MONTHLY MAGAZINES have opened a way for every kind of inquiry and information. The intelligence and discussion contained in them are very extensive and various; and they have been the means of diffusing a general habit of reading through the nation, which in a certain degree hath enlarged the public understanding. HERE, too, are preserved a multitude of useful hints, observations, and facts, which otherwise might have never appeared.-Dr. Kippis.

Every Art is improved by the emulation of Competitors.--Dr. Johnson,

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.

302

Dr. Watkins on the Inquisition and the Jesuits.

offensive to the nation which had replaced Ferdinand on the throne of his ancestors, and given to Rome its conclave and its chief. The very reason assigned for the reorganization of the Inquisition in Spain is an addition to the iniquity of the deed, for the royal edict justifies the act on account of the foreign sectaries who for some years have been spread over the Peninsula. This is the liberal manner in which the Spanish goverament treats our brave veterans, after shedding their blood to purge that soil of an unprincipled horde, who entered into the kingdom by treachery and subsisted there by plunder. But now, when the great work of deliverance is accomplished, and the schismatics have placed the tiara on the head of the pope, the first use made of his authority is to expose his deliverers to the fangs of those who will do what they can to bring them to the stake. These sectaries, as they are called, which is a soft word for heretics and infidels, will receive no more indulgence from the holy inquisitors, than the unfortunate Spaniards who may chance to have been perverted by their conversation, or corrupted by their books and language. Should an English resident in any part of that kingdom take upon him to read the bible to his domestics, or enter into free discourse on religious subjects with his neighbours, he will stand a pretty good chance of being visited by the familiars of the Holy Office, in which case the name of his country would prove but a sorry protection. It deserves remark that in the sixteenth century a terrible persecution raged in Spain, excited by the Inquisition, chiefly against many noble and learned persons, who, as having lived in Germany and England, were suspected of being contaminated by the poison of Lutheran principles. An ecclesiastical historian of that very communion who lived at this time in Spain has the following remarkable observations:-" In former times the prisoners that were brought out of the Inquisition to be burnt were mean people, and of a bad race; but now in these latter years, we have seen prisons, scaffolds, and stakes, filled with illustrious persons of noble families, and, with others, who, as to all outward appearances, had great advantages over their neighbours, as well for their learning, as for their picty. Now the fountain of this, and of many more evils, was the fact that our Catholic princes, owing to their great adection for Germany, England, and other countries that

[Nov. 1,

were not in communion with the church of Rome, sent many learned men and preachers to those parts, hoping by their sermons to have converted those who were in error, and to bring them back to the way of truth; but such was their misfortune, that instead of reaping fruit by their diligence, these missionaries, who were sent to give light to others, returned home blind themselves." In another place the same writer says"All the prisoners in the Inquisition of Valladolid, Seville, and Toledo, were persons abundantly well informed. I shall here pass over their names in silence, that I may not by their bad fame stain the honour of their families; so numerous, however, were they, that had the check which was put to the evil been delayed two or three months longer, I am persuaded all Spain would have been put in a flame by them." The first victim who fell upon this occasion was Mr. Nicholas Burton, an English merchant at Seville, in which city he was burnt and all his property seized. His friends and creditors in London, on hearing of his misfortune, sent out one Mr. Frampton, a Catholic, to recover his papers and effects; but the officers of the Inquisition, after putting him off from time to time under various frivolous pretences, laid hold of him at last on a charge of heresy, and it was not without considerable difficulty that he escaped the fate of his countryman. The plea for reviving the Inquisition at the present time is of the saine nature with the apology which the Spanish historian. makes for the persecution in his day; and therefore whatever changes may have taken place in other respects an incontrovertible but melancholy evidence is here given, that the church of Rome remains the same, being neither improved by benefits, nor softened by calamity. But to put the matter beyond the possibility of cavil, let us turn to the other remarkable circumstance which has characterized the restoration of the sovereign pontiff to the chair of St. Peter. When Clement XIV. was urged by the princes of his own communion to issue a bull for the suppression of the Jesuits, he acted with great deliberation, and it was not till after a diligent and impartial inquiry had been made into all the charges brought against this ce lebrated order, the members of which neither wanted the ability nor the means of conducting their defence, that this mild and virtuous pontiff promulgated the decree for its extinction. As a con

1814.]

