Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/jesuitstheirorigOOduff 
 
THE JESUITS: 
 
 ORIGIN AND ORDER, MORALITY AND PRACTICES, 
 SUPPRESSION AND RESTORATION. 
 
 BY 
 
 y 
 
 ALEXANDER DUFF, D.D., 
 
 ONE OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND'S MISSIONARIES, CALCUTTA. 
 
 FROM THE SECOND EDINBURGH EDITION. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. 
 
 1845. 
 
NOTE BY THE PUBLISHER. 
 
 Towards the close of last year, the Calcutta 
 Missionaries, of all denominations, (except those of 
 the Church of England,) united in projecting a 
 scheme of public lectures on the subject of Popery. 
 In the furtherance of this scheme, which, in Cal- 
 cutta, laboured under all the disadvantages of a 
 novel and untried experiment, Dr. Duff and his 
 colleagues of the Free Church Mission took an 
 active and effective part. The course proposed 
 extended to nine lectures — embracing as many 
 leading topics of importance in the Popish contro- 
 versy — and distributed among as many separate 
 lecturers. Of the nine, four were Free Church 
 Missionaries. The subject which it fell to Dr. 
 Duff's lot to discuss was that of Jesuitism, in its 
 rise, progress, and objects ; and the following is the 
 Lecture which he prepared and delivered on the 
 occasion. Several hundred copies were printed for 
 local distribution in Calcutta and its neighbourhood ; 
 and the present edition is a reprint, with the au- 
 thor's permission, for circulation at home. From 
 the immense efforts now making by the Jesuit body, 
 
4 NOTE BY THE PUBLISHER. 
 
 in all parts of the world, to propagate the noxious 
 leaven of Popery — the Antichrist and great 
 Apostasy — the subject is one of paramount interest 
 to all the friends of Protestantism, and genuine, 
 unadulterated, evangelical truth. The Jesuits, in 
 times past, have proved the most formidable foes 
 of the Reformation ; and if the members of the 
 Reformed Churches do not speedily awake to a 
 sense of the impending danger, the "bulwarks" 
 and the "palaces" of Protestantism may soon be 
 sapped, and undermined, and levelled in the dust. 
 
 August, 1845. 
 
THE JESUITS, &e. 
 
 It has often been a subject of remark, how trivial, 
 insignificant, and, in ordinary phraseology, accidental 
 incidents, have fixed the character and career of in- 
 dividuals, extended the empire of the sciences, and 
 permanently affected the destinies of nations. To 
 the circumstance of his being presented, when a 
 student at college, with the works of Pliny and Aris- 
 totle, as a prize, did Adanson, as we are told, owe 
 the impulse which diverted his mind from its origi- 
 nal bent, and earned for him the renown of being 
 one of the most distinguished naturalists of his day. 
 To the circumstance of his happening, when a boy, 
 " to be long and frequently shut up in a room, in 
 which there was nothing but a clock — which, there- 
 fore, as the only object of amusement, he occupied 
 himself in examining" — did Vaucanson owe the 
 impulse which eventually rendered him one of the 
 most celebrated of mechanicians. It was the cir- 
 cumstance of perusing the Iliad that communicated 
 to the soul of Alexander the impulse which led to 
 his heading the Macedonian phalanx on the banks 
 of the Nile, the Euphrates, and the Indus ; while it 
 was the perusal of his life which stimulated Charles 
 of Sweden to a career that stamped him as among 
 the first of warriors. To the circumstance of his 
 noticing the fall of an apple is ordinarily attributed 
 the hint which pointed the way to the most magni- 
 1* 5 
 
6 THE JESUITS. 
 
 ficenl of modern discoveries, and has emblazoned 
 the name of Newton as the most refulgent in the 
 whole galaxy of science. To a most trivial, and ap- 
 parently accidental circumstance did Scotland, once 
 trodden under the iron hoof of tyranny, owe its 
 freedom and independence. The patriot Bruce, suc- 
 cessively baffled in every attempt, lay down at night 
 in a barn, seeking relief from the pains of disaster 
 and the threatenings of despair. In the morning, 
 we are told, while " still reclining on his pillow of 
 straw, he beheld a spider climbing up the beam 
 of the roof. The insect fell to the ground." Twelve 
 times was the attempt successively renewed — twelve 
 times did it utterly fail. Its thirteenth essay, how- 
 ever, was crowned with complete success — it gained 
 the summit of the barn ; when the king, starting 
 from his couch, exclaimed: "This despicable in- 
 sect has taught me perseverance : I will follow its 
 example. Have I not been twelve times defeated 
 by the enemy's force ? — on one fight more hangs 
 the independence of my country." In a few days 
 was fought the ever-memorable battle of Bannock- 
 burn, and all Scotland was free. And, finally, it is 
 to the slight and insignificant, and apparently acci- 
 dental, circumstance of a soldier being wounded, 
 three centuries ago, at an ordinary siege in Spain, 
 that the world has been indebted for an institute be- 
 fore which kings and nations have bowed the knee 
 — an institute which, with the "dolorous regions'' 
 of California on the west, and the multitudinous 
 isles of Japan on the east, as its outposts, has con- 
 verted " shuddering Europe" into one vast battle- 
 field for the marshalled hosts of error and of truth. 
 
THE JESUITS. 
 
 THE ORIGIN AND RISE OF THE JESUITS. 
 
 In 1521, Don Inigo Lopez de Ricalde, the 
 youngest son of the noble house of Loyola, was se- 
 verely wounded in both legs in the defence of Pam- 
 peluna against the French. Fired with the spirit 
 of ancient chivalry, he had panted after knightly 
 honours and renown. Excited by the vivid pictures 
 of legendary romance, his mind was filled with airy 
 dreams of hazardous adventure and feats of daring 
 valour — 
 
 Races and games, 
 
 Or tilting furniture, emblazoned shields, 
 Impresses quaint, caparisons and steeds, 
 Bosses and tinsel trappings, gorgeous knights 
 At joust and tournament." 
 
 But stretched on a bed of languishment, with shat- 
 tered limbs, and little hope of their perfect recovery, 
 how are these gorgeous phantasms to be grasped 
 and realized ? To these, alas ! he must now bid 
 farewell — farewell for ever. Does he then return 
 to a calm composure of mind, resolved to content 
 himself with the sober realities of life ? No. Racked 
 by disappointment and agitated by suffering, as 
 he lay doomed to listless and pining inactivity on 
 his couch, he happened to have had put into his 
 hands a volume of the Lives of the Saints ; whether 
 by accident or design, history telleth not. But, be 
 that as it may, the effect on his excitable and chival- 
 rous spirit was, in its instantaneousness and power, 
 almost magical. The perusal of that work suddenly 
 changed the entire current of his soul. " Behold," 
 says his biographer, Vieyra, "behold the import- 
 ance of reading good books. If it had been a book 
 of knight-errantry, Ignacio would have become a 
 great knight-errant ; it was the Lives of the Saints, 
 
8 THE JESUITS. 
 
 and Ignacio became a great saint. If he had read 
 about knights, he might have proved a knight of the 
 burning sword ; he read about saints, and proved a 
 saint of the burning torch." From that hour the 
 chivalry of romance and worldly adventure is wholly 
 and for ever abandoned for the chivalry of spiritual 
 crusade and "fantastic asceticism." As ordinary 
 knights were wont to " devote themselves and con- 
 secrate the valour of their arms to their lady love," 
 he " hung up arms and armour before an image of 
 the Virgin," determined to become "knight of the 
 Virgin Mary." As other spiritual knight-errants 
 had earned for themselves immortal renown by their 
 self-imposed penances, he resolves to outstrip all his 
 predecessors in austerity and self-denial. Accord- 
 ingly, casting aside his knightly dress, and arraying 
 himself in a hermit's homely garb, he withdraws 
 from the abodes of luxurious refinement and the 
 endearments of social intercourse. In cells and 
 lonely caverns he enters on a course of the severest 
 mortification, letting his hair and nails grow like 
 those of the doomed and fated Nebuchadnezzar — 
 maintaining midnight vigils — remaining seven hours 
 daily on his bare knees — often fasting for days to- 
 gether, and on one occasion from Sabbath to Sabbath 
 — scourging himself regularly thrice a day, and caus- 
 ing the gloomy cloisters to resound with the sighs 
 and groans of heartfelt agony. 
 
 From that time, also, he began, in his turbid and 
 troubled fancy, to enjoy all manner of visions, 
 raptures, and ecstasies. Now, he is in rapt con- 
 templation of two immense camps — "the one at 
 Jerusalem, the other at Babylon — Christ's and 
 Satan's. On that side all the good, on this side 
 all the bad, both armed and ready for mutual com- 
 bat" — while he himself figures as a chosen warrior 
 in the army 01 the faithful. Again, he is satisfied 
 
THE JESUITS. 9 
 
 that " he beholds at one time Christ, and at another 
 the Virgin, with his bodily eyes." Standing on the 
 steps of the Church of St. Dominic at Manressa, 
 " he wept aloud, because he beheld the mystery of 
 the Trinity visibly revealed to him at that moment;" 
 while the mystery of creation suddenly flashed upon 
 him in mystic symbols. In the host he fancied 
 that he "beheld him who was God and man." 
 On the banks of the Llobregat he " sat down, and 
 bent his eyes on the deep stream before him ; when 
 suddenly he felt himself in an ecstasy, wherein the 
 mysteries of faith were visibly revealed to him. He 
 rose up, he thought, another man."* Favoured 
 with such immediate inspirations and inward fanta- 
 sies, the light of Scripture or revelation is rejected 
 as altogether unnecessary. As a. prime favourite 
 of Heaven, he is privileged to hold direct communion 
 with the invisible world and its inhabitants — privi- 
 leged to ascend beyond the pure empyrean and 
 mingle with the glories of the eternal regions ; why, 
 then, should he not spurn away from him the aids 
 of apostles and prophets, who wrote only as they 
 were commissioned for the humble denizens of this 
 lower mundane sphere ? 
 
 After journeying to Jerusalem on a fruitless ex- 
 pedition against the Infidels, and traversing, amid 
 incredible hardships, different kingdoms of Europe, 
 as a ragged, emaciated mendicant, he at length re- 
 tired to Paris. There he soon gathered around him 
 a small but enthusiastic body of converts and fol- 
 lowers. They resolved to constitute themselves into 
 a religious society. But under what designation 
 are they to be known ? Captivated with the thought 
 of making war, as soldiers, against the prince of 
 darkness, they finally determined, in accordance 
 with Loyola's old military propensities, to call them- 
 * See " Ranke on the Popes." 
 
10 THE JESUITS. 
 
 selves " The Company of Jesus, just like a com- 
 pany of soldiers, who bear the name of their captain 
 — a company, cohort, or century, as it were, en- 
 gaged to do battle against spiritual enemies." But 
 such an organized society must have laws. Doubt- 
 less. But whence are they to proceed? Whence, 
 in such a case, but from the fountain-head of all 
 law ? Loyola had already his visions of the celestial 
 world ; before the altar of the church in Barcelona, 
 the Lady Roselli saw him " with a radiant illumi- 
 nation round his head." Who, then, need be sur- 
 prised at the solemn averment of his disciples, " that 
 he was miraculously told from Heaven to form his 
 order, and instructed fully in a supernatural man- 
 ner how to do it ?" 
 
 After various abortive attempts, Loyola at length 
 succeeded, in 1540, in obtaining from Paul III. a 
 bull of constitution for his new order. This bull 
 was fettered at first with certain unpalatable re- 
 strictions. The Pope, however, soon learned to 
 estimate aright the prodigious importance of such a 
 fraternity. Moreover, the offer, over and above the 
 three usual vows of poverty, chastity, and monastic 
 obedience, to come under a fourth vow, of unlimited 
 submission, of unconditional obedience to the Pope 
 — whose absolute supremacy and infallibility the 
 members of the new Society were sworn, at all 
 hazards, to maintain ; and whose commands to go 
 wheresoever, whensoever, and on what errand so- 
 ever he pleased, they were bound, without question 
 or hesitation, instantly to obey ; and all this under a 
 solemn pledge, never and nowhere to require pe- 
 cuniary aid or support from the See of Rome — such 
 an offer, at such a desperate crisis of Papal affairs, 
 proved irresistible. The original bull of confirma- 
 tion was accordingly renewed in 1543, unembar- 
 rassed by any limitations or conditions whatsoever. 
 
THE JESUITS. 11 
 
 And to render the deed still more memorable and 
 impressive, the Pope had two medals struck, on one 
 of which, in allusion to the important services 
 which he expected from the Society, was inscribed, 
 " The gates of heaven opened !" and on the other, 
 " The security of the Roman people." 
 
 As the Society was essentially military and des- 
 potic in its constitution, the next important step 
 was to elect a general or commander-in-chief, who, 
 as stated by the Society itself, in the first draft of 
 the constitution which they presented to the Pope, 
 "should dispense grades and offices as to him 
 should seem fit ; project the plan of the constitution 
 for the order, with the advice and assistance of the 
 members ; and in all other matters exercise sole 
 and undivided command : in him should Christ be 
 honoured (let this blasphemy be noted) as present 
 in his person!" The choice, as might readily be 
 anticipated, fell on the founder, Loyola, who, ac- 
 cording to the express words of one of the electors, 
 "had begotten them all in Christ, and fed them 
 with his milk." Another reason assigned by a 
 Jesuit writer is too characteristic to be omitted here. 
 " Since Peter," says he, " had more zeal than the 
 rest of the apostles, when he struck the servant of 
 the high priest, it is for this reason, among others, 
 we may conceive, that the sovereign priesthood was 
 committed to him by Christ ; and, if the comparison 
 be admissible, we may affirm that Ignatius was 
 chosen to be general of our order because he would 
 kill a Moor who had blasphemed." 
 
 The Society having obtained the Papal sanction, 
 and elected its general, the next grand step was to 
 frame its constitution. This task was executed by 
 Loyola with such consummate ability, as to justify 
 the eulogium of Pasquier, who pronounced him 
 "one of the most subtile and skilful politicians 
 
12 THE JESUITS. 
 
 which his age produced." For two hundred years, 
 the mysterious volume was systematically concealed 
 from the world at large ; while its contents were 
 only gradually unfolded, and that, too, after full 
 proof of their trustworthiness and repeated oaths of 
 secrecy, even to the members of the Society ; yea, 
 some rules there were of which none but the gene- 
 ral and superiors were ever permitted to know any 
 thing at all. One of the assistants of the order, in 
 a letter from Rome, towards the middle of last cen- 
 tury, thus writes : " It is only since my arrival here 
 that I understand any thing of the nature of our 
 Society. Its government is a separate science, of 
 which the provincials themselves know nothing. It 
 is necessary to be in the post which I now occupy, 
 to begin to comprehend it." 
 
 At length, however, in an evil hour for the So- 
 ciety, but a providential one for the cause of humanity 
 and truth, their long secreted statute book was 
 dragged to light. This occurred in the course of 
 the celebrated suit of Lionci and La Valette, in 
 France, in 17(31. 
 
 From these authentic records every thing essen- 
 tial may now be learned respecting the organiza- 
 tion, government, and general principles of the 
 institute. In order to invest these w r ith infallible 
 authority, the Jesuits did not scruple to allege "that 
 God himself dictated the formation of their Society;" 
 that " He and the blessed Virgin inspired its plans, 
 rules, and privileges, in miraculous revelations." In 
 order to allure numbers to join their ranks, they 
 positively declared that " C4od had granted to every 
 member of the Society, who might join it in the 
 three first centuries, the privilege of escaping 
 damnation; and that whoever should die in com- 
 munion with the Society should obtain everlasting 
 felicity." Under the influence of such nattering 
 
THE JESUITS. 13 
 
 attractions, the increase of the Society, like that of a 
 comet approaching its perihelion, was more than 
 ordinarily rapid. In little more than half a century 
 after its commencement, its full sworn members ex- 
 ceeded ten thousand. A century later still, it could 
 reckon twenty thousand members, and upwards of 
 six hundred colleges. 
 
 All this will appear the more surprising-, when 
 we reflect on the dreadful ordeal of probation through 
 which every candidate must pass ere he could 
 obtain the privilege of full membership. Talk of 
 drilling and discipline ! — why, the drilling and the 
 discipline which gave to Alexander the men that 
 marched in triumph from Macedon to the Indus; to 
 Caesar, the men that marched in triumph from Rome 
 to the wilds of Caledonia ; to Hannibal, the men 
 that marched in triumph from Carthage to Rome ; 
 to Napoleon, the men whose achievements surpassed 
 in brilliancy the united glories of the soldiers of 
 Macedon, of Carthage, and of Rome ; and to Wel- 
 lington, the men who smote into the dust the very 
 flower of Napoleon's chivalry ; — why, the drilling 
 and the discipline of all of these combined, cannot, 
 in point of stern, rigid, and protracted severity, for 
 a moment be compared to the drilling and discipline 
 which fitted and moulded men for becoming full 
 members of the militant institute of the Jesuits ! 
 
 Into details we cannot enter ; but a few leading 
 particulars we must supply from the most authorita- 
 tive of all sources — the book of their own constitu- 
 tions. 
 
 2 
 
14 THE JESUITS. 
 
 THE ORDER OF THE JESUITS— ITS ORGANI- 
 ZATION AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 The whole world, which is regarded by the ge- 
 neral as his one and undivided empire, is parcelled 
 out into provinces ; at the head of which is a pro- 
 vincial, subordinate to the general central head. 
 Throughout the provinces are colleges and novitiates, 
 or houses of probation and residence ; at the head 
 of which are rectors, prefects, or superiors ; all 
 subordinate directly, or through the provincials, to 
 the general, who is the sole mainspring and moving 
 power of the stupendous mechanism, throughout 
 all its countless parts and wide-spreading ramifica- 
 tions. 
 
 The whole Society may be divided into four 
 classes — the novices, the scholars, the coadjutors, 
 and the professed or full members. The age of 
 fourteen is ordinarily the earliest for admission as 
 a novice ; and the asfe of thirty-three the earliest for 
 the attainment of full or professed membership. 
 
 When a candidate for admission presents himself, 
 he is rigidly examined. If deemed unfit, he is in- 
 stantly dismissed. If his fitness appear probable, 
 he is received into " the house of primary proba- 
 tion." A fresh scrutiny is then instituted into his 
 rank, temper, and condition — his talents, possessions, 
 and probable utility — natural abilities being allowed 
 "to make ample atonement for poverty, and wealth 
 for lack of talent." Every communication with the 
 servants or strangers, either by word or letter, is 
 expressly forbidden. A brief compendium or sum- 
 mary of general rules is then submitted to his 
 deliberation. In subsequent examinations, " every 
 circumstance is drawn from him connected with his 
 birth, his family, and connections. Strict inquiry 
 
THE JESUITS. 15 
 
 is made touching the marriage or celibacy of a 
 brother or sister — their state and manner of life ; 
 but, above all, whether he be bound himself by a 
 promise of marriage." Again, " the health and 
 perfection of the candidate's body must, by medical 
 inspection, be ascertained. The manner in which 
 his life has been spent from his youth, the bent of 
 his inclinations, the substance of his prayers, the 
 fervour of his devotions — all must be revealed, 
 without reserve, at the bidding of the scrutinizing 
 inquirer." The applicant must next be asked, 
 " whether he has ever held, or still continues to hold, 
 any opinions or ideas differing from those which 
 are maintained by the Church, and approved by her 
 doctors ; for novel opinions cannot be tolerated." 
 And "in every scruple or spiritual difficulty which 
 may arise, he must engage to abandon his own de- 
 cision." If he has property, he must next declare 
 his resolution of renouncing it, and giving it wholly 
 "to the pooi^, (i. e., in reality to 'the Society of 
 Jesuits, who are mendicants for that purpose,') 
 without a hope of regaining it at any time." And 
 that " his better example may shine before men, he 
 must put away all strong affection for his parents, 
 and refrain from the unsuitable desire of a bountiful 
 distribution towards them, arising from such a dis- 
 advantageous affection, that the precept of the gos- 
 pel may be followed more perfectly, which says 
 not, ' Give to your relations,' but, ' Give to the poor.' 
 Thus effectually cut off from all access to his parents, 
 and even from a useless remembrance of them, he 
 may proceed more surely in his course of hopeful 
 vocation." To render his seclusion more complete, 
 the candidate is next " interdicted from verbal or 
 written communication with his family or friends," 
 unless under special permission from the superior. 
 He must also be " satisfied that all letters written 
 
16 THE JESUITS. 
 
 and received by him, as long as he remains in the 
 house, should be opened, read, and delivered up for 
 that purpose, to the person appointed to examine 
 him." His " actions, errors, and deficiencies, are 
 always closely watched, and reported to the supe- 
 rior by any one who has observed or discovered 
 them." A general confession of the " whole past 
 life must be made, and repeated every six months, 
 to some Jesuit priest, who may be deputed by the 
 superior to receive it." 
 
 The course of primary probation being at length 
 concluded, the candidate enters the house of second 
 probation, where he joins the senior novices. Here, 
 on his entrance, six principal exercises or experi- 
 ments await him. First, He must devote a month 
 to self-examination, confession, and meditation. 
 Second, He must serve for another month " in one 
 or more of the hospitals, by ministering to the sick, 
 in proof of increasing humility." Third, He 
 "must wander for another month, without money, 
 begging from door to door, that he may be accus- 
 tomed to inconvenience in eating and sleeping." 
 Fourth, He "must submit to be employed in the 
 most servile offices of the house into which he has 
 entered." Fifth, He must exhibit his capacity for 
 giving instruction to boys and untaught elders. 
 Sixth, He must try his gift in preaching and 
 hearing confessions. 
 
 As yet, while thus only " fulfilling his several 
 trials of fitness, he may not presume to say that he 
 is a member of the Society. If his discharge of 
 these six experiments be not satisfactory, he is 
 summarily dismissed ; if otherwise, he is encou- 
 raged to wait in patient expectation — learning, by 
 further exercises, to subordinate his mind and will, 
 in all things, in perfect humility and obedience, to 
 the dictum of the general or superior. If his pro- 
 
THE JESUITS. 17 
 
 gress be satisfactory, the three simple vows are 
 administered at the end of two years ; which vows, 
 with slight and suitable modifications, must ever 
 after be renewed twice every year." 
 
 The novitiate being at length terminated, the 
 candidate, who has acquitted himself with credit in 
 the houses of probation, is admitted to additional 
 instruction in the mysteries of the institute in one 
 or other of the colleges or universities, which are 
 richly endowed by the voluntary liberality of the 
 superstitiously devout. He now becomes one of 
 the grade or class of scholars. The qualities to be 
 "desired and commended in scholars are acuteness 
 of talent, brilliancy of example, and soundness of 
 body. They are to be chosen men, picked from 
 the flower of the troop ; and the general has abso- 
 lute power in admitting or dismissing them, accord- 
 ing to his expectations of their utility in promoting 
 the designs of the institute." If they have satis- 
 factorily passed the time and course of their studies, 
 they become approved scholars, and must submit 
 to new varieties of trial and probation. 
 
