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1 
 
SIX LETTERS 
 
 IN DEFENCE OF 
 
 THE ORDER OF JESUITS; 
 
 ORIGINALLY ADDRESSED 
 
 TO THE EDITOR OF THE "MONTREAL HERALD j'» 
 
 IN REPLY TO A 
 
 t 
 
 GEBJBS OF iRTICLBS FUBLlSHED BY HIM AGAINST THE mNCIFLIS 
 AND PRACTISE OF THAT 
 
 ORDER. 
 
 MONTREAL : 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, BY JOHN CORCORAN, 
 10, BnuRv Street. 
 
n( 
 
 te 
 
 ii 
 
 P 
 C 
 
 t 
 
 s 
 ( 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following letters were originally intended merely for 
 «ublicaUon in the Herald newspaper, but, it having become 
 Lessary to extend them much beyond the limits at first con- 
 templated, and to such an extent as to embrace much .mpor- 
 tant historical matter, it was considered by many that the.r 
 publication in the present form would be acceptab e to the 
 Catholic public. It may be also agreeable to liberal Protes- 
 tants.-and there are many such in this community,-to meet 
 such a collection of facts as cannot fail to prove to them, that 
 the immense body of their fellow- christians of which the So- 
 ciety of Jesus was and is composed, neither were nor are, tlie 
 slaves of such unhallowed principles asha«been repreaented 
 by the Editor of the Herald, 
 
SIX LETTERS 
 
 L\ DEFENCE OF 
 
 try 
 
 rilE ORDER OF JESUITS. 
 
 " Look on this {uctiue and oi» that." 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 ix) iiiK r.niTOK ok hie MOSTRrAL herald. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 The ^veat atlvuntageof the liberty of the press, so universally 
 established in our day, consists simply in the facility which it afloiiis 
 of presenting to the public view both sides of every controvertible 
 ijtiestion. And this is indeed an incalculable advantage. Much as it 
 is, in common with every other species of good, abused ; deplorable a* 
 are some of its ettdcts upon the weak and unthinking — those whom, 
 unhappily, " no faith can fix" — still is it to be prized and preserved as 
 ;i utile of the first magnitude. To it is the republic of letters, so ex- 
 tensive in this age, deeply indebted, and fay it is truth, which und4r 
 less favorable circumstances would too frequent!;* make bi'.t tardy ad- 
 vances, enabled to press onward with uninterrupted rapidity. Of the 
 privilege alluded to, you have, in several recent numbers of your pa- 
 per availed yourself, to disparage, in an unbounded manner, the origin 
 and universal conduct of the Society of Jesuits. You have, it would 
 appear, given your side of the subject, — will you then permit me to 
 jrive that, which for sake of the nonce, I will familiarly term mine ? 
 Think not, Sir, that Iseek admission to your columns for the fanatical 
 purpose of claiming for the Jesuits impeccability, either as a society, 
 «)r as individuals; nor, would I have you suppose that it is my inten- 
 tion to wade through the mire of private infamy imputed to that de- 
 voted body in common, I may add, with every other order of the Ca- 
 tholic Church, not even excepting the sainted virgins of the cloixter. 
 Either of these designs would be alike derogatory to the dignity "of the 
 press, and insuUins: to the understanding of an enlightened commu- 
 •'•'■'ty, whosp il''sire evidently is to be informed upon rRiKtiriK. and 
 

 .'.pon important Uuiling rpsiilt.-i. Upon tlip principle ; df ilip «•' Society 
 ot'Jei»ns," as well as npo.i the open '.ind unqiior.tioiiable results ol tlie^c 
 piinriplns, will I tlirn suliiuit a irmall mnniiht of informatinn, collected 
 '.Von'j -(iurt's if tlie lii'j^liest rejute. I will prodiico authorities, Pro- 
 ifstaiit as well a-; Catholic; Monarchs, Priests, Ilisloiiaii> and Philo 
 soplier>\ tb? n.ost illivstviou::> that ever adorned their respective sta- 
 tions. 
 
 Before, however, procoeding f.irthcr, I must enter my solemn pro- 
 test a2;aiiist the authoiity upon which your char;Tes are grounded, viz : 
 the work <' ilrJecrelia Monita." This w.vrk has heen again and again 
 proven to be an absord and infamons imposi'ire, and is by all enlight- 
 ened Fro-.estants, as well as by Catholics, classed with such produc- 
 tions as " Ko.x's Martyrs," "Gates' Plot," and tlie recent and we]! 
 known Iyir>g " Disclcf'nre.s of Maria Monk;" most minutely has i*: 
 been falsified by the authorized work of Father Grester, and that ito 
 refutation haj been recognized by inijnirers of the highest order, th.; 
 t'oUowing evidence ntoat certainly prcvcf'. The hrst i will s\ibmit wil/ 
 be from the pen-cf, perhaps, the greatcL-t christian philosopher of th« 
 |iresent century, the late Frederick Von Schlegel ! This great man 
 had been reartnl amidst all th» prejudices of Protestantism ; but, as we 
 are told, " hi.i v/ell-balsinced mind liad, at an early period, become; 
 disgusted with Ihe vagaries and inco:ftsistencies of ?iovelty, and sough': 
 repose in the bosom of the Catholic Church." (n his invaluablo 
 <» I^ectures on. the Philosophy of History," leeture vv. he takes th'.^ 
 following comprehensiyp view of the much abusnl order : 
 
 " The great vrant of the ;?ge ('he sixteei-.th century) wa<; a religious 
 order, v/hich eritablished h\ opposition to Protestantism, should not lifr 
 (lependanton the State, but devoted exclusively to the interests of the 
 Cliurch: a religic-us order «'hich, well eijuipped witli modern lean- 
 ing, science and accomplishmrnt,])ossessing a knowledge of the world, 
 acquainted with the spirit of the times, and pnratiing the course which 
 expediency dictated, with prudfncc and circumspection, should im- 
 dertake the defence of the Catholic religion, and the propagation of 
 the gospel in foreign countries, and worthily and snccessfully prose- 
 cute this two-fold object. Such an order was the Society of Jesuits, 
 in its first institution ; and that among the founders and first members 
 of this society, there were mcnnf undoubted jpicty and eminent sanctityy 
 men animated by the suhlimest principles of christian self-denial, pos- 
 sessed of great intellectual cndoivme7its, and favoured by God with high 
 jneternatural powers, no unprejudiced historical inquirer will deny. 
 Whether the reproaches which have been made to many members of 
 this order, of having exerted an undue political influence, and displayed 
 a spirit of ambition and intrigue in the history of this period, be wull 
 founded or not, 1 shall not stop to cnsjuire ; because such charges, at 
 best, ran affect individuals only, and nnl thr. society whose very name 
 indeed has become in oui lime?, the very watchword of party strite 
 
 i 
 
fifty 
 Ihesc 
 
 Pro. 
 
 hilo- 
 
 sta- 
 
 jiro- 
 ,viz : 
 
 iglit- 
 
 ntiJ contention. Tlie seveiest condemnation of tlip Jasiuis procfod* 
 liorii ;i qiiiiitei, where wo elearl_y (li.ice!ii the most iinylatablc hostil:'.'. 
 to chrislian'ity,and to all religion ; m\A this ciicuinstancc ought to fui- 
 iiish the Jesuits with additional cl.iiin to om good o])inton. IT some 
 mcmlifis of the order adopted, at this period, tliose absohitc maxim*: 
 and principles of policy and government, which in general charactei- 
 ises that ago ; and if the writings of others were distinguished by thnt 
 lude polemic tone and spirit spoken of above, and which was equally 
 characteristic of those times; it would be unjust to lay to fhe charge 
 of the order, or cvi'ii of particular members, failings and defects which 
 ■'vere common to the age, and a perfect exemption from which is the 
 mo$t rare of human excellencies.'*^ 
 
 It is also gratifying to find that a distinguished Protestant historian 
 of our own day and continent has done full justice to the Jesuits. IJan- 
 croft, in his History of the United States (vol. iii. ch. 20.) gives a de- 
 tiiilfd and oloquont account of their missionary labours in Canada, and 
 the valley of the Mississippi. With the following extracts I will close 
 this communication, in page 120 he thus glances at the general his< 
 lory of the order : 
 
 *'The establishment of the '•' Society of Jesus" Iiy Loyola, had been 
 contemporary with the Reformation, of which it was designed to arresi 
 the jnogress. Its members were, by its rules, never to become pre- 
 lates, and could gain power and influence only by influence over mind. 
 Their vows were poverty, chastity, absolute obedience, and a constant 
 readiness to go on missions against heresy and heathenism. Their 
 cloisters became the best schools in the world. Emancipated in a great 
 degree from the forms of piety ; separated from domestic ties ; consti- 
 tuting a community essentially intellectual as well as essentially ple- 
 Maii ; bound together by the most perfect organization, and having for 
 their end a control over opinion among the scholars and courts of Eu- 
 rope, and throughout the habitable globe, the order of the Jesuits hehl 
 ;is its ruling maxims, the widest diftujion of its influence, and the closest 
 internal unity. Immediately on its institution, their missionaries kind- 
 ling with a heroism which defied every danger, and endured every toil, 
 made their way to the ends of the earth ; they raised the emblem of 
 man's salvation in he Molluccas, in Japan, in India, Thibet in Coch- 
 in-China, and in Cnina ; they penetrated Ethiopia, and reached the 
 -Abyssinians ; they planted misaions among the Caflfies ; in Callifor- 
 iiia, on the Banks of the Marunthon, on the plains of Paraguay, they 
 invited the wildest of barbarians to the civilization of chiistianity." 
 
