In consistency with these professions, sir John seems desirous of confining his objections to some particulars; but he was unable to conceal how willing he is to lay his axe to the tree, root {83} and branch; for he inserts a note to his speech, in which, not satisfied with protestant objections, he luxuriates in the citation of the "burning of more than fifty publications of Jesuit authors by _the common hangman_;" in the naming of the authors, whose books were burned; and in recording the very terms of the sentence: _seront lacerés et brulés, dans la cour du palais, par l'executeur de la haute justice_ (the high office translated by sir John _common hangman_) _comme seditieux, destructifs de toute principe de la morale Chretienne, enseignant une doctrine meurtrière et abominable, non-seulement contre la sureté de la vie des citoyens, mais même contre celle des personnes sacrées des souverains_. To which is added, a reference to a _Portuguese_ work, for a complete list of the books burned. So much for sir John's _sorrow_ in speaking, in the milder terms of his harangue, on his particular objections, and for _the preference_ he would have given to having his statement _reserved_ for the consideration of a _select committee_. The reader, long before he arrives at this {84} preference of secret publicity, will have learned, from good authority, how to appreciate both the sentence and the judges that pronounced it; which sir John, by his recording it, appears not to have been able to do, in spite of _the number of his friends_, to whom he might have applied for information of the spirit that inflamed the parliament of Paris. But let us see the particular objections made by Sir John Hippisley. Sir John states, that the general of the order being a Russian, the acknowledgment of him by Jesuits in other states is an instance of dependence upon foreign jurisdiction. From this objection, it is to be presumed, that sir John credits the complete despotism, and other horrors, which have been attributed to the character of the general, as well as the prostitution of reason and virtue in all the members of the order, in consequence of the vow of obedience. And he evidently apprehends, that, if we go to war with Russia, the constitution of Great Britain will be endangered by the plots of Jesuits in this country! "We are," says he, "at this hour, {85} on terms of amity with Russia; within how short a period was it otherwise?" In neither country is catholicism the established religion, yet sir John sees, that Jesuits may busy themselves so foully with Greeks and Lutherans, that the pope will be brought in. The objection is really absurd; but, on the _despotism_ of the general, and the _blind_ obedience of the companions of the order, I shall make some remarks, when I consider the institute itself; at present, I shall only repeat, that these are calumnies to which no man would be a dupe, who had ever cast his eye over the pages of that almost inspired body