THE SECRET POLICY OF THE IANSENISTS, AND THE PRESENT STATE OF THE SORBON.  
DISCOVERED BY A DOCTOVR of that Faculty, Who having learnt Iansenisme when he studied Divinity, under a Master that taught it there publicly, has been since disabused, & follows the catholic party.  
Translated out of the French copy.  
Printed at TROYES, By CHRISTIAN ROMAN, at the Sign of true Faith near the great Church.  
M.DC.LXVII.   

THE PRINTER TO THE READER.  
THe Chevallier des TROISPONTS having given me the perusal of this writing, which was composed by a friend of his, a doctor of Paris, after his conversion, to satisfy some questions which be had proposed unto him: I thought good, with his leave, to print it that catholics may with more ease, avoid the snares of the Iansenists, when they see them laid open, & thos Doctors of Sorbon, who have suffered themselves to be surprised, may follow their brothers example, in their conversion, & purge their Faculty of Iansenisme.   

THE SECRET POLICY OF THE ANSENISTS, TO THE CHEVALIER DES TROISPONTS.  
THE progress which Jansenisme makes in France, would infinitely astonish me, did I not remember, that calvinism planted itself ther, with as great facility & ●uccesse, as d'Avila observes well in his histo●y of the civill wars. Book. 1. edit. 2. pag. 36.37. He says that Calvins opinions were received with passion, & maintained with obstinacy, by 〈◇〉 great many persons of all conditions: That ●he city of Geneva was the prime seat of his doctrine: That Books were printed ther, & ●ispersed into the Provinces by witty & elo●uent persons, who made it their business to ●roach his heresy: That by degrees, it spread ●t self over all the Towns & Provinces of the kingdom, though this was don so secretly, that little apeard in public besides weak conjectures. pag. 38. That in all the Parliaments, ther were many counsellors infected with thes opinions: That already a world of persons of both sexes had been seduced by the sermons of Theodore Beza a Disciple of Calvin & one of the most knowing & eloquent men of his time: That many great Persons had also suffered themselves to be drawn into the same belief. Book 2. pag. 57. That ther were many even amongst the prelates, whos inclinations carried them to harken after Calvins opinions. Book 1. p. 36. The reason he alleges for it, is the natural curiosity which French men have to please themselves with novelties. I could attribute the propagation of this heresy, to the same cause; if we were not in so learned an age, which has light enough to disperse all errors, with as much facility, as the sunbeams drive away darkness.  
Sure the wonderful Policy, of the Authors & followers of this Sect, may justly challenge all the glory of its increase And because Sir, you desire me to discover unto you the who● secret, I will do it by thos lights which I received, when they had no cause to conceal them from me & by the effects which are known to the whole world; the reasons I say which moved them & the method which they have followed to accomplish their design. But to proceed orderly, I will first show the end they proposed to themselves & then treat of the means they have used to compass it.  

The end which the Iansenists proposed to themselves.  
Some Authors think they had a good mind to abolish the belief of the Incarnation of the Eternal word, and of all other truths relating to it, that is to say all Christianity. Others maintain that they are willing enough, to keep an outward appearance of Christian Religion, but that they mean in reality to destroy it by overthrowing her doctrine & Sacraments. Others are of opinion that they intend to establish the faith of one God, but lay aside all other articles which we receive. They all seem to bring probable reasons to prove their assertions. One amongst the rest and one of the most knowing has gathered out of their writings, Sermons, and practise in administering the Sacraments, thes following propositions, over and above thos five which are condemned.  
1. That since the year 400 after CHRIST, ther has been no true Church.  
2. That Indulgences are to be laid aside as human inventions as also the worship of the Virgen Mother of God, of Saints and Images: private Masses, Confession of venial sins, & the use of the Holy Eucharist.  
3. That invincible ignorance, & not affencted, does not excuse from sin.  
4. That all the actions of one in mortal sin, for example his prayers, almesdeeds, the honour he gives to his parents &c. are mortal sins.  
5. That the use of Marriage in sterile persons, whether by age or otherwise, is mortally sinful.  
6 That Bishops cease to be Bishops, & magistrates to be magistrates, when they are in mortal sin.  
7. That we ought to follow what our interior motions suggest against the laws of God & his Church, and of sovereigns Magistrates &c.  
8. That Priests and Curates are equal to Bishops, & Bishops to Popes.  
9. That a pennance proportionable to the sins, is to be performed, before absolution is given. And that even thos that have been absolved in their sickness before they have made such an equal satisfaction, are bound to make another Confession.  
10. That vpon this ground they refuse absolution, to thos that are not in the next occasion of sinning, & such as profess a firm & sincere purpose of amendment, obliging them first to perform such penances.  
11. From hence also they enjoin most extravagant, & wild penances, as to labourers in a vineyard, never to drink wine, to women to lie often, & for many houres, with their bare bellies vpon the ground, which has made some run mad, & shortened the lives of others: To thos that have wronged their husbands, to ask their pardon for their secret lewdness: To young women to put on shifts dipped in water, to pray an hour in that condition, & so go to bed.  
Though thes things are known to many, yet I will writ nothing, but what their books & common practise, publish unto the whole world, least I pass for a suspected person.  
I say then that they have a mind to bring in calvinism, into the catholic Church, which at first sight, does not seem so contrary to Iesus Christ as some other designs, though it effectually destroy him, leaving nothing to his followers, but the bare name of Christians. This I gather from their reasons.  
1. jansenius his Letters to the Abbot of S. Cyran, printed by the Sieur de Preville, reveal this mystery, & convince that his head was full of nothing but calvinism, & that they both bent their endeavours, to establish it.  
2. Thos that will take the pains, to compare his book entitled Iansenii Augustinus, with Calvins Institutions, will soon discover that he has followed his doctrine, his proofs, his discourses, his consequences &c. In so much that he agrees with himself so long as he sticks close to this arch-heretic, but when he leaves him, he swerves from his own principles in many points.  
3. The juridical Informations taken against the Abbot of S. Cyran; his catechism of Grace; his book of vows, & other works of his, which he published under borrowed names, prove clearly that he made more voyages to Geneva then to Rome, & that he preferred the errors of the one, before the faith of the other.  
Now since the Iansenists, have stuffed their Letters & their books, with Calvins doctrine, may we not conclude, that they aim to introduce calvinism, into the church of Christ? And certainly, the five Propositions condemned by the Bishops of Rome, contain nothing but rank calvinism, entirely shut up in thos five Priniciples, as the root, blade ears, & corn is shut up in the grain of wheat, which is sowd. Besides in their Circular Letter, which is printed in Monsieur Marandés Book, of the Inconveniences proceeding from Iansenisme to the State, with the means & instructions which they prescribe their followers for the happy settlement of their principles, they say, that the Chief end of their union, is to remove the abuses & disorders, which have crept into the Church, since S. Augustins time, through ignorance of his excellent doctrine. Where by this holy Fathers doctrine, they understand that of Jansenius, who made use of his authority, as Calvin did, to persuade the world, that he varied not from the sentiments of that holy Father.   

THE means To arrive at this end.  

THE FIRST means. Not to meddle with Calvins odious Propositions.  
calvinism being grown very odious to catholics, the Jansenists with great prudence thought it necessary, to cut off such things, as have hitherto scandalised the world. And therfore they have rejected thes propositions. That God is the Author of sin; That Christs body is only figuratively in the Eucharist; That ther are but two Sacraments; That the Pope is Anti-Christ. That it is Idodolatry to worship Images: That we ought not to pray to the Mother of God, or to the Angels or Saints in Heaven: That ther is no Purgatory; That the mass is an abomination &c. On the contrary side, they have retained Priests, a single life, the mass, seven Sacraments, Church ornaments & ceremonies, the Pope, the Hierarchy, & in a word all that is popular, because the people, are most taken with that, which strikes the senses, & that way stirs up devotion. And besides, because they are used to be governed by the Pope & by Bishops &c. and accustomend to the Sacraments, to mass &c. Finally because experience has taught the Calvinists, that the laying aside such things, has been a great hindrance to the propagation of their Sect. The Jansenists having thus reformed calvinism, have instilld it without horror & even without distrust, into simplo people, who easily receive such impressions, as are given them by their teachers, without discovering their subtle disguises.   

