** The Romans, though so numerous and powerful a nation, had but very few priests, compared to the Jews. The Augurs were at first only 3, and in process of time were increased to 15. The Arnspices were 12. The Pontifices were at first but 4, and were afterwards increased to 10. The Flamines were but 3. The Sàlit 12. The Feciales, who were 20 in number, though classed by authors among the priesthood, were merely civil officers employed as heralds. And the Vestals, or Nuns of Rome, were only 4; altogether between 50 and 60. Vide Kennett's Roman Antiq. And yet Saint Austin, De Cevitate Dei, Lib. iv. cap. 15, admits that the Romans were so virtuous, that God gave them the empire of the world because they were more virtuous than other nations, vet, with true Christian charity, he says, that they must nevertheless he damned as heathens. We do not find that the priests of other enlightened nations of antiquity were proportionality much more numerous than amoung the Romans. In England at present the number of the priesthood cannot be much less than 20,000; there are near 10,000 parishes, each having one priest at least, several two, and some three or more, exclusive of Deans and Chapters, Prebends, &c. &c. and all these in the established church, as it is called, exclusive of a great variety of other sectaries of different denominations. Other nations had a few priests dedicated to their gods or idols, seldom exceeding a few dozen in a whole nation but the Jewish priesthood constituted a twelfth part of the whole people, and claimed and exercised the privilege of devouring a tenth part of the produce of the country, without contributing any thing to its productive labour.* And it is probable that the Jewish nation alone, though but a miserable handful of semi-barbarous savages, had more priests than the rest of the then known world collectively, and were consequently more vicious and more enslaved than any other people. * The Jewish priesthood being one tribe, or twelfth part of the nation, do not appear to have assumed to themselves much more than an equal proportion, compared to their numbers, in taking the tithe or tenth part of the produce of the land, however unjust it may appear that they should be supported in idleness at the expence of the industry of the rest: but the English priesthood, though abundantly numerous, do not form above one five-hundredth part of the whole nation, yet they have the conscience to take also the tenth of the whole produce, which is near fifty times more than their just share, according to the proportion of their romish models, from whose example they pretend to derive them.