112 CHARACTER OF THE L A S T 



the liars. Popes, cardinals, and bifhops, did obei- 

 fance to their authority, and the reft of the orders lay 

 under their feet* Even trie election of popes and their 

 adminiftration were the- work of their hands. They 

 declined the fovereign dignity; becaufe if is always 

 greater to play with it at pleafure, and a fecret power 

 is ever more formidable than an ofTenflble authority. 

 Their arms extended over all the four quarters of the 

 globe. Their colleges in the eaft and well Indies were 

 uniformly governed on the fame principles. They were 

 ever animated by one foul, and actuated by one fpirit* 

 Rome was the centre of their dominion, and the feat 

 of the defpots whom all men implicitly obeyed. 



Their grandeur "was built on the abufe of religion, 

 which they metamorphofed according to the demands 

 of the times, to the tafle of all ranks and perfon^ and 

 in every cafe to the promotion of their own advantage. . 

 Their fyftem was founded on the natural weaknefs of 

 mankind, who, one way or other, refoive to be de- 

 ceived. They employed the fame means with thofe who 

 make ufe of their ffronger intellect, to gain the com- 

 mand over feeble fouls. Stupidity, fimplicity, and ig- 

 norance, in the great as well as in the fmall, was the fure 

 foundation whereon they built. In the country and in 

 towns, in the courts of princes and the families of pri- 

 vate perfons, they inflnuated themfelves with the plian- 

 cy of a ferpent, charmed their benefactors and friends 

 with their enchanting breath, and bound them like 

 another Laocoon, hand and foot, within their folds. 

 The greateft and moft righteous monarchs of the world 

 were not exempted from their fway. They trembled 

 5 , before 



