or silk of your own length, exactly. I am solicitous about your figure; convinced, by a thousand instances, that a good one is a real advantage. Mens sana in corpore sano, is the first and greatest blessing. I would add, et pulchro, to complete it. May you have that, and every other! Adieu. [Same date.]
A Century Ago.—The papal power, founded
originally upon the ignorance and superstition of
mankind, extended by the weakness of some princes,
and the ambition of others; is declining of late, in
proportion as knowledge has increased; and owing
its present precarious security not to the religion,
the affection, or the fear, of the temporal powers,
but to their jealousy of each other. The Pope's
excommunications are no longer dreaded; his indulgences
little solicited, and sell very cheap; and his
territories, formidable to no power, are coveted by
many, and will, most undoubtedly, within a century,
be scantled out among the great powers, who have
now a footing in Italy; whenever they can agree
upon the division of the bear's skin. [Oct. 9, 1749.]
The Jesuits.—They have, by turns, been banished,
and with infamy, almost every country in
Europe; and have always found means to be
restored, even with triumph. In short, I know no
