turn'd out exil'd and confin'd the Houses of the Religious Maids that would not obey suffer'd Violence and were dispers'd It is now Forty Years that the Court has continued this Persecution and still at this day a vast number of Holy Priests are in Exile in Prisons and Sufferings for that they will not renounce the Grace of Jesus Christ efficacious by it self Is this an Affair for the Court to intermeddle withall is it not extending its Empire farther than that of God which in things which are not of a sovereign necessity would have us mutually bear with one another at least it is a matter to be left to the Church to dispatch it is purely of its Resort wherefore in this Case there ought not to be employ'd either Imprisonments or Banishment or Violence or Royal Authority After the Affair of the five Propositions is come that of the Rogalia it is a Right by which the French Kings pretend to the Power of receiving the Fruits of vacant Bishopricks and to supply during the Vacancy all the Benefices and Cures of Souls that fall vacant and which are at the Bishops Nomination The Affair seem'd to have been regula-ted in the General Council of Lyons wherein it was forbidden to extend the Rogalia over such Bishopricks where that Right had not been before exercis'd Several Bishops of France enjoy'd this Immunity Lewis the Fourteenth has bethought himself of subjecting them all to this Yoke The Bishops of Alet and Pamiers two of the most Holy Men of their Age would not give way to the unjust Decrees and Acts which the King caused to pass in his Council where he was Judge and Party in a Matter that ought to depend on the Holy See or a Council and because that these holy Bishops address'd themselves to the Holy See that so the Pope might employ his Authority in maintenance of the Priviledges of the Church it is past all expressing what cruel Persecutions the two Churches of Alet and Pamiers were exposed to The Bishops and Chapters were deprived of their Temporalty of Patrimonial Goods and Estates and the Canons and Bishops were seiz'd and thus they were reduced to the utmost Poverty and this with so much Inhumanity that their Friends were not allow'd to give them Alms they have been banished into and confin'd to Desarts they have been Imprison'd menaced with and condemn'd to the severest Deaths insomuch that the Court caus'd an Act or Sentence to pass in the Parliament of Tholouse which condemns one of the great Vicars of Pamiers to have his Head struck off by the hand of the Executioner which was accordingly executed upon his Effigies for that they could not seize on his Person All such as had any ties of Kindred or Friendship with those two Bishops their great Vicars their Canons or Officers were treated in like manner they have been banisn'd to the farthest parts of the Kingdom or thrown into Prisons where they still suffer the utmost indignities and extreamest miseries The King to have a boundless Empire over the Church after having establisn'd his Power over the Bishops would needs extend it over all Religious Houses It 's well known that there were many that still retain'd the Priviledge that was formerly common to all the Societies of Men and Women which was that of respectively choosing Superiours of the Sex of each respective House whereas now the Superiours of either Sex must be appointed by the Court that so having its Creatures every where it may reign every where And as it takes to its self the Power of placing Superiours throughout it recalls and changes them at pleasure that so the Slavery may be to the Sovereign degree and that no Person may be any longer permitted to do his Duty towards God save as far forth as shall be pleasing to the King. It is in consequence of this Resolution that the Maidens of Saint Claire have been Persecuted they being called Vrbanists as also the House of Charonni and of the Order of Clugni in all these Houses have been introduced with the utmost violence Superiours of both sexes at the King's Nomination the Doors have been broke open the most sacred Sanctuaries violated the Nuns have been taken away by force they have been banish'd impriprison'd and made to suffer all sorts of mischiefs The Abby of Clugny which is a religious Order had always retain'd the Priviledge of electing its own Abbots but it has been judg'd expedient not to have any regard to a Priviledge as ancient as the Order it self The Court has annull'd the Election which the Religious had made of an Abbot regular and of Authority the Abby has been given to the Cardinal de Bouillon that so the Court might have there a Slave to be the Tyrant of the Order and answer for it to the Court. If things have turn'd otherwise and if the Cardinal of Bouillon has not prov'd a Friend of the present Government this renders not the Violence the less great Because that there is of the Temporal in Benefices Princes have at least some pretext to aim at being Masters of the Collation but the King without any shadow of pretext has render'd himself absolute Master of what is most spiritual in