Chapter II. On the Manner in which Appeals should be Made to the Holy See

r~ Since I have happened on the subject of appeals, perhaps I had better go into it a little further. In matters of this nature thou hast need of much pious vigilance, lest abuse should render unprofitable what has been established to meet a crying necessity. Nay, it seems to me that appeals may become the source of great and manifold mischief unless they are conducted with the utmost caution. Men appeal to the Sovereign Pontiff from every part of the world. That in itself is testimony to thy supreme and singular authority. But if thou art wise, thou shalt find thy consolation, not in thy primacy of dignity and power, but rather in its fruit. Christ said to His apostles, " Rejoice not in this, that spirits are subject to you " (Luke x. 20). Appeals, as I have said, come to thee from all sides ; and would to God they were made with

. as much fruit as necessity ! Would to God that whenever the oppressed cried to Rome for relief, the ops pressor should feel the power of avenging justice, and that what " sets the poor man on fire " should not make the proud man more arrogant (Ps. x. 2, juxta Heb.) ! Could anything be more fitting than that the invocation of thy name should bring deliverance to the oppressed and leave no escape to the crafty ? On the other hand, what could be more perverse, more repugnant to one's sense of right and justice, than that the evildoer should have cause to rejoice at the result of the appeal, whilst he who has suffered the wrong should have wearied himself in vain ? It would certainly be most cruel of thee not to feel compassion for a man who, in addition to the pain of the original wrong, has had to endure the labour of a long journey, to say nothing about the costs of the case ; but thou wouldst show thyself not less apathetic and cowardly, wert thou not moved to indignation against him who has been in part the cause and in part the occasion of so many misfortunes to his brother. Arouse thyself, thou man of God, whenever such things occur. Let thy compassion be stirred, and stirred too thy anger. The first is due to him who has suffered the wrong ; the second to him who has done it. Let the injured party be consoled by the repayment of his expenses, by the redress of his grievances, and by a speedy deliverance from legal chicanery. As for the other, deal with him * in such a manner that he may repent of having done what he was not afraid to do, and that he may have no reason to mock at the misery of his victim.

But I think that he who makes an unnecessary appeal should surfer the same punishment as the convicted oppressor. This is the form of justice prescribed to thee, both by the immutable law of divine equity and, unless I mistake, even by the ecclesiastical law of appeals, so that an unjust resort to these shall neither injure the appellees nor profit the appellants. For why should an innocent man be subjected to annoyance and obliged without any necessity to undertake a wearisome journey ? And what could be more just than that he who designed to injure his neighbour should rather injure himself? Therefore to appeal unnecessarily is a manifest injustice ; and to allow unnecessary appeals to go unpunished is to encourage their multiplication.

8a ON CONSIDERATION

Hence we must regard as unjust every appeal to which the appellant is not constrained by the impossibility of otherwise obtaining justice. The right of appeal is granted us, not to be used as a means of oppression, but as a means of deliverance from oppression. Appeals should only be made from the sentence of

V an inferior judge. They are unlawful whenever they anticipate this sentence, except in the case where such

, anticipation is rendered necessary by manifest injustice. He therefore who makes an appeal whilst suffering no wrong, betrays an intention either to oppress his neighbour or simply to gain time. As if, forsooth, appeals had been instituted rather to serve as a subterfuge for guilt, than as a refuge for innocence. How many have we known to make appeals under no other compulsion than the hope of being permitted to do, pending the verdict, that which can never be lawful ! Yea, we have even known some to succeed, by means of such a device, in obtaining immunity during their whole lives for practices which were manifestly wicked. How is this ? How has it come to pass that that institution which ought to be the greatest source of terror tcfV criminals, is thus made their shelter and defence ? How long wilt thou be indifferent, how long wilt thou bedeaf to the complaints of the whole world ? How long wilt thou slumber in inactivity ? How long wilt thou delay to apply thy consideration to this confusion, to this abuse of appeals ? For they are now made without justice or right,' without either order or the sanction of v usage. There is no observance of propriety with regard either to place, or time, or manner, or cause, or person. Everywhere people have recourse to them lightly, and in most cases unjustly. Is it not true that formerly the calumniators of the innocent dreaded nothing so much as appeals ? But now they can even use them to make themselves more terrible to the good. Thus has the antidote been converted into a poison. Surely this is no " change of the right hand of the Most High " (Ps. lxxvi. 11).

