern councils? why would they so fain seem to rely upon their authority, whom, as occasion serves, at their pleasure they despise?

7. But I have a great desire to have a little discourse with the Pope himself, and to tell him some things to his face. Be pleased, then, O holy father ! who so often boastest of antiquity, and pretendest that all the ancients are entirely addicted to thy service, to inform us, which of all the ancient fathers ever called your holiness the chief pontiff, or the universal bishop, or the head of the church? Which of them ever said, that both the swords were given to thee? which of them ever said, that you have the right and authority to call councils? that the whole world was your diocese? which of them ever said that all bishops had received of your fulness? that all power, both in heaven and earth, was given to you? that you could not be judged by kings, nor by the whole clergy, nor by all the people? Which of them ever said, that kings and emperors, by the command and will of Christ, derived authority from you? Which of them ever affirmed, with a mathematical exactness and certainty, that your authority was precisely seventy-seven times greater than that of the greatest kings? Which of them ever said, that you had a greater power than the other patriarchs? Which of them ever said you were the Lord God, or not a mere man, like other mortals, or styled you a certain hotch-potch, a mixture or concrete of God and man? Which of them ever said, that you were the fountain of all law, that you had an empire and dominion over purgatory, and that you might, at your pleasure, command the angels of God? Which of them ever said, that you were King of kings, and Lord of

lords? And now we are in, we may inquire of a few other things of the same nature. What one man, of all the ancient bishops and fathers, ever taught you to say a private mass, whilst the people did nothing but look on; or to lift the eucharist above your head, in which you now place all your religion; or to curtail the sacrament of Christ, and, contrary to his institutions and express commands, to deprive the people of one half of it? And that we may conclude: What one, of all the ancient fathers, taught you to dispense the blood of Christ and the merits of the martyrs, and to sell your indulgences, and all the apartments and lodgings of purgatory, like commodities in the market for money? They are wont often to celebrate their own wonderful secret learning, and their manifold and various readings. Now let your partisans at last produce something of it, if they can, or let them at least shew they have read, and do know, more than ordinary; for they have often made hideous outcries amongst their hearers, that all the parts of their religion are ancient and approved, not only by the number, but also by the continuance and consent of all nations and times.

8. Well, then, let them at least shew this their boasted antiquity; let them make it appear, that what they so much extol, is indeed of so vast an extent; let them prove, that all Christian nations have embraced their religion. But, alas! (as I said before,) they flee from their own decrees, and have already plucked up those canons, which, but a very few years since, they made to last for ever. Why, then, should we trust them in relation to what they pretend concerning the fathers, the ancient councils, and the Scriptures? They have not, O good God! they have not on their sides what they pretend to have; they have neither antiquity, nor universality, nor the consent of either all times or all nations; and of