But let us, nevertheless, follow Mr. Seymour on his own chosen ground, He thinks the Catholic country people may, in the absence of peculiar temptations, be as good as the Protestant; and that the state of great cities will show more the influence of religion on the morals of the people, We think the opposite; for in great cities there are immense masses of degraded people, who abandon the practice of religion, never go to church, and for whom the Protestant church, at least, would be apt to disclaim all responsibility. The country people are within the knowledge and the voice of the preacher or the priest, and religion exercises its proper influence upon them. {56} He selects London, on the Protestant side, as the largest city in the world, the richest, and where there are "the most numerous, the strongest, and the most varied temptations;" and, of course, where there should naturally be the most vice and crime. But facts contradict theory. The percentage of illegitimate births in London is 4.2, while that for all England and Wales is 6.5, and in the country districts, where the "numerous, strong, and varied temptations" are wanting, it varies from 9 to over 11. [Footnote 26] [Footnote 26: _Statistical Journal_, 1862.] London is compared with Paris, Brussels, Munich, and Vienna; and the rates are given as follows: Proportion Of Illegitimate Births. In Paris, Roman Catholic, thirty-three per cent. In Brussels, Roman Catholic, thirty-five per cent. In Munich, Roman Catholic, forty-eight per cent. In Vienna, Roman Catholic, fifty-one per cent. In London, Protestant, four per cent. and then, to show that this fearful disproportion exists not only in the capital cities, but also in other smaller ones, we have another table: Protestant England. R. C. Austria. Bristol and Clifton, 4 per ct. Troppau, 26 per ct. Bradford, 8 per ct. Zara, 30 per ct. Birmingham, 6 per ct. Innspruck, 22 per ct. Brighton, 7 per ct. Laybach, 38 per ct. Cheltenham, 7 per ct. Brunn, 42 per ct. Exeter, 8 per ct. Linz, 46 per ct. Liverpool, 6 per ct. Prague, 47 per ct. Manchester, 7 per ct. Lemberg, 47 per ct. Plymouth, 5 per ct. Klagenfort, 56 per ct. Portsea, 5 per ct. Gratz, 65 per ct. The inference from these figures, drawn with many exclamations of surprise and horror, is, that the Protestant religion is ten times as powerful against crime and vice as the Catholic, and to create an overwhelming conviction of the essential corruption of the latter. Nothing is further from the truth. London, Liverpool, Birmingham, etc., are as corrupt as any cities of the world. The cities of France and Austria need not fear the comparison, and the more thoroughly it is made the better. J. D. Chambers, Recorder of Salisbury, a Protestant, says: [Footnote 27] [Footnote 27: _Church and World_, 1867.]