the Church At present the Faith of the Church depends on the Princes Authority He causes to be held before his Eyes and in his Metropolis tumultuous Assemblies compos'd of his own Creatures and of Court Bishops therein he causes to be decided with full Authority the nicest and most important matters He submits the Pope to the Council he deprives him of the Power of Excommunicating Kings he declares that he is subject to Errour he backs these temerarious Decisions with his own Royal Declarations and if any one dares to own that he does not submit his Judgment to these Decisions he is the object of the most cruel Persecution that can be imagin'd he is to expect Imprisonment Banishment and Death it self The World has ever look'd upon the Authority of establishing new Orders and of ruining those that are establish'd as a Right annex'd to the Holy See But the King has put himself in possession of that Right It is universally known how the Maidens de l' Enfance were establish'd at Tholouse under the Direction of Madam de Mondouville and by the Pope's permission Now for that the Directors of that House were suspected of being of the number of those called Jansenists the Houses of that Order have been ruin'd the Abbess taken up and confin'd in the House of the Hospitalieres near two hundred Maids of the Enfance turn'd out of their Houses pull'd from their Sanctuaries by Soldiers and Serjeants and reduc'd to the utmost extremities If any thing be of the Jurisdiction of the Church it is indubitable that the Versions of the Holy Writ are of that kind The Word of God is the Milk of that Mother with which she nourishes her Children it is for her to dispense it according to her Wisdom
and according to Necessities Nevertheless the French Court has taken upon it to regulate our Lectures and our private Devotions because that the Version of Mons comes from Persons who are no Friends of the Court though they be most Catholick that Version must needs be empoyson'd that the Doctrine of Heaven must needs be become dangerous by the King's Authority the Publication and Reading of it are forbidden upon the utmost Penalties The same Course is taken with all other Books of Piety and Religion it is sufficient that they have been compiled by Doctors hated by the Court to render them bad they are forbidden entrance into the Kingdom the Intendants that suffer them to come in are disgraced and the Ecclesiasticks who receive them are condemned to perpetual Imprisonments wherein the loss of Liberty is the least evil they are made to suffer When it pleases the King to fall out with the Pope and appeal from his justest Proceedings the Gallican Church must adhere to this Revolt All Bishops Chapters Universities Religious Houses as well Men as Women are oblidg'd thereunto Orders are sent then to conform to the King's Will and to sign them if they are wanting therein they are sure to meet with the severest Punishments is not this the utmost Violence and where is the freedom of the Church and of Suffrages But what is all this in comparison of what the Church has been oblig'd to do in the Persecution that has been excited against the Calvinists I say nothing of that Persecution it self the King will quickly see all he has gain'd by this Conduct it has already cost the King of England his Crown This it is that has drawn upon France the most horrible Tempest that was ever form'd The Church is doubtless concern'd in these troubles not only as a Member of the State but because in its own particular it runs a risque of suffering much leaving however this apart what reason has it not to complain of the Violence that has been done to it It is constrain'd to receive those whom it ought to look upon as Doggs and Swine in the Lord's Flock it is forced to prophane the most sacred Mysteries by exposing them to the sight of the Incredulous it is compell'd which creates a horrour to say and think to expose the precious Body of its Saviour to the greatest of all Outrages The Church is constrain'd to grant Communion to People who make profession of abominating our Mysteries Who is it that does this It is the King the King will have it so and accordingly Orders are given to the Bishops and wherever they are not executed the Ecclesiasticks are in the Disgrace of the Court. The Calvinists have just occasion to complain of these Violences but the Gallican Church has still more reason The Calvinists communicate against their Wills in kinds which they only look upon as Bread and Wine and thus they only prophane the symbols but the Church is oblig'd to prophane the Flesh and Blood of its Saviour and cause them to be eaten by the Prophane this is certainly the utmost Violence and a sovereign Impiety Is this an Affair within the jurisdiction of a temporal Prince Ought not the Pope to be consulted upon the means of the Conversion of the Calvinists Ought it not to be known of Him whether according to the Cannons it is allowable to force Hereticks to assist at the Celebration of the Mass Ought it not likewise to be known of him whether