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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A25851	Mysteriou tes ayomias, that is, Another part of the mystery of Jesuitism or, The new heresie of the Jesuites, publickly maintained at Paris, in the College of Clermont, the XII of December MDCLXI ... according to the copy printed at Paris : together with The imaginary heresie, in three letters, with divers other particulars ... never before published in English.	Arnauld, Antoine, 1612-1694.	1664 (1664)	Wing A3729; ESTC R32726	88,087	266

Kingdomes of the World engage themselves in a Quarrel betwixt Augustus and Antonius the whole force of the Roman Empire and neighbour States re-united in their Armies and these Armies together by the ears near Actium when one shall consider that one Female was the sole cause and pretext of this bloudy War which was to decide who should be master of the Universe and absolutely abolish the whole frame of the Roman State This signal event and which drew such a consequent after it had for its beginning but the face of a Woman and but for this weak passion Antony had taken other measures and in all probability nothing of what succeeded it had happen'd though for my part I am glad it did since by it I perceive what a piece of nothing Man is Antonius whiles he makes the whole World depend upon him does himself depend and dote upon a silly Woman See here the cause of all this stupendious Change a prodigious image of the Vanity of all humane affairs You shall reade in some of the Indian Histories that one white Elephant was the cause of the death of five or six great Princes and of the desolation of several Kingdomes There was among others a King of Pegu who assembled an Army consisting of a million of men in which there were three thousand Camels five thousand Elephants and two hundred thousand Horses to take this Beast from the King of Siam He destroy'd the whole Country of this poor King ruin'd his chief City which was twice as large as ours of Paris and in fine forc'd him to kill himself after the loss of his whole Empire and all this but for one white Elephant Yet had this Conquerour three already he wanted only a fourth for his Coach and to procure that he brought a whole Kingdom to desolation We commonly look upon these Histories as on the Follies and Extravagances of Barbarians but in my judgment we should think otherwise of them I find nothing in them but what seems very worthy of Men and exceedingly proportionable to the stretch of their fancy and so much the less vain as indeed they serve to discover to us the vanity and emptiness of all those Enterprises which the world forsooth would make pass for so glorious and important Do not imagine Sir that these Examples are onely to be met withall in prophane Histories as if that of the Church which is the Kingdom of God were exempted from them This were not rightly to understand in what estate God has decreed it should yet remain in the world which makes S. Paul say that the Creature is subject to Vanity Vanitati creatura subjecta est She is yet Sir mingled with good and bad Chaff and Corn and so mingled indeed that the Chaff is a great deal more visible then the Wheat Nor are those who govern her alwaies true Citizens of Jerusalem they are oftentimes saies S. Augustine but Citizens of Babylon whom God suffers to ascend the thrones of the Church to render them Ministers of his indignation In fine there is ever amongst the honestest men some mixture of weakness which they draw from their natural corruption amongst those solid benefits which they receive from God We are not therefore to wonder if amidst this multitude of Carnal men who fill the visible Church and the remanent defects of the most Spiritual we find instances of all humane disorders Were there nothing but what were edifying and serious in the exterior Government of the Church she would as one might say be too visible and easie to be discerned by which the Faith of those who adhere and submit themselves to her should not be sufficiently exerciz'd But God having by a just judgement left her alwaies sufficient marks whereby to make her known to all humble and rational spirits is pleas'd to obscure her to the proud and such as are carried away by the image of those visible disorders to look on her as upon an humane Assembly which does no otherwise govern her self then other Societies do For this reason it is that God permits that great troubles should be rais'd for things of no moment as well in the Church as in temporal States What was there for example more vain then the fancy which mov'd Justinian to condemn the Writings of three Authors for which he turn'd the whole Oriental Church topsy-turvy and the Western too per superfluas Quaestiones as Pope Pelagius II d expresses it and to what did all tend but to the tormenting of several Bishops the banishing of some imprisonment of others the exciting of a Schism in Italy and all this to no purpose For however this Emperor had caus'd his Opinion to be approv'd by a General Council and divers Popes yet did all which was at that time done come to nothing of it self a little while after since it both is and alwaies was permitted