"
"Never mind that," he replied; "our Father Lamy has completely
proved the doctrine I have laid down, although, with a humility
which sits uncommonly well on so great a man, he submits it to the
judgement of his judicious readers. Caramuel, too, our famous
champion, quoting it in his Fundamental Theology, p. 543. thinks it so
certain, that he declares the contrary opinion to be destitute of
probability, and draws some admirable conclusions from it, such as the
following, which he calls 'the conclusion of conclusions- conclusionum
conclusio': 'That a priest not only may kill a slanderer, but there
are certain circumstances in which it may be his duty to do so-
etiam aliquando debet occidere.' He examines a great many new
questions on this principle, such as the following, for instance: 'May
the Jesuits kill the Jansenists?'"
"A curious point of divinity that, father! " cried I. "I hold
the Jansenists to be as good as dead men, according to Father Lamy's
doctrine."
"There, now, you are in the wrong," said the monk: "Caramuel
infers the very reverse from the same principles."
"And how so, father?"
"Because," he replied, "it is not in the power of the Jansenists
to injure our reputation. 'The Jansenists,' says he, 'call the Jesuits
Pelagians, may they not be killed for that? No; inasmuch as the
Jansenists can no more obscure the glory of the Society than an owl
can eclipse that of the sun; on the contrary, they have, though
against their intention, enhanced it- occidi non possunt, quia
nocere non potuerunt.
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