“Stay,” said the doctor; “you might take me by surprise. Let us go cautiously to work. _Distinguo._[93] If he call that power _proximate power_, he will be a Thomist, and therefore a Catholic; if not, he will be a Jansenist, and therefore a heretic.” “He calls it neither proximate nor non-proximate,” said I. “Then he is a heretic,” quoth he; “I refer you to these good fathers if he is not.” I did not appeal to them as judges, for they had already nodded assent; but I said to them: “He refuses to admit that word _proximate_, because he can meet with nobody who will explain it to him.” Upon this one of the fathers was on the point of offering his definition of the term, when he was interrupted by M. le Moine’s disciple, who said to him: “Do you mean, then, to renew our broils? Have we not agreed not to explain that word _proximate_, but to use it on both sides without saying what it signifies?” To this the Jacobin gave his assent. I was thus let into the whole secret of their plot; and rising to take my leave of them, I remarked: “Indeed, fathers, I am much afraid this is nothing better than pure chicanery; and whatever may be the result of your convocations, I venture to predict that, though the censure should pass, peace will not be established. For though it should be decided that the syllables of that word _proximate_ should be pronounced, who does not see that, the meaning not being explained, each of you will be disposed to claim the victory? The Jacobins will contend that the word is to be understood in their sense; M. le Moine will insist that it must be taken in his; and thus there will be more wrangling about the explanation of the word than about its introduction. For, after all, there would be no great danger in adopting it without any sense, seeing it is through the sense only that it can do any harm. But it would be unworthy of the Sorbonne and of theology to employ equivocal and captious terms without giving any explanation of them. In short, fathers, tell me, I entreat you, for the last time, what is necessary to be believed in order to be a good Catholic?” “You must say,” they all vociferated simultaneously, “that all the righteous have the _proximate power_, abstracting from it all sense—from the sense of the Thomists and the sense of other divines.” “That is to say,” I replied, in taking leave of them, “that I must pronounce that word to avoid being the heretic of a name. For, pray, is this a Scripture word?” “No,” said they. “Is it a word of the Fathers, the Councils, or the Popes?” “No.” “Is the word, then, used by St. Thomas?” “No.” “What necessity, therefore, is there for using it, since it has neither the authority of others nor any sense of itself?” “You are an opinionative fellow,” said they; “but you shall say it, or you shall be a heretic, and M. Arnauld into the bargain; for we are the majority, and should it be necessary, we can bring a sufficient number of Cordeliers[94] into the field to carry the day.”