Excerpt from Miscellanies, Vol. 1 of 3: Literary and Religious The materials of which these three Volumes consist are derived for the most part from works published at intervals, from time to time, during a long period of years, which, as far as the Author is concerned, are, humanly speaking, now drawing to a close. He has employed the comparative leisure of a summer vacation in putting them together, with the hope, that, if they are of any value and are worth being preserved, they may thus perhaps acquire a permanence, which, in their separate form, they could hardly hope to obtain. In reviewing those portions of these Volumes, which refer to the religious and political condition and prospects of some foreign Countries, - especially France, Italy, and Germany, the Author has recognized, not without feelings of regret, that the apprehensions he entertained when he wrote what is here published, have been too fully verified by events; and that providential opportunities then offered to those Countries of rearing up and consolidating the fabrics of National Institutions on the basis of Scriptural, Primitive, and truly Catholic Christianity, have almost passed away; it may be hoped, not irrecoverably. He also trusts that the warnings may not be lost upon England, which are presented by those Countries, of dangers, - domestic, social, moral, and political as well as religious, - with which they are now menaced from Infidelity and Anarchy on the one side, and from Superstition and spiritual Despotism on the other, claiming divine prerogatives, and usurping universal do minion, in defiance of Reason, Scripture, and History, and, which, it is deeply to be deplored, by strange doctrines. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.