that men might believe what they pleas'd touching those Authors Writings So true it is that matters of Fact are not to be determin'd but by Reason and Truth and not by Authority But such is the frequent conclusion of such enterprises They seem to succeed for a time and soon after dissipate and vanish of themselves But the misery is that men have commonly their spirits so narrow they cannot stretch them beyond their own Times If they spie a Tempest coming against some particular Book or Person they presently give all for lost and that such as succeed after them will judge of it just as they do by the present face of the Storm which terrifies them I cannot but strangely wonder that Experience should not yet disabuse them of this Illusion and teach them to distinguish solid and stable Judgments which proceed from an inspection of immutable Truths from those which spring onely from the blindness of a transitory Passion since these sort of Opinions are as variable as the Passions from whence they rise they are no sooner at an end but that which appear'd so important begins to seem horribly ridiculous and men are astonish'd that there should ever have been any so simple as to have amus'd themselves about them There 's no question but that when the Cordeliers were at a difference between themselves concerning the form of their Capuchon when those who would be call'd the Spiritual Brethren would have their Hood narrower and the others which they nam'd the Brothers of the Communalty would have theirs of a larger size they thought their dispute wonderfull considerable And in good earnest the quarrel lasted almost a whole Age with infinite heat and animosity on both sides being at last with much adoe determin'd by the Bulls of four Popes Nicolas IVth Clement Vth John XXIIth and Benedict XIIth But now it looks as if really it had been onely to make the World sport when men but mention this Dispute and I verily believe there is hardly a Cordelier at present that cares a rush for the size of his Capuchon For so

be they what they will yet the Sense of Jansenius must in general be condemn'd and it is this general and unexplicable Sense of Jansenius in which according to the Jesuites consists the Heresie of Jansenius It must be confess'd that since men did ever reason together there was never the like Extravagancy But the consequence is yet infinitely more strange For albeit the greatest part of the world laugh'd at it in particular yet they so carried it in publick as if they were of it and the Jesuites have the credit to establish this unheard-of Absurdity to introduce the practice of a Subscription which was never yet heard of in the Church unless it were amongst the Hereticks who are blam'd for it by those who have defended the Church against them For 't is requisite we should know that since the Church was a Church one has never oblig'd either Religious men or School-masters or Clerks or so much as simple Priests to sign They were the German Lutherans of the Confession of Ausburg who for one time onely caus'd their Confession of Faith to be sign'd by the Principals of the Colleges and the Masters of Schools And they are reprov'd for it by Cardinal Bellarmine as of an insupportable Vanity and a Novelty unheard-of in the Church of God ever since the Apostles Now that so strange a thing as this practice to which there was never any recourse in the most damnable Heresies should be introduc'd in France that is to say in a Church the free'st of the world and the greatest enemy to these Servitudes and upon occasion of such Trifles this is what is most stupendious indeed but in that manner which we admire the extraordinary effects of the Fantasticalness of men It is certain yet that the Jesuites could not have better publish'd to the world the excess of that credit which they have in the Church then by this means 'T is nothing to establish reasonable things no man can tell whether it be Reason or Force which has made them to be receiv'd but to make their power appear indeed one should chuse such things as these which are most excessively irrational I can say no more to exalt the power of the Jesuites and we must acknowledge that having succeeded in this Design they are able to doe what-ever is not impossible But in this as ill luck would have it the Heresie of the Sense of Jansenius which they would universally establish is one of those impossible things since to persuade the world of it they must of course change the common Sense of men so as in spight of them the Cause of their adversaries must of necessity vanquish in this last point which is as it were the ultimate Redoubt of the Jesuites I do not onely say that it must needs be so for the future and that all the pretensions of the Jesuites upon the question de facto of Jansenius should pass for ridiculous but I say 't is already so because they do pass for such already amongst all persons who have any cognisance of those matters and that there are very few of them but are disabus'd This I have demonstrated by other proofs in my precedent Letters and therefore I satisfie my self for this time with a concluding one There are divers Bishops in France who have boldly declar'd in the face of the