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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47671	The history of Father La Chaise, Jesuite, and confessor to Lewis XIV, present King of France discovering, the secret intreagues by him carried on, as well in the court of England, as in all the courts of Europe, to advance the great designs of the King his master / made English from the French original.; Histoire du père La Chaize, jésuite et confesseur du roi Louis XIV. English.	Le Noble, Eustache, 1643-1711.; Le Noble, Pierre.; Le Roux, Philibert-Joseph.	1693 (1693)	Wing L1052; ESTC R179438	143,271	350

of the Church which had been deposited i● his hands otherwise that he had been always careful to preserve that affection and respect which he ow'd his Majesty and at last concluding besought his Majesty to be perswaded of his good intentions and that he dy'd his most humble Servant and Subject His third Letter was to Father La Chaise which I thought fit to insert in this place in regard that I am not otherwise concern'd to speak of the Regale the● as it relates to him who was the first promoter of it as also of that great difference between the Courts of Rome and France that afterwards ensu'd and which are events of his Life of too great importance to be omitted tho with all the brevity that may be for fear of tyring the Reader The Bishop of Pamiers Letter ran thus Dear Father BEing now just about to surrender my soul to God and to answer before his Soveraign Tribunal for all my Actions Words and Thoughts I have employ'd these last minutes of my life to attempt the obtaining from your Charity a perfect reconciliation with me and a more gentle usage of my Church You know dear Father in your Conscience that she was never subject to the Yoke which you would impose upon Her she is exempted from it not by any priviledges granted by Kings but by Immunitys with which she was born Recover your self then dear Father and let not your desire to please a great King whose Confessor you have the honour to be transport you to Combat the Cause of God by representing things to the King in a false mirror God is now calling me to give an account of my Administration but remember Dear Father that the time will come which may not be perhaps far off that you must do the same Think seriously what you will have to say for your justification at that great day I cannot conceal from you Dear Father for now what signifies dissimulation to me you undertake not only for your own soul but for the Kings which you have fallaciously becalm'd by saying to it Peace Peace when there is no Peace Take not amiss I beseech you these admonitions of mine I may pretend to advise you as a Bishop but the point of Dea●● gives me a new priviledge As to what remains if I have done any thing to offend you I beg your Pardon with all my Heart with this protestation that I never did it willingly or on purpose farewell Dear Father assist me with your Prayers I am c. Father La Chaise was as little mov'd at this Letter as he was with another before it nor was it any obstruction but that he caus'd Father Cercle the Bishops grand Vicar to be hang'd up in Effigie as I have already related after La Chaise had him expell'd from his Benefice and intruded one Fortassim into it The year 1682 began with an Assembly of the Clergy who deputed the Archbishop of Paris to the King to return him thanks for upholding the Rights of the Regale protesting with all that they would be ready to support 'em to the utmost of their Power and menacing the Pope himself to take stedfast resolutions as becoming great Prelates in case he persever'd in his precautions and pray'd his Majesty that he would enjoyn his Embassador the D. d' Estrces to signifie their determinations to his Holiness But these were only Roses and Flowers in comparison of the famous Decree of the same Assembly dated the 19. of March which is now the grand occasion of all the present difference between the two Courts and which contain'd the four ensuing Propositions I. That neither the Pope nor the Church had any Right of Jurisdiction over the Kings Temporalities and that their Subjects cannot be absolv'd from their Oaths of Fidelity upon any pretence whatsoever II. That a General Council is above the Pope III. That the Popes power ought to be limited by Canons and that he cannot determin or establish any thing contrary to the Antient Canons and Liberties of the Gallican Church IV. And lastly that the Pope is not infallible neither in Fact nor of Right unless he preside at the Head of a Vniversal and Oecumenic Council which