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An Enquiry into an Origin of Honour; and the Usefulness of Christianity in War by Bernard Mandeville
page 82 of 173 (47%)
Catholick, who is firm in his Belief; is obliged to think, that
whatever Cost is bestow'd upon Canonizations, no Money could be laid
out better. But if we mind, on the other Side, the strong
Sollicitations of the great Men, that either are, or pretend to be the
Relations of the venerable Person, whose Holiness they vouch for; the
vast Pains that are taken, the Intrigues that are carried on for Years
together, to procure this high Favour of the Sacred College; and when
it is obtain'd, what an Honour it is to the whole Family; the Visits
that are paid from all Parts to every Rich Man that belongs to it, and
the Compliments that are made on Account of it; besides the Privileges
they receive from it ever after; If, I say, we mind these Things on
the other Side, we shall find, that in the Motives from which Men sue
for this Honour, there is not a Grain of Religion to an Ounce of
Pride, and that what seems to be a Solemnity to celebrate the Sanctity
of the Dead, is in Reality a Stratagem of the Church to gratify the
Ambition of the Living. The Church of _Rome_ has never made a Step
without Regard to her Temporal Interest, and an After-Thought on her
Successors, _Luther_ and _Calvin_, and some Others of the chief
Adversaries of _Rome_, were Men of great Parts, that have gain'd
themselves Immortal Names; but it must be confess'd, that they rais'd
themselves altogether at the Expence of their Brethren. They gave up
both the Patrimony and Dominion of the Church, and made Presents of
them to the Secular Powers, that would espouse their respective
Causes, and establish their Doctrines; by which, and the destroying of
Purgatory, they not only stript the Clergy of their Wealth and Power
for the present, but likewise took away the Means by which, one Day or
other, it might have been possible for their Successors to retrieve
them. It is well for the Protestant Cause, that the Multitude can't
hear or know the Wishes, that are made in Secret by many of the
Clergy, nor the hearty Ejaculations, which the Men of Spirit among
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