teftant churches, and put to death by Protef tant magiftrates. They never mention the description given of beretics by Proteftant writers; by Godolphin, the Proteftant canonist, and fir Edward Coke, the Proteftant lawyer, who both call herefy, "lepram animæ"the leprofy of the foul. No. Heresy is the Papift's favourite theme. No Proteftant ever made any commentaries on it.

The fame uncandid fallacy that lurks under the word beretic, with which the Catholics are always taunted, is manifeft in the ftrained conftruction of the canon of the council of Conftance. A fpiritual cause is to be tried by ecclefiaftical judges. They declare that "no "fafe-conduct granted by princes, fhall hinder

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heretics from being judged and punished," (with ecclefiaftical cenfures and degradation, for their power to punish can extend no farther)" and that when the perfon who has pro"mised them fecurity" (from this ecclefiaftical punishment, for no other can be meant by a fpiritual tribunal) "has done all that is in his

power to do, shall not, in this cafe," (the cafe of fecuring from a fpiritual or ecclefiaftical punishment inflicted by a lawful fuperior) "be "obliged to keep his promife:" because a promife of the kind, made to one of their rebellious clergymen, who corrupts and falfifies their doctrine, is an unjuft ufurpation of their rights, and fubverfive of their spiritual jurisdiction. X 2

And

And an unjuft promife, injurious to the rights of another, is not binding, let the tie be what it will. Herod promifed upon oath to give his daughter whatever fhe would ask for. He was not bound to give her the head of John the Baptift. If the king of England, without even depriving a fingle man of his eftate, bound himself by oath, to arrogate to himself the legiflative as well as the executive power; every antagonist of popery, from the prelate down to the tub-preacher, would cry out, with the fathers of the council of Conftance: "He is not, "in this cafe, obliged to keep his promife."

In this fenfe, the canon of the council is to be understood. In this fenfe, the fathers themfelves, the best interpreters of their own meaning, understood it. In this fenfe, the Catholic. doctors, all over the world, understand it: they who are more competent judges of their own creed, than either Mr. Locke or Mr. Wefley. Such of them as are of opinion, that the fupreme power of the ftate can make herefy a capital crime, rife up with indignation against the falfe accufers who fay that the council authorifed breach of faith with beretics. They write in Catholic ftates where they have nothing to fear, and lefs to expect, from Mr. Wefley and his London rioters.

If Mr. Wefley conftrues this canon in a different fenfe, it is no reafon for obtruding his tortured

tortured conftruction on me, as an article of orthodoxy. An Arian may as well perfuade the public, that I do not believe in the Divinity of Chrift, because he does not believe in it himfelf, and tortures the fcriptures in fupport of his errors. John Hufs was a priest, ordained in the Church of Rome, and faid mass until the day of his confinement. I fuppofe Mr. Wesley will not allow, that a temporal prince could deprive his fpiritual fuperiors from cenfuring and degrading him, if found guilty of an erroneous doctrine.

Every church claims to herself the power of inflicting fpiritual punishments independent of the civil magiftrate-The church of Rome, the confiftories of Scotland, and all others. When the council of two hundred arrogated to themselves, the power of denouncing and abfolving from cenfures, and in confequence intended to abfolve one Bertelier, Calvin afcended the pulpit, and, with outstretched hands, threatened to oppofe force to force; exclaimed with vehemence of voice against the profanation, and forced the fenate to refign their spiritual commiffion. Bertelier was punished in spite of the promife of the civil power. When Mr. Wesley refufed the facrament to Mrs. Williamson in Georgia, for oppo. fing the propagation of the gofpel, in giving the preference to Mr. Williamfon, the layman, at a time when the clergyman intended to light Hymen's torch with a spark of grace: a conflict

of

of jurifdiction between the clergy and laity was the refult. Mr. Wesley was indicted; and the following warrant, copied by himself into his journal was issued.

"GEORGIA. SAVANNAH. ff.

"To all conftables, tything men, and others "whom these may concern.

"You and each of you are hereby required to "take the body of John Wesley, clerk, &c. " &c. &c. Signed, Th. Chriftie."

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"Tuesday, the ninth," fays Mr. Wesley, Mr. Jones, the conftable, carried me before Mr. "Bailiff Parker and Mr. Recorder. My anfwer "to them was-that the giving or refufing the "Lord's fupper being a matter purely ecclefiaf-,

tic, I could not acknowledge their power to "interrogate me upon it."* If Mr. Wesley, then, thought himself juftifiable in pleading the clerical privilege, let him not blame the fathers of Conftance, for declaring their right to punish with ecclefiaftical cenfures and degradation, one of their own fubjects, in fpite of any fafe-conduct granted by the civil power; especially at a time when this fuperiority over their own clergy, was confirmed to the bishops by the laws of the empire, with which Sigifmund could no more difpenfe

* See this whole affair in Mr. Wefley's Journal of the year 1737, P. 43. Bristol printed by Felix Farley.

pense at that time, than James the second could in his.

"But," fays Mr. Wefley, "fure Hufs would

not have come to Conftance, had he foreseen "the confequence." That regarded himself. Obftinate perfons feldom think themselves in error. Strange inftances of this obftinacy can be met with in the trials of the regicides: fome of whom declared, at the hour of death, that they gloried in having a hand in the king's death, and would chearfully play over the fame tragedy. We have a more recent inftance of this obftinaey, in one of Mr. Wesley's martyrs. Scarcely could the Proteftant clergyman prevail on one of the rioters, who had been very active in plundering the city of London, last year, to take the blue cockade out of his hat, in going to the gallows. He cried out that he died a martyr to the Proteftant religion. We have daily inftances of people giving themselves up to take their trial, who are disappointed, without any imputation on their judges.

Jerome of Prague, who maintained the fame error with Hufs, came to Conftance, after his confrere's execution. The council fent him a fafe-conduct, with this exprefs claufe: "falvo

jure concilii"-referving to the council its right to judge you. He came : and the council judged and punished him with degradation, as it had

done