Decisions And although such points as have already been most sufficiently defined by Apostolicall Constitutions stand not in need of any new Decision or Declaration yet in regard that some Disturbers of the Publique Peace are not afraid to call them in question or to shake and weaken them by their subtle and captious Interpretations We to prevent the further spreading of so dangerous a Contagion have thought it sit not to defer any longer to apply the speedy remedy of the Apostolicall Authority For indeed our Predecessour Innocent the Tenth of Happy Memory did some few years since set forth a Constitution Declaration and Decision in Form and Tenour following Innocent Bishop Servant of the Servants of God To all Faithfull Christians Health and Apostolicall Benediction Whereas upon occasion of Printing a Book entituled Augustinus cornelii Jansenii Iprensis Episcopi among other opinions of that Authour there arose a Dispute principally in France touching Five of them many Bishops of that Realm have very much pressed us to examine those Five Propositions presented unto us and to pronounce a certain and clear judgement on each of them in particular The Tenour of the said Propositions is as followeth 1. Some of Gods Commandments are impossible to the Just according to their present forces though they have a will and do endeavour to accomplish them and they want the Grace that rendreth them possible 2. In the state of nature corrupt men never resist Interiour Grace 3. To merit and demerit in the state of Nature corrupted it is not necessary to have the liberty that excludes necessity but it sufficeth to have that liberty which excludes Coaction or Constraint 4. The Semipelagians admitted the necessity of Interiour preventing Grace to every Action even to the beginning of Faith But they were Heretiques in this That they would have that Grace to be such as the will of man might resist it or obey it 5. It is Semipelagianisme to say That Jesus Christ died or shed his blood generally for all men We who amidst the manifold cares which continually exercise our minde do make it our principall one that the Church of God committed to us from above being cleansed from the errours of perverse opinions may safely militate and like a ship on a calm sea when storms and raging billows of all Tempests are appeased may securely sail and at last arrive at the wished Haven of Salvation Taking into serious Consideration the importance of the matter have caused the Five Propositions presented to us in the terms above expressed to be diligently examined one after another by many Doctours of the Sacred Faculty of Theology in the presence of sundry Cardinals of the Holy Romane Church for that purpose specially assembled whose Suffrages we have â—aturely considered upon report thereof made unto us as well by word of mouth as by writing And we have heard the same Doctours largely discoursing on all and every of the said Propositions particularly in severall Congregations held in our Presence And whereas from the beginning of this Discussion we had ordained Prayers as well Private as Publique to exhort the Faithfull to implore the Divine Assistance we again caused the same to be reiterated with greater servour and having Our self sollicitously implored the Assistance of the Holy Ghost at length by the favour of that Divine Spirit we have proceeded to the following Declaration and Decision The First of the said Propositions viz. That some of the Commandments of God are impossible to the Just according to their present forces though they have a will and do endeavour to accomplish them and they want the Grace that rendreth them possible We declare it to be Temerarious Impious Blasphemous Anathematiz'd and Hereticall and condemn it for such The Second viz. That in the state of Nature corrupt men never resist Interiour Grace We declare it to be Hereticall and condemn it for such The third viz. That to merit and demerit in the state of Nature corrupted it is not necessary to have the liberty that excludes necessity but it sufficeth to have that liberty which excludes Coaction or Constraint We declare it to be Hereticall and condemn it for such The Fourth viz. That the Semipelagians admitted the necessity of Interiour preventing Grace to every Action even to the beginning of Faith But they were Heretiques in this That they would have that Grace to be such as the will of man might resist or obey it We declare it to be false and condemn it as such The fifth viz. That it is Semipelagianisme to say That Jesus Christ died or shed his blood generally for all men We declare it it to be False Temerarious Scandalous and being understood in this sense That Christ died onely for the salvation of the Predestinate We declare it Impious Blasphemous Contumelious Derogatory to Divine Goodnesse and Hereticall and as such we condemn it Wherefore we command all Faithfull Christians of either Sex that concerning the said Propositions they neither presume to Believe Teach nor Preach otherwise then is containd in our present Declaration and Definition under the Censures and Penalties ordained in the Law against Heretiques and their Abettours We likewise enjoyn all Patriarchs Archbishops Bishops and other Ordinaries of Places as also the Inquisitours of Heresie totally to restrain and represse by the aforesaid Censures and Penalties and by other fitting remedies Juris Facti all Gain-sayers and Impugners whatsoever imploring if need require even the help of the Secular Arm against them Neverthelesse we intend not by this Declaration and Decision touching the aforesaid Five Propositions any wayes to approve the rest of the Opinions contained in the said Book of Cornelius Jansenius Given at Rome at St. Marie Major the last day of May in the year of our Lord God 1653. and of our Pontificate the Ninth But for so much as some Children of Iniquity as we have been informed are not afraid to maintain to the great scandall of the Faithful that the aforesaid Five Propositions are not to be found in the forecited Book of the said Cornelius Jansenius but are either seigned and forged at pleasure or were not condemned in the sense intended by the Authour We who have seriously and sufficiently considered what ever hath passed concerning this matter as having by command of the said Pope Innocent the Tenth our predecessour while we were yet but in the Dignity of Cardinal-ship assisted at all the Conferences wherein by Apostolicall Authority the same Cause hath been examined with as great diligence as could be desired being resolved to remove and take away all doubts that might at any time hereafter arise touching the premisses to the end that all Faithfull Christians may be held in the unity of the same Faith We I say by the Duty of our Pastorall Charge and upon mature Deliberation do confirm approve and renew by these presents the above-recited Constitution Declaration and Definition of Pope Innocent our Predecessour and we further Declare
