been in continual contention in the Country of Tholouse with those wicked People the Albigensian Hereticks who always abhorr'd and refus'd to receive the Corruptions of the Roman Church as well by preaching disputing and writing of Books as by wonderful Signs and Miracles and now three years and more time was past in great Trouble and Labour but with little Profit The H. Man not being able any longer to endure the great Obstinacy of these Hereticks together with their impious and detestable Blasphemy as 't is call'd against the most immaculate Virgin Mary at length he left them and retir'd to a Cave in a Wilderness not far from thence and there with many Sighs and Tears he applied himself for Aid to the Queen of Heaven most earnestly imploring her Assistance it being her peculiar Work to tread under foot the Head of the cursed Serpent and to destroy and bring to nought all new Sects and Heresies Pretty well here we have ascrib'd to the Virgin in Words what one shall often see in Pictures that is the Victory over the Devil foretold from the beginning of the World and applied by all the primitive Church to Jesus Christ as being meant of him our great and only Redeemer Continuing thus in Prayer and chastening his Body for three days together with Fastings at last the holy mother of God reveal'd her self to him now lying very weak and fainting under the Blows of Iron Chains and to him she said My Son Dominick because you have very faithfully strove against the Enemies of me and of the Truth I whom you have call'd to am ready to give you my Assistance She had not sooner said this but behold three Maids appear'd of most wonderful Beauty who having rais'd up Dominick from lying flat upon the Earth they set him before Mary she then most lovingly embrac'd and kiss'd him and making bare her Virgin Breasts she gave him suck poor Fool thus comforting his sinking thirsty Heart with this most delicious Draught Then she spoke to him again saying My faithful Friend Dominick know you not what Instruments God hath been wont to make use of when he would reform and renew the World Upon which he made answer Oh gracious Mother you know that better than I do for the World through you hath obtain'd its Salvation through you is the beginning of all our Redemption and Renovation Mary then smiling upon him a foolish Coquette indeed would be likely to do so when she had been prodigiously flatter'd and a fond Admirer had ascrib'd to her what were infinitely above her Merits she said God that he might take away all Wickedness hath chosen no other Instrument but only the Angelick Psalter the which is the Foundation of the whole New Testament If therefore you design ever to do any good with your Preaching do you recommend and preach up my Psalter and in a little time this evil shall come to an end After this Mary proceeded largely to explain and show the manner how to read the Psalter or her Rosary relating also to him the Excellency of the same and the Profitableness of it with the Virtue and wonderous Power of it In fine she gave Dominick a Charge that he should strait-way repair to Tholouse and there press and urge the same admonishing him to be of good Courage But the Holy Man foreseeing great difficulty for by reason of the Rage of Heresie he saw no means to fulfill this Charge he fell again at the feet of Mary and answer'd thus Oh most Dear Mother You know how obstinate and stiff-necked this People are How can it be that they should suffer me to preach before them You know how many and subtle designs they contrive against me How is it possible that I should discharge my self of this task and preach to them your Rosary Upon which Mary said Do not trouble your self for this but go boldly into the City of Tholouse and commit the rest to me I will certainly cause that great numbers of People shall come to hear your Sermons and whether they be pleas'd or displeas'd they shall be forc'd to hear you Which when she had said Mary vanish'd The Holy Father Dominick went strait way to Tholouse when he came thither all the Bells of the City began to ring of themselves the People hereupon in Multitudes ran to the Church and found there Dominick who was ready for them mounted into the Pulpit With wondrous Earnestness and Zeal he begins to hold forth to them the Praises and Excellencies of the H. Rosary The Hereticks immediately set themselves to oppose him some began to go out of the Church others to cry out and make a Tumult When behold on a sudden there arose so terrible a Storm with Wind and Thunder and Lightning and the Sky grew so dismal dark and to all this there was added such a mighty Earthquake that one would have thought the whole World were falling to Ruine Upon this no Person durst venture himself out of the Church for they might be sure that if the World should fall to Ruines the Church would not come upon their Heads Dominick however went on vigorously with his Sermon when behold there were heard in the Air the