 In page 122 is the following testimony to their worth as missionaries 
 
 in North America : — 
 
 " Away from tlie amenities of life, away from the opportunities of 
 vain glory, they became dead to the world, and possessed tlieir souls in 
 unalterable peace. The few who liveii to giow old, though bowed by 
 (he toils of a long mission, still kindled with the fervour of Apostolic 
 zeal. The history of their labours is ronnected with the origin of every 
 '•elcbratet! town in Freiirh Americi' : not a cape v/aii turned, nor aiivcv 
 
 I, 
 
 f.n'f rod, '.lilt a ,I(T-uit Id 
 
 Montri'iil, F'"bruarv 
 
 the W'\\ 
 , 1813. " 
 
8 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 firfore pro dici :■;.;■ fuitiier direct toitlmony m Qvoiu of tnc 5'^- 
 ricly ol Jesus, I would vc-.pt'ctt'ully urpfc upon the atlintion of tiip si;i- 
 (MTC iuquiri't after truUi, an important fac*, advdired by Von Sclik'ral 
 ill the lecture qunled troin ia my last commuiucatioti, viz: Thnt "//)p 
 severest condemnation of Ihr Jesuits proceeds from a nnartcr where «-••' 
 dearbj discern the most implacable hostihly to rJmstiantly and to all re.lu 
 pion," The source here referred to consists ot the writinu;s of Voltaire, 
 Diderot, De Lambert, ct id genus omne, which at the timo of the faial 
 outcry against the society had not only acquir-""'! a predominance i? 
 France, but had to a greater or less degree wcaiicneti the reli:;io(is 
 sentiments, and as a natural consequence corrupted the moral feelin;- 
 <if noarly all the higher branches of society in Europe. 
 
 In the learning and zeal of the followers of St. Ignatius did the 
 infuriate enemies of Christianity above n,uned, experience tlioir in<ist 
 lormidablc difficulties; not a question did they moot, not a positior. dal 
 assume in which they were not more than defeated by t!ie all but in- 
 hpired pen of a Jesuit. And henre the malevolent etioits of the.vi 
 wretciied men to blacken in the public eye the principles and practi • > 
 of the Jesuit institution. This hellish design, so manifest in all thoir 
 proceedings, is still more clearly revealed in their private correspon- 
 dence. "Voltaire, in addressing a follower in whom all moral honesty 
 had not yet been stifled, says, '• allow no credit to the Jesuits ; ■' ai> 
 injunction in which the intelligent reader will at once perceive the 
 germ of volumes of the most heinous charges against that society, and 
 from whicli have doubtless sprung nine-tenths of those impiitation.^ 
 which constitute the <' stock in trade" of many of its i/i/c/csfptZrevileni. 
 In addition to the caution implied in the statement of Von Schleo-el, I 
 would suggest that too implicit a reliance should not bo placed upon 
 the dictum of another class of authorities against the Jesuits. Thess^ 
 are, fhe Reformeis of the 16th centiiryj, Wo have seen that it was In 
 arrest the progress of the reformation, or as it has perlmps been mou^ 
 properly termed, the Great Revolt of that age that tlic order w.is 
 instituted, and when we recollect the signal discomfiture which throiigli 
 its instrumentality was every whore heaped upon the new sectaries, 
 we cannot believe that strict jiisti'^e did in every instance ;.;uide the 
 pens and the tongues of the angry Lutherans, and others strti;rgling as 
 they wtre for very existence. Hallein,in the 2d vol. of his celebrated 
 *' Literature of the Middle Ages," speaking of the power with which the 
 .lesuit write! ; and prearhers attncked th? new fioctrines, six,-., '< they 
 
 .■3T'5ck;^.d *\\ -"venl nints f^f rr^trr-tratlsii) witli tlir. 
 
 1,','V 
 
 nbarrass- 
 
.1I> 
 
 i 
 
 \t 
 
 iii^ iiufiiiiily ;'' auil in tlic same voliimo, he. (\\ioUm fioin ihi" (icrmp.n 
 I'rotcstaiit wiitfi, Raiikc, tliesc reinnrkable \vci('.s : "//(.j Jnwh 'whn 
 fiimc to Gariniiini Cunqucrcd us on our own ground, in oui' own /lomo, 
 and stripped us ojii jHiit of our cotm/ri/." It would indeed appear 
 Iroin the t'ollnwiiig laii,!j;iu\!xe of Calvin, that even tho same iiiiqualilifil 
 luitred of the Jesuits clierished by Voltaiie, existed iu the Refoiiu 
 irtiiks: — " ,hxuit(C vrrn,qmse maxiine opponunt nobis, uut nccaiidi,<iui 
 •si hoc commode fieri non potest, cj'ilendi, uut ccrte mcndndis et caluin- 
 viis opprimmdi."' {Calvin apud Bccon, Aphor. 15 de mode propa)cav(ii 
 iMliinhnum.) " As ri's^ards the Jesuits who arc our most foimi<i.'»ble 
 opponents ; tliey must be destroyed, and if this cannot be convtr.iently 
 done, they must be expelled, or certainly they must be ciusheii by the 
 meanest calumny."* 
 
 Having tl'.us submitt(-d what I conceive to be good reasons why 
 I lie, Protostanl inquirer should examine with the utmost cauti(>n tht? 
 ^ort i)f evidence a'.!;ainst tie Jesuits witlj whicli he is <;ener,illy Im- 
 iiisli^'d, I will proceed to set f)rth certain proofs in their favour whicli 
 i have selected fro.ri a no small in^iss now h'-ying before me. 
 
 In the early part of the llih century tiia parliament of Paris, liav- 
 itii; exiled the Jesuits in consequence of their npnted connection with 
 she infamous crime of Chatel, IJenty '1th was induced lo institut'^ a-i 
 inquiry into their case, the result of which was, their immediate rec.ill, 
 Hid a lirrn determination on tl>e part of' the king to establish them 
 tiinnicrhout the entire extent of his kingdom; and up to tli.- )i,t.il ! eur 
 when the regicidal steel of Kavaillac po'iformed its bloody (Mi'i'osc , 
 fhnt viitiioiis monarch did not cctis'! lo be t'leiv nmi fiiond end munlli- 
 ( enl patron. Tiie folloAin;; passage from hitJ IcIut in reply lo ttu^ n- 
 iiionslrauce of Parliament will show the pious zeal with wliieh h- rr- 
 solvcil that justice sliould he done that maliujued body : — 
 
 •• (lod has r;>snrved lor me the glory of 'j;ivi!)'.' securitv to liic .f( . 
 suits in France. If they have nut been hero hilluvl.) (vccpt 'ly snf- 
 trance, they will llonrish henceforth by Edict, by Dccpt. The will 
 of iny jiredeccssor t(5!crat(;d them ; my will is to estaljljsh them.'' 
 
 Louis XIV. followed his august ancestor in d. finding and (nrnr-. 
 raging ihv ]icres Jesnilei', lowl;om he confided the direction of flic ("el- 
 If-ge Loui'i Ir Grand, founded by himself, '< as a proof," to use his own 
 woids, "ofhis appreciation of the caie which they so successfully 
 exercised iu imparting to youth the lichest knowledge, and in instruct- 
 ing them upon our obligations towards God, and towards those ap- 
 pointed by Him to gov: rii." 
 
 In 1761 Louis XV. wishing lo know the opinions of the Bi-;ho;.s 
 of France relative to the print. ,ial accusations aijainst the Jesuits, in- 
 formed tht; Cardinal dc Lnijncs that it was his desire that the bishojts 
 who were t'.it.n at Pari--, and at the Court should instilutc a rigid 
 
I 
 
 10 
 
 inquiry into these ai;L.asatioiis. 'llie bishoi*'-', cfrttforming to the 
 4iesire of the king, anssmbleil to the number of 50, at tho house of the 
 t'ardiiml de Luynes^ and appointed a committee t f the ablest of tlieir 
 body to enquire into, and report upon, the propose<l questions. A re- 
 ]iort in the Jughest degree favourable to the Jesuits, was the result of 
 this scrutiny, it was signed txy 44 Archbishqis and Bishops, and trans- 
 mitted to the King. I'lie foU&wiag are its closing words : — 
 
 "Adhermg then, Sire, to the judgment which the Sovereign Pon- 
 tili'and the Council of Trent have pronounced in favour of the society 
 of Jesuits, arul to the testimony which the clergy of yourkingdon,, the 
 Kings, your august predecessors, and your own government have Dome 
 to their services in Kriince,we think their retention cannot be otherwise 
 than eminently useful io religion, and to your government." 
 
 In 1762, the same Prelates addressed a memoire to the King, in 
 which they held the foUawing lavi^uage : — 
 
 " Sire, in demaiyiingfiom you now the preservation of the Jesuits, 
 we present the uaammoua wish oi all the ecclesiastical provinces of 
 your kingdom, none of which can contemplate without alarm, the de- 
 struction of a society whose claim.s are founded on the integrity of their 
 manners, the austerity of their discipline, tho extent of their labours 
 .■md of their knowledge, and on thenmnberless services they have ten- 
 dered to the Church and Government" 
 
 In addition to this testimony of kings and prelates might be quoted 
 that of the parliaments of Bcsancou and Douia, the Sovereign Council 
 of Alscice, tke Provincial Council of Artois, and numerous other public 
 bodies of eminence. 
 
 Reference might also be made to the writings of Cardinal De Fleu- 
 ry, and to the Testament Politique of Kichelieu, in proof of the exten- 
 sive senvices rendered to religmn, and to letters by this illustrious or- 
 der. The great Bnssuet, too, than whom there dM not live in his day 
 one more capable of correctly estimating the value of men and institu- 
 tions, thus addresses the society in the peroratioa of Lis third sermon, 
 on the circBmci;aion. 
 
 " And yo<i, celebrated company," cries this C'loquent Divine,, 
 '< who do not bear in vain the name of Jesus, in whom the Divine 
 Grace has inspired thi! grand design of guiirding the children of 
 God from their most tender i'je, even to the maturity of manhood, 
 to whom God has ^iven teachers, Apostb^s, Evangelists, :o illu- 
 mine with tiu^ glory of his Gospel the most distant and unknown parts 
 of the universe, do m>t cease to employ to that end, according to your 
 holy institution, all the power of intellect, eloquence, rehnement, and 
 literature." 
 
