75
be accepted as a proof of innocence, or acquit-
tal firoaa the gailt, of having issued or autho-
rised the abominable works in question ! Fur-
ther, how are we to account for the exemplary
forbearance and deep silence of these organs of
biblical condemnation, respecting all the other
editicms of the Taxaa but one* which is noticed
— that of Ba^k — by known heretics^ by Du
Pinet, by WoMus, by S. du Mont, and other
nameless editors at Paris and Amsterdam?^
The &ct is, the Taxes, admitted plainly to have
been published, if not for the hist time, by a
Pope, John XXIL, stand very nearly upon the
same ground as the Regul», Ordinationes, Con-
stitutiones, &c., together with which tibey are
often bound up, which have never been dis-
- The miserable Index published at Wien, (Vienna,) 1774,
prohibits the Taxe de ia Chanc. Londres, 1750. Where is such an edition to be found ? In the Portuguese Index, 1624, pp. 180, &c. Tractatus Juris Canon., in several editions, (being, as is evident from the contents, the Oceanua Juris Univers.) is largely expurgated ; but there is no mention whatever of the TaxsB, although they occupy so conspicuous a place in those volumes. If the reader wisli to understand the value both of the insertions and of the omissions in the Papal indexes, he may get as mucii information as will probably s^itisfy him in the work referred to in the last note. He will there find that omis- sions may be m circnmstanced^ and in numberless instances are, as to have the force of positive evidence. Some of the wi^e Com- missioners upon Irish affairs in 18^?4 and 1826, coiUd not ex* actly see this* See particularly pp. 2d6, 7«