hideous howlings of Infernal Spirits shrieking and crying out Wo Wo be to us for we through the power of the H. Rosary are by the Angels bound in red hot Chains and thrown down to the depth of Hell Neither was this all for there was seen by all Persons notwithstanding the darkness a wooden Image of Mary standing on high which reach'd out the Arm and threatned them with the Finger as if she would have said If it be so that ye will not hear this my Servant nor will be brought to Reverence my Rosary which he holds forth you are all of you undone ye shall utterly perish Through these terrible Menaces and evident Miracles the hardned Hearts of the People of Tholouse coming to Repentance they entreated the H. Man that he would intercede with the Holy Virgin Mary for them And strait-way throwing themselves all together upon the Ground and wringing their Hands they besought the Favour of God and Mary with Sighs and Tears that cannot be express'd Mary then gave ear to their Prayer and did immediately for a Token of her Mercy draw to her self again her threatning Arm so as that every one there present could see it done And at the self same time did all the stormy and tempestuous Weather cease and turn into a Calm Upon this did the Holy Dominick proceed in his Discourse with greater Zeal than before and heâ—d forth mightily concerning the Excellency of the H. Rosary the profitableness of the same the power of it and the manner of Reading it A very pretty Story this for the Chimney-corner and a Winters Night with Ale and Apples and extreamly credible for all these mighty matters of Fact were forgotten and the Devotion of the Rosary fallen again under neglect when a good
value themselves And to this purpose in their Acta Sanctorum they criticize upon them For which boldness the Carmes set to work and us'd their Interest so well in Spain that they got this Book condemn'd at Toledo by the Inquisition under a great many odious Epithets and burnt in publick by their Officer in the Year 1696. They are also hard at work to get it condemned at Rome and the Jesuites are labouring to prevent this The Carmes have not been able as yet to gain that point but they have perswaded the Pope to give them a Testimony of his Esteem and Favour and to do something to support their Esteem among the People Accordingly he has this Year granted to the general Chapter of these Carmes expressly for promoting their good success and the encrease of their Order as well as for the greater Glory of God and the Salvation of Men a Plenary Indulgence to all that shall visit their Churches upon the Feast of the Ascension of our Saviour and from thence to Whit-Sunday inclusively to be present at such and such Devotions specified The time that we came to Antwerp was within that compass and the place of our Lodging on the Mere being over against one entrance to their Church we could observe a great many People hasting in thither This drew us thither too believing there was something extraordinary and coming we found by printed Papers posted up as is usual that this was the occasion of the Concourse It was I think the time of Compline as they call it which is the last Office of the Day They commonly begin and end this Service on Festival-times as this was with the Benediction of the Holy Sacrament which is thus perform'd The Priest brings it out in a rich Benediction Remonstranter at the beginning and very gravely holding it before him turns himself a little successively towards both sides of the Chappel and so shews it to the People who all prostrate themselves and adore it This done he sets it up in a place fitted for it on the Altar and when the Office is done this formality is repeated again This they call the Benediction and those who cannot be present at the whole Service will sometimes make great haste to secure the Felicity of the Benediction at the end which they are warn'd of by a Bell as I now observ'd We saw now the Church-Yard which is not a small one full of Coaches and the large Church throng'd with People And three of their Priests were at the High Altar in very rich Copes which seem'd at a distance to be Cloth of Silver with a great deal of Embroidery upon them in Gold and Silver But as is usual with Copes this Embroidery was some of it perhaps laid on in the form of a Cross which reaches from the top to the bottom and from one side to the other of the Cope behind for these good Men are proud of bearing the Cross after Christ I fancy such a Cross as this would not be either to the Jews a stumbling Block or to the Greeks Foolishness tho' the Cross of Christ was so This is their Cross indeed and in hot weather somewhat a heavy one alas but little a-kin after all to the Cross of Christ These People have here on the North side of the Quire a pretty close Chappel dedicated to the Virgin Mary the Floor the Walls and the Arch'd Roof are all Marble the Floor black and white and the rest white On the Wall upon the Right-hand as one goes