Persons, however, more able
than I am think otherwise. But whatever the merits of this union may be,
to make it a _menace_, it must be shown to be an _evil_, and an evil
more particularly to those who are threatened with it than to those who
hold it out as a terror. I really do not see how this threat of an union
can operate, or that the Catholics are more likely to be losers by that
measure than the churchmen.
The humors of the people, and of politicians too, are so variable in
themselves, and are so much under the occasional influence of some
leading men, that it is impossible to know what turn the public mind
here would take on such an event. There is but one thing certain
concerning it. Great divisions and vehement passions would precede this
union, both on the measure itself and on its terms; and particularly,
this very question of a share in the representation for the Catholics,
from whence the project of an union originated, would form a principal
part in the discussion; and in the temper in which some gentlemen seem
inclined to throw themselves, by a sort of high, indignant passion, into
the scheme, those points would not be deliberated with all possible
calmness.
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