but as we pray the Faithful upon the Earth to beseech God in our behalf what would they say when they came into our Churches and that they saw there the Images Served and the Saints invoqued by all the external acts of a Religious adoration They would certainly cry out upon us for having deceived them and would return to the sink of Heresie It would be better to act Faithfully tell things as they are and make known to Hereticks the naked truth But I avow to you this is not the greatest mischief this Book may do Prov. What is that so terrible mischief which you foresee and which makes you so afraid Par. That mischief is that such Books are capable of multiplying a Party that is in the bosome of the Catholick Church and which will one day be its ruin if care be not taken You must know then that the Church had never so many ill Catholicks as it has at present The Town Country Court and Armies are full of Deists a sort of people who believe that all Religions are the inventions of humane Wit These rash Heads doubt of all they are armed with wicked difficulties against the Books of the Old and New Testament that they may not be obliged to believe that those Books were really written by the Authors whose Names they bear From hence it proceeds that such as pretend to any Capacity in writing have bethought themselves of defending the Christian Religion against the incredulous all their works turn that way and thus if a Bedunt makes a Collection of Scraps and Criticisme upon the Books of the Old and New Testament or upon some particular Texts he calls that Evangelical Demonstration Reflections upon the Truth of the Christian Religion And the most part of these Collections are fitter to confirm these Deists in their incredulity than to make them return because such Compilations are not regulated by Judgment What 's good is mixed with what 's ill and force with weakness and those incredulous minds are the more confirmed in this incredulity by the ill reasons and weak Conjectures that are given them for solid Remarks and are not touched with the good Reasons that are mingled with the ill Besides such kind of Works wherein are related a hundred several Opinions upon one and the same Subject do but furnish a new pretext to their incredulity They conclude that all is uncertain that the most enlightned knew not what to hold to and whose Opinions were quite contrary The truth is that some of these Writings that are made for the defence of the Christian Religion are of a Bulk to fright those Libertines who are not capable of a long Application Thus never reading those great Volumes they do not draw Conclusions disadvantageous to the Christian Religion But as for Books of the size of that of M. de Condoms all the world reads them Now you cannot believe how much the Method those Gentlemen make use of who have invented these gentle ways confirms these Libertines in their sentiments Religion is therein represented to them with a Face wholly new and thereupon they tell us here is a man who transports us into another Country In this new Religion Images are not made use of Saints are not invoqued they are only prayed to as we pray the faithful upon the Earth to beseech God in our Regard I had hitherto believed that the Devotions for the Virgin Mary and for the other Saints were things of importance I see that most part of the Devout lay great stress upon these things and yet these say that they are nothing that they may be let alone and that it is sufficient to invoke God and Jesus Christ they evidently give ground they acknowledge that the Church has erred and that it is in the wrong to recommend the Service of Images and the invocation of Saints upon pain of Anathema If the Church has erred in those Articles why should it be infallible in the others It was mistaken when it ordered us to adore Images build Temples institute Feasts and make Sacrifices to the honour of Saints and why may it not likewise have been mistaken in that it has given us for Divine a Book which perhaps is not so It has no other surety to give us for the truth of those Books and of that Religion which is founded upon those Books than its Authority and infallibility here are Catholick Authors who evidently make a breach in that infallible Authority and thus they open the door to all our Doubts Prov. I understand you But is this the Party you think capable of ruining the Catholick Religion Par. No These are not our most dangerous Enemies They are such Catholicks as I call the third Party who make profession of believing that the Roman Church is the true Church that we ought to be inseparably fixed in it and that we ought never to separate from it but who however do not act as it commands nor have any respect for its Worship These sort of people were never so numerous as they are now in this Kingdom There be some amongst them who push their incredulity so far as to doubt of the most important truths of Christianity They are Socinians they neither believe the Mystery of the Trinity nor that of the Incarnation I know such particular instances that I do not doubt thereof I shall not tell you them because they would only help to make you abhor them And what is most terrible is that it is not only the Religion of our young Abbots it is the Divinity of some grave and wise Societies and who make parade of the purity of their manners and of their zeal for the Catholick Faith Judge you whether such persons as doubt of the mysteries of the Trinity and the Incarnation which all Christians receive have respect for that of the Real Presence and of Transubstantiation which has been exposed to so many Contradictions within these seven or eight hundred years Without reckoning these Socinians it is certain that several Catholicks are in no manner persuaded of the truth of this Mystery neither do they make any difficulty of opening themselves to the Enemies of our Religion when they are one to one and that they cannot be troubled for it When they are asked how they can adore an Object which they only look upon as a Creature they say that they do not adore the Sacrament but that their adoration has respect to Jesus Christ who is seated in the Heavens upon the Throne of Glory Prov. Not long since I happened to be in a place where I was Witness of a very warm debate between Divines who accused certain new Philosophers of being very ill Catholicks and of being of Intelligence with the Calvinists upon the point of the Eucharist Are not these the people you spoke of Par. Yes at least those you mention are part of those I spoke of for there are several others besides these new Philosophers who have no