it be convenient to force to the Communion People not perswaded Instead of this the King of his own Authority decides the nicest Cases of Conscience without consulting other than one Confessoâ— and some Court-Bishops and constrains the whole Gallican Church to submit to his Decisions If this be not oppressing the Church I understand nothing of the matter And after this it is taken ill that the Pope does not cause his Palace to ring with Hallelujahs and that he looks with so much Indifference upon the Conversions made without his Authority and against the Laws of the Church Lastly To be perswaded of the Oppression which the Gallican Church suffers there needs no more than to cast our eyes about We shall see the Prisons are full of Priests that several of them suffer extream miseries in the Prisons that several are dead in them of Hunger Cold and all sorts Calamities We ought to consider the sad Estate and abject Scituation wherein are all the Lower Ecclesiasticks The King raises Taxes under the name of Gratuitous Gifts upon the Clergy which drain them and render them miserable The truth is that the Bishops and all those who hold great Benefices find means to get from under this great Burden but it becomes but the heavier to the Lower Clergy The Curats bear the Burden the Tenths are augmented And many have not the Quarter-part of what belongs to them for the maintaining themselves in a Condition of doing Honour to the Church but are to pay a great share of their little Benefices to the King. This occasions the Curats to be poor and wretched and despised Formerly all was Sacred in the Church both Goods Estates and Persons none dar'd to touch any thing that belonged to it without incurring Excommunication There was doubtless a great deal of Excess in these Immunities extended too far But now Affairs are push'd into another Extremity now neither any Character or Azylum is inviolable Tyranny subdues all Parliaments are the most August part of the State they are naturally the Temples of Justice the Sanctuaries and the Protectors of Persecuted Innocence We shall hereafter see what their Priviledges were formerly Now a dayes they are Companies without Authority and almost without Honour by reason of the baseness and Injustice they are obliged to commit to please the Court. Daily the King not only nulls the Decrees and Sentences of the Soveraign Courts but he forces their Opinions Now there is no longer any Code or Digest or Custom Letters under the Privy Signet make all the French Law and Right However unjust a procedure may be it is sufficient that it pleases the Court to be Authorized The Parliament of Paris was formerly a Bulwark against Tyranny now it is the chief Instrument of it It must verifie all the Edicts the most cruel and the most opposite to the weal of the State to the Liberty and Quiet of the People If it dar'd to make use of the Right it has of opposing unjust Edicts and Declarations it would certainly be interdicted the next day and its Members plung'd into Dungeons Inferiour Tribunals are fallen into the same slavery the Intendants of Provinces deprive them of all their Jurisdiction They draw before them all Justice and when an Innocent is to be condemned the Intendant obtains a Commission from the Court He culls out of several Prefidials People the most devoted to the Court and pronounces according to the Orders he has received from above Thus properly do they
great Imposts but the manner of raising them though it was very just yet did much less exhaust the Kingdom than the manner of raising them now At that time Credit and Protection had room the Gentleman that had Credit protected his Parish and especially his Farmers and caus'd their Taxes to be diminish'd The great Lord screen'd his Vassals from Oppression the Judge and the Magistrate had his People whom he upheld few rich Persons were there but made Friends to shelter themselves from Oppression Thus the whole burden fell upon People without Protection and without Friends who indeed were utterly miserable But at least there remained in the Kingdom a vast number of People who were at their ease and who did Honour to the State The present Government has succeeded that Monsieur Colbert has made a Project of Reformation of the Finances and has caused it to be executed with the utmost rigour But wherein does this Reformation consist It is not to lessen the Imposts for the ease of the People it is in augmenting them very much by spreading them over all those that formerly put themselves under cover by their own Credit and that of their Friends The Gentleman has no longer any Credit to obtain the diminution of the Tax to his Parish his Farmers pay as well as others and more The Officers of Justice Lords and other Persons of Character have now no longer any Credit to the Prejudice of the King's Revenue all pays this is a mighty Ayr a mighty shew of Justice But what has this fair Justice produc'd It has ruin'd all People The Wretches whom the Imposts have ruin'd in the former Years have been discharg'd but that