body of the clergy of that city, presented to his Lordship on Friday :*

"Fulham, Oct. 28, 1850.

"Rev. and dear Brethren,-The sentiments expressed in the Address which you have presented to me are in entire accordance with mine, and I am persuaded that they will be responded to by the unanimous feeling of Protestant England.

"The recent assumption of authority by the Bishop of Rome in pretending to parcel out this country into new dioceses, and to appoint archbishops and bishops to preside over them, without the consent of the Sovereign, is a schismatical act, without precedent, and one which would not be tolerated by the Government of any Roman Catholic kingdom. I trust that it will not be quietly submitted to by our own.

"Hitherto from the time of the Reformation the Pope has been contented with providing for the spiritual superintendence of his adherents in this country by the appointment of Vicars Apostolic, Bishops who took their titles as such not from any real or pretended sees in England, but from some imaginary dioceses in partibus infidelium. In this there was no assumption of spiritual authority over any other of the subjects of the English Crown than those of his own communion. But the appointment of Bishops to preside over new dioceses in England, constituted by a Papal brief, is virtually a denial of the legitimate authority of the British Sovereign and of the English Episcopate; a denial also of the validity of our orders, and an assertion of spiritual jurisdiction over the whole Christian people of the realm.

"That it is regarded in this light by the Pope's adherents in this country is apparent from the language in which they felicitate themselves upon this arrogant attempt to stretch his authority beyond its proper limits. A Journal which is generally believed to express the sentiments of a large portion of them at least (not, I believe, of all) points out in the following words the difference between the Vicars Apostolic and the pretended diocesan bishops. Alluding to certain members of our Church who are accused of a leaning towards Rome, it says, "In this act of Pope Pius IX., they have that open

*Signed by sixty-nine clergymen.

us.

declaration for which they have been so long professing to look. Rome, said they, has never yet formally spoken against Her bishops, indeed, are sent here, not as having any local authority, but as pastors without flocks; Bishops of Tadmor in the desert, or of the ruins of Babylon, intruding into territories which they cannot formally claim as their own. This specious argument is once for all silenced. Rome has more than spoken; she has spoken and acted! She has again divided our land into dioceses, and has placed over each a pastor, to whom all baptized persons, without exception, within that district, are openly commanded to submit themselves in all ecclesiastical matters, under pain of damnation, and the Anglican sees, those ghosts of realities long passed away, are utterly ignored.'

"The advisers of the Pope have skilfully contrived so to shape this encroachment upon the rights and honour of the Crown and Church of England, that his nominees to imaginary dioceses will not actually offend against the letter of the law by assuming the titles which he has pretended to confer upon them; but that it is contrary to the spirit of the laws, there can be no doubt. As little doubt can there be, that it is intended as an insult to the Sovereign and the Church of this country.

"With respect to the conduct proper to be pursued by you on this occasion, it ought, in my opinion, to be temperate and charitable, but firm and uncompromising.

"You will do well to call the attention of your people to the real purport of this open assault upon our Reformed Church, and to take measures for petitioning the Legislature to carry out the principle of the statute which forbids all persons other than the persons authorized by law to assume or use the name, style, or title of any archbishop of any province, bishop of any bishopric, or dean of any deanery in England or Ireland, by extending the prohibition to any pretended diocese or deaneries in these realms.

"It is possible that such prohibitions might not have the effect of preventing the assumption of titles by the Papal bishops, when dealing with their own adherents: but it would make the assumption unlawful, and it would mark

the determination of the people of this country not to permit any foreign prelate to exercise spiritual jurisdiction over them.

"But there are other duties besides those of protesting and petitioning, the performance of which seems to be specially required of us by the present emergency. Unwilling as I am to encourage controversial preaching, I must say that we are driven to have recourse to it by this attempted usurpation of authority on the part of the Bishop of Rome, and by the activity and subtlety of his emissaries in all parts of the kingdom. We are surely called upon for a more than ordinary measure of watchfulness and diligence in fulfilling the promise which we gave when we were admitted to the priesthood, to banish and drive away all erroneous and strange doctrines contrary to God's Word.'

