Hor. You put me in Mind of Father _Canaye_, the Jesuit in St. _Evremond_.
No Reason! No Reason at all!
Cleo. Where the Clergy are possess'd of, and keep up this Authority
over the Laity, and the Secular Arm is at their Devotion, to punish
whom they condemn, they need not be nice or circumspect in their
Manner of Living; and no Pomp or Luxury will easily lessen them in the
Esteem of the Multitude. No Protestant Clergy have wrote better in
Defence of the Reformation than ours; but others have certainly gone
greater Lengths in it, as to Worship and Discipline in outward
Appearance. The Difference between the _Roman Catholicks_ and us seems
to be less irreconcilable, than it is between them and the Reformed
Churches of the united _Netherlands_ and _Switzerland_; and I am fully
persuaded, that the Mother Church despairs not of bringing back to her
Bosom this run-away Daughter of hers, and making this Island one Day
or other repay with Interest the Losses she has sustain'd by its long
Disobedience. Arguments alone will never keep out Popery; and _Great
Britain_ being once reconciled to the Church of _Rome_, would add such a
Weight to her Power, that it would not be difficult for her in a
little Time to reduce all the Rest of the Protestants by main Force,
and entirely to Triumph over what She calls the Northern Heresy.
Hor. We have very good Laws to secure us from the Usurpation of _Rome_;
and the Abbey Lands, that are in the Possession of the Laity, I
believe, are a better, I mean, a stronger Argument against the Return
of Popery, than ever will be shewn in Print.
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