第104章

’SOyouhopetobringtheseregionsagainbeneaththebanneroftheRomanSee？’saidI，afterthemaninblackhadpreparedthebeverage，andtastedit。

’Hope!’saidthemaninblack；’howcanwefail？IsnottheChurchoftheseregionsgoingtoloseitsprerogative？’

’Itsprerogative？’

’Yes；thosewhoshouldbetheguardiansofthereligionofEnglandareabouttograntPapistsemancipation，andtoremovethedisabilitiesfromDissenters，whichwillallowtheHolyFathertoplayhisowngameinEngland。’

OnmyinquiringhowtheHolyFatherintendedtoplayhisgame，themaninblackgavemetounderstandthatheintendedforthepresenttocoverthelandwithtemples，inwhichthereligionofProtestantswouldbecontinuallyscoffedatandreviled。

Onmyobservingthatsuchbehaviourwouldsavourstronglyofingratitude，themaninblackgavemetounderstandthatifI

entertainedtheideathattheSeeofRomewaseverinfluencedinitsactionsbyanyfeelingofgratitudeIwasmuchmistaken，assuringmethatiftheSeeofRomeinanyencountershouldchancetobedisarmed，anditsadversary，fromafeelingofmagnanimity，shouldrestoretheswordwhichhadbeenknockedoutofitshand，theSeeofRomealwaysendeavouredonthefirstopportunitytoplungethesaidswordintoitsadversary’sbosom；conductwhichthemaninblackseemedtothinkwasverywise，andwhichheassuredmehadalreadyenabledittogetridofagreatmanytroublesomeadversaries，andwould，hehadnodoubt，enableittogetridofagreatmanymore。

Onmyattemptingtoargueagainsttheproprietyofsuchbehaviour，themaninblackcutthemattershortbysayingthatifonepartywasafoolhesawnoreasonwhytheothershouldimitateitinitsfolly。

Aftermusingalittlewhile，Itoldhimthatemancipationhadnotyetpassedthroughthelegislature，andthatperhapsitneverwould；remindinghimthattherewasoftenmanyaslipbetweenthecupandthelip；towhichobservationthemaninblackagreed，assuringme，however，thattherewasnodoubtthatemancipationwouldbecarried，inasmuchastherewasaveryloudcryatpresentintheland-acryof’tolerance，’whichhadalmostfrightenedtheGovernmentoutofitswits；who，togetridofthecry，wasgoingtograntallthatwasaskedinthewayoftoleration，insteadoftellingthepeopleto’holdtheirnonsense，’andcuttingthemdownprovidedtheycontinuedbawlinglonger。

Iquestionedthemaninblackwithrespecttotheoriginofthiscry；buthesaid，totraceittoitsoriginwouldrequirealonghistory；that，atanyrate，suchacrywasinexistence，thechiefraisersofitbeingcertainofthenobility，calledWhigs，whohopedbymeansofittogetintopower，andtoturnoutcertainancientadversariesoftheirscalledTories，whowereforlettingthingsremainINSTATUQUO；thattheseWhigswerebackedbyapartyamongstthepeoplecalledRadicals，aspecimenofwhomIhadseeninthepublic-house；asetoffellowswhowerealwaysinthehabitofbawlingagainstthoseinplace；’andso，’headded，’bymeansoftheseparties，andthehubbubwhichthePapistsandothersmallersectsaremaking，ageneralemancipationwillbecarried，andtheChurchofEnglandhumbled，whichistheprincipalthingwhichtheSeeofRomecaresfor。’

OnmytellingthemaninblackthatIbelievedthat，evenamongthehighdignitariesoftheEnglishChurch，thereweremanywhowishedtograntperfectfreedomtoreligionsofalldescriptions，hesaidhewasawarethatsuchwasthefact，andthatsuchawishwasanythingbutwise，inasmuchas，iftheyhadanyregardforthereligiontheyprofessed，theyoughttostandbyitthroughthickandthin，proclaimingittobetheonlytrueone，anddenouncingallothers，inanalliterativestyle，asdangerousanddamnable；

whereas，bytheirpresentconduct，theywerebringingtheirreligionintocontemptwiththepeopleatlarge，whowouldnevercontinuelongattachedtoaChurchtheministersofwhich