The wicked appeal against the righteous to prevent them from doing good ; and these, terrified by the thunders of Rome, abstain from speaking in their own justification. Thus, appeals are made against bishops, lest they should dissolve illicit marriages or forbid them to be contracted ; or lest they should presume to punish in any way or attempt to check rapine, robbery, sacrilege, and other such crimes ; or to take from them the power of excluding from or depriving of ecclesiastical offices and benefices men of notoriously evil life. What remedy hast thou for this plague ? Or how shalt thou prevent that which was instituted to serve as a remedy from becoming an instrument of death ? The Lord was zealous for His Father's house, which He found converted into a den of thieves (Matt. xxi. 13) ; and canst thou, the Lord's minister, behold with indifference the defence of the oppressed employed as the " instrument of iniquity " (Rom. vi. 13) ? Seest thou not how great eagerness there is everywhere manifested to assume the character of injured innocence and to have recourse to appeals, on the part of those whose real design is to injure their neighbour, whilst they pretend to seek the redress of their own wrongs ? What mystery of iniquity have we here ? It is more thy duty to ponder it than mine to discuss it. But perhaps thou wilt ask me why those who are unjustly appealed against do not come forward to establish their innocence and to confound their malicious accusers ? I will tell thee what answer they are wont to make to this. " We do not want," they bishops has now a free hand in avenging the injuries offered to God or the right to punish any transgression even within the limits of his own diocese. They lay the blame on thee and thy court. Thou and thy subordinates (such is their complaint) undo what they have justly done, and re-establish what they have justly dissolved. Every libertine and wrangler, whether cleric or layman, every monk expelled from his monastery, has recourse to thee, and returns in triumph, boasting of thy protection, whose avenging justice he ought rather to have experienced. Was not the sword of Phinees (Num. xxv. 8) lately unsheathed most justly and promptly to punish the incestuous union of Drago and Milis ? But only to spend its force and blunt its edge upon the shield of thy apostolic protection ! What laughter this incident excited and still excites amongst the enemies of the Church, and amongst those by the fear of whose wrath or the hope of whose favour we are led astray irom the right path ! But the friends of religion are confounded, the faithful insulted, the bishops despised ; and the contempt with which their righteous judgments are received has greatly weakened thine own authority." — (Translator.)

— ^ say, " to weary ourselves to no purpose. For the judges who preside in the papal court are accustomed * to favour appellants and to encourage appeals. Consequently, as we should certainly lose our case there, we prefer to yield at home and so save ourselves the expense and trouble of a useless journey." *

For myself,, I cannot say that my own opinion of the papal court is altogether different. For out of all / the numberless appellants who come for a hearing at the present time, canst thou point to a single one that has been obliged to repay the travelling expenses of his appellee ? Now surely it is a very extraordinary thing that before thy tribunal all appellants have been found to be in the right and all appellees in the wrong ! " Love justice," says the Wise Man, " you that are the judges of the earth" (Wisdom i. 1). Observe that it is not enough to conform to the rules of justice : thou * must also love it. They who practise justice are just ; but they who love justice are not only just, but are consumed with zeal for its interests. The lover of justice seeks after justice and pursues it (Ps. xxxiii. 15), and, moreover, wages relentless war against every kind of injustice. Have thou nothing to do with those who/ welcome appeals as a harvest. When an appeal comes to thy tribunal, be ashamed to adopt the sentiment expressed in the words of the pagan adage, " We have started two fat deer " — which, to put it mildly, is more remarkable for wit than for honesty. If thou hast a love for justice, thou wilt rather tolerate than welcome v appeals. But if thou alone art just, of what advantage

Juvenal, Sat. 8. — (Translator.)

' can the justice of a single person be to the Church of God, since the opinion of all the others who are differently minded is bound to prevail ? However, it will be more seasonable to enlarge upon this when we come to consider the things that are about thee.

