Mercuries attest That the Doctrine censured by Sorbon is in many things the same with that of the reformed Churches Du Moulin dotes not when at Sedan he avowes the same uniformity of Doctrine Rousselet publishes it at Nismes Eustache at Montpelier and of the two famous Apostates L' Abadie and Le Masson who are now at Montauban the first confesses that to Calvinisme he passed through the gate of Jansenisme the second that he learn'd Jansenisme in Calvin long before Jansenius printed his Augustinus We have in our hands the Book he hath lately printed containing the Motives of his Apostasie which hapned the last year after he had preach'd the Lent forâ—going in the Diocâ—sse of Roven It is not necessary to dilate any more on this Subject there being so many printed Pieces which demonstrate the conformity of the Doctrine of Jansenius and â—alvin concerning Self-â—fficacious Grace to which the Jansenists have never been able to answer As to that which the Secretary addes near the end of his Letter of the compassion he has to see me forsaken of God I have three things to reply The first that since his spirit of jeaâ—ting and scurrility seems to have left him his Letters are very flat and he grows tedious and contemptible to those that read him The second that a Novendiall devotion at the Holy Thorne would be well employ'd to obtain of God the cure of his blindenesse The third that I conceive a particular confidence by seeing my self forsaken of God in the opinion of those who believe he has forsaken his Church and goes daily destroying it as the Jansenists do by adhering to the traditions of the deceased Abbot of St. Cyran If the fancy take him to make any reply let him not send his Writings any more to Osnabrâ—ck For it is but to make a toil of a pleasure Amsterdam Leiden and Geneva are much more commodiouâ— since in all those places he shall not onely have permission to print his Works but an Approbation to attend them After all The Jansâ—nists are Heretiques An ANSWER to the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Provinciall Letters and to another of an unknown Person to Father Annat which is inserted into the Second English Edition betwixt the Seaventeenth and Eighteenth Argument 1. THat the Author of the Provinciall Letters complains that he is called Heretique when at the same breath he vents Heresie 2. That all that he saith for his vindication from Heresie maketh him suspected of Heresie 3. That the Jesuites dependance on their Superiours which he objecteth is their security as his Independance is the Sâ—urce of â—hâ—s ruine 4. The Superiours of the Jesuites proceeding in Printing Books 5. An Answer to an Argument wherein it is said that the Jesuites take the Piety of their Adversaries for a pretense of calling them Heretiques 6. That it is a groundlesse accusation which reflects on the Pope and Synod of France to say the Jesuites procured the condemnation of Jansenius though nothing is or can be produced that ever they did in order to a false Information 7. Three other Calumnies against the Jesuites refuted 8. Ten Objections by which the Jansenists would prove themselves no Heretiques refuted and proved to be of no force at all In the refutation of the Fifth Objection the Texts of Jansenius are cited where he plainly teacheth all that is condemned in the Popes Bull as his Doctrine 9. The Jansenists severall Histories and passages of the Fathers and Councells shewed to â—e impertinent and to argue him to be no good Subject of the Church 10. His Hypocriticall Piety to Jansenius his memory and his false asserting the matter to be of no consequence whether the Propositions be in Jansenius or no. SIR HAving perused your Eighteenth Letter which here in England hath as well as the former no little Vogue among Protestants I thought sit to answer it to let the world see how senselesle a Piece it is For indeed I must â—ell you there is not one Reason in it which â—avours either of Divinity or of Philosophy or of common Sense But howsoever because it speaks against the Popes Bulls and rails at the Jesuites it is welcome to all but onely the poor remnant of Catholiques who with great Resentment seeing you to preâ—â—nd to the name of Catholique say of your Writings Filii Matris meae pugnavêrunt contra me The Sonnes of my Mother â—ight against me Had you writ a Consolatory Missive to us here in England you had done something worthy the name of Catholique and beseeming a good Subject of the most Christian King But to call your self a Catholique and write against the Authority of the Sâ—a Apostoâ—que for which we here suffer so much that we are even pointed at in thâ— Streets by the name of Papists is a thing that breedeth nothing but scandall and confusion in the House of God For this reason I count it my duty to let all the world know that your Letter is neither Catholique nor Rationall as having neither Faith nor Sense in it And to take your Arguments all in their