fc. HISTORY OP THE JESUITS THE JESUITS; COMPLETE HISTOKY OS 1 THEIR OPEN AND SECRET PROCEEDINGS FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE ORDER TO THE PRESENT TIME. TOLD TO THE GERMAN PEOPLE BY THEODOR GRIESINGER, TRANSLATED BY A. J. SCOTT, M.D. SECOND EDITION. LONDON : W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE, PUBLISHERS TO THE INDIA OFFICE. 1885. (All rights reserved,) PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. THE new edition of my " History of the Jesuits " is the best proof that the book has done its work. It has found thousands of readers, and no one has put it aside without having obtained a proper idea of this Society, so worthy of condemnation. And seeing, now, that the Imperial Government has ranged itself on our side, let us hope that the accursed ban by which, through the influence of the Jesuits, the spiritual resurrection of our fatherland has been restrained, will now be removed from Germany. Firstly, the crushing of the Empire's enemies, and now the attack on the foes of light ! When was there ever for Germany a greater epoch ? STUTTGABT, July, 1872. 20C2207 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. THERE is a structure iii the world, to the completion of which every thinking man is bound to lend his- assistance, I mean the fabric of intellectual light and spiritual freedom, without which real and material liberty cannot be attained. Providence has given to- some few the power of contributing a corner-stone, or even an entire pillar, to this building, and those few are the " Spiritual Knights " of whom Heine sings. But even when to the remainder this power is wanting, are they on that account to lay their hands on their lap and totally refrain from labour, when, perhaps, they might be in a position to pass on towards thia erection the mortar and small stones ? I say " No " ; and upon this " No " have I completed the " History of the Jesuits.'* May this book contribute a little, if not to the stripping-off of the fetters of superstition and spiritual thraldrom in which so many hundred thousands are still bound, at all events to the loosening of them and to the preparation for casting them aside. More I do not expect. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. IN reading this remarkable book, it struck the translator tliat, perhaps, it would not be unacceptable to the reading public of this country to know what is thought, in Protestant Germany, about the Society of which it treats. He has, therefore, devoted some of his leisure to rendering it into English. In order, however, that the reader may know something about the author of this worl-, he has also added a translation of what is said of him in the fourth volume of Heinrich Kurz's Geschichte der nemten Deutschen Literatur, von 1830 bis auf die Geyenwart, fourth and improved edition, Leipzig, 1881 : " Karl Theodor Griesinger was born at Kimbach near Welsach, in Wurtemberg, on the 10th December 1809. After a complete study of theology, he became a vicar, but relinquished this position in three years to devote himself to literature. After a severe illness, he entered in 1841 a bookseller's shop, in order ' to make sure of his bread,' but again gave up this career in 1848, and founded a democratic news- paper, Die Volkswehr, which led to his arrest for high treason. Of this charge, however, he was acquitted, but, notwithstanding, it was the cause of his emigi-ation to America with his wife and child in 1852. As the mode of life there did not please him, he returned to Stuttgart in 1857, when he again resumed the career of author, and for his Wurtemberg nach seiner Verganyenheit und Gegenwart, <6c., received from the King the gold medal for Arts and Sciences. Griesinger belongs to the German Democrats, who were not pleased with life in America, because it was tinged with truly republican opinions. This may be concluded from his Lebenden Bildern am America (Stuttgart, 1858), which, moreover, are indicative of talent. These are not exactly novels, but rather descriptions of life among the Germans in America, more especially in New York, and this life is represented in a poetical manner and with spirit. TIC ANSI. \TORS PBBFAGB. His Emiyrtniti'ii (li'xrhicltte-n (Tuttlingen, lHf>.s .V.i. II.), r , luting ta matters connected with German emigration, show the inventive faculties of the poet, as well as his skill in describing situations and characters. Some tales are represented with the delicious humour which had already gained for the author many friends in Hnmoruttischen Hililcnt mi* Schicaben (Heilbron, 18H!h, I >ie Alte Buuerei odcr < 'rhninnliiiitxti-risn nm AVir \'<>rk, is a clever story, but rather distasteful from its exaggerated atrocities. That the reve- lations in the Mysterien tlr* Vaticans <>-n '/>/ < inn; nit: (Heilbron, 1889), and the Jltinri<-h nm .Vnw//7inm-n llxjiinrnt nn den verschiedem-n ///-uiinl (Stuttgart, 1869), Oeschi<-ht,- >/.r Ihntm-ltrn (Stuttgart, 1874, IV. I, now out of print. His M>/.ri>n ///-.s I'nti- cans, a most interesting work, containing startling revelations as to the great depravity which the Church of Rome had fallen into, previous to the Reformation, was published in 1861. It was trans- lated into English and published in 1864 by Messrs. W. H. Allen and Co., of Waterloo Place. The History of tin' Jfsnitx was pub- lished in 1860, and a second edition in 1878. This Society had been used by the Papacy in order to combat the Reformation. Some uphold the sons of Loyola, others, like the author, condemn them, but it cannot be gainsaid that the Society has been expelled. from almost every Christian State, and from some of them more than once. This work is now presented to the reading public in an English dress, and the translator's task ends with the translation. CONTENTS. BOOK I. THE ORIGIN OF THE JESUITS ; OB, THE SAINT IGNATIUS LOYOLA. CHAPTER L PAGK: IGNATIUS LOYOLA BECOMES HOLT . 3 CHAPTEE II. THE VICISSITUDES OF THE NEW SAINT AND THE SEVEN FIRST JESUITS 15 CHAPTER in. LOYOLA IN ROMS , 29 CHAPTER IV. THE ORGANIZATION AND STATUTE BOOK OF THE NEW ORDER . . . . . . . . .46 CHAPTER V. IGNATIUS LOYOLA AS GENERAL OF THE ORDER . 54 ill CONTENTS. BOOK II. THE SHREWDNESS OP THE JESUITS, AND THE GIGANTIC PROGRESS OP THEIR GROWTH. CHAPTER I. PAGE THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN DISTANT REOIONS OF THE WORLD 85 CHAPTER II. THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS IN EUROPE . 145 BOOK III. THE MORALITY OF THE JESUITS J OR, THE VOW OF CHASTITY. CHAPTER I. THE OLD ADAM UNDER THE MASK OF HOLINESS . . 283 Chapter II. is omitted. CHAPTER III. THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES, OR THE REFINEMENT OF ENJOYMENT . . 306 BOOK IV. THE DISINTERESTEDNESS OF THE JESUITS ; OR, THE VOW OF POVERTY. CHAPTER I. THE CONFESSIONAL AS THE KEY TO THE MONEY-CHEST 333 CONTENTS. Xlll CHAPTER II. PAGE ROBBERT AND THEFT AMONG LAITY AND ECCLESIASTICS . 358 CHAPTER III. JESUIT COMMERCE AND USURY, COMBINED WITH FRAUDU- LENT BANKRUPTCY . . . 410- BOOK V. THE PROBITY OF THE JESUITS ; OB, THE SONS OF LOYOLA. IN THEIR TRUE ASPECT. CHAPTER I. THE EVERLASTING CONFLICT OF THE SONS OF LOYOLA WITH THE REST OF THE CATHOLIC ECCLESIASTICS 443 CHAPTER H. THE REPULSIVENESS OF THE JESUIT CONSTITUTIONS, DOCTRINE, AND TEACHING 473 CHAPTER in. INCREASING ENLIGHTENMENT, AND THE STORM WHICH AROSE OUT OF THEIR OWN MIDST ..... 492. BOOK VI. THE BENEVOLENCE OF THE JESUITS; OR, THE PERMISSION TO MURDER AND ASSASSINATE. CHAPTER I. JESUIT ATTEMPTS IN GERMANY . . 507' XIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER II. PAGE THE GUNPOWDER PLOT IN ENGLAND, AND THE POLITICAL INTRIGUES OF THE JESUITS IN THAT COUNTRY - . 519 CHAPTER III. THE ATTEMPTS ON THE LIVES OF PRINCES WILLIAM AND MORICE OF ORANGE 544 CHAPTER IV. THE GREAT COMMOTION AT PARAGUAY, OR DON SEBASTIAN JOSEPH CARVALHO E MALLO, COUNT OF OKYRAS AND MARQUIS DE POMBAL . . .... 555 CHAPTER V. DON PEDRO PABLO ABARACA DE BOLEA, COUNT OF ARANDA, OR THE ABOLITION OP JESUIT NESTS IN SPAIN . . 587 CHAPTER VL REGICIDES IN FRANCE . 597 BOOK VII. THE APPARENT DEATH OP JESUITISM, AND ITS TERRIBLE REVIVIFICATION. CHAPTER I. THE ABOLITION OF THE JESUIT ORDER BT POPE CLEMENT XIV .629 CHAPTER H. THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE JESUIT ORDER, OR THE NULLIFICATION OF THE BULL " DOMINUS AC REDEMPTOR NOSTER " 648 CONTENTS. XV CHAPTER in. PAGE THE JESUITS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 664 CHAPTER IV. THE DEVELOPMENT OF CATHOLICISM INTO JESUITISM, OR THE JESUIT PAPAL INFALLIBILITY .... 