liii iiiiiHiiiiHiiiiiin mtljeCttpofHrttigark THE LIBRARIES GIVEN BY Ideal Bookstore A GLIMPSE GREAT SECRET SOCIETY. OERTE XON APERTI, NON SIMPLICES, NON INGENUl . . . VERSUTI POTIUS, ASTUTI, FALLACES, MALITIOSI, CALLIDI, VETERATORES, VAPRI." Cicero. " BY WHOSE AID ASPIRING TO SET HIMSELF IN GLORY 'BOVE HIS PEERS, HE TRUSTED TO HAVE EQUALLED THE MOST HIGH." Milton, Paradise Lost, I 38—40. Jottrth ^bition, Ml^ g^bbitions anb |[otes. LONDON : HATCHARDS, PICCADILLY. 1880. /-i ,v 'mi 66^ sfd/ce. ^ TABLE OF CONTENTS, ^ WITH A P LIST OF AUTHORITIES CD FOR THE STATEMENTS MADE IN THE INTRODUCTION- Pi-eface to the Tliird Edition Jesuit influence and the Franco-German War ; the Dogma . xiii Quirinus ; Father Beckx ; the power beliind the Papal Throne . xiv The Empress Eugenie — " Ma guerre." Confessors . . xv The Article in the Monde. Results of the War . . . xv The Orleauists. Louis Pliihppe. The Church and the Parisians xvii An undying hatred. Spain and Amadeus . . . xviii German distrust of the Papal party. Education . . . xix Prussia curbs Ultramontanism. The CuUus . . . xx DoUinger, the champion of Religious freedom in South Germany xxi Romanism in the United States. New York. Scripture teacliing paralyzed ....... xxii New York Roman Catholic Schools. Religious equality. Riband- men. Fruits ....... xxiii Mamiing's remarks relative to the Roman Catholic conquest of England. His justification of Ansehn, a Becket, Jesuit morality, of the Gunpowder Plot, and of treason, etc. Popish designs upon England .... xxiv Jesuitism and Papal Infallibility. The Curia. Antonelli . xxvii Despotic natvu-e of the Jesuit and Papal systems. Archbishop Darboy's speech hostile to the Dogma . . . xxviii Fate of the three last Archbishops of Paris, (note) . . xxix Infallibility and Canon Law. Bishop Strossmeyer. Montalem- bert's letter. Archbishop Sibour on the double idolatry . xxx Rome, tlie Chiu'ch and the People. The Four Articles of the GaUican Church ...... xxxiii Dr. DoUinger's celebrated Letter upon the incompatibility of the Dogma Avith Freedom ...... xxxiv The Order and the Papacy, Infallible, not immortal. " Janus." Forgeries — the Isidorian Decretals. Canon of Sardica. Donations xxxvi Father Gratry. Pope Honorius a heretic. Gratry's letter to Archbishop of Malins. Frauds. Duplicity. Father Eegnon on the Forgeries ...... xxxviii Dominus ac Ptedemptor, or Brief of Clement XIV. for the effec- tual Suppression of the Jesuit Order, 1773. Prematiu-e death of Sextus V. ....... xl Restoration of the Order, under Gregory XIV. . . . xli Internal scandals. Expulsion of the Jesuits from France, Spain, and from other countries. Suspicious death of Clement XIII. xliii Grounds for the suppression of the Jesuits. Property confiscated, offices annulled. The extinction of the Order . . xliv Clerics to join other Orders. The Brief to be strictly enforced ; to all eternity vahd .... . xlv Jesuit statistics. Condemnation of the Order by the Dogma . xlvi Pope GanganeUi calumniated, Pteal character of Clement XIV. xlvii InfaUibility exemphfied, or the Bulls of 1773 and 1814. Pius VII. and liis '' exjyerieiiced rowers" ..... xlviii His Holiness' salutary fear of the Jesuits. Voltaire. Sudden death ........ xhx Cardinal Bellarmine. Sudden death of Clement XIII. The death warrrant ....... 1 Pope GanganeUi poisoned : the jmst-mortem. The nuns' Acqua Tofann ........ U To whom the poisoning of Clement XIV. is due. Motives ofHusVII Hi Brief of Pius IX. for the restoration of the Order. Pieciprocal aid Uii " Quu-inus." Excitement in the camp. The Redemptionists . Iv The Gesu. Relation of the Jesuits to the other Orders . Ivi The Urim and Thummim. Mutual exaltation. Immunity . Ivii Under the cloak of infallibility. An awakening . . . Iviii Training of O'Farrell the assassm. Henry IV. of France. Attempted mirrder of the French and Russian Emperors. H.R.H the Duke of Edinburgh . . . . Ux The Secret Society and Fenianism. Hatred of England. Joly, the Jesiiit liistorian. College at Stonyhm-st. Fathers CaUaghan and Betah . . . Ix • College training of Irish students. Clongowes . . Ixii Carlow Magazine. Incitements to crime . . Ixiii Irish abuse of British statesmen. The Society's teaching. Mass and blessing for O'I'arreU, the dupe of the Jesuits. ...... Ixiv Connection of the present with the past Ixv Charles Sauvestre upon the Jesuit policy. Vitality and hatred. When to strike. Progress. Suppression, 1792. Rapid development, 1872. Leibnitz, or influence acquired by the guides of education. Questions to guardians . . . Ixvi M.de la Chalotais' speech and Report to the Parliament of Bretague upon the Constitution, etc., of the Society of Jesus referred to. C. Habcneck upon the modus ojjerandi. M. Garnier Pages. Doctrines of the " Community." Moral code. Intention. Unchangeableness. " Sint ut sunt aut uon sint." Influence over the parocliial clergy ..... Ixviii " Secret Instructions "...... Ixxi Political intrigue m Poland, Switzerland, France, and S. America Ixxii Re\dval of the Society, how eftected, in 1814. The Propaganda. Gaeta ........ Ixxiii Father Chauvel and Ambrose Guys, 1701 : the sick man and the good Fathers ....... Ixxiv Berenger's petition to the Judges, 1715. His assassination tlireat- ened. Chauvel's confession. The kmg's judgment. Consti- tution of the eleven Parliaments of France. Biu-ial of the dead refused. The Archbishop of Paris banished . . Ixxv The Jesuits and tradmg. Father Lavalette, Prociu'eur of the Jesuit estabhslunent at St. Pierre, in Martinique. Privateers fitted out. Sacy. Masses and money. The Prime Minister of Louis XV. Five days too late. Condemnation of the Jesuits. Appeal and special pleading. Pros and cons. Revelation of their Constitutions. The Abbe Chauvelin. Extinction of the Order in France .... Ixxvii Extracts from the •' Secret Constitutions." Moral Code. A judge; a monk ; servants and thieving ; adultery ; assassination ; murder ; luxury. Expulsion of the enemy from France . Ixxx The Jesuit system extending among us. The Oratorians at Brompton. Thek system supported by the Dogma of Supremacy ....... Ixxxi The gi-eat means of effective opposition, pubUcity and a Scriptural liturgy ........ Ixxxii TjTanny of the Papal system, as evidenced in the Pope's letter to the Archbishop of Paris in 1865 . . . . Ixxxii Turning-points in the histories of France and England . . Ixxxiii Jesiut attacks. Henry IV. Charles I. Ehzabeth. Her life attempted. Safety. Detractors .... Ixxxiv Date of England's rising greatness. Perilous position of France. Misgivings as to Ireland and England. The greatest caution needful. England's only safety .... Ixxxvi Report on the Constitution of the Jesuits, delivered by M. Louis Rene de Caraduc de la Chalotais, Procureur-General of the King, to the Parliament of Bretague, on the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th of December, 1761; translated from the 1st Edition of 1762, printed at Rennes ...... Decree of the Parliament of Bretagne on the 23rd December, 1761 Persecution of M. de la Chalotais by the Jesuit party APPENDIX. Cardinal Wiseman on the Abbe de la Mennais The Abbe de la Mennais on the Order of Jesuits. Galilean opinions ...... Frederick the Great of Prussia, and the Jesuits How the Jesuit leaven works in the United States How the Jesuits crept into England and Ireland. Mr. O'ConneU's connection with them ..... Several historical facts connected with the Order of Jesuits, and conuneuts thereon ..... An Ecclesiastical History by J. L. Mosheim A translation of the Letter fi-om the Pope to the Archbishop of Paris, 1865 ...... Relations between Russia and Rome. GortchakofF Annex to the above ..... Letter of the late Covmt Montalembert on Ultramontanism and Papal InfaUibility ..... Dr. Dollinger and Papal InfaUibility The Tablet on Montalembert's Letter of Feb. 28, 1870 The Encychcal and Syllabus of 1864 Remarkable letter from Pere la Chaise to Father Peters . Translation of the Encyclical Letter of December 8, 1864 Syllabus ....... Spain ....... Interdiction of the Jesuits in Switzerland . Cardinal CuUen on the Council .... 3 107 124 128 130 134 137 142 145 147 159 163 179 181 207 211 221 224 226 233 243 252 252 253 List of Authorities Quoted. "Letters from Rome on the Council," by "Quuinus" London: Rivington. 1870. ...... Dr. Manning's Sermons. Paternoster Row : Dufty. "The Papal Garrison." London : Hunt & Co. 1872. . " The Knee of the Church." London : Macintosh. 1869. "Letter from the Bavarian Mmister of PubUc Worship to the Archbishop of Munich. 27th August, 1871 " . xiv xxiv xxvii xxxiii Vll " The Pope and the Council," by "Janus." London : Rivington. 1809. ......•■ " Etudes Religieuses," by "P. Gratry.' November, 1800. Paris " History of the Popes," by " Ranke." "Vita Bellarniinis," by Cardinal a Moute." Antwerp. 1031. " Scipio de Ricci," by " Roscoe." .... " Imago Societatis Jesu," by " Bolland." " The Poor Gentlemen of Liege." London : Shaw & Co. . •' Introductions aux Instructions Secretes des Jesuites," par "Charles Sauvestre." Paris. Chez Dentu, Palais Royal. 1863 "Les Congregations ReMgieuses." Enquete par Ch. Sauvestre AchUle Faure a Paris, Rue Dauphine 18, 1867. " Les Jesuites en 1861." Par Chas. Habeneck. Chez. Dentu a Paris " Moral Works." R. P. Sanchez. ..... "Les bons Messieiu's de St. Vincent de Paid." J. M. Cayla Dentu, Paris. 1863. ..... " Essay on Public Theology," by Father Taberna. 1736. " Praxis ex Soc. Jes. Schola." .... " Somme de P. Bauny." ..... " Treatise on Penitence," by Father Kaleze Reginald. " Moral Theology." P. Henriquez. " Moral Theology." P. A. Escobar. " Rome's Tactics." By the Dean of Ripon. Hatchards, London 1867. ....... "Historical Sketch of the Reformation in Poland," by Count Valerian Krasinski. Miurray and Ridgway. London. 1838 Vie de Louis Quinze, in 4 vols. — vol. iv., p. 38 ; a Londres, J. P Lyon, 1781. Translation of the same, by J. O. Justamond, f.r.s., printed by Charles Dilly in the Poultry, 1781— vol. iv., p. 43 ; also by R. Marchbank, Dublin, 1781— vol. iv., p. 43. See also Foreign Articles in the Annual Register, then written by Edmund Burke,— May 1761, vol. iv., pp. 107, 113; September 1761, p. 157 ; December 1761 ; also an article in the Annual Register for 1759, a memorial from the Lieutenants of Martinique to the Governor of the French Islands, p. 208 ; also vol. xiii., pp. 47 and 53 ; and vol. xiv., pp. 89 and 93. The Comte de Beauharnais, the husband of the Empress Josephine, was that Governor, anno 1759. See Vie Privee, vol. 3, p. 164; translation by Justamond, vol. 3, p. 207. For general confirmation of statements contained in this work, vide " The Jesuits, an Historical Sketch," by E. W. Grinfield, M.A., Seeleys, London. "History of the Jesuits," by G. B. Nicolini, Bohn, London, 1854. A compilation of authorities, entitled, " Indications of the Action of the Jesuits," Macintosh, London. xxxvii xl xlvii xlix lii Ivii Ixi lx\'ii lx\dii Ixix Ixx Ixx Ixxx Ixxx Ixxx Ixxx l»xx Ixxxi Ixxxiv Ixxxv IX PEEFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. Circumstances have somewhat hurried the production of this Edition ; otherwise the policy of the Ultramontane Roman Catholics — which is, in fact, the policy of the Jesuits — with respect to education, might have been illustrated by some brief notices ; while the development of the lay affiliations of the Order, including persons of both sexes — married and unmarried — the more remote constituents of the Great Secret Society might have been further traced for the guidance of the many, who are unfortu- nately ignorant of the symptoms — forsothey may justly be described — of this potent element of disorder. Our reason for avoiding further delay is, that some of the scattered indications of the ten- dency of Ultramontane action, now added to our former record, would lose freshness in elucidating things, as they are, if long withheld. ^ The Ultramontanes are wont to assure all those, who are attached to Constitutional Government in this country, and to the cause of law and order elsewhere, that they can have no such firm allies, as the adherents of the Papacy, the devoted sons of the great central authority of the Roman Catholic Church. But in giving these assurances the Ultramontanes either ignore, or are themselves not aware of the fact, that this central autho- rity, to which they are blindly obedient, claims more or less the right to supersede, and is therefore sure, in matters, more or less important, to become antagonistic to any authority that is not absolutely its own, or practically obedient to its behests. Nothing is more astonishing to the uninitiated than the rapidity, with which the Ultramontanes transfer their allegiance from one extreme of political opinion to the other. The form of national government, the Jesuits prefer, is un- doubtedly despotic, so long as this, the most centralized of all forms of government, is really under their command ; as were the late dynasties of Naples and of Spain. Yet notwithstanding the wonderful and unscrupulous skill of Jesuit direction, such is b the intensity of the tyranny, they invariably promote or exercise, that whenever and wherever it has been felt long enough to be understood, their instruments break in their hands. The progress of civilisation and increased rapidity of communication have tended to shorten the periods of their success in the main- tenance of avowed despotisms. Still, being perfectly indifferent to the amount of human and national suffering they occasion, in their warfare against freedom, a brief enjoyment of the control over the depositories of absolute power has attractions for them, which they either cannot or will not resist. An absolutism, the product and exponent of intense national feeling and pride, such as the autocracy of Russia, may defeat the Great Secret Society and the Papacy ; but it can only do so by constant watchfulness, and measures of retaliation, almost as severe, although not necessarily as treacherous, as the attacks, to which it is exposed. Of this the circular of Prince Gortchakoff (which will be found in the Appendix) affords, when read together with the accounts of Polish insurrection, conclusive evidence. Perhaps the most curious aspect of Ultramontane action is pre- sented when Ultramontanes, with a versatility of conduct, which none others with satisfaction to their own consciences can prac- tise, declare their devotion to the extreme doctrines of universal liberty, and the most advanced notions of social and political equality. This phase of Jesuit action may at first sight appear the most incongruous of all. A little reflection will, however, convince the intelligent reader, that there is a powerful element in the organization of the Jesuit Order, which is akin to the most advanced, as they are called, but, in truth, the most barbarously retrograde, doctrines of equality. The government of the Jesuit Order is monarchical, under their General even to the full extent of constituting an Ultra Despotism ; and in this the constitution of Jesuits differs from the primitive organization of several of the older Monastic Orders of the Church of Ptome, which were rather ecclesiastical in their character than military. The General of the Jesuits is an autocrat, until he is deposed, or dies ; and the more despotically an autocrat, because he reigns over that, which a French writer aptly describes as "a Communism of Celibates." Celibacy is necessary to the complete and absolute XI abnegation of personal rights, which is equally the characteristic of Communism and of the Jesuit Order. Since marriage and its con- sequence — the Family — generate patriarchal government, which is alien to genuine Communism. The Communism of the Jesuit Order would be complete, but for the absolutism of their General. It is not difficult, therefore, to understand the facility, with which they ada2)t their action cither to the support of Despotism in National Government, or to the propagation of Ultra Democracy. From motives of prudence the Jesuits disguise their dislike of Constitutional Government. The Gunpowder Plot was a failure fraught with to them disastrous consequences. But their dislike of Constitutional freedom is scarcely less than their hatred of the liberties of the Gallican Church, or their detestation of Christian Protestantism. — Protestantism, that is not Christian, they often flatter, but always despise, knowing that inasmuch as it lacks a genuine appeal to the higher motives of mankind, they can mould it to their purpose, or dispose of it at their discretion. All Europe has respected the character of the late talented Count Montalemberfc. And in the Appendix to this "work will be found the last letter, written by him shortly before his death, in which he touched upon political subjects ; his last views upon which contrast strangely enough with his previous adhesion to the doctrines of Ultramontanism. Yet no one doubted Monta- lembert's sincerity ; he lived to see the Ultramontanes conspire to overthrow the constitutional government of Louis Philippe, in favour of the democratic Republic of 1848, with the purpose, as we believe, of subverting the Republic through exaggeration of its democratic tendencies, and thus supplanting it by the Third French Empire. The Count Montalembert lived long enough to discover, that although Ultramontanism is always consistent with itself — that is, with implicit obedience to the power, which reigns supreme in the person of the Pontiff, — it is incapable of genuine amalgamation with anything else. We leave it to theologians to decide whether its religion, if fanaticism may be called religion, consists in anything dogmatically permanent beyond the last decree of the reigning Pontiff, provided always, that such decree be agreeable to the interests of the Society. However little such mental subjugation may consist with the h2 Xll sense of duty, which inspires those, who hold a different faith, no mistake can be greater than to suppose, that this blind obedience in the least incapacitates the individuals, subject to it, from the most effective action. On the contrary, the intensity of their com- bination, and the secresy, with which it is enforced, enable the Great Secret Society to grapple with the most powerful Governments of the world. It was at firsj; amicably allied with the Third Empire of France. Then came a period of coldness between the allies, approaching to hostility. At last, the Great Secret Society triumphed over the failing energies of the Emperor, and forced him to a final effort in the interests of the Papacy, which ended in his downfall. Scarcely eighteen months have elapsed, before wo find the Government of the Empire, which overthrew that of Napoleon, entering upon a struggle with the ao-ents of the Papacy upon the matter of education in Germany. Is, then, the conclusion at which we invite our readers to arrive, that the Great Secret Society, the director and right hand of the Papacy, a power, with which, as invincible, it is useless to contend ? Such a conclusion is condemned by the history of this country, whose freedom, wdiose prosperity and whose greatness have advanced exactly in proportion to the triumph of her true religion that of the Bible — over the corruptions of the Christian faith, of which the Papacy and its Great Secret Society are the expo- nents. While the periods of her comparative weakness have always ensued upon the periodical departures of her Government from the Christian principles, which found their exposition^ first in the Church, and then in the Common Law of England. This world is a world of conflict ; and although the variations in the prosperity of nations are not sudden as the intermittent phases of a fever-patient's illness, still the changes, from growing strength to weakness are patent to the perception of even the irregular student, and his studies must be limited, if he arrive at any conclusion other than that the periods of national growth and national vigour, whether original or renewed, have always been those at which the nation adhered most closely to the dictates of the morality, which is perfectly developed only by means of an open Bible, — the antagonist which even the Great Secret Society has never yet been able finally to overcome. XUl THE INFLUENCE OF THE GUEAT «ECIIET SOCIETY IN PHODUCING TUK FRANCO-GERMAN WAR. There was a remarkable coincidence in the time of the " Declaration " of Papal Infallibility with the commencement of (he late war which has resulted in such disaster to France, On the 18th of July, 1870, amidst a scene that was designed by the Papal Curia to be one of peculiar and significant splen- dour, but which Heaven tnrned into unwonted and ominous gloom, the prophecy of St. Paul (2 Thcss. ii. 4) was literally fulfilled by the Pope, seated on his throne in the Church of St. Peter's. " He as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing The Doj,nna & himself that he is God." On that very same day, the war, which *^° ^^^'" had been declared three days before by France against Prussia, was commenced by the march of the French forces. Was this an accidental coincidence, or was it design ? There is every reason to believe, that the war, which began on the very day of the Papal consummation, had been planned for the purpose of using the sword of France in a new crusade, whereby Ultramontane influence should obtain an enormous expansion, forcing nations to receive the favoured heresy of Papal infallibility now being pressed upon the recreant Bishops by an ultimatum from the Vatican, with all its inseparable tyranny. This war, which has ended in the unprecedented and deserved overthrow of those who appealed to the sword, was expected to achieve far different results. The date of its commencement was chosen so as to excite the idea that Providence had inter- posed in favour of the new dogma. Jesuits intended, in this way, xiv Jesuit Influence in the Me War. to answer and silence their oj^poncnts, to distract the minds of men from a critical consideration of their proceedings, and to Quiriuus. overpower the noble freedom of German thought. " Quirinus " wrote from Rome, in December, 1869, in these remarkable words,* which pointed out accurately the programme of those constant plotters, the members of the t^ociety of Jesus : — " Their Order is now really, and in the fullest sense, the TJrim and Thummim and breastplate of the high-priest— the Pope— who can only then issue an oracular utterance when he has con- sulted his breastplate, the Jesuit Order. Only one thing was still wanting for the salvation of a world redeemed and regene- rated once again : the Jesuits must again become the confessors of monarchs restored to absolute power. " It is one of the notes of an age so rich in contradictions, that Becks. the present General of the Order, Father Beckx, is not in harmony with the proceedings of his spiritual militia. Here, in Eome, he is reported to have said, ' In order to recover two fractions of the States of the Church, they are pricking on to a war against the world : but they will lose all.' But for that reason, as is known, he possesses only the outward semblance of government, while it is really in the hands of a Conference." The sword of France was the instrument which was to open the way to absolutism in Church and in State throughout the world. Jesuits were thus to " become the confessors of monarchs, restored to absolute power," holding the same relation to them that Father La Chaise did to Louis XIV. in his dotage. f The present head of the Eomish Church is content to be the puppet of this power — crafty, secret, active, persistent, — a power behind the Papal throne overawing its possessor. Intoxicated with their success, ignoring the former reverses of their Order, and entirely * See " Letters from Rome on tlie Council," b,y " Quirinus." London : Kivingtoiis, 1870. Page 70. f If the reader would gain an insight into ^\'hat dreadful lengths of crime such " confessors of absolute monarchs " Avill go in order to achieve their evil piu'poses, let him read the most important and characteristic letter from Father La Chaise, the confessor of Louis XIV., to Father Peters, confessor of James II., written in 10'S8, which wiU be foimd at pnge 221 of the present work. Jesuit Influence hi the late War. xv callous to the demands urged for their expulsion in July and September last from Rome, and also virtually from Germany, hy the adoption of the sixth resolution in the programme of the Old Catholic Congress, held at Munich in October, they arc following in the steps of the most ambitious and unscrupulous of their former chiefs. To arrive at the summit, not merely of spiritual power, but of political and worldly authority, through sj)iritual pretensions, — this is, and ever has been, the object kept in view. To attain this end, they bend all their energies and use every means that promises to secure any degree of success and additional influence to their Society. They acted upon the Emperor of the French through his Empress, Je8nits& tho who was devoted to them and obedient to their suggestions, and Eu-'enieT proved herself their partisan at every risk, by the well-known exclamation : " Better the Prussians at Paris than the Italians at Rome." And, indeed, we find on referring to an entry made by Professor Friedrich in his diary, dated May 2nd, 1870, and kept by him whilst at the-CEcuinenical Council, that he speaks of a distinct understanding having been arrived at, between the Jesuit party and the Tuilleries, in view of a Franco-Prussian war. The Professor observes, that it was well known in Berlin that such an understanding existed. He addds : "It was no secret, but a notorious fact, that the Empress Eugenie was entirely under the influence of the Jesuits, and in constant communication with Home, and that she was eager in urging on the war, which she repeatedly spoke of as ' ma guerre,' because she regarded it as a sort of crusade. The Empress and her clerical advisers represented the party, then dominant at the Vatican. And the Jesuits hoped to promote, by war, the policy they had inaugurated by the Oecumenical Council and the Syllabus which had preceded it. The agent employed to conduct the negotiations between the Confessors. Empress (who after the departure of the Emperor to the army, assumed the Supreme power as Regent) and the directors of the Papal policy, was her Majesty's confessor. The participation of other Court confessors, such as those at Vienna and elsewhere, in this affair, was also reckoned upon. Even Italy would, it was thought, be thus brought over to the cause ; and if the victories of Wissem- burg, Woerth, and Spicheren had not so rapidly succeeded each xvi Jesuit Influence In the late War. other, perhaps, the calculations made at the Vatican and the Tuilleries for bringing about a coalition of the Catholic Powers against Germany would not have proved fallacious." The Jesuit power is founded on the Papal. All objection to Papal tyranny must be stifled ; all claim to spiritual freedom on the part of Roman Catho- lics must be put down as infidelity, which was equal in their eyes to the enormity of Protestantism itself. In the Monde* two days after the breaking out of the Franco-German war, there appeared an article in which the writer declared, that " the war is not only destined to decide the preponderance of one of the two Powers, but will have a most important influence upon the j)rospects of Catholicism. The triumph of France is necessari/, in order to stay the progress of Protestantism and infidel German philosophy represented by Prussia." The disfavour in which everything German was regarded at Rome is well put in a sentence of the eighteenth letter of "Quirinus : " " German, and, of ill repute for orthodoxy, are synonymous terms here " — i.e., in Rome. Upon the German nation, therefore, was to be enforced a submission to everything Papal, renunciation of all manliness of soul and free- dom of mind, by the power of the sword. The Emperor of the French, the quondam eldest son of the Church — now no longer looked on as legitimate, since his power to serve the Papacy had failed — was then supposed to be in possession of force sufficient to achieve this desired object. But even the most astute are some- times deceived ; and fortunate is it for the human race, that these subtle plans against freedom have been turned to the discomfiture Results, of their originators. The recent onset against Germany has resulted not only in the prostration of the aggressor, but also in the downfall of the Papacy itself, as a temporal power. The Jesuits, with characteristic selfishness, look with apathy on the misfortunes of their instruments, who have committed Failure, the unpardonable crime of failure in attaining their leading object — the supremacy of the Order. Constitutional forms of government are everywhere more or less opposed by the Jesuits. Democracy as the parent of despotism, and despotism itself, alone receive their constant fealty. * The Monde, July 20, 1870. Despotic tendency of then- views. xvii The Weekly Register* tells us : — "Of the Orleanists it is enough to say that they are a mere TheOrleamsts faction in France. They have neither the Church, nor the army, nor the people on their side. The clergy do not love them, and have no reason to like them. During Louis Philippe's reign the Church in France was in absolute bondage. The Bishops were constantly snubbed; the cathedrals and churches were suffered to go to decay ; and the utmost indulgence was given, and the warmest friendship was shown to the violent literary rcvilers of the Church and enemies of religion " {i.e., to Galilean Catholics, and such Protestants as M. Guizot]. "One of the earliest acts of the barricade monarchy was to invade the Pontifical States, and seize Ancona, because the Austrians crossed the frontier at the Pope's desire, to aid in the suppression of a Carbonaro insurrection The shopkeepers in Paris and in the large towns were attached to the citizen King, and it is probable that their sympathies still flow in a great measure towards Orlcanism ; but they constitute only a fraction of the nation, and at best but a poor prop for an illegitimate Bourbon throne." This was an attempt to throw dust in the eyes of observers, and to hide Ultramontane discomfiture beneath the show of bravery. The sufferings of Paris, in their most striking phases, especially during the Commune, were openly attributed in France to Ultramontane schemes ; and it is a fact worthy of notice, that, of the murderers of Generals Clement Thomas and Lecomte, eiyht Generals were sentenced to death, whilst in the case of those charged at Lecomte. Versailles, with the murder of the GaUican Archbishop and others, but one was condemned to capital punishment. Whether Jesuit interests may or may not have demanded this sacrifice, must for the present be left somewhat to conjecture, but will be noticed hereafter. To the Great Secret Society, the downfall of France and the desolate homes of millions are as nothing. Men and governments, in its estimation, are merely the counters with which it plays. Sorrows, tears and blood, it cares for, only as far as these favour or thwart its own schemes. At the present time, throughout Continental Europe, the more * June 17th, lb71. xviii Defeat and its consequences. audacious and overt of these schemes have apparently collapsed. As their General, Beckx, foretold the Jesuits would be the case, they have overreached themselves ; but have already recommenced their subtle labours. Unchanged in temper and aim, they arc looking forward to a terrible revenge for their recent defeats. An undying hatred against those who have checkmated them, in Spain, in Italy and elsewhere, is expressed in the following extract from one of their organs.* Ppaiu and " The OHve of Spain is about to bud forth anew. The sub- maceus. ^\^\ylq plant, Amadous, cannot be induced to take root in the land of Ferdinand and Columbus, Ximenes and Balmez. The Catholic breeze, which comes from the Pyrenees, bears on its wings a tale of a coming crusade, which must effectually destroy the prospects of the son of Victor Emmanuel. Another King — the son of the injured Queen of Spain — is about to take his place. Montpcnsier — unnatural, treacherous Prince though he be — is beginning to repent of the work of his hands, and blushes at his own dastard conduct in co-operating with the wretched Prim for the overthrow of the virtuous Isabella, and in the establish- ment of a withered branch of the tottering House of Savoy." , . . . " But, Spain is about to become resurgent. True, she may — and no doubt she shall — suffer for the Amadean crime. But her sufferings shall be like those of France, purifying, Italy and salutary, rehabilitating. Her punishment — like that of Italy France. „^^ France — will be a blessing, which shall result in the assertion of those Catholic Eternal Principles of Right, which are deposited in the hearts of the masses, and which no en- croachment of heresy — no gHttering tinsel of false philosophy — could ever tarnish. The Savoyard must go homo, and we wish it were in peace. But there is no peace for the wicked "Victor Emmanuel nor for his wretched son. He may go — he shall go — but the dark cloud of his evil genius may long obscure the bright- ness of sunny Spain, and leave behind him in the land of the olive and the "\dne a long train of miseries, which all right-minded men would prefer to see him carry with him." The continual distrust now fostered between Amadeus and his * Dalhj Examiner^ Belfast, of June 21, 1^71. German distrust of Ultramontanisin. xix supporters, and the perpetual disturbance under the premiership of Sagasta and subsequent ministers afford convincing evidence of the development of this spirit of vengeance. The German Governments have had abundant cause to Gennauy. estimate, at their true value, the professions and the practices of the Ultramontane combination. j!^ow that the effort to sub- jugate Germany by force has so signally failed, her answer is given in no undecided terms. We are indebted to the Standard* for a valuable and accurate summary (confirmed in substance by the Tablet) of the measures taken by the Government of the German Empire, showing their distrust of the Ultramontane party. These measures are of greater significance than the other important characteristics of internal policy, that have distinguished Germany since the conclusion of peace. In Prussia, though the Hoyal family are Protestant, the Roman Catholic Church received recognition as an organisation, responsible to the State with regard to the religion of a certain portion of the people. There was a ministerial department for matters connected with that Church. This department controlled the extensive powers, which the national system of education in Prussia accorded to Roman Piussian ecclesiastics. The Prussian Government has had reason to ^i<^^tiou. complain, for many years past, that the position accorded to the Roman Church was used to cover many abuses of power in the Ultramontane interest. Some years since, an eminent scientific professor in the University of Bonn was removed by order of the Government, because the Archbishop of Cologne dis- approved of the nature of his scientific teaching. The Prussian Government then seemed anxious to conciliate the Roman authorities in the hope of receiving their support. The internal policy of Prussia was apparently more Ultramontane than that of the more thoroughly Catholic portions of Germany. This party although utterly crushed in Wurtemburg, and in a minority in Bavaria, yet exercised a stronger influence in Bavaria, the Rhenish Provinces of Prussia than in any other part of the German Empire. The Catholics of these Provinces * Standard of July ^8th, 18? 1. XX Prmsia curbs Ultramontankm. seemed to vie with their co-religionists throughout Belgium and Ireland in their devotion to the Roman See. The relations between the State and the Roman Catholics of these provinces, until recent years, were regulated by Concordat, as in Austria, and the ecclesiastics there held extensive power and patronage, whilst, in the other portions of Prussia, the appointments of bishops and even of parish priests were controlled by the Crown. Whatever were the political objects which at that time induced the Prussian Court to favour this growth of the Ultramontane power, the chief authority of the State has shown that a most effective blow might be struck whenever it thought fit. By an Order in Council, the separate department for Roman Catholic aifairs has Miihler. been abolished, and the machinery, with its director, v. Miihler (rather the delegate of the Pope than of the King in the Rhenish Provinces), has been removed. The Concordat is not yet abro- gated, but the special Government department charged to carry it out is abolished. These measures have been followed by others of a still more decisive character. One of the priests recently excommunicated for refusing to accept the new doctrine of Kumiuski. Infallibility, Herr Kumiuski, has been authorised by the Government to continue to celebrate mass ; and the Ministry have ordered special reports to be made to them of the intrigues throughout the kingdom which the Infallibilists are now carrying on. These and others are only measures of defence following upon the abolition of the official department, which was only a portion of the Ministry, lately controlled by Herr v. Miihler, The CuUug. under the German title of Cultus, regulating all matters relating to education and religion. The Augshurg Gazette points out that this department has existed for thirty years, and no one ever thought of regarding it as of a temporary nature, or looked forward to its approaching abolition. The subsequent acts of the Minister, however, clear up all doubt upon the subject. The attitude of the Imperial Government has completely changed towards this party, who unhappily are still a power in Europe and in the world. Events in Southern Germany have cast a great deal of light upon the subject. When the Dollinger movement first commenced, the Berlin press expressed the most supercilious indifference to it, just as our Liberal party Ddllinger, and the "■Old CatJioUe" ^lovement. xxi here affected to believe that Ultramontanism had no terrors for them. They opposed it, in common with all others who professed a respect for freedom and constitutional right, but pretended that such was the superiority of their weapons, and the fulness of their light, that they had nothing to fear from its machinations. The Berlin press represented the struggle in Bavaria, as some- Bavaria, thing belonging to an earlier period of humanity than that in which it was their privilege to live. This movement has become too important to be thus treated. The Catholics of South Germany have pronounced for it emphatically, and the Imperial Government hastens to assume the leadership of the movement. All the astute diplomatising, which the Court of Rome has employed since the commencement of the war, has failed. The Pope's letter to the Emperor, the correspondence carried on through the Archbishop of Posen at Versailles, the parade of the relations between Cardinal Antonelli and Baron Von Arnim, the German envoy at Rome — the bright hopes founded on intrigue are gone. The new German Empire feels the necessity of casting off its alliance with the Papacy — a feeling which has been for some time reflected by the Roman Catholic Government of Austria. In Bavaria, a Roman Catholic country, where certain prerogatives are granted to the Church of Rome, a difficulty presents itself that does not exist in Prussia, where the knot has been cut by abolishing the quasi recognition of the Pi-uesia cuts independance of the Church by the State. This proves the *^® '^"°*' strength of the Dollinger movement in Germany, the genuine- ness and power of feeling, as distinct from Obscurantism, with which the anti-papal name of the great theologian was once associated. Yet it would be a great mistake to think that all this will render Ultramontanism harmless. All these calamities will effect little else than to define more distinctly the sphere of this party. It no longer controls the State in Italy. It is more ostracised in Prussia than in Belgium, or in Ireland ; but it would be a mistake to suppose it im- potent for evil. Its power over the uneducated masses will always be great, and all the greater because its chief appeal will now be to them alone. The State, in Germany and elsewhere, has failed to come to a settlement with Ultramon- tanism ; but the State cannot simply ignore it. xxii Romanism in ihe United States. In this country, and in the United States, the design of Jesuitism is, in the main, the same as in Germany, though attempted by somewhat different means. An instance of the consequences which result when a democratic government courts this treacherous power, is shewn in the following extract:* — " We have been for some time reliably informed, that the inhabitants and municipal government of the city of New York had petted the Papal Church into a position of such superiority over other sects, that the civil authorities began to feel an uncomfortable pressure from the favoured denomination. Under date, October 30th, 1869, the New York correspondent of the Papists in Mominrj Post wrote : — ' The politicians of New York have long New^ork. p^-^j ^q^j.^ ^q \]^q prelates of the Catholic Church, and the latter have not scrupled to use them. . . . The great bulk of the Catholics are Irishmen, and all the Irish are democrats, not because they are Catholics, but because they are Irish. The democratic politicians have perhaps imagined that by liberal endowments and donations for Catholic purposes they might induce the priesthood to use their influence in behalf of the New York, democratic ticket. . . . New York has long been ruled by Irish politicians ; they are not very good Catholics, but they at least were sufficiently well inclined towards their traditional faith to make for its benefit the most liberal donations." And then follows a catalogue of endowments and donations given by the municipality to Eoman Catholic churches, conventual and monastic institutions, hospitals, schools, &c., which testifies to the dexterity of the late Archbishop Hughes, and might well gladden the heart of Sir George Bowyer. Reliable information, received in December last (1871), confirms a previous statement, that Scripture Rome, to somo extent, has succeeded in paralysing Scriptural paralysed, teaching throughout most of the common schools in the United States.f Her educational institutions in New York alone, enjoy public endowments amounting to 412,062 dollars per annum ; while 116,677 dollars, or less than one-third, is the sum-total •:- The Press and St. James's Chronicle, July 15th, 1871. f May not the same subtle cause have produced a parallel effect in England, under the specious pretence of sectarian teaching ? Romankni in the United States. xxiii paid towards the support of all the other schools, of whatever New York denomination. The disproportion of those benefactions thus given to the Papal Church, when compared with the aggregate allow- ance made to other denominations, affords indeed a curious com- mentary upon the notion of religious equality for which the nonconformists in this country clamour, and with which Mr. Bright and his pupils have so carefully imbued the present government and the majority of the House of Commons. The occasion of the revival of the cry for religious equality Religious in England — one which, as subjects of a foreign power, Romanists ^'^^^ ^ ^' have no right to raise, but which has been marked by such emi- nent success in Papal aggression of late years — ought well to be remembered. It originated sixteen years ago with the late Count de Montalcmbcrt, who then published his "Political Future of England," and in that remarkable book recommended the Roman Catholics to adopt this cry as a lever, by the dexterous use of which they might effect almost anything in this country. Just before his death, two years ago, the Count de Montalembert avowed, that when he published his "Political Future of England," he was under Ultramontane influence * Qmrinus informs us in his fifth letter,f that the Roman Catholic Bishops from the United States were very uneasy at the temper manifested by his Holiness the Pope, at the prospect of The Pope, having to conform to the decrees of the Council, on their return to their trans -Atlantic dioceses. One of them exclaimed, " Nobody should bo elected Pope who has not lived three years in the United States, and thus learnt to comprehend what is possible at this day in a freely -governed commonwealth." The Times New York correspondent informs us:}: — "In New York the Orangemen recently determined to celebrate to-day, the 12th of July, by a procession. The Ribandmen deter- Eiiiamlmeu. mined by force to prevent them from carrying out their purpose. Both sides armed, fears of a disturbance were excited. The authorities hesitated, but ultimately decided to ■^ Substance of an extract from The Press and St. James's Chronicle, Feb. 24, 1872. t Dated— Rome, Dec. 23, 1869; p. 108. J Under date, July 12, 1871. xxi'y The Poicer and WiU of England. Pandering to protect tho Orange procession, since the Uoman Catholics I'opery- j^g^(j often, undisturbed, marclied in procession through the city. The Eibandmen, however, were not to be deterred from violence, even by the presence of three regiments. They fired upon both the procession and the military, encouraged, perhaps, by their recollections of the more than exemplary forbearance of English troops under similar provocation. They were, however, mistaken in expecting forbearance from the American army. The 84th regiment, which was in advance The Fruits, of the procession, fired without orders. The result reported is that thirty- one persons were killed and seventy-five were wounded. Among the killed are two policemen and three soldiers. One hundred and sixty-five rioters have been committed for trial." Such is the result of American political pandering to Popery and Ribandism. The power of England is coveted especially by the Society. Dr. Manning, their patron and apologist, has declared this in Manning's no indistinct terms. The Tablet states,* that in a sermon preached to a Roman Catholic synod, under Cardinal Wise- man's presidency, by the present Archbishop Manning, then Prothonotary, he made the following remarks : — " If ever there was a land in which work was to be done, and perhaps much to suffer, it is here. I shall not say too much if I say, that we have to subjugate and subdue, to conquer and rule, an imperial race. "We have to do with a will, which reigns throughout the world, as the will of old Rome reigned once. We have to bend or to break that will, which nations and kingdoms have found invincible and inflexible." ..." Were If conquered ? it (heresy) conquered in England it would be conquered through- out the world. All its lines meet here; and therefore, in England, the Church of God must be gathered in all its strength." These expressions, sHghtly varied, though the same in purport, are found in a volume of sermons on ecclesiastical subjects, by Dr. Manning. t It is a significant fact, that the next sermon in this book, is one devoted to the praise of Ignatius Loyola and the * Of Aug-ust 0, 1859. f Publislied by Dnfly, raternoster Row. Page 100. Rebellion and attempted murder justified. xxv Jesuit Order. At page 179 he thus justifies the rebelKon of Thomas a Becket : — " Will it be said, as mere men of the world say, drawing their pens fine to write the history of saints, Ansclm was an arrogant Auacim. and stubborn prolate — Becket proud and ambitious ? It was not Bcckct. for Christ's sake they suffered, but for their own evil passions ; for turbulence, obstinacy, and rebellion ; for their own faults they were justly punished. Well, are saints faultless? Yes, Avhen crowned ; not when in warfare. . . . Be it so. Saints are men, and men are frail. . . . Let us not be told, then, that they who stand for the name of Jesus suffer for their own sins. No doubt they had them, but thoy suffered not for these. There is a deeper and a diviner reason — a reason unchangeably true. They had the Divine presence with them ; and they were visibly stamped with the name they bore. They crossed the will of the world in its pride of place and set a bound to its pretensions. They were the shadow of a superior, and the ministers of a higher, law. This was their true offence." Is not this preaching a crusade ? No doubt can remain of Dr. INIanning's approval and commendation of Anselm's obstinacy and Becket's rebellion. Again, at page 188, Dr. Manning writes : — " St. Augustine, St. Bonaventure, and St. Thomas (Becket), will forgive me if I say that Ignatius well repaid to them the price of his nurture, when he gave to the Church, Bellarmine and Petavius, Josuit doctor! Vasquez, Suarez, and De Lugo, besides newer but memorable names." So Dr. Manning approves of the morality of the Jesuit doctors, and exalts the founder of their Order almost, if not quite, to an equality with his admired Becket. And then, at page 187, he writes of the Jesuit Order, that it embodies the character of its founder, " the same energy, perseverance and endurance. It is his own presence still prolonged, the same perpetuated Order, even in the spirit and manner of its working, fixed, uniform, and changeless." We maj'' agree with those his- Changeless- torians, who assert that the Order of Jesuits bears the stamp rather °^®^' of Laynez, the successor of Ignatius, than of himself; but that the purpose, spirit, and working of the Order are unchanged, we fully admit. At page 191 Dr. Manning writes, that the Jesuits, who were P xxvi Forewarned, is to he Forearmed. Mauniug on executed, like Garnet, for his participation in the Gunpowder powdcrPlot. P^ot, and for other scarcely minor ofiences, by what he sneeringly calls " the execution of justice," are in Heaven, enrolled as martyrs. " On earth," he writes, " they wore the garb of felons ; in Heaven they stand arrayed in white, and crowned. Here they were arraigned in the dock, as malefactors: there they sit by the throne of the Son of God." * Justification. Littlc doubt Can remain that Dr. Manning has deliberately justified, in these sermons, rebellion, treason, and attempted wholesale murder, as means for effecting the subjugation of England. And how does Dr. Manning appear to justify the course he has thus adopted ? In these sermons, he shews that the prosperity of England is no proof of the Divine favour ; and at page 140, because England is Protestant and free, with a loathsome affectation of charity, he writes : — " And all this is true of our own land, dear to us by so many charities ; for England now, like Rome, pagan of old, has become Sentina gentium — the pool into which the evils of all the earth find a way." It cannot be said, that Dr. Manning has abandoned these opinions, or his purpose, for they reappear in his more recently published works ; and especially in a volume of essays, of which he is the editor. Romish dc- Wc arc not left in ignorance, then, of the opinions, the principles, and the designs of the Romish Church, and of the Jesuits in particular, with regard, to our own county. As we have said, the lessons which late events have produced, and those which are actually uttered by the emissaries of this spiritual tyranny, should not be lost on Englishmen. Wars, stratagems, and proclamations of future onsets, all bespeak the necessity of caution and vigorous self-defence in every people that will be. free. - After this quasi cauoni/calion, might it not be asked, how far the nation is indebted to Jesuit influence, for the discontinuation of the sendee for the 5th of November attached to the Book of Common Prayer? si":ns. XXVll JESUITISM IN EELATION TO PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. The increase of Jesuit influence runs like an electric shock through the whole Eomish communion. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it is the very life of Romanism. Jesuitism is the genius of Popery skilfully reduced to a system. As Popery is the masterpiece of priestcraft, so Jesuitism is itself the very masterpiece of Popery. It is priestcraft so artfully regulated as to hide its work ; caring for nothing but success. Though its aim is alien to the spirit of true Christianity, yet it contains nothing essentially foreign to the spirit of the Papacy. The true character of this phase has been ably portrayed by the learned authors of '' The Pope and the Council;' who write under the name of " Janus." It is there clearly shown, that the ruling influence has been for ages exerted, not by the Pope, as a Bishop, but by the Curia, the really governing body at Rome. It may be well to mention that the modern Roman Curia The Ciuia. forms the Pope's privy council, and is composed of an assembly of cardinals, prelates, and clerical State ministers, nominally the servants, in reahty the masters of the Pope. ^ How skilfully and unscrupulously Jacobo Antonelli, as Cardinal Secretary, (the son and grandson of a brigand,)* has wielded the power of the Curia, temporal and spiritual, under the direction of the Jesuits, is well known. Now that the latter have acquired the supreme influence in the Roman Curia itself, {he two may be considered for all practical purposes as one, since Ultramon- tanism is but another name for Jesuitism. * We quote the following from the recent very iuterestiiKv work " The Papal Cxarnson (London: Hunt &Co. 1H72). dedicatedtothc-Mlrquisof Salisbury; 1 . ni. Speaknig of Antonelli. " himself (as no one in Italy ventured to deny) the son and grandson of a brigand, he had, as Governor of Yiterbo, enhstcd 1 apal confidence by one of the most perfidious acts in the records of executive in amy, by Avhich parents— men of high birth and character— A^-ere inveigled into the unsuspected betrayal of their own sons ; Avho were, one and all Con- signed, at the dead of night, to the fort of Civita Castellana.' c2 xxviii Absolutism apparently/ consummated. It is curious to look back on Papal transactions in bygone years, and observe how welcome and powerful in the Romish Commu- nion, even long before the days of Loyola, was the spirit which Layuez. his successor, Laynez, methodised. The design of the Curia and the Jesuits in the late pseudo- Oecumenical Council, assembled at Rome to proclaim the personal infallibility of the Pope, was but the logical consummation of their efforts continued through centuries. Bitterly hostile to all freedom, the Papacy regards with peculiar hatred all unfettered, true Church Councils, re- sembling those political assemblies by which the temporal freedom of nations is guaranteed and strengthened. So a Council still more deficient than that of Trent, in elements really oecumenical, has been convened, and induced to give its authority to the coveted dogma ; and Jesuits hope that Councils will become things of the past. Large as the authority of the Pope was, yet, according to former ideas, even in the Pomish Church there was a limit to it. So long as the authority of an assembly of the universal Church, consisting not merely of the representatives of the clerical portion, but of the whole Church, was recognised as a tribunal to which appeal could be made from Papal decisions, the Pope's monarchy though supreme, was limited ; and for his rule he was responsible, theoretically Despotism, at all events, to the parliament of the Church. But absolute power appears to have worked so well for Jesuitism, that hence- forth it is to bo the rule of the entire Roman Church. These remarks are borne out by high Roman Catholic authority. Archbishop no less than that of Monseigneur Darboy, Archbishop of Paris. Darboy. j^ |^-g gp^g^]^ q^ ^]^q Coustitutio Docjmatica de Eceksid* the following words occur :— " Not only will the independent infallibility of the Pope not destroy these prejudices and objections which draw away so many from the faith, but it will increase and intensify them. There are many who in heart are not aHenated from the Catholic Church, but who yet think of what they term a separation of Church and State. It is certain that several of the leaders of public opinion are on this side, and will take occasion from the =:■ Vide, "Letters from Rome on the Council, by Quijiuus," (published by Pvivingtons, 1870,) Appendix I., pp. 831, 832. -^ B^^eech of Archbishop Darhoy. xxix proposed definition to effect their object. The example of France will soon be copied more or less all over Europe, and to the greatest injury of the clergy and the Church herself. " The compilers of the Schema, whether they desire it or not, Tho Scliema. are introducing a new era of mischief, if the subject-matter of Papal infallibility is not accurately defined, or if it can be sup- posed that under the head of morals the Pope will give decisions on the civil and political acts of sovereigns and nations, laws and rights, to which a public authority will be attributed.* " Every one of any political cultivation knows what seeds of discord are contained in our Schema, and to what perils it exposes rci-ils. even the temporal power of the Holy See."t * " Tliis is emphatically asserted in a sermon preached last year at Kensington by Archbishop ]\Ianning, where he says, speaking in the Pope's name, ' I claim to be the supreme judge and director of the consciences of men ; of the peasant that tills the field and the prince that sits on the throne ; of the household that lives in the shade of privacy and the legulature that maJces laics for Jciiii/iloms — I am the sole last supremo judge of what is right and wrong.' " (Note appended, from " Quiruius.") f Yet in spite of the fact that Dr. Manning heard tliis speech and actually replied to it in the Council, he has lately had the hardiliood to write to the Times to deny that Monseigneur Darboy held the very opinions which he coiu-ageously advanced before the assembled Council at the Vatican and which Dr. INIanning then impugned ! jNIonseigneur Darboy has since been removed from the scene of his labours. It is a remarkable fact that three successive Archbishops of Paris have been murdered ; they were all Galileans in religious opinion, and opposed to the Jesuits. Monseigneur Murders of Sibour was murdered by a fanatical priest. Monseigneiu' Alfre was shot ^^I- ■'^iboiu', upon one of the barricades of the Parisian Revolution of 18i8 : he had been, t^ T' ^ '■ ' Darboy. as M. Cayla relates, induced to go to the barricade on a mission of peace by Frederick Ozanan and his allies, all Ultramontanes of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, who accompanied him. M. Louis Blanc affirms, and adduces evidence to prove, that Monseigneur Afire was then and there shot through the back. The cii'cumstances of the murder of iVi'chbishop Darboy we need not detail ; but the fact, that the name Cluseret was merely an alias, adopted by the Fenian McAuliff, is significant. With regard to the late Archbishop, it can never be forgotten that in a letter to him, which will be found at the end of this volume, the Pope violently u):)braided bun, and actually threatened him with punishment, for simply doing his duty as a Galilean Bishop, and for carrying out in practice the ininciples wliich he afterwards so forcibly enunciated before the Coimcil. XXX InfaUihiUfjj and the Canon Law. Opinions of rpj^g Opinions of Bishop Strossmever, as given in tlie same book, Bishop stress- ^ ^ „. . ." ,, -, • ;-i meyer are to the hke effect. His conclusions are ably summed up m the following extract from a recently published letter : — • "The canon law, however objectionable, arbitrary, and even revolutionary some of its provisions may be, ^cas a law, and a law binding upon the Pope, to a certain extent, which could not be fundamentally altered, except by a Council called CEcumenical. National, local, episcopal, and certain other official and personal rights, exemptions, privileges, and other properties, were recog- nised by, or bad grown up, whether by custom or otherwise, under the canon law which protected them. Since the declaration of the Infallibility it appears to me that the canon law itself, and the rights and properties thereon dependent, can be, all or any of them, annulled or altered by a dictum of the Pope, when such dictum is pronounced ex cathedra, and that to such pronounce- ment no Council such as that of last year is henceforth to be necessary, but that such pronouncement of its Infallibility as con- ferring universal authority upon such dictum is to be uttered by some .conclave of persons immediately attached to, or resident in, the immediate vicinity of the Pope. It follows that the Roman Catholic bishops must henceforth be the mere organs and agents of the Pope for the enforcement, pro posse, of such dicta." Moiitalmnbcrt The foUowuig extracts from a letter* of the late Count Monta- lembert are also strongly confirmatory of the opinions which we have expressed. " Never, thank Heaven, have I thought, said, or written any- thing favourable to the personal and separate Infallibility of the Pope, such as it is sought to impose upon us ; nor to the theo- cracy, the dictatorship of the Church, which I did my best to reprobate in that history of the ' Monks of the West ' of which you are pleased to appreciate tbe laborious fabric; nor to that 'Absolutism of Rome' of which the speech, that you quote, disputed the existence, even in the middle ages, but which to-day forms the symbol and the programme of the faction dominant among us. At the same time I willingly admit, that, if I have nothing to cancel, I should have a great deal to add. I sinned by omission, or rather by want of foresight. I said ' Gallicanism * Dated, Paris, Feb. 28th, 1870. Vide page 208 of the present work. Letter of Count Montalemhert. xxxi is dead, because it made itself the servant of the State ; you have now only to inter it.' I think I then spoke the truth. It was Gallicanism dead, and completely dead. How, then, has it risen again ? I do not hesitate to reply, that it is in consequence of the la-sdsh encouragement given, under the Pontificate of Pius IX., to ex- aggerated doctrines, outraging the good sense, as well as the honour of the human race — doctrines, of which not even the coming shadow was perceptible under the Parliamentary monarchy. There are wanting, then, to that speech, as to the one I made in the National Assembly on the Poman expedition, essential reser- vations against spiritual despotism, and against absolute monarchy, which I have detested in the State, and which does not inspire me with less repugnance in the Church. But, in 1847, what could give rise to a suspicion that the liberal Pontificate of Pius IX., acclaimed by all the Liberals of the two worlds, would become the Pontificate represented and personified by the Univers and the Civilfa ? In the midst of the unanimous cries then uttered by the clergy in favour of liberty m in Belgium, of liberty in ei-enjthing and for all, how could we forsee, as possible, the incredible wheelabout of almost all that same clergy in 1852 — the enthusiasm of most of the Ultramontane doctors for the revival of Ccesarism ? The harangues of Monseigneur Parisis, ^^^^- Parjsii? the charges of Monseigneur de Salinis, and especially the permanent triumph of those lay theologians of absolutism, who began by squandering all our liberties, all our principles, all our former ideas, before Napoleon III., and afterwards immolated justice and truth, reason and history, in one great holocaust to the idol they raised up for themselves at the Vatican ? If that word, idol, seems to you too strong, please to lay the blame on what Monseigneur Sibour, Archbishop of Paris, wrote to mo on the 10th of September, 1853 : — ' The new Ultramontane Sibour ou school leads us to a double idolatry — the idolatry of the temporal l^^^^^^'^iT- power, and of the spiritual power. When you formerly, like ourselves, M. le Comte, made loud professions of Ultramon- tanism, you did not understand things thus. "We defended the independence of the spiritual power against the pretensions and encroachments of the temporal power, but we respected the con- stitution of the State, and the constitution of the Church. "\Ye xxxu Count Montakmherfs Ldtter continued. Power and Power. did not do away with all intermediate power, all hierachy, all reasonable discussion, all legitimate resistance, all individuality, all spontaneity. The Pope and the Emperor were not, one the whole Church, and the other the whole State. Doubtless there are times when the Pope may set himself above all the rules which are only for ordinary times, and when his power is as extensive as the necessities of the Church. The old Ultramontanes kept this in mind, but they did not make a rule of the exception. The new Ultramontanes have pushed everything to extremes, and have abounded in hostile arguments against all liberties — those of the State as well as those of the Church — against the serious religious interests at the present time, and especially at a future day. One might be content with despising them, but when one has a presentiment of the evils, they are preparing for us, it is difficult to be silent and resigned. You have therefore done well, M. le Comte, to stigmatise them.' Thus, sir, did the pastor of the largest diocese in Christendom express himself seventeen years ago, congratulating me upon one of my first protests against the spirit, which, since then, I have never ceased to combat. For it is not to-day, but in 1852, that I began to struggle against the detestable political and religious aberrations which make up con- temporary Ultramontauism. Here, then, traced by the pen of an Archbishop of Paris, is the explanation of the mystery that preoccupies you, and of the contrast you point out between my Ultramontanism of 1847 and my Gallicanism of 1870. There- fore, without having either the will or the power to discuss the question, now debated in the Council, I hail with the most grateful admiration, first, the great and generous Bishop of Orleans, then the eloquent and intrepid priests, who have had the courage to stem the torrent of adulation, imposture, and servility, by which we run the risk of being swallowed up. Thanks to them, Catholic France will not have remained too much below Germany, Hungary, and America." In a note* below will be seen what the French Church has held * For the sako of those who do not know what Gallicanism means, wc give the foUowmg text of the celebrated declaration of the Clergy of 1082, which asserts the freedom of the Galilean Clnu'ch, and is known as " The Four Articles" : — Home, the Church, and the People, xxxiii as to the limits of Papal authority. Henceforth of course these Gallican opinions arc utterly untenable, since the Pope has been declared sole, infallible, judge of his own rights. But the result proves that even the limited freedom claimed by the French National Church is an impossibility, so long as the Pope's authority is acknowledged in anij degree whatever. There is no medium between absolute slavery to the spiritual despot and total renunciation of his authority. Union with Rome is abso- lutely incompatible with the freedom of a Church and People. lucompatibie. Of this fact there is no question, even in the mind of the Minister of a Roman Catholic country like Bavaria. In his letter to the Arcbbishop of Munich, the Minister states, that the Dogma mainly claims to draw, and has drawn, within the jurisdiction of the Pope, such matters as belong to the sphere of the State, so that all citizens would for the future have to take laws from the hand of the Pope, which might possibly be in antagonism to the ruling principles of modern States.* But it is not only that the freedom, the very existence of a Church, as such, is ijjso facto impossible, so long as one decree of her infallible Pope can at any moment change or annul her canons, her acts, and her constitu- " Article 1. St. Peter and his successors, andtlie Church itself, received from Ahuighty God power over spiritualthingsoH?//,notoverpoliticalniatters,Christ C^allican having said : ' Mi/ Idutjdomis not of this world.' Consequently liings and princes ^'tidcs. cannot be deposed either directly or indirectly.nor can subjects be liberated from their oaths of allegiance, bytheantliority of the headsof the Church. And this doctrine must be in^dolably received as conlbrmable to the word of God, to the traditions of the Fathers, and to the example of the saints. " Article 2. The full power of the ApostoHc See and of the successors of Peter is such that the decrees of the Holy Ecumenical Council of Constance, approved of by the ApostoHc See (and wliich declared that general councils were superior to the Pope in matters of faith,) subsist in all their force and virtue. " Article ;3. Thence it results that the action of ApostoHc power must be regulated according to the canons; that the rules, the manners, and the con- stitutions, received in tliis kingdom and by the Gallican Clmrch must ever re- main in vigour, and the limits appohited by our fathers must remain imchau"-edi " Article 4. The Sovereign Pontiff has the principal power in questions of faitli, and his decree extends over all Churches ; liis decision, however, is not irrevocable until the consent of the Church has confirmed it." — See "-On the Knee of the Church," 'ind'Edition. London: Macintosh. Chapter IV, jip.l-i, 74. * Letter from the Bavarian Minister of PubUc Worship to the iU'chbishop of Munich, Aug. 27, is?!. xxxiv Celebrated Letter of Dr. BoUinger. Freedom im. tion, and Gven the articles of her faith. Roman Catholics, in all po&si e. countries, are now beginning to find that Papal supremac)% how- ever long kept in bounds, really means in the eyes of the usurper, the possession of uncontrolled dominion. This absolute power is now assumed, in spite of the natural resistance of mankind, and has carried the absurd pretensions, by which the Popes have obtained their present usurped authority, one step further. Popes have succeeded in inducing nations " to believe a lie," and to submit to their rule as spiritual chiefs, by clever devices and a continuous succession of ingenious forgeries, dating from the middle of the ninth century ; so now the last advance of all is made, and the Roman Pontifi" is proclaimed, absolutely and without appeal, Lord over all. In order to fulfil this, ho must be supposed infallible ; for his claim is spiritual, and he must be endowed with highest spiritual attributes. The celebrated letter of Dr. Dollinger, which is given in full at the end of the present volume,* puts the subject in a remarkably strong light ; more especially in the following forcible sentences, with which it concludes : — " He who wishes to measure the immense range of these reso- lutions [of the Council] may be urgently recommended to com- pare thoroughly the third chapter of the decrees in Council with the fourth ; and to realise for himself what a system of universal Pienarypowei' rrovernment and spiritual dictation stands hero before us. It is by infalllbl- ^ ^ ^ ^ m^ ^ lity, rejected, the plenary power over the whole Church, as over each separate member, such as the Popes have claimed for themselves since Gregory VII., such as is pronounced in the numerous Bulls since the Bull JJnani Sanctum, which is henceforth to be believed and acknowledged in his life by every Catholic. This power is boundless, incalculable ; it can, as Innocent III. said, * strike at sin everywhere ' ; can punish every man, allows of no Supremacy, appeal, is sovereign and arbitrary, for, according to Bonafacius VIII., ' The Pope carries all rights in the shrine of his bosoinJ " That is, the Pope is made supreme over all Canon law and univer- sally absolute. "As he has now become infallible, he can in one moment, with the one little word orbi, (that is, that he addresses - ViiJo, i^age 219. Ceh'bnifcd Leffer of Br. D'dUinger. xxxv himself to the whole Church) make every thesis, every doctrine, infallibility every demand an unerring and irrefragable article of faith. Against him there can he maintained no right, no personal or corporate freedom ; or, as the Canonists say, the tribunal of God, and that of the Pope are one and the same. This system bears it Eomish origin on its forehead, and will never be able to penetrate in Germanic countries. As a Christian, as a Theologian, as a His- torian, as a Citizen, I cannot accept this doctrine. Not as a As a Christian, for it is irreconcileable with the spirit of the Gospel, Cimstiau. and with the plain words of Christ and the Apostles ; it purposes just that establishment of the kingdom of this world, which Christ rejected ; it claims that rule over all communions which Peter forbids to all and to himself. Not as a theologian, for the As a theolo- whole true tradition of the Church is in irreconcileable opposition ^'^'^^"• to it. Not as a historian can I accept it, for as such I know that As ahistorian. the persistent endeavour to realise the theory of a kingdom of the world has cost Europe rivers of blood, has confounded and de- graded whole countries, has shaken the beautiful organic archi- tecture of the elder Church, and has begotten, fed, and sustained the worst abuses in the Church. Finally, as a citizen, I must As a citizen. reject this dogma, because by its claims on the submission of States and monarchs, and of the whole political order, under the Papal power, and by the exceptional position which it claims for the clergy, it lays the foundation of endless, ruinous disputes between State and Church, between clergy and laity ; for I cannot conceal from myself, that this doctrine, the results of which were the ruin of the old German kingdom, would, if governing the Catholic part of the German nation, at once \^y the seed of incurable decay in the new kingdom which has just been built up." Jesuits obey their General because they have voluntarily Jesuits bound sworn to do so. But the Eomish Church is to be subjected to '^-^ °'^*^^'' the Pope's absolute sway in spite of itself, by the advance of his pretensions to godlike qualifications. The Pope being now above criticism and beyond control, the office of General of the Jesuits might become merged in the Popedom ; and thus Jesuitism reign supreme. Or if the two offices be kept distinct, still a Pope can bo managed more easily than an assembly ; because if restive xxxvi The Pope and the Order. he may learri that, though infallible, he is not immortal. This Clement XIV. Ganoanelli found out to his cost, when as Clement XIV., he boldly suppressed the Jesuit Order. Had not the wonderful organisation, discipline, and unscrupu- lous skill in deception, so perfectly developed in the Jesuit Order, been united to the Papal system, the Order could never have so successfully wielded its baneful influence in enslaving the human mind. Happily there is some hope of an awakening. The claims ■of the Papacy have become so exaggerated, that, even among the most submissive disciples of the Romish Church, a spirit of enquiry has been gradually developed ; and most zealous and learned and honest endeavours have been made to arrive at an understanding of the foundation on which the Pope's authority rests. The more this has been enquired into, the more impressed have ingenuous minds become, with the evidence of unfairness and craftiness that have met them in the progress of their researches. Janus. Nothing can be more interesting or valuable in this direction than the work to which we have already referred, " The Pope and the Council." The earlier chapters treating of the influence of Jesuitism, the Roman Syllabus, and the new dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, are well worthy of notice. Nor are the succeeding remarks, on the position of the Bishops of Pome in the ancient Church, and the teaching of the Fathers on the Primacy, in any way less remarkable and valuable. But, what Forgciics, is most striking is the record of the various forgeries, by which the Popes have arrived at their assumed position of spiritual lords over the whole of mankind. Space will not allow of more than a few extracts on this point. The reader is earnestly advised to study this remarkable work in its entirety, and he will derive abundant profit from the isidorian Dc perusal. Speaking of the forgeries known as the " Isidorian cL-etais. X)ecretals," which were concocted about a.d. 845, for the purpose of o-iving some show of authority for the papal usurpation, the writer observes : — " It would be difficult to find in all history a second instance of so successful and yet so clumsy a forgery. For three centuries past it has been exposed, yet the principles which it introduced "Janm," or "T/ie Pope and the Council.'' xxxvii aud brought into practice have taken such deep root in the soil Forgeries. of the Church, and have so grown into her life, that the exposure of the fraud has produced no result in shaking the dominant system. " About a hundred pretended decrees of the earliest Popes, Decrees, together with certain spurious writings of other church digni- taries and acts of Synods, were then fabricated in the west of Gaul and eagerly seized upon by Pope Nicholas I. at Rome, to be used as genuine documents in support of the new claims put forward by himself and his successors."