On the Manuscripts of Mr. Tweddell.

trast to the slow proceeding of his upright predecessor, the present pope had scarcely entered the Vatican after his long exile in France, when he sent forth an edict for the complete restoration of this obnoxious order, which during a long period had proved equally troublesome to Catholic and Protestant governments. As the renewal of the Inquisition is avowedly a measure of coercion and persecution to stop religious inquiry, and to punish the propagators of new opinions, so the recall of the Jesuits springs from that spirit of proselytism by which the church of Rome has ever been distinguished. Thus it is then that while Protestants will be deprived in the Spanish dominions of the open exercise of their religion, and when converts to that faith will there quickly fall under the cognizance of the Inquisition, the missionaries of the order of Jesus will have free access to our shores, and be found engaged in a variety of characters and occupations for the purpose of deceiving the credulous and inveigling the unwary. In this land of toleration the Jesuits will find an ample harvest, and of this we may be assured, from the former labours of the order, that they will not fail to take full advantage of the powers with which they are clothed, and of the indulgence which they will here freely enjoy. The policy of these men

303

its most flourishing days. In proportion
also as these acute and enterprizing men
will by their activity and talent give per-
manency to their own order, so will they
of course render an essential service to
the Roman see, by their singular address
as the instructors of youth, and their in-
defatigable labours as missionaries for
the conversion of heretics. The in-
creasing divisions among Protestants
will present numerous opportunities, of

which none know better than these sa-
gacious men how to make a proper use;
and as it is with them a leading maxim
to assume any garb or profession for the
sake of their community, they will reside
among us under names and denomina-
tions which will effectually screen their
real description and designs from suspi-
cion. In former days this country was
a favourite object to which the attention
and the labours of the Jesuits were di-
rected; and there can be no doubt that
in a short time the British empire will
form one of their principal stations, for
they are by no means ignorant that in
this land of liberty the only laws affect-
ing religious opinions and the teachers of
them, are those which, by rendering the
establishment little more than a cypher,
give energy and success to her adver-
saries.
J. WATKINS.

Sept. 8, 1814.

DELL.

To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine.

SIR,

has rendered even the very appellation On the MANUSCRIPTS of MR. JOHN TWED proverbial, and their skill in the teaching of youth has always been the subject of admiration. The illustrious Bacon bears full testimony to their merit in this respect, for, says he," that excellent part of ancient discipline which consists in education, has been in some sort revived of late times by the colleges of the Jesuits, in regard of which, and some other points concerning human learning, and moral matters, I may say, as Agesilaus said of his enemy Farnabasus: Talis cum sis, utinam noster esses." The same great man observes in another place," On the other hand, we see the Jesuits, who partly in themselves, and partly by the emulation and provocation of their example, have much quickened and strengthened the state of learning; we see, I say, what notable service and reparation they have done to the Roman see." To rebuild the decayed parts of that edifice, to extend its outworks, and to act the part of vigilant janissaries for its defence, these men are now called into service with a fair prospect of advancing their institution to a degree of splendour equal to what it ever had in

IN addition to what your correspondent ALIQUIS has said respecting the manuscript collections and drawings of the late Mr. John Tweddell, I beg leave to mention, that the Levant Company have taken up the business, and are pursuing the enquiry in a manner that does them infinite honour, and will, I trust, produce some satisfactory information. The property of the deceased was, contrary to the customary practice, removed from the care of the factory to the house of the ambassador; but though the packages are reported to have been shipped on board a transport vessel, instead of a man-of-war, no advice of that mode of conveyance was ever sent to the friends of Mr. Tweddell, nor does it appear that any invoice was ever made of the contents. Copies were undoubtedly taken of some of the drawings, and these copies have been very handsomely delivered to the family; so that abundant proof is given that the originals reached Italy at least, if they did not find their way to

304

Character of Lord Bolingbroke.