The second means. To remain in the Communion of the Church.  
Yet for all this, they feared, that time, which discovers the most hidden things, would at last make known all their cunning tricks, & so stifle their whole project in its birth; That catholics having found out the tract of calvinism would fly from it with horror. And that as the Abbot of S. Cyran, said Calvin had a good cause, but knew not how to defend it, because he had not the knack of declining the name of heretic, as he might have done, had he not openly forsaken the Churches Communion. For this reason, they laid it for a fundamental maxim of their Policy, never to depart out of the catholic Church, & consequently to acknowledge the Pope, and seemingly to submit to the Hierarchical government. This important resolution, was also grounded, vpon thos reasons, which they took to be convincing. 1. That Pelagius, Macedonius, Eutyches, the Donatists, & all the most prudent Founders of new Sects, did constantly conserve the name and outward show of catholics, & by that means, got the advantages they wished for, whence they inferred, that they ought to follow their example, & would have the like success. 2. That by this means, they might without difficulty insinuate themselves, into the esteem of catholics, of all sexes & conditions in religious & secular communities, Universities, Academies, sovereign & inferior Courts of Judicature; Courts of Kings &c. They might also speak converse; preach, writ, direct consciences &c. And in this manner infuse their doctrine, establish their maxims, defend themselves against their Adversaries undermine their endeavours &c. blow up all plots against their Sect, oppose them either secretly, or with open violence; sow divisions & practise a world of other artifices, to disunite & confounded their enemies. The reason is, because while they remain exteriorly united to the Church, they will not be suspected, but will easily pass for friends, & yet may act the part of enemies, as being cloaked with the appearance of a true & sincere friendship. 3. That men born & bread, in civil or Ecclesiastical Societies, do not easily leave them, to follow strange companies. And so we see many heretics, when they are convinced of their errors, to allege this, for the only obstacle to their conversion: That it is hard for men to renounce their Religion, to embrace that which they take to be false, & destructive of that faith, which they have always professed But if they may be permitted, to conserve the form & exterior of their first Society, they are engaged by little & little, in the changes, which are brought in. The same we see in States, that Subjects suffer the change of their laws & customs, & of the whole government, when it is done by degrees, & so, as so retain in many things the appearance of the same States. Why then might not they, by remaining in the catholic Church, by little & little change the ancient doctrine, & bring in their new inventions in place therof. 4. That in case they should be condemned by the Pope, they might wipe off the blemish, by seeming to leave their party, & yet secretly adhere to it, & withal conserve their friendship, whom they had gained to their cabal, before their condemnation. 5. That contrariwise, if they should separate themselves from the Church, their name would be infamous, their conversation suspected, their Books discredited, their defence slighted, their whole doctrine odious, & consequently, it would not be possible for them, to set up their new Sect. Thes. judicious reasons, have not deceived their hopes, for infinite catholics have been illuded, & drawn to their opinions, while they lay covered under the sacred veil of the Church.   

The third means. An inviolable secrecy & dissimulation.  
But because catholics of this age, are too clear sighted, to be cozend with the poison of calvinism, when it shall be offered them they agreed amongst themselves, according to S. Cyrans maxim, who( was wont to cry, secretum meum mihi propter metum judaeorum, id est, Catholicorum;) to hid it so cunningly, that the craftiest of us all should not find it out. To this purpose they proposed divers ways, to give it the air and colour of catholicism, amongst others, thes were judged to be the best. 1. To give out that it is Saint Austins doctrine. 2. Not to communicate it to such as are suspected, or neutrals, or adversaries, but in ambiguous terms. 3. To advance obscure propositions of Predestination, of Grace, of Liberty &c. without explicating them, to draw on the curiosity of such as are lovers of novelties. 4. To persuade the world that they pretend only to reform the loose doctrine and corrupt manners of the Church. 5. To call their adversaries Pelagians & Semipelagians; that their disputes may pass only for Scholastical questions. It was for this that Jansenius with so much cunning writ the History of thes heretics in the beginning of his Augustinus, and that they styled their enemies Molinists. Now the reasons of this proceeding are thes. That few are willing to engage in particular quarreis: That all, on the contrary, greedily red the works of opposite parties, to pass their judgement on them. That not being able to remain neutrals, they easily side with one of the parties. That they commonly stand for novelty, especially when it is smoothd over with extraordinary devotion & good language. That the will being once gained, it is easy to convey the fals lights of their new doctrine into their understanding, because in disputes about Religion, the will commonly governs the understanding, as she commands it to submit unto the obscure truths of faith. 6. But to catch Catholiks with more ease, in thes pretended particular disputes; they further agreed, to make them pass for the debates between the Thomists & the jesuits. Did not their Depuries, who argued their cause at Rome, before Innocent X. actually make the Masters of the sacred Palace, & learned Wadding believe it, and were they not afterwards disabused and checked by his holiness, for vnwarily falling into the Jansenists nets? 7. Though thes means are efficacious, yet following the maxim of certain Italians, divide if you mean to reign & the practise of heretics, who raised war in catholic countries, the better to settle themselves in the common troubles: they thought it necessary to raise a spiritual war amongst catholics, to divide them, & set them one against another, that so they might intrigue themselves in the designs, of that party which could best help them against their enemies. This made the Abbot of S. Cyran writ his Book of the Hierarchy under the name of Petrus Aurelius, to set Priests & prelates against Religious. It was for this that they set up the questions of mass in the Parish Church, Confessions at Easter, and of thos that are sick, of the Regulars Privileges, of the right to direct consciences &c. to force some to fall vpon others, and them to defend themselves in lieu of joining their forces together to destroy their new doctrine. They did not question but to reap fruit out of thes civil wars, & to settle their particular opinions, in the heat of thes common disputes. 8. Verily it was no easy matter, to discover so subtle a design: yet they judged this secrecy so necessary that to render it quiter impenetrable, they resolved 1. To affect a stately and mysterious eloquence, full of proofs stuffed with plausible expressions, but of a doubtful & obscure sense. 2. To give two biasses to their designs and opinions, that as occasion should serve they might follow that which was most commodious. 3. Not to trust this secret with above two or three in a Town, & thos of the most capable of their proselytes. 4. To make their assemblies walking abroad to take the air, when they are to consult about their affairs. 5. Not to set their names to their printed Books, that they may disown them, when it makes for the interest of their party.   

The fourth means. To be neat & in good esteem.  
Things being thus contrived, they fel to spruce up themselves, to become fitter to execute their designs. It was a clear case with them, that being to converse with the world, they were to go always very complete in their apparel, & be careful that nothing but neatnes apeard in their words & outward garb: They were to reform their manners, at least in the exterior, & practise certain mortifications, to please thos they hoped to gain to their party, & to give a taste of the soundness of their doctrine. They were to draw the people to certain exterior practices of piety, as to help & visit the sick and prisoners, to honour the B. Sacrament, that they might little think their doctrine savourd of calvinism. They were to extol one another: to profess themselves to be knowing men, & to gain the reputation of being great scholars, & for this end, were to talk much in the pulpit & in company, of Predestination, of grace, & of Saint Austin; yet when they met with thos that were learneder then themselves, they were to be very reserved in declaring their opinions; & if they did, they were to do it in form of a bare narrative, and in case they were required to explicate themselves, they were to cry out, O altitudo, &c. or say that S. Austin is very plain in the case, & then to fall a praising the Holy Doctor, that less notice might be taken of the sense of his words: When they spoken of the charms & sweatnes of victorious grace, they were to add, that it was to be known by certain marks, that are not given to all; Yet were they not presently to describe thes marks, but only to say, that they are given to thos that are capable of them, for this would be the infallible way, to draw people to a longing desire, to consult with them about the important affairs of their salvation, & then they should not want an occasion to instill the principles of their doctrine.   

The fift means. To gain seculars, & engage them to their party.  
Being thus prepared, they bent all their thoughts and endeavours, to find favour amongst Catholiks, and despairing to get it but of the Clergy or Laity, they did their best to gain both; & first the prelates, curates & simplo Priests, by thes means: Giving every one of them all possible honour according to his degree: Often praising them, yet without affectation: extoling their characters, dignities, & functions: Obligingly & with zeal of their glory, insinuating the obligation which God has laid vpon them, to govern souls, to reform the present conduct of the Church, to give a lustre to the Ecclesiastical state, & to depress Religious, who by their spiritual direction, have entrenched vpon the right & practise of the secular Clergy: Encouraging them to Sermons, Catechisms, & spiritual conferences, to get the reputation of knowing & devout men: Setting a high value vpon their Books & direction, to draw the people after them inculcating in their Books, Sermons, & private discourses, that the people are bound, to be directed in their consciences by secular Priests: Casting a scruple vpon thos that suffer themselves to be directed by Religious persons: Maintaining that all disorders amongst Christians, have proceeded from the inverting this order, & bringing plausible proofs of it from the ancient government of the Church, to persuade the world, that their only endeavour is to re-establish it: Offering relief to those that are in need of it: In fine leading them according to their predominant inclination, the noble & learned by honour & glory the ambitious by dignities, the poor & covetous by pensions, the fervent & zealous by reformation of manners. In a word professing to all, a great passion for their spiritual & temporal advantages.  
Besides all thes means, they fell vpon a design of setting up assemblies of Priests, to teach them the ceremonies of the divine office, the administration of Sacraments, the secret of a spiritual life, & way of directing consciences; & withall to instil their new doctrine, craftily mingled with things so holy and so profitable.  
Having thus agreed vpon the way, how to conquer the secular Clergy, which they always esteemed a matter of highest concern, not only because the flock of Christ would easily fall into their snares, but also because the Pastors being once corrupted, would of themselves led their sheep to the wolves that seek to devour them: They fell vpon the means how to draw in the Laity.  
wherefore they resolved to gain the esteem of the Great ones by their elaborare & commodious sermons; by their sweet & polished language, by their curious & winning conversation, by the repute of men well versed in antiquity, in the holy Fathers, & in the maxims of a good Moral: by opinions differing from the common strain, but not altogether, new: by a thousand testimonies of honour, & a world of courtesies vpon all occasions: & by taking still their measures according to the present circumstances & every ones nature, & interest, praising or reprehending, approving or rejecting, & pvtting on all sorts of persons, according to the rules of a most exact complaisance.  
As for the Ladies, they were persuaded, that the way to insinuate themselves into their favour, was by modesty and sweetness: by a pretty effeminate kind of way in pronouncing: by neat & proper language: by devout sighs: by often casting up their eyes towards heaven: by an extraordinary kind of devotion dressed up in a n●w phrase: by Books curiously bound: by discourses of Predestination, liberty & grace, by a moderate and well managed ostentation of a new secret, to guide souls, unknown to other Confessors & Directors: by visits contrived to please their humours: by marks of an entier and pure concern for their sanctification: by slighting as it were by chance all Confessors, directors & spiritual Books, that are not according to their model and conduct: by a continual yielding to their inclinations, because they are commonly taken with the love, esteem, honour, preys & observance which men give them.  
For the People, they did not question but modesty, short hair, little bands, moderate sleeves, long cloaks, long & frequent prayers in the Church stately ceremonies in the divin Office, great alms, severe penances, bitter invectives against the softness of their first directors: in a word all that exterior behaviour which carries the character of a great reformation, would soon gain their approbation, & a tenderness of hart for their new opinions.   