* Pope Nicholas I., by carrying out this same system of forgery Nicholas T. and deceit, extended his tyranny over a great extent of territory. Foisting on the ignorant nations spurious documents, and altering true ones, he tried to impose his yoke universally. " By a bold but non-natural torturing of a single word against the sense of a whole code of laws, he managed to give a twist to a canon of a general council which actually excluded all appeals to Pome, so as to make it appear to give to the whole clergy, in the East and "West, a right of appeal to Rome, and he made the Pope the supreme judge of all bishops and clergy of the whole world. He wrote this to the Eastern Emperor, to Charles, King of the Franks, aud to all the Prankish Bishops. And he referred the Orientals, and so sharp-sighted a man as Photius, to those fabrications fathered Pbotius. on Popes Silvester and Sixtus, which were thenceforth used for centuries, and gained the Roman Church the oft-repeated reproach from the Greeks of being the native home of inventions and falsi- fications of documents." f Truly were the Easterns right in their reproach, Jesuitism is but the outcome of the essence and spirit of the papacy. This spirit of deceit and fraud was further manifested by other forgeries subsequent to those of the pseudo-Isidore, which will be found noticed and exposed in "Janus."* The authors show how plentifully such work was done in the Ilildebrandine Era, and how, when the Pope wished to steal his neighbours' land, spurious deeds of gift, called the Donations of Constantino, of Donations. Pepin, and of Charlemagne, were fabricated, as they were wanted. * The Pope and the Council; by " Janus." London: Rivingtons, 1809; p. U5, t lUd., p. 98. xxxviii Protest acja'md Papal Pretensions and Frauds. Fl-ai Gratrv. Hone " If we look at the whole papal system of universal monarchy as it has been gradually built up during seven centuries, and is now being energetically pushed on to its final completion, we can clearly distinguish the separate stones the building is composed of. For a long time all that was done was to interpret the canon of Sardica " (in a sense exactly opposite to its plain meaning) "so as to extend the appellant jurisdiction of the Pope to what- ever could be brought under the general and elastic term of ' greater causes.' But from the end of the fifth century the papal pretensions had advanced to a point beyond this, in conse- quence of the attitude assumed by Leo and Gelasius ; and from that time began a course of systematic fabrications, sometimes manufactured in Rome, sometimes originating elsewhere, but adopted and utilized there." * The same spirit of protest against such iniquitous proceedings is also gaining ground and manifesting itself in other Roman Catholic countries besides Germany, and notably in France. The eloquent and convincing letters of "Father" Gratry were evidence of this, and the very extensive sale which those letters have had is an additional proof of the great sympathy of the French people with the sentiments contained in them. Father Gratry is no more.f The Ultramontane journals assert that he recanted be- fore his death ; but add that, before he died, he was for some days speechless. R-emembering, as we do, the precipitate haste with which these same authorities proclaimed that the murdered Arch- bishop of Paris, M. Darboy, had, at the last, been likewise faithless to his convictions against the dogmas of the Council, including that of the Infallibility ; and that now the Abbe Michaud, the Cure of the Madeleine, has refuted this pretence, we are not disposed to place any reliance upon the reports of Father Gratry's recantation. But whether, in the last struggle of nature, he may or may not have uttered some incoherent words, or have made some sign, which the Ultramontanes use for their own purposes, still the facts which he deliberately recorded in his first letter, such as the condemnation of Pope Honorius, by the sixth (Ecumenical Council, as a heretic, the statement of this fact in all the ancient Roman Breviaries for the 28th day of June, together with the disappearance in late '■'■■ Tlie Pope and the Council, p. 1-32. f He died, after a sliort illness, at the age of 07, in Switzerland, in Feb: 1872. Father GvatnJ^ Letter to Arehbis/ioj) of MaVim. xxxix editions of this record of a Pope's condemnation for heresy ; these A Pope a facts remain, and can be proved by other evidence. Thus P. Gratry ^^^*^ ^'^' remarks, " F. Gaxnior in the preface to his edition of the Liber Diurnus (1680) with simple irony says that this has been done for the sake of brevity : ' nunc aliter ista, breviusque legimtur.' " " Thus the ancient breviary, from which I have just quoted, enumerates the names of the heretics condemned in the sixth Council, and it defines the heresy for wdiich they were condemned. Honorius is one of the number. The correcting hand which has edited the breviary (since the edition of 1520) suppresses, for the Suppression. aahe of brevity, this 'little' incident of the condemnation of a Pope by an GCcumenical Council. Are such falsifications to be tolerated ? " Hero, Monscigneur, is one of the frauds by which you have Frauds, been deceived. I will point out others of the same sort, all of them perpetrated in the same sense and in order to arrive at the same end — Universal and irresponsible sovereignty. " Yes ; you have been deceived by a complete and plausible collection of false assertions, the result of great ignorance and want of regard for truth, which, for a long time, have prevailed about this subject. It is a method of treatment, apologetic in character and breathing a polemical spirit, which doubtless is not of recent birth, and which the sacred Scriptures of old condemned in those Divine and terrible words, very necessary to be meditated upon — 'Doth God require your lies; that you should utter Lies, deceits to promote His glory ? Numqnid indigct Dens mendacio vedro, lit pro eo loquamini dolos ? ' "This sharp reproof is addressed by Job to his friends, who set themselves to vindicate Providence by false reasoning. Are these friends of Job such wretches, then ; so false ; such shameless liars ? No ; they belong to a class of men, including nearly the whole of those who, all of them, or nearly all, when they believe that they are defending a good cause, uphold it by all means, accumulate false reasons, of which they themselves perceive the worthless- ncss, conceal the facts that cause them embarrassment, and bring forward uncertain facts, respecting which they are in doubt, even while they state them. Now it is this duplicity of the Duplicity, highest degree which the Holy Spirit disapproves of, or, to speak moi'e correctly, denounces by the rcpronoh, ' Dotli God require your frauds and your lies V xl Infallibility ; ^uppremon Brief of Clem. XIV. Treating further on (p. 70) in the same letter, of the forgeries contained in the Isidorian Decretals, so ably exjDosed by Janus in Germany, Father Gratry protests against them and against the arguments alleged by unscrupulous advocates in their favour. He adopts, as the expression of his own conviction, the declaration of another French Roman Catholic priest respecting these frauds. " I prefer," says he, " the noble judgment of Father de Rognon. Father Reg- M. de Regnon makes the following plain statement : ' Never, it foro-eries. Diust be acknowledged, never was there seen a forgery so auda- cious, so extensive, so solemn, so persevering.' And, let us add, never was there a forgery which has been for ages so successful. Yes ; the forger has attained his end. He has changed the regulation of ecclesiastical affairs according to his desire ; but he has not arrested the general decay. The * false Decretals ' have produced nothing but evil."* Evil fruit. If Father Regnon declares the product evil, the tree, root and branch, must also be evil ; and a corrupt tree cannot " bring forth good fruit."t The applicability of this remark to the Dogma, as the product of a massive body of false decretals, forgeries, and untruth, time will shew. But Papal Infallibility embraces all time — the past, as well as the present and the future ; therefore the Pope having always been infallible, according to his own declarations, in how sad a plight are the Jesuits ! For this infallible authority has proclaimed the Dom. ac Re. Society of Jesus to be infamous. From the " Brief for the Efec- c.empoi. ^^^^^ Siq)2)ression of the Order of the Jesuits," X drawn up and signed by Clement XIV., in 1773, the following extracts will prove in what a light the Pope regarded the "Company." After declaring the purpose for which it was instituted and the various privileges granted by Paul III. and subsequent Popes, the Brief of Suppression goes on to say : — Brief of Sup- " Notwithstanding so many and so great favours, it appears ' ■ from the Apostolical Constitutions that almost at the very moment * Etudes RcU(jieuses, Novembre, 18GG. (Voir, egalement, Novembre, 1804. ) t Matt. vii. 18. X Tliis Brief begins -with, and is laio^\ii by, tlie words Domliuis ac RedemjJtor. Brief foi' Sitppression of the Jesuits, 1773. xli Internal discord. of its institution there arose in the bosom of this Society divers seeds of discord and dissension, not only among the comj^anions themselves, but with other i-egailar orders, the secular clergy, the academies, the universities, the public schools, and lastly even with the princes of the states in which the Society was received. "These dissensions and disputes arose sometimes concerning the nature of their views, the time of admission to them, the power of expulsion, the right of admission to holy orders without a title, and without having taken the solemn vows, contrary to the tenor of the decrees of the Council of Trent and of Pius V. our predecessor ; sometimes concerning the absolute authority assumed by the General of the said Order, and about matters relating to the good government and discipline of the Order; sometimes concerning different points of doctrine, concerning their schools, or concerning such of their exemptions and privi- leges as the ordinaries and other ecclesiastical or civil officers declared to be contrary to their rights and jurisdiction. In short, accusations of the gravest nature and very detrimental to the peace and tranquillity of the Christian commonwealth, have been continually brought against the said Order. Hence arose that infinity of appeals and protests against this Society, which so many sovereigns have laid at the foot of the throne of our pre- decessors, Paul IV., Pius v., and Sixtus V." The Brief goes on to state that in consequence of these and a further appeal, Sixtus V., convinced that the complaints against the excessive privileges of the Society, and their form of govern- ment, and the various accusations laid against the Order, ''were just and well-founded, did, without hesitation, comply therewith." He appointed a visitor and a congregation of cardinals to investigate. " But this Pontiff having been earricd off hij a premciture death, Sixtus V. dies, this wise undertaking remained without effect." The succeeding Pope, Gregory XIV., not liking the idea, as we may well suppose, of being "carried off by a premature death" if he could help it, " approved of the institution of the Society in its utmost extent." Restoration He confirmed all their privileges. "Ho ordained, and that '"''^1?V.^°*'^ under pain of excommunication, that all proceedings against the Society should be quashed, and that no person whatever should presume directly or indirectly to attack the institution, constitu^ d Protests aerainst them. xlii Clou, XIV.'s Brief to Stip2))'css the Jesuits, 1773. tions or decrees of the said Society, or attempt in any way what- ever to make changes therein." He gave leave, however, to any one of the Jesuits to appeal to himself. The Brief of Suppression goes on to say that these fresh evidences of papal goodwill were in vain ; disorders and dissen- sions continued ; accusations were multiplied ; the Society was continually convicted of " insatiahle avidity of temporal posses- sions," although avowing poverty as its rule. The result was, Under Paul Y. that under Paul V. the Society were compelled, by the force of *'' favour ^"^^ circumstances, to humble themselves and sue for papal favour, by reason of their misdeeds and consequent difficulties. The Brief declares, further, that evils continued to multiply. The names of eleven popes are given who tried in vain to find a remedy, or in any degree to mitigate the evils. " Certain idolatrous ceremonies were adopted in certain places in contempt of the Catholic Church ;" and complaint was made of " the use and explanation of various maxims which the Holy See has with reason proscribed as scandalous, and plainly contrary to good morah ; " as also of the " revolts and intestine troubles in some Ee3triction3. of the CathoHc States," caused by Jesuits. Ilestrictions were put on the Society by Innocent XI. and XIII., by Benedict XIV. ; and they were restricted to their present members, and forbidden to admit new ones. The Brief continues in the following words : — "The late apostolic letter of Clement XIII., of blessed memory, our immediate predecessor, by which the institute of the Society of Jesus was again approved and recommended, was far from bringing any comfort to the Holy See, or any advantage to the Christian Commonwealth. Indeed, this letter was rather e.r- torted than granted, to use the expression of Gregory X. in the General Council of Lyons. " After so many storms, troubles and divisions, every good man looked forward with impatience to the happy day which was to restore peace and tranquillity. But under the reign of this same Clement XIII., the times became more full of difficulty and storm ; complaints and quarrels were multiplied on every side ; in some places dangerous seditions arose, tumults, discords, Scandal, scandals, which, weakening or entirely breaking the bonds of Clement's Brief of Supjyression, 1 773 — continued. xliii Christian charity, excited the faithful to all the rage of party hatred and enmities. Desolation and danger grew to such a height, that Expelled from the very sovereigns whose piety and liberality towards the Society ^'anco^Spain, were so well known as to be looked upon as hereditary in their families — wo mean our dearly beloved sons in Christ, the Kings of France, Spain, Portugal and Sicily— found themselves reduced to the necessity of expelling and driving from their states, kingdoms, and provinces, these very companions of Jesus ; persuaded that there remained no other remedy to so great evils ; and that this step was necessary in order to prevent Christians from rising one against another, and from massacring each other in the very bosom of our common mother the Holy Church. The said our dear sons in Jesus Christ having since considered that even this remedy was not sufficient for recon- ciling the whole Christian world, unless the said Society was absolutely abolished and suppressed, made known their demands and wishes in this matter to our said predecessor Clement XIII. They united their common prayers and authority to obtain that this last method might be put in practice, as the only one capable of assuring the constant repose of their subjects and the good of the Catholic Church in general. But the unexjiected death of the Suspicious aforesaid pontiff rendered this project abortive. ^, ^^^^'^tt^ . . -r\- • Clement XIII, As soon as by the Divnie mercy and providence we were raised to the chair of St. Peter, the same prayers, demands, and wishes were laid before us, and strengthened by the pressing solicitations of many bishops, and other persons of distinguished rank, learning and piety. But, that we might choose the wisest course in a matter of so much moment, we determined not to be precipitate, but to take due time; not only to examine attentively, weigh carefully and take counsel wisely, but also by unceasing prayers to ask of the Father of lights His particular assistance under these circumstances ; exhorting the faithful to co-operate with us by their prayers and good works in obtaining this needful succour." After remarking on what the Council of Trent had decided with respect to the clergy who were members of this Society, the Brief proceeds : — " Actuated by so many and important considerations, and, as xliv Clonenfs Brirf of Suppression, 1773 — continued. Grouncls for we liope, aidctl by the presence and insi^iration of the Holy suppression, gp.^..^ . compelled also Ly the necessity of our office, which strictly obliges us to conciliate, maintain and confirm the peace and tranquillity of the Christian Commonwealth, and remove every obstacle which may tend to trouble it ; having further considered that the said Society of Jesus can no longer produce those abundant fruits, and those great advantages, with a view to wliich it was instituted, approved by so many of our predecessors, and endowed with so many and extensive privileges : that, on the contrary, it was difficult, not to say impossible, that the Church could recover a firm and lasting peace so long as the said Society subsisted : in consequence hereof, and determined by the particular reasons we have alleged, and forced by other motives which prudence and the good government of the Church have dictated, the knowledge of which we keep to ourselves, con- forming ourselves to the example of our predecessors, and particularly to that of Gregory X., in the General Council of Lyons ; the rather as in the present case we are determining upon the fate of a Society classed among the mendicant orders, both by its constitution and privileges ; after a mature deliberation, we do, out of our certain knowledge and the fulness of our apostoli- cal power, SUPPRESS and abolish the said Society : wc deprive it of all power of action whatever, of its houses, schools, colleges, hospitals, lands, and in short, every other place whatever, in whatever kingdom or province they may be situated ; we abrogate and annul its statutes, rules, customs, decrees and con- stitutions, even though confirmed by oath and approved by the Holy See, or otherwise ; in like manner we annul all and every its privileges, favours general or particular, the tenor whereof is, and is taken to be as fully and as amply expressed in this present Brief, as if the same were inserted, word for word, in whatever clauses, form, or decree, or under whatever sanction, their privileges may have been conceived. We declare every authority of all kinds, the General, the Provincials, the Visitors and other Superiors of the said Society, to be for ever annulled and extinguished, of what nature soever the said authority may be, whether relating to things sj)iritual or temporal."* * For proof of a direct conflict of authority between two Popes, see tlie letter to tlie Archbishop of Paris by the present Pope, at the eucl of this work. Tlicir pro- perty con- fiscated. Offices annulled. Clement's Bruif of Suppression, 1773— continued. xlv The Brief goes on to transfer all the authority to the Ordi- Clerics to joiu iiarics ; and orders, that all Jesuits who had not as yet received "'^'"' ^'"'^''''^" holy orders, might dispose of themselves as they pleased ; all clerics were to join other rcgidar orders, or bec " Ganganelli's strong constitution seemed to promise him a long Career.^' Bernis wrote on the 3rd November of the same year, " His health is * " Carctulalis Bellanninus inqliit ; Pontilex nunquam hoe definiet. Posse et velle, excepit alter. BoUarminus riirsus ; Pontilicem posse et velle, non inficior; aio tamen nmiquam futunun, ut hoc definiet: imo id moHii si vohicrit, vita priiis eiim deficiet." \- " Questa siippressione mi dara la morte." The Justice of Clement's Bull rmdicated. li perfect and his gaiety more remarkable than usual." In the I'opc Gaugan- month of April of the following year he was observed to grow '^ ^ P"isonet . rapidly ill and visibly to decline, without any apparent cause. His physicians could not make out his complaint, and no medicine could reach the seat of it, or control it. He lingered in great torture for months, and died September 22, 1774. Every symptom of poisoning was present when his body was opened. The following dreadful description of his state is from the pen of Caraccioli. " Several days before his death his bones were exfoliated and withered, like a tree which, attacked at its root, v;itliers away and throws off its bark. The scientific men who were called in to embalm his body, found the features livid, the lips black, the abdomen inflated, the limbs emaciated, and covered with violet spots. The si/e of the heart was diminished ; and PosUmortem. all the muscles were shrunk up, and the spine was decomposed. They filled the body with perfumed and aromatic substances : but nothing would dispel the mephitic effluvia. The entrails burst the vessels in which they were deposited ; and when his pontifical robes were taken from his body, a great portion of the skin adhered to them. All the hair of his head remained on the velvet pillows upon which it rested, and on the slightest friction his nails fell off"." In fact the dead body retained no trace of the living form, and every one was confirmed in the belief that he had met foul play. The state of the poor disfigured, shattered frame that Ganganelli left behind him, was convincing proof of the unutterable tortures to which he had been subjected by the Hohf Society of Jesus : and induced the belief that those tortures had been caused by the administration of the aequa tofana ofxiieNuu's Perugia. We are told that some persons there, and the iitois in -^'P'"- Tofana. particular, were notorious for the manufacture of this water, which when drunk produced certain decay and death, though life was more or less prolonged according to the strength of the poison and the doses in which it was given. If every other of the thousand proofs of Jesuit iniquity were wanting, this fearful vengeance wreaked on Ganganelli and his dreadful end aflford ample vindication of the justice of the great act of his life. Grinfield in his history of the Jesuits,* has the following Griiifickl. * GrinfielcVs " Histoiy of the Jesuits," p. 300. Hi To whom the poisoning of Clement XIV. is due. apt observations relating to this event. Speaking of the poison- ing of Clement XIV. by those whom he had put down, and of the Pope's belief in this during his long agony, he says : — " Of this (their being his murderers) he felt the fullest conviction. Nor is it to be wondered at that he should have felt such gloomy forebodings. The approach of his death had been predicted by some peasants belonging to the ex-Jesuits. Insulting images and hideous pictures announced the impending catastrophe. Ricci, Evidence, the ex-Gencral, encouraged these daring insults. His own rela- tive has minutely recorded them.* There cannot be stronger circumstantial evidence that Ganganelli fell a victim to the rage and detestation of the Order he had suppressed. The farce of subjection to Papal authority, which had been violated by so many acts of insubordination to Papal bishops, could not be more strikingly signalized and consummated, than by the tragedy of poisoniug the Head of the Eomish Church, and by their indecent triumph and inhuman satires after his decease." TriuHipii. AVe have already referred to the motives which induced ul'lj'ieSucSy I'ius YII. to rostore the Jesuit Order. He thought the Papacy dissolved aud greatly in need of those vigorous and experienced roiccrs^ as he lesoiet. described them in the brief of restoration; but doubtless the leading motive which urged him was his knowledge of the sinister power of the Order, of which, with reckless ambition, he deter- mined to possess himself. This was believed to have been his primary motive, but it may have been quickened by apprehen- sions for his own personal safety. The long possession of the Papal chair by the present Pope, and his exemption from many of the misfortunes peculiar to those of his predecessors who had ventured to interfere with the operations or the safety of the Jesuits, thus seem to justify, in a Papal sense, the policy upon which Pius VII. acted in the restoration of the Order. But the tyranny over the Roman CathoHc section of the Churcli, which the Jesuits have induced the Pope solemnly to inaugurate, is such, as to have cost him already the local temporalities of the Holy See in and about Rome, with the almost certain secession of the most intelligent portion of the Roman Catholic * Roscoe's Memoirs of Scipio de Eicci, vol, i., chax?. 1, London, 18'20, Brief of Pius IX. in favour of the Jesuits. liii Church from commuiiiou with the Holy See, and a consequent diminution of the temporal power of the Papacy throughout the world. However, let the motives, and even the results, be what they may, the two opposing decisions of Clement XIV. and Pius IX. still remain the same stubborn facts ; and effectually to reconcile them, so as to save the appearance of Papal Infallibi- lity, will puzzle even Jesuit ingenuity. The part of the Brief of Pius IX., that restores the Order which Clement had suppressed /by eccr^ runs as follows: — ''To Our Venerable Brother Constautiiie Patrizi, Cardinal of the BvM for the Jloh/ JRomaii Chureh, Bishop of Osfia and Velletri, Deacon ,^"^^!!"i^o-i ' ' 1 ,' > Mar. 2, 18/1. of the Sacred College of Cardinals, and Oar Vicar-General in sjjiritual mailers of Pome and of the district. "Venerable Brother, — Health and Apostolic Benediction. The Church of God, like a queen clothed in varied apparel, since she has been adorned as with noble ornaments with different Regular Orders, has always sedulously availed herself of them to propa- gate the glory of the Divine Name, to expedite the business of the Christian Kingdom, and to introduce and spread among nations, by means of sound doctrine and charity, the polish of civilised life. The enemies of the Church, therefore, have per- secuted these religious Orders most of all, and from among them have singled out the Society of Jesus as the object of their special hatred, inasmuch as it is the most difficult to deal with, and, therefore, the most dangerous enemy of their designs. To Our grief we see that this is again taking place, v/hile the in- vaders of our temporal dominions, eager for their prey (which is always death-fraught to those who seize upon it) seem to long ^^^ ^.j^ f .ano-ht to begin the suppression of all Reiligous Societies, along with that of the Company of Jesus. To pave the way for this crime they strive to raise against it the ill-will of the people, and accuse its members of opposing the present Government, whilst, what is most to be noticed, they pretend that the power and the favour which they enjoy with Us, renders Us more hostile to the said Government, and exercises such an influence over Us that We do nothing without their advice. Now this foolish calumny, liv Brief of Pius IX. favouring the Jesuits — concluded, implying as it does the greatest contempt of Us, as being weak and unfit to do anything of Ourselves, is plainly proved to be absurd, since all know that the Roman Pontiff, when he has implored Divine light and aid, acts and orders as he judges right and useful for the Church, but that in graver matters he has been accustomed to employ the services of those, whatever be their rank or condition, or whatever the Regular Order to which they belong, whom ho deems the most versed in the matter in hand, and the most able to enunciate a wise and prudent opinion. Of a truth We do often make use of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, and trust many things to their supervision, and more especially matters concerning the Sacred Ministry. They on their part, in performing these duties, show Us more and more that affection and zeal, for which they have earned frequent and high praises from Our predecessors. But this Our most just love and esteem for the Society, which has always deserved well of the Church of Christ, of this Holy See, and of Christendom, is a very different thing from that slavish obsequiousness which Our Calumny re- detractors lay to Our charge, and "VVe indignantly repudiate this piu la cc . gr^iujj^ny as regards Ourselves and the humble devotion of the Fathers. We have thought that these things ought to be made known to you. Venerable Brother, that the snares laid for the Society might be made manifest, and that our sentiments, which have been so shamefully and foolishly distorted and misrepresented, might be put in a clear light, and thus prove a fresh testimony of Our good will towards that noble Society. ****** " Given in Rome at St. Peter's on the 2nd day of March, in the year 1871, the 25th year of our Pontificate." The Jesuits, since their re-establishment, have showed them- selves worthy successors of those whose evil deeds brought on them the well-merited condemnation of the infallible head of the Reciprocal aid Roman communion. Like the ancient Prsetorian guards, to whose office they have in fact succeeded, they are willing to raise their nominal Ruler to the highest dignity, in order to raise them- selves. They mean to rule the world by tyrannizing over the tyrant. E.aitemcnt in the Jesuit Camp, Iv In confirmation of this, tho testimony of "Quirinus"* is of "Quii-i'uis." remarkable importance. *' We may readily conceive the excitement in the Jesuit camp. After the patient indefatigable toil of years of seed-time, the harvest-time seems to them to come at last. Up to 1773, their Order, from its numbers, tho cultivation of its members, the influence of its schools and educational establishments, and its compact organisation, was unquestionably the most powerful Jesuits above religious corporation, but at the same time was limited and held Oxxle??^^ in check by the influence and powerful position of the other Orders. Augustinians, Carmelites, Minorites, and, above all, Dominicans, were likewise strong, and, moreover, leagued to- gether for harmonious action through their common hatred of tho Jesuits, or through the natural desire to escape being mastered by them. Dominicans and Augustinians possessed by long pre- scription the most influential ofiices in Rome, so much so indeed that the two congregations of the Index and the Holy Ofiice were entirely in the hands of the Order of Preachers, to the exclusion of the Jesuits. Since the restoration of tho Jesuits this is completely changed, and entirely in their interest. All the ancient Orders are now in decline, above all, in theological importance and influence; they do but vegetate now. More- over, tho Dominicans have been saddled with a General thoroughly devoted to the Jesuits, Jandel, a Frenchman, who is exerting himself to root out in his Order the Thomist doctrines, so unpalatable to the Jesuits. The youngest of the great Orders, the Redemptionists or Signorians, act — sometimes wilHngly, some- Redemption- times unwillingly— as the serving brothers, road-makers, and ^^*^- labourers for the Jesuits. And hence, now that they enjoy the special favour of the Pope, they have come to acquire a power in Rome which may bo called quite unexampled. They have, in fact become already the legislators and trusted counsellors of the Pope, who sees with their eyes and hears with their ears. To those familiar with the state of things at Rome, it is enough to name Piccirillo. For years past they have implanted and fos- * Letters from Rome ou the Council." By Quirmus. Rivingtons, Loudon, 1871; i)p. 70 — 79. Ivi ''Letters from Rome on the Council." By Qiiirinus. tered in the mind of Pius IX. the views he now wants to have consecrated into dogmas ; and have managed to set aside, and at last reduced to impotence, the influence of wise men, who take a sober view of the condition of the times. When the Dominican Gnidi. Cardinal Guidi, who was then the most distinguished theologian in Rome, freely expressed to the Pope his views about the pro- jected Council and the measures to be brought before it, from that hour he was not only allowed no audience of Pius IX., but was excluded from all share in the preparatory labours of the Council, so that he remained in entire ignorance of the matters to be laid before it. But the Jesuits are also the oracles of many Cardinals, whose votes and opinions are very often ready-made The Gesu." for them in the Gesu. The congregation of the Index, which they used formerly so often to attack, blame, and accuse of partiality, when their own works were censured by it, is now becoming more and more their own domain, though the chief places are still in the hands of the Dominicans ; and this may gradually take place with most of the congregations in whose hands is centralised the guidance and administration of church affairs in all countries. "And thus, if Papal Infallibility becomes a dogma, what inevitably awaits us is, that this Infallibility will not merely be worked in certain cases by the counsel and direction of the Jesuits ; much more than that. The Jesuits will for the future be the regular stewards of this treasure, and architects of the new dogmas we have to expect. They will stamp the dogmatic coinage and put it into circulation. It is enough to know the earlier history of the Society to know what this means, and what an immense capital of power and influence it will place at their Jesuits over command. ' Eulers and subjects ' — that will henceforth be the other Orders, relation bctwcen the Jesuits and the theologians of other Orders. Worst of all will be the position of theologians and teachers who belong to no Order. At the mercy of the most contradictory judgments, as is already, e.g., the case in France, constantly exposed to the displeasure of the Jesuits, of the Curia, and of their Bishop or his adviser, and daily threatened in their very existence, how are they to get spirit, perseverance, or zeal for earnest studies, deep researches, and litQrary activity ? Every " Letters from Rome on the Council." Bij Quiriniis. Ivii Jesuit, looking clown from the impregnable height of his privi- leged position, will be able to cry out to the theologians of the secular clergy, * Tu longe sequere et vestigia prorsus adora ;' for now is that fulfilled which the Belgian Jesuits demanded 230 years ago in their Imago Societatis Jesu. Their Order is now really, and in the fullest sense, the Urim and Thummim and The Urim and breastplate of the High Priest— the Pope— who can only then '^^"°'"""'- issue an oracular utterance when he has consulted his breastplate, the Jesuit Order:"* Accurately measuring the weakness of human nature, they feel that their nominal Lord and Master will not readily forget their consummate skill, especially in the art of concocting poisons, and also of organizing conspiracies against the safety of states or of individuals. They are quite aware that his Holiness doubts neither their power nor their ability in applying these peculiar talents, when necessary. Therefore, with perfect safety to them- selves, did they force the exaltation of the Pope in every direc- tion. And is not the influence of the Jesuits continually met Safety, with ? Are they not ever assiduously insinuating themselves into high positions, and insidiously securing funds, as the sinews of power ? Do Jesuits not fill every civil ofiice at the disposal of the Pope, and almost every Romish Bishopric ? Hence, nothing can be more evident, than the fact, that thus connected, they will rise in proportion as the ofiice and attributes of the Pope are exalted, but nothing is also more certain, than the sequel, that with the papacy they must fall, and the head corner-stone, crush- ing both, will be the infallibility of the Word of God. But, in addition to the power of carrying out their schemes ; the Jesuits have attained, through the Dogma, another important result, viz., immunity from evil consequences. Papal Infallibility Imm^i^ity- will be used to cloak every crime however flagrant. The Pope must bear the blame, but they will reap the advantage ; or rather, the Pope being infallible, villainy will escape censure, provided that certain profit accrue to the Company. In vain need men cry out against whatever bears the stamp of Infallibility ; yet the Great Infallible may be a poor old man at the Vatican. * " Obligatam h^rentemque sanction Pontifici velnt in pectore Socie- tatem." Bolland, Imago, p. 622. e Iviii Under the cloah of Papal Iiifallihif;/. Alas for the credulity of the dupes of this nefarious scheme ! "What profound blindness must obscure the perception of all those abettors, who are thus willingly affording fresh license to the deadliest foes of their own freedom, and of human progress ! Slavery. Why not cast off such slavery, and manfully resist claims alike blasphemous and usurping, which are purposely framed, so as the more securely to rivet the spiritual fetters, with which they are bound ? But an awakening must come before long ; and, in the mean time, it is satisfactory for us to know, that, by endeavouring to Rockiugof the screen themselves behind the Pope, the Jesuits are preparing Foundation.^ stupendous downfall for the whole Papal system. Were Roman Catholics to reflect, that Infallibility is now attributed to an old man, perhaps infirm, and trembling beneath the weight of years, who although Pope, yet is a mere puppet in the hands of men avowedly unscrupulous and designing, whom he feels to be the arbiters of his own life or death, — were this calmly considered, the sin and folly of submitting to a system so degrading, would be insupportable ; a system which destroys all spiritual life, and strives for worldly advantage, by ministering to a credulity, at once despicable, ridiculous, and debasing. lix THE TRAINING OF O'FARRELL, THE ASSASSIN. Reference has been made to attempts at assassination, Assassination attributed to the Jesuits, as well as to those historically- known to have been perpetrated by them. None seem too elevated for the malevolent designs of these conspirators. Henry IV. of France had attacks made on him by Jesuits again and Hemy lY. again; and at last perished by the hands of the Jesuit Ravaillac. Elizabeth of England shared in these attacks, but escaped the malice of these deadly foes. On the third of September 1758, an attempt was made at Lisbon to assassinate the King of Portugal, which he fortunately escaped, though not without being wounded. Several Jesuits were proved at the trial to have been active conspirators against the king's life. In later days, the same kind of attempts appear to have proceeded from the same source. The attempted assassination of the Emperors of Russia and France The Emperors in Paris, a few years ago, was perpetrated by one, who appeared to have received his inspiration from reading the writings of the Jesuit, Mariana. Similar suspicions attach to the education of O'Farrell, who attempted the murder of H.R.H. the Duke of The Duke of Edinburgh in Australia, on March 12th, 1868. Edinburgh. It appears from the Papers laid before the Australian Parlia- ment, that O'Farrell had been educated with the intention of his entering the Roman Catholic Priesthood ; and by the Papal Brief directed to Cardinal Zurla in October, 1836, the direction of the education of that Priesthood was committed to the Jesuits. The information supplied in the Australian Parliamentary Papers, especially the portion directly furnished by Mr. Parkes, who was then Colonial Secretary at Sydney, and by Mr. McLerie, the Inspector General of the Sydney Police, leave no reasonable doubt, that O'Farrell was connected with the Fenian conspiracy, which was at that time very mischievously active. We have not direct evidence of the connection of the Great Secret Society with the Fenian conspiracy, but there is presump- tive evidence of co-operation between the two organizations ; and to the indications of this we shall refer. e2 Ix Tlie Secret Society and Fenian isij). Hati'ed of the Eno-lish. Feiiiaiiism. Joly tlie Hi toriaii. Dominus ac Redewiitor. No Olio cau read the Ultramontane organs in Ireland without discovering how bitterly and skilfully the antipathy of the Irish is directed against everything English and Pro- testant. The article in the DuUin Review on " TJic case of Ireland before Parliament,'^ indicates the intense sympathy of the Great Secret Society, whose sentiments it utters, with the objects which the Fenians had in view, while professedly finding- fault with that organization. The subject is so cleverly dealt with, that, though no part can be detached from the rest as proof of approval of Fenianisni, yet every sentence adds fresh convic- tion to the mind of the reader, that the writer heartily wishes well to what he professes to discourage. Other periodicals, notably those emanating from Jesuit Colleges, breathed the same spirit of burning hate to everything, that Englishmen most value. Cretineau Joly, the Jesuit historian, informs us, that even during the time when the Order was suppressed by the Pope, the members, keeping up their organization in England, settled at Stonyhurst to " await more favourable times." With respect to the Jesuit Colleges in Ireland he writes : — " The Jesuits have only been able to reaHze in that country good without renown ; good, without any of those social advan- tages with which the world believe them to be so much occupied ; nevertheless they have never given up a country where all seems condemned to despair. The Brief Dominus ac Redemjdor havino- annihilated the Company of Jesus, the children of Loyola would not be discouraged like a flock of sheep because their shepherd had abandoned them. Rome had disbanded her best soldiers, on the very eve of the day when the Holy See was to be attacked on all sides at once. The Jesuits, while obeying the Pontifical Brief, did not believe it to be their duty to desert the post com- mitted to their charge. They, like the Irish, were poor; but tliis destitution, which had its source in charity, did not disquiet them. They united themselves in indigence, and laboured together for the harvest which God had reserved for their zeal. They waited for happier days. Father Pichard Callagan, an old missionary from the Philippines, whose hand and tongue bore traces of the martyrdom he had endured for the faith, directed the secularized Jesuits. They could not found an Establishment Deaths of C((Uafjhan and Betah. Ixi ill Ireland to receive the young men, whom they hoped soon to gather into their Order, whenever it should again arise from its ruins. The College of Stonyhurst opened its bosom to receive Stouyharst. some of them; others went to Palermo, where they completed their studies. In 1807, Eichard Callaghan died, burdened with years and good works. In 1811, the death of Thomas Betah broke the last link which in Ireland attached the new scholars to the ancient company. Betah, whose name is still popular in Dublin and in Ireland, found in his heart that species of eloquence wliich excites the natural instincts of this people in so lively a manner. Father Kenny succeeded him in the month of November. With a patience which nothing could overcome, the Jesuits set themselves to work exactly as if the Sovereign Pontiff had restored them to life. " They felt the great disadvantages of that sort of cosmopolite education which, by displacing children from their country in their youth, gives them less of patriotic feeling. Ireland, accord- ing to them, had a right to see her children reared upon her own prescribed soil, in order that, nourished in her misfortunes, they might on some future day claim her emancipation with more energy. It was this thought that inspired Father Kenny* with the I'iof- Keunj-. project of forming a national college, and he did create one at Clongowes, not far from Dublin It was necessary to ciongowes raise the Irish from the state of moral debasement in which it " '^°^' was the policy of England to keep them. To this people the great voice of Daniel O'Connell, a pupil of the Jesuits, first taught the meaning of liberty." f By teaching the young to look back on the rebels of past ages, as on men worthy of all praise and imitation, an attempt is made, and only too successfully, to keep alive an undying antagonism between the different portions of the United Kingdom. This is done, that the cause, which the Jesuits have in view may always find instruments, and an opportunity for achieving their ends * Father Kenny was one of the carHeat professors after the foundation of Mayiiooth. t • ' Poor Gentlemen of Liege : " being the History of the Jesuits in England and Ireland for the last sixty years, translated from their own historian, Cretineau Joly. London, J. F. ShaAv & Co., 48, Paternoster Roav, 1863. pp. 01— 0.:i. Ixii College Training of Irish Students. Little do they care if these instruments, which they provide for the furtherance of their own plans, sometimes work useless mis- chief to the commonwealth in which they may happen to live, hut of which they really form no part. Take for an example of student the training constantly applied to the excitable Irish student. Training, g^^j^^ language as that used respecting Irish rebels : * " Nothing in the natural order tends so much to exalt the CariowCoilegG young of a nation, or more effectually helps to lift them above ° ' pursuits either simply 'of the earth earthy,' or else vile and degrading, and to preserve them on the road to true and honour- able independence of spirit, as the examples of the heroes of history, — above all, of the good and brave of Fatherland. As the young heir of a noble house, while he scans with beaming eye the records of ancestral fame, is stimulated to a rivalry in Avorthy deeds, so the young men of a nation, while perusing the sacred pages that are blurred by the sorrows, and illumined by the glory of their countrymen, are wooed by their charms ; and incited to go and do like those whose names are treasured up in the story and the songs of their Native Land. Incitements " Now to what page of Irish history can the writer refer his countrymen for brighter examples of every virtue that goes to form the true patriot and the pure Christian hero, than to that which chronicles the events that have made Wexford a household word in a million homes, not only in Ireland, but on so may foreign shores ? "Entranced by the native grace and dignity of the heroic characters Avhich stand out on that page, enveloped in glory's sheeniest light ; and struck by the unfavourable circumstances which preceded and accompanied their unexpected development, we do not fear ' to speak of '98 ; ' and, without a blush at the mention of her name, we would ask our readers to turn their tearful eyes on conquered Wexford with the executioner's hand tightly grasping her throat." Again, at page 379, we read : — Abuse. " He must therefore be a bold, if not an unscrupulous, writer, who can dare in periodical, or daily literature, to lecture, or censure. Irishmen for recalling to mind the perfidy and cruelty of British statesmen — the Pitts and Castlereaghs of infamous * Vide " Carlow College Magazine " for December, 1862 ; i>. 370. to crime. Irish abuse of British Statesmen. Ixiii memory — or for giving thankful expression to the feelings necessarily evoked by such recollections ; for declaring that the injustice of the past must be repaired, and the traces of a bygone savagery be wiped out ; that the last chains, in which the heartless exterminators of the Celtic race, bound our manhood, must be broken in pieces, and this holy island be inhabited once again — free from social, political, and religious outrage — free from the immoral, absolute dominion of eight thousand feudal lordlings — a dominion obtained by crime or purchase, under the sanction of British law, and maintained by more than forty thousand British bayonets." Praise is awarded by this organ of education to every writer Avho recalls the worth// deeds of former rebels and assassins, per- formed out of love to their "Faith," and "Country," and "People." "In so doing," we are informed, "ho but portrays the valorous deeds of Irish martyrs ; and casts, in much gratitude, a lover's wreath on the tomb, wherein worth and honour lie sleeping, whilst he tries by such endearments to improve and to elevate the young Irishmen, who have succeeded as well to the heritage of their woes as of their fame." While the youth of the Irish people are thus trained by the l"sh moral active and skilful agents of the Great Secret Society, is it any stiwed! " wonder that Ireland has been what she is : that her sons neglect useful labour, or, to use the high-sounding language, we have just quoted, "are effectually lifted above pursuits either simply ' of the earth earthy,' or else vile and degrading " ? Thus are men's minds warped from their youth. The Jesuits have laboured to destroy in their too apt scholars all moral sense, and to inculcate blind obedience to the wishes of those, who may for the time assume the mastery over them. The real criminals, who arc responsible in the sight of God and man for such crimes as that of O'Farrell, are those secret underminers of true morality, who train men for their own purposes, and send them forth ready instruments for any desperate deed. Though direct evidence of Jesuit participation in the attempt Attempt to to assassinate the Duke of Edinburgh be wanting, yet that they th^Diik^of were in some way connected with the dastardly deed is suggested Ediubm-gh. by the following letter, which was intercepted by the Australian Ixiv The Socktifs Teaching. police, and read in the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales, April 18th, 1868. The writer is Father Shiel, 8piritual Director to the appointed assassin: — " Franciscan Convent, "Wexford, Ireland. " Jul// 31, 1867. " My Dear Henry, — It was only yesterday I received yours, April 26. Go at once to Adelaide and present yourself to the Vicar- General, to whom I have wi'itten ; your best place will be with the Jesuits, who will treat you with every kindness and attention suitable to your position. I am delighted to find that you have yielded to the promptings of Divine Grace. May Mass & bless- God grant you perseverance. I will offer the Holy Sacrifice for you. OT^rreii. ^^^^ yourself Under the protection of the B. Yirgin, who will obtain for you a renewal of the spirit of your vocation. I presume that you are in a position to pay something for your maintenance ; in any case go at once to Adelaide. May God bless you, my dear Henry, and believe me yours very sincerely in Christ, "L. B. SHIEL. " Show this letter to the Vicar- General of Adelaide. " H. J. O'Farrell, Emerald Hill." Tlie assassin Takiug this letter in connection with the assertion of O'Farrell, Jesuits^ " ^hat he was personally an unwilling actor in the wretched tragedy, which has rendered his memory infamous — we refer to O'FarreH's repeated assertion, that he was a member of a conspiracy (we are aware that a document appeared after O'Farrell's execution, with his signature, as a sort of dying confession, to a contrary efi'ect ; but this document we disbelieve, as did the chief of the Sydney Police), — taking, then, this assertion of O'Farrell's in connection with Father Shiel's aspiration for his perseverance, and the fact that O'Farrell was directed by him to " be with the Jesuits " in Australia ; we cannot avoid the conclusion, that there was some connection between this notorious Fenian criminal and the Jesuits. Ixv CONNECTION OF THE PEESENT WITH THE PAST The French have a saying, " Commengons par le commence- ment," and such is undoubtedly the natural course for the student of history, but ordinary readers and politicians have not in these hurried days time to trace the history of the Jesuits, scattered as their agency and operations have been throughout the world, down from the formal institution of the Order 300 years ago. Our object is merely to furnish our readers with a " Glimpse" of the Great Secret Society, as at present in operation. In order to explain the manifestations of this conspiracy and its policy, we are compelled to reverse the ordinary course of study, and to trace its history chronologically backwards. The part of this Work which follows was published in 1868. We have seen no rea on to believe, that the glimpse that it affords of the operations of the Great Secret Society, up to that period, conveys anything incon- sistent with an accurate perception of the subject ; and in this belief we are confirmed by the prudent abstinence from all comment upon this work, which the Ultramontane journals and periodicals of this country have observed. Ixvi A GLIMPSE OF THE GEEAT SECEET SOCIETY UP TO 18(38. Charles In a recent work by M. Charles Sauvestre, an eminent FrencTi Sauvestre. ^^.-^^^^ ^^^ attention of the world has been called to the action of the Great Secret Society, at the present time. He introduces the subject in the following forcible language :— " Imagine an association/whose members have snapped all the tics of family and country that bound them to their fellow-men ; and whose united efforts have been directed to the one only and formidable object— that of developing its own power, and estab- lishing its domination by every possible means over all the nations of the world. Real Jesuit " Imagine further that this immense conspiracy had ended by ■^^'''"•^' substituting its rules and its policy in the place of even the pre- cepts of reHgion ; that it had thus succeeded in obtaining the mastery over the princes of the Church, and in holding them in real, though not avowed, slavery— in such a way that those who bear official titles, and incur responsibility, are only docile instruments of a power which is concealed and silent. "Such are the Jesuits. Vitality. " Banished unceasingly, they unceasingly find their way back : and Httle by little, secretly, they establish themselves, strongly root- ing themselves in darkness. Their property may be confiscated ; before long their losses are repaired. They attend, at the same time, to the wheedling of the people out of their inheritances, and to a widely extended system of commerce. Confessors, merchants, usurers, traffickers in pious toys, they invent new devotions in order to create for themselves new sources of revenue. Mean- while they mix themselves up with politics, disturb kingdoms, and make princes tremble on their thrones. Hatred. " For their hat(^ is terrible. Woe to him who becomes their Religious Associations suppressed in France, in 1792. Ixvii enemy ! By a strange coincidence, which they impiously call the favour of heaven, sjiecially shown on their behalf, whoever has placed obstacles in their way, though he has been at the very height of greatness, has fallen suddenly as though struck down. Henry IV., ' the only king whose memory the people iiomy IV. have revered,' meets with three assassins, one after the other, and dies by the knife of a fanatic, at the very moment when he when to is going to attack Austria, the government favoured by the ^^^'^^'^'-'■ Jesuits. Clement XIV,, a Pope ! suppresses the Jesuits and dies soon after in agony. " At this moment the Jesuits are again established among us in spite of edicts and laws. As of old, they have re-opened their colleges, and endeavour to fashion our youth after their own mind. " Their Society grows in riches and in influence by all sorts of methods ; and nothing is able to stay its progress ; for everywhere it finds men disposed to serve it in order to obtain by its means some advantage of place or rank." * " Rehgious associations and communities were suppressed m Suppression, France absolutely by a decree of the Assemblee Nationalc, passed ^'^^• on the 13th February, 1790 ; confirmed by another decree of 18th August, 1792. The property which had been given to them was restored at that time to the nation, and was sold. The monks and nuns returned to ordinary life ; a great number were married, and embraced civil professions. Indeed, monasteries and convents disappeared completely from the face of the country. "Now, according to the last statistical report, these congregations are more numerous at the present day, than before the Revolution, and it was only in 1808 that their reconstitution was begun to be authorised. They have, therefore, in the space of sixty years, reconquered the lost ground, and more than that. " These communities form at this moment in France a force of one hundred and eight thousand persons. " Public opinion is excited by so rapid a development. There is Tviipid devc- in this a great fact, of which it behoves us to seek the causes and iq^z?^ ' foresee the consequences. The monasteries and convents, not >;- " Inti-oduction mix Instriictioiis Secretes des Jesiiites,' l\u- diaries Sauvestre. E. Deutu, Palais Royal, I'aris, 180;^. Ixviii Influence of the Jesuits on Education. only draw into them the youth of the country, they lay hold also of the inheritance ; and the property which enters these houses never leaves them any more. " Moreover, wc cannot pass over in silence the usurpation of education iDy these religious corporations. It is enough to recall Leibnitz, the profound assertion of Leibnitz : ' He who is master of the education is able to change the face of the world.' * " The least clear-sighted will perceive, that we treat here of a matter of public interest of the highest importance. " The * Ancien Regime,' though it was entirely devoted to reli- gion, did not think fit to leave the monks without some check. Taught by experience, the monarchy had established severe laws to restrain and direct the rising tide of monkery. "Is modern society defenceless? Has it no laws which can protect it against this communism of celibates ? Or, shall we say that every law of that kind is to be rejected as a restraint on individual liberty ? " These are questions well worthy of examination. There is no need for us to remark here, that our only purpose is to address ourselves to those who are the supreme judges, the public ; we have no title to make laws or regulations, . . . We address ourselves particularly to those, who have any guardianship or authority ; to fathers of families ; to the magistrates, who administer the laws ; to the lawgivers who make them, and who represent the living reason of the country." f The following pages contain the Speech and Report, made in the year 1761, to the Parliament of Brctagne, by the Attorney- General, M. de la Chalotais, who had been ordered to investigate the constitution of the Society of Jesus, and report the result of his investigations. Some persons may think it unnecessary to re- produce these documents at the present day, and to publish them in the English language ; but if any one is of opinion, that the •:= The description of the education, received and imparted by the Jesuits, given from page vi to >di of the supplemental commentary,\vhich forms part of the work, entitled " The Poor Gentlemen of Liege," to which we elsewhere refer, is well worth attention. — " The Poor Gentlemen of Liege." John Shaw & Co., London, istio. f Preface to " Les Congregati(ms Religieuses." Enquete par Charles Sauvestre. Achille Faure, 18, Piuc Dauphine, Paris. 18f57. Tlif'if litfiuencc on Judire, i^c. h great conspiracy against truth and human freedom, laid bare to the eyes of mankind in this able work, is a thing of the past, we cannot undeceive him more effectually than by referring him to the words, which we have just quoted ; and begging also his calm consideration of the force and meaning of the following extract, from a " brochure" of M. Charles Habeneck . — " This party is everywhere to be found, not indeed with official Habeneck's power, but with a power that assumes an appearance of kindness. " It does not strike : it shows its smooth side. '' It does not assassinate ; it stifles, it causes those who stand in its way to disappear mysteriously ; it never pardons its enemies, but it keeps following them with its implacable hate. " These congregations have found their way into all departments, whether public or private ; they are everywhere, at your very side, and they entwine themselves around you without your knowing it. " They do not occupy the places of the highest importance, but they purchase the greatest part of the inferior offices, and in a bureaucracy like France, it is the holder of the inferior offices who hinders, or expedites matters, and ties the hands of superiors, who are often accomplices. " One can understand, therefore, that this association, using for one purpose, magistrates and officials, is the origin at least of acts of partiality and injustice, and may hinder the action of the tribunals of justice. " This Society is, besides, a political engine. Since 1859, all the electoral difficulties have arisen from this organisation, little felt in Paris, terrible in the Provinces. Only ask the prefects." * Are the Jesuits, then, friends to freedom ? Let M. Garnier Pages ll. c.ai-uier answer : — " In every Italian town, as in every European nation, there was, during 1848, a general rising against the Company of Jesus ; whose interference in the domain of politics has never ceased to be of the most activ^e kind. In the eyes of the people they exist whenever despotism exists, and disappear whenever liberty appears. Auxiliaries of absolute kings, they are the adversaries of all pro- gress. They maintain ignorance and oppose light. Devoted to Pac * Charles Habeneck, [Les Jesuites en isci. brochure.) Chez Dentu a Paris. ]xx Dodrijies of the " Comtmoiilf/." the past, they are the enemies of the future ; so much so, that were it possible, they would even prevent time from advancing. They know but one law, one faith, and one morality. That law, faith, and morality, they call authority. To a Superior they sub- mit life and conscience. To their Order they sacrifice individuality. They are neither Frenchmen, Italians, Germans, nor Spaniards. Jesuits oniv. They are not citizens of any country. They are Jesuits only. They have but one family, one fortune, and one end ; and all these are included in the word Community."* The friends of the Secret Society, depicted in the [following pages, will no doubt assert that the report made to the Parliament of Bretague and to the king of France is inapplicable at the present time. But this denial will not serve their purpose. M. Charles Sauvestre, in the work already quoted, ably observes : — Moral Code. " Every bad case may be denied, as these good fathers say. But can we in truth put any trust in the words of men, who teach that lying is permitted, provided it be useful ? Intention. " A pcrsou may swear that he has not done a thing, although he has done it really, if he means inwardly, that he did not do it on a certain day ; or before he was born ; or if he partly means some other like circumstance, without the words, which he uses, having any sense, that might be able to make it known. And this is very convenient under many circumstances, and is always very right, when it is necessary or useful for health, or honour, or well-being."! Unchangeable. AYe know, that the Jesuits are unchangeable in their doc- trines as in their system of existence. "Sint ut sunt aut non sint," was the reply of their General in answer to a proposal sent by the Great Council of France, in the year 1761, that the " Society of Jesus" might be modified in that kingdom. This proposal was made in a friendly spirit, at the recommendation of twelve French prelates, who had been commissioned to consider the Jesuit doctrines, after the Parliament of Paris had decreed the dissolution of the Order, in consequence of the disclosures during the trial of Lavalette's bankruptcy, which we shall presently notice. * Quoted by the Morniiu/ Star, April 19, 1801. t " Moral Works " of R. P. Sanchez, p. 2, h. iii., c. C, No. 13. Influence over the Taroelddl Clergy. Ixxi The king thought the Parliament too severe. A proposal I76i. was, therefore, made to the Pope and the General, that the Society should be modified, in order that it might not be dissolved. The haughty reply was, " They must remain as they are, or cease to immutabiiiiy. exist." This persevering adherence to their original Constitutions, since they were remodelled by Laynez;, who succeeded Loyola as Layncz. General of the Order, is the great peculiarity of the Jesuits. In this sense a Congregation of the Order, held on the 18th of October, 1820, at Eome, by its sixth decree confirmed in all essentials the ancient Constitutions, rules, and formularies of the Society. We derive this information from a most valuable commentary upon the sixth volume of Cretin eau Joly's " History of the Jesuits," entitled " The Poor Gentlemen of Liege." * To give any weight to the assertion, that Jesuitism is not what it was, or what it is here represented to be, it should be shown by their acts, that the Jesuits are changed. So far from there being any such change, however, Sauvestre points out their influence in France at the present time, in these words : "It is remarkable, that in proportion as their influence is extended over the parochial clergy, the manners of these clergymen have been seen to exhibit Jesuitism. The proofs of this are too numerous and too public for us to have any need to insist upon the fact ; we refer our readers to the law reports of recent date." " It is suflicient to read their 'Secret Instructions,' in order to Secret In. recognise the Jesuit spirit which has dictated them. Run through ^tractions, the chapters : ' How to deal with widows and dispose of the pro- perty they possess'; 'How to provide that the children shall enter the convent or the cloister '; ' What ought to be recommended to the preachers and confessors of the great '; ' Of the method of making a pretence of despising riches.' Glance through them all — for they are all of importance — and then say, whether these rules are a dead letter ; whether they have ceased to look after old u-omen ; to lay their hands on inheritances ; to rob childi'en of their rights and freedom ; to intrigue with the great ; to cast their intrigue, weight into the political scale ; to labour, in short, for one only object, which is not the triumph of religion, but the triumph of * " The Poor Gentlemen of Liege," page 00. -John Shaw and Co., 48, Paternoster Row, London. 1803. Ixxii Operations at home and abroad. Political Biovements. Poland. La Suisse. France. Eiissia. Eevolution. the Company of Jesus, and the establishment of its mastery over the world,"* The intrigues of the Jesuits, and their attacks upon the form of government which has existed in Great Britain since the Revolution of 1688, have been continuous. Ireland has always, according to their own historian, M. Cretineau Joly, been the chief base of their operations against England. The whole history of their operations, for the destruction of the constitutional form of government in Poland, before that unhappy country was partitioned, manifests the same irrecon- cilable hatred of national independence and freedom. Their attack upon the Republic of Switzerland, in 1847-8, is related in the diplomatic documents laid before the British parliament, and was attested by the declarations of Lord Palmerston in the House of Commons, and by the despatches of Lord Clarendon. M. Cayla, in his able sketch of the most important of the lay affiliations of the Order, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul,t shews that the Jesuits availed themselves of the French Revolution in 1848, in order to break up the constitutional monarchy, of Louis Philippe ; and that after manipulating the Republic, Ihey were engaged in preparations for the coup dUtat of 1852; whereby they promoted the establishment of a despotic form of government, — the form of government, which, if it be Roman Catholic, they always favour, as most amenable to their intrigues. How they assail an autocratic government, if not submissive to their dicta- tion, is illustrated in the case of Russia, by Prince GortschakofF's remarkable Circular Despatch.^ In every country, and under every form of government, the efforts of the Jesuits, however varied in their phase, have been, and are, the same in their tendency. Wherever the influence or power of their Order is not supreme, the Jesuits are revolutionists. They w^ork against the State through the disorganisation of * " Instructions Secretes des Jesuites." Par Chas. Sauvestre. Paris, 18G:5. t "Les Bons Messieurs de St. Vincent de Paul." J. M. Cayla. Dentu, Paris, 18G:3. 