gustiis constitutam) & istius regis gravissima peccata punire, eumque tam infausta & infami morte e medio tollere statuit. Atque nos, dolentes sane, aliquoties prædiximus fore, ut quemadmodum erat familiæ suæ ultimus, ita aliquem insuetum & dedecorosum vitæ exitum esset habiturus. Quod me dixisse non solum Cardinales Joiosa, Lenocortius, & Parisiensis, sed etiam, qui tunc apud nos residebat orator testes esse possunt.

6 Neque enim hic mortuos, sed viventes, in testimonium hujusmodi verborum nostrorum adhibemus, quorum isti omnes probe meminisse possunt. Quidquid tamen in hunc infœlicem regem hoc tempore dicere cogimur, nullo modo volumus, ut pertineat ad nobilissimum illud Galliæ regnum, quod nos imposterum, ficut hactenus, semper omni paterno amore ac honore prosequemur. De persona ergo regis tantum ista cum dolore diximus, cujus infaustus finis eximit quoque ipsum ab iis officiis, quæ solet hæc sancta sedes (quæ est pia mater omnium fidelium, & maxime Christianorum principium) imperatoribus & regibus post mortem exhibere: quæ pro isto libenter quoque fecissemus, nisi id fieri in hoc casu sacræ scripturæ vetarent.

'Est, inquit S. Ioannes, peccatum ad mortem, non pro illo dico ut roget quis: quod vel intelligi potest de peccato, ipso, ac si diceret, pro illo peccato, vel pro

city of Paris, which, as we have heard, was in great danger and extremity; and to punish the notorious sins of that king, and to deprive him of his life by such an unhappy and infamous kind of death; and we truly, not without great inward grief, have oftentimes foretold, that, as he was the last of his name and family, so was he like to have, and make, some strange and shameful end of his life. And, that I have, several times, said this thing, not only the Cardinals Joiosa, Lenocortius, and Parisiensis, but also the ambassador, at that time here resident, can sufficiently testify.

For we mean not to call the dead to attest our words, but the living; some whereof at this very present do yet well remember them. But, whatsoever we have been forced to speak against this unfortunate king, we would, by no means, have it thought to be intended against the noble realn of France; which we shall embrace and foster hereafter, as we have hitherto always done, with all fatherly love, honour, and affectin. This, therefore, which we with grief have spoken, concerns he king's person only, whose unhappy and unlucky end deprives him aso of those honourable offices and respects, whcih his holy seat (be tender mother of all faithfil, but especially of Christian princs) is wont to pay to emperors and kings; which we most willingly would likewise have bestowed on him, if the holy scriptures, n this case, had not altogether fo bidden it.

'There is,' saith St. John, a sn unto death; I say not that any should pray for it; which may be understood either of the sin itsel, as if he should say, for that sil,

remissione illius peccati nolo ut quisquam roget, quoniam non est remissibile: vel, quod in eundem sensum redit, pro illo homine, qui peccat peccatum ad mortem, non dico ut roget quis. De quo genere etiam Salvator apud Matthæum, quod ille, Qui peccat in Spiritum Sanctum, non remittetur, neque in hoc sæculo, neque in futuro.' Ubi facit tria genera peccatorum, nimirum in Patrem, in Filium, & in Spiritum Sanctum; atque priora duo esse minus gravia, & remissibilia, tertium vero irremissibile; quæ tota differentia, sicut ex scripturis scholæ tradunt, oritur ex distinctione attributorum, quæ singula singulis personis sanctissimæ Trinitatis approprian

or for the remission of that sin, I will that none should pray, be cause it is not pardonable: Or else, which comes to the same sense, for that man who committeth such a sin unto death, I say not that any should pray for; of which sin, our Saviour himself has spoken in St. Matthew, saying, 'That he, that sinneth against the Holy Ghost, shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in the world to come;' where he setteth down three sorts, or kinds, of sins, to wit, against the Father, against the Son, and against the Holy Ghost; and that the two first are less heinous and pardonable, but that the third is altogether unpardonable. All which difference proceedeth from the distinction of the attributes, as the schools teach us out of the Holy Scriptures; which severally are appropriated to every several person of the Holy Trinity.

For although, as the essence of all the three persons is but one, so also is their power, wisdom, and goodness (as we have learned out of St. Athanasius's creed, when he says, The Father Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty) yet, by attribution, power is ascribed unto the Father, wisdom unto the Son, and love unto the Holy Ghost; whereof every several, as they are termed attributes, are so proper unto every several person, that they cannot be attributed and referred unto any other. By the contraries of which attributes, we come to discern the distinction and greatness of sin.

The contrary to power, which is attributed to the Father, is weakness or infirmity; and, therefore, that which we do amiss through infirmity, or weakness of nature, is said to be committed against the Father: the opposite

dicitur peccare in filium; ita ut ea, quæ vel ex humana infirmitate, vel ignoratione peccamus, facilius nobis condonari soleant.