in there are two pieces of very curious carv'd Work in two Pannels as I may speak of the Marble the one is a Prospect of the City of Antwerp The other is an Army rang'd in its feveral Battalions of Horse and Foot where ones sees the Men and the Horses of the several Bodies distinctly cut In this Chappel over the Altar there stands an Image of the Virgin Mary crown'd as tall I believe as a Child of two Years old with a Child in her Arms and these seem'd and the Monk told us they are Massy Silver They shew too a small Effigies of a Man in a Coffin with the Scapular on to be sure in which it must be supposed he died and was buried that he might assuredly be sav'd This is said to be the Man who erected this Chappel he was as I rember a rich Merchant of Antwerp But let us return to the Indulgences so often Indulgences mention'd which the poor People so eagerly run after and consider them a little upon this Occasion once for all that we may understand the Reason and Use and the Cheat of them Indulgences are the great Manufacture as we may say of the Roman Church that which supports their Trade and brings in their Wealth That which gathers and binds together the Fraternities who at their charge erect beautifie and maintain some Altars and Chappels and the worship of some particular Saints is that several Indulgences are granted to that Fraternity to be obtain'd at those Altars and Chappels That which draws the multitude to Church to be present at a Mass and other Devotions on their numerous Holidays is the grant of Indulgences to be obtain'd there at those times When any Church or Chappel wants repairing begins to be deserted or wants more Finery and Riches new Indulgences are granted to those that shall come to Mass at that Altar or Chappel When the Pope has a mind to favour any knot of Secular Priests or any Religious Order he grants them some new Indulgences to be obtain'd by those who shall come to hear them say Mass at certain appointed times at their Churches or Chappels But whatever other Preparation they have or want in order to partake of these Benefits they must not think to do it without an Offering So the Indulgences bring People the People bring Money and Money answers all things with them This is the real Use and Design of these things they are very profitable to the Priests but let us see what an Advantage they are pretended to be to the People and how groundless and false that Pretence is and how the real Cheat of all may be discover'd We shall strictly follow the Bishop of Meaux in taking an Account of the Doctrine of Indulgences whose Expositions are become Oracles in the Church of Rome He puts his Account of their Doctrine of Satisfaction for Sin and of Purgatory and of Indulgences together And indeed they are all as well as they can be joyn'd together in the Doctrine of that Church The Catholicks saies he meaning the Church of Rome do with one Consent teach That Jesus Christ alone God and Man was capable by the infinite Dignity of his Person to offer to God a Satisfaction sufficient for our Sins But he having superabundantly satisfied could apply that his infinite Satisfaction to us in these two different manners Either he could give us an entire Discharge without the Reserve of any Pain
We saw here also a Book of a small Quarto size with I believe about Forty Leaves in it or more of Chiness Writing It was a large black Character but made very distinct and clear Some of the Characters had about them a great many Lines and some Points I suppose each Character stood for a Word for they were set equally distant from one another They were extreamly various yet some we could observe were often repeated The Lines went from the top to the bottom of the Leaf and between every Two Lines of Characters there was drawn a small Line of Ink. The Paper was very thin somewhat brownish soft as Silk The Characters though very black and written on both sides the Leaf did not confound one another He said that none of their Fellows in this House could understand it I was sorry that I could not He did not offer to shew us the Chapel or any other part of the House and so we did not ask for it They have he said in this House between Three and Fourscore Students and all of them English except Two or Three who are of that Country Their present Rector he said is one Mr. Cullison a Lancashire-man who upon his Profession chang'd his Name into Parker These People are well belov'd in this Place and â— Gentleman of the Princes Court gave them the Character of very good Folks Another Gentleman told us that there are some Congregations of Protestants or Lutherans in this City who are tolerated here as the Papists are in Holland He told us this as a Reproach to us for our Cruelty to them in England as we are represented in this Country For we found every Body from Brussels hither that we talk'd with possess'd with this that there were a multitude of Papists in England but now by a new Law made since the Peace