1821 Oct. 27

To Toreno

3 o

Letter VII Religion

2

In the case of the priestly order I mean always the beneficed and especially the richly beneficed part of it, the great danger is produced by their immoveability for its cause. In the Military, the naval, the Financial, the Diplomatic Establishment the functionaries being removable by the Ministers, and the Ministers by the King; and the King though not removable except in extreme cases being in various ways subject in a certain way only[?]to the Cortes the Members of which are appointed, and at short intervals by the simple process of unreelection removable by the subject many, hence it is that for any branch of duty towards the subject many, a remedy more or less immediate and effectual has place. But the Ecclesiastical orders are not removable but by one another: nor by one another, without a tedious process of which the office[?] is essentially precarious.

In case of provable and proved delinquency, by offences of a certain description which remain to be described they may indeed be made, and by the proposed Code are proposed to be made, and probably /I suppose/ will be made removable upon conviction at the end of a judicial process. But in your country Sir forgive me the remark it is a continually necessary one, judicial processes do not easily ever come[?] as[?] easily come to an end Nor does it seem to me that after any this has been done which it is in the power of words to do towards giving such a of opposition made to government by discourse, in which religious language is employed mischievous discourse must /will/ to such an extent left unpunishable that from the quality of mischief flowing from this source no sensible defalcation will have been effected.