Tertium autem attributum, quod est Spiritus Sancti, nempe amor, habet pro contrario ingratitudinem, vitium maxime odibile: unde venit, ut homo non agnoscat Dei erga ipsum dilectionem, aut beneficia; sed obliviscatur, contemnat, ac odio etiam habeat. Ex quo tandem fit, ut obstinatus reddatur atque impœnitens, atque his modus multo gravius & periculosius peccatur in Deum, quam ex ignorantia, aut imbecillitate; proinde hujusmodi vocantur peccata in Spiritum Sanctum. Et, quia rarius, ac difficilius, & non nisi abundantiori gratia condonantur, dicuntur irremissibilia quodam modo; cum tamen sola impœnitentia sit omnino & simpliciter ir remissibilis: quicquid enim invitia committitur, licet contra Spiritum Sanctum, potest per pœnitentiam deleri ante mortem. Sed qui perseverat usquead mortem, nullum locum relinquit gratiæ ac misericordiæ :

: atque pro tali peccato, seu pro homine sic peccante, noluit apostolus ut post mortem oraremus.

'Jam ergo quia magno nostro dolore intelligimus, prædictum regem ex hac vita sine pœnitentia, seu impœnitentem excessisse, nimirum in consortio hæreticorum; ex talibus enim hominibus confecerat exercitum suum: & quod commendaverat moriens regnum in successione Navarræ declarato Hæretico, & excommunicato; necnon in extremis, ac in ultimo fere

unto wisdom is ignorance, through which, when a man sinneth, he is said to sin against the Son; and, therefore, what we commit through natural infirmity, or ignorance, is more easily forgiven us.

The third attribute, which is the Holy Ghost's, is love, and hath, for its contrary, ingratitude, a vice most detestable and odious, which causeth men not to acknow ledge the love of God, and his be nefits bestowed upon them; but to forget, despise, yea, and to hate them; and from hence, at last, it comes to pass, that they prove obstinate and impenitent. And thus to sin against God is far more dangerous and dreadful, than if it was done either through ignorance, or natural infirmity, and therefore it is termed a sin against the Holy Ghost; and, because such sins are seldom and hardly, and not without great abundance of grace pardoned, in some sort, they are said to be unpardonable: whereas final impenitence only is really and simply unpardonable. For whatsoever is done amiss in this life, although it be against the Holy Ghost, yet, by repentance, it may be wiped out, or done away, before we die; but they that persevere therein till death, are excluded from all grace and mercy hereafter. And, therefore, for such sins and sinners, the apostle hath forbidden to pray after their decease.

Now, therefore, because we understand, not without great grief, that the aforesaid king departed this life without repentance, or impenitent, to wit, in the communion and fellowship of hereticks (for all his army was made up almost of none other but such men) and that, by his last will, he commended and made over his crown and kingdom to the succession of Navarre,

vitæ spiritu, ab eodem & similibus circumstantibus petierit, ut vindictam sumerent de iis, quos ipse judicabat fuisse causas mortis suce. Propter hæc, & similia manifesta impœnitentiæ indicia, decrevimus pro ipso non esse celebrandas exequias; non quod præsumamus quidquam ex hoc de occultis erga ipsum Dei judiciis, aut misericordiis, qui poterat secundum beneplacitum suum in ipso exitu animæ suæ convertere cor ejus, & misericorditer cum illo agere; sed ista locuti sumus secundum ea, quæ nobis exterius patent.

'Faxit benignissimus Salvator noster, ut reliqui, hoc horrendo justitie supernæ exemplo admoniti, in viam salutis redeant, & quod misericorditer hoc modo cœpit, benigne prosequatur, ac perficiat, sicut eum facturum speramus: ut de erepta ecclesia de tantis malis, & periculis, perennes illi gratias agamus.

'In quam sententiam cum dixisset pontifex, dimisit consistorium cum benedictione,

long since declared an heretick, and excommunicated; as also, in his extremity, and now ready to yield up the ghost, desired of him, and such as he was, then standing by, that they would revenge his death upon those whom he judged to be the cause thereof. For these, and such like manifest tokens of his impenitency, we have decreed not to solemnise his death with funerals; not that we presume any thing by these, concerning God's secret judgments against him, or his mercies towards him, who could, according to his good pleasure, convert and turn his heart, even when his soul was leaving the body, and deal mercifully with him but this we have spoken, being thereunto moved by these external signs and tokens.

God grant that all, being admonished and warned by this fearful example of heavenly justice, may repent and amend; and that it may further please him to continue and accomplish that which he hath thus mercifully begun for us, as we firmly hope he will, to the end we may give everlasting thanks to him, that he hath delivered his church from such great and imminent dangers.