Quakerism A-la-Mode OR A HISTORY OF Quietism Particularly That of the Lord Arch-bishop of Cambray and Madam Guyone CONTAINING An Account of her Life her Prophecies and Visions her way of Communicating Grace by Effusion to those about her at Silent Meetings c. ALSO An Account of the Management of that Controversie now depending at Rome betwixt the Arch-bishop of Cambray and the Bishop of Meaux by way of Answer to the Arch-bishop's Book Writ by Messire Jacques Bonignes Bossuel Bishop of Meaux one of the French King 's Privy Council and Published by his Majesty's Authority Done into English from the Original printed at Paris LONDON Printed for J. Narris at the Harrow in Little Brittain and A. Bell at the Cross-Keys and Bible in Cornhill near Stocks market 1698. Price 1 s. THE PREFACE THe Controversie of Quietism which is the Subject of the following Book having made a great Noise in the World and taken up the Conclave of Rome for some Months and nothing having as yet appear'd in English but on the side of the Defendant the Arch bishop of Cambray It is not at all doubted but this Book which is the Bishop of Meaux's History of that Heresie and his Answer to the Arch-bishop of Cambray will meet with a good Reception from the Publick The Church of Rome who hath all along boasted so much of her Vnity must of Necessity forbear now to urge that Plea any more when as it will appear by this Book she is reduc'd to such a strait that either she must condemn the Generality of the Clergy of France or the Arch-bishop of Cambray and divers Persons whom she has Canonized for Saints It will also appear but too too evidently from this Treatise that Quakerism owes its Origine to that Anti-christian Church and that their Opinions are much favoured there at present when such horrid Blasphemies as those the Bishop of Meaux charges upon M. Guyon and her Champion the Arch bishop of Cambray from Letters and Manuscripts under their own Hands continue so long without a Publick Censure whilst at the same time she foments a Raging Persecution against the Protestants in France and hath rais'd a New One against those of Germany A HISTORY OF Quietism SEing my Lord Archbishop of Cambray desires an answer to his demands so precisely and that in this conjuncture none of 'em are more important than those that regard our proceedings which he endeavours by all means possible torender odious whereas he himself pretends always to abound with Charity aud Meekness even to excess If I should delay to satisfie him he would reap too great an advantage from our silence What does he not insinuate against us by these words of his answer to our Declaration The proceedings of those Prelates of whom I have just cause to complain have been such that I have reason to think I should not be believed if I related them and indeed it is fit to conceal the knowledge thereof from the Publick Nothing can be imagined more vigorous and extream than what is included in this discourse wherein by feigning a desire to keep silence he says more than if he spoke out That he may justifie himself to be in the right and make us appear to be in the wrong this Prelate in the first Edition of his Answer lays down this important matter of Fact That he had got it to be proposed to my Lord of Chartres that we should by consent Petition the Pope to order a new Edition of his Book to be regulated by his Divines at Rome so that we should have nothing to do but to rely upon those Divines And a little after I demanded a speedy answer but instead of that I received the Printed Declaration against me We know nothing of this pretended matter of fact My Lord of Chartres will inform the Publick touching his concern But without expecting the confutation of a fact of such importance My Lord of Cambray retracts it himself seeing he would have recalled that Edition though published at Rome by his own order and that in the other which he substitutes in its place he suppresses the whole Article We have in our hands both Editions the one wherein he alledges that matter of fact and the other where it is suppressed and the proof is demonstrative that that Prelate without remembring the facts he alledges writes the most odious things that can come into his Head and at the same time so false that he himself is obliged to retract and suppress them intirely 2. This is enough to let the World see what a fine gloss he would put on his own Conduct and in what frighful Colours he would set off ours His chief aim is to defame me and he is not satisfied to accuse me in all his Letters of a precipitant and imbittered Zeal It is to me that he writes those words You never cease tearing me in pieces and what is still more injurious You every where deplore my Condition and rend me pretending to bewail me He adds What can any one think of those Tears that serve only to give more Authority to the Accusations in the same Letters he says Passion hinders me from