the King has banish'd them all from thence and will not suffer any of them to stay upon Penalty of forferting their Lives if they are found there I inform'd this Gentleman as I had done others that this was but a false Report and a malicious Slander that we have indeed but few of that Religion in England but those of them that will live quietly might do so and that there is no new Law in England made to banish any Persons but such as have been in Correspondence during the War with the Enemies of their Country and that this reaches any others as well as Papists who have been found thus guilty With this they seem'd to be satisfied I confess'd to several that there is a Law this Year made in Ireland to banish thence all the Monks and Friars but the Secular Priests of their Religion I told them are tolerated there This no Body found fault with for indeed all sensible People among them look upon those Societies as so many Companies of useless Drones and a Burden to the rest of the World Passage from Liege to Aix la Chapelle WE had found the Passage up the Maese so tedious in coming up hither and knew the River to be still extreamly swell'd by more Rain that we laid aside the Thoughts of going to Namur and resolv'd to cross the Country to Colen and in our way to see Aix la Chapelle There are no fixed Carriages here for Aix tho' this was the time of Concourse to those Baths We were directed to the Water-side near the Bridge to the Wyke where there stand Foremen ready to be hired who are notorious by their blue Frocks We found if we would have a Charrette for us two the lowest Price must be three Pattacoons which is four Guilders four Stivers but if we had any Company tho' it were but one Person more we might go for a Pattacoon each Person and this was the lowest Price for each that would be taken if the Company were more If the Company does not exceed four Persons they will put but one Horse in the Charrette if there be six they will put in two if eight Persons three Horses and so many is the most these Chariots will hold Our Foreman or Charioteer had muster'd together six Persons and so put into the Chariot two good stout Horses We left Liege about seven a Clock in the Morning and travel'd the first two Hours in a Valley full of Villages and Houses along the way on the same side of the River that Liege mostly stands on that is the West side This Valley was not very broad between the River and the Hills The Hills were planted with Vineyards and the Valley had abundance of Hop-grounds and great Orchards in it and Gardens and fields and Pasture-grounds every thing look'd as if the Soil were very rich and good About an Hour after we came from Liege we were in with a large scattering Village call'd Herstal A Burgher of Liege Herstal in our Company told us that the Prince of Orange our King is Owner of this Place and that he has lately given the People leave upon their Request to build them a Town-House This Town lies upon the Maese and may conveniently manage some Trade This Place was famous in the History of France under the second Race of their Kings It has been call'd by some Heristel by others Heristal It is from hence that Pepin Master of the Palace and Father of Charles Martel a Prince of the Franks had the Sirname of Heristal Some think that Pepin King of France was born here 'T is certain that Prince pleased himself so much in this Place that he caused a very magnificent Palace to be built here wherein he made his Abode very often Many of his Successors enjoy'd it a long time after as appears by Charters and Grants dated from this Place One in particular is mention'd of Charles the Simple which takes notice that this King was in Possession of it But it was afterward destroy'd by the Normans and since that the Place is become but a mean Village and has no Remainders of any former Greatness The Church we saw look'd in a good Condition on the out-side it is a losty and great Building We pass'd through the Place without stopping and so could see nothing but what was in our way We went on still on this side the River till we came almost over-against the upper end of Viset or Weset where we were to cross the Maese We came to a Village where there are several Stores of Timber and many People employ'd in building Merchant-Vessels for this River We crossed the Maese here with our Charrette after a manner that was absolutely new to us They had a long narrow Boat call'd a Naken the ends of it were just alike A Naken and tapering somewhat but not to a point the breadth in the middle part is just enough for a good large Horse to stand across it They took our Horses out of the Charretre and thrust it down to the Water then the Boat was push'd with one end ashoar where it