The sixth means To treat differently with persons of different natures & dispositions.  
Though thes general means are very much to the purpose, yet they cannot serve all sorts of persons. For some are suspected not to be well affencted to new opinions: others are simplo & sincere: others indifferent, declaring for neither side: others fervent and devout: others indevout and more libertines: wherefore with great prudence & dexterity, they fitted their policy accordingly, that it might serve for all sorts of dispositions, & thus they govern themselves.  
With Suspected persons. 1. They deny themselves to be Iansenists, & disown the new doctrine, when they deal with thos that have a horror of it. 2. They declare their opinion in such terms, as make it not much differ from the common opinion, that they may gain them by degrees. 3. when they grant that God gives graces to the reprobate, that have no effect, they forbear to declare whether it be or be not, for want of their cooperation with such graces. 4. They cry up the name of liberty, & do not say that grace puts a necessity vpon the will: but only say, that victorious grace carries away the will sweetly, without constraint or violence, which is true according to their meaning, because they admit a liberty which is only opposite to constraint. But their equivocation consists in this, that they mean, that victorious grace forces the will by an antecedent necessity. 5. They never meddle with Propositions that sound harshly, as that Christ died not for all men, that Gods Commandements are impossible &c. But they speak only of Predestination, victorious grace &c. as if thes were the only questions; because from thes they easily draw their other opinions. 6. They profess to be men of peace, & to grieve at the scandal, which is caused by thes disputes, & they farther declare; that ther ought to be no preaching or writing on either side.  
With thos that are simplo, who having no great reach seek only their salvation. 1. They deal with them, much as they do with suspected persons. 2 When they converse with them, they are attentive to discover what effects they work in their brains. 3. And if they find in them, the least affection to novelty they deliver their doctrine as new, at least to the modern Church, Scholastical diuins and some Councils since S. Austin. 4. They give them or lend them Books, which insinuate, or defend their doctrine. 5. They employ women & secular girls, that love change and variety, to draw men to their sentiments.  
With Neutrals, 1. They treat them as suspected. 2. They convey Books & writings into their houses that their own curiosity may invite them, to receive instruction, which they cannot so conveniently communicate by word of month. 3. They conceal their opinions to stir up their curiosity, 4. With thos that lean to their side, they freely declare themselves against their adversaries, whom they miscal Molinists, Pelagians & Semipelagians.  
With thos that are fervent & devout; They teach, that the only solid devotion is that of S. Austin, to have a colour to introduce their novelties: That the chief thing which makes a pious action, grateful in the sight of God, is grace, without which, the best works are sinful. That pride often corrups the best actions. That it is the height of pride to believe, we have any part in devout actions, which God works in us; and that we can merit by them. That a mans greatest virtue & glory, is to hold himself so depending of grace, that it do all things in us & without vs.  
With indevout & Libertin souls. They tell them, that God from all eternity, has determined our salvation & damnation. That we cannot alter this decree. That Religious austerities and mortifications torture them to no purpose: That the Council of Trent which teaches the contrary, was not ecumenical, but was made up of monks: That the Jansenists are the learnedest and best wits: That God died not for all, nor for the reprobate: That he gives them no grace, not so much as sufficient: That all grace is efficacious, & victorious, without our cooperation: That when we have once received this grace, it is a sign of our Predestination, & a cause of great comfort.   

The seventh means. To set up Communities of men & women, & to keep private Pensioners.  
Casting their thoughts vpon times to come, they prudently judged nothing more powerful & more efficacious, to give a lasting being to any design, that is once set on foot, then to erect Congregations of men & Communities of women. Because the doctrine, conduct, manners & inclinations of the first founders, is derived successfully into all their followers, as we see by experience, of many ages, in Religious orders. wherefore they convayd their sentiments & principles, into a Congregation of Priests, who, for all they labour to persuade the contrary, have a hard task to purge themselves, and into the Monastery of the Nuns of Port-royal who will not be disabused. They have also procured( under pretence of reforming the Clergy) the establishment of divers Communities of Priests, since the year 1640. & Seminaries, for the Instruction of those that are to take Holy Orders. But because they had just reason to think, that all thos that were bread in such Communities, would not be drawn to their doctrine, but that the greatest part, would stick close to their catholic principles, or would not be capable of that secrecy; which they required: they contented themselves, to keep there certain Pensioners, such as they took to be discreet, faithful, & zealous for their party; that thes, by their prudent dissimulation, might instil an esteem of their particular opinions, & a hatred against Religious persons, their greatest adversaries. Which succeeded so happily, that we hardly find a Priest, that has been bread in such Communities, who is not an enemy to Regulars. Even thos that are called Devotes, are infected with this venom, and publish without scruple, that the spirit of God has deserted Religious persons. With the like success, they gave Pensions to certain Officers, and domestics of the prelates, to rule them at their pleasure. To prebends & heads of Chapters: to thos that had any eminent talent to writ, or preach, or converse, or teach in Universities or private Colleges: to all thos in fine, that could introduce their doctrine, into the Courts of Justice, Courts of Princes and amongst the Great ones. This contrivance of theirs, has wonderfully spread their errors, because it suits well with mens inclinations, who are much set vpon temporal goods.   

The eighth means. To have a common purse & to gather great alms for their common charges.  
But considering, that vast sums of money, were requisite for so many pensions, & for printing Books, & other necessary charges they resolved, to make the richest of their party, pay contribution( as the Calvinists do so luckily to this day) & to draw what alms they could, from all that suffered themselves to be guided by them. To this purpose, they collected out of Scripture & holy Fathers, all the best arguments, to persuade that rich men, have an indispensible obligation, to give great alms. To this they added the examples of Saints, that gave all they had to the poor, & the advantages which Christians, & chiefly Penitents & new Converts, gather by it, to satisfy Gods Justice, & purchase an extraordinary degree of sanctity, & with much eloquence; they held forth all the arguments they could invent. And because they meant, in pursuance of their project, to have the fingering of this money, they gave out, that the best alms, and most pleasing to God, were thos that were the most secret. This made them trusted, with so considerable sums of money, that they have hitherto lived at a vast rate.   

The ninth means. To make Apologies to defend themselves, & abuse their adversaries.  
Their doctrine being against the faith of the Church, they did not question but it would be generally opposed. If their enemies were Bishops, or great persons, they thought it best to be quiet, & not to stir in the matter, but to play out of sight, & content themselves to dispose persons by degrees. If they were of a meaner condition, & would not be gained by their devices, they took it to be lawful, to make a strict enquiry into their lives; to threaten to ruin their reputation & fortunes, & to do it actually, yet warily, & with the advice of all their known followers. In fine they judged it requisite, in case they were assaulted, either in their persons or in their doctrine, to have recourse to Apologies, for by that means, they would gain a double advantage, not only of beating down their adversaries, but of raising their trophies on their ruins, not only of making them pass for Pelagians & Semipelagians, but of defending their own opinions.   