 The trial of their perfections, as approved scho- 
 lars, being completed, they are admitted into the 
 third class, which is that of coadjutors, temporal 
 and spiritual. Their trials, which are multiform, 
 protracted, and severe, being finished, they are at 
 last admitted into the fourth class, which, by way 
 of eminence, is distinguished as the "Professed 
 Society.'''' These take upon them the fourth or 
 peculiar vow, which binds them to proceed, without 
 question or murmur, on the Papal missions, to any 
 region of the earth. Their probations are even 
 " more strict and of longer duration than those of 
 the preceding classes." Schedules or registers are 
 carefully kept throughout, in which the minutest 
 particulars are recorded, for the inspection of the 
 2* 
 
18 THE JESUITS. 
 
 superior, and for transmission to the general ; who 
 has thus before him, at one view, a complete chart 
 or map of the character, talents, and special qualifi- 
 cations of every candidate and member of the Society, 
 from the earliest period of the novitiate to the con- 
 clusion of a finished profession. 
 
 Here, in passing, we may note a characteristic 
 circumstance. One of the earliest and most solemn 
 vows taken, is that of perpetual poverty. But what 
 if, in consequence of the death of friends or rela- 
 tions, some property should fall to be inherited by 
 one who had taken the vow of utter renunciation 
 of the world — is he precluded from asserting his 
 lawful claims ? Why, then, the superior is armed 
 with power temporarily to release him from the 
 solemn and unconditional obligation of the vow. 
 Thus liberated, and, by a Jesuit fiction, regarded 
 for a definite season as a merely secular person, he 
 is sent forth swiftly to secure property, "as an eagle 
 to the prey. But as the lesser bird, which decoys 
 to the snare of the fowler, can only enjoy the 
 liberty which is allowed by the length of his string 
 and the will of his master, so must the richly-laden 
 Jesuit return at the bidding of his general; and 
 bound up once more by his former vow of renounc- 
 ing the things of this world, he is quickly relieved 
 of his acquired wealth, which is safely deposited 
 in the craving and capacious coffers of the Society." 
 
 But the grand principle which pervades, ani- 
 mates, and cements into one firm and continuous 
 chain the entire course of probationary exercises, 
 is the reiterated, the incessant, the perpetual incul- 
 cation of a blind, implicit, unquestioning obedience 
 to the monarchical general of the order, or to the 
 superior acting in his stead or name. In every 
 conceivable variety of shape and form, his will is 
 declared to be law, sole and supreme law — his wilJ 
 
THE JESUITS. 19 
 
 is virtually that of omnipotence. To him must the 
 inclinations, the reason, and the conscience, of 
 every member be unconditionally surrendered. 
 Does any one doubt the possibility of a despotism 
 so absolute ? Then hear the express words of the 
 constitutions. There the novice is exhorted to 
 "devote himself to the service of God, leaving the 
 care of all other things to his superior, ivho doubtless 
 (mark these words) holds the place of Christ our 
 Lord." But this is a brief and ambiguous expres- 
 sion, you will say. Very good. Then, here is 
 another: Let the novices "desire with perfect con- 
 currence to be guided by them, (their superiors;) 
 and not wishing to be led by their own judgment, 
 except it agrees with that of those who are to them 
 instead of Christ our Lord." 
 
 Is this not explicit enough ? Well, here is an- 
 other injunction : " It is especially conducive to 
 advancement, nay, even necessary, that all yield 
 tin mselees to perfect obedience, regarding the su- 
 perior (he he who he may) as Christ the Lord, and 
 submitting to him with inward reverence and affec- 
 tion. Let them obey not only in the outward per- 
 formance of what he enjoins, entirely, promptly, 
 resolutely, and with all due humility, without ex- 
 cuses or murmurs, even though he order things 
 hard to be done, and repugnant to their own sense ; 
 hut let them also strive to acquire perfect resigna- 
 tion and denial of their own will and judgment to 
 that which the superior wills and judges (where sin 
 is not perceived) — the will and judgment of the su- 
 perior being set before them as the rule of their 
 will and judgment." 
 
 Is any further confirmation wanted? Then, 
 surely, it is in these words : " Let every one per- 
 suade himself that they who live under obedience, 
 should permit themselves to be moved and directed, 
 
20 THE JESUITS. 
 
 under divine Providence, by their superiors just as 
 if (mark the similes,) just as if they were a corpse, 
 which allows itself to be moved and handled in any 
 way ; or as the staff of an old man, which serves 
 him wherever or in whatever thing he who holds 
 it in his hand pleases to use iV — "persuading 
 themselves that every thing is just, suppressing 
 every repugnant thought and judgment of their 
 own, in a certain obedience," and " promptly at- 
 tending to their voice, just as if it proceeded from 
 Christ our Lord." And, to render assurance doubly 
 sure, every disciple is again and again bound by 
 solemn oath to " obey superiors," and "to under- 
 stand all things according to the constitutions of the 
 Society," the oaths of submission and obedience 
 usually commencing in this style : " I, N. B., make 
 profession, and promise Almighty God, before his 
 virgin mother, and before all the heavenly host, and 
 before all by-standers, and you, reverend father, 
 general of the Society of Jesus, holding the place 
 of God, and your successors, reverend father, vice- 
 general of the Society of Jesus, holding the place 
 God" &c. And lest any one might suppose 
 at the formed introduction of any apparently ex- 
 ceptionary clauses respecting the non-obligation of 
 committing sin by way of obedience, formed any 
 real or substantial limitation, it is expressly added, 
 by way of explanation, that the constitutions of the 
 Society do not "involve an obligation to commit sin, 
 mortal or venial;* unless (mark the impious excep- 
 
 * For all the quotations given in this epitomized account of 
 the order of the Jesuits, the reader is referred to two standard 
 and authoritative works: — 1st, Constitutiones Societatis Jesu, 
 Anno 1558, Romae, in eedibus Societatis Jesu, 1558. Be- 
 •printed from the original edition, &c, &c, London, 183S; 
 and, 2d, The preliminary Sketch prefixed to a work entitled 
 *' The Principles of the Jesuits, developed in a Collection of 
 Extracts from their Writings, London, 1839." 
 
 f 
 
 thi 
 
THE JESUITS. 21 
 
 tion) the superior command them in the name of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, or in virtue of holy obedience ; 
 which shall be done in those cases or persons 
 wherein it shall be judged that it will greatly con- 
 duce to the particular good of each, or to the general 
 advantage." What does this mean ? Neither more 
 nor less than this, that sins against God, acts con- 
 trary to his revealed word, transgressions of his 
 pure and holy law — provided only they benefit the 
 individual or the Society — may be, yea, must be com- 
 mitted, ?y*the superior enjoins them ! What is this, 
 but setting himself in the place of God, yea, exalt- 
 ing himself above God ? For, surely, that authority 
 which can annul, repeal, supersede, or abrogate a 
 law, must be supreme and paramount above all 
 other authorities. 
 
 And lest any one, in the plenitude of his sceptical 
 liberality or liberal scepticism, should suppose, or 
 pretend to suppose, that we had misunderstood or 
 overstrained the meaning of these clear declarations, 
 let us hear the statements of Jesuits themselves, as 
 to their understanding of the spirit and import of 
 their own constitutions and vows of unqualified obe- 
 dience. Instances might be given both of a comic 
 and a tragic character. Of Friar Alphonso, who 
 was the porter at a college in Majorca, it is related 
 by one of his own brother-associates, that, having 
 " denied himself, in the way of penance, a part of 
 the victuals allowed for his subsistence, the superior, 
 to whom a report was made of the fact, commanded 
 him to eat all that was set before him. To fulfil the 
 sacred duty of obedience, Father Alphonso ate his 
 whole allowance, champed even the plates on which 
 it was served, and would have swallowed them, had 
 not the superior told him that his obedience must 
 not proceed beyond the glazing of the earthenware." 
 Another practical instance and proof of the length 
 
22 THE JESUITS. 
 
 to which implicit obedience would carry its votaries 
 is supplied by the Romish Abbe de la Roche Ar- 
 nauld, who himself went through many of the pre- 
 liminaries of the Jesuit novitiate. He tells us of the 
 case of a young novice, who, when asked by his 
 master concerning the sacrifice of Abraham, and that 
 of St. Marius, who went to throw his son into a fur- 
 nace to please his superior, promptly, and unhesi- 
 tatingly replied : "I would have done still more. 
 Were God to order me, through the voice of my 
 superior, to put to death father, mother, children, 
 brothers, and sisters, I would do it with an eye as 
 tearless and a heart as calm as if I were seated at 
 the banquet of the paschal lamb !" 
 
 Well, surely, might Robertson the historian ex- 
 claim, that "there is not in the annals of mankind 
 any example of such a perfect despotism, exercised 
 not over monks shut up in the cells, of a convent, 
 but over men dispersed among all the nations of the 
 earth." 
 
 But, lest any one should presume to surmise that 
 this is a Protestant conclusion merely, and not a fair 
 representation of the case, Ave shall adduce a testi- 
 mony that must be held by Romanists themselves 
 as wholly unimpeachable. Here is a description 
 and denunciation of the Jesuit institute : " In order 
 to form the union, the consistency, and the strength 
 of the Society, there should be a government 
 not only monarchical, but so sovereign, so absolute, 
 so despotic, that even the provincials themselves 
 should not have it in their power, by any act of 
 theirs, to resist or retard the execution of the orders 
 of the general. By this legislative, inviolable, and 
 despotic power — by the profound devotedness of the 
 subjects of this company to mysterious laws with 
 which they are not themselves acquainted — by the 
 blind and passive obedience by which they are com- 
 
THE JESUITS. 23 
 
 pelled to execute, without hesitation or reply, what- 
 ever their superiors command — this Society is at 
 once become the most consolidated and powerful 
 body, and at the same time the greatest and most 
 enormous of abuses, to which there is an urgent 
 necessity that the church and state should apply 
 the most prompt and efficacious remedy." Who 
 has furnished this bold outline, this vigorous draft, 
 this powerful sketch of the " most absolute of des- 
 potisms, the "most enormous of abuses?" Doubt- 
 less some Protestant calumniator — some mortal 
 enemy to Rome. No such thing. It happens to be 
 none other than one of the most loyal and devoted 
 adherents of the holy See — the Romish King of 
 Portugal. It is from the public manifesto addressed 
 to his bishops in 1759, that the words now quoted 
 have been taken. 
 
 What, it may now be asked, in more definite 
 terms, what was the precise function to be discharged 
 by an army so equipped, so marshalled, so trained ? 
 On what particular enterprise was it to embark? 
 What specific object of attainment was to constitute 
 the prize of its ambition and the monument of its 
 success ? 
 
 To these questions the answer may be a very 
 brief one. Without entering into details, we may 
 simply remind you of the grand historical fact, that, 
 in some countries of Europe, towards the middle of 
 the sixteenth century, the once absolute and univer- 
 sal supremacy of the Pope, and with it the Popish 
 cause generally, had been wholly destroyed ; nearly 
 so in others ; and greatly shaken in all. Now, the 
 one paramount end of Jesuitism, yea, the one sole 
 end for which it existed at all, may be compen- 
 diously stated to have been to uphold that supre- 
 macy inviolable and unchangeable. What, then, 
 is to be done, where such supremacy has been en- 
 
24 THE JESUITS. 
 
 tirely lost, or is threatened with decline 1 What, 
 but to regain and restore it to its wonted ascendency? 
 But what means could prove most efficacious ? 
 This may be at once seen, by asking, What occa- 
 sioned the loss of the Pope's supremacy ? Was it 
 not the Reformation of Luther, with its renovating 
 spirit and life-giving principles ? Then, surely, the 
 most direct and effectual way of restoring the lost 
 supremacy must be, to beat down into the dust its 
 mighty antagonist — the Reformation. 
 
 This, this, then, was the gigantic task which the 
 Jesuits undertook, and long continued to prosecute 
 with a zeal unquenched, and an ability unrivalled — 
 a zeal and an ability which, in a just or noble cause, 
 would have challenged an applause as unbounded 
 as it must now call forth unmitigated and immiti- 
 gable execration. This Herculean design is thus 
 truly and characteristically stated by one of the ear- 
 liest historians of the order. " In the same year 
 (1521) Luther," says he, "with consummate wick- 
 edness, openly declared war against the Church ; 
 wounded in the fortress of Pampeluna, renovated 
 and strengthened by his accident, Ignatius raised 
 the standard in defence of religion. Luther attacks 
 the Chair of St. Peter with abuse and blasphemy ; 
 Ignatius is miraculously cured by St. Peter, in order 
 to become its defence. Luther, like a madman, 
 declaims against the Apostolic See ; Ignatius every- 
 where undertakes its defence. Luther withdraws 
 from it as many as he can ; Ignatius reconciles and 
 restores to it. All the devices and efforts of Luther 
 are directed against it ; Ignatius consecrates to it, 
 by a special vow, all his own labours and those of 
 his companions. To Luther, that disgrace of Ger- 
 many, that Epicurean hog, that curse of Europe, 
 that monster destructive to the whole earth, hateful 
 
THE JESUITS. 25 
 
 to God and man, God, by his eternal decree, has op- 
 posed Ignatius." 
 
 Thus authoritatively does it appear that the Re- 
 formation, which had wrenched the half of Christen- 
 dom from the Papal grasp, and caused the other 
 half to hang tremulous or oscillating in apparent in- 
 decision, must be checked, arrested, and, if possible, 
 utterly destroyed ; and to achieve this object was 
 the primary and paramount end contemplated by 
 Ignatius and his followers, constituting " the Society 
 of Jesus." 
 
 In order to accomplish this end the more effectu- 
 ally, two distinct objects immediately and urgently 
 presented themselves. The one was to enlarge the 
 bounds of the Papal dominion, and, by extending 
 the Papal sceptre over foreign lands and distant 
 realms, to call in a new world to redress the balance 
 of the old ; hence the Papal missions ! The other 
 was, to commence throughout Europe a war of re- 
 taliation and aggression on the Reformers, the Re- 
 formed communities, and Reformation principles. 
 In attempting to compass these two great objects, by 
 one wide and multiform, yet simultaneous process, 
 the spirit and genius of Rome, through the child of 
 her strength and the instrument of her power — 
 Jesuitism — were conspicuously displayed. 
 
 " The Society of Jesus" being thus expressly, and 
 by its very constitution, designed for action — vigo- 
 rous, energetic, wide-spread action — it had special 
 exemptions and immunities accorded to it, the better 
 to fit and qualify it for its peculiar vocation. Of 
 every other monastic or religious society connected 
 with the Papacy, it has been truly remarked, that 
 the immediate design was " to separate its members 
 from the world; that of the Jesuits, to render them 
 masters of the world. The inmate of the convent 
 devoted himself to work out his own salvation by 
 3 
 
26 THE JESUITS. 
 
 extraordinary acts of devotion and self-denial ; the 
 follower of Loyola considered himself as plunging 
 into all the bustle of secular affairs, to maintain the 
 interests of the Romish Church. The monk was a 
 retired devotee of heaven ; the Jesuit a chosen sol- 
 dier of the Pope. That the members of the new 
 order might have full leisure for this active service, 
 they were exempted from the usual functions of 
 ether monks. They were not required to spend 
 their time in the long ceremonial offices and num- 
 berless mummeries of the Romish worship. They 
 were required to attend no processions — to practise 
 no austerities. They neither chanted nor prayed. 
 4 They cannot sing,' said their opponents ; ' for birds 
 of prey never do.' They are sent forth to watch 
 every transaction of the world which might appear 
 to affect the interests of Rome." To them also was 
 extended, by the Court of Rome, a special license 
 to trade with the nations of the earth — a license 
 which speedily paved the way for an extensive and 
 lucrative commerce with all the richest countries of 
 the Old and New World. 
 
 Behold, then, " in the Society of Jesus," what has 
 been emphatically termed "the formidable militia 
 of the Roman See !" — knit together as one man, yea, 
 rather fused and molten into one mass, under the 
 uncontrollable will and mandate of the superior — a 
 living, moving mass, which has been well compared 
 to a mechanism containing "the greatest possible 
 quantity of power distributed to the greatest possible 
 advantage ;" or, more briefly, to a tremendous " naked 
 sicord, whose hilt was at Rome." 
 
 Behold, in this Society, an army of chosen sol- 
 diers, bound by oath to exert themselves continually 
 in the service of the superior, and of the Pope, as 
 their vice-Christ and vice-God ! In other armies 
 the leaders, the captains, and the generals, are few 
 
THE JESUITS. 27 
 
 in number. Ninety-nine in a hundred are utterly 
 unfit to be leaders themselves, and utterly helpless 
 without them. But, in the army of Jesuits, each 
 individual is a picked and chosen man, himself fit, 
 in his own appointed sphere, to become a leader, a 
 captain, or a general, yea, a chieftain among leaders. 
 In other armies that have achieved deeds of undying 
 fame, there have been unity and combination of 
 movement and action; but, in point of oneness of 
 mind, singleness of purpose, simultaneousness of 
 action, and terribleness of execution, what army, in 
 ancient or in modern times, is fit to be compared 
 with that of the Jesuits ? Why, in these respects, 
 the Roman legion, the Macedonian phalanx, the 
 British regiment, or all of these united, are no more 
 worthy of being named in comparison, than that 
 "small infantry warred on by cranes," is worthy of 
 being named in comparison with the mightiest 
 "imbodied force" of "mortal prowess" — 
 
 ! ' Though all the giant brood 
 
 Of Phlegra with th' heroic race were joined 
 That fought at Thebes and Ilium, on each side 
 Mix'd with auxiliar gods ; and what resounds 
 In fable or romance of Uther's son 
 Begirt with British and Armoric knights ; 
 And all who since, baptized or infidel, 
 Jousted at Aspramont, or Montalban, 
 Damasco, or Morocco, or Trebisond ; 
 Or whom Biserta sent from Afric shore, 
 When Charlemagne with all his peerage fell 
 By Fontarabia." 
 
 And, finally, behold, in this Society of Jesus, a 
 sworn confederacy for the revival of the reign of 
 ignorance — the full restoration of the yoke of Papal 
 despotism. Behold in it, a fell and terrible confede- 
 racy against the rights of conscience, and the civil 
 and religious liberties, not of Europe only, but of the 
 world ! 
 
 Nor was it less successful than it was fell and 
 
28 THE JESUITS. 
 
 terrible. No sooner had it been formed, than its 
 authors and emissaries, with surprising rapidity, 
 overran the whole globe. Most of the schools and 
 colleges of Europe came under their management 
 and control. To most of its monarchs they became 
 confessors — a function, as has been observed, "of no 
 small importance, in any reign, but under a weak 
 prince superior even to that of minister." In most 
 of its cabinets and courts their counsel and policy 
 were all-prevailing. In most of its corporate bodies, 
 civil and ecclesiastical, their mysterious presence 
 was felt with all the effect of a secret and resistless 
 energy. As the spiritual guides of the largest pro- 
 portion of its wealthiest, noblest, and most powerful 
 families, their all but ubiquitous influence extended 
 to almost every domestic circle, from the cottage to 
 the palace — to almost every individual, from the 
 peasant to the prince. In a word, their empire and 
 dominion over the souls and persons of men seemed 
 unbounded, and threatened to be eternal. 
 
 And what was the natural and inevitable result 
 of an influence so universal, an antagonism so resist- 
 less ? It was this, that in many of the Heathen 
 states and empires of Asia, Africa, and America, 
 their missions, for a season, were crowned with a 
 temporal prosperity which wore the air of marvel 
 and romance ; and that, throughout the bounds of 
 old Christendom, the tide of the glorious Reforma- 
 tion, everywhere arrested, was in many parts wholly 
 rolled back. Every thing appeared to indicate a 
 speedy relapse into stagnation of repressed energy 
 and fettered thought. The light of a resuscitated 
 evangelism, everywhere bedimmed, was in many 
 parts wholly extinguished ; while every thing be- 
 tokened a quick return to the gloom of a scaled 
 mental vision and cloudy firmament ; and if the fer- 
 tilizing stream of Reformation has not everywhere 
 
THE JESUITS. 29 
 
 putresced, or its reviving light everywhere gone out, 
 or its joyous liberty everywhere become extinct, no 
 thanks to the men who have toiled with such despe- 
 rate vigour to realize so fatal, so disastrous a con- 
 summation. To Him, to Him alone, " who doth 
 according to his will among the armies of heaven 
 and the inhabitants of the earth," be all the praise, 
 and all the glory ! 
 
 Fairly, and most naturally, may it now be asked, 
 How, or in what way, came they to possess and 
 wield so stupendous an influence ? What were the 
 means — the agencies — the weapons employed? 
 Not, we may be sure, the temporal sword directly ; 
 for, had they met their enemies boldly and openly 
 in the battle-field, there are yet, even in these days 
 of cold-hearted and mercenary selfishness, patriots 
 enough in Christendom, who, in defence of free- 
 dom's cause, would have converted many a barren 
 plain and many a rugged pass into another and a 
 nobler Marathon — another and a more renowned 
 Thermopylae. Not, we may be sure, the " sword 
 of the Spirit," the word of the living God, which is 
 powerful in combating principalities, and powers, 
 and spiritual wickednesses, and in bringing down 
 the strongholds of sin and Satan, throughout the 
 realms of Gentilism ; for ends so sinister and un- 
 holy as theirs could not brook the employment of a 
 weapon of such ethereal temper; or, if they could, 
 such a weapon, like the touch of IthuriePs spear, 
 would soon unmask the treachery, and cause each 
 cunning artifice to stand forth to view in its own 
 proper shape and likeness. No ! — the means em- 
 ployed were as unscrupulous as the end, and as 
 complex and multitudinous as the end itself was 
 simple and one. 
 
 The great leading and avowed object being, as 
 has been remarked, " to establish a spiritual domi- 
 nion over the minds of men, of which the Pope 
 3* 
 
30 THE JESUITS. 
 
 should appear as the ostensible head, while the real 
 power should reside with themselves, nothing could 
 divert them from it. No means were ever scrupled 
 at which promised to aid its accomplishment. They 
 were in no degree shackled by prejudice, supersti- 
 tion, or real religion. Expediency, in its most 
 simple and licentious form, was the basis of their 
 morals ; and their principles and practices were 
 uniformly accommodated to the circumstances in 
 which they were placed. Even their bigotry, ob- 
 durated as it was. never appears to have interfered 
 with their interests. The paramount and charac- 
 teristic principle of the order, from which none of its 
 members ever swerved, was simply this, that its in- 
 terests were to be promoted by all possible means — 
 at all possible expense. In order to acquire more 
 easily an ascendency over persons of rank and 
 power, they propagated a system of the most re- 
 laxed morality, which accommodated itself to the 
 passions of men, justified their vices, tolerated their 
 imperfections, and authorized almost every action 
 which the most audacious or crafty politician could 
 wish to perpetrate. To persons of stricter principles 
 they studied to recommend themselves by the purity 
 of their lives, and sometimes by the austerity of their 
 doctrines. 'They are a sort of people,' said the 
 Abbe Boileau, ' who lengthen the creed and shorten 
 
 srue 
 
 ) »> 
 
 the decalo 
 
 No wonder though, under the predominant in- 
 fluence of a system so boundlessly accommodative 
 to all that is corrupt and perverse in the nature of 
 man — a system so immensely elastic under every 
 conceivable variety of circumstances — the Jesuits 
 should so speedily have climbed to the very zenith 
 in the firmament of misbegotten power. 
 
 And this naturally brings us to one main object 
 of the present lecture, which is to portray, in faith- 
 ful and authentic colours, 
 
THE JESUITS. 31 
 
 THE MORALITY OF THE JESUITS. 
 