seeing what is before my Eyes and the excess of my prejudice bereaves me of all exactness I am says he the Author of the Accusation against his Book I am that unmerciful Man who not being able to glut my fury by the indirect and ambitious Censure contained in our Declaration redouble my blows upon him in particular And adds That when come to my self again I make use of smooth words to call him a second Molinos an expression that never came out of my Mouth this Prelate knows himself that I have always distinguished betwixt him and Molinos in their Conduct and also in certain Consequences though he has advanced all his principles But here are more particular Accusations 3. I do not comprehend at all says he the Conduct of Monsieur de Meaux On one hand he inslames himself with indignation for to hear him speak I am never compos ment is c. Inflames himself I say with indignation when any one seems but to doubt whether there may not be something of Evidence in Md. Guyons System On the other hand he gives her the Communion himself he authorises her in the daily use of the Sacraments and when she leaves Meaux he gives her a full attestation without requiring any act from her whereby she may formally recant any Error Whence then can so much severity and so much remisness proceed 4. These are the reproaches we have under the Hand of My Lord of Cambray in a writing still extant He knows well enough to whom he directed it and we shall have occasion to speak of it hereafter Every thing is untrue in the place just now mentioned He would not be so just as to say that I gave the Communion once only to Madam Guyon and to observe in the mean time that it
Orders than he the simplicity of my Sentiments conformable to those of the Church and the Person I was to act gave me that confidence M. de Chaalons was desired to be one of the Assistants in the Ceremony and we thought we should give the Church a Prelate of the same mind with those that Consecrated him 15. I don't believe that M. de Cambray will forget this praise-worthy Circumstance of his submission After the signing of the Articles and about the time of his Consecration he desir'd me to keep at least some of his Writings to serve as an Evidence against him if ever he should stray from our Sentiments I was far from that spirit of mistrust No Sir said I I will never use any other precaution with you than to take your word I gave back all the Papers as they were given me not keeping so much as one nor any other thing except my extracts for a memorandum of the Errors I was to confute without naming the Author As for the Letters that belonged to me I kept some of them as has been seen rather for my comfort than that I believed I should ever have need of them except perhaps for M. Cambray to put him in mind of his holy Submissions in case he should be tempted to forget them that they are now published is really owing to pure Necessity which compelled me to speak more than I would The protestation he made to me a little before his Consecration should also have been kept in silence as well as the rest if it had not come to the King's Ears that advantage was made of it and that they made as if I confirmed the Doctrine of the Book of the Maxims of the Saints because I had Consecrated the Author 16. A little before the Publishing of that Book an Affair happen'd that gave me a great deal of Trouble In my Pastoral Instructions of the 16th of April 1695 I had promised a larger one to explain our Articlâ—s and I desired the Archbishop of Cambray to join his Approbation to that of M. de Chaalons then promoted to the See of Paris and to that of M. de Chartres for the Book I design'd for that Explication Seeing we are to name here the Bishop of Chartres I must take notice he was the first of the Bishops of that neighbourhood who discover'd the evil Effects of the Books and Conduct of Madam Guyon The Consequences of that Affair made us concur together in many things as for the Archbishop of Paris I was so much the more obliged to support my self by his Authority because for the good of our Province he was become the Chief of it I thought also it was for the publick Edification that our unanimity with M. de Cambray should be known more and more every where I put my Book in Manuscript into the Hands of that Bishop I expected his Exceptions and to correct my self according to his Advice I found in my self I thought the same compliance for him that he had shewed to me before his Consecration But about three Weeks after his Approbation was refused me and that too for such a Reason as was far from my being able to foresee A Friend to us both gave me in the Gallery of Versailles a Letter of Credentials from the Archbishop of Cambray who was in his Diocese Upon which I was given to understand that that Prelate could not enter into the Approbatition of my Book because I therein condemned Madam Guyon whom he could not condemn 17. It was