Sur la destruction des Jesuites en France
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No full text is imported."},{"Label":"Structure","Value":"One work-cluster page with title, alternate title context, explicit integer display year, date note, evidence note, discipline mapping, and public source evidence."}]},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Arguments","Paragraphs":["D\u0027Alembert analyzes the suppression of the Jesuits through Enlightenment anticlerical politics, education, and institutional critique."]},{"Kind":"FieldSection","Title":"Influence","Fields":[{"Label":"Influenced By","Value":"Isaac Newton, Rene Descartes, John Locke, Francis Bacon, Pierre Varignon, Denis Diderot, Voltaire, and the French academies."},{"Label":"Influence On","Value":"Enlightenment encyclopedism, mathematical physics, rational mechanics, philosophy of science, the classification of knowledge, wave mathematics, fluid mechanics, music theory, and modern secular public reason."}]},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Significance","Paragraphs":["Accepted as a direct work via Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive, Wikisource, and catalog evidence.","The work remains relevant to scientific method, mathematical modeling, rational mechanics, Enlightenment public knowledge, encyclopedia projects, philosophy of science, and secular classifications of learning."]},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Evidence Note","Paragraphs":["Accepted as a direct work via Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive, Wikisource, and catalog evidence."]},{"Kind":"RawSection","Title":"Full Text","BodyHtml":"\u003cp class=\"dz-philo__section-copy dz-philo__full-text-source\"\u003ePublic-domain full text from \u003ca href=\"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59729\"\u003eProject Gutenberg eBook #59729\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003carticle class=\"dz-philo__full-text-body\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch1\u003e\r\nAN\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nACCOUNT\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"x-smaller\"\u003eOF THE\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"larger\"\u003eDESTRUCTION\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"x-smaller\"\u003eOF THE\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"larger\"\u003eJESUITS\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"x-smaller\"\u003eIN\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nFRANCE.\u003c/h1\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr class=\"thick\" /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"ac noindent\"\u003eBy M. D’ALEMBERT.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr class=\"thick\" /\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eIncorruptam fidem professis, nec amore quisquam,\r\n\u0026amp; fine odio dicendus est.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"ar\"\u003eTacit. Hist. ch. 1.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr class=\"thick\" /\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"thick\" /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p4 ac noindent\"\u003eLONDON.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\r\nPrinted for \u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eT. Becket\u003c/span\u003e and \u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eP.\r\n A. De Hondt\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n near Surry-street in the Strand.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n MDCCLXVI.\r\n\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr class=\"chap\" /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_iii\" id=\"Page_iii\"\u003e[Pg iii]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"ac noindent\"\u003e\r\nTo M. * * *\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nCOUNSELLOR\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"smaller\"\u003eTO THE\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"larger\"\u003ePARLIAMENT\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nOF * * *.\r\n\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\r\n \u003cimg class=\"drop-cap\" src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-dalembert-destruction-of-the-jesuits-initial-p.jpg\"\r\n alt=\"Drop Cap P\" /\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"drop-cap noindent\"\u003ePERMIT,\r\nSir, an unknown,\r\nbut zealous, citizen, an\r\nimpartial historian of the Jesuits,\r\nto pay public homage to\r\nthat truely philosophical patriotism\r\nwhich you have displayed\r\nin this affair. In exciting\r\nagainst the society the zeal of\r\nthe magistrates, you have not\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_iv\" id=\"Page_iv\"\u003e[Pg iv]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nneglected to fix their enlightened\r\nattention on all those men,\r\nwho may have with this alien\r\nsociety any marks of resemblance,\r\nand who, arrayed in\r\nblack, gray, or white, may acknowledge\r\nlike it, in the very\r\nbosom of France, another country,\r\nand another sovereign.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eYou have shewn no less\r\nlights in making known to the\r\nsage Depositaries of the laws,\r\nall the Men of the party, whoever\r\nthey be, all the fanaticks,\r\nwhatever livery they wear, whether\r\nthey invoke \u003ci\u003eFrancis of\r\nParis\u003c/i\u003e, or \u003ci\u003eFrancis of Borgia\u003c/i\u003e,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_v\" id=\"Page_v\"\u003e[Pg v]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwhether they maintain \u003ci\u003epredeterminating\r\ndecrees, or congruous\r\nassistances\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf the author of this writing\r\nhad been able to ask you your\r\nopinions, his work would, without\r\ndoubt, have gained greatly\r\nby it. May you, such as it is,\r\ngrant it your suffrage, and receive\r\nit as a slender mark of\r\nthe acknowledgement which\r\nreligion, the state, philosophy,\r\nand letters owe to you.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr class=\"chap\" /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_vi\" id=\"Page_vi\"\u003e[Pg vi]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003ca name=\"ADVERTISEMENT\" id=\"ADVERTISEMENT\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eADVERTISEMENT.\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\r\n \u003cimg class=\"drop-cap_t\" src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-dalembert-destruction-of-the-jesuits-initial-t.jpg\"\r\n alt=\"Drop Cap T\" /\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"drop-cap noindent\"\u003eTHE\r\ndifferent pieces which\r\nhave been published on the\r\naffair of the Jesuits (if we except\r\ntherefrom the requisitories of the\r\nmagistrates) breathe an animosity or\r\nfanaticism in those who have undertaken\r\neither to defend or attack the\r\nsociety. We may say of these historians,\r\nwhat Tacitus said of the historians\r\nof his time: \u003ci\u003eNeutris cura posteritatis,\r\ninter infensos vel obnoxios\u003c/i\u003e:\r\n“None of them were influenced by\r\nany regard for posterity, being\r\nthemselves among the exasperated\r\nor the obnoxious.” As the author\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_vii\" id=\"Page_vii\"\u003e[Pg vii]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof the following writing professes a\r\npretty great indifference for quarrels\r\nof this sort, he has had no violence\r\nto do himself in order to tell the\r\ntruth (so far at least as he has been\r\nable to come at the knowledge of it)\r\nwith respect to the causes and the\r\ncircumstances of this singular event:\r\nif he has sometimes told it with\r\nenergy, he flatters himself at least\r\nthat he has delivered it without bitterness,\r\nand he hopes that thus his\r\nwork will not displease those, who\r\nlike him are detached from any spirit\r\nof party or interest. He has even\r\nwaited, before he published this\r\nwriting, till peoples\u0027 minds should\r\nbe no longer heated, in regard to\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_viii\" id=\"Page_viii\"\u003e[Pg viii]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe matter which is the object of it;\r\nhe will lose thereby, without doubt,\r\nsome readers, but the truth will gain\r\nby it, or at least be no loser.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe facts which are related here,\r\nare, for the most part, very well\r\nknown in France: they are less so\r\nto foreigners, for whom we have\r\nproposed to write as well as for the\r\nFrench. The reflexions which have\r\nbeen to this historical account, may\r\nbe useful to both, and perhaps still\r\nmore to the French than to foreigners.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr class=\"chap\" /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_1\" id=\"Page_1\"\u003e[Pg 1]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"figcenter\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"i009.jpg\" id=\"i009.jpg\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-dalembert-destruction-of-the-jesuits-i009.jpg\"\r\n alt=\"Decoration head of page.\" width=\"250\" height=\"90\" /\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent smaller\"\u003e\r\nON THE\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"larger\"\u003eDESTRUCTION\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nOF THE\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"larger\"\u003eJesuits in FRANCE\u003c/span\u003e.\r\n\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\r\n \u003cimg class=\"drop-cap_t\" src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-dalembert-destruction-of-the-jesuits-initial-t.jpg\"\r\n alt=\"Drop Cap T\" /\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"drop-cap noindent\"\u003eTHE middle of the century,\r\nin which we live, appears\r\ndestined to form an æra, not\r\nonly in the history of the human\r\nmind, by the revolution which seems\r\nto be preparing itself in our opinions,\r\nbut also in the history of states and\r\nempires, by the extraordinary events\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_2\" id=\"Page_2\"\u003e[Pg 2]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof which we have successively been\r\nwitnesses. In less than eight years\r\nwe have seen the earth shaken, swallow\r\nup a part of Portugal, Spain,\r\nAfrica, and Hungary, and terrify by\r\nits shocks several other nations; a\r\nwar kindled from Lisbon to Petersbourg,\r\nfor some almost uncultivated\r\ntracts in North-America; the system\r\nof Europe changing suddenly its appearance\r\nat the end of two centuries\r\nby the strict and unhoped-for union\r\nof the houses of France and Austria;\r\nthe consequences of that union, all\r\ncontrary to what it was natural to\r\nhave expected from it; the king of\r\nPrussia withstanding alone five formidable\r\npowers leagued against him,\r\nand issuing from the bosom of the\r\nstorm victorious and covered with\r\nglory; an emperor cast headlong\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_3\" id=\"Page_3\"\u003e[Pg 3]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfrom his throne; the king of Portugal\r\nassassinated; France terrifyed at a\r\nlike attempt, and trembling for a life\r\nthe most precious; lastly, the Jesuits,\r\nthose men who were thought so powerful,\r\nso firmly established, so redoubtable,\r\ndriven from the former\r\nof these two kingdoms, and destroyed\r\nin the second. This last event,\r\nwhich is, for certain, neither the\r\nmost melancholy, nor the greatest of\r\nthose which we have just recapitulated,\r\nis perhaps neither the least\r\nsurprising, nor the least susceptible\r\nof reflexions. It is for philosophers\r\nto see it such as it is, to shew it such\r\nas it is to posterity, to make known\r\nto the sages of all nations, how passion\r\nand hatred have, without knowing\r\nit, assisted reason and justice in\r\nthis unexpected catastrophe.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_4\" id=\"Page_4\"\u003e[Pg 4]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn order to explain myself with\r\nimpartiality on the destruction of the\r\nJesuits in France, the object of this\r\ntreatise, we must begin very far\r\nback, and reascend to the very origin\r\nof this famous society, place in\r\none point of view the obstacles\r\nwhich had been opposed to it, the\r\nprogresses which it has made, the\r\nblows which it has given and received;\r\nlastly, the causes apparent and\r\nsecret, which brought it to the brink\r\nof the precipice, and which have\r\nterminated by throwing it from\r\nthence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is somewhat above two hundred\r\nyears since the society of Jesuits took\r\nbirth. Its founder was a Spanish\r\ngentleman, who having had his brain\r\nheated by romances of chevalry,\r\nand afterwards by books of devotion,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_5\" id=\"Page_5\"\u003e[Pg 5]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ntook it into his head to be the Don\r\nQuixote of the Virgin\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_1_1\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_1_1\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_1_1\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[1]\u003c/a\u003e, to go and\r\npreach to infidels the christian religion\r\nwhich he knew nothing of, and\r\nto associate himself for that purpose\r\nwith those adventurers who should\r\nthink proper to join him.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt will be thought astonishing,\r\nwithout doubt, that an order, become\r\nso powerful and so celebrated,\r\nshould have for its founder such a\r\nman. This founder was however\r\nwise enough to decline entering\r\ninto the order of Theatins, which a\r\ncardinal, who some years after became\r\npope, had just established a\r\nlittle before the Jesuits began to appear.\r\nIgnatius, in spite of all the\r\nopposition which his society experienced\r\nat its birth, chose rather to be\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_6\" id=\"Page_6\"\u003e[Pg 6]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe legislator of an institution than to\r\nsubject himself to laws which were not\r\nof his making. It seems as if he foresaw,\r\nfrom that very time, the future\r\ngrandeur of his order, and the small\r\nfigure the other would make, though\r\ndestined to be in our times the cradle\r\nof a pious prelate, raised from\r\nthe bosom of that order (by an impenetrable\r\nProvidence) to the first\r\ndignities of the state and of the\r\nchurch\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_2_2\" id=\"FNanchor_2_2\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_2_2\"\r\nclass=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[2]\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIgnatius had also the wit to perceive,\r\nthat a society which made\r\nparticular profession of devotion to\r\nthe holy see, would find infallible\r\nsupport from the head of the Roman\r\nchurch, and by these means from\r\nthe catholic princes, its dear and\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_7\" id=\"Page_7\"\u003e[Pg 7]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfaithful sons; and that thus this\r\nsociety would triumph at length over\r\nthe transitory obstacles which it might\r\nmeet with at its origin. It was in\r\nthis view that he gave to it those famous\r\nconstitutions, since perfected,\r\nand always on the same plan, by\r\ntwo successors very superior to Ignatius,\r\nthe two generals Lainez and\r\nAquiviva, so celebrated in the annals\r\nof the Jesuits: the latter especially,\r\nintriguing, adroit, and full of great\r\nviews, was on all these accounts very\r\nproper for the government of an ambitious\r\nsociety: to him it is indebted,\r\nmore than to any other, for those\r\nregulations so well contrived and so\r\nwise, that we may style them the\r\nmaster-piece of the industry of human\r\nnature in point of policy, and\r\nwhich have contributed, during two\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_8\" id=\"Page_8\"\u003e[Pg 8]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhundred years, to the aggrandizement\r\nand glory of this order. These\r\nregulations, it is true, have ended in\r\nbeing the cause or the motive of the\r\ndestruction of the Jesuits in France;\r\nbut such is the fate of all human\r\ngrandeur and power, it is in their\r\nvery nature to grow worse and become\r\nextinct when they have arrived\r\nat a certain degree of greatness and\r\nlustre. The empire of the Assyrians,\r\nthat of the Persians, the Roman empire\r\nitself, have disappeared, precisely\r\nfor this very reason, because they\r\nwere become too large and too powerful.\r\nThese examples ought to\r\nconsole the Jesuits, if it be possible\r\nfor Jesuitical pride to be consoled.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWe cannot better compare this\r\nsociety, every where surrounded with\r\nenemies, and every where triumphant\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_9\" id=\"Page_9\"\u003e[Pg 9]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfor the space of two centuries,\r\nthan to the marshes of Holland,\r\ncultivated by obstinate labour, besieged\r\nby the sea, which threatens\r\nevery instant to swallow them up,\r\nand perpetually opposing their dikes\r\nto that destructive element. Let\r\nthese dikes be pierced but in one\r\nsingle place, Holland will be laid\r\nunder water after so many ages of\r\nlabour and of vigilance. This is\r\nwhat has happened to the society;\r\nits enemies have at last found\r\nout the weak part, and pierced its\r\ndike; yet those who had raised\r\nit with so much care and patience,\r\nthose who had afterwards\r\nwatched so long over its preservation,\r\nthose who have cultivated, with\r\nso much success, the soil which was\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_10\" id=\"Page_10\"\u003e[Pg 10]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nprotected by this dike, merit nevertheless\r\ncommendation on that account.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eScarce had the company of Jesus\r\n(for that is the name which it\r\nhad taken), begun to shew itself in\r\nFrance, when it met with numberless\r\ndifficulties in establishing itself\r\nthere. The universities especially\r\nmade the greatest efforts to expel\r\nthese new comers; it is difficult to\r\ndecide, whether this opposition does\r\nhonour or discredit to the Jesuits\r\nwho experienced it. They gave\r\nthemselves out for the instructors of\r\nyouth gratis; they counted already\r\namongst them some learned and famous\r\nmen, superior perhaps to those\r\nof whom the universities could boast:\r\ninterest and vanity might therefore\r\nbe sufficient motives to their adversaries,\r\nat least in these first moments,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_11\" id=\"Page_11\"\u003e[Pg 11]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nto seek to exclude them. We may\r\nrecollect the like opposition which\r\nthe Mendicant orders underwent\r\nfrom these very universities when\r\nthey wanted to introduce themselves\r\nthere; opposition founded on pretty\r\nnearly the same motives, and which\r\nceased not but by the state into which\r\nthese orders are fallen, now become\r\nincapable of exciting envy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eOn the other side, it is very probable\r\nthat the society, proud of that support\r\nwhich it found amidst so many\r\nstorms, furnished arms to its adversaries\r\nby braving them; it seemed to\r\nshew itself, from this time, with that\r\nspirit of invasion which it has but\r\ntoo much displayed since, but which\r\nit has carefully covered at all times\r\nwith the mask of religion, and\r\nof zeal for the salvation of souls.\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_12\" id=\"Page_12\"\u003e[Pg 12]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nThis desire of extending itself, and\r\nof domineering, appeared already on\r\nall sides: the society insinuated itself\r\ninto the confidence of several sovereigns;\r\nit caballed at the courts of\r\nsome others; it rendered itself formidable\r\nto the bishops, by the\r\ndependance which it affected on\r\nthe court of Rome alone; in short,\r\nthe more it aggrandized itself, the\r\nmore it seemed to justify, by its credit\r\nand its intrigues, the rancour of\r\nits enemies against it. To govern\r\nthe universe, not by force, but by\r\nreligion, such appeared to have been\r\nthe device of this society from its\r\norigin; a device which it has made appear\r\nfurther to proportion as its existence\r\nand its authority gained strength.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eNever did it lose sight, either of\r\nthis object, or of the means (as\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_13\" id=\"Page_13\"\u003e[Pg 13]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nsmooth as efficacious) which it was\r\nto employ in order to succeed in it.\r\nIt is perhaps the only one of all the\r\nsocieties, as the house of Austria is\r\nthe only one of all the powers of\r\nEurope, which has observed an uniform\r\nand constant policy; an inestimable\r\nadvantage to societies and sovereign\r\nhouses. Individuals only pass\r\naway, and are subject in that short\r\nspace to a small circle of events,\r\nwhich by no means permit them\r\nto have any immutable system. Bodies\r\nand great houses subsist for a\r\nlong time; and if they pursue always\r\nthe same projects, the scene of the\r\nworld, which, changes perpetually,\r\nbrings on at last, soon or late, circumstances\r\nfavourable to their views.\r\nWe must, when once we have declared\r\nourselves their enemy, either\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_14\" id=\"Page_14\"\u003e[Pg 14]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nannihilate them entirely, or end in\r\nbeing their victim; so long as they\r\nhave one gasp remaining, they cease\r\nnot to be formidable. “You have\r\ndrawn the sword against the Jesuits,”\r\nsaid a man of wit to a philosopher;\r\n“well, throw the scabbard into the\r\nfire.” But individuals, how numerous\r\nand animated soever they be,\r\nhave very little force against a body:\r\naccordingly the Jesuits so decryed, so\r\nattacked, so detested, would subsist\r\nperhaps still with more lustre than\r\never, if they had not had for irreconcileable\r\nenemies other bodies still subsisting\r\nas well as them, and as constantly\r\ntaken up with the project of\r\nexterminating them, as they have\r\nbeen with that of aggrandizing\r\nthemselves.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_15\" id=\"Page_15\"\u003e[Pg 15]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe manner in which this society\r\nestablished itself in those places\r\nwhere it found the least resistance,\r\ndiscovers very plainly the project\r\nwhich we have attributed to them,\r\n\u003ci\u003eof governing mankind\u003c/i\u003e, and of making\r\nreligion subservient to that design.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is thus that the Jesuits have acquired\r\nin Paraguai a monarchical\r\nauthority, founded, it is said, on\r\npersuasion alone, and, on the lenity of\r\ntheir government: sovereigns in that\r\nvast country, they render happy, it is assured,\r\nthe people there who obey them,\r\nand whom they have at last effectually\r\nsubjected to them without employing\r\nviolence. The care with which\r\nthey exclude strangers, prevents our\r\nknowing the particulars of this singular\r\nadministration; but the little\r\nwhich has been discovered of it, speaks\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_16\" id=\"Page_16\"\u003e[Pg 16]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nits praise, and would render it perhaps\r\nto be desired, if the relations be faithful,\r\nthat many other barbarous countries,\r\nwhere the people are oppressed and\r\nunhappy, had had, as well as Paraguai,\r\nJesuits for apostles and masters.\r\nIf they had found in Europe as few\r\nobstacles to their domination, as in\r\nthat vast country of America, it is\r\nto be believed that they would rule\r\nthere at this day with the same empire:\r\nFrance, and the states into\r\nwhich philosophy has penetrated for\r\nthe happiness of mankind, would\r\nwithout doubt have lost greatly thereby;\r\nbut some other nations perhaps\r\nwould not have been more to be\r\npityed for it. The people know but\r\none thing only, the wants of nature,\r\nand the necessity of satisfying them;\r\nthe moment they are by their situation\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_17\" id=\"Page_17\"\u003e[Pg 17]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nsheltered from misery and suffering,\r\nthey are content and happy:\r\nliberty is a good which is not made\r\nfor them, of which they know not\r\nthe advantage, and which they possess\r\nnot but to abuse it to their own prejudice;\r\nthey are children who fall\r\ndown and hurt themselves the moment\r\nthey are left to go alone, and\r\nwho get up again only to beat their\r\nnurse; they must be well fed, kept\r\nemployed without crushing them, and\r\nled without suffering them to see too\r\nplainly their chains. “This (say they)\r\nis what the Jesuits do in Paraguai;\r\nthis probably is what they would\r\nhave done every where else, if the\r\nworld had been disposed to permit\r\nthem.” But in Europe, where they\r\nhad already so many masters, they did\r\nnot think proper to suffer any new ones:\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_18\" id=\"Page_18\"\u003e[Pg 18]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthis resistance, tho’ so natural, irritated\r\nthe Jesuits, and rendered them wicked:\r\nthey made those nations, which\r\nrefused their yoke, feel all the evils\r\nwhich those nations endeavoured to\r\ninflict on them: useful and respectable\r\nin Paraguai, where they found\r\nonly docility and gentleness, they became\r\ndangerous and turbulent in Europe,\r\nwhere they met with dispositions\r\na little different; and it is not without\r\nreason it has been said of them,\r\nthat seeing they did so much good in\r\na corner of America, and so much\r\nill elsewhere, it was necessary therefore\r\nto send them all to the only place\r\nwhere they were not hurtful, and\r\nto purge the rest of the earth of\r\nthem.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet us return to France, or rather\r\nto the history of the establishment\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_19\" id=\"Page_19\"\u003e[Pg 19]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof the society in that kingdom.\r\nAlready had the Jesuits, supported\r\nby the protection of the popes and\r\nby that of kings, succeeded, in spite\r\nof the opposition of the universities,\r\nto obtain very great advantages, to\r\nfound several houses, to raise at length\r\nin Paris itself a college, which was\r\nlooked upon by the others with envy.\r\nThe establishment of this college had\r\nundergone several assaults at different\r\nperiods: at first Stephen Pasquier, so\r\nwell known for his satyrical talents,\r\nand several years after Anthony Arnauld,\r\nfather of the doctor, had\r\nsuccessively pronounced against the\r\nJesuits those famous pleadings, in\r\nwhich a few truths are found joined\r\nto much declamation. The society,\r\nvictorious in these pleadings, had obtained\r\nby patent the liberty of continuing\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_20\" id=\"Page_20\"\u003e[Pg 20]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nits lessons; the university of\r\nParis was obliged to put up with it,\r\nand thought itself still very happy in\r\nnot being constrained to admit into\r\nits bosom those ambitious and factious\r\nmen, who would soon have possessed\r\nthemselves of the power: perhaps also\r\nthey escaped this yoke, only because\r\nthe Jesuits disdained to impose it on\r\nthem: probably they thought themselves\r\nsufficiently strong to raise with\r\nsuccess altar against altar; and their\r\nvanity, flattered with making a party\r\nby themselves, nourished from that\r\ntime the hope which it has since but\r\ntoo well realized, of taking away\r\nfrom the universities the education of\r\nthe most brilliant of the nobility\r\nof the kingdom.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the midst of this war of the\r\nuniversities and the parliaments against\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_21\" id=\"Page_21\"\u003e[Pg 21]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe Jesuits, the assassination of\r\nHenry IV. by John Chatel, a scholar\r\nof those fathers, was, as it were, the\r\nsignal of a new storm again them,\r\nand made that thunder burst which\r\nhad long rolled over their heads.\r\nThe Jesuit Guignard, being convicted\r\nof having composed, in the time\r\nof the League, writings favourable to\r\nregicide, and of having kept them\r\nafter the amnesty, perished by the\r\nlast torture; and the parliaments\r\nwhich long since saw with an evil\r\neye those usurpers, and who sought\r\nonly a favourable occasion to get rid\r\nof them, banished them from the kingdom,\r\nas a “detestable and diabolical\r\nsociety, the corrupters of youth,\r\nand enemies of the king and of the\r\nstate:” these were the words of the\r\narrêt.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_22\" id=\"Page_22\"\u003e[Pg 22]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is unhappily too certain (and\r\nthe history of those dreadful times\r\nfurnishes melancholy proofs of it)\r\nthat the maxims which they reproached\r\nGuignard and the Jesuits\r\nwith, respecting the murder of kings,\r\nwere at that time those of all the\r\nother religious orders, and of almost\r\nall the ecclesiastics. Henry III. had\r\nbeen assassinated by a fanatic of the\r\norder of Jacobins; their prior Bourgoin\r\nhad just been broke upon the\r\nwheel for that doctrine; a Carthusian,\r\nnamed Ouin, had attempted the\r\nlife of Henry IV. This abominable\r\ndoctrine was that of the chiefs of\r\nthe League, among whom were reckoned\r\npriests and bishops; it was also,\r\nif we may venture to say it, that of\r\na great part of the nation, whom\r\nfanaticism had rendered weak and\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_23\" id=\"Page_23\"\u003e[Pg 23]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfurious. The crime of the society\r\nwas then that of many others. But\r\nthe rancour of the court of Rome\r\nagainst Henry IV. the particular profession\r\nwhich the Jesuits made of\r\ndevotion to that ambitious court;\r\nlastly, the confidence which the king\r\nhad shewn towards them, in permitting\r\nthem to instruct youth; all\r\nthese motives, strengthened by the just\r\nhatred which their ambition had excited,\r\nmade them deemed with reason\r\nso much the more dangerous and more\r\ncriminal. Never have the Jacobins\r\nbeen reproached with a Bourgoin and\r\nClement, assassins of their fraternity,\r\nas the Jesuits have been reproached\r\nwith their scholar Chatel, and Guignard\r\ntheir fellow: the reason is, that\r\nthe Jacobins are little dreaded, and\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_24\" id=\"Page_24\"\u003e[Pg 24]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthat the Jesuits were both feared and\r\nodious.