m P A HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. HISTORY ;,.... OK THE JESUITS: FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THEIR SOCIETY TO ITS SUPPRESSION BY POPE CLEMENT XIV.; THEIR MISSIONS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD; THEIR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AND LITERATURE ; WITH THEIR REVIVAL AND PRESENT STATE. BY ANDREW STEINMETZ, AUTHOR OF "THE NOVITIATE, "THE JESUIT IN THE FAMILY.' WOOD ENGRAVINGS BY GEORGE MF.ASOM. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, PUBLISHER IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESTY. 1848. LONDON I'.KADKUBY AND KVAMS, PllINIKKS, W IIITE KK I A K B. BOSTON CO! i EGE LIBRARY CHESTNUI HiLU MASS. 2 4 1984 To the Catholic, as well as to the Protestant world this book is offered as some enlightenment on that important subject the abuse of the religious sentiment. It is a book of facts. The Jesuits themselves, Catholic historians, and Protestant writers, the most impartial, furnish the groundwork. The main subject is connected with the contemporaneous history of the world during the last three centuries, which is brought home to the present times of political unrest and revolutions and yet hopeful withal. It is a history of Human Nature errors, crimes, and retribution- -political as well as " religious '' and therefore, the book is impartial. Con- nected with no party whatever, my object has been to seek, and find, and boldly to express, the truth such, at least, as it has appeared to me, after multitudinous consultations. For, intensely interested in the subject, VI PREFACE. I have spared neither pains nor expense to collect such information as would enable me to put forth a decisive work, not only on the Jesuits, but the religious move- ment in general, which antagonised the South with the North of Europe. To every mind the history of the Jesuits presents subjects of interest. In their exploits, the churchman, the missioner, the preacher, the educator,- -all who possess influence on the minds of men, may find hints and admonitions :- -their industry and perseverance are models for all humanity. They laboured indefatigably, and received their reward in a world-encircling power. From first to last, they were never in obscurity. Like Minerva, sprung from the head of Jove, the Company of the Jesuits went forth from the brain of Ignatius, full-grown, ready for battle. In her infancy she was great the world feared her when she won her position the lust of conquest supervened she exemplified the maxims of the very world which she w T ent forth to reform and dug the pit into which she fell, discarded by the Popedom, for whose defence she was established. It has been my object to enable the reader to judge for himself in the facts which led to that consummation. I have not indulged in the usual vituperation of the Jesuits : no animadversion will be found in this history unsupported by fact. Neither have the apologists of PREFACE. Vll the Jesuits induced me to believe their representations. From the nearly equal mass of rancorous denunciation and defence of the Jesuits, I have endeavoured to arrive at the truth, by a meditation of the times in which the Jesuits performed their part, their acknow- ledged method, and its results to humanity. The books written against the Jesuits would form an extensive library so would their apologies : even in the first century of their existence, the Jesuits put forth about one hundred works in defence of their Company or its men. My object is simply to place a momentous subject in its truest possible light. Would that all error were purely abstract- -purely " indifferent *' -so that we might cherish the man to our bosom, whilst we consign his error to its fittest abode ! According to the Jesuits themselves the Company was a band of angels ; their friends are not less extravagant on the subject :- -Vitelleschi, a General of the Company, is somewhat more reasonable and candid. He compares the Society to the skies : the Society is Aurora ; IGNATIUS is the sun ; the members are the stars, " during so many years, and in so many lands, shining with the splendour of virtue, eminent and perfect. But if," he continues, " any comet of disastrous result, compounded of the foul and pestilential vapours Vlll PREFACE. of a world too near, should light its deadly flame among so many benign and propitious fires, we should not, on that account, condemn those skies, since even in the beautiful skies of nature we sometimes unwillingly behold the same anomaly." l A bad Jesuit is therefore a comet ; but a comet is a functionary in the celestial systems ; it is a secondary cause, produced and pro- pelled by a great Designer : then, may we substitute this Jesuit for the comet, and the spirit of Jesuitism for the great Designer ? Thus, then, much has been said in favour of the Jesuits more against them ; accusations have been denied, countercharges have been brought forward, and even questions of history still remain uncertain, undecided. I am surrounded with books of every description about the Jesuits. They have all been written with one professed object in view TRUTH. Truth has been contemplated by all ; but in how many different ways have they gazed at her charms ! Some have peered with one eye, others with half an eye ; some " with spectacles on nose," others with quizzing-glasses ; and not a few with that vacant stare which sees nothing ! It is thus with the affairs of the Jesuits ; any and every mind may find something to praise or blame in these extraordinary men, and their extraordinary achievements. 1 Epist. 4, R. P. N. Vitell., 1639. PREFACE. IX Almost all the authors whom I quote, are in my own possession ; and, in order to facilitate reference, I have preferred to quote works easily obtained,- -but still due verification has never been omitted, when the original authorities could be procured. To Ranke I am under great obligations. His " History of the Popes in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century : is a treasury of facts, collected with vast labour, discernment, and impartiality. Mr. Kelly's translation is so faithful and accurate, that I must also express my thanks to him, for diminishing my labour in the numerous versions I have had to make, from all the languages of Europe, in building up this temple of Jesuitism. But there is another writer to whom I am still more indebted for the facts of a most important section of this history I mean the Rev. M. A. Tierney, in his admirable edition of D odd's Church History of England. Mr. Tierney leaves us to regret that he did not com- pletely recompose the whole history. What a frightful picture has he exhibited of the English Mission during the reign of Elizabeth and James I. ! Awful, indeed, are the disclosures of the documents now, for the first time, brought to light by this conscientious Catholic clergyman. The English Jesuits of Stonyhurst lent him their documents apparently unaware of their con- tents ; and Mr. Tierney made good use of them in their damaging evidence : he laid bare the ghastliness of the Jesuit-scheme in England, and mortally offended the X PREFACE. descendants of Father Parsons and Garnet. The con- sequence was, that the gentlemen of Stonyhurst peremp- torily demanded back their documents ! And yet, what was Mr. Tierney's motive ? He expressly declares his honourable reason : " We should recur to the errors or the weaknesses of the past only to provide more effectually against the failings and the disasters of the future. It is by defending the faults, that we become answerable for the delinquencies of our pre- decessors : it is by a prompt and honest condemnation of their misdeeds, that we prove ourselves uninfluenced by their example, and establish the integrity of our own views. We are to judge of actions by their nature and tendency, not by the accidental relation in which their authors may stand to ourselves. Perfection is not the privilege of any order of men ; and if history, con- templating the events of earlier times, condemns the encroachments of some, the jealousies of others, and the faults of all, it is not for the purpose of reviving the disputes, or embittering the recollections, of the past, but solely with a view to point out those errors which each should be solicitous to avoid. 1 ' 1 Precisely the same motive has actuated me through- / o out this history. I have neither a " party ' nor a " system " to uphold. In the plan of the work, the Missionary schemes of 1 Dodd's Church History, ii. p. 170', note. PREFACE. Xi the Jesuits form a prominent subject together with their training, their educational system, and literature. But space has been denied me to give perfection to the exposition as originally conceived. The main history of the Jesuits, however, belongs to the first century of the Order ; thenceforward it was all retribution and down- fall. Still it was my intention to enter deeply into the history of the last years of the Order before its suppression to evolve the human mind of the age as exhibited particularly in France :--but the formidable finis cut short my meditations. There are ten Books in the History, each being named V after one of the first ten Jesuits, in the order of their accession to the scheme of Ignatius. Unquestionably the Work has been rapidly put forth. Nevertheless, I have no apology to make no favour to beg. Ample preparation preceded the mere compo- sition: what I undertook to produce, is, I believe, performed. Never will I insult the public by craving- indulgence for offering of mine. Let it stand or fall by its merits or demerits. The motive which impelled me to the enterprise, will make me respectful of approval -but callous to vituperation. In the words of the un- fortunate Jesuit Southwell prefacing his " Magdalen's Funeral Teares ' ; -I may be permitted to say, " Let the work defend itself, and every one pass his censure as he seeth cause. Many carps are expected when curious eyes come a-fishing. But the care is already taken, and Xll PREFACE. patience waiteth at the table, ready to take away, when that dish is served in, and make room for others to set on the desired fruit." I shall conclude with the words of Dr. Wiseman, in his Connection between Science and Revealed Religion : " I know not if there be a worse class of slander, than that which endeavours to affix the most odious of stigmas upon any one who shall dare to think differently from ourselves upon matters indifferent." 1 ANDREW STEINMETZ. GARDEN COTTAGE, FAKENHAM, JUNE, 1848. 1 Page 185. ILLUSTRATIONS. VOL. I. PAGK PORTRAIT OF IGNATIUS To face the title. FAC-SIMILE LETTER OF IGNATIUS . . . 498 WOOD ENGRAVINGS. IVIMUS ET RoM-iE SCITATUM ORACULA ; ET ILLO SlDERE NOS JUSS1T SOLVERE RoMA RATEM ...... 6 GIVE ME BUT IGNATUNS, AND I'LL FIHE THE WORLD WITH ORTHODOXY . .141 THE ARCHIMEDEAN SCREW . . . . . . . . . . 168 THE NEW AMADIS DE GAUL ......... 202 QUANDO EL PADRE ETERNO ME PUSO CON su Huo . . . . 232 A THOUSAND NOSTRUMS FOR ALL DISEASES ...... 284 No ARROW STRIKES THE SUN ......... 330 THE EDUCATION OF YOUTH .... ..... 351 A MONGREL EARNING HIS SUPPER ........ 353 FLAGELLANTS . 413 VOL. II. PORTRAIT OF PARSONS ... To face the title. VOL. III. PORTRAIT OF ADAM SCHALL . ... TO face the title. FAC-SIMILE LETTER OF PARSONS ... . 182 PORTRAIT OF AQUAVIVA . ... .355 PORTRAIT OF RICCI . . . . 614 WOOD ENGRAVINGS. THE MIRACULOUS STRAW ........ 209 EFFIGIES R. P. HENRICI GARNETI ........ 210 THE BELGIC LION ........... 369 THE JESUIT-BRAHMIN .......... 377 JESUIT-ALTAR AT SHANGHAI ......... 509 ANGEL PLAYING (Fides) THE FIDDLE BEFORE A DOOR . . . . 545 PATIENTIA MATER AMANTIUM EST . ...... 546 CLAUSI TENEBRIS ET CARCERE C.ECO ........ 547 Va: ! VAS ! Va: ! AH ! AH ! AH ! An ! HEU ! EHEU ! ETERNITAS . 548 QUALES CHOREA, TALES ET CHORAUL^E ....... 549 INEXPLICABLE NINTH TORMENT OF THE DAMNED ..... 550 NOVISSIMUS EXIT . . . . . . 574 THE SECULARISED JESUIT .......... 589 SUB PARVO SED MEO . . ... 616 ERRATUM. Vol. II., p. 301, note, 1st line, for ; ' penmanship" read " composition. 1 CONTENTS TO VOL. I. PAGE Book I. or IGNATIUS. THE POPEDOM, RELIGION, POLITICS, MEN AND MANNERS, IN A WORD, THE CHRISTENDOM OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY ..... . 1 Book II. or FABER . 170 Book III. or XAVIER ... .... 234 Book IV. or LA INEZ . . .285 Book V. or SALMERON 331 BOOK I. OR, IGNATIUS. INTRODUCTORY. THE POPEDOM, RELIGION, POLITICS, MEN AND MANNERS, IN A WORJVTHE CHRISTENDOM OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. r {!N the moral, as in the physical world, effects suggest their causes. Events, in the history of individuals and nations, are moral effects, whose causes must exist. To trace these events or effects to their subject. most probable causes, enters into the philosophy of history. One of the most remarkable events in the history of the sixteenth century was, not the establish- ment of the Jesuits, but their wonderful success and . rapid development, At first sight, their origin is some- what ridiculous. A crippled soldier in the guise of a pilgrim in rags, after collecting nine companions, reaches Rome, obtains an interview with the pope, offers him his services, his terms are accepted, a company is established, and, within sixteen years, this 'company is spread all over the world, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America ;/ dividing into twelve provinces a regiment of a thousand veterans, with a hundred col- leges for their head- quarters, numberless entrenchments VOL. I. B 2 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. in the walled cities of the Christian, or flying camps in the wilds of the cannibal, influencing, for good or evil, millions of earth's inhabitants. Many causes must have conspired to produce these effects to which the origin of the Jesuits lends, apparently, no adequate interpretation. Another example of rapid development may, however, lessen our wonder, though it will not, perhaps, explain the difficulty. Mohammed, an ignorant man, as represented, with ten followers, went forth on his mission and within twenty years from the moment of inspiration, Mohammed s ^ ^ A career and his followers amounted to one hundred and fifty thousand his sceptre triumphant from the shores of the Indian to the billows of the Mid- land Sea. The ambassadors, who knelt before the throne of the prophet " outnumbered the dates that fall from the palm-tree in its maturity." Without assuming national excitement to be the result of " electric evolu- tion," (the curious "Kyffrawd" 1 of an ingenious modern theorist), Mohammed's method, in the evident circum- stances of his career, fully explains the causes of his wonderful success. War to the death and fanaticism -in the midst of enervated Asiatics, bore down all before him ; whilst the laws 'he framed for his followers made them at least comfortable in a sensual world in wealth and strength, long to live, and cry La Allah II Allah, and "Mohammed is the Apostle of God." Here was the " word of God ' to the sword of man most desperately united and the result was commensurate. Somewhat different was the method of Ignatius of Loyola ; the crippled soldier aforesaid, in the guise of 1 The Geographical Progress of Empire, &c., by Rev. T. Price, 1847. IGNATIUS. 3 a ragged pilgrim, with his nine companions. Listen to the patriarch the " man of God" for his words will not beseem a soldier, though crippled The method and in rags. To his followers lie said : proposed by We are the company of Jesus. Under the banner of the Cross we do battle for God, and serve the pope, his vicar, on earth. You must vow perpetual chastity. You will have to labour for the advancement of souls in the way of salvation, and for the defence of the faith, by public preaching, by the ministry of God's word, by " Spiritual Exercises" in which you shall be duly initiated, and by works of charity. The young and the ignorant shall be the special objects of your ministry. You shall have but two objects con- stantly before you God, and the design of this insti- tute, which you must promote with might and main, as the end proposed to you by God Almighty. But ? observe, each member must confine himself to the grace vouchsafed to him, and the rank of his vocation : no one must aspire beyond his intellectual and spiritual powers, lest he be misled by the zeal of ignorance. Consequently the rank that each shall obtain, the func- tions that each shall perform, will be left entirely to the judgment and discretion of the Head who shall be chosen to govern the company. This Head shall be elected by the majority of votes ; and the election will invest him with the right of drawing up the constitutions or statutes of the company ; but the whole right of command shall be vested in the Head. There is one point of immense importance to which your attention is imperatively called. All the members must know, not only in the very threshold of their probation, but as long as they live must daily bear in mind, that the whole E2 4 HISTORY OF TIIK JESUITS. company, and each member thereof, must fight in faith- ful obedience to our most holy lord, the pope, and his successors. Doubtless, all the faithful of Christ owe obedience to the Roman pontiff as their head, and the vicar of Jesus Christ ; but we have judged it expedient, in all humility, and perfect self-denial (besides the com- mon bond aforesaid), to bind ourselves by a special vow to go whithersoever the pope shall be pleased to send us for the advancement of souls and the defence of the Faith. Without excuse, without a moment's hesitation, whether he send us to the Turks or other infidels, even to the Indies- -to heretics or schismatics in a word, to any and every place, without exception. In conclusion, you need not be told that all must vow obedience to the head of the company. Of course, all must vow perpetual poverty. 1 For God- -for the Pope- -for the Company: --a special vow of obedience to the pope : absolute power vested in the chief of the company to whom Three proba- . ,. . bie causes of obedience is vowed ;- -chastity and poverty, the additional vows of each member public preaching, spiritual functions, works of chanty, and a prospective glance at " colleges," such are the broad ways and means of the institute whose expansion was so wonderful. Assuredly they are not adequate to account for that wonderful development. Something similar, if not identical, had existed, and still existed, in the various institutions of monks- -the Orders of St. Francis, St. Dominic, St. Benedict. The design or scheme of Ignatius was not entirely original unless we confine the peculiarity of his institute to 1 See the Bull establishing the Jesuits, I/iff. A post. Paul III. Soc. Jesu Approbatin. IGNATIUS. 5 the fact that the Jesuits were to be papal emissaries scattered over the world, - - emancipated from con- vents, and yet essentially monks, by the obligations of their vows. But the pope could always insure the services of the monks : they were always ready to obey the Holy Father. Such being the case, why was this new order established ? And being established, how are we to account for its wonderful success 1 It is evident that the secret of this Founder's success is not contained in the proposals of his institute : there was nothing in them likely to captivate, by novelty, 1 the admiration of the pope for even the promise of obedience to his holiness was but a promise depending upon individual dispositions for its complete fulfilment. Still, the fact of success suggests, at once, three probabilities- -that Ignatius was an extraordinary worker- -that circum- stances favoured his scheme and that the state of the world at that time was exactly the medium best adapted to facilitate his advancement- -like the peculiar fluid in which planets revolve round about their centres. There- fore, as in the case of Mohammed, we have to investi- gate the circumstances in which Ignatius went forth to o \~*> fight, and conquer, and raise a shrine whereat to receive ambassadors from all the quarters of the habitable world, " outnumbering the dates that fall from the palm-tree in its maturity." These circumstances may give the force of originality to the scheme of Loyola, or present its results as those of a skilful adaptation of old mate- rials. The investigation must begin with the sixteenth century some forty years before the rise of the Jesuits. The popedom religion- -politics men and manners- 1 Ribadeneyra, the Jesuit, -proves this in his " TratadoDe la Componia de Jesus" which will be noticed in Rook III. of the present work. 6 HISTOEY OF THE JESUITS. in a word, the Christendom of those times must be understood, ere we accompany Ignatius and his fol- lowers in their wondrous expedition, sailing forth from the Apostolic port to invade the universe, under the most favourable auspices. Alexander the Sixth. Ivimus et Romse scitatum oracula ; et illo Sidere nos jussit solvere Roma ratem. 1 Ever memorable in the annals of art, science, and politics, the sixteenth century is equally remarkable for the position successively occupied by the popes of Rome. Alexander the Sixth began the century. He bought the popedom; and was fiercely ungrateful to the cardinals whose ambition arid avarice he tempted. His whole pontificate exhibits an unequalled career of private vice and public atrocity. But Alexander was unquestionably a man of talent : his 1 Imago Primi Sseculi Soc. Jesu, p. 46. IGNATIUS. 7 reign was prosperous. It is difficult to decide how far we are to hold the pope guilty of those public crimes in which his son, Csesar Borgia, was most deeply concerned. The son was ambitious ; the father was intent on the aggrandisement of his house : let them share the infamy of their crimes. Their aim was to put down the aristocratical factions of Italy. That was the age when monarchs became jealous of rival power, and were struggling to crush the worms of pettier tyrants who crawled within their precincts. Dreadful times for aristocrats were those of Pope Alexander ! His terrible son, Cassar Borgia, was one of those many historical characters to whom ambition and fierce desires make all things lawful such characters as throng on the page of history which is condemned to narrate the glorious deeds of the sixteenth century. Csesar Borgia could brook no rival. His own brother stood in his way; he had him murdered one night, and thrown into the Tiber, They had both just supped together at their mother's ! Their father, the pope, entirely connived at the dreadful parricide for he undoubtedly dreaded the same fate from his ferocious son. 1 Caesar Borgia killed his father's favourite Peroto killed him beneath the very pontifical mantle ; the victim clinging close to his patron : the blood spurted on the pope's face. Caesar Borgia triumphed in his crimes. Rome, and the States of the Church, bowed to his sway. Think not that he lacked what many did think, and many still may think, redeeming qualifications in his dread depravity. Of surpassing beauty, and wonderful strength of arm, was this blood-thirsty villain : in the bull-fight, he would 1 " Connivente prorsus ad immane parricidii scelus patre pontifice, qui et ipse vim sibi afferri ab efferato filio procul dubio metuebat." Panrinius, Akx. VI. 8 HISTOKY OF THE JESUITS. strike off the brute's head at a single blow. And he was liberal-handed withal not without traits of magna- nimity, as if to prove, for the shame of humanity, that the most venerable virtues, or what seem such to the world, are not necessarily estranged from the most detestable vices ; for, as we have seen, he was bloody, and Rome trembled at his name. Caesar needed gold, and had enemies : every night the corpses of murdered men were found in the streets. Every man held his breath ; for there was none who might not fear that his own turn would come next. Those whom violence could not reach were taken off by poison. There was but one spot where such deeds were possible ; that spot alone where unlimited power, and the highest spiritual authority, were united in the same individual : this spot Ca3sar occupied. Even monstrosity has its perfection. Many sons and nephews of the popes have attempted similar things ; but none ever carried them to such a pitch : Cassar was " a virtuoso in crime/' l The reader will be surprised, doubtless, to hear that this man was made archbishop of Valencia, and a cardinal, by his father. " He showed himself worthy of such a father," says the Jesuit Feller, " by his guilty passion for his own sister Lucretia, and by the murder of his elder brother, who was his rival." 2 The same authority calls him " a monster of debauchery and cruelty ; ' and every histo- rian is of the same opinion as to facts, a few of which have been given. Respecting the indirect influence of the great, by position or genius, on the mass of men, experience attests that the mere rumour of their guilty lives is 1 Ranke's vigorous expression "Ceear ist ein virtues des verbrechens." T. p. 52. 2 Biog. Univ. Alex. VI. KiXATIL's. 9 sufficient, without actual proof, to supply those samples to which profligate hearts yearn to conform. Truly or falsely were the blackest crimes laid to the J _ The influ- charge of Alexander the Sixth, it mattered ence of little ; the influence of those rumours, with the conduct of his hideous son (whom he idolised), before them, w^as necessarily disastrous to the morals of the age. Was it not believed that the pope had purchased the tiara ? and did not opinion find in his subsequent conduct facts which tallied with that incipient simony ? " He sells the keys, the altars, Christ himself : By right he sells what he has bought with pelf." l Every crime was attributed to him murder, assas- sination, poisoning, simony, and incest. 2 " He played during his w r hole life a game of deception ; and, not- withstanding his faithless conduct w T as extremely well known, " says Machiavelli, " his artifices always proved successful," a proof that decided success proves not the decided integrity of schemes. Oaths and protestations cost him nothing, says the same authority ; never did a prince so often break his word, or pay less regard to 1 " Vendit Alexander claves, altaria, Christum ; Vendere jure potest, emerat ille prius." 2 An epitaph was written for Lucretia, his licentious daughter, as follows : " Here lies Lucrece, a Thais in her life Pope Sixtus' daughter, daughter-in-law, and Avife." " Hie jacet in tumulo Lucretia nomine, sed re Thais, Alexandri filia, spousa, uurus." This epitaph has been attributed to Sannazarius, but I have been unable to find it among his works : the following epigram, on the same subject, is certainly his : " Ergo te semper cupiet, Lucretia, Sextus ? O fatum diri nominis : hie pater est." Sannaz. Epigram. \. ii. No. !. 10 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. his engagements. This was because he so well under- stood this chapter in the art of government, adds the political philosopher, with wonderful complacency. 1 Possibly Alexander the Sixth was the model of Machia- velli's Prince the all-famous Principe that gospel- booh of the sixteenth century. Alexander the Sixth has thus been universally denounced : Catholics and Protestants have united in blasting his memory : the Jesuit Reeve styles The prime D m J error of the him " the infamous Borgia." 2 Some there church. , , , . r> i are who speak and write ot his vices and crimes with a sort of gusto, because they seem to reflect on the religion of Catholics. Cruel, unjust, absurdest of imputations ! Who charges the religion of Protestants with the vices and crimes of Henry the Eighth ? It is not the religion of Catholics that explains the impurity of an Alexander's guilt, but the position of the popedom in the sixteenth century. Such a character at the head of the faithful such a striking deviation from moral rectitude, even assuming him to have been slandered in some points, was more to be lamented on the score of inconsistency. It was a sad position for " the successor of St. Peter," " the head of the church," "the vicar of Christ. '' But was it not, somehow, a natural position for an absolute monarch, as the error of the church permitted the father of the faith- ful to become, when the poverty (so beautiful and con- sistent) of the apostolic brotherhood first vouchsafed to humanity was no more ? This was the prime error of 1 II Principe, c. xviii. 2 Hist, of the Christian Church, p. 428. Why is the title S. J. (Societatis Jesu) omitted in the title-page of this Jesuit's book ? See Dr. Oliver's Collec- tions, p. 178. IGNATIUS. 1 1 the church the error on which all others hung flapping to and fro as the winds of the passions listed on a sunny sea of temptation. Temporal power assumed or received by the spiritual guides of men, was contrary to the will of Him who sent them forth to be " ministers ' servants, not to " exercise dominion. " l In open defiance of the sacred counsel, the shepherd of the flock became a prince of many people, even as " the princes of the Gentiles," and how could the promise be kept, that " the gates of hell should not prevail against the church/' if its very head was in direct contravention of the most urgent of these conditions, all of which were to be complied with to eventuate that fulfilment ? And, alas ! how fearfully did the popes do as " the princes of the Gentiles ! ' They were kings and the vices of kings had long ceased to be exceptions to the gene- ral rule ; if not a matter of course, these vices were certainly a matter of notoriety. Long before Alex- ander VI. there had been popes of reprobate character, and yet enjoying, as heads of the Christian Church, the name and prerogatives of sanctity. But who could deem holy that Urban VI., who, to glut his revenge against those cardinals who opposed his election, had them tied up in a sack and drowned in the sea of Genoa ? 2 Who could deem holy that Boniface VIIL, of whom it was truly said that he entered the papacy 1 " But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise autho- rity upon them : but it shall not be so among you : but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister ; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." Matt. xx. 25, et seq. 2 " Quibus dum Genuam pontifex defertur, ex septem cardinalibus Nucerise captis, quinque saccis involutes, in mare demersit." Plat, de Vit. Pont. p. 206. 12 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. like a wolf, ruled like a lion, and died like a dog,- -the terror he lived of all kings and nations, and an insatiate lover of gold ? l In the ages of faith flourished these " vicars of Christ." Verily, notorious and infamous crimes have immortalised the memory of popes. And early did the human mind shrink back, horror-stricken at the awful inconsistency. Even in the fourteenth century, when men had scarcely dreamed of shaking off the bonds of superstition in the age of vagabond pil- grimages and hobgoblins it was one of the first glad tidings of coming freedom, when the earliest promoters of literature, in bold and daring numbers, sang the crimes and punishments of lawless, godless popes. In the realms of woe eternal, the genius of poesy found them. Ineffectual wails, unsatisfying torments, em- bodied the poetic conception, the infernal merits of those who abused the sacred sentiment of religion in the human breast, to suit their selfish purposes, their guilty passions : at the sight of whom Dante invoked the name of Simon Magus, and sounded forth his terrible trumpet. 2 Pope Anastasius in the deep abysm by an 1 " Moritur hoc modo Bonifacius ille, qui imperatoribus, regibus, principibus, nationibus, populis, terrorem potius quam religionem iujicere conabatur ; quique dare regna et auferre, pellere homines ac reducere pro arbitrio animi conabatur, aurum undique conquisitum plus quam dici potest, sitiens." Plat, de Vit. Pont. p. 187; Leti } Vit. de Sist. V. i. 15. A curious anecdote is related of this pope, by the same honest Catholic : " We certainly know," says Platina, " what he said to Prochetus, the Archbishop of Genoa, who was kneeling before him on a certain Ash- Wednesday. For whereas it is customary for the priest on that occasion to say, ' Remember, man, that thou art ashes, and into ashes shalt return ; ' Boniface exclaimed, substituting the words, ' Remember, man, that thou art a Gibelline, and with the Gibellines into ashes shalt return ; ' whereupon he flung the ashes into his eyes, and not on his head, as is usual."- -Plat, de Vit. Pont. p. 186. 2 " O Simon Mago, miseri sequaci, Che le cose di Dio, che di bontate Deouo essere spose, e voi, rapaci, Per oro e per argento adulterate ; Or convien die per voi suoni la tromba," &e. Jiifcin. c. xix. IGNATIUS. 13 inscription lie recognised, 1 whilst his church on earth, as he found her, was " sunk under the weight of her crimes, and polluted with mire and filth." In hell he found Nicholas III. planted with his heels upwards, waiting till Boniface VIII. arrives, who is to take his place- -to be in his turn relieved by Clement V,, IIH pastor senza legyc, a lawless shepherd. 2 The milder spirit of Petrarca is roused on this subject of Roman depravity, to a higher pitch of indignation. In one of his sonnets he assimilates the papal court to Babylon u L'avara Babilonia ha colmo '1 sacco D'ira di Dio, e di vizj empj e rei Tanto, che scoppia ; ed ha fatti suoi Dei Non Giove e Palla, ma Venere e Bacco." 3 To him, Rome is a fountain of grief, the dwelling of wrath, the school of error, and the temple of unbelief. He pours forth with wrathful energy every epithet of disgrace against the putta sfacciata- -the unblushing- thing of iniquity. 4 Catholics easily account for their devotion to the holy see, in spite of its historical abominations, which, however, very few of them are aware of *> _ > The holy see their accredited histories in common use, and the court " with permission of authority,' veiling the subject with painful dexterity. When the matter is alluded to, a specious argument, with its clever distinctions, satisfies at least the bold propounders of theory against fact. They will tell you : we dis- tinguish the lioly see from the court of Rome. The pope, when representing the former in the spiritual 1 Inferno, c. xi. 2 Ib. xix. 83. 3 Sonn. xv. Sonn. xvi.; Rose. Leo X. ii. 84. See also, Rosetti, Disqnisit. passim. 14 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS, government of the church, cannot err, being inspired by the Holy Ghost, and having received his impeccability, in that capacity, from Christ, when he said : " / have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not." And when the pope goes astray, it is as prince of the Roman Court the famous, or rather infamous, Corte di Roma which is subject to all the passions, to all worldly interests, all the maxims of state policy, so often pernicious in their results all the tortuous shifts of hireling machinations the urgency of war revenge, secret and public display, pomp, factions, cliques in fine, to all the pas- sions notorious and infamous in the worst rulers of men. 1 Why not, then, elect two popes I Let one be king of Rome and its court. Let the other be Dairi, as in Japan, only concerned with spirituals faith, What the ^ present time morals, bulls, and dispensations. By such a requires. , . , . , , , . plan we might almost go back to the apostolic simplicity of church-government. The present time urgently requires something of the sort : already we begin to see how impossible it is, in spite of splendid promise, for a pope of Rome to shake off utterly his ancient self. 2 1 Leti, Sisto V. lib. i. 2 There is an old prophecy, known perhaps to the learned of the Catholic church, under the name of Propketia Malacliice, professing to give, by symbols, the characteristic of each successive pope or his pontificate. The symbol of Pius IX., the present pope, turns out to be very striking ; it is De balucis jfithrurice, that is, out of the drinking-pots of Etruria. Perhaps some will find it as difficult to accord the "promises" of the present pope with what he can, or means to do, in the way of " regeneration," as it is to explain the meaning of his mysterious motto, as conceived by Malachy at least It is, moreover, very curious to find that there will be only eleven more popes ! At all events, there remains only that number of symbols. Whether we are approaching the end of the popedom, or of the world so nearly, is the serious question. How. ever, after the last motto, we are told that " the Roman Peter will sit in the last persecution and the tremendous judge will judge his people Finis the End." See the Jesuit Arsdekin, Tfieol. Trip. p. 78. IGNATIUS. 1 5 The disreputable characters of the popes interfered not with their spiritual pretensions their power over the nations of earth and her princes. These -, -I , -1 The source of pretensions have sent down their names to pa paidomi- posterity, coupled with the humiliation of kings and popentates, impelled by " public opinion ; which was guided by the superstitions of the age, to kiss the hand that hurled them to the dust. Public opinion was led away captive by the arts which practised on the religious instinct of men. The acknowledged Father of the Faithful, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Temple of the Holy Ghost, and Keeper of the Keys of Heaven and Hell, triumphed aloft on the clouds of Public Opinion. That was the fact the natural fact for it is absurd to suppose that such spiritual domination could be simply usurped. It was the accumulated result of skilful management ; and was finally dreaded, if not universally revered, or conscien- tiously conceded. The arms of that power were forged on the anvil of superstition, in the midst of barbarism midnight darkness of mind. Scarcely remarkable in the first ages of the church, the See of Rome continued the struggle for supremacy over other Sees : but from the beginning of the seventh century to the middle of the eighth, the bishop of Rome was acknowledged the Head of the Church. From that period to the middle of the eleventh century, he was not only the Head of the Church, but a temporal prince of Italy : and thenceforward to the present time, the pope has been the " Vicar of Jesus Christ," and sovereign of the ecclesiastical states of Italy, with more or less of "temporal power 5 in other kingdoms, according to circumstances. 1 1 Zopf, t. i, ^57. 16 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Gregory VII. led off the band of fulminating pontiffs. He founded his domination with these words : / excom- municate thee. With these words the old man changed the face of his world. With this weapon he forced kings to yield to the pope those domains destined for the support of his clergy and his own comfort and consolation. Soon these papal troops were cantoned in every quarter of Christendom, whilst all the property of the monks- -domains vast and well cultivated became the appurtenance of the sovereign pontiff. Wherever priests were found they were the subjects of the pope. The wealth of Europe, from bound to bound, went to fill the coffers of the Vatican, and Gregory, the universal monarch, had, so to speak, a foot in all the kingdoms of Christendom. The clergy, the popedom, Italy herself, became, by a single stroke, the central point of Christian Europe ; thenceforth Rome was the common country of the priesthood. This vast ecclesiastical confraternity, receiving directly from the Vatican their power, their splendour, their fortune, no longer belonged to any king or country. Rome gave the law to the world. 1 As a set-off against this splendid domination of the popedom, w r e are told that the papal power held in check the tyranny of kings, protected the weak by mysteriously overwhelming the strong in those darksome days of man's troublous history. The proofs of this assertion are required- -proofs plain and unequivocal- -bereft of the tinsel of poetry or the clap-traps of rhetoric. The stern page of history declares that popes have rarely interfered in the wicked concerns and encroachments of kings, when ecclesiastical prerogatives were not at stake. 1 Foscolo, Dante e il suo Secolo. Scelt. Op. i. IGNATIUS. 1 7 The Emperor Henry IV. was deposed by Gregory in 1076 ; Frederick I. was deposed by Alexander III. in 1160 ; Otho IV. in 1211, and King John of England by Innocent III., and Innocent IV. deposed Frederick II. in 1245. These facts seem to announce that the suc- cessors of Gregory possessed somewhat more than moderate power ; but what Gregory gained by spiritual arms succeeding popes expanded in a manner more in accordance with that of " the princes of the Gentiles." 1 Alexander the Sixth, more than any, "proved to the world what a pope was capable of doing by means of men and money." 2 His whole pontificate was spent in vice and spoliation and murder. Still he was endured by the Catholic Christians of those times ; he died in prosperity, his coffers filled with more than a million of golden ducats. He died by poison, as is commonly believed. He coveted the wealth of certain courtiers and cardinals, and resolved to poison them at a feast to which they were invited. The poisoned wine was given to himself by mistake : he lingered awhile, and died in the seventy-second year of his age, and the eleventh of his pontificate, A.D. 1503. 3 1 The reader has been reminded of the positive command of Christ to his apostles, touching "temporal power." The following piece of claptrap by a modern Catholic writer is as curious as it is absurd : " If he (the pope) had remained a simple individual or private subject, he could not have enjoyed the liberty necessary for the discharge of his duties as head of the universal church, The circumstances, therefore, which raised him to the rank of a temporal sove- reign, are to be attributed to the dispensations of a wise Providence ( !) who regulates events for the good of religion ; who saw how necessary it was that the sovereign pontiff should have temporal power enough to be independent (!) but not too much to divert him from the discharge of his spiritual functions, and gave him exactly (!) that moderate power." Dublin Review, xl. The words of Christ are, " It shall not be so among you." Matt. xx. 25, et seq. 2 Machiav. II Principe, xi. 3 Panv. Alex. VI. The case of the poisoning has been denied : but not VOL. I. C 18 HISTOKY OF THE JESUITS. Whilst we shrink from reproaching his religion with his crimes, the fact of such a man being the head of the church, and suffered to remain so, is highly a man of the characteristic of the age. Nor was he de- en " ncient in those other qualifications in which that age, like every other since that time, delighted ; his vices seemed to be compensated by talents by no means vulgar. He was fluent of speech, had a good memory, great application, and a natural fund of eloquence and persuasion, which proved to be the ruin of many. His art of captivation was irresistible. Better than any man of his time, he could accommodate himself to all, adapting his conversation with great dexterity, according to circumstances, pleasant subjects for the gay, serious topics for the grave. The care and government of the Christian republic occupied his deliberations with the cardinals. With kindness and patience he subdued and fettered his opponents. The most implacable of his enemies he converted into his staunchest friends. At the destruc- tion of the many barons whom he sacrificed, no public cry of indignation was heard, no insurrection occurred ; he obviated resistance by his presence in every transaction, and in important matters he confided little in others. 1 Enough in these sterling qualities to account for Alexander's prosperity. He was remarkably temperate in eating and drinking, and indulged but a short time satisfactorily. See Rose. Leo X. i. 469, for the authorities ; and Ranke for a very interesting extract from Sanuto, touching the fatal supper. Hist, of the Popes, p. 339, App. ; Sannazarius, a contemporary, wrote as follows : " Mirum, si vomuit nigrum post fata cruorem Borgia ? quern biberat, coquere haud potnit." Epigram, ii. 30. 1 Paiiv. Alex. VI. IGNATIUS. 1 9 in bed. He admired and cherished the arts ; he punc- tually paid the pensions of learned men, the stipend of his soldiers, and the wages of his workmen. 1 Such a line of conduct was decidedly calculated to make and insure many friends ; vice is commonly winked at when it is not accompanied by meanness and insolvency. Alexander's brain was certainly one of extraordinary vigour and texture : it remained unimpaired to the last. 2 Nor was this " infamous Borgia " (to borrow the Jesuit's epithet) devoid of professional instinct. He issued " a pompous Bull" to authorise the kings of Spain and Portugal, at their request, exclusively to hold their contingent possessions in the New World, " with a view of propagating the Christian religion among the savages by the ministry of the Gospel." 3 If this was really Borgia's motive, it proves, apparently, that although horrid vice was his nature as a man, clerical zeal was his instinct as a pope, and that the things are not incompatible. It is sometimes difficult to account for certain facts without assuming this probability. In effect, Alexander the Sixth blended spirituals with temporals the spirit and the flesh to an uncommon degree ; in a picture, painted for him by Pinturicchio, 1 Panv. Alex. VI. ; Rose. Leo X. i. Combe, the phrenologist, has pictured and spread Alex- ander's skull all over the world, to " illustrate" the horrid " animal propensities," but decidedly it had other " bumps " not to be sneered at. His position and pro- fession were his spiritual ruin. No " developments " are to be despaired of if we only learn to manage them. Nature can never be contrary to the Chris- tian's duty. It is curious to note similar "developments" in Leo X. ; certainly by phrenology, sweepingly applied, Leo and Alexander should rank together. 3 Reeve, Jesuit, ubi supra, p. 428. This was considered a bond fide grant, or at all events acted upon as such, by the Spanish king subsequently, when he instanced the Bull in his complaint against Drake for plundering his ships in his papal seas. Rapin, vol. ii. p. 112, Camden, an. 1580. See also Pereira, Pol. Ind., 1. i. c. x. c 2 20 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the beautiful Julia Farnese, his mistress, is represented in the sacred character of the Virgin Mary, whilst Alexander himself appears in the same picture, as supreme pontiff, paying to her the tribute of adora- tion I 1 This fact is strikingly characteristic of the man whose conduct must necessarily have had immense influence on the Christendom of those clays. Two other facts are not much less remarkable. Alexander made many cardinals for " a consideration ' in money ; and he actually gave a refuge at Rome to the Marranos, or " converted Jews," expelled from Spain- -thereby mortally offending the Catholic king. What a noble instance of primitive toleration, perhaps you exclaim : but the fact is, Alexander took advantage of Ferdinand's tyrannical bigotry to increase his own revenue : he derived a large revenue from a capitation- tax which he imposed on the unfortunate children of Israel ! Money paid for everything in the Holy City. 2 Panvinius, a Catholic historian, who wrote about sixty years after Alexander's exit, thus sums up the pope's character. His political talents were thrown in the shade by his more than Punic perfidy, his dismal 1 Roscoe, uli supra, i. 196. This Julia Farnese was sister to Alexander Far- nese, afterwards Paul III., pope of Rome. Amongst the credited rumours of those times, it was said that Farnese, her brother, bargained for his cardinal's gown from the pope, with his sister's honour Alexander Sexto .... ad usum .... pro nibro galero dedit. Sleidan and Vergerius evidently fished in the muddy pools of scandal. However, rumours are historical influences, and they tend to account for events, or at least the opinions of men touching events. It was the same Paul III. who established the Jesuits. It had been better for the Jesuits had their origin been sanctioned by the good Pope Adrian VI., whose character none but bad Catholics impugned. 2 " Omnia venditarentur, nihilque pecunise negaretur .... Magnum quoque vectigal ex his quos vulgus Maranos vocabat, a rege Catholico ex Hispania pulsos, et ab se Romse,magna cum ejus regis indignatione, susceptos, colligebat." Panv. Alex. VI. IGNATIUS. 21 cruelty, boundless avarice and rapacity, and his ever- craving desire of acquiring power for his son, per fas ct nefas, without a scruple at the means employed. When not engaged in business he gave himself to every kind of pleasure, without exception. He was particularly addicted to women, and had four sons and two daughters. Vannocia, a Roman lady, was the chief of his mistresses. His favourite entertainments were comedies and other pastimes ; and he would often take his stand on the Mole of Adrian, on festive days, to see the masks as they passed. l He gave a magnificent equestrian display, and a hunting party on the Vatican, to celebrate the nuptials of his daughter. Never before had cut-throats and assassins enjoyed more licence : never did the people of Rome possess less freedom. The number of informers was immense : for the slightest murmurs or malediction the penalty of death was awarded. 2 Footpads swarmed in every street : bandits in every highway : it was unsafe to walk the city by night, or the suburbs by day. Rome was become a general place of execution and slaughter,- which the pope permitted to gratify his children and relatives, whom in all things he indulged. 3 It is generally admitted that this pontificate is the darkest in the annals of Papal Rome. Details State of abundant and disgusting, of the general morals in demoralisation of those times, may be found elsewhere : 4 but that depravity of morals did not begin 1 The expression is mysterious " si quid elegantius in liominum genere per viam prseteriret." 2 This state of things accounts for a fact advanced in favour of this pope that " during his whole pontificate no popular tumult ever endangered this pope's authority or disturbed his repose." Roscoe, Leo X. i. 195. 3 Panv. Alex. VI. See Roscoe, vM supra. 4 Bui-chard, Diarium " Fabre, " Contin. of Fleury's Hist. Eccl.," and 22 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. with Alexander's pontificate. Platina, a contemporary, a pious Catholic, befriended and honoured by pope Sixtus IV., adverts with lamentation to the growing- evil the multiplied iniquity. He glances back to times anterior, when immorality, as he believed, de- served and brought down Pagan persecution on the Christian church : when the ministers of the gospel, pale with envy, puffed up with pride, distracted with feuds, agitated by mutual hatred, seemed better versed in the principles of tyranny than the duties of the priesthood, utterly forgetful of Christian piety, pro- faned rather than celebrated the sacred mysteries. 1 This vivid contemplation of the third century of the Church when a saint 2 was the bishop of Rome inspires the historian with prophetic fire, which bursts forth as follows. " But what do we think will happen in these our times, when our vices have increased to such an extent that they scarcely leave us any place for mercy with God \ How great is the avarice of our priests, especially of those who possess supreme power ! How great is their lust seeking its objects in every quarter ; how great their ambition and display ; how much pride and sloth ; how great their ignorance of themselves and of Christian doctrine ; how little religion, and that rather counterfeit than true ; how corrupt their morals, many others give details on the subject ; it is sufficient here to call attention to the fact " Hoc sat viator : reliqua non shut pudor. Tu suspicare, et ambula." See his Epitaph in Sannazar. Epig. ii. 29. 1 " Hi eiiim livore, superbid, inimicitiis, odiis inter se certantes, tyrannidem potius quam sacerdotium sapere videbantur, Christianse pietatis oranino obliti, ac divina mysteria profanantes potius quam celebrantes." In vita S. Marcettini. 1 Marcellinus, considered a saint because he suffered martyrdom, although he was before induced by fear to worship the strange gods, " deos alienos adorawit." Ibid. IGNATIUS. 2o (even such as were to be detested in profane men or seculars) I need not declare, since they sin openly and publicly, as though they were seeking praise for their enormities ! Believe me ; and Heaven grant that I prove a false prophet ! the Turk, that foe of the Christian name, will come upon us ; a more violent enemy than Diocletian or Maximian. He strikes at the gates of Italy. Slothful and steeped in sleep more intent upon our private pleasures than the common welfare we await our universal downfall." 1 Pius III., Alexander's successor, reigned six-and- twenty days : his was a nominal pontificate, amidst strife and commotion, resulting from the feuds . .. Julius II. of the former. Then Julius II. assumed with the tiara the sword of Mars, which he wielded like a warrior. His heart was ferocious and wrathful, says the Jesuit Pallavicino : 2 he retained only the garb and name of pope inveterate in simony and 1 In the Italian translation of Platina, published in 1703, con licenza de'Supe- riori, the whole of this most striking and remarkable passage is suppressed. It was perhaps too honest a testimony against the patrons of abuses, to stand upon record. Here is the original. " Sed quid futurum nostra eetate arbitramur ? qua vitia nostra eo crevere, ut vix apud Deum misericordise locum nobis reli- querint. Quanta sit avaritia Sacerdotum, et eorum maxime qui rerum potiuntur, quanta libido undique conquisita, quanta ambitio et pompa, quanta superbia et desidia, quanta ignoratio, turn sui-ipsius, turn doctrinfe Christianse, quam parva religio, et simulata potius quam vera, quam corrupt! mores, vel in pro- fanis etiam hominibus (quos seculares vocant) detestandi, uon attinet dicere, cum ipsa ita aperte et palam peccent, ac si inde laudem quaererent. Veniet (mihi credite, utinam falsus sim vates), veniet Turcus hostis Christian! nominis, Diocletiano et Maximiano violentior. Italiae claustra jam pulsat. Nos desides et somniculosi, interitum commuuem expectamus, voluptati privatee potius quam communi utilitati consulentes." Plat, in vita Marcellinl, in fine. " It is certain," says Muratori, " that the cardinals in those days, instead of electing the best man, as they ought to have done, elected the worst, in favour of human cupidity : the fault of bad example, and of the corruption then prevail- ing, through which some popes even went so far as to boast of having children." Annali, t. ix. p. 366. 2 " Era Giulio di cuor feroce ed iracondo/' Lib. i. c. 1. 24 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. infamous immorality, says Guicciardini. 1 For a cer- tainty by many proofs there was in Julius the greatest ferocity of mind, which neither his age nor his dignity could correct or moderate ; he knew no bounds in any of his measures, but was blindly driven headlong by his passions, says Paruta. 2 He stormed in person, and carried the town of La Mirandola against the French, whom he expelled from Italy. Julius triumphed for a time over his enemies : but it was a significant fact, a prognostic of coming events, when a body of cardinals and bishops cited their pope to appear before a council to answer the charges levelled at his exor- bitant pretensions ; and, finally, at his refusal to appear, pronouncing a sentence of suspension against the Father of the Faithful. Nor is it less remarkable that these " schismatics" actually " went through all the forms of a legal council, invoked the assistance of the Holy Ghost, chose a president, and called themselves the legal representative of the whole Church, whom all are bound to obey." 3 This event took place in 1512. Of course these presumptuous mortals were severely punished : all were duly excommunicated deprived of their benefices and dignities. The kingdom of France, whose king, Lewis XII., was their abettor, was laid under an interdict, with direst anathema, by the vindic- tive pontiff, who forthwith summoned the fifth council of Lateran, " to regulate with great care whatever concerned the state and welfare of the church, the 1 " Non riteneva cli Pontef'ice altro die 1'habito ed il nome inveterate iiella simonia e ne' costumi infami." Lib. ii. 2 " Per certo da' molti indicii si pote couoscer in Giulio essere stata grandis- sima ferocita d' ingegno, la quale, ne 1' eta, ne la dignita fu bastante di corregere, 6 di tempcrare. Non sapeva in alcuna sua operation e servave misura, 6 tempera- mento ; ma quasi cieco era le piu volte da gli appetiti suoi portato a precipitare." Hist. Vinci, lib. i. See also Muratori, Annali, ix. 83. 3 Reeve, p. 430. IGNATIUS. 25 reformation of manners, the extinction of schism, and the restoration of peace amongst Christian princes." 1 A mere bank-order without proceeds. All these cardinals were, in the next pontificate, restored to their dignities. It is admitted that their object and hope were to place a good and holy pope over the Christian church ; though we are also told that each of them secretly aspired to the dignity. 2 In his difficulties the pope craved succour from Henry VIII. of England, which was granted by the future Defender of the Faith and destroyer of the Church in the " Island of Saints." In defence of the popedom or its interests, Henry sent an army into France ; but, pressed on all sides, in the midst of his tumultuous designs, Julius died of a fever, produced by mental exacerbation at the failure of one of his political schemes : " for he was greatly ruled by his passions, and continually agitated by his desire of glory, and could not long endure the grief of seeing his designs severely disapproved by all. 3 Like his predecessor, Julius was a character of the age. He knew not what it was to entertain fear or irresolution : even in his advanced years he His qualities possessed that grand quality of manhood, andachieve- indomitable courage. He made but small account of the princes of his time, thinking he could overlook them all. To the very tumult of a general war did he look with most hopes of gains : his only care w r as to be always in command of money, so as to seize the favourable opportunity with all his might : 1 Reeve, p. 430 ; Dupin, iv ; Hard. Concil. ix ; Mosh. ii. : Panvin. Julius II. 3 Panv., uli supra ; Paruta, uli supra. It is said that his last words were, Fuori cV Italia Frances Fuori Alfonso d'Este /" " Out with the French from Italy Out with Alfonso cVEste." Muratori, Annali, t. ix, 33. 26 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. lie desired, as was happily said by a Venetian, to be lord and master of the game of the world. He waited the fulfilment of his desires with impatience, but he kept them confined to his own breast. If we inquire what was the circumstance that enabled him to assume his peculiar attitude, we find it was, above all things, that he was free to avow his natural tenden- cies, nay, openly to profess them and make them his boast. The re-establishment of the state of the Church was regarded by the world of that day as a glorious enterprize : it even considered it a religious one : all the pope's steps were directed towards this one end, this was the idea that animated all his thoughts ; they were, if I may so express myself, steeped in it. 1 Julius succeeded for a time : he made France tremble, drove her armies out of Italy, and overwhelmed the Venetians, though before his time the princes of Italy, and even the poorest barons and most insignificant nobles, regarded the bishop of Rome with indifference in relation to his temporal power. 2 No man can blame the pope for this ambition, considering him a king elected to defend " St. Peter's patrimony," particularly as it appears that Julius laboured more for the good of the Church than his own private interest. 3 Alexander added to the dominions of Popedom ; Julius followed his example : both were politicians adapted to the age when all who had power were striving to secure or enhance it, without a scruple as to the means applied. If politicians of the Machiavellian school may find His patronage niuch to imitate in the method of Alex- O f the arts. an( }er VI. the admirers of art may look with complacency on Julius II. ; for he " patronised ' 1 Ranke, p. 1H. " Machiav. II Priric. xi. 3 Id. ibid. IGNATIUS. 27 Michael Angelo, Raphael, and Bramante, if such men be not disgraced by the application of the term " patronised." " A warrior-pontiff as he was," says the Cavalier e Abate Tiraboschi, ci-devant Jesuit, 1 " a warrior pontiff, and totally intent on retrieving and extending the states of the Church, it seemed that he cared not much for literature and men of letters ; but, man as he was, of a mighty soul and vastest ideas, he could with the same hand wield the sword and foster the arts and sciences. Julius began the erection of St. Peter's, opened a new library, favoured the professors of the fine arts, and the cultivators of polite literature." 2 A new era dawned with Leo X., the successor of the warlike Julius. Characteristic was the beginning. On the day of his coronation he gave an earnest of what might be expected from him, by dis- tributing a hundred thousand crowns of gold to the populace. Bembo and Sadolet, the best Latin scholars of the day, he made his secretaries. To the University of Rome he united the most celebrated professors of all countries. Whoever was, or fancied himself a fine poet, an eloquent orator, a polished and elegant writer, hurried to Rome, and found in Leo a friendly reception and liberal rewards. On a triumphal arch at the Ponte S. Angelo, a glorious inscription proclaimed to gods and men that all was accomplished :- " Venus anon was queen then Mars held sway But now Minerva rules the better day." 3 1 u After the suppression of the Society, Tiraboschi was knighted by the Duke of Modena. He died in 1794. He will be noticed when I have to portray the Literature of the Jesuits. 2 Storia, torn. vii. 3 " Olim habuit Cypris sua tempera, tempora Mavors Olim habuit ; sua nuuc tempora Pallas habet." Tirab, ubi supra; Joe. Vita, Hi. 28 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. In these presiding divinities, pointed allusion was made to the very peculiar characteristics of Leo's pre- decessors Alexander's licentious court with its Lucretia Borgia, and the warlike reign of Julius. There is, there- fore, history in that inscription : it was " tolerated" by the pope, which makes it authentic. To enlarge on the magnificent pontificate of Leo X, would be here out of place. It kept pace with the revival of the sciences then universal, if kcti'o S ns PI the pope's patronage was not rather too exclusive in its predilections. Men there were who saw with regret that the pope took delight in listening to light poetry and jests not always decent, and frequented comedies in which good morals were not much respected. The consequence was, that he brought discredit on the pontifical dignity, and gave rise to suspicions reflecting on his personal integrity. But a greater disadvantage was the fact that the decided preference of the pope for poetry and other light pursuits caused the grave sciences to lie neglected at a time when defenders of the Faith were becoming necessary to the Church, heresy in arms being at the gates of Rome. 1 The Jesuit Andres is still more explicit on the subject. " The intimate familiarity/ 3 says he, " with which Leo honoured the Quernos, the Britonios, Gazaldos, and other poetasters, rather than poets, and the ardour with which he sought the gross pleasure of listening to the most vulgar companies of comedians whom he imported with vast expense from Sienna, greatly diminished the honours which he liberally Tirab. uli supra. But see Jovius, Vita, lib. iv., for a curious disquisition on the score of the pope's morality ; and Roscoe, Life, ii. 389, for a vindication. Tiraboschij also, gives a defence in a note to the passage above given. IGNATIUS. 29 bestowed upon meritorious men of letters, and the glory that might have resulted to good poets in being invited to his court, 1 A Horace or a Virgil could little value those distinctions which brought them to the level of a Bavins and a Maevius." 2 The political events of Leo's pontificate were in the line chalked out by his immediate predecessors : but they are insignificant in comparison with the moral demonstrations of his times. It is na turT, a the impossible not to identify this pope with the age to which he gave so striking an example. It seems to have been his intention to pass his time cheerfully, and to secure himself against trouble and anxiety by all means in his power. He sought all opportunities of pleasure and merriment, and indulged his leisure in amusement, jests, and singing ; either induced by a natural propensity, or from an idea that the avoiding of vexation and care might contribute to lengthen his days. 3 He was fond of music : he conferred the archbishopric of Bari on Gabriel Merino, whose chief merit consisted in the excellence of his voice. The lowest species of buffoonery gave him de- light : his courtiers and attendants could not more effectually obtain his favour than by introducing to him such persons as by their eccentricity, per- versity, or imbecility of mind, were likely to excite his mirth. 4 Such pursuits in a king you would not think criminal : you would only wish he had possessed a better taste * 1 Roscoe, ii. 179, gives an account of the poetasters alluded to by Andres. Leo's taste, in this matter at least, was sadly at fault. 2 Dell' Orig. t. i. c. xiii, 3 Roscoe, ii. 4 Ibid. ii. 30 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. more ennobling inclinations : but in " a man of God/' as the pope ought to be. you behold them in a Ascetic view of Leo's very different light. You look within them : you are forced to penetrate beyond their surface, into the heart's deep gulf; and you fear you perceive a dim eclipse of piety : you cannot reconcile outward dissipation with inward " recollection," or com- munion with God. You turn to the ascetic writers of Rome's church, and every man of them is of your opinion, from Thomas a Kempis, with his "Imitation of Christ," to the Jesuit Rodriguez, with his " Christian Perfection." You dread to seek the facts that will attest, as effects, the moral cause which you clearly perceive. You pause, and ask what was the state of that Church whose ruler was such as described by his panegyrists if such was the head, you ask what were the members ? " What a spectacle," exclaimed right-minded prelates of the Roman court, " what a spectacle does this deso- lation of the churches present to the eyes tion of the of a Christian who travels over the Chris- tian world ! All the shepherds have aban- doned their flocks, and have left them to the care of hirelings." 1 The incumbents of benefices selected the cheapest substitutes to perform their sacred duties : mendicant monks were eager to " suit" and serve. These monks occupied the bishoprics under the title of " suffragans/' and held the cures as vicars. To these mendicant monks extraordinary privileges were con- ceded ; they were permitted to perform the functions of the secular clergy all under the prominent patronage 1 Concil. dilect. Cardinalinm. A pud Ranke, p. 18. IGNATIUS. 31 of the pontiff. And yet the mendicant orders of monks were completely sunk into a state of total worldliness- that state so vividly described by Platina, as we have already seen to which we have but to add that " murder by poison, the dagger, the sword, and fire- arms," was the climax of their depravities. 1 " Woe, woe!" exclaims one of the prelates before alluded to, " Who gives my eyes their fountain of tears ? Even those set apart are fallen off ; the vineyard of the Lord is laid waste. Did they perish alone, it were an evil, yet it might be endured ; but since they pervade all Christen- dom, like the veins of the body, their decay must needs bring with it the ruin of the world." Did Leo look with indifference on the growing the full-grown evil ? Speaking of the Holy Father, men would say " e ben reliqioso ma vuol ... How Leo viver " he is religious enough, but he has a passed his mind to live;" a poor testimonial for the Father of the Faithful. It is the " but" which gives the character. Jovially indeed he passed his days : -at Yiterbo hawking, at Corneto hunting, and on the lake of Bolsena fishing. To his favourite resort at Mai- liana, improvisatori and men of nimble wit thronged to enliven every hour of his joyful days. 2 And when winter returned, Rome eagerly received the complacent Father, 1 " Si viene ad homicidi non solo col veneno, ma apertamente col coltello e con la spada, per non dire con schiopetti." Apud Ranke, p. 1 9. 2 Let the reader reconcile, if he can, with this jovial existence the account debited by the Jesuit Pallavicino, ever eager to defend and flatter the popedom. According to this bold asserter, Leo fasted twice a week, and abstained from meat once a-week, in honour of the Virgin, and every Friday fed on herbs in honour of Christ's passion ; and the Jesuit has the conscience to say, " Such frequent maceration of the senses in a young prince, and hi a mind eager for delights, united as it was to the danger of shortening life, which is cherished and 32 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. to whom she was grateful for her seeming prosperity. The number of her inhabitants was greatly increased ; there was profit for the artisan, honour for the artist, security for all, since Leo had exterminated the bandits and footpads of Alexander's pontificate. All was glad- ness, animation, intellectual display. The luxurious genius of the pontiff beamed in every department. No cost was too great for spiritual or secular festivals, plays and theatrical entertainments, presents and favours : nothing was spared yet something was, apparently, wanting. Giuliano Medici proposed to reside at Home, with his young wife. " God be praised/' said Cardinal Bibbiena, in a letter to him, " for here we lack nothing but a court of ladies !" l Alluding to one of the pope's houses of pleasure, Bembo thus describes it, in the name of Leo. " It is exquisitely adapted to gladden and rejoice the soul, owing to its admirable piazza, its many and most beautiful prospects very commodious and roomy, with large hall and spacious chambers, beau- tifully adorned with a costly ceiling of gold, and tesselated pavement. " 2 Nevertheless, Pope Leo was a " diligent observer of divine things, and a lover of the sacred ceremonies/' though he did not always maintain pontifical luxury, and decorum. To the sore distress of his master of venality. . the ceremonies he sometimes left Rome, not only without the proper dress, but, as his officer has noted in his journal, "what is worst of all, with boots on his feet," just like any sporting gentleman not at all particular. fostered as a sort of divinity by kings, could not have been long protracted, except by the efficacy of the strongest piety."" Hist. Condi. Trid. 1. i. c. ii. 5. 1 Apud Ranke, p. 22, and Roscoe, uli supra. - Pet, Bembi, Epist. 1. xiii. 10. IGNATIUS. 33 " Desperately fond of pleasure, hunting and fowling, he gave whole days to luxurious enjoyments, the most splendid banquets, and musical entertainments. To raise money, (of which he had spent largely in his buildings, his profuse donations, and war-expenses) he made cardinals for a price, and devised certain offices of state, which he sold. " l It is difficult to reconcile this pope's indulged pro- pensities with that severe religion which beseems the Head of the Church : but that was the age of . The Church sensual enjoyment ; and far from there being is made a any one among the priesthood to stem the rushing evil, the very court of Home joined to its sen- sualism the wildest notions in the matter of doctrine or belief. Men of intellectual tendencies easily frame a conscience to palliate the moral guilt of their passions : at the period in question, the Schools of philosophy endeavoured to discover that the soul of man is mortal. Erasmus declares his astonishment at the blasphemies that met his "ears : the} 7 sought to prove to him out of Pliny, that there is no difference between the souls of men and those of brutes. 2 Certainly the morals of the age corresponded with no other theory. No sudden transformation from good to bad was that state of Christendom. Open Boccaccio's Deca- meron and behold the mirror held up to the nature of those times man's good nature most horridly 1 Roscoe, ii. ; Ranke, p. 22. " Voluptatibus, venationibus, aucupiis effuse deditus, luxui et splendidissimis conviviis, musiceeque magis quam tantum ponti- ficem deceret totos dies impenderet. Pecuniee quaerendee causa (quum multa turn sedificiis, turn effusis largitionibus et bellorum usibus, absumpsisset), pretio cardinales aliquot legit, et officia qucedam venalia excogitavit, ut cubicula- rios," &c Panv. Leo X. ' 2 Burigny, Life of Erasmus, i. 1 39 ; Ranke, 22. VOL. I. D 34 HISTOKY OF THE JESUITS. perverted. All ranks of society lend their infamy to spice his pages whose burthen is " the duped husband, depraved and depraving monks/' in an endless round of " laughter holding both her sides/' He anatomises the fourteenth century and saps the foundations of papal power. For. " what we violently abhor, we may still justly dread : but that which we have learnt to despise ceases to be an object of terror/ 7 His works were subsequently prohibited but this only drove home the quivering shaft. Men's minds were alive to the truth of his pictures and their prohibition was their last attestation. Other writers followed in his track. The Church was made a scandal on the house tops ; her light, if she had any, was decidedly put under a bushel. Time rolled on : no amendment. How could the people amend when their teachers and preachers, bishops, popes, monks all that were iestelttt "anointed/' rolled in their godless Dead Council of g ea O f griti ? j n tne counc ii of the Lateran, Lateran. Pico, nephew of the famous Mirandola, held forth under the sanction of that assembly, inveighing with great bitterness against the avarice, the luxury, the ambition, and misconduct of these ecclesiastics, who ought to have supported the dignity of the Church, not only by their intrinsic merit and virtue, but by the regularity and decency of their deportment. 1 If you 1 Fasc. Rer. Expet. i. 417 ; Roscoe, Leo X. ii. 86. Viterbo, General of the Augustinians, made a long speech on the awful state of Christianity : " Can we see," said he, " without shedding tears of blood, the disorders and corruption of the perverse age in which we live ; the monstrous disorders which reign in morals, the ignorance, ambition, debauchery, libertinism, impiety triumphing in the Holy Place, whence these shameful vices should be forever banished," &c. Ldbb. Collec. Cone. Gen., xiv. p. 4 ; Diet, des Cow:. 275. IGNATIUS. 35 doubt the fact, turn to the decree of the eleventh session of the same Council, attesting that the ministers of reli- gion were accustomed not only to live in a state of public concubinage, but even to derive a part of their emoluments from permitting to others a conduct similar to that in which they themselves indulged. 1 A reformation of morals was needed but what did the guilty parties to counteract the scandal of their enormities ? Why they the cardinals and * How they tried pontiffs of the church resolved to silence to avert the . _ consequences. reproach by severe denunciations, and exem- plary punishment. During the pontificate of Sextus IV., regulations were established for preventing the printing of any work, excepting such as was previously licensed by an officer appointed for that purpose. Even the penalty of excommunication was held forth against all who should infringe that regulation. 2 The vitality of religion was no more : without even pagan morality, the churchmen of those days engrafted the mythology of Paganism on the Christian faith such, at least, as they possessed : the abstruse mysteries and peculiar dogmas of the Christian faith were elucidated, or enveloped, in the language of Cicero, or of Virgil ; and even the divine persons of the Trinity and the Holy Virgin were identified with the divinities of ancient Greece and Rome. The Father was denominated Jove, or Jupiter Optimus Maximus ; the Son, Apollo, or JEsculapius, and the Virgin, Diana. 3 The poets of the 1 Roscoe, ib. 2 Id. ibid. 3 Roscoe. The same writer gives, from the Ciceronianus of Erasmus, the specimen of a sermon, preached before Pope Julius II., the cardinals and prelates of his Court. Erasmus was himself present, and his account of the D 2 36 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. day naturally imbibed the same spirit, or conformed, with the usual literary cleverness, to the taste of their readers ; for, perhaps, writers are more influenced by the taste of the age, than instrumental in its creation, as is commonly believed. Sanazzaro, the poet, and other writers of the age, constantly refer to the mythology or fable of the pagan world. On all subjects, sacred or profane, the pagan providence of gods innumerable, assumes in their sensual minds the place of that ador- able Godhead, which only a simple but enlightened faith finds adequate to bestow every blessing we enjoy. Marullus wrote a series of hymns addressed, with every sentiment of piety and veneration, to the deities of ancient Greece and Rome. Bembo styled Christ a hero, and the Virgin Mary, the goddess of Lauretto. Nay, the pope himself, Leo X,, tells the kings and princes of matter will show the extent to which this extraordinary Catholico-paganism was carried. " The subject of the discourse was the sufferings and death of Christ. The orator commenced with an eulogium on the pope, whom he designated as Jove, and represented as vibrating in his omnipotent right hand the inevitable lightning, and regulating the concerns of the universe by his nod. In adverting to the death of Christ, he reminded the audience of the examples of the Decii and of Curtius [from the history of pagan Rome], who, for the safety of their country, devoted themselves to the infernal gods ; nor did he omit to mention, with due honour, Cecrops, Menaecius, Iphigenia [pagan worthies of classic story], and others who preferred the welfare of their country to their own existence. In moving his audience to compassionate the fate of the great author of their religion, he reminded them that the ancients had immortalised their heroes and benefactors by erecting statues to their memory, or decreeing to them divine honours ; whilst the ingratitude of the Jews had treated with every degree of ignominy the Saviour of mankind, and finally doomed him to the cross. The death of Christ was then compared with that of other excellent and innocent men, who had suffered for the public benefit, and reminded the orator of Socrates and of Phocion, who, without being guilty of any crime, were compelled to perish by the fatal draught ; of Epaminondas, who, after all his glorious deeds, was reduced to the necessity of defending himself as a criminal ; of Scipio, ' who was rewarded for his incalculable services by exile ; and of Aristides, who was compelled to relinquish his country, because he had been dignified with the title of the Just," Leo X. ii. p. 88. IGNATIUS. 37 Christendom, by Bembo's classic pen, that he was made pope "by the favour of the immortal gods deorum immortalium benejiciis ;" and reproaching the people of Recanati for the bad quality of the wood they had sent for building the temple of Loretto, he commands them to send better, " lest they should seem to mock with their donation of useless wood, both himself and the Goddess." * In the prevalence of doctrinal, as well as practical, extremes, there is always a middle course followed by the thinkers of every age. Intellect is more readily disgusted than sentiment : hence the mass of men are constantly the tools of influence, which enslaves them by the feelings. But the intellectual proudly shake off the specious charm and in breaking the spell, rush to that extreme which sets the usual appeals to conventional religionism entirely at defiance. Hence there arose the Platonists of those days so called from \j the pagan philosopher, whose doctrines seem to approach the ethics of Christianity. The theory of these intellec- tuals is thus clearly expressed by an ingenious author : " Besides the various systems of ethics, physics, and metaphysics, which may be traced in the writings of Plato, and his followers, they also contain a system of theology, differing, as may be expected, in many 1 " Ne turn nos, turn etiam Deam ipsam inani lignorum inutilium donatione lusisse videamini." Bemb. Epist. lib. viii. ep. 17. See Roscoe, 88 ; Feller, JBembo ; Bayle, ibid. Sannazariu,s calls the Virgin, " the certain hope of men the certain hope of the gods :" " Tuque adeo spes fida hominum, spes fida deorum." De Partu Virgin., i. 1 9. A Greek, but Christian poetess of old, patched up a Life of Christ from detached verses culled out of Homer : Sannazarius makes Virgil and the Sybils do the office of the prophet Isaiah in a gallant strain. 38 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. important points from that of the Romish church. As opposed to the Christian idea of the Trinity, the Plato- nists assert the notion of pure Theism, expressly main- taining the unity of the Divine Being. Instead of the rewards of heaven, and the punishments of hell, the human soul is represented by them as having been united with imperfect matter, and placed here in a state of probation ; where, by constant struggling to rise above the passions of sense, it is at length disengaged from its degrading combination, and restored to its original splendour." * The great patron, and perhaps the most powerful advocate of this sect, was no other than Lorenzo de' Medici, the father of Pope Leo the Tenth. His writings contain frequent allusions to the refined notions of the Platonists ; and his pieces on religious subjects, instead of conforming to the dogmas of the Church, are evidently founded on, and greatly illustrate, the principles of this theology. It was, there- fore, natural that the pope himself should be favourable to the Platonists, as was generally supposed. Men of talent and learning became the avowed teachers of those opinions, and the inculcation of them was established as a branch of education, in almost every university of Italy. Scepticism and indifference followed as a matter of course ; and church-discipline was relaxed. The cause was apparent : but the remedy aggravated the evil. The Church spoke : it was declared by a solemn decree that the soul was immortal, and that different bodies are not actuated by a portion of the same soul, but that each has a soul peculiar to itself. 2 How could enactments stem the tendencies of an age the strong 1 Roscoe, ib. Id. 90. Vth Lat, Sess. 8. IGNATIUS. 39 impulse of society ? The greatest sensualism was com- bined with high intellectual development. Not alone to the classical enthusiasm of the times is this perversion of sacred things to be attributed. We must not forget the famous " Mysteries," The " Myste- and " Moralities," or religious comedies of ries," Mh-a- preceding centuries. These were under the anV ^Mora- management of the clergy and performed by the people. Their subjects were all the most solemn mysteries of the Christian faith, tangibly repre- sented, and outrageously familiarised to the " meanest capacities." It was religion for the million. A scaf- fold was erected with the three stages, one above the other. The highest was Heaven the lowest was Hell and the middle was Purgatory, To represent divine anger or displeasure, an organ was placed in " Paradise ; " which also served to accompany the choirs of the " angels ' in their song. Beneath the scaffold a monstrous dragon was constructed, whose mouth opened and shut as it belched forth the " devils ' upon the stage, or received them at their exit. This was to represent the gulf of hell. To enhance the effect, cul- verins and cannons were introduced, pour faire noise et tempete to make an infernal clatter and roar. x God the Father and God the Son, and the Holy Ghost were among the " personages ' ' enacted. The divine persons delivered speeches in octosyllabics. In one of these Mysteries, entitled, The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Creation of Man is represented ; and we find the following directions : " Here God takes some mud, and pretends to make Adam ; and let Adam and Eve 1 Mysteres Inedits flu XVema Siecle. Preface. Paris, 1837. 40 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. be covered up with a covering, and let God say : Adam, get up," &C. 1 Such exhibitions were universal. They furnished amusement to the Christians of these days. All were invited to join in the celebration, which materialised spirituals. In the sixteenth century, however, if the great, the learned, and the priesthood, had paganised their Chris- tianity, as we have seen, what must have been Results. . />ii i o T the moral notions of the lower orders ( In effect we are assured, whilst the higher classes adopted notions of an anti-religious tendency, the common people were sunk into almost heathenish superstition, seeking salvation in mechanical devotion. What was young- Luther's amazement when he visited Italy ! At the moment when the sacrifice of the mass was accomplished, the priests blurted out blasphemies in which they denied it ! In Rome it was a characteristic of good society to dispute the fundamental principles of Christianity. " One passes no longer," says Bandino, "for an accomplished man, unless he entertain some erroneous and heretical opinion of the doctrines of the church/' 2 At court they spoke of the institutions of the Catholic church, of passages of the Holy Scriptures, only in a tone of jesting : the mysteries of faith were held in derision. 3 Strange it is that it was at Rome where the mine was sprung, ready 1 " Cy preingne Dieu du limon et face semblant de faire Adam ; et Adam et Eve soient couvert d' un couvertour, et Dieu die : Adam, va sus, que je le vueil," &c. Mysteres, ii. 5. This curious work should be studied for the sake of its Church History. Rome is painted in her sport as much as in her sober sadness and fury. See Sismondi, i. 231 ; Penny Cyclopaedia, ix. 416, et seq. " " In quel tempo non pareva fosse galantuomo e buon cortegiano colui che de' dogmi della Chiesa non aveva qualchc opinionc erronea ed heretica." MS. Life of Paul V. apud Ranke, p. 22. 3 Ranke, p. 22. IGNATIUS. 41 to engulf Church authority in ruin. It was there that religious doubt began or at Florence, or at Venice : it was in these mighty strongholds of Catholicism that the human mind was shaking off all doctrinal subjection- disdaining every mental yoke " caring for no man." Catholics admit the fact. " Gay, licentious, incredulous, the mind of these cities made a jest of all things- Christianity, morality, the clergy, and the popes them- selves. Its organs were Dante, who hurls popes into hell Petrarch, who calls Rome a prostitute and even the monk Baptista of Mantua, who sang the Loves of the Priests. 1 Their books, though forbidden by censure, circulated at Rome under Julius II. and Leo X., and were in the libraries of most of the cardinals : Sadolet and Bembo 2 knew long passages ' by heart/ which they amused themselves by reciting." 3 The infamous Pietro Aretino was Leo's acknowledged friend. 4 Other important elements of change arrest attention. Nobles and the " Church* had hitherto been leagued together in mastering the people. The latter were now to mount a step in the social crea- SUJSUiV tion middle ranks were forming that ever- powerful "interest" in every kingdom- -the very bank 1 Baptista wrote these verses : " Vivere qui sancte cupitis, discedite ; Romae Omnia cum liceant, non licet esse bonum." " You who desire to lead a holy life, depart : at Rome, though all things may be clone, it is not permitted to be virtuous " But see ^Egl. V., ed. 1 503. Baptista died in 1516. He had been general of the Carmelite monks, whom he tried in vain to reform ; and resigned his hopeless charge to devote himself to literature. Feller, Biog. Univ. 2 Bembo had been the lover of La Morosiua, and Lucretia Borgia, Alexander the Sixth's licentious daughter. It is not quite clear that Bembo perfected his morality asmuch as his latinity (for which he was famous), when he became a cardinal. The contrary is more probable ' Audin, Luther, Introd. 4 Sismoudi, i. 4 33. 42 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. of power, and the nation's heart. Meanwhile, recall the events that had just befallen in the history of man. The Spirit of Transition was walking the earth, apparently wild and reckless, but still guided by that adorable Provi- dence which never permits man to do all the evil he would, and turns his very evil deeds into blessings, or, rather, mitigates evil, and expands good far beyond the inten- tion of its instruments. At the epoch to which we are hastening, Heaven was nearer to earth : enlightenment was about to come down unto men. A momentous strife was about to commence. Man's destinies being suspended dependant on his will. All might choose ; but how many would choose aright ? For themselves, selfishly, men seemed to work : but Providence beheld them in their labours suffered them to work as they listed, but guided results for the universal good. In the strife of selfishness that is, in the strife of the world we see nothing but evil whilst we are present at the conflict, and are, perchance, sufferers : but a generation has no sooner passed away, than we perceive how a merciful good God can modify, nay, totally change the effects of evil with regard to nations as with individuals. Abuses grow, fester, and rot in the heart of society. Society, like nature, strives to shake off the slough of disease. In the effort there is suffering ; but hope mitigates every human pang. How to convey in a few words an adequate idea of this period in the sixteenth century that century of novelties, or revivals of antiquities ! Wonderful The sixteenth century cha- inventions or improvements in the imple- ric tensed ments of mind startling discoveries of un- known regions, peopled with strange brothers of the human family ! The discovery of a new planet, in its dim IGNATIUS. 43 and distant orbit, produces even in this comparatively enlightened age, considerable excitement ; but what must have been the effect of the discovery of a " new world ; in the minds and hearts of men, then just an- nounced, in those days of ignorance in the masses, and avarice and ambition in the great ? What a subject for speculation ! How it absorbed attention exagge- rated hope multiplied schemes expanded desire ! On the other hand, the chain of human events from the fourth or fifth century had passed onwards with its links of iron, brass, and silver, and had reached the point whence it must continue its course in ^wkdge 10 gold, or something like it. The revival of know- ledge in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was only the result of a series : but events which thronged fast and vast in effects, expanded the movement. Any movement in society, when once begun, is sure to find a thousand motives in the hearts of men for its continuance, until another usurps its place in the restless mind of humanity. Expelled from the East by the conquests of the Turks in possession of Constantinople, the learned men of Greece had sought refuge in Italy. Once more did Italy receive the arts from Greece. Pagan Italy had been enlightened by pagan Greece, and now again, Christian Italy was regenerated by Christian Greece. 1 If this fact proves the innate tendency of Rome to degenerate, it also attests the bounty of Providence, which never tires in lavishing blessings on ungrateful and per- verse humanity. Cosmo and Lorenzo de' Medici rose at Florence, the noble, generous, and enlightened lovers 1 See Roscoe, Lorenzo ; Spalding's Italy, &c. ii. ; Sismondi, Hist. View, i. ; Andres, Dell' Origine d'ogni Letterat. I. c, xii. ; Tiraboschi, Storia della Lett. Ital. vols. V. VI. 44 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. and benefactors of science. Popes and kings were dazzled by the light suddenly blazing around, and rejoiced in its manifestation, for they did not foresee consequences about to ensue in the misty future. 1 More than five-and-twenty universities in the various capitals of Europe were founded in the fifteenth century ; begin- ning with that of Turin in 1405, to that of Copenhagen in 1497. 2 The art of printing, rapidly advancing from its rough beginning, soon multiplied the learned pages of antiquity, and students feasted thereon like bees after their winter-sleep. Their minds hitherto had scarcely felt hunger : there had been nothing to sharpen or tempt its appetite ; but now, it was an honour to be learned, ignorance had lost its fascination. Men dug up the Herculaneum of antiquity, and feasted on the musty relics. Not like the school-boy at his task, nor the fire- less modern commentator at his plodding, were the students of the Revival. They drank in the spirit of antiquity as they found it in the perfect page free, noble, generous, gushing and they strove to transform themselves into the minds which they so ardently 1 There was a curious exception. Paul II , pope of Rome, in the middle of the XVth century, became alarmed at the spirit of research and inquiry which characterised the new philosophers. He felt how greatly the rapid progress of knowledge might contribute to shake the authority of the Church ; and he con- sidered the devotion of these scholars to antiquity, as a general conspiracy against the state and the holy faith. The academy of which Pomponius Lsetus was the head, and Platina a member, seemed particularly to merit his attention. All the members were arrested, imprisoned, and tortured. One of them expired under his sufferings. The pope declared that any person who should even name the academy, either seriously or in jest, should be considered a heretic. The academicians were kept in prison a year, and when released their innocence was not acknowledged. Sismondi, Hist. View, i. 405 The rapid succession of their dates shows the intellectual movement of the age: University of Turin, 1405 ; Leipzig, 1409; Aix, 1401); St. Andrews, 1411 ; Rostock, 1419 j Louvain, 1426 ; Poitiers, 1431, c. IGNATIUS. 