decides and renders the Pope infallible by authorizing that infallibility which otherwise would never be After this the Clergy sent other Deputies to the King beseeching him to order that this Doctrine should be taught in all Colleges and Universities and that the Decree might be register'd in Parliament which was granted by an Authentick Declaration of the Kings importing very severe prohibitions to all Professors Doctors Readers in Theology and Preachers to teach any Doctrine opposite to it and it was also register'd in the Universities There were many worthy Ecclesiasticks that would not admit of this new Doctrine who for that reason were imprison'd banish'd and dispoil'd of their Benefices and Estates So that there were two great persecutions in France at one time one against the Huguenots and the other against the Popelings the one against Hereticks the other against the Orthodox The way to live at liberty was then to be as a man my say neither Flesh nor Fish the rigid Catholicks being then equally odious and criminal Thus was the poor Church oppress'd by the Jesuits the real Tyrants over France and so much the more cruelly because she was not permitted the liberty to complain the Persecutors boasting all this while of the mighty things which they did for her But what signifi'd all their zeal for the extirpation of Heresie seeing they set up another Heresie at the same time Was not this to bind up the Wounds of the Church with one hand and Stabb a Dagger to her Heart with the other The Holy Father having perus'd this Determination of the Clergy was griev'd to the Soul and sent several Briefs to the assembled Clergy to persuade 'em to recant of which they took very little or no notice He also order'd Cardinal Sluza his Secretary to write in his name to Father la Chaise which he did in the following Terms FATHER I Write you these Lines by the Order of his Holiness who is highly offended at the audacious and hairbrain'd Propositions advanc'd and upheld in the Assembly of your Clergy upon the 19th of March last and in regard he is absolutely perswaded that your self has as much a hand in 'em as they themselves who decreed 'em he exhorts you out of his paternal Charity to acknowledge your Egregious swerving from the Truth and the Erroneous sins whith you commit against God and his Church by destroying as you do to the utmost of your power the Authority of the visible Head of it upon Earth whom you are oblig'd to uphold with the expence of your Blood first as a Christian and a Catholick and more particularly by the fourth and most strict of your Vows which you have so treacherously broken you and all your French brethren who have admitted the Decrees of

Popes as Kings Pope Leo X. and Francis I. made an Agreement together That the Nomination to Benefices and the disposal of the Revenues during their Vacancy should belong to the Crown and that all Lapses Anticipations and the Right of Admitting Resignations should be in the Power of the Pope so that to speak the naked Truth they shar'd between 'em the Spoils of the poor Church of God This in short is the Original and Extent of this Prerogative which went no farther then the Lands and Provinces that were under the French Dominion at the time of the Agreement For since that time several have fall'n to the Crown that were not subject to it no more then are certain Congregations as that of St. Maur St. Francis St. Dominic c. The General Council of Lion also has made a Decision upon this Point and being desirous to prevent Abuses that might follow forbad the Introducing the Regale into such Churches where it was not in use And the Liberties of those Churches have been since acknowledg'd and confirm'd by several Ordinances Decrees and Declarations of Philip the Fair Philip de Valeis Lewis XII Henry IV. and Lewis XIII which are preserv'd in the Chamber of Accompts in Paris However in regard it is one of the most beautiful Flowers of the Crown Cardinal Richlieu who was the First who laid the Foundation of that Grandeur to which it is now arriv'd comprehended among the rest of his Projects the Extending it over all the Monarchy In short in the Year 1637. he began to set a-foot by the King's Counsel the general Contest about the Regale at what time there was a Decree of the 6th of October Ordaining all Bishops and Archbishops that pretended to be exempt from the Right of the Regale to send to the Registry of the Council the Titles upon which they claim'd their Privilege and which granted a surceasing of Processes su'd out or to be su'd forth upon that Occasion The Syndics of the Provinces