I have said of the two first in the Advertisement of the 5 Tom. p. I did not mean of all Penitentials nor of all Casuists acknowledging that there are of them who are profitable and good As also when I said in my answer to the Remarks that Scholastick Divines would forget nothing of all that might have a reference to their Metaphysical Questions whereas these good Divines c. I intended not here to oppose good Divines to good Scholasticks but only to those Scholasticks who insist too much upon subtile Questions and Logical Difficulties without applying themselves to the Study of the Scriptures and Tradition acknowlegding that there are good Scholastick Divines and that this Science is useful When I said that St. Thomas quoted Fathers carelesly and with little Judgment I intended only that this Saint as well as many Writers of his time did not quote the Authors with any critical exactness which was the Effect of the Age he lived in rather than a personal Fault IX As to the Ninth Article which concerns the Extracts I have given of Authors it is true that I have not set my self sufficiently to distinguish what is good from what is amiss in them nor to answer the difficult Passages for enabling the Readers how to guard themselves X. As to the Tenth Article which concerneth Critical Questions I own that we ought to regard the Apostles Creed as a formulary of Faith drawn up by them as to the Substance tho' some Terms were not the same in all Churches And as to the Institution of Lent that we ought to say with St. Leo St. Jerom and other Fathers that it is of Apostolical Institution and that the Passages which I have related do not prove the contrary XI As to the Eleventh Article which concerneth Miracles Revelations Apparitions and pious Practices when I said that â—t was surprising that Eusebius never spoke of the Invention of the Cross I did not intend by this to call in question this Matter of Fact which is attested by contemporary Authors nor to doubt of the Miracles which they have related of which I ought to have spoken more confidently than I have done Tom. 2. Part. 1 p. 〈◊〉 as well as of the Revelation made to St. Cyprian to retire Tom. 1. p. 〈◊〉 And of the Miracle of Healing of Leo III. related by Anastasius the Library Keeper Tom. 5. â— Speaking of the Wax Candles which they light in honour of the Martyrs and relating a passage of St. Jerom Tom. 3. Part 1. p. When I remarked That in the times of this Father it was not the custom to light them at Noon I intended not to blame the present Custom of the Church nor to take from it the Authority which it hath from Antiquity It must be added that St. Jerom does not condemn those who lighted Wax Candles at Noon out of Devotion and he testifies that they did it in the East in all Churches while the Gospel was a reading XII Finally As to the last Head which concerneth some passages where I seem not to have comprehended the Sense of the Authors I make no difficulty of acknowledging that this may have happened many times it being very hard not to be deceived in so great a Work and to keep always an equal application in reading so many great Volumes But as I have only done it through inadvertency so I shall be always obliged to those who will advertise me of it and be ready to set me right In particular I do acknowledg that Tom. 3. Part 2. p. 52. I have ill understood the Sentiment of Philostorgius on the Second Book of Maccabees who doth not say that it is of less Authority than the First but of another Author That Hipatius doth not say in the Conference with the Severians That we must not regulate our selves by what every Apostle hath Written and Practised concerning the Observation of Legal Ceremonies but only by what every one hath Practised That the passage of Cassian related Tom. 3. Part 2. p. 13 should not be understood of the Law and Obligation to observe Lent but of the Reason of its Institution That St. Jerom said not in the one hundred and twenty ninth Letter That some Churches both Greek and Latin received not the Epistle to the Hebrews nor the Revelation but only that some Latin Churches did not receive the Epistle to the Hebrews no more than some Greek Churches the Revelation notwithstanding that it is authorized by the Testimony of the Antients and after this manner the Extract of that Letter must be rectified p. Tom. 3. Part 1. Behold the principal things which have been observed to me if there be yet any other thing in my Works which causes any difficulty I shall he always ready to clear it to change it to correct it and even to revoke it if need be my only design in Writing being to seek the Truth and to Edifie the Church I acknowledge with St. Augustin that it is a great favour which God doth to Authors when he giveth them the means of rendering their Works more learned and more exact by the Censures of those who read them and examin them and I do very readily apply to my self these words Ego autem cum per eos qui meos labores legunt non solum doctior verumetiam emendatior fio propitium mihi Deum agnosco hoc per Ecclesiae Doctores maxime expecto si in ipsorum manus venit dignanturque nosse quod scribo St. Aug. De dono Pers circa finem But I do consider it as the greatest happiness which could befal me to have for my Judge the most able and learned Prelate of the Kingdom to whose Judgment I shall ever think it my glory to submit as I am obliged to it without Restriction and without Reservation Signed L' Ellies Du Pin with his own Hond By Monseigneur Wilbault An Extract out of the Registers of the Parliament of Paris Saturday April 25. 