1821

Letter VII Religion

18

6

The state of things therefore in which from an established Priesthood the Government can have any thing in the way of hostility to apprehend is but a forced and necessarily a temporary state of things. It is no other than that state in which a good or less bad government has recently suceeded to a worse: to a worse government with which the order of men in question was, as of course it could not but be, in connection, deriving from it a greater quantity of the external instrument of felicity than it could hope to enjoy under the recent and less beneficent or harmonious[?] form of Government. /In this state of things/ So long therefore as in its view of the matter a prospect remains of the restoration of the excluded bad government its affections[?] and endeavours will continue to be /operate/ on the side and in the endeavour to restore that same excluded government. But no sooner is it in their eyes sufficiently manifest that all hope of seeing the supremely bad government is at an end than they will go over and adhere to the Executive branch of the existing Government whatever it be: of the matter of wealth and of all other instruments of felicity whatsoever is the quantity in their hands, will be added to whatever stock of that same matter is in the possession of the temporal functionaries and in conjunction with it will be employed in the corruption and seduction of the peoples representatives and agent, and in establishing along with them a partnership interest employed in the giving continual encrease of /to/ the quantity of the matter[?] of wealth extracted out of the produce of the labours of the productive classes, and employed in giving encrease to the enjoyments of these productive and non-productive classes.