about the Regality In the bottom the Jesuits have not abandoned their Theology They are as zealous Partizans of the Holy See as they have ever been but they dissemble and tollerate Father Maimbourg because he flatters a Prince whom they are afraid to offend The King is very jealous of his Authority and his grandeur he is glad to find people who maintain the right of Kings against the pretensions of the Court of Rome He flatters the Jesuites very much he lets Father le Cheise reign who is of that Order it is just they have some Complaisance for him But in the bottom they disavow Father Maimbourg and in another reign he would not have escaped for an easie Discipline Father le Cheise is likewise as much out with the Court of Rome as one can be wherefore it is his interest to mannage the Kings mind without whose protection he cannot stand and it is he who upholds Father Maimbourg In the mean time the Protectours of the Liberties of the Gallicane Church pretend that this Father does a great deal of honour to his Society and that he makes appear that the Italian Theology touching the Popes Authority does not pass amongst the Jesuites for an Article of Faith as was hitherto believed but for the reasons I have told you I do not think that a great advantage can be drawn from it The General of the Jesuites has very nearly explain'd himself therein The Pope having made great complaints to him of Father le Cheise and of Father Maimbourg he answered he could do nothing against two persons who were under the Protection of so great a King that is to say That if the Times or the Government changed the Pope should have satisfaction for the Enterprizes of those two Jesuits Prov. I am surprized that the Pope of the Character I fancy him is so jealous of that false Authority that his Predecessors have usurped over the Church and over Kings and I am the more astonished at it for that the Book of the Bishop of Condom had persuaded me that the Controversies concerning the Popes Authority were no longer considered at Rome as Affairs of importance You know that in that work he passes very lightly over the Popes Authority and says only general things which all Catholicks agree to I have always that little Book about me let us see what it is As to things which are known to be disputed of in the Schools though Ministers do not cease to alledge them for the rendring that Power odious it is not necessary to speak of them since they are not of the Catholick Faith It is sufficient to acknowledge a Head established by God for the guiding his flock in his ways This signifies clearly enough that all that is said to excess concerning the Popes Authority by the Monks and Italians ought to be reckoned as nothing And you see how all the Court of Rome approves this Book and there is even a Brief of the Pope which commends both its Method and Doctrine Par. What you say is like an honest Country-man and one real How came you to fall into this Snare Could you believe that the Court of Rome would renounce those pretended Rights which have cost it so much trouble and even blood to acquire believe me the pleasure of reigning is too sweet to renounce it This Empire that the Pope exercises over the Kings of Christendom raises him too high to abandon it The truth is that some Princes in imitation of the Kings of France indeavour to cast off the Yokes The Emperours are no longer Crowned by the Pope the Vatican Thunderbolts are no longer so formidable The Kings of Portugal have not abandoned their Crown though the Popes would take it from them But be it as it will though the Court of Rome should have lost the Body of that Power it would keep the Shaddow to the last Prov. So that this pretended yielding of the Court of Rome upon the point of its Authority is a snare laid for the P. Reformed Par. You may judge by the delicacy of that Court in regard of the Writings of Father Maimbourg For in fine this Father has written after a very respectful manner for the Holy See yet it is imputed to him as a Crime that he has not uttered matters as the other Writers of his Society Prov. Since we are upon the Book of M. de Condom I must ask your Opinion of it You promised to acquaint me with all the means by which they pretend to reduce the Hugonots suddenly to the Bosom of the Church and you tell me nothing of those mild ways so much talked of and which are looked upon as sure means to Convert all those of that Party who are neither obstinate nor prejudiced Par. Nothing can be more witty better turned and more delicate than the Book of M. de Condom But I said nothing of it to you because I do not believe it useful for the guiding to what it tends In the bottom that method is worth nothing and in the sequel will do more hurt to the Catholick Church than it does it good at present Prov. I see however that several persons who read that Work speak of it as a Master-piece and I have seen several Hugonots whom that Book has Converted Par. Believe me dear Sir that those people would have been Converted without the Book of M. de Condom This Book only Converts those who were willing to abandon their Religion and who seek for pretext to defend themselves against the Accusation of lightness The late M. de Turene was the first who took a great deal of pains to raise the vallue of that Action He turned Catholick after having grown gray in the Hugonot Party He feared to be accused of having quitted his Religion out of Interest As he was extream nice upon the point of honour and that Glory was his Idol he was desirous to persuade all the Earth that he turned out of a principle of Conscience From a Convert he even became a Convertor and because that he could not be persuaded that several things that are taught and practised amongst us were good he was glad to meet with Abbe Bossuit who turned things as he would have them and who disguised what he could not look upon without a disguise Whereupon the world became Charmed with this piece and it was reported that it made several Converts Several Hugonots got themselves instructed according to that Method they were glad they could say that their Ministers were notorious Libellers having represented to them the Doctrine of the Church of Rome wholly different from what it is The fame of this Book passed into Italy The Court of Rome was persuaded all France would become Catholicks and fall into this snare But the truth is that Book is only good to cause Relapses For if the Hugonots were really Converted upon the assurances that this Book gave them that we do not serve Images and invoke Saints
