ye fall not into temptation and thus all who stirre against their concupiscence-ought to pray that they enter not into temptation that is that it may not captivate and prevail over them But we fall not into temptation when by a right will we surmount an evil lust These last words of S. Augustin are very much to be observ'd as whereby he clearly teaches that he who doth not overcome temptation but on the contrary is overcome by it hath not had that grace which the faithfull implore of God when they pray him not to suffer them to enter into temptation Whence it evidently followes that the grace necessary for overcomming all kind of temptations which the faithfull beg of God in their prayers and for which they thank him when they have receiv'd it is not onely a grace of possibility dependant upon Free-will but a grace of possibilty of will and of action and consequently effectual by it self The third Argument is this If God's grace affords onely a possibility and worketh not the very consent that is a right or good will by its own strength then we ought to thank God for giving us the faculty to will aright or do well but not for what we have done well and co-operated with his grace According to Molina's principles we ought to thank him for giving us a grace which he foresaw we would use well and co-operate therewith But to speak according to truth we could not thank him for that we had us'd that grace well and co-operated therewith since this use and co-operation would not be given us by God but left to our Free-will which cannot be so much as thought of without impiety I conceive M. H. F. that Y. H. clearly sees how strong and invincible this Argument drawn from the prayers and thanksgiving of the Church is to prove that Grace effectual by it self is necessary to all actions of piety Which caus'd S. Augustin to say with so great reason in the seventh chapter de Dono Perseverantie Had we no other instructions but this the Lord Prayer were more then sufficient to uphold the cause of Grace which we defend And in the 23d Chapter As the Church was from its first rise instructed in those Prayers so she hath been instructed and educated in this faith and is every day more and more confirm'd therein And in the 95. Epistle to Pope Innocent I. Prayer it self is a most clear proof of Grace And Pope Celestine in the 10. Chap. of his Epistle to the Bishops of France The manner according to which we ought to pray teaches us also what we ought to believe Wherefore 't is no wonder if S. Augustin in all his Works and all the H. Fathers who together with him so stoutly maintain'd the true grace of Jesus Christ against the Pelagians have shewn the tradition and constant and perpetual doctrine of this grace effectual by it self in the prayers which the Church hath offer'd to God from the beginning of her establishment and which she will continue to offer to him till the end of the world For the Church hath alwayes dayly implor'd of God the actual believing and conversion of the hearts of all Infidels whose wills are remote from and contrary to him and in behalf of the faithfull who believe in him with the heart and confesse him with the mouth perseverance and victory in temptations and for all there gifts the incessantly renders thanks to him Having therefore most clearly prov'd M. H. F. that there two principles are of the Catholick faith first that the Grace which the Church asks of God in her prayers is necessary and secondly that it is effectuall by it self and that we cannot imagine that the Church prays for any other Wherefore it irrefragably followes from those prayers of the Church that Grace effectual by it self is necessary to all actions of piety and that consequently whoso denies manifestly subverts all the Churches prayers Your Holinesse M. H. F. may hence very easily judge what opinion you ought to have of this new doctrine of a Grace subject to our Free-will and I dare boldly affirme in your presence for a conclusion of this first point of our dispute that this doctrine of Molina is no lesse pernicious and sacrilegious then the very doctrine of Pelagius For the Fathers of the Council of Carthage in their Epistle to Pope Innocent which is the 90th amongst those of S. Augustin declare that the opinions of the Pelagians are sacrilegious and pernicious to asmuch as it necessarily follows from their doctrin that we ought not to pray to God not to leave us to fall into temptation and that it seems a vain thing that the Church implores of him in behalf of his people what the prays for to the end they may please him by living in his love fear Now he who maintains an opinion from whence such things follow however his words be different from those of Pelagius and whatever other grace he admit yet he also embraces a pernicious deadly and sacrilegious doctrine and what he adds concerning the necessity of a sufficient Grace subject to Free-will hinders nor but that he is in an error because they who hold this Grace can as little as the Pelagians avoid contradicting the prayers thanksgivings of the Church as I have prov'd and declaring themselves enemies of that Grace of God which the prayers of the Saints prove so evidently that is to say Grace effectual by it self All this Doctrine of the Fathers of the Carthaginian Council confirm'd also by that of Milevis was approv'd by Pope Innocent I. in the Epistle he writ to them which is the 91. amongst those of S. Augustin We see not saith he any thing to be added to what you have done because we see not that you have omitted or forgotten any thing fur the perfect refutation of those Errors and the convincing of such as maintain them It appears also by the whole Epistle that the principal cause why that great Pope detested the Pelagian Error was for that it takes away the necessity of Prayer Pelagius saith he and Celestius are so presumptuous as to endeavour to perswade us that we ought to implore God's aid and have no need of it although all the Saints affirm that without it we can do nothing And afterwards there being nothing whereunto our profession more obliges us and all our daily prayers tending only to implore Gods mercy how can we endure them who teach these Errors But see the thundring words wherwith that most H. Pope strikes the Pelagians Being arm'd saith he in their discourses with false subtilties they cover themselves with the vail of the Catholick and Orthodox faith and exhaling a mortal poyson to infect the hearts of those who hold the sound doctrine and cause them to embrace error they endeavor to overthrow the whole belief of the true faith Wherefore the course of so dangerous a poyson requires to be checkt to the end it
