mians to Prague. They all applied for instruction to the bishop of Rome, and followed his instructions.

"V.-A. D. 500. Advancing higher, we come to the time, when the Faith was first preached to the Barbarians. The preacher was generally sent by the see of Rome. If it happened, that the faith was not originally planted in a country by a particular mission, but was diffused there by the accidents of war or commerce, or by any other circumstance, it always followed, that as soon as the numbers of the faithful became considerable, and the church acquired a consistency, the see of Rome invested proper persons with powers to confirm her in her faith, to establish her hierarchy, and settle her discipline.

"We are struck at the grandeur of Pagan Rome, when we read of her highways, which issuing from the forum, towards Italy, pervaded the provinces, and were terminated only by the frontiers of the empire. Far beyond those, the successor of St. Peter sent from christian Rome the ministers of his divine commission to announce the faith to the nations of the earth.

"Sedes Roma Petri, quæ pastoralis honoris
"Facta caput mundo, quid quid, non

"Possidet armis,

Religione tenet.

"St. Prosper."

"VI. A. D. 451, 401, 381.-Pursuing the inquiry, we come to the Four first General Councils. At that of Chalcedon, the fourth of them, held in 451, the fathers addressed St. Leo the Great ' as the archbishop of all the churches, as the head, as the person to whom the care of 'Christ's vineyard was committed.' They sent the proceedings of the council to him for his 'confirmation, is Beßaw.' At the council of Ephesus, the 3d general council, held in 401, the fathers assembled, condemned Nestorius, and sent to the Pope, 'an account of their proceedings. They tell him, that they were forced ' to that melancholy step by the canons, and 'the letters of their holy father Celestine, the 'bishop of Rome.' On receiving pope Celestine's letter, they exclaimed,— the sentence is just, the synod returns thanks to Celestine, the guardian of the faith.' One of the legates, in his address to the council, says, that in every it had been known that St. Peter, to whom • Celestine was in succession, was the prince and • chief of the apostles, the pillar of faith, and the foundation of the church.' Before the opening of the second general council, (which was held at Constantinople in 381), the Emperor Theodosius, and the principal ecclesiastical dignitaries of the eastern church, sent an embassy to Rome, to pope Damascus, with orders to take his directions on what should be done, and to follow them. In their condemnation of Macedonius, they used the Pope's expressions.

age,

A notion prevailing, that the council exceeded the limits of its authority, the Pope examined their proceedings, and, in some instances, confirmed, in others, annulled them. That the council might be attended by the prelates of the eastern church, the Pope summoned the fathers assembled at Constantinople to Rome. In their answer, they call themselves his members they wish for the wings of a dove to fly to him, ' and repose in his bosom;' but they represent to him, that so long an absence might be dangerous to their churches.' In his reply, he compliments them on the respect they shew 'to the holy see; and informs them, that Ti'motheus, a disciple of Apolinaris, whom they had petitioned his holiness to depose from his see, had been deposed.' Now, except on account of his superior jurisdiction, they never could have made this application to his holiness. At the first of the general councils, (held at Nice in 325), St. Silvester presided by his legates.*

" VII. A. D. 300, 100.-This brings us to the 3d century. Public events, in some measure, forsaking us, in this place, we must refer to the writings of individuals, and of these, a very small number can be mentioned. In the third century, St. Cypriant complains of certain

This, at least, is the opinion of many, though, as we shall hereafter have occasion to remark, this point is by no means clear.

+ Ep. 3 ed. Bas. p. 14.

6

schismatic bishops of Africa, 'who sailed to'wards the chair of St. Peter, the principal 'church, from whom the unity of the church ' arises.' He calls the church of Rome the 'mother and roof of the catholic church.'* He says, there is but one God, one Christ, one church, and one chair, founded on St. Peter, by the word of God. No one can raise any 'altar or priesthood, besides that which is estab. 'lished: he that soweth elsewhere does but 'scatter and throw away.' In the second century, we have the celebrated declaration of St. Irenæus: Ad hanc enim ecclesiam Romanam, propter potiorem principalitatam, necesse est C omnem convenire ecclesiam.' In the first century, a division arose in the church of Corinth. Some of the apostles were then living. To those, notwithstanding the exalted rank and high influence which their apostolic character gave them, the deposed priests did not appeal. Their appeal was made to St. Clement, the second pope in succession to St. Peter, and he confirmed their deposition. The letter addressed by him on this occasion to the Corinthians, is still extant. The modesty and humility with which he expresses himself in it are edifying; but he insists on the supremacy of the Roman see. The 'chief priest,' he says, has his privileges: the ' priests have their place; the deacons theirs;

the laity have their duties.' In the language of the two first ages of christianity, the word 'priest' was applied generally to bishops and priests: St. Clement, therefore, points at the chief priest as above them all.

" VIII. Thus, from a regular chain of historical facts, beginning with the earliest moments of the reformation, and ascending upwards, through the council of Florence, the Greek schism, the translation of the modern empire to the Latins, the conversion of the barbarians, the four first general councils, and the primitive ages, (the six great epochs of the history of christianity), to the time of Christ himself, we find the supremacy of the bishop of Rome, both in rank and jurisdiction, an admitted article of christian belief.

" IX. A. D. 32.-We now hear the Son of God himself say: Thou art Peter, and upon this 'rock will I build my church; and the gate of ⚫ hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give ' unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: ' and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall 'be bound in heaven; and, whatsoever thou 'shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.'"

Were it my duty or inclination to offer any remarks on the above summary view of the historical evidence for the Pope's supremacy, I