I The undersigning, a professed monk of the late Society called of Jesus, declare, that when I subjected myself to the institution and government of that society, I supposed, as an indispensable condition of that engagement, that it had the approbation of the king my lawful sovereign; his majesty having declared since, in an unequivocal manner, by the mouth of the magistrates, depositaries of his authority, the incompatibility of my vow of obedience, with that more ancient and sacred vow which I have made to my king and to my country, and finding myself obliged to choose the one or the other of these vows, which I can no longer observe together, I think myself bound, in honour and in conscience, to hold by that which I made as a Frenchman and subject of his majesty: it is through this sole motive that I renounce living, henceforward, under the authority of the institution, and the government of the said society; not intending, however, to renounce the vow of poverty, and that of chastity, which I have made, and the observance of which no motive can forbid me; promising anew to God and to the church, as far as is necessary, to preserve the virtue of perfect continence, and to receive from those, who shall think proper to provide me with subsistence, only just what is absolutely necessary to that very subsistence, pursuant to the precept of St. Paul. In confirmation whereof I have signed the present declaration, of which I demand the enrollment, in order to discharge, at once, without any view either of interest or human respect, what I owe to God and my king. _Done at Paris this....._ _A form of declaration for the non-professed Jesuits._ I The undersigning ... declare, that not being bound yet by the vows of profession to the late Society called of Jesus, and the king my sovereign having forbidden all his subjects, by the mouth of the magistrates, depositaries of his authority, to bind themselves to that institution, I promise and swear, as a good and faithful subject of his majesty, not to engage myself in the said Society, by any vow whatever. In confirmation, &c. _A form of declaration for the ex-Jesuits._ I The undersigning declare, that in the month of ... and year of ... before the arrêt of the court of ... which requires of the late Jesuits the renunciation of that institution, I made voluntarily that renunciation, of which the pieces hereunto annexed are vouchers. _F I N I S_ FOOTNOTES: [1] See the Jesuit writers of the life of St. Ignatius. [2] Father Boyer the Theatin, afterwards Bishop of Mirepoix, and since preceptor to the children of France. [3] We speak here in general; for it is agreed that there have been, and are still, in the other orders, some men of merit.