It is not physical force which keeps men in subjection; one individual cannot chain down thousands, though he had all the armies and dungeons of tyranny. Men are not held down by the arms of a feeble dotard, but by the power of habit, the fear of personal evil, and the force of established opinion. Wherever the sentiments of a people change, tyranny falls, and there never was an instance of a government being maintained against the feelings and dispositions of its subjects. It is otherwise with the brute creation, but with men you can only enslave their persons by governing their minds. Now the Catholic church has this power in its hands as effectually as any other potentate, and its authority might be envied by the Autocrat of Russia. It has on its side the force of habit,-early associations. —superstitious fear,-long confirmed respect. If this will not enforce submission, nothing can; and it is impossible to conceive how any tyranny exists,-how Austria secures obedience, and the firman of the Sultan is respected by millions. So great, however, is this authority, that it requires an effort of the mind to throw it off, such as few are equal to. But it is said the doctrines are so absurd; more absurd are they than the

fundamental maxim of a despotic government, that the lives of millions were only made for the enjoyment of one individual? And yet it requires centuries to convince men of this, and two-thirds of mankind are not alive to it at the present day. The absurdity of a doctrine is of no moment unless it is examined; and we know little of our opinions if we suppose them adopted upon examination. We take them up because we find them in force, and never think of questioning what is generally received. If we could prevail on mankind to examine every subject for themselves, there would be no such thing as error;—we should have no tyrannical governments, no dominant superstitions. Once induce a Catholic to sit down to a candid examination of his opinions, and there is an end of his faith. But the difficulty is to bring him to this; and it amounts almost to a moral impossibility. In his view the absurdity is not that any one should obey the Church, but that any should dispute it. And what should induce him to enter on such

an examination-religious feeling- - a disinterested regard for truth? If these are the only motives, the Catholic Church may remain What induces men to rebel is some injury offered to their persons or property. An

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individual is insulted, and he revenges himself by the death of the tyrant: he finds his name in a list of proscriptions; and, to save himself, sacrifices a Caligula or a Domitian. Property is pillaged -a Hampden resists. These grievances are of frequent occurrence in tyranny; but they do not occur under an authority of a merely spiritual nature, and therefore there is no inducement to resist it. On the contrary, far from being inclined to dispute it, men are well pleased to acquiesce in it; and though in their own matters they choose to think for themselves, in religion they are exceedingly obliged to any one who will think for them. Authority on these subjects is extremely acceptable; it flatters the natural indolence and indifference of mankind; and, so far from being surprised at the power which the Catholic Church retains, I hardly understand how we were brought to question it. If she had not oppressed us with her exactions and temporal tyranny, I suspect we should never have complained, and the Reformation would not have taken place. We may learn from the example of Luther, from the slow steps by which he was brought to admit the errors which now appear so obvious, how difficult it is for the strongest mind to disengage itself from the restraints

of opinion, and to break off from a church to which custom and early feeling attach it.

Nor is it merely the force of habit which binds the Catholic to his church. Other reasons concur—and absurd though its doctrines may appear, I know none better adapted to the feelings of mankind, or which more exactly supply the demand which the human mind always makes for some religious belief. This is indeed sufficiently evident from the extensive influence which it has so long retained, and from the undisputed authority with which it still governs the larger part of Europe. It contains every thing to satisfy the anxiety with which all men regard the future. If any one has qualms of conscience, he receives absolution; if he is suffering remorse for crime, he is told how to atone for it; if he has any fears, he is reassured. The profligate and the careless are delighted with a religion whose demands are so easy: the man of tender conscience and the hardened criminal are equally pleased to find, that they may obtain a passport to the next world on such easy terms. There are no perplexing questions to discuss, no self-denial or painful reformation to practise; a few outward observances, a pilgrimage, a penance, or a mass, and our duty is performed. These are terms with

which no man is unwilling to close. The superstitions of savages are full of laborious services; nor is it ever found that men are unwilling to perform these, if they are satisfied of their efficacy. There is always a sufficient amount of religious feeling to carry men thus far. As long as such a system exists, it will command attention: the anxiety which all men feel about the future, the fears of the timid, the scruples of the conscientious, the selfish apprehensions of the guilty, will drive them to the confessional and the altar. Accordingly it is well known, that in Catholic countries the churches are remarkably well attended, and the holidays and ceremonies regularly observed. But we must observe who it is who receives the penitent at the altar and confessional. It is the priest,-it is he who administers mass, grants or withholds absolution, gives the salvo to the conscience, holds out hope to the guilty. No one who has had any opportunity of observing the state of Catholic countries, has failed to remark the influence which the Priesthood possesses; but I have often heard surprise expressed that it should be so, and that ignorant and uneducated men should have such authority. We might as well express our astonishment at the power of a justice of peace. Personal character has nothing to do

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