Decisionâ— of the Church another while dissembling and palliâ—ting that contradiction acting as St. Bernard sayes now the Wolf and anon the Fox The Church â—ells us that the Five Propositions taken in Jansenius's sense are Hereticall the Jansenists affirm That the Five Propositions taken in Jansenius's sense are the most constant verities of Catholique Doctrine This is acting the Wolf and declaring point-blank against the Church which is Christs Flock Yet they say withall they condemn the Five Propositions where ever they finde them Now that 's to play the Fox to wit by a mentall reservation and exception of Jansenius's sense which neverthelesse is that sense which is condemned by the Church I say nothing of their acting the Sheep by that Innocence and Sanctity of life which they vaunt of and which they endeavour to confirm even by Miracles And to say but the truth they work Miracles to prove their Sanctity far greater then any man is able to believe For what greater Miracle in persons that regard onely the love of God thenthen the accord which they make betwixt that love and the hatred of their Neighbour which they have shown from the beginning and that even before they could pretend to have receiv'd any displeasure from men 'T is well known that when Jansenius's Book was first brought into France one of their Patriarchs who laboured to engage many Doctors of the Sorbon in the defence of that Doctrine and begg'd their Approbations having met with one of those Doctours who would not be perswaded by his other reasons to approve the Book without reading it as some of his Colleagues had done he had recourse to his last reason which he thought so prevalent that he could not but submit to it and shewing him the Book Behold saith he the Jesuites Tomb. He is fallen himself into it and I pray God he may rise happily from it But is it not a great miracle to reconcile so charitable an intention as this with that purified Zeal for the love of God whereof they make profession And is not that another great Miracle which appears in their Letters viz. The attonement of Justice which is so dear to them with the liberty of calumniating Their Calumnies are so clearly display'd inâ—â—ur Answers that it will bâ— a new Miracle of boldnesse or rather impudence if any man that looks but in the Books shall engage himself to defend them Which Miracle involves a Third viz. The agreement of that faithfull and sincere dealing of which they make profession with the imposture and falsity of their Allegations This illustriously appears in the same Letters And after I had particularly shown it in Seventeen severall Citations they had the candour to affirm in lieu of a full answer that I had noâ— touch'd their six last Letters Which is in effect to say that 't is but a Peccadillo a small matter to have been taken upon seventeen severall occasions in Imposture and Falsifying I thought it had been sufficient to have prov'd it in one onely instance as it suffices to make a man infamous for his whole life to be but once convinc'd of bearing false witnesse But seeing this is not enough for the Jansenists I must entreat them to tell me near about what number of Impostures will go to the making of a Jansenist be declared an Impostor seeing that to be taxed of seventeen is counted but a triâ—le and not sufficient However their Writings are so â—uxuriant in fruits of this nature that require as many as you will it will be no hard matter for them to make up their account I should be over tedious if I meant to relate all the other Miracles of the Jansenists It shall suffice me to adde onely that which is the most visible one in all their conduct viz. The reconciling of the true Doctrine of Christianity with the war they make against the Church of Christ I call war against the Church of Christ their combating against the Decisions of the Holy Sea receiv'd and approv'd both by the Bishops and Doctors I speak not here of Sorbon onely or apart by it self which is yet Body considerable enough to prevail against the authority of certain particular Doctours whose number is much lesse and whose quality to speak modestly is no wayes preferrable to that of Sorbon Neither speak I of the Bishops separately whose judgement yet in Causes Ecclâ—siasticall is far more considerable then that of single Doctors No nor do I speak of the Holy Sea apart by it self which yet in the judgement of all Antiquity was believ'd to be sufficient to make those acknowledg'd for Heretiques who were declared such by the Pope and those also reputed Catholiques whom the Pope receiv'd into his Communion and declar'd to be such I conâ—oyn all three together and 〈…〉 to whole establishment the Pope Bishops and Doctors do unanimously concurre is to make war against the Church whose Sentiments neither ought nor can â—e be better represented then by the common consent of the Head and principall Members which compose it And since that whole united body conspiringly informs us that the Five Propositions are condemn'd in Jansenius's sense and his Opinions and Doctrine condemn'd in the Five Propositions it is undeniable that the Jansenists who hitherto make a practice of contradicting it do work so great a Miâ—acle as not any Faith save that of the Arians Nestorians Euâ—ychiaâ—s Monothelites adde likewise Luthâ—rans Zuinglians Calvinists c. is able to believe which is The agreement of the true Doctrine which they bâ—ag to be taught by them in its purity with the war against the Catholique Apostolique and Roman Church Judge Reader whether one ought to require any other Miracls then these in proof of what I have affâ—rted That the Jansenists are Heretiques An ANSWER to the JANSENISTS Sixteenth Letter addressed to the Directors of Port-Royall Argument 1. THat the Authour of the Provinciall Letters not deserving an Answer for his Rudenesse Calumny and Ignorance this is addressed to the Port-Royall meaning thereby the whole Party of the Jansenists 2. That Port-Royall holdeth Intelligence with Geneva and Charenton whilest the Jesuites are maintained by Popes Councells Kings and Nobles 3. Port-Royall 's greatest Happinesse is not to be known on the contrary the Jesuites when they are known are made happy in the Love and Respect of all and none despise them but such as know them not 4. That they pretend Reforme and set upon the Jesuites Moralls as giving scope to Liberty whilest really they aim not at a Reforme but Destruction of the Church which they see is much maintained by the Jesuites and the establishing the Heresies of Geneva impugned by the Jesuits 5. A Parallell betwixt Port-Royal and Geneva in points of Faith 6. That all other Heretiques cry up Port-Royall as consenting with them 7. Apostata's profess to have learnt Calvinisme in Jansenius his Books and Jansenisme in Calvin's Works 8. The Book of Arnauld of Frequent Communion commended at
to call those Heretiques whom the Pope condemneth as such whether there be matter of Fact or no contained in the condemnation So the Quartodecimani are by St. Augustin Hâ—res 29. and by the whole Church called Heretiques because they would not obey the Decrees of the Pope and Church and yet the observance of Easter on such a day had more of matter of Fact in it then what Pope Innocent or Pope Alexander declare concerning Jansenius And all this hath been ever practised in the Church of God upon Christs Authority who saith Qui Ecclesiam non audierit sit tibi sicut Ethnicus Publicanus He that heareth not the Church whether it be in matter of Fact or no let him be unto you as an Heathen and Publican that is as one quite out of the Church As for the stories you alledge I shall answer you when I have done with your Objections Now I observe that these three main Objections so often inculcated whereby you would prove that it is but matter of Fact and so not of Faith but a matter wherein Popes and Councells may erre do not prove any thing at all For notwithstanding the possibility of errour in matter of Fact which many Catholique Doctours allow yet it is not to be presumed that here is any errour but quite contrary it is to be supposed certain that there is none unlesse we will be temeâ—arious and refractory to the Church we having two Popes and a Synod of France's Assertion