712 BOOK I. -* THE ORIGIN OF THE JESUITS; OB, THE 8AINT IGNATIUS LOYOLA. MOTTO. Der Teufel sass in der HOll' und kriimmt sich vor Schrnertz Weil der Monch Luther sich Kef asset das Herz Einzugreifen in der Welten Ring, Und zu stiirzen die Alte Ordiiuug der Ding'. " 1st nicht genug," BO heult er, "dags es weithin schalt Dass die Arge sich wagt an die geistliche Gewalt ? MUKH er auch noch mein eigen Reich und Domiuium. Sich erkiihneu zu stiirzen urn und urn ? I'.t i meiner Grossmutter, er ist im Stand und erobert die IlOll' vt'c-nn ich ihtn nicht eine grossere Macht eutgegen stall' ! Doch wer hilft mir in dieser schweren Noth, Wo die Welt aus den Fugen zu gehen droht ? " 80 heult der Satan und schlug sich vor's Hirn Dass blutgefarbt war bald die schwarze Stirn. Da trat er die Schlang' zu ihm und alt giftig' Tliier Welcher von Bosheit, Trug und List der Bauch berstet senior. Und fliistert' ihm leis' ein paar wort' in's Ohr, Der Teiifcl in seinem Innern nicht eins davon vcrlor, Aufsprang er und erleichtert schwoll ihm die Brunt Und seiu Auge leuchtet vor Wonn' und Lust. Neun Monat drauf ein Weib einen Jungen geb&r, Dess' Name Don Innigo von Loyola war. Au der alt en Reimschronik den I'attr Cyprian. (TRANSLATION.) The Devil sat in hell and doubled himself up with pain, because the monk Luther was courageous enough to encroach on the round world, and to upset the old order of things. " Is it not sufficient," he screamed, " that it resounds from afar that the wicked one dares to venture an attack on the spiritual power ; must he also be bold enough to turn everything upside down in my own kingdom and dominion ? By my grandmother, he has tuken up a position and will rob hell if I do not oppose him by a greater power. And who will help me in this severe exigency, when the world threatens to depart from its course ? " Thus howled Satan, and flogged his brains in such a way as to make his black forehead the colour of blood. At this juncture the Serpent approached him, the old poisonous beast, who nearly burst his belly with malice, deceit, and cunning, and whispered softly a couple of words into his ear. The Devil lost not a syllable in his innermost thoughts. Up he sprang, and his swollen breast was relieved, and his eye shone again with pleasure and lust. Nine months after that a woman gave birth to a youngster whose name was Don Innigo de Xioyola. From tlie old Rhyniat of Father Cyprian. CHAPTER I. IGNATIUS LOYOLA BECOMES HOLY. IT Is a fact regarding which, according to the views of all enlightened people, the Germans have reason to be not a little proud, that almost all orders of monks belong to the Romaic speaking races, i.e. French, Italian, and Spanish, the Germans not having the slightest connection therewith. Thus formerly the widely extended Order of the Benedictines has to thank for its origin the holy Benedict of Nursia in Umbria, a province of Italy. So also the Camaldolenses, whose founder was the holy Romuald, from the family of the Dukes of Ravenna, while they derive their name from the Abbey of Camaldoli near Arezzo in the Appenines. The grey monks of Vallombrosa come from Fiesoli in the territory of Florence. Further, the Carthusians so named from the solitude of La Chartreuse near Grenoble, where the holy Bruno, in the year 1086, built the first hermitage for the companions of his persuasion. Then come the Colestines, called into existence by the hermit Peter de Murrhone, who in the year 1294 ascended the Papal throne under the name of Colestine V. ; after them we find the Cistercians created by Robert Abbot of Citeaux, or Cistercium, followed by the Sylves- trians, the Grandimontines, and others. In like manner the Augustines and all those congregations who regulated their cloisters according to the rules of the holy Augustus, viz. the Premonstratenses,* the Servites, the Hieronymites, the Jesuaden, * I am well aware that this Order was founded by the Canon Norbert, from Zanthen, in the territory of Cleve, a man of German extraction, who was afterwards, from his zeal for the Church, nominated Archbishop of 4 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. and the Carmelites, as well as the Dominicans, Franciscans, and Capuchines, along with theMinimen, the Minorites, and the whole tribe of Beggar Orders, have all likewise a pure Italian origin. The fact is, that all the cloisters and instituted Orders have, in a word,, their homes to find in Italy, France, and Spain. The reason thereof is not difficult to discover. The spirit of the German nation is, indeed, by no means of a very imaginative nature, and does not allow itself to be overruled by fancy, especially in regard to religion. In other words, the German has altogether a too cold-blooded, calculating, deliberate temperament, to allow himself to be easily and thanklessly enthusiastic, and is much more inclined to indulge in subtle inquiries and investigations : on this account expelled from Rome in a most bitter way, the chief heresy, namely, Protestantism, owes its birth to Germany. In reviewing all these many orders more closely, or even merely running over their names superficially, the question naturally suggests itself, which of them might, be considered the best, the most excellent and most esteemed ? This question was formerly much discussed, especially among the Orders them- selves, and it gave rise among them to an infinity of strife, jealousy, discord, and mutual depreciation. In short, formal war took place between the individual Orders, and I need only mention Thomists and Scotists (Dominicans and Franciscans, the former followers of Thomas Aquinus, the latter of Duns Scotus) in order to render superfluous all further explanation. If, in this manner, disputes took place among the members of the Orders themselves, how much less could the public, the lay world, be expected to agree as to their value or excellence, especially while the national jealousy of French, Italian, and Spanish was mixed up with the question. In the sixteenth century, two circumstances occurred which at once put a termination to the contention, namely, the Reforma- tion and the institution of the Order of the Jesuits. Magdeburg, and still later translated, indeed, among the saints ; but in the first place the Premonstratenses are only a new edition of the " Canonici regularis Sancti Augustini," who, it was well known, derived their origin from Italy ; secondly, Norbert lived so long in France that he was no longer German, but simply thought and acted as French ; thirdly and lastly, the foundation really took place in France, namely, in Sprenge, in the Bishopric of Laon, in the forest of Coney, on a meadow indicated by heaven itself (Pre montre, hence the name Premonstratenses), and the immigration of the brethren of the Order into Germany only took place several years after- wards. IGNATIUS LOYOLA BECOMES HOLY. 5 Before the clearing thunderbolts launched forth by the Reformers, Monachism, then flourishing, could no longer maintain itself; so it collapsed like a decayed building, and all its former admirers were at once converted into mockers and ^corners, if not into haters and persecutors. On the other hand, through this Reformation, that is, by the insight thereby obtained, the Catholic world and the Papacy could no longer possibly, by the means hitherto employed, ward off the frightful attacks with which it was assailed ; so a new Order, I mean that of the Jesuits, was called into existence, which at once not only threw totally into the shade all previous monkish brotherhoods, but which accomplished more in a single century than the whole of them put together had effected during the long period of their existence. All were amazed at the new Order, and all, whether friend or foe, were unanimous in the belief that the Jesuits, in relation to power, influence, exten- sion, empire, and mastery, had made even the impossible pos- sible. All, however, agreed, that never so long as the earth had been inhabited by man had there been a society so steeped in meanness and vileness as were the Jesuits ; indeed, should the tenth part of the crimes and shameful deeds attributed to them be true, they are unworthy to exist among men. Briefly, every- one could not but admire the intellect, the