"In that case our mission would terminate, as it would no longer be possible for our Church to maintain its establishments in that country. We must, to use the common phrase, shut up shop. But such a union is impossible. You might sooner expect the dog to be in friendship with the cat, the wolf and the lamb to feed together, or the fox and the goose to share the same meal, than that these different sects should harmonize together. I do not speak so much of the people as of their different ministers. They are always disputing among themselves, frequently on very trivial matters; and we gain ground from their dissensions. It is our business, therefore, to add fuel to the flame of their controversy. Should they relax ever so little, we endeavour to invent some new cause for debate, and to engage in it the most influential and wealthy individuals. It would be a sad affair for us were a religious alliance to take place in England--if the Bishop of the Established Church, for example, gave the hand of fellowship to the Scotch Presbyterian and the Dissenter; the reproach of Protestantism, on account of its division, would then be taken away, and the cause would present a new aspect to the Catholic world! "I can tell you, moreover, that the desire to become Protestant would then extend even into Italy, which at present smiles at the disputes between the ministers of various denominations in England; similar to the quarrels which once prevailed in Italy between the different orders of monks, as to whether the robes of the minister should be white or black, and as to their specific form--for an Episcopalian would never preach his sermon in a Geneva cloak, neither would a Presbyterian pray to God from the liturgy of the Church of England;--whether the sermon should be written or extempore; whether the prayers should be offered up standing or kneeling; whether the organ should accompany the choir or not; and other points not worth enumerating, but which not unfrequently become state questions. "You know the great political axiom, 'Divide and conquer.' As long as we can keep the Reformation divided, it will never be strong enough to attack us. In its early period it could do so, because then it was united. Those were terrible times for the Church of Rome! All her means and all her soldiers were then put in requisition. Paul the Third, in this very town of Tivoli, in the year 1540, saw that an other Order was necessary to save the bark of St. Peter from shipwreck; another body of soldiers, who should receive secret instructions how to combat against Protestantism; by dividing, and putting it in opposition to itself. It was for this especial object that the Jesuits were instituted. Think how much it must have cost to accomplish their purpose without discovery! The disclosure of their proceedings would involve some frightful particulars.