redoubled that all diligence was used and knowing also that the matter was very easily cleared the Question being onely whether the Book which they had in their â—ands had the Propositions or no finally the whole world being certified that all parties were agreed that the Propositions were in Jansenius before ever the condemnation was thought of as you may see in severall places of this Book namely in the Sixteenth Letter and Father Annats Answer to the Jansenists Complaint Now then I proceed to a fourth Objection by which you would prove not onely that the Popes and Councells may erre as hitherto but that in effect they have erred 4. Objection Many Learned men have read Jansenius all over and cannot finde the Five Propositions therefore they are not there and so the Synod of France and the Popes who condemned those Propositions as Jansenius's erred I answer first that this is a Negative Argument and so in effect proves nothing against the Positive Assertion of the Synod of France which found them there and the Definition of the Pope who defineth that they are there But to answer again I ask who were those sixty Persons that read Jansenius and could not finde those Propositions Perhaps Doctour St. Beauve was one whom pag. 300. you call the Kings Professour in Sorbon but you do not tell us that he was turn'd out of his place for Iansenisme which I have from a good hand Or were you one Sir If you were and the rest like you I do not wonder that you could not finde the Propositions in Jansenius though they be there You that could finde in so many Authours of the Jesuites as you have falsely cited that which is not there might have the trick of not finding in Jansenius that which is there It is a great deal easier to read an Author and not to find that which is there then to finde there that which is not there as you Sir are evidently convinced to have done The Fourteenth Imposture and the small piece of Lessius inserted in the end of this Book maketh this evident You can finde or say you finde in Lessius that which he hath not and why may you not more easily not finde or say you cannot finde in Jansenius that which is clearly there You therefore when you tell us that above sixty * Let. 18. pag 343. Persons have read Jansenius and cannot finde the Propositions there ought to let us know who those sâ—xty were and if they please to appear they shall be shewed the places 5. Objection The places cannot be cited * Letter 18. pag. 342. therefore they be not there and so still the Church erreth But pray Sir who is it that you challenge to cite the places Would you tell his Holinesse that you will not believe him till he citeth the places that is will not believe him till you see it That is not the duty of a Childe to his Father nor would any Servant be so â—aucy with his Master Or would you say this to the Synod of so many grave and learned Bishops as in France collected the Propositions out of Janseniâ—s and for the greater satisfaction of all the world have given it under their hands that the Propositions are truly in Jansenius to their knowledge as you may see in their Subscriptions put in the beginning of this Book in the History of Jansenisime Is it to these you would say they cannot cite the places That were to be very disrespectfull and to suspect them strangely either of grosse ignorance or of extream malice But you tell us Letter 18. pag. 330. 'T is the Jesuites you mean 't is they cannot cite the places and yet they call you Heretiques And what then Sir Suppose no Jesuite in the world could cite the places must the Church therefore be out or must the Iesuites not give the Propositions the same name which the Popes and universall Church gives them that is to call them Hereticall and condemned in Jansenius his sense and as they lie in Jansenius What if the Iesuites should answer that since the Popes and Synod of France thought not sit to cite the places they judge it a dutifull Deference not to cite them neither Or what if no Iesuite hath ever looked in Jansenius What is that to us Catholiques who dutifully and obediently believe the Church that telleth us they are in Jansenius We believe in the Catholique Church as our Creed teacheth us and the Iesuites believe in the same Church and whether they have read Jansenius or no we and they must say the Five condemned Propositions are in Jansenius Tâ—uly Sir I cannot hold laughing when I read page 342. that you define the Iesuits to cite the places of Jansenius as you have cited their corrupt Maximes which is to say that you desire them to cite wrong places for you know Sir you never cite right But Sir that the world may see how impudent you are and how resolved to deny Truth wheresoever you finde it I desire all to take notice that long before your Seventeenth or Eighteenth Letter where you urge this Argument so insolently the places were cited and publiquely allowed to be truly cited and that even by your own selves as is evidently convinced in Father Annats Answer to the Iansenists Complaint where you have the Iansenists own confession and the Soâ—bonists citing the places and besides Father Annat hath also cited the places All that can be râ—plied is that the a Letter 17.
not setting a number of hands to a Bill which ought to sway but Reason Authority and Learning that must be heard The third Thought concerneth the Apologist that writ the Book which most of these Curez are so violently set against and which maketh so much noise in France The man whosoever he be for he is unknown to me is a very learned man and I believe they that censure him will never be able to disprove him And therefore I could wish they would leave the censure to him to whom it belongeth that is to the Pope and that Judicature which the Pope hath erected for that purpose at Rome whither the Apologist hath appealed He cannot be condemned but that very many of the main Doctours of all Universities and Religious Communities must be condemned with him For he is so wary that he advanceth nothing without great Authority and rather delivereth the opinions of others then his own I will not say but that there may be some fault in him I know divers have condemned him and divers also maintain him and unlesse a greater authority intervene then what one private Academy or any single persons verdict can give he hath and will alwayes have the greatest part of Universities and Divines for him The opinions which he delivereth as probable are so and will be so till he that hath authority to decide and teach the universall Church in matters of Faith and Manners shall be pleased to teach us the contrary When that is done I suppose the Authour of the Apology will submit and all good Catholiques with him Till then if I think the Apology is a learned Book and containeth solid Doctrine I think so with the Archbishop of Tholouse and the Bishop of Reâ—nes in Bretagne whose Faith Doctrine and Life are such that no man can call them in question and this every person may think till Higher Powers dispose otherwise This maketh it clear that all these Factums or Writings of these Additionalls ought not to prejudice the Apologist much lesse can they as they are here intended in England any wayes Patronize the Provinciall Letters which are argued of manifest Impostâ—re in so many and so notorious falsific â—ions Yet he that hath turned the Provinciall Letters into Latine and calleth himself Willelmus Wendrockius supposeth that all these Curez are for him and that they joyn issue with the Jansenists The fourth and last Thought is That I conceive we may justly with due respect ask some Questions of the Cuâ—ez which