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
The Truth is those good Men the Jesuites are every where zealous to extirpate the Reformation And while the Bishops and secular Clergy of the Roman Church unless it be a few who are link'd to them apply themselves to the more humane and gentle Methods of perswading and endeavouring to convert as they call it by softening representing and expounding the Doctrines and Practices of their Church These like true Politicks of the World endeavour and contrive nothing else but to oppress and destroy us Their Business indeed is not to gain our Souls but our Goods and Possessions And to kill and take Possession is their Means and their End A glaring Proof of this they have to shew particularly in the large Territories as we may call them which they have long possess'd of ruin'd Protestants in Bohemia Where ever they can manage a Power that is able to do Mischief they have procur'd the Exercise of the most Barbarous and Inhumane Cruelties against us that ever were This France and Hungary of late Times have wofully felt where Streams of Innocent Blood are crying aloud for the Vengeance of Heaven upon them and their Executioners And England was lately design'd to have been a horrid Scene of the same Tragick Barbarities but Heaven be prais'd they were for the present disappointed by the timely Removal of the Tools which they had form'd and prepar'd for the Enterprize The same People told me they came from a Place call'd Medman within this Dutchy Mâ—â—man and within a few Leagues of Dusseldorp There they said they had lately celebrated the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper which they do four times in a Year At which times People come from several Parts thither for this purpose and make up a Congregation of 1700 Communicants They poor People are perhaps excusable from their Circumstanstances for the not using that Ordinance more frequently But certainly where the Magistrate is of their Perswasion and they might celebrate it as often as they will it is a thing without excuse to put it off only to four times in a Year These People themselves told me that the most of the Protestant Congregations even in those Parts do celebrate this Sacrament every Lord's Day I cannot chuse but think therefore that the Church of England is reform'd according to the Model of the best reform'd Churches beyond the Seas which has provided and perhaps order'd that this Sacrament be celebrated every Lord's Day But the Rule and Precept of Holy Scripture together and in conjunction with the Practice and Example of those very Persons by whom the Spirit of God transmitted the Rule to the World is certainly rather to be observ'd than the Orders of any later Church and our Rule in the case is certainly most agreeable with Holy Scriptures I most heartily wish our People would more generally than they do fall in with so Just and Pious and Edifying an Order We ought indeed to relinquish and purge out more entirely from amongst us this Relick of Popery for it was the Papists who first introduc'd and betray'd the People into the seldom Receiving of this Sacrament notwithstanding that they now reproach us with it They have taught the World instead of receiving to reverence it mightily first and then by degrees to adore it Certainly 't is an Error and a great one to have such an Awe and Reverence for the Sacrament it self as to have none at all for the Ordinance or Institution of it which requires it to be receiv'd And it is doubtless a wrong and superstitious Fear to be afraid of receiving it unworthily and not be afraid of neglecting and omitting to receive it as often as we might have Opportunity to do so Our Road from Dusseldorp was not on the Bank of the Rhine but out of the Sight of it We pass'd through a rich Corn Country and our Ways were tolerably good When we came within about two Hours of Duysberg Wood of Duysberg which was to be about the middle of this Day 's Journey we entred a vast Wood or Forest It was very pleasant to us and look'd almost every where like a Grove there being very little under-wood within our Sight and it was generally dry and firm under us It is full of stately tall Trees the most of them Beech or Oak and they very fair and flourishing There was on it a good Coat of Green which afforded Pasture for Sheep and we saw in our way three or four very large Flocks of Sheep of a good size they look'd in a very good Condition and were each Flock attended with two or three Shepherds and so many stout Dogs and besides they kept near together This Wood is said to have a great many wild Beasts in it of several sorts and to have besides many Hundreds of Horses that run wild in it who chuse a hungry Liberty especially in Winter rather than a fat and well fed Servitude There were Juniper Bushes scatter'd about every where through this Wood in great abundance We were about an Hour and half in passing through it at a good rate of travelling and found it thick set with Trees all the way and when we came