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn this their almost general disaster,\r\ntwo parliaments had spared\r\nthem, those of Bourdeaux and Toulouse:\r\nmoreover, in banishing them\r\nthe rest of the kingdom, they had\r\nneither alienated nor confiscated their\r\neffects; the magistrates who had proscribed\r\nthem, had committed that\r\ngreat mistake; those fathers, who\r\nhad still a corner in France to take\r\nshelter in, made use of the little\r\nbreath which remained to them, in\r\npreparing for their resurrection;\r\nthey joined to their intrigues, within\r\nthe kingdom, the support of several\r\nsovereigns, and especially of\r\nthe court of Rome, which Henry IV.\r\nfeared to displease; and in spite of\r\nthe just remonstrances of the parliaments,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_25\" id=\"Page_25\"\u003e[Pg 25]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthey obtained their return a\r\nfew years after they had been banished.\r\nHenry IV. did much more\r\nfor them; whether it was that they\r\nhad found means to render themselves\r\nagreeable to that prince, or\r\nthat he hoped to find in them more\r\nfacility in reconciling with his amours\r\nthe new religion which he professed;\r\nor whether, lastly, which is most\r\nprobable, that great and unfortunate\r\nking, having been so often assassinated,\r\nand being still in danger of it,\r\nfeared and wanted to shew respect\r\nfor these foxes who were accused of\r\nhaving tigers at their command, he\r\ngave them in France considerable\r\nestablishments; among others the\r\nmagnificent college of la Flêche,\r\nwhither he was desirous that his\r\nheart should be carried after his\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_26\" id=\"Page_26\"\u003e[Pg 26]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ndeath; lastly, as if to interest them\r\nmore particularly in his preservation,\r\nnotwithstanding the reports which\r\nprevailed against them, he took a\r\nJesuit for confessor. It is pretended\r\nthat he acted thus, in order to have,\r\nin his very court and about his person,\r\nan hostage who should be answerable\r\nto him for that suspected\r\nand dangerous society: it is added,\r\nthat the Jesuits had been recalled on\r\nthe very condition of giving this\r\nhostage: if the thing be true, it must\r\nbe confessed that they were able, like\r\ndexterous men, to make subservient\r\nto their grandeur a law humiliating\r\nin itself, and to avail themselves skilfully,\r\nfor the augmentation of their\r\ncredit, of the distrust and dread\r\nwhich they had inspired.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_27\" id=\"Page_27\"\u003e[Pg 27]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eLouis XIII., who reigned after\r\nHenry IV. or rather cardinal Richelieu,\r\nwho reigned under his name,\r\ncontinued to favour the Jesuits: he\r\nthought their zeal and their regular\r\nconduct would serve at once as an example\r\nand curb to the clergy; and\r\nthat the permission of teaching, which\r\nhad been granted them, and of which\r\nthey acquitted themselves with success,\r\nwould be to the universities an\r\nobject of emulation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis great minister was not deceived.\r\nIt cannot be denied that\r\nthe Jesuits, and especially those of\r\nFrance, have produced a great number\r\nof useful works for facilitating\r\nto young people the study of letters;\r\nworks, by which the universities\r\nthemselves have profited, so as to\r\nproduce, in their turn, similar\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_28\" id=\"Page_28\"\u003e[Pg 28]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nworks, and perhaps better still: the\r\none and the other are known; and\r\nthe impartial public has given them\r\nthe favourable reception they merited.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet us add (for we must be just)\r\nthat no religious society, without exception,\r\ncan boast so great a number\r\nof men famous in the sciences and in\r\nletters. The Mendicants, even at the\r\ntime of their greatest lustre, were but\r\nschoolmen, the Benedictines only compilers,\r\nthe other monks mere blockheads\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_3_3\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_3_3\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_3_3\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[3]\u003c/a\u003e.\r\nThe Jesuits exercised themselves\r\nwith success in every kind,\r\neloquence, history, antiquities, geometry,\r\nliterature both profound and\r\nagreeable: there is hardly any class\r\nof writers in which they count not\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_29\" id=\"Page_29\"\u003e[Pg 29]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmen of the first merit: they have\r\neven had good French writers; an\r\nadvantage of which no other order\r\ncan boast; for this reason, that in\r\norder to write well in one’s own\r\nlanguage, it is necessary to keep company\r\nwith people of fashion, and that\r\nthe Jesuits, by the nature of their\r\nfunctions, have been more dispersed\r\nthroughout the world than others.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is assured that the late cardinal\r\nPassionei, who detested these fathers,\r\n(for which he might have good reasons)\r\npushed his hatred against them\r\nso far, as not to admit into his fine\r\nand numerous library any writer of\r\nthe society. I regret this, for the\r\nsake both of the library and of the\r\nmaster; the one lost a number of\r\ngood books by it; and the other, so\r\nphilosophical, as we are assured, in\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_30\" id=\"Page_30\"\u003e[Pg 30]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nother respects, was not at all so on\r\nthis occasion. If any thing can console\r\nthe Jesuits, it is that the same\r\ncardinal, so sworn an enemy of all\r\ntheir works, had the misfortune to\r\ncountenance and extol the rhapsodies\r\nof that same Abraham Chaumeix,\r\nwhose very name now is become ridiculous,\r\nand who is at present turned\r\ndown to his proper place, after having\r\nbeen quoted and celebrated as a kind\r\nof father of the church\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_4_4\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_4_4\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_4_4\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[4]\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe society owes to the form of\r\nits institution (so decried in other respects)\r\nthis variety of talents which\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_31\" id=\"Page_31\"\u003e[Pg 31]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ndistinguish it. They reject no sort\r\nof abilities, and require no other\r\ncondition, in order to be admitted\r\namong its members, but a capacity\r\nof being useful. To engage our liberty,\r\nwe must pay every where, even\r\namong the Mendicants. The Jesuits\r\nknow nothing of this paltry interest;\r\nthey receive with pleasure and gratuitously\r\nevery person from whom they\r\nhope to draw any good; nobody is\r\nuseless among them; of those from\r\nwhom they expect the least, they make,\r\naccording to their own expression,\r\n\u003ci\u003emissionaries\u003c/i\u003e for the villages, or \u003ci\u003emartyrs\u003c/i\u003e\r\nfor the Indies. They have not even\r\ndisdained very great personages, little\r\nworthy of the titles which they bore\r\nwhen they made themselves Jesuits,\r\nas a Charles of Lorrain, and several\r\nothers: their names have served at\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_32\" id=\"Page_32\"\u003e[Pg 32]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nleast as a decoration to the order, if\r\nthey were good for nothing else:\r\nwe may call them the \u003ci\u003ehonoraries\u003c/i\u003e of\r\nthe society.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eTwo other reasons seem to have\r\ncontributed to give the Jesuits, above\r\nall the other orders, the advantage of\r\na greater number of men estimable for\r\ntheir talents and their works: the\r\nfirst is the duration of their noviciate,\r\nand the law which permits them not\r\nto bind themselves by the last vows\r\nbefore the age of thirty-three. The\r\nsuperiours have the more time to know\r\ntheir subjects, to judge of them, and\r\nto direct them towards the object for\r\nwhich they are most proper: these\r\nsubjects moreover, being engaged at\r\na mature age, after a long probation,\r\nand all the time necessary for\r\nreflexion, are less exposed to disgust\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_33\" id=\"Page_33\"\u003e[Pg 33]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nand to repentance, more attached to\r\nthe society, and more disposed to\r\nemploy their talents for its glory,\r\nand for their own, which comes only\r\nafterward.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eA second reason of the superiority\r\nof the Jesuits over the other orders,\r\nin respect to the sciences and knowledge,\r\nis, that they have sufficient time\r\nfor resigning themselves up to study,\r\nenjoying in this point as much liberty\r\nas can possibly be enjoyed in a\r\nregular community, not being subjected,\r\nas the other orders are, to the\r\nminute practices of devotion, and to\r\noffices which absorb the greatest part\r\nof the day. If it were not known\r\nthat hatred makes arms of every\r\nthing, we should have some difficulty\r\nto believe, that during their great\r\nand fatal law-suit, it was gravely objected\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_34\" id=\"Page_34\"\u003e[Pg 34]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nto them as a crime, in some of\r\nthe Jansenist pamphlets, that they did\r\nnot assemble together so often as\r\nother monks, to say, in common, matins\r\nand prayers; as if a religious society\r\n(the first duty of which is to\r\nbe useful) had nothing better to do\r\nthan to chant over heavily bad Latin\r\nseveral hours in the day. It will be\r\nsaid perhaps, that religious orders are\r\ninstituted only for prayer: be it so;\r\nbut in that case let the religious shut\r\nthemselves up in their houses, in order\r\nto pray there quite at their ease,\r\nand let them be hindered from meddling\r\nin any thing else.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis suppression of praying and\r\nchanting, among the Jesuits, before\r\nit became a subject of reproach\r\nagainst them, had been matter of\r\npleasantry, agreeably to the genius\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_35\" id=\"Page_35\"\u003e[Pg 35]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof our nation: “The Jesuits,” said\r\nthey, “cannot sing, for birds of prey\r\nnever do: they are,” said they\r\nagain, “a set of folks who get\r\nup at four in the morning, in\r\norder to repeat together the\r\nlitanies at eight in the evening.”\r\nThe Jesuits had the good sense to\r\nlaugh the first at these French\r\nwitticisms, and to make no change\r\nin their manner of living; they\r\nthought it more serviceable and more\r\nhonourable to them, to have Petaus\r\nand Bourdaloues, than triflers and\r\nchanters.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt must be confessed nevertheless,\r\nthat in the sciences and the arts, two\r\nkinds have been but feebly cultivated\r\nby the Jesuits: these are French poetry\r\nand philosophy. The best of\r\ntheir French poets is beneath mediocrity;\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_36\" id=\"Page_36\"\u003e[Pg 36]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nyet French poetry requires,\r\nin order to excel in it, a delicacy of\r\nfeeling and taste, which cannot be\r\nacquired but by frequenting the world\r\nmuch more than a religious ought to\r\npermit himself to do. This school of\r\nurbanity and delicacy is perhaps the\r\nonly thing that was wanting to the\r\nJesuit Le Moine to make him a\r\npoet of the first rank; for that Jesuit,\r\naccording to the judgement\r\ngiven of him by one of our greatest\r\nmasters, had, in other respects, an\r\nimagination that was prodigious\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_5_5\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_5_5\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_5_5\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[5]\u003c/a\u003e.\r\nIf it be asked why the Jesuits have\r\nnot had French poets, we must\r\nask why the universities have not\r\nhad more of them, and why so\r\nmany modern Latin poets, taken\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_37\" id=\"Page_37\"\u003e[Pg 37]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthroughout the several communities,\r\nand throughout all conditions,\r\nhave not been able to succeed in\r\nmaking two tolerable French lines\r\nin verse.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003ePhilosophy (I mean the true, for\r\nschool-learning is nothing but the\r\ndregs and refuse of it) has not shone\r\nwith greater lustre among the Jesuits;\r\nbut has it been more brilliant among\r\nthe other orders? It is almost impossible\r\nthat a member of any community\r\nshould become a great philosopher:\r\nthe spirit of a society, of a\r\nmonastick society in particular, and\r\nmore perhaps than any other, the\r\ndomineering spirit of the Jesuits,\r\nthat of a servile devotion to their\r\nsuperiors, are so many fetters to reason,\r\nrepugnant to that freedom of\r\nthinking which is so necessary to philosophy.\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_38\" id=\"Page_38\"\u003e[Pg 38]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nMalebranche is the only philosopher\r\nof eminence that ever belonged\r\nto a regular congregation; but that\r\ncongregation was composed of free-men;\r\nand, besides, Malebranche is\r\nperhaps less a great philosopher, than\r\nan excellent philosophic writer.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf any order (by the by) could have\r\nhoped to dispute with the Jesuits the\r\npre-eminence in the sciences and in\r\nliterature, and perhaps to have borne\r\naway the palm from them, it is this\r\ncongregation of the Oratory, of which\r\nMalebranche was a most distinguished\r\nmember. The freedom enjoyed\r\nthere, without being ever hampered\r\nby vows, the permission of thinking\r\ndifferently from their superiors,\r\nand of employing their talents according\r\nto their own pleasure, this\r\nwas what furnished the congregation\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_39\" id=\"Page_39\"\u003e[Pg 39]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof the Oratory with excellent preachers,\r\nprofound scholars, men illustrious\r\nin every way. Accordingly the\r\nJesuits were very sensible what they\r\nhad to fear from such rivals. They\r\npersecuted them; and the members\r\nof the Oratory had the folly to expose\r\na weak side to them by becoming\r\nJansenists\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_6_6\" id=\"FNanchor_6_6\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_6_6\"\r\nclass=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[6]\u003c/a\u003e. By this means\r\nthey furnished a pretext to the attacks\r\nof their enemies, and have had\r\nthe grief to see the decay of their\r\ncongregation brought about by their\r\nown fault. They have indeed just\r\nnow collected a few tattered remains\r\nfrom the plunder of the Jesuits;\r\nbut these remains will hardly ever\r\nbe able to replace what they have\r\nlost. We ought, besides, to do\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_40\" id=\"Page_40\"\u003e[Pg 40]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthem the justice to own, that they\r\ntestified not any eagerness to profit\r\nby the ruin of their adversaries: the\r\nsociety in its misfortune experienced,\r\non the part of the Oratory, a moderation\r\nof which they had never given\r\nthem the example. But be this moderation\r\ncounterfeit or sincere, it is\r\ndifficult to persuade one’s-self that\r\nthe Oratory will ever recover with\r\nlustre the blows which have been\r\ngiven it by the Jesuits: the varnish\r\nof Jansenism with which it is still\r\nstained, and which renders it at least\r\nsuspected by the greater part of the\r\nbishops, the almost general prejudice\r\nof the public, and of the\r\ngreater part of the magistrates,\r\nagainst all communities, of whatever\r\nkind they be, and, above all, the\r\nphilosophic spirit which makes every\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_41\" id=\"Page_41\"\u003e[Pg 41]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nday great progress, seems to forebode\r\nthe end of this, and of other fraternities.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf the culture of the sciences and\r\nof letters has contributed to render\r\nthe society commendable, and intrigue\r\nto make it powerful, another\r\ncircumstance has not a little served\r\nto render it formidable to its enemies:\r\nand that is the union of all its members\r\nfor the good of the common cause.\r\nIn other societies, the interests and reciprocal\r\nhatred of individuals almost\r\nalways hurt the good of the corps;\r\nbut among the Jesuits it is quite\r\notherwise. Not that in this society\r\nthe individuals love each other better\r\nthan elsewhere; perhaps they even\r\nhate one another more, being by their\r\nvery constitutions spies and informers,\r\nfrom their birth, upon each other: yet\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_42\" id=\"Page_42\"\u003e[Pg 42]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nattack a single person among them,\r\nyou are sure of having the whole society\r\nfor your enemy. Thus heretofore\r\nthe Senate and Roman people,\r\noften divided among themselves by\r\nintestin dissensions, united at the bare\r\nname of the Carthaginians or of Mithridates.\r\nThere is not a Jesuit who\r\nmay not say, like the wicked spirit\r\nin scripture, “My name is Legion.”\r\nNever did republican love his country\r\nas every Jesuit loves his society:\r\nthe very lowest of its members interests\r\nhimself in its glory, of which\r\nhe thinks some rays reflect upon himself:\r\nthere is not (if I may presume\r\nto say so) even to their brother the\r\napothecary, or the cook, one among\r\nthem who is not proud and jealous\r\nof it. They are all at once put in\r\naction by this single spring, which\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_43\" id=\"Page_43\"\u003e[Pg 43]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\none man directs at his pleasure;\r\nand it is not without reason that they\r\nhave been defined “a naked sword,\r\nthe hilt of which is at Rome.”\r\nThe love which they have for their\r\nsociety, subsists even in almost all\r\nthose who have left it: whether\r\nit be a real attachment founded\r\nupon gratitude, or a policy founded\r\non interest or on fear, there is hardly\r\nan ex-Jesuit who preserves not his\r\nconnexions with his old brethren;\r\nand who, even tho’ he has reason\r\nto complain of them, does not shew\r\nhimself attached to their interests,\r\nand ready to defend them against\r\ntheir enemies. For the rest, this\r\nattachment of the Jesuits to their\r\nsociety, can be nothing but the effect\r\nof that pride which it inspires\r\nthem with, and not at all of the advantages\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_44\" id=\"Page_44\"\u003e[Pg 44]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwhich it procures for each\r\nof its members. Independently of\r\nthe little confidence and real friendship\r\nwhich they have one for the other,\r\nand the severe life which they lead\r\nwithin their houses, individuals, whatever\r\nmerit they may have, are not at\r\nall considered in the corps, but in proportion\r\nto the talent which they have\r\nfor intrigue: modest merit, or such as\r\nis confined to the labour of the closet,\r\nis there unknown, little considered,\r\nsometimes persecuted, if unfortunately\r\nthe pressing interest of the society\r\ndemand it. We have seen in these\r\nlate times the fathers Brumoi and\r\nBougeant, the last of the Jesuits\r\nwho had any true and solid merit,\r\ndie of chagrin under the weight\r\nof the persecutions which their fraternity\r\nwere obliged to make them\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_45\" id=\"Page_45\"\u003e[Pg 45]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nsuffer: these two men, who were\r\ngreater philosophers, and more enlightened,\r\nthan their state in life\r\nseemed to permit, were sacrificed by\r\nthe society to the clamours which\r\nthey had excited; the one by approving\r\na work, in which the regent\r\nof the kingdom (who had been\r\ndead about twenty years before) was\r\nindirectly attacked; the other, by a\r\nphilosophical joke on “the language\r\nof beasts,” for which they obliged\r\nhim to make reparation, by confining\r\nhim to the college of la Flêche,\r\nand charging him with the \u003ci\u003emaking\u003c/i\u003e\r\nof a catechism, which brought him\r\ndown to the grave, overwhelmed\r\nwith disgust and vexation. A hundred\r\nyears before, Petau, the famous\r\nPetau, had like to have experienced\r\nfate very nearly similar, for having\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_46\" id=\"Page_46\"\u003e[Pg 46]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\npretended, that before the council of\r\nNice the church was not fully determined\r\non the divinity of the word\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_7_7\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_7_7\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_7_7\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[7]\u003c/a\u003e.\r\nHe died in the college of the Jesuits\r\nat Paris, abandoned and in want of\r\nevery thing. It seems as if the device\r\nof the society had been that of\r\nthe ancient Romans; \u003ci\u003eSalus populi\r\nsuprema lex esto\u003c/i\u003e\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_8_8\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_8_8\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_8_8\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[8]\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo all these means of augmenting\r\ntheir consideration and their credit,\r\nthey join another no less efficacious:\r\nthis is the regularity of their conduct\r\nand manners. Their discipline on\r\nthis point is as severe as it is prudent;\r\nand whatever calumny may have\r\npublished concerning it, it must be\r\nconfessed, that no religious order\r\ngives less handle in this respect.\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_47\" id=\"Page_47\"\u003e[Pg 47]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nEven those among them who have\r\ntaught the most monstrous doctrine,\r\nwho have written on the most obscene\r\nsubjects, have led the most\r\nedifying and the most exemplary\r\nlives. It was at the feet of the crucifix\r\nthat the pious Sanchez wrote his\r\nabominable and disgusting work:\r\nand it has been said, in particular, of\r\nEscobar, equally known by the austerity\r\nof his manners, and the looseness\r\nof his doctrines, that he purchased\r\nheaven very dear for himself,\r\nbut bestowed it at an easy rate upon\r\nothers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWe have seen what success the Jesuits\r\nhad the art to procure themselves\r\nat the court of France: their progress\r\nwas nearly the same in almost\r\nall the other courts: at the beginning\r\nof the present century there was\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_48\" id=\"Page_48\"\u003e[Pg 48]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nnot in Europe a catholic prince, of\r\nwhose conscience they were not the directors,\r\nand from whom they had not\r\nobtained the most signal favours; in all\r\nparts their enemies raged, and in all\r\nparts they made a jest of their enemies.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThey confined not their ambition\r\nto Europe; perpetually full of the\r\nproject of governing, and of governing\r\nby religion, they sent to the\r\nIndies, and to China, missionaries,\r\nwho carried thither christianity for\r\nthe people, and the profane sciences for\r\nthe princes, for the grandees, and\r\nfor the more enlightened persons,\r\nwhom by these means they might\r\nrender favourable to them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet us stop here a moment, and\r\nexamine more particularly, by what\r\nkind of learning and doctrine the\r\nJesuits were able to make such\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_49\" id=\"Page_49\"\u003e[Pg 49]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ngreat progress among the Christians,\r\nand among those who were not so.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe religion which we profess\r\nturns upon two points; its tenets\r\nand its morality. Among its tenets\r\nare the Trinity, the Redemption,\r\nthe Real Presence, \u0026amp;c. which, in appearing\r\nto confound the human understanding,\r\npresent to its belief\r\nonly truths that are speculative in\r\nthemselves: these sorts of truths,\r\nhow obscure soever they seem to reason,\r\nand how much submission soever\r\nthey require from it, are not\r\nthose which meet with the most opposition\r\nfrom the multitude: naturally\r\ninclined to the marvellous, they\r\nare disposed to adopt blindly the most\r\nabsurd errors in this kind, and much\r\nmore the truths which are only incomprehensible,\r\nprovided they oppose\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_50\" id=\"Page_50\"\u003e[Pg 50]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nnot their inclinations. The Jesuits\r\ntherefore preached those truths\r\nin all their exactness; they knew\r\nwell that they risked not much. But\r\nthere are other tenets, as those of\r\nPredestination and of Grace, which\r\nborder on practical religion, and\r\nwhich, preached in all their rigour\r\nto minds that are unprepared, would\r\nbe little adapted to make proselytes.\r\nWe must take great care, said the\r\nwise and pious Fleury, not to propose\r\nat once to infidels, those articles\r\nof our belief, which might shock\r\nthem too much. Suppose a missionary\r\nshould come and say abruptly\r\nto savages, “My children, I\r\nmake known to you a God, whom\r\nyou cannot serve worthily, without\r\nhis special grace, which he has resolved\r\nfrom all eternity to give, or\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_51\" id=\"Page_51\"\u003e[Pg 51]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nto refuse you.” “Very well,” the\r\nsavages would say to him, “we will\r\nwait for that grace, and till it come\r\nwe will remain in our present\r\nfaith.” What success would the\r\nJesuits have had, had they proceeded\r\nin this manner? Let us suppose that\r\na Jansenist had been in their place, to\r\npreach his incomprehensible doctrine\r\n(which he calls nevertheless modestly\r\nthe doctrine of St. Augustine and\r\nSt. Paul) he would soon have been\r\neither abandoned as a madman, or\r\ndriven away by the people with\r\nstones. The Jesuits conducted themselves\r\nmuch more dexterously; they\r\nproved, according to the saying of\r\ntheir enemies, the truth of that maxim\r\nof scripture, that the children of\r\ndarkness act with more prudence in\r\ntheir affairs than the children of\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_52\" id=\"Page_52\"\u003e[Pg 52]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nlight: they preached to the people\r\nthey wanted to convert that\r\nPelagianism of which they make\r\nprofession, and which is much more\r\naccommodated to the weakness and\r\nvanity of human nature; but they\r\nnot only preached in a manner better\r\nsuited to humanity than the Jansenists\r\nwould have done; they preached also\r\nmore artfully than would Pelagius\r\nhimself. The heresy of that monk\r\ndid not meet with the success it might\r\nhave had, because it stuck half way.\r\nPelagius, while he restored to freedom\r\nher rights, imposed on her severe\r\nties, by the morality which he\r\nrecommended to practice: this morality\r\nwas that of the Christian religion\r\nin all its austerity, the renouncing\r\nof one’s-self, a penitence the\r\nmost rigorous, and an eternal warfare\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_53\" id=\"Page_53\"\u003e[Pg 53]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nagainst the passions. The Jesuits\r\nperceived that these painful duties\r\nwere not made for the common run\r\nof mankind, and it was the multitude\r\nthey wanted to attract to\r\nthem. After having softened what\r\nthe doctrines of Predestination and\r\nGrace have too harsh in appearance,\r\nthey did the same with what the ties\r\nimposed by Christianity have too difficult.\r\nGreat personages, for the\r\nmost part, are, by the fault of their\r\neducation, superstitious, ignorant,\r\nand given up to their passions. The\r\nJesuits permitted them to have mistresses,\r\nprovided they displayed a zeal\r\nfor religion, and an attachment to its\r\noutward forms, which are no more\r\nthan a kind of amusement when the\r\npassions are satisfied, and which serve\r\nbesides, to consciences that are but ill\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_54\" id=\"Page_54\"\u003e[Pg 54]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nenlightened, by way of a quieter, or,\r\nif you will, a palliative in their\r\nhours of remorse. They followed\r\npretty nearly the same plan with regard\r\nto all those whom they directed,\r\nand succeeded in making, by these\r\nmeans, a great number of partisans.\r\nThe Jesuitical spirit, in the manner\r\nof teaching religion, is pretty well\r\ndescribed in the definition which the\r\nAbbé Boileau gave of these fathers:\r\n“They are (said he) a people who\r\nlengthen the creed, and shorten\r\nthe decalogue.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eI cannot help remarking, on this\r\noccasion, one singular contradiction\r\nof the human mind in matters of\r\nreligion. The Jansenists are at once\r\nwhat it seems impossible to be at the\r\nsame time, Predestinarians in opinion,\r\nand Rigorists in morality:\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_55\" id=\"Page_55\"\u003e[Pg 55]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthey say to man, “You have great\r\nduties to fulfill, but you can do\r\nnothing of yourself; and whatever\r\nyou do, what human virtues soever\r\nyou practise, every one of your actions\r\nwill be \u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eA NEW CRIME\u003c/span\u003e; at least\r\nunless God sanctify you by his\r\ngrace, which you will not obtain\r\nif you are not predestined to it\r\ngratuitously and before the foreknowledge\r\nof your merits.” It\r\nmust be confessed, that this doctrine\r\nis mild, adapted to consolation, and\r\nabove all consistent! But in these\r\nsorts of matters, the business is not\r\nto be consistent and reasonable;\r\nit is the temper of the person who\r\ndogmatises, and not logic, that dictates\r\nto him what he is to preach.\r\nThe Jansenist, unpitying in his nature,\r\nis equally so, both in his doctrines\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_56\" id=\"Page_56\"\u003e[Pg 56]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nand in the morality which he\r\nteaches; he is little embarrassed that\r\nthe one is contrary to the other: the\r\nnature of the God that he preaches\r\n(and who, happily for us, is only his\r\nown) is to be harsh as himself, both\r\nin what he would have us do, and\r\nin what he wills that we should believe.\r\nWhat would be thought of\r\na monarch, who should say to one\r\nof his subjects, “You have irons on\r\nyour legs, and you have not the\r\npower to take them off; however\r\nI now inform you, that if you\r\nwalk not presently, both for a\r\nlong time, and very upright, on\r\nthe brink of the precipice on which\r\nyou now stand, you shall be condemned\r\nto eternal punishment\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_9_9\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_9_9\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_9_9\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[9]\u003c/a\u003e?”\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_57\" id=\"Page_57\"\u003e[Pg 57]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nSuch is the God of the Jansenists;\r\nsuch is their theology in its original\r\nand primitive purity. Pelagius, in\r\nhis error, was more reasonable. He\r\nsaid to man, “You can do every\r\nthing; but you have a great deal\r\nto do.” This doctrine was less\r\nshocking to reason; but, however,\r\nvery incommodious and irksome.\r\nThe Jesuits have, if we may say so,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_58\" id=\"Page_58\"\u003e[Pg 58]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nbeat down Pelagius’s price: they\r\nhave said to Christians, “You can\r\ndo every thing, and God requires\r\nbut little of you.” This is the\r\nway in which we must speak to carnal\r\npeople; and especially to the\r\ngreat of the age, whenever we would\r\nhave them listen to us.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese are not the only cautions\r\nwhich they have taken; for they\r\nhave thought of every thing. They\r\nhave had (indeed in small number) severe\r\ncasuists and directors; compared\r\nwith the small number of those, who\r\nthro’ temper or scruple wanted to impose,\r\nin all its rigour, the yoke of the\r\ngospel. By this means, making themselves,\r\nto use the expression, “all to\r\nall,” according to a saying of scripture\r\n(the sense of which indeed they\r\nwrested a little) on one side they\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_59\" id=\"Page_59\"\u003e[Pg 59]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nprocured to themselves friends of\r\nevery kind; and on the other they\r\nrefuted, or thought they refuted, before-hand,\r\nthe objection which might\r\nbe made to them, of teaching universally\r\nlooseness of morals, and of having\r\nmade it the uniform doctrine of their\r\nsociety. This kind of complete assortment,\r\ndesigned to satisfy all tastes,\r\nis pretty well described in the following\r\nwell-known lines of Despréaux:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poetry-container\"\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"poetry\"\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"verse\"\u003eSi Bourdaloue un peu sévère\u003c/div\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"verse\"\u003eNous dit, craignez la volupté,\u003c/div\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"verse\"\u003eEscobar, lui dit-on, mon père,\u003c/div\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"verse\"\u003eNous la permet pour la santé.\u003c/div\u003e\r\n \u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt must also be observed, that most\r\nof those Jesuits, who were so severe\r\nin their writings, or in their sermons,\r\nwere less so towards their penitents.\r\nIt has been said of Bourdaloue\r\nhimself, that if he required too much\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_60\" id=\"Page_60\"\u003e[Pg 60]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nin the pulpit, he abated it in the\r\nconfessional chair: a new stroke of\r\npolicy, well understood on the part\r\nof the Jesuits, in as much as speculative\r\nseverity suits persons of rigid\r\nmorals, and practical condescension\r\nattracts the multitude.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn China they employed still\r\nother methods: they rendered light\r\nto the people the yoke which they\r\ncame to impose on them, by permitting\r\nthem to mingle with the practical\r\nduties of Christianity, some\r\nceremonies of the religion of the\r\ncountry; to which the multitude,\r\nevery where superstitious and tumultuous,\r\nwas too firmly attached.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis philosophy, so purely human,\r\nwhich sees in the zeal of the\r\nJesuits, and of many others, to go\r\nand preach religion at the extremities\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_61\" id=\"Page_61\"\u003e[Pg 61]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof the earth, nothing more than\r\na means which they make use of for\r\nbecoming of consequence and powerful,\r\nregards, as the most dexterous\r\nof their missionaries, those who\r\nknow how best to arrive at that end.\r\nWe must not then be astonished, if\r\nthe society is a little surprised at the\r\nnumber of invectives and clamours,\r\nof which these fathers have been the\r\nobject, on account of the Chinese\r\nsuperstitions which they permitted to\r\ntheir new converts. In that, as well\r\nas in the rest of their conduct, to the\r\nvery time of their destruction, they\r\nhave proved, we repeat it, that they\r\nknew mankind better than their adversaries\r\ndid: they perceived that they\r\nwere not to frighten or disgust their\r\nnew converts, by prohibiting them\r\na few national practices which were\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_62\" id=\"Page_62\"\u003e[Pg 62]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ndear to them, and which they still\r\nhave it in their power to interpret\r\nas they please. Pope Gregory,\r\nwho is called the Great, and who\r\nwas certainly a man of good sense,\r\nseems, if we may believe the Jesuits,\r\nto have set them, in that respect,\r\nthe example: they have, at least,\r\npretended to the authority of it.\r\nAugustine the monk, whom this\r\npope had sent into England, to\r\nconvert the people who were yet\r\nbarbarous, consulted him on some\r\nremains of ceremonies, partly civilized,\r\npartly Pagan, which the new\r\nconverts were unwilling to renounce:\r\nhe demanded of Gregory, whether\r\nhe might permit them those ceremonies.\r\n“There is no taking away,”\r\nreplied that pope, “from rugged\r\nminds, all their habits at once:\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_63\" id=\"Page_63\"\u003e[Pg 63]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwe ascend not a steep rock by leaping\r\non it, but by clambering up\r\nstep by step.” We see here the\r\nprinciple on which the Jesuits pretend\r\nto have conducted themselves\r\nin China. They were persuaded,\r\nthat without this condescension, the\r\nreligion which they preached would\r\nnot have been even heard there. I\r\nhave no doubt, but artful as they\r\nare, (or rather as they were) they\r\nhave still further palliated and mitigated\r\nmatters with respect to other\r\npoints: and it cannot be denied,\r\nthat they have done well, relatively\r\nto their own views; since, after all, it\r\nwas neither God nor Christianity\r\nthat they wanted to reign there; it\r\nwas the society under those respectable\r\nnames.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_64\" id=\"Page_64\"\u003e[Pg 64]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eFurthermore, neither the severe\r\nmorality of religion, nor the doctrines\r\nof grace which they were accused of\r\nmisrepresenting, are delivered in so exclusive\r\na manner in scripture, as that\r\nwe do not meet there also with several\r\npassages favourable to the most moderate\r\nopinions: and we may easily\r\nbelieve, that the Jesuits availed themselves\r\nof those passages, after the example\r\nof so many sects which have\r\nfound in the Bible, and in the fathers,\r\nmatter to support their opinions,\r\nwhile their adversaries found there\r\nin like manner wherewith to combat\r\nthem. The scriptures are, if I may\r\nuse the expression, common arsenals,\r\nto which every one goes, in order to\r\narm himself from head to foot, and\r\njust as he pleases. Accordingly it\r\nis not without reason that the catholic\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_65\" id=\"Page_65\"\u003e[Pg 65]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nchurch has decided, that it belonged\r\nto her alone to give to infidels\r\nthe true sense of the scriptures, and of\r\nthe fathers: a truth from which we\r\ncannot deviate, without exposing ourselves\r\nto a dangerous Pyrrhonism in\r\nmatter of doctrine.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is very singular, and must\r\nappear more strange still to the proselytes,\r\nwhom they went to make at\r\nfive thousand leagues distance from\r\nour continent of Europe, is, that\r\nwhile the Jesuits preached Christianity\r\nafter their manner, other missionaries,\r\ntheir enemies, monks and\r\nseculars, preached it quite differently\r\nto the same people; warning them,\r\nat the same time, under pain of damnation,\r\nnot to believe in the catechism\r\nof the Jesuits. We may judge\r\nof the effect which these contests\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_66\" id=\"Page_66\"\u003e[Pg 66]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwould produce. “Indeed, gentlemen,”\r\nsaid the emperor of China\r\nto them, “you take a great deal of\r\ntrouble in coming so far to preach\r\nto us contradictory opinions, concerning\r\nwhich you are ready to cut\r\none another’s throats.” After having\r\nmade them this representation,\r\nhe left them to preach as long as\r\nthey would, persuaded that such\r\napostles could not have any great\r\nsuccess. He availed himself besides,\r\nfor the good of his country, of the\r\nresidence of the Jesuits, who talked\r\nmuch more at court of astronomy\r\nand natural philosophy, than of the\r\nTrinity and religion, and who succeeded\r\nat last in rendering the other\r\nmissionaries either suspected or contemptible.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_67\" id=\"Page_67\"\u003e[Pg 67]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not that they were not very\r\nready to expose themselves to the\r\ngreatest dangers, and even to death,\r\nfor the sake of that religion which\r\nthey burlesqued in their manner of\r\npreaching it, and which served only\r\nas an instrument to their ambition.\r\nWhen the emperor of Japan judged\r\nit proper (for reasons which appeared\r\nto him indispensible) to exterminate\r\nChristianity from his territories, the\r\nJesuits had there their martyrs as well\r\nas others, and even in greater numbers.\r\nThe reader will not be surprised\r\nat it, when he knows what\r\nwas told me by a person extremely\r\nworthy of credit. He was particularly\r\nacquainted with a Jesuit, who\r\nhad been employed twenty years in\r\nthe missions of Canada; and who,\r\nwhile he did not believe a God, as\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_68\" id=\"Page_68\"\u003e[Pg 68]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhe owned privately to this friend,\r\nhad faced death twenty times for the\r\nsake of the religion which he preached\r\nwith success to the savages. This\r\nfriend represented to the Jesuit the\r\ninconsistency of his zeal: “Ah!” replied\r\nthe missionary, “you have no\r\nidea of the pleasure which is felt\r\nin commanding the attention of\r\ntwenty thousand people, and in\r\npersuading them to what we believe\r\nnot ourselves.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eSuch is the spirit of the method\r\nwhich the Jesuits have followed, for\r\nteaching with success to mankind\r\nwhat they called religion and Christian\r\nmorality. Such was the moderate\r\ndoctrine which they preached at\r\nthe court of Louis XIV. and by\r\nmeans of which they succeeded in\r\nrendering themselves so agreeable.\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_69\" id=\"Page_69\"\u003e[Pg 69]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nAccordingly it was principally under\r\nthe reign of that prince that the\r\npower, the credit, and opulence of\r\nthe Jesuits received in France such\r\nprodigious aggrandizements: it was\r\nunder this reign that they succeeded\r\nin rendering the clergy dependent on\r\nthem (we may even say their slaves)\r\nby the disposal of benefices, with\r\nwhich the fathers la Chaize and le\r\nTellier, the king’s confessors, were\r\nsuccessively entrusted: it was in this\r\nreign that they succeeded, in consequence\r\nof the need which the\r\nbishops stood in of them, in extorting,\r\neven while they braved them,\r\ntheir confidence, or the appearance\r\nof their confidence, and in obtaining\r\nthe direction of several seminaries;\r\nin which the youth, destined\r\nto the church, were brought up in\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_70\" id=\"Page_70\"\u003e[Pg 70]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ntheir doctrines, and in the hatred of\r\ntheir enemies: it was under this\r\nreign that they succeeded, by decrying\r\nor vilifying the other orders and\r\nthe secular ecclesiasticks, in invading\r\na great number of colleges, or at least\r\nin obtaining permission for establishing\r\nnew ones: it was under this reign\r\nthat they succeeded so far, through\r\nthe confidence and consideration\r\nwhich Louis XIV. gave them, as to\r\ndraw all the court to their college of\r\nClermont. We remember still the\r\nmark of flattery which they bestowed\r\non that monarch, by divesting that\r\ncollege of the name which it bore of\r\nthe \u003ci\u003eSociety of Jesus\u003c/i\u003e, in order to call\r\nit the college of \u003ci\u003eLouis the Great\u003c/i\u003e;\r\nand nobody is ignorant of the Latin\r\ndistich which was made on that occasion,\r\nand in which the society was\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_71\" id=\"Page_71\"\u003e[Pg 71]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nreproached “with acknowledging\r\nno other God but the king.” Thus\r\nthey represented them at once as idolaters\r\nof despotism, in order to render\r\nthem vile, and as preachers of\r\nregicide, in order to render them\r\nodious: these two accusations might\r\nappear a little contradictory, but the\r\nbusiness was not to speak the exact\r\ntruth; it was to say of the Jesuits as\r\nmuch ill as possible.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eLastly, what completed the power\r\nand glory of the society was, that\r\nunder Louis XIV. the Jesuits succeeded\r\nin destroying, or at least in\r\noppressing in France the Protestants\r\nand the Jansenists, their eternal enemies;\r\nthe Protestants, by contributing\r\nto the revocation of the edict of\r\nNantes, that source of depopulation\r\nand of evils to this kingdom; the\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_72\" id=\"Page_72\"\u003e[Pg 72]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nJansenists, by depriving them of the\r\necclesiastical dignities, by arming the\r\nbishops against them, by forcing them\r\nto go and preach, and write in foreign\r\ncountries, where even these unfortunate\r\npeople still found persecution.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eUnder this very reign in which\r\nthe Jesuits were so powerful, and so\r\nformidable, the most terrible strokes\r\nwere given them, more terrible perhaps\r\nthan any they had felt till that\r\ntime. The pleadings of Pasquier\r\nand Arnaud were but bombast satyrs,\r\nand in a bad taste: the \u003ci\u003eProvincial\r\nLetters\u003c/i\u003e gave them a wound much\r\nmore deadly: this master-piece of\r\npleasantry and eloquence diverted and\r\nmoved the indignation of all Europe\r\nat their expense. In vain they replied,\r\nthat the greatest part of the theologists\r\nand monks had taught, as well\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_73\" id=\"Page_73\"\u003e[Pg 73]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nas them, the scandalous doctrine\r\nwhich they were reproached with:\r\ntheir answers, ill written, and full\r\nof gall, were not read, while every\r\nbody knew the \u003ci\u003eProvincial Letters\u003c/i\u003e\r\nby heart. This work is so much the\r\nmore admirable, as Paschal in composing\r\nit appears to have divined two\r\nthings, which seemed not made for\r\ndivination, language, and pleasantry.\r\nThe language was very far from being\r\nformed, as we may judge by the\r\ngreater part of the works published\r\nat that time, and of which it is impossible\r\nto endure the reading: in\r\nthe \u003ci\u003eProvincial Letters\u003c/i\u003e there is not a\r\nsingle word that is grown obsolete;\r\nand that book, though written above\r\na hundred years ago, seems as if it\r\nhad been written but yesterday.\r\nAnother attempt, no less difficult,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_74\" id=\"Page_74\"\u003e[Pg 74]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwas to make people of wit and good\r\nfolks laugh at the questions of \u003ci\u003esufficient\r\ngrace\u003c/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003enext power\u003c/i\u003e, and the decisions\r\nof the casuists; subjects very\r\nlittle favourable to pleasantry, or,\r\nwhich is worse still, susceptible of\r\npleasantries that are cold and uniform,\r\nand capable at most of amusing\r\nonly priests and monks. It was\r\nnecessary, for avoiding this rock, to\r\nhave a delicacy of taste so much the\r\ngreater, as Paschal lived very retired,\r\nand far removed from the commerce\r\nof the world: he could never have distinguished,\r\nbut by the superiority and\r\ndelicacy of his understanding, the\r\nkind of pleasantry which could alone\r\nbe relished by good judges in this\r\ndry and insipid matter. He succeeded\r\nin it beyond all expression:\r\nseveral of his bon-mots have even\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_75\" id=\"Page_75\"\u003e[Pg 75]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nbecome proverbial in our language,\r\nand the \u003ci\u003eProvincial Letters\u003c/i\u003e will be ever\r\nregarded as a model of taste and style.\r\nIt is only to be feared, that the expulsion\r\nof the Jesuits, lessening the\r\ninterest which we took in this book,\r\nmay render the perusal of it less poignant,\r\nand perhaps make it be one day\r\nforgot. This is a fate which the\r\nmost eloquent author has to apprehend,\r\nif he writes not on subjects that\r\nare useful to every nation, and to all\r\nages: the duration of a work, whatever\r\nmerit it may have in other\r\nrespects, is almost necessarily connected\r\nwith that of its object.\r\nThe \u003ci\u003eThoughts of Paschal\u003c/i\u003e, greatly inferior\r\nto the \u003ci\u003eProvincials\u003c/i\u003e, will live\r\nperhaps longer, because there is all\r\nreason to believe (whatever the\r\nhumble society may say of it) that\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_76\" id=\"Page_76\"\u003e[Pg 76]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nChristianity will last longer than\r\nthey.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eProvincials\u003c/i\u003e would be perhaps\r\nmore assured of the immortality\r\nwhich they merit in so many respects,\r\nif their illustrious author, that genius\r\nso elevated, so universal, and so little\r\nformed for taking an interest in scholastick\r\ntrumpery, had turned alike\r\nboth parties into ridicule. The\r\nshocking doctrine of Jansenius, and\r\nof St. Cyran, afforded at least as much\r\nroom for it as the pliant doctrine of\r\nMolina, Tambourin, and Vasquez.\r\nEvery work, in which we sacrifice\r\nwith success to the publick laughter\r\nfanaticks who worry one another,\r\nsubsists even after those fanaticks\r\nare no more. I might venture to\r\nforetell this advantage to the chapter\r\n\u003ci\u003eon Jansenism\u003c/i\u003e, which we read with\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_77\" id=\"Page_77\"\u003e[Pg 77]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nso much pleasure in the excellent\r\n\u003ci\u003eEssay on General History\u003c/i\u003e, by the most\r\nagreeable of our philosophical writers.\r\nThe irony is scattered in that chapter\r\nto the right and left, with a\r\ndelicacy and ease which must cover\r\nboth the one and the other with\r\nindelible contempt, and make them\r\nweary of cutting one anothers’ throats\r\nfor nonsensical fancies. Methinks I\r\nsee Fontaine’s cat\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_10_10\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_10_10\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_10_10\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[10]\u003c/a\u003e,\r\nbefore whom the rabbit and the weasel bring their\r\nsuit on the subject of a pitiful hole\r\nwhich they contend for; and who,\r\nby way of decision,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poetry-container\"\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"poetry\"\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"verse\"\u003eJettant des deux côtés la griffe en même tems,\u003c/div\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"verse\"\u003eMet les plaideurs d’accord en\r\n\t croquant l’un \u0026amp; l’autre.\u003c/div\u003e\r\n \u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eNo body is perhaps fitter than this\r\nillustrious writer, to form a history\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_78\" id=\"Page_78\"\u003e[Pg 78]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof theological quarrels, in order to\r\nrender them at once both odious and\r\nridiculous, and thereby deliver mankind\r\nfor ever from this shameful and\r\nterrible scourge.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Practical Morals of the Jesuits\u003c/i\u003e,\r\nwritten by doctor Arnauld, which\r\ncame out soon after the \u003ci\u003eProvincials\u003c/i\u003e,\r\nthough of a merit greatly inferior,\r\nput the finishing stroke to the throwing\r\nupon these fathers an odium,\r\nwhich they will never be able to\r\nwash off. This unfavourable and\r\ndeep impression, which is perpetually\r\nkept up by the reading of these\r\nbooks, has even now found, at the\r\nend of a century, minds disposed to\r\nbelieve all the ill which has been\r\nsaid of the Jesuits, and of approving\r\nall the mischief that has been done\r\nto them. The term of \u003ci\u003eJesuitical\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_79\" id=\"Page_79\"\u003e[Pg 79]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmorals\u003c/i\u003e has been, as it were, consecrated\r\nin our language, to signify\r\nloose morals, and that of \u003ci\u003eEscobarderie\u003c/i\u003e\r\nto signify an artful lie: and we know\r\nhow much weight a fashionable way\r\nof speaking carries with it, especially\r\nin France, towards procuring credit\r\nto opinions.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Jesuits, loaded from that time\r\nwith so much hatred, and such a\r\nnumber of imputations, were not to\r\nbe till long after the victims of it:\r\nthey triumphed in the first violence\r\nof the attack, and became but the\r\nmore powerful, the more animated\r\nagainst their enemies, and the more\r\nformidable to them. Yet what enemies\r\nhad they to deal with? With\r\nmen of the greatest merit and reputation,\r\nand whose consideration\r\nwith the public still increased by\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_80\" id=\"Page_80\"\u003e[Pg 80]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ntheir very persecution; an Arnauld,\r\na Nicole, a Saci; in one word, all the\r\nwriters of the celebrated house of\r\nPort-Royal. These adversaries were\r\nmuch more to be dreaded by the society\r\nthan plain theologists, whom\r\nthe common run of mankind listen\r\nnot to, understand not, and have no\r\nesteem for: they were great philosophers\r\n(as great at least as could be\r\nin those days) men of the first class\r\nin literature, excellent writers, and\r\nmen of an irreproachable conduct.\r\nThey had in the kingdom, and even\r\nat court, respectable and zealous\r\nfriends, whom they acquired by their\r\ntalents, their virtues, and the signal\r\nservices for which literature was indebted\r\nto them. The general and\r\nrational grammar, called the \u003ci\u003ePort-Royal\u003c/i\u003e\r\ngrammar, from their being the\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_81\" id=\"Page_81\"\u003e[Pg 81]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nauthors of it; the excellent \u003ci\u003eLogic\u003c/i\u003e called\r\nby the same name; the \u003ci\u003eGreek\r\nRoots\u003c/i\u003e; their learned grammars of the\r\nGreek, Latin, Italian, and Spanish;\r\nsuch were the productions of this\r\nfree and respectable society. The\r\nillustrious Racine had been their scholar,\r\nand had preserved, as well as\r\nDespréaux, his friend, the most intimate\r\nconnections with them: their\r\nworks on religion and morality were\r\nread and esteemed by all France;\r\nand by the masculine and correct\r\nstyle in which they were written,\r\nhad contributed most of any, next\r\nto the \u003ci\u003eProvincials\u003c/i\u003e, to the perfection\r\nof our language, while the Jesuits\r\ncounted yet among their French writers\r\nonly des Barris and des Garrasses.\r\nWhat pity that those writers of the\r\nPort-Royal, those men of such superior\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_82\" id=\"Page_82\"\u003e[Pg 82]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmerit, should have thrown away\r\nso much genius and time in ridiculous\r\ncontroversies on the good or\r\nbad doctrine of Jansenius, on idle\r\nand endless discussions on free-will\r\nand grace, and on the important\r\nquestion, Whether five unintelligible\r\npropositions be in a book which\r\nnobody reads? Tormented, imprisoned,\r\nexiled for these vain disputes,\r\nand employed perpetually in defending\r\nso futile a cause, how many\r\nyears of their lives have philosophy\r\nand letters to regret as lost! What\r\nlights would they not have added to\r\nthose with which they had already\r\nillumined their age, if they had not\r\nbeen carried away by these unhappy\r\nand pitiful distractions, so unworthy\r\nof taking up the thoughts of men like\r\nthem! May we venture to say a little\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_83\" id=\"Page_83\"\u003e[Pg 83]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmore of this, at the risk of deviating\r\none moment from our subject? Can\r\nreason withhold shedding bitter tears,\r\nwhen she sees how many useful talents\r\nthe quarrels, so often excited\r\nin the bosom of Christianity, have\r\nburied? how many ages these wretched\r\nand scandalous contests have destroyed\r\nto the human understanding?\r\nand how many geniuses, formed\r\nfor discovering new truths, have\r\nemployed (to the great regret of\r\ntrue religion) all their sagacity and\r\nabilities, in supporting or giving\r\nreputation to ancient absurdities?\r\nWhen we run through, in the vast\r\nroyal library, the first apartment, of\r\nan immense extent, and find it destined,\r\nfor the greatest part, to a\r\ncollection, without number, of the\r\nmost visionary commentators on the\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_84\" id=\"Page_84\"\u003e[Pg 84]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nscriptures, of polemical writers on,\r\nquestions the most void of meaning,\r\nof school divines of every sort;\r\nin short, of so many works from\r\nwhence there is no drawing one\r\nsingle page of truth, can we refrain\r\ncrying out with sorrow (\u003ci\u003ead quid\r\nperditio hæc?\u003c/i\u003e) “To what end all this\r\nloss?” Again, human nature would\r\nhave been in no very great degree to\r\nbe pitied, if all these frivolous and\r\nabsurd objects, these \u003ci\u003eholy trifles\u003c/i\u003e, as\r\na celebrated magistrate calls them\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_11_11\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_11_11\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_11_11\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[11]\u003c/a\u003e,\r\nhad ended in ill language only, and\r\nhad not occasioned the shedding of\r\ntorrents of blood. But let us shut\r\nour eyes on these dismal objects,\r\nand make only one other reflexion, as\r\nconsolatory as it is humiliating to the\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_85\" id=\"Page_85\"\u003e[Pg 85]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhuman mind. How is it possible,\r\nthat the same species of beings which\r\ninvented the art of writing, arithmetic,\r\nastronomy, algebra, chemistry,\r\nwatch-work, the art of weaving,\r\nso many things in short worthy\r\nof admiration in the mechanical and\r\nliberal arts, should have invented\r\nthe philosophy and divinity of the\r\nschools, judicial astrology, the concomitant\r\nconcourse, versatile and\r\ncongruous grace, the victorious delectation,\r\nabsolute accidents, and so\r\nmany other fooleries, as would occasion\r\nthe suspending, by authority of\r\njustice, the person who should first\r\nbroach them now-a-days? Plato defined\r\nman, “an animal with two feet\r\nwithout feathers.” How ridiculous\r\nsoever this definition may appear, it\r\nwas perhaps difficult (the lights of\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_86\" id=\"Page_86\"\u003e[Pg 86]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nreligion set aside) to characterise\r\notherwise the indefinable human\r\nspecies; which on one side seems, by\r\nmaster-pieces of genius, to have approached\r\nthe heavenly beings, and\r\non the other, by a thousand incredible\r\nmarks of folly and cruelty, to have\r\nset itself on a level with the most stupid\r\nand ferocious animals. When we\r\nmeasure the interval between a Scotus\r\nand a Newton, or rather between the\r\nworks of Scotus and those of Newton,\r\nwe must cry out with Terence,\r\n\u003ci\u003eHomo homini quid præstat!\u003c/i\u003e “What\r\ndifference there is between man\r\nand man!” Or must we only attribute\r\nthis immense distance to the\r\nenormous difference of ages, and\r\nthink with sorrow that the \u003ci\u003esubtile\u003c/i\u003e\r\nand \u003ci\u003eabsurd doctor\u003c/i\u003e, who wrote so\r\nmany chimeras, admired by his contemporaries,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_87\" id=\"Page_87\"\u003e[Pg 87]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhad perhaps been a\r\nNewton in an age more enlightened?\r\nLet us weigh well all these reflexions;\r\nlet us add thereto the perusal of ecclesiastical\r\nhistory, those kalendars of\r\nthe virtue of some men, and the\r\nweak wickedness of so many others;\r\nlet us behold in that history the\r\nusurpations, without number, of the\r\nspiritual power; the robberies and\r\nthe violences exercised under the pretext\r\nof religion; so many bloody\r\nwars, so many cruel persecutions, so\r\nmany murders committed in the\r\nname of a God who abhors them;\r\nand we shall have pretty nearly an\r\nexact catalogue of the advantages\r\nwhich the disputes of Christianity\r\nhave brought upon mankind.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo return to the Jesuits, the nomination\r\nof father le Tellier to the\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_88\" id=\"Page_88\"\u003e[Pg 88]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nplace of confessor to Louis XIV.\r\nfurnished them with an opportunity\r\nof wreaking fully their vengeance.\r\nThis violent and inflexible man,\r\nhated by his very brethren, whom he\r\ngoverned with a rod of iron, made\r\nthe Jansenists drink “to the very\r\ndregs,” according to his own expression,\r\n“of the cup of the society’s\r\nindignation.” Scarce was he in\r\nplace, but they foresaw the evils of\r\nwhich he would be the cause: and\r\nFontenelle the philosopher said, on\r\nlearning his nomination, “the Jansenists\r\nhave sinned.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe first exploit of this ferocious\r\nand fiery Jesuit, was the destruction\r\nof Port-Royal, where not one stone\r\nwas left upon another, and from\r\nwhence they dug up the very corpses\r\nthat were interred there. This violence,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_89\" id=\"Page_89\"\u003e[Pg 89]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nexecuted with the last barbarity,\r\nagainst a house respectable for\r\nthe celebrated persons who had inhabited\r\nit, and against poor nuns, more\r\nworthy of compassion than of hatred,\r\nexcited clamours throughout the\r\nwhole kingdom: these clamours have\r\nre-echoed down even to our times;\r\nand the Jesuits themselves confessed,\r\non seeing the spectacle of their destruction,\r\nthat the stones of Port-Royal\r\nwere falling on their own\r\nheads to crush them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut the indignation which the destruction\r\nof Port-Royal excited against\r\nthem, was nothing in comparison of\r\nthe general commotion which the\r\nbull \u003ci\u003eUnigenitus\u003c/i\u003e occasioned. It is\r\ncertain that this bull was their work:\r\nwe know also the universal opposition\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_90\" id=\"Page_90\"\u003e[Pg 90]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwhich it produced in almost all\r\nthe orders of the state: we know the\r\nintrigues, the frauds, the violences,\r\nwhich were put in practice to extort\r\nthe acceptance of it. We may remember\r\nthat Louis XIV. having succeeded\r\nin making it to be received\r\n(partly by foul and partly by fair means)\r\nby an assembly of forty prelates, saw\r\nwith pain nine bishops who remained\r\nin opposition to it: he could have wished,\r\nfor the peace of his conscience,\r\nan entire uniformity in the episcopal\r\ncorps. “That is very easy,” said\r\nthe duchess his daughter to him,\r\n“you need only order the forty acceptants\r\nto be of the opinion of\r\nthe nine others.” The propositions\r\ncondemned were, for the most\r\npart, so ill chosen, that it is pretended\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_91\" id=\"Page_91\"\u003e[Pg 91]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthat a great prince, on reading\r\nthem in the bull, took them for\r\ntruths which it enjoined to be believed,\r\nappeared edified by them, and\r\nwas very much surprised, though of\r\na docile disposition, when his confessor\r\nundeceived him.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe magistrates were not the last\r\nto rise against this bull. They were\r\nespecially shocked at the censure of\r\nthe ninety-first proposition. “The\r\ndread of an unjust excommunication\r\nought never to hinder us from\r\ndoing our duty.” Instructed by\r\nthe melancholy effects of the quarrels\r\nbetween the Priesthood and the Empire\r\nduring so many ages, they perceived\r\nhow easy it was to avail themselves\r\nof this censure, to detach the\r\npeople, by menaces of excommunication,\r\nfrom the fidelity which they\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_92\" id=\"Page_92\"\u003e[Pg 92]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nowe their sovereign. They saw, in\r\nso rash a condemnation, the secret\r\nattempt which the Jesuits and the\r\ncourt of Rome wanted to make upon\r\nour maxims, of the temporal independence\r\nof kings. There was no\r\nsubscribing, with any modesty, to the\r\nAnathema launched out against a\r\nproposition so evident, but by confining\r\nit to a tortured sense, which it\r\npresents not, in judging it (which is\r\nridiculous in such a case) upon a pretended\r\nintention of the author in favour\r\nof excommunicated fanaticks.\r\nWho doubts that fanaticks might\r\nnot abuse the truth which this proposition\r\nincludes, to the braving of every\r\nexcommunication which they shall\r\nthink unjust? But is the abuse, which\r\nmay be made of a truth, a reason for\r\nproscribing it? Would the scripture\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_93\" id=\"Page_93\"\u003e[Pg 93]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nitself be safe from a stigma founded\r\non like motives?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eNevertheless, in spite of the opposition\r\nof the magistrates, the bull\r\nwas registered; every thing plyed,\r\neither willingly or by force, under\r\nthe weight of the royal authority:\r\nthe fury with which father le Tellier,\r\nthe author of this strange production,\r\npersecuted all its opposers, was carried\r\nso far, that the Jesuits themselves,\r\nthough long inured to violence,\r\nwere terrified at his, and said\r\naloud, “Father le Tellier drives at\r\nsuch a rate, that he will overturn\r\nus.” They thought not perhaps\r\nthat they were speaking so much\r\ntruth. It is this bull, and the persecution\r\nwhich it occasioned, that\r\nafter fifty years has given the Jesuits\r\nthe mortal blow: we shall see it\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_94\" id=\"Page_94\"\u003e[Pg 94]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nin the sequel of this recital. But\r\nit may not be useless to make,\r\nbefore-hand, an observation on the\r\nconduct and the projects of father le\r\nTellier. Many people believe, that\r\nthis Jesuit was a knave, void of religion,\r\nwho made its respectable\r\nname subservient to his hatred: it is\r\nmuch more probable that he was\r\na fanatick in reality, who, being persuaded\r\nof the goodness of his cause,\r\nthought every thing permitted him,\r\nin order to ensure the triumph of\r\nwhat he supposed to be \u003ci\u003ethe sound\r\ndoctrine\u003c/i\u003e. At the same time that\r\nhe persecuted the Jansenists, he accused\r\nFontenelle to Louis XIV. as\r\nan atheist, for having written \u003ci\u003eThe\r\nHistory of Oracles\u003c/i\u003e. Fontenelle, the\r\npupil of the Jesuits, their friend at\r\nall times, as well as the great Corneille\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_95\" id=\"Page_95\"\u003e[Pg 95]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhis uncle, disapproving also\r\nthe doctrine and morality of the\r\nJansenists, as far as a philosopher\r\ncan disapprove theological opinions;\r\nin short, ever discreet and reserved\r\nwith respect to religion, in his discourses,\r\nas well as in his writings;\r\nsuch was the man whom le Tellier\r\nwanted to ruin, at the very time\r\nthat he sought to crush Quesnel and\r\nhis partisans. Would he have behaved\r\nin this manner, if he had not\r\nbeen animated by a principle of persuasion?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eHappily for Jansenism and for philosophy,\r\nLouis XIV. died. Le Tellier,\r\nloaded with the public execration,\r\nwas exiled to la Flêche, where\r\nhe ended, in a short time, a life odious\r\nto the whole nation. The duke of\r\nOrleans the regent, being in every\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_96\" id=\"Page_96\"\u003e[Pg 96]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nrespect the reverse of Louis XIV. was\r\ndisposed neither to brave with violence\r\nthe publick clamour, which the\r\nconstitution Unigenitus had excited,\r\nnor rudely to offend the pope and\r\nthe bishops, who were too far engaged\r\nto recede: he caused to be accepted,\r\nalmost without noise, this\r\nfatal bull, which, presented by the\r\nJesuits, had excited such great clamours:\r\nsupported by the philosophers\r\nwho surrounded him, and who began,\r\nfrom that time, to command\r\nattention; supported above all by his\r\nminister Dubois, whose way of thinking,\r\nin matters of religion, was well\r\nknown, he threw over this theological\r\ndispute, a ridicule which put\r\na stop to it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Jesuits, though become less\r\npowerful during the regency, recovered,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_97\" id=\"Page_97\"\u003e[Pg 97]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nnevertheless, in a short time,\r\nthe place of confessor to the king, of\r\nwhich they had been for a short time\r\ndeprived: it is pretended that their\r\nrestoration at court was one of the\r\nsecret articles of the re-union between\r\nFrance and Spain in 1719. It is added,\r\nthat this article had been procured\r\nby the management of the Jesuit\r\nd’Aubenton, confessor to Philip\r\nV. and extremely powerful at the\r\ncourt of Madrid. For the honour\r\nof the ministers which France had\r\nat that time, we must believe that\r\nthis anecdote is fabulous.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eEverything else was peaceable,\r\nwith respect to the Jesuits, during\r\nthe remainder of the regency and\r\nthe succeeding ministry: they aimed\r\nonly at supporting themselves, without\r\nmaking much noise. Cardinal\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_98\" id=\"Page_98\"\u003e[Pg 98]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nFleury, who loved them not, was\r\nnevertheless persuaded that they were\r\nto be protected strongly, “as the\r\nfirmest supports of religion;” the\r\nmaintenance of which that minister\r\nlooked upon as a part of government.\r\nThis manner of thinking\r\nin cardinal Fleury, with regard to\r\nthe Jesuits, is found expressed in\r\nsome manuscript letters of his, which\r\nI have read. “They are,” said he\r\nfurther, “excellent servants, but\r\nbad masters.” In pursuance of this\r\nprinciple, he treated them civilly,\r\nduring his ministry, but without\r\nshewing them any marks of declared\r\nfavour: on the contrary, he greatly\r\nraised (and the Jesuits were not the\r\nbetter pleased with him for it) the\r\ncommunity of Sulpiciens, who were\r\nmuch less illustrious and less powerful,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_99\" id=\"Page_99\"\u003e[Pg 99]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nbut also less formidable. Cardinal\r\nFleury, an enemy to the Jansenists,\r\nwhom he looked upon as\r\ndangerous, and at the same time very\r\nlittle biassed for what had any considerable\r\ndegree of credit in its way,\r\nof whatever kind it was, took under\r\nhis particular protection this numerous\r\ncommunity: it had all that\r\nwas necessary to make him think it\r\nworthy thereof: it joined to the merit\r\nof being extremely devoted to\r\nthe bull, the happiness of having\r\nnever made any noise. This minister\r\nfilled the bishopricks of France with\r\na multitude of the pupils of St.\r\nSulpicius, who were more commendable\r\nfor their devotion than\r\ntheir talents: thus he planted the\r\nfirst seeds of that state of languor\r\ninto which the clergy of France\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_100\" id=\"Page_100\"\u003e[Pg 100]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nseem now-a-days to be fallen, but\r\nfrom which it is to be hoped they\r\nwill soon rouze themselves; thanks\r\nto the philosophick spirit which enlightens\r\nat present some of its members,\r\nand which makes them justly\r\nlook upon fanaticism and ignorance\r\nas the two true scourges of Christianity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, the bull of which the\r\nJesuits had been the promoters, and\r\nwhich had met with so much opposition\r\nwhen it appeared, came insensibly\r\nto be received by all the bishops.\r\nThe French nation, which clamours\r\nso readily, and which more readily still\r\ngrows tired of clamouring, was familiarized\r\nto a production which it\r\nhad at first called \u003ci\u003emonstrous\u003c/i\u003e: every\r\none received it, with an interpretation\r\naccording to his own liking; for such\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_101\" id=\"Page_101\"\u003e[Pg 101]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nis the wonderful privilege of these\r\nkinds of decisions of the church of\r\nRome, that people may, by all means,\r\nunderstand them just as they please,\r\nand submit to them at the same time\r\nthat they continue in their own opinion.\r\nJansenism, heretofore maintained\r\n(in spite of reason) by men\r\nof real merit, had no longer for its\r\nsupport any defenders, but such as\r\nwere worthy of such a cause, a few\r\npoor and obscure priests, unknown\r\neven where they lived: the phrensy\r\nof convulsions, which had raised dissensions\r\nin the party itself, had rendered\r\nthem completely contemptible,\r\nby rendering them ridiculous: in\r\nshort, this sect, now expiring and\r\ndespised, was at the last gasp, when\r\nan unforeseen chain of circumstances\r\nrestored it to a new life, which it hoped\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_102\" id=\"Page_102\"\u003e[Pg 102]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nnot for. The viper which the Jesuits\r\nthought crushed, had strength enough\r\nto turn back its head, to bite them in\r\nthe heel, and to kill them. The\r\nreader is here presented with the\r\nsuccession of causes, by which this\r\nstrange event was produced.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe parliaments, which had opposed\r\nthe society from its birth,\r\nhad but too much reason for persisting\r\nin the same sentiments with\r\nregard to it. They were justly offended\r\nat the advantages of power\r\nand credit, which it had obtained in\r\nspite of them: they were above all\r\nhurt by the constitution \u003ci\u003eUnigenitus\u003c/i\u003e,\r\nthe acceptance of which the intrigues\r\nof the Jesuits had forced them to\r\nregister; an acceptance which they\r\nthought, as we have seen, contrary\r\nto the rights of the crown; and in\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_103\" id=\"Page_103\"\u003e[Pg 103]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\norder to break forth, waited only for\r\na favourable occasion, without perhaps\r\npresuming to flatter themselves\r\nthat it would ever occur.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe contest occasioned by the refusal\r\nof the sacraments to the Jansenists,\r\nwas the first spark of the conflagration,\r\nthe Helen of that war, as small in\r\nits first object, as it is now become\r\nimportant by its consequences. One\r\nof the principal archbishops of the\r\nkingdom, and a bishop of Mirepoix,\r\nhis aid and counsellor, both of\r\nthem thoroughly persuaded of the\r\nexcellence of the bull, and of the\r\ndamnation of those who rejected it,\r\nresolved, like consistent prelates, to\r\norder the communion to be refused\r\nto Jansenists at the point of death.\r\nThis refusal had before been attempted\r\nin some provinces, but twice\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_104\" id=\"Page_104\"\u003e[Pg 104]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nor thrice only, at wide intervals, and\r\nwith little noise: it was now thought\r\ntime to take off the mask, and absolutely\r\nto treat the enemies of the\r\nbull \u003ci\u003eUnigenitus\u003c/i\u003e as hereticks cut off\r\nfrom the church. If we believe\r\nthe crowd of constitutionary theologists,\r\nthe two prelates, authors and\r\nexecutors of this project, were extremely\r\nin the right: but let us be\r\npermitted to relate here (as mere\r\nhistorians) the singular reasons which\r\nwere alledged in their favour, and\r\nthose that were opposed to them.\r\n“The bull \u003ci\u003eUnigenitus\u003c/i\u003e,” said its partisans,\r\n“ill received without doubt,\r\nand even spit upon at its birth,\r\nhad terminated in being unanimously\r\nreceived: there was not,\r\nin all Christendom, one bishop\r\nwho rejected this production, whether\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_105\" id=\"Page_105\"\u003e[Pg 105]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ngood or bad, of the court of\r\nRome: it was in vain to say that\r\nit overturned the principles of\r\nChristianity; that the acceptance\r\nof it had not been free; that\r\nsome had received it through fear,\r\nothers through interest: it was\r\naccepted, and without opposition,\r\nby the whole body of pastors.\r\nHere then we see, in the\r\nprinciples of the Catholic church,\r\nall that ought to serve, by way of\r\ncompass, to plain Christians in\r\ntheir faith. It is not for them\r\nto examine either the doctrines\r\nthemselves, or the nature of the\r\nacceptance; it is sufficient to them\r\nthat they see clearly, that the visible\r\nchurch adopts them. We understand\r\nhere by the visible church,\r\nwhat every Catholic understands\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_106\" id=\"Page_106\"\u003e[Pg 106]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nby the term; that is to say, the\r\npope, the bishops, and almost all\r\nthe ecclesiasticks, secular and regular,\r\nof the second order. Whatever\r\nbe the doctrine which this\r\nvisible church teaches, the faithful\r\nought to believe firmly, notwithstanding\r\neven the strongest appearances\r\nto the contrary, that it has\r\nalways taught the same; otherwise\r\nJesus Christ would not have said\r\ntrue in promising that church to be\r\nalways with her. The passages of\r\nscripture, and of the fathers,\r\nwhich may appear the most evidently\r\ncontrary to the new catechism,\r\nwill be explained in a\r\nmanner favourable to it: the\r\nchurch has alone the right of\r\nfixing the meaning of them. In\r\na word, from the moment the\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_107\" id=\"Page_107\"\u003e[Pg 107]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nchurch speaks, we must submit to\r\nher, whatever she may say. After\r\nthe council of Nice, the divinity\r\nof Jesus Christ was very far from\r\nbeing as solemnly, as universally,\r\nas uniformly received by the body\r\nof pastors, as the bull \u003ci\u003eUnigenitus\u003c/i\u003e\r\nhath been in these latter times.\r\nNevertheless, after the council of\r\nNice, the Arians were, from that\r\ntime, hereticks declared, not withstanding\r\nthe partisans that still adhered\r\nto them. It may be; it\r\nis even out of doubt, that in the\r\ncouncils which have decided on\r\nmatters of faith, many of the\r\nbishops declared for the good\r\ncause, through views of policy,\r\ninterest, or passion. Witness the\r\nunhappy facility with which most\r\nof the prelates, who, under Constantine,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_108\" id=\"Page_108\"\u003e[Pg 108]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhad declared that the\r\nWord was God, declared afterwards,\r\nunder Constantius, that it\r\nwas but a man. Witness again\r\nthe violent conduct of St. Cyril,\r\nand of the council of Ephesus,\r\nwith regard to Nestorius. Witness,\r\nlastly, the intrigues which\r\ntoo often disturbed those holy\r\nassemblies, and affronted, as we\r\nmay say, the Holy Ghost, that presides\r\nin them. But still, once\r\nmore, it is not the motives, it is\r\nthe result of the decision, that the\r\nfaithful ought to consider. It is\r\nby this result alone that they ought\r\nto abide: they would have too\r\nmuch to do, if it were necessary\r\nfor them to go back again to the\r\ncauses which dictated the decree.\r\nGod hath promised to his church\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_109\" id=\"Page_109\"\u003e[Pg 109]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ninfallibility in her decisions; but\r\nhe has not promised to every individual\r\npurity in his motives: he\r\nmakes use of all sorts of means,\r\neven of the passions of men, for\r\nmaking the truth triumph, and be\r\nknown; and he employs human\r\nthings, in order to make divine\r\nmatters succeed.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAgreeably to these reasonings (the\r\njustness of which we pretend by no\r\nmeans to judge of) the partisans of\r\nthe bull thought themselves warranted\r\nto treat the Jansenists as declared\r\nsectaries. The latter said, in their\r\ndefence, that the universal church\r\nwas possessed of their cause, by the\r\nappeal which they had made to a\r\nfuture council; and that, ‘till the decision\r\nwhich they waited for, they\r\ncould not be cast out of her bosom.\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_110\" id=\"Page_110\"\u003e[Pg 110]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nIt was replied, that a crowd\r\nof hereticks, to begin with Pelagius,\r\nso odious to the modern Jansenists, had\r\nbeen looked upon and treated as innovators,\r\nwithout having been condemned\r\nexpressly by any œcumenical\r\ncouncil. They objected, that the\r\nbull proposed in reality not one truth\r\nfor belief; the accumulated qualifications\r\nof \u003ci\u003ehereticks\u003c/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003esmelling\u003c/i\u003e of \u003ci\u003eheresy\u003c/i\u003e,\r\nof \u003ci\u003eill sounding\u003c/i\u003e, of \u003ci\u003eoffending pious ears\u003c/i\u003e,\r\n\u0026amp;c. were not applied to any one proposition\r\nof father Quesnel’s in particular.\r\nSome of their adversaries,\r\nafter the example of an illustrious\r\nchief of Israel\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_12_12\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_12_12\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_12_12\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[12]\u003c/a\u003e,\r\nreplied to them,\r\n(making a jest probably both of them\r\nand the bull) that it proposed “to\r\nbelieve with an implicit faith indeterminate\r\ntruths:” others said\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_111\" id=\"Page_111\"\u003e[Pg 111]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nsimply, that in a list of poisons, it\r\nwas not necessary to mark expressly\r\nthe degree of malignity of each, in\r\norder to warn people to abstain from\r\nthem. It was demanded again of\r\nthe Jansenists, how the church could\r\npreserve one of her essential characters,\r\nthat of being \u003ci\u003evisible\u003c/i\u003e, if she were\r\nreduced to a handful of priests, opposed\r\nto all the other pastors? And\r\nthey replied, that the true church,\r\nthe \u003ci\u003evisible\u003c/i\u003e church, was that which\r\ntaught \u003ci\u003evisibly\u003c/i\u003e sound doctrine, and\r\nwhich did not authorise, like the bull,\r\nthe most shocking Pelagianism: they\r\nadded, that the church, \u003ci\u003evisible\u003c/i\u003e as\r\nshe is, and must be, was not the less\r\nhid in appearance in those unhappy\r\ntimes, when the fathers of the\r\nchurch assure us that the whole universe\r\n“was astonished to see itself\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_112\" id=\"Page_112\"\u003e[Pg 112]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nArian.” In a word, the Jansenists\r\nanswered their adversaries, as Sertorius\r\ndid Pompey,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poetry-container\"\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"poetry\"\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"verse\"\u003eRome n’est plus dans Rome; elle est toute où je\r\n\t suis.\u003c/div\u003e\r\n \u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt was thus that the one and the\r\nother defended their cause. We say\r\nnothing of the ill language which\r\nthey added to them, and which on\r\neither side were worthy of their\r\nreasons.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe magistrates alone (and this\r\nobservation is not to be neglected)\r\nopposed, on this occasion, to the constitutionists,\r\nreasons that were unanswerable:\r\nthey pronounced, that\r\nthe doctrine, taught or authorised by\r\nthe bull, was contrary to the laws\r\nof the kingdom, and of consequence\r\nought not to be a pretext for vexation.\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_113\" id=\"Page_113\"\u003e[Pg 113]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nOf this the magistrates were\r\ncompetent judges, and the partisans\r\nof the bull had nothing to\r\nreply: it belongs to the depositaries\r\nof the law to decide what is\r\nconformable or contrary to it; and\r\nthis question is not within the province\r\nof the church.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is certain, besides, that all those\r\nrefusals of the sacraments, occasioned\r\nby the bull, disturbed private families;\r\nthat they sowed dissension among the\r\npeople: that in this view, at least, the\r\nmagistrates ought to take cognizance\r\nof it, and to employ, as they did, the\r\nauthority of the laws, to put an end\r\nto the confusion. But the inconvenience\r\nwhich attends contests in\r\ntheology, of hurting the publick\r\ntranquillity, is the fruit of the error\r\nwhich was committed in France,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_114\" id=\"Page_114\"\u003e[Pg 114]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nand almost every where else, of connecting\r\ncivil affairs with religion, of\r\nrequiring a citizen of Paris to be,\r\nnot only a faithful subject, but also a\r\ngood catholic, and as exact in providing\r\nholy bread as in paying his\r\ntaxes. As long as this spirit shall\r\nsubsist among us, the maxim of which\r\nfanaticks make an ill use so often,\r\n“That it is better to obey God than\r\nman,” will be an invincible obstacle\r\nto the most prudent measures of\r\ngovernment and of magistrates for\r\nstifling religious quarrels; because\r\nmen like better to obey a master\r\nof their own chusing (and who, after\r\nall, commands them to do only what\r\nthey please) than a master whom\r\nthey have not chosen, and who enjoins\r\nthem what they dislike. In\r\nHolland, where the Jansenists form\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_115\" id=\"Page_115\"\u003e[Pg 115]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\na church absolutely separate, which\r\nthe government knows nothing of,\r\nand leaves in peace, they are neither\r\nthe cause nor the object of any disturbance.\r\nIt is only by a discreet\r\ntoleration (equally avowed by religion\r\nand politicks) that we can prevent\r\nthose frivolous disputes from being\r\ncontrary to the repose of the state,\r\nand to the union of the subject. But\r\nwhen shall we see that happy time?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eHowever this be, the Jansenists,\r\ntreated at their death as excommunicated\r\npersons, rose up against this\r\nnew persecution. The parliament,\r\nwhich had registered the bull with\r\na very ill will, undertook their defence;\r\nit banished the fathers who\r\nrefused the communion to dieing\r\nJansenists: the archbishop, on\r\nhis side, forbad them, and deprived\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_116\" id=\"Page_116\"\u003e[Pg 116]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof their places those priests who\r\nobeyed the parliament; and the unhappy\r\n\u003ci\u003eGod-Bearers\u003c/i\u003e (so they are called)\r\nhaving before their eyes exile on one\r\nside, and famine on the other, found\r\nthemselves under a melancholy alternative.\r\nReasonable people were\r\nsurprised that the archbishop, the\r\nauthor of their misfortune, did not\r\ngo and present himself to the parliament,\r\ndeclare that they had done nothing\r\nbut by his orders, and give\r\nhimself up as a victim for so many\r\ninnocents. They had so much the\r\nmore reason to expect this, as the virtue\r\nof that prelate, and his sincerity\r\nin this affair, were by no means suspected.\r\nThe Jansenists called him\r\npersecutor and schismatick; the\r\ncourtiers, obstinate: his partisans\r\ncompared him to St. Athanasius,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_117\" id=\"Page_117\"\u003e[Pg 117]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwho was also (they said) called obstinate\r\nand rebellious by the courtiers\r\nof his time.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe dispute grew more and more\r\nwarm: the court wished ineffectually\r\nto put a stop to it; the Jansenists\r\nhad found means to occasion\r\nmore trouble in their deaths than they\r\nhad done during their lives; the parliaments\r\nand the arch-bishop were\r\nexiled by turns. At last the king,\r\njustly tired of these disputes, recalled\r\nthe magistrates, and in concert\r\nwith them imposed alike silence on\r\nthe partisans and on the adversaries\r\nof the bull.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis law of silence, it is true, was\r\nnot too well observed; it was particularly\r\nbroken by the encomiums\r\nwhich the Jansenists bestowed on it:\r\nthey printed large volumes to prove\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_118\" id=\"Page_118\"\u003e[Pg 118]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthat it was necessary to be silent; they\r\nresembled the Pedant in Moliere,\r\nwho after having talked a long\r\ntime, and said abundance of foolish\r\nthings, promises at last to keep\r\nsilence\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_13_13\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_13_13\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_13_13\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[13]\u003c/a\u003e,\r\nand in order to shew that\r\nhe maintains his promise, interrupts\r\nevery moment the conversation,\r\nby observing \u003ci\u003ethat he opens not his\r\nmouth\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe constitutionists on their side\r\nhad the presumption to say, that the\r\nKing had no right to ordain mad\r\nsubjects to be silent on the ridiculous\r\nobject which heated their\r\nimaginations; that the sixth general\r\ncouncil had \u003ci\u003eanathematized\u003c/i\u003e the \u003ci\u003etype\u003c/i\u003e of\r\nthe emperor Constantius, which was\r\nalso, as they pretended, nothing more\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_119\" id=\"Page_119\"\u003e[Pg 119]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthan a \u003ci\u003elaw of silence\u003c/i\u003e. The Jansenists\r\nreplyed, that this council had\r\ndone better still, in \u003ci\u003eanathematizing\u003c/i\u003e\r\nPope Honorius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe King, employed like a good\r\nfather, according to the expression of\r\na celebrated author, in parting his\r\nchildren who were fighting, was\r\ndesirous of supporting himself by\r\nan authority respectable to both\r\nparties, and especially to the most\r\nnumerous: he thought proper to\r\nconsult on this question, by which\r\nall France was agitated, the late pope\r\nBenedict XIV. a man of understanding,\r\nwho loved not the Jesuits,\r\nand who at the bottom despised this\r\ncontroversy. The pope replied like a\r\ncrafty Italian; on one side he ordained\r\nthe acceptance of the bull, the work\r\nof one of his \u003ci\u003einfallible\u003c/i\u003e predecessors,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_120\" id=\"Page_120\"\u003e[Pg 120]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwhich he could not decently condemn;\r\non the other, he declared\r\nat the same time, that the Jansenists\r\nwho rejected it, ought nevertheless\r\nto have the sacraments administered\r\nto them at their deaths, “but\r\nat their own risque and hazard,”\r\nand after having been \u003ci\u003ethoroughly advertized\u003c/i\u003e\r\nof the danger which they\r\nran with respect to their eternal\r\nsalvation. From this period\r\nthe refusals of the sacraments became\r\nless frequent; the Jansenists\r\nand their adversaries thought they\r\nhad alike the pope for them, and\r\ntranquillity seemed almost re-established.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt was not even lessened by the\r\nstep which the parliament thought\r\nitself obliged to take some time after,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_121\" id=\"Page_121\"\u003e[Pg 121]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof protesting anew against this bull\r\n\u003ci\u003eUnigenitus\u003c/i\u003e; the acceptance of which\r\nit had registered with reluctance. It\r\ncalled not in question indeed the doctrine\r\nof the bull; that would have\r\nbeen to encroach on the authority of\r\nthe church, and it knew too well\r\nthe limits of its own rights: it protested\r\nonly against the execution of\r\nthis bull, declaring it contrary to what\r\nis termed in France “the liberties\r\nof the Gallican Church.” This\r\nprotest had not the glory it merited;\r\nit was the sequel of a number of\r\nwritings, of which the French levity\r\nbegan to be tired. Nay, the partisans\r\nof the bull even made a jest, with an\r\nindecency that deserved punishment,\r\nof the “pretended liberties of the Gallican\r\nChurch,” by virtue of which,\r\nthe parliament, according to the\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_122\" id=\"Page_122\"\u003e[Pg 122]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nterms of its decrees, enjoined the\r\npriests, under ignominious penalties,\r\nto administer the sacraments: they\r\nsaw not, said they jeeringly, how such\r\ndecrees supported and favoured the\r\nliberty of the church of France, by\r\nforcing its ministers to do what they\r\ndid not think they ought to do. This\r\nway of talking, these contests, the\r\npieces without number, which resulted\r\nfrom them, served to feed the\r\nfrivolous disposition and gaiety of\r\nthe nation: people laughed at the reciprocal\r\nanimosity of the theologists\r\nof both parties, for questions which\r\ndeserved it so little: for that animosity,\r\nthough very usual, and of all ages,\r\nalways astonishes and amuses reasonable\r\npeople. Every body laughed no less\r\nat seeing, that notwithstanding the reiterated\r\norders issued by the Sorbonne,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_123\" id=\"Page_123\"\u003e[Pg 123]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nto mention no more of the bull \u003ci\u003eUnigenitus\u003c/i\u003e,\r\neither in their writings or their\r\ntheses, the college displayed an attachment\r\nthe most obstinate to this bull,\r\nwhich it had rejected so long. Nothing\r\nmore was wanting, it was said, to all\r\nthe strange things that had happened\r\non this subject, than to forbid without\r\nsuccess the faculty of divinity from\r\nteaching a doctrine which it cost so\r\nmuch trouble to make them receive.\r\nPhilosophy, above all, laughed in\r\nsilence at all these extravagancies, and\r\namused herself with this new change\r\nof the scene, waiting with patience for\r\nan opportunity of profiting by it.\r\nThose among the philosophers who\r\nhoped for no good from these quarrels,\r\ntook the still wiser part, of laughing at\r\nthe whole. They observed the mutual\r\nrancour of the Jansenists and their\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_124\" id=\"Page_124\"\u003e[Pg 124]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nadversaries, with that disinterested\r\ncuriosity with which they observe the\r\ncombats of animals, well assured, let\r\nwhat would happen, of ending cause\r\nto laugh at the expence of some of\r\nthem. So many blows reciprocally\r\nstruck on both sides with violence,\r\ndid not yet reach the Jesuits; employed\r\non one hand in arming the bishops\r\nagainst the expiring remains of\r\nthe Jansenists their enemies; and on\r\nthe other, in animating, underhand,\r\nthe court of France against\r\nthe parliaments, they were the secret\r\nsoul of all this war, without appearing\r\nto intermeddle in it. But the\r\nJansenists, who, in the quarrel concerning\r\nthe sacraments, had, or at\r\nleast thought they had, gained\r\nground, grew bolder by degrees,\r\nseemed to prepare for a more decisive\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_125\" id=\"Page_125\"\u003e[Pg 125]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nstroke; and the arch-bishop, their\r\nenemy, whetted, without knowing it,\r\nby his zeal, the sword with which the\r\nsociety was soon to be pierced.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eTwo capital errors which the Jesuits\r\ncommitted about that time at\r\nVersailles, began to shake their credit,\r\nand to prepare from afar their\r\ndisaster. They refused, as we are assured,\r\nthrough motives of human\r\nrespect, to take under their direction\r\nsome powerful personages\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_14_14\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_14_14\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_14_14\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[14]\u003c/a\u003e,\r\nwho had\r\nno reason to expect from them a severity\r\nso singular in many respects.\r\nThis indiscreet refusal, it is said, contributed\r\nto hasten their ruin by the\r\nvery hands which they might have\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_126\" id=\"Page_126\"\u003e[Pg 126]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmade their support: thus these\r\nmen, who had been so often accused\r\nof loose morals, and who had\r\nmaintained themselves at court by\r\nsuch morals alone, were undone\r\nthe moment that they wanted (even\r\nto their own great regret) to profess\r\nseverity; an abundant subject\r\nfor reflexions, and an evident proof\r\nthat the Jesuits, from the very first\r\ntill that time, had taken the right\r\nway to support themselves, seeing\r\nthey ceased to be, the moment that\r\nthey deviated from it. It is added,\r\nthat at the same time that they displeased\r\nthe court by their scruples,\r\nthey displeased it also by their intrigues.\r\nThey laid, it was said, snares\r\nfor some men in place, whose crime\r\nin their eyes was that of being wanting\r\nin devotion to the society, the\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_127\" id=\"Page_127\"\u003e[Pg 127]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nonly country which they know: the\r\nusual effect of these sorts of attacks\r\nis, to strengthen the credit which they\r\ndo not overthrow; those who were the\r\nobjects of the Jesuitical plots obtained\r\nbut the more favour by that means.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhile the Jesuits, rather dreaded\r\nthan supported by the greater part of\r\nthe clergy, animated against themselves\r\nthe parliaments, and alienated\r\nthe persons of the court who had\r\nmost credit, they also found the\r\nsecret to indispose greatly a set of\r\nmen, less powerful in appearance,\r\nbut more formidable than is imagined,\r\nthat of the men of letters.\r\nTheir declamations, at court and in\r\nthe city, against the \u003ci\u003eEncyclopedie\u003c/i\u003e had\r\nirritated against them all those who\r\nwished well to that work, and who\r\nwere very numerous: their invectives\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_128\" id=\"Page_128\"\u003e[Pg 128]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nagainst the author of the\r\n\u003ci\u003eHenriade\u003c/i\u003e, their old pupil, and for a\r\nlong time their friend, had provoked\r\nthat celebrated writer, who made\r\nthem sensibly feel the folly which\r\nthey had been guilty of in attacking\r\nhim. Whatever be our strength, or\r\nwhatever we imagine it to be, we\r\nought never to make ourselves enemies\r\nof those who, enjoying the advantage\r\nof being read from one end\r\nof Europe to the other, are able, with\r\none stroke of their pen, to inflict a\r\nsignal and lasting vengeance. This\r\nis a maxim which favour and power\r\nitself ought never to make either\r\nindividuals, or societies, lose sight\r\nof, but which the Jesuits of our\r\ntimes seem to have forgot to their\r\ngreat misfortune. The lion pretends\r\nto sleep, suffers the wasp to\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_129\" id=\"Page_129\"\u003e[Pg 129]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nbuz around his ears; but grows\r\ntired at last of hearing it, rouses\r\nhimself, and kills it. For six years\r\nand upwards, the Journalists de Trevoux,\r\nand the light troops which\r\nlow literature maintained in their\r\npay, abused the celebrated person\r\nabove mentioned, who seemed not to\r\nknow it, and suffered them to go on.\r\nAt length tired of seeing himself harrassed\r\nby so many insects, he tucked up\r\nthe maroders, and silenced their chiefs;\r\nand what is of importance in France\r\nto the gaining of a cause, exposed\r\nboth the one and the other to publick\r\nlaughter. While he rendered\r\nthe Jesuits ridiculous, they rendered\r\nthemselves odious to all the sensible\r\nmen of the nation, by the spirit of\r\npersecution which they preached up\r\nin the same Journal de Trevoux, and\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_130\" id=\"Page_130\"\u003e[Pg 130]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe fanaticism which they published in\r\nit. The philosophers, as they are called,\r\nwhom they sought to maltreat,\r\nforgot, on their side, no opportunity\r\nof avenging themselves in their works;\r\nand this they did in a manner the\r\nmost mortifying to the Jesuits, without\r\ntoo much engaging and exposing\r\nthemselves. They did not say to\r\nthem as the Jansenists did, “You are\r\nambitious, intriguing, and knaves:”\r\nthis accusation would not have humbled\r\nthe society: they said to them,\r\n“You are blockheads; you have\r\nnot among you a single man of\r\nlearning, whose name is famous\r\nin Europe, and worthy of\r\nbeing so: you boast of your credit;\r\nbut that credit exists more in opinion\r\nthan in reality; it is only a\r\nhouse of cards, which will be overturned\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_131\" id=\"Page_131\"\u003e[Pg 131]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe moment one blows upon\r\nit.” They said true, and the\r\nevent has proved it. To complete\r\ntheir misfortune, the Jesuits, overwhelmed\r\nwith the blows which\r\nthey had imprudently drawn upon\r\nthemselves, had not one single defender\r\nable to repel them: they had\r\nno good writers, nor men of merit\r\nin any kind; their new enemies,\r\noppressed by them at Versailles, were\r\ntoo strong for them at the pen; and\r\nthe value of this advantage is sensibly\r\nfelt in a nation which loves to read\r\nonly to amuse itself, and which ends\r\nalways by declaring for that party\r\nwhich succeeds therein the best. The\r\nJesuits had for them the phantom of\r\ntheir power; their adversaries had\r\nFrance and all Europe.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_132\" id=\"Page_132\"\u003e[Pg 132]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt must be confessed that the Jansenists,\r\nwho never piqued themselves\r\non being artful, were much more\r\nso in these latter times, than they\r\nthought for; and that the Jesuits,\r\nwho value themselves greatly on\r\ntheir finesse, were not at all cunning.\r\nThey fell like fools into the\r\nsnare which their enemies had laid\r\nfor them, without once suspecting\r\nit. The Jansenist Gazetteer,\r\nexcited only by fanaticism and hatred\r\n(for that half-witted satyrist\r\nknew no better) reproached the\r\nJesuits with pursuing in the Jansenists\r\nthe phantom of heresy, and of\r\nnot falling upon the philosophers,\r\nwho became daily, according to him,\r\nmore numerous and more insolent.\r\nThe Jesuits stupidly quitted their\r\nexpiring prey, to attack men full of\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_133\" id=\"Page_133\"\u003e[Pg 133]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nvigour, who never thought of hurting\r\nthem. What was the consequence?\r\nThey have not quieted their\r\nold enemies, and have drawn upon\r\nthemselves new ones, whom they had\r\nnothing to do with. They perceive it\r\nvery plainly now, but it is too late.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eSuch was the situation of these fathers,\r\nwhen the war kindled between\r\nEngland and France brought upon\r\nthe society that famous law-suit\r\nwhich ended in its destruction: the\r\nJesuits carried on a trade with\r\nMartinico; the war having occasioned\r\nthem some losses, they wanted\r\nto break their correspondents at\r\nLyons and Marseilles; a Jesuit in\r\nFrance, to whom these correspondents\r\naddressed themselves for justice, talked\r\nto them like the \u003ci\u003erat retired from the\r\nworld\u003c/i\u003e: “My friends,” said the recluse,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_134\" id=\"Page_134\"\u003e[Pg 134]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\n“things below no longer concern\r\nme; and what can a poor hermit\r\nassist you in? What can he do but\r\npray God to help you in this\r\naffair? I hope that he will take\r\nsome care of you.\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_15_15\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_15_15\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_15_15\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[15]\u003c/a\u003e”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe offered to say a mass for them to\r\nobtain from God, instead of the money\r\nwhich they demanded, the grace to\r\nbear in a \u003ci\u003eChristian-like\u003c/i\u003e manner their\r\nruin. These merchants, thus robbed\r\nand treated like fools by the Jesuits,\r\nattacked them in the regular way of\r\njustice; they pretended that these fathers,\r\nby virtue of their constitutions,\r\nwere answerable one for the other,\r\nand that the Jesuits in France ought\r\nto discharge the debts of their missionaries\r\nin America. The Jesuits\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_135\" id=\"Page_135\"\u003e[Pg 135]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwere so persuaded of the goodness\r\nof their cause, that as they had a\r\nright to be judged before the Great\r\nCouncil, they demanded, in order to\r\nrender their triumph more brilliant\r\nand complete, to have the cause\r\nbrought before the Great Chamber\r\nof the parliament of Paris. They lost\r\nit there unanimously, and to the\r\ngreat satisfaction of the publick,\r\nwhich testified its joy at it by universal\r\napplause: they were condemned\r\nto pay immense sums to the parties,\r\nwith a prohibition to them to meddle\r\nwith commerce.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis was but the beginning of\r\ntheir misfortunes. In the law-suit\r\nwhich they maintained, it had been\r\ndebated, whether in reality, by\r\ntheir constitutions, they were answerable\r\none for the other: this question\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_136\" id=\"Page_136\"\u003e[Pg 136]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfurnished the parliament with a very\r\nnatural opportunity of demanding a\r\nsight of those famous constitutions,\r\nwhich had never been either examined\r\nor approved of with the requisite\r\nforms. The examination of\r\nthese constitutions, and afterward that\r\nof their books, furnished \u003ci\u003elegal\u003c/i\u003e means\r\nmore than sufficient for declaring\r\ntheir institution contrary to the laws\r\nof the kingdom, to the obedience\r\ndue to the sovereign, to the security\r\nof his person, and to the tranquillity\r\nof the state.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eI say \u003ci\u003elegal\u003c/i\u003e means; for we ought\r\nto distinguish, in this cause, the \u003ci\u003elegal\u003c/i\u003e\r\nmeans on which the destruction of\r\nthe Jesuits was founded, from the\r\nother motives, no less equitable, of\r\nthat destruction. We must not believe,\r\nthat either the constitutions\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_137\" id=\"Page_137\"\u003e[Pg 137]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof these fathers, or the doctrine they\r\nare reproached with, were the only\r\ncause of their ruin, though they\r\nmay be the only truly \u003ci\u003elegal\u003c/i\u003e cause,\r\nand the only one of course which\r\nshould have been mentioned in the\r\ndecrees issued against them. It is\r\nbut too true, that several other orders\r\nhave nearly for principle the same\r\nservile obedience which the Jesuits\r\nvow to their superiours, and to the\r\npope; it is but too true, that a thousand\r\nother doctors and religious orders\r\nhave taught the doctrine of the\r\npower of the church over the temporalities\r\nof kings: it was not\r\nmerely because they thought the Jesuits\r\nworse Frenchmen than other\r\nmonks, that they destroyed and dispersed\r\nthem: it was because they\r\nlooked upon them with reason as\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_138\" id=\"Page_138\"\u003e[Pg 138]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmore to be dreaded on account of\r\ntheir intrigues and their credit; and\r\nthis motive, though not \u003ci\u003elegal\u003c/i\u003e, is certainly\r\na much better one than was necessary\r\nto get rid of them. The national\r\nleague against the Jesuits resembles\r\nthat of Cambray against the republick\r\nof Venice, which had for its principal\r\ncause the riches and insolence of\r\nthose republicans. The society had\r\nfurnished the same motives for hatred.\r\nThe publick were justly displeased\r\nat seeing persons of a religious\r\norder, devoted by their very profession\r\nto humility, to retirement and\r\nsilence, directing the consciences of\r\nkings, educating the gentry, caballing\r\nat court, in the city, and in\r\nthe provinces. Nothing irritates reasonable\r\npeople more, than men who\r\nhave renounced the world, and yet\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_139\" id=\"Page_139\"\u003e[Pg 139]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nseek to govern it. This, in the\r\neyes of the wise, was the least pardonable\r\ncrime of the society: this\r\ncrime, of which no mention was\r\nmade, was of greater weight than\r\nall those they were loaded with besides,\r\nand which, by their nature,\r\nwere more proper to cause a decree\r\nto be pronounced against them in a\r\ncourt of judicature.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Jesuits have even had the presumption\r\nto pretend, and several\r\nbishops their partisans have dared to\r\ndeclare it in print, that the great\r\ncollection of assertions, extracted\r\nfrom the Jesuit authors by order\r\nof the parliament, a collection\r\nwhich served as the principal motive\r\nfor their destruction, ought not to\r\nhave had that effect: that it was\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_140\" id=\"Page_140\"\u003e[Pg 140]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ncompiled in haste by Jansenist\r\npriests, and ill-attested by magistrates\r\nwho were unfit for the\r\nwork: that it was full of false\r\nquotations, passages that were mutilated\r\nor misunderstood, objections\r\nthat were taken for answers: in\r\nshort, of a thousand other unfair\r\nthings of the like nature. The magistrates\r\ntook the trouble of replying\r\nto these reproaches, and the publick\r\nwould have excused them: it cannot\r\nbe denied, that amidst a great number\r\nof exact quotations, some errors had\r\nescaped: they were acknowledged\r\nwithout difficulty. But could these\r\nerrors (though they had been much\r\nmore numerous) prevent the rest\r\nfrom being true? Besides, were\r\nthe complaint of the Jesuits and\r\ntheir defenders as just as it appears\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_141\" id=\"Page_141\"\u003e[Pg 141]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nto be otherwise, who will give\r\nhimself the trouble of examining\r\nso many passages? In the mean time,\r\ntill the truth be cleared up (if truths\r\nof this nature be worth the trouble)\r\nthis collection will have produced the\r\ngood which the nation desired, the\r\nannihilation of the Jesuits; the reproaches\r\nwith which we have a right\r\nto upbraid them will be more or\r\nless numerous; but the society will\r\nnot exist; that was the important\r\npoint.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis volume of assertions, extracted\r\nfrom the books of the Jesuits,\r\ncondemned by the magistrates, had\r\nbeen preceded some years before by\r\nthe condemnation of the work of\r\nthe Jesuit Busenbaum, in which the\r\ndoctrine of king-killing is openly\r\nmaintained: the copy on which this\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_142\" id=\"Page_142\"\u003e[Pg 142]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ncondemnation was pronounced, bore\r\ndate 1757, the melancholy æra of\r\nthat attempt which filled France with\r\nhorrour and consternation. The Jesuits\r\nhave pretended that this date\r\nwas a forgery of their enemies, who,\r\nto render them odious, had caused a\r\nnew title-page to be prefixed to an\r\nold edition: the Jansenists maintained,\r\nthat the edition was in reality\r\nquite new, and proved in a sensible\r\nmanner how far, and to what a degree\r\nof impudence, the Jesuits dared\r\nbe bad subjects. These Jansenists,\r\nso little dexterous in other matters,\r\nbut very violent and rancorous, had\r\nactually persuaded the greater part\r\nof the French nation, that the atrocious\r\ncrime in question was the\r\nwork of the Jesuits. However, the\r\nanswers of the criminal to the interrogatories\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_143\" id=\"Page_143\"\u003e[Pg 143]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nput to him, as they\r\nwere made publick, by no means\r\naccused those fathers; but he had\r\nbeen a servant to them, as well as to\r\npersons of the opposite party: he had\r\ndeclared this to his judges; the Jesuits\r\n(for good reasons without doubt, but\r\nwhich we are ignorant of) were not\r\ninterrogated, as it seemed they should\r\nhave been; this was enough to a great\r\npart of the publick, to charge them\r\nwith the crime.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe assassination of the king of\r\nPortugal, which happened the year\r\nfollowing, and in which the society\r\nwas again involved, served as a new\r\nmeans to its enemies for maintaining,\r\nand making it believed, that the attempt,\r\nwhich shocked all France, was\r\ntheir work. The friends of the Jesuits\r\npretended that they were innocent\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_144\" id=\"Page_144\"\u003e[Pg 144]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof the crime committed in\r\nPortugal; that the storm raised\r\nagainst them on this occasion, and of\r\nwhich also they became the victims\r\nin that kingdom, was an effect of the\r\nhatred which they had drawn upon\r\nthem, on the part of the prime minister\r\nCarvalho, who was all-powerful\r\nwith that prince. But why should\r\npersons of a religious order inspire a\r\nminister of state with hatred against\r\nthem, unless it be because they have\r\nrendered themselves formidable to\r\nthat minister by their intrigues?\r\nWhy should Mr. Carvalho, who detested\r\nthe Jesuits, leave in peace the\r\nCordeliers, the Jacobins, and the\r\nRecollects, unless because he found\r\nthe Jesuits in his way, and that the\r\nothers vegetated in peace in their convents,\r\nwithout doing the state either\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_145\" id=\"Page_145\"\u003e[Pg 145]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ngood or harm? Every religious and\r\nturbulent society merits, on that account\r\nalone, that a state should be\r\npurged of them; it is a crime for\r\nthem to be formidable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAccordingly the Portugueze minister\r\navailed himself dexterously of\r\nthe imputation laid to the charge of\r\nsome of these fathers, of having advised,\r\ndirected, and absolved the assassins,\r\nfor causing all the Jesuits to be\r\ndriven out of the kingdom: they\r\nwere sent to their general, who, it is\r\nsaid, not knowing what to do with\r\nthese new-comers, left them to perish\r\nwith hunger and want on board the\r\nvery vessels which brought them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eM. de Carvalho, when he expelled\r\nthe Jesuits, caused three of them\r\nto be arrested, who had been declared\r\nguilty; but he was not powerful\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_146\" id=\"Page_146\"\u003e[Pg 146]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nenough to procure the Jesuit Malagrida\r\nto be put to death, though\r\nhe passed for the most criminal. The\r\nPortugueze populace, ignorant, superstitious,\r\nand full of Romish maxims,\r\nwould not have suffered a religious\r\nto be delivered up to the secular arm\r\nfor a crime deserving of the greatest\r\npunishments, because that crime was\r\ncommitted only against a layman:\r\nthey were obliged, in order to convict\r\nMalagrida of a crime against God,\r\nwhich should render him worthy of\r\ndeath, to go and seek out some silly\r\nbooks of devotion, the productions\r\nof weakness and of madness, written\r\nby that unhappy Jesuit: it was solely\r\nfor these rhapsodies that he was\r\ncondemned to the fire of the inquisition,\r\nnot as guilty of high treason,\r\nbut as a heretick. They reproached\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_147\" id=\"Page_147\"\u003e[Pg 147]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhim with visions and miracles, of\r\nwhich he had had the folly to boast;\r\nthey reproached him particularly\r\nwith having been able, at the age of\r\nseventy-five years, to divert himself\r\nall alone in his confinement as a\r\nyoung novice would have done;\r\nwhich might also have been looked\r\nupon as a kind of miracle, truely\r\nworthy of being counted among the\r\nothers. It was upon motives of this\r\nsort that he was condemned to a\r\nmost cruel death: the arrêt did not\r\neven make mention of the parricide\r\nof which he was accused; and as\r\nM. de Voltaire most excellently remarks,\r\nan excess of severity was joined\r\nto an excess of folly.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt was matter of pleasantry to observe\r\nthe embarrassment into which\r\nthe Jesuits and the Jansenists were\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_148\" id=\"Page_148\"\u003e[Pg 148]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthrown, on account of this victim\r\nsacrificed to the inquisition. The\r\nJesuits, devoted till that time to this\r\nbloody tribunal, dared no longer take\r\nits part, since it had burnt one of\r\ntheir society: the Jansenists who abhorred\r\nit, began to think it just,\r\nfrom the moment that it had condemned\r\na Jesuit to the flames. They\r\nassured us, and asserted it in print,\r\nthat the inquisition was not what\r\nthey had thought it till then, and\r\nthat justice was done there \u003ci\u003ewith\r\nmuch wisdom and deliberation\u003c/i\u003e. Some\r\nmagistrates also, till then sworn enemies\r\nof the inquisition, seemed at\r\nthis juncture to soften a little towards\r\nit. One of the first tribunals in the\r\nkingdom condemned to the fire a\r\nwriting, in which the Portugueze inquisition\r\nwas very ill treated on account\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_149\" id=\"Page_149\"\u003e[Pg 149]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof the punishment of Malagrida:\r\nand in the declaration which\r\ncondemned this writing to the fire,\r\nthey bestowed many commendations,\r\nnot wholly on the inquisition itself,\r\nbut on the \u003ci\u003escrupulous examination\u003c/i\u003e in\r\nconsequence of which the Jesuit was\r\ndelivered up to the secular arm.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eOn account of this charge of regicide,\r\nso often renewed against the\r\nJesuits, we shall relate here a curious\r\nanecdote. It is astonishing, that\r\namong so many pieces which have\r\ncalled these fathers \u003ci\u003eassassins\u003c/i\u003e, not one\r\nhas made mention of a circumstance\r\nindeed little known, but which seems\r\nto afford a fine light to their enemies.\r\nAt Rome, in their church of St.\r\nIgnatius, they have caused to be represented\r\nin the four corners of the\r\ncupola (painted about a hundred years\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_150\" id=\"Page_150\"\u003e[Pg 150]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nsince by one of their fathers) subjects\r\ndrawn from the Old Testament; and\r\nthese subjects are so many assassinations,\r\nor at least murders, committed\r\nin the name of God by the Jewish\r\npeople: Jael, who, impelled by the\r\nDivine Spirit, drives a nail into Sisera’s\r\nhead, to whom she had offered\r\nand given hospitality; Judith, who,\r\nconducted by the same guide, cuts\r\noff the head of Holofernes, after having\r\nseduced and made him drunk;\r\nSampson, who massacres the Philistines\r\nby order of the Almighty;\r\nlastly, David, who slays Goliah. At\r\nthe top of the cupola, St. Ignatius,\r\nin a glory, darts out flames on the\r\nfour quarters of the world, with\r\nthese words of the New Testament;\r\n“I came to set fire to the earth;\r\nand what would I but that it\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_151\" id=\"Page_151\"\u003e[Pg 151]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nbe kindled?” Methinks, if any\r\nthing could make known the spirit\r\nof the society, with respect to the\r\nmurderous doctrine that is imputed\r\nto them, these pictures would be a\r\nstronger proof of it than all the passages\r\nwhich are related from their\r\nauthors, and which are common to\r\nthem with many others: but the\r\ntruth is, that these principles, supported\r\nin appearance by the scriptures ill understood,\r\nare the principles of the fanaticks\r\nof all ages; and we may add,\r\nof the greater part of any sect, when\r\nthey believe it to be their interest to\r\npropagate them, and that they can\r\npreach them in safety. To them an\r\nheretick and infidel prince is a tyrant,\r\nand of course a man whom religion\r\nand reason order us equally to\r\nrid ourselves of. The only thing\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_152\" id=\"Page_152\"\u003e[Pg 152]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwhich the Jesuits ought to be reproached\r\nwith, is that of having forsaken\r\nthese abominable principles\r\nlater than others, after having more\r\nstrongly maintained them; of making\r\nparticular profession of obedience\r\nto the pope, and of a stricter obedience\r\nthan the other orders; of being,\r\non this account, so much the more\r\nto be dreaded in the state, the\r\nmore they are in credit there, the\r\nmore dispersed, the more addicted to\r\nthe ecclesiastical function, and above\r\nall to the instruction of youth; of\r\nnever having expressed themselves\r\nfrankly and clearly (when they have\r\nnot been forced to it) on the maxims\r\nof government, touching the infallibility\r\nof the pope, and the independence\r\nof kings; and of having\r\ngiven too much room to understand,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_153\" id=\"Page_153\"\u003e[Pg 153]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthat they looked upon these maxims\r\nas mere local opinions, which might\r\nbe maintained either pro or con, according\r\nto the country in which they\r\nfound themselves placed. We may\r\nsay with truth, and without passion,\r\nthat this manner of thinking breaks\r\nforth in all their works, and in those\r\neven of the French Jesuits, who have\r\nwanted to appear less Romish with\r\nrespect to our maxims, than their\r\nbrethren of Italy or Spain.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWe must not believe, however,\r\nthat this submission to the pope, with\r\nwhich the society are so often reproached,\r\nis with them an irrevocable\r\ndoctrine. While the Jesuits\r\npreached it in Europe with so much\r\nzeal, we may say with madness, to\r\neffect the acceptance of the bull\r\nwhich they had drawn up, they opposed\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_154\" id=\"Page_154\"\u003e[Pg 154]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nin China the decrees which\r\nthe sovereign pontiffs launched out\r\nagainst them on account of the Chinese\r\nceremonies: they went even so\r\nfar, as to call in question the pope’s\r\nauthority to decide on subjects of\r\nthat nature. So far it is true, that\r\ntheir pretended devotion to the pope\r\nwas only, as we may say, by way of\r\n\u003ci\u003einventorial benefit\u003c/i\u003e, and on the tacit\r\ncondition of favouring their pretensions,\r\nor at least of not prejudicing\r\ntheir interests.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eHowever this be, the parallel\r\nwhich has just been made of the\r\ndoctrine of the Jesuits with the other\r\norders, is, in my opinion, the true\r\npoint of view from which we should\r\nhave set out in their destruction.\r\nAmong so many magistrates, who\r\nhave written long examinations on\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_155\" id=\"Page_155\"\u003e[Pg 155]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe affair of the society, M. de la\r\nChalotais, attorney-general of the\r\nparliament of Bretagne, appears more\r\nthan any other to have considered\r\nthis affair like a statesman, a philosopher,\r\nan enlightened magistrate,\r\nand one disengaged of all spirit of\r\nhatred and of party. He has not\r\namused himself with proving laboriously\r\nand weakly, that the other\r\nmonks were better than the Jesuits:\r\nhe has penetrated farther and deeper:\r\nhis march to the fight has been more\r\nfrank and firm. “The monastick\r\nspirit,” said he, “is the scourge of\r\nstates: of all those whom this spirit\r\nanimates, the Jesuits are the\r\nmost hurtful, because they are the\r\nmost powerful; it is then with\r\nthem that we must begin to shake\r\noff the yoke of that pernicious race.”\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_156\" id=\"Page_156\"\u003e[Pg 156]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nIt seems as if this illustrious magistrate\r\nhad taken for his device the\r\nfollowing verses of Virgil\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_16_16\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_16_16\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_16_16\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[16]\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poetry-container\"\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"poetry\"\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"verse\"\u003eDuctoresque ipsos primùm, capita alta ferentes\u003c/div\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"verse\"\u003eCornibus arboreis, sternit; tum vulgus,\r\n\t \u0026amp; omnem\u003c/div\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"verse\"\u003eMiscet agens telis nemora inter frondea turbam.\u003c/div\u003e\r\n \u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe war which he has made with\r\nso much success upon the society, is\r\nonly the signal of the examination to\r\nwhich he appears desirous of having\r\nthe constitutions of the other orders\r\nsubmitted, with a proviso of preserving\r\nthose, which on such examination\r\nshall be judged useful. There\r\nare even some particular communities,\r\nfor example, that of the fraternity\r\ncalled \u003ci\u003eIgnorantins\u003c/i\u003e, whom he\r\npoints out expressly to the vigilance of\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_157\" id=\"Page_157\"\u003e[Pg 157]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe magistrates, as having already\r\ngained silently much ground: however,\r\nI know not whether I am mistaken,\r\nmen who bear a name so little\r\nformed to command respect, ought\r\nby no means to flatter themselves\r\nwith succeeding one day to the Jesuits,\r\namong a people with whom names\r\nare apt to give law: it is necessary,\r\nin order to have in France success\r\nand enemies, to begin by calling\r\none’s-self otherwise.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith regard to the other monks\r\nin general, it belongs to the wisdom\r\nof government to judge of the method\r\nthey ought to take with them;\r\nbut supposing they should one day\r\nwant to destroy them, or at least\r\nto weaken them enough to prevent\r\ntheir being hurtful, there is an infallible\r\nway of succeeding therein,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_158\" id=\"Page_158\"\u003e[Pg 158]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwithout employing violence, which\r\nmust be avoided even with them:\r\nthis would be to revive the ancient\r\nlaws, which forbid monastick vows\r\nbefore twenty-five years of age. May\r\nthe government yield in this respect\r\nto the unanimous desire of enlightened\r\ncitizens!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn expectation of this disaster of\r\nthe monastick communities and the\r\nhappiness of the state, let us continue\r\nand finish the account of the\r\nannihilation of the Jesuits. In spite\r\nof the war declared against the society\r\nby the magistrates, those fathers\r\ndid not think their destruction\r\nunavoidable: the parliament of\r\nParis, which had given them the\r\nfirst blow, had assigned them a year\r\nto judge of their institution: the\r\nparty which desired their ruin, blind\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_159\" id=\"Page_159\"\u003e[Pg 159]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwith hatred, and knowing neither\r\nthe laws nor its forms, reproached\r\nthe parliament with having granted\r\nthem so long a term: they were\r\nafraid, that the friends which they\r\nhad still left at court, would obtain\r\nfrom the king an evocation to himself\r\nalone of the judgement of this\r\naffair. These apprehensions appeared\r\nso much the better founded, as, in\r\nthe interval of the time assigned for\r\njudgement, they had again received\r\nfrom court pretty striking marks of\r\nprotection. The parliament, by the\r\narrêt of the 6th of August, 1761,\r\nwhich adjourned them to appear at\r\nthe end of the year for the judgement\r\nof their constitutions, had ordained\r\nprovisionally the shutting up of their\r\ncollege on the first of October following:\r\nthe king, notwithstanding\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_160\" id=\"Page_160\"\u003e[Pg 160]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe representations of the parliament,\r\nprorogued this time till the 1st of\r\nApril; and this prorogation made it\r\nbe apprehended, that they might obtain\r\nmarks of favour still more signal.\r\nNobody moreover could imagine that\r\na society, lately so powerful, could\r\never be annihilated: their very enemies\r\ndared not flatter themselves with\r\nit fully; but they wished at least to\r\ndeprive them, if it were possible, of\r\nthe two principal branches of their\r\ncredit, the place of confessor to their\r\nkings, and the education of the\r\ngentry.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe king, in the midst of all these\r\nproceedings, had consulted, on the\r\ninstitutes of the Jesuits, the bishops\r\nwho were in Paris: about forty\r\namong them, either through persuasion\r\nor policy, had bestowed the\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_161\" id=\"Page_161\"\u003e[Pg 161]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ngreatest encomiums, both upon the\r\ninstitute and the society: six were\r\nof opinion, that their constitutions\r\nshould be modified in certain respects:\r\none alone, the bishop of Soissons,\r\ndeclared the institute and the\r\norder alike detestable. It was pretended\r\nthat this prelate (so severe, or\r\nso honest) had personal and very grievous\r\nsubjects of complaint against the\r\nJesuits, who, on a delicate occasion,\r\nhad deceived, exposed, and sacrificed\r\nhim. Besides resentment, as they\r\nsaid, and that he wanted to avenge\r\nhimself of them, this bishop was become\r\nJansenist, and declared chief\r\nof a party, which had no longer a\r\nhead, and was soon to have no members.\r\nUnhappily for the Jesuits,\r\nthe prelate, whom they sought to\r\ncry down, was of an unblemished\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_162\" id=\"Page_162\"\u003e[Pg 162]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nreputation in point of religion, probity,\r\nand manners: he affirmed, without\r\ndisguise, that the parliaments\r\nwere in the right, and that they\r\ncould not too effectually get rid of a\r\nsociety, equally destructive to religion\r\nand to the state.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eNevertheless, a plurality of the\r\nbishops being favourable to the preservation\r\nof the Jesuits, the king,\r\nin order to show deference to their\r\nopinion, issued an edict, the object\r\nof which was to suffer them to subsist,\r\nmodifying, in several respects,\r\ntheir constitutions. This edict being\r\ncarried to the parliament to be\r\nregistered, met there a general opposition:\r\nthey made strong remonstrances\r\nagainst it; and these remonstrances\r\nhad more success than the\r\nparliament itself could have expected.\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_163\" id=\"Page_163\"\u003e[Pg 163]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nThe king, without making any reply\r\nto them, withdrew his edict.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn this situation, Martinico, which\r\nhad already been so fatal to these\r\nfathers, by occasioning the law-suit\r\nwhich they had lost, hastened, it is\r\nsaid, their ruin, by a singular circumstance.\r\nWe received, at the end\r\nof March, 1762, the melancholy\r\nnews of the taking of that colony.\r\nThis capture, so important to the\r\nEnglish, occasioned a loss of several\r\nmillions to our commerce: the wisdom\r\nof the government was desirous\r\nof preventing the complaints which\r\nso great a loss would occasion to the\r\npublick. They bethought them, by\r\nway of causing a diversion, of furnishing\r\nthe French with another\r\nsubject of conversation; as heretofore\r\nAlcibiades thought of cutting off his\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_164\" id=\"Page_164\"\u003e[Pg 164]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ndog’s tail, in order to prevent the\r\nAthenians from talking of weightier\r\nmatters. They declared then to\r\nthe principal of the college of the\r\nJesuits, that nothing more remained\r\nfor them but to obey the parliament,\r\nand to put a stop to their lectures, by\r\nthe 1st of April, 1762. From that\r\ntime the colleges were shut up, and\r\nthe society began seriously to despair\r\nof its fortune: at length the 6th of\r\nAugust, 1762, the day so wished for\r\nby the publick, arrived: the institute\r\nwas unanimously condemned by the\r\nparliament, without any opposition\r\non the part of the sovereign: their\r\nvows were declared not binding, the\r\nJesuits secularised and dissolved, their\r\neffects alienated and sold; the greater\r\npart of the parliaments, sooner or\r\nlater, treated them pretty nearly in\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_165\" id=\"Page_165\"\u003e[Pg 165]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe same manner; some mingled still\r\nmore rigour in their judgements, and\r\ndrove them away without other form\r\nof process.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThey lived therefore dispersed here\r\nand there, and wearing the secular\r\nhabit; but they remained still about\r\nthe court, and were even in greater\r\nnumbers there than ever: they seemed\r\nthere to brave in silence their\r\nenemies, and to wait, in order to recover\r\nthemselves, a more favourable\r\nseason. It was said pretty loudly,\r\nthat these foxes were not destroyed,\r\nif they proceeded not at last to shut\r\nthem up in the hole where they\r\nthought themselves secure; and that\r\nthey were not martyrs so long as they\r\nwere confessors. “They are very\r\nsick;” it was added, “perhaps dieing,\r\nbut their pulse yet beats.”\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_166\" id=\"Page_166\"\u003e[Pg 166]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nThey were thought to be so little\r\nannihilated, notwithstanding their\r\ndispersion, that a superior of a seminary,\r\nto whom their house for novices\r\nwas offered, replied, that he\r\nwould not accept of it, out of fear\r\nof \u003ci\u003espirits\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThey were not however very far\r\ndistant from the moment of their\r\ntotal expulsion; and it was again to\r\nthe inconsiderate zeal of their friends\r\nthat they owed this obligation. A\r\nfrantick partisan of the society published,\r\nin their defence, a violent treatise,\r\nabusing the magistrates, entitled, \u003ci\u003eIt is Time to Speak\u003c/i\u003e. Somebody said\r\nthen, that the magistrates answer\r\nshould be, \u003ci\u003eIt is Time to Depart\u003c/i\u003e. Such\r\nperson was so much the less mistaken,\r\nas a new subject of complaint succeeded,\r\nto fill up the measure of\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_167\" id=\"Page_167\"\u003e[Pg 167]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthese proceedings. The arch-bishop,\r\nof whom we have already made such\r\nfrequent mention, thought the rights\r\nof the church violated by the arrêts\r\nof parliament, against vows contracted\r\nbefore the altars: he issued, in\r\nfavour of the Jesuits, a mandate,\r\nwhich served completely to set the\r\nmagistrates against them; some of\r\nthese fathers were accused of having\r\nhawked about the mandate; some\r\nof their votaries, of having vended it:\r\nthis was, as it were, the signal of the\r\nlast blow given to the whole body.\r\nThe parliament ordered, that within\r\nthe space of eight days, every Jesuit,\r\nprofessed or not professed, who was\r\ndesirous of remaining in the kingdom,\r\nshould make oath that he renounced\r\nthe institution. The term\r\nwas short; they did not choose to\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_168\" id=\"Page_168\"\u003e[Pg 168]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ngive them time to deliberate: it was\r\nfeared they might hold secret assemblies\r\namong themselves; that they\r\nmight write to their general to beg\r\nhis leave to give way to the times;\r\nthat by favour of \u003ci\u003emental restrictions\u003c/i\u003e,\r\nthey might take the oath which was\r\nrequired; that under the cover of\r\nthis oath they might remain in\r\nFrance, in order to wait there a\r\nmore favourable juncture; that they\r\nmight practise at last the maxim of\r\nAcomat in Bajazet:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poetry-container\"\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"poetry\"\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"verse\"\u003ePromettez; affranchi du péril qui vous presse,\u003c/div\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"verse\"\u003eVous verrez de quel poids sera votre promesse.\u003c/div\u003e\r\n \u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is certain that the Jesuits, in\r\nsigning the oath which was proposed,\r\nwould have greatly embarrassed the\r\nJansenists their enemies, who sought\r\nonly a pretext to get them banished,\r\nand to whom that pretext would\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_169\" id=\"Page_169\"\u003e[Pg 169]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhave been wanting. It is certain\r\nmoreover, that as Frenchmen and\r\nas Christians they might have signed\r\nconscientiously what was required of\r\nthem: this a writer, by no means\r\nwell affected in other respects to the\r\nsociety, has proved demonstratively,\r\nby a writing which has fallen into my\r\nhands, and which will be found in\r\nthe sequel of this history: but whether\r\nit was fanaticism or reason,\r\nwhether a principle of conscience\r\nor human respect, whether honour\r\nor obstinacy, the Jesuits did not what\r\nthey might have done, and what it was\r\nfeared they would do. These men,\r\nwho were thought so much disposed\r\nto trifle with religion, and who had\r\nbeen represented as such in a multitude\r\nof writings, refused almost all\r\nto take the oath which was required\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_170\" id=\"Page_170\"\u003e[Pg 170]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof them: in consequence thereof\r\nthey had orders to quit the kingdom;\r\nand these orders were executed with\r\nrigour. In vain several of them represented\r\ntheir age, their infirmities,\r\nthe services which they had performed;\r\nhardly one of their requests was\r\ngranted. The justice which had\r\nbeen done on the body, was pushed\r\nagainst individuals to an extreme severity,\r\nwhich probably was thought\r\nnecessary. They wanted to take\r\naway from this society, the very\r\nshadow of which seemed to terrify\r\neven after it no longer existed, all\r\nmeans of springing up again one day;\r\nsentiments of compassion were sacrificed\r\nto what was deemed reason of\r\nstate. Nevertheless the implacable\r\nJansenists, irritated by the very recent\r\nremembrance of the persecutions\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_171\" id=\"Page_171\"\u003e[Pg 171]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwhich the Jesuits had made them\r\nundergo, thought that the parliament\r\nhad not yet done enough: they resembled\r\nthe Swiss Captain, who ordered\r\nthe dead and the dying to be buried\r\ntogether on the field of battle: it\r\nwas represented to him, that some of\r\nthe interred still breathed, and begged\r\nonly to live: “Pho,” said he, “if\r\nwe were to mind them, there\r\nwould not be a dead man among\r\nthem.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is certain that the greater part\r\nof the Jesuits, those who in that society\r\n(as elsewhere) interfere with\r\nnothing, and who are much more\r\nnumerous among them than is imagined,\r\nought not, had it been possible,\r\nto have been punished for the\r\nfaults of their superiors: thousands\r\nof these innocents were confounded\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_172\" id=\"Page_172\"\u003e[Pg 172]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nunwillingly with a score of criminals:\r\nnay, further, these innocents were unhappily\r\nthe only persons punished,\r\nand the only ones to be pitied; for the\r\nleaders had obtained, by their interest,\r\npensions which they could enjoy at\r\ntheir ease, while the multitude sacrificed\r\nremained without bread as well\r\nas without support. All that could be\r\nalledged in favour of the general decree\r\nof expulsion pronounced against these\r\nfathers, was the famous passage of\r\nTacitus, relative to that law of the\r\nRomans, which condemned to death\r\nall the slaves in a house for the crime\r\nof a single one: \u003ci\u003ehabet aliquid ex iniquo\r\nomne magnum exemplum\u003c/i\u003e; “every\r\ngreat example has somewhat unjust\r\nin it.” Thus, in the destruction\r\nof the Templars, a great number\r\nof innocents fell victims to the pride\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_173\" id=\"Page_173\"\u003e[Pg 173]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nand insolent riches of their chiefs:\r\nand thus the disorders, of which\r\nthe Templars were accused, were\r\nnot the only cause of their destruction;\r\ntheir principal crime was\r\nthat of having rendered themselves\r\nodious and formidable. Posterity will\r\nthink the same of the judgement\r\nissued against the Jesuits, and of the\r\nexile to which they have been condemned:\r\nthey will deem it perhaps\r\nsevere, at least in appearance, but\r\nperhaps also will judge it indispensible:\r\nthis time alone can decide.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor the rest, independently of the\r\nnatural compassion which the aged\r\nJesuits, or those sick, and without\r\nresource, seemed to claim, and who\r\nafter all are men, one would think a\r\ndistinction might have been made, in\r\nthe oath which was required, between\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_174\" id=\"Page_174\"\u003e[Pg 174]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe professed Jesuits and those who\r\nwere not so, between those who had\r\nalready renounced the institution and\r\nthose who adhered to it still, without\r\nbeing absolutely tied to it. Allow the\r\noath to have been required from the\r\nprofessed Jesuits, whom they wanted\r\nto get rid of, such a precaution might\r\nhave been thought necessary: but was\r\nit necessary to require anything more\r\nof the Jesuits who were not professed,\r\nthan a simple promise that\r\nthey would not bind themselves to\r\nthe institution, or any thing else of\r\nthe ex-Jesuits, than a bare declaration\r\nthat they had renounced it?\r\nThe contrary conduct which was observed,\r\nmight have preserved to the society\r\nsubjects who were disposed to\r\nquit it, and who were deprived of\r\nevery other resource: this rigour also\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_175\" id=\"Page_175\"\u003e[Pg 175]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmight restore to the order, members\r\nwhich it had already lost.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn proposing these reflexions, I\r\nam very far from disapproving of the\r\nconduct of the magistrates; who for\r\njust reasons, without doubt, thought\r\nit their duty to act otherwise: it is\r\nproper however to remark, that several\r\nparliaments have thought it\r\ntheir duty, on their parts, to observe\r\na contrary conduct; after having dissolved\r\nthe institution, they have left\r\nthe dispersed Jesuits all the rights of\r\nsubjects: but is it not to be feared,\r\nsaid they, that by preserving them\r\nthus in more than one half of the\r\nkingdom, they have left to these men,\r\nwho are thought so turbulent, a\r\nmeans of forming intrigues, so much\r\nthe more dangerous as they are concealed?\r\nOnce more, time alone can\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_176\" id=\"Page_176\"\u003e[Pg 176]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ninform us which of the judges\r\nhave taken the best method in this\r\naffair; whether the one have not\r\nbeen too rigorous, and whether the\r\nothers, in wanting to be less so, have\r\nnot buried the fire under the ashes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eSome parliaments besides had pronounced\r\nno sentence against the institution;\r\nand the Jesuits subsisted\r\nstill entire in one part of France.\r\nThere was room to apprehend, that\r\nat the first signal of rallying, the\r\n\u003ci\u003edispersed\u003c/i\u003e party, suddenly joining the\r\nparty \u003ci\u003eunited\u003c/i\u003e, might form a new society,\r\neven before any should be in\r\na condition to oppose it. The wisdom,\r\nand the honour also, of government,\r\nseemed to require, that\r\nthe law, with regard to the Jesuits,\r\nwhatever it was, should be uniform\r\nthroughout the kingdom. These\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_177\" id=\"Page_177\"\u003e[Pg 177]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nviews seem to have dictated the\r\nedict, by which the king has just\r\nabolished the society throughout\r\nall France; but permitting, in other\r\nrespects, its members to live quietly\r\nin their country, under the eye\r\nand under the protection of the\r\nlaws. May these pacifick intentions\r\nof our august monarch be\r\ncrowned with the success which they\r\nmerit!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt was without doubt the better to\r\nfulfill these respectable intentions,\r\nthat the parliament of Paris, on registering\r\nthis new edict, ordained\r\nthe Jesuits to reside each in his own\r\ndiocese, and to present themselves\r\nevery six months before the magistrates\r\nof the place in which they shall\r\ndwell. We know not whether the\r\nJesuits, who are already withdrawn\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_178\" id=\"Page_178\"\u003e[Pg 178]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ninto foreign countries, will think\r\nproper to submit to this constraint.\r\nThe same arrêt forbids them to\r\ncome within ten leagues of Paris,\r\nwhich banishes them at least six\r\nleagues from Versailles, but prohibits\r\nthem not from dwelling at Fontainbleau\r\nand Compiegne, where the\r\ncourt resides at least three months in\r\nthe year. It was thought, perhaps,\r\nthat during so short a space of time,\r\ntheir intrigues at court would not be\r\nto be dreaded.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eOn banishing the Jesuits by its first\r\narrêt, the parliament of Paris had\r\nassigned them pensions for their subsistence:\r\nthis mitigation to their exile\r\nappeared to many people a contradiction.\r\nWherefore, said they,\r\nfacilitate a retreat into foreign countries\r\nto subjects reputed dangerous,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_179\" id=\"Page_179\"\u003e[Pg 179]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\napostles of regicide, enemies of the\r\nstate, and who, by refusing to renounce\r\nthe society, prefer their Italian general\r\nto their lawful sovereign?\r\nThere is no cause, however, for\r\nblaming with severity this apparent\r\ncontradiction; though we should\r\ndisapprove, in logical rigour, of what\r\nit is not our province to decide upon,\r\nwe ought still more to excuse it, on\r\naccount of the law of nature which\r\nexisted before there were Jansenists\r\nand Jesuits. Those who have hampered\r\nthemselves in the institution\r\nof the society, did it altogether under\r\nthe protection of the publick\r\nfaith and the laws: if they have refused\r\nto renounce it, it may be thro’\r\na delicacy of conscience ever to be\r\nrespected, even in men who are\r\nwrong. On sacrificing them to the\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_180\" id=\"Page_180\"\u003e[Pg 180]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nnecessity which was thought indispensible,\r\nof no longer permitting\r\nJesuits in France, it would have been\r\ninhuman to deprive them of the necessaries\r\nof life, and to forbid them\r\neven the air which they breathe.\r\nAs to the rest, these reflexions, whether\r\nwell or ill founded, have no\r\nlonger place, from the moment that\r\nthe Jesuits are permitted, without\r\nrequiring any thing of them, to remain\r\nin the kingdom: after having\r\ndeprived the society of its effects, it\r\nis right to furnish its members with\r\nthe means of subsisting, inasmuch as\r\nit is thought possible, without inconvenience,\r\nto restore them to the state\r\nto which they belong.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet us not forget, before we conclude\r\nthis narrative, a singular circumstance,\r\nextremely proper to shew,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_181\" id=\"Page_181\"\u003e[Pg 181]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nin its true point of view, the pretended\r\nconcern for religion, with\r\nwhich several of its ministers seek to\r\nbedeck themselves. Some bishops,\r\nwho reside in their dioceses, joined\r\nthemselves, by their mandates, to the\r\narchbishop, defender of the Jesuits:\r\nother bishops (who reside not) were\r\nready to join themselves also. The\r\nparliament made a shew of wanting\r\nto renew, and causing to be observed\r\nwith rigour, the ancient laws\r\nrespecting residence: these bishops\r\nthen were silent, and their menacing\r\nzeal expired on their lips. Disconcerted\r\nand humbled at their impotence\r\nagainst the enemies of the\r\nJesuits, they will seek perhaps to indemnify\r\nthemselves, by falling upon\r\nthe philosophers, whom they accuse,\r\nvery unjustly, of having communicated\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_182\" id=\"Page_182\"\u003e[Pg 182]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nto the parliament of Paris their\r\npretended liberty of thinking: even\r\nalready some of these prelates, we\r\nare assured, have taken this sad and\r\nfeeble revenge; like that wretch,\r\non whom, as he was passing, a tile\r\nfell from the top of a house, the\r\nroof of which was repairing; and who,\r\nto revenge himself, threw stones up to\r\nthe first story, not having strength,\r\nas he said, to throw them higher.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eSuch has been in this kingdom\r\nthe fate of the Jesuits: the circumstances\r\nof their destruction have been\r\nvery strange in all respects; the\r\nstorm began at a place where it\r\nwas expected the least, in Portugal,\r\nthe most addicted of all the\r\ncountries of Europe to priests and\r\nmonks, which appeared not formed\r\nfor delivering itself so speedily from\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_183\" id=\"Page_183\"\u003e[Pg 183]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe Jesuits, and still less to set in\r\nthat respect the example; their\r\nannihilation in France was prepared\r\nby the rigour which they\r\nassumed in spite of themselves; lastly,\r\nit was consummated by a dying\r\nand abject sect, which has finished,\r\nagainst all expectation, what an Arnauld,\r\na Paschal, and a Nicole, would\r\nneither have been able to execute,\r\nnor attempt, nor even to hope. What\r\nmore striking example of that inconceivable\r\nfatality which seems to preside\r\nover human affairs, and to bring\r\nthem, when we expect it least, to\r\nthe point of maturity or destruction?