where he pleases Because as he saith elswhere God hath the will 's of men more in his power then they have themselves Let them hear S. Prosper in his Poem of Grace chap. 16. where he hath this sense But the Grace of Christ being through Christ all-powerful heals a languishing soul after another manner 't is the spirit and hand of God himself both beginning and accomplishing his divine work Let a man be young or old rich or poor yet when that exerts its activity any time is favorable Nothing withstands its powerful assistance hardnesse of heart do's not stop its course And all the vain power of the second cause yields to his high designes purposed before the foundations of the world Whence this Argument may be fram'd The grace of God which is of such a nature that it can change the most opposite wills of men and convert to good those whom he pleases when he pleases and where he pleases he having alwayes in his power the means of doing that which pleases him without ever being lyable to any retardment from the contrary manners or inclinations of men by any cause or obstacle whatsoever is perfectly free and independent as to its efficacy or any natural disposition whatsoever But the Grace by which God converts the wills of men and which the Church asks of him in her prayers is such according to S. Augustin and S. Prosper and the contrary opinion cannot be held without folly or impiety Therefore the Grace by which God turns the wills of men and which the Church desires in her prayers is perfectly free and independent upon any natural disposition whatsoever and the contrary opinion is impious But moreover we see that the Churches prayers are grounded not only upon God's prescience but upon his vertue and energy which acts upon our will as it pleases him For as is above shewn the Church prayes thus in the Collect of the Holy Altar us'd almost throughout the whole East Lord give us vertue and the meanes to preserve it cause the wicked to become good and uphold the good in their goodnesse For thou art able to do all things and none can withstand thee Thou savest when thou pleasest and no person resists thy pleasure Whereas on the contrary by this Answer of the Molinists the prayers of the Church should not be grounded upon the power but the prescience of God and 't would not be needful to pray for a Grace whereby he may turn our will to himself and fill us with his love but only for a Grace whereby he may know by his prescience that we will turn our selves to him not by the power of a determining and applying grace but by the motion of our own Free-will Whence it would follow that God gives only a grace of Possibility whereof he foresees our will will make good use in such and such circumstances and not the grace to will and to do that is which operates both the will and the action which is the most impious opinion that can be imagin'd Again 't is indubitable that God by his prescience knows all the good works which we are to perform But the ground of his knowing them beforehand is that 't is himself who will do them he sees them before they are done because he ha's prepar'd and predestinated the good works in which he will have us walk See how S. Augustin speaks touching this matter in the book De Praedest Sanctorum cap. 10. That which the Apostle saith speaking of good works That God hath prepar'd them to cause us to walk therein denotes Predestination which cannot be without Prescience as Prescience may be without Predestination For God by his predestination hath foreseen the things which himself is to do Whence it it is said by the Scripture That God doth the things which are not yet come to passe but he can also know these by his Prescience which himself effecteth not as all sins After which he proves that the good works which we perform are not those which God hath barely foreseen but which he hath promis'd and consequently works in us For he promiseth saith he what he is to effect himself and not what men are to effect because though men perform holy actions pertaining to the Worship of God yet 't is God himself who causeth them to perform what he hath commanded them and 't is not they who cause God to accomplish what he hath promis'd otherwise it would follow that the accomplishment of Gods promises depended upon men and not upon God himself and that 't was they who acquitted God towards Abraham of what he had promis'd to Abraham Now that H. Patriarch had no such beleef but giving glory to God he stedfastly believ'd that God was able to do what he had promis'd The Scripture saith not that God could foretell or foresee it For he can foretell and foresee what others will do and not himself but it saith that he could do it denoting thereby that what he promis'd was not what others were to do but what he would do himself From which words of S. Augustin I shall with Your favor M. H. F. form this Argument The prayers which the Church makes to God have no other foundation but Gods very promises But Gods promises are founded only upon his power and not upon his prescience Therefore the Churches prayers are likewise founded only upon God's power This Argument may be propounded after another manner and more convincingly God acts in the hearts of men to work out their salvation in such manner as he ha's promis'd to act therein But God promis'd Abraham the faith and conversion of Idolatrous Nations not because he foresaw that they would believe but because he had power to cause them to believe Therefote he daily acts after the same manner in the heart of man in reference to faith and conversion not because he foresees that man will turne by his grace but because he is able and hath resolv'd to work such consent in his heart But I will concede to our Adversaries that the Church prays to God for no other grace in order to all actions of piety then that which they call Congruous in the sense before explicated and to which he foresees that man will freely consent if he give him the same Yet this very thing is more then sufficient to refute their doctrine and convince their errors For as 't is evident by what I have already said the Church asks no other grace of God for a pious action then that which it believes wholly and absolutely necessary to the doing thereof But the Church for every pious action desires that grace which they term Congruous And consequently believes absolutely and wholly necessary to every pious action Thus they who have not this Grace for a certain action of piety suppose Repentance have not all the grace which is necessary to repent But all whom the Church prays God to turn to himself by