Coats was almost hid with the broad Silver Lace laid upon it The Cloathing of the Kettle-Drums as I remember is Cloth of Silver a deep Fringe of Gold and Silver went round the Drum at the top and a lesser one round about the edge of the Cloathing I never saw any thing of the kind so fine as these all were And this is a particular Affectation of this Prince The reigning Religion here is the Popish Popish Religion here and the Papists are in Possession of the publick Churches We went into some of their Churches and saw nothing in them very fine nor any thing peculiar or worth taking notice of In the Yard belonging to the great Church stand Three Crucfixes with Bodies on them as big as the Life to represent the Crucifixion of our Saviour between Two Thieves There is a large Penthouse over them By the side of another Church we saw the same Representation To these many People in passing by paid a profound Respect but without a distinct Interpretation of these Books the People must be liable to pay the same Respect to those which represent the Thieves as to that which is design'd for our Saviour so that in these Books there are certainly some things as dangerous and as liable to betray People into damnable Error and mortal Sin as are pretended to be in Scripture If that be then an Argument for taking the Scripture out of the Peoples Handâ— it is an Argument for taking their extravagant Pictures and Images out of their Sight Or if any Preference may be allow'd of the Ordinance of Jesus Christ himself before that of his Pretended Vicar the Scriptures should be given to the People and this sort of Books taken away because Christ has given the Holy Scripture for their Instruction and only the Pretended Vicar has instituted these When we came to the City after we were enter'd within the new Ditch we saw several of those little Oratories or Chappels mention'd before standing about in the Fields in each of which is an Altar and Image and for the most part of the Virgin Mary Among the Papists in these Parts the Controversie is now hotly pursued about the Immaculate Conception Immaculate Conception of the Bâ—essed Virgin of the Virgin Mary the head Managers of which are the Franciscanâ— and the Do minicans This has been a long Controversie in the Church of Rome and is likely to continue for both Sides pretend to Miracles Visions and Revelations to confirm their Opinion yea both Sides have drawn the Blessed Virgin to testifie for them and so against her self Besides the infallible Guide of the Church cannot tell what to do in this Case and Bishop Meaux says The Church has not yet defin'd whether the Virgin was born in Original Sin or not The contending Parties are indeed so hot upon their Opinion that they would either of 'em be apt to despise the Pope's Authority if he should venture to decide The Pope's Authority is for a Scare-crow set up against the Protestants but upon Occasion the Papists can make little account of it themselves as Scare-crows are never wont to fright them that set them up Bishop Meaux says 'T is neither Heresie nor mortal Sin not to believe the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin and yet he says 't is Pious to believe it But if this be Pious surely the contrary must be impious If any Proposition be true the direct and full Contradiction to it must needs be false and if any Opinion be pious another which fully contradicts it must deserve a contrary Character and consequently be accounted impious Such poor Shifts is tâ—is shuffling Expounder of the Church of Rome put to that he may render its Doctrines and Practices plausible There are in this City Two Congregations of the Reformed Religion the one Calvinist the other Protestant or Lutheran We spent Lutherans here the Morning of the Lord's-Day in the Protestant Congregation They have not a very large Church but it was well fill'd It stands a little inward from the Street I think they call their People together by a Bell. The Place is Oblong with the Altar or Communion-Table at the East end and a good Gallery over the Entrance at the West end Above that is a little Gallery set up for a small Organ that they might lose no Room by it The Church was very neat but not fine There were but Three distinct Pictures in it and all very free from Popery or Superstition On the South Wall hung a Picture of Moses holding the Two Tables of Stone on which there was only a Scrawl to represent the Writing of the Ten Commandments The Communion-Table was large and very high It stood against the Wall upon a flat of Boards raised a little Step above the Stone Floor of the Church and which goes out at a good distance from the Table Over this Communion-Table or Altar is a good Picture which represents our Blessed Saviour in his Agony in the Garden with an Angel come to encourage him There are Three of the Apostles asleep not far from him and at a distance the tops of the Torches of those who are coming to apprehend him appear from behind a Hill The History is well represented Behind the Picture of our Saviour are black Clouds well drawn and amidst them appears a bright round thing which looks almost as if they design'd to represent the Sun veil'd with these Clouds but it