full force and consuâ—e them totally I will rip up what you say in your Seventeenth Letter and your Friend in his to Father Annat for they all drive at the same mark I know Reverend Father Annat hath answered your Seventeenth Letter and in his Tract against the Complaint of the Jansenists hath â—n substance confuâ—ed the main points of the other two so that there would not be need of â—aying any thing more did not your Letters do speciall hurt here in England For all that you advance in favour of Jansenisme is looked upon here as equally availing for the defence of Protestant and Puritan and Anabaptist and Quaker and the other innumerable Sects into which our poor Nation is divided For this reason I presume Reverend Father Annat will give me leave to reassume what he hath said against the Seventeenth Letter and prosecute it to the end of the Eighteenth To begin then you enter upon your Seventeenth Letter with a Complaint that you are called Heretique and challenge all the world to shew where you have taught any thing Hereticall and yet which is a strange madnesse of yours at the same breath that you make this challenge you declare your self Heretique I need not then go back to your former Writings to â—ell you on what account that Tiâ—le is given you The whole subject of your Seventeenth and Eighteenth Letters makes the matter clear The Pope and whole Catholique Church hold the Jansenists Heretiques you hold the Jansenists are not Heretiques The Pope hath declared that the Five Propositions condemned in Innocent the Tenth's Bull are Hereticall in Jansenius his sense you say those Five Propositions are not Hereticall in Jansenius his senser And for this you are deservedly called Heretiques We Catholiques in England say with St. Hierome Epâ—st ad Damasum de Hypostafis nomine Siquis Cathedrae Petri jungitur meus est He that agreeth with the Chair
them in conscience to do it because the acquisition was not unjust though the means by which they got it be infamous How will he be surprized to have these opinions authorized by the Sentences of Iudges and by the oracles of Law who clearly decide it That a Whore sins in prostituting her self but yet does not sin in taking what is given her L. 4. § Sed quod Meretrix How will he be astonisht to sinde it in all Divines e Petrus à Navarra l. 9. de restitut c. 2. Navarrus cap. 17. n. 30. 35. Cajetan in 2. 2. q. 32. A. 7. q 62. Art 5. Angelus verb. concussio 2. 5. verb. restitutio Sylvestr verb. restitutio who took themselves obliged to instruct Confessours of the manner they ought to proceed in towards their Penitents who but too often are concerned in some of these sins What infamy is it to this Impostor to impute to the Jesuites as a new and astonishing crime the teaching of that which is read in the works of so many excellent men whose Holinesse and whose Prudence is bow'd to by the whole world And are these Decisions innocent in all other Authors and unjust onely in the Jesuites Are they legitimate when pronounced by Kings and Emperous and detestable when they are found in the writings of Molina and Lessius Are they full of wisdom because they are in St. Thomas St. Raymund and St. Antonine and yet extravagant because the Jesuites learnt them out of these Doctours Let him know these Decisions which he attributes to the Jesuites do originally belong to the Holy Doctours of the Church but the injustice and extravagancy which he findes belongs to himself and that he could not have learnt that rashnesse but of some jearing wicked Parson to say that by such Decisions St. Thomas and St. Antonine teach Murtherers and Sorcerers to be learned and experienced in their Art An Advertisement to the Jansenists It was an an act of wisdom in St Thomas and St. Antonine to write these Decisions which you call extravagant in a language not common to the people but 't is a detestable malice in you to have published them in vulgar terms Yet after all you have said the Jansenists onely can teach such revilers as your self to become cunning in their art which they do not do by simple Decisions but by great stipends If it be this infamous trade you live by I do not oblige you to restore them that which they give but you are bound to repair the scandall you have given the faithfull and the honour you strive to force from the Jesuites by these Impostures so full of injustice The twenty fifth Imposture French 7. THat the Jesuites have choice of Methods to palliate Usury But that one of the best in his opinion is the contract Mohatra by which you may buy Stuffs or the like at a dear rate on Tick to sell them instantly to the same person for ready money at a cheaper rate Letter 8. Answer We must pardon this Writer if the word Mohatra seems new to him and if he believe that never any but Escobar used it Letter 8. pag. 165. His ignorance must excuse him 't is not long since he was a maker of Romances as report goes therefore no wonder if he wanted time and