you not answer So be it This being suppos'd M. H. F. I demand whether or no an Infidel who resists the Gospel hath a heart to know God whether or no he hath eares to hear whether or no he hath grace which compels him to the faith If he hath all these things to what purpose doth the Church pray for him that he may receive what he already possesses If he hath not then he hath not all the grace which is necessary to him for believing since besides what I have frequently evinc'd that the Church implores no grace of God which is not necessary 't is certain that none can know God unlesse he have receiv'd a heart to know him nor hear his word unless he have receiv'd ears to hear Moreover this Grace being effectual by self since as 't is impossible for a man to know God unless he have receiv'd a heart to know him so neither if he have receiv'd such a heart can he but know him having receiv'd a heart to repent he cannot but repent having receiv'd eares to hear he cannot but hear being impell'd by that motion which causeth to embrace the faith he cannot but embrace the same It followes clearly that the grace which the Church implores of God as necessary every action of piety is effectual by it self In the fourth place the same truth is invincibly manifested by the refutation of the Molinistical grace even in S. Austin's own words speaking in this manner to Vitalis a Semipelagian You say that God as much as lyes in him causes us to Will since he gives us the knowledge of his pleasure but if we will not obey the same 't is we who are the cause that God's operation is fruitlesse to us Which if you affirme you contradict the prayers of the Church Which reasoning of S. Augustin utterly refutes any grace what ever that is subject in its usse to Free Will as being utterly contrary to the prayers of the faithfull This Argument will evince it Whosoever establishes a doctrine from which it follows that he is of an opinion contrary to the prayers of the Church as S. Augustin here judges that of Vitalis he is in an error and alienated from the orthodox belief of the Catholick faith But he who maintains a sufficient Grace subject to Freewill establishes a doctrine from which it followes that he holds an opinion contrary to the prayers of the Church Which is prov'd by S. Augustin in this manner Whosoever saith that we through our resistance and unwillingnesse to obey cause God's operation upon us to become unprofitable manifestly contradicts the Churches prayers But he who maintaines a sufficient Grace subject to Freewill saith that we by resisting such sufficient Grace and by not willing to submit thereunto cause God's operation to become unprofitable Therefore he is in an opinion contrary to that of the Churches prayers and consequently erres and is not in the belief of the Catholick faith Moreover all the thanks rendered to God by the Church prove the same thing or as S. Augustin speaks in his 107. Epistle to Vitalis This truth appears no lesse clearly in thanks-giving then in prayer It appears in the prayer which we put up to God for such as are still unbelievers and it appears in the thanks which we render to him in behalf of those who are become believers For as we ought to pray to him to the end he may accomplish that for which we pray so we ought to render him thanks when he hath accomplisht the same Wherefore from the duty of thanksgiving I draw the 3. following arguments First We render thanks to God not only for what we have been able to do but for what we have been willing to do with piety and accordingly perform'd Thus S. Augustin teaches us in his Epistle to Vitalis where he saith Whence it is that the Apostle requires the same thing of the Ephesians when he saith Moreover having understood what your faith is towards our Lord Jesus Christ and your love to all the Saints I continually give thanks in your behalf but we speak now onely of the first beginning of faith when men who were remote and even averse from God are converted to God and begin to will that which they willed not and to have the faith which they had not for the effecting of which alteration in them it is that we pray for them although themselves pray not because they cannot call upon him in whom they do not believe And when God hath wrought that in them for which we pray'd i. e. when he hath turn'd their hearts we give him thanks in their behalf and themselves do the same But as for the prayers which they make when they are already believers both for themselves and for the other faithfull that God would cause them to proceed in his way and as for the thanks which they render to him when they do accordingly proceed therein I conceive there needs no dispute concerning the same From which words of S. Augustin I most humbly beseech Y. H. to give me leave to forme this argument against the Molinists We give thanks to God for what he hath already wrought in us But there is no pious motion of our will nor any pious action for which we do not give him thanks Therefore there is no pious motion in our will nor any pious action which God doth not work in us And consequently the grace of God necessary to every action of piety is effectual by it self of every pious motion of the will and of every pious action 'T is therefore unprofitably saith S. Augustin in the same Epistle to Vitalis and meerely for fashion rather then really that we render thanks to God with joy when any unbelievers are converted if it be not he who worketh that in them for which we thank him Let us not deceive men I beseech you for as for God we know that we cannot deceive him The second Argument is this The Church doth not give thanks to God for the conversion of any one to faith or repentance unlesse when the is perswaded that he really believes or repents in his heart for his offences The Church therefore doth not believe that God hath wrought the conversion of the sinner and afforded all necessary assistance thereunto when he hath onely granted the grace which gives onely the power as the Molinists hold but then only when he hath inspired the grace by vertue whereof the first conversion undoubtedly follow'd as I said when I spoke concerning prayer This is prov'd evidently by that passage of S. Augustin The Apostle having said that the Law is the strength of sin subjoynes immediately But we give thanks to God who hath caus'd its to overcome through our Lord Jesus Christ And thus the victory whereby we surmount sin is nothing else but a gift of God who in this combate assists our Freewill Upon which account Christ himself saith Watch and pray that