1 This remarkable document was laid before the House of Commons, and printed in the Session of IbOT. Reriral of Jcxnit'tHm. Ixxiii society. The effect of their supremacy, wherever established, has Results of always been the same ; the establishment of a retrograde and ^"l"'^"^^''^- debasing tyranny ; and then, as the result, frequent attempts at revolution on the part of the oppressed peoples. This is abun- dantly attested by the former condition of Italy ; by the remarkable series of events that have taken place in Spain and France ; to say nothing of the convulsions and crimes against God and man, of which they were the instigators, in South America. ^- America. No person, who has taken the trouble to inform himself on this subject, can, with truth, assert that, in affording our readers this "G/impse of the operations of the gycat Secret Society," we are inviting them to accompany us, while we rummage among the dusty records of a danger that is past. It may naturally be asked "How has this revival of Jesuitism The Revival: occurred ? The public know little or nothing about it." The ^°^^ ^ c e . answer to this question is very simple. In 1814, just before his 1814. restoration to the sovereignty of the Pontifical States and of Home, in effecting which Protestant England bore so large a part, the Pope re-established the Order of Jesuits ; an act, from which the Papacy had abstained, since the suppression of the Order by Pope Clement XIV., in 1773. In October, 1836, the late Pope, as M. Cretineau Joly the Jesuit historian tells us, held a Function at the Gcsu in Eome, and by a Papal brief, bearing that date, placed the whole of the missions of all the Regular Orders of the Church of Rome under the direction of the Jesuits. This memorable act was little known, and attracted little attention at the time, but its consequences have been of the widest and deepest importance. The Pope, as the head of the Church of Rome, then virtually resigned himself and his Church to the domination of this Pra}torian Order. The Propaganda, the central Office of the „ '^^^^ , regular missions of the Church of Rome, became merely a depart- ment of the Order of Jesuits ; and it is remarkable, that by the Brief of 1850, justly described as the act of Papal aggression 1^50. upon England, the whole authority of the Papacy, as regards the Church of Rome and her adherents in this country, was permanently delegated to the Propaganda. The present Pope was on his accession inclined to be liberal, but the events, which led to his early flight from Rome to Gaeta, terrified / Isxiv Plotting for possession of property. him into subjection to the Jesuits ; he appears to have returned from Gaeta quite changed. His subsequent arrogant and aggres- sive conduct plainly shows that he had then become identified uitramnn- -^ith what is commonly called the " Ultramontane," but that which really is the Jesuit faction or sect, in the Church of Rome. They have thus for more than twenty years been dominant over the Papacy and the Church of Rome, and have reproduced in France, and other countries, a state of things in politics, morals, and religion, analogous to that described by M. de Chalotais, as having been the result of their influence during the last century. The speech or report of M. do la Chalotais, to the Parlia- ment of Bretagno, in 1761, was the consequence of a great stir in the minds of the French people, caused by the outrage- ous conduct of the Jesuits. Anger was justly excited against this anti-social association by such acts as the following, the account of which is extracted from " Histoire Abregee des Jesuites," * Father Chc'iu- tome ii., page 26: — "A certain Ambrose Guys, originally from ""a.fvf m"r ^P^' disembarked at Brest in 1701, with a considerable fortune, which he brought from Brazil. His packages contained one mil- lion nine hundred thousand livres in gold, a considerable sum in silver, a great quantity of precious stones, and other objects of value. Being ill, he was taken, with all his effects, to the house of one named Guimar, an innkeeper on the quay * De la Recouvrancc.' Feeling uneasy in his mind, he sent for a Jesuit confessor, and committed to his care some letters, with which he had been entrusted by the Jesuits of thq country from which he had come. Judging by these letters of the importance of the chance that tliis man afforded them, these gentlemen (the Jesuits) committed the execution of their plan to Father Chauvel, the proctor of their establishment. He engaged Guys to leave that inn, where he was badly entertained, and to come into the house of the Society, where ho would be taken the greatest care of. Tlie sick iimn. The sick man consented to this ; but he expressed his desire first to make his will. The Father Chauvel approved of this proposal, and * Quoted by j\I. Cliarles Sauvestre in the Introduction to his work on the " Constitution of the Jesuits." Juihjmeut delivo'cd hi/ the KUkj. Ixxv the same evening the unhappy Guys signed his will before a notary, assisted by four witnesses. Now this pretended notary was in fact simply the gardener of the Jesuits ; and the four witnesses were certain Fathers of the Society of Jesus, disguised as citizens. The sick man was carried to the house of the good Fathers, where he "^''^ "^'^^ died three days after. " Frances Jourdan, niece of the deceased, and wife of a man named Esprit Berangcr, of Marseilles, having learnt by public report, what had happened to her uncle, presented on the 11th April 1715, a petition to the Judges of Brest to be allowed full 1715 information on the subject. The Jesuits, foreseciag the rising Petition to the storm, caused Beranger to be threatened with assassination, if he Assassination, did not give up the proceedings he was instituting. That poor fellow, frightened and ruined by two years of litigation in Bretagne, found himself obliged to listen to these threats. The Chancellor, M. d'Aguesseau, informed of this affair, instructed the Attorney- General of the Parliament of Bretagne to continue the prosecution. The lawsuit, at every turn hindered by means of the money of the Jesuits, dragged on till the year 1736 (21 years). At that period. Father Chauvcl, the actual principal in the robbery, havino- become old and infirm, felt smitten with remorse. He wrote from Chaurel's La Fleche^ where he was gone to end his days, all that had passed f'onfessinn. . at Brest, and sent this declaration to Marshal d'Estrees. The King having thus acquired certain knowledge of the robbery, delivered a judgment proj)n'o motu, which condemned the Jesuits to restore to the heirs of Guys eight miUions. The Fathers were sufficiently cunning and sufficiently powerful to hinder the execu- tion of the judgment. The money was never paid," Such deeds as these led the King and the Parliaments of France* to be watchful and anxious observers of a conspiracy, which in its -•;=_ There were eleven Parliaments in France, besides the Parliament of Pans. These pro^ancial Courts assembled at tlie various provincial capitals of Languedoc, Guienne, Burgundy, Normandy, Provence, Bretagne, and of five other provinces. Their power was very extensive, and generally used on the side of liberty and justice. They were not so mucli legislatures as coiu-ts of justice. The Parliament of Paris seems to have liad more exten- sive autliority than tlie others. We ilnd from the wording of its decrees that it was composed of princes, nobles, and eminent judges and otliers The Decree of 1st December, 17G4 (respecting the Jpsui'ts), be"-ins • " This /2 '^ Ixxvi The Jesuih (utd Trading. recklessness and confidence had scorned all the dictates of true religion and morality. About the year 1753, all France was in a tumult, because the " Uiiigonihis " Ultramontane clergy, under the influence of the Jesuits, refused "to bury those persons whose friends could not produce certificates from their confessor, that they had died acknowledging their belief in the dogmas proclaimed by the Bull " Unigenitus." The matter had been brought before the Parliament ; and the members of Parliament, who complained of this tyranny and bigotry, were accused, and imprisoned, or banished. The struggle continued Archbishop of with Varied success, till the Parliament sent the Archbishop banished. ^^ Paris into banishment at his brother's estate in Perigord. There was, then, a lull in the storm. All these wrongs remained unredressed till the frauds of the Jesuits stirred up the mercantile community. Men often bear with a deal of tyranny and robbery ; but their endurance will not stretch beyond a certain point. This point was reached in France, when her commerce received a heavy blow through the frauds committed by the Society in connexion with the bankruptcy of Lavalette, a member of the Company of Jesus. Lavaiftte Father Lavalette, Procureur of the Jesuit establishment at St. Pierre, in Martinique, traded very extensively and in a very speculative manner ; and it is remarkable, that both M. Sauvcstre and M. Cayla shew in the works, from which we have quoted, that the Jesuits in Paris are still largely, though secretly, connected with trading operations. By his daring and ingenious speculations, Lavalette had increased his trade to such a degree as to excite the jealousy of the merchants and inhabitants of the colony ; -who saw an ecclesiastic accumulating merchandise and produce, and pouring into his treasury gold and coin of all kinds ; intercepting day, the Court in liill assemblj^ the princes and peers sitting here, and all tlie Chambers," etc. These words point out in some measure the con- stitution of the Parliament. There were also in France "assemblies" called •' States-General," which comprised clergy, nobles, and the ''tiers etat," (U- Jioiinjcois. The " nobles " comprised all who were of noble extraction, " whether of robe or sword," that is, whether lawyers or knights ; provided they were not magistrates elected by the people. The "tiers etat ' were deputies of the people. Those who held liigh legal offices assisted at the meeting of the States as commissioners of the king, and were distinguisjiecl above the ordinarv nobility. The Jc-snifs and Drnfiinj. Ixxvii the circulation of money, in order to make himself the exclusive dispenser of it in the island. Complaints of his proceedings were sent to the French Government, and it was thought necessary to recall him to Paris. Lavalctte was not long in France, before the Jesuit Society, who thought him worthy of reward instead of censure, sent him back with the title of General Superior of the Windward Islands. Title con- The credit and influence of the Society calmed the alarm of the Government ; the royal authorities consented to his return, and, moreover, invested him with the rank of Visitor- General and Apostolic Prefect of the missions in that part of the world. He renewed his speculations. Establishments were formed in all the neighbouring islands. He organised offices in St. Domingo, Granada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, etc., and drew bills of exchange on Paris, London, Bordeaux, Nantes, Lyons, Cadiz, Leghorn, and Amsterdam. His vessels, loaded with riches, crossed the sea continually. The Jesuits traded on their credit, Jesuit tradiiu pretending that the property of their whole body was answerable as security. They disregarded treaties which other merchants obeyed. Neutrality laws were nothing to them. They hired ships which transported merchandise ; which were used as privateers Privateers. when it suited them, and sailed under any flag that was convenient. The Government of France took no notice of all this, till at last, the English Admirals, Hawke, Boscawen, Howe, and Anson, settled the matter by taking these privateers. The credit of these Jesuit traders was injured, and the French Provincial refused to pay their creditors on pretence that the Society was not liable as a whole, though they had acted together. The Brothers Lioncy and GoufFre, very extensive merchants of Marseilles, were the agents and correspondents of Father Lavalette. They had accepted bills to the extent of a million and a half of livres ; to cover these, two vessels had been despatched from Martinique with merchandise to the value of two millions. These vessels were captured at sea by the English. The house of Lioncy and Gouffre, pressed by want of money, asked the Superior of the Jesuits at Marseilles, for four hundred thousand livres, out of their million and a half, in order to avoid bankruptcy. A Jesuit Superior, named Sacy, who had, till then, •'^ucy. Ixxvfii Death of the General, and results. XV. Condemna- tion of Jesuits. 1760. Cause celebrc. been ^ the direct and recognised agent of Lavalctte, declared that the Society Avas not answerable as a whole ; but that they oftered the aid of their prayers to the Brothers Lioncy and Gouffre, and were about to say masses for them. The masses and prayers of the Jesuits did not fill the chests of the merchants which their commercial speculations had served to empty. Messieurs Lioncy were obliged to lay a statement of their case before the tribunals, and appeal to Parliament for a decree that their debt might be paid. The Jesuits Avished to stifle the matter. But the Duke de Choiseul, Prime Minister of that period, persuaded the king, Louis Xy., to allow the appeal, and the Jesuits were condemned to honour the bills drawn by their agent. The house of Lioncy was the most distinguished in the great city of Marseilles. Their yearly returns were thirty millions of livres. They saw themselves sud- denly reduced from opulence to danger of bankruptcy by Jesuit dishonesty, and they had the additional sorrow of enveloping in their misfortune their connexions in all parts of France. ^ Fortunately for mankind, unfortunately for the Great Secret Society, their General died at this critical period. Delay was inevitable, and this was fatal to the Jesuits. The new General saw the necessity of keeping the matter as quiet as he could, and gave orders to send all the funds that could be raised to Messieurs Lioncy and Gouffre. The courier reached them on the 22nd Feb., 1756, five days too late. The bankruptcy had taken place on the 17th. ^ From that day the proceedings of the Jesuits were reckless. Fniding that publicity was inevitable, they withdrew their help from those whom they had ruined. They had the impru- dence to allege that they were protected from the claims of their creditors by their Constitutions. This plea was a most disastrous one for them. They were condemned by the Parlia- ment of Paris. Yet so late as on the 17th August, 1760, they had influence enough to obtain letters patent, to carry their cause to the Great Chamber, on appeal from the Parliament of Paris. This was their last effort at that time. A decree was passed that the cause should be publicly heard. Extinction of the Order in France, 17G2. Ixxix At first thoy only pleaded that the creditors of Lavaletto had ypccial no claim, except on the house of business at Martinique. They ^' ^^^ "*°' then had recourse to a singular subterfuge. They said that Jesuits were forbidden to trade, by their Constitutions ; that having trading transactions was a dereliction of duty on the part of Lavalctte ; and the fault of an individual could not be visited on the Order. The crime was personal, they said, and the Society had given no guarantee. They wislied the payment of a just claim to be considered in the light of a punishment ; thus en- deavouring so to confound two distinct matters, as to escape from their dilemma. The judges were too acute to be led away from the straight course. Their creditors urged, that as their government was Pros. & cons, despotic, their General could dispose of their whole property as he thought best; that no individual could do anything but as the agent of this chief; that it was contrary to reason for the Order to profit by the good luck of their agent, and escape all participation in his misfortune. The Jesuits replied to this, that their Society had no common property ; but that each house was a separate corporation. They referred, in proof of their plea of exemption, to the Constitutions Coustitutiuu,: of their Order. The Parliament naturally demanded the production of these liLvt'iatious documents. They were produced on the 16th April, 1761 ; and this disclosure not only lost the Jesuits their cause, but brought upon them a greater condemnation than they at all looked for. Till then their Constitutions had remained secret. The j}ublication of them shewed the alarming pretensions, the organi- sation, and the power for evil, of an Order bound together for the sole purpose of their own aggrandisement. The Abbe Chauvelin, '^^?, '^'^^';,. Counsel to the Great Chamber, denounced these rules before the Parliament, and the Constitutions became one of the principal foundations of the accusation, which ended in the decrees for the extinction of the Order in France, in 1762. The Parliament of Paris appended numerous extracts from these Constitutions to their decree, in justification of their rigorous action against the Order. These extracts, verified and collated by the Commissioners of the Parliament, in compliance with a requi- Ixxx The Parliament of Paris, and Jesuitical tcachiny. sition dated the 31st August, 1761, fill not less than four volumes. These authentic documents exist in the public libraries, and in Snstitutiins! ^^^"^ private ones. From these extracts we present one or two ■ examples of the Jesuit teaching, which so alarmed and disgusted the Parliaments and people of France. "In his 'Essay on Public Theology,' published in 1736, Father Taberna maintains that :* A Judge. "If a judge has received money to give an unjust judgment, it is prohahh that he ought to keep the money ; for this is the judgment of fifty-eight Jesuit doctors." In answer to the question, A MuDk. " On what occasions may a monk leave off his monk's dress without incurring excommunication ? " The reply is, " He may leave it off if it is for a purpose that would cause shame, as that he may go on a swindling excursion : or in order to go incognito into places of debauchery. 8i hatjitum dimittat at furetur occulte i'elfornicetur."f Another question : Servants. " May servants who complain of their wages, increase them by laying hands on something that belongs to their masters, so as to make them amount to what they think they deserve ? " Is thus answered : Theft. " They may in certain circumstances : as when they are so poor when applying for the place, that they are obHged to accept the offer made to them, and provided other servants of their sort are receiving more elsewhere. "J According to the " Treatise on Penitence " of Father Kaleze Keginald, Theft. "Domestic servants may take secretly the goods of their masters by way of compensation, under the plea that their wages are too small ; and they are not to he compelled to restore them." Father Henriquez thus expresses himself: § Aduiteiy. " If an adulterer, even though he be an ecclesiastic thoroughly aware of the danger, goes to the house of an adulteress, and if * Fiithei- Tabenia's " Essay on Public Tlieologv." 17;30. + "Praxis ex Soc. Jes. Schola," Fr. 7, ex (i, nolo 8. X '• Sonnne de P. ]5aiiny," p. ■2V:\, 6th edit. § ••Moral Theology." P. Henriquez, vol. i., bk. iv., ch. lu, No. '6, p. soD. The Jesuit .si/dem stUl extending amoiKj us. Ixxxi being surprised by the husband, he kills him, in defending his lite or limbs, the fault does not seem to be on his side." According to the Moral Theologij of Father Anthony Escobar,* "It is allowable to kill by treachery one who is proscribed." "It is equally allowable to put to death those who injure us in Assassination the estimation of princes, and persons of distinction. "f Murder. The doctrines of the Jesuits on the subject of luxury and loose Luxury, living, as contained in these "extracts," are too vile to place before decent people. It was no wonder, therefore, that the Parliament of Paris drove the enemy from the country, as far as they had the power. Nor is it wonderful that the example was followed by the other Parlia- Expui&iun. ments of France. But before passing on to the consideration of this Keport, we wish to direct the reader's attention to the curious fact that the Oratorians, the Order of St. Philip Neri, who took the place of the Jesuits when they were expelled, urged the same plea of a non-community of goods among the members of their Order, as the Jesuits did in the case of Father Lavalette. And it is remarkable, that this plea of a non-community of goods was advanced only five years ago, by the Oratorians before the Par- liament and Courts of Italy, who decided that it was an evasion, and suppressed the Order. The same plea has been still more Oratorians recently advanced by the Oratorians of Brompton and of Syden- ^*^'"^^ ""' ham before the Courts and Parliament of England. This fact, with many others, proves that the system of the Jesuits has been, up to the present time, and still is, extending its ramifications among us. Nothing can be more instructive, than the account given by M. de la Chalotais of the operations of the Jesuits upon the Gallican Church. It shows an exact analogy with the less developed operations of the Eitualists upon the Church of England. The Jesuits first led the bishops to disregard the Canon and the Common Law, and then, by audacity and intrigue, reduced the bishops into subjection to themselves. By the providence of Grod and by the sound Protestantism of English Sovereigns, Parliaments, and people, we have been * "Moral Tlieoloyy." V. A. Escobar. Vol. iv., p. 278. t///;W,,p. 2.^4. Ixxxii Jesuitwn supported by Pcqxd Bupronacy. loug spared the outward manifestation, in this country, of the power and evil influence of this conspiracy against all that men value ; yet the perusal of this Report will, we trust, awaken our felloAV- countrymen to be zealous in the guardianship of their rights and freedom, against the secret machinations of foes, who are working in our midst. The Jesuits are too able, too earnest, to be Piibiicity the jpg^ sight of, or dospiscd. The great means of opposition to their oppoaitiou. cvil influence is puhUcity. " They love darkness rather than light." Vtteni Dts to Many noble eflbrts have been made by the French people to shake off shake ofi" the grasp of the Jesuitism, which holds them so tena- cbui i.siu. g-Q^gjy_ ]^yeu now they bear this incubus uneasily. The question naturally arises. Why have they never succeeded in getting rid of what they have felt to be so galling and so disastrous? Why have all their eflbrts been in vain ? Why have their partial successes against their baleful secret foe always been turned into defeats ? The answer is, that they have never nationally attacked their enemy by the only means that can be fatal to his power. They have never shaken off" the yoke of the See of Rome ; have never had in their own language a scriptural liturgy for their churches. They have Eemedics. aimed only at relieving violent symptoms of the disease, by which they are infected ; whereas they ought to have attacked the root of the disease ; and had they been successful in this, the symptoms would have disappeared. Papal supremacy is the strength of Jesuitism. Because France has always acknowledged the one, she has been, and is, the prey of the other. Tyiaiiuy of An evidence of the tyranny of the Papal system, and its .p allegorical conclusions ** are the main arguments used by all, who since the days of " Gregory VII. have attributed to the Church authority over "sovereigns in temporal affairs, in direct contradiction to plain "texts of Scripture, which are supported by tradition; for Jesus " Christ said simply, without figure of speech or parable, ' My " kingdom is not of this world ; ' and in another place He said " speaking to His apostles, ' Ye know that the princes of the " Gentiles exercise dominion over them ; and they that are " great exercise authority upon them ; but it shall not be so " among you.' " There is no wit or reasoning, that can elude so distinct a com- " mand. Moreover, during the first seven or eight centuries it was " understood literally, without the supposition of any mysterious " interpretation. You have seen how all the ancients, St. Gelatins " among them, distinguished clearly two separate powers ; and " what is more important, you have seen, that in practice they " acted on that doctrine, and that bishops, and even Popes, sub- "mitted in worldly matters to kings and emperors, even when " they were pagans and heretics. " The first author, in Avhosc work I can find the allegory of the " two swords, is Geoffrey de Vendome, in the beginning of the 12th " century. John of Salisbury went so far as to say, that the *' prince having received the sword from the hand of the Church, " the Church has of course the power to take it again away from " him ! and he teaches elsewhere, that it is not only permitted, " but laudable to kill tyrants. The object of his teaching is " obvious. Most of the doctors, however, of that age, asserted " the doctrine of the allegory of the swords ; and what is more " surprising, the princes themselves, and those who defended them " against the Popes, did not reject the doctrine. They contended " themselves by limiting the consequences. This was occasioned " by the total ignorance of the laity, which rendered them slaves "" to the clergy in everything concerning letters and doctrine. 46 " Now these clergy had all studied together in the same schools, *' and had imbibed the same doctrines, and from the same books ; " and in consequence we find, that the defenders of Henry IV. " against Pope Gregoij YII. all agreed in saying, that he must " not run the risk of being excommunicated, for if he was, he " would lose the right to reign. Frederick II. submitted himself " to the judgment of the Universal Council, and confessed, that if " he was proved guilty of the crimes, imputed to him, particularly " of heresy, he deserved to be deposed. " The Council of St. Louis knew no better than those men, and "■ resolved to abandon Frederick, if he was found guilty ; so " powerful is the efiect of teaching. " From one false principle widely diffused, a thousand disas- " trous consequences ensue, when it comes to be put in practice ! " as in the instance of the sujjposed temporal rights of the Church. " Since that principle was admitted, the internal inspiration of the " Church has changed." It is generally allowed that the principles of the Jesuit authors, whom I have quoted, are fanatical, and that they have produced bad efiects. But, it is said, these books have long lain unattended to in the libraries, from which they have lately been taken. It is said that Rome has forgotten these maxims, and that the Church is far from wishing to put them in practice. Careless and timid men now assert, that to speak of them is to revive alarms, which are past, to renew extinguished quarrels, and to interrupt the good understanding, that exists between Rome and all the Christian princes. That is exactly what the Jesuit Richome said in 1603, in his apologetic complaint to Henry lY. I am far from seeking to find errors, much less crimes, where they do not exist, or from wishing to disturb concord between Rome and princes. That concord must be the first wish of every Frenchman, and every child of the Church ; but I must ask, from whence it is concluded that Rome has abandoned the doc- trines of Sixtus y. and Gregory XIV ? Is it from the decisions of Paul v., of Innocent X., and Alexander VII., against the oath of England ; or from the condemnation by Alexander VIII. of the four articles of the Assembly of the Clergy (of France) in 1682 ? Is it from the afiirmation of the Legend of 47 Gregory VII., coined in our own days by Clement XI. and Benedict XIII ? The books we have cited are those of the most learned and most talented theologians of the Society of Jesuits — those, that the Jesuit Beatrix, rector of the College of Rouen, in his Chrono- logical Tables, printed 1644, placed in the rank of fathers of the Church. They drew all their theology from those sources ; they write no new books, but they make new editions of those old ones. "Where can we find any abjuration of those opinions recorded by the Society ? Is it in the theses, which Jesuits have held in several schools of this kingdom ? Is it in the multiplied editions of Busembaum,* and above all, in the edition, which was printed in France in 1729, with the Commentaries of La Croix, a Jesuit? Is it in the Journal de Trevoux of that same year, which lavishes on that book the highest praises ? or is it in the reprint, in 1757, of that detestable book, published under what circumstances ? Is it in the apologies, made for it during the mission to Nantes by the Jesuit Dessulpont, who only a few months afterwards had to disavow it before this tribunal ? Is it in the works of the Jesuit Zacharias, who wrote in 1758, in support of that execrable work, and to attack the decisions, which had proscribed it ? Here is a question of facts. Will any one undertake to efface i'rom the memory of men facts which are stereotyped in history, and make us forget these recent facts, which have passed under our own eyes ? I think that Popes of this day have neither the wish, nor any occasion to assert ambitious pretensions in opposition to any king, but this is rather a pious presumption on my part, than a demon- strated fact ; and one can hardly expect princes to be satisfied with felicitous presumptions, and make no better provision for their own safety. If this species of fanaticism, derived from the system of the infallibility of the Pope, and his right to rule temporalities, is diminished in France, we owe it to our parliaments, who have * The work of Liguori, which has been recently approved by the Pope, and which was autlioritatively recommended by Cardinal Wiseman, is a paraphrase of Busembaiun's work. — EiJUor. preserved their sacred charge of the liberties of the nation, and to the Sorbonne, to the body of French clergy, who made the cele- brated declaration of 1682, and to the edict which Louis XIV. issued in consequence. The second fundamental principle of the constitution of the Jesuits is, that the Pope, as the rightful sovereign over all things, both spiritual and temporal, has communicated his absolute power to the Society of Jesuits in the person of their General, for the preservation and propagation of the spiritual and temporal good of the Society. This fanatical principle is as absurd as that from which they attempt to deduce it. They say, a sovereign who may do anything he pleases, has given to the General all the power he had for the advancement of the Society. When he has given away his power, the gift is complete and irrevocable. If the giver should repent, it is too late ; his power is gone, and the General has only to keep it without the help of the Pope, and in spite of him. But now, if one could believe, that Christ had given sovereign power to the Pope, does it follow, that such power is transferable, or that any Pope having it, could give it away and deprive his successors of it ? Men accept gifts generally without questioning the authority and competence of the donor. Perhaps the Jesuits have never considered, whether the Popes could confer on a religious order the power to create rights for themselves, prerogatives and privileges above, and adverse to, all other, and even to the injury of the Pope himself; for all that is given away from others is valid, according to their constitutions ; and nothing, which is granted to others, is valid against them. I have said that the constitutions of the Jesuits are founded on two principles ; the absolute power of the Pope, and his commu- nication of an absolute power to the Society. You wiU see, that the system of the Society and its government, both interior and exterior, and the particular regulations of the constitutions, flow naturally from those two principles, i.e., that the Pope has absolute power, and that he has communicated it to the Society. All that concerns kings and princes, their persons, their autho- 49 rity, the episcopate, curates, universities, companies, both secular and regular, are derived from the first. The second comprehends the authority of the General, both interior and exterior, the means that he has a right to employ, the institution and the education of members of the Society, that of youths confided to its care, the laws and rules of morality, of dis- cipline, and of police, of which the Society makes use. Generally these two principles are united, and seek the same object ; sometimes one of these powers is sufiicient to provide for the preservation and the extension of the Society. Sometimes these two sovereign authorities find themselves at variance. We have seen what may happen by the shock of these two powers. I do not attempt to report the laws of the institution in detail. In attempting it I could only repeat what has already been said more than once. I show the principles, and consider the spirit of the institution ; and it will be seen that particular facts unite themselves with these naturally. I will show, when I come to discuss the murderous doctrines respecting kings, how that depends on the first principle. I will now proceed to that which affects the authority of govern- ments. We need not ask the Jesuits, why they did not present their constitutions, their laws, and the Bulls confirming the consti- tutions and their privileges, to the sovereigns, in whose dominions they establish themselves. It was because the Pope had authorized them, and they believed that, as the Pope had a power direct or indirect over princes, all Catholic sovereigns were obliged to receive them in their dominions, and that it was their duty to give them the full enjoyment of all the privileges and prerogatives that they had obtained ; that princes could not do otherwise, without failing in the respect they owed to the visible head of the Church, and without incurring the anger of God and the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. So run the Bulls. The following is not a conjecture. Gregory XIV., in a Bull confirmative of the institution of the Jesuits given in 1591, on the petition of their General, Aquaviva says, that no one, excepting the sovereign Pontiff, shall meddle with the religious Orders approved of by the Holy See, and forbids any person, whatever his authority, whether regular or secular, to attempt it. Paul III. E 50 had granted to the Jesuits leave to build and acquire property in every part of the world without the consent of any power, either ecclesiastical or secular. (Privileg. p. 17.) It is on the same principle of the sovereignty of Popes over the temporal concerns of all Christian kings, that the Society, its members and its pos- sessions, are declared to have passed into the possession of St. Peter, and to belong to the Holy Apostolic See. Their persons and their possessions are exempted from all taxes, tithes, inpositions, gabels (the excise on salt), taillas (succession duties), dons, (forced gifts), collections (levies), subsidies, even for the most commendable purposes, as for the defence of the country. No kings, princes, dukes, marquises, barons, soldiers, nobles, laymen, corporations, magistrates, commanders of towns or fortresses, shall dare to impose these. It was not enough that the persons and the possessions of the Society should be freed from all jurisdiction ; they thought fit to create judges, to preserve their privileges, and to endow these with the necessary power to prevent any encroachment upon them. Popes have given them these " Conservators " in all countries ; or rather, they have enabled the Jesuits to appoint and choose them for themselves. That privilege is the acme of madness of fanaticism. A Conservator, provided that he has any ecclesiastical dignity, or a canonry, may act as an ordinary judge for the Jesuits, " Judex Ordinarins." He may judge without any judicial formality : it is forbidden to any one to give a contradictory judgment, and if given, it is null and void. The Bulls grant to this Conservator all power, even over tem- poral affairs and secular persons. He may inflict pecuniary penalties, and even lay interdicts on places to which enemies of the Society retire. He may repress all constituted authorities, whether secular or ecclesiastical, whatever they may be, even pontiffs or kings, who may molest the Society and disturb them in their possessions, their privileges, or their reputation, openly or privately, directly or indirectly, secretly or otherwise, on any pretence whatsoever. The Jesuits may summon before their Judge-conservators all sorts of persons, either ecclesiastics or laymen, when it is a 51 question of manifest injury or violence against the properties, privileges, or members of the Society personally. It is sufficient for this, that the injury should be manifest by the evidence of fact, or it may be taken as proved, so there is no need of judicial investigation. The Jesuits, to complete their wild pretensions, were not satisfied, that the Conservators should be chosen by themselves ; they insisted over and above this, that they should be able to change them at their pleasure ; and their privilege is recorded, that the Society may have a cause decided by one Conservator, which has been commenced by another, even when there is nothing to prevent the first judge from going on with it. I must observe in regard to these pretended Judge-conser- vators, and the power given to them to punish by legal means, and by violent measures, that in the first Bulls obtained by the Jesuits for the establishment of these judges, legal means only were mentioned ; and that it was in a Bull issued in 1571, that the permission to use violence was added ; an addition which is by no means in accordance with the usual style of those writings ; it is added on purpose. And, I ask, for what purpose could such a clause be added ? I see no proofs of the actual existence of such Judge-conservators in France, nor of any judg- ments passed by them. Their formal establishment would have been a direct attack on the sovereignty and laws of the State, and it would be almost impossible to obtain proofs of judgments given without any of the formalities of justice, by certain pretended and unknown judges, who have never taken legal oaths before any judicial tribunal, who are nowhere publicly registered, and who act in secret. We find, however, in the reports on the afi'air of the Bishop of Pamiers, the Ordinance which that bishop issued against thie Jesuits, forbidding them to hear confessions, and the Act in which they signified on the 24th of December, 1667, to his promoter, that if he persisted in such attempts, vexations, and molesta- tions against the Society, they would carry their complaints to the Pope for justice, or to the Judge-conservators, as was customary and reasonable. The Popes, acting on their pretended right of sovereignty over e2 52 temporal affairs, have allowed the Society to create notaries for all their affairs, and have given the General the right to elevate the Jesuits into puhlic officers, that they may be placed in a position to inform all persons, both secular and ecclesiastical, all and every one, of the privileges of the Society. And the acts of these Jesuit notaries must have full credence even in courts of justice. Some Bulls have made a civil law for the Jesuits with regard to statutes of limitation, which these Bulls prolong to sixty years ; even with regard to possessions, which woidd otherwise be limited to a shorter period of time. They have established special forms of procedure for the affairs of the Society, and subjected secular judges to those forms. They have exempted the Jesuits from the laws with regai'd to damages altogether, when they commit injury, even when it is the fault of their superiors ; an arrangement, which tends to render their obli- gations illusory whenever their interest makes them think, that they are injured. I add one important point concerning the General only, which interests civil society, — that of contracts and legacies. The General only, as has been already stated, has the power of making contracts. " Penes generalem omnis facultas agendi quosvis contractus." " Les contrats ne peuvott etre faits que suivant la coutume et les primUges de la Societe." Contracts can only be made according to the custom and privileges of the Society. And declarations exist, which prevent these engagements from binding the Society, although the other contracting party is bound by them. One of these articles enacts, that, though the General may have conceded powers to the superiors of religious houses and also to inferiors, he may yet confirm or negative their agreements as he pleases, and order anything he thinks fit. He may alter the destination of legacies, left to colleges or houses, and apply them to any other purpose, provided that it can be done without creating scandal to persons interested. The laws and constitutions of the society having overridden the rights of sovereigns, we need not ask, why they pay no regard either to episcopal jurisdiction or to rights of incumbents, nor to the rights of universities, nor to those of other religious orders ; on the ground, that the Pope having sovereign spiritual power. 53 could of course rule, as he chose, and order everything he thought useful or necessary, without trouhling himself about the rights of bishops, who are only his delegates, and hare no jurisdiction, but that which he gives them ; because the Pope may despise the rights of incumbents, and of universities and of all religious orders; and because, being above law and canons, he may dispense with all canons, and being superior to the General Council, he may negative their regulations. By the Bull of Paul III. 1549, the Society and its members are declared exempt and free from all superiority, jurisdiction, and correction of the ordinaries. No bishop can excommunicate a Jesuit, or suspend him or interdict him. This privilege extends to all their out-of-door servants and workmen. Any Jesuit chosen by the General has the right to preach everywhere, to hear the confessions of all the faithful, to absolve them from all sins, even in the cases reserved for the Holy See, and from 'censures. It is enjoined on all ordinaries to facilitate their full exercise of these privileges. By a Bull cited among their privileges, bishops cannot prevent Jesuits from administering the sacrament of penance, from Palm Sunday to the first Sunday after "Whitsuntide. And they must allow Jesuits, who are priests, to perform this function throughout their dioceses generally, and without distinction or limitation of time, place, or persons. Bishops cannot interdict an establishment of Jesuits without consulting the Holy See, nor even any individual Jesuit, (to whom they had previously given permission, without Hmiting the period of that permission) nor oblige him to be subjected to a fresh ex- amination, unless some new cause has occurred belonging to the confession itself. Bishops cannot prevent Jesuits from preaching in churches which belong to their Society. Every believer, who goes to mass, to a sermon, or to vespers in the churches, belonging to the Society, is understood to have fulfilled all his parish duties and all the offices of the church. The General has a right to summon congregations of all sorts and kinds in his houses, to distribute and create indulgences for those congregations, to make any statutes he pleases, and to change them at his will in such sort, that it is to be understood, that all is done with the approbation of the Holy See. Bishops have 54 no right, according to the Bulls, to visit their houses, nor to in- terfere in their administration, unless in exceptional cases. Several of the Bulls diminish the authority of councils, whether General or Provincial Councils. There is noted in the Compen- dium, p. 285, that privileges granted since the Council of Trent, are vaHd, although they are contradictory to that council. It is forhidden to appeal from the ordinances of this society, and to all judges to receive such appeals. Every college of Jesuits is erected into a university, and the superior or prefect is authorised to confer degrees on strangers as well as on Jesuits, with all the privileges of graduates in the universities. All universities and persons opposing this rule, are to lose their own privileges, and rights, and are to be cited before the Conservator, and excommunicated. Jesuit pupils must not graduate in the universities on account of the oaths taken there. Magistrates must execute the will of the rector, and protdbt the persons he recommends. The Jesuits, fearing that the privileges, of which I have made a short enumeration, would not be enough, obtained in one single Bull from Pope Pius V., all the privileges, past, present, or future, which all the Mendicants of all habits, and both sexes, have ever obtained, or that ever hereafter they may obtain ; all the prerogatives, which may have been granted to them, how many soever they may be, even those especially notified. All the immunities, exemptions, faculties, concessions, privileges, spiritual and temporal graces, that may be given in future to their congregations, convents, chapters, to their monks or nuns, to their monasteries, houses, hospitals, and other places, are granted to the Jesuits, ^joso facto, without further particular con- cession. By this Bull the Pope ties his own hands, and the hands of all his successors, by forbidding, that any of these privileges should ever be retracted. For if they were, the General of the Society might restore those rights to himself, or to the Society, as they existed at any date he may choose for such restitution. What a mass of abuses heaped one over the other ! or rather, what extravagant nonsense ! 55 Violations of the right of all nations and of all civil society, attempts on the jurisdictions of all the sovereigns of the whole world, and pains pronounced on their sacred persons — what an abuse of ecclesiastical authority ! A spiritual ruler, who has received only spiritual authority from Jesus Christ, takes the command in all temporal concerns over all Christendom, as if it was his territory ! Can one hear those things without shuddering at such a source of fanaticism ? or rather, is it not fanaticism itself ? Was I wrong when I stated to you that the constitutions of the Jesuits, their systems and laws, declarations and decrees, are fanaticism reduced to rule and principle ? I will not give any further details of the abuses which result from these privileges; it is but too evident that they directly attack common law, the laws of the kingdom, the liberties of the Galilean Church, the canons of the universal Church, the rights of bishops, and those of incumbents ; the prerogatives of universities, and of all other religious orders ; in one word, all societies, both political and religious. You see that all these evils are derived from the fatal maxim of the absolute power of the Pope in all things both spiritual and temporal. The Society of the Jesuits will say, perhaps, that other religious orders have^ obtained exorbitant power; and that, moreover, the Jesuits have never used (in France) the greater part of those powers which' seem so odious. I wish it was possible to judge of the constitutions of the Jesuits as leniently as of other collections of monastic laws ; and I own, that was my first idea when I began this examination. There are vices and abuses in several of the laws of other religious orders ; I learnt that in the compendium of the privileges, which the Jesuit Society only cites in order to adopt them. But 1 have been obliged to abandon a comparison, which at first sight seemed equitable, but which cannot be sustained. It is plain, that having concentrated in their order all the preroga- tives of all the other orders, they have adopted all the vices with them, that can be found in all the other constitutions ; so that the fruit of their ambition has been to find themselves burdened 56 in relation to the State, with all the abuses incident to all the otlier orders together. Besides, if the laws of other orders are vicious, those vices are abuses which should be reformed ; not examples to be imitated. They say that they do not intend to make use of most of their privileges in France. They are men who wish to enjoy the rights of citizens, without being citizens ; who ask and obtain exorbitant privileges from a power, which they hold to be superior to all other powers, and then choose among those privileges which of them they like to make use of, and which to lay by. And is the State to wait patiently to see what these men are going to be pleased to do, while they think themselves very moderate in not vigorously using all these rights which they ostentatiously display ? Mean- time, in the editions they publish of their rights and powers for the edification of all the houses of their Society, without deigning to make mention of any respect due to the laws of the sovereign of their country, they graciously consent not to make use of these privileges where they find obstacles; but never have they re- nounced the principle, from which their pretensions are derived ; and that is the direct or indirect power of the Pope over the temporal power of kings. One fact will answer all the protestations of submission which the Jesuits made to the conditions, in]posed on their recall to France, and to all their pretended renunciations of the privileges with which they were reproached. In 1593 and 1594, the Jesuits of Spain and Portugal com- plained of the government of Aquaviva, and demanded a reforma- tion of the Society. They were backed by the courts of Spain and Portugal, and had carried their complaints to the Pope. It was against them that Aquaviva called the Fifth Congrega- tion. There they were treated as prevaricating children, seducers, disturbers of peace ; who under the cloak of zeal and pubHc good, dared to prefer their own views to the opinions of the whole Society. It was ordered that they should be punished and banished, and that all others, who were suspected of similar machinations, should be obliged to swear humbly to all the constitutions and decrees of the general congregations, and all the Bulls of sovereign pontifi's which confirm or explain the constitution, expressly those 57 of Julius III., Gregory XIII., and Gregory XtV., that they would never act in any way contrary to them under any pretence whatsoever ; and that tliey would never allow any alteration to he made in the constitution of the Society, but would at all times be ready to defend them at the price of their blood. In 1603, they were recalled to France. Every one knows the conditions on which they were allowed to return. It is on those conditions, that they now boast of their voluntary resignation of all the exorbitant contents of the Bulls of Julius III., and Gregory XIV. The conditions of their recall were not ratified by Aquaviva, although the Pope had approved of them. An essential formality according to their constitution, to render the renunciations valid was withheld ; and therefore the General might enforce the observance of those Bulls on any occasion and at any time he pleased. But what put an end to all doubt on that point was, that three years after their recall to France in 1606, Aquaviva presented a supplication to the Pope (Paul V.), and obtained another Bull from him, authorising the decree of the Fifth General Congrega- tion, of which I have already spoken, in which they declared, that they would never allow of any alteration of the institutions on any pretext whatsoever, nor of any derogation from the privileges granted to the Society by the Bulls of Pope Julius III., Pope Gregory XIII., and Pope Gregory XIV. Aquaviva, in the general congregation, which was held on the 21st of February, 1608, that is to say, five years after their recall to France (a congregation at which the deputies of France assisted), then caused the decree of the Fifth Congregation, which had been confirmed by the Bull of Paul V., to be renewed ; and he induced them to declare, secondly, that the decree of that Fifth Congregation ought to be so extended as to include all the members of the Society. What conclusions could the Jesuits draw from renunciations which, according to their maxims, must be void : not only because they had never been ratified by their General, but against which he had appealed, and which he had persuaded the Pope to annul by his supplication to Paul V., and by the Bull issued in con- 58 sequence three' years after their recall on conditions, against which he formally protested, in the Sixth General Congregation held in 1608, five years after their recall? Will they say, that notwithstanding the obstinacy of their General and the Bull of Paul Y., they still think themselves bound to fulfil the conditions ? And will they dare to pretend that they have fulfilled them in regard to bishops ? And will they dare to give the lie formally to the memorials of the clergy of France ? (See the circular letter of the assembly of clergy in 1650, and the Froces Verhaux, vol. v. of Memorials.) We know, moreover, that one of the principles of their con- stitutions is. That if anything has been effected by any person whomsoever, of whatever rank or condition, prejudicial to the rights and privileges of the Society, the act is nil in itself, and it is not necessary to obtain any formal withdrawal. I see in many parts of the Compendium, that they make a dis- tinction between the public and the private use of their privileges. They are warned not to use their privilege, which is good for the interior, excepting when they find no impediment, out of doors. (Passim.) When men think their rights and privileges are legitimate, in their inward conscience ; when they are persuaded that notwith- standing contrary usages, they are still in full force — " in suo vigor e " et pieno robore frmitatis jjermanent," — they resolve to use them when they meet no hindrance ; and if they find any, they only try to remove or surmount the obstacle. Thus, it is not because Jesuits ought not to use all their privi- leges that they do not make use of them, but simply because they cannot. What inference can we draw then from a renunciation which is rather negative than positive, and which, so far from being a formal abdication, is only a reclamation against the superior force of authority ? Another fact, which completes the destruction of all the pre- tences of renunciations made by the Jesuits, is the way in which the Jesuits renounced, in 1587, three of their privileges in favour of the Inquisition of the king of Spain. General Aquaviva obtained a brief from the Pope to revoke the two first, and had himself given letters patent to forbid the 59 use of the third. Thoy were asked in the name of the king, that the Fifth General Congregation should promulgate decrees on that subject; and the congregation ordered that it would not make any use of those three privileges in Spain. (Decrct. v., Vol. i., p. 548. Compendium, p. 267.) If the Jesuits have similar acts, briefs of the Pope, letters patent of their General, and decrees of general congregations, which revoke privileges that are contrary to the laws of the king- dom of France, they ought to produce them ; or they ought to offer them now. But so long as they continue to produce none, and make no offer to resign those privileges, they cannot say, with any shadow of truth, that they have renounced them, and all their professions of submission and obedience are vain and illusory, even if facts did not evidence against them. Who could fail to wonder at the mass of censure and excommu- nications, issued in such profusion at the will and pleasure of the Society, for the preservation of these very privileges ? These, common, worthless, and abusive as they are, alarm the mind of timid persons, and disturb the consciences of the weak, the stupid, or the bigoted. I present you with an abridged catalogue of these excommuni- cations, and a very imperfect one of the persons, who are to be excommunicated : — All kings, princes, or administrators, who would impose any tax or charge on the Society, on their persons or properties. All those who cause any damage to the Society. All those who oblige the Society to lend their churches or houses for the performance of Mass, for ordination, or for pro- cessions, assemblies, or ecclesiastical synods, or any other kind of assemblies, or who place garrisons in them. All who should dare to gainsay any of the concessions made to the Jesuits. All who refuse the office of Conservator to the Jesuits, or who having accepted, shall exercise the office negligently. All who should attack their houses with violence. These excommunications comprehend, in short, all and every person whether priest or monk, of whatever order, in whatever position of rank or pre-eminence they may be placed, bishops. 60 archbishops, patriarchs, cardinals, — all who have any secular dignity or authority whatsoever, who may attack the institution, the constitutions, the decrees, or any of the articles of the Society, or anything concerning thera, even under the pretext of con- troversy, or of zealously desiring the truth, directly or indirectly, publicly or secretly ; or who may wish to alter or change the above, or to give them another form. All who may attempt to injure the reputation of the Jesuits.* Heads of universities, and all others who may molest the rectors and professors of their colleges. All who oppose themselves to the privileges of the colleges of the Jesuits' universities, degrees, etc. All who may lodge or give refuge to Jesuits, who may have left their houses without permission of the General. All who may dare to retain anything belonging to members of the Society, their houses or their colleges, even money, unless on receiving notice from this Society, he shall return it in three days All who should violate the sanctuary of their houses. All fathers who choose to use their parental authority to pre- vent their children from entering into the Society. ^//members of the Society, who may appeal from the ordinances of the superior without the special permission of the Pope are excommunicated. There is an infinite number of other excommunications, too long to report. (See Cent, and Prtecept. Compend. J^nW, passim.) As the privileges claimed by the Society are very extensive, and as they may be imparted by the General without limit, excommu- nications may also be multiplied infinitely. They have also privileges shielding them from excommunica- tions. In places which are under interdict, Jesuits have the privilege of immunity from excommunication or interdict. All sentences of excommunication, suspension, and interdict, which ordinaries or others may pass upon them, their houses, or any persons belonging to them, are null, ipso facto, with respect to * Tliis article is ordered to lie read once every year at table, in all the houses of the Society. Vol. i., p. 1. 61 themselves ; and with respect to others, on their account, they may be annulled. What a mass of censures ! Is there any one in Europe, above all, in France, who must not now be in danger of excommunica- tion ? It is quite useless to ask, whether any government can co-exist with this institution. No government can ally itself with any establishment, the laws of which are in contradiction to the laws of the State. I know no country or nation, either monarchical, aristocratic, or demo- cratic, with which the laws and the constitutions of the Jesuits permit their being allied. A king holds a very precarious sovereignty, when he has a multitude of men in his dominions, who do not depend upon him for the security of their lives and fortunes. He is not independent, when a great number of men, exempted from his jurisdiction, conscientiously believe, that they have a right to bring him and the magistrates, his adherents, who exercise justice in his name, before other judges chosen by themselves, and to reprehend and punish by legal means, or by violent means, as they think best. Jesuits, however, have always maintained themselves more effectually in monarchies than in other governments. Rome in past ages had most influence in great monarchies. It is easier to flatter one man than many. Monarchies are the residence of great men and courtiers. But even in those States Jesuits have always been engaged in contests with all other bodies of men whether of ecclesiastics or of laymen ; and most of all with those, who were the guardians of the laws of the State. Therefore they always seek to ally themselves with the sovereign authority, which allows itself to be entrapped ; for being naturally benevolent, and seeing no meditated mischief in the favour which the Jesuits solicit, it is almost always ready to grant it. Whereas the ordinary tribunals of justice set themselves to consider and discuss what is fit to be granted or refused according to the law. The action of absolute authority is always convenient for intrigue, inasmuch as it is silent and concealed. Its traces are not perceived by the public or by posterity, so that it is easy to disavow boldly the means of attack and defence, that are employed. 62 Jesuits are less secure in republican States. It is almost impos- sible, that their constitutions and manners should agree with the laws of such governments, or with republican customs. There are few countries, where they have been more frequently attacked than in Venice ; from thence they have actually been banished. The only temporal power, with which the constitutions of the Jesuits can agree is Rome. The institution has one common principle with that court, the sovereign power of the Pope, both in temporal and spiritual affairs ; but you have seen, that the Society has found means to limit even that power, and to make itself an independent power. Tbe Pope, as a temporal prince, has few complicated interests, either of finance or of commerce, and the Society is more able to forward his spiritual interests by residing away from Rome, than if it confined itself to his dominions. The second principle of the constitutions of the Jesuits is the communication of the power of the Pope to their Society in the person of their General. I have already said that in order to extend and maintain his spiritual and temporal power, the Pope has increased and pro- tected religious orders. You have seen that the special vow of obedience to the Pope, made by St. Ignatius and his companions, induced Pope Paul III. to confirm their institution. The despotism of the General of the Jesuits was one of the means, which Popes made use of to extend and maintain their own. This, Messieurs, is not a matter of conjecture ; it is to be found in the formal text of the Bull, issued by Pope Gregory XIY., and granted to General Aquaviva at his request in 1591. This Pope, who during his short pontificate, did his utmost to favour the enterprises of the Leaguers in France, after having explained and confirmed the immense prerogatives of the General of the Jesuits, said that " Among other advantages and conveni- ences which loould result from it, is the fact, that the xvhole order, being disciplined to monarchical government, its members being always perfectly united in sentiment, and however dispersed in all parts of the ivorld, remaining bound to their chief by the rule of 63 implicit obedience, would be more easily led and directed by the sovereign head, the vicar of Christ on earth, to perform the different functions, that he may assign to each of them according to the special vow, which they have made'' Quoniam ratio ipsa docct. That is to say, reason teaches that the government of the Jesuits must he monarchical, and that of the other orders aristocratic* This declaration is clear, simple, and without equivocation, and we have not to seek in prohabilities the designs and intentions of the court of Eome ; nor is there any need, that we should repre- sent to you the consequences, which followed in Christian States from the action of Popes and of this Society. Experience has taught it to us, too well. As some may maintain, that the authority of the General of the Jesuits is only monarchical, and that I falsely consider it as despotic, I ought to propound what I mean by despotism. Despotism and slavery are relative terms, which explain each other ; when one knows what a slave is, then one knows what a despot is. Not to have power over one's own possessions, that is slavery. Not to have personal liberty is the greatest slavery known to civil law. That degree of human degradation supposes the highest degree of despotism. Not to have liberty of mind, of one's own judgment, of one's own will, is a state of servitude, which approaches to moral death. Civil laws do not recognise it ; or rather they cannot know it. It was reserved to monastic constitutions to furnish examples of that excess of despotism. Civil despotism is a bad thing ; it is naturally repugnant to reason. Spiritual despotism is impious ; it is an attempt against the gift of God. A spiritual despot can only establish his power by imposing his own imaginations as divine inspirations. He is then really a fanatic. He has the true character of fanaticism, and his fanaticism * Tliis inference is partly based upon facts which M. de la Chalotais has not stated. But it must be remembered, that both he and the ParUament, he was addi-essing, were intimately acquainted -oith the constitution of the Ecclesiastical Orders, other than the Jesuits, at that time publicly existing in France ; he did not therefore describe them in detail. — Editor. 64 is the more incurable in that he entertains it in his own person, and feeds upon it himself. For a purely spiritual authority pretending to have sovereign temporal power, to communicate to monks a sovereign power, independent, and in its very nature incommunicable, because it pretends to be divine, is, let us not fear to say it, utter madness. It is the last excess of fanaticism. Let us see, whether that is the character which the Con- stitutions give to the authority of the General. The kind of despotism that he exercises is to be ascertained by the nature of the obedience which is required. The Constitutions throughout put the General in the place of God and of Jesus Christ. This assumption is so marked in this respect, that I think there are in the Constitutions more than 500 places, in which expressions are used similar to the following : — " We must always see Jesus Christ in the General ; be obedient "to him in all his behests, as if they came directly from God "himself. That obedience must be complete in action, in the "will, in the understanding ; you must feel convinced, that every- " thing which the superior commands, is the precept and the will " of God ; you must always see God himself and Jesus Christ in "the superior, whoever he may be." This sort of obedience is not possible for men, and this kind of despotism ought not to be allowed ; because absolute submission of heart and mind is due to God alone. I should nevertheless observe, that in the Constitutions them- selves, even where the most blind obedience is demanded, there are some corrections and restrictions noted, that should not be passed over. In the Epistle of St. Ignatius on Obedience, where its obser- vance is so exaggerated, he cites a passage of St. Barnard in these terms, " Uhi tamen Deo contraria non prd'cipif homo." I find in the Constitutions, P. Art. III. c. i., where obedience is spoken of, " Ubi peccafinn non ceriieretnr in omnibus rebus ad quas potest cum "charifate se obedientia extendere." The Declarations on these Constitutions intimate — " Ubi nullum manifestum est peccatum ; " and in the same place, " Ubi definiri non possit aliquod peccati genus intercedere." 65 These expressions doubtless express some limit to the stupid obedience, which results from the comparison of the stick and the corpse, and the example of Abraham, cited by St. Ignatius. I should add, that in some of the rules of other monastic orders, the same expressions are used. I ought also to say, that ascetic books, or books of devotion, should not be understood literally. They should rather be inter- preted favourably ; we should not expect to find in them the precision and exactitude, which is never required in them, and which is not compatible with the ardour of zeal. Why, then, you will ask, are the constitutions of the Jesuits not to be judged with the same leniency ? It is because the obedience, which those constitutions require, is not obedience to some law that is at all times binding and powerful ; but it is obedience to the varying caprice and arbitrary will of a superior, whoever he may be. He must not only be obeyed immediately, quickly, without answer or remonstrance, but his subject is required to believe inwardly, and to believe firmly, that this superior, who may be fanciful or capricious or unjust, is entirely right, and that it is Almighty God, who speaks by his mouth ; that what he orders is a precept of the Almighty, and his holy will, xlll the members of the Society are bound to execute everything that the General shall prescribe with the same full consent and submission, as the dogmas of the Catholic faith. AVhen he orders anything, it is not allowable to consider whether the act prescribed is sinful or not. If that is not complete ianaticism, I should like to hear a better definition of it. It is evidently either fanaticism or madness. If the constitutions of some other Orders contain similar expres- sions ; if it is said, for instance, in the rule of St. Benedict, that there must be obedience even in things that are impossible ; if it is said in the rules of the Chartreux, that the members must immolate their will, as a sheep is sacrificed; if the monastic constitutions of St. Basil decide, that monks must be in the hands of their superiors like the axe in the hands of the woodcutter ; if it is said in the rules of the unshod Carmelites, that they must execute the commands of their superior, as though the omission to do so, or repugnance to do it, was mortal sin ; if St. Bernard 66 assures us that obedience is a blessed blindness, which causes the soul to see the road to salvation ; if St. John Climacus says, that obedience is the tomb of will — that under obedience we discern nothing and make no resistance ; lastly, if we find in St. Buouaventura that a really obedient man is like a corpse, which allows itself to be touched, moved, and removed without making any resistance : — these are strong expressions made use of in monastic writings which are unauthorised by the Church. But they are all collected in the constitutions of the Jesuits, more strong, more frequent, and multiplied ; and consequences, even the most absurd, are formally deduced from them. And, after all, one abuse, whatever it may be, does not legalise another, which nothing can justify. Its being brought into observation should only cause all such abuses to be reformed. This proves what I stated at first — that everything done under the cloak of religion passes current ; imaginations gradually become heated ; and, as has been said by the Abbe de Fleury in his 8th Discourse, this heat has gone on increasing in intensity, and by means of examples and similitudes, the most absurd and strange ideas have become consecrated ; even from one form of abuse to another. Governments are on the point of being obliged either to tolerate every species of disorder, or to unsettle everything. If passive obedience is always dangerous, it is most essentially so in the hands of a political order, governed by a permanent General, who has means of knowing the most intimate thoughts of all its members from the time of their infancy. The few correctives and restrictions that I have noticed would form very weak defences against so absolute a power as that of the General. To secure and ensure a despotism it must be durable in the same person. An empire liable to change its despot must be a weak one. The General of the Jesuits preserves his power as long as he lives. Pope Paul IV. wished to make the command of the General triennial. I have spoken of the manoeuvres of Laynez to render it perpetual, and that the complaints against that perpetuity burst forth under Pius V. Their effect was escaped through his death : his death rendered them useless. These efforts were re- newed under Sixtus V., who died before he had achieved what he 67 had begun. At last Aquaviva consummated the work of despotism, and the perpetuity of the generalship, under the pontificate of Gregory XIV. One of the reasons alleged for it by Aquaviva was that papacy and royalty are also perpetual. In other Orders, assemblies and chapters exist, that are barriers against the authority of a perpetual superior ; but among the Jesuits there is no chapter nor assemblies, nor any fixed time for deliberations. General congregations alone are above the General, in the same manner that an a3cumenical council only is superior to the Pope. They say, that the General is not absolute, because he may be deposed by a general council. It is true, that he might be deposed if he became mad or imbecile, and in five other cases, which hardly can happen, because the acts must be openly proved. 1. Copula carnalis. 2. Wounding some one. 3. Taking some part of the revenues of the college for his own defence. 4. Making gifts to any one, not belonging to the Society ; and this last case may be modified, as we have seen in the constitutions. 5. Main- taining bad doctrines. It is said that General Gonzales was on the point of being deposed, but that proves nothing. A cabal nearly deposed that General because he attacked 2)rohahlcmn, one of the favourite doc- trines of the Society, which he wished to proscribe. But fanaticism claimed its rights, I mean uniformity of opinion in the order ; so that one kind of fanaticism was on the point of destroying another. Despotism refuses all connections ! it does not attach itself to persons, but it binds persons to itself. The contracts of despotism are never reciprocal, and engagements are absolute or conditional according to its interest. A Jesuit pronounces his first vows to the Church, thereby placing himself in the hands of a superior, or some one appointed to receive them. Those vows are not made, they say, in the hands of any person — in nullis manih us fieri dicuntur — because they are only made to God. The intention is, they say, that these should not be solemn vows, although they are made in a solemn manner. They cease to be binding to the contractors whenever the General pleases. Ho f2 68 dispenses with them at his will, and when he liberates a subject he declares him free from any engagement. But (the answer is, that) the individual is strictly bound to the Society by that vow, and if he endeavoured to retract it himself he might be treated as an apostate, and excommunicated. He might be prosecuted as such, if he obtained his liberation by any false statement ; never- theless, the Society is not bound to him, because that vow having been made in the intention of the constitutions, " Omnia intclli- gendajiixtd ipsius societatis constitutiones," the Society has only received him under the tacit condition, as far as it thought good. Si socieias eos fenere volet. He can never leave the Society after his first vows without the permission of the General, but the General may dismiss him at any time, even after he has made the last vows, to whatever grade or dignity he may have attained ; and that dismissal may be made without consulting any one, for secret reasons— "06 necretas causm," — for reasons which do not suppose any sinfulness ; and even without providing him with any means of subsistence. One sees the spirit, which has dictated laws such as these ; and though the case may very rarely occur, that last rule nevertheless characterizes the most terrible despotism, as much as all the stringent precepts of passive and absolute obedience. The first want of man is to live, and his strongest fear is to die of hunger. Civil slavery is nothing to that. Spiritual despotism, or fanaticism, has no object but a selfish one ; it would be contrary to its nature to have any other. Thus, although we read in their Constitutions, that the object of the Society, is the glory of God ; it is evident from its history, that the first object and the last end of the system, has long been the advancement of the Society, its glory, and its extension. This despotism is necessarily ambitious, but the pride of occu- pying high offices does not satisfy it. It endeavours to dominate over minds — a much higher ambition ; and if it avoids the ordinary paths of ambition it is only to seek for more distinguished conq^'.osts. St. Ignatius had shut the door to prelacies. Laynez opened another road to ambition. In the first council he hold, he ordered, that if any of his Society should be elevated to the dignity of a 69 prelate, he should promise always to follow the advice of the General, or of such Jesuits as he should appoint to represent him. It is true, he added this saving clause to that promise : " If I feel, that, what he may advise is preferable to my own opinion, adding to this all being understood according to the con- stitutions and declarations of the Society J' One sees by this, that the Jesuits did not seek to become pre- lates, because St. Ignatius had forbidden it ; but if such prefer- ment should be conferred, the prelate must remain subject to the Society or to the General, and must obey his suggestions, as if he was still a Jesuit. If ordinary ambition is odious, when it embraces everything spiritual or religious, ambition is still more odious, when it unites the appearance of good with the injustice of usurpation, and wishes, with its usual greediness, to enjoy the consideration, which is due to virtue alone. Temporal despotism does not necessarily imply moral corrup- tion ; but then all despotism corrupts those who exercise it, if that despotism is both spiritual and temporal; this requires a plastic morality, which will satisfy everybody. A rigid morality would be unsuitable. It cannot combine with anything. One would have supposed, that principles would govern every- thing ; but here on the contrary, the will of man reigns supreme. What suits spiritual despotism is a versatile morality (if I may so express myself), severe or relaxed, according to circumstances, admitting of interpretations, the limits of which are elastic. We must, however, allow that the morality of the Constitutions is pure and wise. St. Ignatius contemplated the attainment of evangelical perfection ; the crowed of accommodating casuists arose later in the annals of the Society ; they corrupted the pure morality of the founder by subtleties, and policy took advantage of their logic. Despotism acts b)^ inquisition and denunciation ; all its views are concealed ; thence the necessity for spies and informers. The despot needs to know the characters of his subjects, their talents, and the qualities of their hearts and heads, even their tempers, in order that he may employ them where they will bo most useful. 