extraordinary activity) and the remarkable organisation of the Order of Jesuits ; on the one hand, there were numbers who actually shuddered at the bare mention of their name, whilst, on the other, not a few broke out into excessive and rapturous praises of the fraternity. Thus was it judged of the Jesuitical Order in the last century, and precisely the same opposite opinions may be heard in the present day, when the Order seems about again to raise itself in .all its pristine glory. Under these circumstances can it be other- wise than of the highest interest to hear something more in detail of this society ? Is it not the duty of the historian, then, to make people acquainted with all that is true respecting this hate and this admiration, and to penetrate into all the secrets -with which the Jesuits are alleged to be surrounded ? I believe the only answer to this question must be an unqua- lified Yes, and thus will I at once forthwith begin to make the reader acquainted with the founder of this Order. His country is also a foreign one, as in the case of the founders of all the 6 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. other Orders. Spain, indeed, that most Catholic of all Catholic countries, had the good fortune to bring him into the world. In the Basque province of Guipuscoa, between the two small towns of Azcoitia and A/peitia, rose a proud feudal castle, which belonged from the thirteenth century to a highly aristocratic family bearing the name of Loyola, and in this castle, the ancestral seat, resided towards the end of the 15th century, Bertram, son of Perez, lord of Loyola and Ogne, or, as it is also written, Onate. As spouse he had Donna Mnrinnna Saez of Licona and Balda, so called from her father being the knight Martin Garcia de Licona and her mother the Marchioness de Balda ; but to this high-sounding title her dowry did not at all correspond, consequently Knight Bertram found himself pos- sessed of no very splendid property, besides the two castles and the land surrounding them. More fruitful, however, was it ordered in the domain of love, seeing that the tender pair were blessed by degrees with eleven children* seven sons and four daughters ; of the former, the youngest, who came into the world in 145)1, i.e. eight years after the birth of Luther, received the baptismal name of Don Innigo (or Ignatius) Lopez de Ricalde in the church of the holy Sebastian de Soreasu in the before-mentioned small town of Azpeitia. This Ignatius was- destined to become the founder of the most celebrated and at the same time the most ill-famed Order ever instituted. Don Innigo showed, while yet a boy, the most remarkable capabilities, but unfortunately they were not cultivated as they might have been, it being thought unnecessary for him to do more as regards learning than to be able to read and write his own mother- tongue. Moreover, an uncle domiciled at Arevalo in old Castile, with whom he passed the greater part of his childhood, had liiin instructed in fencing, dancing, and playing on the mandoline, ia Some biographers make out that there were fourteen children, nine sons and five daughters, but the names of eleven only are preserved to us, and these are as follows : (1) Don Joannes, who lost his life in the Neapolitan war ; (2) Don Martinus, who inherited Loyola on the death of Joannes ; (3) Don Bertram, who also died young on the field of Nona ; (4) Don Ochoa,. who was taken off, too, in his youth ; (5) Don Hernandus, who died in India ; (6) Don Petrus, who entered the Church, and who officiated in the cathedral of Aspezia, that is, in that of the holy Sebastian ; (7) Don Innigo, whose life I am now describing ; (8) Donna Magdalena, married to Don Joannes Lopez de Gallay Itaqui ; (9) Donna Mariana, married to Don Stephano de Arqueza ; (10) Donna Katherina, married to Don Joannes de Martinez de Lasuo:, (11) Donna Maria, who died unmarried. IGNATIUS LOYOLA BECOMES HOLY. 7 all which accomplishments the young Innigo was made to excel. At the age of fourteen, Don Antonio Mariquez, Duke of Majera, and grandee of Spain, a distant relation of the Loyola family, obtained for him the situation of page at the Court of Ferdinand and Isabella, and here, in this brilliant and luxurious atmo- sphere, he received the last finishing strokes of his knightly education. In other words, he learned to make love declarations to the ladies in finely-turned phrases sung, it may be well understood, to the accompaniment of the mandoline and when the jealousy of husbands, brothers, and bridegrooms was raised thereby, he was quite ready to defend himself in his nightly serenades sword in hand. In a word, he obtained for himself, as did others of his age and rank, the reputation of being a very vain, high-spirited, and withal eccentric but at the same time agreeable, brave, and self-sacrificing comrade, who never broke his word. With all this, he was well made, and had a broad open forehead, grey eyes, and a fine roman nose somewhat bent, a healthy colour, and asymmetrical strong build, though not above the middle height. It was, therefore, not to be wondered at that he obtained favour with the fair sex, without on that account being unpopular with the men. After he had thus employed himself during several years in such-like trifling, and esta- blished for himself the reputation of being a first-rate " Cabel- leros," he came to the conclusion that such a life was truly pur- poseless, and seized with most vehement ambition, he resolved upon entering on a military career, in order that his brows might be crowned with laurels. This time, also, the Duke Rosera gave him a helping hand, and soon advanced him to the rank of officer. Of this distinction he well knew how to render himself worthy in every respect, and he not only gave most glorious proof, on the battle-field, of a brave heart and a strong arm, but also in his leisure hours he sought to perfect himself theoretically in systematic study of the art of war. Still, I should not conceal that he continued while in winter quarters to devote himself with true knightly art to gallantry, and in the arms of love he sought to console himself for the hardships of the summer campaign. In this manner did he spend several years, which brought him pretty soon to the rank of captain, while he confidently trusted that his acknowledged bravery would eventually raise him to 8 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. become a general. He dared the more to hope this, as at thnt time there existed much strife and contention, in that Charles V , the successor of Ferdinand and Isabella, and at the same time Emperor of Germany, strove for ten long years for the mastery of Europe with Francis I., King of France. But now a sudden accident put an immediate end to all these brilliant expecta- tions. In the year 1521 the French, led by Andre de Foix, Lord of Esparre, besieged the town of Pampeluna, and on the 20th of May, after a breach had been effected, the assault was made. The defence of the citadel was, however, entrusted to a man, even to Don Innigo Loyola, who resolved rather to be buried under the ruins than that his heroic reputation should be stained by a cowardly surrender, so that the French could not gain a foot without paying for it with rivers of blood. Whilst the brave Loyola received a wound on his left foot from a frag- ment of a broken wall, he at the same time had his right leg shattered by a cannon-ball, and consequently all resistance was now at once at an end ; and the Spaniards, seeing their leader fall, lost courage and yielded unconditionally. The French commander behaved nobly on the occasion, and caused the wounded Don Innigo to be attended by his own surgeon, and, not contented with this merely, gave him his liberty at the end of a fortnight without ransom, and when his cure was com- pleted caused him to be removed to his ancestral castle. This was done with great care, the wounded man being carried in a litter, notwithstanding which, however, the journey had indeed a most prejudicial effect, as it seemed that the bandages had become displaced, and the medical attendants, who were imme- diately summoned, declared that it would be necessary, in order to effect a good cure, that the bone should be broken ngain, which involved the extensive wound, already half healed, being torn open afresh. This cruel operation was most painful, as a number of broken splinters of bone had to be removed ; but the courageous Loyola at once gave his consent thereto, and conducted himself like a hero while the doctors were then most cruelly torturing him r not a single cry escaped from him, and he obliged himself to put on a pleasing smile while his sisters -were shedding tears of pity. The loss of blood and consequent fever reduced him so low that it was considered well to administer to him the sacrament for the dying, and at last the IGNATIUS LOYOLA BECOMES HOLY. 9 medical men even declared that he could not be saved. In spite of all, however, it did not corne to this, but his naturally strong constitution overcame the debility, and he began to get better, although, indeed, very gradually and in the course of several months.