The tenth means. To ruin the reputation & authority of Religious.  
Now amongst all their enemies, they apprehended none so much as Regulars. They considered, that in all ages, they were the men, that had the happiness, to defend the Orthodox faith, against heretics: That they amongst all Christians, had the greatest interest, in the conservation of Religion, & Ecclesiastical Monarchy: That embracing the severest maxims of the gospel, & the most eminent virtues of Christianity, they are for the most part, very zealous, for the true faith: That being disengaged from secular affairs, & having their time and spare houres appointed for the study of Divine Sciences, they are commonly fitter to encounter with novelties then men of the world, That they make up bodies, that are immortal, & that hand down the same spirit from age to age, & are dispersed all over christerdome, & so can preach & writ in all languages, & in all times & places, against all heresies whatsoever: That they rule the consciences, of the greatest part of Christians, who are therfore guided by their counsel & doctrine: That it is impossible to draw them, at least all, to embrace their sect the superiors, & even inferiors, who are zealous, for the Church, having their eyes open, to discover the carriage & sentiments of their Brothers: That they have power in the Court of Rome, & with Kings & Princes, & can luckily unite the Ecclesiastical & secular power, to destroy Novelties. From thes evident & convincing reasons, they concluded, that it was absolutely necessary, to destroy Regulars, & without remedy to ruin their reputation & functions, in the Church of JESVS-●HRIST. And that as they writ, in their Circular Letter, to the Disciples of S. Austin. If the Founder of the Calvinists, had not beaten down the monks pride, & set vpon the racking doctrine of works of supererogation & merits, which brings in their daily bread, he would never have established himself, so luckily as he did, & therfore they were to follow the same tract.  
Now to compass this undertaking, they all agreed in this; That they were to draw the people, from having so much confidence in Religious persons, by persuading them, that they live not according to their rules: That their manners are corrupted: that their direction is hurtful to souls: That their doctrine is erroneous, in point of Predestination, & Grace: That they brought into the Church, the abuses that are practised: That they slight Priests & Parishes: That they have usurped the direction of Consciences, & the Office of preaching, which belongs to secular Priests: That they belong not to the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy: That they are vain, worldly, ambitious, & full of revenge: That though they profess to aim at Gods glory, in the exercise of their functions, yet they wrest it to their own interest, in abominable things.  
To give thes arguments more force, they resolved to gather together,( as they have done) all that has been written, to dishonour Religious, that they may serve themselves of it, vpon occasions: To destroy in the harts of the people, that veneration which they profess, in styling them Fathers: To annihilate the doctrine of works of supererogation, because they take it to be their greatest support, & chiefest ground of their subsistence: To convince secular Priests, that the Religious labour for nothing more, then to keep them down, as the scumm & scorn of the people: To unite Priests in one body, to oppose Religious, & reserve to themselves the direction of souls, & the office of preaching, Catechizing, & Missions: To cry down before prelates, their Privileges & exemption: In fine to sow jealousies, & divisions amongst them, to fight them, & overthrow them, with their own weapons.  
Yet for all the success, which they promised themselves, from thes well contrived means; they were absolutely persuaded, that all would do nothing, so long as the Jesuists were in being; The reasons were thes. They teach most of the youth in christendom: They almost alone, furnish Religious Orders with Novices, for when do you see any leave the Oratorians, or other secular Priests Colleges, to enter into Monasteries: They have the way to beat into their scholars, the principles of faith & catholic verities, so that it is very hard to pervert them: Lastly by their Books, Sermons, scholars, Direction, Missions, & all their Religious & spiritual Exercises, they have got so illustrious a reputation, as to have the credit, of conserving the people in catholic Religion. To all this they added, that thes Religious, make profession, to oppose heretics tooth & nail, & chiefly modern, who at present, are not a little incommoded by them. Which forced the Abbot Saint Cyran, to pronounce this judgement against them. That it is wholly necessary to destroy them, to establish S. Austins( that is as I noted) Calvins, doctrine.  
To compass this, which imports them so much, for the accomplishment of their further designs: They fell presently to writ against their Schools, against their Masters & manner of teaching. They laid trading to their charge, & other things, which seemed sufficient, to make them odious to the people; They did their best, to set other Religious against them: They used all their cunning, to discredit their Books, their Preachers, their divines, all their Authors, their conversation, & spiritual conduct. The falseness of thes imputation, being soon discovered, to the dishonour of the accusers, they had recours to the subtle Policy of the Minister du Moulin. This spirit, as rich in inventions, as in drollery, heretofore made a Collection, of the largest opinions of catholic Casuists, to persuade his followers that the doctrine of the Roman Church, was nought and corrupted. The Jansenists have in like manner, & with incredible cunning, written against the Jesuists Moral & though knowing men, who have preached their Books, the better to judge of the Jansenists sincerity or forgery, have discovered their false dealing, and strange impostures: yet the people in Towns, where the Jesuits neither dwell nor converse, have been persuaded that their moral is corrupted, & their spiritual direction too condescending. The prelates themselves, & the Curates, whether out of envy or otherwise, have much concurred with the Jansenists, to achieve this enterprise, & to this day, some of them, can not hold from showing their teeth against them. With such Policy, have thes new heretics, engaged in their concerns, even thos that should have protected them, the better to stifle the rising heresy of Jansenius.   

The eleventh means. To elude the condemnation of their Heresies, by the three senses, & by the Question of Right & Fact, & by foisting in their doctrine, in the Translations, of some works of the Holy Fathers.  
God is ever so watchful over his Church, that all the Jansenists artifices, could not hinder the Popes, Innocent X. & Alexander VII. from condemning their errors. wherefore being resolved, according to their fundamental maxim, to live exteriorly in the Communion of the catholic Church, they were constrained, to avoid the fury of the Vatican thunderbolts, leveled against them, by having recourse to their ordinary shifts. First they found out 3. senses, to the Propositions condemned by his holiness, and maintained that they were not condemned in Jansenius his sense, to wipe off from him, as well as from themselves, the foul blot of heresy, and to conserve thos they had already drawn to their party, who were vpon the point of deserting them.  
But this first defence, being quiter overthrown, by Alexander VII. his Constitution, they wisely started the Question of Right and Fact, granting the Pope infallibility, to judge & define matters of Right in points of faith, but not matters of Fact. So that they are content, to condemn & receive for condemned, the Propositions understood in their natural sense, in whatsoever Authors they are to be found, but they affirm, that they are not in Jansenius his Book, & that the Popes erred in that.  
To strengthen this second defence, they raised up the Sect of the Richerists, of the Sorbon, against the Popes infallibility in points of faith, when they are joined with matter of Fact. They also endeavoured, to render his spiritual jurisdiction over the whole Church, suspected to sovereigns, & odious to the people, using fals & captious reasons, to persuade them, that he meant by degrees, to usurp a sovereignty, over the temporal right of Kings & Princes.  
But not daring at present, openly to defend, or publish their opinions, after they have been so solemnly condemned by the Church, they found out a subtle piece of Policy, to translate into French, certain pieces of the Holy Fathers, which seem to favour them, and ther cunningly to foist in their condemned propositions, that the Reader may swallow them without reflection, & that thos who understand neither Greek, nor Latin, may believe, that thos Holy Fathers, held the Jansenists tenets. The learned & judicious Author, of the Letters to an Abbess of Cistaux, has discovered this new device, & by his just censures, has prevented the bad consequences.  
Sir, if you take the pains, to observe attentively, the admirable Policy of thes Novelists, I am confident, you will cease to wonder, that they have so easily cheated, so many Catholiks in France & other places, & that it is so hard a thing, for a man to keep out of their nets, and not to turn heretic when he thinks to become a good Christian, by the help of their direction.  
But whatsoever they have done, to establish their doctrine, nothing has succeeded so luckily as in the Sorbon, where having infected the Readers of divinity, with their new fancies, they easily spread their poison all over the kingdom.    

THE PRESENT STATE OF THE SORBON. OF PARIS.  
TO MONSIEVR LE CHEVALIER DES TROISPONTS.  
To prove that which I was saying.  
That the SORBON is infected with Iansenisme,  
It is necessary to fetch the matter a little higher.  