\r\nIt would make a fine chapter, to add\r\nto history the great events which have\r\nhappened through slender causes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eA well-known writer, speaking in\r\n1759, three years before the destruction\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_184\" id=\"Page_184\"\u003e[Pg 184]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof the Jesuits, of the two parties\r\nwhich divided the church of\r\nFrance, said of the most powerful\r\nparty, “that it would cease soon to\r\nexist\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_17_17\" id=\"FNanchor_17_17\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_17_17\"\r\nclass=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[17]\u003c/a\u003e:” some wanted to make\r\nthese words pass for a prophecy;\r\nbut as probably the writer aspires\r\nnot to the honour of being a prophet,\r\nhe will confess that on writing this\r\nsort of prediction, he was very far\r\nfrom suspecting it was so true. It\r\nwas plainly seen, that the party till\r\nthen oppressed began to gain ground;\r\nbut nobody could foresee to what\r\na degree it was to oppress, in its\r\nturn, that by which it had been till\r\nthen kept under: fine matter to the\r\nenemies of the society, to enforce the\r\nvalidity of their ordinary commonplace\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_185\" id=\"Page_185\"\u003e[Pg 185]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nsayings, on the Providence of\r\nGod in support of what they call\r\n\u003ci\u003ethe good cause\u003c/i\u003e!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not less singular, that the\r\nFrench nation, at a time when she suffered\r\nher weakness to appear abroad,\r\nby an unsuccessful war, should have\r\nperformed this act of vigour at home:\r\nit is true, that on reflexion we shall\r\nfind perhaps, in the same principle,\r\nthe cause of so much weakness without,\r\nand of such great strength, or, if\r\nyou please, of such great fermentation\r\nwithin: but this political discussion\r\nwould carry us too far, and is no\r\npart of our subject.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is more singular still, is,\r\nthat an undertaking, which would\r\nhave been thought very difficult, and\r\neven impossible at the beginning of\r\n1761, should have been accomplished\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_186\" id=\"Page_186\"\u003e[Pg 186]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nin less than two years, without noise,\r\nwithout resistance, and with as little\r\ntrouble as they would have had in\r\ndestroying the Capuchins and the\r\nPickpusses. We cannot say of the\r\nJesuits that their death has been as\r\nbrilliant as their life. Nay, if any\r\nthing ought to humble them, it is that\r\nthey have perished so pitifully, so\r\nobscurely, without lustre and without\r\nglory. Nothing better discovers\r\na real weakness, which had only the\r\nappearance of strength. The Jesuits\r\nwill say, without doubt, that they\r\nhave only executed, and wanted only\r\nto execute, literally the precept of the\r\ngospel; “When they persecute you\r\nin one city, fly into another.” But\r\nwhy, after having forgot this precept\r\nfor two hundred years, have they remembered\r\nit so late?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_187\" id=\"Page_187\"\u003e[Pg 187]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eLastly, what will complete our\r\nastonishment is, that two or three\r\nmen only, who would not have\r\nthought themselves destined to effect\r\nsuch a revolution, should have conceived\r\nand accomplished this great\r\nproject: the general impulse given to\r\nthe whole body of the magistracy was\r\ntheir work, and the fruit of their\r\nimpetuous activity. Mankind indeed\r\nare seldom led by cold and calm spirits.\r\nTranquill reason has not, of\r\nherself alone, the warmth so necessary\r\nto enforce her opinions, and\r\nmake us enter into her views: she\r\nis content with instructing her age\r\nsilently, and without bustle, and to\r\nbecome afterwards a mere spectatress\r\nof the effect, whether good or bad,\r\nwhich her lessons shall have produced.\r\nShe resembles, if we may use\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_188\" id=\"Page_188\"\u003e[Pg 188]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe comparison, the “old man of the\r\nmountain,” at whose voice the young\r\npeople, his disciples, ran to throw\r\nthemselves over precipices, but who\r\ntook care not to throw himself over.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is true, that this small number\r\nof men, who set all the tribunals of\r\nthe kingdom in motion against the Jesuits,\r\nfound the nation favourably disposed\r\nfor that fermentation, and eager\r\nto support it by its discourses. We\r\nsay \u003ci\u003eby its discourses\u003c/i\u003e; for in France all\r\nthat the nation can do, is to speak,\r\nright or wrong, for or against, those\r\nwho govern: but it must be confessed\r\nalso, that the publick cry is\r\nthere held in some account. Philosophy,\r\nagainst which the Jansenists\r\nhad declared war almost as hot as\r\nagainst the company of Jesus, had\r\nmade, in spite of them, and happily\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_189\" id=\"Page_189\"\u003e[Pg 189]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfor them, sensible progresses. The\r\nJesuits, intolerant by system and situation,\r\nwere become by it only the\r\nmore odious: they were considered,\r\nif I may so say, as the giants of fanaticism;\r\nas the most dangerous enemies\r\nof reason, and as those whom\r\nit imported most to get rid of. The\r\nparliaments, when they began to attack\r\nthe society, found this disposition\r\nin all minds. It was properly\r\nphilosophy, which by the mouth of\r\nthe magistrates, issued the decree\r\nagainst the Jesuits: Jansenism was\r\nonly the sollicitor in it. The nation,\r\nand the philosophers at its\r\nhead, wished the annihilation of\r\nthese fathers, because they are intolerant,\r\npersecutors, turbulent, and\r\nformidable: the Jansenists desired\r\nit, because the Jesuits maintain \u003ci\u003eversatile grace\u003c/i\u003e,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_190\" id=\"Page_190\"\u003e[Pg 190]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nand themselves \u003ci\u003eefficacious\r\ngrace\u003c/i\u003e. But for this ridiculous scholastick\r\ndispute, and the fatal bull\r\nwhich was the fruit of it, the society\r\nwould perhaps still exist, after having\r\nso often merited destruction, for\r\ncauses somewhat more real and more\r\nweighty. But at last it is destroyed,\r\nand reason is avenged.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"blockquot\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eQu’importe de quel bras Dieu daigne se servir?\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo these reflexions we may join\r\nanother no less important, and formed\r\nto serve as a lesson to all religious\r\norders, which may be tempted to\r\nimitate the Jesuits. If those fathers\r\nhad been prudent enough to\r\nconfine the credit of the society to\r\nwhat it might draw from the sciences\r\nand letters, that credit would have\r\nbeen more solid, less envied, and\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_191\" id=\"Page_191\"\u003e[Pg 191]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmore durable. It was the spirit of\r\nintrigue and ambition which they\r\ndisplayed, the oppressions which they\r\nexercised; in one word, their enormous\r\npower (or what was thought\r\nsuch) and, above all, the insolence\r\nwhich they joined to it, that ruined\r\nthem. There is no believing to\r\nwhat a height they had carried their\r\naudaciousness lately: the following\r\nis a pretty recent stroke, which will\r\nmake them thoroughly known.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eBenedict XIV. at the beginning\r\nof his pontificate, accepted the dedication\r\nof a work, which father Norbert\r\nthe Capuchin had composed against\r\nthe Jesuits; for they were come\r\nto that pass, as to arm even the Capuchins\r\nagainst them: \u003ci\u003eTu quoque Brute\u003c/i\u003e\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_18_18\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_18_18\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_18_18\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[18]\u003c/a\u003e!\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_192\" id=\"Page_192\"\u003e[Pg 192]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ncried a famous satyrist on this occasion.\r\nThe pope thought he might\r\npermit Norbert to remain at Rome\r\nunder his protection. He had not\r\nthe power to do it: the Jesuits took\r\ntheir measures so well, that in the\r\nend they drove the Capuchin not only\r\nout of the pope’s territories, but even\r\nout of all the Catholick states: he\r\nwas obliged to fly to London, and\r\nfound not till 1759 an asylum in\r\nPortugal, when the society were\r\ndriven from thence: he had the satisfaction,\r\nas he tells us himself, to\r\nassist at the execution of Malagrida,\r\nand to say mass for the repose of his\r\nsoul, while they finished burning his\r\nbody.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe persecution, so rancorously\r\ncarried on by the Jesuits against this\r\nmonk, who was protected by Benedict\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_193\" id=\"Page_193\"\u003e[Pg 193]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nXIV. had greatly irritated that\r\npope against them; he omitted no\r\nopportunity of giving them, on all\r\noccasions, disgust, whenever it was\r\nin his power. The Jansenists even\r\ndoubt not but, if he had lived, he\r\nwould have availed himself of the\r\ncircumstance of their destruction in\r\nPortugal and France, to annihilate\r\nthe society: but whatever they may\r\nsay, it is not probable that a pope,\r\nbe he what he will, should ever forget\r\nso far his own true interests. The\r\nJesuits are the sovereign Pontif’s Janissaries,\r\nformidable sometimes to\r\ntheir master, like those of the Ottoman\r\nPorte, but necessary like them\r\nto the support of the empire. It is\r\nthe interest of the court of Rome to\r\ncurb and to preserve them: Benedict\r\nXIV. had too much sense not to\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_194\" id=\"Page_194\"\u003e[Pg 194]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthink so. The Czar Peter, it is\r\ntrue, broke at one time 40,000 Strelitzes,\r\nwho had revolted, though\r\nthey were his best soldiers: but the\r\nCzar had twenty millions of subjects,\r\nand could recruit them with other\r\nStrelitzes; whereas the Pope, whose\r\nwhole power is supported only by\r\nthe spiritual army under his command,\r\nwould not be able easily to\r\nrecruit it with such soldiers as the\r\nJesuits, so well disciplined, so devoted\r\nto the church of Rome, and so\r\nformidable to the enemies of the sovereign\r\nPontif.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt may be asserted with truth, that\r\nPope Benedict XIV. would have acted\r\nbetter on such an occasion than his\r\nsuccessor Clement XIII. He would\r\nnot, like the latter, have written to a\r\nking, who did him the honour of consulting\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_195\" id=\"Page_195\"\u003e[Pg 195]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhim, “that the Jesuits must remain as they were:” he would\r\nhave returned an equivocal answer,\r\nas he did on occasion of the refusal\r\nof the sacraments to the Jansenists;\r\nhe would have gained time; he\r\nwould have granted the parliaments\r\nsome modifications in regard to the\r\ninstitution (at least with respect to\r\nthe French Jesuits); he would have\r\nflattered and engaged the Jansenists,\r\nby some bull, in favour of \u003ci\u003eefficacious\r\ngrace\u003c/i\u003e: in short, he would have deadened\r\nor weakened the blows that\r\nwere aimed at his regiment of guards.\r\nBut it looks as if, in this affair, the\r\nJesuits and their friends had been\r\nseized with a fit of giddiness, and\r\nthat they did themselves all that was\r\nnecessary to accelerate their ruin:\r\nthey shewed themselves, for the first\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_196\" id=\"Page_196\"\u003e[Pg 196]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ntime, inflexible in a matter, where\r\nit was of the highest importance to\r\nthem not to be so: they caballed in\r\nsecret, and talked openly at court\r\nagainst their enemies: they cried\r\nout, that religion was undone, if we\r\nparted with them; that we drove\r\nthem away only to establish in France\r\nincredulity and heresy: and by these\r\nmeans they cast oil on the fire, instead\r\nof extinguishing it. It looks\r\nas if the Jansenists had put up to\r\nGod, for the destruction of the society,\r\nthe following prayer of Joad\r\nin Athalia.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"poetry-container\"\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"poetry\"\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"verse\"\u003eDaigne, daigne, grand Dieu, sur \u003ci\u003eson\r\n\t chef\u003c/i\u003e \u0026amp; sur elle\u003c/div\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"verse\"\u003eRépandre cet esprit d’imprudence \u0026amp; d’erreur,\u003c/div\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"verse\"\u003eDe \u003ci\u003eleur destruction\u003c/i\u003e funeste avant-coureur.\u003c/div\u003e\r\n \u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAccordingly the Jansenists strongly\r\nassured us in their bigotted language,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_197\" id=\"Page_197\"\u003e[Pg 197]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthat the \u003ci\u003efinger of God\u003c/i\u003e was manifest on\r\nall parts in this affair: “Alas!” replied\r\na quondam Jesuit, seemingly\r\nconsoled at being no longer of the\r\norder, “you may say, all his four fingers, and the thumb too!”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThus then was this famous society\r\ncut off from amidst us; heaven grant\r\nthat it may be without return, were\r\nit only for the sake of peace, and that\r\nwe may at last be able to say, \u003ci\u003ehic\r\njacet\u003c/i\u003e. Its best friends (we are not\r\nafraid to assert it) are too good subjects\r\nto think the contrary: the re-establishment\r\nof this turbulent, irritated,\r\nand fanatical society, would do\r\nmore hurt to the state, than it could,\r\nin the opinion even of its own partisans,\r\ndo good to the church. This event\r\n(if Providence please to make it durable)\r\nwill form not only an epoch,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_198\" id=\"Page_198\"\u003e[Pg 198]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nbut, according to many people, a\r\ntrue chronological æra in the history\r\nof religion: dates will be reckoned\r\nhenceforth in that history from the\r\n\u003ci\u003eJesuitical Hegira\u003c/i\u003e\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_19_19\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_19_19\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_19_19\"\r\nclass=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[19]\u003c/a\u003e, at least in Portugal\r\nand in France; and the Jansenists\r\nhope, that this new \u003ci\u003eecclesiastical\r\ncomputation\u003c/i\u003e will not be long before\r\nit be admitted into other Catholic\r\ncountries. This is the end of those\r\nfervent prayers which they put up to\r\nGod for the greatest good of their\r\nenemies, and for bringing about\r\n“the return of the society to itself.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eNothing will be, without doubt,\r\nmore advantageous and more pleasing\r\nto them. It is well known that\r\nevery Jansenist, provided he can say,\r\nwith the savages in Candide, “Let\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_199\" id=\"Page_199\"\u003e[Pg 199]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nus have a slice of the Jesuit,” will\r\nbe at the summit of his happiness and\r\njoy: but it remains to know what\r\nprofit reason (which is full as good as\r\nJansenism) will derive at last from a\r\nproscription so greatly desired. I say\r\n\u003ci\u003ereason\u003c/i\u003e, and not \u003ci\u003eirreligion\u003c/i\u003e: this is a\r\nprecaution necessary to be taken; for\r\nthe theology of the Jansenists is, as\r\nwe have seen, so reasonable, that they\r\nare apt to consider the words \u003ci\u003ereason\u003c/i\u003e\r\nand \u003ci\u003eirreligion\u003c/i\u003e as synonimous. It is\r\ncertain that the annihilation of the\r\nsociety may be productive of great advantages\r\nto reason, provided the intolerant\r\nspirit of Jansenism succeed not in\r\ncredit to Jesuitical intolerance; for we\r\nare not afraid to say that, between\r\nthese two sects, both which are wicked\r\nand pernicious, if we were obliged\r\nto choose, and supposing them to be\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_200\" id=\"Page_200\"\u003e[Pg 200]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ninvested with the same degree of\r\npower, the society, which has just\r\nbeen expelled, would be still the least\r\ntyrannical. The Jesuits, a complaisant\r\nset of people, provided we declare\r\nourselves not their enemies, give sufficient\r\npermission to think as we please.\r\nThe Jansenists, devoid of consideration\r\nas well as abilities, will have us\r\nthink just as they do: if they were\r\nmasters, they would exercise over our\r\nwritings, over our understandings,\r\nover our discourses, the most violent\r\ninquisition. Happily it is not much\r\nto be feared, that they will ever\r\nacquire much credit: the rigor which\r\nthey profess will not make its way\r\nat court, where folks are very desirous\r\nof being Christians, but on\r\ncondition that it cost them little;\r\nand their doctrine of Predestination\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_201\" id=\"Page_201\"\u003e[Pg 201]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nand Grace is too harsh and too absurd\r\nnot to shock their minds.\r\nLet foreigners reproach France as\r\nmuch as they will (it is of small\r\nimportance) on the little concern she\r\nseems to take in her national theatre,\r\nso esteemed throughout all Europe,\r\nand on the distinguished favour which\r\nshe bestows on her musick, though\r\ndespised by all nations: those foreigners,\r\nenvious of us and our\r\nenemies, will not surely ever have\r\nthe melancholy advantage of reproaching\r\nour government with a\r\nmore material fault, that of taking,\r\nfor the object of its protection, men\r\nwithout talents, without understanding,\r\nunknowing and unknown; after\r\nhaving heretofore carried, on a\r\nviolent persecution against the illustrious\r\nand respectable fathers of so\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_202\" id=\"Page_202\"\u003e[Pg 202]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\npitiful a posterity. Furthermore,\r\nthe nation, which begins now to be\r\nenlightened, will probably grow enlightened\r\nmore and more. Disputes\r\nconcerning religion will be despised,\r\nand fanaticism will be held in horror.\r\nThe magistrates, who proscribed the\r\nfanaticism of the Jesuits, are men of\r\ntoo much understanding, too good\r\nsubjects, too much fitted for the age\r\nthey live in, to suffer another fanaticism\r\nto succeed it: even already some\r\nof them (among others Mr. de la\r\nChalotais) have explained themselves\r\nso openly as to displease the Jansenists,\r\nand to merit the honour of\r\nbeing placed by them in the rank\r\nof philosophers. That sect seems\r\nto say like God, whose language\r\nit so often and so abusively makes\r\nuse of, “He that is not for me is\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_203\" id=\"Page_203\"\u003e[Pg 203]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nagainst me:” but it will not thereby\r\nmake the more proselytes. The\r\nJesuits were regular troops, bred\r\nand disciplined under the standard\r\nof superstition: they were the Macedonian\r\nphalanx, which it imported\r\nreason to see broken and destroyed.\r\nThe Jansenists are only\r\nCossacks and Pandours, of whom\r\nreason will have a cheap conquest,\r\nseeing they will fight singly and dispersed.\r\nIn vain will they cry out as\r\nusual, that it is sufficient to shew an attachment\r\nto religion, to be reviled\r\nby \u003ci\u003emodern philosophers\u003c/i\u003e. It will be replied\r\nto them, that Paschal, Nicole,\r\nBossuet, and the writers of the Port-Royal,\r\nwere attached to religion;\r\nand that there is not one \u003ci\u003emodern philosopher\u003c/i\u003e\r\n(at least, one worthy of that\r\nname) who does not revere and honour\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_204\" id=\"Page_204\"\u003e[Pg 204]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthem. In vain will they imagine,\r\nthat because they succeeded to\r\nthe Jansenism of Port-Royal, they\r\nare to succeed also to the respect\r\nwhich it enjoyed: it is as if the valets\r\nde chambre of a great lord should\r\nwant to make themselves be styled\r\nhis heirs, because they inherited a few\r\nof his cast clothes. Jansenism, in\r\nthe Port-Royal, was a blemish which\r\nit effaced by great merit: in its pretended\r\nsuccessors it is their sole existence;\r\nand what, in the age wherein\r\nwe live, is an existence so poor and\r\nridiculous?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAccordingly it need not be doubted\r\nbut the destruction of their enemies\r\nwill soon bring on theirs, not\r\nwith violence, but by slow degrees, by\r\ninsensible transpiration, and through\r\na necessary consequence of the contempt\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_205\" id=\"Page_205\"\u003e[Pg 205]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwith which that sect inspires\r\nall sensible people. The Jesuits,\r\ndriven out by them, and dragging\r\nthem along with themselves in their\r\nfall, may put up, from this instant, to\r\ntheir founder St. Ignatius, the following\r\nprayer for their enemies,\r\n“Father, pardon them, for they\r\nknow not what they do.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo speak seriously, and without\r\ncircumlocution, it is time that the\r\nlaws should lend reason their aid for\r\nthe annihilation of that party-spirit,\r\nwhich has so long disturbed the kingdom\r\nwith ridiculous controversies;\r\ncontroversies, we are not afraid to\r\nassert it, more fatal to the state than\r\ninfidelity itself, when it seeks not\r\nto make proselytes. A great prince,\r\nit is said, reproached one of his officers\r\nwith being a Jansenist or Molinist,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_206\" id=\"Page_206\"\u003e[Pg 206]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nI know not which: they told\r\nhim he was mistaken, for that the\r\nofficer was an Atheist: “If he be\r\nonly an Atheist,” replied the prince,\r\n“that is another affair, and I have\r\nnothing to say to it.” This answer,\r\nwhich some have wanted to\r\nturn into ridicule, was however extremely\r\nwise: the prince, as head of\r\nthe state, has nothing to fear from\r\nan Atheist, who is silent, and dogmatizes\r\nnot. Such a wretch, while\r\nextremely culpable in the eyes of God\r\nand of reason, is hurtful only to himself,\r\nand not to others: the party-man,\r\nthe disputant, disturbs society\r\nby his idle controversies. In this case\r\nthat law of Solon prevails not, by\r\nwhich all who took not some side in\r\nthe troubles of the state were declared\r\ninfamous. That great legislator was\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_207\" id=\"Page_207\"\u003e[Pg 207]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ntoo knowing to rank in this number\r\nthe controversies concerning religion,\r\nso ill calculated to interest\r\ngood subjects; he would rather have\r\nmade it an honour to shun and to\r\ndespise them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eOur gloomy theological quarrels\r\nconfine not to the limits of the\r\nkingdom the injury and hurt they do\r\nus: they debase, in the eyes of Europe,\r\nour nation, already too much\r\nhumiliated by her misfortunes: they\r\nmake strangers, and even the Italians,\r\nsay, “that the French know not\r\nhow to be warm, excepting for\r\nbillets of confession, or for buffoons,\r\nfor the bull Unigenitus, or\r\nfor the comick opera\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_20_20\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_20_20\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_20_20\"\r\nclass=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[20]\u003c/a\u003e.” Such is\r\nthe very unjust idea which a handfull\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_208\" id=\"Page_208\"\u003e[Pg 208]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof fanaticks give to all Europe of\r\nthe French nation, at a time nevertheless\r\nwhen the truely estimable\r\npart of that nation are more enlightened\r\nthan ever, more taken up about\r\nuseful objects, and fuller of contempt\r\nfor the follies and the men that disgrace\r\nit.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not only the honour of France\r\nwhich is interested in the annihilation\r\nof these vain disputes; the honour\r\nof religion is still more concerned\r\nin it, on account of the obstacles\r\nwhich they oppose to the conversion\r\nof unbelievers. I will suppose that\r\none of those men, who have had the\r\nmisfortune, in our times, to attack religion\r\nin their writings, and against\r\nwhom the Jesuits and the Jansenists\r\nhave equally exerted themselves,\r\nshould address at the same time the\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_209\" id=\"Page_209\"\u003e[Pg 209]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ntwo most intrepid theologists of each\r\nparty, and speak to them thus: “You\r\nare right, gentlemen, to cry out\r\nshame against me, and it is my intention\r\nto repair it. Dictate to me\r\nthen in concert a confession of faith\r\nproper for the purpose, and which\r\nmay reconcile me first with God,\r\nand afterwards with every one of\r\nyou.” On the very first article of the\r\ncreed, “I believe in God the Father\r\nAlmighty,” he would infallibly set\r\nby the ears the two Catechists, by\r\nasking them if God is equally powerful\r\nover the heart and over the body?\r\n“Without doubt,” the Jansenist\r\nwould aver: “Not quite so,” the Jesuit\r\nwould mutter. “You are a\r\nblasphemer,” the former would\r\ncry; “And you,” would reply the\r\nsecond, “a destroyer of the freedom\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_210\" id=\"Page_210\"\u003e[Pg 210]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nand the merit of good works.”\r\nBoth addressing themselves afterward\r\nto their proselyte, would say to him,\r\n“Ah, Sir, infidelity is still better\r\nthan the abominable doctrine of\r\nmy adversary: beware of confiding\r\nyour soul to such bad hands. If\r\nthe blind,” says the Gospel, “lead\r\nthe blind, they will both fall into\r\nthe ditch.” It must be owned,\r\nthat the blind infidel would find himself\r\na little embarrassed between two\r\nmen, who offer each to serve him as\r\nguide, and yet mutually charge each\r\nother with being blinder than him.\r\n“Gentlemen,” would he say to them,\r\nwithout doubt, “I thank you both\r\nfor your charitable offers: God has\r\ngiven me, to conduct me in the\r\ndark, a staff, which is reason, and\r\nwhich you say will lead me to the\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_211\" id=\"Page_211\"\u003e[Pg 211]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfaith: well, I will make use of\r\nthis salutary staff, and I will draw\r\nfrom it more utility than from you\r\ntwo.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eNothing more remains then to government\r\nand the magistrates, for\r\nthe honour of religion and the state,\r\nthan to repress, and render alike contemptible,\r\nboth parties. We say it\r\nwith so much the more confidence,\r\nas nobody calls in doubt the impartiality\r\nof the wise depositaries of justice,\r\nand the hearty contempt which\r\nthey have for these absurd contests,\r\nthe dangerous effects of which their\r\noffice has required them to prevent.\r\nWith what satisfaction will wise and\r\nenlightened subjects see them complete\r\ntheir work? Ought not the\r\nJansenist Gazetteer and the\r\nConvulsionaries\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_21_21\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_21_21\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_21_21\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[21]\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_212\" id=\"Page_212\"\u003e[Pg 212]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nto expect from them, on\r\nthe first occasion, the same treatment\r\nas the Jesuits; with this difference,\r\nhowever, which we are to put (in\r\npoint of honour) between the punishment\r\nof a revolted noblesse, and that\r\nof a turbulent populace? The Jesuits\r\nuttered their dangerous maxims in\r\nopen day: the Convulsionaries and\r\nthe Jansenist Gazetteer preach and\r\nprint their extravagancies in the dark.\r\nThe obscurity alone with which these\r\nwretches envelope themselves, can\r\nshield them from the fate which they\r\nmerit: perhaps also there needs to\r\ndestroy them only to drag them out of\r\nthat obscurity, only to order the Convulsionaries\r\n(under pain of whipping)\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_213\" id=\"Page_213\"\u003e[Pg 213]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nto exhibit their disgusting farces,\r\nnot in a garret, but in a fair, for\r\nmoney, among dancers on the rope,\r\nand players with cups and balls, who\r\nwill soon bring them down: and as\r\nto the Jansenist Gazetteer (under pain\r\nof being led through the streets upon\r\nan ass) of printing his dull libel not\r\nin his garret, but at an authorised\r\nbookseller’s, at the publisher’s, for\r\nexample, of the \u003ci\u003eChristian Journal\u003c/i\u003e,\r\nso widely circulated, and so deserving\r\nof being so. Convulsionaries and\r\ngazetteers will vanish, the moment\r\nin which they shall have lost the little\r\nmerit which remains to them, that\r\nof \u003ci\u003eclandestineness\u003c/i\u003e. In a very short\r\ntime the name of the Jansenists will\r\nbe forgotten, as that of their adversaries\r\nis proscribed; the destruction\r\nof the one, and the disappearance of\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_214\" id=\"Page_214\"\u003e[Pg 214]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe others, will leave no longer any\r\ntrace to recollect them by: this\r\nevent, like those which have preceded\r\nit, will be effaced and buried\r\nby those which shall follow; and\r\nnothing at most will remain of it\r\nbut that French witticism, that the\r\nchief of the Jesuits is a broken captain,\r\nwho has lost his company.