stances that

2

CENT. xvur, native country. The issue of this famous contest

was favorable to the bull, which was at length
rendered valid by the authority of the parliament,
and was registered among the laws of the state.
This contributed, in some measure, to restore the
public tranquillity; but it was far from diminishing
the number of those who complained of the despotism
of the pontiff; and the kingdom of France is still
full of appellants b, who reject the authority of the
bull, and only wait for an opportunity of reviving a
controversy which is rather suspended than termi-
nated, and of re-kindling a flame that is covered

without being extinguished.
The circum-. XII. Amidst the calamities in which the Jan-
contributed senists have been involved, they have only two
to support methods left of maintaining their cause against their
Janseniso powerful adversaries; and these are their writings
in France. and their miracles. The former alone have proved

truly useful to them; the latter gave them only a
transitory reputation, which, being ill founded, con-
tributed in the issue to sink their credit. The
writings in which they have attacked both the pope
and the Jesuits are innumerable ; and many of them
are composed with such eloquence, spirit, and solidity,
that they have produced a remarkable effect. The
Jansenists, however, looking upon all human means
as insufficient to support their cause, turned their
views toward supernatural succours, and endeavoured
to make it appear, that their cause was the peculiar
object of the divine protection and approbation. For
this purpose they persuaded the multitude, that God
had endowed the bones and ashes of certain persons,
who had distinguished themselves by their zeal in
the cause of Jansenius, and had, at the point of
death, appealed a second time from the pope to a
general council, with the power of healing the most
inveterate diseases.

The person whose remains

oh This was the denomination assumed by those who appealed from the bull and the court of Rome to a general council

were principally honored with this efficacy, was the GENT. XVNT.
abbé Paris, a man of a respectable family, whose
natural character was dark and melancholy; whose
superstition was excessive beyond all credibility';
and who, by an austere abstinence from bodily
pourishment, and the exercise of other inhuman
branches of penitential discipline, was the voluntary
cause of his own death. To the miracles which
were said to be wrought at the tomb of this fanatic,
the Jansenists added a great variety of visions and
revelations, to which they audaciously attributed a
divine origin; for several members of the community,
and more especially those who resided at Paris, pre-
tended to be filled with the Holy Ghost; and, in
consequence of this prerogative, delivered instruc.
tions, predictions, and exhortations, which, though
frequently extravagant, and almost always insipid,
yet moved the passions, and attracted the admira-
tion, of the ignorant multitude. The prudence,
however, of the court of France, put a stop to these
fanatical tumults and false miracles; and, in the
situation in which things are at present, the Janses
nists have nothing left but their genius and their pens
to maintain their cause k.

XIII. We can say very little of the Greek and The state of
Eastern churches. The profound ignorance in

the Eastern church.

The eans Cheir ured aliar For God ons,

in

The imposture, that reigned in these pretended miracles, has been detected and exposed by various authors, but by none with more acuteness, perspicuity, and penetration, than by the ingenious Dr. Douglas, in his excellent treatise on miracles, entitled the Criterion, published in 1754.

& Things are greatly changed since the learned author wrote this paragraph. The storm of just resentment that has arises against the Jesuits, and has been attended with the extinction of their order in Portugal, France, and in all the Spanish dominions, has disarmed the most formidable adversáries of Jansenism, and must consequently be considered as an event highly favorable to the Jansenists*,

of

а ost

ns

In consequence of the French revolution, more important changes have taken place since the translator wrote the last note. EDIT.

pal

CENT. SVIII. which they live, and the despotic yoke under which

they groan, prevent their forming any plans to ex-
tend their limits, or making any attempts to change
their state. The Russians, who, in the reign of
Peter the Great, assumed a less savage and barbarous
aspect than they had before that memorable period,
have in this century given some grounds to hope
that they may one day be reckoned among the
civilised nations. There are, nevertheless, immense
multitudes of that rugged people, who are still at-
tached to the brutish superstition and discipline of
their ancestors; and there are many in whom the
barbarous spirit of persecution still so far prevails,
that, were it in their power, they would cut off the
Protestants, and all other sects that differ from
them, by fire and sword. This appears evident
from a variety of circumstances, and more especially
from the book which Stephen Javorski has com-
posed against heretics of all denominations.