THE FIRST PROOF. Which serves for Introduction, to thos that follow.  
I Beseech you Sir to observe, that in the year 1611. Cornelius Jansenius a Hollander, Bishop of Ipers in Flanders, & John de Havane de Verger, of Bayonne, afterwards Abbot of S. Cyran, in Berry, laid the foundation of their friendship, & contrived their design, which they afterwards laboured to perfect, one in the University of louvain, the other in that of Paris. This last, drew immediately to his party, the three Arnauds his Brothers, viz Monsieur d'Andilly, the doctor, & the Abbot of S. Nicholas, now Bishop of Angiers. Besides Monsieur le master, Advocate of the Parliament, their Nephew; their Sisters, Nuns of Port-royal, & many young bachelors & doctors, amongst whom, I was one, as zealous as the rest, drawn in by the novelty of their doctrine.  
This plague, which stolen secretly into mens minds, broken out at last, & became so common, under the pretended authority of Saint Austin, that Monsieur S. Beuve, professor of Divinity, delivered it to his scholars, in his dictates and public lessons. Thus the Jansenists began, to corrupt the Sorbon Doctrine, in its very source. And as water, which flows from a poisoned fountain, carries the deadly poison along with it; so we retain the first instructions, we receive from our masters. And usually men keep, the first impression, they took in their youth, & strictly tie themselves, to the first principles they learnt, especially, when the contrary principles, are cried down, for false & ridiculous, & this in matters concerning Religion: When the Professors of such doctrine, condemn their Adversaries of great failings, which must cause lamentable consequences: When they are persuaded that such pretended truths, are the very same, which the Holy Ghost has revealed in Holy Scripture, & declared in the works of the Holy Fathers: And besides, that thos that embrace them, have the reputation of able, witty, curious, & charming men in their conversation. Then the contention which follows with their Adversaries, stirs up their industry & ambition, to defend their novelties, & kindles a hatred to their enemies, which inflames their false zeal. The applause of their friends, which goes still increasing gives them new courage. In fine the hope to make their names immortal, for having raysd a famous dispute in Religion, between the old catholics and new Sectaries. Thes reasons me thought, were so strong & convincing, that I do not wonder, that either I, or my Schoolfellows engaged. And that this is the usual way, which novelists take, to seduce catholics, Calvin affords me an argument, very pat for my purpose. Being returned out of Germany, into France, he retired himself to Bourges, about the year 1533. and began to preach at Asnieres, a country Town about a league & a half distant from that City, which still retains the heresy he then planted. Having the out side of a well behaved Priest, as the Jansenists have now for the most part, he easily gained the friendship & confidence of a company of young ecclesiastics, & he so deeply stamped his errors in their souls, under pretence of reforming their manners, & teaching them the new secrets of a spiritual life, that some years after being condemned by the Church, all but the ancientest amongst them, vndertook the defence of his opinions, accused the Pope of injustice, and in fine followed him to Geneva. Had the Abbot of S. Cyran, the Arnauds, le master & S. Beuve, taken their flight to Geneva, as well as they followed the doctrine of Geneva, I know not whether their scholars in the Sorbon, would have followed them, but this I know that they faithfully follow their Masters opinions. Thos that are not so certain of it, as I am, will be convinced, by the following Proofs, which I draw from the exact agreement, they have with the Jansenists.   

The second Proof.  
First who knows not, that the Jansenists teach heresy, since their doctrine has been condemned for heretical, & their Books forbidden as Luthers & Calvins were? It is also true, that the new Sorbonists, approve, favour, & protect their errors. Monsieur R. who goes under the name of Montalte; speaks it plainly, in his first Provincial Letter, pag. 2. of the Colen Edition 1657. in thes terms. When Monsieur Arnauds second Letter, was examined in the Sorbon three score & eleven Doctors, stood up for him. And in his third Letter, pag. 37. The examiners were by this means, says he, freed from the importunity of thes troublesone Doctors, who took a pleasure to refute all their reasons, & to produce Books to convince them of falsehood, To summon them to answer, & to force them to a non plus. And a little after, he goes on thus They are sufficiently persuaded, that thos that are in their wits, will make more of the judgement of the 70. Doctors, who could get nothing by defending Monsieur Arnaud, then of 100 others, who had nothing to loose by condemning him. Now if threescore & eleven Doctors, defend Monsieur Arnauds heresies, who is now the head of the Jansenists: If they defend them in the most famous Assemblies of the Sorbon: If they quote Authors to maintain them: If they bring arguments to confirm them, & refute the contrary arguments, so far as to pretend to convince their adversaries of falsehood, & put them to silence: Is it not easy to conclude, that they are wholly addicted to thes heresies? that they are obstinately tied to them? that they espouse them for their own proper doctrine? Especially since they had rather, expose themselves to the Popes curses, & the Kings indignation, who commands them to be censured, then to quit them, & permit the sound part of the Sorbon to condemn them.  
Of this number are the five Doctors, whom Montalte in his first Letter pag. 3. calls Indifferent, for if they stood not for the catholics they were consequently for the Jansenists: For ther is no neutrality in Religion: It is Christ jesus his infallible word. He that is not with him is against him: Ther is no middle way to walk in, between Faith, & articles directly opposite to Faith. Why then did not the pretended Indifferents, side with the Clergy, the King, the Pope, the whole Church, to defend the Faith, according to the obligation of their oath, as they are Doctors, but because they were misled by the Jansenists? So that if we reckon well with Montalte, behold 86. Sorbon Doctors infected with Jansenisme.   

The third Proof.  
Secondly; They approved the Jansenists Books which contain errors against faith. It is easy to prove it by examples. witness the Book of Virginity, which Father Seguenot an Oratorian, writ against Religious vows. Which made Cardinal Richelieu( who was certainly the true defender of the Faith) to cast him into the bastille; where he also laid the Abbot of S. Cyran. Monsieur Gerbais & A. Favre Doctors of Sorbon, on the 14. of Apr. 1663. approved the Book of the Parochial mass; written by Monsieur Steven Guerry, doctor of Divinity, & Curate of S. Opportune in Poitiers printed at Niort by Francis Bouhault 1664. which teaches, pag. 200. that Curates are of divine Institution, & have the same authority in their Parishes, which the Pope has over the whole Church, or the Bishops in their Dioceses.( So they would have equal authority with the Bishops and Pope himself: is that true?) pag. 203. That the Curates cannot be outed by the Pope, their state being equally essential to the Church. That they are as essentially members, as the Pope is head of the Church. And yet Popes have deposed Bishops, are Curates more independent? Besides if the Primacy, and character of the Pope, were destroyed, we should not haue the same Church, because Christ instituted her under a visible head, his Lieutenant vpon earth; but if ther were no Curates, would she therfore be destroyed? pag. 208. That the Parochial Church Alone, is the Church instituted by Iesus Christ, for the learning the Doctrine of the gospel, & use of the Sacraments. The Pope then and the Bishops cannot permit them in other Churches. Do catholic Doctors agree in this?  
Monsieur Grenet & N. Petitpied 6. Octob. 1663. approved the Translation of many of S. Bernards Sermons, corrupted by the Jansenists in 2. several passages, in favour of their heresies. The first is pag. 138. §. 6. Sermon 20. Erat( says the holy Father) totâ animâ doctus, said adhuc infirmus; benè instructus, said parum adjutus. Speaking of Saint Peter, his soul was sul of knowledge to love Christ, but he was we●k in that love, he was well instructed but little helped. The translator says, he wanted not knowledge but wanted help, where thes last words he wanted help, contain the heresy condemned in one of the 5. Propositions, & censured in Arnauds second Letter. 1656. The second is pag. 38. Sermon 30. in the beginning. Est charitas in actu, est & in affectu: Et de illa quidem quae operis est, puto datam esse legem hominibus mandatumque formatum. Nam in affectu quis ita habeat vt mandatur? Ther is a charity, says the Jansenist, which lies in the affection, & another which consists in the action: & I believe it is for the first, that a law was given unto men, & a commandment drawn out of it. For who can have the other in that perfection which the law requires. This Translation is fals and rayses heresies. 1. It changes S. Bernards order, who puts charity of action in the first place, and charity of affection in the second. 2. From this disorder, which the translator makes, it follows that the command for charity of action, is impossible, and consequently that ther are some of Gods commandements, that are impossible, which is condemned in one of the 5. Propositions.  
Monsieur Boisleau & A. Favre 11. Apr. & 2. jul. 1664. approved the book of Faith touching the Eucharist, & yet the author, who is thought to be Monsieur Arnaud, makes S. Austin speak a horrible heresy It is in the pag. 118. which begins thus, connoissent tresclairement, in the impression of Savreux 1664. It is says he, in the power of men to sin( says S. Austin) but it is not in their power, to commit such or such a sin. It is God that rules thos which he ought to permit, & thos which he ought to hinder, ordering darkness: See the words taken out of his Book of the Predestination of Saints Chap. 16. Est ergo in potestate malorum peccare: Vt autem peccando, hoc vel hoc illâ malitiâ faciant, non est in eorum potestate, said Dei dividentis & ordinantis tenebras. That is. It is therfore in the power of the wicked to sin; but that in sinning they do this or that, by this malice, it is not in their power, but in Gods who divides & orders darkness. This holy Father, speaks only of the effects, which follow out of the sins of the wicked, & says, that God disposes of thes effects, to draw out the good, which pleases him. The Author of the Perpetuity makes him say, that God rules or determins mens sins: and besides that it is not in their power to commit such or such a sin. So that according to him, God must give this power: wherefore he makes God the author of sin as Calvin did before him.  
I omit other pernicious Books, which they have approved, & draw this conclusion. When the Sorbonists approved the Jansenists Books, they knew their errors: for we cannot suppose ignorance in such great Doctors: They did not approve them as catholic Doctors, for they ought rather to have condemned them: Therfore they approved them as Jansenian Doctors. Ther is no middle between as I have proved. If the Doctors of Sorbon answer, that all the Doctors of their Faculty, did not give thos approbations, I answer, that they seemed to give their consent, otherwise they should have disowned & condemned Arnaud & S. Beuve, nay more degraded them from being Doctors.   