1693. THIS day the Kings Council entered the Court and by Monsieur Chrestien Francois de la Moignon Advocate to our Lord the King did acquaint them that they thought it was their Duty to inform them that the Archbishop of Paris had lately Condemned a Book Entituled Novelle Bibliotheque des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques written by Monsieur Ellies Du Pin Doctor in Divinity of the Faculty of Paris because it contained Propositions contrary to sound Doctrin That the Cognizance of every thing that relates to the Faith belonging to the Church and the decision of these Matters to the Bishops within their respective Diocese The suppression of the Books which they Condemn and the afflictive punishment of those who persist in Opinions which haue been Censured by the Bishops belongs to the King's Officers and chiefly to this Court which is the Depository of Sovereign Justice That they had nothing to object against the Author of this Book because he has submitted himself to the Judgment of
his Bishop and because it appears by a Writing which he has published that he has retracted some of those Propositions which had advanced and explained the rest in such a manner as frees them from all suspition of Error that they are willing to believe that the Faults which Monsieur Ellies Du Pin fell into and which deserved the Censure pronounced against him proceeded rather from the greatness of the Work which he undertook than from any formed design of introducing new Opinions and besides that there is a great deal of Learning in his Books That they were obliged to take notice to this Court upon this occasion of the care the application and vigilauce which Monsieur the Archbishop of Paris shews to preserve sound Doctrine in his Diocese and to stiffle every thing in the beginning which may disturb the Peace and Tranquility of the Church And therefore that they could omit nothing in those Stations in which they had the Honour to be placed that was necessary to second such good Designs upon which account they were obliged to demand of this Court that those Books which the Archbishop had condemned might be suppressed and that all Booksellers should be forbidden to sell them till they shall be Corrected according to the Writing of the said Du Pin annexed to Monsieur the Archbishop's Censure and that the Corrections shall have been approved by him The King 's Learned Council withdrawing the Matter was taken into deliberation and the Court did forbid all Booksellers and others to sell or keep by them any Copies of the said Books which have hitherto been Printed And it was ordered that they should be brought forthwith into the Office of this Court to be suppressed with very express Prohibitions to all Persons to Reprint that Book in any manner whatsoever for the time to come without the Advice and Consent of the Archbishop of Paris Given by the Parliament of Paris the 25. of April 1693. Signed Dongois with his Seal FINIS BOOKS Printed for Charles Brome 1696. SOngs and Airs set by Dr. Blow Mr. Henry Pursel Mr. James Hart Mr. William Turner Mr. Mich. Wise and several other Eminent Masters Octavo New Lessons for Viols or Violins by sundry Composers of Musick Octavo The Snake in the Grass or Satan transformed to an Angel of Light discovering the deep and unsuspected Subtilties of the Quakers Octavo The Case of the Quakers relating to Oaths stated price 6 d. Quarto The Fundamental Charter of Presbytery as it has been lately Established in the Kingdom of Scotland examined and disproved by the History Records and publick Transactions of that Nation Octavo A Geographical Dictionary in Folio Price 12 s. The plain dealing Poulterer or the Poulterer's Shop opened with all sorts of Ware Price 4 d. Bishop Ken's Letter concerning Lent Price 1 d. Manual of Prayers for Winchester-College with his Hymns at the end of it Price 1 s. 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THE CONDEMNATION OF Monsieur Du PIN HIS HISTORY OF Ecclesiastical Authors BY THE ARCHBISHOP of PARIS Together with his own RETRACTATION Translated out of French LONDON Printed for Charles Brome and William Keblewhite at the East-End of St. Paul's and at the Swan in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1696. ADVERTISEMENT TO offer any Account of the History of Ecclesiastical Writers by Monsieur Du Pin or to give a Character of it would be Labour to no purpose seeing it is so well known here by the accurate Translation of it which hath been Published Monsieur Du Pin's Performance in that Work as well as Undertaking did at first receive the Approbation of many Learned Roman Catholicks as they have still the general Applause amongst Protestants But the Esteem which the latter had of this Work tended to the Prejudice of the Author raising Jealousies in those of his own Communion as if he intended to betray the Church and to weaken the Foundation upon which it pretends to stand What chiefly recommended him to Protestants was his Ingenuity in declaring both his own Sentiments and the Sentiments of the Fathers But this very Thing displeased the Heads of his own Church where even Truth it self is not allowed to be spoken but when it may serve their Interest Nay the more Moderate charged him with Imprudence in delivering Truths very unseasonably