 But evidence still more favourable, inasmuch as it comes fiom 
 an EniprcKs, out of communion with the Catholic Cliuich,and who WdS • 
 bejides itilimatcly rount'ctcd with the French Free Tli 'iic<-,"s, is that of 
 fathciinc 11. ol Pusiiy. la th" yc'u 17iS'{, thi:- ^"\"*Jign tent to 
 
 i 
 
'on- 
 
 n 
 
 ??onnP, Benislavvski, Coadjutor Bisliop ofMohowlow, ns miiiisltTof Iior 
 Court, and gave him a letter tor Pius VI. written witli her own haiu!, 
 in which she eannstiy requests the re-estabhshnient of the Society in 
 her dominions. Tiie following extract from this letter will be found 
 in tlie work of the English Protestant writer, Mr. Dallas, entitled 
 '^ The late conspiracy against the Jesuits exposed and briefly explain- 
 ed." 
 
 " The motives which have determined me," writes theEmpres=, 
 <* to extend my protection lo the Jesuits, are founded on reason and 
 justice. This collection of men, peaceful and harmless, will live in my 
 Empire, because of all Catholic Societies it is the most nseful to in- 
 spiie my subjects with sentiments of humanity, and to instruct them in 
 the principles of the Christian Religion. 1 am resolved to support 
 these Ecclesiastics against any power whatever, and in that I do no 
 more than discharge my duty, since I am their Sovereign, and regard 
 them as subjects faithful, useful and of most edifying demeanour." 
 
 I -.vill next invoke the high name of the illustrious Father of Mo- 
 dern Philosophy, Bacon ; and in what language do I hear him treat o^ 
 Jesuits ? In the language of dignified praise. Raising himsslf above 
 the prejudices of education, and of England's Church, of which he was 
 a member, he formed an ardent wish of seeing this order established 
 in his own country, and thus expresses it in his immortal book De dig- 
 nate et angm. scient. '' / cannot see" says he, " the application and 
 skill of these masters of learning, in cultivating the '.nind and mannen 
 '^f youth without recollecting the expression of AgisUaus to Pharnaba- 
 zus, " being what you are, can it be that you de not belong to us /" — 
 Beside this lofty authority will I place another of equal dignity. Leib- 
 nitz, of whom it has been said, that <' he bore upon his forehead all 
 the sciences," admired the character of the Jesuits, and scouted the 
 falsehoods which some of his brother protestants had disseminated 
 against them. In his letter to Tentzelium, vol. v. page 400, this 
 great man says, : I am persudded that the Jesuits are very frequently 
 calumniated, and that opinions arc ascribed to them which arenot theirx 
 even in thought,"" In another letter to the Count de Merode on the 
 Jesait work " Acta Sanctorum," which it appears he had examined : 
 lie remarks, " had the Jesuit Fathers produced no other than this sin- 
 gle work, they would deserve the gratitude and esteem of the world." 
 In my next letter, I will commence to examine the particular charges 
 against the Jesuits of K;.gicido, thirst of worldly gain, and relaxed 
 morality. 
 
 Montreal, Fcbiuary 11, 1843. 
 
12 
 
 LETTKR in. 
 
 hi ■•■■ 
 
 Siiice the publication of my last letter I have nu't with tlio I'ol^ 
 Rowing Protestant testimony in favour of the Jesuits, which 1 deem 
 too important to be withheld from the public, and which I will accord- 
 ingly introduce previously to entering upon an examination of the 
 charge of Regicide, as promised in my last. 
 
 In a letter addressed in the year 1825, by M. Kern, professor in 
 the University of Gottingen, to Doctor Tzschirner, in answer to cer" 
 tain strictures published by the latter against the Jesuits, the wHtor 
 thus speaks : — 
 
 " But who are at this day the enemies of the Jes\iits ? they are 
 of two classes ; those who do not know them, and Atheists and Revo- 
 lutionary Philosophers. But every right-minded man should admire 
 that which is the object of the hatred of such characters ; for we may 
 he assured that then, either religion, or justice, or subordination, is at 
 slake. The re-establishment of this celebrated order, so far from caus- 
 ing any disquietude, should, on the coutfary, be regarded as a happy 
 omen for our times. In its organization and its tendency is to be found 
 ihe most powerful safeguard against the assaults of the doctrines of 
 impiety and insubordination : and this is constantly allowed even by 
 Protestants themselves. John de Muller goes so far as to say that 
 '• it constitutes a common bulwark of defence for all lawful authority."' 
 The Jesuits attack evil in its very root by educating youth in the fear 
 of God, and in obedience* It is true they will not teach Protestant- 
 ism, but, have we a right to require that Catholics should teach other 
 «!octiines than those of their own church ? Have we seen in times 
 past doctrines . issiung from the colleges of the Jesuits similar to thosf 
 of ov.f modern schools ? Have they preached up the sovereignty of 
 the people and all its mournful consequences, as is done in the pre- 
 ,sent day in our Protestant universities ? Hostility to kingly authority 
 has been imputed to thein, but of this charge they have been wholly 
 acquitted by Henry IV., King of France, and at a later period under 
 Louis XV., by an assembly of Bishops convened by authority of that 
 Monarch. Experienci' proves to us what rapid progress revolution- 
 ary doctrines have made since the suppression of the Jesuits ; thi* 
 English writer, Dallas, declares that every where on the Continent 
 the colleges of the Jesuits are replaced by Philosophical Universities, 
 III which faith and reason have ceased to be united in education. 
 Reason, with all its errois, is preferred as being that which is most 
 noble in man. Faith has been abandoned, and impiously derided 
 ,is sup?rstitious. In 1773, Clement XIV. suppressed the order of St. 
 Ignaliu;;. i\\ 1793 a King of France was heheadad, and temples were 
 i'i>ened to deified Reason. ]Juringtwo centuiies the cUlc of the French 
 Noblesse w.a-fi educated by the Jesuits, in their college of Clermont, 
 .'.t Pi'.iis, in a love of religion, of science, and of country. In a brief 
 f-fiace, after the dismissal of these skilful masters, the same college 
 '.asi upjn vovji'ty a lJib?Rpiorri^j a Cimille Dfismoulins, aTallien. a 
 
13 
 
 ■| 
 
 u 
 
 li 
 
 Noul, a Fivioii; ,1 Cliinilcr, wiili a 'host of ollurs slaillarlv u'lrujit 
 Can it llicrt alter all this bo a uniUr of asloiiishiiicnt that tlie Poiie 
 find Catholic Princes should recall :rien whose servicfs are so fnmh re- 
 ijuired, and whose high worth has been acknowledged by the great 
 i.oibnits, — by Fri-derick the Second,— and of whom Bacon has said, 
 '•to discrtver the best mode of education, the tiurist way is, to consult 
 the schools of the Jesuits." 
 
 The learned and impartial Crotius, in his work " Annulcs de reh. 
 lidg." page IS'i, renders the following high tribute to the Jesuits: 
 
 " Mores inculpati, bona; artes, magna in valgum auctoritas qI» 
 vily, sanctimoniam — Sapienter imperanl, lidaliler parent. Novi.ssimi 
 omnium sectas priores fama vicere, hoc ipso caitcris ii^visi." 
 
 " Of irreproachable manner, — ciillivating useful arts ; they eJr<'T- 
 < i^e a great authority over the people, because of the sanctity of th«-ir 
 lives. Thoy rule with wisdom, they obey with fidelity. Their ordfer, 
 although the youngest, already surpasses the most anciint in celebrity, 
 iinj it is even for this they are odious to others." 
 
 The charge again!>t the Jesuits of holding as a " doctrine," that 
 the murder of kings in cerlain cases is lawful, put forth by you as the 
 copyist of other and earlier accusers, is one well calculated to excite 
 jiaiticular attention. It is above all other crimes imputed to that or- 
 der, one, which, if established against it, would render it not only ob- 
 noxious to ptoscription by all monarchical governments, but deserving 
 of absolute exclusion from all trust and confidence in civilized life. 
 
 Happily, however, for the Jesuits, as well as for mankind at largp, 
 wc are living in an age in which tlio mere advancement of a charge is 
 not sufficient to ensure it public credence. Enquiry, Sir, is the order 
 of the day ; and to the just rigour of th,at ordeal must be subjected 
 even statements stamped with i^our authority j all " SirOraqle" though 
 yoti are. Upon enquiring, then, into the history of the hateful doc- 
 trine of Regicide, we find that about the middle of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, certain Writers, prompted, as we are told, by « the constant pro- 
 gress towards absolute monarchy which was then observable in the 
 principal kingdoms of Europe," entered into very froe discussion on 
 the nature of governments, and on the abuse of kingly power. First 
 in order of publication on these questions was the " Franco Gallia'* 
 of Francis Hottoman, one of the most eminent lawyers of the age. 
 The chief aim of this work was, it appears, « to prove the share of the 
 people in Governments, and especially their right of electing the Kings 
 of the first two races," a competent reviewer has said of it, that " it 
 had the defect of great partiality, and an unwarrantable extmskn of 
 the authoi''s hypothcsi!,." Next came the famed treatise ofHubeit 
 Languet,— commonly termed the « Vindlciac of Languet,"- which 
 breathes the stem spirit of Judaical H'lglfenot'sm- "Kings," says 
 
u 
 
 M 
 
 , X 
 
 il? inlKoi, «^' that lay waste the Church of God and rapport •.i-'iiirij ; 
 Kiugs tliat tuniple on their subjects' privileges, may be doyosed t.;v 
 the states ol their kingdom, who, indeed, are bound in duty tc tio so." 
 lie also speaks honourably of ancient tyrannicide?, and icmailt?, 
 that, " as Kings deiivo their pre-emivience from the will of the people, 
 tliey may be considered as feudal vassals of their subjects, so that they 
 may lort'eit their Crown by felony against tliem." Hottoman and 
 Lnngui:t were both Protestants, and it was not long ere their bold 
 theory was adopted and cnlargedhy many of their brethren of that 
 Faith. Tlie treatise produced in Scotland by George Buchanan, a 
 scholar, a Trotestant, and the subject of a,- very limited Monarchy, en- 
 titled <'• De Jurt Regni apud Scotos,'" proves most conclusiv.ily tlit; 
 Kegicidal tone which almost immediately spread over the Protestant 
 mind of Europe. This woik is in the form of a dialogue, elegantly 
 written, and designed " tirst to show the origin of Royal Goveinmer.t 
 from popular election ; then the right of putting tyrannical Kings l( 
 death, accurdin J to scripture, and the conditional allegiance due to 
 the Crown of Scotland, as proved by the Coronation oathy. which im- 
 plies that It is received intiust from the people." The following is a 
 spocimen of Buchanan's reasoning which goes very materially further 
 than Hottomau or Languet had presumed to do. 
 