will breed occasion of wonder First then I ask why the Curez are so much against the Apology of the Casuists That Book was made to vindicate the credit of all Casuists against the scofâ—ing Irrisions of a Pamphleter So that it seemeth That to oppose the Apology may be construed to a â—â—sire of defending a Buffoon against a Religious Order and against all Casuists which I will not suspect of such Persons Secondly I ask why the Curez taking their Cases which they would have condemned out of a Book which containeth Jansenisme never take notice of the greater errors I mean the Heresies contained in that Book I know they endeavour an answer yet it is such as doth not satifie For still the wonder remaineth why the Curez should not shew as much zeal in desiring that Hereticall Opinions which daily spread in France should be suppressed as they do that the Morall Doctrine which they esteem bad should be condemned Thirdly I ask why do not these Curez point us out some body whom we may safely follow in resolving of Cases By taking the authority from all Casuists they leave us in the dark and wholly guidelesse in the many doubts which daily arise Is there no body who may safely be followed in matter of Cases Is there in the Church no means to clear up doubts in Morality Fourthly to end these Queries doth not this way of proceeding prejudice the Curez themselves and take away all their authority in deciding any doubt which may arise in every one of their respective Parishes For if Bonacina if Sanchez if Navarr if Lessius if Suarez if Sylvester may not be believed if their authority must not be heard though Two or Three or Ten or as Wendrockius saith ten thousand agree in a case upon what account shall the Cure be believed Allow the Cure as much vertue and learning as you will yet he cannot expect to be generally esteemed more vertuous or more learned then Navarr And so if one man though never so learned cannot decide a doubt and appease a fearfull conscience then all Curez and all Ghostly Fathers may sit still and shall have no authority in settling consciences and taking away doubts And at length Spirituall Directours shall in matter of conscience have lesse credit then a Physician or Lawyer in their Profession Nay these if they be able and conscientious men shall have more credit even in matter of conscience then a Ghostly Father For the Physician shall be believed if he tell his Patient that he may eat Flâ—sh on a Friday or that he is not obliged to fast and the Lawyer shall be credited if he warrant his Client that he may justly keep the Land which the Client doubted of But the Curâ— shall have no authority left him in any doubt for feare of the Monster of Probability For whatsoever he saith his Parishioners will tell him that he is but one Divine and that one Divine according to his own Doctrine cannot safely be followed All this in my opinion doth evidently inferre that we cannot upon the Curez complaints condemne the Apologist and those Casuists whom he citeth and followeth Yet my intention is not to dispute against the Curez nor do I undertake to defend the Apologist But as I begun so I conclude that since the Pope hath Evocated the Cause of the Curez and the Apologist to himself it is the duty of every good Catholique to expect those censures and not to precipitate his own But whatsoever be the event of the Apology this is sure that the Provinciall Letters are condemned by his Holinesse and that they are convinced of manifest Imposture Slaunder Ignorance and Heresie which being so the Doctrine of the Jesuits and other School-Divines whom those Letters inveigh against ought not to be prejudiced on that account which is all that these Answers intended to shew An Appendix in Answer to a Book entituled A further Discovery of the Mystery of Jesuitisme I Thought to have ended here having answered all that belongeth to the Provinciall Letters and their Additionalls But I am uâ—ged by severall Friends to take notice also of another Pamphleâ— called A further Discovâ—ry of the Mystery of Jesuitisme For my own opinion I conceive it to be so senslesse a Piece that it deserveth not to be taken notice of yet to condescend to the desire of others I will do as I have done in the Additionalls that is I will shew that nothing in that Book
and Bishops of France their most Respected Brethren the Cardinalls Archbishops and Bishops residing at Paris Health and Happinesse in Christ That which long agone hapned to S. Augustin and the other Fathers of the Councels of Carthage and Milevet those great Maintainers of Divine Grace now seemeth to have happened unto us They hoped but in vain that after a certain Book of Pelagius had been condemned and anathematized by Pope Innocent the First the Pelagians would yield to the Authority of so great a Prelate a a August Epist 92 95. and would not dare to trouble the mindes of the Faithfull by speaking perversely of Divine Grace And we hoped also that those men who professe themselves friends and followers of Cornelius Jansenius Bishop of Ipres after that his Five Opinions were condemned and anathematized by Innocent the Tenth would desist from trouble or moving any thing more and whereaâ— Pope Innocent had by his Decree commanded the Windes we hoped a Calm would follow in the Church But it happened quite contrary to what we expected Nor can we cease from wondering how that 't is possible that those men should after the most just and holy Constitution in which our most Blessed Father Innocent the Tenth hath condemned the foresaid Five Propositions in most clear and expresse terms affirm and even perswade others two most vain and groundlesse things The one is that those Five Propositions are not Jansenius's The other that they are not condemned in Jansenius's sense For can there be any thing more absurd then to maintain that for the refuting whereof there is not required any reasoning any enquiry or any thing else then meerly the reading of the Popes Constitution which decideth all the matter And although these two Allegations seem such that they will fall of themselves to nothing and so might justly be contemned and neglected yet we finding them to do hurt to the weak and ignorant for whom in duty we are to provide that we may take all Scandall out of the House of God thought fit to remedy this evil and prevent in time this poison wherewith some are already infected Which that it might be done exactly we the Cardinalls Archbishops and Bishops residing in Paris for Ecclesiasticall Businesses being gathered together judged that this businesse was to be commended to the care of the most Illustrious and most Reverend the Archbishops of Tours Ambrun Roan and Tolouse and of the Bishops of Autun Montauban Rennes and Chartres Yet this we did so commend to them that they should refer unto us what they had read observed and thought They having looked upon the Popes Constitution which alone was enough and moreover read Jansenius as much as was necessary and weighed all diligently found it plain and manifest that the said Propositions are truly Jansenius 's and that they are condemned in their true and proper sense and that very sense in which they are delivered and explicated by Jansenius And when they had shewed us again gathered together what they had found and we found and seen the same We Declared and do hereby Delare that it is truly and undoubtedly so and that these who defend those Five Propositions or approve of them are of the number of those whom Pope Innocent the Tenth in that Constitution calleth Contradictours and Rebellious and whom he will have punished by the Patriarchs