on the other side of it where we look'd upon Duysburg we observ'd that it surrounded the City at the distance of two or three Miles and went both ways beyond our Sight though we could see it a great way We had left the Dutchy of Mons and were entred the Dutchy of Cleve some little time Dutchy of Cleve before we parted with this Wood so we were also now within the Dominion of the Elector of Brandenburg and within his Dominion we continu'd and in this Dutchy of Cleve too till we came within the Dominions of the States-General of the United Provinces for we pass'd through the greatest part of the Length of the Dutchy of Cleve This Dutchy of Cleve is a Country of Germany included within the Circle of Westphalia It is situate partly on both sides of the Rhine It has on the East Borders of it the Dutchy of Berg or Mons the County of Marck and part of the Dutchy of Westphalia On the West it borders partly upon Barbant and partly upon the Dutchy of Gelderland On the South it has next it the Bishoprick of Colen and the Territory of Aix la Chappelle On the North 't is bounded with Over-Issel and the Province of Zutphen The Extent of it is reckon'd to be about Fifteen Leagues in length and Four or Five in breadth It is pretty much cover'd with Woods and Hills by virtue of which it is stor'd with a prodigious Quantity of Wild Game But on the Banks of the Rhine on both sides for a good breadth it is for the most part a plain and rich Country well peopled and manur'd and some of the Hills themselves bear good Corn. This Dutchy now belongs to the Electour of Brandenburg How long it has done so and how it came to pass has been said
the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper But these Penances were not design'd to satisfy the divine Justice for the Sins committed but to give the Church and the Publick Satisfafaction and evident Proof of the Sincerity and Truth of their Repentance And when the time of these Penances was shortned which was the usual Indulgence of the Primitive Church it was because the Circumstances satisfied the Church before the time appointed was all spent that the Penitent was truly such and was come to a due Sense and Detestation of his Fault Or else it was shortned because the Person was likely to die within the time prefixed In which case also he having continued his Task of Pennance was at the point of Death admitted to partake of that Sacrament for his Consolation and Support in that sad Hour Thus was the matter managed in the primitive Church And 't is well known also by those who are acquainted with the State and Management of the Roman Church at present that those good Men who would revive the ancient Discipline and do require the Evidences of a true Repentance before they admit People to that Sacrament are hated and persecuted by the prevailing Faction in the Church of Rome under the Dominion of the Jesuits and revil'd and reproach'd with the Names of Jansenists Arnaldists Novators Rigourists and Hereticks Among others who bestow upon them these hated Names the famous Traveller Henâ—epin whose Brains were bewildred in the Wildernesses of America if he ever had any has endeavour'd to signalize himself in a Railing Book against them which is full as wise as his Travels and perhaps the Relations of it much about as true Again we may observe this Variation in the Church of Rome from the primitive Church The primitive Church was to have the Satisfaction or give the Indulgence before the Penitents were admitted to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper But in the Church of Rome 't is always express'd and and requir'd as a Condition of enjoying the Indulgence that the persons shall have first confess'd and receiv'd the Communion The plain Reason of this is because the Offering at receiving of the Communion is the chief thing which the Indulgence is granted for and must be attain'd by And the primitive Church never pretended by her Indulgence to relax the Pains of Purgatory or to deliver any from it for they knew nothing of any such place or State as the Romanists have invented Further let us observe That the Bishop of Meaux confesses as indeed he is forced to do by the Evidence of holy Scripture That the Sufferings of Jesus Christ and his Meritorious Death are a full Satisfaction to the Divine Justice for the Sins of Men. But from hence we may conclude That at least there can be no need of Humane Satisfactions or that we must suffer severe penalties to satisfie for our Sins The Justice of God cannot be said to require more than is necessary unless he be very unjustly accus'd But if Christ has done all in this matter more than all is more than need to be a full Satisfaction must be enough and all Therefore whatever other Reasons there may have been for God's laying temporal Afflictions on Good Men notwithstanding that he has pardon'd their sins they are not laid upon them for any Satisfaction to the Divine Justice If the suffering of these were the necessary and requir'd Condition of our partaking in the