I.

A MANDATE

(July 17, 1719.)

TO SING THE TE DEUM, IN THANKSGIVING FOR THE CAPTURE OF THE CITY OF FONTARABIA.

JOHN BAPTIST, &c. &c. The Church has ever regarded the wars which arise among christian princes, as the chastisements of God upon kingdoms and upon their inhabitants; and if she commands us to sing canticles of thanksgiving and joy, for the success which attends the arms of the conqueror, it is only in the hope that victory will lead to a prompt and durable peace. So the King informs us by his letter of the 28th of June, that it is with grief he directs his first military operations against a prince, whose per

son and interests are to him, on many accounts, so dear; and that although the Almighty by the brilliant success with which he has crowned his arms, seems to approve the justice of his cause and the purity of his intentions, he should derive no satisfaction from triumph if it were not ancillary to the general pacification, which together with all his allies, he struggles to obtain from the King of Spain. The capture of Fontarabia does not then flatter his Majesty by the splendor of the conquest, but by the hope that it may dispose the two nations to a peace equally advantageous to both. It is to acknowledge the protection with which Providence has favoured his enterprise, and to obtain this desirable peace, that he commands us to offer a solemn thanksgiving to God.

Let us enter, my brethren, into those wise sentiments, so worthy of the most Christian King.* Let us gratefully thank the Lord of all for the success with which he has blessed the arms of our young monarch; but let us join to our thanksgiving, sincere and ardent vows

*The title of the King of France.

for peace, that, delivered from the horrors of war, we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all piety and modesty.*

For these reasons, &c.

*1. Tim. ii. v. 2.

II.

A MANDATE

(Sept. 20, 1719.)

TO SING THE TE DEUM, IN THANKSGIVING FOR THE CAPTURE OF THE CITY AND CASTLE OF SAINT SEBASTIAN.

PEACE among christian Princes has been always the first object of the vows and prayers of the church; and the splendid successes with which heaven continues to favor the arms of the King, by the capture of the city and castle of Saint Sebastian, should rejoice us, only because they afford new hopes of obtaining that peace, which is so necessary to the kingdom and to all Europe. It is with those feelings, that his Majesty, touched by the miseries which follow in the train of war, regards this new conquest; it flatters him only because it seems a new proof of the justice of his cause, and of the purity

of his intentions, and because it affords new facilities to the pacification of those nations which have taken up the sword with regret. It is in this spirit that his Majesty, by his letter of the 30th of August, commands us to offer a solemn thanksgiving to God. These sentiments are so conformable to the spirit and intentions of the church, that we should enter into them with gladness, that our solemn and grateful thanks may become solemn vows for a speedy and lasting peace.

For these reasons, &c.