70 Their inmost consciences ought, if possible, to be laid open to him. He must keep his subjects in perpetual distrust of each other, in order that they may confide in him only, and that his power alone may be felt. In a state of slavery everything is vile and low ; it does not allow of elevation of mind, or of liberty of thought ; under the influence of spiritual despotism and of fanaticism, everything is actuated by the dominant impressions of a stranger. No laudable project can be conceived in the mind of a slave; it is not possible, that minds degraded by servitude, and espionage, and denunciation, by an inquisition menacing incessantly, can conceive great ideas; if nature had made them magnanimous, education and their position would stultify their natural courage. Slaves have no country ; they have been obliged to forget the homes of their fathers and the place of their birth. They see nothing but the greatness of the despot, whom they serve, of the empire, he has created ; their eyes are always fixed on the hands of their masters, and they have no more (independent) activity than an inanimate instrument. It is written in Articles 9 and 10 of the Common Rules, Vol. ii., p. 70, that each Jesuit ought to be glad that all his failings and his faults, and generally everything that has been observed in him, should be noticed by the first comer, who may know it, and not by his own confession.* , That they must take it well to be so corrected, and must in the same way correct others, and be ready to report concerning each other ; because, moreover, that is commanded by the superior, for the greater glory of God. These are three articles out of the five which are declared to be necessary to the institute. Suh- stantia instituti. In the ordinances of the Generals on those rules, Yol. ii, p. 266, it is set down, that the meaning of this rule is, that it is permitted to everyone to reveal to his superior as he might reveal to his own father, the faults of his neighbour, whether light or important. In the 4th chapter of the examination of persons, who wish to * This rule manifestly ai)plies only to the Jesuits, as between them- selves. — Editor. 71 enter into the Society, tliey are questioned on the 9th and 10th rules, of which I have been speaking ; and they are warned, that by that they abandon all right, whatever it may be, to their own reputation, and that they yield it to the superiors, for the good of their souls and the glory of God. They are warned in the same ordinance, p. 266, that the same is to be understood of all faults, all sins, all errors, and all inadvertencies. Article the 5th imports, that the rule respecting revelations is imperative, and that it is not permitted to wait for an order from the superior ; above all (Article 7th states) if the matter is detrimental to the common interests of religion or of the institution, and particularly of the General. These ordinances were made by Aquaviva. I shall limit myself to some observations, on what you have just heard. I beg to ask, whether a man can cede his right to his own reputation to another man ? and whether his reputa- tion is more transferable than his life ? and moreover, whether such an abandonment is consistent with good manners and with reason, and with religion ? I ask, moreover, whether it is right to lay ecclesiastics under the obligation to be spies upon each other ? to prepare tender and impressible souls for dissimulation and falsehood ? It is corrupt- ing the heart, degrading the mind, depriving men of every senti- ment of honour, and all motive for praiseworthy emulation ; it is degrading to human nature, under the false pretence of bringing it to perfection. What use might not an ambitious and wicked supcror make of such instruments ? Constantly occupied in self- concealment, while they are engaged in watching others; they are taught to think that they must betray their neighbour for his good. This indeed is fanaticism. Is it astonishing, that uniformity of doctrine, which is so hurtful to the natural liberty of mind, should have become a fundamental maxim of the order ? Since the Constitutions deny freedom of will to Jesuits, they cease to be Frenchmen, or Spaniards, or Germans ; they are Jesuits. What means are not employed to extinguish in their minds the spirit of enquiry ? 72 Simply, Aquaviva relates in his preface to tlie Directory for their spiritual exercises, that God Himself had commuicated to St. Ignatius, as head and founder of the Society, the whole plan for its government, exterior and interior. The connection of the institution with the Glory of God, and the advantage of the Church, and of religion, is continually urged on the members. They are questioned on temptations against the institution, Tentatio contra institntnm, which are represented as the most dangerous of all temptations. Aquaviva makes this the 13th chapter of his instructions. In them there is a special charge to give an exact account of all scruples felt on this subject, and of all those, which members perceive in others ; this exactitude is pre- scribed as one of the most essential points. To feel the smallest doubt on any of the smallest of their privi- leges would be a serious sin : it would show a doubt of the legitimacy of the vows, of the power of the Pope, and of that of the Society and its founders. Finally, these impressions are strengthened by exercises, to which indulgences and graces are attached. These are called in the Noviciate, spiritual exercises. A young man is shut up alone in a room, without books, and removed from all noise, lest his attention should be distracted, and he is ordered to meditate. I give you some examples : — He is to represent to himself two standards and two chiefs ; one is Jesus Christ, the other is Satan. He must picture to himself Jesus Christ in an agreeable form, in a well situated camp, sending His disciples to assemble soldiers ; and Satan in a hideous shape, also assembling soldiers from all parts of the world. When he meditates on hell, he must imagine a flaming plain with souls burning in the fire; he must hear cries and blas- phemies, and imagine that he suffers, from smell and taste, the most repulsive sensations. Every novice is taught that he must make a meditation of that kind in the middle of the night and in the morning, and repeat it after mass ; that he ought to be struck with these objects, as if he saw them before him ; that he ought 73 to see with the eyes of his imagination, and taste by the taste of his imagination, etc. There was formerly a chamber for meditations, where pictures were placed to assist the imagination ; this we see in the examina- tions of Chatel,* Guerret, and Guignard. These last confessed, that they had often taken Chatel into such a room, and he con- fessed that he had been in such a one. To present such exercises to young people with strong and vivid imaginations, as ordinary helps to perfection, and to propose them to men habitually in common life, and to women, as they are proposed and boasted of in the Constitutions, is an endeavour to inspire enthusiasm and fanaticism. These exercises, so often repeated, can only be considered as arts to procure ecstasies reduced to system ; the strongest heads might be affected by this institution. To convince ourselves of this, we have only to read what the most sensible of writers have observed of the force of imagination, the power of habit, the con- tagion of example, and authority, and the inclination of many men to superstition, of the manner, in which the most unreason- able opinions have been established, and the difficulty of restoring minds, that have once been disordered by them. I think that it is wise, and even a duty, to suppress institutions that have this tendency to produce excitement. That is one of the reasons for the objection I feel to retreats and congregations. It is said that exercises of that kind are practised in some re- treats. It is a notorious fact, that in some towns in the provinces persons struck with those terrible images, have come away from those exercises with derangement of mind, and an alienation of judgment marked by fatal effects ; the fact is proved by inquests. There are moreover legal reasons for objecting to congregations. They are only, as we have seen, emanations from the general congregation at Rome, held in the professed house, or if you please so to state it, they are congregations that the General establishes by his plenary authority. He can give them statutes, and grant them indulgences, cum f mult ate visitandi, statuta con- demn, miitandi ac indiilgentias comnuinicandi. He may also abro- * Chatel attempted to murder Henry IV. iii 1094, 74 gate ihem when he chooses. There are parishes created over other parishes, in favour of which Christians arc dispensed by Bulls from attending the offices of their churches, as they are bound to do by the canons. In France the power of a Papal nuncio is limited ; he is not allowed to exercise any act of spiritual jurisdiction ; yet notwithstanding this, a foreign ecclesiastic is allowed to exer- cise jurisdiction in most of the towns in the kingdom. What a contradiction ! The public education, which the Jesuits give to their pupils in their classes, fosters the ultramontane spirit, that predominates in themselves, and the spirit of party, which agitates them, in con- sequence of old prejudices and the ignorance of the sixteenth century. Their plan of study may have been fit for times, when it was necessary to bring people out of the state of profound ignorance, in which they were plunged when that plan was laid down ; but then the instructors, who substituted themselves for the teaching of the universities ought to have done better than they ; instead of that they did worse. The instructions which we find in the Constitutions of Aqua- viva, under the title of " Batio Stucliorum ;" prepared by six Jesuits, under the orders of Aquaviva, for lower and upper classes, are a tissue of pedantry and absurdities on the subjects of literature and philosophy, and with respect to theology, they excited the murmurs and complaints of the Spanish theologians, and even of some Jesuits. I know that it is not fair to compare them with those modern writers, who have profited by the observations and successive discoveries, which the human mind has made ; but there were then in the works of Erasmus and Scaliger and several others, much more profound ideas. In the university, Turnebe, Bude, Vatable, and Ramus had been distinguished, Dorat Lambin, the Eteinns, Passerat, Calcpin, and many others who have been eulogised by the learned De Thou, and were far more capable of executing such a work than these teachers. Nevertheless it is this book, or rather these instructions, pre- pared by six Jesuits, under the inspection of Aquaviva {Ratio 75 Studionon), which still forms the rule of stud)' pursued by the Jesuits, and which for the sake of the uniformity of their doc- trines, they will continue to follow in their colleges as long as the Society subsists. When men begin to know that they are ignorant, they also begin to feel the necessity of learning and education. These Jesuits passed from one extreme to the other ; and from being scarcely able to read and write, they thought it would be a very fine thing to learn to speak the languages of Athens and of ancient Rome. They turned the whole attention of nations to the acquirement of languages, which, after all, they did not learn well. That bad habit remained ; abuses are very apt to last, though good methods degenerate. I will recall to the Jesuits an authority which they dare not controvert, that of a man who had been a Jesuit ten years, the Abbe Gedouin. He says in a very good work on edu- cation, printed in his CEuvres Diverses, " I wish public schools " would make themselves more useful in altering an old system, " which limits the education of children to a very narrow sphere, " and which produces very narrow-minded men ; for when these " young people have passed ten years at college — and what valu- " able years ! — the most precious years of their lives — what have "they learnt?" What can we think of a literary institution established near the end of the sixteenth century, that nobody has thought of improving since ? Why it is two hundred years behind hand. One single treatise of one professor of the univer- sity has spread more light on learning than all the literature, which has occupied the Society since its establishment. The spirit of party forbids all foreign books, and all other learning. That spirit of party had decided the choice even of classic works for 200 years. The Jesuits have even kept the grammars, which they had adopted, and the absurd method of giving in unintelligible technical verses the rules of a language which they wish to teach. What can we think of a literary institution, which requires an ordinance from its General, or from a general congregation, to change its grammar, or to adopt a system of physics or astronomy ; an institution in which you have about fifty thousand professors of philosophy, and not one philosopher of acknowledged reputa- tion ; and about the same number of professors of literature, and so 76 few good literary works ; and perhaps about two thousand pro- fessors of mathematics, and so few mathematicians : two or three orators, who value the public, perhaps, more than the public value them. Some learned men there are, who are already grown old, who had taught themselves, notwithstanding the bad system of studies, such as Petau, Sermond, and some others. No historian of any note has appeared, excepting Mariana, so celebrated for his beautiful latinity and his execrable principles ; and who speaks with such contempt of their methods of in- struction. They have produced a very few partial histories. I wish however, to make honourable mention of the author of " Negotiations in Westphalia." There are many books of con- troversy and commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, which have been forgotten, excepting Bellarmine, and Maldonato ; as well as other controversial works, of unknown date : a multitude of books of devotion : no Catechism worthy of the name. I do not blame any individuals. I reproach the institution. Choosing men, as they do, in their colleges, they must have many good men in their Society ; but an ill chosen system of study, worse methods, a circle of sciences too rapidly pursued. Two precious years ill spent in the noviciate, nine or ten years as tutors de regcnce, during which they scarcely learn themselves what they have to teach to others, makes it impossible for them to lay a foundation for exact knowledge and solid erudition before they have reached the age of thirty-two or thirty-three years. Every one acquainted with science knows, that its success de- pends on its commencement, and afterwards on method. I leave to more competent persons to judge of their theological studies ; but I have shown that the Ratio Studiorum on that subject, at first excited murmurs. It was censured by the Inqui- sitors of Spain, and the king of Spain carried their complaints to the Pope. I find in Yol. ii., p. 429, an instruction on theology, which strikes me as being very singular, and which is the more worthy of the attention of bishops, because it is one of the rules laid down to learn religion. It is there remarked, that the works of the ancients, as St. Jerome, 77 St. Augustine, St. Gregory, and others "Aiiis Coiisiniilibns," are Boolis of Devotion, and that the books of St. Thomas, of St. Buenaventura, of the master of the sentences, and the new theologians, teach more exactly the dogmas necessary to salva- tion, and have explained them better for their times, and for future times. The Jesuits are moreover accused of having since that time excluded St. Thomas from that catalogue. They have been reproached for not having sufficiently respected the authority of the Church, in an article of the General Examination, chap. III. and XI., which imports that anyone entering into the Society, shall be questioned, whether he has, or has ever had, any thoughts or opinions different from those, which are commonly held by the Church, and by the doctors, who are approved by the Church ; and whether, if such opinions have made any impression on his mind, he is ready to submit his judgment and his sentiments to those of the Society. This article certainly is couched in those irreverent terms ; and if Ijy the word ojnnions they mean sentiments, which is nearly included in the meaning of the term, the article would be more than ill sounding (mal sonnant), to make use of a scholastic term. They have endeavoured in their congregations to bring some kind of mitigation to the severity of the term, by resting on the signi- fication of the word opinio, and on the signification of the word communias in Spanish. Before I leave the subject of the Constitutions, I ought to elucidate some political paradoxes produced by them. How can such singular constitutions be the work of a body of men ? Were they intended to form ecclesiastics, or to create an independent body ? Can a whole body of men be corrupted, and adopt pnnciples, manifestly bad, in order to obtain credit ? How is it possible, that sensible men should judge so differently ? or, rather say, how can they take such opposite views of the same work? I do not think that it is impossible to clear up these difficulties, if we set aside prejudices and predispositions. It has never happened, that a whole body of men has fabricated a code of extravagances, nor a system of legislation that was vicious in itself. It is quite impossible that the union of religious 78 individuals should produce irreligion. Young people brought up to goodness, and virtue, do not become corrupt and wicked old men. The Constitutions are not the work of any body of men, or of any assembly, and he, moreover, who laid the foundation was far from criminal or vicious. The Constitutions have two faces, because they were formed, with two intentions ; on the one side, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls, and on the other side, for the glory of the Society and its future extension. This causes the difference of opinion concerning them. Their admirers look only at the first aspect, and their detractors see only the second. The zeal of St. Ignatius for the former object might not, perhaps, entirely prevent him from flattering himself with the second idea, since he established means to serve both purposes ; but most of his successors have been occupied with the second object only. In the petitions which they presented to Popes, they were actuated by the sole wish of promoting the greatness and extension of their Society ; and they extorted from them exorbitant and countless privileges, which now form a part of their Constitutions. Their successors again extended, amplified, and interpreted them ; they looked only to one object, and neg- lected the first intention. Those means, which were already far greater than the religious object required, such as passive obedi- ence, inquisition of conscience, accusations, uniformity of doctrine ; these means have become odious and intolerable, since ambition has used them for political purposes. Spiritual advantage con- founded with temporal advantage ; human authority with Divine authority ; is good stretched to evil — ill-understood, ill-advised, ill-applied, and ill-executed. Such a system might be treated with contempt, if it was confined to a cloister, from the derange- ment of intellect, which it seems to involve, and if it only concerned a monastic order ; but it becomes too dangerous, when it is presented to the outward world, and interferes with public order, which it overthrows. The system of the Jesuits is neces- sarily ultramontane ; it is based on ultramontane doctrine, which is inherent in the Society. Scholastics draw from that principle murderous doctrines, which St. Ignatius never held, and that he 79 never would have adopted, however attached he might be to the belief of the absolute power of the Pope. Bad morals or corrupt principles of morality form no part of the Constitutions ; these have been introduced since, by the metaphysics of their casuists, who found it elsewhere. These were rather the offspring of false logic than of corruption of heart. Nevertheless morality is absorbed in the doctrinal code of the Society by the fatal principle of unity of sentiments, and by want of liberty of mind. Thus the Society finds itself with a corrupt code of morality almost without knowing it, and perhaps without believing it. Nevertheless it is scarcely conceivable, that, after the frequent and public reproaches that have been addressed to the Jesuits, after the censures of their propositions by Popes, and by the clergy of France, their rulers should have obstinately persisted in refusing to make the reformation and corrections in their code of morality, which is so needful, so pressing. Religion, and even their own interest, should have induced them to undertake the task ; but no ; they would not infringe on the principle of uniformity of sentiment ; they would not turn round and retract what had been done. There is, as the consequence, that dangerous spirit of party and servitude of mind, which estab- lishes a much more degrading slavery than that of the person. If the Jesuits had taught nothing but corrupt maxims of morality and relaxation, they would very shortly have been turned out of all the kingdoms in the world ; but they united science and regularity of manners ; and thus both good and evil were found amongst them. I think this is sufficient to explain the paradoxes of which I have spoken. Prove fanaticism in the leaders, and fanatical institutions, as I think I have done, and the difficulty is explained ; and one no longer wonders at the contrariety of opinions respecting the Society ; and individuals will recover their reputation. But whatever views they may adopt, it is evident that the constitutions, and the rules are very dangerous ; on the one hand, means of religion, on the other hand, instruments of fanaticism. To judge of the effect of those means, it seems necessary to 80 examine in detail the doctrines of the Society, and the facts, which relate to it. Suppose that a man has a dangerous instrument in his hands — an offensive weapon; will he use it for attack, or defence? to help, or to injure ? That is the question. To decide that question, it is natural to ask, what he is ? on what side his interest lies ? what are his opinions ? and how he has hitherto made use of that weapon ? But if we begin to weigh facts, and to pass judgment on persons and doctrines, it would open the door to inconvenient and inter- minable discussions, and all the absurdities of party. Let us, then, place an impartial judgment between extravagant admirers and bitter critics ; let public opinion, which infallibly appreciates men at their real worth, decide between them. By the public, I mean in matters of judgment not that living public, which is agitated by love or hatred, which judges on slight appearances, which may be either true or false, which docs not wait to examine anything, and easily allows itself to be won by flattery, or deceived by seduction : not partizan theologians, whose judgment is formed before the case is stated : but well-informed private persons, who have already deserved the respect of man- kind, and whose name is a recommendation in the society of men of all nations, all classes, all professions ; who form and transmit to posterity the voice of the public ; statesmen and legislators, who have no predilections but respect for established laws, and the good of the State. That is the public, which makes no mistakes, and cannot be deceived, and from whose judgment no one can escape. Individuals may conceal their character all their lives, but it is impossible, that aggregated bodies should not be understood after they have existed two hundred years ; and above all, celebrated bodies, Avhich have been attacked and defended so often. The pubHc often deceives itself with respect to living persons who hold office ; but they retract in the end. Ministers have been known to die oppressed with public hatred, but they have received from the succeeding generation the 81 honour and esteem, which their merits and their services de- served. I would ask of the Jesuits themselves, what is the public opinion concerning themselves (and the public bears no ill will to them). Is it not, that the public has seen no harm in them ; that the individuals they are acquainted with are honest men, estimable men, but that the body is bad ? And in proof of this, allow me to quote a common saying, when a person wishes to give a favour- able idea of any persons "with whom they are connected, they say, "They are not Jesuits (or Jesuitical)." That is an old saying, and very universal among good people, who have no preposses- sions. And does it not show in substance the truth of what I have stated. I would ask then, moreover, what the public thinks of ecclesi- astics, who confine themselves to the performance of their proper functions. Do they not give praise to such men, as Bourdaloue, Cheminais, Petau, Sermond, etc ? "Why is it, that the public, which is so just to the merits of individuals, thinks so differently of the body, and its institutions ? — that very public, which principally owes its education to them ? Let that public tell us the cause of the prejudice against them all over Europe. What would they reply to the judgments, which have been passed upon them in all ages by great men in the Church, and by statesmen ; by Melchior Canus, the learned Bishop of the Canary Islands ; by Eustachc de Bellay, Bishop of Paris ; by an Archbishop of Toledo ; by an Archbishop of Dublin ; by the judicious De Thou, whose name alone is an eulogium ; by Mon. de Canayc, Ambassador of the King at Venice ; by le Premier President De Harlay ; by all the king's officers in the Parliament of Paris, who have spoken or given opinions on their affairs ; MM. Seguier, Dumesnil, Marion, Servin, and by those, who now occupy their places with so much distinction ; by learned and pious bishops: by the University of Paris; by the clergy of Rome; by the Cardinal d'Ossat; and by so many others, whom I will forbear to name. If the opinions, in which both individuals and large bodies of men coincided respecting the Jesuits from the time of their first establishment, were not founded on common report in those days G 82 they must have foreseen what would be said in future ; for they were stigmatised at those distant periods precisely as they are now. The public judges according to facts ; that is a very reasonable manner of judging men. They see vicious doctrines taught in a religious society by the chief members, and they reproach the main body for its laws, whose duty it is to correct them. It sees in all kingdoms a society of ecclesiastics, who occasion dissension, quarrel- ling with bodies of men, and with individuals ; it sees, that it is that Society, which excites troubles, and it thinks that it is impossible that the Jesuits can always be in the right against the reason of the whole world ; the public sees that these ecclesi- astics employ violence to establish their sentiments ; it is indig- nant to see men whom it esteems, persecuted for their opinions. It sees ecclesiastics invade commerce, and carry its profits into foreign countries ; the public knows, that trade is forbidden to ecclesiastics, and that the national commerce is injured by their practice of it, and the public considers, that conduct unbecoming and odious. I say no more ; the public will add only too many more articles to this enumeration. There arc still in the system and the institution some political contradictions to be examined. For instance, nothing but the delirium of fanaticism can conceive the hope of leading men, in an enlightened age, as they were led in the sixteenth century, by abusive privileges, and the five or six Bulls, which contain them ; that nations can remain for ever the dupes of appearances ; that kings will never make the enquiry, whether there really exists within their dominions a body of men, who imagine themselves permitted to commit murder even on their sacred persons ; that they can trade in the four quarters of the globe, and persuade nations they do not trade. It is an inconceivable eifort of policy to have attempted to re- concile the most striking anomalies — To have captivated the confidence of kings whUe maintaining, that in certain cases, they have a right over their lives — To have succeeded in calming suc- cessive storms by making promises without ever keeping them — To be hated as a body and loved individually — To have secured the protection of the Pope by a vow of servile obedience, while 83 they disobey him perpetually, and only obey another man — To craftily obtain the confidence of bishops while maintaining, whenever it serves their purpose, that they do not owe them any obedience — To acquire great riches by saying they have none, and making vows of poverty — To escape always by making divisions, exciting disputes, and supposing differences, where there are none. The most moderate statement, that can be made of the consequences of these constitutions, and these moral and poHtical contradictions is, that these constitutions are a very dangerous implement in the hands of a system, foreign to the State : a system, prepossessed by sentiments contrary to the peace and security of all kingdoms ; necessarily ultramontane ; fanatical by duty, by profession, and by habit. I think, that all I have said is confirmed by two irreproachable witnesses, who cannot deceive us, experience and public opinion : — experience, the teacher of men and kings, which conquers pre- judices, partialities, and theories ; and public opinion, the just and unbiassed judge of men. I must pass to a more important point. You have not com- missioned me to make any report to you on a subject, which has been discussed in the Parliament of Paris. I mean the doctrine of regicide ; but being obliged, by the office I hold, to watch over all that concerns the rights of the king and his sacred person, must I not be alarmed at every thing, which may place him in peril? Should I hesitate to denounce it? Can one hear without shuddering, that certain Christians have taught the cases, in which it is allowable to murder kings ; that there exists a religious society, in which that doctrine is received ; that the books in which it is taught are existing ; that they are publicly praised ; and that these books have been written by the best accredited writers of their order ? Does the Society maintain a murderous doctrine ? Can it be imputed to the body of the Society ? This is a mere question of fact. The fact is neither long nor difficult of discussion. There are acknowledged rules, by which to estabhsh facts ; and to leara, whether one ought or ought not to attribute a sentiment to a g2 84 body, it is enougli to produce their books, and authentic passages in them. The question is, whether Jesuits beHeve, or do not beHeve murderous doctrines. Do they believe, that there is any case, in which it is right to attempt the life of a king ? That is the ques- tion. If they do not believe it, let them say so. They can, and they ought. Ecclesiastics, who print so many books, need not be called to answer accusations in writing, which may be proved by their printed books, if they teach clearly, precisely, and with- out any double meaning, what their doctrine is : that in no case murder can be permitted, and that all this may be read in their theses, in their writings, and in their books. Then no man can impute that execrable doctrine to them without exposing himself to an easy and formal confutation. But so long as we find them eulogising works, in which doc- trines are taught that inculcate murder, and endeavouring to justify themselves by declarations which they confess were only made to those who threatened to make forcible use of the power that they hold in their hands, as it was said by the Jesuit Zacharias in 1758, and which declarations are clearly open to disavowal by their Constitutions; so long they may justly be suspected of holding this abominable doctrine. They have lain under this accusation a hundred and fifty years, and during that hundred and fifty years they have held the same line of conduct. "What should we think of any man accused of a capital crime, who always said he had means of proving his innocence, but who never produced them ? I speak of a capital crime, for I say, that to teach crime is even worse than to commit it, for the assassin arms his own hand only : fanatics arm men of all nations. The opinions of the power of the Pope over things temporal, and of his infalHbility, are two parallel opinions, created by ambition to support each other ; for, as it was said by Mon. Talon in 1665, is any author of that sect to be found, who, after having asserted the false principle of the infalHbility of the Pope, does not draw from it the dangerous consequence, that he may in certain cases take cognizance of matters concerning the govern- ment of States, and the conduct of sovereigns ? Both opinions 85 are founded on the same basis, which is also the foundation of all other ultramontane pretensions. It is impossible, adds Mon. Talon, to use too much care and severity in order to arrest the progress and dry the source of so much evil. If, in fact, men were really capable of believing, that the head of an ecclesiastical society, which is established in all the known regions of the earth, can never be mistaken, he must of course be the sovereign of the world ; for the opinion of the populace (infatuated by this vain doctrine so inconsistent with the con- dition of humanity) will surely not be restrained by the absurd distinction of judgments given ex cathedra, and those which are not so given. The people do not reason, and the world cannot be regulated by scholastic distinctions ; thus it becomes impossible to dispute any right with one, who is deemed infallible, and who is believed to be invested with divine power ; and accordingly all the authors, who have asserted the infallibility of the Pope and his power, direct or indirect, over the temporal power of kings, have maintained, that he might in certain cases depose kings, absolve subjects from their oaths of fidelity ; and in consequence, that kings might be killed. This is the chain of their reasoning : " The sovereign power of " the Pope can and ought to restrain the temporal power by all " the means, which it sees to be necessary for the salvation of " souls ; without that power God would have left the Church " without the means of providing for its own security and preser- "vation." These are the formal expressions of Bellarmine, Molina, and Suarez, and all the authors of the Society from whose works I have already quoted some passages to you. If the prince does not obey the commands of the Pope, the Pope may excommunicate him. A man who is excommunicated, is deprived, ipso facto, of all temporal rights ; in such a case a prince is deprived of royalty, and cannot do any royal act without rebellion against his legitimate superior, the Pope. The Pope may therefore deprive him of his crown, absolve his subjects from their oath of fidelity, and transfer his empire to another. If the prince persists in dis- obedience, he may be treated as a tyrant, in which case anybody 86 may kill him, A quocumquc privato protest interfci, so says Suarez. (I. 6, ch. iv.) Such is the course of reasoning, established by all authors of the Society, who have written ex professo, on these subjects — Bellarmine, Suarez, Molina, Mariana, Santarel, all of the ultra- montanes, without exception, since the establishment of the Society.* On this point, said Suarez, we are all of one mind, et in hac caitsd mmm sumus. Zacharias said in 1758 that it is a doctrine commonly taught by Catholic theologians. In fact there is no difference between them, excepting that some say that the murder of kings should be preceded by a judicial sentence, and others have thought with Mariana that, in certain cases that formality was not necessary. It then is proved that the doctrine of murder may be attributed to the body of the Society, and that the Jesuits are convicted of having taught it ; but how can one prove that a doctrine is that of a whole body, and that it is fair to attribute it to the whole body universally ? If the members of the body have freedom of opinion ; if there is a diversity of opinion among the authors and the writers of this order; it would be difficult to give any judgment, and to ascertain whether such or such an opinion is less or more commonly held, and whether it may fairly be attributed to the whole order or not. But if it is a body, the opinions of whose members must be uniform ; if we find that a doctrine is taught by its most celebrated authors, by those who are the most accredited in the order, and with the permission and approbation of the superiors ; if we see that it is taught, without exception, by those who have written, ex professo, on that subject, and that the contrary doctrine is not asserted by any member of the body, we have complete demon- * Tliere are nearly twenty thousand Jesuits in the world, and fifteen hundred, or perhaps two thousand in the kingdom. There are, therefore, according to Zacharias, ahout eighteen or niueteen thousand Jesuits imbued with ultramontane doctrines and the doctrine of murder, even if we should except all the French Jesuits. S7 stration that such is the doctrine of the body, and there is no injustice in attributing it to them. I now proceed to the degree of the General Aquaviva on tyran- nicide.* What does it say ? That it is not permitted, in any case, to assassinate kings? No, Messieurs. He says it is for- bidden, in virtue of holy obedience, to dare to affirm that (all people) everybody is permitted to kill kings ; for the word, ciiique cannot be understood in any other sense. That phrase " Defendre d'oser affinner qu'il est ^jermis a totde personnc," — " to forbid that any one should dare assert that all persons are permitted," — is so extraordinary in a matter so serious as regicide. It is so con- strained (if I may use the expression) into a more agreeable sense than the natural one, that the affectation betrays itself. They never expressed themselves in that manner, when they have endeavoured to explain their sentiments dogmatically ; above all, not when they were to explain good and orthodox opinions. To say that any action may not be performed by everybody, implies, that it may be done by somebody. But they will say Aquaviva issued this decree, because some of his fraternity maintained that, in certain cases, it was permitted to all people to kill kings, and the General wished to prohibit that detestable doctrine. I am not unwilling to suppose that such was his intention, although I find no indication of it in the decree, given in the edition of Prague. But in that case it was easy to say, that regicide was not allowable under any circumstances, f * Wo are not certain, that we have the decree of Aquaviva, as it was given originally. It is cut short in the edition of Prague. Tlie Jesuits had never inserted it in the collection of the ordinances of their Generals, and it has two dates. Either that of the first of August, lfil4, of the edition of Pi-ague, or that wliich is given now of the 0th of July, 1610, is false. That conflisiou has not been made undesigiiedly. They wished to make it appear, that the Parliament of Paris had approved of the decree of Aquaviva, because it had ordered the superiors at Paris, in his decree of censure of Suarez in 1014, to warn the General to renew his decree of 1610. It was therefore supposed that the Parhament was contented with it, and had approved of it ; but both the fact and the supposition are false. t There is in the collection of Prague another ordinance, or decree of Aquaviva, dated the 2nd of August, 1014, the day after the first decree. It seems that this date, of 1614, must be false, Like that of the first ordinance, 88 You are shocked at the revolting expressions of Aquaviva, when he intends to forbid the detestable doctrine to his order, that it is permitted, in some cases, to anybody to Mil kings. He is afraid of going too far, if he says, it is never allowed to any i^erson. He confines himself to saying, that he forbids any one to dare to assert that it is permitted to every man, etc. I ask whether any man convinced (as all men should be), that the murder of a king is never permitted to any man, in any case, would have expressed himself in that manner. The assumed precision of the language of Aquaviva is horrible ; it is unworthy of a man, of a Christian, and of a theologian accused of religious error ; it serves, as a ground of condemnation of the system of the Society, and never can serve as an excuse. Nothing but fanaticism can hope to impose upon the world by such decrees, by interpretations, distinctions, and discussions, when it is a question of simple fact. Bo they believe or disbelieve, that it is forbidden to conmiit a crime ? Scholastic delirium has contrived to invent means to justify such horrors ; they say the opposite of a false proposition is true. Therefore, it is true, that it is not permitted to all the world to kill kings, because it is untrue, that such an attempt is permitted to all the world. What logic ! and what morality ! I ask, what can faithful subjects think of equivocal declarations on such a matter ; of these insidious precautions, of these proble- matic phrases, as if it was a frivolous schoolboy question ? and that the true date of both of them is 1610. The latest of these ordi- nances forbids provincials to allow any books to be printed in then* provinces on the subject of tjTannicide, unless it had been reviewed and approved at Rome. Tlie book by Suarez had been printed at Coimbra, without the permission, or the expressed permission, of the General, The decree of 1G14 (of Pai'hament), in condemning the book of Suarez, enjoined the superiors to use all diligence towards the General to induce him to renew the decree of 1610, and also to take care " That no hooks containing such damnahle and detestahle j^ropositions should be brought to light." It must therefore have been this last decree, that the Parliament of Paris was content to have renewed, and not the fii'st decree, in which no mention is made of printing- books. At the end of these decrees (2nd Vol. chap. v. p. 6) is an ordinance of the 13th of August, 1(526, given by Wittelesclii, General of the Jesuits, in which he calls to mind the ordinance of Aquaviva forbidding the printing of liooks of that land without the permission of Rome. 89 I admit, that this detestable doctrine was not invented by the Jesuits. They found it in the scholastic theologians. It was known in the thirteenth century, from the time of John of Salisbury. Jean le Petit had broached it before the Council of Constance; but the Jesuits are inexcusable for not having abjured it, and for attempting at this day to make men believe, by dis- cussions, and distinctions, and interpretations, that it is not the doctrine of their society at this hour. I must do the French Jesuits the justice that is due to them by stating, that they have been more just and more moderate than any others. I consent to pass in silence over the memory of the Jesuit Richeome, Provincial of Bordeaux, who died in 1615 ; of the Jesuit Hereau, Professor in Paris in 1642, who taught very nearly this evil doctrine, and the Jesuit Vallee, who spread it in Mans. I have sought carefully, in making this distinct accusation, for everthing that might tend to their justification. I have found, and have pleasure in communicating it to you, two theses of theological decisions of the Jesuits of the College of Pennes — one of the 9th of June, 1758, and the other of the 17th of June, 1760, in which two or three propositions of the assembly of the clergy in 1682 are announced and af&rmed. I wish I had such theses from all the colleges of this division. Another confusion is caused by the ordinance of Aquaviva, which bears first the date of the 2nd of August, lOli. Wittelesclii, in the next page, dates it 5th of Januar}', 1G13 ; but its date is the day after the first— which is now said to be ICIO. The Jesuits alone can explain these discrepancies. The ordinance of Wittelesclii contains a singular motive for forbidding the members of the Society to write, without revision at Rome, concerning the power of the Pope over prmces, the power to depose them, etc. (Here the ordinance is cut off; it is impossible to know what followed.) " It is," continues this General, the worthy successor of Aqua^dva, "in order to avoid occasions of giving offence to anj' one." " Ut occasiones omnes ojf'ensionis et querelarum 2^r<£cinihtiitin." So then it is forbidden for this Society to write or teach that kings are sovereigns and independent in temporal concerns ; that they cannot be deposed by the Pope ; perhaps that it is not permitted to assassinate them for fear of offending somebody ; and, if I may be allowed so to express my self, for fear of factious complaints and quarrels, for querelarum after the word offensionis can hardly be expressed otherwise. 90 I have not seen tlie writings in which this wise doctrine is asserted; but I suppose, that it is stated and explained as it ought to be. But I lament that, when it is a question of the sacred persons of kings, and of principles which tend to the subversion of states, to find theologians, who are accused of holding murderous doc- trines, sending us, not to their own works, but to the equivocal declarations made by their Generals more than a century ago, and to the declarations made by their brethren sent to the Par- liaments in 1611, 1626, 1667, and 1710 * And moreover, what are those declarations ? In 1611 Mon. Servin, proposing to the Jesuit Fronto, one of the principals of the Society, to acknowledge, among other things, that no one, either a stranger or a natural subject of the king, ought to attempt the lives and persons of kings, for any cause whatsoever ; not even on account of their moral conduct or their religion. Fronto replied (and Mon. Servin attests it in his plea,) "That he should not be unwilling to make such a declaration ; not, however, because he thought the prin- ciple right and indisputable, but because it was necessary to * On the 14th of March, 1626, the Jesiiits were called into the great chamher. Messieurs asked them, " Do you approve of tliis bad book ? " Coton, who is the Provincial of the province of Paris, accompanied by tliree others, answered, " Far from it, Messieui-s ; we are ready to write against it, and to disai^prove of all it states. In proof of this, ten copies of it have been sent to oiu- house, all of which we have suppressed." The Parliament— Suppressed : is it j-oiu- duty to do so ? The Jesuits— We thought we could not do othei-wise. The ParHament— Why did you not take them to the Chancellor or to the first Pi-esident ? The Jesuits— Messieurs, we are obhged and constrained to do many acts of obedience, to which other ecclesiastics are not bound. The Parliament— Do you not Imow, that this bad doctrine has been approved of by your General at Rome ? The Jesuits — Yes, Messieurs, but we, who are here do not commit that imprudence, and we blame it with all our power. The ParHament — Come now, and answer two questions. Do you beheve, that the king is all-powerful in his OAvn dominions ? and do you think, that a foreign power can, or ought to interfere in them, or that, in the person of the king, they have a right to trouble the Galilean Church? The Jesuits— No, Messieui-s, we believe the Idng to be all-powerful in his own dominions in temporal concerns. 91 accommodate declarations to the times and places in which we live." What kind of justification can the French Jesuits found on such a declaration ? or on the declaration made by the superiors in Paris in 1710, at the time of the condemnation of the insolent history of Frere Jouvenci, in which he attacked the decrees made against the Jesuits Guignard and Gueret, and the magistrates, who pronounced them. It is long since the French Jesuits have ceased to teach in France the doctrine of murder, but they belong to a body, who maintain it — to a body, in which the doctrine is common to all. The Parliament— In temporal concerns ! speak frankly. Do you think the Pope can excommixnicate the king ; absolve his subjects from their oath of fidelity, and give his Idngdora as a prey ? The Jesuits — Oh, Messieui-s ! excommunicate the king ! ! ! he wlio is the eldest son of the Church ; he will take good care not to do anything, which ^viU obUge the Pope to do that. The Parliament — But your General, who has approved of this book, thinks all that it contains is infallible. Do you believe otherwise ? The Jesuits — Messieui'S, he who is at Rome cannot do otherwise than approve of what the court of Rome approves. The Parhament — But youi' belief ? The Jesuits — Is quite contrary. The Parhament — And if you were at Rome, what would you do ? The Jesuits — We should do hke those, who are there. The Parhament — Come now ; do answer the questions you are asked. The Jesuits — Messieiu's, we beg you to allow us to consult together. The Parhament — Retire into that room. [They remained in that room for about half an hour, and tlien returned to the Parhament.] The Jesuits — We are of the same opinion as the Sorbonne, and we will subscribe like the rest of the clergy. The Parliament — Make your declaration accordingly. The Jesuits — ]\Iessieurs, we very limnbly entreat you to grant us some days to communicate among ourselves. The Parliament — Go, then ; tlie com't grants you three days. [Dming those days the court watched theu- conduct. It proved that in the afternoon of the same day they went to the nuncio and remained witli him fi-om two o'clock till seven in the evening in private with the Flemish ambassador. — {Recjisters of the ParVument.) 92 But they are necessarily in unity and community of sentiment with all the body. But they have never taught a contrary doc- trine in their books or writings. They have disavowed it. But that was, when they were summoned before Parliament. But they knew, that their disavowal was not valid without the leave of their General. They have said, that they were willing to maintain the contrary doctrine. But then they added that they did not hold it as certain. But they said it was, because it was necessary to accommodate themselves to times and places. But they said, if they were at Rome they would equally maintain the contrary doctrine to that of France. But they treat the doctrine like those scholastic opinions, which may be defended either way. But they have not abandoned the principles, on which that detestable doc- trine is founded. But they have several times caused Busembaum to be printed. They have praised it in their " Journal de Trevoux," in 1729. But even those, who have disavowed Busembaum and his doctrine have been the very first to exalt it under your own eyes in this province. All that can be concluded from the conduct of the French Jesuits is, that they have executed a little more exactly than other Jesuits, the decree of Witteleschi of the 13th of August, 1626 : — " Ut occasiones qffensionum, et querelarum prcEcindantur" I return to the General of the Jesuits. You have seen, that the Provincials are obliged to reveal to him the condition of their provinces, of everything that passes in them, not only among the members of the Society, but of everything that is done by their own ministration. You have seen, that the Provincials are to enter into such details, that the General may know as completely the affairs, the persons, and the provinces, as if he had been present himself. Now, why is it necessary, that the General should have all this knowledge ? "Why is this report to be renewed every month by thirty-seven provincials ; every three months and every six months by 1244 superiors of colleges, residentiary houses, noviciates, missions, professed houses, tvithout including so many councillors, or consulters of Provincials and superiors ? * The Constitutions * Number of Reports which the General of the Jesuits receives every year on the spiritual aiul temporal couclitiou of kingdoms :— 93 require, that the Provincials and the Superiors should make their report to the General in cyphers, in unknown and disguised characters. They must have very strong reasons to keep the subject of their correspondence secret and undiscovered. ^ It is inconceivable, that religious objects should need to be carried on in cyphers unintelligible to all, but those who have the key to them. Such precautions are taken against enemies. Is the system of the Jesuits inimical to all governments ? If such were the case, governments would be protecting and nourishing in the heart of their dominions, a set of men prying into the concerns of their state and of their religion, in order to report them to a stranger, who renders no account to any one. I should like to know, what object can be alleged (I do not say what honourable object, for there is none), but what excusable object can be suggested, for all this manoeuvring, this odious intrigue of espionage and revelation. Why, for instance, is it necessary that the General of the Jesuits residing at Rome, should have an exact account of the number and the qualities of the Congregations at Rennes, or elsewhere ? Aquaviva said, that these revelations and reports were neces- sary for the support and extension of the Society. Is it veri/ 37 Proviucials, who must all of tlicm write letters every mouth 444 letters. 612 Superiors of Colleges, who must write every three months ^44*^ » ;j40 Superiors of Houses of Residence, must write every three months ....... 1;560 ,, 59 Masters of Novices of 59 Houses of No-\dciates, who must write every three months 23(5 „ 1048 Consultors, who must write at least twice a year . 209(5 „ Total of Letters of Obligation, without counting private letters and those of 200 missions and 24 professed houses 0584 „ 6584 divided by 37, which is the number of the provinces, make 177reports of each kingdom, and of each province as to the sphitual and temporal condition signed and verified, which the General must receive each year. 94 difficult to find out, that such means are needless to do good, but very necessary to do harm ; to keep up the spirit of party factions ? If there was one powerful family in the kingdom, which made use of only a portion of such means for its own aggrandizement, the government would soon take offence, and most justly repress it with severity. I will suppose the General to be an honest fanatic ; I mean to say I will suppose him to be a man, imbued really with Ultramon- tane persuasions, like Bellarmine, Saurez, Vasquez, Molina, etc. ; convinced of the legitimacy of the privileges of the Society, and of the rights of his own generalship ; penetrated with the greatness of the institution, and of the divine protection accorded to it. This is not a supposition that I am making, but a fact which I relate, and an inevitable fact, because the circumstances must produce it. But I also suppose (and that supposition is not unexampled, as can be proved), that in the course of one or two centuries, either from family interests, the force of circumstances, or owing to troubles, which possibly may occur, a Pope may hereafter wish to excommunicate the sovereign of some state in Europe, and to absolve his subjects from their oath of fidelity. In such a case, what would be the conduct of the eighteen or nineteen thousand Jesuits scattered over aU Christian countries ? I think the answer will be, that infallibly they will do as they always have done at all times and in all places ; that which they have taught in their books that they can do, and ought to do. I will add, that they will do what French Jesuits cannot fail to do without disobeying the Pope and their General, and without con- travening their laws and their actions. The surest way, or rather the only way, to judge men is to weigh their interest, their opinions, and their constitutions. Can protestations of attachment and duty, the ties of country (if they have one), can these be sustained against the power of vows of oaths ? Can presumptions reassure us in the presence of facts : of facts, alas, too true ? On what grounds can we depend, that they will observe the laws of the kingdom ? Shall the State be contented, as its only guarantee, with a word, which they cannot give, and a promise which they cannot keep ? I propose to themselves to solve this political problem in any 95 other manner. In such a case under such circumstances, what would such and such persons do ? I have supposed the General to be sincere ; but let me now suppose for a moment that he is not so. Such a thing is not impossible, and the supposition cannot injure an imaginary- person ; it is only necessary to admit, that at some supposed time, among ten persons, who occupy a certain position, one may be a dishonest man; if he is ambitious he will be dishonest; and enthusiasm often merges in party spirit as men grow older. Is there any reasonable man, acquainted with the Con- stitutions of the Jesuits, their institutions for the young, and the doctrines of the Society, which I have laid before you, who does not feel alarmed at the facilities, which a General of Jesuits possesses to intrigue and cabal, and, let us say freely, to conspire? A man who has twenty thousand subjects devoted to his orders by profession and by rehgious principle, who ought, according to their constitutions and their vows, to be ready to shed their blood for the Society; whose consciences, whose genius, whose characters, and whose tempers are intimately known to him from their childhood: who are accustomed to the yoke of absolute obedience, and to regard their General as they regard God, or as Jesus Christ ; men of whose secresy he is certain ; men, who judge themselves by the direction of other men, their interests and their passions; a despot whose slightest sign is law to them; whose written wish is a decree, an ordinance ; who holds in his hands all the treasures of the commerce of the Society, and who is in- formed 177 times a year of the condition of all kingdoms, — what enterprise will such a man not undertake ? Let us read the histories of all the conspiracies, which have ever been formed in the world. Consider the qualities, which are necessary for success in such perilous enterprises, in the chiefs, who dare to undertake them ; the dangers they have to brave ; the treasures they must expend ; the pains, the care, they must take to captivate the minds of the people, and to excite them, and the springs they to have set in motion, both public and con- cealed, to effect their purposes. Consider how these dangerous conspiracies have been formed or failed. You will not find one, the chief of which, after years of care, has been able to organize 96 his forces, with so little danger, with as great advantages, as a General of the Jesuits can command within twenty-four hours. And what is quite singular, the least dexterous, the most in- capable, the most timid of men may execute the work. How have conspiracies failed to attain their object ? It has been either from the remorse of some conspirator, or from indiscreet communications, or a bad choice of accomplices (some wanting courage, others resolution or activity) ; from the necessity of employing certain people, who were felt to be not altogether fit for such undertakings, but whom it was necessary to employ ; or by too great a number of accomplices. No one of these inconveniences can overthrow a project formed by a General of the Jesuits, since out of 20,000 men he can pick out ten fanatics, honest fanatics, whose capacity is known to him, and whose hand is sure. If there are persons affiliated, associated Jesuits, unknown as such in their own families, or the families in which they are domesticated, (a fact of which it is scarcely possible to doubt, although it is very difficult to prove it), of what deep importance these associations must be ! I avoid all applications ; but what would Cromwell have given for such advantages ! I do not mean Cromwell after he had con- ceived his odious design, but Cromwell after the battles of Dunbar and "Worcester. Now I shall be told, that I am calumniating the General of the Jesuits ; that such a man cannot be found in the Society. Yery well, I hope not ; but I have said, and I ask again, who can guarantee that there never icill he a man, who wishes to conspire ? From one fanaticism to another is but one step, I repeat ; and who can say that in the course of years there may not be a bad man in any given place ? And suppose that no General will ever conspire ; in saying that you allow, that he might if he chose it ; and is it not unwise and imprudent to allow in any State a power so exorbitant and so dangerous to exist in the hands of one man ? I think I have proved the fact which I advanced, that the con- stitutions and the system of the Jesuits are, when fairly analyzed, 97 enthusiasm and fanaticism established by rule, and on principle ; aud that they are based on two false principles, that is, the sovereign power of the Pope over both spiritual and temporal concerns ; and on the communication by several Popes of absolute power to the Society, and through them to the General, their representative. I have shown, that from the first principle, the constitutions of the Society are derived, which arc injurious to the sovereign majesty of kings, and dangerous to their sacred persons and to their authority, by engendering a spirit of sedition, and an entire subversion of public order by pretended Conservators chosen arbitrarily, and changed in the same way; a co-active power, and a jurisdiction over citizens, and even over sovereign powers, together with the monstrous power of maintaining by deed and by word everything that is called their privilege, though injurious to the Church, to councils, popes, and bishops, to the second order of the Church, and to all the authorities of the State. I have proved that from the second principle have emanated constitutions, injurious to the Divine Majesty, transferring to a man the honour that is due to Almighty God alone, by equalis- ing the orders of a Superior with the precepts of God and of Jesus Christ ; affecting, by emphatic expressions, repeated with affectation, to place on the same level the obedience, due to either, and exacting the aforesaid sacrifice of understanding and reason. Destructive of natural liberty of mind and conscience, they allow no more freedom than is possessed by a stick in the hand of an old man, or of a corpse, which is turned and moved as you please. They are opposed to the rights of nature, to divine right, to the rights of man, and to the rights of all nations, to the well-being of all nations, and to the security of contracts, and agreements of private persons. From all this, result rash vows made in ignorance ; engagements contracted, which shock reason and are injurious to religion ; vows made to a foreign sovereign to leave the kingdom at his behest, and which are con- sequently contrary to the laws of the State. I have shown, that the institution of members of the Society is enthusiastic, and leads to fanaticism; and that the education H 98 wliicli the Society gives to youth in their colleges is insufficient and bad. I have proved, that regicide is the ancient and received doctrine of the Society, and how dangerous it is to States to leave sovereign and independent power in the hands of any single man. I desire, in consequence, that the hook written by Busembaum, better known in this province than elsewhere, from the missions of Frere Sulpont at Nantes, should be torn and burnt with the " Journal de Trevoux," which has eulogised it. If I had all the other books, named in the decree of the Parliament of Paris of the 6th of August, 1761, I should make the same request. I content myself with requiring, that all persons, who have copies of those works should bring them to the office of the registrar to be disposed of according to law. I conclude, by declaring, that in all I have said, I have not intended to injure any one. Woe be to him, who, as a public servant, abuses his influence to the detriment of any indi- vidual or any body of men. I am bound to speak the whole truth to you. You have required it, and you expect it from me. I make no objections to the Society, but those which concern public order. I attack the system. I pity the individuals. I have brought no doubtful accusations before you, but the griefs of human society. I have defended the common cause of the king and of the State, or rather of all kings and States. I wish, that the Society should be reformed, because it appears to me quite impossible, in good morality or in good policy, to allow its government to remain as it is. Many councils have sat in deliberation on the subject of reformations in the Church. The Council of Pisa, those of Con- stance and Basle, were assembled to reform the heads and their members. De reformanda ecclesid in cajnte et in me/nbris. AU the world knows what was said by Barthelemi des Martirs, Archbishop of Prague, at the Council of Trent, " Illus- trissimi CarcUnales illustrmma indigent rcforinafione." The greater part of those reforms have been effected. When it is said, that the Society cannot bo reformed, is that an attack or a defence of it ? If the Society believes, that it has acquired a right to be unre- 99 formablc, and that no government has power or strength enough to resist it, because it has made itself too formidable, that it has dared the most courageous of Frenchmen, Henry IV., or caused him to feel fear, let them suffer the punishment, due to men, who inspire fear, that of ostracism. Let the Society be banished or dissolved ! But that would be going too far. Messieurs. A whole body can only be banished for some crime, which is shared by every individual. The Jesuits are the children of our own towns, our fellow-citizens, our countrymen. Some of them are of the class of noblemen, or united by the ties of blood to that distinguished portion of the State. But if the Society declares itself to be un- reformable, it should be dissolved. Restored to the direction of their own consciences and to the exercise of their own sense of honour, they will really become citizens when they cease to be Jesuits. They will rejoice to find themselves under the dominion of the protective laws of France. They will bless the hands that have broken their chains. I do not think, that they are generally so infected with the contagion of their fanatical institution as not to re-enter joyfully into the exercise of the liberty, which is authorised by law and by religion. In order to determine, whether the existence of the Society will be useful or detrimental to the Church and State, in future, we must consider, whether on the whole it has hitherto done most good or harm, and whether it is fair to ascribe all the good which has been done by individual members of the Society, to the credit of the whole body ; as if they would not have done any good, if they had not belonged to it, and had remained parish priests or laymen. We must consider, also, whether it would be just to dispute with the order the honour of having had illustrious personages belonging to it, who have owed the culti- vation of their merits and capacities to their care. That is too wide a question to midertake now. It seems, that when the question to be considered is, Shall an order in the Church be suppressed, or shall it be dissolved ? it is very like talking of the dissolution of the human body ; if the h2 100 members of tlie body are separated, tbey will certainly be anni- hilated. The question might be simplified by asking, Is it most advanta- geous to the State to destroy or to preserve an order, which forms a kind of sect in the Church, and a party in the State, which may become a faction ? Or the question may be reduced to a still smaller compass by asking, whether, in the present state of things, all the duties, which are performed by the Society might not be executed by parochial clergymen with as much success and less danger. It is for you, gentlemen, to take such measures on these sub- jects, as your wisdom will suggest. The good and sincere inten- tions of the king, whose only wish is, that the laws may be observed, will rule your determinations, and be considered by me as absolute commands. You will represent to his majesty on this occasion, the great importance of the education of youth in all parts of the kingdom, and you will know better than I, how tu exhort him to reform it. But in fact his sovereign majesty is never absent from your courts. He presides at your decrees, and in this august tribunal. I venture, therefore, to address the following words to his majesty, in addressing those who represent him here in the administration of justice. Sire, — You know, that your authority is derived from God, and as the eldest son of the Church, you will respect him who is its visible head on earth ; but you will not allow the royal dignity, with which the Almighty has invested you, to be degraded, and you will maintain with the same firmness as your fathers, the in- dependence of your crown, which recognises no superior in the whole world. You will cause religion to be respected ; you will banish from your kingdom both the impiety, which assails, and the fanaticism which dishonours it ; you will oppose ignorance and superstition ; you will arrest their progress and prevent their fatal efiects. Kings, Sire, have a more immediate interest than any of their subjects in the suppression of that fanaticism, which respects nothing, and attacks the most illustrious persons : they are its peculiar victims. 