 Sure I am, that if a serious contemplation of the 
 great end pursued by them cannot fail to inspire you 
 with a feeling of wholesome dread and terror, that 
 feeling cannot be diminished, but rather mightily 
 increased, by the like contemplation of the morality 
 which freely allowed the most sinister means to be 
 employed in its prosecution ; and, in descending 
 from generalities to particulars, with the view of 
 impugning their maxims of morality, I beg it, at the 
 very outset, to be clearly and distinctly understood, 
 that I shall quote no Protestant author whatsoever. 
 
 The sole authorities to which I intend to refer 
 shall be accredited Jesuit authorities, and none other. 
 The Jesuit morality is to be impanelled or put on its 
 trial. The charge against it is a tremendous one. 
 It is neither more nor less than this, that it violates, 
 and systematically teaches how to violate with im- 
 punity, every precept of the decalogue. You, that 
 is, the miscellaneous audience now before me, are 
 called on to act the part of an impartial jury. On 
 me has devolved the painful duty of presenting my- 
 self before you, in the invidious attitude, the unen- 
 viable relationship, of public accuser and prosecutor. 
 But my heart's desire is to act in this matter with 
 the most rigid justice — the most unchallengeable 
 impartiality ; and in proof of this my honesty and 
 integrity of purpose, I hereby again declare that I 
 shall not summon into the witness-box a single wit- 
 ness, who is not himself, not merely a friend, but 
 an adherent, yea, and a veritable champion of Jesuit- 
 ism ; so that, if the verdict of " Guilty" must be 
 returned by you, and the sentence of condemnation 
 must be pronounced by me, such verdict and sen- 
 
32 THE JESUITS. 
 
 tence shall be founded exclusively on evidence, re- 
 dundant evidence, derived from the most indubitable 
 of all sources, even the standard writings of the 
 Jesuit authors themselves. 
 
 These writings are at once voluminous and au- 
 thoritative ; for while the general, as has been 
 remarked, is, strictly speaking, "the soul of the 
 Society, still, in a larger sense of that descriptive 
 term, the professed members, acting under his sole 
 superintendence, must be considered as included in 
 it. They were the casuists of the order. Their 
 hours of retirement were occupied in brooding over 
 its principles ; in extending the sphere of their ope- 
 ration, by further subtleties and refinements ; and 
 in composing digests and manuals to facilitate their 
 application. It is to the literary labours, therefore, 
 of these casuists, that reference must be made for a 
 complete development of the Jesuitical system." 
 Now, from the avowed and published works of these 
 Jesuit authors, copious extracts and selections have 
 often been made. In this department of research 
 and criticism, Pascal and Arnauld, and the author 
 of " A Parallel of the Doctrine of the Pagans with 
 the Doctrine of the Jesuits," and many more besides, 
 have distinguished themselves, and immortalized 
 their services in the cause of truth and righteous- 
 ness. But the most elaborate and authoritative 
 collection of extracts is that which was made by a 
 judicial assembly above all suspicion of garbling 
 evidence — a special commission of the Parliament 
 of France — consisting of Jive princes of the blood, 
 four peers of France, seven presidents of the Court, 
 thirteen counsellors of the Grand Chamber, and four- 
 teen other public functionaries. The whole collec- 
 tion, extracted from not fewer than one hundred and 
 forty-seven accredited Jesuit authors, and forming 
 a large quarto, was published by authority in 176*^, 
 
THE JESUITS. 
 
 33 
 
 as verified and collated by the commissioners of 
 Parliament. 
 
 With such works, or large and authenticated 
 selections therefrom, before us, our task will be 
 comparatively an easy one ; inasmuch as it must 
 mainly consist in extracting, condensing, and arrang- 
 ing. Indeed, with such redundant materials in our 
 possession, the only difficulty is to determine what 
 parts ought, for our purpose, to be chosen ; where 
 and how to begin; or, once beginning, where and 
 how to end. 
 
 Here, however, it is as well, in limine, to repel 
 two plausible objections or evasions. 
 
 First, It has been alleged that Jesuitism is not 
 Popery, and that it is not fair to make the Pope or 
 the Popish polity responsible for it. 
 
 Now, we maintain that if, by any verbal quibble, 
 Jesuitism be declared to be not Popery in its ordi- 
 nary form, then must it be held, either as the 
 essence, (t. e. the essential spirit of Popery,) or as 
 that spirit in its last manifestation and most perfect 
 development. What the cream is to the milk, what 
 the laudanum is to the poppy, what the alcohol is 
 to the grape, or what any other extract, essence, or 
 quintessence, is to the substance whence it is drawn, 
 that is Jesuitism to Popery. Or, if this do not sa- 
 tisfy, then what the croaking frog is to the tadpole, 
 Avhat the roaring lion is to the cub, what the sturdy 
 gnarled oak is to the sapling, or what any other 
 fully developed animal or vegetable form is to its 
 seed, or germ, or youngling, that is Jesuitism to 
 Popery. But be this as it may, we hold it to be 
 absolutely demonstrable that for Jesuitism Popery 
 is out and out responsible. What induced Paul III. 
 to grant his bull of constitution ? Was it not the 
 fourth or supplementary vow, by which all the pro- 
 fessed members of the Society "solemnly bound 
 
34 THE JESUITS. 
 
 themselves to the sovereign Pontiff and his succes- 
 sors, to go whithersoever they might choose to com- 
 mand them ?" These, then, by the fundamental 
 conditions of their very constitution, are the sworn 
 missionaries of the Roman See — the accredited 
 agents of its aggressions, alike on Protestantism and 
 Heathenism — the authorized or officially delegated 
 instruments of its power in re-assuring friends and 
 proselytizing foes. And, inasmuch as the master 
 is answerable for the official sayings and doings of 
 his sworn and trusty agents, while sanctioned and 
 upheld by his authority, this circumstance alone 
 were enough to make Popery responsible for Jesu- 
 itism. But this is not all. Here is an edict that 
 will bind that responsibility faster still. In the 
 second bull of Pius III., 1543, the Society is ex- 
 pressly authorized " to adopt such constitutions as 
 they may judge fit, with power, as well with re- 
 spect to the constitutions already adopted as those 
 which should be made in future, to alter or annul 
 them, according to the difference of time and place, 
 and the qualities and diversities of things ; and to 
 form other constitutions, which, by special favour, 
 (mark this,) shall be, ipso facto, considered as ap~ 
 proved by the Holy See." Subsequent bulls, par- 
 ticularly those of 1549, 1G82, and 1684, have fully 
 ratified and confirmed this plenary Papal license. 
 Here the Head of the Church, in plain and unam- 
 biguous terms, assumes, by anticipation, the full 
 and absolute responsibility. But, it may be alleged 
 that two Popes at least were shamed into issuing 
 bulls against some of their proceedings. True, 
 when their pernicious principles and practices 
 excited a general indignation, which threatened to 
 shake the throne of the Vatican, such bulls were, 
 pro forma, by way of feint or pretext, sent forth ; 
 but such prime favourites were the Jesuits at Rome, 
 
THE JESUITS. 35 
 
 that these bulls were soon suppressed, and, in point 
 of fact, are not to be found in the Bullariwn Pon- 
 tijicum. Nay, more : when, in Portugal, some of 
 the members were found guilty of conspiracy against 
 the life of the king, the Pope peremptorily refused 
 his consent to the execution of the sentence of the 
 law. And, when expelled from that kingdom for 
 high misdemeanors, did he not receive them with 
 ovations of triumph in Italy ? True, it may be said ; 
 but did not Clement XIV., in 1773, by a bull, sup- 
 press the order altogether ? Admitted ; but, up to 
 that date, was not every thing said and done under 
 the signet of Papal infallibility ? And, what is more 
 to our purpose, did not Pope Pius IV., in 1814, by 
 another bull, wholly " reverse the decree of his pre- 
 decessor, legalize the vows of that so often prohibited 
 Society, and place it in a condition to exercise, in 
 all countries of the world, its former discipline?" 
 Yea, moreover, did not "the head of the Church of 
 Rome," as recently expressed by a dignitary of the 
 Church of England, " restore this Society in all its 
 plenitude, neither accompanying his rescript with 
 any refutation or denial of the odious doctrines and 
 practices which had been imputed to it, nor express- 
 ing his own disapprobation of them, nor so much as 
 giving a public caution against their re-introduction ?" 
 In every way, therefore, must Popery be held re- 
 sponsible for Jesuitism, past and present. 
 
 Secondly, It has been alleged as unfair, that the 
 principles of individual Jesuit authors should be 
 charged home indiscriminately on the whole body. 
 
 In the case of any other society, the force of this 
 reclamation might, to a greater or less extent, be ad- 
 mitted ; but in the case of the Jesuits such admis- 
 sion, in any form, however qualified, is utterly im- 
 possible ; for, what are the facts of the case ? Is it 
 not the fact, that one of the most stringent oaths 
 
36 THE JESUITS. 
 
 exacted of every novice, scholar, coadjutor, and pro- 
 fessed member, is, that he hold no private or pecu- 
 liar opinion of his own — no opinion different from 
 that of his superior — no opinion at variance with 
 the entire corporate brotherhood ? This alone were 
 sufficient to establish a verdict of common or joint 
 responsibility. But this is not all. Has not the 
 Society rather boastingly supplied us with express 
 " identifications of itself in opinion and doctrine with 
 all its individual members ?" What says Father 
 Le Moyne in 1726 1 " It is not a slight testimony in 
 our favour, that in these troublous times not one 
 among us has changed or wavered. Uniformity on 
 this point will always remain the same." What 
 says Gretser in his defence of the Society ? "It is 
 not from obscure descriptions that an opinion of the 
 doctrines of the Jesuits can be formed, but from 
 their books ; w^hich, by the blessing of God, are 
 already very numerous." And again : " There are 
 many theological works written by the doctors of the 
 Society. We profess the same doctrine in a vast 
 number of places, both privately and publicly in the 
 schools." Still more emphatic are the assertions of 
 the celebrated author of the history of the Society's 
 operations during the first century of its existence. 
 "The members of the Society," says he, "are dis- 
 persed through every corner of the world, distin- 
 guished by as many nations and kingdoms as the earth 
 has intersections ; but this is a division arising from 
 diversity of place, not of opinion — a difference of lan- 
 guage, not of affection — a dissimilarity of counte- 
 nance, not of morals. In this association, the Latin 
 thinks with the Greek, the Portuguese with the 
 Brazilian, the Irishman with the Sarmatian, the 
 Englishman with the Belgian ; and among so many 
 different dispositions there is no strife — no conten- 
 tion — nothing which affords opportunity of disco- 
 
THE JESUITS. 37 
 
 vering that they are more than one. Tlie same 
 design, the same manner of life, the same uniting 
 vow, combine them. The pleasure of a single in- 
 dividual (the general) can cause the whole Society 
 to turn and return, and determine the revolution of 
 this numerous body, which is easily moved, but with 
 difficulty shaken." 
 
 But we must now proceed to the actual proof of 
 our charge, viz., that the Jesuit morality does vio- 
 late, yea, and systematically teaches how to violate 
 with impunity, every precept of the decalogue. And, 
 first, there are certain general principles adopted 
 and enforced by the Jesuits, which alone are suffi- 
 cient to sap the foundations of all morality. 
 
 The first of these which I shall notice is the cele- 
 brated doctrine of probability. The doctrine has 
 been thus defined : " When, upon any moral ques- 
 tion, two different opinions are entertained by any 
 celebrated casuists, of which opinions the one is 
 more probable and in conformity with the law — the 
 other less probable, but more agreeable to our de- 
 sires, we may lawfully put the latter in practice." 
 In other words, any one may transgress God's law 
 with safety, who has a probable reason for trans- 
 gressing ; that is, any plausible argument or au- 
 thority in favour of the sin he is inclined to 
 commit. ! 
 
 Methinks I now hear some one whisper that this 
 surely must be a mistake, if not an intentional mis- 
 representation of the Jesuit doctrine. Well, then, 
 let us summon our witnesses. Our first question 
 is, What do you mean by a probable reason or 
 opinion ? Hear the response of the Jesuit Filliu- 
 cius. "The authority," says he, "of one good and 
 learned doctor renders an opinion probable." Is 
 this not enough ? Then hear the Jesuit George de 
 4 
 
38 THE JESUITS. 
 
 Rhodes. " It is sufficient," says he, " to render an 
 opinion probable, that some pious doctor of great 
 celebrity, especially among the moderns, (i. e., among 
 the Jesuits,) maintain it. That any opinion may 
 become probable, a single good reason is sufficient ; 
 but the authority of any one doctor, of great reputa- 
 tion and piety, is a good reason" — "a svfficient 
 reason on which to ground the "probability of any 
 opinion.'''' Such being the Jesuit definition of a 
 probable doctrine or opinion, our next question is, 
 How is the doctrine to be practically applied ? 
 We answer in this way : If, for example, in favour 
 of any sin or crime which you wish to commit, you 
 can adduce the opinion of any one Jesuit doctor, 
 (and in doing so you can never be at any loss,) be 
 the sin or crime that of " theft or lying, perjury or 
 impurity, homicide, or parricide, or regicide, or any 
 thing else, and if your own inclination is in favour 
 of that opinion which allows it, even though your 
 judgment might assure you that that opinion is 
 founded on much less moral probability than its oppo- 
 site, then perpetrate it you may with impunity !" 
 
 Methinks I hear some one again whisper : Oh ! 
 surely this is more than a misrepresentation — it 
 must be utterly libellous. Then, let us summon 
 our witnesses. Hear the Jesuit Henrique. ** A 
 scrupulous man," says he, " continues safe, if he 
 prefers against his scruples, that which he con- 
 siders probable, although he may think that another 
 opinion is more probable." Is there any ambiguity 
 here ? If so, then let the Jesuit Paul Laymann re- 
 move it. " Of two contradictory probable opinions," 
 says he, " touching the legality or illegality of any 
 human action, every one may follow, in practice or 
 in action, that which he should prefer; although 
 it may appear to the agent himself less probable in 
 theory ." Yea, more, adds he, " a learned person 
 
THE JESUITS. 
 
 39 
 
 may give contrary advice to different persons, ac~ 
 cording to contrary probable opinions; whilst he 
 still preserves discretion and prudence." 
 
 This, however, it may be alleged, is mere dog- 
 matic assertion. Very well, then, listen to the 
 Jesuit Casnedi's demonstration on the subject. 
 " We are never," says he, " more free from the 
 violation of the law, than when we persuade our- 
 selves that we are not bound by the law; for he 
 who says that he is bound by the law, rather ex- 
 poses himself to danger of committing sin. Per- 
 haps he who has thus persuaded himself will not 
 fall into sin ; but he tvho says that the law is not 
 binding, cannot sin. He, therefore, (mark the 
 conclusion,) who follows fhe less rigid and less 
 probable opinion, cannot sin." 
 
 Can there be any mind so hopelessly obtuse as 
 to have one lingering particle of dubiety now? 
 If so, then must the force of a few transpicuous 
 examples effectually dislodge it. Ye Socialists and 
 Radicals, and politically disaffected ! — here is a con- 
 venient example for you. "If," says the Jesuit 
 Louis de Scildere, "if a subject thinks probably 
 that a tax has been unjustly imposed, he is not 
 bound to pay it." Ye covetous and extortioners ! — 
 here is a charming example for you. " I think it 
 probable," says the Jesuit Ferdinand de Castro 
 Palao, " that the cloak which I possess is my own ; 
 yet I think it more probable that it belongs to you." 
 In such a case, "/ am not bound to give it up to 
 you, but I may safely retain it." In other words : 
 though the cloak is yours, since I prefer to keep it, 
 I may do so without sin ! Ye partial and unjust 
 judges ! — here is an example, with ample license, 
 for you. " Without respect of persons may a 
 judge," asks the Jesuit Gregory of Valencia, " in 
 order to favour his friend, decide according to any 
 
40 THE JESUITS. 
 
 probable opinion, while the question of right re- 
 mains undecided V And what is his reply ? It 
 is this : " If the judge should think each opinion 
 equally probable, for the sake of his friend he may 
 lawfully pronounce sentence according to the 
 opinion which is more favourable to the interest 
 of that friend. He may, moreover, with the in- 
 tent to serve his friend, at one time judge according 
 to one opinion, and at another time according to 
 the contrary opinion, provided only that no scandal 
 result from the opinion." 
 
 Ah ! how different, how contrary all this to the 
 dictates of right reason — to the perfect ethics of 
 God's word ! Is the soul poised between two 
 opposing probabilities, but is one soon found to be 
 a probability of the highest, and the other a proba- 
 bility of the lowest degree ? What, then, says 
 reason itself? Is it not that the highest probability 
 should instantly determine the course of obedience ? 
 No, replies the Jesuit ; desire, or preference, or self- 
 interest may at once make the scale preponderate 
 in favour of the very lowest probability ! Thus is 
 reason itself contradicted and scandalized ! And 
 how much more the word of God ! For what 
 saith it, even in matters of indifference ; that is, in 
 respect to actions which are neither expressly pro- 
 hibited nor expressly enjoined ? Are we in doubt, 
 in suspense, or in any uncertainty even here ? — 
 then to refrain is our imperative duty. " He that 
 doubteth is damned, if he eat ;" and, " Whatsoever 
 is not of faith is sin." 
 
 The second of these general principles — which 
 alone are enough to upset the basis of all morality — 
 is the doctrine of philosophical sin; by which the 
 Jesuits mean, " any action contrary to the dictates 
 of nature and right reason, done by a person who 
 is ignorant of the written law of God, or doubtful 
 
THE JESUITS. 41 
 
 of its meaning. " What a fearfully wide door does 
 this latitudinarian principle open up to all sorts of 
 transgression ! 
 
 The third of these general principles is that of 
 the direction of the intention ; by which the 
 Jesuits mean, "that actions intrinsically evil, and 
 directly contrary to the divine laws, may be inno- 
 cently performed by those who have so much power 
 over their own minds as to join, even ideally, a good 
 end to the wicked action contemplated." In other 
 words, by this principle it is provided that if, during 
 the perpetration of any crime, the perpetrator can 
 divert his thoughts from the act to some other 
 object, which is acknowledgedly virtuous, the foul 
 deed ceases to befoul; that if the criminal can, by 
 some heroic moral self-subjugation, repress the 
 voice of conscience, the sin ceases to be sin: nay, 
 more, that if he can propose by his crime to con- 
 summate any legitimate desire, "the end sanctifies 
 the means ;" — all, all in insulting contempt of the 
 apostle's solemn disclaimer of the mischievous 
 maxim so slanderously imputed to him and his 
 brethren, viz., " Let us do evil that good may 
 come ;" and in brave defiance of his denunciation 
 of those who advocated such a maxim — " whose 
 damnation is just." 
 
 If time permitted, the illustration of these prin- 
 ciples would serve to show how each of them sepa- 
 rately, and how much more all of them unitedly, 
 must act as so many wedges and sledge-hammers 
 to cleave asunder, and dash to pieces, every one of 
 the commandments of God ; but we must hasten on 
 to particulars. 
 
 The great Author of Christianity himself has 
 assured us, that on two commands — the love of God 
 and the love of our neighbour — hang all the law 
 
 4* 
 
42 THE JESUITS. 
 
 and the prophets. " Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
 God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and 
 with all thy mind." "This," says the great 
 Teacher, " this is the first and great command- 
 ment." 
 
 Is it possible to conceive any words more simple, 
 more clear, more unambiguous ? Certainly not. 
 Even the Jesuits themselves are free to admit that 
 all this seems plain enough in the letter ; but things 
 must not be taken too strictly in the letter; for "the 
 letter killeth," while " the spirit giveth life." " Be- 
 hold," says the famous Father Sirmond, "behold 
 the goodness of God, and how great it is ! He has 
 not so much commanded us to love him, as not to 
 hate him." So, then, the great God and Father of 
 all, the very fount of all goodness and grace, who, 
 out of his ineffable love, gave up his Son unto the 
 death for us, we are not to love truly at all, but 
 simply to content ourselves with not hating him ! 
 But why banish the love of God out of the code of 
 moral and spiritual obligation ? Why, because such 
 love would be incompatible with the love and wilful 
 commission of sin ; whereas the very object of 
 Jesuit morality is to teach men how to love and 
 commit sin with impunity ! But to say this in so 
 many express terms would not do; hence the 
 banishment of the fundamental principle of the love 
 of God is made to rest on other grounds. What 
 may these be ? Hear Father Valentia : " Contri- 
 tion," (which, as elsewhere defined by the father 
 himself, is a sorrow for sins founded on the love of 
 God above all other motives — that is, evangelical 
 sorrow for sin) " contrition, such contrition, is not 
 necessary in itself for receiving the primary effect 
 of the two sacraments, (baptism and penance ;) but, 
 on the contrary, is rather an obstacle to it." Whence 
 he concludes, " that the requiring contrition, in 
 
THE JESUITS. 43 
 
 order to receive those sacraments duly and with 
 advantage, would be an absurd precept." 
 
 What is here called an absurd precept ? — It is 
 the requirement of sorrow founded on the love of 
 God, in order to be reconciled to God. And why 
 is such a requirement an absurd precept ? — Because 
 the love of God is a positive hindrance to conversion 
 in the sacrament of penance. But why should the 
 love of God be a hindrance to conversion and recon- 
 ciliation ? — Because it leads to painful contrition 
 for sin, as committed against God. But why should 
 not such contrition be experienced by the sinner? — 
 Because that would be to stamp the Christian or 
 evangelical economy as inferior to the Jewish or 
 legal — to lay the Christian under a yoke more 
 galling and severe than that of the Jew. How so ? 
 — Because, to be sure, the main difference between 
 "the Old and the New Commandments" consists 
 in this, that whereas a man under the former was 
 "obliged to love God," under the latter he is excused 
 from so grievous and heavy an obligation ! But is 
 not this a burlesque or caricature of the doctrine ? 
 Whether it be so or not I leave you to judge. Here 
 are the identical words of Father Merat. "The 
 evangelical law," says he, "is more agreeable than 
 the law of Moses, in that it takes away the neces- 
 sity which there was under the law of having con- 
 trition, or a sorrow for sins, animated by the love 
 of God ; which is a matter of no small difficulty." 
 
 Does this strange doctrine need any confirma- 
 tion ? Then hear Father Penthereau. "The law 
 of the New Testament," says he, " is a law of 
 grace, made for children, and not for slaves. Is it 
 not fitting that it should require less at their hands, 
 and that God on his part should give more ? It was 
 reasonable, therefore, that he should take off the 
 heavy and difficult obligation, which was in the 
 
44 THE JESUITS. 
 
 penal law, of exercising an act of perfect contrition 
 (founded, let it be remembered, on the love of God) 
 in order to be justified." 
 
 Is this not explicit enough ? Then here is the 
 supplemental consideration of Father Faber. " If 
 perfect contrition," says he, (viz., that which carries 
 in it a love of God above every other consideration,) 
 " were necessary in the sacrament, we Christians 
 should be in a worse condition than the Jews were 
 before Christ came into the world." 
 
 Is this not strong enough ? Then listen to Father 
 De Brielle : " If this love (i. e. of God) were neces- 
 sary in the sacrament, the way of salvation would 
 be more difficult under the law of grace than under 
 the law of nature, or that of Moses." 
 
