fendisset denuò, visum fuit Sygismundo, hæc non toleranda in eo, qui fregerat fidem, et .quis sana mentis impunè ferendum hominem dicat, qui inter alia effutiret has contra Deum, et homines blasphemas insanias: 1. Deus debet obedire diabolo. 2. Nullus est dominus civilis, nullus est prælatus, nullus est episcopus, dum est in peccato mortali. 3. Populares possunt ad suum arbitrium dominos delinquentes corrigere. 4a. Juramenta, quæ fiunt ad roborandum humanos contractus, et commercia civilia illicita sunt. Hujusmodi sunt canones, quibus conati sunt, invidiam, et odium conflare contra catholicos.

Catholicus sermo, quod ab apostolo Jacobo docemur iis verbis concluditur; est, est, non, non. Hoc edocta catholica ecclesia nunquam non damnavit mendacium. Jurare autem, aut promittere quidquam absque implendi animo mendacium est, immò et ipsum non adimplere. Non adeò delira catholica ecclesia ut lata lege, decretoque firma fide credendo, à catholico orbe exulare jusserit præclaras illas virtutes, sine quibus, neque hominis felicitas, neque societates civiles, hominumque commercia possent consistere, veritatem, fidelitatem, justitiam. Quis unquam docuit catholicorum, licitum esse mentiri, fallere, aut jus suum non reddere alteri? E contrario docet, omnibus prorsùs hominibus nullo quidem excepto, cujuscumque sit religionis, iminò etsi nullius, servandam fidem in quacumque promissione ex se valida, et licita, sivè in pace, sivè in bello, sivè in negotio religionis, sivè in matrimonio, sive in salvo conductu, sivè in commercio civili, cum amicis, cum hostibus.

Quæ cum ita sint exisque quæ priùs sunt dicta ad 1. et 2. questionem confirmari possint, atque mutuò id tantum addendum, ut quæ sit doctrina catholica, quæ claritas ejus, universè pateat, videlicèt nullum preceptum naturale, aut gentium, aut humanum quod in ratione naturali fundatur, à Christo fuisse immutatum, aut infirmatum, sed potiùs ea omnia ad perfectionem evecta, quatenus illa, et suo exemplo, et sua doctrina firmavit, aliaque addiderit morum præcepta, et consilia, ut ordo naturæ servaretur in rebus, suâque gratiâ homines adjuvet, ut adimpleantur. Hanc magnam philosophiam de cœlo adtulit mundo, ut homines omnibus aliis commodos, atque utiles redderet, ac Deo servirent.

Hæc hujus studii generalis sententia communi consensu in pleno doctorum conventu matura deliberatâ. Die decima septima mensis Martii, anno Domini, millessimo septingentessimo octuagessimo nono.

501.

agreeing to the condemnation of Wicklef and John Hus; that he could find no errors in their doctrine, that Wicklef was an evangelical preacher; and when at length he obstinately maintained these assertions before the fathers of the council, Sigismund judged that such behaviour was not to be tolerated in one who had broken his faith; and surely, what man in his senses would assert, that any one ought to be suffered with impunity to utter against God and man absurdities and blasphemies like the following: 1st, God ought to obey the devil. 2d, No man is a civil ruler, no man is a prelate, no man is a bishop, while he is in the state of mortal sin. 3d, The multitude have a right to punish at their pleasure the crimes of their rulers. 4th, Oaths which are taken to confirm contracts, or civil negotiations, are unlawful. So much for those canons by which they have endeavoured to spirit up envy and odium against catholics.

Catholics have been taught by St. James, the apostle, that their speech must be yea, yea; no, no; guided by this wisdom, the catholic church has ever reprobated falsehood. But to swear or to promise any thing without actually performing it, is a falsehood. The catholic church is not so devoid of judgment as to have enacted a law, or promulgated a decree, which would banish from the catholic world excellent virtues, truth, fidelity and justice, without which, there could be no happiness for individuals, no civil societies, nor intercourse among men. What catholic ever taught that it was lawful to lie, to deceive, or to violate any natural right? Our religion, on the contrary, teaches that faith must be kept with all men, whatever be their religion, or though they be of no religion without a single exception, in every promise, which of its own nature is lawful and valid, whether in peace or in war, in the concerns of religion, in matrimony, in safe conducts, in civil commerce with friends, with enemies.