* Bat, alas ! as he at length was able to leave his bed, and tried to walk up and down his room, it became apparent that the limb had become an inch too short, and besides, below the knee there was an unsightly projecting piece of bone which made it impossible for him to wear the high tight- fitting boots which were at that time in fashion. This was a mis- fortune that his vanity could not endure, and he forthwith resolved to have the detestable bone sawn off. His physicians explained 'to him that he would run a great risk in having this done, and that the operation would be uncommonly painful. However, he insisted upon it, and the bone was sawn off. Hardly had he got over the effects than he began to have the limb stretched, and with this object he caused an iron machine .to be made, in which he forthwith inserted the leg. It was then turned, in order that the muscles should become more and more lengthened, and, in spite of almost maddening pain, Loyola bore up reso- lutely, giving the best proof of the very great energy he -possessed ; but, unfortunately, the desired result was far from being accomplished, and Ignatius could no longer conceal from himself that he had become lame for life. Moreover, the mirror told him too plainly that his features, in consequence of his long sufferings and agonizing pains, had become old and withered, his hair thin, and his forehead wrinkled. It was a -subject for despair. He who had hitherto been the favourite of the ladies, and through las agreeable manners had outstripped .all rivals, arousing envy and admiration at the same time wherever he went, should he now be slighted, and even, perhaps, become an object of pity and contempt ? No, it was impossible .for him to endure such an affliction, and an escape from it must be found in some way or another. Already, during his long confinement to bed, had he taken to reading in order to overcome the deadly weariness, and by accident he found in the castle either Aniadis or some other work, but all of a particular * His historian attributes this recovery to a miraculous work of the Apostle Peter, the latter being greatly interested in keeping Ignatius Loyola- alive, at all events until he had founded the Order of Jesuits. 10 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. description, namely, different kinds of legendary lore, as the- Flare* Sanctorum (Flowers of the Saints). This latter book superabounded in the extraordinary adventures which the saints had to go through before they became truly holy ; and one can: easily understand what an impression such flowery pictures might have made on such an excitable, fanciful, and eccentric man as Loyola. He was, indeed, firmly impressed by it with irresistible fascination. " The holy Francis did thus and I will do the same. The holy Dominic behaved thus, and I will do- the same," he exclaimed. Indeed, at times he was so completely absorbed as regards the oppressions, expiations, griefs, mortal pangs, and former heroisms of the saints, that the experiences of a Florisando of Gaul or a Lisnarde of Greece appeared to him trifling and insignificant. It is true these impressions were at first not permanent, but merely transitory, and the image of the beautiful Donna Isabella Rosella, for whom he formerly enter- tained the most ardent affection, always dispelled them again ; but now, however, as he became convinced that his beauty was a thing of the past, and that he had become a lame cripple, whilst his beloved Donna declined to listen any more to his love speeches, and began to trifle with others, he tore her forcibly from his heart, and instead there appeared to him an unspeak- ably beautiful virgin, even the Queen of Heaven herself, to whom he at once most heartily devoted himself. Henceforth he resolved to make her the queen of his heart, to whom he would render homage, and if he met with her favour he most certainly must become as perfect a saint as a Januarius or Eustachius. What blessedness would it be if he, like them, could make the blind to see, the dumb to speak, the deaf to hear, and all kinds of diseases to heal ! when he obtained the power to fly through the uir like a bird, to walk through the sea dry-shod, and to pass through the blnzing fire uninjured ! when he should equally be able to drive out the devil, conquer hell, and gain heaven alive ! In this manner, a complete change took place in the mind of Don Innigo Loyola, and the formerly gallant cavalier trans- formed himself into a strict imitation of an Anthony or a Pachomius in order to gain the favour of the Virgin. He now clothed himself, as his biographers narrate, in thick filthy garments, and over his attenuated and unwashen face fell IGNATIUS LOYOLA BECOMES HOLT. 11 his uncombed hair, formerly redolent of costly ointments- He also imposed upon himself the greatest abstinence, and not un- commonly fasted so long that he fainted from sheer weakness. While during these trances, he frequently had, according to his own affirmation, visions of the saints, and especially of the Virgin Mary he even saw himself translated direct into heaven, where God Almighty with His own hand placed him close beside His Son Jesus Christ. It now seemed apparent that the former brilliant warrior had turned a complete fool, so much so that his own brother Don Martin Garcia, at that time head of the family, very earnestly urged him to give up all this nonsense without delay, and he again like other men. The idea of becoming a saint was already so firmly fixed in Ignatius's mind, that reasoning with him was useless, and he consequently resolved to quit the Castle Loyola under some pretext or another, in order, in the cloister,, at a place of pilgrimage at Montserrat in Catalonia, renowned for its miraculous image of Mary, to devote himself formally for life to the service of the Mother of God. The excuse was SOOD found, in that he intimated his intention of riding out to meet the Duke of Majera, who was at the time sojourning at Navarette ; but presently, dismissing his attendants, he quickly made his way to Montserrat, and having arrived there in March 15X2, he first of all exchanged his knightly costume, which he had resumed by the order of his brother, for a beggarly pilgrim's garment, consisting of a long coat of coarse sailcloth, a rope round the body, from which a hollow gourd was suspended in place of a 'flask, a long staff, and a pair of sandals. He then flogged his body until the blood came, in order to chastise him- self for the love of earthly pleasure he had hitherto cherished, made a three days' general confession to the hermit Clanon, one greatly esteemed for his exemplary piety, and lastly, following the example of Arnadis and other heroes of romance, kept a solemn night-watch before the chapel of the Queen of Heaven, to whose gracious image he consecrated his sword and dagger, giving thereby a sign that he had, henceforth, entirely devoted himself to her service as her spiritual knight. He named himself, also, henceforth, not only Knight of the- Virgin, but now and then also, by way of a change, Champion of Jesus, and formed the resolution, in order to put a crown 12 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. upon his striving after sanctity, to undertake a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He was anxious, however, first of all, in order to .render himself more worthy for such an enterprize, to make preparation by works of penitence of such an extraordinary nature that the whole world might acknowledge that no man had ever before submitted himself to such self-inflicted torture. He selected for