136 A Project for the Diffusion of Useful Ignorance. [FEB 



mankind have deluged society to dispel that unnatural glare which 

 hurts the tender vision of so many peers and placemen, and scares the 

 poor bishops from their comfortable slumbers and to diffuse once more 

 over the nation, if not the blessings of utter darkness, at least that 

 "dim religious light," in which, and in which alone, the ineffable 

 advantages of a gorgeous church and a borough parliament will ever 

 be discerned by the bulk of the people. Keep no terms, noble lords 

 and honourable gentlemen ! any more, with knowledge. It is a foe 

 you may hope to conquer, but will never conciliate ; you must destroy 

 it, or be destroyed by it ; you are its natural prey ; and an alliance 

 betwixt you is impossible, until the wolf lies down with the lamb. Its 

 policy and your's are at eternal .variance. In the state, it aims at the 

 total abolition of pensions and sinecures, of close borough and com- 

 mercial monopolies, with every thing, in short, after your own hearts ; 

 in the church, it will never rest while a mitre glitters, or a tithe-pig 

 wags its consecrated tail. An aristocracy, like yours, of wealth and 

 blood, it scorns ; and, had it power to-morrow, it would substitute one 

 of talent, industry, and virtue the qualities most congenial to its 

 plebeian tastes. In short, it goes about " like a roaring lion, seeking 

 whom it may devour ;" and its voracity will never be appeased, until 

 reform has finished his work of havoc, and there is nothing left worth 

 living for in England. Already has this evil made terrific progress ; 

 already has many a venerable prejudice given way, and many a time- 

 honoured abuse been trampled down ; the flag of knowledge, inscribed 

 with the ill-omened word Reform, floats from many a fortress, which 

 was fondly deemed impregnable to truth and reason ; but still it is not 

 too late to avert your ruin. A vast deal is still left worth fighting for ; 

 there are still offices in plenty unincumbered with duties ; there are still 

 bishoprics ; there are still corn-laws ; still many a way open into the pock- 

 ets of the people. But to save these good things from the fate that has 

 befallen others, the genius of ignorance your genius noble lords and 

 honourable gentlemen ! must rise with collected strength, and go forth 

 in the spirit of ten thousand Vandals. From no second irruption from 

 the store-house of the north does your country look for her deliverance ; 

 but to the Goths and Visigoths of her own soil. On you, the Welling- 

 tons and Wetherells, the Newcastles and Northumberlands, the Sadlers 

 and Sugdens whether, in the Commons' House of Parliament, or in the 

 hereditary chamber, you "darken counsel by words without know- 

 ledge" on you devolves the proud task of beating down the arch- 

 enemy, and establishing the throne of ignorance for ever in England. 



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