 " Is there then," says one of the interlocutors, "a mutual com])iict 
 between the Kini>; and the people ? Thns it seems. Uocsnot he whn 
 iHsl violates the com])act, and does anything against his own stipula- 
 tions, break liis agreement? He doed. If, then, the bond which at- 
 tached the King to the people is broken, all rights to be derived fiom 
 the people are forfeited. And he who was mutually bound becomes as 
 free as before the agreement ? He has the same rights and the same 
 freedom as before. Hnt 'f a King should do things tending to the dis- 
 solution of human society, for the presenrt'tion of which he has been 
 made, what name shall we give him ? We should call him a tyrant. 
 Wut a tyrant not only possesses no just authority over his people, but 
 is their enemy ? He is surely theu enemy. Is there not just cause 
 of war ap;ainst an enemy who has inihcted heavy and intolerable in- 
 jurif s upon us ? There is. What is the nature of a war against the 
 ttnemy of all mankind, that is, a tyrant ? None can be more just. Is 
 it not lawful in a war justly commenced, ml only for the whole people 
 hut for any single person to idil an t-Dcmy ? It must be covfesscd. 
 What then shall we say of a tyrant, a public enemy, with whom al) 
 good men are in etcMual warfare ? May not any one of all mankind 
 inflict on him every penalty of war ? i nbscrvo^ that all nations have 
 been of that opinion ; forTheba is e.xlolled for having killed her hus- 
 band, and Timoleon for his brothel's, and Cas.-ius for his son's death." 
 
 Another work appeared at this tiniL- written by Poynet, Bishop of 
 Winchester, under Kdward Vf., profcssiui: to be an answer to seven 
 questions resp.?rting kingly authority, the si^fh ot wliieli questions is : 
 *• h itlairftil !o dcpivc a-j ml r'rv.'.iji (./i,' i,i:l a hjni.it >" Halhuu 
 
\5 
 
 itry ; 
 d trv 
 so.'' 
 aik?,, 
 eoplo, 
 t they 
 n and 
 r hold 
 f tliat 
 
 tells us -ttiat (his (juestion with all the others " are doterminod upni 
 VrJnciples adverse to kingly power, and that the airthor contends in 
 ilic Gth chapter, that " the manifold and continued examples that hcvc 
 hcm^jrom time totimCyOfthe deposing ofkingSf and killing of tyrants^ 
 do most cerlainhj confirm it to be most trvCy just and consonant to 
 (iod's judgment.^* This work first appeared in 1558, and was repiinted 
 la 1642, "to serve" says Strype, ^the turn of those times." The 
 doctrine of Regicide thus broached and extended by Protestants, was 
 <'i course warmly oj)posed by the equally unreoionable advocates of 
 the preposterous <k)ctrine of the " Right Divine," and it was during 
 this fierce cnntjstthat the book from which you have so triumphantly 
 fiuoted, " ]Je Rege ct Regis Institutionc" by the Jesuit Mariana, ap- 
 j cared, in which the views ol the Reformers were ".ertainly espoused; 
 iiut, generally in so guarded, and indeed metaphysical a manner, that 
 Philip III. the then itbsdutc monarch of Spain, actually permitted the 
 work to be dedicated to him. And Hallam, in speaking of it in his 
 chapter on " Political Philosophy" says: — "The whole work, even in 
 its reprehensible exaggerations^ breathes u spirit of liberty and regard 
 to the common goodJ" "Nor does Mariana,''^ continues this discreet 
 levievver, " though a Jesuit^ lay any stress on the papal power to de- 
 pose princes, which I believe he has never once intimated through the 
 whole volume. It is absolutely on political principles that he reasorUf 
 ■dnlcss we except that he considers impiety as one of the v^ces which ccn- 
 siitule a tyrant." Hallam, however, conceives it proper to quote some 
 strong passages from Mariana, but with that justice which so pre-emi- 
 nently distinguishes liis work, hfe immediately adds: " This language, 
 whatever indignation it might excite against Mariana and his order, 
 IS merely what we have seen in Buchanan." Comparatively une.x- 
 i cptionable however, as were the views of Mariana for the age vi 
 which they were published, sttll did the brethren of his order condemn 
 thenias anti-christian. Already had the Holy Catholic Church by the 
 general council of Constance unequivocally and in fofo condemned such 
 views, and it was not for the Jesuits, who were her diviiiely chosen 
 ' hamplons. ♦" tolerate them ; nor did they. Promptly was censure call- 
 ed for, and as promptly was that censure pronounced by the General ol 
 the Order, A(juaviva, whose solemn decree I will here give in full 
 length, as I find it in the original French. 
 
 " Nous enjoignons," dit-il, '-par ce present decret, en virtu de 
 la sainte obeisance, sous peine d'excommuiiication et.iniiabilite a tons 
 olhces, et de suspension ci divinis, et autres peines arbitraires annus 
 cstrvees, (ju'aucun rciigieux de notrc compagnie, ioit en jjublie. scit 
 • II particuiier, lisant ou donnaiit avis, et heaucoup plus, mett.'.nt quil- 
 •]yv:s opuvies cr. hiiniere, n'entrepicnnc de seutenir qiril s'CJl le/.-iMe :i 
 
'jiii <|iie cc ^oif, I'l sous quckoaquc pKHtwU; dc iyiMiiiiie, i!c tncv Ic.^ 
 Tois oil piiiiccs, on (I'atteiitv'i sur liuis jieisoniies ; iitin quo tpll« «'oc- 
 liiuc ii'ouvro le clieiiliu i\ la mine ties minces, ct iroubfe Id paix, ou 
 icvoque en doute la surete de ceux lesquels, scion I'ordonance de 
 Dieu, nous dcvons honoror et respecter comnie peisonncs sacrces ct 
 etabiips do Dieu, ]ioui' heureusement rc>x^h ct gouverncr son pcuitlc. 
 i^artant, nous vculons que les provinciaux quiaurontcu la connois- 
 Hance d'aucunc des susdites choics, ct n'auiont corrigc hs delinquans, 
 n'auront pourvu a tels inconveniens, et procure I'exacte observation do 
 cc decrcl, non-seulemelit ehcourCnt les susdites peines, ains rf»eme 
 soient prives de leurs charges et offices ; a ce q»ie chacun sache quel 
 est le jugement de la Compagnie en tel cas ; et que la laute d'un par • 
 liculler ne redonde a tous Ic. autres, ct les rende suspects ; jarjoit que 
 (levant tout liomme de bon jugement, il est notoire que la fautc d'un 
 inembre ne doit pas ctre attribuec a tout le corps. En outre, nous 
 voulons que tous ces provinciaux nous rendent comptc de la reception 
 du present decret, et qu'ils le fassfnt savoir ct annoncer par toutcs 
 leurs provinces, puis inserer es archives de chaque Inai^on ct college, 
 afm que la memoire ct observation cii deincure inviolable a pcipetuite. 
 
 Claude Aquaviva-" 
 A Rome, le 6 juillet 1610. 
 
 Notwithstanding this disclaimer— clear and uncompromising as 
 language could render it — there were still to he found Protestants who 
 would impugn the integrity of the Jesuits inglnbo ; but, these accusers 
 were of a class, at all times too numerous in th& world — who, like the 
 fiendish Richard of Shakespeare, coald not ^^ entertain fair, well-spo- 
 ken days," and were therefore, ever ready with their " inductions dan- 
 gerous,'" — " their drunken propnecies, libels, and dreams,'" to set par- 
 ties " in deadly hate, the one against the other;" of such I repeat were 
 they, and whoso doubts it has but to consult the Protestant authorilies 
 of that day, Hessius, Grester, and Keller, each of whom declaicd him- 
 Pt'lf scandalized by sHch brazen injustice. 
 
 After this true historical exposition of l!ic extent in which the Je- 
 suits were concerned in the doctrine of Regicide, I will not enter upon 
 Uic question of the acts ascribed to their agency, which 1 might easily 
 indeed controvert from the abundant material within my reach. Eve- 
 ry one whose reading has extended beyond apocryplial history know;, 
 well the share which the Jesuits had in the murder of Hcniy iV,, in 
 the St. Bartholomew Massacre, and the English Gii.ipowdei Plot, 
 which wag in reality about as much as that of a certain person in the 
 Moon. 1 cannot however dismiss the subject without particular refe- 
 rence to two events touched upon in your notable chapter, and the al- 
 lusion to which ajipears to me to betray a degree of blind zeal in your 
 crusade against the Jesuits. 1 moan the massacre of the Sicilian Ves- 
 jicrs, and the Irish insuncttion of "JS. Tlic editor of a coniempoiaiy 
 jiappf, the M''jr''Miun'i, Ivi? An\\i\ i\\.,d t|v fointcr o( curved just lOO 
 
 ^ 
 
17 
 
 (!oc- 
 ;, ou 
 e dc 
 !es ct 
 uj)lc. 
 nois- 
 iians, 
 on (le 
 fteme 
 quel 
 par- 
 t que 
 
 I'llTl 
 
 nous 
 
 itioH 
 
 witcs 
 
 Ucgc, 
 
 jtuito. 
 