Church that matter of Fact and matter of Right are different things in the affair of Jansenius that all Heresie consists in a precise Dogm and that one cannot with the least shadow of Justice treat those as Hereticks whom they do not reproch with any particular Heresie because they do simply question whether any such Propositions are in a Book or no. M. de Alet M. de Vence M. de Beauvais and M. d' Anger 's clearly promote all these Propositions as certain and indubitable and you may find them all comprehended in M. de Comenge's Letter to the King which is alone sufficient to ruine all the Impostures of Father Ferrier and all the Errours of the Jesuites In the mean time these Fathers with all their credit cannot find Five other Bishops in France that dare formally to promote the Propositions contrary to those which are maintain'd by these Prelates They may find some that may speak of the conceal'd venome of the Heresie of Jansenism because they are words which signifie nothing and which they willingly yield to the strongest party But they could never yet find any that durst affirm that matter of Fact and matter of Right were things inseparable and that there was ever any Heresie without some particular Dogm because there is a certain stop to common Sense which hinders those who have never so little wit from such a degree of Extravagance But you will say at least that the Jesuites Cause has all the advantage at Rome because the Briefs are all in their favour But let me tell you Sir 'T is true the Calumnies of the Jesuites have render'd the Divines odious there because they are opposite to the unjust pretences of the Roman Court against the Sovereignty of Kings and the Jurisdiction of Bishops and therefore perhaps they are not displeas'd at Rome at the Oppression which they suffer But since they have common Sense at Rome as well as at other places all that these Divines maintain here is receiv'd there and as well believ'd as in other places indeed more generally then in France it self because Passion has not so much disturb'd their Reason and their Judgement I do not love to report things without proof and therefore I shall alledge one which is very decisive upon this particular viz. That even the Inquisition of Rome has newly authentically approv'd all that those whom they call Jansenists have taught in France upon the Question de facto de jure which is so ridiculously oppos'd by the Jesuites I conceive you will not require of me to shew you that the Inquisition has given this Judgment in favour of them under the express names of Jansenius and Jansenists You know well enough what Reasons they have to hinder them from rendring them this exact Justice But you ought to be satisfied that I shew you wherein they have render'd it in a Cause so like it that it differs only in the name And now judge whether I do not make it good What do these Divines pretend There is say they a very wide difference between defending of condemn'd Opinions and such as are repugnant to the Catholick Faith which they attribute to Jansenius Bishop of Ypres and maintaining that Jansenius Bishop of Ypres has not taught those condemn'd Opinions The First would be prejudicial to the Church and to their selves but the Second is not in any kinde so For as all Divines acknowledg there is a great deal of difference between saying that the General Councils the Church can erre in jure in condemning an Opinion which does not deserve to be condemn'd and affirming that it can

nice and subtile for many persons that being gross and carnal judge onely of things by the external and by the noise and that one cannot easily make them comprehend that the Cause of those who seem to be oppressed is in effect victorious and that of their Oppressors overcome The Miracles and incomparable Sanctity of the Primitive Christians could not for 300 years abate this impression of their Senses in the spirits of a world of Pagans nor persuade them that the persons whom they kill'd had any Reason on their side There is nothing more ordinary then this Argumentation He is persecuted It is therefore he is in the wrong because he has not the imagination which commonly joines the Idea of Pain with that of the Crime But God would make us see the errour of this in the Christian Religion on which subject this has been most experienc'd in causing on the contrary that this Oppression of the Christians during 300 years which incourag'd those Pagans to despise them should prove one of the brightest and most divine marks to distinguish it from the false Religions For whereas the Kingdoms of the World were established and subsisted by Temporal advantages of those onely who founded or maintain'd them God would on the contrary have his Empire which is that of the Truth should be founded and augmented by the Sufferings and Death of those persons whom he employ'd to establish it to shew that he was stronger then the World in surmounting the World by that very Victory which the World conceiv'd they had over his Servants The Cause of Truth has almost gain'd the same advantage in these our Times both from the excessive power of the Jesuites which attacqu'd them and the extreme weakness of the Divines who