sides present and that one of the reasons which they alledg'd was that it would take up too much time whereas on the contrary said the Cure to me there is no more compendious and clear way then to speak in presence one of the other because should we do it apart they would go one way and we another and so we should put all into confusion CHAP. II. Of the first Suspitions we had that our Adversaries endeavoured to obstruct what was most essential to the Congregation viz. an open hearing in the presence of either side Of the sollicitations we made thereupon the rest of this Month and our discovering of a design to get Persons wholly suspected by us appointed for this Assembly A very considerable Letter which I received about this time THe jealousies continually given us for whose entertainment we were but too apt that M. Hallier and his Collegues imploy'd all their cares and the credit of their Patrons the Jesuites and others to quash the condition of mutual appearance in the Congregation ordained oblig'd us to go on Sunday morning July 21. to the Pope's Maistre de Chambre and tell him that we thought fit to defer our thanks to the Pope because we conceiv'd we should have occasion to addresse to his Holiness within a short time about some businesse and we were willing to do both together Wherefore we beseecht him to reserve till that time the courtesie which he had promis'd us in introducing us that day to have audience of his Holiness Our design in this delay was to free our selves from being oblig'd to speak to the Pope about this difficulty and circumstance and to get it handsomely rectified by the Cardinals without needing to move his Holiness concerning it when we should give him our thanks for the Congregation which he had granted us that so our acknowledgement might be serene and fair as the Declaration of it made to us by Cardinal Roma was But before I mention our sollicitations about this matter I cannot forbear to insert a Letter here which I intreat the Reader to look upon as a thing by it self and which I transcribe not although it hath much reference to sundry things before and hereafter related but because I find it very elegant and apt in this place about the time in which I receiv'd it at Rome from a Doctor of Sorbon one of my intimate Friends who writ the same to me from the place where he then was June 16. 1652. The Contents follow June 16. 1652. SIR I Receiv'd together the two large Letters you writ to me full of testimonies of the confidence and Friendship wherewith you are pleased to honour me If I durst I should find fault with your going too far therein for I can make no other construction of your too favourable judgement of me than that it proceeds from a singular affection which gives you an opinion of me far above what I acknowledge in my self I have alwayes written to you with sincerity and freely signify'd to you my thoughts and sentiments concerning your journy to Rome about the affairs which you manage there and concerning the Proposals which you have made to me And because I see things not alter'd or at least vari'd only in appearance and some circumstances I cannot change my judgement or disposition 'T is true which you tell me that the voyage and residence at Rome is dangerous and more for regard of the corruption of the mind then of the body because that of the latter is sensible and visible and the other being spiritual is indiscernible and ofttimes carries its poyson into the bottome of the heart without being taken notice of insensibly corrupting Faith and Reason it self by humane prudence and a manner of life and deportment altogether Political which people contract there unlesse they be prevented by God's special protection and favour And to tell you true though I am much averse from that vice which passes for vertue in the world yet I account not my self so strong but that I think fit to avoid even the occasions of it Nevertheless 't is not this alone which keeps me from comming to you and taking upon me that part which you would assign me in the affairs wherein you are engag'd and labour with the care and zeal which you have ever professed for the Church and the Truth If I conceiv'd I could be as serviceable therein as you apprehend and could it reasonably be hop'd matters would be so carri'd and have such effects and issues as you aime at solitude should no longer detain me nor the danger of the wayes or residence at Rome keep me from offering my self to God to do him service and second you in that which you endeavour to perform to him But I am so strongly perswaded of the contrary both by potent considerations taken from humane prudence as well as from reasons divine and founded upon the present posture of things that all the Remonstrances in your Letters have not mov'd me although otherwise I may say I think without flattery I am very prone to resign my self and submit to my Friends and so devoted to satisfie and content them as far as my ability reacheth that I can scarce deny any thing to them without doing violence to my self especially in things wherein the service of God and honour of Truth are concern'd and to persons with whom I have some particular league and engagement of Friendship as I have with you No Sir I cannot believe that ever there will be a regular and free conference about the matters in contest at this day and should there be one appointed and persons found capable of debating the questions on either side and Judges intelligent enough of the truth and sufficiently impartial to determine them which is very difficult not to say morally impossible I could not promise to my self the success which you aim at and seem to hold for certain All that could be hop'd so far as I see from such a Conference and most upright Judges deputed to preside in it is that things would remain as they are and Truth not be more wounded and oppressed than it hath been formerly should the Arbitrators be dispos'd to do something more and to pronounce in favour of Truth they who have been inveigled into the contrary part the Temporal Powers engag'd with them and the Spiritual who at the best that can be hop'd from them if we may judge by things past are indifferent as to these matters would quite stop the passing of such judgement thereby to avoid offending so many of the world and under pretence of eschewing Division and maintaining the Church's peace leave things in the same state in which they are If you judge my conjectures and the consequences I draw from them disagreeing from your own thoughts yet I am confident you cannot but say that the suppositions which I make and from whence I draw those consequences are very favourable and that I