The fourth Proof.  
In the third place: They have not censured Books & Translations, in which the Jansenists, have cunningly delivered their heresies. It shall suffice to quote four amongst many others, which they have spared. The first is the Houres or Prayers, which have been printed 15. or 16. times, though censured at Rome: & where thes heretics, have dashed out of the Hymns, jesus CHRISTS title, of Redeemer of all men. They have translated the verse of the Psalm. 138. Mihi autem nimis honorificati sunt amici tui Deus: nimis confortatus est principatus eorum, according to Beza's translation, printed at Sedan 1623. O how precious are thy counsels unto me, says that heretic: O how hard a thing it is to sum them up, for if I would rekcon them all, they will exceed in number the sands on the shore. And the Jansenists pag. 199. O Almighty God, say they, how the sublimity of thy thoughts is precious unto me, & how immense their number apears to me? if I would count them, they appear more innumerable then the sands of the sea. They left this translation of the Church and Holy Fathers ( Thy friends o God are made wonderfully honourable unto me, their principality is greatly confirmed) because it serves to prove the honour, which catholics give to the blessed Saints.  
Pag. 332. They renew some of the 5. condemned Propositions, when they say, We offer thee( God) our prayers, that thou wilt convert( men of whom he speaks) by the invincible force of thy Spirit, to which no liberty of men can make resistance, when thou wilt love them. Which words have the same sense with thes others: That we never resist interior grace, that liberty is not free from necessity, but only from constraint: that God has an absolute will, antecedent to the consent of the will of a man predestinate, & that he puts a necessity vpon him to consent.  
To seduce the Reader they attribute thes heresies to S. Austin in his 4. Book to Boniface, Chap. 9. who says no such matter, hear his words. Quid ergo petimus, nisi vt fiant ex nolentibus volentes, ex repugnantibus consentientes, ex oppugnantibus amantes? A quo, nisi ab illo de quo scriptum est: praeparatur voluntas à Deo? descant ergo esse Catholici, qui dedignantur, si quid mali non faciunt & si quid boni faciunt, non in se ipsis, said in Domino gloriari. What do we ask then, but that of unwilling they become willing, of resisting consenting, of oppugning loving? By whom but by him, of whom it is written, the will is prepared by God? Let them therfore learn to be catholics, who scorn to glorify themselves, not in themselves, but in our Lord, if they do nothing that is ill, & do something that is good.  
The second is Montalts Letters to a Provincial: This jesting spirit makes the Censure of Arnauds second Letter, about sufficient Grace, & principles of Morality, to be ridiculous, and scatters many heresies all over his Book, which was condemned at Rome 6. Sept. 1657, & burnt by the decree of the Parliament of Aix. The third is, the summary of the Curates declarations &c. by M. John Rousse Doctor & Curate in Paris, censured at Rome 30. June 1659. The fourth is the Collection of divers pieces, about the Censures of the Faculty of Paris, printed at Munster 1666. full of heresies, & invectives against the Pope, as we shal see below, & condemned to the fire, by a decree of Parliament 17. May. 1666.  
In the fourth place. They have quiter contrary censured catholic Books, written against Jansenists. For proof of this, I will only bring Monsieur jaques Vernant, who defends the Popes spiritual authority, against the errors of the times: by formal texts out of Scripture out of the first general Councils of the Church, out of the Holy Fathers, & Orthodox Doctors: & by arguments of good divinity; And all this, with so great solidity, clearness, & fidelity in his citations, that ther is no rational man, that will not be convinced of the truth.  
After thes observations, I demand, why the Sorbonists, who make profession to censure Books, contrary to faith & good manners, have nevertheless omitted Books and Translations corrupted by the Jansenists? They must either be their friends, or their enemies, or neutrals: They are not their enemies, for were they so they would beat down their heresies, with a thousand censures: They are not neutrals, for that cannot be, ther being as I said, no neutrality to be found, between the true faith & heresy. And truly, if they were so, they would not approve their Books, as they have done, nor treat their Adversaries works so ill. wherefore they are their friends. And truly perfect friendship( says S. Hierom excellently well) engages men to will and not to will the same things: Eadem velle & eadem noll., ea demum firma amicitia est. Epist. ad Demetriad She also inspires( as Saint Chrysostome speaks) a solicitous care of knowing the friends concerns, carries a man with zeal, to maintain their interest. In fine it is her nature, to do them all the good she can possibly, & not to suffer any, to do them the least mischief. Qui amant, ii plus quàm caeteri omnes eorum facta norunt, vt qui de iis ipsis sint solliciti. S. Chrysost. praefat. in Epist. S. Pauli. Do not the Sorbonists religiously observe the laws of a perfect fellowship? Have not they generously obliged the Jansenists, in their head Arnaud, as we have seen in Montalts letters, quoted in my second Proof? Besides since friendship easily engages us in the same hatred, which our friends have against their enemies, & consequently unites our designs, and forces, to fight and destroy them, ought we not to Confess, that the Sorbonists are straightly tied to the Jansenists, & that they have the same designs, since, as we have seen, they unanimously fight their enemies in censuring catholic Books writ against them? quails amicos quisque habet, talem scias, said an Ancient Author.   

The fift Proof.  
To strengthen this Proof, I add another agreement between the Sorbonists. Thes seek to pull down sovereign Bishops, by raising two heads vpon the Throne of the Church, by despizing their constitutions, by questioning their infallibility in decisions of Faith, & by publishing a thousand calumnies against them. The Sorbonists have also declared themselves the Popes enemies, & given many proofs of their hatred. Take the first from their propositions concerning his authority. I only instance in the sixth, by which they rob the Pope of the infallibility, which CHRIST gave him in deciding matters of Faith. It is not, say they, the doctrine or opinion of the Faculty, that the Chief Bishop is infallible, unless the consent of the Church be joined with it. In this they agree with the Jansenists. The second is drawn from their Censure of Monsieur Vernants broke. This Orthodox catholic teaches 1. that the Pope is infallible in deciding matters of Faith. Epist. Dedic. & pag. 254. 2. That no authority under God, can limit his power. pag. 110.3. That were he not infallible in matters of Faith, we ought to give over saying, that we believe in the holy catholic & apostolic Roman Church. pag. 247. 4. That the Decrees of Gen. Councils, ought to have the Popes approbation, because they do not receive their jurisdiction immediately from God, but at the hands of S. Peter, & his successors. pag. 358. 721. 724. 5. That the Pope is the supreme judge of all greater causes or questions of Faith, & that ther is no appeal from his judgement. pag. 100. 244. 279. 428. 6. That jesus CHRIST, gave S. Peter & his Successors, all that authority, which he had received from his Father, for the government of the Church, in things belonging to the said government. pag. 53. 128. 143. 145. 7, That the Pope can delegate his jurisdiction, & part it as he pleases, in Pastoral functions, in the Dioceses of all Bishops without asking their consent. pag. 365. 366. The Sorbonists call the first of thes propositions, temerarious, scandalous, heretical. The 2. fals. The 3. fals, temerarious, scandalous, dangerous in Faith. The 4. fals. The 5. fals & prejudicial to the authority of Councils. The 6. scandalous, & blasphemous. The 7. contrary to common right, temerarious, & tending to the destruction of the Church. What bitterness against the Pope? what attempt against the Spiritual Monarchy of the Church? Mean while the learned defender of Monsieur Vernant, opposes against thes censures, in his Book of the ancient doctrine of the Divines of Paris, the true doctrine & formal words of the Gen. Councils, of Nice 1. Ephesus, Calcedon, Nice 2. Constantinople 4. Florentin & others. He opposes the practise of the first ages, & the testimonies of the Holy Fathers, Ireneus & Cyprian Bishops & Martyrs, cyril patriarch of Alexandria, Epiphanius, Austin, Optatus, Tertullian and many others. He opposes the Constitutions of Popes, that governed the Church in the first ages. He opposes the clear & unquestionable judgement of S. Thomas and S. Bonaventure, of Cardinal Turrecremata & others, of Peter d'Alliac great Master of navarre, & afterwards Bishop of Cambray, of Monsieur Raconis Bishop of Vaure, Henry of Gand, Monsieur Bail yet living, du Val, Almain, Isambert, Gamache, & infinite other ancient divines, all Doctors of Sorbon, whos Books were approved by divers of the same Faculty, who have not published their works. He quotes, & faithfully translates their Texts, he clearly expounds their reasons, & lastly adds all the decrees and censures of that Academy against the Heresies contrary to the catholic doctrine, of the Popes spiritual authority, which he teaches with Monsieur de Vernant. So that I cannot see, how the Sorbonists can answer him, unless they have the secret, to prove that truth is falsehood, & faith heresy, & that falsehood is truth and heresy Orthodox Faith.  
In the Collection of divers pieces printed at Munster 1666. of which I have already spoken, they are strangely transported against Alexander VII. & his Bull, in which he condemned their Censures against Monsieur Vernant, & Amideus Guimenius, I say they are strangely transported, for they acknowledge, & evidently attest themselves to be Authors of thos writings, by thes words We, which they repeat 21. times. pag. 126. 127. 138. 142. 143. 144. 150. 151. and Our Censures, which they use 8. several times pag. 126. 129. 138. 142. 144. 145. 146. 147. Besides their not disowning that furious libel, by an authentical Censure, puts it out of question, that they approve it as their own work. I have a horror, to transcribe their injuries against Alexander VII pag. 97. They call his Bull the greatest monster that was ever seen in the catholic Church. They call it & strive to prove it temerarious, pag. 100. 101. presumptuous, pag. 101. scandalous, pag. 102. 103. vnjust & full of nullities, pag. 123. grounded vpon principles that are manifestly heretical, pag. 101. authorizing clear heresies, pag. 123. That ther is just reason, to accuse & condemn it for heretical, pag. 104. That it agmes to destroy the Church, pag. 113. That we cannot receive it, without turning the Church topsy turvy & without an entier abjuration of all the Chief maxims of the gospel, pag. 124. That Alexander VII. rashly depends vpon divine inspiration, pag. 100. That he fals into new errors as he had done into old ones, pag. 107. That he has made a fals supposition, injurious to the Faculty, pag. 138. That he made his Bull without discussing, without examining, & without so much as seing the Facultys Censure, pag. 130. Though the Pope declare the contrary in his Bull, habitis, says he prius doctissimorum &c. consultationibus. That his infallibility is a more chimera & a more politic & cabinet device, to deceive ignorant & weak spirits, & to usurp an vnjust authority over the people, &c. pag. 131. 108. 151. &c. Lastly they accuse Pope Honorius, John XXII. &c. of errors & heresies. pag. 140. &c. They repeat the same accusations, in the Apology for their Censures, approved by 7. Doctors of the Faculty, & that which is very strange, they took them out of the Books of the Lutherans, Protestants, & Calvinists, for all the solid answers of Cardinal Perron, & Father Coeffeteau, have invincible proved them fals. After which, it cannot be denied, but the Sorbonists surpass their Masters, in this hatred: for the Jansenists dealt more moderately with Innocent X. & Alexander VII. & their Constitutions, by which their Heresies were condemned. Du Moulin himself, Son to the famous Minister of that name, & Prebend of Canturbury, is more reserved in his discourse of a Burgher of Paris, vpon the Legation of Cardinal Ghisi, printed at London 1665. Ther is not a sincere catholic, who is not easily persuaded by so strong and convincing Proofs, that the Sorbonists being, as they are, the Popes professed enemies, are direct Jansenists.   