 Does the whole need to be nailed in by a special 
 Scripture text ? Then here is Father Sirmond's 
 comment on the memorable words of our Lord : " If 
 the Son, therefore, shall make you free, you shall 
 be free indeed." " Yea," says he, "we shall be 
 free, as I hope, by his own testimony, even from 
 that too strict obligation which some would lay 
 upon us, of loving God, in the point of merit." 
 
 So, by the Lord Jesus himself, we are specially 
 released from the obligation, the old covenant bond- 
 age, the Mosaico-Jewish slavery of loving Go>l, 
 his and our Father, and of serving him with love ! 
 Is any tender conscience shocked at the bold aver- 
 ment ? Then hear the solution offered by Father 
 Suarez. "A person," says he, "is obliged to it 
 (the love of God) at a certain time. 11 But at what 
 time he does not know ; and, adds Father Sirmond : 
 " What this doctor does not know, I can't tell who 
 does." Father Lesseau, however, so far helps to 
 cJear up the difficult problem, by condescendingly 
 informing us, in the negative form, when God is 
 not to be loved : " A person is not obliged," says 
 
THE JESUITS. 45 
 
 he, " to love God, neither upon saints' days, nor in 
 the hour of death, nor when a person has received 
 any special favour from God, nor when he goes to 
 the sacrament of baptism, nor when he is obliged 
 to perform any act of contrition, nor when he is 
 arrived at the years of discretion, nor when he is 
 under a sentence of martyrdom, because at that 
 time attrition is sufficient." 
 
 In other words, at no period of this world's dura- 
 tion, at no stage of human life from the cradle to the 
 grave, is God — the God of love, whose very name 
 and nature is love — to be loved by his ransomed 
 and redeemed creatures at all ! Hence, the infer- 
 ence is inevitable — that, if he is ever to be loved at 
 all, or in any degree, it must be somewhere in the 
 invisible world of spirits, or at some period during 
 the future lapse of eternal ages ! 
 
 Having thus shown how effectually ihejirst and 
 great command, which compendiously wraps up in 
 itself all the other precepts of the first table of the 
 law, is evaded, violated, and evacuated of all mean- 
 ing by the Jesuits, we are spared the necessity of 
 entering into further details ; though, if time permit- 
 ted, it would be easy to prove the same thing of all 
 of them separately and in succession. 
 
 We, therefore, pass on to the second table. It, too, 
 is summarily wrapped up in the one other com- 
 mand, which is like unto the first, viz., "Thou shalt 
 love thy neighbour as thyself." And, if the first 
 was made void, need we wonder that the second 
 should be made void too ? 
 
 In the beginning, God said : "Ye shall not eat 
 of this tree ; for if ye do, ye shall surely die." The 
 subtle tempter dared to contradict his Maker, say- 
 ing : " Ye may eat of the fruit of the tree ; and if 
 ye do, ye shall not surely die." So here, the great 
 Teacher, Jehovah- Jesus, said : " Thou shalt love 
 
46 THE JESUITS. 
 
 the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and soul, and 
 strength, and mind." The subtle doctors of Jesuit- 
 ism presume to contradict him, saying : " Do not 
 love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and soul, 
 and strength, and mind ; it is not necessary that you 
 should love him at all ; it is quite enough that you 
 do not positively hate him." 
 
 So, again, with respect to the second command, 
 which is like unto the first, Jehovah- Jesus said ; 
 "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;" and 
 again: "A new commandment give I to you, That 
 ye love one another." Also, the inspired Apostle 
 Paul: "He that loveth another hath fulfilled the 
 law;" and the inspired Apostle John: "He that 
 hath not love, abideth in death." 
 
 But what says Father Tambourin ? " I think it," 
 says he, " altogether certain that there is no obliga- 
 tion to love him, (i. e. your neighbour,) by any inter- 
 nal act or motion expressly tending towards him." 
 Upon which Father Lamy steps in with an argu- 
 ment, at once subtile and cunning. " We are not 
 obliged," says he, "by virtue of this command, to 
 love our neighbour otherwise or better than our- 
 selves. Now we are not bound to love ourselves 
 with an internal action of love ; therefore we are not 
 under the obligation of such love to our neighbour." 
 Nay, more, shouts Father Bauni : " We may (not 
 only not love, but may) wish harm to our neighbour 
 without sin, when we are pushed upon it by some 
 good motives." 
 
 Do 3'ou wish, next, to know what may those 
 " good motives" be, which, in the estimation of a Je- 
 suit, may completely justify you not only in not 
 loving, but in positively hating, ay, and wishing 
 harm to your neighbour? Here is an express ex- 
 ample furnished by Bonacina. " A mother," says 
 he, "is guiltless who wishes the death of her 
 
THE JESUITS. 47 
 
 daughters, when, by reason of their deformity or 
 poverty, she cannot marry them to her heart's de- 
 sire." Here is a principle which, if carried out, 
 would soon reduce men to a condition beneath that 
 of the wild beasts. "Who," asked the Roman Satir- 
 ist, " ever saw lions or wild boars kill and worry one 
 another to pieces? The very tigers, as ravenous 
 as they are, maintain an inviolable peace with their 
 own kind ; and so do the bears." But, if it be law- 
 ful — from motives of base, selfish, grovelling, tem- 
 poral interest — for mothers to desire the death of 
 their own daughters, a fortiori, how much more 
 lawful must it be to desire the death of other human 
 beings, when we may thereby be gainers ? And 
 how can the lawfulness of such barbarous desire be 
 compatible with the love of our neighbour ? 
 
 From the general principle of the love of our 
 neighbour, we may now take a rapid glance at some 
 of the particulars. 
 
 The second table of the law begins with the. 
 honouring of parents, including all the duties 
 of respect, reverence, filial gratitude, and needful 
 support. 
 
 But what says Father Fagundez ? According to 
 him, there are circumstances in which children may 
 not only not honour their parents, but may even 
 justifiably act the part of parricides towards them. 
 " It is lawful," says he, " for a son to rejoice at the 
 murder of his parent (and, as if that w r ere not 
 enough, mark what is added), committed by him' 
 self, in a state of drunkenness, on account of the 
 great riches thence acquired by inheritance." 
 " This doctrine of Father Fagundez," adds Gobat, 
 " which may seem a paradox, is true in theory, 
 although it may be dangerous in practice." 
 
 Again : " Christian and Catholic sons may ac- 
 cuse their fathers of the crime of heresy, if they 
 
48 THE JESUITS. 
 
 wish to turn them from the earth, although they 
 know that their parents may be burned with fire, 
 and put to death for it." " And not only may they 
 refuse them food, if they attempt to turn them from 
 the Catholic faith, but they may also justly kill 
 them." Yea, even when the father is a sound and 
 consistent Papist, Tambourin teaches how a son 
 may not only be exempted from the duty of honour- 
 ing him, but may even be excused for desiring his 
 death ! "If," says he, "you desire the death of 
 your father, with a proviso, the answer is plain, that 
 you may do it lawfully." Now, what sort of pro- 
 viso does he mean ? Here is his own explanation : 
 The son has only to say to himself: " I desire the 
 death of my father, not as an evil to him, but as a 
 good, or cause of good to myself, viz., because by 
 such, his death, I shall succeed to his estate;" only 
 let a son be enabled to hold this language, and he 
 may then honestly and lawfully wish for his father's 
 death ! 
 
 Is stealing expressly forbidden by the divine 
 law? Were the words, "Thou shalt not steal," 
 thundered from the heights of Sinai ? Here, how- 
 ever, is an ample indulgence at least for small thefts 
 or petty larcenies, with the privilege of repeating 
 them a number of times without being obliged to 
 make restitution. " Exhort servants," says the 
 apostle, "to be obedient unto their masters, not 
 purloining, but showing all good fidelity." "Ser- 
 vants," says Valerius Reginald, "are excused both 
 from sin and restitution, if they only take (from 
 their master's property) in equitable compensation." 
 " It is not a mortal sin," says Emmanuel Sa, " to 
 take secretly from him who would give if he were 
 asked, although he may be unwilling that it should 
 be taken secretly: and it is not necessary to restore. 
 It is not theft, to take a small thing secretly from a 
 
THE JESUITS. 49 
 
 husband or a father ; but if it be considerable, it 
 must be restored. He who, from airy urgent ne- 
 cessity, or without causing much loss, takes wood 
 from another man's pile, is not obliged to restore it. 
 He who has stolen small things from any one at 
 different times, is obliged to make restitution, when 
 they amount to a considerable sum, although some 
 persons deny it (t. e., the obligation to make resti- 
 tution) with probability." 
 
 And now, ye merchants, here is a license for you 
 — a full and free license to be dishonest and fraudu- 
 lent in your commercial transactions. The apostle, 
 it is true, exhorted, saying : " This is the will of 
 God, that no man go beyond or defraud his brother 
 in any matter ; because that the Lord is the avenger 
 of all such." " A man," on the other hand, says 
 Father Tolet, supposing a special case, " a man, 
 for instance, cannot sell his wine at a fair price, 
 either on account of the injustice of the judge, or 
 through fraud of the purchasers, who have agreed 
 among themselves to be few in number to lower the 
 price ; — then, (mark what follows,) then, he may 
 diminish his measure, or mix a little water with 
 his wine, and sell it for pure wine of full measure, 
 demanding the full price, provided only that he 
 does not tell a lie, (as if the lying action did not 
 speak louder than would the lying word ;) which, 
 if he does, it will neither be a dangerous nor a 
 mortal sin, neither will it oblige him to make resti- 
 tution." 
 
 But, lest any dishonest person might be discon- 
 certed by the apparent proviso against M telling a 
 lie," the same author elsewhere hastens to his re- 
 lief; and labours to show him, and all others, how, 
 in utter defiance of the ninth commandment, they 
 may all forswear, or perjure themselves with the 
 utmost impunity. The case of an accused person 
 5 
 
50 THE JESUITS. 
 
 is supposed, and the question is started, whether, 
 when he is pressed, he may reply, " I have not 
 done it" — or, that he "had no accomplices," al- 
 though he had? The reply is in the affirmative — 
 that he may ; only he must be careful to make his 
 denial with a mental reservation — " as if," says the 
 Jesuit father, " he intended to say, « I have not 
 done it' — meaning (in his own mind) ' since he had 
 been in prison :' and, » I have had no accomplices' 
 — understanding (in his own mind) 'in other 
 crimes,' or some such meaning." 
 
 The same recipe for equivocation and lying is 
 thus given by another Jesuit, Filliucius, one of their 
 most famous doctors, and the Pope's penitentiary. 
 A person is supposed to be accused of having ate 
 something forbidden. " With what precaution," 
 asks the father, " is equivocation to be used in such 
 a case ? — When we begin, for instance, to say, • I 
 swear,' we must insert, in a subdued tone, the 
 mental restriction, « that to-day, 1 and then continue 
 aloud, <I have not eaten such a thing." " 
 
 Let us apply this recipe to another and a pre- 
 cisely parallel case. On crossing the plain, I see a 
 ruffian soldier knock down a gentleman, and rob 
 him of his watch and money. I am summoned to 
 give evidence at the criminal sessions. When 
 asked if I saw the prisoner commit the deed, I 
 may, according to the Jesuit father, answer aloud, 
 in the hearing of the whole court : " no, I did 
 not see hirrC 1 — provided that mentally, or in a sub- 
 dued tone, heard by no one, I say to myself, " leap 
 into the river," or "flyover the monument," or 
 " seize the Emperor of China," or " grasp the 
 pole-star with his right hand." 
 
 If such a principle were once introduced amongst 
 us, would it not at once put an end to all fair deal- 
 ings — to all justice — to all confidence between man 
 
THE JESUITS. 51 
 
 and man? for, who could ever know or conjecture 
 what was passing in the mind of another, or whether 
 his real meaning was not exactly the opposite of 
 what his words appeared to indicate ? The same 
 Jesuit author (Filliucius) thus proceeds still more 
 systematically to teach the art of deceiving men by 
 false promises — the art of swearing a thing to be 
 black when we know it is white, and yet our pro- 
 mise be still reckoned sincere, and our oath sacred. 
 "The man," says he, "who has externally pro- 
 mised any thing, (suppose a sum of money,) but, 
 without an intention of promising ; that same 
 person being asked whether he made such a pro- 
 mise, may deny it ; meaning to himself that he did 
 not make a promise that icas binding. Nay, he 
 may go much further ; for, he may even swear to 
 it." Tambourin goes beyond this latitude, and 
 excuses even those from keeping their word and 
 oath who afterwards make a doubt whether they 
 intended to oblige themselves to keep such word or 
 such oath. " Though you are sure," says he, 
 " that you have made a vow or an oath, it is pro- 
 bable, in my opinion, that you are not bound by it, 
 if you doubt whether you had an intention to oblige 
 yourself to stand to it." Not satisfied with this 
 extension of the license, Valentia bravely declares, 
 " that even though one made a promise with an in- 
 tention of being obliged to it, the obligation does not 
 take place, provided there ivas no design to perform 
 the thing promised ; because the vow becomes null 
 and void if you have no will to put it in execu- 
 tion." As if all this were not enough, Sanchez 
 must come forward with statements still more am- 
 plified and explicit. "If," says he, "a man 
 should swear that he has not done a thing which in 
 reality he has, meaning some other thing within 
 his own breast which he has not done, or some 
 
52 THE JESUITS. 
 
 other day than that, given for the thing done — 
 suppose it be before he ivas born, or any such true 
 circumstance — he is neither perjured nor a liar. 
 And this is very convenient to hide many things. 
 But the just cause of making such ambiguities is, 
 as often as it may be necessary or useful for the de- 
 fence of one's person, honour, or estate. So a man 
 may lawfully say he did not kill Peter ; meaning 
 privately another man of that name, or that he did 
 not do it before he was bom.''' And last of all, in 
 order to banish any scruples that might still keep 
 lingering about the threshold of weak or tender 
 consciences, the same author boldly propounds the 
 notable art of " swearing by a double entendre'''' — 
 of swearing and not swearing in the same breath — 
 of swearing falsely without being perjured. The 
 secret is a curious one, but very simple ; for the 
 whole mystery consists in cutting off the initial 
 consonant of a single word. "When," says he, 
 " one goes to swear, or when one is pressed to take 
 an oath, say, Uro, which signifies, 1 burn, instead 
 of Juro, 1 swear; which, whether you burn or not, 
 would be but a venial lie at most." Is it a breach 
 of well-principled charity to conclude that surely 
 the force of shameless impudence can no further 
 go ? But it seems that it may go even further still. 
 Is not murder one of the most fearful of crimes, 
 alike forbidden by the laws of God and man ? We 
 have already seen the unnatural license allowed in 
 the case of children towards their parents ; we have 
 now to show that the license has been so widely 
 extended as to embrace almost all imaginable rela- 
 tionships. " It is lawful," says Fagundez, " for us 
 to kill a man, when, if we kill him not, another will 
 kill us." Which aphorism is thus illustrated by 
 Valerius Reginald : "If you are preparing to give 
 false evidence against me, by which I should receive 
 
THE JESUITS. 
 
 53 
 
 sentence of death, and I have no other means of 
 escape, it is lawful for me to kill you, since I should 
 otherwise be killed myself; for it would be imma- 
 terial, in such a case, whether you killed me with 
 your own or another man's sword ; as, for instance, 
 by that of the executioner." 
 
 Again, says Fagundez : " If a judge had been 
 unjust, (and what real criminal is ever wining to 
 confess that he is just ?) and had proceeded (in trial) 
 without adhering to the course of the law, then cer- 
 tainly might the accused defend himself by assault- 
 ing, and even killing the judge." "It will be 
 lawful for an ecclesiastic," says Francis Amicus, 
 " or one of a religious order, to kill a calumniator." 
 " The calumniator," adds Airult, somewhat soften- 
 ing the harshness of this abrupt judgment, " should 
 first be ivarned that he desist from the slander ; and 
 if he will not, he should be killed, not openly, on 
 account of the scandal, but secretly." What is this, 
 in plain language, but an unlimited license for as- 
 sassination ? 
 
 The lawfulness, yea, the meritoriousness of mur- 
 dering heretic (i\ c. Protestant or non-Romish) 
 princes, or even Romish princes not sufficiently 
 favourable to Romish interests, is inculcated in 
 every imaginable form. Of a prince of this de- 
 scription John Mariana says : " I shall never consi- 
 der that man to have done wrong, who, favouring 
 the public wishes, would attempt to kill him." 
 Again : " To put them (». e. such princes) to death, 
 is not only lawful, but a laudable and glorious ac- 
 tion." Once more: "It is a glorious thing to ex- 
 terminate this pestilent and mischievous race from 
 the community of men." " These," says James 
 Keller, " may certainly be put to death by any one 
 who has the courage and inclination to kill them." 
 "Among many other things," says Francis Suarez, 
 5* 
 
54 THE JESUITS. 
 
 "comprised in these words, (viz., feed my sheep,) 
 and in the power which they convey, this also is 
 included, destroy, proscribe, depose, heretic kings, 
 who will not be corrected, and who are injurious to 
 their subjects in things which concern the Catholic 
 faith." M It is a question," says James Gretser, still 
 more broadly, "in the schools, whether it is lawful 
 to kill an innocent person ?" To which he replies : 
 "That the Jesuits, in this question, incline to the 
 affirmative rather than to the negative, their writings 
 sufficiently show." 
 
 Hitherto I have been enabled to proceed with 
 separate quotations to show how every command- 
 ment of the decalogue may be violated with impu- 
 nity. But there is one, as to which I must beg to 
 be excused for not entering on it at all. It is the 
 seventh. How to violate it in its letter and spirit — 
 in thought, word, and deed — in every imaginable, 
 and, apart from Jesuit imaginations, every unim- 
 aginable form — is pointed out, in their writings, with 
 a minuteness, a loathsomeness, and a pruriency, 
 compared with which the most filthy passages in 
 the grossest of the heathen poets and satirists bear 
 the stamp and impress of relative refinement. It is, 
 in fact, a bottomless abyss of obscenities, nudities, 
 criminal liberties, and defiling turpitudes — an abyss, 
 from which I most gladly hasten away, as from one 
 whose very brink is thickly fringed ali around with, 
 pollution. 
 
 At the outset you were constituted into a jury. 
 You have heard the charge preferred against the 
 morality of the Jesuits. You have now listened to a 
 portion of the evidence, drawn forth, if not from the 
 lips, at least from the pens of Jesuit witnesses. 
 What say ye, then ? Has the charge been substan- 
 tiated, or not ? And is your verdict, that of " Pro- 
 ven," or " Not Proven ?" Substantiated beyond all 
 
THE JESUITS. 
 
 55 
 
 debate — Proven, beyond the possibility of question — 
 must surely be the prompt and simultaneous re- 
 sponse of every candid mind. 
 
 But lest, as a Protestant jury, ye may be accused 
 of partiality, let me summon into your presence a 
 jury of other men — men, not Protestants at all, but 
 rigid and consistent Romanists — men, therefore, 
 "who," as has been justly remarked, "could have 
 no hatred of the Jesuits for being the allies of Rome, 
 seeing that they themselves were rigid Romanists — 
 men, who could have no motive in bearing false 
 witness against the Jesuits, seeing that they could 
 earn nothing by it ; but, on the contrary, jeoparded 
 their property, and periled their life and liberty — 
 men, whose testimony we may consider as the re- 
 luctant but unavoidable evidence of individuals 
 tempted by every consideration to judge most leni- 
 ently, and describe most favourably, the character 
 of the order brought to trial." 
 
 From an immense multitude, we single out the 
 following : — 
 
 In 1642, we find a work by the Jesuit Bauni, 
 who had been professor of moral theology at the 
 Jesuit college, denounced " as calculated to encou- 
 rage licentiousness and the corruption of manners ; 
 as violating natural equity, and the rights of man, 
 and tolerating blasphemy, usury, simony, and many 
 ether enormous crimes, as offences of no magni- 
 tude." And by whom, think you, was this con- 
 demnatory sentence pronounced ? By an assembly 
 of Romish clergy holden at Nantes ! 
 
 In 1663, the Jesuits put forth a still more impor- 
 tant work in defence of their moral opinions, pub- 
 lished by express permission of the superiors. In 
 1664, its object was, in these terms, declared to be, 
 " not merely to revive all the errors and impieties 
 of the apology of the casuists, but to surpass them 
 
56 THE JESUITS. 
 
 in so great a degree that it might be considered the 
 common-sewer of all the filth and impiety of which 
 the human mind is capable." By whom was the 
 crushing declaration made ? — By Marais, a Romish 
 divine, publicly before the University of Paris ! In 
 another censure, pronounced in 1663s on the same 
 work, it was declared that " their (the censurers') 
 respect for decency prevented them from noticing 
 the abominations which it contained on the subject 
 of chastity." Who pronounced so grave and severe 
 a sentence 1 — The Romish Faculty of Theology in 
 the University of Paris ! In another judgment on 
 the same work it is averred, " that it abounded in 
 propositions fit only to pervert all Christian morals, 
 and that the Faculty of Theology, observing homi- 
 cide, theft, simony, usury, and other crimes which 
 cannot be publicly named, expressly sanctioned by 
 these modern casuists, had considered it their duty 
 to oppose the spread of such destructive doctrines." 
 Who supplied this fearful portrait ? — The Romish 
 advocates of the Romish monarch Louis XIV ! 
 
 Here is another portraiture of their principles 
 and practices : "It cannot be but th-at the licentious- 
 ness introduced by the Jesuits, of which the three 
 leading features are falsehood, murder, and perjury, 
 should not give a new character to the morals of 
 the externi, (or all who are not of their Society,) as 
 well as to the external government of the nostri, or 
 their own body. In fact, since these religieuses 
 have introduced into Christian and civil society 
 those perverted dogmas which render murder inno- 
 cent, which sanctify falsehood, authorize perjury, 
 deprive the laws of their power, destroy the sub- 
 mission of subjects — allow individuals the liberty 
 of calumniating, killing, lying, and forswearing 
 themselves, as their advantage may dictate — 
 which remove the fear of divine and human laws, 
 
THE JESUITS. 
 
 57 
 
 and permit a man to redress his own grievances 
 without applying to the magistrate — it is easy to 
 see, without much penetration, that Christian and 
 civil society could not subsist without a miracle." 
 Worse and worse, it Avill be said, by the Romanist. 
 This must be a libel — yea, the libellous caricature 
 of an enemy. No such thing ; the author happens 
 to be none other than his most Catholic Majesty, the 
 Romish King of Portugal ! 
 
