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they might come to an agreement on what they should declare to be the fundamental doctrine' of the churches, and adopt, on every other point of doctrine, a general system of christian toleration.

The correspondence, which is very interesting, may be seen in the last volume of the English translation of Dr. Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History. To facilitate the accomplishment of its object, Dr. Courayer published a treatise, which we have mentioned, on the validity of English ordinations.

Both Dr. Wake and Dr. Dupin were censured by the members of their respective communions, for the parts which they had taken in this business, Several rigid members of the English church, and even some foreign protestants, blamed Dr. Wake for what they termed his too great concessions. In France, the worst of motives were imputed to Dr. Dupin and his associates; they were accused of making unjustifiable sacrifices in order to form an union between the jansenists and the members of the English church. Even the regent took the alarm he ordered Dr. Dupin to discontinue the correspondence, and to leave all the papers respecting it with the minister. This was done; but the most important of them have been printed in the interesting and extensively circulated publication, which has been mentioned.

CHAP. LXXII.

BULL OF POPE BENEDICT THE FOURTEENTH, REGULATING THE ENGLISH MISSION.

1753.

THE period, which this compilation has reached; now calls our attention to this internal history of the catholics.

In a former page of these Memoirs we mentioned the differences, which, at the time of which we were then speaking, subsisted between the secular and regular clergy in England, on the expediency of the appointment of bishops, and the extent of the powers with which the prelates appointed had been invested: these differences were composed by a bull of pope Benedict the fourteenth*. No person was better qualified by learning, good sense, and pacific views, for effecting such a measure, than this amiable and respectable pontiff.

His holiness derogates by this from the bulls "Brittania" and "Plantata," which we noticed in a former page; those having, as he observes, been issued before the establishment of the four vicariats, and not being calculated for that arrangement. He decrees, that no missionaries, secular or regular, should, whatever might be their privileges, administer the sacraments, or exercise any 5 May 1753.

see that the secular

other parochial duty, without the licence of the vicars apostolic within whose districts they resided. He considerably enlarges the spiritual powers of the vicars apostolic and their rights to communicate or delegate them. On the other hand, he declares that the regular clergy are to be considered as residing within their monasteries, so far as respects their internal economy: if therefore they fail in duty or give scandal, their superior is to punish them. The vicar apostolic, if the scandal be of a public nature, may require the superior to proceed against the offender, and, if the superior neglect it, he is to be deprived of his office, and the bishop himself may act. This, he says, is conformable to the canon law, and to the council of Trent. The vicars are to clergy do not frequent taverns, or other haunts of idleness, and to proceed by suspension against those who frequent them. If a difference arise between a vicar apostolic and the superior of a religious order respecting the conduct of any of its members in the discharge of parochial duty, or in the administration of the sacraments, the sentence of the former is to be preferred to the opinion of the latter. When a superior wishes to remove a member of his order from the cure of souls, or the administration of the sacraments, he may do it, giving previous notice to the prelate;-and the prelate in ordinary may do the same. In such cases, it is not necessary that either should assign his reasons for the removal. "The vicars aposto"lic are particularly directed to punish in any

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manner, but always with severity, those of the clergy, who talk, without due honour, of the "national government. For the clergy should "know that they reside in England, not to spread

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reports, or to excite tumults, but for the good of religion." His holiness imposes the same obligation on the superiors of the regulars, in respect to the members of their orders.

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THE writer has attempted to give, in his "Historical Memoirs of the Church of France," a succinct view of the principal events in the history of jansenism. After it had disturbed that church for more than a century, the catholics of England had the mortification to hear, that his holiness had been informed that jansenism had found its way to them and to their principal foreign college. Never was a charge less grounded or more triumphantly refuted; but, for a time, it occasioned considerable agitation in the catholic body.-We shall present an account of it to our readers: but to give them , even a slight sketch of the nature of jansenism, it is necessary to take them back to a very distant period.

We feel that we are free: if we were not, conscience would not exist; for, if a man had not freedom of action, conscience could not intimate to him, either its approbation or its disapprobation of his actions.

But how are we free? How is free-will reconcileable either with the influence of motive on will; or with the order of the universe prescribed by the Deity; or with his prescience? For that, which his infinite mind has prescribed, or foresees, must be fixed. These questions soon engaged the attention of the Greek philosophers: some advocated the free-will of man; others denied it, and ascribed all his actions to fate or destiny, a being or an energy, which they were never able to describe or define. Among the jews, the sadducees embraced the former opinion, the pharisees, the latter. Among the mahometans a like division prevailed between the followers of Omar, and the followers of Ali. It is not a little remarkable, that, in all these instances, superior sanctity and severity were uniformly affected by the maintainers of fate; we should naturally look for them among the maintainers of free-will.

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Unfortunately, the christians engaged in these perplexing speculations :-their disputes chiefly turned on the effect, which motive, suggested by grace or the divine favour, has on human will. Does it necessitate? then, there is no free-will. Does it not necessitate? then there is a good, of which God is not author. This dispute was

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