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo conclude, we shall observe\r\nthat the title of \u003ci\u003eSociety of Jesus\u003c/i\u003e is still\r\none of the reproaches which the Jansenists\r\ncast on the Jesuits, as a too\r\nproud denomination; by which they\r\nseemed to attribute to themselves\r\nalone the quality of Christians: this\r\nis a pretty slight subject of quarrel,\r\nand proves only what we have already\r\nsaid, that hatred has formed\r\nweapons of every thing to attack\r\nthem. The true crime of the society,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_215\" id=\"Page_215\"\u003e[Pg 215]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwe cannot repeat it too often, is not\r\nthe being called the \u003ci\u003eCompany of Jesus\u003c/i\u003e,\r\nbut the having been really a company\r\nof intriguers and fanaticks; the having\r\nendeavoured to oppress every\r\nthing which gave it umbrage; the\r\nhaving wanted to domineer in every\r\nthing; the having intermeddled in all\r\naffairs and all factions; the having\r\nsought, in a word, rather to render\r\nthemselves necessary than useful.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe spirit of giddiness, which has\r\noccasioned the misfortune of the Jesuits\r\nin France, seems to announce\r\nto them a like fate in the rest of Europe.\r\nThey have long been cried\r\ndown in the territories of the king\r\nof Sardinia, and the republick of\r\nVenice; and the little existence they\r\nyet preserve there, may very possibly\r\nbe shaken anew by the shocks which\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_216\" id=\"Page_216\"\u003e[Pg 216]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthey have just felt elsewhere: their\r\nconduct in Silesia, during the last\r\nwar, has not disposed favourably towards\r\nthem a prince, in other respects\r\nan enemy to superstition and the\r\nmonkish race: the house of Austria,\r\nwhich has so long protected them,\r\nbegins to be tired of them, and to\r\nfind out what they are; and they\r\nhave all room to fear, lest the bomb,\r\nwhich has burst in Portugal and in\r\nFrance, should dart some of its splinters\r\nagainst them into all parts of\r\nEurope.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr class=\"sect\" /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\r\n \u003cimg class=\"drop-cap_w\" src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-dalembert-destruction-of-the-jesuits-initial-w.jpg\"\r\n alt=\"Drop Cap W\" /\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"drop-cap noindent\"\u003eWE\r\nshall close this treatise with\r\nthe queries, of which mention\r\nhas been made above, respecting the\r\noath which was required of the\r\nJesuits: they are proposed in such a\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_217\" id=\"Page_217\"\u003e[Pg 217]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmanner, that there seems to be no\r\ndoubt, either as to the answer to be\r\nmade to each, or consequently as to\r\nthe part which these fathers should\r\nhave taken. It appears, in the writings\r\npublished on this subject by\r\nthe Jansenists and the Jesuits, as if\r\nthey had made it their business to\r\ndeviate from the true point of view\r\nof the question. Instead of the idle\r\ndeclamations which have been printed\r\non both sides, the author seems to\r\nhave meant to substitute a little\r\nlogick: this is the secret for abridging\r\na number of controversies, which\r\nthe rhetorick of lawyers and of mandates\r\nwould perpetuate to eternity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr class=\"chap\" /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_218\" id=\"Page_218\"\u003e[Pg 218]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p4 ac larger noindent\"\u003eQUERIES.\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_22_22\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_22_22\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_22_22\"\r\nclass=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[22]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003eI.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\r\n \u003cimg class=\"drop-cap_a\" src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-dalembert-destruction-of-the-jesuits-initial-a.jpg\"\r\n alt=\"Drop Cap A\" /\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"drop-cap noindent\"\u003eARE not the king, or the magistrates\r\nwho represent him,\r\ncompetent judges for deciding, whether\r\na religious institution be conformable\r\nor contrary to the laws of\r\nthe kingdom?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003eII.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIs it necessary that the spiritual\r\npower concur with the temporal, for\r\nthis decision, which is purely civil?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_219\" id=\"Page_219\"\u003e[Pg 219]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003eIII.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eDid not the king’s subjects, who\r\nsubmitted themselves to this institution,\r\nsubmit thereto, on the supposition,\r\nnay, in the persuasion, that\r\nthe king and the state approved\r\nthereof?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003eIV.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf the king, or the magistrates who\r\nrepresent him, having at first permitted\r\nor tolerated the institution,\r\ncome afterwards to be of opinion,\r\nthat it is contrary to the laws of\r\nthe kingdom, would the king’s subjects,\r\nwho had subjected themselves\r\nto this institution, and who took the\r\nresolution of renouncing it, wound\r\nthereby their consciences?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_220\" id=\"Page_220\"\u003e[Pg 220]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003eV.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eDoes the renunciation of the institution\r\nimport a renunciation of\r\nthe vow of \u003ci\u003echastity\u003c/i\u003e and that of \u003ci\u003epoverty\u003c/i\u003e,\r\nwhich they had taken, and which\r\nneither the king nor the magistrates\r\ncan hinder them from observing?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003eVI.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIs it making an attempt upon the\r\nrights of the spiritual power, to declare\r\nthat their vow of obedience,\r\n(considered only in a civil light) is\r\ninconsistent with the obedience which\r\nthey have vowed from their birth to\r\ntheir lawful sovereign; an obedience,\r\nby virtue of which they live in the\r\nterritories of that sovereign, under\r\nthe protection of the laws?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_221\" id=\"Page_221\"\u003e[Pg 221]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003eVII.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf the vow which they have made\r\nas subjects, be declared contrary to\r\nthat which they have made as monks,\r\nis not this second vow null of itself,\r\nbeing destroyed by a vow more ancient\r\nand more sacred?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003eVIII.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf they think themselves, notwithstanding\r\nthis consideration, engaged\r\nby their vow of \u003ci\u003eobedience\u003c/i\u003e; if they\r\nprefer a religious state to that of\r\nsubjects; can, nay indeed ought not\r\nthe prince, or the magistrates who\r\nrepresent him, to declare, that they\r\nhave forfeited the rights of subjects,\r\nand oblige them to quit a state of\r\nwhich they refuse to be members?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_222\" id=\"Page_222\"\u003e[Pg 222]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003eIX.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eHave not the professed monks,\r\nwho shall renounce the institution,\r\nand who are bound besides, by their\r\nvow of \u003ci\u003epoverty\u003c/i\u003e, and by the renunciation\r\nof their effects, a right to require\r\nthe state to charge itself with\r\ntheir subsistence?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003eX.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWould professed monks, who on\r\nrefusing to renounce their vow of\r\n\u003ci\u003eobedience\u003c/i\u003e, should receive either from\r\nthe court, or their friends\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_23_23\"\r\nid=\"FNanchor_23_23\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"#Footnote_23_23\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003e[23]\u003c/a\u003e,\r\nnotwithstanding\r\ntheir vow of \u003ci\u003epoverty\u003c/i\u003e, pensions\r\nmuch greater than is necessary\r\nfor their subsistence, prove by this\r\nconduct, that they were much less\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_223\" id=\"Page_223\"\u003e[Pg 223]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nattached to \u003ci\u003etheir vow\u003c/i\u003e than to their\r\nGeneral; that they refused much\r\nmore through pride than through\r\nreligion, to renounce the society;\r\nthat they were, in a word, more\r\nJesuits than Christians?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003eXI.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eOught not those professed monks,\r\nwho shall renounce the institution,\r\nat the same time, in order to put out\r\nof dispute their religion and their\r\nhonour, to declare the motives of\r\nattachment to their sovereign and\r\ntheir country, which oblige them to\r\nthat renunciation, and to demand a\r\njuridical act of that declaration?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003eXII.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIs it necessary to require of the\r\n\u003ci\u003enon-professed\u003c/i\u003e monks, any thing more\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_224\" id=\"Page_224\"\u003e[Pg 224]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthan a mere juridical declaration,\r\nthat they have made no vows; and a\r\npromise of not making any?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003eXIII.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd with regard to those who\r\nvoluntarily renounced the institution,\r\nbefore the arrêt, which requires\r\nthe oath, is it necessary to require\r\nof them any thing else than a simple\r\njuridical declaration that they have\r\nrenounced it?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003eXIV.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWill not the Jesuits equally embarrass\r\nthe Jansenists their enemies,\r\nwhether they take the oath which is\r\nrequired, or whether they take it\r\nnot? If they take it, they deprive\r\ntheir inveterate enemies of the hope\r\nand the pleasure of seeing them banished;\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_225\" id=\"Page_225\"\u003e[Pg 225]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nif they refuse to take it,\r\nthey refute, without reply, the imputation\r\nwhich has been so often cast\r\nupon them, of sporting with religion\r\nand with oaths? In the first case they\r\ndisconcert hatred; in the second they\r\nconfound calumny. Which side\r\nought they to take? That of disconcerting\r\nhatred, and of confounding\r\ncalumny both at once, in joining to\r\nthe oath, which is required of them,\r\nthe declaration, the substance of which\r\nis contained in the XIth Query, and\r\nof which we shall give below the\r\nformula.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003eXV.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat scourge have been the disputes\r\nconcerning religion, and in particular\r\nthe absurd and miserable contest\r\nof Jansenism, which for upwards of a\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_226\" id=\"Page_226\"\u003e[Pg 226]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhundred years has made so many\r\npersons unhappy in one of these two\r\nparties, and which now is likely to\r\nmake as many in the other!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003eXVI.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat a happiness, for nations and\r\nfor kings, is the banner of philosophy,\r\nwhich by inspiring for those\r\nfrivolous disputes the contempt which\r\nthey merit, is the only means of\r\npreventing their becoming dangerous?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003eXVII.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWho is the author of these reflexions?\r\nA Frenchman, attached\r\nsolely to his country, who interests\r\nhimself neither for \u003ci\u003eversatile grace\u003c/i\u003e,\r\nnor \u003ci\u003evictorious delectation\u003c/i\u003e; who is neither\r\nof any sect, nor of any order,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_227\" id=\"Page_227\"\u003e[Pg 227]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nneither of the congregation of \u003ci\u003emessieurs\u003c/i\u003e,\r\nnor of the troop of St. Médard; who\r\nhas neither received money from the\r\nGeneral of the Jesuits, nor been\r\nwhipped with rods in the garrets of\r\nthe Convulsionaries; who wishes that\r\nmen would live in peace, and that\r\nso much hatred, excited by whims,\r\nso many \u003ci\u003eprofound\u003c/i\u003e acts of knavery,\r\noccasioned by \u003ci\u003esenseless\u003c/i\u003e disputes, so\r\nmany evils, in short, brought about\r\nby so many follies, should teach\r\nthem at last to be wise.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eSo be it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr class=\"chap\" /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_228\" id=\"Page_228\"\u003e[Pg 228]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"ac noindent p2\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eA form of declaration for the professed\r\nmonks.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\r\n \u003cimg class=\"drop-cap_i\" src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-dalembert-destruction-of-the-jesuits-initial-i.jpg\"\r\n alt=\"Drop Cap I\" /\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"drop-cap noindent\"\u003eI The undersigning, a professed\r\nmonk of the late society called\r\nof Jesus, declare, that when I subjected\r\nmyself to the institution and\r\ngovernment of that society, I supposed,\r\nas an indispensable condition of\r\nthat engagement, that it had the approbation\r\nof the king my lawful sovereign;\r\nhis majesty having declared\r\nsince, in an unequivocal manner, by\r\nthe mouth of the magistrates, depositaries\r\nof his authority, the incompatibility\r\nof my vow of obedience,\r\nwith that more ancient and sacred\r\nvow which I have made to my king\r\nand to my country, and finding\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_229\" id=\"Page_229\"\u003e[Pg 229]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmyself obliged to choose the one or\r\nthe other of these vows, which I\r\ncan no longer observe together, I\r\nthink myself bound, in honour and\r\nin conscience, to hold by that which\r\nI made as a Frenchman and subject\r\nof his majesty: it is through this\r\nsole motive that I renounce living,\r\nhenceforward, under the authority\r\nof the institution, and the government\r\nof the said society; not intending,\r\nhowever, to renounce the\r\nvow of poverty, and that of chastity,\r\nwhich I have made, and the observance\r\nof which no motive can forbid\r\nme; promising anew to God and to\r\nthe church, as far as is necessary, to\r\npreserve the virtue of perfect continence,\r\nand to receive from those, who\r\nshall think proper to provide me\r\nwith subsistence, only just what is\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_230\" id=\"Page_230\"\u003e[Pg 230]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nabsolutely necessary to that very subsistence,\r\npursuant to the precept of\r\nSt. Paul. In confirmation whereof\r\nI have signed the present declaration,\r\nof which I demand the enrollment,\r\nin order to discharge, at once, without\r\nany view either of interest or human\r\nrespect, what I owe to God and my\r\nking.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eDone at Paris this….\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr class=\"chap\" /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_231\" id=\"Page_231\"\u003e[Pg 231]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eA form of declaration for the non-professed\r\nJesuits.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\r\n \u003cimg class=\"drop-cap_i\" src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-dalembert-destruction-of-the-jesuits-initial-i.jpg\"\r\n alt=\"Drop Cap I\" /\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"drop-cap noindent\"\u003eI The undersigning … declare,\r\nthat not being bound yet by the\r\nvows of profession to the late Society\r\ncalled of Jesus, and the king my\r\nsovereign having forbidden all his\r\nsubjects, by the mouth of the magistrates,\r\ndepositaries of his authority,\r\nto bind themselves to that institution,\r\nI promise and swear, as a good and\r\nfaithful subject of his majesty, not\r\nto engage myself in the said Society,\r\nby any vow whatever. In confirmation,\r\n\u0026amp;c.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr class=\"chap\" /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_232\" id=\"Page_232\"\u003e[Pg 232]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 ac noindent\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eA form of declaration for the ex-Jesuits.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\r\n \u003cimg class=\"drop-cap_i\" src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-dalembert-destruction-of-the-jesuits-initial-i.jpg\"\r\n alt=\"Drop Cap I\" /\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"drop-cap noindent\"\u003eI The undersigning declare, that in\r\nthe month of … and year of\r\n… before the arrêt of the court of\r\n… which requires of the late Jesuits\r\nthe renunciation of that institution,\r\nI made voluntarily that renunciation,\r\nof which the pieces\r\nhereunto annexed are vouchers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p4 ac noindent x-larger\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eFINIS\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"p4 footnotes\"\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFOOTNOTES:\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_1_1\" id=\"Footnote_1_1\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_1_1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[1]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nSee the Jesuit writers of the life of St. Ignatius.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_2_2\" id=\"Footnote_2_2\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_2_2\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[2]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nFather Boyer the Theatin, afterwards Bishop\r\nof Mirepoix, and since preceptor to the children\r\nof France.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_3_3\" id=\"Footnote_3_3\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_3_3\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[3]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nWe speak here in general; for it is agreed\r\nthat there have been, and are still, in the other\r\norders, some men of merit.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_4_4\" id=\"Footnote_4_4\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_4_4\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[4]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nWe know from a very respectable and very sure\r\nhand, that this father of the church was some\r\nmonths since at Petersbourg, where he wrote, for\r\nbread, panegyricks on a great princess, who pays\r\nto his eulogies the same regard as to his writings.\r\nNothing more was wanting to the disgrace of\r\nthose who set him to work, but to leave him, as\r\nthey do, in want, and obliged to go to beg abjectly,\r\nat six hundred leagues, his subsistence.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_5_5\" id=\"Footnote_5_5\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_5_5\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[5]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nM. de Voltaire, in his excellent catalogue of\r\nthe writers of the age of Louis XIV.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_6_6\" id=\"Footnote_6_6\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_6_6\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[6]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nThey were very far from this in 16…. when\r\nthey forbid all the subjects of the congregation\r\nfrom teaching Jansenism and Cartesianism.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_7_7\" id=\"Footnote_7_7\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_7_7\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[7]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nSee Bayle’s dictionary under the word Petau.\r\nSee also the Longueruana, Part I. p. 86.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_8_8\" id=\"Footnote_8_8\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_8_8\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[8]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nThe safety of the people is the supreme law.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_9_9\" id=\"Footnote_9_9\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_9_9\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[9]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nThe reader, perhaps, will not be displeased\r\nto see what a philosopher of much wit, and full\r\nof contempt besides for all theological quarrels,\r\nthought of this charming doctrine. “Can it be\r\npossible to give to the word \u003ci\u003efreedom\u003c/i\u003e a meaning\r\nso forced as that which the Jansenists give it?\r\nWe are now, according to them, like a ball on\r\na billiard-table, indifferent whether it move to\r\nthe right or to the left; but at the very time\r\nthat it moves to the right, it is maintained to\r\nbe still indifferent as to its moving to that side;\r\nfor this reason, that it might have been driven to\r\nthe left. Such is what they have the presumption\r\nto call in us \u003ci\u003efreedom\u003c/i\u003e; a freedom purely passive,\r\nwhich signifies only the different use which\r\nthe Creator may make of our wills, and not\r\nthe use which we can make of them ourselves\r\nwithout his help. What fantastic and fallacious\r\nlanguage!” \u003ci\u003eLettre de Mr. de la Motte, à Mr. de\r\nFenelon.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_10_10\" id=\"Footnote_10_10\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_10_10\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[10]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nLib. vii. Fabl. 16.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_11_11\" id=\"Footnote_11_11\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_11_11\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[11]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nMr. de la Chalotais, in his \u003ci\u003eEssay on Education\u003c/i\u003e,\r\npresented to the parliament of Bretagne.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_12_12\" id=\"Footnote_12_12\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_12_12\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[12]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nThe late cardinal de Tencin.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_13_13\" id=\"Footnote_13_13\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_13_13\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[13]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ci\u003eLe Dépit amoureux\u003c/i\u003e, Act first, Scene last.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_14_14\" id=\"Footnote_14_14\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_14_14\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[14]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nIt is said that the Jesuits, out of respect to the\r\nQueen and Dauphin, refused to undertake the\r\nspiritual guidance of La Pompadour. \u003ci\u003eAppendix\u003c/i\u003e to\r\nthe XXXII. Vol. of the \u003ci\u003eMonthly Review\u003c/i\u003e. p. 499.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_15_15\" id=\"Footnote_15_15\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_15_15\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[15]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ci\u003eFontaine\u003c/i\u003e, Lib. VII. Fable iii.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_16_16\" id=\"Footnote_16_16\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_16_16\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[16]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Æneid I.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_17_17\" id=\"Footnote_17_17\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_17_17\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[17]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nMélanges de littérature, d’histoire \u0026amp; de philosophie,\r\npar M. D…. Tom. IV. p. 364.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_18_18\" id=\"Footnote_18_18\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_18_18\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[18]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ci\u003eAnd thou too, my dear Brutus!\u003c/i\u003e It is assured that\r\nthis satyrist gave to the word \u003ci\u003eBrutus\u003c/i\u003e a more malicious\r\ninterpretation than we pretend to approve\r\nof.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_19_19\" id=\"Footnote_19_19\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_19_19\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[19]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nThe reader knows that \u003ci\u003ehegira\u003c/i\u003e signifies \u003ci\u003eflight\u003c/i\u003e,\r\nor \u003ci\u003eexpulsion\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_20_20\" id=\"Footnote_20_20\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_20_20\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[20]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nThis is what a thousand French have heard\r\nsaid in England, in Germany, and even at Rome.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_21_21\" id=\"Footnote_21_21\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_21_21\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[21]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nIt is assured, that the day after the expulsion\r\nof the Jesuits, the Convulsionaries began to foretell\r\nit. It is thus that they have always prophesied;\r\nand what is very surprising, they have never been\r\nmistaken.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_22_22\" id=\"Footnote_22_22\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_22_22\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[22]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nThese queries appear to have been written in\r\nthe interval between the arrêt, which ordains the\r\nJesuits to take the oath, and the arrêt which banished\r\nthem. It was thought they might be useful,\r\nif any unforeseen circumstance should seem one day\r\nto require the Jesuits to be forced to renounce expressly\r\nthe institution.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"noindent\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_23_23\" id=\"Footnote_23_23\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"#FNanchor_23_23\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e[23]\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nAs the Jesuits of Versailles, and some others of\r\nthe principal have done.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"transnote p2\"\u003e\r\n \u003cp class=\"ac noindent x-larger\"\u003eTranscriber\u0027s Note:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n \u003cul\u003e\r\n \u003cli\u003eMinor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Others\r\n are noted below.\u003c/li\u003e\r\n \u003cli\u003eAmbiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.\u003c/li\u003e\r\n \u003cli\u003eCORRECTIONS:\r\n\t \u003cul\u003e\r\n\t \u003cli\u003ePage 18: “usefull” changed to “useful.” (… useful and respectable\r\n in Paraguai….)\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\t\u003cli\u003ep. 25: “he” → “be.” (… his heart should be carried after his\r\n\t\t death;)\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\t\u003cli\u003ep. 27: “Richlieu” → “Richelieu.” (Henry IV. or rather cardinal\r\n\t\t Richelieu….)\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\t\u003cli\u003ep. 78: “repuputation” → “reputation” ( … the greatest merit and\r\n\t\t reputation.)\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\t\u003cli\u003ep. 86: “co-temporaries” → “contemporaries (… admired by his\r\n\t\t contemporaries.)\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\t\u003cli\u003ep. 110: “expresly” → “expressly.” (… without having been\r\n\t\t condemned expressly.)\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\t\u003cli\u003ep. 110: “partiticular” → “particular.” (… one proposition of\r\n\t\t father Quesnel’s in particular.)\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\t\u003cli\u003ep. 126: “ n” → “in.” (… whose crime in their eyes….)\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\t\u003cli\u003ep. 156: “expresly” → “expressly.” (… whom he points out\r\n\t\t expressly….)\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\t\u003cli\u003ep. 160” “powerfull” → “powerful.” (… a society, lately so\r\n\t\t powerful….)\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\t\u003cli\u003ep. 201: “pitifull” → “pitiful.” (… fathers of so pitiful a\r\n\t\t posterity.)\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\t\u003cli\u003ep. 204: “stiled” → “styled.” (… make themselves be styled his\r\n\t\t heirs….)\u003c/li\u003e\r\n \u003c/ul\u003e\r\n \u003c/li\u003e\r\n \u003c/ul\u003e\r\n \u003cul\u003e\r\n \u003cli\u003eVariants unchanged:\r\n\t \u003cul\u003e\r\n\t \u003cli\u003eNew comers (p. 18) and new-comers (p. 145).\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\t\u003cli\u003eDogmatises (p. 55) and dogmatizes (p. 206).\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\t\u003cli\u003eExpense (p. 72) and expence (p. 124).\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\t\u003cli\u003eArch-bishop (pp. 117, 125, 167) and archbishop (pp. 115, 116,\r\n\t\t 181).\u003c/li\u003e\r\n \u003c/ul\u003e\r\n \u003c/li\u003e\r\n \u003c/ul\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/article\u003e"}],"SectionSequence":["Back Link","Work Title","Deck","Author","Period","Era","Composition","Date Note","Region","Terra Avita","Terra Avita Region","Modern Country","Original Title","Language","Primary Discipline","Secondary Discipline","Tradition","Full Versions","Core Thesis","Classification","Arguments","Influence","Significance","Evidence Note","Full Text"],"Counts":{"ContextCards":3,"GeoCards":4,"DisciplineCards":2,"Links":11,"Sections":25,"Styles":3,"Scripts":1}}