But meanwhile do not fancy thou art only wasting time in thus considering how appeals may be brought back, if possible, to their legitimate use. And if thou askest, rather if thou valuest my opinion on this subject, I say that, as it is necessary that appeals should not fall into utter discredit, so is it equally necessary that they should not be made without cause. As to whether contempt for appeals or the abuse of them betrays the more pride and arrogance, is a question not easy to determine. However, as the wanton abuse of things seems to lead inevitably to the contempt of them, it may perhaps be said to merit the severer chastisement, as working the greater mischief. For surely it does work the greater mischief, since, although bad enough in itself, it is still worse in its consequences. Speaking generally, what is it but abuse that diminishes or destroys even the natural goodness of objects and institutions, frequently robbing things the most precious not alone of a part but of the whole of their value ? Is there anything, for example, more useful than the sacraments ? And nevertheless when abused by unworthy reception or unworthy administration they lose all their utility ; * yea, instead of profit they bring damnation, because of the irreverence with which they have been treated. I acknowledge, therefore, that the right of appeal is a great boon to) mankind in general ; I even consider it not less necessary for mortals than the sun which enlightens the world. For in truth it may be regarded as a sun of justice, v since by its means the works of darkness are exposed and reproved. Obviously, then, appeals have a claim to thy attention and protection, yet only such as necessity demands, not also those which cunning has recourse to. These latter are but so many abuses, designed rather to foster iniquity than to relieve distress. What wonder if such practices have fallen into contempt ? Many persons, indeed, unwilling to show disrespect even for appeals of this kind, have renounced their rights at home in order to avoid the labour and expense of a long and useless journey. But many others, refusing to forego their rightful claims, have been provoked to a criminal disregard, not only for unfair appeals, but also for the august personages by whom such appeals are encouraged and supported.

Let me now offer thee some examples of the abuse whereof I have been speaking. A young man and a young woman have been publicly espoused to each other. The day appointed for the marriage is. come. A great number of guests have been invited, and now all is in readiness. But lo ! one who covets his neighbour's affianced suddenly interrupts with an appeal, affirming that the maiden had been first espoused to himself, and is under an obligation to marry him. The fiance is bewildered ; there is general consternation ; the sacred minister dares not proceed further with the ceremony ; the expenses incurred in the preparation are gone for nothing ; every man descends to his own house to eat his own supper ; and the bride that was to be is excluded from the table and the society of her intended husband pending the arrival

/of a verdict from Rome ! This happened in Paris, the metropolis of France and the residence of her royalty. Take a second instance. In the same city of Paris another young couple were engaged to each other and had fixed upon the day for the nuptials. But in the meantime a groundless objection was made by certain

■- individuals, who pretended that it was not lawful for the parties to marry. The matter was referred to the ecclesiastical court of the diocese. But without awaiting *v the decision of this tribunal, without reason or necessity, solely with the intention of causing delay and disappointment, the plaintiffs appealed to Rome. The fiance, however, either because he was unwilling to lose the expenses incurred in his preparations, or because he would not submit to beany longer separated from his betrothed, whatever the reason, despised or disregarded the appeal, and had the marriage celebrated on the day appointed. What shall I say of the presumptuous attempt made by a young man recently in the church of Auxerre ? The former holy bishop * having died, the clergy assembled according to custom and were proceeding to elect a successor, when this youth interposed with an appeal, and forbade them to go on with the election until he had come back from Rome ! Yet he himself refused to submit to the authority of the court to which he had appealed. For. when he saw himself despised there as an unreasonable appellant, he gathered about him as many sympathisers as he could, and held an election of his own, three days after . the other election had taken place.

From these and innumerable other examples which could be cited, it ought to be evident that the abuse of appeals does not result from the contempt of them, but, contrariwise, the contempt is the effect of the abuse. Consider, then, how unreasonable is that zeal of thine wherewith thou dost tirelessly pursue the former, whilst shutting thine eyes to the latter. Wouldst thou | repress more thoroughly the contempt for appeals ? Kill the evil germ in its evil root. And the best way to accomplish this is by visiting the abuse of appeals with severe penalties. Put a stop to the abuse, and there shall be no longer any reason for contempt, and the want of an excuse will force men to abstain from it. Consequently, let there be none to abuse appeals and there shall be none to despise them, or at most only very few.

Thou hast acted wisely in refusing a hearing to a multitude of appeals, or rather in refusing to favour so many crafty subterfuges, and in referring the questions to the judgment of those who might be presumed to have more knowledge of each particular case, or who could more readily acquire it. For where the evidence is more certain and more easily obtained, there the process will be shorter and the verdict more just. How grateful to all is this mode of acting ! How many dost thou save thereby from labour and expense ! Nevertheless it behoves thee to be extremely careful as to the qualifications of the men to whom thou entrustest these decisions. J

I could add to what has been here said many further suggestions which I think would be of use to thee, go ON CONSIDERATION but mindful of my purpose, and content for the nonce with having stimulated thine own thought to studious reflection, I will now pass on to another point of my subject.