*to break the agreement they had made with Eugenius IV. «Ε plainly perceiving it was of no manner of use.

"PIUS II. who was lately canonized, was so far from "consenting to a Reformation in the head of the Church, "that he excommunicated by a Bull all persons that should " dare to appeal from the Pope to a General Council.

"PAUL II. was no sooner chosen, but he broke the oath "he had taken before his election, concerning the redressing "certain abuses which himself, with the rest of the Cardinals, "had judged necessary. Never were the Gratia Expective

(or Bulls for Church-preferments before they become void) "more frequent than whilst he sat in the Papal chair. He

spent the whole time of his Pontificate in striving to abolish "the Pragmatic Sanction in France, which debarred him of "the liberty of doing there whatever he pleased.

“SIXTUS IV. raised, by one of his Bulls, the Hierarchy to "the greatest height possible, just when thousands were complaining of the excessive power the Clergy had usurped.

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"INNOCENT VIII. picked a quarrel with Ferdinand of Arragon, King of Naples, and, by his solicitations, inclined "Charles VIII. to carry his arms into Italy.

"ALEXANDER VI. was one of the vilest men of his age. "This is he of whom a famous Roman Catholic writer "(MEZERAI) gives this fine character; that he would have "been the wickedest man in the world, if he had not had a "bastard son (CESAR BORGIA), who was more wicked than ❝ himself.

"I pass over in silence the blood-thirstiness of all these "Popes, in persecuting the Bohemians, contrary to the faith "of their agreement. The Crusadoes against the Turks, in

"This was an Edict, passed in the Council of Bourges, in the "reign of Charles VII. and was levelled against Papal provisions, the "payment of first-fruits, and other encroachments of the Court of "Rome. In a word, it contains the privileges of the Gallican Church, "and was taken out of the Acts of the Council of Constance and "Basil."

"which they would have engaged all the Princes of Europe,

appeared very specious: but Sovereigns were so well sa"tisfied, that, in publishing Crusadoes, the Popes had no"thing in view but their own private interest, that they "could never have any confidence in them.

"Such, in general, was the state of the Christian Church "in the Fifteenth century, upon which I shall make but "one single remark, leaving my readers at liberty to make as

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many as they please: what I would observe is, that the ab "stract I have just given makes it evident to a demonstration "how trifling their opinion is, who say that it is not the bu"siness of private persons, to endeavour to reform the "Church, but that the work must be left to the Church "herself. Who then is this Church, from which we are "to expect this happy Reformation? Is it all Christians in general, agreeing together as it were by a sudden inspiration "to reform abuses? Doubtless this is not what is meant by "the word Church. Is it the Pope with his Cardinals? But "these are the very men who have all along prevented it; " and very probably will do so for ever to the utmost of their 66 power. Shall a General Council take in hand this reforma"tion? But what has passed hitherto in these assemblies af"fords no prospect of receiving so great a benefit from thence. "Besides, who shall call this General Council?—Of whom "shall it be composed? Who shall preside in it? Can the "Pope be brought to convene a General Council, on purpose "to reform the Church? Will he give the Presidentship to "another, that the members may, with the more freedom, "reform him with his Court? In a word, shall it be the "Pope, the Cardinals, the Prelates, that shall determine "matters in this Council? But, these are so many parties "concerned to leave things just as they are.

“Will it be said with some, that the Church has no need "of reformation: that she is innocent and pure, without spot "or wrinkle, or any such thing: that all the prerogatives "which the Popes, the Cardinals, the Bishops enjoy, belong

them by Divine right: that the Pope exercises no power t what Christ invested him with: that his decisions are allible, as well in point of fact as of right, and that the ne obedience must be paid to his decrees as to those of od himself? But if by ill-luck it falls out, that, purant to this principle, the Popes should enlarge their phyeteries, and every day form new claims, as it has but too equently happened, how shall one be able to set bounds them, if it is confessed that the Church has no need of formation, or that the business of reformation must be ft to the Church herself?

"After having taken a view of the state of the Church in eneral, it is time to come to that of the Church of England a particular. England, with regard to Religion, was just in he same state with the rest of Europe. The people were xtremely desirous of a reformation of sundry abuses which had crept into the Church. The Clergy were tooth and nail against it, because no change could be made but to their prejudice. As for the Kings, they made Religion subservient to their interest. When they imagined they stood in need of the Clergy, they found ways and means enough to evade the people's demands; but when the Parliament's good will was requisite, they assented to such statutes as served to curb the encroachments of the Pope and Clergy.