 Our next witness, or rather batch of witnesses, 
 will be one of the mightiest corporate bodies in 
 Christendom. In a public memorial of this body, 
 published in 1643, they declared themselves ready 
 to prove, that "there is no article in religion which 
 the Jesuits have not corrupted, and do not daily 
 corrupt, by erroneous novelties ; that the scholastic 
 theology has been depraved by the dangerous 
 opinions of their writers, who have had the appro- 
 bation, or at least the connivance, (mark this,) of 
 the whole Society ; that Christian, morality had 
 become a body of problematical opinions, since 
 their Society had undertaken, by a general under- 
 standing, to accommodate it to the luxury of the 
 age ; that the laws of God had been sophisticated 
 by their unheard-of subtleties ; that there was no 
 longer any difference between vice and virtue ; that, 
 by a base indulgence, they promised impunity to 
 the most flagrant crimes ; that there was no con- 
 science, however erroneous, which might not obtain 
 peace, if it would confide in them ; and that, in 
 short, their doctrines, inimical to all order, had 
 equally resisted the power of kings and the authority 
 of the hierarchy." Nor is this all. With increas- 
 ing emphasis they thus proceed: "If the light 
 which God has placed in all reasonable minds, in 
 order to show the distinction between purity and 
 iniquity, were so far extinguished that such a per- 
 
58 THE JESUITS. 
 
 nicious theology could be universally received — in 
 that case, deserts and forests would be preferable to 
 cities ; and society with wild beasts, who have only 
 their natural arms, would be better than with men 
 who, in addition to the violence of their passions, 
 would be instructed, (mark the terrible energy of the 
 expression,) instructed by this doctrine of devih to 
 dissimulate and feign, and to counterfeit the cha- 
 racters of intimate friends, in order to destroy others 
 with the greater impunity." And, as if this were 
 not enough, still a little further on they reiterate the 
 fearful sentence, saying : "It is the device of the 
 great enemy of souls and the spirit of the world" 
 And what body is it that has left on record so ter- 
 rible a verdict against the morality of the Jesuits ? 
 An intemperate assembly of hot-headed Protestants ? 
 No ; but the intensely Romish University of Paris ! 
 Or, if there be, apart from Rome itself, another 
 witness, or band of witnesses, more competent still, 
 it is surely to be found in the highest tribunal of 
 Popish France. Here, then, is its decision, re- 
 corded upwards of a century later, (in 1762 :) "The 
 Court has ordained that, the passages extracted 
 from the books of one hundred and forty-seven 
 Jesuit authors having been verified, a collated copy 
 shall be presented to his majesty, that he may be 
 made acquainted with the wickedness of the doc- 
 trine constantly held by the Jesuits, from the in- 
 stitution of their Society to the present moment, 
 together with the approbation of their theologians, 
 the permission of superiors and generals, and the 
 praise of other members of the said Society — a doc- 
 trine, (mark the clearness and strength of the 
 language,) a doctrine authorizing robbery, lying, 
 perjury, impurity — all passions and all crimes ; 
 inculcating homicide, parricide, and regicide ; over- 
 turning Religion, in order to substitute in her stead 
 
THE JESUITS. 
 
 59 
 
 Superstition ; and thereby sanctioning magic, blas- 
 phemy, irreligion and idolatry. And his majesty 
 shall be most humbly entreated to consider what 
 results from instruction so pernicious." Can any 
 decision be "more grave, more formal, or in evi- 
 dence more authentic" than this ? And yet it is 
 the unbiassed judgment of the highest judicial 
 assembly in France — it is the Parliament of Paris — 
 that has thus boldly arraigned, and thus sweep- 
 ingiy condemned, the morality of the Jesuits ! 
 
 VVhat, then, shall we say of a system, against 
 which so fearful a charge has been established out 
 of the writings of Jesuit authors themselves, yea, 
 and admitted to have been established by the 
 highest and most competent Romish authorities? — 
 a system which, as has been demonstrated, makes 
 void and practically nullifies every commandment 
 of the decalogue, every precept of Christianity ? 
 How shall we desigifate it ? Is not this pre-emi- 
 nently the " deceivableness of unrighteousness?" 
 Is not this pre-eminently " the Antichrist — the Son 
 of Perdition ?" Where, if not here, shall we find 
 the "Lawless One" who opposeth and exalteth 
 himself above all that is called God, or that is wor- 
 shipped ? Where, if not here, shall we discover 
 " the Man of Sin," who "speaks lies in hypocrisy, 
 having his conscience seared with a hot iron?" 
 Where, if not here, shall we ever be able to detect 
 " the Mystery of Iniquity ?" Or, if it be lawful, 
 not in mere wantonness and il liberality, but in 
 deepest humiliation and sorrow, to coin a new term 
 — a harsh and forbidding one, we admit, yet a term 
 briefly descriptive of a fearful substantive reality — 
 might we not say in truth, as well as in charity, for 
 charity ever rejoiceth in the truth, that the system, 
 as already more than suggested by the Romish 
 University of Paris, is one of pure and undiluted 
 
60 THE JESUITS. 
 
 «* devilism ?" For what is the most characteristic 
 function, the most distinguishing attribute and voca- 
 tion of the prince of darkness ? Is it not to despise, 
 condemn, and practically abrogate every command- 
 ment of the eternal God ? Is it not to strive, with 
 might and main, to teach, tempt, or instigate ail 
 others to do so too ? And is not this the ver)r func- 
 tion, attribute, and vocation which has been (suc- 
 cessfully, we doubt not) charged home upon the 
 Jesuits and their execrable morality ? And if so, 
 why should we scruple or hesitate, rather, why 
 should we not boldly and fearlessly, honestly and 
 truthfully, learn to nominate and distinguish things 
 by their proper names? Or, if there be aught 
 more fiendish or Satanic in the proceeding still, is it 
 not this — that the author of all ill should, in utter 
 contempt of Heaven's majesty, or rather, in the 
 rampant insolence of derision, seize on Heaven's 
 laws, and pervert them into tire instruments of their 
 own infraction — seize on the very ordinances and 
 statutes which the eternal King had ordained for 
 the harmony of the moral universe, and turn them 
 into the organs of a flagitious confusion of all moral 
 distinctions — seize on the very principles and ele- 
 ments which a gracious Father had designed for life 
 to his children, and transmute them into a terrible 
 enginery of death ? Has not this been actually and 
 emphatically the highest triumph of the grand 
 adversary of God and man ? And has it not, in a 
 way proportionable to their ability, been the fatal 
 triumph of the Jesuits too ? Again, then, we ask, 
 in downright earnestness we ask, why shrink, in 
 craven cowardice, from calling things by their pro- 
 per names ? 
 
 For the sake of illustration and variety, let us re- 
 mind you of one of the most striking conceptions, in 
 that most striking and wonderful of all heroic songs 
 
THE JESUITS. 61 
 
 — the "Paradise Lost." The arch-enemy is sup- 
 posed to have reached the seat of primeval inno- 
 cence. It was indeed a blissful bower, compared 
 with which the "sweet grove of Daphne," with its 
 " inspired Castalian spring," or the " spicy shore of 
 Araby the Blest," breathing " Sabean odours," is 
 not worthy of being named. But, blissful though 
 it was, there the arch-felon " saw, unde lighted, all 
 delight." Animated by one master-spirit — even 
 that of malice and desperate revenge; and bent on 
 one exclusive object — even that of ruining man and 
 dishonouring God — what to him were all the beau- 
 ties and the glories of " delicious Paradise ? — its 
 gentle gales, which, 
 
 "Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispensed 
 Native perfumes, and whisper' d whence they stole 
 Those balmy spoils ; — 
 Its trees of noblest kind, 
 
 blooming ambrosial fruit 
 
 Of vegetable gold ; — 
 
 Its sapphire founts, with crisped brooks, that, 
 Rolling on orient pearl and sands of gold, 
 Ran nectar." 
 
 These, these, and all the wilderness of sweets so 
 thickly strown around, for him had no charms. 
 Passing them by, with lofty disdain, he pounces at 
 once on the tree of life — " the middle tree, and high- 
 est there that grew." On it he sat — " sat like a 
 cormorant." But for what end sat he there ? To 
 regain therefrom true life for himself, and the means 
 of dispensing it to others ? — Oh, no ! — But there he 
 sat — sat, actually 
 
 devisinsr death 
 
 To them that lived; nor on the virtue thought 
 Of that life-giving plant, but only used 
 For prospect what, well used, had been the pledge 
 Of immortality." 
 
 
 
62 THE JESUITS. 
 
 Now, is not this the very picture and counterpart 
 of the proceedings of " the Society of Jesus ?" Is 
 not revelation a radiant bower? Of the whole of its 
 contents, may we not truly predicate what has been 
 so nobly expressed of a part I — " Indited, as they 
 undoubtedly were," says the saintly Home, " under 
 the influence of Him to whom all hearts are known, 
 and all secrets foreknown, they suit mankind in all 
 situations, grateful as the manna which descended 
 from above, and which conformed itself to every 
 palate. The fairest productions of human art, after 
 a few perusals, like gathered flowers, wither in our 
 hands, and lose their fragrancy ; but these unfading 
 plants of Paradise become, as we are accustomed to 
 them, still more and more beautiful ; their bloom 
 appears to be daily heightened, fresh odours are 
 emitted, and new sweets are extracted from them. 
 He who hath once tasted their excellences, will de- 
 sire to taste them yet again; and he who tastes 
 them oftenest will relish them best." Into this ra- 
 diant bower of revelation have not the members of 
 "the Company of Jesus" entered? 
 
 " Practising falsehood under saintly show, 
 Deep malice to conceal, couched with revenge." 
 
 Wholly absorbed with one idea, and intensely 
 devoted to the prosecution of a single object — the 
 restoration of the Papal supremacy and the aggran- 
 dizement of their own order — what to them were 
 all the beauties and the glories of revealed truth ? 
 Nought — nought whatsoever. There they could 
 see, " undelighted, all delight." Passing by the. 
 ordinary garniture of trees, and branches, and flow- 
 ers, they pounce at once on the tree of life, the 
 leaves of which are for the healing of the nations. 
 In other words, they seize on the Gospel of grace 
 and salvation, the doctrines and the precepts of 
 
THE JESUITS. 63 
 
 which are designed as a remedy for the disease of 
 sin throughout all the kindreds and families of the 
 earth. But, instead of drawing therefrom life to 
 themselves, and the means of dispensing it toothers, 
 they sit down — I almost shudder when I think of 
 it — they sit down, with the Gospel in their hands, 
 deliberately devising death to those who otherwise 
 might have lived. With consummate coolness and 
 self-possession, ay, and with imperturbably calm 
 and self-satisned peace of mind, they sit down ; and 
 by their specious machinery of sophistries, and sub- 
 tleties, and hair-splitting distinctions, and straining 
 at gnats and swallowing of camels, they contrive to 
 transmute every virtue of that life-giving plant, 
 every doctrine and precept of the blessed Gospel, 
 which, well used, had been the pledge of immor- 
 tality, into a deadly poison, not for the healing, but 
 for the ministering of spiritual and eternal death to 
 the nations ! Who, then, will presume to reply in 
 the negative, when I ask — not in the way of idle, 
 senseless declamation, but in strictest consistency 
 with demonstrated truth and rigid, impartial justice 
 —whether all this, in its intention, progress, and 
 consummation, be not literally and truly the very 
 master-piece of hell — the very perfection of devil- 
 ism? 
 
64 THE JESUITS. 
 
 THE PRACTICES OF THE JESUITS. 
 
 Haying thus briefly unfolded the moral principles 
 of the Jesuits, we must next, though with equal bre- 
 vity, direct attention to their practices. For past ex- 
 perience amply proves that they could well practise 
 what they so assiduously preached, and that, when- 
 ever opportunities occurred, they never scrupled to 
 put their doctrines into execution. Now, from a 
 fountain so foul and so polluted, Avhat could we expect 
 to flow, but impure and muddy streams ? From 
 principles so dangerous — nay, so utterly opposed to 
 the express commands of Scripture, and the peace 
 and safety of society at large — what could we ex- 
 pect, but deeds of the darkest shadow, and crimes 
 of the blackest dye ? Accordingly, as has been re- 
 marked, "a faithful record of the transactions of 
 which our globe has been the theatre would, we 
 think, bear out the assertion fully, that there is no 
 chapter in the world's history stained with so foul 
 a blot, or filled with such extensive elements of 
 mourning, and lamentation, and wo, as the chapter 
 which would contain a complete and unvarnished 
 rehearsal of ' The Acts of the Jesuits /' " 
 
 The subject, however, is so immense, that we can 
 scarcely do more than approach its threshold. If 
 time permitted, we could easily show that, as there 
 is not a command in the decalogue which they have 
 not taught how to violate Avith impunity, so there is 
 not a commandment in the decalogue which they 
 have not actually violated in their own practices. 
 But time will not permit ; and, therefore, we must 
 rest satisfied with a few classified generalizations, 
 that may simply serve to indicate the course which 
 
THE JESUITS. 65 
 
 we were prepared fully to traverse, and amply to 
 illustrate. 
 
 And first. Let us view the sinister practices of the 
 Jesuits in reference to education and the spread of 
 true knowledge. 
 
 If crookedness, perverseness, or hostility be disco- 
 vered here, then must the celebrated aphorisms of 
 our great English moralist come into full play, viz., 
 " He that voluntarily continues in ignorance is 
 guilty of all the crimes which ignorance produces ; 
 as to him that should extinguish the tapers of a light- 
 house might justly be imputed the calamities of 
 shipwreck." 
 
 What, then, in reference to this all-important sub- 
 ject, are the facts of the case, as engraven on the 
 pages of authentic history ? 
 
 The mind of Europe, let it be remembered, had 
 been liberated by the reforming impulse. Freely 
 and fearlessly did it then shoot out, with accelerated 
 force, in all directions.* Freely and fearlessly was 
 every department of mind and matter sifted and 
 explored. Freely and fearlessly were the rights of 
 conscience, the range and limitations of civil and 
 religious liberty, the relations of man to man, and of 
 all men to their God, investigated and settled. In- 
 dependence of inquiry, freedom of thought, manli- 
 ness of sentiment, and energy of expression, increased 
 and abounded ; while, as the necessary result, know- 
 ledge, true knowledge, in every domain of improved 
 r literature, newly created science, and restored theo- 
 logy, increased and abounded too. What, then, 
 must be done by the chosen emissaries of Rome ? 
 
 * This, with a few other passages in the Lecture, has been 
 taken from an ephemeral address delivered a few years ago by 
 the author in the Town Hall of Calcutta. To prevent any 
 misconception, the fact is here simply stated, without its being 
 deemed necessary to make any further acknowledgment. 
 
 6* 
 
66 THE JESUITS. 
 
 Openly to denounce or anathematize such know- 
 ledge in the gross, was no longer deemed expedient 
 or safe. What, then, must be done ? What, but 
 change entirely the old course of tactics — relinquish 
 hostilities, proclaim a truce, embrace the ancient foe, 
 and so manage the embrace as to stifle and smother 
 its object ! Behold, then, the new and wondrous- 
 career, the consummately dexterous undertaking of 
 the " Society of Jesus !" Keenly alive to the im- 
 portance of education, they go forth, and so master 
 every branch of learning as to acquire a renown that 
 eclipses every other. Of that renown they take 
 skilful advantage. Those branches of knowledge 
 which tended most to elevate and strengthen the 
 mind — to exercise and brace the reasoning faculty — 
 to render inquiry free, penetrating, and bold — they 
 gradually suppressed, or mutilated, or bent to un- 
 worthy ends. Those branches of knowledge, on the 
 other hand, which tended to withdraw the mind 
 from the all-important themes of theology and 
 ethics, civil and religious liberty — which tended 
 merely to regale the senses, to gratify the taste, to 
 polish the manners, to amuse the fancy, to occupy 
 the imaginative faculties, and lead to inventions for 
 augmenting the comforts and conveniences of man's 
 temporal estate — these, these the)'- cultivated to the 
 uttermost. Around these they strove to shed a halo 
 of glory which might out-dazzle all the rest. On 
 these they contrived to lavish all their hosannas of 
 applause ; and thus laboured to attract towards them 
 the generous aspirings of youth, and concentrate on 
 them the expanding energies of riper years. This 
 view of their marvellous crusade has been briefly 
 but admirably depicted by the celebrated French 
 essayist on the Reformation. " To model Science," 
 says he, " according to the interests of the pontifical 
 power, and render even Science ignorant in all 
 
THE JESUITS. 
 
 67 
 
 things in which it was requisite that she should be 
 ignorant ; to produce some things in the clearest 
 light, and to retain others in the thickest darkness ; 
 to fertilize the kingdoms of memory and the imagi- 
 nation, by rendering that of thought and reason bar- 
 ren ; to form minds submissive, without being igno- 
 rant of any thing but what could affect their submis- 
 sion, like those highly valued slaves of the great men 
 of antiquity, who were grammarians, rhetoricians, 
 poets, fine dancers, and musicians, and knew every 
 thing except to become free ; to make reason and 
 knowledge themselves operate to the consolidation 
 of a system hostile to reason and knowledge ; — I 
 cannot fear that I shall be contradicted by any im- 
 partial man, in stating that such was the system of 
 instruction adopted by the Jesuits. It was inge- 
 nious, and universally adapted to the end they had 
 in view. It was calculated to form illustrious and 
 elegant authors, learned men, orators, good Roman 
 Catholics, Jesuits, if you please, but not mev in the 
 full acceptation of that term. He who became a man 
 under their management, became so independently 
 of that management, and in spite of it."* 
 
 * All this perfectly accords with the observation of D'Alem- 
 bert, quoted by R.obertson. though neitherofthese authors seems 
 to have hit on the true key of its solution, viz., " that though 
 the Jesuits made extraordinary progress in erudition of every 
 species — though they could reckon up many of their brethren 
 who have been eminent mathematicians, antiquarians, and 
 critics — though they have even formed some orators of reputa- 
 tion — yet the order has never produced one man whose mind 
 was so much enlightened by sound knowledge as to merit the 
 name of a philosopher." 
 
 All this not only accords with, but satisfactorily accounts 
 for, the fact, that — while the Jesuits could produce writers on 
 law, and mathematics, and natural history, physicians and 
 surgeons, dramatists, grammarians, statuaries, painters, and 
 poets — they produced no works on the " every-day literature 
 of common life" — none on the best and highest interests of 
 mankind — none fitted to elevate and improve the intellectual 
 
68 THE JESUITS. 
 
 When will Protestants be wise ? When will 
 they waken from their sleep and slumber, and 
 dreamy indifference ? When will they learn to 
 distinguish the mirage of a spurious liberalism 
 
 and moral character of the people at large — none calculated to 
 make men wiser, or better, or happier in their relations to God 
 or to one another. To adopt and extend an expression of the 
 author of the "Protestant:" "The writings of Milton and 
 Locke alone, on the subject of liberty and toleration, are of 
 more value than all that Jesuitism has produced to this day." 
 
 Or, if further proof be wanted to illustrate and confirm our 
 view of their inveterate hostili-y, in practice, to the cause of 
 true knowledge, we may turn to a case in which they nrght 
 have done every thing for it, had they been so disposed. Hav- 
 ing succeeded in establishing an independent commonwealth 
 in Paraguay, in Sonth America, and having exercised an un- 
 disturbed and absolute sovereignty over that region for more 
 than a century, it may reasonably be asked, if they were truly 
 and honestly such flaming advocates of a sound and liberal 
 education, How did their system operate in regard to the in- 
 terests of true knowledge and the enlightenment of the people ? 
 Allowing whatever credit is due for teaching the rude natives 
 how to cultivate the soil, build comfortable houses, &c, we 
 aver, that for the diffusion of true knowledge of any kind they 
 did iiothing. They erected no schools. They taught no litera- 
 ture — no science — no Christian theology. They kept the 
 people at large in a s f ate of perpetual pupilage, imbecility, and 
 mental childhood. To prevent the intrusion of one new idea, 
 they prohibited all egress from their own territory to the in- 
 habitants, and all ingress to strangers. And to render the 
 barrier to intercommunion still more impracticable, they 
 strictly forbade the acquisition of any tongue except one of 
 the rudest and most unpolished of the Indian dialects. The 
 despotism over mind and body was unbroken and complete, 
 till the day of retributive vengeance drove the despots for ever 
 from Paraguay. 
 
 The fate of knowledge was much the same in all the other 
 Popish States of South America. Speaking of one of these, 
 so recently as 1824, Mrs. Graham says: "The very names 
 of literature and science are here almost unknown." Of an- 
 other, Mr. Lindley, a traveller in 1803, gives a precisely 
 similar account. Little more than twenty years ago printing 
 was unknown in Buenos Ayres, and every possible obstacle 
 thrown in the way of education. Even in Brazil, there was 
 no printing press till the Court took up its residence there in 
 1806, and imported one from Europe. No Bibles or Testa- 
 ments had ever been introduced ; and any works which had 
 
THE JESUITS. 69 
 
 from the living - waters of a genuine Christian 
 liberality ? . When will they learn to distrust the 
 empty profession of men who, under pretence of a 
 flaming- zeal for knowledge, go forth only the more 
 effectually to forge those fetters which shall re- 
 enchain the souls of men in the bondage of a gall- 
 ing superstition and crushing despotism? When 
 will Protestants learn to refuse, on principle — refuse, 
 from respect to the laws of God, from love to the 
 souls of their children, from a regard to the best 
 interests of society — refuse utterly to aid, or sanc- 
 tion, or patronise, directly or indirectly, any one 
 of the colleges, or other Jesuit institutions ? Ah ! 
 if they do not learn now, and learn speedily, so to 
 act — if they persist in setting at nought every 
 counsel, and despising every warning and reproof — 
 the retributive sentence may soon be issued from 
 the tribunal of the Eternal : " Ephraim is given to 
 idols ; let him alone. " And, then, wo, wo be unto 
 them that shall thus be left to reap the fruit of their 
 own devices by a gracious and long-suffering God ! 
 
 Secondly, Let us look at the practices of the 
 Jesuits, in reference to their repeated and systematic 
 violation even of their own special and peculiar 
 vows. 
 
 The real question is not, Whether the objects 
 contemplated by these vows be in themselves, ab- 
 stractly considered, right or wrong, proper or im- 
 proper, expedient or inexpedient ? Those who 
 take the vows solemnly profess, before God and 
 man, to believe that they are altogether right, 
 proper, and expedient ; and the real question is, 
 
 been admitted into so dark a region, were works of congenial 
 darkness, such as story-telling almanacs, and lives of Popish 
 saints, and manuals of ritualistic observances. So much for 
 the boasted proceedings of the friends and advocates of know- 
 ledge in the New World ! 
 
70 THE JESUITS. 
 
 Whether, in the fulness of such avowed conscien- 
 tious belief, it be consistent with the laws and 
 principles of moral obligation, to take, and from 
 time to time to reiterate vows, accompanied with 
 solemn oaths, and then deliberately to violate- such 
 vows, as often as caprice, inclination, or worldly- 
 interests may suggest or require ? Or, the question 
 may be put in a still simpler form, viz., Is it right 
 to be guilty of habitual and systematic perjury? 
 When stripped of all plausible pretexts and subter- 
 fuges, and put in this naked, undisguised form, 
 which is the form of essential truth and reality, the 
 question must be met by an indignant negative, ex- 
 pressive alike of disgust and abhorrence. 
 
 Now, grievous and aggravated though the charge 
 be, it is the very charge which facts without num- 
 ber — facts, too, of world-wide notoriety — compel us 
 to bring against the Jesuits. To attempt to bring 
 proofs to substantiate the charge would be like 
 attempting to enumerate the trees of the forest, or 
 the sands on the sea-shore. The entire history of 
 the order, collectively and individually, is one con- 
 tinued tissue of substantiating facts. 
 