Archbishops and Bishops with the Censures and Penalties of Heretiques and their Abbettours expressed in the Canon Law and by other opportune remedies juris facti invâ—king if need be the Secular arm And this we all as much as lieth in us are resolved to do And we entreat all our most Loving and Religious Brethren of the Gallican Church that are absent to do the same that so we may all think the same thing according to Jesus Christ unanimously with one mouth glorifie God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ â—difie the Church of God and save our selves and those who hear us and are committed to our charge JUâ—IUS Cardinal Mazarini President of the Assembly VICTOR Archbishop of Tours LEWIS Archbishop of Sens. GEORGE Archbishop of Ambrun ANNE DE LEVY DE VANTADOUR Archbishop of Bourges FRANCIS Archbishop of Roan PETER Archbishop of Tholouse LEBERON Bishop of Valence and Die GILES Bishop of Eureaux LEWIS Bishop of Autun DOMINICK Bishop of Meaux JOHN Bishop of Bayonne ANTHIMUS DENYS Bishop of Dole GABRIEL Bishop of Nantes PETER Bishop of Montauban JAMES Bishop of Toulon HENRY Bishop of Rennes FERDINAND Bishop of St. Malo JAMES Bishop of Charires PHILIBERT EMMANUEL Bishop of Mans. JAMES DE GRIGNAN Bishop of St. Paul de Trois Chasteaux GILBERY Bishop of Comenges BALTAZAR Bishop and Count of Treguier CLAUDE Bishop of Constances JAMES Bishop and Count of St. Flour HARDWIN Bishop of Rhodes NICOLAS Bishop of Beauvais FRANCIS Bishop of Madaure and Coadjutor of Cornovailles HENRY DE LAVAL Bishop and Count of Leon. FRANCIS FAURE Bishop of Amiens CHARLES Bishop of Cesarce and Coadjutor of Soissoins CYRUS Bishop of Perigueux LEWIS Bishop of Toul LEWIS Bishop of Grasse MICHAEL Bishop of St. Pons de Tomiers The Abbot of Estree nominated Bishop of Laon. The Abbot of Servient nominated Bishop of Carcassonne Frier JOHN DOMINICK nominated Bishop of Glandeves BERNARD DE MARMIESSH Agent Generall of the Clergy of France nominated Bishop of Conserans HENRY DE VILLARS Agent Generall of the Clergy and Secretary of the Assembly Given at Paris March the 28. 1654. Here they notifie to all the world that they deputed Eight of their Body Four Archbishops and Four Bishops to re-examine the Propositions and the places of Jansenius from whence they are taken which the Deputies having found to agree in all things they shewed the places to the whole Assembly who being fully satisfied of the verity though they never doubted of the Popes Desinition have given it under their hands that the Propositions are truly Jansenius's and condemned in his sense Yet all this was not enough The proud spirit which bred the Heresie maintained it still Though their discourse had no reason in it yet their will had so blinded their understanding that they would not submit to their Duty Pope Alexander therefore who succeeded Innocent the Tenth seeing his Sovereign Authority necessary in the year 1656. decided the whole matter by this following Bull. The Bull of Pope Alexander the Seventh touching the Five condemned Propositions of Jansenius Alexander Bishop SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD To all Faithfull Christians Health and Apostolical Benediction The Divine Providence having by an inscrutable Dispensation and without any merit on our part raised us to the Sacred Throne of St. Peter and to the Government of the whole Church we have judg'd it to concern the Duty of our Pastorall Charge to make it our principall endeavour by vertue of that Power and Authority which God hath given us seasonably to provide for the Safety and Integrity of the Holy Faith and of its Sacred
on them does not hinder the five Propositions taken out of Jansenius and presented to the Pope by my Lords the Bishops of France from being condemned by the Holy See Nor does it hinder those who now follow the Doctrine of the five Propositions from being as much Heretiques as the Calvinists of Charenton or their Benifices if they have any from being vacant whether they have charge of Souls or no which they have now lost by Heresie Nor if the Jesuits should be proved to erre in Morals is it therefore forbid to say the Jansenists are excommunicated and that those who know them to be Jansenists cannot in conscience receive the Sacraments from their hands Nor does it hinder their Books from deserving the fire and fagot as well as their Persons if the Primitive severity of our Laws were yet in use and there were not some hope of their amendment This the Readers of those Letters ought to consider reflecting on the quality of their Authors who being Jansenists are Heretiques and as such mortal enemies of the Jesuits who have still this advantage that all those who are enemies to the Church at the same time become theirs like that which the Roman Oratour once said of himself 'T was the happiness of his destiny that never any became his Enemy who was not at the same time an Adversary likewise to the Common-wealth This made a great Person of our times and one who was a scourge of Jansenism say One should give no other answer to those wicked Letters then these three words Jansenists are Heritiques In the second place consider likewise with how little discretion or conscience the Writers of those detestable Letters have cunningly published and authorized to the whole world certain pernicious Maximes whilest they charge the Jesuits for having writ them in their Books The Jesuits Opinions whatsoever they were remained in their own Volumes unknown to any but Schoolmen and Doctors to whom such Writings could do no harm since they are the Censurers of them and even in the same Volumes the Jesuits propose the different opinions and the 〈◊〉 Judgements of Authours the one being the Correctour of the other whereas our Jansenist gathers all that he can make seem extravagant out of many severall places and puts all together exposed to the eyes of ignorant Readers in the vulgar Language to persons uncapable of judging betwixt the false and the true the profitable and dammageble that which is to be received and that which is not casting a stumbling-block in the blinde mans way to make him fall and opening a Cistern without covering it contrary to the prohibition made us in Exodus I know well enough the malice of his intention was to create a Horror of the Jesuits by the malignity of the Doctrine which he imposes on them but let him know there is great danger lest he perswade these untruths and wicked Maximes to many under the authority of the Jesuits name to which the greatest part of the world will give more credit then to such petty Buffoons as he is who hath neither sense conscience nor authority Whereas on the contrary the Jesuites are in the universal good opinion of all except onely Heretiques and some others who malice them so that thinking to cry down such Doctrines they render them probable by the Authority of the Jesuits who have another manner of repute in the world then the Jansenists whom every body knows to have been condemned as Heretiques and it is no lesse known that the Jesuites have been the first who opened their eyes against the Errours and Heresies both of Jansenius and the Jansenists being of the number of those in the Church who have most of all fought against Heresies Liberti nisme and Vice in their Books in their Pulpits and Sermons in their Disputes and Conversation Insomuch as it is commonly believed that to be of the same judgement with the Jesuites is to be Orthodox even so far that many will be easily perswaded to receive for a lawfull Opinion and for an unblamable Resolution in respect of their moral life and conduct that which they shall