by their learned works, they were able to
defend their possessions, property, and rights,
more learnedly and successfully, in the courts,
against the bishops who coveted them, than
when they were destitute of this literature
and erudition. In the next place, the Jesu
its, whose merits and glory were greatly ob
scured by the splendid works undertaken and
accomplished by these Benedictines, endeav
our to the utmost of their power to run down
both them and their pursuits. See Rich. Si
mon s Lettres Choisies, torn, iv., p. 36, 45.
Others are led by superstition, to indulge ha
tred of them ; but it is perhaps a superstition
tinctured with envy. For these Benedict
ines have substituted the pursuit of learning,
in place of that of manual labour, which the
rule of St. Benedict prescribes for his monks.
The more robust are required to labour with
their hands during certain hours of the day ;
but the more feeble, or such as possess su
perior genius, are taxed with intellectual or
mental labour or the pursuit of sacred and
secular learning. This is censured by cer
tain austere persons, who are very fond of
the ancient monastic discipline, and who
think that literary pursuits are disreputable
for monks, because they divert the mind
from the contemplation of divine things.
As this sentiment was advanced witli exces
sive ardour, especially by Armand John
Bout.hillier de Ranee, abbot of La Trappe,
in his book des Devoirs Monastiques (on
the duties of Monks) ; the most learned of
the Benedictines, John Mabillon, was di
rected to defend the cause of his fraternity ;
which he did, in his well-known work de
Studiis Monasticis, which was first published,
Paris, 1691, 8vo, and often afterwards, and
translated also into the Latin and other lan
guages. Hence arose that noted controversy
in France, How far is it suitable for a monk
to cultivate literature : an elegant history of
which, has been given to the world by Vin
cent Thuillier, a very learned monk of the
congregation of St. Maur ; published am .ing
HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 313
aot be i iformed how much this institution has benefited the literary world,
Q f what a multitude of excellent and immortal works it has produced, il
lustrative of every branch of learning except philosophy.(90)
26. .But the best and most sacred of these changes were esteemed
trivial and imperfect, by those whose eye was fixed on the ancient disci-
pline and who wished to see the lives of monks strictly conformed to their
first rules. The number of these in the Romish church was not incon
siderable ; though they had little influence, and were odious to most per.
sons, on account of their severity. These taught, that a monk should spend
his whole life in prayers, tears, contemplation, sacred reading, and man
ual labour ; and that whatever else might occupy him, however useful and
excellent in itself, was inconsistent with his vocation, and therefore vain
and not acceptable to God. Besides others who had not the fortune to
become so celebrated, the Jansenists proposed this rigid reformation of the
monks; and they exhibited some examples of it in France,(91) the most
perfect and best known of which, was that which took place in the convent
of sacred virgins bearing the name of Port-Royal, and which has flourished
from the year 1618 down to the present time, [A.D. 1753]. (92) Several
emulated this example ; but the most successful and zealous of all these
was, in the year 1664, Armand John Boutliillier de Prance, abbot of La
Trappe, a man of noble birth ; who was so happy as to prevent the accusa
tion of extravagant superstition, which the Jansenists had incurred, from
being brought against his associates, notwithstanding they lived in the most
austere manner of the old Cistercians ; nay, carried their austerity beyond
the ancient discipline of the Cistercians. The fraternity established by
this noted man, still flourishes, under the name of the Reformed Bernard,
ines of La Trappe, and has been propagated among the Italians and the
Spaniards : though, if credit is to be given to the testimony of many, it has
gradually departed much from the very painful discipline of its founder. (93)
the Opera Posthuma Mabillonii et Ruinarti, (91) See Memoires de Port Royal torn,
torn, i., p. 365-425. ii., p. 601, 602. In particular, that most
(90) A list of the writings and works celebrated Jansenist, Martin de Barco - -. in-
with which the congregation of St. Maur troduced the austere discipline of anc.ent
have favoured the learned world, is given by monks into the monastery of St. Cyran, of
Philip le Cerf, Bibliotheque Historique et which he was abbot. See Gallia Christiana,
Critique des AUeurs de la Congregation torn, ii., p. 132. Molcon, Voyages Litur-
de S. Maur; Hague, 1726, 8vo, and by giques, p. 135, &c. But after his death, the
Bcrnh. Fez, Bibliotheca Benedictino-Mau- monks of St. Cyran, like those of other
riana ; Augsburg, 1716, 8vo. These monks places, relapsed into their old habits. See
are going on with great perseverance to Voyage de deux Benedictins, torn, i., pt. i.,
benefit both sacred and profane learning, by p. 18, &c.
their elaborate and excellent productions. (92) Hclyot, Histoire des ordres, torn, v.,
[A more complete catalouge of their works cap. xliv., p. 455.
is in the Histoire litteraire de la Congrega- (93) See MarsoRier, Vie de PAbbe de la
lion de S. Maur, ordre de St. Benoit, ou Trappe, Paris, 1702, 4to, and 1703, 2 vols.