Satisfaction of Christ Jesus yet it were not proper to call them Satisfactions to the Divine Justice for our sins He therefore in this Explication of the matter goes beside the true Doctrine of his Church and gives another Reason for these temporal punishments Besides the Holy Scripture no where teaches this Doctrine of his it says By Grace we are saved even through the Merits and Satisfaction of Jesus Christ not by any penal Works of our own And it is no where propos'd as a Condition of our partaking in the Satisfaction of Jesus Christ that we must pay a part of the Satisfaction due for our selves If the Goodness of God in condescension to our Weakness is content that we should satisfie for one another as Mr. de Meaux says Why may we not believe that the Goodness of God for that Reason will accept of and content himself with the Sufferings and Satisfaction of Jesus Christ for us all which indeed the Scripture plainly teaches and we justly believe he has done Further the Bishop of Meaux has been forced in his Explaining their Doctrine in these matters to destroy it as indeed it does like other Errors destroy it self To make Men depend upon Indulgences and keep up the Trade of them he has evidently taken away what he calls the Foundation of Indulgences and the Treasure of the Church so far as the Merits of the Saints are concern'd in it He says That Men ought after all that they have done in order to satisfie for their sins to fear still that they have fallen short of the full Satisfaction for themselves and therefore they must run from place to place to obtain the Benefit of Indulgences But then if any ought to fear this for themselves all ought to fear it concerning themselves And if this be the Doctrine of the Church all must submit to and believe it so that after all their pretended Supererogations those of the Religious Orders ought to fear that they have not made Satisfaction enough for themselves If they ought to fear this others may fear it too as well concerning those Monks as concerning themselves And then all may justly fear that there is no such a Treasure of Merits and Satisfactions from their penal and laborious Satisfactions as is pretended For he that may be fear'd not to have done enough for himself may be more justly fear'd not to have done enough for himself and others He that has not enough for himself has none to spare But the Scripture evidently determines this matter beyond all Contradiction by destroying the vain Opinion of Supererogations it teaches us evidently That no man in this life can perfectly fulfil what he is oblig'd to by the Law of God and for that Reason we all need the Satisfaction and Righteousness of Jesus Christ in order to find Acceptance with God The great Apostle St. Paul renounces his own Righteousness Philip. 3. 9. and says plainly That he could not in this Life pretend to be perfect in the 12th Verse The Apostle St. James of himself and all Christians in common says In many things we offend all James 3. 2. The Apostle St. John includes himself also with all Christians and says If we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and the Truth is not in us 1 Epist Chap. 1. v. 8. But if no man can perform all that he is oblig'd to do certainly no man can do more than that Further No Man nor Company of Men can make a full Satisfaction by all the penal Works which they
one we past however by many scattering Houses that had been very ill used in the time of the War and were become uninhabitable On the way to Louvain we see on the Left-hand at a distance from us and somewhat below us the City of Mechlin which is too considerable Mechlin a place not to be taken notice of in this Relation since it can be said we saw it as we did for a good part of our way tho' our intended Progress directed us from going to it This is one of the chief Cities of the Low-Countries or the Belgick Provinces and a very ancient one Tho' it is seated almost in the middle of Brabant yet it is reckon'd with a Compass about it subject to its Jurisdiction distinct from Brabant and to be one of these 17 Provinces It is said to be a very neat City it seem'd of a considerable bigness It is strongly fortify'd and surrounded with a very good Ditch It stands upon the River Dyle foremention'd and and Tide runs through the City and rises to a League above it There are reckon'd here 17 Colledges of Tradesmen who have right to sit in the Senate and to vote in matters deliberated The Supreme Power is exercised by 12 Schepins six of which are chosen from the Gentry and six from the Colledges of Tradesmen The Trade of Tanning has been very great in this City their Company was honour'd with Noble Priviledges among others with the Freedom of Hunting and Fowling Here was formerly a great Woollen Manufacture and then there were reckon'd at once 3200 Shops of Weavers in this City The Founders Trade was here considerable also and formerly there was a great Magazine of all things necessary for War At present the trifling Trade of making Lace