der a pretended zeal for piety, but in reality urged by the desire of change, and of promoting sedition, liberty of every kind is maintained, revolutions in the state and in religion are fomented, and the sanctity of all authority is torn in pieces.
With a heavy heart, but with confidence in Him who commands die winds, and brings tranquillity. We have written on these subjects to you, Venerable Brethren, that putting on the buckler of faith, you may be encouraged to go forth and fight the battles of the Lord. You above all others it behoveth to stand as a wall against every height exalting itself against the knowledge of God. Unsheath then the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and let those who hunger after justice, receive bread from your hands. Called to be labourers in the vineyard of the Lord, confine yourselves to this, labour at this, that every root of bitterness may be torn up in the field entrusted to your care, and that every noxious weed being destroyed, a joyful harvest of virtues may flourish. Embrace with paternal tenderness those in particular who have devoted their minds to sacred studies and to philosophical enquiries. Exhort them and warn them, however, against an imprudent reliance on the unassisted powers of their own minds, which might seduce them from the pathway of truth into the high road of impiety. Bid them remember that "God is the guide of wisdom, and the director of the wise,"[1] and that without God it is impossible to understand the nature of God, who teaches men by his word to know God.[2] He is a proud, or rather a foolish man, who weighs in a human balance the mysteries of faith, which surpass all understanding, or who confides in the deductions of his own intellect, which subject to the common fatality of human nature, is necessarily weak and infirm.
May this our seal for the welfare of religious and public order, acquire aid and authority from the princes. Our dearest sons in Christ, who, let them reflect, have rceived their power not merely for their temporal rule, but chiefly for the protection of the Church. Let them carefully observe, that whatever is done for the good of the Church, necessarily benefits their government, and confirms the peace of their states. Let them be persuaded that the cause of the Faith interests them more nearly than that of their Kingdom; and let them weigh the vast importance to themselves, (We speak with St. Leo, the Sovereign Pontiff,) "that the crown of faith should be added to the diadem which they have received from the hand of God." Placed over their subjects as parents and as guardians, they will ensure for them a true, constant, rich repose and tranquility, if they make it their first care to protect religion and piety towards God, who has
