him by that operation, and not to kill him. Since then the Partizans, even of the court of Rome, do allow, that there are cafes which do not oblige to the observance of ecclefiaftical immunity, I will venture to affirm, that befides thofe twelve cafes, a fecular prince may fet himself above the laws in numberlefs other cafes, of equal importance, not provided for by the law; for there are more cafes than laws; and let a legiflator be never fo exact, 'tis impoffible but that an infinite number of other accidents will efcape his exactness; for all these different cafes are so numerous, that a man may as well number the grains of fand on the fea-fhore, as pretend to reckon them. Therefore, if a prince, in a cafe that is altogether new, but important, fhall neglect the obfervation of this immunity, he is not liable to excommunication, tho' another person should think the case to be of no importance; for, provided a man's intention be good, 'tis not abfolutely neceffary for his opinion to be right, and a prince's good intention will excufe him from any crime, and by confequence from the punishment of excommunication, which can never be fulminated against him for violating a confecrated place, in taking out a criminal, in order to punifh him for a crime which he accounts heinous; for no body knows the principle of a man's own actions better than himself, and it may easily happen that a stranger may think

light

light of a crime, which the perfons concern'd, and prefent, may reckon very confiderable. But note, that in this cafe the prince alone, and not the ordinary magiftrate, is the proper judge of the nature of the crime, and the importance of the case, unless, after better con fideration, he thinks fit, in respect to the Church, to act otherwife, even when he finds it neceffary to lay that refpect aside. But enough of this fubject.

CHAP. VII.

What ecclefiaftical freedom is? whether it includes only the concerns of the Church, or all ecclefiaftical perfons ?

THE great respect we owe to our parents, is the rule of that, which all Chriftians ought to bear to the Church. This precept of the decalogue enjoyning filial duty, has been religiously obferv'd even by the idolaters, who, tho' they never faw the glorious beams of divine reason, have learnt from nature itself how much they are oblig'd to obey and honour their parents; and no body can give a greater indi cation of a brutifh nature, than to know this to be a duty, and at the fame time forget to

pay

pay it. Now, I fay, that the obligation of respect to the Church, may be deduc'd as a minori ad majus, from our duty of obedience to parents; for, if we confider what the Church is, we must acknowledge her to be a very affectionate mother, who nurses us, brings us up, and gives us nourishment suitable to our weakness, and our natural ignorance of the divine mysteries. 'Tis by her affiftance that the mind of man is fortify'd in the knowledge of God, and of the duty of believers, in the use of the facraments, and in the obtaining of grace and glory. From thefe great benefits may be judg'd the importance of fuch a requital, efpecially when compar'd with the merit of human actions; in regard to which, 'tis a treasure of inexhaustible riches, therefore the obligation of respect to the Church ought, with great reafon, to be plac'd at the head of the duties of believers. Whoever afpires to the glorious name of a true chriftian, whether he be a fubject, or a fovereign, ought to prac tife this duty, which is fo light a burden, that no dignity whatsoever can exempt a man from bearing it. The traces of this refpect may be. found in the grofs darkness of barbarous nations, which are obferv'd to pay the greateft reverence to perfons and things facred; the two fpecies that constitute a Church. These few reflections may feem fufficient to decide the prefent question; for if it be allow'd that the Church confifts of places and perfons, it apparently

apparently follows, that whoever violates either the one or the other, is guilty of injuring ecclefiaftical freedom; which includes things, as well as perfons, that are deem'd ecclefiaftical. The knowledge which results only from fuch general topics, is that which is most pleafing to the court of Rome, who would confine our understanding to the fingle operation of conception, without permitting it to. examine and diftinguish between the different forts of obligations, and the various ways of discharging them. Nevertheless, we fhall continue as we began, by recurring to the diftinction, by which, as by the pole star, we fhall fteer our course, not doubting but it will fafely guide us to the port of true knowledge.

To prevent all manner of difpute, I lay it down for a principle, that whoever violates ecclefiaftical liberty, whether in things or perfons, belonging to the Church, deserves excommunication; for by fuch behaviour he acts. in contradiction to the character of a chriftian,! which obliges him to respect both the one and the other. I add, moreover, that this propofition takes in both the condition of a fubject, and the high dignity of a prince; for the fupremacy of the latter does not at all excuse, but rather adds to his obligation to protect the Church, in proportion to the abundant advantages with which God has been pleas'd to furnish him. Let these few words ferve for the text, and we will now proceed to the commentary. First,

Firft, let us inquire wherein the concerns of the Church confift. If I advance that the Church had its birth at the death of our Saviour, I believe no body will dare to contradict me. It arofe like the bright moon at the fetting of the fun of grace, to chafe away the darkness of our minds; but the foul of man is not able to contemplate its fplendor, nor his weak eyes to behold its dazzling rays, which light us in our flippery paflage thro' this world, left, by taking a falfe ftep, we flide into the bottomlefs pit of hell. The Church being born at that seasonable crifis, became the tender nurse of believers, and was fupply'd by Christ, from that very moment, with the milk of the facraments, whofe virtues flow'd from our Redeemer's wounds. Then it was the Church had its beginning; and in order to promote the converfion of Jews and Gentiles with fuccefs, by mollifying the hard hearts of the former, and difpelling the darkness of the latter, Chrift gave the Church apoftles for her coadjutors, who were difpers'd over all parts of the world, to fow the feed of the word of God, which was follow'd with a wonderful harveft, for the field was water'd with the blood of the divine husbandman.

Such were then the concerns of the Church, being, as it were, the firft bloffom of this tender plant, which yielded fuch a fragrant fmell, as was fufficient to revive the fouls of thole who were at the very gates of death. Now, I fay, the concerns of the Church, as they