of Languedoc Guienne Provence and Dauphinate presently obey'd the Order Protesting Nevertheless That by that Proceeding they did not go about to prejudice the Liberties of those Provinces which were not oblig'd to produce any Evidences provided they were not the Evidences of Privileges or Immunities granted by their Kings but of Liberties and Franchises more ancient then the Monarchy it self in Possession of which their Ancestors came under the French Dominion only that what they did was to shew their ready Obedience and Respect to his Majesty This Affair tho' it was not altogether neglected yet lay in a manner dormant till the Year 1673. that Father La Chaise the Author of all the Misfortunes of Christendom put it into the King's Head to move this Stone under which there lay a most venemous Serpent But in regard this Matchiavilist understands that the most certain way to please Princes is to procure 'em temporal Advantages he never minds at what rate they are to be purchas'd Besides he was afraid least the War wherein he had engag'd his Majesty should Miscarry and therefore sought which way to render himself necessary to the King upon some other Score thereby to prevent the Disgrace that threaten'd him At this time it was then that the King finish'd the general Claim by a Decree in Fbruary Importing That the King declar'd the Right of the Regale to be Inalienable and without the compass of Prescription and to belong universally to him in all the Bishopricks and Archbishopricks of his Kingdom Territories and Countries under his Obedience those only excepted which are exempt by Titre Onereux that is to say by being lyable to particular Duties and charges of Fines Annuities c. In pursuance of which His Majesty Ordains That the Bishops and Archbishops shall be bound in Two Months from the Day that they take their Oaths of Fidelity to take out Letters Pattents of Discharge and to Register 'em in the Chamber of Accompts of Paris and that they who have taken their Oaths of Fidelity before and have not obtain'd their Letters Pattents of Discharge shall be bound to take 'em out and Register 'em within Two Months in the said Chamber of Accompts after which and for defect of yielding Obedience within that time their Benefices subject to the Right of the Regale and dependant upon Royal Collations shall be declar'd void and subject to a new Grant by virtue of the Regale And by another Declaration in the same Month of February the King in order to the Execution of the preceding Decree Authorises a Roll containing a Regulation of the Fees which shall be pay'd into the Chamber of Accompts by the Archbishops and Bishops of the Provinces of Languedoc Dauphinate Guienne and Province for the Registring the Letters of Discharge which they shall be bound to take forth This Declaration which was procur'd by the pernicious Counsells of the Confessor was the Apple of Discord which divided all the Clergy of France and the Pandora's Box out of which have flown all the Mischiefs that have over-whelm'd in a manner all Europe for near these Twenty Years A Work truly worthy the Author of it and which he looks upon without question with the same Eye as Nero formerly beheld the Flame which he himself had kindl'd to consume the City of Rome The greatest part of the Court-Prelates and Bishops People devoted to Ambition and their Pleasures obey'd without Murmuring and having obtain'd their Pattents of Release which they were order'd to take out caus'd 'em to be Register'd with their Oaths of Fidelity But others and among the rest the Bishops of Cahors Aleth and Pamiers greatly signaliz'd themselves in refusing to submit considering that their Submission would be a tacit Consent to the King's Pretensions or rather of his Ministers who were altogether unjust Thereupon the Court sent to every one of those Bishops certain Ecclesiasticks preferr'd by virtue of the Regale to some Benefices in their Cathedrals which were possess'd by others in Canonical Possession for several Years by lawful Titles and upon the refusal of the Chapters to admit 'em order'd 'em to be install'd by force These manifest Intrusions oblig'd those worthy Prelates the Latter of which Two was 70 Years of Age and had been Bishops the one 38 the other 34 Years during which time they had render'd themselves venerable for their Exemplary Piety and a Residence in their Diocesses so assiduous that they were never seen to appear at Court these Intrusions I say enforc'd those Prelates to issue forth Ordinances against the newly preserr'd and after that to write several reitterated Letters to the King Cardinal Bonsi and the Archbishop of Paris They also wrote to the Assembly of the Clergy which met in 1675. but there was no Favour to be shewn 'em and the Clergy rejected their Complaints not vouchsafing so much as to take Cognizance of the Affair Nor was it possible they should expect any other in regard the Archbishop of Paris whose

