THE DECREES OF THE Parliament of Paris, Upon a Copy of the POPE'S BRIEF Of the first of January, 1681.  
And upon the ORDERS sent by the General of the Jesuits to the Provincials of Tholouse and Paris.  
Passed on the 18th and 20th of June, 1681. In reference to the present Contest between the Pope and the King of France about the REGALE.  
LONDON, Printed for Benj. took at the Ship in S. Paul's Churchyard▪ 16●●▪   

AN EXTRACT OF THE REGISTERS OF PARLIAMENT.  
THis present day the King's Attorney-General came into the Court of Parliament, and alleged, that the Report being publicly spread up and down, That the Pope had enjoined the General of the Jesuits, to direct to the Provincials of Paris and Tholouse authentical Copies of the Brief issued out by his Holiness, on the first day of this present year, together with a more particular Injunction to him of Tholouse, to publish it, and to oblige those of that Society, to affirm the Reality of the said Brief, contrary to the Opinion, which we were desirous that men should still have had of it; As also that the General of the Jesuits having written to those Provincials, pursuantly to that Precept of the Pope, had sent to him of Tholouse an Authentical Expedition of that Brief, with an Order that it might be communicated to that of Paris: This new Method and Invention of publishing Bulls and Briefs in the Kingdom, contrary to the Forms which had been observed to this present time; as well in this as the neighbouring Countries, seemed to be of so great consequence, that he accounted it his duty to inform the Court of it, to the end, that if that Report proved to be true, they might be pleased to obstruct the establishment of an Innovation, the Consequences whereof might be so dangerous, and particularly at such a time, when such extraordinary Briefs are seen to come abroad. But representing withal, that the Prudence and Justice of the Court of Parliament, not permitting him to act upon uncertain grounds, it was his humble Request to them, that they would be pleased, considering the absence of the Provincial, to summon in the Superior of the Professed House, the Rectors of the College, and of the Noviciat of the Jesuits, and the Procurator of the Province of Paris, to give an account to the said Court of Parliament, in the presence of him the Attorney-General, and his Colleagues, of what they know concerning that Report, that the Court may proceed therein, upon the Conclusions which they should take, after they have been more particularly informed by that means.  
The said Attorney-General having with-drawn, and the Matter being taken into Deliberation, it was resolved, that the Superior of the Professed House of the Jesuits, the Rectors of the College, and the Noviciat, and the Procurator of the Province of Paris should be summoned to appear in Court, on Friday at seven in the Morning, that they might be heard in the presence of the King's Council, and give an Account of what they knew of the said Brief of January 1. 1681. and of the Orders which the Provincial received from the General upon that occasion. And that done, that such Order be taken therein, upon the Conclusions of his Majesty's Council, as shall be requisite.  
Done in Parliament, June the 18th. 1681. Signed DONGOIS.   

An Extract of the Registers of Parliament.  
THis day the King's Council came into Court, and gave notice, that Father de Verthamont, Superior of the Professed House of the Jesuits, of this City of Paris, the Father's Deschamps, and Dozaine, Rectors of the College, and of the Noviciat, and Father Pallu, Procurator of the Province of France, were attending in the Lobby, in order to their receiving the pleasure of the Court, according to the Resolve of the 18th. of that Month: Whereupon the said Father- Jesuit, being brought into the presence of the King's Council, Mensieur the first Precedent thus spoke to them:  
This Court hath summoned you to appear here, upon the Advertisement given to us, that your General hath not long since sent into France, by the Pope's Order, to some of your Provincials, a pretended Brief, in order to the publishing of it. This kind of procedure, quite opposite to the Orders of the Kingdom, has always been disallowed with Reproach against its Authors, as often as they have attempted to put it in practice. It is a strange thing that a Prince, who has not ceased conquering, till such time as he was pleased to do so, and who has given Peace to Europe cannot enjoy it himself, and that he is not disturbed therein, but by the principal Ministers of Truth, while he expends his Cares and Treasures for the Destruction of Heresy: But it is a Happiness, that this Packet is fallen into Hands so reserved as yours: We do not surprise your Wisdom, nor do we corrupt your Fidelity. The Court desires of you, that you would make it a Relation of what has passed upon this occasion.  