 ; (I 
 
 i 
 
 years Ijclorc the csl.iblibhiricut ol the onlci ol' Jesuits ; and until f '<>ri(l 
 your paper ot the 9th instant, I could not have believed you ignorant 
 ol" the fact;, that the Irish iiisurrecliun was oiiginatcd by the Presby- 
 terians of the North of Ireland, was '"■-uncnted by Pitt, and was in its 
 practical parts chiefly conducted by Protestants of various denomina- 
 tions. In order, however, that you might be satisfied upon the lattfcr 
 point, I would respectfully recommend to your perusal the "Historic 
 Memoirs of Ireland'' by that highly respectable author, Sir Jonah Dar- 
 lington ; a work to be found in the Mcrcantilo Library of this city. 
 In my next the question of "thirst of worldly gain" will be examined, 
 
 Obseuvpr. 
 JMontrcal, February 19, 1813. 
 
 LETTER IV, 
 
 1 he proofs witli which the world abounds of the unequalled mis- 
 sionary labours of the Jesuits hcins? too formidrtble to grapple with, 
 have at all times driven the enemies of that body to search for vile 
 motives to which to attribute these all but superhuman exertions ; and 
 like their prototypes the Pharisees, who ascribed the undeniable mi- 
 racles of the Saviour to a power derived from the Prince of Devils 
 they have ever drawn from the very depths of their malice causes to 
 which to assign the wondrous works of those whose power they could 
 not deny, and whose destiuction they consequently strove to compass. 
 
 This was indeed, hard treathient to which to subject the most faith- 
 ful body of Christ's servants since the days of the appointed twelve. 
 IJut, if'they did not anticipate it, they could not have been surprised 
 by it, knowing well, as they did, that " the disciple is not abovo the 
 master, nor the servant above his lord." 
 
 The first, as it is the meanest, of the causes which it is stated in- 
 duced the extraordinary labours of the Jesuits, is a thirst of worldly 
 gain ; and in support of this charge, we are often vauntingly referred 
 to their eventful mission to Paraguay. It is somewhere said that 
 " wliom the gods destroy they first make mad ;" and it is diflicult to 
 believe the accusers of the Jesuits in any other than this ominous con- 
 dition, when we find them drawing such a conclusion from such pre- 
 mises. History has indeed been written for naught if it can be shewn 
 (hat solf-oggraiulizenunt wa« the end and aim of the Jesuits in bring- 
 mg 30(),00t) Indian? to the ohelienco of the Cross on the plains of Pa- 
 raguay ! 'J'his iidtnitlcd, and ;> way from thonroforth with all estab- 
 lished proof, ■,m ' l( I Hi" |Mirui]'lf' whicli it i' m\v\ Sii Walter t'^cult ;ic- 
 
i? 
 
 ii: 
 
 Li 
 
 ;f 
 
 :1 
 
 18 
 
 kriowledsed governed him m compiling his « Life of Buonaparte," — 
 that oi depending upon popular report, be at once proclaimed orthodox. 
 Not heing, however, very sanguine as to the probability of such a mo- 
 ral revolution occurring immediately, I will in the meantime avail 
 myself of the present usage of submitting approved evidence in favour 
 of my view of the object and results of the Paraguay mission. — Mon- 
 tesquieu, in liis Esprit des lots ch. vi. p. 40, 41, says : 
 
 " Paraguay furnishes us with an example of strange institution:* 
 expressly made with a view to train up people to virtue. This was 
 charged as a crime to the Society of Jesus. But it is the glory of this 
 society, to have been the first to elevate the natives of the new coun- 
 tries, into men and into Christians. In this, making reparation for thR 
 lavages nf the Spaniards, it has begun the cure of one of the deepest 
 wounds ever inflicted on the human race," 
 
 BuFFON, Hist. Nalurelle. Liscours sur les varietcs I'cspcrt hu- 
 i,\cliic, vol. iii. p. 306, 307 : — 
 
 '^' The mildness, the good example, the charity, and the constant 
 <'xtrcisc of every virtue by the missionaries in Paraguay, touciiid tlie 
 : avages, and subdued their defiance and their ferocity. They came 
 Irequently of themselves to demand a knowledge of that law which 
 made men so perfect ; they submitted themselves to that law and be- 
 came united in society. Mnthing does more honour to reli-j;ion than t; 
 liavc civilized those nations, and to have laid the foundation of an eni- 
 j>ire without any other arms than those of virtue." 
 
 Hai>i-er, Jraite sur divers sujels intcrrcssans depoKti(pic ct (Je 
 mcrdcf parag. 3, p. 120. <* The enemies of the society i.t Jesuits 
 t\ecry its best institutions ; they accuse it of an unbridled ambition in 
 lorminj; an empire in distant lands. But, what is more siiblimc, and 
 more beneficial to humanity, than to collect men scattered in the hoiro; 
 of American forests ; to draw them from a state of savage ferocity ; \n 
 jircvent their cruel and destructive wars ; to illumine them with thr 
 light of the true religion, and to unite them in a society which riprt - 
 wonts the age of gold, by the equality of the citizens and the commii- 
 iiiiy oi property ! An ambition which produces such good is praise- 
 vcmthy indeed." 
 
 In Muratori's famed work, entitled " Missions to Paraguay," \\i 
 
 find language more explicit, if pot^sible, than the foregoing. Hfar out; 
 
 sentence : 
 
 •'I do not fear to advance that the Catholic Church has no mis- 
 sions so flourishing as those which are under the government ot ttif 
 7Y7f<; Jcsui^cs in Paraguay. The cross triumphs in those conntiips, 
 Idrmerly so barbarous, and to-day so civilized. Myriads adore iha tnn 
 <iod, and enjoy a condition the most enviable. They experience tli. 
 rieatest happiness to be obtained on earth, — that of innock'nce and 
 peace." 
 
 The following extract is from a work on " European iSt-tflcments 
 m America," by an unknown author; but of whom tiic relebratt (i 
 Doctor Robertson, Frofv-psor of Uiblical Literature, in New York; haf 
 
 1 
 
19 
 
 3J 
 
 \v< 
 
 i 
 
 saiJ, '< he ought not to remain unknown, as his work would ilo honor 
 
 to any man in England." , 
 
 " Early in the last century, the Jesuits represented to the Couit 
 of Spain, that the empire of the Gospel might be extended into the 
 most unknown parts of America, and that all these countries might bt- 
 reduced to his Catholic Majesty's obedience, without force and without 
 expense. The remonstrance was listened to with attention : the sphere 
 of the Jesuits was marked out (Paraguay, a province of South Ameri- 
 ca) ; an uncontrolable liberty was given to them within those limits* ; 
 and the governors of the adjacent provinces had orders not to interfere. 
 The Jesuits entered upon the scenes of action, and opened their spiii- 
 tual campaign. They began by gathering together about fifty wan- 
 dering families, whom they persuaded to settle, and they united theni 
 111 a little township. Upon this slight foundation, they built a super- 
 structure, which has amazed the world, and acquired so much pov/er, 
 that it has brought great envy and jealousy on their society. When 
 they had made a beginning, they laboured with such indefatiga^'"** 
 jv.iiii?, anvl with such masterly policy, that by degree", they mollihed 
 the miiulji of the most savage nations ; fixed the most rambling, and 
 .ittracted the most averse to government ; they prevailed upon thou- 
 :sands of wandering tribes of people to embrace their religion, and sub- 
 mit to their government. When they had submitted, the Jesuits left 
 nothing undonif that could induce them to remain in subjection, or that 
 crtuld tend to increase their number. It is said that from such an in- 
 considerate beginning their subjects amounted to three hundred thou- 
 sand families. They accomplished a most extraordinary conquest on the 
 bodies and minds of so many people, without arms or violence, and dif- 
 ferent from the methods of all other conquests ; and not by cutting off 
 a large part of the inhabitants, to secure the rest, but multiplying the 
 people, whilst they extended their territory." — VoU ii. p. 278. 
 
 Surely, Sir, this array of unimpeachable CAndence ought to be 
 sufficient to arrest the pens of those who treat of the Paraguay mission 
 in a spirit hostile to the credit of the Jesuit Fathers. But, say they, 
 was not the revolt of those provinces instigated by the Jesuits? Here, 
 again, we have flippancy, " easy as lying." The most authentic, as 
 well ai the most elaborate, account of that revolt is to be found in the 
 J^atin work " Dc vita ct moribus tradecim Faraguaymum^^ by Pera- 
 Mus, in which we are told that it was not till after the imprudent re- 
 call of the Jesuit Missionaries from those countries by the Spanish Go- 
 vernment, that the Indians, who could not be reconciled to the loss of 
 their "own Fathers," as they tenderly designated the Jesuits, evinced 
 ihe least disposition to rebel. 
 
 It is also stated in this work, that the Jesuits,foreseeing that their 
 removal would be ill-brooked by those who looked to them as their 
 only earthly guides and protectors, inculcated the most periect obe- 
 <lience to the constituted authorities, .is well as to the strange priests 
 by whom they were to be replaced, and cautiously avoided the exhi- 
 bition, in the least degree, of sorrow o: displeasure at their recall. To 
 
20 
 
 V' 
 
 this it may be as well t<> add, tlial alter Ihe iwrA minute ex imin.U.oii 
 «f the whole question l>y tlie then Fopc, Clement XI IF., the Holy Fa • 
 ther did not hesitate to decide, mo:U iniequivocally, in favour of the 
 Jesuits. 
 