understand to be the common opinion and universall tenet of the Fathers of that Society Therefore the Writer of those pernicious Letters cannot excuse himself from having brought into the whole Church of God and especially into France a horrible scandall and which deserves punishment slandering learned and vertuous Persons by opprobious speeches falsifications lies and calumnies and seducing the ignorant the weak and licentious by a wicked Doctrine By attributing this Doctrine to the Jesuites he has rendred it probable through the credit these Fathers have with the greatest part of the word who will believe it upon their score and by casting it in a vulgar Language among the people he hath thrown a stone of offence at which the weak will stumble and the wicked authorize their unlawfull enterprizes through this belief that they can commit no sin whilest they follow the judgement of so many so knowing and so vertuous Persons as are the Fathers of the Society Thirdly you must know this scraper and patcher up of Calumnies alledges almost nothing in his Letters that is new but makes us read a second time the work of one of his Brethren written near twelve years since against the Fathers of the Society of Jesus to which Work the Author gave this Title The Divinity of the Jesuites Out of this he has taken all the grand reproaches which he makes against those Fathers quoting the very same Authors and Places and using the same Forgeries multiplying his Letters according to the shreads he picks up that he may be able to make many Books out of that one all that is his is that now and then he addeth the names of two or three Auâ—hors not cited in the former Pamphlet and withal dilateth himself in the Narrative of a Romance fit for Jan Potage that he may render the Jesuites ridiculous to the Wits of his gang by such ways of answering which he attributes to them as are childish and foolish the best part of his Boyish Dialogues and which deserve not to go unpunished For the rest he is careful enough not so much as to mention the three Books which were then written in answer to that supposed Moral taking no notice of the answers which were made to the calumnies it contained nor the entertainment that pernicious Book met with which was a condemnation to the flames to be burnt by the hand of the Hangman and this by the sentence of one of the wisest and most August Parliaments in France Fourthly do but cast your eye on his Rhapsody of Passages and Quotations you shall finde nothing but untruths and calumnies the Author of it falsifying the greatest part of those places he alledges and many times lying most boldly and impudently making Authors say that which they never dreamt croping and hacking their words and not producing them entire to the end that
burthensome to oblige us to it under pain of Damnation when ever we confesse and to make that Disposition necessary to the Sacrament of Penance which is contrary to the Declaration of the Councell of Trent the Censure of Sorbon and the common opinion of Divines either Ancient or Modern as Monsieur Gamasche tells us An Advertisement to the Jansenist Since you continue so constant in telling us That perfect Contrition is absolutely necessary to the Sacrament of Penance and that Attrition is not sufficient notwithstanding that the Proposition in the judgement of the Sorbon is both rash and erroneous tell me also if you be resolved to defend those other Maximes of your Sect concerning this Sacrament Do you agree with the Abbot of St. Cyran in the opinion i Monsieur de Langres witnesseth as much in the Letter he writ touching the Doctrine of this Abbot That this Sacrament does not remit Sins That Absolution is not operative but meerly declarative of the pardon granted That Veniall sins are not sufficient matter for the Sacrament of Penance Do you believe with Monsieur Arnauld k In his Book of Frequent Communion pag. 326 327. ibid. pag. 521. That the Absolution of the Priest is then onely reall when it follows the sentence of the invisible Judge That we ought not to lose any by our Pastorall Authority but those whom our Master has raised up by a quickâ—â—ing Grace That sometimes exteriour Penances may be so great that they may supply the want of inward Repentance Are you of the same opinion with Monsieur Maignard who was once Curate of St. Croix in Roven and Disciple of the Abbot of St. Cyran l In a Letter which he writ to the Abbot of St. Cyran which is in the Memorandums that were used in the Processe of that Abbot That in the Sacrament of Penance it is not necessary to confesse the number of Mortall Sins nor those Circumstances which change the nature of the Sin supposing the Contrition to be such as is required Do you believe with Monsieur D' Andilly in the Christian and Spirituall Letters which he published under the name of the Abbot of Saint Cyran m See the first Edition That we cannot make an available Confession of our Sins if the Soul hath not first been renewed by Grace pag. 228. Lett. 26. That the Confession of Veniall Sins came into common practice in the Church but very lately forasmuch as during the first thousand years and more for the wiping out of Veniall Sins those just persons who committed them thought it sufficient to chuse of themselves some light Penances before they went to assist at the Holy Sacrafice of the Masse pag. 265. Let. 32. That Confession was the last remedy which was practised in the Church for the washing away of Veniall Sins all the others being more ancient pag. 769. Let. 92. Do you believe with the Translatour of the Book of Holy Virginity Disciple of the Abbot of St. Cyran pag. 134. n Censura Sorbonae Haec doctrinâ— quâ ait ex ordine natur â rei requiri quod sit publica confessio est nova falsa periculosa Censura Sorbonae jam citata Quae tradit de Attritionis insufficieutiâ Contrittionis ex perfect â charitate absolut â necessitate ad recipiendum Sacramentum Poenitentiae quae addit approbat de Absolutione quòd â—ihil aliud sit quà m declaratio Juridica peccati jam remissi damnavit quoque facultas â—â—nsuit has propositiones esse quiâ—tis animarum perturbativâ—s communi omnino tutae praxi Ecclesiâ— contrarias efficaciae Sacramenti Poenitentiae imminutivas insuper temerarias â—rroneas That both the order and nature of the thing requires that Sacramentall Penance should be performed in publique And pag. 129 130. That whosoever should say Absolution is nothing but a judiciall Act by which the Priest doth onely declare not simply but with the Authority and in the place of Jesus Christ that the Sins are forgiven he would propose nothing neither against the Councell nor against Ancient Divines And in page 129. That true Contrition which is an act of Charity is absolutely necessary for the obtaining the Grace of the Sacrament of Penance and that it being certain this sort of Charity reconciles a man with God and puts him in his grace and favour before he hath received the Sacrament in effect there resteth nothing for Absolution to do In â—ine do you believe that the Abbot of St. Cyran had any great Contrition for his Sins and that he was perfectly disposed when he confest himself to a Priest onely to oblige him to a secrecy in those wicked Maximes he had told him which he laught at afterwards telling it to the Abbot of Prieres Here follows the sincere Deposition of that Abbot who is yet living in a very high opinion both for his Knowledge and Honesty After that the said St. Cyran told him a certain story which he said past betwixt him and another Ecclesiasticall Person to whom he had also discovered the foresaid Maximes And that