Interests and Father La Chaise's were inseparably link'd together presided in that Assembly and for that Cardinal Bonsi Archbishop of Narbonne and by Consequence the principal Person concern'd was gain'd to all Intents and Purposes and the Bishops of Montpellier and Beziers were Commissioners from that Province So that word was sent to the Dissenting Prelates that the Affair having been decided in the King's Council where the Clergy's Agents were present and consenting it was in vain to make any Opposition As if the Agents had had sufficient Power to disannull by their Authority the sacred Rights of so many ancient Churches Toward the end of the same Year the Bishop of Pamiers was forc'd to make a Journey to Court for the dispatch of some Business which he could not dispence withal 1675. and the Dignity of Archdeacon of the Cathedral Church being vacant by the Death of the last Incumbent Father La Chaise who had notice of it having a Design to surprize the Bishop propos'd to him to procure him Letters of Dispatch in favour of a Priest whom he lov'd very well and upon whom he made no question but the choice would fall He offer'd likewise to expedite the same Grants for other Beneficiaries of the same Chapter who had not as yet obtain'd 'em to which the good Bishop immediately consented but afterwards considering the Consequences that would ensue and the Engagement which he laid upon his Church he fearlesly retracted his word and sent the Father word That he could not comply with his Desires This was cause sufficient for that Hypocrite to persecute the Bishop even to Rage and Fury He peal'd it in the King's Ears That he was a Rebel a Seditious Incendiary who aim'd at nothing but to stir up the Clergy and all his Subjects to Revolt So that notwithstanding all his Oaths of Allegiance all his Protestations and Submissions to the King he always look'd upon him as a disaffected Person But whatever Credit La Chaise had in the Assembly of the Clergy when the King 's Prerogatives were in Dispute for the upholding of which he spoke with great freedom nevertheless he could not prevent their unanimous Resolution to write a ●ong and learned Letter to the new Pope Inno●ent XI to lay before him the horrid Impie●ies of the Casuists Morals and the Doctrine of Improbability wherein they are set forth after a manner equally Strenuous and Eloquent The Archbishop of Paris who is of that Religion more then the Jesuits themselves oppos'd it very much as well for his own particular Interests as out of Respect to the Society 1678. but that signify'd nothing to the purpose so that a Draught of the Letter was sent to all the Prelates for them to sign it The Bishop of Aleth was one of the first that receiv'd it who having throughly examin'd it found something in it which he thought burthensome to the Episcopal Authority which he alter'd before he sign'd it and sent it to the rest of the Bishops La Chase over-joy'd at this Accident inform'd his Ma●esty of it painting out the Thing in the blackest Colours he could invent and giving him ●o understand That it was no more then a Cabal that tended meerly to the Disturbance of the State and to revive the past Disputes ●nd Contests So that the Intendants of Justice had Orders to write to the Bishops not to sign it if it were sent 'em which broke all the Measures of the Assembly and left La Chaise Triumphant tho' his Triumphs stopt ●ot there For he caus'd all the Canons that ●ook the Bishops part to be banish'd and sup●ly'd their rooms with others put in by Force notwithstanding all their Ecclesiastical Orders and in regard he had a particular Spite at the Bishop of Panniers he caus'd the Revenue● of his Church which he chiefly made use of for the Relief of the Poor to be taken from him So that the poor Man fell into great Necessity and tho' he wrote to the King to let him know his Condition it signify'd nothing 1679. in regard the King was pre-possess'd Now because La Chaise continu'd still to give out Grants of the Canonships in the Chapter of his Cathedral which was regular but would nevertheless become secular by those Intrusions all which was a great Grief to the good old Man he resolv'd to write him the following Letter Dear Father I Have been designing for some time to