 With more plausibility, but certainly with the sam" degree of ab- 
 stract justice, do the enemies of the Jesuits, in support of their charge 
 of general cupidity, point to the faet of some of that order having en- 
 tered into commercial speculations to snch an extent is, in one iu- 
 *itance, to eventuate in bankruptcy. It is tiue that some Jesuits, flrf- 
 mmistrators of the revenues of the CotlcgcH of the Society in foreign 
 t'ountrieSf tempted by the profuse means within their easy reach, did 
 extend their zeal in support of these institulionSf be it remembered^ to 
 the questionable degree of entering into certain branches of commerce ; 
 and it is also true that the imprudence of Father Lavalette in these 
 pursuits, caused the scandal of a bankriii>tcy . But, is it therefore true 
 that the 8000 missionaries who braved all earthly terrors, eternal 
 snows, burning sands, trackless wilds, perilous rivers, and tempestuous 
 seas,— to rescue man from tlie horrors of natural ignorance, were all 
 mere mercenary adventurers! Or, does it follow that the 80d Jesuit 
 martyrs whose blood mingled with the soil of the various countries in 
 which it flowed, fell victims, not to an ardent love of religion, but to a 
 grovelling desire of worldly gain ! ! Such' conclusions may be adopted 
 •)y some, but, i for one have yet to learn by what rule of logic or eth- 
 ics they can be justified, or, even by what system of casuistry they 
 can be defended. The principle which such reasoning involves, ap- 
 pears to me not only ridiculous, but (kfigerous, and in order to shew 
 those who would apply it to the case of the Jesuits, that it might be 
 made to opperate still more fearfxdbj against thempclves, I will ven'- 
 ture to submit one case out of many that are present to my mind's 
 eye. When England declared that her black subjects of the West In- 
 dies should no longer be slaves, and generously resolved upon compen- 
 sating those who in d<;fiance of all the laws of God and nature, had 
 held these fellow-beings as property^ the Protestant Bishop of Ex- 
 KTEH was among the number of claimants, and received in lieu of 600* 
 black men, the sum of X12,719 4 4: — observe the nicety with whici* 
 he calculated the price of human flesh !! !--Ei>emie» of the Jesuits, 
 you who in reviling that body, 
 
 " Go the whole hog, and look the kog you go," 
 apply the above principle to this case, pari /Mt-ssti, " with equal care,'* 
 and tell me of your conclusion. The question of relaxed morality 
 will be discussed in my next. 
 
 Montreal, March 8, 1813. ' 
 
^ 
 
 21 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 charge 
 
 *ruz learned English Divine, WiJXTAKin, in his fauious Tindica- 
 tion of Queen Mary, 8a}S, «* fougery, (I blush for the honour of Pro- 
 testantism while I write), seems to have been peculiar to the refoimed. 
 I look iu vain for one of these accursed outrages of imposition amons; 
 the disciples of Popery ;"— (Find. vol. 11. p. 2. 
 
 The equally respectable writer, Hallam,— of whosa high teetj- 
 mony I have already so extensively availed myselfj— in that chapter 
 of his work (Literature of the Middle Ages) which treats of Theologi- 
 cal liteiature in £u:op3 from 1520 to I550,also iisseits thus. <'Tbe ad- 
 herents of the Church of Some have never failed to cast two reproach- 
 es on those who left them : one, that the Beform was brought about by 
 intemperate and calumnious abuse, by outrages of an excited populacs, 
 or by the tyranny of Princes ; the other, that, after stimulating thfe 
 most ignorant to reject the authority of their church, it instantly with- 
 drew this liberty of judgment, and devoted all who presumed to swerve 
 from the line drawn by law, to virulent obloquy, or sometimes to bonds 
 and death. These reproachesy it may be a shame to us to oum, can b*> 
 uttcrcdf but cannot be refuted." 
 
 One would think that the fact of the existence of such Ptotestar.t 
 authoiity a^ this agaunst the comihon mode of attack upon the Catho- 
 lic Church and her clergy, if it did not deter, would at least render 
 cautious, an intelligent prctostant of the middle of the 19th century, in 
 whose mind a desire might arise of giving/rcsA currency toany portioo 
 of those infamous charges against that church and clergy, which were 
 sn long the disgrace of the protestant press, and protestant pulpit. Not 
 •0 however : men are still to be found who fearlessly undertake such 
 fearful work, who, notwithstanding the declaration of dne of the most 
 distinguished of Protestant Divines, that " fokgkry seems to hav6 
 been peculiar to the reformed," will reiterate, and solemnly recom*' 
 mend to public credence, the most antiquated and most contemned of 
 Protestant accusations ; who, in defiance of the command of God to 
 «< prove all things," \vill stop to prove nothing, but^ at the risk alike 
 of their honor in this world, and their salvation in the next, labour to 
 perpetuate the hated existence of those « accursed outrages of imposi- 
 tion," which have descended to us from the worst of times, and v/eie 
 conceived by the worst of men. 
 
 It may be somewhat sur,,.isin^ to you, Sir, to be informed that 
 the Bo-called moial code of the Jesuits, published in jour paper of the 
 2d February lait, belongs to that class of productions of which such 
 
n 
 
 
 honorable mention is mado by Whilaker ;— that tl)« dortiine* llioipin 
 MCiibedto the Jesuits were not only not held by them either as a 50fi- 
 ety, or as individuals, but, couhl not be held by them, or miy othor 
 profeBsini? mcmbeis of the Catholic Church, under pain of instant 
 »nd public excommunication. 
 
 There is, after all, something supcrlalivfily ridiculous in thi.< 
 mode of warfare against the Jesuits: not content with attiibuting to 
 Ihcm the private practise of every species of intrisjue and infamy, their 
 insatiable enemies must also insist that they publicly teach doctrines 
 not only inimical to the spirit of the Catholic Church, but, r(>pugnant 
 to Our most common notions of right and wrong ! Thus for instance, 
 in the snmmary of their moral doctrines given in the Herald of the 2d 
 February, we read : 
 
 " That to be ignorant of God and his law, is a benefit and favour 
 of Heaven ; because with such twofold ignorance, the actions which 
 appear blackest to the eye of reason, become perfectly innocent. 
 
 *' To have extinguished all natural light, all remorse of conscience, 
 and every religious sentiment, is a privilege which exempts from all 
 future sin. 
 
 " Blasphemy is merely an ornament of speech without sin. 
 
 " Promises and oaths may be broken at will, perjury in oneself is 
 impossible, and the inducement of another to commit it, rather com- 
 mendable than otherwise." 
 
 The perusal of such finished sentences as these is apt to induce 
 one to say of the compiler, as an Irish judge once said to a perjured 
 witness, — "You are a very respectable person, but you have done 
 yourself no great credit to-day." But, while the Catholic can regard 
 such imputations with unmixed scorn, knowing as he does that they 
 are as false as hell, it may, yet, be his duty to point out to his less en- 
 lightened Protestant neighbour their jrecise history, — their oiii^in, and 
 the circumstances which contributed to their growth and final perfec- 
 tion, in order that a true understanding of their nature may be the 
 more readily arrived at. 
 
 In 1632 the Protestant, Damoulin, published at Geneva a .wrics 
 .of the grossest libels against the Catholic Church, which he entitled 
 *'Komish Traditions." In 1642, this same work appeared under the 
 title of « The Moral Theology of the Jesuits," and was in 1556 again 
 republished. It was about this period, it appears, that the Jesuits pro- 
 cured the formal condemnation, by Popk Innocent 10th, of the famous 
 Propositions of Jansenius ; an event which so enraged the grand de- 
 fender of these propositions, 7^asca/, that he immediately published his 
 memorable Piovincicd Letters against the Jesuits, in which it was 
 boldly maintained that they had adopted <■' a new system of moralitr 
 »uited to all tastes and to all pajsions." The rrovincuih were iiigi'niou^'ly 
 
 ^ 
 
i3 
 
 wrilttn, and partook ofa tlegri^eot li^it humour, which rendered ttieu 
 ut once interestiui; to the diiisolute of the literati^ and captivating to 
 the moh. But, like every thing vicious, they bore within the seed oi 
 (lestructioa : Father Daniel, in his celebrated book Entreiierih de Cle- 
 nndie et d'Eudoxc, examined and refuted them in detail, proving that 
 they were composed chiefly of the libciK of iJamoulin against the 
 church generally, and in the remainder of false and garbled quotation* 
 from Jesuit writers. They were also examined ' y four Bishops and 
 nine Doctors of the Faculty of Paris, wlio reported them to the King, 
 to be '• defamatory and libellous" ; and finally, so clearly established 
 were their infamous nature, — they were condemned to the flsiaes by 
 the Council of State, and were also ordered to be publicly burned by 
 the parliament of Provence, as being, according to the words of th« 
 decree, ^'filled with calumny, falsehoody supposition, and defamation." 
 
 Such then, according to the best authorities, is the history of the 
 scandalous doctrines imputed to the " Society of Jesus." 
 
 It would, however, be foreign to the proposed object of these let- 
 ters, as well as disingenuous towards the public, to contend, that ob- 
 jectionable opinions on moral questions are not to be found in the works 
 of Jesuit writers : it would be remarkable indeed if among the 600 
 authors of that society who at various times furnished the religious and 
 scientific world with the most copious works, some were not miiiled bj 
 the spirit of the times in which they wrote, or by the deceitful prompt- 
 ings of the human heart. 
 
 It has never been denied that Busembeaum, Escobar, and a few 
 others, as well as Mariana, whose case 1 have adverted to in my 3d 
 letter, published opinions according more with popular belief in their 
 day, than with the rules of their Society, or with the laws of their 
 Church ; but, it is equally true that on the 5th day of December, in 
 the year 1757, the Society of Jesuits in France, presented to the Par- 
 liament of Paris a formal disavowal of the book of Busembaum, and of 
 all such opinions as it contained. The candid enquirer cannot, there- 
 fore, be at a loss to determine how far the society are accountable for 
 the writings of individuals : he will not permit the isolated faults of a 
 lew members to mar th;i credit of the entire body, but will rather say 
 with the great Chatkal'eriand, " IVcigh th' amount of good which the 
 Jesuits have donSf call to mind the celebrated writers which their society 
 has given to the world, recollect the entire kingdoms which they hove 
 opened to our intercourse by their skill, their labour, and their blood; 
 review the miracles of their missions to Canada, to Paraguay, to Chxna^ 
 and you uiU see that the little cvU of which philosophers accuse them, 
 cannot be conddercd for a moment in opposition to the services they 
 /iii'i' re/tderi'd tn 'inciety."^ (Gr/nV du Clirittiann^fne, iiv. vi, ch, 5,) 
 
H 
 
 lii 
 
 't 
 
 I feel I cannot more appropiiitely close this lett.'r tlm by an ex- 
 tract from a highly po;.iilai work, « Lives f"" minent Catholic A'ii- 
 sionaries," by J. Came, E,- ,, a Protestant, desciiptive of the couiso 
 of prepitration to which the Jesuits subjected their noviciates ; ar.,!, 
 while the Cathoiic reads it with that intense delight which disintc:- 
 eited kindness ever inspires, the illiberal Protestant whose attentio.a \t 
 artests, may perchance be taught by it the danger of trusting to such 
 sxpositions of Jesuit doctrines and discipline as emanate from the edi- 
 tor of the "Montreal He'ild." 
 
