_Distinguo._ “I draw a distinction”—a humorous allusion to the endless distinctions of the Aristotelian school, in which the writings of the Casuists abounded, and by means of which they may be said to have more frequently eluded than elucidated the truth. M. le Moine was particularly famous for these _distinguos_, frequently introducing three or four of them in succession on one head; and the disciple in the test is made to echo the favorite phrase of his master. Footnote 94: _Cordeliers_, a designation of the Franciscans, or monks of the order of St. Francis. Footnote 95: The Royal Academy, which compiled the celebrated dictionary of the French language, and was held at that time to be the great umpire in literature. Footnote 96: The edition of 1657 had it, _Rendre la Sorbonne meprisable_—“Render the Sorbonne contemptible”—an expression much more just, but which the editors durst not allow to remain in the subsequent editions. LETTER II. OF SUFFICIENT GRACE. PARIS, _January 29, 1656_. SIR,—Just as I had sealed up my last letter, I received a visit from our old friend M. N——. Nothing could have happened more luckily for my curiosity; for he is thoroughly informed in the questions of the day, and is completely in the secret of the Jesuits, at whose houses, including those of their leading men, he is a constant visitor. After having talked over the business which brought him to my house, I asked him to state, in a few words, what were the points in dispute between the two parties. He immediately complied, and informed me that the principal points were two—the _first_ about the _proximate power_, and the _second_ about _sufficient grace_. I have enlightened you on the first of these points in my former letter, and shall now speak of the second. In one word, then, I found that their difference about sufficient grace may be defined thus: The Jesuits maintain that there is a grace given generally to all men, subject in such a way to free-will that the will renders it efficacious or inefficacious at its pleasure, without any additional aid from God, and without wanting anything on his part in order to acting effectively; and hence they term this grace _sufficient_, because it suffices of itself for action. The Jansenists, on the other hand, will not allow that any grace is actually sufficient which is not also efficacious; that is, that all those kinds of grace which do not determine the will to act effectively are insufficient for action; for they hold that a man can never act without _efficacious grace_.