 Does not every " professed" member of the insti- 
 tute, from the general downwards, vow to be always, 
 and in all places, prepared for the instant execution 
 of the Papal mandate ? and yet, in practice, how 
 repeatedly, in all parts of the world, has this pe- 
 culiar vow been trampled under foot!* Yea, in 
 the very face of this most peculiar and stringent 
 vow, the very " constitutions" of the body contain 
 certain adroitly expressed clauses, which virtually 
 " elevate the authority of the general above that of 
 
 * For an instructive and memorable exemplification of this 
 assertion, the reader is referred to an article on " The Missions 
 of the Jesuits," in No. III. of the Calcutta Review. 
 
THE JESUITS. 71 
 
 the Pope, by providing that he may overrule, with- 
 out rebelling against it ; for they declare that he 
 may order his subject-missionaries to one district 
 rather than another, at the simple preference of his 
 own will." 
 
 Does not every member of the Jesuit body, in 
 the earlier stages of his novitiate, take the vows of 
 " chastity" and " perpetual poverty ?" and are not 
 these vows, at subsequent stated intervals, repeatedly 
 renewed ? and yet, to those who are at all acquainted 
 with the history and proceedings of the members 
 of the body, is it not a fact, just as notorious as that 
 the sun is in the heavens, that the former of these 
 vows has been broken times and ways without 
 number ; and that the latter has been not only re- 
 peatedly, but habitually, and even systematically, 
 disregarded ? Is it not one of the most indubitable 
 of historical facts, that, in spite of the vow of "per- 
 petual poverty," the Jesuits, as a corporate body, 
 soon became by far the ivealthiest in the whole 
 world t* Is it not one of the most indubitable of 
 historical facts, that, in additional contempt of the 
 vow of " monastic obedience," many individual 
 members of the body, did, separately, and on their 
 own account, amass a vast deal of personal pro- 
 
 * Here is a case, which may be taken as a single specimen 
 from among hundreds of a similar kind : — 
 
 In 1767, the Jesuits, by a decree of his "Most Catholic 
 Majesty," were, on account of their iniquitous practices, igno- 
 miniously expelled from Spain, and the whole of their property, 
 including "goods, chattels, and estates," confiscated. On 
 this occasion, in the College of Barcelona alone, were found 
 " riches to the amount of twelve millions of crowns. It con- 
 sisted of several tons of gold and silver, a large quantity of gold 
 dust, emeralds, and diamonds, crowns of gold ornamented with 
 emeralds and rubies, some bales of cocoa, and some rich mer- 
 chandise from the East Indies." So much for the vow of 
 " perpetual poverty !" 
 
72 THE JESUITS. 
 
 perty ?* Is it not one of the most indubitable of 
 historical facts, that, as if in open derision of the 
 vow of " perpetual chastity," members of the Jesuit 
 order wrote books, with the sanction of their supe- 
 riors, which Romanists themselves have denounced 
 as inexpressibly abominable ? and that what they 
 propounded in their writings they continually ex- 
 emplified in the most flagrant practices ?t 
 
 * Here is a case, taken from the Annual Register for the 
 year 1759, which may serve as a specimen : — 
 
 "Naples, May 29th. — Last week the apartment of the late 
 Father Pepe, the Jesuit, for whose pulpit and confession-box 
 the people made great scrambling, from a notion of his great 
 sanctity, was opened, in the presence of our cardinal arch- 
 bishop, and one of the king's ministers. There were found 
 in it 600 ounces of gold in specie : bills amounting to 56,000 
 ducats ; 1000 pounds of wax ; 10 copper vessels full of Dutch 
 tobacco ; three gold repeating watches ; four snuff-boxes made of 
 rare shells ; 200 silk handkerchiefs ; and a capital of 300,000 
 ducats. Before his death he made a present to Jesus' Church 
 of a piece of velvet hangings, laced with gold, a large statue 
 of the immaculate conception, of massy silver, and a fine 
 pyramid, to be erected in the front of the church." So much, 
 again, for the vow of " perpetual poverty !" 
 
 t As a single illustration of what is here asserted, we may 
 again refer to the work put forth in the year 1663, by Matthew 
 Moya — the work which a member of the French Parliament, 
 that publicly pronounced sentence of condemnation on it, re- 
 probated as "containing whatever the most depraved mind 
 could have discovered in a century, and all which had before 
 escaped the wickedness and debauchery of man." And yet 
 this is a purely Romish testimony ! 
 
 As to practices, one example also, as a specimen, must suffice. 
 About the beginning of last century there were several Jesuit 
 missionaries in China. Of these, some became notorious for 
 their gross immoralities. In 1748, the Romish Bishop of 
 Nankin, in a letter to Pope Benedict XIV., refers with grief 
 and shame to the conduct of these men, and speaks of one of. 
 them in the following terms: " But the crime committed by 
 Father Anthony Joseph, the superior of the i?iissions, is yet 
 more scandalous. This man has remained for these eight years 
 past continually plunged in the abominable practice of sinning 
 with women, at the time they came to confess, and even in the 
 place where he confessed them ; after which he gave them ab- 
 solution, and administered the sacrament to them ! He told 
 
THE JESUITS. 73 
 
 Thirdly, Let us look to the practices of the 
 Jesuits in reference to their habitual system of 
 compromise of principle, concealment of truth, and 
 personal disguise. 
 
 One of the grandest and most distinguishing fea- 
 tures in the conduct and practices of the Jesuits, 
 has ever been the infinite variety of disguises 
 which they assumed — the infinite variety of fic- 
 titious names and characters under which they 
 appeared — the infinite variety of modes in which 
 they contrived to cloak and conceal their real de- 
 signs — the infinite variety of compromises of prin- 
 ciple which they exhibited — the infinite variety of 
 conformities to prevailing customs and opinions to 
 which they submitted, for the more successful ac- 
 complishment of their sinister ends. 
 
 The practical principle of Jesuitism being that 
 of expediency, in its basest, grossest, and most 
 licentious form, it proved everywhere fatally consist- 
 ent with itself. Everywhere, chameleon-like, did 
 it assume the hue and colour of national, local, and 
 
 them that these actions need not give them any concern, since 
 all their fathers, the bishop, and the Pope himself, observed 
 
 the same practices ! The debaucheries of this man 
 
 And this was known to Christians, and to the heathens. Some 
 
 Persons represented these crimes to the superiors of the 
 esuits ; but the commissary, whom they sent for the purpose, 
 declared him innocent : I know not upon what pretence. For 
 myself, being unable to resist the complaints I constantly re- 
 ceived. I collected the necessary proofs, and found that all with 
 which he was charged was only too true. And while I was con- 
 sidering of the best means of punishing this man, the manda- 
 rins caused him to be arrested suddenly, together with two of 
 his brethren. What occasioned still greater scandal was, that 
 the mandarins who had been some time acquainted with part 
 of the facts, collected correct dejjositions to establish his crimes, 
 and announced them at full length in their sentence, which they 
 made public. He was condemned to death with the other 
 Jesuits, on the 22d September, 1748, and they were both 
 strangled in prison." So much for the vow of "perpetual 
 chastity !" 
 
 7 
 
74 
 
 THE JESUITS. 
 
 social peculiarities. Everywhere did it accommo- 
 date itself, with elastic spring, to established habits, 
 manners, and customs. The promotion of its own 
 interests " by all possible means, and at all possible 
 expenses," continued ever and everywhere to be 
 its animating and guiding pole-star. 
 
 Among the learned, the Jesuits showed them- 
 selves lovers of learning — among the illiterate, they 
 upheld the maxim that ignorance was the mother 
 of devotion ; among the free, they were advocates 
 of liberty — among the bond, apologizers for slavery ; 
 among the upright, they feigned integrity — among 
 the unscrupulous, they encouraged fraud ; among 
 the noble, they abused the vulgar — among the 
 vulgar, they insulted the noble ; among the ab- 
 stemious, they plead for temperance — among the 
 intemperate, they turned abstemiousness into a jest; 
 among the pure, they could eulogize chastity as 
 one of the chiefest of virtues — among the unchaste, 
 they gave way to the most unbridled indulgences ; 
 among Deists, or Atheists, or Jews, they could re- 
 pudiate the God of the Bible and the Saviour of 
 Christianity; among Protestants, they could appear 
 with an ultra zeal for Protestantism ; among Pagan 
 idolaters, they could sanction the most degrading 
 idolatry and superstition ; among contemplative 
 mystics, they could mimic seraphic raptures; among 
 self-tormenting ascetics they could submit to the 
 most grievous self-inflicted severities. 
 
 This is an interminable theme, and would require 
 at least one whole lecture to do it any thing like jus- 
 tice. We can only furnish a few cursory illustra- 
 tive particulars, by way of specimens. 
 
 In England, the Jesuits, at an early period, de- 
 spairing of being able, by direct means, to seduce 
 the Protestants back to Popery, their next grand 
 expedient was, to weaken Protestantism, by creating 
 
THE JESUITS. 
 
 75 
 
 divisions and discords, schisms and heresies, amongst 
 its adherents. In order the more effectually to ac- 
 complish this end, they resolved to take the neces- 
 sary oaths, and to feign themselves to be members 
 and ministers of the Church of England — such hy- 
 pocritical conformity being declared to be not a sin, 
 but meritorious — the parties taking the oath with 
 an intention to promote or advance the Romish faith. 
 Accordingly, in the guise of Anglican priests, these 
 Jesuits, "instead of drawing their deluded followers 
 off' to Popery, pretended the most unbounded zeal 
 against it, inveighing most bitterly against the Pope 
 and the Latin mass, and comparing the English 
 Liturgy to it." One of the earliest conformists of 
 this description, in an interview with the Pope, 
 confessed that he had reviled his Holiness, and 
 railed at the Church of Rome among the English 
 heretics. " How," said the Pope, somewhat taken 
 aback and surprised, "how, in the name of Jesus, 
 Mary, and all the saints, hast thou done so ?" " Sir," 
 was the reply, " I preached against set forms of 
 prayer, and I called the English prayers English 
 mass, and have persuaded several to pray spiritually 
 and extempore ; and this has so much taken with 
 the people, that the Church of England has become 
 as odious to that sort of people whom I instructed 
 as mass is to the Church of England; and this will 
 be a stumbling-block to that Church, while it is a 
 Church" — on which the Pope was not only satisfied, 
 but "commended him," and gave him a reward of 
 two thousand ducats for his good service." 
 
 In India, on the other hand, the same principle 
 of expediency led them repeatedly to swear, in a 
 manner the most solemn, that they were genuine 
 Brahmins — Brahmins of the purest and most uncon- 
 taminated lineage — Brahmins who could trace their 
 pedigree direct to the mouth of the god Brahma. 
 
76 THE JESUITS. 
 
 There, too, they retained and sanctioned many 
 abominable idolatrous practices ; while, to gain su- 
 perior influence, and earn to themselves lasting 
 renown, they exhibited some of the most dreadful 
 austerities of Hindu asceticism.* 
 
 * On this department of the subject, a masterly and authori- 
 tative dissertation will be found in No. III. of the Calcutta 
 Reviexo ; to which the reader is earnestly referred. Here we 
 note only two or three of the particulars. 
 
 Mark, first, the progress of the zealous but extravagant en- 
 thusiast Xavier. Finding the people of India ignorant, super- 
 stitious, credulous, does he intrepidly set about the benevolent 
 work of instruction? No; he introduces a few moreabsurd rites, 
 and a few more spurious objects of worship ; and forming a 
 coalition between heathenism and corrupted Christianity, he 
 baptizes multitudes wholesale, leaving them as ignorant of 
 any vital truth as before. Finding the people much given to 
 spells, and charms, and incantation, he strives to outrival the 
 wonder-workers, and maintain his influence by an ever-ready 
 appeal to numberless pretended miracles. On account of all 
 these services in the cause of truth, knowledge, and benevo- 
 lence, the Papists have now a Novena, or nine days' devotion 
 annually, in honour of him who rendered them ! and on that 
 occasion they heap upon him a profusion of epithets not less 
 extravagant than they are blasphemous and profane. Look, 
 again, at his relation, Geronimo Xavier, who was sent on a 
 special errand to the Mogul Court, at a time when the Empe- 
 ror Akbar aimed at the formation of a new religion, or scheme 
 of eclecticism that might unite Hindus, Mohammedans, P arsis, 
 and even Jews and Christians, in one body. What an oppor- 
 tunity for expounding the pure, unadulterated truth of God ! 
 Was the opportunity improved ? On the contrary, in accord- 
 ance with the crooked policy of his order, he presented the 
 emperor with a translation of the Gospels into Persian, which 
 he took care to intermingle with many of the popular Persian 
 legends, in the fond hope that they might thus be rendered 
 more palatable to the imperial taste. The wily Jesuit had out- 
 witted himself, as he deserved. The impious artifice, we are 
 informed, had "an effect directly contrary to that which was 
 designed. Akbar was disgusted with meeting with legends 
 of whose falsehood he had been previously convinced, and 
 thenceforth regarded Christianity with suspicion." Alas! 
 alas ! that an occasion so seasonable should be irredeemably 
 lost, and the gospel of salvation itself brought into discredit 
 and contempt, through the chicanery of its professed friends. 
 Once more, consider the career of Robertus de Nobilibus, the 
 
THE JESUITS. 77 
 
 Proceeding still eastward, we find in China and 
 Japan, the most fearful identity in the proceedings 
 of the Jesuits. From the latter country their vil- 
 lanies eventually procured their utter extermination. 
 In the former, they long indulged in their ingenious 
 
 celebrated founder of the Madura mission. He studied not 
 only the vernacular, but the Sanskrit, or sacred language of 
 India. Was it in order truly to enlighten the people ? No ; 
 but in order the more effectually to impose on them his own 
 system of error. For this end, he fabricated or forged various 
 books in the style and peculiar stanza of the Vedas— ^the oldest 
 and most venerated of the Hindu Shastras. These literary 
 forgeries, or religious impositions, he endeavoured to palm 
 upon the ignorant, under the distinguishing names of the dif- 
 ferent Vedas — as if they were the real Vedas of India. Nor 
 was this all. Having discovered that the natives had a preju- 
 dice or aversion towards Europeans, he boldly denied hi3 
 being a European — giving out that he had come from a region 
 in the north of India, called Rome. Having also found that 
 the Brahmins were held in the highest veneration, and exer- 
 cised an unlimited authority over the people, he next assumed 
 the appearance and title of a Brahmin — besmearing his coun- 
 tenance, and otherwise imitating their manners and their dress. 
 Finding, further, that of all Brahmins, the Sanyasis, or real 
 ascetics, were the most highly esteemed, being treated with 
 something like divine honour, he professed himself to be a 
 Sanyasi, and outioardhj appeared to subject himself to the most 
 terrible austerities ; though privately he was understood freely 
 to indulge in most of the delicacies and luxuries which Europe 
 or Asia could supply. But he did not stop even here. When 
 doubts began to be raised about the reality of his Brahminhood, 
 he produced an old, dirty, and smoky parchment, in which he 
 had forged, in the ancient Indian characters, a deed, setting 
 forth " that the Brahmins of Rome, in Northern India, were 
 of much older date than those of Southern India; and that 
 the Jesuits of Rome descended in a direct line from the god 
 Brahma !" And when the validity of his claims of genealo- 
 gical descent from Brahma, and the genuineness of the forged 
 document brought to prove it, were called in question by the 
 scepticism even of credulous Indians, he convened a public 
 assembly of Brahmins, and in their presence banished all 
 further scepticism, by declaring upon oath "that he derived 
 really and truly his origin from the god Brahma!" How 
 could the interests of true religion and morality be promoted 
 by such pious frauds — such lying ingenuity — such detestable 
 perjuries ? 
 
 7* 
 
78 THE JESUITS. 
 
 devices — their impious and fantastic tricks. With 
 their wonted art, they studied the temper and cha- 
 racter, the taste and inclination of the inhabitants ; 
 and having discovered no small degree of inquisitive 
 curiosity, associated with a singular devotedness to 
 their own hereditary philosophy and arts, they re- 
 solved to gain influence by outstripping the native 
 philosophers and artists in their own peculiar walk. 
 In this they succeeded — adding somewhat of their 
 own, such as the dialectics of the schools, and the 
 art of casting cannon ! But no branch of knowledge 
 of a noble or generous character did they cultivate. 
 On the contrary, in furtherance of their own sinister 
 designs, they were wont to deny the truth, and 
 fabricate untruth. To humour the Chinese taste for 
 antiquity, they declared " that Jesus Christ had 
 been known and worshipped in their nation many 
 ages ago." To gratify the Chinese predilection for 
 Confucius, they endeavoured to persuade the Chi- 
 nese emperor and nobility " that the primitive the- 
 ology of their nation, and the doctrine of their great 
 instructor and philosopher, Confucius, differed almost 
 in nothing from the doctrine of the gospel." To 
 swell the number of their proselytes, instead of in- 
 structing them in the genuine doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity, they taught them "a corrupt system of 
 religion and morality, that sat easy upon their con- 
 sciences, and was reconcilable with the indulgence 
 of their appetites and passions." They not only 
 tolerated, but even countenanced, the retention of 
 many profane opinions, and superstitious rites, and 
 idolatrous customs. Yea, to such a pitch of daring 
 did they proceed, that, having found the people 
 scandalized by the doctrine of a crucified Redeemer 
 — a doctrine which has ever been " to the Jews a 
 stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness" — 
 they actually denied the fact that Christ was ever 
 
THE JESUITS. 79 
 
 crucified ! Nay, more, they denounced the fact as 
 a base calumny, that must have been invented by 
 the blaspheming Jews, to throw contempt on the 
 gospel of Christ ! Ah ! what impious concealment 
 of principle have we here ! After this, can any 
 baseness be imputed to them that is antecedently 
 incredible ? 
 
 Passing from the Old World to the New, we.find 
 still the same sort of system, and the same sort of 
 men to promote it. Neither the waters of the Pa- 
 cific nor of the Atlantic can wipe away the leprous 
 taint of Jesuitism. In the New World they come in 
 contact with the untutored minds of simple Indians — 
 very different from the pre-occupied minds of Chi- 
 uese and Hindus. But the willow-like pliancy of 
 their system does not forsake them. Having disco- 
 vered the natural inclinations and propensities of 
 any people, they studiously comply with these, and 
 as studiously avoid any thing calculated to give of- 
 fence. Having noticed the easy, good-natured indo- 
 lence of one tribe, such as the Iraquois, they frame 
 a catechism of religious and useful knowledge to 
 suit their taste. Of this catechism, a copy, with a 
 translation annexed, fell into the hands of Dr. Ma- 
 ther. It consists chiefly of questions like these : — 
 " How is the soil made in heaven ? — It is a very pure 
 soil ; they want neither for meat nor clothes ; we 
 have only to wish, and we have them. Are they 
 employed in heaven? — No; they do nothing — the 
 fields yield corn, beans, pumpkins, and the like, 
 without tillage. What sort of trees are there 1 — 
 Always green, full and flourishing. But how are 
 their fruits ? — In this respect they excel ours, that 
 they are never wasted ; you have no sooner plucked 
 one than you see another hanging in its room," 
 &c, &c. Having met with another tribe so fero- 
 cious that it could listen to nothing with patience, 
 
80 THE JESUITS. 
 
 save accounts of the execution of scalping-knives 
 and tomahawks, they, with unheard-of audacity, ac- 
 tually declared that the meek and lowly Jesus was 
 a mighty chieftain and successful warrior, who, in 
 three years, had scalped innumerable men, women, 
 and children ! ! Can the force of sinful, blasphem- 
 ing compromise proceed further than this ? 
 
 On the subject of personal disguise it were end- 
 less to dilate. To this dishonest and disreputable 
 practice they were wont, at all times, in all places, 
 and under all circumstances, unscrupulously and 
 unblushingly to resort.* This notorious and ha- 
 
 * A few specimens, by way of illustration, may here be sup- 
 plied : — 
 
 The Jesuit Sammier, when traversing Europe, to excite the 
 Popish sovereigns against his own king, (that of France,) was 
 proved to have assumed all manner of forms ; — now, that of 
 a common soldier — then, that of a peasant — and anon, that of 
 a priest — with many more. 
 
 The Polish Jesuit De l'Aigle, as the Romish abbe, De la 
 Roche Arnauld, informs us, when the French army was pene- 
 trating into Russia, pretended to be a Frenchman, in order to 
 deceive the French. "He followed," says the abbe, "our 
 troops for a long time in the uniform of a French soldier; and 
 it is said that he acted thus according to orders transmitted 
 from the court of Russia. Be that as it may, he contributed 
 largely to the overthrow of a French battalion, by information 
 which he conveyed to a general of the Russian armies : and 
 if we may believe the Jesuits themselves, he did more injury 
 to Napoleon than the whole military force of the Czar." 
 
 Bishop Carleton, in 1627, says: "When Parsons and 
 Camp : on came secretly into England, they changed their 
 exterior habit and apparel, that they might the better pass un- 
 known. Someiimes they went like ruffians — sometimes like 
 ministers — sometimes like noblemen — sometimes like soldiers 
 — sometimes like apparitors ; they walked secretly from re- 
 cusants' houses to recusants' houses : and when Ballard came 
 to effect the deliverance of the Queen of the Scots, he came 
 in a soldier's habit, under the feigned name of Captain 
 Foscue." 
 
 In a series of letters discovering the scheme projected by 
 France in 1759, it is said : " Sometimes they (i. e. the Jesuits) 
 pass for merchants, tradesmen, stewards, publicans, farmers, 
 and of every kind of trade. They affect ignorance to mask 
 
THE JESUITS. 81 
 
 bitual practice of the Jesuit fraternity has often been 
 exposed and reprobated, even by respectable Ro- 
 manists themselves. 
 
 As early as 155S, we find this memorable judg- 
 ment left on record : " There is a fraternity, which 
 has lately arisen, called the Jesuits, who will seduce 
 many ; who, acting for the most part like the Scribes 
 and Pharisees, will strive to overturn the truth. 
 They will go near to accomplish their object ; for 
 they transform themselves into various shapes. 
 Among Pagans, they will be Pagans ; among Athe- 
 ists, Atheists ; Jews, among Jews; and Reformers, 
 among Reformers ; for the sole purpose of discover- 
 ing your intentions, your hearts, and your desires. 
 These persons are spread over the whole earth. 
 They will be admitted into the councils of princes; 
 which will, however, be no wiser for their introduc- 
 tion. They will infatuate them so far as to induce 
 them to reveal the greatest secrets of their hearts ; 
 they will be in no way aware of them. This will be 
 the consequence of their advisers neglecting to observe 
 the laws of God and of his gospel, and conniving 
 at the sins of princes." Who supplies this partly 
 historic and partly prophetic sketch ? — an ill-natured 
 Protestant ? No ; but George Bronswell, the Ro- 
 mish archbishop of Dublin. 
 
 We cannot, however, pursue this branch of the 
 subject any further at present. These brief notices 
 on the subject of concealment, compromise, and dis- 
 guise, in the practices of the Jesuits, must serve at 
 once to illustrate and establish the charge of system- 
 atic duplicity which we have brought against them. 
 
 their designs. Sometimes Dumont brought a female with him 
 into company, whom he (a Jesuit) made to pass for his wife. 
 Many of the Jesuits did the same ; they made a convenience 
 of them, to disguise their affairs, and to prevent their place of 
 meeting from being suspected." 
 