Father Verthamont acknowledged, that their Provincial had received a Letter from their General of the 23d. of April last, with a Copy in the Italian Language, of an Order of the Pope's, for the directing, to the Provincial of Tholouse, a Copy, in an Authentical Form, of his holiness's Brief of the first of January this present year, concerning the Grand-vicars', established in the Diocese of Pamiers, during the Vacancy of the See, and for enjoining the Jesuits of Tholouse and Pamiers to declare, that the said Brief was real, and to address a Copy of it, to the Provincial of Paris, that he might also be assured of the Reality thereof. And by that Order, the General is charged to give an Account, to the Assessor of the Inquisition, of the Answers which should be made unto him. That in the same Packet, there was an unsigned Copy of that Brief. That he himself knew, that, by by way of Answer to the General's Letter, their Provincial had, among other things, written to him, that he did not believe any one of his Society would would have been so unfortunate, as to make any diminution of the respect they own his Holiness, as he might also assure the Court, on the behalf of all the Jesuits of the Kingdom, that they should not ever be defective in point of Fidelity and Zeal for his Majesty.  
Whereupon Monsieur Denys Talon, the King's Advocate, and one of his Council spoke thus: Sirs, It is apparent by what has been just now said, by the Superior of the Jesuits House of St. Lewis, in this City, That the General of the Jesuits had received an Order from the Pope, for his sending to the Provincials of the Jesuits of Paris and Tholouse, an authentical Copy of a Brief, dated the first day of this present year, which is presupposed to be directed to the Chapter of Pamiers, and to Friar Cerle, in the quality of the Grand Vicar of Pamiers, during the Vacancy of the See, and that with a Design, that the Jesuits of Tholouse and Pamiers, who, as it is pretended by some, had publicly affirmed, that the said Brief was not real, should be obliged to retract it, to confess the reality of the Brief, and to acknowledge withal the fault they have committed by an affected Incredulity, and they would have it, that the General should give an Account to the Assessor of the Inquisition of the Answers which shall be made unto him. This Order, which does not appear to have any Date, is accompanied with a Copy of the Brief, but not Signed, and by a Letter of the General's, repeating the same thing contained in the Pope's Order. It is easily discoverable by this simple Exposition of the matter of Fact, that this manner of designing to publish, and in some sort to execute Briefs in the Kingdom, is new, contrary to the Laws of the Country, and of a dangerous Consequence. It is not only in France, that Briefs and other important Expeditions of the Court of Rome cannot be either published or put in Execution, without the King's permission. The same thing is practised in Spain, and in most of the other countries', wherein the Authority of the Holy See is acknowledged.  
The Correspondence which ought to be between the two Powers, the Interest which Sovereign Princes have to prevent the Introduction of any thing from abroad, tending to the disturbance of the Tranquillity of their Governments, has rendered this Custom legal and necessary: But that wise precaution, which many times dispenses with our entering into more intricate Contestations, would be of no Advantage, if the Contrivance which they have made use of at Rome, in order to the publishing of the Brief of the first of January be authorized; in regard that, as often as there shall be any Bulls, which they would have received in the Kingdom, and yet such as whereof his Majesty will not think convenient to permit either the Execution or Publication, they will make use of the interposition of the Generals of Orders, who, for the most part have their Residence at Rome. And the Pope by, their Channel, will pretend to get into France all the Decrees of the Inquisition, and in a word, all the Encroachments which the Court of Rome would make upon our Liberties.  