London: but of this the public will be better able to judge, when a narrauve of the dark affair, with all the circumstances connected with the history of our accomplished countryman, shall be printed. This work is now in a state of forwardness, and it is to be hoped that it will, for the cause of truth, as well as for the honour of the deceased, be hastened through the press without loss of time. It is, however, uo more than justice to observe, that whatever suspicions may be excited by the strange manuer in which these treasures have for so long a period been withheld from the rightful owners of them, not the smallest blame can be alleged against Mr. Spencer Smith, who was at that period the resident minister at the Ottoman court, and whose attentions to Mr. Tweddell, in common with every other English traveller, were uniformly respectful and generous.

SIMPLICIUS.

CHARACTER of LORD BOLINGBROKE. To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine. SIR,

IN the Magazine of Infidelity for August, the Editor, Mr. COMMON SENSE, as he calls himself, gives a description of Battersea, and an account of the reflections which arose in his mind on being admitted into the house where Boling broke resided, but which now, melancholy to relate! belongs to a respectable inaltster and distiller. The pious visitant, however, it seems was hospitably received, and here follows the dialogue which passed between him and the owner, with some meditations, on which I shail have occasion to animadvert. "Alas! said I, [that is Mr. Common Sense,] to the worthy occupier, and are these [that is, the malt bags and barrels, stills and machinery] the representatives of more human genius than England may ever witness on one spot again? No, Sir, he rejomed, I love the NAME and CHAPACTER of Bolingbroke, and I preserve the house as well as I can with RELIGI OUS VENERATION! I often stroke my pipe in Mr. Pope's parlour, and think of him as I walk the part of the terrace opposite his room, and next the water. He then conducted me to this interesting parlour, which is of brown polished oak, with a grate and ornaments of the age of George the First; and before its window stood the portion of the terrace upon which the malt-house bad not encroached, with the Thames moving ma

[Nov. 1,

jestically under its wall. I WAS ON HOLY
GROUND-I DID NOT TAKE OFF MY SHOES
--BUT I DOUBTLESS FELT WHAT
GRIMS

PIL

FEEL AS THEY APPROACH THE

TEMPLES OF JERUSALEM, MECCA, AND JAGGERNAUT Of all poems, and of all CODES OF WISDOM, I [i. e. Mr. Common Sense] admire the ESSAY ON MAN, and ITS DOCTRINES THE MOST, and in this room it was probably planned, discussed, and written!"

I have no doubt that the owner of the house is proud of his apartments, as having been once occupied by a celebrated statesman and an illustrious poet; but I can hardly bring myself to believe that any man of respectable understanding, and virtuous principles, would at this period venture so to commit himself as to express his admiration of the name and character of Bolingbroke, because by such a declaration he must either hetray a gross ignorance, or an esteem for all that is vicious in the human heart and conduct. The political treachery and open immorality of Bolingbroke were so conspicuous, that even infidels were ashamed of him, while they gladly availed themselves of the power of his This genius to gild a rotten cause. man betrayed both sides and all parties in turn; and here let one story suffice out of a thousand that might be related of his abominable depravity. After having been employed in the public service, and taken the oaths to the new government, he went over to France, and became the avowed minister of the son of James the Second, whom he despised, pillaged, and cheated. About the year 1716, a large remittance having been made from Spain, in order to purchase arms secretly to effect a rising in this kingdom, which was to have been headed by the Duke of Ormond, a great part of the money was entrusted to the care of Bolingbroke, who disappeared all of a sudden. After considerable pains taken in searching for the fugitive, he was found by the duke himself in a brothel, and the money all gone. Of this fact an account was written by his grace himself, and the paper is yet in being. So much for the honesty of this famous infidel; who afterwards purchased his pardon of the house of Ha nover by disclosing the correspondence

* From his indecent and even blasphemous allusion to the awful scene on Mount Horeb, it is evident that Mr. Common Sense takes the worshippers of Jehovah, Allah, and Bramah, to be equally rational in their faith, and praiseworthy in their doctrines.