The sixth Proof.  
Their hatred to Religious persons, is a 6. Proof. The Jansenists conspired against Regulars, as I observed in their Policy, from the beginning of their Cabal; foreseeing well, that they would put obstacles to the establishment of their Heresies. And they have often effectually felt, the force of so great a body. All the world knows, that the heresies of Monsieur Arnaud, were censured in the Sorbon, because as Montalte writes, in his 1. Letter Colen Edit. pag. 23. Ther stood for the catholic, 24. secular Doctors & about 40. Mendicant Monks who condemned his Proposition. Which deadly blow gave them such a deep wound, that since that time, they have openly professed by a thousand vnjust proceedings, the inveterate hatred to Religious. The Sorbonists exactly follow their steps. They have rejected by their censure; all the Propositions which Monsieur Vernant advanced in favour of the Regulars Privileges, though he brought nothing but the express doctrine, & formal words of Gen. Councils, Popes Bulls, Canonists, ancient Doctors of Sorbon, & other catholic Authors. Which the learned defender has confirmed by many irrefragable testimonies. Moreover they have quiter banished them out of their Assemblies in the Sorbon, to remove by their exclusion, thos obstacles which hindered them from judging of the questions proposed, according to their passion. And truly, the number of catholic Doctors being at present the lesser in the Sorbon, the Jansenists have the advantage, to the great dishonour of the Faculty, whos censures would never have been condemned by the Pope as they have been, if Regulars had been there, for they would have been conformable to the Orthodox faith. In fine the Sorbonists strive to make Regulars odious, by saying in the Collection of divers pieces pag. 111. num. 18. That the Popes Bull, as fals it is, is maintained in France by twenty thousand, partly Monks, & partly interressed ecclesiastics, & that ther is nothing, that ought not to be feared from them & pag. 142. That a dozen Regulars, with whom the Pope consulted, prevails against 200. Sorbon Doctors. Since heretics both ancient & modern, have always cruelly hated Religious, what must we judge of the Sorbon, and in what rank must we place them since they have the like hatred.   

The seventh Proof.  
Take the last resemblance they have with the Jansenists, Ther is no dissimulation, disguise, cheat or imposture, which thes heretics do not use, against their adversaries. Montalte is the cunningest at it in the world, in his first Letters, against the Censure of Monsieur Arnauds heresies, opposite to the catholic doctrine, of sufficient grace, and contrary to the Dominicans & other catholic doctors. And in his last, he attributes to the Jesuits at a venture, all the strangest Maxims, he could device. whereas thos Fathers, in their Apologies, prove the perfect harmony, between thos slanders, and thos which du Moulin heretofore, cast vpon the Roman Church. Besides they convince the Jansenists of 29. evident impostures, contained in 8. Lettres of Montalte, viz: the 11.12. &c. And in their last answers, they lay open the other calumnies of thes heretics, which the Sorbonists exactly imitate. And truly the defender of Monsieur Vernant, in his Book of the ancient divinity of the Sorbon, complains in his Preface & pag. 519. that they attribute unto Monsieur Vernant, a doctrine, of which he makes not the least mention in the 176.384.388. pages quoted by the Censurers, nor in his whole Book. He observes 495. that in the extract of censured Propositions, pag. 630. they slip over under thes points( .......) the reasons & proofs, by which they are authorised. In the 426.427. pages he charges them with making fals suppositions, and perverting the sense of the propositions drawn out of pag. 365.366. & then proves them to be Orthodox, if not corrupted by their malicious explication. In his whole Book Of the Ancient doctrine of the divines of Paris, he clearly demonstrates, that they took no notice, of Monsieur de Vernant his proofs, drawn out of the Authors, which I cited in my 5. Proof. That they slighted his reasons, & maliciously interpnted his words. And that in condemning him, they have condemned under his name, the Councils Fathers, Popes, their own divines, all foreign Doctors, the most eminent in dignity, the most famous for learning, & zeal for the true Faith. So true is that, which Lactantius says, that they oppugn the truth, & will not see it, least acknowledging their innocency, who defend it, against their errors, they should not be able to condemn them, without manifest injustice. Student damnare tamquam nocentes, quos utique sciunt innocents; constare de ipsa innocentia nolunt: verentur enim quod si audierint, damnare non possint.  
But what shal I say, of their Censure of Amadeus Guymenius? In good earnest, I dislike, & had I sufficient authority, would condemn, his manner of defending the Jesuits, against the Dominicans. Tis true he proves well, that the Dominicans, have taught worse opinions then the Jesuits; but to what purpose is it, to let the people see, so many odious opinions, bundled up in a little volume? I wonder the Jesuits, had so little Policy, as not to hinder, if they could, the printing of that Book, especially at a time, when they had so many professed enemies. Yet because I only undertake, to prove the Sorbonists falsifying, & impostures without meddling with their doctrine, I will set down the foul calumnies, which they cast vpon Guimenius; not all: it were too troublesone, but some of the most conspicuous.  
In the Propositions, which they censured, viz the 4. they have cut off Guimenius his words, & so altered his sense. pag. 86. n. 2.3. In the 7. they suppress the good sense of Guimenius his words pag. 87. n. 3. In the 9. they dissemble, that Guimenius answers Anonymus, & that the Jesuits are of a contrary opinion, pag. 94. n. 1. In the 15. they impose vpon Guimenius, by cutting of the last words of the Proposition. pag. 28. num. 3. In the 25. they make Guimenius approve an opinion, which he says, is not to be maintained pag. 127. In the 27. They take no notice, that Guimenius holds the contrary, rejecting ●ajetan & Sylvester, both Dominicans, pag. 237. In the 33. Guimenius rejects it, pag. 114. n. 5. In the 37. all the Jesuits deny it, & reject it with S. Antonin, pag. 158 n. 1. &c. In the 47. They are the very terms, & proper doctrine of S. Thomas, whos words they mangled, to corrupt the sense, that they might condemn it. pag. 109. n. 3. In the 54. They are Anonymus his words, who lays a horrible calumny vpon Sanchez, whos words & sense are quiter contrary, pag. 34. n. 2. How then came the Sorbonists to approve him? In the 59. they suppress the name of Sotus, and Guimenius his words, to make their Censure, fall vpon the Jesuits, pag. 142. In the 61. they omit Guimenius his words, who says that Claudius Aquaviva, General of the Jesuits, forbade them to teach publicly, or privately, or to practise such kind of opinions, pag. 210. In the 69. they are the words of the Roman Sacerdotal, quoted by S. Antonin and yet they condemn them. pag. 221. n. 1! In the 70 Guimenius rejects it, as contrary to the Council of Trent. pag. 233. n. 5. He does the same in the 72. pag. 277. num. 18. In the 75. they have not drawn it out faithfully, and besides it is the opinion of Sylvester. pag. 177. n. 4. In the 77. It is Anonymus his doctrine, which Guimenius rejects with horror. pag. 285. proposition 5. num 2. In the 79. they cut off, by a strange infidelity, Guimenius his words, which justify him. pag. 284. n. 3. In the 80. they maliciously leave out Guimenius his answer, who confutes his accuser. pag. 244. Prop. 2. In the 81. they confirm the horrible Imposture of Anonymus against Vasquez, who has not a word of the proposition censured pag. 25. Proposit. 12 In the 15. Propositions, which they city only by their first words, it is only Anonymus, that advanced them, Guimenius maintains, that the Jesuits detest them. Amongst the censured Propositions ther are 28. of Anonymus & 44. of other Authors, no Jesuits, & yet the Sorbonists, attribute them all to Guimenius, that they might have occasion to censure them, & the Jesuits in his person, because he relates the calumnies, with which he defiles their doctrine and reputation.  
From thes Proofs, which are all in matter of Fact, it is easy to conclude, that the Sorbonists, exactly follow, the false dealing, & cheating way of the Jansenists. Had they proceeded, as catholic Doctors ought to do, according to rules of conscience, and Christian sincerity, they would have censured the Propositions, under the names of their Authors, whom they should have name, & not have taxed the Jesuits, to satisfy the hatred they bear them. Who in the mean time, have this advantage against the Sorbonists, that Heresy cannot be justly laid in their dish.  
behold Sir, the deplorable state of our Faculty, which you will not question, if you take but the pains, to consider with attention, the Proofs which I have set down. And how should they not be infected, with the Jansenists heresies, since they drew them from the beginning, out of the writings, & public lessons of Saint Beuve, who choose rather, to renounce his degree & chair of doctor, then Jansenisme? Since they obstinately defend their errors? Since they approve & cry up their Books & Translations in which they deliver their errors? Since they do not censure, & condemn thos that renew them? Since they Censure the Books of catholics their enemies? Since they have a mortal hatred for the Pope, as all heretics have? Since they bear the same hatred to Religious, because they destroy heresy & defend the catholic Faith? Since they use the same tricks, & the same calumnies, to censure them, & to tarnish the lustre of their reputation, which thes novelists employ, against Orthodox Doctors? All thes characters, being equally common to them, force us to confess, that they have the same opinions, the same design, and the same interests with the Jansenists.   

