The
Elector is a Catholic; the people of Saxony are, six sevenths at the
very least, Protestants. He _must_ continue a Catholic, according to the
Polish law, if he accepts that crown. The pride of the Saxons, formerly
flattered by having a crown in the house of their prince, though an
honor which cost them dear,--the German probity, fidelity, and
loyalty,--the weight of the Constitution of the Empire under the Treaty
of Westphalia,--the good temper and good-nature of the princes of the
House of Saxony, had formerly removed from the people all apprehension
with regard to their religion, and kept them perfectly quiet, obedient,
and even affectionate. The Seven Years' War made some change in the
minds of the Saxons. They did not, I believe, regret the loss of what
might be considered almost as the succession to the crown of Poland, the
possession of which, by annexing them to a foreign interest, had often
obliged them to act an arduous part, towards the support of which that
foreign interest afforded no proportionable strength. In this very
delicate situation of their political interests, the speculations of the
French and German _Economists_, and the cabals, and the secret, as well
as public doctrines of the _Illuminatenorden_, and _Freemasons_, have
made a considerable progress in that country; and a turbulent spirit,
under color of religion, but in reality arising from the French rights
of man, has already shown itself, and is ready on every occasion to
blaze out.
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