We are moreover convinced, that this obedience of the Jesuits to their general, as prescribed by their rule, and their fourth vow, by which they cannot be fully bound to the order till they have attained the age of thirty-three, are the two essential principles, and, as it were, the foundation stones, on which the whole edifice of their constitution is raised: these cannot be changed without overthrowing the whole building; neither can any alteration be made in them without forming a new constitution, very different from that to which the Jesuits have bound themselves by vow. These two fundamental articles discover to us the extraordinary wisdom of their founder, who, with great judgment and forecast, has thus provided against the growth of any dangerous irregularity in the order, and secured such a constant tenor of government, as was necessary to qualify the religious subjects for the great duties of their calling. It was, doubtless, for these reasons, that the council of Trent so highly commended and approved of this institute: that the late pope, Benedict XIV, in the bull _Devotum_, anno 1746, called them most wise laws and institutions, _ex præscripto sapientissimarum legum et constitutionum_, &c.: that the clergy of France, anno 1574, stiled them _good and sound regulations_: lastly, that the great Bossuet assures us, that in this _rule he discovered numberless strokes of consummate wisdom_[135]. Which {370} testimonies are greatly confirmed by the example of those other religious orders, which have sprung up in the church since the first establishment of the Jesuits, whose founders have framed good part of their rule after the model of this institute. All which things considered, we are of opinion, that no alteration can be made in the Jesuits' rule, with regard to the power and authority of the general. And your majesty will give us leave to observe, that, if it were expedient to make such a reform, it would neither be agreeable to the ecclesiastical law, nor to the avowed practice of all ages, nor in particular to the discipline of the church of France and the established maxims of your courts of parliament, to undertake an affair of this nature without the concurrence and joint consent of his holiness the supreme pastor of the church, of the bishops of France, and of a general congregation of the Jesuits: we might add, without the consent of all the professed Jesuits, as such an alteration in their dependence on their general would affect the very vitals of the order, and change the whole constitution.