the scene of this penance the small town of Manresa, on the road to Barcelona, from the harbour of which he intended ultimately to embark for Jerusalem, and he took himself at once to the local hospital dedicated to the holy Luca, with the intention of living amidst beggars and sick people. He never slept in a bed, not even on straw, but upon the bare naked ground, and subsisted during the whole week on nothing but water and bread, which last he obtained by begging in the streets. He girded himself, too, round the body with an iron chain, with which he daily publicly flogged himself three times ; he no longer made use of any comb or scissors, so that his appearance became perfectly horrible, to a degree that whenever he made his appearance he was surrounded by the street boys, who ran screaming after him, bespattering him with rotten eggs and inud. He endured all this, however, without a murmur, and rejoiced so much more over it, as it was proof to him that his body was now sufficiently unclean to present a worthy vessel for the destruction of sin. He thus conducted himself during several months, until by accident his noble birth was discovered, when he then attracted the attention not only of the street boys, but also of the grown- up people, who hitherto disregarding him as a beggarly and half-crazed vagabond, were now anxious to see a man who, instead of taking his position, as he had a right to do, among the happiest and foremost of the earth, voluntarily made himself the most wretched among men. This, however, was not at all after his mind indeed, such cruel obtrusiveuess concealing deri- sion and scorn under the mask of sympathy annoyed him much ; he therefore betook himself to a neighbouring cave, to which he made his way through thorns and prickly bushes. Here in the cavern he carried on his penances more severe even than before, and often took no food or drink for several days ; when, how- ever, in order that he might not be reproached with the crime of self-murder, he did break his fast, he was content with roots IGNATIUS LOYOLA BECOMES HOLY. IS growing in front of the cave, or with old spoilt bread which he had brought with him from the hospital. In addition to this* he now flogged himself with his chain six times a day instead of three times, prayed for seven long hours, resting on his naked knees, and, as much as he could, deprived himself of sleep in order to fill up as far as possible the measure of his bodily mor- tification. In consequence of all this, as one may well imagine, he assumed the appearance of a perfect martyr, and became so weak that he fell from one fainting fit into another. He was continually afflicted, moreover, with the most frightful remorse of conscience, while he always considered that he still had not done sufficient penance, and his disordered imagination pic- tured to his mind the most insane visions, such as that he saw the devil more than a dozen times, with claws, horns, club feet, and black face; he also beheld the Saviour surrounded by hosts of saints, ready to combat Satan and his underlings. On another occasion, he witnessed the Holy Trinity in the form of three piano notes, closely bound together, hanging upon a stalk ; and to his holy eyes, moreover, the Host was represented transformed into the true God-man. In short, during this period of his life he had the most marvellous apparitions, and whoever wishes to become further acquainted with them may read the book, Holy Exercises, in which they are described, with many other won- derful statements concerning him. He bought this ecstatic mental condition, however, but too dearly, so much so that on one occasion he lay unconscious during eight days, and would certainly have died had he not by accident been discovered by some passers by, and immediately conveyed to the hospital of the town. There he soon recovered, not only bodily but mentally, owing to the good care bestowed upon him. From several conversations which he had with the priests to whom he made confessions, he was at length brought to the conviction that he could not attain sanctification, so well, at all events, solely by severe penance and self-inflicted macerations,, as by leading others to repentance, and especially was it pointed' out that the conversion of the heathen would bring him more quickly and surely to his goal. Penance certainly is of great, worth, his father confessor told him, but preaching, which touches the heart, would be more valuable still, and every 14 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. heatheii won over to Christianity might be regarded as a round in the great ladder by which man may climb up into heaven. This enlightened the mind of the Knight of the Virgin, nnd he ;felt, besides, that in order to be able to undertake the business of conversion of the heathen, one must be possessed of health and strength. For this reason he no longer fasted so strictly, nor did he flog himself so often. He cut his hair and nails and threw aside his coarse smock coat, becoming again a polished man for whom loathing and disgust need no longer be enter- tained. He also declared at the same time that he would not put off any further his pilgrimage to Jersusalem, as his deter- mination was to convert all Turks and Mahomedans. Such changes took place in the mind of Don Innigo Lopez Loyola in the short space of one year, and one sees from this what enormous results may be brought about by a broken leg Jiealed defectively. 15 CHAPTER II. 'THE VICISSITUDES OF THE NEW SAINT AND THE SEVEN FIRST JESUITS. ""To Jerusalem and Palestine for the conversion of the Turks," was now the watchword of the converted Loyola, and, in fact, he betook himself immediately, at the commencement of the year 1523, towards Barcelona, in order to embark from there, first ot all, to Italy. Money had he none, but that did not distress him, for, being already accustomed to beg, he soon collected enough not only to keep himself from starving but to pay his passage- money to Gaeta in the Neapolitan dominions. Having arrived there, he proceeded forthwith further towards Rome, always begging his way, reaching it on Palm Sunday. His first care, -naturally enough, was to perform his devotions in all the stations and churches where pilgrims are wont to resort. He also had the unspeakable good fortune, on Good Friday, the 5th of April, to receive, along with other pilgrims, the blessing of His Holiness Pope Hadrian VI., and, according to some of his biographers, he was permitted to kiss the Pope's foot. Be that as it may, I have only to remark that Innigo continued to support himself by begging, and that he generally passed the night in a miserable shed. On the 12th of April he prosecuted his journey further towards Venice, always, be it understood, on foot, and begging his way. But although he was now so used to this mode of travelling, he this time nearly fell a victim to it, as from his miserable appearance he was universally looked upon as a plague- Ifi HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. stricken person, and on that account not to be allowed to enter any town, seeing that the plague at the time was raging, in a truly unmerciful manner, in Upper Italy. He was, therefore, often compelled not only to sleep in the open air, which proved very prejudicial to his health, but he also found on this account little opportunity of soliciting alms, and accordingly at times endured frightful sufferings from hunger. At last he succeeded in reaching Venice, and contrived to introduce himself through the gate without detention by the sentries. He had no longer any lack of nourishment, as many benevolent hearts are every- where to be found, and fortune favoured him so much that a Spaniard of rank, the Duke Andrea Guitti, obtained for him a free passage in an Italian State galley to Jaffa in Palestine. It nearly went badly, however, with him in this ship, on which he embarked on the 14th of July. Having plenty of spare time during the voyage, he employed it in preaching better manners to the sailors, accustomed as they were to swearing and obscene lan- guage, and, being provoked thereby, they nearly threw him into the sea. But God and the captain of the ship protected him, and he thus reached his intended destination, on the 1st of September, in safety. He was now in Palestine, which he had so long earnestly desired to visit, so, proceeding to Jerusalem with a caravan of pilgrims, he arrived there in good condition on the 4th of Sep- tember. But scarcely had he visited the holy places, and per- formed his devotions at the different spots over which Christ had wandered 1,500 years before, than he hastened to carry out the great aim he was desirous of accomplishing. In other words, he presented himself forthwith to the Provincial Father of the Franciscans, and craved permission to commence his work of preaching and converting. The Provincial, entering into con- versation with the new labourer in the Church's fold, found, to his great astonishment, that the latter was not only completely ignorant of the language and religion of the Turks, but that the same was the case even as regards Christianity itself, that is to- say, in " Theology " (the knowledge which Christ taught) he was quite a tyro. And for such a thoroughly ignorant man, who. had also a perfectly beggarly and vagabond appearance, to believe himself fit for such a weighty undertaking as the education of those who did not believe in the Christian religion, appeared to the Provincial to be the purest nonsense, and so he told Ignatius to THE VICISSITUDES OP THE NEW SAINT. 