45 admired. To them antiquity was unveiled in all its elevated characters, its severe laws, its energetic vir- tues, its beautiful and engaging mythology ; its subtle and profound philosophy, its overpowering eloquence, delightful poetry. 1 Unquestionably the growing pursuit of knowledge was unfavourable to the spirit of the religion then esta- blished : simply because it generated the Spirit of Inquiry*. Now it was impossible that the V rit of numberless abuses to which I have directed your attention, in the Church establishment of these times, could stand the test of inquiry. Paul II., there- fore, who persecuted knowledge in its votaries, was wise in his generation- -was consistent. The popes who favoured its pursuit were springing a mine under Rome : they knew not wiiat they were doing. That intellectual extravagance in the matter of reli- gious opinion attended the development of mind is also certain, but it did not result from knowledge in itself. It was the result of a comparison. When the mind was trained to see and judge for itself, it made that dreadful discovery which proves that we have been miserably fooled by our self-appointed teachers and preachers : when we see no correspondence of practice with theory ; when we see even in their theory nothing but flat absurdity, because irrational. Knowledge can never be unfavourable to true religion. To the abuses of religion it is always a death-blow. Privileges and prerogatives advance against it, and strive to extirpate it as the germ of "heresy" and "infidelity." At the period in question what found the student to feed his intellectual cravings, in the libraries of the monks ? 1 Sismondi, Hist. View, i. 316. 46 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Absolutely nothing besides the works of ancient Greece and ancient Rome. The legends of the middle ages, amusing, or rather edifying, as they are to our modern sentimentalists, had no attractions for men who were completely sick of fooleries. Action, real action, was the stirring watchword of the times ; good or bad, action was the aim of all. Models were preferred from Plu- tarch ; " legends" were left for the moderns. 1 Existing abuses and inconsistencies disgusted the student with " spirituality ; ' the concerns of society and nature became his refuge. It was a reaction produced by the system that was doomed most to suifer from the result. Another cause of this disgust was religious perse- cution, directed against those who ventured to attack the abuses of the Church. In the beginning of the century John Huss and Jerome of Prague were burnt at Constance ; Savonarola and his two companions expe- rienced the same fate at Florence, towards the end of the century. The followers of Huss were guilty of great excesses in striving to enforce liberty of con- science at the point of the sword ; but the lot that awaited every " heretic," not a courtier at Rome, was certainly calculated to make men desperate. Ferdinand the Catholic introduced the Inquisition into Spain in 1478, to put down all manner of heresy, and scarcely was it established, when two thousand persons, chiefly Jews, were burnt by order of the grand inquisitor, John de Torquemada. 2 1 To wit, Alban Butler (" Lives of the Saints "), and Kenelm Digby (" A yes of Faith " and " Broad Stone of Honour "), works that may be called the romance of the popedom, compiled to veil its history at the present day, when it would be glad if men would all forget what it has been, and what it has done in the game of the world. : Zopf. ii. 623. " The great number of persons condemned to be burnt, IGNATIUS. 47 This was very inconsistent conduct for " Christians." They ought to have remembered what their forefathers suffered under the Pagan persecutions. They should have also remembered the result of these persecutions the futility of the attempt to enforce belief. But scarcely had the Pagans ceased to persecute the Christians, than the latter began to persecute each other for " heresy/' or differences in matters of religious belief. From age to age similar manifestations called forth similar methods for ensuring orthodoxy ; and although the human mind was destined ever to react against oligarchical authority in the matter of conscience, ever impelled to reject at the hands of man what it can receive from God, still Rome continued to persecute, continued to defend her system in all its rigid exclusiveness, giving a hideous example to all ages, which we shall see too eagerly fol- lowed by those who should have shrunk with horror from the Pagan model. 1 Thus, then, we see something like indifference to the tenets of the Church, combined with a rigid maintenance of " the letter of the law," amidst universal The political depravity in the pastors of the people ; or, if attitude of , , , the popedoru. that term be too severe, a pretty general falling off in the matter of morality amongst the obliged the prefect of Seville to construct a scaffold of stone in a field near the town, named Tablada. This scaffold was called Quemadero, and still exists. Four statues of plaster were erected on it, and bore the name of the Four Prophets. The condemned persons were either fastened to these statues, or enclosed alive in them, and perished by a slow and horrible death." Llo rente, c. v. 1 See Chandler's " History of Persecution, in Four Parts, viz. : I. Amongst Heathens ; II. Under the Christian Emperors ; III. Under the Papacy and Inquisition ; IV. Amongst Protestants." A right good book it is, were it only for its last section, viz., " The Christian religion absolutely condemns persecution for conscience-sake ; " and Chandler proves the proposition most triumphantly. I need not say that his argument is founded on the words of Christ himself. 48 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. clergy. This was not all. Of late years, it might be fifty, the popedom had been striving to assume a prominent attitude in the politics of Europe. This was evident to all the princes of the time. It was perhaps fortunate for the popedom, when Leo X. was elected, since he managed to create a sort of diver- sion to the game of politics, by favouring the intellectual tendencies of the age. Still the memory of the past was not obliterated. The political exertions of Alex- ander VI., the mad efforts of Julius II., were warning facts to the sovereign states of Europe, which had trembled anon at the sight of the papal sword France, Venice, and Germany. Whatever movement might arise, likely to curb the pretensions of the Roman court, was sure to meet encouragement from the crafty poli- ticians of the time and all who hoped to profit by change always eager to turn the tide of popular opinion, that mighty Moloch, - - against their encroaching, exclusive, and absorbing enemy. For,- How stood the interesting matter of temporalities- "the loaves and the fishes" in the time of Leo's greatest magnificence ? Beautiful to see, and r T aMe' s t ." mp " hi g hl j tempting to taste. Divinely liberal, or desperately prodigal in his stewardship, no man more than Leo X. ever made so many friends with the Mammon of unrighteousness. He aggrandised his friends ; he lavished wealth upon his favourites. It seemed as though the Church was honoured was made beautiful by the tinsel of magnificence which the Supreme Pontiff threw around her shoulders, and hung upon her members. It may have been so ; but how defend the human heart in such boundless opportunities of enjoyment,- -in IGNATIUS. 49 the midst of such temptations ? Consider the numerous benefices, rich abbeys, and other ecclesiastical prefer- ments bestowed upon the cardinals and the great dignitaries of the church. They frequently amounted to a princely sum, and a prelate was considered com- paratively poor, whose annual income did not amount to eight or ten thousand ducats. On the death of Sixtus della Rovere, 1 the nephew of Sixtus IV., in the year 1517, Leo appointed his cousin, Giulio de Medici, vice-chancellor of the holy see ; this office alone brought him annually twelve thousand ducats. Nor was it only within the limits of Italy that the cardinals and prelates of the church derived their wealth and dignities. All Europe was then tributary to the Roman see. Many of these fortunate ecclesiastics, whilst they passed their days amidst the luxuries and amusements of Rome, supported their rank, and supplied their dissipation by contributions from the remotest parts of Christendom. The number of benefices held by an individual was limited only by the will of the pontiff; and by an ubiquity, which, though abstractedly impossible, has been found actually and substantially true, the same person was frequently at the same time an arch- bishop in Germany, a bishop in France or England, an abbot or a prior in Poland or in Spain, and a cardinal at Rome. The example of the pontiff was the criterion of all, in magnificent display. The chiefs and princes of the church vied with each other in the grandeur of their palaces, the sumptuousness of their 1 The annual income of this debauched ecclesiastic amounted to more than 40,000 ducats, although he was so ignorant as not to be able to write or read ; to which it is added, in allusion to the disease under which he laboured, that " ab umbilico ad plantas pedum totum perditus, ut nee stare nee incedere posset." Fabron, Leo X., p. 287 ; Roscoe, Leo X., ii. 440.. VOL. I. E .50 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. apparel, the elegance of their entertainments, the num- ber and respectability of their attendants. 1 Such were the golden days of Leo's pontificate. Splendid indeed in the eyes of the world admirable beyond expression enviable without parallel- -but the handwriting was on the wall- -all might read who had eyes to see, that a judgment was impending on the abuse of the " sacred vessels ; " the utter worldliness of those to whom they were intrusted. And the fatal hour was come- -the dread hour of universal retribution, as far as the church was concerned. The man who could squander away a hundred thou- sand ducats amongst the populace at his coronation, plainly told the world by that wretched Leo is in ^ want of piece of prodigality, that the time would come when his pocket would be empty. Leo never deviated from that first example. Follow- ing up that beginning, he had lavished profusely enormous sums on public buildings, on his relatives, his courtiers, and the professors of learning, to say nothing of his buffoons and other minions. About the year 1516, Leo was in want of money. There was a deficit in his treasury. 2 In a very urgent letter to the king of England, he wrote, saying : " Since money is the sinew of war, to collect some, I have adopted that plan sug- gested by Maximilian in his letter, a copy of which I send with certain additions, which appear proper to 1 Roscoe, ii. 81. This is universally admitted. Mairabourg, the Jesuit, adds a reflection : " His treasury was exhausted by the excessive expenses which he incurred by all sorts of display, which much more suited a powerful monarch of the earth than the vicar of Him whose kingdom is not of this world. " " Q,ui e'taient beaucoup plus d'un puissant monarque cle la terre que du vicaire de Celui dont le royaume n'est pas de cc monde." Hist, du Lutheran, p. 18. IGNATIUS. 51 expedite and facilitate the measure ; so that you may give it your approbation, if you can ; or give me your reasons if you dissent, and suggest a better plan. But I think you will easily acquiesce ; for I know your dis- position and liberality." l This letter proves the want of money for political purposes, at least ; so far it is con- clusive, if it has no reference to the expedient adopted by Leo to collect money. From all that we have read in the foregoing pages, it must be evident that the pope needed money for other purposes as well. According to Catholic writers, the building of St. Peter's church was the pontiff's object in the expedient which we are about to consider. If so, it was an ominous fact that the honour intended for the supposed founder of the Roman see should give occasion to its greatest loss and utter predicament. Without entering upon the contro- versy, we will confine ourselves to the fact, for that alone is, in this history, of importance. The expedient adopted by Leo was to preach " Indulgences ' to the Christian world, which would be " gained ' by the faithful by their paying a certain sum of money. To the generality of readers an explanation is required. " Many of you," says a distinguished dignitary of the Roman church, "many of you have probably heard, that this word signifies a license to sin, given & Catholic even beforehand for sins to be perpetrated : view of r mi indulgences. at any rate a free pardon xor past sins. This is, in fact, the most lenient form in which our doctrine is popularly represented. And yet, mitigated as it is, it is far from correct. For, I fear, many here present will 1 " Deinde, quoniam nummi quasi nervi bellorum sunt, ad eos cogeudos earn prope rationem iuire nobis platuit, de qua," &c. Bcmlji Epist. xiv. 31. E2 52 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. be inclined to incredulity, when I tell them that it is no pardon for sin of any sort, past, present, or future. 1 What, then, is an Indulgence ? ; The compact and nimble answer of the Jesuit, Maimbourg, shall have the prefer- ence to the doctor's long lecture. " The belief of Catho- lics," says the Jesuit, " has ever been that the Son of God has given to his church the power of absolving the penitent sinner, not only from the bonds of his sins, by the merits of the passion of Jesus Christ, applied to him in the sacrament of penance ; 3 but also from the bonds of the penalty which he ought to endure in this world or the next, in order to satisfy divine justice for the sins which he has committed after baptism. This is called an Indulgence, and it is never given except in making full satisfaction to God, by the infinite price of the sufferings of his Son, which are offered to him for the payment of that debt. Thus, St. Paul, 4 at the prayer of the Corinthians, set aside, in the case of the incestuous sinner whom he had excommuni- cated, the remainder of the penalty which he ought to have suffered for so great a crime ; and thus the bishops of the first ages 5 gave peace to apostates, and reconciled them to the church, by shortening the dura- tion of the regular penances, through the intercession of the martyrs, and in consideration of their sufferings, united to those of the Saviour of the world, which made 1 And yet we find that one of the charges brought by the Council of Constance against Pope John XXIII., was " that he had empowered his legates to establish confessors who might give absolution from all sins and penalties (absolvere possent a pcend et culpa) on payment of a certain sum of money." Cone. Const. Sess. 11, art. 22 ; Maimb. p. 20. Thus do polemics invariably fling plausible theory in the face of stubborn facts, ' Dr. Wiseman's Lect. on the Princip. Doct. ii. p. 71. 1 Matt, xvi., xviii. ' 2 Cor. ii. 5 Tertull. and Cypr. passim. IGNATIUS. 53 them precious before God . . . Clement VI., in his Decretal, or Constitution, generally received by the whole church, declares, in explanation of this dogma of faith, that Jesus Christ has left us an infinite treasury of merits and superabundant satisfaction of his passions, of those of the Holy Virgin, who was innocence itself, and of the saints, who have made satisfaction by their volun- tary penances, or by their martyrdom, much beyond what they had deserved in penalties for their sins, remitted in the sacrament of penance. Moreover, the pastors of the church, and particularly the popes, who are the sovereign distributors of that treasure, can apply it to the living, by the power of the keys, and to the dead, by the way of intercession, to deliver them from the penalty due to their sins, by draining and offering to God, from that treasury, as much as is sufficient to pay that debt/' l Thus, we are assured, Christ and St. Paul were the original inventors of indulgences ; we are now to be told, on the same authority, who were the abusers of that most curious prerogative. " We must admit/ 3 continues the Jesuit Maimbourg, " that as the holiest things may be abused, considerably serious abuses have, from all times, crept into the distribution of these graces of the church, or these indulgences. In effect, St. Cyprian often complains of these abuses ; some- times that the martyrs gave their letters [of grace] to all sorts of sinners ; sometimes, that the bishops gave these indulgences too soon, and too easily ; and sometimes, that martyrs and simple priests had the pre- sumption to give the indulgence, which only bishops had the power to concede." Tertulliau and Novation, and 1 Maimb. Hist, du Lutheran, p. 15, c( 54 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. others of the early church, had lifted up their voices against this abuse, which seemed to them, very natu- rally, too closely allied to the use to be effectually fore- fended, and they attacked the doctrine itself of indul- gences, wisely, as we believe, but " brutally," according to the Jesuit. 1 As often as money was required for any object really or apparently connected with the interests of religion, they were offered to the people. As men give with less reluctance when they are left to their own option than when compelled by force, the expedient generally succeeded. But the money was frequently diverted from its original destination, and found its way into the private coffers of the pontiff, or into the trea- suries of the secular princes. The office of collecting the contributions was committed to inferior agents, called questors, whose interest it was as they received a per- centage on the amount -to exaggerate the advantages of the indulgence, and to impose on the simplicity and credulity of the people. "It is indeed true," adds Dr. Lingard, " that, to prevent such abuses, severe con- stitutions, or mandates, had been enacted by several popes ; but these laws were either not enforced, or had fallen into disuse. Those who bewailed the evil saw little hope of a remedy from pontiffs, who seemed to have forgotten their spiritual character in their ardour to free Italy from the dominion of strangers, and to aggrandise, at the same time, their respective families." 2 Pope Leo X. was, perhaps, a great prince, without, however, possessing those venerable qualities which we 1 "Comme ils ont fait brutalemcnt." Maimb. Hist, du Lutheran, p. 18. - Ling. Hist, of Eng. vi. 89. IGNATIUS. 55 should admire in a great, or rather, a good pope. 1 It is difficult to resist temptation when public opinion makes fruition easy. After the example of Leo's tcmpt- Pope Julius II., in a similar dilemma !JJf d he ei g s r ' ant want of money he resorted to the inex- tohissister - haustible treasury of which we have been reading, and announced its opening, for a " consideration." Besides the graces spiritual, he offered permission to eat eggs and cheese during Lent, which were then prohibited a sensual "indulgence" rather more tempt- ing than the meat spiritual. Again, owing to certain delicate feelings, it was sometimes, and is still, perhaps, rather inconvenient for penitents to repeat the same sinful tale over and over to the parish priest. Leo craftily appealed to this delicacy : he would give per- mission to the generous faithful to choose any father- confessor they pleased ; all provided they contributed to " the building of St. Peter's," which, by a very slight equivocation, might mean anything or any purpose selected by him who sat on the throne of St. Peter. In effect, it is positively asserted that Leo apportioned to his sister, Maddalena Cybo, 2 the products of the indulgence-sale in Saxony, and the surrounding country as far as the Baltic. His motive was respectable, though the means w T ere scandalous ; he wished to reward the Cybos for the great succours which they 1 " II fit eclater toutes les perfections d'un grand Prince, sans avoir toutes celles d'un grand Pape," says the Jesuit Maimbourg : but another Jesuit, Father Isla, in his very amusing novel Fray Gerund io, makes one of his characters call Leo " that crafty pope," aquel conchudo papa : but he adds in a parenthesis, " God forgive me!" (Dios me lo perdoue). T. i. lib. i. p. 191. However, see Roscoe's estimate of Leo's character, ii. 387, et seq. 2 Her husband was the natural son of Pope Innocent VIII., who, in compli- ment or complement of that marriage, had made Leo a cardinal in las fourteenth year. iSai^i, lib. i. 56 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. had granted him in his early adversity, when compelled to leave Florence and take refuge at Genoa. 1 It is painful to behold gratitude, if that was the pope's only motive, inducing the prostitution of a sacred thing to suit political purposes ; but the practice is still invete- rate ; nor can we wonder at Leo's conduct, if the highest dignities of the English church may, by prerogative, be conferred with motives similar, if not identical. The Jesuit Pallavicino treats the grant to Maddalena as a calumny sent forth by Guicciardini and echoed by Sarpi ; but, as though conscious of its truth, he labours at a justification, or at least an extenuation, if the fact be granted. 2 According to the usual practice, decidedly it was "justifiable," for amongst the prodigal benefac- tions lavished by Leo on the occasion of Lorenzo de' Medici's marriage with Madelaine de la Tour, he con- ceded to the king of France, in addition to the tenths of the French benefices, all the contributions that should be obtained in France towards the projected crusade against the Turks, the king promising to repay the amount when that expedition should be actually com- menced : 3 a mere formal condition, which, however, gave the simony something like a right of being made the matter of a document, worthy to be placed in the archives and papal registers. But the grant to Madda- lena could scarcely be made on any plausible conditions ; 1 Dipl. Leon. lib. iii. ; Dipl. Secret, lib. i., ii. ; Sadolet. lib. i. ep. i. ; Guicciard. lib. xiii. ; Maimb. p. 19 ; Sarpi, ubl supra. 2 " Quod ipsum, si verum foret, fuisset vituperatione dignum ob speciem quandam potius foeditatis, non taineu quod ea inesset enormitas reipsa, quam species pree se ferret, ac supponit Suavis." Lib. i. c. iii. 2. 3 Roscoe, Leo X. ii. 194. Precisely similar is Pallavicino's special pleading on the present occasion : " Ita, si vere affirmetur ea largitio, Leoni contigisset, adnitenti rependere sorori, quidquid familia Cibo cui nupta fuerat, sibi jam impenderat in privata atque infortunala ipsius conditione." Ubi supra. IGNATIUS. 57 consequently, no document existed to attest the fact. On the absence of this proof, Pallavicino, following Contelori, founds his denial ; but the Jesuit, more than all other men, must have known right well that there was such a thing as a vivce vocis oraculum among the pope's prerogatives a " verbal oracle ' by which the pope often conferred peculiar grants and privileges. This method is always a secret confined to the giver and receiver. The grant in question was doubtless of the kind ; and, as Henke observes, " archives are not likely to give any information respecting the fact," which could not be excused by any one, except a partisan and a Jesuit. 1 Whatever was to be done with the sacred proceeds of the indulgences, certain it is that they were duly published in Germany. Tetzel, a Dominican shameful friar, was appointed to proclaim the boon, proceedings. His brethren rapidly spread over Saxony. Some, not content with their sermons from the pulpit, offered indulgences in the streets and markets, in taverns and private houses. 2 Tetzel executed his trust with the most shameless contempt of all decency. There was no sin, however monstrous, which an indulgence could not remit ; " and even if any one, which is doubtless impossible, had offered violence to the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of God," cried Tetzel, " let him pay, only let him pay well, and all will be forgiven him." 3 Erasmus declared that the monks spoke of 1 Sarpi, lib. i.; Pallav. lib. i.; Rose, ii.; Ling. vi. 90. Lingard says that the grant " is shown to be false by Pallaviciuo : " but the Jesuit only denies it, and on the grounds above given. Maddalena certainly appointed the avaricious Arembaldo to collect her monies ; and the bishop (for such he was) performed his duty with miserly extortion. Guicc. lib. xui. ' J Ling. vi. 91 . 3 See large extracts from his sermons in D'Aubigiie'b Reform, i. '241. 58 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. indulgences in a manner that even idiots could not endure. 1 The indulgences were farmed ; they were sold in the gross to the best bidders, and were by them dispersed amongst retail pedlars of pardons, who resorted to public houses, exhibited their wares, picked the pockets of the credulous, and spent the money at the gaming-table, or in more scandalous objects which need not be mentioned. " These abuses are related by so many celebrated authors," says the Jesuit Maini- bourg, "who have written on the subject in terms much stronger than mine, in all manner of languages, in Latin, French, Italian and German, that an historian who would undertake to suppress them would find it difficult to succeed in the attempt." 2 Tetzel and his indulgences roused Luther and his reformation. Luther was a monk, and would probably Martin have died a monk, but for these same in- Luther. diligences. Intellectual and religious freedom gleamed from amidst these abuses like the beams of the morning sun athwart the mist of the valley. We should forget the disgraceful abuses, thankful indeed for their issue. They brought to life a Martin Luther. A man, he was, laid up for a great occasion : a hard, indefatigable, German student, working and waiting for he knew not what- -but working and waiting still for he felt his destiny. And who was this famous Martin Luther ? " Not the son of an incubus a foul demon,"- -says the Jesuit Maimbourg, u as some assert, to make him more odious, without the least appearance of truth ; and it had never been 1 Epist. ad Alb. Mag. p. 422. See Ling. ii. 91 ; Maimb. 21. Hist, clu Luther, p. 22. See Guicc. lib. xiii. ; Thuan. lib. i. ; Sarpi, lib. i.; Blunt, Reform, in Engl. 98 ; Henke, ii.; Chais, Lettres Hist. iii. IGNATIUS. 59 doubted until he became a leader of heresy, which he might well become, without its being necessary, for that purpose, to substitute a devil in the place of his father, John Luder, and to dishonour his mother, Margaret Lindermann, by a birth so infamous." 1 And yet such a monstrosity was actually believed possible. Yes, it was believed, and inculcated by the learned casuists, that a devil could be the veritable father of a man. The case is specified in the code of the Jesuit-casuists. 2 Luther's parents w r ere poor : but he received a good education. At the age of twenty he surpassed all his companions in intellect and learning. He became a monk, scared, it is said, by a thunderbolt, or rendered thoughtful of the future by the sudden death of a friend. He proved to be a valuable acquisition to the monks, and honoured the Order, which was that of St. Augustin. He preached with applause taught philosophy with approbation and transacted important business for his Order, at Rome, with so much skill and integrity, that, on his return, they made him a doctor. He was then in his thirtieth year ready with his wits, subtle, naturally eloquent, elegant and polished in his diction, indefati- gably laborious, and such a veteran in study that he passed whole days without sparing a moment to swallow a morsel. What did he study so intensely \ The languages, the " Fathers," particularly St. Augustin. Nothing in these, certainly, to lead him whither he was destined to go : but, with such a heart, and will, and mind, as he possessed, they served the effectual purpose of intellectual training capable of being fruitful on any 1 Hist, du Luther, p. 24. ' Sa, verb. Luxwut, num. 6. The passages are totally unlit for quotation even in Latin. 60 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. and every occasion, which was all that was wanted for Martin Luther. Look at the man strong, robust, ade- quate to any amount of labour a bilious and sanguine temperament, whereof all heroes have been compounded -an eye piercing and all on fire a voice sweet in the calm, but terrible in the storm, of the soul. Would you hear an enemy's description of this mighty man \ You will smile, and through the mist of rancorous detestation, catch a glimpse of the vital rays which a jaundiced eye for itself bedaubs. " His look was haughty, intrepid, bold ; but he could soften it down when he wished, to counterfeit humility and austerity, which was very seldom. There was, above all, in his soul, a great fund of pride and presumption, which inspired him with con- tempt for everything that did not coincide with his sentiments, and that spirit of brutal insolence with which he outrageously treated all those who opposed his heresy, without respecting either king, emperor, pope, or all that is most sacred and inviolable on earth. He was incapable of retracting what he once asserted. He was irritable, vindictive, imperious, always wishing to be the master, and eager to distinguish himself by the novelties of his doctrine, which he wished to establish in his school on the ruins of those of the greatest geniuses to wit, Aristotle, St. Thomas, Scotus, St. Bona- venture, and the other scholastics, who, he said, had corrupted true philosophy, and the solid truths of Chris- tian theology. Such is the veritable character of Martin Luther, in which we may say there was a great mixture of some good qualities and many bad ones, and that he was still more debauched in mind than in morals and his manner of life, which always passed for regular enough whilst he lived in the cloister before his heresy. IGNATIUS. 61 which gave the finish to the corruption of his mind and heart." 1 I confess that this Jesuit-portraiture of Luther seems to me far more creditable to the man of history than all the panegyrics of his party. It is an original- character : harshly, savagely expressed " brutally," if I may borrow from the Jesuit, but the elements thus c/ distorted were splendidly adapted to the sphere from which he was destined to uproot Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things, Abominable, unutterable, and worse Than fables yet have feiga'd, or fear conceived, Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimeeras dire.- There is no evidence to show that Luther had any intention, at first, to push matters to extremities ; but his was not a nature to shrink from the flashing blade of defiance at any moment, in any place, at any disad- vantage. Fractus iUabatur orbis impavidum ferient ruincB: the pagan impiety of Ajax defying the gods was Luther's heroic unconquerableness that neither men nor devils could disprove. Having once begun and gently enough, in all conscience the patrons of abuses, by their violent and haughty indignation, made it impossible for him to stop short with mild animadver- sions and thin elucidations. First, he traced the outline, and then he dug into the stubborn metal with his delving burin. His motives for this " interference " have been impugned by his subsequent opponents. Some think it the result of mere monkish envy, because his Order was not employed to preach the lucrative spe- culation ! It was to be expected that his character would be fiercely assailed for his boldness in meddling 1 Maimb. p. 26. - Paradise Lost, b. ii. 62 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. with the beard of the mighty lion. He has not lacked defenders ; l and, with all his faults, I would rather give Luther my hearty hand, than a smile of approval to his antagonists. Luther stopped not at indulgences, as all the world knows. Right onwards he went, or was driven, by per- secution, to the consummation. In 1520 he JTis cfirccr published his " Tract against the Popedom," in which he drew the sword : and then his " Babylonish Captivity/' in which he flung away the scabbard. Measures were no longer kept by either party. Fierce passion dashed fuel into the general conflagration. In 1520, Leo issued his damnatory bull, excommunicating Luther, delivering him over to the devil, requiring the secular princes to seize him, and condemning his books to be burned. Luther, nothing dismayed, returned measure for measure ; and, raising a huge pile of wood without the walls of Wittemberg, hurled the decretals, canon law, and bull, to the flames together, over against the flashing flame as he stood, the genius of reformation to the world. 2 This " heresy 3 was destined to be a lasting blow to the popedom and all its prerogatives. Princes, nobles, and people favoured the movement. Papal downfall was a providential decree, since every circumstance of the age hailed the event with exulta- tion. The popes had few friends in Germany, nor did they deserve any. Catholic writers admit the fact. " The violent contests between the popes and the empe- rors in former times," says Dr. Lingard, "had left a 1 Read Maclaine's note (d) to page 15 of Mosheim, for some enlightenment on the subject. Vol. ii. ed. 1838. 2 Blunt. 100 ; Milner, iv. ; Ling. vi. 100 ; D'Aubigne, ii. 150. IGNATIUS. (S3 germ of discontent, which required but little aid to shoot into open hostility ; and the minds of men had of late years been embittered by frequent but useless complaints of the expedients devised by the papal court to fill its treasury at the expense of the natives." The same writer attests the worldliness, ignorance, and immorality, of the German bishops and clergy in general. 1 What wonder, then, that the people exulted at the hope of that destruction which would avenge their grievances at the hands of extortionate churchmen, or that princes and nobles should favour a movement which was likelv i to turn to their advantage 1 All had specific objects to gain from a common enemy ; all, therefore, heartily joined in the onslaught. Then came the new men of the age the literary men, looking forward to something more solid than mere intellectual triumphs over their monastic rivals. Their writings, winged by the art of printing, " enlightened ' the people, and " popular rights " roused an echo in the nation's heart. Besides, consider the novelty of the thing that stirring prin- ciple of human encouragement. Over above these motives towered the spirit of religion, as it were, a muffled angel, trembling for the result, but still hopeful of the time when, dating from Luther's movement, religious freedom, in its widest extent, would bless humanity. Only in the present age we begin to enjoy that blessed result ; and even Rome herself, despite her own intolerance, finds that the descendants of Luther are amongst her most generous opponents, willing to grant her the boon which she never yielded without compulsion. 2 Dreadful 1 Hist, of Eng. vi. 97, which see for a very fair summary of the state of Germany at that period. : In an enclytic letter of the late Pope, dated August 15, 1832, and addressed G4 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. contests, horrible crimes were in store, ere the fair face of Christianity would beam upon mankind ; but Provi- dence slept not : hope dried her tears and smiled through her anguish. Leo X. died in 1521, by poison, as is very probable. 1 His predecessor was thought to have been taken off in like manner. That age scrupled at few or no Leo's death. . . 111 atrocities. Money could buy every heart and hand in the Roman court. Who was to succeed the magnificent Leo ? What an element of durability is that electorate of the popedom! A king an absolute monarch elected by an oligarchy of churchmen. There was hope for each : the elect was the creature of faction. The reign of each pope was the ascendancy of a poli- tical system. For a time, opponents were silenced ; but they did not despair, for their turn might be the next. To this principle of the popedom is to be largely attri- buted its duration. Soon would the kings of Europe be able to influence the electing conclave, and insure a creature of their own in the pontiff, " St. Peter's suc- cessor," " Father of the Faithful," and " Vicar of Jesus Christ." to all patriarchs, archbishops and bishops, the principle of allowing liberty of conscience to the people is censured as " absurd, erroneous, and delirious, derived from the corrupt source of indifferentism. For the liberty of error," says the Pope, " is death to the soul." There 's the rub. Who is to define " error ? " It was in compliance with this declaration that La Mennais, in the following September, dissolved the society which he had established for " advo- cating religious liberty." Affaires de Rome, par M. F. de la Mennais, with copy of the " letter." Penny Cycl. " Popery." 1 Panviii. Leo X.; Roscoe, ubi supra. Sannazarius gives him an epigram : " Sacra sub extrema, si forte requiritis, hora Cur Leo non potuit sumere : vendiderat." " If you ask why Leo did not receive the sawed things [sacraments] at his last hour, the answer is, he had sold them." 1 Epig. 1. iii. 8. IGNATIUS. 65 Who was to succeed, and govern the church in her dread predicament ? Luther's movement was rapidly advancing : the enemies of Leo were rising Y ... Predicament from their humiliation. The Popedom was of the at war with the Dukes of Ferrara and Urbino. The latter had been spoiled of his state by Leo, who coveted that of the former as well. The cardinals were divided into factions ; the whole State of the Church was exhausted and in disorder, by the anarchy, of eight months' duration. Add to this, the war which had broken out between the Emperor and the King of France ; the island of Rhodes besieged by the Turks, the constant terror of Chris- tendom. 1 In the conclave for the election of the new pope, the various factions could come to no choice ; Cardinal Medici, an aspirant, flattered the rising star 1 Adrian VI. of Europe, Charles V., by dexterously pro- posing to the cardinals, Adrian of Utrecht, ci-devaut co-regent of Spain, after having been the preceptor of Charles. It was made to appear that Adrian's election was a matter of chance. The excuse was probably the self-defence of the factions, when they experienced the man of their choice. But mere " chance ' will account for nothing in these times ; all was cool calculation and oily craft. It was by the influence of Charles V. that Adrian of Utrecht (as the honest man called himself) was called to ascend the papal throne. Doubtless some of the cardinals were taken by surprise in the matter, and when the thing was done, they scarcely knew how it came about. It 1 Guic, lib. 15 ; Sarpi, i. c. 22. VOL. I. F 66 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. is said that they were half dead with terror at Adrian's acceptance of the dignity ; for they had persuaded themselves that he would not receive the appointment. Pasquin, the Roman Punch, derided them, representing the Pope-elect in the character of a schoolmaster, and the cardinals as schoolboys, whom he was chastising. 1 If Adrian was not the "little log," nor exactly the devouring " stork," which ^Esop tells us were conceded as kings, on a certain occasion, certainly the cardinals and the pandering menials of Leo became direful " Frogs ' with a fearful clamour, when Adrian of Utrecht dropped upon them, scythe in hand instead of a pruning-knife, for reform that terrible sound to the guilty men of Rome. In truth, a plough-share was needed. Adrian was a man of thoroughly unblemished reputation, upright, pious, active, serious. No more than a faint smile was ever seen upon his lips but full of benevolence and pure intentions a genuine clergyman. 2 " I venerate the man whose heart is warm, Whose hands are pure, whose doctrine and whose life Coincident, exhibit lucid proof That he is honest in the sacred cause." 3 It is gratifying, intensely so, at last to find a good pope, after struggling through the mire of his predecessors. Interesting it will be to see the proofs of eveiy preced- ing page, in the results of Adrian's efforts to do good in evil times. Adrian was born at Utrecht in 1459. His father was one of the people a poor man. Whether he was a weaver, or a brewer of small beer, as was said, Ranke, p. 26. 2 Ibid. p. 27. 3 Cowper, The Task, B. II. IGNATIUS. 67 matters not at all he was an honest man. 1 Edu- cated by charity, Adrian lived in probity and appli- cation ; and was advanced by his talents to the highest functions that mind and heart ^ s quaMca ~ can deserve to fill and adorn. In philosophy, mathematics, and theology, he ranked among the foremost of the age. The Emperor Maximilian made him the unavailing tutor to his grandson, Charles, afterwards the famous Charles V. Ferdinand of Spain gave him the bishopric of Tortosa. After Ferdinand's death, he became co-regent with Cardinal Ximenes, and was made governor of Spain by Charles V. 2 Adrian VI. (for he retained his original name) wept when informed of his elevation. No Curious rc _ tears of joy were those. Too well he knew sults - that evil times w r ere around and before him. Not for joy he wept, as many would- " No : he was serious in a serious cause, And understood too well the weighty terms That he had ta'en in charge. He would not stoop To conquer those by jocular exploits, Whom truth and soberness assail'd in vain." 3 Adrian was to succeed Leo the Tenth ! Let the Cavalier e Abate Tiraboschi, ci-devant Jesuit, describe Adrian's advent to the Corte di Roma, the Court of Rome :--" This so brilliant a light which w r as spread over polite literature in the happy times of Leo X. was obscured by a passing but murky cloud, in the short 1 '- preponderant in every kingdom of Europe at the present day, not even excepting Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Changing his policy, Pope Clement, when his allies the French were defeated, threw himself in the arms of the hated Spaniards, and gave his hand to the emperor, whose troops had ruined his capital. With the activity of a restless mind, he stipulated in the treaty of peace for the re-establishment of his authority in Germany. Yet what seas of blood must be passed ere that result could gratify his cruelly ambitious and selfish heart. But alas ! how painful it is for human nature to resign what it loves or covets. Clement VII. pledged his friendship to the Catholic emperor, and the latter, a devout son of the Church, promised all things to the Holy Father. 1 The result of this alliance was another fatal blow to the Popedom. It follows. Home to the shores of Britain jny theme advances. t/ Early was the year of Grace when papal power and papal doctrine shaped the Christianity of The Anglo . Britons. Simple then were the habits of Saxon c ^ urcb - men semi-barbarous or those of children, that fear 1 See Ranke, p. 31, et scq., for a precious document presented by Cardinal Campeggi, of the Roman court, to Charles V., suggesting the means for exter- minating Protestantism. Nothing can exceed its cold-blooded atrocity. 92 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the rod, which is laid on when deserved, and that in right good earnest. There was a king, and there was a Church- -but there was not a people. Slaves or children blocked up its place, or were welded to the powers that were, as a mass of useful metal. Times of social mist and " miracles ' -times of " saints ' and savageness. Venerable Bede ! How fortunate was thy pen in selecting thy interesting theme- -the Anglo- Sajson Church; whose history modernised, comes not up to thine as a faithful picture- -telling us all with blessed credulity. What a time of miracles was that, when Heaven even showed by a shining light where the bodies of holy nuns should be buried ; when a little boy dying called upon a virgin that was to follow him : and how another nun on the point of leaving her sad body, saw some small part of future glory ;- how a sign from Heaven was vouchsafed when Ethel- berga, the pious mother of an holy congregation, took her flight to the realms of bliss : it was nothing less than the body of a man wrapped in a sheet and drawn up to Heaven by shining cords ; and how the blind saw by intercession pestilence dispelled by prayer- an earl's wife cured by holy- water ; how the palsied walked from the tomb of St. Cuthbert, and how a bishop delivered from the jaws of death, one of his clerks " with his skull cracked, lying as dead." * If Brahminism, Buddhism, Fetishism, or any other primi- tive superstition supplied the place of a better, then was the superstition of these times a tolerable substitute for the Christianity of Christ. Down to the memorable Norman Conquest, or rather, 1 See Bedc's Ecclesiastical History, of which Mr. Bohn has given an excellent and cheap translation. IGNATIUS. 93 successful invasion and, after a bloody battle, reckless possession, what crimes, what baseness, what brutality in the pages of history that follow and what Earlv En Ii8h grinding oppression round about a fattened histoi y- Church- -proud and sensual ! How restless we feel as our children read to us the horrid examples of royal and noble crime and cruelty and reckless profligacy ! And if they ask us, " Were they Christians then 1 " What can we answer 1 How can we reply without a homily that would make them yawn ? The Church existed in these days triumphant ; though ever and anon checked in her prerogatives, still she triumphed, and ruled tha British Catholic hierarchy with the iron rod of the Roman Court : so that the most hampered branch of Roman hierarchy was, and ever has been, the Catholic hierarchy of England. Such was, " through the ages of ignorance, the absorbing vortex of the Roman See/' These are the words of a Roman Catholic. 1 How fared the masses, emerging slowly from the bondage of serfdom, but still the menials of power and superstition? Their religion was inculcated by " miracle plays : " they were instructed to The state of salvation by religion in sport. The clergy were not only the authors of the pieces exhibited within the churches, but were also, without any liability to ecclesiastical censure, the actors in or managers of the representations. But they did not long confine the exercise of their histrionic powers either to conse- crated subjects or within the consecrated walls. They soon partook of the dramatic passion which they had indirectly awakened, and at last liked both plays and 1 Berriugton, Memoirs of Panzani, p. 292 (note). See also Supplement, p. 459, and the Mem., passim. 94 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. playing for their own sake. In Burnet's History of the Reformation we find that so late as 1542, Bishop Bonner had occasion to issue a proclamation to the clergy of his diocese, prohibiting " all manner of com- mon plays, games, or interludes to be played, set forth, or delivered, within their churches and chapels. 1 And we have a specimen of the clergy in the following descrip- tion : the author is describing how the clergy neglect their duties : " He againe posteth it (the service) over as fast as he can gallop ; for either he hath two places to serve, or else there are some games to be played in the afternoon, as lying for the whetstone, heathenishe dauncing for the ring, a beare or a bull to be bayted, or else jack-an-apes to ride on horseback, or an enter- lude to be played ; and if no place else can be gotten, it must be doone in the church." In proof also, that in the early part of the sixteenth century ecclesiastics still exhibited themselves as common players, we see, among many other evidences, that in 1519, Cardinal Wolsey found it necessary to insert an express injunction against the practice in the regulations of the Canons Regular of St. Austin. 2 And luscious was the life of monkhood in generous Britain. Think not that the ruins of their snug retreats which you see here and there mantled with the ivy-green, were simply the abodes whilom of modest prayer and holiness, midnight study, and daily industry. That time soon passed away, and the " men of God" naturally resolved, like many others since, to enjoy the fruits of their labour and reputa- tion. Old Chaucer, like Boccaccio, made them a jolly 1 See Penny Cyclopaedia, ix. 42". 2 Ibid. IGNATIUS. 95 theme in the fourteenth century. Imagine the time when " A Moiik there was, a fayre for the maistre An out-rider that loved venerie [hunting], A manly man, to ben an abbot able. Full many a deinte horse hadde he in stable ; And when he rode, men might his bridle hear Gingling, in a whistling wind, as clear And eke as loud as doth the chapel bell." Here, in these few verses, are the state and pomp of monkhood vividly presented from the life in the days of its glory in England. Power, influence, enormous wealth, and the enforced veneration of the masses fill the picture. And Mother Church from the papal court was busy with her little matters but lucrative catch- pennies. Chaucer describes a Pardoner " a gentil Pardonere of Rouncevall." embo in a dedication " for the truth should be honestly spoken," adds the gentle flatterer. 3 The cava- lier Jesuit, Tirabosch, is exuberant in his laudation of Paul III. (who ratified his society), and the roseate hues of the memory of Paul III., and Ignatius of Loyola, con- sole the suppressed Jesuit in the day of humiliation. 4 Arisoto, also, lauds Farnese and his " learned company." 5 Among the liberal arts which Paul III. patronised was astrology, the art of prognosticating the issue of events by the configuration of the stars and Artrology. planets at birth, or any given moment of a man's life. You smile at the fact ; it is nevertheless certain. " We meet with the most unquestionable parti- culars respecting the pope himself," says Ranke ; and nothing is more certain than the great repute and 1 Roscoe, ii. 393. 2 Botta, ^ o . Conclav. 167. 3 " Qui et pontifex maximus es ut Leo Decimus fuit ; et in optimarum artium disciplinis multo quani ille habitus doctior. Vera enim fateri onines non solum honeste possumus, sed etiam debemus." Pet. Beml>. Epist. Leon. 4. 4 Storia, vii. P. 1. 23. 6 Orland. xlvi. 13. Ecco Alessaudro, il mio siguor, Farnese. O dotta compagiiia, die seco mena, &c. IGNATIUS. 123 practice of this wonderful art in the sixteenth and fol- lowing centuries, not excepting the present age of enlightenment. " The matter has come to such a pitch," says a respectable authority, " that there are very few cardinals who transact any business, though it be only to buy a load of wood, except through the medium of some astrologer or wizard/' l Panvinius, a Catholic his- torian of the popes, attests the fact reproachfully in the case of Paul III. 2 In effect, Paul held no important sitting of the consistory, nor even made a journey, without having first consulted the stars on the choice of the fitting days. An alliance with France was broken off, because there was no conformity between the nati- vities of the king and the pope. 3 To those who are utterly unacquainted with the pretensions of astrology, who have not given it a quiet thought, it seems absurd to believe that a man of sense and learning should place faith in so vain a prophet : but a good dip into the thing will show that it is much like Romish contro* versy a very entangling and fascinating matter. The more vanity you have, the more likely you are to be entrapped. Learning is no antidote or specific against either infection. Who more learned than the Jesuits \ And yet they favoured the pretensions of astrology. They favoured it in the seventeenth century- -they favoured it in the eighteenth. With the Jesuits it was only a matter of distinction as to the form of prediction. They would have these predictions only as conjectures- not as downright certainties. The reason is obvious- 1 Mendoza. " Es venido la causa a que ay muy pocos cardenales que concierten negocios, aunque sea para comprar uua carga de lena, sino es 6 por medio de algun astrologo d hechizero." 2 " Eorum tamen studiorum, quod occulta et exitu plerumque van a sint,et alioqui sacratis viris parum digna, culpam sustinuit." Paul, III. 3 Ranke, p. 64. 124 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the Jesuits were staunch sticklers for Free Will and were the very antipodes of Calvin. " You incur a grave sin," says Arsdekin, " if from the configuration of the stars at birth, or the lines of the hand or face, you profess with certainty to predict future events, which depend on the free will of men such as a happy or unhappy marriage, a violent death, hanging, and the like : but, nevertheless, if from the influence of the stars, together with the disposition of men, their mind, and morals, you affirm by conjecture only that such a one will be a soldier, a clergyman, or a bishop, such divination may be devoid of all sin- -because the stars and the disposition of the man, may have the power of inclining the human will to a certain lot or rank, but not of constraining it." * This philosophical view of the matter is in accordance with the theory of the most respectable astrologers : nay, more, they even let in a fortunate outlet, by God's mercy, for the direst nativity, or birth-prediction. They make the human will domi- nant to choose or reject, and fail not to warn and advise. Pope Sixtus V. summarily condemned astro- logy : but the above view of the " art," is still inculcated by the theologians of the Roman Catholic Church with St. Thomas Aquinas at their head. The Jesuit doctrine still prevails. " All men/' says Salmeron, " follow their passions, with which the hea- venly bodies may co-operate ; but few men are wise enough to resist these passions, and, therefore, astro- logers, as in many cases, can predict the truth, and particularly in general events, [wars, seditions, &c.], but 1 "Quia astra et iudoles hominis potest habere vim iucliiiaudi voluntatem humanam ad certum statum, aut eventum ; non tamen illi uecessitatem inferendi." Thcol. Trip. ii. P. 2, T. 5, c. i. n. 4. IGNATIUS. 125 not in particulars/' l u The question, then, says Ligorio, the Catholic theologian, (in the latest edition, 1845,) " the question is, whether astrology, which predicts the disposition of a man from the horoscope [star-con- figuration at birth], and the moment of birth, be allow- able 1 Distinguish if it predicts as certain, it is certainly not allowable, since all things are uncertain. Tin's is the opinion of Salmeron, Sanchez, Trullenchus, Suarez, and others generally ; but they think it only a slight sin. But if it predicts as only probable and conjectural, it is allowable/' 2 No wonder, then, that, in the sixteenth century, men ate, drank, slept, bought and sold, made journeys and treaties, by the hints of astrology. It became in fashion, and fashions are social epidemics. Events the most astounding bewildered the minds of men ; they yearned for guidance ; where could they find it ? \J I/ C_-J ts Religion, politics, morals, all was chaos bleak, black or the fumes of burning pitch. And yet they yearned for guidance. Their wants were supplied by those who, in every age, turn to their own account the ignorance and passions of the times. But the art of fortune- telling has misled mankind in all ages and countries, and of all ranks : but never the truly wise. Its credit / arises from want of analysis. Any future event, and 1 " Plures homines sequuntur passiones, ad quas cooperari possunt corpora cselestia. Pauci autem sapientes qui hujusmodi passionibus resistant ; et ideo, astrologi, ut in pluribus, vera possunt preedicere, et maxime in communi, non autem in speciali." Apud Ligorio, ii. p. 198. Ed Mechlin, 1845. 2 " Quseritur hide, an licita sit astrologia quse prsedicit ex horoscope, et puncto nativitatis inclinationes, temperamenta alicujus ? Distingue, si praedicit ut certa, certo illicita est, cum omnia shit incerta. Ita Salm. ibid, 3, n. 50, cum Sanchez, Trullench. Suarez et alii communiter ; putant tamen esse tan turn pecca- tum leve ut num. 52, cum Laymann, Suarez, Sanchez, etc. Contra, Fill, et Trull. Si vero prsedicit ut tantiim probabiliter sen conjecturaliter, licita est, ut Salm. ibid. num. 53, cum S. Th. Suar. Pal. Bon. 1 ' Liguor. Theol. Mor. i. 198. Ed. Mechlin, 1 845. 126 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. every event, says Sir Richard Phillips, is within a certain range of probability, as 2 to 1, 3 to 1, or 50, or 500 to 1. If, then, 100 events are foretold by any con- ventional signs, and these events are not improbable, it is 2, 3, or 4 to 1, that they come true. If 2 to 1, 33 may come true ; if 3 to 1, 25 ; and if 4 to 1, 20 may come true, and so on. Herein, then, lies the whole mystery. The astrologer, or fortune-teller, does not invent, but is governed by certain signs, as cards, planets, tea-grounds, &c., &c. ; but these only guide him in announcing probability, and because they afford the key, according to certain rules of his art, and are not his invention, the announcements, never- theless, come equally within the range of mere arith- metical probabilities. The events are not controlled by the cards, the stars, or tea-grounds ; and, in truth, they are merely the passive machinery which blind both the fortune-teller and his dupe. At the same time, clever fortune-tellers never foretell i ^probabilities. They do not tell a boor that he will be a king, nor an old woman that she will have five or six children. They shape their prognostics to the sphere, age, and circumstances of the parties ; and hence, if clever, raise the proba- bilities to the highest, as equal 1 to 2, or 1 to 3, and seldom mention circumstances 5, 10, 20 to 1 against happening. 1 Still, in spite of all reasoning against the practice, in spite of all ridicule and denunciations, astrologers, like Jesuits, will ever exist. They supply a want in human nature ; they appeal to feelings and sentiments which will always exist, to whatever point of " enlightenment " men are destined to arrive. Besides, some of their best guesses having become astonishingly 1 Walk to Kew, Arts of Life, p. 727. mxATius. 127 true, they can always dazzle the vulgar, and sometimes the " learned ' too, with the seeming infallibility. In c/ the fifteenth and following centuries events were so striking and stirring, that the mind was kept constantly on the alert, calculating, fearing, hoping, despairing. That was the time for astrologers, and they swarmed accordingly. 1 Almanacs were their great vehicle of prophecy. Weather, disease, social and political commo- tions were boldly announced by the month, as at the present time, and if the predictions did not come true, the clever astrologer had always his outlet, before alluded to, to explain how fate was changed, opposed, or modified benignly. But it was scarcely possible for a political astrologer in those times not to hit on some- thing like the truth in the matter of wars, seditions, factions, conspiracies, revolt, treason, circumventions ; the most fearful dissensions in schools and churches, and 1 In the century before, Cardinal d'Ailly actually calculated the horoscope of Jesus Christ ! By the English law, astrologers are ranked among " rogues and vagabonds," and are punishable by any magistrate with three months' imprison- ment and hard labour. See Penny Cyclopcedia, for an excellent article on Astrology. It is a curious fact that a book, even now in great repute, on the " art," was written by a Spanish monk, Placidus de Titus, about the middle of the 1 7th century, and entitled the Primum Mobile or First Movement, founded on Ptolemy's mathematical calculations. The " art " will be long in considerable repute with a certain class of humanity. I have been told by one of its artists that his door is besieged from morning to night. He told me some strange "facts " of his experience, evidently with the view of influencing my " credulity." Lawyers consult him. Even a murderer in intention, he said, had stood before him ! . . . On the old book-stalls of London those gulfs in which the student swims delighted works on Astrology find a ready sale, as the booksellers will tell you ; and Raphael is not the only successor of the prophet Samuel, as an astrologer calls himself. Doubtless, the " new planets " lately discovered, will produce some perturbations in many a horoscope, and celestial virtues are now being invented in conclave, to correspond with the names vouchsafed to the wan- derers by Leverrier and Mr. Hind. Astrcea will probably preside over the birth of a young King Solomon for England, and Iris will further develop the first-rate politician " with all the variegated and beautiful colours of the rainbow." 128 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. changes in religion, with consequent persecutions, dread- ful and bloody, so that some, and the best of churchmen, would perish through grief and anguish of heart. This is an abstract from a work of the kind, predicting the events of the year 1597, by an eclipse of the moon in the IXth House, as occurs in the present year 1848. 1 Paul III. needed guidance in his difficult position. The false position of the popedom with reference to the PauVs emperor the affair of rebellious England, problem. were no a j} ^j. j ie inhered from Cle- ment VII. His constant neutrality in politics had been his recommendation : he would be now compelled to "pro- nounce." The great conflict that agitated the world- the strife between those two parties between whom he had just assumed so important a station the necessity of combating the Protestants and the secret connexion with them into which he was led by their political attitude- -his natural inclination, arising out of the posture of his Italian principality, to weaken the ascend- 1 Prognosticon Astrologicum, by Valentine Steinmetz ; Erffordt. "Sie bedeut auch hierbeneben grosse Auffrurh, Krieg, Entporung, und allerley listige Prac- ticken durch Verratherey, Betrug, Vervortheilung, Verleumbdung, und allerley felschlich Besclililcligung, die dann nich allein unter gemeinen Lenten, sondern auch unter grossen Herren und Potentaten werden sehr gemein sein, und derwegen ihrer viel in eusserste Gefahr Leibes und Lebens bringen, Ratione Loci aber, als das diese Finsterniss gescbicht im 9. Haus des Himmels, bedeut sie ferner grosse Zerspaltung und Zerrlittung der Schulen uud Kirchen, der Religion und der Geistlichen Giitern durch Verfolgung, damit ihr viel werden belestiget werden, auch wol vor Leidt und Bekiimmernuss dahin sterben, und ihren Geist auffgeben miissen, und werden also diesem nach hin und wider entstehen viel Rotten, Secten, Ketzereyen, und Verfelschung in der Religion wie ein vortreflicher Mathematicus hievon schreibet mit nachfalgenden Worten." " Si aliqua Eclipsis extiterit in 9 domo turn plerumque inducit disceptationes, lites ac dissensiones acerrimas, et mutationes in Religione horrendas, et conse- quenter persecutiones funestas ac cruentas ; dehinc experientur Ecclesiastici statum infelicem, adeo quod nonnulli et quidem maxime prsecipui prse tristiti& ac animi niferore interibunt." IGNATIUS. ancy of the Spaniards, and the clanger involved in every attempt to that end the urgent necessity of Church reform, and the undesirable circumscription with which it threatened the papal power. 1 These were the problems he had to solve, these were the difficulties in which he found himself, out of which to achieve deliverance he would require all the dexterity of the politician. Add to this, that his paternal partialities would constantly hamper his best laid schemes and re-act on his exalted position. His first declarations referred to the reform of abuses, particularly in the court, and the college of cardinals ; and yet among his first public acts, he created cardinals two boys of four- teen and sixteen years of age one the child of his natural son, Pierluigi, the other of Constance, his natural daughter. And when the matter was talked of, he wittily said, that he made up for their ages by his own decrepitude ! However, after that transaction, he ceased talking of reform. 2 The Jesuit Pallavicino tries to excuse this promotion as well as he can- -that is, very badly, by saying that such an excess of tenderness could not be a defect in any other prince the usual special pleading of the Jesuit : but minds of a sterner morality would ask, in whom should we not condemn the choice of two children to occupy a dignity, whose func- tion consists in nothing else than the participation in the government of the universal Church, and in giving advice in the most important matters in the world ? 3 1 Ranke, 63. - Sarpi,lib. i.; Pallav. iii.; Panv. Paul III.; Fleury, liv. 134. ? Courayer. He adds : " Would it not be a defect in others, as well as a pope, to make such a choice ? And what is the morality of the Cardinal Pallavicino, if he thought not so ? It must be avowed that he has a gospel quite expressly VOL. I. K 130 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Meanwhile, the Catholic question was to be discussed, and measures adopted to promote its ascendancy. The Catholic Kingdoms, and, above all, the popedom were question. deeply concerned in the issue, which was shrouded in darkness. There was bewilderment in the councils of religion- -there was bewilderment in the cabinets of kings. The ancient religion, which had become a second nature to the men of Europe, was con- temptuously cast off ; and there were thousands, the priests of that religion, with their chief, at one fell stroke, impoverished made desperate by despair. The fiend of religious persecution unscabbarded the sword, and flung it to those who were so naturally disposed to flesh it in the cause wherein their " all ' was at stake. And kings and princes, who sided with Rome, were either too bigoted, or too little skilled in the arts of policy, to waive the question of religion so utterly impossible to decide by resting satisfied with the con- tingent, if not actual utility of their subjects, though differing in opinions. The subsequent experience of three hundred years was to teach that wisest of axioms to blundering politicians. Hence war to the death was declared against the votaries of the " new doctrines ; ' nought but their annihilation would secure the preroga- tives of orthodox royalty, against which it was easy to show that the Protestant movement was outrageously advancing, although it was evident that revolt, in every instance, was the result of persecution, actual, or undoubtedly impending. Besides, these kings and princes, by attempting to shackle the minds of their made for the popes, and that it is as difficult to excuse him for his excess of flattery, as Fra Paolo sometimes, for his somewhat excessive malignity." Hist, du Cone, i., 1 36, note. IGNATIUS. 131 subjects, were the allies of the pope that object of execration and source of all oppression, as represented at least, to the Protestant world. The crimes, the licentiousness of the late popes, and even of Paul III. himself, have been alluded to, not as undeniable facts, but as the reports, the rumours of the age ; as such they were sufficient to fan the flame of execration ; as such they became historical data of immense importance ; for, even admitting them to be false, did they not influence the minds of men ? A nd what more could they have done had they been undeniably true \ The actions of men are infinitely more biassed by falsehood than by truth. Meanwhile, the shock given to papal power, by the Reformation, seemed to become a death-blow by the increasing success of the cause ; and whilst the Catholic powers of Christendom seemed to rejoice in the good- will of the pope, it was evident that they availed themselves of his supernatural influence, only with the view of promoting that political unity so likely to result, as they thought, from the unity of faith. There was nothing cordial in that amity. The pope might aid them ; but he could neither make nor mar them. The Vatican was shorn of its thunders ; it lightened anon, but the cause of the phenomenon was too evident to the minds of men to strike terror as of old. Other methods must be tried other means must be developed to protect the infirm old man of the mountain to prop the crumbling pile of the Vatican. Those means demand consideration. Its spiritual prestige had been always the bulwark of the popedom ; even in the case of the historic infamy, Alexander VI., and the ferocious Julius II. The spiritual army of the popedom the K2 132 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Orders of Monks- -were the spiders that wove the entangling network for the minds of men held captive unto death :--the flimsiest of textures is beyond the power of the weakest of insects to break. But now the network of prestige was broken through ; a fierce bison had rushed by and borne it along triumphant ; on his horns its remnants sported in the breeze. These remnants were papal power and right divine which had weighed too heavily on the backs of men any longer to remain an article of faith. How to withstand this upsurging tide of disobedience ? That was the problem. It was a difficult problem ; nothing less than to reform the priesthood and monk- hood, expressly for the purpose of doing battle with the Philistines of heretic-land, a land like the floating- islands they tell of here, there, and every where- -its latitude constantly increasing north and south of its Germanic equator. Paul III/s very heart was deep set in the mighty problem. If religion was not his darling, ambition was his imperious mistress. Power he craved ; power for himself, and his son, and his grand- sons, and all his holy blood. Victory promised him everything ; defeat was too dreadful to think of; all means and methods must be tried to insure the former. If a remnant of the religious sentiment remained, on that the papal sovereignty and omnipotence might once more be raised to rule God's world below. Now, about the year 1537, there was much talk about a General Council of the Christian Church, for the pur- pose of settling disputed points of doctrine, and the reformation of abuses. The subject, as you are aware, had been long before the world : all seemed interested in the accomplishment ; but Pope Paul III. seemed dis- IGNATIUS. 133 inclined to venture his prerogatives to general arbi- tration. There was evidently a tendency in the age to curtail these prerogatives of the popedom. Various surmises were afloat respecting the pope's motives in his apparent unwillingness or delay to promote the general demand for a reforming council. The political pontiff was certainly more intent on temporal aflairs- the establishment of his house- -than the spiritual interests of the church, properly so called. 1 It seems but natural to conclude, that, to such a character, the interests of religion were of little moment ; and although we may not " unhesitatingly assert that his own per- sonal feelings were never once enlisted in favour of the Catholic movement," 2 we may certainly believe that he made it subservient to the ruling passion of his soul. As far as it was his policy, he gladly promoted that movement, as his public acts so amply testify. Urged by the pressure from without, Paul announced a General Council of the Christian Church. He had sent Vergerius, as legate, into Germany, with a special commission to sound the views of the Protestants respecting the method to be observed in the council, and to act accordingly. Vergerius went to Wittemberg, in 1533, and had an interview with the redoubtable Martin Luthei . " I went up to the castle," says Luther, " where he was ; he cited us, and gave a summons to us to proceed to the council. ' I will go,' said I, adding, ' you papists are taking a great deal of pains very use- lessly. If you resort to a council you will not open the questions respecting the sacraments, justification by 1 " Portato da disordinato appetite a vasti e irregolati pensieri, 6 non conosceva, 6 nou istimava 1'esporre se stesso, la sua casa, la chiesa, e 1'Italia tutta in sommi travagli e pericoli di cvidente ruina."- Paruta, 569. Ranke. 134 HISTOEY OF THE JESUITS. faith, or good works ; but you merely resort to child's play and idle words, such as fixing the length of robes, or the breadth of a priest's belt, or the extent of his tonsure/ &c. The legate turned away from me, and observed to his companion : l This man goes to the point at once/ &c. Some one asked when the pope would convoke a council. Luther replied : ( It seems to me that we shall have none before the day of judgment. Then our Lord God will himself hold a general council.' It is evident that Luther saw the futility of the pro- posed measure. There could be no doubt that the prominent and essential doctrines of protestantism would be condemned by " authority, ' leaving the main question at issue still in litigation, and never to be decided the question which may be expressed as follows : How much may men add to the doctrines con- tained in Christ's Gospel, and yet be Christians ? . . . . Vergerius gave a bad account of his mission : he affirmed that the Protestants would never receive the Council, if it were not free, and held in a befitting place of the empire, according to the promise of the emperor ; and that as for Luther and his " accomplices/' there was no hope of their submission ; and there w^as no other means of reducing them to subjection but by arms. He was rewarded with a bishopric for his pains. 2 And now, whilst Henry VIII., in his popedom of England, was constructing his church, altering, with- out a whit amending dissolving monasteries form in pros- and driving out monks for their ignorance and corruption, not half as great as his own, and pocketing their revenues, or sharing them with 1 Hazlitt, Life of Luther, p. 278. 2 Sarpi, i. 53 ; Sleidan, 1. x.; Pallav. 1. iii. IGNATIUS. 135 his minions in church and state, celebrating the death of the virtuous Catherine by beheading his new queen Boleyn, on a charge of adultery, Archbishop Cranmer pronouncing another divorce, close upon these trans- actions, clamours for church reform rang in the ears of Paul III., who had promised, but did nothing in the matter, conscious as he was that the thing was next to impossible. To the storm, however, he yielded, and resolved sturdily to set about the Augean labour, like another Hercules, in the matter of the filthy stables. He resolved to reform himself (think of that, for a veteran pope) and his cardinals, and the interesting court of Rome. Four cardinals, five other prelates he selected, to investigate and report on the matter, and to suggest the most applicable and expeditious remedies for universal disorders. Both the matter and the method of reformation were to be their solicitude. The result presented^ picture of the " Church of Christ," after fifteen hundred and thirty-seven years had given her ample time to reach perfection. What a picture was that report ! It was a diagnosis of the ecclesias- tical epidemic. It proved that Pope Adrian's words were still too true that " the disease had spread from the head to the limbs, from the pope to the prelates." Their report was heart-rending, They began with the Father of the Faithful. The source and origin of all the abuses, said these conscientious investi- Commission- gatOrS (Garqffa was one of them) the source ers report on -, r> n i ,i c , the matter. and origin of all abuses consist in the tact that the popes too easily listen to flatterers, too easily dispense with the laws, and do not observe the com- mandment of Jesus Christ, forbidding them to take money for their spiritual functions. Then they came 135* HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. to details. They challenged twenty-four abuses in the administration of church affairs, and four in the parti- cular government of Rome. They spoke of ordination, the collation of benefices, pensions, permutations, reser- vations, and pluralities. They laid a stress on residence and exemptions. They fell foul on the depravities of the religious orders, the ignorance of preachers and confessors. They did not forget pernicious books, apostates, and usurers ; nor did they stop there. Dis- pensations stuck in their conscience : dispensations for persons in orders to marry ; dispensations within the prohibited degrees ; dispensations to simoniacs ; dispen- sations of vows. And finally they said :- -the goods of the church are made a matter of inheritance ; wills are commuted, mistresses are kept, hospitals are neglected. They entered into particulars, ferreted abuses to their sources, chased them to their conse- quences, and finished with offering a plan of reform to induce the Court of Rome to lead a Christian life for the future. 1 No man in the world better knew the truth of all these allegations than the pope himself. He received The matter m the document, gave it to some cardinals to -* read, and proposed it in full Consistory for deliberation. Imagine the rising of eyelids, the shrugging of shoulders, the sighs and exclamations, and the yawnings of the sacred cardinals assembled. And the " fitting of caps' of each on his neighbour. And the fear of one or two simple ones, in a mortal perspiration at the idea that matters were come to a crisis, whilst the veterans stroked their beards, and waited 1 Fascie. Rcr. expel, ii. p. 230, analysed in Sarpi, i. 57. IGNATIUS. 137 fur the speech of Cardinal Schomberg, who said, that the time was not come for such a reform. Then all was light. All breathed freely, as he continued, saying : The corruption of men is such, that if you wish to stop the cause of one evil, you give rise to another. It is less irksome, said he, to tolerate known abuses, by custom made less remarkable, than by reformation to introduce others which by their novelty will be more evident, and consequently more exposed to censure. And he fol- lowed up his argument by a most striking appeal. By reforming, said he, you will give cause to the Lutherans to boast that they have forced the pope to the measure ; in fact, the proposed reform, being a sort of admission that the Lutherans were right in denouncing the abuses which ought to have been corrected, wall only serve to foment the rest of their doctrine. Strange sentiments for a Christian man ! But nothing can be truer than the fact he feared to establish that Luther's movement did prove, in time, a blessing to the Catholic Church, by rendering reform imperative ; and if at the present day that Church is more honestly, more honourably administered in its head, its shoulders, and its arms, Catholics must thank the Protestant movement for the desirable consummation. To Luther every honest Ca- tholic, anxious for the integrity of his Church, owes a lasting debt of gratitude. Caraffa, the founder of the rigid Theatines, w r as not the man to side with this execrable worldly policy. At once he took the high position of an honest church- man. Reform is necessary, he exclaimed, and you V J I/ cannot resist it without offending God. It is a law of Christian morality, he added, that as w r e cannot do evil to procure good, we ought not to leave undone the good 138 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. which we are bound to do, for fear of the evil that might ensue. Admirable sentiments, and worthy of a better age ; but the fact is, that people in these times knew well enough what was right ; but they clung to the suggestions of their perverse passions in preference : it is the habit of transgression that moulds a conscience to suit any case of guiltiness. The result was nothing. Opinions were divided, much was said on both sides of the question ; it was resolved to defer the matter to another time. 1 A demain les affaires to-morrow for business ! exclaimed these men so interested in unrighteousness, whilst it seemed to make them more comfortable in the part they had chosen. To them the Catholic cause was as nothing, compared to the wages of iniquity. The best guarantee of its duration they rejected cast away as of no moment. And then, by one of those striking coincidences which give us friends destined to become benefactors to an incalculable amount at the very time in question, the staunchest champions of the Catholic regeneration were journeying to Rome, perhaps already arrived. In the year 1537, three men craved audience of the pope ; their request was granted. The spokesman of A stranger the party was a Spaniard ; rather short of stature complexion, olive-dark : eyes deep- ge ^ k u t full O f re b roac i forehead, nose aquiline : he limps, but it is scarcely perceptible. He has travelled far and wide, and has had many strange adventures. He is now in the prime of life, full of energy, deep in things spiritual, which fit him well. 1 Sarpi i. 57 ; Pallav. iv. c. 5. ; Sleiclan xii. ; Fleury, 118. IGNATIUS. 139 He has studied mankind closely, has borne persecution bravely, has clung to his purpose firmly, and is per- fectly versed in the art of captivation. He throws himself at the feet of the Holy Father : there is a great idea in his soul : this is no ordinary man ; he is Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Company of Jesus. How much depends upon the result of this interview ! How intensely is the Protestant movement concerned in its issue ! In that ragged pilgrim, prostrate An allegory at the pontiff 's feet, there is a spirit whose and a glance -. , ... _ at the future. expansion and development w T ill nncl the universe too narrow for its grasp. His bosom heaves ; " FOR GOD AND THE POPE," in tones of superhuman energy, solemn and deep, are the words of his cove- nant. CATHOLICISM, a thing of bones, grey, enervated, decrepit, palsied, shivering, bides the result, in the rear of the pontiff, and she sighs disconsolate on her bed of Bulls, Cowls, Mitres, and Relics. Towards the first, vainly she strives to move her palsied fingers ; but she cannot grasp them, though close beside her ! l Full in front stands the stripling warrior PROTESTANTISM glancing defiance- -his right arm advanced, his massy spear upstaid the BOOK in his left, clutched as a flaming sword, whilst he scornfully overlooks the pilgrim, and measures his strength with the pontiff. A rustling of 1 Paul IV. had been induced to frame a terrific Bull against Henry VIII., depriving him of his crown ; but in the present prospects of the popedom, he repented of his precipitancy. " To publish the Bull," says Lingard, an( ^ scarcely in possession of the first in the world. e i emen t s O f knowledge. 1 The youthful page soon became ambitious to excel in all the arts of the A courtier, to whose morals he conformed, and chose the profession of arms. Henceforward the point of honour, and the love of woman, gave perilous occupation to his active mind and body. 2 His character at this period is thus described by his disciples. He was not so exact in his religious duties as in the discipline of war. The bad habits which he had contracted at court were strength- ened amidst the license of arms ; and the labours of his profession were made compatible with the pursuits of love and pleasure. Perhaps there never was cavalier at one and the same time more inured to fatigue, more polished, and attentive to the fair sex. But, however worldly in his pursuits, Ignatius had certain principles of religion and probity. He was careful to observe decorum even in his excesses. He was never heard to utter a word calculated to offend piety or modesty ; he paid due respect to the holy places and the ministers of religion. Very sensitive on the point of honour, and impelled by his natural pride to demand satisfaction for the slightest insult ; still he pardoned all, and was appeased as soon as reparation was offered. His pecu- liar talent was shown in reconciling the quarrels of the soldiers, and in stifling popular commotions : on more than one occasion he disarmed, by a single word, two parties on the point of settling the matter by mortal 1 " Literis vix dura a limine salutatis," says the pompous Maffeus. Lib. i. 2 " Id (temporis) ille . . . partim in factionum rixarumque periculis, partim in amatoria vesania, et cetera saeculi vanitate consumeret." Id. ib. FABER. 183 combat. He despised riches habitually, and proved his disinterestedness on one occasion by declining to share the booty of a captured town. He had tact in the management of affairs ; young as he was, he knew how to influence the minds of men, and improve an opportunity. He hated gaming, but loved poetry ; and, without the slightest tincture of learning, he composed very good verse in Spanish : curious enough, his subjects were sometimes pious as, for instance, a poem in the Praise of St. Peter, the first pope of Rome, as Catholics believe. 1 Such is the first aspect in which Ignatius is presented to us by his disciples. It is the model of an officer, such as Escobar, the renowned Jesuit-casuist, H is might easily absolve, and such as would have been prized in the court of Louis XIV., with the Jesuit Lachaise and Madame de Maintenon for his patrons. Thus lived Ignatius to his twenty-ninth year a semi- religious worldling, according to his biographers mingling thoughts of revenge and love with the sentiments requisite for the construction of pious verse ; reconciling the " false maxims of the world " in practice with his theoretical "respect for the holy places and the ministers of religion." He must be converted. On that event depends his immortality. His burning desire for fame 2 must be turned into the ambition of the saints. A model of strict military discipline and valour on every occasion, whether as a soldier or commander, his love for the profession of his choice 3 evinces that enthusiasm 1 Bouhours, liv. i. Bouhours wrote in " the age of Louis XIV.," and his book is dedicated to the Queen. 2 " Ardenti laudis humance studio .... abreptus." Maf. lib. i. 3 " II passa par tous les degres de la milice, fit paraitre en toute occasion beau- coup de valeur, et fut toujours tres attache au service, soit qu'il obeit, ou qu'il commandat." Bouhours, liv. i. 184 H1STOKY OF THE JESUITS. which gives energy to the mind and heart in every and any pursuit, when a real or fancied reward in store lends a motive to every step in the onward march. Enthu- siasm was the ground- work of his character ; enthusiasm, that consciousness of extraordinary power, with a will commensurate, to produce extraordinary results. Such a character is generally, if not always, tinged with the roseate hue of religion : all the passions with which it is allied often the strongest keep alive and agitate this religious tendency of enthusiasm, by their speedy satiety in transient gratification, leaving for ever void the desire of perfection in all things, which is a charac- teristic element of enthusiasm. With Ignatius enthu- siasm seems to have been hereditary : his mother would give him birth in a stable, thus to honour the " Queen of Heaven V' and in the midst of his worldly pursuits, Ignatius celebrated in verse the " Prince of the Apostles," as if even then convinced that only spiritual power and renown were perfect, and therefore more deserving his heart's desire than the glory of arms, or the love of woman. The last military achievement of Ignatius strikingly displays the leading features of his character. In the year 1521, Francis I., King of France, sent Pampeluna. . a large army into Navarre, under the com- mand of Andrew de Foix. The province of Guipuscoa was ravaged ; the invading forces laid siege to Pampe- luna, the capital of Navarre. 1 A Spanish officer in the garrison endeavoured in vain to inspire the troops with valour to resist the invaders they would capitulate. The panic spread : the officer left these cowards, and retired into the citadel, attended by a single soldier. 1 See Robertson, Charles V. vol. ii. b. ii. ; Ranken, Hist, of France, vol. v. p. 209. FABER. 185 A parley in the citadel was offered and accepted eagerly by that officer, determined to " improve the oppor- tunity." The severe terms of surrender were proposed -the base compromise was about to be made, when he seized the moment, and launched into furious invectives against the French. The conference broke up. " To arms I" resounded on all sides. Look to yon fortress ! Sword in hand, the warrior leads his band (now forced to fight) to the gaping breach. Hand to hand, foot to foot, the struggle is for victory or death ! But fortune or Providence decides the day ; the hero of the fight falls desperately wounded. The hero of the fight is IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA. l The splinter of a stone struck his left leg, and a cannon ball broke his right. His troop surrendered at discretion, and the victors, in admiration of his courage, bore Ignatius to the quarters of their general, where he received every attention so justly due to the hero. As soon as he could be removed with safety, he was carried to the castle of Loyola, at a short distance from Parnpeluna. His surgeons were now persuaded that it was necessary to break the bones anew, in order to replace them into their natural posi- tion, having been badly set, or jolted out of place by the movement of the journey. Ignatius submitted to the operation without a groan. The result was nearly fatal. A violent fever ensued : he was given over by his medical attendants. Resigned to his fate the warrior slept ; and in his sleep, according to the legend, beheld St. Peter who cured him with his own hand. " The event," St Petev says the Jesuit, " showed that this dream had cures him - nothing false in it : when he awoke he was found to be 1 Bouhours, and all the biographers triumphantly. 186 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. out of danger, his pains ceased, his strength returned." 1 The Jesuits venture two conjectures in explanation of this miraculous interposition. " God wished," say they, " that St. Peter should cure him, either because Ignatius had, from his youth upwards, honoured the Prince of the Apostles ; or, because the Prince of the Apostles inte- rested himself somewhat in the recovery of a man destined by Heaven to maintain against heretics the authority of the Holy See." Decidedly a very plausible explanation. It reminds us of a certain worthy a staunch Protestant by the way- -who being somewhat " fixed * by his acknowledged inability to explain the meaning of the Lion and the Unicorn in the arms of England, said to the inquisitive Spaniard : " Suppose I were to tell you that they represent the Lion of Beth- lehem and the horned monster of the flaming pit in combat, as to which should obtain the mastery in Eng- land, what would you say ? ' He replied : " I should say that you gave a fair answer." A little invention is a great talisman in Jesuits of every denomination and profession. 2 The Jesuit's explanation is intended to show the utility of saint-worship in general, and the worship of the great saints in particular. Besides, it His vanity and tender points at once to the origin of the Society, which was, apparently, designed in heaven with the knowledge and concurrence of St. Peter, the first pope of Home. Nothing can be plainer. It is evident to demonstration not so the conversion of Ignatius, however. The miraculous recovery left him ungratefully unconverted. He still clung to the pomps 1 Bouhours. " The interpreter of England's Arms is Mr. J9omw,of"TheBiblein Spain," p. 15. FABER. 187 and vanities of this despicable world ; for, finding that the bone of his leg protruded after the miracle, and marred the elegance of his boot empechait le cavalier de porter la botte bien tiree the gallant cavalier, ever attentive to dress and fashionable grace, 1 determined to resort to the excruciating bone-nipper for that perfec- tion of form which the apostle of his dream had not deemed requisite. He had the deformity cut away without uttering a word without changing countenance. Nor was this all : he had the limb stretched for several days by a machine of iron. The operation failed ; Ignatius was doomed to remain a cripple for life. This conviction must have been excessively annoying to a mind constituted as that of Ignatius has been des- cribed, and attested by his conduct on this occasion. What efforts to restore his external grace and attrac- tions ! To whom were they so indispensable as to gallant cavaliers of these gallant times, when beauty and grace were essential in the adventurer who strove to be even as the Cid, or Amadis of Gaul, the idols of the national heart. Was there not one whose image filled the soul of the prostrate cavalier \ There was and something worthy withal. " She was not a countess nor a duchess ; but her estate was higher than any of these." 2 And now, away with pious aspirations -the thought of his lady-love clings to his heart. He meditates some military exploit to render himself worthy of her smiles ; for he could not believe it possible to live without some great ambition, nor be happy without some absorbing passion. 3 But when he glanced at his 1 " Cum esset corpora oruatu elegantissimus." Haff. " " Non era condessa, ni duquesa ; mas era su estado mas alto cme ninguua de estas." His own words, given in Act. Sanct. apud Ranke, b. ii. 3 Bouhours, liv. i. 188 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. leg his leg doomed to limp what a pang of despair shot freezingly through him ! " In the midst of such peril,, all methods I try To escape from my fate, I weep, laugh aud sigh/'' l And shrugging his shoulders he submitted to his fate- " I have not, I care not, nor hope for relief." 