82 THE JESUITS. 
 
 And having thus illustrated and established the 
 charge, we may now let loose upon them the 
 pointed and indignant comments of a recent Eng- 
 lish author. With him, we ask, Why all this se- 
 crecy — all this concealment — all this disguise ? " If 
 their principles were good, they could surely bear 
 the face of day. If their deeds were good, why be 
 so secret — why hold their candle under a bushel in 
 this way ? The reason is plain enough for the sim- 
 plest child to discern. They loved darkness rather ' 
 than light, because their deeds were evil. Like 
 bats and owl, and creeping, crawling, slimy things, 
 night suits them better than the day. Unlike the 
 soaring eagle, which bathes its splendid plumage in 
 the light of heaven, the vulture brood cower on 
 folded wing in the dark caverns of the earth. Un- 
 like the honest-hearted Christian, who soars upwards 
 on the wings of faith and love, and bathes his spirit 
 in the beams of the divine radiance, drinking in 
 the glorious light which emanates from the Sun of 
 Righteousness, courting, too, the scrutiny of the 
 world, and letting his light shine before men, to the 
 glory of his Father and his God, the Jesuits gro- 
 velled low in earthly pursuits, shunned the light of 
 day, courted disguise and obscurity, or revelled in the 
 murky glare of false opinions and a vicious philoso- 
 phy, and hid their principles and their objects from 
 the gaze of mortal man in fear and trepidation. 
 There is something repugnant to manly feeling in 
 all this — there is something diametrically opposed 
 to the spirit of the gospel in this — there is some- 
 thing pre-eminently unchristian and dishonest in 
 this. We like to see a man not ashamed of his 
 right name, not ashamed of his right trade, not 
 ashamed of the party to which he belongs — above 
 board, open, honest, with a clear brow and erect 
 head. But the Jesuit, who conceals his right name, 
 
THE JESUITS. 83 
 
 hides his real object, contracts his brow, and disowns 
 his parly, is as contemptible as he is dangerous, and 
 to be scorned as much as he is to be feared. Give 
 me, any day, the open enemy rather than the secret 
 foe. Rather let me meet any man, than the dis- 
 guised assassin, the soft-treading, oily-tongued, 
 smooth-skinned hypocrite, who will plant a Judas- 
 kiss on your brow, and a dagger in your heart's 
 core. The unblushing Infidel, the bold and reck- 
 less Atheist, can be better met, and is a far less 
 dangerous foe to Christianity, than the slippery, 
 turning, vanishing, masking, equivocating Jesuit. 
 
 Fourthly, Let us look to the practices of the 
 Jesuits, in reference to their public crimes, or crimes 
 against the State and society at large. 
 
 Truly has it been said that, wherever they gained 
 a footing, " their evil principles brought forth evil 
 practices. They were troublesome and turbulent, 
 living in political agitation, fermenting the public 
 mind, fomenting it into endless quarrels, marshalling 
 party against party, prejudicing subjects against 
 their sovereigns, and poisoning the minds of sove- 
 reigns against their subjects. They annoyed 
 kings, they clogged the wheels of government, and 
 inoculated the people with seditious and turbulent 
 disaffection. They thus contrived to make them- 
 selves everywhere detested. Even Romish States 
 grew sick, wearied out and disgusted, with their 
 endless conspiracies, plots, quarrelling, intrigues, 
 and revolutions." 
 
 Passing by all actions of a more private and de- 
 batable character, let us glance at a few of a more 
 public nature, that have earned for them a "bad 
 eminence" of fame in the pages of authentic history. 
 
 Look to Holland. Who, in 1584, trained and 
 encouraged the murderer of the Prince of Orange, 
 
84 THE JESUITS. 
 
 and even consecrated him for the bloody deed ? — 
 History proves that it was the Jesuits. 
 
 Look to Portugal. Who, for nearly two hundred 
 years, filled that country with revolts and massacres, 
 usurpations and conspiracies — fortifying the leading 
 agents in every tragedy by their counsels, and pro- 
 viding them with absolutions ? — History proves that 
 it was the Jesuits. 
 
 Look to Poland. Who produced the series of 
 miseries and crimes from which that unhappy king- 
 dom — "declining gradually, until it fell into that 
 state of torpor which rendered it an easy prey to 
 its ambitious neighbours — never recovered ?" — The 
 celebrated Polish historian of the Reformation de- 
 clares, that he "has no hesitation in answering 
 emphatically that it was the Jesuits." 
 
 Look to France. Who instigated, planned, and 
 directed the wholesale massacre of St. Bartholomew's 
 Day, in which a hundred thousand innocent Pro- 
 testants cruelly and treacherously fell, their mangled 
 bodies lying in heaps and their blood staining the 
 rivers with a purple dye, thus adding another fear- 
 fully scarlet stain to the Mother of Harlots ? — His- 
 tory has proved that it was the Jesuits. Who 
 fomented the rebellion, and consolidated the un- 
 natural league in France against Henry III., which 
 terminated with his assassination ? — History proves 
 that it was the Jesuits. Who, by their sermons, 
 and writings, and counsel, and secret cabals, pro- 
 moted the numerous intrigues against Henry IV., 
 and were responsible for all the excesses of the long 
 civil war that desolated the kingdom during his 
 reign ? Who nourished the assassins of that amiable 
 monarch, sanctifying the horrid deed before its com- 
 mission by the celebration of the most sacred so- 
 lemnities ? — History proves that it was the Jesuits. 
 
 Look to England. Who, during the thirty years 
 
THE JESUITS. 85 
 
 of Elizabeth's reign, excited civil wars, plots, and 
 seditions, without intermission there ? Who secured 
 from the See of Rome "a pardon to be granted to 
 any one that would assault the queen ; or to any 
 cook, brewer, baker, vintner, physician, grocer, sur- 
 geon, or of any calling whatsoever, that would make 
 away with her ; and an absolute remission of sins 
 to the heir of that party's family, and a perpetual 
 amnesty to them for ever?" — History proves that it 
 was the Jesuits. Who employed Parry to assassi- 
 nate the queen ? — He himself confessed on the 
 scaffold that it was the Jesuits. They "had con- 
 fessed him, absolved him from the intended crime, 
 consecrated him, and administered the sacrament to 
 him, to comfort him in the commission of her mur- 
 der !" Who, at the same time, brought it to pass, 
 that "excommunication and a perpetual curse 
 should light on the families and posterity of all 
 those of the mother Church that would not promote 
 or assist, by means of money or otherwise, Mary 
 Queen of Scotland's pretence to the crown of Eng- 
 land?" — History proves that it was the Jesuits. 
 By whom was the projected invasion of England, 
 by the invincible armada, chiefly planned ? — By the 
 Jesuits. Who attempted, by bribery, to seduce a 
 Scottish gentleman to murder James VI. ? — It was 
 Creighton, a Jesuit. Who was mainly instrumental 
 in contriving, with such Satanic ingenuity, the Gun- 
 powder Plot, which was to involve in one grand 
 catastrophe the king, and royal family, and all the 
 leading Protestant peers of the realm ? — It was 
 Garnet the Jesuit, who, on the scaffold, confessed 
 and gloried in his guilt, and who has ever since 
 been honoured by the Jesuits as a martyr, and in- 
 cluded in their litany to the saints ! 
 
 If time permitted, we might glance, in lil»e man- 
 ner, at other European States ; and from these pass 
 8 
 
86 THE JESUITS. 
 
 over to Africa, Asia, and America ; and everywhere 
 would we find the Jesuits creating disturbances, 
 exciting tumults, fomenting quarrels, conspiracies 
 and treasons, and perpetrating the most abominable 
 crimes.* 
 
 * The case of Abyssinia or ancient Ethiopia in Africa, may 
 furnish an example, by way of specimen. 
 
 There, at first, the Jesuits fawned, flattered, and caressed. 
 Having at length gained the ear of the emperor, and, through 
 that, dominion over his heart, they dropped the methods of 
 argument and persuasion, and resorted to the more summary 
 ones of fire and sword. Instead of communicating knowledge 
 of any hind, a terrible persecution was raised. Thousands 
 were hanged, and burnt, or driven to the dens and caves of 
 the earth. Viewing a field strewed with the carcasses of eight 
 thousand unoffending peasants, who, for conscience' sake, laid 
 down their lives, the grandees ventured to address the emperor 
 with tears in their eyes, saying: " Sire, how many dead bodies 
 lie here ! These are not the bodies of Mohammedans or 
 heathens, but of Christians, your highness' natural-born sub- 
 jects — our blood and kindred. Though you conquer, you 
 thrust a sword into your own bowels. How many thousands 
 have been massacred ! — how many thousands must be, before 
 Popery can be established in Ethiopia ! For God's sake let 
 the people alone with the religion of their forefathers ; which 
 you must either do, or ruin the empire with your own hands." 
 Soon afterwards, the emperor, having detected the cruel ad- 
 visers of these massacres plotting against his own life and 
 throne, resolved to get rid of such dangerous allies. They 
 were ignominiously expelled the kingdom ; and prohibited, 
 under pain of death, from ever more revisiting it. 
 
 But the genuine spirit of their proceedings may, perhaps, 
 be best illustrated by specially fastening our attention on the 
 fact, that the awful process of consecraiing the intended assas- 
 sins for their bloody deeds became with them an habitual pro- 
 cess. The design of such horrible consecration was " to nerve 
 their hands and harden their hearts against any rising com- 
 punctions of conscience, by inducing them to suppose that 
 they were solemnly consecrated by God to the special work of 
 killing the obnoxious person, as a highly meritorious and praise- 
 worthy act." 
 
 Of the form of consecration in such cases, Stephen, in his 
 " Spirit of the Church ot Rome," gives the following account : 
 " The person," says he, " persuaded by the Jesuits to assassi- 
 nate a king or prince, is taken to a secret chapel, where they 
 have prepared upon an altar a great dagger, wrapped up in 
 
THE JESUITS. 87 
 
 As we have already summoned a jury, not of 
 Protestants, but of Papists, to decide on the morality 
 of the Jesuits, so now might we summon a jury of 
 Romanists, to save us the trouble of returning a 
 
 linen cloth, together with an Agnus Dei. Drawing it out of 
 the sheath, they sprinkle it with holy water, and fasten to the 
 hilt several consecrated coral beads, pronouncing this indul- 
 gence, that as many blows as the regicide shall give the prince, 
 he shall deliver so many souls from purgatory. Afver this 
 ceremony, they place the dagger in the regicide's hand, with 
 this recommendation : ' Thou chosen son of God, take the 
 sword of Jephthah, the sword of Samson, the sword of David, 
 wherewith he cut off the head of Goliath ; the sword of Gideon, 
 the sword of Judith, the sword of the Maccabees, the sword 
 of Pope Julius II., wherewith he cut off the lives of several 
 princes, his enemies, filling whole cities with slaughter and 
 blood. Go, and let prudence go along with thy courage. Let 
 God give new strength unto thine arm !' After which they 
 fall down on their knees, and the superior of the Jesuits pro- 
 nounces the following : ' Come, ye cherubim, ye seraphim — 
 thrones and powers! Come, ye holy angels, and fill up the 
 blessed vessel with an immortal glory ! Do ye present him 
 every day with the crown of the blessed Virgin Mary, of the 
 holy patriarchs and martyrs. We do not look upon him now 
 as one of ours, but as one belonging to you. And thou, O 
 God ! who art terrible and invincible, and hast inspired him 
 in prayer and meditation to kill the tyrant and heretic for to 
 give his (or her) crown to a Catholic king, comfort, we be- 
 seech thee, the heart of him we have consecrated to this office. 
 Strengthen his arms, that he may execute his enterprise. 
 Clothe him with the armour of divine power, that, having 
 performed his design, he may escape the hands of those who 
 shall go in pursuit of him. Give him wings, that his holy 
 members may fly away from the power of impious heretics. 
 Replenish his soul with joy, comfort, and light, by which his 
 body, having banished all fear, may be upheld and animated 
 in the midst of dangers and torments !' This being ended, 
 they conduct the regicide to another altar, where hangs an 
 image of James Clement, a Dominican friar, who with a 
 poisoned knife killed Henry III. of France. His image is 
 surrounded with angels, who protect and carry him to heaven. 
 The Jesuits show it to him, and place a crown upon his head, 
 saying, ' Lord, regard here the arm and the executor of thy 
 justice ; let all the saints arise, bow, and yield to him the most 
 honourable place amongst them !' Afterwards, he is not per- 
 mitted to speak to any one, but to four Jesuits deputed to keep 
 him company." 
 
88 THE JESUITS. 
 
 verdict on their practices. For this purpose the 
 materials are quite redundant. But we must hasten 
 on to a close.* 
 
 From the rapid review now given of the rise and 
 
 * It may be well, however, to furnish a few specimen* of 
 the decisive nature ol the evidence here referred to ; since 
 particulars must ever leave a more distinct impression on the 
 mind of the reader than any merely abstract or generalized 
 statements. 
 
 " Ever since the town of Poictiers had been obliged to allow 
 the establishment of the Jesuits," says Sully in his memoirs, 
 " I received nothing but complaints, by word or by letter, 
 against those fathers from the bishop, the lieutenant-general, 
 and the principal inhabitants, either separately or collectively. 
 These complaints came not only from the Protestants, but 
 from the Catholics themselves." 
 
 In a comparatively recent work by the French abbe, Mar- 
 tial Marcet de la Roche Arnauld, himself once an enthusi- 
 astic admirer of the Jesuits, and still a devoted adherent of the 
 Romish See, there are very remarkable disclosures and de- 
 nunciations. Both have been extorted by the force of truth 
 and the promptings of a troubled conscience. A few extracts 
 from the introduction of the work will suffice. 
 
 "I will not shrink," says he, " from avowing, that the de- 
 sire of becoming acquainted with a company (the Jesuits) 
 which was making so much noise in Europe, emboldened me 
 to enter it, (the college,) without any previous knowledge of 
 its sentiments or intentions. I was received with those marks 
 of esteem and respect which are rarely shown, except to men 
 of extraordinary merit, or of tried character. Though young, 
 (for I was then only sixteen,) I may venture to say, that I had 
 acquired a kind of celebrity, and my name was known, not 
 only to the principal Jesuits of France and of Rome, but even 
 to some noble Congregationists whom I shall mention in the 
 course of this work. 
 
 " What strange disclosures might I not have published ! I 
 have summoned to the bar of public opinion only a small num- 
 ber of Jesuits ; there still remain three hundred formidable 
 members whom I have not unveiled, but whom 1 shall unveil 
 at a future time. I have seen their manoeuvres, and I am con>- 
 strained to expose to the public only some facts — which are 
 mere trifles compared with those which 1 for the present sup- 
 press. Suffice it to say, that during the time I was among 
 them, I incurred the danger of losing my liberty and life for 
 having been the most candid and liberal of men. The regard, 
 the indulgence, the caresses, the menaces, the persecutions, 
 the outrages of that Society — all failed to make me view with 
 
THE JESUITS. 89 
 
 progress, the objects and designs, the principles and 
 the practices of Jesuitism, brief and imperfect as it 
 confessedly is, what a fearful chapter is opened up 
 in the history of human obb'quity ! But, revolting 
 
 indifference and apathy the secret wiles and culpable practices 
 which they employ. At the horrible aspect of those pertina- 
 cious and daring men (the recollection still makes me shudder) 
 I averted my eyes through terror ; and, on seeing the sanctuary 
 of peace sullied with all the horrors of crime and imposture, I 
 trembled at the thought of being within its walls. I resolved 
 to escape as soon as I could without danger; and when, with 
 incredible precipitation, I exclaimed: Just Heaven! can any 
 honest man live among them ? 
 
 "They were powerful; for such was the will of kings. 
 They assassinated princes, and disturbed empires ; but this 
 was the fault of those who held the reins of government. 
 
 "That the Jesuits were the disturbers of kingdoms, the 
 oppressors of nations, the masters of the world, I freely admit. 
 
 " Even in the breast of childhood they are endeavouring to 
 plant the germs of war. Their system of education seems to 
 be nothing more than an experiment or trial of the terrible 
 commotions which they are preparing for the whole world. 
 Why does so enlightened a government as ours tolerate them, 
 or suffer a single Frenchman to be brought up among them ? 
 
 " Do you wish to excite troubles — to provoke revolution — to 
 produce the total ruin of your country ? Call in the Jesuits — 
 raise up again the monks — open academies, and build magni- 
 ficent colleges for those hot-headed religionists. Suffer those 
 audacious priests, in their dictatorial and dogmatical tone, to 
 decide on affairs of State, to attack, condemn, and revile those 
 sacred laws which have been rendered necessary by the mis- 
 fortunes of nations, and by the progress of the human mind. 
 Suffer them, also, in their regret for institutions that no longer 
 exist, to overthrow and destroy, by their ridiculous sophisms, 
 the fundamental principles of society and of government ; let 
 them sow the seeds of hatred and dissension in all minds, and, 
 farmed with a superior authority, let them goad the people till 
 they tear to pieces and destroy each other for opinions which 
 they themselves do not understand." 
 
 As early as the year 1554, a judgment was publicly record- 
 ed, in these terms, viz., that " the Society, withdrawn from 
 the obedience and submission due to authorities, unjustly de- 
 prived both temporal and spiritual lords of their rights, brought 
 discord into every form of government, and occasioned among 
 the people many subjects of complaint, many law-suits, alter- 
 cations, schisms, and jealousies ; that it appeared dangerous 
 8* 
 
90 THE JESUITS. 
 
 though it be, a tithe has not been told. Enough, 
 however, has been narrated to excite a salutary fear, 
 not unaccompanied with moral indignation and hor- 
 ror — enough to challenge and demand the most 
 
 to all that concerned the faith, and calculated to disturb the 
 peace of the Church." Who struck oft" this bold outline? 
 Not a Protestant, but an intensely Romanish body — the Fa- 
 culty of Theology in Paris, in reply to an inquiry of the 
 French Parliament. 
 
 Last of all, we may adduce the testimony of the Pope him- 
 self. In the celebrated bull by which the order was finally 
 suppressed in 1773, Clement XIV. thus proceeds: " In vain 
 did they (that is, his own predecessors in the See of Rome) 
 endeavour, by salutary constitutions, to restore peace to the 
 Church, as well with respect to secular affairs, with which the 
 Company ought not to have interfered, as with regard to the 
 missions ; which gave rise to great disputes and oppositions on 
 the part of the Company, with the ordinaries and communities 
 of all sorts in Europe, Africa, and America, to the great loss 
 of souls and the great scandal of the people : as likewise con- 
 cerning the meaning and practice of certain idolatrous ceremo- 
 nies adopted in certain places : and further, concerning the use 
 and explication of certain ?naxims, which the Holy See has, 
 with reason, proscribed as scandalous and manifestly contrary 
 to good morals ; from which maxims have resulted very great 
 inconveniences and great detriment, both in our days and in 
 past ages — such as the revolts and intestine troubles in some 
 of the Catholic States." " Under the reign of 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 faithful 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 be- 
 loved sons in Christ, the kings of France, Spain, Portugal, and 
 Sicily — found themselves reduced to the necessity of expel- 
 ling and driving from their states, kingdoms, and provinces, 
 these very companions of Jesus ; persuaded that there re- 
 mained no other remedy for so great evils ; and that this step 
 was necessary in order to prevent the Christians from rising 
 one against the other, and from massacring each other in the 
 very bosom of our common mother, the Holy Church." 
 Surely we have here, at least, reached the very climax of 
 
THE JESUITS. 91 
 
 searching scrutiny. The picture is so harrowing 
 that the easy, and good-natured, and unthinking 
 may be incredulous. This I cannot help. Such, I 
 beseech to come and see — to search the authentic 
 records of history, and judge for themselves. I ask 
 no more. Declamation has nothing to do here. 
 The bare, naked, literal facts of the case, do, in mul- 
 tiformity of abomination and horror, vastly outstrip 
 all the conceptions of the most exaggerated de- 
 claimer — all the worst realities of the historic, yea, 
 and all the wildest fictions of the tragic muse ! 
 After the fullest investigation of the subject, I can 
 only say, that my statement is lame, inadequate, and 
 utterly disproportioned to the impression which 
 manifold concurrent evidences have stamped indeli- 
 bly on my own mind. To the principles of the Jesuits 
 may, as we have proved, be truly applied the awful 
 designations of "the deceivableness of unrighteous- 
 ness — the mystery of iniquity — the perfection of 
 devilism." To the practices of the Jesuits may not 
 inappropriately be applied the words of Sir James 
 Mackintosh, in reference to the Reign of Terror in 
 France : " The only series of crimes, perhaps, in 
 history, which, in spite of the common disposition 
 to exaggerate extraordinary facts, has been beyond 
 measure under-rated in public opinion. Men's 
 minds were oppressed by the atrocity and multitude 
 of crimes ; their humanity and their indolence took 
 refuge in scepticism from such an overwhelming 
 
 authority on the subject. Let Romanists affect to hesitate, if 
 they will, however unreasonably, respecting our judgment of 
 the Jesuits — let them affect to hesitate, if they will, however 
 more unreasonably still, respecting the judgment of Popish 
 kings, Popish judges, Popish theologians, Popish universities; 
 yet surely, no Romanist can consistently call in question the 
 deliberate judgment of an infallible Pope ! 
 
92 THE JESUITS. 
 
 mass of guilt ; and the consequence was, that all 
 these unparalleled enormities, though proved with 
 the fullest historical evidence, were at the time only 
 half believed, and are now scarcely half remem- 
 bered." 
 
 Strange and anomalous spectacle ! Strange and 
 revolting infatuation ! They call themselves, in a 
 distinguishing sense, by the name of Jesus — that 
 very name which was divinely chosen to denote 
 that He who bore it was so called because he was 
 "to save his people from their sins" even as he 
 himself " did no sin, and in his mouth was found no 
 guile ;" and yet, as if unconscious of the aggravated 
 turpitude of the contrast, they forswear their own 
 moral independence ; hold themselves, by oath, 
 prepared to sin, at the mandate of an erring mortal ; 
 and labour, with all the energy of untiring zeal, and 
 all the artifices of an exhaustless subtlety, in teach- 
 ing the myriads of Adam's sinful race how to sin — 
 ay, and sin, too, habitually and systematically, with 
 full and absolute impunity ! With the ensigns of 
 peace and good-will blazoned before them, and songs 
 of freedom on their lips, these hosts go forth into all 
 lands, to trample on the thrones of kings, to foment 
 insubordination among subjects, to bind the con- 
 science in fetters, and stifle the first breath of ra- 
 tional liberty ! Holding the torch of illumination in 
 one hand, they carry in the other a multiplex appa- 
 ratus of devices and expedients for extinguishing or 
 concealing "the true light " which ought to lighten 
 every man that cometh into the world ! Professing 
 themselves disciples of the Anointed and the Cruci- 
 fied One, they yet virtually deny that blessed name, 
 deprive his cross of its virtue and its meaning, make 
 shipwreck of his faith, and drench the earth with 
 the blood of his faithful martyrs ! Unparalleled, 
 
THE JESUITS. 93 
 
 ineffable effrontery ! They gravely designate them- 
 selves " a Society not of men, but of angels, having 
 the spirit of eagles — the lights of mankind, the pre- 
 ceptors of all the world, the reformers of manners, 
 who have banished vice, and made virtue to flou- 
 rish ;" and then go forth, with a thousand witch- 
 ing spells and sorceries, to garnish vice and embel- 
 lish crime — to canonize error, and consecrate lies — 
 to convert profligacy into virtue, and virtue into pro- 
 fligacy — to weaken the moral hatred of sin, deprave 
 the heart, and brutalize the soul — to extinguish 
 every vital principle of social and spiritual regene- 
 ration, and disinherit all future ages of the richest 
 treasures of the knowledge, experience, and wisdom 
 of the past ! 
 