17 his face. The latter advanced that God might, perhaps, bring about a miracle, and produce such a powerful effect upon the Turks that they might understand his preaching in the Spanish tongue ; but, disregarding such views, the Pro- vincial shook his head still the more vehemently, and ordered Ignatius to return forthwith to Europe. As the latter did not at once acquiesce in this suggestion, he nominated him a beggar missionary, and, under an authority from the Pope to banish all pilgrims who were not compliant to his decrees, he had him con- veyed on a certain small ship bound for Venice, where he safely arrived in January 1524, after a four months' voyage. Thu? ended, in an almost laughable manner, the pilgrimage to Pales- tine; but it had so far done good, that Ignatius obtained a full comprehension of his ignorance, and became convinced how impossible it was for him to do anything as a preacher or con- verter while he had not previously made himself acquainted with the science of Christianity and studied holy theology. He had now already attained his thirty-third year, and had not the slightest idea of even the rudiments of the Latin language. Moreover, the sole property he possessed consisted of the cloak that covered his body, miserable trousers which hardly reached to his knees, and a long frock of ticking, full of holes. How- ever, he disregarded all this, and resolved to return to Barcelona, to commence there his studies. " God and the Holy Mary, whose knight I am," he thought, " will further assist me, and I hope that I will with ease collect sufficient by begging to com- plete my studies." In short, he made his way from Venice, by Genoa, forthwith, but had to encounter many dangers before he arrived there, owing to the war that at that time was going on between Francis I. of France, and Charles V., Emperor of Germany and King of Spain. Among other adventures, he was taken prisoner by the Spaniards on suspicion of being a spy, and treated to the scourge. When at length he reached Genoa, he there had the good fortune to be provided by the commander of the Spanish galleys, a former acquaintance, Rodrige Portundo, with a free passage upon a ship, and he arrived safe and sound at Barcelona without further mishap. Now began a new period in the life of Don Innigo, when he entered upon his studies, and, first of all, he sought out a teacher of the Latin grammar, of the name of Hieronymus 2 18 HISTOR? OF THE JESUITS. Ardabale, and presented himself to him as a scholar. The professor regarded the boy of thirty-three with some astonishment, but took him as a pupil gratis, and Ignatius now sat continually during two long years in the Latin school, and one can easily imagine the difficult position in which he now found himself; while declining and conjugating, how strangely he must have felt in saying amo, ama*, amat ; and how much he was teazed by his class-fellows, twenty-five years his juniors ; and how hard it was for him to contend against his extreme poverty and provide for his daily necessities. He often at this time entertained the idea of running away, and this would certainly have occurred had it not been for two female friends whose acquaintance he had made, a young lady of the name of Isabella Roselli, and a dame, Agnes Pasquali, who encouraged him to persevere in his efforts, and not only so, but also assisted him with money and good advice. Consequently, he did persevere, and in order that he should not again fall behind the other school-boys, he begged the teacher to be sure to give him the rod as much as in their case. In short, he studied Latin with most astonishing zeal, but, at ' the same time, did not forget to exercise himself in the great aim of his existence, i.e. in converting wherever conversion was required; and now and then he obtained good results, as he possessed extremely fascinating powers of persuasion, and felt no restraint in asserting his views in public places, or even in beer-houses. On one occasion, when he was trying to make into honest women the nuns of a certain convent where improper conduct much prevailed, he got such a fearful thrashing from their admirers that he lay for dead on the spot, and only recovered from the effects after several weeks. Nevertheless, he immediately com- menced again to preach as soon as he got well, as he entertained the firm conviction that this ill-treatment was only a trial that God had laid upon him. After two years' study of the Latin grammar, Ignatius con- sidered that he was now sufficiently advanced to pass over to the study of Philosophy and Theology, and on that account he forthwith, in the year 1526, installed himself in the town of Alkala, where, shortly before, Cardinal Ximines had established a high school. He found these studies much more difficult than that of the Latin language, and as he, at the same time, attended the lectures on Logic, Metaphysics, and Theology, for three THE VICISSITUDES OF THE NEW SAINT. 19 hours daily in each department, it created such a confusion in his head that he learned hardly anything. As regards preaching, begging, and converting, which three functions he knew so well to combine with the most consummate skill, he succeeded so far as to win over three students, and make them do exactly as he did. With them he went daily about the streets of Alkala, partly begging and partly preaching, and in order to make themselves more conspicuous they dressed alike in long grey frieze gowns of the coarsest description, which they bound round their loins with cords. They also wore neither boots nor shoes, but went barefoot, and upon their heads they placed bell-shaped hats, so that God and the world were proclaimed wherever they appeared. In short, they drew the attention of all Alkala upon them, and got the name of " Ensazaladas," that is, the men with the frieze coats, and presently there were a sufficient number of old maids who took advice from them in matters of conscience. Nor is it- astonishing, although there was nothing whatever to justify it, that they began to carry on a commerce in the worship of God, to act the part of Father Confessors, and to preach repentance to those who had no wish for anything of the kind. Whereupon, the ecclesiastics and monks of Alkala became jealous of them, and complained about Ignatius and his companions to the Holy Inquisition. Ignatius, of course, was immediately arrested, and most minutely interrogated, as it was thought he might belong to the notorious heretical sect which went by the name " Los Alumbrados," that is to say, " The Enlightened " (Illuminateri). However, the Vicar-General of Toledo, who conducted the in- vestigation, shortly found that there was certainly nothing enlight- ened about Ignatius, and that although a very good Catholic, he was a Christian deeply steeped in ignorance, and in no way fitted to assume the functions of counsellor in matters of conscience. He therefore forthwith acquitted the accused, who had been falsely charged with heresy, and released him out of prison after six days' detention. On the other hand, he forbad him, however, from preaching any longer, under the penalty of excommuni- cation, until he was completely