being a Night Piece it must be understood as it is intended to represent the Wafer which they give and receive in celebrating the Sacrament of the Lord's-Supper for they administer the Bread in that Form Over this great Piece of Painting is another lesser one which represents our Saviour with a Glory about him as rising from the dead and treading upon a Dragon to signifie that he had now overcome Death and him that had the Power of Death as the Scripture speaks that is the Devil This is a fit Representation of our Saviour but it is an impudent Blasphemy to attribute this to the Virgin Mary as the Papists do in Pictures and Images of her with which I have often seen a Snake or Dragon put under her Feet as dead The Pillars on each side of these Pictures were wreath'd their Chappiters handsomely carv'd all the Work is very neat and decent but the matter is not Marble but Wood painted in Imitation of Marble some of black and some of white Marble streak'd and it is very well done The Altar or Communion-Table was cover'd with a large Velvet Cloth which reach'd to the Ground of a deep blew Colour Before the Worship began I had time to see what Books lay at the Reading Desk and at the Desks of the People The Reader had before him a great Folio Bible in High Dutch and another Book in Folio which had for its General Title Spiritual Songs I look'd into it and observ'd there the Book of Psalms and other of the
Government under which they hâ—d grown rich and flourish'd pull'd upon themselves their own Ruine by altering it and became intolerable to one another The City had utterly sunk by this means and made it self an heap of Rubbish if the Prince had not setled here an University which together with some little Linen-Trade is the present Suppott of it It is still as it has been formerly the Head-City of one of the Quarters of Brabant The University was erected here by John University Duke of Brabant in concurrence with Pope Martin the V. whose Bull to establish it bears date 1425. The Jurisdiction over all the Members of the University in all Causes Civil and Criminal and over all Persons whether Clergy or Laity was thereby given to the Rector for the time being and it was yielded by all Parties even by the Prince himself The Rector is chosen every six Months by the Academical Senate and out of their own number This Senate is made up of the Professors and the Presidents of the Colleges The University is also encourag'd with many other considerable Privileges granted to the Professors and Students The Schools for publick Exercises are in a large Stone Building not far from St Peter's Church At the ground there is a Room which takes up the greatest part I think of the bottom wherein they hold publick Feasts upon occasion Over it is a stone Arch supported with some very great Pillars We went up stairs to see the Rooms call'd the Schools they look the most of them as unfinisht they are all large Rooms and very high for I think there is nothing over them Those which are handsomest and seem'd finish'd are the Schools for Divinity and for Canon Law They have seats against the Wall and are wainscoated to a good height This House in the time when the City flourish'd in Trade was built by the City as the Hall of the Woollen Manufactory it was finish'd in the year 1317. They had a beginning of a publick Library given them by Laurentius Beyerlinck about the year 1627. to which some additions have since been made but I doubt it is in no very good Condition and therefore was not shown to us Pope Martin in his Bull of Establishment gave Faculty of Theology a general liberty for all other sorts of Studies but excepted that of Divinity This also was granted 5 years after the Establishment of the University by Pope Eugenius the IV. Upon the earnest Application of Philip sirnam'd the Good Duke of Burgundy and Brabant and of the Senate and People of Louvain and also of Erard de Marca Cardinal who was then Bishop and Prince of Leige for this City was then in Ecclesiastical Matters subject to that Bishop as it is now to the Archbishop of Mechlin He gave liberty for studying Divinity there and that the degree of Master should be conferr'd upon those who had perform'd a due course of study and should be judg'd qualified for it by the President and Dean of the Faculty or any that should be deputed by them And then being Masters they had liberty themselves also to read and teach Divinity this Bull was sign'd and seal'd on the Nones of March in the year 1431. the day which is the Festival of St. Thomas Aquinas call'd the Angelical Doctor whom the School of Divinity here respect as their Patron This Liberty was no sooner granted but they fell earnestly to work in the study of Divinity and made St. Augustine principally with St. Thomas their Rule in stating all Matters After some Deliberations among those who had obtain'd this Liberty about the setling a certain stipend for the Professors of Divinity it was determin'd by a Bull