Chapter V. That it is the duty of the Sovereign Pontiff TO see that his own decrees AS well AS those OF his predecessors are observed throughout the universal church . io3

It remains for thee now to direct thy attention to' the general state of the whole Church, to see if the people are submissive to the clergy, with all due humility, the clergy to the bishops, and the bishops to God ; to see if good order and strict discipline are maintained in monasteries and other religious establishments ; to see if evil deeds and false doctrines are sternly repressed by ecclesiastical censures ; to see if the mystical vines are flourishing by reason of the virtues and good morals of the priests, and if the >/ flowers are yielding fruit in the obedience of a faithful people ; to see if thine own apostolical decrees and the constitutions of thy predecessors are observed with becoming solicitude ; to see finally lest there should be anything growing wild through neglect in the field of thy Lord, or anything surreptitiously removed therefrom. Doubt not that something needing correction can still be discovered. To say nothing of the many, yea innumerable, vines which everywhere lie prostrate and uncared for, I could show thee not a few, even of those which thine own right hand hath planted,

I already plucked up by the roots. At the late Council of Rheims * did nOt thine own mouth promulgate the subjoined canons ? But who now observes them ? Who has ever observed them ? If thou believest that they are obeyed, thou art labouring under a grave delusion. If thou dost not so believe, thou hast sinned v by making laws which no one was obliged to obey, or by conniving at the general disregard of thy authority. " We prescribe and ordain,' ' these are thy words, " that neither the bishops nor the inferior clergy shall offend the eyes of the faithful (whose models and examples they are bound to be) by any superfluity, or unbecoming variety of colour, or by any affectation of worldly style in their dress, or by their manner of wearing their hair ; but rather let them condemn by their conduct the faults of the people and manifest in their lives their love of innocence, as the dignity of their profession requires. If any of the clergy, after being admonished by their bishops, do not conform to these prescriptions within the space of forty days, let them be deprived of their benefices by the authority of the same bishops. But if the bishops neglect to impose this penalty, they are to abstain from all pontifical functions until they shall have done so, because the faults of inferiors are chiefly ascribable to the sloth and indifference of superiors. We judge it necessary to make this regulation also : that none but priests and deacons shall henceforth be appointed archdeacons or deans. With regard to archdeacons, deans, or provosts already appointed without the orders of priesthood or diaconate, if they refuse out of pride and disobedience to have themselves ordained, let them be deposed from their dignity. But we forbid the aforesaid dignities to be conferred on young men, or on clerics not yet in sacred orders, or on others except such as are eminent for their prudence and holiness of life."

These are thine own words : thou hast given them the sanction of thy authority. But what has been the * practical result of them ? Ecclesiastical dignities are still being conferred on young men and on clerics not in sacred orders. As for the first of thy canons, luxury / in dress has been interdicted indeed, yet not restricted ; a penalty for violation has been prescribed, but never imposed. It is now four years since the promulgation * of these ordinances, and during that period not once have we been excited to sorrow by the spectacle of a cleric deprived of his benefice, or of a bishop suspended from episcopal functions. But the only real consequence of this legislation is something worthy to bewept with bitterest tears. Dost thou ask me what f that is ? It is impunity, the daughter of indifference, the mother of arrogance, the root of impudence, the nurse of transgression. Blessed art thou if with all assiduity thou endeavourest to guard against this indifference, which is the first parent of all our evils. But I think I have said enough to make thee solicitous on this point. And now lift up thine eyes and see if to-day no less than formerly the clerical state is not dishonoured by the use of particoloured garments, and by the affectation of a fashion which outrages modesty. Those that transgress in this manner are accustomed to say when reproved " Hath God care of garments and not rather of morals ? " But this fashion of dress indicates a depravity of mind and a corruption of morals. Wherefore should clerics desire to be one thing and to appear another, offending thereby against both modesty and truth ? Judged by their dress they appear to be soldiers, but in the way they get their living they are more like churchmen, whilst their manner of life proclaims them to be neither the one nor the other. For they neither fight like soldiers, nor preach the Gospel like churchmen. Then of what profession shall we say they are members ? Desiring to belong at the same time to the military and to the clerical, they put themselves outside both and confound both. " Every one (shall rise) in his own order," says the

Apostle (1 Cor. xv. 23). But in what order shall these rise ? Or perhaps we may suppose that as they have sinned without order they shall perish without order (Rom. ii. 12) ? But if, as we cannot doubt, the infinitely wise God has assigned its proper place and rank to every one of His creatures, from the highest tor the lowest, I greatly fear lest no other place shall be found for these except that where " no order but 1 everlasting horror dwelleth " (Job x. 22). Oh, what a misfortune for the Spouse of Christ to have been entrusted to the care of such paranymphs, who are not ashamed to keep for their own use and profit what was intended for her adornment ! Surely they are no friends but rather the rivals of the heavenly Bridegroom.

I have now said enough concerning the things under thee, if not with respect to the matter which in truth is inexhaustible, at least for the object which I have had in view. The things which are about thee come next for discussion, and to this task I purpose to address myself in the following book.