2 Still confined to his bed, he asked for a book to while away the tedious hours. He wanted a romance- An idea some work of chivalry. There was none at strikes him. ^and. They brought him the Life of Christ and the Lives of the Saints instead. The latter, very naturally, fixed his attention, so full of adventure, strange and windmill achievements. He read, and pondered as he read, and then his musing struck off a bright idea. " What if / were to do what St. Francis did 1 what St. Dominic achieved ? ' Generous notions these, but nipped in the bud by those thoughts of the woman, for Ignatius was a lover : his Dulcinea was one of Castile's highest and fairest damsels. St. Benedict, the founder of the Benedictines, had been in a similar dilemma, 'twixt love and conversion. Benedict rolled himself on some briers and nettles, till his body was covered with blood, and his heart divested of love ; 4 not so Ignatius, he continued to read the Lives of the Saints, which was more rational. The result was satisfactory ; 1 " Pues tautos peligros me tienen en medio Que llore, que ria, que grite, que calle." 2 " Ni tengo, ni quiero, ni espero remedio ! " Alonzo of Cartliagcna, apud Sismondi, ii. 165. 3 "Quid si ego hoc agerem quod fecit beatus Franciscus," &c. In Act. Maff. 1. i. c. 2. Butl. Saints' Lives, iii. St. Ben. FABEK, 189 he jumped to his conversion ; for thus only can we qualify the effect, considering the cause. His conclusion was that " God alone could satisfy the human heart, and that he should renounce all things to secure salvation." How he came to this conclusion we cannot discover in the premises : but his biographers give a page or two detailing the process of his conversion. Its results are more interesting, and assuredly more authentic. The process of conversions is very common- place, always alike ; certainly nicely managed, though not always consistent with the character and condition of the patient. The result is all that is necessary : the formalities are like ready-made garments : they answer the purpose after a fashion. The result, in the present instance, was, that Ignatius resolved to copy the awful saints of the Church, his imagination being heated by the terrible austerities wherewith they fought against the world, the flesh, and the devil. By these legends he was convinced, as we are expressly told, " that all the perfection of Christianity was comprised in the maceration of the flesh." 1 Not by any means after the manner of Hopeful's conversion, 2 was that of Ignatius. His conversion was a wedge driving out a wedge- and remaining a wedge notwithstanding. It was only another sort of ambition -which got possession of his mind, in his altered condition : in the paths of this new ambition he might limp, and yet reach the goal joy- fully at last. Whatever were his inmost convictions, results proved that he was determined to attempt the nimis alta, the impossible things, the windmill adven- tures of spiritual ambition. It is futile to ascribe to Ignatius more than the vaguest notions of spirituality. 1 Bouhours. 2 Pilgrim's Progress. 190 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. These are sufficient to account for his immediate reso- lution. He will grow wiser ; perhaps, more sober, by experience, and a little knowledge of the craft. His present resolves are suggested by his reading, and the superstitions of the age, to his enthusiastic ambition : hazy notions all, without sunlight, but right-well con- ducive to his purpose : he will soon do enough to constitute him a man of authority in the estimation of credulous disciples, and then he will assuredly " do what St. Benedict did, what St. Dominic achieved :' ; that is, found an Order of Monks- -this being his starting idea, as his own words so strikingly declare. This ambitious hope made his " conversion ' necessary, and he was " converted." We shall presently behold the probable process. Life is a chain of incidents. Each event holds to its predecessor. We march on unconscious of causes- ignatiusand looking merely to effects, and their endless Luther. ramifications. All of us look forward ; we leave the past, and stretch beyond into the future- even the old in years and experience gamble with life, trusting to " chance " that impossible thing for a blessing and success. Ignatius knew not what he had to endure, ere he should reach the goal : but his resolution was taken. His first idea was to set off on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, clothed in a sack, fasting on bread and water, lying on the hard ground, seeking for his transient dwelling some frightful solitude * " a darksome place." This was in the year 1521, when Luther was enjoying his delightful Patmos in the castle of Wartburg, protected and solaced (after the Diet of Worms) by the Duke Frederick, basking in the bright 1 Bouhours. FABE1?. 191 sun of day which visited him by times at morn, and listening to the song of the nightingale perched on his window, greeting him as a friend, or soothing his heart with the sound of his flute, so cheering in his unrest as constantly his companion as the Bible, which he was then translating into German. 1 So far the Catholic Audin ; but it was also from this spot, in a series of mournful but eloquent letters to various persons, that he unfolded the sad thoughts which came over him in his solitude eremo meo, as he writes, " his region of the air r ' -" the region of birds," or " from amidst birds which sing sweetly on the branches of the tall trees, and praise God night and day with all their might," or " from the mountain," and " from the isle of Patmos ; ' and }^et shaking anon his terrible mane, and with a roar that could find an echo in the thousand hills of Father- land, crying to the spirits that seemed asleep in the day of labour : " What art thou doing now, my Philip ? " he writes to Melancthon. " Prayest thou for me ? As to myself, I sit gloomy all the day long. I place before my eyes the figure of the church, and I see these words of Psalm Ixxxix. : Wherefore hast thou made all men in vain f Oh God ! how horrible a form of the anger of God is this abominable rule of the antichrist of Rome ! I hate the hardness of my heart, which does not dissolve in torrents of tears, bewailing the children of my slaughtered people. There is not one among them who rises up, w r ho puts himself in the front for God's sake, 1 See Audin, Hist, de Luther, c. xiv. for an interesting description of Luther's sojourn at Wartburg. Also D'Aubigne, Hist, of the Ref. ii. 277 ; Mosheim, Hist. ii. 27, and Hazlitt, Life of Luther, p. 100, et seg. This is perhaps the most interesting account of all. Mr. Hazlitt deserves great praise for this book. It is immeasurably superior to Michelet's affair. See also Cox's Life of Melanc- thon, p. 152, etseq. 192 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. who makes of himself a rampart for the house of Israel in this day of desolation and anger. reign of the pope, filth of ages ! God have mercy upon us." To the future anxiously looked Luther in his Patmos : to the past musingly gazed Ignatius in his solitude, Ignatius and w ^ n ^ ie Flowers of the Saints around him. the great Ignatius admired in these saints-errant that saints of the church. absolute dependance on providence which made them wander from one end of the world to the other without any provisions. With astonishment he contemplated the holy denizens of solitude ; and especially the anchorets of Palestine and Egypt ; men of quality covered with rough haircloths, their precious rings and ornaments of gold discarded for heavy chains of iron ; their pampered bodies macerated with fasting ; their eyes by beauty fascinated, and by sleep delightfully refreshed, now weary with excess of watching, and by tears bitterly scalded ; habituated to lordly halls, with pomp and merriment, now buried alive in frightful deserts, horrible caverns, whither roaring throng their natural indwellers savage beasts dislodged by the men of penance ! " These men," said Ignatius, " who have treated their innocent flesh with much barbarity, have they any other nature than I have 1 Why then do I not what they have done 1 ' The thought of his Dulcinea had withheld his answer to the stirring appeal. It had diverted his musings from the saints-errant to the knights-errant of chivalrous renown. But the sun of chivalry was set in the clouds of gunpowder. War was no longer a pastime. Battle was no longer a joke. The fun of the thing was gone for ever. Back, therefore, from knight-errantry to saint-errantry the broken-down warrior recoils. From embattled paladins to canonised FA13EH. 193 saints he turned analogically musing. " Those," said he, "have indeed protected the oppressed, defended the honour of ladies, overcome enchantments, put armies to the rout, dissipated fleets, cleft down giants, saved em- pires, conquered kingdoms ; but the saints have given sight to the blind, speech to the dumb, hearing to the deaf, and health to the sick ; they have restored the lame, cured lepers, reanimated the dead limbs of para- lytics, tamed monsters, killed dragons, serpents, croco- diles ; traversed, like wild beasts, vast plains of air ; passed on foot through the waves of the sea ; made springs arise amidst the barren earth, given sweetness to bitter waters, walked through devouring flames untouched ; eat poisoned meats and drank poisoned drinks without injury ; foretold the future, read hearts, raised the dead, cast out devils, triumphed over hell, and conquered heaven. 1 Glory," added he, "for which I have a passion so ardent, was the end which both the one and the other of these heroes proposed to themselves. For glory they have undertaken such difficult adven- tures, borne so many fatigues, encountered so many dangers, braved hunger, thirst, and the inclemencies of the weather, hated their own flesh, despised life, and defied death. But what have these paladins gained as the reward of all their glorious labours, so boasted of in the annals of chivalry \ Empty glory, which they enjoyed but a moment ! Glory, which will not perhaps reach to future generations ; which, however splendid, and however diffused, even to the extremities of the earth, will last only to the end of time. Histories, brass, and marble, at most, will preserve their memory among men ; Even iu the modern saint-biographer, Alban Butler, you will find, every- where, examples of these prodigious miracles. VOL. I. 194 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. but these illustrious monuments will perish with the world, and this glory will perish with them, but the glory of the saints will eternally endure. What then can I do better/' concluded Ignatius, " than fight like them under the banner of spiritual chivalry, since it has so many advantages over the temporal." l His resolution being thus taken, he hesitated not a moment on the choice of the examples he should follow. Ignatius and $t. Dominic and St. Francis of Assyse pre- the devil. sented themselves immediately to his mind- one as the spiritual Orlando, the other as the spiritual Amadis de Gaul. The difficulty of imitating these sub- lime heroes did not affright him ; his courage made him think all things possible ; and then it was that he cried out in the ardour of his zeal : " Why may I not under- take what St. Dominic achieved ? Why can I not do what St. Francis performed \ ' Prayer and repentance, however, were the prescribed beginnings of sanctity ; so Ignatius, to conform to the rule as he conceived it, passed all his nights in prayer and weeping for his sins. Having risen one night, as usual, to give free course to his tears, he prostrated himself before an image of the virgin, and consecrating himself to the service of Mary, with sentiments of the most tender affection, swore to her an inviolable fidelity. This was too much for Satan. Immediately Ignatius (according to his own account, of course,) heard a horrible noise the house shook all the casements of his windows were shattered to pieces. It was the devil, who, enraged to see himself abandoned by our hero, paid him a visit of expostulation. Fore- seeing what Ignatius would one day become, the fiend would have wished to destroy him under the ruins of 1 Hist, de Fadmirable Dora Inigo, i. FABEK. 195 the castle. But Ignatius let fly a huge sign of the cross at the devil, who retreated in dismay. Ever after, they showed the breach which the devil made in retiring, for it never could be repaired, because of the insupportable stench that exhaled from it, and prevented approach. On this incident Valderrama flourishes to admiration. "When it came first," says he, "into the mind of Ignatius to quit his military employment, the house wherein he was shook, the walls were shattered, with all the beams and rafters ; insomuch, that all those who were in it left it ; and as it happens when in some sulphurous mountain a fiery fountain bursting forth, there is an immediate eruption of flames ; so when that inter- nal fire, which pent up in the young soldier was cold, and, as it were, frozen in respect to things divine, grew more powerful, it so broke out into flames, that a thou- sand terrors, a thousand astonishments, a thousand combustions, were the consequence thereof never was there any Jtna, any fiery mountain, that did the like." 1 Be sparing of your astonishment. If you be a phre- nologist, your organ of wonder will have endless exercise in the history of the Jesuits : if you read your ** * Ignatius and Testament, the Acts of the Apostles (chap, ii.) the virgin will not be the only part of which you will be reminded in the lives of Jesuit-saints immortal ; all history, sacred and profane, lends similitudes to the Jesuit-mind for the exaltation of its heroes. Its classic and devout diction seems to have necessitated the appropriation of classic and sacred incidents to spin the dazzling web. If hell was enraged, Heaven sang, " be joyful," we are literally told, at this stupendous 1 Ribaden., Nieremb., Maff., Bartoli, Bouhours, Vald. in Canon. S. Iguat. Imago, Hist, de Dom Inig., Pyroteeli. Loy. 2 196 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. conversion. " The Virgin Mother of God," says Bartoli, in proof of having received the offering which he had made of himself to her, " appeared to Ignatius one night whilst in prayer, bearing the infant Jesus in her arms, and with familiar fondness remained some time before him, letting him see how she came to satiate him with a sight of her." l This interview was followed by a stupendous depriva- tion the total removal of all concupiscence from the feelings of Ignatius. Never after did it pre- A miracu- . depri- sume to enter his heart ; these horrible feelings vanished for ever. The favour has been vouchsafed to very few saints, pochissimi santi : Ignatius had it in so sublime a degree, that from this time forward, as if his flesh was dead within him, or he had lost all sense for the impressions of concupiscence, he never after felt even an involuntary emotion ! non ne provd mai piil ne anco involontario movimento? Well might the Jesuit exclaim that Ignatius " was astonished to see himself transformed into another man." 3 Enough, decidedly, to cheer the convert in his gigantic enterprise. How light, then, seemed the terrible deeds of sainted heroes. With his celestial favour, Ignatius and the awful and his robust constitution, could he not do what so many saints did with delicate com- plexions \ Could he not, like St. Hillarion, take four figs a day for his nourishment at sunset ; or, like St. 1 " Ma se 1'inferno arrabio, all' incontro giubbilo il Paradiso, e la Vergine Madre di Dio, in fede d'aver gradita 1'offerta, che di se le avea fatta, un altra notte, mentre egli veggiava in orazione, gli comparve con in braccio il bambino Jesu, e con sembiante d'affabile dornestichezza, buona pezza gli stette innanzi, lasciandosi mirare, come venuta a saziarlo della sua vista." Bartoli, lib. i., c. 6, Also, all the biographers triumphantly. 2 Bartoli, 1. i., c. G. 3 Bouhours, oil another occasion, 1. i. FABEK. 197 Apollonius, live on raw herbs, such as brute beasts graze upon ; or, like St. Pacomius, sleep on a stone ; or, like St. Zuirard, sit in the trunk of a hollow tree, environed on all sides with pointed stakes ; or take no rest at all, like St. Dorothy the Theban ; or perch on a high pillar, forty cubits high, like Simon the Stylite \ Could he not bend the knee two hundred times a day like St. Guingale ; pray three hundred times a day like St. Paid the anchoret ; or, after the fashion of St. Policrone, offer up his prayers with the root of a huge oak on his shoulders 1 What ! will he, who with so much constancy suffered such cruel torments only to be enabled to wear a Morocco boot tight on his leg, refuse to suffer less to become a great saint \ Can he not keep himself cramped in a cage, placed on the ledge of a rock, suspended in air, like St. Baradat and St. Thalellus ? The fires of concupiscence are extin- guished, but still, by way of a coup de grdce, can he not throw himself naked into a swarm of flies, like St. Macarius of Alexandria ; or into a heap of thorns and briars, like St. Benedict ; or into water in the middle of winter, like St. Adhelm and St. Ulric ; or into frost and snow, like the seraphic St. Francis ? What hinders him from giving himself a thousand blows a day, as did St. Anthelm ; or even from imitating the great St. Dominic of the buckler, who gave himself 3000 lashes every week, repeating the psalter twenty times right through ? blessed Hagiology of Rome ! how inex- haustible thou art in resources for thy maniacs and demoniacs of devotion ! With such examples, in the Flowers of the Saints, before his hot imagination, well might Ignatius compare temporal knight-errantry with the spiritual, and give 198 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the preference to the latter. From admiration of the former, he naturally passed to a greater admiration of , X C2 the latter in his altered circumstances, and He departs to perform from great admiration he hurried to imita- his resolu- . . tion. "Our tion. His resolution gained strength by a Montser- slight resistance which, we are assured, came A t> rat. from his family. All the circumstances in the life of Ignatius are made to tell, cleverly devised to influence peculiar minds : so we have on this occasion presented before us Don Garcia, the saint's brother, trying to dissuade him from his resolution. The speech is given after the manner of the ancients, and the saint's reply, in like manner, admirably suited to the trained lips of any youth dissuaded by his friends from entering the society of Jesus. You may be sure that none of the biographers omit this incident. It was applicable at all times of the " celebrated society." Ignatius gave the first example. Under pretext of paying a visit, the spiritual Quixote mounted on horseback, and left the castle of his ancestors for ever. He paid his respects to his old general, the Duke of Najare ; dismissed his attendants on some pretext again, we are expressly told, and took the road for Montserrat (a Benedictine monastery, not far from Barcelona) 1 ripe for adventure?' 1 Bart., Maff., Bouh., all the biographers gloriously. ! Before you proceed, perhaps you will be interested by the following account of the foundation of the monastery to which Ignatius is going. It will further elucidate the hagiology of Rome, or Roman Spain at all events. It is taken from a very rare book, called the " History of the Miracles performed by the intercession of Our Lady of Montserrat." The first count of Barcelona had a daughter a most accomplished beauty who was possessed by the devil. Her father carried her to a hermit, named brother John Guerin, and surnamed the holy man : he conjured him by his prayers to chase away the fiend that possessed her. This was done ; but, for fear lest the devil should enter again into that beautiful body, the count, by the advice of the same devil, left his daughter nine days with the holy man, who fell in love with her, ravished FABER. 199 It was on the eve of the Annunciation, March 24, 1522, that Ignatius mingled amongst the pilgrims hastening to the shrine, the miracle-working An adven- image of the Virgin : Our Lady of Mont- t ure by the serrat. The Virgin had blessed him with her presence : he now made a vow of perpetual chastity, " in order to render himself agreeable to the eyes of the maiden, and cut her throat . . . Guerin went to Rome to ask pardon for these two execrable crimes : he confessed himself to the pope, who, struck with horror at the recital, ordered him, by way of penance, to return to Montserrat, walking upon his hands and feet, and never to speak or stand upright, till an infant of the age of three or four months old should bid him rise, and tell him our Lord had pardoned his sins. Seven years after, the Count of Barcelona, hunting on the mountain of Montserrat, found in a cavern a man, hairy like a bear, and walking upon his hands and feet. They took him alive, and carried him to Barcelona, where they kept him in a dungeon of the castle, chained like a wild beast. Some days after this, the count gave a solemn feast on occasion of a child's being born to him. The guests, having heard some talk of the hairy man, desired to see him. He was accordingly brought into the banqueting hail at the same moment that the child, whose birthday they were celebrating, and who was but three or four months old, was brought in his nurse's arms. The child had no sooner cast his eyes on the new Lycaon, than he cried out with a loud and distinct voice, " Stand upright, brother John Guerin, for God has pardoned thy sins." He immediately rose up, and in an erect posture related his whole history to the count, who ratified his pardon, saying, " Since God has pardoned thy sins, I pardon thee also with all my heart. But," added he, " I desire to know where you have buried my daughter, that 1 may have her body brought to Barcelona, and interred in the tomb of her ancestors." Guerin showed the place where he had buried her ; and the ground being opened, to the great astonishment of the spectators, the count's daughter was found alive and ravishingly beautiful. Instead of the wound which the hermit had made when he cut her throat, nothing was to be seen but a red circle, not unlike a scarlet collar. And she told the count, her father, that the Virgin, to whom she had recommended herself, had thus miraculously preserved her. In memory of this surprising miracle, a convent was built in the same place for ladies, over whom the count's daughter was made abbess, and brother Guerin was appointed their confessor and director. Near this place was found an image of the Virgin, sparkling with rays of light, and perfuming the adjacent parts with sweet odours. In attempting to carry it away, it was found impossible to remove it. Judging by this prodigy that she was resolved to remain in the place where the daughter of the Count of Barcelona had been interred, they built there the monastery of Our Lady of Montserrat, and placed in it this image, of which they recount so many miracles, before which St. Ignatius is about to perform a cere- mony, after tempting, or having, an adventure. Apud "De Selva." 200 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the Virgin before whom he was about to appear," 1 and " to ratify the grace which he had received in the previous apparition." 2 He fell in with a Moor, an infidel Mohammedan, of the race proscribed by Fer- dinand ; a miserable remnant of those who tarried in the land to see the last of their hopes vanish for ever, and curse the Christian banner, triumphant, and perse- cuting, as it proudly licked the breeze from the walls of Grenada. The travellers began to converse. Ignatius (his heart being full) spoke of his destination, the shrine of the Virgin. A dispute arose : the infidel denied the virginity of Mary, after giving birth to a child a mere quibble of words- -but enough to rouse the indignation of the converted Caballero. He warmed apace. The Moor was prudent, and left the champion behind. His flashing eye doubtless preluded the flashing blade, un- easy in its scabbard. Ignatius followed, champing the blasphemy, which he deemed worthy of death. Heaven seemed to demand the Mohammedan's blood. He hesi- tated, we are told, and left it to Heaven and his steed to decide, by dropping the bridle, resolved to kill the Moor, if the horse should follow the blasphemer. The animal turned off, we are told, actually into a worse road, and thus saved the Mohammedan ! 3 It was the fear of transgressing the laws of chivalry that induced Ignatius to let his horse or mule decide the matter : for, by those laws, he was bound to punish the high de- linquent and disparager of his lady. There would have been nothing to wonder at, had he killed the Moor. In spite of the deep notions of spirituality attributed to him so absurdly by his biographers, 4 it is evident 1 Bouhours, &c. &c. 2 Ibid. &c. &c. 3 All the biographers marvellously. 4 I mean where they explain the pious process of his conversion. On the present occasion, however, they sadly contradict their former fine discourse FABER. 201 that his ideas of divinity and morality were the haziest imaginable. If his enthusiasm was not running mad, his chivalry was certainly not allayed by the assault of the devil, and the familiar greeting of the Virgin. In fact, I do not think it proven that Ignatius really spared the Moor : if he did not kill the infidel, that result did not, perhaps, depend either upon his will, or the mercy of his ass. However, such a miraculous guidance had, in a manner, occurred before ; for in the year 1136, about two hundred thousand crusaders, commanded by Emico, Clarebald, and Thomas, abandoned themselves to the conduct of a goat and a goose, whom they believed to be divinely inspired, to conduct them from Hungary to Jerusalem, as we are gravely told in the Chronicles of the Holy City. 1 Being arrived at the town, which stands at the foot of the mountain, he bought a coat of coarse cloth, a rope to serve him as a girdle, a gourd, a pair The viail at of sandals, and a great cloak ; and placing arms - this furniture of a religious warrior on his saddle-bow, soon the " gentle knight was pricking on the plain/' to the shrine of his lady. He clomb the sacred hill, and V reached the monastery. There he found a holy Father, a Frenchman, a man of great austerity and devotion, Bartoli, as well as Bouhours, who follows him in general, pointedly alludes to the saint's moral obliquity on this occasion. Bartoli flatly calls him " an unex- perienced novice, who as yet did not well distinguish between the sentiments of a Christian and the impulses of a knight " " inesperto novizio in cui ancora non si distinguevan bene i dettami di Christiano, e gli spiriti di cavaliere." L. i. 9. Certainly if Hasenmiiller may be credited in spite of his acrimony, the Moor was truly fortunate if he escaped. By his account, stated to be from Bobadilla, a Jesuit, Ignatius was as cruel and blood-thirsty as he was chivalric. " Boba- dilla, unus ex prirnis Jesuitarum patribus, fatetur eum fuisse hominem armis castrisque assuetum, et tarn truculenta animi ferocitate prreditum, ut quemvis obvium, etiam caprinam ob lanam sibi resistentem, gladio vel hasta transverberare fuerit ausus." Hist. Jesuit. Ordin. p. 12. Les Chroniques de Jerusalem, lib. i. apud " De Selva," Hist, de Dom Inigo. 202 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. whose duty it was to shrive the pilgrims. He had the pleasure of listening to the darksome catalogue of the Caballero's transgressions, which required three days for the transfer not without many interruptions by bitter groans and similar tears. After his confession he gave his rich garments to a beggar, and being stripped to the shirt, he donned the accoutrements of the new order of knighthood which he was founding, in great jubilation of heart devoutly kissing the penitential sack a thousand times, girding his loins, hanging his gourd at his side, and, pilgrim-staff in hand, he passed the live-long night before his Lady's altar, alternately kneeling and standing, but always praying,- -whilst he spent the indispensable " Vigil at Arms/' as the paladins called it, according to the usages of ancient chivalry,- being now after his own invention, THE NEW AMADIS DE GAUL. 1 "i -.- 1 1 Amadis de Gaul, trad, par le Comte Tressan, 1 780. There is an English trans- lation by Dr. Southey. See Sismondi, i. 161 ; ii. 1 50, for an account of the work. FABER. 203 At the break of day he hung up his sword and dagger on a pillar near the Virgin's altar, as a standing memento of his election, and in such exultation as may be conceived but not expressed, he set off, with bristling- resolves, to Manreza then a little obscure town not far from Montserrat, but since rendered extremely interesting and extravagantly famous by our knight of the Virgin, for the penance he there performed a penance which is with reason more extolled than that of Amadis de Gaul on the desolate rock, renewed by the admirable Don Quixote de la Mancha, if you remember, on the black mountain. 1 Thus is Ignatius fairly or foully, as you please, embarked on his new and unknown ocean of adven- ture. What is his object I It is difficult to say ; but the immediate result will be fasting, prayer, and bodily maceration. The distant result, hoAvever, will be some- thing more to the purpose. How far his pre- -, , . . . Reflections. sent design, to rival in austerities the greatest saints before him, will give him greater honour in your 1 All the biographers exultingly. Hist, de Dom Inigo, i., &c. &c. The following is curious : " It is not as yet fully ten yeeres since I was in the same Church of Montserrat, where I saw a Benedictine Monke show very many superstitious Relicks, Idols, and other fopperies, unto Pilgrimes, and other people that were come thither : some upon devotion, and a blind, foolish, superstitious zeale, and others of curiositie (as myself and many more, God forgive us) to see their impostures, deceits, and couzenage, but I could not see Ignatius his Sword and Dagger : whereupon I requested the Sacristan that kept the Relickes 3 to let me see those two holy Bilbo-blades : he told me that there was never any such Sword or Dagger there. I seeming to wonder at the matter, showed him the Life of Ignatius, written by Peter Ribadeneira, a Spanish Jesuite, in the Spanish tongue, and printed at Valladolid, Anno 1604, where it is said that Ignatius left his Sword and Dagger there. Upon this, the Monke, in a Spanish fustian-fume, cried out No me se de nada de las mentirias de Jos Teatinos : that is to say, I care not for the Jesuites lyes or fables." Speculum Jesuiticum, p. 3, printed in 1629. The Jesuits were confounded with the Theatines. That phrase seems to prove the anecdote to be authentic. 204 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. estimation, is yet to be decided ; but unquestionably there is in the man no common purpose. And it has gripped his heart as a ravening tiger fangs its unresist- ing prey. Heart and soul the man is in his resolve and you 11 find him in his work. I have a notion, for which I crave your indulgence. It seems to me that Providence, which equipoises the tides of the ocean, alternately ebbing and flowing, and leaving no constant preponderance, permits something of the kind in the religious and political affairs of men and nations. The fortunes of men and of nations perpetually suggest the fact, I mean the result, though, having your own notions of good and evil, you will not always attribute pros- perity to good, nor' adversity to evil. Nothing is more certain than that the notions of good and evil have suffered very remarkable changes among men. In fundamental laws, promulgated on divine authority, a decided change has been, on the same authority, declared imperative. For instance, " Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. 1 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil : but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also/' Again : " Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy : 2 But I say unto you, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you : That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven : for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." -Matt. v. It is to the adorable motive here 1 Ex. xxi. 24 ; Lev. xxiv. 20 ; Deut. xix. 21. 2 Lev. xix. 18. FABER. 205 suggested that I call your attention. The most conso- latory doctrine of Providence over all, issues from that motive for universal charity and brotherhood. This is not the place to evolve the beautiful theory wherein God's justice and bounty are not at variance. Suffice it to say that whilst God endures man in any state, in every condition of belief and morality, " for he maketh his sun/' &c., man, on the contrary, rises up a fierce exterminator on both scores, and in so doing, "thinks he has a good conscience." There have been times when that impulse rushed through humanity like a fiery meteor, or spread like epidemic pestilence. From the general excitation, as it were a general advertisement goes forth- -for a saviour, a defender. The state of affairs is the standing advertisement. Read through all political histories, you will never find a great, or a slashing, or a crushing mind, needed for any particular mission without his starting to the stage as the imp of incantation. You will find the same result in religious histories. About the same time, in the same year, 1521, when Luther stood forth the champion of Protes- tantism at the Diet of Worms, Ignatius conceived his resolution to dedicate himself to his spiritual career ; and now, when Luther issues from the Wartburg, again to do battle in his cause, Ignatius has taken his vow, and begins his pilgrimage, (not to Jerusalem, forsooth, though he went thither,) but to Rome, w r hose rampart he is to become. Luther's entry into Wittemberg took place only eighteen days ere Ignatius passed his " Vigil at Arms ' before the Virgin of Montserrat. When Luther attacked indulgences, he knew not that he would become the champion of the Protestant movement : when Igna- tius resolved to imitate St. Dominic and St. Francis, he 206 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. had no idea of being an opponent of that movement. Both results followed, however, and an equipoise was effected, after considerable obstructions, of course, in the religious and political affairs of humanity. I shall again touch on the subject in the sequel. We left Ignatius at Manreza. A stonishing it is to see how well he copied the example of the Catholic saints- indian those dreadful examples of what human nature penitents. can C | Q ^[fa itself if only impelled by a motive. Any motive will do to produce the same results in a Catholic Christian, (of old, 1 ) or a Yocjee of India- those unapproachable ascetics of a pagan god. Under a sense of sin, or thirsting after immortality, or seeking absorption into the Deity as their supreme good, these pagan devotees forsake their homes, and practise the austerities which their cruel superstition inspires and requires. True, the great majority are animated by no such motives. Ambition, vanity, love of admiration, and thirst for fame, and honour, and renown, the hope of being worshipped now. and of being elevated into a divinity after death, may be unquestionably the ruling- passions of those who embark in this arduous enter- prise ; but the result is precisely the same. One man lies on a bed of spikes, or travels to Benares upon shoes whose irons lacerate his flesh. He inflicts tortures on his body for the good of his soul. 2 Another vows to remain standing in a certain position for years, with his hands 1 I say of old but the spirit of ascetic self-torture is not yet dead. In the " Times" paper of Dec. 21, 1847, you may have read the case of a French nun, of Paris, who, by advice of her confessor, constantly wore a crucifix with points on its surface, next her naked breast, in which position it was found by the physician who was called in to prescribe when she sank under her secret austerities. At night she slept with it under her back, so as not to lose the dear torment. ~ Campbell, India, p. 55. FABER. 20 / held up above his head, until the arms wither away from inaction, become fixed and powerless. One carries a cumbrous load, or drags after him a heavy chain, which he sometimes fixes to the most tender part of the body. Another undertakes a long and wearisome pilgrimage from the extreme north of India to Rameeshwarum, in the south ; or from the extreme south to Benares, in the north, measuring with his prostrate body the whole extent of the journey. Understand me well ; he lays his body lengthwise on the ground at each remove, or drags himself thus, and so he journeys on- -poor miser- able wretch how the heart sickens to think of it on -on in his dismal pilgrimage he goes, parched with thirst in a burning clime, famished with hunger, a prey to every calamity. Some crawl like reptiles upon the earth for years, or until they have thus made the circuit of a vast empire. Others measure with their bodies the road to Jaganath, or, assuming as nearly as possible the form of a ball, or a hedgehog ensconsecl in his prickly coat, roll along, like the Indian in Yathek, teres atque rottindifs, from the banks of the Indus to those of the Ganges, collecting, as they move in this attitude, money to build a temple, to dig a well, or to atone for some secret crime. Some swing before a slow fire in that horrid clime, or hang for a certain time suspended, with their heads downwards, over the fiercest flames. 1 The legs of the standing penitents swell and become deeply ulcerated ; they cannot stand : they lean against a pillow suspended from a tree. Some turn their heads over their shoulders to gaze at the heavens, remain in that posture until it becomes impossible for them to resume the natural position, while, from the twist of the 1 Oriental Mem., i. 68, 69. 208 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. neck, nothing but liquids can pass into the stomach. 1 The Yogee falls prostrate, and continues in fervent devo- tion until the sun pours down his heat like a furnace. He rises then, and stands on one leg, gazing steadfastly at the sun, whilst fires, each large enough to roast an ox, are kindled at the four corners of the stage on which he exhibits, the penitent counting his beads, and now and then throwing combustible materials into the fire, to increase the flames. Then he bows himself down in the centre of the four fires, keeping his eyes still fixed on the sun. Next, placing himself upright on his head, feet elevated in the air, he remains for three hours in that inverted position. Lastly, he seats himself with his legs crossed, and thus endures the raging heat of the sun and the fires till the end of day. 2 At night, how fares this voluntary penitent ? He stands erect, up to his neck in a river, or a tank ; and why 1 In order that thus the juices of his body may be dried up, and he may obtain emancipation from his passions and his sins. 3 Some bury themselves in like manner in the ground, or even wholly below it, leaving only a little hole, through which they may breathe. Others tear themselves with whips, or chain themselves for life to the foot of a tree. 4 Some stand in the midst of frost and snow, that the cold may seize on their vitals : others throw themselves from some terrible precipice, to perish in pursuit of a phantom and a lie. 5 In the midst of the wild woods, caves, rocks, or sterile sands, sharing the habitations of the beasts of the forest, and feeding on the roots of the desert, you may see these resolute penitents, mostly naked, their long hair matted into ropes, intertwisted 1 The Hindoos, ii. 57= : Mill, India, i. 353. 3 Campbell, India, p. 55. 4 Hist, of Brit. India, i. 354. 5 Campbell, ubi supra. FABER. 209 with other locks from the heads of other saints long in the sepulchre, falling confusedly over their bodies, which it sometimes nearly covers, reaching the ground on all sides. In this state they are more like wild beasts than men. Their outstretched fingers, armed in many cases with nails of twenty years' growth, look like so many extraordinary horns, whilst their elf-locks, full of dust, and never combed, stream in the wind in a manner strangely savage and horrible to behold. 1 And yet not enough. What means yon crowd innumerable, round a pole, erect and ready for something ? 'Tis a swinging festival. From amidst the crowd comes forth a Sannyasi, or Indian penitent. The multitude applaud the holy man. He has vowed perpetual silence. And now look up ! A hook is thrust into the tendons of his back he is suspended in the air, and swung round and round, to propitiate the favour of some exasperated deity. 2 And the hideous festival of Jagannath, or Juggernauth, who has not heard of the countless multitudes flocking from all the most distant extremities of India, in a pilgrimage in which they starve, and pine, and perish, to feed the vultures that hover in readiness above their path, dogs and jackal] s ; to strow the Aceldama with their whitening bones ; or, should they linger to the end, with a vow to honour their god when his tower of Moloch shall roll its wheels over their bodies, willingly stretched in the bloody path, and crushed to atoms ? 3 Old as humanity is self-torture ; and yet some " good >: is its object. The Anchoret of India subdued his passions, acquired the habit of contemplation, and mortified or 1 Oriental Mem., i. 69 ; Campbell, ubi supra. 2 Campb., p. 56. 3 See Buchanan, Christ. Researches, for a heart-rending account of this festival, p. 19, et seq. Hindoos, p. 217, et seq. VOL. I. r 210 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. macerated his body. He eradicated the three great propensities as to land, money, and women. He also extirpated all ordinary prejudices concerning castes, distinctions, and honours. His wish was to extinguish the most natural feelings, and even the instincts im- planted in us by nature for our preservation. He required of his disciples to be insensible to heat and cold, to wind and rain, and to eat without reluctance not only the most offensive disgusting scraps, but even things of which nature herself shows her utmost abhor- rence. 1 After all you have read of these pagans, the exploits of the Christian Ignatius will seem trivial indeed. The knight of the Virgin arrived at Manreza, and went to lodge at the hospital of that city, and felt an Ignatius doing excess of satisfaction at seeing himself in the penance. number of beggars, its inmates. To conform himself to their manner of life, he begged his bread from door to door ; and that no one might be able to discover his quality by a certain air, which persons well-born preserve even in rags, he studied the gross manners of those with whom he lived at the hospital, and forced himself not only to imitate them, but even to improve upon what he had remarked most loathsome in them ; he succeeded in this attempt to a miracle. His filthy hair hung in disorder, and concealed one half of his face ; his beard as long, as much neglected, and as filthy as his hair, covered the other half ; this, with his nails, which he suffered to grow to a frightful length, so much disguised him, that he had rather the appearance of a bear, than a human creature. He was indeed so frightful, and so ridiculous at the same time, that when 1 Dubois, Description, p. 330, et seq. FABER. 211 he appeared the children would point him out to each other, and follow him through the streets with loud outcries : the women, of whom he asked charity, took flight, scared at his horrible figure ; the gay made him their jest, and the grave were of opinion that he ought to be sent to a mad-house. He suffered all their insults with marvellous patience, and even affected to be more stupid than he really was, that he might excite more wonder, and have more occasions of mortifying those emotions of pride and self-love, which had not yet ceased to intrude amidst these strange follies. He fasted every day on bread and water, except Sunday, when he eat a few herbs, boiled and mixed with ashes. He girded his loins with an iron chain, wore under his coarse gown a rough hair-cloth, and, in imitation of St. Dominic, gave himself the discipline or lash three times a day ; and when he went to the church of Our Lady at Villardodis, at some distance, he encircled him- self with a wreath of rough and prickly briars, to tear and transfix his flesh. But this method of honouring his Lady is far surpassed by the Sannyasi, at the festival of his Kali, or Kaluma, a female deity of India. On this occasion, the devout worshipper pierces his tongue with spits and canes ; thrusts sharp instruments through his sides ; infixes needles in his breast ; pierces the skin of his forehead, and inserts an iron rod in a socket attached to his person, suspending a lamp, which is kept burning all night. In this condition, he dances before his idol. 1 At the hospital, Ignatius sought out the most irritable and loathsome patients, and performed with most eager- ness and alacrity the most disgusting offices. He not only handled them, took them in his arms, made their 1 Ward, i. 353. The Hindoos, ii. 57. P 2 212 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. beds, washed them, cleaned them, but, more than once, he even applied his mouth to their ulcers, and sucked the purulent discharge ; and this he did, copying exam- ples in the Lives of the Saints. Meanwhile, he would watch all night, and used no other bed but the bare earth. He spent seven hours in prayer every day ; and though he had learnt only vocal prayer, he prayed mentally, without uttering a word, and remained whole hours immovable as a statue. 1 Four months in this course of penance he passed without the devil's bestirring himself to disturb the joy he tasted in it : but, says the sage who "Temptation." <=. transmitted to posterity the great actions of our hero, this evil spirit observing him one day in the hospital, pleased amidst the filth of this miserable abode, could not endure such an excess of humility in a man bred up in the palace of a king. " What hast thou to do in this hospital \ ' was the imp's appeal ; " what infamy in a man of thy quality to take upon him the life of a beggar ? Are dirt and filth the essence of holiness ? ' very wisely, but cunningly it seems, asked the devil. "And canst thou not become good without suffering thyself to be devoured alive with vermin 1 Art thou not ashamed thus to degrade thy nobility, and dishonour thy illustrious house 1 Heaven, which bestowed on thee a generous heart, was willing that thou shouldst be a holy knight, but not a miserable vagabond. Quit then this 1 All the biographers ; but Maffeus is very concise on the subject, and Bouhours lops off much of Bartoli's luxuriance of description. Levier or " De Selva," however, gathers largely from Ribadeneyra and Nieremberg, and shows up the mock-Sannyasi to admiration. It is the work of no admirer, but fair withal. Bartoli writes from the archives of the saint's canonisation the humbug attestation on oath usual on such occasions. I shall have a word to say on the subject in its proper place. FABEK. 213 horrid place. Go, show thy virtues in the court or the army ; thy example will there produce more advantage than in an hospital. One such man will suffice to reform a whole city. At court nobles will imitate thee, but here children make game of you/' These thoughts, for such of course they were, found immediately some access to the mind of Ignatius : suddenly he conceived a disgust and horror for the wretched existence he was leading amid the loathsome patients of the hospital, its filth and harassments. That was a trying ordeal. How shall he pass through the fire of that temptation r ( for such the spiritualists, the ascetics call it. And w r hy r ( Because it militates with what they lay down as indis- pensable means of salvation. They have fashioned a God after their own hearts, and their God delights in the fantastic and the horrible. In the main, the thoughts of Ignatius were sensible, rational, and, therefore, in accordance with pure religion. To visit the sick, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, are things sensible, rational, and religious, and most consolatory to us all when w r e can do them. But to suck ulcers ! And to imitate a Yogee to imitate the pagans who, with like inten- tions, eat and drink what cannot be named, l or the Roman saints, whom Ignatius copied ! Considered in itself, his attendance and services to the sick are in accordance with pure religion : he performed gratuitously what others are compelled to ask money for, it being their avocation. With pure benevolence, like that of a Howard, he would have merited our admiration and applause : but he w r as working for " merits * -for salva- tion-payment, and seeking to rival the "saints." He may have been benevolent by nature, but benevolence 1 Dubois, Description, &c. p. 331. 214 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. was not his motive here. Pure religion, therefore, makes us shrink with disgust from the sight of a man deceiving himself with horrid mockeries of sublime virtue, human and divine. Well might he feel qualms of conscience, and translate them into " temptations of the devil ; ' and rush from the thoughts of his better nature into more frightful practices, " to conquer the devil that assailed him, and nature which betrayed him I" l Forsooth it would rather seem that the " devil's ' suggestions were intended to drive him farther in his horrible career. I submit the idea to the spiritualists and ascetics. After such a gain of merits and virtue, di tal f/uadagno di meriti, e di virtu, we are told, Ignatius His austen- decamped from the hospital. It had got ties in a cave. w j nc [ ? \IQ^^ we are not informed, but by the devil of course, as they affirm, that the poor unknown, whom all laughed at, was a man of quality doing penance, and who, to conceal the splendour of his family, had stripped himself of his rich clothes, and exchanged them for those of a poor man. If, instead of the devil, they told us that Ignatius, in his fit of disgust at the hospital, had, in an unguarded moment of irritation with the abusive patients, let out who it was that served and cleaned them for their ingratitude, the thing would be quite natural and excusable too ; but the devil and Providence answer all the purposes of fanatics, the ignorant, the designing. Not through the ranks of scoffers, and -jesters, and hooters now walked Ignatius. The fact had given new eyes, new consciences aye, charity to the gaping multitude. Then they discovered i a p er vincere in un colpo due neinici, Tinferno clie lo assaltava, e la sua natura che lo tradiva." --BartoU, lib. i. 11. FABER. 215 the noble air under the hideous mask of poverty. Then were his greatest admirers those who had mocked him before. Was this not the sweet fulfilment of the knight's desires ? Is it uncharitable to say that he must have exulted inwardly as he so soon beheld the results of his " merits and virtue ? ; One biographer tells us that he took flight on this very account ; another, that he decamped in order to conquer the devil and his nature, conspiring against him in the disgusting hospital. In this contradiction, the state of his case, the workings of the human heart in such a case, must lead us to a right conclusion. And now pass on to the cavern where Ignatius resolves to perform the second act of his tragi- comedy, to be rehearsed subsequently by his own lips to his admiring disciples. He has already copied and rivalled thirty thousand, at least, of the glorious saints whose lives he has been reading. He has done their deeds, if he has fallen short of a Yogee or Sannyasi. But his imitative faculties have been hitherto confined to the social saints, if they can bear the name, the saints of human society. His attention is now called to a different class, the awful Fathers of the Desert, the Sannyasis of the Roman calendar, of whose frightful devotion the very rocks of Thebais must still be eloquent if there be " sermons in stones." The anchorets of Egypt defy Ignatius of Manreza, and the knight of our Lady picks up the gauntlet. St. Anthony, with his temp- tations and beautiful devils, will meet him in the tourna- ment. The cavern was at the foot of a hill, cut in the living rock, dark, and fashioned like a tomb. Had it been designed by Ignatius, it could not have suited him better. Rough, and ragged, and splintered was the approach ; every bruise every gash he received was a merit. 216 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Briars and thorns blocked up the entrance. He had torn himself through them, and exulted at the pain. On all sides round a dismal wilderness insured him freedom from all intrusion, excepting that of the devil. And oh, how entrancing ! In the side of the cavern which faced Montserrat there was a cleft in the rock, through which he could see and salute our Lady per dove si p uo vedere e riverire nostra Signora. She would thus be the lady of the lists, the umpire, and guerdon- giver, in the tournament. His fervour redoubled, and dreadful were his self-inflictions. He watched and watched till he conquered sleep ; four or five times a-day he gave himself a shower of blows with an iron chain, fetching blood ; more than seven hours he prayed on his knees ; and, after the example of St. Jerome in the Wilderness, struck himself violently on the breast with a flint. Add to this his pains from the hair-cloth, his chain-girdle, the vernal frost, against w r hich he found no defence in the open cavern, and but little in the sack which covered him : he continued three or four days without taking any nourishment, and when his strength failed him, he eat some bitter roots which he found near his cavern, or a bit of the musty bread which he had brought from the hospital. The result you expect naturally followed. The wonder is, that he lived through the ordeal. His strength failed : his disordered stomach tormented him with bitter and continual pains : sudden faintings deprived him of his senses. In this condition, almost lifeless, he was found at the entrance of his cavern, by some persons who went in search of him, having discovered his retreat. A little nourishment, which they forced him to take, having restored him from his swoon, he would FABER. 217 have regained the bottom of his grot, but, in spite of his reluctance, they carried him back to the hospital of Manreza. One word of reflection on this curious affair. Perhaps you do not know what hunger is I mean practically ; and perhaps you do not know what fasting is fasting in right good earnest fasting to punish the rebel flesh and put down concupiscence. It varies with the tem- perament somewhat in the intensity of its effects ; but continuous fasting, with the set-purpose of maceration in view, constantly produces the very result deprecated. With the body all the faculties of mind are weakened- will, memory, and understanding. But that propensity in you, which you may have indulged, or which is natu- rally stronger than the rest, will still have its modicum f CJ of strength more than the rest, and your will (whereby your moral strength is imparted) being weakened, how can you more effectually resist your propensity by fast- ing? In fact, fasting redoubled the temptations of St. Jerome, who was naturally lascivious ; and it is proverbial that we should not ask a favour of a crusty man before his breakfast. Give to the man of strong passions moderate meals and plenty of work ; diminish the supplies and idleness of an alderman corpulento e yrasso: but let your fasting be only from sin, as much as possible. Ignatius, however, took another view of his case, though exactly to the same end, against fasting. It is the devil again who speaks ; there ; s no doing without the devil in Jesuitism. " How canst thou," said he to him, " how canst thou support a life so austere during seventy years which thou hast yet to liveT ; This was giving him a pretty long run in store- -rather too long : 218 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. but Bartoli takes off just twenty years, and reduces the term to fifty. 1 Need I give his reply 1 Enough, alas ! of the pernicious mockeries of religion which the Jesuits have debited to the world. Tired and harassed with the recital, let us advance into more tangible facts, on which contemporaneous history will shed enlightenment. A rapid glance at his career will, however, be necessary to enable us to appreciate the man and his work. Ignatius was tried : he had his temptations : the devil spoke to him internally : the devil's speeches are recorded. But he triumphed ; and if he has not said that angels came and ministered unto him, still he affirmed, according to the biographers, that, whilst rehearsing the " office" or prayers of the Virgin Mary, he was elevated in spirit, and saw, as it were, a figure clearly representing to him the most holy Trinity. 2 Thus he was made chaste by a kind of necessity, and he is now a believer without the necessity of written revela- tion. 3 Disease, despair succeeded, but heavenly con- solations were not denied. He once had a rapture of eight days' duration. They thought him dead, and were on the point of burying him, when he opened his eyes, 1 "Qui fieri potest ut duram hanc .... vitam septuaginta annos ad cmos victurus es, perferas." Ribadeneyra, Vit. Ignat. lib. i. c. vi. " Come avesse cuor di durare cinquanta anni che gli rimanevan di vita." Bartoli, lib. i. 12. 2 Bouliours. 3 " Quod etsi uulla scriptura mysteria ilia fidei doceret." Acta Sanct. Again, " Q,use Deo sibi aperiente cognoverat." Maff. p. 28. This last passage is errone- ously translated by D'Aubigne' ; thus, "he would have believed them, for God had appeared to him." It simply means, " what he knew, God opening or revealing unto him ;" that is, by immediate revelation. Such errors I find con- stantly in all works against the Jesuits. The comparison drawn by D'Aubigne between Luther and Ignatius, is amusing, but totally baseless in every point. The national characters of the two men did not differ more than their respective individualities. See Hist, of the Reform, iii. 118, et scq. FABER. 219 and with a tender and devout voice exclaimed, " Ah ! Jesus !" " No one knows," continues the same autho- rity, the secrets which were revealed to him in that long ravishment ; for he would never tell ; and all that could ever be extracted from him was, that the graces with which God favoured him were inexpressible." l It is asserted that Ignatius received thirty visits from Christ and the Virgin. 2 Enough has surely been recorded to show forth the results of conversion in the sixteenth century. In Jesuit-books these thrilling incidents are so sweetly worded, that they penetrate to the heart without resist- ance, and provided we have the peculiar grace requisite, our admiration for the spirit of Jesuitism is overwhelming. These details, which are given as from the saint's own lips, were believed in all their intensity by the faithful ; and a council of Spanish ecclesiastics at Tarragona, declared, that " the holy Virgin, in the sanctuary of Montserrat, conceived to the sacred Ignatius, and having embraced him in her bosom, opened and imparted to him the bowels of her mercy ; and in such a manner, being, as it were, enveloped in the womb, she cherished him, and fed him with the food of heaven, and filled him with her divine spirit." 3 The result of these wonderful adumbrations this Delphic delirium, was the composition of the famous 1 Bouhours. " Nieremb. San Ignacio. 3 Nieremberg, Vida de S. Ignacio. " La Virgen Santissima, en aquel sagrado lugar de Monserrate, concibio al sagrado Ignacio, y aviendole abraado en su gremio, abrio, y communico con el las entranas de su misericordia . . . y de tal manera estando como embiie'lto en el vieutre, le favorecio, y con pasto del cielo le alimento, y lleno con su spirito diviuo, siendo Ignacio aun nino, como cerrado en las entranas de su madre, dava saltos de placer, y muchas vezes estando fuera de si, y levantando sobre si, vio como en un espejo el ineffable misterio de la Santissima Trinidad," c. xvi. 220 HISTOKY OF THE JESUITS. book entitled the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. From a penitent, equal to the greatest of Christen- The book of dom, but not of Brahminism, Ignatius would ' Eix'er- Decome a ^aclieT unto salvation. The result i s natural is consistent ; hence we may dismiss the question, whether Ignatius did or did not appropriate the groundwork of that book from a similar production of the Benedictine monk Cisneros. The application and the use of it are sufficient to demon- strate the method of Jesuit influence. It was given to men as a revelation, " the book of Exercises was truly written by the finger of God, and delivered to Ignatius by the holy mother of God." 1 This book or rather the training under its direction has, we are told, worked miraculous conversions in all times. It consists of a course of meditations extending over four weeks progressively from the life of world- liness and sin to the perfection of the saints the tem- poral foretaste of the joys of heaven. A total seclusion from the affairs of life, is one of the conditions essential to the pilgrimage. Four meditations or contemplations take place daily the first at day-break, the last at mid- night. His spiritual director must be the penitent's only companion. The solemn silence of the Chamber of Meditations was not enough: artificial gloom, frightful pictures of hell, were there to strike terror in the soul through the senses. 2 The penitent brought fierce pas- sions to the ordeal ; they were strongly appealed to though the end of the means was holy. Pride, ambition, love, are not extinguished, but their objects changed ; 1 " Est enim liber Exercitiorum vere digito Dei scriptus, et a beata Dei inatre sancto Iguatio traditus." Homo Orat. a I. Nonet. S. J. 1843, hi Direct. " See Millot, ex- Jesuit, Elem. de 1'Histoire de France, tome iii. p. 131. FABER. 221 and the imagination is trained to excite mental agita- tion or mental delight, through the corporeal senses, according to the subjects of meditation and the march of the pilgrimage. In the gloomiest hours we imagine we behold the vast conflagration of hell ; we hear its wailings, shrieks, and blasphemies ; we smell its smoke, brimstone, and the horrid stench of some sewer or filth and rottenness ; * we taste the bitterest things, such as tears, rancour, the worm of conscience : in fine, we touch, in a manner, those fires by whose contact the souls of the reprobate are scorched. Thus each meditation, each contemplation, are scenes of a drama instinct with life : its pains and its pleasures, its vices and its virtues every corporeal sense must perform each its function metaphorically, at least, to aid the deception. And when from the meditations on human destiny, sin, death, judgment, we come to the contemplation of the more tangible subjects the Incarnation all that is most impassioned, most tender in our hearts, must be poured fourth in the vividly imagined presence of the Divine Persons the angel fulfilling his mission, and Mary acquiescing in the work of redemption. We must dili- gently seek for expressions wherewith we may worthily address each divine person, the Word Incarnate, and his Mother ; praying, according to the emotion we shall feel in our hearts, for whatever may aid us to a greater imitation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as it were just made man. 2 Merely to see and hear the personages in con- templation, is trivial : we must, with a certain interior taste and smell, relish the suavity and lusciousness of 1 " Imaginario etiam olfactu fumum, sulfur, et sentinee cujusdam, seu faecis, atque putredinis graveolentiam persentire." Ex. v. Hel>d. i. 2 Hebd. ii. 222 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the soul imbued with divine gifts and virtues ; and by means of an internal touch, we must feel and kiss the garments, places, footsteps, everything pertaining to them, whence we may derive a greater increase of devotion, or any spiritual gift. 1 How sweet and tempting are the baits suspended here ! How delicious the odours around, making us ask, Whence come they these odours \ But they are so sweet, so delicious, that poor human nature bribes the judgment to believe them divine : they are so sweet, so delicious ! This is called the " application of the senses ' to the uses of the soul. Towards the end of the second week occurs the famous meditation of " the two Standards," in which Ignatius sanctified his previous warlike notions, just as he has applied all his natural predilections and refined sen- suality to the purposes of salvation in " the application of the senses." In this contemplation we behold two camps in battle array two generals appealing to us, each eager to enlist us in his service. In the rear of each general is his respective city or stronghold. One general is Jesus Christ, his city Jerusalem ; the other is Satan, his city Babylon the Great. The latter displays a splendid banner, with the motto, PRIDE, HONOUR, RICHES : on the standard of the Redeemer appear the words, POVERTY, SHAME, HUMILITY. " To arms ! " is sounded on all sides : we must instantly decide in whose ranks we will fight shall it be with Satan or with Christ ? 1 " Interiors quodam gustu et olfactu sentire quanta sit sua vitas et dulcedo animse, &c. . . per internum tactum attrectare, ac deosculari vestimenta, loca, vestigia, cseteraque personis conjuncta," &c. Held. ii. FABEK. 223 Having joined the ranks of the latter, having made the " election ''' (as it is called) one must learn how to conquer by patience and submission by non-resistance unto death ; these being the arms of our warfare, with the example of Christ before us, his sufferings and death. 1 From the sadness of these themes we pass to the last week the Sabbath of this spiritual creation. Then the " glorious mysteries " are contemplated the Resurrec- tion, Heaven, the Joys of the Saints, Divine Love, all that is cheering must now make amends for the gloom preceding. As during the former weeks no joyful thought was admitted, so now all sadness must be dis- pelled. We stand by the sepulchre of Christ, or in the little house of the blessed Virgin ; the form, parts, and other peculiarities of which, as a ceh 1 or oratory, we examine with diligence, one after another. 2 Spiritual joy, the thought of glory must then entrance the soul. The light of day must be admitted. In spring and summer we must be cheered by the sight of the verdant foliage and of flowers, or the loveliness of some sunny spot ; during winter, by the now seasonable rays of the sun or a fire ; and so on, in like manner, with regard to the other befitting delights of body and mind, wherewith we can rejoice with the Creator and Redeemer. 3 The principal rules and maxims of religious conduct, throughout these spiritual exercises, are found in the lessons and lives of the ancient fathers of the desert ; 1 Hebd. iii. 5 " Speculandum accipiet sepulchri situra, et beatse Virginis domiciliura, cujus formam, partes," &c. 3 Hebd. iv. For a detailed account of the Retreat and Spiritual Exercises, see The Novitiate, 2nd Edition. 224 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. they are here judiciously chosen, methodically digested, and clearly explained. 1 The manifest object of all is religious perfection according to the saints' ideas. In the space of a month the soul seems to grow Results of r the spiritual from the bud of repentance to the fruit of salvation. The easy and natural gradations throughout are truly admirable : the perfect adaptation of means to an end is also striking ; but the highest praise of original invention is due to Ignatius, if the work be his, for his method, just sketched, of giving intensity to the leading truths of revelation, by mate- rialising spirituality, as far as imagination can effect this anomaly. By this method the science of the saints penetrates more deeply, mixes itself with all our senti- ments and emotions, and we become strong in "faith, hope, and charity," without being aware of the imper- ceptible transformations which have been effected in our souls. Need it be added that, as the ultimate object of these exercises is to enable the penitent to choose a state of life a profession the chances are very many to one that he will remain amongst those whose method has dazzled and charmed and entranced him with joys of heart more intense than usually fall to the lot of plodding Christians, through the dull routine of common- place morality. The spiritual exercises agitate the heart, and bewilder the mind, like strains of melting music mysteriously sounding in the midnight hour. It is hard to resist spiritual impulses in solitude ; but harder still when to these are added all the emotions of the passions, which, it is evident, are never permitted to slumber for a moment in the Chamber of Meditations. Finally, a delirium steals over the mind and heart ; we 1 Butler, Life of Ignatius. FABER. 225 feel predestined ; above all, we feel that we " can do all things ' by holy obedience, having become totally "indifferent to all things in themselves/' considering them merely as far as they conduce to the end for which we were created, and this will be made known to us by our spiritual director, superior, or Father- general. From this grotto at Manreza Ignatius departed on his pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He took Italy on his way, and received the pope's blessing. His design . * * Ignatius sets was to labour in the conversion of the Turks, outforJem- as the military knight had battled to subdue them : but the monks established at Jerusalem objected to his interference, and compelled him to return to Europe. Wonders, of course, attended him here, as everywhere else, and are duly recounted by the biogra- phers. Convinced of his ignorance, he resolved to begin his studies : at the age of thirty-three he com- menced grammar at Barcelona : but his memory was very defective ; he could retain nothing. Logic, physics, and divinity, confounded his original ideas : though he studied night and day he learnt nothing at all. 1 He was clogged in the conjugation of the verb amo, I love clinging to the idea, and repeating to him- self, "I love God," or "I am loved by God/' A vow was necessary to wrench his thoughts from heaven : he made the vow at the foot of the altar to continue his studies, and apply to them with greater assiduity. He begged his master to punish him if he failed in his duty, and not to spare him any more than the youngest pupil. 2 Meanwhile, he lived on the charity of those whom he 1 Butler. " Bouhours. VOL. I. Q 226 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. influenced. Two pious women particularly cared for the saint's temporalities. The name of one is immor- His fortunes talised with that of her protege. Isabella on his return. R oge n j s remembered with Ignatius of Loyola : nor is Agnes Pascal, with whom he lodged, consigned to oblivion : his chamber was the scene of a prodigy. Ignatius was discovered at night with his face all on fire, and seemingly raised above the ground, environed with light. 1 The same suspension-bridge of rapture had been vouchsafed to Saint Dominic ; 2 and the lambent flame had been given to the pagan boy, Rome's future king. 3 Ignatius raised a dead man to life. But the saint only prayed for as much life as would enable the suicide to make his confession and receive absolution. The dead man came to life, and died again as soon as he had received absolution ! 4 Indefatigable in his labours he reaped the harvest of numerous conversions ; but the dread Inquisition pounced upon him as a wizard, a magician, a heretic. He escaped with honour amongst the people : he was declared a man filled with the spirit of God, a successor of the Apostles the holy man. 5 Judgment from above was imminent over all who questioned his sincerity. 1 Bouhours. 2 Butler, St. Dom. 3 Puero dormienti cui Servio Tullio nomen fuit caput arsisse ferunt multorum in conspectu. Liv. lib. i. " A boy, named Servius Tullius, as he lay asleep, in the sight of many persons, had his head all in a blaze." Virgil, also, may have suggested the idea to the classical biographers : Ecce levis summo de vertice visus luli, Fundere lumen apex, tactuque innoxia molli Lambere flamma comas, et circum tempora pasci. ^En. lib. ii. 4 Bouhours. 5 Ibid. FABER. 227 One day he was asking alms : a by-stancler exclaimed : "May I be burnt, if this man does not merit the flames \' } On that very day the unfortunate man was burnt to death by the accidental explosion of a cannon, " as if God/' say the Jesuits, " in order to declare the innocence and avenge the honour of Ignatius, would verify the words of Lopez (that was his name) by the very punishment which he had wished himself." 1 Such tales are full of meaning : the Jesuits can frighten as well as console : terror and consolation often come with the greatest efficacy from the same imposing lips. More troubles awaited Ignatius : his book of the Spiritual Exercises was denounced : he was examined, and acquitted, but forbidden to preach on the 1 His troubles. doctrines of Sin until he had studied divinity four years. Dissatisfied with this sentence, he departed from Spain, and arrived at Paris in the year 1528, determined to gain that science which was necessary to give authority to his mission. Possessed with his new ideas, and determined to test their efficacy in the voca- tion which he had chosen for his new ambition, his difficulties seemed only to increase his ardour and fortify his resolution. Ignatius must have champed the inexorable curb of Privilege and canonical Orthodoxy, thus checking the impulse of his superabundant energies. His metal was misunderstood ; or rather, the " men under authority' treated the enthusiast (such a cool calcu- lator withal !) as " leaders" have ever been treated ; they persecuted the man whom they should have " let alone" -and thus deprive him of that sterling merit which 1 Bouhours. Q2 228 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. persecution invariably confers. Little cared Ignatius for Orthodoxy, since Orthodoxy cared so little for him : a dutiful son of the Church he may have been in the abstract ; but to stop his mouth thus unceremoniously was enough to inspire him with a worse resolution than we find recorded ; there would have been nothing surprising had he turned heretic openly instead of trying another field for his operations. As it was, it proved the best step he could have taken : his persecu- tors eventually expedited his career ; it was destined that his Society should be born in Paris, to which city he retired from Privilege and canonical Orthodoxy in arms against a poor field-preacher. Here he suffered much from poverty, and was com- pelled to wander from place to place for substance. He visited London in his peregrinations ! At the college of St. Barbara, whilst prosecuting his studies, Ignatius managed by his dexterity to exchange a public whipping for a public triumph. He Ms had been admonished not to interfere with the studies of the students by his devotional practices : he disobeyed, and the punishment was announced. But by a single interview he operated so effectually on the principal of the college, that, without replying, the latter led him by the hand to the expectant students, all ready for the sign to inflict the penance ; then, throwing himself at the feet of Ignatius, he begged his pardon for having believed the evil reports against him ; and rising, pronounced him a saint ! l This solemn satisfaction at once raised Ignatius to a 1 Bouhours. FABER. 229 most desirable position : he became famous ; the grand epoch of his life was at hand ; u he knew clearly that he was chosen by God to establish a company of apostolic men, and that he was to select companions in the university of Paris." 1 Peter Lefevre, or Faber, was his first convert ; Xavier afterwards a saint, was his next ; and Laynez, Salmeron, Bobadilla, Rodriguez. all famous men in the ' > He begius Society subsequently enlisted. There was to gather T . , . followers. judgment in the selection and prudence in their probation ; for Ignatius gave them more than two years to mature their resolution and to complete their studies. At length, on the 15th of August, 1537, finality was given to the glorious scheme : the determined vow was taken. Montmartre was the scene of the They take ceremony. The monastery stood on a hill near Paris, consecrated by the blood of martyrs, whence its memorable name. It was the festival of the Assumption of the Virgin, when the church announces and commemorates the Virgin's bodily translation into Heaven on the wings of angels, as represented in pious prints and paintings. It was in a subterraneous chapel where the apostle of France, St. Denys, was beheaded. Lefevre said mass. He was the only priest among them. He gave them the body of the Lord ; they eat, and stood, and swore the vow of confederacy. They promised God to go to Jerusalem to convert the Turks ; to leave all they possessed in the world, excepting what was necessary for the voyage ; but they threw in the remarkable proviso, that in case they could not go to Jerusalem, 1 Bouhours. 230 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. nor stay there, they would throw themselves at the feet of the pope. 1 Claudius Lejay, Codure, and Brouet afterwards joined the band, which, with Ignatius, now amounted to ten men, of different natures, of widely different dispositions and attainments, but all with- a determined will to attempt " great things," and withal, devoted to Father Ignatius. They set out, and reached Italy. Their pilgrimage was at an end ; for war having broken out between the Christians and the Turks, the voyage to " The Com- pany of Palestine was impracticable. Heaven pre- other'patro- ferred the clever proviso of their vow. It was during this journey, and at Vicenza, that Ignatius enjoined his companions to call themselves " the Company of Jesus." " Because," said he, " they were to fight against heresy and vice, under the standard of Christ/' A bold and distinctive sign-board was that aspiring appellation ; and it was destined to be carped at accordingly with pious indignation, but rather incon- sistently, for the more honourable and exalted the name we bear, the greater may be our efforts nobly to wear it. Ships were called " the Most Holy Trinity ; r colleges have divided between them the name of the Redeemer ; everybody calls himself a Christian. It was a bold idea in Ignatius to select the sacred name for his company ; and that is all, except that it answered most admirably the purpose of attraction and renown. Soon other names will be given to the followers of Ignatius, according to their attributes, real or supposed. They will be called the Servants of Jesus Christ ; the Venerable Congregation ; the Apostles and Legates 1 Bouhours. FABEK. 231 of Jesus ; the Brothers of Jesus ; Reformed Priests ; Theatiues ; Priests of Santa Lucia ; Priests of Santa Catharina. Thus by their friends and admirers ; but the compact and awfully execrated patronymic " Jesuit ; willcling to them more closely, until they will boldly adopt it themselves, always exceedingly accommodating to the troublesome world. Then will all manner of perverse names be showered on the sturdy workers : Jesmoeiter, or " far from Jesus ; ' Papst-Schargen, the pope's lictors ; Papst-Schwarze Ritter, the pope's black horsemen ; Esauites ; Jebusites ; and the Philistines of Christendom. 1 But little cared the followers of Ignatius for these hard names. They could boast of a mighty -vision, which showed their credentials in Heaven. It follows : From Vicenza, the little band of pilgrims set out for Rome. On the journey, whilst retired in prayer, Ignatius saw the Eternal Father, who pre- The most re- sented him to the Son ; and he saw Jesus Christ ^ n ab }^ a . bearing a heavy cross, who, after having re- tins ever had. ceived him from the Father, said these words to him / shall be propitious to you at Rome. In the Ada Sanctorum, the Jesuits give an engraving of the chapel where the vision was vouchsafed. 2 Ignatius could not have hit on a better plan to invigorate the enthusiasm of his chosen band. He boldly related the " vision :" it had the desired effect : they marched on rejoicing. " This vision," says Bouhours, "is one of the most remarkable that St. Ignatius ever had ; and it is so well vouched for that it admits not of a doubt." Subsequently referring, with no small intrepidity, to this his "vision," Ignatius proudly exclaimed, " When the 1 Hasenmuller, Hist, p. 21. - July 31. Acta Sanct. 232 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Eternal Father placed me with his Son" -Quando el Padre Eterno me puso con su Hijo." 1 This is one of the most suspicious traits in the character and career of Ignatius. Only before the grand accomplishment did the pru- dent Ignatius make known to his disciples his final The final scheme ; and then he did so in a long speech which is given by his biographer. " Ought we not to conclude that we are called to win to God, not only a single nation, a single country, but all nations, all the kingdoms of the world?" Such was the leading idea : then looking forward he exclaimed, " What great thing shall we achieve if our Company does not become an Order, capable of being multiplied in every place, and to last to the end of time ?" 2 He foresaw difficulties ; but the man who had over- come every obstacle in his way, or patiently bided his 1 Bouhours, i. 24H. Id. ib. 257. FABER. 233 time for sixteen long years ; such a man, if any, can look the future in the face and resolve success. Some thought him mad, but they knew him not : some think, even now, that he was mad, and echo the words of Voltaire, the ex-pupil of the Jesuits : " Would you gain a great name ? v asks Voltaire,- " Be completely mad : but of a madness befitting the age. Have in your folly a bottom of reason to guide your ravings, and be exces- sively stubborn. It may chance that you get hanged : but if you are not, you may have an altar." 1 There is some truth in this. Ignatius is now in no danger of a halter, but bids fair for an altar. 1 Diet. Philosoph., tome x. Ignace. BOOK III. OR, XAVIER. SUCH are the leading facts in the life of Ignatius, hitherto the wandering preacher, as described by his Preiimina OW11 disciples, for the edification of the faithful, observations. Every fact has been either questioned or bitterly ridiculed. The enemies of the Jesuits have clapped their hands with merriment thereat ; but the Jesuits and their friends have not ceased, on that account, to venerate their sainted founder. Ever con- vinced of his perfect integrity and holiness, they cease not to put up their prayers to Ignatius in Heaven for the protection and advancement of his cherished Society. His divine mission is believed ; his miraculous powers are firmly asserted ; and every Catholic is bound to reverence his name, since a festival has been appointed to him, and his name is invoked in the Mass. The historian must bear these facts in mind : he must give them some little weight in the judgment he labours to form of this remarkable man. There must have been some merit some considerable merit in Ignatius, to effectuate or direct the achievements of his nascent Society. In the picture of the age which has been given, we RENOWN OF IGNATIUS AND HIS FOLLOWERS. 235 behold the field open to precisely such a man as Ignatius may be conceived to be, after making due allowance for the peculiar views of Ins biographers. In his career, up to the foundation of his Society, w^e see evidence of unflinching determination a boundless passion for spiritual teaching and we have no reason to believe that his morals were otherwise than pure, however strongly the w r hole narrative induces the thought that spiritual power w r as ever his object ; hence the assertion of his visions and inspirations, all which, if not invented by his followers, must have been proclaimed by him- self. Herein is the important feature of the founder's character. Success attended his efforts : the world applauded : circumstances combined to cheer him on : he advanced as to the breach of Pampeluna ; but his arms were now those of the spirit, and with these to conquer, or seem to conquer, is one and the same. God alone will finally decide what is or what is not, true victory. The Pope of Rome beheld Protestantism boldly advancing. Germany was almost totally Protestant. England was severed from papal allegiance. Rei Switzerland, Piedmont, Savoy, and all the Ignatius and . . . his followers. adjacent countries were infected with heresy." France had caught the " distemper ' from Geneva. The "venom" had penetrated into Italy. In such disastrous circumstances extraordinary succour was required. Paul III. thought well of Ignatius and his followers, whom he had dimissed to their probation, after the first interview and explanations. Rumour announced their deeds, their success. " Everywhere/' said the thousand- tongued, " they revive the spirit of Christianity ; the 236 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. most hardened sinners cannot resist the might of their words ; they have even converted a libertine-priest a man of scandal, who composed comedies, and acted himself a comedian at the altar, a priest on the stage ! They have converted him : he has been through the Spiritual Exercises, and has begged pardon of the people, with a rope round his neck, and has turned monk a reformed Franciscan I" 1 Paul III., we are assured, was struck with astonish- ment at these brilliant achievements. He was " still The Society more impelled by an interior movement." 2 A is established. Cardinal, who had strongly objected to the new foundation, " felt himself changed on a sudden," for Ignatius had " redoubled his prayers before the divine Majesty, for the foundation, with extreme con- fidence; and as if he had been assured of success, he promised, one day, to God, three thousand masses, in acknowledgment for the favour which he hoped to obtain." 3 All very specious indeed : but the result was, that the pope granted the Bull, Regimini militantis Ecclesice, and the Society of Jesus was founded. 4 The Bull went forth on the 27th of September, 1540. His Company being established, Ignatius deemed it necessary to begin with electing a Commander-in-Chief, or General, for he never totally resigned his martial 1 Bouhours. 2 j^. i. 286. 3 Ibid, p. 284. It is a curious " coincidence" (which is to be accounted for by the Jesuits), that the same fact is recorded concerning St. Dominic and his Order. The pope objected ; but " he dreamed he saw the Lateran church in danger of falling, and that St. Dominic stept in, and supported it with his shoulders." Butler, St. Dom. The Jesuits have been determined that no founder should eclipse Ignatius, either in austerities, sanctity, miracles, or familiarity with the Almighty. 4 The Bulls and Breves take their titles from the first word or words. The present begins thus, " Raised to the government of the Church militant." THE ELECTION OF A GENERAL. 237 notions : his men were to bear " the standard of the Cross, to wield the arms of God, to serve the only Lord, and the Roman Pontiff, his Vicar on earth. 1 Ignatius summoned his little troop to Rome not all, for some of his men were already at important posts. True to its subsequent history, the Society The electioi was already in a position to influence the of a General. minds of kings. Xavier and Rodriguez were at the Court of Portugal ; Faber at the Diet of Worms, and Bobadilla had express orders not to leave the kingdom of Naples before accomplishing the affairs committed to his management. The absent members left their votes ; the suffrages were collected ; as a matter of course, Ignatius was elected. He was surprised and afflicted ; but had he reason to be so ? Was it not natural that his followers should elect a man who had been favoured with visions who had been enlightened to see through O O the mysteries of faith who had been placed associated by God the Father with God the Son, as before related. Ignatius, as modestly as Julius Caesar, refused the dignity nobly, but gently, pushed away the proffered diadem. The refusal confirmed the electors in their choice ; but, obedient to his request, they spent four days more in prayer and penance, before the next election. Ignatius was again elected. The Divine will seemed mani- fest. Ignatius was of a different opinion ; he made another effort to escape. He said he would "put the matter into the hands of his confessor ; and if the latter, who knew all his bad inclinations, should com- mand him in the name of Jesus Christ to submit, he would obey blindly/' 1 In the same Bull. 238 HISTOKY OF THE JESUITS. It is needless to state that the confessor " told him plainly he was resisting the Holy Ghost in resisting the election ; and commanded him on the part of God, to accept the appointment." A question arises here. For whom did Ignatius vote in the election ? Surely, if he did not think himself perfectly qualified, he should have named the companion whom he deemed worthy of the high function, particu- larly as he had called the electors to Rome, for the express purpose of the election. But the sentimental votes recorded by the biographers lack that of Holy Father Ignatius. Xavier, Codure, Salmeron, have left their votes on the grateful page ; we see one of them even now lithographed 1 , doubtless every other was equally fervid ; but we must remain uncertain as to the real sentiments of the modest saint on this interesting occasion. In due time Ignatius drew up the Constitutions of his Society. Subsequently, as years rolled on, Rules, The insti- Decrees, Canons, &c., were added to this tute." groundwork ; the whole body of legislation being termed " The Institute of the Society of Jesus." These books profess to describe the system of the Jesuits, but only for the inspection of the Jesuits them- selves ; and not even to the newly admitted members, or novices. 2 For the use of the latter, and to be shown to the world, when thought proper, there was a com- pendium, or summary, exhibiting brief rules and universals. They were not to be printed without the General's permission, and then not to be pub- lished, nor shown to those who were not received into 1 See Cretineau Joly, Hist, de la Comp. cle Jesus : t. i. p. 52. - Decl. in Ex. Gen. G. GENERAL IDEA OF THE SOCIETY. 239 the Society. 1 It was, therefore, contrary to standing- regulations, that the Constitutions should be produced to the world. These were exhibited, in process of time, on a very memorable occasion in the history of the Jesuits, as we shall read; and the suppression of their houses, and consequent appropriation of their goods and chattels, scattered the Constitutions, Rules, Canons, &c., over the world, and they are now to be had for a trifle or more at the cheap-book stalls of the metropolis. 2 To conceive an adequate idea of the Jesuit Institute, we must, in some measure, forestall the period of its compact omnipotence. We must fling round General idea of about the primitive ideas of Ignatius, or the tbeSociet )'- first founders, all that circumstances and expediency subsequently suggested to expand them into that absorbing POWER which men beheld with terror, and Heaven willed or permitted to be struck down. Upwards of twenty thousand well-trained, efficient veterans a legion a phalanx held together by corporeal and spiritual discipline united, theoretically at least, and for a time, by the conformity of moral inculcation, casuistry, and the method of education by the perfect resemblance of doctrine and manner of life, as far as circumstances or expediency would permit bound to their General-in-chief by the chain of entire submission obedience prompt, enthusiastic, blind and scattered, without division, on the face of the earth. To the Jesuits, dispersion was but a matter of geographical 1 Decl. in Ex. Gen. G., et Decl. in Prosem. n. 2. Ord. Gen. cap. ii. 4. - A collection, in my possession, has at length come together from all points of the compass, as evidenced by the superscriptions on the title-pages ; one from the college at Louvain, another from that at Rome ; a third belonged to the " Scottish Mission," &c. 240 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. latitude, not mental separation : a difference of language, not of sentiment. Skies changed for the wanderers, but not the peculiar ways and means and method of the Jesuit. In this mighty family all subscribed to the same articles of faith, whatever might be the tendency of their particular inculcations. That was their uniformity : whilst theory is respected, practice will be allowed for : if you leave the former untouched, the latter, to a vast extent, may riot unmolested. The Roman and the Greek, the Portuguese, the Brazilian ; the Irishman, the Russian ; the Spaniard and the Frenchman ; the Belgian and Englishman all worked as one man : their individual tastes and inclinations were merged in the general object of appetence : they were a multitude in action, but in will a single, naked soul. 1 Penetrated by the same spirit, governed by one soul, this mighty body operated in concert, employed the same most powerful means to gain the object proposed by the Institute the spiritual good of mankind in the first instance, but by the Jesuit-method effected, and necessarily attended with that temporal self-aggrandise- ment which exalted the Society of Jesus far above any confraternity that ever influenced the minds of men. It proved to be their misfortune : it is nevertheless the fact. At the first command, at the slightest sign of the 1 Hrec sunt intervalla locorum, non mentium ; discrimina sermonis, non pectoris ; cselorum dissimilitude, non morum. In hac familia idem sentiunt Latinus et Grsecus, Lusitanus et Brasilius, Hibernus et Sarmata, Iber et Gallus, Britannus et Belga ; atque in tarn disparibus geniis nullum certamen, nulla contentio, nihil ex quo sentias plures esse. Imago Primi Sceculi, p. 33. Idem sapiamus idem prope dicamus omnes doctrinee igitur differentes non admittantur. Const, part. iii. c. i. 18. THE GENEEAL. 