Will not the Jesuits equally embarrass the Jansenists their enemies, whether they take the oath which is required, or whether they take it not? If they take it, they deprive their inveterate enemies of the hope and the pleasure of seeing them banished; if they refuse to take it, they refute, without reply, the imputation which has been so often cast upon them, of sporting with religion and with oaths? In the first case they disconcert hatred; in the second they confound calumny. Which side ought they to take? That of disconcerting hatred, and of confounding calumny both at once, in joining to the oath, which is required of them, the declaration, the substance of which is contained in the XIth Query, and of which we shall give below the formula.
XV.
What scourge have been the disputes concerning religion, and in particular the absurd and miserable contest of Jansenism, which for upwards of a hundred years has made so many persons unhappy in one of these two parties, and which now is likely to make as many in the other!
XVI.
What a happiness, for nations and for kings, is the banner of philosophy, which by inspiring for those frivolous disputes the contempt which they merit, is the only means of preventing their becoming dangerous?
XVII.
Who is the author of these reflexions? A Frenchman, attached solely to his country, who interests himself neither for versatile grace, nor victorious delectation; who is neither of any sect, nor of any order, neither of the congregation of messieurs, nor of the troop of St. Médard; who has neither received money from the General of the Jesuits, nor been whipped with rods in the garrets of the Convulsionaries; who wishes that men would live in peace, and that so much hatred, excited by whims, so many profound acts of knavery, occasioned by senseless disputes, so many evils, in short, brought about by so many follies, should teach them at last to be wise.
So be it.