versed in theology. At the same time, he strongly recommended that the frieze-coated society should at once lay aside their remarkable clothing, so different from that of any Order hitherto existing, and conduct themselves like other students. This was for our Ignatius a 2 * 20 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. rery unpleasant sentence somewhat worse, indeed, than he at first expected. Through the preaching of Ignatius, inviting to repentance, two ladies of distinction belonging to Alkala were brought to the- determination of giving up all their possessions to the poor, to dress like beggars, and to go about from one place of pil- grimage to another, doing nothing else than praying and begging. They, indeed, carried out this determination, and suddenly dis- appeared by night from Alkala, so that their distressed relations were unable to discover where they had gone, though everyone was firmly of opinion that no other but Ignatius could have- been the person who led them astray. He was in consequence at once accused, arrested by the authorities, and thrown into- prison, being kept in the criminal department until both of the ladies, Donna Maria de Bado and Donna Ludovica Belasquez, returned in good health, and pretty well cured of their adven- turous flight on a begging pilgrimage. Under such circumstances, the pious Ignatius could no longer remain in Alkala with any comfort, and therefore he resolved to- remove to Salamanca, another celebrated Spanish university, in order there further to prosecute his studies. In this determina- tion he also persuaded his frieze-coated company to follow him, and, alter all had collected the needful money by begging in a body, they betook themselves to the town in question, in the summer of 1527. Here, too, as far as study was concerned, not much was effected. They employed themselves much more in administering to the sick in the hospitals, in all public places calling upon the people to repentance, using exciting language in so doing. Their sojourn in Salamanca was used only to reproduce the- forbidden scenes of Alkala in a new locality, and it could not be otherwise than that the clergy should once more be grievously offended. The Bishop caused Ignatius to be immediately arrested, and he was kept for twenty-two days in very rigorous seclusion,* and only liberated on his giving a most binding * Ignatius was attached to one of his companions, of the name of Carlisto, by a long heavy iron chain, and this Carlisto must have cut a very extra- ordinary figure, as he was a tall thin man, furnished with an enormous beard ; he carried a knobbed stick, and rejoiced in having a short old jacket, a still shorter tattered pair of trousers, a beggarly pair of half -boots, and an enormous hat. The rest of the Ignatians went barefoot, wearing the long frieze coat as above described. THE VICISSITUDES OF THE NEW SAIHT. 21 promise never again to exercise the functions of the priestly office until he had studied theology during four consecutive years. This decision naturally made the further sojourn of Ignatius in Salamanca as irksome as it had heen in Alkala, and he now bethought himself of coming to the bold determination of betaking himself to the hitherto most celebrated university in the world, viz. Paris. There, in the capital of France, he dared to hope he might be able to carry on his business without molestation, as in it there was neither Inquisition nor a bigoted priesthood. There ruled, indeed, truly academic freedom even for the wildest ecclesiastical eccentricities ; and Francis I., the most free-thinking of monarchs that existed, protected this freedom. He communicated his plan, also, to his companions, who requested him to be their leader ; but being tired of per- petual arrests, and also fearing the long and difficult journey in :a foreign country, they hesitated about it, and even attempted to detain him in Salamanca. He was not, however, to be deterred from his object, and so setting out on foot in the middle of winter, driving before him an ass laden with his books, manu- scripts, and other effects, he arrived safely in the French capital within the first days of February 1528. Don Innigo had now attained the age of thirty- seven, but the professor to whom he presented himself found that he had not mastered yet even the first elements of the sciences, and it was pointed out to him that he must first of all study the Latin language. With this view, he attended the lectures of Mon- taigne, and during eighteen months sat among small school- boys, who often provokingly mocked their older companion. He also perceived that learning was just as difficult here as he had found it at Barcelona, Alkala, and Salamanca, besides which he was obliged to spend a great part of his time in begging ; while, owing to his being a foreigner, the French did not prove to be very liberal to him. Nevertheless, after the conclusion of his year and a half's course of Montaigne's lectures, he passed over to the study of philosophy in the college of St. Barbe (to the holy Barbara), and made such progress, that in the year 1532 he obtained the degree of bachelor, and then in the following year that of Master. The first step in knowledge had now been reached, but the principles of holy theology he had yet to 22 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. master; to this his patience had not yet extended, but he pre- ferred attending some less important lectures given by the Jacobins.* As has been previously stated, the study of the sciences was never the object of Ignatius. He had no desire to excel through his knowledge, and only wished to learn as much as might enable him to carry out his business of conversion. That was and continued to be his main object. The conversion, especially of the heathen, to Christianity, as well as also the calling to repentance of baptized Christians, chastising himself and despising all worldliness and resemblance to his former self these were his aims. He never lost sight of these objects, either while with Montaigne or at St. Barbe, and in the latter establishment he carried out his zeal for conversion so far, that he induced a part of his fellow-students, instead of assisting at the prescribed dis- putation after public worship, to prosecute with him exercitia spirilualia, i.e. to pray with him and to fast and flogt themselves. For such conduct, however, he narrowly escaped receiving a slight public flogging before all the students, and only the cir- cumstance of his having arrived at the age of forty saved him from this disgrace. Naturally enough, moreover, he was not satisfied only to- exercise the work of conversion himself, but, as at Alkala and Salamanca, he did his best to obtain coadjutors, that he might work with them in common, and share with them his studies and devotions, his griefs and joys. In the selection of his com- panions he now, however, became much more particular, for circumstances had arisen which henceforward exercised a great and, indeed, overpowering influence over his whole course of action. About this time a new spirit came over men's minds, which shook the Papacy to its foundation, and threatened to overthrow the whole Catholic faith hitherto subsisting. Luther, Zwingle, * Most of the biographers friendly to the Jesuits affirm, indeed, that Ignatius Loyola also obtained in Paris the degree of Doctor of Theology, but the most minute inspection of the University register from 1520 to 1537 disproves this. t These spiritual exercises (exercitia gpiritualia) are more fully detailed in the book already mentioned, bearing the title Liber Exercitiorum Spirituafium. Ignatius attached great importance thereto, and required, them to be thoroughly studied. THE VICISSITUDES OF THE NEW SAINT. 