“Our good Pope is labouring in praiseworthy manner for the abolition of abuses. He has, however, not yet realised that one of the reforms most called for is to avoid appointing as members of the Inquisition cardinals who have no more trustworthy knowledge of the matters there to be considered than a shoemaker has of astronomy. The ‘qualificators’ (the examining scholars) have only a vote for counsel. It is with the cardinals that rest the deciding votes and these unfortunately are not weighed but simply counted. How many and serious have been the blunders committed through decisions of the Inquisition (or of the Congregation) in matters of doctrine of which the majority of the cardinals are frankly ignorant!” As an example, on the other hand, of an unquestioning acceptance of the wisdom and authority of the Church in this matter of censorship, may be cited St. Francis of Sales, who writes (in 1608): “We pray our Catholic readers, in order to protect themselves from the contagion of evil influences, to accept without question the book prohibitions of the Holy Church. We may say that we ourselves have always given the strictest obedience to the Church regulations in regard to the reading of condemned books. In no other way can we manifest the full honour in which we hold its authority and our obligations as believers to accept this authority.”[172] Macchiavelli (writing about 1500) observes that if the princes of the Christian States had maintained religion in the form in which it was delivered by its Founder, these States would be more united and happier than they are. He adds, _ne se può fare altra maggiore conjettura della declinatione d’essa, quanto è vedere come quelli popoli che sono più propinqui alla Chiesa Romana, capo della Religione nostra, hanno meno Religione. Et chi considerasse i fondamenti suoi, e vedesse l’uso presente quanto è diverso da quelli, giudicherebbe esser propinquo senza dubbio, ò la rovina ò il flagello. Habbiamo adunque con la Chiesa e coi Preti noi Italiani questo primo obligo, d’essere diventati senza Religione e cattivi_, which Mendham interprets, “the more of Rome, the less of religion.”[173] Sir Edwin Sandys, whose _Europae Speculum_, printed at The Hague in 1629, was translated (from English) into Latin by Francus, gives in this a summary of the literary policy of the Church of his time. He writes: