23 
I N D 
felf in lhameful drunkennefs.—A mother was wont to in¬ 
dulge her daughters with dogs, fquirrels, or birds ; but then 
they mult keep them well. Locke. —To live like thofe that 
have their hope in another life, implies that we indulge 
ourfelves ffi.the gratifications of this life-very fparingly. 
Atterbury. —To grant, not of right, but favour.-—Ancient 
privileges, indulged by former kings to their people, mult 
not without high reafon be revoked by their fuccefl'ors. 
Taylor. 
The virgin, ent’ring bright, indulg'd the day 
To the brown cave, and brulh’d the dreams away. Dryd. 
To INDUL'GE, v.n. [a Latinifm not in ufe.] To be 
favourable; to give indulgence : with to. —He mull not, 
by indulging to "one fort of reprovable difcourfe himfelf, 
defeat his endeavours againlt the reft. Government of the 
Tongue. —To indulge one’s felf in any thing. This is a 
colloquial phrafe. 
INDULGENCE, or Indulgency, f. [indulgence , Fr. 
from indulge.'] Fondnefs ; fond kindnefs : 
Reftraint (lie will not brook; 
And left to herfelf, if evil thence enfue, 
She firft his weak indulgence will accufe. Milton. 
The glories of our ifie, 
Which yet like golden ore, unripe in beds. 
Expert the warm indulgency of heaven. Dry den. 
Forbearance; tendernefs : oppofite to rigour. —They err, 
that through indulgence to others, or fondnefs to any fin 
in themfelves, fubltitute for repentance any thing lefs. 
Hammond. 
In known images of life, I guefs 
The labour greater, as th’ indulgence lefs. Pope. 
Favour granted; liberality.—If all thefe gracious indul¬ 
gences are without any effed on us, we muft perilh in 
our own folly. Rogers. 
Indulgences, in the Romifir church, are a remifiion 
of the punifliment due to fins, granted by the church, 
and fuppofed to fave the finner from purgatory. Ac¬ 
cording to tfce doftrine of the Romifh church, all the 
o-ood works of the faints, over and above thofe which were 
neceflary towards their own juftification, are depofited, 
together with the infinite merits of Jefus Chrift, in one 
inexhauftible treafury. The keys of this were commit¬ 
ted to St. Peter, and to his fucceffors the popes, who may 
open it at pleafure, and, by transferring a portion of this 
fuperabundant merit to any particular perfon, may con¬ 
vey to him either the pardon of his own fins, or a releafe 
for any one in -whom he is interefted, from the pains, of 
purgatory. Such indulgences were firft invented in the 
nth century, by Urban II. as a recompence for thofe who 
■went in perfon upon the glorious enterprife of conquer¬ 
ing the Holy Land. They were afterwards granted to 
thofe who hired a foldier for that purpofe; and in pro- 
cefs of time were bellowed on fuch as gave money forac- 
complilhing any pious work enjoined by the pope. 
The power of granting indulgences has been greatly 
abufed in the church of Rome. Pope Leo X. in order to 
carry on the magnificent ftructure of St. Peter’s at Rome, 
qiubliflied indulgences, and a plenary remifiion, to ail fuch 
as fhould contribute money towards it. Finding the pro¬ 
ject take, he granted to Albert, eleilor of Mentz and arch- 
bilhop of Magdeburg, the benefit of the indulgences of 
Saxony and the neighbouring parts, and farmed out thofe 
of other countries to the higheft bidders, who, to make 
the belt of their bargain, procured the ableft preachers to 
cry up the value of the ware. The form of thele indul¬ 
gences was as follows : “May our Lord Jefus Chrift have 
mercy upon thee, and abfolve thee by the merits of his 
molt holy paftion. And I, by his authority, that of his 
blefied apoltles Peter and Paul, and of the moll holy pope, 
granted and committed to me in thefe parts, do abfolve 
thee, firft from all eccleliaftical centimes, in whatever man¬ 
ner they have been incurred ; then from all thy fins, 
I N D 
tranfgrelfions, and excefies, how enormous foever they 
may be, even from fuch as are referved for the cognizance 
of the holy fee, and as far as the keys of the holy church 
extend ; 1 remit to you all punilhment which you deferve 
in purgatory on their account; and I reftore you to the 
holy facraments of the church, to the unity of the faith¬ 
ful, and to that innocence and purity which you polTelfed 
at baptifm ; fo that, when you die, the gates of punilh¬ 
ment fhall be fliut, and the gates of the paradile of delight 
(hall be opened ; and, if you lhall not die at prefent, this- 
grace fhall remain in full force when you are at the point 
of death. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghoft.” 