only receive that help of perseverance such as that which was given to Adam but that which they receive is such that perseverance it self is given to them so that they not only could not persevere without that help but with that help they cannot but persevere Now what S. Augustin speaks of Perseverance 't is manifest that he everywhere speaks the same of Faith Repentance and Continence Whence this Argument may be form'd In the same manner that the Church prayes to God for Perseverance it prayes also for Faith Repentance c. But when the Church prayes for Perseverance it prayes for the assistance of Effectual Grace without which we cannot persevere and with which we cannot but persevere Therefore when it prayes for Faith Repentance c. it prays for the assistance of Effectual Grace without which we can neither be Believers nor Penitent c and with which we cannot but be so Pope Celestine in his Letter to the French Bishops confirms the same thing so clearly that the whole eleventh Chapter shews by the prayers mention'd in it what is the faith of the whole Church touching the true and Effectual Grace of God His words are these Besides the inviolable Decrees of the most Holy Apostolick See by which those most Holy Fathers rejected this detestable Innovation whose source is Pride have taught us that we ought to refer to the grace of Jesus Christ both the beginning of a right will in Man and his increasing in holy life and his perseverance to the end Let us consider also the solemn prayers made by the Priests which having been left us by Apostolical Tradition are uniformly celebrated in the whole Catholick Church throughout the World to the end that the form of our prayers may be the rule of our faith For Bishops acting as Ambassadors to God in the name of the faithful committed to their charge plead the cause of mankind in his divine presence and all the Church accompanying their words with sighs and tears prays to God with them to give faith to Infidels to deliver Idolaters from the impiety of their Errors to make known his Truth to the Jewes by removing the vail which is upon their hearts to enlighten the minds of Hereticks by causing them to embrace the Catholick faith to diffuse a spirit of charity into the breasts of Schismaticks to grant repentance to such as are fallen to open to the Catechumeni the door of the mercy of Heaven in the holy regeneration of the Sacrament of Baptism And the effects shew that 't is not in vain and only for form that we beg all these things of God since he vouchsafes by his goodnesse to draw many persons out of all kind of errors and wandrings to deliver them out of the power of darknesse and bring them into the kingdom of his beloved Son and thus to change those into vessels of mercy who were at first vessels of his wrath Which the Church in such sort acknowledges to be wholly God's work that it doth not fail to give him thanks for it and offer to him a song of praises confessing him the author thereof and that 't is he that enlightned the Infidels and converted the sinners But M. H. F. This will appear more clearly by considering the very expressions of the prayers which the Church offers to God throughout all the World by perpetual custome in which it prayes not only for the power to act but also for the will and action it self In this manner it speaks on the sixth Sunday after Pentecost God of all power and might who art the only author of all true good graffe in our hearts the love of thy H. Name cause us to grow more and more in religious piety to the end that thy self cherishing the seeds of vertue which thou hast planted in us the same may be preserved by the pious and faithful care which thou shalt cause us to have thereof And on the eighth Sunday Grant Lord by thy mercy that thy Spirit may inspire holy thoughts into us and cause us to produce holy actions that we who cannot live without thee may by thee be able to live according to thy Will And on the twelfth Sunday Almighty and merciful God through whose grace alone it cometh that thy faithful people do unto thee true and laudable service be pleas'd so to uphold ue that without falling through our weaknesse we may constantly run towards those good things which thou hast promis'd And on the sixteenth Sunday Lord we pray thee that thy grace may alwayes prevent and follow us and mako us continually to be given to all good works And on the Eve of Pentecost Grant Lord that we may be able to subdue our depraved will and accomplish in all things the Righteousnesse of thy holy Commandments And in the secret Orison of the Masse on the fourteenth Sunday Lord convert and draw unto thee our rebellious wills Nothing can more clearly evince that the Grace which moves our rebellious will to return unto God is not subject to Free-will or of such a nature as that it sometimes fails of its effect through the resistance of the will But what motion is that whereby the Church prayes that it may be turn'd to God Certainly 't is not such an inconsiderate and blind motion as that wherewith an insensible Instrument is mov'd but 't is that motion of divine Love and that bond of most sweet and heavenly charity by which God pulls and draws to himself him whom he pleases to render vertuous In which respect there is no fear of our liberty being violated by that attraction and motion how victorious soever it may be For being nothing is done in us more freely then that which is done by Love according to that saying of S. Augustin He who doth any thing willingly alwayes doth it freely How can it ever happen that Liberty should be destroy'd by the cause which produces it in its whole plenitude But I return to the prayers of the Church Now the Church speaks thus in the secret Orison which it makes to God for the gift of tears Cause us to shed tears of compunction for the hardnesse of our hearts to the end we may bewail our sins And in the Post-Communion Lord through thy goodnesse infuse into our hearts the grace of thy Holy Spirit which may enable us to blot out the stains of our sins by sighs and tears Moreover The Church implores the gift of Charity O God which canst cause things to work together for the good of those that love thee stir up in our hearts an ardent sense of thy love that no temptation may be able to alter the holy desires which thou hast inspir'd into ut by thy goodnesse And on H. Friday Let us pray also for the Catechumeni that the Lord our God may open the eares of their hearts And a Little after Let us pray also for the perfidious Jewes that the Lord our God may remove the vail
