mmmi.: 
 
 1 L,L, 
 
CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE PASCAL COLLECTION 
 
 OF 
 
 GEORGE L. HAMILTON 
 
Cornell University Library 
 BX4720.P36 P3 1849 
 
 Provincial letters o* Pafpal /.wtli an 
 
 3 1924 029 444 456 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029444456 
 
PROVINCIAL LETTERS. 
 
6' 
 
 fi 
 
 11 
 
 ' W ' 
 
 < I 
 
 Wf^ 
 
 ) \ 
 
 
 X 
 
 '-■\ 
 
 Jtci?>j7^r ^. f"°Ij7,tho.I,r)T,,i.t>r. 
 
 P-^" ^ T. 
 
 \ 
 
 U-,*' 
 
 ,=^-' 
 
 ^ ^ ^ £ A L 
 
 '^i^fe ilfiwi 
 
 'lovr p.a'-r 
 
THE PROVINCIAL LETTERS 
 
 PASCAL; 
 
 AN "ESSAY ON PASCAL, CONSIDERED AS A WRITER 
 AND MORALIST," 
 
 BY M. YILLEIAIN, 
 
 PEER OF FRANCE, LATE MINISTER OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, &C. 
 
 NEWLY TRANSLATED FROM THE FEENCH, 
 WITH MEMOm, NOTES, AND APPENDIX. 
 
 BY GEORGE PEARCE, ESQ. 
 
 ' Un monument qui n'est qu'une oeuvre de restauration, mais qui durera, puisqu'il 
 enferme les reliquea d'un des plus beaux genies qui aient lionor^ la France et 
 l'liumanit6." — Faugere. 
 
 I 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS, 
 
 PATERN OSTER-RO W. 
 
 MDCCCXLIX. 
 
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 In bringing anew before the English pubUc the 
 present work, the Translator feels it to be proper 
 briefly to state the motives which have led to the 
 undertaking. 
 
 The only translation, of a comparatively late 
 date, with which he is acquainted, was published 
 in London, as far back as the year 1816. The 
 writer has no means of knowing what was the 
 amount of popularity which that work obtained ; 
 but it seems to have, at present, entirely lapsed 
 from circulation, it being only by accident that 
 he was able to procure access to a copy. As a 
 period equal to an entire generation of man, 
 therefore, has elapsed since that publication ap- 
 peared, while the great subjects of which it treats 
 have, in the intervening years, lost undoubtedly 
 no part of their interest or importance, it may be 
 justly deemed not unseasonable now to recal 
 attention to a work, which has ever held, and still 
 
vi translator's preface. 
 
 continues to hold, the highest rank among the 
 ornaments of French Uterature. 
 
 The translation referred to is also singularly 
 incomplete; inasmuch as, besides other import- 
 ant deficiencies, it has entirely omitted the two 
 closing Letters, Nos. 19 and 20, of the original 
 series. The one of these (No. 20), contain- 
 ing a masterly argument against the contem- 
 plated formation of an inquisitorial tribunal in 
 France, under the auspices of the Society of 
 Jesuits — although attributed to another member 
 of the Port Royal, the accomplished Le Maitre* — 
 was evidently put forth with the entire concur- 
 rence, and probably with the aid, of Pascal ; and 
 always formed part of the original publication. 
 The other (the 19 th) is a short but beautiful 
 fragment, undoubtedly from his pen, in which 
 Pascal bears a closing testimony to the virtues of 
 the persecuted Port Royalists, and records his 
 last indignant protest against their oppressions. 
 The portion extant is composed with exquisite 
 grace and polish — to such a degree, that, from 
 its imperfect state, it might seem as if even his 
 practised pen could scarcely satisfy itself with the 
 performance — and it abruptly breaks oif in the 
 
 * Anthony, the Advocate ; not Isaac, his brother (more commonly desig- 
 nated De Sacy) the translator of the Scriptures, &c. 
 
TRANSLATORS PREFACE. vii 
 
 midst, probably — as it is without date — from the 
 rapid advance of his last oppressive and fatal 
 maladies ! * These valuable papers are now sup- 
 plied ; as well as the two supplementary Letters 
 following the 12th and the 17th, which are not 
 given in all the editions, and are thought to have 
 been partly the work of some of Pascal's friends 
 in conjunction with himself (probably Nicole and 
 Le Maitre), but which are full of interest, and 
 cannot be omitted without materially impairing 
 the effect of the series. 
 
 The present work has also the advantage of 
 being enriched with the Prefatory Essay which 
 its latest and most distinguished French editor, 
 M. Villemain, has contributed to the edition from 
 which this translation has been made, together 
 with explanatory Notes from the same able 
 source. The latter will excite, in all who are 
 interested in the period to which the work refers, 
 regret that they are not more numerous. Of the 
 former, eulogium would be here superfluous : it 
 has but to be read to commend itself to every 
 one capable of appreciating sound taste and ele- 
 gant criticism. 
 
 * Fortunately the manuscripts of Pascal supply some memoranda — although 
 imperfect and disjointed, of the course of argument and illustration further 
 intended to be pursued, could the Letter have been completed. (See Appen- 
 dix, No. 8.) 
 
vm 
 
 But the principal inducement to the present 
 undertaking arises from the inadequate manner 
 in which this noble work has been hitherto ren- 
 dered. In translating a composition that rises 
 little above the ordinary level, fidelity to the 
 author's meaning, and correctness of language, 
 are sufficient. But, if the work be one of a 
 high order of literary beauty — one, whose pages 
 delight not less from intrinsic excellence — their 
 power of reasoning and variety of illustration, 
 than from felicities of diction and graces of style 
 — ^in such a case, the effort to do justice to the 
 great original should rise proportionably higher. 
 The ear should be carefully relieved from the 
 unpleasing effect of foreign idiom. Where the 
 genius of the native tongue has sanctioned ex- 
 pressions, that, in a bolder vernacular, seem in- 
 sipid, they should be raised : where, to a more 
 sober taste, the language appears too exalted, it 
 should be subdued. Especially should sympathy 
 be shown by the translator with the higher excel- 
 lences of the original composition. He should 
 kindle with its ardour, and rise with its elevation. 
 In those passages, in which genius is wont to 
 gather up her powers, and carry with resistless 
 orce the passions of the reader — and in such 
 passages none abound more than Pascal — on 
 
translator's preface. ix 
 
 such occasions — when the loftiest reach of 
 thought pours its conceptions into a mould of 
 classic beauty — he should then aim at something 
 of a kindred vigour, and give his humbler aid to 
 transfer with fidelity the features of his great 
 model. His art is, after all, but an imitative one. 
 The thought — the argument — the eloquence ; the 
 spirit and Ufe, are all the author's. But yet, in 
 the subordinate sphere he occupies, there is a 
 measure of excellence to be aspired to ; a merit 
 analogous to that in the sister-arts, in which the 
 painting or the statue wiU be so skilfully copied, 
 that the practised eye of the connoisseur only can 
 detect the imitation. The difference, however, 
 here is, that if any measure of resemblance be 
 achieved, no deception — as in the other cases — 
 can be contemplated. The object in view is only 
 to court respect and admiration for the master- 
 mind that is attempted to be traced. 
 
 And if, indeed, no more than a very slight 
 approach to such a standard as is now prescribed 
 has been accompUshed in the present work, it 
 has been fi-om no want on the part of the trans- 
 lator of an admiration, approaching to enthu- 
 siasm, for the great writer, whose steps he has 
 endeavoured to follow ; and if he should succeed 
 in diffusing a taste for his excellences and beau- 
 
 a s 
 
X translator's prefack. 
 
 ties throughout a larger sphere than that in 
 which they have been hitherto appreciated, he 
 will feel himself amply rewarded. 
 
 In another part of the volume will be found a 
 short Biographical sketch of Pascal, together 
 with a few remarks upon his compositions, more 
 especially with reference to the work now pre- 
 sented to the reader. Occasional notes have 
 been appended by the translator; and in the 
 Appendix are put together some particulars re- 
 lating to the persons and the circumstances most 
 prominently referred to in the course of this 
 volume, with documents which will further tend 
 to its elucidation. 
 
 Blackheath, November, 1846. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Notice of M. Villemain xvii 
 
 Essay of M. Villemain, ' On Pascal as a Writer 
 AND A Moralist' ...... xxiv 
 
 Memoir op Pascal xlvii 
 
 PEOVINCIAL LETTERS. 
 
 Letter I. On tte Disputes of the Sorbonne, and the device 
 of the ' Pouvoir prochain,' (the ' proximate power,') 
 of which the Mohnists availed themselves to bring 
 about the censure of M. Amauld .... page 1 
 
 Letter IT. On ' Sufficient Grace.' — Reply of the ' Provincial ' 
 to the two first Letters from his Priend . page 14 
 
 Letter III. (Intended as a Eeply to the preceding.) — The 
 injustice, absurdity, and impotency of the Censure on 
 M. Amauld page 29 
 
 Letter IV. On Actual and ever-present Grace, and on Sins 
 of Ignorance page 40 
 
XU CONTENTS. 
 
 Letter V. Object of the Jesuits in establishing a new System 
 of Morality. Two sorts of Casuists among them ; 
 many relaxed, and some severe : reason of the differ- 
 ence. Explanation of the doctrine of ' Probability.' 
 Multitude of modem and obscure Authors substituted 
 for the ancient Fathers page 57 
 
 Lettee VI. Various artifices of the Jesuits to elude the 
 sanctions of the Gospel, the Councils, and the Popes. 
 Certain consequences deducible from their doctrine 
 of ' Probability.' Their laxities in favour of Incum- 
 bents, Priests, Monastic Orders, and Servants. Story 
 of Jean D'Alba page 77 
 
 Letter VII. On the contrivance of the Casuists for ' regu- 
 lating the Motive.' Their permission to take Life in 
 defence of Honour and Property, extended even to 
 Priests and the Eehgious Orders. Curious question 
 proposed by Caramuel, whether a Jesuit may lawfully 
 kill a Jansenist ........ page 96 
 
 Letter VIII. Corrupt Maxims of the Jesuits respecting 
 Judges, Usurers, the Mohatra Contract, Bankrupts, 
 Restitution, &c. Various other extravagances of the 
 Casuists page 117 
 
 Letter IX. On the Corruptions introduced by the Jesuits 
 into the worship of the Virgin. Various facilities 
 invented by them for attaining Salvation without 
 trouble, and whUe in the indulgence of the enjoy- 
 ments and conveniences of life. Their doctrines 
 respectibg Ambition, Envy, Gluttony, Equivocation, 
 Mental Eeservation, licence to be permitted to Young 
 Eemales, Female Dress, Play, Eules for attending 
 Mass ..•..• page 137 
 
CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 Letter X. AHeviations introduced by tie Jesuits into the 
 Sacrament of Penance by their maxims, respecting 
 Confession, Eestitution, Absolution, proximate occa- 
 sions of Sin, Contrition, and Love of God fage 156 
 
 Letter XL (Addressed to the Eeverend the Jesuit-Fathers.) 
 — ^Errors of a ridiculous nature may properly be refuted 
 by ridicule. The restrictions that ought to be observed 
 in the use of it : that these have been observed by 
 Montaltius, and over-passed by the Jesuits. Impious 
 buffooneries of Pere Le Moine and Pfere Garasse. 
 
 page 177 
 
 Letter XII. Refutation of the chicaneries of the Jesuits 
 respecting Alms-giving and Simony . , page 197 
 
 Letter Supplementary. — Eefatation of the Jesuits' Eeply to 
 the 12th Letter joafire 218 
 
 Letter XIII. — The Doctrine of Lessius on Homicide identical 
 with that of Victoria. How easy it is to pass from 
 Speculation into Practice. Why the Jesuits availed 
 themselves of this, futile distinction, and its ineflScacy 
 for their justification page 237 
 
 Letter XIV. — Eefatation, from the Fathers, of the Jesuit- 
 Doctrines of Homicide. Passing Eeply to their various 
 Calumnies, and comparison of their Eegulations with 
 the Formalities observed in the condemnation of cri- 
 minals VO'Se 257 
 
 Letter XV.— The Jesuits exclude Calumny from their Cata- 
 logue of Crimes, and make no scruple of availing 
 themselves of it to molest their Enemies . page 278 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 Letter XVI. — ^Atrocious Calumnies of the Jesuits against emi- 
 nent Ecclesiastics and devout Women . Tpage 300 
 
 Letter XVII.— (Addressed to the Pere Annat). By exposing 
 the doubtfidness of Jansenius' Sentiments it becomes 
 clear that there is no Heresy in the Church. The una- 
 nimous consent of aU Theologians, and chiefly the Jesu- 
 its, proves that the authority of Popes and Councils is 
 not infaUible upon questions of Faith , . page HX 
 
 Letter Supplementary. — (To the Pere Annat), on his work 
 entitled " The Good Eaith of the Jansenists," &c. 
 
 •page 359 
 
 Letter XVIII. — (To the Pere Annat) Yet more incontestible 
 proofs, even from the Eeply of Pere Annat, that no 
 Heresy actually exists in the Church ; every one con- 
 demns the Doctrine attributed to Jansenius, and there- 
 fore aU the Paithful are agreed upon the sentiments 
 contained in the Five Propositions. Important dif- 
 ference between Questions of Pact and of Principle, 
 and Demonstration that in Matters of Pact we should 
 rather rely on the evidence of Sight than on any Hu- 
 man Authority page 369 
 
 Letter XIX. — (Addressed to Pere Annat), a Fragment 
 
 page 400 
 
 Letter XX. — Published under the title of " Letter of an Ad- 
 vocate of Parliament to one of his Friends, respecting 
 the Projected Inquisition in France, on occasion of 
 the recent Bull of Pope Alexander VII." page 402 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 NO. PAGE 
 
 1 . Papal and State Condemnation of the Provincial Letters 425 
 
 2. Memoir of Amauld 431 
 
 3. Nicole 443 
 
 4. De Sacy (Isaac Le Maitre) 446 
 
 5. Pfere Annat, Royal Jesnit Confessor . .453 
 
 6. Duke de Eouannez 454 
 
 7. Extract from " Essay on the Passion of Love " . .457 
 
 8. Supplementary Memoranda for Provincial Letter No. 19 459 
 
 9. Extract from " Essay on Eloquence " 464 
 
 10. Profession of Eaith 465 
 
 11. Paper found on the person of Pascal, styled "Amulet " 466 
 
 12. Autograph 467 
 
 13. Epitaphs 468 
 
M. VILLEMAIK 
 
 The following brief Notice of the distinguished writer of the 
 following Essay (derived from the most authentic sources), 
 will, it is presumed, he acceptable to the English Reader. 
 
 M. Abel Francois Villemain, was born in the year 1791. 
 He commenced his studies at an early age in the University 
 of Paris, and soon attracted the notice of M, Fontane, then at 
 its head, by his superior capacity, and the merits of his college- 
 exercises. He was, in consequence, when only in his nine- 
 teenth year, appointed to the Professorship of the Belles 
 Letters in the Normal School ; and two years after — in 1812 
 — acquired high distinction by a Latin oration, pronounced 
 according to annual custom, before the whole University. 
 
 From that period dates the commencement of his eminent 
 literary career. The first of his performances that came 
 before the public, was his " E16ge on Montaigne," which 
 gained the prize awarded by the class of " Language and 
 Literature;" his competitors being some of the most consider- 
 able names then on the roll of the University. In 1814 he 
 was appointed " Supplementary Professor of History," and 
 his opening discourse in that department tended greatly to 
 enhance his reputation. In this essay he gave an elaborate 
 portraiture of the state of Europe during the fourteenth cen- 
 tury, the subsequent revival of literature and civilization, the 
 encroachments of regal prerogative by which it was accom- 
 
XVIIl MEMOIR OP M. VILLEMAIN. 
 
 panied, and the rapid growth, notwithstanding, of industry, 
 commerce, and arts. 
 
 In the same year, M. Villemain acquired further distinction 
 by carrying a similar university prize, for an Essay " On the 
 advantages and inconveniences of Criticism." His preceding 
 efforts had given much promise of literary eminence, and the 
 present was regarded as its full realization. The production 
 in .question rendered essential service to the cause of good taste 
 and correct criticism, and tended greatly to lower the preten- 
 sions of those who, while literature had fallen to a low ebb, 
 had assumed, with very insuificient qualifications, to be the 
 directors of the public mind. On this occasion, it being the 
 eventful period of the meeting of the Allied Sovereigns in 
 Paris, the youthful author was awarded the prize for his per- 
 formance in the presence of those distinguished personages ; 
 and, contrary to the custom of the University, was allowed 
 himself to read his essay from the rostrum. This he did with 
 great effect, prefacing its recital with an eloquent exordium, 
 adapted to the remarkable occasion of the assembly. 
 
 His next production was, an " E16ge on Montesquieu," 
 containing a luminous analysis and commentary upon his 
 great work, the " Spirit of the Laws ; " which also obtained 
 the Prize of Eloquence of the French University in its 
 sitting of August 1826. Shortly after this, M. Villemain 
 passed from the chair of Modern History to that of " Elo- 
 quence," where his reputation was progressively augmented 
 by the stores of learning, both ancient and modem, which he 
 brought to bear upon the studies and duties of his important 
 office. From this period his history belongs less to the 
 annals of the University than to those of the literature and 
 politics of France. 
 
 His next important publication was a " History of Oliver 
 Cromwell," in two volumes. This production has been, as 
 was to be expected, the subject of much criticism, according 
 as the political views of the reader varied ; but all agree that 
 it bears the stamp of originality and genius. It was simul- 
 
MEMOIR OP M. VILLEMAIN. xix 
 
 taneously translated into German and Italian. He was at this 
 time — August 1821 — elected a member of the " Academie 
 Frangoise" in the place of M. Fontane, deceased; whose 
 funeral oration and eulogism (a custom pecuUar to France) he 
 pronounced. 
 
 In the same year he published a translation of the newly- 
 found manuscript of Cicero " De Republic^," accompanied 
 by a series of notes, showing much learning and research, 
 illustrative of the ancient Roman policy and habits. This 
 was followed, in 1823, by a work of still more general interest, 
 entitled " Discours et Meldnges literaires ; " and that, a few 
 years after, by another, viz. "Nouveaux Meldnges historiques, 
 et literaires." These volumes contain, among many other 
 papers, such as that on " Funeral Orations," " Discourses 
 before the University, &c." a Series of critical notices of the 
 most eminent writers of France and other countries — Fenelon, 
 Milton, I'Hopital, Shakspeare, Pope, &c. ; and among these 
 is the eloquent composition now presented to the public, his 
 Essay on the genius and writings of Pascal. In these VO' 
 lumes, also, a prominent place is occupied by a course of 
 essays on the " Decline of Polytheism," " Effects of the 
 stoical philosophy of the Antonines," and the " Progress of 
 Christianity and of Christian eloquence ; " all of which ex- 
 hibit an extent of erudition and a depth of thought, which 
 combine to place their author in the very highest rank of mo- 
 dern writers. The translations also interspersed throughout 
 these works, especially those from the Fathers, are distin- 
 guished by purity and elegance ; and his portraitures of St. 
 Jerome and Augustin are drawn with the force and eloquence 
 of an accomplished biographer, and — which enhances their 
 interest — the enthusiastic warmth of one who knew how to 
 appreciate the excellences of those holy men, 
 
 M. Villemain's poUtical and official course remains to be 
 briefly noticed. His earliest appointment, in 1816, was one 
 especially suited to his hterary talents — that of Director of 
 the Press and Superintendent of the State Library, a duty 
 
XX MEMOIR OP M. VILLEMAIN. 
 
 which is placed in France under the department of the 
 Minister of the Interior. This office he, however, in 1820 
 relinqvdshed, on the retirement of M. de Gazes ; but still 
 retained that of Master of Bequests to the Council of State, 
 which had been conferred upon him simultaneously with the 
 former. In 1825, he commenced an ardent advocacy of the 
 cause of the Greeks against their Turkish oppressors, on 
 which occasion he published, with a view to impress the 
 public mind on their behalf, his " Lascaris," together with 
 a Resume of the history of modern Greece. The active part 
 that he took after this, in defence of the liberty of the press, 
 contrary to the views of the existing administration, lost him 
 the favour of government ; and in 1829 he was deprived of 
 his last remaining office, that of Master of Requests to the 
 Council : on the other hand, the line of conduct he thus adopted 
 raised him in public favour, and marks of popularity and dis- 
 tinction were lavished upon him. 
 
 A change of administration, however, taking place shortly 
 after this, the course of affairs became more favourable to 
 enlightened liberty, and the appreciation of literature. At 
 that period M. Villemain formed an intimate union with the 
 present distinguished Minister of France, M. Guizot ; and 
 they combined their efforts with much effect for the promo- 
 tion of these objects. A fresh course of lectures on a variety 
 of interesting subjects, was entered upon by Villemain, which 
 were afterwards revised and pubhshed. Among these appear 
 — ^which will invest them with especial interest to the English 
 reader — his striking essays on the genius of Richardson (treat- 
 ing more particularly of his " Clarissa,") and those upon the 
 writings of Gibbon, Robertson, &c. 
 
 A short time previous to the Revolution of 1 830, he had 
 been elected to a seat in the Chamber of Representatives, as 
 deputy for St. Eure. At that important epoch he again acquired 
 distinction by maintaining in the Chamber the law for the 
 independence of the Judges ; and his efforts were considered 
 to be mainly instrumental in carrying that measure. Being 
 
MEMOIR OF M. VILLEMAIN. XXI 
 
 shortly after this appointed to the office of VicePresident of 
 the Royal Council of Public Instruction, and a re-election 
 being required, on his taking office, to his seat in the Cham- 
 ber — as is the case in our own country — he was unsuccessful 
 in obtaining again the suffrages of his constituents. The 
 government, however, too well appreciated his talents, and 
 his effectiveness in debate, to be willing to dispense with his 
 assistance in the legislature, and he was immediately elevated 
 to the dignity of the peerage, by ordonnance dated fifth May 
 1832. In that new sphere of duty he continued, as he had 
 done in the lower Chamber, to take a leading and influential 
 part in public proceedings, and was especially distinguished 
 by a quality — far less common in the French parliament than 
 in ours — the force and brilliancy of his extemporaneous 
 speeches. 
 
 On the 13th May 1839, M. Villemain was appointed to the 
 important office of Minister of Public Instruction ; but re- 
 signed the Department, in company with his colleagues in 
 office, at the latter end of February in the ensuing year, in 
 consequence of the rejection of the dotation to the Duke of 
 Nemours. 
 
 In addition to the publications of M. Villemain already 
 noticed are, a " Treatise on the Literature of the eighteenth 
 century ; " " Reflections on the French language," form- 
 ing the preface to the French Academy's dictionary ; a 
 collection of Funeral Orations ; a History of the EngUsh lite- 
 rature of Queen Anne's reign ; a variety of discourses, essays, 
 memoirs, and reviews, too numerous to be here described ; 
 and, last, his edition of Pascal's Provincial Letters (from 
 which the present translation has been made,) with illustrative 
 notes, and the Preliminary essay now brought before the 
 Enghsh reader, and which originally formed the introduction 
 to that work. A striking feature in the literary labours of 
 this justly distinguished person is the interest evinced by him 
 in the great writers of our country, and his efforts to diffuse 
 
XXll MEMOIR OP M. VILLEMAIN. 
 
 an acquaintance with, and a taste for those fine models in 
 France. 
 
 In reviewing M. Villemain's career, thus hastily sketched, 
 a remarkable similarity suggests itself between its leading 
 features — and even the principal incidents of his life — ^and 
 those of an eminent countryman of our own. Lord Brougham. 
 In both, the predominant qualities are seen to be, an untiring 
 energy of mind, and activity of intellect ; both have exhibited 
 a like ardent pursuit of literary and political distinction ; 
 the fortune of both has been to enjoy, in their respective 
 countries, the two departments of the legislature for the dis- 
 play of their great powers of debate ; and — as if to complete 
 the parallel — ^both have temporarily attained to dignified, 
 but short-lived official eminence. The literary achievements 
 of the French minister have been perhaps the most diversified 
 and matured; but that superiority is compensated, in the 
 case of his English contemporary, by a legal acumen — if not 
 depth — which the nature of M. Villemain's education and 
 early habits could not have enabled him to acquire. It is not 
 necessary to pursue the comparison with more minuteness ; 
 and it must be left to posterity to decide which of the two 
 has best improved, for the benefit of their respective countries, 
 the high gifts and qualifications with which both are endowed. 
 
 This short notice cannot be more appropriately concluded 
 than with the elegant tribute paid to M. Villemain by a 
 fellow-labourer in one branch of his studies — M. Faugfere — 
 the indefatigable and enthusiastic Editor of the latest and 
 most accurate collection of- Pascal's "Thoughts" and mis- 
 cellaneous writings. To that work the then Minister had, 
 in his official capacity in connexion with the public archives, 
 rendered much valuable asssistance, and his services are thus 
 recorded by its grateful author : " Nous aimons k consigner 
 ici 1' expression de notre gratitude, ancienne et nouvelle, envers 
 un illustre 6crivain, dont I'amiti^ est pour nous un charme et 
 im honneur. Au miheu des soins et de la fatigue des affaires, 
 
MEMOIR OF M. VILLEMAIN. XXIU 
 
 il trouve place encore pour ces conversations pleines de bon 
 sens et d'esprit, d' Erudition et de grdce, on nous avons puis6 
 plus d'une fois des conseils et des encouragemens. Nous le 
 remercions non seulment de I'empressement qu'il a montr^ 
 comme Ministre, a faire mettre k notre disposition les manu- 
 scripts de la Bibliothfeque Royal, et k nous autoriser a les 
 publier ; mais surtout de I'int^r^t amical qu'il n'a cessd de 
 nous t^moigner dans cette occasion." 
 
ON PASCAL, 
 
 CONSIDERED AS A WRITER AND A MORALIST. 
 BY M. VILLEMA.IN, 
 
 PEER OF FRANCE, LATE MINISTER OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, 
 ETC., ETC. 
 
 In surveying the varieties of human knowledge, we perceive 
 two great divisions, under which all the acquirements of the 
 intellect arrange themselves. In the one, the mind is occupied 
 upon matter ; in the other, upon itself. The one comprehends 
 the whole science of external objects, from the most ordinary 
 piece of mechanism, to the great frame-work of the heavens ; 
 the other takes for its study the heart of man ; and the 
 instruments of its research are. Morality, Eloquence, and 
 Poetry. 
 
 Can the same mind, it may be asked, acquire the mastery 
 of both these great fields of knowledge ? Or, is their sepa- 
 ration as insurmountable as their diversity is manifest ? "When 
 physical science was elementary and imperfect, it did not suf- 
 fice to give active exercise to a powerful understanding ; and, 
 in that stage also, it was compelled to call in the aid of the 
 imagination, in order to conceal its own ignorance and mis- 
 takes. Pythagoras, who conveyed to the Greeks the science 
 of numbers, inculcated his system in harmonious verse ; and 
 the divine Plato rested his brilUant metaphysics on geometri- 
 cal conclusions. But when Science had succeeded in gathering 
 into her domain a large store of observations and facts, she 
 
BY M. VILLEMAIN. XXV 
 
 was compelled to retire within herself, and to maintain, hence- 
 forth, an independent existence. Thus, the advance of human 
 knowledge produced a divorce hetween Science and Literature ; 
 and the enlargement of our understanding led to a separation 
 in its pursuits ; as an empire, growing too extensive, falls 
 necessarily into independent provinces. 
 
 If we look at the individuals who have, at any time, endea- 
 voured to challenge an exemption from this common law of 
 human weakness and limitation, we find our observation the 
 more confirmed. Where they have succeeded in achieving 
 some exceptions, they have never brought them to bear upon 
 the same points. Perfection in the one object, has ever been 
 gained at the expence of another ; and the same mind has 
 alternately exhibited mediocrity and greatness. One man 
 there was — just presented upon this our earthly scene, as if 
 aspiring to claim for the human intellect, simultaneously, both 
 these titles to glory — ^but, alas ! the first efforts of genius ex- 
 hausted the powers of nature ; and time was denied him for 
 the further development of his wondrous powers. Yet, what 
 a majestic spectacle is presented, in the mere rudimental 
 achievements of this man, thus arrested and cut off in the 
 midst of his labours ! What an imperishable monument 
 is formed by these first shoots and early efforts of his 
 genius ! 
 
 It is proposed now to submit a few remarks upon those 
 works of Pascal, which are unconnected with the mathematical 
 sciences. Writing to one of the profoundest geometricians of 
 his day, he says, " I call geometry the very best occupation 
 in the world ; but still it is only an occupation ; and as I have 
 often said, it is an excellent thing for the trial of mental 
 strength, but not for its full exercise." Without entirely 
 acquiescing in this strong — and perhaps eccentric anathema — . 
 it may be allowable to regard, as the loftiest efforts of the 
 human mind alone, those master-pieces of acute reasoning 
 and persuasive eloquence, which address themselves alike to 
 every age, and hand down to posterity a transcript of immortal 
 
 b 
 
XXVI ESSAY 
 
 genius. In the exact sciences, the discovery severs itself — so 
 to speak — from the inventor ; it is corrected, extended, per- 
 fected, hy other hands ; and becomes a mere chain in the 
 order and succession of truths, which the patient labour of 
 ages is destined to discover. But the writer — ^be he poet, 
 historian, or moraUst — who records in burning words his 
 mighty thoughts, or ennobling sentiments, leaves his task 
 complete, and remains, himself, immortal as his work. 
 
 In reflecting upon that precocity of instinct, which from 
 his tenderest age directed the genius of Pascal towards geome- 
 trical studies, and led him unconsciously to invent the very 
 elements of the sciences of which he was enamoured, it 
 would be superfluous to inquire, whether that faculty which 
 was thus the earliest developed, was in him the strongest and 
 the most consonant to the quality of his mind. Every talent 
 presupposes an innate mental predisposition ; but a multitude 
 of external circumstances and foreign impressions — a, thousand 
 unforeseen and incalculable changes — may determine the de- 
 velopment of the mental powers in a certain order, without 
 proving a predominance of one over the other. Pascal's 
 father wished to engage his son exclusively in literary studies ; 
 but he himself was passionately addicted to mathematics ; 
 and his life was absorbed in the science. Denying his child 
 that pursuit at the outset of his education, he held it out to 
 him as the reward of application in the future : he announced 
 geometry to be the fitting study for the man. Daily expe- 
 rience shows us — and in less important instances than the 
 present — that children are prone to imitate, rather than to 
 obey ; they adopt our actions, and forget our advice : their 
 curiosity, in short, is most active upon objects that are prohi- 
 bited. Is it not then probable, that, in an intellect active 
 and penetrating like Pascal's, the very eagerness to acquire a 
 secret and forbidden science would, itself, tend to draw out 
 the mathematical talent that existed within him ? Once ex- 
 cited, the passion for the exact sciences — of all others the 
 most powerful in minds over which it has once gained the 
 
BY M. VILLEMAIN. XXvii 
 
 mastery — kindled the ardour of Ms genius, by its fascinating 
 revelations, by the novelty of its experiments, and by the cer- 
 tainty of its demonstrations ; and ended, by consuming with 
 excessive labours the larger portion of his brief and fugitive 
 existence ! 
 
 But, in what way, we ask, in the midst of these benumbing 
 and withering studies, was formed the able, the impassioned 
 orator — the master of language — the creator of our style? 
 Our great writers have all been produced, either by an im- 
 pulse of early and absorbing inspiration, or by a long and per- 
 severing devotion to their one, undivided pursuit. Pascal, 
 emerging from the profoundest mathematical studies, came at 
 once before the world, the sublimest of writers. In those 
 eloquent pages, which formed the occupation of a portion 
 only of the years allotted to this extraordinary man, we per- 
 ceive neither the commencement nor the progress of genius : 
 the goal is reached at once ; the intermediate traces of the 
 advancing footsteps are lost ! 
 
 This singular phenomenon may, in part, be attributable to 
 the very influence of those exact studies, to which Pascal had 
 been addicted, at a period when high intellectual attainments 
 of that nature — as yet comparatively immature and unme- 
 thodized — imposed upon the mind the effort of a continual 
 creation. All was originality, in a study incomplete and 
 progressive. A species of enthusiastic impulse, and a vivid 
 excitement of imagination, accompanied all those early essays 
 of science. It may, thence, be supposed how much more 
 powerful and inspiring would be such contemplations, than 
 those frivolous objects to which literature had been Umited 
 under the protection of Richelieu. Could the language and 
 the genius of France be properly developed by writers, who 
 thought of nothing beyond mere language ; and made the 
 study of words, alone, an important science ? To produce true 
 eloquence, the thought of man must be elevated. It was the 
 liberty of the ancients that formed the oratory of the ancients. 
 Poetical imitation reproduced the forgotten art in the verses 
 
 b2 
 
XXVIU ESSAY 
 
 of Corneille ; but the nature of our institutions left no place 
 for it any where, except on the boards of the theatre. 
 
 When the contemplations of men are unoccupied with the 
 great concernments of their country and of liberty ; when 
 deprived — so to say — of the very existence derived from the 
 exigences of public interests ; there will yet be left to real 
 genius many pregnant sources of ennobling inspiration. There 
 are the hidden emotions of the soul, and the elevated sympa- 
 thies of nature ; there are the inexhaustible delights of specu- 
 lative truth. It was from sources such as these, that the 
 sublimity of Pascal's eloquence was drawn. His purity of 
 taste, his contempt for the tinsel ornaments of a specious rhe- 
 toric, sprung in him, from the greatness of the objects which 
 filled his mind. Originality followed him from the mathema- 
 tics to the belles-lettres. He invented his language, as he 
 had discovered the principles of science, under the same un- 
 changeable influence of justice and truth. Had he received 
 from nature a less fervent imagination, it might have been, 
 perhaps, for ever extinguished amidst the frosts of abstract 
 studies. But a mind such as his, far from succumbing under 
 the influence of such pursuits, was rather raised by them the 
 more forcibly to that closeness of deduction and that vigour of 
 reasoning, which became the irresistible arms of his dialectics. 
 
 And who shall say further, how much Pascal owed of en- 
 couragement and animation to his communion vidth those 
 illustrious solitaries,* whom it was his high vocation at once 
 to defend and to surpass ? I well know, how easy it is to 
 refuse admiration to virtues no longer in fashion — to disparage 
 talents which have left but a name. In these days, the high- 
 est praise of the Port Royal is, that it was the school of Ra- 
 cine. The laborious productions of Nicole,f of Hermant, of 
 Sacy, J are read no more. The glory of Arnauld § is a problem : 
 his controversies provoke a smile. Yet there was a time, 
 when the highest inteUigence of a polished age studied with 
 
 * The Members of the Port Royal. t Appendix, No. 3. 
 
 t Appendix, No. 4. § Appendix, No. 2. 
 
BY M. VILLEMAIN. Xxix 
 
 admiration these writers, now so despised ; and Louis XIV. 
 found himself obliged to arm his policy and his power against 
 the unyielding firmness of a few humble theologians. The 
 Port Royal possessed then, a reahty of greatness, attested 
 both by the relentless persecutions they sustained, and by the 
 enthusiasm with which their wrongs were endured. 
 
 At the commencement of an epoch in which religion was 
 destined to shine forth in all the splendour of art and genius, 
 a body of men, austere in manners, free and elevated in mind, 
 and united to each other, for the most part by the ties of 
 blood or friendship, agreed to retire from the world, and 
 form a society devoted to study and meditation. Enthusiastic 
 lovers of antiquity, their writings bear all the impress of its 
 manliness and strength. Excelhng more in force of reasoning 
 than in elegance of diction, they yet exhibit the finest models 
 of purity of taste, and sound literature. They were not unac- 
 quainted with life and worldly affairs. Their refuge had been 
 sought by men, tossed by the winds of faction, and wearied 
 with party-strife. Those pious recluses were the innocent, 
 but faithful friends, of the ambitious coadjutor of Paris.* 
 Port Royal received into its bosom more than one noble wreck 
 of the desolating tempests of the Fronde ;t and the victims of 
 that effort for political independence, at once violent and abor- 
 tive—which agitated the State, without reforming her abuses 
 — sought here at last, an asylum, in the practices and the 
 consolations of reUgion. There, were united, like one of the 
 tribes of old, almost all the members of the family of the Ar- 
 naulds, so distinguished by the variety of their talents, and 
 their elevation of character. If the difference of times per- 
 mitted the parallel, they might be styled the Appii of Rome, 
 so ardent, so able and resolute were they in character and 
 disposition. Like them, the Arnaulds had to endure one of 
 those continuous persecutions, which, in ancient republics, 
 were often the heritage of successive families. Anthony Ar- 
 
 * Cardinal de Retz. 
 t The civil contentions of that period, so called. 
 
XXX ESSAY 
 
 nauld, himself an undaunted antagonist of the Jesuits in a 
 celebrated process of past days, had drawn upon his children 
 the hatred of that vindictive and powerful body; but he 
 transmitted to them, with the disastrous legacy, also the 
 courage and the talent that enabled them to brave its re- 
 lentless fury. 
 
 But, it may be said, in what way are we now concerned in 
 the five abstruse Propositions of Jansenius ; and the long and 
 sterile controversies to which they gave birth ? Such flip- 
 pancy of retort savours of a shallow philosophy. Circum- 
 stances and forms are perpetually fluctuating ; the occupations 
 of the mind vary ; but, in all periods, and under differing 
 names, there is ever waging a conflict between arbitrary au- 
 thority, and the independence of the thought ; between those 
 who would impose absolute submission upon the domain of 
 the mind, and those who challenge, as a natural right, the free 
 exercise of the reason. It is the dispute between Socrates 
 and Anytas, between the Stoic Philosophers and the Empe- 
 rors, between Henry IV. and the lieague, between the Dutch 
 and Philip II. Be it speculative, religious, political, literary ; 
 modified — as it may be — transformed, aggravated, or relaxed, 
 by a hundred fortuitous circumstances, by numberless acci- 
 dents of civilization or manners ; this controversy still sub- 
 sists. It partakes of the very dignity of our nature, of that 
 noble prerogative which constitutes the thought of man the 
 foremost and most precious good that his fellow-men can in- 
 vade — the dearest that he can be called upon to defend. 
 
 In the part they took in this perpetual debate, the recluses 
 of the Port Royal, while to appearance discussing only scho- 
 lastic subtleties, represented the liberty of the conscience, the 
 spirit of free investigation, and the cause of justice and truth. 
 Their adversaries, in opposing them, supported a bhnd domi- 
 nation over the human spirit and soul. Pascal resented the 
 yoke which these doctrines aimed to impose upon the reason 
 of man. His lofty genius spurned submission to such inso- 
 lent usurpation of the noblest of our faculties, seeking vainly 
 
BY M. VILLEMAIN. XXXl 
 
 a refuge in the sanctuary of conscience and faith. He saw 
 those exemplary men (bound himself to them by the ties of 
 an endearing friendship) absorbed in the profoundest researches 
 into the first sources and early monuments of religion ; he 
 marked with admiring sympathy, their isolation, their pa- 
 tience, their humility, their fear of mingling ambition with 
 the ecclesiastical function ; and their meek preference, rather, 
 of the persecutions that had vexed the early ages of Chris- 
 tianity. The Society of the Jesuits, on the other hand, was 
 at that time, high in favor, and intoxicated with power ; the 
 exclusive fountain of favour and disgrace ; and bent upon 
 pursuing with slander and persecution a body of men, too 
 wise, too devout, too blameless, to be tolerated by them ; and 
 whose only crime was their determination to maintain invio- 
 late their opinions, and to preserve their integrity of con- 
 science. Could the pure and noble spirit of Pascal look on 
 with indifference, while such a conflict was gathering around 
 him? 
 
 On his first introduction to the Port Royal, his mind was 
 filled with the philosophy of Epictetus, and the laxities of 
 Montaigne. The frankness of the virtuous Sacy, the vast 
 erudition and indefatigable spirit of Arnauld ; the polished 
 reasoning, the grace and sweetness of Nicole, (who presided as 
 the Melancthon of this orthodox and tempered reformation) 
 the natural eloquence and flowing imagination of Le Maitre* — 
 all conspired vehemently to agitate a spirit, whose every power 
 was already enhsted on the side of truth. In his pregnant 
 conversations vpith minds which he found worthy of his con- 
 fidence, Pascal exhibited— whatever the subject — the superi- 
 ority of his own intellect ; and those men, whose memories 
 laboured under the stores of immense reading, were wont to 
 recal, as their most precious treasures, thoughts extempo- 
 raneously thrown out by Pascal ; as if he was destined to 
 
 * Le Maitre and the Sacy referred to above, were brothers ; the latter 
 taking his surname by way of distinction, from an inversion of his Chris- 
 tian name, Isaac. (See Appendix.) 
 
XXXU . ESSAY 
 
 exhibit, on every subject, that species of inspiration with which 
 his mathematical studies had been pursued. Theology, in 
 its deepest forms, was the especial pursuit of the recluses ; 
 but every thing interesting to the human mind — philosophy, 
 history, antiquities — formed the exhaustless subjects of their 
 discourse. Arnauld was a profound geometrician ; and that 
 logical clearness and vigour, that inflexibihty of deduction, 
 which had captivated Pascal in the mathematics, seemed to 
 be the uniform attribute of the language, the books, the doc- 
 trines, and perhaps, the mistakes of the Port Royal. What ties 
 must have been formed by this universal community of feehng, 
 between minds of so high an order, thus brought together by 
 a common love of meditation and study ! What faithfulness 
 of attachment — not of party, but of principle and virtue — was 
 cemented by this elevating communion ! It may, thence, be 
 easily conceived, that the theological studies of his friends 
 became the favorite ones of Pascal ; and that the exhaustless 
 brilliancy of his genius, without any injury to its strength, 
 contributed to clothe with the charms of nature and elegance 
 those weighty demonstrations, with which the riper experience 
 of his companions supplies him. 
 
 It was thus — in the necessity which soon arose, of making 
 an appeal from the Sorbonne to the public, and of explaining 
 those subtle questions respecting the doctrines of Grace, which 
 served as the pretext for the persecution of Arnauld, the 
 -most illustrious member of the Port Royal — that the " Pro- 
 vincial Letters " had their origin. These papers were first 
 brought out under a feigned name, and came upon the public 
 by surprise. They took up the cause of a distinguished and 
 persecuted man ; they attacked a flagrant abuse of ecclesias- 
 tical power, at a period when religion was a predominant object 
 of attention : if their tone at first was light, their character was 
 not ephemeral ; they touched the most vital interests of the day. 
 Their brevity, their lucid arrangement, the unwonted eloquence 
 of diction, the air of keen but graceful pleasantry that per- 
 vaded them ; the originality and force of phrases and senti- 
 
BY M. VILLEMAIN. XXXUl 
 
 ments that became the current-coin of discourse, and rooted 
 themselves in the memory — all conspired to win for these 
 productions success and popularity. Pascal states the ques- 
 tion at issue with such transparency, that our assent to his 
 conclusions is irresistibly secured. I should admire the 
 Provincial Letters less, had they not been written before 
 Moliere. Pascal anticipates the era of genuine comedy. He 
 introduces various actors upon his stage. First, there is 
 a listener, who receives indifferently all the passionate or pre- 
 judiced revelations made in confidence to him. Then we have 
 men, sincere to their party ; men without trust-worthiness, yet 
 more zealous in party- spirit than any others : the candid and 
 conciUatory, everywhere repelled ; hypocrites, every where 
 courted. It is a perfect drama, with some deviation from 
 ordinary costume. 
 
 But the scene becomes still more animated, when, the actors 
 being reduced to two, it exhibits the unsuspecting interpreter 
 of the Casuists, in communication with an ostensible disciple, 
 who, partly by ingenious suggestions, partly by assumed doci- 
 lity, eKcits and encourages the indiscreet zeal of the well- 
 meaning but simple Father. Excited by so facile an auditor, 
 the Jesuit develops with eager self-complacency, all the prin- 
 ciples of his school ; fancies his hearer's admiration to rise 
 with their increasing extravagances ; and, by his praises, gives 
 probability to that which would otherwise appear incredible. 
 The dialogues of these two confidential interlocutors are pur- 
 sued to considerable length ; but the form assumed is so happy 
 in itself, is carried out with such variety, and produces so tho- 
 rough an illusion, that it never wearies. Plato, in his contest 
 with the subtleties of the Ehetoricians, furnishes the model of 
 this ingenious satire. His "Euthydfeme," which boasts of 
 teaching virtue by an abstract method, resembles the Jesuit 
 Father explaining the " Devotion made easy." But it is un- 
 questionable that, for richness of humour, Pascal's Casuists 
 far surpass the Sophists of Plato. 
 
 It will be obvious, then, that the subject of the " Provin- 
 b 5 
 
XXXIV ESSAY 
 
 cials," is far from barren, or unsuited to display the genius of 
 the author, as some of his admirers have gratuitously appre- 
 hended. Pascal possessed, not only a power to create, but to 
 choose well, his materials. Of all the obUquities of the human 
 mind, that is doubtless the most remarkable, the endeavour 
 systematically to justify vices by a principle of virtue ; to 
 commit the vrorst actions on the plea of good motives ; to vio- 
 late all morality, under a simulation of respect for it ; and, at 
 length, by means of the most bare-faced subtilties, to discover 
 in the laws of God himself, justification and merit in doing 
 injury to man. Nothing, also, can be more felicitously touched 
 than the contrast between the austerity of the men, and the 
 laxity of their principles : these are ihe resources that lay 
 before Pascal ; and he has availed himself of them vpith un- 
 sparing effect. In attributing to his opponents a settled and 
 premeditated intention to undermine morality, he has, doubt- 
 less, fallen into some exaggeration ; but this gives to all his 
 attacks a point and concentration, whence they derive increased 
 efficiency and support. Can it, likewise, be affirmed, with 
 Voltaire,* that the work proceeds on an entire fallacy, since 
 no_society has ever sought to establish its authority by the 
 destruction of morals ? Is the moral instinct then so fixed 
 and unchanging, that it may never be warped or perverted by 
 the weight of influence and authority? Where is the man 
 that has never faltered in the path of duty, or felt a secret 
 wish that he could deviate without censure or remorse ? This 
 experience of our own weakness may well explain the attrac- 
 tions of a flexible morality. Have we not known more than 
 one writer, who has propagated his philosophy by means of 
 his moral system, and owed the success of his theory to the 
 profligacy of his principles ? 
 
 It is not difficult to conceive — while we lament the evil — 
 
 that, in an age of religious zeal, but of imperfect information, 
 
 a Society which aspired to rule the conscience, and sought to 
 
 extend its influence over countries, differing in manners, in 
 
 * Age of Louis XIV. 
 
BY M. VILLEMAIN. XXXV 
 
 habits, and in national and domestic prejudices, should, under 
 the influence of these ambitious motives, have been led to 
 accommodate its moral rules to these various and opposing 
 dispositions. We are tempted to doubt the writer's veracity, 
 when, in these letters, we hear the strange recital of priests — 
 the ministers of humility and peace — sanctifying the duel, 
 and authorizing homicides. But the authors of these maxims 
 were not Jesuits only. They were Spaniards, or Sicilians ; 
 they were men of every country where the rules of revenge 
 were hereditarily consecrated ; and devotion, which was 
 wrought into the very habits and manners of the people, could 
 obtain from them every sacrifice, short of those passions, 
 which were indigenous and national like their religion itself. 
 
 It cannot, however, be doubted, that these unworthy Casu- 
 ists, in their scheme to flatter the varying prejudices of the 
 populace, had incalculably debased that richest quality of the 
 Christian law, its sublime uniformity of moral principle — a 
 rule wholly independent of places, times, or manners. It 
 was, therefore, a righteous and salutary enterprize of Pascal, 
 boldly to oppose himself to these lax condescensions, so dero- 
 gatory to true religion ; and to expose that fantastic code, 
 which had introduced into the great truths of morals and 
 conscience the subtilties of chicane, and the crafty forms of 
 legal pettifogging. With what an easy brilliancy, what piti- 
 less irony, what richness of humour — worthy of the classic 
 times of comedy — has Pascal fulfilled this high vocation ! 
 The doctrines of " Probability," and of " Regulation of Mo- 
 tive," have acquired an immortality — equivocal as it is — 
 through his ridicule. It is this art of pleasantry, which the 
 ancients deemed essential to true eloquence ; this terse and 
 graceful humour, in which Socrates excelled ; these sly and 
 well-directed provocatives, which give so much point to the 
 Cynicism of Rabelais ; the innate and sahent gaiety, that 
 overflowed in Moliere, and which often gilds the pages of 
 Le Sage; that perfection of wit, in short, which is the 
 play and the enjoyment of superior intellects : all these 
 
XXXVI ESSAY 
 
 constitute the imperishable charms of the earlier " Pro- 
 vincials." 
 
 When we contemplate the Life of Pascal, so brief in dura- 
 ration, so oppressed by suffering, and by the langour insepara- 
 ble from profound study ; when we read the collection of his 
 detached "Thoughts," which seem like the troubled heavings 
 of a mighty, but uneasy spirit ; we find it, at first, difficult to 
 conceive whence sprung that exuberance of gaiety, which the 
 same mind has scattered over subjects so dry and scholastic. 
 Does mirth, then, so nearly border upon sadness, in those 
 lofty intelligences, which look down, as from an elevated and 
 distant region, upon their chosen study — the nature of man ? 
 One might, indeed, entertain such a belief, in reading Pascal, 
 Shakspeare, and Moliere. To explain the combination, it has 
 been said that the habit of profound observation tends to 
 inspire sadness. It is a feeling which most pervades the 
 highest order of faculties ; because those minds feel more 
 acutely than others the limitation and weakness of human 
 thought ; they are saddened by a consciousness of their own 
 powers, while they alternately smile or grieve over the follies 
 of all ! * 
 
 Pascal had issued his Six earlier Letters : Arnauld was 
 defended, and avenged. His apologist had carried the war 
 into the enemy's camp ; and the rapid, humorous, familiar 
 exposition of the eccentric principles of their doctors, on moral 
 questions, had delighted the public, and covered with the 
 
 * If I have succeeded in correctly rendering the elegant language of 
 the original in this passage, the solution of the mental phenomena re- 
 ferred to does not seem quite satisfactory. That an elevated mind should 
 be impressed with melancholy by the follies of his fellow-men is evident ; 
 but it does not seem equally clear, why, in connection with this feeling, 
 his sadness should be excited by the limitation of his ovjn powers. A 
 more obvious reason seems to be, that in men of great genius the percep- 
 tions hoih of the mournful and of the ludicrous in objects around them, 
 are more acute than in others, and imagination heightens and enlMges 
 those impressions. Many of the finest writers, besides those named in the 
 text, have consequently excelled in ludicrous as well as pathetic or sublime 
 composition ; — among others, Cervantes, Cowper, Byron, &c.— (Transl.) 
 
BY M. VILLEMAIN, XXXvii 
 
 rankling wounds of ridicule that hitherto invulnerable body. 
 It was then that the controversy took an ampler range ; and 
 Pascal once more showed the versatility of his powers. The 
 Jesuits, though intent upon the prohibition and suppression 
 of these dangerous writings, yet could not forbear making 
 attempts to refute them ; but with little skill, and weak logic, 
 as if stunned and disconcerted by the surprise of so bold an 
 attack. It must be acknowledged, likewise, that the Society 
 did not then number in its ranks names so distinguished as 
 those that have since illustrated its annals. Bourdaloue was 
 unknown, and had not studied his powerful dialectics in 
 Pascal's own pages. The Society's champions, feeble, in- 
 experienced, abusive, and dull, served only to rouse the genius 
 of their terrible adversary. It was in his replies to them that, 
 stiE preserving the simple form of Letters, Pascal rose with 
 easy wing to the loftiest flights of eloquence, of reasoning, and 
 of burning indignation. Who has ever tired of that exquisite 
 passage, * in which, after describing with matchless force the 
 long and deadly contest between Violence and Truth — " two 
 powers," he says, " whose forces have hitherto remained 
 but too nearly balanced,"— predicts, notwithstanding, the 
 inevitable triumph of Truth, " because she is eternal and omni- 
 potent, as God himself ! " Neither Demosthenes, Chrysos- 
 tom, nor Bossuet, under the inspiration of applauding audi- 
 tories, ever produced anything more sublime than these 
 sentences, which form the close of a polemical letter. 
 
 This noble eloquence is the habitual tone of the later of the 
 "Provincials." Every part in them is severe, vehement, impas- 
 sioned. The very same questions, on which Pascal had at first 
 amused himself and his reader with banter, and which he had 
 illuminated with pleasantries, are now taken up afresh, and 
 treated with such seriousness and warmth, as to make his 
 opponents wish to recal the lighter style of discussion, which 
 had at first called forth their complaints. Now it is, that he 
 
 * Letter 12th. 
 
XXXVJU ESSAY 
 
 vexes and ulcerates the wounds he had previously inflicted 
 upon their self-love. Those hateful doctrines of homicide, to 
 which he had then seemed almost to show some indulgence 
 by only exposing them to contempt, he now confronts with 
 all the force of inexorable argument, as a crime against the 
 State, and the Church ; against Nature, and Religion. His 
 vehemence kindles as he pursues another offence — too com- 
 mon in every period of division and strife — slander ; that 
 moral assassination, of which his adversaries had made the 
 most copious use, while they devised for it an ingenious 
 apology — two things, which correct, although they do not 
 redeem each other. In this controversy Pascal seems some- 
 times to overpass the bounds prescribed by Christian charity. 
 In repelling calumny, he lavishes invective. His generous 
 spirit, stung by the injuries of his friends, is unable to 
 restrain its reproaches. Strong in mental power, in well- 
 grounded resentment, and in the mystery with which his 
 name was still shrouded, he exclaims, in defiance of his foes — 
 " You find yourselves struck by an invisible hand, which 
 exposes your delinquencies to the whole world ; and you 
 endeavour, in vain, to wound me, in the person of those to 
 whom you believe I belong. I fear you not, for myself, or 
 for others ! I am attached neither to communities nor to 
 individuals. All your power, all your influence are directed 
 against me in vain ! From the world I have nothing to hope 
 — nothing to fear — nothing to desire. Endued by a grace 
 which is from above, I need nothing that the wealth or 
 authority of man can supply. . . . Never could you have 
 encountered one so screened from your assaults, and so fitted 
 to combat your errors — one, independent — isolated — without 
 party — without tie — ^without professional bias — without en- 
 cumbering occupation ; — one, also, well versed in your prin- 
 ciples, and determined — as God shall enable him — to expose 
 and denounce them, without suffering any earthly consideration 
 to avert or mitigate his hostility ! " * 
 
 • Letter 17. 
 
BY M. VILLEMAIN. XXXIX 
 
 Is it then surprising, that, in a position so elevated — the 
 only one worthy of his powers — Pascal should have been 
 transported to emulate the impassioned declamation of the 
 ancient tribunal ? Subjects and circumstances change, but 
 eloquence is ever the same. 
 
 And was his inspiration some mighty interest of patriotism 
 or glory ? No ; his cause was the defence of a few obscure 
 devotees, whom malice had assailed in their cloistered seclusion 
 with a false charge of heresy. What matters then the dignity 
 or the lowliness of his subject ? Listen again to the fervor of 
 the oratory, and the kindliness of the heart ! 
 
 " Cruel and dastardly persecutors ! Could the hallowed 
 privacy of the cloister furnish no shelter from your calumnies ? 
 Whilst these holy women were, in punctual obedience to the 
 rules of their Institution, adoring, night and day, their Re- 
 deemer in his Sacrament, — ^it was your magnanimous effort, 
 by day and by night, to proclaim to the world, that they 
 believed Him not to be present in his own appointed office, 
 or even in his ascended glory at the right hand of the Father ; 
 and, at the very time that they were pouring out their secret 
 prayers for yourselves, and for the universal Church, your 
 unremitting aim was to thrust them out from her maternal 
 bosom ! You calumniate those who have no ears to listen — 
 no mouth to reply ! " * 
 
 If Pascal has, in these writings, succeeded in combining all 
 the elements of the most energetic and ardent eloquence, there 
 are portions of his " Thoughts," which show that his emi- 
 nence had been acquired by patient meditation upon all the 
 resources of the art, and rested on a theory of a most pro- 
 found nature, formed entirely for himself.f Nothing can be 
 more useless than rules and axioms of taste, as laid down by 
 men without genius. But when a great writer unfolds his 
 ideas upon the science of language, he necessarily evolves them 
 from the character and habits of his own mind ; he throws 
 himself, as it were, into his instructions ; and such a revela- 
 * Letter 16. t Appendix, No. 9. 
 
xl ESSAY 
 
 tion is more improving than any system of principles and 
 rules. Pascal — himself a profound geometrician — had con- 
 ceived, hy his superiority of intelligence, the use, as well as 
 the limits, of scientific principles, as applied to the arts. 
 What he has written on the spirit of geometry and of the 
 imagination, is a complete refutation of the literary paradoxes 
 which Fontenelle, D'Alemhert and Condillac put forth in the 
 subsequent century. His mind, free from prejudice, because 
 it embraced every subject, assigns the several characteristics of 
 the positive sciences and of letters, without evincing any fear 
 of impairing his own pretensions, in determining the limits of 
 each individual faculty ; and, as if confident of retaining his 
 due place in every distribution of the human powers. 
 
 Pascal, indeed, possessed in the very highest degree, the 
 mastery over the two extreme provinces of thought, — rea- 
 soning and imagination. His life, his character and his 
 writings, all gave proof of this combination ; and it was 
 especially marked in the greatest of the works which he 
 ever contemplated. None had, perhaps, in the period in 
 which he lived, embraced, with more ardour and sincerity, 
 the great truths of Christianity ; but his reasoning habits, 
 mingling inseparably even with his enthusiasm, disturbed 
 his mind with doubt. Can any other solution be given 
 of that far-sightedness, which discovers to him so many 
 objections, little thought of at that period, and leads him to 
 fortify and defend positions which none had then assailed ? 
 The illustrious contemporaries of Pascal, whose convictions 
 were not less sincere although more tranquil than his, were 
 content to develop the tendencies of a creed, whose principles 
 were then little controverted : they occupied themselves in 
 rearing the temple, without fear that any would attempt to 
 undermine its foundations, or shake its pillars. Pascal alone, 
 conscious from innate experience of dangers unfelt by others, 
 meditated a production,* in which all the sceptical doubts 
 that his own restless genius had explored and fathomed, 
 * Memoir, p. 58. 
 
BY M. VILLEMilN. xli 
 
 should be effectually encountered and overthrown. The hand 
 of the architect is yet visible ; but where is he, who shall 
 attempt to carry into execution his vast conceptions ; to mould 
 and inform, with flagging and unequal spirit, the copious 
 but rude materials, which the master-builder has thus abor- 
 tively collected ? 
 
 Amid the sands of Egypt have been discovered stately 
 porticoes once leading to palaces, which the lapse of ages has 
 destroyed ; mighty ruins, the vestiges only of gigantic cities ; 
 capitals, covered with fair designs, whose brilliant hues retain 
 all their early freshness, and aspire to a fragile immortality in 
 the midst of age and desolation : such may be deemed some 
 of those "Thoughts" of Pascal — the mutilated rudiment 
 and wreck of this his stupendous undertaking ! 
 
 It was commenced, as is well known, when its author was 
 already under the attacks of that afflicting disease, which was 
 destined soon to cut short his immature existence. Medita- 
 tion being with him the great end and business of life, he 
 could not be prevailed upon wholly to abandon his task, till 
 death deprived him of the power to think. Such, however, 
 was the violence of his sufierings, that some other occupation 
 than the resolution of moral truths became necessary to him. 
 More than once, say his biographers, he resumed, with ardour, 
 the most abstruse mathematical studies, and sought an entire 
 absorption in those contemplations, for the relief of his 
 physical suffering. Yet, might it not have been as a remedy 
 for other griefs than these, that he availed himself of this 
 resource? Did he not perhaps seek in such employments 
 repose from the restless activity of a mind obnoxious to 
 disturbing suggestions ? 
 
 Hear him — the mighty intellect imprisoned in a sickly 
 frame— exhausted by the intensest mental labours — his con- 
 templations unceasingly fixed upon those great problems of. 
 man's destiny, which baffle all learning and all science — ^hear 
 him thus exclaiming; " How know I who placed me in the 
 world; or what is the world ; or what I am myself? I am 
 
xlii ESSAY 
 
 fearfully ignorant of all things. I know not what is my 
 body — what my senses — what my soul ; and that very part 
 of me which thinks that which I am now uttering, and which 
 reflects upon every thing, and upon itself also, is as ignorant 
 of itself, as of every thing besides ! " 
 
 It was this fearful ignorance, which he depicts with all the 
 vividness of personal experience, that was the enemy of 
 Pascal's peace ; and that, from whose bondage — ^more oppres- 
 sive than the most unreasoning faith — he was ever seeking 
 deUverance.* Similar doubts had agitated the ancient philo- 
 sophers ; and, from time to time, had driven them almost to 
 despair. This disquietude — ever incident, in a greater or less 
 degree, to the highest order of minds — continually increased 
 in strength during the successive developments of civilization, 
 up to that period, when men, who had hitherto found a 
 resting-place upon the ancient systems of belief, perceived 
 them gradually giving way, and were equally incapable of 
 dispensing with, or deriving support from them. Then it 
 was, that, towards the latter ages of the empire, when Poly- 
 theism was falling prostrate on all sides, and the remaining 
 disciples of Plato sought in vain to re-create a faith, and to 
 establish a system of worship by efforts of reasoning — Por- 
 phyry, — the most eloquent of his school — is described as 
 labouring under a melancholy, bordering upon loss of reason ; 
 and ready to embrace death itself as a refuge from the tor- 
 ments of doubt.f Thus also, in the case of many of the 
 speculative Germans, of more recent times, exhausted by 
 groping amidst the accumulated rubbish of sceptical ages, 
 their minds seem to have succumbed under the too habitual 
 exploration of the great mysteries of human existence. The 
 barrenness of doubt seems to impel these too inquisitive spirits 
 into the labyrinth of mysticism ; as if some species of belief — 
 of whatever nature — was necessary for the repose of their 
 minds ; as if the illusions of enthusiasm were to them the 
 next best thing to the realities of truth. 
 
 * Memoir, p. 50. f Platonius, in Vitse Porphyrii. 
 
BY M. VILLEMAIN. xliii 
 
 Pascal, whose intellectual acuteness had, in anticipation, 
 traversed the whole circle of doubt and scepticism, which 
 after ages of civilization were to complete ; warned by the 
 conflicts in which his own spirit had been engaged, sought 
 with eagerness a refuge in the asylum of the Christian faith. 
 That alone was capable of unfolding to him the mystery of 
 man's origin, and his mingled greatness and misery. Yet 
 what were his efforts and disquietude ere he attained to this 
 repose ! " Contemplating," he says, " this silent universe ; 
 and man, powerless, dark, without guidance, cast upon a mere 
 point in its surface ; unknowing who has placed him there, 
 what is the purpose of his existence, what his destiny on its 
 termination ; I shrink in terror from myself, like one that has 
 been cast sleeping upon a desert land, and wakes unconscious 
 where he is. I see around me others, possessing natures like 
 my own. I ask them, if they are better informed than 
 myself : they answer, no ; and, straightway — unhappy wan- 
 derers ! they look around them, find certain objects which 
 they think can give them pleasure, attach themselves to those 
 objects — ^become absorbed in them. But I — I cannot rest in 
 such things ; nor can I find satisfaction in the society of 
 beings like myself — like me feeble, — like me miserable ! " 
 
 Do we not see in these expressions a portraiture of the 
 labour and conflict which his mighty spirit sustained in its 
 laborious search after truth ? Can we now be surprised at 
 that depth of sadness — that eloquence of melancl^oly — with 
 which his reflections — ^hasty, and fugitive, and abrupt — were 
 habitually invested ? What are all the interests of this world, 
 what all its passions, in comparison with the researches of an 
 immortal being into its own destinies .-' In a mind from 
 whose perceptions nothing is hid, the combat with unbelief is 
 the greatest effort of humanity. Pascal himself seems some- 
 times to sink under it : he is found taking extravagant pre- 
 cautions against the danger. At one time we see him with 
 astonishment, staking, as it were, upon a chance the existence 
 of God, and the immortahty of the soul ; and determining his 
 
xliv 
 
 ESSAY 
 
 convictions by a calculation of probabilities. We are thus 
 reminded of Rousseau (but with greater weakness and extra- 
 vagance) making his hope of eternal safety depend upon the 
 throwing of a stone ! * 
 
 It is this which compels us to recognize the impotence, and, 
 as it may be called, the despair into which the human mind 
 lapses, in its fruitless eiforts to penetrate that which is incom- 
 prehensible. This was the burthen sustained by Pascal — a 
 burthen, the greater in proportion to the exaltation of his 
 genius. A system of belief — ^positive and definite — could 
 alone relieve and sustain his spirit. Its dogmatic authority 
 allayed the restlessness of his own enquiries, and gave him 
 the security he sought. When we read that Pascal carried 
 under his garments a symbol formed of mystical characters — 
 a kind of amuletf — it is e^ddentthat his powerful intellect had 
 sunk to superstitious practices, as a refuge from the misery 
 of uncertainty. This constituted his terror. The precipice, 
 which, after the occurrence of an alarming accident, seemed 
 continually opening under him, was but a faint image of that 
 abyss of doubt from which his conscientious spirit ever 
 recoiled. 
 
 Thus passed away the too brief existence of this great man. 
 In its earher stage, his aim was to emancipate human reason : 
 he proclaimed the independence of thought, and the authority 
 of conscience. Afterwards, he exhausted himself in labours 
 to erect dikes and barriers against the desolating floods of 
 scepticism. His powerful and fearless spirit embraces as its 
 best safeguard, and from the depths of conviction, the doc- 
 trines of Christianity, and by that submission stamps upon 
 their authenticity the largest measure of probability that they 
 can derive from human testimony. But if his conviction is 
 entire, the demonstration is imperfect ; the proofs are some- 
 what wanting in harmony ; the reasoning fails in consecutive- 
 ness : and there may be perceived in them still some in- 
 
 * Memoir, page 61. t Ibid. 
 
BY M. VILLEMAIN. xlv 
 
 dications of the conflict to which he had heen himself exposed. 
 They remain proof, rather, of the vastness of his powers, than 
 trophies of complete victory. Be they what they may, how- 
 ever, these mighty fragments are there, to inspire a salutary 
 diffidence, while they excite the astonishment of frivolous 
 Pyrrhonism, and to supply lasting food for the meditations of 
 the learned and the vpise. 
 
 It has been said that Pascal does not succeed in touching 
 the heart ; that his religion has the air rather of imposing a 
 yoke than supplying consolation. Vincent St. Paul and 
 Fenelon would, doubtless, have made more converts than he. 
 We do not find in him all that tenderness of spirit, that sym- 
 pathy with humanity, which breathes throughout the Gospel, 
 and binds the heart in willing sway to the new dispensation. 
 The interest he excites is ever profound. Free from rhetorical 
 artifice, invested with all the reality of truth, his severities 
 upon man's nature have in them nothing of invective : they 
 are the extorted pangs of painful meditation upon self. We 
 are impressed with a mournful reverence at witnessing the 
 inward sorrows of so mighty an intelligence. His misanthropy 
 seems the expiation of pre-eminence in genius : in him, the 
 transcendency of mental power is the source of humility rather 
 than of boast. His is no antique stoicism — no passionless 
 contemplation of the miseries of his race. He bears them all 
 on his own bosom. " Yet," says he, " notwithstanding all 
 the sufferings we see around us, and which press us to the 
 very ground, we feel within us an irrepressible instinct, that 
 supports us under them ! " It is this etherial principle, as 
 opposed to our feeble mortality, this contrast of grandeur and 
 nothingness, that fills and informs the sublime chapters of 
 Pascal upon the nature of man. It inspires him with emo- 
 tions of matchless eloquence, and thoughts of startling depth. 
 We are astonished at seeing the profoundest of metaphysicians 
 condescending to the most minute observations, laying bare 
 the closest secrets of the heart, and penetrating the whole 
 nature of man with keen and mournful scrutiny. 
 
xlvi 
 
 ESSAY BY M. VILLEMAIN. 
 
 Pascal does not, like La Bruyere, exhibit descriptions and 
 portraitures ; but he is accustomed to seize and delineate 
 some leading principle of human action. He gives the his- 
 tory of the species, not of an individual. Estimating every 
 thing terrestrial with philosophic freedom and disinterested- 
 ness, he often arrives — ^but by an entirely different path — at 
 conclusions identical veith the boldest innovations : but he 
 does not pause there ; he goes far beyond them. Sometimes, 
 he seems as if about to shake the very foundations of society, 
 of order, and of justice ; but he soon rallies around them 
 again by some yet deeper suggestion. He possesses the 
 sublime of sense, as well as of genius. Thus his style ex- 
 hibits, also, two distinct characteristics. In every part is 
 found a union of boldness and of simplicity, of elevation and 
 of easy grace, of enthusiasm and of familiarity. A celebrated 
 writer has remarked that he is perhaps the only author of 
 original genius, against whom the fastidiousness of taste has 
 found nothing to object : as we read, we are conscious of a 
 charm ; but so refined are the graces, that we can scarcely 
 trace the sources of our gratification. 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 . . . . . . . " Dead ere his prime ! 
 
 Young Lycidas, and hath not left his peer ! " — Milton. 
 
 The leading incidents in the brief but eyentful life of Pascal 
 have, from various sources, * been rendered familiar to the 
 English reader. Its most prominent features may also be 
 traced in the glowing pages that precede this — not drawn 
 indeed, with biographical exactness, but sketched with the 
 freedom and boldness of a master's hand. In reproducing, 
 however, to the public, one of his greatest works, it may be 
 presumed, that a brief summary of a biography, which can 
 never be contemplated without sympathy, or remembered 
 without benefit, will not be altogether inappropriate. 
 
 Blaise Pascal was born in Clermont, in the Province of 
 Auvergne, on the 19th of June, 1623. His family was one 
 of considerable distinction, his grandfather having held the 
 office of a Treasurer of France, at Riom ; and his father, 
 Stephen Pascal, that of President of the Court of Aids, in 
 Auvergne. His mother, of whom little is related, was An- 
 toinette Begon : she, after giving birth to four children, died 
 at an early age, when Blaise had only attained his third year. 
 
 * The Memoir of Madame Perier, his sister, written with much piety 
 and simplicity, and published shortly after his death, has formed the chief 
 material of most of the subsequent biographies. Condorcet's celebrated 
 Eloge, gives, in its characteristic way, a luminous history of his scientific 
 and literary labours. A memoir of much excellence appeared in a series 
 of papers in the Christian Observer, in the year 1815. 
 
xlviii MEMOIR. 
 
 Her other surviving children were Gilberte, Pascal's eldest 
 sister and affectionate biographer, who was married to 
 M. Perier, an Advocate of the French Courts ; and Jacque- 
 line, five years his junior, who, early in life, took the veil in 
 the Convent of Port Royal in the Fields, and died in her 
 thirty-fifth year. 
 
 The loss of his maternal parent at so tender an age was an 
 irreparable one to the infant Pascal. Throvrai by that event 
 entirely upon the care of his father, who, though devoted to 
 his children, was chiefly bent upon their mental proficiency — 
 especially of one who he early saw would well repay his 
 labour — his health and physical improvement seem to have 
 been regarded as secondary objects ; and the seeds of languor 
 and disease were early implanted in his constitution. Be- 
 sides this misfortune, the amenities of the domestic circle, if 
 a mother's society had been spared to him, might, probably, 
 have much tended to counteract the tendency to ascetic habits 
 which showed itself in him with so much strength in after life. 
 
 The father, after Madame Pascal's death, formed the de- 
 termination to devote himself to the care of his children's 
 education, especially that of his beloved and only son. Con- 
 trary to usual experience, he found a residence in the metro- 
 polis afford him more freedom from interruption than a country 
 life ; besides that it yielded him more advantages in books 
 and literary society : and, consequently, in 1631 — Blaise being 
 then in his eighth year — he relinquished the office he had 
 held in Auvergne, in favor of a brother, and took up his abode 
 in Paris. To this resolution, solely to conduct his child's 
 education, he strictly adhered ; and Pascal, therefore, presents 
 the singular instance of achieving his mental greatness entirely 
 without the aid of school or college. To his father, or still 
 more to himself — for self-education ordinarily forms the 
 largest share of the training of superior minds — he owed, 
 under the guidance of the great Source of all Wisdom, who 
 doubtless designed and directed him for his own service, the 
 entire development of his eminent powers. 
 
MEMOIR. Xlix 
 
 The elder Pascal's interest in his son's studies, was, as has 
 been seen, early quickened by the discovery in him of an 
 extraordinary measure of acuteness. He was himself a man 
 of no inconsiderable attainments, and had in an especial man- 
 ner devoted himself to mathematical pursuits. The method 
 he followed in the instruction of his pupil, was characteristic 
 of his own originality of mind, and evinced his high estimate 
 of his child's aptitude. He aimed in every way to develop 
 his mental powers, rather than to burden unduly his memory 
 with matters beyond his ability. He fixed his attention upon 
 things rather than words ; and explained to him the princi- 
 ples of language, and the laws of grammar, long before he 
 was taught any other tongue than his own. He did not allow 
 him even to begin the Latin language till he had reached his 
 twelfth year. He encouraged his enquiries into the pheno- 
 mena of nature, and the most familiar objects around him, 
 and continually led him to seek the reasons of whatever met 
 his view, nor to rest till he had made some approach to the 
 discovery of truth in his investigations, All these stimulating 
 methods — however questionable their expediency might be in 
 ordinary cases — served as a kind of hot-bed to the growth of 
 a mind so adapted to the process as his son's : yet his was 
 one of those few instances in which there seemed no diminu- 
 tion of strength from the rapidity with which his intellectual 
 powers were matured. 
 
 The circumstances which led to the early development of 
 Pascal's mathematical powers are well known ; but cannot be 
 passed over in any narrative, however summary, of his re- 
 markable history. 
 
 In pursuance of the plan of education which the father had 
 laid down, though himself passionately addicted to the mathe- 
 matics, he determined to confine his son's studies to languages 
 and general hterature, till, according to his views, his mind 
 should have acquired strength and capacity for pursuing the 
 exact sciences with advantage. In this resolution, he with- 
 held all books, and refrained, in his presence, from all con- 
 
 c 
 
1 
 
 MKMOm. 
 
 versation which might lead his hoy's thoughts to those 
 objects. 
 
 Notwithstanding these precautions, however, Pascal when 
 about the age of twelve, showed a restless anxiety for inform- 
 ation upon these interdicted subjects. He importuned his 
 father repeatedly to be allowed to begin the study of geome- 
 try, but was constantly refused ; while the indulgence of his 
 wish was held out to him as a reward, at a future time, for 
 diligence in his present pursuits. At last, when in answer to 
 his enquiries, he had gained some very general ideas of the 
 nature of the mathematics, as being the science of figures and 
 substances, and their relative proportions, his mind began to 
 work upon these imperfect hints. He shut himself up in a 
 room in which he was allowed to play alone, and began a 
 series of rude but ingenious experiments, covering the floor 
 with figures drawn in charcoal, of squares, triangles, circles, 
 and other forms which constitute the subjects of geometrical 
 calculation. So strictly had the very rudiments of the science 
 been kept from him, that he was unacquainted even with the 
 technical names of these figures; but called a circle a "round," 
 a line a " bar," &c. 
 
 Having drawn these figures, he proceeded, step by step, 
 from definitions to axioms, and thence to demonstrations ; 
 and was deeply engaged in his calculations, when his father 
 accidentally entered the room, and for some time watched 
 unperceived his occupation. To continue the description in 
 the artless words of his sister, " It was difiicult to say which 
 of the two experiencd the most confusion — ^the son, to be thus 
 surprized, after the interdict under which he had been laid, or 
 the father, to see the various objects with which his child was 
 surrounded. But his astonishment was increased when he 
 found, in answer to his enquiries, that he was finding out the 
 pToportion of the angles formed by a triangle, one side of 
 ■which is produced ; which forms the subject of the 32nd Pro- 
 position of the 2nd book of Euclid. He questioned him again 
 as to what had led him to that enquiry : this elicited further 
 
MEMOIR. ll 
 
 explanations ; he recapitulated various of his demonstrations, 
 and then went back ; still using his own rude nomenclature 
 of ' rounds, bars,' &c., throughout the whole of his self-taught 
 definitions and axioms ; until, as has been stated, he arrived at 
 Euclid's 32nd Proposition." 
 
 His father was overwhelmed, even to tears, with the dis- 
 covery. He hastened to communicate his feelings to an 
 intimate friend, and fellow-mathematician ; and, acting on his 
 advice, he at once removed all the barriers that had been 
 interposed against his son's desired studies. 
 
 It is foreign to the purpose of this brief memoir to trace 
 the progress of Pascal's mathematical researches, or of the va- 
 rious treatises in which they are recorded. The scientific reader 
 will find an interesting enumeration of them in Condorcet's 
 Eloge, although not unmixed with an obvious disposition to 
 disparage the merits of his discoveries ; a disposition which he 
 shared with Voltaire * and the other sceptical Literati of the 
 last century, who could not forgive the piety of Pascal, even 
 in consideration of his scientific and literary greatness. At 
 about the age of sixteen he was admitted a member of a 
 Society in Paris for the cultivation of mathematics, in which 
 his father took an active part, together with most of the lead- 
 ing geometricians of the day ; and at once found his opinions 
 listened to with marked attention and deference. At about 
 the same period also, he pubhshed his Treatise on " Conic 
 Sections," which was considered by his contemporaries as 
 a master-piece of reasoning and science. On his father's 
 
 * Voltaire, in his difficulty in dealing with the religious writings of 
 Pascal, while his vanity would not allow him to appear insensible to his 
 eminent literary merits, had the indecency, in his last years, to publish a 
 pretended edition of his " Pensees," in which, preserving just sufficient 
 of the original work to keep up appearances, he made numberless inter- 
 polated alterations in the text, to suit his own views, together with ad- 
 ditions of the most infidel character ; besides appending a series of notes 
 which show an unmitigated hostility to truth, yet with obvious symp- 
 toms of declining powers. An edition of this work was published in 
 London in 1785. 
 
 C 2 
 
lii MEMOIR. 
 
 removal again to Rouen, where owing to some reverse in 
 circumstances, he accepted another official appointment, Pascal, 
 being then in his nineteenth year, invented his celebrated 
 calculating machine, upon which he consumed two years of 
 unintermitted labour. This, though much improved upon in 
 subsequent periods by Leibnitz and others, and brought to 
 still greater perfection in the present day by our own distin- 
 guished countryman Babbage, was at that time justly regarded 
 as an astonishing effort of mental labour. The last-named 
 undertaking was followed by his profound researches iuto the 
 weight and elasticity of air, and their effects upon the equili- 
 brium of fluids, in which he followed up the experiments of 
 Torrecelli ; and succeeded in establishing, in a great measure, 
 the present philosophical theories upon these subjects, in 
 opposition to the long-prevalent notion of " Nature's abhor- 
 rence of a vacuum ; " although he himself, at the outset of his 
 investigations, was a firm believer in that doctrine. The 
 results of these enquiries were published by him in a series of 
 Tracts upon "Vacuum," &c. &c. in 1647, at about the period 
 that he attained his twenty-fourth year. 
 
 Little information is left by his biographers of the plan of 
 miscellaneous reading pursued by Pascal up to this time. He 
 still remained under his father's roof, whose pleasure and 
 pride it was to continue to superintend his studies ; and 
 it was doubtless during this period that, in addition to his 
 mathematical labours, he amassed, by intense application, the 
 larger part of those stores of learning, both ancient, and what 
 was then modern, which his writings exhibit. As early, 
 however, as his eighteenth year, his failing health began to 
 show the ill effects of excessive mental labour ; the symp- 
 toms of complicated disease progressively increased with 
 advancing age ; and he was often heard to say, that from that 
 time to the close of his earthly course, he had never expe- 
 rienced a day of entire exemption from suffering. 
 
 He had now, as has been seen, attained his twenty-fourth 
 year ; and then ensued the most important , epoch of his 
 
MEMOIR. liii 
 
 existence. Up to that period, although a mind such as he 
 possessed could not have wholly shut out rehgious reflections, 
 or have been entirely regardless of his eternal interests, yet 
 it was evident that his attention had been chiefly absorbed by 
 the pursuits of literature and science. He was happy in 
 having been — mainly owing to the instructions and example 
 of his father — preserved from all temptation to a sceptical 
 opposition to revealed truth ; and, in an equal degree, had the 
 convictions of conscience, and the beneficial influence of 
 paternal restraint, withheld him from the irregularities and 
 vices too incidental to his age and station. But at this time, 
 partly from increased indisposition, which began to assume 
 the form of paralytic affection, and partly in consequence of 
 the perusal of some devotional works, the particulars of which 
 are not related, his mind became deeply impressed with reli- 
 gious convictions. He, from that period, implicitly embraced 
 the method of salvation revealed in the Gospel : he saw the 
 insuificiency of worldly pleasures or honours to yield him 
 happiness ; and determined, in the strength of God, to live 
 only for his service, and for the purpose of promoting the 
 welfare, spiritual and temporal, of his fellow-men. 
 
 It was then also that he reaped the fruit of another invalu- 
 able benefit which he had derived from his exemplary parent. 
 The elder Pascal had habitually inculcated upon him the 
 principle, that objects of faith should be regarded as wholly 
 distinct from those' of reason, and ought never to be subjected 
 to her deductions. In this great truth he had implicitly 
 acquiesced ; and it had the more weight with him, as his 
 instructor was himself eminent in scientific attainments. In 
 consequence of this important instruction it was, that Pascal 
 ever exhibited the impressive spectacle of a mind intently 
 inquisitive in every thing that relates to material objects, and 
 testing all by the most rigid experiment ; yet submitting his 
 capacious intellect, with child-like simplicity, to every dictate 
 and discovery of revealed truth. 
 
 Every one will be here at once reminded of those illustrious 
 
liv -MEMOIR. 
 
 names with wHich our own annals are adorned — our Bacon, 
 and Boyle, and Herschel, in whom this union of pure faith 
 and profound science is so eminently displayed. 
 
 The ascendancy of Pascal's great powers showed itself more 
 strikingly, now that he had thus devoted himself to the 
 service of religion, than when he was a candidate for the 
 honours of human learning and philosophy. He became the 
 teacher and the guide of the circle in which he moved ; and 
 the members of his own family, in an especial manner, felt and 
 acknowledged the value of his instructive example. To use 
 the touchiug language of his sister and biographer, " his 
 father was not ashamed to place himself under the teaching 
 of his son ; and devoted himself thenceforth to a more exact 
 and holy life, up to the period of his decease, which was 
 cheered by Christian consolation and faith ; * and his sister, 
 who, from an early age, had displayed extraordinary talents, 
 was so impressed by her brother's conversation, that she 
 resolved to renounce all her cherished advantages, and devote 
 herself entirely to the service of God." She, in fact, as has 
 been stated, afterwards carried out this resolution, in a way 
 that her religious system led her to believe would be most 
 acceptable to her heavenly Master, by taking the veil in the 
 convent of Port Royal in the Fields ; where she distinguished 
 herself by the exemplary discharge of her conventual duties, 
 and, after attaining to the office of Sub-Prioress, died there 
 at the early age of thirty-five. 
 
 From this time Pascal seems to have, in a great measure, 
 renounced all the studies to which he had been hitherto so 
 devoted, and to have given himself up to those of theology 
 and polemics, and most especially to the profound investigation 
 of the Scriptures. In reading the latter, he was accustomed 
 to avail himself of the works of the ablest commentators ; and 
 at length, by means of his extraordinary memory — so great, 
 that he was said never to have forgotten any thing he had 
 
 * He died in the year 1651, when his son was in his 28th year. 
 
MEMOIR. Iv 
 
 read — he became so perfectly acquainted with the language of 
 Holy Writ, that he was never at a loss respecting any passage 
 that became the subject of discussion. 
 
 He then also entered upon that course of self-denial, and 
 renunciation of the world, which characterized the remaining 
 years of his life. The leading principles (as described by his 
 sister) which he laid down for the government of his conduct, 
 were, to forego pleasure, and to indulge in no superfluity. 
 He gradually withdrew from much of the society which had 
 hitherto cultivated his intercourse, and devoted a continually 
 increasing proportion of his moderate independence to the 
 purposes of charity. Many persons of high worth and attain- 
 ments, and some of the most elevated rank, continued however 
 to seek his conversation and counsels, and to them he was al- 
 ways accessible. Among the most distinguished of these was 
 the youthful Duke de Rouannez,* who was a few years the 
 junior of Pascal, and who seems to have been early fascinated by 
 his talents, and won by his engaging deportment. He conceived 
 for him the most devoted friendship, which continued un- 
 abated during his life, and was evinced long after death had 
 dissolved their intercourse, by the most sedulous efforts for 
 bringing before the pubUc, in a proper form, the posthumous 
 collection of his manuscripts. To this accomphshed and 
 virtuous young nobleman, Pascal addressed one of his most 
 beautiful compositions, entitled " Discourse on the condition 
 of the Great." 
 
 To these sacred studies, and holy course of conduct, he 
 added the most fervent and unintermitted devotional exer- 
 cises ; and from this period to that which closed his earthly 
 existence, he seems to have progressively improved in every 
 Christian grace, till — as his sister again beautifully remarks—; 
 " that reverence for rehgion, which had been the characteristic 
 of his youth, was changed into an ardent and sensible love for 
 all the great truths of the Christian faith, not less those which 
 
 * Appendix, No. 6. . 
 
Ivi MEMOIR. 
 
 influence the spirit, than those which direct the Ufe and conduct 
 in the world — the great end and object of all religion ; and 
 this holy fervor urged him ever to contend against every 
 thing that was opposed to these great and vital truths." 
 
 It is painful, however, to add to these affecting and im- 
 pressive details, that (if we implicitly adopt the testimony of 
 Madame Perier) Pascal superadded to this holy devotedness, 
 so instructive to all who can appreciate Christian piety, in 
 whatever church it is found, — much of personal austerity, 
 which is, to say the least, unsanctioned by Scriptural authority. 
 It was this which, among other evils, tended to withdraw him 
 from much of that intercourse vpith society, v/hich would have 
 been not injurious to himself, and certainly beneficial to others. 
 Although, in their nature, accordant with the spirit of the 
 church, in whose bosom he had been nursed, and to which he 
 still continued devoted, these rigours were carried, especially 
 in his closing years, to such an extreme, as to form a fruitful 
 subject for the sneers of the irreligious ; while they have been 
 very unduly relied upon as evidence of his merits by the more 
 bigoted members of his church. Happily for the beneficial 
 influence of this great and holy man's example, his faith, as 
 every page of his writings testifies, rested on far surer foun- 
 dations than those of uncommanded asceticisms ; and it may 
 be much questioned whether, if his voice could have been 
 heard, he would have approved of the prominence with which 
 such details have been put forth to the world. 
 
 But it should be always borne in mind that the Sister's 
 Memoir, though evidencing much pious feehng, and an 
 amiable devotedness to her brother's memory, appears to 
 have been drawn up under some strong and peculiar influence, 
 of the exact nature of which it is, at this distance of time, not 
 easy to conjecture. But when we find her suppressing all 
 reference to one of the most important incidents in Pascal's 
 life, his alliance with the Port-Royalists, and his controversy 
 with the Jesuits ; and making only the most slight and pass- 
 ing allusion to the great work to which these occurrences gave 
 
MEMOIR. Ivii 
 
 rise — and that (as is evident from the detail into which she 
 enters respecting his philosophical studies,) from no inability 
 to appreciate even the greatest of his mental efforts — from all 
 this it cannot but be concluded that, in her biographical narra- 
 tive, some singular constraint was laid upon her pen. And 
 may not the same influence have led her to put forth, un- 
 consciously to herself, with somewhat of excessive emphasis, 
 the austerities of the writer, as a kind of set-off to the inde- 
 pendence of judgment displayed by him in this formidable 
 controversy, and which was so much at variance with the 
 spirit, and so threatening to the interests, of their common 
 church ? The work itself, which made its appearance above 
 nine years after Pascal's religious convictions were deeply 
 imbibed, gives certainly no internal evidence of a conscience 
 so morbidly scrupulous as the portraiture of his biographer 
 represents. It indicates a mind and a judgment that knew 
 well how to balance the claims of God, his neighbour, and 
 himself. It combines the bearing and spirit of the man of 
 the world, with the purity and devotedness of the Christian. 
 And we may, at least, in the absence of a proper arrangement 
 of dates, in which the Memoir is singularly deficient, believe 
 that the more intense self-inflictions, to which he is repre- 
 sented as abandoning himself, must have occurred in the few 
 closing years of his aiHicted existence, when his sufferings, 
 and his weariness of life, which served to deepen his personal 
 piety and quicken his aspirations after a heavenly rest, might 
 have somewhat impaired that exact discrimination of Scripture 
 truth, which at an earlier period he had evinced, and led him 
 to overlook the great principle that " bodily exercise profiteth 
 little," and that " the kingdom of heaven consisteth not in 
 meats and drink." 
 
 Pascal was now approaching the period that has been just 
 referred to, — that of his controversy with the Jesuits. His 
 father had been dead about four years. On that occasion he 
 composed some impressive reflections upon the subject of 
 death, and the prospects of the righteous after this life ; and 
 
 c 5 
 
Ivili MEMOIR. 
 
 addressed them in the form of a Letter to his sisters. Being 
 now almostwhoUy deprived of domestic society, and having again 
 removed his residence to Paris, these circumstances, together 
 VFith congeniality in rehgious vievrs, threw him into hahits of 
 close intimacy with the Members of the Port Royal, although he 
 never (as has been popularly believed) joined their Society, 
 or formally avowed himself a Jansenist. The circumstances 
 which led to the publication of the " Provincial Letters " are 
 narrated with such graphic eifect by his eloquent commentator 
 already referred to,* that any further details here would be 
 out of place. A few remarks upon the spirit and tendency 
 of this great performance, will be found in a subsequent part 
 of this memoir. It is sufficient here to say that, although 
 appearing at first under a feigned name, the unanimous voice 
 of France soon attributed these noble papers to the only man 
 then living capable of their production ; and assigned him at 
 once a place — which posterity has ever since fully ratified — 
 among the most accomplished writers, in ancient or modern 
 times. 
 
 But the successful achievements of polemical controversy, 
 the inculcation of important doctrine, or the exposure and 
 correction of a corrupt body of theologians — all this was not 
 enough to satisfy his desires for the glory of his Divine 
 Master, or for the benefit of his Church. Amidst the pres- 
 sure of increasing infirmity, he contemplated (as is well 
 known) a stupendous work, that should not only demonstrate, 
 from every source, the truth of the Christian religion, but, by 
 the most comprehensive reasoning and illustrations, enforce, 
 from the nature and the wants of man, the necessity of a 
 Divine Revelation for his guidance here, and for the satisfac- 
 tion of his desires hereafter. So copious was his projected 
 undertaking that he calculated, if the state of his health should 
 enable him to give to it continuous attention, its completion 
 would have occupied a period of several years. Upon this 
 
 * M. Villemain. — For some further anecdotes, see also Memoir of 
 Arnauld, Appendix No. 2. 
 
MEMOIR. lix 
 
 scheme he had long and deeply meditated, and had amassed 
 in his mind large stores of materials, in an imperfect and disT 
 jointed state, before even he commenced the task of committing 
 them to paper. But it was the inscrutable will of Providence 
 that strength should be denied him to complete this great 
 undertaking. The state of his health became such, that his 
 medical advisers wholly interdicted the labour of writing or 
 even study. His custom however was, during short intervals 
 of suffering, to note down upon detached papers, the thoughts 
 that occupied his mind, often in the rudest form, and wholly 
 without method or connexion. These papers, collected after 
 his death, and digested, as far as was practicable, with great 
 labour, formed his well-known " Pens^es," a work which has 
 ever since been regarded as among the richest repositories of 
 eloquent thought and profound theology. 
 
 While thus struggling under the conception of this great 
 undertaking, and the physical inability duly to carry it into 
 execution, a circumstance occurred, which has fortunately 
 been preserved with more of detail than most of the incidents 
 of his life. A number of his friends, and among them some 
 of high worth and distinction, joined in a request to him to 
 furnish them, orally, with a summary, or outline, of the 
 leading topics of his projected work. In an interval of coniT 
 parative strength, he summoned them together, for the purpose 
 of complying ■^ith their desire ; and then, it is related, in an 
 uninterrupted discourse of from two to three hours duration, 
 and carried on vrith exquisite method, clearness, and elegance, 
 he unfolded to his hearers the plan of his contemplated 
 treatise, together with an outhne of the arguments and illus- 
 trations by which it was to be supported. An account; in an 
 abridged form, has been preserved of this invaluable oration, 
 of which want of space forbids the insertion here, but which 
 is familiar to all who are acquainted with the works of Pascal 
 in their original language. 
 
 Who would not pause for a moment to dwell upon this 
 scene ? It was one which a painter loves to delineate, and 
 
Ix MEMOIR. 
 
 which none hut an eye-witness could have described. Imagi- 
 nation reaUzes, on the one side, the audience, comprising 
 various classes and conditions — the young, the advanced in 
 age, the layman, and (perhaps) the ecclesiastic, the noble in 
 birth, the devoted relative, the admiring friend ; — their eager 
 gaze, their fixed attention, their chastised silence. We then 
 seem to view the speaker ; his youthful air, his enfeebled 
 frame, his pallid aspect, his earnest tones : we listen to his 
 discourse — the lucid arrangement of topics, the graceful 
 diction, the liquid flow of speech. All must have combined 
 to impress and subdue the mind, while over all was thrown a 
 feeling of deep sadness, in the foreboding that so noble a 
 design was, too probably, to be left incomplete ; and that 
 even the efforts of memory would be incapable of storing, and 
 transmitting to posterity the mere outlines which he was im- 
 parting to them ! The classical reader will be reminded of 
 the lectures of the ancient philosophers in their academic 
 bowers ; or, still more strongly, of the dying discourse of 
 Socrates with his friends. But his were themes far more 
 momentous than any which those illustrious men could impart 
 to the greedy ears of their disciples ; and, instead of the faint 
 guesses which they were enabled to send into the shadowy 
 abysses of futurity, the youthful teacher here was possessed 
 of the light of unerring truth, to illuminate his own spirit, and 
 to direct those of his rapt and admiring auditors ! 
 
 It may be here remarked, that it is an injustice to Pascal 
 to attribute the zeal he manifested for the resistance of scep- 
 ticism, to a continued struggle in his own mind against the 
 suggestions of unbelief. His comprehensive knowledge and 
 ardent imagination presented before him, indeed, every kind 
 of cavil, which existing or future forms of infidelity might 
 allege against the truths of Revelation. But it was not surely 
 to be thence concluded, that he himself attached weight and 
 importance to such objections ; and it seems by far the most 
 obvious solution of those fine passages, in which the struggles 
 of man's doubt and ignorance are so glowingly depicted, to 
 
MEMOIR. Ixi 
 
 regard them as rhetorical impersonations of a mind supposed 
 to be destitute of those infallible guides to truth and happi- 
 ness, which he himself possessed. In the same manner, it is to 
 be regretted, that so high an authority as that of M. Villemain 
 should (doubtless through inadvertence) have been given to the 
 story of the Talisman, or Amulet, said to have been found, 
 after his death, on the person of Pascal, or that he should 
 have brought into an apparent juxta-position some abstruse 
 and subtle calculations into which the mathematical habit of 
 Pascal's mind impelled him, with the morbid and profane 
 ravings of Rousseau. Nothing can be more evident, on 
 inspection of the first-mentioned document itself,* than that 
 it was a kind of hasty and fugitive memorandum, drawn up 
 in a manner that was habitual with him, for the purpose of 
 recording, for his own eye alone, a species of resolution or vow 
 which he had formed in some moment of ardent communion 
 with the Divine Being ; and instances of these kind of solemn 
 transactions are by no means uncommon with minds of devo- 
 tional elevation such as Pascal' s.f 
 
 The last four years of Pascal's life presented an almost 
 unbroken series of bodily suffering. Incapable of mental 
 exertion, his soul was absorbed in devout exercises ; and, 
 when his little remaining strength permitted, his delight was 
 to pass from one church to another, to partake of the various 
 religious solemnities, of which the metropolis afforded an un- 
 interrupted succession. He seemed, at those times, almost 
 to realize the fond aspiration of the Psalmist ; and, like the 
 bird, of whose privileges he was envious, to make his habita- 
 tion in the courts of the Lord ! It is touching and instructive 
 to contemplate him in these scenes. Who does not follow 
 with interest one, with whose name Europe was resounding, 
 the victorious polemic, the scourge of error — on whose brow 
 
 * Appendix, No. 1 1 . 
 t It is pleasing to see this view of the circumstance referred to, ener^ 
 getieally supported by the latest French editor of Pascal's miscellaneous 
 writings, M. Faugfere. 
 
Ixii MEMOIR. 
 
 literature and science had twined their blended wreath — ^whom 
 the world, for his genius and his learning, was eager to court 
 and caress ; — to see him thus — his days numbered, the un- 
 erring premonitions of decay borne within him — pierced by 
 the " Arrows of the Almighty," — stealing, in sickness and 
 solitude, like the stricken deer, from sanctuary to sanctuary ; 
 and finding his only remaining comfort in the services of that 
 Church, which he had so earnestly sought to purify, but 
 which he yet, perhaps, too fondly, too blindly loved ! Was he, 
 in that solitude and amidst those sufferings, really unhappy, 
 and an object of our pity ? He himself was, from his inmost 
 heart, pitying the unthinking world, upon which he had 
 turned his back. He possessed, in those moments, " a peace 
 that passed all understanding," " a joy, with which no stranger 
 might intermeddle." He bore within him " a hope full of 
 immortality ; " his was a " sober certainty of bliss." In 
 those services, alloyed by superstition and error, yet changed 
 by the alchemy of his spiritualized mind into the sacred 
 nutriment for which alone his soul hungered, he found the 
 foretaste of those pure and stainless adorations, on which he 
 was about eternally to enter ; and, in the approaching extinc- 
 tion of his earthly hopes, he welcomed the commencement of 
 an existence, which was alone commensurate with the large 
 desires of his aspiring spirit ! 
 
 Yet even at this period of suffering and decay, an occasion 
 arose in which -his genius blazed up once more in all its 
 wonted splendour. His nights were rendered almost sleepless 
 through unceasing pain ; and, after a longer period than usual 
 of insomnolency, he entered almost involuntarily upon a train 
 of profound meditation upon the properties of the " Cycloid." 
 He was for a long time indisposed to make the problems that 
 resulted from his investigations public ; but at last, the 
 intreaties of his friends prevailed, particularly those of his 
 young and devoted admirer the Duke de Rouannez. He set 
 to the work with the haste and impatience of one, who felt that 
 the time could be ill spared, and was taken from other and 
 
MEMOIR. Ixiii 
 
 more congenial occupations. In a few days the treatise was 
 prepared for the press ; and the world of science was again 
 astonished at the appearance — as before, under a fictitious 
 name, but one of which the key was soon discovered — of a 
 work which equalled, if it did not surpass, all the former 
 efforts of his mathematical powers. It may not be uninterest- 
 ing here to state, that the solution of the elaborate problems 
 which he put forth on this occasion, were made the subject of 
 competition among contemporary mathematicians for a con- 
 siderable pecuniary prize, offered personally by Pascal. Among 
 the competitors was our eminent architect Sir Christopher 
 "Wren ; but the two who approached the nearest to success 
 were Lalloure, a Frenchman and a Jesuit, and Wallis, another 
 Englishman. Owing to some informality in the answers of 
 both these persons, the umpires appointed for the adjudication 
 of the prize, declined pronouncing in favour of either, and it 
 was not bestowed at all. This circumstance is made the 
 subject of sarcastic remark by Condorcet in his narrative — 
 otherwise a learned and interesting one — of the transaction ; 
 insinuating, contrary to the well-known facts of the case, that 
 the prize, although really earned, was withheld from the 
 Frenchman because he was a Jesuit, and from Wallis as a 
 heretic. 
 
 The same spirit of mortification and self-infliction which he 
 is described as having so long evinced, characterized with 
 increasing force the closing period of his life. Yet, if his 
 austerities towards himself, were carried far beyond what we 
 beheve to be enjoined by the benignant spirit of the Christian 
 dispensation, his heart overflowed with love and charity for 
 his fellow men. "While he was fond of exhorting his relatives 
 against a display of undue attachment to himself, his affections 
 were ever melting in tenderness towards them. He resembled 
 an infant, in the humility and submission of his spirit, If 
 ever drawn into a momentary impatience towards those by 
 whom he was surrounded, he could not restrain his eagerness 
 to atone for the hasty ebullition, by the tenderest expressions 
 
kiv MEMOIR. 
 
 and most gracious acts. Having never married, and his 
 family connexions being all in competent circumstances, he 
 seemed to feel himself justified in dispossessing himself of a 
 large share of his moderate property for benevolent objects 
 during his hfe ; but, such were his eager sympathies towards 
 the poor and suffering, that he was with difficulty restrained 
 from the most disproportionate charities. Not satisfied with 
 cultivating that first of Christian graces, " poverty in spirit," 
 it was almost his passion to resemble also the poor in external 
 condition. He was always accustomed to seek out for the 
 supply of his domestic wants, not such tradesmen and artificers 
 as excelled the most in their departments, but those who most 
 needed custom and employment. And one of his latest acts 
 was, when almost in an extremity of illness, and the child of 
 his only domestic, who enjoyed a gratuitous domicile in his 
 house, was seized with small-pox, to cause himself to be 
 carried from his own dwelling rather than suffer the helpless 
 infant to be exposed to danger by a removal. 
 
 His closing moments now approached. The most intense 
 sufferings never drew from him a murmur of impatience. 
 The scriptures, which had been his exhaustless study during 
 his period of acuteness and vigour, were now, in his hours of 
 weakness, the balm and consolation of his spirit. His especial 
 delight was in an unceasing repetition of that treasury of 
 spiritual comfort, the 119th Psalm, which forms the "Petites 
 heures" of the Romish Church.* An ecclesiastic, a friend 
 of his family, on paying him an occasional visit, returned 
 from his chamber, exclaiming to his sorrowing relatives, " Be 
 comforted ! his God is inviting him to himself : great as I 
 always thought him, never did he appear so great as now. 
 Would that I were in his place ! " 
 
 His medical attendants, with an incompetence that seemed 
 common to the profession in France in that day, flattered him 
 
 * This portion of Scripture iias always been a source of instruction 
 and consolation to the devout. It is said that our own venerated 
 "Wilberforce could repeat the whole (176 verses') from memory. 
 
MEMOIR. Ixv 
 
 and his friends that his symptoms were free from danger. 
 But he himself knew the contrary. The soundness of judg- 
 ment that distinguished him on every subject, extended to a 
 clear insight into the character of his own diseases. In the 
 conviction of his advancing end, his only solicitude was to 
 partake of the last offices directed by his Church for those in 
 dying circumstances. This was for some time opposed, on 
 the ground that the excitement of the services would too much 
 exhaust his strength. His sufferings however still increasing, 
 his sister took upon, herself to procure the attendance of an 
 ecclesiastic in his chamber, during the last night of his exist- 
 ence ; and on his being seized with a violent convulsive fit, 
 an interval of mitigated distress was embraced to administer 
 to him the sacrament and extreme unction. His last words 
 were expressive of his habitual humility and faith : " Forsake 
 me not, O my God ! " he exclaimed ; and, shortly after, calmly 
 committed his spirit to his Redeemer. He died on the 1 9th 
 of August in the year 1662, just two months after the com- 
 pletion of his thirty-ninth year.* 
 
 No account has been transmitted of jthe figure and personal 
 appearance of Pascal ; and the only authentic portraits that 
 have been from time to time published of him are derived 
 from one taken after his decease. I esteem myself fortunate 
 in being able to prefix to the present volume the copy of a 
 sketch, borrowed from a contemporary French Work already re- 
 ferred to,f the discovery of which was attended with interesting 
 circumstances. Not many years since, on the death of the 
 latest female descendant of M. Domat, an eminent advocate, 
 and an attached friend of Pascal, a volume was found in a box 
 of old papers, containing a legal treatise ; and on the cover 
 was a sketch in red chalk, by the hand of Domat himself, of 
 Pascal's "striking and noble countenance," as it is justly 
 designated by the writer, of whose narrative I am availing 
 
 • For his Epitaphs, see Appendix, No. 13. f M. Faugfere. 
 
kvi MEMOIR. 
 
 myself. Over the portrait is the signature of Domat's son, 
 with this inscription, as copied in the frontispiece, " My. 
 Father made use of this colouring for the manuscript of his 
 ■work on Civil Laws ; " and at the bottom, " Portrait of 
 M. Pascal by my Father." The drawing was made in the 
 year 1648, when Pascal was in his twenty-fifth year, and 
 when he and Domat were fellow- students in the classes of 
 natural philosophy. The countenance does indeed justify the 
 epithets here bestowed upon it. It is full of sensibility and 
 intelligence, with an air of deep pensiveness, which was 
 especially characteristic of the original. 
 
 Of his personal habits, colloquial powers, and other similar 
 particulars, httle is recorded. It is probable that although, 
 as is usual with minds of a high order, he might be reserved iu 
 his intercourse with strangers, when that restraint was removed, 
 the abundance of his resources would render his conversation 
 eminently pleasing and instructive. Habitual silence is the 
 resource only of the empty or the misanthropic. Of the 
 attractiveness of his society one remarkable instance has been 
 already referred to, in the devoted attachment of the youthful 
 and accomplished Duke de Rouannez. And it is also clear, 
 that to the number of his attainments he added one, which is 
 rarely found in such a combination — much facility of extem- 
 poraneous discourse ; a striking example of which has been 
 related in the oral epitome which he delivered to his friends, 
 of his work on Scripture Evidence. 
 
 A specimen of his hand-writing, derived from the same 
 source as the portrait, will also be found in another part of 
 the volume.* He wrote with great rapidity, using many abbre- 
 viations and arbitrary characters, as has been often the case 
 with writers of ardent minds, whose ideas seem to flow too fast 
 for the power of the hand to follow.f Yet the characters are 
 described as having almost the strength and precision of 
 engraving. Like all writers (or with a very few exceptions) 
 
 * The Emperor Napoleon's hand-writing was a strilcing instance of 
 this kind. t Appendix, No. 1 2. 
 
MEMOIR. Ixvii 
 
 who have aimed at the highest excellences of composition, 
 his most finished passages were elaborated with excessive care 
 and pains, and written and re-written numerous times before 
 his fastidious taste could be satisfied. * 
 
 It has been generally supposed that he was little accessible 
 to female attraction, and never, or very remotely, contemplated 
 entering into the married state. An interesting hypothesis 
 upon this subject has however been raised by his admiring 
 commentator, M. Faugfere ; and, as he is a writer evi- 
 dently not prone to take up opinions without careful in- 
 vestigation, carries with it much weight and probability. 
 The Duke de Rouannez had a sister, who at the commence- 
 ment of his intimacy with Pascal, was just entering womanhood, 
 beautiful and accomplished. Her age was scarcely sixteen, 
 and Pascal was in his twenty-eighth year. The interest- 
 ing Charlotte de Rouannez seems to have at once imbibed 
 the enthusiastic admiration of her brother for his friend, 
 and he became her confident, her instructor and correspon- 
 dent. M. Faug^re has brought forward a series of touching 
 letters from Pascal to his fascinating friend and disciple, part 
 of which were known before to exist in manuscript, and others 
 which had been till now undiscovered ; and these, although, 
 through the severity of ideas of the Port Royal Brethren and 
 others, in whose custody they had remained, they have been 
 obviously denuded of all topics but those of a religious nature, 
 bear evidence of no common measure of interest, on Pascal's 
 part, in the well-being of his correspondent. M. Faugfere 
 attributes also — and probably with justice — to the influence 
 of this young lady, the composition of his graceful essay on 
 the passion of Love, which was for the first time pubhshed, 
 some years siaccf 
 
 * Among many other instances it is recorded of the present Lord 
 Brougham, that he wrote out the peroration of one of his most important 
 speeches on the trial of Queen Carohne a large number of times before 
 he could bring it to his own standard of excellence. The effect of the 
 production, on its delivery, is said to have been such as to reward the 
 labour it had cost the speaker. f Appendix, No. 7. 
 
Ixviii MEMOIR. 
 
 Combining these circumstances together, M. Faug^re comes 
 to the conclusion — and with much plausibihty — that Pascal, 
 from the instructor, became the suitor of his attractive pupil. 
 Encouraged by the attachment of his brother, fascinated by 
 her charms, and dazzled by her rank, he (perhaps rashly) 
 aspired to an alliance with one, in whom esteem seemed 
 already yerging on love. The inequahty of their station 
 presented an insuperable obstacle ; and either his advances 
 were repulsed, or — which is more probable — he silently relin- 
 quished his hopes. It was at that period that may be sup- 
 posed to date Pascal's return to the severer path of religious 
 observance and desires, from which, as appears by the intima- 
 tions of his biographers, he had, under some seductive influence 
 been temporarily induced to stray ; and then, as is eloquently 
 observed, " his spirit, finding nothing in human affections 
 sufficiently faithful and large to satisfy his aspirations, turned 
 to the source of all excellence and all love, and sought the 
 consummation of his hopes in Him who is alone perfect, 
 eternal, and infinite ! " This high-born and accomplished 
 young female seems to have at one time contemplated the 
 renunciation of all her prospects in favour of a conventual 
 life. She passed a noviciate in the convent of Port Royal, 
 but quitted it shortly after Pascal's death, and re-entered the 
 world. Her subsequent history is not recorded. 
 
 The only branch of literature which Pascal seems not to 
 have aspired to was poetry. Indeed there is a passage in 
 one of his writings, which directs some disparaging expressions 
 against versification, as an art ; and if, as is probable, the 
 poetry which he denounces was nothing more than that whjch 
 the French language then presented, his derogatory terms need 
 not be matter of surprise ; for the most accomplished poets 
 of France had not then appeared. It is little likely that he 
 should have affected to undervalue the great master-pieces oi 
 the classic ages, into whose literature he had drunk so deeply ; 
 although his habit was, less than almost any other writer, to 
 make direct reference to other authors. Shakspeare, it is 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 Ixix 
 
 probable— as his works contain no allusion to English writers 
 —he was unacquainted with ; and the majestic harmonies of 
 Milton were at that time little known or valued, even by our 
 own countrymen. Voltaire has descended to the littleness of 
 raking up a few unlucky verses, which he is charged with 
 having once perpetrated, in a good-humoured complaisance to 
 a lady of whose hospitality he had been partaking; and, 
 certainly, if the production be Pascal's, it may be readily 
 given up to the dignified sarcasm of his antiquated critic. 
 
 Pascal's mind, in fact, teemed with all the elements of 
 poetry in its true sense — imagination, sublimity, pathos, en- 
 thusiasm—unbounded command of language, comprehensive 
 thought, and large acquaintance with men and things. These 
 gave him sway over the passions of his reader, which is the 
 great attribute of poetry ; and he may therefore well afford 
 to dispense with the fame of rhythmical composition. In 
 short, whether we regard his achievements in science, in 
 literature, or theology ; and, especially when we reflect upon 
 the narrow space of time — the mere segment of ordinary 
 existence — ^into which all were crowded, we may cordially 
 respond to the enthusiastic language of his latest Editor, 
 that " his genius was one that did honour, not to France 
 only, but to the human race." Yet was it his ardent piety, 
 his deep devotedness to God, and the consecration of all his 
 powers to His glory, and the welfare of man, that form the 
 crown and consummation of his mental greatness. It is here 
 that he takes the very highest rank among those, whose 
 number is too few (but of whom our own happy annals include 
 no small proportion,) in whom this holy and beneficial union 
 has been witnessed. He seems to have been designed by the 
 great Disposer of man's destinies, to show that His gifts are 
 independent of all those circumstances to which we are apt to 
 attach importance ; and to have been placed in the midst of 
 an erring and corrupt Church, as a rebuke to her for her 
 misimprovement of his efforts for her correction ; and as a 
 warning to those who, enjoying the privilege of a purer 
 
Ixx MEMOIB. 
 
 faith, do not, equally with him, improve their superior 
 advantages . 
 
 It is thus that memory loves to linger over the imperfect 
 records of learning, wisdom, and piety. But imagination has 
 also her province ; and the conjecture forces itself upon the 
 mind, whether, if lengthened years had been granted to him, 
 such a man as it has been thus attempted to describe, would 
 have remained in communion with the Church of Rome ? 
 
 The predominant qualities of Pascal's mind were, slowness 
 in deliberation, and decision in act, when his determinations 
 were formed. With these were united a deep reverence for 
 prescriptive wisdom and legitimate authority, and an inex- 
 haustible desire for the discovery of truth. Of the latter 
 propensity, his whole life and studies were an illustration ; and 
 his devotion to the support of lawful rule was remarkably 
 shown by his energetic efforts, under extreme bodily infirmity, 
 in support of the authorities of Paris, during the civil dis- 
 turbances that occurred towards the close of his life. Even 
 exploded systems of opinion, if they bore the sanction of 
 antiquity, lingered tenaciously in his mind ; and, in one of 
 his scientific treatises, he expresses almost reluctance to aban- 
 don the ancient doctrine of " Vacuum," when conviction had 
 forced itself upon him of its fallacy, and his own experiments 
 had chiefly contributed to its overthrow. 
 
 The active period of his life may be considered to have closed, 
 as has been seen, on the attainment of about his thirty-fifth 
 year ; that period, when the mind ordinarily attains its fullest 
 maturity, and after which it is wont to gather in its richest stores 
 of experience, and to turn its acquisitions to the most valuable 
 results. Pascal, with all his great powers, was not exempted 
 from that law, to which a profound observer of human nature* 
 has subjected a genius of even a higher order than his, when 
 he says, " Nature gives to no man knowledge ; all must 
 
 ♦.Johnson — Preface to- Shakspeare. 
 
MEMOIR. Ixxi 
 
 increase their ideas by gradual acquisitions ; must grow wiser 
 as they grow older ; and instruct with more efficacy, as they 
 themselves are more amply instructed." 
 
 His polemical vigour had been hitherto exclusively directed 
 against the errors of the Jesuits. It was not with haste that 
 he entered upon that great enterprize ; for his religious con- 
 victions had been imbibed as early as his twenty-fourth year, 
 while the Provincial Letters were not commenced till he had 
 reached the age of thirty-three. The interval had been doubtless 
 employed in deep meditation upon the injurious tendency of the 
 tenets of the Jesuit school ; and in collecting such stores of 
 learning and illustration, as would he requisite for the great con- 
 flict in which he was preparing to engage. Yet, throughout this 
 controversy, he seems to have laboured under the impression, 
 that the Jesuit system was, with all its evils, but an excres- 
 cence upon the Romish Church ; which, when healed of its 
 virulence, or entirely cut off, would leave the body itself in 
 health and soundness. But who can doubt, that advancing 
 years and more mature experience, would have shown him, 
 that, where so foul a growth had supervened, the system 
 itself must have been incurably diseased ; and the offspring 
 which had attained to so portentous a stature, could not have 
 materially differed in nature from the parent in whose bosom 
 it had been nurtured ? 
 
 Even the principle of self-defence would have led to a pro- 
 longation and embittering of the warfare. The condemnatory 
 Bulls which the Papacy issued against the Provincial Letters,* 
 would, if life and strength had been given him, have led to 
 rejoinders on his part ; and, to use his own language, " he 
 would have been obliged to carry the war into the enemy's 
 borders, and wage it at his own cost." Formidable, indeed, 
 to them might that cost have been. One conquest would 
 have led to another. His own resources would have consisted 
 in the exhaustless stores of conviction and truth; and the 
 
 * Appendix, No. 1. 
 
Ixxii MEMOIR. 
 
 whole opposing territory would at length, in this righteous 
 war, have been invaded and possessed. 
 
 But the effect of advancing years would have been chiefly 
 valuable in the enlarged field of observation they would have 
 opened to his mind. Life, with all its affairs and interests, 
 would have progressively spread out before him, and presented 
 fruitful matter for his active contemplation. His own exist- 
 ence had been hitherto absorbed and divided between science, 
 literature and theology. The world— other than that of 
 France and Jesuitism — had been well nigh shut out from his 
 view. There is no evidence that he had ever travelled in any 
 other country than his own ; or, indeed, migrated much 
 beyond the route between Rouen and Paris. Germany and 
 England seem to have been little known to him, and our 
 language formed, at that time, probably no part of a polite or 
 learned education. Thus must there have been large subjects 
 of enquiry and reflection yet unexplored by his inquisitive 
 mind. Protestantism was, comparatively, only dawning over 
 Europe ; and it is not easy to conceive what might have been 
 the effect of his meditations, in the stillness of learned leisure, 
 and under the teaching of that Divine Instructor, whose aid 
 he ever so diligently invoked, upon the benefits, social, 
 moral, and religious, which, under many drawbacks — amidst 
 chills, and blights, and tempests — her glorious light was 
 gradually diifusing throughout those countries, and espe- 
 cially our own, which had early welcomed her benignant in- 
 fluences. 
 
 But, above all, Pascal possessed, in a degree greater, per- 
 haps, than any man whom the Romish Church in France ever 
 produced, a knowledge of the guide to all truth — the Scriptures 
 of Inspiration. They were written in his memory, and sealed 
 upon his heart. By their illumination he would doubtless have 
 been shown, in slow but sure progression, and in a manner 
 accordant with the constitution of his own mind, the unscrip- 
 tural doctrines and superstitious practices that had been 
 engrafted upon his Church ; and, truth having once impressed 
 
MEMOIR. Ixxiii 
 
 itself upon his own mind, conscience would not have allowed 
 him to withhold his convictions from others. 
 
 In this way he would have been led to see, in the Jesuit- 
 code which he had combated, only an exaggeration and con- 
 centrated form of the subtle and pernicious policy of the 
 church from which it sprung. His denunciation of its cor- 
 ruptions and perversions would have opened his eyes to other 
 evils, such as indulgences, monasticism and the Inquisitorial tri- 
 bunals, which had their origin before Jesuitism was known, and 
 grew up independently of its influences. The iniquities which 
 that system had introduced into the Confessional, would have 
 discovered to him the vices inseparable from the Confessional it- 
 self. And the buffooneries of Mariolatry, which he had so keenly 
 ridiculed, would have brought him to pause upon the scriptural 
 evidence for ascribing any divine honours to the Virgin. 
 
 In the same manner, his bold rejection of Papal infallibility 
 must have opened the way to the admission, that Councils 
 (composed as they were merely of fallible men) might fall into 
 error. His perception of the growing tyranny of the Papal 
 hierarchy would have induced him to long for a church which 
 should acknowledge no head but the national and constitu- 
 tional Ruler. And, yet more, must his own love and venera- 
 tion for the Scriptures have led him, ere long, to resent and 
 resist that fruitful source of all error, the denial or restriction 
 of its sacred pages from the great body of the Church. 
 
 But more than all, would his persevering and enlightened 
 study of that unerring Directory have brought to his mind 
 fresh revelations of its pure and salutary doctrines. His 
 ardent advocacy of those which he had already embraced, 
 especially that of the Divine Influences — the " effectual grace," 
 as by way of distinction it was then scholastically termed — 
 could have scarcely failed in due time to prepare him for a 
 discovery and recognition, with Luther, of that great Reformer's 
 cardinal tenet " Justification by Faith." Waiving also — as 
 questions the unravelling of which is, in reality, little important 
 to man's salvation — the mysteries of the Divine decrees, he 
 
 d 
 
Ixxiv MEMOIR. 
 
 would perhaps have, found that narrower bounds than he had 
 supposed, divided him, in its essential features, from the 
 theological system of Calvin himself. Then, with the generous 
 haste that characterized him, and which on a former occasion 
 he had so gracefully evinced,* he would have eagerly retracted 
 the harsh epithets f which he had before applied to the 
 opinions of both these great men. And equally would he 
 have been led to reverse the sentence which he had once so 
 dehberately pronounced, J that salvation was alone to be 
 found within the bosom of a church, which he had at length 
 discovered to be so degenerate and fallen ! 
 
 Yet would his spirit and temper, in denouncing the errors 
 of that Church — heretofore so loved — have been reverend and 
 chastised. His aim would have been, without compromise of 
 truth, to correct, to purify, and to restore. And thus he would 
 have been progressively assimilated in spirit and in design 
 with that noble band of holy and devoted men, who (especially 
 in our own thrice-happy land) achieved and secured, for them- 
 selves and their posterity, the blessed work of Reformation, 
 whose benefits we, at this day, enjoy ! 
 
 This would have been Protestantism ; and then another 
 enquiry presents itself, to which the patience of the reader 
 may be for a moment further solicited, — what would the 
 character of that Protestantism have been ? 
 
 To this, the whole tenor of his life and actions may be 
 referred to for an answer. It would have been consistent and 
 manly, cautious yet decided, slowly matured, but unflinchingly 
 maintained. As a controversialist he would have continued, 
 as he ever had been — explicit, direct and intelligible. In his 
 writings there would have been no coasting between truth and 
 error, no sophistical distinctions, no mystifying of simple 
 principles, ho frittering down of vital doctrines. The author 
 of the Provincial Letters would have ever used the simplest 
 (although the most eloquent) language, to explain his own 
 
 * Letter 16, Postscript, 
 t Letter 18. I Letter 17. 
 
MEMOIR. IXXV 
 
 views, and to carry conviction to others. As a member of a 
 church — whether still a layman, or (as is less probable) 
 clothed with the ecclesiastical office — the same charac- 
 teristics would have distinguished him. The ritual of his 
 advocacy would have been decent, solemn, pure ; adapted to 
 man as a being of earth, yet an aspirant to heaven. In it 
 there would have been no resuscitation of wisely-forgotten 
 customs, no stealthy resumption of interdicted observances, 
 no attitudinizing * in a reverend and holy worship ; no 
 sentimentality, in the great business between man and his 
 Maker. The discipline also that he aimed to enforce would 
 have been such as suited free, but sound-hearted men. He 
 would have smiled at the puerility of attempting, in societies 
 enjoying only (perhaps) too much of licence, to re-impose 
 upon conscience rules more stringent than even the law would 
 sanction ; and to revive from the dust of ages enactments such 
 as the sounder discretion of jurisprudence allows to sleep 
 undisturbed. Deeply attached to antiquity, he would not 
 have deemed all wisdom and all piety concentrated in the 
 early centuries, or even in mediaeval times. Versed — in a 
 degree to which few polemics have attained — in ancient, as 
 well as more recent literature, he would have assigned to each 
 its proper merits, and tested both by the standard of inspired 
 Truth. Revering the clerical body, he would have felt that 
 the laity had also their rights as well as their duties. And, 
 esteeming a pure church, and a scriptural ritual, to be the 
 greatest blessings bestowed upon man, and the source of all 
 good for time and for eternity, he would have scorned the 
 folly, and resented the presumption, that dared to disparage 
 and revile these inestimable benefits ; that would seek to 
 cramp the noblest powers of the mind, and weave about it 
 chains which the wisdom and piety of ages had combined 
 indignantly to throw off ! 
 
 If these conjectures be admissible, who can doubt, further, 
 
 * Johnson (in BoswcU). 
 
Ixxvi MEMOIR. 
 
 what would have been the result. Persecution would have 
 maTked him for its victim ; and, unless the growing humanity 
 of the times had interposed, the fires of martyrdom might 
 have been kindled for his destruction. Would he have shrunk 
 from these terrors, or succumbed in the conflict ? Assuredly, 
 the same unconquerable spirit, the same zeal for truth, and 
 the same confidence in the holiness of his cause, would have 
 supported him through an ordeal like this, as they had done 
 under his former controversy ; and he would have braved the 
 vengeance of an infuriated hierarchy with the same calm 
 intrepidity, with which he meekly awaited the approach of 
 premature decay, from the slow, but more afflictive process of 
 suffering and disease. 
 
 It was, indeed, in this manner, rather than that which has 
 been thus placed before the imagination, that it pleased the 
 wisdom of Providence to cut off, in its early bloom, the 
 promise of so much good to France and to Eeligion. Pascal 
 was removed from the errors and imperfections of earth, to a 
 worship, purer than any to which his ardent wishes had 
 aspired ; and his country was destined to remain in nominal 
 subjection to a system of superstition, which the better portion 
 of her intelligence and piety have long combined to reject. 
 
 The remarks of M. Villemain, already referred to, upon 
 Pascal's writing, leave little to be said here, which would not 
 impair the eifect of his eloquent comments. It has been seen, 
 that this accomplished critic (than whom none can be regarded 
 as better representing the taste and judgment of modern 
 French literature) has not feared to incur the charge of 
 exaggeration, in placing him among the very greatest of writers, 
 ancient or modern. He calls him the creator of the French 
 style, compares his humour to that of Moliere, and asserts 
 that passages in the serious parts of his writings equal the 
 highest efforts of Demosthenes or Chrysostom. In this he 
 does but echo the suffrages of all French critics, particularly 
 those of the last century, who are now looked back upon as 
 
MEMOIR. Ixxvii 
 
 the great arbiters of literary merit. Voltaire, although affect- 
 ing to undervalue his scientific eminence (which he perhaps 
 could hardly appreciate,) and abhorring his religion, lavishes 
 praise upon the purity and eloquence of his writings. Con- 
 dorcet declares that his Letters have become the property of 
 all conditions, all minds, and all ages ; states that he was the 
 only French writer, up to his time, that had cultivated nature 
 and elegance in style ; and enumerates (not hypercritically, 
 but with admiration) about a half-dozen only of phrases that 
 in his day had become objectionable to a fastidious taste. 
 D'Alembert also regards him as having fixed the purity of the 
 language, and says that his idiom (though he wrote a hundred 
 years before) seemed as fresh as that of the most modern au- 
 thors ; and will ever be regarded as a model of taste and style. 
 
 The position which Pascal holds in French literature may 
 be regarded as similar to that of Addison in our own. Both 
 contributed, more than any writers who had preceded them, 
 to the purity and grace of their respective languages. But if 
 our own accomphshed countryman may be regarded as ex- 
 celling Pascal, and almost every other writer, in the variety 
 and delicacy of the beauties of his compositions, the latter must 
 be acknowledged greatly to surpass him in strength and eleva- 
 tion. In fact he seems to have anticipated, in his own tongue, 
 qualities which, in ours, it took a century to mature ; and to 
 have combined the ease and finish of our Augustan era with 
 the fire and energy of Junius and Burke, and the dignity 
 without the cumbrousness, of Johnson. The more elaborate 
 passages of Burke's didactic compositions will especially remind 
 the reader of some of the noble apostrophes and eloquent bursts 
 scattered throughout the Provincials. And in regard to Junius, 
 it is curious to remark how much his fine compositions seem 
 to have been formed upon the model of Pascal's,* although the 
 
 * The imitation extends even to the interstitial or parenthetical 
 Letters of Philo-Junius occasionilly thrown into the series. The anony- 
 mous disguise of this writer was however more successfully preserved 
 than that of his predecessor. 
 
Ixxviii MEMOIR. 
 
 latter has far the advantage of his political imitator in the 
 more permanent dignity and importance of his subjects. * 
 
 The humour of the Provincial Letters, which is considered 
 by his French eulogists to constitute so high a portion of their 
 merit, will not perhaps quite equal the expectations of those, 
 whose taste is formed upon the breadth and vigour of facetious 
 compositions in our language. The characteristics of Pascal's 
 satire seem to be point and brilliancy, with an excessive 
 refinement and delicacy ; and a fastidiousness that almost 
 checks his pen, when he is on the verge of some of those 
 " palpable hits," which a less chastened writer would have 
 perhaps rendered more effective. His story-telling (witness 
 his Jean B'Alba) is so delightful, that #e feel almost wronged 
 by his niggardhness, when his resources must have been so 
 abundant. Some of the more delicate strokes likewise, may 
 lose a little of their attractiveness by transfusion into another 
 language, and imperfect local and national knowledge ; and 
 the nature of the subjects upon which he treated, and his own 
 purity and reserve of disposition, imposed much of becoming 
 restraint upon his evident talent for the ludicrous. As to the 
 serious parts of his vn-iting, however, the language of admira- 
 tion can scarcely rise too high. The lucid arrangement of his 
 subjects, the sustained argument, the keen, yet measured 
 invective, the impassioned declamation — the abrupt openings, 
 and the magnificent perorations — all combine to fill the mind, 
 to raise the imagination, and to satisfy the taste, to a degree 
 not surpassed by any other efforts of human composition. 
 
 But there is a charm occasionally exhibited by these beau- 
 tiful writings which appears to exceed any that have been 
 
 * It has been said that our historian Gibbon was so attached to Pas- 
 cal's -writings, and the " Letters " in particular, that he read them inces- 
 santly. If this be true, it is perhaps more surprising that his own 
 artificial, though elegant style of composition, should not have derived 
 more advantage from the stady of so pure a model, than that his rigid 
 infidelity was in no degree softened by the contemplation of the writer's 
 simple faith and piety. In such a case as Gibbon's the taste, was likely, 
 unhappily, to be more accessible than the principles. 
 
MEMOIR. Ixxix 
 
 enumerated. It is those rests and pauses, that from time to 
 time occur in the conduct of his " high argument," which he 
 seems with eagerness to embrace, for the purpose of expatiat- 
 ing upon some cherished topic of Christian doctrine or practice ; 
 or to pursue a train of dignified exposition of some subject of 
 universal interest. It is then that he seems to let the weapons 
 of controversy fall willingly to the ground ; then the ruffled 
 and flattering plumage subsides ; and the expanded wing 
 floats calmly and gracefully over the waters of strife and 
 debate. Instances of this nature will occur readily to the 
 reader ; such as his repeated inculcation of the necessity of 
 spiritual influences, and the duties of charity and self-denial ; 
 his fine analysis of the laws, civil and divine, on the subject of 
 homicide,* the fallibility of the Popes,f and many others. 
 
 To conclude, however, these desultory remarks, it ought 
 never to be forgotten, that there were objects proposed by 
 Pascal far higher than the display of his powers as a writer, 
 or the gratification of his readers' taste. The portraiture 
 given in this work of the Jesuit-system and polity would be 
 interesting to the observer of human nature, if the colouring 
 were not that of genius and eloquence ; it would be instructive 
 to posterity, if the Society of Jesus had ceased to exist, and 
 its principles were no longer influential upon individuals or 
 communities. In what degree the exhibition now furnished 
 has a bearing upon present times, upon existing circumstances, 
 and passing events, needs here no further comment, but may 
 be most appropriately left to the intelligence and discernment 
 of the British public. 
 
 * Letter 14. t Letter 18. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Memoir, Ixxvij. Note, for " occasionilly," read " occasionally." 
 Letters, 67 Note, for " suget," read " sujet." 
 
 „ 71 line 14, for " favorabilios," read " favorabilior.' 
 
 „ 281 Note, for ' calomnia," read " calomnier." 
 
 „ 378 Note, for " ou," read " on." 
 
 Appendix, 432 line 12, for " stage," read " state." 
 
PROVINCIAL LETTERS. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 ON THE DISPUTES OF THE SORBONNE. 
 
 Sir, Paris, Jan. 23, 1656. 
 
 We have been imposed upon. It was only yesterday 
 that I was undeceived. Up to that time I had enter- 
 tained the belief that the disputes in the Sorbonne were 
 upon matters of importance ; and especially so to the inter- 
 ests of religion. So many meetings of a body of such ce- 
 lebrity as the Faculty of Theology of Paris, and in which 
 matters of such extraordinary — such unexampled mo- 
 ment had been discussed, led, unavoidably, to the belief, 
 that the subjects under deliberation were of the most 
 vital nature. You will be surprised, then, to learn, by the 
 account I am about to give you, — and on the best informa- 
 tion, — what has been the insignificant result of such large 
 preparations. 
 
 Two questions were discussed; the one of circum- 
 stance, the other of principle — the facts, and the merits, of 
 the case. 
 
 The question of fact was, whether M. Arnauld had 
 
2 LETTER I. 
 
 been guilty of indiscretion in stating in his second letter, 
 " that he had carefully read Jansenius' book, and had not 
 been able to discover in it the propositions condemned by 
 the late Pope ; and yet, being himself opposed to those 
 propositions, wherever they might be found, he vras 
 ready to condemn them in Jansenius, provided they were 
 really contained in his work." 
 
 The point then raised was, whether he was justified in 
 declaring his doubts that these propositions were to be 
 found in Jansenius, after the reverend the Bishops had 
 asserted that they were in the book ? 
 
 This question was laid before the Sorbonne. Seventy- 
 one doctors undertook his defence ; and maintained that 
 he was not bound to make any other reply than- the one 
 he did make to those who had, in such various publica- 
 tions, demanded of him, whether he maintained these pro- 
 positions to be in the book, unless he had actually seen 
 them there ; while at the same time, he professed to con- 
 demn them, if they should be proved to be in the work 
 in question. 
 
 Some of them even (a little in advance of their brethren) 
 declared, " that after the strictest search, they could find 
 nothing of the kind in the work ; but on the contrary, 
 had discovered sentiments quite opposed to the proposi- 
 tions." After this, they categorically demanded that, if 
 any of the learned doctors had themselves seen them, 
 they should point them out — a thing so easy as not to 
 admit of a justifiable refusal ; and the most efiiectual way 
 to silence all the others, and even M. Arnauld himself. 
 This however was uniformly refused. You have now 
 the summary of all that passed upon this point. 
 
DISPUTES OF THE SORBONNE. 3 
 
 On the other handj there were twenty-four of the Sepu- 
 lar^ and about forty-six of the Regular DoctorSj who con- 
 demned M. Arnauld's propositions ; without however, 
 examining whether they were true or false ; but stating 
 that the question with them was, not as to their truth, 
 but only as to the temerity of the author in propounding 
 them. 
 
 There were fifteen others, not in favor of the censure ; 
 and who are termed neutrals. 
 
 This is the way, then, in which the question of the fact 
 has been settled, about which I do not give myself much 
 concern. Whether M. Arnauld had been rash or not, 
 is no point of conscience with me. And, if curiosity 
 should lead me to enquire, whether these propositions be 
 really to be found in Jansenius, his book is neither so 
 scarce nor so voluminous, but that I may be able to 
 search through the whole of it, without consulting the 
 Sorbonne. 
 
 But if I were not apprehensive myself, of appearing in- 
 discreet, I should be of the same mind as most of those 
 around me ; who, although hitherto impressed with the 
 belief, that these propositions were to be found in Janse- 
 nius, begin now to suspect the contrary, from the strange 
 refusal on the part of his accusers, of all proof to that 
 effect ; for never have I yet found any one who could tell 
 me that they had actually seen them there. On this ac- 
 count I fear that this censure will prove to have done more 
 harm than good j and may convey to those unacquainted 
 with its origin, an impression quite opposed to the general 
 conclusion. In truth, people are becoming suspicious, 
 and will believe nothing but what they have really seen. 
 
 B 2 
 
i LETTER I. 
 
 But, as I have said already, this point is of little im- 
 portance, since it has nothing to do with any question of 
 faith. 
 
 As to the question of principle (the merits of the case) 
 that seemed much more important, inasmuch as it might 
 involve one of faith. On this account, I have taken 
 especial pains to inform myself upon the matter ; but 
 you will be much pleased to learn, that this also is as 
 insignificant as the preceding. 
 
 The question arose as to what M. Arnauld had said 
 in the same letter, viz. " that Grace, without which man 
 can do nothing, had failed in Peter, at the period of his 
 fall." You and I had both supposed that the question 
 was as to the great principle of grace, whether it had 
 been conferred upon all men, or, at least, whether it is 
 efficacious in all : but we were mistaken. I have speedily 
 become a great theologian; and you shall now see a 
 proof of my proficiency. 
 
 In order to get at the truth, I procured an interview 
 with M. N , a Navarrese doctor, and my near neigh- 
 bour; who, as you know, is one of the most zealous 
 opponents of the Jansenists : and, as my curiosity ren- 
 dered me almost equally ardent in the matter with him- 
 self, I asked him, whether it had not been formally de- 
 cided, " that grace is given to all men ; " in order that 
 this question might be no longer one of controversy. He 
 replied, however, with some abruptness, that this was not 
 the point at issue ; that there were some among his party 
 who held, that grace has not been bestowed upon all ; 
 that the Examiners themselves had said, in full College, 
 that this opinion is a problematical one; and that he 
 
DISPUTES OF THE SORBONNE. 5 
 
 himself entertained the same view. Tn confirmation of 
 this he cited a celebrated passage of St. Augustine, " We 
 know that grace is not given to all men." 
 
 I begged his excuse for having misapprehended his 
 opinioUj and requested him to inform me, whether he did 
 not, at least, condemn that other position of the Jan- 
 senists, which had caused so much excitement, viz. that 
 " Grace is effectual, and operates upon our will for the 
 production of good works ? " But I was not more 
 fortunate in this, than in my previous enquiry. " You 
 are quite mistaken," he replied; "this is no heresy j it is 
 an orthodox opinion : all the ' Thomists ' hold it ; and I 
 myself have entertained it as a member of the Sorbonne." 
 I did not dare to explain my doubts to him — and indeed 
 I began to be not very clear wherein my difficulty 
 lay ; but in order to get further information, I re- 
 quested him to inform me, in what the heresy of M. 
 Arnauld consisted. " It is in this," he replied, — " he 
 does not acknowledge that the just have power to perform 
 the commandments of God, in the way in which we un- 
 derstand the matter." 
 
 I left him after this ; and, proud of having penetrated 
 
 to the bottom of the question, I found out M. N 
 
 who was getting gradually better, and was sufficiently re- 
 covered to take me to his brother-in-law, a Jansenist, 
 (if ever one was to be found,) yet notwithstanding that, 
 a very good man. To insure a favourable reception, I 
 professed myself quite of his own views, and accosted him 
 thus, " Is it possible that the Sorbonne has introduced into 
 the Church such an error as this, that ' the just have 
 always power to keep the commandments ?' " "What do 
 
6 LETTER I. 
 
 you mean ? " said the doctor to me, " do you call such a 
 Catholic sentiment as this, error — a sentiment that none 
 hut Lutherans and Calvinists oppose ? " " "What," said I, 
 " is this not your opinion ? " " No," he replied, " we 
 anathematize it, as impious and heretical." Surprised at 
 this reply, I saw that I had carried the Jansenist too 
 far, as I had before assumed too much of a Molinist ; 
 but feeling still uncertain of the real meaning of his 
 answer, I requested him to tell me, in confidence, whether 
 he held, " that the just always possess an actual power to 
 keep the commandments ? " My friend, upon this, be- 
 came warm, (though his zeal plainly originated in devout 
 motives) ; and said, he should never conceal his opinions, 
 such as they were ; " this was his belief," he said, " and 
 he, and all his party would defend them to their last hour, 
 for they were the pure doctrines of St. Thomas and of St. 
 Augustine their master." He spoke so seriously, that I 
 could doubt no longer ; and after this confirmation, re^ 
 turned to my learned friend, and said, with much satisfac- 
 tion, I was sure peace would soon be restored in the 
 Sorbonne; that the Jansenists were agreed as to the 
 power of the just to keep the commandments ; that I 
 would answer for them ; and had their own word for it, 
 that they would seal the opinion with their blood. 
 " Softly, my friend," said he; " you ought to be a theolo' 
 gian, to understand this matter. The difference between 
 us is so subtle that we can scarcely explain it ourselves : 
 you would have difficulty in apprehending it. Be satisfied 
 to be informed that the Jansenists are right when they 
 assert that the just have power to keep the command- 
 ments this is not the matter in dispute : but they do 
 
DISPUTES OP THE SORBONNK. 7 
 
 not tell you that this power is a ' proximate ' one.* This 
 is after all the great point." 
 
 This word was to me new and unknown. Up to this 
 time I had seen my way ; but I was now involved in 
 darkness ; and I believe the expression was invented only 
 to perplex the enquiry. I requested him to explain him- 
 self ; but he became mysterious, and dismissed me, with- 
 out further satisfaction, to enquire of the Jansenists, 
 whether they allowed of this ' proximate power ; ' I taxed 
 my memory to recal the word ; for as to the understand- 
 ing it, it was out of all question. And lest it should escape 
 me again, I repaired immediately to my friend the Jan- 
 senist; and, after the first civilities had passed, said 
 abruptly, " Tell me, I beg, do you allow of a ' proximate ' 
 power ? " He laughed, and drily said, " Tell me your- 
 self in what sense you understand the term, and then I 
 will tell you what I believe about it." As my knowledge 
 did not extend so far as this, I was little prepared with a 
 reply ; but, not willing wholly to fail in the object of my 
 visit, I said at a venture, " I understand it in the same 
 sense as the Molinists." " Who, my friend ? " said 
 he, still coolly, " which of the Molinists do you refer to ? " 
 I knew of no distinction between them, but supposed 
 them to be all of one party, and to hold the same views. 
 
 He rejoined however, " You are under a mistake. So 
 far from being the same, they hold opinions quite opposed 
 to each other. United only in the one object of ruining M. 
 Arnauld, they have all agreed to adopt this term ' proxi- 
 mate,' that they may appear to hold the same language, 
 although they put different constructions upon it; and 
 
 * 'Prochain.' (Fr.) 
 
8 LETTER I. 
 
 thusj through an apparent conformity, may form one 
 large and united body for the purpose of oppressing him 
 the more effectually." 
 
 I was surprised at this reply ; but being unwilling to 
 adopt these unfavourable impressions of the Molinists 
 upon his word only — and in fact having no interest my- 
 self in the matter, — I persisted in my endeavours to ascer- 
 tain the various senses in which they used this mysterious 
 word. 
 
 He replied, "I would inform you with all my heart; 
 but you would find such gross inconsistency and contra- 
 diction as you would be scarcely able to credit. You 
 would think I was deceiving you. You would be more 
 satisfied in questioning the parties themselves j and for 
 this purpose, I will refer you to some of them. Call 
 separately upon M. Le Moine and Pere Nicolai." " I am 
 not acquainted with either," I said. " See then," he re- 
 joined, " whether you know some of these," naming 
 others: " for they hold the same opinion as M. Le Moine." 
 I found I was acquainted with some of these, and deter- 
 mined to follow his advice, and sift the affair further. I 
 left him ; and first of all repaired to one of the disciples of 
 M. Le Moine. 
 
 I entreated him to inform me what was the meaning of 
 a " proximate " power to do any thing. " Nothing is 
 more easy," he rephed, — " it is to have every thing that 
 is necessary to do any thing, so that nothing is wanting 
 for proceeding to action." "Then," said I, "to have 
 the ' proximate ' power of fording a river, is to be pro- 
 vided with a boat, boatmen, oars, and so on ; in fact, with 
 every thing needful." "Exactly so," he rejoined. "And 
 
DISPUTES OP THE SORBONNE. 9 
 
 to have the ' proximate ' power to see," I addedj " is to 
 have good sight and a clear noon-day ; for any one having 
 a good sightj in the midst of darkness, would not, as we 
 hold, have a 'proximate' power of seeing; light being 
 wanting, without which no one can see." " Very 
 just," he said. ''And, consequently," I continued, 
 " when you say that the just possess a ' proximate ' power 
 to keep the commandments, you must understand, that 
 they have all the grace required for obedience, so that 
 nothing is deficient on the part of God." " Listen to 
 me," said he, " they have all that is necessary for obedi- 
 ence, or at least they may ask it of God." " I understand 
 you," I said, " they have all that is required, to pray to 
 God for assistance, without requiring any further grace 
 from God to enable them to pray." " You understand 
 the point," he replied. " But is it not necessary to have 
 an effectual grace in order to pray to God ? " " No," he 
 replied, "not according to M. Le Moine." 
 
 That I might lose no time, I next proceeded to 
 the Dominicans, and enquired for some whom I knew 
 to be of the party called " New Thomists." I begged 
 them to tell me the meaning of the " proximate " 
 power. " Is it not that," said I, " in which nothing 
 is deficient, but every thing prepared for action?" 
 "No," they answered. "What, my Father, if any 
 thing should be incomplete in the 'power ' in question, 
 would you then call it ' proximate ' ? For instance, 
 would you say of a man in the middle of the night, and 
 without light of any kind, that he had the ' proximate ' 
 power to see ? " " Doubtless, that is our opinion, if he 
 were not blind." "Very good," said I, " but yet M. Le 
 
 B 5 
 
10 LETTER I. 
 
 Moine seems to think otherwise." " It may be so," they 
 rejoined, " but this is our view." " I understand you per- 
 fectly," I said, " as for me, I am not fond of disputing 
 about terms, provided I have a correct idea of the sense 
 in which they are used. But, I now see, that when you 
 say the just have always a ' proximate ' power to pray to 
 God, you mean that they require some further assistance, 
 or else they cannot pray at all." " Admirable," cried the 
 Father, embracing me, " Admirable ! you know very 
 well that there is an effectual grace required (and which 
 is not conferred upon all men) to incline their will to 
 prayer; and it is therefore heretical to deny the necessity 
 of this ' effectual grace ' to enable us to pray." 
 
 " This is all very clear," said I, in my turn, " but, 
 according to you, the Jansenists are catholic, and M. Le 
 Sloine heretical ; for the Jansenists say, the just have 
 power to pray, but nevertheless require effectual grace to 
 do so : and this seems to be your opinion. Now M. Le 
 Moine holds, that the just pray without any effectual 
 grace ; and this you condemn." True," said they, " but 
 M. Le Moine calls this power, a ' power proximate.' " 
 
 " What ! reverend sir," I cried, " why, this is mere tri- 
 fling with words, to talk of agreement on account of making 
 use of certain common terms, when you differ on the sense 
 of them." The Father made no reply : and at this mo- 
 ment, by a most fortunate coincidence, as I considered it, 
 my friend, M. Le Moine' s pupil arrived ; although I have 
 since found that their meetings are not infrequent. 
 
 Upon this, I said to my friend, " I am acquainted with 
 a person who maintains that all just persons have the 
 power of praying to God; but that, nevertheless, they 
 
DISPUTES OP THE SORBONNE. 11 
 
 will never pray without an effectual grace to incline tliem 
 to do so; and this God does not grant to all just persons. 
 Is he a heretic?" "Stay," said the Doctor; "you take 
 me by surprise ; let us proceed quietly ; ' distinguo.' If 
 he call this a ' proximate power,' he is a Thomist, and 
 so far, a Catholic ; if not, he is a Jansenist, and then a 
 Heretic." " He does not call it," said I, " either ' prox- 
 imate,' or ' not proximate/ " " Then he is a heretic," 
 he rejoined; "ask these worthy Fathers." I was not 
 disposed to refer again for their judgment, as their as- 
 senting nods had already declared their opinion ; but I 
 said to them, " He refuses to admit this word ' proxi- 
 mate ; ' for he can get no explanation of it." On this, 
 one of the Fathers was about to make another attempt at 
 explanation, but he was interrupted by the pupil of M. 
 Le Moine, saying, " Do not let us begin our broils again. 
 Have we not agreed not to explain this word ' proximate,' 
 but to pass it on from one to another without saying what 
 is meant by it ? " To this the Dominican assented. 
 
 By this time I saw their design; and rising to take 
 leave, I said, " Truly, reverend Fathers, I am greatly 
 afraid that all this is mere trickery on your part ; and, 
 whatever else may result from your councils, I venture to 
 predict that, when your censures shall be pronounced, peace 
 will not be restored. For when you have decided that these 
 mere syllables 'pro-chain, ' (proximate) shall be adopted, 
 who can doubt, that — no definite meaning being attached 
 to them, each of you will claim the victory ? The Domi- 
 nican will say that the word is to be understood in their 
 sense; and thus, there will be more dispute upon its pro- 
 per explanation, than upon its introduction : for, after all, 
 
13 LETTER I. 
 
 what great danger will there be in receiving it when no 
 particular sense is assigned to it? It is the meaning 
 only that can make it hurtful. But surely it would be 
 unworthy both of the Sorbonne and of the theology they 
 teach, to use equivocal and deceptive terms, without 
 affording any explanation of them. Therefore, Fathers, 
 for the last time, I entreat you tell me, what it is 
 that, as a Catholic, I ought to believe?" "You ought," 
 said they, speaking all together, " to acknowledge that all 
 the just have the ' proximate power,' but in a certain 
 abstract sense ; ahstrahendo a sensu Thomistarum, et a 
 sensu aliorum theologorum." 
 
 " That is," said I, as I departed, " you must pronounce 
 certain words with the lips, to avoid the stigma of heresy. 
 But, after all, is this word to be found in the Scriptures ? " 
 " No," they replied. " Is it then, in the Fathers, or the 
 Councils; or authorised by the Papacy ? " "No." "Is 
 it in St. Thomas?" "No." "Why then must it be 
 used, if there is no authority for it, and no meaning in 
 it?" " You are obstinate," said they, "You must use 
 it, or you are a Heretic, and M. Arnauld, also : for we are 
 the most numerous party ; and if necessary, we can get as 
 many Grey-Friars as we wish, and carry the day upon 
 the question." 
 
 On hearing the last reason, I left them, to send you 
 the preceding account ; by which you will see, that there 
 is no real controversy upon any of the following points, 
 but that they remain uncondemned on one side as well as 
 the other, viz, " 1. Grace is not given to all men. 2. 
 The just have always the power to obey God's command- 
 ments. 3. They need, nevertheless, for obeying the com- 
 
DISPUTES OF THE SOEBONNE. 13 
 
 mandmentSj and even to enable them to pray, an effectual 
 grace, to constrain and influence the will. 4. This effec- 
 tual grace is not bestowed upon all men, but results 
 from the pure mercy of God." So that, after all, there is 
 no danger but in the mere word ' proximate ; ' and that, 
 without having any definite meaning attached to it. 
 
 Happy those who never heard it ! happy those who 
 lived before its invention ! For I see no remedy, but for 
 the Academy, by the exercise of their prerogative, to banish 
 from the Sorbonne this barbarous word, which occasions 
 so much discord. Unless this be done, the censure will 
 certainly be pronounced ; but I consider that it will have 
 no other effect than to lower the Sorbonne, and to dimi- 
 nish its authority in carrying on successfully future con- 
 troversies. 
 
 As to yourself, I leave you full liberty to adhere to the 
 term ' proximate,'' or not ; for I love you too well to make 
 this a source of molestation. If these details should 
 prove not unacceptable, I will continue to inform you of 
 what passes ; and, in the meantime, I am, &c. &c. 
 
LETTER II. 
 
 ON A SUFFICIENCY OP GRACE. 
 
 SiK, Paris, Jan. 39, 1656. 
 
 Just as I had closed my last letter, I was, fortunately 
 for the satisfaction of my curiosity, visited by your old 
 friend M. N., for he is thoroughly well-informed upon 
 the popular topics, and intimately acquainted with all the 
 secrets of the Jesuits ; — in fact he is on terms of fami- 
 liarity with their Principals, and sees them all continually. 
 After mentioning the object of his visit, I requested him 
 to tell me precisely what were the points in debate 
 between the two parties. 
 
 He proceeded at once to satisfy me, and informed me 
 there were two especial questions : the one respecting 
 the "proximate power ; " the second respecting " sufficient 
 grace."* I gave you in my last letter, the history of the 
 former ; I will now proceed to acquaint you with that of 
 the latter. 
 
 I found then, in a word, that the controversy respecting 
 this " sufficient grace," consists herein. The Jesuits 
 maintain that a certain measure of grace is given to men 
 
 * ' Grace sufEsante' (Fr.) 
 
SUFFICIENCY OP GRACE. 15 
 
 generally, yet, so far subjected to their free will, as to be 
 rendered either effectual or otherwise, without any further 
 aid from God ; and that it needs nothing more to render 
 it productive and efficient ; which gives rise to the appel- 
 lation " sufficient," it being of itself sufficient for active 
 purposes. On the other hand, the Jansenists hold that 
 there is no sufficient grace, which is not effectual also ; 
 in other words, that grace which does not incline the will 
 to effective action, is insufficient for action ; because as 
 they maintain, none can act without " effectual grace." 
 This is their point of difference. 
 
 And, in reference to the doctrines of the new Sect of 
 Thomists, he gave me the information which follows. 
 They were eccentric and inconsistent ; they agree with 
 the Jesuits, that a sufficiency of grace is enjoyed by all 
 men ; but they assert, nevertheless, that none can produce 
 works with this grace alone, and that, for this purpose, 
 God must bestow upon them an "effectual grace," by 
 which their will must be impelled to act ; and which 
 latter is not bestowed upon all men. " Therefore," said I, 
 " according to this doctrine, the grace in question is 
 sufficient, and insufficient." — "Just so," he replied, 
 " for if it be sufficient, nothing more can be required ; 
 if insufficient, why then — it is insufficient." 
 
 " But then," I said again, " what is the difference 
 between them and the Jansenists ? " " There is this 
 difference,'^ he said, " the Dominicans are entitled to this 
 credit, that they never fail to say, that all men have 
 sufficiency of grace." "I understand you,'^ he replied, 
 " but they say this without reflection ; for they add, that, 
 in order to act, it is necessary to enjoy an ' effectual 
 
16 LETTER II. 
 
 grace/ whicli is not bestowed upon all men, Thus they 
 agree with the Jesuits, in using an unmeaning term ; 
 they differ from them, and hold with the Jansenists, in 
 substance and reality." " You are right," he said. 
 " How is it then," I enquired, " that the Jesuits have 
 made common cause with them, and that they do not 
 oppose them, as they do the Jansenists ? Surely they 
 must find them powerful adversaries, holding as they do the 
 necessity of an effectual grace to determine the will, and 
 thus opposing their own favorite positions ? " 
 
 " The Dominicans are powerful," he added, " and the 
 society of Jesuits are too politic to crush them openly. 
 It is sufficient for their purpose that they have been 
 brought to allow the term, " sufficient grace ; " although 
 they understand it in a different sense. They thus have 
 this advantage over them, that their opinions are put 
 down as untenable, whenever it serves a purpose to do 
 so — a thing easily accomplished. For supposing all men 
 to have a sufficiency of grace, nothing is more natural 
 than the inference, that effectual grace is not necessary 
 for good works ; since the sufficiency of this general 
 grace would supersede the necessity of any other. The 
 very term " sufficient," denotes all that is necessary for 
 action; and it would little avail the Dominicans, to 
 allege that they attach a different sense to it. The 
 public, accustomed to understand it in a natural and ordi- 
 nary way, would pay no attention to their explanatory 
 glosses. The society thus derives an important advantage 
 from the reception, by the Dominicans (in common with 
 themselves) of the term in question j and have no wish 
 to push it further. If you were acquainted with all that 
 
SUFFICIENCY OF GRACE. 17 
 
 passed in the Papacies of Clement VIII, and Paul V, 
 and to what an extent the Society was thwarted by the 
 Dominicans, in its endeavours to establish a " suffi- 
 cient grace," you would not wonder that they are not 
 willing to embroil themselves with them again; and 
 allow them to maintain their opinions, provided their own 
 remain free. And this the more especially, as the Do- 
 minicans themselves encourage them, by consenting pub- 
 licly to the use of the term in question. 
 
 The society is well pleased with their docility. They 
 do not demand a denial of the necessity of " effectual 
 grace," — this would be pressing them too hard : friends 
 should not be treated with harshness : the Jesuits have 
 obtained sufficient advantages. The world uses words as 
 its coins ; few investigate for themselves : and thus, the 
 term " sufficient grace," being received on both sides, 
 although in different senses, none but acute Theologians 
 suppose that the thing signified by the words is not held 
 equally by Jacobins and Jesuits ; and the result will show 
 that the latter are not among the greatest of the dupes. 
 
 I confessed that they were ingenious people ; and in order 
 to avail myself of the information I had acquired, I repaired 
 at once to the Dominicans. At their door I found a friend 
 of mine — a great Jansenist — (for I have friends of all 
 parties,) who was enquiring for one of the Fathers, 
 although not the one of whom I was in search. I pre- 
 vailed upon him however, to accompany me, and enquired 
 for one of my new friends the Thomists. He was de- 
 lighted to see me. " Well, my Father," I said, " it is 
 not sufficient, it seems, for all men to possess a ' proxi- 
 mate power,' by means of which, however, they do 
 
18 LETTER II. 
 
 nothing ; they must have also a ' sufficient grace/ by 
 which they still do little enough. Is not this the opinion 
 held by your school ? " " Yes, " replied the good Father, 
 " I have this very morning asserted the position at the 
 Sorbonne. I occupied my half-hour in descanting upon 
 it ; and, without the assistance of my hour-glass, I could 
 have disproved the saucy -proverb, which is circulating 
 through Paris, " He votes blindfold, like a Monk of the 
 Sorbonne.^' " Hour-glass, half-hour ! what is all this 
 about?" I said; "are your speeches regulated by 
 measure and time ? " " Yes," he replied, " for some 
 days past they have been so." " And do they compel you 
 to speak for exactly half an hour at a time ? " " No : 
 we may speak for as short a time as we please." " But 
 not as long as you like ? " I rejoined : *"' Oh, fortunate 
 regulation for the ignorant ! Oh, most considerate ar- 
 rangement for those who have nothing to say \" 
 
 " But, after all, my good Father, tell me, is this grace 
 which is bestowed upon all, ' a sufficient grace ? ' " " Cer- 
 tainly," he replied. " And yet it is of no use without 
 the ' effectual grace ? ' " " Quite true," said he. " That 
 is," I said, " all men have grace enough, and not 
 enough ; that is to say, the grace is sufficient and not 
 sufficient ; that is to say, it is sufficient in name, but in- 
 sufficient in reality. Truly, Father, your doctrine is 
 sufficiently refined. In shutting yourself out from the 
 world, have you forgotten the meaning of words ? Don't 
 you remember that " sufficient " implies all that is re- 
 quired for action ? You cannot have lost all memory in 
 these matters, for, (to give a familiar illustration) if, at 
 table, you were helped to two ounces of bread, and one 
 
SUFFICIENCY OF GRACE. 19 
 
 glass of water a day, would you be satisfied with your 
 Prior, stating, that this would be sufficient to support 
 you : and that, provided you had a few other articles 
 (with which however he did not supply you) you would 
 then have all that would be necessary for your sustenance ? 
 How can you then pretend to say that all have a suffici- 
 ency of grace for producing good works, while you ac- 
 knowledge that there is a further grace required for such 
 works, which all men do not enjoy ? Is such an article 
 of belief unimportant ; and do you leave it to men's own 
 fancy whether effectual grace is necessary or not ? Is it a 
 matter of indifference to say that with sufficient grace we 
 can work effectually ? " How,'' said this worthy man, 
 " ' indifference ! ■" It is a heresy — a deliberate heresy ! 
 The need of an effectual grace for effective working is a 
 point of faith : it is heresy to deny it.'' 
 
 " Where are we then ? " I exclaimed ; " and what side 
 am I to take ? If I deny a sufficient grace, I am a 
 Jansenist, If I admit it, like the Jesuits, and hold 
 that an effective grace is not necessary, you say I am a 
 heretic. And if I admit it like yourself, and maintain 
 that effectual grace is necessary, I offend against common 
 sense ; — I am ' absurd,' say the Jesuits. What am I to do, 
 under this inevitable dilemma of being, either absurd, or 
 heretical, or a Jansenist ? And to what a situation are we 
 brought, if it is only the Jansenists who are not perplexed 
 between faith and reason, and who alone escape from folly 
 and error ? " 
 
 My Jansenist friend considered these remarks a good 
 omen, and thought me already won over to his side. He 
 said nothing however to me; but, addressing the 
 
20 LETTER II. 
 
 ' Thomist/ "Tell me, Father," he said, "in what it is 
 that you agree with the Jesuits ? " " It is/' he replied, 
 " in this j the Jesuits and ourselves hold ' sufficient grace ' 
 to be bestowed upon all men." " But," rejoined the 
 Jansenistj " names only are empty sounds — it is the things 
 signified, that is reality and substance. And thus, when 
 you agree with the Jesuits in using the word ' sufficient ' 
 and differ from them in its meaning, it is evident that 
 you are opposed to each other respecting the substance of 
 the term, and agreed only as to the sound. Is this acting 
 sincerely, and in good faith ? " " Well," said the worthy 
 man, " what, after all, have you to complain of; we 
 deceive no one by our way of speaking. For in our 
 schools we openly say that we understand the matter in a 
 different way from the Jesuits." " My complaint is," re- 
 plied my friend, " that you do not declare every where, 
 that you understand by ' sufficient grace,' what is in 
 reality, not ' sufficient.' You ought in conscience, while 
 you thus change the meaning of the ordinary terms in 
 Theology, to explain, that, in allowing a ' sufficient ' 
 grace to exist in all men, you mean that in reality, they 
 have not a ' sufficient ' grace. All the world, except 
 yourselves, understand the word ' sufficient ' in the same 
 way : it is the new ' Thomists ' alone who interpret it 
 differently. All the women (who compose half the 
 world) all court-persons — Soldiers — Magistrates — all the 
 people about the palace, — merchants, — artizans — the lower 
 classes; in short, persons of all description (except the 
 Dominicans) understand by ' sufficient,' that which 
 includes every thing necessary. "Who has ever been ap- 
 prized of this peculiarity in their belief ? Nothing more 
 
SUFFICIENCY OF GRACE. 21 
 
 is known — and that all over the world — than that the Domi- 
 nicans hold ' all men to enjoy a sufficiency of grace.'* 
 What are we to conclude they mean by this, but that 
 all have grace sufficient for the production of works ; the 
 more especially, as they are seen to be united in common 
 interests and policy with the Jesuits, who understand the 
 matter in the same way ? The identity of their expres- 
 sion, together with this union in party feeling, is surely 
 a proof of a similarity of interpretation; and cannot 
 but tend to a belief of the entire uniformity of their 
 opinion." 
 
 "The faithful constantly enquire of Theologians — 
 What is the real state of nature since the fall ? St. 
 Augustine and his disciples reply, that it no longer enjoys 
 grace, except in such measures as God may please to dis-' 
 pense it. The Jesuits hereon affirm, that all have in 
 reality sufficiency of grace. The Dominicans are con- 
 sulted upon this contrariety : what part do they take ? 
 They make common cause with the Jesuits ; by this union 
 they constitute a majority. They separate from those 
 who deny the sufficiency of grace ; they declare that all 
 men are endowed with it. What are we to conclude from 
 this, but that they give their sanction to the views of the 
 Jesuits ? And then they add that, notwithstanding all 
 this, the ' sufficient '. grace in question is useless, without 
 that efficiency, which is not bestowed upon all ! 
 
 Would you behold a portrait of a church in which 
 these various opinions are held ? I consider it to be like 
 a man, who, setting out on a journey from his own country, 
 is encountered by robbers, who overpower him with 
 
 * ' Dea graces sufEsantes.' (Fr.) 
 
22 LETTER II. 
 
 wounds, and leave him half dead. He sends for aid to 
 three surgeons in the neighbouring town. The firsts on 
 examining his wounds, pronounces them mortal, and 
 tells him that God alone can restore him. The second, 
 coming up forthwith, proceeds to comfort him ; tells him 
 he has strength enough to carry him back to his dwell- 
 ing, and taunts his rival on the opinion he had just ex- 
 pressed. The patient, perplexed between the two, per- 
 ceives the third approaching him, and beckons to him to 
 relieve his anxieties. This latter, after examining the 
 case, and weighing the opinions of the two others, 
 makes common cause with the second ; and the two 
 thus agreed, unite against the first, and chase him 
 with opprobrium from the field. The patient sup- 
 poses from this that the third doctor had agreed in 
 opinion with the second ; and, in fact, receives, in reply to 
 his anxious enquiries, an assurance that he has strength 
 sufficient to prosecute his journey. The poor man, how- 
 over, conscious of his weakness, asks, on what his con- 
 clusions are founded ? " Because," said he, " you still 
 have your legs, and the legs are the natural organs for 
 walking." " But," says the sick man, " have I strength 
 to make use of them ; for they seem to me useless, in 
 my state of weakness?" "Certainly not," replied the 
 doctor ; " and in reality you never will walk, unless God 
 shall send you supernatural aid to sustain and lead you." 
 " What ! " cries the patient, " Have I not then in myself 
 sufficient strength for walking ? " " Very far from it," 
 replied the surgeon. " Your opinion then is entirely 
 opposed to your companion's respecting my state ? " "I 
 confess it is," he replied. 
 
SUFFICIENCY OF GRACE. 33 
 
 What do you suppose the patient said on this ? He 
 complained of the inconsistency, and ambiguous expres- 
 sions of the third of these doctors. He blamed him for 
 allying himself with the second, to whom he was in reality 
 opposed, and with whom he had no apparent ground of 
 agreement ; and for having repudiated the first, with 
 whom he actually agreed. And when he had tried the 
 extent of his strength, and ascertained its failure, he dis- 
 missed them both ; and, recalling the first, placed him- 
 self implicitly in his hands. Then, in conformity with his 
 advice, he entreated of God the strength, of which he was 
 in himself destitute ; he found mercy ; and by the aid he 
 received from above, arrived in safety at his own home. 
 
 The good Father was struck with the fable, and made 
 no reply. To encourage him to proceed, I said, quietly, 
 " But, after all, my father, how is it that you gave the 
 name ' sufficient ' to this grace, while you regard it as 
 an article of faith, to believe it to be in reality insuffici- 
 ent ? " " It is easy for you to talk thus," he replied, 
 " you are only an individual, and independent ; I am a 
 member of a religious community. Do you not perceive 
 the difference ? We depend upon our superiors, they 
 in their turn, look to others. They have made them- 
 selves answerable for our votes ; what would you have 
 me do ? " We understood him at once, and remembered 
 his brother, who was exiled to Abbeville, on occasion of 
 a similar controversy. 
 
 " But," said I, " how is it that your community was 
 prevailed upon to acknowledge this doctrine of grace ? " 
 " That is another question," said he, " all I can say is, 
 that our order did all that was in their power to support 
 
24 LETTER II. 
 
 the doctrine of St. Thomas, respecting efficacious grace. 
 How ardently did we oppose, at its very birth, the doc- 
 trine of Mohna ! How did we strive to establish the 
 necessity of the effectual grace of Christ ! Are you not 
 aware what was done during the popedom of Clement 
 VIII, and Paul V ; and that when death had prevented 
 the one from publishing his Bull, and important affairs 
 of government the other, we still continued our impor- 
 tunities with the Vatican ? But the Jesuits, who, from 
 the commencement of the heresies of Luther and Calvin, 
 had taten advantage of the scanty measure of ability in 
 the people to distinguish the error from the truth in the 
 doctrines of St. Thomas, soon succeeded in diffusing their 
 own view ; and that to such an extent that they became 
 masters over their faith ; and we were in danger of being 
 decried as Calvinists, and treated as the Jansenists are at 
 present, unless we modified the dogma of an ' effectual ' 
 grace, by some acknowledgment — (at least in appearance) 
 of— that which is termed ' sufficient.' In this emergency, 
 what could we do better, to assist in supporting the 
 truth without sacrificing our own credit, than to admit 
 the term ' sufficient ' grace, while we denied it in reality ? 
 This is the real fact of the case." 
 
 The father said all this with so melancholy an air, 
 that he excited my pity. Not so, however, that of my 
 companion, who exclaimed ; " Flatter not yourselves that 
 you have supported the truth : had she found no better 
 protectors than you, she would have perished under hands 
 so feeble ! You have admitted into the church an enemy 
 in name ; — where is the difference between that and admit- 
 ting the enemy himself? Names are inseparable from 
 
SUFFICIENCY OF GRACE. 25 
 
 things. If the term sufficient grace be once allowed, 
 you may affirm as you please, that you mean a grace 
 that is insufficient — you will not be believed. Your ex- 
 planation will but procure you the contempt of the 
 world ; they are more sincere in matters of less impor- 
 tance. The Jesuits will exult j they will establish their 
 ' sufficient ' grace in reality, while yours will be discarded ; 
 and they will succeed in enforcing an article of belief 
 wholly opposed to your own !^' 
 
 "We are all ready to endure martyrdom,'" replied the 
 father, " rather than consent to the imposition of a 
 ' sufficient ' grace in the sense of the Jesuits; St. Thomas, 
 whom we have sworn to follow even to death, is directly 
 opposed to it." Upon this my friend, more zealous upon 
 the question than myself, thus exclaimed : " Away ! 
 away with these sophistries ! Your order has had an 
 honour committed to it, of which it proves itself un- 
 worthy. It abandons that doctrine of grace which was 
 entrusted to its keeping, and which has never been 
 wholly lost since the creation of the world ! That all- 
 conquering grace, which was waited for by the patriarchs, 
 predicted by prophets, brought in by Jesus Christ ; 
 preached by St. Paul, expounded by St. Augustine (the 
 greatest of the fathers,) embraced by his successors , 
 which was confirmed by St. Bernard (the latest of the 
 fathers,) maintained by St. Thomas (the head of your 
 own school,) — from him transmitted to your order, and 
 maintained and gloriously defended by multitudes of your 
 fathers, under the popedom of Clement and Paul. That 
 effec^al grace, committed as a sacred deposit to your 
 custody, that in a holy order and perpetual succession it 
 
26 LETTER II. 
 
 might be published to the world to the end of time- 
 that precious doctrine is now cast off and abandonedj 
 for the most unworthy considerations ! It is time that 
 other champions should arm for the conflict ! It is time 
 that the Almighty should summon new, and more in- 
 trepid disciples, for the inculcation of His grace; men, 
 who, knowing nothing of the conventional subtleties of 
 the day, shall serve God for His own sake. Grace may 
 no longer have the Dominicans for defenders, but she 
 will never want support. She will herself mould and 
 inspire her scholars by her own omnipotent power. She 
 asks for hearts, pure and unfettered by worldly trammels ; 
 she sanctifies and disengages them from interests and 
 entanglements incompatible with the truth of the gospel. 
 Weigh this, my father, and take heed lest God should re- 
 move your light from its place, and leave you in darkness 
 and dishonoui', as a punishment for coldness and treachery 
 to a cause so momentous as this to his Church ! " 
 
 He would have added more, for he was kindling fast 
 with his theme ; when I interposed, and rising to. depart, 
 said, " Truly, my father, if I were a person of importance, 
 in France, I would proclaim as with a trumpet, ' Thi§ is to 
 give notice, that when the Dominicans say that sufficient 
 grace is given to all, they mean, that all have not grace, 
 ' effectually sufficient.' After which you may say what 
 you please : but not otherwise." Thus ended our visit. 
 
 You see from this, that there is a political ' sufficiency, ' 
 as there is a ' proximate ' power. Nevertheless, you may 
 take my word for it, that we may without risk entertain 
 doubt of a ' proximate ' power, as well as^ of a ' sufficient ' 
 grace, provided we are no Dominicans. 
 
SUFFICIENCY OF GRACE. 27 
 
 Just while I am closing my letter, I am informed that 
 the Censure has been pronounced; but as I have not 
 heard the particulars of it, and it will not be published 
 till the 15th of Feb., I will say no more on the subject till 
 the next post. In the mean time, I am, &c. 
 
 Reply of the "Provincial" to the two preceding Letters 
 from Ms Friend. 
 
 Sir, Feb. 2, 1656. 
 
 Your two letters have not been kept to myself. Every 
 one sees them, every one hears, every one believes them. 
 They are not only valued by theologians, but they are 
 agreeable to men of the world ; and even intelligible to 
 female readers. 
 
 The following has been addressed to me by a member 
 of the Academy — one of the most eminent among so 
 many distinguished men — and who has seen only the first 
 of the letters. " I wish the Sorbonne, which is so much 
 indebted to the memory of the late Cardinal, would ac- 
 knowledge the authority of its own ' Academic Francaise.' 
 The author of the letter should then be satisfied ; for in 
 the capacity of an academician I would condemn, I would 
 proscribe, I would banish — -I could almost say, I would 
 exterminate this ' proximate power,' which causes so much 
 disturbance for nothing, and as to which none can tell 
 what it is that it requires. The evil is that our academical 
 authority is very weak and limited. I am sorry for it ; 
 and I am equally so that I have so little power to dis- 
 charge my obligations to you, &c. &c." 
 
 c 2 
 
28 LETTER IT. 
 
 And thus again writes a person (whom I abstain in any 
 way from designating), to a lady who had communicated 
 to him your first letter : — 
 
 " I am more obliged to you than you can imagine, for 
 the letter you have sent me : it is highly ingenious, and 
 admirably written. It narrates, without aiming at narra- 
 tive ; it elucidates matters of the most complicated de- 
 scription ; its raillery is delicate ; it is instructive to those 
 who are slenderly informed ; and it affords pleasure to 
 the learned. It is besides, an admirable apology, and — to 
 those who will apply it — a delicate and gentle censure. 
 In short, there is so much skill, so much wit and judg- 
 ment in the letter, that I should be glad to know who is 
 the author,* &c. 8cc." 
 
 You would like also to know who it is that writes to 
 me in this manner, but be contented to honour without 
 knowing him ; and when you know him you will honour 
 him more. 
 
 Continue your letters on my recommendation ; and let 
 the Censure come when it may, we shall be well prepared 
 to meet it. These words — their ' proximate power ' and 
 ' sufficient grace,^ — with which they threaten us, occasion 
 us no apprehension. We are too well acquainted with 
 the Jesuits, the Jacobins, and M. Le Moine — how many 
 aspects they can exhibit, and the little value of the new 
 terms — to give ourselves much concern about them. Not- 
 withstanding, I remain, &c. &c." 
 
 * No exp'anation as to the authorship of this letter is giren in the French 
 edition ; but it was probably by a different hand, as it is little likely that 
 Pascal would have applied expressions so laudatory, although just, to his own 
 composition. (Translator.) 
 
LETTER III. 
 
 (intended as a reply to the preceding.) 
 
 injustice, absurdity, and insignificance of the 
 censure of m. arnauld. 
 
 Sir, 
 I HAVE just received your letter ; and at the same time 
 was furnished with a manuscript copy of the Censure. I 
 seem to be as well treated in the one, as M. Arnauld is 
 treated ill in the other. I am afraid there is some ex- 
 aggeration on both sides ; and that we are neither of us 
 sufficiently known to our judges. If it were otherwise, I 
 am satisfied that M. Arnauld would be found to deserve 
 the approbation of the Sorbonne, and I the censure of 
 the Academy. Our interests are consequently different. 
 He ought to be better known, that his innocence might be 
 made apparent ; whereas, I must remain in concealment, 
 in order not to lose my character. Under these circum- 
 stances, being unable to discover myself, I look to you to 
 keep up my favour with my celebrated eulogists ; and it 
 shall be my business now to give you all necessary infor- 
 mation respecting the Censure. 
 
 I must confess to you, Sir, that I was much surprised 
 
30 LETTER III. 
 
 at it. I expected to find in it a condemnation of the 
 most dreadful heresies ; but you will wonder with me to 
 see such vast preparations subside into nothing, when 
 they seemed on the point of producing such important 
 results. 
 
 All this will however be a source of satisfaction to yoUj 
 if you remember the extraordinary impressions which so 
 long prevailed respecting the Jansenists. Recal to mind 
 the intrigues, the factions, the errors, the schisms, the 
 plots, which were so long attributed to them ; how they 
 were decried and calumniated in pulpits and publications ; 
 and how the torreiit of aspersion, so violent and long- 
 continued, was aggravated of late years by open and 
 public charges, not only of heresies and schism, but of 
 apostacy and infidelity — " that they disbelieved the mys- 
 tery of transubstantiation, and denied both Christ and the 
 gospel." 
 
 After all these extraordinary accusations,* it was de- 
 termined, in order to come to a solemn conclusion, to 
 institute an examination into their works. The second 
 letter of M. Arnauld was selected for the purpose, it being 
 alleged to contain the most signal errors.f His avowed 
 enemies were appointed examiners; all possible diligence 
 was used to discover the object of their search ; and they 
 report one proposition respecting the doctrine in ques- 
 tion, which they deem of a censurable nature. 
 
 What was to be inferred from these proceedings, but 
 that this proposition, selected under such peculiar circum- 
 stances, must contain the essence of the darkest heresies 
 
 * Var. Edit. 1667. ' Si atroces.' t Idem. ' Detestabiles.' 
 
CENSURE OF M. ARNAULD. 31 
 
 that could possibly be imagined ? Nevertheless, nothing 
 was in reality found in it, but what had been so clearly 
 and distinctly laid down in passages from the fathers, 
 cited by M. Arnauld, that I have never been able to find 
 any one who could see any difference between them. It 
 was fancied however that there could not but be a great 
 difference, because the passages from the fathers were 
 incontestibly catholic, but M. Arnauld's proposition must 
 be heretical, and therefore opposed to them. 
 
 The Sorbonne was looked to for the solution of the dif- 
 ficulty. All Christendom had its eyes fixed upon these 
 learned doctors, anxious to see how their decision would 
 discriminate this point, so imperceptible to ordinary ob- 
 servers. In the mean time, M. Arnauld put forth his 
 Apology, in which he gave, in parallel columns, his own 
 proposition, and the passages fi;om the Fathers on which 
 it was based ; in order that understandings of the lowest 
 order might perceive the conformity between them. 
 
 He shows that St. Augustine says, in a passage which 
 he quotes, " Jesus Christ exhibits to us an instance of a 
 just person in St. Peter, and teaches us, from his fall, to 
 beware of presumption." He cites again from the same 
 Father what follows : " God left St. Peter without grace, in 
 order to show us, tbat without grace we can do nothing." 
 He gives another extract from St. Chrysostom in the follow- 
 ing terms : " The fall of St. Peter was not caused by any 
 want of affection towards Christ, but by failure of grace ;' 
 it was the effect, not so much of his own negligence, as of 
 God^s abandonment of him ; to teach the Church that 
 without Him we can do nothing." Hereupon he produces 
 his own condemned proposition, which runs as follows : 
 
32 LETTER III. 
 
 '' The Fathers exbibit to us in St. Peter a just person, 
 who failed of grace, without which we can do nothing." 
 
 This then is what they adduce, to prove that M. Ar- 
 nauld's expressions are as much opposed to the Fathers as 
 truth is to error, and faith to heresy. Now, where lies the 
 difference? Is it in this — " The Fathers exhibit to us a 
 just person in St. Peter?" Why, St. Augustine says 
 the same, and in the same words. Is it where he asserts, 
 " Grace failed him ? " The self-same Augustine, who 
 stated that St. Peter was a just person, adds, " Under 
 that temptation he had no grace." Is it again in the 
 following, " Without grace we can do nothing ? " Have 
 we not here the very same thing which St. Augustine 
 aiBrms in the same place (and St. Chrysostom had de- 
 clared it before him), with this difference only, that he 
 expresses himself yet more strongly : " His fall was not 
 caused by any coldness or negligence, but by failure of 
 grace, and abandonment of God." 
 
 Every one therefore continued in undiminished sus- 
 pense, to learn in what these differences consisted ; when 
 they found a censure pronounced by so high an authority, 
 and after such mature deliberation. Alas! our expecta- 
 tions have been little fulfilled. Whether the doctors 
 would not condescend to enlighten us, or whatever was 
 the cause, they did nothing more than pronounce these 
 words, " This proposition is rash, impious, blasphemous, 
 accursed, and heretical." 
 
 Was it probable. Sir, that the generality of persons, 
 finding their expectations thus disappointed, would take 
 part with the censurers ? They drew from their conduct 
 inferences the most favourable that were possible for 
 
CENSURE OP M. ARNAULD. 33 
 
 M. Arnauld's innocence. " What ! they said, is this all 
 that comes of the proceeding ? After such lapse of time, 
 with persons of such learning — so many, also, conspiring 
 against one— to find, throughout all his writings, but three 
 lines to censure ; and those drawn from the very words 
 of the greatest authorities in the Greek and Latin 
 Churches ! Is there a single author to be found, who, if 
 matters of accusation were sought against him, would not 
 furnish from his pages more plausible ground of censure ? 
 What stronger proof, then, can be furnished of the 
 soundness of the faith of this eminent man, thus unjustly 
 accused ? " 
 
 " How is it,'^ they proceeded, " that such imprecations 
 are heaped together — ' poison, pestilence, horror, rashness, 
 impiety, blasphemy, abominations, execrations, anathemas, 
 heresy,' — terms, than which none more virulent could be 
 directed against Arius, or, even Antichrist himself; and 
 all to oppose a heresy absolutely imperceptible, and, as 
 yet, undiscovered ? If all these obloquies be directed 
 against the actual words of the Fathers, what becomes of 
 faith and of tradition ? If these be opposed to M. Ar- 
 nauld's proposition, let them show us wherein lies the 
 difference : to us there seems a perfect coincidence be- 
 tween them. If we could be brought to see the error, we 
 should hold it in detestation ; but if unable to do so — if 
 we can find nothing but the sentiments of the Fathers, 
 conceived and expressed in their own words, how can 
 we do otherwise than hold the author of them in un- 
 diminished veneration ? " 
 
 This is the way in which some people canvass the 
 questions at issue ; but I confess, . they are, after all, too 
 
 c 5 
 
34f LETTER III. 
 
 difficult for us. We, not pretending to penetrate so 
 deeply into things,, keep, ourselves quiet in the matter. 
 Ought we to be wiser than our superiors ? Do not let 
 us attempt to go beyond them — we shall but get into a 
 labyrinth. The line of truth is so narrow, that, on the 
 slightest deviation, we fall into error ; then again, the error 
 is so subtle, that a slight remove brings us back to truth. 
 There is certainly but an imperceptible point between the 
 proposition in question and the orthodox faith. The dis- 
 tance is so minute, that I, for my part, am fearful lest 
 (overlooking the boundary), while I am endeavouring to 
 prove my devotedness to the doctors of the Sorbonne, I 
 bring myself into collision with the authorities of the 
 Church, 
 
 Under this apprehension, I have thought it advisable to 
 consult. one of those persons who, from motives of policy, 
 had remained neutral upon the original question ; and 
 endeavour to learn from him the real state of the case. I 
 found out one who was very experienced in these matters, 
 and begged him to give me an explanation of the distinc- 
 tion in question, professing my own inability to discover 
 it myself. 
 
 " What ! " replied he, smiling, as if amused at my 
 naivete, " you are not simple enough to think there is any 
 difference ? Where is it to be found ? Do you believe 
 that, if it had been discoverable, it would not have been 
 held up plainly to view ; and that they would not have 
 been delighted to expose it, in the same spirit in which 
 they were found'running M. Arnauld down ? " 
 
 I saw from these few words, that those who had been 
 neutral upon the first question, had not been equally so 
 
CENSURE OP M. ARNAULD. 35' 
 
 upon the second. I did not fail, however, to hear out his 
 reasons, and said, " Why then did they attack this pro- 
 position ? " Upon which he rejoined, " Are you unac- 
 quainted then with these two things, which people the 
 most uninformed in the world know ? The one is, that 
 M. Arnauld has always avoided saying any thing that is 
 not distinctly founded on the traditions of the Church ; 
 the other, that his enemies have, notwithstanding, deter- 
 mined to put him down, by whatever means could be 
 found ? Thus, as the writings of the one furnished no 
 handle to the designs of the other, they have been obliged, 
 in order to satisfy their resentment, to take the first pro- 
 position that came to hand, and pass sentence upon it, 
 without saying why, or wherefore. Are you not aware 
 that the Jansenists hold them so much in check, and 
 press them so hard, that on the least word escaping them 
 contrary to the principles of the Fathers, they are imme- 
 diately overwhelmed by whole volumes of controversy, 
 and forced to surrender ? So after all these proofs of 
 weakness, they have thought it more convenient and 
 easier to condemn than to reply ; and monks are to be 
 found in more abundance than reasons." 
 
 " How ! " I exclaimed, " if that be the case, their Cen- 
 sure is nugatory. What credit can be given to it, when 
 it is proved to be wholly unfounded ; and annihilated by 
 the answers that have been furnished to it ? " " If you 
 were acquainted with the spirit of these people," the 
 doctor replied, " you would think differently. Their cen- 
 sure (although in itself censurable) will, for a time, pro- 
 duce all the efiect they wish ; even the very act of de- 
 monstrating its weakness will give it publicity; and it is 
 
36 LETTER III. 
 
 incontestible, that the majority will be as much impressed 
 as if it were the most veracious proceeding in the world. 
 If people were to cry in the streets, ' This is the censure 
 of M. Arnauld, this is the condemnation of the Jansen- 
 ists ; " the Jesuits would make their account of it. How 
 few would read it ! How few, who read, will understand 
 it ! How few will perceive that it does not meet the ob- 
 jections made to it ! Who, do you imagine, gives any 
 attention to these things ; and takes the trouble to inves- 
 tigate and think ? See then how serviceable all this is 
 to the enemies of the Jansenists. They are sure, by such 
 means, of a present triumph ; although, as usual, it will 
 prove, in the end, a vain achievement. It will last out 
 some months — that is a great point for them : after that, 
 they will find- something also to subsist upon. They live 
 from hand to mouth. In this way it is that they keep 
 themselves afloat. Sometimes it is by a catechism, in 
 which a child is made to condemn its opponents } some- 
 times by a procession, in which " sufficient grace " leads in 
 triumph " effectual grace ; " now it is by a play, in which 
 devils are seen carrying off the Jansenists; another time 
 it is by an almanack ; just now it is by the Censure." 
 
 " Truly," said I, " I could not much approve the pro- 
 ceedings of these Molinists ; but after all you have told 
 me, I must admire their prudence and their policy. I 
 plainly see that they could not have acted with more judg- 
 ment, or in a way better calculated to attain their purpose." 
 " You are right," he rejoined, " the safe plan with them 
 has always been to be silent. As a learned theologian 
 said of them, ' The cleverest among the body are those 
 who intrigue much, say little, and write nothing.' 
 
CENSURE OF M. ARNAULD. 37 
 
 " Acting upon this plan, they determined, from the 
 commencement of their proceedings, that if M. Arnauld 
 should appear before the Sorbonne, it should be simply to 
 avow his tenets, not to enter the lists of controversy with 
 any one. The examiners having somewhat deviated from 
 the method, found they did not get on the better for it. 
 They were very summarily refuted by his Second ' Apo- 
 logy.' 
 
 " It was in the same spirit that they adopted that in- 
 genious and novel invention of the ' sand ' and the ' half- 
 hour.' They escaped by this method the importunity of 
 those irritated professors, who took upon them to refute 
 all their reasonings, to produce old volumes in disproof of 
 their falsehoods, to call upon them for replies, and yet to 
 reduce them to an incapability of replying. 
 
 "They were not insensible that this infringement of the 
 liberty of speech, which had caused so many of the 
 doctors to retire from their meetings, would not pro- 
 pitiate favour to their censure; and that M. Arnauld's 
 protest, maintaining the nullity of their proceedings, would 
 prove any thing but advantageous to its favourable 
 reception. They were fully aware that unprejudiced per- 
 sons would give quite as much weight to the judgment 
 of sixty doctors, who had nothing to gain by defending 
 M. Arnauld, as of a hundred others, who had nothing to 
 lose by condemning him. 
 
 " But, after all, they thought it was a great point to 
 procure a censure ; although it emanated from only a part 
 of the Sorbonne, and not the whole body ; although it was 
 pronounced under little or no re^l freedom of judgment, 
 and obtained by numerous petty (and not the most 
 
38 LETTER III. 
 
 regular) manoeuvres ; although it entered into no expla- 
 nation of the matters really in dispute; although it gave 
 no indication of v\rhat constituted the heresy in question ; 
 and, in fact, it said very little, from fear of being mis- 
 understood. This very silence even carries with it an 
 air of mystery to the unreflecting ; and the censure 
 derives from it this singular advantage, that the most 
 critical and subtle theologians can find throughout it no 
 bad reasonings. 
 
 " Keep your mind tranquil, then, and have no fear of 
 being set down as a heretic for adopting the censured 
 proposition. There was no harm in it until the appear- 
 ance of M. Arnauld's second letter. Do you doubt my 
 assertion ? You will credit then M. Le Moine, the most 
 zealous of the examiners, who, in conversation only this 
 morning with a doctor, a friend of mine, who had been 
 enquiring of him about these disputes, and desired to 
 know whether it was not allowable to say what had been 
 said before by the Fathers, thus admirably replied — 
 ' This proposition would have been Catholic in the 
 mouth of any other person ; it is only because it came 
 from M. Arnauld, that it has been condemned by the 
 Sorbonne.' Admire then, I pray you, the policy of 
 ' Molinism,' in pi-oducing such revolutions in the church, 
 that what is Catholic in the Fathers becomes heretical in 
 M. Arnauld ; that what was heretical in the semi-Pelagians 
 is found to be orthodox in the writings of the Jesuits ; 
 that doctrines as ancient as St. Augustine are discovered 
 to be an unbearable novelty; and that the passing 
 crudities of the day are palmed off as the venerable tenets 
 of the church ! " Upon this my friend took his leave. 
 
CENSURE OF M. ARNAULD. 39 
 
 The information I thus acquired was enough for me. 
 I learned that this was heresy of a novel description. It 
 is not the opinions of M. Arnauld that are heretical ; it 
 is himself. It is a personal heresy. He is no heretic 
 for any thing he has said, or written, but simply that he 
 is M. Arnauld. This is all that can be charged against 
 him. Do what he will, he must cease to be, or he cannot 
 be a good Catholic. The grace of St. Augustine will 
 never be the true grace, as long as he defends it. Let 
 him oppose, and it becomes genuine at once. It would 
 be a sure game, and almost the only way to establish it ; 
 as well as to destroy ' Molinism : ' so fatal does he prove 
 to all the opinions that he embraces ! 
 
 Let us leave them then to their disputes. They are 
 the controversies of theologians, not of theology. We, 
 who are no doctors, need not trouble ourselves with their 
 dissensions. Acquaint our friends with this history of 
 the censure, and believe me ever your attached friend, 
 &c. &c. 
 
LETTER IV. 
 
 OP GRACE ' ACTUELLE,' AL^S^AYS PRESENT, AND OP SINS 
 OP IGNORANCE. 
 
 Sir, Paris, Feb. 26, 1656. 
 
 There are no people in the world like these Jesuits. I 
 have seen Dominicans, doctors, and all sorts of persons ; 
 but such a visit as I have just paid I still needed, to supply 
 my deficient information. Others are but copyists of 
 these men. Things are best learnt at the fountain-head ; 
 I have seen one of the ablest among them ; and I was 
 accompanied by the same faithful Jansenist friend, who 
 went with me to the Dominicans. Being particularly 
 desirous of information respecting the differences between 
 them and the Jansenists, upon what they denominate 
 ' Actual Grace,' * I told this good Father that I should be 
 greatly obliged to him to explain the matter to me ; that 
 I did not even know what the expression meant ; and 
 begged him to inform 'me. " Willingly," he replied, " I 
 am fond of persons of an inquiring disposition. This is 
 the definition. ' Actual grace' we call an inspiration of 
 
 * ' Grace actuelle' (Fr.) 
 
GRACE ALWAYS PRESENT. 41 
 
 the Deity, by which he acquaints us with his will, and 
 by which, further, he excites in us the desire to fulfil it." 
 " And what," said I, " is your difference with the Jan- 
 senists on this subject ? " " It is this," he replied ; " we 
 hold that God bestows actual grace on all men upon every 
 occasion of temptation ; since if we had not in every temp- 
 tation actual grace to preserve us from sin, whatever sin 
 was committed could not be imputed to us. The Jan- 
 senists, on the other hand, say that sins committed with- 
 out actual grace are certainly imputed ; but in this they 
 are mere dreamers." I perceived what he intended to 
 say, but in order to make him express himself more 
 clearly, I said, " This word ' actual,' father, perplexes 
 me; I am not accustomed to it ; have the goodness to 
 state the point again, without using this term, and I shall 
 be greatly obliged." " Certainly," replied the Father, 
 "you wish to have the substance of the definition without 
 technicalities ; this can be done without any change of 
 meaning; I shall be most happy. We maintain, then, 
 as an incontestible principle, ' that an action cannot be 
 imputed as sin, if God do not give us, before its com- 
 mission, the knowledge of its sinfulness, and an influence 
 from himself, by which we are excited to avoid it.'' Do 
 you understand me now ? " 
 
 Astonished at this statement, according to which all 
 sins of surprise, and all such as are committed in entire, 
 forgetfulness of God, are not to be imputed to us, I 
 turned to my Jansenist companion, and saw plainly by 
 his look that he admitted nothing of the kind. But, as 
 he made no remark, I said to the Father, " I should be 
 very glad if this were as you have stated, and could be 
 
42 LETTER IV. 
 
 established by sound reasoning and proofs." " Say you 
 so/' he quickly rejoined ; " I can furnish you with them 
 at once, and those of the most unquestionable kind.'"" Oii 
 which he proceeded to search for his books. 
 
 In the meantime I remarked to my friend, " Are there 
 any others, then, that hold the same language as this 
 person ? " " Is this so new to you ? " he replied ; " un- 
 doubtedly neither the Fathers, Popes, nor Councils, — 
 neither the Scriptures, nor any pious works (even of 
 latter times) have expressed such sentiments ; but as to 
 the casuists and scholastics of the present day, he will 
 find you sufficient of these." " But," said I, " these are 
 authorities that I repudiate ; they are opposed to the 
 Fathers." " Very true," he replied. 
 
 Upon this the good Father came back, loaded with 
 books; and offering me one. Said " Read this — ' the 
 Catalogue of Sins, by Father Bauny' — the 5th edition 
 too. Does not that prove it to be a valuable work ? " 
 " It is unfortunate," said my Jansenist friend to me, in 
 a low voice, " that this book was condemned at Borne,' 
 as well as by the bishops of France." " Look here,' said 
 the Father, " at page 906." I read, as he directed, and 
 found what follows. ' In order to constitute sin, and to 
 incur guilt in the sight of God, we must know that the 
 act committed is evil, or at least doubt, or fear it to be 
 so; or, believing the act meditated to be displeasing to 
 God, and forbidden by him, yet, being notwithstanding 
 bent upon its commission, we take the fatal course, and 
 pass the boundary of obedience.' 
 
 "This begins well," said I. "See nevertheless," he 
 rejoined, " what malice will do. This was what M. Hallier, 
 
GRACE .ALWAYS PRESENT. 43 
 
 before he came over to us, taunted M. Bauny upon, and 
 applied to him the words, 'Eecequi tollit peccata mundi.'" 
 " It is certain, " I repHed, " that according to Father 
 Bauny, this is a new species of redemption." 
 
 " And now will you have a higher authority still," 
 added he. " Here is a work of Father Annat ; * it is his 
 book against M. Arnauld. Read the lines I have marked, 
 at page 34 : they are golden ones." I read accordingly 
 as follows : ' He who has no thought of God, or of his 
 sins ; nor any apprehension, (that is, as I consider) no 
 consciousness of his duty to exercise love to God, or 
 peuitence ; he has no actual grace to direct his conduct ; 
 but it is also true that he commits no sin ; and that if he 
 is condemned it will not be as a punishment of such 
 omission.' And a few hues further, ' The same may be 
 said in regard to a culpable act also.' 
 
 " You see," said the Father, " how he here speaks of 
 sins of omission, as well as of commission ; for he leaves 
 out nothing. What do you say to this I '' " Oh, I am 
 dehghted," I replied; " the consequences must be ad- 
 mirable ; I foresee them already : what mysteries open 
 themselves to me ! I predict that more people, beyond 
 all comparison, will be, justified by this ignorance, and this 
 forgetfulness of God, than by grace and by the Sacraments. 
 But, my good Father, may you not be affording me a 
 false satisfaction ? Is there not here something that 
 resembles a ' sufficiency ' that suffices not ? I am terribly 
 afraid of the ' distinguo ;' I have already been taken in 
 by it. Pray be sincere." " How ! " said the Father, 
 
 * Pere Annat, Confessor to the King. See 17tli and subsequent Letters. 
 
44 LETTER IV. 
 
 warmly ; " this is no matter for jesting ; we are not deal- 
 ing in equivocation." " I am not jesting," I said, " my 
 anxiety is proportionate to the interest I feel in the 
 question." 
 
 " Look then," said he, " for fuller satisfaction at the 
 writings of M. Le Moine, one of the highest authorities 
 of the Sorbonne. He first learned his doctrine from us, 
 indeed; but he has treated the matter admirably, and 
 established the point beyond dispute. He teaches, that 
 to constitute the sinfulness of an action, all the following 
 things must pass through the soul. Read, and ponder 
 every word." I read accordingly in Latin, Tvhat here 
 follows translated: ' 1. On the one part, God imparts to 
 the soul a measure of love, which inclines it towards the 
 thing commanded ; and, on the other, lust urges it to the 
 contrary act. 2. God impiarts to the soul a knowledge of 
 its weakness. 3. God gives a knowledge of the medicine 
 which heals spiritual diseases. 4. God inspires a desire 
 of the cure. 5. God imparts the desire to pray, and to 
 obtain his assistance.' 
 
 " And if all these things do not pass through the 
 soul," added the Jesuit, " the act is not properly sinful, 
 and cannot be imputed as such," as M. Le Moine states 
 in another place, and throughout the whole of the 
 remainder of the treatise. 
 
 " Do you wish for yet further authorities ? Here they 
 are." (" But all of them modern," quietly whispered to 
 me my Jansenist companion.) " I see it plainly," I said ; 
 and then addressing the Father, observed, " My excel- 
 lent Father, this will be good news for some people of 
 my acquaintance ; for you never knew any persons who 
 
GRACE ALWAYS PRESENT. 45 
 
 commit less sin than they. They never think of God ; 
 their vices have perverted their very reason. They have 
 never been aware of their spiritual disease, or of the 
 medicine that is to heal it. They have had no concern 
 for their soul's welfere, and still less did they ever pray 
 to God for assistance; consequently they are, according 
 to M. Le Moine, ' in their baptismal innocence.' They 
 have had no thought of love to God, or penitence for sin ; 
 therefore, according to Father Annat, ' they have com- 
 mitted no sin, through failure of love or penitence : ' 
 their life has been passed in a constant pursuit of pleasure 
 of every kind, uninterrupted by the slightest remorse or 
 compunction. All these things have made me fear hitherto 
 that their destruction was inevitable ; but you, my worthy 
 Father, have shown me that these very excesses tend to 
 assure their safety. Heaven bless you, my Father, for 
 convincing me thus of their justification ! Other persons 
 seek the cure of their souls by painful austerities, but you 
 demonstrate that those, supposed to be the most danger- 
 ously sick, are in reality well. Oh happy prospect for 
 them, both for this world and the next ! I had always 
 believed that we sinned the more, the less God was in 
 our thoughts ; but, from what I now learn, when once we 
 have achieved the power to dismiss him altogetherj all 
 things become pure for ever after. No more half-sinners, 
 who retain some little love for virtue ; your half-sinners 
 may be all lost ; but, for your free and easy sinners — 
 your hardened sinners — sinners without compunction — 
 full and complete sinners — hell will never get hold of 
 them ; they have cheated the devil by the very act of 
 giving up themselves to him ! " 
 
4G 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 The good Father^ seeing clearly enough the connexion 
 between these consequences and his own principle, eluded 
 the difficulty with adroitness ; and, without forgetting 
 either his good-humour or his prudence, merely said, 
 " Do not suppose we are unprepared to meet the unhappy 
 eases you describe : know, we hold that if those repro- 
 bates of whom you speak had never experienced compunc- 
 tion, nor felt any desire to give themselves to God, they 
 would have been without guilt. But we maintain that 
 they have experienced all this ; and God would never have 
 left a man to his sin, without discovering first to him the 
 evil of what he was about to do, and giving him a desire 
 to avoid it, or at least to ask assistance to be enabled to 
 do so; and it is only the Jansenists that affirm the 
 contrary." 
 
 " What ! Father," I rejoined, " is that then what con- 
 stitutes the heresy of the Jansenists ? To deny that every 
 time sin is committed, the conscience is troubled ; in spite 
 of which, men yet take the leap, and pass the boundary of 
 obedience, according to Pere Bauny ? If this be all, it 
 is certainly a peculiar kind of heresy ! I supposed we 
 were condemned for being destitute of good thoughts or 
 notions ; but, that we should be condemned for not 
 believing all the world to be endued with them, did cer- 
 tainly never occur to me. But, my good Father, I feel 
 bound in conscience to undeceive you ; and to tell, you, 
 there are multitudes who are conscious of no such desires ; 
 who sin without compunction ; who sin with satisfaction ; 
 who make sin a matter of boast and exultation. A.nd who 
 is better acquainted with these things than yourself? You 
 have yourself probably confessed some of these very per- 
 
GRACE ALWAYS PRESENT. 47 
 
 sons ; for it is among people of distinction that they are 
 most usually found. But take heed, my Father^ of the 
 dangerous consequences that flow from this principle of 
 yours ! Do you not perceive the effect it will produce 
 on libertines, whose great desire is to invalidate the 
 truth of religion ? What an excuse do you not furnish 
 them with, in laying down as an article of faith, that they 
 must feel in every sin which they commit, a secret warning, 
 and an internal desire to abstain from it ! Is it not 
 obvious, that being convinced by their own experience of 
 the fallacy of your doctrine upon this point, which you 
 maintain to be one essential to faith, they will extend the 
 consequences to every other. They will, if they find you 
 not to be believed in one Article, suspect the whole ; and 
 thus you will compel them to the conclusion, either that 
 religion is false, or that you are ill-instructed in its 
 doctrines." 
 
 My colleague then, taking up my argument, said, 
 " You would do well. Reverend Father, while you endea- 
 vour to maintain this doctrine of yours, not to avow quite 
 so plainly as you have now done, what you mean by ' ac- 
 tual grace.^ How could you openly declare, without 
 losing altogether your hold upon mens' minds, ' that 
 none can be guilty of sin, without a previous knowledge 
 of their infirmity, and of the remedy provided for it; with- 
 out a wish for its cure, and for receiving such cure at the 
 hands of God?' Can you now, seriously and conscien- 
 tiously, say that those who are immersed in avarice, in 
 lust, in blasphemy, in broils and animosities, in robbery 
 and sacrilege — that such have in reality any desire of 
 chastity, of humility, and of other similar virtues ? 
 
48 LETTER IV. 
 
 " Will any one believe that the philosophers who boasted 
 so much of the powers of nature, knew any thing of 
 disease and medicine ? Will you tell me, that those who 
 hold, as an undoubted axiom, ' that it is not God who 
 imparts virtue, and that no one was ever found to seek it 
 of Him/ would ever think of seeking it of Him them- 
 selves ? 
 
 " Who could suppose that the Epicureans, who deny a 
 Divine Providence, were ever sensible of an impulse to 
 pray to the Deity ? They who declared ' that it was an 
 affront to God to solicit him in our necessities ; as if He 
 could be supposed capable of bestowing a thought upon 
 such beings as ourselves/ 
 
 " And, finally, can it be imagined that idolaters and 
 atheists, in all the temptations to which they are urged 
 into sin — that is, in times and on occasions without number 
 — have any desire to pray to the true God (with whom 
 they are unacquainted) to bestow upon them virtues, of 
 whose nature they knew nothing V 
 
 "All this we do maintain," replied the worthy Father, 
 in a determined tone ; " and sooner than admit that men 
 sin without the consciousness of doing ill, and a desire of 
 the opposite virtues, we declare that all persons, both the 
 vicious and the unbelieving, experience such influences 
 and desires on every occasion of temptation ; for you can 
 furnish me with no proof, especially from Scripture, to 
 the contrary." 
 
 I then resumed the discourse as follows : " What ! my 
 Father, must we have recourse to Scripture to demonstrate 
 a matter so palpable ? This is no point of faith, or even 
 
GRACE ALWAYS PRESENT. 49 
 
 of reasoning ; it is a question of fact : it is matter of 
 sight, of knowledge, of feeling." 
 
 The Jansenist, however, holding the Father to his own 
 terms, thus continued, " If you are desirous, Reverend 
 Sir, to appeal only to Scripture, I consent ; but take 
 care how you resist its authority ; and since it is written, 
 ' God has not revealed his judgments to the Gentiles, and 
 has left them to wander in their ways,' say not that God 
 has enlightened those who, the sacred writings assure us, 
 ' are abandoned to darkness and the shadow of death.' " 
 
 " Is it not sufficient, to prove the error of your principle, 
 that St. Paul calls himself ' the chief of sinners ;' on ac • 
 count of sin which, he says, was committed in ignorance, 
 and excess of zeal ? Is it not enough to find in the Gospel, 
 that those who crucified the Lord Jesus, needed the pardon 
 that he himself sought for them, although they knew not 
 the evil of their doing, and would not have done it had 
 they known it ? Is it not enough that Christ warns us, 
 that there will be persecutors in the Church, who will 
 think they do service to God in compassing its ruin ; in 
 order to teach us, that this which, according to the Apostle, 
 is the greatest of all sins, may have been committed by 
 those who, so far from knowing it to be sin, believed they 
 should sin in not committing it ? And, lastly, is it not 
 enough that Christ himself has taught us, that there are 
 two kinds of sinners, — the one, those who sin with know- 
 ledge, and the other, in ignorance ; and that both shall 
 be punished, although in difierent measures ? " 
 
 The worthy Father, finding himself somewhat pressed 
 by these proofs from Scripture, began to lose ground in 
 the discussion ; and allowing that the vicious might sin 
 
 D 
 
50 LETTER IV. 
 
 without the inspirations and impulses in question, said, 
 " You will not, at least, deny that the just never commit 
 sin unless God ordain — " " You waver," said I, inter- 
 rupting him, " You waver. Father ; you abandon the gene- 
 ral principle, and finding you can make nothing more of 
 your case respecting sinners, you try to compromise the 
 matter, and establish your point in regard to the just. 
 But now its application will be much circumscribed ; for 
 it will avail so few persons, that it is not, so to speak,- 
 worth the trouble any longer to contest it." 
 
 But my companion, who might, as it appeared to me, 
 have studied for the discussion that very morning, so pre- 
 pared did he seem upon all points, continued thus: " This,' 
 my Father, is the last entrenchment, in which all those of 
 your side of the question take refuge. But you are, in re- 
 ality, no safer than before, even there. The instance of 
 the just is not more favourable to you than that of the 
 wicked. Who can doubt that the righteous often fall into 
 sin through surprise and inadvertence ? Do we not know 
 that the saints themselves are led into snares by their 
 concupiscence I and with all their habitual sobriety, yield 
 themselves sometimes up to pleasure, while they believe, 
 they are under the constraint of necessity ; as says St. Au- 
 gustine himself in his Confessions ? 
 
 " How often do we see the most zealous persons drawn 
 into acrimony in dispute from personal feelings, without 
 reproof from conscience, and in the belief that they were 
 actuated by zeal for truth alone ; and remain insensible, 
 till long after, of their error and self-deception ! 
 
 " But what shall be said of those who abandon them- 
 selves to conduct positively evil, while they believe it to 
 
GRACE ALWAYS PRESENT. 51 
 
 be meritorious (instances of which, ecclesiastical history 
 furnishes us in abundance ;) but which belief, according 
 to the Fathers, affords them no justification of their 
 offences. 
 
 " And, independent of this, how many are the secret 
 sins of the righteous ! How otherwise could it be said 
 that God alone knows their magnitude and their number ; 
 that no one can be certain whether he is deserving of the 
 Divine love or displeasure,* and that the very holiest have 
 cause of fear and solicitude, although they may not be 
 conscious of transgression in any particular instance, as 
 St. Paul says of himself ? 
 
 " Do you not see then, my Father, that the cases both of 
 the just and of sinners alike oppose this necessity, in order 
 to constitute sin, of knowing what is evil, and of loving 
 the contrary virtues ? The propensity of the vicious for 
 sin clearly proves that they have no desire of virtue ; and 
 the love of the just to virtue equally shows that they have 
 not always a consciousness of the sins which they daily 
 fall into ; as the Scripture testifies. 
 
 " And so certain is it that the offences of the just are 
 of this nature, that it is seldom that the holiest men com- 
 mit sin in any other way. For how can it be believed, 
 that souls so pure as to shrink with the most sensitive 
 anxiety from every thing in the slightest degree dis- 
 pleasing to God, as soon as it is known to be so ; and 
 
 * Had the holy-minded Pascal been permitted to live till his Christian 
 experience had acquired more maturity, without loss of its fervour, he would, 
 it may be hoped, have attained to more cheering views on this subject, 
 There is a measure of humble assurance, without presumption, to be obtained 
 even in this life ; and the Apostle Paul himself, to whom Pascal often refers, 
 affords numerous instances' of it in his own experience. (Transl.). 
 
 D 2 
 
52 LETTER IV. 
 
 who yet offend many times in every day of their existence 
 — that they, on every occasion of offence, should have 
 this consciousness of weakness, this knowledge of the 
 reme^dy, this desire of restoration, and this dependence on 
 God for assistance ; and that, notwithstanding these their 
 desires and aspirations, persons so zealous and watchful 
 should not be preserved from passing the boundary, and 
 committing sin ? 
 
 " Be assured then, my good Father, that neither sin- 
 ners nor righteous men are always, and on aU occasions, 
 conscious of these convictions, desires, and aspirations, 
 whenever they fall into sin ; that is, to use your own ex- 
 pressions — that they are not endued with ' actual grace,' 
 when they offend. Tell us no more, as do these new 
 authorities, that it is impossible to sin without the know- 
 ledge of righteousness ; but rather say, with St. Augustine 
 and the old Fathers, that it is impossible not to sin, when 
 we know not what is right ; ' Necesse est ut peccat, a quo 
 ignorantur justitice' " 
 
 The good Father seeing his views thus controverted in 
 regard to the just as well as to the sinful, was still deter- 
 mined to keep his ground ; and after a little considera- 
 tion : " I see now the way to convince you," he cried. 
 i\nd again opening Father Bauny at the place he had 
 quoted before, " See, see the reasoning on which his posi- 
 tion is founded. I well knew he would not be found de- 
 ficient in proofs. Read what he quotes from Aristotle, 
 and you will see that, when he produces so signal an 
 authority, you must either burn the books of this Prince 
 of philosophers, or come over to our opinion. Observe 
 now the principles laid down by Father Bauny. He says 
 
GRACE. ALWAYS PRESENT. 53 
 
 firstj ' An action is not blameable, if it be involuntary/ 
 " Agreed^" said my friend. " This is tbe first time," said 
 I, addressing both, " that I have found you agree. Stay 
 where you are, my good Father, if you will take my ad- 
 vice." " That would be doing nothing," he replied, " for 
 we must know what are the conditions of an action being 
 voluntary." " I much fear," I rejoined, " that you will 
 entangle yourself there." " Never fear," said he : " one 
 thing I am sure of — Aristotle is on my side. Hear, now, 
 what Father Bauny says ; ' That an action may be 
 proved to be voluntary, it should be committed by a per- 
 son capable of seeing, knowing, penetrating the good and 
 the evil in it, ' Voluntarium est,' it is usually said, ac- 
 cording to the philosopher (' Aristotle, remember,' said he, 
 touching my hand) quod fit a principio cognoscente sin- 
 gula, in quibus est actio ; go that when the will, at random 
 and without deliberation, is impelled to desire or dislike, 
 to do or to omit any thing, before it is apprehended whe- 
 ther it be evil to desire or to shun, to do or to omit it, 
 such action is neither good nor evil ; inasmuch as, until 
 this pre-requisite is fulfilled — this scrutiny and considera- 
 tion in the mind of the good or evil qualities of the action 
 contemplated — such action is not to be considered as 
 voluntary." 
 
 " Well," said the Father, " are you satisfied ? " " It 
 certainly appears," I replied, " that Aristotle is of the 
 same opinion as Father Bauny, but that does not surprise 
 me the less. So ! my Father, it is not sufficient to consti- 
 tute a voluntary action, that we are aware what we are 
 doing, and that we do it because we intend to do it ? But 
 it is also necessary that we ' should see, should know. 
 
54 . LETTER IV. 
 
 should penetrate the good and the evil ia an action ? ' If 
 this be so, no action in life can "be voluntary; for no one 
 can think at once and Bltogether of all these things. How 
 riiany oaths are uttered in our games — what excesses are 
 committed in festivities- — what riots . during carnival sea- 
 sons, which are not voluntary, and consequently neither 
 good nor bad, if they must be accompanied by. this scru- 
 tiny of the mind upon the good or bad quality of the 
 action committed ! But is it possible, my Father, that 
 Aristotle should have entertained such an idea as this — for 
 I have heard he was considered an exact thinker ? '* " I 
 will explain the matter," said my Jansenist friend. And 
 requesting the Father to give him Aristotle's ' Morals,' he 
 opened it at the commencement of the third book, from 
 which the Father had taken the passage he had quoted, 
 and said to him, " I forgive you for having supposed, 
 on the authority of Father Bauny, that Aristotle had 
 delivered such sentiments. You would have altered your 
 opinion had you looked for yourself. It is perfectly true 
 that he teaches, that ' for an action to be voluntary, we 
 must be acquainted with the particulars of that action, 
 ' Singula in quibus est actio.' But what does he mean by 
 this, but that we must know the particular circumstances 
 of such an action ; as the examples he gives clearly prove ? 
 You will £nd he adduces only, in proof of his position, 
 instances in which some such circumstances have been 
 unknown ; such as, ' a person, intending to ascend a 
 machine, detaches a missile which wounds another; or 
 Merope, who killed his son, supposing him to be an 
 enemy ; and the like.' 
 , " You thus see what kind of ignorance it is that renders 
 
GRACE ALWAYS PRESENT. 55 
 
 actions involuntary ; and that it is only that of special 
 circumstance, which is styled by theologians, as you well 
 know, ' ignorance of fact.' * But it is ' ignorance of in- 
 tention,' t that is, unconsciousness of the good or evil of 
 an action, which alone is the present question j— let us see 
 whether Aristotle is of the same opinion as Father Bauny. 
 These are the words of that philosopher. " All wicked per- 
 " sons are ignorant as to what they should do, and what 
 " they should avoid ; and this it is which constitutes them 
 " wicked and vicious. We therefore cannot say that, be- 
 " cause a man does not clearly know what he is in duty 
 " bound to do, that his actions are involuntary. For 
 " this ignorance in choosing between good and evil, does 
 " not show his act to be involuntary, but only to be 
 " vicious. We may say the same of one who is in gen- 
 " eral ignorant of the rules of duty, since it is that very 
 " ignorance which makes him an object of blame, not of 
 " excuse. And thus, the ignorance which constitutes 
 " actions to be involuntary and venial, is alone that which 
 " regards some particular fact, and special circumstances ; 
 " it is then that a man is excused and pardoned, and 
 " considered as having acted against his inclination." 
 
 " And now, my good Father, will you say that Aristotle 
 is of your opinion ? Who must not be astonished to see 
 that a pagan philosopher is more enlightened than your 
 doctors, in a matter so important to morality, and to the 
 welfare of the soul, as a knowledge of the distinction be- 
 tween actions voluntary and involuntary, and consequently 
 of the condemnation or acquittal due to sin ? Hope no- 
 
 * ' Ignorance du fait,' (Fr.) f ' Ignorance du droit.' (Fr.) 
 
56 
 
 LETTER IV, 
 
 thing more then, Father, from this 'Prince of Philosophers/ 
 and rather let me urge you to oppose no longer that Prince 
 of Theologians, who thus decides the point in his 1st Book 
 of Retr. chap. 15. ' Those who sin through ignorance do 
 not commit the act involuntarily, although they may not 
 deliberately intend to offend. And thus a sin, even of 
 ignorance, cannot be committed without the will of the 
 offender, although it be a will to act, and not absolutely 
 to sin ; which, however, does not prevent the action from 
 being sinful, inasmuch as, to constitute sin, it is sufficient 
 to have done that which we were under an obligation not 
 to do.' " 
 
 The Father seemed surprised, and still more at the 
 passage from Aristotle, than at that from St. Augustine. 
 But as he appeared to be revolving what reply to make, 
 
 it was announced that Madame La Marechale de 
 
 and Madame La Marquise de wished to see him. 
 
 Therefore, hastily leaving us, "I will mention the. matter," 
 said he, " to our Fathers; they will be able to answer 
 you. These are delicate questions." We understood 
 him ; and when I was alone with my friend, I expressed 
 my astonishment at the tendency of these doctrines to the 
 subversion of morality. He replied, that he was astonished 
 at my astonishment. " Can you be ignorant," said he, 
 " that their obliquities are more ffagrant in cases of mo- 
 rality than even in other matters?" He proceeded to 
 give me some striking instances; and postponed their 
 continuation till a future period. I propose that what I 
 learnt from him shall be the subject of further communi- 
 cations from, &c. &c. 
 
LETTER V. 
 
 DESIGN OF THE JESUITS IN THE INSTITUTION OF A 
 NEW MORAL CODE. TWO SORTS OF CASUISTS AMONG 
 THEM; MANY LAX, BUT A FEW SEVERE; THE REA- 
 SON OF THE DIFFERENCE. EXPLANATION OF THE 
 DOCTRINE OF ' PROBABILITY.' A MULTITUDE OF 
 MODERN AND OBSCURE AUTHORS SUBSTITUTED FOR 
 THE FATHERS. 
 
 Sir, Paris, March 20, 1656. 
 
 I AM about to fulfil my promise, and to furnish you 
 witli some of the leading principles of morality of the 
 Jesuit Fathers : — " These men, eminent in learning and 
 in wisdom, guided by a wisdom from above, which is more 
 infallible than all the rules of philosophy." You may 
 suppose I am jesting in using such expressions; I am 
 quite serious ; they are their own words, in their work 
 entitled " Imago primi seeculi." I am only transcribing 
 from them, and from the close of their Eulogium. " This 
 is the society of men, or rather of angels, predicted by 
 Isaiah in these words : ' Go, ye angels prompt and swift 
 of wing.' " Is not the prophecy, as applicable to them, 
 clear ? " They are eagle-spirits ; they are a flock of 
 phoenixes (a certain author having lately demonstrated 
 
 D 5 
 
58 LETTER V. 
 
 that those birds are numerous) : they have changed the 
 face of Christianity." Since they assert all this, we are 
 bound to believe them. And all this, I proceed to show 
 you in the following communication ; as well as to put 
 you in possession of their maxims for the conduct of life 
 and conversation. 
 
 I made up my mind to inform myself thoroughly upon 
 these matters. I determined not to rely solely upon the 
 information of my friend ; but to see with my own eyes. 
 I found, however, that he had told me nothing but what 
 was strictly accurate ; and I think you will see this to be 
 the case, from the account I am about to give of pur con- 
 ferences. 
 
 In my various conversations with him, he related to me 
 such extraordinary things, that I had at first great diffi- 
 culty in believing them. He however confirmed his state- 
 ments by the publications of these very Fathers.; so that 
 I had no way left to excuse them, but to suggest that the 
 sentiments in question were only those of individuals, and 
 that it was not fair to impute them to the society at large. 
 And, in fact, I contended that I was acquainted with some 
 among them who were as strict, as others whom he re- 
 ferred to were lax. Upon this he proceeded to disclose to 
 me the spirit upon, which the Society's proceedings are 
 founded ; and this being by no means generally known, 
 you will probably be interested in learning. The following 
 is his statement. 
 
 " You suppose it to be much in their favour to be able 
 to show, that there are among these professors some whose 
 sentiments are as evangelical, as those of others are the 
 contrary; arid you, theilce come to the conclusion, that 
 
DESIGN OP THE JESUITS. 59 
 
 these latitudinarian opinions are not chargeable upon the 
 whole body. I well know all this ; for if such were the 
 case, they would not be able to tolerate those who are so 
 opposed to them. But since they have among them a 
 portion who hold these licentious doctrines, you must in 
 the same way conclude, that the spirit of the Society is by 
 no means rigid j otherwise it would not allow such an 
 intermixture as that which actually exists." '' How ! " 
 I inquired, " what then is to be deemed their object and 
 aim as a body ? It must be, surely, that they shall be 
 bound by no fixed principles, and that each shall have 
 liberty to think and speak as he pleases." " That never 
 could be the case," replied my friend ; — " so large a body 
 could never be formed upon a plan so desultory, nor exist 
 without a governing spirit to regulate all its movements : 
 to say nothing of one of their special rules, viz. that no- 
 thing should go forth to the world respecting their doc- 
 trines and principles, without the sanction of their 
 superiors." " But then," I said, " how is it possible 
 that these very superiors can give their sanction to such 
 contradictory maxims ? " " That is what I propose to 
 explain to you," he replied. 
 
 " Understand then, in the first place, that their object 
 is by no means the corruption of morals. On the other 
 hand, they are equally remote from entertaining a single- 
 minded aim for their reformation : this they would hold 
 to be impolitic. Their reasoning is as follows : They 
 think so favourably of themselves, that they believe it to 
 be useful and — so to speak — necessary for the interests of 
 religion, that their reputation should stand high with all 
 classes, and their sway be extended over every man's con- 
 
60 LETTER V. 
 
 science. And as they see that severe and evangelical 
 principles are most influential over some persons, they 
 avail themselves of suchj where they judge their oppor- 
 tunity favourable. But knowing these principles to be 
 not favoured by the great majority, their method is to 
 relax them in favour of these latter ; and, thus, they 
 are able to meet the tastes of all. For these reasons — 
 having to deal with such varieties of condition, and even 
 with entire nations— differing so much from each other — 
 it is found necessary to have casuists adapted to all these 
 diversities. 
 
 " On this principle you will easily see, that if they 
 employed only teachers of relaxed principles, they would 
 frustrate their great aim of getting all classes under their 
 influence ; as the severely pious seek for guides of severe 
 views in their spiritual affairs. But as that class is not a 
 numerous one, it does not require a large body of in- 
 structors : on the other hand, crowds of the more easy 
 sort of teachers take the field, for the service of the multi- 
 tudes that are more loosely inclined. 
 
 " It is by this kind of ' facile and accommodating con- 
 duct ' (as it is called by the Pere Petau) that they hold 
 out the hand of fellowship to the whole world. If, for 
 instance, one person presents himself who is desirous to 
 make restitution of some ill-gotten gains, think not that 
 they will repulse him ; they will applaud, and confirm 
 him in so holy a resolution. But if, on the contrary, 
 another is desii-ous of absolution of his sin without resti- 
 tution, it will go hard with them if they do not find 
 means for accomplishing his object ; and they will become 
 themselves guarantees for their efiicacy. 
 
DESIGN OP THE JESUITS, 61 
 
 " By these methods they preserve their friends, and are 
 protected from their enemies ; for, if reproached with 
 laxity of principles, they straightway bring forward their 
 austere professors j together with, perhaps, some of their 
 publications, that enforce the rigour of Christian prin- 
 ciples ; and the simple and unreflecting are satisfied with 
 such proofs. 
 
 " In this way they adapt themselves to all classes. Nay, 
 they respond so admirably to every taste, that, in counti'ies 
 where the notion of a crucified Deity is esteemed folly, 
 they suppress the scandal of the Cross ; preaching only 
 the Saviour in his state of glory, and not of sufiering. It 
 is in this manner that they have acted in the Indus and 
 China, permitting their converts even to practice idolatry, 
 by the subtle contrivance of directing them to conceal an 
 image of Christ under their garments, and mentally to 
 render to it those public devotions, which were professedly 
 paid to the idol Cachinchoam, and their Keum-fu-cum. 
 These are facts, which rest on the authority of Gravina, a 
 Dominican, as also of the Spanish memorial presented to 
 Philip 4th of Spain by the Grey Friars of the Philippine 
 Isles, as related by Thomas Rastado in his work of ' The 
 Martyrs of the Faith,' page 427. In the same manner, 
 the congregation of the Cardinals ' de Propaganda fide ' 
 was obliged to interdict the Jesuits, specially, and on 
 pain of excommunication, from permitting the adoration of 
 idols on any pretence whatever, as well as from concealing 
 the doctrines of the Cross from their students in theology ; 
 expressly directing them to admit none to baptism, but 
 on a full explanation of those holy mysteries ; and ordering 
 them to exhibit crucifi}^es in all their churches ; as is fully 
 
62 . LETTER V. 
 
 set forth in the decree of that congregation, of July 1646, 
 signed by Cardinal Carponi. 
 
 " It is in this way, and by virtue of the doctrine of 
 " probable opinions," * the source and the foundation of 
 every species of disorder, that they have spread themselves 
 over the face of the whole earth. You may hear the 
 same things from themselves ; for they affect no conceal- 
 ment of them ; nor of various other facts with which I 
 am about to acquaint you ; with this difference only, that 
 their prudence (which is in reality worldly and political) 
 is masked under the pretext of a prudence divine and 
 spiritual; as if true faith, and the tradition by which it is 
 supported, were not one and unchangeable, in all times, 
 and all places ; as if it were allowable to bend its requisi- 
 tions, to accommodate those who ought to conform them- 
 selves to its obligations ; and as if the soul, in order to 
 cleanse itself from its pollutions, might dare to corrupt 
 the Law of the Lord ; whereas we know, that ' the Law 
 of the Lord is pure, converting the soul, and making wise 
 the simple ! ' 
 
 " I should wish you then to make the acquaintance of 
 these worthy Fathers ; and take my word for it, you will 
 easily perceive, in the laxity of their morals, the results of 
 their doctrines respecting grace. You will find in them 
 the Christian virtues almost extinct, and stripped alto- 
 gether of that grace of charity, which is their soul and 
 life. You will see so many crimes palliated, and so much 
 irregularity allowed, that you will be no longer surprised 
 to find them maintain, all men to have grace sufiicient 
 
 * ' Opinions probables.' ( Fr. ) 
 
DESIGN OP THE JESUITS. 63. 
 
 for sucli a measure of piety of life, as their principles 
 propose. For a morality such as theirs — little better 
 than Pagan — the light that Nature supplies is indeed 
 enough. When we inculcate the necessity of an efficacious 
 grace, we assign other virtues for its exercise. It is not 
 simply, to eradicate some kinds of vices by the cultivation 
 of others ; it is not merely, to induce an observance of the 
 external duties of religion ; it is to nourish a virtue more 
 elevated than the Jewish Pharisees, or the wisest of Pagans 
 ever reached. The restraints of law^the deductions of 
 reason — suffice for attainments such as those. But, to 
 disengage the soul from love of the world, and allure it 
 from all that it holds most dear below ; to annihilate self, 
 and consecrate the affections solely and unchangeably to 
 God ; all this can be the work alone of an Omnipotent 
 hand ! And it is, therefore, as little rational to pretend 
 that we have in ourselves this sufficiency of power, as it 
 would be to deny that such qualities as have been de- 
 scribed, if destitute of Divine love, which, notwithstanding, 
 these Fathers confound with Christian virtues, are not 
 within our own power of attainment." 
 
 It was thus my friend discoursed to me, evincing a 
 deep concern for the irregularities he described. For my 
 part, I could not help at least admiring the excellent 
 policy of this society ; and I determined to follow the 
 advice I had received, to resort to one of their most able 
 casuists for further information. For this purpose I 
 found out an old friend of my own, and proceeded to 
 renew my acquaintance with hira. And as I was aware 
 in what way to obtain most effectually my object, we soon 
 came to an excellent understanding. 
 
64 LETTER V. 
 
 He received me with great cordiality, for he had always 
 been attached to me ; and after some general conversation, 
 I took occasion, in reference to the present season, to ask 
 him a few questions respecting fasting, with a view to 
 draw him insensibly into the subjects I desired. I com- 
 plained that I experienced difficulty in enduring that 
 exercise. 
 
 He began by exhorting me to the duty of forcing my 
 inclinations; but, as I continued my complaints, he ex- 
 pressed concern for my case, and set himself to find 
 excuses for me. He suggested several causes of the 
 inconvenience I suffered, which, however, did not apply 
 to my own circumstances. At last it occurred to him to 
 ask me whether I found any difficulty in sleeping without 
 taking supper. " Indeed I do, my Father," I replied, 
 " and for that reason I am often obliged both to take a 
 collation at noon, and to sup in the evening." " I am 
 glad to say I can find a way," he replied, " to relieve you, 
 without any sin on your part. There — you may dispense 
 with fasting. I do not, however, wish you to take my 
 word only for it ; come into the library." I went ac- 
 cordingly, and there, taking up a book, he said, " Here 
 is my authority ; and heaven knows how eminent an one 
 it is. It is Escohar." " Who is Escobar ? " I enquired. 
 " What ! don't you know Escobar, a member of our 
 society, who compiled that Moral Theology of 24 of 
 our Fathers ; respecting which he makes, in the Preface, 
 an allegorical comparison to the Apocalypse, sealed with 
 seven seals ? And further he says, that Jesus thus offers 
 it sealed to the four living creatures, Suarez, Vasquez, 
 Molina, Valentia, in presence of 24 Jesuits, representing 
 
DESIGN. OF THE JESUITS. 65 
 
 the 24 Elders." He then read the whole of this Allegory, 
 which he evidently considered very impressive, and con- 
 veying a striking proof of the excellence of the work. 
 Then, finding the passage relating to fasts — " Here it is," 
 said he, tr. 1, ex. 13, N. 67, ' If a person cannot sleep 
 without having eaten, is he obliged to fast ? By no 
 means.' Are you not satisfied ? " " Not entirely," I 
 replied, " for I find I can bear fasting, by taking a colla- 
 tion in the morning, and supping at night.'' " See what 
 follows then," he said ; " they have provided for all cases. 
 ' And suppose a person finds himself enabled to fast by 
 taking only a collation in the morning, and supper at 
 night ?' Here is the answer; ' Still he is not bound to 
 fast ; no one is obliged to reverse the order of his meals.' " 
 " Excellent reasoning ! " I exclaimed. " But tell me," 
 he continued ; " Do you take much wine ? " " No," I 
 answered] " I cannot bear much." " I asked the ques- 
 tion," said he, " for the purpose of apprizing you, that 
 you may lawfully drink wine in the morning, and when- 
 ever you please, without violating your fast ; and that is 
 very supporting to the strength. This is decided in the 
 ■ same part, No. 75. ' May we, without breaking our 
 fast, drink wine at any hour we choose, and even in large 
 quantities ? We may, and even of hypocras.' " * "I 
 don't remember that hypocras wine," said I ; " I must 
 put it down in my memoranda. But really this Escobar is 
 an excellent person." " Every one likes him," replied the 
 Father ; " he puts such striking queries. Look here, in 
 the same place. No. 38 ; ' If a person is doubtful whether 
 he has reached 21, is he bound to fast ? No. But 
 
 * Probably something more comforting than ordinary wine. 
 
66 . LETTER T. 
 
 supposing I shall be 21 to-night^ an hour after mld- 
 nightj and to-morrow is fast-day, shall I be bound to 
 fast to-morrow ? No ; you may eat as much as you like 
 between midnight and one o'clock, as you are not 31 
 till then; and thus, as you have a right to break the 
 fast, you are not bound to keep it/ " " It is really very 
 entertaining," said I. " Oh, there's no leaving it off 
 when you have once begun to read it : I pass days and 
 nights over it-^I read nothing else."' The worthy Father, 
 in fact, seeing how it interested me, was delighted, and 
 went on. " Look at this passage of Filiutius, one of the 
 24 Jesuits, vol. ii. tr. 29, part ii. c. 6, N. 143 ; ' If a 
 person is exhausted, as, for instance, ' ai insequendam 
 amicam,' is he bound to fast ? No. But if he has 
 fatigued himself, expressly for the purpose of obtaining a 
 dispensation from fasting, will he still bB bound to fast ? 
 Though he may have formed a purpose of doing so, he 
 will be under no such obligation.' There," said he, 
 " now you would not have believed this ! " " Indeed, 
 my good Father," said I, " I do not believe it now. 
 What ! is it no sin not -to fast when we are able to do 
 so ? Is it lawful for us to seek occasions to commit sin ? 
 or rather are we not bound to avoid them ? Truly, this 
 is a very accommodating doctrine." " Not always,'^ he 
 replied ; " it depends upon circumstances." " On what 
 circumstances ? " " Oh, oh ! " he rejoined ; " then it is 
 your opinion, that if we are exposed to inconvenience in 
 avoiding such occasions, still we are bound to do so ? 
 That is not, I assure you, the opinion of Father Bauny, 
 as you will see here at page 1084, ' Absolution is not to 
 be refused to those who continue in a ' proximate' con- 
 
DESIGN. OF THE JESUITS. 67 
 
 dition of sin, * if it be such as they are unable to with- 
 draw fromij without bringing scandal upon themselves ; t 
 or without sustaining personal inconvenience.' " " I am 
 delighted to hear it, my good Father ; there is nothing 
 more wanting, but to say, these occasions may be pur- 
 posely aiid deliberately sought, since it is allowable not 
 to avoid them." " That very thing is in some cases 
 allowed," rejoined he; " the celebrated casuist Basil 
 Ponce states this, and the Pere Bauny confirms his 
 opinion in his tract on Penitence, ix. 4, p. 94 : ' We may 
 seek occasions, directly, and of themselves, ' prime et per 
 se,' if the spiritual or temporal good of ourselves or our 
 neighbour induce us to do so.'' ■" 
 
 " In truth," I exclaimed, " I seem in a dream when I 
 find religious persons holding language like this ? My 
 good Father, tell me now, can you conscientiously main- 
 tain such opinions ?" " No, indeed I do not," he re- 
 plied. " Then you are speaking contrary to your con- 
 science 1" " By no means ; I say this, not according to 
 my own conscience, but according to the consciences of 
 Ponce, and Pere Bauny ; and surely we may follow such 
 eminent men as these." " What then, my Father, because 
 they have introduced a few such lines as these into their 
 books, can you in your conscience believe it is lawful to 
 seek occa:sions of sin ? I always thought that Scripture 
 and the traditions of the Church were to be guides, and 
 not vain casuists." Oh ! bon Dieu ! " cried the Father, 
 " this is just like the Jansenists. Does not the authority 
 of such men as Pere Bauny and Basil Ponce, give a mea- 
 
 * ' Dans lea occasions prochaines du pe'chd.' (Fr.) 
 + ' Sans donner suget au monde de parler.' 
 
68 LETTER V. 
 
 sure of probability at least to these opinions V "I cannot 
 be satisfied with probability," I replied j " I want cer- 
 tainty," " I see" said the Father, " you don't under- 
 stand this doctrine of ' probable opinions ; ' * you would 
 think differently, if you did : I must instruct you in it. 
 You will find you have not lost your time in coming here; 
 but for that, you would have known nothing about it. 
 It is the very foundation-^the A, B, C of our system of 
 morality." 
 
 I was delighted to find him thus fall into the topic I 
 desired ; and eagerly expressed my wish that he would 
 explain to me the meaning of a ' probable opinion.' " Our 
 writers will furnish you with an answer better than my- 
 self," he replied. " This is what they lay down generally 
 on the subject ; and among others, our Twenty-four, in 
 Princ. ex 3, N. 8. An opinion is termed ' probable,' 
 when it is founded upon reasons entitled to a certain 
 measure of consideration. Thence it may happen, that a 
 single authority of eminence may render an opinion " pro- 
 bable.' " " And this is the reason." , ..." A person, 
 specially devoted to the 'study of a given subject, would 
 not embrace an opinion, if he had not good and sufficient 
 cause for it." " Then," said I, " a single doctor may 
 turn our consciences, at his own pleasure, and without 
 fear of consequences !" " You need not laugh," said he ,• 
 " this is a doctrine not to be questioned. The Jansenists 
 have tried to shake it, but they have lost their labour. 
 It is too firmly established. Hear what Sanchez, one of 
 our most celebrated Fathers, says, ' You will doubt, per- 
 
 * ' Des opinions probables.' (Fr.) 
 
DESIGN OF THE JESUITS. 69 
 
 haps, how the authority of one sound and learned doctor 
 should render an opinion probable ; nevertheless, such is 
 the case, as we are assured by Angelus, Sylv. Navarre, 
 Emmanuel Sa,' &c. And they prove it thus. A probable 
 opinion is one that has weight and foundation. Now the 
 authority of a wise and pious man is not a trifle, but rather 
 a matter of great consideration. And weigh well the reason. 
 If the testimony of any individual be credible, as to a cer- 
 tain event having occurred at such a place — for instance, 
 Rome — why may not such testimony be equally valid in 
 a question of morals ?" 
 
 " A happy comparison," I exclaimed, " mere worldly 
 matters with those relating to the conscience ! " " Have 
 patience : Sanchez has an answer for this in the lines that 
 immediately follow ; 'And I do not agree with the distinc- 
 tion which certain authors draw, that the authority of any 
 learned man may weigh in a matter of a worldly nature, 
 but not in those relating to Divine things ; for it is of 
 great weight, both in the one and the other.' " 
 
 " My good Father," said I, frankly, " I cannot make 
 anything of this rule of yours. Who will satisfy me that, 
 with this licence which your Fathers assume, of examining 
 matters by reason only, that which will appear certain to 
 one, will be so to others ? So great is the diversity of 
 opinion." " You don't see the point," interrupted the 
 Father ; " they are by no means without dififerences of 
 opinion; but that is of no importance. We all know that 
 they do not all hold the same sentiments ; on the contrary, 
 they scarcely ever agree : but it is all the better for that. 
 There are few questions in which you will not find that 
 one will say. Yes j another. No. And, in all these cases, 
 
70. LETTER V. 
 
 each of the two conflicting opinions has some degree of 
 pmbabiUty ; and therefore it is, that ' Diana ' remarks on. 
 this subject, Part III. Vol. IV. p. 244, ' Ponce and San- 
 chez hold different opinions ; but, as they are both wise 
 men, each of their opinions rests upon grounds of pro-', 
 babihty.' " 
 
 " But, my Father," I said, " this must render a choice 
 between the different views embarrassing." " Not in the 
 least," he replied; " we have nothing to do but to follow 
 that which agrees best with our own." " But suppose 
 the other has the greater measure of probability ? " " No 
 matter," he replied. " And if the other should be the 
 more sound?" " No matter still," rejoined the Father ; 
 " here is an excellent solution of the point. It is in 
 Emanuel Sa, a member of our society, in his Aphorisms 
 ' de Dubio,' p. 183, ' We may do any thing that we 
 believe to be allowable, if authorized by an opinion 
 grounded on probability ; although the contrary opinion 
 may be the more sound one. The opinion of any one 
 learned man suffices for this purpose.'" " Then if an 
 opinion be altogether less probable, and less sound, is it 
 allowed to act upon that, in preference to one which is 
 believed to be more probable, and more sound ? " " Yes," 
 again he said ; " hear the words of Filiutius, the great 
 Roman Jesuit, Mort. qusest. tr. 31, c. 4, N. 128, ' It is 
 lawful to follow a less probable, and less sound opinion; 
 many authors concur in this judgment.' Is not this 
 explicit ?" "This gives us sufficient latitude, it must be 
 confessed, my reverend Father," I said : " thanks to your 
 ' probable ' opinions, we get a very comfortable degree of 
 Ijberty of conscience. And pray, do your other casuists 
 
DESIGN OF THE JESUITS. 71 
 
 give the same licence in their replies ? " " Yes/' said 
 he, " we reply just according to our own pleasure, or 
 rather according to the pleasure of those who interrogate 
 us ; for these are but rules, taken from the works of the 
 Fathers, Layman, Theol. Mor. 1. 6, tr. 1, c. 2, § 2, N. 7— 
 Vasquez, Dist. 63, c. ix, n. 47 ; Sanchez in Sam. 1. 1, 
 c. ix. N. 28; and of our '24' in Princ. ex. 3, N. 24. 
 These are the words of Layman, which are followed by 
 the ' 24 ; ' A doctor, when consulted, may give such 
 advice as is not only, in his opinion, probable, but even 
 contrary to his opinion, if it be thought probable by 
 others, provided such contrary opinion will be more favour- 
 ably received by, and be more agreeable to the party 
 asking advice; ' si forte, ex illi favorabilios seu exoptatior 
 sit.' But I go farther, aud say, it wiU not be unreason- 
 able for him to give to the consulter an opinion that may 
 have been entertained as probable by some learned persons, 
 although he himself may believe it to be utterly false.' " 
 
 " Admirable ! my good Father, your doctrine is most 
 convenient. So, you may reply Yes or No, at your plea- 
 sure ! It is impossible to estimate too highly such an 
 advantage. I now see the use of the opposing opinions 
 held by your authorities on all subjects ; for the one are 
 always serviceable, and the other can never be injurious. 
 If you don't find your account on the one side, you try 
 the other, and are thus always secure." " It is very 
 true," be replied ; " and thus we can always say, with 
 Diana, who had Father Bauny on his side, while Father 
 Lugo was against him, 
 
 ' ScBpe, premente Deo, fert Deus alter opem.' 
 ' Si quelque Dieu nouapresse, un juitre nouidelivre.' 
 
73 LETTER V. 
 
 " I understand you," said I j " but there is one diffi- 
 culty, to my mind ; suppose, after consulting one of your 
 doctors, and receiving from him a somewhat latitudinarian 
 opinion, you were to fall in with another more severe in his 
 views, and who would not give absolution without a 
 change of opinion ? Have you not given directions for 
 such a contingency ? " " Can you doubt it ? " he replied ; 
 " they are compelled to absolve such penitents as hold 
 the probable opinions in question, on pain of being held 
 guilty of mortal sin if they refuse. This has been clearly 
 proved by our writers, and among others Pere Bauny, 
 tr, 4, de poenit. qu. 13, p. 19. ' When the penitent,' he 
 says, ' acts upon the authority of a probable opinion, the 
 confessor must absolve him, even if his own opinion differ 
 from that of the penitent.' " " But he does not say it is 
 a mortal sin not to absolve him." " You are too hasty ! " 
 said he ; " hear what follows : it is expressly laid down, 
 ' To refuse absolution to a penitent for an act committed 
 in pursuance of a probable opinion, is an offence, in its 
 very nature, mortal.' And he quotes, in confirmation of 
 this sentiment, three of the most eminent of our Fathers, 
 Saurez, Vol. 4, dist. 33, sect. 5 ; Vasquez, disp. 63, ch. 7, 
 et Sanchez, N. 39." 
 
 " Well, my good Father," I rejoined ; " this is truly 
 excellent ! There is nothing now to fear. A confessor 
 cannot dare to refuse ! I did not know before that you 
 had the power to issue ordinances on pain of damnation. 
 I supposed you were only able to take away sins ; I did 
 not imagine you had authority to make them also : but I 
 now see there is no limit to your powers." " You do not 
 express yourself properly," he replied ; " we do not make 
 
DESIGN OF THE JESUITS. 73 
 
 sins ; we only furnish the occasion for bringing them to 
 light. I have several times observed that you are not a 
 good scholastic." 
 
 " Be that as it may. Father," I said, " my doubts are 
 now all satisfied. But I have one more question to ask 
 you. I do not exactly see how you manage, when the 
 Fathers of the Church are opposed to the opinions of 
 your Casuists ? " 
 
 " You do not understand the matter," he replied. 
 " The Fathers were well enough for their own times ; but 
 they don't go far enough for ours. Modern morality is 
 not to be regulated by them ; but by the casuists of our 
 own day. Hear the words of our own Pere Cellot, De 
 Hier. lib. 8, cap. 16, p. 714, following, in this, the famous 
 Pere Eeginaldus : ' In questions of morals the modern 
 Casuists are preferable to the ancient Fathers, although 
 they lived at a period nearer to the apostolic age.' And, 
 in conformity with this view, Diana thus speaks, pa. 5, 
 tr. 8, reg. 31 : ' Are the holders of benefices bound to 
 give up their revenues, if they make an ill use of them ? ' 
 The ancients said. Yes ; but the moderns say. No : let us 
 then not relinquish this decision, by which the obligation 
 to give up property in the supposed case is put an end 
 to." " Admirable sentiments ! " I replied, " and full of 
 comfort for a large part of mankind." " As to the Fa- 
 thers," said my friend again, " we leave them to such as 
 incline to the dogmatic school; but we who have the 
 keeping of men's consciences, study them but little ; and 
 quote, in our writings, none but the modern casuists. 
 Look at Diana, for instance, whose works are so copious ; 
 he has enumerated, at the outset, the authors whom he 
 
74 
 
 IjETTER V. 
 
 refers to. They amount to 296, the oldest of their publi- 
 cations having appeared within the last eighty years." 
 " Subsequent to the institution of your Society, then ? " 
 I said. " About contemporaneously," he replied. " That 
 is to say," rejoined I, " on its appearance, at once were 
 cashiered St. Augustine, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Jerome, 
 and their brethren, as concerns every thing that relates to 
 morals. But I should be glad to be informed the names 
 of their successors : who, pray, are these new authorities ? " 
 " Oh, they are most able and distinguished men — Villa- 
 lobos, Conink, Llamas, Achokeri, Dealkoser, Dellacroix, 
 Veracruz, Ugolin, Tambourin, Fernandez, Martinez, Sua- 
 rez, Henriquez, Vasquez, Lopez, Gomez, Sanchez, de 
 Vechis, de Grassis, de Grassalis, de Peliginnis, de Gra- 
 phocis, Squilante, Bezozeri, Barcola, de Bobadilla, Li- 
 mancha, Perez de Lara, Aldretta Lorca, de Scarica, 
 Quaranta, Scophra, Pedrezza, Cabrezza, Bisbo, Dias, de 
 Clavasio, Villagat, Adam a Menden, Isibaine, Binsfield, 
 Volfangi a Vorberg, Vosthery, Strevesdorf." " Oh, my 
 good Father ! " cried I, alarmed, " were all these people 
 Christians ? " " Christians ! " said he, " did I not tell 
 you they were the only persons by whom, in the present 
 day, we regulate our system of Christianity ? " 
 
 I was concerned to hear him say this ; but made no 
 remark ; and only asked him if they were all Jesuits ? 
 " No," he replied ; " but that is of no importance ; there 
 are excellent things in them all. Not but that, to say the 
 truth, the greater part are taken or imitated from our- 
 selves ; but we do not stand upon punctilios ; besides 
 which, they never fail to quote our Fathers with eulo' 
 giums. Diana, for instance, who is not a member of our 
 
DESIGN OP THE JESUITS. 75 
 
 Society, when he speaks of Vasquez, calls him the ' Phos- 
 nix of Minds.' And elsewhere he says, Vasquez, alone, 
 is as valuable to him as all the rest together ; ' Instar 
 omnium.' All our writers also make great use of this 
 worthy ' Diana ; ' as you will see, when you come to un- 
 derstand our doctrine of ' Probability.' On the contrary, 
 we have wished that others besides the Jesuits should deal 
 in ' probable ' opinions, that we may not alone have such 
 things imputed to us. And thus, when some author — 
 whoever he may be — advances an opinion of this kind, 
 we may, if we think proper, weigh it by the doctrine of 
 ' probability ; ' at the same time that we are not answer- 
 able for it, if the writer does not belong to us." " I un- 
 derstand all that," I replied : " I see very well that every 
 thing is made to suit your views completely — excepting 
 only the old Fathers — and that you are masters of the 
 field. Your course is clear." 
 
 " At the same time," I continued, " I cannot help 
 thinking, I perceive a few important inconveniences, and 
 some powerful obstacles in the way of your career." " In- 
 deed ! " exclaimed the Father, astonished. " They are," 
 said I, " the Scriptures, the Popes, and the Councils ; 
 all which you cannot possibly gainsay, and which are all 
 united in one uniform system of evangelical truth." " Oh, 
 is that all ? " he replied. " You quite alarmed me. Do 
 you suppose, so palpable a point as that has not been fore- 
 seen and provided for ? I cannot indeed but admire that 
 you should think, we have put ourselves in opposition to 
 the Scriptures, the Popes, and the Councils ! I must set 
 you right. I should be concerned that you should sup- 
 pose us so wanting in our duty. You have no doubt 
 
 E 2 
 
76 
 
 LETTER T. 
 
 conceived this notion from certain sentiments of our Fa- 
 thers, which bear an appearance of such a contradiction, 
 but are not such in reality. However, in order to satisfy 
 you of our agreement with them, we must seek an oppor- 
 tunity of more leisure. If your stay here is not disagree- 
 able, and you will let us meet again to-morrow, I will give 
 you the necessary information.'^ 
 
 This was the conclusion of our conference, as it will be 
 of my present communication — enough in all conscience, 
 for one letter. I doubt not you will be willing to wait for 
 the sequel, and in the mean time, remain, &c. &c. 
 
LETTER VI. 
 
 VARIOUS ARTIFICES OP THE JESUITS FOR EVADING THE 
 AUTHORITY OF THE SCRIPTURES, THE COUNCILS, AND 
 THE POPES. CERTAIN CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR 
 DOCTRINE OP PROBABILITY. THEIR INDULGENCE IN 
 FAVOUR OP BENEFICIARIES, PRIESTS, MEMBERS OF 
 RELIGIOUS ORDERS, AND SERVANTS. HISTORY OF 
 JOHN D'ALBA. 
 
 Sir, 
 I INFORMED you at tlie close of my last letter, that my 
 excellent Jesuit friend Lad promised to explain to me the 
 manner in which their casuists had succeeded in recon- 
 ciling their opinions with the decisions of the Popes and 
 Councils, and with the canon of Scripture. On my next 
 visit to him, he gave me the promised information ; and it 
 was to this effect. 
 
 " One of the methods," said the worthy Father, " by 
 which we reconcile these seeming contradictions, is, a cer- 
 tain interpretation of expressions. For instance, Pope 
 Gregory 4th, pronounced that assassins ought not to re- 
 ceive an asylum in the churches, but should be expelled 
 from them. Notwithstanding this, our four-and-twenty 
 elders say, tr. 6, ex. 4, N. 37, ' All persons who take life 
 
78 LETTER VI. 
 
 treacherously, ought not to be subject to the penalty of 
 this Bull.' Now this will appear contradictory ; but they 
 manage the matter by an interpretation of the term As- 
 sassin, as follows : ' Are not assassins unfit for the privi- 
 lege of sanctuary ? Yes, by the Bull of Gregory XIV. 
 But we understand by the term Assassin, such as commit 
 murder for pay. Whence it follows, that those who kill 
 without pay, and only to do a service to a friend, should 
 not be called assassins.' In the same way, it is said in 
 the Gospel, ' Give alms of your abundance.' But many of 
 the casuists have found a way to relieve the most opulent 
 persons from the necessity of giving alms. You will think 
 this again inconsistent. But it is easily explained by 
 their interpretation of the word ' abundance ' as ' super- 
 fluity : ' so that in reality scarcely any one can be pro- 
 perly said to enjoy such a superfluity. And this is the view 
 of Vasquezj in his Tract on Alms, c. 4, N. 14. ' Whatso- 
 ever amount of means persons, living in society, enjoy, 
 for the purpose of maintaining a suitable condition for 
 themselves and their relations, is not to be called ' super- 
 fluity ; ' and therefore, scarcely any person, so living in 
 the world, can be said to have superfluity of wealth — not 
 even Sovereigns themselves." 
 
 " Diana, also, after quoting these words of Vasquez 
 (for he usually takes his views from our authorities), con- 
 cludes in this sensible manner : "^ As to the question whe- 
 ther the rich are bound to give alms of their superfluity, 
 although the afiirmative is perfectly just, it will never, or 
 very rarely happen, that in practice the obligation is 
 binding." 
 
 ." I see clearly," my Father, " I said, " what is the doc- 
 
ARTIFICES OF THE JESUITS. 79 
 
 trine of Vasquez ; but what answer would be given, if it 
 were objected, that it would be as much for our souls' 
 salvation, according to Vasquez, not to give alms, pro- 
 vided we had worldly ambition enough not to possess any 
 superfluity ; as, according to the Gospel, it is safe to have 
 no ambition, that by that means we may have a superfluity 
 to dispense in alms-giving ? " " Why, you would say," 
 he replied, " that both views were safe, and that according 
 to the same evangelist ; the one, according to the Gospel 
 in the more liberal and obvious sense ; the other, according 
 to the interpretation given to it by Vasquez. You see 
 now the advantage of interpretation." 
 
 " But when the terms are so clear," he proceeded, " as 
 not to admit of any such diversity, we then avail our- 
 selves of circumstances favourable to us ; as you will see 
 by an example. The Popes have been accustomed to 
 excommunicate monks who appear without their ecclesias- 
 tical dress ; notwithstanding which, our twenty-four elders 
 thus express themselves, tr. 6, ex. 7, N. 103, ' What are 
 the occasions on which a monk may leave off his dress 
 without incurring excommunication ? ' Several are stated, 
 and, among others, these : ' If he take it off for the pur- 
 pose of pilfering, or going " incognito " to places of licen- 
 tious amusement, or for any other scandalous object, 
 intending however soon to resume his dress.' It is plain 
 therefore that the Bulls did not contemplate cases of this 
 description." 
 
 I expressed some incredulity upon this point, and begged 
 the Father to show me the passages in the original. I 
 found that the chapter, containing these words, was en- 
 titled, " Practices of the School of the Jesuits' Society ; " 
 
80 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 " Praxis ex Societatis Jem Schola ; " and there I read as 
 follows : " Si habitum demittat, ut furetur occulta, vel 
 fornicatur." He also showed me the same thing in 
 Diana, as thus : " ut eat incognitas ad lupanar." " And 
 how is it, my good Father," I asked, " that they are ex- 
 empted from excommunication on such occasions as 
 these ? " " Don't you understand ? " replied he. " Can 
 you not perceive what scandal it would occasion, if a 
 monk were to be surprised in such a situation, wearing 
 his ecclesiastical habit ? And have you not heard what 
 reply was given to the first Bull ' contra soUicitantes ' ? 
 And in what way our twenty-four, also, in a chapter of 
 the ' Pratiques de I'Ecole, &c. &c.^ explains the Bull of 
 Pius V. ' Contra Clericos ' V "I cannot say I know 
 any thing of the matter." " Then you don't read ' Es- 
 cobar ' ? " said he. " I had not done so before yester- 
 day," I replied ; " and then I found difficulty in meeting 
 with a copy. I do not know how it happens, that lately 
 every body seems to have been running after it." " What 
 I mentioned," said the Father, " is in tr. 1, ex. 8, N. 102. 
 liook at it for yourself. You will see an admirable spe- 
 cimen of the method of favourable interpretation of 
 ' Bulls.' " I had seen it in fact that very evening ; but 
 I dare not transcribe the passage even to you : it is abso- 
 lutely horrible ! 
 
 The worthy Father then resumed : " You understand 
 now how we manage to avail ourselves of ' favourable ' 
 circumstances ? * There are however certain matters so 
 precise, that they cannot be met in the way of contradic- 
 
 * ' Circonstances favorables.' (Fr.) 
 
ARTIFICES OF THE JESUITS, 81 
 
 tion. For instance, three Popes have decreed, that monks 
 who have bound themselves by vow to the observance of 
 Lent,* cannot receive dispensation, even if appointed to 
 bishoprics : nevertheless, Diana says, ' Notwithstanding 
 that decision, they may obtain a dispensation.' " " And 
 how does he reconcile this ? " I inquired. " It is," re- 
 plied the Father, " by the most subtle of all the modern 
 methods, and by the most refined application of the doc- 
 trine of ' probabihty.' I will explain it. The affirmative 
 and negative of the greater number of opinions have, as I 
 showed the other day, in the, judgment of our doctors, a 
 certain measure of probability, and sufficient to allow of 
 their being followed with a safe conscience. Not that the 
 affirmative and negative can be both true in the same 
 sense— that is impossible : but, both being, in this manner, 
 probable, both are safe." 
 
 " Upon this principle, our worthy colleague, Diana, 
 thus writes. Part V. tr. xiii. v. 39 : ' To the decision of 
 the three Popes, which is quite opposed to my own opi- 
 nion, I reply, they have expressed themselves in this way, 
 in addressing themselves to the affirmative of the proposi- 
 tion, which has, even in my judgment, a certain measure 
 of probability. But it does not follow that the negative 
 may not possess some probability likewise.' And in the 
 same treatise, § 65, on another subject, in which he also 
 holds a difierent opinion to that of the Pope, he thus 
 writes ; ' The Pope, I grant, has said this as Head of the 
 Church ; but, in doing SO, he only gives a greater exten- 
 sion to the sphere of probability of his opinion.' Now 
 
 * ' A la vie quadragdsiraale.' (Fr.^ 
 E 5 
 
°^ . LETTER VI. 
 
 you will see that he does not take this method^ in order 
 to invalidate the sentiments of the Popes. Such a course 
 would not be endured at Rome, where Diana is held in 
 high esteem; for he does not affirm that what the Popes 
 have pronounced has not a high degree of probability : 
 but, while allowing to their opinion the largest measure 
 of probability, he merely asserts that the contrary is en- 
 titled to some measure of probability also." " That is 
 extremely respectful," I said. " And it is more delicate." 
 he rejoined, " than the reply of ' Pere Bauny ' when his 
 writings were censured at Rome; for he was so unguarded 
 as to say in his publication against M. Hallier, by whom 
 he was at that time furiously persecuted, ' What is there 
 in common [^between the censure of Rome and that of 
 France ? ' You see plainly from all this, that, what 
 with the interpretation given to terms, what with the 
 favour of circumstances, and what, finally, with the dou- 
 ble probabilities for and against a proposition, we suc- 
 ceed in reconciling these apparent contradictions, which 
 occasioned you so much difficulty; and that, without vio- 
 lating the authority of Holy Scripture, the Councils, or 
 the Popes, as I have now proved to you." 
 
 " My worthy Father," said I, " the world is too happy 
 to have you for its guides ! How valuable are these pro- 
 babilities ! I was not aware before, why you took so 
 much pains to maintain that a single doctor — provided 
 he were a learned* one — could give a ' probable ' opinion ; 
 and that one opposed to him might do the same : and 
 that we are at liberty to choose the one that agrees most 
 
 * ' Grave.' (Fr.) 
 
ARTIFICES OF THE JESUITS. 83 
 
 nearly with our o\fQ, althougli we may not be satisfied 
 that it is the one nearest to the truth. And all this with 
 so safe a conscience, that a Confessor who should refuse 
 absolution on the authority of these casuists would suffer 
 .the penalty of damnation. I can now readily conclude, 
 that a single casuist may at his pleasure establish new 
 rules of morality, and regulate, according to his own fancy, 
 the whole course of men's conduct." 
 
 " What you state," rejoined the Father, "requires some 
 qualification. This is a point you ought to understand. 
 I will explain farther to you our method, and you will 
 then see the progress of a new opinion, from its birth to 
 its maturity, and final establishment." 
 
 " In the first instance, the learned doctor, who has in- 
 vented it, promulgates it to the world — scattering it abroad, 
 like seed, in the expectation of the harvest to come. It 
 is at first feeble ; but time will strengthen and ripen it 
 by degrees ; and, to this effect, Diana, who has been the 
 introducer of many such dogmas, remarks in a certain 
 passage : ' I advance this as my opinion ; but as it is a 
 novel one, I leave it to acquire maturity by time — relin- 
 quo tempori maturandavi.' 
 
 " In this waj' it is seen, in the course of a few years, 
 insensibly to acquire' confirmation ; and after a consider- 
 able lapse of time the proposition is found to be authorized 
 by the tacit approbation of the Church, according to the 
 celebrated maxim of the Pere Bauny ; ' If an opinion be 
 advanced by several casuists, and the Church do not tes- 
 tify her disapprobation, it is to be held that she approves 
 it.' And it is, in fact, on this principle, that he claims 
 authority for one of his own opinions, in Tract 6, p. 313."- 
 
84 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 " What, then ! my Father," said I, " the Church, at 
 this rate, must be believed to sanction all the abuses she 
 silently endures, and to give currency to the errors con- 
 tained in all the works which she does not publicly cen- 
 sure ! " "You should dispute the point with Pere Bau-. 
 ny " he replied ; " I am stating a fact, and you contest it 
 as against myself individually. Facts, I repeat, should 
 not be made matter of argument. "What I was saying is, 
 that when time has thus ripened an opinion, it is then 
 rendered wholly probable and safe. Thus the learned 
 Ceramaab, in his dedication to Diana of his ' Fundamental 
 Theology,' says, that 'the great Diana has rendered many 
 opinions probable which were not so before ' — ' quse ante 
 non erant ,-' and, therefore, we now commit no sin in fol- 
 lowing them, although we might have done so before ; — 
 'jam non peccant licet ante peccaverintJ " 
 
 " Truly, my good Father," said I, " there ai-e great 
 advantages to be gained from these doctors of yours. 
 Thus, two persons shall commit the same act ; but one 
 who is not acquainted with their doctrine shall sin — the 
 other, who has the advantage of knowing it, shall be in- 
 nocent ! Is their system then uniformly thus edifying 
 and indulgent ? The law of God, according to St. Paul, 
 establishes man's sinfulness; the doctrines in question 
 almost exonerate from sin. I must request further in- 
 formation upon these matters ; I cannot leave you till you 
 acquaint me thoroughly with the leading opinions and 
 maxims which your casuists have established." 
 
 " Ah ! " replied the Father, " our chief aim, I assure 
 you, would have been to establish no other rules but those 
 of the Gospel in all their strictness ; and it must be evi- 
 
ARTIFICES OF THE JESUITS. 85 
 
 dent from the purity of our owu conduct, that, if we have 
 sanctioned any degree of laxity on the part of others, it is 
 only from ati unavoidable condescension to their weak- 
 ness. "We are compelled to it. Men are in these days so 
 corrupt, that, being unable to raise them to our standard, 
 we are obliged to lower the standard to them. But for 
 this, they would forsake us; they would even do worse — 
 they would abandon themselves. And so, in order to keep 
 them with us, our casuists have considered those vices to 
 which persons, in their several conditions, are the most 
 addicted ; with a view to establish such moderate regu- 
 lations, (but without any violation of purity) that they 
 must be fastidious indeed, not to be satisfied with them. 
 The main rule of our Society, in order to promote the 
 interests of Religion, is, to repel none, that none may be 
 discouraged or despair. 
 
 " With this view it is that we have laid down precepts 
 for all sorts of persons ; for patrons, for priests, for monks; 
 for the gentry, for servants, for the rich ; for those en- 
 gaged in trade, for the embarrassed in circumstances, and 
 the poor ; for females under vows, for others at liberty ; 
 for the married and the single : in short, nothing has 
 been overlooked and unprovided for." " That is,'' said I, 
 their foresight has extended to the clergy, the nobility, 
 and the lower classes : — the interest I feel in your state- 
 ments increases." 
 
 " We will begin then," said the Father, " with the case 
 of patrons. You know what traffic takes place in the 
 present day in church preferments ; and, if we were to be 
 guided by the ideas of St. Thomas and the ancient writers, 
 we should discover many Simonists in the Church. For 
 
86 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 this reason, our Fathers have found it necessary to temper 
 these matters with prudence, as you will find from the 
 words of Valentia, one of the four ' living creatures' of 
 Escobar. They occur at the close of a long discourse, 
 suggesting many expedients on this subject, among which 
 I think the following is the best ; it is in page 2039, 
 3d vol. ' If a temporal consideration be given for a 
 spiritual benefit — that is, money in exchange for a bene- 
 fice — at a fixed price and valuation, it is palpable simony ; 
 but if it be given as the jwo^itie, which shall attract the 
 good will of the patron to confer the preferment in ques- 
 tion, then it is not simony ; even though the money be 
 the principal consideration with the presenter.' Tanneras, 
 another member of our society, says the same in his 
 3d vol. p. 1519, although he acknowledges ' that St. 
 Thomas is opposed to him, insomuch as he pronounces 
 absolutely, that it is strictly simony to barter spiritual 
 things for temporal, if the temporal be the consideration.' 
 It is in this way we exclude numberless cases of simony ; 
 for who would be so unhandsome as to refuse, in paying 
 his money for a benefice, to assign such payment as a 
 motive to induce the holder to relinquish it in his favour, 
 instead of giving it as the mere price of the preferment ? 
 None could be so unprincipled, so abandoned in the 
 sight of God ! ' " "I quite agree with you," I replied ; 
 " every one would have virtue sufficient for the part you 
 describe." " Doubtless," rejoined the Father. 
 
 " You now see how we soften matters in regard- to 
 patronage. As to ecclesiastics, we have a variety of pre- 
 cepts, and all very lenient towards them. For instance, 
 this of the 24, tr. 1. ex. 11, N. 96. ' If a priest have 
 
ARTIFICES OP THE JESUITS. 87 
 
 received payment for saying a mass, may he receive a 
 further payment for saying the same mass ? Yes, says 
 Filiutius, by applying that part of the sacrifice which 
 appertains to himself, as priest, to him who pays him 
 anew ; provided, however, he does not receive as much as 
 for an entire mass, but only for a part, say a third, of the 
 mass.' " 
 
 " Truly, my good Father, this is one of those cases 
 in which the ' pro ' and ' con ' are indeed both very 
 probable ; for what you are describing can scarcely fail 
 to occur, after such authority as Filiutius and Escobar. 
 But, leaving it for argument's sake, in the mere sphere of 
 probability, it appears to me that the reverse of the case 
 might be supposed, and on very sufficient grounds. 
 While the church allows priests, whose circumstances are 
 limited, to take payment for their masses, inasmuch as it 
 is right that ' those who serve the altar should live of the 
 altar,' she does not intend that they should make a mere 
 barter of the sacrifice for money ; and still less, that they 
 should deprive themselves of all the grace which they 
 ought to derivefrom4he holy office. And I should further 
 affirm, that priests, according to St. Paul, are to ' offer 
 sacrifices, first for themselves, and next for the people ; ' 
 and thus, while it is allowed them to associate others 
 with such sacrifices, they may not themselves voluntarily 
 renounce the whole benefit of them, and assign it to 
 another for the consideration of a third of the mass — 
 that is, for four or five sous. Really, my Father, little as 
 I am skilled in such matters, I could contrive to give some 
 plausibility to this opinion." " It would not be hard to 
 do this," he replied ; " the real difficulty would be in 
 
88 LETTER VI. 
 
 opposing opinionSj whicli have so obvious an appearance 
 of soundness ; this is only the property of great minds. 
 The Pere Bauny excels in this. It is delightful to see 
 this profound casuist penetrating the ' pro ' and ' con ' 
 of some question relating to the priesthood, and finding 
 reason on both sides, with so much ingenuity and acute- 
 ness." 
 
 " In one place he remarks. Tract 10, page 474, ' We 
 ought not to make a rule for compelling curates to perform 
 mass every day, because such a rule would undoubtedly 
 {hand dubie) expose them to the risk of sometimes per- 
 forming it, while under the guilt of mortal sin.^ And 
 nevertheless, in the same tract, p. 44, he says, ' Priests 
 who have been paid for saying mass every day ought to 
 do it, and cannot excuse themselves on the plea, that they 
 are not always properly prepared for its performance, 
 because they can always avail themselves of acts of peni- 
 tence. And if they omit to do so, the fault is theirs, and 
 not that of the party requiting such performance of mass.^ 
 And, in order to obviate the greatest of the diificulties in 
 their way, he thus resolves the following question, in the 
 same tract, q. 32, p. 457 — ' May a priest perform mass, 
 on the same day that he has fallen into . a mortal sin, on 
 confessing himself previously ? Villalolos says ' No, be- 
 cause of his impurity.' But Sancius says ' Yes, and with- 
 out incurring guilt : ' I hold the latter opinion to be sound, 
 and the one that Ought to be followed out in practice : et 
 tuta, et sequenda in praxi.' 
 
 " What ! Father," I exclaimed, " followed out in 
 practice ! A priest, having fallen into such an enormity, 
 shall dare, on the very same day, to approach the altar of 
 
ARTIFICES OF THE JESUITS. 89 
 
 religion— on the authority of Pere Bauny ! Ought we 
 not to defer to the ancient laws of the church, which ex- 
 cluded from the sacrifice for ever — or at least for a long 
 period — priests, who were guilty of irregularities of this 
 kind, rather than adopt the views of these modern 
 casuists, who dare to admit them to the altar on the very 
 day, even, of the commission of such offences ? " " You 
 have a very short memory," said the Father ; " did I not 
 just now state, that, according to the Per6s CoUot and 
 Regiualdus, in morals we are to follow, not the ancient 
 Fathers but the modern casuists." " I remember it per- 
 fectly," said I J " but here there is something further ; 
 these are the laws of the church." " Right," he replied ; 
 " but you are not yet aware of that fine maxim of our 
 brethren, ' the laws of the church lose their force when 
 they cease to be observed ; ' ' cum jam desuetudine abie- 
 runt,' as is stated by Fiiiatius, t. 2. tr. 35, n. 33. We 
 are better acquainted than the ancient^ with the actual 
 necessities of the church. If we were so rigid in exclud- 
 ing the priests from the altar, you must see clearly we 
 should diminish the number of masses. Now the number 
 of masses tends so much to the glory of God, and the 
 salvation of souls, that I should say with our Pere Collot, 
 in his work on the Hierarchy, p. 611, Rouen edition, that 
 there would not be too many priests ' if, not only all men 
 and women (were it possible) but even inanimate bodies, 
 and the very brute beasts — 'bruta animalia — were changed 
 into priests, for the celebration of masses.' " 
 
 I was so surprized at the oddity of these fancies, that I 
 could make no reply ; so he continued : " But enough of 
 the priests; let us now proceed to the monks. As their 
 
90 LETTER VI. 
 
 main difficulty lies in the obedience whicli they owe to 
 their superiors, observe how this matter is softened down 
 in their favour. This is from Castrus Palaiis, one of our 
 brethren. Op. Mor. p. 1, Disp. 2, p. 6. ' It is beyond 
 dispute — non est controversia — that a monk who holds in 
 his own mind a ' probable ' opinion, is not bound to obey 
 his superior, even if the opinion of such superior should 
 be the more probable one : but it is, in that case, lawful 
 for him to adopt that which is the most agreeable to 
 himself — ' qucB sibi gratior fuerit : ' — so also says Sanchez. 
 And even, although the view of the superior may be the 
 right one,' he is still not bound to obedience ; for it may 
 not be right in all points, and in every degree — ' non 
 undequaque justo prcecipit :^ but only so 'by probability :^ 
 and therefore it is only by probability that you are bound 
 to obey, and by probability released from obedience — 
 ' jprobabiliter obUgatus, et probabiliter deobligatus.' " 
 " Doubtless, my good Father," I replied ; " it is impos- 
 sible to prize too highly this valuable fruit of your double 
 probabilities." " It is indeed most useful," he said : 
 " but we must be brief. I will only give you one more 
 extract from our celebrated Molina, in favour of such 
 monks as have been expelled from their convents for dis- 
 orderly conduct. The Pere Escobar quotes it, tr. 6, ex. 7, 
 N. Ill, in these terms : ' Molina affirms that a monk, 
 expelled from his monastery, is not obliged to alter his 
 conduct, for the purpose of procuring re-admission : and 
 is no longer bound by his ' vow of obedience.' " 
 
 " Truly," I exclaimed, " your ecclesiastics have an 
 easy life of it ! Your casuists do indeed treat them with 
 sufficient indulgence. They do by them as they would 
 
ARTIFICES OF THE JESUITS. 91 
 
 by themselves. I am afraid persons of other conditions 
 of life will not fare so well at their hands. They must 
 take care for themselves.^' " They would be no better 
 off," he replied. " An equal measure of leniency is ex- 
 tended to all, from the highest to the lowest ; and, to prove 
 it, I must read to you the directions respecting valets. 
 
 " We have weighed, in their case, the pain they suffer, 
 if conscientious, in serving masters of licentious habits : 
 for if they decline executing all the errands of their 
 employers, they lose their situations ; if they obeyj. their 
 consciences are wounded. To afford them relief, then, 
 our 34 Fathers, tr. 7, ex. 4, N. 223, have indicated the 
 services which they may render, with safety of conscience. 
 These are some of them. ' To carry letters or presents ; 
 open doors and windows ; to assist their masters to climb 
 into windows ; hold a ladder while they ascend : ' all this 
 is allowable and innocent. It is acknowledged, that to 
 justify holding the ladder, there should be some unusual 
 degree of risk ; for it would otherwise be wrong to the 
 master of the house, to enter by the window. You see 
 how judicious this is." 
 
 " I expected no less," I replied, " from a work composed 
 by twenty-four Jesuits." " But," added the Father, 
 " our excellent Bauny has further enabled servants inno- 
 cently to discharge their duties to their masters, by trans- 
 ferring the question, from the sins of which they render 
 themselves the agents, to that of their own wages. He 
 has admirably explained this in his ' Summary of Of- 
 fences,^ page 710, 1st edition. ' Let confessors well un- 
 understand,' he says, ' that they are not to give absolution 
 to valets for carrying criminal messages, if they make 
 
92 LETTER VI. 
 
 themselves parties to the sins of their masters ; but, it is 
 not on the contrary to be withheld, if such things be done 
 for the consideration of their lawful gains.' And this is 
 not difficult to understand ; for why should they make 
 themselves parties to the offences of others, and suffer 
 only penalties on account of them ? 
 
 " Father Bauny has also laid down this important rule, 
 in favour of those who are not satisfied with their wages : 
 ' Summary,' page 213, 4, 6th edition. ' May servants who 
 are dissatisfied with their wages, increase them by taking 
 such a portion of their masters' property as they think 
 expedient, in order to make their pay equivalent to their 
 services ? In certain cases they may do so, as when they 
 are previously so reduced as to be obliged to accept any 
 terms offered to them, and when other servants, in similar 
 situations, receive higher wages, &c." 
 
 " Why, my good Father," I cried, " this passage is ab- 
 solutely the history of Jean d'Alba." " What John 
 d'Alba ? " said the Father, " who do you mean ? " " Why, 
 do you not remember what passed in this very place in the 
 year 1647 ? Where were you at that time ? " "I was 
 giving instruction in cases of conscience," he replied, " in 
 one of our colleges at a distance from Paris." " I see, 
 then," I said, " that you are not acquainted with the 
 affair ; I will relate it to you. I heard it from a person 
 of undoubted veracity, in a party where I was the other 
 day. He told us that this John d'Alba, being in service 
 in the college of Clermont, Rue St. Jaques, and not being 
 satisfied with his wages, appropriated to himself certain 
 property of the Community, by way of compensation : that 
 the superiors, on detecting him, threw him into prison. 
 
ARTIFICES OF THE JESUITS. 93 
 
 on a charge of private robbery ; and that the prosecution 
 came before the Chatelet on the 6th of April, 1647 (if 
 my memory serves me right) ; for he stated all these 
 things with great minuteness, otherwise we should hardly 
 have believed them to be possible. The accused delin- 
 quent, on interrogation, admitted that he had taken some 
 metal dishes from the monks; but maintained, for all 
 that, he had committed no theft, quoting in his justifica- 
 tion the doctrine in question of Pere Bauny, together with 
 an extract from the writings of one of your Fathers, under 
 whom he had studied cases of conscience, and which in- 
 culcated the same thing. On which M. de Montrouge, 
 one of the leading members of the Chatelet, delivered the 
 following opinion : ' That the accused ought not to be ac- 
 quitted on the authority of writings containing doctrines, 
 illegal, pernicious, and opposed to all rules divine and 
 human ; the effect of which was to destroy the welfare of 
 families, and authorize every domestic fraud. And his 
 sentence was, that this too implicit disciple should be 
 flogged before the college gates by the common execu- 
 tioner ; and all the works of the Fathers, treating of lar- 
 ceny, should be hurnt by the same hand ; forbidding all 
 persons at the same time, on pain of death, to teach, in 
 future, any of the doctrines in question.' 
 
 " While they were awaiting the sequel of this decision, 
 which was much approved, circumstances occurred, which 
 had the effect of postponing judgment upon the pro-, 
 ceedings. In the mean time, however, the prisoner' 
 disappeared, no one knew how, and without restoring the 
 dishes. This was the sum of our informant's statement ; 
 and he further told us that the judgment of M. de Mont- 
 
94 LETTER VI. 
 
 rouge is still in the Registry of the Ch^talet ; and may be 
 seen by any one. The anecdote afforded us much amuse- 
 ment." 
 
 " Amusement ! What about ? " said the Father ; 
 " what do you mean ? I am speaking of the maxims of 
 our casuists ; I was going to give you those relating to 
 the gentry, and you interrupt me by stories that have 
 nothing to do with the matter." " I merely introduced 
 the circumstance ' en passant,' I replied, " to remind 
 you of a point of some importance, which seems to have 
 been overlooked in establishing your ' doctrine of proba- 
 bility.' " " What ? " said he, " what could have been 
 overlooked by so many able men who have all concurred 
 in it ? " '' It is just this," I replied ; " you have suc- 
 ceeded in placing those who adopt the doctrines quite at 
 ease in regard to God, and their own consciences ; for you 
 maintain they can run no risk in those respects, while 
 they follow the opinions of a learned doctor : you have 
 put them quite right with their confessors, for you make 
 it compulsory on the priests to give absolution, in cases 
 of the probable opinions in question, on pain of mortal 
 sin : but you have not entirely secured them on the part 
 of the temporal authorities ; in consequence of which they 
 expose themselves to flogging and the gallows, in acting 
 upon your probabilities : this is really a serious defect." 
 " You are right there, I confess ; I feel obliged to you 
 for the suggestion," said the Father ; " but it is because 
 we have not the same power over the magistrates as over 
 the confessors, which latter are obliged to report all cases 
 of conscience to us : there we are absolute." " I under- 
 stand you," I replied; " but if on the one hand you are. 
 
ARTIFICES OF THE JESUITS. 95 
 
 judges of the confessors, are you not also confessors of 
 the judges ? Your powers are extensive ; you should 
 compel them to absolve all criminals whose offences have 
 been committed on the strength of your probable opinions, 
 upon pain of exclusion from the sacraments; lest this 
 contempt and scandal should befall the doctrine in ques- 
 tion, viz. that persons whom you have pronounced inno- 
 cent in theory, should come to be flogged in practice. 
 Unless this is done, how will you succeed in getting dis- 
 ciples ? " " We must think of this," he said ; " it is 
 really important. I will propose the matter to our Father 
 Provincial. In the mean time you might as well reserve 
 these opinions of yours till another opportunity, and not 
 interrupt me again, as I am now going to relate to you 
 the maxims we have established in favour of the gentry : 
 I positively will not go on, unless you promise to tell me 
 no more of your stories." 
 
 This is all then, my friend, that you must receive 
 from me to-day ; for it will take more than one letter to 
 communicate the whole of what I learned from my worthy 
 friend in the course of a single conversation. In the mean 
 time I remain ever, &c. &c. 
 
LETTER VII. 
 
 ON THE METHOD USED BY THE CASUISTS IN REGULAT- 
 ING MOTIVES. THE PERMISSION GIVEN TO THEM TO 
 TAKE LIFE, IP IN DEFENCE OP HONOUR AND PRO- 
 PERTY, EXTENDED MOREOVER TO THE PRIESTHOOD 
 AND RELIGIOUS ORDERS. CURIOUS QUESTION PRO- 
 POSED BY CARAMUEL, WHETHER IT IS LAWFUL FOR 
 JESUITS TO KILL JANSENISTS. 
 
 Sir, Paris, April 25, 1656. 
 
 After appeasing the good Father, whose discourse I had 
 somewhat interrupted by my story of John D'Alba, he 
 recommenced it, on my assurance that I would not disturb 
 him by anything more of the kind ; and he related to me 
 the maxims of the casuists respecting the Aristocracy in 
 the following terms : 
 
 " You are aware that the ruling passion of persons of 
 this class of life, is the maintenance of their honour ; by 
 which they are continually hurried into excesses, which 
 seem, undoubtedly, opposed to Christian piety. This 
 would lead to their almost entire exclusion from the 
 confessional, had not our Fathers somewhat relaxed, in 
 their favour, the severe requirements of religion, out of a 
 proper consideration for human infirmity. But being 
 
ON REGULATING MOTIVES. 97 
 
 desirous of reconciling their duties to God and tte 
 Gospel, and kindness to their fellow-men, and, amongst 
 them, the people of the world, they have exerted all their 
 ingenuity to devise expedients by which matters may be 
 so tempered and adjusted, that the persons in question 
 may maintain and retrieve their honour without a viola- 
 tion of conscience ; and by this means preserve in a be- 
 coming harmony, two things usually regarded as opposed 
 to each other — religion and the point of honour. But, 
 in proportion as this aim was desirable, so was it difficult ; 
 the enterprize was noble yet laborious : you cannot but 
 perceive this yourself." " Surprisingly ! " I replied, though 
 coolly. " Surprisingly," he cried ; " it must indeed sur- 
 prise and astonish every one. Don't you know, that the 
 Gospel, on the one hand, enjoins, ' Render not evil for 
 evil, but leave vengeance to God ;' and, on the other, that 
 the laws of the world forbid us to endure an injury, but 
 enjoin us rather to seek its redress, and that, often, by 
 the death of the party inflicting it ? Was there ever any 
 thing apparently more contradictory? And yet, when 
 I tell you, our Fathers have solved the difficulty, you 
 merely say, it is surprising." " I did not, perhaps, suf- 
 ficiently explain myself, my good Father," I replied ; 
 " I should, to say the truth, have held the thing to be 
 impossible, if I had not known, from what I had before 
 seen of your learned divines, that they can accomplish 
 with ease what other men find to be impossibilities. This 
 satisfies me that they have, in the present case, succeeded 
 in devising methods, which I shall doubtless admire, when 
 I become fully acquainted with them. Pray satisfy my 
 curiosity." 
 
98 LETTER VII. 
 
 " If you really feel such an interest in the matter," he 
 rejoined, " I cannot refuse. Know then, that this great 
 and astonishing principle is, our method of ' regulating 
 the motive ;' * the importance of which, in our system of 
 morals, is so great, that I could almost venture to compare 
 it with the Doctrine of Probability. You have had some 
 hints of it already ' en passant ;' for when I explained 
 how valets might reconcile becoming the bearers of certain 
 improper messages, did you not observe that it was done 
 by diverting their intention from the misconduct of which 
 they made themselves the agents, to the profit which 
 would accrue to them from it ? This is one instance of 
 what is meant by ' regulating the intention :' and in the 
 same way, you have seen that persons giving money for 
 church-preferment would be guilty of actual Simony, but 
 for a similar ' regulation.'' But I am now going to show 
 you this eminent principle in all its splendour in the case 
 of homicide — a practice which it has succeeded in justify- 
 ing in a thousand cases of duels; and you will at once 
 acknowledge its immense capability and value." " I 
 see already," I said, " that every thing must be rendered 
 lawful by means of it — nothing can escape." " You are 
 always going from one extreme to the other," replied the 
 Father ; " you should cure yourself of that habit. To 
 convince you, now, that every thing is not allowed, I can 
 tell you, for example, we do not allow of any one commit- 
 ting sin with a deliberate purpose to do so; and if a 
 person persists in having no other end in a transgression 
 than the sin itself, we break with him; such conduct is 
 
 * ' Dinger rintention.' (Fr.) 
 
ON REGULATING MOTIVES. 99 
 
 diabolical, without distinction of age, sex, or condition. 
 But, if such be not the unhappy disposition of the party, 
 then we endeavour to put in practice our method of 
 directing or regulating the intention, which consists in 
 proposing for the act committed a lawful motive and ob- 
 ject. Not that w6 do not endeavour, as far as it is in our 
 power, to turn men from forbidden courses ; but when we 
 are unable to prevent the act, we at least, purify the in- 
 tention ; and thus, correct the viciousness of the means 
 by the goodness of the end. 
 
 " It is in this way that our leaders have found the means 
 to tolerate the acts of violence practised in defence of 
 honour ; for they have only to substitute, as the motive, 
 instead of a thirst of vengeance, which is criminal, a desire 
 to defend our reputation, which the Fathers allow; and 
 the thing is done. By similar means, they succeed in ful- 
 filling all their duties towards God and their fellow-crea- 
 tures : the world they satisfy by the permission of the 
 act ; and they comply with the Gospel in purifying the 
 motive. All this was heretofore unknown ; and for this, 
 our Society is to be thanked. Do you understand the 
 matter now ? " " Perfectly," I replied ; " you give over 
 to man the external and material act ; and you assign to 
 God the internal, spiritual intention ; and by this equi- 
 table division, you reconcile human rules of conduct with 
 those of the Divine will. But, my good Father, to con- 
 fess the truth, I am a little suspicious of your premises ; 
 and entertain some doubt, whether your authorities will 
 fully bear out your position." "You are mistaken,"' said 
 the Father ; " I advance nothing that I cannot prove, and 
 
 F 2 
 
100 LETTER VII. 
 
 that, by so many passages, that their number, their au- 
 thority and force, will fill you with admiration. 
 
 " To show you, now, how our Fathers have brought the 
 maxims of the Gospel into agreement with those of the 
 world, hear our Pere Reginaldus in Praxi, Liv. 21, N.63, 
 p. 260. ' Individuals are not allowed to avenge them- 
 selves, for St. Paul says, Rom. ch. xii. " Recompense to 
 no man evil for evil ; " and Eccles. ch. xxviii. " He that 
 avengeth shall find vengeance from the Lord, and he 
 will surely keep his sin in remembrance."' Besides, 
 what is said in Scripture of the forgiveness of injuries, as 
 in ch. vi. and xviii. of St. Matthew." " Certainly, my 
 excellent Father, if, after this, your author asserts any 
 thing beyond what is contained in Holy Writ, it is not 
 for want of knowing better. What is his conclusion, 
 however ? " " It is this," said the Father ; ' From all 
 this it appears, that a military man may at the instant, 
 pursue any one who has injured him ; not, indeed, with 
 the intent to return evil for evil, but with that of pre- 
 serving his honour : ' Non ut malum pro malo reddat, sed 
 ut conservat honorem' 
 
 " You see, now, how carefully the intention of render- 
 ing evil for evil is guarded against, seeing what is the 
 prohibition of Scripture upon that point. It is never for 
 an instant allowed. See Lessius, de Just. Liv. 2. C. 9. 
 d. 12. N. 79. ' A person receiving a blow must not con- 
 template revenging it ; but he may desire to escape dis- 
 honour; and for that purpose may instantly repel the 
 injury, even at the point of the sword: ' etiam cum gla- 
 dio.' So far are we from allowing a desire to take re- 
 venge on our enemies, that the Fathers will not permit 
 
ON REGULATING MOTIVES. 101 
 
 US ever to wish for their death, in an angry encounter. 
 See Father Escobar, tr. 5. ex 5. N. 145. ' If your enemy 
 endeavours to injure you, you must not desire his death, 
 as a consequence of any act of hostihty on your part ; but 
 you may commit such act, to avoid detriment to yourself. 
 And so strictly lawful is this (provided such be our inten- 
 tion) that our famous Hurtado de Mendoza says, ' We 
 may pray to God to cause promptly the death of any one 
 that persecutes us, if it cannot otherwise be averted.' 
 This is in his Work de Spl. Vol. 3. d. 15. Sec. 4. 
 N. 48." 
 
 " My reverend Father," I here interposed, " the 
 Church, I am afraid, has omitted to insert a collect of this 
 nature among her prayers." " The Church," he replied, 
 " has not introduced in her prayers every thing that may 
 be made a matter of request to God. Besides, the thing 
 was not possible, for the opinion in question is more re- 
 cent than the Breviary : you are no chronologist. But to 
 continue the subject, hear again this passage from Pere 
 Gaspar Hurtado, de Sub. pecc. diff. 9, quoted by Diana, 
 p. 5. tr. 14. r. 99. (He is one of the twenty -four Fathers 
 of Escobar.) ' An incumbent may, without committing 
 mortal sin, desire the death of one who enjoys an annuity 
 out of his benefice ; and a son, that of a father ; and they 
 may rejoice when the event occurs, provided it be only 
 for the benefit thus accruing, and not from any persona) 
 hatred.' " 
 
 " Truly, my good Father," I exclaimed, " these are 
 valuable fruits of your ' regulation of motives.' I begin 
 to see the vast extent of it ; nevertheless it appears to me, 
 that there are still certain cases, interesting to the higher 
 
102 I;ETTER VII. 
 
 elasses, somewhat difficult of aolutioDj although very im- 
 portant." " Let me hear them/' said the Father. " Ex- 
 plain to me then," I replied, " how, by means of this 
 regulation of the intent, it is lawful to fight a duel ? " 
 " The great IJurtado Mendoza," said the Father, " shall 
 satisfy you at once , in a passage quoted by Diana, p. 5. 
 tr. 14. r. 99. ' If a gentleman challenged in a duel, be 
 known not to be a religionist, and it be notorious, from 
 his habitual and unscrupulous laxity of conduct, that, if 
 he refuse the challenge, it is not from any pious scruples, 
 but from cowardice ; and he would thus be liable to be 
 stigmatized as chicken-hearted and unmanly — ' qallina 
 et nan vir ' — he may, to preserve his honour, repair to 
 the place of rendezvous ; not absolutely and with express 
 intention of fighting, but only for the purpose of defend- 
 ing himself, if the challenger should attack him unjustly. 
 His conduct will thus be thoroughly innocent. For what 
 harm is there in going to the field, walking about there, 
 to meet another, and defending himself if attacked ? In 
 this way he commits no ofience, as he does not accept the 
 challenge, but has an entirely different intention. The 
 acceptance of a challenge consists in an express intention 
 to fight, which is not at all his case.' " 
 
 " You have not quite kept your word with me, my good 
 Father. All this does not amount strictly to permitting a 
 duel ; on the contrary, your author sees the practice to 
 be so absolutely forbidden that, in order to bring it within 
 the license, he avoids admitting that it is a duel at all." 
 " Oh ! oh ! " said the Father, " you are beginning to 
 understand matters ; I am delighted with you : I might 
 say, however, that he therein allows all that duellists wish 
 
ON REGULATING MOTIVES. 103 
 
 for. But, as you like me to be exact, in my answers, our 
 Pere Layman shall now give one for me, in which you 
 will find he sanctions duelling in so many words ; pro- 
 vided the intention be so adjusted, that the acceptance of 
 a challenge shall be only for the preservation of honour 
 or fortune. It is in Book 3, pa. 3, C. Ill, N. 3 and 3. 
 ' If a soldier in the army, or a gentleman of the court, be 
 in danger of losing his honour or his prospects of advance- 
 ment, by refusing a challenge, I do not see that he is to 
 be condemned for accepting it.' Petrus Hurtado says the 
 same, as reported by the celebrated Escobar, in tr. 1, ex. 7, 
 N. 96 and 98. ' We may engage in a single combat in 
 defence of our property, if no other way be left to us ; for 
 every one has a right to defend his own, even by the 
 death of his enemies.' " 
 
 I could riot but remember with admiration on hearing 
 these passages, how the piety of our Sovereign * had 
 induced him to use his authority for the abolition of 
 duelling in his dominions, while the piety of the Jesuists 
 had suggested to them the most ingenious expedients for 
 sanctioning and authorizing the practice. But the worthy 
 Father had so kindled with the subject, that I could not 
 bring myself to check him, and he thus continued. 
 " Lastly, we come to Sanchez — you see what kind of 
 authorities I have to cite — and he goes even beyond this ; 
 for not only does he allow the acceptance, but the giving 
 even of a challenge, provided the intention be properly 
 directed. And Escobar follows him in his opinion, in the 
 part before quoted, N. 97." 
 
 "^ Louis XIV. 
 
104 LETTER VII. 
 
 " My Father," said I, " I give up, if it be indeed so ; 
 but I can never believe that be has written such a thing 
 as this ; I cannot find it." " Read it here yourself then," 
 he replied ; and, in truth, I did read the following in the 
 Moral Theology of Sanchez, Liv. 2, C. 39, N. 7. ' It is 
 quite reasonable to affirm that a man may engage in a 
 duel, to preserve his life, his honour, or his property (if 
 the latter be considerable,) since he may be otherwise 
 continually exposed to the unjust deprivation of them by 
 vexatious suits and chicanery ; and he has no other way 
 than this to preserve them.' And Navarrus says most 
 justly, that, for such a purpose, it is lawful both to accept 
 and to give a challenge ; ' licet acceptare et offerre duellum.' 
 And further, he may kill his enemy secretly.* And even 
 in such encounters, he is not bound to resort to the 
 process of a duel, if he can succeed in killing his enemy 
 by secret means, and thus terminating the affair ; for in 
 this way he will avoid both exposing his own life in a 
 conflict, and participating in the sin which his antagonist 
 would commit by engaging him in a duel. " Truly, my 
 Father," I said, " this is somewhat of a pious fraud ; but 
 although very pious, it is a fraud still, to allow you thus 
 to kill your enemy by treachery." " Did I say," he 
 replied, "any thing about treachery? God forbid! I 
 said, you might kill him secretly, and you all at once 
 conclude he may be killed treacherously : as if they were 
 the same things. Hear what Escobar says about killing 
 treacherously, tr. 6, ex. 4, N. 16, and then you will 
 understand better ; ' To slay another treacherously is 
 
 * * Et aussi, qu^on peut tuer en cachette son ennemi/ (Fr.) 
 
ON REGULATING MOTIVES. 105 
 
 when the person has no suspicion of your intention ; 
 therefore he is not to be said to slay his enemy by 
 treachery, even if it be by striking him from behind, or 
 when taken in ambush — ' licet per insideas, aut a tergo 
 percutiat.^ And in the same Treatise, N. 56 ; ' He that 
 kills an adversary with whom he had been reconciled, 
 under a promise not again to attempt his life, is not 
 absolutely to be considered as killing treacherously, unless 
 there had subsisted a very close friendship between them 
 — ' arctior amicitia.' You see," he continued, " that 
 you don't understand even the very terms in question, 
 and yet you aifect to pronounce authoritatively upon the 
 matter." 
 
 " I confess," I replied, " that this is all new to me ; 
 I gather from this definition that no one, probably, in the 
 world, was ever destroyed treacherously ; we never think 
 of killing any but our enemies ; and, according to Sanchez, 
 we may freely slay — not to say treacherously, but by a 
 blow from behind, or by ambuscade, a slanderer who 
 molests or prosecutes us ? " " Yes," said the Father, 
 " provided the intention be duly regulated ; you always 
 forget that most important point. Molina maintains the 
 same thing. Vol. 4, tr. 3, disp. 12. So also says the 
 learned Eeginaldus, Book 21, C. 5, N. 57, ' We may 
 _ lawfully destroy false witnesses that are suborned against 
 us.' And again, according to our illustrious Fathers, 
 Tannerus and Emanuel Sa, we may both destroy false 
 witnesses and the judge also, if the latter conspires to- 
 gether with them. These are the words, tr. 3, disp. 4. 
 9. 8. N. 83, ' Sotus and Lessius say, it is not lawful to 
 kill a false witness and a judge who conspire together to 
 
 r 5 
 
106 LETTER VII. 
 
 cause the death of an innocent person ; but Emanuel Sa, 
 and other writers, do well in disallowing this sentiment, 
 at least as far as the conscience is concerned.' And he 
 decides, in the same part, that it is lawful to kill both 
 witness and judge." 
 
 " My respected Father," I now said, " I think I 
 understand tolerably well your principle of directing the 
 intention ; but I should further be glad to learn the con- 
 sequences to which it leads, and the several cases in which 
 this rule gives permission to take life. Let us, for fear of 
 misapprehension, review all that you have enumerated ; 
 for in a case like this, ambiguity would be dangerous. 
 We ought clearly only to kill for a good purpose, and on a 
 probable ground of lawfulness. You assure me then, that if 
 the motive be properly regulated we may, on the authority 
 of your Fathers, in order to defend our honour and even 
 our property, accept a challenge, and sometimes give one ; 
 we may secretly dispatch a false accuser, a perjured 
 witness, and also the corrupt judge, who takes part with 
 them ; and you further say that a man receiving a blow 
 may, without incurring the sin of avenging himself, seek 
 reparation at the point of the sword. But you have not 
 told me to what extent this latter may be done." " There 
 can be no doubt upon the question," he replied ; " to the 
 extent of his death. This is proved completely by the 
 learned Henreques, Book 14, C. 10, N. 3, and others of 
 our Fathers cited by Escobar, tr. 1, ex. 7, N. 48, in these 
 words; 'We may kill any one who gives us a blow, 
 although he flies from us, provided it be not done in 
 hatred, or for vengeance ; and also that We do not give 
 occasion by it to murders in excessive numbers, and such 
 
ON REGULATING MOTIVES. 107 
 
 as would be injurious to the State. And the reason isj 
 that we may in this way protect oUr honour, as we would 
 pursue a garment stolen from us; for although our 
 honour cannot be taken possession of by an adversary in 
 the way our clothes may be stoleUj we may nevertheless 
 recover it in the same manner, by the display of our power 
 and authority, and thus secure the good opinion of our 
 fellow men. For is it not the fact, that he who receives a 
 blow is considered to have forfeited his reputation, till he 
 has succeeded in killing him who has inflicted it.' " 
 
 All this seemed to me so horrible, that I could scarce 
 refrain myself; but, in order to learn the whole of the 
 matter, I allowed him to continue his discourse as 
 follows : " And even we may, in order to avert a blow, 
 kill the person who is preparing to inflict it, if we cannot 
 otherwise escape. This is declared by several of our 
 Fathers ; for example, Azos, Instit. Moc. part 3, Book 2, 
 p. 105 (he again is one of the 24 Elders.) ' May a man 
 of honour kill one who is about to inflict upon him a 
 blow, or strike him with a stick ? Some say No ; and 
 they reason, that the life of our neighbour is more 
 precious than our honour ; besides, that there is cruelty 
 in taking the life of a man only to escape a blow. But 
 others say this is lawful ; and I certainly consider the 
 opinion 'probable,' if there be no other way of escape; 
 for, without this, the honour of innocent persons would 
 be constantly exposed to the malice of the insolent. So 
 our celebrated Filiutius, Vol. 3, tr. 29, C. M. N. 50 ; and 
 Pere Hereau, in 2. 2. in his Treatise on Homicide ; Hur- 
 tado de Mendoza, disp. 179, Sec. 16 § 137; and Becan, 
 Som. t. 1. 9. 64. de Homicid. and the Fathers Flahaut 
 
108 LETTER VII. 
 
 and Lecount in their writings, which the University in 
 her third petition circumstantially reported, for the pur- 
 pose, (although unsuccessfully) of denouncing them ; and 
 Escobar, in the same place, No. 48 — all these authorities 
 are to the same effect. In fact it is so generally main- 
 tained, that Lessius decides the matter as one uncontro- 
 verted by any of the Casuists, Book 2, C. 4, N. 76 ; for 
 he cites a large number in its favour, and none against it. 
 And he even adduces Peter Navarre, N. 77, who, speaking 
 generally of affronts (of which none are more acute than 
 a blow,) declares that by the concurrence of all Casuists 
 — ' ex sententia omnium, licet contumehosum occidere si 
 aliter ea injuria arceri nequet.' Do you wish for further 
 proofs ? " 
 
 I thanked my friend : but I had heard only too much 
 already. However, to see how far this damnable doctrine 
 might be carried, I said, " But my good Father, is it not 
 allowed to deprive of life for less serious causes ? Might 
 not the intention be so regulated, for example, as that 
 death might be inflicted for giving another the lie ? " 
 " Certainly," he replied, " According to our Father Bal- 
 delli, 1. 3, disp. 24, N. 34, reported by Escobar, in the 
 same place, N. 49 : 'It is lawful to slay one that gives 
 you the lie, if he cannot be reproved in any other way.' 
 And, in the same manner, life may be taken for defama- 
 tion; for Lessius, whom among others, Pere Hereau 
 follows, word for word, says in the place before quoted, 
 ' If a man endeavours to ruin my reputation by calumnies 
 uttered before trust-worthy persons, and I have no way to 
 rid myself of his injuries but by taking his life, may I do 
 so ? ' ' Yes,' say our modern authorities ,• ' and that even 
 
ON REGULATING MOTIVES. 109 
 
 if the offence imputed be founded in fact, provided it 
 have been heretofore concealed, and it be one that could 
 not have been brought to light by the ordinary course of 
 justice. And this is the proof. If you seek to wound 
 my honour by the infliction of a blow, I have the means 
 of averting it by strength of arm ; it follows then that a 
 similar defence is lawful if you aim at injuring me by 
 word of mouth. Furthermore, we may protect ourselves 
 from insults; we may equally do so from defamation. 
 Finally, honour is dearer to every one than life : now, we 
 are allowed to kill another to defend life, therefore we may 
 kill to defend our honour.' 
 
 " These arguments are conclusive. They are not mere 
 reasoning; they are demonstration. And the great Les- 
 sius actually affirms, in the same place. No. 78, that death 
 may be inflicted even for an ofiensive gesture, or an ex- 
 pression of contempt. ' A man's honour,' he says, ' may 
 be attacked and impaired in various ways, against which 
 it is allowable to defend himself; such as a stroke of a 
 cane, a blow, or contumelious words or gestures ; sive per 
 signia' &c." 
 
 " My worthy Father," I now replied, " this constitutes 
 indeed a most ample protection for our wounded honour ; 
 but surely life is sorely endangered, if we are thus at 
 liberty with ' safe consciences to inflict death upon ano- 
 ther for a mere slanderous speech or an uncourteous ges- 
 ture ! ' " 
 
 " It is very true," he replied ; " but as our Fathers 
 are prudent persons, they have not failed to take the pre- 
 caution of forbidding recourse to the doctrine in question 
 on very slight occasions ; for they are careful to subjoin : 
 
110 LETTER VII. 
 
 ' this ought rarely to be put in practice ' — ' practice vix 
 probari potest.' And this is indeed not without good 
 
 reason; as thus" "Who can doubt it?" I said; 
 
 " Does not the law of God forbid to take life ? " " They 
 do not go exactly upon that ground/' he rejoined : " they 
 consider it to be allowed by the rules of conscience, and 
 by the dictates of absolute truth." " Then, why do they 
 forbid it ? " " Listen," he said : " it is because a com- 
 munity would be depopulated, almost to extinction, if all 
 the slanderers were to be destroyed. You will find this 
 set forth in Keginaldus, Book 21, n. 63, p. 260 : * How- 
 ever the opinion, that we may take the life of another for 
 defamation, be not without probability in theory, we must 
 adopt the contrary view in practice ; for we ought ever to 
 avoid doing injury to the State in our manner of de- 
 fending ourselves. Now it is plain that in killing others 
 in this way, we should commit too. great a number of 
 murders.' Lessius says the same, in the place before 
 referred to : ' We must be careful that in carrying out 
 this maxim, no injury be done to the State ; for in that 
 case, it must not be permitted — tunc enim non est per- 
 mittendus' " 
 
 " So then, my Father, this is an interdiction of policy, 
 and not of religion ! How many do you suppose are 
 likely to be kept in check by this caution, especially in 
 the heat of blood ? They will probably think they do the 
 State no wrong by purging it of a flagitious character." 
 " For this very reason, Pere Filiutius adds to this con- 
 sideration another most important one, tr. 39, ch. 3, 
 N. 51 . ' it is that we might expose ourselves to the arm 
 of justice, by killing others for such causes.' " " I told 
 
ON REGULATING MOTIVES. Ill 
 
 you, my friend, that you would do nothing effectually, 
 without getting the judges on your side." " The judges," 
 said the Father, " being unable to penetrate men's con- 
 sciences, regard only the external acts ; while we, on the 
 contrary, look chiefly at the intention ; on that account it 
 is that our maxims occasionally differ somewhat from 
 theirs." " However that may be," I replied, " it clearly 
 results from yours, that provided we avoid detriment to 
 the State, we may take the life of one that slanders us, 
 with a safe conscience, supposing always it be with safety 
 to our own persons." 
 
 " But, my good Father, after all the care you have 
 taken for the protection of our honour, have you done 
 nothing for that of property ? I know this is of minor 
 importance ; but that does not signify. I should think 
 there might be found means to regulate the intention, so 
 as to allow of taking life for its preservation also." 
 " Doubtless," he replied, " all our Casuists agree in per- 
 mitting it, and that, even if we are in no danger, our- 
 selves, of personal violence, on the part of those attacking 
 our property ; as when they are in the act of flight ! 
 Azos, a member of our Society, proves this, pa. 3, Book 2, 
 ch. 1. 9. 20." 
 
 " But, my friend, what should be the value of the 
 property thus endangered, to justify such an extremity?" 
 "It must be, according to Reginaldus, Book 21. ch. 5. 
 N. 66. and Tannerus in 2. 2. disp. 4. 9, 8. d. 4, N. 69. 
 property of considerable value ' in the estimate of an ex- 
 perienced person.' And Layman and Filiutius say the 
 same thing," " That is nothing to the purpose, my Father ; 
 where are we to find this rarity, this experienced person. 
 
112 LETTER VII. 
 
 who may make the estimate required ? Why do they 
 not fix exactly the amount in question ? " " What ! " 
 said the Father, " do you think it so easy then to weigh 
 the life of a man — a Christian — against money ! Here it 
 is, however, that you will find the value of our Casuists. 
 See whether any of the ancient Fathers will tell you for 
 what sum it may be lawful to kill a man. What do they 
 say but simply, '. Non occides ' — Thou shalt not kill ? " 
 " Then who, pray, has taken upon himself to determine 
 the amount in question "i " 1 exclaimed. " It is," he re- 
 plied, " the incomparable Molina, the glory of our So- 
 ciety ; who, with inimitable discretion, has estimated it 
 at six or seven ducats ; for which sum he affirms it is 
 lawful to kill a robber, even if he be in the act of flight.' 
 It is in his 4 vol. tr. 3. disp. 16. d. 6. And in the same 
 place he further says, ' That he should not dare to pro- 
 nounce a man guilty of sin who should destroy another 
 for endeavouring to rob him of property, even to the 
 value of a crown, or less — unius aurei, vel minoris adhuc 
 volaris.' And this has led Escobar to lay down the fol- 
 lowing general rule, N. 44. 'According to Molina, a man 
 may lawfully take the life of another for the value of a 
 crown.' " 
 
 " Oh, my good Father ! " I cried, " tell me, I beg, 
 where Molina has learnt to decide a point of such impor- 
 tance as this, without the aid of Scripture, the Councils, 
 or the Fathers ? I see plainly now that there are autho- 
 rities far more enlightened than St. Augustine (though 
 very dissimilar to him), ' upon the question of homicide, 
 as well as that of grace.' I am now, however, sufficiently 
 instructed in this question, and I quite understand that it 
 
ON REGULATING MOTIVES. 113 
 
 is only ecclesiastics who would have any scruples to 
 murder such as invaded their honour or their property." 
 " What do you mean ? " cried the Father, " do you think 
 it reasonable that those who most need to stand well with 
 society should be alone exposed to insolence and injury ? 
 Our Fathers have provided against this anomaly ; for 
 Tannerus says, t. 11. d. 4. 9. 8. d. 4. N. 76. ' Ecclesi- 
 astics, and even members of religious orders, are allowed 
 to take life in defence, not only of their persons, but of 
 their property, or that of the communities to which they 
 belong. Molina cited by Escobar, N. 43 ; Becan in 3. 
 2. tr. 11.9. 7. de Horn. Concl. 3. N. 5; Reginaldus, 
 1. 21. c. V. n. 68; Layman, 1. 3, tr. 3. p. 3, c. 3. N. 4; 
 Lessius, liv. 2. c. 9. d. 11. N. 72; and others, all hold the 
 same language. 
 
 " And according to the celebrated Pere Launy, it is 
 even lawful for priests and monks to take the life of such as 
 may be endeavouring to injure their reputation, in order 
 to prevent the completion of their design — always, how- 
 ever, with due regulation of the motive. This is his lan- 
 guage, t. 5. disp. 36. N. 118, ' An ecclesiastic, or a monk, 
 may slay any one who threatens to accuse publicly his 
 community, or even himself, of scandalous offences, pro- 
 vided there be no other means of preventing it ; as when 
 (for instance) the party would be forthwith proceeding to 
 a general publication of his slanders, if not promptly de- 
 stroyed ; for, as it would be justifiable for such a one to 
 kill a person who aimed at his life, it is equally lawful to 
 take the life of one that threatens the honour of himself 
 or his community ; and that no less in the case of an 
 ecclesiastic than a layman.'" 
 
114 . LETTER VII. 
 
 " I certainly was not aware of tbis," I said ; " and, in 
 fact, I had ignorantly supposed the very reverse to be the 
 case ; merely looking at the fact that the Church professes 
 such abhorrence of blood, that she does not allow eccle- 
 siastical judges to assist in criminal processes." " Do 
 not fall into such mistake," said the Father ; " Pere 
 Launy maintains conclusively this doctrine ; although with 
 a humility becoming a great man, he submits it to the 
 discretion of prudent readers. And our illustrious cham- 
 pion Caramuel, who cites it in his ' Fundamental Theo- 
 logy, p. 543, regards it as so certain, that he affirms, 
 ' the contrary is not to be deemed probable.^ And he 
 deduces from it a variety of admirable conclusions, such 
 as the following, which he styles ' the conclusion of con- 
 clusions,' ' conclusionum conclusio ; ' a ' priest not only 
 is allowed, in certain cases, to slay a calumniator, but it 
 is also sometimes his duty to do it, — etiam aliquando 
 debet o.ccidere.'' 
 
 " He investigates also various novel points upon this 
 subject ; among others this, ' Is it lawful for a Jesuit to 
 take the life of a Jansenist ? ' " " This is indeed," I 
 exclaimed, " a surprising question in your theology. I 
 see plainly enough that according to P^re Launy's doc- 
 trine, the poor Jansenists are dead men." " Not so fast," 
 he rejoined; " Caramuel decides the very reverse, and 
 from the same principles.'" " How is that ? " " Be-. 
 cause," he rejoined, " they do no injury to our reputa- 
 tion. These are his words, N. 1146 and 47. p. 547. and 8 : 
 ' The Jansenists call the Jesuits Pelagians ; might they 
 lawfully be killed for this ? No ; because the Jansen- 
 ists no more impair the reputation of our Society than a 
 
ON REGULATING MOTIVES. 115 
 
 mote obscures the sun ; on the contrary, they have raised 
 and increased it, although not intentionally on their part ; 
 — occidi non possunt, quia nocere non potuerint.' " 
 
 " So then, my excellent Father, the lives of the Jan- 
 senists hang only upon the question whether they have it 
 in their power to injure your reputation ! Slender indeed 
 is their tenure ; for once render it ever so little probable 
 that they may do you harm, and they are obnoxious to 
 the summary proceeding in question without scruple.* 
 You may frame your argument very logically j and no- 
 thing more is needed (after due regulation of the motive) 
 to dispatch a man with an easy conscience. Oh happy 
 those, who have learnt such a doctrine, and who do not 
 choose to brook an affront : but most unhappy they who 
 commit the offence ! I must say, however, my Father, it 
 is safer to have to do with people who have no religion, 
 than with such as are indoctrinated after this fashion. 
 For after all, the motive of a person inflicting a wound 
 affords little alleviation to him who suffers from it. He 
 knows nothing of the secret intention ; and feels nothing 
 but the pain to himself of the blow. And I don't know 
 if one should not suffer less from being brutally dis- 
 patched by an assassin, than to be conscientiously poign- 
 arded by a devotee. 
 
 " Well, my good Father," I added, " I must tell you 
 the truth, and say I am somewhat surprised at all this ; 
 and these propositions of Pere Launy and Caramuel do 
 not altogether satisfy me." " Why not ? " said the Fa- 
 ther ; " are you a Jansenist ? " "I have other reasons," 
 
 * ' Les voila tuable sans difRcultd' (Fr.) 
 
116 LETTER VII. 
 
 I replied. " I am in the habit of writing, from time to 
 time, to a friend in the country, an account of the opinions 
 of your Society. And although I do nothing more than 
 simply and faithfully narrate their own words, I cannot be 
 certain that I may not meet with some obtuse minds that 
 would draw rather sinister conclusions from your prin- 
 ciples.^' " Never fear," said the Father, " no harm will 
 happen from it ; I'll guarantee you. What our Fathers 
 have printed themselves, and with the approbation of 
 their superiors, it cannot be wrong or dangerous to 
 publish." 
 
 What I write to you then is on the word of this good 
 Father : but now my paper fails me, although not my ma- 
 terials. They are so copious and so striking, that it would 
 take volumes to communicate them. I am, &c. 
 
LETTER VIII. 
 
 CORRUPT DECISIONS OP THE CASUISTS RELATING TO 
 JUDGES, USURERS, THE ' MOHATRA' CONTRACT, BANK- 
 RUPTS, RESTITUTIONS, ETC. VARIOUS OTHER OBLI- 
 QUITIES OF THE SAME AUTHORITIES. 
 
 Sir, Paris, May 32, 1656. 
 
 You would not suppose that people would have had the 
 curiosity to enquire who we are : nevertheless, there are 
 some who are endeavouring to detect us ; but they have 
 not succeeded. Some take me for a Doctor of Sorbonne ; 
 others attribute my letters to four or five difi'erent per- 
 sons, who, like myself, are neither priests nor ecclesias- 
 tics. All these fruitless efforts convince me, that I have 
 been not unsuccessful in my aim to be known by none but 
 yourself and the worthy Eather who takes so patiently my 
 visits; and whose discourse lam obliged, in return to endure, 
 although with much distaste. I put however a constraint 
 upon myself; for if he were to perceive the disgust his 
 statements excite in me he would not continue them, and 
 thus I should be unable to fulfil my engagement, to make 
 you acquainted with their whole system of morality. You 
 may give me, I assure you, some credit for the violence I 
 do to myself. It is not a little painful to see the whole 
 
118 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 code of Christian morals overthrown by these unhappy 
 perversions, without daring to contradict them. But I 
 suspectj after having kept so strict a guard over my feel- 
 ingSj for your satisfaction, I shall break out for my own, 
 when I find he has nothing more to tell me. However, 
 I will refrain as much as possible ; for the more I show 
 myself inclined to listen, the more communicative he 
 will be. 
 
 He gave me so much information on the last occasion, 
 that I shall hardly know how to report it all to you. 
 You will now see what convenient maxims they inculcate, 
 for evading the duty of restitution. For — palliate it as 
 they may — the principles which I am now proceeding to 
 relate tend to nothing less, than to extenuate the prac- 
 tices of corrupt judges, of usurers, bankrupts, rogues, 
 abandoned women, and tricksters ; who are all most 
 leniently absolved from the necessity of restoring the ill- 
 gotten fruits of their several vocations. Tiiese were the 
 subjects of our last conversation. 
 
 " At the commencement of our interview," he said, " I 
 promised to explain to you the maxims of our Society for 
 the direction of the various conditions of society. You 
 have already learnt those relating to beneficiaries, priests, 
 religious orders, servants, and the aristocracy ; we will 
 proceed now to the others, and begin with the judges. 
 
 " I must first of all tell you one of the most important 
 and beneficial of the principles laid down by our Fathers 
 in favor of this class of persons. It is that of the learned 
 Castro Palao, one of our twenty-four Elders ; these are 
 his words : ' May a judge, in a question of equity, pro- 
 nounce judgment according to a certain probable opinion. 
 
CORRUPT DKCISIONS OP THE CASUISTS. 119 
 
 in preference to another opinion which is more probable ? 
 Yes, and even if it be contrary to his own : imo, contra 
 ipropriane opinionem.' And he is confirmed in this by 
 our Father Escobar, tr. 6. ex. 6. N. 45." " Truly, my 
 good Father," I exclaimed, " this is an admirable com- 
 mencement ! The judges must be indeed beholden to 
 you ; and I am surprized that they should ever oppose 
 your probabilities, as we find them sometimes doing, 
 seeing how favorable they are to themselves. You give 
 them, by these methods, the same power over the fortunes 
 of the community, as you yourselves exercise over their 
 consciences." " You ought to see," he replied, " that it 
 is from no regard to our own interests that we thus act, 
 but merely from a concern for the quiet of their con- 
 sciences ; and this is where our eminent Molina has been 
 successful in respect to presents made to the judges. 
 
 " In order to satisfy their scruples in receiving these 
 kind of douceurs, he has taken the pains to enumerate 
 the several cases in which they may take them conscien- 
 tiously, in the absence of any special law forbidding it. 
 It is in his t. 1. tr. 2. d. 88. N. 6. as follows : ' Judges 
 may receive presents from parties when given from mo- 
 tives of friendship or gratitude for justice rendered them ; 
 or as an inducement to render such in time to come ; or 
 in the hope that they may take an especial interest in 
 their affairs, or dispatch them with promptitude.' Our 
 learned Escobar also says, on this subject, tr. 6. ex. 6. 
 "N. 43. ' If there be several individuals, none of whom 
 have greater claim to dispatch than others, is it a sin in 
 the judge to receive a gratuity from one on condition — 
 ' ex parte ' — to give him the preference in dispatch over 
 
120 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 the others ? Certamly not, according to Layman ; for, 
 by natural right, he does no injury to the others, when 
 he concedes to one, in consideration of his gratuity, what 
 he might have given to any other, as he pleased : nay, 
 being equally bound to all by the equality of their claim, 
 he is still more so to the giver of the present which is 
 made for the purpose of securing the judge's good offices; 
 which services may lawfully be secured by a consideration 
 in money — 'Qucb ohligatio videtur pretio cBstimabilis.' " 
 
 " My reverend Father," I here interposed, " I cannot 
 but be surprised to hear of such an indulgent code as this, 
 unknown too, as it is, to the highest of our legal digni- 
 taries. Why, our chief president has just introduced into 
 Parliament an Act for prohibiting certain registers to ac- 
 cept gratuities for this very species of preference j a plain 
 proof that he is far from thinking such practices allowable 
 in the judicial office ; and every one has extolled a reform 
 so salutary to all parties." 
 
 The good Father, surprised at my remark, replied, 
 " Indeed, I was not aware of that. Our opinion, under- 
 stand, is only a "probable' one; the contrary may be 
 probable also." " Truly, my Father," I said, " it is be- 
 lieved that M. Le President has done a more than ' pro- 
 bable ' service ; and has arrested by its means a long-con- 
 tinued course of public corruption." " Well, on the 
 whole, I am of the same opinion," the Father rejoined, 
 " but let us proceed ; we will leave the judges." " Quite 
 right," I said ; " particularly as they don't seem very 
 grateful for the indulgence you show them." " It is not 
 exactly that," rejoined the good Father ; " but there is 
 
CORRUPT DECISIONS OF THE CASUISTS. 121 
 
 SO mucli to be related under the various heads, that we 
 must be brief upon each individually. 
 
 " Let us now go on to the case of men of business. You 
 know, the great difficulty with them is to wean them 
 from usurious practices : and this is what our Fathers 
 have the most assiduously aimed at ; for they detest this 
 vice, as Escobar has it, tr. 3, ex. 5. N. 1. ' To say that 
 usury is not a sin is heresy." And Pere Bauny in his 
 ' Summary of Sin,' fills several pages with the penalties 
 incurred by usurers. He declares that they ' are infamous 
 in life, and unworthy of Christian burial after death.' " 
 " My good Father ! " I exclaimed, " I did not think he 
 coidd have been so severe." " He is so, I assure you, 
 when there is a necessity for it ; but, then, this rigid 
 Casuist, observing that it is only a love of gain that urges 
 to usury, says, in the same place, ' It would be benefit- 
 ting not a few persons, if, while secured from the evil 
 tendencies of usury, as well as from the sinful propensity 
 which leads to it, they could be assisted to derive an equal 
 profit from their money in a good and legitimate employ- 
 ment of it, as from usurious practices.' " " Doubtless, 
 Father, there would be no usurers after that," I inter- 
 posed. " And for this purpose," he continued, " our 
 author has furnished a general rule for all classes of per- 
 sons, gentlemen, presidents, councillors, &c. ; and one so 
 simple, that it consists of nothing more than the pro- 
 nouncing a few words previous to a loan of money ; after 
 which they may receive their interest without fear of its 
 partaking of the nature of usury ; although, otherwise, it 
 would undoubtedly have been such." " And what then 
 are these mysterious words, my Father ? " " Here they 
 
 G 
 
1:23 . Letter viii. 
 
 are in his own terms ; for you are aware the writer has 
 composed his work on the ' Summary of Offences/ ia 
 French, that every one may understand it. They are as 
 follows : ' Celui k qui on demande de I'argent repondra 
 done en eette sorte ; Je n'ai point d' argent a preter ; si ai 
 hien a mettre li profit honnete et licite. Si desirez la 
 somme que demandez pour la faire valoir par votre indus- 
 trie k moitie gain, moitie perte, peut etre m'y resoudrai- 
 je. Bien est vrai qu'k cause qu'il y a trop de peine a 
 s'accommoder pour le profit, si vous m'en voulez assurer 
 un certain, et quant et quant aussi mon sort principal, 
 qu'il ne coure fortune, nous tomberions bien plus tot 
 d'accord, et vous ferai toucher argent dans cette heure.'* 
 
 " Is not that now a most easy way of getting money 
 without committing a sin ? And is not Pere Bauny right 
 when he says in his concluding part, ' This is, in my opi- 
 nion, a method by which multitudes of persons who would 
 otherwise by their usurious extortion, and unlawful bar- 
 gains, provoke the just displeasure of God, may ensure 
 their safety in rendering their gains honest and lawful.' " 
 
 " My good Father ! " I exclaimed, " these are indeed 
 words of most wonderful efiicacy. They must, I am 
 satisfied, possess some secret virtue in neutralizing the 
 crime of usury far beyond my comprehension ; for I have 
 always hitherto supposed the offence to consist simply in 
 receiving back a larger amount than that which had been 
 lent." " You have a very imperfect notion of the mat- 
 ter," he said : " usury, according to our Fathers, consists 
 
 This being somewhat antiquated French, and not admitting of a very- 
 literal rendering, I have thought it best to leave it in the original language. 
 (Trans'.) 
 
COERUPT DECISIONS OP THE CASUISTS. 123 
 
 almost exclusively in an intention to take an usurious 
 profit. And thuSj Pere Escobar lays it down, that usury 
 may be avoided by a simple change of the intention. 
 You will find it at tr. 3, ex. 5, N. 4, 33, 44 ; 'It would 
 be an usurious act/ he says, ' to take interest from those 
 to whom we lend money, if it be exacted as of right ; but 
 if received as a matter of gratitude, it is then not usury.' 
 And at N. 3, ' It is not allowed to intend directly to 
 make a profit of money lent ; but when received by way 
 of consideration on the part of those to whom it is lent — 
 ' medie henevolentia ' — that is not usury.' 
 
 " It must be allowed," he continued, " that there are 
 refined ways of proceeding : but one of the best, in my 
 opinion, (for we have several to make choice of) is that 
 of the ' Contract of Mohatra.' " The Contract of Moha- 
 tra ? " I asked. " I see," he continued, '•' you are not 
 acquainted with it. It is only the name that is peculiar. 
 Escobar will explain it, in tr. 3, ex. 3, N. 36. ' The Mo- 
 hatra Contract is one by which persons buy merchandize 
 at high prices on credit, and sell it again, simultaneously, 
 to the same persons, at low rates, and for ready money.' 
 This, you see, is the Contract of Mohatra ; by which 
 means they acquire a certain amount in ready money, 
 and remain in debt to the party for the surplus." " But, 
 my Father, can any one besides Escobar have sanctioned 
 such a plan ? Do any other of your writers mention it ? " 
 " How little you are acquainted with these matters ! " he 
 replied. " The latest work on Moral Theology, printed 
 this very year at Paris, treats of the Mohatra, and very 
 profoundly; it is entitled 'Epilogus Summarum/' and is 
 an abridgment of all the summaries of theology of our 
 
 G 2 
 
124 LETTER VIII. 
 
 Fathers Suarez, Sanchez, Lessius, TagandeZj Hurtado, and 
 other celebrated Casuists, as expressed in the title. You 
 will find it at p. 54. ' The Mohatra is, when a man wants 
 to raise twenty pistoles, and buys of a merchant goods to 
 the amount of thirty pistoles, payable in a year, selling 
 the same to him simultaneously for twenty pistoles, ready 
 money price.' Thus, you. see, this Mohatra is not an ob- 
 scure mode of procedure." " Well, my kind Father," I 
 asked, " and is this sort of contract allowed ? " " Esco- 
 bar," he replied, " says in the same place that there are 
 laws which prohibit it under severe penalties." " Then 
 it is useless." " By no means ; for Escobar himself goes 
 on to prescribe methods by which it may be permitted : 
 ' although even,' he says, ' the person who buys and sells 
 may primarily intend to make a profit ; provided, how- 
 ever, in the sale he does not exceed the highest price of 
 merchandise of that description ; and (in re-purchasing,) 
 he does not go beyond the lowest ; and also, that no pre- 
 vious agreement be made, either express or implied.' 
 But Lessius, de Jael, Book 3, C. 21, d. 16, says, ' Even if 
 the sale have been made with the intention to repurchase 
 at the lowest price, we are not bound to make restitution 
 of the profit, unless in the way of charity, in case the 
 party of whom the advantage has been gained, be in a 
 state of indigence ; and provided also it can be done with- 
 out inconvenience to ourselves ;' — ' si commode potest.' 
 This is saying every thing that is possible." " In truth, 
 my Father, I cannot but think that more indulgence 
 might be blameable." " Ah," said he, " our Fathers 
 know just the exact point where they ought to stop ! 
 
CORRUPT DECISIONS OP THE CASUISTS. 125 
 
 You see in that very circumstance the usefulness of the 
 ' Mohatra.' 
 
 " I could have furnished you," he continued, " with more 
 of their opinions upon these points^ but these will suffice ; 
 and I must now acquaint you with our views respecting 
 persons in embarrassed circumstances. 
 
 " Our Fathers were very desirous of alleviating the 
 privations of such persons ; for which purpose, if they 
 have not sufficient property to live respectably upon, and 
 to pay their debts also, they are permitted to secure a 
 part to themselves by becoming bankrupts. This is the 
 decision of Pere Lessius, and confirmed by Escobar, tr. 3, 
 ex. 3, N. 163, ' May a person who has become bankrupt, 
 retain with safe conscience such part of his property as is 
 necessary for maintaining his family in respectability — 
 ' ne indecore vivat ?' I maintain, with Lessius, that he 
 may ; and that, even, if it have been acquired by injus- 
 tice, and notorious offences — ' ex injustitia et notorio 
 delicto ; although in the latter case he may not retain 
 so large an amount as otherwise." " How ! my Father, 
 by what strange species of charity is it that you allow 
 property obtained in this way to remain in the possession 
 of those who have acquired it by fraud, rather than to fall 
 to the creditors, to whom, of right, it belongs ? " " We 
 cannot satisfy every body," he replied, " and our Fathers 
 have especially aimed at relieving the unfortunate. And 
 thus, with an especial view to the indigent, the celebrated 
 Vasquez, quoted by Castro Palao, t. 1, tr. 6, d. 6, N. 12, 
 says, ' When we see a swindleir resolutely bent upon de- 
 frauding a poor person, we may, to avert his purpose, 
 assign to him some very rich person to commit his fraud 
 
126 . LETTER VIII. 
 
 upon, instead of the other party.' If you have not got 
 Vesquez or Castro Palao, you will find the same thing in 
 Escohar ; for, as you are aware, almost every sentiment 
 of importance is propounded in common by the twenty- 
 four Elders : it is at tr. 5, ex. 5, N. 120., ' On the prac- 
 tice of our Society, respecting charity to our neighbour.' " 
 " That is certainly a remarkable species of charity," I 
 observed, " to save one person from sustaining loss at the 
 expense of another. But I should think, to render it 
 complete, the person giving such an intimation ought in 
 conscience to make good to the rich man the loss that he 
 occasions him." "Not at all," he replied, "he does not 
 rob him himself; he only gives information to another to 
 do so. Hear, now, the judicious decision of Pere Bauny in 
 another case, which will surprise you still more, and lead 
 you again to suppose that restitution ought to be com- 
 mahdied. It is in the 13th chap, of his ' Summary.' 
 These are his own words ; ' A person desires a soldier to 
 assault one of his neighbours, or burn the barn of some 
 one who has offended him. It is asked whether, in case 
 of the soldier being a defaulter, the other person at whose 
 instance the wrong was done, ought to make it good ? I 
 think not. For no one is bound to restitution, where no 
 wrong has been committed. Is it a wrong to ask a favour 
 of another? Whatever the request be, the other is at 
 liberty to grant it, or refuse* Whichever way he inclines, 
 it is purely of his own will ; nothing induces him but his 
 own kindness and facility. If then the soldier in question 
 does not repair the injury, the other party ought not to 
 be compelled to do it, at whose instance the innocent 
 person has suffered the wrong.' " 
 
CORRUPT DECISIONS OP THE CASUISTS. 137 
 
 This passage had nearly put a stop to our conversation, 
 for I was on the point of bursting into a violent fit of 
 laughter at the idea of " the kindness and facility" of the 
 supposed incendiary of the barn ; and the absurd reason- 
 ings, which went to exempt from restitution the real 
 author of the conflagration — a crime which our juris- 
 prudence would have visited with death. But I knew if I 
 did not restrain myself, the good Father would be offended, 
 for he spoke with all seriousness ; and thus continued, 
 with equal gravity. 
 
 "From these various instances you ought now to be 
 convinced how frivolous are your objections. Notwith- 
 standing, we will proceed with the subject of embarrassed 
 persons. For their relief, several of our Fathers — ^^and 
 among them Lessius — Book 2, Ch. 12, N. 12, state ' that 
 it is lawful to steal, not only under pressure of extreme 
 want, but also under circumstances of heavy, though not 
 absolute, necessity.' Escobar quotes this also, tr. 1, N. 29, 
 ex. 9." "That is surprising," I said ; " there is nobody in 
 the world who may not come to experience this pressing- 
 necessity, and whom you would not in this way authorize 
 to rob with a safe conscience. And even if you were to 
 limit the sanction to those only who were really in such 
 circumstances, you would open the door to an infinity of 
 larcenies, which the judges visit with punishment, not- 
 withstanding this grave necessity; and which you ought 
 yet more signally to reprove — you, who are bound to 
 uphold in society not only the principles of justice, but of 
 charity also, both which are overthrown by these maxims. 
 For, is it not a violation of these principles, and the 
 greatest wrong that can be inflicted, for one man to cause 
 
128 LETTER VIII. 
 
 another to be deprived of his property for his own advan- 
 tage ? Thisj at least, has always hitherto been my belief." 
 " It does not, however, hold in all cases," said the 
 Father ; " for the great Molina teaches. Vol. 2, tr. 2, 
 disp. 338, N. 8, ' that the rule of charity does not require 
 that we forego an advantage ourselves, to save our neigh- 
 bour from a similar loss.' This he states, in order to 
 establish what he further advances in the following pas- 
 sage, ' We are not bound in conscience to make restitu- 
 tion of property, which may have been given us by 
 another person, for the purpose of evading his creditors.' 
 And Lessius, who maintains the same opinion, confirms 
 it by a like principle in his 2d Book, C. 20, dist. 19, 
 N. 168. 
 
 " Now ^ou are not so considerate," he continued, 
 " towards persons in distressed circumstances ; our Fathers 
 are more indulgent. They do equal jus1;ice to the poor 
 and the rich. Nay, further, they are not unmindful even 
 of those who fall into sin. For though they strongly 
 censure the offenders, they nevertheless do not hesitate to 
 inculcate, that property acquired by evil practices may be 
 justifiably retained — ' Quamvis mulier illieito acquirat, 
 licite tamen retinet acquisita.' And to the same efiect 
 our Fathers unanimously decide, that what a judge 
 receives from a party, whose case is bad, to induce him 
 to give an unjust decision in his favour, and what a man 
 of arms gains for committing a homicide, and the money 
 gained by other infamous crimes, may be all lawfully 
 retained. This has been collected by Escobar from 
 various of our authorities, and condensed into one general 
 rule, in tr. 3, ex. 1, N. 33, as follows ; ' Property gainer' 
 
COERUPT DECISIONS OF THE CASUISTS. 129 
 
 by scandalous offences, such as murder, unjust sentences, 
 licentiousness, &c. becomes a lawful possession, and is 
 not required to be restored.' And again tr. 5, ex. 5, 
 N. 53, ' We may dispose of property acquired for the 
 commission of homicide, unjust decisions, infamous crimes, 
 &c., because the possession has become one of right, and 
 we acquire a lawful property in that which we have 
 ourselves gained.' " 
 
 " My worthy Father," I here interposed, " I must say 
 this is a mode of acquisition altogether new to me ; am I 
 to believe that justice authorizes and admits as valid the 
 reward of assassination, corruption, and adultery ?" "I 
 know nothing," he replied, "of what law-books may 
 hold; but I know that our Society, who are the true 
 guides of conscience, affirm what I have stated. It is 
 true, they except one case, in which restitution is re- 
 quired ; it is ' when money has been received from such 
 as have not the power lawfully to dispose of property ; 
 such as infants, and religious orders.' For our great 
 Molina excepts them in t. .1, de Just. tr. 2, disp. 94. 
 ' Nisi mulier accepisset ab eo qui alienare non potest, 
 ut a religioso et filio familias.' In that case it must 
 be restored. Escobar cites this passage in tr. 1, ex. 8, 
 N. 59, and confirms the opinion in tr. 3, ex. 1, N. 23. 
 
 " My reverend Father," I said, " your religious orders 
 are here better treated than others." " Not at all," he 
 replied j " is not the same thing done by minors generally, 
 in which class members of religious orders rank during 
 the whole of their lives ? It is perfectly just to except 
 them. But in regard to all other persons, it is not 
 obligatory to make restitution of what has been received 
 
 G 5 
 
130 LETTER Till. 
 
 for evil actions. Lessius fully proves this in Ms 2d Book, 
 ' de Just. C. 14, d. 8, N. 53.' ' For,' says he, ' a criminal 
 action may be estimated by a price in money, taking into 
 account the advantage gained by him vrho causes it to be 
 committed, and the trouble incurred by him who commits 
 it ; and therefore it is not compulsory to refund what has 
 been received for the commission of the act, whatever be 
 its nature — homicide, corrupt sentences, impurity (for 
 there are instances of every description,) provided it has 
 not been received from such as have not a legal power to 
 dispose of property. You will perhaps say that he who 
 receives payment for an ill action commits a sin, and 
 therefore should not be. allowed either to receive or retain 
 it. But I reply, that after the thing is done, there is no 
 sin either in paying, or returning the payment. The 
 great Filiutius enters still more into detail on the subject. 
 He says * we are bound in conscience to pay on a different 
 scale for actions of this kind, according to the condition 
 of the persons committing them ; and that some are 
 entitled to more than others. And this he establishes by 
 the soundest reasons — tr. 31, C. 9, N. 33; ' Occultse 
 fornicariae debeter pretium in conscientia, et multo majore 
 ratione, quilm publicse, Copia enim qxikm occulta facit 
 mulier,.&c. &c. &c.' " 
 
 He here showed me, in the pages of these authors, 
 things of this description so detestable, that I should aot 
 dare to transcribe them, and such, that the Father was 
 himself shocked at them (for he was really a well-meaning 
 man,) although the respect he entertained for these 
 worthies made him receive with deference every thing 
 that fell from them. I remained silent, however, although 
 
CORRUPT DECISIONS OF THE CASUISTS. 131 
 
 less from a wish that he should continue his details, thaa 
 from astonishment to find the writings of any religious 
 men filled with sentiments, at once so horrible, so unjust, 
 and so absurd. He therefore pursued his discourse with- 
 out interruption, and concluded as follows : " For these 
 reasons, our illustrious Molina (T hope you will be con- 
 vinced after this) thus decides the question ; ' When 
 money has been received for the commission of a criminal 
 act, ought it to be restored ? We must here,' says this 
 great man, ' draw a distinction : if the act, for which 
 money was received, has not been done, the money must 
 be returned ; but if it has been accomplished, it need not 
 be : ^ 'si non fecit hoc malum, tenetur restituere ; secus, 
 si fecit ! ' This is cited by Escobar in tr. 3, ex. 2, 
 N. 138. 
 
 " These are some of our principles touching restitution. 
 You have now had a good lesson for one day ; I should 
 like to see how you have improved by it. Answer me 
 then. ' When a judge has received money from a party 
 in a suit, for procuring a judgment in his favour, is he 
 bound to restore it ? ' You will say ' No,' I replied. " I 
 am not so clear," he said; "have I said any thing to 
 that efifect, generally ? I have told yoxi he is not bound 
 to make restitution, if he has given the judgment in favour 
 of the party whose right is not good. But if a man has 
 right on his side, would you have him pay for a decision 
 in his favour when it is his own lawfully ? You see you 
 are under a mistake. Don't you perceive that a judge is 
 bound to do justice, and therefore ought not to make it 
 matter of purchase ; on the other hand, he is not bound 
 to injustice, and therefore may receive payment for it ? 
 
132 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 All our leading authorities agree in this — Molina, disp. 94 
 and 99; Reginaldus, Book 10, N. 184, 5, 7; Filiutius, 
 tr. 31, N. 220 and 8; Escobar, tr. 3, ex. 1, N. 21 and 23; 
 Lessius, Book 2, C. 24, d. 8, N. 55 — ' A judge is strictly 
 hound to restore money that he has received for deciding 
 justly, provided it have not been given by way of mere 
 liberality (per liberality,) but he is not bound to restore 
 what he has received from a man in whose favour he has 
 given an unjust judgment.' " 
 
 I was amazed at these fanatical decisions ; and while 
 reflecting upon their pernicious consequences, the Father 
 propounded another question to me, saying, " Answer me 
 now more circumspectly: Is a man that has been en- 
 gaged in divinations bound to restore what he has gained 
 by his craft ? " " Just as you please, reverend Father," 
 I replied. " As I please ! That is good : one would 
 think, from your way of speaking, that truth was de- 
 pendent upon our pleasures. I see, however, you will 
 not find this out by yourself. Learn now how Sanchez 
 solves the difficulty — Sanchez, remember ! First, he 
 draws this distinction, Som. Book 2. c. 38. N. 94, 5, and 
 6; ' Has the diviner made use of astrology and other 
 natural means, or has he used diabolical arts ? For in 
 the one case he is bound to restitution, although not in 
 the other.' Now you must tell me which is that case." 
 " There is no difficulty in that," said I. " I see what 
 you mean," he rejoined ; " you think he ought to refund, 
 in the supposition that he has been dealing with demons. 
 You are quite wrong; it is just the conti'ary. This is 
 Sanchez's solution, in the same passage : ' If the diviner 
 has not taken the pains to ascertain by diabolical means 
 
CORRUPT DECISIONS OF THE CASUISTS. 133 
 
 that whicli lie could not learn by any other — si nullam 
 operam opposuit ut arte diaboli id sciret — he must make 
 restitution ; but if he has taken the pains to do so, he is 
 not so bound.^ " " And how do you explain this, my Fa- 
 ther ? " " Don't you understand ? " said he j " it is be- 
 cause we may divine by diabolical arts, but not by astro- 
 logy, which is a deceptive system." " But, my good 
 Father, suppose the devil does not give a true answer ; 
 for there is no more truth in his arts than in those of 
 astrology ; must not restitution be made in that case, and 
 for the same reason ? " " Not always. ' Distinguo,' says 
 Sanchez on this point ; ' for if the diviner be unacquainted 
 with diabolical arts — si sit artis diahoUcce ignorus — he is 
 bound, in that case, to restore : but if he be an accom- 
 plished conjurer, and have done all that he could to get 
 at the truth, he is then not bound : in such a case, the 
 diligence of the diviner is to be made a consideration of 
 money — diligentia a mago apposita est pretio sestima- 
 balis.' " " Your plan is a sensible one," I said ; " by 
 this means you will make the diviners diligent and ac- 
 complished in their art ; through the hope, according to 
 your principles, of making lawful gains in a faithful ser- 
 vice of the public." " I suspect you are jesting," re- 
 joined the Father ; " that is very unbecoming ; if you were 
 to talk in this way where you were not known, you might 
 be suspected, by those who did not understand you, of 
 turning religious matters into ridicule." " I could easily 
 clear myself from that reproach," I replied ; " for I be- 
 lieve, if any one were to take the trouble to examine the 
 real meaning of my words, there would not be found one 
 that did not imply the reverse ; and the time may come 
 
134 LETTER VIII. 
 
 perhaps, before our communications close, when I shall 
 have the opportunity of making it fully apparent." " Oh! 
 Oh ! " said the Father ; " you are not joking now." 
 " Indeed," I replied, " the reproach that I was making a 
 jest of sacred things would be to me as painful as it 
 would be unjust." " I did not mean exactly to say as 
 much as that ; but let us talk a little more seriously," he 
 rejoined. " I am quite disposed to do so," I replied, 
 " if you wish it ; but it must rest with yom-self. I must 
 confess, however, I have heard with surprise that your 
 Fathers have so extended their cares to all descriptions of 
 persons, as to make regulations for legalizing the proiits 
 of soothsayers ! " " We cannot," he said, " write for 
 too many sorts of men, nor particularize too much, nor 
 recapitulate too often the same directions. You will see 
 that, by the following passage from one of our greatest 
 divines. Judge for yourself ; it is our present Pere Pro- 
 vincial, the revered Pere Cellot, in his 8th Book on the 
 Hierarchy, ch. 16. § 2 j ' We know an instance of a per- 
 son,' he says, • who was taking a large sum of money for 
 restitution, by his confessor's order ; and stopping on his 
 way at a bookseller's, asked if he had anything new — 
 ' nam quid novi ? ' He was shown a new work on Moral 
 Theology ; and, turning over the leaves carelessly and with- 
 out reflection, he stumbled upon his own identical case, 
 and ascertained that he was under no obligation to make 
 restitution. Upon which, being relieved of the burden of 
 his scruples, but retaining that of his money, he returned 
 with a light heart to his home ; ' ahjectd scrupuli sarcim, 
 retento auri fondero, levior domum repetiit.' 
 
 " Now, say," he continued, " whether the knowledge of 
 
CORRUPT DECISIONS OF THE CASUISTS. 135 
 
 our maxims is not of some utility ? Will yon laugh at 
 them now ? Will you not rather, with Pere Cellot, make 
 this pious reflection upon the fortunate encounter ; ' Events 
 of this kind are to be regarded, in respect of God, as 
 proofs of his providential care ; in respect of his guardian 
 angel, as an instance of his vigilance; and in respect of 
 those to whom they occur, as the result of their predesti- 
 nation. God has from all eternity determined that the 
 golden chain of their salvation should depend upon Cer- 
 tain contingencies, rather than others. If such a person 
 had not written, such a one had not been saved. Let us 
 then conjure, by the bowels of Jesus Christ, those who 
 cavil at the number of our auth^ors, not to censure works 
 which the eternal election of the Almighty and the blood 
 of Jesus Christ has procured to be written for them.' 
 Sweet words ! by which this learned man establishes his 
 proposition j how useful is it that a number of authors 
 have written upon moral theology ! — ' Quam utile sit de 
 Theologia morali multos scribere /' " 
 
 " My Father," I here said, " I will defer till another 
 opportunity the expression of my opinion upon this pas- 
 sage, and will at present say no more than that, as your 
 maxims are so adapted for general usefulness, and it will 
 be so advantageous to give them publicity, you must con- 
 tinue to put me in possession of them j for I assure you 
 that the friend to whom I transmit them will not fail to 
 bring them under the notice of very large numbers of 
 persons. Under other circumstances we should not have 
 thought of availing ourselves of them ; but we do really 
 consider it to be most advantageous that the world should 
 be acquainted Avith them." " It is on that very account,'' 
 
136 LETTER VIII. 
 
 he rejoinedj " that I am careful to withhold nothing from 
 you ; another time I shall be willing to inform you of 
 those facilities and conveniences which our Fathers allow 
 to men, in their passage through hfe, to render their sal- 
 vation easy, and soften the gloom of devotion. In this 
 way, having learnt what concerns each particular condition 
 of society, you will understand every thing relating to men 
 in general, and acquire a perfect insight into our system." 
 Having said this, the Father left me. I remain, &c. 
 
 P. S. I have continually forgotten to say, there are 
 several editions of Escobar. If you purchase one, get 
 that of Lyons, which has^n the frontispiece a lamb stand- 
 ing over a book sealed with seven seals ; or else that of 
 Brussels of 1651. As these are the latest, they are more 
 accurate and copious, than the earlier editions of Lyons 
 of the years 1644 and 1646. 
 
 *^* Subsequent to all the above-mentioned, there was 
 a new edition published at Paris by Pegit, more accurate 
 than any of its predecessors. But the opinions of Escobar 
 may be still better learnt from the Grande Theologie Morale 
 published at Lyons. (Ed.) 
 
LETTER IX. 
 
 ON THE FALSE WORSHIP OF THE VIRGIN MARY INTRO- 
 DUCED BY THE JESUITS. VARIOUS FACILITIES IN- 
 VENTED BY THEM FOR ATTAINING SALVATION WITH- 
 OUT LABOUR, AND AMIDST THE CONVENIENCES AND 
 ENGAGEMENTS OF LIFE. THEIR MAXIMS IN REGARD 
 TO AMBITION^ ENVY, GLUTTONY, EQUIVOCATION, 
 MENTAL RESERVATION, INDULGENCES ALLOWED TO 
 FEMALES AND THEIR DRESS, GAMING, HEARING MASS. 
 
 Sir. Paris, July 3, 1656. 
 
 I cannot give you any better salutation than that with 
 which the good Father greeted me the last time I saw 
 him. As soon as he perceived me, he said, looking at a 
 book which he held in his hands ; " If any one had the 
 power of opening to you the gates of Paradise, would he 
 not render you an invaluable service ? "Would you not 
 give millions to possess a key, by which you could enter 
 in at your pleasure ? There is no occasion to incur aHy 
 expense : here is one — nay a hundred, far more service- 
 able." I was not aware whether the Father was reading, 
 or whether these were his own words ; but he soon set 
 me right : " These are the opening words of an admirable 
 work of Pere Bauny, a member of our Society ; for I give 
 
138 LETTER IX. 
 
 you nothing of my own." " What work ? " I asked. 
 " This is its title ; ' Paradise opened to Philagie ; ' by 
 means of 100 formularies of devotion easy to be per- 
 formed, addressed to the Mother of God." " What ! my 
 Father, each of these easy prayers suf&cient to open 
 heaven." "Yes," he replied; "see it made plain in 
 the words that follow, ' Each of the prayers to the Mother 
 of God, which you will find in this book, is a key of heaven 
 to open to you the whole of Paradise, provided you duly 
 perform it.'' And further, he says in conclusion, ' he 
 will be satisfied, if only one of the formularies be re- 
 peated.' " 
 
 '• Let me then hear one of the easiest, my Father," I 
 said. " They are all easy," he replied ; for " instance, 
 ' Salute the image of the Virgin ; repeat the little chaplet 
 'Des Dix Plaisirs' of the holy Maryj often repeat her 
 name ; give a commission to the angels to do homage to 
 her for us ; wish more churches built to her than all 
 Sovereigns have hitherto built; wish her ' Good morning' 
 and ' Good evening ' at the beginning and close of the 
 day ; repeat every day ' Ave Maria ' in honour of the 
 Virgin's heart.' And he affirms that this act of devotion 
 fails not to secure tis a place in the heart of the Virgin." 
 " Provided, I suppose, that our heart be previously given 
 to her ? " " That is not necessary," he replied, " in the 
 case of a person not yet sufficiently detached from the 
 world. Listen again : ' Heart for heart is indeed what 
 ought to be yielded ; but yours, I may suppose, is a little 
 too much attached — clings somewhat too fast to the crea- 
 ture ; I dare not therefore ask you, at the present time, 
 to surrender that little vassal that you call your heart.' 
 
FALSE WORSHIP OP THE VIRGIN MARY. 139 
 
 So he contents himself with asking only for the Ave Ma- 
 rias which he had before enjoined. These are found in 
 the formularies at pages 33, 59, 145, 156, 172, 258, and 
 420 in the first edition." " This is all admirably conve- 
 nient," I said ; " surely, no one can be damned after 
 this ! " " Alas ! " replied the "Father, " I see you are not 
 aware, how hard are the hearts of some. There are per- 
 sons who will not even give themselves the trouble to re- 
 peat daily these two little words, ' Bonjour, Bonsoir,' 
 because they require a certain effort of memory. And on 
 this account Pcre Bauny has been obliged to furnish them 
 with some still easier methods ; such as to carry day and 
 night a chaplet on the arm, in the form of a bracelet, or 
 wear a rosary, or even an image of the Virgin. This is 
 found at pages 14, 326, and 449, You will not say now 
 that I have not furnished you with easy means of gaining 
 the favor of the blessed Virgin, as says Pere Bauny, 
 p. 100." " Very easy indeed, my excellent Father," I 
 replied. " Why," continued he, " it is all that could be 
 done ; and I should think that it is sufficient : he must be 
 a scape-grace indeed that could not find in all his life-time 
 a single moment to put a chaplet upon his arm, or take 
 a rosary out of his pocket, and thus secure his salvation 
 with such certainty, that those who have tried it have 
 never failed in the experiment, let them have lived as they 
 will : although we always recommend them not to fail to 
 live a good life. I will give you only one example (at 
 page 34). It is of a woman, who performed every day 
 the devotional exercise of saluting the images of the Vir- 
 gin, while she passed all her life in a state of mortal sin, 
 and died in the same; yet was she infallibly saved by the 
 
140 LETTER IX. 
 
 merit of this act of devotion." "And how was this?" 
 I demanded. " Because our Lord expressly undertook 
 to achieve her resurrection," was the reply. " So certain 
 it is that none can perish who perform any of these devo- 
 tional acts." 
 
 " I well knowj my Father," I remarked, " that these 
 devotions to the Virgin are a powerful instrument of sal- 
 vation J and that the smallest of them possess great effi- 
 cacy, when they proceed upon principles of faith and 
 charity ; as has been seen in the case of the holy men 
 who have practised them. But to teach such as perform 
 them, that, without forsaking their sinfulness of life, they 
 shall at their death be converted, and afterwards raised 
 to glory, appears to me more calculated to encourage 
 sinners in their evil ways, by a false peace and rash security, 
 than to wean them from their sins by that true conversion 
 which grace alone can effect." " What does it matter," 
 replied the Father, " by what means we enter into para- 
 dise, provided we do get there ? As says, on a similar 
 subject, our celebrated Father Benet, formerly our Pro- 
 vincial, in his excellent work on the marks of Predestina- 
 tion, N. 31, p. 130, 14th edition, ' What does it matter, 
 whether by a leap or a flight, provided we enter the city 
 of glory ? ' as he says again in the same place." " Cer- 
 tainly," I replied, " it is of no importance ; but the ques- 
 tion is, Do we enter there ? " " The Virgin replies for 
 us ; you will see it in the concluding words of P^re 
 Bauny's book ; ' If it should chance in your last moments 
 that the enemy should claim you, and the little internal 
 republic of the mind be troubled, say only, the Blessed 
 Mary shall answer for you ; and it is to her that he must 
 
FALSE WORSHIP OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 141 
 
 address himself.' " " Butj my Father, if this point were to 
 be pressed further, it might be embarrassing. Who is to 
 assure them that the Virgin thus answers for them ? " 
 " Pere Bauny," he rejoined, " answers for her : ' As for 
 the benefit to accrue to you 1 will be answerable, and will 
 pledge myself for the Holy Mother.' ■" " But, my good 
 Father, who will be answerable for Pfere Bauny ? " 
 " Who ? " cried he ; " why he is a member of our So- 
 ciety ; don't you know that our Society is answerable for 
 all the writings of its members ? You ought to be aware 
 of this — it is important. There is an order of the Society, 
 forbidding all booksellers to publish any work of the Fa- 
 thers without the approbation of the Fraternity's theolo- 
 gians and the permission of the Superiors : it is a regulation 
 passed by Henry III., dated 10th May, 1583, and con- 
 firmed by Henry IV., 30th Dec. 1603, and by Louis 
 XIII., 14th Feb. 1613; so that our whole body is re- 
 sponsible for the writings of each of our Fathers. This 
 is peculiar to our Order ; and in consequence of this, no 
 works emanate from us but what are imbued with the 
 spirit of the Society. I repeat, it is proper you should be 
 informed of this." " You are very obliging, my good 
 Father ; I am only sorry I did not know it before : this 
 information will induce me to pay still more attention to 
 your writers.'' " I should have mentioned it before if I 
 had had an opportunity," he answered ; " but you will 
 remember it now : let us resume our subject. 
 
 " I think I have now furnished you with methods of 
 assuring ourselves of our salvation, sufficiently easy, safe, 
 and numerous. But our Fathers have been desirous that 
 we should not rest at this early stage, in which nothing 
 
143 LETTER IX. 
 
 more is accomplished than just what is strictly necessary 
 for safety. As they unceasingly aim at promoting the 
 glory of God, they endeavour to elevate mankind to the 
 highest degrees of piety. And since worldly persons are 
 usually deterred from habits of devotion, by false ideas, 
 which they have imbibed respecting them, it has been 
 considered of the utmost importance to get rid of this 
 primary obstacle. On this account, the Pere Le Moine 
 has acquired a distinguished reputation, by the work he 
 has compiled with this view — ' Devotion made Easy.' He 
 has here drawn a most delightful picture of pious habits. 
 No one has ever described them so well. Hear the 
 opening words of his work : ' Virtue has never yet been 
 properly exhibited to the world; no one has ever justly 
 delineated her. It is not to be wondered at that so few 
 have sought to obtain a resting-place upon her firm foun- 
 dations. She has been represented as delighting only in 
 gloom and solitude ; her associations have ever been sor- 
 row and toil ; and she has been held out as the enemy of 
 pleasure and amusement, which are the bloom of happi- 
 ness, and the zest of life.' You will find the passage at 
 page 92." 
 
 " But, my Father," I said, " there certainly have been 
 eminent saints, whose lives have been highly austere." 
 " Doubtless," said he, " but on the other hand, there 
 have always been, as our author says (page 191), ' polished 
 saints, and cultivated devotees ; ' and you will find from 
 what is said at p. 86, that the difl'erence in their manners 
 arises merely from diversity of tastes. Listen again : ' I 
 do not deny that there are always to be found pale and 
 melancholy Pietists, lovers of silence and solitude, phleg- 
 
FALSE WORSHIP OP THE VIRGIN MARY. 143 
 
 matic in temperament, and clayey of nature. But there 
 are others also of more joyous dispositions, abounding in 
 warm and convivial tempers, and vi^hose general constitu- 
 tion sympathizes vfith pleasure.' 
 
 " You see by this, that the love of retirement and me- 
 ditation is not universal with devout persons ; and, as I 
 said, is more the effect of natural temper than of piety. 
 Instead of this, the austere habits of which you speak are 
 rather the characteristics of a savage and misanthropical 
 nature ; and thus you will find them classed with the rude 
 and eccentric manners of melancholy extravagance, in the 
 description which Pere Le Moine gives of them in the 
 7th Book of his Moral Portraits. These are some passages : 
 ' He has no eyes for the beauties of art and nature. He 
 would fancy himself insupportably oppressed, if he al- 
 lowed any object to yield him pleasure. During festivals 
 he seeks converse with the dead. He has, on such occa- 
 sions, more satisfaction in concealing himself in the trunk 
 of an old tree, or the shades of a cavern, than in glittering 
 in a palace or on a throne. To affronts and injuries he 
 is as insensible as a statue. The world's honour and 
 glory are idols unknown to and un worshipped by him. 
 Beauty disturbs him like an apparition, and those impe- 
 rious and despotic forms, those seductive tyrants, who 
 draw all other men in willing bondage, have no more 
 power over him than the sun upon the eyes of the owl ; ' 
 &c. &c." 
 
 " My reverend Father, believe me, if you had not told 
 me that the Pere Le Moine was the author of this por- 
 trait, T should have said it was drawn by some ribald 
 infidel, seeking to turn the saints into ridicule. For if 
 
144 LETTER IX. 
 
 this be not the description of a man detached from all the 
 objects which the gospel enjoins him to renounce, I con- 
 fess I know nothing about the matter." " You will see 
 then how little you do understand it/' he replied ; " these 
 are ' marks of a feeble and untutored mind, destitute of 
 the cheerful and natural affections which it ought to pos- 
 sess/ as Pere Le Moine says, at the close of his descrip- 
 tion. It is in this way that he ' teaches virtue and 
 Christian philosophy,' according to the design of the work 
 in question, as explained in the preface. And> in truth, 
 it cannot be denied that this method of inculcating de- 
 votion suits the world far better than that which has been 
 hitherto practised." " It is not to be doubted," I said. 
 " And you will see it more clearly still as we proceed. I 
 have only as yet spoken of piety in general ; but to show 
 how our Fathers have taken pains to lighten its difficulties, 
 is it not a most comfortable thing for the ambitious to 
 find that they may maintain true devotion, together with 
 an unlimited love of aggrandizement ? " " What, my 
 Father ! " I exclaimed ; " to whatever extreme they may 
 carry it ? " " Certainly," he replied ; for it would be 
 only a venial sin, unless honours were sought to such a 
 degree as to be offensive to God, or injurious to the state. 
 Now venial offences are not incompatible with devotion, 
 since the greatest saints are not exempt from them. 
 Hear what Escobar says, tr. 2. ex. 2. N. 17. ' Ambition, 
 which is an inordinate desire of office and honours, is in 
 itself a venial sin ; but if these honours be sought to the 
 injury of the state, or more properly speaking, to the dis^ 
 pleasure of God, these adventitious circumstances render it 
 mortal,' " 
 
FALSE WORSHIP OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 145 
 
 " This is certainly very convenient, my Father." " And 
 again," he continued, " is not that a consolatory doctrine 
 for the avaricious which is laid down by Escobar, tr. 5, 
 ex. 5, N. 154; ' I am persuaded that it is not a mortal 
 sin for the rich to omit to give of their superfluity, to 
 relieve the pressing necessities of the poor : ' ' scio in 
 gravi pauperum necessitate, divites nou dando superflua, 
 non peccare mortaliter.' " " Really," said I, " if this be 
 true, I see clearly that I shall not know whether I have 
 ever committed a sin at all." " To prove my point still 
 more plainly," he continued, " would you not think that 
 an inordinate opinion of our merits, and complacency in 
 our works, is a dangerous sin ? And would you not be 
 surprized to learn that, even if our self-conceit were quite 
 unfounded, so far from an ofi^ence, it is to be regarded as 
 a gift of God?" " Is it possible ! " "Indeed it is; and 
 it is thus taught by the famous Pere Gurasse, in his work 
 in French, entitled ' Summary of the chief traths of 
 Religion,^ part 2, p. 419. ' It is a result of commutative 
 justice, that all honest labour is recompensed either by 
 praise from others, or by self-satisfaction. When men of 
 exalted minds produce some excellent work, they are 
 justly rewarded by the public praise. But when one of 
 humble capacity labours much in the production of some- 
 thing of little value, and beneath the notice of the public ; 
 that his labours may not remain without compensation, 
 God confers upon him a feeling of personal satisfaction, 
 which could not be grudged him without the grossest 
 injustice. In this way the impartial beneficence of its 
 Maker gives even to the poor frog a kind of satisfaction in 
 its dissonant croak." 
 
146 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 " These are, indeed/' I said, " admirable justifications 
 of vanity, ambition, and avarice. And as for envy, my 
 good Father, would it be more difficult to excuse that 
 failing ? " " This is a matter of delicacy. We must here 
 resort to the distinction of the Pere Bauny in his ' Sum- 
 mary of Sins.' His opinion upon this point, C. 7, p. 123, 
 5 th and 6th Editions, is, ' Envy of the spiritual welfare of 
 another is a mortal sin, but envy of his temporal good is 
 only venial.' " " For what reason, I pray ? " " Listen," 
 he said ; — " For the good that is found in temporal things 
 is so slender and unimportant, as to be of no consideration 
 with God and the saints." " But, my Father," I rejoined, 
 " if this good is so slight and inconsiderable, how is it 
 that you allow a man's life to be taken for its preserva- 
 tion ? " " You misconceive me," he replied : " the un- 
 importance is in the sight of God, not of man." " I did 
 not think of that," I rejoined ; " all I hope is, that through 
 these distinctions, no mortal sins will be left in the world." 
 " Don't suppose any thing of the kind," the Father said ; 
 " there are some sins that are ever mortal in their nature ; 
 for instance, indolence." 
 
 " Why so, my Father ?," I asked. 
 
 " Wait a little," he replied ; " hear Escobar's definition 
 of this vice, given at tr. 3, ex. 3, N. 81, and you will know 
 why : ' Indolence is a species of sadness, on account of 
 spiritual things being spiritual, in the same way as repining 
 at the sacraments for their being the appointed source of 
 grace ; and this is a mortal sin.' " " Well ! " I remarked, 
 " I suspect no one will ever be convicted of indolence at 
 this rate." " Therefore," said he, " Escobar remarks, 
 ' I acknowledge that few persons in reality fall into the 
 
ON EATING. 147 
 
 guilt of indolence.' You see now," the Father con- 
 tinued, " the importance of correct definitions." " Yes, 
 indeed ; and I remember also your other definitions, of 
 assassination, ambuscades, and superfluous wealth. But 
 do you not extend this method to other cases, and give 
 definitions, after the same fashion, to every description of 
 vice ? By that means, we might enjoy all our pleasures 
 without the commission of sin." 
 
 " It is not always necessary," he replied, " to change 
 the definitions of things for that purpose. You will see 
 this illustrated in respect to good eating, which is con- 
 sidered one of the chief pleasures of life, and which 
 Escobar sanctions in this manner in his ' Practice of the 
 Society,' N. 202 ; ' Is it lawful to eat and drink to 
 satiety, without necessity, and for pleasure alone ? Yes, 
 certainly, according to Sanchez, provided health be not 
 injured; because it is allowed to indulge the natural 
 appetites in their proper satisfactions : ' an comedere et 
 bibere usque ad satietatem, absque necessitate, ob solam 
 voluptatem, sit peccatum ? Cum Sanctio negative respon- 
 deo, modonon obsit valetudini, quia licite potest appetitus 
 naturalis suis actibus frui.'" " Truly, my Father," I 
 here exclaimed, " this is the completest passage yet pro- 
 duced, and the most perfect principle in your moral 
 system for the production of convenient practice. So, 
 gluttony is not even a venial offence." " Not in the way 
 I have stated : but it would be venial according to 
 Escobar, N. 56, ' If, without necessity, we were to eat 
 and drink to such a degree as to cause sickness : ' si quis 
 se usque ad vomitum ingurgitet.' 
 
 "Enough, however, on this subject," he continued; 
 
 H 2 
 
1'^'8 LETTER IX. 
 
 " I will now acquaint you with the facilities we have fur- 
 nished for avoiding the commission of sin in intercourse 
 with the world, and in matters of pleasure. 
 
 " One of the greatest difficulties people experience, is 
 to avoid falsehood, especially when it is wished to convey 
 the behef of something untrue. Eor this purpose, our 
 s.ystem of equivocation is admirably adapted ; by which 
 ' it is allowed to make use of ambiguous expressions, to 
 be understood in a sense different from that in which we 
 use them •/ as is stated by Sanchez, Op. Mor. p. 2, 
 Book 3, Ch. 6, N. 13." " I am aware of this," I said. 
 " Why yes, we have circulated this doctrine so largely, 
 that every one is acquainted with it. But do you know 
 what ought to be done when you cannot find equivocal 
 terms ? " "I cannot say I do." " I thought so," he 
 replied : " this point is new ; it is the doctrine of ' mental 
 reservation.' Sanchez lays it down in the same place ; 
 ' We may swear,' he says, ' that we have not done a 
 certain thing, although we actually have done it ; by an 
 understanding, in our own minds, that it was not done on 
 a given day, or before we were born, or any similar cir- 
 cumstance, secretly understood, without using any words 
 which may actually be so interpreted : this is convenient 
 in many situations, and is most especially justifiable for 
 the preservation of health, honour, or property.' " 
 
 " What ! my Father, and this not falsehood or per- 
 jury!" "No," he replied; "Sanchez demonstrates it 
 in the same passage, and Pere Filiutius also, tr. 35, 
 Ch. 11, N. 331; ' for,' says he, 'it is the intention that 
 regulates the quality of the action.' And at N. 338, he 
 gives another method of avoiding falsehood ; it is, after 
 
ON FALSEHOOD. 149 
 
 saying aloud. ' I swear that I did not do so and so/ to 
 add in a low tonCj ' to-day ; ' or after saying aloud, ' I 
 swear/ to whisperj ' that I say ; ' and then to continue 
 aloud, ' that I did not do so.' You see clearly that this 
 is saying the truth." " I certainly do," I replied ; " or 
 at least it is saying the truth ' in a whisper,' and a lie 
 ' aloud.' But may it not be feared that all persons might 
 not have sufficient presence of mind to avail themselves 
 of these methods ? " " Our Fathers," he said, " have 
 provided for the case of such, that it is enough to avoid a 
 lie, to say simply ' they have not done ' that which they 
 really have done, provided they have a general intention 
 of using the words in a sense whioh more expert persons 
 would give them." 
 
 " Now confess," the Father continued, " that you 
 have been often in situations of difficulty for want of 
 knowing all this ? " " Occasionally," I replied. " And 
 do you not allow that it would be then highly convenient 
 to have a conscientious dispensation from keeping your 
 word?" "The greatest convenience in the world." 
 " Then hear the general rule laid down by Escobar, tr. 3, 
 ex. 3, N. 48 ; ' Promises are not obligatory, when we do 
 not intend to bind ourselves in making them. Now we 
 never can be held to have such an intention, unless we 
 confirm it by an oath or an agreement ; to wit, when we 
 say simply ' I will do so,' we mean unless we change our 
 mind ; for no one ought to have his free-will fettered.' 
 He gives other cases which you can see for yourself, and 
 concludes, ' All this is taken from. Molina and our other 
 authorities : ' ' Omnia ex Molina et aliis.' And so no 
 doubt can remain on the subject." 
 
150 LETTER IX. 
 
 "Well! my excellent Father," I exclaimed, "I cer- 
 tainly did not know till now that our private intention 
 had the power to invalidate our promises." " You see 
 now, however," he rejoined, " its extreme advantage in 
 our commerce with the world. But what has given us the 
 most labour has been to regulate the communications 
 between the sexes ; for our Fathers are highly rigid on 
 the subject of modesty. Not that they do not entertain 
 certain delicate questions, and with sufficient indulgence." 
 It was now, my friend, that I learnt from him some of 
 the most extraordinary cases that can be imagined, and 
 enough to fill several letters : but I shall content myself 
 with noting the quotations, for you show my letters to 
 every one, and I should not wish that such topics should 
 be turned into mere matter of amusement. 
 
 The only thing I can mark for you of what he showed 
 me in these works (even such as were in French) is what 
 you will find in the ' Summary of Offences,' by Pere 
 Bauny, p. 165, on certain intimacies ; which he explains 
 (provided the intention be properly regulated) as merely 
 supporting the character of a man of plfeasure ;* and you 
 will be surprised to find at p. 148, a principle of morahty 
 respecting the right, which he alleges is possessed by 
 daughters, to dispose of their persons, without the consent 
 of their parents. These are his words ; " When this takes 
 place with the free-will of the daughter, although the 
 father may lament it, it cannot be maintained that the 
 said daughter, or he who has seduced her, has done such 
 father an injury, or violated, in respect of him, the rules 
 
 * ' Comme a passer pour galant.' (Fr.) 
 
ON CHASTITY. 151 
 
 of justice J for the daughter is owner of her own person^ 
 and may do as she will with it, short of death or the excision 
 of any of her limbs." You may judge from this specimen 
 of the nature of the rest. 
 
 I called to mind, here, a passage from a heathen poet 
 on this subject, who shows himself a better casuist than 
 these Fathers. " The person of a daughter is not wholly 
 her own ; one part belongs to her father, and one to her 
 mother ; and without their consent she has no power over 
 herself, not even in regard to marriage." And I doubt 
 whether any judge could be found, who would not uphold, 
 as law, the very opposite of Pere Bauny's position. 
 
 This is all that I can allow myself to report of these 
 communications, which' lasted so long, that T was obliged 
 to request the conversation might be changed. He did 
 so, and then apprized me of their rules for the adjustment 
 of female dress : " We are not referring here," he said, 
 " to such as entertain immodest designs, but to a different 
 class of females ; and Escobar says, tr. 1, ex. 8, N. 5 ; 'If 
 dress be indulged in, not with any ill intention, but 
 merely from a natural inclination to vanity — ' oh natura- 
 lemfastHs incUnationem' — it is ^either a venial sin, or 
 no sin at all.' And Pere Bauny, in his ' Summary of 
 Sins,' ch. 46, p. 1094, says, ' Even if a female be aware 
 of the dangerous eiFect both to the body and soul of be- 
 holders, by her elaborate style of dress, decked with rich 
 and elegant attire, she commits no sin in practising it.' 
 And he quotes, among others, Pere Sanchez, as holding 
 the same opinion." 
 
 " But, my Father," I asked, " what do your authorities 
 say to those passages of Scripture which censure so 
 
JS2 LETTER IX. 
 
 Strongly the least indulgence of this kind ? " * " Les- 
 sius," he answered, " has very acutely settled that point, 
 De Just. Book 4, C. 4, d. 14, N. 114, in what follows: 
 ' Those passages of Scripture were only intended as direc- 
 tions to the females of that particular period, that their 
 modesty might set an edifying example to the heathen.' " 
 " And where does he find this ? " " No matter where he 
 finds it," was the reply ; " it is sufficient that the opinions 
 of these great men have always ' probability ' on their 
 side. However the Pere Le Plaine has somewhat modi- 
 fied the general permission ; for he is by no means willing 
 to extend it to the old ; you will find this, he says, in 
 his ' Easy Devotion,' among other places, at pp. 137, 157, 
 and 163; 'In youth,' he says, 'dress is natural and 
 allowable ; it becomes that period, which is the flower and 
 spring-time of our years. But there must be its limit ; 
 roses are unseasonable upon snow. It is only the bright 
 luminaries of fashion that should perpetually blaze in the 
 ball-room — gay beings that seem endowed with the gift 
 of perpetual youth. The best thing to be done, as years 
 advance, is to take counsel of reason, and our looking- 
 glass ; to yield to decorum, and necessity ; and to retire 
 from observation, as the shades of night approach.' " 
 " That is certainly judicious," I remarked. " But," con- 
 tinued he, " that you may see how our Fathers have ex- 
 tended their soHcitudes to all cases, I must tell you that, 
 as they give permission to females, to play, and yet, re- 
 membered, that in many instances the license would be 
 useless unless they furnished them also with necessary 
 
 * Isaiah iii. 1 6. J Peter iii. 3, &c. 
 
ON THE MASS. 133 
 
 means, they have laid down another rule in their favor, 
 as you will see in Escobar, Ch. du Luvein, tr. 1, ex. 91, 
 N. 13. ' A woman,' he says, ' may play, and may ap- 
 propriate for the purpose, her husband's money.' " 
 
 " Admirable again ! " I exclaimed. " Yes, and there 
 are many other things still ; but we must pass them over, 
 to mention some maxims of yet more importance, for faci- 
 litating the performance of holy offices ; as, for example, 
 the manner of joining in the Mass. Our great theolo- 
 gian, Gaspard Hurtado, de Sacr. Vol. 2, d. 5, dist. 2, and 
 Conineh. G. 83, a. 6, N. 197, have taught on this point, 
 ' That it is sufficient, at the mass, to be present with the 
 body, though we be absent in spirit, provided we preserve 
 a deportment extremely respectful.' And Vasquez goes 
 still farther; for he says that the injunction to hear mass 
 is ' fulfilled, even if there be no intention to take any part 
 in it.' This is also in Escobar, tr. 1, ex. 11. N. 74 and 
 107, and again tr. 1, ex. 1, N. 116, where he elucidates 
 the point by the case of ' those who are taken to mass by 
 force, and go with an express intention not to listen to 
 it.' " " Really," I replied, " I should not have believed 
 this, if any but yourself had told me." " I confess," he 
 rejoined, " this matter does somewhat need the authority 
 of such great names ; as also where Escobar says in tr. I, 
 ex. 11, N. 31. ' An objectionable motive, such as ' aspl- 
 ciendi libidinose foeminas,' together with the pleasure of 
 hearing the service well performed, does not invalidate 
 the duty of atttendance.' 
 
 " But there is something yet more indulgent in the 
 sagacious Turrianus, Selec. p. 3, d. 16, dub. 7. ' A per- 
 son may hear the half of a mass from one priest and 
 
 H s 
 
•^°'* LETTER IX. 
 
 afterwards the remaining half from another; and may 
 even hear first the end of one, and then the commence- 
 ment of another.' And I can tell you further, that it ia 
 allowed ' to hear two halves of a mass at the same time 
 from two different priests, if one is beginning the mass 
 when the second is at the elevation ; because we can at- 
 tend to these two divisions at once, and two moities com- 
 pose a whole, — ' duse medietates unam missam constitu- 
 unt.' This is decided by our Fathers Bauny, tr. 6, g. 9, 
 p. 312, Hurtado De Sacr. t. 3, De Missa, d. 5, diff. 4, 
 Azorius, p. 1, B. 7, Cap. 3, g. 3, Escobar, tr. 1, ex. 11, 
 p. 73, in the Chap., ' On the performance of Mass by the 
 Eules of our Society.' And you will see the deductions 
 from it in the same work, Lyons Edition of 1644 and 1646, 
 as follows : ' From this I conclude that the mass may be 
 heard in a very short space of time ; as for example, if 
 you happen to find four masses going on at once, so ad- 
 justed that when one is commencing, another shall be at 
 the Gospel, a third at the consecration, and the fourth at 
 the communion.' " "Certainly, my Father," I remarked, 
 " at Notre Dame we may get through the mass in an in- 
 stant by this method." " You must allow then," he 
 said, " that nothing can be done better for facilitating 
 attendance at the service." 
 
 " But I must now show you how greatly the sacra- 
 ments have been mitigated, and especially that of penance; 
 for it is there you will find the crowning proof of the in- 
 dulgence of our Fathers ; and you will be surprised to 
 learn with what prudence they have tempered a system of 
 devotion which has challenged the astonishment of the 
 world. So that, having driven away the terrors which 
 
ON THE MASS. 155 
 
 demons had placed at her entrance^ they have rendered 
 her paths more attractive than those of vice, more facile 
 than pleasure ; and thus ' a life of well-doing becomes 
 incomparably less irksome than one of evil,' to use the 
 language of the Pere Le Moine, pp. 344 and 391, in his 
 ' Devotion made Easy.' Is not that a wonderful trans- 
 formation ? " 
 
 " In truth, my good Father," I here interposed, " I 
 must now tell you plainly my opinion. I am afraid that, 
 after all, your methods are bad, and these indulgences are 
 calculated rather to disgust the world than to attract. As 
 to the Mass, for instance, holy and sublime as that service 
 is, would it not be sufficient to destroy all belief in the 
 spirituality of mind of your authors, to hear them thus 
 speak of its solemnities ? " " That may be true, in re- 
 gard to some ; but do you not know that our aim is to 
 accommodate ourselves to all sorts of persons ! You 
 seem to have lost your memory, so often as I have men- 
 tioned this. I must go into this part again the first 
 leisure opportunity ; and we will defer till then our com- 
 munications on the mitigations of the confessional. I 
 will explain the whole so thoroughly, that you shall not 
 forget it again." 
 
 We here separated ; and I suppose our next conversa- 
 tion will be upon this branch of their policy. I re- 
 main, &c. 
 
LETTER X.* 
 
 MITIGATIONS INTRODUCED BY THE JESUITS IN THE 
 SACKAMENT OP PENANCE, BY THEIR MAXIMS RE- 
 SPECTING CONFESSION, SATISFACTION, ABSOLUTION, 
 PROXIMATE OCCASIONS OF SIN, CONTRITION, AND THE 
 LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 SiE, Paris, Avgust 3, 1656. 
 
 The subject of this communication is not the general 
 policy of the Society, but it is one of its grand principles. 
 You are now to learn the mitigations of the confessional ; 
 which are assuredly the best means that these professors 
 could have employed for attracting all sorts of persons, at 
 the same time that they refuse none. It was necessary 
 to premise this point, before proceeding further, and with 
 this view the Father thought proper to commence his dis- 
 course as follows. 
 
 " You have perceived, from all that I have hitherto 
 stated, how successfully our Fathers have laboured (through 
 their superiority of intelligence) in proving the lawfulness 
 of many things which had hitherto passed for forbidden. 
 But since, after all, there will remain many species of 
 
 * This letter was composed in conjunction with M. Amauld. — Ed. 
 
MITIGATIONS IN PENANCE. 157 
 
 offences, which cannot be thus extenuated ; and the sole 
 remedy for which is in confession, it has become espe- 
 cially necessary to soften the difficulties of that office, by 
 the methods which I have now to unfold. And thus, 
 hav-ing in our previous conversation shown how many 
 scruples, by which the conscience was wont to be troubled, 
 were allayed, by proving that what had been supposed to 
 be criminal was in reality not so ; it remains now to ex- 
 plain the methods, by which that which is really sinful 
 may be easily expiated, in rendering the confessional less 
 formidable than heretofore." " And what are these 
 methods, I pray ? " " They are," he said, " those admir- 
 able subtleties peculiar to our Society, which our Flemish 
 Fathers, in the ' Portraiture of our First Century,' Book 
 3, or. 1, p. 405, and Book 3, ch. 2, call ' pious and holy 
 artifices, and a sacred scheme of devotion : — piam et re- 
 ligiosam calliditatem, et pietatis solertiam : ' Book 3, ch. 
 8. It is by means of these contrivances that ' crimes are 
 now absolved (alacrius) with more ease and promptitude, 
 than heretofore they were committed ; so that multitudes 
 now get their offences absolved as speedily as they were con- 
 tracted : — plurimi vix citius maculas contrahunt, quam 
 eluunt : ' as is stated in the same part." " Fray, my Father, 
 let me hear those most salutary ' finesses.' " " They are 
 numerous," he continued; " for, as the confessional wit- 
 nesses many painful things, the alleviations in question 
 have been applied to all. And as the distress experienced 
 on such occasions consists chiefly in the shame of acknow- 
 ledging certain offences, the difficulty in describing their 
 circumstantials, the penances that should ensue, the re- 
 solutions not to offend again, the frequent breach of such 
 
158 LETTER X. 
 
 resolutions, and the consequent compunction ; I hope I 
 shall succeed in showing you that scarcely any thing 
 painful has been left in all these things j such has been 
 the care to divest of bitterness and distaste this most 
 troublesome remedy for sin. 
 
 " Now, to begin with the pain experienced in the con- 
 fession of certain offences : as you must be aware how 
 important it is to retain the good opinion of our confessor 
 — ' uti honam famam apud ordinarium tueatur^— is it 
 not a most comfortable thing, with this view, to be allowed 
 — as our Fathers decide, and Escobar among others, who 
 cites also Suarez, tr. 7, c. 4, N. 135 — "■ to have two con- 
 fessors ; one for mortal, and the other for venial sins ; 
 provided, however, that we take not occasion from thence 
 to continue in the practice of mortal sins ? ' And he 
 then gives another ingenious method for confessing an 
 offence even to one's regular confessor, without letting it 
 be known that it was committed subsequent to the last 
 confession. ' It is,' he says, ' to make a general confes- 
 sion, and to mix up the last committed offence with those 
 of which we accuse ourselves in the gross.' He says the 
 same thing again, Princ. ex. 2, N. 73. And I am sure 
 you will admit that this decision of Pere Bauny, Theol. 
 Mor. tr. 4. q. 15. p. 137, tends still more to mitigate the 
 shame of confessing our lapses ; ' With the exception of 
 a few rare occasions, the confessor has no right to inquire 
 whether the sin be a habitual one ; nor are we bound to 
 make such an acknowledgment; since he ought not to 
 cause his penitent the shame of avowing frequent of- 
 fences.' " 
 
 ."Indeed! my Pather : why I should as soon say, a 
 
MITIGATIONS IN PENANCE. 159 
 
 physician ought not to ask his patient whether he has 
 long suffered from a fever. Do not all kinds of sin differ 
 according to the different circumstances under which they 
 are committed ? And ought not the object of a true peni- 
 tent be to lay open the state of his conscience to his 
 confessor, with the same sincei'ity and unreservedness, as 
 if he were conversing with his Saviour, of whom the priest 
 is the representative ? And can anything be more opposed 
 to such a disposition, than to conceal the frequency of our 
 falls, in order to extenuate our guilt ? ■" 
 
 I saw the good Father was embarrassed by this remark ; 
 so he endeavoured, this time, rather to elude the difficulty 
 I had placed him in, than to reply to it, by passing on to 
 another of their regulations. This, however, only autho- 
 rized a new evil, without in any measure justifying the 
 former ; and laid down what I consider to be one of their 
 most pernicious principles, and one especially calculated 
 to confirm the vicious in their evil courses. " I by no 
 means deny," he said, " that habit tends to increase the 
 malignity of sin ; but it does not change its nature ; and 
 therefore we are not under an obligation to make confes- 
 sion of it, according to the ordinances of our Society, as 
 reported by Escobar, Princ. ex. 2, n. 39 ; ' We are only 
 bound,' he writes, ' to make confession of those circum- 
 stances which change the nature of the offence, but not of 
 such as cause an aggravation of it.' " 
 
 " In pursuance of this regulation, our Father Granados 
 says, in his 5th Part, Cont. 7, vol. 9, d. 9, n. 23, ' If a 
 man eats meat in Lent, it is sufficient to acknowledge he 
 has violated a fast, without saying whether he has eaten 
 meat, or indulged in two slight meals.'' So, according to 
 
160 LETTER X. 
 
 P^re Reginaldus, tr. 1, B. 6, C. 4, n. 114, 'A cunning 
 man, who has practised the black art, is not bound to 
 confess that fact ; but it is enough to say he has practised 
 divination, without acknowledging whether it was by 
 palmistry, or by dealing with the devil/ And Fagandez, 
 a member of our order, also says, p. 2, B. 4, c. 3, n. 17; 
 ' It is not obligatory to confess an intrigue, when both 
 parties have been consenting to it.' Our Father Escobar 
 records all this in the same place, n. 41, 61, 63, together 
 with various other curious cases, in which it is held that 
 confession is not incumbent j you may see them yourself 
 in the passages I have referred to." " These are indeed," 
 I remarked, " devotional artifices, of a most accommodating 
 nature ! " 
 
 '' Yet," he continued, " all this would be nothing with- 
 out the mitigations of ' penance ' introduced by the Breth- 
 ren ; that being obviously still more distasteful even than 
 confession. But now, the most sensitive have no cause of 
 fear, when they find, as is laid down in our Theses, of 
 Clermont College ; ' If the confessors impose a suitable 
 penance (convenientem) ; and a person be notwithstanding 
 unwilling to submit to it, he may withdraw from the same, 
 by renouncing both the absolution and the penance to- 
 gether.' And Escobar says, in his ' Practice of Penance, 
 according to our Society,' tr. 7, ex. 4, n. 188 ; ' If the 
 party confessing shall declare that he is willing to post- 
 pone the penance till the next world, and to suffer in pur- 
 gatory all the penalties he has incurred here, the confessor 
 may impose upon him some very light penance, by which 
 the form of the sacrament may be maintained ; especially 
 if he should see that no severe infliction would be sub- 
 
MITIGATIONS IN PENANCE. 161 
 
 mitted to." " I should think," I said, "■ if this be the 
 case, it must no longer be called ' the Sacrament of Pe- 
 nance.' " " That is a mistake j something is always in- 
 flicted, if only for form's sake." " But, my good Father/' 
 I asked, " do you think a person is entitled to absolution, 
 who will submit to nothing that shall give him pain, to 
 procure the expiation of his sins ? And when men are in 
 that state of mind, ought you not rather to retain their 
 offences than to remit them ? Do you entertain a just 
 view of the powers of your ministry ; and that it is com- 
 mitted to you to bind as well as to loose ? And can you 
 believe that you are permitted to give absolution, indis- 
 criminately, to all who shall ask it, without considering 
 whether Christ will absolve in heaven those whom you 
 absolve on earth ? " " What ! " said the Father, " do you 
 suppose we are not aware that the confessor is to judge of 
 the disposition of the penitent ; both because he is bound 
 not to dispense the sacraments to the unworthy (Jesus 
 Christ having enjoined him to be faithful, and not give 
 that which is holy to the dogs), and, because a judge is 
 bound to judge righteously, loosing those who are worthy, 
 and binding the sinful ; and therefore he cannot absolve 
 those whom Christ condemns," " Where do you get that 
 passage from ?" I asked. " From our Pere Filiutius," he 
 replied; " tr. 1, t. 7, n. 354." " You surprise me," I 
 said ; " I should have supposed it had been from one of 
 the ancient Fathers of the Church. But surely such 
 language as that ought to startle your confessors, and 
 render them more careful to ascertain, in dispensing this 
 sacrament, that the contrition of their penitents is sincere, 
 and their promises of amendment to be depended upon." 
 
162 LETTER X. 
 
 " There is no difficulty on that head/' he repHed : " Fi- 
 liutius has taken care not to cause such emharrassment to 
 confessors, and has directed the following method for 
 their relief : * A confessor may easily relieve himself from 
 anxiety respecting his penitent's state of mind ; for if he 
 should not give sufficient proof of compunctiouj he has 
 only to ask, if he very sincerely abhors the sin ; and his 
 answer being in the affirmative, he is bound to believe it^ 
 The same may be said of resolutions for the future, unless' 
 there should be some restitution to be made, or some 
 proximate occasion of sin to be discontinued." " That 
 passage is clearly from Filiutius," I said. " You are 
 mistaken," replied the Father, " the whole is taken by 
 him, word by word, from Suarez, 3 Part, t. 4, disp. 
 32, sect. 2, n. 2." " But the words last quoted contra- 
 dict the former J for confessors will be unable to judge of 
 the state of mind of their penitents, if they are bound to 
 accept this mere affirmation, unsupported by any actual 
 proofs of contrition. Is there such certainty then in 
 mere words ? I doubt much whether the past experience 
 of your Fathers will induce them to put faith in such 
 promises ; but rather to expect the very opposite results." 
 " That is of no importance ; they are hound to yield their 
 belief: Pere Bauny, who has treated this point most pro- 
 foundly, in his ' Summary of Offences,' c. 46, p. 1090, 
 2, thus concludes : ' Persons falling repeatedly into sin, 
 and exhibiting no signs of amendment, yet, presenting 
 themselves to their confessor, and expressing regret for 
 the past, together with good intentions for the future, are 
 still to be believed, although it may be feared their assur- 
 ances do not go far beyond the lips. And, even if they 
 
MITIGATIONS IN PENANCE. 163 
 
 afterwards give themselves more license than ever in the 
 same kind of oflFences, they ought still, in my opinion, to 
 receive absolution.' Now, I think all your doubts must 
 be satisfied." 
 
 " But, my good Father," I rejoined, " you surely impose 
 a heavy responsibility upon your confessors, in obliging 
 them to give credit to the very opposite of what their 
 senses testify ? " " You do not clearly see the point," 
 he replied ; '■ all they mean is, that they are to act — to 
 absolve — as if they believed the resolutions were sincere 
 and decided, although they may not in reality believe 
 them to be any such thing. This is subsequently ex- 
 plained both by Filiutius and Suarez. After saying, that 
 the priest is bound to credit his penitent on his word, 
 they add : ' It is not incumbent upon the confessor to 
 have any belief or even probable expectation of the fulfil- 
 ment of the resolutions : it is sufficient that he thinks 
 there is at the moment a general intention to amend, 
 although he may expect him to relapse into sin very 
 shortly.' And this is the doctrine of all our authorities 
 — ' ita docent omnes Auctores.' Can you any longer en- 
 tertain doubt upon a point in which all our authorities 
 agree ? " 
 
 " But, my Father, what becomes of that position main- 
 tained by the P^re Petau himself, in the Preface to his 
 Pen. pall. p. 4, that ' the holy Fathers, the Doctors, and 
 the Councils, are all agreed (as in an incontrovertible 
 truth) that the penitence which prepares for the Eucharist 
 should be sincere, decided, bold ; not feeble or indolent, 
 not subject to inconstancy and relapse ? ' " " Do you 
 not see," he replied, " that the P^re Petau is speaking 
 
164 
 
 LETTER X, 
 
 there of the ancient Church ? All that is now so ' out of 
 date/ to use the words of our FatherSj that, according to 
 Pfere Bauny, the very opposite is really held to be the 
 truth : you will find it at tr. 4, q, 15, p. 95 ; ' There are 
 some writers who affirm that absolution ought to be re- 
 fused to those who often relapse into the same offences ; 
 and especially when, after frequent remission, there still 
 seems no improvement; but others say the contrary. 
 Now the true doctrine is, that absolution is not to be re- 
 fused to such persons ; and that, even if they have disre- 
 garded oft-repeated admonition; if they have violated 
 frequent promises of amendment ; if they have taken no 
 pains to improve : whatever others say, the true practice, 
 and that which ought to be followed, is, that in all such 
 cases, absolution is still to be granted.' And in tr. 4, q. 
 23, p. 100; ' We must not refuse, nor defer to grant ab- 
 solution to such as are living in habitual sin, be it against 
 the law of God, of nature, and of the Church; and even 
 if we see no hope of amendment — etsi emendationis fu- 
 turee nulla spes appareat.' " 
 
 " But surely the certainty of procuring absolution tends 
 to the encouragement of sin." " I understand you," the 
 Father said ; " but hear what Pere Bauny says, q. 15 : 
 ' We may absolve a person, who acknowledges that the hope 
 of absolution has led him to sin with less restraint than 
 if he had not had such hope.' And Pere Caussin, de- 
 fending that proposition, says, at page 311 of his Rep. on 
 Theol. Mor. ' If this were not allowed, the benefit of ab- 
 solution would be interdicted to the great majority of per- 
 sons ; and no resource would be left to sinners but a bough 
 and a rope.' " 
 
MITIGATIONS IN PENANCE. 165 
 
 " I see plainly/^ I here remarked, " that these doctrines 
 must prove sufficiently effective in filling your confession- 
 als." "So much so," he said, "that you can scarcely 
 conceive the numbers that resort to usj ' we are as it 
 •were overwhelmed and oppressed by the crowd of peni- 
 tents; ' pcenitentium numero obruimur,' as is remarked 
 in the ' Image de notre premier Siecle, Book 3, ch. 8." 
 " I know," I said, " one very simple way of relieving the 
 pressure. It is nothing more than to compel the offend- 
 ers to desist from the proximate occasion of their sins ; * 
 you would find this easy method afford you sensible re- 
 lief." " We do not aim at any thing of the kind/' he 
 replied : " on the contrary, as is said in the same work, 
 B. 3, ch. 7, p. 374, ' Our Society labours to strengthen 
 virtue, to war against vice, and to save countless numbers 
 of souls.' And as there are few who are willing to quit 
 these 'proximate occasions,' it has become necessary to 
 define in what they consist ; as may be seen in Escobar, 
 or the ' Pratique' of our Society, tr. 7, ex. 4, N. 226: 
 ' That is not to be understood as a ' proximate occasion,' 
 when a person falls into sin on rare occasions ; as, for 
 instance, by sudden irritation against an inmate in his 
 dwelling three or four times in a year ; ' or, according to 
 Pere Bauny, in his French work, ' once or twice in the 
 course of a month,' p. 1083, and again, p. 1089, where he 
 asks, ' What is to be done in the case of masters and 
 servants, or near relatives living together, who provoke 
 each other to mutual irritation ? They ought to be sepa- 
 rated, I maintain.' He goes on to say, the same, ' if 
 
 * ' Quitter les occasions prochaines.' (Fr.) 
 
166 LETTER X. 
 
 tteir altercations are frequent and almost daily ; but if 
 the cause of offence occur seldom, perhaps not more than 
 once or twice a month, and if they cannot separate with- 
 out much inconvenience and detriment, then they may be 
 absolved, according to these authorities, and among others, 
 Saurez ; provided they promise to offend no more, and tes- 
 tify regret for the past.' Nay, the Pere Bauny, (he con- 
 tinued) allows those who have fallen into subsequent 
 offences, ' to continue in their practice, if they should be 
 unable to relinquish them without giving occasion of ani- 
 madversion on the part of others, or suffering personal 
 inconvenience.' And he says the same thing in his 
 'Moral Theology, tr. 4, de Poenit. q. 13, p. 93, and 
 q. 14, p. 95. ' It is both allowable and incumbent, to 
 give absolution to a female, living in a habit of sin, — ' Si 
 non potest honeste ejicere, aut habeat aliquam causam 
 retinendi,' — provided always that she entertains an in- 
 tention ultimately to reform." 
 
 " It must be acknowledged," I remarked, " that the 
 intention to reform is much alleviated in its rigour, when 
 we are absolved from the obligation, on its causing us in- 
 convenience. But I suppose the duty is enforced by the 
 rules of your Society, when no such inconvenience is in- 
 curred ? " " Why, yes," was the reply ; " although not 
 without exception. Pere Bauny remarks, under the same 
 head, ' It is lawful for all persons to resort to disreputable 
 places, with a view to the conversion of the abandoned, 
 although they may be in danger of yielding to temptation; 
 and even if they be conscious that they have before fallen 
 into it. And although some of our brethren dissent from 
 this opinion, and hold that it is not lawful voluntarily to 
 
MITIGATIONS IN PENANCE. 167 
 
 endanger our own salvation for the benefit of others, I 
 most cordially embrace the opposite view of the case.' " 
 
 " These are certainly a new class of religionists/' I 
 said ; " but on what ground, I pray, does Pere Bauny 
 give this questionable licence ? " " It is on that prin- 
 ciple," he replied, " which he afterwards lays down on 
 the authority of Basil Ponce; I have referred to it before; 
 you cannot but remember it : it is, ' that it is lawful to 
 seek occasion directly and immediately — primo et per se 
 - — for promoting the spiritual and the temporal good, 
 both of ourselves, and of our neighbours.' " 
 
 These passages filled me with such disgust that I was 
 tempted at this point to break off our communication ; 
 but I refrained, that he might bring his discourse to an 
 end, and merely said " How, I pray, does this doctrine 
 consist with that of the Gospel, which commands us to 
 shut our eyes, and do violence to ourselves in every thing 
 which may interfere with our salvation ? And how is it 
 conceivable, that a man, who voluntarily exposes himself to 
 occasions of sin, is sincere in his hatred of it ? Is it not 
 on the contrary, obvious, that he is not duly impressed 
 with its evils, and has not experienced that change of 
 heart which produces love to God as well as benevolence 
 to man ? " 
 
 " Ah ! " the Father exclaimed, " there you come to 
 actual penitence. You seem not to be aware of the views 
 of Pere Pintereau, in the Second Part of his Abbe de 
 Boisie, p. 50. ' All our Fathers agree,' he says, ' that it 
 is error, and almost heresy, to say that penitence is neces- 
 sary ; and that regret * alone, even if founded on no 
 * ' Attrition.' (Fr.) 
 
168 LETTER X. 
 
 other motive than the fear of hell, independently of the 
 inclinations of the offender, is not sufficient with the holy 
 sacrament.' " " Indeed ! my Father, so it is almost an 
 article of faith that regret for sin, from a mere dread of 
 its penalties, is available, when combined with the sacra- 
 ment : I apprehend this view must be peculiar to your 
 fraternity. For there are others who, though they hold 
 that regret for sin, with the sacrament, is sufficient, re- 
 quire that at least it should be attended with some mea- 
 sure of love to God. Besides which, it seems to me that 
 even your authorities did not formerly hold this doctrine 
 so implicitly; for your own Pere Suarez has this language 
 on the question in his ' De Pcen.' q. 90, art. 4, disp. 15, 
 Sec. 4, N. 17. ' Although it may be probable that ' re- 
 gret ' for sin is sufficient with the sacrament, it is not 
 absolutely certain, but may be an erroneous opinion ; 
 ' non est certa, et potest esse falsa.' And if it be erro- 
 neous, then the regret in question does not suffice for 
 salvation ; and the man who wittingly dies in that state, 
 exposes himself voluntarily to the mortal peril of eternal 
 damnation. For the opinion referred to is not founded 
 on antiquity, nor is it one very commonly received ; ' nee 
 valde antiqua, nee multum communis.' Neither does 
 Sanchez seem to regard it as authentic, as he says in his 
 Sum. B. 1. ch. 9, N. 34, ' A sick person, as well as his 
 confessor, would be guilty of mortal sin, in acting upon 
 the persuasion that ' regret ' for sin with the sacrament 
 would be sufficient for salvation, seeing the great peril of 
 eternal welfare to which the penitent would be exposed, if 
 such opinion should prove unfounded.' So also Comitolus 
 says, Eesp, Mor. B. 1, q. 32, N. 7, 8. ' It is by no 
 
MITIGATIONS IN PENANCE. 169 
 
 meaus certain that ' regret ' for sin, with the sacrament, 
 suffices.' " 
 
 The worthy Father here interrupted me. " What 
 then ! you read our authors ? That is all right ; hut it 
 would be still better if you were to read them with a 
 member of the Society. Don't you perceive, that in con- 
 sequence of having read them alone, you have concluded 
 that these passages tend to cast reflections upon those 
 who now maintain our doctrines of ' Regret ? Instead of 
 which it might have been proved to you that nothing can 
 be more confirmatory of them. For what an honoiu' is it 
 to our modern authorities to have so universally dissemi- 
 nated their opinions, that, with the exception of mere 
 theologians, there is scarcely any one who does not believe 
 that the view we now take of the doctrine in question is 
 that which has been held by the Church from time imme- 
 morial. And thus, if you succeed in proving even from 
 our own Fathers, that until within these few years the 
 opinion was an uncertain one, what do you do but confer 
 additional honours upon the modern writers, for their 
 acuteness in having now established it ? 
 
 " Thus Diana, with whom we are both now so familiar, 
 has given an interesting account of the steps by which he 
 has arrived at his conclusions. See p. 5, tr. 13. He 
 says, ' Formerly the scholastics used to maintain, that 
 penitence was necessary after the commission of mortal 
 sin : afterwards, that it was only required on saints' days, 
 or when some public calamity was impending ; and, 
 according to others, it might not be deferred when we 
 seemed to be drawing near to death. But our Fathers 
 Eastado and Vasquez have conclusively refuted all these 
 
 r 
 
170 LETTER X. 
 
 opinions, and have decided ' that it is only necessary 
 when there is no other way of procuring absolution, as 
 in the Article of Death/ But to show you further the 
 surprizing progress this doctrine has made, I will just add 
 the following passages from Fagundes, praec. 3, t. 11, 
 ch. 4, N. 13 ; Granados in part 3, Contr. 7, d. 3, Sec. 4, 
 N. 19. ' Penitence * is not necessary even at death ; for 
 if regret t with the Sacrament is not sufficient at the 
 hour of death, it would follow that regret with the Sacra- 
 ment is not efficacious in itself.' The same sentiment is 
 expressed by Escobar in his ' Practice of our Society.' 
 And Pere F. Launy repeats the same proposition, tr. 8, 
 disp. 3, N. 13." 
 
 " You astonish me ! " I said : " I see in this regret for 
 sin which you speak of, nothing but a natural emotion ; 
 and thus a sinner may entitle himself to absolution, alto- 
 gether independently of divine influence. Now this, it is 
 well known, is denounced by the Councils as heresy." 
 " I might have thought as you do," the Father replied ; 
 " yet it is clear that the contrary is the case ; for our 
 Fathers, who belong to the College of Clermont, have 
 expressly maintained in their Theses of the 23d May and 
 6 June 1644, Col. 4, N. 1, that ' regret for sin may be 
 devout, and sufficient for the receiving of the Sacrament, 
 although not of a supernatural nature.' And in that of 
 the month of August 1643, ' Regret, although nothing 
 more than a natural emotion, is sufficient, if- sincere, 
 for the receiving the Sacrament.' ' Ad Sacramentum 
 sufficit attritio naturalis, modo honesta.' This now is 
 surely enough upon the point, excepting indeed, what 
 
 * ' Contrition.' (Fr.) + ' Attrition.' (Fr.) 
 
MITIGATIONS IN PENANCE. 171 
 
 results as a natural consequence from the principle here 
 laid down, viz. that penitence is so little necessary to the 
 Sacrament that it might, on the contrary, be positively 
 injurious; insomuch that (it possessing an efScacy to 
 efface sin in itself) it leaves nothing to be done by the 
 Sacrament. This is the view of our Father Valentia, the 
 celebrated Jesuit, t. 44, disp. 7, q, 8, p. 4. ' Contrition 
 is by no means necessary for obtaining the most important 
 results of the Sacrament, but on the contrary, it is rather 
 an obstacle : ' ' Imo obstat potius, quominus effectus se- 
 quatur.' Nothing stronger can be wished for in favour 
 of 'Regret.' " " I believe you, my dear Father," I said; 
 " but suiFer me to make one remark, and to show you the 
 extremes to which your doctrine may lead. When you 
 say that sorrow, arising merely from fear of punishment, is 
 sufficient, in conjunction with the Sacrament, for the 
 salvation of a sinner, does it not follow from thence, that 
 a man may have been all his life making this sort of 
 expiation for sin, and attain to salvation at last, without 
 having ever experienced a genuine and influential love of 
 his Maker ? Would your Fathers dare to maintain such 
 a position as that ? " 
 
 " I see from that remark," replied the Father, " that 
 you require to be informed of the doctrine held by our 
 Society respecting the ' love of God.' It is the final 
 article in their Moral system, and the most important of 
 all. You might indeed have gathered some hints of it 
 from the passages that have been quoted upon the last 
 topic : but there are some others more expressly bearing 
 upon the subject. Do not interrupt me, for they are 
 highly interesting. 
 
173 LETTER X. 
 
 " Hear now the sentiments of Escobarj who condenses 
 the several opinions of our greatest authors on the subject, 
 in his ' Practical treatise on the Love of God, as held by 
 our Society, tr. 1, ex. 3, N. 31 ; and tr. 5, ex. 4, N. 8. 
 ' When is it necessary for us really to possess love to 
 God ? Suarez says, it is sufficient if it be at some period 
 before death, without designating a time ; Vasquez, that 
 it is sufficient in the article of death; others, at the 
 period of baptism ; others, when we are compelled to do 
 penance; others, finally, on festivals. But the Pere 
 Castro Paulo opposes all these opinions, and on good 
 grounds — ' merito.' Hurtado de Mendoza affirms that 
 the duty is obligatory upon us once every year ; and that 
 we are indulgently treated, if not required to practice it 
 more frequently ; Pere Conink holds, that it is required 
 every three or four years ; Henriquez, every five years ; 
 and Filiutius says, it is probable that a period of five years 
 is somewhat rigorous.' " " What then is his period ? " 
 Why, he leaves it to the wise to decide." 
 
 I still compelled myself to abstain from comment upon 
 this indecent trifling, these impious jests, in which man 
 has dared to indulge on the sacred theme of love to his 
 God ! " But," the Father continued, " the great Anthony 
 Sumond, who deals so triumphantly with this subject in 
 his admirable work ' On the Defence of Virtue,' and in 
 which he addresses (as he informs his readers) French to 
 the French, has this language, tr. 3, Sec. 1, p. 13, 13, 14, 
 &c., St. Thomas says ' we ought to commence the culti- 
 vation of love to God immediately on coming to years of 
 reason ; ' this is somewhat early. Scotus says it should 
 be every Sunday ; how is that proved ? Others, at times 
 
MITIGATIONS IN PENANCE. 173 
 
 of grievous temptation : true, if there be no other way of 
 escaping the temptation. Sotus holds it . to be when we 
 receive some especial benefit at God's hand : good ; be it 
 for the purpose of showing our gratitude. Others again 
 affirm that it ought to be at the time of death : that is 
 very late. Neither am I more disposed to think it should 
 be at every time of the reception of a Sacrament : concern* 
 for sin is then sufficient, together with confession, if con- 
 venient. Suarez declares there is a time for it : but what 
 is that time ? He leaves you to decide ; he does not 
 pretend to judge. Then what so learned a man does not 
 know, neither can I tell.' — And he concludes the whole by 
 saying, that we are not, in strictness, bound to any thing 
 more than to keep the other commandmeats, without 
 aspiring after love to God, or aiming to give our heart to 
 him ; provided, however, we do not entertain any hatred 
 to him. This he establishes in his ' Second Tract ; ' you 
 will find the sentiment running through every page, but 
 especially at 16, 19, 24, 38, where he has such expres- 
 sions as these ; ' God, when he commands us to love him, 
 requires us only to obey his other commandments. If he 
 had said, ' However complete be your obedience, you 
 cannot be saved unless your heart be given to me, would 
 this motive, in your opinion, have been commensurate with 
 the object which God had in view ? Then, it is said, we 
 shall show our love to God in performing his will, in the 
 same way as if we had a real afiection — as if the force of 
 love constrained us. If that be really the case, well and 
 good ; if not, let us not the less apply ourselves to strict 
 obedience in good works ; seeing that, through the good- 
 
 * ' Attrition.' (Fr.) 
 
174 LETTER X. 
 
 ness of God, the obligation we are laid under is not so 
 much to love, as not to hate him ? 
 
 " It is in this way that our Fathers have relieved men 
 from the penal ^obligation actually to love God ; and this 
 doctrine is so comfortable, that Peres Aunat, Pintereau, 
 Le Moine and A. Simond have vigorously defended it, 
 when attacked. You have only to look to their replies to 
 the ' Moral Theology ; ' and that of Pere Pintereau, 2d 
 Part of the Abbe de Boisee, p. 53, will enable you to 
 judge of the value of this dispensation, by the price which 
 he says it has cost — that of the blood of Jesus Christ. It 
 is the master-piece of the doctrine. You will see from 
 these passages, that the dispensation from the irksome 
 obligation to the love of God is the privilege which the 
 Gospel dispensation possesses over the Judaical. ' It is 
 only reasonable,' he says, ' that in the Law of grace, 
 under the New Testament, the Lord should waive the 
 severe and difficult obligation which existed under the 
 legal system, of exercising complete penitence for obtain- 
 ing justification; and that the more lenient initiation of 
 the Sacraments should have been substituted. Otherwise, 
 Christians, who have succeeded to the place of children, 
 would enjoy no more advantages in the possession of their 
 heavenly parent's favour, than the Jews of old, who were 
 mere slaves, suing for pity of their Lord.' " 
 
 " Father ! " I here exclaimed, " my patience is ex- 
 hausted ; I can listen no longer to your detestable state- 
 ments." " They are not my own," he replied. " I know 
 they are not," I said; " but you repudiate them not — 
 you hold not their authors in abhorrence, but regard them 
 
MITIGATIONS IN PENANCE. 175 
 
 with complacency ! Have you no fear, lest acquiescence 
 in such views may render you a partaker of their guilt ? 
 Know you not that St. Paul holds to be worthy of death, 
 not only the authors of evil, but those who consent to it 
 also ? Is it not enough, that, by your fatal palliatives, 
 you allow so much that is forbidden, but you must also 
 allure and prompt to the commission of crimes (crimes, 
 which even yourselves dare not excuse) by the facility of 
 your absolutions — annihilating, for this purpose, all free- 
 dom of will in the priest, and compelling him, as a slave 
 rather than a judge, to give remission to the most in- 
 veterate offenders ! And all this, without alteration of 
 conduct — without any other sign of compunction, than 
 promises a hundred times broken — without penance, ' if 
 they be not disposed to undergo it' — without abandoning 
 their vices, ' if it cause them inconvenience to do so ! ' 
 
 " But I pass on. The freedoms taken by your Society 
 with the most sacred rules of Christian duty, lead to the 
 overthrow of the entire Law of God. They violate the 
 great commandment, on which hang all the law and the 
 prophets. They pervert the very principle of piety in 
 the heart ; they take from it all spirit and vitality ; they 
 proclaim, that love to God is not needful for salvation ; 
 and dare to assert, that the remission of this sacred prin- 
 ciple is a benefit which the religion of Jesus has conferred 
 upon the world. Impiety can go no further ! The blood 
 of Christ has flowed forth to purchase a dispensation from 
 the obligation to love him ! Before the mystery of 
 incarnation was revealed, love to God was imperative ; 
 now, when ' God has so loved the world, that he has 
 given his only-begotten Son for it/ the world — purchased 
 
^^" LETTER X. 
 
 by that love— is discharged from the sacred duty ! Oh, 
 marvellous theology of modern days ! To presume to 
 reverse the anathema pronounced by St. Paul against 
 those who ' love mi the Lord Jesus Christ ! ' To con- 
 tradict the assertion of St. John, ' that whoso loveth not, 
 is dead j' and the declaration of Christ himself, that "he 
 who loveth not, keepeth not his commandments ! ' You 
 would confer a title to the enjoyment of God, throughout 
 eternity, upon those who never owned an emotion of love 
 to Him in life! The mystery of iniquity is accom- 
 plished. Open, open your eyes, my Father; and, if you 
 have really remained unmoved by all the preceding 
 sophistries of your casuists, let these closing enormities 
 awaken you ! I fervently desire it, on behalf both of 
 yourself and your brethren ; and I pray to God to reveal 
 to you the horrors of the precipice to which a delusive 
 light has led you ; and to fill with his love the hearts of 
 those, who have dared to excuse and absolve the absence 
 of it in their fellow-men ! " 
 
 After some further remarks of the same nature, I parted 
 from the Father ; and we shall probably never meet again. 
 But this need be no cause of concern ; for if it should be 
 necessary for me further to communicate with you upon 
 their system, I have made myself so thoroughly acquainted 
 with their writings, thai I shall be able to furnish you 
 with as much of their moral principles, and perhaps some- 
 what more of their polity, than they themselves would be 
 desirous should be made public. — I am, &c. Sec. 
 
LETTER XL 
 
 TO THE REVEREND THE FATHERS OF THE 
 SOCIETY OF JESUS. 
 
 ERRORS OF A RIDICULOUS NATURE MAY BE REFUTED 
 BY RAILLERY. RESERVATIONS TO BE OBSERVED IN 
 ITS USE, WHICH HAVE BEEN OBSERVED BY MON- 
 TALTE,* BUT HAVE BEEN DISREGARDED BY THE 
 JESUIT WRITERS. IMPIOUS BUFFOONERIES OF PERES 
 LE MOINE AND GARASSE. 
 
 Reverend Fathers, August 18, 1656. 
 
 I HAVE seen the letters put forth by you, in answer to 
 those of mine addressed to a friend, on the principles of 
 your moral system ; and I observe that a main point in- 
 sisted upon by you in your defence is, that I have not ex- 
 pressed myself with sufficient gravity in animadverting 
 upon your tenets. This is reiterated by you in all your 
 publications ; and you even go so far as to assert, that I 
 have been guilty of turning sacred things into ridicule. 
 
 This reproach, reverend Fathers, is as surprising as it 
 is unjust. In what part of my communications, I demand, 
 is this ridicule of sacred things to be found ? You par- 
 
 * The feigned name (Louis de Montalte) under which the Letters were 
 originally published. 
 
 I S 
 
178 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 ticularize especially the Mohatra Contract, and the history 
 of John D'Alba. But are these, I pray you, what you 
 call " sacred things ? " Is the Mohatra a matter of so 
 holy a nature, that it is blasphemous to refer to it without 
 due reverence ? And the instructions of Pere Bauny on 
 the subject of larceny, which induced John D'Alba to put 
 them in practice, to the prejudice of your learned body — 
 are they of so sacred a character, as to brand with impiety 
 those who venture to allude to them with raillery ? 
 
 What Sirs ! the fictions of your brethren are to pass 
 for the solemnities of faith ; and we are not to be suffered 
 to jest at the absurdities of Escobar, and the fantastic and 
 antichristian decisions of your authorities, without in- 
 curring the reproach of bringing religion into ridicule ! 
 Is it possible that you should have brought yourselves to 
 repeat so often a charge thus utterly unreasonable ? Do 
 you not fear, that while you are blaming me for indulging 
 a smile at your extravagance, you may furnish me therein 
 with a fresh subject of ridicule; and make the charge 
 recoil upon yourselves, by showing, that it is from the 
 absurdities of your own books alone, that I have drawn 
 the materials of satire ? And may it not then become 
 apparent, that, in exposing the sophistries of your moral 
 code, I have been as far from ridiculing religion, as the 
 doctrines of your Casuists differ from the holy precepts of 
 the gospel ? 
 
 Be assured, my Fathers, that it is a very different thing 
 to jest at religion, and to ridicule those who profane it by 
 their perversions. It were indeed impiety to fail in re- 
 verence for the sacred revelations of God's Spirit ; but it 
 would be impiety of another kind, not to expose to merited 
 
ERRORS REPUTED BY RAILLERY. 179 
 
 contempt the impostures which the pernicious ingenuity 
 of man opposes to them ! 
 
 For since, reverend Fathers, you compel me to enter 
 upon this controversy, I entreat you to consider, that in 
 proportion as the truths of Christianity are entitled to our 
 love and respect, in the same proportion are their coun- 
 terfeits deserving of contempt and aversion. There are 
 two especial qualities in Christian verity — a sacred majesty 
 which challenges reverence, and a divine beauty which 
 inspires love. And there is also in error, an impiety 
 which excites distrust, and an impertinence that exposes 
 to ridicule. For this reason, as all holy men desire to 
 cherish sentiments of the deepest love and reverence for 
 truth, and feel their real wisdom to consist in the fear, 
 which is its great principle, and the love, which is its ob- 
 ject ; so do they not scruple to entertain both hatred and 
 contempt for error ; and their zeal prompts them equally 
 to oppose the powers of reason to the malignity of the 
 impious, and to scatter with the shafts of ridicule their ex- 
 travagance and folly. 
 
 Flatter not yourselves then. Fathers, that you can in- 
 duce the world to deem it unbecoming in a Christian to 
 resort to raillery in his assaults upon error ! Nothing is 
 more easy than to prove that the practice is both just in 
 itself, and usual with the fathers of the Church ; that it 
 is sanctioned by Scripture and by the example of the 
 most eminent saints ; and that it claims the august autho- 
 rity even of the Deity himself. 
 
 Do you not know that the Lord both abhors and de- 
 spises sinners ; insomuch that even in the hour of death, 
 that period the most affecting and mournful in their 
 
180 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 whole career — Divine Wisdom has declared that it will 
 add mockery and scorn to the wrath which consigns them 
 to eternal perdition ; " In interitu vestro ridebo et sub- 
 sannabo"? And the righteous^ in the same spiritj will 
 indulge the like emotions ; for (as David says) when they 
 see the punishment of the wicked^ " they will both fear 
 and mock — Videbunt justi et timebunt; et super eum 
 ridebunt." And Job says the same thing ; " Innocens 
 subsannabit eos." 
 
 But further, it is most remarkable, that in the very 
 first words addressed by God to man, after his fall, we 
 find a species of raillery — and, according to the authority 
 of the Fathers, " a pointed irony." For after Adam had 
 disobeyed, in the vain hope which the devil had inspired, 
 that he would become like the gods, it appears from Scrip- 
 ture, that God rendered him subject to the punishment of 
 death ; and that, having reduced him to this unhappy 
 condition — the result of his sin— he mocked him with 
 these sarcastic words, " Behold ! man is become as one of 
 us! — Ecce Adam quasi unus ex nobis!" "A cutting 
 and palpable irony on the part of the Deity, to aggravate 
 his fall," according to Chrysostom and other interpreters. 
 " Adam," Rupert says, " had justly exposed himself to 
 this mockery, and would feel it more acutely than more 
 serious language." And Hugues de St. Victor, after 
 similar sentiments, adds; " This ironical language was 
 fully incurred by his credulity and sin." 
 
 You see, then, my Father, that raillery is sometimes 
 proper, to awaken men to a sense of their extravagances, 
 and is then, in fact, only justice : for says Jeremiah, 
 " Vana sunt et risu dignk." And so far is this kind of 
 
ERRORS REFUTED BY RAILLERY. 181 
 
 ridicule from impiety, that according to the words of St. 
 AugustinCj " The wise mock at the wicked because they 
 are wise ; not in a wisdom of their own, but in that 
 which is divine, and which exults at the ruin of the 
 wicked.'' 
 
 In like manner, the prophets, filled with the Spirit of 
 God, availed themselves of the weapons of ridicule ; as in 
 the examples of Daniel and Elijah. Finally, we have 
 instances of the same thing in the discourses of Christ 
 himself; and St. Augustine remarks, that, intending to 
 humble Nicodemus, who deemed himself a master in the 
 law; and seeing him inflated with pride in his attain- 
 ments, as a doctor in Israel, he first surprises him by the 
 depth of his questions ; and then, having reduced him to 
 an incapability of reply, he says : " Art thou a master in 
 Israel, and knowest not these things?" As if he had 
 said, " Proud man, know you not that you know no- 
 thing ? " And both St. Chrysostom and St. Cyril re- 
 mark hereupon, that this species of raillery is justifiable. 
 
 You must perceive, then, from these instances, that if 
 it should happen in our days, that those professing to be 
 masters among Christians (like Nicodemus and the Pha- 
 risees among the Jews), should show themselves to be 
 ignorant of the first principles of their religion; and 
 maintain (for instance) " that we may be saved without 
 ever having experienced love to God in the whole course 
 of our lives ; " we should, in that case, be only following 
 the example of our Saviour, in exposing to the severest 
 ridicule their vanity and their ignorance. It is, I repeat, 
 in no wise inconsistent with sanctity, to ridicule, on fit 
 occasions, the errors and fallacies of men : were it other- 
 
183 LETTER XI. 
 
 wise we should censure some of the greatest names in 
 our Church, who have sanctioned the practice — such as 
 St. Jerome, in his Letters and Treatises against Jovinian ; 
 Vigilantius, and the Pelagians ; Tertullian, in his " Apo- 
 logy," written against the follies of idolatry ; St. Augus- 
 tine, against the Monks of Africa, whom he calls " long- 
 haired " (chevelus) ; St. Irenoeus, against the Gnostics ; 
 St. Bernard, and the Fathers of the Church ; who, having 
 themselves been imitators of the Apostles, ought to be 
 examples to the faithful, and the true models of Christians 
 in all ages, and to the present day, 
 
 I have therefore entertained the belief that I could not 
 err in following such examples ; and having, as I trust, 
 succeeded in establishing the position I proposed, I shall 
 only subjoin the admirable words of Tertullian, which 
 seem to me fully to confirm the course I have taken : 
 " What I have now been doing is but a pastime prepar- 
 atory to the real confl^ict. I have rather shown a sem- 
 blance of wounds that might have been given, than 
 inflicted them. If some passages have tended to excite 
 merriment, it has been rather in the subjects than in the 
 mode of treating them. There are many things that 
 require to be touched with lenity and banter, lest we 
 should give them too much importance by serious discus- 
 sion. Nothing is more appropriate to folly than ridicule ; 
 and it is, properly, truth alone that ought to indulge in 
 smiles, because she is happy in herself, and may venture to 
 amuse herself at her enemies' expense, inasmuch as she is 
 assured of victory. She ought undoubtedly to be careful, 
 that her raillery be not' gross in its expressions, and un- 
 worthy of her cause. But (with this limitation), when it 
 
ERRORS REFUTED BY RAILLERY. 183 
 
 can be advantageously employedj it is " a duty that it 
 should be so." Is not this language, my Fathers, appro- 
 priate to our purpose ? Are not my late letters " a pas- 
 time preparatory to the real conflict ? " I have but 
 amused myself " by showing the wounds that might have 
 been given, rather than inflicted them." I have simply 
 held up to view the passages in question, without com- 
 menting upon them. " If some of them have caused 
 mirth, it is the subjects themselves that have caused it." 
 What, I pray, is so suited to excite ridicule, as to see the 
 weighty subjects of Christian morals mixed up with fan- 
 tastic' imaginations like yours? Such is their way of 
 treating this sublime system, that they tell us " Jesus 
 Christ has himself revealed to your Fathers, ' that a priest 
 who has received money for saying a mass, may, in addi- 
 tion, take payment from others, in consideration of his 
 making over to them all his own share of the sacrifice : ' 
 ' that a Monastic is not liable to excommunication for 
 leaving off his habit, even if it be for the purpose of 
 joining in dances, for pilfering, or going incognito to places 
 of licentiousness : ' and ' that we fulfil the duty of at- 
 tending mass, by listening to four fourth-parts of the 
 office at once, from different priests V" I say then, after 
 hearing these and similar decisions, it is impossible to 
 avoid ridicule, or to deal in any other way than that of 
 sarcasm with such absurdities ; since, according to Ter- 
 tuUian, " it would be to give them weight and authority 
 to discuss them seriously." 
 
 What ! are we to bring to bear the force of Scripture 
 and tradition, in order to demonstrate that it is treacher- 
 ous to kill an enemy by sword-wounds from behind, or in 
 
184 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 ambuscade ; and that it is purchasing a benefice to give 
 money as a motive to the party to resign ? These are 
 assuredly among the things that excite only contempt ; 
 and that " deserve to be encountered with mockery and 
 ridicule." Again, as says this ancient writer, " Nothing 
 is more appropriate to folly than raillery ; " and the re- 
 mainder of his sentiments apply so well to the point in 
 question, as to leave no doubt that it is perfectly allow- 
 able to laugh at error, without violation of good manners 
 and decorum. 
 
 I must also contend, my Fathers, that ridicule may be 
 employed without any infringement of charity; although my 
 use of this weapon is one of the charges you have brought 
 against me in your late publication. " For charity in- 
 duces us sometimes to indulge in ridicule at men's errors, 
 for the very purpose of causing them to see their absur- 
 dity, and thus to forsake them ; " according to St. Augus- 
 tine: " HiEC tu misericorditer irride, ut eis ridenda ac 
 fugienda commendes." And equally are we sometimes 
 compelled, in the same spirit, to denounce them with 
 warmth ; as St. Gregory Nazianzen teaches, in these 
 words : " The spirit of charity and kindness has both its 
 tenderness and its severity." " In truth," as says St. 
 Augustine again, " who shall dare to affirm, that truth is 
 to remain passive under the aggressions of error ; and 
 that the enemies of the faith shall be allowed to disturb 
 the pious by their audacities, or amuse them by sallies 
 of wit and humour ; while the orthodox are to be re- 
 stricted to a frigidness of language that shall send the 
 reader to sleep ? " 
 
 See you not, then, I pray, that in this way, we should 
 
ERRORS REFUTED BY RAILLERY. 185 
 
 allow to be brought into the Church the most extravagant 
 and pernicious errors, without daring, on the one hand, 
 to expose them to deserved contempt by raillery, lest we 
 should be charged with want of good manners ; or, on the 
 other, to attack them with more vigorous weapons, lest a 
 breach of charity should be imputed to us ? 
 
 What, reverend sirs ! you are to tell us, " that life may 
 be taten for a blow, or an injury ;" and we may not be 
 allowed, in the most public manner, to denounce an error 
 of such grave importance to the public ! You are to be 
 at liberty to say " that a judge may with safe conscience 
 retain the wicked gains that he has made by corruption ;" 
 and we are to have no leave to contradict the position ! 
 You publish to the world, with the consent of your whole 
 body, " that a man can be saved without love of God ; " 
 and you would shut the mouth of those who desire to de- 
 fend the truth and the faith ; warning them that they will 
 violate brotherly charity by controverting, and offend 
 against Christian modesty by ridiculing your maxims ! I 
 doubt, my Fathers, whether there are any whom you have 
 succeeded in bringing over to your views. But should 
 there be persons so credulous as to be persuaded that I 
 have violated the dues bf charity towards yourselves by 
 denouncing your moral precepts, I request them now to 
 examine carefully the grounds of this opinion. For, 
 although they may imagine that it originates in zeal to 
 prevent imputations against their neighbours ; let them 
 consider, that it may not impossibly own another source ; 
 and may but too probably arise from that secret opposition 
 (often undetected even by ourselves) which our evil nature 
 is ever apt to raise, against those who set themselves to 
 
186 LETTER XI. 
 
 stem the tide of moral corruption. And, to furnisli them 
 with a rule to discover the true principle of their conduct, 
 I would ask them, whether, while they complain of the 
 manner in which religionists have been treated, they still 
 more warmly resent the treatment which Divine Truth 
 has received at those religionists' hands ? If their dis- 
 pleasure have been excited, not only against these letters, 
 but yet more against the principle which it is their object 
 to expose, then I shall be willing to acknowledge, that 
 their resentment has its source in a zeal, sincere, though 
 unenlightened; and, in such case, the authorities I am 
 now adducing will suffice to set them right. But if, on 
 the other hand, such persons can feel wrath only against 
 my animadversions, and none against the matters which 
 I have censured, truly, my Fathers, I do not scruple to 
 tell them they are grossly abused, and their zeal is as 
 blind as it is misdirected ! 
 
 Singular indeed is that zeal which rouses against such 
 as dare to denounce error, but is passive towards those 
 with whom that error .originates ! Novel the charity 
 which resents the overthrow of flagrant impostures, but is 
 silent under the moral contamination which they produce ! 
 Were such persons in danger of assassination, would they 
 be offended with the friend who warned them of the am- 
 bush prepared for them ? Instead of turning out of its 
 way, would they trifle in complaints of the nneharitable- 
 ness of him who so seasonably informed them of the 
 murderous plot ? Are they displeased at a warning to 
 abstain from food that contains poison ; or not to visit a 
 neighbourhood which is the seat of pestilence ? 
 
 How is it then, that we are stigmatized with unchari- 
 
ERRORS REFUTED BY RAILLERY. 187 
 
 tableness for exposing principles fatal to religion ; and 
 yet should be thought, wanting in charity, in not giving 
 warning against that which would be hurtful to health or 
 life ? Is it not, that the love of life causes us to entertain 
 with favor every thing that tends to its preservation ; 
 while an indiflference to truth leads us not only to take no 
 part in its defence, but to view with hostility the efforts of 
 others to overthrow falsehood ? 
 
 I entreat such persons to consider — and that, as in the 
 sight of God — the scandal and injury which the moral 
 system of your Casuists, so widely diffused, is producing 
 throughout the Church ; the unbounded licence of man- 
 ners to which it is giving rise ; the fierce and stub- 
 born audacity with which it is propagated ? And if they 
 cannot perceive that the time is come for making a stand 
 against such corruptions, their blindness is not less la- 
 mentable than your own, Fathers ! and both you and 
 they will fall under the apostrophe of St. Augustine, upon 
 the words of our Saviour in the Gospel : " Woe to the 
 blind who lead ! Woe to the blind who are led ! — Vse 
 ccecis ducentibus ! Vse ccecis sequentibus ! " 
 
 But that you may no longer have any justification for 
 entertaining these impressions yourselves, or conveying 
 them to others, I will tell you, my Fathers — and I blush 
 to be compelled to instruct, when I ought rather to be sit- 
 ting submissively at the feet of age, of authority, and 
 learning — I will tell you what are the marks that have 
 been assigned by the leaders of our Church to indicate 
 whether censures, such as these, proceed from a spirit of 
 piety and charity, or of impiety and malice. 
 
 The iirst of these marks then, is, that piety always 
 
188 LETTER XI. 
 
 uses the language of sincerity and truth ; while envy and 
 hatred use that of falsehood and calumny — " Splendentia 
 et vehementiaj sed rebus veris," says St. Augustine, de 
 Doct. Chr. B. 4, C. 28. " Whosoever resorts to false- 
 hood is under the influence of Satan. No regulation of 
 the motive can justify calumny ; and if the conversion of 
 the world were at stake, it would not be lawful to malign 
 the innocent ; because we ought not to do the smallest 
 evil to bring about even the greatest good; and the 
 truth of God hath no need of our falsehood," according 
 to the Scripture (Job xiii. 7,) " Will ye speak wickedly 
 for God ? " " It is the duty of those who defend the 
 truth to speak nothing but truth," says St. Hilary, Con. 
 Const. Therefore, reverend Fathers, I can declare, as 
 before God, that there is nothing I detest more than the 
 slightest violation of truth ; and that I have been always 
 most especially careful, not only not to falsify (for that 
 would be detestable) but not to alter or pervert in the 
 smallest degree the sense of any passage I have quoted. 
 So that, availing myself in this argument, of the words of 
 St. Hilary again, I would say with him, " if we assert 
 what is false, let us be accounted infamous ; but if we 
 can demonstrate that our statements are palpable and 
 notorious, it is not to go beyond the bounds of modesty 
 and apostolical liberty, to direct these reproaches against 
 them." 
 
 But it is not sufficient that we state only what is the 
 truth ; we are bound also not, at all times, to say all 
 that is true ; because we ought only to give publicity to 
 things that may serve a useful purpose, and not to such 
 as may cause pain to individuals, without conducing to 
 
ERRORS REFUTED BY RAILLERY. 189 
 
 general utility. And thus^ as the first rule is truth, so 
 is the second discretion. " The wicked," says St. Augus- 
 tine, ep. 8, " persecute the good, in following blindly the 
 guidance of their passions ; the good, on the other hand, 
 oppose the wicked, in the exercise of a sound discretion ; 
 as the surgeon carefully considers the wound he is about 
 to inflict ; while a murderer deals his destructive blows at 
 random." You well know, my Fathers, that I have not 
 reported many of these maxims of your authorities, re- 
 specting which you woidd have felt the most sensitively ; 
 although I might have done so — and that without offend- 
 ing against discretion — as many wise and most catholic 
 men before me had done : and every one who has read 
 your authors, knows, as well as yourselves, how greatly I 
 have spared you. I have, further, not said a word on any 
 occasion to the prejudice of any members of your body 
 individually ; and should have revolted from any allusion 
 to secret and personal delinquencies, whatever might have 
 been the proofs I possessed of them. For I well know 
 that this is the characteristic of hatred and malevolence, 
 and is a practice never to be justified, but when required 
 by the most pressing necessity, for the welfare of the 
 Church. It is evident then, that I have in no degree been 
 wanting in prudence in the allegations I have thought it 
 my duty to make against your system of morality ; and 
 that you have more need to commend me for my absti- 
 nence, than to complain of my indiscretion. 
 
 The third rule is, that when necessity compels to resort 
 to raillerj', we should confine the use of such a weapon 
 to the errors only upon which we may be animad- 
 verting, and not employ it against really sacred things ; 
 
190 LETTER XI. 
 
 while a spirit of buffoonery, impiety, and heresy, aims to 
 bring ridicule upon the most solemn realities. I have 
 already defended myself against this imputation ; and in 
 truth there is not much danger of infringing this precept 
 in commenting upon opinions such as those I have ad- 
 duced from your authorities ! 
 
 Finally, my Fathers — to condense these rules in one, 
 the principal and the very substance of all — Divine love 
 should influence the heart, supremely to seek the spiritual 
 good of those, against whom we direct our censures ; and 
 to address our petitions to God, simultaneously with our 
 reproaches against man. " We ought," says St. Augus- 
 tine, " to cherish charity in the heart, even when we are 
 compelled externally to do what is offensive to men ; and 
 to inflict upon them severe but salutary chastisement : 
 their welfare should be preferred to their comfort." It is 
 my conviction. Reverend Fathers, that there is nothing in 
 my letters inconsistent with such a desire on my part for 
 you; and charity therefore must compel you to believe 
 such to have been in reality my motive. 
 
 But if you are desiroiis indeed that I should briefly 
 exhibit to you a conduct at variance with these rules, and 
 bearing the true character of buffoonery, malice, and 
 hatred, I will produce some specimens; and in, order 
 that they may be the more known and familiar to you, 
 they shall be drawn from the pages of your own writers. 
 
 To begin, then, with the contemptuous manner in which 
 the authors of your school deal with sacred things, whe- 
 ther in their jocularities, their gallantries, or their serious 
 discussions, would you consider the>arious absurd stories 
 introduced by your Pere Benit, into his " Consolations 
 
ERRORS REPUTED BY RAILLERY. 191 
 
 for the Sick/' as very appropriate to his ostensible design 
 of furnishing Christian consolation to those who are suf- 
 fering under the afflictions of God ? Would you maintain 
 that the profane and wanton manner in which the Pere 
 Le Moine talks of piety, in his " Devotion made Easy," 
 is calculated to inspire respect for the picture he draws of 
 Christian virtue ? Does his entire work of " Moral Por- 
 traits" — whether the prose or the verse — breathe of aught 
 but the vanity and follies of the world ? Is the poem in 
 the seventh book entitled " Praises of Modesty," worthy 
 of an ecclesiastic, purporting to show that every thing 
 fair blushes, or is subject to blushing ? It professes to be 
 intended to console a lady, who is called Delphine, and 
 who had a habit of frequent blushing. The burthen of 
 each stanza is, that every thing most admired is of a 
 blushing hue, such as roses, pomegranates, the lips, the 
 tongue ; and it is amongst these gallantries, disgraceful to 
 a Pietist, that he dares indecently to mix up allusions to 
 those blessed spirits who stand before the Lord, and whom 
 the Christian should never name but with reverence.* 
 
 * The following are the lines alluded to, which almost defy a translation 
 that would do them, justice : 
 
 ' Les chdrubins, ces glorieux 
 Composes de tete et de plume, 
 Que Dieu de son esprit allume, 
 Et qu'il ^olaire de ses yeux ; 
 Ces illustres faces volantes 
 Sont toujours rouges et brulantes 
 Soit du feu de Dieu, soit du leur, 
 Et dans leur flammes mutuelles 
 Font du mouvement de leur ailes 
 Un eventail a leur chaleur. 
 Mais la rongeur delate en toi. 
 Delphine, avec plus d'avantage, 
 Quand I'honneur est sur ton visage 
 Vetu de pourpre comme un roi,^&c. 
 
192 LETTER Xr. 
 
 What will you say. Fathers, to the preference assigned 
 to the blushes of Delphine over the glowing ardours of 
 those spiritual beings, inspired by Divine love alone ? 
 And the comparison of a fan to the mysterious ilutterings 
 of their wings — is that consistent with Christian decorum, 
 in one who performs the function of consecrating the holy 
 body of the Saviour ? I know the scope of the composi- 
 tion is only gallantry and banter : but what is all that, 
 but turning sacred things into jest ? And is it any valid 
 plea to urge, as is done in the first book, in language 
 equally unbecoming — " The Sorbonne extends not its juris- 
 diction over Parnassus, and the errors of that fair region 
 are not obnoxious to its censures or inquisitions : " as if 
 blasphemy and impiety were only blameable in prose ! 
 But, at all events, such a plea would not avail for the fol- 
 lowing passage, taken from the preface to the same work : 
 " The river, on the border of which the author has com- 
 posed these verses, is so calculated for the formation of 
 poets, that if baptismal water were to be taken from it, it 
 would not have the efiect of driving away the spirit of 
 poetry ? " Nor that again of your Pere Garasse in his 
 Summary of the Chief Truths of Religion, p. 640, in 
 which he adds blasphemy to heresy, in the following lan- 
 guage on the sacred mystery of the Incarnation : " The 
 human personality has been, as it were, grafted, or 
 mounted * on the back of the personality of the Word." 
 And that other passage of the same author, p. 510 — be- 
 sides other similar — in which he utters a stupid jest upon 
 the name of Jesus, designated usually thus, J. H. S. 
 
 In thus manner it is that you degrade the great verities 
 
 * ' MonW a cheyal.' (Fr.) 
 
ERRORS REFUTED BY RAILLERY. 193 
 
 of religion, in contravention of the inviolable rule, which 
 enjoins to treat them with reverence. And you do no less 
 wrong to those who impose upon themselves, as a duty, the 
 strict observance of truth and discretion. What is it that 
 abounds more in your writings than calumny? Are the 
 allegations of P^re Brisacicr consistent with truth at 
 pp. 24, 35, 4th Part, that the nuns of Port Royal make 
 no invocations to the saints, and have no images in their 
 churches ? Are these not audacious falsehoods, since the 
 very contrary is known to be the case throughout the 
 whole of Paris ? Is it a decent discretion to impeach the 
 character of these pure-minded and exemplary females — 
 to call them impenitent, neglectful of the sacraments, un- 
 devout, foolish, fantastical, abandoned, and whatever else 
 is opprobrious — and to heap such calumnies upon them 
 as even to draw down upon the slanderer the censure of 
 the late Archbishop of Paris ? Then, again, to traduce 
 the priests, whose morals are so irreproachable, saying, 
 1st Part, p. 23, " that they introduce novelties into the 
 confessional, for the purpose of entrapping the fair and the 
 innocent ; and that the author would be shocked to record 
 the abominations they are guilty of ? " Is it not an in- 
 tolerable audacity to advance such flagrant inventions, not 
 only without proof, but without the slightest shadow, or 
 pretence of reality ! I shall say no more on this subject 
 at present, but postpone further remark to another occa- 
 sion. What I have now advanced may be sufficient to 
 show the degree in which you have violated equally the 
 laws of truth and discretion. 
 
 But it may, perhaps, be said, that, at least, the last of 
 the rules which have been cited is not infringed by you. 
 
194 LETTER XI. 
 
 viz. that which enjoins us to seek the spiritual welfare of 
 those whom we censure ; and that this charge cannot be 
 brought against you without violating secrets which are 
 known to God alone. Wonderful is itj my Fathers, that 
 the means should be in our power to convict you of this 
 charge also ; that carrying your hatred against your op- 
 ponents to such a length as to aim at their eternal de- 
 structionj your infatuation should have been such as to 
 betray to the world an aim so abominable, that, far from 
 cherishing secret aspirations for their eternal welfare, you 
 have indulged in public vows for their damnation ; and 
 that, after having given utterance to these execrable de- 
 sires, to the scandal of the whole Church, in the town of 
 Caen, you should also have dared to reiterate in Paris, in 
 your authorized works, a sentiment so diabolical ! You 
 here reach the climax of violation of true piety ; ribald 
 raillery on the most sacred subjects, false and scan- 
 dalous calumny of holy women and ecclesiastics, and, 
 lastly, open desires and vows for their eternal perdition ! 
 I know not, Fathers, where is your sense of shame, 
 when you can venture to charge a want of charity upon 
 us, who have been so scrupulously observant of truth and 
 moderation — while you, yourselves, have been guilty of 
 such lamentable transports of malevolence ! 
 
 I will, for the present, conclude, by noticing only one 
 other charge which you have brought against me, namely, 
 that amongst the numerous axioms of your authorities 
 upon which I have remarked, some had been pretiioiisly 
 subjected to censure. To this I answer, that it is for this 
 very reason — because you have so little profited by pre- 
 vious comments, that I now repeat them. What has been 
 
ERRORS REFUTED BY RAILLERY. 195 
 
 the fruitj I ask, of the reiterated animadversions of so 
 many learned men — nay of the entire University — in their 
 numerous writings ? What has been the conduct of your 
 Annats, your Caussins, Pintereaus and Le Moines in 
 their replies, but to overwhelm with obloquy those who 
 ventured to give them these salutary councils? Have 
 you suppressed the works in which such offensive prin- 
 ciples are inculcated ? Have their authors been repre- 
 hended ? Has the criticism produced more circumspection ? 
 And is it not, on the contrary, subsequent to all this, that 
 Escobar has been so frequently reprinted both in France 
 and in the Low Countries ; and that your Peres Cellot, 
 Bagot, Bauny, Laury, Le Moine and others, have been 
 incessantly putting forth similar publications, with other 
 novelties, as licentious as any of the former ? Complain 
 not then. Sirs, that I have made the subject of my 
 renewed censure, principles and doctrines which (if before 
 attacked) you have never abandoned — that I have exposed 
 others and yet more unsound dogmas, to the public gaze 
 — that I have made all, alike, the vehicles of ridicule and 
 sarcasm. Look at them once again calmly, and you will 
 see in them your own confusion, and my defence. Who 
 can hear without scorn the decision of Pere Bauny in the 
 case of Incendiarism ; that of Pere Cellot on the question 
 of Kestitution ; the rules of Sanchez in favour of Necro- 
 mancers ,• the way in which Hurtado gets rid of the sin of 
 duelling, by allowing the party to walk in a field and fall 
 in (of course by accident) with his antagonist ; the 
 refinements of Bauny for evading the crime of usury; 
 the method of keeping clear of Simony by a theory of 
 intention ; and that of avoiding falsehood by sometimes 
 
 K 2 
 
196 LETTER XI. 
 
 speaking loud and sometimes low ; with various other 
 similar sophistries, of your gravest doctors ? Is any thing 
 more required for my justification ? * Is aught/ as says 
 Tertullian, ' due to such opinions — so compounded of 
 weakness and inanity— but ridicule ? ' Yes, Reverend 
 Fathers, I must tell you that the corruption of morals to 
 which your doctrines lead, requires also another mode of 
 animadversion ; and we may justly ask with the same 
 holy writer again, ' Shall we laugh at their folly, or 
 lament their blindness : ' ' Rideam vanitatem, an expro- 
 brem ccecitatem ? ' My conviction is, my Fathers, that 
 we may at our pleasure both laugh and weep by turns ! 
 ' Haec tolerabilius vel ridentur, vel flentur,' says St. 
 Augustine, cont. Faust. B. 30, C. 6. Remember that 
 Holy Writ declares the same truth. And it is my desire 
 that I may not see realized in you those words in the 
 Proverbs, " There are some so unreasonable as never to 
 be satisfied, however they are treated, whether it be by 
 ridicule, or by anger. " * 
 
 P. S. — Since closing my letter, I have seen a pubhcation 
 emanating from your Society, in which I am accused of 
 misrepresentation in regard to six of your maxims, 
 reported by me, and of making common cause vpith 
 heretics. I trust you will receive an exact and early 
 reply to this charge ; and I suspect that, after a time, 
 you will not be much inclined to repeat these kind 
 of recriminations. 
 
 * If by the ' Proverbs' here is meant the part of Scripture so entitled, 
 the above must, I apprehend, be only a paraphrase of some passage, as I am 
 not aware 'of any part from which it is literally taken. (Transl.) 
 
LETTER XII. 
 
 refutation op the sophistries op the jesuits on 
 the subjects op alms-giving and simony. 
 
 Reverend Fathers, 
 I had prepared to address you respecting the asper- 
 sions in which you have so long indulged towards me in 
 your various publications ; styling me successively ' im- 
 pious and ignorant/ ' buffoon and Merry-Andrew, an 
 impostor, a calumniator, a cheat, a heretic, a Calvinist in 
 disguise, a disciple of Mohna, one possessed with devils, 
 &c. &c.' Not choosing entirely to acquiesce in such 
 treatment, I was about to appeal to the world as to its 
 justice, and had determined publicly to expose your 
 calumnies and impositions, when your later replies to me 
 appeared ; and therein I found myself made, in my turn, 
 the subject of similar charges of imposition on your part. 
 I have thus been obliged to alter my plan of proceeding ; 
 although I intend still, in a measure, to pursue my original 
 purpose ; and trust to be able, in defending myself from 
 the charge of impostures, to convict you of some more 
 palpable and flagrant than any which you have imputed 
 to me. 
 
198 LETTER XII. 
 
 And truly, my Fathers, your case is one of more sus- 
 picion than my own. Little probable is it that, standing 
 as I do alone — without external power or human aid — 
 and confronting a body so powerful as yours, — sustained 
 alone by the weapons of integrity and truth, I should 
 expose myself to the loss of every thing dear to me, by 
 risking a conviction of falsehood and imposture ! It is 
 but too easy to detect untruth in' matters of fact like 
 these ; and well do I know, I should not lack accusers, nor 
 would full scope and opportunity be denied to them to 
 establish their charges. As for you. Reverend Sirs, your 
 position is far different ; you may use what language you 
 please against me, and I can complain to none. In this 
 unequal contest, I should feel little bound to use reserve, 
 did not other considerations restrain me. Nevertheless, 
 as you choose to hold me up as an impostor, you compel 
 me to a defence ; while, as you must know that this can- 
 not be made without fresh disclosures on my part, and 
 laying bare anew the whole foundation of your moral 
 system, I must be allowed to entertain doubts of the 
 policy of your conduct. The war must now be carried on 
 within your own borders, and at your own cost ; and 
 although you may think, that by mystifying the questions 
 at issue with scholastic terms, the replies will be so 
 tedious, so obscure and abstruse, as to repel the public 
 mind from their consideration, you may possibly find 
 yourselves herein mistaken. It shall be my endeavour to 
 occasion as little weariness as may be possible in such a 
 controversy as this. Your maxims have at least this 
 property, that they afford universal amusement. Remem- 
 ber, however, that it is yourselves who challenge me anew 
 
SOPHISTRIES OF THE JESUITS. 199 
 
 to this discussion ; and let us now see which of us shall 
 come the best out of it. 
 
 The foremost of your charges of imposture is concealing 
 the ' opinion of Vasquez upon the duty of alms-giving.' 
 Allow me however, first of all, to give a clear explanation 
 of the point at issue, in order that all obscurity be removed 
 in our discussion. 
 
 It is well known. Sirs, that according to the authority 
 of the Church, there are two precepts on the subject of 
 alms ; the one, to give of our superfluity for relieving the 
 ordinary necessities of the poor, the other to give of what 
 is even necessary to ourselves (according to our means,) in 
 cases of extreme destitution. This is what is laid down 
 by Cajetan following St. Thomas ; so that, to ascertain 
 the spirit of Vasquez' regulations of alms-giving, we must 
 examine his directions, both as to what may be deemed 
 superfluous, and what necessary. 
 
 As to superfluity, which is the most usual resource for 
 the relief of the poor, this is entirely got rid of by the 
 tenet I recited in my letter, De Fl. c. 4, N. 14, viz. 
 ' That which persons, moving in the world, retain for 
 supporting their station in society, and that of their rela- 
 tives, is not to be deemed superfluous. Therefore it can 
 rarely happen that such persons, even of the most exalted 
 rank — not excepting Sovereigns — can be said to possess a 
 superfluity.' You see therefore, my Fathers, that accord- 
 ing to this definition, no persons of an aspiring disposition 
 are likely to suffer under a superfluity of possessions : and 
 by this means, alms-giving, in regard to the greater part 
 of the world, is virtually abolished. 
 
 But even if this were not the case, men would be dis- 
 
200 LETTER XII. 
 
 pensed from this duty, in eases of ordinary necessity, 
 according to Vasquez ; who impugns entirely aiiy obliga- 
 tion of the kind on the part of the rich. These are his 
 words, ch. 1, d. 4, N. 33. • Corduba,' he says, ' teaches 
 that those who enjoy a superfluity of means are bound to 
 distribute, at least some portion to all who are in circum- 
 stances of ordinary necessity, in order, in some measure, 
 to conform to the precepts of the church on this head ; 
 but this I do not agree with : ' sed hoe non placet ; ' for 
 we have demonstrated the contrary, in opposition to 
 Cajetan and Navarre.' Thus, my Fathers, the obligation 
 to alms-giving, under this head, is according to this 
 decision entirely abolished. 
 
 As regards the duty, in case of extreme and pressing 
 necessity, you see that by the various conditions which 
 must unite to impose the obligation, the very wealthiest 
 people in Paris may pass their whole lives without having 
 once incurred it. I will only adduce two of these ; the 
 one is, that ' they must be certain that the poor applicant 
 will not be able to receive relief from any other quarter ; ' 
 ' hsec intelligo et csetera omnia, quando scio nullum 
 alium opem laturum, ch. 1, N. 28." What shall be said 
 to this. Reverend Sirs ? Is it likely often to happen, I 
 would ask, that in Paris, where beneficence so abounds, it 
 shall be demonstrable that none would be found except 
 ourselves to relieve a distressed applicant ? And yet, 
 according to this authority, unless ascertained of this fact, 
 the cry of poverty may always, with a safe conscience, be 
 left unheeded ! The other preliminary is, ' that the ne- 
 cessity of the pauper shall be such that he be in imminent 
 danger to life or good fame;' N. 24 and 26. This is a 
 
SOPHISTRIES OP THE JESUITS. 201 
 
 case certainly not of very common occurrence ; and what 
 proves the infrequency of it is, that the author says (N. 45) 
 that the poor man, being thus in the circumstances which 
 are to impose the necessity of alms-giving for his relief, 
 ' is justified in robbing the rich for the relief of his 
 necessity.' So that, after absolving the rich from the 
 duty of giving alms of his superfluity (which is the grand 
 source of charity,) he only obliges him to afford relief to 
 the poor, in circumstances of such exigency, as that, 
 according to his doctrine, the pauper object is permitted 
 to help himself to the goods of the rich. This is Vas- 
 quez's theory, to which you refer your readers for their 
 edification. 
 
 I come now to other charges of misrepresentation. You 
 insist much upon the way in which Vasquez enforces the 
 duty of alms-giving upon ecclesiastics ; but this is not the 
 question between us at present. Be assured I shall be 
 ready to discuss it whenever you please. As to the laity 
 (whose case alone it is we are considering), you seem to' 
 wish it to be understood that Vasquez is speaking, in the 
 passages I have quoted, only the sentiments of Cajetan, 
 and not his own. As nothing, however, can be more un- 
 founded than this, and as you have not ventured so far 
 even as to state the fact unreservedly, I am willing^ for 
 your own sake, to believe that it was not your intention to 
 convey such a meaning. 
 
 You afterwards complain vehemently, that, after quoting 
 the maxim of Vasquez, ' that scarcely any persons living 
 in the world — not even excepting sovereigns — will be 
 found to possess " superfluity," ' I should have deduced 
 the conclusion that the rich are under very little obliga- 
 
 K s 
 
202 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 tion to give of their superfluity. But what else does this 
 mean, I pray ? If it be true, that the rich may contend 
 that they rarely possess superfluous wealth, is it not 
 equally certain that they cannot be bound to give alms 
 out of their superfluity ? I might pursue the argument 
 at more length, had not Diana (who is so great an ad- 
 mirer of Vasquez, that he calls him "the Phoenix of 
 minds"), drawn the same inference from his principles; 
 for, after quoting the maxims referred to of Vasquez, he 
 thus concludes : " As to the question, Whether the rich 
 are bound to give alms of their superfluity, although the 
 opinion may be well founded, it will seldom or never 
 happen that they will be under any obligation to act upon 
 it." Now, I have done no more than follow, word for 
 word, these authorities. Diana, however, may repeat with 
 eulogies these sentiments of Vasquez, may hold them 
 forth as most reasonable, and " very convenient for the 
 rich " (as he says in the same place) ; and you hold him to 
 be no calumniator, no forger, no impostor. But if I, on the 
 contrary, venture to adduce these same opinions (but by 
 no means holding their author to be a phoenix) — I am an 
 impostor, a forger, a calumniator of his principles ! Be 
 assured, reverend Fathers, you have good reason to fear, 
 that this difierence in your conduct towards those whose 
 statements are identical, and who disagree only in their 
 opinions of your doctors, will betray your secret motive ; 
 and make it apparent that your only aim is to uphold, by 
 whatever means, the reputation of your Society. So long 
 as your accommodating theology passes for a prudent con- 
 descension to the infirmities of your followers ; you are 
 not forward to disavow the statements of those who pub^ 
 
SOPHISTRIES OP THE JESUITS. 203 
 
 lish itj butj on the contrary, eulogize them, as contri- 
 buting to the support of a common object. But when it 
 is denounced as a pernicious laxity, then the same instinct 
 of self-defence leads you to disavow principles which are 
 bringing discredit upon you. Thus you own or repudiate, 
 not by the rules of truth, which are immutable, but by 
 the mere accident of shifting circumstances ; according to 
 the ancient saying, " Omnia pro tempore, nihil pro veri- 
 tate." Take heed, then, Fathers ! and that you may 
 not again charge me with having drawn from the prin- 
 ciples laid down by Vasquez, conclusions which he would 
 have disavowed, know that he has drawn those very con- 
 clusions himself (C. 1. N. 27) : " Persons are scarcely 
 bound," he says, " to alms-giving, when only out of their 
 superfluity, according to the opinion of Cajetan, and ae- 
 cording to mine also — et secundum nostram.''' You must 
 confess then, Sirs, on the testimony of Vasquez himself, 
 that I have exactly stated his sentiments ; and you will 
 then see with what justice you have dared to say, " If the 
 matter be investigated to its source, it will be seen that 
 he (Vasquez) has inculcated the very opposite doctrine." 
 
 By what I have now adduced, then, you show the value 
 of your assertion, that if Vasquez does not compel the 
 rich to give alms of their superfluity, he enjoins, as a set- 
 off, that they should give of that which is necessary to 
 themselves. But you have omitted to add the combina- 
 tion of circumstances which he declares to be necessary to 
 constitute the obligation, and which restrict it almost to the 
 point of annihilation ; while, instead of stating explicitly 
 his doctrines, you say, generally, that he compels the rich 
 to give, even of that which is necessary to their station, 
 
204 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 This would be proving too much, my good Fathers. The 
 gospel-rule goes not this length ; and Vasquez would be 
 far from faUing into such an error. To conceal his lax- 
 nessj you impute to him a severity which would be actually 
 blapeable ; and, by that means, you shake all belief in 
 the fidelity of your representations. But he is by no 
 means deserving of this reproach, after having maintained, 
 as I have shown, that the rich are not bound by the laws 
 of justice or charity, to give of their superfluity, and still 
 less of their necessaries, in any ordinary cases of poverty ; 
 and that the obligation in extraordinary cases is so rare, as 
 scarcely ever to occur. 
 
 I have now disposed of all your cavils j and it only 
 remains for me to show, how unfounded your assertion is 
 that Vasquez is more rigid even than Cajetan. This will 
 be extremely easy ; for the Cardinal teaches, " We are 
 bound in justice to give alms of our superfluity, even in 
 relief of the ordinary necessities of the poor : since, ac- 
 cording to the holy Fathers, the rich are only stewards of 
 their possessions for the purpose of dispensing to the 
 wants of the needy." And thus, instead of being, as 
 Diana says of the maxims of Vasquez, " highly conve- 
 nient and agreeable to the rich and their confessors," the 
 doctrine of the Cardinal affords them no such consolation. 
 He declares ("De Eleem." c. 6), that he has no words 
 for the rich but those of Jesus Christ, " That it is easier 
 for a camel to pass through a needle's eye, than for a rich 
 man to enter into the kingdom of heaven ; " and to their 
 confessors, " If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall 
 into the ditch." Such sacredness did he attach to the 
 duty in question ! 
 
SOPHISTRIES OF THE JESUITS. 205 
 
 And have not all the Fathers and holy men of old main- 
 tained the same obligation ? " There are two cases/' says 
 St. Thomas, 2. 2. q. 118, Art. 4, ad. 2, "in which we are 
 bound by the rules of justice to give alms — ex debito 
 legali — the one, when the poor are in circumstances of 
 dangerous destitution ; the other, when we ourselves enjoy 
 a superfluity of means." And q. 87, a. 1, ad. 4 : " The 
 tithes which the Jews were directed to distribute to the 
 poor, have been augmented under the new law ; for Christ 
 commands us to give not only a tenth, but the whole of 
 our superfluity." And yet Vasquez would exempt his 
 followers from the distribution even of a pitiful fraction ; 
 such is his indulgence towards the rich— his insensibility 
 to the poor — his contrariety to the pious and beneflcent 
 sentiments expressed by the holy Gregory, in those words 
 so unpalatable to the rich and worldly : " When we 
 minister to the necessity of the poor, we give them not so 
 much of our own, as of theirs ; and it is a debt of justice, 
 rather than an impulse of compassion." 
 
 It is on this ground that the saints enjoin on the rich 
 to share with the poor the bounties of earth, that they 
 may enjoy together with them the blessings of heaven. 
 And, instead of inculcating upon them, like your Brethren, 
 that worldly ambition which would leave them no super- 
 fluous wealth, and those avaricious propensities which 
 would forbid its distribution ; these holy men laboured to 
 induce men to give bounteously of their superfluity ; and 
 to show them Tiow large would be its amount, if measured, 
 not by our natural cupidity (which nothing can satisfy), 
 but by the rule of piety, which seeks, with ingenious 
 pains, to retrench all superfluous indulgence, in order that 
 
206 . LETTER XII. 
 
 we may have the more to dispense in the exercises of 
 charity. " We shall have large superfluity," says St. 
 AngustinCj " if we confine ourselves within the limits of 
 necessity ; but if we give the reins to vain indulgence, 
 nothing will satisfy us. Ascertain, my brethren, what 
 suflSces for the service of God, and the wants of nature ; 
 and not what is demanded by your cupidity, which is the 
 mere temptation of Satan ; and remember, that the super- 
 fluity of wealth is the necessity of the poor." In Ps. 147. 
 
 I earnestly desire, Reverend Fathers, that what I have 
 now advanced, may not only serve for my justification, 
 which is, in itself, of little importance ; but may cause 
 yon, to perceive and to abhor the evil tendency of those 
 corrupt maxims of your Casuists ; that thus we may be 
 united together in the observance of the sacred rules j)f 
 the gospel, by which we must all hereafter be judged ! 
 
 As to the second matter in question. Simony — before 
 replying to the reproaches you have cast upon me — I 
 commence by an explanation of your doctrines on the 
 subject. Finding yourselves embarrassed between those 
 canons of the Church, which impose fearful penalties upon 
 simoniacal practices, and the avaricious propensities of so 
 many who are addicted to them, you have adopted your 
 usual method, of conceding to men all that they desire ; 
 and to God — nothing but words and empty pretences ! 
 What does the simonist want, I pray, but money, for the 
 bestowal of his benefices ? And this is what you exempt 
 from the charge of simony ! But since it is necessary 
 that the name should still exist — a certain something to 
 which it may be attached — you have created for this pur- 
 pose a mere fiction, which would never have occurred to; 
 
SOPHISTRIES OF THE JESUITS, 207 
 
 the thought of a simonistj and would indeed be useless to 
 him, — that is, to weigh the money, considered in itself, 
 against the spiritual good in question, considered in itself. 
 Now, who would have ventured to compare things so dis- 
 proportioned, and of such opposite natures ? And yet, 
 provided, as say your authorities, this metaphysical com- 
 parison be not made, it is allowable to transfer a benefice 
 to another, and receive money as a consideration, without 
 the crime of simony ! 
 
 Thus it is that you make puppets of religion, in com- 
 plaisance to men's corrupt passions. Yet, see with what 
 gravity your Father Valentia delivers his vagaries, in the 
 passage cited in my letter, t. 3, disp. 6, q. 19, part 3, p. 
 2044 ; " A temporal consideration," he says, " may be 
 given for a spirituality in two ways j the one in fixing a 
 higher price on the temporal than the spiritual,* which 
 would be simony ; the other in regarding the tem- 
 poral consideration as the motive and inducement for the 
 transfer of the spirituality, without, however, estimating 
 the temporality higher than the spirituahtyj and this is 
 no simony. The reason of which is, that simony con- 
 sists in receiving a temporal consideration as the actual 
 price of a spirituality. Now, if the temporality be required 
 — si petatur temporale — not as the price, but as the mo- 
 tive which induces the bestowal, this is no kind of simony, 
 even if the principal end and aim be the acquisition of the 
 temporality — minime erit simonia, etiamsi temporale prin- 
 cipaliter intendatur et expectetur." 
 
 And your illustrious Sanchez has laid down similar 
 
 * ' Prisant davantage le temporel qae le spirituel.' (Fr.) 
 
208 LETTER XII. 
 
 dogmas, according to Escobar, tr. 6, ex. 3, N. 40. These 
 are his words : " If a temporal consideration be given for 
 a benefice, not as a price, but as a motive inducing the 
 patron to the bestowal, or a compensation, if already be- 
 stowed, it is not simony. Sanchez declares this, Opusc. 
 t. 2, 1. 2, c. 3, d. 23, N. 7, Theses of Caen, 1644 : " It 
 is a probable opinion, inculcated by many Catholics, that 
 it is not simony to bestow a spirituality for a temporal 
 consideration, when the latter is not given as a price for 
 the same." And as to Tannerus, this is his doctrine (and 
 Valentia's is similar), which, I think, will show with what 
 justice you complain of me, for alleging its discrepancy 
 with that of St. Thomas. Here is his own avowal, in the 
 passage cited in my letter, t. 3, disp. 5, p. 1519; " Pro- 
 perly speaking," he says, " there is no real and actual 
 simony, excepting the receiving a temporal consideration 
 as a price for a spiritual cure ; but if it be taken as the 
 motive for the bestowal of the benefice, or as a testimony 
 of gratitude to the giver, then it is not simony, at least 
 by the rules of conscience." And afterwards : " The 
 same may be said, even if the temporality be the principal 
 consideration, and made more the object than the spi- 
 rituality ; although St. Thomas, and some others, seem to 
 hold the contrary ; in that they affirm it absolutely to be 
 simony to bestow a benefice for a temporal consideration, 
 when the latter is the object of the transaction." 
 
 Here then. Reverend Fathers, is your doctrine on the 
 subject of simony, as laid down by your most eminent 
 authors, following each other's views with a wonderful 
 exactness ! It remains only for me to reply to your 
 charges of misrepresentation upon this head. 
 
SOPHISTRIES OF THE JESUITS. 209 
 
 You say nothing respecting the opinions of Valentia ; 
 and his doctrineSj therefore^ remain untouched by your 
 statements. But it is upon Tannerus that you pause ; 
 and you allege that he has only decided the matter in 
 question not to be simony " by the divine law ; " leaving 
 it to be supposed that I have suppressed, in my quotation, 
 the words " by divine law.'^ Now this, I maintain to be 
 untenable ; for the terms, " by divine law," are not at 
 all in the passage. You go on to say that Tannerus de- 
 clares it to be a simony " by actual law." * Again, you 
 are wrong, Reverend Sirs : he does not say this in general 
 terms ; but only as to particular cases — " in casibus a 
 jure expressis " — as he says in the same place. And 
 herein he makes an exception from the general position 
 laid down in the same passage, " that it is not sinning by 
 the rule of conscience (simonie en conscience) ; which 
 implies that it is not such by actual laws ; unless you 
 would convict Tannerus of the impiety of maintaining 
 simony by actual law, not to be such by the rules of con- 
 science. But you are fond of putting forward designedly 
 such terms as, " right divine, positive right, natural right, 
 interior and exterior tribunal, cases expressed by law, 
 external presumption,^^ and others equally obscure, in 
 order to conceal your meaning under their abstruseness, 
 and blind people's eyes to your extravagances. You shall, 
 however, I assure you, not escape by these subtilties : I 
 proceed to put to you some questions of so simple a nature, 
 that they shall not be subject to a " distinguo." 
 
 I ask you then, my Reverend Fathers — without making 
 
 * ' De droit positif.' (Fr.) 
 
210 LETTER XII. 
 
 it any question of " positive rights " or " external pre- 
 sumption " or " an exterior tribunal " — whether an in- 
 cumbent, according to your authority, is a Simonist who 
 transfers a benefice of four thousand livres annual value,* 
 and receives ten thousand francs money down,t not as 
 the price of the living, but as a motive which induces him 
 to give it ? Answer me plainly. Sirs ; what would be the 
 decision of your authors upon such a case as this ? Would 
 not Tannerus say, with his usual formalities, " It is not 
 Simony by the rules of conscience, because the temporal 
 consideration is not the price of the benefice, but only the 
 motive which causes him to bestow it 1" Would not 
 Valentia, Sanchez, and Escobar also, (as do your Caen 
 Theses) decide it " not to be Simony " for the same rea- 
 son ? Is any thing further necessary to shelter this in- 
 cumbent from the charge of Simony ? And would you 
 venture to treat him as guilty of the ofience, in your con- 
 fessionals, (whatever might be your private opinion of his 
 case,) when he would have it in his power to silence you 
 by alleging that he had acted on the opinions of such 
 learned authorities as these ? Acknowledge then, that 
 the party, whose case we are supposing, must be acquitted 
 of Simony, according to your doctrine ; and then defend 
 the doctrines themselves in the best way you can. 
 
 This is the proper way, my Fathers, to treat questions 
 of this kind ; to dissect and disentangle them, instead of 
 wrapping them up in scholastic terms ; or changing the 
 state of the question, as you do (in your last piece of 
 
 * ' De quatre mille livres de rente,' (Fr.) 
 t ' Dix mille francs argent comptant.' (Fr.) 
 
SOPHISTRIKS OP THE JESUITS. 211 
 
 vituperation) after this fashion : " Tannerus/' you say, 
 " declares at least, that such a barter is a great offence." 
 And then you reproach me with having maKciously sup- 
 pressed this expression, which, as you allege, entirely 
 justifies him. Here again you are mistaken, and in 
 various ways. For, even, were what you state true, it 
 would not be a question, (in regard to the passages I 
 referred to) whether sin had been committed, but simply, 
 is it Simony ? Now these are two very opposite questions. 
 " Sin," according to your principles, " only requires con- 
 fession ; Simony demands restitution : " and there are 
 those who consider these things to be very different. For 
 you have invented methods to render confession most in- 
 dulgent ; but none have been found to make restitution 
 agreeable. I must further tell you that the case which 
 Tannerus holds to be one of sin, is not simply, that in 
 which a spiritual property is given for a temporal, which 
 is the principal motive; but he superadds, " that the tem- 
 poral shall be valued higher than the spiritual." And it 
 is not amiss in him to adduce such a case as this as a 
 sin ; for a man must be either very knavish, or very stu- 
 pid, who could not avoid falling into sin, by a device so 
 easy as that of, merely, not drawing into a comparison the 
 value of these two matters, when he is at liberty to give 
 the one in exchange for the other. Besides this, Valen- 
 tia, in his enquiry, (in the part already referred to) whe- 
 ther it be sinful to exchange spiritualities for a temporal 
 consideration (the latter being the motive for the barter) 
 reports the reasons of those who decide in the affirmative, 
 adding : " sed hoc non videtur mihi satis cerium " — this 
 does not appear to me sufficiently clear. 
 
213 LETTER XII. 
 
 But, since that period, it has been decided by your 
 Pere Erade Bille, Professor of cases of conscience at Caen, 
 that the cases in question have not the nature of sin j 
 inasmuch as the probable opinions in their favor are pro- 
 gressively acquiring strength. He states this in his 
 writings in 1644 ; in answer to which M. Dupre, Doctor 
 and Professor of Caen, published his beautiful and well- 
 known Dissertation. For, although Pere Erade Bille 
 acknowledges that the doctrine of Valentia (followed by 
 Pere Malhard, and condemned by the Sorbonne) " is op- 
 posed to the general feeling, is open in various ways to 
 suspicion of Simony, and obnoxious to legal punishment, 
 if detected," he nevertheless does not scruple to add, 
 that it is an opinion, probable, and consequently safe, as 
 regards the conscience, that there is no Simony in itj 
 and therefore no sin. It is," he says, " a probable opi- 
 nion, and one inculcated by many learned Catholics, that 
 it is not Simony, and no sin, to give money, or any other 
 temporal consideration for a benefice; either on the ground 
 of acknowledgment, or, as a motive without which it 
 would not be given ; provided it be not an exact equiva- 
 lent for the spirituality required." 
 
 Here then is all the proof that can be desired ! And 
 thus, my Fathers, you see by this concurrence of authori- 
 ties, that Simony will be reduced within such narrow 
 limits, that even Simon Magus himself — the Prototype of 
 all Simoniacal purchasers — who desired to give money for 
 the gift of the Holy Ghost ; — and Gehazi also — the Proto- 
 type of Simonical venders, who received money for the 
 performance of a miracle — that even these would be ex- 
 
SOPHISTRIES OF THE JESUITS. 213 
 
 empted from the charge ! For it is not to be doubtedj 
 that when Simon (in the Acts) oflPered the apostles money 
 for their miraculous endowments, he used none of the 
 terms of buying, and selling, and price ; and did nothing 
 more than offer his money as the motive for which the 
 spiritual gifts were to be be imparted to him. Which 
 being (according to your writers) no Simony, he ought to 
 have been exempted from the denunciation of St. Peter, 
 had the apostle been duly instructed in your doctrine. 
 This ignorance also must be regarded as a source of great 
 wrong to Gehazi, when struck by Elisha with leprosy; 
 for (receiving the largess of the Prince, after his miracu- 
 lous cure, merely as a mark of his gratitude, and not an 
 equivalent for the supernatural power which had eflfected 
 the miracle) he might have compelled the prophet to re- 
 store him from the plague, under pain of a mortal sin ; 
 seeing he had acted only on the principles of so many 
 profound theologians — principles on which your confessors 
 are bound to absolve their penitents, and to wash them 
 from that spiritual leprosy, of which the corporeal is a 
 type! 
 
 Alas ! my Reverend Fathers, it is but too easy to turn 
 all this into matter of ridicule. Why you should thus 
 expose yourselves to it, I know not ; I might easily, with 
 the same view, adduce other decisions ; such as that of 
 Escobar, in his ' Practice of Simony,' according to the 
 Society of Jesus, tr. 6, ex. 1, N. 44. ' Is it Simoniacal,' 
 he says, ' for two ecclesiastics to make an agreement of 
 this kind : give me your vote for my election to the office 
 of Provincial, and I will give you mine for getting that of 
 Prior ? No.' And this again, tr. 6, N. 14 ; ' It is not 
 
214 . LETTER XII. 
 
 Simony to procure a benefice under a promise of money, 
 if we have, in reality, no intention of paying it j for this 
 is only a feigned Simony, and not more real than counter- 
 feit gold is pure gold.' Here is indeed a subtilty of 
 conscience ! A man is supposed (adding theft to simony) 
 to procure the benefice without payment — and yet without 
 Simony ! But I have not space to pursue this subject 
 further, and must hasten to refute your third calumnious 
 charge on the subject of Bankruptcies. 
 
 Nothing, my Fathers, can be more gross than this. 
 You accuse me of imposition, on the ground of a certain 
 sentiment of Lessius, not cited by myself, but brought 
 forward by Escobar, in a passage quoted by me from him ; 
 and thus, even if it should be proved that Lessius did not 
 hold the opinion attributed to him by Escobar, what can 
 be more unjust than to visit this error upon me ? If I 
 quote Lessius and your other authors, as of myself, I am 
 answerable for them. But Escobar, having collected the 
 views of four and twenty of your Fathers, I ask you 
 whether I ought to be held responsible for any thing but 
 what I myself have quoted from him, and should be made 
 to guarantee further all his questions from others ? How 
 unreasonable is this ! And yet this is the point in ques- 
 tion. I cited in my letter the following passage, very 
 faithfully translated from Escobar, tr. 3, ex. ^, N. 163 
 (upon which you make no remark.) " May a bankrupt 
 retain with a safe conscience a sufficiency of property to en- 
 able him to live respectably : ' ne indecore vivat ? ' I reply 
 with Lessius, Yes." ' Cum Lessio assero posse, &c.' Here- 
 upon you affirm, that Lessius does not hold this opinion. 
 Now, consider for a moment what it is to which you are 
 
SOPHISTRIES OF THE JESUITS. 215 
 
 committing yourselves. If the fact be not as you state, 
 you are guilty of imposition in asserting tlie contrary ; if 
 it bej then Escobar is the impostor. So that, in some way 
 or the other, some Member of the Society is convicted of 
 imposition. See the scandal you are causing ! You 
 know not how to trace things to their necessary conse- 
 quences. You think you have only to fling about your 
 malevolences, without considering upon whom they may 
 be retaliated. Could you not have foreseen your difficulty 
 in regard to Escobar, before you committed yourselves to 
 such a statement ? He would have set you right. It is 
 not difficult to communicate with Valladolid where he is 
 living, in excellent health,* occupied in completing his 
 great work on Moral Philosophy, in six volumes (of the 
 first of which I shall some of these days perhaps take an 
 opportunity of giving you some account.) My first ten 
 letters have been transmitted to him : you might also 
 have communicated to him a statement of your difficulty, 
 and I will answer for it he would have replied to it ; for 
 it cannot be doubted that he has himself seen the passage 
 in question of Lessius, from whence he got the ' ne in- 
 decore vivat.^ Read it carefully yourselves, my Fathers, 
 and you will find it as I have done. Book 3, ch. 16, N. 45 ; 
 ' Idem coUigitur aperte ex juribus citatis, maxime quoad 
 ea bona quse post cessionem acquirit, de quibus is qui 
 
 '' Escobar. From all that is related by Alegambe of the Pere Escobar, 
 he seems to have been (in his way) a well-meaning, laborious, and devoted 
 man. It is said that when he learnt how he was brought forward in the 
 Provincial Letters he was delighted, and thought much more of himself than 
 before. His portrait is in existence : it is striking, and shows him to have 
 been a resolute and decided man, of thorough self-confidence. He died at 
 Valladolid in July, 1663, at the age of 81. (Editor.) 
 
216 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 debitor est etiam ex delicto, potest retinere quantum 
 necessarium est, ut pro su^ conditione non indecore vivat. 
 Petes an leges id permittant de bonis quse tempore 
 instantis cessionis habebat ? Ita videtur colligi ex CD," 
 I will not pause here to show that Lessius, in this 
 dogma, abuses the sanction of the law, hy which a bank- 
 rupt is allowed a mere subsistence, and not the means of 
 an honourable maintenance.* It is sufficient to have 
 justified Escobar from the charge against him, and more 
 than was necessary. But you, reverend Fathers, have 
 not done your duty ; for the matter in question is to reply 
 to that passage in Escobar, whose decisions are very in- 
 convenient, inasmuch as, being independent of all that 
 precedes and follows, and dealing in abstract dogmas, they 
 are not subject to your distinctions, I have already 
 quoted one entire passage, which permits " those who 
 make compromises, to retain a portion of theb* property 
 (even though unjustly acquired), for the respectable main- 
 tenance of their families," Upon which I felt myself 
 compelled to make this comment in my letter ; " By what 
 strange species of charity do you maintain, that property 
 shall belong rather to those who have acquired it by injus- 
 tice, than to the lawful creditors ? " This it is which 
 calls for a reply ; but then comes your difficulty ; which 
 you will seek in vain to elude by citing other passages 
 from Lessius, quite beside the point, I ask you, can this 
 decision of Lessius be conscientiously acted upon by one 
 who has committed bankruptcy ? And beware how you 
 answer ! If in the negative, I ask what becomes of your 
 
 * ' Vivre avec honneur.) Fr.) 
 
SOPHISTRIES OP THE JESUITS. 317 
 
 Doctor, and your doctrine of probability ? If in tbe af- 
 firmative, then I send you to the courts of justice ! 
 
 I take leave of you, my reverend Fathers, in this di- 
 lemma ; for I have left myself no space now to expose 
 your next imposture, respecting the passage from Lessius 
 upon homicide. Let this suffice for the present : more 
 shall follow. 
 
 I shall also, on this occasion, make no reply to the 
 false and scandalous reflections upon myself, with which 
 you wind up each successive misrepresentation. They 
 shall all be encountered in a succeeding letter ; in which 
 also, I hope effectually to open up the hidden sources from 
 which your various calumnies are drawn. 
 
 Yet, Sirs, for your own sakes, I cannot but lament to 
 see you resorting to such weapons. The wrongs that 
 you inflict upon me, will not set at rest our controversies ; 
 and your menaces — of whatever description — shall never 
 deter me from self-defence. You think yourselves shel- 
 tered by the impunity of power ; but I stand on the van- 
 tage-ground of innocence and truth ! Long and perse- 
 vering may be the assaults of violence against those sacred 
 bulwarks. No efforts of rude power can overthrow truth ; 
 they serve only to enhance her lustre ; while truth's most 
 transcendent radiance avails not to arrest the course of 
 violence, and serves but to irritate it the more. When force 
 opposes force, the stronger overpowers the weak ; when 
 controversies are arrayed against each other, those founded 
 on justice and reason may silence the clamours of vanity 
 and falsehood: but violence and truth will ever wage 
 against each other a fruitless and interminable warfare. 
 Yet, let it not then be concluded that their forces are 
 
218 LETTER XII. 
 
 balanced, and their weapons tempered alike. There is 
 between them this immeasurable difference, that violence 
 traces a course limited and circumscribed by the resistless 
 decree of God, which causes all its efforts to subserve the 
 advancement of the sacred cause assailed. But truth 
 shall remain ever unimpaired, and be victorious over all 
 her enemies ; for she is immortal and omnipotent, like the 
 Eternal himself ! 
 
 Refutation of the Reply of the Society to the preceding 
 {I2th) Letter. 
 
 Sir, 
 Whoever may be the party I am now addressing, and 
 who has undertaken the cause of the Jesuits against a 
 publication which exposes so fully the delinquencies of 
 their moral system, you seem, by the eagerness with which 
 you hasten to their succour, to be sensible of their weak- 
 ness ; and herein your judgment is not to be impeached. 
 But, if you entertain the belief that you have really suc- 
 ceeded in establishing their defence, your discretion, I 
 must take leave to tell you, will not appear to be equally 
 sound. I entertain, however, a better opinion of you; 
 and am satisfied that your aim is only to divert the author 
 of the Letters from his object by a feigned attack. In 
 this you have not been successful ; and, to my great satis- 
 faction, the Thirteenth Letter is on the eve of appearing. 
 
SOPHISTRIES OF THE JESUITS. 219 
 
 although he has made no reply to your strictures upon 
 the 11th and 13th j and, in fact, has scarcely bestowed a 
 thought upon the writer. This leads me to hope that 
 other and similar animadversions will remain disregarded 
 by him. Doubt not, Sir, that he would have found you 
 an easy antagonist. You have seen how he has dealt with 
 the Society in general; what difficulty could he have found 
 in encountering yourself individually ? You may judge 
 of this by what I am about to remark, in answer to your 
 strictures upon his Twelfth Letter. 
 
 I shall here leave unnoticed all the reproaches you have 
 directed against the author of the Letters. He has him- 
 self promised to reply to them ; and I suspect he will do 
 it after such a fashion, as will leave to you little more 
 than the trophies of shame and remorse. It will not be 
 difficult for him to overwhelm with confusion mere indi- 
 viduals such as yourself and your brother Jesuits, who 
 indecently presume to usurp the authority of the Church ; 
 to treat as heretics whomsoever you please; while you 
 are impotent to defend yourselves against the just re- 
 proaches which their flagitious maxims have drawn upon 
 you. For myself, I shall restrict myself to the refuta- 
 tion of those new impostures to which you have resorted, 
 for the justification of your casuists. We will begin with 
 Vasquez. 
 
 You make no reply to all that the author of the Letters 
 has cited in proof of his pernicious doctrines of alms- 
 giving, and you weakly accuse him (the author) of four 
 falsehoods, the first of which is, that he has suppressed 
 from the passage cited out of Vasquez, in the 6th Letter, 
 these words, " Statum quem licite possunt acquirere;'^ 
 
 L 2 
 
230' LETTER XII. 
 
 and has been guilty of dissimulation respecting the re- 
 proaches brought against him thereupon. 
 
 I see plainly, Sir, that you have been led to believe, on 
 the faith of your worthy friends the Jesuits, that these 
 words are to be found in the passage quoted by the 
 author of the Letters ; for had you known that they are 
 actually not there, you would rather have blamed these 
 Fathers for bringing the charge against him, than felt 
 surprise that he had not condescended to reply to so 
 frivolous an objection. But do not put so much confidence 
 in them. Be assured you will be taken in. Look, for 
 yourself, into the passage quoted by the author. You will 
 find it, De Elem. ch. 4, N. 14; but you will not find in 
 it any of the words alleged to be suppressed ; nay, you 
 will be astonished to find them occurring just fourteen 
 pages previously ! After this, you will no doubt feel you 
 have cause to complain of these good Fathers ; and will 
 see, that to justify a charge against this writer of sup- 
 pressing the words in question, he ought to be bound to 
 introduce passages extending through fourteen pages in 
 folio, into a letter consisting of eight pages in quarto, a 
 space also in which he has been accustomed to give 
 about thirty or forty quotations. This is not quite rea- 
 sonable. 
 
 This then may suffice to prove that it is you who are 
 the real authors of the misrepresentation; and equally 
 easy is the conviction of Vasquez. This Jesuit has been 
 charged with overthrowing the precept of Christ, which 
 enjoins the rich to give alms of their superfluity; by 
 maintaining, " that what the rich retain for the mainten- 
 ance of their station in life, or that of their relatives, is 
 
SOPHISTRIES OP THE JESUITS. 221 
 
 no superfluity ; and therefore, that people of the world, 
 and even Sovereigns themselves, scarcely ever have any 
 superfluous means." This position it is — " that people 
 of the world scarcely ever have a superfluity" — which 
 absolves them from the duty of alms-giving ; since it is a 
 necessary consequence, that having nothing superfluous, 
 they are bound to give nothing away. If the author of 
 the Letters had drawn this inference, you would have had 
 some ground for pretending that it was not deducible 
 from the principle, " that what the rich retain for main- 
 taining their station, or that of their relations, is not to 
 be called superfluity." But he has found it in full detail 
 in Vasquez. He has read these words, so opposed to the 
 spirit of the gospel and to Christian moderation : " Scarcely 
 is superfluity of means to be found among people of the 
 world, or even among Sovereigns." He has also read the 
 following sentiment, quoted in the 12th Letter : " We 
 are scarcely bound to give alms at aU, if we are bound to 
 give it only of our superfluity." And what is curious, is, 
 that this expression is found in the very same place that 
 contains the words, " Statum quern licite possunt acqui- 
 rere;" by means of which you pretend to make your 
 escape. You throw away your manoeuvres upon the 
 principle in question, since you are obliged to be silent 
 respecting the consequences formally deduced by Vas- 
 quez j and which are sufficient to annul the precept of 
 Christ, as he is in fact charged with doing. If Vasquez 
 had drawn such conclusions erroneously, he would have 
 added unsoundness of judgment to error in morals ; and 
 he would not have been less blameable, nor the precept of 
 Christ less impugned. But it will appear, by the refuta- 
 
332 LETTER XII. 
 
 tion of your next charge against the author of the I^etters, 
 that these evil consequences are properly deduced from 
 the bad principle laid down by Vasquez in the same place ; 
 and that the Jesuit in question has not offended against 
 the laws of sound reason, but only against those of the 
 gospel ! 
 
 Your second slanderous charge, '' of having dissembled 
 after he had been convinced of error/' alleges that he has 
 omitted the words in question designedly, for the purpose 
 of misrepresenting the Father's sentiments, and drawing 
 from them this scandalous conclusion, "that," according 
 to Vasquez, " those who have much .ambition can possess 
 no superfluity." Here I must, tell you. Sir, in one word, 
 that nothing can be more unfounded than this accusation. 
 The Jesuits themselves have never complained of this in- 
 ference; and yet you reproach the a,uthor of the Letters 
 with not having answered an objection that was never 
 before brought against him. But if you think yourself 
 more clear-sighted than the whole of their body, it will 
 be easy to cure you of a self-complacency, which is really 
 injurious to this great fraternity. Tor how can you deny 
 that, from, the principle of Vasquez, viz. "that what is 
 reserved for the maintenance of our condition in society, 
 or that of our relations, is not to be called superfluity," 
 the conclusion is unavoidable, that an ambitious person 
 cannot have superfluous means. I willingly allow you to 
 add the restriction expressed in another passage, which is, 
 that we must never seek to improve our condition, except 
 by lawful means ; " Statum quem liciie possunt acquirere." 
 This by no means impeaches the correctness of the infer- 
 ence, which you object to as unfounded. 
 
SOPHISTRIES OP THE JESUITS. 223 
 
 It is quite true, that there are rich persons who may be 
 allowed to improve their condition by lawful methods. 
 An expectation, on the part of the individual, of promoting 
 the public good, may sometimes justify the wish, provided 
 the object be not so much to promote his own interest as 
 the honour of God, and the general welfare. But how 
 rarely does the spirit of the Gospel — without which no 
 pure desires can exist — suggest such motives as these to 
 the rich and worldly? That gracious influence more 
 usually prompts to diminish the encumbrances which 
 check our aspirations after heavenly good ; and sounds in 
 our ears the Gospel-warning, " He that exalteth himself 
 shall be abased." Thus, the desires so prevalent in most 
 men of the present day, continually to raise themselves 
 and their connexions in station (even though by lawful 
 means,) are ordinarily nothing more than the instigations 
 of earthly cupidity and ambition ; for it is a gross error 
 to suppose that ambition to rise in condition is only 
 evinced by the employment of unlawful means. And it 
 is this error which St. Augustine condemns in his work 
 ' On Patience,' ch. 3, wherein he says, " The love of 
 wealth and reputation is a vanity sanctioned by the 
 world ; and it is supposed that avarice, ambition, luxury, 
 dissipation, are innocent, because they do not involve 
 crimes and irregularity forbidden by the laws." Ambition 
 consists in desiring elevation and honour for their own 
 sake, as avarice is a love of money for itself. If pursued 
 by unjust means, these objects become more criminal ;' 
 but you do not, by merely substituting lawful means, 
 render such propensities innocent. Now Vasquez does 
 not refer, on this occasion, to instances in which certain 
 
234 , LETTER XII. 
 
 persons of substance desire to improve their condition, 
 and " are in tlie probable way to do so/' as Cardinal 
 Cajetan says. If he had done so, it would have been 
 absurd to conclude (as he does) that people of the world 
 rarely have a superfluity ; for those very rare occasions, 
 which can seldom occur (perhaps only once or twice in a 
 life,) and that, only in the instances of a very small 
 number of wealthy persons, to whom God has revealed 
 that they shall not injure themselves by advancing in 
 station for the good of others — these instances, I say, 
 cannot invalidate the position that the larger number of 
 rich persons enjoy much of superfluity. But he speaks 
 of a vague and indefinite love of aggrandizement, and a 
 desire of elevation that knows no bounds ; for had it been 
 duly limited, the rich would have been conscious of 
 possessing superfluity, before such a point had been 
 attained. 
 
 And thus, at last, he brings himself to believe that the 
 desire in question is so universal and so allowable, that 
 very few wealthy persons can in reality possess any 
 superfluity. 
 
 You ought then, Sir, to understand once for all, that it 
 is this love of aggrandizement — this effort perpetually to 
 rise above our fellows and associates, even by lawful 
 means — ' ad statu'n quem licite possunt acquirere ' — that 
 the author of the Letters has designated as ambition ; for 
 it is the name which the Fathers give to it, and which the 
 world itself does not disown. He has not thought him- 
 self bound to adopt the common trick of such casuists — 
 that of banishing vices by their real names, but retaining 
 them under others. If then the words ' Statum quem 
 
SOPHISTRIES OF THE JESUITS. 225 
 
 licite possunt acquirere' had been in the passage he 
 addacedj he would not have been obliged to suppress them 
 in order to prove it to be criminal. It is in combining 
 them that he justly condemns Vasquez for the position he 
 lays dowHj that the ambitious can have no superfluity ; 
 and he is not the first who has drawn such a conclusion 
 from this doctrine. M. Du Val had done it before him 
 (though in less formal terms), while combatting this 
 maxim— Vol. 2. q. 8. Sp. 576; " It would follow," he 
 ■says, " that they who aspired to the highest station, that 
 is, who had the largest share of ambition, would possess 
 no superfluity, although enjoying much more than they 
 needed for their present rank — ' Sequeretur eum qui banc 
 dignitatem cuperet, sen qui majori ambiiione duceretur, 
 habendo plurima supr&, decentiam sui status, non habitu- 
 rum superflua.'" 
 
 Thus, Sir, you have been utterly unsuccessful in the 
 two first charges of misrepresentation brought against the 
 author of the Letters ; let us now see whether the rest 
 are better founded. Of these, the one is, that he has 
 stated Vasquez to maintain that the rich are not bound 
 to give of what is required for maintaining their condition 
 in society. The refutation of this charge is easy ; it is 
 simply that it is false, and that what he has stated is the 
 direct reverse. No other proof is required of this than 
 the passage which you yourselves produce, only three lines 
 lower down, in which he cites Vasquez as saying, " that 
 the rich are bound to give of what is necessary for them, 
 on certain occasions." 
 
 Your last complaint is not less unfounded. Let us look 
 at the substance of it. The author of the Letters had 
 
 L 5 
 
'226 LETTER XII. 
 
 referred to two decisions of doctrine in Vasquez ; the one 
 " that the rich are not bound either by duty, or charity, 
 to give of their superfluity (and still less of what they 
 need themselves) in any cases of ordinary necessity of the 
 poor." The other, " that the occasions on which they are 
 bound to give out of that which they need themselves, are 
 so rare, as that they scarcely ever occur." To the first 
 and most flagrant of these decisions you have no reply to 
 offer : what then do you make of the second ? You join 
 them together ; and, contriving some paltry evasion as to 
 the latter, you endeavour to make it appear that you have 
 produced an answer to the two. Now it shall be my 
 endeavour to unravel what you purposely perplex ; and I 
 ask you, is it not true that Vasquez teaches, that the rich 
 are never bound to give of their superfluity, either by 
 necessity, justice, or charity, in the ordinary exigencies of 
 the poor ? Has not the author demonstrated it by the 
 express words of Vasquez ; " Corduba teaches (he says) 
 that those who have abundance are bound to give in 
 ordinary cases of necessity, in order in some measure to 
 conform to the precept." (Observe that the question here 
 is not whether the duty be one of justice or charity, but 
 of absolute obligation.) See then the decision of Vasquez 
 hereon ; " But this does not please me — ' sed hoc non 
 placet ' — for we have proved the contrary, in opposition 
 to Cajetan and Navarre." To this then you have given 
 no reply, and have left your Jesuit friends convicted of a 
 dogma diametrically opposed to the Gospel ! 
 
 And as to his second decision, " that the rich are to 
 give on such infrequent occasions, as almost never can 
 occur, of that which is acquired for. their own wants,'' the 
 
SOPHISTRIES OP THE JESUITS. 227 
 
 author of the Letters has not less clearly proved it by 
 the numerous conditions which the Jesuit collects together 
 to constitute the obligation ; viz. that the casCj being one 
 of urgent necessity, can receive relief from no other 
 quarter, and that the necessity must be attended with 
 mortal danger to the person or the reputation. The 
 question is then asked, whether these various contingencies 
 are of frequent occurrence in a place like Paris ; and 
 next he presses the Jesuits with this argument, " That 
 Vasquez, permitting the poor to rob the rich, under the 
 same circumstances in which he requires the rich to 
 relieve the poor, must have supposed, either that those 
 circumstances were of very rare occurrence, or that the 
 latter would be commonly allowed to resort to robbery." 
 What answer have you given, I ask, to this ? You have 
 concealed all these conditions, and have simply reported 
 three passages from Vasquez ; in the two first of which he 
 says, that the rich are bound to help the poor in urgent 
 need ; a position which the author of the Letters expressly 
 acknowledges ; but you have taken care not to add, that 
 he mixes up with the precept such conditions, as that the 
 necessity for alms-giving will scarcely ever arise ; which 
 is the matter actually in question. 
 
 The third passage upon which you comment states 
 solely, that the rich are not bound to give alms even in 
 cases of extreme necessity, that is, if a human being be at 
 the point of death, because they are very rare: whence 
 you maintain it to be false that the cases in which Vasquez 
 enjoins alms-giving are very rare. But you deceive your- 
 self. Sir: you can conclude no otherwise; since, if Vas^ 
 quez does not apply the term ' rare ' to the occasions 6i 
 
238 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 giving alms, he renders them such in reality by the 
 restrictions he imposes upon them. In this, however, he 
 does but follow the system of the entire company. The 
 member in question had to soothe the rich, who choose to be 
 under very slender obligation to give alms ; and to satisfy 
 the Church, which makes large demands upon them for 
 such objects. According to the method of the Society, 
 therefore, he wished to please all parties, and he has 
 succeeded. On the one side, he insists upon conditions 
 of such rare occurrence, that the most sordid mind must 
 be contented ; on the other, he conceals from view the 
 infrequency, in order to give satisfaction to the Church. 
 It is immaterial therefore whether Vasquez have used the 
 term ' rare ' or not. The charge is not as to a name. 
 He was too subtle a Jesuit to call bad things by a bad 
 name. But the question is, whether he makes them 
 ' rare ' in reality by his restrictions ; and this it is which 
 the Author of the Letters has so clearly established, that 
 no resource is left to you, but that which never fails — 
 dissimulation and silence. 
 
 All that you subsequently add, as to the subtlety 
 of Vasquez's mind, in the different senses in which he 
 uses the terms " necessary " and " superfluous," is pure 
 deception. He has never (any more than other theolo- 
 gians) treated of them but in two senses. There is, ac- 
 cording to him, what is " necessary for nature, and neces- 
 sary for station ; superfluous for nature, and superfluous 
 for station." But to constitute superfluity for station, he 
 maintains that it must be such, not only for the present, 
 but also for such future condition as wealth may enable 
 men to attain to for themselves or their families, by law- 
 
SOPHISTRIES OF THE JESUITS. 229 
 
 ful means ! ThuSj according to Vasquez, all that is re- 
 tained for improving our condition is simply necessary for 
 station, and only superfluous for nature ; whence it fol- 
 lows (as the author has demonstrated) that the occasions 
 in which the duty of alms-giving will be incumbent, can 
 scarcely ever arise. 
 
 It is needless here to add any thing to the remarks of 
 the author of the letters upon the comparison between 
 Vasquez and Cajetan. I will only, in passing, give you 
 warning that you misrepresent both the Cardinal and 
 Vasquez in saying that " contrary to what he had stated 
 in the Tract upon Alms-giving, he teaches in that upon 
 indulgences, that the omission of the duty to give of our 
 abundance does not exceed " venial sin." Read it. Sir, 
 for yourself, and trust not so implicitly to Jesuits, either 
 dead or living ! You vnll then find that Cajetan formally 
 inculcates the direct reverse ; and after saying, that there 
 are only extreme necessities (among which he compre- 
 hends also the greater part of what Vasquez calls " ur- 
 gent,") which involve mortal sin, he makes this exception : 
 " unless it be to possess superfluous propeity ; — seclusa 
 superfluitate bonorum." 
 
 I now proceed, with you, to the doctrine on Simony. 
 The author of the Letters has had but one object in view, 
 viz., to prove that the society holds this principle; that, 
 by the laws of conscience, it is not Simony to give a 
 spirituality for a temporal consideration, provided the 
 temporality be not the principal motive in the transaction, 
 and be not received as its price. And to prove this, he 
 has in his Twelfth Letter, produced entire, a passage from 
 Valentia, which establishes the doctrine so clearly, that 
 
330 LETTER XII. 
 
 you Have nothing to advance in reply to it ; any more 
 than to his further proofs from Escobar, Erade Belle, 
 and others ; who all declare the same thing. This una- 
 nimity of opinion is sufficient (according to the doctrine 
 of " Probability," which your whole body maintain) 
 to bring home these views to the Society, inculcated as 
 they are by so many learned provincials. You must con- 
 fess then, that in leaving undisturbed, as you have done, 
 the sentiments of all the other Jesuits, and demurring 
 only to that of Tannerus, you have wholly failed in im- 
 peaching the correctness of the author of the Letters 
 whom you select as the object of your attack, and in justi- 
 fying the Society, which you have undertaken to defend. 
 
 But — to leave nothing in doubt upon this head — I 
 maintain that you are in error as to Tannerus, as well as 
 all the others. First," you cannot deny that he says, 
 generally, " it is not Simony, in conscience — ' in foro 
 conscientise ' — to bestow a spirituality for a temporal con- 
 sideration, when the temporality is not the principal mo- 
 tive, nor even the price." And when he says it is not 
 Simony, " in conscience," he means that it is not such, 
 either by Divine rules, or by positive law. This is the 
 general rule of Tannerus, to which he makes one excep- 
 tion, viz., " in cases designated by law, it is a Simony by 
 actual law, or a Simony by presumption." Now, as an 
 exception cannot be co-extensive with the rule, it follows, 
 necessarily, that the general maxim, as above-cited, ap- 
 plies in some cases of spiritual-transfers ; and thus, that 
 there are spiritualities which may be bestowed without 
 Simony, by actual law for temporal considerations, by ex- 
 changing the term " price," for that of " motive." 
 
SOPHISTRIES OF THE JESUITS. 231 
 
 The author of the Letters has thought fit to apply the 
 doctrine of Valentia and Tannerus to the case of beni- 
 fices. But it is quite unimportant to his argument that 
 you make a change ; and allow, instead of benefices, the 
 sacraments, or ecclesiastical offices to be bartered for 
 money. He considers both to be alike immoral, and 
 gives you the choice of either. It would seem. Sir, that 
 you are disposed to make the election, and would have it 
 understood that it is not simoniacal, to repeat masses 
 (for instance) when the chief motive is the money to be 
 received for the performance : and this impression is un- 
 avoidable, from your own statements, as to the practice 
 of the Church in Paris. Now if you had meant to say 
 simply, that the faithful are at liberty to offer of their 
 temporal goods to those who minister to them in spiritual, 
 and that those who " serve the altar may live of the altar," 
 none would contradict you ; but this is quite beside the 
 question. The real point, is this : is a priest, whose only 
 motive in offering the sacrifice is the money he receives 
 for the office, guilty, in the sight of God, of Simony ? 
 You, (following the doctrine of Tannerus) would acquit 
 him ; but can you do so, on the principles of Christian 
 faith ? " If Simony," says Peter Le Chautre, one of the 
 brightest ornaments of the Church of Paris, " be so fla- 
 grant and damnable in matters connected with the sacra- 
 ments, how much more so must it be in regard to the very 
 sacraments themselves ; and chiefly that of the Eucharist, 
 where Jesus himself, the source and spring of all grace, is 
 received ? Simon Magus,^' continues this holy man, 
 " having been repulsed by Simon Peter, might have said, 
 ' You repel me now, but the time will come when I shall 
 
233 LETTER XII. 
 
 triumpli over youj and the whole body of the Church. 
 I shall establish my empire upon the altar itself; and 
 when the angels shall assemble on the one side, adoring 
 the body of the Redeemer, I shall stand over against them, 
 instructing the minister of the altar to form the elements, 
 that complete that body, for money ! ' " Yet the crime 
 which this pious theologian so sternly condemns, consists 
 only in the cupidity which renders the temporal consi- 
 deration, for which holy offices are performed, the chief 
 object in such perfprmance. And this leads him gene- 
 rally to remark, " that holy offices (which he calls ' ou^ 
 vrages de la droite,') being performed through the love of 
 money constitutes Simony — ' Opus dexterse operatum 
 causd pecunicB acquirendce, parit Simoniam.' " What 
 then would he have said, had he heard that atrocious 
 maxim of the casuists, which you defend, " It -is lawful 
 for a priest to renounce, for a small sum of money, all the 
 spiritual benefits that he might expect from the sa- 
 crifice " ? 
 
 You see then, that if this be the whole of your defence 
 of Tannerus, you prove only that the falsehood of his 
 doctrine is aggravated by its impiety ; and what then be- 
 comes of the exception to be made in his favor ? 
 
 It was to get rid of all these refinements that the au- 
 thor of the Letters eHquired of the Jesuits, " Would it be 
 Simony by the ru\es of conscience, according to your 
 authors, to bestow a benefice of 4000 livres annual value, 
 in consideration of a payment of 10,000 francs, if it be in 
 the way of motive and not of price ? " To this he has 
 demanded an answer, without any phraseology of "posi- 
 tive rights," or resorting to scholastic terms and gram- 
 
SOPHISTRIES OP THE JESUITS. 233 
 
 matical subtleties, which nobody understands or cares for. 
 This you profess now to do, and have given this reply : 
 " That apart from the rules of law, it would not be Simony, 
 in the same manner as there would be no sin in not at- 
 tending mass on festivals, if the Church had not ordained 
 it." That is to say, it is only Simony because the Church 
 makes it so ; and, but for the actual law, it would be an 
 innocent act. To this I reply. 
 
 First, you do not properly answer the question that is 
 put to you. The author asked, " Is it Simony, according 
 to the Jesuit authorities, quoted by him ? " The question 
 is not at all as to your opinion : what weight does that 
 carry ? Are you a learned doctor ? I much question it ? 
 The point is, as to the opinions of Valentia, Tannerus, 
 Sanchez, Escobar, Erade Bille, all men of unquestionable 
 learning. It is for them that you are called upon to 
 answer. The author of the Letters affirms that you can- 
 not maintain the case in question to be Simony (according 
 to the laws of conscience) by the rules of these Jesuits. 
 Now as to Valentia, Sanchez, Escobar, and the others, 
 you leave them to answer for themselves. You make a 
 show of fighting in favor of Tannerus, but you see that it 
 is unavailing; and, after all, it remains clear that the 
 Society teaches, that a spiritual charge may, without con- 
 scientious Simony, be given, for a temporal consideration, 
 provided the temporality be only the inclining motive, 
 but not a price. This is all that was contended for. 
 
 Secondly, I maintain that your reply involves a flagrant 
 impiety. What ! Will you dare. Sir, to say, that, apart 
 from the ecclesiastical law there would be no Simony in 
 giving money, though in this circuitous way, for admis- 
 
234 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 sion into the offices of the Church ; that before the canons 
 had pronounced it crime, money was a lawful way of en- 
 trance, provided it were not given as a price ; and that 
 thus, St. Peter's condemnation of Simon Magus was harsh, 
 and rash, seeing it was not clear whether the mOney he 
 offered, was in the way of price or only of motive ? 
 
 To what school, I ask, would you send us, to learn 
 this doctrine ? Not that of Jesus Christ, who ever taught 
 his disciples, " freely to give as they had freely received j" 
 and who in those words, as Peter Le Chantre remarks, in 
 verb. Abb. C. 36, " forbids every species of present or 
 compensation, by agreement, or without agreement ; for 
 God sees the heart." It is not to the school of the Church, 
 for she treats not only as criminals, but as heretics, all 
 who employ money for the obtaining ecclesiastical prefer- 
 ments, and designates such traffic — by whatever artifice 
 palliated — not as a violation of one of its positive laws, 
 but, as heresy — " Simoniacam Hseresim ! " 
 
 The school, then, in which these principles are taught 
 — be it, that it is not Simony by positive law ; or that it 
 is such only by presumption, or that it is not sinful to 
 give money as a motive, but only as a price — such a 
 school is no other than that of Gehazi and of Simon Ma- 
 gus ! It is that school, in which those two first traffic- 
 ers in holy things — doomed to execration in all ages — 
 may alone be acquitted of guUtj a school in which, 
 flinging to cupidity the reins of its basest desires and 
 unholiest acts, its pupils are taught to evade the laws of 
 the Omniscient by changes of words, while action remains 
 unaltered ! But let the disciples of that school learn in 
 what way the great Pope, Innocent III., in his Missive to 
 
SOPHISTRIES OP THE JESUITS. 235 
 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the year 1199, has 
 launched his indignant anathemas against the damnable 
 subtleties of those, " who, blinded by the lust of gain, 
 pretend to palliate the crime of Simony under reputable 
 names ;— ' Simoniam sub honesto nomine palliant j' — as if 
 the change of a name could alter the nature of the crime, 
 or the punishments due to it. But God is not mocked," 
 (adds the Pope) " and if these followers of Simon could 
 escape in this life the retribution they deserve, they shall 
 not escape in another the everlasting punishment reserved 
 for such guilt ! No well-sounding names can extenuate 
 crime, nor shall the disguise of a word conceal its real 
 nature : ' Cum nee honestas nominis criminis malitiam 
 paUiabit, nee vox poterit abolere reatum.' " 
 
 The last question between us is, that relating to bank- 
 rupts. Here I cannot but admire your hardihood. The 
 Jesuits, whom you defend, had very imprudently objected 
 to the discussion of the authority of Lessius, as adduced 
 by Escobar ; for the author of the Letters cited Lessius 
 only on Escobar's authority, and attributed to the latter 
 alone the decision complained of; viz. " that bankrupts 
 may retain a sufficiency of their property for competent 
 maintenance, although that property may have been ob- 
 tained by notorious peculation and crime." It is, there- 
 fore, as to Escobar alone, that he has pressed them, either 
 openly to disavow this maxim, or to acknowledge that 
 they hold it ; and — in the latter alternative — " I send 
 them," he says, " to the laws." It is to them that they 
 must make answer ; and not shelter themselves under the 
 plea that Lessius (with whom we have nothing to do) is 
 of a different opinion from Escobar, who alone is the party 
 
236 
 
 LETTER xn, 
 
 in question. Do you suppose that to evade an inquiry is 
 'to answer it ? Do not thus deceive yourself. You shall 
 answer for Escobar, before we proceed to Lessius. It is 
 not, however, that I shrink from encountering him also ; 
 and I promise you, hereafter, a very full exposition of the 
 doctrine of Lessius upon bankruptcy, and thorough proof 
 that it is as much opposed to the Law, as to the Sor- 
 bonne. 
 
 Our controversy, with the help of God, shall not stop 
 here j but it shall be now suspended, on my part, till you 
 have replied to the points in question respecting Escobar. 
 You shall give satisfaction upon this, before we enter upon 
 other matters. Escobar is the first in order j he shall be 
 disposed of, in spite of all your evasions. Be assured that 
 Lessius' turn shall soon follow ! * 
 
 * Frencli Editor's note. Although by a different hand, and very inferior 
 in merit to the Provincial Letters, this article seemed to me too interesting 
 to be omitted in the present edition. 
 
 \* If, as above stated, this letter be by a different hand, and not, as is 
 possible, under the assumed character of a colleague, in order to give variety 
 to the correspondence, it may be doubted whether it should be regarded as 
 very inferior. It is full of point and energy, and may remind us of the fire 
 of Demosthenes, interposing between the more flowing and graceful rhetoric 
 of Cicero ; or— in modem days — the sparkle and impetuosity of Fox or 
 Sheridan breaking in upon the measured dignity of Pitt. (Transl.) 
 
LETTER XIII. 
 
 THAT THE DOCTRINE OP LESSIUS UPON HOMICIDE IS 
 THE SAME AS THAT OF VICTORIA. HOW EASY IS 
 THE TRANSITION FROM SPECULATION TO PRACTICE. 
 THE REASON OF THE JESUITS AVAILING THEMSELVES 
 OF THIS FUTILE DISTINCTION, AND THEIR CULPABI- 
 LITY IN SO DOING. 
 
 My Revered Fathers. Sept. 30, 1656. 
 
 I HAVE just seen your last paper, in which you pursue 
 your charges of imposture ; but state that you have now 
 done with that kind of accusation, and intend to adopt a 
 different method of defending yourselves, viz. by showing 
 that there are many casuists, besides those of your fra- 
 ternity, whose views are equally lax with your own. I 
 have now before me the whole of the misrepresentations 
 which I have to reply to ; and as the fourth, where we 
 left off, is on the subject of homicide, it will tend to con- 
 venience, while answering you on that point, to dispose, at 
 the same time, of No. 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18, 
 which are all upon the same subject. 
 
 I have then, in the present letter, to maintain the 
 fidelity of my quotations, in contradiction to the falsehood 
 with which you charge me. But as you have dared . to 
 
238 LETTER XIII. 
 
 maintain in your writings, " that the sentiments of your 
 authors on the subject of murder are conformable to the 
 decisions of the Popes and of ecclesiastical law/' you 
 compel me to enter upon a refutation of a proposition, so 
 audacious in itself, and so injurious to the Church. It is 
 incumbent upon me to demonstrate that her holy institu- 
 tions are untainted by your corruptions, in order that 
 heretics may not avail themselves of your errors, to draw 
 inferences dishonourable to her purity. And thus, by 
 placing in contrast, on the one hand, your pernicious 
 maxims, and, on the other, the canons of the Church, by 
 which they are condemned, it will be seen at once, both 
 what should be avoided, and what obeyed. 
 
 Your fourth misrepresentation is on the subject of a 
 decision upon the question of murder, which you charge 
 me with falsely attributing to LessiUs. It is this: "A 
 man who has received a blow, may pursue his enemy at 
 the instant, even sword in hand ; not to revenge himself, 
 but for the purpose of repairing his honour." Upon 
 which you reply : " The opinion in question is one of the 
 Casuist Victoria." Now this again is not the matter of 
 dispute, for it is no contradiction to say that it is jointly 
 that of Victoria and Lessius; because Lessius himself 
 says that it is also that of Navarre, and your Pere Hen- 
 riquez ; who teach, " that a person receiving a blow may 
 instantly pursue his antagonist, and give him as many 
 blows as he may think necessary for the reparation of his 
 honour." The question, then, is only, whether Lessius is 
 agreed in opinion with these authors, as well as his cotem- 
 poraries ? And, therefore, you add, " Lessius only refers 
 to this opinion for the purpose of confuting it;" and 
 
LESSIUS ON HOMICIDE. 339 
 
 thus I attribute a sentiment to him which he brings for- 
 ward only to oppose — an act, of all others the most mean 
 and disgraceful in a writer. But I maintain that he 
 quotes it, for the purpose of expressing his agreement with 
 it. It is a question of fact, which may easily be deter- 
 mined. We will therefore see how you establish your 
 position, and you shall then see how I persist in maintain- 
 ing mine. 
 
 To prove that Lessius does not hold the opinion in 
 question, you say he condemns it in practice ; and for 
 proof of that, you produce an extract from his works. 
 Book 2, c. 9, n. 83, as follows : ' I condemn this practice.' 
 I acknowledge that if you look through Lessius (N. 83) 
 as referred to by you, you will find these words. But 
 what will you say, my Fathers, when I tell you that in 
 this place he is treating of a question wholly different 
 from the one in dispute; and that the opinion, which 
 he here says he in practice condemns, is entirely un- 
 connected with that we are discussing. You have but to 
 open the book, to ascertain the fact : his argument is to 
 the following eflfect. 
 
 He is treating of the question ' whether it is lawful to 
 take life for a blow ? ' (No. 79,) and he concludes the 
 subject at No. 80, without a single word in condemnation. 
 This question being finished, he begins a new one at 
 Art. 81, viz. ' Whether life may be taken for slanderous 
 language.' It is respecting this question that he uses at 
 (No. 83) the words we have quoted from him, ' I condemn 
 the practice.' 
 
 Now, my Reverend Fathers, is it not disgraceful to find 
 you producing these expressions, in order to cause it to 
 
240 LETTER XIII. 
 
 be believed that Lessius condemns the opinion, that homi- 
 cide may be perpetrated in revenge for a blow ; and that, 
 resting upon this solitary proof, you should triumphantly 
 exclaim, as you have done, ' Several distinguished persons 
 in Paris have already ascertained, by a perusal of Lessius, 
 this scandalous falsehood; and have thus been enabled 
 to judge what degree of belief is due to this calumnious 
 writer.' 
 
 What, Sirs ! is it thus you abuse the confidence reposed 
 in you by these eminent personages ? To prove to them 
 that Lessius does not hold the doctrine in question, you 
 open his book at a part where he condemns another ,• and 
 impose on the credulity of persons who are incapable of 
 suspecting your sincerity. I doubt not, my good Fathers, 
 that, for the success of this flagrant artifice, you have 
 availed yourselves with good effect of your own doctrine 
 of ' Equivocation,' and while reading the passage ' aloud,' 
 you said ' in a whisper ' that it had reference to a different 
 matter. But I may be allowed to doubt whether this 
 procedure, however satisfactory to your consciences, will 
 satisfy the just reproaches which will be made you by 
 these honouralble persons, when they discover the impo- 
 sition that has been practised upon them. 
 
 Take care, then, I pray you, to prevent their seeing my 
 letters ; for this is the only way in which you can much 
 longer preserve your credit; / do not take this pre- 
 caution with yours : I send them round to all my friends : 
 I wish the whole world to see them. And I believe we 
 are both in the right. For, as to yourselves, after 
 trumpeting so publicly the refutation of my fourth mis- 
 representation, what will be your situation, when it is 
 
LESSIUS ON HOMICIDE. 241 
 
 found that, to make good your case, you have substituted 
 one passage for another ? Naturally will it be judged, 
 that if you had been able to find what you wanted in the 
 part where Lessius treats of the quotation at issue, you 
 would not have sought it elsewhere ; and that you have 
 had recourse to this method, only because you could find 
 nothing else favorable to your object. You desired to 
 discover in Lessius what you stated in your " Imposture," 
 p. 10, Lig. 13, — " That he does not allow this opinion to 
 be speculatively probable." Now Lessius says expressly, 
 in the cfose of his Discussion, N. 80 : " The opinion — 
 that life may be taken for a blow — is speculatively pro- 
 bable." Is not this, word for word, the opposite of your 
 assertion ? And who but must admire the audacity with 
 which you adduce from him in express terms a sentiment 
 the very reverse of the real one ? So that — instead of 
 opposing — Lessius is proved by his own words, distinctly 
 tp sanction it. 
 
 You would desire to represent Lessius as " condemning 
 the practice" in question; and (as I have said already) 
 not a word of condemnation is to be found in his Trea- 
 tise ; but these are his actual expressions : " It seems 
 that this practice ought not lightly to be allowed ; — ' in 
 praxi non videtur facile permittenda." Is this, Sirs, the 
 language of a man who condemns a doctrine ? Is not 
 the just conclusion rather — since nothing to the contrary 
 is stated — that, although the practice is not lightly to be 
 sanctioned, it may sometimes (even, if rarely) be allowed ? 
 And, as if he would teach the whole world when it may 
 be allowed, and relieve persons receiving the offence in 
 question from inconvenient scruples, as not knowing ex- 
 
 M 
 
243 LETTER XIII. 
 
 actly the occasions on which they may practically be in- 
 dulged in committing the murders in question, he is 
 careful to prescribe what should be avoided, in order to 
 carry the doctrine into practice with a safe conscience. 
 " It seems," he says, " that it ought not to be lightly 
 allowed, on account of the danger of its being practiced 
 through hatred, or for revenge, or in excess ; or, lest it 
 should occasion too many murders." 
 
 From all this then it is clear that this species of homi- 
 cide is in practice fully allowed by Lessius, provided these 
 inconvenient consequences, be avoided ; that is, provided 
 it be done without malice, not in revenge, and without 
 occasioning too large, a number of homicides. Do you 
 wish, my Fathers, for an instance ? I can furnish you with 
 one sufficiently recent. It is that of the blow of Com- 
 piegne.* And you will allow that the person receiving it, 
 gave proof by his conduct, that he was sufficiently master 
 of his feelings of hatred and revenge. It was only neces- 
 sary for him then further to take care that no excessive 
 amount of murders should ensue — and you well know it 
 is so rare an occurrence for Jesuits to inflict blows upon 
 officers in the royal household, that there was not niuch 
 reason to fear that a single homicide on this occasion 
 would have brought others in its train. You cannot 
 therefore deny that this Jesuit might have been killed 
 with a safe conscience ; and the offender in so doing, 
 would in no way have acted in violation of the doctrine of 
 Lessius. And, indeed, my good Fathers, he in all pro-- 
 bability would have done so, had he been versed in the 
 
 * This seems to refer to some occurrence of that day, of whicli no parti- 
 cular explanation is given in the text. (Transl.) 
 
LESSIUS ON HOMICIDE. 243 
 
 lessons of your school — had he learnt of Escobar, " that 
 a man receiving a blow is regarded as dishonoured till he 
 has succeeded in taking the life of the party inflicting it." 
 But there is reason to believe that the instruction of a 
 very diff'erent kind, which had been received by him from 
 an ecclesiastic, not holding, indeed, a high station in your 
 esteem, contributed in no small degTee, on the occasion 
 referred to, to save the life of a member of your own 
 fraternity ! 
 
 Let us hear no more, then, of the inconvenient results 
 which are to be avoided in encounters of this kind; and 
 (avoiding which) the homicide, according to Lessius, is in 
 practice allowable. These have been thoroughly treated 
 by your several authors, quoted by Escobar in his " Prac- 
 tice of Homicide, according to the Jesuits' Society, tr. 1, 
 ex. 7, N. 48 : " Is it lawful," he says, " to kill one who 
 has inflicted a blow upon you ? " Lessius says, it is law- 
 ful speculatively, but practically it is not to be recom- 
 mended — ' non consulendum in praxi;'— on account of 
 the risk of its giving rise to animosities, or murders, 
 dangerous to public welfare. But others are of opinion 
 that if these evil consequences be avoided, the practice is 
 lawful and safe; — ' in praxi probabilem et tutam judica- 
 runt Henriquez, &c.' This is the way in which your opi- 
 nions rise step by step towards probability. For, at last, 
 the permission is given without any distinction of specu- 
 lation and practice, as follows : " It is lawful on receiving 
 a blow to retaliate on the instant with the sword, not in a 
 spirit of revenge, but for the preservation of honour.'' 
 This is prescribed by your brethren at Caen, in 1644, in 
 their published writings, laid by the University before the 
 
 M 2 
 
344 LETTER XIII. 
 
 Parliament, on presenting its third petition against your 
 doctrine of Homicide, as appears in p. 389 of the book at 
 that time published on the subject. 
 
 Observe then, I pray you, that your own authors over- 
 throw, of themselves, the frivolous distinction which they 
 had attempted to draw between speculation and practice, 
 so justly ridiculed by the University ; and which is nothing 
 more than one of those ingenious devices of your policy 
 that ought to be exposed. For, besides that this furnishes 
 a clue to your 14th, 16th, 17th and 18th charges, it can 
 never be otherwise than instructive to unravel, one after 
 another, the intricate principles of this mysterious system. 
 Whenever you have taken upon you to decide cases of 
 conscience, such as these, in a lenient and accommodating 
 manner, the first point has been to ascertain those in 
 which religion only is concerned, — such as contrition, 
 penitence, the love of the Deity, and all such things as 
 especially affect a tender conscience. But then, you were 
 met by other cases in which the public welfare had a joint 
 interest with religion, such as usury, bankruptcy, homi- 
 cide and the like ; and it has been matter of poignant 
 concern to those who are really attached to the Church, 
 to find you, on numberless occasions in which the interests 
 of religion only are involved, overthrowing her rules, 
 without reserve, distinction, or fear ; as in your audacious 
 decisions upon penitence and the love of God ; and this, 
 because you too well knew that the world is not the scene 
 where the Great lluler of all things is wont openly to 
 vindicate his justice. But in matters in which the State 
 has an interest equally with religion, your apprehensions 
 of human jurisprudence have led you to divide (as it. 
 
LESSIUS ON HOMICIDE. 245 
 
 were) your decisions, and distribute them into two separate 
 compartments, the one you call " speculative/' in which, 
 viewing crimes in themselves, without reference to public 
 interests, but only to the offended laws of God, you sanc- 
 tion them without scruple. Thus you set yourselves in 
 opposition to the judgment of God. The other, you call 
 " practical ;" wherein, considering the injury that may 
 accrue to society, and fearing the severity of magisterial 
 rebuke, you affect occasionally to discountenance the 
 commission of those murders and other crimes, to which 
 you have given your speculative sanction ; in this way 
 you contrive to keep on good terms with the Judges. 
 Thus, for instance, on the question, " whether it is lawful 
 to kill another for slander," your authors, Filiutius tr. 39, 
 Cap. 3, N. 53, Reginaldus ], 28, Ch. 5, N. 63, and 
 others, reply : " Speculatively it is lawful, — ' ex proba- 
 bili opinione licet ;' but I do not approve of it 'practically , 
 on account of the large number of murders which would 
 ensue, to the detriment of public interests, if all slander- 
 ers were to be killed ; so that taking life for this cause 
 would expose persons to public justice." 
 
 We have here a specimen of your opinions, under this 
 kind of subtle reservation ; by which you merely over-, 
 throw the sanction of religion, while you avoid doing 
 serious injury to the State. 
 
 In this yoli think yourselves safe. You suppose that 
 the repute in which you are held in the Church will screen 
 from punishment your offences against truth; and that 
 your precautions to prevent your sanctions being carried 
 out too easily in practice, will keep you in safety from the 
 magistrate, who, not concerning himself with niceties of 
 
246 LETTER XIII. 
 
 conscience, takes cognizance only of external conduct. 
 Thus, an opinion which would be condemned in practice, 
 is enunciated with safety as speculative only. But, the 
 foundation heing laid in this manner, it becomes easy to 
 build upon it your whole system. Infinite was the dis- 
 tance between the Divine interdict against murder, and 
 the speculative permission to the act conceded by your 
 writers. But, practically, the interval is reduced to almost 
 nothing. It was required only to demonstrate that what 
 is thus allowed in theory, should become also lawful in 
 practice. Keasons for this will be found in abundance : 
 you have already discovered them in some of the most 
 difficult of your cases. Would you learn, ray Fathers, by 
 what process they have been arrived at ? You have but 
 to follow the reasoning of Escobar, who has plainly de- 
 cided the point in the first of the sis volumes of his 
 f Grand Moral Theology," before referred to ; in which 
 he seems to hold views entirely different from those in his 
 " Selection from the Twenty-four Elders.'' Instead of 
 considering, as in the former work, that opinions might 
 be held in speculation which were not carried into prac- 
 tice, he has since then come to an opposite conclusion ; 
 and has fully developed it in the latter work ; so much 
 does the doctrine of probability, as well as every indivi- 
 dual opinion, acquire strength by time. 
 
 Listen to his words in Proelog. C. 3, N. 15 ; " I can- 
 not see," he says, " how a thing which is lawful in specu- 
 lation should not be so in practice, since what may be 
 right practically depends upon what is believed to be so 
 in theory ; and the two differ, only as cause differs from 
 effect. Speculation is what determines action. Whence 
 
LESSIUS ON HOMICIDE. 347 
 
 it follows, tliat we may, with a safe conscience, carry into 
 practice whatever opinions are determined to be specula- 
 tively probable ; and that, even with greater security than 
 in the case of those who have been subjected to this spe- 
 culative examination." 
 
 In truth, Reverend Sirs, the reasoning of your cham- 
 pion Escobar is sometimes not wanting in force. There 
 is indeied so intimate a connexion between speculation and 
 practice, that when once the one has taken root, the tran- 
 sition is easy to the undisguised reality. This is exem- 
 plified in the licence to kill for a blow ; which, froin simple 
 theory, has been, by Lessius, boldly advanced to a practice, 
 which may not, however, With too great facility be al- 
 lowed ; and, thence, by Escobar, to an allowable practice.* 
 Since which your learned Fathers of Caen, as we have 
 already seen, have carried it out to a plenary permission, 
 without any distinction of theory and practice. 
 
 Thus it is that you advance, step by step, your opinions. 
 If they were to appear at once in all their naked de- 
 formity, they would inspire unmixed horror ; but their 
 slow and stealthy progress renders them familiar to the 
 mind, and mitigates their atrocity. In this way, the 
 sanction of murder — that crime so abhorrent both to the 
 State and to the Church, is insinuated first into the Church, 
 and from the Church finds its way into the State. 
 
 Similar has been the progress of t^e opinion, that life 
 may be taken for the offence of slander. At the present 
 time the sanction has obtained without any distinction. 
 I should not pause to cite here the passages bearing upon 
 
 * ' Une pratique facile.' (Fr.) 
 
348 LETTER XIII. 
 
 it from your Fathers, were it not necessary to expose to 
 the world the intrepidity with which you have ventured 
 to assert in your 4th " Imposition," pages 36 and 30, 
 " that there is no Jesuit who has sanctioned the taking 
 hfe on account of slander." Before you ventured on this 
 statement, my Fathers, you should have satisfied your- 
 selves that I had not the means of seeing these things 
 with my own eyes ; so easy is it to me thus to refute you. 
 For, in addition to the fact that your Fathers lleginaldus, 
 Filiutius, &c. have respectively sanctioned this practice 
 speculatively (as I said before), and that such speculative 
 sanction, on Escobar's principle, assuredly leads to prac- 
 tice ; I now assert, that several of your own writers have 
 allowed the act in question in express terms. Among 
 others is the P^re Hereau, in his public lectures ; for 
 which the King caused him to be put in ward in your own 
 house : the doctrine he taught (together with others 
 equally erroneous), being, that " when a person traduces 
 us in the presence of respectable persons, and continues 
 to do so after being warned to desist, it is lawful for us to 
 iahe his life, not indeed publicly, for fear of scandal, but 
 in secret — " sed clam." 
 
 I have spoken before of Pere Launy, and you are aware 
 that his doctrine on this subject was, in 1649, censured by 
 the University of Louvain. And yet it is not six months 
 since, that your Father Des Bois maintained at Kouen the 
 very doctrine of Launy, thus stigmatized ; and inculcated 
 the lawfulness of an ecclesiastic defending his reputation, 
 even by taking the life of him who attacked it — " etiam 
 cum morte invasoris." Which circumstance occasioned 
 such offence in that place, that all the ministers joined 
 
LESSIUS ON HOMICIDE. 249 
 
 together to silence him, and to compel him, by ecclesias- 
 tical censures, to make a recantation of his doctrine. This 
 circumstance is officially recorded. 
 
 What is your answer, I ask, to this. Reverend Fathers ? 
 Will you now maintain that " no Jesuit has advanced the 
 opinion that life may be taken for a slander ? " And need 
 any thing further be produced for your refutation, than 
 the expressions of your own authors, seeing they forbid 
 not the murder in question abstractedly, but solely, on the 
 ground that practically it might cause inconvenience to 
 the public welfare ? I ask you here then, Sirs, whether 
 this is not the only question between us, viz. that your 
 doctrine is subversive of the law of God against murder? 
 It is not whether the State may sustain injury, but is 
 religion violated ? What avails it in such a dispute as 
 this to plead that society is spared a wrong, when the 
 deadliest wound is inflicted upon piety ? I want nothing 
 further to terminate the controversy than this one state- 
 ment produced by yourselves from Reginaldus, p. 28, 
 t. 3. " The opinion of Reginaldus on the question of 
 killing for the offence of slander is, that an individual may 
 resort to this kind of defence, considered simply in itself." * 
 " An individual,'^ you say, " may resort to this mode of 
 defence," — that is, slaying another man for a slander — 
 "considering the matter in itself; " consequently, the 
 law of God, which forbids murder, is overthrown by your 
 decision ! 
 
 It is futile to say, as you afterwards do, " This is un- 
 lawful and cruel, even according to God^s law, on account 
 
 * ' La considerant simplement en elle meme.' (Fr.) 
 M 5 
 
250 LETTER XIII. 
 
 of the numerous murders and irregularities which ensue ; 
 inasmuch as we are bound, before God, to have regard to 
 the welfare of the State." This is to evade the question. 
 Be it remembered, man is under obedience to two great 
 laws; the one which forbids to take blood, the other 
 which forbids to injure the State. Reginaldus would 
 keep clear of detriment to society, but he doubtless 
 violates the Divine law against murder. This is the only 
 point in dispute. But your other Fathers, who have 
 sanctioned these murders in actual practice, have sub- 
 verted both these rules. 
 
 Let us now proceed a step further. We have seen that 
 you, in some cases, forbid injury to the State, and allege 
 that your design in so doing is to conform to the Divine 
 law, which enjoins its support. This may be true, 
 although it is by no means certain ; for you might attain 
 the same end, by the fear alone of the civil power. Let 
 us then examine, upon what principle it is that you herein 
 proceed. 
 
 If, Reverend Sirs, you were really influenced by the 
 fear of God, and his law were the first and chief object of 
 your thought, would not this motive uniformly regulate 
 your decisions, and the interests of religion be on all 
 occasions your aim ? But if, on the contrary, we find you 
 unscrupulously violating the most sacred commands im- 
 posed by the Deity upon man, when unsupported by the 
 arm of civil authority, — thus submitting the law of God, 
 which proclaims these acts to be criminal in themselves, 
 and shrinking only from carrying them into practice from 
 the fear of human law — is it not clear that you have no 
 regard to the Divine will; and that, if you externally 
 
LESSIUS ON HOjMICIDE. 251 
 
 abstain from injuring society, it is from no motive of 
 piety, but only to subserve your own aims and interests, 
 which have been always the governing principle of bodies 
 of men uninfluenced by conscientious motives ? 
 
 What, Sirs ! regardless of the Divine canon against 
 Homicide, you teach, that blood may be spilt for a slander- 
 ous word ! And then, while thus setting yourselves 
 against the august command of God, you suppose you 
 can obviate the scandal, and retain your claims to Oui" 
 respect, by alleging that, in practice, you forbid it, from 
 regard to the State, and fear of the law ! Is not this only 
 an aggravation of the outrage? Not, indeed, by the 
 regard you show for the civil power —it is not for that 
 I censure you ; and you yourselves have made this point 
 the subject of your absurd banter at p. 29 — I reproach 
 you not for your fear of the Judges, but for your fear of 
 the Judges only. This is my indictment, that you make 
 God less the enemy of sin than man ! Were you to say 
 that a slanderer might be murdered by the rules of men, 
 but not by those of God, that would be less intolerable ; 
 but to maintain that such an act is too criminal for 
 human endurance, but lawful in the sight of heaven — of 
 Justice itself — of the Supreme and Eternal source of 
 Right — what is this but to proclaim to the whole world, 
 by this unholy perversion, that you can show yourselves 
 fearless towards God, while you are timid towards men ? 
 
 Then again, wishing to insinuate the permission in- 
 sensibly, and to circumvent by stratagem the guardians of 
 the public safety, how politicly have you acted, in sepa- 
 rating your precepts from each other, and laying down, 
 on the one hand, " the lawfulness, speculatively, of taking 
 
252 LETTER XIII. 
 
 life for slander" (for who can gainsay mere speculation ?) 
 and on the other hand, " that what is lawful in speculation 
 is also lawful in practice : " for what interest can the State 
 feel in a proposition thus abstract and metaphysical ? 
 ThuSj these two unsuspected propositions, being separately 
 propounded, the vigilance of the magistrate is lulled ; and 
 he forgets to put together the two maxims, and draw from 
 them your own conclusion, that murder is allowable, in 
 revenge for the simple offence of slander ! 
 
 We have now arrived at one of the most subtle artifices 
 in your policy, that of separating in your writings maxims 
 which in your system are really united. It is in this way 
 that you have established your doctrine of probability, so 
 often referred to. The general principle being stated, 
 you proceed separately to advance things, which — innocent 
 perhaps in themselves — become detestable, when united 
 with a previously enunciated and pernicious principle. I 
 adduce, for example, what you say at page 11 of " your 
 Impositions," and which calls upon me for a reply; 
 " Several celebrated theologians," it is there stated, " are 
 of opinion that life may be taken for the offence of a 
 blow." Here it is clear, that, if a person not holding the 
 doctrine of Probability had asserted this, there would have 
 been nothing to object to, for it is a simple and incon- 
 sequential affirmation. But if you, Reverend Sirs, and 
 all who maintain the dangerous doctrine " that whatever 
 is approved by all authors of celebrity is probable, and 
 safe as regards the conscience," add to this latter pro- 
 position, the one above cited, " that several celebrated 
 theologians hold ' life for a blow;'" what is this, I ask, 
 but to place the poignard in every Christian's hand, to 
 
LESSIUS ON HOMICIDE. 353 
 
 revenge liis affronts with death, by announcing that his 
 conscience may be at rest, seeing he is following the 
 opinion of grave and learned authorities ? 
 
 Is not this, I ask, horrible ? To report in this way the 
 damnable opinions of your authors, and virtually your 
 own decision in their favour, and thus to give licence to 
 the conscience to act upon those opinions ! But this, 
 Reverend Fathers, is the policy of your school, and one 
 can only be astonished at your hardihood in avowing so 
 undisguisedly your sentiments, by which you stand con- 
 victed, on your own admission, of holding that a man may 
 with safe conscience " murder another for the offence of 
 a blow ; " inasmuch as you declare the maxim to be 
 advanced by various eminent authorities." 
 
 It is in vain for you to deny this, or to put forward 
 passages from Vasquez and Suarez, condemnatory of these 
 murders which your Brethren sanction. Testimony of 
 this kind, dissociated from other parts, may confuse those 
 who do not understand your system. But I say, let your 
 principles and maxims he put properly together. You may 
 allege, in one place, that Vasquez disallows such homicide. 
 But what is your language elsewhere ? " The probability 
 of one opinion does not prevent the probability of an op- 
 posite one : " and, in another place : " It is lawful to 
 foUow a less probable and safe opinion, in preference to 
 one more probable and more safe." What follows from 
 all this, I demand, but that, with entire liberty of con- 
 science, a man may choose from the most contradictory 
 opinions just that one which falls in the most entirely 
 with his own inclination ? What, then, my Fathers, is 
 the value of all your quotations ? I condemn you by the 
 
254 LETTER XIII. 
 
 very means you employ for your defence. Why produce 
 passages which I did not quote, to excuse others which I 
 did quote, and which have nothing in common with each 
 other ? Does this give you a right to call me an im- 
 postor ? Did I affirm that all your Fathers taught doc- 
 trines equally licentious ? Have I not proved, on the 
 contrary, that your chief strength lay in having at your 
 command opinions of every hue for your various occa- 
 sions ? To the advocates of murder you present Lessius ; 
 to the humane and scrupulous, Vasquez ; so that all may 
 be satisfied, and none be without a grave authority to 
 support their view. Lessius, speaking like a Pagan of 
 homicide, and, perhaps, like a Christian of alms-giving; 
 Vasquez, heathenishly of alms, and Christianly of homi- 
 cide. Then, by means of the doctrine of probability, held 
 by both, they can make over to each other their respec- 
 tive sentiments ; and will feel themselves bound to absolve 
 such as may have carried out into action the opinions 
 which each in his turn has condemned. It is this shifting 
 and versatility which enhance your delinquency : unifor- 
 mity would be comparatively innocent. Nothing, more- 
 over, is more opposed to the express directions of St. 
 Ignatius and your earlier rulers, than this confusion and 
 intermixture of all opinions. I may have something to 
 say to you on this subject, my reverend Fathers, here- 
 after ; and the world will perhaps be surprised to learn 
 how you have degenerated from the early spirit of 'your 
 institution ; while your own founders foresaw that a re- 
 laxation of your moral doctrines, such as this, would be 
 fatal, not to your Society only, but also to the universal 
 Church ! 
 
LESSIUS ON HOMICIDE. 255 
 
 I must tell you, however, in the meau time, that you 
 vainly seek to derive advantage from the opinion of Vas- 
 quez. It would be strange, indeed, if, among the writings 
 of so many of your brethren, one or two could not have 
 been found holding opinions such as all Christians ac- 
 knowledge. Little cause of boasting is it in any one, to 
 maintain that, according to Christ's gospel, murder may 
 not be committed for a blow; but most flagrant is the 
 disgrace of those who deny the proposition. Far from 
 afl^ording you any justification, this fact only aggravates 
 your guilt; for it proves that, possessing among your 
 members some who hold the truth, you adhere not to 
 that truth, but love darkness rather than light. You 
 have been told by an eminent authority of your own, " that 
 it is heathenish — not christian — to maintain that a wound 
 may be returned for a mere blow ; that such a doctrine is 
 opposed both to the Decalogue and the Gospel ; and 
 would be supported only by the most unprincipled of 
 human society." And in spite of this, and in contradic- 
 tion of such obvious truths, you are passive, while Lessius, 
 Escobar, and others, aver, in the face of the most solemn 
 denunciations of Jehovah against man-slaying, — that life 
 may be taken in revenge for a blow ! What does it avail 
 you then to oppose Vasquez to Lessius, but to show that, 
 according to Vasquez, Lessius is a heathen and a profli- 
 gate, which is far more than I have ventured to say ? 
 What conclusion are we to draw, but that Lessius would 
 overthrow both the Decalogue and the Gospel ? What, 
 but that, at the last great day, Vasquez will condemn 
 Lessius on one point, as Lessius will condemn Vasquez on 
 another ; and that the whole of your authorities will rise 
 
256 LETTER XIII. 
 
 in jadgmentj the one against the other, for their awful 
 violations of the" law of Christ ? 
 
 To conclude, then. Reverend Fathers ; since your doc- 
 trine of probability renders the opinions of some of your 
 Members useless to the Church, and advantageous only 
 for the advancement of your own polity, these very 
 opinions do but prove, by their contrariety, the duplicity 
 of your principles. It is in this way that you oppose the 
 solemn dictates of Scripture, corrupt the simplicity of 
 Divine truth, and point to man two diverging ways of 
 holiness and salvation ! 
 
LETTER XIV. 
 
 REFUTATION FROM SCRIPTURE, THE HOLY FATHERS, 
 &C., OP THE JESUIT MAXIMS UPON HOMICIDE. PASS- 
 ING REPLY TO VARIOUS OTHER SLANDERS, AND COM- 
 PARISON OP THEIR DOCTRINE WITH THE FORMALI- 
 TIES OBSERVED IN CRIMINAL PROCESSES. 
 
 Reverend Fathers, October 23, 1656. 
 
 If my task were nothing more than to reply to your 
 threefold misrepresentations respecting homicide, I should 
 not need to employ many words, and my refutation would 
 lie in the narrowest compass ; but, considering it much 
 more important to impress upon the world a due horror of 
 your opinions on this subject, than to justify the fidelity 
 of my quotations, I deem it necessary to occupy the larger 
 part of this letter in a general refutation of your tenets ; 
 and in proving how opposed they are at once to the sen- 
 timents of the Church, and to the dictates of nature. 
 
 The sanction to take life, conceded by you on so many 
 occasions, proves how, in this respect, you have utterly 
 disregarded the law of God, and sought to extinguish, in 
 man, the light of nature ; so that it is become necessary 
 to bring you back to the very elementary principles of 
 religion and common sense. What can be more in ac- 
 
258 LETTER XIV. 
 
 cordance with natural feelings than the sentiment, " That 
 one man has no right to deprive another of life." " Our 
 own consciences may tell us/' says St. Chrysostom, " that 
 when God issued the command, ' Thou shalt not kill/ he 
 deemed it not necessary to assign the reason why homi- 
 cide is a sin ; because the law supposes such a principle 
 of nature to be already known to us." 
 
 This is a command, then, that has been imposed upon 
 man from the commencement of time, and in every age. 
 The Gospel confirmed the sanction of the law; and the 
 decalogue only renewed the prohibition, which man had 
 received from the mouth of Deity (before the introduction 
 of the law) through the instrumentality of our progenitor 
 Noah. At that second birth of the world, God said to 
 the patriarch, " At the hand of every man's brother will 
 I require the life of man : Whoso sheddeth man's blood, 
 by man shall his blood be shed ; for in the image of God 
 made he man." 
 
 This universal interdict takes from man all right over 
 the life of his fellow-man. And so absolutely has God 
 reserved this power to himself, that, by the principles of 
 Christianity — principles at variance, herein, with the false 
 opinions of Paganism — man has not even a right to dis- 
 pose of his own life. But, as it seemed good to the 
 Divine Providence to give to man the institutions of So- 
 ciety, and to appoint punishments for those who trouble 
 its well-being, he has himself enacted laws for taking 
 away the life of offenders ; and thus, homicides, which, 
 without such sanction would be unjustifiable infringe- 
 ments upon the rights of our fellows, become, under that 
 sanction, lawful and necessary. This is admirably un- 
 
JESUIT MAXIMS UPON HOMICIDE. 259 
 
 folded by St. Augustine, Book I. of his " City of God," 
 Ch. 31. " God/' he says, " has himself decreed some 
 exception to his general prohibition to kill, whether by 
 the institution of laws for the punishment of criminals, 
 or by special commands, occasionally given, for the death 
 of individuals. When life is taken away in such cases as 
 these, it is not man that kills, but God, of whom man is 
 the mere instrument ; as is a sword in the hand of him 
 who uses it in warfare. But, with these exceptions, who- 
 sover takes away the life of man is a murderer." 
 
 It is then not to be doubted that God alone has the 
 right to take away man's life. Nevertheless, having in- 
 stituted laws for the capital punishment of offences, he 
 has constituted earthly sovereigns or governments, the 
 depositaries of this power. This is taught us by St. Paul, 
 where, speaking of the right possessed by kings to take 
 life, he clothes it with a Divine authority, saying, " He 
 beareth not the sword in vain ; for he is the minister of 
 God, to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." (Rom. 
 xiii. 4.) 
 
 But this authority being committed to man by God, he 
 requires that it shall be exercised by man, as it is by 
 Himself, with justice, according to St. Paul again in the 
 same connexion. " Eulers are not a terror to good 
 works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of 
 the power ? Do that which is good. He is the minister 
 of God to thee for good." And this restriction, so far 
 from weakening, elevates their authority ; for it assimi- 
 lates it to that of the Almighty himself; who is incapable 
 of evil, but omnipotent for good ; in contrast with that of 
 demons, who are incapable of good, and have power 
 
360 . LETTER XIV. 
 
 only for evil. There is this difference, alone, between 
 Jehovah and earthly potentates, that He, being himself 
 perfect justice and wisdom, may at any instant take the 
 life of his creatures, whensoever and in what manner it 
 shall please him ; for, besides that He is the absolute Dis- 
 poser of man's life, it is not to be doubted that He never 
 resumes that life without good cause, and in the exercise 
 of perfect discretion, inasmuch as He is incapable alike of 
 injustice and of error. But princes may not thus act ; 
 because, although ministers of God, they possess a human 
 and not a divine nature. They are obnoxious to. be mis- 
 led by error, excited by false suspicion, carried away by 
 passion ; and this has led them, of their own accord, to 
 resort to fitting institutions, and to delegate the power 
 thus committed to them of God, into the hand of wise 
 and impartial magistrates, that it may be improved to the 
 august purposes for which it has been bestowed. 
 
 Know then. Reverend Father, that to escape the guilt 
 of homicide in taking man's life, the authority of God 
 should be wielded in conjunction with \h.e. justice of God ; 
 and that if these two conditions be not fulfilled, sin is 
 committed ; be it under Divine authority, but without 
 justice; or, with justice, but without Divine authority. 
 " From the necessity of such a union, it follows," says 
 St. Augustine, " that any one who, without authority, 
 puts a criminal to death, is himself guilty of crime ; for 
 this reason, chiefly, that he usurps an authority which 
 God has not conferred." On the other hand, the judge 
 although clothed with that authority, is guilty of homi- 
 cide, if he puts an innocent person to death, in violation 
 of the laws which it is his duty to follow. 
 
JESUIT MAXIMS UPON HOMICIDE. 261 
 
 These, Sirs, are the great principles upon which rest 
 the peace and security of society ; principles which have 
 prevailed in all ages, and among all nations; and on 
 which legislators, both sacred and profane, have founded 
 their laws. For Pagans, even, have not violated these 
 rules, excepting on occasions when the loss of chastity or 
 life could not be averted without it ; " for then," remarks 
 Cicero, " the laws themselves seem to furnish arms to 
 those exposed to such an exigency." 
 
 But that, apart from such occasions as these, individuals 
 should ever be allowed to deprive their fellow-men of life, in 
 revenge for an affront, or to escape an injury to reputation 
 or property, and that, where life is exposed to no danger ; 
 this, I assert, is what heathens themselves never sanc- 
 tioned. They have, on the contrary, expressly forbidden 
 it ; for the Roman law of the twelve tables enacted, " That 
 it is unlawful to slay a robber, in the day-time, who is not 
 armed for his own defence." This too was forbidden in 
 Exodus Ch. xxii. And the law, " Furem, ad legem Cor- 
 neliam," taken from Ulpian, " forbids even the killing of 
 robbers by night, if they do not put our own life in peril." 
 See Cujas, in tit. dig. de Just, et Jure, ad Leg. 3. 
 
 I ask you now, Keverend Fathers, by what authority it 
 is, that your Society permits that which laws, both human 
 and divine, have forbidden ; and how Lessius has dared 
 to say, B. 2, C. 9, N. 66 and 72 : " In Exodus it is for- 
 bidden to kill those committing robbery by day, not de- 
 fending themselves by arms ; and he that killed another 
 in such manner was to be punished. Yet, notwithstand- 
 ing this, in doing so we should not, in conscience, be cul- 
 pable, seeing that we cannot otherwise have any certainty 
 
263 LETTER XIT. 
 
 of recovering the property thus stolen from us ; but sucli 
 recovery must be doubtful ; and we are not bound to ex- 
 pose ourselves to the loss of property, to save the life of a 
 robber. And this even is lawful for ecclesiastics also." 
 
 Inconceivable audacity ! The law of Moses punishes 
 the taking the life of a robber, if our own life be not 
 threatened ; and you say, the law of the Gospel absolves 
 it ! What, Sirs, did Christ come to destroy the law, or 
 to fulfil it ? "The law might punish," says Lessius, "for 
 such an offence ; but conscience shall acquit us." Is the 
 morality of the Gospel more cruel — less hostile to blood- 
 shedding — than that of heathenism, from whence our own 
 legislators have derived the very laws which condemn it ? 
 Shall Christians set more value upon their sordid goods, 
 and less upon the life of immortal man, than idolators and 
 infidels ? "What is it, Keverend Fathers, that you ground 
 your rules upon ? Not surely upon any actual law of 
 God, or of man ; but upon reasoning such as this : " The 
 law allows us to defend ourselves against robbery ; and to 
 repel force by force. Now, defence being allowed, homi- 
 cide must also be allowable, since without it, such defence 
 would often be impossible." 
 
 Here, Sirs, I am at issue with you. Defence being 
 allowed, it follows not that homicide is also allowable. It 
 is this barbarity in the manner of defence that is the 
 source of your perversions, and is denominated by the 
 faculty of Louvain " a murderous defence " — defensio oc- 
 cisiva — in their Censure of your Pere Launy's doctrines 
 upon Homicide. I maintain, then, that there is so much 
 difference in law, between the taking of life and allowable 
 self-defence, that on those very occasions in which the 
 
JESUIT MAXIMS UPON HOMICIDE. 263 
 
 latter is permittedj homicide is equally forbidden, where 
 life is not put in danger. Hear what Cujas says on this 
 subject, " It is lawful to repel one who endeavours to 
 deprive us of our property ; but it is not lawful to deprive 
 him of life.'^ And again, " If we receive a blow, but not 
 with a design against our life, it is lawful to defend our- 
 selves, but not, in doing so to take life." 
 
 Where then do you receive authority to say, as do Mo- 
 lina, Reginaldus, Filiutius, Escobar, Lessius, and others. 
 " It is lawful to take life in revenge for a blow ? " And 
 again, " It is allowed, by the opinion of all Casuists, ' ex 
 sententia omnium,' to take the life of him who assails our 
 reputation," * as says Lessius, N. 74. By what title do 
 you — mere unauthorized individuals yourselves — give this 
 power over life to individual persons, and even to the 
 pious ? How is it that you presume to usurp this right 
 over life and death — the sole prerogative of the Most 
 High, and the brightest jewel in the crown of Infinitude? 
 To this I demand a reply ; and you afiect to give one by 
 saying simply in your " thirteenth Imposture," " that the 
 consideration in value for which Molina allows the killing 
 a robber, who escapes without threatening violence, is not 
 so small as I state, and must exceed six ducats." Mise- 
 rable sophistry ! Where, Sirs, will you fix this amount ? 
 At fifteen — at sixteen ducats ? Does this improve your 
 case } Why you do not then get beyond the price of a 
 horse; for Lessius plainly declares, B. 2, C. 9, N. 74, 
 " that we may kiU a man who steals our horse." But I 
 tell you again, as I have stated already, that, according to 
 
 * ' Tuer celui qui Teut nous faire un affront.' (Fr.) 
 
264 LETTER XIV. 
 
 Molinaj tlie amount is fixed at six ducats ; and if we can- 
 not here agree, let us call in an arbitrator^ and one whom 
 you cannot gainsay. I name for the purpose your own 
 Reginaldus, who commenting on this passage of Molina^ 
 B. 31j N. 68, says, " Molina here decides that the amount 
 for which it is not permitted to take life is three, or four, 
 or five ducats." Thus, my Fathers, I have not only 
 Mohna, but Reginaldus also to support my assertion. 
 
 It will be not less easy for me to refute your fourteenth 
 " Imposture," respecting Molina's alleged permission " to 
 kill a thief for the robbery of a dollar." This is so uni- 
 form a doctrine, that Escobar wUl furnish you with it. 
 In tr. 1, ex. 7, N. 44, he says, " Molina authoritatively 
 fixes the amount for which life may be taken, at a dollar." 
 But you charge me, in the same connexion, with suppress- 
 ing the subsequent part of the passage : " "We ought 
 herein, however, to be careful to observe the moderation 
 of a just defence." * Why do you not then censure Es- 
 cobar, who has equally omitted these words ? This is 
 somewhat sharp policy. Do you think others do not 
 understand as well as you, your own fashion of defence ? 
 Do not we know what it is to make " a murderous de- 
 fence ? " (defense meurtriere.) You would have it under- 
 stood that Molina meant by this, that when life is ex- 
 posed to danger in the preservation of our dollar, that we 
 may kill the assailant, as it is then an act of self-preserva- 
 tion. Were that true, my Fathers, why has Molina said 
 in the same passage, that " in this he dijQfers from Carrerus 
 and Bald," who allow of homicide for preservation of life? 
 
 * ' L'on doit garder en cel.i Is modulation d'une juste defense.' (Fr.) 
 
JESUIT MAXIMS UPON HOMICIDE. 265 
 
 I maintain that what he means is simply, that if we can 
 save our crown-piece without killing the robber, we ought 
 not to kill him ; but if we cannot save it without killing, 
 even if there be no danger of our own life (as when the 
 robber is unarmed), it is then lawful for us to kill the 
 thief, to save our crown ; and that in doing so, according 
 to his opinion, we are not exceeding the limits of lawful 
 defence. For proof of this, hear his own explanation : 
 t. 4, tr. 3, d. 11, N. 5, " We do not exceed the modera- 
 tion of a just defence, when we use arms against those 
 who have none, or avail ourselves of any other advantage 
 over them. I know there are those who hold a diflferent 
 opinion, but I do not agree with them." 
 
 Thus, Reverend Fathers, it is placed beyond contro- 
 versy, that your authorities allow life to be taken for the 
 defence of property, and reputation, even when the party 
 assailed is in no danger of his own life. And it is on the 
 same principle that sanction is given to the practice of 
 duelling, as I have proved by numerous passages from 
 their writings, to which you have ventured no reply. 
 You comment only on one quotation made by me from 
 your Pere Layman, in which he permits such an act, say- 
 ing, " when, otherwise, we should be in danger of loss of 
 fortune, or honour ;" and you charge me with suppressing 
 his concluding words " this, however, may rarely happen." 
 Now this is really to be admired, my good Fathers ! This 
 is your happy way of charging me with misrepresenta- 
 tion ! We are enquiring whether duelling be lawful or 
 not. There are here two distinct questions at issue. 
 Layman, as a Casuist, sets himself to decide, " is duelling 
 lawful?" and decides aflSrrnatively, We can judge for our- 
 
266 LETTER XIV. 
 
 selves whether the case supposed for its justification be 
 infrequent ; and we contend that it is of common occur- 
 rence. But if you prefer the testimony of your good col- 
 league, Diana, he will inform you how common it is, in 
 part 5, tract 14, Misc. 2, Resol. 99. Be it however com- 
 mon or not, and be it that Layman herein follows Na- 
 varre, as you so strongly insist, — is it the less atrocious 
 that he should adopt such an opinion, as that (from a 
 false notion of honour) it should be lawful to engage in a 
 duel, contrary to the laws of all Christian States, and to 
 the canons of the Church ; contrary to the authority of 
 Scripture, and to the writings of the Fathers, and to the 
 example of the saints ; and in accordance only with such 
 diabolical and impious reasonings as these : " that honour 
 is dearer to us than life ; that it is lawful to take life in 
 defence of life ; therefore it is lawful to take life in de- 
 fence of honour " ? 
 
 What, Sirs ! Because the wickedness of men leads 
 them to cherish this vanity of reputation more than the 
 existence which their Creator has given them, that it may 
 be devoted to His service, therefore the lives of their fel- 
 lows are to be sacrificed to its preservation ! It is not 
 enough that, by a fatal perversion, this bubble of fame is 
 thus to be valued more than life ; but the vicious attach- 
 ment — capable, when pursued as an end, of sullying the 
 holiest actions — is to be allowed to justify the very worst, 
 when resolved, as its motive, into mere jealousy of 
 honour ! 
 
 And where is this fearful infatuation to end ? To what 
 excesses must it not lead ! Is it not obvious that lifewill 
 come to be set in the balance with the veriest trifles, if it 
 
JESUIT MAXIMS UPON HOMICIDE. 267 
 
 be regarded as a point of honour to preserve them ; yes, 
 the life of man may be taken for an apple ! Here you 
 would again charge me, my Reverend Fathers, with draw- 
 ing slanderous inferences from your doctrines, were I not, 
 in saying this, supported by the authority of the grave 
 Lessius himself, who has these words, N. 68 : " It is not 
 allowable to take the life of another for the preservation 
 of a thing of small value, such as a dollar, or an apple — 
 ' aut pro porno ' — unless the loss of it should be attended 
 with disgrace to ourselves. For then we are bound to 
 recover it, and even to take life, if necessary, for the pur- 
 pose — ' et si opus est occidere ' — because this is not so 
 much for the preservation of our property as of our 
 honour." Is not this plain speaking ? And, to conclude 
 with a proposition which includes all the others, hear the 
 following passage from Pere Hereau, and which he has 
 adopted from Lessius. " The right of defending ourselves 
 extends to the use of every kind of means for preserving 
 ourselves from every kind of injury." 
 
 Look at the consequences involved in this inhuman 
 maxim ! Surely every one should oppose it, and espe- 
 cially all persons occupying public stations. And not 
 only should they do this on public grounds, but for their 
 individual safety ; for your Casuists, whom I have quoted 
 in former letters, extend their sanction to the invasion of 
 their lives also. Thus, turbulent spirits, who are justly 
 exposed to punishment for their offences, easily persuading 
 themselves that they are objects of oppression, will soon 
 act upon the conviction " that the right to defend them- 
 selves extends to every kind of means, against every kind 
 of injury." They will no longer feel it necessary to 
 
 N 2 
 
268 LETTER XIV. 
 
 resist those conscientious scruplesj which stifle the greater 
 number of crimes in their birth ; and their only care will 
 be to overcome the external obstacles to their revengeful 
 purposes. 
 
 I will however say no more. Reverend Fathers, on this 
 hateful subject, nor on other descriptions of murder yet 
 more atrocious — more imminent to public safety — to 
 which your sanctions have been given, although they are 
 openly treated of by Lessius in his " Doubts 4 and 6," 
 as well as by others among your writers. Would that 
 these infamous maxims had never been dragged from the 
 dark abyss in which they were engendered ; and that the 
 Devil, their author, had not succeeded in finding agents 
 so devoted to his interests, as to set them forth in all their 
 deformity among Christian nations ! 
 
 It must be manifest from all that has been advanced, 
 how opposed is the laxity of your opinions to the strict, 
 ness of the civil law, even amongst heathen states. What 
 must it be then, when compared with the ecclesiastical 
 code, which is so much the more elevated over every 
 other, inasmuch as it is the Church alone that has dis- 
 covered and possesses true holiness ! Therefore it is that 
 this chaste Bride of Christ, who, in imitation of her Divine 
 Spouse, is willing to shed her blood for the good of others, 
 but never sheds that of others for her own pleasure, 
 entertains an especial horror of the crime of murder— a 
 horror proportioned to the clearness of that light which 
 has been imparted to her by God himself. She regards 
 man as the image of Him whom she adores. She enters 
 tains for every individual of our race a holy reverence, as 
 for one bought with fin infinite pripe, and designed to 
 
JESUIT MAXIMS UPON HOMICIDE. 269 
 
 become a temple of the living God. Thus she judges 
 the death of man — unauthorized by a law from heaven — 
 to be not homicide alone, but an act of sacrilege, by which 
 she is deprived of one of her members ; since, whether 
 one of the faithful or not, she regards him either as 
 actually one of her children, or as one capable of becoming 
 such. 
 
 These, my Fathers, are the hallowed reasons which, 
 seeing that the Deity has condescended to become Man 
 for the salvation of men, have so enhanced the value of 
 man's life in the eyes of the Church, that she resents the 
 shedding of his blood as the highest crime that can be 
 committed against God. I will adduce some instances of 
 this ; not with the view that such severities should on all 
 occasions be imitated (for I know that the Church may 
 vary the degrees of her external discipline,) but to show 
 what has been ever the immutable spirit of her laws on 
 this subject. The penalties she inflicts for this crime 
 of homicide may vary in different periods ; but the 
 horror she evinces for the offence will be unalterably the 
 same. 
 
 The Church, during a long period of time, never dis- 
 pensed with the death of those who were guilty of deli- 
 berate homicide, of the same nature as those which your 
 Society sanctions. The celebrated council of Ancyra 
 ordained penance for the crime during the whole period 
 of life : and the Church, since then, has deemed it a 
 sufficient relaxation to reduce the term of penance to a 
 large number of years. But to deter men more effectually 
 from the commission of wilful homicide, she has even 
 imposed severe punishments upon thqse which occurred 
 
370 LETTER XIV. 
 
 through inadvertencies ; * as may be seen in St. Basil, St. 
 Gregory Nazianzen, and in the decrees of Popes Zacchary 
 and Alexander II. The canons quoted by Isaac, Bishop 
 of liangres, t. 2, ch. 13, " direct seven years of penance 
 for killing another in self-defence." And we find St. 
 Hildebert, Bishop of Mans, replying to Yves de Chartres, 
 " That he deemed it right to supersede a priest from his 
 office during his whole life, for having killed a .thief with 
 a blow of a stone in an act of defence.''' 
 
 Presume then no longer to assert that your decisions 
 are conformable in spirit to the canons of the Church. I 
 defy you to produce one which authorizes the taking life 
 for the preservation of property only, (for I refer not to 
 occasions in which it may be necessary to defend life also,) 
 * se suaque liberando.' Your own Fathers acknowledge 
 there are none ; among others Launy, tr. 5, disp. 36, 
 Num. 136 : " There is," he says, " no law, divine or 
 human, that expressly allows to kill a thief, who uses no 
 violence." Nevertheless, this is what you solemnly au- 
 thorize. I defy you to show one ecclesiastical law, which 
 allows to take life for defending reputation, for a blow, an 
 injury, or a slander. I defy you to show one which 
 allows the killing a witness, a magistrate, a judge, what- 
 ever alleged injury may be sustained from them. The 
 spirit of the Church is entirely opposed to these pernicious 
 maximsj which open a door to the most flagrant irregulari- 
 ties. Her lessons have ever been, " not to render evil 
 for evil ; " " to give place to wrath ; " " to submit to 
 violence;" "to render to all their dues — honour, sub- 
 
 * ' Par imprudence,' (Fr.) 
 
JESUIT MAXIMS UPON HOMICIDE. 271 
 
 mission^ tribute ; " " to pay obedience to magistrates and 
 superiors/' even the unjust, because we are to recognize in 
 them the authority of God by whom they are appointed. 
 The Church forbids us (even yet more strictly than the 
 civil law) to avenge ourselves ; and it is by the spirit 
 imbibed from her, that Christian sovereigns, not yielding 
 to vindictive emotions, even in cases of the highest state- 
 treasons, hand over the criminal to the civil judge to be 
 dealt with according to the national laws. Ought not the 
 blush of shame to overspread your cheeks, Fathers, at 
 the contrast between this mode of procedure and your 
 principles ? 
 
 Follow now, I pray, the comparison between the mode 
 of dealing with an enemy, which is authorized by your 
 Society, and the solemn process with which the punish- 
 ment of death is inflicted upon criminals by our national 
 judicatures. 
 
 Every one knows that individuals are never allowed to 
 demand the death of others ; and, if we have been ruined 
 in our circumstances, maimed in our limbs, our house burnt 
 down, our nearest relative even destroyed — if threatened 
 with assassination, or slandered and traduced — we are not 
 left to deal with the offenders ourselves : public pro- 
 secutors are appointed, for the purpose of redress on the 
 part of the sovereign, or rather on the part of God. Do 
 you think. Reverend Sirs, that Christian judges have 
 made such regulations as these a mere feint and pre- 
 tence ? Is it not done, rather, in order that human laws 
 may be assimilated to the Gospel rules, and to prevent the 
 external practice of our jurisprudence being placed in 
 opposition to the convictions and practices of Christianity ? 
 
272 LETTER XIV. 
 
 We may see from this how you stand confuted on the 
 very first principles of justice. You shall be yet more 
 confounded by what follows. 
 
 Let us now suppose that the public functionary referred 
 to has demanded the capital punishment of the criminal ; 
 what follows thereupon ? Is death hastily awarded ? 
 Noj my Fathers ; man's life is of too much importance 
 for this J his Maker's gift is treated with more reverence. 
 The law places it not at the disposal of our fellow-men 
 indiscriminately ; it is committed into the hand of magis- 
 trates, of learning, intelligence and probity. Nor is the 
 judgment of one alone deemed sufficient for his condem- 
 nation. Seven * must solemnly concur in the act. Of 
 those seven, care is taken that no one shall have expe- 
 rienced wrong or injury from the criminal, lest any 
 personal prejudice should produce a bias or feeling of 
 resentment against him. And you are aware also, that in 
 order to secure the clearest exercise of the mind on the 
 part of these Judges, the earlier hours of the day only 
 are appropriated to this important duty; such is the 
 solicitude to obtain due preparation for so solemn an act, 
 wherein they are constituted the representatives and 
 ministers of God ; and to ensure that they shall punish 
 none but those whom the Deity himself condemns. 
 
 And therefore it is, in order that they may be faithful 
 dispensers of this divinely-entrusted authority over man's 
 life, that they are allowed only to proceed upon authentic 
 testimony, and according to all other established for- 
 malities ; and, finally, can condemn and sentence capitally 
 
 * It is otvious that it is the French criminal system that is here referred 
 to. (Transl.) 
 
JESUIT MAXIMS UPON HOMICIDE. 373 
 
 only in strict conformity with legal rules. Andj after all 
 this, if the authority thus divinely derived, compels the 
 abandonment to punishment of the body of the unhappy 
 criminal, the same command of God enjoins a solicitude 
 for their wretched souls. The very criminality of the 
 offenders enhances the obligation to this duty ; lest they 
 should be dismissed from life without an effort for their 
 spiritual preparation. Can any thing be more pure and 
 blameless than this ? Yet so greatly does the Church 
 abhor the shedding of blood — such is her serious view also 
 respecting homicide — that she holds to be incapacitated 
 from ministering at her altars, any who have taken part 
 in a capital proceeding, although it has been accompanied 
 and sanctioned by all these scrupulous observances ! 
 
 See then, I pray you, in what manner, by the rules of 
 jurisprudence, man's life is dealt with : see, on the other 
 hand, how your Order deals with it. By your novel code 
 there is but one Judge, and that Judge is the party 
 against whom the offence has been committed. Behold 
 him, at once. Plaintiff, Judge, and Executioner ! At 
 once, he impeaches his enemy, passes his condemnation, 
 and executes the sentence ; and, regardless of the welfare 
 either of body or soul of his fellow-man, he hurls from 
 life, and dooms perhaps to eternal perdition, one, for whom 
 Christ died ! And all this to revenge a blow, a slander, 
 an irritating word, or some similar offence ; for which a 
 magistrate, clothed with lawful authority, might have 
 been himself deemed criminal in capitally committing the 
 offender, seeing the law had awarded no such punishment 
 for the trespass ! And then, to crown and consummate 
 the outrage, no blame, no irregularity, even is to be 
 
 N 6 
 
374 LETTER XIV. 
 
 imputed, for such an unauthorized — such illegal taking of 
 man's life — even if the party be an ecclesiastic or a priest ! 
 
 What, Sirs, are we come to ! Are they ecclesiastics, 
 are they priests, who hold this language ? Are they 
 Christians ? Are they Infidels ? Are they Men ? Are 
 they Demons ? Ar^ these the " Mysteries revealed by 
 the Lamb to his followers," or are they abominations 
 whispered by Satan in the ear of those who are led in 
 chains by his delusions ? 
 
 For, after all. Reverend Fathers, in what light would 
 you have the world regard you ? Are you to be deemed 
 followers of the gospel, or its opponents ? We must be 
 of one side or another : there is no middle place. " He 
 that is not with the Saviour is against him." These two 
 classifications divide the whole race of man. There are, 
 according to St. Augustine, " two classes, and two dif- 
 ferent worlds, diffused over the earth's surface ; the world 
 of God's children, which forms that body of which Christ 
 is the Head and Sovereign ; and the world of God's ene- 
 mies, whose head and ruler is the Devil." It is on this 
 account that Jesus is called the King and God of the 
 world; because he has everywhere subjects and worship- 
 pers ; and the Devil is also called in Scripture, the Prince 
 and God of the world; seeing he has everywhere his 
 devotees and slaves. Christ has given to the Church— 
 his seat of empire — such laws as seemed good to Ms in- 
 finite wisdom ; and Satan has also exacted, in his king- 
 dom, laws according to his pleasure. Jesus has conferred 
 honour upon the sufferer : the Devil upon him who suffers 
 not. Jesus has enjoined upon him who is smitten on the 
 one cheek, to turn the other also : Satan tells the man 
 
JESUIT MAXIMS UPON HOMICIDE. 275 
 
 who receives a blow, to retaliate even to death upon him 
 that inflicts it. Jesus declares those happy who share 
 with him shame and reproach : Satan proclaims the re- 
 proached and slandered to be unhappy. Christ says, 
 " Woe unto you when all men speak well of you ! " The 
 Devil says, "Woe unto those whom the world esteems and 
 caresses not ! 
 
 Loot well, then, to it, my Fathers, to which of these 
 kingdoms you belong. You know the language of the 
 City of Peace — the mystical Jerusalem ; and you know 
 also the language of the City of Sorrow, which the Scrip- 
 ture calls " the spiritual Sodom." Which of these lan- 
 guages are you versed in ? Which of these do you speak ? 
 Those who belong to Christ (according to St. Paul) hold 
 the doctrines of Christ ; and those who (in the language 
 of Christ) are children of Satan — " ex Patre Diabolo," 
 who was a murderer from the beginning — follow the 
 maxims of the DevU. See what is the language of your 
 school, and ask your writers the question, " If I receive a 
 blow, shall I patiently endure it, rather than aim at the 
 life of him who gives it ? Or, am I allowed to kill such 
 an one in revenge of the affront ? " " You are allowed," 
 say Lessius, Molina, Escobar, Reginaldus, Filiutius, Bal- 
 dellus, and other Jesuits; "you are allowed to kill a man 
 from whom you receive a blow." Answer me, now, is 
 this the language of Jesus Christ ? Again : " Would a 
 person be dishonoured by receiving a blow, without taking 
 the life of the person inflicting it ? " " Is it to be 
 doubted," says Escobar, " that if a person allows another 
 to live, who has given him a blow, he himself will live 
 without honour ? " 
 
^76 LETTER XIV. 
 
 Yes, Sirs, but it is that honour whicli the Devil, the 
 fountain of pride, has transmitted to all the children of 
 pride ! This is the honour which has ever been the idol 
 of the men of the world. To maintain this honour — the 
 choicest gift of Satan — we see them sacrifice life, in the 
 fury of the duel; true reputation, by the disgraces they 
 entail upon themselves ; and their eternal welfare, by the 
 damnation into which they plunge — recklessly foregoing 
 even the rites of Christian sepulture, which ecclesiastical 
 law denies them ! But we have cause to bless God for 
 having enlightened the mind of our sovereign * with purer 
 views than those inspired by your theology. His severe 
 ordonnances on the subject have not indeed had the effect 
 of constituting duelling a crime, but they have inflicted a 
 punishment upon the crime inseparable from duelling. 
 He has deterred, by the fear of legal rigours, those, who 
 could not be restrained from the practice by the fear of 
 God ; and his sense of piety has taught him that a Chris- 
 tian's honour consists in observance of the laws of God 
 and of religion ; and not that vain and empty phantom of 
 honour, which you pretend to be a legitimate excuse for 
 the murder of a fellow-creature ! Thus it is that your 
 blood-thirsty decisions have become the abhorrence of the 
 whole world; and you would do well to change your 
 system from a motive of policy, even if not of religious 
 duty. Let me advise you, my Fathers, by a voluntary 
 condemnation of these inhuman opinions, to obviate the 
 fatal consequences which must ensue from them ; and for 
 which you alone are responsible. And, to inspire a more 
 
 * Louis XIV. 
 
JESUIT MAXIMS UPON HOMICIDE. 277 
 
 just horror of the crime of homicide, bear ever in mind, I 
 pray you, that the first crime of fallen man was a homi- 
 cide, committed upon the innocent ; that the greatest of 
 crimes was a homicide committed upon the Head and Re- 
 presentative of all the Just j and that homicide is that 
 crime, of all others, which outrages at once the State, the 
 Church, human nature, and religion ! 
 
 P. S. — I have just seen the reply of your apologist to 
 my 13th Letter : but if he makes no better than that to 
 the present letter, which solves the greater part of his 
 difficulties, he will deserve no further rejoinder. It is 
 pitiful to see him wandering continually out of his proper 
 topics, to scatter his reproaches and slanders against both 
 the living and the dead. Really it is quite needless for 
 you, in order to give greater credibility to the statements 
 with which you furnish him, to disavow before the public 
 so notorious a fact as Compiegne's blow. It is established 
 by the acknowledgment of the party insulted himself, that 
 he received a blow on the cheek from the hand of a 
 Jesuit ; and the only doubt that your friends have been 
 able to raise upon the question is, whether he received it 
 from the back or the palm of the hand ; and therefore, 
 whether a blow from the back of the hand ought to be 
 called a blow or not ? I really do not know who is to 
 decide this point ; but I certainly am of opinion that it 
 must be called, at least, a "probable" blow. This is 
 enough to satisfy my conscience. 
 
LETTER XV. 
 
 SUBJECT; THE JESUITS HAVE WITHDRAWN CALUMNY 
 FROM THE CATALOGUE OF CRIMES, AND MAKE NO 
 
 scruple op availing themselves of its aid to 
 confute their opponents. 
 
 Reverend Fathers, Nov. 25, 1656. 
 
 As your misrepresentations seem to multiply from day to 
 day, and you avail yourselves of them to outrage so re- 
 morselessly all those pious persons who endeavour to op- 
 pose your errors, I feel myself compelled, both from a 
 regard for their welfare, and for the interests of the 
 Church, as well as in fulfilment of a promise which I long 
 since made, to lay open to the public a certain secret 
 method in your proceedings ; by which may be judged — ■ 
 and that by a rule drawn from your own principles — 
 what faith ought to be given to your accusations and your 
 slanders. 
 
 I am aware there are some who, not being sufficiently 
 acquainted with your principles, find themselves under 
 difficulty upon this matter ; since they are reduced to the 
 alternative either to give credit to the monstrous crimes 
 which you impute to your opponents, or (which seems to 
 them an impossibility) to hold you to be arrant impostors. 
 
CALUMNY. 279 
 
 " What ! " they say, " were these things not really as 
 represented, would religious persons dare to publish them 
 to the world ? Would they so violate all the laws of con- 
 science, and seal their own condemnation, by such ca- 
 lumnies ? " This is the way they reason ; and thus, the 
 palpable proofs by which your calumnies are overthrown 
 being encountered by their own strong prepossession of 
 your sincerity, their minds remain suspended between the 
 proofs of the actual truth, which they are unable to gain- 
 say, and the tendencies of charity which they are appre- 
 hensive of wounding. If, then, seeing the only thing that 
 stands in the way of their rejection of your slanders, is 
 theii" favoiirable opinion of yourselves, it can be demon- 
 strated to such persons that the ideas you entertain of 
 the offence of slander are different from those which they 
 suppose you to hold ; and that you consider you are legi- 
 timately promoting your own advantage in traducing your 
 enemies ; it is not to be doubted that the force of truth 
 would at once lead them to discredit your impostures. 
 This is the subject, then, reverend Fathers, which I pro- 
 pose to myself in the present Letter. 
 
 I do not mean to confine my remarks to proofs that 
 your writings are filled with calumnies : I have a higher 
 aim than this. It is very possible to say that which is 
 false, while we believe it to be true : but the essence of 
 falsehood includes the intention to lie. It shall be my 
 endeavour, then, Reverend Sirs, to show that your inten- 
 tion is falsehood and calumny; and that it is with fore- 
 thought and purpose, that you impute to your adversaries 
 crimes, of which you know they are innocent ; inasmuch as 
 you have brought yourselves to believe it possible to do 
 
280 LETTER XV. 
 
 this without incurring the danger of falling from a state 
 of grace. And although you are as well acquainted as 
 myself mth this doctrine of your school, I do not the 
 more omit, in the most unequivocal terms, to hold it up 
 to your view ; my object being to sustain the assertion to 
 your own face, and to deprive you of all possibility of 
 denial. So common, in fact, is this tenet amongst your 
 Society, that it is circulated not only in your writings, 
 but also in your public theses ; as (among others) those 
 of Louvain, in the year 1645, in the following terms : " Is 
 it anything more than venial sin to calumniate, and im- 
 pute false crimes ; in order to impeach the credibility of 
 those who speak ill of ourselves ? — Quidni non nisi veniale 
 sit, detrahentis auctoritatem magnam; tibi noxiam, falso 
 crimiue elidere ? " And this doctrine is so universal 
 among you, that any one daring to oppose it is regarded 
 by you as presumptuous and ignorant. 
 
 This was not long since, the treatment experienced by 
 P^re Quiroga, a German Capuchin, on his venturing to 
 controvert these views. Your own Pere Dicastillus at 
 once entered the field against him, and expressed himself 
 on the question in these terms; de Inst. B. 3, tr. 3, disp. 
 13, N. 404 : " A certain grave Friar, bare-footed and 
 hooded — (cucullatus, gymnopoda) — whom I do not name, 
 has had the audacity to denounce this opinion amongst 
 females and ignorant persons; and to assert that it is 
 injurious and scandalous, contrary to sound morality, 
 opposed to the welfare of the state and of society ; and, 
 finally, at variance, not only with the opinion of the 
 highest Catholic authorities, but also with those of all 
 who hold Catholic sentiments. But I have contended. 
 
CALUMNY. 281 
 
 and do still contend, that calumny, where employed 
 against a calumniator (even though it amount to false- 
 hood) is no mortal sin, nor is an offence against justice or 
 charity. And to prove this, I have furnished him with a 
 multitude of authorities from our Fathers, and their entire 
 Colleges, whom I have consulted; among others, the 
 Reverend Father Jean Gans, confessor to the Emperor, 
 the Reverend Father D. Bastele, confessor to the Arch- 
 duke Leopold, Father Henri, late preceptor to the two 
 Princes ; all the Professors, public and ordinary, of the 
 university of Vienna (entirely consisting of Jesuits) ; all 
 the Professors of the university of Gratz (likewise Je- 
 suits) J all the Professors of the university of Prague (the 
 Masters being Jesuits) ; from all of whom I hold confii'- 
 matiou of my opinion, under their own bond and seal. 
 Besides which, I have on my side, Pere Pennalosa, a 
 Jesuit, Preacher to the Emperor and King of Spain ; 
 Pere Pilliceroli, a Jesuit, and many others, who held this 
 to be a ' probable ' opinion previous to our dispute." 
 
 You see from this, my Fathers, that there are few 
 opinions which your Society have taken such pains to 
 establish as this ; for indeed there are few of which you 
 stand so much in need. And it is because you have given 
 so fully your authorization to it, that the Casuists avail 
 themselves of it as an indubitable principle. " It is 
 clearly," says Caramuel, N. 1151, p. 550, " a ' probable' 
 opinion that it is not a mortal offence to disseminate 
 falsehoods against character,* in defence of our own re- 
 putation. This has been maintained by above twenty 
 
 * ' A calomnia faussement,' (Fr.) 
 
283 LETTER XV. 
 
 learned doctors, by Gaspard Hurtado and Dicastillus, 
 Jesuits, &c. ; so that if this doctrine is not to be regarded 
 as a probable one, scarcely any can be regarded as such 
 throughout the whole system of theology." 
 
 Oh most flagrant and corrupted theology ! according 
 to whose tenets, if it could not be established to be allow- 
 able, with safety of conscience, to deal out mendacious 
 calumnies in defence of our reputation, scarcely any of its 
 decisions could be established ! Can it be doubted, Sirs, 
 that those who hold abstractedly such a principle, will 
 find no difficulty in carrying it into practice ? Our cor- 
 rupt propensities so naturally incline us to this offence, 
 that when once the restraint of conscience is removed, it 
 will break out with irresistible force. Do you ask for an 
 example ? Caramuel will furnish you with one : " This 
 maxim," said he, " of the Jesuit Dicastillus respecting 
 slander, having been taught by a German countess to the 
 Empress's daughters, the belief that they would commit 
 no more than a venial offence in uttering slanders, in- 
 duced them, in a few days, to set afloat so many false 
 and calumnious reports, that the whole court was thrown 
 into commotion. It is easy to imagine the use to which 
 they turned this license ; so that to allay the tumult it 
 was found necessary to call in a worthy Capuchin, of 
 exemplary life, named Pere Quiroga (and this it was which 
 caused P6re Dicastillus so much chagrin) ; who forth- 
 with expressed his opinion that the maxim in question 
 was highly pernicious, especially among females, and he 
 was most urgent that the Empress should immediately 
 interdict the practice." 
 
 No one can be surprised at the ill effects which ensued 
 
CALUMNY. 283 
 
 from this doctrine ; on the contrary, the wonder would 
 have been had it been otherwise. Our self-love easily 
 persuades us that we are unjustly accused j and most 
 especially is this the case with you, my Fathers, whose 
 vanity so greatly blinds you, that you give out in all your 
 writings that the Church is wounded when a member of 
 your Society is attacked. It would have been strange, 
 therefore, had you not put such a maxim as this into 
 practice. No longer can it be said of you, as it might 
 have been by those who do not know you, " How is it 
 possible that these worthy Fathers should calumniate 
 their enemies, when in so doing they would endanger their 
 salvation ? " On the contrary, it may be said, " How is 
 it likely that these good Fathers should forego the ad- 
 vantage of falsehood and slander, since they find they can 
 use them without danger to their souls ? " Let us no 
 longer be surprised to find the Jesuits turn calumniators. 
 Their consciences are safe ; what is there to prevent them ? 
 By their credit with the world they can disseminate their 
 slanders without fear of man's resentment ; and by the 
 latitude they have given to the conscience, they have 
 brought themselves to believe that they have nothing to 
 fear from the justice of God ! 
 
 Here then, Reverend Father, is the fruitful source of 
 your numerous and malignant impostures. This it was 
 that prompted such libels on the part of your own Pere 
 Brisacier, as to bring down upon him the censure of the 
 late pious Archbishop of Paris. This it was that led the 
 Pere D'Anjou to denounce publicly from the pulpit in 
 the church of St. Benedict, Paris, on the 8th March 1655, 
 those persons of rank who received the contributions for 
 
284 LETTER XV. 
 
 the poor in Picardy and Champagne, to which they had 
 given so liberally themselves ; and to affirm, with such 
 malignity of falsehood — as if for the very purpose of 
 quenching the charity of any who had yielded credit to 
 the slander — " that he knew, for a certainty, that those 
 persons had misappropriated the money, to employ it in 
 purposes hostile to the Church and the State.'' What 
 was the consequence ? The curate of the parish, a doctor 
 of the Sorbonne, was obliged the next day, to ascend the 
 pulpit, and publicly contradict the calumny. 
 
 It was on the same principle that your Pere Crasset, 
 in his preaching at Orleans, uttered such gross calumnies 
 that the Bishop of Orleans was obliged, in his Charge of 
 9th last September, to denounce him as a public impostoi', 
 declaring " that he forbids Brother John Crasset, Priest 
 of the Society of Jesus, to preach in his diocese, and to all 
 his people to attend him, under pain of an act of mortal 
 disobedience ; inasmuch as he had learnt that the said 
 Crasset had delivered from the pulpit a discourse filled 
 with falsehood and calumnies, against the ecclesiastics of 
 this city; charging them falsely with maintaining the 
 proposition, " That the keeping the commandments of 
 God .is impossible j* that internal grace is irresistible ; 
 and that Christ did not die for all men •" with other simi- 
 lar sentiments, condemned by Innocent X. For here, 
 Keverend Sirs, is your ordinary method of misrepresenta- 
 tion, and the first species of reproach that you are wont 
 to cast against those whom you seek to denounce. And 
 although you may know it to be impossible to prove the 
 
 * ' Que les commandements de Dieu sont impossibles.' (Fr.j 
 
. CALUMNY. 285 
 
 charge, as in the case of your Pere Crasset and the Orleans' 
 ecclesiastics, your conscience is at ease ; for you believe 
 that this method of calumniating your opponents is so 
 clearly allowable, that you hesitate not to circulate your 
 slanders in the most public and extensive manner. 
 
 Another striking instance of this was exhibited in your 
 controversy with M. Puys, curate of St. Nisier, at Lyons ; 
 and as this incident is very characteristic of the spirit of 
 your Society, I shall relate the leading circumstances of 
 it. You are aware. Reverend Sirs, that in the year 1649 
 M. Puys translated into French an excellent work of a 
 certain other Capuchin Father, " respecting the duties 
 which Christians owe to their respective parishes, &c.," 
 treating the subject wholly without invective, and not 
 designating any religious bodies or orders in particular. 
 Your Society, however, chose to apply the matter to them- 
 selves ; and throwing aside all feeling of respect for an 
 aged pastor, a Judge Ecclesiastical in the principal See of 
 France, and a man revered by the whole city, the Pere 
 Alby issued a furious publication against him, and your 
 Society offered it for sale themselves, in your own church, 
 on the day of the Assumption. In this work he brought 
 various charges against M. Puys, and among others, " that 
 he had been guilty of scandalous intrigues ; that he lay 
 under suspicion of impiety and heresy ; and that he de- 
 served to be excommunicated and brought to the flames." 
 To this M. Puys published a reply; and the Pere Alby 
 then maintained in a second Work, the truth of his ori- 
 ginal charges. 
 
 Now, Reverend Sirs, in this case it is clear, either that 
 your brethren were guilty of calumny ; or that they be- 
 
286 LETTER XV. 
 
 lieved all that they asserted against this worthy Father ; 
 and in the latter alternative, they ought to have been 
 satisfied that he had renounced his errors before they 
 deemed him worthy of their countenance. Mark now, 
 however, what occurred on occasion of the reconciliation, 
 which took place, in presence of a large number of the 
 principal persons of the city, whose names, as enumerated 
 in the authorized report, dated 25th Sep. 1650, are here 
 subjoined.* It was before this large assembly that M. 
 Puys simply declared, " that what he had written was not 
 directed against the Jesuit Fathers ; but that he had re- 
 ferred generally to those who seduce the faithful from 
 their own parishes ; and without intending any applica- 
 tion to the Society ; which, on the contrary, he regarded 
 with esteem and affection." On the strength of these few 
 words, his apostacy, his scandals, his excommunication, 
 were all at an end ! No retractation is asked for, no ab- 
 solution ; and the Pere Alby addressed him in these very 
 words : " Sir ; a belief that you intended to attack the 
 Society, to which I have the honour to belong, induced 
 me to take up my pen in reply ; and I considered that 
 the method I pursued in so doing, was allowable. But, 
 as I now understand your intention to have been other- 
 wise, I hasten to declare that there is nothing to prevent 
 my regarding you as a man of an enlightened, learned, 
 and orthodox mind ; of irreproachable morals ; and, in a 
 word, a moral and exemplary pastor of your Church. I 
 
 * M. de Ville, Vicar-General of the Cardinal of Lyons ; M. Scarron, Canon 
 and Curate of St. Paul, &c. &c. ; M. Gu€, President of the Treasuries of 
 France ; M. Groslier, Prevot des Marchandes ; and numerous other official 
 personages. 
 
CALUMNY. 287 
 
 make this avowal with pleasure, and I desire that all the 
 gentlemen here present will bear witness of and remem- 
 ber it." 
 
 They have indeed remembered it. Sirs ; and the recon- 
 ciliation caused more scandal than the dispute. Who 
 but must admire the Pere Alby^s discourse? He had 
 nothing to retract, not he, as having heard of a change of 
 morals and doctrine on the part of the good Cure ; but, 
 simply, " he now knows that he did not intend an attack 
 upon the Society, and therefore finds no obstacle to the 
 regarding him as a sound Catholic ! " Did he in fact 
 believe him at all to be a heretic ? No such thing. And 
 after bringing the charge against him, though knowing it 
 to be false, he makes no acknowledgment of error ; but 
 dares, on the contrary, to say, " he considers the use he 
 made of the accusation was allowable." 
 
 Do you mean then, my Fathers, really to tell the 
 world, that your only standard of men's faith and piety is 
 to be the opinion they hold of your Society ? Have you 
 no fear of being regarded— and that by your own confes- 
 sion — as impostors and calumniators ? Is then the same 
 individual — wholly unchanged in himself, but just in 
 so far as you consider him hostile or friendly to your 
 body — to be alternately pious or profligate — blameless, or 
 deserving of excommunication — an exemplary pastor of 
 his flock, as fit only for the flames — in a word, a faithful 
 Catholic or a damnable Heretic ? With you, then, dis- 
 favour to your Society and heresy are synonimous ; and 
 when we find in your publications many good Catholics 
 branded as heretics, we should only understand you to 
 mean that they have ventured to censure your brethren ! 
 
288 LETTER XV. 
 
 It is well, my good Fathers, that this point should be 
 understood ; for in your sense, no doubt, / am regarded 
 as an incurable heretic ; and you have often bestowed the 
 epithet upon me. It is because you consider that my letters 
 have injured you, that you would seek to cut me off from 
 the Church. Therefore, to remain in her bosom, I have 
 no alternative, but, either to countenance your moral de- 
 linquencies — which, without doing violence to every sen- 
 ment of piety, I cannot do — or to convince you that, in 
 my animadversions, I am aiming only at your real welfare. 
 And this latter result could alone be hoped for on the 
 supposition that you were brought to see and renounce 
 your obliquities. One way or the other therefore, I fear I 
 am hopelessly involved in heresy of this description ; for, 
 my own purer system of faith (permit me to say it) not 
 being likely to convict me of such errors, I can relinquish 
 them only by the violation of my own conscience, or by 
 the reformation of yours. Till then I shall be compelled 
 to remain a reprobate and an impostor ; and, after the 
 fidelity with which I have represented your sentiments 
 and quoted your writings, you will go about, proclaiming, 
 everywhere, " He must be an absolute agent of Satan to 
 impute such things to our Society, when he cannot find 
 an atom — a vestige of them in our writings ! " Truly, in 
 all this you will be only acting in pursuance of your own 
 maxims, and your usual custom ; such is the latitude of 
 falsehood to which you consider yourselves entitled. 
 
 Allow me here to furnish you with one more instance 
 in proof of what I am stating j which I select, with the 
 further object of replying to another of your misrepre^ 
 
, CALUMNY. 289 
 
 sentation. They are not indeed of sufficient importance 
 to require more than such an incidental refutation. 
 
 It is about twelve years since the following maxim of 
 the Pere Bauny was made a matter of charge against 
 your Society : viz. " It is lawful to expose ourselves to 
 circumstances which may prove to us the occasion of sin, 
 when it is for the purpose of promoting the spiritual or 
 temporal welfare of ourselves or of our neighbours ; " * 
 part 1, tr. 4, q. 14, p. 94. And this example is given ; 
 " It is lawful for any one to repair to places of public 
 resort, for the purpose of converting abandoned females 
 from their sins, although he may consider it probable he 
 may fall into sin, from having often before been led into 
 temptation on such occasions." What was the reply of 
 your Pere Caussin to this in 1644, in his Apology for the 
 Society of Jesus, p. 128 ? " Let any one read the very 
 passage referred to in Vkre Bauny, the identical page, the 
 marginal notes, the context, the whole book through, 
 and not a vestige shall be found of such a sentiment ; a 
 sentiment, which could only occur to the mind of a man 
 utterly seared in conscience, and the very emissary of the 
 Devil ? " And your Pere Pintereau, in the like strain, in 
 his first part, p. 94, says, " A man must be lost to all 
 sense of shame to teach such a doctrine ; but he must be 
 worse than a demon to attribute it to Pere Bauny. 
 Reader, be assured there is not a trace or syllable re- 
 sembling it throughout his book." Who could have 
 doubted, that those who held such language as this, had 
 
 * ' II est pennis de rechercher directement— jonmo et per se — une occasion 
 prochaine de prober, pour le 1)1611 spirituel ou temporal de nous ou de notre 
 prochain.' (Fr.) 
 
 (» 
 
290 LETTER XV. 
 
 just cause of complaint^ and that Pere Bauny was an 
 injured man? Have you ever used even against me 
 stronger terms ? And how could it be credited that the 
 passage in question was to be found, in the very words and 
 place described, after their declaration that " there was 
 not a trace or tittle of it in the book ? " 
 
 In reality, Reverend Sirs, this is the method by which 
 you impose upon the public a belief of your statements, 
 until they encounter a reply ; but in this way also you 
 will come to forfeit all credibility, after such reply shall 
 have been made. For so certainly is it proved that what 
 you then said was untrue, that you now make no diiBculty 
 in acknowledging this to be a maxim of P^re Bauny, and 
 that it is to be found at the very place alleged. But what 
 is more admirable still, instead of being (as twelve years 
 before it was) a detestable sentiment, it is now so innocent 
 a one, that in your " Ninth Imposture," p. 10, you 
 charge me " with ignorance and malice for quarrelling 
 with PSre Bauny about an opinion which is not at all 
 discountenanced by the Schools ! " See the advantage of 
 having to do with those who can play fast and loose — who 
 have an affirmative and a negative for every thing ! I 
 have only to bring forward yourselves, to refute your- 
 selves. I need only establish two things ; the one, that 
 the maxim is bad ; the other, that it is Pere Bauny's ; 
 and both are proved by your own confession. In 1644, 
 you acknowledged that it was " detestable ; " and in 
 1656, you avow that it is Bauny's. This twofold ad- 
 mission is sufficient for my justification; but, more than 
 this, it reveals effectually to all who are capable of judging, 
 the whole scope and spirit of your policy. 
 
CALUMNY. 291 
 
 Tell me, I pray you, what is the end that your writings 
 propose ? Is it truth ? No, Sirs ; you are the destroyers 
 of truth ! Is it the purity of a holy Faith ? Just as 
 little ; for you sanction a doctrine which you once branded 
 as " detestable." Can you forget that when you called 
 that maxim " detestable," you denied that it was pro- 
 mulgated by your own author ; and on the strength of that 
 denial you rested his innocence ? And now that you avow 
 it to be his, you alike maintain the innocence of the maxim 
 and the orthodoxy of its propounder ! It then clearly 
 appears, that the exculpation of the Father being the only 
 thing common to your two replies, that was the only 
 point you sought to establish ; and thus your only object 
 is to defend your own members, alike when you assert that 
 a sentiment is in their writings, and that it is not ; that 
 it is good and that it is bad ; looking only to your own 
 sordid and fluctuating interests, but regardless of the 
 sacredness of truth, which is unchangeable ! 
 
 Need I add more in proof of my statements ? I could 
 bring forward innumerable examples, but will content 
 myself with one other only ; and I have no doubt that 
 you also will find this sufficient. 
 
 Your Fraternity has been from time to time reproached 
 with another proposition of your Pere Bauny, tr. 4, 
 quest. 33, p. 100; " We ought not to deny or postpone 
 Absolution to those who are living in the commission of 
 crimes, even against the law of God, of nature, and of the 
 Church ; and that, though we may entertain no hope of 
 their amendment ; " ' etsi emendationis futurce spes nulla 
 appareat.' I beg, reverend Fathers, you will now inform 
 me which of your two brethren has, in your opinion, 
 
 o 2 
 
293 LETTER XV. 
 
 made the best reply upon this point, Pere Pintereau or 
 Pere Brisacier ; for they have both taken up the defence 
 of their brother, but in different ways. The one con- 
 demns the proposition, but denies that it is Bauny's ; the 
 other avows it to be Bauny's, but justifies the doctrine it 
 contains. 
 
 Hear what they respectively say. First, for Pere Pin- 
 tereau, p. 18 ; " Can any thing equal the shamelessness 
 and impudence of imputing in this positive manner to 
 Pere Bauny so damnable a doctrine ? Judge, reader, of 
 the shamelessness of this calumny ; see how the Jesuits 
 are traduced, and say whether so black an imputation is 
 not an invention of the very Father of Lies ! " Now 
 mark what your P^re Brisacier says, 4 Part, p. 21. " It 
 is admitted that Pere Bauny says what is reported of 
 him; (this is pretty completely disposing of his Brother 
 Pintereau.) But," he adds, " in justification of the 
 learned Father, observe, you who reprove him for this 
 sentiment ; when a Penitent is at your feet, his guardian 
 Angel hypothecates (as bail for him) all his own preten- 
 sions to heaven. If you wait till God the Father shall 
 swear that David, in the Spirit, said falsely that ' all 
 men are liars, deceivers, frail ; ' and till the penitent in 
 question shall be no longer deceitful, frail, fickle, or a 
 sinner like other men, you will assuredly apply the blood 
 of Christ to no one." 
 
 What, Sirs, is to be thought of this extravagant and 
 impious language ; that, if we are to wait till we have 
 some hope of a sinner's amendment, before giving him 
 absolution, we must wait till God shall swear that he will 
 never fall again ? "What ! is there no difierence between 
 
CALUMNY. 293 
 
 a hope and a certainty ? How do we outrage the grace 
 of Christ by declaring that " man^s abandonment of his 
 crimes against God, against nature, and against the Church, 
 is hopeless, unless the Word of Inspiration have uttered 
 falsehood ! " So that, according to this doctrine, if abso- 
 lution be withheld from those of whose amendment we have 
 no hope, Christ's blood is valueless, and can never be 
 applied ! To what lengths, my Fathers, does your in- 
 ordinate desire to justify your brotherhood carry you, 
 when you can find but two methods of doing so — 
 imposture, or impiety ; and thus the least culpable of the 
 alternatives is, boldly to disavow things that are palpable 
 to the whole world ! 
 
 This is the reason why you avail yourselves so largely 
 of this resource ; but you do not stop here. You scruple 
 not to commit forgeries, in order to excite odium against 
 your opponents ; witness " The Letter of a Minister to 
 M. Arnauld," which you circulated throughout Paris, to 
 cause it to be believed that the work " On frequent Com- 
 munion," approved by so many Bishops and learned 
 Divines, but which bore somewhat hard upon your 
 opinions, was the result of a secret understanding with 
 the Ministers of Charenton. On another occasion, you 
 attribute to your adversaries writings filled with impiety, 
 such as the " Circular Letter of the Jansenists ; " the 
 trashy style of which at once betrays the grossness of the 
 deception, and plainly reveals the impertinence and 
 malice of your own P^re Meynier, who dared to avail 
 himself of this artifice to circulate the most flagrant 
 impostures. Sometimes you quote books that never had 
 existence, such as " the Constitutions of the Holy Sacra- 
 
294 LETTER XV. 
 
 raentj" from which you quote fabricated passages, at 
 your own pleasure, which shock simple-minded people, 
 who are not aware of the hardihood with which you are 
 in the habit of inventing and giving currency to false- 
 hood. There is no species of deception to which you do 
 not resort. Never could the maxim by which your 
 Society sanctions this weapon be in better hands than 
 yours ! 
 
 But these methods are too palpable, and easily seen 
 through : you have others yet more subtle in reserve. In 
 these your custom is to particularize nothing, in order to 
 deprive your antagonist of all means of reprisal and 
 answer. As, for instance, when the Pere Brisacier says, 
 " his enemies are in the habit of committing abominable 
 crimes ; but he will not further describe them : " do you 
 not see that there can be no convicting of falsehood a 
 charge so indefinite as this ? An ingenious individual, 
 however, has succeeded in discovering the secret ; and he 
 again, my good Father, is a Capuchin. You really are 
 now-a-days somewhat unlucky with Capuchins; and I 
 am fearful the time may come when you will be equally 
 so with Benedictines. The Capuchin in question is one 
 Pere Valerian, of the House of the Counts de Magnis. 
 You will learn from this little narrative in what way he 
 encountered your calumnies. 
 
 This person had just succeeded in effecting the con- 
 version of Prince Ernest, Landgrave of Hesse Rheinsfeld : 
 on this your Fathers, as if chagrined at witnessing the 
 conversion of a Sovereign Prince without their interven- 
 tion, immediately issued a book against him (for every- 
 where the best persons are subject to your persecutions,) 
 
CALUMNY. 295 
 
 in which, by falsifying certain passages from his writings, 
 they imputed to him a heretical doctrine. They also 
 circulated a letter, in which they said, " Yes, we could 
 reveal things — we say not what they are — which might 
 disturb you not a little ! And if you do not give proper 
 explanations, we shall be obliged to report you to the 
 Pope and the Cardinals." Now this is a proceeding 
 sufficiently subtle ; and I doubt not, my good Fathers, 
 that you would be disposed to say the same sort of thing 
 of me. But mark the way in which the worthy Capuchin 
 replies to them, in his work printed at Prague last year, 
 at pages 113 and following; " How am I," he asks, "to 
 meet charges thus vague and indefinite ? How refute 
 calumnies unsubstantial as the air? Thus it is that I 
 treat them; I publicly and solemnly tell my accusers 
 that, unless they state the fullest particulars of the offences 
 they impute to me before the whole world, they shall be 
 held up as flagrant impostors, as subtle and impudent 
 liars ! Come forward, then, slanderers ! Publish these 
 things upon the house-tops instead of whispering them in 
 the ear, where you thought you could insinuate your 
 falsehoods with impunity ! There are, indeed, those who 
 resent the scandal that these contentions produce ; but 
 let it be remembered that the scandal lies at the door of 
 those who thus impute to me such a crime as heresy, and 
 excite against me suspicion of other offences. My only 
 resource therefore is thus openly to maintain my inno- 
 cence ! " 
 
 Truly, Reverend Sirs, you come off the worst in the 
 controversy ; and no one could have defended himself 
 better than this worthy Capuchin. It is clear that there 
 
296 LETTER XV. 
 
 existed not the very slightest ground for your insinuation 
 against the good Father ; for to this hour you have made 
 no reply to his challenge. You certainly contrive to 
 hring yourselves every now and then into ugly dilemmas ; 
 but these difficulties fail in teaching you wisdom. A little 
 time after, you attacked your respondent again in a 
 similar way, on another subject ; and he again defended 
 himself in the following terms, page 151 ; " This body of 
 persons, who are making themselves the aversion of all 
 Christendom, aspire, under pretence of superior virtue, to 
 power and domination, by turning to their own purposes 
 every description of laws, divine, human, positive, and 
 natural. By means of their doctrines, by fears, or by 
 hopes, they enlist on their side the highest human autho- 
 rities ; and then abuse the ascendancy thus acquired, for 
 the promotion of the most detestable intrigues. Their 
 criminal schemes elude unhappily both punishment and 
 check ; and through the encouragement they receive, they 
 seem emboldened to perseverance, even as if they were in 
 them rendering service to God himself. The whole world 
 sees and execrates their baseness ; but few are capable of 
 making a stand against a tyranny so formidable. This, 
 however, is what I am resolved to do ! I have already 
 put them to confusion; and I will do so yet more. I 
 declare, then, that they have been guilty of most impu- 
 dent falsehood — ' mentiris impudentissime.' If the 
 charges they have brought against me be true, let them 
 bring forward their proofs, or stand convicted of the most 
 flagrant slander ! It will now be seen which of us has 
 right on his side. I take the world to witness, that these 
 men, so sensitive to injuries which they have the power to 
 
.CALUMNY. 297 
 
 repel, are making a mere show of enduring patiently 
 charges which they are unable to refute ; and mask their 
 real impotence under a pretence of virtue. Therefore it 
 is that I have determined in this way to expose their 
 shame ; that the dullest may comprehend their silence to 
 be, not the effect of Christian forbearance, but the confu- 
 sion of a wounded conscience ! " 
 
 These, Sirs, are his words ; and he thus concludes r 
 " These persons, whose history is known to all the world, 
 have become so scandalous in their entire conduct, and so 
 audacious from the impunity they have too long enjoyed, 
 that I should be a traitor to Christ and his Church, did 
 I not thus openly declare my detestation of their pro- 
 ecedings; and this, not less to justify myself, than to 
 warn the simple-minded against their seductions ! " 
 
 My revered Fathers, there is no way left to evade this. 
 You stand here in the position of convicted calumniators ;, 
 and you have only to have recourse to your own maxim, 
 that this kind of calumny is no crime. This worthy 
 ecclesiastic has found a method to stop your mouths ; and 
 the same method must be adopted at all times, when you 
 bring charges against persons without proof. We shall 
 only have to reply to every one of you, like the Capuchin 
 Father, " meniiris impudentissime ! " For who, in fact, 
 could make any other reply ? When, for instance, your 
 Pere Brisacier writes in a strain like this, of his oppo- 
 nents, " that they are the gates of hell ; high-priests of 
 Satan ; persons fallen from faith, hope, and charity ; 
 builders up of the treasury of Antichrist ; and all this I 
 say not in mere invective, but from the conviction of 
 truth ; " would any one descend to the puerility of dis- 
 
 o 5 
 
298 LETTER XV. 
 
 proving that he is " a gate of hell, or a builder of the 
 treasury of Antichrist ? " 
 
 In the same way, what answer is to be given to all 
 those vague animadversions in your books, and your futile 
 replies to my letters ? such, for example, as " that resti- 
 tution has been carried so far, as to reduce creditors to 
 poverty ; that full purses have been offered to learned 
 ecclesiastics, and refused by them ; that benefices have 
 been bestowed for the sole purpose of spreading heretical 
 tenets; that we have pensionaries among the most dis- 
 tinguished ecclesiastics in the sovereign courts; and that 
 I am also a pensionary of Port Royal, and was a writer of 
 romances, before the publication of my Letters " — I, who 
 have never in my life read any, and do not even know the 
 names of those of your apologist ? What answer is to 
 be given, my good Fathers, to all those things, but " men- 
 tiris impudentissime" when you particularize neither 
 persons, words, time, or place ? Either you must be 
 silent, or substantiate all the circumstances, as I did when 
 I gave the histories of Pere Alby and Jean d'Alba ; other- 
 wise assuredly you will injure no one but yourselves. 
 The fables you deal in might have availed you, before 
 your principles were known; but now that all is laid 
 open, when you venture again to whisper furtively to any 
 one, " some trust-worthy person (whom you are not at 
 liberty to name), has told you very flagrant things of 
 such and such an one ; " we shall immediately recollect 
 the " mentiris impudentissime" of the good Capuchin. 
 
 Too long have you deceived the world, and abused the 
 belief it has yielded to your impostures ! It is time 
 now to vindicate the numberless reputations that you have 
 
CALUMNY. 299 
 
 destroyed. Yet where can be found innocence so perfect 
 as to suffer no taint from the audacious calumnies of a 
 Society ramified over the whole earth, and whose sancti- 
 fied garb covers a heart of such malignity, as to commit 
 the basest of crimes, not in violation of, but in strict con- 
 formity with its own maxims ? Let none therefore cen- 
 sure me for having destroyed the confidence once reposed 
 in you. Far more just is it to preserve to the multitudes 
 whom you have traduced, that reputation for sanctity, 
 which they ought never to have forfeited, than to leave 
 you the credit of a sincerity which you never deserved. 
 And, as the one could not be accomplished without the 
 other, how important was it that you should be held up, 
 as it has been my endeavour to do, in your true colours 
 to the world ! 
 
 This is the undertaking which I have here commenced ; 
 but much time will be required for its completion. It 
 shall, however. Reverend Sirs, be completed, nor shall 
 all the resources of your policy avail to prevent it ; for the 
 efforts you make to oppose my design will serve only to 
 discover to the least clear-sighted the greatness of your 
 fears; and prove that, while your conscience shrinks 
 from my revelations, you have done all that was in your 
 power, though ineffectually, to prevent and stifle them. 
 
LETTER XVI. 
 
 THE JESUITS' SHAMEFUL CALUMNIES AGAINST PIOUS 
 ECCLESIASTICS, AND HOLY WOMEN. 
 
 Reverend Fathers, JDec. A, 1656. 
 
 I PROCEED now with your further aspersions ; and shall 
 first dispose of the remaining portion of your " Advertise- 
 ments." But as all your other publications are filled with 
 statements of the same description, they will also afford 
 me conjointly matter for animadversion. 
 
 In one word, then, I take upon myself to tell you, that 
 in that fiction respecting M. D'Ypres, with which you 
 have filled several of your writings, you have maliciously 
 tortured certain ambiguous expressions in one of his 
 Letters,* which, being susceptible of an unobjectionable 
 sense, ought, according to the rules of the Chui;ch, to be 
 construed favourably ; and could not have been otherwise 
 interpreted, but in that spirit which uniformly actuates 
 your Society. Por why should you infer, when he 
 says to his friend, " Do not concern yourself about 
 your nephew ; I will furnish him with what he requires, 
 
 * The letters of Jansenius, Bishop of Ypres, were first printed by the 
 Jesuits, and afterwards the Pere Gerberon republished them in the Low 
 Countries with some very curious notes. (French Ed.) 
 
CALUMNIES. 301 
 
 out of the money in my hands," — that he impHed by 
 those expressions, that he should take the money without 
 returning it ; and not rather that he should advance it 
 temporarily, to be afterwards repaid ? But see now your 
 imprudence ; for you have yourselves furnished the refu- 
 tation of your calumny, in those other Letters of M. 
 D'Ypres, published by yourselves ; which plainly show 
 that the transaction in question was nothing more than 
 an advance of money, to be repaid again. This appears, 
 in the Letter of 30th July, 1619, quoted by yourselves, to 
 your entire confusion : " Do not give yourself any con- 
 cern about the advances ; he shall want for nothing while 
 he remains here." And in that of the 6th January, 1620, 
 in which he says, " You are too hasty ; whenever it shall 
 become necessary to settle accounts, the measure of credit 
 I enjoy here will enable me to raise as much money as will 
 be necessary." 
 
 It is you, then, my Fathers, who are the deceivers ; and 
 not in this subject only, but also in your ridiculous story 
 of the Poor-Box of St. Merri.* For of what advantage to 
 you could be the charge, which one of your friends raised 
 against this ecclesiastic, whom you had determined to run 
 down ? Is a man to be held guilty, because he is ac- 
 cused ? No, Sirs ; holy men, such as he, will ever be 
 subject to calumny, while there are slanderers in the 
 world like yourselves ! It is not upon the charge, but 
 the verdict, that we are to form our judgment. Now 
 the sentence that was given, in this case, on the 23rd 
 February, 1656, establishes in favour of the party referred 
 
 * Here, as in the preceding paragraph, are references to contemporary oc- 
 currences, of which no explanation is given by the French Editors, (Transl.) 
 
302 LETTER XVI. 
 
 to, a full justification ; in addition to which, the man who 
 so rashly initiated this unjust procedure, was disavowed 
 by his colleagues, and compelled to retract the charges. 
 And as to what you say in the same place, " of the cele- 
 brated Director, who suddenly acquired a property of nine 
 hundred thousand livres," it is sufficient to refer you to 
 the respected Curates of St. Roche and St. Paul, who will 
 bear testimony before the whole of Paris to his perfect 
 disinterestedness in the afiiair, as well as to the inexpres- 
 sible maliciousness of your accusations. 
 
 Enough, however, of these trumpery falsehoods. They 
 are the mere rudimental essays of novices, not the ma- 
 ture achievements of your more eminent professors. To 
 these latter I am now, my Fathers, advancing ; and I 
 begin with that instance of calumny, the very blackest 
 that the evil spirit of your Society ever concocted — I mean 
 the intolerable audacity with which you have dared to 
 impute to certain holy women an(| their instructors, 
 " that they disbelieve the mystery of transubstantiation, 
 and the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist."* Here, 
 Sirs, is an imposture worthy of yourselves ! This is a 
 crime which Heaven alone can fitly punish, as it is one 
 which none but yourselves are capable of committing. It 
 demands also the deep humility with which these lowly 
 sufferers are endued to bear such an accusation with pa- 
 tience ; while the heart must be as malignant as that of 
 the infamous slanderers themselves that can yield cre- 
 dence to the calumny ! I care not to undertake .their 
 defence; — the breath of suspicion has never rested upon 
 
 * See note in a following page. 
 
CALUMNIES. 303 
 
 them. Did they need defenders, they would find others, 
 and better qualified for the ofiice than myself. What I 
 am now about to adduce is, not to demonstrate their in- 
 nocence, but your malice. All I aim at is, to prove to 
 the whole world that there is no baseness so flagrant as 
 that you should be incapable of its perpetration ! 
 
 I know, however, you will not fail to meet this with the 
 sneer, " He belongs to the Port Royal " — for this is your 
 constant allegation against any who oppose themselves to 
 your enormities. As if it was within the walls of the Port 
 Royal only that zeal could be found sufficient for de- 
 fending against your perversions, the purity of Christian 
 Faith ! I well know. Reverend Sirs, the excellence of 
 the devout Solitaries who there hold their secluded seats ; 
 and I have not to be informed, how greatly the world is 
 indebted for their profound and instructive writings. I 
 am well acquainted with their unfeigned piety, and their 
 mature learning ; and, although I have never belonged to 
 their Society, as you (in your ignorance who I really am) 
 would desire should be believed ; yet am I not without 
 the advantage of a personal acquaintance with several of 
 their members, while I revere the virtues of all. But the 
 God of Truth has not confined to their body alone the 
 power and the will to oppose your corruptions, as, with 
 His help, I hope to make you perceive. And if His 
 grace (from whom I derive all the ability I possess) shall 
 be given, to sustain me throughout this undertaking, I 
 hope to be able yet further, so to follow up our contro- 
 versy, that you may even regret you have not a member of 
 the Port Royal to cope with ! 
 
 In fulfilment, then, Sirs, of this my endeavour, and not 
 
304 LETTER XVI. 
 
 willing to leave those whom you have outraged by this 
 flagrant slander, no other resource than to pour out in 
 silence, to Heaven, their meek supplications for your par- 
 don, I have undertaken — 7, who am personally unconcerned 
 in this injury — to make you blush for your wrong-doing, 
 in the face of the whole Church, and thus experience that 
 salutary confusion described in Holy Writ, as almost the 
 only remedy for enormities such as yours ; " Imple facies 
 eorum ignominia, et quserent nomen tuum, Domine ! " * • 
 It is time that a check should be imposed upon inso- 
 lence such as this, which spares not the purest indivi- 
 duals, or the holiest places ! Who can be safe, I de- 
 mand, after calumnies like this ? What Sirs ! are we to 
 see you, with impunity, publishing, yourselves, and cir- 
 culating throughout the whole of Paris, a work, under 
 the name of your own member Meynier, and bearing this 
 scandalous title, " Port Royal and Geneva agreed in 
 opposing the Holy Sacrament of the Altar ; " a work in 
 which you charge with this apostacy not only M. L'Abbe 
 de St. Cyran and M. Arnauld, but also the Mere Agnes, 
 his sister, and all the nuns of her convent; respecting 
 whom you assert, p. 96, " that their opinions concerning 
 the Eucharist are suspected, equally with M. Arnauld's ; " 
 while of the latter you affirm, at p. 4, "that he is virtually 
 Calvinistic ! " 
 
 * It will be obvious to the Protestant reader to remark, and to regret, that 
 this fine passage, into which the Author has poured the whole vehemence of 
 his impassioned spirit, should be expended (although consistently with his 
 own faith) in defending these injured females from an imputation, which, 
 malignant as was its origin, would have, if well founded, commended them 
 more to our sympathies than the most triumphant establishment of their in- 
 nocence, (Transl.) 
 
CALUMNIES. 305 
 
 I ask noWj in the face of the whole world, if, through- 
 out the universal Church can be found persons, upon 
 whom such a reproach could be cast with less, even of the 
 show of probability, than upon these ? Tell me. Sirs — 
 were these nuns, and their instructors, " agreed with 
 Geneva in opposing the Holy Sacrament of the Altar " (the 
 very thought of which is abhorrent to their mind) why 
 should they have adopted as the very principal object of 
 their devotions that sacrament, thus held in abomination ? 
 Why incorporate prominently in their rules that sacred 
 institution ? Why adopt the habit of the holy sacrament ; 
 — call themselves " Daughters of the holy sacrament j" — 
 give their church the very name of the holy sacrament ? 
 Why should they have asked and obtained from Rome a 
 confirmation of this institution, and the liberty to cele- 
 brate weekly its offices (offices in which the faith of the 
 Church is so perfectly expressed,) if they were conspiring 
 with Geneva against this primary article of the Church's 
 faith ? Why should they have bound themselves by a 
 special act of devotion (also sanctioned by the Pope) to 
 appoint night and day a constant succession of their holy 
 sisterhood before the sacred host, in order to counteract, 
 by their unceasing adoration of that perpetual sacrifice, 
 the impiety of a heresy which aims at its abolition ? * 
 Tell me, if you can, why, among all the mysteries of our 
 religion, they should have neglected those which they be- 
 
 * It will here again be noticed, that these and many other passages 
 throughout the work are valuable, as showing the warmth and sincerity of 
 Pascal's devotedness at that time to the doctrinal views of the Church, 
 against whose moral an^ social corruptions (as embodied and exaggerated in 
 the Jesuit system) he was dealing the most deadly wounds. (Trans!. ) 
 
306 LETTER XVI. 
 
 lieve, to cherish one which they discredit; and devoted 
 themselves in a manner so hearty and entire to this dogma 
 of our faith, if, like the heretic, they regarded it as the 
 " Mystery of Iniquity " ? What have you to say, Reve- 
 rend Sirs, to testimony so copious, not of words only but 
 of actions, and not of particular acts alone, but of a whole 
 course of life devoted to the adoration of their Redeemer 
 upon his own altar ? What, to the works which you 
 describe as issuing from Port Royal, filled with the most 
 explicit details respecting the essentials of this great mys- 
 tery ; works of which even the Fathers and Councils have 
 availed themselves ? Is it not absolutely ludicrous, 
 although most indecent, to hear the terms in which you 
 thus libel M. Arnauld : " M. A." you say, " speaks in- 
 deed of Transubstantiation ; but it is possible he means a 
 ' transubstantiation significative' " He declares his belief 
 in the ' real Presence ; ' but who is to satisfy us that he does 
 not intend by it a true and ' real figure ?' * Is it come to 
 this, my Fathers ? Who may not be proved to be Cal- 
 vinists at your pleasure, if you are to convey a licence to 
 corrupt expressions the most canonical and pure by the 
 maHcious subtleties of your newly-invented equivocations ? 
 Who has ever used any other terms than these, especially 
 in pious, simple, and uncontroversial discourses ? Yet, so 
 imbued are all their writings, with love and reverence of 
 this august mystery, that I defy you, Sirs, with all your 
 artifices, to detect in them the slightest appearance of 
 ambiguity, or the most remote sympathy with the senti- 
 ments of Geneva. 
 
 * ' Une figure vraie et r&Ue.' (Fr.) 
 
CALUMNIES. 307 
 
 Every one knows that the heresy of Geneva consists 
 essentiallyj as you state yourselves, in believing that Jesus 
 Christ is not corporeally present in his sacrament ; that 
 it is impossible for him to be in various places at one time ; 
 that he is, in reality, in heaven alone ; and there — and 
 not at the altar — he should be adored ; that the substance 
 of the bread remains unchanged ; that the body of Christ 
 is not taken into the mouth, or received as our food ; that 
 it is eaten only by faith, and consequently, the wicked do 
 not eat it at all ; and that the mass is not a sacrifice, but 
 an abomination. Hear then, my Fathers, in what way 
 Port Royal is in accordance with Geneva, in their writings. 
 Read there, to your confusion, " That the flesh and blood 
 are contained in the substances of bread and wine." (2nd 
 Letter of Arnauld, p. 359.) " That the Holy of Holies 
 is present in the sanctuary, and should there be adored.^' 
 (Ibid. p. 343.) " That Christ dwells in sinners, commu- 
 nicating, by the real and actual presence of his body in 
 their body, though not by the presence of his Spirit in 
 their heart." (Freq. Com. 3d Part, Ch. 16.) " That the 
 mortal remains of the bodies of saints derive their chief 
 dignity from the seed of life which remains to them, from 
 the contact which had been experienced with the immortal 
 and life-giving flesh of Christ." (1st Part, Ch. 40.) "That 
 it is not by any natural power, but by the omnipotence 
 of God (to whom nothing is impossible) that the body of 
 Christ dwells in the host, and in the smallest part of each 
 individual host." (Theol. fam, Lee. 15.) " That the Di- 
 vine efficacy is present to produce the efi^ect which the 
 words of consecration signify." (Ibid.) " That Jesus who 
 is brought down and laid upon the altar, is at the same 
 
308 LETTER XVI. 
 
 time elevated in his glory ; that he is, by himself, and by 
 his ordinary powers, in various places at the same time — in 
 the midst of the Church triumphant, and in the Church 
 militant and fugitive." (De la Suspension, rais. 21.) 
 " That the sacramental elements remain suspended, and 
 subsist in an extraordinary way without dependence upon 
 any thing ; and the body of Christ is also suspended in 
 the elements : that it depends not upon tbem, in the 
 manner that the substances depend upon adventitious 
 circumstances." * (Ibid. 23.) " That the substance of 
 the bread changes, leaving the casualties unchangeable." 
 (Heures dans la prose du saint Sacrement.) " That 
 Christ dwells in the Eucharist with the same glory that 
 he possesses in the heavens." (Lettres de M. St. Cyrar, 
 tom. 1, let. 93.) " That his glorious humanity resides in 
 the tabernacles of the Church under the substance of 
 bread, which visibly encloses him; and, knowing our earth- 
 liness, he thus leads us to the adoration of his Divinity, 
 present in all places, by that of his humanity, present in each 
 several place." (Ibid.) " That we receive the body of Jesus 
 upon our tongue, and he sanctifies it by his Divine touch." 
 (Lett. 32.) " He enters the mouth of the priest." (Lett. 
 72.) " That although Jesus Christ makes himself acces- 
 sible to us, through his love and clemency in the holy sa- 
 crament, he does not the less preserve his inaccessibility as 
 an inseparable condition of his Divine nature ; because, 
 although the body and blood alone be there, by virtue of 
 the words — ' vi verborum^ — as the school-men say — that 
 does not prevent his entire Divinity, with his humanity, 
 
 * ' Dependent des accidents.' (Fr.) 
 
CALUMNIES. 309 
 
 being there also by a necessary conjunction/* (Defense 
 du Chapelet, fee, p. 317.) And, finally, " The Eucharist 
 is both a sacrament and a sacrifice." (Theol. fam. Lee. 15.) 
 And, " Although the sacrifice is a commemoration of that 
 of the cross, there is this difiierence, that that of the mass 
 is offered alone for the Church and for the faithful who 
 are partaking the communion, while that of the cross was 
 offered for the whole world according to holy Scripture." 
 (Ibid. p. 153.) 
 
 I think, my Fathers, this quotation may suffice to prove 
 that misrepresentation never was more gross than this of 
 yours. But I intend further to bring you forward as 
 witnesses against yourselves. For what is it that you 
 make a condition to obviate all suspicion of agreement 
 with Geneva ? " If M. Arnauld," writes your own Pere 
 Meynier, p. 83, " had said that in this ineffable mystery 
 there had remained in the elements no substance of bread, 
 but only the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, I should 
 have admitted that he was decidedly opposed to the views 
 of Geneva." Admit it then now, ye impostors, and make 
 him a reparation as public as your calumny ! How often 
 have you yourselves read the fact in the passages I have 
 cited? But, besides this, the " Theologie Familiere" of 
 M. St. Cyran, being sanctioned by M. Arnauld, it is to 
 be held as containing the views of both. Read then the 
 whole of Lecon 15, and especially the second article, and 
 you will find the very expression you require, and con- 
 veyed even with more precision than by yourselves. " Is 
 there now bread in the wafer, and wine in the cup ? No : 
 all the substance of the bread and the wine is displaced 
 by that of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, which 
 
310 LETTER XVI. 
 
 latter it thenceforth remains, clothed with the qualities 
 and elements of bread and wine." 
 
 Now, Reverend Sir, will you again state that the Port 
 Royal teaches nothing but what Geneva receives; and 
 that M. Arnauld, has, in his Second Letter, said nothing 
 that had not been better expressed by a minister of Cha- 
 renton ? Let us summon Mestrezat, and have him de- 
 clare, in the same manner like M. Arnauld, Letter, p. 387 
 and following, " It is an infamous falsehood to charge 
 him with denying transubstantiation ; he maintains as a 
 fundamental doctrine in all his writings the real presence 
 of the Son of God, in opposition to the Calvinistic heresy : 
 he is- never so happy as when in a place where adoration 
 is constantly paid to the Holy of Holies, as present in the 
 sanctuary." All which is much more opposed to the be- 
 lief of the Calvinists than even the real presence, since, 
 according to Cardinal Richelieu, in his " Controversies," 
 p. 536, " The new ministers of France having united with 
 the Lutherans, who believe in the real presence of Christ 
 in the Eucharist, they have declared that they only sepa- 
 rate from the Church, in respect of this mystery, on ac- 
 count of the adoration paid by Catholics to the Eucha- 
 rist," Cause to be subscribed at Geneva all the passages 
 I have cited to you from the works of Port Royal, and not 
 only passages, but entire treatises upon this mystery, such 
 as the Book on ' frequent Communion,' ' Explanation of the 
 Mass' and many others ; and procure the establishment at 
 Charenton of this holy institution, the ceaseless adoration 
 of the Redeemer in the Eucharist, as at Port Royal, and 
 you will then render the most signal service to the 
 Church ; for in that case, Port Royal would not be in 
 
CALUMNIES. 311 
 
 accordance with Geneva, but Geneva in accordance with 
 Port Royal, and with the universal Church. 
 
 Truly, my Fathers, you could have committed no 
 greater mistake than that of accusing the Port Royal of 
 heterodoxy respecting the Eucharist ; but I shall now 
 proceed to show the motives that induced you to take 
 that step. You perceive already that I understand some- 
 thing of your policy. You are consistent in it at all 
 times and on all occasions. 
 
 If the Abbe of St. Cyran and M. Arnauld had only 
 stated what ought to be the belief respecting this mystery, 
 and not what ought to be done in duly preparing for its 
 participation, they would have been the best Catholics in 
 the world, and no equivocation would have been dis- 
 covered in their definition of " real presence^' and 
 transubstantiation. But as it is your method to brand 
 all who set themselves to oppose your laxities of practice 
 with heresy, and that too just in the very points on which 
 they oppose you, how could it be otherwise than that 
 M. Arnauld should incur your stigma, after publishing a 
 book expressly against the profanations of this mystery 
 by your Society ? No, Reverend Sirs ! trust me, he 
 coiild not with impunity say " Let not the Body of the 
 Lord Jesus be given to those who are relapsing continually 
 into former offences, and of whom no hope of amendment 
 can be entertained; .but let persons be warned from the 
 altar, that they may purify themselves by a sincere 
 repentance, and afterwards partake of it with due effi- 
 cacy ! " Suffer not such language as this, my good 
 Fathers, or you will soon find your Confessionals thinned. 
 Does not your own Pere Brisacier say, " If you follow 
 
312 LETTER XVI. 
 
 such a method as this, you will apply the blood of 
 Christ to none ? " Far better is it for you to follow the 
 practice of your Society, as given by your Pere Mas- 
 carenhas, in a work that has received the sanction of your 
 Authorities, and even of your Reverend Father General, 
 viz. " that all persons, and even priests, may receive the 
 Body of Jesus Christ on the very day in which they may 
 have fallen into grievous offences ; and so far from this 
 being an abuse of the office, it is commendable to avail 
 themselves of it in this way : Confessors are not bound 
 to reject such persons, but ought, on the contrary, to urge 
 such as have committed these crimes to communicate at 
 the very moment ; because, notwithstanding the Church 
 may have forbidden this, the prohibition is abolished by 
 universal consent throughout the world." 
 
 See now, my Fathers, the beneficial fruit of having 
 Jesuits over all the earth ! Here we have a specimen of 
 the universal practice which you have introduced, and 
 still maintain. No matter that the Table of Christ be 
 filled with abominations, provided your churches be not 
 empty ! Establish, by whatever means — at whatever cost 
 — the heresy of those who oppose them ! But how is 
 this to be done, after the irrefragable proofs they have 
 given of their orthodoxy ? Have you no fear that I shall 
 bring forward the four grand proofs you have alleged of 
 their heresy ? You may well shrink from my examina- 
 tion of them, and I shall not spare exposing your shame. 
 Let us proceed now to the first. 
 
 " M. de St. Cyran," says the Pere Meynier, " when 
 consoling one of his friends on the death of his mother, 
 t. 1, Lett. 14, says, ' the most acceptable sacrifice that 
 
CALUMNIES. 313 
 
 can be offered, when under Divine chastisements, is 
 patience ; ' therefore he is a Calvinist." Now this, my 
 Fathers, is ingenious, and I doubt if any one but the 
 writer would perceive this meaning. Let us then gather 
 it from himself. " Because," proceeds this great contro- 
 versialist, " he does not believe in the sacrifice of the 
 Mass. For that is, of all others, the most acceptable to 
 God." Who will now say the Jesuits caanot reason ? 
 So well can they argue, that they can prove any persons 
 they wish to be heretics — and even the Holy Scripture 
 itself.* For would it not be heresy to say as in Eccles. 
 " there is nothing worse than the love of money ; ' nihil 
 est iniquius qukm amare pecuniam j ' as if adultery, 
 homicide, idolatry, were not greater crimes ? And who 
 does not use the same kind of expressions as this con- 
 tinually ; for instance, again, " the sacrifice of a contrite 
 and humble spirit is the most acceptable in the sight of 
 God ; " for in these sayings we are only comparing 
 certain internal graces, one with another, and not with 
 
 * Pascal had doubtless here in view the Pere Theophile Raynauld, Savoyard 
 Jesuit, who proposed to pass a censure upon the Apostles' Creed, hy which he 
 undertook to prove that this earliest Confession of Christianity is heretical in 
 all its chief articles. It appeared first in the Latin work of that Jesuit, en- 
 titled ' Erotemata de bonis ac malis libris,' in 4to. Lugduni, 1653 ; and re- 
 printed since then, as a blasphemous production, in several works. I am well 
 aware that it is a sarcasm of Pere Theo. Raynauld, directed against the 
 censures of the Sorbonne. But how could he indulge himself in raillery upon 
 one of the important acts of Christianity ? This is the first article of the 
 singular effusion : Erotemata, p. 294, in 4to ; " Credo in Deum, patrem omni- 
 potentem, Creatorem coeli et terrae. Primus iste articulus, si intelligaturi 
 quasi solus pater sit Dens, et omnipotens et Creator ; Filius autera, et Spiritus 
 Sanctus solum creaturae sint, Ideoque neo Filius vere ac substantialiter dici 
 possit Deus, et omnipotens et Creator, similiterque Spiritus Sanctus : proposi- 
 tio et blasphema ; individuse Trinitatis destructiva, et pridem in sacro et 
 cecumenico Nicseno concilio trecentorum decern et octo episcoporum,&c. &c." 
 Le restede la piece est sur meme ton. (Note of Edit, in 1812.) 
 
 P 
 
314 LETTER XVI. 
 
 the sacrifice of the Mass, which is of a wholly different 
 naturCj and higher order ? Do you not then see the 
 absurdity of this, my good Fathers ? And is it necessary, 
 in order to complete your confusion, to bring forward the 
 words of M. de St. Cyran, in the same letter, in which he 
 speaks of the sacrifice of the Mass as the most excellent 
 of all, saying, " Ofi"er then to God, daily, and in all 
 places, the sacrifice of the Body of his Son, who could 
 devise no more excellent way than this of honouring his 
 Father." And again ; " Christ at his death commanded 
 us to partake of his sacrificed Body, in order to render 
 more acceptable to God the sacrifice of our own, and to 
 unite himself to us in death; and in order, further, by 
 his presence to strengthen us in our final offering to our 
 Maker, of our body and our life." Keep all this in the 
 back-ground, Reverend Sirs ; and fail not to say, as you 
 have indeed done at p. 33, " that the writer opposed the 
 act of Communion at death, and disbelieved the sacrifice 
 of the Mass." Nothing, believe me, is too daring for 
 slanderers by profession. 
 
 To this remark your second proof bears striking witness. 
 In order to convict of Calvinism the late M. St. Cyran, to 
 whom you attribute the work of " Petrus Aurelius," you 
 produce a passage in which the latter, at p. 89, explains 
 the manner in which the Church proceeds in the deposi- 
 tion and degradation of priests, and also of bishops. 
 " The Church," he says, " being unable to take from 
 them the character of their order, because it is in itself 
 ineffaceable, does all that she can ; she blots out from her 
 own memory the character, which cannot be extinguished 
 in the minds of those who have once received it. She 
 
CALUMNIES. 315 
 
 regards them as ceasing to be priests or bishops ; so that, 
 according to the ordinary language of the Church, they 
 may be said no longer to be such, although the character 
 itself must always remain : ' oh indelebilitatem charac- 
 teris.' " You here see, my Fathers, that this writer, 
 receiving the approval of three General Assemblies of the 
 French clergy, declares explicitly that the character of the 
 priesthood is ineffaceable ; while you, nevertheless, make 
 him, in the very same passage, assert the direct reverse, 
 viz. " that the character of the priesthood is not inef- 
 faceable." Here I convict you, then, of flagrant calumny 
 — or, according to your doctrines, of a " petty and venial 
 offence ! •" The book, in fact, has done your Society an 
 injury, by its refutation of the heresies of your brethren 
 in England, respecting the episcopal authority. But see 
 the palpable folly you have fallen into. Having ignorantly 
 supposed M. St. Cyran to hold the effaceability of the 
 priestly character, you thence conclude that he disbelieves 
 the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist ! 
 
 Now, you must not expect me, my Fathers, to reply 
 to this point. If your common sense fails you, I cannot 
 furnish you with a supply. All who possess any, must 
 laugh at such a conclusion, as also at your third proof, 
 which you found on the following expressions from the 
 'Freq. Comm. 3rd part, ch. 11;' " God gives us in the 
 Eucharist the same food as the saints in heaven, without 
 any difference ; excepting that here he withholds from us 
 the sensible sight and taste, reserving both the one and 
 other for the heavenly blessedness." Truly, my Fathers, 
 these words express so plainly the intention of the Church, 
 that I am at a loss to think what there is in them to 
 
 p 2 
 
316 LETTER XVI. 
 
 censure. I see in them nothing but what the Council of 
 Trent inculcates, Less. 13, c. 8, that there is no other 
 difference between Christ in the Eucharist and Christ in 
 the heavens, than that here he is under a veil, and there 
 unveiled. M. Arnauld does not say that there is no other 
 difference in the way of receiving Jesus Christ ; but only, 
 there is no other in Christ, whom we receive. Not- 
 withstanding which, you would represent him as saying 
 in this passage, contrary to all sound reason, that (in the 
 elements) we, on earth, no more receive the body of Christ 
 in the mouth, than we shall do in heaven : and thence you 
 charge him with heresy. 
 
 You really. Reverend Sirs, excite my pity. Is it pos- 
 sible that further explanation is necessary ? Can you be 
 so obtuse as to confound the sacred nourishment in ques- 
 tion, with the mode in which it is received ? There is 
 only this one point of difference between this nourishment, 
 as partaken of on earth and in heaven ; and that is, that 
 here it is under a veil which conceals it from the sensible 
 sight and taste. But there are various differences in the 
 manner of receiving it here and there; the principal of 
 which is, as M. Arnauld says, 3rd part, ch. 16. " Here it 
 is corporeally received both by the just and by the wicked ; 
 but in heaven it shall not be so." 
 
 If you are not aware then of the reason of this distinc- 
 tion, I must inform you. The diversity in the manner of 
 receiving this sacred nourishment, arises from the difference 
 in the state of Christians in this life, and of the blessed in 
 heaven. Christians, as says Cardinal Perron, following 
 the views of the Fathers, hold a middle position between 
 that of the blessed and that of the Jews... The blessed 
 
CALUMNIES. 317 
 
 possess Jesus positively, withoiit a figure, and without a 
 veil. The Jews possessed only the emblems and the 
 shadows of Christ, such as the manna and the paschal 
 lamb. And Christians have him in the Eucharist, in 
 reality and truth, but yet covered as with a veil. " God," 
 says St. Eucher, " has formed for himself three taber- 
 nacles ; the Synagogue, which has only his shadow, with- 
 out reality; the Church, which has reality, and also 
 shadows ; and Heaven, where there are no shadows, but 
 reality alone." "We should depart from our present 
 state, that of faith (which St. Paul opposes both to the 
 law and to the perfect vision), if we possessed only the 
 figures, without Christ himself; because it is the property 
 of the law to have only the shadows and not the substance 
 of things. And we should depart from it also, if we 
 possessed him visibly ; because faith, as the same apostle 
 says, is not founded on things that are seen. Thus the 
 Eucharist is strictly adapted to our condition of faith, 
 because it contains the reality of Christ, but veiled. So 
 that this condition would be destroyed if Christ were not 
 really in the substances of bread and wine, as the heretics 
 maintain ; and it would also be destroyed if we received 
 him unveiled, as in the heavens ; for this would be to 
 confound our proper condition, on the one side with that 
 of Judaism, and, on the other, with that of glory.* 
 
 Behold then, Reverend Fathers, the sources, mysterious 
 and divine, in which this ineffable mystery originates ! 
 
 * The reasoning throughout these elahorate passages is specious and beau- 
 tiful, but how easily overthrown by the severer deductions of an enlightened 
 Protestantism ! Happily the repositories of our polemical divinity contain 
 ample stores for the refutation of these views. (Transl.) 
 
318 LETTER XVI. 
 
 This is what causes us to shrink from the Calvinistic doc- 
 trinej as reducing us to the condition of Judaism j and 
 bids us aspire to the glory of the blessed, which will 
 bestow upon us the full and eternal enjoyment of Jesus, 
 From hence you will see that there are various diversities 
 in the mode of participation between Christians and the 
 Blessed — among otherSj that, here, the Redeemer's body 
 is taken corporeally, but not so in heaven ; all which, 
 however, resolves itself into the one great difference be- 
 tween the state of faith, in which we are placed here, and 
 the state of sight and fruition to be enjoyed hereafter. 
 And this is what has been most clearly expressed by M. 
 Arnauld, as follows, " There must be no other difference 
 in the purity of those who receive Christ in the Eucharist, 
 and that of the glorified, except that which exists between 
 the state of faith and the clear vision of God ; whence 
 alone arises the difference in the mode of participating in 
 him, in earth and in heaven." You ought, my Fathers, 
 to have revered the sanctity and truth of these expressions, 
 instead of perverting them to a charge of heresy ; which 
 dwelt only in your own imagination, but never had the 
 slightest existence in the mind of the author. 
 
 You see then. Sirs, that these your boasted proofs are 
 lamentable failures. Your next resource is a novel kind 
 of artifice, namely, a falsification of the Council of Trent, 
 in order to prove a deviation from its views on the part of 
 M. Arnauld j — so various are your methods of proving all 
 the world heretics but yourselves ! This is achieved by 
 your Pere Meynier, in fifteen passages in his work, and 
 eight or ten in that single page (54) wherein he pretends 
 to say, that, for the catholic sense, it is not sufficient to 
 
CALUMNIES. 319 
 
 declare, " I believe Jesus Christ to be really present in 
 the Eucharist ; " but we ought to say, " I believe, with 
 the Council, that he is there present, with a true local 
 presence, or locally." And then he quotes the Council, 
 Sess. 13, can. 3, can. 4, 6. Now, who would not believe, 
 seeing the term " local presence," cited from three canons 
 of a universal Council, but that it must actually be in 
 those canons? This might have served your purpose, 
 previous to my 15th letter ; but now it is of no avail. 
 We refer to the records of the Council, and we there dis- 
 cover your imposition ; for these terms, " local presence, 
 locally, locality," are nowhere to be found; and fur- 
 thermore, I aiErm they exist not in any part of the pro- 
 ceedings of the Council, nor in those of any former 
 one, nor in the writings of any Father of the Church 
 whatever ! 
 
 I request . you to tell me if we are to hold all under 
 suspicion of Calvinism who have not made use of these 
 expressions ? If so, then the Council of Trent lies under 
 that suspicion, together with all the holy Fathers, without 
 exception ! Can you find no other means to charge heresy 
 upon Arnauld, than by injuring so many who have done 
 nothing to incur your censure ? Among others, is St. 
 Thomas to be charged with error — the most signal of 
 the champions of the Eucharist ; and who, so far from 
 adopting the expression in question, has, on the contrary, 
 studiously rejected it — 3rd pt. qusest 76, a. 5 — saying, 
 " NuUo modo corpus Christi est in hoc Sacramento loca- 
 liter?" Where is your authority. Reverend Sirs, to 
 impose, at your mere will, novel terms for the explanation 
 of the true faith ; as if the confession appointed by the 
 
330 LETTER XTI. 
 
 Pope in Council, in which no such terms are found, were 
 actually defective and ambiguous ; and you alone were; 
 competent to supply such defect, and rectify such ambi- 
 guity ? I know not which most to admire, the audacity 
 which presumes to dictate such expressions to the learned; 
 the falsehood of attributing them to our general Councils; 
 or the ignorance which keeps you unconscious of the dif- 
 ficulty they present to the minds of the most enlightened 
 saints ! You should " blush," Fathers, " at your 
 ignorant impostures," as the Scripture addresses persons 
 such as yourselves : " De mendacio ineruditionis tuse con- 
 fundere." 
 
 Aspire not then any longer to the character of Masters 
 of Theology : you have neither reputation nor qualifica- 
 tions for the office. Would you however put forward 
 your dogmas with somewhat more modesty, they might 
 meet with attention ; for, although, as we have seen, this 
 term " local presence " has been rejected by St. Thomas, 
 because the body of Christ is not contained in the Eucha- 
 rist, to the ordinary extent of bodily substances, yet has 
 the expression been admitted by some recent controver- 
 sialists ; inasmuch as they only understand by it that the 
 Saviour's body is really covered by the substances ; and, 
 therefore, these substances having specific locality, the 
 body of Jesus is there also. In this sense, M. Arnauld 
 scruples not to admit it, because both M. St. Cyran and 
 himself have ever declared that Jesus Christ, in the Eu- 
 charist, is actually in a specific place, as also, in a mira- 
 culous manner, in several places at the same time. Thus 
 do all your subtleties fall to the ground ; and you are 
 seen to fail in giving the slightest colour to accusations, 
 
CALUMNIES. 321 
 
 which ought never to have been advanced but on the most 
 irrefragable proofs. 
 
 But whatj after all, avails it, my Fathers, to confront 
 the innocence of these objects of your persecution with 
 youi' calumnies ? You attribute to them these errors, not 
 in the belief that they actually entertain them, but because 
 their opinions are prejudicial to yourselves. This, according 
 to your system of theology, allows you to slander them 
 without a crime; and you can, without confession or 
 penitence, perform the sacred office of the mass at the 
 very time you are imputing to ecclesiastics, that, while 
 daily performing the same service, they believe it to be ai 
 sheer idolatry ; — a sacrilege this, so atrocious, that you 
 yourselves caused to be hung in effigy your own member, 
 Pere Jarrige,* for having performed mass at the time that 
 he was in correspondence with Geneva. 
 
 What surprises me then, is, not that you should thus 
 unscrupulously deal out these charges, so scandalous and 
 yet so false, but that you should imprudently impute 
 crimes so little likely to have been committed. You know 
 how to attach the stigma of offences at your will ; but do 
 you suppose you can as easily incline men's belief to your 
 purposes ? 
 
 Truly, my Fathers, if the suspicion of Calvinism must 
 necessarily attach either to them or to you, your case 
 would be a very bad one. Their language is as strictly 
 catholic as yours ; but their conduct confirms their faith, 
 and yours contradicts it : — for if you believe as they do, 
 
 * A celebrated Jesuit who went over to the Huguenots, and on his apos- 
 tacy published a work entitled " The Jesuit on the Scaffold," in which he 
 reproached the Jesuits with the most odious acts. (French Editor.) 
 
 P 5 
 
333 LETTER XVI. 
 
 that this bread is really clianged into the body of the Re- 
 deemer, why do you not also, with them, demand that the 
 hard and icy hearts of those whom you invite to its par- 
 ticipation be also truly changed to penitence and love ? 
 If you believe that Christ is there exhibited in his state of 
 mortality, in order to teach those who approach him to 
 die to the world, to sin, and to themselves, how can you 
 invite to his altar such as are conscious of vice and cri- 
 minal passions in all their vitality and strength within 
 their bosoms ? How dare you judge those worthy to par- 
 take of the bread of heaven, for whom even that of earth 
 is too good ? 
 
 Oh, worthy guardians of this sacred mystery ! — whose 
 zeal is expended in persecuting those that do it real 
 honour by so many holy appliances ; and flattering such as 
 dishonour it by the most sacrilegious corruptions ! Most 
 fitting is it in these champions of a sacrifice so pure and 
 adorable, to crowd the Saviour's table with hardened 
 sinners, reeking from their infamies ; and to place in the 
 midst of them a priest, dismissed, in his turn, by his 
 confessor to the altar from recent impurities — there, as 
 the representative of Christ, to ofi'er that immaculate vic- 
 tim to the God of Holiness, and bear it in his polluted 
 hands to mouths equally polluted ! Well does it become 
 those who, according to the sanctions and maxims of their 
 own Chief, bear these practices over the whole world, to 
 impute to the author of the " Frequent Communion," 
 and to the " Sisters of the Holy Sacrament," disbelief in 
 this their most revered and cherished institution ! 
 
 But even this was not enough. In their implacable 
 malice, they must proceed further, and accuse these holy 
 
CALUMNIES. 323 
 
 persons of a renunciation of Christ, and of their baptism ! 
 Deem, not, Keverend Sirs, these things to be fictions, 
 such as you deal in j they are mournful instances of the 
 outrages to which your calumnious propensities can lead. 
 So flagrant a falsehood would not have found a supporter 
 befitting its enormity in the person alone of your worthy 
 comrade Filleau, with whom, at your instigation, it ori- 
 ginated : your Society must give it their own public sanc- 
 tion ; and your Pere Meynier has just come forward with 
 the assertion (as an undoubted fact) that the Port Royal 
 has, during the last thirty-five years, been the seat of a 
 secret cabal, (of which M. de St. Cyran and M. D'Ypres 
 were the heads) " to overthrow the mystery of the Incar- 
 nation; to pass off the gospel for an apocryphal his- 
 tory ; to exterminate the Christian religion, and elevate a 
 system of Deism upon the ruins of Christianity." Is 
 this, my Fathers, sufficient ? Will you be satisfied with 
 establishing such imputations as these against the objects 
 of your hate ? Will your animosity be now assuaged, 
 when you have made them objects of aversion, not only 
 to the whole Church, by means ^ the alleged " accord- 
 ance with Geneva," but also with all who believe in Jesus 
 Christ, by their horror of " infidelity,''^ of which you ac- 
 cuse them ? 
 
 But who, let me ask, are they whom you expect to con- 
 vince, on your sole assertion (without the slightest real 
 proof, and in the face of all imaginary contradictions) that 
 these ecclesiastics — who preach alone the grace of Christ, 
 the purity of the Gospel, and the obligations of the bap- 
 tismal vow — that they have renounced their baptism, the 
 Gospel, and their Redeemer ? Who, I say, would believe 
 
334 LETTER XVI. 
 
 it ? Unhappy men ! * Do you believe it yourselves ? How 
 low are you sunk, that you are reduced either to furnish 
 proof that these objects of your malevolence are really 
 unbelievers, or, failing such proof, to pass for the most 
 abandoned of calumniators ! Bring forward, Fathers, 
 your evidence. Name the distinguished ecclesiastic, who 
 you say was present at that assembly of " the Bourg Fon- 
 taine " in 1621, and revealed to your Pere Filleau the de- 
 sign then concocted to " destroy the Christian religion : " 
 name the six persons, who you allege, banded themselves 
 together in that foul conspiracy : name the person desig- 
 nated by the initials A. A. (who you say, at p. 15, " is 
 not Antoine Arnauld," because he has proved to you that 
 at that time he was not nine years old) " but another 
 person still living, and too much a friend of M. Arnauld to 
 be unknown to him." You then, Sirs, are acquainted 
 with the party] and, if you would not be held destitute 
 of all piety yourselves, you are bound to denounce him 
 to the King and the Parliament, that he may meet the 
 punishment he merits. You must speak out ; you must 
 produce names ; or b^ hereafter regarded as having for- 
 feited all title to belief ! It is in this way that the worthy 
 Pere Valerian has shown us how to torture and put down 
 impostors of this description. Your silence will now be 
 regarded as a full and entire acknowledgment of this 
 diabolical slander. The most deluded of your supporters 
 will be constrained to acknowledge, " that this is not a 
 proof of your virtue, but of your impotence." 
 
 They will wonder also that you should have dared to 
 extend your unprincipled attacks against the Sisters of 
 
 * ' Miserables que vous etes.' (Fr.) 
 
CALUMNIES. 335 
 
 the Port Eoyal : stating as you do at p. 14<, that the 
 " Secret Chapelet of the Holy Sacrament/' (composed by 
 one of them) was the first fruit of that conspiracy against 
 Christ; and at p. 95, " thus they are all imbued with the 
 detestable maxims of that effusion ;" which, according to 
 your statement, is an " instruction in Deism." Your im- 
 posture respecting this production has been already effec- 
 tually exposed in the answer to the censure of the late 
 Archbishop of Paris against your Pere Brisacier. You 
 could find nothing to say in rejoinder ; and yet you per- 
 sist in your shameless deception, for the purpose of attri- 
 buting to a body of females, whose piety has been hitherto 
 universally acknowledged, the very acme of impiety ! 
 
 Cruel and dastardly persecutors ! Could the hallowed 
 privacy of the cloister furnish no shelter from your ca- 
 lumnies ? While these holy women were, in punctual obe- 
 dience to the rules of their institution, adoring, night and 
 day, their Redeemer in his sacrament, it was your mag- 
 nanimous office, by day and by night, to proclaim to the 
 world that they believed Him not to be present in his 
 own institution, or even in his ascended glory at the 
 right hand of the Father ; and, at the very time that they 
 were pouring out their secret prayers for yourselves and 
 for the Universal Church, your unremitting aim was to 
 thrust them out from her maternal bosom. You calum- 
 niate those who have no ears to listen, and no mouth to 
 reply. But Jesus, their Lord, in whose heart they are 
 now hidden, to be one day manifested together with him 
 — he hears your insults, and will undertake their defence. 
 The day will come when that sacred and awful voice shall 
 be heard on their behalf, to the astonishment of the world, 
 
326 LETTER XVI. 
 
 but to the consolatidn of the Church ! And, mucli I 
 fear, my Fathers, that those who now harden their hearts, 
 and obstinately turn from Him when he speaks as their 
 God, will hear him with unspeakable terror, when he ad- 
 dresses them as their Judge ! 
 
 For, in fine. Reverend Sirs, what account, I ask, will 
 you be able to render of such calumnies as these, when 
 examined, not according to the fictions of your Dicas- 
 tillus, your Gans, and your Pennalossa, by which they 
 may indeed, after a fashion, be justified ; but according to 
 the rules of Eternal Truth, and by the ordinances of the 
 Church ; which, so far from excusing, holds the oflFence in 
 such abhorrence as to denounce against it the punishment 
 of a wilful homicide ? By the 1st and 2nd Council of 
 Aries, the communion is withheld, even to the hour of 
 death, from calumniators, equally with murderers. The 
 Council of Lateran held those who had been convicted of 
 the offence, to be unfit for ecclesiastical office, although 
 they had recanted their error. The popes have ever 
 threatened such as should slander bishops, priests, or 
 deacons, with refusing the communion at death. And 
 the authors of a defamatory work, who are found unable 
 to prove their allegations, are sentenced by Pope Adrian 
 to " be flogged,'' — yes, my Reverend Fathers, " flagel- 
 lentur :" so much has the Church ever repudiated the 
 errors of your corrupt Society, which justify in others 
 these flagrant crimes, that they may practise them them- 
 selves with impunity. 
 
 And truly, my Fathers, the consequences of such con- 
 duct would have been most fatal, had not Providence so 
 ordered it, that you should yourselves furnish the means 
 
CALUMNIES. 337 
 
 of counteracting the evilj and rendering your impostures 
 inefifectual ; for it is only necessary that your outrageous 
 rule should be known, (by which this practice is exempted 
 from criminality) in order to divest it of all authority. 
 Calumny is ineffective unless it proceeds from those who 
 have some reputation for truth. The slanderer fails of 
 his aim if he be not believed to be one abhorring and 
 incapable of slander. Thus, Sirs, your own principle 
 betrays you ! You have ingeniously invented it for the 
 ease of your consciences ; for you would not wish to incur 
 damnation by your defamation ; but aspire to be of the 
 number of those " holy and pious calumniators " spoken 
 of by St. Athanasius. To save yourselves from hell, you 
 cling to this maxim, which, on the faith of your doctors, 
 assures you of safety. But this very maxim, which gua- 
 rantees you, on their authority, from the terrors in a life 
 to come, deprives you in the present of all the advantage 
 you looked for from your practices. Hoping to avoid the 
 criminality of slander, you lose its fruit : the crime is its 
 own counteractive ; and embarrasses and destroys itself by 
 its inherent wickedness. 
 
 You would therefore practise your calumnies with more 
 benefit to yourselves, were you simply to allow, with 
 St. Paul, that slanderers — " maledici " — shall not see 
 God. Then would your malevolences receive more credit, 
 although in reality you would but condemn yourselves. 
 But in saying, as you do, that calumny against your ene- 
 mies is no crime, neither will your slanders be believed, 
 nor will you escape the Divine retribution which is their 
 due. For, be assured, my Fathers, your profoundest 
 authorities will contend in vain against the immutable 
 
328 LETTER XVI. 
 
 justice of God ; and you can give no plainer proof that 
 you are not " of the Truth," than by having recourse to 
 such inventions as these. 
 
 Were Truth on your side, she would combat for you — 
 she would conquer for you : and — whatever enemies op- 
 posed^-" Truth," according to the promise, " would de- 
 liver you from them. You resort to falsehood, to sustain 
 the errors with which you lull the consciences of the 
 worldly and reprobate ; and to oppress with calumny 
 those pious persons who denounce them. Truth being 
 opposed to both these ends, you are seen to " put your 
 confidence in lies," as the prophet Isaiah says (ch. xxviii.) 
 You have said, " when the overflowing scourge shall pass 
 through, it shall not come unto us ; for we have made lies 
 our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves." 
 But what says the prophet in reply at ch. xxx. ? " Thus 
 saith the Holy one of Israel, because ye despise this word, 
 and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay therein; 
 therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to 
 fall, swelling out in a high wall, and whose breaking 
 cometh suddenly at an instant. And he shall break it in 
 pieces as the breaking of a potter's vessel : he shall not 
 spare : so that there shall not be found in the bursting of 
 it a sherd to take fire from the hearth." " Because," as 
 says another prophet, " ye have made the heart of the 
 righteous sad, whom I have not made sad ; and strength- 
 ened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return 
 from his wicked way, by promising him life : I will de- 
 liver my people out of your hand ; and ye shall know 
 that I am the Lord ! " 
 
 Yes, Sirs, it must be our hope that, if a change do not 
 
CALUMNIES. 829 
 
 take place in your principles, God will interpose to with- 
 draw from your hands those whom you have so long mis- 
 led, whether by leaving their irregularities unchecked by 
 your own example, or poisoning their minds by your mis- 
 representations. He will do this, by showing to the one 
 that the fallacies of your Casuists will afford them no plea 
 against his righteous anger; the others he will inspire 
 with a just fear of perdition, from listening to and be- 
 lieving your impostures — a perdition to be shared with 
 those who invented and circulated them throughout the 
 world. I warn you — be not deceived ! God will not be 
 mocked ! Nor can that sacred precept of his Gospel be 
 broken with impunity, that we condemn not our neigh- 
 bour without cause. Whatever be the pious professions 
 of those who thus lend themselves to your falsehoods — 
 whatever their pretences of devotional exactness — let them 
 know that they run the risk of exclusion from God's king- 
 dom, be it only for this one crime — that they have dared to 
 impute the guilt of heresy and schism to orthodox priests 
 and sainted females, upon no other proofs than the gross 
 impostures which you have supplied. " Satan," says M. 
 de Geneve, " is on the tongue of him who slanders, and 
 in the ear of him who listens." " Slander," says St. Ber- 
 nard, Serm. 24, in Cant. " is a poison which extinguishes 
 charity, in both the utterer and the receiver. So that a 
 single calumny may be destructive to an infinite number 
 of souls, since it ruins not only those who publish it, but 
 those also who do not reject it." 
 
 P. S. My letters. Reverend Fathers, have not been 
 wont heretofore to follow so quickly, nor extend to such 
 
330 LETTER XVI. 
 
 length. My limited time is the cause both of the one 
 and the other. I have been obliged to make the present 
 too long, for the very reason that I had not time to make 
 it shorter. The cause of my being compelled to hasten, 
 as I have done, is better known to you than to me. Your 
 replies are not too successful. You have done right in 
 changing your method of proceeding ; but I do not know 
 that you have yet made a happy choice ; and whether 
 the world will not say, that you were afraid of the Bene- 
 dictines. 
 
 I have just learnt that the person to whom every one 
 attributed your apologies disavows them^ and resents the 
 imputation. He is right ; and I have injured him by my 
 suspicion ; for however strong were the reports, I might 
 have thought he possessed too sound a judgment to be- 
 lieve your impostures, and too much honour to publish, 
 without believing them. There are few people in the 
 world capable of those excesses which are your peculiar 
 characteristic, and which are too distinctive of your cha- 
 racter to allow you to pass undetected. The universality 
 of the report misled me ; but this excuse, which might 
 serve your purpose, is insufficient to exonerate me, who 
 take credit for advancing nothing without absolute proof 
 — and, in fact, have not done so in any instance but this. 
 I hereby express my regret and my disavowal ; and I 
 wish you may follow my example . 
 
LETTER XVII. 
 
 ADDRESSED TO R. P. ANNAT, JESUIT. * 
 
 Reverend Father, January 23, 1657. 
 
 I HAD been led to suppose that it was your wish that we 
 should mutually repose from our controversies ; and I, 
 for my part, was equally disposed to do so. But you 
 have very recently issued so large a number of publica- 
 tions, as to make it evident that no peace can be an 
 assured one, which is dependent upon the silence of 
 Jesuits. I doubt whether this renewed rupture may 
 prove to your advantage ; but, for myself, I cannot regret 
 the opportunity it affords me of effectually demolishing 
 this hackneyed reproach of heresy with which you are in 
 the habit of filling your writings. 
 
 It is time then that I should, once for all, silence 
 these baseless charges, which, with growing audacity, you 
 urge against me. You have repeated them in your latest 
 publications, and that in such a form as is not to be 
 longer endured in silence : not to make, indeed, this 
 public reply would expose me to suspicion. I had treated 
 
 * See Appendix, No. V. ' Annat.' 
 
333 LETTER XVII. 
 
 these aspersions^ and many other of the like nature in the 
 writings of your confederates, with the contempt they 
 deserve. My Fifteenth Letter furnished to them a suffi- 
 cient reply : but you now reproduce them in a different 
 form. You put them forward deliberately, in the very 
 front of your defence ; they are almost the only means 
 you employ for the purpose. I find you saying " that it 
 is a sufficient reply to my Fifteen Letters, to repeat for 
 the Fifteenth time, that I am a heretic ; and, after that, 
 I am entitled to no belief.". In fact, no further doubt is 
 to be entertained of my apostacy; it is to be assumed as 
 incontrovertible : and your further conclusions are to be 
 founded upon it as a fact. Well and good, my Father ; 
 you are to treat me as a heretic, and it must be my 
 business now to reply to the charge. 
 
 You cannot but be aware that this imputation is so 
 serious, that it is an indecent temerity in any one to 
 advance it, without the means of proof. I ask you, then, 
 what proofs do you possess ? When was I ever seen at 
 Charenton? When have I failed in my attendance at 
 the services of the Church, or been wanting in any other 
 duties of a Christian, to the Communion to which he 
 belongs ? When did I ever make common cause with 
 heretics, or join any schismatical Body ? What Council 
 have I opposed ? What ordonnance of the Papacy have 
 
 I violated ? I demand. Reverend Father, a reply, or : 
 
 you understand what follows. And what is the kind of 
 reply you make ? I ask the whole world to witness it. 
 You assume first of all, " that the writer of the Letters 
 belongs to the Port Royal." You then say, " The Port 
 Royal has been declared heretical : " whence you draw 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 333 
 
 the conclusion, that the writer of the Letters is declared 
 heretical. It is not then upon me that the force of your 
 accusation falls, but upon the Port Royal ; and you only 
 make me a party to it because you suppose I belong to 
 her. I shall then have little trouble in establishing my 
 defence ; for I have nothing to do but to declare that I 
 do not belong to that Society, and to refer you to my 
 Letters, in which I have stated that " I stand alone ; " 
 and declared in express terms, " I do not belong to Port 
 Royal." All which you find in my Sixteenth Letter — the 
 one immediately preceding your publication. 
 
 You must discover, then, some other way to prove me 
 a heretic, or the whole world will see the impotency of 
 the charge. Show from my writings that I hold not the 
 constitutions of the Church. They are not so numerous; 
 there are but Sixteen Letters to examine ; and I defy you, 
 or any human being, to produce from them the slightest 
 proof of the charge. But the very reverse is really the 
 fact. For when I state (for instance,) in my Fourteenth 
 Letter, " In taking the life of a brother, in the commis- 
 sion of mortal sin, we destroy a soul for which Christ 
 died," do I not^plainly acknowledge that Christ died for 
 these destroyed souls; and that it is therefore false 
 " that He died only for the Elect," which is condemned 
 in the 5th Proposition ? It is therefore certain that I 
 have not advanced a syllable in support of these impious 
 propositions, which I detest from the bottom of my heart. 
 And if even the Port Royal held them, I assert that this 
 would establish nothing against me ; because I am, God 
 be praised, wholly devoted to the Catholic, Apostolical and 
 Roman Church, in which alone I desire to live and to die. 
 
334 LETTER XVII. 
 
 and in communion with her supreme and Papal Head — 
 and out of which I believe there is no salvation.* 
 
 What will you then do with a person who holds such 
 language as this ? How attack one, whose language and 
 writings furnish no ground of accusation, and whose very 
 obscurity throws around him a shield impervious to your 
 threats? You find yourselves struck by an invisible 
 hand, which exposes your delinquencies to the whole 
 world j and you endeavour in vain to wound me, in the 
 persons of those to whom you believe I belong. I fear 
 you not for myself, or for others : I am attached neither 
 to communities nor to individuals. All your power, all 
 your influence are directed against me in vain. From the 
 world I have nothing to hope — nothing to fear —nothing 
 to desire. Endued by a grace which is from above, I 
 have need of nothing that the wealth or authority of 
 man can supply. It is in this way, my Father, that I am 
 invulnerable to all your devices. Aim from what side 
 you will, and it will be to no purpose. You may wound 
 the Port Royal, but you touch not me ! The whole 
 Sorbonne might be discomfited, but / should be un- 
 moved. You may threaten and annoy ecclesiastics and 
 doctors, but you cannot injure me, who am none of these. 
 Never could you have encountered one so screened from 
 your assaults, and so fitted to combat your errors — one 
 independent — isolated — without party — without tie — 
 
 * It may perhaps he remembered, that, in the brief Memoir prefixed to 
 these pages, an opinion was hazarded, that if added years had famished the 
 lamented Pascal with the opportunity to contrast more maturely the systems 
 of Popery and Protestantism, the above declaration of his sincere, but mis- 
 guided belief, would haye been the foremost that he would have been eager 
 to retract. (Transl.) 
 
TO E. P. ANNAT. 335 
 
 without professional bias — without encumbering occupa- 
 tion — one also well versed in your principles ; and deter- 
 mined — as God shall enable him — to expose and denounce 
 them without suffering any earthly consideration to avert 
 or mitigate his hostility ! 
 
 How will it benefit you then^ Reverend Sir, since 
 against me your efforts are fruitless — to persist, as your 
 writers do, in persecuting with their defamations persons 
 wholly unconnected with our controversies ? These sub- 
 terfuges shall avail you nothing ; you shall feel in all its 
 rigour the force of the truth which I array against you. 
 I tell you, that you annihilate all Christian morality, in 
 severing it from the love of God, and dispensing man 
 from its obligations ; and you talk to me of " the death 
 of the Pere Mester," a work which I never saw in the 
 whole course of my life. I charge upon your authors, 
 that they allow the life of man to be taken for an apple, 
 if disgrace attend the loss of it ; and you reply, " a poor- 
 box has been opened at Saint Merri ! " Why am I per- 
 petually to be taxed on the subject of the work " on the 
 Holy Virginity," * written by a Father of the " Oratoire," 
 when I never saw either the author or ^his book ? It is 
 a happy idea indeed to regard all who are opposed to you 
 as one. Your hatred seems to view them as a single 
 antagonist, and would make each of them answer for the 
 acts of the whole. 
 
 * This book on the Holy Virginity is a translation by the Pere Seguenot, 
 Priest of the Oratoire, of a work of St. Augustine. In the original there was 
 nothing to censure ; but the Father added to it some extravagant remarks, 
 which incurred deserved animadversion : and as this work proceeded from a 
 Father of the " Oratoire," whose members had been always attached to the 
 doctrines of St. Augustine, it was sought to throw the blame of the publica- 
 tion upon the Jansenists. (Note, Edit. 1812.) 
 
336 LETTER XVII. 
 
 There is, however^ an important difference between the 
 Jesuits and those opposed to them. YoUj in reality, are 
 one united Body, under one Head ; and your rules, as I 
 have proved, forbid you to publish any thing without the 
 sanction of your Superiors, who take upon themselves the 
 responsibility of the errors of each individual member ; 
 " without the power of excusing themselves by alleging 
 that they had not noticed any specified errors," seeing 
 that they ought to have noticed them, " according to 
 your own ordinances, and the mandates of your chiefs, 
 Aquaviva, Wittelleschi, &c." It is with justice then that 
 the errors of individual members are charged upon your 
 whole Society, since your writings are sanctioned by your 
 Superiors, and your incorporate Theologians. But for 
 myself, my Reverend Father, your rule of judgment 
 should be different. I have given no sanction to the 
 work " on the Holy Virginity." All the Poor-Boxes 
 in Paris might be opened, and I should be no worse a 
 Catholic. And, in fact, I tell you plainly and openly, 
 that no one is answerable for my Letters but myself, and 
 that I am answerable for nothing but my Letters. 
 
 I might stop here. Sir, and abstain from saying any 
 thing of those other persons whom you charge with heresy, 
 for the purpose of including me in the accusation. But 
 as it is, I, who have been the occasion of it, feel bound 
 in some measure to draw from the present opportunity 
 this three-fold advantage. It is one important point to 
 substantiate the innocence of so many persons under 
 accusation : it is another— and one especially suited to 
 my main object — to hold up on all occasions the artifices 
 to which it is your pohcy to resort in bringing the 
 
TO R. P. ANN AT. 337 
 
 charge. But that which I value most of all isj that I 
 shallj by this means, be enabled to exhibit to the whole 
 world the falsity of that scandalous report which you have 
 spread on all sides, " That the Church is rent asunder 
 by a new Heresy." And as you have succeeded in im- 
 posing upon multitudes by making them believe that the 
 points upon which you endeavour to excite such clamour 
 are essential articles of Eaith, I think it of high import- 
 ance to destroy those false impressions, and to explain in 
 this place clearly in what these things consist, while I 
 demonstrate at the same time that there are in reality no 
 heretics in the Church. 
 
 For is it not a fact that if the question be asked, in 
 what consists the heresy of those whom you call Jansenists, 
 the reply promptly is, they hold, " that the command- 
 ments of God are of impossible observance; grace is 
 irresistible j man has no power of doing good, or ill ; 
 Christ died not for all, but only for the Elect ; and, finally, 
 they receive the five Propositions condemned by Rome ? " 
 Do you not distinctly avow it to be on these grounds that 
 you follow up your persecution ? Is not this the burthen 
 of your writing, your conversation, your Catechisms ? Did 
 you not do this at Easter, and the Fete St. Louis, when 
 you asked the young country-girls, "Who did Christ come 
 down for, my child ? " ' For all men. Father.' " What, 
 my child, then you are not one of these new kind of 
 heretics who say that he only came for the Elect ? " 
 
 Of course the children believe all this, and a great deal 
 more ; for you entertain them with the same kind of 
 fictions in your sermons : like your Pdre Crasset of 
 Orleans, who has been placed under interdict for it. I 
 
338 LETTER XVII. 
 
 confess, I myself believed these tilings formerly. You 
 were successful in impressing me with the like ideas of 
 all those persons ; so that when you pressed them upon 
 these Propositions, I was very observant of their reply, 
 and could not feel fully satisfied until they had renounced 
 them as utter impieties. But this I found they did, in 
 the most distinct manner. For M. de St. Beuve, the 
 King's Professor in Sorbonne, publicly denounced in his 
 writings these five Propositions, long before the Pope had 
 done so ; and these doctors put forth several publications 
 about the same time (among others, that " on victorious 
 grace,'') in which they rejected the propositions in ques- 
 tion, as both heretical in themselves and unknown in 
 theology. " For," as they say in the Preface, " these Pro- 
 positions are heretical and Lutheran, fabricated, and 
 gratuitous inventions, and found neither in Jansenius nor 
 his defenders : " — these are their own expressions. They 
 complain of having such sentiments attributed to them, 
 and apply to you the words of St. Prosper, the first dis- 
 ciple of St. Augustine, their master, to whom the semi- 
 Pelagians of France imputed views of the same kind, in 
 order to bring odium upon him. " There are some 
 persons," says this holy man, " so blinded by a passion 
 to decry us, that they resort to means destructive of their 
 own reputation : for they have designedly fabricated 
 certain propositions full of impiety and blasphemies, 
 which they circulate on all sides, in order to induce the 
 belief that we maintain these principles. But we shall 
 prove, in this our reply, both our own innocence, and the 
 malice of those who impute these impieties to us, and of 
 which they are themselves the sole inventors." 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 339 
 
 Now, my good Father, ■when I heard language such as 
 this from them, before the issuing of the " Constitution ;" 
 when I saw the deep respect with which they received 
 that decree; when I found that they offered volun- 
 tarily to subscribe to it, and that all this was declared by 
 M. Arnauld in his second Letter, in terms much more 
 energetic than I can employ, — all these things made it 
 impossible for me any longer to doubt of their good faith. 
 And, in truth, those who had been indisposed to absolve 
 their friends, previous to the Letter of M. Arnauld, have 
 since then declared, that as he had so clearly dis- 
 avowed the errors imputed to him, they saw no longer 
 any reason to exclude him, or his friend, from the pale of 
 the Church. But your treatment of them was of a very 
 different kind ; and from that time it was, that I was led 
 to suspect passion and prejudice to be your guides. 
 
 For, after having used threats to induce them to sign 
 the " Constitution" in question, when you supposed 
 them to be averse to it ; as soon as you found them 
 inclined, of themselves, to take that step, nothing more 
 was heard from you on the subject. And although it 
 might have been thence inferred that you were satisfied 
 with their conduct, we found you still not scrupling to 
 treat these persons as heretics ; " on the ground," as you 
 allege, " that their heart contradicted their head ; and 
 while they were externally professing themselves to be 
 Catholic, they were internally heretics," according to 
 your own expression in your " Reply to certain questions," 
 p. 27 and 47. 
 
 Now, my Father, all this seemed to me most remark- 
 able. Who is there, I pray, that might not in this way 
 
 Q 2 
 
340 . LETTER XVII. 
 
 be liable to the satae kind of cavils ? And see too the 
 vexatious consequences to which such conduct leads. " If 
 we refuse/' says St. Jerome, " to believe those who make 
 profession of faith in conformity with the doctrines of the 
 Church, we cast suspicion upon the belief of all Catholic 
 persons," Regist. 1. v. Ep. 15. I fear then, my Father, 
 '' that your object was to attach the stigma of heretic to 
 those who are in reality not such ; " as the same Pope 
 says in reference to a similar controversy in his time ; 
 " for," says he, " it is not opposition to, but a creation 
 of heresy, to discredit those who openly profess the true 
 faith : ' hoc non est hseresim purgare, sed/acere.' Ep. 16." 
 Now it was a clear proof to me that there was no heresy 
 in the matter, when I found that you could convict these 
 persons of no error in faith, but were obliged to attack 
 them upon certain matters of fact, respecting Janse- 
 nius, and such as could involve no question of heresy. 
 Eor your real aim was, as you yourselves wrote, to compel 
 them to acknowledge that " these Propositions were to 
 be found ? word for word,' in Jansenius ; ' singulares, 
 individuce, totidem verbis, apud Jansenium contentse ' — 
 Cavilli, p. 39." 
 
 From that moment, your dispute lost all importance in 
 my eyes. As long as I had supposed that you were dis- 
 cussing the truth or falsehood of the Propositions them- 
 selves, I looked on with attention ; for that was a matter 
 in which belief was concerned. But when I found that 
 the question with you was, merely, whether such and such 
 words were to be found in Jansenius or not — religion not 
 being involved — I was no longer interested. Not that I 
 did not still suppose there was some probability in, your 
 
TO E. P. ANNAT. 341 
 
 allegations ; for as to the fact, whether certain expressions 
 are to be found word for word in an author, it is difficult 
 to conceive of a mis-statement. Therefore I was not 
 surprised that so many persons, both in France and 
 Rome, should, on the strength of such distinct statements, 
 have believed that Jansenius really inculcated these sen- 
 timents. Judge then my astonishment, on learning that 
 this very fact, put forth by you as so undoubted and so 
 important, proves to be wholly unfounded ; and that you 
 are now defied, in vain, to produce the passage in Janse- 
 nius, in which, as you asserted, these expressions were ac- 
 tually word for word, to be found ! 
 
 All this I state thus circumstantially, because it seems 
 to me conclusive of the spirit that actuates your Society 
 throughout this whole affair; and that the world may 
 admire (as I do) that, notwithstanding all that has been 
 now related, you should still persist in branding your 
 opponents with the charge of heresy. But your method 
 is, to vary their heresy with times and circumstances. As 
 soon as they clear themselves from one charge, the plan 
 of your brethren is, to bring forward another. Thus, in 
 1653, their heresy consisted in the spirit of the Propo- 
 sitions. Afterwards it was in the letter. After that, 
 again, you found it in their own heart. But now, all this 
 is gone by ; and they are held to be heretics if they hesi- 
 tate to subscribe, " that the substance of Jansenius' 
 doctrine is to be found in the five Propositions." 
 
 This then is the subject of your present dispute. It is 
 not sufficient that they should condemn the five Proposi- 
 tions, and everything also that is to be found in Jan- 
 senius, conformable to them, and opposed to St. Augus- 
 
342 LETTE]^ XVII. 
 
 tin; for all this they do. Thus, for instance, it is no 
 longer a question "whether Christ died only for the 
 elect " — they condemn that as much as ourselves ; — but, 
 whether Jansenius is of that opinion or not? Therefore it 
 is, that I declare more decidedly than ever, that your con- 
 troversy interests me little; and equally little does it 
 concern the Church. For, besides that I am no Doctor, 
 any more than yourself, I see plainly, once for all, that 
 the matter Is not one of faith, but simply what is the 
 opinion of Jansenius ? If they believed that his doctrine 
 was conformable to the strict and literal sense of these 
 Propositions, they would condemn it ; and they demur to 
 do so, only because they are convinced that it is wholly 
 different. Thus if they had even put a misconstruction 
 upon it, they would not be guilty of heresy, because they 
 construe it in a catholic sense. 
 
 And, to explain this, I will take, as an example, the 
 diversity in the opinions of St. Basil and St. Athanasius, 
 upon the writings of St. Denis of Alexandria. St. Basil, 
 believing he perceived in these the doctrine of Arius, which 
 impugn the equality of the Father and the Son, condemns 
 them as heretical; while St. Athanasius, on the other 
 hand, considering these same works to propound the true 
 doctrine of the Church, maintains their catholicity. Do 
 you think, Reverend Father, that St. Basil, though holding 
 these writings to be Arian, would have been justified in 
 charging St. Athanasius with heresy, because he defended 
 them ? On what ground could he have done so, since it 
 was not Arianism that Athanasius therein defended, but 
 the truth, which he believed he discovered in the book ? 
 If these holy men had been agreed as to the true meaning 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 343 
 
 of the writings, and both of them had seen the heresy 
 they contained in them, then no doubt Athanasius could 
 not have sanctioned them without heresy ; but, differing 
 as to the interpretation, Athanasius was orthodox in sup- 
 porting them, even if he had misapprehended their mean- 
 ing (his error being only one of fact), and in this doctrine 
 he merely defended the true faith which he believed it to 
 contain. 
 
 Now this. Sir, is what I maintain, in regard to your- 
 selves. Were you agreed as to the meaning of Jansenism, 
 and could all come to the same conclusion — as, for in- 
 stance, that he maintains " that grace cannot be resisted " 
 ■ — those who refused to condemn him would be heretics ? 
 But while you are at variance as to his meaning ; and 
 some hold that, according to his doctrine, " Grace may 
 be resisted;" you have no ground for charging such 
 persons with heresy, whatever error you may attribute to 
 him yourselves ; since they condemn it in the sense which 
 you attach to it; and you, on the other hand, would not 
 venture to blame the proposition, according to the inter- 
 pretation they put upon it. Would you desire to convince 
 these persons, then, you must show that the meaning 
 they attribute to Jansenius is heretical; for then they 
 become partakers of the error. But how can you do this, 
 while it is clear, on your own admission, that the con- 
 struction they maintain is not to be condemned ? 
 
 To illustrate this yet more clearly, I will assume, as a 
 principle recognized by yourselves, that " the doctrine of 
 effectual grace has never been condemned, but has been 
 left untouched by Papal ordonnances." And, in fact, 
 when these five Propositions were passed in review, the 
 
34'! LETTER XVir. 
 
 question of " effectual grace " was exempted from all cen- 
 sure ; and this appears clearly from the opinions of the 
 Arbitrators, to whom the Propositions were submitted. 
 I have their decision in my possession — in common 
 with several persons in Paris — among others M. the 
 Bishop of Montpelier,* who brought them from Rome. 
 From this document, it appears that the Arbitrators were 
 divided in their opinions ; and that the principal among 
 them, such as the Master of the Sacred Palace, the Com- 
 missary of the Holy Office, the General of the Augustinesy 
 and others, considering that these propositions might be 
 understood in the sense of effectual grace, held that they 
 ought not to be censured ; while others — still admitting 
 that if that were their true meaning, they ought not to 
 be condemned — maintained that they were censurable, 
 because their true and natural construction was opposed 
 to this interpretation. It was on this account that the 
 Pope condemned them ; and every one has concurred in 
 his decision. 
 
 It follows then, certainly, that " effectual grace " is not 
 condemned. So strenuously, -indeed, is this doctrine 
 maintained by St. Augustine, by St. Thomas, and his 
 entire school, by so many Popes and Councils, and by 
 universal tradition, that it would be impious to charge it 
 with heresy. Now, all those whom you stigmatize as 
 heretics, declare that they find in Jansenius no other 
 thing than this very " effectual grace ; " and this alone is 
 
 * The Bishop of Montpelier. This was Francis de Bosquet, at first Bishop 
 of Lodeve, afterwards (in 16S5) Bishop of Montpelier, who died in 1676. 
 He was one of the most learned bishops of his time, and especially versed in 
 all ecclesiastical matters. (Edit. 1812.) 
 
TO E. P. ANNAT. 345 
 
 what they have maintained in Rome. You yourself even 
 have acknowledged it — " Cavill. p. 35," wherein you de- 
 clare, " that, in the presence of the Pope, they said not a 
 word about the Propositions — ne verbum quidem — but 
 employed the whole of their time in speaking of " eflfectual 
 grace." And thus, whether they deceive themselves in 
 the supposition or not, it is at least placed beyond a doubt, 
 that the interpretation they attach is not heretical ; and, 
 as a necessary consequence, they are not at all heretical in 
 reality. For, in one word, either Jansenius has taught 
 only the doctrine of " effectual grace," and, in that case, 
 is not in error ; or he has taught something else — and 
 then, he has no defenders. The whole point then is, to 
 ascertain whether Jansenius has actually inculcated any 
 other principles than that of " effectual grace : " — If it be 
 so, then you will have the praise of having better under- 
 stood him than they ; but they will not labour under the 
 misfortune of having erred from the faith. 
 
 We have cause, then, my Father, for thankfulness to 
 God, that there is in reality no heresy in the Church ; 
 since there is no other question than of a fact ; and that 
 cannot constitute heresy. The Church decides upon 
 matters of faith with a divine authority, and excludes 
 from her pale all who refuse to receive them. But she 
 does not act thus with regard to matters of fact ; and the 
 reason is, that our salvation depends upon a faith in things 
 revealed, preserved in the Church by tradition ; but not 
 upon facts, which have formed no part of the Divine re- 
 velation. We are therefore bound to believe that the 
 commandments of God are not incapable of fulfilment ; 
 but we are not bound to be acquainted with what Jan- 
 
 Q 5 
 
346 LETTER XVII. 
 
 senius teaches on the subject. It is in this way that the 
 Almighty guides the Church in her determination of points 
 of faith by the assistance of his Spirit; which cannot err ; 
 but in regard to factSj we are left to our senses and to 
 reason, which are their natural arbiters. It was God alone 
 who could have instructed the Church in her faith. But 
 we have only to read Jansenius, in order to ascertain 
 whether certain Propositions be contained in his Book. 
 It followsj then, that it is a heresy to oppose the decisions 
 of faith, because, in so doing, we are opposing our own 
 wisdom to that which is Divine. But it is no heresy 
 (although it may be not unattended with responsibility), 
 to doubt of certain particular facts ; for we are then only 
 setting the deductions of reason (not, perhaps, wanting in 
 far-sightedness) against an authority which, although high, 
 cannot be infallible. 
 
 This is an axiom recognized by all theologians ; as ap- 
 pears by the following opinion of Cardinal Bellarmine, a 
 member of your Society : " General Councils, lawfully 
 constituted, cannot err in defining dogmas of faith ; 
 but they may err as to question of fact." De Sum. 
 Potent. Lib. 4, c. 11. And elsewhere: " The Pope, as 
 Pope, and even as the head of the universal Council, 
 may err in controversies as to particular facts, which de- 
 pend chiefly upon the information and testimony of men." 
 C. 2. And the Cardinal Baronius to the same effect says, 
 " We must submit entirely to the decisions of Councils 
 upon points of faith ; but upon matters relating to indi- 
 viduals, or their writings, it has not been deemed necessary 
 to be so guarded in our animadversions ; because there 
 are no persons who may not be occasionally mistaken." 
 
TQ B. P. ANNAT. 347 
 
 Ad an. 681, IvT. 39. On this ground also, the Archbishop 
 of Toulouse * has cited the following rule from the writ- 
 ings of the two great Popes, St. Leon and Pelagius II. : 
 " The proper object of Councils is the regulation of faith j 
 and their decisions upon all other subjects may be open to 
 investigation : but their ordonnanx;es on matters of faith 
 may not be questioned, because, as TertuUian says, the 
 rules of faith are at once immutable and fixed." 
 
 This is the reason that the general Councils, legally 
 constituted, have never been found at variance with each 
 other on points of faith ; " because," as the Archbishop of 
 Toulouse says, " it is not even permitted to examine anew 
 what has been already decided on questions of faith." But, 
 on the other hand, the very same Councils have been 
 seen opposed to each other on facts which turn upon the 
 statements or interpretation of an author. " For," says 
 again our Archbishop, following the sentiments of the Popes 
 before cited, " every thing settled in Councils, with the 
 exception of points of faith, may be subjected anew to 
 examination and revision." Thus it is that the 4th and 
 5th Council appear to be opposed to each other in their 
 interpretation of the same authors ; and the same thing 
 happened in the instance of two Popes, upon a proposition 
 of certain monks of Scythia : for, after the Pope Hor- 
 misdas had condemned that proposition, on an interpreta- 
 tion, on his part, in an objectionable sense, the Pope 
 John II., his successor, examining it afresh, and under- 
 standing it in an orthodox sense, sanctioned it with his 
 
 * M. de Marca. This illastiious prelate was Archbishop of Toulouse before 
 his translation to the See of Paris, of which death prevented his taking actual 
 possession. (French Ed.) 
 
348 LETTER XVII. 
 
 approbation; and declared it to be catholic. Would you 
 thence say that one of these Popes must have been a 
 heretic ? Or will it not be acknowledged that, provided 
 the heretical sense, which one of the Popes supposed he 
 had found in the passage, be condemned, we are not 
 blame-worthy in not condemning the passage itself, pro- 
 vided it be taken in a sense which another Pope has not 
 condemned ? For, otherwise, the one of these Popes must 
 stand convicted of error. 
 
 I have been desirous. Reverend Father, to familiarize 
 your mind with these contrarieties, common among the 
 faithful in their interpretations of an author, as to matters 
 of fact ; and for this purpose, to show you one Father 
 of the Church controverting another Father — one Pope 
 another Pope — one Council another Council — in order to 
 conduct you with me to the consideration of other in- 
 stances of similar but more striking contrariety. For you 
 will then see Councils and Popes, on the one side, and 
 Jesuits on the other, diametrically opposed in opinion 
 upon the interpretation of an author; without any im- 
 putation, on your part, upon such author, even of incon- 
 si deration — much less of heresy. 
 
 You well know, my Father, that the writings of Origen 
 were condemned by various Councils and Popes, and even 
 by the Fifth General Council, as containing heretical 
 opinions; and among others that of " the reconciliation 
 of devils at the day of judgment.'' Do you on that 
 account believe it to be necessary, in order to give proof 
 of your catholicity, to allow that Origen actually main- 
 tained these views; and may it not be sufficient to con- 
 demn the errors themselves, without attributing them to 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 349 
 
 him ? Were it indeed so, what would you do with your 
 own Father Halloix, who has maintained the purity of 
 Origen's faith ; as well as several other Catholics who 
 have done the same thing, such as Pere La Mirande arfd 
 Genebrardj doctors of Sorbonne ? And is it not also a 
 fact, that this very fifth General Council condemned the 
 writings of Theodoret against St. Cyril, " as impious, 
 opposed to the faith, and containing Nestorian. heresy ? " 
 And, nevertheless, the Jesuit Father Sirmond has not 
 shrunk from defending him, and stating, in his life of 
 that Father, " that the writings in question are wholly 
 untainted with the Nestorian heresy." 
 
 You see then, Sir, that when the Church condemns any 
 works, she adjudges them to contain some fundamental 
 error; and condemns them accordingly. It is on the 
 ground of doctrine, then, that they are censured ; and not 
 on the question of fact, whether the writings actually con- 
 tain the error so imputed. I assume this, however, to be 
 now sufficiently established ; and I shall close my illus- 
 trations by the well-known instance of Pope Honorius. 
 
 At the commencement of the seventh century, the 
 Church being disturbed by the heresy of the Monothelites, 
 the Pope, in order to terminate the controversy, issued a 
 decree which seemed favourable to the heretics ; so that 
 many persons were scandalized at it. Little attention, 
 however, was excited by the circumstance during his pon- 
 tificate; but fifty years afterwards, on occasion of the 
 Sixth General Council, at which Pope Agatho (through 
 his legates) presided, this decree was referred to the As- 
 sembly ; and, having been read and considered, was con- 
 demned, as containing Monothelistical heresies. On that 
 
350 LETTER XVII, 
 
 groundj it was publicly burnt, together with other writings 
 of this sect. This decision was received with the utmost 
 respect and unanimity throughout the Churchj and sub- 
 sfequently confirmed by two other General Councils ; and 
 even by the Popes Leo II. and Adrian II., about two 
 hundred years afterwards ; nor did any one in fact attempt 
 to disturb this general uniformity of opinion during the 
 lapse of above seven or eight centuries. Notwithstanding 
 all this, however, several writers of later times, and among 
 others Cardinal Bellarmine, were not apprehensive of the 
 suspicion of heresy, in maintaining, in the face of so 
 many Popes and Councils, that the writings of Pope Ho- 
 norius are utterly free from the heresy with which they 
 were charged ; " For," says he, " as there is no incapa- 
 bility of general Councils to fall into error upon questions 
 of facts, it may be » confidently asserted that the Sixth 
 Council was mistaken as to the matter in dispute ; and, 
 not having rightly apprehended the meaning of Pope Ho- 
 norius, in his documents, it has done him a wrong in 
 classing him with heretics." 
 
 Mark then, my Father, that it is no heresy to say that 
 Pope Honorius was not heretical, although various Popes 
 and Councils, after mature deliberation, had passed such 
 condemnation upon him. Then I come to the question 
 between us j and you may put your case as strongly as 
 you please. What is it that you assert, to prove heresy 
 against your opponents ? " The Pope Innocent has pro- 
 nounced that the error of the ' Five Propositions ' is con- 
 tained in the writings of Jansenius." Admit this : what 
 then is your conclusion ? " It is therefore heretical 
 not to admit that the error of the 'Five Propositions' 
 
TO R. P. ANN AT. 351 
 
 is in Jansenius." Now, I ask you, Sir, is not this a 
 question of fact precisely similar to my precedents ? The 
 Pope has declared a certain error to be contained in Jan- 
 senius, just as his predecessors declared that the errors of 
 the Nestorians and Monothelites were contained in the 
 writings of Theodoret and Honorius. Upon which, your 
 Fathers published to the world that they were unanimous 
 with the Pope in condemning the heretics, but the parties 
 in question demurred to the fact of their being contained 
 in those writings. Just as in the former instance, your op- 
 ponents condemn these five Propositions, but they do not 
 admit that Jansenius has inculcated them. Truly, my 
 good Father, the two cases are strictly parallel ; and if 
 there be any difference, it is obviously in favor of the pre- 
 sent and later one, on a due comparison of all the circum- 
 stances, which however I stop not now to detail. I only 
 ask, how it can be maintained that in cases strictly alike, 
 your own Fathers are to be deemed catholic, and your 
 present adversaries heretical ; and by what strange con- 
 clusions you would deprive the latter of a privilege which 
 has been heretofore conceded to all the faithful? 
 
 To this, however, you reply " that the Pope has con- 
 firmed his ordonnance by a Brief." I rejoin again, that 
 two General Councils and two Popes confirmed the con- 
 demnation of Honorius' Letters. But what is it that you 
 build upon in the expressions of this Brief, in which the 
 Pope announces that " he has condemned the doctrine of 
 Jansenius in these five Propositions ? " What strength 
 does this add to the ordonnance ? What does it prove, 
 but that, as the sixth Council condemned the doctrine of 
 Honorius, conceiving it was identified with that of the 
 
353 LETTER XVII. 
 
 Monothelites ; so the Pope now says, he condemns the doc- 
 trine of Jansenius in these five Propositions, because he 
 conceives it to be identified with those Propositions? And 
 how could he do otherwise ? Your Society was constantly 
 re-iterating the assertion ; and you yourself, Reverend 
 Sir — who had declared that " word for word " they were 
 the same — you were at Rome (for in fact you are every- 
 where) at the very time the Censure was published. 
 Could his holiness have suspected your veracity, or the 
 authority of so many grave theologians ? And how could 
 he doubt that the doctrine of Jansenius was identical with 
 that of the Propositions, after the assurance you had given 
 him that those Propositions were " word for word " in his 
 writings ? It is evident then, that if it should be proved 
 that Jansenius does not maintain them, it must not be 
 said, according to the example set by your Fathers, that 
 the Pope was mistaken as to the fact — a thing always to 
 be deprecated — but that you have deceived the Pope. And 
 so well are you in fact now known, that this cannot occa- 
 sion any great increase of scandal. 
 
 Then, after all, my revered Father, we find little enough 
 of heresy in this matter. But, determined at all hazards 
 to prove it to be such, you have endeavoured to turn the 
 question from one of fact into one of faith ; and this is 
 the way in which you proceed : " The Pope," you say, 
 " declares that he condemns the doctrine of Jansenism in 
 the five Propositions ; then it is in a question of faith 
 that the doctrine of Jansenius respecting these Proposi- 
 tions (be it what it may) is heretical." Now this is a 
 strange point of faith, that a doctrine is heretical, be it 
 what it may. What ! if, according to Jansenius, " we 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 353 
 
 may resist the influence of internal grace ; " and if it be 
 false, according to him, " that Christ died only for the 
 predestinated," is this also to be condemned, because it is 
 his doctrine ? Is it true, according to the Pope^s Ordon- 
 nance, " that we have power to do good or evil ;" and is 
 the same proposition false in Jansenius ? By what un- 
 happy fatality is it that truth becomes heresy if found in 
 his writings ? Surely he can only be a heretic where he 
 propounds heresy ! As, according to the pope and the 
 bishops, " the propositions are condemned in their proper 
 and natural sense," it is impossible that they should be 
 condemned in the sense of Jansenius, unless such sense 
 be proved to be their proper and natural one, which be- 
 comes a question of fact. 
 
 It is on fact, then, and nothing else, that our contro- 
 versy turns. It can never be made a question of heresy ; 
 but it might be made a pretext for persecution, were there 
 not ground to hope that none could be found sufficiently 
 devoted to your interests to adopt so unjust a procedure, 
 and to pronounce as you would wish them^ to do, that 
 " these Propositions ave condemned in the sense of Jan- 
 senius," without explaining first, what is that sense. Few 
 persons are disposed to sign a confession of faith, in 
 blank; and this would be, in truth, sig-ning a blank- 
 which you might fill up for them, at your own pleasure ; 
 as you would then be at liberty to interpret after your 
 own fashion the unexplained meaning of Jansenius. Let 
 this explanation be first given ; otherwise you would be 
 indeed exercising over us a " proximate " power — " ab- 
 strahendo ab omni sensu." This, you well know, the 
 world will not allow. Nothing is more universally odious 
 
354 LETTER XVII. 
 
 than ambiguity, especially in matters of faith. In them, 
 common justice demands that we hear before we condemn. 
 And how could those who are satisfied that Jansenius 
 means nothing more than to maintain the doctrine of 
 " effectual grace/' be prevailed upon to pronounce a cen- 
 sure upon his tenets, without a due explanation of them ? 
 Entertaining, as they unalterably will, this conviction in 
 regard to the author, such a censure would amount to a 
 condemnation on their part of the doctrine of " effectual 
 grace " itself — which would be in itself a crime. Would 
 it not be a strange tyranny to expose them to this un- 
 happy dilemma — either to incur guilt towards God, by 
 signing this condemnation, against their conscience, or to 
 be treated as heretics if they refuse to do it ? 
 
 But there is, in reality, much of mystery in all this. 
 Your proceedings are full of the deepest policy. You 
 oblige me therefore to show why it is that you omit to 
 explain the meaning of Jansenius. My great aim is to 
 unravel your secret designs, and in so doing, to frustrate 
 them. Let all then, who are unacquainted with the fact, 
 know that, your main object in the controversy being to 
 protect Molina's doctrine of a " sufficient grace," you can 
 only accomplish this by overthrowing that of an " effec- 
 tual grace," which is opposed to it. But as you find this 
 latter doctrine at the present time sanctioned at Rome, 
 and by the highest authorities in the Church ; and you 
 are thus precluded from attacking it, on its own merits j 
 you proceed covertly to assail it under the name of the 
 Doctrine of Jansenius. For this reason you have sought 
 to procure his condemnation without explanation of his 
 meaning ; and to cause it to be believed that his doctrine 
 
TO R, P. jiNNAT. 355 
 
 is not that of " effectual grace," in order that the censure 
 of himself might not involve that of the doctrine. Here 
 is the secret of all the efforts of your Society to prejudice 
 those who are unacquainted with his writings. And this 
 is what you yourself also, Reverend Father, have at- 
 tempted in your " Cavill," p. 23, by the following subtle 
 reasoning : " The Pope has condemned the doctrine of Jan- 
 senius ; now the Pope has not condemned the doctrine of 
 effectual grace ; therefore the doctrine of effectual grace 
 is not that of Jansenius." But, here I repeat, were this 
 kind of syllogism conclusive of the arguments, it could 
 equally be maintained that Honorius and all who support 
 him are heretical. The sixth Council condemned the 
 doctrine of Honorius ; but the Council did not condemn 
 the doctrine of the Church : then the doctrine of Hono- 
 rius is not that of the Church ; and all who defend it are 
 heretics. It is evident that this proves nothing; since 
 the Pope has condemned nothing but the doctrine of the 
 five Propositions, which he had been induced to believe 
 was that of Jansenius. 
 
 But all this is unimportant ; for you will, I know, not 
 long continue to avail yourself of this line of argument. 
 Peeble as it is, however, it will last long enough to answer 
 your purpose. It is needed by you only so far as to in- 
 duce those who would not deny the doctrine of effectual 
 grace, to condemn Jansenius, without a scruple. When 
 that is achieved, your argument will be soon forgotten ; 
 and as the signatures will remain a perpetual witness of 
 the censure of Jansenius, you will thence take occasion in 
 due time directly to attack the doctrine in question, by 
 this more specious argument : " The doctrine of Janse- 
 
356 LETTER XVII. 
 
 nius," you will say, " has been condemned by the una- 
 nimous consent of the whole Church : now, this doctine 
 is clearly that of " effectual grace," (this you will find no 
 difficulty in proving) " then, this doctrine of " effectual 
 grace " is condemned even by the voice of its defenders." 
 
 This is why you urge the condemnation of the doctrine 
 without an explanation. And herein consists the advan- 
 tage you hope for from the signatures you are soliciting. 
 If your opponents demur to take that step, you have 
 another resource. Skilfully uniting the question of fact 
 with that of faith, without allowing a separation of the 
 two, or the signature of the one without that of the other 
 — as they cannot subscribe both, you proclaim to the 
 world that they refuse both. And thus, although in 
 reality they only refuse to admit that Jansenius held these 
 propositions, which they condemn — which certainly is no 
 heresy — you audaciously say, they have refused their con- 
 demnation of the propositions themselves, — which, were it 
 true, would really be heretical. 
 
 In this way it is, that you derive as much advantage 
 from their refusal as you would from their compliance. 
 Whether they sign or not, you make your account of 
 them ; and whatever be their own inclination, your policy 
 turns it to the promotion of your object. 
 
 Yes, my good Father, be assured, I know you all too 
 well ! It is my grief to see heaven abandoning you in 
 permitting the success of such nefarious conduct ! Your 
 good fortune excites only my pity ; and can be an object 
 of envy to none but those who are ignorant wherein true 
 prosperity consists. It is charity to yourselves to frus- 
 trate your pernicious aims ! You build alone upon lies; 
 
TO E. P. ANNAT. 357 
 
 and seek to propagate but an alternative of falsehood. 
 You will not rest till you prove that the Church has con- 
 demned the doctrine of effectual grace, or that those who 
 defend it^ maintain the censured Propositions ! 
 
 The world then must be told, that, by your own con- 
 fession, that sacred doctrine is not condemned; and, on 
 the other hand, that no one in reality maintains these 
 errors. Thus shall it be known, that those who refused to 
 subscribe what you required, refused only on the ground 
 of a fact : and, being willing to sign, as far as regarded 
 the points of faith, their refusal had in it nothing of heresy. 
 It is matter of faith that the Propositions are heretical, 
 but it is not matter of faith that they are the doctrine of 
 Jansenius. They are clear of error themselves : let that 
 suffice. Possibly they may interpret Jansenius somewhat 
 too favorably ; but you, it is equally probable, do not in- 
 terpret him with sufficient candour. This is a question 
 which I enter not into. I know, alone, that on your 
 principles, you believe yourselves at liberty to charge him 
 with heresy, although you know the fact to be the con- 
 trary ; while on theirs, they are forbidden even to testify 
 to his catholicity, contrary to their own conviction. Thus 
 thei/ are more trust-worthy than you. Reverend Sir : they 
 have more carefully examined Jansenius : they are not 
 less capable than yourself of forming an intelligent judg- 
 ment : they are not less entitled than your Society, to 
 credit with the impartial. But however it may be as to 
 the question of fact, they are certainly true Catholics ; 
 although in order to prove it, it may not be necessary to 
 accuse others of deviation from the truth. It is enough 
 
358 ' LETTER XVII. 
 
 to clear ourselves of error, without charging it upon our 
 neighbours. 
 
 *-(-* At the end of this letter there was the following 
 passage in the first edition : 
 
 My revered Father, if you find difficulty in reading this 
 letter on account of the badness of the type, you must 
 take the blame to yourself. I am not indulged with such 
 privileges as you. You have miraculous resources of this 
 kind ; I cannot get sufficient to defend myself with. One 
 has to seek in every direction for printing-presses. You 
 would not yourself advise me to write any more under 
 such difficulties ; for it is too hard to be reduced to the 
 Osnabruck types. 
 
LETTER.* 
 
 (supplementary to letter xvn.) 
 
 TO M. E. P. ANNAT, CONFESSOR TO THE KING, ON HIS 
 WORK, ENTITLED " THE GOOD FAITH OF THE JAN- 
 SENISTS," &C. 
 
 Reverend Father. Jan. 15, 1657. 
 
 I HAVE read attentively your work, entitled " The Good 
 Faith of the Jansenists, &c." I observe therein that you 
 continue in so, firm and determined a manner to treat 
 your opponents, viz. the members of the Port Royal, as 
 heretics, that it would seem as if you had resolved that no 
 doubt should any longer be entertained upon the ques- 
 tion ; and that you cover yourself with that accusation, 
 as with a buckler, to repel all the attacks of the " Pro- 
 vincial Letters," which you suppose to be written by a 
 member of the Port Royal. Whether he be so or not, I 
 know not, my Reverend Father ; but I would rather 
 believe, that he is not such, on his own word, than that 
 he is, on yours ; seeing you are unable to furnish any 
 
 * This Letter, which is wanting in several editions, appears in that of 1779, 
 at the beginning of the third volume, containing the papers attributed to 
 Pascal. Although it is not improbable that Pascal had some hand in it, it is 
 thought to he Nicole's ; at least it is characterised by the manner of reason- 
 ing, the intelligence, and precision of that writer. (Fr. Editor.) 
 
360 LETTER XVII.* 
 
 better evidence of the facts. As for me^ I am undoubtedly 
 neither inmate of Port Royal, nor secretary of their So- 
 ciety ; but I cannot help wishing to lay before you cer- 
 tain difficulties in respect to the character you assign to 
 them, upon which if you satisfy me plainly and without 
 equivocation, I will take my place by your side, and agree 
 with you in regarding them as heretics. 
 
 You know, Eeverend Sir, that merely to affirm people 
 to be heretics is a very vague thing, and must be regarded 
 as an ebullition of passion, rather than as truth ; provided 
 no proof be furnished in what the heresy consists. The 
 heretical propositions defended by them should be ad- 
 duced, as well as the books in which they are defended 
 and maintained as orthodox. 
 
 I ask you then, first of all. Reverend Fathers, what it 
 is in which these Port Royal brethren are heretical ? Is 
 it in that they do not receive the " Constitution " of Pope 
 Innocent X. ; and do not condemn the five Propositions, 
 which he has condemned ? If that be the case, then I 
 also hold them to be heretical. But how am I to believe 
 this of them, when they both say and write, in the plain- 
 est terms, that they receive this Constitution, and condemn 
 these Propositions ? 
 
 Will you maintain that they receive it ostensibly, but 
 in their hearts reject it ? I rnust entreat. Reverend 
 Fathers, that you will not seek to carry your hostility into 
 the very interior of their minds : you should be satisfied 
 with the evidence of their words, and of their writings. 
 Such conduct as this is most unjust ; and indicative of a 
 strange and unchristian animosity. If tolerated, there 
 lives not the person who could not be proved to be here- 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 361 
 
 tic, Mahomedan, or any thing you might please, by your 
 simply giving out that they do not in their heart believe 
 the mysteries of the Christian religion. 
 
 In what then are they heretics ? Because they will not 
 acknowledge that these propositions are to be found in 
 Jansenius ? I tell you, Reverend Father, that the mere 
 fact whether certain condemned propositions be in a book, 
 or not, — never was, and never can be, matter of heresy. 
 For instance, any one affirming that the doctrine of " Re- 
 gret * for Sin," as set forth in the holy Council of Trent, 
 is false and sinful, is heretical ; but for any one to doubt 
 whether that censurable proposition be in Luther or Cal- 
 vin, would be no heresy at all. In like manner, to main- 
 tain to be catholic the five propositions condemned by the 
 Pope would be heretical ; but, the question whether they 
 be in Jansenius or not, is not one of faith ; although it 
 ought not to be made a cause of division or schism. 
 Add to this. Father, that your opponents have declared, 
 they should give themselves no concern whether these 
 propositions are or are not in Jansenius ; and that, 
 wherever they might be found, they equally condemn 
 them. Where then, I ask again, is the heresy with 
 which, with so much hardihood and pertinacity, you per- 
 sist in charging them ? 
 
 Tell me not, I desire, that as the Pope and the Bishops 
 assert these things to be in Jansenius, it is heresy to deny 
 it. I maintain that the sin would be in denying it, un- 
 less conviction went along with such denial. I admit 
 further, that it might even be schismatic to differ on such 
 a point ; but it would be no heresy. Surely one who has 
 * ' Attrition.' (Fr.) 
 B 
 
363 LETTER, XVII.* 
 
 eyes to read, and cannot discover the things in question, 
 may say, " I read them not there," without being branded 
 as a heretic ! 
 
 What will you next do, Reverend Sir, to support your 
 charge ? You will doubtless assert that M. Arnauld, in 
 bis Second Letter, has revived one of the five propositions. 
 But who are they that say this ? Some Doctors of the 
 " Faculty/' at variance upon the points in question with 
 their fellows. And on what does the statement rest ? 
 Not on his words, for they are the words of St. Chrysos- 
 tom and St. Augustine ; but on a certain construction 
 which they allege M. Arnauld puts upon them in his own 
 mind, and which M. Arnauld denies. Now, I consider, 
 mere charity demands that we give credit to the state- 
 ment which an ecclesiastic or a doctor offers of sentiments 
 concealed in the recesses of his mind, and which can be 
 known only to his Maker. But, besides this, my Reve- 
 rend Father, the faculty — not divided, but unanimously 
 - — have so often censured your authors, and your entire 
 Society, that you have a strong interest in not being 
 understood to regard as heretics all those whom they 
 condemn. 
 
 I seek in vain then for the grounds on which these 
 persons whom you call " Jansenists," are to be deemed 
 heretical. Surely, Sir, if, according to the words of Jesus 
 Christ, " to call our brethren Fools is to be in danger of 
 hell-fire," to call them, without proof or cause. Heretics, 
 is a greater crime, and exposes to severer punishment ! 
 No ; these charges of yours — charges which rest on 
 nothing but your own audacious assertion — are calculated 
 only to astonish the ignorant, and frighten silly women ! 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 363 
 
 But be assuredj that men of spirit and intelligence will 
 demand to be informed wherein the heresy consists ? 
 What, Reverend Sir ! Lessius is to be allowed to shelter 
 his axioms under the authority of Victoria and Navarre ; 
 but Arnauld is to have no such indulgence^ when he ad- 
 duces the sentiments of St. Augustine, Chrysostom, Hilary, 
 St. ThomaSj and the whole of that school ? Since when 
 has the theology of antiquity become criminal ? When, I 
 ask, did the faith of our Fathers undergo a change ? 
 
 You do your utmost to prove that the Fathers of the 
 Port Eoyal have the character and spirit of heretics ; but 
 before you succeed in that, you must furnish proof that 
 they are really such. This you are unable to do ; and it 
 shall be my business to show distinctly that they exhibit 
 no mark or symbol of such a crime. 
 
 When the Church was engagedin controversy with the 
 Arians, she charged them with denying the consubstan- 
 tiality of the Son with the Eternal Father. Did the 
 Arians deny that proposition ? Did they declare that 
 they admitted the equality and con substantiality of the 
 Father and the Son ? Never did they do so, and there- 
 fore they were heretics. You accuse your adversaries of 
 stating that " the observance of the precepts is impos- 
 sible." They deny it. They declare it to be heresy to 
 assert that proposition. They maintain that, neither 
 before nor since the Pope's " Constitution," have they 
 propounded any such axiom. They declare, with your- 
 selves, that those are heretics who propound it. Then,, 
 they are no heretics. 
 
 When the Holy Fathers declared Nestorius to be 
 heretical, because he denied the hypostatical union of the 
 
 E 2 
 
364 LETTER XTII.* 
 
 Word with the purified humanity, and held that there 
 were two persons in Christ, did the Nestorians of that 
 time, or those who, in the Eastern world, have subse- 
 quently professed the doctrine, deny the tenets with 
 which they were charged ? Did they not say, " True, 
 we admit two persons to be in Christ, but we maintain 
 that this is no heresy." This was their language, and 
 therefore they were pronounced heretical, and continue to 
 be so to this day. But when you say, the Port Royal 
 maintains that " we are unable to resist the influence of 
 inward grace," they deny it ; and, admitting, in common 
 with you, its heretical nature, they avow their detestation 
 of the proposition ; while others, on the contrary, admit 
 the proposition, and deny its heresy. Then are they not 
 heretics. 
 
 When the Fathers condemned Eutychus, because he 
 held that there is only one nature in Jesus Christ, did he 
 deny it, and say he believed in two ? Had he done so, 
 he would not have been condemned ; but he maintained 
 that there was but one nature, and contended that therein 
 was no heresy. On that account he was condemned. 
 When you say, the Port Royal Fathers hold " that Jesus 
 died not for the whole world, or for all men, but that his 
 blood was shed only for the Elect," what is their reply ? 
 They declare that, on the contrary, they consider such a 
 sentiment heretical ; that they have never entertained it, 
 and never will do so. They maintain it to be false that 
 Christ shed his blood for the elect only, but that he 
 poured it out even for the reprobate — for those who 
 absolutely reject his grace. Finally, they hold that he 
 died for all men, as St. Augustine believed, as St. Thomas 
 
TO K. P. ANNAT. 365 
 
 taught, and as the Council of Trent ordained. Now, my 
 Reverend Father, is not this at least as good a plea, as 
 that we helieve like the Jesuits, and take our views from 
 Molina ? Then, again, they are no heretics. 
 
 When, in opposition to the Monothelites, it was con- 
 tended that there were two kinds of will and two kinds 
 of volition in Christ, did Cyril of Alexandria and Sergius 
 of Constantinople allege that they were misrepresented ? 
 Did they declare that they admitted a double will — a 
 double volition, in the person of our Lord ? They did 
 not : therefore were they pronounced heretics. When 
 you charge upon the Port Royal that, in our present 
 condition of a corrupt nature, " they do not exclude any 
 necessity of action, whether meritorious or unworthy, 
 excepting the necessity of constraint,^' * they deny it, 
 and maintain, on the contrary, that we have, in the 
 present life, always a liberty of action for good or for evil ; 
 and that, even with the influence of " efiectual grace," 
 which imposes upon us no necessity, although it infallibly 
 leads to good conduct — as is held by all Thomists. There- 
 fore they are not heretics. 
 
 Lastly, when the Church rebuked Luther and Calvin 
 for denying the Sacraments and Transubstantiation, and 
 for disobedience to the Pope, did those heretics complain 
 of misrepresentation of their views and tenets ? Did 
 they not resolutely maintain those propositions, and do 
 they not maintain them to this hour, and have been 
 declared heretics for doing so ? But when you tell the 
 brethren of the Port Royal, "that they repudiate the 
 
 '' ' lis n'excluent et ne rejettent aucune necessity de I'action mdritoire ou 
 ddraeritoire, sinon la necessity de contrainte.' (Fr.) 
 
366, LETTER. XTII.* 
 
 Pope's authority, oppose the Council of Trent, &c." they" 
 adopt — and properly — the " Mentiris impudentissime ; " 
 that is, Keverend Father, they say it is false ! For in 
 matters of such importance as this it is allowable and even 
 necessary to charge falsehood. Then are they not here- 
 tics ; or if they be so, they exhibit nothing of the spirit 
 and character of heresy. No such heresy has been ever 
 heretofore seen in the Church ; and far easier would it be 
 to demonstrate on the part of their enemies, the features 
 of calumny and imposition, than in themselves those of 
 heresy. 
 
 I find, indeed, that heretics have frequently endeavoured 
 to affix upon the truly Catholic the stigma of erroneous 
 opinions. The Pelagians charged St. Augustine with 
 a denial of free-will ; the Eutychians asserted that the 
 Catholic opposed the substantial union of the divinity and 
 humanity in Christ : the Monothelites accused the true 
 Church of raising a' distinction and contrariety between 
 the divine and human will in the Saviour ; the Iconoclasts 
 declared that we give to images the worship due only to 
 God; the Lutherans and Calvinists call us " Popelitres," 
 and give out that the Pope is Antichrist. We say, all 
 these propositions are heretical, and we equally detest 
 them all : ^ therefore we are not heretics. But I iear, my 
 Reverend Father, there may be more ground for charging 
 you with a heretical taint, than for your imputations 
 against your opponents j for you avow the " Molinean " 
 propositions with which they reproach you, but allege 
 they are not heretical. Those opinions which you make 
 matter of charge against them, they utterly deny, while 
 they admit them to be in themselves heretical. Thus 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 367 
 
 they take the course which has always been pursued by 
 true Cathohcs — you. Reverend Father, take that which 
 as uniformly has been pursued by heretics. 
 
 But when you avail yourself of their piety, and their 
 zeal in support of Christian morality, as proofs of heresy, 
 you reach the climax of audacity ! Had ypu succeeded 
 in demonstrating their heretical propensities, it might 
 have been allowable to brand them with hypocrisy and 
 dissimulation ; but that you should turn into an instru- 
 ment for establishing your charge of heresy, their holy 
 devotedness, their zeal for the discipline of the Church, 
 and for the doctrines of the Fathers — this. Reverend Sir, 
 is not to be endured, and assuredly we shall not be wanting 
 in means to frustrate your base designs. 
 
 To hear the language you affect, it might be supposed, 
 indeed, that all your purpose was accomplished — they are 
 heretics — rtheir heresy is as palpable as that of Luther and 
 Calvin. But^ my good Father, you must permit me, in 
 a matter of such importance, to suspend my judgment, or 
 in fact, utterly to disbelieve your assertion, till I find these 
 men io open contumacy against the Pope, and distinctly 
 maintaining the Propositions which he has condemned — 
 aye, and in the very terms also in which they were con- 
 demned. For I ask you, Reverend Sir, should these holy 
 men prove to be no heretics — as I verily believe to be the 
 fact — would you be able to justify me before God for 
 admitting them to be such ? And all those other persons 
 also, who, on your authority have believed in their heresy, 
 and universally circulated the reproach of their heresy — 
 tell me, will it be sufficient for their exculpation before the 
 
368 LETTER. XVII.* 
 
 tribunal of the Sovereign Judge, to plead that they adopted 
 the charge from your publications ? 
 
 I have now done ; for, as to the details of your fallacies 
 and misrepresentationSj I leave you to the author of the 
 " Letters." He has already effectually discomfited your 
 associates, who thought to overwhelm him with similar 
 reproaches ; and he will not spare you ; unless he should 
 deem it, after all, unnecessary to make any reply ; seeing 
 you have brought forward nothing of importance which 
 had not been said before by your brethren. All these 
 things have been completely disposed of by the author ; 
 for your present production, which you state has been 
 composed within these four months, is an old work : you 
 say not a word of the 10, 11, 13, 13, 14 and 15th 
 Letters, all which appeared before the date of your pub- 
 lication, although you undertake in the Preface to " con- 
 vict of bad faith the Letters written since Easter." What 
 is to be said of a book, whose impostures begin even with 
 the title-page ! 
 
LETTER XVIII. 
 
 ADDRESSED TO R. P. ANNAT, JESUIT. 
 SHOWING STILL MORE INCONTROVERTIBLY, AND EVEN 
 FROM THE PERE ANNATES OWN ANSWER, THAT NO 
 HERESY EXISTS IN THE CHURCH; THAT EVERY ONE 
 CONDEMNS THE DOCTRINE UNJUSTLY ALLEGED BY 
 THE JESUITS TO BE FOUND IN THE WRITINGS OP 
 JANSENIUSj AND CONSEQUENTLY ALL THE FAITHFUL 
 ARE AGREED ON THE SUBJECT OF THE FIVE PROPO- 
 SITIONS. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MATTERS OF 
 BELIEF AND OF FACT, AND THAT IN THE LATTER 
 WE SHOULD RELY RATHER ON THE EVIDENCE OF 
 THE SENSES THAN ON HUMAN AUTHORITY. 
 
 Reverend Father, March 24, 1657. 
 
 You have long been labouring at the task of attaching 
 the reproach of error to your adversaries ; but I believe 
 you will at last be brought to the acknowledgment that 
 nothing is so difficult as to prove those to be heretical 
 who, not only are not such, but who would dread nothing 
 so much as the being such in reality. I proved in my 
 last Letter how sedulously you had, one after another, 
 imputed heresies to them, without being able in a single 
 instance to establish the charge : so that nothing re- 
 
 R 5 
 
370 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 niained for you but to accuse them of refasing to condemn 
 Jansenius, yet without any explanation of the ground on 
 which their censure should rest. You must have been 
 indeed reduced to extremity for matter of crimination; 
 for who ever before heard of a heresy which should not be 
 susceptible of explanation? Their reply was therefore 
 sufficiently easy, being simply, that if Jansenius was not 
 in error it was unjust to condemn him ; if he was, then 
 the errors should have been explained, that it might be 
 known on what ground he was to be condemned. This, 
 however, you have not thought fit to do ; but you have 
 endeavoured to strengthen your own denunciations by 
 alleging certain decrees, which proved nothing, inasmuch 
 as they in no degree expounded the meaning of Jansenius 
 in regard to the five Propositions. 
 
 Now this was not the proper way to settle the contro- 
 versy. Had you been mutually agreed as to the true 
 interpretation of Jansenius, and had the only question 
 between you been, whether his sentiments so interpreted 
 were heretical or not, then the decisions as to their inno- 
 cent tendency might have been relevant. But the main 
 dispute being as to his actual meaning— the one party 
 afiirming that they could see in his sentiment's only those 
 of St. Augustine and St. Thomas, and the other that they 
 perceived in them heresy, yet without explaining in what 
 such heresy consists — it is clear that an ordonnance 
 which declares nothing respecting this difference, and 
 only condemns in general terms the sentiments of Jan- 
 senius without explanation, decides nothing as to the real 
 points in dispute. 
 
 Therefore it is that you have been told a hundred times, 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 371 
 
 that, the controversy being alone on this point, you could 
 determine nothing without a declaration of your own 
 understanding in respect of the meaning of Jansenius. 
 But, as you always pertinaciously declined this, I resolved 
 to press you upon this point in my last letter ; in which 
 I set forth that it was not without an occult design that 
 you aimed at procuring a censure of his views, without 
 an explanation ; and that your object was that, hereafter, 
 this undefined condemnation should fall upon the doc- 
 trine of effectual grace itself, by showing that it and 
 Jansenius were identical — a thing which you would not 
 find difficult to accomplish. This has unavoidably drawn 
 from you a reply ; for had you, after that, obstinately 
 refused an explanation, it would have been obvious to the 
 simplest understanding that your designs were directed 
 only against this sacred doctrine ; and you would herein 
 have exposed yourselves to irretrievable disgrace, and the 
 reprobation of the universal Church, united together for 
 its defence. 
 
 You have now, therefore, been compelled openly to ex- 
 plain yourselves in your reply to my Letter ; in which I 
 advanced the proposition, '' that if Jansenius had put 
 any other construction upon the five Propositions than 
 such as was consistent with the doctrine of effectual grace, 
 there was no excuse to be made for him ; but if he had 
 put upon them no other than this construction — then he 
 was guilty of no error." This, my Father, is a position 
 which you could not gainsay ; but I find you taking a 
 distinction of this nature, p. 21 ; " It is not sufficient," 
 you say, " for the justification of Jansenius, to say that 
 he holds the doctrine of effectual grace ; for that dogma 
 
373 - LETTER, XVIII. 
 
 may be held in two ways j — the one heretical^ after Calviny 
 which consists in saying that the will, when under the 
 influence of grace, has not power to resist it ; the other, 
 orthodox, according to the Thomists and the Sorbonne, 
 and founded on principles established by the Councils — 
 which is, that effectual grace, by its nature, operates in 
 such a manner on the will, as that there is always in man 
 the power to resist its influences." 
 
 All this. Reverend Father, may be conceded to you : 
 you conclude, however, by saying, " that Jansenius would 
 be orthodox, if he defended the doctrine of grace in 
 the manner of the Thomists; but that he is heretical, 
 because he opposes the Thomists, and agrees with Calvin^ 
 who denies in man a power of resistance to grace." I do 
 pot pause here, to inquire into the fact assumed; viz. 
 whether Jansenius be, in reality, in agreement with Calvin. 
 It is sufficient that you assume it ; and that you now assert 
 openly, that by the statements of Jansenius you intend 
 only those of Calvin. Is not that, Reverend Sir, what 
 you really intended? Is it not the error of Calvin 
 alone that you meant to condemn, under the name of 
 Jansenius? Why not have avowed this before? You 
 would have saved much trouble ; for all the world would 
 have agreed in condemning this error with you, without 
 the authority of briefs or bulls. Truly this explanation 
 was not a little necessary, and obviates much difficulty. 
 We did not know before what errors they were that the 
 Popes and Bishops sought to put down, under the name 
 of Jansenius. The whole Church was bewildered, and no 
 one could supply an explanation. You, Sir, at length 
 have done this — you, whom their entire party consider 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 373 
 
 their head and the prime mover of their counsels ; and 
 who are acquainted with all the secrets of their polity. 
 You have now told us that the condemnation in Council 
 of Jansenius is no other than the condemnation of Calvin. 
 Our doubts are at length resolved. We now know that 
 the error which was intended to be condemned under 
 cover of the sentiments of'JanseniuSj is alone the doctrine 
 of Calvin ; and thus we are showing our dutiful obedience 
 to the decrees of the Church, in condemning, with them, 
 sentiments upon which they have placed their ban. We 
 are no longer surprised at the zeal of the Popes and 
 certain of the Bishops against Jansenius. How could it 
 have been otherwise, I pray, if credit was to be given to 
 those who publicly announced that his opinions were iden- 
 tical with those of Calvin ? 
 
 Let me then take upon myself to declare to you, my 
 Father, that you have now no further ground of censure 
 of your opponents, for you and they are agreed in the 
 object of your reprehension, I am only surprised that you 
 should be ignorant of the facts ; and should have so little 
 knowledge of their sentiments on a subject upon which 
 their writings left no room for doubt. Be assured that, 
 had you been better informed, you would regret not to 
 have, in an amicable spirit, made yourself acquainted with 
 a system of doctrines so pure and so catholic, but which 
 passion urges you now, in mere ignorance, to oppose. 
 You would find. Reverend Sir, that not only do they hold, 
 that resistance may be effectually made to those feeble 
 graces which are styled " existing or ineffectual," * but 
 
 * ' Excitantes ou inefficaces.' (Fr.) 
 
374 LETTER XTIII. 
 
 that they firmly maintain, in opposition to Calvin, the 
 power inherent in the will to resist even effectual arid 
 conquering grace; as also that they defend — (but in op- 
 position to Molina) — the power of that grace over the 
 will; so jealous are they in the support alike of all these 
 great truths. Too well do they know that man, in his 
 own nature, has always the power to fall into sin, and to 
 offer resistance to grace ; and that, since his fall, he has 
 borne about with him a fatal body of concupiscence, which 
 infinitely aggravates this evil tendency ; but that, never- 
 theless, when it pleases God in his mercy to touch the 
 heart, he influences it to do such things, and in such 
 manner, as please him, although the irresistibleness of 
 the Divine power does not in any degree infringe upon 
 the natural liberty of the human will. Such are the adr 
 mirable and mysterious methods by which God carries on 
 his operations, as St. Augustine has beautifully unfolded ! 
 It is in this way that are dissipated all those imaginary 
 contradictions which the enemies of the doctrines of grace 
 conjure up, between its sovereignty over the will, and the 
 power of the will for the resistance of grace. For, ac- 
 cording to the same holy authority (whom the heads of 
 the Church have constituted her guide upon this subject), 
 Jehovah effects his changes in the heart of man by the 
 diffusion of a divine and gracious influence ; which, over- 
 coming the evil propensities of the flesh, opens up to the 
 man, on the one hand, a view of his own mortality and 
 nothingness, and, on the other, the greatness and eternity 
 of God ; and thus produces in him a disgust for the plea- 
 sures of sin, which tend to separate him from the great 
 source of unchangeable good. Finding, then, his most 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 375 
 
 sacred delights to arise from communion with God, he is 
 urged towards him by a free, an ardent, and an affec- 
 tionate impulse, which it would be an infliction and pun- 
 ishment to him to resist. Not that man has not the 
 power to separate himself from God, if he be conscious of 
 the inclination. But how can he incline to do so, when 
 his will is even subservient to his pleasure ; and his chief 
 pleasure is now centered in Him, who is the alone source 
 of real good, and who comprehends all other good in 
 Himself ? " Quod enim amplius non delectat, secundum 
 id operemur necesse est," as saith St. Augustine, Exp. 
 Ep. ad Gal. n. 49. 
 
 It is in this manner that God disposes the will of man, 
 without any irresistible constraint ; and that his will — 
 which possesses always the power, although not always 
 the inclination, to resist the Divine grace — tends freely, 
 but infallibly, towards God, when placed within the influ- 
 ence of his sweet and powerful inspirations.* 
 
 These, Reverend Father, are the holy principles of St. 
 Augustine and St. Thomas. According to them, it is 
 true " that grace may be resisted," in opposition to Cal- 
 vin's opinion ; and therefore Pope Clement says, in his 
 Congregational Rescripts, de Auxiliis, art. 5 and 6, " God 
 excites in us the motions of our will, and disposes our 
 hearts, by the sway which his supreme Majesty exercises 
 over the will of man, no less than over the inhabitants of 
 heaven, as saith St. Augustine.^' 
 
 * The reader will here again, perhaps, notice a confiiination of a remark in 
 the Memoir, that Pascal, while vehemently controverting some of the extreme 
 positions of Calvin and Luther upon the doctrines of Grace in their general 
 scope and spirit, approximated more closely than he supposed to the views of 
 those great men. (Transl.) 
 
376 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 On these principles it is that our actions emanate from 
 ourselves; our good works — (contrary again to Calvin's 
 views) — are our own J yetj God being the first cause of 
 our actions, and " working in us according to his plea- 
 sure," according to St. Paul, " our good works are the 
 gifts of God," as saith the Council of Trent. 
 
 In this way is overthrown the impious * sentiment of 
 Luther, censured by the same Council, " that we co- 
 operate not in any measure in our own salvation, any 
 more than the inanimate creatures : " and thus also is 
 equally exposed the impiety of Moliaa's school, which 
 denies even that it is the power of grace which causes us 
 to co-operate in the work of our salvation ; a doctrine by 
 which is subverted that principle of faith established by 
 St. Paul, that " it is God which worketh in us both to 
 will and to do." 
 
 And it is by this method also that all those passages of 
 Holy Writ, which seem the most opposed, are brought 
 into a sacred harmony : " Turn you unto the Lord : " 
 " Lord, turn thou us." " Cast away your iniquities from 
 you." " It is the Lord who taketh away the iniquities of 
 his people." " Do works meet for repentance : " " Lord, 
 thou hast wrought all our works in us." " Make you a 
 new heart and a new spirit : " "I will give you a new 
 heart, and create a right spirit within you." 
 
 The only true way to reconcile these apparent anomalies, 
 which seem to attribute our good works, now to God, 
 and now to ourselves, is to acknowledge, with St. Augus- 
 tine, " our actions are our own, because of the free will 
 
 * Vide Memoir. 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 377 
 
 which produces them ; hut they are also of God, on ac- 
 count of his grace which influences our will to produce 
 them." And because, as he says elsewhere, God causes 
 us to do what pleases him, in causing us to incline to do 
 that to which otherwise we could not be inclined : " a Deo 
 factum est ut vellent quod nolle potuissent." 
 
 Thus, my Father, it is clear that your opponents are 
 perfectly in agreement even with the modern Thomists 
 themselves ; for they hold, equally with them, both the 
 power of resistance to grace, and the irresistibleness of 
 the effects of grace; regarding both these as cardinal 
 points of doctrine. This, Alvarez,* one of their most dis- 
 tinguished members, frequently reiterates in his work, and 
 explains in these terms, Disp. 72, B. 8. n. 4; " When 
 grace operates upon the will, the latter infallibly ac- 
 quiesces ; for the effect of grace is such, that although 
 there is power in the will to resist, it in reality never does 
 resist." For this he assigns the following reason from 
 his master, St. Thomas, 1, 2, q. 112, N. 3 ; " The will of 
 God cannot fail of its accomplishment ; thus, when it is 
 his will that a man should yield to grace, he does so yield 
 infallibly, and even necessarily ; not, however, by an ab- 
 solute necessity, but by a necessity of infallibility." In 
 which, grace does not infringe upon " the power a man 
 possesses to resist, if he choose j " because it only influ- 
 
 * Diego (or Didacus) Alyarez was one of the. most eminent theologians 
 among the Dominicans ; he lived in the 16-17th century, and died in 1635; 
 He" was brought from Spain to Rome in 1S96, to maintain, with Pere Lemos, 
 the doctrine of Grace, which had heen weakened and almost overthrown by 
 the Jesuit Molina. He distinguished himself highly in the famous congre- 
 gation ' De Auxiliis.' The work of Alvarez, above referred to, is entitled 
 ' Didaci Alvarez de auxiliis divinae gratise, et humani arbitrii viribus et liber- 
 tate, &c., &c.' (Note Edit. 1812.) 
 
378 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 ences him in such way, that he does not incline to resist- 
 ance ; as your Pere Petau states in these words, Vol. 1, 
 Theol. Dogm. B. 9, c. 1, p. 602 ; " The grace of Christ 
 causes us to persevere in an unfailing course of piety, 
 although not by any necessity ; for the will is capable of 
 resisting its influences, according to the Councils j but 
 the same grace produces an incapability of such resist- 
 ance." * 
 
 This, Reverend Sir, is the uniform doctrine of St. Au- 
 gustine, St. Prosper, the Fathers who succeeded to them, 
 the Councils, St. Thomas, and the whole of the Thomists. 
 It is also the doctrine of those very men whom you are 
 opposing, little as you thought it to be so. And lastly, 
 it is that which you yourself have recently sanctioned, in 
 the following terms ; " The doctrine of effectual grace, 
 in which is recognized a power of resistance to its in- 
 fluences, is orthodox, confirmed by Councils, and main- 
 tained by the Thomists and the Sorbonne." Be candid, 
 my good Father ; had you been aware that your adver- 
 saries really held this doctrine, a regard for the interests 
 of your own Society might have perhaps withheld you 
 from this public testimony to its truth ; but,— believing 
 that they were opposed to it, — that very motive of in- 
 terest has led you to authorise sentiments which you 
 fancied were opposed to theirs ; and, expecting by your 
 stigmas to bring their principles into obloquy, you have in 
 reality achieved their entire establishment. In this way 
 it is that, by a species of prodigy, we at this moment see 
 the defenders of the doctrines of grace countenanced by 
 
 * ' Car ou pent n'y pas consentir, si on le veut, comme dit le conseil ; mais 
 cette m6me grace fait que Ton ne peut pas.' (Fr.) 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 379 
 
 the partizans of Molina : such is the beautiful process by 
 which God causes all things to work together for his glory 
 and his truth ! 
 
 Let it then henceforth be known to the whole world, — 
 and that by your own express declaration, — that this 
 sacred truth, the doctrine of effectual grace — a truth so 
 needful for every holy action — so cherished by the Church, 
 and the costly purchase of her Saviour's blood — that this 
 truth is so essentially catholic, that there lives not a 
 member of the Church — not even the Jesuit himself — 
 who does not acknowledge its orthodoxy ! And at the 
 same time it will be known — and that also by your own 
 acknowledgment^ — that there is not a shadow of error in 
 the views of those whom you have so grossly maligned. 
 When your charges against them were mysterious and 
 undefined, it was as difficult for them to defend as it was 
 easy for you to accuse ; but now that you openly declare 
 the errors you are combatting to be those of Calvin, which 
 you suppose them to have espoused, it is manifest to all 
 that they are wholly free from heterodoxy ; inasmuch as 
 they have, in their writings, in discourse, and by every 
 means in their power, testified their unqualified opposition 
 to those errors; and that in an equal degree with the 
 Thomists, whom you have no scruple in recognising to be 
 orthodox ; and who indeed have never by any one been 
 suspected of being otherwise. 
 
 What then. Reverend Sir, becomes of your accusations 
 against them ? Are they, while repudiating this doctrine 
 of Calvin, to be regarded as heretical, because they will 
 not admit the doctrine of Jansenius to be that of Calvin ? 
 Would you now dare to assert that this is a matter of 
 
380 LETTER XTIII. 
 
 heresy ? will you not rather allow it to be a mere ques- 
 tion of fact, with which heresy can have no concern ? If 
 it be heresy to aflSrm that man cannot resist the influences 
 of grace, is it equally such to doubt, that Jansenius main- 
 tains the opinion ? Is this a truth of revelation ? Is this 
 an article of faith, which must be received on pain of 
 damnation ? In spite of all your efforts, what is it in 
 reality but a simple question of fact, which to turn into 
 heresy, is to make utterly ridiculous ? 
 
 Give it then no longer, my good Father, this name, but 
 any other you please, that shall suit the nature of your 
 controversy. Say they are ignorant — obtuse ; that they 
 do not understand Jansenius : these would be invectives 
 in character with your style of discussion ; but to charge 
 them with heresy is not so. And as that is the only re- 
 proach which I have any anxiety to avert from them, I shall 
 give myself no trouble to demonstrate that they do under- 
 stand Jansenius aright. All I shall say is, that, judging 
 by your own rules, it does appear to me difficult to main- 
 tain them not to be orthodox ; for this is the way in which 
 you proceed to investigate the matter. 
 
 " To prove," you say, " whether Jansenius is in error 
 or not, it must be ascertained whether he defends the doc- 
 trine of ' effectual grace,' after the manner of Calvin, who 
 denies the existence of any power to resist it ; for then he 
 would be heretical ; or after the manner of the Thomists, 
 who admit it ; then he would be catholic." 
 
 See then, for yourself. Sir, whether he holds an inability 
 to resist the influence of grace, when he declares through- 
 out several entire treatises, and among others, in Vol. 3, 
 B. 8, ch. 20, " We have always, according to the Council, 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT, 381 
 
 a power to resist grace. The free-will of man has always 
 an ability, either to act, or not to act j to will, or not to 
 will ; to consent, or not to consent ; to do good, or to do 
 evil ; and man has even in this life these twa species of 
 liberty, which you call contrariety and contradiction." * 
 Say, again, whether it be not to oppose Calvin, according 
 to your own representation of his opinions, to maintain, as 
 does Jansenius, throughout his 31st chapter, " that the 
 Church has condemned the heresy, that efifectual grace 
 does not operate upon the will, in the manner which has 
 been so long received in the Church, to the eflFect that it 
 is in the power of the will to consent or not ; whereas, 
 according to St. Augustine and the Council, the will has 
 always the power to withhold consent, if disposed to do 
 so ; and, according to St. Prosper, God bestows even upon 
 his elect, the inclination to persevere, although he does 
 not take from them power to do the contrary." And, 
 lastly, judge whether he does not agree with the Thomists, 
 when you find him declaring, c. 4, " all that which the 
 latter have written to harmonize the efficaciousness of 
 grace with the power of resistance to it, is so in accordance 
 with his views, that it is sufficient to peruse their works to 
 be acquainted with his sentiments. " Quid ipsi dixerunt 
 dictum puta." 
 
 You see then how he — more emphatically than all the 
 leading theologians — expresses himself upon this head ; 
 thus evincing that he disagrees with Calvin, and is equally 
 orthodox with yourselves. But if you are in possession 
 of a method of ascertaining the meaning of an author 
 
 * ' Que voHS appelez de contrariete^, et de contradiction.' (Fr.) 
 
382 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 otherwise than by his own words, and are able, not only 
 without quotations from himself, but in contradiction to 
 his very expressions, to maintain that he denies the resist- 
 ance of the will, and " supports Calvin in opposition to 
 the Thomists " — if you can do all this, you need, never- 
 theless, have no fear, th9,t I shall accuse you of heresy : 
 all I shall say is, simply, that you ill understand Janse- 
 nius : but we may both be, notwithstanding, very good 
 members of the Catholic Church ! 
 
 Why is it then. Sir, that you are so carried away by 
 acrimony and passion in this controversy ; and treat as 
 your bitterest enemies, and as the most dangerous of here- 
 tics, those whom you can convict of no error, except that 
 they do not read Jansenius in the same way as yourself? 
 About what is it that you are disputing, but the meaning 
 of the writer ? You ask for his followers' condemnation ; 
 but they ask you his meaning. You say it is Calvin's 
 heresy : they reply, they condemn it equally with your- 
 self ; and therefore, if you would have the candour to 
 look beyond the mere words to the things signified, you 
 ought to be satisfied. If censure be withheld from Janse- 
 nius, it is because it is feared that it must embrace 
 St. Thomas also. Thus, between you, words themselves 
 become equivocal in their meaning. On your part they 
 signify Calvin — on his, St. Thomas; so that, your difier- 
 ent ideas of the same expressions being the cause of such 
 dissension, were I the arbiter of the controversy, I should 
 interdict the naming of Jansenius, both on the one side 
 and on the other. And thus, taking only your under- 
 standing of the matter, it would be found that you aimed 
 only at procuring the condemnation of Calvin, in which 
 
TO E. P. ANNAT. 383 
 
 they would support you ; and that they endeavour alone 
 to defend the opinions of St. Augustine and St. Thomas, 
 with which you profess cordially to agree. 
 
 As for myself, I hesitate not to say, I shall still regard 
 them as orthodox, whether they condemn Jansenius, in 
 the belief that he is in error, or whether they acquit him, 
 finding in his opinions nothing but what you esteem to 
 be catholic ; and shall address them as St. Jerome ad- 
 dressed John, Bishop of Jerusalem, when accused of hold- 
 ing the eight Propositions of Origen : " Either condemn 
 Origen,'' he said, " provided you believe he entertained 
 these errors, or deny that he does entertain them, — 'Aut 
 nega hoc dixisse cum qui arguitur ; aut si locutus est 
 talik, eum damna qui dixerit." ' 
 
 This, Reverend Father, is the conduct of those who 
 desire to censure errors, but not persons ; while you, who 
 have more hostility to persons than to errors, care little 
 for the heterodoxy of your opponents, provided you can 
 succeed in procuring them personal condemnation. You 
 urge your proceedings with vehemence ; but you will not 
 succeed. I have told you before, and I now repeat it — 
 violence can never prevail over truth ! Never were your 
 accusations more clamorous ; never was the innocence of 
 your adversaries more apparent ! Never was the doctrine 
 of Grace more subtilly attacked ; and never was it seen to 
 be more irresistibly established ! Your utmost efforts are 
 exerted to cause it to be believed that your disputes are 
 upon questions of faith ; and the more evident does it 
 become that they relate to the simplest matters of fact. 
 You labour incessantly to induce a belief of your facts ; 
 and yet the more universally are those facts doubted. 
 
384 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 And the reason is plain— it is, that you have no inclina- 
 tion to resort to the most obvious method of proving a 
 matter of fact, that of convincing the senses — of showing 
 in the book itself the very words which you assert to be 
 contained in it. 
 
 No ! your indisposition to this simple procedure, must 
 strike the most obtuse. "Why do you not adopt the course 
 that / have uniformly pursued in my Letters, that of 
 accurately marking — page — chapter — volume — the places 
 in your publications from which my quotations are taken ? 
 This is what has been done by the ecclesiastics of Paris; 
 and this is a method which never fails in convincing the 
 public. But what would you have said — what would you 
 have thought — when, for instance, such a proposition as 
 that of Pere Launy's was brought forward against you, 
 viz., " That an ecclesiastic may take the life of any one 
 that threatens the publication of calumnies against him, 
 or against his community, provided he has no other way 
 of defending himself," — what, I ask, would have been 
 said, if these expressions had not been quoted from the 
 context in actual terms ; if every demand to point out the 
 place whence the passage was taken, had been obstinately 
 resisted ; and, on the contrary, a mere application had 
 been made to Rome for a £uU, directing that the fidelity 
 of the quotation should be recognized.'' Would it not 
 have been believed that his Holiness had been taken by 
 surprise; and that so extraordinary a procedure would 
 not have been resorted to, had not the more simple 
 methods failed, which truth and reality furnish to all who 
 rely upon their aid ? On the other hand all that was 
 necessary was to state that Pere Launy laid down the 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 385 
 
 proposition in question at t. 5, disp. 36^ N. 118, p. 544, 
 Edition of Douay— then, every one might seethe very 
 words for themselves, and every doubt would be dissipated. 
 This, when we have right on our side, is the prompt and 
 easy way to set at rest effectually matters of pure fact. 
 
 Why then. Sir, have you not adopted this method ? 
 You have asserted in your ' Cavilli,' " that the five Pro- 
 positions are contained in the writings of Jansenius, word 
 for word, and in their own precise terms — ' iisdem ver- 
 bis." This is denied. What was your conduct thereon ? 
 Did you quote the page in which you had seen them with 
 your own eyes, or did you at once confess that you had 
 been deceived ? You did neither the one nor the other. 
 But, perceiving that none of the passages of Jansenius 
 which you adduced to deceive the world, were actually 
 " the condemned Propositions, literally and specifically," 
 which you had engaged to produce from his works, you 
 present us with the " Constitutions," which it is pre- 
 tended are extracted from them, although without indi- 
 cating from what parts they are taken. 
 
 I well know, my Father, the reverence due from Chris- 
 tians to the Holy See ; and your opponents are not back- 
 ward in showing the same disposition towards her also. 
 But deem it not to be any irreverence to his Holiness, 
 that they should have represented (with all the submission 
 of children to a parent, and of members to their Head) 
 that he may have been surprised into error upon this 
 question of fact ; that he had instituted no examination 
 into it during his Pontificate ; and that his predecessor. 
 Innocent X., had only caused an investigation to be made 
 
 s 
 
386 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 whether the Propositions were heretical, but not whether 
 they were to be found in Jansenius. This it was that in- 
 duced the representation that was made to the commissary 
 of the Holy See, one of the principal examiners, " that 
 they could not be censured, as being the sentiments of 
 any author, in particular : " non sunt qualiftcabiles in 
 sensu proferentis : " because they had been presented to 
 them for examination on their own merits, and without 
 reference to any author from whom they proceeded — "in 
 abstracto, et ut prsescindunt ab omni proferente." This 
 may be seen in the lately published account of their pro- 
 ceedings ; where also it appears, that above sixty doctors 
 and a large number of able and pious persons had care- 
 fully read the work, without perceiving the matter in 
 question ; but, on the contrary could find nothing of the 
 kind; that those who conveyed the impression to the 
 Pope seemed to have abused the confidence his Holiness 
 reposed in them, being vitally interested in crying down an 
 author who had convicted Molina of above fifty errors ; * 
 that what renders this the more probable is, that they 
 hold, as one of the most authentic maxims of their theo- 
 logical system, " that they may lawfully calumniate those 
 by whom they believe themselves unjustly attacked ;" and 
 that thus, their testimony being so suspicious, and the 
 
 * This is stated to have been the origin of the aversion of the Jesuits to 
 Jansenius. When his " Augustinus " was published in 1 640, Libertus Fro- 
 mond, a celebrated Professor of Louvaine, recommended to annex to the work 
 of his friend, who had then been dead two years, a parallel of the Jesuits' 
 doctrines of Grace with the errors of the Marseillais, or semi-Pelagians. The 
 Jesuits, who erroneously supposed Jansenius to be the author of this parallel, 
 immediately began, even in the Low Countries, to denounce the work in a 
 large number of theological treatises, which are now very curious and scarce- 
 folio, 164L (Ed. 1812.) 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT, 387 
 
 counter-evidence of others so importantj they felt justified 
 in entreating the Pope with all humility, to institute an 
 investigation into this fact in the presence of the learned 
 Professors on both sides of the question, in order to come 
 to a regular and solemn decision. " Let them assemble 
 able arbitrators " said St. Basil on a similar occasion, 
 ep. 75 : " Let them be chosen without bias ; let them ex- 
 amine my writings, and see if there be any violations of - 
 the truth ; let them then read the objections and the re- 
 plies, and thus come to a decision on mature grounds 
 and in due form ; one not hasty, partial, or superficial." 
 
 Think not then. Sir, to represent as wanting in defer- 
 ence to the Holy See, persons who act in this manner. 
 The Papacy itself is little disposed to exercise over its 
 adherents that imperious authority, and those arbitrary 
 pretensions which some would put forward in its name. 
 " The Church," says St. Gregory, in Job B. 8, Ch. 1., 
 " which has been bred in the school of humility, com- 
 mands not with authority, but appeals to the reason of 
 such of her children as she believes to be in error : ' recta 
 quae errantibus dicit, non quasi ex auctoritate prsecipit, sed 
 ex ratione persuadet.' " And, far from feeling it to be 
 derogatory to rectify an erroneous judgment into which 
 she may have been surprised, she glories, on the contrary, 
 in doing so, as St. Bernard testifies, Ep. 180 : " The 
 Apostolical See," he says, has this distinguished merit, 
 that it stands not upon false scruples, but willingly re- 
 vokes any error into which it may have been drawn by 
 surprise ; therefore no one can avail himself of its aid in 
 any unjust procedure. 
 
 This is the true aspect under which to view the Papacy; 
 
 S 2 
 
388 LETTER ^VIII. 
 
 for all theologians are agreed tbat the Holy See is liable 
 to surprises of this kind. And so far is the supremacy of 
 its position from affording a security against them, that 
 the multifarious range of its superintendence tends rather 
 to render it liable to them. This again is what was stated 
 by St. Gregory himself, in reply to those who expresssed 
 astonishment that a Pope should have had a deception 
 practised upon him. " Why are you surprised," he said. 
 Book 1, Ch. 4, Dial : — " That we should be deceived — 
 we who are but men like yourselves ? Know you not. that 
 David — a Sovereign endued with the spirit of prophecy — 
 lending too ready an ear to the impostures of Ziba, gave 
 an unjust judgment against the son of Jonathan ? Who 
 then can think it strange that we, who are no prophet, 
 should be sometimes surprised into error by impositions ? 
 We are oppressed by the multitude of affairs j and our 
 mind, dissipated in the variety of objects that solicit atten- 
 tion, can often give very insufficient consideration to each 
 individually, and may be thus led into mistake. 
 
 Now truly, my good Father, I should think the Popes 
 themselves must know better than you whether they are 
 liable to error or not. They tell us that the most exalted 
 rulers, ecclesiastical and civil, are more exposed to decep- 
 tion, than even those of inferior station. This indeed 
 may be well believed ; and equally easy is it to compre- 
 hend by what means the fraud is accomplished. St. Ber- 
 nard gives a description of them in a letter addressed to 
 Innocent 11. , in these energetic terms, Ep. 327: " It is 
 no new or surprising thing to find the mind of man ad- 
 dicted both to deceive and to be deceived. Certain eccle- 
 siastics have gained access to you in a spirit of illusion and 
 
TO E. P. ANNAT. 389 
 
 falsehood. They filled your ear with disparagements of 
 a bishop, of exemplary life, but who had become an object 
 of their hatred. Like dogs ravening their prey, they turn 
 his good deeds into evil. Your displeasure, most holy 
 Father, was excited against your faithful son. Oh ! why 
 did you thus give cause of triumph to his adversaries ? 
 ' Believe not every spirit ; but try the spirits whether 
 they be of God ! ' Let me trust, that when the truth 
 shall become apparent to your mind, all your erroneous 
 impressions will be removed. I pray the Spirit of Truth 
 to give you his grace to separate the light from darkness, 
 to rebuke the evil and to justify the good ! " 
 
 You see then. Reverend Sir, that the eminence of the 
 Holy See does not avail to exempt its occupants from 
 surprises into error, but, from their weight and im- 
 portance, renders such errors only the more dangerous. 
 This consideration is again represented by St. Bernard to 
 the Pope Eugenius— ' de Consid. B. 3, C. ult.' "There 
 is another defect so general, that I have known few per- 
 sons of eminence exempt from it. It is. Holy Father, 
 that excessive credulity, the source of so many evils ! 
 Thence arise furious persecutions of innocence, unjust 
 prejudices against the absent, and storms of passion about 
 the merest trifles — 'pro nihilo.' This, holy Father, is 
 an universal evil, from which if you be exempt, I nmst 
 say that you enjoy an advantage unshared by any of your 
 brethren." 
 
 I should hope, my Father, that you are beginning now 
 to perceive that Popes, like other men, may be surprised 
 into mistakes. But, more thoroughly to convince you of 
 this, I would only recal to your recollection some ex- 
 
390 LETTER xyiii. 
 
 amples, reported in youx own work, of both Popes and 
 Emperors who have in this manner been signally deceived. 
 You state that ApoUinarius led into error the Pope Dama- 
 sus, and that Celestius entrapped Zozimus by misrepre- 
 sentations : you say also that one Athanasius deceived 
 the Emperor Heraclius, and instigated him to a persecu- 
 tion of the Catholics ; and lastly, that Sergius prevailed 
 with Honorius to obtain from him that decree which was 
 burnt by the Sixth Council ; " by means, as you state, 
 " of plying successfully the office of an assiduous Valet 
 about the Pope's person." 
 
 It is therefore established by your own testimony, that 
 instances are not wanting of persons who thus sur- 
 round these great Potentates, urging them by unworthy 
 artifices to persecutions of the defenders of the truth ; 
 while they believe that they are only opposing mischievous 
 heresies. Thence it arose that the Holy See, which 
 dreads nothing more than such surprises, constituted a 
 certain letter of Alexander III into an ecclesiastical law, 
 and inserted it in the canonical code, to the effect of 
 suspending the ^execution of bulls and decrees, when there 
 might be reason to suppose deception to have been prac- 
 tised in securing them. " If it should happen " (writes 
 this Pope to the Archbishop of Ravenna, C. v. Ex. de 
 Rescrip.) " that we should issue to your brethren certain 
 decrees which do violence to your principles, do not let this 
 cause you any disquiet. For you have only, either to 
 execute them reverently, or to furnish us with reasons for 
 not doing so, seeing we shall not disapprove of your with- 
 holding obedience to orders which may prove to have been 
 obtained from us by surprise or artifice." This is the 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 391 
 
 way in which Pontiffs have acted, whose only desire was 
 to assuage the differences of Christians, and not to follow 
 the passionate views of those who would cause trouble in 
 the Church, They affect not mere domination over men's 
 spirits, as saith St. Peter and St. Paul, following herein 
 the sentiments of Jesus Christ. The spirit which breathes 
 through their proceedings is that only of peace and truth. 
 This leads them to subjoin to all their ordinances the 
 clause, " Si ita est; si preces veritate nitantur : " " if the 
 matter be as represented to us ; if duly borne out by the 
 facts." Whence it follows, that since the Popes only 
 allow efficiency to their bulls, as far as they may be in 
 accordance with truth and fact, the bulls in themselves 
 are not evidence of that truth and fact, but on the con- 
 trary it is the truth and the fact that give vaUdity to the 
 bulls. 
 
 How then are we to attain to certainty as to matters 
 of fact ? It is the sense — the eye, which herein is the 
 proper judge; in the same way that reason is the judge 
 of things intellectual, and faith of such as are super- 
 natural and revealed. For (since you oblige me to con- 
 tinue the discussion) I must tell you that according to 
 the views of two of the greatest authorities of the Church 
 — St. Augustine and St. Thomas — those three sources of 
 our intelligence, sense, reason, and faith, have each their 
 separate objects, and their assigned limits. And, as God 
 has seen fit to use the medium of the senses for the 
 entrance of faith — ' fides ex auditu' — ^just as faith would 
 destroy the certitude of the senses, so faith would itself 
 be destroyed by bringing into doubt the faithful testimony 
 of sense. On this account, St. Thomas remarks that God 
 
392 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 has seen fit that the sensible accidents * should subsist 
 in the Eucharist, in order that the senses, which can judge 
 only of these accidents, may not be deceived — ' ut sensus 
 Jl deceptione redderentur immunes.' 
 
 We ought hence to conclude that, whatever be the 
 proposition presented for our examination, we should first 
 satisfy ourselves as to its nature, in order to ascertain to 
 which of these three principles it should be referred. If 
 it relate to any thing supernatural, it should be weighed, 
 not by sense or reason, but by Scripture and the decisions 
 of the Church. If it be not matter of revelation, but 
 within the limit of human reason, then reason may lawfully 
 be its judge. And, lastly, if it be a question of fact, then 
 sense, within whose province it lies, will bs its most 
 competent arbiter. 
 
 This rule is so general, that according to St. Augustine 
 and St. Thomas, whenever Holy Writ presents to us a 
 passage whose primary and literal meaning appears 
 opposed to what sense or reason recognize, with certainty, 
 we must not endeavour to disavow this contradiction, in 
 order to subject it to the authority of this apparent sense 
 of Scripture ; but, in our interpretation of Scripture, we 
 must seek for another meaning which shall be in agree- 
 ment with the sensible truth ; because, the Word of God 
 being infallible even as to facts, and the evidence of the 
 senses and of reason being in its full extent positive also, 
 these two species of truth must ever harmonize. Then, 
 as Scripture admits of different modes of interpretation, 
 while, on the other hand, the evidence of the senses is 
 
 * ' Les accidents scnsibles.' (Fr. ) 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 393 
 
 uniform, we ouglit, upon such points, to receive as the 
 true interpretation of Scripture that which is in accord- 
 ance with the faithful testimony of the senses. " We 
 must," says St. Thomas, 1 st Part, g. 68, a. 1, " accord- 
 ing to St. Augustine, observe two things ; the one, that 
 Scripture has ever a true meaning ; the other that, as it 
 admits of more than one interpretation, when any inter- 
 pretation is assigned to it which reason clearly ascertains 
 to be untrue, we ought not to persist in maintaining such 
 to be the natural meaning, but seek for another which 
 shall be in accordance with it." 
 
 This he illustrates by the instance of that passage in 
 Genesis, in which it is said, " God created two great 
 lights, the sun and the moon, the stars also." Herein ' 
 Scripture would seem to imply that the moon is greater 
 than the stars ; but, as it is certain by indubitable proofs 
 that the fact is otherwise, we ought not," says this great 
 writer, " obstinately to defend this literal interpretation, 
 but seek for another in conformity with the fact of the 
 matter," such as " that the term ' great light ' denotes 
 only the magnitude of the moon^s lustre in its appearance 
 to our eyes, and not the positive magnitude of its orb." * 
 If this method were not pursued, the effect would be, not 
 to enhance men's reverence for the Holy Scriptures, but 
 rather to lay them open to the cavils of the infidel ; " for," 
 as St. Augustine remarks, ' de Gen. ad. Lit. 1, C. 19,' 
 " when he perceives that we receive, on the authority of 
 
 * The command of Joshua to the Sun to stand stilly is another and obvious 
 instance of the same kind. It will, however, be quite evident to all who are 
 acquainted with Pascal's writings, and with . his implicit reception of scrip- 
 tural truth, that from the propositions laid down in the preceding paragraphs, 
 all revelations of a miraculous kind are strictly excluded. (Transl.) 
 
 S 5 
 
394 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 Scripture, facts which he knows to be untrue, he smiles at 
 our credulity in regard to other questions of a more re- 
 condite nature, such as the Eesurrection of the dead, and 
 everlasting Life." "Thus," adds St. Thomas,' "we 
 should render our religion contemptible in the eyes of 
 the prejudiced, and increase their aversion to its truths." 
 
 In the same way, Sir, you would shut the door against 
 heretics, and render the authority of the Papacy despicable 
 in their esteem, were you to refuse to regard as catholic 
 those who will not admit certain passages to be in a 
 publication, which they themselves are unable to find in 
 it, merely because a Pope has been surprised into a 
 declaration that they are to be found there. It is only 
 the personal examination of the book that can produce 
 conviction upon such a point. Questions of fact are 
 only to be determined by the senses. If what you assert 
 be true, prove it to be so ; if it be not, you labour in 
 vain to induce belief. All the authority in the world 
 cannot enforce or alter belief as to facts; nothing can 
 possibly have power to cause that not to be which ac- 
 tually is. 
 
 It was in vain, for example, that Certain monks of 
 Eatisbon obtained from Pope St. Leo IX. a solemn de- 
 cree, by which he declared that the body of St. Denis, 
 first Bishop of Paris, who was commonly believed to be 
 an Areopagite, had been removed from France, and trans- 
 ported to the church of their monastery. This had no 
 effect in invalidating the fact, that the body of the Saint 
 remained, and is to this day, in the celebrated abbey which 
 bears his name ; although the Pope states that he had 
 investigated the circumstance with all the diligence pos- 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 395 
 
 sible — * diligentissime/ and assisted by the advice of 
 many bishops and prelates of the church; for which 
 reason he strictly enjoins all Frenchmen — ' districte 
 prsecipientes ' — to acknowledge that we no longer possess 
 these holy relics." Notwithstanding which^ the French, 
 who well know the contrary of all this by the evidence of 
 their own eyes, and, having had the shrine opened, found 
 (according to the testimony of all the chronicles of the 
 day) the relics in entire preservation, believed then, and 
 continue to do so to the present day, the direct reverse of 
 what his Holiness enjoined upon them ; knowing well that 
 saints and prophets are, like other men, liable to surprisals 
 into error. 
 
 On the same principles, it was in vain that you suc- 
 ceeded in procuring from Rome a decree against Galileo, 
 condemning his theory of the earth's motion. This has 
 been of no avail in proving that she is stationary ; and if 
 our own observations have convinced us that it is she that 
 revolves in the system, all the men in the world will not 
 prevent her from so revolving, or prevent them from 
 revolving with her. Can you imagine, also, that the 
 letters of excommunication of Pope Zachary against St. 
 Virgile for maintaining the existence of our Antipodes, 
 have had the effect of annihilating this new World; and 
 that although this opinion was thus declared to be a 
 dangerous error, the Spanish monarch would not have 
 preferred taking the word of Christopher Columbus for 
 its existence (who had returned from it,) rather than the 
 opinion of the Pope who had not been there ; while the 
 Church derived incalculable advantages from the dis- 
 covery, in conveying the . knowledge of the Gospel to 
 
3S6 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 multitudes, who would otherwise have perished in their 
 infidelity ! 
 
 You see then, in these instances, what is the nature of 
 testimony from facts, and the principles by which they 
 are to be judged. Hence (to return to our proper subject) 
 it is easy to understand that, if the Propositions in 
 question are actually not contained in the writings of 
 Jansenius, they cannot by possibility have been extracted 
 from them. The only way to set the matter at rest with 
 the world is to have his book regularly examined, with 
 that view, in an authorized conference — a proceeding 
 which you have been long importuned to adopt. Until 
 that be done you have no right to charge your opponents 
 with pertinacity ; for they will be held, by all impartial 
 persons, justified by facts as well as sound in faith; 
 accurate in the one, catholic in the other, and free from 
 blame or offence in both. 
 
 Who then, Sir, but must be astonished to see, on the 
 one side, a justification so complete, and, on the other, 
 denunciations so violent ? Who would suppose that the 
 question between you was, in reality, one of no importance, 
 when they see the earnestness with which it is sought to 
 enforce belief entirely without proof ? Who would con- 
 jecture that the Church could be thrown into such 
 agitation, actually for a nulUty — ' pro nihilo ' — as St. 
 Bernard styles it ? But herein consists the refinement 
 of your proceeding, in aiming to make it believed that 
 such momentous issues depend upon a matter so un^ 
 important ; and to impress upon the influential persons, 
 whose ear you have gained, that the questions in debate 
 involve the most pernicious errors of Calvin, and the 
 
TO R. P. ANN"AT. 397 
 
 most solemn articles of faith^ in order thatj under such 
 conviction, they may exert all their zeal and all their 
 weight of authority against your opponents, as if the very 
 existence of the Catholic religion were at stake ! Could 
 they, on the other hand, be made to perceive that the 
 question regards a simple fact (as we have repeatedly said,) 
 their disproportionate excitement would subside, and they 
 would regret rather to have lent themselves to subserve 
 your personal prejudices arid passions, in a matter utterly 
 unimportant to the interests of the Church. 
 
 For even — to take the matter at the worst — were it 
 true that Jansenius did hold the propositions in question, 
 where had been the great evil, that a few persons laboured 
 under doubt of the fact, provided they proved that they 
 actually detested those dogmas, and had made public 
 declarations to that effect ? Is it not enough that they 
 have been condemned by all the world, without exception, 
 in the sense in which they ought to be condemned ? 
 Could they be more the object of censure, if it were 
 established that Jansenius adopted them ? For what 
 purpose is it then that you require this condemnation, 
 except to asperse the memory of a divine and a bishop, 
 who died in the faithful communion of the Church ? I 
 am unable to see that this would be so great a benefit, as 
 to compensate for all these perturbations. What interest 
 in a question such as this has the State, the Papacy, the 
 Bishops, the Doctors, the entire Church ? It concerns 
 them not in any the slightest degree ; and it is in reality 
 your Society alone. Reverend Father, that could derive 
 satisfaction from defaming a writer, who has inflicted upon 
 yourselves an injury never to be forgiven ! This is the 
 
398 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 secret cause — this the originating impulse — of agitations, 
 which would subside at once if the motives of your contro- 
 versy were seen through. And therefore it is, that it 
 became a matter of the highest importance to the repose 
 of the Church to give the present explanation, in order that 
 — all your obliquities being exposed — it might be manifest 
 to the world that your accusations are without founda- 
 tion, your opponents without blame, and the Church 
 without heresy. 
 
 This, Reverend Sir, is the object I had at heart. It 
 was an object, to my apprehension, so momentous, that I 
 have found it difficult to understand, how those who must, 
 equally with myself, have been alive to its importance, 
 could be content to remain silent. If the injuries they 
 had endured from yourselves were not sufficient to arouse 
 them, those which the Church has sustained, might, me- 
 thinks, have found in them a voice : nor can I see, how 
 an ecclesiastic can, especially in matters which involve the 
 soundness of his faith, justifiably abandon his reputation 
 to calumnious reproach. Yet have they, without resist- 
 ance, allowed you to publish whatever representations you 
 thought proper ; and, thus, but for the opportunity which 
 accident put into my hands to take up the cause, there 
 would perhaps have been given no check or counteraction 
 to those scandalous statements which you have been so 
 assiduous in circulating in every direction. I must con- 
 fess, therefore, that their forbearance occasions me some 
 surprise ; and the more so, as they cannot be suspected, 
 either of a failure of courage or a want of ability ; they are 
 deficient neither in ground of justification, nor in zeal for 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 399 
 
 truth. Such conscientiousness of endurance may, it is 
 possibkj be carried to an extreme.* For me, however, 
 my good Father, I am unable to follow their example. 
 Do you leave the Church in peace, and I will gladly be 
 silent. But so long as you continue unceasingly to vex 
 her with your outrages, be assured there shall never be 
 wanting those who — lovers of peace themselves — do not 
 deem it inconsistent with Christian duty, to use active 
 efforts, for the purpose of enforcing her tranquillity ! 
 
 * This ebullition of momentary impatience against his aggrieved and patient 
 colleagues, will be seen to be gracefully atoned for in the beautiful tribute to 
 their virtues and sufferings, in the ensuing short but precious fragment. 
 (Transl.) 
 
LETTER XIX. 
 
 fragment op a nineteenth provincial. letter, 
 addressed to the peee annat. 
 
 Reverend Sir, 
 If I have caused you some dissatisfaction, in former 
 Letters, by my endeavours to establish the innocence of 
 those whom you were labouring to asperse, I shall afford 
 you pleasure in the present, by making you acquainted 
 with the sufferings which you have inflicted upon them. 
 Be comforted, my good Father, the objects of your en- 
 mity are in distress ! And if the Reverend the Bishops 
 should be induced to carry out, in their respective dio- 
 ceses, the advice you have given them, to cause to be 
 subscribed and sworn a certain matter of fact, which is, 
 in itself, not credible, and which it cannot be obligatory 
 upon any one to believe — you will indeed succeed in 
 plunging your opponents into the depth of sorrow, at 
 witnessing the Church brought into so abject a condition. 
 Yes, Sir, I have .seewthem; and it was with a satis- 
 faction inexpressible ! I have seen these holy men ; and 
 this was the attitude in which they were found. They 
 were not wrapt up in a philosophic magnanimity ; they 
 did not affect to exhibit that indiscriminate firmness, 
 which ui'ges implicit obedience to every momentary im- 
 pulse of duty ; nor yet were they in a frame of weakness 
 and timidity which would prevent them from either dis- 
 
TO R. P. ANNAT. 401 
 
 cerning the truth, or following it when discerned. But I 
 found them with minds pious, composed, and unshaken ; 
 impressed with a meek deference for ecclesiastical autho- 
 rity ; with tenderness of spirit, zeal for truth, and a desire 
 to ascertain and obey her dictates : filled with a salutary 
 suspicion of themselves, distrusting their own infirmity, 
 and regretting that it should be thus exposed to trial : 
 yet, withal, sustained by a modest hope that their Lord 
 will deign to instriict them by his illuminations, and sus- 
 ' tain them by his power ; and believing, that that grace of 
 their Saviour, whose sacred influences it is their endeavour 
 to maintain, and for whose cause they are brought into 
 suffering, will be, at once, their guide and their support ! 
 I have, in fine, seen them maintaining a character of Chris- 
 tian piety, whose power 
 
 I found them surrounded by their friends, who had 
 hastened to impart to them those counsels which they 
 deemed the most fitting in their present exigency. 1 have 
 heard those counsels ; I have observed the manner in 
 which they were received, and the answers given : and 
 truly, my Father, had you yourself been present, I think 
 you would have acknowledged that, in their whole proce- 
 dure, there was the entire absence of a spirit of insubordi- 
 nation and schism ; ..and that their only desire and aim 
 was, to preserve inviolate two things — to them infinitely 
 precious — peace and truth. 
 
 For, after due representations had been made to them, 
 
 of the penalties they would draw upon themselves by their 
 
 refusal to sign the Constitution, and the scandal it might 
 
 cause in the Church, their reply was 
 
 * 
 
 * See Appendix, No. IX. 
 
LETTER XX.* 
 
 ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED UNDER THE TITLE OP A LETTER 
 FROM AN ADVOCATE OP PARLIAMENT TO A PRIENDj 
 RESPECTING THE INQUISITION PROPOSED TO BE ESTA- 
 BLISHED IN PRANCE, IN PURSUANCE OP THE RECENT 
 BULL OP POPE ALEXANDER VII. 
 
 Sib, June \, 1657. 
 
 You imagine that all your affairs are going on satisfac- 
 torily, because your process is not unsuccessful ; but you 
 will soon discover that you are very insufficiently ac- 
 quainted with what is passing. You are fortunate in 
 looking at the course of affairs only from a distance. We 
 have found ourselves on the verge of the establishment of 
 an Inquisition in France, and are not as yet free from the 
 
 * This Letter is not Pascal's; it is the production of M. Le Maitre, 
 trother of Le Maitre de Sacy, both nephews of M. Amauld on the side of 
 their mother, the daughter of the celebrated Ant. Amauld, advocate, so well 
 known in the controversies of the Jesuits with the University of Paris. 
 M. L. Maitre, whose pleadings are still extant, was one of the most able, 
 eloquent, and virtuous men of his time. He quitted the profession of advocate 
 to retire within the Port Royal at Paris, as into the bosom of his own family ; 
 and afterwards, in order to lead a life of yet greater solitude, he proceeded to 
 seclude himself within the walls of the Port Royal in the Fields, which was 
 then deserted of all but himself. He there abandoned himself wholly to re- 
 ligious studies and penitential exercises. He died the 4th of November, 1658. 
 (Fr. Editor.) 
 
THE INQUISITION. 403 
 
 danger. The agent of the Court of Rome, and certain 
 Bishops of influence in that assembly, have been uniting 
 their efforts for its institution, taking for their authority 
 the Bull of Pope Alexander VII., on the subject of the 
 five propositions. This Bull has been addressed to the 
 Clergy, and conditions annexed to it suited to their ob- 
 ject ; for it has been decreed in the assembly, that it shall 
 be subscribed * by all the ecclesiastics in the kingdom, 
 without exception, and that those refusing to sign shall be 
 proceeded against by all the usual means for suppressing 
 heresy, that is, the loss of their benefices, and other well- 
 known violent measures. 
 
 You see now what is the meaning of all this : the In- 
 quisition is established, unless the Parliament should 
 interpose. To its decision this Bull is to be submitted ; 
 and if its consent be given, France is yoked and coerced 
 like other nations. 
 
 I reflect much upon this proceeding, and can see in it 
 nothing but evil. The world at large perceives not its 
 tendency and consequences. This is not a question of 
 religion but of policy ; and I am much mistaken if Jan- 
 senism, against which it is ostensibly directed, be any 
 thing more than a pretext j for — an Inquisition once "esta- 
 blished — while we are amused with the promise of its 
 abolition, we shall insensibly yield to its imposition, and 
 by degrees become accustomed to its tyranny. 
 
 Admit that to enforce the belief that the propositions 
 are contained in Jansenism is right : yet are the means 
 
 * The formulary referred to was administered to and subscribed by the 
 clergy throughout France, with more or less strictness, according to the per- 
 sonal character of the bishops. (Fr. Editor.) 
 
404 LETTER XX. 
 
 used for the purpose objectionable. This privation of 
 benefices is, I maintain, a novel and dangerous precedent, 
 and one that aflFects many more than you may imagine. 
 Do you, Sir, suppose that yfe have no interest in the 
 matter, because we are not ecclesiastics ? Let us not de- 
 ceive ourselves : this concerns us all, vehoever we may be 
 — if not in our own persons, at least for our relatives, our 
 friends, our children. Your son — for example — now 
 studying at the Sorbonne, may he not hereafter come into 
 some benefice, through his uncle? And my son, the 
 Prior, has not he a direct and personal interest ? You will 
 say they have only to subscribe, and they are secure. 
 Granted. But is it nothing to us, that their safety depends 
 on such a contingency as this ? Suppose my son should 
 have a fancy that these propositions are not to be found 
 in Jansenius (as it is too much to be feared he may, for 
 he is in frequent communication with his cousin the 
 doctor, who maintains that he has never been able to find 
 them there) — and thus, not believing the fact to be so, 
 he cannot affirm it by his subscription, for this would be 
 a falsehood ; and he would rather lose everything, in the 
 world than offend against his God — suppose him, I say, 
 to have such a fancy as this — 'what becomes of my bene- 
 fices, which I have been at such pains to procure for him ? 
 You see plainly then, that a man may have no concern 
 in the matter to-day, but he may have much to-morrow. 
 Can no means be found to prove that these propositions 
 are in the book, without troubling the whole kingdom ? 
 A worthy cause indeed for all this hubbub ! When their 
 controversies were only about books, I allowed them to 
 go on without interfering. But it is a happy method, 
 
THE INQUISITION. 405 
 
 truly, of terminating their differences, to bring all this 
 trouble into families that have taken no part in their dis- 
 pute, and to introduce into France a new Inquisition, 
 with all its agreeable consequences. God only knows what 
 it will grow into, when once it has fixed its root in our 
 soil. We shall speedily see that no one can be safe ; for 
 let a man only have some influential enemies, who bear a 
 grudge against him, and charge him with Jansenism, on 
 account of his having a few of their books in his library, 
 or putting forth a somewhat free discourse on the subject 
 of these new Bulls (as other advocates with whom you are 
 acquainted have done before) ; and at once he is put in 
 jeopardy. And then, there is the miserable prospect of 
 legal proceedings ! Why, what is so easy as to involve a 
 man in such a process ; a man too, perhaps, of all others 
 the most free from offence ! We have already had in- 
 stances of this. It is not now the first time that these 
 schemes have been formed : they have been long prac- 
 tising the art of tormenting their unoffending victims, 
 upon the Bull and Briefs of Innocent X. ; and you know 
 how the Canons of Beauvais were persecuted by attempts 
 to compel them to subscribe, on pain of expulsion from 
 their prebends ; of which they would at this time have 
 been dispossessed, had they not resorted to an appeal to 
 the courts; by means of which the attempts of their ene- 
 mies were frustrated. 
 
 Indeed there is nothing so effectual against the Inquisi- 
 tion as this kind of appeal. This they are well aware of; 
 and they take care to preclude the subjects of their perse- 
 cution from this resource, when they determine to tyran- 
 nize over them at their pleasure. Thus it was that they 
 
406 LETTER XX. 
 
 proceeded against the Curate of Lebulne in Guienne^ 
 against whom they caused to be got up a charge of Jan- 
 senism, and cited him before certain Commissioners, ap- 
 pointed by the Council of the Archbishop of Bordeaux. 
 But as these persons were not his proper judges, and 
 seemed, besides, deeply prejudiced against him, he ap- 
 pealed from them, and demanded to be heard before the 
 Vicars General, or the chief Judge of the Archbishop's 
 Court. This was refused. He then appealed to the 
 Archbishop himself^ and finally to the Pope ; while still 
 the Commissioners would not desist from their proceedings 
 against him. As his last resource, he took his cause into 
 the Civil Courts. There his defence was allowed, and he 
 was on the point of escaping; when his opponents ob- 
 tained an arrest of judgment, ignoring the competency of 
 the court, , and referring his case back to the original 
 Commission. In this way he was persecuted for above 
 six months ; during which period he was compelled to 
 quit his curacy, and repair, at much trouble and expense, 
 to Paris, in order to demand justice at the hands of the 
 King and his Archbishop. By him, I hear, he has been 
 re-instated in his cure ; but who could repay all the 
 labour and anxiety which the adversaries of this poor man 
 caused him, while they themselves incurred no risk or 
 trouble ? 
 
 It is plain, then, that the Inquisition is a sure and most 
 convenient instrument of molesting an opponent, how- 
 ever innocent he may be. Here was a person utterly free 
 from real cause of censure ; and similar was the case of 
 the Curate of Pomegrol, also in Guienne, who was arrested, 
 and thrown into a dungeon, without any legal charge or 
 
THE INQUISITION. 407 
 
 explanation, precisely in the manner of the Romish In- 
 quisition. Then, proofs were sought for, to convict him 
 of Jansenism. But the judges were astonished to dis- 
 cover, by means of the evidence tendered to them, the 
 entire innocence of this good man, and, at the same time, 
 the incredible superstition of his parishioners ; for one of 
 their principal charges against him was, " that he had 
 preached that Jesus Christ was in the holy sacrament, and 
 not in their flag ! " And this, because he had reproved 
 them for turning, when the host was elevated, to the 
 banner on which was a painting of Christ, and not in 
 adoration to the holy element ! This so entirely con- 
 founded the judges, that they instantly caused him to be 
 released from prison, where he had been confined above 
 two months ; yet notwithstanding all his demands that the 
 proceedings should be brought to a conclusion, and due 
 judgment awarded against either him or his adversaries, 
 he could procure no satisfaction for his shameful treatment. 
 Now, Sir, these must be confessed to be no unfair spe- 
 cimens of the proceedings of these Commissioners, seeing 
 they are but in the commencement of their career. And 
 if they can make such good use of Constitutions and 
 Briefs not yet sanctioned by the courts, what will they not 
 do with their Bulls, when invested with full legal autho- 
 rity ? It is utterly ludicrous to pretend, as by some is 
 done, that the registration of the Bull is not to involve 
 the establishment of the Inquisition, and to be without 
 prejudice to our liberties. I should as soon expect to be 
 told that we can be killed without danger to life. It is 
 not the name of Inquisition we fear; it is the thing. 
 By whatever name it is called, it is a real and effective 
 
40S . LETTER XX. 
 
 violation of liberty, to be treated as the clergy pretend to 
 treat us ! 
 
 And do you not also perceive how poor a satisfaction it 
 is to tell us, that the Courts retain always in their own 
 breast the final decision upon the appeals ? By entertaining 
 the Bull in question, they do away with the chief ground 
 upon which such appeals rest, and which would have still 
 existed if the Bull had not been received. For, although 
 the power to appeal may remain, to what persecutions may 
 those unhappy persons be exposed who are in situations 
 too remote to avail themselves of this resource ! What 
 would not a poor curate of Lyons or Poitou endure, rather 
 than expose himself to the evils and expense of a journey 
 to Paris ! 
 
 If this Bull, then, be once received, they will find their 
 strength pretty considerable, even should the right of 
 appeal be continued. Therefore I think they have been 
 but ill-advised to entertain the question, which I see re- 
 ported in the last Report, printed by Vitre, page 2; 
 " That the King be humbly requested to transmit to all 
 his Courts a general order, forbidding them to entertain 
 any appeals which may be lodged with them on the sub- 
 ject of these signatures ! " What have they gained by 
 this, except to prove that they feel, themselves, the injustice 
 of their schemes, since they are afraid of the opposition of 
 the Courts, and are desirous of tying up their hands, in 
 order to ensure their success ? Could they take any 
 better way of evincing their passion for supremacy and 
 Inquisition ? They show want of policy, therefore, in bcr 
 traying openly to the world their designs. It was not the 
 best method to obtain the registration which they sought, 
 
THE INQUISITION, 409 
 
 to show thus beforehand the purposes to which they 
 meant it should be applied. They perceived this, indeed, 
 themselves ; but it was too late. For, after having the 
 Keport, referred to, printed, and formally furnishing the 
 Bishops with copies, signed by the clerical agents ; when 
 they discovered the injury it might cause them, they 
 began to take measures for suppressing it; all which 
 tended only the more clearly to reveal their artifices. 
 Notwithstanding this, however, they fancy that, as their de- 
 mand is so moderate, and the simplest, in appearance, that 
 they could possibly have made, the Courts will fall into 
 the snare, and merely look at the surface of the measure 
 proposed, without weighing the ulterior consequences ; 
 but which they themselves have unreservedly revealed in 
 their own authentic documents. 
 
 It was a happy conceit indeed, that they could make 
 the Courts their dupe ! But I am mistaken if they do 
 not find that they are the dupes themselves. I see the 
 course that the afiair is taking.* I converse daily with 
 Councillors fresh from the Palace, and there is not one 
 that does not see clearly into the matter. Your ovm re- 
 porter told me this very morning, that he did not look 
 upon this as an ordinary question ; and that this ought 
 not to be regarded as a simple Bull, which was to arbitrate 
 upon some contested but insignificant point ; but as the 
 foundation of a new Inquisition sought to be established, 
 and which waited only the consent of the Courts to be 
 irrevocably fastened upon the nation ! 
 
 I have felt quite at ease since I found the Parliament* 
 
 * The Pope and Bishops, and even the Jesuits themselves, feared nothing 
 so much as the Parliament of Paris. (Fr. Edit.) 
 
 T 
 
410 LETTER XX. 
 
 thus considerately dealing with the matter. For, in fact, 
 had there been nothing objectionable in this Bull itself — 
 instead of being filled with important nullities ;* still the 
 Parliament could not in these days entertain it, were it 
 only for the consequences which were sought to be drawn 
 from it. How many things are there which may be 
 proper at one time, and not at another ? This was well 
 represented by the Sorbonne, when it was attempted to 
 compel all her learned members to protest, " that they 
 would say nothing contrary to the decrees of the Popes, 
 without restriction, and without reservation, that they 
 should not be opposed to the rights and liberties of the 
 kingdom," — a measure to which they were urged by the 
 example of certain ancient doctors, who it was said had 
 done the same thing. They, however, in their proceed- 
 ings upon this matter, declared that M. Fillesac, Presi- 
 dent of the Sorbonne, published in 1628, first of all, 
 " that if any persons had on any former occasion made 
 such a disclaimer, it was an extraordinary act, not binding 
 upon them now ; and further, that such a thing might 
 have been done conscientiously in past times, and yet, in 
 consequence of change of circumstances, not be expedient 
 at present." And the reasons assigned p. 89, are, " that, 
 in the lapse of several centuries, the Popes have issued 
 numerous Decrees, Acts, and Bulls, of Constitutions, con- 
 trary to ancient Decrees, and even opposed to Holy 
 Writ." 
 
 Of these they adduced many instances, both of such as 
 were contrary to Scripture, as well as such as were repug- 
 
 * ' Nnllit^s essentielles.' (Fr.) 
 
THE INQUISITION. 411 
 
 nant to the liberties of the Gallic Church and the kingly 
 authority ; and, among others, that of Pope Boniface VIII, 
 which pronounces heretical those who do not hold that 
 the King of France is subject to him, even in things tem- 
 poral j and the Bull — "Unam Sanctam" — which declares 
 " that it is necessary to salvation to believe that the Pope 
 holds both the swords — as well the spiritual as the tem- 
 poral — and that every human creature is subject to him : 
 so that, according to this declaration, it is heretical to 
 assert the contrary. To which these Professors added the 
 Bull " Cum ex apostolatus,'' which declares " that all 
 persons, whether kings or private individuals, who fall 
 into heresy, or give countenance to, or conceal the per- 
 sons of heretics, shall be removed from and rendered for 
 ever incapable of all honours, dignities, or properties, but 
 that such shall belong to any persons who can get posses- 
 sion of them." Hereupon they assert, that in the present 
 state of circumstances at the Com-t of Rome, it is impos- 
 sible that any persons should bind themselves to obey 
 these Bulls without reservation ; and thus further allege 
 against such conformity the universal temper of menu's 
 minds at that day. 
 
 This is their language, p. 47 : " We are now arrived at 
 a period at which — and that during the last fifty years — 
 we have witnessed the pubHcation of various similar Bulls, 
 which challenge this imagiuary right over the disposition 
 of kingdoms. We have also observed during the same 
 time the publication of many works of the same descrip- 
 tion, highly prejudicial to the State, and threatening the 
 life even of our kings ; among others that execrable one 
 
 T 2 
 
412 LETTER XX.' 
 
 entitled ' Admonitio ; ' * and that of Sanctarel, a Jesuit^ 
 both composed for the purpose of supporting these doc- 
 trines against the King and his prerogatives. From 
 whence it clearly appears," they further say, pp. 53 and 
 95, " what is the object of those who demand of us these 
 new protestations, being no other than artfully to over- 
 turn the fundamental laws of this realm, to which these 
 Papal Decrees are opposed ; making it but too plain and 
 manifest that the practices and artifice employed in fur- 
 therance of these novelties have no other aim and object 
 than to authorize the Bulls against the King's authority, 
 and to elude the censure of the works of the Jesuits Sanc- 
 tarel and Mariana, as also those Decrees of the Council 
 and Parliament which condemn this detestable doctrine." 
 Whence, they conclude, as they had argued at pp. 46 and 
 47, " that even w€re it true — which it is not — that these 
 protestations had been acquiesced in during a long period 
 of time, it would now be necessary to reject them. 
 
 I say the same now in our own case. If it were to be 
 
 * This scandalous publication appeared in 1625, under the title of ' G. R. 
 Theologi ad Ludovlcum XIII. Admonitio, &c. in 4to. Augusta Vindelicorum, 
 1625.' Also, in German, 4to. 1625. Also, in French, 4to. Francheville, 
 1627. It was at first attributed to John Boucher, a celebrated Leaguer, for- 
 merly Curate of St. Benoit, in Paris, and afterwards Archdeacon of Toumay : 
 but it has been since ascertained to have been written by Andre Endcemon- 
 Johannes, a Jesuit, who came to France with Cardinal Barberin, Pope's 
 Legate. This Jesuit died at Rouen, 24th Dec, 1625. In this Book he 
 attacks the alliances which the King had formed, for the defence of his realm, 
 with the Protestant States ; and has scattered throughout the work such a 
 multitude of pernicious maxims upon State matters, as disgusted all classes of 
 persons. It was several times publicly condemned ; but it is now entirely 
 forgotten. Sanctarel was another Jesuit, whose writings have been con- 
 demned by the Sorbonne. Both these condemnations may be seen in the 
 ' Collectio Judiciorum,' of M. Dargentr^, Bishop of Tulles. 
 
THE INQUISITION. 413 
 
 maintained — which it is not^that this Bull might be re- 
 ceived, simply on its own meritsj it could not be admitted 
 at the present time, because, to do so would be to favor 
 the palpable designs of those who urge its reception only 
 to abuse its powers, and to subject us to this atrocious tri- 
 bunal of the Inquisition, under the terrors of which almost 
 the whole of Christendom is groaning. But, further, I 
 maintain that it is in itself so full of informalities, that it 
 cannot be received without violating all the rules of justice. 
 I will state a few of these — for I have not yet forgotten 
 all my canonical law. 
 
 I beg you will not laugh at the first I mention, viz., 
 the gross solecism, which every one is acquainted with, 
 contained in the term " imprimantur." For this in itself, 
 renders it void by the decrees of Pope Lucian III. C. ad 
 Audientiam, tit. de Rescriptis — and so unquestionably 
 void, that the Commentary adds, " in the opinion of all 
 canonists, it is not competent to entertain any proof of 
 the validity of a Bull, in opposition to such a presumption 
 of its falsity : ' contra istam prcesumptionem non est ad- 
 mittenda probatio : ' so plain is the proof thus afforded 
 that it has been obtained by surprise and irregularity. 
 This it was that produced so great a sensation in Flan- 
 ders ; for it is clear that this defect is in the original, and 
 therefore it has answered no purpose to cancel the later 
 impressions ; because, the original being void, the copies 
 must be void also. Besides that it is established in law, 
 " that the slightest change — even of a mere punctua-' 
 tion — renders a Bull void, and exposes the party making 
 the change to the penalty of excommunication." " In 
 Bulla Coense, c. licet, Rebuf. in praxi." 
 
414 LETTER XX. 
 
 Another irregularity— and one which touches us the 
 most nearly — is, that the Pope menaces therein with 
 penalties all who disobey the Bull. Here I leave it to the 
 Courts to decide, whether it is competent to the Pope to 
 threaten with penalties liege subjects of the king : " sub 
 poenis ipso facto incurrendis." 
 
 Another important irregularity is the offensive way in 
 which the high and sacred order of the Episcopacy has 
 been degraded, by putting it on a level with the lowest 
 orders, by that clause in which the Pope, speaking of 
 himself, when a cardinal and bishop, says, he was then 
 " in minoribus" — an expression which renders the Bull 
 void, according to the Chapter : " Quam gravi, titul : de 
 crimine falsi ; " in which it is set forth that, if a Pope, 
 speaking of a Bishop, calls him " his Son," instead of 
 " his Brother," to the detriment of the bond subsisting 
 between him and the whole episcopal body, the Act in 
 which the expression occurs shall be void. What then is 
 to be said of the one in question, in which the Pope treats 
 the bishops, not as sons, but as inferiors : * a term so 
 offensive and degrading, that the assembled clergy, who 
 had not ordinarily shown too much zeal on behalf of the 
 Episcopate, changed the expression in their version of the 
 Bull, making the best they could of the passage in which 
 it occurred ? They did not, however, by this means suc- 
 ceed in removing the affront to their character, which 
 continued under the stigma in the original document, as 
 well as in the Latin version : so that the alteration seemed 
 only to render more striking the outrage done to their 
 dignity, and their own weakness in submitting to it. 
 
 * ' Mineurs.' (i'r.) ■ 
 
THE INQUISITION. 415 
 
 Do you ask for other instances ? What will you say 
 to the fact that the Pope is not satisfied with forbidding 
 to write, preach, or say any thing against his decisions, as 
 it is admitted he has the power to do by virtue of his 
 supreme station in the Church ; but he would go beyond 
 all this, and insist upon our believing implicitly all his 
 decisions — " Teneant : " all which, we might perceive, 
 without confessing " that we and our king are his sub- 
 jects even in temporal matters ;" since their Bulls declare 
 plainly, " that it is heresy to affirm the contrary : ' Aliter 
 sentientes hcereficos reputamus ;' " as said Boniface VIII. 
 to our own King Philip le Bel. It is then incontro- 
 vertible, that if we hold the Pope to be infallible, we must 
 either acknowledge ourselves to be his slavesy or pass for 
 heretics ; since we should otherwise be opposing ourselves 
 to an infallible authority. Therefore it is that the Church 
 has never recognized this infallibility in the Pope, but 
 only in the General Council, to which there has always 
 been a right of appeal from unsound decisions on the part 
 of the Popes. And while, in order to establish their 
 supremacy, they have often assumed to treat as heretics 
 such as appealed from them to their Councils, as did 
 Pius II., Julius II„ and Leon X. ; the Church, on the 
 contrary, maintains, on the authority of a decision in full, 
 assembly, that the Pope is obnoxious to such appeal. 
 And on this account it is, that our Sovereigns, their Pro- 
 curator General, the entire Universities, and various indi- 
 vidual members of the body, have so often appealed from 
 the Bulls to the Council, as may be seen set forth through- 
 out the thirteenth chapter of the " Liberties of the Galli- 
 can Church." Thus the main foundation of our liberties. 
 
416 LETTER XX. 
 
 and tLat which M. Pithou considers them all to depend 
 upon, is the ancient maxim, " That although the Pope be 
 supreme in spiritual things, in France, nevertheless, a 
 sovereign power has no existence, but is bounded and 
 limited by the rules and decisions of ancient Councils ; 
 ' et in hoc maxime consistit libertas Ecclesiee Gallicanse,' 
 according to the University of Paris." Upon which M. 
 Du Puy, in his Commentaries upon these liberties, dedi- 
 cated to the late M. Mole, First President and Keeper of 
 the Seals, printed under authority by Cramoisy, reports, 
 page 30, that our theologians style the plenary power of 
 the Pope, " an instrument of commotion, and a diabolical 
 term — 'plenum tempestatem et verbum diaholicum..' " ■ 
 These are the sentiments of our doctors, following 
 whom, we have always held, " that the decision of the 
 Pope does not bind us to believe in conformity therewith, 
 even in matters of faith ; because he himself is liable to 
 error in faith ; but only, not to gainsay such decision ex- 
 cept for weighty considerations : ' In causis fidei, deter- 
 minatio solius Papse, ut Papse, non ligat ad credendum, 
 qui&, est deviabilis a fide,' " as Gerson affirms ! The Pope 
 then aims to contravene our liberty in this Bull, by com- 
 pelling us to submit to his decisions, and thus it becomes 
 a palpable nullity. 
 
 There is also more of importance in this matter than 
 might at first sight appear, inasmuch as the Pope states 
 that it has been investigated with all the diligence and 
 care that can be desired — " qu^ major desiderari non 
 possit." Now herein lies a secret artifice proper to be 
 exposed ; which is, as I have already explained, that the 
 Popes are desirous to have it believed, that they alone can 
 
THE INQUISITION. 417 
 
 decide points of faith, and that after them nothing further 
 can be desired; instead of which, we maintain that it is 
 the Councils alone which can compel men's belief} and 
 which leave nothing further to be desired. Thus the 
 Pope does well, in supporting his pretensions, to endea- 
 vour to make us acknowledge that every thing has been 
 done in the matter in question that can be desired ; 
 although he has in reality done nothing more than con- 
 sult with a few officials. But we should be very ill-ad- 
 vised to acquiesce in this ; since it would be to acknow- 
 ledge the Pope's infallibility ; to impair incalculably our 
 liberties, to overthrow the right of appeal to the Councils; 
 and even to render those Councils useless ; since the 
 Pope's word alone would be sufficient, if he is to be held 
 infallible. And doubt not that the partizans of the 
 Romish Court will one day make their advantage, and 
 draw all these consequences from this Bull, if once you 
 should fall into their views by allowing its reception. 
 
 There are various other important informalities, which 
 it would be tedious to particularize. No Bull that was 
 ever issued contains so many. But that which utterly 
 precludes its reception by the Parliament is that, being- 
 issued by the Pope alone without sanction of his Council, 
 and even without the advice of the Cardinal's College, it 
 can only be considered as emanating from his individual 
 will — " motu propria," — which is a thing not recognized 
 in this country : France never has admitted Bulls issued 
 '' motu proprio " in matters of faith, or in the general 
 affairs of the Church, notwithstanding the efforts of various 
 Popes to induce her to do so. Such was, among others, 
 the abortive endeavour of Innocent X. on occasion of his 
 
 T 5 
 
418 LETTER XX. 
 
 Bull respecting the residence of cardinals, in 1646, in 
 whicli he declares, " that although issued on his indivi- 
 dual authority, he demands that it shall have the same 
 force as if it had been sanctioned by the Council of Car- 
 dinals." On which the late Advocate-General, M. Tulon 
 said, " that the Pope in vain endeavoured, by such a 
 clause as that, to supply, on his own prerogative, the want 
 of that authority which was essential to an Act so import- 
 ant ;" in consequence of which it was rejected as informal. 
 And the last constitution of the same Pope respecting the 
 five Propositions, even if it had pronounced upon points of 
 faith acknowledged by all theologians, without exception, 
 yet, on the sole ground that it had issued on his individual 
 authority, could not have supported its claim to registra- 
 tion, much as his Holiness might have desiderated such a 
 sanction. How then could that of Alexander be other- 
 wise than rejected, seeing that, besides so many other irre- 
 gularities, this cardinal defect of its having issued on 
 individual and unsupported authority, renders it utterly 
 incapable of admission ? 
 
 It is, Sir, incontestible therefore, that no Papal Bull 
 was .ever less entitled to reception than the present ; for 
 even were its scope and tendency not so injurious, it 
 ought to be rejected for informalities ; and its tendency 
 and contemplated objects being so bad, it ought to be 
 rejected, if its matter were not informal. What is it then 
 good for, when considered in both views — its irregularity 
 in form, and its viciousness in substance ? Is it not clear 
 that if this should pass, none can ever be refused in 
 future; and we are defencelessly exposed to all the com- 
 mands which the Court of Rome may hereafter see fit to 
 
THE INQUISITION. 419 
 
 impose — a consequence of no slight moment ! Let us 
 judge of what may befal us in future, by what has oc- 
 curred abeady. Do you not see that this systematic mul- 
 tiplication of Bulls aims at strengthening progressively 
 the greedily-desired title of Infallibility; and that, by im- 
 perceptible degrees, the world will be brought at length to 
 a blind and ignorant belief in their authority ? When 
 once they have thus acquired a mastery over the mind of 
 the people, in vain will the Courts oppose themselves to 
 the attempts of Rome against the royal prerogatives ! 
 Their resistance will be regarded as mere political anta- 
 gonism—not conscientious repugnance. They will them- 
 selves be branded with heresy, if such shall be the pleasure 
 of Rome ; for how should means be ever wanting to push 
 ' forward such ends ? According to the decrees of Boni- 
 face VIII., and others lik^ him, there is little difiference 
 between holding that the Pope is infallible, and that we 
 are his subjects. 
 
 You see, then, from all this, how dangerous this Bull is, 
 both from the purpose which it is intended to serve, and 
 from the defects in its preparation. It remains now only 
 to remark how inconsiderable it really is, in its origin and 
 in the matter upon which it seeks to arbitrate; which 
 being simply a question of fact, is far from deserving all 
 the importance it has acquired. It is clear, by the con- 
 sent of every good theologian, that the denial of the fact 
 in question cannot possibly convict any one of heresy ; 
 but at the very utmost of indiscretion. Now, that a mere 
 indiscretion should be made to involve the loss of benefices 
 and the penalties of heresy, is truly monstrous. Are we 
 to treat as heretics those who are not at all such, and 
 
420 LETTER XX. 
 
 when tbe question at issue is one that cannot constitute 
 heresy ? And yet, certain Bishops, who have made up 
 their minds to these expulsions from benefices, and who 
 have no plea to assign for it but this mere question of a 
 fact, have taken upon themselves to order, in their circular 
 of the 17th of last March, " That such as should refuse to 
 subscribe to the fact, shall be dealt with as if they refused 
 to subscribe upon the merits." This, however, will avail 
 them little; with all their efibrts, they will not be able to 
 confound things which, in their very nature, are distinct. 
 A simple fact will ever remain a simple fact, and this can 
 never justify the depriving people of their benefices — for 
 this is the point to which I always come back. 
 
 Then is it not as clear as the very day, that in all this 
 the object is, not to improve us in our faith, but — to 
 bring us in subjection to the Inquisition ? I could prove 
 this in the amplest detail, if I had leisure ; and that, 
 both by the object they have selected for their decisions, 
 and by the methods they have pursued in pronouncing 
 them. A worthy object of faith indeed, that Propositions 
 which every one condemns, are to be found in a certain 
 book ! Would any one believe, that it is merely to en- 
 force belief upon such a point as this, that the signatures 
 of the whole Church are demanded ? Credulous, indeed, 
 must be such a person ! Had such truly been their 
 objects, what had they to do but to cite the pages con- 
 taining them ? And if they had really intended our edi- 
 fication, ought they not to have explained the objection- 
 able opinions of Jansenius ; which they however condemn 
 without explanation — as is well expressed in the 18th,* 
 
 * Proy. Letter. 
 
THE INQUISITION. 421 
 
 which my son showed me this morning. Mark this, then, 
 Sir. It is themselves they have been thinking of — not 
 us. They have selected this position, because from the 
 prevaihng prejudices against Jansenius, they thought it 
 favourable to their views. They have hoped to improve 
 the opportunity thus afforded them ; and turning to their 
 own purposes the desire the public has manifested for the 
 condemnation of these doctrines, they fancied we should 
 be so much carried away in their own favour, as to pur- 
 chase their Bulls at the cost of our liberties ! 
 
 Just as I was writing the last lines, I happened to meet 
 with a very distinguished Councillor, who told me that it 
 is an invariable rule of the Courts that they are the legiti- 
 mate and natural judges of all questions of fact coming 
 before them in ecclesiastical affairs ; and therefore, there 
 being here no other point at issue than to ascertain 
 whether the five condemned Propositions are in Jansenius 
 or not, it will be their province to institute such an in- 
 vestigation, in case the Bull should be brought before 
 them. The case was the same in the celebrated confer- 
 ence of Fontainbleau, when the Cardinal Du Perron 
 charged with error five hundred passages of the Fathers, 
 cited by Du Plessis Mornay; and the king appointed 
 certain lay-commissioners to adjudicate the matter. Then 
 the question was to ascertain whether these passages 
 really were in the Fathers, as it now is, whether these 
 Propositions are in Jansenius ; and in spite of all the 
 clamour raised by the Nuncio, such as that none but 
 ecclesiastics should take cognizance of an ecclesiastical 
 question, &c., the cause remained in their hands, as the 
 only question before them was a simple examination of facts. 
 
423 LETTER XX. 
 
 He furnislied me with some other cases ; but this is 
 sufficient to place the matter beyond doubt, and to show 
 that if the Parliament should be pressed on the subject of 
 this Bull, we shall enjoy the satisfaction of seeing it 
 examined with every due formality, and in full assembly 
 of the Chambers, whether these Five Propositions are in 
 the book of Jansenius. We shall then learn whether it 
 be an indiscretion to doubt the fact, and shall see the 
 judgment of the Pope submitted to the judgment of the 
 Parliament. 
 
 I cannot therefore but wonder to see this project of an 
 Inquisition so ill-concocted, considering it emanates from 
 persons otherwise so astute. Never could they have 
 chosen a basis more feeble and unsafe for such a Bull, 
 which— treating only of a question of fact — was wholly 
 ifladequate to sustain so weighty a design. Would it not, 
 let me ask, be shameful and intolerable, that such a 
 tribunal as the Inquisition, which Prance would never 
 endure even for the regulation of faith, should now-a-days 
 be admitted for the adjudication of a mere matter of fact; 
 and that all parties should voluntarily concur in such a 
 measure: — the Bishops in its origination, and the Parlia- 
 ment in its sanction ? 
 
 I utterly disbelieve, however, that it will come to this. 
 The matter becomes far too serious for a jest. It comes 
 home to themselves, to their relatives, to their friends; — 
 it is of vital and universal interest. The less of servitude 
 the better ! The wise will never willingly submit to it. 
 Let them seek other means of establishing their point. 
 Let them write as much as they please — or, rather, let 
 them hold their peace. They have prated too much 
 
THE INQUISITION. 423 
 
 already. It is time to leave the woi-ld in quiet, and our 
 benefices in security ! 
 
 Should, however, the Parliament take cognizance at all 
 of the matter, I shall not be unfurnished with proofs to 
 show the difference between that pre-eminence, with which 
 the Papacy was first invested by God himself, for the 
 edification of the Church, and the infallibility which its 
 flatterers would attribute to it, for the destruction both of 
 the Church herself and our liberties. 
 
 END OF PKOVINCIAIi LETTERS. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 Censure and Condemnation of the Provincial Letters. 
 
 (From the French of M, Villemain.) 
 
 It is well known that the censure pronounced by a portion of 
 the Sorbonne against Amauld, gave occasion to the Provincial 
 Letters. We have seen that Pascal, in defending his friend, 
 was not sparing in his inflictions upon the Jesuits, who had 
 clandestinely taken an active part in procuring the condemna- 
 tion ; and dearly did he make them pay for the satisfaction they 
 had enjoyed in their success. 
 
 The Jesuits soon relinquished a conflict which had become 
 a source of mortification to themselves ; and to revenge them- 
 selves of an adversary who had inflicted upon them such 
 deadly wounds, they succeeded in obtaining from the Court 
 of Rome, in 1657, a formal condemnation of the Provincial 
 Letters, 
 
 A remark suggests itself here, which will not be without 
 utility, and may furnish the observer of human nature with 
 a key to other anomalies of a similar kind : It is, that this 
 very Court of Rome, with an inconsistency common in man's 
 judgments, passed a condemnation in September 1 665 and 
 March 1666, upon the identical maxims which the illustrious 
 author of the Provincials had so eloquently denounced. 
 
 This first act of vengeance, far from proving advantageous 
 
426 APPENDIX. 
 
 to the Jesuits, was regarded by the thinking part of the pub- 
 lic as only a fresh triumph for their opponents ; and the 
 " Apology " of their Casuists, which these devout and perse- 
 cuted men published, had the effect of enlisting on their side 
 those who had hitherto kept aloof from the dispute. Every 
 one was eager to see the Provincials ; and the Jansenists, to 
 give them greater publicity, hastened to translate them into 
 several different languages. 
 
 Such various humiliations could not fail to pique the pride, 
 and inflame the hatred of the Jesuits. They put in requisi- 
 tion all the resources of their subtle -policy, and by means of 
 their intrigues they succeeded in obtaining from the royal 
 authority, the condemnation and proscription of the Provincial 
 Letters. It will be seen by the terms of the Decree, in Royal 
 Council, that, to ensure success to the attempt, the Sorbonne 
 did not scruple to unite with the Society of Jesuits in " pre- 
 senting " the work, as insolent and seditious, to spiritual and 
 temporal authority. 
 
 In order to give an idea of the conscientious dealing of the 
 detractors of the Provincial Letters, I subjoin here some pas- 
 sages prefixed to the documents, which were put forward in 
 support of the condemnation. They are taken from a collec- 
 tion of BuUs and other similar Acts, forming an octavo 
 volume, printed five or six times in the course of the seven- 
 teenth century. 
 
 " In 1656, while the examination of Mr. Arnauld's Letters 
 in the Sorbonne was pending, the famous Letters to a Pro- 
 vincial made their appearance, and produced great sensation : 
 they were from the pen of M. Pascal, Arnauld's intimate 
 friend, and the ablest writer of their party. It was fancied 
 that these would prove an excellent method of turning off 
 from the scent, persons only superficially informed ; and of 
 throwing into the shade the erroneous opinions which the 
 Jansenists had so obstinately defended, by bringing them 
 forward as defenders of 'the purity and severity of Christian 
 morality. 
 
APPENDIX. 427 
 
 " The earlier Letters did not meet with the success that 
 had been anticipated ; because, treating of the dogmas of 
 grace, and endeavouring by every kind of artifice, to keep in 
 the back-ground the Second Letter of Arnauld, they failed in 
 their object in arresting the Censure, as well as that of esta- 
 blishing the pretended charge of injustice ; and of throwing 
 back upon the Jesuits the odium of agitating a dogma of faith 
 which had been attacked, and in which the whole Catholic 
 Church was equally interested. 
 
 " It was thus found necessary to abandon the question of 
 grace, and to fasten exclusively upon the morality of the 
 Jesuits ; this was done in the fourteen subsequent Letters, 
 published in succession up to the month of March 1657. 
 
 " The Jesuits replied to these at first by various publica- 
 tions, and afterwards in a more methodical manner ; proving 
 the various misinterpretations in the Letters, and the bad 
 faith with which the quotations from their authors were fur- 
 nished ; as well as the palpable difference between the severe 
 maxims of M. Pascal, and the relaxations introduced by the 
 Jansenists into their moral code. 
 
 " This proceeding closed the writer's mouth ; and subse- 
 quently, all the letters were condemned by the Pope, on the 
 6th September, 1657, having been previously burnt by the 
 hands of the public executioner, by a Decree of the Parlia- 
 ment of Aix, of Feb. 22, 1657 — the same having been also 
 done at Paris, by a Decree of the Council of State held coin- 
 cidently with a convocation of Prelates and Doctors." 
 
 Condemnation of the Letters of M. Pascal, this Tuesday, 
 6th September, 1657. 
 
 At a general congregation of the holy and universal Inqui- 
 sition of Rome, held at the Apostolical Palace of St. Marie- 
 Majeure, in presence of our most holy Father Alexander, by 
 the grace of God, Pope, the seventh of that name, and of the 
 
428 APPENDIX. 
 
 most eminent and reverend Cardinals, Inquisitors General of 
 the heretics, in the Christian Repuhlic, specially appointed hy 
 the ApostoUc See. 
 
 Our most holy Father, Pope Alexander VII. interdicts and 
 condemns hy this Decree, and declares to he interdicted and 
 condemned, under the penalties and censures directed by the 
 Council of Trent, and in the Index of Condemned Books, and 
 all other such penalties and censures as it shall please His 
 Holiness to appoint : 
 
 Eighteen Letters written in French, whose titles are — 
 [Here follow the titles of the eighteen Letters, and of several 
 other small treatises ; and then another work, unconnected 
 with the Provincials.] 
 
 (Votes of thirteen Theologians.) 
 
 " In order to give wider circulation to the Provincial Let- 
 ters, and to excite still more disgust at the alleged laxities of 
 the Jesuits, it was determined to translate them into Latin,* 
 and to add to them notes still more calumnious than the text. 
 The success of the proceeding was not what had been antici- 
 pated. Montaltius, which was the name adopted by the 
 translator, and Wendrock, that of the author of the notes, 
 were examined by Royal order ; for which purpose a com- 
 mission was appointed of four of the most eminent Bishops 
 and six learned Doctors. They gave an opinion upon the two 
 works, to the effect that the heresies condemned in Jansenius 
 were openly maintained in them, and that they abounded in 
 sentiments injurious to the Pope, the Bishops, the sacred per- 
 son of the King, his Ministers, the faculty of Paris, and the 
 religious orders. Accordingly they were remitted by Decree 
 of the Council of State, on the report of M. Balthazar, to the 
 Civil Lieutenant, to be burnt by the common executioner. 
 The Decree is dated the 23rd September, 1660 : the sentence 
 of the Lieutenant, the 8th Oct. ; and they were carried into 
 
 * Nicole translated the Provincials into Latin, under the title, ' Litters 
 de Morali et Politick Jesuitorura discipline.' 
 
APPENDIX. 429 
 
 execution at the Croix-du-Tiroirj on the 14th of the same 
 month, 1660. They added to these two works, one entitled 
 ' Disquisitions of Paul Ir^n^e,' which shared the same fate." 
 
 Sentence of the Bishops and Doctors upon the Latin Transla- 
 tion of the Provincial Letters. 
 
 We the undersigned, nominated by the Decree in Council 
 of his Majesty to report our opinion of a work entitled " Let- 
 ters to a Provincial, by Louis de Montalte," &c. Having 
 diligently examined the said work, we declare that we find 
 the heresies of Jansenius, condemned by the Church, to be 
 contained and defended therein, both in the Letters of the 
 said Louis de Montalte, and the notes upon the same by 
 Guillaume Wendrock ; as also in the Disquisitions of Paul 
 Ir^nee, subjoined to the same : all which is so manifest, that 
 if any one deny it, he either cannot have read or understood 
 the books, or, what is worse, he does not allow to be heretical 
 that which has been condemned as such by the Galilean 
 Church and the sacred faculty of Paris. We further declare, 
 that these three authors are so insolent and so hardened in 
 defamation that they spare neither rank nor persons ; neither 
 the Sovereign Pontiff, nor Bishops, nor the King, nor his 
 Ministers, nor the sacred faculty of Paris, nor religious orders : 
 and therefore we hold the said work to be liable to the penal- 
 ties adjudged against defamatory libels ahd heretical writings. 
 Given at Paris this 7th Sept. 1660. 
 
 Henry de la Motte, Bishop of Rennes ; Harduin, Bishop of 
 Rhodes ; Francis, Bishop of Amiens ; Charles, Bishop of 
 Suissons ; M. Grandin ; G. de L'Estocq ; C. Morel ; L. Bail; 
 Chapelas, Curate of St. Jacques ; Chamillard ; Saussay ; F. 
 Jean Nicolay, de L'ordre de Freres Prescheurs; F. M. de 
 Gangy, Carme. 
 
430 APPENDIX. 
 
 Decree of the Council of State against the Letters to a 
 Provincial. 
 
 Seeing, by the King in Council, a Decree was issued on the 
 12th of August last, on the subject of various complaints 
 made to his Majesty, purporting that, besides that the Con- 
 stitutions of Popes Innocent X. and Alexander VII. condemn 
 the doctrine of Jansenius, Bishop of Ypres, contained in the 
 work entitled " Augustinus,'' and the said conclusions have 
 been admitted by the General Assembly of the Clergy of 
 France, published by the prelates in their dioceses, executed 
 by the Universities, confirmed also by the declarations of his 
 Majesty, and registered by the Parliamentary Courts : not- 
 withstanding which, writings are being continually published, 
 which support the said condemned doctrine ; and, among 
 others, a publication under the title of " Ludovici Montalti 
 Litterse Provinciales," &c., which, besides containing heretical 
 propositions, is defamatory of the memory of the late King 
 Louis XIII., of glorious memory, and to that of his principal 
 Ministers of State ; by which Decree his Majesty, in his care 
 for public welfare, has directed that the said book shall be 
 remitted, through the Sieur Balthazar, Commissioner, to be 
 read and inspected, and to receive the opinions of the Bishops 
 of Rennes, Rhodes, Amiens, and Soissons, together with Mes- 
 sieurs Grandin, &c., &c., &c., and Fathers Nicolai and Gangy, 
 Doctors of the Sorbonne, and a report to be made by them 
 thereupon : the Procfes verbal of the said Commissioners of 
 the 7th of this September, purports, that having diligently 
 examined the said book, they declare that the heresies of Jan- 
 senius, condemned by the Church, are maintained and de- 
 fended in all the aforesaid writings. So manifest is this, that 
 if any one deny it, &c., &c., (as in the preceding document) 
 and the said works are liable to the penalties awarded against 
 defamatory libels and heretical works. — Upon these premises, 
 his Majesty in Council ordains and commands that the said 
 
APPENDIX. 431 
 
 book shall be remitted to the Sieur Daubrai, Lieutenant of 
 the Chatelet, Paris, to be caused by him to be burnt by the 
 common executioner : of the execution of which Decree his 
 Majesty is to be apprized in eight days herefrom : and in the 
 mean time all booksellers, printers, librarians, colporteurs, and 
 others, are expressly forbidden to print, sell, and publish, or 
 to have in their possession the said Book, with or without 
 notes, additions, and disquisitions of the said Wendrock and 
 Paul Ir6n6e, on pain of condign punishment. And this De- 
 cree shall be at once carried into execution : any opposition 
 or appeal notwithstanding, of which, if any such be made, his 
 Majesty reserves to himself the cognizance thereof, without 
 intervention of any other authorities. Given at the Council 
 of State — his Majesty being present thereat — at Paris, this 
 23rd day of September, 1660. 
 
 (Signed) Philippeaux. 
 
 (The Decree was carried into execution, with all the pre- 
 scribed formalities, and an Act of Registration of the same 
 regularly drawn up, signed " Berthelot.") 
 
 No. II. 
 
 AB.NAULD. 
 
 Antoine Arnauld was the son of the eminent advocate of the 
 same name, who is distinguished in the annals of the French 
 bar, by having sustained the cause of the University of Paris, 
 in their proceedings against the Jesuits, at the close of the 
 sixteenth century. His brilUant invectives on that memorable 
 occasion, raised a storm against the principles and practice of 
 that body, which was never afterwards allayed. His name, 
 also, as well as that of his illustrious son, and other members 
 of his family, is intimately associated with the records of the 
 
433 APPENDIX. 
 
 Port Royal. He bore, indeed, the title of its " Father ; " 
 having made large contributions to its funds : and, after his 
 death, his widow and several surviving daughters became in- 
 mates within its walls. 
 
 His son Anthony, as has been elsewhere remarked, seemed, 
 like the descendants of Hannibal, to inherit his, father's anti*- 
 pathy to the Jesuits, and — as was to be expected — experienced 
 even an aggravated share of their hostility. What he did not 
 inherit, however, was the predilection for celibacy, which, under 
 mistaken views of Christian duty, and social obhgations, he and 
 his devoted colleagues, lay as well as clerical, cherished and 
 acted upon. His father had entered into the married stage in 
 his 25th year ; and his wife, who was the daughter of another 
 distinguished advocate, and whose affections he is said to have 
 gained by the charms of his forensic eloquence, was,- according 
 to common report, only twelve years of age, when she gave her 
 hand to the foremost man in the French law-courts. This 
 precocious union (at least on the female side) was crowned 
 with an abundant progeny ; for Anthony, who was bom in 
 1612, was the youngest of twenty children, of whom eleven 
 were sons, and nine daughters. 
 
 He received the early part of his education with his nephew 
 Isaac le Maitre (or de Sacy) who was very little his junior ; 
 and who afterwards, like himself, became a distinguished or- 
 nament of the French Church. His studies were next pur- 
 sued in the College of Calvi : he then completed a course of 
 theology in the College of Lisieux ; and after that entered 
 the Sorbonne. In 1641, he was ordained priest; shortly 
 afterwards he gained his degree of _doctor, and became a can- 
 didate for admission to the membership of the Sorbonne. 
 The known freedom and severity of his opinions, however, 
 upon some important theological questions, seem already to 
 have excited prejudices against him . On the ground of al- 
 leged informality in some of the previous stages, objections 
 were made to his election. Cardinal Richelieu, who was not 
 likely to favour any one whom the Jesuits disliked, was ap- 
 
APPENDIX. 433 
 
 pealed to, as visitor of the university ; and his decision vfas 
 given against Arnauld. He would perhaps never have obtained 
 the solicited distinction, had not Richelieu's death, shortly after 
 this time, removed the obstacle ; and, in 1 643, he became a 
 member of Sorbonne. 
 
 It was probably about this period that he imbibed those 
 deep views of religious truth, which ever after influenced him, 
 and of which, through a long life, he became the uncompro- 
 mising champion. In common with his nephew, De Sacy, he 
 placed himself under the theological instructions of the pious 
 St. Cyran, the confessor of the Port Royal. This devoted 
 man may be regarded as the Luther or Cranmer of the semi- 
 reformation, which was then dawning in the French Church. 
 He was at that time an object of persecution, for his propaga- 
 tion of the doctrines and practice of Jansenius ; and passed 
 the five closing years of his life in imprisonment in Vincennes, 
 on charges of heresy. Arnauld visited him in his confine- 
 ment ; and such was the mutual comfort and edification from 
 their conferences, that the suffering confessor was wont to 
 call his young friend and pupil " the child of his bonds." 
 There are those who may sneer at the term ; but it will be 
 understood by all who know the important effects which may 
 be produced at the outset of a religious life, by the counsels 
 of experience and piety ; and the tender recollections which 
 will remain from such communications in the hearts of both 
 the instructor and the pupil. He shortly after gave up some 
 ecclesiastical preferment which had been conferred upon him, 
 but which he now deemed inconsistent with duty to hold ; 
 joined the recluses of the Port Royal ; devoted to its funds 
 the principal part of his property ; and from the ascendancy 
 of his attainments and talents, soon found assigned to him the 
 leading place in that remarkable association. It was indeed 
 in all respects a remarkable one. Never, perhaps, was more 
 learning and talent, more purity of life, and more singleness 
 and disinterestedness of aim and object, united in a body of 
 men, than in the Associates of Port Royal. Their theological 
 
 V 
 
434. APPENDIX. 
 
 system was far, indeed, from being unalloyed, either in doc- 
 trine or practice, with many of the errors of Popery. They 
 had not attained to those clear views of scriptural truth, which 
 it is our privilege, in the full maturity of Protestantism, now 
 to enjoy. But they were greatly in advance of the age in 
 which they lived ; their voice was boldly lifted up against the 
 moral corruptions of Popery, especially as embodied in the 
 system of Jesuitism ; and their ardour for truth, their sincerity 
 in its advocacy, and, above all, their own profound study of 
 the Scripture, and earnest efforts for its diffusion, would assur- 
 edly have led — ^had circumstances remained favourable to their 
 endeavours — to the effectual purification, in doctrine and 
 discipline, of the Church, to whose communion they so fondly 
 adhered. 
 
 The eager spirit of Arnauld soon impelled him into contro- 
 versy. The subject on which he first essayed his polemical 
 powers, was the abuses introduced by the Jesuits into the 
 doctrine' of the Eucharist. His treatise was entitled, " De la 
 frequente Communion ; " and in this tract he vehemently op- 
 posed the dogmas of intrinsic virtue and effectual operation 
 (the " opus operatum ") in the sacrament, and insisted on the 
 necessity of preparation for the solemnity, by faith and re- 
 pentance. This was soon followed by other publications on 
 the doctrines of Grace, grounded on the views of St. Augus- 
 tine ; and these drew forth angry but ineffective answers from 
 the Jesuits, and rendered him the object of their relentless 
 antipathy. Their great aim was to embroil him with the Sor- 
 bonne ; and in this, after some years had elapsed, they were 
 successful. The immediate cause of the dispute was the 
 following. The Duke de Liancour, a friend and patron of 
 Port Royal, had placed one of his daughters for education in 
 the convent of the same name ; and had further taken into 
 his house, as a kind of domestic chaplain, one of their asso- 
 ciates, the Abb6 de Bourzaye. This double instance of dis- 
 loyalty to the dominant party in the Church, excited so much 
 irritation on their part, that on the Duke presenting himself 
 
APPENDIX. 435 
 
 to his confessor for absolution, he found the rite refused 
 him ; and was informed that it would only be granted on con- 
 dition of removing his daughter from the convent, and dis- 
 missing the Abbe from his establishment. This indecent 
 proceeding brought Arnauld promptly into the field. First, 
 in an anonymous letter to the Duke, and then in a more 
 elaborate publication, to which he affixed his name ; he de- 
 nounced the tyranny attempted to be exercised over conscience 
 and private right ; and overwhelmed the opponents of the 
 Jansenists with severe invective. On this occasion the Je- 
 suits succeeded in bringing before the Sorbonne the obnoxious 
 Propositions extracted from his works, and alleged to be 
 founded on those of Jansenius, which had been previously 
 subjected to the Papal censure. Their history is immortalized 
 by Pascal in the foregoing pages ; and the sequel of the pro- 
 ceeding was the expulsion of Arnauld from the Sorbonne. 
 
 Great learning and force of reasoning is thrown into these 
 his earlier productions, and the style of Arnauld is considered, 
 by French critics, to have exhibited much of that purity and 
 strength which were characteristics of the Port Royal school. 
 JBut a large part had been composed in Latin, and all were of 
 a nature too didactic and abstruse for the generality of 
 readers. In the present crisis of the Society, it was considered 
 that some easy and popular compositions would be desirable, 
 to interest and act upon the popular mind ; and Arnauld 
 accordingly produced a manuscript which he had carefully 
 prepared for that purpose. With all their deference for his 
 authority, his friends were unable to avoid showing, by their 
 silence, that he had not succeeded. The chord that was to vi- 
 brate to the general sympathy was not struck. His controversial 
 powers, in fact, partook more of the nature of the heavy 
 .artillery that sweeps the field, and mows down the ranks, 
 than of the skirmishers that do their work by harassing and 
 annoyance. Pascal, then much the junior of Arnauld, and 
 who had but lately entered into his confidence and that of his 
 colleagues, was appealed to ; and it was suggested that younger 
 
 V 2 
 
436 APPENDIX. 
 
 friends should give their aid in the controversy. He modestly 
 undertook to draw up a sketch of a paper to meet their views ; 
 and the first Letter was shortly after produced and adopted, 
 with the admiration of the whole body. Thus originated the 
 " Provincial Letters." 
 
 Arnauld, on the adverse decision of the Sorbonne being 
 pronounced, withdrew into retirement ; and for twelve years 
 was absent from Paris. During that time, and in the still 
 longer term of banishment to which he was afterwards sub- 
 jected, his history afforded little material for biography. 
 Partly anonymous, and partly with his name, his publications 
 continued without intermission, and their number and quantity 
 were enormous. His ascertained treatises, at the close of his 
 life, amounted to above 320, besides, as is believed, many that 
 did not bear his name, and could not be identified. In addi- 
 tion to their staple material of theology, both practical and 
 controversial (the latter including his voluminous missives 
 against Jesuitism), his writings comprised almost every subject 
 of science and literature. The following are a mere sample of 
 their multifarious topics : a Grammar, well-known as " the 
 Port Eoyal Grammar," " Elements of Geometry," " Art of 
 Thinking," " Rules for Literary Studies," " Reflections 
 on the eloquence of Preachers," " True and False Ideas," 
 " On Grace," " Reflections, Philosophical and Theological," 
 " Translations from St. Augustine," &c. &c. Some further 
 account will be found at the close of this little memoir, 
 of the manner in which the task of posthumously pub- 
 lishing this immense produce of a single mind was accom- 
 plished. 
 
 During this period, the persecutions against the Jansenists 
 continued. Bulls were fulminated from Rome, by the insti- 
 gation of the Jesuits, against the censured Propositions ; and 
 a formulary was drawn up and administered to the French 
 clergy generally, to the effect that they received these Bulls, 
 and condemned the doctrine of the Propositions. The whole 
 body of the Port Royalists refused submission to the ordon- 
 
APPE^fDIX. 437 
 
 nance ; and were supported in their opposition by four bishops 
 and many ecclesiastics. On the death of Pope Alexander, in 
 1667, and the accession of Clement IX., a lull took place in 
 this unhappy controversy. The period of tranquillity, which 
 was termed the " Peace of Clement," lasted about ten years. 
 In 1669, consequently, Arnauld returned to Paris, and was 
 received with the distinction that his talents and manly con- 
 sistency had won from both friends and opponents. He was 
 introduced by the Archbishop of Sens to the Pope's Nuncio, 
 and treated by him with marked esteem. The King ne.xt 
 expressed a wish to see the man whose polemical powers had 
 produced so much sensation in the Church, and received him 
 with much courtesy and respect. 
 
 His writings were, some time after this, directed against 
 what he and his co-religionists continued to regard as the 
 Calvinistic heresies on the doctrines of the Eucharist — in 
 fact, in defence of " Transubstantiation." A work of prodi- 
 gious learning and research — and, like all his writings, very 
 voluminous — was produced under the title of " Grande Per- 
 pltuite de la Foi de I'Eglise Catholique touchant I'Euchar- 
 iste ; " which he and the able Nicole, who was thought to 
 have assisted him in it, doubtless believed would effectually 
 set at rest this long-controverted question. A Protestant will 
 regret, that so much learning and labour, and — may it not be 
 added ? — so much piety, were not bestowed upon a subject 
 more consistent with the truth of Scripture, and the religious 
 well-being of man ! 
 
 In another ten years, the respite of tranquillity ceased, and 
 the scene changed. If Arnauld, in his controversies with 
 Calvinistic doctrine, was valued as a bulwark of the Romish 
 faith, his continued advocacy of evangelical purity and truth 
 upon other questions, caused him still to be looked upon by 
 the hierarchy with suspicion and dislike. The demonstrations 
 of the Jesuits were renewed against him. He received an 
 iatiraation from authority, that his residence in the metropolis 
 would be no longer safe. He found himself obliged to quit, 
 
438 APPENDIX. 
 
 not only Paris, but France ; when he retired to the Netherlands; 
 and never afterwards returned to the land of his birth. 
 
 This was in 1690. His age was 67, when this cruel ex- 
 patriation was forced upon him. He was obliged to live in 
 strict retirement, and to resort to frequent changes of place. 
 But in every successive retreat he carried with him into his 
 solitary ' Patmos' a conscience, that assured him he had 
 borne witness to what he believed to be truth : his health 
 continued vigorous ; and he enjoyed the resource of his ex- 
 haustless and untiring pen. His publications continued 
 uninterrupted, and showed unabated acuteness and vigour to 
 the last ; and in the closing months of his existence he wrote 
 several long and well-digested letters and papers, which appear 
 in the collections of his works. Within a short period of his 
 decease, an abortive attempt was made to molest him, by 
 procuring the issue against him of a canonical writ, on the 
 part of the monastic fraternities at Liege. In this, he was 
 contemptuously styled by them " certum Arnauldum," and 
 charged with heresy. The proceeding, however, fell to the 
 ground ; and he remained in shelter from their pitiiul malignity 
 till his death, which took place at Brussels, in August, 1694, 
 at the well-ripened age of 83. 
 
 He was buried furtively — by night — with little attendance, 
 and without tomb or inscription, in the church of St. Cath- 
 erine in that city. But the choicest part of his earthly remains 
 found its way back to his native country — to the chosen haunt 
 of his youth, and the scene of his literary and polemical tri- 
 umphs. It was a graceful act of the veteran divine to direct 
 his heart to be sent for interment to the Port Eoyal. It 
 seems almost a trait of romance mingling with the rigid habits 
 of the scholar and the controversiaUst. Poetry might see in 
 it — and he himself had once been, if not a poet, certainly a 
 lover of poetry — a parting ray, like that which had gilded his 
 morning sky, sent up from the cloud and shadows of evening ; 
 or the flower of spring blooming under the decay and nodosity 
 of the hoary oak. The bequest was indeed a precious one. 
 
APPENDIX. 439 
 
 His was a heart consecrated to the highest of vocations, that 
 of the service of God, the promotion of his glory, and the 
 advancement (as far as it had heen discovered to him) of his 
 truth. The gift was appreciated by the devout sisterhood to 
 whom it was consigned ; it was reverently interred in the 
 shades of the Port Royal; and a touching, but somewhat 
 fanciful, epitaph marked the spot where the valued relic was 
 deposited; and where it rested in peace, till'the vindictiveness 
 of the Jesuits succeeded, some years after, in mingling the 
 sheltering walls of the Uving, and the memorials of the dead, 
 in one common destruction. 
 The follovring are the lines : — 
 
 " Ad sanctas rediit sedes, ejectas et exul ; 
 
 " Hoste triumphato, tot tempestibus actus, 
 
 " Hoc portu in placido, hoc sacrl, tellure quiescit, 
 
 " Amauldus, veri defensor, et arbiter asqui : — 
 
 " lUius ossa memor sibi vindicet extera tellus ; 
 
 " Hoc ccElestis amor rapidis cor transtulit alis, 
 
 " Cor nunquam avulsum, nee atnatis sedibus absens." * 
 
 Little remains on record of the private history and per- 
 sonal habits of this remarkable man. What, in fact, could be 
 known of one, of whose existence more than the half, since the 
 age of manhood, had been spent in fugitive retirement in his 
 own country, or in banishment in another ; — of one who was, 
 as pathetically described by Boileau, — 
 
 " Errant, pauvre, banni, proscrit, persecute " ? 
 
 His books were the annals of his life ; his study was his 
 world. But though thus cut off from the society of which he 
 
 • " Within this hallowed ground— from early youth 
 " His fond retreat — great champion of the Truth, 
 " Rests Arnauld; all his well-fought contests o'er, 
 " Long tossed by storms, now reached a peaceful shore : — • 
 " Though in the exile's land his bones are laid, 
 " From this loved spot kind memory never strayed ; 
 " And lo 1 his Heart, on love's swift pinions flies, 
 " And calmly in this sacred precinct lies." 
 
440 APPENDIX. 
 
 was the ornament and instructor, and from the associates 
 whom he loved, his wanderings were cheered and his solitude 
 irradiated, hy the presence of his God and Saviour; and 
 his faithful desires and efforts to promote His glory and the 
 spiritual welfare of man, will be known and rewarded in that 
 day when the secrets of all hearts shall be discovered. 
 
 He is said to have been unattractive in person, but to have 
 possessed an eye of much expression and intelligence. Bayle 
 describes him as extremely simple and unpretending in 
 manners, and exhibiting little that was remarkable in ordinary 
 intercourse ; but he says, that when any topic that interested 
 him was started, he would kindle with animation, and seem 
 transformed into another man ; and then pour forth vast 
 stores of learning and illustration from the recesses of his 
 capacious memory. He had been (as has been just noticed) 
 addicted in early life to poetry ; and to his latest years would 
 occasionally delight his hearers by reciting verses which he 
 could ha,ve had no opportunity of seeing since his youth. 
 
 The history of the posthumous publication of his works is 
 curious. From the period of his death in 1 694, up to the 
 year 1758, the immense mass of his publications remained in 
 the state in which they had been originally put forth — in 
 pamphlets and volumes — some anonymous, others bearing his 
 name ; besides multitudes of letters and manuscripts which 
 remained in the hands of individuals. At the last-named 
 period, however, under the encouragement of the reigning 
 Pope, Benedict XIV, who extended much indulgence to the 
 class of opinions advocated by Arnauld and his successors in 
 the Church, a society of Booksellers formed a project for 
 collecting and publishing his works, and were permitted to 
 issue proposals for the purpose under an official notice that it 
 was " par desir du Pope, et de plusieurs membres du Sacr6 
 College." The good Pope, however, was able to do no more 
 than leave on record an expression of his wishes. His death 
 ensued within little more than a year after the issuing of the 
 order, and the scheme was discountenanced by his successor 
 
APPENDIX. 441 
 
 Clement XIII. In fact the Jesuits prevailed with him to 
 issue a Papal orderj forbidding, under pain of excommunica- 
 tion, to circulate the prospectus of the proposed publication. 
 Another turn of affairs, however, under Clement XIV, brought 
 about the memorable dissolution of the Jesuits' Society : the 
 path was now clear ; and the long-suspended project of the 
 publication was renewed. The parties interested delegated 
 the task to an individual, whose modesty has not suffered 
 him, by recording his own name, to share the honours which 
 his labours were preparing for the object of this long and 
 difficult undertaking. The publication was not, however, so 
 much a proof of bibliopolist enterprize as of faith in the 
 public vrillingness to absorb such a mass of reading : the work 
 was published by subscription. In 1775, at Lausanne, ap- 
 peared the entire works of Arnauld, in forty-five quarto 
 volumes, closely printed, and each containing the quantity of 
 some half-dozen widely margined octavos of modern fashion ; 
 and from these are excluded (with an apologetic notice of the 
 omission from the editor) the elaborate work on the ' Per- 
 petuite de foi,' which in its original form tilled three bulky 
 quartos. The classification of contents is as follows : 
 
 1. On the Scriptures. 
 
 2. Dogmatical, on Truths of Religion. 
 
 3. Polemical, against Jesuits, defences of Jansenism. 
 
 4. Polemical, against Calvin. 
 
 5. Moral and Polemical (again) against Jesuits. 
 
 6. Ecclesiastical Discipline. 
 
 7. Philosophical. 
 
 8. Belles Lettres. 
 Letters Separate. 
 
 The Editor further expresses regret that many more of the 
 anonymous works had been omitted, having eluded his most 
 vigilant search. — Such were then the productions of this 
 giant of literature ! What must have been the universality 
 of learning, what the depth of thought, and the extensiveness 
 
 u 5 
 
442 APPENDIX. 
 
 of observation, that had served to accumulate the materials of 
 his Herculean labours ! 
 
 These mighty tomes, however, although they excited the 
 deepest interest, and served important purposes, in their 
 time, want the etherial fire of genius to give them permanent 
 vitality, to enrol them among the classics of a country, and 
 hand them down to a late posterity. His writings were con- 
 spicuous for clearness and power, and his style has a severe 
 purity, which contributed much to the improvement of the 
 French language, and was at that time new in controversy. 
 The following extract from one of his letters, given in 
 M. Faugfere's valuable collection, will be regarded with in- 
 terest, from the subject of which it treats, as well as from its 
 furnishing a pleasing specimen of the lucid simplicity of his 
 famiUar style. It is taken from a communication of Arnauld's 
 to a personage of high rank — a Princess de Guimen^ — who 
 had asked his counsel on the education of a son : — 
 
 " It is. Madam, an undoubted fact, and your own experi- 
 ence, under the teaching of divine grace, as well as your 
 personal trials, assure you of it, that high birth, illustrious 
 condition, and great wealth, are sore hindrances to our 
 spiritual welfare. I may however, without flattery tell you, 
 that you have reason to hope God will bless the design with 
 which he has inspired you, to dedicate the young Prince to 
 his service, and thus to procure him a distinguished place in 
 Heaven, provided you continue faithful to your object, and 
 that you are sincere and earnest in your endeavour to confer 
 this great benefit upon him. He possesses many gracious 
 dispositions, and especially that which is the most needful of 
 all — docility to instruction and submissiveness to authority, 
 when exercised with gentleness and prudence. But the very 
 heathen have confessed, that their most promising dispositions 
 degenerated into vice, if not cultivated by good education. 
 And our religion further instructs us that the best tuition 
 needs the aid of divine grace ; and though man may plant 
 and. water, all will be vain unless God give the increase. 
 
APPENDIX. 443 
 
 " If, therefore, Madam, you would follow the rules of our 
 fUith — as I know indeed you are desirous of doing — you will 
 readily see that the most important thing of all is to find holy 
 men, who will train your child in the ways of God, and 
 nourish him with the influences of his Spirit. For, permit 
 me to say, it is a mere delusion to fear, as you seem to do, 
 that to render him pious will degrade and make him heart- 
 less, and that to walk in the ways of God will unfit him for 
 the aifairs of life. On the contrary, permit me to assure you, 
 that if he be placed under good instruction, it will tend to 
 elevate and inure his mind : for there is nothing so great as 
 Christian philosophy, and no being so noble as the true 
 Christian. The especial aim of such teaching will be to 
 render him able, courteous, and accomplished ; directing him 
 to the true use of all things — to employ them in the service 
 of God, and not to the vanities of the world." 
 
 No. III. 
 
 NICOLE. 
 
 Peter Nicole was born at Chartres in 1625, where he also 
 received the rudiments of his education. His talents early 
 developed themselves, and at the age of fourteen he became a 
 proficient in the Latin and Greek classics. His father then, 
 seeing in him the promise of great attainments, sent him to 
 Paris, for a course of philosophical studies ; and there he 
 early made acquaintance with the members of the Port Eoyal, 
 formed the determination to share their labours, and even- 
 tually became a partaker of their celebrity and persecu- 
 tions. 
 
 As soon as he had finished his allotted course of instruction, 
 
444 APPENDIX. 
 
 he formally joined their Society, and his distinguished attain- 
 ments in general literature pointed him out as the most 
 suitable among their number for the department of the ' Belles 
 Lettres.' Their choice was fully justified by the names of 
 the distinguished scholars who, in that class, enjoyed the 
 benefits of his instruction ; especially the great Racine, the 
 superiority of whose genius he at once discerned, and took the 
 greatest pains to develop and direct. 
 
 After Racine had finished his studies under Nicole, and had 
 acquired pubUc admiration by some of his earlier works, a 
 circumstance occurred which evinced in him an amiable trait 
 of character, and does him high honour. Nicole had engaged 
 in a controversy with a certain Abb6 St. SoeUn, a . writer of 
 inferior plays and romances, and who had put out a fanciful 
 and mischievous work on the Apocalypse. In his refutation 
 of the Abba's errors, he took occasion to inveigh generally 
 against romance-writers and theatrical poets in general, which 
 Racine considered to be an oblique reflection upon himself. 
 The young poet was especially stung with the quarter from 
 whence the supposed attack came, took up a hostile attitude 
 against the entire Port Royal, and published a tart reply to 
 Nicole's work, which at once became very popular with the 
 Parisian public. He was about to follow up his success by a 
 second letter, when Boileau, the common friend of himself 
 and Nicole, remonstrated with him on the pain which he 
 would occasion to the latter, and the ingratitude his proceed- 
 ings would show to his former preceptor, to whom he owed 
 so much. " It shall never be published," said Racine ; and 
 so strictly did he adhere to his resolution, that although the 
 pamphlet was actually printed, he suppressed the entire 
 edition ; and it was not till some years after — and not with 
 his own sanction — that a copy made its appearance in an 
 edition of Boileau' s work. Racine went further even than 
 this ; he gracefully sought reconciliation with his respected 
 friend and tutor, and made an ample apology for the wound 
 he had inflicted upon him. 
 
APPENDIX. 445 
 
 A close friendship soon sprung up between Nicdle and the 
 most eminent of the Port Royalists — Arnauld ; and by him he 
 was strongly advised to enter into holy orders. He was about 
 to comply with his recommendation, and took some steps for 
 the purpose, when his plans were impeded by the contro- 
 versies in the Sorbonne respecting the Propositions of Janse- 
 nius, which ended in the publication of the Provincial Letters. 
 Nicole was at this time engaged in preparing his work en- 
 titled " Essays upon Morals ; " but he immediately hastened 
 to the assistance of his persecuted friend Arnauld, and threw 
 himself into the thickest of the controversy.* When the 
 Jesuits had succeeded, by means of the public condemnation 
 of Arnauld's works, in procuring his banishment from Paris, 
 and afterwards from France, he boldly defended him in every 
 possible way ; and assisted, as has been seen, their mutual 
 friend Pascal in some of the Provincial Letters, till at length 
 he himself became the object of similar persecution, and was 
 compelled to follow his friend into exile from their common 
 country. 
 
 Nicole also translated the Letters into Latin of a high 
 order of classic purity, accompanied by valuable notes. His 
 style is especially formed upon the model of Terence, whom 
 he had closely studied. 
 
 The death of his friend and patroness the Duchess de 
 Longueville,-!- an eminent supporter of the Jansenists, seems 
 to have increased his indifference to remain longer in his own 
 
 * In the midst of this polemical war, which at last became sodeadly in 
 its spirit, and so fatal in temporal consequences to the suffering Jansen- 
 ists, Nicole once complained of weariness to his friend, and expressed a 
 wish for some rest from the toils of controversy. " Rest ! " impetuously 
 exclaimed Arnauld, whose untiring labours were attested, as has been seen, 
 in the preceding memoir, by the largest posthumous productions that 
 were, perhaps, ever left by man — " will you not have time enough for 
 rest in eternity ? " 
 
 ■f- The Duchess de LongueviUe was the daughter of the illustrious Prince 
 de Conde. In early life she was distinguished for her beauty, and held a 
 prominent place in the circles of fashion. She also took a warm part in 
 
446 APPENDIX. 
 
 country. "I have now lost," he said, " all my little reputa- 
 tion ; I have even lost my ' Abbey,' for she was the only 
 person who ever called me ' Mons. L'Abbe.' " 
 
 On his return some years after to France, he employed 
 himself in the composition of a number of works which have 
 acquired a high reputation in French literature. The most 
 profound of these are his Essays on Morals, and which 
 extended to the number of 15 volumes : his Essay on " The 
 Methods of preserving Peace in Society" is much admired ; 
 and to both works, Voltaire, although httle sympathizing with 
 the devout principles of the writer, has awarded the high 
 meed of his critical approbation. In these tranquil studies 
 and pursuits he attained to a good old age (unlike the prema- 
 ture decay of his youthful friend Pascal,) and died in 1695, in 
 his 70th year. 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 DE SACY (LOUIS ISAAC LE MAITEe).* 
 
 The family name of this member of the Port Royal brother- 
 hood was Le Maitre, but the designation above given, derived 
 from an inversion of his Christian name Isaac, is that by 
 which he is most commonly known. He was born at Paris, 
 in 1613; and from a very early age exhibited marks of supe- 
 
 politics, and signalized herself as a partizan on the popular side, against the 
 Court party, in the contentions of the Fronde, encouraging the troops, and 
 employing herself in making favours and decorations for the officers. She 
 became devotedly pious, and attached herself ardently to the principles of 
 Jansenius and the fortunes of the Port Royalists. 
 
 * For the materials of this brief notice, I am chiefly indebted to a Me- 
 moir recently published in the Christian Observer. 
 
APPENDIX. 447 
 
 rior talent, and still more of piety and wisdom. His education 
 was carried on with that of his uncle, by his mother's side, 
 the eminent Anthony Arnauld. The uncle, was, however, but 
 little older than his nephew, and they pursued their studies 
 together, till the latter had reached his fourteenth year. At 
 that time his mother removed to a house which she had built 
 in the precincts of the Port Royal ; and that step at once 
 brought the young student into intimate communion with the 
 devoted fraternity assembled within its walls, and in the end 
 led to his joining their body. 
 
 About this period, he was placed under the instruction of 
 the eminent and pious Abb6 St. Cyran, who perceiviiig his 
 superiority of parts, as well as his piety, marked him out as 
 one who promised to be an honour and support to the Church. 
 He shortly entered upon a course of diligent study of the 
 Scriptures and the ancient Fathers ; and, iu due time, at the 
 instance of his instructor, the Abb^, assumed the tonsure, 
 and became a candidate for the priesthood. He then, fol- 
 lowing the example of his two elder brothers — of whom some 
 account vrill be furnished in the conclusion — gave up all his 
 property, which seems to have been not inconsiderable, to the 
 Monastery of the Port Royal, retaining only a small income 
 for the supply of his own simple wants. 
 
 On the death of St. Cyran, he placed himself under the 
 spiritual instruction of M. Singlin, confessor to the nuns of 
 Port Royal. Not long after he took np his residence in the 
 monastery, and then, in company with his relative Arnauld, 
 he pursued, with fresh devotedness, his theological studies ; 
 till, at the mature age of 35 or 36 he entered — and then not 
 vpithout some reluctance on his own part — upon the office of 
 the priesthood. His characteristic humility seems to have 
 peculiarly shrunk from the responsibility of ecclesiastical 
 duties ; and, in the same spirit, it is related that, after his 
 ordination, he deferred for forty days the celebration of the 
 mass. 
 
 This gracious disposition had indeed been always predomi- 
 
448 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 nant in his demeanour, and was embodied by him in these 
 lines, whicTi he drew up for his guidance : — 
 
 " To despise self; to despise the world ; 
 
 To despise no one ; to endure contempt from others : 
 
 These are the four effects of a virtue above all price, 
 
 Which founds all its glory on God alone." 
 His ministerial character was such as was to be expected 
 from the temper in which he entered on the office. To 
 borrow the words of the narrative from which this sketch is 
 derived, " he was especially remarkable for moderation and 
 gravity ; for constancy in prayer, to draw down the Divine 
 blessing ; for patience in bearing with the defects of others ; 
 ... for discrimination in judging of the marks of true piety ; 
 and for zeal to furnish religious assistance to those whom he 
 directed." He was eminently zealous and self-denying also, 
 in every call of duty ; and no absorption in study, no per- 
 sonal inconvenience, no indisposition, or severity of weather, 
 ever withheld his patient footsteps from the house of affliction, 
 or the sick and dying bed. Shortly after his entrance into 
 the ministry, he was appointed Confessor to the Port Royal ; 
 his elder brother also, who had then become an inmate in the 
 College, placed himself under his spiritual guidance and con- 
 solations ; and he continued to discharge these offices, till the . 
 persecution, to which the recluses were not long after sub- 
 jected from the Jesuits, obliged him to discontinue his duties. 
 
 The consequence of those persecutions was, as is well 
 known, to effect a dispersion of the leading members, and to 
 drive some into exile ; and De Sacy's lot — more severe even 
 than that of the others — was to be imprisoned in the Bastille. 
 It was during this period — a term of two years and a half — 
 that he composed some of his most important theological 
 works. His translation of the Bible was, however, the most 
 valuable fruit of his imprisonment. Having completed that 
 portion of the New Testament' which he had undertaken in 
 common with others of the Port Royalists, he conceived the 
 project of undertaking, unaided, that of the Old Testament ; 
 
APPENDIX. 449 
 
 and entering upon it shortly after his arrest, he arrived at its 
 completion exactly at the period of his release. The aid of 
 Divine Providence was signally yielded to him in the faciUties 
 he enjoyed, under such unpromising circumstances, for this 
 great undertaking : he acquired an ample supply of the 
 necessary books, and had the benefit of a reader and copyist 
 in a fellow prisoner and former scholar of his own, M. Fon- 
 taine. These solaces, together with the spirit of meek sub- 
 mission habitual to him, and especially the exercises of faith 
 and prayer, so cheered his captivity, that he was accustomed 
 to say, his " abode in the Bastile was one of the happiest 
 periods of his hfe." He had long indeed been in possession 
 of the only sources of true happiness, whether in solitude or 
 amidst the intercourse of the world, — peace with God, and 
 faith in the promises and hopes of the Gospel ; and to this 
 was now added, absorbing occupation in the noblest work 
 upon which the understanding can be engaged — the commu- 
 nications of God to man in his own Word. 
 
 On his liberation, he immediately repaired to return thanks 
 at the Church of Notre Dkme. He was shortly after pre- 
 sented by the Archbishop of Paris, M. Prefixe (who seems to 
 have regarded him with much esteem,) to the King, and was 
 allowed to exhibit to him his translation of the Bible. From 
 him also he experienced much graciousness ; although it does 
 not appear that the Royal favour was extended beyond a 
 benignity of reception. The only reward in fact asked by 
 De Sacy was permission to visit the prisoners in the Bastille ! 
 This touching incident may recal to memory the disinterested- 
 ness of the Prophet of Israel after the important benefit conferred 
 by his instrumentality upon the Syrian Prince ; or still more 
 forcibly, the yearning tenderness of the faithful Nehemiah for 
 his brethren in their native land, when the only use he made 
 of his favour with his indulgent Sovereign and Master was, to 
 ask permission to rejoin them in their afflictions and labours. 
 After this he retired to the country ; but the ecclesiastical 
 troubles having, in 1669, for a time subsided, he returned to 
 
450 APPENDIX. 
 
 Paris, and again took up his residence in the Port Royal. 
 Ten years after, however, when the government had resolved 
 upon the entire dispersion of the Institution, the then Arch- 
 bishop Haily, who seemed to have inherited his predecessor's 
 respect and consideration for De Sacy, recommended him to 
 retire, before the storm broke upon the devoted monastery. 
 He obeyed the intimation, and returned again to Pomponne, 
 where he passed the very few remaining years of his life. 
 
 He here, with his fast decaying powers — for he was sixty- 
 seven — still laboured incessantly for the promotion of religion. 
 He applied himself with great ardour and diligence to com- 
 pose a Commentary upon the Scripture, and made consider- 
 able progress in the work ; although its entire completion was 
 reserved for other hands. It is described by those acquainted 
 with it as eminently learned and instructive. The habitual 
 feeling of his mind, while engaged in this labour, was not " to 
 take from sacred Scripture any of its divine energy ; not to 
 study only to please the taste, or satisfy intellectual curiosity, 
 but to edify the heart, and excite love for the truths of the 
 sacred Books." — He was much addicted to the distribution of 
 religious and instructive works, especially to poor clergymen, 
 who had not the means of buying them. With this view also 
 he intended to bequeath his own library to a friend, who 
 should make it useful to general circulation ; but whether he 
 was able to carry this design into effect does not appear. 
 
 His last days were now at hand. Being taken ill at Pom- 
 ponne in 1683, his friends importuned him to repair to Paris, 
 probably for the benefit of medical advice. On the third of 
 January in the following year, being the F6te of St. Genevieve, 
 he addressed those about him for a considerable time on the 
 life of that Saint ; and on the conclusion of his discourse, one 
 of the persons present exclaimed, " This man belongs no 
 more to this world, we shall not have him much longer ! " He 
 was almost immediately after seized with violent fever : the 
 next morning, sensible_^ that his end was approaching, he 
 caused the last offices of his church to be performed ; calmly 
 
APPENDIX. 451 
 
 settled his few worldly affairs ; and then, dismissing all 
 thoughts but of God and eternity, he passed some hours in 
 prayer and meditation, and expired on the evening of the 
 same day, in his seventy-first year. He left many valuable 
 writings ; but his translation of the Scripture, and the por- 
 tions of Commentary that he was enabled to complete,- are 
 works that have conferred an enduring benefit upon the 
 church of his own land, which it was the great business of his 
 life to purify and reform, and will carry down his name to a 
 late posterity.* 
 
 In reviewing the holy and laborious life of this good man 
 and his colleagues, some of which have been here briefly 
 traced, there are few, I think, who will not respond to the 
 sentiment of a contemporary writer, f of whose pages, in this 
 simple narrative, I have availed myself; " They had not, 
 indeed, outgrown many of the errors of the Communion in 
 which they had been trained. . . . But may we not fear — is 
 
 * It is recorded (and is a striliing instance of the labour that must be 
 bestowed upon all such works, to give them the requisite perfection) , 
 that he re-wrote his translation three times ; the style of the first ap- 
 pearing too refined, and that of the second, too simple. His friend Pascal, 
 with that fine taste that distinguished him, advised him to lay it by for 
 a considerable time, and then resume it — an exceUerit rule in com- 
 position. 
 
 f The Editor of the Christian Observer. — The writer gladly embraces 
 this opportunity to offer a passing tribute — slight as is its value — to the 
 much respected individual, whose name has long been associated with 
 that work. Some of its earlier volumes are on his shelves — of a date 
 when its pages were enriched by the contributions of the Macaulays, the 
 Grants, and the Bowdlers of past days. In younger years, the monthly 
 advent of its (then) blue cover was one of his greatest pleasures ; and he 
 never sees it now without interest. If the laborious and zealous Editor 
 is now left to toil almost alone, and the aid he formerly enjoyed (espe- 
 cially from clerical brethren) has been transferred to newer, but certainly 
 not abler, periodicals, let him be assured that his efforts in support of the 
 sound doctrine and wholesome discipline of our common Church, are not 
 unattended with the sympathies of m.any, who know how to value — in 
 times when they are not a little needed — sound taste, extensive polemical 
 knowledge, and pure and scriptural theology. 
 
452 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 it not certain — that many who profess to belong to Reformed 
 and Protestant Churches would, at the day of judgment, 
 rejoice that their souls should be with those of Pascal and 
 Amauld, Fontaine (Nicole) and De Sacy, Fenelon and 
 Quesnel?" 
 
 The family of the Le Maitres was prolific in distinguished 
 men. The eldest brother, Anthony, was an Advocate of high 
 celebrity, whose pleadings, we are informed by M. Villemain, 
 in a note to the last of the Provincial Letters — said to be his 
 composition — are still extant in the courts. Early in life, and 
 in the midst of a splendid professional career, he abandoned, 
 to the surprise of all, his secular pursuits, and retired for the 
 exercises of piety and meditation, to the walls of the Port 
 Royal. " I have been busy," he said, " in pleading the 
 causes of others ; I am now studying my own." It was at 
 first supposed that in renouncing the bar for the church he 
 was looking for high preferment, but he wrote to the Chan- 
 cellor that " he trusted God had given him grace to renounce 
 ambition." He had projected with much labour a work " of 
 the Lives of the Saints," intended to be purified from the 
 superstitious legends of former publications — an example, 
 which some modern, and ostensibly Protestant biographers of 
 the same class would have done well to follow ;^^but in his 
 dying moments, speaking of his disappointment in not being 
 able to accomplish his object, he said, that " God, who in- 
 spired him with the desire, had not permitted him to carry it 
 into effect, because the lives of the Saints ought to be penned 
 by the hand of a Saint." Such a work would, independent 
 of other merits, have been a high intellectual enjoyment ; for 
 the specimen of his composition, above referred to, in the 
 Provincials, shows him to be a master of acute reasoning and 
 graceful diction, and affords a proof of the high cultivation 
 to which the French bar had attained above two centuries 
 since. 
 
 Another brother, also older than Isaac, was Simon Sieur 
 de Sericourt. He had attained considerable distinction in 
 
APPENDIX. 453 
 
 the army, but in the midst of his reputation he quitted the 
 profession of arms, as Anthony did the bar, and joined the 
 recluses of the Port Royal, making over to the Society all his 
 property. His favourite pursuit — for none of these good, but 
 enthusiastic, and perhaps mistaken men, were idlers — became 
 that of a gardener and agriculturist, in which he devoted 
 himself to the severest personal toil, with the austerity and 
 self-denial which were characteristic of the brotherhood. 
 
 No. V. 
 
 PEBE ANNAT, 
 
 Assistant of the Society of Jesuits in France ; afterwards 
 Provincial; and Confessor to Louis XIV. 
 
 The preceding slight sketches of the leading members of the 
 Port Royal would be incomplete without a notice of their 
 opponent and persecutor Annat, the head of the Jesuits at 
 the period of the Arnauld-controversy. He was born at 
 Rourgus, in 1590, entered the Society in 1607, and took the 
 vows in 1624. He became a teacher of philosophy and 
 divinity at Toulouse ; and his acquirements and talents attract- 
 ing attention, he was invited to Rome, and speedily appointed 
 to the office of Censor-General and Theologist to the General 
 of the Society. In 1645, he was promoted to the office of 
 Assistant iu France ; and on the death of Picolimini, he was 
 made Provincial of the Province of France. In 1654 he 
 obtained the high distinction of Confessor to the King, which 
 appointment he held till 1670, when age and infirmity induced ' 
 him to seek retirement, and he died shortly after. His life 
 and character exhibited a large measure of the usual qualities 
 of the higher class of Jesuit leaders ; he was irreproachable 
 in personal conduct, pohtic, acute, an uncompromising sup- 
 
454 APPENDIX. 
 
 porter of his church, a bitter foe to all opinions that deviated 
 from her creed, and possessed learning and talent, but no 
 genius. He wrote ; but not a line of his is preserved or 
 remembered ; and little of him remains but the name ; while 
 the objects of his persecutions are embalmed in the love and 
 veneration of posterity. A pleasing trait of his character is 
 said to have been his disinterestedness, and marked abstinence 
 from. using the advantages of his high position for the 
 advancement of relatives and friends. 
 
 No. VI. 
 
 THE DUKE DE EOUANNEZ. 
 . (Extracted from a Memoir of Madame Perier.*) 
 
 M. dE RouANNEz was the son of the Marquis de Boissy. 
 His mother was daughter of M. Henflequin, President of the 
 Parliament, and grandson of the Duke de Rouannez : his 
 grandmother was sister of the Count d'Harcourt. He lost 
 his father at the age of eight or nine years, and was placed 
 under the care of his grandfather, who was a person destitute 
 of religious principle, of a violent temperament, and little 
 fitted to conduct beneficially the training of a young person. 
 He committed his grandson to a tutor, as ill qualified as him- 
 self; giving him directions to bring him up with court man- 
 ners, to let him even learn to swear, and in every way to 
 acquire the habits common then to the youth of quality. 
 Fortunately for him, he lost his grandfather when about the 
 age of thirteen, and then became his own master. His mother 
 was a well-disposed and simple-minded person, but not fitted 
 to have the management of a youth of his age. Under all 
 these disadvantages, however, he seems to have early imbibed 
 
 * Fauglre's edition of Pens&s, &g. — Appendix. 
 
APPENDIX. 455 
 
 religious sentiments ; his parts also were good, but he had 
 little application to study. It is not certain at what age he 
 was when he first made the acquaintance of Pascal, who re- 
 sided in his neighbourhood ; but he was much impressed with 
 his piety and intelligence, and several times took him to his 
 own residence in Poitou : in short his society became indis- 
 pensable to him. 
 
 When M. de Rouannez was about twenty-two or twenty- 
 three, Pascal having then entirely given himself to the service 
 of God, and resolved to abandon the world, persuaded his 
 youthful friend to enter into his views. His mind became 
 deeply impressed as to his future course of life, and in about 
 his twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth year, he resolved, under the 
 advice of Pascal and his friend M. Singlin, to set apart a 
 period of time to seek divine direction for the purpose. 
 This he did. Pascal was then his inmate : he appropriated 
 to his use an apartment in his own dwelling, which he at all 
 times commanded, although he had his own residence in 
 Paris. At length, after much reflection, M. de Rouannez took 
 the decided resolution to abandon the world. He announced 
 his purpose to Pascal and Singlin ; and told them that he 
 should take an early opportunity to obtain the King's permis- 
 sion to dispose of his estates, *and to retire into the Port 
 Royal. 
 
 His determination being thus formed, and announced to his 
 friends, a singular incident occurred to him. A few years 
 before, when he had no thought of the present step, he be- 
 came acquainted with a young lady of rank, and the richest 
 heiress in France, Madlle. de Menus, who was not then of 
 marriageable age. De Rouannez cast his eyes upon her as a suit- 
 able match ; not doubting that he would be able to obtain her 
 hand, as — the ducal rank being then rare in France — he was 
 the only man of his own rank in the country that she could 
 suitably marry. A few months after the young Peer had 
 taken the resolution above described, some mutual friends 
 suggested to the Count D'Harcourt the fitness of an alliance 
 
456 APPENDIX. 
 
 between Mdlle de Menus, and his great-nephew. The Count 
 entering into the plan with much satisfaction, at once repaired 
 to M. de Rouannez, and accosted him thus : " Nephew, I 
 have a communication for you, which will give you pleasure : 
 we are going to propose for you to Mdlle. de Menus." Rou- 
 annez, much surprised, said : " Sir, you must be pleased to 
 allow me a short time to consider of the matter." His uncle 
 hereupon fell into a passion, and said, " Why, nephew, you 
 must be a fool ! Here have you been long looking out for 
 this young lady ; and are you not satisfied, now you are in a 
 fair way to get her ? "What has put it into your head that 
 you must take time to consider ? Don't you know she is a 
 woman of the first quaUty, and the richest heiress in the 
 kingdom ? You are an absolute fool ! " De Rouannez, how- 
 ever, persisted in asking for time , and in about a fortnight, 
 he announced to M. D'Harcourt that he had come to the de- 
 termination not to marry. The Count fell into the greatest 
 fury, especially towards his friend Pascal. The news soon 
 spread through the Hotel de Rouannez, where Pascal still 
 was ; and in consequence the house-steward rushed one morn- 
 ing into his room, armed with a poignard, to destroy him. 
 Fortunately he was not within, having left home, contrary to 
 his custom, at an early hour." He was informed of the design 
 conceived against him, and returned no more to the hotel. 
 Mdlle. de Menus afterwards married M. de Vivonne. 
 
 M. de Rouannez persisted in his resolution, and a few years 
 after sold his estates and paid off some of the incumbrances, 
 although not the whole, for his grandfather had left them 
 much involved. After that, his mother being still alive, he 
 continued to live in society, although adhering to a religious 
 course of life ; but was disappointed at his sister's return to 
 the gaieties of the world. 
 
 The above little narrative is, of course, given in substance as it 
 stands in the original. But it is evident that this accompUshed 
 and excellent young nobleman was placed between two injurious 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 457 
 
 alternatives ; either, to remain in the demoralizing circle of 
 aristocratical life, as it then existed in France ; or, as his de- 
 vout friends urged, to renounce, not only the evils of the 
 world, but the innocent and beneficial ties of hfe, and to aban- 
 don the duties of the high station to which Providence had 
 called him. Happy that society in which a place may be 
 found for the virtuous of the highest rank ! And thrice 
 happy the faith, which knows how to reconcile the most ex- 
 alted piety with blameless enjoyment, and with the due dis- 
 charge of our responsibilities to our fellow-men ! — (Transl.) 
 
 No. VII. 
 
 The following is the passage in Pascal's " Essay on the 
 Passion of Love," which is referred to in the Memoir as 
 indicative that he had conceived a secret and hopeless at- 
 tachment for the fascinating and high-born Charlotte de Rou- 
 annez : 
 
 " Man in a state of solitude is restless and uneasy ; com- 
 panionship is necessary to his happiness. He most usually 
 seeks it in his own condition of life, as being that which 
 affords the greatest facility for obtaining his object. But occa- 
 sionally his views take a higher direction, and the flames of 
 passion ascend to an exalted object, although he may be hope- 
 lessly restricted from the avowal of his wishes. 
 
 " When an attachment is conceived for a female of an 
 elevated station, ambition may at first co-exist with love ; but 
 the latter shortly obtains the mastery. It is a despotic pas- 
 sion, and admits of no rivalry ; it must reign alone ; every 
 other emotion must subserve and obey its dictates. 
 
 " An elevated love is more suited to fill the heart of man 
 than those more common-place feelings sometimes entertained 
 for an equal in station : ordinary objects seem but to float on 
 
458 APPENDIX. 
 
 the surface of a large capacity ; it is the intenser emotions, 
 alone, that arrest and dwell in the spirit." 
 
 The subjoined passages are yet more to the purpose : 
 " To love, without daring to reveal our passion, has its 
 sufferings, but it has also its joys. Who can describe the 
 dehght of moulding every action as in the approving view of 
 one, who is the absorbing object of our admiration ! To study 
 daily new methods of evincing our devotion, and to be as assi- 
 duous for her satisfaction, as if we were in the enjoyment of 
 her unrestricted communication ! How will the eye in a 
 moment kindle, and as quickly lose its fire ! And, although 
 we are well assured that she who is the cause of all these 
 emotions is unconscious of our feelings, who would desire to 
 forego the secret joy that their fluctuations afford us ? We 
 could wish for a hundred tongues to reveal to the beloved 
 object our thoughts ; but as that privilege is denied us, we 
 seek a substitute for it in the sileut eloquence of action ! " 
 " The first effect of genuine love is to inspire respect." 
 " The deepest attachment may often be conceived when the 
 beloved object is unconscious of the passion ; and the most 
 inviolate fidelity preserved, when even our love itself is un- 
 known." 
 
 These and other sentiments in this elegant production, do 
 indeed furnish strong internal evidence that the portraiture of 
 pure and elevated passion it presents is drawn from far deeper 
 sources than a general knowledge of nature and the heart. 
 They bear all the stamp of personal experience. It was a 
 " love " probably that was " never told ; " nurtured in the 
 silent recesses of his own bosom ; not, perhaps, to the last, 
 wholly extinguished ; but abandoned through hopelessness, or 
 superseded by yet higher and nobler aspirations. Whatever 
 it was, however, it is now gone down with his ashes to that 
 oblivion, in which are wrapt many of the secret passages that 
 have adorned or afflicted the feverish existence of genius and 
 virtue! (Transl.) 
 
APPENDIX. 459 
 
 No. VIII. 
 
 The following is a literal transcript of a series of memo- 
 randa, which have been found in Pascal's own hand-writing, on 
 the margin of the manuscript copy of the beautiful fragment 
 of his 19th Letter. 
 
 — " Le jour du jugement. 
 
 — C'est done Ih, mon pfere, ce que vous appellez le sens de 
 Jansenius ; c'est done cela que vous faites entendre et au 
 Pape, et aux ev^ques. 
 
 — Si les J^suites ^taient corrumpus, et qu'il fiit vrai que 
 nous fussions seuls, k plus forte raison devrions nous demeurer. 
 
 — Quod helium firmavit, pax ficta non auferat. 
 
 — Neque benedictione, neque maledictione movetur, sicut 
 angelus domini. 
 
 — On attaque la plus grande des v6rit€s chr^tiennes, qui est 
 r amour de la v6rit6. 
 
 — Si la signature signifie cela, qu'on souifre que nous I'ex- 
 pliquions, afin qu'il n'y ait point d' equivoque : car il faut 
 demeurer d' accord que plusieurs croient que signer marque 
 consentement. 
 
 — On n'est pas capable de ne pas croire, et on seroit 
 coupable de jurer sans croire. 
 
 — Mais vous pouvez vous etre trompe? Je jure que je 
 crois que je puis m'gtre tromp6 ; mais je ne jure pas que je 
 me suis tromp6. 
 
 — Se le rapporteur ne signait pas, I'arrSt serait invalide ; 
 si la bulle n'^tait pas sign6e elle serait valable ; ce n'est done 
 pas .... 
 
 — Cela avec Escobar les met au haut bout ; mais ils ne le 
 prennent pas ainsi ; et t^moignant le d^plaisir de se voir entre 
 Dieu et le Pape .... 
 
 — Je suis fach6 de vous dire tout : je ne fais qu'un r^cit. ' 
 
 X 2 
 
460 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 It may be interesting to the reader to see a few more of 
 similar memoranda relating to others of the Letters, which 
 have been collected from manuscripts. 
 
 Pensies ef Notes povr les Provinciales. 
 
 Lettres des 6tablissements violents des J6suites partout. 
 
 — Aveuglement surnaturel. 
 
 — Cette morale qui a en tSte un Dieu crucifix. 
 
 &6) II y a diverses voies pour y arriver. St. Ignace a pris 
 les unes ; et maintenant d'autres. II ^toit meilleur pour le 
 commencement de proposer la pauvret^ et la retraite. II a 
 (it€ meilleur ensuite de prendre le reste. Car cela eut effray6 
 de commencer par le haut ; cela est contre nature. 
 
 Notes ecrites de la main d'Amauld. Contre-notes de la main de Pascal. 
 
 Ep. 16. Aquavivse. De for- 
 
 mandis coricionatoribus. 
 P. 373. Longfe falluntur qui 
 
 ad irrigaturae. 
 
 Ep. 1 . Mutii Vitelesci. 
 P. 289. Quamvis enim probfe 
 
 norim — et absolutum. 
 P. 390. Dolet ac queritur— 
 
 esse modestiam. 
 
 Tons les Pferes pour les eon- 
 former El son imagination, 
 au lieu de former sa pensde 
 sur celle des Pferes. 
 
 Modestie. 
 
 LaMesse. Jenesaiscequ'ildit. 
 
 Politique. 
 
 Par un malheur ou plut6t un 
 bonheur singnlier de la so- 
 ciety, ce que Ton fait est 
 attribu6 a tous. 
 
APPENDIX. 461 
 
 Pour parlerdes vices personnels.' 
 
 — Belle lettre d' Aquaviva, 1 8 Juin, 1611, centre les opinions 
 probables. 
 
 St. AugQstin. 282. 
 
 — Et pour S. Thomas, les lieus ou il a traits expres les 
 matiferes. 
 
 Climaq. pour 1 277. 
 
 Et nouveaut^s. 
 
 Et ce n'est pas une excuse aux Sup^rieurs de ne 1' avoir pas 
 su, car ils le devaient savoir. 279. 194. 
 
 — Aquoquiez a confess^ les femmes. 
 
 II est permis de ne point donner les b^n^fices qui n'ont pas 
 charge d'imes aux plus dignes. Le Concile de Trente semble 
 dire le contraire ; mais voici comme il le prouve : " Car si 
 cela ^toit, tons les pr^lats seraient en itat de damnation, car 
 ils en usent tous de la sorte. 
 
 Et en un autre endroit, oil il met les conditions necessaires 
 pour qu'un p6ch6 soit mortel, il y met tant de circonstances, 
 qu'S. peine p^che-t-on mortellement : et aprfes I'avoir ^tabli, il 
 s'6crie ; " O que le jong du Seigneur est doux et l^ger ! " (22.) 
 
 Et ailleurs : " Ton n'est pas oblig^ de donner I'aumone de 
 son superflu, dans les communes n^cessites des pauvres : si 
 le contraire 6tait vrai, il faudrait condamner la plupart des 
 riches et de leurs confesseurs." 
 
 — Ces raisons Ik m'impatientaient, lorsque je dit au P6re 
 Mais qui empeche de dire qu'ils le sont ? C'est ce qu'il a 
 prevu aussi en ce lieu, me r6pondit-il, ou aprfes avoir dit ; "Si 
 cela 6toit vrai, les plus riches seraient damn^s ; " il ajoute : 
 " A cela Arragonius r^pond qu'ils le sont aussi ; et Baunez 
 ajoute de plus que leurs confesseurs le sont de mSme ; mais je 
 reponds avec Valentia, autre J6suite, et d'autres auteurs, qu'il 
 J a plusieurs raisons pour excuser ces riches et leurs con- 
 fesseurs. (22.) 
 
463 APPENDIX. 
 
 — J'6tois ravi de ce raisonnement, quand il en finit par 
 celui-ci : 
 
 " Si cette opinion ^tait vraie pour la restitution, 6 qu'il y 
 aurait de restitutions k faire. 
 
 0, mon Pfere, lui dis-je, la bonne raison ! — O ! me dit le 
 Pfere, que voil^ un homme commode ! — Mon Pfere, repondis-je, 
 sans vos casuistes qu'il y aurait de monde damn^ ! O que 
 vous rendez large la voie qui mfene au ciel ! O qu'il y a de 
 gens qui la trouvent ! Voilk un 
 
 Qu'avez vous gagn6 en m' accusant de railler des choses 
 saintes ? Vous ne gagnerez pas plus en m' accusant d'impos- 
 ture.* (Barr6.) 
 
 — Je ne suis point h^r^tique : je n'ai point soutenu les 
 5 Propositions. Vous le dites, et ne le prouvez pas. Je dis 
 que vous avez dit cela, et je le prouve. 
 
 — Vous me m^nacez ? 
 
 — Je vous dis que vous 6tes des imposteurs. Je vous le 
 prouve ; et que vous ne le cachez pas, et que vous I'autorisez 
 insolemmeut. — Brisacier, Minier, D'Alby. 
 
 — Quand vous croyiez M. Puys ennemi de la society, il 
 6tait indigne pasteur de son 6glise, ignorant h^retique, de 
 mauvaise foi et moeurs. Depuis, il est digne pasteur, de bonne 
 foi et moeurs. f 
 
 — Calomnier, " bsec est magna csecitas cordis." 
 
 — N'en pas voir le mal, " hsec est major ceecitas cordis." 
 Le defendre, au lieu de s'en confesseur comme d'un p6eh6, 
 "haec tunc hominem concludit profunditas iniquitatis," &c. 
 2. 30, Prosper. 
 
 — Ceux qui examinent les livres, je suis stir de leur appro- 
 bation. Mais ceux qui ne lisent que les titres, et ceux-lk sont 
 la plus grande nombre, ceux-l&, pourraient croire sur votre 
 parole, ne supposant pas que des religieux fussent des impos- 
 teurs. (Barr6.) 
 
 * Letter 11th. f Letter 15th. 
 
APPENDIX. 463 
 
 — Les saints subtilisent pour se trouver criminels, et ac- 
 cuser leurs meilleures actions. Et ceux-ci subtilisent pour ex- 
 cuser les plus m^chantes. 
 
 — Jamais homme n'a eu si bonne cause que moi ; et jamais 
 d'autres n'ont donn6 si belle prise que vous. 
 
 — Les gens du monde ne croient pas Stre dans les bonnes 
 voies. 
 
 — Ne pretendez pas que ceci se passe en dispute : on fera 
 imprimer vos ouvrages entiers et en frangais, et on fera tout le 
 monde juge. 
 
 — Plus ils marquent de faiblesse en ma personne, plus ils 
 autorisent ma cause. 
 
 ^- Vous dites que je suis h^r^tique. Cela est-il permis ? 
 Et si vous ne craignez pas que les hommes ne rendent justice, 
 ne craignez vous pas que Dieu ne la rende ? 
 
 — C'est p^cli6 de croire tem^rairement les medisances. 
 (" Non credebitur temeri ealumniatori." S. Aug.) " Fecitque 
 cadendo undique me eadere," par la maxime dela m^disance, 
 
 — Mentiris impudentissimfe.* 
 
 — Je suis seul contra trente mille ? Point. Gardez-vous 
 la cour, vous Timposture ; moi la v6rit6 : c'est toute ma force; 
 si je le perds je suis perdu. Je ne manquerai pas d' accusa- 
 tions et de persecutions. Mais j'ai la v^rit^ et nous verrons 
 qui I'emportera.-f 
 
 — M. Amauld et ses amis protestent qu'il les condamne en 
 elles-mtoes, et en quelque lieu oti elles se trouvent ; que si 
 elles sent dans Jans^nius il les j condamne ; que quand m6me 
 qu' elles n'y soient pas, si le sens h^r^tique de ces propositions 
 que le Pape a condamn^ se trouve dans Jans6nius, qu'il con- 
 damne Jans^nius.J 
 
 — II y a plaisir d'etre dans un vaisseau battu de I'orage, 
 lorsqu'on est assur^ qu'il ne perira point. Les persecutions 
 qui travaillent I'Eglise sont de cette nature. 
 
 * Letter 15. 
 t See these rudimental thoughts finely amplified in the opening of 
 Letter 17. t Letter 18. 
 
464 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. IX. 
 
 I am tempted to transcribe the following passage from 
 Pascal's miscellaneous " Pens^es," -wbich I believe has not 
 before appeared in English, because, although it has no espe- 
 cial reference to any preceding topic in this work, it seems, 
 with other principles of composition laid down by him, to 
 furnish, in a great measure the key to the purity and force of 
 his style : 
 
 " Eloquence is the art of expressing things in such a man- 
 ner that, 1st, the persons addressed shall listen, not only 
 without pain, but with satisfaction ; and 2ndly, they shall feel 
 an interest in the subjects discussed, and shall accompany 
 them with beneficial reflections. It consists, then, in a corres- 
 pondence aimed at, on the one hand, between the mind of the 
 writer or speaker, and the feelings of those who are addressed ; 
 and, on the other, between the thoughts as they arise in the 
 mind, and the language of which they are made the vehicle ; 
 all which supposes a profound study of the heart of man, to 
 acquire j*- knowledge of its most secret springs, and to draw 
 out the desired emotions by appropriate language. We ought 
 to put ourselves in the place of those whom we address, and 
 to make trial upon our own heart of any touching or forcible 
 turn of discourse ; in order to ascertain whether the one is 
 calculated to affect the other ; and thus be assured of carrying 
 with us the sympathies of the hearer. We ought, as much 
 as possible, to study simplicity and nature ; to give no undue 
 elevation to what is in itself low, nor to lower what is great. 
 It is not enough that a thought or an illustration be intrin- 
 sically beautiful ; it must be appropriate to our subject, in 
 which nothing ought to be excessive, and nothing deficient." * 
 
 * See remarks in M. Villemain's Essay on Pascal's style, &c. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 No. X. 
 
 465 
 
 Document entitled " Profession de Foi" found in PascaPs 
 handwriting after his death. 
 
 " I love poverty, because Jesus Christ loved the poor. I 
 value property, because it affords the means of assisting the 
 distressed. I keep faith with every one. I do no injury to 
 those who have injured me ; but I wish their condition to be 
 Uke mine, in that I am susceptible of neither evil nor good, on 
 the part of man. I seek to be just, true, sincere and faithful 
 to all ; I have an especial tenderness towards those with whom 
 Providence has connected me ; and, whether alone, or under 
 the eye of my fellow-men, I perform every action as in the 
 sight of God, who will judge them, and to whom I have con- 
 secrated all. 
 
 " These are my convictions ; and I bless every day my 
 Redeemer, who has inspired me with them ; and who, out of a 
 man full of weakness, misery, concupiscence, pride, and am- 
 bition, has formed one exempt from all these evils, by the 
 power of his grace. To him be ascribed all the glory : in 
 myself is nothing but wretchedness and error." 
 
 X 5 
 
466 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. XI. 
 
 Writing found on the person of Pascal, after his Death. 
 
 Erroneously described as an "Amulet." See Memoir. 
 
 ( Literally transcribed from the corrected copy of the original in M. Faugere's 
 edition.) 
 
 L'an de grace, 1634. 
 
 Lundi, 23 Novembre, jour de St. Clement, Pape et martyr, et autres au 
 
 martyrologe. 
 
 Veille de St. Chrysogone, martyr, et autres. 
 
 Depuis environ dix heures et demie du soir jusques environ minuit et demi. 
 
 Feu. 
 
 Dieu d' Abraham, Dieu d'Isaac, Dieu de Jacob, 
 
 Non des Philosophes et des savants. 
 
 Certitude. Certitude. Sentiment. Joie. Paix.* 
 
 Dieu de J^sus Christ. 
 
 Deum raeum, et Deum vestrum. 
 
 Ton Dieu sera mon Dieu. — 
 
 Oubli du monde et de tout hormis Dieu. 
 
 II ne se trouve que par les voies enseign&s dans I'Evangile. 
 
 Grandeur de I'^me humaine. 
 
 P^re juste, le monde ne t'a point connu, mais je t'ai connu.f 
 
 Joie, joie, joie, pleurs de joie. 
 
 Je m'en suis separ^ 
 
 Dereliquerunt me fontem aquae vivse. 
 
 Mon Dieu me quitterez vous ? 
 
 Que je n'en sois pas s^pare eternellement. 
 
 Cette est la vie ^temelle qu'ils te connoissent seul vrai Dieu et celui que 
 tu as envoy^ J. C.J 
 
 J&us Christ — 
 
 J&us Christ 
 
 Je m'en suis s^pare ; je I'ai fui, r^nonce, crucifix. 
 Que je n'en sois jamais s^pare. 
 
 II ne se conserve que par les voies enseign^es dans I'Evangile. 
 Renonciation totale et douce.§ 
 &c. 
 
 '■f In another copy on parchment — " Certitude, joie, certitude, sentiment, vue, joie." 
 
 t St. John ch. xvii. ver. 25. % Idem, ver. 3. 
 
 § The parchment copy has these lines in addition : — 
 
 " Souraission totale k J^sus Christ et ^ mon directeur. 
 
 " Eternellement en joie pour un jour d'exercise sur lateire. (a) 
 
 " Non ohliviscar sennones tuos. Amen." 
 
 {a) In the margin is the following Note in the writing of the Abb£ Perier ; — " On 
 n'a pu veil- distinctement que certains mots de ces deux lignes." 
 
APPENDIX. 467 
 
 No. XII. 
 
 The passage contained in the annexed Autograph is taken from a large 
 collection of detached memoranda, published for the first time by 
 M. Faugfere, in the work already referred to, from the original manu- 
 scripts. This division of these fragments is entitled " Pens^es sur les 
 Jesuits," and the portion transcribed, as far as it can be decyphered, is 
 as follows : — 
 
 " Si mes Lettres sont condamn&s k Rome, ce que j'y condamne est 
 condamne dans le ciel. 
 
 — Ad tuum, domine Jesu, tribunal appello. 
 
 — Vous m^mes ^tes corruptibles. 
 
 — J'ai craint que je n'eusse mal &rit, me voyant condamne ; mais 
 I'exemple de tant de pieux ecrits me fait croire au contraire. II n'est pas 
 permis de bien &rire. 
 
 — Tant I'Inquisition est corrompue ou ignorante ! 
 
 — II est meillieur d'obfir k Dieu qu'aux hommes. 
 
 — Je ne crains rien, je n'espfere rien. * Les ^v^ques ne sont pas ainsi. 
 Le Port Royal craint, et c'est une mauvaise politique de les separer ; t car 
 ils ne craindront plus et se feront plus craindre. 
 
 — Je ne crains pas m^me vos censures personnelles,J si elles ne sont 
 fondees sur celles de la tradition. 
 
 * See Provincial Letter, No. 17. 
 
 t Allusion is liere made to tlie threats of dispersion -which began to be directed 
 against the Solitaries of the Port Royal. (Transl.) 
 
 X This -word is written in an abbreviated form, and it is not certain that " person- 
 nelles " is the right expression. 
 
 Pascal was interred in the Church of St. Etienne du Mont. Over 
 his grave was placed the following Epitaph, written by Aimonius 
 Pkoust de Chameourg, Professor of Law in the University of Orleans. 
 On the opposite page will be found an attempted paraphrase. 
 
468 APPENDIX. 
 
 Nobilissimfe Scutarii Blasii Pascalis Tumulus. 
 
 D. O. M. 
 
 BLASIUS PASCALIS SCUTARIUS NOBILIS HIC JACET. 
 
 Pietas si non moritur, aetemilm vivet, 
 
 Vir conjugii nescius, 
 
 Religione sanctus, virtute clarus, 
 
 Doctrinl Celebris, 
 
 Ingenio acutus, 
 
 Sanguine et animo pariter illustris ; 
 
 Doctus, non Doctor, 
 
 .^quitatis amator, 
 
 Veritatis defensor, 
 
 Virglnum ultor; 
 
 Christianae moralis corrumptorum acerrimus hostis. 
 
 Hunc Rhetores amant facundum, 
 
 Hunc Scriptores n6runt elegantem. 
 
 Hunc Mathematici stupent profundum, 
 
 Hunc Philosophi quserunt sapientem, 
 
 Hunc Doctores laudant Theologum, 
 
 Hunc Pii venerantur austerum. 
 
 Hunc omnes mirantur, omnibus ignotum. 
 
 Omnibus licfet notum. 
 
 Quid plura, Viator, quem perdidimus 
 
 PASCALEM 
 
 Is LuDOVicus erat Montaltius 
 
 Heu! 
 
 Satis dixi, urgent lachrymse, 
 
 Sileo. 
 
 Ei qui benfe precaberis, bene tibi eveniat, 
 
 Et vivo et mortuo. 
 
 Vixit An. 39 M. 2. Obiit an. rep. Sal. 1662. 19 Kal. Aug. 
 
 nAETO nASKAAIOS. 
 
 *Er ! *ET ! nEN0O2 020N I 
 
 Cecidit Pascalis 
 
 Heu ! Heu ! qualis luctus ! 
 
 Posuit A. P. D. C. moerens Aurelian. Canonista. 
 
 b 
 
 
APPENDIX. 469 
 
 The tomb of the illustrious Blaise Pascal. 
 
 D. 0. M. 
 
 Beneath this spot rest the mortal remains of 
 
 BLAISE PASCAL. 
 
 If piety never dies, his memory will be immortal : 
 
 He was one 
 
 "Whose life, devoted to celibacy. 
 
 Was sanctified by Religion, and eminent for Virtue. 
 
 Unrivalled in erudition, 
 
 Possessing unbounded intellectual power, 
 
 By descent, and by qualities of mind, alike illustrious : 
 
 Learned, yet not bearing the titles of Learning ; 
 
 A lover of equity, 
 
 A Champion of Truth, 
 
 The avenger of slandered, unprotected, solitary Women ; 
 
 Uncompromising foe to the corrupters of Christian morality -. 
 
 In him 
 
 The Orator admired a model of Eloquence, 
 
 The Critic confessed the most elegant of Writers, 
 
 The Scientific, the profoundest of Mathematicians ; 
 
 The Philosopher sought from him the deepest solutions of 
 
 the wonders of Nature : 
 
 His Theology was the praise of the casuist, 
 
 His piety the admiration of the devout : 
 
 Behold, then, the man, by all admired. 
 
 To all unknown. 
 
 And, now, revealed to all: 
 
 Reader ! He whom we lament among the dead, 
 
 PASCAL, 
 
 Was once, Alas ! Ludovicus Montaltius. 
 
 What more need I say? Your tears reply. 
 
 My words are ended. 
 
 To the holy and prayerful, all shall be well. 
 
 In Death or in Life. 
 
 He died in the year 1662, Aged 39 Years, 2 Months. 
 Posuit, &c. &c. &c. 
 
470 APPENDIX. 
 
 The stone bearing the preceding Epitaph becoming effaced by the 
 feet of worshippers in the Church, another Inscription was 
 placed on a Tablet adjoining, by M. Perier, his Brother-in-Law, 
 in the following chaste and modest terms. 
 
 Pro columna superiori, 
 Sub tumulo marmoreo, 
 
 Jacet Blasius Pascal, Claramontanus, Ste- 
 phani Pascal, in Supremd apud Avernos subsidi- 
 orum Curi^ Preesidis filius. Post aliquot annos 
 in severiori secessu et divinse legis meditatione 
 transactos, feliciter et religiosfe, in pace Christi 
 vita functus, anno 1662, ^t. 39. die 19 Augusti. 
 Optasset ille quidem prse paupertatis et humilitatis 
 studio etiam his sepulchri honoribus carere, mor- 
 tuusque etiamntim latere, qui vivus semper latere 
 voluerat. Verum ejus hac in parte votis cum 
 cedere non posset Florinus Perier in eadem sub- 
 sidiorum Curisl Consiliarus, ac Gilbertse Pascal, 
 Blasii Pascal sororis, conjux amantissimus, banc 
 tabulam posuit, qui et suam ilium pietatem signi- 
 ficaret, et Christianos ad Christiana precum officia 
 sibi et defuncto profuture cohortaretur. 
 
APPENDIX. 471 
 
 Before the higher column. 
 Under the marble tomb. 
 
 Lie the remains of Blaise Pascal, son of Stephen 
 Pascal of Clermont, President of the Court of Aids 
 in Auvergne. 
 
 After a few short years spent in strict retire- 
 ment, and amidst profound meditations on the 
 Divine Law, he departed this life, calmly and 
 devoutly, in the peace of Christ, on the 19th of 
 August, 1662, and in the 39th year of his age. 
 
 His poverty of spirit and deep humility would 
 have led him to forego all honours of sepulture, 
 and in death to repose unknown, as he would have 
 passed his life in privacy. Unable, however, to 
 comply with this his desire, Florinus Perier, 
 Councillor in the said Court of Subsidies, and 
 Gilberte Pascal his beloved Wife, and the Sister 
 of Blaise Pascal, have erected this Tablet, that by 
 means of it, they might both commemorate his 
 piety, and exhort all Christian persons to the holy 
 duty of giving to him and to themselves the benefit 
 of their prayers. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Absolution, must be given, under penalty of mortal sin, to any one who 
 cites a " probable" opinion in defence of his sins, according to Suarez, 
 72 ; must be granted as a declaration of penitence, even though 
 the confessor knows it to be insincere, according to Filiutius, Suarez, 
 Bauny and Caussin, 162 — 164; may be given to one habitually living 
 in sin, if it is inconvenient to leave it off — Bauny, 166. Penitence not 
 necessai-y to absolution ; heresy to assert that it is, according to Pin- 
 tereau, 167 ; the contrary maintained by Suarez and Comitolus, 168; 
 but the " probability" of this doctrine established by Diana, Rastado, 
 Vasques, Fagundes, and Escobar, 170. Penitence held to be rather 
 injurious than otherwise to the benefits of absolution, by Va- 
 lentia, 171 
 
 Actual grace, a Jesuit's definition of, 40 
 
 Alby, a Jesuit, slanders M. Puys, 285 ; his retractation, - •• 286 
 
 Almsgiving, the duty of, asserted by Cardinal Cajetan, and St. Thomas 
 Aquinas, 199; by Augustine, 206; evaded by Vasquez, 78, 199, et 
 seq. ; and by Diana, 78, 202, 225 
 
 Alvarez Diego, his views of grace, 377 
 
 Ambition, no sin, according to Escobar, 144 
 
 Anecdote illustrating the absurdity of the Dominican doctrines of suffi- 
 cient and effectual grace, - 22 
 Annat, R. P., a Jesuit, his views of sin, 43. Letters to him, 331, 369, 
 400. Memoir of, 453. His work entitled, " The good faith of the Jan- 
 senists," 389 
 
474 APPENDIX. 
 
 Aristotle, Jesuitically cited by Bauny, 53 ; the true meaning of the pas- 
 sage, 54, - 58 
 Arnauld, his Propositions condemned by the Sorbonne, not as to their 
 truth, but as to their temerity, 3. Censure of him, 29, ei sey. Asserts 
 his belief in transubstantiation, 306. Memoir of him, 431 
 Ascetics, ridiculed by Le Moine, - 143 
 Assassin, Jesuits' definition of one, 78 
 Augustine quoted, 5, 31, 52, 56, 181, 184, 189, 190, 206, 228, 229, 259. 
 
 274 
 
 Artifices of Jesuits to evade authority of Scripture, Councils,, and 
 
 Popes, 77 
 
 Bankrupt allowed to conceal his property from his creditors, by Lessius, 
 Escobar, VaSques, Castro Palao, and Bauny, 125, 126, 215 
 
 Baronius, on the authority of Councils, - 346 
 
 Basil quoted, 387 
 
 Bauny, a Jesuit, his Catalogue of Sins, 42 ; quotes Aristotle falsely, 53 
 his doctrines on absolution, 67 ; his writings censured at Rome, 82 ; 
 asserts that opinions acquire probability by time, 83 ; that if opinions 
 are not censured by the Church, they are approved, 83 ; that priests 
 may perform mass after mortal sin, 88. On duties of servants, 91 ; 
 allows them to steal, 92. His summary of offences, 22. His paradise 
 opened, 138 
 
 Bellarmine, on Councils, 346 
 
 Bernard, on slander, 329 
 
 Boniface VIII., Pope, pronounces those heretical, who declare the King 
 of France not subject to him, 411 
 
 Bribery of a judge, sanctioned by Castro Palao, Escobar, Molina, and 
 Layman, 118 — 120, 130 
 
 Brisacier, asserts that the Nuns of Port Royal make no invocations to 
 saints — denied by Pascal, 193. Censured for his calumnies by Arch- 
 bishop of Paris, 283 
 
 Cajetan, Cardinal, on almsgiving, 1 99 — 204 
 
 Calumnies of the Jesuits, 278 
 
 Calumny, no sin, according to Dicastillus and other Casuists, 280 ; so 
 also Caramuel, 289. Effects of this doctrine illustrated Vy an anec- 
 dote, 282 
 Casuists, preferable to ancient Fathers, according to Cellot and Regin- 
 aldus, 73, 89 
 Caramuel, on probable opinions, 84 
 
APPENDIX. 475 
 
 Chrysostom, quoted by Arnauld, 3 1 
 
 Confession. Two confessors recommended by Escobar, one for venial, 
 and the other for mortal sins, 158. Jesuits' evasions of, 158 
 
 Contract of Mohatra, - 123 
 
 Councils, on the authority of, 346 
 
 Crasset, a Jesuit, denounced as an impostor by the Bishop of Orleans, 
 
 284 
 
 D'Alba, Jean, story, 92 
 
 D'Anjou, a Jesuit, his calumnies, 284 
 
 Denis, first Bishop of Paris, the place of his burial questioned, 394 
 
 De Sacy, Louis, Isaac (Le Maitre,) Memoir of, - 446 
 
 " Devotion made Easy," a book by Le Moine, 142 
 
 Dicastillus defends the use of calumny, 280 ; his violent ab.use of Quiroga, 
 a Capuchin, ib. 
 
 Diana quoted, 70, 71, 73, 75, et passim ; not a Jesuit, 75. On alms- 
 giving, 78. On Lent, 81 
 Dominicans maintained the true doctrines of grace under Clement VIII. 
 and Paul V., against MoUna and the Jesuits, 24 
 Dress, vanity in, allowed to woman, by Escobar and Bauny, 151 ; but 
 only while young; by Le Plaine, 152 
 DueUing defended by Reginaldus, Escobar, Hurtado de Mendoza, Caspar 
 Hurtado, Layman, Petrus Hurtado, Sanchez, and Navarrus, 97 — 104. 
 Attempted aboUtion of, by Louis XIV., 103 
 
 Effectual grace, the Dominican doctrine of, 15, 22, 380 
 
 Escobar, his blasphemies, 64 ; views on fasting, 65 ; biographical note of, 
 
 quoted, 215 
 
 Fasting, Jesuit rules for, 65 
 
 Filiutius on Fasting, 66. On probable opinions, 70 
 
 Gambling; a wife may steal her husband's money to play — Escobar, 153. 
 Garasse, ^is blasphemies, 1 92 
 
 Gluttony, allowed by Escobar, 147 ; but not so as to cause sickness, ib. 
 Grace, Jansenist views of, 5 ; sufficiency of, 15, 24 
 
 Gravina, his testimony against the Jesuit missionaries, 6 1 
 
 Gregory Nazianzen, quoted, 184 
 
 Hallier, M., his remarks on Father Bauny's doctrine of sins of ignorance, 
 43 ; censures Bauny, 82 
 
476 APPENDIX. 
 
 Halloix, a Jesuit, maintains the purity of Origen's faith, 349 
 
 Hillary quoted, - " 188 
 
 Homicide of an enemy, defended by Navarrus, Escobar, Molina, Regi- 
 naldus, Emmanuel Sa, Sotas, Lessius, Henriquez, Filiutius, Hurtado de 
 Mendoza, Hereau, Becan, Flahaut, Lecount, Peter Navarre, Baldelli, 
 Azos, Tannerus, Layman, Launy, Caramuel, 104 — 114, 238; by Vic- 
 toria, 261. Jesuit maxim on, refuted from Scripture and the Fathers, 
 257. Opinion of Augustine, - 259 
 
 Indolence, Escobar's definition of, 146 
 
 Inquisition, remarks on the, - 406 
 
 Jansenist ; may a Jesuit kill one ? point discussed by Launy and Cara- 
 muel, 113—116 
 
 Jansenists, calumnies against them, 337 
 
 Jarrige, a Jesuit, who became a Protestant, hung in eflSgy, 321, and, note. 
 
 Jesuits, unite with the Dominicans on condition of the latter asserting 
 the doctrine of sufficient grace, although qualified by that of effectual 
 grace, 22. The immoral tendency of their doctrines, 45. Their new 
 moral code, 57 ; suit themselves to all opinions, 60 ; conceal from the 
 heathens the fact of the crucifixion, 61 ; permit converts to practise 
 idolatry, 61 ; their licenses in fasting, 65 ; doctrine of probable opi- 
 nions, 68 ; list of writers quoted by Gravida, 74 ; their Society answer- 
 able for all the writings of its members, 141 
 
 Launy ; his doctrines censured by the University of Louvaine, 248, 262, 
 
 but maintained by Desbois and others, 248 
 
 Layman, a Jesuit, - 71 
 
 Le Maitre, Letter XX. attributed to him, 402, note. 
 
 Le Moine; his views on grace, 8; on sin, 44. His " Devotion made 
 
 Easy," 142. His " Praises of Modesty," 191. A profane Poem by 
 
 him, ib. 
 
 Liancour, Duke de, Appendix, ' 434 
 
 Longueville, Duchess de, Appendix, 445 
 
 Love of God; sufficient to feel it some time before death. Suarez, 172, 
 
 at the article of death ; Vasquez, ib., at festivals, ib. — one every year; 
 
 Hurtado, ib. — every five years ; I-Ienriquez, ib. — this is too rigorous 
 
 according to Filiutius, ib. ; Scotus, his views on, 173 
 
 Lying and false Swearing — rules for practising without sin, according to 
 
 Sanchez, Escobar, Filiutius, and others, 148, 149 
 
APPENDIX. 477 
 
 Marca, Archbishop of Toulouse, on Councils, 347 
 
 Mass, Jesuits' rules for attendance at, 153. Expeditious way of hearing 
 
 one, 1 54 
 
 Meynieri his false quotations of the Canons of Council of Trent, 318. 
 Mohatra, contract of, 123 
 
 Molina, on expelled monks, 90 
 
 Molinists, the, 7, - 8 
 
 Monks, more plentiful at the Sorbonne, than reasons, 35 
 
 Monk, may lay aside his habit for the purpose of stealing, and other sins, 
 
 id furetur occulta vel fornicatur, - 8 
 
 Montrouge, M., Judge of the Chatelet, has a man flogged in spite of 
 
 " probable opinions." 93 
 
 Motives, Casuists, method of regulating, 94 
 
 Nicole, supposed to be author of Letter XVIII*, 359, memoir of, 443 
 
 Palaus Castrus on Probabilities, - 90 
 
 Pascal, his indistinct views of finished redemption, 5 1 , and note ; shows 
 undue veneration for the Virgin Mary, 140 ; devoted to many of the 
 doctrines of Papacy while opposing its social and moral corruptions, 
 140, 193, 303—305 ; declares the heresy of Geneva to consist in deny- 
 ing the real presence, 307 ; declares there is no salvation out of the 
 Romish communion, - 384 
 
 Penance, mitigation of, adopted by the Jesuits, - - 110 
 
 Perjury, rules for practising without sin, according to Bauny, 150 
 
 Pope's authority over the King of France discussed, - 4U 
 
 Port Royal, the nuns of, slandered by Brisacier, 193 ; defended by Pascal 
 from the charge of not invoking saints, nor having^ images, ib., and 
 the doctrine of transubstantiation, 303 ; accused of Deism by Filleau, 
 323 ; composers of the " Secret Chapelet of the Holy Sacrament," 
 
 325 
 Ponce, Basil, 67 
 
 Priests may kill their enemies, according to Launy, 2 ; Caramuel, 113, 
 
 114 
 Probable Opinions, the doctrines, 68 
 
 Propaganda, interdict on proceedings of Jesuit missionaries, - 61 
 
 Proximate Power, the doctrine of, ... 7 
 
 Rastado, Thomas, on Jesuit practices amongst the heathen, . 61 
 
478 APPENDIX. 
 
 Raynauld, a Savoyard Jesuit; his censure of the Apostles' Creed, 313, 
 
 note. 
 Reginaldus, 73, - 89 
 
 Regret, the Jesuit doctrine of, 171 
 
 Reservation, mental, 147 et seq. 245 
 
 Restitution of stolen property. Jesuit regulations to avoid, 131, 134 
 Rich need not give to the poor. Escobar, 145 
 
 Ridicule, a lawful weapon against error, 179 ; instances of from Scrip- 
 ture, 180 ; defended by Chrysostom, Augustine, Jerome, TertuUian, 
 Irenaeus, and other Fathers, 181, 182 
 
 Rouannez, Duke de. Memoir of, 454 
 
 Rouannez, Charlotte de, Mdlle. Ixvii 
 
 St. Emmanuel, 69, 70 
 
 St. Cyran, M. ; accused of Calvinism by the Jesuits, 314. Instructor and 
 spiritual father of Amauld, 432 
 
 Sanchez; various abominable doctrines, 58, 71, 72, 90 
 
 Saurez ; Jesuits, 72 
 
 Sancius, allows a priest to officiate while under mortal sins, 88 
 
 Sanctorel, a Jesuit, maintains Popes' authority over the King of France, 
 
 412 
 Seduction, no sin according to Bauny, 150 
 
 Sequenet, his work on the Holy Virginity, 335 
 
 Simony defended by Jesuits, 85 ; evaded by Valentia, Sanchez, Escobar, 
 Tannerus, 207, et seq. . 229 
 
 Sorbonne, dispute of the, 1 ; trifling of the Doctors In the case of M. Ar- 
 nauld's propositions, - 8 
 
 Stealing can be done without sin, according to Lessius, Escobar, and Mo- 
 lina, 127, 128 
 Sufficient grace, the doctrine admitted in terms by the Dominicans, but 
 denied in reality, 24 
 
 Tannerus, defends Simony, 86 
 
 TertuUian, quoted, 182 
 
 Thomists (New) , their views on grace, 8 
 
 Transubstantiation held by Pascal and the Port Royalists, 306 
 
 " Unam Sanctam" Bull, not binding in France, 411 
 
 Usury practically allowed, by means of abominable evasions, by Escobar 
 
 and Bauny, 121, 122 
 
APPENDIX. 479 
 
 Valentia defends Simony, ■• 86 
 
 Valerian, a Capuchin, slandered by the Jesuits, 294 ; his defence, 295 
 Vanity a gift from above, according to Vhie Garasse, 145 
 
 Villalobos, - 88 
 
 Virgile, St., excommunicated by the Pope, for maintaining the existence 
 
 of the Antipodes, 345 
 
 Virgin Mary, easy method to propitiate her, recommended by Bauny, 138, 
 
 140. Evidence of undue veneration for her in Pascal himself, 140 
 
 Witchcraft, sanctioned by the Casuists, 1 33 
 
 Ypres, Jansenius, Bishop of, calumnies against him by Jesuits, 300 
 
 1.. SEELEY, THAMES DITTON. 
 
:,ii'F 
 
 vMi;iSH|i|'iii!lPlil!!ll:llll!i!'i'lllii,