write to yee but on the one side I thought it would be to little purpose besides that People might think I complain'd of your Conduct in my regard rather by the Inducement of some particular Interest or some peculiar Discontent then out of any Zeal to justifie the Rights of the Church Nevertheless that God may not lay it to my Charge that I have omitted any Means that may contribute to the good Success of the Affair wherein I 〈◊〉 by Providence engag'd for the Liberty of his Spouse I submitted to the Counsel of my Friends who advis'd me to write this Letter leaving it to God to bless it with that Success as may be most suitable to the Designs of his Providence Certainly if I had any reason of Distast either against you or your Society I have met with occasions enough wherein methought the Love of Truth Justice and the publick Good enforc'd me to complain and my Complaints appear'd Just to all moderate Persons but 't was my Opinion That Christian Humility and Charity requir'd that I should keep silence till some Necessity not to be dispenc'd with oblig'd me to speak Not only my Profession of a Christian but the Vow of my Order are sufficient Engagements tho' you or your Order had any cause of Offence against me to restrain your Revenge to the prejudice of the Glory of God and the Interest of his Church You may be pleas'd to call to mind Dear Father that when I had the Happiness to see you at Paris you told me discoursing in reference to that Ecclesiastical Croud that bow'd and ●●ing'd to yee for Preferment that they were gaping Wolves With what Conscience can you then bestow upon such Wolves what is provided for the Flock of innocent Sheep Nor have you stay'd till those Wolves open'd their Mouths to demand the Prey which you have caus'd to be thrown into their Chops for as the Canonships of my Cathedral bind to a regular Life which God had given me the Grace to re-establish in my Chapter by the Authority of the Holy See and the King 's together they who never desire Benefices but for the Revenues sake would never have minded the looking after those that oblige to Vows of Poverty and Community of Living had not you pre-possess'd sollicited and drawn 'em on in hopes of procuring the Secularization of that Church I know well That Father Ferier had the same Design of Secularization upon this and other Churches but the Difficulty he met with at Rome and the Opposition of the Parties

time that the King put forth his Declarations for the Regale That M. Boucherat Counsellor of State had given his Advice in Council That the Churches should be left free in the Possession of their Immunities and Privileges without any farther Disturbance Arnault gave Intelligence of this to the Pope who could not forbear to insert this Circumstance in a Brief which he wrote some Years after to the King The King was much surpriz'd at it and endeavour'd to sift out through what Channel this Secret was convey'd But Father La Chaise soon unfolded the Riddle assuring him that it was his Secretary Pompone's Discovery who was confin'd to his own House and Arnault his Uncle was order'd to quit St. James's Street where he liv'd with a Prohibition to have any Assemblies in his Ho●● Upon which misdoubting the Consequence of such a harsh beginning and fearing to be put into the Bastille he retir'd into Holland for good and all where he compos'd his Apology for the Politicks of the Clergy which the very well done and to the King's Advantage was however condemn'd and a poor Prie●● committed to the Bastille at the prosecution of La Chaise for endeavouring to publish some few Copies in France And the Reason that oblig'd him to it was not only because the Book justify'd the Proceedings of the Antiregalists and particularly of the Bishops of Aleth and Pamiers but because M. Arnault was the Author of it This is 〈◊〉 Quality peculiar to Father La Chaise that he would condemn any Book i' th' World tho' written never so much to the Advantage of Him and his Party if he had an Antipathy against the Author And this was visibly to be seen at the same time For the famous Minister M. de la Rocque compos'd an excellent Treatise of the Right of the Regale and which is one of the most strenuous Pieces that have been seen upon that Subject nevertheless the Confessor forbid him to publish it that it might not be said of him That he made use of a Heretick Pen to support the King's Prerogatives against the Church and perhaps i● that he did not do so much amiss The same could not be said of M. Chastai● who was a good Catholick He had compos'd a very excellent Piece entitl'd The true Erplication