241 Superior, all was agitation and stir, they marched to the conquest. 1 Hopeful of victory, they were not cast down by defeat ; effort succeeded effort till the breach was made, and the Society's banners outspread the talisman Ad majorem Dei Gloriam--To the Greater Glory of God ! The simple Jesuit is to possess for himself neither power, nor office, 2 nor credit, nor riches, nor will, nor sentiments : 3 the concentrated authority be- i r\ i A. TT Condition of longs to the b-eneral. His commands, his the simple desires, are the law : 5 his power flows from his hands as from its source, on the heads whom he chooses : 6 it extends as far as he pleases ; it stops when he wills. The General is elected for life, and by a general con- gregation of the Society, composed of the Professed Members. The General must be a Professed n/r i TT- i-r T i The General. Member. His qualifications, according to the Constitutions, must be great piety, and the spirit of prayer : he must be exemplary in all the virtues ; calm in his demeanour, circumspect in words. Magnanimity and fortitude are most essential attributes. He must have extraordinary intellect and judgment ; prudence, rather than learning ; vigilance, solicitude in his duties : his health and external appearance must be satisfactory. He must be middle-aged ; and a due regard is to be had to the recommendations of nobility, or the wealth and honours he may have enjoyed in the world. 7 1 " Licet nihil aliud quam signum voluntatis," &c. Const, part vi. c. i. 2 Bull. Greg. XIV. ann. 1591. 3 Const, part viii. c. i ; Exam. c. 6. 8. 4 Const, part ix. 5 " Monarchicam tamen et in definitionibus unius Superioris arbitrio conten- tam esse decrevit." Bull. Greg. XIV. 1591. 6 Const, part viii. 7 ibid, part ix. VOL. i. R 242 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. He appoints the Provincials or rulers of the Provinces into which the Society is divided, the Rectors of Colleges ; all the officials of the Society. A general congregation may depose the General : but this cannot be unless he " commits mortal sins of a delicate nature and public- -in ewternum prodeuntia or wounds any one, or misapplies the revenues, or becomes a heretic. He has five Assistants corresponding to the great provinces of the Society, to aid him in his function. Italy, Spain, Germany, France, and Portugal supply their assistants, elected in a general congregation. Their name explains their office. They assist the General in expediting the affairs of their respective provinces ; they stand between the chief and his subjects ; they are his prime ministers. Something like a curb is placed on his authority. The assistants must be the watchful guardians of his virtue and conduct. Provincial congregations may deliberate on the expediency of a general congregation to consider his government, without his knowledge of the fact ; their votes are written. Every Superior in the Society has his Monitor to observe his conduct ; the General is not exempted from this seeming check to authority : but it means The Monitor. J ' little it can effect less ; for the fact must never be forgotten, that a thousand regulations of the Society insure the similarity of views in the whole body. If it defends the General or Superior from " public sins," in externwn prodeuntia, it is no guarantee to the world at large, from those abuses which result from the pos- session of unlimited power in directing the efforts of thousands sworn to obey. LIST OF QUALITIES OF MEMBERS. 243 Another set-off against republicanism by the Consti- tutions is secured to the General in the remarkable regulations which follow. The General pos- Another sesses the secrets of every member a terrible " set - ff; ' fulcrum for the lever of influence. He knows the character, the inclinations of every member ; he knows these facts, or may know them, for he has them in writing. He is made acquainted with the consciences of all who must obey him, particularly of the provincials and others, to whom he has intrusted functions of great importance. He must have, like each Superior, a com- plete knowledge of his subjects ; their propensities, their sentiments, the defects, the sins to which they have been or are more inclined and impelled, ad quos defectus vel peccata fit er hit, vel siut may is propensi et incitati. 1 Every year, a list of the houses and members of the Society, the names, talents, virtues, failings of all are there recorded. It was such a list, doubtless, that sugges- ted to a General of the Society that proud exclamation, when, having exultingly alluded to his philosophers, mathematicians, orators, &c., he cried, " Ed abbiamo anche martiri per il martirio se bisogna" -and we have men for martyrdom, if they be required. 2 In effect, from this minute list of mental and bodily qualities, he can compute his power and direct his plans, adapt his commands and insure success to his delegated functions. 3 Every local Superior or Rector must write to the Provincial weekly ; the Provincials to the General weekly, or at least monthly, detailing the condition and prospects of their respective departments. 4 1 Const, part ix. c. iii. 19 ; Exam. c. iv. 34 ; Const, part ix. c. vi. 3. - Chesterf. Letters, p. 23fi. 3 Exam. p. 35. 4 Const, part viii. R. 2 244 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. If the matter has reference to externs, or persons in the world, a species of cipher must be used to prevent discovery, in case the letter should fall into his hands, Ha scribatur, ut etiamsi liter fB in ejus manus inciderint, offendi non possit. 1 A/ * The power of the General extends even over the Constitutions, which he may change, alter, or annul ; 2 but the changed or altered parts are not to be expunged? Hence, an appeal to the Constitutions must always silence the enemy who ascribes the conduct of a member to his rules and regulations ; hence the " Monita Secreta" may have been issued by authority ! Thus is the General's power absolute absolute as to the appointment of officials, the disposal of temporalities, The General the admission of fresh members to the Society, absolute in the power of " dispensation," which he wields according to times, persons, and all the sugges- tions of expediency. 4 The General sends out his Missioners whithersoever he pleases ; and selects them according to the qualifications required by the circumstances in which they will be placed. The strong and healthy, the trustworthy, the tried, probati, et securiores ; the discreet and insinuating, qui discretionis et conversandi gratiam habent ; the well-favoured in person, cum exte- riori specie men of genius and peculiar talent, orators, and skilful confessors all must be sent where their respective qualifications are most required, or are likely to reap a plentiful harvest. 5 The Missioners are sent in company, and must be con- trasted. The talent of one must co-operate with that of 1 Form. Scrib. 25. Edit, Ant. ] 702. 2 Const, part ix. c. iii. 8. ! Dec. Con. iii. d. 28. 4 Const, part ix, c. iii. 8. 5 Ibid, part vii. c. 2. F. THE END OF THE SOCIETY. 245 another, or modified effects must result from the union of different natures. With a fervid and fiery temper, ferventi et animoso, let a more circumspect and How supplied. cautious spirit be joined. A single Missioner should not be sent. 1 All who are sent, go rejoicing. At the word of command from the Pope or General, the Missioner is ready for every fate : to share the luxury of kings whose conscience he has to govern, or to be devoured by cannibals, who prefer his flesh to the spirit of his religion. To such a Society judgment in the selection of its members is essential, and this is required by the Consti- tutions. Prompt, humble, devout obedience, a constant correspondence from the remotest points of the Society, exact discipline in all the external practices of piety, which are so admirably adapted to keep the mind in subjection, the manifestation of conscience enjoined to every member of the Society, the perfect training in all the departments of knowledge- -these, with the prestige of their name, were destined to weld together the terrible troop, and give them victory in a field where they had no equal opponents. Other expedients of the Jesuits will be manifest as we trace their progress down the stream of their troublous times into the gulf of their destruction. A glance at their declared objects and their method of training their men, must precede the narrative. The end proposed to the Society, according to the Constitutions, is not only to give each member the means of working out his own salvation and The" end" of spiritual perfection, but also of applying him- the Societ > r - self to the salvation and perfection of his neighbour. 1 Const, part vii. 246 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Three vows are taken obedience, poverty, and chas- tity, understanding poverty to mean that the Jesuit will not and cannot have any revenue for his own sup- port, nor for any other purpose. This prohibition applies universally. No stipend nor alms can be received for masses, sermons, or any pious office. 1 As to externals, the Society does not assume, by obligation, any of the ordinary penances or macerations of the body. These are left to the dictates of individual piety and the judgment of the immediate superior. It is a mendicant order, that is, its members are to subsist on alms. These are divided into four classes :- I. The Professi or Professed. These are the advanced Jesuits. Besides the three vows just mentioned, they make an express vow to the Pope and his suc- The four classes of cessors to set out without excuse, without a viaticum or travelling expenses to any part of the world, among Christians or Infidels, " for the prosecu- tion of such matters as tend to divine worship and the good of the Christian religion." II. The Coadjutors Spiritual, and the Coadjutors Temporal, are the simple priests of the Society, and the lay-brothers, or such as are not admitted to the priesthood, but make themselves useful in their respective trades in other words, the servants of the Society its printers, tailors, barbers, &c. III. The Scholastic! or Scholars, whose future position in the Society is to be determined by their respective qualifications. IV. The Novices, or those who are admitted on trial. 1 Exuui. Gun. QUALIFICATIONS OF NOVICES. 247 Their trial or probation lasts two years, during which they are trained in spirituality, and taught the import of the vows they are about to take. Their natural dispositions are keenly observed : their temper is tried in various ways : the characteristic of their suitableness for any position is obedience. The more endowed the applicant for admission is with natural talents or acquirements, and the more trying the experiments have been, in which onaiifiratim j/ ^J _f_ V Lltlli 1 1 1 il ll'J 1 : he has stood the test, the more fit will he be re( i uired - for the Society. The Society requires sound knowledge, or an aptitude to acquire it, in the candidate, united to tact in the management of affairs ; or certainly the gift of a good judgment to acquire that discretion. He must have a good memory, both quick and retentive. The desire of spiritual perfection must be in the will ; coolness, constancy, and determination in action. There must be zeal for the salvation of souls, " which is the cause of the love that the candidate feels for the Society," / * according to the assumption. Elegance of expression in the candidate is particularly to be desired, 1 - -it being very necessary in his inter- course with others with a handsome or agreeable per- son, 2 " which usually edifies those with whom w r e have to deal ;" good health and strength of body are essentials : the age for admission to the novitiate is fourteen and above : for taking the last vow, twentv-five. o / Previously to the legislation of this modern Lycurgus, mere human integrity of body was all that the Church required in her ministers ; but the experience Good looks of twenty years had taught Ignatius the value aud addresi of good looks and good address in spiritual influence. 1 " Exoptaiida est sermonis gratia." Const, i. c. ii. - " Honesta species." Ib. 248 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. For a certainty, it seems that he had woman in view, since man is not usually caught by such tackle as a "handsome person." The external recommendations of nobility, wealth, reputation, are not sufficient in themselves : still, as far as they conduce to edification, they enhance the fitness of the candidate. 1 There are impediments to admission besides bad looks : such as illegitimacy, previous apostacy, and heresy ; The impedi- having committed murder, or being infamous ments. on accoun t of some enormity; having been a monk or hermit ; being married, a slave, or partially insane. These are stringent impediments ; but the Pope or the General of the Society can grant dispen- sation, when it is certain that the candidate is adorned with divine gifts, and likely to be useful to the Society, " for the service of God, our Lord." Minor impediments are, apparently indomitable pas- sions and a hopeless habit of sin, inconstancy of mind, " a defective judgment, or manifest pertinacity, which usually gives great trouble to all congregations." 2 Among the curious questions to be put to candidates are the following : Whether any of his ancestors were heretics 1 Whether his parents are alive ?- -their name, condition as to wealth or poverty, their occupation. Whether he has ever been in pecuniary difficulties, or is bound by any claim to his parents or relatives 1 Whe- ther, discarding his own opinion and judgment, he will leave that point to the judgment of his superior, or the Society 1 How many brothers he has 1- -their situation, whether married or otherwise, their occupation or man- ner of life 1 With regard to himself, whether he has 1 Const, part i. c. ii 2 Ibid. c. iii. THE JESUIT A " PICKED MAN." 249 uttered words that may seem to have pledged him to marry \ Whether he has had, or has, a son 1 A severe scrutiny as to his spiritual bent, faith, and conscience, follows this domestic inquisition. If the candidate has any property, he must promise to " leave all," without delay, at the command of his supe- rior, after he has been a year in the novitiate. * How the But he is to resign his property to the " poor ;" novice is to " leave all." for the Gospel says, " Give to the poor" not to relatives. The reason is assigned : for thus he will give a better example of having put off all inordinate love towards his parents, and will avoid the usual un- pleasantness of distribution, which proceeds from the said love ; and thus the opening to a return to his parents and relatives, and to their very remembrance, being closed beforehand, he may persevere firmly and fixedly in his vocation. He may give something to his relatives ; but this must be left entirely to the discretion and judgment of the superior, and those who are appointed by him to investigate the claim for relief or benefaction. All ready money that he may have must be given up, to be returned to him should he leave, or be found unfit for, the Society. Any defect in the integrity of the body, disease, debility, or remarkable deformity, being too young or too old, or bound by civil obligations or debt, constitute minor impediments ; but in these cases, as in the major impediments, the Society can grant dispensations. The conclusion resulting from these premises is that the Jesuit was to be a picked man no The Jesuit ordinary plodder on the beaten track of pre- f^Ltd 6 dication. We see the earnest of efficient man -" propagandise^ the prevalent obstacles to which are 250 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. effectually obviated. Ignatius beheld the evil of his times, and he invented the remedy. In after times, in modern times, at the present time, there is reason to believe that " dispensations" in these matters were and have been freely given ; but the men who established the Society in its primitive efficiency were formed according to the letter of the law, and were perfect in their call- ing : " a simpleton, though a Jesuit," l may have its modern application ; but the misfortune is the result of abuse ; according to the original plan of the Institute, a Jesuit should be no ordinary man. Admitted to the novitiate, the Jesuit's training began. Through the "Spiritual Exercises" of the founder, he was The first made to proceed as a first trial, and then, for training. wo entire years, he remained under the same watchful eyes which marked his first failings, earnest to correct or direct them into the right channel. Constant occupation for body and soul is here given : the novice is never idle. His pride, his self-love, his will, are subjected to trials on every occasion ; and, if charity tempers the cold blast of humiliation, it must still reach the soul. The novices are employed in every menial occupation of the house, in which there are no servants but themselves. The son of a nobleman and the son of a peasant may be seen brushing shoes together, cleaning knives and forks, scrubbing bricks and boards, or digging potatoes. Even in his dress, the novice is humbled ; cast-off habiliments invest the pious exercitant ; but T Tic fl pf*cc he is right well fed, because he must be healthy and strong to do the work of a Jesuit. 1 Words applied by Voltaire to the Jesuit Berruyer, of whom we shall subse- quently speak. Sec Volt. Diet. Phil. t. x. Hist. THE TKIALS OF THE NOVITIATE. 251 The mental occupation of the novice is the study of spirituality, or " Christian perfection." He learns how to meditate. He acquires the habit of The trials of thought, self-possession, self-restraint, and, the novitlate - perhaps, self-delusion ; for, at every step, the all-suffi- ciency of obedience is preached to him, and disobedience is denounced with awful solemnity. In his superior, the novice is sedulously taught to behold the Lord : in obeying he performs the will of God. The perfection of obedience may be said to be the one thing needful in the novice of the Jesuits. It must extend over the whole man the will, and understanding. All that he is must be, in the hands of his superior, as a carcase, as plastic wax, as an old man's walking-stick. These are the metaphors invented by Ignatius to characterise the obedience of a Jesuit. In theory, it is freely promised by the novice : it must be his endeavour to exhibit it in practice. Unless we take it for granted that the supe- rior will never " err," by passion, or interest, or expe- diency, so entire a prostration of the will and under- standing is liable to great abuses. Whatever God may ordain, is necessarily to be done, however repugnant to our ideas of justice or morality. To expostulate is to disobey. Now, if God's place is to be supplied by the superior, the same result must follow, without the certain guarantee of infallibility. To say that God will not per- mit the superior to err, is an assertion which I can neither positively deny nor admit. All other explanations and distinctions respecting the obedience of the Jesuits, are clever sophisms which may suit their purpose, but cannot reach the root of the objection. 1 The novices strive, 1 Here follow three of the rules of the novices, but for the general observance of the Jesuits : Rule o4. " At the voice of the superior, just as if it came from 252 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. and not in vain, to attain this perfection of obedience. To speak from experience, I confess that there were moments of enthusiasm, when I would have deemed all things lawful at the word of my superior. It may well be said by Hasenmuller. that the novices "have as many Christs as they have rulers and labourers." 1 This delusion sweetens the bitterest humiliation, lightens the heaviest burthen, beautifies the foulest occupation. What a state of trial for a thoughtful soul is the Jesuit novitiate. The menial occupations, the drudgeries of domestic labour, are alleviations recreations in that solitude of the heart. Those were happiest who were most mechanical. The thoughtful, who reasoned unto conclusions, who penetrated the tendencies of all the regimen, bitterly felt the poison as it spread over mind and heart, transforming them entirely. Public punish- ments were awarded to public faults : private irregulari- ties were expiated by public penances. These consisted in kneeling with arms outstretched, in kissing the feet of the brothers in a hundred humiliating ways, devised by holy obedience. Every novice had a monitor, and was monitor to another, whose faults he had to observe Christ the Lord, we must be most ready, leaving everything whatsoever, even a letter of the alphabet unfinished, though begun." Rule 35 : " To this scope let us turn all our efforts and intention in the Lord, in order that holy obedience may be always and entirely perfect in us, as well in the execution, as in the will and understanding : doing whatever shall have been enjoined us, with great celerity, spiritual joy and perseverance ; persuading ourselves that all things are just ; abnegating all opinion and judgment of our own contrary thereto, with a certain blind obedience." Rule 36 : " Let each member persuade himself, that those who wish to live under obedience, ought to suffer themselves to be borne along and governed by Divine Providence through the superiors, just as if they were a corpse, which may be borne as we please, and permits itself to be handled any how ; or like an old man's stick, which everywhere serves any pur- pose that he who holds it chuses to employ it in." Summ. Const. Const, part vi. c. i. ] " Tot Christos habent quot opera vel regulas." Hist. c. v. DOMESTIC LIFE OF THE XO VICES. 253 and declare to him and the superior. Besides his weekly confession to his superior, each novice had to manifest the state of his conscience, his particular vices and inclinations, to the Provincial at stated times. The manifestation was not made under the seal of con- fession : it was understood to be available in any way that might be deemed proper by the authorities. This requisition might have some effect in forcing the novice to stifle his propensities ; but it might also generate that desperate cunning which thinks it can cheat conscience without falling short of perfection. I have elsewhere 1 described the domestic life of the novices in these our days. I shah 1 now lay before the reader the account given of it by Hasenmiiller, a seced- ing Jesuit, about forty years after the establishment of the Society. By comparing the two narratives, it will be found that age makes little difference with the practices of the Jesuits. Two hundred and fifty years have elapsed since Hasenmiiller published his experience. In reading much of it, I was carried back to my own novice days, on the banks of the Hodder, in the North of England. " In the summer at four, in the winter at five o'clock of the morning, they rise at the sound of a bell. Should any remain sleeping in bed,- -which hap- pens rather often, and they be caught by the visitor, a penance is enjoined them. The rector sends for the delinquent, reprimands him for his drowsiness and dis- obedience, and says, ' During dinner, you will take your bed, carry it to the refectory, and perform the usual penance, which may cure your drowsiness.' The signal for dinner being given, and grace being said, when the fathers and brothers have taken their seats, the poor 1 See " The Novitiate ; or the Jesuit in Training." 254 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. fellow, with his bed on his shoulders, walks into the middle of the refectory, and falling on his knees, says : ' Reverend Fathers, dearest Brothers, I tell you my fault, that this morning I slept beyond the hour, where- fore this small penance has been enjoined me, that I shall bring my bed three times into the refectory, and sleep till dinner is ended, and carry back my bed, and get my dinner at the small table.' Whereupon he carries his bed three times round the refectory, then lays him down upon it, and sleeps, if he likes, whilst the other brothers laugh and eat. Such is the penance for too much sleep. Having risen, the first rule is for them to make their beds. An hour of meditation and prayer follows ; and then they must clean their cells. For breaking this rule the same penance as before must be performed, except that, whilst the brothers are dining, the delinquent goes and sweeps his cell. Should any of them fall asleep during the hour of prayer and medi- tation, their penance is, during dinner, to fall on their knees in the midst of the refectory, and show how they rolled their heads from side to side in their irregular nap. After meditation, all hear mass with reverence and decorum ; but if any make a noise with their hands, feet, or rosaries, or gaze through the windows, their penance is, during dinner, to kiss the feet of the fathers and brothers, and take their food under the table, or at the rector's feet, and then, mounting on a bench and pushing their heads through the window, show the bro- thers how they gazed through the rails. After mass, they hear a lecture, which all must listen to attentively. Should any fall asleep, or talk, or laugh, they must exhibit the same irregularities in the refectory as the former, showing how they slept, and talked, and laughed." PENANCES FOR TRANSGRESSIONS. 255 None of these crimes occurred in the English novitiate, or if any irregularity approached them, a psalm to be rehearsed with arms outstretched, kissing the feet all round, dining on the knees, kneeling for their cup to be filled by a brother, were the penances invented by holy obedience, and selected by the delinquents, as it were by inspiration. English notions dispensed with the hugely ridiculous in the work of penance. " After the lecture, the father minister distributes the occupations and domestic labours. At his approach, all rush to him. He stands in the midst and appoints the functions. To one he says : You go and help the cook. To another : Help the store-keeper. To others : Fetch wood : Bring water : Clean the dishes : Lay the table : Wash the cups. Should any one wish to humble himself more than the rest, and, as the rule enjoins ' to seek the things to which the senses are repugnant/ he goes to the rector, falls on his knees, and begs to be intrusted with the ' office of humility, 3 which is the foulest imaginable, and / ' O not to be mentioned, though it was commonly enjoined in the English novitiate, yet not exactly to the extent described by Hasenmuller. " The ' master of manners ' follows and observes the workers. Slothfulness and levity are duly penanced, by the delinquent's being ordered to weed a brother's garden, and prune the trees. In this occupation, should he imitate or respond to a bird giving voice overhead, he must tell his fault in the refectory, and imitate aloud the sound three or four times again. 1 If a novice breaks a dish, or other vessel, his penance is to gather the pieces, tie them together, 1 " Eosdem gestus et cantus edere, quos in horto exprimebat ter igitur aut quarter circurrit in refectorio et alta voce clamat Cue, Cue, Cue, Cue, (risura teneatis, lectores, dum et ipse cuculum iatura imitor)." Hasenm. Hist. c. v. 256 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. and walk round the refectory with the load suspended from his neck Although these things are frivolous, childish, ridiculous, and ostentatious, yet the Jesuits say that they will receive in heaven as many crowns as they have performed penances : nay, that these works are meritorious to eternal life, if they perform them in the intention of the Society, and in obedience to the superior. They have therefore as many Christs as they have works and rules." " Twice a-day they examine their consciences, before dinner and supper. At a given sign, the novices assemble and proceed to the appointed place, where, for the space of a half, or quarter of an hour, on their knees before some image, they probe their consciences, and try the spirit. Those who can write, note down in a list all their sins of thought, words, deeds, and omissions, so as to confess them on the Saturday to the rector, who may thus know all the secrets of his disciples. For this purpose, they use a diary, as follows, entering their sins each day of the week : SUNDAY. SINS OF THOUGHT. WEDNESDAY. SINS OF OMISSION. MONDAY. SINS OF WORDS. THURSDAY. SINS AGAINST THE RULES. TUESDAY. SINS OF DEEDS. FRIDAY. NEGLECT OF PENANCE. SATURDAY. FAULTS IN CONFESSION. STUDIES OF THE SCHOLASTIC!. 257 They must practise the rules advised by Ignatius in the book of the " Spiritual Exercises : " -I. As often as a man commits the same kind of fault or sin, he must apply his hand to his breast and grieve for his fall, which may be clone without being noticed by others. II. At night, having counted the dots on the two lines, corresponding to the sins or faults committed, and calling them to mind during the two examinations of conscience, he must see if any improvement has taken place. III. He must compare each day with the pre- ceding, and observe the improvement, if any. IV. He must compare two weeks together, and note the result." Such is the process through which a novice of the Jesuits marches to perfection. Whatever spirit of piety may accompany the exercitant through the tedious period, must depend on his organisation : the certain result is the habit of obedience, prostrate submission in the will and understanding. And that is the object of the trial. 1 After the expiry of the two probationary years, the novice takes the three vows, and proceeds to the house of the Scholars of the Society, where he . it -i- The studies pursues his studies, which are totally cliscon- of the tinued during the novitiate. The languages, logic, natural and moral philosophy, enter into the course ; the time allotted for each being unlimited, and dependant on the judgment of the rector after exami- nation. As the scholars cannot excel in all these 1 For ample details on the subject I must refer the reader to the work before mentioned. The Day's Occupation in the English Novitiate, in 1838, scarcely differed in a single point with that of the Jesuit novitiates in the sixteenth century ! See Hasenmtiller, ch. v. VOL. I. S 258 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. faculties, each must be made to excel in some one or other of them, according to his age, genius, inclination, and previous acquirements. 1 In the books of heathen writers nothing must be read that can offend decency : they must be expurgated, and the society will " use the remnants as t h. 6 GXDll 1*~ gated classics, the spoils of Egypt/' ut spoliis ^Egypti So- cietas uti poterit. 2 On the other hand, the foulest obscenities are opened to the student when ad- vanced to the study of casuistry, obscenities infinitely more exciting to the imagination than the expurgated passages of the ancient classics, which, with these exceptions, inculcate a sterner morality than some of the books of the Jesuit-casuists. 3 Even books written by Christians, although good in themselves, are not to be read, if the author be a suspected character, lest there should result a partiality for the author. In every department, such books as may or may not be read, must be determined by the authorities. 4 All impediments to study must be removed, whether resulting from devotional practices, or mortifications carried to excess, or unreasonably practised. There must be a library common to all : but its key must be confided to those whom the rector may consider 1 Const, part iv. 2 Ibid. 3 This comparison has been made, and largely discussed in the work entitled, " A Parallel of the Doctrines of the Pagans with the Doctrine of the Jesuits," written in French. There is an English translation, London, 1726. The subject will be subsequently considered. 4 A similar proscription of Christian books was subsequently enforced by Pope Pius V. It was called the Index, and still exists. In 1775, there were about 20,000 works forbidden to the faithful. The works of Galileo, Copernicus, and Boerhaave, were put " on the Index," but subsequently taken off, when the Pope consented to the earth's motion, &c. Diet. Hist, de Vital, p. 591. STUDENTS' EMULATION EXCITED. 25.9 trustworthy, and each student is to have what books are necessary. ,' Assiduity in the classes, repetitions of what they have learned, the solution of difficulties that may result, public disputations, private conferences,- -these train the Jesuit-mind, and give it that perfection which induced the philosopher to exclaim : " Talis quum sis, utinam noster esses," being such as thou art, would that thou were ours ! l The Latin language is to be commonly spoken, and perfection in style is to be acquired by diligent practice. This, of course, applies to the times when that lan- guage was the general vehicle of intellectual wares and baggage. The student's emulation must be exerted by compe- tition. Two students are to be selected and made to enter the lists against each other by a " holy Emulation challenge/' sanctd emulatione se invicem pro- excited - vocent. A specimen of their composition must be sent to the provincial or head of the province, or to the general at Rome. 2 Competition is the soul of trade : competition is the warrior's impulse : competition is the statesman's goad. It is also the polemic's spur ; and was therefore applied to the young Jesuit, whose battle-field was to be the land, the universal land of Heresy. The Jesuit-method of intellectual training will require 1 Bacon (quoting the words of Agesilaus to Pharnabazus), in his treatise De Dign. et Augm. Scient. Bacon's admiration was extended to Jesuit " cunning " as well. He says : "It is a point of cunning to wait upon him with whom you speak, with your eye, as the Jesuits give it in precept ; for there be many wise men that have secret hearts and -transparent countenances : yet this would be done with a demure abasing of your eye sometimes, as the Jesuits also do use." Essays: Of Cunning. 2 Const, part iv. S 2 260 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. a lengthened discussion. It will be given in its proper place about fifty years after the foundation of the Company. Rapidly the Jesuits attained their perfec- tion in the art, rapidly they produced its striking results : but some little time and magnificent prospects were required to devise the scheme. Ignatius had little or nothing to do with the Jesuit-intellect. It was the Jesuit will that lie fashioned for extraordinary achievement and much more by example by practice than by theory. But he knew by painful experience that intellectual training was indispensable to the spiritual warrior, and he prescribed it for his Company. To others more competent than himself he left the construction of the Jesuit-gymnasium. To himself he reserved the Will and its action : to others he left the Intellect and its products. But mental culture and spiritual practice are not sufficient to insure adequate members to the Company. Those who suit it no longer must be expelled, Dismission from the cast away. The power of dismissal is granted Society. 1 ,. . by the general specially to the various pro- vincials, and local superiors and rectors in order that in the whole body of the Company, the subjection of holy obedience may continue so that the inferiors may clearly know that they depend on their superiors ; and that it becomes them very much, yea is necessary for them, to be submissive to their superiors in all things .... Caution, however, is advised in the matter of dismissal ; and that caution is to be increased accord- ing to the rank which the delinquent holds in the Company : in important cases the general must be consulted. Observe, a case becomes important not by the guilt of the delinquent, but his rank in the DISMISSION FKOM THE SOCIETY. 261 Company, 1 his services, and his talents. 2 These last considerations were subsequent devices of the congrega- tions. They are not to be found in the edition of 1558, two years after the death of the founder. All that appeared in that edition has been retained, though with many verbal alterations ; but more is added, and among the rest, the above expedient devices. More of this in the sequel. " How far certain faults, which are said to be contrary to the Divine honour and the Company's good, ought to be tolerated, as this depends upon many particular circumstances of persons, times, and places, it must be left to the discreet zeal of those to whom that charge is committed, who shall the more diligently commend the matter to God, and take counsel of others who can aid in discovering God's will, in proportion as the case shall seem difficult and doubtful." 3 This follows the original promulgation, where we find, as a motive for dismissal, " if it be judged in the Lord, contrary to his honour and glory to retain in the Company the man who may appear to be incorrigibly addicted to certain depraved propensities and vices, which offend the Divine Majesty." 4 We admire the prudence, the worldly wisdom of the subsequent declaration : but we applaud the rigid morality of the original mandate. The other motives for dismissal are sufficiently obvious, and amount to this, that all must be expelled who fail in their probation, or be subsequently found useless, or prove scandalous and turbulent subjects. A previous bond of matrimony, the state of legal slavery, or being in debt for a large amount, will, when discovered, constitute motives for dismissal. Disease or debility supervening 1 Const, part ii. c. i. 2 Declaratioms, to the same, 3 Const, part ii. c. 2. A. 4 Ibidt c> y. 2 . 262 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. in the probation, operates to the same result "if it is probable" that the chronic patient "cannot advance in his studies according to our Institute and method of proceeding in the furtherance of God's service ; " and you will not be surprised that dismissal must ensue " when the probationer cannot settle himself to a life of obedience to be regulated according to the Society's manner of proceeding if he cannot, or will not, subject his own opinions and judgment" 1 But disease contracted in the Company's service does not come under the ban : " for then, if he is not content to be dismissed, it would not be just to dismiss him on that count alone" adds an expedient declaration ; 2 and the same codicil to the original Will transmits a promulgation of vast historical importance. It is emphatically declared that " As it is not necessary to dismiss a member so much on account of the nature and magnitude of his sin, as for the pur- pose of removing the scandal which has resulted this being the case, should he be qualified in other respects, the Superior's prudence will consider whether it be expedient to permit him to go to some other very remote district of the Company, without dismissal." 3 Very soon the Company adopted this expedient method of shrouding her moral calamities by this sort of Botany-bay relief to the mother-country. In the country of the blind, says the proverb, a one-eyed man is a king : on the same principle, in the land of the heathen 1 Const, part ii. c. ii. 4. 2 " Tune enini, si ipsemet contentus non esset, justum non foret, hac sola causa a Societate dimitti." Ibid. B. 3 " Quando non tarn propter rationem vel magnitudinera peccati, quam ob removeudum offendiculum, quod aliis proebuit, dimitti aliquem necesse esset ; si alioqui aptus esset, expendet prudentia Superioris, an expediat facultatem ei dare, ut ad locum alium Societatis valde remotum, eandem non egrediendo, proficiscatur." Hid. D. SEVERE ENACTMENTS. 263 an infamous Jesuit is an apostle. Nor are modern times without such spots darkening the radiant sun of the Society of Jesus for, as another proverb tells, "accidents will happen in the best regulated families." A word to the wise is sufficient for them. Dismissal is to take place as privately as possible, so as to cherish the good-will of the delinquent towards the Company ; and aid should be given him Severe to embrace some other state of life ; charity enactments. should give him her hand at his departure, and defend his memory in his absence. 1 Such was the original idea ; but subsequent facts seemed to have dried up the fountain of charity and forbearance. Power gives pride, and pride breeds intolerance. If in all your means and measures you cannot defy scrutiny, keep a sharp look out on your secretary. Repentance and reform would be better ; but if these do not suit your convenience, you must adopt the Jesuit-method, as follows : Those who leave the Society of their own accord are not to be sought after, unless for very good reasons ; " should they be such as we should not thus resign particularly if they seem to have left on account of some violent temptation, or deceived from without, by others we may endeavour to bring them back, making use of the privileges conceded to us for this purpose by the Apostolic See." The privilege alluded to pronounces excommunication ipso facto against any Jesuit who returns to the world after taking the vows. By another such mandate, eight days are allowed him to return, under penalty of excommunication ; and all who aid, advise, or abet the fugitive, are obnoxious to the same penalty. 1 Const, part vi. c. vii. 264 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. By another mandate, the general and other superiors can summarily, and without the form of judgment, reclaim, take and imprison the fugitive, and compel him to do penance, just as if he were an apostate, calling in the aid of the secular arm ; nay, even those dismissed from the Society, unless they enter some other order with permission of the general, the provincial, or the pope, are forbidden to hear confessions, teach, or preach, under penalty of excommunication. 1 Those who are dismissed for crime, must be first punished, even by imprisonment, 2 and are thus effec- tually silenced by disgrace, should they meditate inexpedient disclosures. Should any members disclose the grave and hidden faults of "Our Men" (Nostrorum), they must be severely punished ; the conscience of superiors is, in this matter, charged to investigate the fact, and not to spare public punishment in the case of public offences. 3 These severe enactments, with others that might be quoted, seem to scoff with the hiss of contempt at the words of the Constitutions, where the spirit of mildness is enjoined in dismissal, without exception, omnino, in spiritu mansuetudinis procedere. 4 Even in this country these enactments would have been enforced, did the Jesuits not dread the law of the land. What wonder then that the secrets of this Society have so rarely transpired, at a time when such terrible penalties in all their apostolical horrors hung over the 1 Const, part ii. ; Comp. Priv. Apostate. See also Canon. Sept. Cong. Gen xxii. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 2 Sept. Cong. D. xxii. 6. 3 Ibid. xii. 4 Const .part ii. c. iv. 5. All the superiors have the power " to inflict correc- tions and punishments ; " provided they are deliberate and mature, " they may proceed freely" in the matter libere procedere possunt. Comp. Privil. v. Correctio. PENALTY FUR EXPOSURE OF ABUSES. 265 head of the fugitive. In effect, the greatest vigilance prevailed in all departments. Whatever could enhance the fair fame of the Company was given to the winds of Heaven, as their multitudinous " Lives ' ' of their saints and heroes, and their " annual," their " curious and edifying, Letters ' attest ; but the slightest rumour of disgrace was intolerable : to the dungeons of the Society it was consigned, with its possessor, to rot in solitude, and perish with his name. The fate intended for Melchior Inckofer, a member of the Society, who only metaphorically exposed her abuses, the fate of death awarded to him by the general and his assistants, was providentially averted, as we shall read in the sequel ; but the terrible letter of the law is enough to convince us that it was not passed in vain, nor obtained as a " privilege ' ' without steady and resolute infliction. Such are the prominent features of the Jesuit-Institute. The despotic aristocrat, Richelieu, termed the Constitu- tions of the Jesuits a model of administrative policy,- words signifying nothing ; for, surely, any form of government can rule men if they can be induced to bind themselves by a vow of perfect obedience, and be made to keep it, being kept in awe by penalties similar to that of expulsion from the Society of Jesus in the day of her glory. The perfection of a government consists in its ensuring the greatest possible freedom of thought and action, compatible with ah 1 interests, indi- vidual and collective ; where the spirit of " party ' is left to its own resources, without the arm of statutes to "protect" its selfishness; where the mental and corporeal energies of men may attain their greatest develop- ment, with the rewards of labour adequate to maintain the mind in comfort and the body in satisfaction ; 266 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. in a word, where men may seek and find their position as destined by their organisation the only guarantee of happiness in the social state. The Jesuit-Institute pre-supposes too many difficult premises for the con- clusion of that great argument. It is only when we have thoroughly meditated the endless adaptability of the human mind that we can conceive it possible for a man to live contented under such a domination. As a system of monkhood, it is undoubtedly the cleverest that has ever been, and, it is to be hoped, ever will be invented or concocted. Its mechanical products in all the depart- ments of human action must be referred to the endless adaptability of the human mind, to which, positively, any motive is sufficient to eventuate the greatest exertion in any given circumstances. The book of " Spiritual Exercises" is a more remarkable production than the " Constitutions." The former, in practice, effectuates that frame of mind without which the Constitutions would be powerless, excepting where its penalties can operate on the basest organisations. It is the training under their constant influence which stamps or moulds every Jesuit, with unerring exactness, as to the various mental qualities that enter into his composition. In effect, what have Ignatius and his followers done in the Constitutions, but expand the primitive ideas of his spiritual strategy, forming his legion, giving it a head to command obedient soldiers obedient by every pos- sible motive that can promote and ensure human action ? But the natural cleverness of the founder is still brilliant in the prominent essentials of his Institute. Let us consider : Luther had raised his mighty voice its echoes were still resounding against the avarice of the hierarchy-priests and prelates. Ignatius stipulated for INDIVIDUAL TASTES CONSULTED. 267 no pay to his troops, however important might be their functions. The monks were out of date, if not con- temptible ; but Ignatius soon convinced the cardinals that nothing was further from his intention than to institute an Order of monks ; his Jesuits would wear the dress of ordinary ecclesiastics, or totally conform to that of the people among whom they lived. Here was another capital idea, and of wonderful use in after times. There was to be no public rehearsal or chaunting of the breviary among the Jesuits, in other words, no canonical hours. The Jesuits, like Figaro, must be here, there, and everywhere. This was a bold innovation, but it took place in the age of Luther, when only bold ideas could cope with the rising spirit of the times. The Jesuits were to be select men, clever and good-looking, active, healthy, and determined in their vocation ; vast lovers of their Institute, whose prime duty was to with- stand and check the progress of the Reformation ; and, lastly, the Jesuits were placed under the immediate protection and patronage of the pope, who, as we have seen, was just in need of such a band. So much for the sagacity of this first Jesuit, as to the means he took for securing patronage in the right quarter means which depended only on Individual himself and his followers to remain in con- tastes and . . -rt i i i i i passions con- stant activity. But look within see how he suited and , i i J_T i allowed for. thumb-screws the novice, and yet preserves the integrity of the man whatever that may be keeping his distinctive passions alive, only directing their energies to " spiritual objects," that is, all which concerned the Company its " temporal and eternal," between which there was, indeed, little or no " differ- ence," making the practice of " religion ' a veritable 268 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. new nature to him, easier than any other ; and the habit once gained he wore it as you wear a garment. And to Holy Obedience what allurements were given in the fact that it would procure all things for the Jesuit, both here and hereafter ; every necessary com- fort of body ; every gratification of mind, if he would only, by one gigantic effort, throw himself, without reserve, into the gulf of her collective interests, which constituted her "interests" the portentous "party" of religionists. Thus unreservedly resigned, in theory for that was all he was certain that his individual am- bition, or " interest," would be completely consulted : for very rarely did the Jesuits misplace their workers. Throughout their history we shall very rarely find "square pegs in round holes, or round pegs in square ones." Those who were essentially religious by organisation, found, in the Society, ample food for their yearning ; The spirit an d the Society proposed to them a thousand leltefof motives for the cultivation of their delightful the Law. garden ; that beautiful Eden, where no for- bidden fruit of temptation could allure. These " spiri- tualists ' of the Society were ever the adornments of which she could boast, and the world was compelled to admit their claims to admiration. The Society used them, in their innocence and simplicity, as a foil against her rancorous enemies. They were the " ten just men r in her Sodom. Meanwhile, the penalties for disobe- dience, the manifestation of conscience, the declaration of each other's faults, promoted exact discipline in the letter of the law, just as the former motives alluded to, kept alive its spirit. Or, if the Jesuit indulged his corrupt nature, how strong were his motives for imitating the cunning Spartan, who was permitted " to ISOLATION OF THE COMPANY. 269 carry off things by stealth/' but severely punished if in the fact detected. Ignatius isolated his Company : he made it strong by union, by suppressing the hopes of individual am- bition : the Jesuit vowed never to receive . . How the any ecclesiastical dignity in fact, he vowed Company is from the very first to live and die in the Society. 1 She made her men for her own use. Only imperative circumstances only manifest expediency could induce her to permit an exception to that rule of her Constitutional grammar. Besides the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, the Jesuit takes six other vows relating to his Institute. Three of these refer to the rejection of dignities extra socie- tatem, out of the Society. He vows to reject them unless compelled by the obedience which he owes to him who can command him under penalty of sin nisi coactum obedientid ejus qui mild prcedpere potest sub pcend peccati. By this only the Pope is meant, not the General of the Society, not the congregation of Cardinals during an interregnum. He also vows to denounce all who canvass for those dignities. And further, to ensure ulterior contingents, he vows, in case he becomes a bishop, to " listen to the advice of the General and 1 Here follows the formula of the simple vows : " Omnipotent Eternal God ! I, N., although in every respect most unworthy of thy Divine presence, still, confiding in thy infinite bounty and mercy, and impelled by the desire of serving thee, Vow, in the presence of the most holy Virgin Mary and thy universal celestial court, to thy Divine Majesty, Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience perpetual, in the Society of Jesus ; and I promise to enter that Society in order to live and die in it ut vitam in ea perpetuo degam taking all things in the sense of the Constitutions of the same Society. Of thy immense bounty and clemency, therefore, through the blood of Jesus Christ, I pray and beseech that thou wouldst vouchsafe to accept this holocaust in the odour of sweetness ; and as thou hast granted me the desire, and permitted the offering, so mayst thou grant me also the plentiful grace to fulfil it. Amen." 270 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. others of the Society. True, he only vows to " listen " to the advice, not to seek it not even to follow it in case he has better ; but who can fail to perceive that the result must be as contemplated by the vow, nay, by the organisation of a Jesuit ? l To other monks, their Order was but a stepping-stone to the dignities of the Church. The bonds which held them to it were easily sundered. The Order was, as it were, common pro- perty ; a common store-house of ecclesiastical func- tionaries. Party-spirit indeed actuated the Order, but it was comparatively powerless when its largest figures could be subtracted and posted in another ledger, where other debits required a per contra. To the Jesuit, however, his Society was a Maelstrom : she sucked him down entirely, or threw him up, as she listed. He belonged to her : she did not belong to him. She would reward him according to his " merits ;' ; woe to him if he attempted to make her a " stepping-stone/' This points at once to the main characteristic of the Jesuit-Company its loudly, uncompromising aristocracy the source and end of all her power, and of all her machinations. The great body of Jesuits were servants O i/ of the general and of the favoured few, comparatively speaking, who voted, like Venetian Senators, in the General Congregations the Professi of the Company. Soon, very soon we shall find that aristocracy established in practice : but it resulted directly from the theory of the Constitutions the organisation of the Society. No 1 The extraordinary vows are as follows. 1. To go to any "Mission" in obedience to the pope. 2. Not to permit any relaxation in the vow of Poverty. 3. Not to procure any dignities in the Society. 4, 5, and 6. Those I have mentioned in the text. A seventh is also named, but it is included in the first formula, namely, to enter the Society, and accept any post assigned to him by the general. See Arsdekin, Theol. Trip. torn, ii., part ii., tract i., c. vi., art. v. THE COMPANY AN ARISTOCRACY. 271 greater source of abuse could exist. It was utterly inconsistent with that humility which best beseemed them as religious men bearing the name of Him who used not even the power he possessed, except to raise those beneath Him to a seat beside Him, in his kino;- 7 o dom. Other Orders of monks were republics demo- cracies, and nothing the better for that. All the superiors, and the generals themselves, remained in place for a limited time only. At the end of two or three years, a chapter or assembly, a general Congre- gation would raise up new subjects, and displace the old officials. It was a time of glorious excitement. The approach of these assemblies excited in the cloisters an universal fermentation, roused desires, filled hearts with hope and fear, engrossing every mind. The great mass of the Jesuits had nothing to do in the election of their general, except to pray for a good one, of w T hich, however, they were to be no judges. Perhaps nothing- was more quietly managed than the election of a general among the Jesuits. If he was not chosen by the Virgin Mary, as was Aquaviva, according to Nieremberg, 1 the aristocrats of the Company soon came to a determination, which w^as only the result of a small majority, almost always certain before its declaration. Once elected, the general ruled for life in absolute sway surrounded by his " assistants," aided by all his Professi, in a word, in the centre of his aristocracy. If he w r as an Aquaviva he might make himself some trouble, as we shall find in the sequel : but when the number of Professi increased, and the Company was culminating on her meridian, the reins were slackened, and the general might bite his nails as he beheld the distant but coming 1 Vida de S. Ignacio, c. 18. 272 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. cloud, fraught with doomed calamity. When the aristo- cracy rose in its might, the Company rolled on her troubled ocean like a ship whose ballast has canted. That was the time when the tide turned against the Jesuits : the time when they no longer deemed it necessary to seek above all the approbation of their general. The enjoined care in the choice of officials is worthy of notice. These were to be, and generally were emphatically, The choice of men f business cool heads and icy hearts. officials. Cheminais, Bourdaloue, Segneri, were always simple subjects of the Society, esteemed, but power- less. The Company was proud to number them amongst her members : she enjoyed their glory as wealth that belonged to her. She flung their reputation in the face of those carpers whom other members, less estimable, attracted ; but she gave them no authority. The reason might be, that those minds, zmhardened by the charms of literature, would not possess the requisite firmness, or that, having become too much enlightened by study, they would not evince that docility which was exacted. They were appointed to teach, but not to govern men : from all times of the Society, the men employed have been old theologians, practised from their youth upwards in the subtleties of the Schools, accustomed by the long experience of the confessional to distinguish and direct all the movements of the heart, after having: o become, by oft-repeated trials, as capable of obeying with suppleness as of commanding with authority. Such we shall find, to the letter, the princes of this mon- archy : such were the Cottons, the Lachaises, the Letel- liers, so renowned in French history. But their fame is the result of their intrigues. Who has ever heard of the sermons of Cotton, the theological lessons of Lachaise, THE STIRRING MINDS OF THE COMPANY. 273 the books of Letellier ? These men had only one kind of talent that of " stirring ' minds with skill : they were elevated to posts where they could display their talent with effect. Of course there resulted always from such appointments, a damaging prejudice against a Society to which nothing was useless, and which, distri- buting her employments amongst all her children, con- fided to some the care of extending her glory by labours which command applause, to others that of strengthen- ing her power by machinations which the interest of the public found it impossible to endure. 1 Other abuses, closely allied to perfections, will be pointed out as we proceed. I have anticipated times and their workers, in order to stimulate the mind of the reader to draw conclusions from facts as we advance together. I return to Ignatius and his primitive outline. The grand " merit " of the " Constitutions " is, that they lay a foundation and build round about the " hanging- garden ' of the " Spiritual Exercises," and sustain the props thereof, or, like the banian tree, always ! -I -! The grand striking in new roots and striking out new me * h of branches. Herein is the focus of my admira- tion of this wonderful Spaniard. He may never have guessed, imagined, or foreseen that the voluntary beggars of his order would rise to the right hand of princes, sway the destinies of nations, and frighten the world with a new terror. But he has the merit of having laid the foundation of a superstructure that might have permanently benefitted mankind, had he been less of a bigot, less of a soldier, less of a Spaniard, less of a monk. Still he was a shrewd man, yet full of imagination ; a calculator, and yet no gambler in human chances. Another Lycurgus he was : but a Lycurgus 1 Linguet, Hist. Impart, clcs Jcsuitcs, t. i. VOL. I. T 274 HISTOEY OF THE JESUITS. of a deeper mould and higher power since he was a child of Christianity- -a child of the Church. He was a man of one idea : too much learning had not made him mad. His was a Spanish will, which means a haughty, indomitable will, that would have bridged the Red Sea, if the waters had not parted. " If by ordinary means I cannot succeed," said he once, " I will sell myself rather than disband my German phalanx ! " * The praise of extraordinary devotion cannot be denied him : all his practices, his visions and spiritual visitations, Ignatius ciia- ^is subsequent miracles, attest the fact (to the ractensed. Catholic) ; but with these excellences he had others. His mind was endowed with the cunning of the fox, (so elegant in his manoeuvres,) with the construc- tiveness of the spider, (so persevering in her toil,) with the sagacity of the elephant, (so clever with his pro- boscis,) and the cool, sound common sense of Oliver Cromwell, who both knew how to make and manage fanatics, to serve a purpose. Ignatius was no fanatic, nor was Oliver Cromwell. Both had ends to accomplish, and they knew the right way thereto : both had ambi- tion that of Ignatius merits the greater approbation ; for, after all, he gained what nobody lost, which cannot be said of Oliver Cromwell. Ignatius made his religion the basis of his monarchy : thus he possessed an appeal to a motive as omnipotent The basis of as ^ * s inexplicable. Convince a man that he his monarchy. wor ] 5S f or Q oc [ anc j w i t h God, and he will believe himself omnipotent. His belief will be the most reasonable in the world- -if we assume all that he takes for granted. Now, Ignatius inspired his followers with this belief : Mohammed did the same : Cromwell did the same : and all lived to triumph. They were 1 Bouhours, &c. IGNATIUS CHARACTERISED. 275 therefore extraordinary men, and by no means stark mad, as people called them, or simple fanatics. See how Ignatius catches at the spirit of his times. His monarchy had talents of the highest order for its / rampart and defence. He doubted the gene- How he ral efficiency of universal talent : he would ca ^^ f *^ e seize the salient point of intellect the pecu- times - liar talent (which every man has) and fortify it by a well-directed and exclusive exercise. What was the result 1 Asa mechanician has a lever for one move- ment, a screw for another, a wedge for a third, a pulley for a fourth, so had Ignatius an orator for one enter- prise, a statesman for another, (though he eschewed politics), a philosopher for a third, a deep-toned moralist for a fourth, and observe the important fact a gentle- man for all. The novices have rules of politeness to study, and the Jesuits were generally, if not always, conspicuous for their gentlemanly bearing. Frivolous things, no doubt, but ask the world what they think of their effect. Such an institution could not fail to be successful. Its success to superficial observers (the unreasonable enemy, and the open-mouthed admirer) would appear to be the result of mere intrigue, or divine interposition- " so wisely did they charm " whereas its success was the necessary consequence of genius (which is power), acting against dulness (which is weakness), in the midst of a thousand circumstances which favoured that success. Nor was its novelty the least important of secondary aids. Hac avte Pollux, et vagus Hercules Euisus, arces attigit igneas ! The world beheld the Jesuit's work, and was astounded. The Jesuit was aware of the admiration he excited. He was also confident of the "good" he effected. Both facts stimulated to greater exertion ; achievement 276 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. became his temptation. And the world the unrea- sonable world taxed his energies with jealous require- ments. He was expected to be a pattern of i lie result* every excellence in the midst of a perverse generation. Enemies sprung up like weeds in a tropic marsh. It is useful to the wise to have enemies ; they increase vigilance and redouble exertion. Hence the comparative, if not the positive, superiority of the Jesuits in their observance of the second vow, and the exem- plary conduct of multitudes among them, during the space of three hundred years. The watchfulness of their Institute, its system of mutual admonition, its manifestation of conscience, its spy system, effected this in a great measure ; but the Argus-eyes of watchful enemies gave vigour to that very system, and lent one more motive to individual integrity. How soon they made enemies ! And why 1 This history will explain most of the reasons some creditable to them, others disgraceful. Nor must their sudden success be over- looked ; nor the secrecy of their Institute. To the easterns, as every one not a Jesuit was called, the know- ledge of the Institute was forbidden without express permission of a superior. 1 The world was unreasonable enough to object to this pertinacious secrecy. Nobody has a greater right to complain of secrecy than the "world." Soon the foulest imputations were laid to the Jesuits, and they were suspected of entertaining a very immoral system, which they were ashamed and afraid to make public. It was only their vast success that produced this clamour ; how far that success was promoted by unfair means is a different question ; but assuredly it was unreasonable to make the Jesuits bear all the blame for keeping their Institute secret, since the 1 Reg. xxxviii. THE SECRECY OF THE INSTITUTE. 277 practice was a standing order among the monks. The Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Barnabites, bound themselves to obey the same injunctions. 1 And yet why not publish the Institute ? Why object to show the world both that there is nothing in it of which you are ashamed, or on which other statutes may be founded to be certainly kept secret 1 It will be hard to answer these questions without an appeal to other " usual prac- tices" which leaves the question unanswered or without resorting to sophistry as flimsy as gauze. In point of fact, however, all the statutes of the Jesuit Institute were not written law or rather not printed ; for even in the first general congregation decrees were omitted as being "private business" privata tantum negotia? The consequence is that we stumble now and then into an hiatus, which we cannot help thinking, from both sides of it, must contain some very curious provisions ; for instance, between XLVIII. ... 34 and XLIX. ... 36 ; two being omitted ; and between CXL. ... 61, and CXLI. ... 63, two more are left out ; though it is almost evident that in the former the power of the General is concerned, and in the latter the temporalities or possessions of the novices. What a pity to omit such curious topics ! Assuredly these decrees would not disappoint our curiosity, so eager for " private business." They would not disappoint us as Adam Contzen, the Jesuit apologist, tells us the heretics were disappointed when they first beheld the Constitutions, brought to light by some speculating Dutch printer, about the year 1605. " Good God ! " the Jesuit exclaims sarcastically, " how the preachers exulted, how our enemies shook 1 Const. Gen. Franc, c. vi. Cleric, reg. in officio prsep. Cass. reg. c. iii. p. 8. 2 Non quidem omnia, sed pleraque, prsetermissis videlicet iis, quae privata tantum negotia continent. Vide " Ad Lectorem " in Decret. Cong. Gen. Ed. Ant. 1702. 278 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. hands congratulating, when in the trade catalogue they saw ' THE CONSTITUTIONS AND RULES OF THE JESUITS ! ' What a crush of buyers there were ! They boasted of the hidden places of the Society being laid open- -her secrets detected, penetrated to the bottom ; the most recondite mysteries of Antichrist were brought to light ! But iniquity lied unto herself," says Adam Contzen, " they found nothing but what was holy, pious, reli- gious." * " This edition of truth, that is of the Rules," continues the Jesuit, " annulled the belief of a thousand lies ; whilst the foe prepared to do us harm, he con- ciliated to us many thousand men." If such was really the fact, how inexpedient then was it to put under a bushel those Constitutions, and leave it for a speculating Dutchman surreptitiously to show forth to the world, all full of admiration, the " sincerity of the Society, her most holy scope, and the integrity of her laws." 2 In the estimation of the Jesuits, at least, there was nothing wonderful in the fierce hostility they encoun- A Jesuit's tered. Long before during Kenelm Digby's consolation. Ages of Faith St. Basil, St. Benedict, St. Bernard, St. Dominic, and St. Francis, had the morti- fication to see their respective monks very roughly handled simply, we are distinctly assured, because " with their holy life, doctrine, and preaching, they aided souls, and opposed themselves to the torrent of vices and abominations, and supported with their shoulders the Church which seemed menaced with ruin" 3 in the Ages of Faith ! mores catholici ! " And as their manner of life," continues the Jesuit Ribadeneyra, " was 1 Discep. De Secretis S. J. p. 24. Ed. Mogunt. 1617. 2 Ubi supra, p. 25. 3 Para que con su santa vida, dotrina, y predicacion, ayudassen a las almas, y se opusiessen al torrente de los vicios y maldades, y sustentassen con sus hombros la Yglesia, que parecia amenazar ruina. Ribaden. Tratado . . . rle la Comp. de Jesus. Dedication. THE ENEMIES OF THE JESUITS CLASSIFIED. 279 different to that which was followed and admitted by the other monks of those days, the novelty of their Rule and Institute produced wonder and also indignation in many who persecuted them ; and books, disputations, and sermons censured and condemned that manner of life as an innovation, as suspicious, and pernicious. The Apostolic See was forced to take the thing in hand, and with her authority repress the insolent, and defend the Institutes which she had approved ; and the most holy and most learned doctors, St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure sallied forth to encounter the enemies of all religion and virtue, and rebut their sophistical and deceitful arguments, as they did with marvellous erudition and prudence, and gained the victory over those infernal monsters alcanparon vitoria de aquellos monstruos infernales" /* Brave words, decidedly. Soon he comes to the front of the world's offending : " Now, as the Institute of this our least company of Jesus nuestra minima Compaiiia de Jesus has some things different to the other Institutes (although she agrees with them in the essentials of an Institute) it is not to be wondered at that many take offence at them, and for not knowing how well founded they are in reason, in the antiquity and the doctrine of the saints, and how proportioned and appropriate they are to the end which the same Company proposes, find fault with them and deem them out-of-the-way novelties. Some of *j these reprovers and censors are heretics, and pestilen- tial men, and enemies of all religion, particularly with respect to the points which present to them the greater resistance. As to these oppugners I have nothing here to say inasmuch as their vituperation is our glory, and their reproach is our praise. There are others 1 Tratado . . . de la Comp. de Jesus. Dedication. 280 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. who, although Catholics, do not live as Catholics and faithful Christians, nor conform to the law of God, but are rather buried and overwhelmed by their vices, and abhor religious men who strive to lend them a hand to extricate them from that quagmire in which they remain men who seek and take occasion to abuse everything which thwarts their passions and desires/' So much for the first and second class of Jesuit opponents. The Jesuit goes on with his classification. " Others are not wanting (and perhaps they are the majority) who easily believe what they hear, and with greater facility tell what they have heard, and without investigating and purifying the truth, blame what they do not know nor understand, and think that evil which they do not know to be good." The fourth class is more interesting. " But what shall I say of some religious men [monks] who are so satisfied and pleased with their own Institute and manner of life, that whatever in other Institutes differs with what they observe in their own, think it wrong, and strive with the same measure to measure the unequal works of God \ Let them be praised for being satisfied with their vocation, and acknowledge to our Lord the mercy he has done them in their vocation, esteeming their rule as the best adapted for themselves ; but let them not condemn the things which in the other orders differ from theirs, since neither he who eats has reason to judge him who eats not ; nor he who eats not, to condemn him who eats, according to St. Paul ; and to do the contrary, is to straiten the divine grace which, as saith the apostle St. Peter, is various and multiform." It is the devil again who is to bear the blame for the opposition to the spirit of Ignatius. " The stratagems of Satan/' says the Jesuit, " are many and very various ; sometimes he openly strives to undo the THE JESUIT INSTITUTE IS NO NOVELTY. 281 works of the Lord ; at others, he transforms himself into an angel of light (as saith the same apostle), and, under the colour of religion, impugns religion, to the great detriment of the same religion and scandal of poor simple folk, stimulating some religious men [monks] who with the cloak of zeal and piety, disturb other religious men who are their brothers, and all soldiers and ministers of the same Lord." Having finished his classification, he proceeds as follows : " Wherefore it has occurred to me to write this treatise, and to imitate in it the true men already named, the glorious and most learned Doctors St. Thomas and St. Bona venture, and (although with unequal wealth of spirit, learning, and prudence) to give the reason for certain things of our Institute, which some oppugn, for not knowing well the reasons which the Company has for using them. I hope, with the infinite bounty of the Lord, that he will guide us in such a manner, that all those who with clear and dispassionate eyes should read it, may understand that the things which at the present time seem novelties, were ancient, and used in the church of the Lord in past ayes ; and that our Institute has a most excellent end in view, and that the means she uses are most reasonable and fashioned to attain that end. And with this, those who, for not knowing our Institute, think ill of it, will be disabused ; and those who knowingly oppose it, will give way or be confounded ; and the Lord (whose work the Company is) shall be glorified as her author and protector ; and the good will be edified and more kindly disposed to what they shall see founded in reason, in antiquity, in authority, in doc- trine, and custom of the holy Fathers and masters of all Institutes." l 1 Tratado . . . de la Comp. de Jesus. Dedication. 282 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Ribadeneyra fulfils his promise. To the Catholic triumphantly he proves all he undertakes. Fathers, Councils, and Catholic Reason fly forth at his there is bidding, and every distinctive characteristic nothing new pi . . -, -, i i- i ^ in the Jesuit of the society is proved to be established, as he promised, in the antiquity, authority, doc- trine, custom of the Fathers, and Catholic Reason. By this Jesuit's showing, you will be astounded by the fact (if you did not believe what I said of Ignatius and his Institute, in the first pages of my work) you will be astounded by the fact, that the essential features of this least Company of Jesus are as old as the sun of Rome. Her name, her absence of any peculiar dress, the absence of a choir, her gratuitous services, blind obedience obediencia ciega (jue pide y enseiia la Compania, her eschewing of church-dignities, manifestation of con- science ; in a word, all are antiquities, and only revived by holy Father Ignatius. In truth, there 's nothing- new under the sun ! This establishes the fact that Ignatius and his com- panions knew what they were about. They worked with an object. We can now believe that before draw- ing up the Constitutions, Ignatius had read the rules and histories of the religious orders ; * and only selected what accorded with his own peculiar organisation. Thus all the mind of Catholic antiquity had a share in constructing the Jesuit. The multiform man Still, what a 3 prospect was is but a patchwork after all. " Legion ' ; is a subscription- devil. The whole mystery is ex- plained. Ail is quite natural. The " inspiration," the " revelation," the " lambent flame" roundabout his head, which the Jesuit biographers talk about, is all moonshine for " poor simple folk," la gente simple y vulgar. 1 Bouhours ii. 343. THE PROSPECTS OF THE COMPANY. 283 Neither Christ nor the Virgin Mary has a share in the Jesuit, as the Jesuit Tollenarius affirms in the famous Imago. 1 He is the joint-manufacture of the Fathers, the Councils, Catholic Reason, and Don Ignacio, ci-devant warrior, penitent, anchoret, strolling preacher, pilgrim, and now General of the Jesuits, and sturdy right arm of the pope and popedom. Such a man, and such com- panions, (Ribadeneyra, whom you have heard, was one,) are expressly needed. The pope of Rome, the Catholic kings of the earth, bethought them that such men would be valuable friends to their cause the sub- jugation of the masses, at that time set in commotion by the ardent breathings of liberty, civil and religious. Oh ! 'twas a glorious prospect a spirit-stirring some- thing-beyondness ! Far across the wide oceans, too, Atlantic and Pacific, millions were waiting, ready to be subdued to the yoke. The sword would compel, but " Christianity ' would induce, subjection. The preaching of the Gospel could secure the reign of Mammon. The banner of the cross could sanctify the tyranny of kings. And the kings of the earth made friends with the Jesuits, gave them their hands, and with their hands, right joyously, full purses ; and for a time they worked together in amity- -friends indeed because friends in need. The first movements of the Jesuits heralded the sublimest epoch of their achievements. They began with hazardous enterprise : they have rarely shrunk from peril. If they become monopolists, they will be visited with the odium of those who cannot cope with them either in the peculiar quality of their commodity, or the price of the article, which was dirt-cheap. For " nothing ' you might have the services of men of 1 Post Christum et Mariam Societatis Auctor et Parens Sanctus Ignatius, p. 78. 284 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. action and men of study ; men qualified for daring- enterprise, and men capable of profound policy ; men of dauntless resolution, and men of insinuating manners ; men who can win the favour and gain the confidence of the gentler sex, and men who can mingle in all the intrigues of state policy ; men who, with a martyr's zeal, will risk everything for the conversion of the heathen abroad, and men of polemic skill to carry on controversies at home ; l but, withal, in mercy, excuse him, if you can, should you find, for ever and ever, in the Jesuit, a complete devotedness, body and soul, to the interests of his order, ever ready nay, eager at the least sign of holy obedience, to perform any function in that Company, which now undertakes, with papal appro- bation, that is, secundum artem, to drug mankind with what she calls A THOUSAND NOSTRUMS FOR ALL DISEASES. 2 OMEASOMSI: 1 Baptist Magazine, No. cxi. 2 Mille agitent morbi, millc ulcera, raille dolores ; Ilia domus causas mille salutis halet. Imago, p. 454. For Man's thousand diseases and ulcerous ills This Company mixes her doses and pills. BOOK IV. OR, LAINEZ. SPLENDID was the prospect before Ignatius and his troop : full of difficulty, but full of hope for an uncon- querable Will impelled them : to dare, was The prosDcct to be victorious. The Vicar of Christ had and the declared to the disciples, the designs and intentions of the Eternal respecting their leader. Two worlds of virgin-pagans were added to the world of cast-away Christians. The barbarians, as they were deemed, of the East, and the cannibals of the West, were destined to compensate the Church for her losses in this little old world of ours nostro piccolo e vecchio mondo. These barbarians and cannibals were to supply the place of the heretics consigned to perdition. But it was incumbent that a man should arise full of charity, zeal, courage, and Apostolic zeal wherewith to fill a multitude of such heroic workers, ready to sacrifice their labour, sweat, blood, and life, to the preaching of the Gospel and the conquest of souls ; craving nothing in return stipulating no reward for their labour, excepting only the " merit ; of the performance - whithersoever the sign was given to them, thither to rush professionally bound, to do the work of the 286 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. ministry, enlarging the limits of the Church, and God's kingdom, as far as worlds were discovered, and realms could be penetrated by a dashing, headlong apostolate. Nor was the little old world of Europe to be resigned to the heretics without a struggle. Luther and Calvin would find their match in Ignatius and his Jesuits. They would be met by preaching, teaching, writing, disputing. Schools would be planted against schools, pulpits would be raised against pulpits, voices would be opposed to voices, learning to learning, books to books, until the bank of heresy be broken, and its masters / ruined for ever. 1 A beautiful prospect in the issue to the pope and his Catholics : but dismally the reverse for their anta- gonists. The struggle would be fierce inhu- Wnat had chanced man passions would be roused dread calami- before, and . .,..,, may chance ties, individual and national, would attend but what mattered that ? The end seemed desirable. Let it be attempted. Let the strife begin. God wills it. God has raised up a man to fight his battle. The broken-down knight of Pampeluna is the Mohammed of Christendom. Has not such a deliverance chanced many a time and oft in the troubles of the Church \ Rose there ever a "leader of heresy 7 ' without " a champion of the faith " to shiver a lance with the monster ? Did not the great Athanasius brave Anus to the face 1 Did not Cyril of Alexandria put down Nestorius ? Was not Jerome a match for Vigilantius, and two others besides '? Did not Augustin demolish the Manichees I Did not Bernard crush Abelard ? Did not Dominic annihilate the Albigenses ? And even at this blessed hour if there be another heresy brooding 1 Bar toll, DM' Ital. p. 1, et scq. METAPHORICAL GOLIAHS AND DAVIDS. 287 in the breast, biding its time, there will arise, as there will be needed, the heart, the hand, the zeal, the chivalry of some new David to shatter the head and humble the pride of the blaspheming Goliah. 1 And men will suffer, without being bettered in body, in heart, in mind. Civilisation will be retarded. Men will retrograde. It will require hundreds of years to school memory into forgetfulness of the hideous strife, of which there will be ten thousand monuments in every history in every land which the minds of our children must learn to remember, to be treasured as a new gospel, but bereft of all charity all brotherly love -all the sweetest feelings that enable us cheerfully to work through our pilgrimage to heaven. Ignatius was the new David of the present strife. His nine other Davids demand a short description. Peter Lefevre was the son of a Savoyard The ten goat-herd. Evincing an aptitude and inclina- tion for study, his father took him from the flock and sent him to college. He became a proficient in Latin, Greek, and Rhetoric ; and subsequently proceeded to Paris, where, in the college of St. Barbara, he took his degree in 1530. He had just commenced his course of theology when Ignatius entered the same college to commence his hopeless philosophy but also, as it appears, to gain a proselyte in Peter Lefevre. They became acquainted. " Ignatius could not have found a soul better adapted to his design, nor Peter a companion more to his taste." Ignatius set his eves on Peter as a C_? u 1 Bartoli's notion. " E forse hora se lie tiene altri in petto, e traiTuimeli a luogo e a tempo, secoudo le contingenze de' secoli avveriue, ove a spezzare la fronte e 1'orgoglio d'alcim nuovo bestemmiatore Golia, sia mestieri il cuore, la mano, il zelo, e la gagliardia d'alcun nuovo David." Dell" Ital. p. 3. 288 HISTOKY OF THE JESUITS. fit kt companion of the work he was machinating," per compacjno dell' opera die machinava, and Peter confided in Ignatius as " a master of his soul, which was beyond his own guidance. " It appears that he had the misfor- tune to be strongly tempted by the flesh. Scruples of conscience supervened. He found a refuge in the man of the " Spiritual Exercises." " Against the suggestions of carnal concupiscence, gluttony, and vain-glory, which were so troublesome to him, Ignatius prescribed his own practical method of pulling up, by the particular Exami- nation of Conscience, the roots of those affections, one by one, from the heart, where such poisonous herbs usually sprout." For two years Ignatius attended the patient, apparently without alleviating the symptoms of the disease. Peter was still in utter perplexity, not knowing what to do with himself, soul or body, when Ignatius, seizing the happy moment, told him, as though in confi- dence, that he intended to cross the seas for the Holy Land, there to give his labours and his life for the conversion of the infidels. Peter rushed into his arms his heart was full of affection embraced him tenderly, and offered to be his companion. The Jesuits call him " the first-begotten of Saint Ignatius " il primocjenito di S. Ignatio. 1 Lefevre made himself useful to his patron ; he proved himself worthy of the choice by the cultivation of those qualities which were at first evident in the man pre-destined to be a Jesuit, by the founder. He possessed the most peculiar dexterity in throwing spiritual hints into familiar conversation, conversing in a manner so ingenuously familiar, without betraying any artfulness, and yet with such exquisite art, and with such powerful effect, that he seemed to put his hand 1 Bartoli, Dell' Ital. 96100. METHOD OF THE JESUIT LEFEVRE. 289 into the heart of his hearer, there to stamp the idea and emotions he sought to excite. His method was to fall in cleverly with the conversation of those whom he met, just as if he embarked in the same ship with them for a voyage of their choosing. Then, by degrees, putting his hand to the helm, he turned the argument to his design, which, we are assured, was always the soul's salvation, and he did it so well, that imperceptibly his hearers found themselves where they, at first, least expected. He always took his objects by surprise ; his arms were ever invisible ; he was never suspected, and, therefore, found no resistance. In the opinion of Ignatius, he had no equal in the management of the " Spiritual Exercises." He won for Ignatius three new companions Lejay, Brouet, and Codure, three choice spirits, all masters in theology, and two of them priests ; the first, a Genevan, said to be an angel in mind and a rare genius ; the second, a Frenchman or a Belgian, just as it suited his purpose to declare. " He gave out that he was of Picardy, for a very useful reason," says the Jesuit Damian. " It was lest he should be driven from Paris and France on the breaking out of the war between King Francis and the Emperor, he being born in Cambray, and therefore a subject of the latter. This dissimulation" observes the Jesuit, " made up the military band of ten" et valuit ea dissimulatio ad DecuricB numerum. 1 Codure was a Frenchman. Francis Xavier was the Founder's second acquisition. In the opinion of the Jesuits, " if Ignatius had made the con- quest of no other member, he would not have been at all less fortunate than he who finds a precious pearl, and, in order to possess it, gives all he has, becomes fortunately 1 Synop. Prirai Ssec. S. J. Prcenar. VOL. I. U 290 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. poor, and with a single but most advantageous gain, com- pensates for a thousand small losses. 1 Xavier became the "Great Apostle of the Indies" the "Alexander of the Missions," which last was nearer the truth, as we shall see in due time. Xavier was born in Navarre, at a place of the same name, not far from Pampeluna, where Ignatius received his salutary shot il salutevole colpa. He is stated to have sprung from one of the oldest and most illustrious families of Navarre. He studied at Paris, graduated and professed philosophy for more than three years, with great applause. When Ignatius insinuated himself into the heart of Peter Lefevre, who was Xavier's friend, the latter looked upon him with contempt and loathing. The excessive humility of the man was revolting to Xavier. His spiritual suggestions elicited a joke or a scoff. It was thus evident that a different method must be tried on one who seemed, at the very first, a pearl of great price. Xavier was ambitious. Ignatius resolved to attack him by that ambition itself, just as Judith, says Bartoli, with the love of Holofernes, to gain him first thereby, and triumph over him at last. Xavier was anxious to shine eager for literary renown. Ignatius applied him- self to find him pupils and hearers. He won and brought them to him. In every possible way he made himself appear interested in the honour of the young professor. Xavier had a heart : it was touched : it melted at this dis- play of kindness : he began to look on Ignatius with dif- ferent eyes : the most despicable of men becomes amiable when he shows himself "a friend in need," I mean, as the world goes : for, in truth, it is not every heart that would receive a blessing or a gift from the thing it despises, i Bart, ubi supra, p. 101. XAVIER'S CONVERSION. 291 Ignatius stopped not there : " he tempted him, he seduced him by the enticement of praise ... he became Xavier's admirer : then, by degrees, insinuating himself into his confidence, and mastering his ambitious desires, he led him away." " Believe me," he said, " the vain honours of earth are too little for a heart so generous as yours. The kingdom of heaven alone is worthy of you. I do not pretend to extinguish your ardour for glory, nor to inspire you with grovelling sentiments. Be ambitious -be magnanimous : but give your ambition a higher flight, and display the greatness of your soul by despising all that is perishable." l Such is the Jesuit account of Xavier's conversion. True or false, it exhibits a method whose efficacy has its source in a perfect knowledge of the heart. If Ignatius did not win Xavier by a similar method, there can be little doubt that it was practised on many occasions, and for many purposes, by those who so glibly and ostentatiously describe the process. 2 The youth, only in his twenty-second year, joined Ignatius. Laynez and Salmeron were Spaniards : the former in his twenty-first year, a " master in philosophy/' the latter in his eigh- teenth, and yet "consummate in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew." They were travelling in quest of knowledge, after the manner of the ancient sages, and had a mind to see Ignatius, who is said to have been even then " in the odour of sanctity." He met them at the gates of Paris. Their conquest was easy. Ignatius passed them through his Exercises : they emerged accomplished destined to be famous, both of them and one to succeed the founder in the Generalate. Bobaclilla was also a Spa- niard a man of fire and energy " no ordinary genius," 1 Bouhours, i. p. 188. ' : Bartoli is, as usual, excessively voluminous on the subject. Ubi supra, p. 101 et seq. u2 292 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. in quest of divinity at Paris : but he fell into debt. Ignatius gave him money and the Exercises, and he remained his perpetual companion. Simon Rodriguez was a Portuguese, concerning whom his father had pre- dicted on his death-bed " that God had chosen him for great things in his service/' He joined Ignatius with the intention of preaching to the Turks in Palestine. These were, with Ignatius, the ten first Jesuits, now about to interest us with their attempts and achieve- ments. 1 The reader will not be surprised to hear that amongst the innumerable faults found with the Jesuits, the very number of the first founders has been considered portentous. The number Ten, says the Calvinist Misenus, is termed Atlas by the Pythagoreans : whence, not without a mystery, the first who formed the Company were ten, for thus the Jesuits support the popedom, as Atlas bears the burthen of the skies vertice supposito siderafulcit Atlas. It is unaccountable how a Calvinist could assimilate the popedom to the skies : but a Jesuit in disguise on the contrary, found in the number a presage of the wonders which the Company would per- form. With admirable wit, at least, "Florimond de Raimond," (the Jesuit RicJieome) a staunch opponent of the Protestants, said that " the Company would be that decuman, or tenth wave, by which the bark of the pirate Luther would be sunk." 2 Scarcely was the Company established by papal man- date, when the ten first Jesuits found themselves in position. Ere the Constitutions were drawn up, Regulations. * the Society was in action. What were they to do ? Work. That was the watchword. Anticipating the 1 Bartoli, Bouhours, Maffeus, &c. 2 Decumits, i. e. decimus, means tenth, and also huge, in which sense it was PRELIMINARY REGULATIONS. 293 theoretical network of the Constitutions, Ignatius issued a few regulations for the guidance of his soldiers, the sum total of which was, " to have God before their eyes always as much as possible with Christ for a model to see God in their superiors obedience being an infal- lible oracle a guide that never leads astray : mutual charity, silence, except when forced to speak, religious deportment, were enjoined. Wit, eloquence, wisdom, were nothing in comparison of virtue : affronts and reproaches would be their best reward for their services to their neighbour the only recompense that the world gave to the labours of Christ. Should they commit a fault which might become public, they were not to despair ; but rather to give thanks to God for permitting their fault to teach them the weakness of their virtue : let them be more humble for the future, and let others profit by the warning. Let them be neither excessively gay, nor gloomy, nor cast down ; but firm in their vocation, ever on their guard against the evil spirit, with his contradictory suggestions to deceive by the propensities." 1 Francis Xavier was despatched to India as Apos- tolic Legate. Bobadilla had been appointed, but he fell ill, and thus unfortunately lost the chance of being canonised for converting millions to the faith and applied to a wave by the Latin poets decumani fluctiis. Ovid, with his occasional affectation, says " Qui venit hie fluctus, fluctus supereminet omnes : Posterior nono est, undecimoque prior" Trist. lib. i. 2. As the storm-wave of humanity, kings and nations, the Society should bear this motto in her " pride of place." Bartoli quotes those words of " Florimond " ; but he takes good care not say that this Florimond was no other than the Jesuit Richeome, with a borrowed name. See Placcius, Moreri, and Barbier. 1 Bouhours, p. 295. 294 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. innumerable and stupendous miracles ; but he would have given more trouble than Xavier, and ^hus his illness The first was a blessed event for the nascent Society. movements iff^ the man fell ill, Ignatius "thought Society. before God to fill his place " and go himself to India which would have been, perhaps, more dis- astrous for the Company : " or rather/' adds the Jesuit, who never flinches at an interpretation, " or rather, he thought before God to choose him whom God himself had elected " : a celestial ray illumined him at once and Francis Xavier was the man. " Xavier," he ex- claimed, " I had named Bobadilla for the Indies : but Heaven names you to-day ; and I announce it to you in the name of the Vicar of Jesus Christ. Receive the appointment which His Holiness lays upon you by my rnouth, just as if Jesus Christ presented it himself, and rejoice to find the means of satisfying that ardent desire we had to carry the faith beyond the seas. This is not Palestine only, nor a province of Asia, but immense lands, innumerable kingdoms an entire world. It is only so vast a field that is worthy of your courage and your zeal. Go, Brother, whither the voice of God calls you, whither the Holy See sends you and inflame all with the fire within you the fire divine Id, y encendedlo todo, y abrasadlo en fuego divino!" 1 These last words were the Founder's talisman on all similar occasions : they fanned the flame of enthusiasm : for 1 This usual phrase of Ignatius in the original, is taken from Nieremberg: the speech from Bouhours. It is astonishing how diffuse and profuse the Jesuits are in all such matters. However, there is really history in all they write quite as much as in their deeds recorded. They tell us that Xavier had been forewarned by dreams of his appointment. He dreamed that he carried a huge and very black Indian on his shoulders. You will see the thing engraved in the Imago. He also beheld in a dream vast seas, full of tempests and shoals, desert FIRST MOVEMENTS OF THE COMPANY. 295 where is the heart that would not brave every peril whereat humanity shrinks, if but sublimed by that unlimited confidence in its power by those words of fire inflamed. Other posts were filled with equally resolute champions of the faith and popedom. To Venice was sent Lainez, Le Fevre to Madrid, Bobadilla and Lejay to Vienna and Ratisbon, and to Ireland were despatched Salmeron and Brouet, whose mission is somewhat important and interesting. Pope Adrian IV., an Englishman, had, in the twelfth century, made a grant of Ireland to King Henry II. of England, on the simple conditions that the king should pay him a yearly tribute for each house in Ireland, that the Catholic religion should be restored to its former respectability, and the people be made to lead a life of commendable decency. 1 If the first condition proves that there were houses in Ireland, the other two suggest the probability, at least, that neither the religion nor morality of Ireland was then in a flourishing condition. However, a papal grant is not a bird in the hand : though the pope a man who had been a beggar long enough to feel for others did not think proper to consult the will of the people, Henry smothered the Bull, biding his time, lest he should burn his fingers. Providence you may be sure that was his interpretation came to his assistance : an adultery was committed by one of the kings of islands, savage lands, everywhere hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, with endless labours, bloody persecutions, " perils of death." Suggested as usual by desire, these dreams are possible enough ; but the Jesuits will have them to be super- natural. 1 " Titulus ille primum Henrico collatus fertur ab Adriano IV ea lege, ut Sedi Apostolicse singulos asses pro singulis Hibernise domibus quotannis persolveret, ac Catholicam Religiouem ad pristinum decorem, et populum ad laudabilem vitse normam redigeret." Arsdekin, Theol. Trip. i. i. p. 306. 296 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Ireland : he was expelled : Henry received him with open arms, espoused his cause, and permitted some Welsh adventurers to attempt the conquest of Ireland for himself, which they effected with the greatest possible ease. In 1174 Henry saw himself acknow- leged lord supreme of all Ireland. The consequences were most disastrous to the people. A griping aristo- cracy amongst whom the country was portioned, rioted in their revenues without a thought for the national welfare, the religion of the people, or their morality. Selfishness and oppression swayed the destinies of those Christian Catholics be it plainly understood, for there were no Protestant persecutors in those days of Catholic (or universal) Catholicism. The evils, thus begun under the reigns of orthodoxy, were not likely to cease when " religious ' rancour was superadded to national op- pression, as a stirring cause of resistance. Men were not wanting to make both causes serve their selfish purposes, whilst the misguided people infallibly smarted for their betters. " Roaring bellows of sedition " fanned the flame, and " incendiary Pharisees ' stirred up the embers. A " rebellion," of course, followed, in the reign of Henry VIII. ; and the Pope of Rome, Paul III., of Jesuit notoriety, took the Emerald Isle under his im- mediate patronage. 1 The Irish, who had little reason to be satisfied with English rule and English con- trivances for the last four hundred years, were easily brought to abhor, and well they might, the proceedings of 1 The hopes of the pope were centred iu young Gerald, a boy of about twelve years of age. He was conveyed beyond the reach of Henry, and after being chased from country to country by the tyrant's policy or revenge, " he was at the recommendation of Pope Paul III. taken under the protection of the Prince Bishop of Liege, and afterwards into the family of his kinsman, Cardinal Pole." Lingard, vi. p. 324. Would to Heaven that we could ascribe this " patronage to sympathy for affliction. . THE FORTUNES OF IRELAND. 297 Henry VIIL, in religion and morality, whilst the Catholic party took care that this " virtuous indignation" should fester into the loathsome ulcer of " religious '' rancour. Many circumstances combined to aggravate the ques- tion. In every other country society had taken a step in advance. For good or for evil, it matters not here to prove, but still there was movement. The hitherto stagnant compound of mind and sentiment was stirred to its uttermost depths. Hopes and fears flamed float- ing on the surface, and kept it simmering. There was nothing of the kind in Ireland. No hope, no prospect, gave Irishmen a motive to spring from their childhood, when all the world else was grown older, if not better. Civil dissensions, beggarly contests about " dirty acres ' and pelf, kept up their natural eloquence, practised their tongues, but their minds slept on the motiveless inaction of children. Political chaos, moral anarchy, were the products of aristocratical domination ; but in the theory of their ancient religion there was no mutation. This was, this is at the present time, the result of mental supineness. It holds also to the Irishman's nature, his organisation. An Irishman is essentially a man of outsides a man of surface, which is, however, always interesting as a pretty landscape. In depth he is greatly deficient. Over the surface of things he sports and shakes off wit from his active wings. Reasoning fatigues, overpowers, disgusts him. He will grant your conclu- sions if you will spare him the trouble of following you through your major and minor. But his self-love, his pride, are splendid to behold in every phase of his calamities. These support, these rouse his energies, these constitute his motives of acquiescence or resistance, as the case may be ; and these motives were, and are, 298 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the foundation of his clinging to the old religion, even when really of no faith whatever, if tested by the dictates of morality. Hence, a Catholic bishop said that " the Irish believe like saints, though they sin like devils." His country, unfortunately, had not a fair chance to embrace the opportunity of enlightenment when the meteor shot athwart the firmament of Europe in the sixteenth century. Successive attempts had prepared other countries for religious and intellectual reform. In her distant nook of the world, far from the scene of intellectual agitation, how could she learn to think, and reason, and adopt a vigorous conclusion ? She knew nothing of Huss, nothing of "Wycliffe ; she had heard nothing of that booming sound which preluded to every thoughtful ear the bursting of the JEtna; and the dense mist above her shut out the bright lightnings of the conflagration which fired the intellect of the sixteenth century. Ireland remained "Roman Catholic/' She could neither reason herself out of her faith, nor had she any reason to please her masters by adopting theirs. It did not offer to rid her of oppression. It would not be accompanied by bodily and mental alleviation, to judge from past experience, since what was English and what was oppressive had always been one and the same. The priests took admirable care to deepen the notion. In fact, had Ireland been even inclined to join in the Protestant movement, had she even been able to reason herself into doubt of the old religion, coming from England it was sure to be resisted. In her circumstances it could only be another motive for withstanding the enemy who, not content with forcing his yoke upon her neck, would nail a religion on her mind. Resistance was natural ; but, THE FORTUNES OF IRELAND. 299 unfortunately, it was the resistance of a madman ; violence and torture stilled it cruelly. The first suffer- ing, the first shedding of blood, the first " martyrs ' established a "party" which would ever "stir/ 3 and has always " stirred," the resourceless people to their own destruction fooling the noble race of Irishmen ever fooling them as though they were gaping idiots born only for suffering and starvation. And what was the watchword 1 Why, the Authority of the Pope that cruel thing which had sold their country to the English invader. Fitzgerald proclaimed himself its champion ; " he took arms in Ireland, in defence of the pope's authority." l His attempt w r as stifled. Cromer, Archbishop of Armagh, who followed in his track, had no better success. Henry's power and patronage bore down all opposition. Irish parliaments voted everything he pleased, just like his English convocations. They passed statutes abolishing papal authority, declaring Henry head of the Irish Church, and liberally gave him what did not belong to them the first fruits of all ecclesiastical livings. 2 Partial insurrections followed, if party contests can bear the name, contests without one rational hope of success in a cause which, to triumph, demands unity of council, in the midst of national fixity, industrial energy, and moral perseverance, totally devoid of those freezing, petty motives, inseparable from sacer- dotal and papal influence. Partial insurrections followed ; but Henry's power and patronage rose above all. The 1 " Pro pontificis auctoritate in Hibernia arma sumpserat." Pole. Lingard, vi. p. 325. 2 " Ignorance of the recent occurences in the sister island, gave occasion to a most singular blunder. One day the parliament confirmed the marriage of the king with Anne Boleyn ; and the next, in consequence of the arrival of a courier, declared it to have been invalid from the beginning." Lingard, ibid. 300 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Irish chieftains and the lords of the pale outstripped each other in professions of obedience to his authority. A parliament assembled. Ireland from a lordship was raised to the rank of a kingdom. Regulations were made for the administration of justice in Connaught and Munster ; commissioners were appointed with power to hear and determine all causes, which might be brought before them from the other provinces. The aristocracy were gratified, the chieftains were satisfied, the people were unquestionably better off than they are at the present day ; in a word, "never," says Dr. Lingard, " since the invasion of the island by Henry II., did the English ascendancy in Ireland appear to rest on so firm a basis, as during the last years of Henry VIII." l And that was the very time when Pope Paul III. thought proper to send two Jesuit spies, emissaries, or " envoys, '' into Ireland ; and Ignatius, the man of such admirable speeches, and such admirable regula- tions, as we have read, lent himself to the design supplied the " incendiary Pharisees the roaring bellows of sedition." 2 Brouet and Salmeron were the Jesuits appointed : the first a Frenchman, the latter a Spaniard. It appears that Paul III. took the mendicants at their word, and intended them to work their way as well as Instructions to the Jesuit they could to the "any place" of their vows for they were to start, apostolically, sine sacculo et perd, totally dependent on Providence : but a papal 1 Lingard, vi. pp. 326, 327. 2 Read the admirable introduction to "Facts and Figures, from Italy." Those apt patronymics of the tribe occur at page 10. See also Beaumont's work, " I/Irlande Sociale Politique et Religieuse." There is much in that book ; it must suggest useful thoughts, if we pardon the Frenchman his peculiar pre- judices. JESUIT ENVOYS TO IRELAND. 301 functionary, Zapata byname, who happened to be thinking of joining the Jesuits, resolved to put on his boots and make the journey his novitiate, and to defray its ex- penses, as well as to share its peril and fatigues. In September, 1541, the three set out on the expedition. The Jesuits were invested with all the powers of Apos- tolic nuncios so important did this "mission" appear to the papal patron of Ireland. As usual, instructions were given to the emissaries by Loyola. They have been handed down for the enlightenment of his poste- rity : l such being the object, they will, independently of their curious structure, be deemed interesting. I must, however, preface them with an extraordinary admission by a modern historian of the Jesuits, whose voluminous work is intended to show up and defend the sons of Loyola. He says : "In these instructions Loyola takes care not to speak of those which the pope has given them ; he keeps aloof from politics. Salmeron and Brouet are the pope's delegates : they have his con- fidence. Ignatius endeavours to render them worthy of it, but he does not go beyond. He knows that the new legates are diametrically opposed in temper and dispo- sition that Salmeron is hasty, petulant ; that Brouet has in his heart something angelical and persuasive ; and so it is Brouet whom he appoints to hold communication with the Great. All is combined by Ignatius so as not to injure either of them, but rather to make them accord for the interest of the Church. " 2 It is possible to com- bine " religion *' with political machination, and, leaving to the pope, the wily Paul III., the care of instilling the dictates of the latter, " the most wise Father" confined 1 " Ut Societatis poster! quales ad has expeditiones Ignatii sententia requi- rantur, intelligant, non ab re fuerit, quibus ille monitis abeuntes instruxerit, indicare." OrlancL lib. iii. 47. " Cretineau-Joly, Hist. i. p. 137. 302 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. himself to the former, but in as political a manner as can well be conceived, and most admirably brought home. It proves beyond a doubt, how well he, or the Jesuit composer of the document, had studied mankind :- " I recommend you to be, in your intercourse with all the world in general but particularly with your equals and inferiors modest and circumspect in your words ; always disposed and patient to listen, lending an atten- tive ear till the persons who speak to you have unveiled the depth of their sentiments. Then you will give them a clear and brief answer, which may anticipate all discussion. " In order to conciliate to yourselves the good will of men, in the desire of extending the kingdom of God, you will make yourselves all to all, after the example of the Apostle, in order to gain them to Jesus Christ. l Nothing, in effect, is more adapted than the resemblance of tastes and habits to conciliate affection, to gain hearts. " Thus, after having studied the character and man- ners of each person, you will endeavour to conform yourselves to them as much as duty will permit : so that, if you have to do with an excitable and ardent character, you should shake off all tedious prolixity. " You must, on the contrary, become somewhat slow and measured in speech, if the person to whom you speak is more circumspect and deliberate in his speech. " For the rest, if he who has to do with a man of irascible temperament, has himself that defect, and if they do not agree thoroughly in their opinions, it is greatly to be feared lest they permit themselves to be 1 Into what disrepute have the Jesuits brought those words of the Apostle ! The perfection of the law of charity and brotherly love in devoting ourselves for the good of each other, is interpreted into copying their manners, tastes, and habits, in order to " gain " them first to ourselves and then " to the Lord " ! LOYOLA'S INSTRUCTIONS TO THE ENVOYS. 303 hurried into passion. Wherefore, he who recognises in himself that propensity ought to keep watch on him- self with the most vigilant care, and fortify his heart with a supply of strength, in order that anger should not surprise him : but rather that he may endure with equanimity all that he shall suffer from the other, even should the latter be his inferior. Discussions and quarrels are much less to be apprehended from quiet and slow tempers than from the excitable and ardent. " In order to attract men to virtue, and fight the enemy of salvation, you shall employ the arms which he uses to destroy them such is the advice of St. Basil. " "When the devil attacks a just man, he does not let him see his snares : on the contrary, he hides them, and attacks him only indirectly, without resisting his pious inclinations, feigning even to conform to them ; but by degrees he entices him and surprises him in his snares. Thus it is proper to follow a similar track to extricate men from sin. " Begin with praising what is good in them, without at first attacking their vices : when you shall have gained their confidence apply the remedy proper for their cure. " With regard to melancholy or unsettled persons, exhibit whilst addressing them, as much as you can, a gay and serene countenance : give the greatest sweet- ness to your words, in order to restore them to a state of mental tranquillity combating one extreme by another extreme. " Not only in your sermons, but also in your private conversations, particularly when you reconcile people at variance, do not lose sight of the fact that all your 304 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. words may be published ; what you say in darkness may be manifested in the light of day. " In affairs anticipate the time rather than defer or adjourn it : if you promise anything for to-morrow, do it to-day. " As to money, do not touch even that which shall be fixed for the expenses which you shall pay. Let it be distributed to the poor by other hands, or employ it in good works, in order that you may be able in case of need, to affirm on oath, that in the course of your legation, you have not received a penny. " When you have to speak to the Great, let Pasquier Brouet have the charge. " Deliberate with yourselves, on all the points touch- ing which your sentiments might be at variance. Do what two out of three persons would have approved [if called in to decide.] " Write often to Rome during your journey, as soon as you shall reach Scotland, and also when you shall have penetrated into Ireland. Then, every month, give an account of your legation/' l The immense importance of political dexterity is much more striking in these Instructions than its pious hints. If it be necessary, or even expedient, for it cannot be lawful, to inveigle minds into piety, that piety must have its foundation in the weaknesses of our nature our lowest sentiments those which make flattery a motive. It may be an excuse for Ignatius and the Jesuits that the " conquest of souls" was their passion, the destiny to which they deemed themselves called, that they disregarded the means in the end so beautiful in theory. If it be an excuse, it is no justification. No 1 Orland. lib. iii. 48 ; Cretineau, i. p. 134. , JAMES V. OF SCOTLAND. 305 workers unto salvation were ever placed in more diffi- cult circumstances than the Redeemer and his Apostles ; and yet when did they ever stoop to imitate the devil in his manoeuvres, as Ignatius with Basil advise, in order to allure men to virtue and fight the enemy of salvation ? l And the pope's Instructions ; what were they 1 Results will show their import, whilst we bear in mind Paul's patronage of Ireland. Brouet and Sal- James v . O f meron reached Scotland. James V., father of Scotland - the unfortunate Queen of Scots, and the Zerbino of Ariosto -barring the Scot's amours- -was reigning in those times of trouble. Already had the pope negotiated with James when he resolved to publish his sentence of depri- vation against Henry VIII. James had promised to join Charles V. and Francis in their efforts to convert or crush the apostate monarch : but the papal Bull was dis- regarded by Charles and Francis, who soon took the field against each other ; and the Scot wisely resolved to keep 1 The following is stated to be an extract from a Sermon preached by Dr. Brown, Catholic Archbishop of Dublin at the time in question : but the Sermon is said to have been delivered in 1551. It was given to Sir James Ware, and is in the Harleian Miscellany, vol. i. p. 556 ; in Mosheim, vol. ii. p. 85 ; and in almost every hostile history of the Jesuits : " But there are a new fraternity of late sprung up, who call themselves Jesuits, which will deceive many ; who are much after the Scribes' and Pharisees' manner. Amongst the Jews they shall strive to abolish truth, and shall come very near it. For these sorts will turn themselves into several forms ; with the heathens a heathenist, with the atheist an atheist, with the Jews a Jew, with the reformers a reformado, purposely to know your hearts, your inclinations, and thereby bring you at last to be like ' the fool that said in his heart, There is no God.' These shall spread over the whole world, shall be admitted into the councils of princes, and they never the wiser ; charming of them, yea, making your princes reveal their hearts, and the secrets therein, and yet they not perceive it ; which will happen from falling from the law of God by neglect of fulfilling the law of God, and by winking at their sins : yet in the end, God, to justify his law, shall suddenly cut off this Society, even by the hands of those who have most succoured them, and made use of them ; so that, at the end, they shall become odious to all nations. They shall be worse than Jews, having no resting-place upon earth, and then shall a Jew have more favour than a Jesuit." VOL. I. X 306 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. on good terms with his terrible uncle. Henry was trying to "convert" him. A Catholic kingdom in his flank was the bugbear. He dreaded the machinations of Rome in the haunts of orthodoxy. And he was right in his conjecture. The Scottish king held out. In the very year in question, his parliament had passed laws in support of the old doctrines and papal supremacy. Beaton, his minister, made a cardinal by Paul III., had been at Rome, and the Jesuit envoys arrived with letters from the pope, and confirmed the Scot's determination or deceived him with false hopes certainly obtained his promise to resist Henry's entreaties. Tired with entreaties, the English tyrant " tried what virtue there was in stones/' and sent the Duke of Norfolk with ten thousand men to invade the Catholic kingdom. Doom followed apace : the Scots disdained to fight under the detested Sinclair the royal favourite if we may believe their own historians ; or believed the number of the enemy greater than it was : the result was, they fled without a blow men and leaders in irremediable confusion. James sank under the calamity. He sickened and died because "he could not digest a disaster/' says Drum- mond of Hawthornden like Napoleon at St. Helena, who silenced his consulting physicians by frankly stating his disease to be, " a Waterloo driven inwards." Thus the Scot kept his promise to the Jesuits, and paid the penalty. He died exclaiming : " By fraud or force my poor kingdom will fall to Henry of England. It came by a lass, and by a lass it will go." But the Jesuits left a Cardinal Beaton where the "merit ' in the kind's o " promise ; was shared by that " cruel antagonist of the Scottish Reformation." 1 1 Orland. lib. iii. ; Cretineau, i. ; Lingarcl, vi. ; Andr. Hist. i. RESULTS IN IRELAND. 307 From Scotland, Brouet and Salmeron hurried to Ireland. Disguised, almost as beggars, without an asylum, in an unknown land, whose language they knew not, still, we are assured, they gained the confi- dence of the most faithful, and were soon surrounded by a flock "whom their own audacity rendered auda- cious." 1 In the short space of four-and-thirty days these primitive Jesuits, according to their own account, visited every part of the island. Rapidity of locomotion will always be the characteristic of Jesuit-angels. Frightful was their account of matters in Ireland ; infinitely worse than they expected religion, morality all that was Irish at the lowest ebb : the people barbarous, savage, and what was worst of all in their estimation, totally destitute of priests. The chieftains had not only sworn fealty and obedience to Henry, but even to burn all the pope's letters, and to deliver up his men whenever they found them, to the king or his viceroy. The Jesuits despaired not, however. They frequently changed their lurking places, and chose their opportunities. They set to work with Masses, confes- sion, "indulgences of sins," and permutation of vows. 2 According to their own account, nothing could exceed the joy of the Irish at their advent or the hopes they conceived at the promises of the Jesuits : " the joy of the Catholics was greater than their discretion," and "from the energy of their glances, from the hopes whose secret their every word betrayed, the sectarians surmised that something unusual was passing in Ireland/' 3 The Jesuits were known to be there : a price was set 1 Cretineau, ibid. p. 139. ~ " Cumulatam peccatorum indulgentiara tribuebant." Orland. ib. 58. 3 Cretineau, i. p. 140. 308 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. on their heads ; confiscation and the penalty of death were proclaimed against every family or individual who should harbour Salmeron and Brouet evidently not confining their mission to pious exhortations, to masses, confession, indulgences, or permutations of vows. In effect, another account expands the admissions above - given, stating that the severity they exercised against the people, the heavy sums they exacted from them in confessional mitigation of the least fault, and their machinations against the government, exposed them to such imminent peril that, to avoid falling into the hands of Henry VIIL, to whom the people threatened to deliver them, they took flight and went to France on their way back to Rome, to Father Ignatius, and Pope Paul III. 1 But they took Scotland in their flight, and saw enough to make them despair. In vain the pope ordered them back into Scotland : they remonstrated ! 2 The attempt would be desperate. Then it was that they were or- dered to return home, and gladly obeying, they had the misfortune to be imprisoned as Spanish spies at Lyons. The Cardinal de Tournon set them free and gave them money and horses for the Roman journey, having found them, as may be supposed, in a pitiful plight after all their adventures. 3 Such was the result of the papal scheme in Ireland. The " day of deliverance ' was not come. It was deferred to the time when a Gregory should fill the papal chair, and a Philip II. the throne of Spain. 4 1 Hist, de Dom Inigo, i. p. 210. 2 " Sed illi haesere tamdiu dum certior Pontifex factus, quo ejus Regni loco res essent." Orland. ib. 60. 3 Id. ibid. 61. In spite of the flight of these Jesuits, and their evident dread of the dangers on this occasion, at least, we are actually told that they had conceived, on their departure from Ireland, the daring project of penetrating into the very presence of Henry VIII. in order to plead the cause of Catholicism. " The plan was THE JESUIT'S METHOD WITH THE HERETICS. 309 Salmeron and Brouet fell back to their General's quarters : they were at once placed in position new battles were to be fought. Troublous times had Doiugs in supervened. Heresy had penetrated into Italy Italy< -scandal was in the priesthood. Brouet and Salmeron rushed to the rescue. The latter was unfortunate : in- stead of vanquishing heresy, he was himself accused of error, deferred to the Inquisition, but was acquitted and quieted for two years, whilst the angelic Brouet suc- ceeded in reforming the priesthood and monkhood of Foligno, a small, but populous, city in the States of the Church. Its priests and monks were as ignorant as they were depraved : Brouet had to teach them gram- mar as well as the Ten Commandments. 1 And the nuns of Reggio, too, he reformed : he curbed the pas- sions of these foolish virgins this excellent Brouet, "with the kindness and look of an angel," according to Loyola's blessed opinion. 2 Heresy was dominant in Lonibardy. Ochin, the famous reformer of the Franciscans, and ultimately the friend of Calvin, the Reformer, was the leader of its troops. Brouet became its opponent. What was his strategy 1 What were his tactics ? He shunned a pitched battle, but vanquished in detail. In familiar conversations, he talked only of forming charitable con- fraternities for the benefit of the poor. The poor adopted the idea. From this point he advanced to the moral reformation of his co-operators. The example fructified. Then he discussed the Christian doctrine in public : his charities and skilful catechising carried all before him, impracticable," says Cretineau " but that martyrdom was of little consequence in their estimation. They had an end in view they walked blindly as a soldier to victory." i. p. 141. 1 Cret. ib. 143 ; Bartol. lib. 1 ; Orland. lib. iii. 2 Cret. ib. 144 ; Bart. ; Orland. 310 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. and Ochin, the heretic, was compelled to retreat. Brouet remained in possession of the field, and fortified his entrenchments. 1 What could resist that Jesuit method 1 It begins with providing for the immediate wants of hungry and naked humanity. It gains the heart. The mind must soon surrender. The minds of most men are in their stomachs : a hungry stomach is the universal conven- ticle of rebellion. Then fill the stomach, and the mind will readily be filled with your sentiments if you choose to imitate the Jesuits. Fame's trumpet proclaimed renown to the Society of Jesus. The " New Order ' was the theme of every tongue : the infant Society was fondled in her cradle. In 1545, five years after the foundation, William Duprat, the bishop of Clermont, and son of the French Chancellor of that name, came forward as the patron of the Society. He founded a college : he lodged the fathers in his palace, which was afterwards converted into a house of the Order : he bequeathed a portion of his fortune to the Society at his death. Another Frenchman was dazzled by the brilliant image of the first Society. William Postel Postal. J played the first entertaining episode under the magic wand of the "Spiritual Exercises." This "universal genius," as he was deemed, and "wonder of the world/' as he was called, offered himself to Ignatius. In addition to his immense learning, Postel was the friend of kings : lords of high repute were his courtiers. He was in the prime of life. He came from the court of France. This conquest seemed indeed a precious boon to Ignatius. He received the novice with exultation. 1 Cret. p. 144 ; Bartol, lib. i. ; Orland. lib. iii. A WISE MAX MADE MAD BY THE ' EXERCISES.' 311 The result was afflictingly disastrous. The " Spiritual Exercises " began, and proceeded ; but failed in the issue : they were to Postel the proximate occasion of extrava- gant visions. His mind became disordered : he talked of a new coming of Christ, launched into all the errors of Rabbinism, and established, on judicial astrology, the principles of his faith. Ignatius could not undo the work of his Exercises : the ghost was raised, but could not be dismissed. Sal- meron, Lainez, a cardinal, tried to cure the learned novice. Ignatius tried : but the saint too failed. Postel was expelled, because " he might have become dangerous to the Society/' He was imprisoned for his errors : but he never recovered. He died a visionary, after deluging the world with innumerable works, the most extravagant in conception and execution, issuing from " the soul of Adam/' which he said had entered into his body. Such was the effect of the " Spiritual Exercises ' on PosteL The tendency to monomania may have been in him before ; but had it been apparent, he would not have been received by Ignatius : the " Spiritual Exercises ' matured his insanity, if they did not produce that " religious excitement r which Esquirol numbers among the causes of insanity. 1 All his fantastic productions were published after his short experience of the Ignatian method. 2 1 Des Maladies Mentales, t. ii. p. 7 '26. : Some of Postel's notions were curious. He believed that women would one day sway over men ; that all sects would be saved by Jesus Christ ; and that the greater part of the mysteries of Christianity might be demonstrated by reason. His life is interesting independently of his connection with the Jesuits, and his numerous and singular productions. He died in 1581, at a very advanced age, after enjoying continued good health, which he attributed to his perfect chastity. The Jesuit Desbillons published a work on this remarkable man, and undertakes to prove his predisposition to insanity. Nouveaux Eclair- cissemcnts sur la Vic et les Ouvrages de Gu.il. Postel. Liege, 1773. 312 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. The expulsion of Postel produced considerable sensa- tion ; it tended to prejudice the Jesuit cause in France. To this remote event is attributed the feud between the French University and the Jesuits, which has lasted three hundred years. But the cause of the contest was far deeper in the human breast ; the University-men were monopolists, and so were the Jesuits. They could not exist together : they battled anon : they were des- tined to enjoy alternate triumphs. The battle of life includes trade, politics, public instruction, and religion. Selfishness arms the combatants ; corporate interests point the blade ; short-lived triumphs reciprocate encouragement ; the strife will last for ever. Victory and defeat are the same to the Jesuit-heart in their result, which is continual effort the resolve to make the most of the opportunity. Under the watchful eye of the Founder, the Society was struggling for the mastery ; her difficulties will soon be forgotten in her triumphant success. John III. of Portugal opened his kingdom to Ignatius : Rodriguez marched to the post. Funds were provided, a Various esta- college rose in Coimbra the splendid begin- blishments. nmg of ft terrible end . fcut triumphs, not disasters, are now before the Jesuits. Lefevre and Lejay were in Germany, reforming the Catholic clergy, and doing battle to the Reformation. The desperate hatred of both Catholics and Protestants pursued the Jesuits ; they threatened to throw Lejay into the Danube. The Jesuit smiled, saying : " What do I care if I enter Heaven by water or by land ! " The stormy Bobadilla soon dashed into the same field vacated by Lefevre, who was hurrying to Spain in order to found the great college and house of the Professed, THE CKAFT OF IGNATIUS. 313 at VallacloKcl. This achievement was to crown Lefevre's devotedness to the cause. The great and the people received him with exultation. His work was done : he sickened : he was dying : at Rome, in the arms of Ignatius, he expired soon after, exhausted by his labours. It was a sore affliction, a heavy loss for the brotherhood. Ignatius found it necessary to devise some consolation. He had, as the reader remembers, seen the craftof Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus in her igatius. arms ; l he had seen the Holy Trinity collectively and in detail ; God the Father had placed him with God the Son ; to the beatific vision he had been introduced, in order to behold, after the fashion of Dante, " in a great circle of the blessed, his companion Hozes, who had just died, all shining with light, and beautiful as any of the celestials. 2 All these things had happened to Ignatius, or he was a most blasphemous and arrant deceiver to invent them, whatever was his motive. And now, to console his disconsolate brethren, he pretends to pro- phecy : he pretends to foretell what he knew, as any man might know, was about to ensue. Ignatius told the brothers that at the very same time there was a man meditating to join the Society, who would not only re- trieve the loss of Lefevre, but surpass his gains ; alluding 1 There is something very absurd in this vision. To represent Mary with the Infant in her arms is fair enough ; but for a man to say that he saw the veritable embodiment is stupendously absurd. It presupposes the continued existence of the Redeemer's infancy. Strange, that the absurdity did not strike the inventor, naturally so shrewd ; but the fact is, in these matters, to gain belief, the most improbable, unnatural, impossible concoction, is always the most successful. The present reminds us of the two skulls of St. Patrick, exhibited to the tourist in Ireland. Expressing his astonishment at the dupli- cate, he was told that the small skull was that of the boy Patrick, and the large one that of the full-grown saint. 2 Vide con gli occhi dell' anima il Paradiso aperto, e quivi, hi un gran cerchio di Beati, il compagno suo lumiiioso, e bello, come un di loro. Bart. Vita, lib. ii. 37. 314 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. to the Duke Francis Borgia of Gandia, who had been in constant intercourse with the Jesuit Araoz for the last three years at least ; who had corresponded with the prophet ; whose wife had died two months before, leaving him free to follow out his intentions ; who had founded a college for the company at Gandia, which the same Lefevre had organised, not omitting to stimulate the duke with the " Spiritual Exercises," as we are expressly told ; in fine, who took the vows, about a year after, with peculiar dispensations by Father Ignatius, as we shall presently witness. 1 And yet we are told by a Jesuit that " God had some years past revealed to Saint Ignatius the designs he had on Don Francisco ; that Ignatius had affirmed the same at a time when he could have no human knowledge of the thing, during the life of the Duke's wife ; that one day, exhibiting a letter which he had received from the Duke to a certain learned and pious doctor, he said : ' Do you think that he who writes to me is to enter our Company, and is even, some day, to be its General ? ' 2 So much for the " very authentic testimony of this prophecy." 3 In truth, these are the contrivances which show forth the character of this wily Spaniard throughout his career. These explain the hold he had on the minds and hearts, the credulity and weaknesses of his followers. As devout as Mohammed, but somewhat altered to suit the circumstances of his advent, spiritual power, domination over minds and hearts, constituted the avarice, the con- cupiscence of his heart. No apparent immorality could disenchant the mind of his beholders. It was necessary that he should not be, or seem to be, as other men ; but 1 See Verjus, Vie de S. Frany. de Borg." i. pp. 78, 79, 88, 93, 96. 2 Id. ibid. p. 101. 3 Id. ibid ; Bartol. Dell Ital. lib. i. p. 99. EXPANSION OF THE COMPANY. 315 it will require a degree of credulity which we may pray never to possess, in order to induce us to hold Ignatius for anything but a wily practiser on the human heart and mind, in order to gratify the peculiar ambition within him an ambition which, in its workings, is even like unto avarice of pelf, and concupiscence of lust. The success of his scheme surpassed his expectations. In 1540, when the Company was established, he had but ten followers, vagabonds like himself, His method houseless, dinnerless. In 1543, there were of training, eighty Jesuits, the pope having consented by a Bull to rescind the restriction which limited their number to sixty. Henceforth the word " Infinite" would be engraved on the Company's portals : all the world might knock and enter : work would be found for all sorts, all manner of aspirants without exception. Within three years after, the Company possessed ten establishments in various parts of the world ; and in 1549, only nine years from the foundation, there were twenty-two esta- blishments and two provinces l spiritual-military divi- sions, each with its chieftain or superior holding on the skirt of Ignatius with one hand, and directing the march and order of battle to pairs, to decades, and hundreds, to whom he had but to say " Do it " and it was done. Everywhere the Jesuits were in request ; all were eager to receive the new Apostles the desperate spiritualists who stuck at nothing. And what a method was theirs for imposing on the people extravagant notions of their extraordinary sanctity and perfections : to what trials did they subject the men whom they destined to uphold those notions. Rodriguez in Portugal, in order to test the firmness of a novice, ordered him to walk the streets 1 Orlaud. lib. iv. 1., ct lib. ix. 1. 316 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. of Coimbra, and to pray in the churches he passed, without a cloak on his shoulders, or cap on his head, but bearing in his hand a hideous and grinning skull. This man had been a noted musician and singer of Coimbra. A crowd of boys pursued the penitent, hoot- ing, hissing, bitterly gibing, and insulting. He performed the task, and was thereupon received into the Society. The same Rodriguez would send forth, in the dead of night, some of his men to perambulate the streets, awfully roaring, " Hell ! hell ! for those who are guilty of mortal sin." Others he would cover with rags, and send them to beg in every street. Thus he shamed them ad incutiendum ruborcm wluit plurimum. Some he dis- patched in the evening to the highways and byways to cry out, " Alas ! alas ! ye sinners desist from sin, since you must die." * The public hospitals were places of trial for the novices. To the dwelling of loathsome disease, the taverns of death, Ignatius would send his future Jesuits on trial. The officials were apprised of his object ; they carried out his intentions ; and treated the penitents worse than servants, abusing their silence and equanimity. They loaded them with labour and insult. They would command them to dig graves, to bury the dead. By night they made them watch beside the sick, cheating their weary eyes of sleep so hardly earned by their daily labours. On their weak and tender shoulders they placed vessels of water, and wood, and other burthens. It was a ceaseless round of occupation on occupation, labour on labour nay, even all time for prayer and attending at mass was denied them, except on festivals and Sundays. Thus Ignatius would " mor- tify" even their pious desires ! And why ? Because he 1 Orland. lib. v. 52. THE METHOD OF IGNATIUS. 3J 7 wished utterly to break the human will, to make it " indifferent to all things, " except thrice-holy Obedience. Whatever was humiliating in menial offices, whatever was horribly nauseous, whatever was difficult and haras- sing, the servants of the hospital, glad to find substi- tutes, consigned to the penitent sons of Loyola. They were stinted in food, and the little they got was of the worst description : even dry bread was denied them. If the probationers happened to be priests, which was often the case, they added to these labours the care of pious exhortation to the sick, and the administration of the sacraments. Ignatius would send to inquire into the conduct of the probationers, to suggest the parti- cular inflictions requisite in particular cases in fine, to discover who was to be retained or expelled from the Company. Nor was this all. Those whom he thought worthy of his band, he continued to " try " in a variety of ways. He would appoint them not only to one office, but to many at the same time ; and thus, not only to preclude idleness in the house, and to compen- sate for the fewness of numbers, but also that their peculiar qualifications might be apparent from that variety of occupations, and he might see in what each member could excel. Thus it was that many became fit for many purposes, whilst one was occupied and kept in many functions at one and the same time ita muiti ad multa evadebant idonei, dum units pluribus occupatur et distinetur officiis : nor was there ever wanting a proper agent for any business, all being trained habitually in almost every function, and in every office nee unquam dee-rat, quern cidque necjotio pr&ficeret, omnibus omnium pene functionum usu, munerumque jam doctis. The consequence was, that even those who were naturally 318 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. timid and irresolute, became bold and courageous, when applied to various purposes ; for as we pine in longing and inactivity, when we are passed over in the appointment of functions, so are our spirits raised when we are selected. Since nature herself- -which is sharp- ened and polished by long practice does not make us so inert and sluggish as we are rendered by the con- sciousness of being thought sluggish and reputed lazy. As an instance of this indefatigable activity, the public secretary of the Company, John Polancus, may be men- tioned. Whilst he was the depository of the Company's secrets, he had to preach, to fill the offices of catechist and procurator,- -nor did these occupations exempt him from performing the functions of cook and bed-maker to the establishment. l In distributing his employments, Ignatius always con- sulted the inclinations of the employed. He insisted on their perfect readiness to execute any command what- ever : 2 this was the guarantee of obedience. He com- manded according to their inclinations ; this was the secret of success. For the distant employments of the Society, he selected men of great experience ; he chose the inex- perienced to govern under his own eye at Rome : he would test their ability, and form them himself, whilst he watched their conduct. 3 To the laborious missions he sent only men of tried virtue. 4 1 " Itaque publicus Societatis scriba, cui omnia committebantur arcana, concio- nibus, sacrisque lectionibus simul operam dabat ; idemque et Christianse doctrinse, et Procuratoris Generalis officium administrabat ; nee tamen a culina, tricli- niique muneribus erat immunis." Orland, lib. vii. 5. 2 " En distribuant les emplois, il avait egard aux inclinations de ceux qu'il employait, quoiqu'il voulut que, de leur cote, ils fussent dispose's a tout." Sou- hours, t. ii., p. 24. Ibid. 4 Ibid. THE METHOD OF IGNATIUS. 319 He would spare the weak and imperfect; but his indulgence was sometimes intended to strike them with a sense of their weakness, and in order that shame should excite them to become more virtuous. 1 If he gave them somewhat difficult employments, it was only when these were desired, and on the condition that should they be overwhelmed, they would frankly declare it. 2 Nevertheless, if he fell in with any of those violent and untractable spirits, whose rough temper is invigo- rated by a robust constitution, he would give them more work than the rest ; and if they chanced to get ill, he did not much regret it, thinking that the infirmity of the body would perhaps promote the salvation of the soul. 3 In refusing a favour, he gave his reasons, in order that those who were disappointed might be less dis- satisfied ; and that he who received a favour might be more reserved in repeating his applications. He seldom refused what he could safely grant, and he would sweeten his refusal with words of kindness, so as to ensure affection. His reproofs were seasoned with mild and polite expressions ; or, at least, he would so qualify them that they were sharp and severe without being- harsh and acrid. 4 But he was terrible in his wrath. When a certain member blamed one of the Fathers on one occasion for street-preaching, Ignatius, as soon as he heard of the fact, roused him at midnight, turned him into the street, and expelled him from the Com- pany, in spite of his prayers for pardon. 5 His confidence in his followers was proof against evil-report ; he would cherish them all in such a manner that each deemed himself a favourite. He even 1 Bouhours. -Id. 'Id. 4 Id. 5 Bart. 224. 320 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. accommodated himself to the dispositions of all to such an extent, that he seemed to transform himself into them entirely, and all with an air so simple, and so natural, that he might be said to have been born as he affected to appear. 1 An anecdote or two will give completeness to the method of Ignatius. A rich man, who had been received into the Society, had a well-made and costly crucifix, to which he was much attached. The General permitted him to retain it. Meanwhile, the novice made great progress in virtue, and made great efforts to acquire self-control. As soon as the General perceived this, he said : " Very good ! Since the brother is weaned not only from the world, but also from himself, we may take from his hands the image of Jesus Christ crucified, whom he has in his heart." The novice was deprived of his crucifix, and he resigned it without demur. 2 His method with novices illustrious by birth or learn- ing, was very curious. He treated them at first with great deference ; he would call them Count, Marquis, Doctor, until they felt ashamed of the titles, and begged to be spared the distinctions. But when he saw that they relished the " maxims of the Gospel," and walked in the way of perfection, there were none whom he mortified more : he took pleasure in lowering a man of rank, in humbling a doctor ; and he ceased not until they had forgotten what they were. 3 The following is truly remarkable. A young German, of good talent, was inclined to leave the Society. Father Ignatius, who had received him, and thought him adapted for the ministry of the gospel, did all he could 1 Bouhours. 2 Id. 3 Id, ANECDOTES IX ILLUSTRATION. 321 to retain him ; but the German would listen to nothing, so strong was his temptation. Father Ignatius, pre- tending to yield, begged the novice to remain yet a few days in the house, and to live just as he pleased, without submitting to any rule. He accepted the condition, and lived at first with all the licence of a man who has shaken off the yoke of discipline. Then he was ashamed of the life he led, whilst he thought of his companions, so modest and so regular, and he at length regretted his inconstancy. 1 If he suspected that some secret sin was the cause of the temptation to leave the Society, he would often relate to the novice, very circumstantially, the excesses of his own worldly life, so as to inspire him with candour. 2 Ignatius evinced the greatest tenderness in the care o o of the sick ; he would spare nothing for their benefit, and if money was wanting, he sold the furniture to procure succour. One of the fathers was tormented with melancholy ; Ignatius ordered some of the novices who could play on certain instruments, and could sing well, to give a concert round the atrabilarian's couch. 3 He often inflicted very severe penances for slight faults, in order to prevent the growth of abuses ; he opposed strenuously all innovation in the Society, attempted under the name of improvement ; he insisted on the perfection of his men, but checked the inclina- tions of his disciples at court, when he imagined they were striving too eagerly to recommend themselves to the favour of the great, which, it seems, was already evident in the case of the Jesuit Araos, at the court of 1 Bouhours. - Id. 3 Id. VOL. I. Y 322 HISTOKY OF THE JESUITS. Spain. He seems already to have divined one of the causes which would be the ruin of his Society the abuse of courtly influence. Such is his method, as described by his Jesuit- biographers. 1 Perpetually we have before us alleged spiritual ends effected by natural means, admirably adapted and unerringly precise. At times we fancy we are reading the Cyropsedia of Xenophon, or the Letters of Chesterfield, adapted to the ends of religious per- fection. In every page we have proofs of devotion of spiritual passion as contradistinguished from that whose object is sensual gratification. Ignatius applies in the training of his novice, as we have seen, all the means that the most cunning and crafty of men employ to compass their ends. He naturally succeeds then calls the result " approved virtue," " weaning from the world, and from self," " relish for the maxims of the Gospel," " the way of perfection." All is a splendid piece of machinery- -a com- plicated but regular clock-work, kept in good repair, and constantly wound by a powerful motive, perfectly similar, in its effects, to that which actuates the long- nailed, paralysed, long-haired, dust-covered penitent of Brahma in his hideous transformation. What is that motive f Each novice, each Jesuit, must necessarily differ in motive, according to natural disposition : but its in- tensity will be the same in all- -because every natural disposition is studied, and developed, and appealed to by the same objects (under different names) which roused its energies before. The Jesuit system does not transform a man : it does not stifle the passions. 1 Bouhours. La Vie deS. Ign. ii. pp. 23 34. IGNATIUS FOUNDS HOUSES OF REFUGE. 323 It changes the objects of his motive : his hopes and fears are kept alive perpetually, by his rules and regu- lations, and Ms work in hand. What is good in a man it does not essentially alter : what is bad (according to common opinion) it permits to remain under a different name : it uses both good and bad, indifferently, to compass an end. The German's frolic in the novitiate, (of which we have read), and the trainer's method to extort a confession, are strong facts : the Jesuits them- selves relate them : if untrue, they nevertheless attest an approved system, offered for imitation. Such facts as these the whole life of Ignatius (that Cyropcedia of the Jesuits, or model of fact and fiction) evolve the history of the Jesuits more satisfactorily than the violent denunciations of their enemies, or the gushing laudations of their friends. There are facts in the life of Ignatius which make us wish to believe that his followers have belied him, in representing their founder in other circum- Ignatius stances, which compel us to believe him an founds houses arch-deceiver. By his steady, unflinching perseverance, he merited success. His determined efforts necessitated achievement. His ambition was to gain the whole world by the means he invented or concocted. / If there was more policy than human benevolence in his nature, it mattered not, as far as mankind are con- cerned. Thousands were benefited bv his head, if not i/ by his heart. He opened a house of refuge for un- fortunate women, and called it Martha: he opened another for endangered maidens, and called it Catharine. Neither of them did he call Maydalen. It seems as though he would delicately spare a blush to cheeks that wished to blush no more, by not perpetually reminding T 2 324 HISTOEY OF THE JESUITS. them by that usual name, of what they had been, and what they were required to become in return for- board and lodging. Ignatius actually put himself at the head of the penitent troop, and conducted them to the Martha. He knew how the degraded would feel that honour, and what the world would think of it : it was a fine sight to see, however. It is a wretchedly poor Christian sentiment to feel indignantly scornful of woman's degradation, by way of making her conscious of her iniquity. Full many would rise from the awful mire the dismal torments of their crime were they not irrevocably branded for ever unutterably despised, -whilst he who has caused or shared the crime is not the less unworthy of leading to the altar the fairest, the purest, the richest of the land. Ignatius founded houses for orphans of both sexes. He touched the hearts of Rome : they opened, and Asylum for enabled him to be the kind father of the orphans. fatherless, the hopeless. He had a predeces- sor in this noble work, whose example was not thrown away on the founder of the Jesuits. A few years before, famine and disease had devastated the north of Italy. Many an orphan there was hopeless and without a helping hand. Castaway they were; but the million eyes of Providence looked sweetly upon them, and stirred the Bethesda of the human heart. A Vene- tian senator, Girolamo Miani, made a gathering of these cares of Heaven, received them in his own house nay, he sought them out, even as the man anxiously seeking his hundredth sheep. His sister-in-law scolded him roughly, talked of his ruining himself, beggary for the comfort of strangers, and what not the usual predic- tions that selfishness invents to clutch a copper or a ASYLUM FOR ORPHANS. 325 morsel of bread. Girolamo heeded her not. He was a rich man : he had patronised the arts and the trades by collecting costly plate and the handsomest tapestry ; and now he would patronise the fatherless, and see if he would not enjoy himself more thereby. He sold his plate and his tapestry to get these poor little ones food, raiment, and instruction- -food and raiment for body and soul together. A good thought, and a right good method, and most likely to succeed for a sermon with a loaf is infinitely better than a text without one to the famishing poor and the helpless orphan. Girolamo found encouragement which speaks a good word for that bad age and so the good man set to work with heart and soul, and multiplied his charity. Sweet it is to see a good thought and a good deed expanding even as a drop of cold water to a big warm ocean. At Verona, at Brescia, Ferrara, Como, Milan, Pavia, and Genoa, he established houses of refuge for the same good purpose. Now, good as well as evil will sometimes find followers, imitators, and friends joined Miani. A congregation was enlisted amongst the regular clergy, and statutes were drawn up, on the model of the Theatines. The main object of the confraternity was extended from the care of orphans to that of unfortu- nate women. This was the Society di Somasca, founded by the good Miani, and approved by Paul III., in the year 1540, when he established the Jesuits. Here was a great enterprise, a noble speculation. Poor, helpless children its object, degraded but repentant woman its care. It succeeded. Earth and Heaven rejoiced, and blessed the good thought of the good Miani. It cost him his plate, and it cost him his pictures : but these were nothing in his estimation as compared to the joy 326 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. he felt when the work was done. That is the time to compute your loss and your gains and not till then. .... Ignatius followed in the track of the good Miani, and cared for poor women and orphans. Let not the imitation diminish applause ; it were better to cheer the deed, and wish for it a thousand imitators. And behold how, even to the present day, young orphan hearts are grateful to Ignatius. These orphan asylums founded by Ignatius, still subsist, now under the direc- tion of old Girolamo's brethren, the Somasques ; and every 31st of July, these children go to the church of the Ge.su, and in remembrance of him who furnished an asylum for so many generations of orphans, they serve at the masses which are celebrated on the day of his festival. 1 And the children of Israel, too, claimed his attention. Many were converted. Ignatius founded a house for them, and if he did not hold out mercenary Asylum for converted motives for their conversion, as is asserted so desperate was his zeal he sheltered, he fed, he instructed, or got them instructed, on their becoming Christians. He induced the pope to issue a mandate, by which Jewish children, who would turn Christians contrary to the will of their parents, should have all the wealth of the latter imo vero Juda3orum liberis ad Christum contra parentum voluntatem venien- tibus, bona ipsorum omnia Integra omnino cssent? Bou- hours, however, says that they " en heriteraient " would inherit : but this translation suits the times, not the original. 3 All money got by usury the lawful owners being unknown should fall to these converts ; and a tax for the same object was levied on all the synagogues 1 Cretineau, i.189. ' 2 Ribaden. lib. iii.c. ix. 3 Vie, i. 301. INFLUENCE OF IGNATIUS WITH CROWNED HEADS.* 327 of Italy. 1 Hard conditions for the poor Jews decidedly : but the end was good. They had only to be " con- verted :" its premium would be bodily rest and exemp- tion from taxation. That "only" was nothing to Igna- tius, but what a bitter thing it was to the children 7 O of Judah. In truth, it was better to be a Jew, with taxation, than a " Christian ' converted by such a motive. Not for the Jews alone did Ignatius yearn in his world-craving ambition. The Turks, the infidels of every clime all were invited to enter the house of the catechumens. In the midst of these labours, Ignatius followed in spirit all the journeyings of his distant disciples and apostles. At a time when epistolary commu- nication was both difficult and slow, and con- t he refuge^f stantly endangered by the shifting scenes of war, Ignatius found the means of frequent correspondence. His craft and skill triumphed over every obstacle. He constantly knew the exact state of the missions, and could console, direct, and cheer his men in their ceaseless labours. 2 He was the centre of his magic circle, thoughtful, looking into the future : his every Jesuit was a radius thereof, constantly progressing to the brink of the universe. And he was become the magnet, the motive-power of the moral world in the six- teenth century. As he had his apostles scattered over the world, whose achievements his will and approbation promoted, so had he friends in almost every court of Europe, whose good-will he insured by his extraordinary tact and discretion. He corresponded with John III. of Portugal ; with Ferdinand, the king of the Romans ; 3 1 Ribaden. ubi supra. 2 Cretineau, i. 184. 3 This title was given to the prince next in succession to the Emperor of 328 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. with Hercules d'Este, Duke of Ferrara ; with Albert of Bavaria, and the notorious Philip II. of Spain, when Charles had flung on his shoulders the gloomy destinies of his kingdom. He " directed ' Margaret of Austria, the daughter of Charles V. Meanwhile he watched with the same solicitude over the imperfections of the least novice in the Society, as over the greatest interests concerning which the powers of Europe craved counsel. 1 An example will show the man's boundless influence. A difference arose between the pope and the king of Portugal. The Cardinal Alexander Farnese, the pope's nephew, obtained the cardinal's cap from Paul III., for his friend, Michael de Silva, a Portuguese, then Bishop of Viseu, in Portugal. The king objected to the nomination, on the score of pri- vilege : the subject was to owe that promotion only to his king. De Silva fled from his bishopric to Rome, where he was publicly and right honourably invested with the cherished purple. Vengeance pursued the ambitious fugitive : he was deposed from his bishopric, and deprived of its revenues, by royal mandate. The Vatican consoled the rebellious subject by investing him with power. De Silva was appointed apostolic legate at the court of Charles V. The quarrel was likely to become conspicuous, serious consequences to the Church, in those ticklish times, were apprehended, and the pope " complained to Ignatius/' such are the Jesuit's words respecting the conduct of John III. The universal man wrote to Lisbon, where his advice was well received. He negotiated with the pope and the cardinal. He Germany. It originated with the eldest son of Charlemagne. Napoleon gave jt to his son in the cradle. ] Cretineau, i. 231. CHARGES AGAIXST THE JESUITS. 329 was successful : a clever compromise ensued. It is very characteristic. The king restored the episcopal revenues to the ex-bishop, and the pope granted the king considerable privileges in favour of the Inquisition established in his kingdom. 1 These external occupa- tions never interfered with his domestic duties : the concerns of kings and queens revealed to him the wants of the age. These it was his object to supply by his method. His credit with the princes of the earth was, therefore, of infinite service to the general of a com- pany, whose men should go forth perfectly trained, and instructed in all matters in which they might be called to take a part. The art of government is based on the knowledge of men and measures. Already had Ignatius been opposed by rancorous enemies ; his men were accused of the foulest practices. They were denounced as heretics ; they were Foul charges charged with revealing the secrets of the against the confessional ; but the accusations were not satisfactorily brought home ; the accuser, a priest of Rome, was punished with perpetual imprisonment " for certain crimes at last revealed/ 5 says the Jesuit biogra- pher. 2 The opponents of the Jesuits are invariably represented in the worst light by their historians and friends ; an imputation, an innuendo, a slur, a stab in the dark, are freely administered. Whatever foundation there may have been for the charges above named, it is impossible to discover ; the Jesuits were acquitted by the papal authorities, and the charges are, in their broad announcement, improbable : they are incompatible with the present views of the Society. It had no leisure for crime : its virtue was high in the market : policy, 1 Bouhours, ii. 21 23. 2 Ribaden. lib. iii. c. xii. 330 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. if no higher motive existed, must have made the first Jesuits chaste, discreet, and orthodox. At all events, strong in papal protection, patronised by the potentates of earth, increasing in strength and numbers, in a word, with their glorious prospect, they could bid defiance to their enemies, whose discomfiture they pictured as the judgment of Heaven. NO ARROW STRIKES THE SUN. l 1 Quisquis es, insanis frustra conatibus uti Desine : nam Solcm nulla sagitta ferit. Imago, p. 565 Vain are your efforts ! Stay your aims begun Fools that you are ! No arrow strikes the Sun. BOOK V. OR, SALMERON. ITS presiding genius, the vigilant Ignatius, beheld the enlarging scope of his enterprise ; events aided in its development. The Council of Trent super- TheCouncil vened. An appeal had been made by the fTi ' ent - Protestants, to a General Council of the Christian Church, for a judgment on the doctrines in litigation. Other motives, in other quarters, as the reader is aware, urged the measure on the pope in spite of his reluctance. He feared for his prerogatives. With regard to the Protestants, the decisions of such a council must be condemnatory. There could be no compromise in favour of litigants whose cause of contest whose protest had been already judged, already condemned, by the very authority which would preside in a " Council of the Christian Church." Pope Clement VII. had announced his acquiescence in 1530 ; he died and left the fulfilment to Paul III. The Council opened on the 13th of December, 1545, in the cathedral of Trent. It was destined to pro- Ions; its sessions, or sittings, for the space of Its object. eighteen years. Its object was to define, from the arguments and opinions of the bishops and other 332 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. dignitaries, the fathers and doctors of Roman Catholic Christendom, past and present, the doctrines and disci- pline of the Roman Catholic Church. Its decisions would be final ; anathema would be superadded to every clause against the presuming dissentient. 1 It would be the utter annihilation of heresy, as was fondly imagined. In a speech delivered at the opening of the Council, Bishop Cornelius Musso told the prelates assembled that they "should come into that city like as the worthy and valiant Greek captains went into the wooden horse wherewith Troy was taken by surprise." 2 The infant Company of Jesus had flung into the controversial arena wrestlers of nerve and agility- -an TWO Jesuits earnest she had given of the coming epoch, when her arsenal would send forth the arma- to the Conn- men |;s which blazed to the world as fire-ships cil. Ignatius primes them. O f equivocal destination : only results would prove whether they destroyed the enemies of Rome, or damaged the cause for which they were fighting. Two Jesuits, Lainez and Salmeron, were selected by the pope as theologians of the Holy See ; another Jesuit, Lejay, represented the Cardinal Bishop of Augs- berg. This distinguished honour rivetted the eyes of the "religious' world on the young Society, so fondly rocked and cherished by the Father of the Faith- ful. Lainez and Salmeron were young ; the former numbered but thirty-four years, the latter not quite thirty-one ; but both were old in experience, and that constitutes the maturity of man. Ignatius gave them a preparatory lecture adapted to the occasion, and similar 1 Seethe "Canons" following the Sessions. Each begins with "Si quis dixerit if any one shall say," and ends with " Anathema sit let him be anathema." II Sacro Cone, di Trento. " Peignot, Predicat. p. xix. and elsewhere. THE COUNCIL OF TRENT. 333 to that which he addressed to the Irish legates. After becomingly insisting on the standard preliminaries; the greater glory of God, the good of the universal church, and due regard for their own spiritual advancement, he proceeds to display his habitual tact and dexterity as follows : " In the Council you must be rather slow than eager to speak deliberate and charitable in your advice on matters doing, or to be done ; attentive and calm in listening applying yourself to seize the mind, inten- tion, and desires of the speakers, so that you may know when to be silent or to speak. In the discussions which shall arise you must bring forward the arguments of the two opinions in debate, so that you may not appear attached to your own judgment. You ought always to manage, according to your ability, so that no one leaves, after your speech, less disposed to peace than he was at first. If the matters which shall be discussed are of a nature to force you to speak, express your opinion with modesty and serenity. " Always conclude with these words : Better advice, or every other equivalent, excepted. " In fine, be well persuaded of one thing, which is, that befittingly to treat the important questions of the divine and human sciences, it is very advantageous to discourse seated, and calmly, and not hastily, and, as it were, superficially. You must not, therefore, regulate the order and time of the discussion by your leisure and convenience, but take the hour of the party who wishes to confer with you, so that he may more easily advance to the point to which God wishes to lead him .... In hearing confessions, think that all you say to your penitents may be published on the house-tops. 334 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. By way of penance, enjoin them to pray for the Council. In giving the Exercises speak as you would in public. " You will visit the hospitals by turns every four days, each once a-week, at hours not inconvenient to the sick. You will soothe their afflictions, not only by your words, but by carrying to them, as far as you will be able, some little presents. In fine, if to settle questions, brevity and circumspection are necessary, so to excite piety, we ought, on the contrary, to speak with a certain degree of diffuseness and in a kindly manner. " The third point remains, which concerns the care of watching over yourselves, and guarding against the shoals to which you will be exposed. And though you ought never to forget the essential of our Institute, you must nevertheless remember, above all, to preserve the strictest union and most perfect agreement of thoughts and judgment among yourselves. Let no one trust to his own prudence : and, as Claude Lejay will soon join you, you will fix a time every day to confer on what you shall have done during the day, and on what you are to do on the morrow. You will put an end to your discussions either by the vote of the majority, or in any other way. In the morning you will deliberate in common on your line of conduct during the day : moreover, you will examine your consciences twice a-day. " You will put these points into execution, at the latest, on the fifth day after your arrival at Trent." 1 The conclusion of this document reminds us of those haughty mandates of Spain's proud royalty, signed with the whelming Yo EL EEY- -I the king the sign manual of the kings of Spain, Nothing but this is 1 Cretineau-Joly, Hist. t. i. p. 252 ; Orland. v. 23. IGNATIUS GIVES ADVICE TO DEBATERS. 335 wanting to prove how fully Ignatius began to feel his sovereignty. These documents are useful : they are the full-length portrait of Ignatius, displaying, as the docu- ments of Cromwell, that deep shade of religionism which renders more striking the prominent light of policy. And how completely is the general convinced of his power, his influence. He defines the conduct of his men as though he were dangling and adjusting the limbs of a doll. Again, mark the curious injunction that they should make " small presents ' to give more effect to their spiritual consolations one of those trivial facts in appearance, which we overlook, until the know- ledge of mankind and the secret of success flash on the mind from the eyes of experience. In truth, seldom have the Jesuits said to the needy A pater-noster you are welcome to, but neither gold nor silver : seldom have they said so, because seldom it was that they could afford to lose an opportunity of making friends. From first to last, I unhesitatingly assert, they have given some real or seeming equivalent to the body, the brain, or the stomach, in return for the soul of their proselytes. " All these things I will give you if " said the Jesuits ; and poor humanity, ever fooled, ever wretched, ever guideless, could scarcely be expected to say : " Get thee behind me, Satan/' The Jesuits made them happy, comfortable in body and soul, at least they thought so ; and men were justified in being grateful to their benefactors, as long as they believed them such until they discovered the tail of the devil somewhere protruding. The general's instructions were fulfilled to the letter. Surrounded by princes, ambassadors, prelates, and abbots -all in gorgeous habiliments, with prodigal display. 336 HISTOEY OF THE JESUITS. each striving to maintain the reputation of unapproach- able magnificence the three Jesuits applied themselves Their re- * more important matters, as the case re- ception, quired to the work in hand. They preached, they heard confessions, and catechised. They begged alms, and distributed it to the poor. They gave their services to the hospitals. By these offices of charity they prepared the way for expressing their opinions with effect and consistent dignity ; and conciliated to them- selves among all ranks the greatest authority and favour. l Faithful to the letter of their vow, they were wretchedly dressed ; the pope's theologians appeared in rags. Imagine the effect in that proud assembly. They inspired contempt in many, and struck horror into the Spaniards erant plerisqm despectui, et ipsis quodammodo Hispanis horrori. Display and proud magnificence were the simplicity of God's ministers. Outward pomp was the representative of inward humility. Had Paul the tent-maker lived, 2 he might have made a canopy for some great bishop, and stood outside, to hear his Epistles " wrested," as Peter complains (2 Peter, hi. 16), for the sake of orthodoxy in pomp triumphant. And he would have seen how his successors, the magnificent dignitaries of the church, took umbrage at the rags of long-headed, deep-witted Jesuits, who knew what they were about. The Jesuits could not be endured in their selected, if not select accoutrement. The delicacy of episcopal pride turned up its nose, fairly revolted at wisdom in rags. The Jesuits were quite "indifferent" to the thing : they could sacrifice to the Graces as Avell as to expediency, and so they made themselves decent, ] "His videlicet caritatis officiis certain sibi viain, &c."- CWa;w?. vi. 22. - See Acts, xviii. 3. THE JESUITS AT THE COUNCIL. 337 corporibus suns est adhibitm cultus, and put on new dresses presented to them by one of the cardinals. Thus they acquired dignity in the Holy Council of Trent quo majors cum dig Jiitate prod irent. l Laynez and Salmeron at once took a high position in the Council. Ignatius had commanded them never to pledge themselves to an opinion verging on Laynez innovation : they stood forward the cham- ^^ display pious of rigid orthodoxy. The thorny, inter- of teaming. minable doctrine of Justification mystified the first sittings. Seripando, the general of the Augustines, attempted a modification of the papal dogma, distinguish- ing between Justification indwelling and inherent, and Justification applied and imparted asserting the latter alone to be the Christian's confidence man's righteous- ness being only inchoate, imperfect, full of deficiencies. 2 The Jesuits opposed the Augustines with all their might. Laynez was engaged to analyse the whole subject. With prodigious labour he produced a volume of heads and arguments. 3 The majority gave into his decisions : his commentary was enrolled in the acts of the Council ; and he was thenceforward appointed to sift in like manner all the topics in discussion. Vast must have been the labours of this Jesuit. On one occasion, with characteristic audacity, Laynez exclaimed : " Since the dogmas of the Faith cannot be defined but according to the Scriptures and the holy Fathers, I shall not cite in defence of my opinion, any text, either of Father or Doctor of the Church, without having read his entire work without extracting every passage, 1 Orland. vi. 23 ; Cretineau, i. 256. - See Ranke, b. ii., for an account of the matter, and a curious note to the above ; also Sarpi and Pallavicino in their antagonist histories. 3 Orland. vi. 27 ; Cretineau, ul>i supra. VOL. I. Z 338 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. proving to demonstration the real opinion of the author." This was but the prelude to an overwhelming display. On that very day was mooted the subject of the Eucha- rist. In the midst of the most profound silence, made deeper than usual by the general curiosity produced by his promise, and the desire to entrap a Jesuit, Laynez spoke, and brought forward the opinions of sLv-and- thirtij Fathers, or Doctors of the Church ! Among the rest he cited Alphonso Tostat, whose writings were so voluminous, that, it is said, the whole life of a man would not suffice for their perusal. 1 Laynez had, however, studied them so well, and so perfectly seized their meaning, that the theologians were forced to accept his conclusions, deduced by a method of discussion so extra- ordinary, at a time when the art of printing had not multiplied books and scattered manuscripts. Laynez established his fame, but ruined his health : the result of his efforts was a fever, which compelled him to absent himself from the Council. This casualty proved the estimation in which he was held. The Council sus- pended its sittings until his recovery. At least, so the Jesuits assure us. 2 No greater honour could be reflected on the Society than that one of her members should be deemed absolutely necessary to the General Council of the Christian Church. Meanwhile, urged by the soli- citations of the Catholics, Charles V. declared war against the Protestants, who refused to acknowledge the 1 He was a Spaniard, Doctor of Salamanca and Bishop of Avila, A.D. 1400 1454. An edition of his works, published at Cologne, 1642, extends to seventeen volumes in folio. Bellarmine called him " the world's wonder. " His epitaph was " Hie stupor mundi, qui scibile discutit omne." " Wonder of earth, all man can Imow he scanned." 2 Orland. xi. 38 ; Cretineau, uli supra. A JESUIT REFUSES A BISHOPRIC. 339 authority of the Council. Frederick, Duke of Saxony, and William, Landgrave of Hesse, their leaders, marched against the imperial forces, with an army of more than eighty thousand men. The city of Trent was menaced : the Council was suspended. At its re-opening we shall again witness the triumphs of Laynez. Other heroes, other exploits of the Jesuits have arrested the world's admiration. We have beheld the first struggles and the first triumphs of the Society. Man, grateful man, but ever alive to what he conceives his "best interests," Le j ay refu e es was eager to reward his masters or his servants |?J| n -for the Jesuits were ready to be either, as wh ?'- circumstances permitted or expediency required. Man offered all he had to give : the Jesuits insisted on choosing for themselves. The bishopric of Trieste fell vacant. The "honour' was offered to a Jesuit. Fer- dinand, King of the Romans, had the nomination : he cast his eyes on the Jesuit Lejay. A famous man was this Lejay. At Ratisbon, at Ingolstadt, at Nuremberg, he had scattered terror in the camp of the heretics, whence he had snatched many a convert to recruit the papal army. Trieste, situated on the very brink of the heretic land Luther's Germany- -could not have a bishop too Catholic nor too vigilant. Such a warrior of the Faith would be a Samson against the Philistines of Protestantism doing battle for the chosen people. Thence he could point his left, heart-wise, to Rome aslant the Adriatic, whilst his right could "shake a dreadful dart' against Tyrol and the hills beyond. Lejay must be the man so the Catholic cause seemed to demand. Such a champion was imperatively required. The Church so dear to Father Ignatius and Paul III. z 2 340 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. seemed to crave the boon of the Jesuit-bishop- seemed to crave it wringing her hands. The Jesuit declined the honour, notwithstanding. His general declined it : it was contrary to the Constitutions of the Society : it was manifestly inexpedient to the Company. For, should the precedent be once established, the Society might, in the process of time, be deprived of her best men, her most brilliant members. It would be the death of the Society. 1 Ignatius reminded the king, in a determined letter, that the Company had been formed with but one object fixed in the mind of each member, namely, to scour every region of the globe at the nod of the pope, in behalf of the Catholic faith. The pope had approved their efforts, nay God himself had done so. Let him look at the results of their enterprise. To remain as they were was a guarantee to the duration of their Company : to permit an innovation in the original conception would be its ruin. Hence he might clearly see what a plague, what a pest it would be if the Com- pany undertook to make bishops quanta nobis pestis Episcopalibus recipiendis impendeat. 2 With such and similar arguments, Ignatius got rid of the disastrous honour, which he begged to decline ; and gave occasion to the sarcastic pope to exclaim : " This is the first time that a prince has heard such a request " 3 thus keenly insinuating, perhaps for all times and churches, a rebuke to ecclesiastical ambition. But Ignatius knew what he was about. A Jesuit was to march from city to city, from province to province, was to fly from pole to pole at the first sign of Christ's vicar : such was the founder's 1 " Quam ea res Societati noxia, quamque periculosa foret." Orland. vi. 33. 2 Orland. vi. 34. There are fifteen reasons discovered by Orlandinus why the Society should eschew dignities. Loc. n't. 3 Cretineau, i. 281. CHARLES V. AND THE PROTESTANTS. 341 idea, 1 and we may add, lie was perfectly right in believing that the Society best deserved her best men particularly in the hour of her struggle for the palm. Hereafter she would give from her superabundance token expedient. In the following year, 1547, Bobadilla, the bolt of controversy, refused a similar honour the bishopric of Trent. Bobadilla was the indefatigable opponent of Pro- testantism in Germany. He accompanied the pope's nuncio to the court of Charles V. Controversy Charles v.'s ran high : all Germany was intent on the " religious " question. There was a conference at Ratisbon : Bobadilla rushed to the encounter. It availed little. Nothing could be decided where all was at stake, and nothing would be conceded on either side. The Jesuit pleased the Catholics, and Charles resolved, in the same conventicle, " to silence with the relentless sword the iron mouth of the Protestants, which neither imperial majesty nor the holy authority of the council could break or stop -ferreum os Protestantium pertinaci ferro subigere, and to crush with severity those whom he could not bend by Ids clemency. The emperor's indignant energies were stimulated by the salient earnestness of the pope, who, resolved to spare neither expense nor anxiety in crushing those plagues, 1 Bouhours, ii. 47. This Jesuit puts also the following blast in the mouth of Ignatius on this occasion, addressed to the pope, " whilst recalling his ancient military notions en rappelant ses anciennes idees de guerre : " " I consider all the other religious societies as squadrons of soldiers who remain at the post assigned by honour ; who keep their ranks, who front the enemy, always preserving the same order of battle and the same method of fighting ; but as for ourselves, we are scouts who, in alarms, in surprises by night and by day, ought to be ever ready to conquer or die ; we ought to attack, to defend according to circumstances, to throw ourselves on every point, and keep the enemy every where in watch." JBouhours, ii. 46. 342 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. had sent a large army, under his grandsons Octavius and Alexander Farnese, to join the imperial forces. So far the Jesuit historians ; but they omit to state that the same crafty pope recalled those troops at the very moment when they were most needed, and left the emperor " in the lurch." * Thus, to suit his own purposes, he virtually became an ally of the Protestant cause. The interests of Catholicism were in his head his own interests, and those of his family, were in his heart. The emperor's increasing success might spread encroach- ment to the papal throne : private interests decided the pope's neutrality on that remarkable occasion. But the emperor's good fortune baffled the wily pontiff. The victory of Muhlberg consoled the emperor for the pope's treachery. The pope's grandson did not share the laurels of Orthodoxy : but the son of Loyola the Jesuit Bobadilla in the foremost ranks fell wounded in the head. The thickness of his head-gear broke the violence of the blow, which had otherwise been mortal. 2 A few days after the battle, he preached at Passau. In a Protestant city the bold Jesuit announced a solemn thanksgiving to the " God of Armies" for the victory of the Catholic cause. Then through Germany he hurried, 1 See Ranke, p. 66, and Robertson, Charles V. iii. 112, for the pope's political reasons. Capefigue also omits the fact La Ref. et la Ligne, 146. So, also, Orlaudinus, Cretineau, &c. Amongst the prodigies related as occurring during the battle, the Spaniards said that " the sun stood still, as at the com- mand of Joshua." You will find a most amusing discussion, and refutation of these prodigies by the Jesuit Maimbourg, in his " Histoire du Lutheranisme," ii. p. 55. The Jesuits are great sceptics in other people's inventions, probably because they diminish the wonder of their own. 2 Bobadilla's post was to attend the wounded ; but the ardent Jesuit would mingle in the fray, quippe res gerebatur ardenter, with his exhortations, and promises of victory. The day before the battle of Muhlberg, or Mulhausen, he was in the foremost ranks at the crossing of the Elbe. Boucher, in his "dramatic " history of the Jesuits, shows us Bobadilla mounted on a splendid charger, crucifix in hand, and dashing over the dying and the dead. EXPLOITS OF THE JESUIT BOBAD1LLA. 343 preaching controversy as he went. His flaming eloquence was heard at Augsburg, Cologne, and Louvain, where flourished a college of the Company, founded by Lefevre. At length, proud in unconquerable zeal, Bobadilla reached the imperial court, to be taken aghast by the compro- mising Interim, just published by the emperor. Interim means meanwhile, and it was the name given to a theological treatise, whose temporary regulations, pending the final decisions of the Great Council, were intended by the framers, Pflug, H elding, and Agricola, as a pacification sanctioned by the emperor, a healing to the religious mind of Germany, wounded, torn, ulcerated by its interminable polemical discussions. 1 The pope's late 1 Luther was no more : he died in 1546. Orlaadinus, the Jesuit, celebrates the reformer's death with horrible intensity. He says : " But whilst the Emperor, by the terror of arms, and the Pope by the General Council, are defending the ancient religion from the fury of the heretics, God as it were joining with them in a certain conspiracy, snatched from among men that portent of the universe, the sower of all evils, the anti-christ of these times. I am ashamed to call this infernal monster by his name piget infernum hoc monstrum suo nomine nominare. That renegade of the Catholic religion, I sav, that deserter of the cloister, renewer of all heresies, that detestation of God v * and men, in the twenty-second year of his falling off, after having supped sumptuously and splendidly, and sported with his jests as usual, on that very night, gripped and strangled by a sudden malady, vomited forth his most ungodly soul, a most savoury victim for Satan, who delights in such dishes, wherewith he satiates his maw repentiuo morbo correptus, jugulatuscme sceleratissimam animarn vomuit, gratissimam Satanse hostiam, cmi se talibus oblectat escis, unde ejus saturetur ingluvies. At this announcement, the Catholic religion might have taken breath, being relieved of such a weight ; all good men, all the orthodox, might celebrate a holiday diem festum agere if he had utterly perished ; but the venomous chieftain left behind his viper-progeny over the whole earth, to the huge detriment of the Catholic interest rei catholicse ] a be and he lives still in his seed, not less destructive to the human race, now that he is dead, than when he was alive. For where do not exist the impressed footmarks of his enormous crimes ? We behold, with mighty grief, altars overturned, cloisters demolished, all that is sacred polluted ; in fine, the utter- most devastation left by him in the widest kingdoms of Europe, and its provinces. WHEREFORE, our men must work the more vigorously, in order to kill and extinguish, as much as in them lies, all the disseminators of this fury, by throwing together the defences of the most excellent sanctity and doctrine ; and let them 344 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. conduct towards the emperor threw the whole burthen of the war on the emperor's shoulders : he was anxious to get rid of it, and was probably disgusted with the thought that he had been fighting for a cause which the wily pope made a convenience. Whatever were his motives in putting forth the Interim, it had the usual effect of toleration among men utterly maddened by the strong drinks of their "religious' opinions. In the estimation of the Catholics its concessions went too far : in the opinion of the Protestants it did not concede enough. In fact, all the essential doctrines and rites of Catholics seemed to be retained, but softly ex- pressed, or set off with scriptural phrase, and muzzled by ambiguity. Certainly it permitted priests who had married, to retain their wives, and it indulged communion in both kinds, where the practice was established and all only for a time, until the voice of the Great Council should boom like the last angel unto judgment. It was no finality nothing to depend upon nothing that you could sleep on for ever, and could leave for your children to appeal to, as a Magna Charta of freedom, civil and religious. It was only a temporary concession a mere musty morsel flung to a ravenous mastiff until he can be gagged completely. Protestants and Catholics, then, inveighed against the Interim : the former as against a deception, the latter as a cowardly concession. At Rome, by Paul III., it was denounced as a deed of rashness in the emperor, who was likened unto Uzzah, whose unhallowed hand touched the Ark of the Lord. Papal and Church pride was shocked to think that the be entirely persuaded that, with refractory men, and the enemies of the Catholic name, they have undertaken an eternal war sempiternum bellum sibi esse susceptum." Lib. vi. 59. It is only fair to state that the Jesuit Maimbourg does not " go to these extremes" on Luther's exit, i. 299. THE INTERIM AND BOBADILLA. 345 emperor should dare to meddle with articles of faith and modes of worship. The pope had an emissary near the emperor a man, a Jesuit, a host in himself, left behind when the pope's troops and grandsons deserted the emperor. Bobadilla's zeal knew no bounds. He attacked the Interim with his pen, and poured against it the flood of his eloquence. He struck hard, even in the imperial presence : lie feared no man. Only one thing could be wisely done by the emperor at this bravado. He did not throw him into prison, starve, and stretch him on the rack, in order to make a martyr of an insolent, hot- headed, intolerant Jesuit, for universal admiration and worship. He quietly drove him out of court, and ordered him to leave the kingdom without a moment's delay. Proud of his banishment he probably expected a more brilliant penalty- -the Jesuit hastened to Rome, in hopes of a general glorification. What was his surprise to find a frown on the face of his general, Ignatius, who closed the door upon him, yea, shut him out from the House of the Professed, and turned the hero on the street " with his martial cloak around him." Soon, however, he understood the whole matter, when the pope caressed him with "tacit approbation/' and when his astute general spoke loudly of the " Majesty of Kings," but cleverly threw in a distinction that the hero " had at least sinned formally" leaving the casuist to discover, if he could, the meaning. On the other hand, however, Ignatius was really anxious to give some little satisfaction to the emperor, who evidently had it in his power to injure not only the Society, but even the popedom Rome herself as had chanced before. Hence the seeming disgrace of the really triumphant Bobadilla. The emperor remained hostile to the Company : but it 346 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. was still a fine occasion for such a display, and the Jesuits have never lost such an opportunity to captivate the minds of men. On one occasion, when the Marquis d'Aguilar, in conversation with Ignatius, alluded to the reports against the new Society, and told him that he himself was suspected of concealing great ambition under a modest exterior, and that public rumour alleged a cardinal's cap or a mitre as the motive of his journey to Rome, Ignatius made no reply, but a sign of the cross : then, " as if suddenly inspired by God, he made a vow before the Marquis to accept no Church dignity unless compelled under penalty of sin, by the pope, and he repeated the vow some time after, in the presence of a cardinal/' 1 The man who loses not an opportunity is only second to him who can make one. Only seven years had elapsed since the foundation of the Society : they had sufficed to render her name famous among men : blessed by the majority The Jesuits & J J J begin public of the Catholics, and detested by the Pro- testants. We have witnessed the exploits of her light troops in their rapid evolutions. In the defence of the faith she had hitherto battled with success. At the court of princes she was in favour. Priests and doctors of universities were crowding to her novitiates. Her arsenals, her numerous and flourishing colleges in many kingdoms, were filled with men skilfully, though bitterly trained, ready, eager for work. One thing was hitherto wanting, great in itself, but greater still in its endless consequences to the Company and to men I allude to the public instruction of youth. On this founda- 1 Bouhours, ii. 47. For all the facts of this section, see Orland. vi. 53, et seq.; ib. viii. 35 ; Cretineau, i. 284, et seq.; Bouhours, ii. 68, et seq ; MaSmbourg, ii. 97, et seq. ; Robertson, Charles V. iii. 172 ; Mosheim, ii., &c. &c. THE PROSPECTS OF JESUIT-EDUCATION. 347 tion the Jesuits will build their fortress of influence. Youth will be trained to love, to admire their teachers, and the Company to which these teachers belong ; for the Jesuit method will be one of fascination a heart- penetrating, bewitching inculcation full of sweets and flowers, natural and artificial all that the young love dearly, and parents love to see ; all that all men would wish to achieve for the sake of partisan triumph, if not for the love of God and humanity. The standing motto the ceaseless effort of the Jesuits will be "to conciliate the parents of their pupils to the Company/' and when this is accomplished, they will say : " It is good it is well parentes discipulorum nostrorum con- ciliare Societati : " l for the result hoped for, from all the works of charity which the Jesuits will perform, shall be an engulfing monopoly "the result will be, that all will gladly run to us hoc enim faceret, ut omnes ad NOS libenter concurrerent." 2 The rising generation will thus be in her interest ; and, therefore, in process of time, the risen generation will not be against her, but will rather fill her schools with another, and so on for ever ; as Ignatius prophesied, the Company will flourish, influence generating influence, as experience testifies, and as flies swarm in the shambles ; for admiration look to it ye lions of a day for admiration is a matter of fashion, as well as a lady's habiliments. In the glorious day of Jesuit monopoly, let those beware who attempt to compete with the party. In all other hands white must be black, and it will be " godless " to give education " godless " to teach a gulled nation, except 1 Instruct, iv. 3. 2 Ibid. Observe, I do not quote from the Monita Secreta, or Secret Instruc- tions of the Jesuits, but a part of the Institute, edited by the General Aquaviva, and resolved in the Fifth Congregation. 348 HISTOEY OF THE JESUITS. by the Jesuits. 1 In possession of this immense fulcrum public instruction according to the Jesuit method should the Society ever lose her lever, it will prove, per- haps, that there is some radical defect, or positive error, in the conduct of her members, or their inculcations, or their system in general. It may turn out to be an abuse, say a partial abuse of what is good ; if so, then there may be a hope that dispassionate men will acknow- ledge, adopt, and rejoice at, the discovery. The oppor- tunity to commence public instruction was vouchsafed to the Jesuits in 1546. It was an interesting beginning. The Duke of Gandia, Francis Borgia, gave Ignatius the opportunity to enter upon an enterprise so useful, and just then the subject of his thoughts. 2 Gandia is a city in the south-east of Spain, in sunny Valencia. It looks upon the Midland Sea, and only Murcia separates it from Grenada, its Alhambra, the GeneralhTe, its orange groves, crystal fountains, trans- parent pools, and memories of the past, those deathless thoughts of the wretched. The Duke of Gandia had a number of baptised Moors on his estates. They had been baptised, but the sacred water was no Lethe to them. They still thought of Grenada, its cruel fall, and sighed in their hearts : " Praise be to God ! There is no God but one, and Mohammed is his prophet ; and there is no power but from God." 3 1 I quote from the biting author of " Facts and Figures," and cannot avoid the pleasure of repeating his most vigorous stanza in full : t( "pis < godless' to give education, 'Tis ( godless 1 to teach a gulled nation, But ( GODLIKE/ oh call it, to shoulder your wallet, Swelling huge in this hour of starvation !" p. 17. - Bouhours, ii. 48. 3 An inscription on one of the pillars of the Gate of Judgment, at the entrance to the Alhambra. Jacob's South of Spain. THE FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOL OF THE JESUITS. 349 The greater part of these Moors had not cordially renounced Mohammedanism ; the Duke of Gandia wished to insure the salvation of their children, the young Moriscoes. 1 For this purpose education was thought necessary, and the Jesuits were invited to commence operations. The children of all his vassals should reap the benefit. The first public college of the Society in Europe arose in the city of Gandia. The Duke applied to Ignatius ; Lefevre, then at Valladolid, was ordered to transact the preliminaries, according to the general's views and intentions, and forthwith professors of five or six languages, learned men all, and selected by the general himself, took possession of the benches, and opened the classes, each with a Latin harangue before the duke and all his court. 2 The first idea (the duke's) was to instruct the children of the Moors and those of his vassals, in the first ele- ments. For this excellent purpose, huge professors of six languages, with Latin harangues, were surely not necessary ; but they were necessary for the expanded idea (Ignatius's), which arose therefrom like the great black column from the sea (in the " Arabian Nights' Entertainments "), advancing, winding about, and cleav- ing the waters before it then appearing what it was, a giant of prodigious stature, and from the great glass box on his head (shut with locks of fine steel) leading forth a lady magnificently apparelled, of majestic stature, and a complete beauty the lady of an hundred gallants, whose hundred token-rings she complacently dangled. The " first elements " were soon interpreted into "poetry, 1 The name given to the Moors who remained in Spain after its restoration, and to their descendants, till expelled by Philip III., 1604. See, for an inter- esting account of this cruel expulsion, History of Spain and Portugal, " Library of Useful Knowledge," p. 141, et seq. - Bouhours, ii. 49. 350 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. rhetoric, philosophy, and theology ;" and by the duke's application to the pope and the emperor, the college was raised to an university the rival of Alcala and Sala- manca, with all their privileges, rights, and immunities. The professors were to adopt the best methods that could be devised, and in each faculty the solidest authors. Ignatius (who seems to have learnt enough by this time to become critical) appointed Aristotle for philosophy, and Saint Thomas in divinity. He recom- mended the masters vigorously to cultivate the memory in those pupils whose judgment was unformed ; to accus- tom them betimes to a good pronunciation in reciting what they committed to memory ; to rouse the youthful minds by continual disputations, in stimulating them with emulation, and sometimes pitting the most advanced and the cleverest with those who were less so, in order to animate some by glory, and others by shame. 1 The idle and licentious were to be punished, but the masters themselves were not to whip the boys. This prohibition would preserve their religious decorum, and prevent anger in the correction. There was to be a public corrector : if one could not be had, some means of castigation must be devised either administered by one of the scholars themselves, or in some other conve- nient manner. 2 The most refractory or scandalous scholars were to be expelled not only from the schools, but even from the very city, or imprisoned. Royal powers to that effect 1 " Qu'on eveillat ces jeunes esprits par des disputes continuelles, en les piquant d'dmulation, et opposant quelquefois les plus avances et les plus capables a ceux qui le serai entmoins, pour animer les uns par la gloire, et les autrespar lahonte." JBoukours,n. 51. 2 Bouhours, the Jesuit, omits the last suggestions, which are given in the Constitutions, Part iv., c. 7, 2, & D. THE THRICE-HAPPY SCULPTORS OF MIND. 351 were to be obtained. 1 Such was the method by which the Jesuits proposed to cut admirable statues out of the roughest rock, the hardest marble. THE EDUCATION OF YOUTH. - The morals of youth were formed and promoted as follows : Ignatius expressly forbade any Latin or Greek classic to be read, without being expurgated of its impurities : 3 the pupils were to hear mass daily, and go 1 " Si scholasticus aliquis rebellis, vel sic offendiculi causa aliis esset, ut non solum scholiis eum, sed etiam civitate expelli, vel in carcerem'conjici conveniret," &c. Const., part iv., c. xi. B. 2 ITAaTTere rptcr/ndKapes, Kal yXairreTt, > vooyXimrcu, 'Ev ro'iffiv KeKpvfiv Qav/j.ara irXslo'Ta. ir6vois. Imago, p. 468. Then carve on, and fashion, thrice-happy sculptors of mind, In labours where thousands of wonders lie hid and confined. 3 If they cannot be thoroughly expurgated, such as " Terence," they were not to be read at all. Everybody knows what Byron said of the Delphin Classics with the objectionable passages at the end ; but an expurgated book, in the true 352 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. to confession every month (communion would, of course, depend upon their state of conscience). 1 At the com- mencement of class-hours, all should recite a devout prayer, to beg the grace of profiting by their studies. 2 Once a week they should be catechised in the doctrines of faith, and the principles of morality. In addition to this, the masters were to take every opportunity, in and out of class, to converse familiarly with their pupils on religious matters. 3 The Jesuits represent the formal sense, is one of the queerest looking things imaginable lopped, blotted, scratched, and pasted over giving the idea of a leper with his sores. Think of " Lempriere's Classical Dictionary " expurgated for the use of Catholic students ! Every page, every column disfigured with the plague-spots heathen gods crippled in their wickedness, and goddesses cut short in their evil ways heroes made decent by black ink, and kings justified by a penknife. These books are temptations to the young mind : its curiosity yearns to read what is denied. I do not speak from my own experience only. The look, the manner, a striking remark of a master on such passages, would obviate all the danger which curiosity prolongs in their absence. It has been thought that Christian works might be substituted for the classics and La Croze accused Hardouin and the Jesuits of the intention but the preference will always be given to the beautiful lepers of paganism. Jouvency the Jesuit, substituted passages for those expunged in Horace for instance, Book i. Ode xxii., instead of the two last lines " Dulce ridentem Lalagen amabo, Dulce loqueutem," he printed " Sola me virtus dabit usque tutum, Sola beatum." 1 A Catholic must go to confession, but it is for the priest to judge whether he is in a fit state to receive absolution, which is the necessary preliminary to com- munion. A state of habitual mortal sin is the usual impediment. 2 School hours conclude also with a prayer, preceded by an anthem to the Virgin. Every theme, translation, or other class-paper, is headed " To the greater glory of God," in the respective languages, and at the end, " Praise God always." All these regulations were in operation at St. Cuthbert's college, where I studied about six years. It is not a Jesuit college, as some have asserted : but a Catholic secular college, organised on the Jesuit system of education. The history of this place is a monument of determined perseverance. The founder (Bishop Gibson) began to build with fourteen pounds only, and in about thirty years after the first stone was laid, the college was flourishing and funded. Like Stonyhurst, it is now affiliated to the London University. 3 Bouhours and Const., part iv. MORAL TRAINING OF THE JESUITS. 353 devotion which resulted from their moral training by the following image of A MONGREL EARNING HIS SI'PPER. 1 RpytSggSBfi Herein, at length, is the mighty hope fulfilled ! The Society has now the means of selecting from the infinite varieties of human character, intellect, external appear- ance, and dispositions- -from the youth of all ranks from the peasant up to the noble- -vigorous, talented, handsome recruits, for self-expansion and faith -propa- gation. " For as much/' say the Constitutions, " as good and learned men are comparatively but few, and most of these are of an age to look for rest from their labours,- -we conceive it to be extremely difficult to increase our Society by the accession of such men, seeing how great labours and self-denial its Institute 1 " Nee capit ille cibum, dominas nisi supplice gestu Et sibi munificas hseserit ante manus." Imago, p. 478. " Nor shall he have his supper, till He sits and prays against his will." VOL. I. A A 354 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. requires. Wherefore all we, who desired its preser- vation and increase, for the greater praise and service of our Lord God, thought fit to pursue a different course, namely, to admit youths of a promising character and abilities, who are likely to become good and learned men, fit to cultivate the vineyard of Christ our Lord : also to admit colleges upon the terms set forth in the Apostolic letters, both in universities and elsewhere ; and if in the universities, whether they be placed under the charge of the Society, or not." 1 Then, the indispensable "Spiritual Exercises" will fulfil their object will enable the students to choose a state of life for, " it may be truly said, that our Society has by this instrumentality, for the most part, come together from the beginning, and subsequently increased." 2 " Licite mover!, 3 it is lawful to be influenced ' to enter the Society, though heaven must confirm the impulse : here, then, is the field open : vigorous, talented, handsome youths stand in array licite moveri they may be influenced, et cum merito, and there 's merit in the thing. Such was the beginning of Jesuit academical instruc- tion. The University of Gandia was founded in 1546. Barcelona, Valencia, and Alcala, soon had colleges of the Society. Some were getting rich ; but others were poor, by the number of pupils which increased dispro- portionately to the revenues. 4 Of course the Jesuits taught gratuitously. 1 Const., part iv. Prooem. Dec. A. 2 Direct. Exerc. Spir. Prooem. 7 : " ut vere dici possit, Societatem nostram hoc maxime medio et initio coaluisse, et postea incrementum accepisse/' 3 xam. Gen. c. iii. 14. "Si affimiet se fuisse motum" [scil. a quopiam de Societate], quamvis licite et cum merito moveri potuisset, ad majorem tamen, &c. . . . Creatori et Domino suo se totum commendet, perinde ac," &c. 4 Cretineau, i. 283. EXPANSION OF THE EDUCATIONAL SCHEME. 355 We shall soon see the effects of these extensive opera- tions ; once begun, their onward march was imperative ; and if jealousy envenomed the hearts of rival establish- ments, if it was but natural that the locust-like spread of the Jesuits should frighten the old established dignitaries of the Preceptorate, it is certain that the Jesuits cared little for their fright and jealousy. The Society's motto, " For the greater glory of God/' the favour of the pope, the love of pupils, the admiration of parents, the sup- port of kings and nobles, and, above all, their own determined energies, pushed the Jesuits onwards in their career, with more blessings than maledictions, con- soled and rewarded for their labours, culling from each event the idea of another, which they soon produced. Le Sage observes that the virtues and the vices of men in authority do not escape the notice of the public ; l of this the Jesuits were always aware ; and endeavoured to provide against the rumour of vice by the scrupulous integrity of their men in authority, and the primitive fervour of their rules and regulations. The greatest discretion was becoming necessary to defend the characteristic boldness of the young Society ; but Ignatius was its vigilant guardian, always able to devise an escape from peril, to modify disaster, and, above all, to avoid unnecessary hazard in the Society's unlimited avocations, which were now becoming somewhat multi- tudinous. A pious lady is on her way to Rome. The reader remembers the good Isabella Rosello, who was so kind to Ignatius in his troublous times at Barcelona. Female No stranger to the fame of her protege was Jesuits. Isabella. Woman remembers more intensely those whom 1 Le JBachelier de Salamanque, t. ii. p. 23. A A 2 356 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. she has favoured or befriended than those who have claims on her own gratitude ; and to see the whole world honouring what she has honoured, loving what she has loved,- -that is her soul's delight. The holy man's exhortations, when he dwelt where she lodged him, 1 had fructified in his absence ; she brings the fruit to the sower. She has resolved " to leave the world, and to live according to the evangelical counsels under the obedience of the Society." 2 Obedient women ! Obedient after the Jesuit fashion ! This was certainly a fine idea. Female Jesuits ! What a vista opens to the imagination at this idea ! And Isabella was in earnest too, for she had gained two companions, " Roman ladies, very virtuous," and had even " obtained the pope's permission for herself and for her companions to embrace that kind of life." 3 " The Puritans owed much of their success to female agency," says Bishop Lavington, 4 " and the influence of the ladies is equally recognised at the present day. The result of experience has satisfactorily proved that the executive duties of Bible Associations are best conducted by FEMALES. Their example is powerfully interesting, and their exertions in this good cause have already been productive of a happy effect." 5 But Father Ignatius was not to be entangled in this silken net ; it promised nothing but confusion to the man of steady order and plain cause and effect. Brilliant as the scheme appeared at first sight, and so likely to be snatched up by your speculators- -men of mere 1 Bouhours, i. 126'. " Ou apparemment Isabelle Rosel 1'avait mis." 2 Id. ii. 52. 3 Id. ii. 62, et seq. 4 Methodists and Papists compared, Introd. sec. 29. 5 The Southwark Report, &c., pp. 55 67, quoted by the Bishop : the italics and capitals are his. IGNATIUS AND FEMALE JESUITS. 357 desire without judgment it did not suit the man of the Constitutions. Nevertheless, he was grateful to his benefactress, and the small number of these would-be Jesuit-nuns induced him to take care of them. 1 " Ladies, devout by profession/' says the Jesuit Bou- hours, " do not always follow the advice given them, or do not yield in all things to the views of their Directors when these do not coincide with their own." 2 Ignatius had got into trouble before by devout ladies. Whilst engaged in his itinerant predications, two ladies of rank, among his followers, had set out on a penitential pilgrimage, dressed as beggars, on foot, and living by alms, to the shrine of Our Lady at G-uadaloupe, in Estremadura, a journey of forty days, which they per- formed, and returned to exculpate the preacher and get him out of prison, into which he had been thrown to expiate their freak, which he seems not to have approved of. 3 This was sad experience to begin with, and the result was naturally unfavourable to Isabella and her com- panions. " He repented of his acquiescence, and once observed, that the government of three devout ladies gave him more trouble than the whole Society ; for, in a word, it was an endless task with them, and it was necessary, every hour, to resolve their questions, cure their scruples, hear their complaints, and even to settle their quarrels " 1 4 Compelled by these strange manifestations, he ex- plained to the pope how such a charge would injure the Society, and how important it was that his Holiness should grant his deliverance, for he saw plainly that ! Bouhours,ii. 53. " Id. i. 144. 3 Ibid. 4 Id. i. 53. 358 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. this little community, now only consisting of three individuals, would in time become very numerous, and would multiply in other towns ; but the respect he felt for the Catalonian dame, from whom he had received so many favours, and who entreated him not to desert her, induced him to treat her respectfully, and he wrote her the following letter to get rid of her politely : "VENERABLE DAME ISABELLA KOZELLO, " My Mother and my Sister in Jesus Christ. " In truth, I would wish, for the greater glory of God, to satisfy your good desires, and procure your spiritual progress, by keeping you under iny obedience, as you have been for some time past ; but the continual ailments to which I am subject, and all my occupations which concern the service of our Lord, or his Vicar on earth, permit me to do so no longer. Moreover, being persuaded, according to the light of my conscience, that this little Society ought not to take upon itself, in particular, the direction of any woman who may be engaged to us by vows of Obedience, as I have fully declared to our Holy Father the Pope, it has seemed to me, for the greater glory of God, that I ought no longer to look upon you as my spiritual daughter, but only as my good mother, as you have been for many years, to the greater glory of God. Consequently, for the greater service and the greater honour of the everlasting Goodness, I give you, as much as I can, into the hands of the Sovereign Pontiff, in order that, taking his judgment and will as a rule, you may find rest and consolation for the greater glory of the Divine Majesty. At Home, the first of October, 1549." l We can fancy the chagrin of the disconsolate Isabella. But we are assured that " this letter, which is full of the Saint's spirit, and in which the words, which he had always in his mouth, are repeated so often, disposed the dame to receive with submissiveness the pope's determination." 2 " Paul III., having well reflected that the missionaries destined for all the world, ought to have no engage- 1 Bouhours, ii. 53, ct seq. ' Id. ii. 55. WOMEN AND THE JESUITS. 359 ment, expedited Apostolical letters, whereby he exempted the Jesuits from the government of women who might wish to live in community, or single, under the obedience of the Society." l Not content with this, Ignatius obtained in the fol- lowing year, a mandate from the pope, by which the Society was, to all intents and purposes, exempted from the direction of nuns, which he prohibited to his Order, permitting the Jesuits, however, " to aid in their spiritual progress, and sometimes to hear their confessions for special reasons/' 2 Persisting in this unconquerable repugnance to the conscience of the fair sex, Ignatius refused the direction of a convent of nuns, although the women and request was made by Hercules d' Este, Duke the Jesuits - of Ferrara, " the declared protector and faithful friend of the Society ; " 3 and, possessed by a similar terror, the seventh Congregation enacted that no Jesuit was to hear the confessions of women until he had two years' practice, at least, in confessing the other sex the thing was not to be attempted before great labours had imparted maturity and fitness ; and even then there was to be no superfluous conversation beyond the mere confession, even on spiritual topics, in the con- fessional. If special consolation or advice were required, it must be administered sitting, or standing, briefly and modestly, with downcast eyes : there should be some open and appropriate part of the church selected, whither women might go to speak with the Jesuits, and that briefly and seldom so as to give no cause for scandal, &c., and that all opportunity [of sin ?] may be cut off, ut omnis occasio prcecidatur. 1 Bouhours, ii. 55. 2 Id. ii. 56. 3 Id. ii 57. 360 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. " If the penitents pretend scruples of conscience, the confessors are to tell them" not to relate tales and repeat trifles, and sometimes they are to silence them at once ; for if they are truly disturbed by scruples of conscience, there will be no need of prolixity. If they want medi- tations, and spiritual exercises, give them the spiritual works of Grenada, 1 and others : the superior must be consulted in other cases. The same woman is not to be allowed to come to confession twice on the same day. Visits to women are severely restricted.- -1st. They must be confined to women of rank and consequence.- 2nd. These must have rendered important services to the Society. 3rd. The visits must be agreeable to the husband and relatives, &c."; and the following abuses must be sedulously extirpated, namely, " to give many hours to a few women, so that others lose the opportu- nity of confessing- -to hinder others who desire it, from confessing, lest their own spiritual daughters, forsooth, (as they are wont to be called), should be compelled to wait " ! 2 The infringement of the rules respecting the confessing of women was to be followed by suspension from the function, and it would be a serious matter for con- sideration whether the delinquents were to be retained in the Society, after infringing " in a point so grave, perilous, and severely enjoined." 3 A socius, or com- panion, was always to be present at every visit and he was to report to his superior if aught happened 1 Louis of Grenada, a Dominican, author of approved ascetic works (" Sinners' Guide," " Memorial of a Christian Life," " Treatise on Prayer," &c.) His writings are still in high repute with the contemplative : there is no reading him without swimming in a sea of world-forgetting devotion. He died in 1588. 2 " Ne filise proprise spirituales (ut vocati consueverunt) expectare cogantur." Inst. iii. pro Conf. 1, 3, 6, .0, 12. 3 Inst. iii. 7. ENACTMENTS AGAINST FEMALE INTERCOURSE. 361 amiss, 1 and the same spy was to denounce any infringe- ment of the confessor's rule, to the superior. 2 The con- fessionals were to be in exposed parts of the church, and so constructed that one confessor might be, in a manner, the socius of another ; and the superior was to see that they were not removed from their places, and that the grates were entire and narrow. Neither early in the morning, nor late at night, nor in the afternoon, were the priests to go to the church, unless expressly called for. The confessors were not to contract too great a familiarity with poor women, under pretext of assist- ance : their alms-giving must be with the consent of the superior, and rather by the hand of others than their own. " For, although originating in charity, the thing may be, in the course of time, full of peril, or obnoxious to certain slanders." 3 A Jesuit " of advanced age and ancient probity ' infringed one of these rules by hearing a woman's confession without a visible wit- ness ; Ignatius got eight priests together and made the old Jesuit scourge himself, on his naked back, in the midst of them, until each of the priests had recited one of the penitential psalms. 4 These enactments were issued at the commencement of the seventeenth century. It is significant how the primitive objection to the guidance of women has changed its motive. It is not now the difficulty of " resolving their questions, curing their scruples, hearing their complaints, and settling their quarrels "' but the terrible peril of soul, and reputation. And yet what precautions are taken- -what insur- mountable difficulties are heaped round about the 1 Ordin. Gen. p. 37. ' 2 Instr. iii. 7 ; Inst. xv. 2. 3 Jnstr. xv. 4, 5, 6. 4 Bouhours, ii. 186. 362 HISTOEY OF THE JESUITS. licentious heart. By these severe enactments it seems that a Jesuit's purity is the centre of a circle whose circumference is cogged and clogged with a thousand obstacles, to prevent escape. There must be good reason for the awful warnings that ascetics have, in all times, fulmined against the allurements, involuntary as well as voluntary, of women, whom to flee is the greatest triumph quas opimus effugere est trmmphus ! " Know that a beautiful woman/' exclaims Socrates, " is a more dangerous enemy than the scorpion, because the latter cannot wound without touching us, whereas beauty strikes us at a distance : from whatsoever point we perceive it, it darts its poison upon us, and over- throws our reason/' 1 St. Jordan rebuked a Friar very severely, for only touching a woman's hand. " True/' answered the Friar, " but she is a pious woman." " !STo matter for that," answered St. Jordan, "the earth is good, water is also good- -but when these two elements are mixed they form nothing but mud." 2 " A woman burns the conscience of him with whom she dwells. Let women know thy name but not thy face nor do thou know theirs," says St. Jerome, the mortified in the wilderness. 3 " Be it said, once for all:' cries St. Cyprian, "the conversation of women is the devil's bird-lime, to catch and enslave men." 4 " Paul does not say, resist, butyfr/ because victory is better secured by flight than by resistance/' exclaims St. Austin. 5 1 Xen. Mem. Soc. lib. i. 2 Quoted in Le Miroir des Chanoincs, a collection of sentences against female company Paris, 1630. 3 D. Hierou. Ep. ad Nep., ibid. 4 D. Cypr. de Sing. Cler., ibid. 6 D. Aug. Ser. 250 de tern., ibid. WOMAN'S SNARES AND THE JESUITS DEFENCE. 363 The mechanical contrivances of the Jesuits were therefore to the purpose. But these, it seems, were not sufficient, if we may credit the ex-Jesuit Hasenmuller, who left his Order and turned Lutheran, in the sixteenth century : " I have seen some (Jesuits) who would not eat anything which they knew was dressed by a woman. I have heard others say, whenever I think of a woman, my stomach rises, and my blood is up. Another said, it grieves me, and I am ashamed that a woman brought me into the world, diynus certe cui vacca fuisset geni- trijff .... Others again assert that there is no good at all in the whole substance of a woman ; and if there be some amongst them who pretend to excel the rest in these calumnies against the fair sex, these expectorate at the bare mention of a woman, and they keep some slanderous verses, injurious to the female sex, composed by Baptista of Mantua .... engraved on a plate, con- tinually before their eyes, that they may thus perpetually stir up in themselves a hatred of women." 1 That these rather severe sentiments were in repute among the Jesuits, is probable for two reasons : First, Ignatius, in the Constitutions, 2 positively recommends his followers "to prevent temptations, by applying their contraries." Pride is to be overcome by lowly occu- pations conducive to humility et sic de aliis prams animcB propensionibus and so of the other depraved 1 Hasenm. Hist. Ord. Jesuit published at Frankfort in 1593, and again in 1605, about the very time the foregoing enactments were issued, by the 6th and 7th Congregations. He also says : " For their meat and drink they use herbs and drugs, by which they enervate the strength of nature, and these man-haters," &c. &c. For some curious details on aphrodisiacs, and anapJirodisiacs, see Demangeon's Generation de VHomme, p. 148, et seq. also Virey, Nouveaux Siemens de la Science de VHomtne. ~ Part iii. c. i. 364 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. - propensities of the soul. 1 Thus, the studied contempt for woman would, to a vast extent, moderate the fires of concupiscence, for disgust is the cure of desire. Besides, the slighting, if not contemptuous, expressions of the rules before quoted, seem to evince a similar spirit : Secondly, Ignatius himself, in his famous " Spiritual Exercises," records the most abominable opinion that can positively be entertained of woman, for he positively compares the devil to woman, saying : " Our enemy imitates the nature and manner of woman, as to her weakness and frowardness ; for, as a woman, quarrelling with her husband, if she sees him with erect and firm aspect, ready to resist her, instantly loses courage, and turns on her heels : but if she perceive he is timid and inclined to slink off, her audacity knows no bounds, and she pounces upon him ferociously- -thus the devil, &c." 2 Such then were the Jesuit means " to prevent tempta- tions/' They were necessary in the awful circumstances. For we must consider who and what these Jesuits were, if we would form an adequate idea of their temp- tations. Then, by the Constitutions, as well as by his- tory, they were vigorous, talented, handsome men. They were men of insinuating manners and honeyed speech, and they were unapproachable by profession, bachelors by necessity- -two painful facts, and tending to excite the liveliest sympathies in those whom they were compelled to dragoon in the confessional, and abuse in the hours of recreation. The vigilance of the rule on this point perpetually defended Jesuit reputation, and the comparatively very 1 " Antevertere oportet tentationes adhibitis earum contrariis," &c. 2 " Nam sicut femina cum viro rixans, si hunc conspexerit erecto et constante vultu sibi obsistere, &c itidem consuevit dcemon."- Excrc. Spir. Reg. in fine, xii. THE JESUITS AND CHASTITY. 365 few cases of impeachment against it are such as may charitably and readily be forgotten. True it is that the power of the Society, in the days of her glory, could render impossible every criminal conviction, and could stifle fact with fact and fiction, as in the case of all its accusers, from the Roman priest who denounced Igna- tius and his companions, down to De la Roche Arnaud and his " awful disclosures ' ' of Mont Rouge. 1 But, by their exploits in every region of earth, the vast majority of Jesuits must have been men who could inspire love and passion, and yet stand aloof from the grovelling things of sensuality. 2 The Jesuits were too constantly engaged in bodily and mental work to be much molested by the common propensities of man, which idleness (the root of all evil) makes exuberant, Nature suggests an explanation. In the voracious animals the preponder- ance of the nutritious functions paralyses, as it were, the faculties of their external vitality, and thus, correspond- ently, in man, the excess of labour, whether intellectual, sensitive, or muscular, enervates and debilitates the in- ternal functions of nutrition and reproduction. All is antagonism in man- -the predominance of one energy perpetually and necessarily stifles its correlative. 3 And 1 Memoires d'un Jeune Jesuite o\i Conjuration de Mont-Rouge. 2 Hasenmliller says that the Jesuits of his time used to tell a most curious tale to illustrate the integrity of one of their Josephs. This Jesuit seemed to consent, only asking permission to leave the room for a moment. He returned with his face most disgustingly besmeared, and the lady's " love " was changed into hatred. Hist. chap. vi. It is scarcely necessary to say, that Hasenmiiller brings the foulest charges against the Jesuits on this score ; but he was a rancorous enemy, and therefore we should only believe one-half of what he says, as was Lord Chesterfield's practice, who, on some one complaining as to the charge of having had twins, affirmed that he never believed more than one half of reports. 3 See this most interesting subject thoroughly investigated in Virey's admirable work, Philosophic de V Histoire Naturelle, lib. ii. chap. vi. The motto of his 366 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. good for the cause of Jesuitism was that effect. It has been observed, by Cardinal De Retz, I think, that few ever did anything among men until women were no longer an object to them : l nor can we see why the renowned of old were called heroes, unless the name's derivative be impetus., strong and elastic impulse towards the pinnacled object of ambition. 2 The consciences of nuns were a terror to Ignatius, not so the propensities of kings. Hercules d'Este was denied a Jesuit for his nuns, but was voueh- A Jesuit undertakes safed one for himself ; " having formed the princely design of a Christian life, he would have a Jesuit near his person." Lejay was pointed out, demanded, and conceded to govern the duke's con- science. His refusal of the bishopric of Trieste had made him famous, 3 the counsels of his general will make him an excellent confessor. Having consulted Ignatius on the course of conduct he was to pursue, the general told him, " that being destined by the Vicar of Jesus Christ to the service of one of the most prominent bene- factors of the Society, it was necessary that he should consecrate himself to him entirely, even so far as to per- form, externally, no good deeds without the participa- tion and consent of the prince, who was to be to him, in some sort, his Superior and General." 4 book is In nova fert animus, and unquestionably there never was book so suggestive and consolatory by its interpretations of God's beautiful creation. 1 " This is the reason," adds JBulwer, (f why people seldom acquire any repu- tation, except for a hat or a horse, till they marry." Heloise, in one of her letters, dwells with great eloquence on the same subject : she instances the errors of Adam, Samson, Solomon, and Abelard as the consequence of this perverse infatuation. 2 Hero, from the Greek 'Hpcas, heros, derived by Lennep from frptiv, to be forcibly and violently impelled and joined to something else, but not to woman, as it would appear. 3 The result is significantly stated by Bouhours, 3i. 57. 4 Id. ii. 58. " SPIRITUAL EXERCISES" ATTACKED AND CONFIRMED. 367 The duke went through the "Spiritual Exercises" as a preliminary. This " method whereby chiefly the Society was begun and increased/' l was now extensively applied, even amongst persons of the highest rank. But there were thoughtful and good men who deemed the "Spiritual Exercises" objectionable ; among the rest, no smaller dignitary than the Archbishop of Toledo. Conforming to the times, doubtless, he taxed their doctrine as dangerous : this charge, in the land of the Inquisition, was most likely to set public opinion against the Jesuit method of propagation. It was of no avail. Doctors of Divinity gave them their sanction, and Borgia, the Duke of Gandia, the Society's friend, obtained a Bull from the pope whereby the " Spiritual Exercises ' were approved, praised, and confirmed by Apostolical authority ; " having regard, as in duty bound, for the great good which Ignatius, and the Society by him founded, were incessantly doing in the church, amongst all sorts of nations ; and, moreover, consider- ing how much the ' Spiritual Exercises ' subserved to that purpose/' 2 Ignatius was permitted to have the book printed, but an injunction was laid against the reprinting of the same without the author's consent. 3 This papal approbation, and the publication, rendered the " Spiritual Exercises " more famous than ever, and greatly increased the reputation of the Society's founder. 4 The archbishop was silenced the Jesuits triumphed and we have an idea of Jesuit influence eight years after their foundation. 1 " Vere dici possit, Societatem nostram hoc maxime raedio et initio coaluisse, et postea incrementum accepisse." Procem. in Direct. 7. 2 See the Bull in extenso: Bouhours, ii. 60, et seq. 3 Ibid. 4 Bouhours, ii. 62. 368 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Glorious success, splendid events delayed not : the star of Ignatius was in the ascendant. Hitherto he had constantly resided at Rome. Thence he had Father t J Ignatius at directed, as we have seen, the councils of kings by his valuable advice ; thence he had reconciled a pope, a king, and a bishop ; it remains for him now to leave his habitation in order to arrest the bolts of war. The inhabitants of Sant-Angelo and those of Tivoli had a difference arms clashed Ignatius threw him- self into the skirmish at the pope's request. He brought the belligerents to an arbitration (appointing a cardinal for the same), and the war was at an end the citizens shook hands pulveris ewigui jactu compressa quiescunt. Ignatius was rewarded for his journey. He had lodged at the house of a rich man, the Signor Louis Mendozze by name, and this signor gave him a com- fortable house, with pleasant gardens attached, and a chapel dedicated to the Virgin, near the magnificent ruins of the villa of Mecaenas a classical fact of which the Jesuit historian pleasantly reminds the student. 1 Tibur, Araeo positum colono, - -classic Tivoli beheld Ignatius the spiritual father of the Jesuit Hardouin, who would disprove the authenticity of almost all the classics, which the critic fathered on middle-age monks ! 2 City of the Augustan age, graced by the residence of Mecsenas, and his Horace (one of the spurious classics), of Brutus, Sallust, Propertius, all Rome's genius and 1 Bouliours, ii. 63. 2 He will appear, this interesting Hardouin, in his niche, as we build up the temple of Jesuitism. IGNATIUS AND HORACE AT TIVOLI. 369 gentility ; l and now, after the lapse of wonder-working time, Father Ignatius, the general of the Jesuits, has a villa at Tibur ! Imagination, lend us thy wand ! Let Pope Paul III., the patron of Ignatius, be Augustus, who exclaimed on his death-bed, " Have I not played my part well ? Clap your hands then, the farce is over ! " 2 And let Ignatius be the new edition of Mecsenas a man of tact, prudence, and patron of all that is clever, if he can only do w r ith them what he likes. Let Horace cease to be a vile sycophant for the nonce, and resolve to examine the matter lentus spectator, sedidus instet. He prepares condo et compono. And now imagine the flimsy shade of the biter paying- Ignatius a visit, in one of his evening walks vesper- tinumque pererro forum and, after the first salutations -(Quid tibi visa Chios How do you like Tivoli ? coming nearer to the point, saying : Assisto divinis, I have seen your men at work. . . . Here 's a trifle for you sic leve, sic pamim est ; and thereupon reading his eighth satire to the broken-down knight of Loyola, now General of the Jesuits, beginning : Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum Cum faber, incertus scamnum faceretue Priapum, Maluit esse deum . . . . 3 1 This city was famous in the age of Augustus. Its pleasant situation induced many of the rich and voluptuous Romans to build villas at Tibur and the vicinity. Augustus himself often visited Tibur ; and the poets, of course, swore by its name, thronging to the levees of their patron Mecsenas, his friend. 2 " So true it is," observes the Jesuit Feller, " that the sages and heroes of the world do themselves look upon the picture of their actions as a farce that ends with them ! " Biog. Univ. i. 312. 3 I was a cut-down fig-tree, useless wood : " For what," exclaims the joiner, "art thou good ? For bed-steps ? or - -" then with a wink and nod, " I have it thou shalt be a scai'e-crow god." Serin, lib. i. sat. viii. In supcrstitiosos et vcneficas. I find that the poet Oldham applies the same Horatian verses to Ignatius. I was not VOL. I. B B 370 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. This establishment at Tivoli was followed by two more colleges erected at Messina and Palermo, under the immediate patronage of the Viceroy of Sicily, Don Juan de Vega, an intimate friend of the General. 1 Ignatius selected some of his best men for this new help to development : among the rest, Peter Establish- *. J ' ' meats in Camsius, a German, famous for his contro- versies with the Protestants, termed by the Catholics, " the scourge of the Protestants," and by the Protestants, " the dog of Austria." 2 Before dispatching his labourers, Ignatius passed them through the ordeal. Those who were to be engaged in tuition were made to give a specimen of the method they would pursue. They had been selected with his usual caution : he had " sounded their souls ; ' they were the elect of all the children of obedience. For, to test the obedience of his inferiors at Rome, he had commanded all of them to give him a written answer to the following questions : 1 . Were they indifferent to going to Sicily or to remain- ing at Rome, and would the determination of their general, who held the place of God in their regard, be the most agreeable ? 2. If sent to Sicily, would they be ready to teach and perform other functions requiring intellect and knowledge, or to be employed in domestic offices ? 3. If appointed to study and tuition, would they be disposed to study whatever science that might be required, and to teach whatever class the superior might appoint 1 In fine, did they believe that all which aware of the fact when the application was suggested to me by the Jesuit's remark, and by Tibur, Argeo positum colono. The pereant male qui Ibid. THE JESUITS AT SAEAGOSSA. 385 of the land and dwell therein ; for I have given you the land to possess it." " Privilege,' 7 old, prescriptive, exclusive, bigoted rights of privilege met them at the gates of Saragossa they must not enter. Bishops and monks were always their Sihon of Hesh- bon and their Og of Bashan ; but these " remnants of giants/' with their nine-cubit-bedsteads-of-iron-privi- leges were as " untempered mortar * to the Jesuits ; " a stormy wind shall rend it," or " the foxes in the deserts." A difficulty arose ; the Jesuits could not find a house. Some explanation is here necessary. According to the customs of the old church there was a law which pro- hibited the construction of a chapel or a convent too near parishes and convents a charitable law for the satisfaction of the jade " Privilege," who ought to have no " meddling neighbours/ 7 Now Strada, the Jesuit leader, was a man of whelm- ing eloquence, which " opened to the Jesuits a great many habitations," says the historian : l but the number of convents and churches was so great at Saragossa, that all these habitations were obnoxious to the afore- said law ; and the monks and clergy of the town stuck to their privileges. At last, in 1555, the Jesuits managed to pounce on a spot, just without the limits prescribed by privilege. At once they began to " do the rest," as the good Father Boulanger expressed the method. It was Easter Monday a grand holiday in the good old time the day before the inauguration of the Jesuit chapel the day appointed by Ferdinand, the 1 Cretineau, i. 304. VOL. I. C C 386 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Archbishop of Arragon, himself : all the grand and imposing ceremonies were arranged ; the " effect '' was a certainty, the " cause ' would be triumphant. Strada was ready with his sermon ; and so was Lopez Marcos, the Vicar-general of Saragossa, with his detestable injunction ! This man of privilege positively commanded Father Brama, the appointed superior of the House, to put off the ceremony. The Augustinian monks would not have the Jesuits near them. Their convent was in the vici- nity, and they pretended that the chapel was built on land debateable. Father Brama begged to be excused. He could not comply with an injunction so frivolous. But Brama was wise : he consulted the lawyers the canonists (the scribes of the new law), and they said, " It is corban : ' the Jesuits were " free : ' they might push forward : 1 and they determined to proceed. The superior of the Franciscans threatened them with excommunication. Brama waved his hand, appealed to the pope, and began the ceremony. Lopez, at the mass, published a decree, forbidding the faithful, under penalty of excommunication, to frequent the Jesuit chapel. Anathema and malediction were hurled against the Fathers. Then was the jade Privilege in her glory. The clergy and the Augustinians paraded the town, chaunting the hundred and ninth psalm, the mob repeating the verses of reprobation, they roared forth : " As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him : as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. " As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his 1 " Us declarent que 1'on pent passer outre." OPPOSITION OF THE AUGUSTINIANS. 387 garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. " Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded conti- nually/' Privilege was not satisfied : she is insatiate. The whole population had been attracted to witness the inauguration : the vicar-general pronounced the whole town profaned and infected with heresy by the mere presence of the Jesuits within its walls. In other words, Saragossa was excommunicated an awful matter in those times and in priest-ridden, monk-ridden Spain. The Augustinians sent round the streets horrid pic- tures, in which the Jesuits were represented as being pushed into hell by legions of devils, varied in hideous- ness, up to the climax of horror. At the thought of the excommunication, rage took possession of every soul. Of course the Jesuits were the cause so said Privilege. The mob rushed to their House, smashed the windows with stones : then went forth a funereal procession, with songs of death, and a crucifix muffled in a black veil, round and round the pro- scribed habitation, for the space of three days " Mercy ! Mercy ! ' resounding from time to time, as if to do violence to heaven, shut up by Privilege-Lopez ! A regular siege ensued : a blockade of fifteen days during which the monks exhausted their stage tricks and clap-traps of horror. Brama was a Jesuit. If he cannot rule the storm, he can pipe all hands to quarters, 'bout ship, and put back into port some harbour of refuge. He retired with his crew under the lee of his patrons, the Archbishop of Arragon, the pope's nuncio, and the Queen Jane, the c c 2 388 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. mother of Charles V. Terrible names these for Privi- lege ! Her quarrel was examined : she was condemned : censures, interdict, excommunication, all went as chaff before the wind, and the philosophical mob gracefully changed sides, believed the Jesuits no longer devils, but saints ; recalled them ; and the Jesuits re-entered Sara- gossa triumphant. Magistrates, clergy, nobility, Privi- lege-Lopez himself, ran to meet and escort them to their House. There they found the viceroy in attendance. The viceroy presented them the keys ; and from that day forward the Jesuits applied to their " Spiritual Exercises," and other works appointed, unstayed, unmo- lested by Privilege, which will never cope with the Jesuits. It is evident that Borgia's influence was powerful enough to effectuate this splendid reaction at Saragossa. In effect, we are assured that the opposition to the Society in Spain was stifled by the great name of the Duke in the person of Father Francis. 1 Two essential conditions have always been the necessary props of the Jesuit-lever a great patron and an impressionable people. They enjoyed both of these in Spain, and broke down all opposition. The case was different in France. Opposed from the first, the Society was never secure in France if the The Jesuits multitudinous operations of the Society were m France. calculated to ensure her security anywhere. Privilege again was the mainspring of the opposition : the monopoly of public instruction was the cause : ostensible motives were soon alleged : events super- added a veil, at least, of justice to the determined pro- scription of the Jesuits by the French University, and, afterwards, by the French Parliament. 1 Cretineau, i. 306. THE JESUITS IN FRANCE. 389 Some success had, however, attended the first colony of the Jesuits in France. The Bishop of Clermont con- tinued his patronage ; and, from the establishment which he founded, Ignatius was able to draft the materials of a new college in Sicily, as early as 1549. There even seemed to be encouragement in other quarters : the University gave a Jesuit an appointment in the College of the Lombards ; the nomination was confirmed at Court. l Most men, if really desirous of doing good for its own sake (as far as human nature is capable of this purity of intention) would have hailed this favour, this honour, as a boon of the present, and a promise of future uti- lity in a noble cause. It seems that Ignatius was too cunning to give others the credit of pure intentions. He forbade the appointment, commanded Viole to throw up the engagement, and ordered his scholars at the University to resign all the pensions they enjoyed. The thing was done. And now for his motive. He was convinced that the object of the University was " the hope of enticing to herself the Brothers of the Society, and thus render impossible its establishment in the capital ! " 2 Without appealing to the prominent feature ascribed to Charity by the apostle, we may remark that the men least given to suspect others, the most confiding men are, doubtless, those who cultivate their intellect : so true it is that moral strength is in proportion to the greatest development of the intellectual faculties. The insane are suspicious, mistrustful ; the like may be said of savages in general. 3 1 Cretineau, i. 307. 2 Ibid. :i The remark is EsquiroPs. "Des Maladies Mentales," t, i. p, ].*>. Every psychologist should study this admirable book of facts. 390 HISTOEY OF THE JESUITS. The one idea of Ignatius, hedged in by an unexpanded intellect, was incapable of self-abstraction : it was a magnet without variation. Cromwell and Napoleon were men of the same stamp : the perpetual terrors of Cromwell, the restless, suspicious temper of Napoleon (witness his uniform conduct to the admirable Berthier), point to the identical cause and in the three, conscience was not, doubtless, cradled on a halcyon wave. This contemptuous rejection of a friendly hand could only madden that hostility which seemed willing to slumber. But Ignatius had his idea ; it promised inde- pendence, perhaps superiority ; he might, therefore, safely reject copartnership. Previously to this event, Charles de Guise, the cele- brated Cardinal de Lorraine, 1 was at Rome. Ignatius obtained an interview, explained to the cardinal (minis- ter of Francis II., of Charles IX., and one of the prime movers of the religious wars in France) the object of his Institute, to which the University so much objected. The cardinal engaged to protect the Jesuits in his country. 2 The same cardinal subsequently proposed to establish the Inquisition in France, alleging that it had constantly preserved Portugal, Spain, and Italy from civil wars into which heresy had plunged the rest of Europe. Impla- cable war with " the revolted fanatics ; was his motto : he believed that all peace, every truce with them were useless and dangerous ; he was the terrible exponent of religious unity its determined champion. 3 To say the 1 Talk of pluralities ! This worthy was archbishop of Rheims, of Narbonne ; bishop of Metz, of Toul, of Verdun, of Terouane, Lucon, and Valence ; abbot of St. Denis, of Fecamp, of Cluny, of Marmoutier, &c.H for thus stops short Feller. Blog. Univ. torn. v. p. 247. 2 Cretineau, i. 308. ^ 3 See Feller, Biog. Univ. torn. v. p. 247, et seq. Chenier, in his tragedy " Charles IX." supposes the cardinal to have participated in the massacre of St. Bartholomew's day. This is denied by Feller, alleging the cardinal's absence LETTERS PATENT IN THEIR FAVOUR. 391 least, Ignatius, in his intercourse with the cardinal, could not have weakened his predilections. With such a friend, and such a mind in his cause, Ignatius had certainly good reason for rejecting a pull at the oar when he might probably sit at the helm. Henry II. was then on the throne of France. The cardinal faithfully kept his promise to Ignatius. Imme- diately on his return, he enumerated to the king all the advantages which the new Order promised to Religion and the State. Henry II. was anxious to find a remedy against the troubles winch Protestantism was " sowing in the kingdom," as it is expressed. The king was aware of the successful opposition of the Jesuits (as it seemed) to the Reformation in Germany. " The princes, his rivals and his neighbours, laid hold of the Jesuits, either as a buckler against the innovators, or as a lever for the education of youth : he did not consent to remain in the rear of the movement which he saw advancing." 1 Such are the motives advanced in all simplicity. It is asto- nishing how the Jesuits themselves unwarily admit the real motives that everywhere planted them in power. Reasoning mortals that we are, can they complain if we seek in history and not in the Gospel for the secret of their wonderful success so sudden and so fleeting ? In the month of January, 1550, Henry II. expedited letters patent, whereby " accepting and approving the Bulls obtained by the Society of Jesus, he permitted the from France, being then at Rome. This is certainly no proof in his favour, for his concurrence would be enough to justify the poet's impersonation. The same Jesuit flings in an approval of the cardinal's principles, thus : " His maxim was that of Plato, and the most famous philosophers, ancient and modern, that there should be in a state but one religion, and that this religion should be true," &c. There's the rub, unfortunately, which neither Plato nor the philosophers, ancient and modern, can level nor the Inquisition either, God be blessed ! 1 Cretiueau, i. 308. 392 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. said Brothers to construct, raise, and cause to build, out of goods which should be given them, a House and a Col- lege in the city of Paris only, and not in the other towns, for to live therein according to their rules and statutes ; and commanded his Courts of Parliament to verify the said letters, and permit the said Brothers to enjoy their said privileges." 1 The power of the French Parliament at that period was somewhat similar to the British. The royal will was a suggestion, not an imperative mandate, Louis XIV. had yet to reign. The Parliament objected to the registration of the " said letters patent/ 3 The alleged motive was, " that the new Institute was prejudicial to the monarchy, the state, and the order of the Hierarchy," 2 an opinion decidedly suggested by the Constitutions of the Society, if judged without remembering the fact that the Jesuits invariably supported their supporters, that is, whilst they deemed them such. A contest ensued, of course. The Jesuits had friends at court ; the Parliament was backed by the clergy, with some exceptions, but, as may be expected, by the University en masse, every man of the learned walls. The Cardinal de Lorraine, William Du Prat, and many of the bishops sided with the Jesuits. The king ordered his privy council to examine the Bulls and Constitutions. The council declared that in all the documents submitted to them, nothing was con- trarv to the maintenance of order, ecclesiastical and t/ civil ; which was, again, an opinion that might be drawn from the Constitutions. The king being, from the first, a party in favour of 1 Crctineau, quoting the document, i. 315. 2 Ibid. FRENCH PARLIAMENT REMONSTRATES. 393 the Jesuits, naturally could count on this declaration ; and, on receiving it, proceeded accordingly. He com- manded the Parliament to register the letters patent. Sixteen days afterwards, Seguier, the President of the Parliament (a man of uncommon intelligence, as a Jesuit l admits) gave in a declaration in which " he persists, according to his aforesaid conclusions, that remonstrances be made to the king." 2 Two years of indecision elapsed. The Bulls and Con- stitutions could not decide the contest. Intrigue on both sides was set in agitation. The Jesuits met their opponents with their own weapons, which was a pity, considering their motto : " For the greater glory of God." 3 The Jesuits agitated and excited their partisans to agitate in their behalf. This admitted fact must have injured their cause in the minds of the dispassionate. The Parliament appealed to the Archbishop of Paris, Eustache du Bellay 4 pronounced against the Jesuits. His dissentient declaration, under eleven heads, thus curiously concludes : " Finally, the court will consider that all novelties are dangerous, and that therefrom ensue many incon- veniences unforeseen and unpremeditated. " And because the fact which is pretended of the 1 Feller. Biog. Univ. t. xviii. p. 310. 2 Cretineau, i. 315. 3 " Ou rnettait en jeula ruse ; ils firent jouer les niemes ressorts. On agissait centre eux par tous les moyens ; ils agirent, ils excitereut a agir en leur faveur." Cretineau, i. 316. 4 Cretineau debits the usual Jesuit disparagement of their opponents on the character of Du Bellay. His relative, Cardinal Du Bellay, had been persecuted by the Guises (now the friends of the Jesuits) ; consequently it is pretended that Eustache " inherited resentment with his mitre," making the Jesuits the scape- goat ; and moreover, that the bishop "was fond of a row" aimait la lutte! It is little to the purpose : all the heroes of this conflict may be much on a par : the sad moral is, nevertheless, strikingly evolved. 394 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. establishment of the said Order and Society (that they shall go and preach to the Turks and Infidels and bring them to the knowledge of God) would require (under favour) the establishment of the said Houses and Societies in the places near the said Infidels, as in times of old has been done by the Knights of Rhodes who were placed on the frontiers of Christendom, not in the midst thereof ; moreover, there would be much time lost and consumed in going from Paris as far as Constantinople, and other parts of Turkey/' 1 The Faculty of Theology in the University crowned the archbishop's " eleven heads ' with a wreath of scorpions. On the first of December, 1554, they drew up a famous " Conclusion," which they respectfully presented to his Holiness. This document is highly interesting for many reasons. It is the opinion of Orthodox Catholics Doctors of Divinity. It was submitted to the pope himself. Lastly, it dwells heavily upon charges brought against the Jesuits only fourteen short years after their foundation. Here it is : " As all the Faithful, and principally the Theologians, ought to be ready to render an account to those who demand the same, respecting matters of faith, morals, and the edification of the Church, the Faculty has thought that it ought to satisfy the desire, the demand, and the intention of the Court. 1 " Pour la fin pesera la Cour que toutes nouveautes sont dangereuses et que d'icelles proviennent plusieurs inconveniens non prevus ne prenieditez. " Et parce que le fait que 1'on pretend de 1'erection dudit Ordre et Cora- pagnie, et qu'ils iront prescher les Turcs et Infideles, et les amener a la con- noissance de Dieu, faudroit, sous correction, establir lesdites Maisons et Societez es lieux prochains desdits Infideles, ainsi qu'anciennement a etc fait des Che- valiers de Rhodes, qui out etc mis sur les frontieres de la Chretiente, non au milieu d'icellc : aussi y auroit-il beaucoup de terns perdu et consomme d'aller de Paris jusqu 1 a Constantinople, et autres lieux de Turquie. M Crct. i. 318. Coud. i. 40. CONCLUSION OF THE FACULTY OF THEOLOGY. 395 " Wherefore, having perused, and many times re- perused, and well comprehended all the articles of the two Bulls, and after having discussed and gone to the depths 1 of them during several months, at different times and hours, according to custom, due regard being had to the subject, THE FACULTY has, with unanimous consent, given this judgment, which it has submitted with all manner of respect to that of the Holy See. " This new Society, which arrogates to itself in par- ticular the unusual title of the name of Jesus, which receives with so much freedom, and without any choice, all sorts of persons, however criminal, lawless, and infamous they may be ; which differs in no wise from the Secular Priests in outward dress, in the tonsure, 2 in the manner of saying the Canonical Hours in private, or in chaunting them in public, in the engagement to remain in the cloister and observe silence, in the choice of food and days, in fastings, and the variety of the rules, laws and ceremonies, which serve to distinguish the different Institutes of Monks ; this Society, to which have been granted and given so many privileges and licences, chiefly in what concerns the administration of the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist, and this without any regard or distinction being had of places or persons : as also in the function of preaching, reading, and teaching, to the prejudice of the Ordinaries and the Hierarchical Order, as well as of the other religious Orders, and even to the prejudice of princes and lords 1 Cretineau, in his translation, uses that bottomless French word, "approfon- dis" which I have taken the liberty to paraphrase as above. 2 The " tonsure " is a circular shaving of the crown of the head, usual with priests and monks on the Continent : the " Canonical Hours " have been already explained ; its representative in the Church of England is the daily service in use. The Common Prayer-book is made up of the Roman Brciiary and Missal or Mass-look. 396 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. temporal, against the privileges of the universities, in fine, to the great cost of the people : this Society seems to blemish the honour of the monastic state ; it weakens entirely the painful, pious, and very necessary exercise of the virtues, of abstinences, ceremonies, and austerity. It even gives occasion very freely to desert the Religious Orders : it withdraws from the obedience and sub- mission due to the Ordinaries. It unjustly deprives lords, both temporal and ecclesiastical, of their rights, carries trouble into the government of both, causes many subjects of complaint amongst the people, many law-suits, stripes, contentions, jealousies, and divers schisms or divisions. " Wherefore, after having examined all these matters, and several others, with much attention and care, this Society appears dangerous as to matters of Faith, capable of disturbing the peace of the Church, over- turning the Monastic Order, and more adapted to break down than to build up." 1 In addition to this withering censure, Eustace Du Bellay, the Archbishop of Paris, came down upon the Jesuits with an interdict prohibiting them from the exercise of the sacred functions. The high respectability of the accusers a Catholic Faculty of Theology a Catholic Archbishop seems to give resistless weight to the charges all pointing to facts then before the world open to investigation, con- futation, or justification. Had this respectable Faculty, and this respectable Archbishop, instead of a condemna- tion, issued a manifesto of approval and laudation to the Society, the Jesuits themselves would not fail to remind us of that respectability of their approvers. The laudari 1 Cretincau, i. 320 ; Coudrette, i. 42. ECCLESIASTICAL PRIVILEGE AND MONOPOLY. 397 d laudato, praise from the praiseworthy, would have clanged in our ears trumpet-tongued, down to the most distant posterity, and reaching the uttermost limits of earth indomitd cervice feri, iibicunque locorum ! They cannot therefore think it unreasonable if dis- passionate men should lay some considerable stress on this theological and archiepiscopal condemnation, and that Protestants should point to it as a " column of infamy ; commemorating their unworthiness, their dan- gerous and destructive character. On the other hand, dispassionate men will at once perceive the fangs of inexorable Privilege at her remorse- less meal Monopoly, with her thousand arms, all- grasping " extended wide In circuit, undetermined square or round." Facts suggest this painful proof of that selfishness which renders the preaching of the Truth a mere scatter- ing of Dead Sea apples, which cannot satisfy the poor soul's hunger. The Faculty had pronounced ; the Arch- bishop had interdicted : there, and there only, duty ended. Then jealous Privilege, clutching Monopoly, took up the cudgels and dealt away roundly at the Jesuits. A right glorious theological tempest shot lightnings of Orthodoxy from the four corners of heaven together. " Down with the Jesuit Institute * was the gospel preached in the pulpits. The Clergy attacked the Jesuits in their sermons : the Professors of the Univer- sity held up the monsters to their clapping scholars. Placards and libels were hung up in the cross-ways of the Sorbonne, hawked about in the churches, flung under the doors of houses, scattered in the streets. 1 1 Cretineau, i. 321. 398 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. That was the method of Privilege and Monopoly, and their method is everlasting. The resident Bishops of Paris followed with interdic- tions : the Jesuits, however, would not admit themselves vanquished. They crossed the river and begged hospi- tality from the Prior of Saint-Germain-des-Pres. The abbey was out of episcopal jurisdiction : the Jesuits were sheltered, and permitted to work on the left bank of the Seine. 1 In this affair the conduct of Ignatius was remarkable. The reader remembers how he managed the Archbishop Silicio, how the monks of Saragossa were silenced. This method would have been abortive in France, where the Parliament (the enemy of the Institute) was omni- potent : Ignatius checked every movement of retaliation silenced his men who deemed it necessary to notice the books written against them, and the Archbishop's decree. The Inquisition and Bishops of Spain had done enough for the present : they had condemned all the decrees as "false, scandalous, and injurious to the Holy See." In the following year his friend, Cardinal de Lorraine, went to Rome, bringing four doctors of the Faculty of Paris, in his suite ; Ignatius appointed a conference, the cardinal presiding. Four Jesuits, Lainez, Olave, Polancus, and Frusis, defended the Institute the doctors gave in on being "pressed by the cardinal," and "declared that the decree had been published without a knowledge of the cause/' 2 In the present circumstances this was enough (adrnit- 1 Cretineau, i. 321. 2 Cretineau, quoting Orlandinus : but the fact is rather doubtful, unless the " recantation " was a mere compliment to the Cardinal. There it is ; the reader must judge for himself. INFLUENCE OF IGNATIUS AMONG HIS FOLLOWERS. 399 ting the fact on Jesuit authority) the time was not come for Jesuit rule in France. That fulfilment was one of the very few denied Ignatius on earth : but if he did not live to see it, he left the spirit which effected it destined, however, like the fondest desires of the heart gratified, to involve at length the ruin of the Society. A laborious life is drawing to a close ; its last years are as remarkable as any in the life of a man w r hose destiny it was to achieve wonders, and to The influence transmit his wonder-working mantle to his ofl g nat l ius among his followers in life, and his worshippers after foll wers. death. The domestic concerns and commotions of the Society arrest attention during the period immediately preceding the demise of Ignatius. To create, and to hold w r hat he made, have ever been the characteristic praise of the hero, and that praise is due to Ignatius of Loyola. He was not always one of those heartless, rigid zealots who turn all they touch into ice or tears. 1 It was by the feelings, by the sentiments, by the heart, that he penetrated to the soul. The man who possesses the power to excite, has the resistless magic of influence and its results are submission, willing, eager com- pliance in the human heart. It mattered not how his end was accomplished, if it seemed good to Ignatius it must be accomplished ; and it was rarely unaccomplished. With individuals, as with parties, his method was the same : he tried every means, and submitted not to defeat unless compelled by necessity. 1 " O der herzlosen, steifen Eiserer ! was sie beriihren, wird Eis oder Thrane." Spindler, Der Jesuit. In one of the ephemeral pamphlets against the Jesuits this work is denounced as favourable to the Jesuits. The writer could never have read Spindler's book. 400 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. On one occasion a Jesuit was resolved to return to the world. His motive is not stated ; probably it is omitted because he did not return to the world ; in that case it would have been, necessarily, bad. Ignatius " went to him during the night, and using supplications and threats, all together, he made such an impression on his heart, that the father threw himself at the general's feet, and offered to undergo the penalty that might be imposed. One part of your penance/' exclaimed Ignatius, embracing him, " will be never again to repent of having served God : as for the other part, I take it on myself I will perform it myself." 1 With the young, as may be expected, still greater was his influence. Ribadeneyra was young, and not very prudent : his extravagance went so far as to shake off the yoke of obedience, and to feel so strong a repug- nance to Ignatius, that he could not bear the sight of the holy father ! Ignatius sent for him one day, and only said three words to him. In the instant Ribaden- eyra threw himself at his feet, and bursting into tears, exclaimed " I will do, Father, I will do whatever you like!" 2 Whence was that influence, that power over the human heart 1 Let those answer the question who have come into contact with a man of strong feelings and mental vigour a man of passion and yet a man of reason combining all that is so seductive in the flesh with what is most thrilling in the spirit. Calm reason traces the result to a great endowment : fanaticism ascribes it to supernatural agency to a superhuman spirit the daimon of Socrates, believed in and venerated 1 Bouhours, ii. 28. 2 Id. ii. 282. The " Spiritual Exercises " were in question, and the youth was reluctant to the operation. KJXATIUS REPUDIATES SAINTSHIP. 401 by his followers. " Lainez, one day, asked Ignatius in confidence, if it was true, according to report, that he had an archangel for his angel guardian ? The saint (Ignatius) made no answer, but he flushed, and to use the words of Lainez, he was disconcerted, somewhat as a modest girl would be, who, being alone in her chamber, were surprised by a strange man at an improper hour." 1 His followers believed him to be a " great saint/' He was told so, on one occasion, and he enhanced their admiration by reprimanding the party, saying : " that to see sanctity in so great a sinner as himself, was to debase and dishonour it ' -superadding that " such words were true blasphemy." 2 And yet, all the wonderful things - the private wonderful things which we have recorded of Ignatius, were divulged by himself: his visions and his dreams are recorded from his own lips unless his followers have invented the curious and edifying facts. Notwithstanding all they have recorded as necessa- rily from the lips of the saint the Jesuits still boast his virgin modesty, and even render his charity doubtful in a fact whereby they would prove his bashfulness. One of his seven confessors (too many could not be witnesses of his supernaturality) " could not so well contain him- self, but that some words slipped from him, imparting something which he durst not speak out," and he desired to outlive Ignatius, "at least some few hours, that he might without scruple reveal what he knew ; and he said he 1 I translate literally, and therefore, clumsily " Une honnete filh, qui ctanl seule dans sa chambre, serait surprise par un inconnu a unc heure indue" Bou- hours t ii. 272, et seq. In the "Life of Ignatius," published in Dublin, 1841, the fact of the blushing is retained, but the startling comparison is omitted. P. 85. 2 Ibid. VOL. I. D D 402 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. had things to tell which could not be heard without astonishment." A brother, complying with the Jesuit rule, reported these words to the general. The father- confessor " died some days before Father Ignatius," and " it was the opinion of the fathers, then alive, that the saint had begged God that Eguia's (the confessor's) wish might not be accomplished." 1 The reader may imagine that these are the most won- derful things told of the first Jesuit ; but let him peruse the " Life of Ignatius," by any of his biographers even the cheap Dublin publication and he will see how every page iterates the sublimely-ridiculous, the ridiculously- sublime. The barefaced effrontery with which the Jesuits relate the impossible miracles of Ignatius and Xavier, has rendered extremely doubtful the narrative of their wonderful missions in all parts of the world. But, in that age of superstition and fanaticism, it was difficult to stretch human credulity beyond its given elasticity. Besides, the high renown of the founder and his associates claimed somewhat of the wonderful. It is therefore not surprising that heaven should be made to exalt him whom earth beheld with a well-fostered admiration since men have only to feel convinced that a thing is good, and they will find a place for it in heaven. On the pinnacle of this adoration, Ignatius astounded his followers by abdicating the Generalate. " Having He abdicates considered the matter maturely, in the name the Generalate. ofthe Yai\iQr, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, I renounce, simply and absolutely, the Gene- ralate." Such were the clenching words of the letter o 1 Bouhours, ii. 273. IGNATIUS ABDICATES THE GENERALATE. 403 which he wrote to the assembly of the fathers, im- parting the abdication. Praises of his humility, astonishment and tender emo- t/ ' tions are described as attending that announcement. All but one member opposed the offer. Oviedo, with characteristic naivete, gave his opinion, that Father Ignatius should be allowed to have his own way. " And why ? ' was the general question. " Because," said Oviedo, " he who is a saint, has lights which we have not." It appears that he spoke these words with his eyes closed, for we are told that, " opening his eyes forthwith, and recognising that the saints are sometimes unjust towards themselves, he condemned his first thought, and gave into the common opinion." This opinion was made known to the general : he remonstrated : they would not listen to him : he was forced to submit. His agitation was so great, that he had a fit of illness : but he recovered to rule with more vigour than ever. A heretic was detected amongst the Roman A heretic novices, actually sent by " Philip Melancthon, novices. and another heresiarch, with orders to counterfeit the Catholic." 1 The man of divine lights was unable to detect the trick : this Protestant emissary actually deceived Igna- tius, and began to propagandise amongst the novices. He was of course reported, carried before the Inquisition, and condemned to the galleys. This Jesuit fact speaks for itself, and needs no commentary, even for the sake of the virtuous Melancthon. And it is significant Ignatius connived at the scandalous conduct of the young German in the novitiate, in order to gain him 1 Bouhours, ii. 111. D D 2 404 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. over, but sent this heretic at once to the galleys. It shows how faith will cover as many sins as charity. In aftertimes the Jesuit-casuists and confessors were as indulgent to vice, and, of course, as severe to heresy. If heresy was foiled in the attempt to corrupt the novitiate, glory was thwarted in endeavouring to weaken the Society. Charles V. would invest Borgia Borgia and the cardinal's with the Roman purple ! The pope eagerly n 1 1^ consented. The whole Sacred College unani- mously approved the nomination. Ignatius opposed it with all his might. " If all the world fell at my feet, begging me not to oppose the investment, I would not yield ! ' Such was his exclamation, after three days' reflection in solitude. Pope, emperor, cardinals, strove in vain : the Spaniard was inflexible. The utility of the Society and Borgia's reputation were more important than the glory of Sacred College. At length he sug- gested a subterfuge. The dignity was to be offered to Borgia, and, if he refused it, his Holiness would not enforce the acceptance. The result need scarcely be stated : Borgia remained a Jesuit. It was not to the honour that Ignatius objected, but the certain loss that the Society would sustain. Honour, combined with the Society's advancement, always found him open-hearted. The King of Portugal, John III., pitched his eyes on the Jesuit Miron for a confessor. Miron declined the honour, conscientiously it would appear, and certainly agreeably to the letter of the Constitutions. His answer was sent to the general. Ignatius " condemned it absolutely," and gave the most satisfactory reasons to the Jesuit's conscience for stifling its scruples. 1 1 Bouhours, ii. 130. LAINEZ AND OBEDIENCE. 405 Inflexible in his resolutions, he could wreathe the rod of iron with roses until it became invisible. He appointed Lainez to be Provincial of Italy at Padua. Lainez aiul Lainez refused the dignity, alleging, " that audience. he did not as yet know enough how to obey in order well to command." In truth, an active life suited best that energetic spirit. But Ignatius told him "it was the will of God, and he was forced to yield." 1 Lainez became provincial. Matters did not please him. Ignatius drew all his best workmen to Rome. He complained, as well he might, since he had a right to some share in " the greater glory of God ; " it was but natural that he should wish to fire the guns which he loaded. Ignatius replied that Rome was the focus of the Order ; that there it should shine in all its splendour, since it was from the Pontifical City that the greater number of the fathers went forth. 2 Lainez proved that he was not a perfect adept in obedience ; he ventured to reply. It was a hard matter. Then came the talisman : Ignatius wrote back as follows : " I am annoyed by your continuing to write to me on the same subject, after my answer that the common good is to be preferred to the particular, and a greater interest to a less. Reflect on your conduct ; then let me know if you acknowledge your fault, and, in case you find yourself guilty, let me know what penalty you are readv to under go for your fault." is *~--' Lr Lainez saw at once what was impending. Never did Spartan convey more meaning in a laconic than the re- doubtable general in that brief epistle. Here is the effect : 1 Bullhorn's, ii. 132. : Crclincau, i. 331. 406 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. " My Father, when your Reverence's letter was delivered to me, I began to pray to God ; and having made my prayer with many tears (which happens to me rarely), here is the resolution I have taken, and take again to-day, with tears in my eyes. I desire that your Reverence, into whose hands I place and abandon my- self entirely,- -I desire, I say, and I beg by the bowels of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, in order to punish my sins, and to tame my disordered passions, which are their source, your Reverence would withdraw me from the government, and from study, even so far as to leave me no other book than my Breviary ; compel me to go to Rome begging my way, and that there I may be occupied till death, in the lowest offices of the House ; or, if I be not suited thereto, that your Reverence should command me to pass the rest of my days in teaching the first elements of grammar, having no regard of me, and never looking upon me but as the scumber of the world. This is what I chose for my penance in the first place." Then he offered to submit to these penalties only for a term- -two or three years, according to the general's wish. Thirdly, he proposed several scourgings, a fast of four weeks; and that every time he wrote to the general, he would first pray, and would consider well his letter ; and, having written it, he would read it over with attention, taking care not to say anything which might cause the least annoyance to his good Father, and even striving to use only such expressions as were calculated to give him joy, " This single example," observes Bouhours, " shows the authority that Father Ignatius had in his Order, and how he wished that the superiors should be sub- INTERNAL DECAY IN PORTUGAL. 407 missive to the general" He also adds another remark. u Hence we may also judge how great was the humility of a man who had been admired at the Council of Trent, and how docile great minds are when they have truly the spirit of God/' The reader will decide for himself on the relative value of both explanations ; certainly the general's authority is clearly established. Ignatius, of course, did not ratify the penance ; but he gave him one, however, which was, to compose a theological work, " to serve as an antidote to the books of the heretical divines ;" as if he clearly guessed the source of all the provincial's discontent, his probable displeasure at being withdrawn from the stirring battle of controversy. 1 A more important domestic difficulty filled the mind of Ignatius with anxiety, and gave the Company a signi- ficant warning. Occurring even in the twelfth Internal year of her existence, it demands notice and decay already remembrance. Amongst the first establish- ments of the Society was that in Portugal. Under the tropic sun of royal favour it had grown rapidly and rank, and now, under its own weight, was sinking to decay. Poverty, persecution, or resistance, all manner of difficulties had, in other places, given strength and elastic energy to Jesuit establishments ; but, in Portu- gal, royal patronage and the nation's benevolence pro- duced results quite contrary. The prospect of extending the Society over the wide possessions of Portugal in the East, blandly tempted the Portuguese Jesuits to multiply their operations; the king stimulated them with his lavish bounties and flattering exhortations. These pros- pects, and this glorious prosperity, or the example of 1 See Bouhours, ii. 132, ct sefj ; Cretineau, i. 334, ft seg. 408 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the first fathers, if we agree with the Jesuit historian, enticed numbers to the Society, and very many were received. In 1551 there were no less than one hundred and fiftv Jesuit-alumni in the college of Coimbra. 1 / o Most of these were youths of rank, and glowing- passions. Rodriguez was their superior, but they were become the masters. Discipline was almost at an end : the regulations of the establishment were exceedingly few, or a dead letter. Obedience was obsolete, poverty took flight, it is not stated what became of chastity. Dress they attended to assiduously ; the study of spi- rituals languished ; worldly notions prevailed. They indulged in jokes and wrote sarcastic verses. In short, the life they led was luxurious and expensive ; they enjoyed the blessings of Mammon whilst they laid claim to the merits of religious poverty. 2 Rodriguez, the superior, was blamed for these disasters : he did not copy the severe example of the founder, in ruling the Society. His mild government was stated to be the cause of the misfortune. A man of miracles, he had cured a leper by making him lie in the same bed with him, and other foul patients by embracing them : but 1 "In Lusitano regno Societas, non iisdera quibus in aliis ferine terris orta et atlulta principiis, mola jam sua (ut pra^festinata assoleut) laborabat. Quippe cum firma alibi fundamenta fere in rerimi penuria, insectationibus, et omnibus terumnarum generibus jacta essent, in Lusitauia pro benignitate Regis ac geutis humauitate evenerant plane contraria : cumque messis amplitude totum late per Orientem blande se offerens, ad multiplicandas operas invitaret, Rexque sive subsidiis affatim conferendis, sive benignis verborum hortatibus incitaret : ac primorum exempla Patrum ad Dei famulatum allicerent plurimos, recepti sunt sane peiinulti." Orland. xii. 54. i t( Tyrociuii disciplina pene uulla dum erat constituta : leges vero domestics omnino perpaucce solvi paulatim obedientia, curari studiosius corpora : frigere studia divince sapientioe ; contraque sic terrence vigere, ut nee decsset, qui scommata jacere, et mordaciores coudere versus auderet. Manabat late malum in victu, cultuque subrepere supervacaneas commoditeites, et alicubi sumptus fieri rcligiosee paupertati minime conseiitaneos."- Id. xii. 55. IRREGULARITIES AT COIMBRA. 409 he eoukl not, it seems, dispel the foul diseases of the soul from the embryo-Jesuits of Coimbra. He permitted them to live according to their inclinations ; or if he sometimes reprimanded them, he did it so gently that he only strengthened them in their bad habits. Ignatius took the thing in hand vigorously. He sent the Jesuit Miron to displace Rodriguez, giving the disgraced pro- vincial the option of an Apostolate in Brazil or the admi- nistration of another province. This was, we are assured, "to save his reputation/' Having no longer Portuguese to govern, his conduct would not be so mild and relaxed ; and as the general knew that the Spanish fathers felt but little sympathy for the Portuguese fathers, by the natural antipathy between the two nations ; and as he desired nothing more than to unite them " in Jesus Christ/' he destined Rodriguez for the province of Aragon, and Miron for that of Portugal. 1 At the first intimation of the event the whole court of Portugal was in excitement. They could not do without the gentle father. The mild Rodriguez was the balm of their wounded conscience. Still greater was the stir among the interesting young Jesuits,- -the hope of the Eastern missions, the apostles of the West, the future restorers of ancient Religion, and the Ages of Faith. These noble striplings of obedience positively declared that they could not obey any one but good Father Rodriguez, and actually talked of " leaving all," not for the sake of gaining Christ, but in case they lost Rodriguez. 2 Ignatius held the reins of the restive steeds. He 1 Bouhours, ii. 140, ct scq. "Comme le General savait bien que Ics Peres Espagiiols n'avaient pas trop d'ineliuatioii pour les Peres Portugais, par 1'anti- patliie naturelle que est eutre ces deux nations," &c. p. 142. 2 Id. ii. M3, 410 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. wrote letters all round, dealing argument, expostulation, and admonition. He carried the point ; Miron was installed, and he set to the work of reformation in right good earnest. He was as severe and rigid as his predecessor was mild and relaxed. The children of obedience loudly complained as the rod fell heavily on their pampered backs. So great was the commotion that Ignatius was on the point of proceeding in person to Portugal to quell the rebels. He contented himself to try first what a substitute might do, and dispatched Torrez as a visitor to the field of battle. His first order was to send Rodriguez out of Spain, where he remained as Provincial of Arragon, and this eye-sore being at a distance, the youths of rank and obedience grew calmer ; but all was finally adjusted by Miron's change of con- duct, according to Ignatius's commands. 1 Thus Ignatius yielded to the weakness of noble students, as to that of the } r oung German ; but brought down the pride of Lainez by stern opposition, and sent a heretic to the galleys. Already, too, we see, in the whole proceeding, the immense difference between the letter of the Con- stitutions and the local spirit of Jesuit-practice. In truth, we shall not fail to find almost every promulgation of the Institute belied in practice or dispensed with, on emergencies. Wrench up old nature by the roots, still you will find her offsets sprouting up again. The Jesuits made too much use of nature not to find her their mistress at last yielding for a time, but, in the moment of conscious powder, rushing upon them with teeth and nails triumphant. The new provincial yielded to the storm, as directed by Ignatius, who traced him the line of conduct he was 1 Bouhours, ii. 147. REACTION AT COIMBRA. 411 to pursue with the young rebels of Coimbra. Success crowned his efforts, even beyond his expectations and desire. A strange revolution ensued. Many A reaction. had seceded, and rumour made the most, or rather the worst, of the transaction. It was a desperate hour for Jesuit-ascendancy in Coimbra in Portugal. Something must be done to retrieve all-powerful in- fluence. A glorious self-devotion was required, some striking example to agitate the minds and hearts of humanity. Godinius, the rector of the college, resolved to play the scape -goat or the liazazel, and take upon his bare shoulders the burthen of iniquity. On the octave of All Saints, he summoned his fellow-Jesuits to the chapel, and conjured them to put up prayers to God fervently for a certain man meaning himself much in need thereof, and for the sins of the whole Society, particularly the pro- vince of Portugal, and also for the sins of the seceders. He enjoined them not to stir from the chapel until dis- missed. Thereupon he bared his shoulders, seized a scourge, and rushed into the street. Through the whole city he ran lashing himself without mercy, and at twelve of the most frequented resorts, falling upon his knees, with a loud voice, with tears and sobs he exclaimed : " Ye nobles and people of Coimbra, pardon me for the sake of the scourging of Christ the Redeemer ; pardon me, whatever offence the College of Jesus has given you. Behold, I am the man whose sin is the offence, whatever is the offence. This wrath of God has been deserved by my transgressions/' Having thus scoured the whole city, he enters the chapel suddenly once more, with the reverberating crash of the strokes as he laid them on his shoulders, cum magno verberum fragore repentinus ingredUur. The Jesuits at prayer were confounded at 412 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the sight and the sound. He told them what he had done, and why, and all with copious tears. Example is catching, and they caught it with a vengeance. Instantly the same fury seized the rest of the Jesuits 'twas such a capital idea. One of them, Quadrius by name, who had shared the administration of the guilty college, protested that he shared the fault, si qua esset if there w r as any, for the Jesuits cling to innocence to the very brink of the precipice, and beyond, for aught we know to the contrary. All took fire all cried for an expiation, ut concedatur piaculum. Godinius reflected for an instant, and resolved to second their heated minds, calentibus animis ratus obsecundandum ; he ordered them once more into the chapel. "Here," he cried, "together assem- bled, in order that your service may be acceptable to the most divine Trinity, unite it to the sufferings most acceptable of Christ the Saviour, who offered himself for us to God and the Father in the odour of sweetness. Then, set before your eyes that sight in which, all over blood, with the bristling crown of thorns, he was led forth in mock purple to the people : and listen to the President exclaiming, Behold the man. Let us spend an hour in the contemplation of this spectacle, and then, with the aid of divine grace, we will march forth into the streets with our cross. Scarcely had the hour elapsed, when all inflamed and angry with themselves, accensi omnes iratique sibi, and breathing a certain divine ardour, and being admonished not to be so much intent on lacerating their bodies, as on following, in thought, the Lord burthened with his cross, as though they went to aid Him, they sallied forth, more than sixty in number, lashing themselves to desperation,- ralide sesc ccedentes. There was borne before them a PENITENT FLAGELLANTS. 413 mighty banner, representing Christ hanging on the Cross ; and two of the younger Jesuits went before, singing the Litanies, to which the rest of the troop, chiming in between the crash of whips in mournful mutterings, responded. An immense mob of Coimbra gathered at the sight and followed in admiration. FLAGELLANTS. They reached the House of Mercy. The rector prayed awhile on the steps, and then turned to the surrounding multitude, with his fellow-Jesuits gathered around him, ascribed it to his own sins, if any offence had been given, begged pardon as a suppliant, and moreover con- jured them to join their prayers to his in order to propitiate the Almighty. He spoke so sorrowfully, and so tearfully, that the people too began- to cry. They crowded to the altar : the rector recited some prayers, and then all with one accord, shouting and weeping, cried " Mercy for the fathers " omnes cum damore, et 414 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. lacrymis, misericordiam comprecantur. Nothing remains to be translated but the remarks of the Jesuit-historian on this astonishing Epiphany. " Some there were who thought these holy things absurd. Certainly such an example was not necessary : but it was nevertheless wonderful how it embalmed the minds of the citizens, ulcerated by the calumnies of the seceders from the Society ; and renewed the hearts of the brethren, filled by a certain horror as it were, and deeply agitated, to receive once more the seeds of divine wisdom/' 1 The wayward students of Coimbra rushed to the opposite extreme. Fervour became in fashion. Every man chose his own method with regard to his spiritual edification. Some consumed their bodies with austerities lacerating their persons and scourging themselves to death : others, charmed by the sweets of contemplation, passed days and nights in spiritual communion with God, without scarcely thinking of study. 2 It was on this occasion that Ignatius wrote his famous epistle on the Virtue of Obedience. He begins with stating that obedience is the only virtue which produces and cherishes the other virtues ; that, properly speaking, it is the virtue of the Society, and the character which distinguishes its children : that, thus, other religious Orders might surpass them in fastings, in watchings, and in many other austere 1 Orland. xii, 62, 65. This is one of the awful facts omitted by Bouhours and Cretineau-Joly. The reason is obvious. It is, however, absolutely neces- sary to account for the mighty change which all the modern historians fail not to put forth. If I stopped to notice the tricks of the Jesuits, and of their foes, in the manner and matter of their facts, each volume would be swelled to two or more. I have been utterly disgusted with the experience. Probably there was some other cause for this disgrace in Portugal, but where are we to find it re- corded ? In the archives of the Jesuits. They alone can write a perfect history of the Order in its worst light. - Bouhours, ii. 149. IGNATIUS'S LETTER ON OBEDIENCE. 415 practices which each of them observes piously, according to the spirit of their vocation ; but as to what concerns obedience, they ought not to yield the palm to them ; and that their vocation obliges them to render them- selves perfect in that virtue. He then establishes, on reasons deduced from the Scriptures and the Fathers, three degrees of obedience. The first and lowest consists in doing what is com- manded : the second is, not only to execute the orders of the superior, but to conform our will to his. The third is, to consider what is commanded as the most reasonable and the best, for this only reason that ilie superior considers it as such. In order to attain this degree so elevated, which is called " the obedience of the understanding," he says that we ought not to care whether he who commands is wise or imprudent, holy or imperfect ; but consider in him only the person of Jesus Christ, who has placed His authority into his hands, in order to guide us, and who, being wisdom itself, will not permit His minister to be mistaken. 1 This letter was despatched to every province of the Society, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America : it was the new gospel of the Jesuits. Meanwhile the unfortunate Rodriguez was somewhat persecuted and annoyed by being reproached with the disorders of Coimbra. This pious man " felt Rodriguez a little resentment at not being sent back into P umshed - Portugal/' 2 He had reasons for complaint, as he thought, and " his annoyance induced him to demand justice from the general." Ignatius complied, appointed a tribunal of the Pro- fessed to investigate the charges. Rodriguez was 1 Bouhours, ii. 151. ~ Id. ii. 183. 416 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. condemned on two heads : 1. For having cared little to establish in Portugal the manner of life prescribed by the common father, Ignatius, for the whole Society. 2. For having shown too much mildness and indulgence in his government. Rodriguez submitted " with pro- found humility/' and asked a penance. He was only forbidden to return into Portugal, lest his presence might again stir up the ardent nobles of the Jesuit- college ; " and he was permitted/' in other words, ordered to go to Palestine, where Ignatius thought of founding a college of the Society. Rodriguez departed, but fell ill at Venice, whence he was sent to Spain, and had the pleasure of subsequently dying in his dear Portugal, at Lisbon, in 1579, at a very advanced age, and was called " the most sweet and amiable." 1 Miron, his successor in the province, was charged by Ignatius, never more to conceal any divisions among the brother- hood, nor the men who said " I am for Paul/' " I am for Cephas/' Unless they humbly submitted their necks to " the yoke of Christ," he must expel them from the Society ; or if there was hope of amendment, he must send them to Rome, where the father himself, although otherwise much engaged, would endeavour to make them fructify. In consequence of this charge, it appears that the brother of the Duke of Braganza was sent to Rome. His royal blood produced such spirits in this Jesuit, that, unless they were moderated, they might prove no small detriment to the Society. 2 Gon- zalvez Camera was chosen by the king as his confessor in the place of Rodriguez. This Jesuit declined the honour. Ignatius ordered him to yield to the king's 1 Bouhours, ii. 133, et seq.; Feller, Biog. Univ.; Francus, Syn. Annal, S. J. 118. 2 Francus, Syn. Annal. S. J. 35. CHARGE OF CHILD-STEALING. 417 desire, and not to leave the court : if he had done so already, to return forthwith. 1 The Jesuits invent reasons for this determination of their astute law-giver : the best, however, is the most obvious : he wanted a handle at court. His Society would have many such hereafter and certainly not to their best interest. Royal favour in its brightest day would herald the downfall of the Company. These internal commotions were followed by troubles more threatening to the Society. An edict was issued by Charles V., compelling the residence of More ecclesiastical incumbents. The Jesuits had, troubles. or were accused of having, a share in the edict: com- plaints were made to the pope, who was induced to object to the measure. The Jesuits were banished from the Apostolical palace. The storm lowered men began to predict a downfall. Father Ignatius was ill- the danger increased ; but, as soon as he could move, he went to the Vatican, without an introduction, and managed to pacify the pope, who dismissed him with assurances of perfect good will and protection. 2 This fortunate turn of affairs saved the credit of the Society on a remarkable occasion which followed. A young Neapolitan had been received into the Child _ Society, and was called to Rome by the stealin g- general. His father, a man of standing, came to Rome and demanded back his son, alleging that he had been taken from him unwillingly. He appealed to the pope ; and the Archbishop of Naples, one of his friends, and opposed to the Jesuits. The pope referred the matter to the Cardinal Caraffa, a sort of rival of Ignatius, being the founder of the Theatines. 1 Franc. Synops. Ann. S. J. p. 34. ! Bouhours, ii. 191. VOL. I. E E 418 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. The boy's mother came express from Naples to join in the solicitation. It does appear that there was some trick or concealment on the part of the Jesuits ; as if they had removed the youth from place to place, until discovered at Rome in the bosom of Father Ignatius. It was painful to behold the mother's grief at her bereavement. She ran about the city distracted, in tears, imploring God's justice, and that of men, against the ravishers of her son. Caraffa took the mother's part, and passed sentence commanding Ignatius to give up the youth, threatening him with the Church-censures if he disobeyed. Ignatius appealed to the pope, and gained him over : the sentence was annulled, and the Jesuits retained the vouth. t/ The cold-blooded Jesuit did more ; he induced the pope to establish a Congregation of Cardinals to take cognizance of such matters for the future "because the same case might revert more than once, in order to confirm the vocation of the young Jesuits against flesh and blood which might attack it." l Caraffa subsequently became pope. He was thought to be opposed to the Jesuits, because his judgment in Paul iv. and the late affair was annulled by Julius III. the Jesuits. Ignatius, too, had formerly refused to unite the Society with the Theatines founded by Caraffa. All the fathers were alarmed at his election. Indeed, at the successive accession of every pope, the Jesuits seem to have trembled as men engaged in a cause itself not its own defence, as men who placed no more than human confidence in their extraordinarily divine an- nouncements and pretensions. On the present occasion 1 Bouhours, ii. 193, et seq. THEIR ROMAN COLLEGE. 419 Ignatius put himself in prayer, and, " knew clearly that Paul IV. (Caraffa) would be but too favourable to the Society" in other words prophesied the result by inspiration. Caraffa was certainly kind to the Jesuits. He even proposed to invest Lainez with the purple ; but, of course, the proposal was rejected. He then gave him an appointment in the Vatican ; but the restless Jesuit only held it one day, when he ran off, and took refuge with Father Ignatius once more : l it was impossible to separate a Jesuit from his cause union of body and soul was ever the characteristic of the Jesuits. In the events which signalised the life of Ignatius, the whole history of the Jesuits has its representative. It would seem that he designed a model for Academical every possible contingent ; or that his fol- dls P la y- lowers have built their system round about his name as the canonised guarantee of its efficacy and success. One peculiar feature of the scheme remains to be sanctioned by the holy founder academical display to captivate the minds of men. His Roman college was designed as a model to all others. He spared no pains to render it flourishing. Besides Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, it taught all the sciences, and was provided with good professors. At every hour, he would make enquiries respecting the studies ; and to animate the scholars and masters he would often appoint intellectual contests in the classes, at which he assisted, bringing with him cardinals and other men of rank. On one occasion these disputations lasted eight days ; and he got the theses printed and circulated in all directions. 1 Bouhours, ii. 197, et seq. E E 2 420 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. " III order to give still more reputation to the College, he ordered the professors to begin the terms with public harangues ; and at the end of the academical year, the scholars performed theatrical pieces, to attract men of talent by the beauty of the composition, and the people by the splendour of the performance." 1 He obtained permission from the pope that the scholars of the Roman College should pass Masters of Arts and Doctors, after due examination : thus nothing more was wanted to give perfection to the scheme. He insisted upon the cultivation of the vernacular lan- guage, and gave the example, by requiring Bibadeneyra to correct his own grammatical errors in speaking Italian, to which he had applied on becoming general ; he ever insisted upon having his " bad words and bad phrases" written down with the view to their correction " so fully was he convinced that the Jesuits who, by their Institute, have to do with the world, ought to possess a perfect knowledge of the country's language." The Con- stitutions require this accomplishment. 2 "Hence," observes Bouhours, " it follows, that a Jesuit who neg- lects to speak correctly, keeps his rule badly ; and those who pretend that a Jesuit deviates from the character of his profession in studying to acquire purity in his mother-tongue, know not what they say. These people ought to remember that the heretics, having from all times professed polish in their language, to gain over the people, and to instil their venom, the Society of Jesus, which is destined to give them battle, ought to employ all sorts of arms, even the study of the living languages ; and should, if possible, know them perfectly, were it only to make a diversion and deprive the enemies of the 1 Bouhours, ii. 213. 2 Part IV. c. 8, 3. THEIR FOREIGN MISSIONS. 421 Church of the advantage which they arrogate to them- selves sometimes, of speaking and writing more elegantly than others. 1 The twelfth year of the Society, whose remarkable events we have just contemplated, was made memorable by the death of Francis Xavier, the " Apostle The "Foreign of the Indies," " the Alexander of the Mis- Missions -" sions." The most astounding events of his " mission/' were the inventions or concoctions of a later epoch in the annals of Jesuitism ; as such they seem misplaced at the beginning of this history : but, as the Jesuitico- Indian mission was begun by this ardent, indefatigable, but very erratic preacher, his career demands notice amongst the beginnings of the Jesuits. A few words of introduction, and we will proceed with the history of Xavier, the Alexander of the missions. In a sermon on the Last Judgment, a preacher of Navarre, speaking of the trumpets which will awake the dead, at the end of the world, exclaimed : " Yes, sinners! you will hear them when you will be least thinking of them perhaps to-morrow- -what do I say? To-mor- row ? Perhaps at this very instant ! ' And sure enough, at that instant the vaults of the church resounded with the pealing blast of a dozen trumpeters whom he had concealed in the nave. All fled away trembling. But from that hour the preacher was accounted a saint among the good people of Navarre. 2 Now, the "foreign 1 Bouhours, ii. p. 214. Philom. [Peignot] Predicat. p. 249. Such tricks as these are by no means uncommon. I myself had a share in one of them (pars maynafui) when a boy, and much given to the service of the altar. It was in the island of St. Bartho- lomew. I was the priest's acolythe, or attendant, in the ceremonies, and had always to stand beside him whilst he preached. The day was Good Friday. Monsieur 1'abbe was resolved to make a sensation. In the sacristy, or vestry, he gave me a crucifix to conceal under my surplice, until we were in the pulpit. We 422 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. missions " are the trumpeters of the Jesuits. But only to those who are not in the secret of " the nave. '' The foreign missions give to their Society apostolic glory in the estimation of the Catholic ; excite some wonder, if not admiration in the breast of the Protestant ; aiid- supply a few interesting facts to the Science of Mind. The history of the Society has been said to be " as entertaining as the Arabian Nights." l That was an apt comparison. Women, and children, and the like, can tell the reason why : but no portion of that history, as narrated by the Jesuits themselves, exceeds in enter- tainment the veritable Arabian Night of their Foreign Missions. Viewed, however, psychologically, the history of the Jesuits and their " missions, " becomes interesting to men, as well as to women, children, and the like. Being profusely the unhesitating, unscrupulous historians of their own exploits, the Jesuits plentifully fed the dura ilia, the coarse stomachs of wonder-craving devotees, apparently conscious that when completely gorged, with maw distent, these boa constrictors of the temple would prove an easy prey in their torpidity. Very early they formed the design ; followed out the mounted. 1 stood beside him, anxiously waiting for the dread sentence, hold- ing the crucifix out of sight. The moment came at last. " Behold your God!" he cried, snatching the crucifix but sad perversity of fate it broke by his violence, and the image swung round by the feet, with the head downwards, everybody gazing, and some bitterly smiling, whilst the disconcerted preacher perspired from the face profusely. He had the conscience to blame me for the misfortune. 1 Oxford and Cambridge Review, for Sep. 1845. The article was written by a pupil of the Jesuits, greatly in their favour and bitterly against Eugene Sue. Appearing in a professed Protestant periodical, it naturally made a great stir, like the animal braying in the church porch during the sermon. The editor publicly stated that he had been deceived in the matter ; but its author was far more deceived than himself, both in its composition and the interpretation of the consequences. The whole, with which I am thoroughly acquainted, makes a very curious anecdote of modern vagaries, another Arabian Night's Entertainment. THEIR k EDIFYING AND CURIOUS LETTERS." 423 scheme with great perseverance ; and, in process of time, a wonderful "development' was given to their mis- sionary lore in their famous "Edifying and Curious Letters, concerning Asia, Africa, and America." 1 From first to last, it is an Arabian Night's Entertainment the story of Noureddin Ali and Bedreddin Hassan for ever. Acosta began the scheme by virtue of Holy Obedience, as early as "the year of the Virgin Godbearer 1571." 2 Startling as this mode of dating may be to the reader, he may be informed that it frequently occurs in Acosta's book ; and certainly the wonderful interpositions of the Virgin Mary in aid of the missioners were quite suffi- cient to make them forget Him whom they proposed to preach, and date the year of Grace from the Mother rather than the Son. 3 The achievements of the Society of Jesus in the East and West have not been permitted to lie in the coffin of oblivion, carent quia vate sacro for want of an inven- tive genius. Missionary lore forms and fills a large mansion in the kingdom of Jesuitism. It is constructed with doric simplicity without ; but within, no eastern nor modern bazaar for trade, or charitable purposes, displays more curiosities to tempt the fancy, or to open the Christian's heart. Curious it is, for it treats of men and manners, arts, sciences, countries and their 1 Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, &c., fourteen vols. 8vo., or eight in 12mo., or four in large 8vo., and every possible mo, for the work is a staple commodity with the printers and sellers of " edifying " books for Catholics. - Rerum a Societate Jesu in Oriente gestarum ad Annum usque MDLXVIIL, Comment. Emm. Acostse, Lusit. &c., Dilingce, 1571. It is dedicated by Maffeius to Cardinal Truchses, who gave the Jesuits the university of Dillingen only a few years before that book was there printed. Hence he states, as one of his motives in the dedication, that the Society acknowledges a great debt to the cardinal plwrwtmm tibi debere se prqfttetur. 3 Another formula is "Post Virginis par turn.'" after the delivery of the Virgin. Epist. Jap. lib. i. ep. i. 424 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS, productions, vegetable, animal, and mineral. And edify- ing it is, for it tells of millions heaped into the fold of the Church, transformed by miracle, " happy " in the change, and yet, most important fact, rushing back headlong into barbarism and paganism in the hour of temptation, or as soon as the Jesuit-method ceased to hold together the " untempered mortar " of Jesuit-masonry. This fact has been always overlooked, though glaring on the page of history, as we shall read in the sequel. The partisans of Rome grasped at the " annual letters r ' of the Jesuits, and, whether they believed them or not, it was still incumbent on the orthodox to laud the Apostolate of Rome ; it was consistent in the courtier to honour those whom the king honoured ; it was policy to give compliments for the good-will of those who were dreaded in the hour of their omnipotence. Their Curious and Edifying Letters became new " Acts of the Apostles." Preachers complimented the Jesuits from the pulpit, devotees crowded to their churches to hear the eloges, the laudations of their chief Apostle, and lent their applause to the " great Order ' -the " celebrated Society. v Fenelon * knitted them, a purse of praise, and Bossuet 2 flung them a dash of admiration one was the kiss of a French gentleman the other was the grudged penny of the miser ; both were to be tested for their truth by the accounts given by the Jesuits themselves. Berault-Bercastel, the church historian, apostrophised the Jesuits as " a Society of Apostles " 3 ; and, finally, 1 CEuvres de Fenelon, t. vii. p. 1 44, in a Sermon preached in the Church of Foreign Missions, at Paris, in 1685. 1 CEuvres de Bossuet, t. iv. p. 459, 3rd Sermon on The Circumcision. In the manuscript, says his editor, Bossuet had written " lioly Society " then he corrected it into " learned Society " -but a third correction left " celebrated Society," as above. 3 Hist, de 1'Eglise, t, xii. p. 257. CONQUEST OPENS A FIELD FOR THE MISSIONS. 425 Dr. Wiseman, the London lecturer on controversy, has latterly softened down the burning mass of adulation into merely " a degree of fervor, and purest zeal for the conversion of the heathens, which no other body has ever shown," after having edged in a salvo to the effect that " there may have been among them defects, and members unworthy of their character " ascribing the same to the fact of the Order being " a human institu- tion," for which assertion the Jesuits were not obliged to his lordship of the central district and Melipotamus. 1 Being neither partisans of Rome, nor friends of the Jesuits, nor haters of them, be it our part to examine this interesting page of Jesuit history, rejoicing where we find that the Jesuits have done good to humanity, softened the chain of slavery for the savage, ameliorated the condition of the semi-barbarous at least for a time admiring their adventurous spirit, their determined self- sacrifice in pursuit of their object wishing it had had better results than we find on inquiry but always turning a very suspicious ear to the " trumpeters in the nave," however " curious " and " edifying." Let us, then, contemplate the rise and progress of the Jesuit missions in partibus infidetium, among the anthropophagi. The passion for conquest which possessed the Spaniards and Portuguese in the sixteenth century was gratified to the fullest extent. The universe conceded to them by a Papal Bull was secured by unscrupulous, unrelenting warfare. Spain ravished the Americas ; Portugal overran Southern Africa, and the continent of 1 Lectures on the Principal Doctrines, &c., of the Catholic Church, vol. i. p. 218. Dr. Wiseman was so successful with his lectures that his bust was taken, for insulting dead Luther and Calvin so scurrilously Dum Priam? Paridisque lusto insultet armentum. 426 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. India. The glory of their arms, flag, and name, may have been the first impulse ; it was sufficient, and will always be sufficient in a false conscience, to The Spaniards and the justify the invasion of the savage in the Portuguese p i i -i r i in their peaceful shade ot his palm-tree, under his golden roof of Peru, beneath his wigwam in the western wilds. The insatiable lust of gold soon followed, with its attendant furies, and the war of aggression necessarily changed into a struggle to defend what was gained, but disputed, when the wretched natives awoke from their dream, to the hideous realities of their doom. The scheme of christianising them was then conceived, or at least made necessary, in order to ensure their sub- jection. It is a pitiful thing to see the ministers of religion aiding in dispossessing God's creature of his rights ; but perhaps we must make allowance for the age, although, in this matter, we cannot allow much, seeing that " do unto others as thou wouldst be done by," was a maxim then not unknown, even to pagans. The Portuguese who were led by Albuquerque to India had seemed more than men to the natives : another race soon disabused them tore the The Portu- guese in deceitful lens from their simple eyes ; and the horde of greedy, lustful adventurers stood forth in their repulsive nakedness as common-place robbers, libertines, extortioners, oppressors. But it was too late : the conviction only enhanced their misfortune. The invaders pursued their schemes with determination and success. Priests were sent out to advance the cause of oppression, under the name of religion. Their conduct is described by a Catholic Sepulveda, historiographer to Charles V., and canon of Salamanca, He says : " In pleasures of all kinds in THE PORTUGUESE IN INDIA. 427 lusts of every description they tried to legalise the crimes whose shameful enjoyments and brutal satisfac- tions they shared. These priests maintained that it was permitted to despoil the Indians of their fortunes, and subject them to the severest treatment, in order that thus despoiled and deprived of everything, they might be more easily persuaded to receive the faith- ut sic spoliati et subjecti, facilius per predicatores suade- atur Us fides" 1 With such examples in the sanctuary, we are not startled to hear that " the Portuguese themselves lived more like idolaters than Christians/' The general object of all these adventurers, was, to get rich as fast as they could, and thus to return and spend their wealth in the mother country, to the impoverishment and injury of the colony- -a practice which has been as universal as it has proved disastrous, in all colonial dependencies disastrous in its results both to the mother country and the colony, but more so to the latter for it is precisely like a " run ' upon a bank of deposit, whose duration, under such circumstances, is dialled by its assets, hourly diminished. 2 The Portuguese adventurers, in their lust 1 Sepulv. De justis Belli Causis apud Cretineau. 1 Expand this short-sighted policy of our colonies in all its bearings on the subject of colonial organisation trace its effects on the method, the social habits prevalent in colonies discuss the legislative enactments framed selfishly to suit that abuse, rather than to promote justice, or to aid in inducing man to " choose the better part" (his best interest in his best moral condition) apply your conclusions to every colony in existence, and you will find the cause of that x-uin which all believe impending, tracing it to an effect of that abuse, namely, the want of " labour," and the withdrawal of " protection." Whilst Europe has advanced, her colonies have remained stationary. And why ? Because they have been mere mines for general excavation, a country, a patria to no man. Let that name be once recognised, and acted upon, and then a thousand great and noble motives will administer to progress. There is no other hope of redeemed prosperity for England's colonies in the West : those in the East are not yet on the brink of ruin. But how to permit, and ensure their 428 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. for gold, oppressed, ground down the natives. It was not commerce, but plunder. The natives hated them, and in them, their religion. The warm delights of that sun-favoured clime melted what virtue they brought, and evaporated whatever principles they possessed. Ac- cording to a report sent from India to John III., King of Portugal, by a man of authority and worthy of belief, every man had a harem as extensive as he liked or could maintain. Women were bought or stolen for the vilest purposes of use or profit. Their masters taxed these females slaves at a certain sum per day, and if not paid, they inflicted upon them excessive punish- ment : so that these poor wretches, unable sometimes to work hard enough, and dreading to be maltreated, thought themselves compelled to resort to the most disgraceful of avocations, and earned by infamy the sum required. Justice was sold in the tribunals : the sentences were a traffic : the most enormous crimes remained unpunished when the criminals had wherewith to corrupt, or rather, to fee their judges. All means, however iniquitous, were allowed, for the purpose of hoarding up money. Usury was publicly practised. Assassination was a trifle ; or they boasted of it as an honourable deed. In a word, lust, avarice, revenge, envy, cruelty, and rapine, were the distinguishing cha- racteristics of these "Christian" colonists. 1 In that state of matters, civil and religious, with such " Christian ' examples before them, Xavier went to preach Christianity to the Pagans of India. Ignatius despatched the ardent enthusiast, the destined " Light independence ? There is the question : but it can be soon effectually answered, sooner than the colonies will begin once more " to pay" or "answer." 1 Bouhours, Vie de S. F. Xavier, i. 52 ; Bartoli, Dell' Asia, p. 30. XAVIER THE APOSTLE OF THE INDIES. 429 of the East," as a Jesuit calls him, 1 after having set him on a blaze by a speech adapted to the man and the case Id, y encendedlo todo, 11 abrasadlo en ' J The "Apos- fuego divino- -go, set all on fire and make toiate" of all burn with love divine ! Here at last was lauded by Xavier's ambition, so vividly described by the depreciated biographers, dashed into a field equal to the most desirable for errant-knight or benedict Crusader. Utterly ignorant of the manners and customs of the people to whom he was rushing ; utterly ignorant of their language, professedly a bad linguist, for " in truth he spoke very badly, and his language was but a confused jargon of Italian, French, and Spanish," 2 yet was he deemed the fittest subject for an apostle ; just as one totally ignorant of fencing stands the best chance with an adept antagonist, simply because he will drive home the rapier, reckless of rules and regulations to kill, to kill quickly, being the object. 3 Miracles and portents would dispense with the knowledge of ethnography, and the Holy Ghost would give him the gift of tongues, for " it is probable at least, that whilst in India, as soon as he studied a language, the Holy Ghost seconded his application, and became in some sort his teacher." 4 Xavier had to become an apostle, had to "renew, in the latter age, what was most wonderfully done at the birth of the Church ; " but let me not mince the Jesuit's 1 Trigautius, De Christ, apud Jap. Triumphis. " S. Franciscus Xaverius lumen illud Orieutis," lib. i. c. 2. 2 " A la verite il parlait tres mal, et son langage n'etait qu'un jargon mele d'ltalien, de Fran^ais, et d'Espagnol." Boulwurs, i. 17. 3 See Marryat's " Peter Simple " for an example O'Brien with the French officer in the prison. 4 " II est probable, du moms, qu'etant aux Indes, des qu'il e'tudiat une langue, le Saint-Esprit secondait son application et se faisait en quelque sorte son maitre." Bouhotirs, i. 63. 430 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. glorification of his apostle. He begins the hero's life mounted on fifty-league boots bombastical : " I under- take to write the Life of a Saint who hath renewed in the last century what was most wonderfully done at the birth of the Church, and who was himself a living proof of the truth of Christianity. We shall behold in the deeds of a single man the New World converted by the virtue of preaching and by that of miracles : idolatrous kings of the Orient subjected, with their kingdoms, under the obedience of the Gospel ; the faith flourishing in the midst of barbarism, and the authority of the Roman Church recognised by nations the most distant, which scarcely knew what ancient Rome was. The Apostolic man I am speaking of is Francis Xavier, a member of the Society of Jesus, and one of the first disciples of Saint Ignatius of Loyola." l The author of this flourish is Father Bouhours. He wrote a work for the formation of intellectual taste ; 2 he might have quoted the foregoing as a sample of arrant fustian ; or he should have flung it amongst his " Ingenious Thoughts of the Ancients and Moderns," as something that occurred to him when the moon was full. Bouhours is surpassed by a more ingenious modern Jesuit, Francis Xavier de Feller, the saint's namesake, you perceive, and determined to prove that he thoroughly felt the glory of the mighty baptismal imposition. " What an enterprise, great God ! ' this Feller exclaims in the middle of a sermon, " what an enterprise to form, so to speak, new characters ; command the temperaments ; stop, all of a sudden, passions the most violent, the 1 Vie de S. Frar^ois Xavier, p. 1. - Maniere de bien penser sur les Ouvrages d'Esprit. Also, Pensees Inge- nieuses des Anciens et des Modernes. XAVIER S ALLEGED TRIUMPHS. 431 most inveterate, the most extolled ; to displace criminal licentiousness by purity without spot ; to replace bloody anger by the pardon of enemies cruel avarice by beneficent charity ; to give holy laws to men nourished in superstition and independence ; to form upright morals in souls befouled by the strangest abominations ; to arrest by the hope of invisible goods, hearts which have never loved aught but the goods of earth ! What an enterprise ! Can a mortal man hope for any success therein ? . . . . Xavier undertakes to oppose ah 1 these enemies, and he triumphs over them : Constituit prcelia inulta, he waged many battles.- -He plants, he uproots ; he builds, he breaks down, like the prophet ; he becomes, like the prophet, a wall of brass, a column of fire. A new Ishmael, he attacks, single-handed, all the adversaries of his designs, and, single-handed, he repels all their efforts, all their furies together Manus ejus contra omnes, et manus omnium contra eum- his hand was against all, and the hands of ah 1 were against him. Gen. xvi. A new Joshua, he purges the kingdoms of the Orient, gets rid of an infidel and wicked people. More fortunate than Joshua, he does not destroy that people to substitute another, but changes and substitutes them, so to speak, with themselves. A new Elias, he consumes, with the fire of his zeal, all the enemies of his God. A new Judas Maccabeus, he destroys the profane temples, despoils the idols of the honours usurped from the divinity, establishes everywhere the eternal sacrifice .... What shall I tell you of the incredible number of infidels whom Xavier snatched from error, sinners he detached from crime \ Would you like to have an idea of it, and conceive how this generous champion of Jesus Christ can boast with reason 432 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. of having won victories and spoils without number- Spolia multitudinis gentium the spoils of a multitude of nations 1 Ah ! Do not judge, my brethren, by what you see. By the small number of conversions operated by my voice and that of the other preachers in the midst of Christianity, don't judge of the success of Xavier's preaching in the midst of infidelity. Whether that the hearts of our hearers have not the same docility, or that our words are not animated by the same zeal, or that Thou, my God ! for reasons hidden in the breast of thy impenetrable wisdom, dost not accord them the same efficacious grace. What a contrast between Xavier's sermons and ours ! Xavier alone, in a hundred different places, does more than a hundred preachers in the same city. Xavier, by a single sermon, used to convert a thousand sinners : we don't convert a single sinner by a thousand sermons. Nothing resisted his voice. The little and the great, the rich and the poor, the ignorant and the learned, the Christian buried in crime and the pagan blinded by superstition, all listen to him as their father ; his instructions persuade his advice is law. He arrives at Socotora, and, in a few days, the whole island is changed. He appears at Cape Comorin, and twenty thousand idolators come to acknowledge him the ambassador of the true God. The islanders of Manaar hear him ; become, all of them, Christians, and die, all of them, for the faith. In the bosom of infidelity and barbarism, Xavier's preaching raises every day new churches. And what churches ! Let us proclaim it, my dear hearers, for the glory of the Gospel, for the confusion of the Reformers and some bad critics, who always talk of the primitive Church in order to disparage the Church of later times ; churches whose XAVIER'S APOSTOLATE EXAMINED. 433 aspect alone became an evident and invincible proof of the worship which Xavier taught ; churches wherein were seen revived all the purity of morals, all the holiness of life, all the splendour of the virtues which adorned the first ages of Christianity ; churches which com- prised as many saints as there were neophytes as many spoils snatched for ever from hell as there were bar- barians once subjected to Christianity spolia multitu- dinis gentium! In ten years, all the regions from Goa to the extremity of Asia are overrun, instructed, converted : pertransmt usque ad fines terrce he went through unto the ends of the earth. I carry my eyes towards the West, and I carry my eyes towards the East : I turn to the North and the South every- where I see the adorable cross of the Saviour of Men planted by Xavier. I see nations separated by vast solitudes, by seas immense, by a group of isles and kingdoms : and everywhere I see Xavier, and almost at once and the same time." 1 These extracts are from no Middle- Age sermon ; but composed towards the end of the last century. It is a specimen of Jesuit-lore in the eighteenth century ! Now, what are the facts of this astounding Aposto- late \ The Jesuits themselves shall be appealed to, and they will "let out" correctives to these indigestible crudities of the fancy. During the last years of Ignatius, Xavier gave him a flourishing account of the Indian missions : but, at the same time, " he learnt by other letters that the baptism of the pagans was rather too 1 Eloge de S. Fran^. Xavier par F. X. de Feller, annexed to his edition of Bouhour's Life of Xavier, published about 1788; consequently it is one of the latest of the "trumpeters in the nave." In the same edition is given the " Office St. F. Xavier," by the Jesuit Oudin, equally extravagant and Eombastcs Fwrioso. VOL. I. F F 434 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. precipitate, and it often happened that the new Chris- tians returned to paganism, or did not live in a very Christian manner, for want of sufficient instructions/' l In the face of this we are told that " the churches comprised as many saints as there were neophytes " ! The Abbe Dubois, Catholic missionary in Mysore, will give the next elucidation. " One of the first missionaries," says Dubois, " was the famous St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish Jesuit of the greatest merit, and animated with a truly Apostolical zeal, and still known under the appellation of the Apostle of India. He traversed several provinces of India, and is said to have made many thousand con- verts, at a period when the prejudices of the natives against the Christian religion were far from reaching the height they have since attained. The caste of fishermen at Cape Comorin, who are all Christians, still pride themselves in being the offspring of the first proselytes made by that Apostle. " Xavier soon discovered in the manners and pre- judices of the natives an insurmountable bar to the progress of Christianity among them, as appears from the printed letters still extant, which he wrote to St. Ignatius de Loyola, his superior, and the founder of the Order of the Jesuits. " At last, Francis Xavier, entirely disheartened by the invincible obstacles he everywhere met in his Apostolic career, and by the apparent impossibility of making real converts, left the country in disgust, after a stay in it of only two or three years; and he embarked for Japan." 2 1 Bouhours, Vie de St. Ignace, i. 106. Ignatius ordered " houses for the Cate- chumens," to be established, so that the Pagans might be effectually prepared for baptism. Ibid. 2 Letters on the State of Christianity in India, p. 3. The italics are mine. THE ABBE DUBOIS' ACCOUNT. 435 It may be alleged that this very striking qualification of Xavier's Indian Apostolate, is from the pen of one who boldly asserts the impossibility of christianising the Indians. Then take the oozing out opinions of the Jesuits themselves. These opinions are not meant to disparage Xavier's labours : but to prove the necessity of Jesuit- jBrahminism for the work of conversion. It is not killing two birds at one shot but it is effectually winging one in his lordly flight. Xavier is the winged bird, as appears from the following : it is an extract from a letter of Father Martin, Jesuit, in 1700. " Of all the Apostolic men whom God has raised up in these latter times for the conversion of the Indians, we may affirm that Saint Francis Xavier has been the most powerful in works and words. He preached in the great peninsula of India at a time when the Portu- guese were in their highest reputation, and when the success of their arms gave great weight to the preaching of the gospel. He performed nowhere else more brilliant miracles and yet, he there converted no considerable caste. He himself complains in his letters of the indo- dlity and blindness of these people, and points to the fact that the fathers whom he employed in their instruction found it difficult to bear among them the disgust caused by the little fruit they made there. Those who know the character and manners of these people are not surprised at this obstinacy apparently so little grounded. It is not enough for them to find religion true in itself: they look upon the channel whereby it comes to them, and cannot induce themselves to receive anything from the Europeans, whom they consider the most infamous and most abominable people on the face of the earth. F F 2 436 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. " Thus we have seen hitherto, that there are among the Indians only three sorts of persons who have em- braced the Christian religion, when it was preached to them by the missionaries from Europe, recognised as Europeans. The first are those who placed themselves under the protection of the Portuguese, to avoid the tyrannical domination of the Mahometans ; such were the Paravas, or the inhabitants of the Fishing Coast [Dubois's Fishermen], who, for that object, even before St. Francis Xavier came into India, called themselves Christians, though they were only so in name ; it was to instruct them in the religion which they had embraced almost without knowing it, that this great apostle over- ran that southern part of India with incredible labours. Secondly, Those whom the Portuguese had subjugated on the coast by the force of arms, professed at first externally the religion of the conquerors : these were the inhabitants of Salsette and the vicinity of Goa, and other places which Portugal conquered on the western coast of the great peninsula of India ; they were forced to renounce their castes and assume the European cus- toms, which irritated and drove them to despair. In fine, the last sort of Indians who made themselves Christians in those early times, were either persons of the very dregs of the race, or slaves whom the Portuguese bought on the lands, or persons who had lost their caste by their licentiousness or bad conduct." 1 It is to be hoped that the extravagance of Bouhours and Feller has not utterly disgusted the reader with Francis Xavier ; for, in that case, I shall be blamed for awarding to the man all the praise he merited by intrepidity, and an earnest, though often misguided and utterly erroneous Lettres Edif. et Cur. ii. 26.5 (Panth, Litt.) XAVIER'S OWN ACCOUNT. 437 zeal, (if the Jesuits do not belie him) in the conduct of his mission. To a very great extent Xavier is innocent of the disgraceful impostures which the Jesuits have palmed on their " religious ' world, under the sanction of his name. Respecting the very possibility of convert- ing the heathen without the terror of swords and bullets, his opinion was flatly negative an opinion which was notoriously entertained by other Jesuits who had ex- perienced the missions. 1 But let us hear Xavier himself just before " giving up ' the Indians in disgust, and departing for Japan, in 1549, after eight years 7 toil and trouble. Writing to Ignatius, he says, announcing his intended departure : .. My Father, dearly beloved in the bowels of Christ, accept these few words respecting the affairs of India. In all the parts of India where there are Christians, some of our Society remain ; namely, in Malucco, Malacca, Caulan, at Cape Comorin, Basain, and Socotora; in which places I seem to be of little or no aid, both because there are fathers there, and because the Indians are very thick-headed in those places, and are infected with enormous vices, whence it happens that they have almost no inclination whatever to receive our faith, yea, they even detest it, and listen to us with difficulty when we talk of their receiving baptism." 2 This is conclusive 1 Navarette. " Dezia el Santo que mientras no estuvieran debaxo del mosquete, no avia de aver Christiano de provecho : " " the Saint used to say, that whilst they were not under the musket, there was no possibility of having a profitable Christian." Trat. vi. p. 436, col. 6, et apud La Croze. At page 440, note 26, of the same work, Navarette (an orthodox Catholic) refutes the Jesuit Colin who insisted on the necessity of arms for planting the faith. " Va probando con varies exemplares y successes la necessidad que ay de armas en las conversiones." 2 " Mi Pater, in visceribus Christ! unice dilecte, pauca hsec de rebus Indicis accipe. In omnibus Indise partibus ubi Christian! sunt, aliqui ex nostra Societate rnoraiitur, in Malucco, Malacca, Caulano, Comoriuo promontorio, j Socotora. Quibus in locis parum videor posse adjumenti afferre, turn 438 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. enough, certainly ; but it is not all. Ignatius himself was far from being satisfied with " the affairs of India." There was no tinsel about this tough Spaniard. He did nothing by halves. His one idea must be thoroughly and perfectly complied with ; there was no compromise in the man, unless it keenly struck him that compromise would lead to entire possession. Xavier's affectionate epistles on " the affairs of India ' did not satisfy the iron-hearted Ignatius. In the very year of Xavier's death, after all the wonderful and infinite conversions, miracles, and prodigies related by the biographers, at the very time when he is represented as gloriously suc- cessful in Japan, Ignatius wrote commanding him to send back one of his companions to Rome his usual method of getting at the truth of matters and, above all, "he commanded Xavier immediately to return to Europe, commanded him to return by virtue of holy obedience not because he doubted his obedience, but in order to show how earnestly he wished him to return in like manner as the Apostle Paul also (I am only translating, attentive reader) in like manner as the Apostle Paul, when he exhorts Timotheus, his most beloved and holy, to hold fast by pure and wholesome doctrine which was nearest his heart, does not hesitate to interpose the name of God, who shall judge the quick and the dead a mode of urgency which is not usually adopted except towards hard-hearted men." * Orlandinus quod ibi Patres degant, turn quod magna sit Indorum hebetude in his locis, et immanibus infecti sint sceleribus, quibus fit, ut pene nullam ad fidem nostram suscipiendam propensionem habeant, imo oderint, ac grave sit de baptismate suscipiendo quicquam nobis audire." Epist. Japon. ep. i. edit. 1569. 1 lisdemque Xaverio literis imperabat, interposito obedientiae nutu atque virtute, ut ocius ipse in Europam remigraret, non quod ejus obtemperationi diffideret ; sed ut ostenderet, quam sibi cordi esset ejus ex India reversio ; quemadmodum et Apostolus Paulus, cum ad retinendam puram, sanamque IGNATIUS'S LETTER TO XAVIER. 439 endeavours to account for this strong obtestation by alleging the desire of the King of Portugal in the matter, and in order that Xavier might inflame the king to the Jesuit-expedition into Ethiopia, to Congo, and the conversion of Brazil, and also to give advice touching the men best adapted for India ; but what have these matters to do with the obtestation so strikingly brought forward, and urged to the missionary's heart with the ominous words, " pure and wholesome doctrine " 1 And bringing to his mind that most vigorous and heartful chapter of the heartfullest of the Apostles, did Ignatius not allude to a former reprimand, which we remember he inflicted on Xavier for his too great precipitancy in administering the rite of baptism 1 And did he not allude to the sequence of that obtestation to Timothy, mentally saying : " Preach the word : be instant in season, out of season ; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffer- ing and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine ; but after their own lusts shall they reap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure affliction, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of tliy ministry" 2 Tim. iv. If he did not mean this conclusion, the allusion to Paul and his obtestation to Timothy are utterly without meaning, totally out of place, and, as such, con- trary to the standing practice of Ignatius, who, be it ever understood, did nothing without a purpose, or in vain. And certainly Xavier's motives for leaving doctriuam, quae ei rnaxime cordi erat, Timotheum carissimum, euudemque sanc- tissimum adhortatur, interposito Dei uomiiie, qui judicaturus est vivos et mortuos, obtestari non dubitat, id quod nisi duros apud homines fieri plerumque non solet." Orlcvnd. xiii. 83. 440 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. India, as given in his letter, did not " make full proof of his ministry." What remains but briefly to lay before you the state view of India, of India, her men ; their religion, morals, and reh- k.n' customs ; in order that you may see how morals, &c. truly Xavier said that he was " of little or no assistance." Extending in length one thousand eight hundred miles from the Himalaya range and the mountain India and her chains which separate the table-land of cen- fortunes. fc^ Asia, Hindostan or India, tapering from its greatest breadth of fifteen hundred miles, penetrates the Southern Ocean like a wedge against its encroach- ments. Innumerable and mighty rivers give fertility to the country, and purify the natives from their sins ; for, to the Hindoos, their streams are so many sacraments of grace, sanctifying and efficient. Every climate that man, the cosmopolite, can relish or endure ; every necessary of life that he needs : every luxury and superfluity that he craves ; in a word, all nature's most bountiful gifts on the face of the land fruits, grain, woods, spices, and flowers ; in the bowels of the earth gold, diamonds, and every precious gem ; in the depths of the ocean- -beautiful pearls, to which the kingdom of heaven hath been likened all hath God given to this favoured region, in his adorable bounty and wisdom. They became the source of endless unrest, bitter misery, and hideous injustice to the favoured children of nature. How many pray for such blessings ! " They know not what they ask." Contentment in our lot constitutes the true blessing to man. From the earliest times a prey for every invader its dynasties rising, and superseded by successful violence, religious craft and cruelty- -India INDIA AND HER FORTUNES. 441 was reached by the adventurous Portuguese in 1498. Vasquez de Gama landed at Calicut, on the Malabar, with three ships, and " took possession ' : of the country in the name of the king of Portugal. Rapidly his sub- jects spread conquest and blood in every direction ; and twenty-four years after the first arrival, the Portuguese commanded the trade of the Indian Archipelago. They had numerous settlements along the Malabar, especially at Goa and Diu, and monopolised the commerce with Europe. The Mahometan hordes were their chief oppo- nents in the conquest ; for the sons of the Prophet had mastered the children of Bramah, whom they treated with the wanton cruelty of eastern despots, and the unscrupulous extortion of fanatics. The Portuguese viceroys and governors took advantage of these " divi- sions " in the land, and with the most frivolous pretences, waged desperately the war of plunder, and winnowed the islands and broad stripes of the continent into the pale of Portugal. This was the result about the time when Xavier landed in India. The arms of Portugal were terrible, if not completely triumphant. The war was destined to be prolonged ; for the Mahometans craved assistance from Constantinople ; and Venice, the Christian republic, jealous of Portugal's increasing com- merce, seconded the appeal of the Turks so uncon- scionable is the lust of gold and induced Solyman, the Grand Turk, to equip and dispatch a powerful arma- ment to the Indian Ocean. 1 We must permit a Jesuit to describe the men of India, as Xavier found them, and converted them by millions. According to this account, and most others, 1 See Dunham, iii. 298, et seq.; Hist, of Spain and Port (Lib. of Ent. Knowl.) p. 106 ; Maffeus, Hist. Indicse, f. 310 ; Pereira, Polit. Indiana, lib. i. 442 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the people were little better than brute beasts, given to all manner of enormities. The least guilty of them The men of seemed to be those who had no religion at all India. no Q. O( J c j ie non Jiavevano ne religione, ne Dio. Most of them worshipped the devil under an inde- cent form, and with ceremonies the most indescribable and disgusting. Some changed their gods every day : what- ever they first met in the morning, a dog, a pig, or a serpent, continued their divinity for the day. Very little encumbered by dress, in that burning clime, their licentiousness was extreme. In many places, not only polygamy was prevalent, but women were held in com- mon, or many men had but one wife among them. Their priests were more exclusive in the matter, but equally depraved, enjoying a privilege, or feudal service, granted to the nobles of France in the days of orthodox legitimacy. 1 I cannot proceed with Bartoli's minute and revolting descriptions ; those who are curious in the matter, must refer to the Jesuit's history. 2 The peculiar customs, civil and religious, of the Hindoos demand attention. They prevail to the present day. Some were so superstitious that they believed them- selves defiled if any one touched them, except in battle ; and to purify themselves from such defilements, they abstained from food until they had thrice plunged in a river. Others would eat only what they cooked themselves, or was prepared by the Brahmins, their priests, who, like all other priests, knew how to make themselves necessary to their dupes. The cow was the object of their peculiar veneration. Those who 1 See Young's Travels in France, i. 20 6, or Alison, Hist, of Europe, i. 172, the note, and the fourth " feudal service" enumerated. 2 DelP Asia, f. 31. INDIAN CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS. 443 maintained the transmigration of souls believed that only souls of the rarest probity enjoyed after death the privilege of passing into the body of a cow. Women threw them- selves on the burning piles of their deceased husbands, according to the rules laid down by their priests and rulers, who had an " interest ' in the thing. This was a hard lot for viduate devotedness : but the women of India brought it on themselves. As elsewhere, there had been a practice in vogue for women to poison their husbands in order to marry again : so a certain king- made the aforesaid law to stay the enormity, which it did, and might do anywhere else, in the absence of better regulations. The custom began as a check to crime : it became, in time, a point of honour and religion, like many other things which we venerate despite their bad beginnings. Famines occur amongst civilised nations with their endless resources ; and they occurred in half-savage or semi-barbarous India, On those occasions, reduced to despair by ravening hunger, men sold themselves for a morsel of bread, mothers bartered their children for a bag of rice, and some desperate father would sell wife and children for fifty rupees. As in civilised countries, the belief in ghosts and hobgoblins was general in India. Against the visitations of these, the poor heathens had amulets and talismans, just as we have holy-water and horse-shoes : on this propensity, at least, a Jesuit apostle might build extensively. But the most important peculiarities of the Hindoos must now be considered. Amongst the very feelings of men, amongst their inclinations, and mental The Castes. taculties, there is a difference 01 rank esta- blished and acknowledged from the lowest to the highest a distinct gradation, of which each individual, who 444 HISTOEY OF THE JESUITS. reflects, is conscious. This is in accordance with pre- valent opinions, or the peculiar intellectual, social, and moral economy in which we are placed : but that resultant is certainly the source whence men have established, or permitted, the different ranks of society. From the very nature of man, as above suggested, any and every society of men collected together, will soon divide itself into ranks, low, high, higher, and highest, according to a set of ideas adapted to the circumstances of the same society : but the ranks of India are the most extraordinary divisions of human nature that can possibly be conceived. These divisions are known by a barbarous corruption of the Portuguese word for race or rank casta, dwindled into caste. The Hindoos are divided into various castes such as, the Brahmins, the Rajpoots, the Benjans, the Yogees, the Soudras, Verteas, Ketris, and Faquirs. The Brahmins are exclusively the servants of the gods : temples and idols are their patri- mony. They hold that there is one supreme God, creator of the universe, and that he engendered three sons, who form but one divinity. To express this num- ber and the unity of nature, they wear a scarf divided into three cords or pendants. His name is Para- brahma, with four other names added to it, expressive of almighty, infinite, eternal, incomprehensible, and self- existent Being. The three Gods resulted through the instrumentality of Aadicumari, or the first Maid or Virgin ; and their names are Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. The first creates, the second preserves, and the third destroys ; and they are the symbols of the earth, water, and fire. Innumerable other symbols or gods there are, or genii in the skies, in the air, in rain, in fire : the god of pleasure, blinding reason ; the genius DESCBIPTION OF THE CASTES. 445 of the sea, ponds, lakes, and rivers ; the divinity who presides over buried treasures, pits, and caves, where riches are concealed ; a god-inspector of the arts me- chanical and manual labour ; god-musicians in the heavens ; malignant sprites delighting in mischief, and detested by the other gods whose name, Rakshasa, the Brahmins gave to the Europeans ; a god of the dead, or the angel of death in fine, there are spectres, and wicked demons, and nymphs without number, good, bad, and indifferent, ever on the wing, inflicting evil or doing good ; and therefore often propitiated by an invitation to eat in their houses. In vast repute were the promulgators of India's religion, the Brahmins. Divine by their descent, they were holy by profession, and omnipotent by prescription : almost, if not completely, worshipped by the people, whose opinions and customs they defended and encouraged for the continuance of their own prosperity. The Rajpoots were the race of cavalry soldiers ; the Ketris were the merchants ; the Benjans were bankers, and have been compared to the Jews in pecuniary skill and dexterity. These Benjans expiate their sins twice a day by bathing. The Yogees are pilgrims or religious vagabonds, wandering from place to place, from kingdom to kingdom, great lovers of solitude and unfrequented places, and are always in the odour of sanctity on account of the great austerities they practise, passing several days without food or drink ; but pronounced to be great impostors by those who were acquainted with many a monkish saint, who did likewise. The Soudras are infantry soldiers. The Verteas are the religious men, the monks of Hindooism. They live in community, and are such observers of poverty that they eat only the remnants from the tables of the i/ >J 446 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. charitable ; they have so great a horror of eating any- thing which has had life, that they drink water hot or when it has boiled, supposing water to have a soul, and believing that they would swallow that soul if not forced away by the fire. In the same intention, they carry always a small broom, with which they brush their path, lest they should trample on a worm. They vow chastity. The Faquirs are another order of Hindoo monks who, during the whole course of their lives, sub- ject themselves to the severest privations or " mortifi- cations." They seldom, if ever, sleep on the ground, or at full length : but mostly on a thick cord suspended in the air and passed betwixt the legs. Some keep their arms always elevated above the head : others pass nine or ten days every month without eating. The most striking fact yet to be recorded is, that, " extravagant as many of these modes and customs are, they never draw down from castes of the most opposite habits and fashions, the least appearance of contempt and ridicule. Upon this point there is, throughout the whole of India, the most perfect toleration, as long as the general and universally respected laws of good beha- viour are not infringed." " With this exception every tribe/' says the Abbe Dubois, a missionary, "with this exception every tribe may freely and without molesta- tion follow its own domestic course, and practise all its peculiar rites." And yet, seeing how evidently all their passions, all their feelings, are invested in their parti- cular systems, is it not wonderful that " persecution " is wanting to give them completeness I The castes of India do not intermarry. A wall of separation is between each. Misconduct is visited with expulsion, and then the culprit becomes a Pariah. PLAN OF XAYIER'S PROCEEDINGS. 447 Exempt from all the restrictions of honour and shame which so strongly influence the other castes, the Pariahs can freely and without reserve abandon themselves to their natural propensities. They are the most numerous " caste " in India the professional bad-livers of Hindoo- ism, accursed of Gods and men. " It follows, therefore, that this division of castes acts as a check on human depravity/' " I am no less convinced," adds Dubois, " that the Hindus, if they were not restrained within the bounds of decorum and subordination by means of the castes, which assign to every man his ernplo}mient, by regulations of police suited to each individual, but were left without any curb to check them, or any motive for applying one, would soon become what the Pariahs are, or worse ; and the whole nation, sinking of course into the most fearful anarchy, India, from the most polished of all countries" says the missionary, " would become the most barbarous of any upon earth." * We have now to see how Francis Xavier undertook to break down the religion of India and its systems, and to build up the religion of Rome on the ruins. It is pretended that St. Thomas the Apostle preached the Gospel in India ; and Maffeus, the Jesuit, tells us that he built a church at Meliapoora, raised a dead boy to life, preached to the Chinese, performed many miracles, built a cross of stone, and prophesied that white men would come one day from the remotest regions, to restore the same faith which he was then introducing. 2 The monks had failed 1 See Description, '&c. of India ; Moreri, Diet. t. vi.; and all the works on India quoted in a former section of the present work, p. 207 et seq. ; also, Bartolomeo's Voyage and Systema Braliminicum. Dubois' chapter on the advan- tages of the castes is well worth reading. 2 Ibidem que defixa lapidea cruce, vaticinatus est, cum ad eum lapidem usque pertingeret pelagus : turn Divino jussu, e remotissimis terris candidos homines 448 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. in their mission : the prophecy was intended for the Jesuits : Xavier had the honour of taking the lead. Draw the curtain et ecce Crispinus the " Apostle of the Indies " appears. Instantly, on the very outset of his mission, Xavier imitates Father Ignatius in his questionable method of Xavier in doing " good." The missionary, wisely enough, the harem. considered it proper to begin with reforming the Christians of Portugal in India, before meddling with the children of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Xavier visited the Portuguese stood in the midst of their harems caressed their children asked to see their mother and had her pointed out to his critical eyes. When she happened to be whitish and well made, he would praise her, and tell her she seemed to be a Portuguese ; then, privately, he would say to her master : " You have here a fine slave, and one who deserves to be your wife." But if she happened to be a black and ugly Indian for colonial tastes are noto- riously indifferent he would say, " Good God ! what a monster you have in your house ! And how can you bear the sight of her \ y ' These words, uttered seemingly without design, generally took effect : the master mar- ried the woman whom the servant of God had praised and drove out the others. 1 A very curious mode of arriving at the result, if in no respect objectionable : but we may be permitted to believe that if Xavier applied no stronger measures of reform, the harems of ad eadem qure ipse intulisset, sacra instauranda ventures. Hist. Indie, f. 37. In the Jesuit Kircher's Chine Ittustree, there is a picture of this cross. Maffeus also tells us that St. Thomas's remains were found by the Portuguese at Melia- poora, and sent to Goa. Ibid. f. 158. All this is of course treated as a fable by the Catholic Moreri, Diet. vi. 323, a. 1 Bouhours, Xavier, i. p. 56. XAVIER'S FIRST MIRACLE AND CONVERTS. 449 the colonies were not depopulated by the discriminating taste of " the servant of God." He set forth with interpreters to preach Christ to the worshippers of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. It was amono'st the Fishermen at Cape Comorin. 1 . . His first They turned a bewildered ear to his incom- miracle and prehensible interpretations : he treated them to a miracle. He found out a woman in labour ; read a portion of the Gospel over her head, baptised her, she was delivered, perfectly cured. 1 Thenceforward he became the physician of the Pagans. As soon as any one fell ill, Father Xavier was called in, baptised, and cured them : but as he could not satisfy all demands in person, he delegated his miraculous powers to a troop of children : they did as well as the apostle : "they touched the patient with their beads or the father's crucifix, and immediately he was cured/' 2 We are not told the exact number of his converts for the first year ; but we are assured that thev were " almost infinite." 3 tj The missioner's method was very simple, when there was no necessity for a miracle. It must be borne in mind that he went first among the rnusket- His method, Christians of the Portuguese converts. When I first came to this coast," says Xavier himself, " my first care was to ask them if they had any knowledge of Christ our Lord \ Then, if they knew the articles of faith ? Thirdly, What they believed ? or what more they had, after being initiated in our faith, than before, when they were gentiles 1 All their answer was that they were Christians ; but that, not understanding our language, they were ignorant of our law, and what was to be believed," Hence it is evident, that these poor 1 Bouhours, Xavier, 59. - Id. ib. 64. 3 "Presque a 1'infini." Id. ib, 75- VOL. I. G G 450 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. wretches had been baptised, or announced themselves Christians, as the Jesuit Martin admitted, without even understanding the language of their " converters " I The dread of the musket was their missionary. Xavier proceeds : " Wherefore, as we did not understand each other sufficiently, since they spoke the Malabar lingo, and I the Celtiberic or Vaziquenza [the Spanish of Biscay], I collected together the cleverest of them, whom I knew to understand both languages. After spending many days together, at last, with great labour, they transfused into the language of the people certain pious prayers the sign of the cross, the declaration of the Trinity, the Apostle's Creed, the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the Angelical Salutation, the Salve Regina, and the Confiteor." 1 Xavier actually employed these pagans to translate these prayers and formulas out of bad Spanish into a language wherein the most skilful minds would find it difficult to escape nonsense and avoid absurdity, in expressing things and ideas totally without representatives in that vernacular. Meanwhile, in the face of Xavier's own admissions, Bouhours boldly says that Xavier translated the prayers, &c., into the language of the Paravas ! 2 " These things being thus given in their language," continues Xavier, "and having well com- mitted them to memory altius med in memorid fiwis I went about the whole city, and collected, with the sound of a bell, all the boys and men I could, promiscuously. I gave them four hours a day, two in the morning, two 1 " Tandem magno labore in linguam gentis illius nonuullas casque pias trans- fuderunt orationes." Epist. Ind. p. 2, et scq. Ed. Louan, 1566. 2 t( II les consulta" says the Jesuit, " plusieurs jours de suite, les uns et les autres ; et, a force de travail, il traduisit en langue des Paravas," &c., p. 60 ; but, in the very next paragraph, he says that Xavier " got by heart what he could," " apprit par coeur ce qu'il put ! " XAVIER'S METHOD OF cox VERSION. 451 in the evening ; and so, in one month, they learned the prayers, which I taught them on this condition, that the boys should teach their parents, and all of them their domestics, what they learned from me." Xavier repeated his lesson, and the pupils did the same after him. " After which, I repeated the Creed, and separat- ing each article from the rest, giving proper time for explanation [by an interpreter, it is to be presumed], I admonished them that to be a Christian was nothing but to believe the twelve articles with a firm and immovable faith. When, therefore, they professed themselves Christians, I asked them if they clung with unshaken faith to the twelve articles of belief ? All of them, men, women, old men and boys, striking their breasts, or making the sign of the cross, answered with a loud voice, *' We believe.' He then enjoined them to repeat the Creed to themselves oftener than the prayers. Then he proceeded to the Commandments. He states that both the Christians and the pagans were in great admiration when they beheld the consummate equity of the divine law, and its concordance with natural reason cum ratione naturali par em symphoniam. The Lord's Prayer and the Hail Mary ensued. The Creed was repeated twelve times, and ten times the Ten Commandments. " First, I declare the article of faith ; then they, in their own language, say with me : ' Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, give us grace to believe the first article of faith, sincerely and without doubt. We beseech thee to give us that faith by the Lord's Prayer/ Then we all say together : ' Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, obtain for us from thy Son the grace to believe this article sincerely and without doubt/ Thereupon we repeat the Hail Mary. 1 Epist. Ind. 3 and 4. G G 2 452 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. This is the method with the remaining eleven articles." A similar process is applied to the Ten Commandments, with the addition of the Lord's Prayer, and another sup- plication to the Virgin adapted to the different object in view, concluding with the Hail Mary. " These are the things which they are taught to ask of God ; and I tell them that should He accord these to their prayers, He will give more than they can hope for or desire. I make them all repeat the Confiteor, particularly those who wish to be baptised. These last, after they have repeated the Creed, and affirm that they believe each article, and have repeated the Commandments, promising to obey them with God's assistance, I baptise, as sufficiently tried tanquam satis e&ploratos, baptizo." * A very expeditious mode of making a Christian out of a son of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, and the ten thousand other gods, with all their social habits inextricably woven into that endless system of gods and genii, devils and sprites, nymphs and hobgoblins. And still more precipitate was the rite if the missioner had to do with Pariahs, who sin by profession. Evidently the same idea occurred to the Jesuit Bouhours ; for he takes very significant liberties with Xavier's text, as above, which he thus interpo- lates :--" I make them say the Confiteor, and principally those who are to receive baptism, who, at my bidding, repeat the Creed. At each article I ask them if they believe without doubting at all ; and when they assure me of the fact, I generally make them an exhortation, which I have composed in their language : it is an abridgment of the doctrines of Christianity, and of the duties of a 1 " Quos postquam symbolum pronunciarunt, et unumquemque se credere affirraant, legis etiam maiidata memorarunt : eaque se servaturos Deo juvante, receperunt : tanquam satis exploratos, baptizo." Epist, Ind. p. 7. XAVIER'S METHOD WITH RELAPSERS. 453 Christian necessary to salvation : at length I baptize them." 1 Xavier wrote nothing of the sort, did nothing of the sort, or Ignatius would not have urged upon him, as we have read, the necessity for more circumspection in admitting the pagans to baptism. Let the above Jesuit-dexterity be a sample of what an extensive reader of their books and histories finds to make him rather more than sceptical as to Jesuit-veracity and honesty. It was the young that Xavier seems to have chiefly enlisted into his service,- -which aggravates the question- able method of " conversion.' 5 He says that ^ ^ His method they were very eager for the faith, and fails with rekpsers not to state that these young converts fre- quently broke out into the most atrocious abuse against the heathens scepe verbis adversus cthnicos atrocissimis digladicntur. " What," says the missioner, " is my hope and confidence, of the mercy of God I doubt not but that these youths will become better than their parents. For if they see their parents taking any steps to return to the ancient worship of the idols, they not only sharply rebuke them, but even bring them to me, for the love of their salvation. In fact, matters have 1 "A chaque article je les interroge s'ils croient sans doubter aucuuement ; et quand ils m'en assurent, je leur fais, d'ordinaire, une exhortation que j'ai composee en leur langue ; c'est uii abrege des dogmes du Christianisme et des devoirs du Chretien necessaires au salut ; eufin je les baptise, 1 ' p. 62. Bartoli gave Bouhours the hint ; but the former has thrown the letter in the form of a narrative, and so avoids the dishonesty of putting words which he never thought of into the missioner's mouth. See Dell' Asia, f. 37. To the above passage this Bouhours adds as follows : " It is evident, from what we first said touching the instruction of the Paravas, that Xavier had not the gift of tongues when he began to instruct them ; but it appears also, that after he had made that trans- lation, which cost him so much, he understood and spoke the Malabar language whether he acquired the knowledge by his labour, or that God gave him the knowledge of it in a supernatural manner" ! p. 62. Is this not too much ? Even for a Jesuit ? 454 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. taken such a turn, that, through fear of the boys, none of the citizens can dare to sacrifice to the idols in the city. For without the city should any one secretly follow the worship of the idols, they search all the hiding-places suspected by the diligence of the Chris- tians, and whoever is caught they bring to me. For this evil, my remedy is no other than the following : I collect a great number of boys, and send them at the thing in hand, in rem prcesentem mittam, where idolatry seems to be renewed. These boys, in the singular and pious zeal which they exhibit towards the faith, heap more abuse upon the devil than their parents had lavished veneration upon him. They pull down the idols and throw them over a precipice, or into the fire. And they play other pranks, which, although it be not proper to relate, still are an honour to the boys, namely, so to play the fool with the god which impelled their parents to such a pitch of madness, as to have and to venerate for God, stones and rocks." There is much in this to digust us with Xavier's method. It would have been much more to the purpose to prevent the relapse into idolatry by more instruction : at all events, the present method only gave " the boys ; an opportu- nity for " playing other pranks/' without being better Christians for their pains : they demolished idols without abolishing idolatry : they dishonoured their parents without honouring God. In the very same letter, Xavier lays claim to mira- culous powers, stating how crowds thronged around and oppressed him with invitations to their houses, to cure the sick by the imposition of hands. It was then that, 1 " Aliaque designaiit, quse quanquam non sit honestum recensero, pueris tamen est honori, ita illudere ei," &c. Epist Ind. p. (>. HE REBUKES AMBITIOUS CHUECHMEX. 455 finding himself, as lie states, unequal to the numerous labours so delightfully vouchsafed to him, he instituted the troop of boy miracle-workers before men- 1 * He rebukes tioned. 1 It was then that he thought of the ambitious academies of Europe and their numerous in- mates, pale with the avarice of science avaritid scien- tiarum duntaxat paUentes, as he forcibly expresses it, wishing that they would come to the vineyard of India, Why do they not exclaim, Lord, here am I, what wouldst thou have me do ? Send me whithersoever thou wishest, even to the barbarous Indian nation separated from all the world. " But I fear/' says he, sarcastically, " I fear that many who apply to their studies in the academies, count on the dignities and episcopal revenues that may result from them, rather than have the intention of doing what dignitaries and bishops ought to do. Everybody says : I wish to apply to study, that I may become a priest, or attain some church dignity. When this is attained, I'll live for God afterwards qua partd, posted Deo vi-vam. Brute-men homines animates (!) who blindly follow their appetites on this account more stupid than a blackamoor : because, neither attending to their own or others' affairs, they forget the will of God If the first-rate theologians in the Academies of Europe only knew the incredible richness of the harvest here, c/ and the deplorable lack of labourers, I doubt not to affirm that they would either send hither those who are not needed at home, or would seek out with all care and solicitude men of tried probity and learning, for this 1 Ibid. But Bouliours and the rest have added the " beads" and " crucifix" by way of a more efficient instrument. Xavier only says per fidem, or that they (.lid cure diseases of body and mind. 456 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. enterprise. In truth, the Christian faith would be embraced by the innumerable souls of myriads who must now perish eternally through our slothfulness and their own sin of infidelity. So great is the multitude of those who here embrace the faith, that often, whilst baptising, my arms, as it were enervated by labour, are fatigued, and I almost lose my voice by hoarseness whilst I rehearse the Articles of Faith, the Ten Commandments, and other prayers, translated into their language, whilst I explain to them the meaning of the word Christian, whilst I speak of paradise, of hell the condition of those who go to the latter place, and the happy lot of those who depart to the former. I am frequently engaged in inculcating the Creed, and the Command- ments of God. It sometimes happens that on the same day I baptise a whole city, eddem die civitatem integram baptizem. Much of this success is to be attributed to the Viceroy of India, both because he is a particular friend and patron of our Society, and spares no expense, or rather takes upon himself, as far as he can, all the labours for the propagation of the faith. By his endeavours, we have now thirty cities of Christians * t/ on this coast. So keenly does that hero hunger and t/ thirst for the conversion of all the infidel nations, that he has lately given four thousand pieces of gold to those who with all diligence profess the truth in the cities of the Christians." l If the reader has attentively read the preceding pages, touching the method adopted by the viceroys to ensure the possession of India, this passage, otherwise so striking, will suggest the whole gist of the argument, as it bears against the 'apostolate " of the Jesuit. One more extract is necessary to give an idea 1 Epist. Ind. 1113. XAVIER'S PORTRAIT, DRAWN BY HIMSELF. 457 of the man the finishing touch to his portrait, drawn by himself. He says : " I will add one word more, namely, that the comforts and joys of those who portrait of evangelise these nations are so great, that w words cannot easily express them. There himself. is even one amongst us [meaning himself] who is not unfrequently filled by God with such delights that he often bursts forth into these exclamations : ' Lord, do not give me so many comforts in this life ; or if, through thy inexhaustible bounty and mercy, thou wilt give them, take me hence to thy glory. For it is too irksome to live afar from thy presence when thou pourest thyself so benignly into creatures.' ' * . . . And finally, praying that all the brethren of the Society so dispersed all over the world, might be hereafter united in glory above, he thus concludes his letter. " That I may obtain this wish, I call to my aid all the holy souls of this country, which being baptised by me, in their innocence have flown from this valley of miseries to heavenly glory, in number more than one thousand. I pray to all these holy souls that they may obtain us the grace whereby, during the whole time of this exile, we may know the most holy will of God, and being known fulfil it with all our might.'' 2 I rather leave it to the 1 " Versatur etiarn inter nos quidanij qui haud infrequenter a Deo ea perfun- ditur voluptate, ut in has seepe prorumpat voces : O Domine, ne tot mihi in hac vita largiaris solatia ; aut si per tuara inexhaustara bonitatem et miseri- cordiam ea dare vis, tolle me hinc ad tuani gloriam. Nam nimia est anxietas, ubi tarn benigne creaturis te infuderis, tarn procul a tuo conspectu vivere." Epist. Ind. 23. 2 " Quod ut obtineam, in auxiliurn voco animas ornnes sanctas hujus regiouis, quse per me baptizatse in sua iunocentia ex hac miseriarum valle ad gloriam evolarunt cselestem, numero plures quam 1000. Has omnes sanctas animas oro, ut nobis gratiam concilient, per quam tolo hujus exilii tempore Dei sauctissimani voluntatem iiitelligamus, intellectamque totis viribus impleamus. Ex Cochim 15 Januarii, Anno 1544, Vestei 1 in Christo charissimus Frater, Franciseus Xavicr." Id. 26, 458 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. reader to form his opinion on this last feature in Xavier's character. It is certainly only fair that he should have his claim allowed on the saints he dispatched to glory, as he says ; but he should have waited until they were canonised at Rome, with miracles attested. Xavier's letters invariably portray an ardent, enthusiastic man, devoted to his calling, and pursuing it with inextin- guishable ardour, or blind determination eager to make " holy souls r by the thousand never so delighted as when his arm sank enervated by baptising his myriads and whole cities in one day and falling or rising into one of these raptures which we have just read, and which must be familiar to all who have sunk below, or soared above, the beaten track of common Christians. 1 But, although constantly disposed to form the best opinion of the man, we are perpetually disgusted with the saint, as the magicians of Jesuitism conjure up por- tents and prodigies in his career, to manufacture an apostle. Let us join them for a while, and unterrified by blue lights and red eyes, rush, with this spirit of a saint, through his brilliant scenes of a magic-lantern, even to the end of the Jesuit's performance. From Cape Comorin the Saint advanced to Travancor, giving expanse to his splendid enterprise. In a very The Saint's short time, forty-five churches were built, and career. ^ Q W h i e coast became Christian having baptised, as he writes himself, ten thousand idolaters in one month about four hundred a-day. In the midst of this splendid success, it was, that his tongue was untied: he received the "gift of tongues " 1 See Bishop Lavington's " Enthusiasm of Methodists and Papists compared," sec. xxi., p. 33, for numerous instances of the thing above alluded to. Or, if I be allowed to appeal to my own experience, see "The Novitiate," pp. 136, e seq. and 224, 2nd Edit. XAVIER'S CAREER OF MIRACLES. 459 -spoke the language of the barbarians without having learnt it, and used it as a thunderbolt to strike down the enemy of his people. The bandits of Bisnagor poured down upon the plains of Travancor. The king of the country went forth with an armed band to meet them : -it was unnecessary. Xavier fell upon his knees,- and then he rose, and advanced, crucifix in hand, upon the coming foe. " In the name of the living God," he cried, with a voice of thunder, " I forbid you to advance I command you to return I" Terror-stricken, back rolled the barbaric host rank upon rank scatter- ing dismay for behold ! there stood before them the semblance of a man unknown in black habiliments of gigantic, supernatural stature frightful aspect, whose eyes shot lightnings. All fled in disorder. 1 Being thus embarked in the career of miracles, Xavier did not grudge his powers : he cured all sorts of diseases and raised four dead bodies to life again two men and two women. " An infinity of Christians " entered the fold of baptism in the face of these portents : but the king of Travancor seems to have had his doubts about the matter he held out for Brahma, though he was wise enough to let his people do as they liked with their conscience, perhaps he thought, that Xavier's black art might serve him in another turn with the bandits. Xavier went on preaching but the waters of bap- tism remained stagnant : his eloquence was in vain : he resolved another miracle. Turning to his audience with the air of inspiration, he exclaimed : " Well ! since you do not believe me on my word, come and see what can make me credible. 1 Cretineau, i. 211. 