101 Nothing but a knowledge of past events and a careful study of them in all their bearings, can rend the veil of excited ignorance and superstition, which are the real causes of fanaticism. Nothing but light can dispel darkness. Your Majesty should reform the education of youth in all the colleges of }'our kingdom. It is vicious and barbarous, especially in the colleges of the Society. All well-informed and sensible men are aware of it, and are agreed on that point. I do not fear contradiction on this subject from any of those, who en- lighten literature. Let your Majesty add to the happiness of the most well-disposed people in the world the advantage of possessing the best institutions. Protect learning and sciences ; they make the happiness and prosperity of kingdoms, and shed honour on the reigns of their sovereigns. Protect men of learning. Sire, but do not expect solid useful- ness from any, who do not appreciate the principles of your State and your Church ; those principles ought to predominate in every State and every Church in the world, for they are founded on reason, on natural rights, the rights of man, on Scripture and tradition. "Will you give your kingdom, as rulers and precep- tors, men whose principles and interests are not those of your nation, and who by their profession are disabled from taking an oath of fidelity to your Majesty ? How can they educate youth to pay to you the obedience which is due to you, so long as they themselves believe that you owe obedience to another, in the temporal government of your kingdom. How can they teach our maxims, who ^vithout openly combating them, yet regard them as scholastic difierences, which may bo maintained in France, but which they must not hold in Italy. Give, Sire, to the flower of your nobility, who serve you so gloriously and so faithfully in your armies and in your Parlia- ments, to the precious hopes of the nation, who will also serve you on some future day— you and your children, and your grand- children — give to them tutors, who are attached to your Majesty and to the State by duty, by principle, and by religion. Your Majesty has in your universities and your academies men of great worth and distinguished capacity. They are French by 102 birth and by inclination ; they are so by principle ; they are learned, and they hold the maxims of your State. Order them to prepare a system of education for all ages and all professions, and elementary books to fulfil their plan ; you will protect the edition, and place such teachers in the colleges, as you may think worthy to perform their functions, and who are worthy of your choice. You will add, Sire, to the glory of your august ancestor, who caused science and learning to flourish, that of establishing them permanently in your kingdom. The well-beloved of the nation will become the benefactor of succeeding generations, and the revival of science will hereafter be dated from the reign of Louis XV. as, after an age of barbarism, it was formerly counted from Francis I. Cause that in all the countries, lands, and signiories, under your dominion the Edict of 1682, given under the declaration of the clergy of your kingdom, shall be carefully executed. Order that no ecclesiastic, either secular or regular, particu- larly no member of the Society, called of Jesus, be admitted to orders without having signed that declaration, an eternal monu- ment of the fidelity of your clergy, and which will perhaps con- tribute as effectively as arms to the safety of the State. In conclusion. Messieurs, I would refer in support of what I have said to the epitome made by his Majesty's Ministers for the Parliament of Paris, of the Constitutions of the Jesuits, and to the denunciations, uttered by those Magistrates, carefully verified by Commissioners, and supported by full proofs of the facts alleged. I require on the part of the king (and making use of the same expressions as Mon. Servin on a similar occasion), I require "■ for the safety of the sacred person of the king, and for the good of the Church and of the State, for the sake of public tranquillity, and for the honour and maintenance of learning and science," the concession of a power of appeal as against abuses ; understanding as such abuses, the introduction of all Bulls, Briefs, and Letters Apostolic, concerning the Society calling itself the Society of Jesus, the constitutions of the same, declarations on those con- stitutions, formulas of vows; decrees of Generals; or of general 103 congregations of the said Society, and generally all other rules or regulations and similar acts ; also vows and oaths made by the members of the same, to submit and conform to the rules of the said Society. And I ask permission to intimate to the General and the Society, on the said appeal, as against abuses, the judg- ment which shall be reported to the court, on all pretended rules, especially those, which are called verbal oracles, and on every- thing else, which bears the force of law in that said Society. I move as the judgment of this Parliament that the book entitled, Hermanni Bnsembnum Societafis Jesu, Sacrce Theologian LicenciaU, Theologia Moralis, nunc plurihus jyartibus aucta, a R. P. Claudio Lacroir, Societatis Jesu, Theologiw in Universitate Coloniensi Docfore et Professorc publico, editio nomssima diligenter rccognita et emendata cd) nno ej'usdem Societatis Jesu Sacerdote Theologo ; Colonire, 1757 ; teaching murderous and abominable doctrines, dangerous, not only to the safety of the lives of citizens, but even to that of the sacred persons of kings ; and the " Journal of Trevoux " of August, 1729, which eulogises that work ; be torn and burnt at the foot of the great staircase of the palace by the executioner of justice. That it be ordered that every one, who has copies of books teaching that detestable doctrine, composed by members of the Society of Jesus, and by others, if such should be found ; and, namely, by Emmanuel Sa, Jesuit, in his Aphorisms ; by Martin Antoine Delaio, Jesuit, in his Commentary ivritten in 1689 ; and others to the numbers of thit'ty-tm ; be brought to the Eegistrar of the Court to be dealt with also according to law. That all booksellers be strictly prohibited from selling and publishing the said books under pain of extraordinary prosecution, and punish- ment with all severity by the law. Meantime, provisionally, until judgment shall be given on this appeal, as against ?buscs, that all the king's subjects bo forbidden (whatever their rank or quality may be), under the usual penalties, to associate them- selves with the said priests and other members of the said Society, in their houses or elsewhere, on the pretence of congregations, or associations, or retreats ; that it be ordered, that his Majesty's Edict of 1682, be well and duly executed in this jurisdiction ; that his Majesty be humbly petitioned to make a declaration 104 commanding that no one be admitted to sacred orders, (and especially no member of the Society of Jesus), nor be appointed to any benefice whatsoever, either as parish priest or monk, ex- empt or not exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary, nor on the plea of any degrees, obtained by him, unless he shall pre- viously have signed the declaration of the clergy of 1682, in the presence of his archbishop or his bishop, or their great vicars ; of which signature mention shall be made in the act of requisition ; and also in the act of taking possession of each benefice ; — all under the penalty of nullity of the said acts, in respect of those, who shall be found to have performed the acts without having previously signed the said declaration ; and in case any of the archbishops or bishops neglect to require this signature, that they be obliged to do so under the penalty of seizure of the temporali- ties of their archbishopric or bishopric. That it should, moreover, be ordered that those ecclesiastics who may not have signed the said declaration, and who may refuse to do so on the occasion of the visa, or of institution to benefices to which they may demand to be inducted, be declared incapable to hold them, and that all benefices which have hitherto been held by such ecclesiastics, shall be declared vacant or lapsed, and may be presented again in full right without the need of any formal judgment, or of any judicial declaration to that efi'ect. That it be represented to his Majesty how great is the importance of reforming the colleges of the kingdom and the education which is given in them. That his Majesty be petitioned to order his academies and universities to prepare a plan of education for all ages and all professions ; and to compile elementary books to carry out their plan, which shall be taught in all colleges by such masters as may be deemed fit. That it be ordered that the Decree which will be issued in consequence of my conclusions be read, published, and announced in all needful places. Given in the Parliament of Rcnnes, December 7th, 1761. De Cakapuc de la Chalotais. I have seen since my conclusions of the 7th of December last, the books of Bellarmine, [Beccan, Pirol, Escobard, Horace 105 Turcelin (all of the Society called of Jesus), deposited in the Registry office of the Court, which were communicated to me by a decree of the 18th of December current. I demand on the part of the king, that the books entitled : — Dispufationum Roherti Bellarmini Societafis Jem de Con- ti'over.sii.s Christiana' fidci adversus hujns tempori^i Hereficos ; Tractalus depotestate Rapce in rebus temporalibus ; Lihri de Eomano Pontifice ; De translatione Imperii Honiani, Mediolani, 1721, su- periorum permissu : Martini Beccani, Societatis, de Jure et Justitia, Parisiifi, 1658; Apologie pour les Casuistes, aitribuee a Edmont Pirot, Paris, 1657, Joannis Mariana Societafis Jesu de Rege et Regis institutione, Moguntia^ 1605 ; Liber Theologi(P lloratis I'iginti quatuor Societatis Jesu. Doctoribus reservatus quern R. P. Anfonius de Escohard et Mendoza VaUisoletanus in examen Confes- sariorum digessit, additit, illustravit, Lugduni, 1659 ; Historiw Sacrce et Prophame, epitome ab Horatio TurceUino, Rothomagi, 1714, et Rhedonis, 1732 ; together with Francisci Toleti, Societatis Jesu Instruct io Saccrdotum, Rothomagi, 1628 ; and with the books of Herman Busembaum, and the Journal de Trevoux of the month of August, 1729, mentioned in my preceding conclusions : — be torn, and burnt in the court of the palace at the foot of the great staircase, by the public executioner ; as being seditious ; destructive of Christian morality ; teaching a doctrine that is murderous and abominable ; dangerous, not only to the safety of citizens, but to the sacred persons of sovereigns. That all peisous who possess copies of them be commanded to bring them to the Register Office to be suppressed. That it be forbidden to all librarians to reprint or sell, or to distribute the said books, or any of them, and to all colporteurs, distributors, or other such persons to carry them about or to distribute them under pain of prosecution and punishment according to the rigour of the law. That it be enacted that, on my requisition, informations be taken before Mon. Le Rapporteur of such witnesses as may be found in this town ; and before the justices of the peace, of all the officers of justice, and the royal authorities within this jurisdiction, and by the care of my substitutes in the said courts, evidence be taken against all those, who may have contributed to the approval or printing of the said books, or who may retain them 106 in their hands ; and also against the printers and distributors of the said books. And in order to legislate definitively on the result of the investigation of the said books, and the teachings contained in them, and of the report, made by myself to this Court on the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th of December, current, I request, that an account of the deliberation may be joined mth the appeal against abuses introduced by me, against the Bulls, Briefs, Constitutions, and all the succeeding acts concerning the said Society ; on the understanding, that they may be separated, if the case should fail. For the rest I can only refer to my preceding conclusions of the 7th of December current. Done at the Bar this 22nd of December, 1761. De Caraduc de la Chalotais. 107 DECREE OF THE PARLIAMENT OF BRETAGNE, 23rd of December, 1761. Extracted from the Registers of the Parliament. The following Decrees and Reports were first read and con- sidered by this Parliament, assembled in their Chambers, viz. : — The Decree of the 14th of August, 1761, in which this Court ordered that the superior of the self- called Jesuits of the College of Rennes, should within three days present at the Register Office of this Court a copy of the Constitutions of the Order styling itself the Society of Jesus ; and that the said Decree should be notified to him on the requisition of the Attorney- General of the King : — The Notice that was given to him of the said Decree by Bouchard, Bailiff of the Court : — The Act of Deposit of the Books made at the Register Office of the Court by the Frere du Pays, Rector of the said College of Rennes, on the 15th of August, 1761 : — Another decree of the 17th of the same month and year, which ordered that the two volumes in small in folio, entitled, " Institntum Socictatis Jcsu," j^iv")?^^^^ at Prague, anno 1757, should be remitted to the Attorney- General of the King, who should be ordered to report thereon to the Court on Tuesday the 1st of December : — The Report, which was delivered on the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th of December, by the King's Attorney-General, both of the contents of the said books, and of the moral doctrine of the self- called Jesuits : — Another Decree, which was passed on the 7th of December, by which this Court (after having read the con- 108 elusions of the Attorney- General of the King, left by him on the Bureau, of the date of the said 7th day of December) determined to continue the assembly of the Chambers until the 10th day of the said month : — The several Decrees of Adjournment, on the 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th, and 18th of December, on the last of which this Court (having suspended its sittings for several days during the examina- tion of the institution, and in order to read the propositions and assertions contained in the works of different and several authors, belonging to the Society, calling themselves the Society of Jesus), ordered that the said books should be delivered to the King's Attorney-General, in order that (if he should so decide) they might be dealt with according to law : — The conclusions of the said Attorney-General of the King, bearing date the 22nd of this month : — The report of Mon. Claude Guerry, senior counsel of the Court : — These having all been considered. This Court in full assembly admits, as far as the occasion requires, the demands of the King's Atttorney- General (appealing as against abuse) against the Bull beginning with the word Regimini, given on the 5th of the Calends of October, 1540, by Paul III., entitled Prima Institutl Sociefafis Jem Approbatio ; another Bull beginning with these words, " Injuudmn Nohis,^^ given on the eve of the Ides of March, 1543, entitled, " Facultas quosvis idoneos ad Sociefatem Jesn si)w redricfione niimeri ndmit- tendi ct Constifuf tones Condcndl ; " another Bull beginning with these words, " Kvposcif dehitum" given on the 12th of the Calends of August, 1550, entitled, " ConfirmaUo alii Insfitufi, cum majoriy turn illius, turn aliorum Sociefafis InduUorum dccla- ratione ; " another Bull beginning with these words, " Sacra? Religionis" given on the 31st of December, 1552, entitled " Confirmafio jyrivikgiorum Sociefafis concessorum et aliorum nova concessio;" and generally against Bulls, Briefs, and Apostolic Letters concerning the priests and scholars of the Society calling itself of Jesus ; the constitutions of the same ; declarations on the same constitutions; forms of vows, even of the vows and oaths made on the days of taking the vows ; decrees of Generals, 109 or of general congregations of the said Society ; verbal oracles ; and generally all other regulations and similar acts. This Court thus decrees, especially because the institution of the said Society is a violation of the authority of the Church, and of general councils and other councils; of that of the Holy See, and of all superior ecclesiastics, and of that of sovereigns ; inas- much as, on the one hand, by the said constitutions, the General has absolute power in the said Society, in contravention of decisions of the said councils, of Bulls issued by the Holy See, of regulations prescribed by ecclesiastical superiors, and of laws emanating from temporal princes : and, on the other hand, no power, either spiritual or temporal, has any efficacy in this Society. To it is attributed the faculty of altering, abrogating, and revoking its own constitutions, and of giving itself new ones, according to the exigencies of the times, of places, and of objects, without being amenable in this respect to any inspection, not even on the part of the Holy See ; whose authorisation is nevertheless considered to be invariably attached by right to all the changes which may be useful to the said Society. This concession having been granted irrevocably, remains in force even if any act of revo- cation or reformation should be made by the Church, or by the Holy See, or by any other power whatsoever. In such a case the Society may of its own authority replace itself in its former state, or as it was at any preceding date, according to the will of the General, or of its own superiors, without any need to obtain any authorisa- tion, or consent, or confirmation,* even of the Holy See. Because * The following extracts from the Bull will prove this : — " Notwithstanding all Apostolic Constitutions — all Ordinances general or special, emanating from General Councils or from Provincial or Synodal Assemblies." " And desiring that at no time anything may be revoked, or limited, or abrogated from the said constitutions by ourselves or by the Holy See : and that every time it may happen that any article should be revoked, altered, limited, or restricted in any degree, the superior or General may re-establish the same to its origmal state, even under an anterior date — any date that the General may please to choose — and that any articles so re-established shall be considered as gi-anted anew by the Holy See.'' " By our apostohc authority we grant to them, by special favor, the power and the faculty to change, alter, or even to abrogate entirely, according to 110 under the name of the said Society, one single man may exercise monarchical power over the whole Society* spread over all states, over all its own memhers universally, and over all persons living under its obedience, even over those who might be exempt, or those who may be invested with any faculty whatsoever ; that the quality and variety of places, of times, and cii-cumstance, both the con- stitutions ah-eady estabhshed and any others which may be made in future, and to make new ones. And when they shall have been thus changed, altered, or new ones shall have been made, we wU that the whole shall be considered immediately to have been conlinned by the same apostoUc aiithority." " That no member of the Society should be so daring as to ask any privi- lege contrary to the statutes common to the whole Society, or to retain them if they have obtained them. . . . That if such kind of privileges should ever be granted by the Apostolic See, we declare them beforehand to be null and valueless . . . unless . . . such derogation of the statutes was done with the consent of the Society." " And every time that the Holy See shall issue any letters revolving or Uniiting these statutes, we will that as many times they may be re-estabUshed and fully reintegrated to the original state in which they were formerly placed by the Society, by its General, and its other superiors as if they had been granted afresh, and confirmed to be as they were at any date that these superiors please to choose each time, without needuig to obtain any new act of re-establishment, revalidation, confirmation, or concession.'" « The founder, St. Ignatius, ruled that the general system of government (in the Society) should be monarchical, confined to the arbitrary orders of the superior only. " The siiperior shall exercise full jmisdiction over all the members of the said Society, and over all persons subject to obey him. in whatever place they may live, even when they are exempted, and whatsoever rights or faculties they may possess." " All power of making contracts, piu-chases, and sales is vested iii the General: and although tliis General should commimicate his power to make contracts to superior subalterns, or visitors, or to commissioners, he shall, nevertheless, have liberty to approve or annul any agreement they may have made." " Every one of the subjects should not only be obliged always to obey the General in all tilings wliich are regulated by the statutes of the Society, but they must consider Jesus Cluist as present at all tunes in liis person, and they must have that same veneration for him which is due to Christ." " The right to command is vested solely in the General. The General may in all circumstances, make any statutes he thinks fit, and he must receive the reverence, obedience, and respect due to him who holds the place of Jesus Christ." Ill power extends itself over the administration of their properties and the right to make contracts, and to annul those already made, even under their own sanction. It is so complete and entire, that while every member of the Society is obliged to obey the General as impHcitly and blindly as if he were Jesus Christ, " You must convince yoiusclf that all that is ordered by the superior is the commandment and the will of God Himself; and, as you beheve without hesitation, with all your heart and all j^our mmd, all that the CathoUc Chm-ch declares to you, you nuist also act with the blind impetuosity of a wiU eager to obey and perform, without question or examination, aU the commands of the superior, considering that such was the obedience of Abraham, when he received the command to sacrifice his son Isaac." " Let every one be persuaded that those who live under obedience onght to allow themselves to be ruled and governed by Divine Providence, that is to say, by their superiors, with as little resistance as a corpse, which allows itself to be carried where you -will, and to be passive in every sense ; or like a rod m the hand of an old man, who uses it in all places and for every piu'- pose for which he may choose to employ it." " That in us (the Jesuits) obedience should always be perfect and com- plete in all respects. As in mil, so in execution, so in mind, accompUsliing aU that is required of us with celerity, with spu-itual joy, and with perse- verance, persuading ourselves that aU we are commanded to do is right, and renoimcing, ■with blind obedience, every sentiment and every contrary opinion wluch arises in our minds." " We declare that the said Society is not bound or obliged to supply food or suitable entertainment, under whatever name, or for whatever reason, to those whom the superiors drive from their bosoms, after the tlu-ee years of probation, and after the taking of sunple vows ; even when, during their sojoiu-n in the said Society, they may have received holy orders, even that of priesthood, mthout any ecclesiastical benefice, -without patrimony, mth- out any other title than that of reHgious poverty." " We order all orduiary judges and delegates who maj'^ have to pronounce on this subject to judge so, and not otherwise, depriving them, all and every one of them, of all power and authority to give a dift'erent judgment, or a different interpretation, declaring null and valueless any declaration to legis- late contrariwise, either with Imowledge of the case or ignorantly, whoever the judges may be, and with whatever authority they may be invested," " The General, with the advice of his assistants, shall have a right to make constitutions in an assembly, preserving always the right to enact according to the majority of votes." " "NVlien it is a question of matters of gi*eat importance and perpetuity, the greatest number of persons shaU be assembled that the General can conveni- ently convoke ; but if itis only a question of small and transitory consequence, 112 in all things whatsoever, without reserve, without exception, with- out question or examination, or even mental hesitation ; to carry into execution anything that he may prescribe, with the same fulness of consent and suhmission that they feel in the helief of the dogmas of the Catholic faith itself ; to be in his hands as it will be sufficient to assemble those who are present in the place where the General resides. (Bull Refjimini). The assembly tliat it shaU be mdispen- sably necessary to convoke in order to alter the constitutions or to make .new ones, or for other grave objects, such as that of ahenatmg or destroying houses or colleges already estabhshed, shall be composed, according to the declaration of oiu* constitutions, of the greatest number of the i^rofessed members of the Society that the General can convoke A\ithout very great inconvenience ; but in tilings that are of less importance the General, assisted by the advice of his brethi-en, as far as he thinks lit, has all right to com- mand by himself alone." As to their dress, three things must be observed. " 1st. It must be respect- able. 2nd. Comformable to the usage of the country in wMch they live. ;ird. It must be concordant with the profession that we make of poverty ; that is, it would be contrary to that profession to wear silks or costly stuffs : we should therefore abstain from such, and preserve an exterior of humiUty and lowliness, wliich generally tends to the glory of God.' [Contititutions, 6th part.) This observance applies to times Avhen the establishment is expected to supply new dresses ; for there is nothing to prevent men when they enter the Society, from wearing the dress wliich they have brought with them, although it may be of the most expensive land ; nor is there any objection to give to some members more expensive clothes, if such are necessary on especial occasions; but they must not wear such kinds of dress habitually. "It is also to be considered that all men are not equally strong; their health is not the same, and many are old and weak. The weKare of such persons must be considered, and the necessities of the multitude, in the quality of the dress to be given to them ; but all must be ordered, as far as possible, for the glory of God." " It must be well understood that everything that hears the iqipcartnice of secular commerce is forbidden to members of oi(r societu, whether in the culture of our lields, in the sale of produce in the markets, or other such things (Decree of the Second Congregation.) As it has been asked what is meant by tlungs having the appearance of commerce, from which oui- mem- bers are commanded to abstain by the twenty-fifth canon of the Second Congregation, the congregation decided that there were so many things that it was impossible to specify tliem. But among others the following might be named : — " 1st. To hire lands, to cultivate for others, for profit or gain ; which, nevertheless, shaU not be observed if the liiring of such lands is necessary to make our own lands profitable, or to feed om- cattle, -ind. 113 passive as a corpse, or as a stick in the hands of an old man, or as Abraham, when, under the command of God, he was ordered to sacrifice his son, he must persuade himself, on principle, that all that he is ordered to do is right, and abjure all personal feeling and volition. And although this absolute authority is extended To buy produce in order to sell it again at a profit. They did not tliink, however, that it had the appearance of a commercial undertaking to buy cattle to feed on our pastiu'es, and to sell them afterwards ; nor to buy necessaries for our ovni subsistence, and to sell afterwards that which we still had left unconsumed. 3rd. To pay the expense of printing the works of our members, and keep the whole edition ; to sell smgle copies of it at our own risk of loss or gain, although it is not a commerce absolutely inter- dicted to clerks, it has been thought to be forbidden to om- clerks. It has appeared, therefore, that the General will only allow of it for grave reasons. 4th. It is forbidden to have prhating presses in our colleges ; to sell to the world generally the books wliich may be printed in them. However, the congxegation has left to the General the power to decide whether we may not have printing presses in the two Indias and in the northern North America, for books of piety and religion, and for the use of our schools, con- sidering that in those coimtries there are neither printers nor Catholics." — (Decree of the Seventh Congregation). •' The procureur of the province should carefully avoid every appear- ance of commerce or of seeking for gain by the pm-chase or sale of the mer- chandise that he may import or export by exchange of money or otherwise. If it should happen that, in conducting his ajftairs, he made some con- siderable profit by any means which presented itself to Mm accidentally he may dispose of it according to the decision of the provincial, and carry it to account like all other receipts and expenses." " In order that oiu- members may not fall into the bonds of sin, it seems to us proper to declare that none of the constitutions, declarations, nor rules of life can be so obUgatory as to render their violation a mortal sin, or even a venial sin, imless the superior shall command its observance in the name of Jesus Christ oiu* Lord, or in virtue of obedience, which he may do either in respect of cu'cumstances or in respect of persons, when he may consider this precept suitable for the good of individuals, or for general good." •• The Society, all its members, and all persons belonging to 'them, and all their possessions are exempt and free from aU superiority, jm-isdiction, and correction of the ordinaries in such sort, that none of those prelates, nor any other person, can exercise any jurisdiction over them, m any manner whatsoever, for any offence, either of contract or of any matter at issue, in whatever place the offence was committed, or the contract was made, or whatever may be the nature of the question." (Constitutions.) " We grant to the General the power to sell the properties of the Society 1 114 over all the natural engagements, which in binding its members to the Society, ought to hind the Society to its members reciprocally, on the contrary, the Society does not hold itself bound in anywise to its members, while its members are bound (by their vows) irre- vocably to the Society. The General may at any time discharge freely aud legally, of abstaining from aU prosecutions on that account ; and, even from any cause which he may have against the non-possessor, of citing the delinquent, of ascertaining simply and without anj' judicial form, the utUity, the necessity, or any other reason wliich might make hhn determine to sell or aUenate these properties, and to decide and execute entirely (all affairs of that land) ; and we declare everj-tliing null and ineffective, that any other person, whoever he may be, shall attempt to do against the decision of the General, whether with knowledge or without knowledge of the fact." (Bull.) " We exempt the Society for all perpetuity, all and each of its properties, in whatever coimtry they be situated, from all tithes, even Papal, real, personal, whether they be quarters, or halves, or any other share of fruits, from all other subsidies, even for the poor, from all other ordinary charges imposed even for a Hinited time for the defence of the country; or for any other cause whatsoever demanded by emperors, kings, dukes, or other princes." (Bull.) "It is ordered that no Idng princes dukes shall have the audacity, or the presumption to impose, exact, pi;blish, or even to occasion on any of oiu* properties, or on our persons, either excise (gabelle) taxes, collections, or any other imposts, not even for the repair of bridges or reparation of roads ; and this imder pain, of excommimication and eternal malediction, wliich they incur ipso facto if they do not immediately desist as soon as they shall become aware of this present privilege." (Constitutions.) " It is not allowed to any prelate to pronoimce sentence of excommuni- cation, suspension, or intei'dict against any member, whoever he may be, of this Society, nor even against any other persons on their account. If they should do it their sentence is null." " Bishops cannot prevent us from administering the sacrament of peni- tence from Palm Simday, tiU the first Simday after Whitsuntide." " We may administer the Eucharist and the other Sacraments of the Cluu'ch to the faithful, (pro\ided nevertheless that we do no prejudice to any one), without the permission of the ordinaries, of incumbents, or of the superiors of other chiu-ches." " Bishops cannot forbid us generally to preach in the chiu'ches of the Society. All those of whatever condition they may be, who assist at the preachings of the brothers of the Society, or who may go into the chiu-chea where they preach — may freely and legally on those days hear the Mass, 115 any of them witliout making any provision for their sustenance, however urgent their wants may be ; whereas all this is done in order to secure to themselves the more certain means of exercis- ing absolute power. The general spirit of their Institution, followed up in their constitutions, is apparently to establish rules, the Divine Office, and receive the Sacraments in those ohiu-ches, and need not be obliged to go to theii- parish church for that piu'pose." " The Society and each of its members, and even its servants, have the right in all then- causes, whether civil, criminal, or mixed, to choose between the archbishops, bishops, canons of cathedrals, and judge-con- servators and ordinaries None of these judges, nor any one of them thus chosen will permit the Society to be unjustly molested in any manner whatsoever, by any persons, whomsoever ; whatever thek authority or their dignity may be the judge will reprimand the intruder, the author of the injury, all opposers and rebels, however otherwise qualified, by condemnation, by censures, ecclesiastical punishments, and other, suit- able means by law or by force, which will be without appeal." " They will not permit that members of the Society shall be molested or distiu-bed, either openly or in secret, dii-ectly or indii'ectly, tacitly or ex- pressly, mider any colour or pretext, by any persons whatsoever, whether they are invested Avith pontifical authority, royal authority, or any other." (Constitutions. ) " It is forbidden in virtue of holy obedience, and imder pain of excom- mimication, of incapacity to hold office, of suspension from sacraments, a divinis, and under all other pains and penalties that the General may please to inflict, to all persons of om* Society, to dare to assert, whether in pubhc or in private, whether in lessons or in consultations, still less in the books that they may write, that it is permitted to all persons under any pretext of tyranny whatsoever, to IdU Idngs or princes, or to conspire against their Hves." The General Claude Aquaviva wiUed that the same penalties should be incui-red, even that of deprivation of theu' office, by provincials who should CONFESS that such doctrine had ever been tauglit by any of those means without reprehension, and without preventing the inconvenient con- sequences that must result from it, by taking care that this decree should be rehgiously observed. " It is recommended, in vu-tue of holy obedience, to provincials not to permit that any of our members should publish in their respective provinces, or on any occasion, or in any language, books or other writmgs in which the power of the sovereign pontiff over kuigs and princes is agitated, or wliich treat on the subject of tyi-annicide, unless the work has been examined and approved at Home." " We forbid, moreover, that any one in futiu-e shall treat of this matter, either in prmted books or other writings ; that any one shall dispute on the subject m pubhc, or teach it in the schools, in order to cut short all occa- sions of complaint and oll'encc." i2 116 and yet to have the power, at the same time, to render them entirely futile, either by other rules of a contrary nature, which may be found in other parts of the same constitutions, or by dis- tinctions, and exceptions of all kinds; and by adding that, in practice, the members of the said Society are not obliged to fulfil any of the points, contained in the said constitutions, even under the head of venial sin, unless they have been especially prescribed to them in virtue of holy obedience by the superior, who knows what is suitable to all occasions, and to all persons. So that it finally rests with the General alone to decide every point that concerns the Society. By these constitutions, there are granted to the said Institution all kinds of privileges, even such as would be absolutely contrary to the rights of temporal and spiritual powers, to the powers of ordinaries, of pastors of the second order, of universities and other bodies, both secidar and regular. And if it should happen, that such privileges should be disturbed, either tacitly infringed, or openly disputed, it is permitted to the Institution to name Conservators, with the power of employing, for their defence, all applicable resources of law and force with- out paying any respect to royal authority. "If any one of our members should hold difterent opinions fi'om those wliicli are taught by the Church and its doctors, he ought to submit his opinion to the definition of the Society." " In tlie opinions in which men differ, and even when there is opposition of sentiment among Cathohc doctors, mianimity must exist in the coropany.' " There must be no difierence of sentiment in the Society, whether iii speaking, in preaching, or ia public teaching, whether in wiitiiig or in the books which will be published in future, and wliich cannot be given to the public without the approbation of the General, who will entrust the exami- nation of it to three members of the Society at least, conspicuous for their healthy doctrme, and capable of judging on such a subject." "No diversity of jiidgment can be allowed in respect of conduct nor anything which can in any degree interrupt jjeifect imiformity and imion." " If any new summary, or book of scholastic theologJ^ more apphcable to the present time, should be ■iviitten, it may be taught, if approved by the General." " Let aU follow generally the doctrine that the Society has chosen as the best and most suitable for us. When each has completed liis coiu'se of study, let care be taken that no diversity of opinion should infringe on the tmion of charity ; let each one conform as much as possible, to the doctrine which is most common in the Society." (Constitutions.) 117 Each of the above-named regulations, namely the obligation imposed on all the members of the said Society of blind obedi- ence in executing, and perfect acquiescence in, the will of the General, without questioning or examining the justice of any order emanating from him ; the extent of the prohibitions contained in the said constitutions ; the nature of the powers attributed to the self-styled Conservators; tend to comprise the safety of the persons even of kings. Other articles more precisely worded in the same said constitutions also concur to endanger that safety. Moreover every one of the members of the said Society, being obliged to surrender his own judgment to the definitions of the same, even on those subjects of doctrine on which they may hold opinions differing from those held by the Church ; only one form of belief and one uniform system of morality can exist in the Society ; that is to say, that, which it will deem most appropriate to the times and most advantageous to itself. Because by the said vows and oaths the said self-called Jesuits submit themselves to the rules and institutes of the said Society : — Permission is hereby given the King's Attorney- General to intimate to the General and the Society of the said self-called Jesuits that in the appeal as against abuses, the parties will be heard 'at the next sitting, That in course of the procedure all edicts, declarations, or letters patent concerning the Society will be reported to the court, having been duly verified in the same ; that all may be conjointly tried, and judgment given, so that they may be dealt with according to law. It is ordered that the book entitled " Disputationes Roherti Bellarmini e Societate Jesu" printed at Ingolstadt in 1596 : That entitled "Francisci Toleti, Societatis Jesu^ Instruetio 8acer- liotum," Paris 1619 : That entitled " Opuscula Theologica Martini Becani, Societatis Jem," Paris, 1633 : That entitled " Joannis 3Iariana', Societatis Jesu de Bege et Regis Institutione," in 1605 : That entitled " Apologie pour les Casuistes," attributed to Edmund Pirot, Jesuit, Paris, 1657 : That entitled "Liber Theologiw Moralis viginti quatuor Societatis 118 Jean Bodorlhns reseratus quern B. P. Antonim de Escobar, d Mendosa VaJUsoIetanus, e Sociefate Jesu, Theologus in examen con- fessariorum digessit, addididit illustravit, Lyon," 1659 : Those entitled " Hermmmi Busemhaum Theologia Moralis aucta a B. P. Claudio Lacroix, Sociefatis Jesu, Lyon chez Ief< Freres de Tournes, 1729, et a Colonge," 1757 : And that entitled " Historifo Sacrrc et Prop/tanw epitome ah Horatio Turcelino Societatis Jesu, Rennes," 1732 : And that entitled the " Journal de Trevoux," of the month of August, 1729, because it contains the announcement and the eulogy of the said Busemhaum : Each and all the said hooks shall be torn and burnt at the foot of the staircase, opposite to the great door of the palace, by the public executioner of justice, as being seditious and destructive of all the principles of Christian morality ; teaching the abominable doctrine of murder ; not only adverse to the safety of the Kves of citizens, but even to that of the sacred persons of sovereigns. It is expressly prohibited and forbidden to all booksellers to reprint, or sell, or distribute, the said books, or any of them ; and to all colporteurs, hawkers, or distributors, or others, to hawk them or distribute them, under pain of prosecution and punishment, such as the law directs. It is ordered, at the requisition of the said King's Attorney- General, that information shall be sought, and witnessses brought before M. Le Conseillier Rapporteur against any persons in this town who may infringe this law; and before the judges of sencchaussees, royal justices, and other royal authorities within the jurisdiction of this Court ; by the care and diligence of the official agents of M. the King's Attorney- General, in those places ; against all, who may have assisted in the composition, editing, or printing of any the said books, or who may retain them in their houses ; and against all printers and distributors of the said books. This information is sought in order that a definitive law may be enacted to prevent the consequences derived from these books, from the continual and uninterrupted teaching of this doctrine, in the said Society of the said self-styled Jesuits, and from the futility of their disavowals, declarations, and retractions, made on this subject. It is ordered that the con- 119 stitutions of the said priest, scholars, and others of the said Society; together with the report rendered by the said King's Attorney- General on the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th of the present month ; bo taken together with the deliberation on the appeal (as against abuse) introduced by the said Attorney-General of the King, on the Bulls, Briefs, Constitutions, and all other Acts which have followed concerning the said Society ; it being under- stood that they may be separated if the case fails. Meantime be it enacted provisionally, until judgment shall have been passed on this appeal (as against abuse), and^the other subjects which are joined with it, or until the court shall order otherwise : — That all the king's subjects, of whatever quality, pro- fession, and condition, bo forbidden, and they are hereby forbidden to enter into this Society, whether under the pretence of probation, or novitiate, or for the taking of vows, either solemn or not solemn. And all priests, scholars, and others of the said Society, are for- bidden to receive them into it ; to assist in their reception, or in taking of vows ; to write or to sign such acts : under such penalties as shall be legal. The same priests, scholars, and others of the said Society, are likewise prohibited from receiving under any pretext whatever, into their houses, any members of the said Society born in foreign countries, and even from re- ceiving any members of the Society, though Frenchmen born, who may in future make any vows, either solemn or not solemn, beyond this kingdom, all under pain of being con- sidered as offenders against the laws, who will be rigorously punished, according to the same, as disturbers of the public peace. Similar prohibitions are also ordered provisionally to the said priests, scholars, and others of the said Society, from continuing any lessons, public or private, on theology, philosoj)hy, or the humanities, in the school, colleges, and seminaries, within the jurisdiction of this Court, under pain of seizure of their tempo- ralities, and under such other pains as may be due. This decree is to come in force on 2nd day of August next. Nevertheless if it should happen that the said priests, scholars, or others, of the said Society, should assert that they have obtained any letters patent, verified in this Court, to enable them to perform such acts of teaching, the said priests, scholars, and 120 others, of the said Society are permitted to present them to this Court, when in session, within the above named period, in order that the Court on the sight of the same, and according to the opinions of the Attorney- General of the King, may order what is fit to be done. Very express prohibitions are given hereby to all the King's subjects, from frequenting the schools and missions oi the said self- called Jesuits, after the expiration of the said period. And it is enjoined on all pupils to leave the colleges of the said Society, at or before the above named period ; and on all fathers, mothers, tutors, guardians, or others, entrusted with the educa- tion of the said scholars, to withdraw them, or cause them to be withdrawn from the said Society, and to concur with respect to each of them in the execution of this decree, as good and faithful subjects of the King, and anxious for his preservation. The same are forbidden in a similar manner to send the said pupils into any of the colleges of the said Society, held beyond the jurisdiction of this Court or out of the kingdom. The whole is ordered under pain to the offenders of being considered abettors of the said doc- trine, impious, sacrilegious, homicidal, and tending to endanger the authority and security of the persons of kings. Moreover, offenders will be prosecuted according to the rigour of the law. As to the pupils, the Court declares all, who may continue after the expiration of the said period, to frequent the schools, pensions, colleges, seminaries, novitiates, and lectures of the said self-styled Jesuits in any place whatsoever, incapable of receiving any degrees in the university, and of exercising any municipal or civil offices, or any public function. This Court postpones till Monday, the 9 th of August next, the consideration of the precautions, which it may think necessary on the subject of any persons (if such there be), who may offend against this law. This Court wishing to provide effectually for the education of youth, orders that within three months without further delay, the mayor and aldermen of all the towns within the jurisdiction of this Court, and all the officials of senechaussees, marshals of courts, all royal authorities and members of universities, shall, each separately, send to the King's Attorney- General any pro- posals or memorials, they think fit, to supply the deficiencies which must ensue in this matter, and if they should neglect to do so, this 121 Court, all the Chambers being assembled, will call upon them to answer for the same on the complaint of the said Attorney- General of the King, on [Monday, the 5th of July next. It is ordered by the Court, that within a month and without further delay, counting from this present day, the superiors of the houses of the said Society within the jurisdiction of this court, shall present letters patent, duly registered in the same, authorizing the creation or formation of these congregations, associations, affiliations, retreats, confraternities, or assemblies in the houses of the said Society, in order that on the sight of the same, and on the conclusion of the King's Attorney- General, the Court (the Chambers being assembled) may decree what is found to be due to them. But if they neglect to do this, and the said time has expired without any decree being necessary, the said congregations, associations, affiliations, retreats, confraternities, or assemblies under any denomination, or on any pretext whatso- ever, will remained suppressed and abolished. Nevertheless be it understood, that from the present time, and by our express inhibitions and prohibitions, all the King's subjects, of whatever quality or rank they may be, are forbidden to associate or affiliate themselves with the said Society, whether by a vow of obedience to the General of the same, or by any other way. Priests, scholars, or others of the said Society are equally forbidden, either to promote or to receive the said associations or congregations ; all under the penalty of legal and extraordinary prosecutions, according to the exigence of the case. The said priests, scholars, and all others of the said Society are forbidden to endeavour or undertake to withdraw themselves either directly or indirectly, under any pretence whatever, from the complete inspection, superintendence, and jurisdiction of the ordinaries ; and the Edict of 1682 shall be well and duly enforced and executed, according to its form and tenor. It is enjoined on all those, who have copies of the books, teaching the said doc- trines, written by members of the Society, self-styled, of Jesus, and by others, if such are to be found, namely, — By Emanuel Sa, Jesuit, in his Aphorisms : By Martin Antoine del Rio, Jesuit, in his Commentary written in 1586: 122 By Robert Person, otherwise called Andre Philopater, Jesuit : By John Aqua Pontanus, or Bridgewater, Jesuit : By Louis Molina, Jesuit, in his Book De- JusUtia et Jure : By Alphonse Salmeron, Jesuit, in his fourth volume : By Gregoire de Valence, Jesuit, in his Theological Com- mentary : By the same Alphonse Salmeron, Jesuit, in his thirteenth volume. By Charles Scribami, Jesuit, in his Amphitheatre of Honour : By Jean Azor, Jesuit, in his Moral Institutions : By Jaques Gretzer, Jesuit, in his book entitled Vcsimiilio Hcerdicus : By Jacques Keller, Jesuit, in his book entitled Tymnniddhm : By Gabriel Vasquez, Jesuit, in his Commentary : By Francois Saurez, Jesuit : By Jean Lorin, Jesuit, in his Commentary on the Psalms : By Leonard Lessius, Jesuit, in his Treatise De Justitia et Jure : By Adam Tanner, Jesuit, in his Scholastic Theology : By Jaques Tyrin, Jesuit, in his Commentary on the Holy Scripture : By Joseph Jouvenci, Jesuit, in his History of the said Society : Also another edition of the work of Gretzer, Jesuit, entitled Vefi])ertiHo Umrticns : By the Montauzan, Jesuit ; by Colonia, Jesuit ; and by other Jesuits : To bring them all to the Registrar's Office of this Court, that they may be dealt with according to law. It is enjoined on all persons having copies of these works, to bring them to the Registry Office of the said Court. It is ordered that the Attorney- General of the King shall immediately take care to give notice of this Decree to the house of the said Society, which is in the city of Rennes, and within fifteen days (at the latest) to all the other houses, occupied by the said Society within the jurisdiction of this Court, enjoining them to conform themselves to it under the penalties adjudged. It is ordered that exact copies of this Decree shall be sent to the senechaussees and royal courts of this jurisdiction, to be read there, published, and registered. 123 It is enjoined on the agents of the Attorney-General of the King to perform the same, and to certify the Court of its execu- tion within the month. It is enjoined on the officials of the said courts to attend, each in his proper office, to the full and entire execution of this present Decree, which must be printed, read, and published, and hung up to view in all necessary places. Done in Parliament, all the Chambers being assembled, at Rennes, 23rd of December, 1761. Skjncd, L. C. Picqitet. On the 29th of December, 1761, on the rising of the Court, the books, named in the Decree of the 23rd of this month, were (in execution of the said Decree) torn and burnt at the foot of the staircase of the palace, opposite to the great door of entrance, by the public executioner, in the presence of us, Jean Marie le Clavier, Esquire, Civil Registrar-in- chief of the Parliament, accompanied by two bailiffs of the court. Signed, Le Claviee. 124 PERSECUTION OF M. DE LA CHALOTAIS BY THE JESUIT PARTY. The following history of the persecution of the M. de la Chalotais by the Jesuit party is principally derived from the life of Louis XV.* It will be an interesting and instructive commen- tary on the previous report ; and will prove how bitterly the Jesuits felt the justice of what the Attorney- General of the King of France states as to the lawlessness and implacable cruelty of the great secret society, which he had unmasked. When the decrees of all the Parliaments of France authorized the suppression of the Jesuits' Society throughout the land, the members of the Order managed to produce great ferments in the kingdom. Bretagne was greatly agitated by the decision of the Parliament and by the Report of M. de la Chalotais against the Jesuits. These regarded him as their most formidable enemy. Not being able to save themselves from the effect of their conduct, they endeavoured by means of the powerful party they had in Bretagne, to excite trouble, and to organize their factions so as to effect their re- establishment, or at least to revenge them- selves. The meeting at Rennes, in the next year, of the Staties- General gave them the opportunity. On this occasion the bishops, under the leadership of the Bishop of Rennes, and almost all the orders of monks, were in the Jesuit interest, as well as some members of the nobility. The whole composed a considerable party, supported and protected by the governor of the province, who presided at the meetings of the States-General, and who could dispose of the third estate according to his own wishes. The object was to invalidate the Decrees which had dissolved =:• "Vie Privee de Louis XV. :" a Londres. J. P. Lvon. 1781. 125 the Society in Bretagne, as being an intrusion on the authority of the General Assembly of the three States. A feeling of jealousy was skilfully excited against the Parliament of Bretagne, and thus was brought about a collision of one part of the nation against the other. The partisans were very much excited. Nobles and gentlemen proceeded to menace each other in the theatre (as their hall of assembly is called). The Duke of Aiguillon, the governor, who ought to have interposed to silence these excesses, sat silent, conducting himself in a manner that encouraged them. They came three times to the charge. They read clandestinely letters, true or forged, said to have been written by the late Dauphin, to move their minds in favour of the Jesuits ; and if the course of these disputes had not been interrupted, they would probably have excited a civil war, which might have spread all over the kingdom. Mon. de la Chalotais, stirred up by patriotism, and un"s\illing to see a work undone of which he had been justly proud, stemmed the torrent of these troubles which the governor (alternately protecting and protected by the Jesuits) was exciting in their favour, by apprising the Duke de Choiseul * of the object of their combined manoBuvres, which once understood became powerless. But the Jesuits thought they had gained a great advantage by making the quarrel personal between the Dukes of Aiguillon and Choiseul. There were complaints all over the country about the high roads ; the magistrates took them into consideration. Unfor- tunately the same parties combined themselves who coincided in the question of the Jesuits. The Controller- General took a part. Magistrates were accused, and dismissed, and calumniated, and the Jesuit party prevailed. Mon. de la Chalotais had opposed their plans, and they, being masters of the field, resolved to ruin him. In the middle of the night, 10th and 11th December, 1765, De la Chalotais and his son, and three magistrates, who had been deprived of their offices, were carried away by an armed force in a most scandalous manner, and the king himself was stated to be his accuser. M. de la Chalotais and the others had been repre- sented as enemies to the royal authority and public tranquillity. It was said that they had formed illicit associations, and enter- ■-i' At that time, Prune Minister of Louis XV, 126 taincd suspicious correspondences ; and that, not satisfied with Hbelling persons attached to royalty and the service of the king, they had pubhshed writings composed in a democratic spirit, and held seditious discourses in public, and had sent anonymous letters to the Court, injurious to the person of his majesty, and dangerous to his safety. On these vague accusations, groundless and monstrous, pro- ceedings were commenced against them. We cannot follow that account fully ; but it was suddenly resolved to reconstruct the Parliament, and to obtain letters patent to establish a Royal Commission at St. Malo. We are not informed respecting all their proceedings ; but under a new court and a new code of laws, M. de la Chalotais was tried for treason, and was con- demned, and all was arranged at Versailles for the departure of the Commissioners. An executioner actually departed for St. Malo to execute him in the citadel, when the vigorous remonstrances of the Parliament of Paris occasioned a salutary remorse in the mind of the king. Ohoiseul came in when the king was doubtful and agitated, and succeeded in persuading him to revoke the sentence for the execution. The Parliament of Paris desired to take cognisance of the cause of the troubles in Bretagne, and the prisoner was sent to the Bastile in 1766. They declared him innocent; but he was still in prison in 1770. Then the king held a Court of Justice. At that time the Parliament of Bretagne had accused the Duke d'Aiguillon* of great malversations and offences. The king now made a speech, and said that the Parlia- ments of Paris and Bretagne had accused the Duke d'Aiguillon of malversations ; that he had resolved to examine the case him- self ; that having been shocked and offended on finding that his own royal mandates had been discussed like other Acts in so disrespectful a manner by the Parliament, he had laid the matter aside, and desired that the affairs of Bretagne should be spoken of no more. He annulled all that had been done against the Duke d'Aiguillon, on account of his lawless conduct in order to support the Jesuits ; and he quashed all the proceedings against * The Duke d'Aiguillou was tlie heh' of Cardinal Richelieu, and Governor of Bretagne. 127 the Sieurs de la Chalotais and Caraduc. Ho ordered that the whole affair should be treated as if it had never taken place ; and that no one was to speak of it, or revive it in any way whatever. He commanded every one to keep absolute silence on that subject for ever. M. de la Chalotais's son succeeded him in his office, and he died at an advanced age, at Rennes, on the 14th July, 1785. The patience with which he had borne his imprisonment, and his courage in upholding freedom of speech and of religion, rendered him worthy of grateful remembrance by his countrymen and by all who value the privileges for which he strove. He wrote memoirs of his life, and an essay on national education. 128 APPENDIX. CARDINAL WISEMAN ON THE ABBE DE LA MENNAIS. [Extracted from " The Recollections of the last Foiu- Popes;" by H. E. Cardmal Wiseman. Hvu'st and Blackett, 1858.] In describing the examination of a candidate for theological honours in Rome in 1825, Cardinal "Wiseman writes (p. 302) : " I remember well the particular instance before my eyes, that a " monk clothed in white glided in and sat down in the inner " circle ; but, though a special messenger was despatched to him " by the Professors, he shook his head, and declined to become " an assailant. This monk was Cappellari, who, in less than six " years after, was Pope Gregory XYI. He had been sent to " listen and report. Not far from him was seated the Abbe de "la Mennais, whose works he so justly and so witheringly " condemned. Probably it was the only time they were ever " seated together, listening to an English youth vindicating the " faith of which one became the oracle, the other the bitter foe." After referring to the probability, that Dr. Baines, Bishop of Siga, and coadjutor of the English western district, would have been made a Cardinal in 1826-7, if he had not died, and that Pope Leo XII. was believed to have thought of Dr. Lingard for that honour, the Cardinal writes (p. 335) : " But beyond this "circle, where Dr. Lingard was known and appreciated, it " certainly was not so (thought) ; but a very different person was " then and ever afterwards, and is still, considered to have been " the subject of the Pope*s reservation > J' 129 " This was the celebrated Abbe de la Mennais. As has been " said, he had been to Rome in 1824, and had been received " with the most marked distinction by the Pope. He was then " in the splendonr of his genius, arrayed not only on the side of " faith, but of the highest Roman principles. The boldness of " his declarations on doctrine, the independence of his tone in "politics, the brilliancy of his style, and the depth of thought " which it clothed, put him at the head of religious champions "in France. He had undoubtedly assaulted the flying rear of "the great Revolution, the indifference which lingered behind "it by his splendid 'Traite sur I'lndifference en Matiere de "Religion ; ' he had next endeavoured to beat back from occupy- " ing its place, what he considered had led to that fatal epoch " and its desolating results, a kingly Gallicanism. This he had " done by a treatise less popular indeed, but full of historical " research and clearness of reasoning, ' La Doctrine de TEglisc " sur rinstitution des Eveques.' " It was to this work that the Pope was considered to allude. " The text of the allocution is not accessible, but it was thought " to allude to this book with sufficient point. So matter-of-fact "was the book, so completely the fruit of reading and study, " rather than of genius and intellectual prowess, that it has been " attributed to a worthy brother, who survives the more brilliant " meteor now passed away, in a steady and useful light, &c "Be this as it may, the more celebrated brother has his name " on the title-page, and had well-nigh won its honours ; and then "he was gathering round him an earnest band, not only of "admirers, but followers, so long as he cleaved to the truth. "Never had the head of a religious school possessed so much " fascinating power to draw the genius, energy, devotedness, and " sincerity of ardent youths about him ; never did any one so " well indoctrinate them with his own principles, as to make " them invincible even by his own powers. He was in this like " Tertullian, who, when sound of mind, prescribed medicines too " potent for the subtle poisons which he dealt out in his heterodox " insanity : both laid them too deep, and made them too strong " to be blasted even by their own mines, &c.* * This appears applicable to the Comte MoixtalemTjert. 130 " But in him there was long a canker deeply sunk. There " was a maggot in the very core of that beautiful fruit. When, " in 1837, he finished his ecclesiastical career by his ' Affaires "de Rome,' the worm had only fully writhed itself out, and " wound itself, like the serpent of Eden, round the rind. But it " had been there all along, &c. Often has one heard good men " say in Rome, what a happy escape the church had experienced " from one, who turned out so worthless ! " THE ABBE DE LA MENNAIS ON THE ORDER OF JESUITS. [Extract from " Les Affaires cle Rome," by M. L'Abbe de la Mennais. 1837.] The first part of this Extract is a repetition of what was published in the " L'Avenir," a journal of which the editors were (see p. 83,) the Abbe La Mennais, the Abbe Gerbot, the Abbe Robacher, the Abbe Lacordaire, P. de Poux, Ad. Bartels, The Comte Montalembert, Daguerre, and d'Ault Dumenil. The Pope disapproved, and the Church and the French Government seized and suppressed its publications. On the accession of Gregory the 16th to the Pontificate (he had been a Jesuit) in February 1821, three of the editors went to Rome to present a memorial to the Pope, to declare their opinions, and ask his approbation. These three were (see p. 115) the Comte Montalembert, Lacordaire, and La Mennais. (Page 22.) " But the animosity of the Jesuits was of older "date. They never forgave the following passage in one of " our publications : ' This is neither the time nor the place in * which we ought to judge the company of Jesus, and to seek ' for truth, pure but severe, amidst the calumnies invented by 'hatred, or panegyrics inspired by enthusiasm. Nothing can ' be more absurd, more iniquitous, or more revolting than the 131 'greatest part of the accusations of which they have been the 'objects. No part of society can be found, whose members ' are more worthy to be admired for their zeal and respected ' for their virtues : still we are not of opinion that this institu- ' tion, so holy in itself, is at present exempt from defects and 'inconveniences, of a very serious nature, and that it is 'sufficiently in accordance with the actual state of the world, ' its feelings and its wants : but we repeat, this is neither the ' place nor the time to argue this great question ; and we should < feel the deepest sorrow if any word should fall from us, which 'could afflict these venerable men at the moment, when ' fanaticism and impiety are persecuting the whole Church 'through their name.' " "^Vhen they shall have left this trans- itory scene, Jesuits will become nothing but a subject for history, and its impartial judgment will be obliged to treat them with more severity than we will exercise towards them. If we should endeavour to define the peculiar charac- teristic which has distinguished this society from its first formation, and which has rendered it constantly the object of so much praise and so much blame, we believe it will be found in its original principle of the abnegation of individuality on the part of each of its members, in order to augment the strength and the unity of the body. Among the Jesuits, action, and even thought, is subjected to obedience, and absolute obedience. One chief, called their Greneral, and a few assistants, compose the whole government of the Company. They are its reasons and its will. The rest follow passively, blindly, the impulse that is given to them ; nothing is more forcibly inculcated by the precepts of the founder than is this entire abnegation of self ! Such is the sacrifice requii'ed from each candidate for admission; and what is the consequence? Man may try as he will, it is impossible for him to abjure himself to that degree: his most sincere endeavour for this purpose ends merely in a transfer : he can only displace that, which he endeavours in vain to destroy ; his whole being is only transported into the complicated existence of the society of which he is a member, \vith which he united, and into which he has fused himself. In it he lives ; he loves himself in it k2 132 alone ; and that self-love becomes his first duty, and it becomes more ardent and more active, because it is the only vent, which his conscience allows him for the gratification of his own satisfaction ; and because this being now wholly under the direction of the commands, which have become his only law, unless they should be in direct violation of the laws of God, he has become divested of moral responsibility. Thus, the passions restrained by severe laws, inasmuch as they concern himself, are to him hallowed, but not destroyed or corrected. They pass after a fashion into the service of the body, which directs and employs them to gain its own ends : if its objects are good and honourable, such will also be the aim of each member. But the motive which impels them all is the aggrandizement of the society in reputation, power, wealth, or glory. There is no personal, but great collective ambition ; no personal desire for wealth, but a cupidity and a collective pride that knows no bounds. This renders the society somewhat anti-social. One man, so concentrated in self, would be a model of egotism, and whatever might be his object, he would be a unit separated from the human race ; and such is the Society of the Jesuits : they have an existence apart. Meddling with every thing, they belong to nothing. They raise an undefined but insurmountable barrier between themselves and humanity. They may be touched at all points, but they never unite ; and this is one of the causes of the feeling of vague suspicion, with which they have always been regarded. The effect of this innate ceaseless desire to obtain influence has been to render them often unscrupulous as to the means of obtaining it, and has rendered them liable to imputation of seeking universal dominion. We believe that the dominion they desire to establish is Catholicism, but that this dominion shall be exclusively of their creation ; and whoever should inter- fere in the mission, they have allotted to themselves, and does not humbly range himself under their direction, excites their jealousy, becomes obnoxious to them, and they subject him to a thousand tracasseries and accusations, which they will remorselessly sustain against him. As these men cannot reign in their own society, or exercise 133 upon it the influence they may desire, cither by science or by intellect, they endeavour to act out of it ; they endeavour to circumvent men in power; they steal about kings, and their ministers and favourites, and try to reign through them. To gain them, they intrigue, and fawn, and flatter, and learn to creep rather under the earth than upon the earth, and wind and double in every sense, in order to govern the world by using the sceptre of the masters, &c. Between the despotism they live under, and the despotism which they exercise wherever they can, there is a secret attrac- tion, a natural interchange of sympathy, &c. Never did any one arriving at Rome on important business meet with a less favourable reception.* The Court of Rome does not generally act thus by accident, by caprice, or from mere im- pulse. Let us explain what occasioned this. For twenty years consecutively we employed ourselves to defend the spiritual power of the Pope, and, to speak frankly, wo do not think the cause suffered in our hands. Witness the decay of Gallican principles among the Catholics of France now,t compared with the opinions which existed forty years ago. So long as we confined ourselves to the defence of the spiritual power of Rome, without committing herself to an open approbation, she encouraged our efforts and applauded their success ; and in vain did diplomacy, when our work " On the progress of the Revolution" appeared, solicit some words that might be constructed into disapproval or disavowal ; they were refused. But so soon as we declared wishes which might militate against the system, with which the temporal interests of Rome are connected, and that action had given weight to our wishes, the former benevolence with which we had been regarded, was succeeded by lively irritation. t- See p. 115. t In 1837. 134 aALLICAN OPINIONS. Extracted from the Publications of the Protestant Alliance. [The book from wliich the extracts now published have been made are in the Office of the Protestant Alliance, 7, Serjeants' Inn, Fleet Street, London, and will be produced to any one who desires to verify them.] " Extraits ties Assertions Bangereuses et Pemicieuses, 8fc.," published by the command of the Parliament of France, and presented to the King, March 5, 1762. This collection of ex- tracts, from 147 Jesuit authors of celebrity, was collated and verified by Commissioners appointed by the French Parliament, consisting of five Princes of the blood, four peers of France, seven presidents of the court, thirteen councillors of the grand chamber, and fourteen other functionaries. The decree states that the object of the extracts was "to prove to the king the " perversity of the doctrine, constantly maintained, and without "interruption, by the priests, scholars, and others, styling " themselves of the Society of Jesuits, in a multitude of works " reprinted a great number of times, in public theses, and in "lesson books (cahiers) for the young, from the origin of the " said Society to this very moment, with the approbation of " theologians, the permission of superiors and generals, and the " eulogy of other members of the said Society : a doctrine, the " consequence of which would be to destroy the natural law, " that rule of life which Grod himself has written in the heart " of man ; and, as a natural result, to break all the bonds of " civil society, in authorising theft, lying, perjury, impurity the " most criminal, and, generally, every passion and every crime, "by teaching secret compensation, equivocation, mental re- " servation, probability, and philosophical sin ; to destroy every " feeling of humanity among men, by favouring homicide and " parricide ; to annihilate the royal authority and the principles " of subjection and obedience, by degrading the origin of this " sacred authority, which came from God himself, and by 135 "altering its nature, which chiefly consists in the entire in- " dependence of every power upon earth; to excite by the " abominable doctrine of regicide in the heart of faithful subjects, " and, above all, of those, who compose the French nation, most " lively and well-founded alarms for the safety even of the sacred " person of the kings, under which they have the happiness to " live ; in fact, to overturn the principles and practice of religion, " and to substitute in its stead all kinds of superstition by favour- " iug magic, blasphemy, irreligion, and idolatry." (Extracted from the Publications of the Protestant Alliance.) M, G arnier Pages thus describes the Jesuits : — " In every Italian town, as in every European nation, there was, during 1848, a general rising against the Company of Jesus, whose interference in the dominion of politics has never ceased to be of the most active kind. In the eyes of the people they exist wherever despotism exists, and disappear wherever liberty appears. Auxiliaries of absolute kings, they are the adversaries of all pro- gress. They maintain ignorance, and oppose light. Devoted to the past, they are the enemies of the future ; so much so, that were it possible, they would even prevent time from advancing. They know but one law, one faith, and one morality ; and that law, faith, and morality, they call authority. To a superior they submit life and conscience. To their Order they sacrifice individuality. They are neither French, Italians, Germans, nor Spaniards. They are not citizens of any country. They are Jesuits only. They have but one family, one fortune, and one end, and all three are included in the word Com- munity."