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 PHILOSOPHY AMONG THE JESUITS. 263 that, should any of them be too much given to novelties or of too independent a way of thinking, they shall certainly be deprived of their professorial functions. " They must not, however, be so much attached to St. Thomas as to set him aside in no question whatever. Even those who profess to be thorough Thomists, do not follow his teaching in all things : and it is not just that the members of our Society should be more tightly bound to St. Thomas than the Thomists are themselves. " In questions that are merely philosophical it will be also allowed to follow other writers, that have treated more specially of those subjects." 1 This decree may well be called a master-stroke of policy. Clement VIII., though friendly to the Jesuits from other points of view, and notably as to their return to France, whence they had been banished under Henry IV, is well known to have leaned towards the opinions of the Domini- cans ; and being a pure Thomist on all other points, he seemed much inclined to put the Jesuits in the wrong in the question of predetermination. It is easy to guess how much this decree must have tended to pacify him, and even to make him doubt who was really in the right, since the Jesuits professed to be no less attached to St. Thomas than the Dominicans. At least, if they did not say so, they let it be supposed, by the stress they laid upon the injustice of having to be more Thomist than the very Thomists. There is also a covert allusion to the question in dispute at that time : the decree mentions the case of St. Thomas's opinions being doubtful, or his not having treated the matter ; for the question raised by the early Reformers was such that the few words written by Aquinas on the subject of pre- destination, &c., are utterly insufficient, ambiguous by their very brevity, and of very little use in the controversy that was then going forward. Nothing is more reasonable than the decree of the Congregation ; nothing better calculated to allay the fears of heresy, that had sprung up in many minds. The Jesuits indeed demanded a certain independ- ence ; but what independence ? They decide not to follow Aristotle without reservation. They resolve not to be more ardent disciples of St. Thomas than his most zealous followers. They are ready to expel any professor who is too independent, too fond of novelties, too little penetrated with respect for the holy Doctor ; and the particle too seems clear enough to all who use it. If they wish to be allowed to separate from his guidance on some points, they only specify two ; and in these they only elect to follow the general sentiment of the Schools. Pope Clement VIII. must have 1 5 Congr. Gen. Deer. xli. ; Ivi. 2.