These being our sentiments, as may be evinced likewise by what has been said relative to the first and second questions, that the doctrine of the catholic church may be clearly and distinctly understood by all the world; we shall only add, that no obligation arising from the laws of nature, of nations, or of men, which is founded in natural reason, has been altered or weakened by our Redeemer; but that every such obligation has been rather heightened and exalted to greater perfection, has been strengthened by his doctrine and example, and by the addition of other moral precepts and councils that the order of nature might be preserved in all human things, and that his grace might assist men to discharge their natural duties. This is the excellent philosophy which he brought from heaven, and introduced into the world, that he might form men to be useful and beneficial one to another, and obedient. to the commands of the Divine Being.

These are the unanimous decisions of this University, after a mature deliberation, in a full assembly of the doctors, the 17th day of March, in the year of our Lord 1789.

Ad Primam R.

Nullum in Romano Pontifice, in S. R. E. cardinalibus, in quovis cœtu, etiam in concilio generali legitimè congregato, potiori ratione nec in quolibet individuo, ideo quia de ecclesia catholica sit, auctoritatem civilem, potestatem, jurisdictionem, præ-eminentiam civiles, directè, neque indirectè, in regno Angliæ agnoscit Vallisoletana academia, neque in aliis regnis, vel provinciis, sive catholicis, sive non catholicis in temporalibus illis non subditis, ratione potestatis spiritualis sive universali ecclesiæ, sive suo capiti, sive suis membris, quacumque dignitate fulgentibus, à Christo Domino collatæ.

A Decision concerning the three underwritten Propositions, laid before the University of Valladolid, in the Kingdom of Spain, by the English Catholics.

Question the First.

HAS the Roman Pontiff, or the cardinals of the holy Roman church, or any council, or any individual of the catholic church, by virtue of their communion with that church, any civil authority, civil power, jurisdiction or pre-eminence, in the kingdom of Great Britain?

Question the Second.

Can the Roman Pontiff, the cardinals of the holy Roman church, or any council, or individual of the catholic church, absolve the subjects of His Britannic Majesty from their oath of allegiance, or dispense with its obligations?

Question the Third.

Among the articles of the catholic faith, is there any which teaches, that catholics are not bound to keep faith with heretics, or any other persons who dissent from them in matters of religion?

Answer to the First Question.

The University of Valladolid, in the Roman Pontiff, in the cardinals of the holy Roman church, in any council, even a general assembly legally assembled, much less in any individual, acknowledges no civil authority, civil power, jurisdiction or pre-eminence, by virtue of their communion with that church, neither directly nor indirectly, in the kingdom of Great Britain, nor in other kingdoms or provinces, whether catholic or not, over which they possess no temporal dominion in consequence of any spiritual power granted by Christ our Lord, either to the universal church, or to its head, or its members, however exalted in dignity and rank.

This is the unanimous determination of the University of Valladolid, respecting the first and second propositions, a determination founded on a variety of arguments drawn from the sacred writings and antient monuments; and not only the University of Valladolid, but all the Universities in the Spanish dominions, are even commanded by royal authority to maintain this doctrine; for the professors of the Spanish Universities, in order to qualify themselves for any acade mical degree, or for obtaining any professor's chair,

In Causa Catholicorum Angliæ Deliberatio, quam Carolo Quarto Hispaniarum Regi Potentissimo Consulenti, offert mittit Academia Salmanticensis.

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chair, are obliged to take the following oath before the supreme council of the state: "I. N. call God to witness, and swear by "the cross, which I now touch, that I will never directly or indirectly promote, defend, "or teach any opinions contrary to civil "authority and the king's regalia." Moreover, neither can the rector, the chancellor (who is a bishop of this city and diocese,) the deputies nor counsellors, be on any pretext admitted to perform their respective offices, till they have taken a solemn oath, binding them to the observance of the aforesaid academical law.

