(1.) Irenèus of Lyons, who lived from the latter end of the first century to the latter end of the second, distinctly attests: that _the Church of Rome was_ JOINTLY _founded by the_ TWO _Apostles Peter and Paul_; and that, _When the_ TWO _Apostles had thus_ JOINTLY _founded it_, _they_ JOINTLY _delivered the Episcopate of their newly founded Society to Linus_. Accordingly, in strict agreement with this account of the transaction, Irenèus places Linus the FIRST in his list of the twelve successive Roman Bishops, who governed that Church, from the time of its original joint foundation by Peter and Paul, down to the year 175 when he published his Work against Heresies. {58a} Now such an account is plainly incompatible with the pretended fact: that _Peter was the first diocesan Bishop of Rome_. For the account states: that _Peter and Paul_, _having jointly founded the Roman Church, committed the episcopate of it to Linus_. Whence it dearly follows: that the first diocesan Bishop of Rome was _Linus_, not _Peter_. (2.) The evidence of Irenèus is directly confirmed by the ancient author of the Apostolical Constitutions. He gives us a list of the primitive apostolically ordained Bishops: and, in the course of it, he unequivocally states, even in so many words, that _Linus was consecrated the_ FIRST _Bishop of the Roman Church_; adding what is not unworthy the attention of the Latin Clergy, that Linus was so consecrated the FIRST Roman Bishop, not by Peter but by Paul. {58b} IV. On the grounds now stated, many persons will incline to rest, either partially or wholly, in the strongly expressed judgment of the learned Scaliger. _As for the coming of Peter to Rome_, HIS ROMAN EPISCOPATE OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS, _and his final martyrdom at Rome_, _no man_, _whose head can boast a grain of common sense_, _will believe a single syllable_. {59a} CHAPTER VIII. REMARKABLE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS MADE BY THE ROMISH CLERGY. So far as respects the _evidence_ upon which stands the alleged apostolicity of the peculiar doctrines and practices of Romanism, it will now be useful to hear the various acknowledgments which have been made by the Latin Clergy themselves. I. Let us begin with that cherished dogma of the Roman Church, the tenet of Transubstantiation. 1. On this point, the theologians of Trent assure us: that _The words of Christ_, _as recorded by the Evangelists_, SO PLAINLY AND SO DISTINCTLY _propound the doctrine of Transubstantiation_, _that_, _on the part of wicked and contentious Protestants_, _it is both a burning shame and a crying sin to interpret them figuratively_. {59b}