Page:Essays, Moral and Political - David Hume (1741).djvu/163

 not worthy the Attention of a Man of Sense: But what principally distinguishes these two Sects, and alone merits our Attention, is the different Spirit of their Religion. The Molinists, conducted by the Jesuites, are great Friends to Superstition, rigid Observers of external Forms and Ceremonies, and devoted to the Authority of the Priests, and to Tradition. The Jansenists are Enthusiasts, and zealous Promoters of the passionate Devotion, and of the inward Life; little influenc'd by Authority; and in a Word, but Half Catholics. The Consequences are exactly conformable to the foregoing Reasoning. The Jesuites are the Tyrants and the Slaves of the Court: And the Jansenists preserve alive the small Sparks of the Love of Liberty, which are to be found in the French Nation.