Ton trouve la vie et les travaux des auteurs, 12mo. Meaupou, (a doctor of the Sor-
qu elle a produits depuis son origine en bonne), Vie de Mr. PAbbe de la Trappe,
1618, jusqu a present, avec les litres, enu- Paris, 1702, 2 vols. 8vo. Fclibien, Descrip-
mcration, Panalyse, des differentes editions tion de PAbbaye de la Trappe, Paris, 1671,
des livres, qu ils ont donnes au public, et le 12mo. Helyot, Histoire des Ordres, torn.
jugement, que les Savans en ont porte ; en- vi., cap. i., p. 1, &c. [The author of this
semble la notice de beaucoup d ouvrages reformation lived, as the greater part of the
manuscrits, composes par des Benedictins French abbes now do, in a thoughtless un-
au memo Corps ; Brussels and Paris, 1770, principled manner, and kept up an illicit in-
4lr Sckl.] tercourse with a French ladv, Madame d
VOL. III. R B
514 BOOK IV. CENT. XVII. SEC. II. PART I. CHAP. 1.
> 27. Of the new orders of monks which arose in this century, fcf
that fruitful mother, the church, has never ceased to bring forth such fra
ternities, we shall notice only those which have acquired some celebrity.
We mention, first, the French society of Fathers of the Oratory of the holy
Jesus, instituted in 1613, by John Berulle [Peter de BeruUe], a man of vari
ous talents, who served the commonwealth and religion, the court and the
church, with equal ability, and was at last a cardinal. This institution
was, in reality, intended to oppose the Jesuits. It has trained up, and it is
still training many persons eminent for piety, eloquence, and erudition.
But through the influence of the Jesuits, who were its enemies, it fell under
a suspicion of broaching new doctrines in certain of its publications. The
priests who enter this fraternity, do not divest themselves of private prop
erty ; but so long as they continue in the society, (and they are at liberty
to retire from it whenever they please), they relinquish all prospects of ad
mission to any sacred office which has attached to it fixed revenues or
rank and honour. Yet they are required faithfully to discharge all the
duties of priests, and to make it their greatest care and effort, to perfect
themselves and others more and more continually, in the art of profitably
discharging those duties. Their fraternities therefore, may not improper
ly be denominated schools for pastoral theology. In more recent times
however, they have in fact begun to teach the liberal arts and sacred sci
ence. (94) With these we join the Priests of the Missions, an order found-
Montbazon. Her sudden death by the small- would enter but melancholy people, who
pox, and the unexpected sight of her muti-
were wea
ry of the whole world, and con-
lated corpse, brought him to the resolution stantly in fear of losing heaven. They al
lowed of no scientific or literary pursuits,
and in their library had none but devotional
books. Their worship was continued day
absence of six weeks, returned from the and night ; and if a cloister contained so
country to visit her. He went directly to . many as twenty-four monks, they were di-
of becoming a Carthusian. The common
statement is this. The abbot had received
no notice of the lady s sickness, and after an
her chamber, by a secret stairway with
which he was acquainted, and there found
videc! into three classes, which interchanged
continually. All these monks lived very
her dead and her corpse mutilated. For the austerely ; and observed a rigorous silence,
leaden coffin, which had been made for her,
was too short, and it was found necessary to
cut off her head. The sight of her corpse in
the coffin, and her head on the table, so af-
conversing together only once a week, and
then not on worldly things. Their time was
divided between manual labour, the canoni
cal exercises, and private devotion. They
fected him, that he resolved to forsake the lived wholly on bread, herbs, and pulse.
world, and to embrace the severest monastic
order. Vigneul-Marville, (Melanges d Hist.
et de Litterature, Roterd., 1700, 8vo, tome
iii., p. 126). contradicts this statement. He
Schl.]