discharge can in no wise contribute to the raising them up again they have now nothing left and of nothing nothing comes And besides the burdens that have been left upon them though something less are more than sufficient to hinder them from getting up again In the mean while those who had Protection having no longer any they bear the burden in their turns and by this means all is ruined without exception Thus you see to what that great shrewdness in Finances does redound that was so much boasted of in the late Monsieur Colbert He has augmented the King's Revenues above the half First He has augmented the Imposts Secondly He has assign'd the raising of them upon all People that were at their ease in the Kingdom And Finally He has retrench'd the great Gains of the Financiers He has stretch'd the King's Farms to the utmost extremity They who take up the King's Dues have nothing more left to gain by those Spunges are squeez'd dry Much the same Method did we use to make People of Business disgorge all they had got in the former Ministry Courts of Justice have been erected wherein the superintendant Foucquet as also all Intendants of the Finances Treasurers of the Exchequer Traitans Farmers Receivers even to petty Clarks are made to come to an Account They have been made to restore all they had taken nay and all they had not taken with unheard of Violences and Injustice The only Justice there has been in this Prosecution is that those Gentlemen who had done great Injustices to private Persons and other Individuals have run the Gauntlet of the same Injustice under the King and Governments Authority Thus do they exact and raise Imposts if this be not the utmost Tyranny I must own that I understand nothing of the matter After this if we consider the use that has been made of those immense Summs that are leavied with so many Excesses and Exactions we shall therein also see all the Characters of Oppression and Tyranny It sometimes happens that Princes and Sovereigns make Leavies that seem excessive and which indeed do extreamly incommode individuals But this is when they are forced thereunto by what is called the Needs and Necessities of the State There is no such like thing in France there is neither Needs nor State No State Formerly the State entered every where nought else was discours'd of save the Interests of the State of the Needs of the State of the Preservation of the State of the Service of the State to speak so now a-dayes would literally be accounted a Crime of High Treason The King has taken the Place of the State It is for the King's Service it is the King's Interest it is for the Preservation of the King's Provinces and Revenues In short the King is all and the State is no longer any thing and these are not only words and terms they are realities At the French Court there is now no other Interest known than the Kings Personal Interest that is to say His Grandeur and his Glory This is the Idol to which are sacrific'd Princes Grandees the Little Families Provinces Cities Finances and generally all Thus it is not for the good of the State that these horrible exactions are made for there is no longer any thing of the State nor is it for Needs for France never had fewer excepting within these few Months for these thirty Years it had no Enemies save such as it would by all means incurr It might have lived in perfect Tranquility All the Powers of Europe that might give it any Umbrage were brought low The Thrones were possessed either by Infant Princes or by Sovereigns of a mean Capacity and of a calm a peaceable humour exempt from ambition The Treaties of Munster and of the Pyrences had extended its Frontiers and had put under cover its antient Provinces by the New Countries that had been yielded to it Never did France see so propitious a time and so proper to live happy in and to become rich and powerful And on the contrary never did its misery and slavery mount to so high a pitch Wherefore its Money has not been employed in its defence and in repelling the Invasions of the Enemy This Money is only employed in fostering and serving the greatest Self-love and the vastest Pride that ever was It is so vast an Abyss that it would have swallowed up not only the Wealth of the whole Kingdom but that of all other States if it could have seiz'd it as it endeavoured to do The King has caus'd more false Incense to be given him than all the Demy-gods of the Pagans have had real Never was Flattery push'd to such a degree Never did Man love Praises and vain glory to the point that Prince has courted it He fosters in his Court and about him a crowd of Flatterers that enhance upon one another He not only permits the erecting of * The Statue of the Place des Victoires with this Inscription Viro Immortali Statues to him on the foot of which are engraven Blasphemies to his Honour and below which are fetter'd all the Nations of the World in Chains but he himself causes himself to be put into Gold Silver Brass Copper Marble Cloth Pictures Paintings triumphant Arches Inscriptions He fills