It is therefore necessary to check the course of so dangerous an Innovation; which yet may be done with so much the more ease, that, as to that concern, there is not any necessity of establishing new Laws. It is only requisite that we keep ourselves from dispensing with the observation of the ancient Ordinances, which do not allow of the publication of any Brief or Bull, from Rome, without the King's permission. And this is done in some Provinces with so much Rigour, that the very simple Signatures of Provisions of Benefices are not exempted from that General Order, whether they come from Rome, or the Legation of Avignon. What we do in this Juncture for the Public Interest, and his Majesty's Service, proceeds not from our having Cause to complain of the Jesuits; the Reproaches which they receive in the Direction, written in the Pope's Name, and in their General's Letter, aught, amongst us, to stand them instead of an Elegy, and are certain Proofs, that they have not deviated from their Duty. And therefore since it may be some dissatisfaction to them, that they cannot submit to the Orders of the Pope and their General, in case they are not informed, how opposite that Order is to the Laws of the Kingdom, it is but just that we relieve them, and rid them out of the perplexity, which they might run into by the Authority of the Decree which will be passed. But if we have not hitherto used endeavours to prevent the Publication of the Brief of the first of January; if we have looked upon the Copies, which have been scattered up and down of it in Paris, rather as Libels, than Copies of an authentical Act, it has not been out of any Fear, but is to be attributed to our moderation, as being inclineable to doubt of their reality. We shall not want Remedies to oppose Erterprises of that Nature, when it shall not be allowable in us to connive at them any longer. We shall use our utmost endeavours to continue the good Correspondence which ought to be between His Majesty and the Pope, between the Holy See, and the Gallicane Church; and whatever may happen, we shall never, on our part, make a Breach of that Sacred Union of the Sacerdotal Function, and the Royalty, so necessary to keep up the Splendour of both the Powers, and to preserve and dilate Religion.  
But on the other side, we shall not endure the Imposition of a Yoke, which our Fathers have not undergone, nor the Abolition of our Liberties, of which they were so jealous. We shall never approve of any Alteration in the Order of Jurisdictions. When the Pope receives Appeals from Ecclesiastical Judgements, he is obliged to nominate Judges in the Kingdom, for the termination of them, and he cannot entertain affairs there at first breaking out, nor retain the cognizance thereof at Rome, whether it be in reference to the validity of Elections, or even of Appeals from Sentences given by Bishops, or other Officials. As we are inclined to a Religious observation of the Concordate, and do tolerate Resignations in favour, Preventions, Annates (that is annual Tenths) though contrary to the ancient discipline of the Church; So ought the Pope to execute it on his side also, in the things that are favourable to us, which we do not look upon as Privileges granted us by Rome, but as the exercise of common right, and as the Groundwork of our Immunities. And it is thereby easily perceivable, that those persons, who are the Authors of the Brief of the first of January, and of many others, which have appeared upon this matter, engage the Pope in contests more likely to retrench his Authority, than to augment it, and seem to have no other design, than that of disturbing the Peace of the Church. In short, the Regale being one of the most eminent rights of the Crown, how can they hope that the King will ever endure that that Illustrious Prerogative should, during his Reign, admit of the least shock or diminution? Your own Records acquaint you, that the Regale was always so considered as a right of the Crown, unalienable and imprescriptible, that King Francis the First, having left Madam Lovise of Savoy, his Mother, Regent in the Kingdom, and having, amongst other things, invested her with a power to confer Benefices, vacant in the Regal donation, she was obliged to renounce that Privilege, upon the Remonstrances of the Parliament, who represented to her, that the right of conferring Benefices, in the Regal Donation, was so annexed to the King's Person, that he could never part with it, or communicate it to any other. The Judgement of particular, or general Controversies, arising in the matters of the Regale, do belong, and ever have belonged to this Honourable Assembly, privatively to all other Tribunals of the Kingdom. It was your Honourable Body judged it above seventy years since, that the Regale extended over all Bishoprics, without any distinction; and the Declarations of MDCLXXIII, and MDCLXXV, do not make any new Establishment, and do but confirm your Decree. So that we may confidently affirm, that how great soever the King's Authority may be, yet he can no more renounce the Regale, either wholly, or in part, than he can destroy the Salic Law, or abandon the Sovereignty of some part of the Provinces, which make up and integrate the French Monarchy; and what submission soever we may have for his Will and Pleasure, we shall rather beseech him to disburden us of the Exercise of our Charges, than endure, that that Privilege should receive the least Diminution by our Suffrages, or our Silence. There is not any necessity that a man should be much versed in our Maxims, to discover, that it is not at Rome these Questions ought to be discussed, and that whatever has been hitherto done, either on the account of the Pope, or his Officers, is equally unmaintainable, as well in the form, as the groundwork of it. 'Tis to no purpose that they menace with Excommunication, not only the ecclesiastics, but the very Prelates of the Kingdom, when they do not implicitly submit to Briefs contrary to our manners, and such as would absolutely abolish the Episcopal Jurisdiction, if the Execution thereof were permitted. Appeals, in the case of abuses, introduced to maintain the Policy of the Church, and to obstruct the usurpations of the Officers of the Court of Rome upon the Temporal and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, are infallible expedients to secure all the King's Subjects from those Censures, which our Ancestors have slighted, and declared abusive, when there was no legal Ground for them.  