(94) See Halert de Ccrisy, Vie du Car
dinal Berulle, Fondateur de 1 Oratoire de
Jesus ; Paris, 1646, 4to. Jo. Montis Life,
says, thus much only was true : the abbot prefixed to his Antiquit. Orientales, p. 3, 4,
had been a particular friend of this lady; 5, 110. Rich. Simon s Lettres Choisies,
and once, on waiting on her, he learned tome ii., p. 60, and his Bibliotheque Crit-
from a gentleman in her antechamber, that ique, (which he published under the name of
she had the smallpox, and was then wishin
the attendance of a clergyman. The abbot
went to call one ; and on his return, found
her dying. He was much afiected on the
occasion ; but it was two or three vears
after this event, that he formed his rigorous
establishment. And probably the additions
and alterations of the story, were invented
for the sake of giving it a romantic aspect.
Be this as it may; the abbot changed his , , r & _...
Hfe. and establised an order into which none tury, by Philip Neri. (See above, p. 98 ]
Sainiore), tome iii., p. 303, 324, 330, &c.
On the character of Berulle, see Adr. Bail-
let s Vie de Richer, p. 220, 342. Michael
le Vassor, Histoire de Louis XIII., tome
iii., p. 397, &c. Hclyot, Histoire des ordres,
tome viii., cap. x., p. 53, &c. Gallia Chris
tiana Benedictinor., torn, vii., p. 976, &c.
[These Fathers of the Oratory must not be
confounded with the Italian order of the
same name, established in the preceding cen-
HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 315
ed by Vincent de Paul, who was canonized not long since. They were
constituted a regular and legitimate society in 1632, by Urban VIII. To
fulfil the designs of their founder, they must attend especially to three
things ; first, to improve and amend themselves daily, by prayers, medita
tion, reading and other things ; secondly, to perform sacred missions among
the people living in the country towns and villages, eight months in the
year, in order to imbue the peasantry with religious knowledge and quicken
their piety ; (from which service, they derive their name of Priests of the
Missions) ; and lastly, to superintend seminaries in which young men are
educated for the priesthood, and to train up candidates for the sacred of
fice. (95) Under the counsel and patronage of the Priests of the Missions,
are the Virgins of Love or the Daughters of Charily ; whose business it is,
to minister to the indigent in sickness. They originated from a noble lady,
Louisa le Gras ; and received the approbation of Clement IX. in 1660. (96)
The Brethren and Sisters of the pious and Christian schools, were institu
ted by Nicholas Barre, in 1678. They are usually called Piarists ; and
their principal object is, the education of poor children of both sexes. (97)
But it would be tedious to expatiate on this subject, and to enumerate all
the religious associations, which in the various parts of the Romish juris
diction were now set up with great expectations, and then suddenly neglect
ed and suffered to become extinct.
28. The society of Jesuits, by which as its soul the whole body of
the Romish community is governed, if it could have been oppressed "and
trodden to dust, by hosts of enemies, by numberless indignities, by the
most horrid criminations, and by various calamities ; must undoubtedly
have become extinct, or at least have been divested of all reputation and
confidence. The French, the Belgians, the Poles, the Italians, have at
tacked it with fury ; and have boldly charged it, both publicly and pri
vately, with every species of crimes and errors that the imagination can
conceive, as most pernicious to the souls of men and to the peace and
safety of civil governments. The Jansenists especially, and those who
adopt altogether or in part their views, have exposed its character in num
berless publications, strengthened not merely by satire and groundless dec
lamation, but by demonstrations, testimony, and documents, of the most
credible nature. (98) But this immense host of accusers and of most de
cided enemies, seems not so much to have weakened and depressed this
Both agree in this, that they devote them- torn, viii., cap. xi., p. 64. Gailia Christiana,
selves to learning; but the Italians pursue torn, vii., p. 998, &c.
especially church history ; while the French (96) Gobiilon, Vie de Madame de Gras,
pursue all branches of learning. The founder fondatrice des lilies de la charite ; Paris,
of this order, Berul e, was in so high favour 1676, 12mo.
with the queen of France, Anna of Austria, (97) Helyot, Hist, des Ordres, tome viii.,
that Cardinal Richelieu envied him : and his cap. xxx., p. 233.