The Greek Christians are said to be treated at
present by their haughty masters with more cle-
mency, and indulgence than in former times. The
Nestorians and Monophysites in Asia and Africa
persevere in their refusal to enter into the commu-
Dion of the Romish church, notwithstanding the
earnest intreaties and alluring offers that have been
made from time to time by the pope's legates, to
conquer their inflexible constancy. - The pontiffs
have frequently attempted to renew, by another
sacred expedition, their former connexions with
Abyssinia; but they have not yet been able to find
out a method of escaping the vigilance of that
court, which still persists in its abhorrence of popery.
Nor is it at all probable that the ambassy, which is
now preparing at Rome for the Abyssinian emperor,
will be attended with success! The Monophysites
propagate their doctrine in Asia with zeal and as-
siduity, and, not long ago, gained over to their

" See the Continuation.

ther

communion a part of the Nestorians who inhabit CENT. XVIII. the coasts of India.

XIV. The Lutheran church, which dates its The external foundation from the year 1517, and the confession State of the of Augsburg from 1530, celebrated in peace and church. prosperity the secular return of those memorable periods in the years 1717 and 1730. It received, some years ago, a considerable accession to the number of its members by the emigration of those protestants, who abandoned the territory of Saltzburg, and the town of Berchtolsgaden, in order to breathe a free air, and to enjoy unmolested the ex. ercise of their religion. One body of these emigrants settled in Prussia, another in Holland; and many of them transplanted themselves and their families to · America, and other distant regions. This circumstance contributed greatly to propagate the doctrine, and extend the reputation of the Lutheran church, which thus formed several congregations of no small note in Asia and America. The state of Lutheranism at home has not been so prosperous, since we learn both from public transactions, and also from the complaints of its professors and patrons, that, in several parts of Germany, this church has been injuriously oppressed, and unjustly deprived of some of its privileges and advantages, by the votaries of Rome.

XV. " It has been scarcely possible to introduce Its internal any change into the doctrine and discipline of that state. church, because the ancient confessions and rules that were drawn up to point out the tenets that were to be believed, and the rites and ceremonies that were to be performed, still remain in their full authority, and are considered as the sacred guardians of the Lutheran faith and worship. The method, however, of illustrating, enforcing, and defending the doctrines of Christianity, has undergone several changes. About the commencement of this century, an artless simplicity was generally observed by the Lutheran ministers, and all philosophical terms and

VOL. VI.

с

CENT. XVII. abstract reasonings were relinquished, as

as more adapted to obscure than to illustrate the truths of the Gospel. But, in process of time, a very different way of thinking began to take place; and several learned men entertained a notion that the doctrines of Christianity could not maintain their ground, if they were not supported by the aids of philosophy, and exhibited and proved in geometrical order.

The adepts in jurisprudence, who undertook, in the last century, the revision and correction of the ecclesiastical code that is in force among the Lutherans, carried on their undertaking with great assiduity and spirit; and our church-government would at this day bear another aspect, if the ruling powers had judged it expedient to listen to their counsels and representations. We see, indeed, evident proofs that the directions of these great men, relating to the external form of ecclesiastical government, discipline, and worship, are highly respected; and that their ideas, even of doctrine, have been more or less adopted by many. Hence it is not surprising, that warm disputes have arisen -between them and the rulers of the church concerning several points. The Lutheran doctors are apprehensive that, if the sentiments of some of these reformers should take place, religion would become entirely subservient to the purposes of civil.policy, and be converted into a mere state-machine; and this apprehension is not peculiar to the clergy, but is also entertained by some persons of piety and candor, even among the civilians.

XVI. The liberty of thinking, speaking, and writing, concerning religious matters, which began to prevail in the last century, was, in this, confirmed and augmented ; and it extended so far as to encourage both infidels and fanatics to pour forth among the multitude, without restraint, all the crudities of their enthusiasm and extravagance. Accordingly we have seen, and still see, numbers of fanatics and

Intestino enemies.