fearing lest the said Ecclesiastique should relate them to the Bishop of Poitiers or to some other he stopt him presently upon the way where they were talking of these matters and desired him to hear his Confession even in that very place and time to which the said Ecclesiastique consented though declaring his astonishment at the suddennesse of the resolution He made his Confession and declared in it That he acknowledged he â—ad offended in proposing the said Maximes and then demanded his Absolution the which he said he did to oblige the said Ecclesiastique to keep the said Maximes as a secret under the seal of Confession which otherwise he could not have been secret in When he told this he laught so heartily that the Deponent never saw him laugh so much before at which was present Barcos his Nephew who likewise laught at the same story I do not know whether this be the joy Penance brings to your solitary Persons But I dare assure you it is not that which the true Conversion of Sinners causes in Heaven Mediâ—ate of this seriously and do not think so much of others as to forget your selves An ANSWER to those Letters in which the JANSENIST endeavoureth to clear himself from the precedent IMPOSTURES A Word to the Reader concerning the Subject of the following Letters AFter that the Authour of the Provinciall Letters had vented his malice against the Jesuites and run through their Moral in his fifth sixth seventh eighth ninth and tenth Letters the Jesuites laid open to the world in the precedent Impostures his grosse ignorance his falsenesse in alleadging Authours and his groundlesse Calumnies and withall taxed him and his party of many Enormities and especially of Heresie Vpon this the Authour of the Provincial Letters as it behoved him undertook to make good what he had writ and to clear himself and his Party from
Court has heard the relation and I assure my self that it is still the discourse of all France behold a large Theater set open to your reputation 'T is pity you discover not your self nor make known the name of so learned a man who so solidly grounds his Theology on a Box o' th' Ear. Theâ—e was a rumour spread a few dayes since in the Town of Compeign that a person whose name is well known had receiv'd a Box o' th' Ear from a Jesuite whose rare modesty hath gain'd him the affâ—ction of the greatest in France Monsiegneur de Rhodes desirous to inform himself thereof learnt the falshood of that calumny from his very mouth who was said to be the person affronted While this false rumour blows over in Compeigne and affords matter of laughter the lye being ashamed to see it self discovered and not daring to be seen any longer at Court repair'd to you in your darkness to request you to lend it that fair glosse you set upon your Impostures that so it might passe currant through the streets of Paris You have given it welcome because you love it you have joyfully enterâ—ain'd it and having painted and disguized it you set it in the fairest part of your Letter at the head of an infinity of falshoods which attend it as a Convoy Were you a grave Author the Jesuites would be in an ill taking For how false soever this popular opinion were as soon as it should appear in your writings you would oblige them by the doctrine of Probability to grant according to F. Escobar that it is a probable opinion secundum praxim Sociâ—tatis But Sir the King is expected at the very instant I am writing this when he arrives how will this maskâ— and transformed lye once dare to appear What will men say of that able Writer who ha's put it among his cases of Consciâ—nce What will become of the Christian instructions of that Curate whom you onely put into your Letter because hâ— has no great good will for the Jâ—suites and was driven out of Paâ—is for â—earing lesse affection to Religion In â—ine what will the Jansenists answer when it shall be â—aid to their charge that to the prâ—judice of innocâ—nce you have from a silly report made the decisions of their Morall Divinity Really Sir I do not see what they can say unlesse haply that Grace bâ—ing Verity in the Spirit and Charity in the Hâ—art they have both fâ—â—led you Bâ—t since this confâ—ssion is noâ— vâ—â—y Catholâ—qâ—e I â—ad rather sâ—y you hâ—ve failâ—d as to Grace and that it is false that a Jâ—suite hath wounded Charity by giving a Box on the Eâ—r buâ— 't is truâ— that a Jansenist wâ—iting it has given Truâ—h a buffer Here leave we then your Imposture of Compeigâ—e and let us see whether you defend the Fourth any better then you have done the former Threâ— I have convinced you of falshood upon the Text concerning Homicide which you ascribe to Lessius a Jesuite though it belongs to Victoria whose name you conceal in your Seventh Letter After reproof for this foul dealing you acknowledge in your Thirteenth that 't is indeed Victoria's and to â—xcuse your self for châ—rgeing it upon another you answer That this is not the subject of the Dispute I know not whether it be the subject you take for your dispute but I well know Sir nor can you deny it that it is the subject of your Imposture I percâ—ive plainly it is a Subject that does not please you as not finding your self in a good posture concerning it and that you would be glad to shift your place But what avails the sick man to quit his bed if he cannot leave his weaknesse behinde but must carâ—y his sicknesse with him You may well fly to another Subject because you finde not your advantage in this 'T is the ordinary method of Heretiques in whom you are not meanly studied But you cannot perswade your self that to father words on Lessius which you are forc'd to restore to Victoria is not a most visible falsification See here the passage in Dispute which I deliver you in your own terms He that has receiv'd a Bâ—x o' th' Ear may not have an intentioâ— to revenge himself but he may intend to avoid infamy and on that account immediately repell the affront even with his sword Tell me then Sir is not this the Text you ascrib'd to Lessius in your Seventh Letter And â—ell me is not this the very same Text you restore to Victoria in your Thirteenth Is not this a palpable falsity In fine is it sufficient for him that committed it to say for his justification That this is not the subject of the Dispute I apprehend a Purser in the very fact and compell him to restore it to the owner is he quit for saying that this is not the subject of his charge and that he is guilty of many more robberies You see Sir the fault you have committed in ascribing that to an Authour which he onely reports out of another I might content my self with having forc'd you to a publique acknowledgement thereof But because you will say That is not the subject of the Dispute there being indeed many other faults to correct in your sheet I will go on with the list of your Impostures which grow still grosser as they increase in number If it be true say you that Lessius does but cite the words of the Casuist Victoria it is also as true that he cites them not but to follow them This is a new Imposture which draws indeed many other after it but does not justifie the precedent It is an ill way for the healing of your wounds to make still fresh ones Had you been content with falsifying this Jesuites words it might have been taken for an effect of your distemper which would have begot our pitty But to change his thoughts and corâ—upt the purity of his Doctrine is an effect of an affected malice which merits nothing but disdain and indignation Is it to follow Victoria's opinion to say that it ought noâ— easily to be permitted because it is to be â—eared lest it might give occasion of hatred revenge and excesse Could he declare himself against â—hat celebrious Authour in any rougher expression without transgressing the bounds of civilâ—â—y and that respect which ought to be observ'd in this kinde of dispute against Catholique Doctours Is it a following of his opinion to impugne it with St. Austins authority which you had no minde to make known because it would at the same time have discover'd your fraud and to conclude with the opinion of that great Saint that if he hardly grants that one may kill a man in defence of his life much lesse would he affirm it lawfull to kill him in defence of his honour Is it a following of his opinion to say immediately after on the subject of that other Maxime which permits to kill in repulse of a calumny that admits