death which occurred in 1629, was so sud- (98) Here is matter for a volume, or
den, that some conjectured, he died of poi- rather for many large volumes. For there
son. The Fathers of the Oratory are not is scarcely any part of the Catholic world,
monks, but secular clergymen ; nor do they which does not offer for our inspection,
chant any canonical hours. They are called some conflict of the Jesuits with the magis-
Fathers of the. Oratory, because they have trates, with other orders of monks, or with
no churches in which the sacraments are ad- the bishops and other religious teachers ;
ministered, but only chapels or oratories, in from which the Jesuits, though they might
which they read prayers and preach. Schl.] seem vanquished, ye t finally came off victo-
(95) M. Abcly, Vie de M. Vincent de rious. An attempt was made to bring to-
Paul; Paris, 1664, 4to. Helyot, loc. cit., gather all these facts, which lie scattered
316 BOOK IV. CENT. XVII. SEC. II. PART 1. CHAP. i.
very sagacious sect, as to have exalted it, and enriched it with possessions
and honours of every kind. For the Jesuits, without parrying the strokes
of their enemies by replies and noisy disputation, but by silence for the
most part, and patience, have held on their course amid all these storms,
and reaching their desired haven, have possessed themselves, with won
derful facility, of their supremacy in the Romish church. The very coun-
tries in which the Jesuits were once viewed as horrid monsters and public
pests, have, sometimes voluntarily, and sometimes involuntarily, surren
dered no small share of their interests and concerns to the discretion and
good faith of this most potent fraternity. (99)
29. Literature and the sciences, both the elegant and the solid branch.
es, acquired additional honour and glory in the better provinces of the Ro
mish church. Among the French, the Italians, the Spaniards, and the
Catholics of the Low Countries, there were men distinguished for their
genius and for their knowledge of various sciences and languages. But
we must not ascribe this prosperous state of learning, to the influence of
the public schools. For in them, both of the higher and lower orders, that
ancient, jejune, tedious, and barren mode of teaching, which obtunds, em
barrasses, and perplexes, rather than quickens and strengthens the mind,
and dispersed through numberless writers,
by a man of the Jansenist party, who a few
years ago undertook to write a history of the
order of Jesuits, if he should be permitted to
fulfil the promises in his Preface : Histoire
des Religieux de la Compagnie de Jesus,
tome i., Utrecht, 1741, 8vo. And no man
was more competent to finish the work com
menced by him, than he ; unless we are to
regard as fabulous, all that he tells us re
specting his travels and his sufferings for
many years, while exploring the plans, policy,
and operations of the Jesuits. But this hon
est man, imprudently venturing to go into
France, was discovered it is said, by his
enemies, and assassinated. Hence his work
was carried no farther than the third volume.
[Dr. Maclainc, in his note here, written at the
Hague, about the year 1764, says this man
was a Frenchman named Bcnard ; that he
was then living at the Hague ; that he had
not been massacred in France, but had re
turned in safety from his visit to that country ;
that he had never travelled in the manner he
pretended in his preface, to collect informa
tion, but had collected all his information
from books in his study, and had made up
the story of his travels to amuse his readers
and procure credit to his book ; and that no
good reason was offered, for his having vio
lated his promise to continue the work. J.
M. Schrocckh, (in his Kirchengesch. s. d.
Reformat., vol. ii., p. 645), tells us, on the
authority :>f a Dutch journal, that the man s
name w*s Peter Quesnci, with ti e surname
Mcnard ; that he had never traveled as he
pretended ; that he died at the Hague in the
year 1774 ; and that the report was, he was
persuaded, a little before his death, to burn
the manuscript of the residue of his work,
which was sufficient to fill 20 volumes. 7V. J
(99) Perhaps no people have attacked the
Jesuits with more animosity and energy, or
done them, more harm, than the French.
Those who wish to learn what was said and
done against them, by the parliament, by the
university of Paris, and by the people of
France, may consult Casar Egasse de Bou-
lay, Historia Academiae Parisiensis, torn,
vi., p. 559-648, 676, 738, 742, 744, 763,
774-890, 898, 909 ; who has scarcely omit
ted any thing relating to the subject. And
what was the issue of all these most ve
hement contests 1 The Jesuits, after being
ignominiously expelled from France, were
first honourably received again, under Henry
IV. in the year 1604, notwithstanding the
indignation of so many men of the greatest
reputation and of the highest rank, who
were opposed to them. See the Memoires
du Due de Sully ; the late edition of Ge
neva, vol. T., p. 83, &c., 314, &c. In
the next place, they were admitted to the
government both of the church and of the
state ; and this felicity they retain quite to
our times. [So it was, when Dr. Moshcim
wrote ; but now
Venit summa dies et ineluctabile tempus
Dardanise, &c.