THE conclusion.  
I draw 2. necessary Conclusions, out of the whole discourse. The first. That Alexander VII. has with a great deal of justice, in his Bull of Jun. 1665. condemned, the Sorbon Censures, of Monsieur de Vernant, & Guimenius, as Presumptuous, Temerarious, Scandalous, & forbidden them, under pain of excommunication, reserving the Absolution unto himself.  
The second. That the Decrees of thes Doctors, their Decisions, and their Censures ought hereafter to be suspected by Catholiks: That one ought not easily to believe, that the Books they approve, are free from Heresy: Finally that one ought not to adhere to their opinions, until they have renounced Jansenisme, as Monsieur R. called Montalte, Author of the Provincial Letters, did before his death, with such signs of a true repentance, that it is to be hoped that God let him feel the effects of his mercy.  
For my part, I am fane to lie concealed, & keep close vpon my gard, to avoid the persecution of my fellow Doctors, who would furiously handle me, did they know, that I am the man, that have so sincerely set down thes things, which I sand you for great truths. Yet they shal not hinder me, from giving immortal thanks, unto the Father of all grace, who by his amiable goodness, has drawn we out of error and precipice. Give you also thanks, Sir, I beseech you, & believe if you please, that I am entirely yours in CHRIST jesus. This 21. May. 1667.    

The 5. Iansenian Propositions condemned for Heretical by the sea apostolic.  
The first. Some of Gods Commandments are impossible to just men, though they desire & endeavour to keep them according to their present forces: grace is also wanting in them to make them possible.  
The second. In the state of corrupt nature interior grace is never resisted.  
The third. To merit & demerit in the state of corrupt nature a mans liberty from necessity is not required, but liberty from coaction is sufficient.  
The fourth. The Semipelagians admitted the necessity of interior preventing grace, to all acts, even to the beginning of Faith, & in this were heretics, that they would have this grace to be such that a mans will might resist it or obey it.  
The fift. It is Semipelagianisme to say, that Christ died, or  shed his blood generally for all men.  

The Censure of the said Propositions.  
Extracted out of the Constitution of his holiness Pope Innocent X.  
Primam. Aliqua Dei praecepta hominibus justis volentibus & conantibus secundum praesentes quas habent vires sunt impossibilia: dost quoque illis gratia qua possibilia fiant: Temerariam, impiam, blasphemam, anathemate damnatam, & haereticam declaramus, & uti talem damnamus.  
Secundam. Interiori gratiae in statu naturae lapsae nunquam restititur: haereticam declaramus & uti talem damnamus.  
Tertiam. Ad merendum & demerendum in statu naturae lapsae non requiritur in homine libertas à necessitate, said sufficit libertas à coactione.  
Quartam. Semipelagiani admittebant praevenientis gratiae interioris necessitatem ad singulos actus etiam ad initium fidei: & in hoc erant haeretici quod vellent eam gratiam talem esse cvi potest humana voluntas resistere vel obtemperare: falsam & haereticam declaramus & uti talem damnamus.  
Quintam. Semipelagianum est dicere Christum pro omnibus omnino hominibus mortuum esse aut sanguinem fudisse: falsam, temerariam scandalosam, & intellectam eo sensu vt Christus pro salute duntaxat Praedestinatorum mortuus sit, impiam blasphemam contumeliosam, divinae pietati derogantem & haereticam declaramus & uti talem damnamus.   

Another Extract out of the Constitution of his holiness Pope Alexander VII.  
In which having recited his predecessors Constitution he does not only confirm his Censures but further declares the 5. Propositions to be taken out of jansenius & to have been condemned in the sense intended by the said jansenius, &c.  
cum autem, sicut acccpimus, nonnulli iniquitatis filii predict as quinque Propositiones, vel in libro praedicto ejusdem Cornelii Jansenii non reperiri, said fictè & pro arbitrio compositas esse, vel non in sensu ab eodem intento damnatas fuisse, asserere, magno cum Christi fidelium scandalo, non reformident, Nos qui omnia, quae hac in re gesta sunt sufficienter & attentè perspeximus, utpote qui ejusdem Innocentii Praedecessoris jussu, dum adhuc in minoribus constituti Cardinalatus munere fungeremur, omnibus congressibus interfuimus, in quibus Apostolicâ authoritate eadem caussa discussa est eâ profectò diligentia, qua mayor desiderari non posset, quamcumque dubitationem supper praemissis in posterum auferre volentes, vt omnes Christi fideles in ejusdem fidei unitate seize contineant: ex debito nostri Pastoralis officii, ac matura deliberatione praeinsertam Innocentii Praedecessoris nostri Constitutionem, declarationem & definitionem, harum serie confirmamus, approbamus, & innovamus & quinque illas Propositiones, ex libro praememorati Cornelii Jansenii Iprensis, cvi titulus est, Augustinus, excerptas, ac in sensu ab eodem Cornelio intento damnatas fuisse declaramus, & definimus; & uti tales, inusta scilicet eadem singulis nota, quae in praedicta declaratione, & definitione, vnicuique illarum sigillatim inuritur, iterum damnamus.   

THE FORMVLA To be subscribed by all ecclesiastics in France in submission to ALEXANDER the VII. his Bull which condemns jansenius his errors: prescribed by the general Assembly of the Clergy & sent to the other prelates of the kingdom the 17. of March, 1657.  
I Sincerely submit myself to the Constitution of Pope Innocent X. of the 31. of May 1653. according to the true sense therof which was determined by the Constitution of our Holy Father Pope ALEXANDER VII. on the 16 Octob. 1656. I acknowledge that I am obliged in conscience to obey thes Constitutions, & I condemn in hart & in word the doctrine of the 5. Propositions of Cornelius jansenius, contained in his Book called Augustinus, which thes two Popes and the Bishops have condemned: which doctrine is not S. Austins, whom jansenius has interpnted against the true sense of the Holy doctor.  
FINIS.