"Let us be careful, as well in our public ministrations as in our private monitions and exhortations, to refrain from doing or saying anything which may seem to indicate a wish to make the slightest approach to a Church which, far from manifesting a desire to lay aside any of the errors and superstitions which compelled us to separate from it, is now reasserting them with a degree of boldness unknown since the Reformation, is adding new credenda to its Articles of Faith, and is undisguisedly teaching its members the duty of worshipping the creature with the worship due only to the Creator.

“After all, I am much inclined to believe that in having recourse to the extreme measure which has called forth your Address, the Court of Rome has been ill advised as regards the extension of its influence in this country, and that it has taken a false step. That step will, I am convinced, tend to strengthen the Protestant feeling of the people at large, and will cause some persons to hesitate and draw back who are disposed to make concessions to Rome, under a mistaken impression that she has abated somewhat of her ancient pretensions, and that a union of the two Churches might possibly be effected without the sacrifice of any fundamental principle. Hardly anything could more effectually dispel that illusion than the recent proceeding of the Roman Pontiff. He virtually condemns and ex

communicates the whole English Church, Sovereign, bishops, clergy, and laity, and shuts the door against every scheme of comprehension save that which should take for its basis an entire and unconditional submission to the spiritual authority of the Bishop of Rome.

"That it may please the Divine Head of the Church, who is the true centre of unity and the only infallible Judge, to guide and strengthen us in these days of rebuke and trial, to open our eyes to the dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions, and to unite us in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, is the earnest prayer,

"Reverend and dear Brethren, of

"Your affectionate Friend and Bishop,

"C. J. LONDON.

"To the Rev. the Clergy of the City and Liberties of

Westminster."

-From the Times, Oct. 29, 1850.

APPENDIX (F.)

PAPAL USURPATION.

AT a Meeting of the members and friends of the Protestant Association, held in St. Martin's Hall, Long-acre, Monday, November 25, 1850, the following Resolutions were unanimously adopted :

1. That the recent attack upon British Protestantism by the Bishop of Rome is a daring interference with the rights of the British Crown, and calculated to be highly prejudicial to the interests of true religion, the supremacy of the Queen, the in

dependence of the Empire, the peace of the country, and the liberty of the subject.

2. That it is the bounden duty of all true and loyal Protestant subjects to rally round the standard of Protestantism :-to protest against and to resist the encroachments of Popery, whether in matters civil or ecclesiastical ;- to assure Her Majesty of their fidelity and attachment to her throne and person, and to use their utmost endeavours that such laws may be enacted or enforced as may, under the blessing of God, protect the religion, the Throne, the Government, and the people of this country from the usurpation and tyranny of Rome.

3. That the following Petition to the Queen be adopted, and that the Right Hon. Lord Feversham be requested as one of the Vice-Presidents of this Society, to present the same to Her Majesty :

"To the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty.

"The Petition of the undersigned, &c.

“HUMBLY SHEWETH—

"That your Petitioners, in approaching the footstool of your throne as your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, humbly beg leave to express their unshaken fidelity and attachment to your Majesty's Royal person and family; their firm adherence to those Protestant principles which placed the illustrious ancestors of your Majesty upon the throne of these realms, and their full confidence that your Majesty will never sanction any departure from those principles, nor suffer the Crown, the Church, the liberties or independence of this country, to be subjugated to any foreign influence or control.

"That your Petitioners have heard with feelings of astonishment, indignation, and regret, of the recent efforts made by the Bishop of Rome to establish his authority within your Majesty's dominions, by converting England into one ecclesiastical province of the Church or See of Rome, by dividing the country into Romish dioceses, and by appointing Romish Bishops with territorial titles in England.

"That your Petitioners believe such an act to be unprecedented, either in this, or in any other country of Europe; and