defended it all which contributed to its Establishment and to the making it appear with the greater Splendor since there is no man but must conclude that the Jesuites Doctrine must needs be very naught and their Morality extremely corrupted since all their power has not been able to hinder it from being blasted by so many Censures And that on the contrary the Doctrine of the Divines must needs be very orthodox since they have made the Church approve it against so mighty an Opposition The more puissant the Jesuites be the more the Censures which have past concerning their Doctrine should appear legitimate just and authentick since in regard of the Credit they have in the Church it should not be hard for them to procure reparation of the Church for the wrong which has been done them by her unjust Censures And the more the Divines are oppress'd and abandon'd the more ought that which has been done against them to be suspected and what has been done to their advantage esteem'd just and legitimate Thus by a most admirable effect of the Divine Providence the power of the Jesuites is the confusion of Jesuites since 't is an evident Conviction of the Falseness of a Doctrine which the Church has condemn'd in their Authors And the oppression of these Divines defenders of the Hierarchie of Penance of Morality and of Grace is in the mean time the reproch of the Jesuites who have so inhumanely persecuted them and the glory and establishment of the Truth which they have maintain'd with so much success against this insolent Society FINIS A Copy of a Letter FROM The Reverend Father VALERIAN a CAPUCHIN TO Pope ALEXANDER the 7th Most Blessed Father AFTER I have kissed your blessed Feet and made a most humble acknowledgment of my devout subjection c. I F. Valerian Milanese Priest of the Order of the Friers Minors call'd Capuchins being enjoin'd under pain of Excommunication and other Penalties express'd in the Bulls of the Popes your Predecessors declare to your Holiness that I have by a long series of years exactly observ'd that the Clerks Regular named Jesuites whilst they thirst after riches dominion and glory above all mortal men whatsoever publickly commit and perpetrate many things which are prohibited and omit many things that are commanded under the penalty of mortal Sin not shewing the least token of repentance without which they become suspected of Heresie whiles they suppose those enormous commissions not to be prohibited or if conscious of their Crimes they continue to wallow in them presumed guilty of Atheism But I explain my deduction by this Example Titius a Parish-Priest in a City induceth a publick Notarie and four Witnesses to frame a supposititious Testament by which fraud the right Heir is depriv'd of an Inheritance of a hundred thousand Crowns which Titius seizes for himself by perverting justice before the Judge whom notwithstanding together with the Notarie and Witnesses he in the Sacrament of Penance absolves from the Crime as not at all oblig'd to make Restitution defending himself against the parties oppressed and others that are highly scandaliz'd hereat with all manner of other pious Works those onely excepted which hinder the procuring of riches glory and dominion such as Praier Fasting Alms and whatever else have merit and commendation from the Austerity of Life This Fact involves 1. the Crime of Subornation and falsifying in the publick Notarie 2. Perjurie in the four Witnesses 3. the Theft of 100000 Crowns 4. the perverting of Justice before a Judge 5. the notorious Scandal of Impenitence and Impunitie for so many and so grievous Crimes and lastly the extreme abuse of the holy Sacrament of Penance These Six Errours under the guilt of mortal Sin prohibited all men both by the Divine natural and positive Laws whosoever does obstinately and contumaciously deny whether in these or others of like quality is an Heretick To this Doctrine I firmly adhere and having attested the verity of the Fact declare to your Holiness the foresaid Heresie or to say better Atheism of the Jesuites But before I proceed to explain not a few of these and the like Enormities together with the Circumstances of Place Time Persons and other particulars belonging to them I shall first assert to your Holiness the innocency of this my Declaration not from any advantage arising from this suppression of Heresie which of it self is sufficiently manifest but by the very Circumstances of my person Namely thus Since the year 1653 I have frequently signified to the holy Congregation De propaganda Fide and other Ministers of the Apostolical See this my opinion concerning the Heresie of the Jesuites nor hath any of them appear'd to disapprove my Zeal which therefore I have reason to think pious and not at all unacceptable to them Above twenty years since I signified to the same holy Congregation Fourteen Commissions and Omissions wherein the General and two Provincials of the Jesuites and divers others together with their Assistants and Councel remain'd contumaciously involv'd for many years which I condemn'd as including both Heresie and Atheism The Cardinals understanding by me that the Jesuites had spred a report as if I had been reprov'd for this Address