And even in this France, where the Jesuits
were caressed by the great and feared by
bishops and archbishops, the conflagration
began, which consumed the whole fabric o
the Jesiits universal monarchy. Schl.l
HISTORY OP THE ROMISH CHURCH. 317
and which loads the memory with a multitude of technical words and
phrases, without meaning and without use, has maintained its place quite?
down to our times. But beyond the limits of these reputed seats of learn,
ing, certain great and excellent men guided others to a better and more
profitable method of prosecuting study. In this matter, the pre-eminence
is justly due to the French; who being prompted by native powers of
genius, and encouraged by the munificence of Lewis XIV. towards learn
ing and learned men, treated nearly all branches of literature and science
in the happiest manner ; and rejecting the barbarism of the schools, exhib
ited learning in a new and elegant dress, suited to captivate the mind. (100)
And how greatly the efforts of this very refined nation, tended to rescue
the other nations from scholastic bondage, no person of but a moderate
share of information, can well be ignorant.
30. No means whatever could remove from the chairs of philosophy
those misnamed Aristotelians, who were continually quoting Aristotle, while
they did not in reality understand him. Nor could the court of Rome,
which is afraid of every thing new, for a long time, persuade itself to allow
the new discoveries of the philosophers to be freely promulged and ex-
plained ; as is manifest from the sufferings of Galileo, a Tuscan mathe
matician, who was cast into prison for bringing forward the Copernican
system of astronomy. Some among the French, led on by Rene des
Cartes and Peter Gassendi,(10I) the former of whom by his doctrines,
and the latter in his writings confuted the Peripatetics, first ventured to
abandon the thorny fields of the Aristotelians, and to follow more liberal
principles of philosophizing. Among these, there were some Jesuits, but
a much larger number from among the Fathers of the Oratory and the dis
ciples of Jansenius, who distinguished themselves. Here will readily oc
cur to many minds, the names of Malebranche, Anthony Arnauld, Bernard
Lami, Peter Nicole, and Blaise Pascal ; who acquired lasting fame, by il
lustrating, perfecting, and adapting to common use the principles of Des
Cartes. (102) For Gassendi, who professed to understand but few things,
and who rather taught how to philosophize than proposed a system of phi
losophy, did not have many followers among a people eager for knowl
edge, sanguine, ardent, and impatient of protracted labour. Towards the
close of the century, some of the Italians as well as other nations, began
to imitate the French ; at first indeed timidly, but afterwards more confi
dently, as the pontiffs appeared to relax a little of that jealousy which they
had entertained against the new views of the naturalists, mathematicians,
and metaphysicians.
31. But it is proper to notice here more distinctly, who were the per
sons, entitled to the praise of having preserved and advanced both divine
(100) This will be found illustrated by (102) The reward which these men had
Voltaire, in the noted work already quoted for their labours, was, that they were charged
repeatedly: Siecle de Louis XIV., and in with atheism by the Peripatetics ; John Har~
his Additions to that work, [in the edition, duin, who was intoxicated with the Aristo-
Paris, 1820, vol. ii., cap. xxxi.-xxxiv. TV.] telico-Scholastic philosophy, being the ac-
(101) Gassendi s Exercitationes paradox* cuser : Athei Dejecti, in his Opera Posthu-
adversus Aristotelicos, is in his Opera, torn, ma, p. 1, &c., and p. 259. Nor is the cause
iii., p. 95, &c., and is an accurate and ele- of this odium very difficult to be discovered,
gant performance, which did great harm to For the Cartesian philosophy which avoids
the cause of the Peripatetics. See the re- all darkness and obscurity, is mucn less ef-
marks already made, [in section i., 31, of ficacious for defending the Romish cause
this century, p. 276. 2V.]
318 BOOK IV. CENT. XVII. SEC. II. PART I. CHAP. l.
and human learning in the Romish church. During a large part of the
century, the Jesuits were nearly the only teachers of all branches of learn
ing ; and they alone among the monks, were accounted learned men. And
the man must be either ignorant or uncandid, who can deny that many re
nowned and very learned men have highly adorned that society. Lasting
as literature itself, will be the merits of Denys Petau (Dionysius Petavi-
Mff),(103) James & mo?td,(104) Peter Possin,(W5) Philip Labbe,(W6) Nich
olas Abrams,(IQl) and even of John Harduin,(W&) though in many things
erratic and not of a sound mind ; as well as of many others. But as the
century advanced, this literary glory of the Jesuits was greatly obscured
by the Benedictines, especially by those belonging to the Congregation of
St. Maur. For while the Jesuits immoderately vaunted of their merits