CONSULTATIO.

CATHOLICI Angli ea jura ac munia

adquirere et exercere cupientes, quæ civi cuilibet erga rempublicam veluti innata conveniunt, et quibus æternum erunt privati nisi palum profiteantur, nullo unquam religionis quæsito colore, nullo prætextu, dispensatione nulla, à civili firmitaque Magnæ Britanniæ regum jurisdictione ac potestate se velle subducere; academiam Salmanticensem, potentissimi Hispaniarum regis nostri Caroli Quarti favore ac patrocinio, conveniunt, ut de quæstionibus mox proponendis judicium sententiamve nostrum exquirant. Coacto ergo cœtu doctorum et magistrorum omnium, ut moris est dum de re gravi deliberandum, dubiisque aliquantulum perpensis atque discussis, sex socii ex theologorum ac jurisconsultorum collegio designati sunt ad respondendum; qui, animo à prejudiciis vacuo quantum fert hominum natura et conditio, unicuique singillatim privatum præbuere responsum, quod reliquorum deinde calculo adprobatum fuit ac confirmatum in altero solemniori conventu.

Answer to the Third Question.

Among the articles of the catholic faith, there is none which teaches, that catholics may lawfully break their faith with heretics, or any other persons whatever, who dissent from them in matters of religion; the obligation of keeping faith is grounded on the natural law which binds all men equally, without regard to their religious opinions; and with respect to catholics, it has still greater force, being confirmed by the precepts of the catholic religion.

This is the decision of the University of Valladolid, signed by all and each of the professors, on the 17th day of February, in the year of our Lord 1789.

Quæstio

A Determination relating to the Concerns of the English Catholics, which being consulted by his Majesty, the University of Salamanca offers and presents to the most puissant Charles the Fourth, King of Spain.

CONSULTATION.

THE catholics of England being desirous

to enjoy the privileges, and to be admitted to discharge those offices in the state, to which every member of a commonwealth possesses a kind of inherent right, and from which they will ever be excluded, unless they make a public declaration, that they will never be induced to withdraw themselves from their allegiance to the civil and established power and jurisdiction of the Kings of Great Britain, by motives coloured over by a pretended regard for the interests of religion, by any pretext, or any dispensation; convene the university of Salamanca, by the favour and under the patronage of his most puissant majesty, our sovereign lord Charles the Fourth, king of Spain, that they may learn our sentiments, and obtain our decision with respect to certain questions which they are to propose to us. Therefore all the doctors and professors being in council assembled, as is customary for the discussion of any important matters, and the questions having been for some time weighed and considered, six members of the University, chosen out of the faculties of divinity and canon law, were appointed to draw up the answers: and they with minds wholly divested of prejudice, as far as is compatible with the

siæ animarumque incumbunt saluti, ne se immisciant terrenis negotiis; nullatenusque discipuli sibi licitum esse, commissumque iri existiment, quod et verbis contradixit magister, et semper exequi recusavit: non est enim discipulus supra magistrum nec servus major domino suo. Quæ quidem exempla atque mandata eandem omnino vim habere, in ipso ecclesiæ exordio subsequentium persecutionum tempore, et post pacem denique ccclesiæ restitutam viresque maximas atque divitias addauctas, certissimum est atque inconcussum; nisi degeneres esse velimus à veris illis Christi sectatoribus primorum ecclesiæ sæculorum, qui fidem prorsus incredibilem servarunt Neroni, Trajano, Diocleciano, aliisque ferocissimis imperatoribus christianam rempublicam insatiabili crudelitate vexantibus. Sane, a seculo jam ecclesiæ secundo, si Tertulliano in Apologetico fides, "christiani omnia Romanorum impleverant, “urbes, castella, insulas, castra ipsa, palatiam, "senatum, forum, solaque idolorum templa