in vain for me to represent unto that Friend the Incovenience that M. de Cambray would fall into What! it will appear said I that to sustain M. Guyon he disunites himself from his Brethren then all the World will see that he is her Protector the suspicion wherewith he was dishonoured abroad will now be found a certainty What becomes of those fine Discourses we so often had of M. de Cambray and which he and his Friends spread abroad as that he was so far from being concerned in the Books of that Woman that he was ready to condemn them if it were necessary Now that she had condemned them her self that she had before me subscribed the Condemnation of them together with the Evil Doctrine contained in them would he countenance them more than her felf In what amazement will the World be to find at the head of my Book the Approbation of the Archbishop of Paris and of the Bishop of Chartres without his Was not that the way to make the signs of his Division from his Brethren manifest his Consecrators his most intimate Friends What Scandal what Reproach to his Name Of what Books would he become the Martyr why would he bereave the People of the comfort of seeing in the Approbation of that Prelate the solemn Testimony of our unanimity All these Reasons had no effect my Manuscript was restored to me again having staid three whole Weeks in the hands of M. de Cambray The Friend that had taken upon him to give it me again said he had kept it for most part of the time himself and that M. de Cambray had it but few days and gave it back without having read much of it I wrote a few Lines to that Prelate intimating to him my just Fears I received an Answer that signifi'd nothing and then he had begun to prepare what you shall see afterwards 18. You would perhaps know beforehand what was become of M. Guyon She had desired to be received into my Diocese in order to be there instructed She was six Months in the Holy Convent of the Damsels of St. Mary upon condition she should have no communication with any person whosoever either within or without by Letter or otherwise save only with the Confessor I appointed her according to her Desire and with two Nuns I had chosen one of whom was the venerable Mother le Picard a most prudent Woman Superior of that Monastery Seeing all her Letters and Discourses breathed out nothing but submission and a blind submission we could not refuse her the use of the Holy Sacraments I instructed her diligently she subcribed the Articles where she plainly saw they utterly condemn'd her Doctrine I rejected her Explications and her submission was pure and simple A little after she subscribed the just Censure that M. de Chaalons and I published against her Books and the Evil Doctrine contain'd in them condemning them with Heart and Mouth as if each Proposition had been expresly utter'd Some of the chief of 'em were specified that comprised all the rest and she renounced them in plain terms The Books she condemned were the Short Method and the Song of Songs which were the only Printed Books she owned I would not meddle with the Manuscripts that were not known abroad She offer'd at every word to burn them all but I thought that precaution needless because of the Copies that remain'd So I satisfi'd my self with forbidding her to
body and after the manner of the Poets endeavour to satisfie the just aversion of the faithful against Quietism by giving them a Phantom to tear in pieces SECTION X. Proceedings at Rome on the submission of M. de Cambray 1. THe Relation would be imperfect if we omitted the Italian and Latin Writings published at Rome in the Name of the Arch-bishop of Cambray and are in the Hands of so many Persons that some Copies of them are come as far as to us one of those Latin Writings I have in my Hand Entituled Observatious of a Doctor of the Sorbonne which says that the Jansenists have joyned with the Bishop of Meaux against M. de Cambray and that the other Bishops have united against him as against another Susanna because he would not come into their Cabal and joyn in their mischievous Designs The same Writing magnssies M. de Cambray as a Necessary Person to maintain the Authority of the Holy See against the Bishops and therefore it behooveth her not to suffer such an able advocate to be opprest In other places we are called Enemies to the Monks whose Protector M. de Cambray is We may see by this what Engines he has set on work But the Pope who governs the Church of God will not suffer any thing to lessen the Glory of the Clergy of France who have been always so obedient to the Holy See The Truth does not maintain it self by Lies and as for the Monks in what Diocesses of Christendom are they more fatherly dealt with than in ours Perhaps M. de Cambray will say that all this is spoken without his Order but I leave it to the prudent Reader to judge whether in an Accusation so visibly false which equally concerns Religion and the State