* In England, and other countries, the Jesuits exist under differ- ent names, such as the ''Adorers of Jesus/' " Bedempforists," * Quoted in the Mornbiy Star, AprU 19, 1801. 136 " Brothers of the Christian Doctrine," " Brothers of the Congrega- tion of the Holy Virgin,''* " Fathers of the Faith,'' " St. Vincent de Paul,"-f etc. The Jesuit lias adapted himself to the customs, habits, and even religion of the people of a country in order to promote the object of his society. " In a Protestant country he is a Protestant ; in a CathoHc country he is a Catholic ; and in a Mussulman country he is a Mussulman.''^ One of the most powerful and dangerous of these affiliated Jesuitical Societies is that of St. Vincent de Paul ; it has its branches in all parts of the world, and is computed to comprise 700,000 members.^ Its object is ostensibly to benefit the poor ; but it is, in fact, a religio-political organization. It has its local, central, and general councils; quarterly meetings, conferences, fetes, and pilgrimages ; it has passports and circular letters for its members. 1 1 It adapts itself to all classes and conditions — addresses itself to the scholar, the soldier, the mechanic, the apprentice, the labourer, to the mother and the daughter, for all of whom it issues a suitable publication.^ This body, which has proved to be dangerous to the well-being of every State in Europe, is putting forth prodigious efforts in this country, and notwithstanding the law forbids the residence of Jesuits in England,** numerousaffiliatcd societies, together with a provincial of the order, exist here in defiance of the law. * Startling Facts, p. 5, published at the " Express Office," Galway. \ Les Jesidtes, by Charles Habenech, Paris, 1800, p. 22. X Ibid, p. 7. § Ibid, p. ao. II Ihid, p. 27. fBu/, p. 27. * * 9 Geo. iv. c. 7, 137 FREDERICK THE GREAT OF PRUSSIA AND THE JESUITS. 'Extracted from the History of tlio Jesuits, by G. B. Nkot.int. — H. G. Boliu, London, 1854. ^ Chapter XVIIL 1773 — 1814. — The Jesuits during their SuppiiEssioiN. (Page 422.) The Brief of Suppression, as our readers may have seen, made a provision by which the Jesuits might, as secular priests and indi- \dduals, exercise sacerdotal functions, subject of course to the episcopal authority. In consequence, some few of them had settled themselves quietly in different capacities ; others thought to con- ceal the Ignatian device under the new title of Fathers of the Faith, Fathers of the Cross, etc., but the greatest part, the most daring and restless, would not submit to the Brief of Suppression, impugning its validity in a thousand writings, called in question even the validity of Clement's election, whom they called parricide, sacrilegious, simoniac, and considered themselves as still forming a part of the still existing company of Jesus, regardless, as we have shown they always were, of the injuries they may cause to the faith, they declared war against Rome, against the Church, and surpassed even the school of Voltaire in audacity, in mocking, and insulting a virtuous Pope.* Although overwhelmed on every side, they were not daunted, and their courage was still greater than their misfortunes ; driven from those countries, in which they had been nurtured and cherished, and which ought to have been their natural abode, they turned their regard to the camp of their former enemies ; as Themistocles seeking protection from his ungrateful country under the canopy of that Persian throne, which he had shaken and almost destroyed, so those fiery persecutors of all religious sects, which were out of the pale of Rome, and especially -* St. Priest, p. 97. 138 of the Lutheran, had recourse for protection to the Lutheran Frederick of Prussia, and to the schismatic Catherine of Russia ; and we do not hesitate to advance, that had those monarchs, in exchange for some advantages and privileges, asked of them to combat the Papal doctrines, they would not have imitated the Athenian hero, but would have fought against the Roman Catholic religion with the same ardour which they had employed on defending it. . . . We have already seen that Ricci (General of the Jesuits) in his examination confessed that he was in correspondence with his Prussian majesty ; and it is a fact that Frederick, even before the suppression of the Society, proved himself its friend and protector, notwithstanding the reproaches and sneers of his friends and masters, the Philosophers. D'Alembert, above all, assailed the king in all his vulnerable points, but in vain, Frederick remained firm in his purpose of supporting the Jesuits. " They say," wrote D'Alembert on the 16th of June, 1760, to his royal friend, "that the Cordelier, Ganganelli, does not promise sweetmeats (poires molles) to the Society of Jesus, and it may be that St. Francis of Assisi may kill St. Ignatius. It appears to me that the Holy Father, Cordelier as he is, will commit a great blunder in thus disbanding his regiment of guards out of complaisance to the Catholic princes. It seems to me that this treaty resembles much that of the wolves with the sheep, which were obliged by special condition to give up their dogs, every one knows how they fared for this ; however, it will be singular, sire, that while their most Christian, most Catholic, most Apostolic, and most faithful Majesties endeavour to destroy the grenadiers of the most Holy See, your most heretic Majesty should be the only one who ^vishes to preserve them." This letter was written, as may be seen, before the Suppression, and many other missives were addressed to Berlin by D'Alembert after the Brief was issued. When the Jesuits of Silesia, refusing to obey the Papal orders, remained in their convents and houses as before, and acted as if nothing had happened, D'Alembert on the 10th of December, 1773, wrote to Frederick, telling him that he wished that neither he nor his successors might ever have cause to repent of granting an asylum to intriguers, and that these men 139 might prove more faithful than they had been in the last war in Silesia, Another time, sneering at Frederick's condescension, he says, " That he much doubted whether the Jesuits would ever pay his Majesty the honour of admitting him to their Order as they did the great Louis XIY., though he could well have dispensed with it ; and the poor miserable James II., who was much more fit to be a Jesuit than a king." January 1774. And passing from personal arguments to more general considerations, he says, " It is not on your Majesty's account that I dread the re-establishment of these formerly self-styled Jesuits, as the late Parliament of Paris called them. What harm, indeed, could they do to a prince whom the Austrians, the Imperialists, the French, and the Swedes united, have been unable to deprive of a single village ! But I am alarmed, sire, lest other princes who have not the same power that you have to make head against all Europe, and who have weeded out this poisonous hemlock from their gardens, should one day take a fancy to come to you and borrow seed to scatter their ground anew. I earnestly hope your Majesty will issue an edict to forbid for ever the exportation of Jesuitic grain, which can thrive nowhere but on your dominions."* Frederick remained unmoved ; and when the Ptoman Catholic Archbishop of Breslau, thinking it was his duty to see the orders of the Holy See obeyed, attempted to interdict the Jesuits, the king interfered, confiscated the bishopric, and haughtily pro- claimed that the Fathers were under his protection. Then all throughout Silesia sprung up a great number of houses and colleges, and the Jesuits assembled here from all quarters ; it was on this occasion that the old Voltaire, laughing at his quondam disciple's strange conduct, exclaimed that " It would divert him beyond measure to think of Frederick as General of the Jesuits, and that he hoped that this would inspire the Pope with the idea of becoming Mufti."t Pages 427, 428. The accurate and impartial historian of the faU of the Jesuits, in an admirable chapter, explains the conduct of Frederick, in supporting the Jesuits, by the fact that the Prusssian monarch had got angry with the Philosophers, when * D'Alembert to Frederick, April 24, 1774. f St. Priest, p. 144. 140 the latter, not content with, attacking the Christian reHgion, set to work to destroy monarchy, and ridicule every nohle sentiment, which had till then been held sacred. He says that not only Frederick, but almost all the ministers of other princes, if not the princes themselves and the aristocracy, far from restraining the audacity of the Philosophers, had, to follow the fashion, made it a point of honour to encourage and to protect it, "while attacking religion and priestcraft ; but when they (the Philo- sophers) leaving the churches and cloisters, penetrated into the antechambers and state-rooms, and their attacks became personal, then the great world, who had treated Christ and His Apostles with irreverence, would not endure the like towards themselves. He says, moreover, that when the school of D'Holbach produced the too famous work the " Systeme de la Nature," Frederick's indignation knew no bound. In this book, in fact, written by thirty clever, daring, and excited individuals, nothing was left standing ; " Each of them found something to take to pieces ; one began upon the soul ; another the body ; one attacked love, gratitude, conscience : all subjects were examined, dissected, disputed, denied, condemned loudly without appeal. It was a kind of Old Testament, which prefigured the New by types and symbols Frederick read this hideous but prophetic book ; a fatal light gleamed across his mind, and made him dread the future."* All this is admirably well said ; and by the answer, which the King of Prussia made to the " Systeme de la Nature," it clearly appears, that Frederick would not go the length of the new school, and wished to have nothing more to do with them. Chapter XIX., page 436. — Re- establishment. [The Author, after describing the indiscreet haste of the restored Sovereigns of Europe in 1814 to obliterate all traces of the Revolution, thus continues : — ] . . . . " The Jesuits, skilful in profiting by every circumstance, then stepped forward and ofiered to those sovereigns their uncon- ditional services. Already after their suppression, and during the * St. Priest, p. 155. 141 ascendant march of the French Eevolution, they with infinite address had persuaded the different sovereigns, either menaced on their thrones, or already hurled from them, that their over- throw, the crimes, which it is unfortunately true, in a moment of delirium had been committed in the name of liberty, the impious and subversive doctrines which had invaded Europe, and extin- guished every sense of morality and religion, all were to be attributed to the suppression of the Order. They asserted that the Encyclopaedists, after the destruction of the Society, the surest bulwark of the throne and the altar, finding no more opposition, and passing from theory to practice, had caused the revolution and set the whole of Europe in a blazing conflagration, and this is even now repeated by the Fathers and their partisans. We must, before proceeding any further, give the answer Gioberti makes to their assertions. He grants that the Encyclopedists did make the revolution, " But," says he, " the Society by altering and disfiguring, in the opinion of many, the Catholic faith, the morality of the Gospel, the authority of princes, and all those fundamental laws which form the bases of all states and govern- ments, in fact, by substituting for religion their own sect, had shaken all principles of morality, religion, and good government, and had, indeed, brought the Encyclopaedists into existence, the most conspicuous of whom, iu fact, as Voltaire, Diderot, Helvetius, Marmontel, St. Lambert, Lametrie, and many others had issued from Jesuitical colleges, or had had Jesuits as their tutors."* * Vol. III., p. no. 142 HOW THE JESUIT LEAVEN WORKS IN THE UNITED STATES. [Extracted from " The Tablet '' of January 21st, I860.] Religion in Aimerica — Cosmopolitan Almanack, 1860. Baltimore : John Murphy and Co. There is nothing in the history of the world like the progress of the United States, and there is nothing in the progress of the United States like the progress of the Roman Catholic Church. Built on a profoundly Protestant basis, our foundation-stones were not laid without difficulty in the polity of the Pilgrim Fathers. At the time of the Revolution, Maryland was the only State in which it could be said that a Roman Catholic was really and truly on the same legal level with his fellow- citizens. Even in the neighbouring State of Virginia, whose planters to this day retain the marks of the Cavalier, as New England reproduces the type of the Roundhead, the Declaration of Independance found the Irish Penal Code To the Quakers of Philadelphia William Penn wrote it as a reproach, that they even suffered " the scandal of the Mass to be publicly celebrated." .... One relic of those laws does even subsist. In New Hampshire there is a Protestant Test Act by which no Catholic can hold ofiice Bid — There were only 24 priests in the United states when King George the Third recognised their independence ; and in this 84th year of their independence, there are 2235. Perhaps there were a dozen churches, and twice as many stations and chapels of occasional call. There are now 2385 Catholic churches built throughout the Union, equal in dimensions and decorations to the parochial churches of the Old World ; while some of the new cathedrals exhibit the gigantesque character of the country with a solemnity and grace which do not belong to it : but there are besides, 1128 stations and chapels, at which wayfaring priests 143 attend, as often as they can, small and scattered congregations. At the commencement of the century there was one ecclesiastical Province, one Diocese, and one Bishop, in the whole Union. . . . There are now, between Baltimore and San Francisco, seven Archbishops, presiding over seven provinces, which contain 43 suffragan Dioceses, as well as 3 Vicariats Apostolic. Fifti/ years ago, a few Jesuits and Franciscans appeared upon the edge of the backwoods like vidcttes of the great religious orders. . . . There are now in the United States 55 religious houses — 24 of men, 31 of women : they represent nearly all the orders, ancient and modern ; the Benedictine, the Augustinian, the Franciscan, the Dominican, the Jesuit, the Redemptorist, the Passionist, the Oblate — The Sister of the Sacre Cceur to teach, the Sister of Charity and Mercy to visit the Sick; the Sister of the Grood Shepherd to reclaim the abandoned; and, latest type of the original and everlasting energy of the Church, the black Oblate Sisters of Providence and Sisters of the Precious Blood, sitting amid their coloured schools A Protestant authority estimates our present numbers at 3,177,140 : but there is good reason to believe that they amount to at least three millions and a half. At the same time, all the intermediary institutions of the Church — the Confraternities, the Associations, the Conferences into which so much (Roman) Catholic vitality is thrown in an age, whose chief characteristic is its power of organization and combination, are everywhere ramified and gratifying themselves There are 89 colleges and academies of males, some of them Catholic universities with State sanction, and almost all of them worked hy the religious orders. There are 202 female academies also, mainly in connection with conventual institutions .... But the Christian Brothers are in the United States also. The last return states that there are 472 parochial schools, which impart instruction to upwards of 86,000 pupils The Conferences of St. Vincent de Paul are busy on the wharves and in the rugged defiles of embryo western cities. The Catholic Young Men's Society gathers its gradual nucleus to discuss the opinions of Orestes Brown son, or the future of CathoHc interests in America We note with particular interest the spread of Confraternities of Intercessory Prayer, such as in France, Germany, and England 144 have given the Catholic revival of the century the practical faith and the miraculous force of the early Christians. For example, the Bishop of Alton, a new diocese cut out of the south of Illinois, proclaims the establishment of the Arcli-Confrateynitij of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the con- version of sinners throughout the see Applications for faculties may be made to the Bishop, who obtained lately from Paris all the necessary privileges from the venerable founder of the Confraternity But to no son of the Universal Church (than to the American Roman Catholic) is 8t. Ignatius Loyola's advice to the Society of Jesus more applicable—" Pray as if everything depended upon prayer, and act as if everything depended upon action." We cannot say there is great gain of souls in the United States, for as yet there are only reddish streaks of the dawn of a Catholic movement amid the masses of its heretical and infidel population. We know, unhappily, that there has been a great loss of souls born to the Catholic birth- right of the Seven Sacraments (In alluding to the Irish emigrants, the author writes of them) " Those who go, go to join friends, who have a happier homestead The Church, lohich has such a laity — and its Bishops and Priests, are worthy to lead such a party — need not fear for the future, though the soundings are strange and the landmarks dim in that tumultuous tide of fierce democracy. It stands erect amidst the ' debris ' of the Protestant heresy, which, loosed from the prop of European State Establishment, crash against each other like the pack-ice in a Polar sea. The native American mind goes beyond Protestantism. There is Mormonism at the Great Salt Lahe, or the Free Iron Church in the City for the Pagan of the sty. The more philosopldc and spiritual Pagan summons the Devil to turn tables and carry messages to the dead. Protestantism p>roper seems to be con- stantly galvanized into a sort of unnatural life by the art of hysterical revival. Heresy does not decay there as in the Old World. It is in a state of wholesale disentegration, LEADING TOWARDS A ChAOS, OF WHICH IT WILL BE THE ChURCH's work in the course of the next CENTURY TO INIAKE A CoSlVIOS. 145 HOW THE JESUITS CEEPT INTO ENGLAND AND IRELAND ; MR. O'CONNELL'S CONNECTION WITH THEM. [Extracted from " The Jesuits," an Historical Sketch by E.W. Grinfield, m.a. — Seeley, Fleet Street and Hanover Street, London. 1853.] Chapter XII. , p. 296. ■** Nothing can be more instructive at tlie present moment tlian to hear the Jesuit historian (M. Cretineau Joly) describing the reappearance of the Society in England after their long exclusion. He tells us (vol. vi., p. 80) that the English, after having passed through a sea of blood, established that liberty of conscience, which could enable them to re-admit the Jesuits to their shores. He recounts the origin of their missions at Liverpool, Bristol, Preston, and Norwich, and whore they were received, he says without a murmur. Thomas Weld received them, as the Gentle- m.en of Liege, at Lulworth, and afterwards settled them at Stony hurst. All this took place, be it remembered, long before the Jesuits were recalled to Rome. In May, 1803, they prevailed on Pius VII. to sanction their college at Stonyhurst, and appoint Father Mafmaduke Stone the Provincial Rector. On their restoration in 1814, Stonyhurst was formally confided to the Order. ' Pitt,' says the historian, ' had neither time nor will to oppose the re-establishment of the Institute.' No sooner were they established at Stonyhurst than they began to quarrel with the Vicars- ApostoHc. But Milner, the Ultramontane of Win- chester, took part with the Society. This bickering between the Vicars- General and the Jesuits had long been carried on, and will explain the origin of the late revolution by changing the Vicars- General into territorial Bishops. Their admiring historian pro- L 146 ceeds to relate, with a Jesuit smile, the good nature and liberality of the English Parliament in gradually removing their restrictions till everything was consummated by Catholic emancipation. Nor is his account of Ireland less instructive. It was some time before the Society was welcomed in Ireland with the same kindness which it had experienced in Britain. Amidst all her disturbances and miseries the Jesuits, however, according to Cretineau Joly, were her comforters and apostles ; they wiped away her tears and rendered her as happy as O'Connell himself could desire or express. At length Father Kenney, in 1819, was inspired with the idea of establishing Clengowes, near Dublin, a National College. It was then that the voice of their favourite pupil, Daniel O'Connell, was 'first heard in ecstacy. Clengowes was opened in 1822 amidst an applauding multitude. The Society and O'Connell were in perfect harmony. 'The Jesuits,' says Cretineau, * undertook the cause of education, and O'Connell that of freedom.' (Vol, vi., p. 95.) "In 1829 their numbers and influence had so increased, it was judged expedient to form Ireland into a separate Province, under the charge of a district Provincial. Father St. Leger was elected, and they now became the right hand of ultramontane bishops. In 1840 the Jesuits, according to Cretineau Joly, on their third centenary, celebrated their own triumphs with those of Father Matthew. In the following year they opened their college of Francis Xavier in Dublin. Their historian cannot refrain from expressing his admiration and surprise that the Order should have been thus graciously received and welcomed by Protestants, while it had been so roughly treated by Papists." 147 SEVERAL HISTORICAL FACTS CONNECTED WITH THE ORHER OF JESUITS, AND COMMENTS THEREON. [Extracted from the Publications of the Protestant Alliance ; and from a Pamphlet entitled " Startling Facts." — Bulwark, April 1, 1863.] There is every reason to appretend that the subject of Jesuitism, which is at this moment engaging the attention and awakening the alarm of almost all the principal countries in Europe, is but little understood, if not altogether unknown, by the great majority of the people of this country. We would therefore beg attention to the subjoined paper, containing a chronological table, with historical notes, compiled from various sources, and showing at once the countries from which the Jesuits have been banished, and the cause of their expulsion. The annexed statistics will shew how inimical Jesuitism is to every form of government which is not based on its principles. If it was found necessary to expel the Jesuits from Roman CathoHc countries on account of their " dangerous seditions, tumults, dis- cords, scandals, dissensions, entirely breaking up the bonds of Christian charity," (Bull of Suppression, Clement XIV.) — if Jesuitism was so antagonistic to the system which engendered it — what are we to look for as the fruits of that system in a Pro- testant country, the laws and institutions of which are diametrically opposed to the spirit of Jesuitism ? The Jesuits have been expelled — From Saragossa, in .... . 1555 From La Palintine, in .... 1558 From Vienna, in . . . • • 1566 From Avignon, in .... • 1570 From Antwerp, from Portugal and Segovia, in 1578 l2 148 From England, in . . . From England again, in From England again, in From Japan, in . From Hungary and Transylvania, in From Bordeaux, in . . . From the wliole of France,* in . From Holland, in . . . From the city of Touron and Berne, in From England,! in . 1579 1581 1586 1587 1588 1589 1594 1596 1597 1602 * The foUo^^diig are tlie words of the decree, dated 29th December, 1594, for the banishment of the Jesuits from France :— They were declared to be " CORRUPTOBS OF YOUTHS, DISTURBERS OF THE PUBLIC REPOSE, AND ENEMIES OF THE King and State." The following is the account given us of the attempted murder of Henry IV. of France, December, 1594, by his Prime Minister :— " I was present," says the Duke de Sully, " and approached in agony of grief, seeing the King all covered vdih blood The King removed our apprehensions, and we perceived immediately that his lip only was wounded. The parricide was discovered : he was a scholar named John Chatel, and readily answered when he was interrogated, that he came from the college of the Jesuits, ACCUSING those FaTHERS WITH BEING THE AUTHORS OF HIS CRIME." See Vol. ii. page 37. The Parliament of Paris ordered the erection of a column in commemo- ration of this plot, w^liich they declared to have " sprung from the pestdent heresy of that pernicious sect, the Jesuits, who, concealmg the most abomi- nable crimes under the guise of piety, had publicly taught the assassination of kings, and attempted the life of Henry the Fourth." See this famous inscription in De Argintre's History, and many other French histories. t Extract from the decree issued 15th November, 1602, by order of Elizabeth of England, for the banishment of the Jesuits from her do- minions : — She declared that the Jesuits had been " the ad\isers of the new con- spiracies formed against her person, had sought to instigate her subjects to insurrection, had carried on monopolies in order to aid such revolt, had stirred up foreign Princes to associate for her destruction, had engaged in all the affairs of her kingdom, and had undertaken by then- cUscoiu-ses and in their ^^Titings to dispose of her cro^Ti." The following is an extract from the celebrated memorial addressed to jthe Pope by the Roman Catholics of England, in reference to the above 149 From England again, in . . . From Denmark, Thorn, and Venice,* in From Venice again, in . . . From the kingdom of Amura, in Japan, in From Bohemia, in ... . From Moravia, in ... . From Naples and the Netherlands, in . From China and India,f in 1604 1606 1612 1613 1618 1619 1622 1623 decree, found iu 1602, in wliich they complained that " these Fathers were the sole authors of the troubles which agitate the Etvjlish Church ; that before their anival no Catholic had been accused of high treason, but as soon as they appeared eveiything wa'S changed ; that since their poUtical ambition had burst forth they had set a price upon kingdoms, and set up crowns for sale." See tliis memorial more at length in Les Jesuits Criminals de Leige Majesti. * The Jesuits were expelled from Venice in 1606, in consequence of " the Senate having discovered that the Jesuits having availed themselves of THE office of CONFESSION TO DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF FAMILIES and the TALENTS AND DISPOSITIONS OF INDIVIDUALS, BY the SUme PROCESS KNEW THE STRENGTH, RESOURCES, AND SECRETS OF THE STATE, AN ACCOUNT OF WHICH THEY SENT EVERY SIX MONTHS TO THEIR GENERAL BY A PROVINCIAL OR Visitor." — See these facts stated at length in De Thou's History, vol. xii. M. de Canaze, the French Ambassador at Venice, in stating to Henry IV. and his ministers the injuries done by the Jesuits to the Republic, confirms the above facts, as stated by the French Historian De Thou. He says that at Padau and Brescia, where they had not time to bm-n their pajiers, " Me- moirs were found relating rather to the monarchy of the world than to the Kingdom of Heaven" and concludes thus : — " / read of no other reHgious order which has pursued this coui'se : it is for princes and true patriots TO OPEN THEIR EYES." — ScB vol. ih. of liis Letters and Memoirs. f The following explains why the Jesuits were expelled from China and India: — The Secretary to the Congregation de propaganda fide expresses himself thus, ui a memorial presented to the congregation, on the 6th December, 1677, respecting the cruel treatment which the Vicars Apostolic had received from the Jesuits : — " Your Excellencies will have learnt from statements and letters trans- mitted by confidential hands, and fi'om the last accoimts on the subject of which you have akeady received a copy, that the Jesuits' persecutions of the Vicars Apostolic and thek Missionaries have always continued fi.-om the commeucement to this horn- ; that the Jesiuts have never ceased to thwart 150 From Malta, iu . From Russia, in . From Savoy, in . From Paraguay,* in From Portugal,! in 1634 1723 1729 1733 1759 and obstinict the Mission in the kingdoms of Torqiiiu, Cochia China, Cam- brya, and Syam ; in a word, in every place where these Fathers resided." The Jesuits have not contented themselves with persecuting the Mission- aries of the Holy See in the East ; they have done the same in Europe, at the Com-t of France and that of Spain, at the Court of Portugal, in Flanders, and even at Rome, so that this persecution is not the worh of individuals alone, but of the whole Society, and there is little doubt that the General of the Society had his share in it." See tliis memorial at the beginning of the 7th vol. of Anecdotes stir les Affaires de la Chine. * From a statistical table of the Missionary towns of the Jesuits in Para- guay, drawn up at the time of their expulsion in 1733, it appears that the items of their temporalities in man and beast were as follows : — Familles Souls ... Farm Cattle ... Oxen ... Horses Mares Mules Asses ... Sheep ... Goats ... , See Robertson's Letters on Paraguay, ii. 50, Appendix. + Extract from the manifesto of the King of Portugal, addressed to the bishops of his kingdom, in 1759, page 41 : — " It cannot be but the licentiousness introduced by the Jesuits, in which the tlu'ee grand features are, falsehood, murder, and peijury, should not give a new character to the morals of the Externi, as the Jesuits call those who are not of tlieu- order, as well as the internal government of the Nostri, or their own body. In fact, since these Rehgions have introduced into Christian and Civil Society those perverted doctrines wluch render murder innocent — wliich sanctify falsehood — authorise perjury — deprive the laws of their power — destroy the submission of subjects — allow individuals the liberty of calum- niating, killing, lying, and forswearing, as their consciences may dictate, which remove the fear of human and divine laws, and permit a man to redress 88,864 724,093 46,936 34,725 64,353 13,905 7,505 . 230,384 592 151 From France again, in .... 1764 From Spain and the Two Sicilies, in . . 1767 From the Duchy of Parma and Malta, in . 1768 FromallChristendombythebullofClementxiv.,*inl773 his own grievances 'without applying to the magistrate, it is easy to see, with- out much penetration, that Christian and Civil Society could not subsist Avithout a mii-acle. It was to be expected that such pernicious maxims would most effectually dissolve the strongest bonds wliich could be found for pre- serving the commerce and luiion of mankind." * Extract from the Bull of Suppression of Clement the 14th : — " I have omitted no care no pains, in order to amve at a thorough know- ledge of the origin, the progi-ess, and the actual state of that regular Order, commonly called the ' Company of Jesus.' " After so many storms, troubles, and divisions, eveiy good man looked forward with impatience to the happy day which was to restore peace and tranquillity. But under the reign of this same Clement XIII., the times became more difficult and tempestuous. Complaints and quarrels were multiplied on every side. In some places dangerous seditions arose — ^tumults, discords, dissensions, scandals, which weakening or entirely breaking the bonds of Christian charity, excited the faitliful to all the rage of party hatreds and enmities. Desolation and danger grew to such a height, that the very sovereigns whose piety and liberality towards the Company were so well known as to be looked upon as hereditary in their families— we mean our dearly-beloved sons in Christ the kings of France, Spain, Portugal, and Sicily — found themselves under the necessity of expelling and driving FROM THEIR STATES, KINGDOMS, AND PROVINCES THOSE VERY COMPANIONS OF JESUS, persuaded that there remained no other remedy to so great evils ; and this step was necessary, in order to prevent the Christians from rising one agaiast another, and massacring each other hi the very bosom of our common mother the Holy Church. Agam, he speaks of the following Popes as having censured the Order :— Urban \'ii., Clement ix. x. xi. and xii., Alexander vii. and viii.. Innocent ix. xii. and xiii., and Benedict xiv. He also charges the Society with " adopting certain idolatrous ceremonies in certam places, in contempt of those justly approved by the Catholic Church." And he then proceeds :— " After a mature deliberation, we do of our cer- tain knowledge, and the fubiess of om- apostoUc power, SUPPPtESS AND ABOLISH THE SAID COMPANY. We dt^prive it of all activity what- ever—of its houses, schools, colleges, hospitals, lands, and in short of every place whatsoever in whatever kingdom or province they may be situated. We abrogate and annul its statutes, rules, customs, decrees, and constitutions, even though confirmed by oath and approved by the Holy See or otherwise. 152 During the period of their suppression (from 1773 till 1814) the Jesuits assumed various names and characters — such as " Adorers of Jesus," " Eedemptorists," "Brothers of the Christian Doctrine," " Brothers of the Congregation of the Holy Virgin," " Fathers of Faith," etc. etc. They were expelled : — From Russia, in . . . . . 1776 From France, in ..... 1804 From one of the Swiss Cantons (Grisson), ahout the year ...... 1804 From Naples, in . . . . . . 1810 From France again, in .... 1806 On the 7th of August, 1814, Pius VII. ordered the public reading^ of the bull in which he restored the " Order of Jesuits." He asserts in it that he restores the Order at the warmest request of the whole Catholic world ; while, in truth, France, Germany, and Holland only learnt for the first time, from the Papal bull itself, that they had ever evinced an anxiety for their restoration. It is even a notorious fact that the Emperor Francis I. shewed great reluctance to comply with the Papal bull, and that also the Prince Regent of Portugal and Brazil (afterwards King John VI.) had formally protested (1815) against the restoration of the Order, and openly declared that he would never tolerate the Jesuits in his dominions, nor even enter into negotiations with the Holy See on the subject. It was, in fact, only Spain, Italy, and a few of the cantons of Switzerland that rejoiced at the restoration of the Order, and for some years afterwards it was indeed only in these countries legally acknowledged by the State, while in the rest of Europe the govern- ments were extremely slow in complying with the Holy Father's will. For further particulars the reader is referred to Dr. Michelson's work on " Modern Jesuitism." We declare all and all kind of authority, the general, the provincials, the visitors, and other superiors of the said Society, to be for ever annulled and extinguished, of what nature soever the authority maybe, as weU in things spiritual as temporal." See the entire BuU, translated in the " Advocate " for 1815, vol. iii. page 153, &c. &c. 153 The following table shows the countries from which the Jesuits have beeu expelled from the time of their restoration in 1814 to the present moment : — From Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Canton ofSoleure, in 1816 From Belgium, in .... . 1818 From Brest by its inhabitants, in October . 1819 From Russia for ever, 20th March* . . 1820 From Spain in 1820 From the Cathedral at Bouen, by the people, in March ...*.. 1825 From all the public and private schools in Belgium, in September . . . 1826 From Eight Colleges in France, 16 th Junef . 1828 From Great Britain and Ireland, April 13th:J: 1829 From France ...... 1831 From entering Saxony, by a law passed in September ...... 1831 From Portugal, 24th of May . . . 1834 From Spain, in July ..... 1835 From Rheims, by its inhabitants, December . 1838 From entering Lucerne .... 1842 * Extract from the celebrated ukase issued by the Emperor Alexander of Russia, dated 13th of March, 1820, ordermg the banishment of the Jesuits for ever from Ms dominions : — " They, the Jesuits, plant a stern intolerance in the minds of then- votaries . . . They destroy social happiness by dividing families. Their efforts are du'ected solely to their own interest and promotion ; and their statutes furnish their consciences with a justification of every refractory and illegal action." t From eight Colleges — namely, Aix, Billon, Dole, Forcalquier, Montmo- lillon, St. Acheul, and St. i\jin. To this decree, for expeUiug the Jesuits from the above-named Colleges, Pope Leo XII. declares that " he saw m those decrees no violation of the episcopal rights ; and that he did not there- fore think hiniseK justified in forcing itpon France ecclesiastical societies, which had been expelled by the law of the land." : Extract from the " Relief Bill," of 1829, 10 Geo. 4, cap. 7-29—" And be it further enacted, that if any Jesuit or member of any such religious order, community, or society as aforesaid, shall, after the commencement of tliis Act, come into this realm, he shall be deemed and taken to be guilty of 154 From Lucerne for ever, 13th of February From France again .... From the whole of Switzerland, 6th September 1845 1845 1847 From Bavaria, 17th February . . .1 From their establishments in Sardinia, 2nd March ...... From Naples, 11th of March From the Papal States, on the 29th of March From Linz, 10th April .... From Vienna, on the 16th April . . Y 1848 From Styria and the Arch-Duchy of Austria, May 8th From the Austrian Empire, 8th May . From Galicia in the month of July From Sardinia, on the 19th of July, and From Sicily, on the 21st of July . . . j From Paraguay, on the 28th of June* . . 1858 From several Italian States .... 1859 And from Sicily, in Junef .... 1860 The following important extract is taken from the Quarterly Review, No. 134, p. 586. " No country could ever yet tolerate Jesuits in its bosom without certain destruction. Even Romanism itself, again and again, by the mouth of Pomish bishops, and Romish sovereigns, and the misdemeanoiu", and being thereof lawlully convicted, shall be sentenced AND ORDERED TO BE BANISHED FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM FOR THE TERM OF H[S NATURAL LIFE." * The following are the words of the decree for the banishment of the Jesuits from Paraguay, in 1858 : — "Article 1. The decree of the 28th of Jnne, 1858, is abrogated. 2. The Fathers of the Company of the Jesuits shall leave the territory of the Re- public witliin the shortest space possible, and not return without special permission of the Government." + The following decree was published at Palermo, in June, 1860, for the banishment of the Jesuits from the Island of Sicily : — " Considering the Jesuits and Leguorians have, during the said period of Bovu'bon domination, been the most energetic abettors of despotism, in vii'tue of the powers conferred upon me, it is decreed the corporation of regulars existing in Sicily under the difi'erent names of society and houses of Jesuits 155 wisest and best of Romish philosophers and Romish universities, and Popes themselves, has warned us of the fact." REMARKS. The list of expulsions, as here given, was published in some of our metropolitan papers. It is simply a statement of facts which have not, and cannot, be contradicted. One of the first questions which these expulsions would naturally suggest is, Why have the Jesuits been expelled these Roman Catholic countries ? and why have we not heard of the expulsion or suppression of other orders ? The answer to this question is furnished by the extract from Pope Clement's Bull, namely, that Jesuitism is productive of " seditions, tumult^, discords, dissensions, scandals;" that it is calculated to cause Roman Catholics to *' massacre each other in the very bosom of their common mother the Church; " that it introduces idolatrous maxims into the Church. But it may be said — follow the Jesuit in his daily life ; you see a man energetic in preaching the tenets of the Catholic faith, making himself conspicuous only in the chapel, taking no part in social or political life, and, apparently, only living admajorem dei gloriam (to the greater glory of God), and for the good of immortal souls. Now the difficulty connected with this objection is. How can their expulsion from Roman Catholic coun- tries, the dark and hideous picture drawn by Clement the 14th, twelve other Popes, the King of Portugal, the Universities and Parliaments of Europe, and other distinguished Roman Catholics, be reconciled with the apparent character of the Jesuits ? Shall we say that Clement and the other Popes were odious monsters, deserving eternal execration for fabricating this huge calumny ? that his most Catholic majesty was most mendacious and vindictive ? Shall we say that other eminent Roman Catholics who are generally considered to have been ornaments of their Church, were only engaged in continual warfare with virtue and piety ? aye, that even whole nations rose up against their spiritual guides — against men who willingly gave up every earthly tie, all and of the Redemption, are dissolved, the individuals composing them ai'e expelled from the Island, and their estates amiexed to the dominions of the State." 156 the pleasures and enjoyments of life solely for their benefit, and that merely because the morality of these teachers shone out with superior lustre ? Or shall we say that the Jesuits are the secret and sworn enemies of all law and order ; that in proportion to the magnitude of their designs is the religious hypocrisy with which they deceive their votaries ; that they value neither doctrines, persons, nor things, further than these tend to the interest of their Order ; and that they set before themselves a design of no less importance than to enslave the soul and body of every human being ? Any person who is even partially acquainted with the real history of the company will not hesitate to adopt the latter view of the question. He will have ample testimony to bear him out from their history in South America, where they endeavoured to establish a government entirely under their own authorit5^, and ranked human beings among their various kinds of property. " In 1848 the Genoese Jesuits declared to government that they were willing to send to the field 700 bayonets at their own cost." In 1832 they raised a force of 100,000 men on the Spanish frontier for the ostensible purpose of protecting the territory from the yellow fever, but in reality to commence operations, on the first opportu- nity, against Spain. The yellow fever pretext was accepted by the Spanish ministers as a sufficient apology (so much for the influence of Jesuitism upon the national mind), but when the time for action arrived, the Jesuits declared their real object, and imme- diately established an absolute monarchy. We are also credibly informed, that some of their first apostles in India professed to be ancient Brahmins. We have then, from the writings of the Jesuits themselves, ample proof of what Clement 14th, the King of Portugal, and others asserted respecting them. These things being so, it becomes a question of vital importance whether Roman Catholics or Protes- tants should encourage these secret disturbers of the peace and order of society. A Jesuit mission was, not long since, established in Gralway. Doubtless many Roman Catholics who had an opportunity of being acquainted with the history of the Order, and who, therefore, with their Protestant brethren, regarded the advent of some of its members with no small share of suspicion, are from a personal 157 acquaintance with these crafty and insinuating men, beginning to change their opinion, and to look up to them with feeling of admi- ration and reverence. We entreat such of our Roman-Catholic fellow-countrymen as may be disposed to repose unwavering confi- dence in the Jesuits, to suspend their judgment till they shall have obtained a knowledge of the doctrines which these men intend to disseminate in this country. Immediately on the Jesuits having transgressed our national law, which forbids their existence in this country, the peace and harmony which existed among Eoman Catholics and Protestants is broken up. Agrarian outrages, elec- tioneering disturbances, a fierce persecution against Protestants, and Phoenix conspiracies are multiplied. They have not ceased to work their secret machinery, till they have outraged not only the feelings of Protestants, by an unheard-of systematic kidnapping which they effect through their misguided and fanatic votaries, but also have endeavoured to wrest from the hands of Roman CathoHcs parental authority, by prescribing for them a system of secular education, and endeavouring to coerce them to give up that of the National Board and Queen's University, against which there has been, hitherto, no objection ; and all this because Protestants and Roman Catholics study in the same halls. Jesuitism is, then, not merely an enemy to Protestants and free institutions, but to every Roman. Catholic who dares to think for himself in matters either sacred or secular, and the only restraints that are laid upon them in this country, and which prevent them from running into excesses of temporal and spiritual despotism similar to those in which they indulged in Italy, are those that are laid on by a constitutional government, which tolerates them when they are expelled Roman Catholic countries— and the freedom, action, and opinion of such distinguished men as the Peters and Barrys, who appreciate too highly the freedom they enjoy as British subjects to bow their neck to the yoke which the Italians lately cast off. Nor is this opposition which Jesuitism or Ultramontanic tyranny encounters confined to individuals. We find Roman- Catholic papers — organs of the opinions of, at least, an important and influential section of the Romish Church, boldly and independently opposing this daring aggression upon their liberties. We copy from the Galicay Vindi- cator of the 9th of May the following very pointed remarks : " We 158 speak with the most perfect respect for the opinions, and most willingly grant the purity of motives by which they are actuated ; but the question of the education of our children, of the collegiate training of our sons and relatives, is one of too much vital impor- tance to all concerned for fathers of families to sacrifice their own notions of right, and of tohat should constitute intellectual superiority, to the reasonings of other men." In reference to the foreign enlistment now going on in Ireland by the Ultramontane party, in order to compel by force of arms their co-religionists in Italy to submit to a government which they have found by bitter experience to be utterly intolerable, the Cork Reporter, a Roman-Catholic paper, says : — " What right, in such circumstances, has any foreigner to join it (the Pope's army), and to assist in imposing on the subjects of the Pope a system of rule to which they object ? If it be alleged that they do not object to it, then surely he can have no difficulty in recuiting his ranks at home. If the government be satisfactory, why do not the Romans fight for it ? If it be unsatisfactory, on what pretence can Irishmen force it on a reluctant people ? " These are the arguments of Roman Catholics. They are unan- swerable arguments ; arguments of men who will not be swayed or intimidated by the presence of a strong Jesuit faction, or the fulminations of an ultramontane press : men who are willing to extend the same rights and privileges to others which they them- selves enjoy : and, surely, to such enlightened individuals, whatever their religious convictions in other matters may be, their Protestant fellow-countrymen can extend the right hand of fellowship, and live with them in social harmony. But we solemnly warn both Roman Catholic and Protestant, if they would not have society disorganised — ^if they value the first principles of mo rality, but, above all, if they would be zealous for the glory of God, let them demand the enforcement of that statute, the " Relief Bill," against these men who falsely call themselves the Society of Jesus, but whose mission is to subvert the plainest commands of God's blessed "Word, &c. 159 AN ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY By JOHN LAWRENCE MOSHEIM, D.D., CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVEESITY OF GOTTINGEN. Translated by the Rev. Archibald Maclure, M.A., Minister of the English Church at the Hague. London : A. Millar, 1765. Vol, II. p. 94. Their (the Jesuits) whole Order is divided into three classes : the first comprehends the professed members, who live in what are called professed houses; the second contains the scholars, who instruct the youth in the colleges; and to the third belong the novices, who live in the houses of probation. The professed members besides the three ordinary vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, that are common to all monastic tribes, are obhged to take a fourth, by which they bind themselves to go icithont deliberation or delay wherever the Pope shall think ft to send them : they are also a kind of Mendicants, being without any fixed subsistence, and living upon the liberality of pious and well-disposed people. The other Jesuits, and more particularly the scholars, are possessed of large revenues, and are obliged, in case of urgent necessity to contribute to the support of the professed members. These latter who are few in number considering the multitudes that belong to the other classes, are, generally speaking, men of prudence and learning, deeply skilled in the afi'airs of the world, and dexterous in transacting all kinds of business from long experience. In a word, they are the true and perfect Jesuits. The rest have, indeed, the title, but are rather the companions and assistants of the Jesuits than real members of that mysterious Order, and it is only in a very vague and general sense that the denomination of Jesuits can be applied to them. What is still more remarkable, the secrets of the Society are not 160 revealed even to all the 2yrofessed members. It is only a small number of this class, whom old age has enriched with thorough experience, and long trial declared worthy of such an important trust, that are instructed in the mysteries of the Order.* (Note to Page 96.) "The character and spirit of the Jesuits were admirably described, and their transactions and fate foretold, with a sagacity almost prophetic, so early as the year 1551, in a sermon preached in Christ Church, Dublin, by Doctor George Brown, Bishop of that See, a copy of which was given to Sir James Ware, and may be found in the Harleian Miscellany, (Vol. Y. p. 566.) The remarkable pas- sage that relates to the Jesuits is as follows : " 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 the truth, and shall come very near to do it. " For these sorts will turn themselves into several forms ; " with the Heathen a Heathenist, with the Atheists an Atheist, " with the Jews a Jew, with the Reformers a Peformade, pur- " posely to know your intentions, your minds, your hearts, and " your inclinations, and thereby bring you at last to be like " the fool that ' said in his heart there ivas no God.' These " shall spead 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 them that they shall become " odious to all nations : so that at the end they shall be " worse than Jews, having no resting-place upon earth ; * Other writers add a 4tli class, consisting of the spiritual and temporal coadjutors, who also assist the professed members, and jierform the same fimctions, without being bound by any more than the three simple vows ; though after a long and approved exercise of theu- employment, the spmtual coadjutors are admitted to the 4th vow, and thus become professed members. 161 " and then shall a Jew have more favour than a Jesuif." This singular passage — I had almost said prediction — seems to be accomplished in part by the present suppression of the Jesuits in France. I write this note in the year 1762 ; and by the universal indignation which the perfidious stratagems, iniqui- tous avarice, and ambitious views of that Society have excited among all the orders of the French nations from the throne to the cottage. WATCH !I! M A TRANSLATION OF THE IjETTER fhojm the pope TO THE AKCHBISHOr OF PAlllS, Dated Bo7ne, Octohcr 26th, 1865, And published in tlie Appendix to a Eeport to the Electors of the 3rd Circle of the Seine. Hv EMILE OLLIVIEll. PAKIS, 1869-LIBEAIEIE IXTEKNATIOXAL, No. 15, BOVLEVARD MoNTMAUTIli:. APPENDIX. APPEjS^DIX.* Fojje Phis IX. to the Venerable Brother Georges, Archbishop of Paris : — at Paris. Venerable Brother, Apostolic Blessing and Benediction. By a letter written with our own hand, addressed to you on the 24th of November last year, you might easily have been convinced of our paternal benevolence towards you. Certainly Ave entertained the sure hope, that, touched by our heartfelt love for you, you would have heartily responded to our affectionate * In my lirst edition I suppressed tlie letter of the Pope to the Archbishop of Paris, not from any feeUng of indecision, but from the fear of committing what might be considered as au iudehcacj'. I am now better instructed, and know that this document is not a private letter but an official act, an act of the Chancery of Rome, and therefore Uable and open to discussion. I give the Geneva translation, which I have collated with the Latin text, and find to be perfectly exact. It contams only two or three omissions, wliich I have supphed ; and to show the parts which are n>!/ iranslatioit, I have had them printed in italics. m2 164 feelings, and that you would have willingly fulfilled our wishes, and given manifest proofs of your respect and devotion to our person and to the vSec of Peter, as is so becoming in a Catholic Prelate. We had hoped this the more, because you had taken care, when you were designated for the Archiepiscopal See of Paris, to address a letter to us, in which you professed the highest attachment to our person and to the Apostolic See, and also the most entire respect for ourselves personally and for the said See. Filled with this hope, we thought fit in a letter which we wrote to you, and which we now recall to your recollection, not to say one word of the letter which you had yourself addressed to us in the same year in the calends of September, in answer to that of ours of the 26th of the preceding April, upon the subject of some circumstances connected with your diocese. Such a letter written by you has been a subject of no slight astonishment and disappointment to us; for, contrary to our hopes, it has made us understand that you entertain opinions which are entirely opposed to the divine supremacy of the Roman Pontiff over the Universal Church. You do not hesitate to maintain that the power of the Roman Pontifi' over the episcopal dioceses is neither ordinary nor direct. It is your opinion that the Roman Pontiff cannot impose his authority over any diocese, excepting only when that diocese shall be found in such disorder and difficulty, that this intervention becomes the only means for the salvation of the souls, and for the negligence of its pastors. You think that the divine right, in virtue of which the bishop is the sole judge in his own diocese, is completely set aside as soon as the Sovereign Pontiff (except in the case of evident necessity already described) interferes in the affairs of that diocese. It is your opinion that a canonically constituted diocese, in which the hierarchy is regularly appointed, is converted into a missionary country from the moment that the Roman Pontiff — unless it is in the position already described — exercises his authority over it. Besides, and especially, in your speech in the Senate you attacked, as abuses, appeals to the Apostolic See. You contest the right, which all the faithful enjoy, of appealing to the Roman Pontifi', and you say that this right impedes the 165 administration of a dioceso and renders it almost impossible. Moreover, while not hesitating to broach such a doctrine, you openly and distinctly declare the means which you intend to employ to maintain it. For you intimate that you are resolved to resist to the utmost of your power, and to take measures to prevent, unless in the case of absolute necessity before stated and often repeated, the direct intervention of the Sovereign Pontiff from ever taking place. You pretend that the conduct of the Regulars of the Nunciature and of the Roman congregation has had no other intention than to bring the direct intervention of the Sovereign Pontiff into all dioceses ; and you say, moreover, that you will cither excite your venerable brethren, the Heads of the priesthood of France, to join in the same opinions ; or else appeal to the public by means of an instruction addressed to them for that purpose. You have even dared in your speech before the Senate, to propose several measures contrary to the supreme authority of the Sovereign Pontiff and of the Holy See, namely those which consist in withholding the apostolic letters, and submitting them to the approval and consent of the civil authority, and in having recourse to the power of the laity. In the same speech, which was immediately printed, treating of the organic articles,* you acknowledged the obligation of allowing them some measure of authority and some respect, because they relate to a pre- existent necessity and a grave con- dition of society! You are not, however, ignorant that the Apostolic See has never failed to protest against these articles published by lay power and contrary to the doctrine of the Church, to its rights, and to its liberties. No, Venerable Brother, we never could have supposed that you would be animated by such opinions, if, to our deep grief, your letter of September, and the speech already mentioned, had not proved it. We cannot but be deeply afflicted and greatly agitated, when we find you so unexpectedly * The " orgnnic articles" here objected to by the Pope are those of the Dechtration of the french clergij ; wliich is m fact their " Bill of Eights," and forms an essential part of the Concordat entered into with France by the Roman Pontifl'.— Translator. 166 favouring the false and erroneous doctrines of Febronius, which, as you well know, have been reprobated and condemned by the Holy See ; and which have been refuted and overthrown by various Catholic writers, in the most learned works. You, Venerable Brother, can easily understand the astonishment with which we were overwhelmed when fully assured that you had enunciated such opinions, so contrary to Koman Catholic doctrine, and which for that cause alone, as a Catholic bishop, you ought to have rejected with horror. Thus, for example, by asserting that the power of the Eoman Pontiff over each diocese in parti- cular is not ordinary but extraordinary, you enunciate a proposition entirely contrary to the definition of the 4th Council of Lateran, in which we read these very clear and decisive words : — " The Church of Rome, by the will of God, has over all others the supremacy of ordinary power, and that as the mother and mistress of all the faithful,"* — that is to say, over all who belong to the flock of Christ. You ought. Venerable Brother, to have well known and carefully examined these decisive words pronounced by the Council. You cannot but know that your proposition above cited is contrary to the common usage of the Catholic Church, to the doctrine received and transmitted from age to age by the Church and all the bishops even until this day, a doctrine which the Church has always held and taught, and which it teaches and holds. She asserts that those inspired words — " Feed my sheep, feed my lambs," were said by our Lord Jesus Christ to the blessed prince of the Apostles in the sense, that by virtue of these words all the faithful, each and every one, remain in immediate subjection to Peter, and to his successor, as the Supreme Head and Ordinary over the whole Church and over all religion, even as they are all and every one submitted to our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the Roman Pontiff is the veritable Vicar on earth, tbc head of the whole Church, father and teacher of all Christians. "We are not less astonished — but perhaps it escaped your observation — that you adopt the opinions of Febronius, in * St, Thomas, Question 20, Art. 0. 167 maintaining that by the above-mentioned doctrine, the dioceses would find themselves transformed into missionary countries, and their bishops into vicars apostolic. But all know the contrary, and Catholics will rightly answer that this assertion is as false as if you were to affirm that in the civil state ordinary governors of provinces could no longer call themselves ordinary magistrates, iDecause kings and emperors reserve to themselves the plenitude of their power, either immediate or ordinary, over all and each of their subjects ; and it is in fact this very logical comparison which is made use of by the Angelic Doctor, when he says, " The Pope holds the plenitude of Pontifical power as a king in his kingdom. But the bishops, as the judges set over each city, assume a portion of those cares which devolve upon him ! "* We are astonished also, Venerable Brother, at your complaints that petitions and appeals should be addressed to the Sovereign Pontifi" of Eome, and that he should receive them ; for being a Catholic bishop you ought to know perfectly well that the right of appeal to the Apostolic throne, as was said by Benedict the 14th, our predecessor of immortal memory, "is so necessarily tied up with the judicial supremacy of the Roman Pontiff over the Universal Church, that it can never be questioned, unless it is pretended to deny absolutely all supremacy."t The right is so well known by all the faithful, that St. Gelasius, also our predecessor, has written, " There is no Church on earth which does not acknowledge that the See of the blessed Peter has the power to loose that which has been bound by the sentence of any bishop whatsoever, because to it alone belongs the right of judging all the Church, nor is any one permitted to pronounce a judgment against its decision. To that See the Canons have decided that we must appeal from all the countries of the globe, and no one has any right to appeal from its judgment to any other.":}: Thus you have thrown us into astonishment when you assert that the custom practised by the Apostolic See, of receiving the * St. Thomas, Question 2G, Art. 3. t Benedict XIV. Diocesan Synod, Book iv. chap. v. to \m. X Seventh Letter to Bishop Darden. 168 complaints of those who appeal to it from the judgments of bishops, renders the administration of a diocese impossible to you. Such an impossibility no Catholic bishop, either of the present or past time, has ever perceived. If this pretended impossibility could ever have existed, it is the Roman Pontiff who must have felt it ; he, who we may say is oppressed in every sense by the heavy charge of all the Churches, is obliged to receive the petitions from every diocese in the world, to examine them carefully, and decide everything. It could never have been felt by a simple bishop, who was only obliged to answer for the affairs of his own diocese, always a very small portion of the Universal Church. Your complaints against the right of appeal to the Eoman Pontiff, and against the ordinary and direct jurisdiction of that same Pontiff over all dioceses, excites our astonishment the more, because every bishop possessing a generous mind draws from that right and jurisdiction, as you yourself can prove, for a great alleviation of his cares, a consola- tion and power before God, before the Church, and before the enemies of the Church. Before God : — because, being relieved in great measure from his responsibility, and of the account which he has to render, illuminated by the blessed light of the Apostolic See, he feels himself day by day better directed to a happier administration of his diocese. Before the Church : — for by that means he sees it daily fortified and rendered more flourishing, both by increasing union and by increased firmness and unity of government. Before the enemies of the Church : — because the Bishop becomes more courageous and more constantly opposed to them. It is a matter of experience, and perfectly demonstrated, that the bishop not only loses his power, but becomes the plaything of his adversaries, as soon as he adheres less firmly to the immutable rock on which Christ our Lord has built His Church, and against which the doors of hell shall never prevail. ' As to the declaration which you have made of your determina- tion to resist, and to excite other bishops to adopt your quarrel, and to appeal to public opinion, do you not see that by such means, most assuredly seditious, prepared by Febronius against 169 the Apostolic See, you deeply offend against the Divine Author of the constitution of his Church, and inflict the greatest injurj- on your colleagues and on the Catholic people of France ? Now, as to the question of Regulars : — know in the first place that these Regulars have given us no information ; that it is hy another source that we have heard of the visit which you made to them. On that suhject we amicahly warned you in our before-mentioned letter, of the 26th of April, and that warning you are pleased to call a scnfcnce passed without a hearmj, and you add that it is- contrary to the presumption of right which you think exists in favour of the superior, when there is a controversy between the superior and the inferior, which the Regulars are with respect to you. We can scarcely believe that it was you who spoke thus, Venerable Brother, considering that the Book of Decretals of our predecessors are so well known to you, and consequently you know that from the earhest times it has been the custom of the Roman Pontiffs, on hearing that a bishop had committed an action which had not a perfectly desirable appearance, to write to him fully upon the subject, and explain to him their sorrow on the occurrence. And there are in existence numberless canons which begin in the following terms — "It is related to us," "a complaint has been made to us," " at our audience," " to ourselves," etc., and the bishops have never considered that those letter's from the Roman Pontiff were sentences passed without hearing the party implicated. They have never expressed any irritation in consequence, but have always received them in the sense in which they were written, — that is to say, as an invitation to justify their conduct, or to acknowledge themselves in error, or to disavow it entirely. Any other manner of acting would render the government of the Church too difficult for the vicar of Christ on earth, and would not be sufficiently conformable to episcopal gentleness. We are afflicted. Venerable Brother, that you should have fallen into any ambiguities concerning the affairs of the Regulars. But in the first place we would wish you to consider, with your usual sagacity, that we are now treating of the episcopal visit, made whether to the Society of Jesus, or to the Franciscans of the Order of Capuchins, who have resided in the city of Paris 170 under several bishops, your predecessors, enjoying the peaceable possession of their exemption ; and, in consequence, the Holy Apostolic See itself was in the enjoyment of its peculiar and separate right of jurisdiction over these same Eegulars. Thus it becomes a question of spoliation, accomplished by an act destructive of the privileges of the Holy See and the Regulars. Such is the real state of the question : whence you will easily perceive that the Apostolic See would act with justice, even if it was pleased to convert into a judgment or a sentence, the terms in which we have thought proper to make it known to you. In truth. Venerable Brother, even if you were im\fectly right as to the facts, you are nevertheless not ignorant, that according to the rules of either of these kinds of rights, no one can be violently deprived of a right of which he is in possession. For which reason, before proceeding to deprive either the Regulars or the Holy See of their status and of their rights, propriety as well as justice requires that you should have informed the Holy See of the reasons, and you should have awaited its answer. You know very well the difference which exists between a judgment demanded, and a judgment obtained, and what either right enjoins, particularly in aU that concerns judgments of either class. We earnestly desire, Venerable Brother, you would in your great prudence examine these points with care, and weigh them in your mind. You believe, moreover, that presumption ought always to exist in favour of the superior when it relates to a debate between persons of different stations; and you therefore propose a rule very different to that proposed by St. Bernard in the following terms to our predecessor Innocent II. : — " In all that dis- tinguishes your sole supremacy, that which it ennobles it most especially, and that which renders your apostolate most peculiarly illustrious, is that you can rescue the poor from out of the hands of those more powerful than themselves."* But you say the religious communities who live at Paris cannot enjoy this exemption because, as it appears to you, they have not been canonically established, and that for three reasons — Firstly, because the law of the State allows the Regulars no legal * St. Bernard, 198. 171 existence; secondly, because the same law does not permit religious houses to hold property or possessions of any kind ; from which it follows that it is impossible to fulfil the orders of the Apostolic constitutions, — that is to say, that before the foun- dation of a religious house it must bo proved that they are in possession of a revenue sufficient for their decent support ; and lastly, because the Council of Trent and the constitutions of the Roman Pontiffs require, for the canonical existence of Regulars in any diocese, the consent of the bishop, which you affirm has never been given to the persons in question. You also affirm, that the fact of their previous existence cannot in any way render their position canonical under the pretext of implied approbation ; for, according to your opinion, the constitutions of the Pontifical See and the Council of Trent demand that the consent and authorisation should be formally expressed by a written license made before the establishment of the Regulars. Thus, according to you, the consent cannot be supposed to be given under the title of prescription, because this is a question of the laws of public order, which do not admit of jjrescription. "We have no doubt. Venerable Brother, that you will succeed in convincing yourself that those arguments are powerless and have no weight. In order to that, you have only to weigh seriously, and with your great intelligence, what we are about to say, which we wish you to consider carefully. In all that relates to the laws of the State which refuse a legal or civil existence to the Regular Orders, which interdict their houses from possessing the full and complete enjoyment of any property, and which thus prevent them from fulfilling the conditions imposed by canonical rule on their foundation, that is, that they shall make known what revenues they possess to provide decently for themselves : what can be the value of civil laws as against ecclesiastical rights and government ? It cannot escape your notice that the civil laws, the laws of the State above all, in these troubled and unhappy times of frightful and per- nicious rebellion, may any day deny even to the bishops, and every other constituted power of the Church, a legal or civil existence, even unjustly denying them the possession and full proprietorship of any species of property. Is it possible that such 172 laws should be' a sufficient reason to deny bishops and eveiy constituted jiowei' of the Church a canonical existence and their ecclesiastical rights ? You well know that it is in religious communities that it is most easy to observe and practise the exercises declared to be necessary by the Holy Councils to attain to Christian perfection. What then ? May civil laws interdict in any 'state the practice of Christian perfection, and can bishops attribute any canonical value to such laws ? All the world, and more especially the bishops, know what has always been the conduct of the Church, and more especially of the Apostolic See, in regard to those laws which are hostile to the religious orders. Is it possible that a bishop should separate himself on such a point from the tradition of the Church ; and by deserting the position which he holds in the Church, sanction such laws in the face of the whole Church, by attributing to them any power ? These considerations must shew you clearly how vain and useless any scheme of opposition, drawn from such a species of civil law, must ever be. As to what the laws prescribe, — that religious houses can possess nothing, as full and absolute owners ; and as to the conclusion at which you have arrived from this state of affairs, viz., that the condition of certain posses- sions, necessary for the decent maintenance of the members, imposed by the sacred canons on the foundation of houses of Regulars, can never be fulfilled, you have only, Venerable Brother, to study profoundly the letter and spirit of the canons cited by yourself, to prove that you are in error and deceive yourself. In fact, what is the aim of these canons when they prescribe a condition of that kind? They seek for nothing, except the welfare of the members, taking into consideration the interest of each individual ; and, also, the good government and administration of the community Therefore, when it is quite impossible for them to fulfil that condition, would it be just to turn to their detriment that which had only been prescribed for their advantage ? On that subject you are perfectly well .acquainted with the regulations, not only of the canons,* but also of the civil law.f It is an ■■• Cap. qixod ob gratiam de regiilis juris. t Legge nulla 9.0 ff, de legit. 