that poor Prince they would have drawn in again all the Copies that had been made of the Consultation of the Pope and of that of Sorbonne but this English Chaplain who had turned Catholick would not restore his and he has communicated it since the return of the Family of the Stuarts to the Crown of England to several persons who are still alive and were Eye-witnesses of what I have now told you Par. I never heard this before But the English Calvinists not producing any authentick pieces to prove this accusation it may be looked upon as a Calumny Prov. My Hugonot Gentleman would not answer for it for he is very just However he added that what rendred it very probable is that this Conduct is a sequal of the Divinity of the zealous Catholicks of Spain Italy and even of France Moreover there are several Circumstances which render the thing apparent By example he that lately published this story had already once published it in the year 1662 to answer a little Book that insulted over the English Calvinists in that they had put to death their King The Divine who knew the story that I have related published it to prove that the Catholicks were guilty of the Crime which the Calvinists were accused of When this story came to light there was a great emotion in the House of the Queen-Mother of the King of England that House being full of Jesuits and even that great Lord who had lead the Jesuits to Rome and had made himself chief of that Conspiracy was one of the principal Officers of the House They immediately demanded Justice of the King by the means of the Queen-Mother for the outrage that he who had published this scandalous story had done them The Doctor offered to prove his Accusation and to produce his Witnesses who were still living The great Lord and Officer of the Queens House and the Jesuits seeing the resolution of this Man durst not push him on they only obtain'd from the King by the means of the Queen-Mother that he should be silenced You must avow that there are but few that are innocent who would have been so easie in so terrible an Accusation Besides it is certain that this Consultation of Rome has been seen by several persons If it is false it must have been forged by this Chaplain who was turned Catholick and who shewed it since now it must be confessed that this is not very likely However as all this is reduced to a single Witness my Gentleman acknowledged that the proof was not wholly in the forms but he stood much upon the late Conspiracy of England which was discovered two years ago by which half the Kingdom was to have had their Throats cut for the becoming Masters of the rest Par. You had a fine opportunity to stop him there for you know very well that our Catholicks maintain that it is a perfect Calumny invented by the Calvinists for the having an occasion to persecute the Catholicks The Jesuits of St. Omer have they not made appear that their Witnesses Oates and Bedlow are false Witnesses Prov. I did not fail to make him that reply but I avow to you that my Conscience did not permit me to rely much upon that Answer for to tell you the truth I am very much perswaded that it is false I know that the mistaken zeal and fury that the false Religion inspires are capable of a great many things I easily conceive that it might come into the head of forty of fifty false Zealots to lay a train for the ruine of the Party they would destroy but I shall never perswade my self that a whole Kingdom should enter into such a Conspiracy and that a Parliament composed of five or six hundred persons assembled from all the parts of a great State can enter unanimously into the Infernal Spirit of supposing such a Crime against Millions of Innocents for the having a pretext to persecute them And my old Hugonot who is full of fire and has a great deal of good sense took me up immediately with much vigour saying Is it possible that such a man as you can say such a thing Ah! leave such stories to the Jesuits of St. Omers they are accused it is not strange that they defend themselves and the action is so black and so detestable that they cannot do less than disavow it If it had had a happy success they would have been proud of it at present now they are discovered they deny it If there needs no more than denying to be justified never any one would be guilty They justifie themselves after a pretty manner they send about Certificates and Attestations to prove the Contradictions they impute to Oates which are things very hard to make and obtain In a severe Morality as is that of the Jesuits it is a great point for the persons who are instructed in their Schools to give false Certificates for the saving the Honour of all the Society of the Jesuits and even of all the Roman Church Though we had not the Tryals of Hill Green Berry Coleman Ireland Grove and Pickering which justifie the truth of that Conspiracy is it credible that there can be such wicked Judges as to condemn to death so many innocent persons If they had only had a design of dispatching those seven persons they had clandestine way to compass it But they must have renounced good Sense as well as Conscience to try openly and in the face of all Europe people whose innocence appearing to the eyes of all the Earth would have covered with shame and infamy those who should have condemned them If it be only a pretended quarrel against the Catholicks for the having a pretext to ruine them why are they not ruined All that has been spread abroad on this side the Sea are Fables It has not cost the life of one person besides these Wretches The Roman Catholicks have been for some time obliged to remove from London a very great punishment indeed for so detestable a Conspiracy I am certain that if such a Conspiracy of the Protestants has been discovered in France against the Catholicks which God forbid there would not be at this time one only Hugonot in the Kingdom and the People could not have been hindred from Massacring those who should have escaped from the rigours of the Justice The Murder committed in the person of Sir Edmondbury Godfrey the first Justice who took the Depositions and Particulars of the Conspiracy is so speaking and strong a proof that it alone is capable of confounding those who would charge the Protestants with the horrible Crime of having invented all that Tragedy for the aspersing the Roman Church What had that poor Justice done to merit the being assassinated Is it not clear that those Gentlemen who so well know how to make use of the Ponyard and the Knife had a mind to terrifie all the Judges and hinder them from pursuing an Inquest which should