leasure to read such Books as treat of Contracts and Usury Yet is he not to be excused neither for corrupting what he does know nor for censuring what he does not know He findes fault with the Father Escobar for having assigned certain expedients by which this contract may be permitted Letter 8. and in that is either extreamly ignorant or else very presuming Ignorant if he do not know that in censuring that Author he declares himself at the same time against Navarr one of the most famous Casuists of our time against Sylvester Master of the Sacred Palace against Peter Navarr an excellent Divine against Bonacina whose name is eminent in Schools and against many others whom it is not needfull to set down Very presuming if knowing it he be yet so rash as to reprehend and make them submit to his censure Let him know what Bonacina tells us in his Treaty of Contracts Disp 3. q. 2. p. 3. n. 20. pag. 725. where having proposed this difficulty a Octava difficultas est utrum labe usurae careat contractus quo venditur res credita pecunia pretio rigoroso poâ—â—eà eadem statim redimitur numerata pecunia medio vel insimo pretio Whether a man can without Usury sell dear and on trust and at the same time buy it again with ready money at a cheaper rate He resolves it thus b Respondeo per se loquendo carere labe usurâ— Ita Navarrus cap. 23. num 91. Petrus Navarrus l. 3. c. 2. n. 170. Rebell l. 9. q 7. n. 7. Salonius 2. 2 q 78. A. 2. contr 7. Armilla verb. Usura n. 19. Sylvester verb. Usura 2. quaesit 2. Et ratio est quia in utraque venditione res venditur justo ergo utraque venditio licita est non usuraria Haec Bonacina Tractat. de Contract Disp 3. q. 2. p. 3. n. 20. p. 725. I answer sayes he that considering the nature of the Contract it is exempt from the spot of Usury and it is the opinion of Navarr cap. 23. num 91. Of Petrus Navarrus lib. 3. c. 2. n. 170. Of Rebellus l. 9. q 7. n. 7. Of Salonius 2. 2. q. 78. A. 2. contr 7. Of Armilla verb. Usura num 19. Of Sylvester verb. Usura 2. q. 3. Of Reginaldus l. 25. num 296. The reason is because they buy and sell again at a just price so by consequence both the one and the other is lawfull and without the least Usury After all this I could be content to suffer the presumption of this vain and ignorant head if he did but faithfully alledge the Doctrine of those Authors who seem to him worthy of reprehension But in earnest his Impostures and Lyings are unsupportable For if he do seriously believe the Doctrine of the Jesuites to be wholly corrupt what should skare him from telling it in the proper terms why should he mangle that which he relates Does he think all eyes bewitcht like those of the Jansenists and that they see nothing but what he has a minde to shew them and never perceive what he hides by Leger-demain from them Pray do but see in what manner he clips off some of Lessius his words and confounds those of Escobar Escobar sayes he sets down certain expedients to render it lawfull even though he who sells and buys again looks on his profit as his principall design provided onely that when he sells he exceed not the highest prices of Stuffs in that kinde and that when he buys again he fall not below the lowest and that there be no agreement before hand either in expresse terms or otherwise But Lessius de Justit l. 9.
Silence wherewith you menace me at the end of the Fourteenth Letter will do me a pleasure and not be unprofitable to your self You will at once learn to speak more modestly your self of those holy and most celebrious Doctours and you will â—ase me of the trouble of upbâ—aiding your insolence Keep your promise with me Sir and you will surpasse my hopes but if you will fully satisfie my desires make better use hereafter of the wit which God hath given you turn not again the point of your knife against the Altars do not consecrate your Heart any more to Revenge your Understanding to Errour nor your Pen to Calumny 'T is now above an Age agoe since that foul-mouth'd Vice â—ndertook to persecute the Jesuits it has stuck close to their Society from its very cradle it has pursued them where ever they have had the honour to publish the Gospel and even at this day it has people over all the earth so far devoted to its Orders as to make this Company suffer a cruel persecution You are not the first that has attaqu'd them nor are you like to be the last that will have the shame and repentance of having done it Relinquish that â—ad employment Sir which can bring you nothing but dishonour with men and in the sight of God charge you with an heavy account there is no jeasting with Divine Justice the Wisdom of God is not subject to surprize men cannot impose on the prime Verity which endures not falshood without destroying it in vain do you disguise the matter you cannot make it probable to him and except you sincerely disâ—vow it you shall never be in safety of Conscience An ANSWER to the JANSENISTS Fifteenth Letter Argument 1. THe Jansenists