those who resist and oppose What do we ask then but that they may be so chang'd as to will that which they were unwilling to to approve that which they disapprov'd and to love that which they withstood Because as the Eastern Church speaks He saves when it pleases him and none resists his will Because as S. Augustin saith Lib. de Cor. Grat. cap. 14. He hath an omnipotent power to lead the hearts of men whether he pleaseth and because as he saith in another place Who is he that can resist God to hinder him from doing what pleaseth him After so many proofs M. H. F. who sees not that this manner of praying consecrated by the universal consent of the Church and confirm'd by the authentick testimony of S. Augustin can in no wise consist with the doctrine of Molina and his indifferent Grace Whatever his Partisans can say or do and whatever subtilties thy may have recourse to they will never avoid the just reproach of having endeavor'd to overthrow all the prayers of the Church Whereof the reason is evident The Church asks nothing of God but what he doth effect Now by their principles God operates nothing in us but the possibility of willng and acting and the encreasing of that possibility But according to the same principles of theirs God operates not in us the very being willing the very determination and application of the will to will faith it self repentance and the effect of love towards God inasmuch as all these are other things then power For accordding to them God works not willingnesse in us but so far as he gives the power and sollicites this power in such sort that we perform all these things by using as seems good to us the grace which is once given us Whence it clearly followes that they wholly destroy the Churches prayers whereby she asks of God not only the Faculty and the power of willing and doing good but besides this she precisely asks of him the will to do it and the action it self which is the effect thereof Will the Molinists say that besides this grace of possibility we have need of some supernatural concourse by which God acting with us operates all actions of piety and that 't is this singular grace which the Church prayes for when she demands power and willingnesse to accomplish what God commands us But being that according to their opinion this concourse how supernatural soever it may be is wholly in our own power by meanes of that sufficient grace above-mention'd just as natural concourse is in our own power in using our natural strength which hath all that is necessary to it to render us capable of doing good What can be more extravagant as S. Augustin speaks that to pray that we may be caus'd to do that which we have already pawer to do and to ask for that to be given us which we possesse already This concourse therefore is not the grace which the Apostle so highly esteems which the Church so importunately implores in its prayers Which may be invincibly prov'd by this one Argument That grace which by the meanes of sufficient grace is intirely in our own power so that we may as we list use or not use it and and which can never be withheld from us by God is not the Grace which the Church implores when she prayes God to take away this heart of stone and give us one of flesh in its stead and to cause that we may will that which we will not consent to what we reject and love what we formerly oppos'd But this concourse of the Molinists how supernatural soever it may be is such as may be made use of or not at pleasure Therefore it cannot be taken for the Grace so ardently pray'd for by the Church Perhaps our Adversaries will say That that which the Church asks of God in her prayers is not the ability to do good or that supernatural concourse which is in our power by meanes thereof but that she prayes him to grant her that ability in times places temper of the body and other circumstances of second causes by means of which he foresees that we will freely consent to his Grace And 't is in this temper that they ordinarily place the efficacy of that grace which they hold But if by this manner of speaking they meant nothing else but that the efficacy of Gods grace consists in a certain degree of love towards God that is to say in a charity greater then cupidity by meanes of which God begins to appear to us desirable and good works for his sake so that we take more pleasure in doing what he commands us then in not doing what he forbids us they would agree with us and there would be no longer dispute between us touching this matter For what else is the effectual and medicinal grace of Jesus Christ according to S. Augustin but a victorious pleasure a sweetnesse and ravishment of divine love which surmounts all the allurements of the flesh and an ardor of charity over-mastering and subduing cupidity But because our Adversaries place not the efficacy of Gods grace in the victory of charity over cupidity but in a certain temperament accompany'd with the circumstances above-mention'd whence it follows that such efficacy is still subject to Free-will and that 't is necessary for God first to sound the heart of his creature that he may see what it will do in such circumstances before he ordain any thing of its conversion This is that which we reject and condemn as profane and maintain it to be in no wise that Grace which the Church prayes for For she prayes God to shed into our hearts such charity the delectation whereof surmounts the delectati-of sin she prayes him to fortifie our souls by his H. Spirit and to ground and root us in charity she begs of him such medicinal grace as may heal our infirmities and give us inward strength she prays him to co convert us to him in whatever estate we be either of prosperity or adversity joy or sadnesse she desires of him to give us the strength never to consent to sin by leaving our selves to be overcome by afflictions allurements or threatnings and lastly she prayes to be enaled with great charity and patience to surmount bll the difficulties and accidents which occur in the acourse of our lives What relation M. H. F. have all these things to the Temper or Constitution whereof we speak Do's he who prayes to God in the manner I have set forth believe that his omnipotent vertue and charity cannot operate conversion in mans heart unlesse by causing those circumstances of times and places to meet with the will of man Let them who are of this mind hear what S. Augustin saith Who is so void of sense and so impious as to say that God cannot change the perverse wills of men and convert those to good which he pleases when he pleases and