of the Concordat Wherein he made out a very specious Right of Nomination to several Benefices The King had also appointed Commissioners to examine it but what avail'd all this to a Person whom La Chaise hated He was forbid to print his Book and that was all the Reward he had for his Pains to have labour'd a long time to no purpose and perhaps against his Conscience Nor were they the Churches only endow'd with Benefices which La Chaise resolv'd to Subjugate under the Yoak of the Regale but the Monasteries of the Urbanist Monks of the Order of St. Francis who ever since their Institution had been Priories Elective only from Three Years to Three Years The whole Congregation of St. Maur among the Benedictines under-went the same Fate The Abbot of Clugni who had been Canonically elected was expell'd and the Monks enforc'd to receive the Cardinal of Bouillon who took possession of it By virtue of the same Prerogative the Abbies of Chezal-Benoist which had been united to that Congregation by the Authority of the Holy See and the Grants of several Kings had every one a secular Abbot impos'd upon 'em as had also a Thousand others too tedious here to be inserted All these Intrusions were enforc'd where Residence was absolutely necessary for Example upon Nunneries and all this by Force of Arms and the Ministry of a 100 Dragoons who after they had broke open the Gates of the Nunneries committed a 1000 Disorders and many times most horrid Violences and Sacrileges These Exorbitances at length reach'd the Holy Father's Ears by the Complaints of the Monks and Nuns at the same time that the Bishops of Pamiers and Aleth made the same Lamentations And it griev'd him beyond Expression to see That a most Christian King pre-possess'd by an impious Varlet of the Society of Jesus as he stiles himself should yet the Church with Persecutions so cruel and till then unheard of under the Reign of a Catholick Prince He wrote therefore to the King several Briefs and laid before him with an Affection altogether cordial and paternal the Injustice wherein he had unwarily engag'd himself by the Counsells of his Ministers and particularly of Father La Chaise who had giv'n him an Idea of Things contrary to Reason and Equity Beseeching him for God's sake to surcease a Proceeding so unbecoming those great Actions which had otherwise extoll'd his Fame and no longer to permit the Sighs and Groans of so many pious People consecrated to God to ascend to Heaven and implore Assistance against the Violences and Profanations which they suffer'd under his Authority He also wrote to the Cardinals Bonzi and D'Estrees to the Arch-bishop of Paris and Father La Chaise which wrought no other Effect but only that it procur'd the sending of D'Estrees to Rome Who to perswade his Holiness to swallow patiently this bitter Cup set forward in August 1680. The Clergy who were then assembl'd had receiv'd a large Brief from his Holiness upon the same Subject to which all the answer they gave was this that they wrote a Letter to the King wherein they told him that the Pope took upon him to concern himself in a business which they could by no means approve in regard that instead of submitting to the common good of the Church he only gave people an opportunity to cabal together to encrease Confusion and Schism and to encourage and embolden seditious spirits the consequences of which would be very pernitious The next year the Assembly had several debates upon the Regale The Archbishops of Reimes Ambrun and Albe the Bishops of Rochelle Autun and T●oye being Commissioners it was pronounc'd that the Regale was a Right annex'd to the Crown not to be alicnated without the compass of prescription and against which no opposition could be made directly or indirectly without palpable injustice The poor Bishop of Pamiers well understanding the unworthiness of these Prelates who had sold themselves to Court Favour and had so perfidiously betray'd the Rights of the Church entrusted in their Hands and finding himself alone poor feeble dispossess'd and no way able to support 'em was seiz'd with such a lively sorrow that he soon follow'd his Brother the Bishop of Aleth who dy'd some months before During his sickness he wrote three Letters one to the Pope desiring his Prayers and his Protection of the Church which most assuredly after his death would be subjected to the Regale another to the King to ascertain him that he had never taken the liberty to oppose his Ordinances and Decrees but to satisfie the duty of his Function and the Character he wore which oblig'd him indispensibly to defend the interests