The terms in which the retailers of indulgences de- 
fcribed their benefits, and the necefiitv of purchafing them, 
are fo extravagant, that they appear almoit incredible. If 
any man (fay they) purchafes letters of indulgence, his 
foul may reft fecure with refpeft to its falvation. The 
fouls confined in purgatory, for whofe redemption indul¬ 
gences are purchafed, as foon as the rr.i ney tinkles in the 
cheft, inftantly efcape from that place of torment, and 
afcend into heaven. The efficacy of indulgences was fo 
great, that the moft heinous fins, even if one lhould vio¬ 
late (which was impofiible) the mother of God, would be 
remitted and expiated by them, and the perfon be freed 
both from punifliment and guilt. This was the unfpeak- 
able gift of God, in order to reconcile men to himfelf. The 
crofs erefted by the preachers of indulgences was equally 
efficacious with the crofs of Chrift itfelf. “ Lo, the hea¬ 
vens are open ; if you enter not now, when will you en¬ 
ter ? For twelve pence you may redeem the foul of your 
father out of purgatory; and are you fo ungrateful, that 
you will not refcue your parent from torment? If you 
had but one coat, you ought to ftrip yourfelf inftantly,, 
and fell it, in order to purchafe fuch benefits,” &c. It 
W'as this great abufe of indulgences that contributed not 
a little to the reformation of religion in Germany, where 
Martin Luther began firft to declaim againft the preachers 
of indulgences, and afterwards againft indulgences them¬ 
felves. Since that time the popes have been more fparing 
in theexercife of this power; however, they ftill carry on 
a great trade with them to the Indies, where they are 
purchafed at two rials a-piece, and fometimes more. The 
pope likewife grants indulgences to perfons at the point 
of death ; that is, he grants them, by a brief, power to 
choofe what confelfor they pleafe, who is authorifed there¬ 
by to abfolve them from all their fins in general. 
INDUL'GENT, adj. [Fr. indulgens, Lat.J Kind ; gen¬ 
tle ; liberal.—God has done all for us that the moft indul¬ 
gent Creator could do for the work of his hands. Rogers- 
—Mild ; favourable: 
Hereafter fuch in thy behalf ftiatl be 
Th’ indulgent cenfure of pofterity. Waller. 
Gratifying; favouring; giving way to: with of. —The 
. feeble old, indulgent of their esfe. Dryden. 
INDUL'GENTLY, adv. Without feverity; without 
cenfure; without felf-reproach; with indulgence.—Her 
that not only commits fome a£t of fin, but lives indulgently 
in it, is never to be counted a regenerate man. Hammond.. 
INDUL'GENTNESS, J. The quality of being indul¬ 
gent. 
INDUL'GING, f. The a£l of fondling ; gratifying ; 
giving way to. 
INDUL'T, f. In the church of Rome, the power of 
prefenting to benefices granted to.certain perfons by the 
pope. Of this kind is the indult of kings and fovereiga 
princes in the Romilh communion, and that of the par¬ 
liament of Paris, granted by feveral popes.. By the con¬ 
cordat for the abolition of the pragmatic fanriion, made 
between Francis I. and Leo X. in 1516, the French king 
had the power of nominating to bilhoprics, and other con- 
fiftorial benefices, within his realm. The cardinals like- 
wfife have an indult granted them by agreement between, 
pope Paul IV. and the facred college in 1555, which is 
always. 