of Pope Eugenius aforesaid in the year 1443. upon the desire of Duke Philip and the Burgomasters of the Town and other Rectors of the University That there should be annexed and incorporated to Academical Professions 3 Prebends or Canonicates of the Church of St. Peter together with the Plebania or Parochial Cure of the same two of which Prebends with the Plebany were disposed to the 3 ordinary Professors of Divinity the 3d to the ordinary Professor of the Canon Law Afterwards Charles the V. Emperor in the year 1546. augmented the School of Divinity with two daily and perpetual Lectures the one to be upon the Holy Scripture for Explication of that the other to be Scholastical upon the Master of the Sentences and he endowed each with a Sallary of 200 Florins a year The Lecture upon the Holy Scripture was first committed to John Leonard de Hasselt to him succeeded Michael Baius who is reckon'd the Father of those who have reviv'd the Doctrine of St. Augustine in the Church of Rome against the Pelagianism which it was running into especially by the Writings of the new Order of the Jesuits To him succeeded Jacobus Jansonius Jacobus Stapletonus Joannes Paludanus Cornelius Jansenius who died Bishop of Ypres This is he from whom the followers of St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas are nicknam'd Jansenists He that he might be sure to represent exactly true the Doctrine of St. Augustine read his Works over as he says ten times as he did this he gather'd out of him all that related to his Controversies with the Pelagians of his time and all his Doctrine concerning the Grace of God and his Gratuitous Election he then digested his Collections into a Method and wrote from them a large Book which he call'd Augustinus When he had finish'd it he died but left it as his Will to his Executors that it should be printed which was done accordingly This Book has been and is still receiv'd by many as containing and representing rightly the true Doctrine of St. Augustine and these are loaded with the Odious Name of Jansenists For the Jesuits and their Party have got that Book condemn'd and prohibited having as they pretend found in it 5 Propositions which are Heretiâ—al And that they might the more effectually find out and oppress all who favour the Opinions and Sentiments of St. Augustine they have obtain'd of the Court of Rome a form of an Oath or Test which they oblige all the Clergy to take who are admitted to any Benefice wherein they must condemn those Propositions as taken out of Jansenius's Book and in the sence where in he understood and used them as Heretical The form of the Oath as it was fram'd and establish'd by Alexander the VII Pope of Rome runs thus I N. N. submit my self to the Apostolick Constitutions of the most High Bishops Innocent X. dated the 31st of May 1653 and of Alexander VII dated the 16th of October 1656 and do with a sincere mind renounce and swear that I renounce and condemn the Five Propositions drawn out of the Book of Cornelius Jansenius Intituled Augustinus and in the sence of them intended by the Author as the Apostolick Chair has condemn'd them by the aforesaid Constitutions This Constitution has occasion'd a
great deal of Controversie which has run among the Divines of France and of the Lower Germany chiefly in which many bold Enquiries have been made into the Extent at least of the Pope's Infallibility and both that and his Supremacy have been very familiarly treated and shaken and have certainly suffer'd more from the Excesses of some who have set themselves extravagantly to advance them than from the others who would bring them nearer to Truth and Justice It would be too long a Digression here to give a particular Account of the state of this Controversie and therefore I shall lay it aside for the present Yet I shall not wholly pass over the People Jansenists call'd Jansenists who are said to be very numerous in all the Lower Germany they commonly go among the People under the name of the good Party and if some things be true of them which the Adverse faction in the Church of Rome lay to their Charge they deserve that name I shall take notice of some things laid to their charge by their Enemies and tho' this may be reckon'd very improper in most cases yet I reckon theirs will bear it because their Enemies say many good things of them and such as if they are not true one would wish they were and indeed they disparage themselves and truly recommend these People while they lay such things to their charge as faults and as matter of Accusation I take care in all the accounts I give of things in this relation to produce nothing but what is Authentick and therefore I shall derive my Account of these People chiefly from the Complaints which the Arch-Bishop of Mechlin has made of them in his Pastoral Letter dated October the 12th 1692. He therein lays to their charge that they opine and speak with too little respect of the Authority of the Pope of Rome that