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ipsis reliquerant:" et tamen nullibi legitur eos, ob religionis negotium, imperatorum jugum, quicumque illi fuerint excutere tentasse. Et quamvis hæc falsa essent (quod nemo sanæ mentis fatebitur) dicendum non est Christum mansuetudinem patientiam ac tolerantium nobis præcepisse, dum imbecilles ac invalidi essemus; dum vero viribus potentes, non jam ampliùs tolerare, sed acriter resistere potestatibus, regesque ipsos quamtumvis à Domino constituti sint, quamvis subjectionem eis atque obedientiam nedum propter iram sed etiam propter conscientiam debeamus, e throno deturbare, et vel carceri mancipare, vel saltem ad privati civis conditionem adducere. Horrendum namque esset asserere apostolos et Christum ipsum, dum insignia illa patientiæ atquæ obedientiæ cum præcepta tum exempla dederunt, temporis tantum necessitati rerumque circunstantiis servisse; non firmum constansque mandatum per sæculorum decursus perpetuo duraturum afferre. Cumque de Angliæ regibus, sive catholicos odio prosequantur, sive non prosequantur, eadem omnino ratio sit ac de reliquis sub cœlo supremis principibus; firmiter existimamus nulJam authoritatem, nullam potestatem, nullam jurisdictionem, aut præ-eminentiam civilem competere in Angliæ regno, Romano-pontifici, aut S. R. E. cardinalibus, aut cuivis cœtui, aut individuo ecclesiæ catholicæ, quia de ecclesia catholica sit.

501.

tliese are its lovely features, which, if men were but to view them with unprejudiced minds, could not fail to make it the object of their adoration and fondest affection; certainly, he who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and save that which was lost; he who neither dispossessed Octavianus nor Tiberius of their empire, nor Herod of the sovereignty of Judea, nor Pilate of the Pretorium, wished earnestly to impress on the minds of all who desire to walk in his footsteps, and to whom is committed the government of the church and the care of souls, this admonition, that they should by o means interfere with the concerns of the earth, and that his disciples shonld not think it justifiable in them, or that it would be allowed in them to exercise an authority which their master formally disclaimed, and always refused to exercise; for the disciple is not above his master, nor the servant greater than his lord. It is, moreover, most certain and indisputable, that these examples and precepts apply with equal force to the infant days of the christian church, to the subsequent ages of persecutions, and to the period after peace was restored to it, and it arrived to the attainment of great strength and riches; unless it be admitted, that we are to degenerate from the sentiments of those true followers of Christ in the first ages, who, with incredible fidelity, continued to hold allegiance to Nero, Trajan, Dioclesian, and other most inhuman emperors, who harassed the christian republic with insatiable cruelty. As early as the second century, if credit can be given to Tertullian, in his Apology, the christians abounded in every quarter of the Roman empire; they filled the cities, the fortresses, the islands, the very camps, the palace, the senate, the forum, and had left to the Pagans the exclusive possession of only their idolatrous temples: and nevertheless, we no where find, that in the cause of religion they ever endeavoured to throw off the yoke of allegiance to any emperors. These are facts which no rational man can call in question. But if they were even fictions, it surely cannot be said, that Christ bad enjoined us meekness, patience, and forbearance, as only suitable to a state of imbecility and impotence, but had commanded us on the increase of our strength, no longer to practise submission, but fiercely to resist the civil powers, and to dethrone or imprison, or reduce to the condition of private citizens, those very princes who are constituted by the Lord, and to whom we are bound to be subject and obedient, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. It were impious to assert, that the apostles and Christ himself, in giving us such forcible precepts and striking examples of obedience and patience, only yielded to the exigencies and circumstances of the times, but did not establish a fixed and permanent law, which, in all the course and fluctuation of future ages, should never be annulled. Therefore, since the rights of the kings of England, whether they persecute or tolerate catholics, are founded on the same principles with those of all other Sovereign princes under heaven, we are firmly of opinion, that neither the Roman Pontiff, nor the cardinals of the holy Roman church, 6 U

nor