173 acknowledged maxim that, neither in hiw nor in equity, is it admissible that we should turn to the disadvantage of individuals, by cither too strict or too hard an interpretation, any prescriptions which have only been introduced into the law with a view to their advantage. Now, if you examine the letter of the canons, do you find that only by an accident they prescribe, that the members, according to your view of the case, should feed themselves, and maintain themselves solely on the produce of properties belonging to themselves ? Certainly not. The canons relating to that are the constitution Cum Alias of our predecessor Gregory XV., published on the 25th of August, 1622 ;* that of Urban the VIII., also our predecessor, issued on the 21st of June, 1625; lastly, the constitution Nuper of Innocent the XII., dated the 23rd of December, 1697. We might have satisfied ourselves by alleging only the last, which is the most recent, and which contains both the others. This constitution expresses itself thus : "That no monastery, convent, or house of Regulars, shall anywhere be received, unless there are in the establishment at least twelve members who can subsist and maintain themselves on the revenues of all kinds and the accustomed alms, making all necessary deductions." Thus the canons do not speak at all of the produce of property in possession. They merely mention "the revenues in general, and alms." We must now speak of another condition, that is to say, of the Licence, and the Episcopal consent which the Council of Trent and the constitutions require to constitute the canonical existence of houses of Regulars. No one certainly. Venerable Brother, can doubt about the necessity of the Episcopal consent ; but in this case we must see if the consent has not existed in a manner sufficiently satisfactory. Now, having carefully weighed all the circumstances, how can any one ever deny that the Episcopal consent has really existed in this case ? Without citing other facts, all the world knows. Venerable Brother, that the ^' religious'^ in question, of the Order of St. Francis, and of the Society of Jesus, have really existed in Paris under several bishops, your pre- decessors, who very willingly accepted their assistance in providing for the salvation of souls, and in executing all the various offices * 15tli August, im-L 174 of the holy ministry, and overwhelmed them with every possible mark of their goodwill and esteem. This conduct on the part of your predecessors towards the Regulars in question shows that Episcopal consent had been sufficiently expressed ; and that it is impossible to deny the fact without imputing grave blame to your predecessors. And this is a convenient opportunity of placing before you the words written by Faguan,* an author contem- porary wdth Urban the YIII., and other Roman Pontiffs, our predecessors, invoked by you, who possessed a fundamental knowledge of the canonical constitutions which you invoke. Fagnan remarks — and neither before nor since has any one con- tradicted the opinion — that in all that concerns the establishment of Regulars in a diocese: "It is sufficient that the consent of the bishop should bo given after the election ; and that to con- firm it, ratification is sufficient," in which opinion, the Arch- deacon Hugo and others agree. f And, in truth, it could not be otherwise. Justice demands it, and the lawyers have agreed that facts and acts are more powerful than words. Thus in your wisdom you will understand, that your opinion, drawn from the Constitution of Urban VIII., namely, that the license of the Ordinary ought to be formally expressed in writing, and cannot be either implied or presumed, has no weight. Firstly, because that which is proved by facts, certain, evident, and continued during a long series of years, is not less formally expressed, than that which is made known by words or waitings. But, also, because no canonical constitution imposes the condition of a written consent. You cannot allege here the argument drawn from the Council of Trent, that the consent of the Ordinary must precede the foundation ; in fact, it cannot escape you that it is the natural and judicial virtue of every ratification of later acts to excuse the absence of the consent, which, according to legal form, ought to have preceded them. As to what you say about pre- scription, that has nothing to do with the present question. No one pretends that a prescription can be taken instead of episcopal consent, and render it unnecessary. We say simply in this case, that the episcopal consent exists, without doubt, in a manner * De Institutiouibus, cap. Non araplius. t Fagiianus, glossa ultima hi cap. clc Monachis quest. '^.^ 175 sufficiently satisfactory ; which is clearly and amply proved by a great number of facts, and during a very long series of years, so that, not only is it impossible to deny its existence, but we ought to consider it certain that it has been given in the best form. This is what we consider necessary to answer to your letters, especially those of the calends of September ; and to this we think it necessary to draw your attention. But, besides, we cannot avoid making other observations which are also of great importance. In fact, Me cannot conceal from you. Venerable Brother, that our grief and astonishment were very great, when we heard that you had presided at the Obsequies of Marshal 3Iaguan, Grand Master of the Order of Freemasons, and given the solemn absolution when the Masonic Insignia were placed on the funeral canopy, and the members of that con- demned sect, decorated with the same insignia, were ranged around it. In the letter which you addressed to us on the 1st of last August, you assure us that these insignia had not been seen by you, nor by your clergy ; that, in one word, they were unknown to you in any manner ; but you knew very well, Venerable Brother, that the dead man had during life had the misfortune to be at the head of that proscribed sect, vulgarly called by the name of the " Grand Orient," and consequently you might have easily foreseen that the members of that sect would assist at his funeral; and that they would take care to make a parade of their insignia. You ought therefore in your religious position to have maturely weighed these considerations, and to have been on your guard on the occasion of this Funeral, in order not to have caused by your presence and co-operation the astonishment and profound grief which all true Catholics have felt on this occasion. You cannot be ignorant that Masonic societies, and all other associations of the same iniquitous character, have been condemned by the Roman Pontiffs,* our * Clement XII.. Constitution Iinmincnti. Benedict XI^^, Constitution Providus. Pius VII., Constitution Ecvlcsiaiii. Luo XII., Constitution Duo 'jraviom, our Encyclical of the Uth of November, 1840. Et aUbi. 176 predecessors, and by ourself; that oven severe penalties have been enacted against them. These impious sects, having different denominations, are, in fact, all linked together by their mutual complicity in the most criminal designs, all being inflamed with the most intense hatred of our holy religion and the Apostolic See, and are endeavouring by the dissemination of pestilential books, and in many other ways, by perverse manoeuvres and by every kind of devilish artifice, to corrupt all over the world both morality and belief, and to destroy all honest, true, and just opinion ; to spread throughout the universe these monstrous opinions ; to conceal and propagate the most detestable vices, and every conceivable rascality ; to shake the power of all legitimate authority, and to compass the overthrow, if it were possible, of the Catholic Church, and of civil society, and to drive God Himself out of heaven. We cannot pass over in silence the accounts that have reached us, that an erroneous and pernicious opinion has been embraced, namely, that the acts of the Apostolic >See do not beget any obligations, at least, not until they have been clothed by a warrant for their execution from the civil power. Now all must see how injurious such an erroneous opinion must be to the authority of the Church and the Apostolic See, and how completely it is opposed to the spiritual welfare of all the faithful ; for the supreme authority of the Church and of the Apostolic See can never, in any way, be submitted to the power and the will of any civil power, in anythmg that is connected in any manner whatsoever with ecclesiastical affairs and the spiritual government of souls ; and all those persons who dignify themselves by the name of Catholic, are completely under obedience to that said Church, as well as to the Apostolic See, and are bound to testify the respect and devotion towards them which are their due. And here again we wish that you should observe that in the above-mentioned speech in the senate, you bring forward a fact, which is entirely inexact, that Benedict XIV.,* of blessed memory, our predecessor, in a Concordat with the king of Sardinia, had conceded to that monarch the right of royal execution in relation to pontifical acts. And you assert that the Instruct io)i * Benedict XIII- 177 annexed to this convention, declares, "That the Papal constHutions relative to discipline, ought to be sahniitted to the cor/nisance of Parliament, (Did that they require the royal exequatur to have the force and obligation of law, with the exception of constitutions and apostolic letters relating to doctrine or morals.'' 80 very false an assertion could never have been uttered by you, Venerable Brother, if you had looked at, and carefully examined, the terms of this Instruction : and here we give the terms of the 3rd Article of that Instruction : "In the Concordat of the Pontiff-' Benedict the XIII., the execution of Briefs and Apostolic Bulls is treated of, as can be read in that Concordat, in which only a simple visa is allowed, without permitting any signature or requiring any decree for the execution of the said Briefs or Bulls ; and we know that all lias been faithfully executed, though it is said with great assurance, and though it is believed, that neither the Senate nor any other tribunal has accepted, at the instance of any person, the cognisance of the justice, or of the pretended injustice of Bulls and Briej's. Wishing nevertheless to preserve harmony, if by chance any objection to the execution of a Bull or Brief should occur, and it should be desirable to understand the reasons for it. His Majestfs ministers being sufficiently instructed on the subject, shall inform either the minister of the Holy See residing at Turin, or else the Apostolic minister residing at Rome, of the fact. Bulls of Jubilees and Indulgences are excepted from the simple visa, also the Briefs of the Holy Penitentiary and letters of the Sacred Congregations of Rome, which are written to Ordinaries or to other persons as informations." And those rules relative to their execution have never been modified in the later conventio)is between the Apostolic Sec and the king of Sardinia. Gregory XVI., by a Convention made in 1842, with the late king of Sardinia, Charles Albert, on Jus personalimmunity, restored in all their vigour all the preceding conventions in all things which were not disannulled by that said Convention. Be fully persuaded, Venerable Brother, that our charge as Sovereign Apostolic Minister, and our Pontifical affection for you, have made it our duty to communicate these matters to you ; and we have complete confidence, considering your scrupulous piety, N 178 that you will accept all the admonitions and instructions which have been dictated by our heart ; that you will hasten to follow them ; and that you will attach yourself firmly to them, and vigour- ously defend the rights and the pure doctrines of the Church, and inculcate on all the devotion and obedience due to the Apostolic See, to the vicar of Christ on earth ; and daily fulfil more fully, and above all other things, in these iniquitous times, all the duties of a good pastor. Be certain that we honour yon, that ice appreciate you, and that we love you with an affectionate ardour, and we hope that the principal testimony of our benevolence and a good augury of all the blessings of heaven may be contained in this A^^ostolic benediction, which tee icith all the affection of our heart, bestow upon you. Venerable Brother, and upon all the flock confided to your care. Given at Rome, near St. Peter's, the 26th of October, 1865, the 20th year of our Pontificate. :rei:jAtions UEiWBEX RUSSIA AlsTD EOIVIE; BEING A TRANSLATION OF A DESPATCH FROM PRINCE GORTCIIAKOFF TO RUSSIAN REPRESENTATIVES ABROAD. Further Return respecting the Eolations between Eussia and Eome ; being Translation of a Despatch from Prince Gortchakoff to Eussian Eepresentativcs abroad. Extract from the ^' Journal de St. Piter>ihoarie you to lay before Cardinal Antonelli Count Lambert's letter, and that which I am now writing to you. 190 ** The entire confidence I place in the intelligence of his Eminence forbids me to doubt his comprehending, in the very interests of religion, the object of the attitude of the Roman Catholic clergy of the kingdom, and acknowledging, when informed of what is passing, the necessity of remedying it." This communication, supported by such convincing documents, was only evasively received. His Eminence Cardinal Antonelli, after having received the Pope's orders, said to M. de Kisseleff, that " His Holiness had disapproved, confidentially, the behaviour of the Polish clergy." But when his Majesty's Minister de- manded that this disapprobation should be publicly expressed, the Cardinal Secretary of State answered "that His Holiness was the less at liberty to interfere openly in this question, because the Polish clergy complain of the hindi-ances they encounter in the exercise of their religious duties, because the Holy See has no free and direct communication with them, and because, as it has no representative in Russia, it is without any official source of information, or any direct means of interfering with a body of clergy with whom it has no free or direct relations.* Appreciating the gravity of the circumstances, and wishing to avoid the least excuse for ill-feeling, the Imperial Cabinet resolved to make a most important concession to the Holy See by sanction- ing the despatch of a Roman Prelate to Russia. Prince Gortchakoff' consequently addressed a despatch to M. Kisselefi", by his Majesty's orders, in which the following words occurred : — " In transmitting to you the august words of His Holiness, his Eminence the Cardinal Secretary of State detailed to you the complaints of the Polish clergy relative to the hindrances which they meet with in the exercise of their religious duties, and par- ticulai'ly of the want of free and direct communication between the Holy See and their own clergy, which deprive the Court of Rome of all source of communication and all means of acting. His Eminence ended by letting you understand that His Holiness would have liked to have been able to send some Prelate to * M. Kisseleff's repoi-t, dated Home, 3!Hh Ootober (10th November), 1801. 191 Warsaw to convey thither his advice and admonitions to the Roman Catholic clergy. " If in the Russian Empire, as in many other countries, even those which profess the Roman Catholic religion, the relations between the clergy and an authority existing outside the State ought to be regulated by certain formalities, this is by virtue of a political principle generally allowed in Europe and a Concordat freely concluded with the Holy See. It could not, then, be derogatory to this rule, which in no way impedes the relations between the Catholic clergy and the Holy See, but limits itself to constituting its form and mode of proceeding. " Our august Master considers it one of his most sacred duties to ensure the most complete liberty of conscience to all his sub- jects, and the fullest protection to all religious ministers, in the exercise of their spiritual mission, no matter what faith they ' belong to. In assigning to them as limits the laws prescribed by the general interests of the country, his Imperial Majesty only adopts a course in conformity with a necessity which exists for all sovereigns in every country. He does not think that, in enforcing on the clergy the condition of being forbidden to cause disorder, disunion, or scandal, these laws force on them obligations inconsistent with their mission of peace and charity, or which would not leave them the latitude necessary for its fulfilment. But, except in regard to these indispensable conditions, the Emperor has taken for his guidance, ever since his accession to the throne, the principles of the most extensive tolerance ; and you may reiterate. Sir, to his Eminence the Cardinal Secretary of State the assurance of the attention which his Majesty will always be ready to grant specially to the spiritual wants of his Roman Catholic subjects. It is with the object of giving a fresh proof of this that our august Master has taken into serious consideration the desire manifested by His Holiness to be able to send to Russia a prelate charged to convey his admonition and advice to the Polish clergy. " The Emperor is disposed to consent to it as a proof of his affectionate deference for His Holiness. " His Imperial Majesty invokes the fullest light upon all his acts ; what he repels is calumny, which destroys confidence. A 192 delegate from His Holiness will be able to appreciate with his own eyes and to inform His Holiness faithfully of the true state of affairs. He will convince himself that the events which have actually occurred in the Kingdom of Poland are in no way caused by religion ; which has, on the contrary, been lowered, by dis- graceful profanation, into the arena of human passions."* In making this communication, ]\I. de Kisseleff let the Cardinal Secretary of State understand that the Imperial Cabinet would even be pleased to see the Prelate's provisionary mission changed to a permanent one. But whilst the Holy See " secretly " dis- approved of the behaviour of the Polish clergy, and profited by the state of affairs so as to ask for and obtain such important concessions, His Holiness wrote and caused to be conveyed to the Archbishop of Warsaw, Monsignor Fialkowski, a brief containing nothing but encouragement to the Polish clergy, besides an ex- pression of his Pontifical sympathy for the wishes of the Polish people, which he termed legitimate, in spite of their violent and turbulent manifestations. The existence of this brief had been revealed after the death of Archbishop Fialkowski by the publications of two organs devoted to the Court of Rome. It was scarcely possible to doubt its authenticity ; nevertheless, it was only in a doubtful manner that the Imperial Cabinet protested against the tenor of this brief, and against the illegality of its communication by any but the established channels. The Cardinal Secretary of State, without exactly denying the existence of the brief, furnished M. de Kisseleff with the follow^ ing explanations : — " His Holiness," said he, " is obliged to defend himself against the accusations of not showing enough zeal in support of the interests of the Church. " Besides, there was no brief, speaking strictly, but only a letter from the Pope, written in Latin, it is true, but not * on parchment,' emanating from the Secretary of Latin Letters, and not from the Chancery of briefs.'^f - Prince Gortchakoflf's despatch to M. cle Kisseleff, dated St. Petersburg, November 27, 1801. I M. de Kisseleff 's report, dated t)ecember in (:{lj, 1801, 193 These subtleties did uot at all diminish the weight of an Act emanating from the Sovereign Pontiff himself, the authenticity of which the Court of Rome to this day acknowledges, by inserting it (page 168, doc. 55) in the official collection which she has just published. In the meanwhile, as the Archbishop of Warsaw, Monsignor Fialkowski, was deceased, the Court of Eome insisted on the advisability of naming his successor promptly. The Imperial Cabinet immediately deferred to this wish by nominating the Abbe Felinski to the Archiepiscopal See. His Holiness was pleased himself to tell M. de Kisseleff, during an audience granted to this minister on the 15 (27) December, 1861, how much this choice satisfied him, and " that he sincerely thanked the Emperor for His Majesty's sentiments and actions of good- will towards his own person, as well as with the intention of perfecting the friendly relations between the two Courts. His Holiness, besides, expressed a wish that the prelate whom he proposed to send on a temporary mission to Russia might remain there, with the title of permanent representative of the Holy See. A short time afterwards (March, 1862), Cardinal Antonelli informed M. de Kisseleff, in confidence, that Monsignor Berardi had been nominated to discharge the functions of Nuncio at St. Petersburg. But, at the same time, the Cardinal Secretary of State put a question to his Majesty's Minister which clearly denoted the intention of Rome only to accept so important a concession by redoubling its demands. " "Will the laws which forbid all direct communication between the Holy See and the Catholic clergy be applicable to the Le- gate?" asked his Eminence. M. de Kisseleff having requested the Cardinal to put this question in writing, in order that he might refer it to his Court and receive a precise answer, his Eminence enumerated in a noie-verbale all the laws of the Empire which he thought it would be desirable to do away with, and of whose existence the Court of Rome had more than once pretended to be ignorant.* * ReportofM.de Kisseleff, dated -ZUh February (lltli March), 1862, and its inclosures. 194 The answer of the Imperial Cabinet was not long waited for. Whilst instructing M. de Kisseleff " to express the satisfaction of the Emperor at the choice of Monsignor Berardi, and the hope that the presence of this Prelate in Russia will enlighten His Holiness as to the spirit and tendencies of the acts of the Imperial Administration, and will dispel the prejudices which malice is attempting to raise up between the two Governments," the Vice- Chancellor of the Empire informed M. de Kisseleff by order of the Emperor, on 27th March, 1862 — " That the regulations in question did certainly extend to the Nuncios the principle which demands the mediation of the Imperial Grovernment in all official communications of the Holy See with the clergy in the Empire and Kingdom; that, in adopting that rule, which ought to be maintained, political considerations of a higher order were obeyed, and not any feeling of distrust or ill-will ; that the Sovereign, the only judge of the general interests of the State, amongst which those of religion have a title to all his attention, is himself alone able to appreciate the whole body of these interests, and to cause them to converge towards the final goal which lies before him — the welfare of the country. " That if these principles apply to the official communications which the Pontifical Court is in a position to address to the clergy, there is all the more reason why they should apply to the communications of the Apostolic Nuncio, who is only the delegate and representative of the Holy See. "And, lastly, that these principles, generally admitted, even in countries where the Catholic religion predominates, have not there been found irreconcileable with the presence of a permanent Nuncio."* The Court of Rome could not reasonably require the Sovereign of an empire in which the orthodox religion predominates to grant to the Apostolic Nuncios a wider prerogative than is enjoyed by the representatives of the Holy See in France, for instance, where the Roman Catholic religion is that of the State. * Despatch of Prince Gortchakoff to M. de Kisseleff, dated the S7th March, 1862. ' 195 Now, the French, legislation defines clearly the position of the Nuncio. The first article of the organized constitutions, forming a continuation of the Concordat of 1801, and rigorously observed up to the present time, forbids all communication from the Court of Rome without the control of the Government. The 2nd article of the same constitution is conceived as follows : "No individual calling himself Nuncio, Legate, Apostolic Vicar, or Commissioner, will be able, without being authorised by the Government, to exercise, either on French soil or else- where, any function relating to Church matters." The 207th and 208th articles of the French penal code assign rigorous punishment (a fine of 500 francs, imprisonment from a month to two years' banishment) to any infringement of these laws. A quite recent incident proves that the Sovereign Pontiff accepts these regulations of the French legislation, and orders his representatives to submit to them, and that the argument of " non possumus," laid down by the Court of Rome with regard to Russia, is not tenable in justice and logic. When in 1865 the ApostoKc Nuncio at Paris, Monsignor Chigi, addressed letters, by other than the legal channels to the Bishops of Orleans and Poitiers, which were published, the French Ambassador at Rome brought a complaint against this infringement of the existing laws. The Holy See hesitating about giving the required satisfaction, the French Government reiterated its demands. Monsignor Chigi was disavowed, and the Moniteur Universel of February 7 (19), 1865, stated that "the Nuncio expressed his regrets to his Majesty the Emperor at a private audience, and assured him that he never had intended to set aside the respect due to the rules of international law." To explain the persistency with which the Court of Rome made demands which she knew well were inadmissible, to account for the delays, intentionally caused by her, in settling an afi'air which she had so much at heart a short time before, it will be sufficient to remember that at this very time the revived troubles in Poland had served as a starting-point and pretext for a course of diplomacy directed against Russia, the effects of which o2 196 will not be slow to manifest themselves in attempts, on the part of several of the European Cabinets, to meddle with the Home affairs of the Empire. The Court of Rome, more than any other, adopted this course. There is every reason to believe that this was the chief cause for acts which it will be sufficient to enumerate to demonstrate with conclusive evidence that the origin and the responsibility of the existing rupture between the two Courts and the repeal of the Concordat of 1847, belong to the Pontifical Government, At the very moment when the negotiations relating to the appointment of Nuncios were becoming complicated, and when the Imperial Cabinet was giving repeated proofs of its sincere intention of bringing them to an end, Pius IX., secretly and in opposition to the established laws of the Empire, wrote a letter to the new Archbishop of Warsaw, in which His Holiness took the place, so to speak, of the Sovereign of the country, and invited Monsignor Felinski to absent himself from his diocese to appear at Rome^at a moment when his presence scarcely sufficed to force the clergy of the kingdom to return to the fulfilment of their duties which they were neglecting more and more every day. On informing M. de Kisseleff of this fresh infringement of in- ternational stipulations, the Vice- Chancellor again observed : — " We sincerely wish for the most friendly relations with the Pontifical Government. We have given it proofs of this ; never- theless, I must needs tell you with profound regret, but with deep conviction, that the road which that Government seems desirous of taking is not that which leads to an understanding. If the Court of Rome chooses to take for granted, as a starting- point, that one concession ought to lead to others ad infinitum, she is giving herself up to an illusion which it is my duty, con- sidering the good understanding which we wish to bring about with her, to dispel on the onset."* What is important to state is, that the clandestine commu- nications of the Holy See had the immediate effect of increasing the disturbances and encouraging the manifestations of the Polish clergy. • Letter of Prince Gortchakoff to M. de Ki«seleft", lltli April, 1862. 197 Scarcely had Monsignor Felinski received tlie Pope's letter than he thought he ought to release himself irom all obedience to the authorities of the realm ; nay, he did not even care to keep on good terms with them. The Government having been informed that the procession habitually celebrated at "Warsaw on St. Mark's Day was going to be accompanied by disturbances, requested the Archbishop of Warsaw to allow the ceremony to take place this time inside the church, and not in the streets. The Archbishop entrenched himself behind the question of principle, and, in spite of the repeated prayers of the authorities, in spite of prohibition published in the newspapers and communi- cated to each priest, he ordered the clergy to celebrate this pro- cession with unusual pomp. The disorders that had been foreseen broke out, blood was nearly spilt in the streets of Warsaw, and when the Emperor's Lieutenant demanded explanations of Monsignor Felinski, this Archbishop answered: — " That the clergy had acted by his orders ; that he himself would place himself at the head of future processions, in spite of any prohibition made by the Government ; that he absolutely disputed with the latter the right of forbidding the free exercise of religion ; that if he found it necessary he would go as far as to close the churches; and lastly, that he 'preferred seeing 10,000 men dead on the ground ' to yielding one particle of the right which the canonical laws acknowledged to be his." This language was reported at Eome, but incurred no canonical disapprobation. Moreover, at this period (April 1863) the Holy See was openly associated with the diplomatic coalition organised against Russia. Pius IX. on the 22nd April, 1863, despatched to His Majesty the Emperor a letter actuated by "the lively interest mani- fested on all sides both by nations and Governments in favour of Poland," in which letter after having enumerated at length the pretended impediments placed in the way of the exercise of the Roman Catholic religion, His Holiness not only claimed for the Romish clergy prerogatives incompatible with the inde- pendence and the security of the State, as well as with the 198 exercise of the Sovereign's authority, but also the right of " direct- ing the people and exercising their influence on public instruction" (che il clero ricuperi la sua infJuenza nel insegnamento e dircnion delpopolo.J In a secret Consistory held at Rome on the 29th October, 1866, Pius IX. made the following assertion : — " Neither the demands addressed to the Russian Government by our Cardinal-Secretary of State, nor the letters addressed by us to the Emperor, have had any result. Our letter of the 23rd of April, 1863, remains unanswered." " nihil autem valuerunt nostrce expostulationes ^jer nostrum Cardinalem a piiblicis negotiis fadce apud ilium Guhernium, nihil nostrce litterce ad ipsum Serenissimiim Principem scriptce (22nd April, 1863) quibus nullum fuit datum responsum," ( " Roman Documents," Appendix C, p. 303.) It is with deep regret that we are obliged to show the inaccu- racy of this assertion. The Emperor received the letter in question April 29th, 1863. On the 11th of May of the same year His Majesty despatched an answer to His Holiness which a special messenger conveyed to Rome, and which was placed in the hands of his Eminence Car- dinal Antonelli by M. de Kisseleff, on the 20th May (1 June,) 1863. This letter of response was expressed in the following terms : " Most Holy Father, — My Minister at Rome has transmitted to me the letter of your Holiness. I have read it with the attention that I always give to all communications which emanate from you, and whose subject is the important interests which you and I have to guard. Nevertheless, I regret that your Holiness speaks to me only of past acts. Your Holiness sees in certain unsatisfied claims of the Roman Catholic Church in the Kingdom of Poland the exclusive cause of the disorders which are actually afflicting that country. Yet there are few States in Europe which have been more cruelly tried by the attacks of revolution than those in which the Roman Catholic Church exercises unlimited authority. We must conclude from this that the evil has other causes. These I partly laid before your HoHness when I drew your attention to the reprehensible behaviour, nay the crimes, of a large number of the Roman 199 Catholic clergy of the Eangdom of Poland. I did so, not to raise up grievances, but in the firm persuasion that it would sufi&ce to enlighten your Holiness as to certain excesses sufficiently worthy of condemnation to cause you to find in your conscience the accents of indignation, and in your spiritual authority the influ- ence necessary to bring back to a sense of their duty those members of the clergy who had so seriously neglected it. "This alliance of religious ministers with the abettors of dis- orders which threaten society is one of the most revolting acts of our age. Your Holiness ought to be as anxious as I am to bring it to an end. " It was with the object of preventing so deplorable a situa- tion that I deferred to a constant wish of your Holiness and of your august predecessors, and expressed last year my approval of an Apostolic Nuncio. I regret the obstacles which, indepen- dent of my will, have put off up to the present time the realisa- tion of this project. I am still ready to receive an Envoy from your Holiness, and to welcome him with the cordial feelings which I desire to see presiding over our relations. I am convinced that a direct understanding, based on the Concordat concluded between my Government and that of your Holiness, would lead to the enlightenment which I desire, in order to dispel the misconceptions caused by erroneous or malicious reports, and would usefully serve the cause of political order and religious interests, which are inseparable at a period when both have to defend themselves from the attacks of revolution. Every act of my reign and my solici- tude for the spiritual wants of my subjects of every faith are a pledge for the sentiments which I shall infuse into it. " I beg your Holiness to accept the repeated assurance of my high consideration, and sincere esteem. (Signed) " ALEXANDER." At the same time the Vice-Chancellor of the Empire instructed his Majesty's Minister at Eome to inform the Holy See that " as regards the position of the Nuncio at the Imperial Court, the Emperor is inclined to adopt as a rule the law in force in France, where the Roman Catholic religion is that of the country." M. de Kisseleff was, besides, furnished with a circumstantial memorandum in which the grievances raised in the Pope's letter 200 were reduced to their just value by a series of acts and figures difficult to refute. Lastly, in a confidential letter addressed to M. de KisseleflF, Prince Gortchakofi", foreseeing cases for which these concessions would still seem insufficient, made the following remarks : — "I am not far from believing that the Court of Rome has still greater aspirations ; but it appears to me that it would be difficult for her to confess to them, as that would entail throwing off her mask before all Europe. If the Papal Government is not content to see her Envoy received on the same footing as one who resides in a country which is essentially E-oman Catholic, the responsibility of a refusal will not fall on us, and you would then take care that the facilities ofi'ered by the Imperial Cabinet should not be ignored."* It is worth noticing that, in the Roman Collection, the slightest allusion to documents of such importance, or to the negotiations which were their consequence, is carefully avoided. Nevertheless, it is certain that M. de Kisseleff exchanged with the Cardinal Secretary of State long explanations on the subject of the Pope's correspondence with the Emperor. With regard to sending the Nuncio, his Eminence even asked the Russian Minister what was meant by " the position of the representative of the Holy See in Paris." He took pains to show a distinc- tion between the theory of the French legislation and their practice, in virtue of which the restrictive stipulations of the organic institutions would not be made use of in France. This perseverance, in making the sending of the Nuncio dependent on the concession of prerogatives which even France, though a Roman Catholic country, has always refused to the Holy See, as is proved by the incident which occurred in 1865, and is related above, revealed second thoughts which the Imperial Cabinet had a right to distrust, and which entailed, as a necessary conse- quence, the abandonment of that combination for the present as well as for the future. His Holiness, too, expressed himself very clearly in this respect. On the 6th of June, 1863, having granted M. de Kisseleff" a private audience, His Holiness, after * Despatch and confidential letter from Prince Gortcliakoff to M. de Kisseleff, May lltli. 18G3. 201 conversing for some time about the Emperor's letter the exis- tence of which is now denied, added " That he thought the state of affairs was too critical for the presence of a Nuncio at St. Petersburg to be of any practical utility, and that under existing circumstances it would bo embarrassing."* The ill-will and hostility of the Court of Rome manifested themselves at this period in exact proportion to the difficulties, at home aud abroad, which the Imperial Government had to fight against. On August 31 the Cardinal Vicar of Rome published an edict, inviting the inhabitants of the capital to take part in a procession destined to disarm the Divine wrath which was excited by the growing want of faith and the iniquities which characterize the unhappy century in which we live. After citing as a proof of this Divine wrath the cattle-plague now raging in the Papal States, the Cardinal Vicar ended his edict by saying : — " Besides, it is the will of His Holiness that imder these circumstances special prayers be made for unfortunate Poland, which we see with grief become the scene of massacres and bloodshed. The Polish nation, always having been Catholic, has served as a bulwark against the invasion of error ; certainly, therefore, she deserves to be prayed for, in order that she may be freed from the evils by which she is afflicted, may never lose her reputation, and may always show herself to be faithful to the charge which has been entrusted to her." Meanwhile the Russian nation flocked round the Throne with a readiness alm.ost unexampled in history. They declared to the whole world that they were prepared to spill the last drop of their blood to defend the dignity of their Sovereign and the integrity of their national territory. An armed force quelled the insurrection. Foreign interference grew slack, and became exhausted for want of combination and elements of action. The painful but unavoidable work of putting down the insurrection once accomplished, the Emperor owed it to himself as well as to the evident interests of all his subjects, to prevent the recurrence of such calamitous disturbances by * Despatches of M. de Kisseleff, J;iue 8th (20th), 1803. Nos. 41, 42, 43. 202 remedying one by one tlie organic vices which throve in Polish society. A series of reforms, prompted by the teaching of experience, as well as of political shrewdness, were studied, debated, and perfected ; and it is from the increased but undis- turbed application of these that wiU result, with God's help, the salutary and desirable work of the real regeneration of a nation of the same stock, the same race, and governed by the same sceptre as the Eussian people, and whose destiny is consequently inseparable from that of Russia. Of these reforms none were perhaps so urgent as those which were adopted with regard to the Roman Catholic clergy of the kingdom. The number of monastic institutions had multiplied endlessly, and the facts set forth above showed the active part taken in the insurrection by the regular clergy. In spite of the canonical laws, and the Bull of Benedict XIY., of May 2, 1744, there were in the kingdom seventy-five convents which existed contrary to the prescriptions of this BuU. These convents were suppressed ; their lands were secularized, and their revenues devoted to the maintenance of the retained cloisters, as well as to charity and public instruction. Like measures were taken with regard to the parochial clergy. The revenues of these latter were divided as injudiciously as they were unfairly. The large majority of the parish priests were left in want, whilst the higher clergy and a few favoured ones realized enormous sums. An end was put to that sad state of things by a series of measures in conformity with those which were adopted in more than one Catholic State. It was impossible to maintain in their episcopal sees the prelates who had rendered themselves conspicuous by their illegalities and animosities against the Government. Archbishop Felinski was sent to Yaroslaw, but preserved his jurisdiction and his salary. However, having broken his word by sending to his vicar, Rzewuski, secret instructions ordering him to keep on the ecclesiastical mourning in the kingdom, he was ultimately deprived of the administration of his diocese. The Government acted with even less severity towards 203 Monsignor Kalinski, the United Greek Bishop of Chelm, in spite of the active part he took in the insurrectionary movement, and the fanaticism with which he took pains to impose on his flock the rites and ceremonies of the Romish Church ; the authorities of the kingdom received orders not to consent to the consecration of this bishop. On the 24th of April, 1864, the Pope delivered at the College of the Propaganda an allocution, the violence of which it was afterwards sought to weaken, and the terms of which were contested, but it is certain that his Majesty the Emperor was personally accused " of tormenting and oppressing the Church, of attacking the Catholic faith, and persecuting unfortunate people for having remained true to death to the religion of Christ." The Pope repeated that accusation in his Encyclical Letter of July 30, 1864, to the Bishops of Poland, whom he exhorted to remain constant and persevering. The Emperor could not, consistently with his own dignity, continue to be repi-esented at the Court of a Sovereign thus acting towards His Majesty, and M. de Kissoleff was recalled from Rome. The management of the Imperial Legation at Rome was left to the First Secretary, Baron Meyendorff, who was instructed to observe an absolute reserve and to refrain from any diplomatic initiative. Meantime, the Imperial Government, seeing it was useless to entertain regular relations with a Govern- ment the bad disposition of which was manifested by such acts, confined itself to acknowledge the communications from Rome without any commentary. Baron Meyendorff, who had abstained from going to the Vatican for nearly a year, was unofficially told that his abstention was producing a painful impression, and that the Roman Government would be glad that it ceased. He asked for instructions from his Government, and was authorized to ofi'er his homage to the Holy Father on the occasion of the reception of the diplomatic body at Christmas. On December 27, 1865, he had the honour of being received by the Pope. The incidents, much to be regretted, of that interview have 204 been publislied and interpreted in the most inaccurate manner. No one having been present at that interview, it would have been necessary to oppose the assertions of a simple diplomatic functionary to those of the Sovereign Pontiff. The Imperial Cabinet abstained from doing so for reasons easy to appreciate. But the Court of Eome thought fit to raise so delicate a question. In doing so it has published official documents, and backed them by assertions which it is impossible not to rectify now. After enumerating the questions touched upon by His Holiness in this audience, the official narrator of the Holy See expresses himself as follows : — "Yet the Charge d'Afiaires did not hesitate to contest the authenticity of such notorious facts. After some allusions, unseemly in the presence of His Holiness, he presumed to say that nothing of this sort would have happened if the Catholics had behaved like the Protestants, for the latter having supported the Government during the insurrection, had received many favours refused to the Catholics on account of their hostile attitude ; and he pushed his audacity to the conclusion that there was nothing surprising in the way the Catholics had acted, as Catholicism is identical with revolution. On this reply, the Pope, inflamed with just indignation, and feeling that the cause of the faithful (whose august chief he is) was generally insulted, dismissed him, answering — ' I esteem and respect his Majesty the Emperor, but I cannot say as much for his Charge d' Affaires, who, contrary to his Sovereign's orders, I am sure, has come and insulted me in my cabinet.' "* Although we wish to spare the adherents of the Roman Catholic religion details which can only vex them, it is necessary to repel some of these assertions. The Russian Charge d' Affaires did not allow himself to say that Catholicism and revolution were one and the same thing. What he said was, that in Poland, Catholicism had allied itself to revolution. That fact, profoundly to be regretted, had become * Roman Documents, pages 53 and 5i. 205 historical ; it had been reported to the Holy See more than once, on whom alone it depended to prevent it. His Holiness haviug attributed to the Emperor the intention of persecuting the Church, his Majesty's Charge d' Affaires was able and bound to oppose to this most gratuitous assertion a truth, melancholy, no doubt, but incontrovertible. As the Eussian Charge d' Affaires had been abruptly dismissed by the Pope, all diplomatic relations with the Court of Eome became impossible, and the Imperial Cabinet consequently sent Baron Meyendorff orders to acquaint Cardinal Antonelli that, after the reception he had had from His Holiness, his mission was ended, as the Emperor could not maintain at the Papal Court a representative whose dignity was not sheltered from all attack. Baron Meyendorff obeyed his orders on the 9th February, 1866. Cardinal Antonelh, after expressing his regret, asked him if he was to consider this a recall of the Imperial Legation. Baron Meyendorff answered that he was awaiting fresh orders at Rome, and only acting as transactor of passing business, and that the mechanism of the Legation would continue to discharge its functions. This state of affairs lasted till the 13th of March. Cardinal Antonelli then told Baron Meyendorff officially, '''That since he declared his political mission to be ended, the Court of Rome looked upon the Russian Legation as no longer existing ; that if the Pope had not sent him his passports, it was only because His Holiness knew that he must depart in a few weeks, and because, as he had said that he was staying at Rome till further commands, in order to transact current business, his Eminence had consented that the Legation should continue its functions in order that be- fore its departure it might have every faciUty for settling the same ; and lastly, that it was not the Pope's intention to allow a new Russian Legation to be formed at Rome after the departure of Baron Meyendorff; and that, as for the interests of Russian subjects. Baron Meyendorff might entrust them to the Embassy of some other Power." - After that declaration the Second Secretary of Legation, left at Rome to keep the archives, received the order to take down the Russian arms from the hotel, and declare to Cardinal 206 Antonelli that "the Pope having taken the initiative of the breaking off of the relations, His Majesty declined the responsi- bilities that might ensue." In one of the official communications of the Court of Rome the Cardinal Secretary of State wrote in 1865 : — " That His Holiness hoped that the Emperor would not put his conscience to the unavoidable necessity of revealing to the whole world the series of prejudices from which the Roman Catholic Church is continually suffering in the Imperial and Royal territory."* He received the following answer to his threat : — " The conscience of our august Master absolves him from all intention of oppressing the Catholic religion. We shall look for- ward with perfect calmness to the execution of the threat which terminates the memorandum of Cardinal Antonelli." The above facts bear witness that the Imperial Cabinet had very strong motives for not fearing this appeal to public opinion, and that in abrogating the Concordat of 1847, after having exhausted all attempts at reconciliation, it only accepted the consequences of a position, the origin and responsibility of which belong to the Holy See. * Memorandum from the Cardinal Secretary of State, dated 30tli Jan., 1865. 207 LETTER OF THE LATE COUNT MONTALEMBERT, ON ULTRAMONTANISM AND PAPAL INFALLI- BILITY, WRITTEN NOT LONG BEFORE HIS DEATH. Paris, the 28th of February, 1870. " Sir, — Since you are good enough to interest yourself in my former speeches and in my present opinions, you probably are aware that for several years past I have suffered from an incurable malady which forbids my writing and walking, and only at long intervals leaves me sufficient leisure, and my mind sufficiently free, to busy myself with the labours or the questions to which my life has been devoted. Thus wiU be explained to you my very involuntary delay in replying to the letter you did me the honour to address to me on the 16th of this month, respecting the contradiction you think you discern between my speeches on the Chapter of St. Denys, in the Chamber of Peers in 1847, and my approbation of the recent letters addressed by Father Gratry to Monseigneur the Archbishop of Malines. I desire first to thank you. Sir, for having thus afforded me an opportunity of reverting to a period now so distant, at the same time that I explain myself on the questions of the day. " That said, I beg you to observe that the Gallicanism of which I was the resolute and victorious adversary twenty- five years ago had only the name in common with that with which you reproach the Rev. Father Gratry. The Gallicanism I then called a mummy was no other than that which my old colleague and friend. Count Darn, ridiculed the other day when he said, in replying to M. Rouland, ' You are mistaking the century' It was solely the oppressive or vexatious intervention of the temporal power in spiritual interests : an interference which a portion of our old and illustrious French clergy had sometimes too easily accepted. But I venture to say that you will not find, any more in my speech of 1847 than in my other speeches or writings, a single word in con- formity with the doctrines or pretensions of the Ultramontanes of the present day ; and that for an excellent reason — which is, 208 that nobody had thought of advocating or raising them during the period between my entrance into public life and the advent of the Second Empire. Never, thank Heaven, have I thought, said, or written anything favourable to the personal and separate infalli- bility of the Pope, such as it is thought to impose upon us ; nor to the theocracy, the dictatorship of the Church, which I did my best to reprobate in that history of the Monks of the Wed, of which you are pleased to appreciate the laborious fabric ; nor to that Absolutism of Rome, of which the speech that you quote disputed the existence, even in the Middle Ages, but which to- day forms the symbol and the programme of the faction dominant among us. " Assuredly, if any one would kindly point out to me anything to correct or to retract in what I may have spoken from the tribune of the Luxembourg, or from that of the Palais Bourbon, and if I felt convinced of my wrong, it would be in no way painful to me to confess him in the right, for where is the public man to whom twenty-three years of experience and of revolutions have not taught something ? " But when I read again with you my words of 1847, I find nothing, or scarcely anything, to change in them. I feel that, did the occasion arise, I to-day should again oppose all against which I then contended, and that I should proclaim, now as then, the reciprocal incompetence of the Church and of the State outside the boundary of their proper domain, without desiring that their mutual independence should lead to their absolute separation. "At the same time I willingly admit that, if I have nothing to cancel I should have a great deal to add. I sinned by omission, or rather by want of foresight. I said, * Gallicanism is dead, because it made itself the servant of the State ; you have now only to inter it.' I think I then spoke the truth. It was dead, and completely dead. How, then, has it risen again ? I do not hesitate to reply that it is in consequence of the lavish encour- agement given, under the pontificate of Pius IX., to exaggerated doctrines, outraging the good sense as well as the honour of the human race, — doctrines of which not even the coming shadow was perceptible under the Parliamentary Monarchy. 209 " There are wanting, then, to that speech, as to the one I made in the National Assembly on the Eoman expedition, essential reservations against spiritual despotism, and against absolute monarchy, which I have always detested in the State, and which does not inspire me with less repugnance in the Church. " But, in 1847, what could give rise to a suspicion that the liberal pontificate of Pius IX., acclaimed by all the Liberals of the two worlds, would become the pontificate represented and personified by the Unho's and the Cmtta ? In the midst of the unanimous cries then uttered by the clergy in favour of liberty as in Belgium, of liberty in everything and /or all, how could we foresee, as possible, the incredible wheelabout of almost all that same clergy in 1852 — the enthusiasm of most of the Ultramontane Doctors for the revival of Cajsarism ? The harangues of Monseigneur Parisis, the charges of Monseigneur de Salinis, and especially the permanent triumph of those lay theologians of absolutism who began by squandering all our liberties, all our principles, all our former ideas, before Napoleon III., and after- wards immolated justice and truth, reason and history, in one great holocaust to the idol they raised up for themselves at the Vatican ? "If that word idol seems to you too strong, please to lay the blame on what Monseigneur Sibour, Archbishop of Paris, wrote to me on the 10th of September, 1853: — 'The new Ultramontane school leads us to a double idolatry — the idolatry of the temporal power and of the spiritual power. When you formerly, like ourselves, M. le Comte, made loud professions of Ultramontanism you did not understand things thus. We defended the independence of the spiritual power against the pretensions and encroachments of the temporal power, but we respected the constitution of the State and the constitution of the Church. We did not do away with all intermediate power, all hierarchy, all reasonable discussion, all legitimate resistance, all individuality, all spontaneity. The Pope and the Emperor were not, one the whole Church, and the other the whole State. Doubtless there are times when the Pope may set himself above all the rules which are only for ordinary times, and when his power is as extensive as the necessities of the Church. The old p 210 TJltramontanes kept this in mind, but they did not make a rule of the exception. The new TJltramontanes have pushed every- thing to extremes, and have abounded in hostile arguments against all liberties— those of the State as well as those of the Church— and against the serious religious interests of the present time, and especially of a future day. One might be content with despising them, but when one has a presentiment of the evils they are preparing for us it is difficult to be silent and resigned. You have therefore done well, M. le Comte, to stigmatise them.' "Thus, Sir, did the pastor of the largest diocese in Christendom express himself seventeen years ago, congratulating me upon one of my first protests against the spirit which, since then, I have never ceased to combat. For it is not to-day but in 1852 that I began to struggle against the detestable political and religious aberrations which make up contemporary Ultra- montanism. "Here, then, traced by the pen of an Archbishop of Paris, is the explanation of the mystery that pre-occupies you, and of the contrast you point out between my Ultramontanism of 1847 and my Gallicanism of 1870. " Therefore, without having either the will or the power to discuss the question now debating in the Council, I hail with the most grateful admiration, first, the great and generous Bishop of Orleans, then the eloquent and intrepid priests who have had the courage to stem the torrent of adulation, impos- ture, and servility, by which we run the risk of being swallowed up. Thanks to them. Catholic France will not have remained too much below Germany, Hungary, and America ; and I pub- licly pride myself, and more than I can express by words, upon having them for friends and for brother academicians. I have but one regret, that of being prevented by illness from descending into the arena with them, not, certainly, on the ground of theology, but on that of history and of the social and political consequences of the system they contend against. Thus should I deserve my share (and it is the only ambition remaining to me) in those litanies of abuse daily launched against my illustrious friends by a too numerous portion of that poor clergy which pre- pares for itself so sad a destiny, and which I formerly loved, 211 defended, and honoured as it had not hitherto been in modern France. " I thank you once more, Sir, for having enabled me thus to say what I think, and I should be a great deal more obliged to you if I could hope that you would obtain the publication of this letter in one of the journals with which your opinions must put you in intercourse. " Accept, &c., "CH. DE MONTALEMBERT." We need only remind our readers that Archbishop Sibour whose curious and really admirable letter Count Montalembert quotes, was appointed to the See of Paris by General Changarnier, after the death of Mon seigneur Affre, in June, 1848, and was murdered, like his predecessor. DR. DOLLTNGER AND PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. The Dusseldorf Gazette publishes a letter addressed by Dr. Dollinger to the Archbishop of Munich, in explanation of his refusal to submit to the decree of the Council concerning the Infallibility of the Pope. The following are important points of the letter : — " Your excellency has asked me in two letters to explain my position with respect to the Roman Decrees of July 18, 1870, which have been published by you. "It has transpired in the circle of your cathedral chapter that it is your intention to proceed against me with such penal measures as are used only against priests who have been guilty of gross moral crimes, and even but seldom against these, if I do not, within a certain period, submit myself to the two new articles of faith, as to the omnipotence and InfallibiKty of the Pope. " I learn at the same time that a council meeting of German bishops is to take place shortly at Fulda. "In the year 1848, when a meeting of all the German bishops was held at Wurzburg, the honour of an invitation p2 212 was extended to myself, and I took part in tlie proceedings. Your excellency might perhaps arrange that I should be allowed in the meeting which is about to take place, not this time to take part in the proceedings, but to have an audience for a few hours. " For I am prepared to prove before this meeting the follow- ing theses, which are of decisive importance for the present situation of the German Church, as well as for my personal position. " First, the new Articles of Faith are based upon the texts in the Holy Scriptures, St. Matt. xvi. 18,* and St. John xxi. 17,t and, as far as infallibility is concerned, upon the text, St. Luke xxii. 32,J with which the same. Biblically considered, must stand or fall. But we are bound by a solemn oath, which I myself have twice sworn, to ' accept and to .explain the Holy Scriptures, not otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers.' The Fathers of the Church have all, without exception, explained the texts in question as bearing a totally different meaning from the new decrees, and in the text St. Luke xxii. 32, especially, have found anything but an infallibility given to the Pope. There- fore, were I to accept this explanation with the decrees, with- out which every Biblical basis is wanting to them, I should commit a perjury. And, as I have said, I am prepared to prove this to the bishops in council. "Secondly, in several episcopal pastorals and notices which have lately appeared, the assertion has been made, or the historical proof sought, that the new doctrine now proceeding from Rome as to the universal power of the Pope over every single Christian, and as to the Papal infallibility in decisions in the Church on matters of faith from the beginning, through * Matt. xvi. 18. — " Aucl I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will huild my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail agamst it." f St. John xxi. 17. — " Ho saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? Peter was grieved because he said unto lum the third time, Lovest thou me ? And he said unto liim. Lord, thou knowest all things ; thou Imowcst that I love thee. Jesus said xmto him, Feed my sheep." I St. Lulie xxii. 82. — " But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not; and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." 218 all time and for ever, has been generally, or, at least, nearly generally, believed and taught. I am prepared to shew that this assertion is based upon an entire misconception of the traditions of the Church for the first thousand years, and upon an entire distortion of her history. It is in direct contradiction to the plainest facts and testimonies. "Thirdly, I am ready to prove that the bishops of the Latin countries, Spain, Italy, South America, and Franco, who formed the immense majority at Rome, were, with their clergy, already led astray by the class-books from which they took their ideas during their seminary education, the proofs given in these books being for the most part false, invented, or distorted. I shall prove this, first, with the two principal and favourite works of modern theological schools and seminaries. 'The Moral Philosophy of S. Alphonsus Liguori ' (especially as regards the treatise contained therein concerning the Pope), and 'The Theology of the Jesuit Peroni'; further, with the writings of the Archbishop Cardoni, and of Bishop Ghilardi, which were distributed in Rome during the Council ; and finally, with ' The Theology of the Yienesse Theologian Schwetz.' " Fourthly, I appeal to the fact, which I am prepared to prove in public, that two General Councils and several Popes have already decided in the fifteenth century, by solemn decrees, issued by the Councils, and repeatedly confirmed by the Popes, the question as to the extent of the Pope's power, and as to his infallibility, and that the decrees of the 18th of July, 1870, are in the most glaring contradiction to these resolutions, and, therefore, cannot possibly be considered as binding. " Fifthly, I believe that I shall be able to demonstrate that the new decrees are simply incompatible with the constitutions of the States of Europe, and especially with that of Bavaria ; and that I, who am bound by oath to this constitution, which I have lately sworn on my admission to the Chamber of the Councillors of State, find it impossible to accept the new decrees, and as their necessary consequence, the Bulls 'Unam Sanctam ' and * Cum ex Apostolatus officio,' the Syllabus of Pius IX., with so many other Papal declarations and laws, which are now to be accepted as infallible decisions although 214 they are in irreconcileable antagonism to the laws of the country. I appeal on this subject to the opinion given by the Legal faculty in Munich, and I am ready to abide by the arbitration of any German Legal Faculty which your excel- lency may be pleased to name. "I only ask two conditions for the conference which I have proposed, or rather prayed for ; first, that my assertions, together with any counter- assertions, shall be recorded, with a view to their subsequent publication; secondly, that a man of scientific culture, to be chosen by me, shall be allowed to be present at the conference. *' Should this be unattainable before the German bishops in Fulda, I venture most respectfully to make another request: that it may please your excellency to form, out of the members of your cathedral chapter, a committee, before which I may plead my cause in the way above mentioned. Several of these venerable gentlemen are Doctors, and were formerly Professors of Theology, and were once my scholars. I may assume that it would be more agreeable to them to treat with me in quiet argument, to confute me, if possible, with reasons and facts, than to draw up, upon the seat of judgment, criminal sentences against me, aud to submit the same to your excellency, to be fulminated, as the saying is. If your excellency will consent to preside at this conference, and wiU condescend to correct any errors into which I may have fallen in the citation and explanation of testimonies and facts, I shall count it as a great honour, and the cause of truth must be profited thereby. And when you place before me the prospect of the exercise of your pastoral power, I may still hope that you will prefer to employ, in the first place, towards me, the finest, most noble, most benevolent, and most Christlike attribute of this power — namely, the teacher's office. Should I be convinced by testi- monies and facts, I engage myself to revoke publicly all that I have written in this matter, and so confute myself. In any case the results must be advantageous to the Church and the peace of souls. For it is not I alone who am concerned ; but thousands of the clergy, hundreds of thousands of the laity, who think as I do, and find it impossible to accept the new articles of faith. 