BERNARDO TANUCCI.

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Englishmen and of England itself were involved, I think itwill prove acceptable for me to give a brief retrospectiveview of the birth and character of the said Ferdinand, aswell as of the circumstances which ought to have causedhim to be numbered with the benefactors, rather than withthe worst enemies, of the human race.

I must begin by a hasty sketch of the reign, as Imay call it, of Bernardo Tanucci, that good man , thanwhom, few have indeed ever lived, who being investedwith almost unlimited power, have made so excellent a useof it for the real benefit of their country and of society atlarge.

It should be borne in mind, by all men of reflective andcandid dispositions, that by far the greater number of theVisirs , prime ministers, or whatever they are called, whohave influenced the destinies of nations through delegatedpower, have often been dubbed “great ” or “eminent,”and even “ immortal, heaven-born” men, by their co-temporaries and admirers. Now, if we inquire what these“ heaven-born ministers ” have done to merit such admira-tion, we shall be told, that they possessed matchless elo-quence in debate ; that they had despotic sway over the“sultan” or “king;” that they were the most skilfulamidst a host of intriguers; that they waged long and suc-cessful and cruel wars against their neighbours, andsucceeded in wringing from the people whom they governedwith so much eclat, a far greater amount of taxes, thanthey were ever before supposed capable of paying ; in fine,that they had left as a legacy to their admiring fellowcountrymen, an overwhelming “ National ” debt, contractedfor the glory of the “ King’s ” service!

Tanucci was a friend to liberty, social improvement, andhostile to priestcraft, lawcraft, and every other fraudulentabuse. Let those who affect to fear the influence of popish

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