repentance have not this congruous grace of repentance for if they had they would be effectively turn'd and 't were superfluous to desire God to give it them Therefore all those for whose conversion to God by repentance the Church prays have not all the grace which is necessary to repent How then can it be said that they have a grace perfectly sufficient thereunto Is it not therefore M. H. F. more clear then the day the points of the Molinists doctrine are wholly opposite either to the Catholick faith or to themselves For they must necessarily grant one of these two things either that the Grace which the Church implores for the conversion of sinners is not absolutely necessary for their conversion which is undoubtedly impious and heretical or that sinners have not all the grace which is sufficient for repenting since they have not that which is necessary thereunto In the second place another argument may be drawn from the Churches prayers to show that she implores of God no other grace then that which by its invincible power works in the hearts of men the motion the consent and an actual conversion and which she believes absolutely necessary for producing so saving an effect For when Infidels or sinners withstand God's word she prays for them that they may not resist but consent She prays as S. Augustin saith in the place before alledg'd that they may be so chang'd as to will that which they will'd not to approve that which they disapprov'd to love that which they oppos'd Thence she belives that when they consent not but resist they have not from God the grace which is necessary to consenting which showes that she believes that the necessary Grace is that which surmounts resistance and produces consent which is no other thing then to say that Grace effectual by it self is absolutely necessary Let any Molinist now come to maintain what he cannot deny unlesse he will disclaim all his own principles that an unbeliever and opposer of the Gospel suppose some Jew of this City hath all the grace necessary to believing neverthelesse he must acknowledge that the Church prays for him to the end he may believe What doth she implore for him What grace doth she pray God to grant to this Infidel It cannot be that which is necessary to believing since if it were he should not have all the grace necessary to believing which is contrary to the Hypothesis there being a manifest contradiction between these two contradictories namely that this man hath all the grace necessary to believing and that he wants some grace necessary thereunto Thus it followes from the principles of the Molinists that the Grace which the Church implores for this man is not necessary for him unlesse perhaps to lead him more easily and surely to believeing Whence this argument may be form'd If an Unbeliever who resists the Gospel hath all the Grace which is necessary for him to believe it followes that when the Church prays for him to the end he may be converted to the faith she asks not of God to grant him a Grace which is absolutely necessary for his believing But according to the Molinists an unbeliever who resists the Gospel hath all Grace necessary to his believing Therefore when the Church prays for him that he may be converted to the faith she asks not a grace which is absolutely necessary to his believing You see M. H. F. how the prayers of the Church are destroyed by this means For these two things are perfectly opposite namely that an Infidel who resists the Gospel hath all the grace from God which is necessary for his believing and that neverthelesse the Church desires some grace for him which is necessary thereunto Whence it followes that if an Infidel who resists the Gospel hath all necessary Grace 't is in vain that the Church prays for him or if 't is not in vain then he hath not all the grace necessary to his believing Whereby Y. H. clearly sees that what Molina holds herein is contradictorily opposite to the prayers of the Church and that we have right to say with S. Augustin 'T is then in vain and most unprofitably rather then truly that we addresse prayers to God for them to the end that by believing they may assent to the doctrine which they oppose if 't is not the proper effect of his grace to convert to the faith of his Gospel the wills of men who oppose the same faith But because the Church prays not vainly and unprofitably it followes that the Infidel who resists the Gospel hath not all the Grace which is necessary for him to believe because he hath not the effectual Grace which might cause him to believe Wherefore Grace effectual by it self is that which the Church asks of God and which she believes and maintains to be absolutely necessary to every pious action In the third place M. H. F. this invincible argument may be drawn from the Churches perseverance in prayer When the Church prayes for the conversion of an Infidel to the faith or of a sinner to repentance what ever grace of possibility he may have receiv'd whereby he is able to turn himself but doth not yet the Church never ceases to continue praying to God to convert him and make him embrace repentance and free him from the bonds of the devil till he be converted to God by faith and repentance Therefore what ever Grace of possibility can be fancied yet there is another grace besides which subdues free will to it self which the Church implores of God which gives possibility with effect so as to work consent and which as S. Austin speaks constraines the unbeliever to embrace the faith But 't is this grace which is effectual by it self which who so hath is undoubtedly converted and who so wants is not converted Therefore the grace of faith of repentance which the Church prays for is effectual by it self And because as I have often said already the Church asks no grace of God but what she confesses to be necessary it followes that the Grace which she asks is necessary and effectual by it self This appears clearly by S. Augustin's words in the end of the 107th letter Do you not go about to hinder the Church from praying for Vnbelievers to the end they may become believers from praying for such as will not believe to the end they may be willing to believe from praying for those who contradict her law and doctrine that the may consent to the same and that God would give them as he hath promis'd by the Prophet a heart to know God and ears to hear the receiving of which is denoted by our Savior when he saith He that hath an ear to hear let him hear And when the Lord's Priest being at the Altar you hear him exhort the people to pray to God or pray aloud himself that he would so constrain the Infidels as to make them embrace his H. faith will