Mercuries attest That the Doctrine censured by Sorbon is in many things the same with that of the reformed Churches Du Moulin dotes not when at Sedan he avowes the same uniformity of Doctrine Rousselet publishes it at Nismes Eustache at Montpelier and of the two famous Apostates L' Abadie and Le Masson who are now at Montauban the first confesses that to Calvinisme he passed through the gate of Jansenisme the second that he learn'd Jansenisme in Calvin long before Jansenius printed his Augustinus We have in our hands the Book he hath lately printed containing the Motives of his Apostasie which hapned the last year after he had preach'd the Lent forâ—going in the Diocâ—sse of Roven It is not necessary to dilate any more on this Subject there being so many printed Pieces which demonstrate the conformity of the Doctrine of Jansenius and â—alvin concerning Self-â—fficacious Grace to which the Jansenists have never been able to answer As to that which the Secretary addes near the end of his Letter of the compassion he has to see me forsaken of God I have three things to reply The first that since his spirit of jeaâ—ting and scurrility seems to have left him his Letters are very flat and he grows tedious and contemptible to those that read him The second that a Novendiall devotion at the Holy Thorne would be well employ'd to obtain of God the cure of his blindenesse The third that I conceive a particular confidence by seeing my self forsaken of God in the opinion of those who believe he has forsaken his Church and goes daily destroying it as the Jansenists do by adhering to the traditions of the deceased Abbot of St. Cyran If the fancy take him to make any reply let him not send his Writings any more to Osnabrâ—ck For it is but to make a toil of a pleasure Amsterdam Leiden and Geneva are much more commodiouâ— since in all those places he shall not onely have permission to print his Works but an Approbation to attend them After all The Jansâ—nists are Heretiques An ANSWER to the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Provinciall Letters and to another of an unknown Person to Father Annat which is inserted into the Second English Edition betwixt the Seaventeenth and Eighteenth Argument 1. THat the Author of the Provinciall Letters complains that he is called Heretique when at the same breath he vents Heresie 2. That all that he saith for his vindication from Heresie maketh him suspected of Heresie 3. That the Jesuites dependance on their Superiours which he objecteth is their security as his Independance is the Sâ—urce of â—hâ—s ruine 4. The Superiours of the Jesuites proceeding in Printing Books 5. An Answer to an Argument wherein it is said that the Jesuites take the Piety of their Adversaries for a pretense of calling them Heretiques 6. That it is a groundlesse accusation which reflects on the Pope and Synod of France to say the Jesuites procured the condemnation of Jansenius though nothing is or can be produced that ever they did in order to a false Information 7. Three other Calumnies against the Jesuites refuted 8. Ten Objections by which the Jansenists would prove themselves no Heretiques refuted and proved to be of no force at all In the refutation of the Fifth Objection the Texts of Jansenius are cited where he plainly teacheth all that is condemned in the Popes Bull as his Doctrine 9. The Jansenists severall Histories and passages of the Fathers and Councells shewed to â—e impertinent and to argue him to be no good Subject of the Church 10. His Hypocriticall Piety to Jansenius his memory and his false asserting the matter to be of no consequence whether the Propositions be in Jansenius or no. SIR HAving perused your Eighteenth Letter which here in England hath as well as the former no little Vogue among Protestants I thought sit to answer it to let the world see how senselesle a Piece it is For indeed I must â—ell you there is not one Reason in it which â—avours either of Divinity or of Philosophy or of common Sense But howsoever because it speaks against the Popes Bulls and rails at the Jesuites it is welcome to all but onely the poor remnant of Catholiques who with great Resentment seeing you to preâ—â—nd to the name of Catholique say of your Writings Filii Matris meae pugnavêrunt contra me The Sonnes of my Mother â—ight against me Had you writ a Consolatory Missive to us here in England you had done something worthy the name of Catholique and beseeming a good Subject of the most Christian King But to call your self a Catholique and write against the Authority of the Sâ—a Apostoâ—que for which we here suffer so much that we are even pointed at in thâ— Streets by the name of Papists is a thing that breedeth nothing but scandall and confusion in the House of God For this reason I count it my duty to let all the world know that your Letter is neither Catholique nor Rationall as having neither Faith nor Sense in it And to take your Arguments all in their full force and consuâ—e them totally I will rip up what you say in your Seventeenth Letter and your Friend in his to Father Annat for they all drive at the same mark I know Reverend Father Annat hath answered your Seventeenth Letter and in his Tract against the Complaint of the Jansenists hath â—n substance confuâ—ed the main points of the other two so that there would not be need of â—aying any thing more did not your Letters do speciall hurt here in England For all that you advance in favour of Jansenisme is looked upon here as equally availing for the defence of Protestant and Puritan and Anabaptist and Quaker and the other innumerable Sects into which our poor Nation is divided For this reason I presume Reverend Father Annat will give me leave to reassume what he hath said against the Seventeenth Letter and prosecute it to the end of the Eighteenth To begin then you enter upon your Seventeenth Letter with a Complaint that you are called Heretique and challenge all the world to shew where you have taught any thing Hereticall and yet which is a strange madnesse of yours at the same breath that you make this challenge you declare your self Heretique I need not then go back to your former Writings to â—ell you on what account that Tiâ—le is given you The whole subject of your Seventeenth and Eighteenth Letters makes the matter clear The Pope and whole Catholique Church hold the Jansenists Heretiques you hold the Jansenists are not Heretiques The Pope hath declared that the Five Propositions condemned in Innocent the Tenth's Bull are Hereticall in Jansenius his sense you say those Five Propositions are not Hereticall in Jansenius his senser And for this you are deservedly called Heretiques We Catholiques in England say with St. Hierome Epâ—st ad Damasum de Hypostafis nomine Siquis Cathedrae Petri jungitur meus est He that agreeth with the Chair