Having thus protested, as we do, that we shall use all the means, which we shall think convenient, to check the course of all these Innovations, and to put a period to attempts so prejudicial to the King's Authority, and the Immunities of the Gallicane Church; It is our request, that the Court will be pleased to order the Copy of the Brief of the first of January, the Italian Memoirs sent to the General of the Jesuits, and the Letter by him written to the Provincial of the Province of Fance, to be registered amongst the Records of the Court, to the end, that after Communication had of them what is fitting may be required; That there be a prohibition issued out to the Provincial, and to all the Superiors of the Houses of the Jesuits, against the publishing of the said Brief, Letters, and Memoires, and doing any thing as to the Execution thereof, directly or indirectly, under any pretence whatsoever, upon pain of an extraordinary procedure against those who shall not obey, as disturbers of the public tranquillity; as also upon pain, as to the Society, of the Forfeiture of all the rights, privileges, and prerogatives, which are attributed thereto, as well by its establishment, as otherwise. That the like Prohibitions be made to all the Superiors, nay to all the individual persons of the Religious Communities, against publishing, or executing any Bull or Brief, otherwise than pursuantly to Letters-Patents well and duly verified in Court, and that under the same penalties: And that to that end, the Decree which is to pass upon the present conclusions shall be read in all places, where it shall be thought requisite.  
Monsieur the First Precedent pronounced his Opinion. The Court ordered, That the Copies of the pretended Brief, the Memoire containing the Pope's Order, and the Letter sent, shall be immediately registered, that they may be communicated to his Majesty's Attorney-General, and to the end, that, upon his Conclusions in writing, such provision should be made therein as is requisite. And after the Decree prononced, Monsieur the First Precedent said to the Jesuits; The present Assembly orders me to tell you, that they are satisfied with your obedience. The said Pieces were registered, and afterwards the King's Council withdrew.  
And afterwards, upon the perusal of the said Pieces, and the Conclusions taken in writing by the King's Attorney-General, whereby he had required, That prohibitions should be made to the said Provincial and others of the said Society, as to the publishing the said Brief, and the orders received from the Pope, by the General of their Society, and doing any thing directly or indirectly executively thereto; And that Prohibitions should be in like manner made to all Provincials, Superiors, and private persons of all the Religious Orders, against their publishing and executing any Briefs, or Bulls of the Pope, other than the Briefs and Bulls, relating to the interior and ordinary discipline of their Orders, otherwise than consequentially to the King's Letters Patents, registered in the Court of Parliament, upon pain of an extraordinary procedure against all such as should be refractory, and, as to the said Society and Religious Orders, upon the forfeiture of all the favours and privileges which had been granted to them. The matter was taken into Deliberation.  
THE COURT proceeding juridically upon the Conclusisions of the King's Attorney-General, does make prohibitions to the said Provincial, and others of the Society of the Jesuits, as to the publishing the said Brief, and Orders received from the Pope, by the General of their Society, and doing any thing directly or indirectly in the execution thereof. And it makes also most express prohibitions to all Provincials, Superiors, and Religious Persons, of all Orders, that they do not publish or execute any Briefs or Bulls of the Pope, other than the Briefs and Bulls relating to the interior and ordinary discipline of their Orders, otherwise than consequentially to the King's Letters Patents registered in the Court of Parliament, upon pain of extraordinary procedure against the refractory, and, in reference to the said Society and Orders, of forfeiture of all the favours and privileges which have been granted them by the King, and the Kings his Predecessors.  
Done in Parliament, June 20th. MDCLXXXI. Signed DONGOIS.  
FINIS.