 " rjever were missionaries sent forth so completely furnished with 
 the stores of knowledge and learning, or more disposed to diffuse those 
 stpres to the farthest regions of the earth. There was first for the can- 
 didate a probation of two years ; after that came the period of scholas- 
 tic study \ th^ a third year of probation : the simple vows were then 
 taken ; and fi -e years after, the final vows. Any youth desirous of 
 entering into the Society, was particularly questioned by an examiner, 
 appointed for that purpose. The examination had for its object to dis- 
 cover, as far as it may be possible, his powers of mind ; whether he 
 niay have any defect of capagiiy, which may hereafter render him a 
 useless member of tiie Society. All doubts upon these points were re- 
 fer red tothe Superior, who decided if he should be admitted to thu 
 noviciate. Particular inquiry was also made of the mode of his life 
 up to that time ; and this inquiry was not confined to hitnself a.^d his 
 Iriends, but was extended to the neighbourhood in which he had lived. 
 After this preliminary exarrilnation, he was questioned upon the rive 
 iinpediments which exclude from the Society, and which belong to its 
 secret constitution. The candidate was then qUestiorjed as to his rea- 
 sons for wiishing to enter into the community, when he first thought of 
 doing so, and how long since : and he was farther, questioned as to 
 bis worldly means, whether he is aiHicted with any hereditary malady 
 or bodily defect , whether any of his ancesters had been in any de- 
 gree affected with the poison of heresy, or been guilty of erring against 
 the Catholic faith. To conclude, he was question d if he was ac- 
 quainted with any branch of handicraft. The duties of the examinator 
 closed by his explaining to him all the diiSculties and trials be must 
 undero-o Iti bis noviciate : he was then handed over to the Magister 
 Novitiorujn. The office of this muster was to watch that the novice* 
 had a full understanding of whai; they read, and to meet the doubt* 
 which might arise in their minds. The works, of which he was foui d 
 to have a most intimate knowledge, and which were to he put into 
 the hands of the novice, were about thirty in number, chiefly on scho- 
 lastic divinity, and a few works of the Fathers of the church. It hav- 
 ing been decided that the candidate was to be admitted to probation 
 during the space of twelve or twenty days, he was treated aa s guest 
 of the Society, in order that the different nrxcmbers might obtain a more 
 thorough insight into his character, and a more accurate acquaintance 
 with his habits and mode of thinkin/i-. After *his, all commimicatior* 
 with the external world w^s cut pff, except so far as was absolutely 
 mecessary. Copies of the " Libmm Examinis," and »' Reguls Com- 
 aunes" of the Society, wt-r." put into his leads for study, and short'/ 
 
25 
 
 after a copy of the Apostolic Letters of Pope Juliu » the Third. When 
 the period of the regular ptobation arrived, care v 'as taken that the 
 novice exercised the six Experiments pointed out by the Constitutions 
 01 the Socii;ty r they formed the principal labour of the noviciate.— 
 The Spiritual Exercises were liist to be studied : the' -second trial of 
 the novice was to attend for a month at the hospital :* he v/as next 
 s;!nt out for a mouth's pilgrima2;e without money, to beg in the name 
 of Christ : in his fourth trial he was called upon to ret the part of a 
 uieniai,to teach him humility and self-denial ; and towaro^ the end of 
 the year he was tried in preaching and confessions, Ever/v morning 
 at the sound of a bell he rose ; an hour was spent in readintT) another 
 in prayer and meditation ; the next in industrious occupatio.is ; then 
 he conferred with three or four probationers, not to dispute • <^- arguo 
 with keenness and asperity, but with all humility of manner a.id mo- 
 (lesiy of learning ; for arrogance and conceit were crushed in th e bud 
 Sotnetlmes doubts and dilBculties were advanced,to be discussed i'n all 
 their bearings, refuted or explained. They then considered how s 'Jcli' 
 and =■ ich a temptation was to be met and conquered ; each gave a lit 
 s.i|'[,.»itL'd his opinion, find the master at last decided. The rest of th..T^ 
 (lay Wiis iJiviilod between manual labour, the study of Christian doc- 
 trine, in bodily recreations, in examinations by the master, before 
 whom, being all assembled, an amicable controversy was held. The 
 memory alsi» was disciplined. — a mos-t important pait. How often do 
 men in the decline of life re^rrt that they had not early made the dis- 
 cipline of their memories a more peculiar care ? 
 
 After the two years' noviciate was thus completed, and all its tii- 
 als past, he was admitted to be a scholastic, and informed he could 
 not quit tht; Society without ptrmi;;sion of the general, nor join any re- 
 ligious body but that of t!ic Carthusians, under pain of excommunica- 
 tion, according to the bull of Pius the Fifth. 1565. Now become a 
 scholastic, his education was no longer merely spiritual ; he entered 
 on a regular course of study in languages, rhetoric, belles-letters, ani), 
 in tine, every branch of polite literature. The tirst object was to lay 
 a solid foundation of T.atinity : and it was now decided what was to 
 be his destination in future life. If he was intended for a theologian, 
 a professor, a missionary, so was his course of study shaped. The 
 tsacheis were insiructed to obs' rve closely the propensities of the stu- 
 dent's mind, to what it inclined, and penetrating the path of his men- 
 tal life, to sm^e him steadily along it. It was this admirable atten. 
 lion to their hahi'.s ard i iclinations, which made the Jesuits so sfcuro 
 fi to the af '.or caref^r of th^ir slulonts, and it was this also which con- 
 duced to r..ndei their missionaries ever useful and ever respectable. 
 Had (h s- missionaries been sent ouf at random, without this attention 
 hu'1,1:; hesn paid to prove and perfect their qualifications for the 
 task, oFtfn and fatpUy would the Society have been deceived in it< 
 ♦ -Xpectationf of good results. The scholastic having completed '"is 
 studies, MOW ' .tered upon another year of probation, which, as the two 
 first years was entirely occupied in spiritual studies. H>. now laborer 
 niore j)o\verfully to acquire spiritual strength, to obtain the mastery 
 ovor is mind, to make it entirely subservient to his will, to check bi.i 
 worldly inc'lnntions, nnd l> reuJer himself, in fme, woijhy of lecom^ 
 ing a cLi'd of Loyola. 
 
2<i 
 
 ■§ 
 
 Ttiis year of pr(jbatioii bein» conipl(?te.l, tlie aspirant was admittril 
 to take ttie simple vows; and, after this, live years must pass before he 
 was permitted to tak ■ the final and irrevocable vows. During the fivo 
 years, he iniijht, with the permission of the superior, quit the Society, 
 but the. final vow tied him down irrevocably a member. During the 
 years of his probation, the novice was strictly questioned every six 
 trouths as to whether he was completely satisfied with his choice ;- - 
 what effect the various trials he mii^ht have passed through, had upon 
 his mind ; whetlicr he felt his bodily and mental powers improving, 
 and fit for the labors of the Society ; whether he was from his resolve 
 to live and die in its bosom ; and, finally, he must describe the state of 
 his conscience. The years of his probation and the scholastic years, 
 taken tos^ether, formed a long period of study ; rarely, indeed was a 
 member admitted before the age of tliirty -three. 
 
 This slight sketch of the studies and discipline of the Jesuits may 
 not be thought unnecessary, as it will serve in no small degree to il- 
 lustrate the minds and career of their missionaries. Yet the portrait 
 of Ignatius, as well as that of his disciples, would be imperfect with- 
 out some mention ot the celebrated " SpiritualExercisis," which were 
 faithfully observed in every corner of the globe — in the cave, the dnn- 
 fi'Pon,and the desort ; on the eve of martyrdom, as in the hour of the 
 Church's glory. In the solitude of his retreat atManreza he seems to 
 have put together, and afterwards completed, such spiritual rules and 
 directions as he thought necessary and useful, in the shape of medita- 
 tion, when the soul is seeking the removal of evil passions and desires, 
 and striving after an intimate union with its God. He sought to cast 
 t\\Q mind down from its proud imaj^inings, till, assisted by divine grace, 
 it might arrive at a point whore its wishes, feelings, and imagininsrs, 
 would cease to be injuriously affected by the external world. That 
 this mastery was achieved, or, materially promoted, by the imagina- 
 tion being mainly wrought upon, is not anparent ; nor does it appear 
 that any very remarkable instances of exalted and ungovernable ima- 
 ginations are to be found among the Jesuits ; on the contrary, ..ey 
 seem to have carried, in a striking degree, sound sense, reason, and 
 discretion along with them, The effect of these " Spiritual Exer- 
 cises," which were rigid in the extreme, was rather to sharpen than 
 to dull the intellect. They might be truly termed, by their admirers, 
 the " Search after God ;" but a search too intense and unremitting, for 
 many a heart and intellect, which retired early, shattered from thft 
 field. Eiirht days in every year, in every region, at either pole, were 
 set apart for the Exercita Spiritnalia with as much eagerness as if they 
 had been perfectly refreshing both to mind and body. They.imdoubt- 
 edly, gave an intenssness to th2 thoughts and a spiritual energy to all 
 the resolves ^d hopes, and mainly contributed to the end that Loyola 
 intended; fo. the history of the world does not show us any society of 
 men who have been so able to master their inclinations and subdue 
 their passions, while, at the same time, the powers of the mind to 
 which those passions and inclinations belonged, remained so unbroken 
 and uninjured. It is not surprisini^ that their enemies, while they 
 hated them, feared them ; when they srorned them, admired them ; 
 »n4 vvj^ilst they abused them, confessed their talents and influence." 
 
