Controverſies and ſupport their imperious Sway, the Clergy (like thoſe of the Church of Rome) hold the Laity under blind abject Obedience; of which take this Inſtance: When I once, in Converſation with two young Clergymen, lamented the abovementioned Prohibition, which debar'd the common People (who ſpeak only their own Language) from the delightful Benefit, and neceſſary Duty of ſearching the Scriptures, they agreed in this Anſwer, That it was happy for the People, that the Scriptures were lock'd up from them, for it prevented Diviſions in the Interpretation of them, which was given to themſelves, and to themſelves only, by their Great Dictator, who had ſubſtituted them his Vicars and the Interpreters of his Law. It may, perhaps, not be unworthy the Conſideration of that Power which preſides over the Dioceſs of Man, whether the greater Inconvenience accrues from a Publication, or a Suppreſſion of the Tranſlation I spoke of? In the firſt Caſe, what was objected by the Clergymen is not without ſome Grounds, viz. that ſuch a Tranſlation would lay the Scriptures open to the different Interpretations of ignorant, prejudiced, or evil-
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