The choice of the present subject, which grew from a seed
sown by Principal (then Professor) John Baillie, was not purely
fortuitous. The writer welcomed the opportunity of investigating
a persistent, though to the modern mind uncongenial, type of
Christian piety about which such a variety of opinions are held;
while the specific problem of why two contemporary movements should
manifest marked ascetic tendencies was in itself stimulating,
especially in the absorbing context of the seventeenth century.
In addition, he was personally interested both in English Puritanism
and in French Jansenism, in the former as a result of having been
reared in a home in which something of the Puritan spirit had
survived, and in the latter because of a long-standing love of the
French language, strengthened by a previous period of study in
France. And due to a keen interest in the cause of the World
Church, he was attracted by a comparative study of prominent
religious movements in England and France and within two of the three
great streams of Christianity. Here was an ecumenical subject!The writer's aim was first to come to an intimate understanding
of the ascetic spirituality of English Puritans and French Jansenists
by "getting inside" their religious consciousness, and then, having
seen life as they saw it, to present their outlook in their own
terms and frequently in their own words. Without ignoring defects
to which sufficient attention has been drawn in the past, it was
felt best to adopt a positive approach and to bend one's efforts
towards an appreciation of the loftier elements in the asceticism of the two movements. It is believed that it is just such a
positive task that needs to be undertaken in order to restore the
balance of truth. To enter sympathetically into the experience of
seventeenth century Christians is by no means easy for the modern
mind. As Douglas Bush has said: "The modern reader who would
understand seventeenth-century literature must shake off his habit
of believing only what he sees and must try to realize a world in
which man's every thought and act are of vital concern to God and
to his own eternal state, a world interpenetrated by spiritual
1
potencies." An effort has been made to appreciate this seventeenth
century world, and to reproduce with fidelity a picture of life as
viewed by Puritans and Jansenists. At every point primary evidence
is offered to substantiate the picture being sketched in order to
convey a more direct impression of their outlook.One of the hazards in the way of a satisfactory treatment of
the present subject was the great volume of literature which confronts
and probably overawes any student of Puritanism and Jansenism.
2
"Port-Royal peut peupler une biblioth^que", said Calot simply and
accurately with reference to the latter, and for those of English
tongue it is scarcely necessary to labour the point regarding
Puritanism. In face of all the literature that could be consulted
with profit, it was early decided that a thorough study of the ascetic
thought of one representative from each movement should form the
hard core of the thesis. The choice among English Puritans fell upon Richard Baxter, whom Henson described as "the Saint of
1
Puritanism, and ... its most illustrious exponent." Although it
is impossible to select the "typical Puritan", Richard Baxter is
ideally representative because of his moderate and central position
which, one believes, embodies the essence of the Puritan spirit.
For the parallel purpose in Jansenism, only one choice commended
itself, that of Jean du Verger de Hauranne, Abb<^ de Saint-Cyran,
whom Hallays described as "le fondateur, 1'inspirateur, le th^ologien,
2
le moraliste" of the movement. For unlike Puritanism, Jansenism
is dominated by the spirit of one man, without knowledge of whose
life and works its ascetic spirituality is quite incomprehensible.
In addition to these major sources, a further selection of important
primary documents was made, including on the Puritan side such
names as Bunyan, Downame, Fox, Hutchinson, Penn, Prynne, Rogers and
Sibbes, together with Acts and Ordinances, diaries and catechisms;
and on the Jansenist side Mere Angelique, M&re Agn&s, Arnauld, d'
Andilly, Goustel, Hamon, Le Maistre, Nicole, Racine, Quesnel, de
Sacy, and Singlin, together with the Memoires, Necrologes, and other
documents which, due to persecution, mostly remained unpublished
until the eighteenth century. Among secondary sources the writer
would acknowledge his indebtedness to such authors as William Haller,
M. M. Knappen, Perry Miller, Jean Orcibal and C.-A. Sainte-Beuve,
whose works are invaluable in primary orientation in these fieldsNot the least merit of these last cited authors is their
avoidance of the bias and bitterness which have perpetually enshrouded
the Puritan and Jansenist stories. The acrimonious struggles between Puritan and Anglican, Jansenist and Jesuit, were not altogether
attractive to begin with, and the latent animosities and prejudices
which they aroused, and continue to arouse, in the breasts of their
chroniclers, have always made it extremely difficult for the latter
to serve the interests of truth impartially. Clearly the present
writer has been subject to the usual pitfalls confronting
investigators of these controversial subjects, and has had at all
times to attempt to discount not only the particular bias of the
authors he has studied, but also his own tendency to fall into a
partisanship which would mar his judgement. However, this effort
to steer a course between Scylla and Charybdis has not prevented
his taking a position or exhibiting sympathies which he believes
to be warranted by the facts.The actual plan of the thesis is simple. The first part
(Chapter I) is devoted to establishing a clear conception of Christian
asceticism as a basis for the present investigation. The second
part (Chapters II to V) deals with Puritan asceticism. An
examination has been made of the situation into vfcich it came;
the inner nature of its spiritual athleticism; the most obvious
and often imperfectly understood aspect of this, namely, the
attitude to recreation and the arts; and finally the means of
direction and discipline which made this thorough-going intramundane asceticism possible. Space has been allotted to each section
according to what was considered to be its relative importance.
Similarly in part three (Chapters VI to IX) Jansenist asceticism is
broken down into its essential parts, which in the case of a predominantly
monastic piety, contrast markedly with those of Puritan piety.After investigating the setting and the formative factors, an
analysis has been made of the asceticism of the nuns of Port-Royal,
of the famous "Messieurs", and finally of the adherents of the
movement in the normal social context, to each of which space has
been allotted according to relative importance. Having set forth
the facts on each side, the last part (Chapter X) is devoted to a
critical conclusion in which Puritan and Jansenist asceticism in
the seventeenth century are compared and contrasted.The composition of the present thesis was not immediately
apparent when the research was begun, and in its preparation much
relevant material was gathered which had subsequently to be excluded
in order to reduce the study to workable proportions. Biographical
details and cross-references have for the most part been deleted,
while the historical data pertaining to the movements have largely
been relegated to an appendix giving a brief parallel chronology.
In addition certain problems of peripheral rather than central concern
were examined but had later to be omitted for lack of space, as for
example, the relation of Quaker asceticism to Puritan asceticism
and the bearing on piety of the substitution of the "inner light"
for the doctrine of election, as revealed in Pox's Journal; the close
relationship of Pascal to Jansenism as far as his ascetic piety is
concerned; and the ascetic element in the educational ideal and
practice of the Jansenists in the Petites ^coles de Port-Royal.
What has been left is, one believes, the essence of Puritan and
Jansenist asceticism in the seventeenth centuryCertain technical points require brief explanation. As for
footnotes, sources are for the most part identified by author and title without place or date of publication. Pull entries, however,
are given in the case of periodicals and modern editions of primary
sources, while otherwise the date of primary works is given in
initial entries. In order to preserve the authentic flavour of the
period the fewest possible alterations have been made in spelling
and punctuation in seventeenth century documents. To avoid unnecessary
confusion however, punctuation has occasionally been modified, and
in the case of u's and v's, i's and j's, spelling has been altered
to conform with modern usage. Necessary apostrophes have been
added in many English words while in French \rords accentuation has
been modernized