216 "Up to this day not a single one, even of those who have signed a declaration of submission, has said to me that he is really convinced of the truth of these theses. All my friends and acquaintances confirm me in this experience ; * not a single person believes in it,' is what I hear day by day from all lips. A conference such as I have proposed, and the publication of the proceedings, will in any case afibrd that deeper insight which so many long for. " Your excellency may refer me to the pastoral letter which has recently appeared under the sanction of your name, as a source whence I might derive sufficient instruction and correction in respect to the opinions I hold : but I must avow that it has produced a totally contrary effect upon me, and I engage to show that this pastoral letter contains a long series of misunderstood, distorted, mutilated, or invented testimonies, which, together with the suppression of importants facts and opposite testimonies, present a picture totally dissimilar to the real tradition. Assuredly the person to whom your excellency confided this composition has not invented the falsifications, but has borrowed them in good faith from others (from Cardoni and others) ; but if he be willing to defend his elaboration at the proposed conference, he would find me ready, within a very few hours, either to prove my allegations or, if I should not succeed therein, publicly to apologise and to make an honourable amend. In consideration, however, of the import- ance of this matter, I conceive it to be my duty to make this offer, subject to one condition only, namely, that his Majesty's government be requested to appoint an ofiicial, well versed in the knowledge of historical and ecclesiastical law, to be present at the conference as a witness. As this matter is also one of the highest interest for all governments I presume it may be taken for granted that such a request will not be refused on the part of the government. " In the past history of the Church, facts are not wanting to prove that my proposal is in perfect harmony both with the principles and practice of the Church. Thus, in the year 411, a conference, consisting of 286 Catholic and 279 Donatist bishops, was held under the presidency of the Imperial ofiicial Marcel- 216 linus : at this conference tlie disputed doctrine of the Church was discussed, and the President decided in favour of the Catholic bishops. In the year 1433 Bohemian Calixtines appeared at the council at Basle. A decree of the Synod of Constance, issued eighteen years before, concerning the communion in one form, was then submitted to a new discussion and examina- tion, from which those compacts resulted, which were recog- nised by the Holy See, in virtue whereof an important and far-penetrating concession, and derogating from the older resolution, was made to the Bohemians. A still greater parallel to the discussion I propose is to be found in the conference, so celebrated in French history, between Du Perron, the Bishop of Evreux, and the Protestant statesman and scholar, M. Du Plessis-Mornay, which took place at Fontainebleau in the year 1600, at the instigation of King Henry IV. The ques- tion under consideration was the charge preferred against Mornay, that in his book on the Eucharists he had falsified a great many passages or quoted them incorrectly. The Kiug himself pre- sided ; and the most notable men of both churches were present as witnesses. This conference was interrupted by Mornay's illness after the lapse of a few days, and after a number of passages quoted by him had been examined ; nevertheless, it produced an effect on the then greatly agitated state of the public mind extremely favourable to the Catholic cause. " Most venerable Archbishop, I leave entirely to your own judgment which form you will give to a conference so much desired by myself, and certainly so welcome to multitudes of German Catholics, and what persons you will invite to attend or oppose to me. In your diocese there is certainly no want of professional theologians who will be glad to accept your invitation. The practice of the Church proves that a question of faith is just as much an affair of the laity as of the clergy, and that the former may take part in the scientific examination and establishment of the tradition — as both Popes and theologians have acknowledged. And in this case, which is a matter for historical proof, I am gladly ready to submit to the verdict of the most eminent historians of the German nation and of the Catholic faith. Such men as Picker, Reumont, Hofler, Arneth, Kamps- 217 chulte, Cornelius, Lerenz, "Wegele, Aschbach, may judge whether my proofs be critically and historically right or not. " Your excellency was pleased formerly to honour my book on the First Ages of the Church Apostolical with your approval, and it was generally considered among German Catholics to be a true picture of the time of foundation : even the Jesuitic-Ultra- montane party let it pass without censure. But if the new decrees contain the truth, then I have laid myself open to the reproach of having entirely misrepresented the history of the Apostles. The entire section of my book which concerns the constitution of the earlier Church, my description of the relation in which Paul and the other Apostles stood to Peter — all is fundamentally wrong, and I ought to condemn my own book, and confess that I have neither understood Luke's Acts of the Apostles nor their own Epistles. " The new Vatican doctrine confers upon the Pope the whole plenitude of power {totam plenitudincm jjotestatk) over the entire Church, as well as over every individual layman, priest and bishop ; and this power pretends to be at once the genuine episcopalian, and also the specific Papal authority, which is to comprise all things whatsoever, in relation to faith, morals, duties of life and discipline, and is to be entitled to lay hold upon the monarch as well as upon the day labourer, in order to inflict upon him punishment, commandment, or prohibition. The wording is so carefully put that no other position and authority is left to the bishops than such as pertain to Papal commissioners and pleni- potentiaries. Every person acquainted with history, and with the Fathers, must know that, by this means, the orthodox episcopacy is destroyed in its very essence, and that an apostolic institution which, in the opinion of the Fathers of the Church, is entitled to the highest consideration and authority, is thus reduced to an unsubstantial shadow. For no one will admit it to be possible that there shall be two bishops in the same diocese — the one being at the same time the Pope, and the other merely a bishop — because a Papal vicar or a diocesan commissioner is not exactly a bishop nor a successor of tbe apostles. In virtue of the powers conferred upon him by Rome, he may be a very mighty man as long as his employer chooses to maintain him in office, precisely as a 218 Jesuit or a Mendicant whom, the Pope has endowed with an abundance of privileges might be. I am well aware that this prospect of an extension of their power has been held out to the bishops at Rome, and that it has often been said to them — * The more irresistible the Pope the stronger you will be, for the plenitude of my power will cause rich rays to alight upon you.' The bishops of the minority have full well seen through the deceptive part of these promises ; by the official * analytical- synopsis ' it is shown that they have fully recognised that, when the universal episcopacy of the Pope is established, they may still continue to be dignitaries of the Church, but they will cease to be true bishops. Right reverend sir, you yourself took part in the deputation, which on the 15th July, made the most urgent counter-representations to the Pope — representations which M. de Ketteler essayed to render still more emphatic by his prostration at the feet of the Pontiff. These representations, it is well known, were made in vain. The only consolation offered to tha prelates, mourning over the loss of their orthodox dignity, was limited to the wording of the decree, which provided that the power of the bishop is an ' ordinary ' one (that is to say, in the language of the Roman canonists, a ' potestas ordinaria subdekgata'), and that the Pope considered it his duty to support the same was proved by a mutilated quotation from Gregorius the Great : but if this passage had been quoted com- pletely, together with others, it would have proved to the world that this Pope of the seventeenth century repelled from him with the profouudest aversion as a blasphemous usurpation the idea of such a universal episcopacy as is now intended to be established. "And here I beg your excellency to consider that the doctrine which we are now to adopt forms by its own nature, and by the declaration of the Pope himself, by the confession of all infalli- bilists, a fundamental article of faith — that it is a question of the regnla fidei, of the rule which must decide what is to be believed and what is not. In future every Catholic Christian can only answer the query why he believes this or that as follows : — ' I believe, or deny it, because the infallible Pope has commanded me to believe or to deny it.' This first principle of faith, as the Holy Scriptures necessarily should most clearly show, can never 219 have been doubtful in the Church— it must at every date and among every people have governed the whole Church like a brightly shining star — must have been placed in the front of all instruction; and we all wait for an explanation of why it is that only after 1830 years the Church has started the idea of making an article of faith of a doctrine which the Pope calls, in a letter addressed to your excellency on the 28th of October, 'ipsum fundament ale prineipiiim CathoUcce ficlei ac dodrince.' How can it have been possible that the Popes should, during centuries past have exempted whole countries, whole schools of theology, from belief in this 'fundamental article of faith ? ' And — may I add — how is it that your excellency yourself strove so long and so persistently against the enunciation of this dogma ? Because it was not opportune, you say. But can it ever have been * inopportune ' to give to believers the key of the whole temple of faith, to announce to them the fundamental article on which all the rest depend ? "We stand all of us giddy before a chasm which opened before us on the 18th of July last. "He who wishes to measure the immense range of these resolutions may be urgently recommended to compare thoroughly the third chapter of the decrees in Council with the fourth, and to realise for himself what a system of universal government and spiritual dictation stands here before us. It is the plenary power over the whole Church as over each separate member, such as the Popes have claimed for themselves since Gregory YII., such as is pronounced in the numerous bulls since the bull 'TJnam sanctam,' which is henceforth to be believed and acknow- ledged in his life by every Catholic. This power is boundless, incalculable ; it can, as Innocent III. said, strike at sin every- where ; can punish every man, allows of no appeal, is sovereign and arbitrary, for, according to Bonifacius VIII., the Pope ' carries all rights in the shrine of his bosom.' As he has now become infallible, he can in one moment, with the one little word ' orbi ' (that is, that he addresses himself to the whole Church), make every thesis, every doctrine, every demand, an unerring and irrefragable article of faith. Against him there can be maintained no right, no personal or corporate freedom — or, as 220 tlie canonists say, the tribunal of God and that of the Pope are one and the same. This system bears its Romish origin on its forehead, and will never be able to penetrate in Germanic countries. As a Christian, as a theologian, as a historian, as a citizen, I cannot accept this doctrine. Not as a Christian, for it is irreconcileable with the spirit of the Gospel, and with the plain words of Christ and of the Apostles ; it purposes just that establishment of the kingdom of this world which Christ rejected ; it claims that rule over all communions which Peter forbids to all and to himself Not as a theologian — for the whole true tradition of the Church is in irreconcileable opposition to it. Not as a historian can I accept it, for as such I know that the persistent endeavour to realise this theory of a kingdom of the world has cost Europe rivers of blood, has confounded and degraded whole countries, has shaken the beautiful organic architecture of the elder Church, and has begotten, fed, and sustained the worst abuses in the Church. " Finally as a citizen, I must put this dogma away from me, because by its claims on the submission of states and monarchs, and of the whole political order under the Papal power, and by the exceptional position which it claims for the clergy, it lays the foundation of endless ruinous dispute between State and Church, between clergy and laity. For I cannot conceal from myself that this doctrine, the results of which were the ruin of the old German Kingdom, would, if governing the Catholic part of the German nation, at once lay the seed of incurable decay in the new kingdom which has just been built up. — "Accept, &c., (Signed) "I VON BOLLINGER." "Munich, March 28, 1871." Dr. Bollinger's most convincing letter could not be answered : and therefore, soon after writing it, he was excommunicated. Since his excommunication, he has not been left without sympathy on the part of his co-religionists. The King has even written him to express his condolence with him and admiration of his conduct 221 and character. Dr. Dollinger's election as Rector of the University of Munich is the latest evidence that Rome's thunders cease to frighten the German people, even when they cleave to their old religious convictions. "THE TABLET" ON MONTALEMBERT'S LETTER OF FEB. 28th, 1870. '•The Tablet" (Vatican Supplement), Mar. 26, 1870. The real founder of "Liberal Catholicism," considered as a project for reconciHng the Church with what are called " modern ideas," was perhaps De Lamennais, though nothing was further from his original intention. He had all the gifts necessary to the master of a school, and among his disciples were such men as Lacordaire, Gerbet, De Salinis, and Montalembert. It is not without interest at this moment to enquire what were the princi- ples and professions with which this school, whose chief was to end so dismally, commenced its career. Their first act was an uncompromising profession of Ultramontane doctrines. In the JJnivevs of the 19th, we find a copy of the Declaration in which the editors of the Avenir proclaimed to the Church and the world their principles and intentions. " At this day, more than at any other period," they said, " Catholic writers must redouble their vigilance and precautions in order to assure themselves that they are not departing in any point from true doctrine. The tra- ditions and the history of the Church indicate to them the most certain means of securing this object : they have only to address themselves directly to the Holy See, the infallible guardian of the truth. When, therefore, we formed the resolution of combating, in a moment of difficulty, in the cause of Catholic faith and liberty, our first glance was turned towards that Chair from which light and wisdom descend upon the whole Christian world." After some further observations, they proceed to make a solemn profession of faith, which bears the signatures of the thirteen men connected with the Avcnir, including Lacordaire and Montalembert. " AYe profess the most complete submission to 222 the authority of the Yicar of Jesus Christ. We neither have nor wish to have any other faith than his faith, any other doc- trine than his doctrine. We approve all that he approves, we condemn all that he condemns, toithout a shadow of restriction, and each one of us submits to the judgment of the Holy See all his writings, past ox future, of whatever nature they may be. In accordance with these principles, deeply engraven on our souls, we reject Gallicanism with all our strength ; first, because the declaration of 1682, which is its formal expression, has been re- versed, annulled, and reproved many times by the Holy See, ivithout distinction of the articles ; and secondly, because the doc- trine which it implies establishes at once anarchy in the spiritual order, and servitude in the political." Even this did not satisfy the eminent men who were afterwards to exercise, in various positions, so powerful an influence upon their generation. They proceeded, therefore, to enumerate vari- ous propositions in order to pronounce condemnation upon them. The first which they named was this : "A General Council is superior to the Pope." The second, — that "the monarchical form in the Church was not instituted immediately by Christ," they reprove by quoting the very words of the Theological Faculty of Paris, in which this proposition, asserted by Mark Antony de Dominis, was condemned as " heretical, schismatical, subversive of hierarchical order, and destructive to the peace of the Church." The third, that " the judgment of the Roman Pontifi'in matters of faith is only irreformable after the assent of the Church has been joined to it," Montalembert and his distinguished col- leagues rejected for these reasons : (1) " because the Popes have never permitted that any doubt should attach for a moment to their decisions addressed to the whole Church ; (2) because this proposi- tion is contrary to the profession of faith sanctioned by the Eighth General Council, which defined that they are separated from the communion of the Catholic Church who do not in all things profess the same belief as the Apostolic See ' ; and (3) because of certain conclusions inevitably resulting from this false proposi- tion ; — such ^s, either that the Pope might fall into error, and so lead the whole Church astray, contrary to the promise of Jesus Christ ; or that the Episcopate could lead the Pope back to truth, 223 which impHes that the centre of unity may exist outside the Eoman Church ; " — suppositions, they add, " which we reject as directly contrary to the Catholic faith." Without noticing all the details of this remarkable Declaration, it will suffice to quote its concluding sentences. "If in the principles which we profess there be anything contrary to the faith or to ' Catholic doctrine,' we supplicate the Vicar of Jesus Christ to deign to admonish us, renewing to Him the promise of our perfect docility. God forbid that we should ever substitute our personal opinions for the tradition of the Church, of which He is the Sovereign interpreter. The very phenomena by which we are surrounded, and the vast chaos of conflicting opinions, are only too plain a warning to us how much each individual should distrust his own weak and limited intelligence. For us, sub- mission is not only our first duty as Catholics, but is, so to speak, our very being as writers. One word of revolt from our mouths would be the suicide of all that we can utter. For it is our first principle, the vital principle of our writings, the very life of our understanding, that truth is not a treasure belonging to ourselves ; and from our doctrine on human reason to our faith in the Chair of eternal truth, we are, as it were, on every side enveloped in the atmosphere of obedience. We will finish, by the grace of God, as we have begun. After having passed through days full of trial and combat, when our last sigh shall have announced the close of our toils, we cherish the hope that men will be able, with' out being contradicted by a single incident of our lives, to engrave on our tombs these words of Fenelon : Holy Church of Rome, if ever I roRGET thee, may I forget myself ! " Paris, 2nd February, 1831. F. de Lamennais, Priest. P. Gerbet, Priest. KOHRBACHER, Priost. H. Lacordaire, Priest. C. ue Coux. A. Bartels. D'AuLB-DtnuESNUi. VicoMTE Ch. de Montalem- BERT. J. d'Ortigue. A. DE Salinis. DagXjerre. [Editor. Harel du Tancrel, Chief Waille, Managing Editor, S34 THE ENCYCLICAL AND SYLLABUS OF 1864. It would be an error to suppose that the decrees of the Council of 1869-70 stood by themselves in the history of the Papacy, as a sudden manifestation of Jesuit supremacy. On the contrary, in the Encyclical, which contains the Syllabus of propositions condemned by the Papacy, the Pope declares, that the condem- nation of these propositions forms a summary of the policy of his Pontificate ; and this is true, as respects the conduct he has pursued since his flight to Gaeta from republican Rome in 1848, and his final subordination to Jesuit direction, which appears to have been consummated at that period. The convening of the Council of 1869-70, its decrees, and the proclamation of the personal infallibility of the Pope, form the climax of this policy, superinduced probably by the discovery, that the condemnations of the Sj^llabus are so extravagant, that their enforcement upon the Roman Catholic Church could not be accomplished, without the leverage, which a further development of an obedient super- stition was expected to afi'ord. Perhaps our readers may wish to know at a glance what the Syllabus is. The Syllabus consists of some eighty propositions on Religion, Politics, and Morality ; every one of which is now to be held by devout Roman Catholics, as condemned by an infallible authority, which is as binding on their consciences, as are the doctrines of the Bible on the consciences of others. The Syllabus treats the Papal authority as supreme. It anathematizes all the decrees of Monarchs, Parliaments, and States, which are contrary to the Papal policy therein enunciated ; and declares them to be utterly void of rightful authority. Travelling beyond this, into the sphere of opinion, it anathematizes without scruple all phases of thought not squared with its own dogmas, which it treats as antecedent. The Dublin Revieio — the eminent Roman Catholic organ — which gives the Latin original and the English translation of the Encyclical and Syllabus, says of this remarkable State Paper {Duhlin Review, No. VIII., p. 443) : — "We have no hesitation in 225 maintaining, consistently with our article on the 'Mirari Vos,' that its {i.e., the Encyclical's) doctrinal declarations possess absolute infallibility, in virtue of the promises made by Christ to St. Peter's Chair. Indeed, to hold that the Church's infallibility is confined to her definitions of faith seems to us among the most fatal errors of the day ; nor do wo see where its legitimate results can stop, short of that extreme form of Catholic unbeHef which animated the late Home and Foreign lievieto." This, then, is no musty document of past times. It is the latest expression of the Councils of the Church of Eome, not made in haste or in heat, but calmly, after long thought, publicly, in the face of Europe. Every Romish priest and prelate is bound by this decree, and swears to obey it, to take it as his creed, and the rule of his actions. That no country may be deceived, that no sovereign be left ignorant, here, given in full detail, is the declared judgment of him who is the sovereign ruler of millions of minds. 1st. To his rule and laws all the nations of the world must bow. 2nd. All sovereigns hold their thrones, all people pay their allegiance, on condition that they believe the Creed of Rome, and practise its worship. 3rd. There is no religion but that of Rome, and no other faith is to be held or allowed. Liberty of conscience is prohibited. Toleration of other religions is a crime against society. 4th. All sovereigns, who are Protestants, are heretics; and heresy is a crime for which they ought to be deposed. 5th. All free thought and free speech on religion are criminal. Liberty of the press and of worship are to be put down. This is the Creed, and, where it has the power, the practice, of Rome. It is impossible to conceive a document more deeply fraught with the essence of despotism. 226 REMARKABLE LETTER FROM PERE LA CHAISE, ETC. The following is a letter from Father La Chaise, confessor to Louis XIY., to Father Peters, confessor to James 11. of England, in 1688. It is from the seventh volume 4to. of the collection of manuscript papers selected from the library of Edward Harley, Earl of Oxford :— * ''Father La Chaise's Project for the Exthyation of Heretics, in a Letter from him to Father Peters, 1688. ""Worthy Friend, — I received yours on the 20th of June last, and am glad to hear of your good success, and that our party gains ground so fast in England; but, concerning the question you have put to me, ' What is the best course to be taken to root out all heretics ? ' — I answer, there are divers ways to do that, but we must consider which is the best to make use of in England. I am sure you are not ignorant of how many thousand heretics we have converted in France, by the power of our dragoons, in the space of one year ; having by the doctrine of those booted apostles, turned more in one month than Christ and His apostles could in ten years. This is a most excellent method, and far excels those of the great preachers and teachers that have lived since Christ's time. But I have spoken with divers fathers of our Society, who think that your king is not strong enough to accomplish his design by such kind of force ; so that we cannot expect to have our work done in that manner, for the heretics are too strong in the three kingdoms ; and there- fore we must seek to convert them by fair means, before we fall upon them with fire, sword, halters, gaols, and other such-like * See "■Popery, as opposed to the Knowledge, the Morals, the Wealth, and the Liberty of Mankind^' by Al. Walker, Esq. 2ud Edition. London : W. Strange, 1851 ; pp. :lfi4— 870. 227 punishments ; and therefore I can give you no better advice than to begin with soft, easy means. Wheedle them by promises of profit and places of honour, till you have made them dip them- selves in treasonable actions against the laws established, and then they are bound to serve for fear. When they have done this, turn them out, and serve others so, by putting them in their places ; and by this means gain as many as you can. And for the heretics that are in places of profit and honour, turn them out, or suspend them on pretence of misbehaviour ; by which their places are forfeited, and they are subject to what judgment you please to give upon them. Then you must form a camp, that must consist of none but Catholics ; this will dishearten the heretics and cause them to conclude that all means of relief and recovery is gone. And lastly, take the short and the best way, which is, to surprise the heretics on a sudden ; and to encourage the zealous Catholics, let them sacrifice them all, and wash their hands in their blood, which will be an acceptable offering to God. This was the method I took in France, which hath well, you see, succeeded ; but it cost me many threats and promises before I could bring it thus far ; our king being a long time very unwilling. But at last I got him on the hip ; for he had lain with his daughter-in-law, for which I would by no means give him absolution till he had given me an instrument, under his own hand and seal, to sacrifice all the heretics in one day. Now, as soon as I had my desired commission, I appointed the day when this should be done ; and, in the meantime, made ready some thousands of letters, to be sent into all parts of France in one post-night. I was never better pleased than at that time, but the king was affected with some compassion for the Huguenots, because they had been a means to bring him to his crown and throne ; and the longer he was under it, the more sorrowful he was, often complaining, and desiring me to give him his com- mission again ; but that I would by no persuasion do ; advising him to repent of that heinous sin, and also telling him, that the trouble and horror of his spirit did not proceed from anything of evil in those things that were to be done, but from that wicked- ness that he had done ; and that he must resolve to undergo the severe burden of a troubled mind for one of them or the other ; q2 228 and that if he would remain satisfied as it was, his sin heing forgiven, there would, in a few days, be a perfect atonement made for it, and he perfectly reconciled to God again. But all this would not pacify him ; for the longer it continued the more restless he became ; and I therefore ordered him to retire to his closet, and spend his time constantly in prayer, without permitting any one to interrupt him ; — this was early in the morning, and on the evening following I was to send away all my letters. I indeed, made the more haste, for fear he should disclose it to any body, although I had given him a strict charge to keep it to himself ; and the very things that I most feared, to my great sorrow, came to pass ; for just in the nick of time, the devil, who hath at all times his instruments at work, sent the Prince of Conde to the court, who asked for the king. He was told that he was in his closet, and would speak with no man. He impudently answered, " that he must and would speak with him," and so went directly to his closet ; he being a great peer, no man durst hinder him. And being come to the king, he soon perceived by his countenance that he was under some great trouble of mind, for he looked as if he had been going into the other world immediately. " Sir," said he, " what is the matter with you ?" The king at the first refused to tell him, but he pressing harder upon him, the king at last, with a sorrowful complaint, burst out, and said — " I have given Father La Chaise a commission, under my hand, to murder all the Huguenots in one day ; and this evening will the letters be despatched to all parts, by the post, for the performing it : so that there is but small time left for my Huguenot subjects to live, who have never done me any harm." Whereupon this cursed rogue answered, " Let him give you your commission again." The king said, "How shall I get it out of his hand? For if I send to him for it, he will refuse to send it." And this devil answered, " If your majesty will give me the order, I will quickly make him return it." " 'The king was soon persuaded, being willing to give ease to his troubled spirit, and said, " Well, go then, and break his neck, if he will not give it you." Whereupon this son of the devil went to the post-house, and asked if I had not a great number 229 of letters there ? And thoy said, " Yes, more than I had sent in a whole year before." " Then," said the prince, " by order from the king, you must deliver them all to me ;" which they durst not disobey, for they knew well enough who he was. And no sooner was he got into the post-house, and had asked these questions, than I came also in after him, to give order to the post-master to give notice to all those under him, in the several parts of the kingdom, that they should take care to deliver my letters with all speed imaginable. But I had no sooner entered the house than he gave his servants order to secure the door, and said confidently to me, " You must, by order from the king, give me the commission which you have forced from him." I told him I had it not about me, but would go and fetch it ; thinking to get from him, and so go out of town, and send the contents of those letters another time ; but he said, " You must give it up ; and if you have it not about you, send somebody to fetch it, or else never expect to go alive out of my hands ; for I have an order from the king either to bring it or break your neck, and am resolved either to carry that back to him in my hand, or else your heart's blood on the point of my sword." I would have made my escape, but he set his sword to my breast, and said, " You must give it me, or die ; therefore deliver it, or else this goes through your body." " 'So, when I saw nothing else would do, I put my hand in my pocket and gave it him ; which he carried immediately to the king, and gave him that and all my letters, which they burned. And, all being done, the king said, now his heart was at ease. Now, how he should be eased by the devil, or so well satisfied Avith a false joy, I cannot tell ; but this I know, that it was a very wicked and ungodly action, as well in his majesty as in the Prince of Conde, and did not a little increase the burden and danger of his majesty's sins. I soon gave an account of this affair to several fathers of our Society, who promised to do their best to prevent the aforesaid prince's doing such another act, which was accordingly done ; for, within six days after the damned action, he was poisoned, and well he deserved it. The king also did suffer too, but in another fashion, for disclosing the design unto the prince, and hearkening unto his counsel. And 230 many a time since, wlien I have had him at confession, I have shook hell about his ears, and made him sigh, fear, and tremble, before I would give him absolution ; nay, more than that, I have made him beg for it on his knees, before I would consent to absolve him. By this I saw that he had still an inclination to me, and was willing to be under my government ; so I set the baseness of the action before him, by telling hira the whole story, and how wicked it was, and that it could not be forgiven, till he had done some good action to balance that, and expiate the crime. "Whereupon, he at last asked me, what he must do ? I told him that he must root out all heretics from his kingdom. So, when he saw there was no rest for him, without doing it, he did again give them all into my power and that of our clergy, under this condition, that we would not murder them, as he had before given orders, but that we should by fair means, or force, convert them to the Catholic religion. Now, when he had got the commission, we at once put it in force ; and what the issue hath been, you very well know. But in England the work cannot be done after this manner, as you may perceive by what I have said to you ; so that I cannot give you better counsel, than to take that course in hand wherein we were so unhappily prevented ; and I doubt not, but it may have better success with you than with us. " ' I would write to you of many other things, but I fear I have already detained you too long, wherefore I will write no more at present, but that I am " * Your friend and servant, "'LA CHAISE. « 'Paris, July 8th, 1688.' " Dr. Burnet* gives a curious account of meeting Penn at the Court of the Prince of Orange, afterwards William III., to which Penn came on a private mission from James II. Burnet evidently suspected that Penn was connected with the Jesuits, at that time so powerful at the Court of England, He says : — * Bishop Biu-net's History of His Own Time," vol. i., pp. 693, 694. 1724. 231 " Complaints come daily over from England of all the tilings that the priests were everywhere throwing out. Penn, the Quaker, came over to Holland. He was a talking, vain man, who had been long in the King's favour, he being the Vice- Admiral's son. He had such an opinion of his own faculty of persuading, that he thought none could stand before it. Thougli he was singular in that opinion — for he had a tedious, luscious way, that was not apt to overcome a man's reason, though it might tire his patience — he undertook to persuade the Prince to come into the King's measures, and had two or three long audiences of him upon the subject. And ho and I spent some hours together on it. The Prince readily consented to a toleration of Popery as well as of Dissenters, provided it were proposed and passed in Parliament ; and he promised his assistance, if there was need of it, to get it to pass. But for the Tests, he would enter into no treaty about them. He said it was a plain be- traying the security of the Protestant religion, to give them up. Nothing was left unsaid that might move him to agree to this in the way of interest. The King would enter into an entire confidence with him, and would put his best friends in the chief trusts. Penn undertook for this so positively, that he seemed to believe it himself, for he was a great proficient in the art of dissimulation. Many suspected that he was a concealed Papist. It is certain, he was much with Father Peter, and was particularly trusted by the Earl of Sunderland. So, though he did not pretend any commission for what he promised, yet we looked on him as a man employed. To all this the Prince answered, that no man was more for toleration in principle, than he was : he thought the conscience was only subject to God ; and as far as general toleration, even of Papists, would content the King, he would concur in it heartily. But he looked on the Tests, as such a real security, and indeed the only one, when the King was of another religion, that he would join in no counsels with those, that intended to repeal those laws, that enacted them. Penn said, the King would have all or nothing : but that, if this was once^done, the King would secure the toleration by a solemn and unalterable law. To this the late repeal of the Edict of Nantes that was declared perpetual and irrevocable, furnished 232 an answer, that admitted of no reply. So Penn's negotiation with the Prince had no effect. " He pressed me to go over to England, since I was in principle for toleration ; and he assured mo the King would prefer me highly. I told him, since the tests must go with this toleration, I could never be for it. Among other discourses he told me one thing, that was not accomplished in the way, he had a mind I should believe it would be, but had a more surprising accomplishment. He told me a long series of predictions, which, as he said, he had from a man that pretended a commerce with Angels, who had foretold many things that were passed very punctually. But he added, that in the year 1688 there would such a change happen in the face of aflfairs, as would amaze all the world. And after the Revolution, which happened that year, I asked him before much company if that was the event that was predicted. He was uneasy at the question, but did not deny what he had told me, which he understood of the full settlement of the nation upon a toleration, by which he believed all men's minds would be perfectly quieted and united." 233 [Teanslation.] VIII. DECEMBEE, MDCCCLXIV. THE ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF OUR MOST HOLY FATHER THE POPE, PIUS IX. To our Venerable Brethren, all Fatriarchs, Primates, Archlishops, and Bishops having favour and communion of the Holy See, PIUS pp. IX, "Venerable Brethren, health and apostolic benediction. With how great care and pastoral vigilance the Roman Pontiffs, our predecessors, fulfilling '.the duty and office committed to them by the Lord Christ Himself in the person of Most Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, of feeding the lambs and the sheep, have never ceased sedulously to nourish the Lord's own flock with words of faith and with salutary doctrine, and to guard it from poisoned pastures, — is thoroughly known to aU, and especially to You, Venerable Brethren. And truly the same. Our Predeces- sors, asserters as they were and vindicators of the august CathoHc religion, of truth, and of justice, being specially anxious for the salvation of souls, had nothing even more at heart than by their most wise Letters and Constitutions to unveil and condemn all those heresies and errors which, being adverse to our Divine Faith, to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, to purity of morals, and to the eternal salvation of men, have frequently excited violent tempests, and have miserably afflicted both Church and State. For which cause the same, Our Predecessors, have, with ApostoUc fortitude, constantly resisted the nefarious enterprises 234 of wicked men, who, like raging waves of the sea foaming out their own confusion, and promising liberty whereas they are the slaves of corruption, have striven by their deceptive opinions and most pernicious writings to raze the foundations of the Catholic religion and of civil society, to remove from among men all virtue and justice, to deprave the mind and judgment of all, to turn away from true moral training unwary persons, and especially inexperienced youth, miserably to corrupt such youth, to lead it into the snares of error, and at length to tear it from the bosom of the Catholic Church. But now, as is well known to You, Venerable Brethren, already, scarcely had we been elevated to this Chair of Peter (by the hidden counsel of divine Providence, certainly by no merits of Our own), when, seeing with the greatest grief of Our soul a truly awful storm excited by so many evil opinions, and [seeing also] the most grievous calamities never sufficiently to be deplored which overspread the Christian people from so many errors, according to the duty of Our Apostolic Ministry, and following the illustrious example of Our Predecessors, We raised Our voice, and in many published Encyclical Letters, and Allocutions de- livered in Consistory, and other Apostolic letters, we condemned the "chief errors of this our most unhappy age, and we excited your admirable Episcopal vigilance, and we again and again admonished and exhorted all sons of the Catholic Church, to Us most dear, that they should altogether abhor and flee from the contagion of so dire a pestilence. And especially in Our first Encyclical Letter written to You on JSTov. 9, 1846, and in two Allocutions delivered by us in Consistory, the one on Dec. 9, 1854, and the other on June 9, 1862, we condemned the mon- strous portents of opinion which prevail especially in this age, bringing with them the greatest loss of souls and detriment of civil society itself ; which are grievously opposed also, not only to the Catholic Church and her salutary doctrine and venerable rights, but also to the eternal natural law engraven by God in all men's hearts, and to right reason ; and from which almost all other errors have their origin. But, although we have not omitted often to proscribe and reprobate the chief errors of this kind, yet the cause of the 235 Catholic Church, and the salvation of souls entrusted to us by God, and the welfare of human society itself, altogether demand that we again stir up your pastoral solicitude to exterminate other evil opinions, which spring forth from the said errors as from a fountain. Which false and perverse opinions are on that ground the more to be detested, because they chiefly tend to this, that that salutary influence be impeded and [even] removed which the Catholic Church, -according to the institution and command of her. Divine Author, should freely exercise even to the end of the world — not only over private individuals, but over nations, peoples, and their sovereign princes ; and (tend also) to take away that mutual fellowship and concord of counsels between Church and State which has ever proved itself propitious and salutary, both for religious and civil interests. For You well know, Venerable Brethren, that at this time men are found not a few who, applying to civil society the impious and absurd principle of naturalism, as they call it, dare to teach that " the best constitution of public society and [also] civil progress altogether require that human society be conducted and governed without regard being had to religion any more than if it did not exist ; or, at least, without any distinction being made between the true religion and false ones." And, against the doctrine of Scripture, of the Church, and of the holy Fathers, they do not hesitate to assert that " that is the best condition of society, in which no duty is recognised, as attached to the civil power, of restraining, by enacted penalties, ofi'enders against the Catholic religion, except so far as public peace may require." From which totally false idea of social government they do not fear to foster that erroneous opinion, most fatal in its efibcts on the Catholic Church and the salvation of souls, called by Our Predecessor, Gregory XVI., an insanity, viz., that " liberty of conscience and worship is each man's personal right, which ought to be legally proclaimed and asserted in every rightly constituted society ; and that a right resides in the citizens to an absolute liberty, which should be restrained by no authority whether ecclesiastical or civil, whereby they may be able openly and publicly to manifest and declare any of their ideas whatever, either by word of mouth, by the press, or in any other way." 236 But, while they rashly affirm this, they do not think and consider that they are preaching the Uherty of perdition ; and that, "if human arguments are always allowed free room for discussion, there will never be wanting men who will dare to resist truth, and to trust in the flowing speech of human wisdom ; whereas we know, from the very teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, how carefully Christian faith and wisdom should avoid this most injurious babbling." And, since where religion has been removed from civil society, and the doctrine and authority of Divine revelation repudiated, the genuine notion itself of justice and human right is darkened and lost, and the place of true justice and legitimate right is supplied by material force, thence it appears why it is that some, utterly neglecting and disregarding the surest principles of sound reason, dare to proclaim that " the people's will, manifested by what is called public opinion or in some other way, constitutes a supreme law, free from all Divine and human control ; and that in the political order accomplished facts, from the very circum- stance that they are accomplished, have the force of right." But who does not see and clearly perceive that human society, when set loose from the bonds of religion and true justice, can have, in truth, no other end than the purpose of obtaining and amassing wealth, and that [society under such circumstances] follows no other law in its actions, except the unchastened desire of minis- tering to its own pleasures and interests ? For this reason men of the kind pursue with bitter hatred the Religious Orders, although these have deserved extremely well of Christendom, civilization, and literature, and cry out that the same have no legitimate reason for being permitted to exist ; and thus [these evil men] applaud the calumnies of heretics. For, as Pius YI., Our Predecessor, taught most wisely, " the abolition of regulars is injurious to that state in which the Evangelical counsels are openly professed ; it is injurious to a method of life praised in the Church as agreeable to Apostolic doctrine ; it is injurious to the illustrious founders themselves, whom we venerate on our altars, who did not establish these societies but by God's inspi- ration." And [these wretches] also impiously declare that permission should be refused to citizens and to the Church, 237 " whereby they may openly give alms for the sake of Christian charity ; " and that the law should be abrogated " whereby on certain fixed days servile works are prohibited because of God's worship;" on the most deceptive pretext that the said permission and law are opposed to the principles of the best public economy. Moreover, not content with removing religion from public society, they wish to banish it also from private families. For teaching and professing the most fatal error of Communism and Socialism, they assert that " domestic society or the family derives the whole principle of its existence from the civil law alone; and, con- sequently, that from the civil law alone issue, and on it depend, all rights of parents over their children, and especially that of providing for education." By which impious opinions and machinations these most deceitful men chiefly aim at this result, viz., that the salutary teaching and influence of the Catholic Church may be entirely banished from the instruction and education of youth, and that the tender and flexible minds of young men may be infected and depraved by every most per- nicious error and vice. For all who have endeavoured to throw into confusion things both sacred and secular, and to subvert the right order of society, and to abolish all rights Divine and human, have always (as we above hinted) devoted all their nefarious schemes, devices, and efforts, to deceiving and depraving in- cautious youth and have placed all their hope in its corruption. For which reason they never cease by every wicked method to assail the clergy, both secular and regular, from whofli (as the surest monuments of history conspicuously attest) so many great advantages have abundantly flowed to Christianity, civilization, and literature, and to proclaim that "the clergy, as being hostile to the true and beneficial advance of science and civilization, should be removed from the whole charge and duty of instructing and educating youth." Others meanwhile, reviving the wicked and so often condemned inventions of innovators, dare with signal impudence to subject to the will of the civil authority the supreme authority of the Church and of this Apostolic See given to her by Christ Himself, and to deny all those rights of the same Church and See which concern matters of the external order. For they are 238 not ashamed of affirming " that the Church's laws do not bind in conscience unless when they are promulgated by the civil power ; that acts and decrees of the Roman Pontiffs, referring to religion and the Church, need the civil power's sanction and approbation, or at least its consent ; that the Apostolic Constitutions, whereby secret Societies are condemned (whether an oath of secresy be or be not required in such Societies), and whereby their frequenters and favourers are smitten with anathema — have no force in those regions of the world wherein associations of the kind are tolerated by the civil government ; that the excommunication pronounced by the Council of Trent and by Roman Pontiffs against those who assail and usurp the Church's rights and possessions, rests on a confusion between the spiritual and temporal orders, and [is directed] to the pursuit of a purely secular good ; that the Church can decree nothing which binds the consciences of the faithful in regard to their use of temporal things ; that the Church has no right of restraining by temporal punishments those who violate her laws ; that it is conformable to the principles of sacred theology and public lav/ to assert and claim for the civil govern- ment a right of property in those goods which are possessed by the Church, by the Religious Orders, and by other pious esta- blishments." Nor do they blush openly and publicly to profess the maxim and principle of heretics from which arise so many perverse opinions and errors. For they repeat that "the ecclesiastical power is not by divine right distinct from, and independent of, the civil power, and that such distinction and independence cannot be preserved without the civil power's essential rights being assailed and usurped by the Church." Nor can we pass over in silence the audacity of those who, not enduring sound doctrine, contend that *' without sin and without any sacrifice of the Catholic profession assent and obedience may be refused to those judgments and decrees of the Apostolic See, whose object is declared to concern the Church's general good and her rights and discipline, so only it do not touch the dogmata of faith and morals." But no one can be found not clearly and distinctly to see and understand how grievously this is opposed to the Catholic dogma of the full power given from God by Christ our 239 Lord Himself to the Eoman Pontiff of feeding, ruling and guid- ing the universal Church. Amidst, therefore, such great perversity of depraved opinions, We, well remembering Our Apostolic Office, and very greatly solicitous for our most holy Religion, for sound doctrine and the salvation of souls which is intrusted to Us by God, and [solicitous also] for the welfare of human society itself, have thought it right again to raise up our Apostolic voice. Therefore, by Our Apos- tolic Authority we reprobate, proscribe, and condemn all and singular the evil opinions and doctrines severally mentioned in this letter, and will and command that they be thoroughly held by all children of the Catholic Church as reprobated, proscribed, and condemned. And besides these things. You know very well. Venerable Bretbren, that in these times the haters of all truth and justice and most bitter enemies of our religion, deceiving the people and maliciously lying, disseminate sundry other impious doctrines by means of pestilential books, pamphlets, and newspapers dispersed over the whole world. Nor are You ignorant, also, that in this our age some men are found who, moved and excited by the spirit of Satan, have reached to that degree of impiety as not to shrink from denying Our Ruler and Lord Jesus Christ, and from impugning his Divinity with wicked pertinacity. Here, however, we cannot but extol You, Yencrable Brethren, with great and deserved praise, for not having failed to raise with all zeal your episcopal voice against impiety so great. Therefore, in this Our Letter, we again most lovingly address You, who, having been called unto a part of our solicitude, are to us, among Our grievous distresses, the greatest solace, joy, and consolation, because of the admirable religion and piety wherein you excel, and because of that marvellous love, fidelity, and dutiful n ess, whereby, bound as you are to Us, and to this Apostolic See in most harmonious affection, you strive strenu- ously and sedulously to fulfil your most weighty episcopal ministry. For from your signal pastoral zeal we expect that, taking up the sword of the Spirit which is the word of Gf-od, and strengthened in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, you will, with redoubled care, each day more anxiously provide that the 240 faitliM intrusted to your charge " abstain from noxious herbage, which Jesus Christ does not cultivate because it is not His Father's plantation." Never cease also to inculcate on the said faithful that all true felicity flows abundantly upon man from our august Religion and its doctrine and practice ; and that happy is the people whose God is their Lord. Teach that "kingdoms rest on the foundation of the catholic Faith ; and that nothing is so deadly, so hastening to a fall, so exposed to all danger, [as that which exists] if, believing this alone to be sufficient for us that we received free will at our birth, we seek nothing further from the Lord ; that is, if forgetting our Creator we abjure His power that we may display our freedom." And again do not fail to teach " that the royal power was given not only for the govern- ance of the world, but most of all for the protection of the Church ; " and that there is nothing which can be of greater advantage and glory to Princes and Kings than if, as another most wise and courageous Predecessor of Ours, St. Felix, instructed the Emperor Zeno, they " permit the Catholic Church to practise her laws, and allow no one to op230se her liberty. For it is certain that this mode of conduct is beneficial to their interests, viz., that where there is question concerning the causes of God, they study, according to His appointment, to subject the royal will to Christ's Priest's, not to raise it above theirs." But if always. Venerable Brethren, now most of all amidst such great calamities both of the Church and of civil society, amidst so great a conspiracy against Catholic interests and this Apostolic See, and so great a mass of errors, it is altogether necessary to approach with confidence the throne of grace, that Wc may obtain mercy and find grace in timely aid. Wherefore, We have thought it well to excite the piety of all the faithful in order that, together with Us and You, they may unceasingly pray and beseech the most merciful Father of light and pity with most fervent and humble prayers, and in the fulness of faith flee always to our Lord Jesus Christ, who redeemed us to God in His blood, and earnestly and constantly supplicate His most sweet Heart, the victim of most burning love towards us, that He would draw all things to Himself by the bonds of His love, and that all men inflamed by His most holy love may walk 241 worthily ficcording to His Heart, pleasing God in all things, bearing fruit in every good work. But since without doubt men's prayers are more pleasing to God if they reach Him from minds free of all stain, therefore we have determined to open to Christ's faithful, with Apostolic liberality, the Church's heavenly treasures committed to our charge, in order that the said faithful, being more earnestly enkindled to true piety, and cleansed through the Sacrament of Penance from the defilement of their sins, may with greater confidence pour forth their prayers to God, and obtain His mercy and grace. By these letters, therefore, in virtue of Our Apostolic authority, we concede to all and singular the faithful of the catholic world, a Plenary Indulgence in form of Jubilee, during the space of one month only for the whole coming year 1865, and not beyond ; to be fixed by You, Venerable Brethren, and other legitimate Ordinaries of places, in the very same manner and form in which we granted it at the beginning of Our Supreme Pontificate by Our Apostolic Letters in the form of a Brief, dated November 20, 1846, and addressed to all your episcopal Order, beginning, " Arcane Di\ana3 Providentise consilio," and with all the same faculties which were given by Us in those Letters. "We "vvill, however, that all things be observed which were prescribed in the aforesaid Letters, and those things be excepted which We there so declared. And We grant this, notwithstanding anything whatever to the contrary, even things which are worthy of indi- vidual mention and derogation. In order however that all doubt and difiiculty be removed, we have commanded a copy of the said Letters to be sent you. " Let us implore," Venerable Brethren, " God's mercy from our inmost heart and with our whole mind; because He has Himself added * I will not remove my mercy from them.' Let us ask and we shall receive ; and if there be delay and slowness in our receiving because we have gravely oflSended, let us knock, because to him that knocketh it shall be opened, if only the door be knocked by our prayers, groans, and tears, in which we must persist and persevere, and if the prayer be unanimous : let each man pray to God, not for himself alone, but for all his brethren, as the Lord hath taught us to pray." But in order R 242 that God may the more readily assent to the prayers and desires of Ourselves, of You, and of all the faithful, let us with all con- fidence employ as our advocate with Him the Immaculate and most holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God, who has slain all heresies throughout the world, and who, the most loving Mother of us all, "is all sweet and full of mercy shows herself to all as easily entreated ; shows herself to all as most merciful ; pities the necessities of all with a most large affection ; " and standing as a Queen at the right hand of her only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety, can obtain from Him whatever she will. Let us also seek the suffrages of the Most Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and of Paul his Fellow- apostle, and of all the Saints in heaven, who having now become God's friends, have arrived at the heavenly kingdom, and being crowned bear their palms, and being secure of their own immortality are anxious for our salvation. Lastly, imploring from Our heart for You from God the abun- dance of all heavenly gifts, We most lovingly impart the Apos- tolic Benediction from Our inmost heart, a pledge of Our signal love towards You, to Yourselves, Venerable Brethren, and to all the clerics and lay faithful committed to your care. Given at Rome, from St. Peter's, the 8th day of December, in the year 1864, the tenth from the Dogmatic Definition of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God. In the ninteenth year of Our Pontificate. S43 SYLLABUS. EMBRACING THE PRINCIPAL ERRORS OF OUR TIME WHICH ARE CENSURED IN CONSISTORIAL ALLOCUTIONS, ENCYCLICALS, AND OTHER APOSTOLIC LETTERS OF OUR MOST HOLY FATHER, POPE PIUS IX. Pantheism, Naturalism, and absolute Rationalism. I. There exists no supreme, all-wise, and most provident Divine Being distinct from this universe, and God is the same as the nature of things, and therefore liable to change ; and God is really made both in man and in the world, and all things are God and have the self-same substance of God ; and God is one and the same thing with the world, and therefore spirit is the same thing with matter, necessity with liberty, truth with falsehood, good with evil, and just with unjust. II. All action of God on mankind and on the world is to be denied. III. Human reason, without any regard whatever being had to God, is the one judge of truth and falsehood, of good and evil; it is a law to itself, and suffices by its natural strength for pro- viding the good of men and peoples. ly. All the truths of religion flow from the natural force of human reason ; hence reason is the chief rule whereby man can and should obtain the knowledge of all truths of every kind. V. Divine revelation is imperfect, and therefore subject to a continuous and indefinite progress corresponding to the advance of human perfection. VI. The faith of Christ is opposed to human reason ; and Divine revelation not only nothing profits, but is even injurious to man's reason, VII. The prophecies and miracles recorded and narrated in Scripture are poetical fictions, and the mysteries of Christian faith a result of philosophical investigations ; and in the books of both Testaments are contained mythical inventions ; and Jesus Christ Himself is a mythical fiction. r2 244 § n. Moderate Rationalism. VIII. Since human reason is on a level with religion itself, therefore theological studies are to be handled in the same manner as philosophical. IX. All the dogmas of the Christian religion are without dis- tinction the object of natural science or philosophy ; and human reason, with no other than an historical cultivation, is able from its own natural strength and principles to arrive at true knowledge of even the more abstruse dogmas, so only these dogmas have been proposed to the reason itself as its object. X. Since the philosopher is one thing, philosophy another, the former has the right and duty of submitting himself to that authority which he may have approved as true ; but philosophy neither can nor should submit itself to any authority. XT. The Church not only ought never to animadvert on philosophy, but ought to tolerate the errors of philosophy, and to leave it in her hands to correct itself. XII. The decrees of the Apostolic See and of Roman Congre- gations interfere with the free progress of science. XIII. The method and principles whereby the ancient scho- lastic Doctors cultivated theology are not suited to the necessities of our time and to the progress of the sciences. XIV. Philosophy should be treated without regard had to supernatural revelation. N.B. — To the system of Rationalism belong mostly the errors of Anthony Giinther, which are condemned in the epistle to the Cardinal- Archbishop of Cologne : " Eximiam tuam," June 15, 1857, and in that to the Bishop of Breslau, " Dolore baud mediocri," April 30, 1860. § HI. Indiferentism, Latitudinarianisin. XV. Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, led by the hght of reason, he may have thought true. XVI. Men may in the practice of any religion whatever find the path of eternal salvation, and attain eternal salvation. 245 XVII. At least good hopes should be entertained concerning the salvation of all those who in no respect live in the true Church of Christ. XVIII. Protestantism is nothing else than a different form of the same Christian religion, in which it is permitted to please God equally as in the true Catholic Church. § IV. Socialism, Communism, Secret Societies, Bible Societies, Clerico- Liheral Societies. Pests of this kind are often reprobated, and in the most severe terms in the Encyclical " Qui pluribus," November 9, 1846 ; the Allocution "Quibus Quantisque," April 20, 1849; the Encycli- cal " Noscitis et Nobiscum," December 8, 1849 ; the Allocution "Singularli quadam," December 9, 1854; the Encyclical "Quan- to conficiamur/' August 10, 1863. Errors concerning the Church and her ricjhts. XIX. The Church is not a true and perfect society fully free, nor does she enjoy her own proper and permanent rights given to her by her Divine Founder, but it is the civil power's business to define what are the Church's rights, and the limits within which she may be enabled to exercise them. XX. The ecclesiastical power should not exercise its authority without permission and assent of the civil government. XXI. The Church has not the power of dogmatically defining that the religion of the Catholic Church is the only true religion. XXII. The obligation by which Catholic teachers and writers are absolutely bound, is confined to those things alone which are propounded by the Church's infallible judgment, as dogmas of faith to be believed by all. XXIII. Roman Pontifis and oecumenical Councils have ex- ceeded the limits of their power, usurped the rights of princes, and erred even in defining matters of faith and morals. XXIV. The Church has no power of employing force, nor has she any temporal power direct or indirect. 246 XXV. Besides the inherent power of the episcopate, another temporal power has heen granted expressly or tacitly by the civil government, which may therefore be abrogated by the civil government at its pleasure. XXVI. The Church has no native and legitimate right of acquiring and possessing. XXVII. The Church's sacred ministers and the Homan Pontiff should be entirely excluded from all charge and dominion of temporal things. XXVIII. Bishops ought not, without the permission of the Government, to publish even letters apostolic. XXIX. Graces granted by the Eoman Pontiff should be accounted as void, unless they have been sought through the Government. XXX. The immunity of the Church and of ecclesiastical persons had its origin from the civil law. XXXI. The ecclesiastical forum for the temporal causes of clerics, whether civil causes or criminal, should be altogether abolished, even without consulting, and against the protest of, the Apostolic See. XXXII. Without any violation of natural right and equity, that personal immunity may be abrogated, whereby clerics are exempted from the burden of undertaking and performing military services; and such abrogation is required by civil progress, especially in a society constituted on the model of a free rule. XXXIII. It does not appertain exclusively to ecclesiastical jurisdiction by its own proper and native right to direct the teaching of theology. XXXIV. The doctrine of those who compare the Eoman Pontiff to a Prince, free and acting in the Universal Church, is the doctrine which prevailed in the middle age. XXXV. Nothing forbids that by the judgment of some General Council, or by the act of all peoples, the supreme Pontificate should be transferred from the Eoman Bishop and City to another Bishop and another State. XXXVI. The definition of a national Council admits no 247 further dispute, and the civil administration may fix the matter on this footing. XXXVII. National Churches separated and totally disjoined from the Roman Pontiff's authority may be instituted. XXXVIII. The too arbitrary conduct of Koman Pontiffs con- tributed to the Church's division into East and West. ^VI. Ermn concerning civil society, considered both in itself and in its relation to the Church. XXXIX. The State, as being the origin and fountain of all rights, possesses a certain right of its own, circumscribed by no limits. XL. The Doctrine of the Catholic Church is opposed to the good and benefit of human society. XLI. The civil power, even when exercised by a non-Catholic ruler, has an indirect negative power over things sacred ; it has consequently not only the right which they call exequatur, but that right also which they call appel comtne d'abus. XLII. In the case of a conflict between laws of the two powers, civil law prevails. XLIII. The lay power has the authority of rescinding, of declaring null, and of voiding solemn conventions (commonly called Concordats), concerning the exercise of rights appertaining to ecclesiastical immunity, which have been entered into with the Apostolic See, — without this See's consent, and even against its protest. XLIV. The civil authority may mix itself up in matters which appertain to rehgion, morals, and spiritual rule. Hence it can exercise judgment concerning those instructions which the Church's pastors issue according to their office for the guidance of consciences ; nay, it may even decree concerning the adminis- tration of the holy sacraments, and concerning the dispositions necessary for their reception. XLV. The whole governance of pubHc schools wherein the youth of any Christian State is educated, episcopal seminaries only being in some degree excepted, may and should be given to 248 the civil power ; and in sucli sense be given, that no right be recognized in any other authority of mixing itself up in the management of the schools, the direction of studies, the confer- ring of degrees, the choice or approbation of teachers. XLVI. Nay, in the very ecclesiastical seminaries, the method of study to be adopted is subject to the civil authority. XLVII. The best constitution of civil society requires that popular schools which are open to children of every class, and that public institutions generally which are devoted to teaching literature and science and providing for the education of youth, be exempted from all authority of the Church, from all her moderating influence and interference, and subjected to the absolute will of the civil and political authority [so as to be conducted] in accordance with the tenets of civil rulers, and the standard of the common opinions of the age. XL VIII. That method of instructing youth can be approved by Catholic men which is disjoined from the Catholic faith and the Church's power, and which regards exclusively, or at least principally, knowledge of the natural order alone, and the ends of social life on earth. XLIX. The civil authority may prevent the Bishops and faithful from free and mutual communication with the Roman Pontiff. L. The lay authority has of itself the right of presenting bishops, and may require of them that they enter on the man- agement of their dioceses before they receive from the Holy See canonical institution and apostolical letters. LI. Nay, the lay Government has the right of deposing bishops from exercise of their pastoral ministry ; nor is it bound to obey the Roman Pontiff in those things which regard the establishment of bishoprics and the appointment of bishops. LII. The Government may, in its own right, change the age prescribed by the Church for the religious profession of men and women, and may require religious orders to admit no one to solemn vows without its permission. LIII. Those laws should be abrogated which relate to protect- ing the condition of religious orders and their rights and duties ; nay, the civil government may give assistance to all those who 249 may wish to quit the religious life which they have undertaken, and to break their solemn vows; and in like manner it may altogether abolish the said religious orders, and also collegiate churches and simple benefices, even those under the right of a patron, and subject and assign their goods and revenues to the administration and free disposal of the civil power. LIV. Kings and Princes are not only exempted from the Church's jurisdiction, but also are superior to the Church in deciding questions of jurisdiction. LV. The Church should be separated from the State, and the State fi'om the Church. iYii. Errors concerning natural and Christian Ethics. LVI. The laws of morality need no Divine sanction, and there is no necessity that human laws be conformed to the law of nature, or receive from God their obligatory force. LVII. The science of philosophy and morals, and also the laws of a State may and should withdraw themselves from the jurisdiction of Divine and ecclesiastical authority. LYIII. No other strength is to be recognized except material force ; and all moral discipline and virtue should be accounted to consist in accumulating and increasing wealth by every method, and in satiating the desire of pleasure. LIX. Right consists in the mere material fact ; and all the duties of man are an empty name, and all human facts have the force of right. LX. Authority is nothing else but numerical power and material force. LXI. The successful injustice of a fact brings with it no detri- ment to the sanctity of right. LXII. The principle of non-intervention (as it is called) should be proclaimed and observed. LXIII. It is lawful to refuse obedience to legitimate princes, and even rebel against them. LXIV. A violation of any most sacred oath, or any wicked and flagitious action whatever repugnant to the eternal law, 250 is not only not to be reprobated, but is even altogether lawful, and to be extolled with the highest praise when it is done for love of country. § VIII. Errors concerning Christian Matrimony. LXV. It can in no way be tolerated that Christ raised matri- mony to the dignity of a sacrament. LXYI. The sacrament of marriage is only an accessory to the contract, and separable from it ; and the sacrament itself consists in the nuptial benediction alone. LXVII. The bond of matrimony is not indissoluble by the law of nature ; and in various cases divorce, properly so called, may be sanctioned by the civil authority. LXVIII. The Church has no power of enacting diriment im- pediments to marriage ; but that power is vested in the civil authority, by which the existing impediments may be removed. LXIX. In later ages the Church began to enact diriment impediments, not in her own right, but through that rite which she had borrowed from the civil power. LXX. The Canons of Trent, which inflict the censure of anathema on those who dare to deny the Church's power of enacting diriment impediments, are either not dogmatical, or are to be understood of this borrowed power. LXXI. The form ordained by the Council of Trent does not bind on pain of nullity wherever the civil law may prescribe another form, and may will that, by this new form, matrimony shall be made valid. LXXII. Boniface VIII. was the first who asserted that the vow of chastity made at ordination annuls marriage. LXXIII. By virtue of a purely civil contract there may exist among Christians marriage, truly so called ; and it is false that either the contract of marriage among Christians is always a sacrament, or that there is no contract if the sacrament be excluded. LXXIV. Matrimonial causes and espousals belong by their own nature to the civil forum. 251 N.B. — To this head may be referred two other errors : on abolishing clerical celibacy, and on preferring the state of marriage to that of virginity. They are condemned, the former in the Encyclical "Qui pluribus," Nov. 9, 1846; the latter in the Apostolic Letters " Multiplices inter," June 10, 1851. En'ors concerning the Roman Pontif's civil princedom. LXXV. Children of the Christian and Catholic Church dispute with each other on the compatibility of the temporal rule with the spiritual. LXXVI. The abrogation of that civil power, which the Apos- tolic See possesses, would conduce in the highest degree to the Church's liberty and felicity. N.B. — Besides these errors implicitly branded, many others are implicitly reprobated in the exposition and assertion of that doctrine which all Catholics ought most firmly to hold concerning the Roman Pontiff's civil princedom. This doctrine is clearly delivered in the Allocution, "Quibus quantisque," April 20, 1849; in the Allocution, " Si semper antea," May 20, 1850 ; in the Apostolic Letters, " Cum Catholica Ecclesia," March 26, 1860 ; in the Allocution, " Novos," Sept. 28, 1861 ; in the Allocution, " Jamdudum," March 18, 1861 ; in the Allocution, " Maxima quidem," June 9, 1862. ^X. Errors loliich ham reference to the Liberalism of the day. LXXYII. In this our age it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion should be treated as the only religion of the State, all other worships whatsoever being excluded. LXXVIII. Hence it has been laudably provided by law in some Catholic countries, that men thither immigrating should bo permitted the public exercise of their own several worships. LXXIX.. For truly it is false that the civil liberty of all worships, and the full power granted to all of openly and publicly declaring any opinions and thoughts whatever, conduces to more 262 easily corrupting the morals and minds of peoples, and propaga- ting the plague of indi£ferentism. LXXX. The Eoman Pontiff can and ought to reconcile and harmonize himself with progress, with liberalism, and with modern civilization. SPAIN. " The Queen fled from Spain Sep. 30, 1868, and arrived at Biarritz, where she met the Emperor Napoleon. Her conduct had alienated all feelings of loyalty, and the forms of the Constitution had been abused and made the machinery of arbitrary and oppres- sive rule. The people were weary of a system which repressed all freedom of thought and rights of conscience, which placed the education of the young in the hands of Jesuits, and under which they had lost all respect for their ministers, and all attachment to the Crown. Nothing however occurred until April to give warning of the coming storm." — Extracted from "The Annual Register. ^^ INTERDICTION OF THE JESUITS in SWITZERLAND. " The Council of the States has approved of the resolution on the part of the National Council, which interdicts the Order of Jesuits, and forbids its members to engage in ecclesiastical and educational functions in Switzerland." — Extract from " Daili; NeiDS," Berne, Feb. 9, 1872. 253 CARDINAL CULLEN ON THE COUNCIL. The Tablet of the 30th of Juno, 1870, gives the following account of the presentation of an Address to Cardinal CuUen at Rome by the Irish Roman Catholic Bishops, there resident at the conclusion of the Oecumenical Council. The subjoined extract of the Cardinal's reply to the Address, as given also in the Tablet, appears to convey his views as to the general objects of the Council, especially with respect to the Liberties of the Galilean Church : — " On the evening of Monday, the 18th, after the public session of St. Peter's, an important reunion was held at the Irish College in Rome, through the kind invitation of the Very Rev. Mgr. Kirby, the venerable and respected president. Not only the Irish bishops at present in Rome, but the most distinguished prelates from France, Spain, the United States, Canada, and other countries enjoyed his hospitality on this occasion. Several bishops representing the children of St. Patrick, not only in Ireland, but throughout the British Colonies, availed themselves of the opportunity to present the following address to his Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop of Dublin : — ' To his Eminence Paul Cardinal Cullen, Archbishop of Dublin, Primate of Ireland, etc. May it please your eminence, on this most memorable day in the history of the Vatican Council, we the archbishops and bishops, representatives of the Irish race, respectfully approach your eminence, and offer our heartfelt congratulations on your most able and successful vindication in the Council Hall of the rights of the Holy Sec, and of the tradition of the Irish Church con- cerning them. Your eminence truly represented on the occasion the faith and feelings of the Irish people, and we are proud of the manner in which you have testified to both. — Signed by D. M'Gettigan, Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland — followed by 29 other signatures.' " 254 Extract from Cardinal CuUen's reply to the address : — " In progress of time the decisions of such a body will be the " source of great blessings to the Church, condemning, as they do, " so many forms of modern error, upholding the cause of justice " and authority, defining the rights of religion, and above all, " banishing GalHcanism from the pale of the Church. This form "of teaching, notwithstanding the name it bears, was never " adopted by the great Church of France, but was violently forced "into a sort of official existence by an ambitious king. Its "tendencies always were to undermine the foundation of the " Church, to divide the faithful of different countries into hostile " camps, and to promote schisms and dissensions among those " who should live together like brethren. Having been now "solemnly condemned by a General Council, it is to be hoped " that itself and its offshoots will soon be forgotten." London : William Macintosh, 24, Patkknoster Kow. .^, DUE DATE BRimE DO NOT PHOTOCOPY COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 0035518600 932.5 N42 BOUND FEB 1 d iQct