460 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. What testimony would you have of the truths I pro- claim to you \ r ' He remembers that they had buried a man the day before : then, resuming his address in the same tone, he said ; " Open the grave which you closed yesterday, and take out the body : but see that he who was buried yesterday, is really dead." His command was obeyed: the fact was certain,- -the corpse was decaying. They place it at his feet : the barbarians fix wondering eyes on the thaumaturg. He kneels prays but an instant then speaks the word : " I command thee by the name of the living God, arise in proof of the religion I preach/ 5 At the words, the putrefying dead man rose, not only full of life, but healthy and vigorous. All cried, " a miracle ! " and were baptised on the spot. 1 " Have confidence in Mary/' said he once to a mer- chant going on a voyage, " and these beads will not be useless to you :" Xavier gave the man his chaplet. In the gulf between Meliapoora and Malacca, a furious tempest suddenly raged : sails and masts were shivered by the wind the ship dashed on the rocks and foun- dered. The survivors made a raft : threw themselves upon it their only hope. Scarcely did the merchant (with Xavier's chaplet) touch the raft when he was rapt in ecstacy, " feeling as though he were with Father Francis at Meliapoora/' When he came to himself he was on an unknown coast, safe and sound ; but his companions, where were they ? Perhaps in the sharks' belly sighing for Xavier's chaplet. The Saint's protege did not know what became of his companions ! 2 And a man of death was Xavier as well as of life. He wanted some wine for a sick man. He sent to a 1 Bouhours, i. 86. 2 Id. ib. 126132. XAVIER'S CAREER OF MIRACLES. 461 Portuguese for some. The man gave it reluctantly, for he said he needed it for himself, and hoped the saint would not trouble him again. Any man might say so -you, gentle reader for beggars are sometimes impor- tunate but Heaven grant YOU fall not in the hands of / a Xavier ! Inflamed with a holy indignation, he cried out : " What ! does Araus think of keeping the wine for himself, and refusing it to the members of Jesus Christ ? The end of his life is at hand and after his death all his goods shall be distributed to the poor." He went and announced death to the man and the man died but not immediately. He sickened when Xavier left the place ; and one day, in the midst of the Mass, Xavier turned to the pious ones kneeling, and he said : " Pray for Araus he has just died at Amboyna," which was a great way off. Ten days after the fact was verified ; and all came to pass as the saint predicted. 1 How terrible in his anger is a saint enraged! Beware how you refuse anything to a Jesuit -father your customer may be a Father Francis. That 's the Jesuit-moral of the tale. And a man of war was Francis Xavier. With asto- nishing energy and perseverance he organised a fleet to give battle to the barbarians : miraculous predictions and interpositions attended. The Portuguese boarded the barbaric fleet, gained the victory, slaughtered the crews, six men excepted, who were put to the torture. Two died in the torments ; two were thrown alive into the sea ; and two turned " king's evidence," and gave the requisite information as to their countrymen's 1 " When Calanus, the Indian philosopher, mounted the pile, he said to Alexander, ( l shall meet you again in a very short time.' Alexander died three months after." Lempriere. 462 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. position, deeds, and designs. A dreadful battle ensued : the Mahometans fought with their usual desperation : but of what avail in the unequal fight ? They were routed and massacred : five hundred of Islam nobility the Orobalons, or chosen band of Achen were slaugh- tered or drowned in the river, with all the Janissaries. A glorious victory for the man of God, who had promised the "Christians' victory, enjoining them "to behold Jesus Christ crucified before their eyes, during the battle ! " * Such was the wrath of Xavier the Jesuit, in the matter of Alaradin, the king of Achen. The saint was at Malacca, far away from the field of battle : and he happened to be in the midst of his sermon to a multitudinous congregation. In spirit sud- denly rapt, he beheld the map of battle, blood-traced, before him : his head drooped awhile : then he rose exulting, as he cried, "Jesus Christ has conquered for us the enemy is routed with very great slaughter you shall hear the news next Friday our fleet will soon return." 2 It is useless to state that it came to pass as he predicted. Apollonius of Tyana ! venerable shade ! art thou not indignant, or, rather, feelest thou not ashamed that a Christian should imitate thy craft or magic art ? 3 And ye, dread watches and wizards of old, if your haggard souls still linger on the earth ye have cursed and befouled with incantations hideous as the king ye 1 Bouhours, i. 155170. 2 Id. i. 170, et seq. 3 " Being one day haranguing the populace at Ephesus, Apollonius, the famous magician of old, suddenly exclaimed : < Strike the tyrant, strike him ! The blow is given ; he is wounded and fallen ! ' At that very instant the Em- peror Domitian had been stabbed at Rome." Lempriere. It might easily be shown that all Jesuit-fictions of miracles and piety are founded on classic facts and legends of hagiology. The Jesuits were resolved to make up for time. XAVIER'S CAREER OF MIRACLES. 463 served revengeful, spiteful gorgons ! arise, and be justified a saint owns you for his model. For we read that "a man impelled by rage or animated by the Bonzas, denounced the saint with fierce maledictions ; the saint bore all patiently, as usual, and only said, with an air somewhat sad, to the man who abused him : 'May God preserve your mouth! ' Instantly the wretched man felt his tongue eaten up by a cancer, and there streamed from his mouth matter and worms with a horrible stench. ' If he thus effectually stopped the tongues of others, he gave to his own the speech of ten : for " he could by a single expression, answer ten different questions, put by as many inquirers, and this not on one occasion, but very frequently." 2 Chinese he spoke without having learnt it, and he twanged Japanese as glibly as a native. He turned salt water into fresh and gave it mira- culous power to cure, " for it was only necessary to put two or three drops of it into any drink, in order to recover one's health." It was during a voyage : but a more wonderful thing than that was to come to pass. A child of five years fell into the sea, and we may add (though not so stated) that he was drowned. The father of the child grieved bitterly then ; and, as the miracle of the water had not converted the Mahometan, Xavier asked him if he would promise to believe, should his son be restored ? The infidel promised. Three days after the child was seen on the deck. Six days had he tarried in the deep rolling wave, 'mid insatiate sharks of that tro- pical sea- -yet he waited unharmed in the crystal caverns thereof, for the saint's command, and when he appeared he knew not whence he came, nor how he came, 3 like 1 Bouhours, torn. ii. 13. - Id. ii. 32. 3 Id. ii. 128. 464 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Berthalda in De la Motte's most beautiful " Undine," the fisherman's child, by the malignant Kiihleborn snatched or enticed from a fond mother's arm. 1 And gigantic seemed Xavier, like Kiihleborn, when he baptised the harvest of this thrilling portent for " though he touched the deck with his feet, yet did he overtop, by the head entire, the tallest in the ship, as he poured the sacred waters on their brows. 2 Thus he answered the Divine question and did " add one cubit unto his stature."! Matt. vi. 27. All nature was subject unto him ; but the arms of the devils were permitted to cripple him : " One night, as the saint was praying before the image of the Virgin, the devils attacked him in crowds, and belaboured him so roughly, that he remained half dead with the blows, and was forced to keep to his bed for some days after/' There can be no doubt about this, for a young Malabarese, who slept near the church, was roused by the noise, and distinctly heard the blows, whilst Xavier cried for succour to the Virgin : nay, more, the young convert sometimes would quiz the saint on the subject ! 3 And thou, universal demon, limping on three legs, impure Asmodeus ! 4 What hadst thou in Father Francis 1 " One night, Simon Rodriguez awoke, and saw Xavier, who was sleeping at the foot of his bed, fling out his arms in a dream, like a man who violently repels some one importunately advancing : he even saw blood gushing abundantly from Xavier's mouth and 1 See Undine," by De la Motte Fouque. 2 Bouhours, ii. 129. 3 " Les redisait quelquefois a Xavier, par une espece de moqucrie innocente" -Id. i. 108. 4 Le Sage's " Diable Boiteux," with two natural legs, and one of wood. The conceit is full of meaning. XAVIER'S CAREER OF MIRACLES. 465 nose." Reader, canst thou opine the cause, physiological, moral, or metaphysical 1 If thou canst not guess, Xavier will tell thee : " Know, then, Brother Simon, that God, by a wonderful mercy, hath, till now, done me the grace of preserving me in perfect purity, and that, on the night in question, I dreamt that, being in a tavern, an immodest girl approached me. That motion of my arms was to repel and get rid of her, and the blood I threw up was caused by the effort I made." 1 I believe St. Chrysostom describes a virgin as " breath- ing fire/' and there is or was a notion that a lion would never mangle a virgin : but even fierce tigers slunk off at the sight of Xavier. St. Patrick, with his toads and serpents must now " pale his ineffectual fires." The island of Sancian was infested with tigers. " One night the servant of God went forth to meet them, and espying them near, he threw holy water upon them, and ordered them to go away, and never to appear again. The whole troop took to flight, and since then tigers have not been seen in the island." 2 Catholics may be found who believe this, just as there are Hindoos who ascribe a similar virtue to their religious men. The Hindoos affirm that even the wild beasts of the forest respect them ; and when the force of their holiness is transcendental, the wild beasts come volun- tarily to their hermitage, lick their hands, fondle and lie by them for hours ! 3 Finally, there was in the castle of Xavier, in Navarre, an old crucifix of clay ; and during the last year of the saint's life, this crucifix 1 Bouhours, ii. 202, ct scq. Plutarch somewhere says that the proof of virtue is when we resist temptation in a dream. 2 Bouhours, ii. 1 34. 3 See " The Hindoos," p. 66 ; Heber, Narrative, ii. 265, et seq. ; Ward, iii. 342. VOL. I. H H 466 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. sweated blood abundantly every Friday : but ceased to sweat at his death. In fact, it had been remarked that when Xavier worked extraordinarily hard, or was in great danger, this crucifix distilled blood on all sides " as if when the apostle was suffering for the love of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ had suffered for him in his turn all impassible as He is." I 1 The mind of blasphemy can no farther go in the estimation of the Protestant : but no blasphemy was intended by the inventor of this explanation. It is ever the practice of devoteeism to extol its idols even to the throne of the Eternal. Possessed with the idea whose " end ' seems so good and holy, the devotee shrinks not even from lowering the Divinity to the level of his conventional notions to honour his hero, whom he believes supremely honoured by the king of Heaven. The Jesuits thought it necessary, or at least, very expedient, to have in their Society the greatest apostle that ever existed, or could possibly exist and decidedly they have produced one on paper at least. Meanwhile, in the present stupendous prodigy before us, they evince their classic associations, which, as I have before remarked, have always administered to their pious inventions. One of their numberless writers on numberless subjects, Father Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, of the Company of Jesus, wrote a very curious little work, entitled " Curious Philosophy and Treasury of Wonders/' 2 of which, more hereafter : but in chapter the fifty-seventh you will find a discussion whose title is, " Whether it is natural 1 " Comme si, lorsque 1'apotre souffrait pour 1' amour de Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ eut souffert pour lui a son tour, tout impassible qu'il est." Boukours, ii. 146, etseq. 2 " Curiosa Filosofia," p. 56. This is indeed as curious a book as was ever written a most entertaining medley of everything possible or contingent. XAVIER GOES TO JAPAN. 467 for statues to distil blood, to sweat, and groan;' and lie gives, from the ancients, very many instances of such facts in general, and of one in particular, when, before the battle of Actium, the statue of Marc Antony sweat blood, vertio sangre una estahia de Marco Antonio. He draws a distinction between natural and miraculous or superstitious sweat, and, without assigning any proof whatever, he places in the miraculous, the sweat of the Xavier-crucifix, whilst he flings amongst the super- stitious all the similar sweatings recorded by Livy, Plutarch, Cicero, Ammianus, Suetonius, Dion, Valerius Maximus, as being doubtful son dudosos. You per- ceive he does not deny them utterly : the reason is, because his object in all his Wonders of Nature is to show the reasonableness of the mvsteries beyond man's i/ t/ comprehension ; and if, among the many of his Church, he edges in the Xavier-crucifix, we must, perhaps, excuse the devotee in the dexterous Jesuit. After all that you have just read in this stupendous career of the sainted apostle, you will scarcely bear to reminded that Xavier left the scene of his Xavier goes miraculous labours, his sainted souls by the to Japan its *-f 4-" thousand, his saints in all his converts, his entrancing raptures left all, in utter disgust with " the thick-headedness of the Indians and their propensity to enormous vices," and with the conviction, expressed in as many words, that he was of little or no use to the mission ! l And so he did. He left them, to pay an apostolic visit to the Japanese. His reasons, besides the aforesaid disgust, are so ingenuously expressed, that I am sure you will read them with comfort. " I have 1 "Quibus in locis parum videor posse adjumenti afferre . . . quod magna sit Indorum hebetudo in his locis et immanibus infecti sint sceleribus . . . ." &c. Epist. Jap. 1. H H 2 468 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. been informed by many," says he, " of an island, Japan, situated near China, inhabited by heathens alone, not by Mahometans, nor by Jews ; and that it contains men endowed with good morals, most inquisitive men, intel- ligent, eager for novelties respecting God, both natural and divine novelties concerning God. I have resolved, not without great pleasure of mind, to see that island also ; because I am of opinion, that, in this place, the fruit and edifice of the faith (the foundation being once laid) will last for many myriads of years." In this last opinion Xavier was, as we shall see, most miserably too sanguine ; but, as to the character of the people, he had not been incorrectly informed. In Japan, a more intel- lectual, a more enthusiastic race of humanity consoled him for his disappointments in India. If any character- istic besides these mentioned by Xavier was most honourable to the Japanese, it was their universal spirit of inquiry. They were ready to listen to all who had anything to say on the matter of religion, and the most extensive toleration permitted every man to choose what religion he pleased. In such a state of public and govern- mental opinion, is it not surprising to read that there were only twelve different sects in Japan, amongst a population of about nine-and-twenty millions, without a Bossuet to note and celebrate contemptuously their glorious Variations their respectable prerogative of being wrong, if they pleased, rather than right, to please their neighbours. There is no doubt that the Portuguese had an eye, a longing, a watery eye on Japan. As Xavier remarked there were no Mahometans there to interfere with their conquests, without the chance of converting them into 1 Epist. Jap. i. JAPAN AND HER PEOPLE. 469 " Christian ' subjects of Portugal and slaves of her adventurers. Conquest would be less than easy, if the people could be first induced to adopt the religion of the wholesale plunderers of nations. The plan, if not con- cocted by the Viceroy of India, was, we may be sure, gladly countenanced by the representative of Portugal's zealous rapacity. From Alfonso de Sousa, the Viceroy whom Xavier praises so highly, to the one he left in India, there had been always the best understanding, the heartiest concurrence, between " the man of God ' and the servant of the king, One of them, Dom Joao de Castro, died in the arms of the missioner. 1 I. Japan is a cluster of islands, left by the ocean oppo- site the coast of China. The cluster, taken together, look like beavers basking on the waters: j apanaiu iher the people were and are as industrious as P e P le > &c - those clever builders. Their country leaves them nothing to desire, in necessaries, comforts, and luxuries ; and their industry makes the most of the gifts of nature. Abject indigence is unknown : beggars are scarcely, if ever, seen : they have no human caravans, menageries, or unions. The testimony of all who have frequented these islands attest their happy lot, from the earliest times of European visitation : all agree that there are few nations who can more easily do without others than the people of Japan ; and, what is better still, they know the value of this independence. It is a moun- tainous country, rocky, rough, and barren by nature : but the industry, the indefatigable labours of the people, have laughed at their difficulties, and fertilised their very rocks themselves, scarcely covered with a sprinkling of earth. Admirably watering the country by rivers, lakes, 1 Andrada, Vida de Joao de Castro, p. l.)0. 470 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. and fountains, nature assists, expands, and fructifies their labours : they have in abundance fruits of all sorts, grain, roots and legumes. Earthquakes shake them anon : volcanoes blaze overhead : but the people have got used to them ; and when this is the case, in all things, the cir- cumstance becomes a natural condition, in which we swim or fly as the contented birds and fishes of all-wise, all-good Providence. Gold, silver, copper, tin, iron, precious stones, pearls, and coal, the great civiliser, are the abundant products of Japan. The people excel in all manner of handiwork : their name is given to the finest varnish. Beautiful and spacious roads, vast numbers of hostelries for the wayfaring traveller, a teeming popula- tion l in prosperity were the first pleasant things remarked by the stranger, and then he discovered that in no country in the world was a people better disci- plined, more willing to work, more accustomed to labour, more inured to subordination, than the people of Japan. 2 But they were vile pagans, idolaters, deists, theists, everything and anything, as they pleased, as you will presently perceive, and had to go through the ordeal of the Jesuits to be converted into saints, and then to be slaughtered in millions, by way of thinning the popula- tion ; for such a motive is quite as probable to account for the Japan "persecution " of the Christian converts as the one invented by the Jesuits, namely, sheer hatred to Christianity. Whithersoever the Jesuits ever went, slaughter invariably followed. It was necessary that " the men of God " should go to heaven to find a cause for the misfortune. Much-abused Providence came in 1 " Keempfer says that he visited a village whose entire population consisted of sons, grandsons, and great-grand children, all from one uiau, who was still living : he adds that they were all good-looking, well made, polished, civil, and having courtly manners."- Oh a rhvoix, Hist, clu Jap. i. 17. ' Id. i. MORAL CHAEACTER OF THE JAPANESE. 471 for the blame, and a bountiful good God was represented as delighting in the blood, the horrible dread ghastly tortures of his creatures, fooled and made wretched by the infatuation or criminal perversity of their teachers. II. Xavier himself gives us the highest character of the people. " As far as my own experience has hitherto extended," he writes to the Brethren, " the Moral cha- pagan people of Japan excel all other nations racier of the lately discovered in virtue and probity. They are exceedingly tractable, and very much averse to trickery." He attests their high estimation of dignity, their philosophical contentment with a little, their habitual politeness to each other, their readiness to assert the point of honour or to redress an injury, Temperate in eating, if they indulge more freely in drink, they vigorously avoid all gambling " being persuaded that nothing is more unbecoming a man than a pursuit which renders the mind covetous and rapacious. If ever they swear, which is very seldom, they swear by the sun. Many of them can write, whereby they are more easily imbued in the rites of Christianity' adds the conclusive / apostle. " Each man is content with one wife. They are naturally extremely inclined to all probity and friendliness ; and being very desirous of learning, they most willingly listen to discourses concerning God, par- ticularly when they understand what is said. I have never seen any people, either among barbarians or Christians" says Xavier, " so averse to thieving. Most of them follow the opinions of certain ancient philo- sophers of theirs : some adore the sun, others the moon. Their conscience is regulated by the dictates of right nature and the probabilities of reason. 1 I find the 1 At least such is my interpretation of Xavier's crabbed expression : " Ut 472 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. common people much less impure, and much more obedient to right reason, than their priests, who are called Bonzas." Then follows a list of the infamous practices to which these priests were addicted : it is totally unfit for translating, or even publication in the original. 1 Thus we find that the natural disposition of the people was anything but anti-Christian. A Jesuit has not been as illiberal towards them, as the Society's latest historian, Cretineau-Joly, who says that " charity was a virtue unknown amongst these people." 2 By a curious coincidence, the very last word before this sen- tence in the page, is the name of the Jesuit Almeida, who tells the contrary in a pleasant and edifying adven- ture. " I shall add but one remark," writes Almeida, " whence you may easily judge how great is the inclina- tion of the Japanese to humanity and religion. When fatigued by my journey, almost overcome by disease, I tarried in a certain city of the barbarians. I felt no desire for food ; still, lest I should entirely succumb,- loathing their rice and putrid fish, (for such is the food of the natives) I sent some one to buy eggs. He brought me the eggs and the money also. When I asked why quidque natures maxime consentaneum est, ita facillime assentiuntur, et acqui- escunt, si peccati cujuspiam, ratione probabili convincuiitur." 1 Epist. Jap. 1. i. p. 60'. Strange ! that in all countries, in all times, from the beginning, the motto has been constantly, " Do as I say, and not as I cZo." as inter- preted by the deeds of the priesthood pampered in luxury, caiionically independent, and prescriptively reverend to their dupes. The description of the Bonzas, those monks of Japan, as Xavier suggests, applies equally to the monks of Christendom in the days of their glory. (See Mosheim, Ecc. Hist. ii. 8 ; and D'Aubig- Reform, i. c. 3.) Since then " virtue " has been at a premium, by the force of circumstances ; and we hear somewhat better things of the " holy fathers." Monkish corruptions are the grand stand of anti- Catholic writers ; but they are here alluded to in no party spirit whatever. The meaning of the text is universal ; a cowl is not essential to the monkery here in view. 2 " La charite etait une vertu iuconnue dans ces contre'es." Crctineau-Joly, i. 479. JAPANESE RELIGION AND SECTS. 473 the money was returned, he said that the barbarians would not sell the eggs on that day because it was their sabbath (dies festus) but that as they were wanted for a sick man, they made me a present of them/' 1 How many examples of the kind would be found in a Christian city of modern civilisation ? And may we not see in this trait that religion is something implanted spontaneous evoked promoted by the Creator ; that charity disdains not the pagan heart : that unso- phisticated man ivitt find his brother, and bless him too : in fine, that God has nowhere left his creature a prey to unmitigated selfishness absorbing egotism unbridled passions. In the wilds of the savage, as in the gorgeous cities of Christendom, with all their crimes, vices, and desires, still, in all times, there have always been found " ten just men/' except in the four doomed cities of old ; and then so horrible was the fact, so contrary to nature, and nature's God, that those cities were utterly blotted out from the map of humanity sunk into depths unknown, over which the Dead Sea rolls and will roll for ever. III. Besides the sun and moon, various animals were worshipped in Japan. All men who had contributed to people and civilise the country became Religion and objects of veneration after death. All who JaftVchris" had made good laws, introduced some art or tianit > T -" science, or a new religion, had temples and worshippers in Japan. The greater part of the aristocracy were considered atheists, and materialists : but, whatever their belief, all openly made profession of some sect or other, and failed not to comply with any of the practices it- prescribed. Even the devils had their worshippers in 1 Epist. Jap. lib. iii. Alois. Almeida, 1561. 474 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Japan : but then, they paid their respects to them in order to appease them, and to deprecate injury, not to deserve a blessing. " What is astonishing/' says the Jesuit Charlevoix, " is that, in the midst of this shapeless chaos of religion, traces of Christianity were perceptible. We have scarcely a mystery, not a dogma, not even a pious practice, with which the Japanese did not seem to be acquainted." 1 In Charlevoix's extensive history of Japan you will find his assertion proved, and accounted for, with a theory based on the imitative propensities of the Japanese, together with their " love of novelties concerning God, both divine and natural' 1 on which Xavier built great hopes of success. He was not disappointed. By the introduction of a convert, the apostle was most kindly received, as he states, by the magistrates of the country and all the people. Xavier found this convert of immense use, for he became the very pattern of zeal, and made the most Method of orthodox application of the standing method. conversion. jj e visited a certain native chieftain and "took with him," says Xavier, " a painting of Christ the Lord, and the most Holy Virgin Mother. The king was greatly pleased with the visit .... and falling on his knees he adored the image with supplication, and com- manded all present to do the same." 2 1 Hist, du Japon. i. 163. 2 Epist. Jap. As an instance of Jesuit trickery, take the following. Xavier simply says in this letter : " The chieftain's mother having seen the painting, admired, and was greatly pleased with it : so, a few clays after Paul returned to Cangoxima, the woman sent some one to have a copy taken of it, in some manner : but there was 110 art'st." Bouhours thus expands the passage : " He (the chief- tain) had the picture taken to the queen, his mother. She was charmed with it, and prostrated herself by the same instinct, with all the ladies of her suite, to salute the Mother and the Son : but, as the Japanese women are still more curious XAVIER'S METHOD IN JAPAN. 475 Indeed this convert, Paul by name, seems to have done all the work at first he was the beginner, in fact, of Xavier's Japanese Apostolate ; for the apostle did not enjoy the gift of the Japanese tongue by inspiration; nor did he ever pretend to anything of the sort : he was always attended by a convert native or an inter- preter, until he thought himself competent in the language he had to speak. On the present occasion he distinctly acknowledges that he was dumb nos vide- licet obmutescimus and was compelled to become a child again, to learn the elements of the language dumque hujus lingua elementa perdpimus, cogemur quasi repuerascere. 1 Nor was this the only human and sensible method to which Xavier had recourse in his apostolate. When he went to the king at Amanguchi, he put on a new and elegant dress, and took expensive and curious presents, "a clock that struck the hours, a very harmonious musical instrument, and other works of art, whose value con- sisted entirely in their rarity ; J and with vast pomp than the men of Japan, she put a thousand questions about the Virgin and Jesus Christ. This gave Paul an opportunity of relating all the life of our Lord ; and this recital pleased the queen so much, that a few days after, when he returned to Cangoxima, she sent him one of her officers to have a copy of the picture she had seen. But there was no painter to do what the princess required. She asked that they would, at least, write her an abridgment of the principal points of the Christian religion, and Paul contented her therein." ii. p. 5. Something like the last sentence is all that is to be found of this Jesuitism in Xavier's letter: " She even asked us to write out the heads of the Christian faith. Paul applied to the task some days, and wrote much in the Japanese language." Not one word of the flourish is to be found in the letter ! And so it is in all Jesuitism unto the sickening of the heart. The additions made to the interview with the chieftain (regulus) are still more Jesuitical and full of fiction. 1 Epist. Jap. The Jesuits here put in a qualification, determined to make Xavier consistent with their fictions. " The Holy Ghost assisted him in an extraordinary manner on these occasions .... and we may say that the facility with which he learnt so many languages of the barbarians, was almost equal to a permanent gift of tongues." Bouhours, ii. G. 476 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. and circumstance he presented letters from the governor and bishop of the Indies to the king, "in which the Christian faith was much praised ; ' protesting that his only motive was to preach the faith. The king liberally granted permission, by a public edict ; and even gave Xavier and his companions an old uninhabited monastery of the Bonzas. * It may readily be conceived that such patronage was of immense importance to the mission, and that Xavier made the most of the opportunity. Vast was the concourse to hear the new teachers. " All proposed their doubts and disputed the points with such vehemence, that most of them were out of breath/' 2 Amongst such a nation Xavier could scarcely fail to be successful according to his fashion ; and in Japan he left the best monument of his fame to endure until the imprudence or culpable conduct of his followers, united to the probable jealousy of some avaricious Dutchmen, involved the total ruin of Christianity in Japan. Miracles, of course, he performed ; received the gift of tongues, raised a dead girl to life, and achieved other prodigies, all so similar to what we have read, that we may conclude his apostolate with the following sum total, according to the computation of the Jesuit Francis Xavier de Feller. " What is the life of Xavier," says his name-sake Feller, "but a chain, a continual succession of prodigies 1 It would Jesuit sum ^ e ^ ne recital of his whole life to relate his total. miracles. Sometimes he suddenly cures dis- eases, and then he raises the dead to life. Sometimes he stills the tempest by touching the sea with his crucifix, and then he saves the vessel from imminent wreck, by invoking the name of God. He sees things far away,- he 1 Bouhours, ii. 28. 2 Id. ii. 29. JESUIT SUM TOTAL. 477 predicts the future, he reads the secrets of hearts. His face is radiant with glory, his body is raised above the ground, he is, at the same moment, in two countries far distant from each other. By a single answer he silences the most numerous and most dissimilar objec- tions, his language becomes different in the ears of each hearer, his dialect is made that of all nations, and the dialects of all nations are his. Here he stops a pesti- lence ; there he overturns hostile armies, or stops them at once by presenting them the image of the Cross. And all this is so frequent, so common, that people are almost no longer astonished thereat, and it is a sort of prodigy when he no longer performs one. Xavier entirely abandoned himself to God, and it seems that God abandoned his power to Xavier. All the elements heard his voice, executed his commands, took the move- ment, took the disposition he pleased, as if he were their master, and as if God had established him the absolute arbiter of the world." 1 Every sentence of the foregoing flourish has its facts or fact in the saint's biography. Very few of them are given in Acosta's book, published about twenty years after his death ; the miraculous mass descended at the apostle's canonisation, in 1622, by Gregory XV., when the Jesuits were rising to the pinnacle of their influence over kings, popes, and nations. Judging from the rapidity of his locomotion, it seems to have been Xavier's object rather to sow or scatter the faith, leaving to his successors the task of watering, trimming, and nourishing unto fruit. How far this result followed will appear in the sequel. 1 Feller, Eloge de St. F. Xavier a tissue of extravagance and raving absurdity. 478 HISTOBY OF THE JESUITS. Xavier sped from country to country, impelled by his natural ardour and his soul's ambition. Restless, tor- mented by the passion of soul-conquest, his excitement in the desire to reach China, his ceaseless longing, seems to have brought on a fever- -he died disappointed the fate of all ambition. On a desert mountain in the island of Sancian, opposite the coast of Quang- tong, about three years after visiting Japan, Xavier ended the dream of his restless life. He died in sight of another kingdom which he had long promised to his spiritual ambition : the conversion of China was the last desire of his soul. He was spared the disappoint- ment, for he was totally unfitted for an undertaking whose endless difficulties became evident when the Jesuits subsequently made the attempt. His age was forty-six. He stood " a little above the middle height," l his constitution robust, his countenance agreeable and majestic. He had a fine complexion, broad forehead, a well-proportioned nose, blue eyes, but brilliant and piercing ; his hair and beard were dark chesnut ; he was grey in the last year of his life. 2 Appropriately is he styled "the Alexander of the Missions : " the hero of Macedon was his prototype in An estimate ra pidity and instability of conquest ; and, like of Xavier. Alexander, he bequeathed his nominal con- quests to his followers, who would battle for the spoil, and strive, with equal determination, but more question- able means, to ratify their claims. Generously trampling on the disgust produced by his unscrupulous biographers, let us do honour to the man, 1 This is contradicted by another Jesuit, evidencing the saint's mummy, still preserved at Goa : some say he was tall ; others, of the middle height : but no biographer says he was diminutive. The reader will see the importance of this fact in the sequel. : Bouhours, ii. 145. AN ESTIMATE OF XAVIER. 479 though we despise the saint. His journeys alone, like those of the benevolent Howard, set the imputation of questionable motives at defiance ; all that he did, he did heartily, and, unfortunately, but too consistently with the blighting superstitions of the age, its most defective Christianity. The heart and energy of Xavier needed neither Jesuit-miracles nor exaggeration to ensure this praise of posterity. A blessing, therefore, on his name, as one of the civilisers of mankind, if we may doubt some of the facts detailed in his biographies, seeming to fix on Xavier the charge of fierce blood-thirstiness, injustice, severity unchristian, in his famed apostolate. The facts are before the reader. Setting aside the bladder-puffed exaggerations with which his life and adventures have been filled leaving them to the romantic credulity of those whose faith is not in their own keeping eschewing those oratorical displays, or despicable equivocations, I admire the wonderful energy of the man who braved every peril, surmounted every obstacle, endured every privation, in doing what he deemed his work, by God appointed. God alone can estimate those motives, whose roots are in Heaven whose branches overhang all humanity whose fruits yield us life here and hereafter. As an " apostle," his conquests were too rapid. What he is said to have done in ten years, has not been effected even in the three hundred years elapsed since his death, when he left the work to be recommenced. But, alas ! how many seem still to believe that the mere rite of baptism administered to the heathen, converts him into a Christian ! - - and a heathen too of India, whose mythology is inextricably interwoven with all his social 480 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. habits, pains and pleasures, life and death. Of the hundred and forty millions of India's population, there are but twelve millions of Christians ; ten millions Protestant, and two millions Catholic, 1 whereof the large majority is European. Very shortly after the death of Xavier the instability of his Indian Apostolate was made evident. Among his first wholesale conversions was that of the islanders of More, one of the Moluccas, or rather the chief of a cluster of islands more to the eastward. Many of the inhabitants had been previously baptised ; but, at the time of his visit, Xavier found them as fierce and savage as ever. He gathered them together, sang to them the Christian doctrine in verse, and so successfully explained it to them, that " they con- ceived the whole perfectly." " He visited every town and hamlet ; there was not one where the infidels" says Bouhours, " did not plant crosses and build churches." In one town alone he converted 25,000 souls, and called the place " The Island of Divine Hope." To strengthen this divine hope of his, he would lead his disciples to the brink of the volcanoes in the island, and give them an idea of hell by a practical lecture, with the masses of burning rock shot from the crater, the flames and pitchy smoke blackening the face of day, as the striking symbols of the fact. " He told the trembling neophytes that the craters of these volcanoes were the ventilators of hell ; " and, in a letter to his Roman brethren, he wrote as follows : " It seems that God himself has wished, in some sort, to discover the place of the damned to a people who had no other knowledge of it." How his Roman brethren must have smiled at 1 Lettres Edif. et Curieuses. Observ. Gener. t. ii. p. 792. b. Panth. Litt. RELAPSES INTO PAGANISM. 481 the idea, with Vesuvius and JEtna so near, foaming and blazing over the Sybarites of Christendom, actually yielding them brimstone, so useful to strike a light in the " darksome places " of secret crime and profligacy. The barbarians fancied that their earthquakes were caused by the souls of the dead underground ; Xavier denied this, and told them the real cause- -namely, " the devils eager to destroy them." He remained three years among the islanders of More. 1 Well, three years afterwards these islanders renounced the faith, profaned the churches, knocked down the crosses, and submitted to the King of Gilolo, a neighbouring island. The arms of Portugal then took up the battle of the cross. Famine, pestilence, the volcanoes, conspired to make the conquest easy ; the Jesuit Beyra was in the expedition of the Portuguese ; he offered reconciliation to the apostates, who begged pardon with the hope of mercy, and " embraced, in their turn, the Catholic religion." 2 This took place in 1555, three years after the death of Xavier. In the very year of his death, and on the coast of the Fishermen (where Xavier is said to have been so universally successful), two Jesuits were killed by the barbarians. 3 Had Xavier been less anxious to gain than to ground his converts, the result might have been somewhat different ; he had a virgin-soil to cultivate, and, perhaps, with his fortunate concomitants, he ought to have done more than the Jesuits themselves have affirmed more than clamorous facts attest. From India, where, by the testimony of the Jesuits (as we have seen), he effected little, Xavier rushed to Japan. There, a more intellectual, a more enthusiastic 1 Bouhours, i. 140 144. - Cretineau, i. 475. :i Ibid. VOL. I. II 482 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. race consoled him for his disappointments in India by a liberal reception and acquiescence in the doctrines he preached, probably on account of the great similarity in many points which existed between the formalities of the Roman religion and that of Japan. 1 Xavier died in 1552. He was entombed at Goa, but his remains were removed in the year 1782. Great pomp attended the ceremonial. " The body o was found entire," says a Jesuit, " the feet and entire. j e g g m g 00( j con dition, and may be touched (palpabks) ; the head is covered with its skin, but dry, and in some places the skull is visible. Still, the phy- siognomy is not entirely effaced ; and, if desired, a portrait might still be drawn from it ; the arm and left hand are in tolerable condition, and placed on the breast. He is dressed in priestly robes, which still seem new, although the chasuble 2 was a present of the Queen of Portugal, wife of Peter II. 3 It may be observed, that the saint was of very diminutive stature ; his feet have remained rather black, perhaps because he used to make all his journeys with naked feet. The right foot wants two toes, which have been stolen by a pious theft ; it is known that the right arm is at Rome. 1 Xavier, in 1549, wrote as follows : "The people of Japan are much given to superstitions : and a great part of them live in monasteries (in coenobiis) almost after the manner of monks. Those, for the sake of religion, are said not to taste either flesh-meat or fish : wherefore we, by the advice of our com- panions, lest the barbarians should be scandalised in us, bethink ourselves of a severe diet there should circumstances require it." Epist. Japon. lib. i. They had a sort of hierarchy too, not unlike that of Rome. Ibid. lib. iii. Cosrn. Turren. 1561. There were nuns as well as monks, similarly clad to those of Europe. 3 Priest's outer -garment. 3 Perrin says that it is the custom for the Queens of Portugal to embroider with their own hands this priestly garment for the mummy. It is renewed every twenty years : the old one thus made miraculous, of course, is sent to the court to be " divided " as may be thought proper. PRETENDED MUMMY OF XAVIER. 483 " When the body was thus exposed, the assistants kissed it, one after another, with veneration, and with- out confusion ; they also touched it respectfully with handkerchiefs, chaplets, and crosses. After which the coffin was closed, and it was placed in a crystal urn destined to receive it. Then the Te Deum was sung, and the body remained exposed to public veneration on the alcove placed in the middle of the church." .... As the body dried and seemed to suffer from the air, light, and heat occasioned by the crowd which so pious a ceremony attracted, the Jesuit thinks that the exhibition of the remains would not be often repeated. The above is an extract from the Lettres Edijiantes et Curieuses, Missions de I'Inde. The preservation of the saint's body is attributed to his " chastity and virginity " "non leni argumento indicat castimoniam viri, ac vir- ginitatem" says Acosta. 1 But when the ruffians of the French Revolution broke open the tombs of royalty at St. Dennis, the embalmed body of Henry IV. was so entire, that it was instantly recognised, from the prints, by the spectators ; and the two deep gashes made by the dagger of Ravaillac still yawned almost as clean as when the regicide's blade sought the soul of the " good Henri." 2 His preservation, however, cannot exactly be attributed to chastity and virginity, as Father Cotton could too well testify, and all the world knows. Light, air, and heat are the great analysers of nature ; their experiments are always going on, and with certain results. Corruption, under their influence, is only the elimination of essential gases, destined to enter into 1 Rer. in Orient, p. 14. " Duval, Jour, de la Ter. ; see Alison, Hist, of Europe, vol. iv. p. 146, new edition. i i 2 484 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. new combinations for the support of vegetable and animal life. Thus are we, in spite of ourselves, useful in death ; and the most pampered bodies run fastest to decay ; whilst unencumbered muscle, particularly when death ensues suddenly, or after a short illness, resists the chemical action of the dissolving agents denied full play, as in the case of "Xavier's body "in its snug mausoleum. The story invented by the Jesuits about the body being first unconsumed in quicklime is simply absurd ; though Xavier's abstemiousness in eating and drinking may have been his preservative in death as well as in life. He sel- dom eat meat, and often lived two or three days on a single loaf of bread. 1 I say the assertion about the quicklime failing to do its duty was absurd, but we are by no means sure that the mummy venerated is Xavier's. Xavier, say the biographers, was above the middle size, whilst the mummy proves, according to the Jesuit account just given, that the person whose it is, was of very diminutive stature -de stature tres basse ! Let the Jesuits reconcile the contradiction. It is astonishing how these men have taxed human credulity. They even say that when Xavier's body was exhumed, three months after burial, " it emitted various scents of wonderful sweetness," 2 and that by invoking its aid in a storm as they sailed with it to Goa, the ship was saved from destruction ! 3 The numerous miracles " proved " at Xavier's canon- isation present no variety they are the usual stock in trade with a ready sale attending. We must not judge too harshly the co-operating superstitions of the age, though we cannot too severely denounce the wicked impositions of its promoters, the Jesuits. 1 Acosta p. 13. The account of the mummy is in the Lett. Edif. ii. 790. 2 " Ut varios efflaret odores mirse suavitatis." Id. 14. 3 Ibid. XAVIER CLASSED WITH CALVIN AND KNOX. 485 Baldens, 1 Tavernier, 2 and Hakluyt, 3 three Protestants, give becoming praise to Xavier's merits, and the Jesuits quote their remarks as " the testimony of three heretics in favour of the saint :' it is unkind to abuse them with this epithet, seeing that they based their opinions on "the modern histories of the Indies, which are filled with the excellent virtues and miraculous works of that holy man." The Jesuits know who " filled ' the said "modern histories/' And the venerable guesser at Truth, Archdeacon Hare, the admirer of the not less venerable Kenelm Digby, of the Broadstone of Honour, associates Xavier with Calvin and Know, which, under favour, is the unkindest cut of all : 4 no " heretics ' ' are more thoroughly detested, denounced, and hated by the Jesuits and Catholics in general, than those two reform- ers associated with Xavier in the archdeacon's calendar of saints. 5 Whilst the Jesuits in Japan were building the edifice of the faith on Xavier's foundations, the affairs of the 1 Hist, of the Indies, 1672. 2 Travels : he died in 1689. 3 The Principal Navigations of the Eng. Nation. He died in 1616, when all was rife about the " Apostle." 4 The Victory of Faith, and other sermons, p. 108. 5 An epic was composed by the French poet, Dulard, entitled La Xaveriade, the Xaveriad. There is another in Latin, by Simon Franck, another French- man, in 1761. However crude and frosty the sentiment pervading these " epics " may be, it is evident from the " facts " we have read in these pages that a Xaveriad must be " infinitely" less somniferous than the Henriad of another Frenchman. Xavier's works extant, are Five books of Epistles (Paris, 1631, 8vo.) a Catechism, and Opuscula. His life has been written by several Jesuits : that by Bouhours is the most popular. It was translated into English by the poet Dryden when he turned Catholic and figured at the court of James II. The tradition, amongst the Catholics, is, that he performed the task as a penance im- posed by his father-confessor, probably the Jesuit Peters, confessor, &c., to James himself, certainly by some Jesuit. It is also said that Tom Moore's " Travels in Quest of a Religion," had a similar origin a penance on reconciliation to the Church. 486 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Society on the Western coast of Africa were taking a desperate turn, involving, as we shall constantly find, the The slave rinn of the Catholic cause in the hands of the AfricaLd Jesuits. Early in the sixteenth century the the Jesuits, slave-trade was established in Africa by the Portuguese, and following their example, by all the Christian powers of Europe. The benevolent Las Casas has been handed down to posterity as the first who suggested the employment of negroes, to lighten the horrors of slavery to the Indians of America. This has been contradicted j 1 and humanity rejoices to rescue so great and good a name even from the accidental imputation for it could be no more. The Jesuits appeared on the West coast of Africa in 1547. When the Portuguese invaded Congo, in 1485, they took with them four Dominicans. The negroes embraced Christianity ; and they remained Christians as long as the priests, who ruled their consciences, proved themselves worthy of the priesthood ; " but by degrees,'' according to the Jesuit-historian, "the shep- herds became wolves : idleness engendered vice : sordid cupidities or guilty passions produced all manner of scandals ; the faith was extinguished in the hearts of the negroes ; and very soon there was not in this colony, so admirably founded by the Dominicans, a trace of civilisation, nor a vestige of modesty." 2 The Jesuits were reformers from the first : they were sent to this retrograde colony of the Faith. As usual their efforts are represented as perfectly miraculous : one set up a 1 Greg. Apol. de B. de Las Casas ; also Biogr. Uuiv. in voce Casas, as the result of an examination of all the Spanish and Portuguese historians of the time. Herrera, an inaccurate historian, made the assertion. 2 Cretineau, i. 488. THE JESUITS AND THE SLAVE TRADE. 487 school, another preached in the town ; a third overran the forests, gathering the savages into families, to form a community. They baptised ; they explained the duties of morality ; crowds thronged around them ; everywhere they found submission. 1 This was one of the finest opportunities offered to the Society of Jesus for the amelioration of humanity. The Jesuits might have done much for the civilisation of Africa might have effectually checked, if not suppressed, the trade in men, so soon destined to shame humanity with its ruth- less cruelty and injustice. Neither the power of Portugal, nor the arms of Spain, could have marred the good scheme in the trackless wilds of Africa free, and impe- netrable to all, save those whom God and humanity impel to a noble achievement. The Jesuits surrendered the opportunity. They themselves are compelled mysteriously to admit that their two missionaries, Diaz and Ribera, " had not thought that their kingdom was not of this world." These Jesuits intermeddled with the worldly business- matters of the people, and " facilitated to the European traders every kind of commercial intercourse with the natives." 3 The traffic in slaves was, therefore, not excepted. Congo was among the marts of human flesh. These Jesuits deserted the service of God for that of the King of Portugal and his ravenous subjects. The King of Congo suspected their influence with the people, dreaded its political object, and, accordingly, assumed a menacing attitude towards the Jesuits. In this conjuncture, Several, one of the fraternity, was summoned to Rome, by Ignatius so early did this transaction take place to give an account of the 1 Crctiueau, i. 489. 2 Id. 489 ; Orland. 1. xiii. 58. 3 Cret. i. 490. 488 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. mission. He confirmed the reports and recalled the offenders. He substituted two other Jesuits in their place : but it was too late : the African king was inflexible. He expelled the Jesuits and the Portuguese together in 1555. Similar charges assailed the Jesuits in Japan : it seemed by experience that they carried everywhere Progress in war all( ^ destruction Mlum excidlumque im- japan. portdre pioneering the way to Portuguese supremacy. 1 Though similar results did not ensue, one charge is rendered probable by the other, and we shall see, ere long, a terrible retribution on Jesuit-Chris- tianity in Japan. It was not yet ripe : but the causes were in operation. To Japan thronged incessantly ravenous Portuguese, in quest of gold. Every year they carried off quantities of this, and other metals, to the amount of 6 00,00 O/. They also married the richest heiresses of Japan, and allied themselves to the most powerful families of the country. 2 In the midst of their petty wars the aid of the Portuguese was desir- able, and the " European Bonza," or Jesuit missionary, was an object of veneration, if not of dread, to the people and their leaders. "We must not be blind to the fact, that the Bonzas, or native priests, were jealous of the Jesuit-influence ; but they were silenced, disre- garded, if not despised. Jesuit-miracles and portents were of daily occurrence : the blind saw, the lame walked, the deaf heard, the dumb spoke, devils were driven out, all manner of diseases cured, 3 or, all these mighty things were proclaimed it was impossible to still the trumpet of fame braying forth renown to the 1 Epist. Jap. iv. 213. : Raynal. Hist, of the Indies, i. 3 Epist. Jap. passim. VARIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS IN THE EAST. 489 conquerors. The neophytes were taught the most approved method of monkish justification. They would assemble together, put out the lights, and lash their naked backs most atrociously- -extinctis luminibm atro- cissime cuncti sese diverbcrant. The women vied with the men in this display ipsa quoque mulieres in ham partem se admodum strenue atque acriter incitant.^ To these people, recently converted from idolatry, the Jesuits distributed little wax images, called Agnus-Dei's, a box of which they received from Rome. The crowds of applicants for the talisman were so great, that the Jesuits had to cut up the wax into minute pieces, so as to satisfy the credulous piety of the faithful. 2 Xavier had obtained possession of the College at G-oa, which was ceded by the King of Portugal to the Society, with all its revenues, liberally increased, for The Jesuits the convenience of the Jesuits and their con- verts. More than a hundred Jesuits commenced opera- tions. " Schools of divinity and the liberal arts " were opened, and the students were trained in the native language, so as to enable the future preachers to dis- pense with interpreters. Soon six hundred boys, from different nations, were on the benches : there were Per- sians, Arabs, Ethiops, Caffres, Canarians, Malayans, Moors, Chinese, Malaccans, and other scions of the Gentiles, youths of bright intellect pr cedar a fere indole, for the most part, and of great hope the future apostles of the Society among their own people. 3 In a few years the Jesuits had establishments all along the Malabar coast, besides the Indian isles 1 Epist. Jap. iv. p. 217. 1 Ib. p. 219, For the Jesuit notion of these talismans consult Pontificj Agnus Dei clilucidati dal Padre A. Balthassar della Compagnia di Gesu. 3 Acost. Rer. in Ori. p. 16. 490 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. wherever the arms of Portugal struck terror into the natives. But, though ever willing to take advantage of Establish- sucn terror, the Jesuits were too wise to rest ments * satisfied with that protection alone : they constantly endeavoured to win the hearts of the people, even when they thought it necessary to advise, or acquiesce in, the application of force against the unwill- ing subjects of Portugal in India. Already had the Jesuits devised the curious scheme which they after- wards so famously developed in Paraguay. In their domain (mansions) at Tanna, or Tanaa, in the presi- dency of Bombay, they divided their neophytes into two bands : some they trained in science, others they brought up as shoemakers, tailors, weavers, blacksmiths, tradesmen of all sorts. From their daily labour the latter would go to the college in the evening for food and rest, and then, in chorus alternating, they sang devout hymns and litanies. Some of them were field- labourers, and would go, during the winter, clad in their great coats, to a neighbouring plantation, called the village of the Trinity, to plant the yam, 1 depositing 1 The yam (dioscorea sativa) is an herbaceous vine, with large tubers, and grows in the East and West Indies, and in Africa. There are many varieties in the form of the roots : some resemble the fingers of the hand extended, others are twisted like a snake : some do not weigh more than a pound, others are three feet long and weigh thirty pounds enough for three Irish families at least, leaving plentiful skins for the pigs. One acre of ground has been known to pro- duce from twenty to thirty thousand pounds weight. The yam is very palatable, when boiled or roasted, probably superior to the potato in nutriment. As the Jesuit observes, the planting is laborious. Holes must be dug two feet apart, in rows eighteen inches distant from each other : the yams are put in the holes, covered with earth, then with haulm or rubbish, to retain the moisture. The removal of the crop also requires the greatest care, as a wound would cause the tuber to sprout much earlier than otherwise. The yam grows slowly, requiring more than a year before yielding the crop but then you have enough in all con- science. The potato is the emblem of the vain, whose gains are quick and small ; the yam is that of the ambitious, who can wait because they will have a big meal. SECULAR EMPLOYMENTS OF THE NEOPHYTES. 491 each bulb with their hands a very laborious occu- pation ; but they thus learnt the avocation, and were able to assist the other inhabitants, who were Christian workmen, so that they might in due time marry their daughters. In this plantation all the pauper converts found employment, and, by the liberality of the King of Portugal, they were provided with food and raiment for themselves, wives, and children ; agricultural imple- ments, seed, and oxen, were amply provided from a large farm, and they had herdsmen to look after the cattle. From the farm any Christian might take as many oxen as he needed (there were more than fifty in all), and in the evening, his labour done, he would lead them back to their pens. The Jesuits would buy up boys and girls from their native parents, otherwise intended to be sold to the Mahometans, and join them to "the family of Christ; some of them died pronouncing, with their last breath, the name of Jesus. One of these poor slaves cost only three pieces and a half of silver, another only one and a half; hence it is sufficiently evident how incomprehen- sible are the judgments of God." They also bought lands, from which they derived an annual revenue of about three hundred pieces of gold, aurei nummi, a part of which was applied to the support of widows and orphans of both sexes, whose daily labour was insufficient for their maintenance, and to that of the sick poor and catechumens during their instruction ; and a portion of the same was also kept as a fund to be distributed in loans to those who were unable to meet their engagements or pay their debts. There were also flocks of goats and their keepers ; and houses there were where the fathers of the families 492 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. received every day for their little ones, a portion of milk, of which there was a plentiful supply all the year round. Extensive grounds supplied abundantly all kinds of fruit and grain, so that nothing whatever seemed wanting for their maintenance. They were all good husbandmen and good men. By the unremitting diligence of their masters, kept in constant training, they were w r ell acquainted with the mysteries and precepts of the Christian faith. Every day, at the sound of the bell for the angelical saluta- tion, 1 all assembled, and the men and women repeated the elements of the Christian doctrine. Nay, even in the woods you might hear boys, and on the tops of palm-trees, men, singing the Ten Commandments. 2 Not more than four or five Jesuits directed the domestic arrangements of the community ; and one of them acted 3 as surgeon. In the midst of the village there were gardens in common, very extensive, watered by a perpetual fountain, and planted with many vines, citrons, fig-trees, and a variety of others. The Catechism was explained to the villagers once on work-days, but twice on holidays ; and they had very solemn public prayers, little boys dressed in white sing- ing sacred songs. The same minstrels attended at the burial of the faithful, bearing the crucifix in advance, and chaunting the funeral psalmody. Four Christians decorated with the solemn badges of the Confraternity 1 A set form of prayer, repeated thrice a day, to the Virgin Mary, in com- memoration of the angel's announcement to the Virgin and the Incarnation. 2 "Quinetiam in silvis, pueri, et e summis palmarum arboribus, viri exaudiun- tur prsecepta Decalogi decantantes." 3 The diseases he cured are mentioned, " ulcers and impostumcs, both horrible to be r,ecn, and dangerous in their very nature ; " *'. e. contagious. CIVILISATION BEFORE CHRISTIANISATION. 493 of Mercy, carried the corpse to the grave. The cere- monial was greatly admired both by the Christians and the barbarians. 1 Few readers will have run over the foregoing descrip- tion without reflection. In the admiration of the good done to humanity we stop not to consider, with the historian, how far the Jesuits had broken through their " Constitutions " in organising and superintending the worldly concerns of these new Christians. It is Acosta, the Jesuit, writing in 1 5 70, who makes the remark, that such superintendence was "very foreign to the Institute," certeroqui ab eorum institute valde aHemim? Who will deem it foreign to the Institute of any body of Christian men to teach the savage the ameliorating arts of life, to lead them sweetly, gently, profitably, into those regular habits of civilised life, which are, in themselves, the human safeguards to the Gospel's Christianity 1 If, from the first preaching of the Gospel, a similar method had been purely, disinterestedly, continuously pursued, the world of Christendom would now be more advanced in the practice of that divine theory which God himself would teach unto men. The social duties are the first suggested by nature ; and tliey first suggest the reality of that human respon- sibility which revealed religion expands by the exposi- tion of motives, having God in Heaven for their eternal, infinite object. The first of social duties is to be useful. That com- plied with, there ensues the whole train of motives which end in God and Heaven. For, at every step, the useful man prepares for another advancing ever, with 1 Acost. Rer. in Orient, p. 26, et seq. 2 Ibid. p. 27. 494 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the immediate reward for every deed God's own approval to the grateful heart suggested. Then these Jesuits were right, divinely right, in pur- suing this method with the savage. True, they mingled with it much that tended to deprave, but the principle was good, more admirable than words can express. You must civilise the savage before you can make him a Christian. You may do both together but both must go together. You must enable him to be a man before he can become a Christian. A miracle of grace would dispense with the process, but not with the result the true Christian includes the man as perfect as his nature admits. Then begin with the arts of life ; begin with teaching him how to live more securely ; how to provide more efficiently for his daily wants ; expand his mind with the knowledge of his human destiny and then he will imbibe the truths which are the motives of your charitable teaching that something-bey ondness which strengthens and makes elastic every step in our earthly pilgrimage. All the apostles of the Saviour were men of trades. The selection is not without import ; Christ himself used the hammer and the saw. If, of all men, the Jesuits have been most successful with the savage, the secret of their success is explained, and deserves the deepest attention of those whom God has called to receive the reward of them who " shall shine as the stars for ever and ever. 33 Daniel, xii. 3. And why was the work of the Jesuits doomed to final failure 1 The last announcement in the same The cause of Jesuit chapter of Acosta's book, which has given us the preceding details, suggests the answer. He states that, besides these occupations, the Jesuits ABYSSINIA AND ITS RELIGION. 495 had to "superintend the royal castles!' 1 These were the rocks on which they split : this was the pitch that befouled their hands : whilst many of them were doing- good, many were doing evil, or certainly that which was essentially " very foreign to their Institute " serving the kings of Earth instead of the King of Heaven, until the unholy work made them utterly selfish for their Society : and then that became their "greater glory" and retribution fell upon them heavily but not before " they had their reward." Matt. vi. 2. The expansive energy of the primitive Society embraced other lands disdainful of difficulties defy- ing peril. The Portuguese were desirous of extending their arms or their commerce into Ethiopia. John II. had sent an embassy to the king of the country as early as 1486 ; and "friendly relations" had been interchanged. The affairs of the Abyssinian king, contemporary with John III. of Portugal, became intricate : a rebel " mise- rably wasted his dominions." Claudius, or Asnaf, as he was named, applied for aid to the king of Portugal, as the Britons of old did to the ravenous Saxons. We read that Asnaf did also demand a Roman patriarch and some able divines, to be sent into Abyssinia : his subsequent conduct seems to belie the assertion, if better information and second thoughts did not induce him to change his mind on the important subject. The religion of the Abyssinians was an incongruous but comfortable mixture of Judaism, Paganism, and Chris- tianity, and is probably the same at the present time. 2 1 Acost. Rer. in Orient, p. 28. Castella regia invisunt affirming the good which thereby accrued to the Portuguese and the barbarians. Lettres Edif. et Cur. t. i. p. 617. 496 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. It was, however, the Christianity of the land ; the people, and the priests, and the nobles, were satisfied with it ; no wise king will meddle with the religion of his subjects, since by fostering it, he ensures the support of the priesthood, who live by it, swaying the minds and hearts of the people. King John III. of Portugal solicited the pope to send a patriarch into Ethiopia. He seems to have had his designs right orthodox son of the Church grand Inquisitioner of the poor Jews in Portugal- -and now having a bright eye on schismatic Abyssinia. It was a fine country for a " colony " after the manner of the Portuguese and Spaniards. Populous and fertile, valleys and mountains in a state of cultivation. Car- damum and gigantic ginger covered the plains ; and innumerable springs intersected the country, their banks begemmed with the lily and jonquil, tulips and the count- less multitude of nature's beautiful eyes, of a thousand hues. There grew in the woods, orange-trees, citrons, the jasmin, and pomegranates ; every fruit-tree and flower- plant that taste, or scent, or sight can desire. And the land was also rich in gold. 1 The king of Portugal wrote also to Ignatius, request- ing the gift of twelve men for the expedition into Ethiopia. Out of these one was to be a patriarch, and bishop at two his coadjutors and successors. Orlandinus tells us that Ignatius at once appointed Baretto, Carnerio, and Oviedo, two Portuguese and one Spaniard ; but there is a letter extant, in Ignatius's handwriting, which shows that these men were not his original choice. Pasquier Brouet was the Jesuit he 1 Lettres Edif. i. 612. See Ludolf, Hist. Ethiop. ; Bruce, Travels ; Salt Abyss., &c. A LETTER OF IGNATIUS. 497 selected for the enterprise of Ethiopia, The error of the Jesuit-historians, or their suppression of the fact, is unimportant, perhaps ; but it is indeed most curious to find that one of the very few documents given to Cre- tineau-Jory by the Roman Jesuits for publication, turns out to be the letter of Ignatius to Pasquier Brouet, attesting the above correction, and giving us the old veteran's opinions of his men at the time, of whom the Jesuit-historians proclaim such wonderful laudation. It appears that Cretineau did not understand the letter ; at all events, he gives no translation of it, nor of any of the other unimportant, but excessively crabbed auto- graphs of the Ignatian era. He has flung the precious document of Father Ignatius between two pages to which it has not the remotest reference. 1 It is very interesting : interesting for the expression of his opinions on his men, for its unmistakeable point amidst confusion and involution, and, lastly, for the composition, which is decidedly fair Castilian, barring a few vulgarisms. 2 I shall translate as literally as possible, retaining even the punctuation, and other peculiarities of the original. " If God shall ordain, that any one of this Company should go on this enterprise of Ethiopia, I believe that 1 See pp. 128, 129, amongst the garbled "Privileges" of the Jesuits, Hist, de la Comp. t. i. - A fac-siraile of this letter is given. The handwriting denotes a man of decided opinions, haughty and proud, and aspiring. The extraordinary care with which the signature is written, its elegance and flourish, show the conscious supremacy and power of the veteran general ; its decided difference from the body of the letter indicates a man of double character, a feature also evidenced by the waving lines of the letter. Perfect self-possession is evinced by the very many letters disjoined from their fellows ; in fact, there is not a word in the whole letter in which some letter is not isolated. This manuscript is, to me, one of the most interesting I have ever examined for the interpretation of character ; and I have interpreted very many, investigating the art, for such it is, of knowing human character by the handwriting. VOL. I. K K 498 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the lot will fall on Maestro [Mr.] Pasquier, that as far as it depends upon my choice, considering the whole A letter of universal and particular interest conformably ignatms. ^ m y consc i ence j W ould not choose any one else, because supposing that I would not venture that there should be in such a charge any one who is not a Professed it seems to me that three things are very necessary, which he who shall go must have, the first virtue, the 2nd. learning, the 3rd. that he should be good looking que tenga persona, strong, and middle-aged. These three parts united I do not perceive in any one of the Company so much as in Maestro Pasquier, for if we talk of Lejay he is too old, Maestro Laynez is not good looking, is very delicate, Maestro Salmeron not of long standing and is as it were so youthful and beardless tan mopo y sin barbas, as heretofore you have known him, Maestro Bonodilla [Bobadilla] too weak, and he does not suit the purpose, of those who remain there being only nine Professed, you are at the head of all, both because the parts which are possessed are all profitable, and because if one be demanded, Maestro Pasquier will appear to me to possess more completely all the parts united, first he is so good, that we consider him an Angel in the Company. 2nd. With the learning which he has, he has much experience in visiting and reforming bishop- rics and monasteries and having gone as Nuncio to Ireland, which no one of the Company has understood so much in these exercises, giving admirably a good account of all he has taken in hand, being very solici- tous by nature, and very careful to be diligent always in so many things relating to bishoprics and conscience, which will be most required for those parts of Ethiopia, Besides, he is sufficiently good looking, and strong, and f ',-. 'i mi/1 I-/', i liibro Loyola ji (7 > , / /t*M, . V /' ; /' ' n I THE JESUITS IN BRAZIL. 499 healthy, and about 40 years of age, a little more or less, 1 may god our lord by his infinite and supreme bounty ordain and govern all and if it be necessary choosing with his own hand, just as it may be for the greater service, praise, and glory of his divine majesty may which be always in our continual favour and the aid of Rome. IGNATIUS." It is certain, however, that Oviedo and his companions finally departed for the enterprise of Ethiopia. Oviedo was made a bishop,- -Father Ignatius making no appeal to the " end of the Society" against the reception of Church- dignities, on that occasion :- -he could easily spare these Jesuits to be episcopated, and sent them to invade the kingdom of Prester-John. The remarkable events which followed belong to a later period of the Society -after the death of Ignatius, to which we are hastening. A few important matters must be dismissed ere we stand around the deathbed of Ignatius of Loyola. Asia, Africa, and Europe, were now penetrated by the Jesuits. Germany was divided into two provinces of the Society, and Spain into three ; Sicily The j esil i ts was a province, Italy, as a matter of course, and even France, in spite of the determined resistance of the university, was considered a province by the unflinching Jesuits. 2 Across the Atlantic the Jesuits had gone, and were seen with the fierce and avaricious invaders pouncing on the coast of Brazil. The court of Lisbon despised this colony because it promised no gold the all-compensating object of that degraded age. Criminals, persecuted Jews plundered and banished by 1 According to the Bib. Script. Soc. Jesu., Pasquier Brouet died in 1.5G2, aged fifty-five. He was therefore born in 1507, and was consequently about thirty-seven years of age in 1,554, the period of the enterprise. - Orlandinus. K K 2 500 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the Inquisition, found there an asylum ; and then the coast was parcelled out to adventurous noblemen for private speculation. The Brazilian Indians were cannibals knew of no God whatever- -utterly barbarians : but hospitable eager to befriend those who sought their friendship or protection. 1 If they knew no God, the handy- work of God was within them. They were not warriors by profession : when they went forth to battle, it was to avenge a relative or a friend. The cruelties of their warfare were great ; but they did not equal the atrocities of the Spaniards, the " Christian" conquerors of America. Six Jesuits commenced operations in Brazil ; and their labours were crowned with great success. The savages hated the Portuguese : but the Jesuits gained their love and admiration. Their attachment to the missionaries grew into passionate fondness. When a Jesuit was expected in one of their nations, the young people flocked to meet him, concealing themselves in the woods along the road. As he drew near, they sallied forth, played on their pipes, beat their drums, danced, and made the air resound with joyful songs ; in a word, omitted nothing that could express their satisfaction. 2 They were fond of music : the Jesuits led them in procession singing the precepts of religion. The mis- sionaries made every effort to wean them from the feast of human flesh : they would even pitch their tent in the midst of the savage bands about to prepare the horrible banquet ; and when their supplications availed not, they would baptise the victims, deeming the ceremonial sufficient to save the soul, as they could not rescue the body. Strange human nature ! These cannibals fancied 1 Raynal. 2 Id. iv. THE JESUITS THE FRIENDS OF THE SAVAGES. 501 that the waters of baptism made the flesh of the victims less succulent ! They menaced the Jesuits with the same fate : the Jesuit Anchieta was singled out : he boldly told them that his hour was not come remained amongst them without flinching, as a lion-tamer amongst wild beasts, and his prediction was verified : his intre- pidity and calmness won them over, and they spared the Jesuit. 1 Unquestionably these Jesuits in Brazil were the friends of the savages. They made every effort to protect and relieve them from oppression, and were blessed with the gratitude and confidence of the Indians. The Jesuits became mediators to appease the just indignation of the oppressed, and, by their gentleness and tact, they were successful. With the confidence of the people they gained their children, whom they received for education. The city of San Salvador arose : the Portuguese built the city, but it was peopled by the Jesuits. The Jesuits collected the children, penetrated into the forests, visited the savages in their huts, and gained their confidence by all the services they needed for body and soul. Three establishments or residences were founded by the Jesuit Nobrega, and Brazil became a province of the Order in 1553. 2 By the exertions of the Jesuits in conciliating the minds and hearts of the savages, the colony began to thrive ; the sugar-cane was introduced from Madeira, and Negroes were imported to cultivate and make it into sugar, which, by the end of the sixteenth century, was in great demand as an article of luxury, having been previously used only as a medicine. 3 Earning and partaking of the advantages accruing from this prosperity, mainly attributable to 1 Cret. i. 482. 2 Cret. i. 481. 3 Raynal, iv. 502 HISTOKY OF THE JESUITS. their efforts, the Jesuits made Brazil the centre of their operations on the continent of South America. They will soon give us the proof of their influencing power ; they will soon prove the incomparable advantage of gentleness and beneficence over violence and injury in the subjugation of the savage. " A handful of Jesuits will effect more than the armies of Spain and Portugal." Ignatius was now fast sinking under his Herculean labours. His strength was diminishing whilst The Eleven . D . Rules of the cares of the Society were increasing as she enlarged her bounds. He demanded an assistant. It is remarkable that Ignatius, contrary to the subsequent practice and the Constitutions, had ruled hitherto without assistants, and even now the assistant appointed was untitled ; " the authority of the general was inviolate/' Sinking fast, and one day feeling weaker than usual, and " considering that obedience was the soul and character of his Order," he exclaimed : " Write ! I desire that the Society should know my last thoughts on the virtue of Obedience." He dictated as follows :- "I. As soon as I shall have entered upon a religious life, my first care shall be to abandon myself entirely to the conduct of my Superior. " II. It were desirable that I should fall into the hands of a Superior who should undertake to subdue my judgment, and who should apply himself to that end completely. " III. In all things where there is no sin, I must follow my Superior's judgment, and not my own. " IV. There are three ways of obeying. The first, when we do what we are commanded, ' by virtue of THE ELEVEN RULES OF OBEDIENCE. 503 Obedience/ 1 and that way is good. The second, which is better, when we obey simple orders. The third, and the most perfect of all, when we do not wait for the Superior's order, but anticipate and conjecture his will. " V. I must obey, indifferently, all sorts of Superiors, without distinguishing the first from the second, nor even from the last. But I ought to see in all, equally, our Lord, whose place they hold, and remember that authority is communicated to the last by those who are above him. " YI. If the Superior judges what he commands to be good, and I believe I cannot obey without offending God, unless this be evident to me, I must obey. If, however, I feel a difficulty through some scruple, I shall consult two or three persons of good sense, and I will abide by what they say. But if I do not yield after that, I am very far from that perfection which the excellence of the religious state demands. 2 " VII. In fine, I ought not to belong to myself, but to my Creator, and to him under whose direction He has placed me. I ought to be, in the hands of my Superior, as soft wax which takes the desired form, and do all he pleases ; for example, write letters or not, speak to any one or not, and other things in like manner. " VIII. I ought to look upon myself as a dead body, 1 This is the form of solemn commands, as distinguished from simple orders of the Superior. : This strange paragraph is explanatory of the third. It completely gives a man a new conscience ; his moral feeling is set aside for another's. It is, in fact, an example of the " probable opinion " of the Jesuits, which subsequently became in vogue. The idea of u sin " must be out of the question when a man must stifle the doubt of conscience by the opinion of another. It is, besides, awful to think that Ignatius, sinking to the grave, should, as it were, conjecture cases wherein the conscience of his men might shrink from crime, from sin, at the command of a Superior, and tells them, if they refuse to obey, they are very far from the perfection of the religious state ! 504 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. which has no motion of itself, and like a stick which an old man uses, which he takes up or sets aside according to his convenience ; so that Religion (i.e. the Society) may make use of me just as she shall judge that I will be useful to her. " IX. I ought not to ask the Superior to put me in such and such a place, or give me such and such an employment. I may, however, declare to him my idea and inclination, provided I entirely place myself in his hands, and that what he shall ordain appear to me the best. " X. This does not forbid the request of things which are of no consequence, such as visiting the churches or practising other devotions to obtain some grace from God ; with the proviso, however, that we be in an equilibrium of mind, as to whether the Superior should grant or refuse our request. " XI. I ought to depend, above all, on the Superior for what regards poverty, not having anything of my own, and partaking of all things, as a statue which may be stripped, without its resisting or complaining/' Such is " The Testament of Father Ignatius/' as the Jesuits call it ; " the last deed he performed for the good of his Order." x On the 30th of July, 1556, Ignatius called for his secretary, Polancus ; and having ordered those who Death of were present to retire, he said to the secretary : Ignatius. y[y j lour - g come G O an( j ask the pope for a blessing for me, and an indulgence for my sins, in order that my soul may have more confidence in this terrible passage. And tell his holiness that if I go to a place where my prayers may avail aught, as I hope 1 Bouhours, ii. 222. DEATH OF IGNATIUS. 505 from the Divine Mercy, I shall not fail to pray for him, as I have done when I had more reason to pray for myself." The secretary hesitated, seeing no immediate signs of death, and expressed himself accordingly. " Go ! ' said Ignatius, " and beg the blessing for another father ! ' Lainez was then dangerously ill, and had received the last Sacraments. Polancus thought the implied prediction referred to Lainez : but, we are assured, that the event proved it to be Father Olave. Ignatius continued sensible : two or three of the fathers remained with him till very late discussing a slight matter relating to the Roman College. He passed the night alone. In the morning he was found in his agony. The fathers rushed to his bed in dismay. Thinking he was faint, they wished him to take some- thing : but he whispered in dying accents : " There's no need of it ;' ; and, joining his hands, raising his eyes upwards, pronouncing the name of Jesus, he calmly breathed his last. It was on the last day of July, 1556. 1 Thus died Ignatius, the Founder of the Jesuits, with- out the last Sacraments of the Church, without Extreme Unction, without Absolution from a priest of * He dies the Church. This fact is as remarkable as without the any in the life of Ignatius. To the Protestant, without some explanation, it may signify little : but to the Catholic it must appear passing strange and unac- countable. Every son of the Church is held by precept to receive those last aids in his last journey : the Council of Trent makes them imperative : all the doctors 1 Bouhours, ii. 22.5, et seq. Also, all the biographies, &c. 506 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. of the Catholic Church agree at least in the paramount importance of Extreme Unction. 1 Ignatius was in his senses : he had even predicted his death ; and yet he conforms not to the last requirements of his Religion ! He died as any " philosopher ' may die. It would seem that the tale about the pope's " blessing and indulgence ' were thrown in merely to make the founder's death somewhat respectable : the word " Jesus ' is a matter of course. So striking is this manner of the Saint's departure that Bartoli goes to great lengths in endeavouring to excuse the irreverent death -bed of his Society's founder. He attributes the absence of the Sacraments to the Saint's spirit of obedience to his physician, who had not thought him in imminent danger of death. 2 But the man who could predict his death, as we are assured, must have been permitted, without infringing obedience, to " represent ' ; his state, according to the rules of the founder himself if he cared at ah 1 for the rites of the Church. On the other hand, it seems difficult to suppose that Ignatius, giving him credit for his usual astuteness, would wilfully refrain from giving that last external testimony to the " hope within him : " but DEATH wrings secrets from the stoutest hearts. At that awful moment Ignatius was laid bare. He was not permitted to prolong his deception. He had had " his reward." Then, was deception compatible with all the zealous enterprises of his life 1 Surely it was- -just as were his pretended visions and predictions. Mohammed talked of God worked " for God," as 1 " Nee vero tanti sacramenti contemptus absque ingenti scelere .... esse potest."- Cone. Trid. Sess.xiv. c. iii., in fine. See Ligorio, Theol. Moral, t. vii. p. 216. - Dell' Italia, ff. 340, 311, 342. IGNATIUS HARASSED BY DEVILS. 507 zealously as Ignatius for " God's greater glory." Further, we are not to take Jesuit-accounts as Gospel. We have already seen how they invent, add, and interpolate. It is only by dissecting psychologically the curious incidents of the man's life, as told by the Jesuits, that we can catch a glimpse of his inner character. We are told that from his wound in the leg, Ignatius limped a little, but managed so well in walking that his lameness was scarcely visible. 1 Apply this fact to his impene- trable mind, and it perfectly represents the character of Ignatius of Loyola, Founder and first General of the Jesuits : his mental, his moral limpings were indeed scarcely visible and those who perceived them best were most concerned in their concealment. If we are to believe the Jesuits, the devils were always with him, or at him. As long as he lived, says Bar toll and the rest of the biographers, as long as he lived the evil spirits inflicted upon him the roughest treatment. One night they washed to strangle him, and seized his throat with a hand like that of a man, which gripped him so tightly that he lost his breath, till at last reviving, he was able to name Jesus, and was released. Another night they thrashed him cruelly, and the brother who slept in the next room, roused by the noise of the strokes and the groans of Ignatius, rushed in and found him sitting on his bed, all breathless and exhausted. A second time he heard the noise, a second time he returned : but the saint forbade him to return again whatever he might hear. 2 The terrors of conscience embody themselves ever and anon, or they impersonate to the mind some dread avenger of its misdeeds. On the other hand, a diseased 1 Bouhours, ii. p. 22R. : Delia Vita di S. Ign. f. 388. 508 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. liver which seems to have been the founder's malady and nerves unstrung, and brain racked by untold, unshared, studiously concealed, anxiety, were enough to produce those constant agitations, which Ignatius and his disciples interpreted into the portentous fear noctur- nal, and the noon-day devil. " The biographer of Ignatius Loyola," says Hasenmuller, " writes that the Founder of the Society died calmly ; but Turrianus, a Jesuit, told me often, that Ignatius, at meals, at mass, even in company, was so harassed by devils, that he sweat copiously the coldest sweat of death. Bobadilla said he often complained that he could be never and nowhere safe from demons. Octavian, a Jesuit, and minister at Rome, or governor of the novices, observed to me : ' Our Father Ignatius was holy ; but at the approach of his last agony, he shivered as in fever, and fetching a sigh, he exclaimed : I have done much good to the Church of Rome- -I have seen many provinces of our men, many colleges, houses, residences, and wealth belonging to our Society ; but all these things desert me now, and I know not whither to turn ! } At length he expired in a fit of trembling, and his face turned black, according to an eye-witness, the Jesuit Turrianus." * 1 " Ignatium Loiolam primum Societatis auctorem ipsius vitse scriptor, placide defunctum sci'ibit. Sed Turrianus Jesuita mihi iiotissimus soepe dixit : ilium in coena, in prandio, Missa, in recreationibus etiam, ita a dsemonibus exagitatum, ut in magna copia, frigidissimum mortis sudorem fuderit. Bobadilla dixit : ilium SEepius conquestum, se nunquam et nullibi a demonibus tutum esse posse. Octavianus Jesuita, Romse minister, seu novitiorum oeconomus retulit mihi dicens : Sanctus erat noster pater Ignatius : sed circa agonem ita tremebat, quasi febri esset correptus, et suspirans dixit : Multa bona contuli in Ecclesiam Romanam ; multas nostrorum provincias, multa collegia, domus, residencias et opes nostrae Societatis vidi : sed hsec omnia me deserunt : et quo me vertam ignore. Tandem vero cum tremore ipsum obiisse, mortuumque nigerrimo vultu conspectum esse, idem affirmavit." Hasemn. Hist. Jes. Orel. c. xi. p. 320. THE THREE WISHES OF IGNATIUS. 509 These may have been some of the tricks devised by Ignatius to inspire his disciples with awe ; for they interpreted these visitations into evidences that the devils considered Ignatius as their greatest enemy. 1 If not tricks of the founder, how are w r e to account for them ? Is it exalted holiness, or enormous guilt, which can give power to the devil to injure God's creature ? As far as the body is concerned, we may be permitted to believe both cases impossible, or, at least, highly improbable, and by no means necessary for " the fulfilment of all justice," under the Christian dispensa- tion. But you have here another striking " fact ' elucidative of this strange man's character ; the product of worldly ambition transplanted into the sanctuary, where it lost no particle of its energies, its craft, its reck- lessness, its calm, considerate, meditated hard-hearted- ness. His military ferocity never left Ignatius. When he played the part of mildness and kindness, and con- ciliation, he was like Napoleon or Cromwell, in circum- stances where the thing was expedient ; but when he had an aged father scourged for an example, then was he himself and heaven only knows how many such instances edified the infant Society : some are said to have died from the effects of the lash. 2 He had wished for three things. Three things his spiritualised ambition longed to see accom- The three plished the Society confirmed by the popes things igna- ' * tins wished the book of the " Spiritual Exercises : for - 1 Bartoli, ubi supra.) 1. iv. and v. 2 " Hanc plus quam ferinam feritatem, etiam post institutam Jesuitarum sectam adeo non deposuit, ut Hoffseus, Romae in domo Jesuitarum professa testatus est,eundem nonnullos societatis suse fratres flagellis (Jesuitee disciplinam Loyolse spiritualem mortificationem nuncupant) ita confecisse, ut prsematura morte interierint. Salmanassar Neapolitanus confitetur quod fuerit natura ferox, ssevus, durus, truculentus." Hasenm. Hist. Jes. Ord. c. i. p. 12. 510 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. approved by the holy See- -and the Constitutions dispersed among his sons in every field of their labours. 1 His wishes were fulfilled ; and then he died as we have witnessed. Ignatius was in his sixty-fifth year ; his Society numbered her sixteenth ; and the entire world was gazing upon her some with love, some with desire only, some with suspicion, and others with implacable detestation. 1 Bouhours, ii. 222. END OF VOL. I. LONDON : BHADBUKY ANT> EVANS, PRINTERS, AVH1TEFKTAUS. DATE DUE 0_ ' . UNIVERSITY PRODUCTS, INC. #859-5503 BOSTON COLLEGE d'9031 017018938 m F