and the Reputation of the Bishops of France that make so considerably a part of the Episcopacy it would be enough simply to disown with his Mouth suppose he had done it such manifest Calumnies after they have had their Effect upon certain Persons And whether Justice and Truth require not a more Express and more Authentick Declaration 2. They boast mightily in those Writings of the great Number of Bishops and Doctors that favour the Sentiments of the Arch-bishop of Cambray and that nothing but fear hinders them from declaring themselves they should at least name one but they dare not the Bishops have not been infected and M. de Cambray cannot cite for his Opinion any one Doctor of Note 3. Amongst other things that the Arch-bishop seems to have most Reason to reproach me for this is one that he deserved not to be treated with seeing he hath submitted after the same manner the Pelagians are treated As if it were not known that these Hereticks have for a long time acted the part of such as had submitted even to the Holy See I wish nothing more than to see M. de Cambray separated from such as have made an ambiguous Submission but to speak sincerely and in Conscience can any Man be content with the Demand which that Prelate notwithstanding his former Submissions would make of the Pope to determine the manner in which he was to pronounce Judgment as he declares it in his Letter of the 3d. of August 1697. It is true that in a following Letter he speaks these words God forbid I should prescribe a Law to my Superior My promise of Subscribing and to publish a Mandate conformable thereunto is absolute and without Restriction What meant then those words in the Letter of the 3d. of August I shall only desire of the Pope that he would be pleased to mark precisely the Errors he Condemns and the Sense in which he Condemns them to the end that my Subscription may be without Restriction Without that then the Restriction is unavoidable But this is to put the Pope and the Church upon impossiblities There should never have been any Decision if this Church must have foreseen all the Senses which the vitious fertility of subtle Wits could have produced At this rate we should neither have had the Homousion of Nice nor the Theotows of Ephesus We see then that the Moderate Wisdom of St. Paul is to be followed otherwise we shall fall into vain and undeterminable Questions forbid by that Apostle 4. They may say perhaps that M. de Cambray retracts that absurd Proposition in his Second Letter But it is not so seeing he continues to demand that the Pope should be pleased to Mark every Proposition worthy of Censure with the precise Sense upon which the Censure is to fall This is again to replunge himself into impossibilities by which all Ecclesiastical Decisions are eluded If M. de Cambray declares that he will submit and that no body shall ever see him whatever happens neither write nor speak to evade the Condemnation of his Work It is at the same time in declaring that he will Content himself to demand of the Pope a particular Instruction upon the Errors he is to reject On that Condition he protests he will be quiet both as to the Matter of Right and Fact But it is after having before hand declared to the whole Universe that he is so far from being quiet within he will not cease to make instances to the Pope to make him say other things than what he decides 5. Some Complaisant Persons will perhaps say thaâ— this is carrying the Suspition too far But in the mean time I only repeat the words of the two printed Letters which M. de Cambray denyes not However I pray to God that he may keep to the general Terms of his Submission and altho' the Truth compels me to remark what ill things he publishes I will hope always with St. Paul for better tho I so speak Confidimus meliora tametsi it a loquimur SECT XI CONCLVSION 1. WE have been Oblig'd then in fine to reveal the false Mysteries of our days Here you have it in short such as it has appeared in the former Discourses A New Prophetess has undertaken to raise up again the Guide of Molinos and the Prayer which he teaches therein It is with this Spirit she is fill'd The Mysterious Woman of the Revelations it is with this Child she is bigg The Work of this Woman is not finised we are come to the Times which she calls Times of Persecution when the Martyrs as she says of the Holy Ghost shall suffer The time shall come and according to her we are at the brink of it when the Reign of the Holy Ghost and of Prayer whereby she understands her own which is that of Molinos shall be established with a Train of Wonders that shall amaze the Universe From thence comes that Communication of Graces from thence comes it that a Woman has the power of binding and unbinding It is evidently true that she has forgot what she has Subscribed before me and before others more considerable upon the Condemnation both of her Books and of the Doctrine contained therein