I have said, the formation of Italy into one kingdom, is an event probably not very distant; and I believe that I am correct in my opinion. Italy has been harassed by foreign invaders ever since the close of the fifteenth century. When Charles VIII., King of France, invaded Italy, about the year 1490, he found the country under the power of various Governments; but every where in a state of great prosperity. From that time to the present, it has been desolated by Spaniards, Germans, and French; every sensible Italian must wish to see his country rescued from these invaders; but it cannot be formed into one kingdom without the abolition of the power of the Pope. The Papal power was originally established with great political wisdom. The acquisition of landed property, and of sovereignty, were marked instances of the sagacity of its founders. Its power will fall with the loss of landed property and sovereignty. (Note 17.)

I have said, in a former place, that the Executive Government in France will, at a

future period, derive much influence from the funds for the payment of the Clergy being entirely at its disposal. That this power has not hitherto been felt, because the Bourbons have hitherto entertained a wish that the power of the Clergy should be re-established. But the French Clergy cannot again be put in possession of their landed estates. Those estates are now in the possession of the Laity, and are divided among so many proprietors, that any attempt to wrest those lands from them must fail of success; and those who made the attempt, would probably fall the victims of their own folly. Every Ecclesiastic must be dependant upon that Government which, by withholding payment of his salary, can reduce him to poverty. The Christian Church was established with much political wisdom. Its founders ever had in view, to make it independent of the Executive Government; and it bribed the existing Government, by a readiness to support its immediate views. The Clergy were every where invested with landed estates; they were sensible how much their political influence would be increased

by the possession of land, instead of being dependant on Government for salaries.

When the Reformation took place in England, the property of the Convents was seized ; and Queen Elizabeth obtained considerable portions of episcopal property by forced exchanges. A celebrated letter of the Queen, on this subject, to a Bishop of Ely, is preserved in the British Museum. I have had occasion to see proofs of her having taken large portions of the lands of the Bishopric of Lincoln, under pretence of similar exchanges; and there is no doubt that she plundered many other bishoprics in the same manner. The practice was carried so far by Queen Elizabeth, that on the accession of James I. the Church of England had sufficient influence to procure an Act to be passed, to prevent the Crown from making exchanges in future with Bishops. The English Clergy are so sensible of the political advantage of possessing lands, rather than monied property, that in case of a bequest of money, upon condition that the trustees of Queen Anne's bounty should add a sum of equal value,

the trustees will never permit the money to remain in the Funds, but insist that it shall be laid out in the purchase of lands; and they require this, although they are sensible that the Ecclesiastic intended to be benefited would receive double the income from the Funds that he can expect to receive from land: and although another inconvenience ensues from this doctrine, that the money must be laid out in land, viz. That the Courts of Law have resolved, that these bequests are within the Statute of Mortmain, and they are frequently void, in consequence of the directions of that Statute not having been observed. The great objection to the Emancipation of the Catholics in Ireland is, that the Pope will always retain influence over the Catholic Clergy, and the Catholic Clergy over those of their Church. But this objection would vanish, if the Catholic Clergy were paid by the Executive

Government.

Consider the state of Ireland.

Among

four millions of inhabitants, three millions are Catholics; and of the remaining mil

VOL. I.

lion, six hundred thousand are computed to be Dissenters, and four hundred thousand only of the Church of England. Yet all the funds allotted for the maintenance of Ecclesiastical Ministers, are confined to those of the Church of England. Is this equitable? Would it not be more advantageous, that these funds should be employed for the maintenance of the Clergy of all those who profess the Christain Religion? It will not be denied that all ought to receive religious instruction. Whether a man believes in transubstantiation, or does not believe in it, is a matter of little importance to the State; provided his opinion on this subject does not lead him to have political connexions injurious to the interests of his country.

It is this apprehension which leads men to fear Catholic Emancipation. We had just reason to fear the power of the Pope during the reigns of the Stuarts: habituated to that fear, we cannot bring ourselves to believe, that, if any such danger still exists, it is easy to guard against it. Suppose Bishoprics and Chapters, as they became vacant in Ireland, were not filled