"As for THE ENGLISH NATION, it is certain it was generally Wickliffite in some respects. WICKLIFF's opinions "tended manifestly to these two main ends: first, to reform "the government of the Church, and to set bounds to the

power of the Pope and Clergy; secondly, to alter the "Church's Creed as to certain doctrines long since received, "and which he thought contrary to Scripture. Now, as he "perceived that it was next to impossible that Christians "should be brought back to what he believed to be the ancient i "faith of the Church, because the Clergy were concerned to "maintain the established errors, he insisted stoutly upon

"the first point, as being absolutely necessary in order to "be able to attain to the second. It is certain that in respect "to the general aim he proposed to himself in the first of "these points, not only his professed followers, but all the "rest of the people, did, as it were, join with him. For many ages the English had felt the oppression which the Pope and Clergy had kept them under.

In all Chris"tendom there was no people that had experienced more the "rigour of the Church's dominion: THE HISTORY OF ENG

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LAND MAKES THIS APPEAR SO VISIBLY, THAT A MAN MUST

HAVE BEEN BLIND NOT TO SEE IT. But granting that history has carried matters too far in this respect, the Sta"tutes of Provisors and Premunire, so frequently revived, "leave no room to question but that the English thought "themselves oppressed.

"In spite of all the complaints which the English had "frequently carried to the Court of Rome, about her conti"nual encroachments, and in spite of the precautions which "several Parliaments had taken to screen themselves from her "usurpations, the Popes did not abate an inch of their pre"tensions. The Acts of Parliament were to them but like

66 cannon without ball, which made a noise without any effect. "Upon every occasion that offered, they made no scruple to "act contrary to these Statutes, as if there had been no such "thing; and to assert their Apostolic power without troubling "themselves whether they prejudiced the King or his sub

jects. The Parliament, willing to remedy the abuses which ❝arose from the continual dispensations granted by the Pope "without hearing the cause, passed an Act that all persons "who purchased or executed any Bulls to be discharged from "the payment of tithes, should incur the penalties contained "in the Statute of Provisors. It was enacted by another "Statute, passed at the same time, that if any person should procure a provision to be exempt of the jurisdiction of the Bishops, he should incur the same penalties. These Acts "being made chiefly with a view to the Monks, were not ca

"pable of producing the intended effect, because the Pope, "by the fulness of his Apostolic authority, exempted the "Monks from the observance of these parliamentary Statutes. "The Bishops, whom this affair chiefly concerned, not daring "to dispute, the power which the Pope assumed, it was the "Parliament's business to stand up for their cause, as well as "their own. To that purpose the Statutes upon this subject were revived, and a clause added, prohibiting the Monks "in particular to purchase or execute any such exemptions, 66 upon the penalty comprised in the Statute of Premunire.

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"The Statute of Premunire, which I have mentioned upon several occasions, was a terrible fence against the en"croachments of the Court of Rome. It is true, that it did "not fall upon the Pope directly, since the Parliament had 66 no power over him. But as it hindered the English from "applying to the Court of Rome for things contrary to the "prerogatives of the crown and the laws of the realm, it "abridged the Pope of a good part of the advantages which "he pretended to by his Apostolic power. It will seem "strange, perhaps, that the Popes should be silent when this "Statute was passed, and a good while after. But it is easy "to find out the reason. The schism which began in 1378, " and lasted till 1409, hindered them from bestirring them"selves. The Popes which England acknowledged took care "to give no cause of offence at such a juncture.

"MARTIN V. considered not this business with the same "indifference. In 1426 he wrote a thundering letter to

Chicheley, Archbishop of Canterbury, upbraiding him for "his remissness in this particular, and enjoining him to exert "his utmost to get the Statute repealed. HENRY VI. who "was then on the throne, not being above five years old, the "Pope thought it a proper time to compass his ends."

RAPIN then gives large extracts from the Letter, which are particularly important, and proceeds to inform us, that the Archbishop and his Clergy used great exertions to induce the House of Commons to repeal the Statute; going there