of honour, religion, alliance, or mercy, be assures them, That the pope has not duly confirmed their titles to the church lands in their possession; which therefore must be infallibly restored, as soon as that religion is established among us.
Thus, in his lordship's opinion, there is nothing wanting to make the majority of the kingdom, both for number, quality, and possession, immediately embrace popery, except a firm bull from the pope to secure the abbey and other church lands and tithes to the present proprietors and their heirs: if this only difficulty could now be adjusted, the pretender would be restored next session, the two houses reconciled to the church of Rome against Easter term, and the fires lighted in Smithfield by Midsummer. Such horrible calumnies against a nation are not the less injurious to decency, good nature, truth, honour, and religion, because they may be vented with safety; and I will appeal to any reader of common understanding, whether this be not the most natural and necessary deduction from the passages I have cited and referred to.
Yet all this is but friendly dealing, in comparison with what he affords the clergy upon the same article. He supposes that whole reverend body, who differ from him in principles of church or state, so far from disliking popery upon the abovementioned motives of perjury, quitting their wives, or burning their relations; that the hopes of enjoying the abbey lands would soon bear down all such considerations, and be an effectual incitement to their perversion: and so he goes gravely on, as with the only argument which he thinks can have any force, to assure them that the parochial priests in Roman catholick countries are
much