foul Language in solving difficulties with a mentiris impudentissimè whence he learnt it 2. Since the Jansenists have used ill language to Popes and Prelates and accused his Holiness's Bulls of falsity it is not to be wondred they use the Jesuits as ill 3. Before Pope Innocent's Bull the Five Propositions were acknowledged by the Jansenists to be in Jansenius since they are condemned the Jansenists will give him the Lye that saith they are in Jansenius 4. The Jansenists are condemned of all sides and laying all that on the Jesuits to revenge themselves they expose the Jesuits Morality quite disguised to the laughter of the ignorant and by so doing they are themselves become the laughter of wise men 5. Their false Accusations of Fath. Dalby Pintereau Bauny and others refuted 6. That if one Caputin at Prague and a Jesuit had a Contrast yet the whole Body of Capucins conspireth with the Society and other Orders also against the Jansenists 7. Dicastillo's opinion hindereth not the verity of all that is laid to the Jansenists charge which is made good by shewing the Originalls SIR I Perceive you are nettled and that your game does not please you When I had accurately examin'd the principall parts of your Letter the whole force and substance of it seem'd comprisable in these two words which in your opinion amount to a just Apology and do wholly acquit Port-Royall mentiris impudentissimè a Letter 15. That is to say Sir as you know very well you lie most impudently We must pardon you this exorbitancy you are in Choler and your minde not being in a calm posture seems to have lost the government of its passions so that in this confusion of thoughts and violent motions that tosse it to and fro it is hardly able to make a good election of its words That Learned man whose errours make up the Theology of your Sect and whose name is one of the most magnificent Titles of your glory a Letter 15. said very ingenuously you know it Sir and have graven it since his death on the Frontispice of his Work b Subtilis cholerae nonnihil habuit quam siamulae Salpetrae lepidè comparare solebat quae momento incenditur â—ine nidore â—umo momento in nihilum dispergitur Jansen in Syâ—opsi vitae ejus pag. 2. that the humor predominant in his constitution participated of the qualities of Salt-peter which being of a thin and simple substance takes fire in an instant and as suddenly goes out leaving no ill smell nor smoak behinde it Your fire is more offensive your Salt peter has Sulphur in it and those injurious writings which degenerate so much from the naturall Civility of the French smell too much of the German Powder I sought at first with some astonishment for what reason or rather out of what giddy humour you were gone amongst strangers to learn to speak opprobriously in Dutch since without going so far you might have learn'd as good language as this in the common Market-place or among the Wash-women at the River side But I recall'd to minde that you had good Friends in that Countrey and that Luther who first found out this excellent Method how to vindicate Heresie had made an advantagious use of it against the highest powers opposing both to the Writings of a King and the Anathema's of a Pope the same impenetrable shield which secures you against all the darts of your Adversaries mentiris impudentissimè You lie most impudently For thus in his Answer to the King of England who had undertaken the defence of the Faith against that insolent Apostate he scossingly terms him your Thomisticall Majesty c Thomistica vestra dominatio Egregia Regis Thomislitas to clude those invincible reasons of St. Thomas which that Prince had urged and makes him this respectfull complement Ego fine larva sed aperâ—è dico Regem Angliae Henricum istum mentiri I fear not to unmask my self and speak freely that this Harry King of England lies And in his Refutation of the Bull of Pope Leo the X. upon the subject of Free Will like that of Innâ—â—ent the X. against the Jansenists d Mentiris ne calumniare Ulricus de Hutâ—en Eques apud Lutherum Tom. 2. fol. 54. p. 1. Wittebergae 1546. You lye sayes he cease to calumniate those who maintain the Truth which for three hundred years past you have unjustly oppressed c Obsecro quae est frons tua meretricia sanctissime Vicarie Christi Lutherus in assert articulorum à Leonâ— X. damnatorum Tom. 2. fol. 117. p. 2. Sed vale scelerata abominatio tam stultè simul impudenter loqueris ut indignae sis propâ—â—r quam verba fianâ— Ibid. fol. 120. pag. 1. alibi passim And again You have the face of a Curtisan Holy Vicar of Christ which cannot blush You show so much impudence and so little sense in your words that you deserve no Answer Questionlesse it was from this Originall that you took your pattern from hence you have learn'd to give the lie so readily to him that dares contradict your Sentiments It was not possible to copy him more perfectly then you have done and to compare you both together a