they despise the Church of their own Time and cry up the Ancient and Primitive state of Christianity That they are for correcting and rectifying the Ecclesiastical Discipline of the present Times That they set themselves against the Religious Families that is the several Orders of Monks those useless drones that live in ease and plenty upon specious cheats that they reproach and calumniate these good People and seek to suppress them They are blam'd by him for making it a solemn and serious matter to come to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper and for urgeing that People must come with minds purified from worldly and carnal affections and for insisting upon a true repentance and amendment of Lise as necessary to the obtaining Absolution And it is reckon'd a mighty fault that they obliquely strike at the Worship of the B. Virgin that they beat down the Esteem and Veneratiof Images that they ridicule the Peregrinations and Pilgrimages which are vow'd and made to them They are blam'd for that they condemn the Pioâ—s Assemblies and Fraternities which are erected in Honour of the Virgin Mary either in private Discourses or in books Printed without the Authors names Yea some he says are grown to that degree of Impudence that they despise as of no value the merits of Christ and the Saints as dispensed and communicated by the Pope of Rome who he says is the grand Treasurer of these things meaning hereby the cheat of Indulgences and that they condemn as superstitious and vain all that trust and confidence which the Christian People justly as he says place in them And those have been found he says Oh horrid Crime who have reflected upon the usual Sacrifices or Masses of Catholicks for the relief of the Dead as if the Priests that say them have more comfort and benefit from them than any Souls in Purgatory The consequence of these things he says is that the Common People do many of them forsake the customs of their Fathers grow fond of Novelties and many others hang in doubt and suspence what they should do That is whether they should reform in matters that need to be reform'd or go on still in all their old Superstitions and Idolatries Such divisions too there are among all sorts of People upon these matters that he fears a Schism he says and that at length some will shake off the bridle of Obedience and rend the seamless Coat of Christ in pieces Thus he does as his Fore-fathers were wont to do that is call a necessary Separation from a corrupt and wicked Communion Schism and by him too shall Reformation be adjudg'd Heresie but there is a God that sees and knows all things who will judge the World in righteousness at last and give to every thing its right Name and Character to whose righteous Judgment we appeal against the Haughty and unjust Accusations of Rome I have met with a further account of these Jansenists as spread within the Dominions of the States General of the United Provinces some particulars of which I thâ—â—k it worth while to produce because they do agree with what has been said of them already tho I cannot pretend it to be so Authentick as the former for it evidenâ—ly betrays it self to have been forg'd among the Jesuits whom honest People one never knows when to believe It speaks out fully the old spite of that Order against the University of Louvain and Mr. Anthony Arnauld the famous Doctor of the Sorbonne and their terrible Scourge It imputes Jansenism to the generality of the Secular Priests within the Dominion of the States General of the Vnited Provinces whom the Author represents to be in great numbers spread about and fixed in Parochial Cures in those Provinces These he makes to have been infected with this feign'd Heresie by vertue of their being bred in that wicked place the University of Louvain and partly by the influence which Mr. Arnauld aforesaid had for a long time in these Countries whom he will have to have liv'd at Delft during the time of his retirement which was for several Years to avoid the malice of these Fathers till he died And I may add that his Friends have as yet thought fit to conceal the place of his Burial left the dead body should feel the furious vengeance of the implacable Society of Jesus This Author imputes to these Jansenists in Holland that they hold and teach all the extremity of the Predestinarian Doctrine in all the enormity and absurdity of it but this one cannot justly believe of them as well because they constantly disown and reject all that as because the Calvinists of these Countries fall foul upon them on the other side and have treated them very rudely and ill because they will not explain the Points belonging to that Controversie just as they do That which I design especially to take notice of is the Noveltiesm practice which they are said to introduce among the Papists in these Countries There are 't is said many of these Priests who regard as null and invalid the Confessions made to any of the Religious Orders and