employs many People here as well as in other Cities hereabout But tho' we in England have given the name of Mechlin-Lace to the best it is not here that better is made than in other places of this Country The City is favour'd with a very good Air and is very healthy In it were educated Philip the first King of Spain and his Son Charles who was afterwards Emperour under the Name of Charles V. Because in those times as it had been for some time before this City was the ordinary Seat of the House of Burgundy The Lady Margaret of Austria Aunt of Charles V. Emperor when he made her Governess of the Low Countries made this the place of her Residence and kept her Court here till she died which was in the Year 1530. The great Council Royal have their Seat here still which was instituted in the Year 1473. by Charles the last Duke of Burgundy who was kill'd before Nancy It consisted at first of 30 persons including the Prince but has been somewhat alter'd since these Countries became subject to the King of Spain This City is the Seat of an Archbishop who has a large Jurisdiction he who fills it at present calls himself Gulielmus Humbertus à Precipiana a Man of more Zeal than Wisdom and who has suffer'd himself to be drawn into ridiculous Extreams in opposition to the Phantom of Jansenism These Provinces formerly in Ecclesiastical Matters were under the Jurisdiction of Bishops who liv'd at a distance from them and who therefore took the less care of them and had the less Influence among them The Archbishop of Cologne had Authority in Nimeguen and the Jurisdiction belonging to it The Bishop of Utrecht had Authority in some other parts and was the only Bishop that had his Residence among them The Bishop of Liege had Authority in Roermonde and the Countrey about that and he with the Bishop of Combray divided the Province of Brabant The Bishop of Munster had some Authority in the Province of Zutphen This State of the Church here was thought an Advantage to the spreading of the Reformation among these People and therefore to prevent this the King of Spain resolved to establish several Bishops among them Accordingly in Conjunction with Pope Paul IV. he erected three Archbishopricks which were Cambray Utrecht and this Mechlin under these he set several Bishops For Brabant there was one at Antwerp and one at Hertogen-bosch For Guelderland there was a Bishop set at Roermonde For Flanders there were Bishops at Ghent and Ipres at which last place the first Bishop was the famous Gornelius Jansenius the Restorer of the Doctrine of St. Augustine in the Church of Rome tho' cruelly persecuted in his Memory since his Death and in his Friendâ— and Followèrs by the new Pelagians the Jesuits upon that Account For Holland there was a Bishop to have been at Haeâ—lem For Zeeland at Middleburg For Over-Yssel at Daventer Then also were Bishops establish'd at Groninguen Namur Tournay and Audomar for the Provinces and Country about them The Cathedral Church at Mechlin is dedicated to St. Rumbold whom the Legend makes to have been the Son of David King of Scots who by Prayers had obtain'd of Heaven this Son but could not keep him when he had him For when he was grown up nothing would serve him but to be a Priest he left his Father despising his Crown and Kingdom and was guided by an Angel into Ireland where he became Bishop of Dublin When his Father was dead it was now known where he was and the People attempted to take him by force and make him their King but he slipt through their Fingers and was again guided by an Angel to Rome From thence he came into Brabant preach'd the Gospel here and was the Apostle or Converter of these Countries He by his Prayers they say obtain'd a Son for Count Ado and when the Child was grown up and drown'd he brought him to Life again He was busie in building a great Church when some wicked Fellows kill'd him thinking he had by him a great Hoard of Money for the Work he was about They took what he had and threw his Body into the River But the Body discover'd it self there and shin'd in the Dark like rotten Pork found by the Glory that it cast it was taken up by Fishermen This tho' but a silly Story and not well agreeing with it self is yet a very modest one in comparison to a multitude of others which the Papists tell of the Lives and Miracles of their Saints who by the lying Wonders they have shamm'd upon the World have imitated and serv'd the Father of Lyes more than the God of Truth and by feign'd Stories of Saints and Miracles evidently false have discredited the true ones which the Church has really been furnish'd with so have they disparag'd and weakned by this means some of the great Confirmations of Christianity and promoted Atheism-and Infidelity in the Christian Church When we came near Louvain we pass'd by a large and magnificent Building which is a Augustine Nuns House of the Augustine Nuns they were now upon the Peace return'd to it again but liv'd in the City during the War because
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