They were not however very far distant from the moment of their total expulsion; and it was again to the inconsiderate zeal of their friends that they owed this obligation. A frantick partisan of the society published, in their defence, a violent treatise, abusing the magistrates, entitled, _It is Time to Speak_. Somebody said then, that the magistrates answer should be, _It is Time to Depart_. Such person was so much the less mistaken, as a new subject of complaint succeeded, to fill up the measure of these proceedings. The arch-bishop, of whom we have already made such frequent mention, thought the rights of the church violated by the arrêts of parliament, against vows contracted before the altars: he issued, in favour of the Jesuits, a mandate, which served completely to set the magistrates against them; some of these fathers were accused of having hawked about the mandate; some of their votaries, of having vended it: this was, as it were, the signal of the last blow given to the whole body. The parliament ordered, that within the space of eight days, every Jesuit, professed or not professed, who was desirous of remaining in the kingdom, should make oath that he renounced the institution. The term was short; they did not choose to give them time to deliberate: it was feared they might hold secret assemblies among themselves; that they might write to their general to beg his leave to give way to the times; that by favour of _mental restrictions_, they might take the oath which was required; that under the cover of this oath they might remain in France, in order to wait there a more favourable juncture; that they might practise at last the maxim of Acomat in Bajazet: Promettez; affranchi du péril qui vous presse, Vous verrez de quel poids sera votre promesse.