for while they were extirpating the Opinions of Protestants as damnable Heresie it was no ways proper to Publish a Book which yields great Advantage to Protestants and which shews that their Sentiments are more agreeable to what the Primitive Church and Fathers held than the present Tenets and Practices of the Church of Rome These Prejudices and Objections were managed by some who did bear Monsieur Du Pin a Personal Grudge and by this means he was complained upon publickly and a publick Censure of his Person and Books was demanded which the Circumstances of the French King also required and made necessary that thereby he might soften the Pope dispose him to a Reconciliation and either engage him to side with France against the Confederate Princes or at least to abide Neutral For it was generally believed that that Confederacy did first spring from the Pope who suspected that the French King designed to throw off his Authority and who was highly displeased with him upon the account of those Propositions relating to the Papal Jurisdiction which the Assembly of the Clergy had Concerted and Published Anno 1682. Thus Policy and Interest required the Condemnation of Monsieur Du Pin's Works but some desired to save himself which could be done no other ways than by a Retractation which he long struggled with but at last was prevailed upon by the Example of the Gallican Church which it is said the Archbishop of Paris urged upon him very much saying that it was no shame for him a single Person to make a Retractation when a whole Church had done it to prevent the inconveniences which might otherwise follow The Translator of these Works of Monsieur Du Pin in his Preface to the Third Volume taketh notice of the Condemnation and Censure that were past upon them but also saith that he was not able to procure either a Copy of them or of Du Pin's Retractation which hath moved me to Publish them believing that they will be acceptable to the Curious and useful to those who have bought the Books themselves which are not to be the less esteemed because they are thus Condemned And notwithstanding the Author's Retractation it doth appear that the Protestants have Antiquity on their side for as the Retraction was not voluntary but forced from Du Pin so it doth not flatly contradict any material point in his Books but is merely to be considered as a Prudent and Political Defence to save himself from the Consequences of being judged guilty of what was esteemed Heresie Having said that Monsier Du Pin was prevailed upon to make his Retraction by the example of the French Church who considering the present Circumstances of their King did also Retract the above-mentioned Propositions of the Assembly 1682. which were so offensive to the Pope I Judge it will not be unacceptable to set down their Retraction which I suppose is not not very common and it is as followeth Ad pedes Sanctitatis Vestrae provoluti declaramus nos vehementer supra id quod dici potest ex corde dolore super rebus gestis in Comitiis praefatis quae Sanctitati vestrae ejusque Decessoribus valde displicuerunt ac proinde quod ibidem circa Ecclesiasticam ac pontificiam authoritatem sive in praejudicium Ecclesiarum quod à mente nostrâ prorsus alienum esse testamur deliberatum decretumque videri potest pro non decreto non deliberato habemus habendum esse declaramus The Pope was not pleased with the words circa and videri potest he judged them too soft and general and therefore would not accept of this submission of the Clergy of France untill they were changed into contra and fuit It is to be remembered that the Quotations in the following Retractation are marked according to the English Translation of Du Pin's Works The Remarks mentioned by Du Pin are Critical Observations upon his History which were never Translated nor yet his Answers to them and therefore the Quotations out of them are according to the Paris Edition of them An ORDINANCE of my Lord the Archbishop of PARIS containing the Condemnation of a BOOK having this Title A New Library of Ecclesiastical Authors c. By Monsieur ELLIES Du PIN Doctor in Divinity of the Faculty of Paris Printed by Andrew Pralard FRANCIS by the Grace of GOD and of the Holy Apostolick See Archbishop of Paris Duke and Peer of France Commander of the King's Orders Provisor of the House of Sorbonne and Superior of that of Navarre to all who shall see these present Letters Salvation and Blessing It being the Chief Duty of the Pastors of the Church to keep the Doctrine wherewith they are entrusted such as they have received from the Apostles whose Successors they are and not to suffer any Person to make any Change in it without due Censure and as Tradition is the Channel which should convey to us by an uninterrupted Course the Catholick Doctrines in all their Purity so there should be a singular Regard had to Books and Authors which pretend to represent the same entire deriving it from the Source and tracing it from Age to Age even to the present Times We have therefore judged that we ought to apply our selves carefully to the Examination of a Book printed some Years since in this City under the Title of a New Library of Ecclesiastick Authors c. of which there hath already appeared Five Tomes one after another divided into seven Volumes The design of this Work being to treat of all the Ecclesiastick Authors which have been since the first Establishment of the Church to Publish what