.-ev 
 
 27 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 '> 
 
 Matino in the preceding letters adduced tuch evidence in r6fu- 
 talii)!' nf the leading charges against the Jesuits as to the unbiassed 
 must appear coucluoive, the present may, 1 think, be property devoted 
 to a few remarks on the question of their suppression in 1773, by Pop* 
 Clembnt XIV., and on their ultimate restoration by Pop« Pros VIF. 
 
 Nothing is more common than for the enemies of the Jesuits to re- 
 fer to theif formal suppression by tfle Pope as « confirmation strong" 
 of the various charges against thetn. This is, however, a serious mis- 
 take. In the Brief of Pope Cleilient, by authority of whi6h the Je- 
 suits ceased, without murmur, to exercise the functions nf fheir 
 r '*^r, we firtd no proof of the Holy Father having recogrtized a^justy 
 the complaints so loudly urged by their persecutors ; on the tontrary^ 
 it is clear from that very document that he did not believe that thtt 
 iiociety had ever departed from its original constitution, or,« that it had, 
 by any me'ans, justly incurred the anger of the Princes who Cried out 
 for its extinction. It was not th* guilt of the Jesuits whidh caused 
 ;';. ir overthrow, but the force of circumstances. Their power a« 
 scholar*,' their holy and immoveable fidelity as churchmen, their 
 "grandeur of thought and of wUl,^' as M. Guizot adnriifs, rendered 
 them hateful to certain powerful ones of the earth, who « could not 
 perceive the things which are of the spirit of God :" and, aS a writer of 
 that time expresses it, " CleiWent XIV., after four years resistance, 
 felt obliged to yield to the storm which his predecessor had braved, 
 but could not dissipate." 
 
 In the work of Mr. Dallas, in defence of the Jesuits, we find the 
 following extract from a letter written by Clement Xf V., whe u Car- 
 dinal to' the Marquis de CaraccioUf expressive of his private feelings 
 towards tfee Jesuits, and which should certainly destroy the presump- 
 tion that he concurred in the verdict of tyrant Princes against them. 
 
 " Superficial minds imagine that we are not favourable to a cer- 
 tain rehgiouf? society because we do not defend it against kingly au- 
 hoiity. But, besides that in reslsfting these powers, we c;^uld do no 
 more than multiply .thp attacks against it, we do not desire to embroil 
 ourselves with Catholic Princes. It is beyond a doubt shameful that a 
 religious society so devoted to education in its colleges, senDinarie?, 
 and missions,and which has written so much on (he tiuths of reiifjion, 
 should be abandoned in a time when incredulitv, unchained, rages 
 Against all religion ; hut the question which must he decided before God 
 i^^vfhefher if i.< vwrth nwrr to rori!(nd with these aoverfignt^ than In ju- 
 frifice a soci'^ty.^'' 
 
.■23 
 
 u 
 
 If 
 
 1, ! 
 
 I 
 
 
 1, 
 i I 
 
 
 I 
 
 There is not perhaps in the whole Iiistcry of christian siibmiftf/rrx 
 to human persecution any thin? iKore trv Jy edifying than the humili; v. 
 the meekness, the entire spirit of forbear, 'nee, with \yhich the Jesuits 
 submitted to their Iiard, because undeservei ^fate ; feeling my inccrn;ir- 
 tency to present even an outline of their surpassing excellence in thif 
 particular I will here submit,jn preference to^ny feeble attempt of my 
 own, a sketch from an article in the "Rcligioiss Cabinet" of tieptem- 
 ber, 1842, which I am sure will be read with interest. 
 
 « The Jesuits submitted to theii' hafd fate without a murmur. 
 Those who had' been represented by their enemi'es as men puffed up 
 with pride and ambition, and full of intrigue and mischief, now suffer- 
 ed themselves to be immolated without a complaint or a struggle. 
 With their learning, their numbers and theif union, they might have 
 made a formidable rtffistance ; and on the other hand they knew that 
 tame submission woU'Jd give their enemies^ reason to exult, besides ap- 
 parentiy confirming the slanders which had been circulated against 
 them. Yet tb«y cast alHhese considerations to the winds. They re- 
 membered thti their High Model had « been led li'ke a lamb to He. 
 ■laughter without opening his mouth." The authority which they 
 had ever recognized liad spoken, and consistent with their principles, 
 they bowed to its decision, leaving their fate, as well as the vindica- 
 tion of their character, in the hands of God. Perhaps the record of 
 this act of submission, with its' circumstance.^, is the brightest page in 
 their history !" 
 
 Thus fell the Jesuits, — not as offenders, but as martyrs, — not as 
 the convicted, but as the innocent ! and, with all the corresponding- 
 traits of holy obedience. They were not, however, doomed to die. 
 The world soon felt the want of such skilful labourers in the religious 
 and literary sterility which every where began to be marked as tho 
 fatal effect of their overthrow ; and, in the year 1814, it was the will 
 of Pope Pius VII., founded on urgent appeals from all parts of the 
 christian world, to re-establish them as an order of the church. 
 
 The following extract from the Bull by which their re-estahlish- 
 ment was declared, will serve to shew the anxiety with which the 
 christian world desired that event, as well as the just appreciation of 
 it« necessity felt by the sovereign Pontiff himself. 
 
 "The demands lively and pressing on the part of our venerahln 
 brethren, Archbishops and Bishops, and of pi^rsons the most distinguished 
 of all ranks, made upon us almost every day convince us of the una- 
 nimous wish of almost the entire christian world for the re-establish- 
 ment of the Society of Jesus ; and especially since fame has publL; ?.d 
 on every side the abundance of the fruits which this i^ociety produced 
 in the regions which it occupied, and its fc>itiHty in the production of 
 those branches which promised to extend and to adorn in every direc- 
 tion the tield of the Lcrd.'^ 
 
 I regret I cannot furnish detail* of th« ext«>nt to which the J»*- 
 
against 
 
 29 
 
 simli have resumed their mlfsiunary labours. It is well .known that 
 they have a most flourishing establishment in Lancashire, i.n England, 
 in which are educated not only the youth of the Catholic nobility and 
 gentry of Groat Britain, but also an extensive number from various 
 other parts of the Catholic world. I have seen several notices of this 
 establishment from Protestant, as well as Catholic pens, all agreeing 
 :is to its superior excellence ; and, 1 also recollect to have seen it 
 stated that the Jesuits attached to it, had, up to that time, effected the 
 conversion to the Catholic Faith of at least 1600 ! Would not thiv 
 be a fitting scene for the labours of the Herald 1 
 
 I think it is to be lamented that so much valuable labour and skill, 
 should have been expended iu combating the mere shadotv of Jesuit- 
 ism in the wilds of Canada, while the full grown Body is pursuing an 
 active and unresisted course in England. The Editor of the Ilercld 
 should ihinic of this. 
 
 An interesting work has lately issued from the United UtaXca 
 press, entitled " Letteis and Sketches, with a Narrative of a Year's 
 Residence among the Eocky Mountains," descriptive of the happy 
 progress of a Jesuit mission in that desolate region ; the author is one 
 of the missionaries. Rev. P. J. De Smet, and it would appear from 
 the following extract that the mission bids fair to rival that of Para- 
 guay. 
 
 " It was in these parts (the country of the Pointed-hearts) that in 
 1836 a modern Iconaclast, named Parker, broke down a cross erected 
 over the grave of a child by some Catholic Iroquois, telling us em- 
 phatically, in the narrative of his journey, that he did not wish to leave 
 iu that country an emblem of idolatry. 
 
 " Poor man ! — not to know better in this enlightened age ! Were 
 hd to return to these mountains, he would hear the praises of the Holy 
 name of Jesus resounding among them ; he would hear the Cathcdica 
 ch^unting the love and mercies of God from the rivers, lakes, moiin-. 
 tains, prairies, forests and coasts of the Columbip.. He would behold 
 the Cross planted from ."hore to shore for the space of a thousaml 
 miles — on the loftiest height of the Pointed Heart territory, on the 
 towering chain which ssparates the waters of the Missouri from tiie 
 Columbia rivers ; in the plains of the Walamette, Cowlitz and Bitter 
 Root — and, whilst I am writing toyou, tiie Rev. Mr. Demeis is occu- 
 pied in planting thissanr.e sacred symbol ;imong-t the different tribes of 
 New Caledonia. The words of Him who said that this holy signwowW 
 draw ail men to HimsdJ, begin t<i be verified Ailh regard to the poor 
 destitute sheep df this vast continent. Were he who destroyed thitt 
 solitary humble Cross now to return, he would find the image of Jesus 
 Christ cnicitit'd, borne on the brenstof more than 4000 Indians ; and 
 the smallest c>iijd would say to him : <«Mr. Parker, we do not ado:t» 
 the cross ; do not break it, be^-aus it reminds us of Jesus Christ who 
 died on the cross to save us~we adore God aione."~pp. 212-13. 
 

 SO 
 
 1 am not awara of the extent of the arrangements of the Jesuitj 
 in Canada; that they have commenced their labours hero is certain, 
 f.ut upon what system, or with what effect, they are proceeding, I have 
 not been informed. It must, however, be the tamest desire of every 
 nno appreciating the blessings of sound education, that they should be 
 ;v.rmanently and prosperously established : Canada presents a want of 
 educational advantages among the humbler classes of her population 
 :n no .;ommon dt ,'ree, and he who is conversant with genuine history 
 :ind dn?s not sec with Bacon, that, "to discover the best mode c:.- 
 
 F.PUOA nON, THF, SUREST WAV IS TO CONSULT THE SCHOOLS OF THE JE- 
 SUITS," must be xci'fidhj blind. 
 
 Observer. 
 
 Montreal. May, iSif^. 
 
 :*> 
 
Jesuits 
 crtain, 
 I have 
 every 
 oviul be 
 ^ant of 
 lulalion 
 history 
 ODE c:.' 
 HF. Je- 
 
 R.