I can truly tell you that since our contestations I never found my mind more calm nor offer'd the H. Sacrifice with more quiet and peace of spirit then I have done since the Monday that that news came hither I believe the like of you and our friends whom I salute and embrace with all my heart c. The third was from M. de Sainte Beuve as followes Sir We have had a copy of the Bull by the help of the Bankers And upon good consideration of it we finde that it contains nothing which is not agreeable to our judgements We shall receive it with all submission It cannot be express'd how greatly the Molinists rejoyce but I think their joy would be greater then it is if we were lesse submissive to the Popes Orders That which troubles them amidst their joy is that we do not make lamentations for the condemnation that we say his Holinesse hath done nothing but what we did long ago and that we protest to hold for true henceforth what the Pope hath declar'd such not only because it is so in it self and we accounted it so before but particularly because he hath declar'd it In brief our joy is that we have so perfectly explain'd our minds that none but the blackest malice can accuse us of holding the condemned sense I shall say nothing to you of the Jacobins and the Augustines saving that 't is time that they get the Pope to declare whether he had any intent to lay any blemish upon Effectual Grace S. Thomas and S. Augustin M. Gueffier writes to the Count de Brienne that the Jansenists said they would a a This is a calumny of which M. Gueffier was not the Author but having heard it spoken advertis'd me of it by a common friend appeal to a Council 'T was fit this kindness should be done us to make up the other calumnies Others have said we intended to have recourse to the Parliament which is as false as the former If we meant to recur any whither it should be to the Pope to conjure him to define the Controversie since hitherto he has onely pronounced upon a thing which was out of all contest But his not having done it is a sign that he was unwilling to do it and that it would be in vain for you to sollicite him to it I see nothing therefore that you have to do but to return with the most speed you can and to rest confident that our Lord will alwayes preserve his Truth In whom I am with all my heart c. The fourth was from a Doctor of our Society who alwayes writ to me in Latin and contain'd these words De Bulla cujus hic exempla quaedam vidimus nihil habeo quod dicam donec a vobis aliquid certi acceperim Si vera est optarem vos in Gallia esse Timeo versipelle ferox adversariorum vestrorum ingenium nihil est moderatum apud ipsos forte et Christianum nihil apud multos SS Oraculum veneramur atque ideò apertiùs doceri petebamus Nec unquam dubitavimus quia Propositiones damnari deberent tam malitiosè contextae ut eum qui pessimus est sensum per se ferant Itaque interpretatione egere ultrò concessum est Plura dicere necesse non est Videant Dominicani quo modo se tueantur videant Episcopi quâ ratione compescant in posterum tumentes Jesuitas Videant Christiani universi quomodo a corruptissima morum doctrina caveant quam certè Jesuitae eidem cum Molinismo currui triumphali impositum populis ostentabunt Hoc fulmen Romanum adversus eos ipsos intentatum jam est torquebitur deinceps qui etiam odio habentes Jansenium corruptelam morum usurarium aut simoniacum palpum execrabuntur Accepi M. Nuncium Bullam Regi obtulisse hesterna die c. After our sending word of our last Audience and purpose to return as speedily as we could few Letters were written to us Yet the same Doctor who usually writ to me in Latin by the next Post writ to me in French which he conceiv'd would meet me at Lyons and it here follows The Bull is publish'd here by the Kings Order with much eagernesse The difficulty which long hinder'd the Bull of the Jubilee did not obstruct this and although the Brief bears only Francorum Regi and not Francorum Navarrae yet it was not consider'd for this time that this omission was prejudicial to the Kings Rights but on the contrary it was said That there was nothing in it contrary to the Liberties and I extreamly desire your return c. By the next Post the same friend told me That the Jesuites there made great triumph and their insolencies were so excessive that their own friends blam'd them That their Affiches or Notes containing the Questions to be discuss'd were condemn'd by Councils and by Popes It seems their joy put them out of their wits c. Assoon as the person who writ to us in the name of My Lords the Bishops had receiv'd the Letter which we writ to them from Florence and shewn it to them he return'd an answer upon the 14th of this Month continuing his instances to hasten our return Vpon the receit of his Letter at Venice we resolv'd to depart from thence but the fear of him who writ it least it should miscarry by the way caus'd him to write others to us every week by which he continually press'd us to return I shall insert one here to conclude this Chapter You are desir'd to put your selves upon the way towards France assoon as you receive the present Our friends are so impatient to see you that they suffer very much during your absence We have heard no newes of you these five weeks as for this fortnight I have been in great anxiety but God be thanked your Letters of the 12th have given us ease Have a great care of F. Des-mares and tell him his good friends wait to embrace him and testifie to him the resentments they have of the good services he hath done to Truth Be not melancholly during your Voyage The Constitution has rather made more disciples of S. Augustin then diminisht their number all our enemies are extreamly crank and will make the most they can of the Popes Declaration You did well in speaking to his Holiness as you did in the last Audience and 't is a blessing of God that his Holiness explain'd his mind so Had you been here the Prelates who deputed you would before this time have written a Letter to the Pope to thank him for his Declaration which advantage your delay makes us look upon as afar off Hasten therefore because 't is almost the only consolation which we expect in our present condition although this condition has not chang'd us and we are undaunted as ever I salute all our friends and embrace them a thousand times c. Now what conceit the ablest persons even among