1814.]

Character of Lord Bolingbroke and David Mallett.

that had been confidentially entrusted to him; and thus he recovered his estates and honours at the expense of his integrity, and of all that any man who had the least regard for virtue would have cherished beyond life.

With respect to the poet I shall say little; but all the world knows the trick that he played Bolingbroke in publishing the Patriot King, which had been committed to his private custody; and if the Essay on Man be only an elegant version of the principles broached by the latter, no one who has the least regard for moral truth, or veneration for the inspired volume, will envy the feelings of the person who prefers this beautiful poem, and its philosophical doctrines, to all the codes of wisdom in the world! But what degree of reverence Mr. Common Sense has for the sacred truths of revelation, is evident beyond all question, from the impudent language in which he speaks of his sensations while treading on "the holy ground" that had been conseciated by the amiable Bolingbroke, who, if he worshipped any deity at all, sacrificed to Priapus and Bacchus, in whose service he ruined a good constitution, and car ried about a rotten carcase many years,as an awful witness of the purity of his principles, and the regularity of his life! But Bolingbroke was a rancorous adversary to revealed religion, and this, with some folks, was more thau sufficient to palliate his political errors, his odious apostacy, and his private vices. Even the honest David Mallet, I observe, comes in for a complimentary tribute of respect on this occasion; even that sycophant, to whom Bolingbroke bequeathed the magazine of mischief which was to destroy, in his estimation, the Christian religion, but to which the cowardly infidel, with the pusillanimity common to the tribe, was afsaid to put the match himself. The value of the morality acquired by Mallet in this connexion, may be learnt from

The fundamental principle of this celebrated piece is fatalism, and it is well known that Bolingbroke, with all his scepticism in religious matters, was weak enough to put an implicit confidence in judicial astrology; so that the ingenious Marivaux said to him one day very pointedly, "My lord, if you are not a believer in christianity, it certainly does not arise from the want of faith." It is curious but certain, that Mr. Common Sense has long been an adept in the occult sciences, and he once had the vanity to show the writer of this the horoscope of his nativity erected by another sagacious wizard from elements communicated by himself.

305

the use which he made of it when he sold his pen for the horrid purpose of turning the popular indignation against the unfortunate Byng, who was made a scape-goat to preserve a worthless ministry in power. It is impossible, I think, to look upon the conduct of Mallet throughout this iniquitous act of oppression, without execrating his memory as an assassin of the very vilest description, But where, I ask, did he learn the principles which made him the ready instru ment of accomplishing the destruction of one whose errors, or whose guilt, could not by any means be known to him? Where did Mallet learn the art which enabled him without remorse to sell his conscience and his talents for gold, though he knew that it was the price of blood? Where but in the school of Bolingbroke?—in that school the production of which, it seems, is to be esteemed beyond all the codes of wisdom in the world? Of Mallet one circumstance more, and that too upon authority. This man, towards the close of his life, was in the habit of entertaining a set of men like himself every Sunday, and at these festive meetings religion was always the subject of ridicule. It happened that the servant who attended his master's table, made too free with some of the plate; and being discovered, he was sharply interrogated on the heinousness of his crime, and Mallet rather unluckily asked who had put the design into his head. "Yourself, Sir," replied the culprit; and on being questioned farther, he said, that the discourses which he had been in the habit of hearing completely destroyed all bis moral principles. Upon this the infidel philosopher exclaimed "Were you not afraid of the law and of the terror of public justice?" which drew from the man this pointed retort: "Sir, as you had succeeded in ridding me of all fear of a deity, and of a future state, I thought that I might as well take my chance with regard to law and judgment in this world."

Here for the present I have done with the excellent tendency of infidelity, and the blessings of those doctrines which are the admiration of Mr.Common Sense; but at a future day I may say a little more on the subject.

London, Sept. 15.

ARGUS.

CONDUCT of MR. SHARP the ENGRAVER.
To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine.
SIE,

IN the Times of this day is the following advertisement :—