liaments of France, and by some ministers of other
governments, particularly by the marquis de Pombal, the minister of the
king of Portugal. It is not my intention to undertake so laborious a task,
but I trust, that the following exposition will unfold sufficient {xiii} of
the injustice, which has been so unfeelingly and indefatigably heaped upon
the Jesuits, to convince every unprejudiced man, that the suppression of
the order has been injurious to society, and that the revival of it, far
from being dangerous, must be beneficial. I am not afraid, that this
expression of my sentiment will draw upon me any suspicion of disaffection
to the state, or the established church; my sentiments are well known to my
friends, and have been more than once publicly professed. The benefit,
which I think will arise from the restoration of the society, will consist
more particularly in the active and zealous cultivation of Christian
virtues, and a spirit of LOYALTY among the catholics of all countries,
whether protestant or catholic; and, unless we mean to say, with some of
the furious reformers, that the religion of the catholics is to be {xiv}
extirpated altogether, it is absurd to say, that they shall not have their
best and most active instructors.

When this volume had nearly gone through the press, in the course of
reading I met with the following curious passage, extracted from a Letter
to a Noble Lord by a Country Gentleman, entitled "Considerations on the
Penal Laws," &c. published by the Dodsleys, of Pall-Mall, so long ago as
1764, about two years after the suppression of the Jesuits in France, and
eleven previous to their total suppression by Clement XIV; I insert it, as
I think it will not be unacceptable to the reader:--"The rising generation
are now forming their principles on the writings of Voltaire, Rousseau,
D'Argens, and the philosopher of Sans-Souci; to whom may be added a long
catalogue of authors of our own {xv} country. In FRANCE _grave magistrates
already celebrate and_ THE FIRST COURTS OF JUDICATURE echo with the praises
of _Julian and Diocletian_; calculations are made, and the period is
pretended to be fixed, when Christianity is to be no more. The powerful
weapon of ridicule is employed not against popery alone, but to render
contemptible the whole Jewish and Christian revelation." The _grave
magistrates_, and _first courts of judicature_, are no other than _the
French parliaments_, who, we are informed by a me