94 THE JESUITS. 
 
 THE SUPPRESSION AND RESTORATION OF 
 THE JESUITS. 
 
 But hark ! a voice from the Sacred Oracle breaks 
 upon the ear, saying: "Pride goeth before destruc- 
 tion, and an haughty spirit before a fall." "I have 
 seen the wicked great in power, and spreading 
 himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed 
 away, and lo ! he was not : yea, I sought him, but 
 he could not be found." How strikingly have 
 these words been verified in the marvellous rise 
 and disastrous downfal of the Jesuits ! Wearied, 
 at length, and worn out by their unscrupulous ra- 
 pacity and all-grasping ambition — their treacheries 
 and stratagems — their seductions and briberies — 
 their intrigues and cabals — their laxation of public 
 morals and disturbance of social order — their fo- 
 menting of seditions, disloyalties, and rebellions — 
 their instigating of massacres, and parricidal cruel- 
 ties, and royal assassinations ; — the monks and 
 courtiers, judges and civil magistrates, churches 
 and public schools, princes and emperors of all 
 nations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America — all, 
 all successively united their efforts in sweeping 
 them clean away, and causing their institute to 
 perish from off this earth, and from under these 
 heavens. 
 
 And when the kings and senates and judges of 
 Europe, the chieftains of Africa, the emperors of 
 Asia, the commonwealths of America, were all 
 found united successively in its condemnation — 
 when the civil rulers of all lands had actually de- 
 creed its destruction as a public nuisance, and the 
 civil subjects of all realms had joyfully assisted in 
 celebrating its funeral obsequies — the credit, the 
 
THE JESUITS. 95 
 
 honour, yea, and the very safety and existence, of 
 the Papacy itself seemed to demand from its head 
 an act of repudiation or abolition too. Long and 
 anxious was the inquiry, agonizing and terrible the 
 mental conflict, on the part of the Papal head, 
 Clement XIV. — "the virtuous Ganganelli," as he 
 is usually termed. At last, however, his mind was 
 made up; and in July, 1773, the bull of suppres- 
 sion was launched forth, under the signet of " the 
 Infallible." "After a mature deliberation" (is the 
 language of this most important instrument) " we 
 do, out of our certain knowledge, and the fulness 
 of our apostolical power, suppress and abolish the 
 said Company ;" " abrogate and annul its statutes, 
 rules, customs, decrees, and constitutions, even 
 though confirmed by oath, and approved by the 
 Holy See, or otherwise." " 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;" "so 
 that the name of the Company shall be, and is, for 
 ever extinguished and suppressed." " Our will 
 and pleasure is, that these our letters should for 
 ever and to all eternity be valid, permanent, and 
 efficacious, have and obtain their full force and 
 effect, and be inviolably observed by all and every 
 ichom they do and may concern, now or hereafter, 
 in any manner whatever.''' 1 
 
 The decree was passed — the deed was done — 
 bravely and effectually done. But, poor Clement ! 
 — the concoction of it cost him years of excruciating 
 anguish — the actual execution of it cost him his 
 life. The Jesuits had their revenge — a full and fell 
 revenge. For, who ever, from the monarch on the 
 throne to the meanest of his subjects — who ever 
 crossed their path, thwarted their designs, or de- 
 feated their measures with impunity? No, not 
 
96 THE JESUITS. 
 
 even his Holiness himself, whom, with blasphem- 
 ous adulation, they were often wont to designate 
 " Christ's Vicar — the Holy Father — the Lord God 
 the Pope !" Clement knew all this, and distinctly 
 anticipated nothing short of death as the price or 
 penalty of his daring magnanimity. Immediately 
 on signing the instrument of suppression, he coolly 
 remarked: " The suppression is accomplished. I 
 do not repent of it, having only resolved on it after 
 examining and weighing every thing, and because 
 I thought it necessary for the Church ; and if it 
 were not done, I would do it now ; but this sup- 
 pression will be my death." These words were 
 soon proved to be fatally prophetic. On the walls 
 of St. Peter's a significant warning shortly after- 
 wards appeared, in the form of a pasquinade, which 
 Clement himself interpreted to mean : " The Holy 
 See will be vacant in September." Before Sep- 
 tember, in order to verify the oracle, several attempts 
 were actually made to destroy him by poison, but 
 failed. In June, the following year, (1774,) how- 
 ever, he was suddenly cut off — exclaiming on his 
 death-bed, in allusion to the secret cause : '• I am 
 going to eternity ; and I know for what." His 
 throat, stomach, and intestines, we are assured by 
 the eye-witnesses of the tragic scene, " were in a 
 state of the highest inflammation ; and immediately 
 after death his whole body turned black, his flesh 
 fell off, and he became so offensive, although re- 
 markably thin, that it was impossible to approach 
 him." 
 
 In other words, there could be no doubt at all that 
 the Pope died by poison ; still less could there be 
 any doubt, from the entire concurrent circumstances 
 of the case, that the Jesuits were the administrators 
 of the fatal potion, and that his holiness was the vic- 
 tim of their vengeance. Thus did they " close their 
 
THE JESUITS. 97 
 
 first career with a crowning deed, worthy of their 
 iniquitous principles, and their former execrable con- 
 duct ;" and thus appeared to perish, perish for ever, 
 the most terrific system of lawless despotism which 
 ever scourged the earth, or strove to convert its 
 hamlets and its palaces into a second Pandemonium. 
 No wonder though the world, which had groaned 
 under its "disastrous twilight," should rejoice ! No 
 wonder though one wide and universal shout of ju- 
 bilee should be heard among the nations ! No won- 
 der though the wise and the good of all kindreds 
 and tribes, while yet smarting under the scars and 
 the gashes which it had inflicted, and rejoicing in 
 its downfal as the triumph of justice, mercy, and 
 humanity, should proclaim, as with one voice, that 
 he who endeavoured any more to "let it loose upon 
 society, must be chargeable with high treason 
 against the common interests and happiness of his 
 species !" 
 
 But time, the mighty leveller, rolled on ; and 
 with it brought its usual cycle of change. With 
 the extinction of the system, the memory of its in- 
 trinsic evil and dangerous excesses had gradually 
 passed into oblivion too ; and ere the generation in 
 the ears of whose youth and infancy its death-knell 
 was heard to sound, had wholly quitted the stage 
 of time, it was doomed to listen to the tidings of its 
 sudden revival and unexpected re-appearance in 
 fulness of strength and renovated energy. 
 
 It is not for us to reconcile Papal inconsistencies 
 and downright contradictions. We can only won- 
 der at the total abnegation of reason and common 
 sense — the utter and absolute dementedness which 
 the Papacy, at every turn, exacts from its votaries 
 as the sole substratum of their faith, and the indis- 
 pensable condition of their allegiance. Here is a 
 precious specimen ! A system which one infallible 
 9 
 
98 THE JESUITS. 
 
 had pronounced to be " scandalous, and manifestly 
 contrary to good morals," is, by another, revived, as 
 essential to the salvation of holy mother Church ! 
 A system which one infallible had repudiated and 
 cast out as a loathsome and deadly thing — positively 
 interdicting any from intermeddling therewith, either 
 now or hereafter — was soon caught up, fondled, and 
 endearingly cherished by another ! A system which 
 one infallible had sentenced to be suppressed, abo- 
 lished, and extinguished for ever — ay, and as if that 
 were not explicit enough— -for ever and to all eternity 
 —is restored, within less than half a century, to the 
 full plenitude of its peculiar rights and privileges, by 
 another ! As if in the Popish calendar " for ever" 
 and "all eternity," meant only a brief period of time, 
 extending from 21st July, 1773, to 7th August, 1814 ! 
 But, be that as it may, the fact is undoubted, that in 
 an ill-omened hour, and as if in derision of the fig- 
 ment of assumed infallibility, Pope Pius VII., in 
 1814, did reverse and abrogate the decree of his in- 
 fallible predecessor in 1773 ! In his bull of restora- 
 tion, he employs these striking and memorable 
 words : — " We should deem ourselves guilty of a 
 great crime towards God, if, amidst these dangers 
 of the Christian republic, we neglected the aids 
 which the special providence of God has put at our 
 disposal ; and if, placed in the bark of Peter, tossed 
 and assailed by continual storms, we refused to em- 
 ploy the vigorous and experienced rowers who 
 volunteer their services in order to break the waves 
 of a sea which threaten every moment shipwreck 
 and death." 
 
 Pie then proceeds, " in virtue of the plenitude of 
 apostolic power, and with perpetual validity," to 
 decree the restoration of the order, with all neces- 
 sary powers, that all States "may freely and law- 
 fully receive all who desire to be admitted" into it ; 
 
THE JESUITS. 9& 
 
 with power granted to the members "freely and 
 lawfully to apply themselves to the education of 
 youth, to direct colleges and seminaries, to hear 
 confessions, to preach, and administer the sacra- 
 ments." And not satisfied with all this, the bull 
 is directed to be " inviolably observed, according to 
 its form and tenor, in all time coming ; and never to 
 be submitted to the judgment or revision of any 
 judge, with whatever power he may be clothed ; 
 declaring null and of no effect any encroachment on 
 those regulations, either knowingly or from igno- 
 rance ;" and finally asseverating, that " no one be 
 permitted to infringe, or, by an audacious temerity, 
 to oppose, any part of that ordinance ; and that 
 should any one take it upon him to attempt it, he 
 would thereby incur the indignation of Almighty 
 God, and of the holy apostles, Peter and Paul." 
 
 Here, then, is the bark of St. Peter launched forth 
 anew, to buffet all storms and bear down all opposi- 
 tion, under the guidance of " the vigorous and ex- 
 perienced rowers" who have once more "volunteered 
 their services." And " vigorous and experienced 
 rowers they truly are," as an anonymous home 
 journalist has emphatically remarked, " if the bark 
 of St. Peter is to be conducted through a sea of 
 blood — if the Pope really design to follow the track 
 of a Gregory or a Hildebrand, and wade through 
 slaughter to the throne of bigotry and mental despo- 
 tism !" For what is the first principle of this cele- 
 brated order ? — " That Jesuitism is to be main- 
 tained at the expense of society at large." And 
 what its second ? — " That the end sanctifies the 
 means" Who, then, can deny that almost all- 
 powerful and ubiquitous institutions, based upon 
 such principles, and saturated throughout with the 
 spirit of such principles, fairly threaten once more 
 to throw open the flood-gates of bigotry and intole- 
 
100 the ;:r 75 
 
 — to roll back the swellir g 1 
 ral. and social improvement — to nullify the sacred 
 uf conscience — - _ 
 
 civil and religious liberty, and shroud 
 mantle : .. : r arful and e ver-thick- 
 _ i 
 
 :een introduced 
 :...::.- | gr the :::is that bind : 
 
 victims — insinua:: jits 
 
 he very bosom of our Pr: 
 
 familief — ; _ tap delude the "eat and the 
 
 i _ m 5. and dreams 
 
 of tolerance, an 7 . 2d striving to insert 
 
 ge ring wedge into the chinks 
 
 sea ::" Hindu soc.r — ; :: not high 
 
 we should awake, and arise out of 
 
 Is it not high time that we should be 
 
 re-burnishing our spiritual wt i re-invest- 
 
 whoie armour of God?" 
 
 might :f a power 
 
 ac ::.; — va nowhere wh:_. 
 
 I everywhere whaHy fell — it may seem rain 
 contend, 
 would, if we went forth in our own name and 
 
 Knowing that 
 of man, but by 
 
 5 
 
 3 bt down, we go forth, 
 not as principals, but as hearty, though unworthy 
 
 test. We 
 go forth u to the help of the Lord, to the hek 
 Lord a - ** he needs 
 
 i our duty."* W« go forth, in 
 trance that our weakness will only 
 
 .1 our imperfec- 
 
 And who can teil but the 
 
 humble age.:; . s uch expositor}* services as (he 
 
THE JESUITS. 101 
 
 present may be blessed from on high as one of the 
 instrumentalities in defeating the powers of dark- 
 ness, and gaining a spiritual conquest over the na- 
 tions ? Without his blessing, all agency, however 
 potent, must prove like the "bruised reed;" 
 with his blessing, all agency, however impotent, 
 must prove like the resistless thunder-bolt. Oh ! 
 how one breath of his almighty Spirit would 
 scatter to the winds of heaven all the devices and 
 policies, whether of wicked angels or of wicked 
 men. When commissioned by him, a swarm of 
 feeble flies sufficed to mortify the pride of Egypt's 
 haughty potentate ! When commissioned by him, 
 a few innocuous undulations of the air, from trum- 
 pets and broken pitchers, routed and put to flight 
 the countless hosts of Midian ! When commis- 
 sioned by him, a small, smooth, round pebble from 
 the brook, flung by a stripling's arm, laid prostrate 
 in the dust the mighty champion who daringly de- 
 fied the armies of the living God ! 
 
 What, then — would I advocate any fhing like in- 
 tolerance or persecution? God forbid ! While I 
 abominate the system of Jesuitism, I can love the 
 souls of all who are enslaved by it, whether its 
 authors or its victims. The system I would labour 
 to destroy, by all legitimate weapons of exposure, 
 and argument, and reprehension, and earnest ap- 
 peal ; the persons of the men I would not hurt — 
 no, not even touch a hair of their heads. I would 
 not, in the mistaken zeal of a disciple of old — a zeal 
 so timeously rebuked by the disciple's Master — I 
 would not, if I could, call down fire from heaven to 
 consume even the adversaries of truth and righteous- 
 ness — oh, no ! I have not so learned Christ. In 
 imitation of his spirit, I would strive, if I only knew 
 how, to go about continually doing them all the 
 good which they might allow me to do. And, if 
 9* 
 
102 THE JESUITS. 
 
 all effort failed, I would, in imitation of the divine 
 Redeemer, endeavour to betake myself to prayer. 
 It was amid his dying agonies, and in behalf of his 
 cruel persecutors, that he breathed forth the sublime 
 and soul-thrilling intercession : " Father, forgive 
 them ; for they know not what they do." Moved 
 by so divine and touching an example, ought we 
 not fervently to pray, alike for the conscious authors 
 and the unconscious victims of a system that is 
 winged with pestilence and death ? And what 
 should be the burden of our prayer? Surely that 
 the unconscious victims might be speedily delivered 
 from the delusions under which they are now held 
 captive and spell-bound ; surely that the conscious 
 authors, whose danger must be imminent, and excite 
 alarm in proportion to their consciousness of guilt, 
 might have their ears unstopped, and their deafness 
 removed, so that they could hear ! — that the scales 
 of thick darkness might be made to drop from their 
 spiritual vision, and they were made to see ! — that 
 the Lord might, in undeserved mercy, be pleased to 
 convert their souls, however stoutly they may have 
 hitherto resisted or despised His arm who wields 
 the thunder ! In this way only would we strive to 
 overcome evil with good. In this way only would we 
 strive to revenge ourselves for any malice or treachery 
 that may have been exhibited — even by heaping 
 coals of fire, in loving-kindness, upon their heads. 
 
 It w r as the dying expression of one of Scotland's 
 most celebrated martyrs — the Marquis of Argyll — 
 an expression which has since thrilled through 
 many a Scottish heart, and lighted up the flame of 
 a martyr's zeal in many a Scottish bosom : " I die 
 with a heart-hatred of Popery." In like manner, 
 whilst I would have you to be inspired with love for 
 the souls of the men, I would have you to cherish a 
 never-dying hatred of their principles. I would 
 
THE JESUITS. 103 
 
 have you to go forth from these walls, this night, 
 ready to take up the mantle dropped by the noble 
 martyr, and, animated with a double portion of his 
 spirit, saying : " I live, and, by the blessing of God, 
 am determined to die, with a heart-hatred of Pope- 
 ry ; and, above all, with a heart-hatred of Jesuit- 
 ism, which is Popery in its richest blossom and 
 ripest fruitage." 
 
 Suffer not, oh ! suffer not yourselves, I beseech 
 you, to be captivated and ensnared by the siren 
 song, that Popery is not now what it once was — 
 that it is wholly altered in its features. That Pope- 
 ry may be — that it has been heretofore — checked, 
 controlled, and limited by the overbearing pressure 
 of external circumstances, is undoubted ; but I do 
 hereby, this night, solemnly protest and proclaim, ia 
 the sight of heaven and of earth, my own inflexible 
 conviction, that Popery is unchanged and un- 
 changeable in its spirit and purposes — that it wants 
 only the opportunity and the power now to lighten 
 up every land with the blazing stake, and drench 
 every shore with the blood of martyrs. It was not 
 in figure, or in envy, or with any hostile intention, 
 but with feelings akin to those of exultation and 
 triumph, that a recent author thus emphatically ex- 
 pressed himself: "Evidence has satisfied us more 
 potently than ever, that Romanism has in it a power 
 and energy which (humanly speaking) is irrepres- 
 sible ; that it resembles a vegetable seed, which 
 may be buried in a mummy-case for three or four 
 thousand years, and yet, if dropped into the ground, 
 would incontinently spring up in vigorous develop- 
 ment ; that what was said of the royal strumpet of 
 Egypt may almost be said of the Church of 
 Rome: — 
 
 ' Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale 
 Her infinite variety.' " 
 
104 THE JESUITS. 
 
 It is, then, with no ghostly shade, with no fleeting 
 or unsubstantial phantasm, that we are called on to 
 contend. Oh ! no ; it is with the realest, the most 
 tremendous power that has yet manifested its pre- 
 sence on the stage of time — a power whose past 
 history well entitles us to say of it, that 
 
 M Black it stood as night — 
 Fierce as ten furies — terrible as hell." 
 
 Or, seizing the illustration of the sovereign Pon- 
 tiff himself, let us remember that he anticipates and 
 distinctly speaks of an approaching season of storms 
 and tempests, with their sable retinue of waves, 
 and shipwreck, and death. And we, too, antici- 
 pate, though in another sense, a season of gloom — 
 a night of storms, such as has not yet been realized 
 since the world began. Even now may be dis- 
 cerned the indubitable, signs and presages of coming 
 trouble — the horizon, now lurid, Avith gathering 
 clouds and an unbroken gloom — now streaked and 
 vivified with strange meteors and lightning splen- 
 dours ; the cloudless noon, now disturbed by the 
 rolling of mysterious thunders — now darkened with 
 the shadows of a portentous twilight ; the air and 
 all ocean, now seized with a freezing, unnatural 
 stillness, and now agitated and convulsed with ex- 
 plosive shocks, as from the invisible elements of the 
 nether world ; at shining eve, the night suddenly 
 ascending without a star, to give place to the up- 
 risen day, which seems but a paler night ; while 
 the sun, the glorious sun, is often seen to with- 
 draw— 
 
 " Not as he wont, with clear and golden fires: 
 Bewildered in a labyrinth of haze, 
 His orb, redoubled with discoloured rays, 
 Struggles and vanishes ; along the deep, 
 With slow array, expanding vapours creep, 
 Whose folds, in twilight's yellow glare uncurl'd, 
 Present the dreams of an unreal world — 
 
THE JESUITS. 105 
 
 Islands in air suspended, marching ghosts 
 Of armies, shapes of castles, winding coasts, 
 Navies at anchor, mountains, woods, and streams, 
 Where all is strange, and nothing what it seems ; 
 Till deep involving gloom, without a spark 
 Of star, moon, meteor — desolately dark — 
 Seals up the vision." 
 
 It is amid such signs and portents of a gathering 
 storm, that shall soon burst in fury over the nations, 
 that the bark of Peter, we are assured by the sove- 
 reign Pontiff, has been launched forth to course over 
 the ocean of time. But can this be the genuine 
 bark of Peter which has been so launched forth, and 
 to which we are so earnestly invited to intrust our 
 spiritual and everlasting interests ? What ! this the 
 bark of Peter, the holy and devoted apostle, which 
 is freighted, not with goodly or wholesome commo- 
 dities, but with sorceries to enchant, and deadly 
 poisons to infatuate and destroy, the souls of men ! 
 — this the bark of Peter, the holy and devoted 
 martyr, which has been committed to the pilotage 
 and management of " vigorous and experienced 
 rowers," whose sole vocation, for three hundred 
 years, has been to prowl along every shore, hoisting 
 false signals to allure the unwary to the shoals and 
 quicksands on which they must inevitably perish ; 
 and extinguishing each beacon-blaze that would 
 have guided the tempest-tossed mariner to a haven 
 of safety and of rest ! Rather, must not this be the 
 armed bark of a ruthless pirate, whose pennons are 
 red with the blood of innumerable victims, and 
 whose rowers "grin horribly a ghastly smile" as 
 they coolly gaze at the havoc and desolation which 
 they spread all around ? Then, let each one of us 
 exclaim : " O my soul, come not thou into their 
 secret ; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not 
 thou united !" 
 
 But, bounding athwart the fearful gloom, and 
 
106 THE JESUITS. 
 
 steadily poised on the foaming billows — behold ! 
 behold ! another bark appears full in view ! It is 
 the ark of the everlasting covenant ! — with the flag 
 of mercy waving from on high, and the lamp of 
 salvation shining underneath — with the bread of 
 life and the waters of immortality for her burden — 
 with the ordinances of grace for her expanded sails, 
 and the Spirit's influences for the gales that fill 
 them — with patriarchs, and prophets, and apostles, 
 for her rowers, and the great Angel of the Covenant 
 himself for her commander and helmsman ! Thither, 
 thither, then, let us speed and make haste ; for the 
 vessel is chartered for Immandel's land, and into it 
 all, all are freely invited to enter, " without money 
 and without price." Once caught up into its bosom, 
 we shall, in spite of the rage of earth and hell, and 
 the fury of contending elements, reach in safety the 
 happy shore — where, with the countless throng 
 that have been delivered out of great tribulation, and. 
 have " their robes washed and made white in the 
 blood of the Lamb, we shall hunger no more, neither 
 thirst any more ; neither shall the' sun light on us, 
 nor any heat ; for the Lamb which is in the midst 
 of the throne shall feed us, and shall lead us unto 
 living fountains of waters ; and God shall wipe 
 away all tears from our eyes." 
 
THE JESUITS. 107 
 
 N.B. — From the very nature of the subject dis- 
 cussed in the preceding pages, it is clear that the 
 real value of the discussion must depend on its 
 facts, rather than on its reasonings. In treating 
 of such a theme, the main desideratum is, a collec- 
 tion of varied and authentic facts. To collect such 
 facts, therefore, from every available source, and 
 arrange them in an orderly and digested form, has 
 been the chief end aimed at by the author. Refe- 
 rences to authorities have not been supplied, nor 
 the grounds of preferring the testimonies of some to 
 those of others, as these are so multitudinous that 
 the bare mention of them would swell the work 
 (already rather large) to an utterly disproportionate 
 bulk. Of this, however, the reader may be assured, 
 that not a single fact is stated, from beginning to 
 end, without what appeared to the mind of the 
 author an ample sufficiency of evidence in favour 
 of its authenticity. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHKSOK Si, CO. 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 Printed by W. S. Martien. 
 
I mtit 'iTi'|T|T TH'I'ITr TIN 1 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 ■'■■ 
 ■ 
 
 5t2S