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 preventing parents from defrauding their children to enrich the Church; but there can be no reason to fear that any serious inconvenience would follow even from the total exemption of the Church from its operation. The time and the causes of danger are gone by.

Again, an augmentation of the number of our bishopricks, is a measure earnestly to be desired, not only for the good of the Church in general, but specially for that of the most neglected districts. The chief impediment to it, has been a jealousy of Churchmen and of Church influence, which opposes any increase in the number of spiritual peers. That this jealousy is most unfounded is obvious from the fact, that our prelates are not now more numerous than in the reign of Henry the Eighth, while the temporal peers have been multiplied nearly eight times. A wholesome influence then exerted on our government might relieve the Church from that