23 and other reformers now raised their powerful voices, and as a Catholic author expresses it, " invited peoples and princes to a great hunt of the Roman Church." Almost the whole of Germany answered the cry, and even England and Switzerland, as well as the Scandinavian countries, did the same. Italy, too, lent an ear to the seductive voice, and France was not without its many thousands who hailed it with loud acclamations. In short, the Reformation threatened a great, the greatest part, indeed, of the Catholic world, and the downfall of Rome seemed to be inevit- able. Of all this, so long as Loyola had been in Spain, he had heard nothing, and if this spirit was not entirely quiescent south of the Pyrenees, it only prevailed in the higher regions, and the common people, properly so called, among whom Loyola moved, were not infected by it. Moreover, the Inquisition exercised special care that it should soon be driven away, and that the Reformation should never take firm root under the sceptre of the Most Catholic King. Very different, however, was its progress in France, only too much infected, and especially so in Paris, where even several professors of the university favoured the daring views of Luther. The eyes of the out-and-out Roman Catholic Ignatius were now thoroughly opened, and an unequalled panic seized upon him on account of this terrible perversity which had taken possession of mankind. But he was not content to rest satisfied with panic and disgust; naturally enough, he, the Knight of Mary and of her Son Jesus Christ, was compelled to fight for them in every way, and to endeavour to the utmost of his power to stem the pestilence fast spreading from Germany. He therefore resolved to denounce to the proper authorities all heretics, whether public or private, and made him- self a spy among all circles in which he moved. He soon, saw, however, that, whatever trouble he gave himself, and whatever were the results of bis spying, still the effects were comparatively so small, that more powerful means must be employed. What, then, he asked himself, must these be ? This much appeared certain, that the innumerable hordes of Benedictines, Dominicans, Franciscans, Minorites, or whatever else they might be called, through which Rome had hitherto swayed the hearts of men, had now lost their influence, and their begging sacks hung about them empty ; the remaining 24 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. clergy, too, owing to their ignorance, dissoluteness, and shame- lessness, were even more thoroughly despised than the bare- footed monks, and it was no longer possible to awaken from the grave any faith in them. New armour must therefore be found if help was to be given armour of quite a different kind, of quite a different appearance, of quite a different power, than that borne hitherto by the souls' counsellors, and he himself must don that armour he himself must act as general-in-chief. At first sight the thought did not appear so clear to him, but it became more and more so the more he reflected upon this infectuous heresy, convincing him that the object in life of himself and his chosen associates should not merely be the conversion of the heathen, or even less the calling of Christians to repentance, but that to these must also be conjoined at the same time the waging war on the heretical world. He thought himself Jesus Christ (this may be read in the book of Spiritual Exercises, and gathered from Peter Juvenez, who was intimate with Ignatius), as the generalissimus of heaven, who with angels and saints takes the field against the devil, thundering down upon the kingdom of hell; and after this model he wished to form upon earth an army of spiritual knights, whose supreme head should be Jesus Christ in heaven above, in order to over- come the devil of this world the heretic. As this was his object, it was his desire, as formerly in Alkala and Salamanca, to select from his best neighbours, associates who would be pre- pared to follow him. Formerly, it was sufficient for such as declared themselves ready as sheep of Christ to castigate their bodies, as he did, and to invite the rest of the world to a similar life ; now, however, it was a question concerning the warriors of Christ, and of such warriors, indeed, who would have sufficient spirit and strength to overcome the well-armed Reformers with their assistants and followers. He had cause, therefore, to be particular in the selection of his associates, and, indeed, to be most cautious. The first whom he won over to his views respecting a spiritual knighthood for the conversion of men, and the prosecution of war against the heretical world, was Pierre le Fevre, more pro- perly Peter Faber, a native of a place in Savoy, in the neigh- bourhood of Geneva, a youth possessed of a learned and sagacious intellect, and at the same time full of glowing imagination, who THE VICISSITUDES OF THE NEW SAINT. 25 might well allow himself to be but too easily inspired with a grand idea. Much more difficult was it, however, with Francis Xavier, from Spanish Navarre, who not only belonged to a powerful noble family, but who, already at that time professor in the college of Beauvais, had future claims to the highest ecclesiastical honours. On that account he began at first by ridiculing all that Loyola preached to him about his proposed spiritual knight- hood, and plainly declared to him that he looked upon it as a mere extravagance. But the man had two weak sides, namely, unlimited ambition, and also a strong inclination to follow a loose kind of life, and on these two points Loyola well knew how to lay hold of him. In other words, he placed his money bag, which, owing to the benevolence of high patrons, was pretty well filled at that period, at the disposal of the extravagant pro- fessor, and he at the same time pictured to the latter such a brilliant future, that he could no longer resist, and at length .gave himself up, heart and soul, to the idea.* Inasmuch as Peter Faber and Francis Xavier were looked upon in the university of Paris with great consideration, other : students as well as professors turned their attention to the efforts of Ignatius, and of their own accord enlisted themselves as his assistants. Among these, however, he only took four into his association, and, naturally enough, those he considered to be most worthy, or rather the most suitable for his purpose, namely, Jacob Laynez from the city of Almazan in Castile, certainly a very poor but also a very energetic young man of twenty-one years, shrewd and well-grounded in scientific knowledge ; then the still younger Alphonso Salmeron from Toledo, only eighteen years old, a very able philologian. Further, Nicholas Alphons with his nickname of Bobadilla (after his native place, a small * Some biographers, certainly very friendly disposed to the Jesuits, relate the matter quite differently. According to them, the conversion of Xavier arose from a game at billiards. As Ignatius was paying Xavier a visit one day, the latter proposed playing a game of billiards with him. L/oyola at first declined ; as his friend, however, pressed him further, he accepted the proposal on the condition that whichever of them should lose was to do during a whole month whatever the other prescribed. Xavier ugreed to this, as he was a good player. He, nevertheless, lost ; thereupon Loyola made him during the next four weeks go through a most exciting course of spiritual exercises. Among other things, Ignatius fasted along with the recusant Spaniard during six days, and caused him thereby to see visions, effecting such a change in him by this means, that the hitherto proud man .became at last as a pliant rod in the hands of Ignatius. 26 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. town not far from Valencia), who already gave public lecture* on philosophy, and who was also as powerful with his pen as with his tongue as it were, a worldly knight with his sword and lance ;. lastly, Simon Rodriguez from Azevedo in Portugal, a gloomy fanatic and enthusiast, who embraced the idea of a spiritual, knighthood with exceedingly zealous joy. These were the six associates four Spaniards, one Portu- guese, and one Savoyard whom Loyola selected for the accom- plishment of his designs, as above described and already the immediate future proved that his choice could not have been more judicious or more excellent. The half-crazed or rather quite demented ascetic of Manresa, made wiser by his several, experiences in the course of time, and relieved of several of the notions to which he was inclined, was now changed in many respects. His energy, however, and his iron will he still pos- sessed, and also his enthusiastic fiery zeal had not in the least diminished. On the contrary, with his forty years, his under- standing began to work, and, although with some degree of struggling, it broke out in such a grandiose manner as one would previously have thought to have been quite impossible. To return now to the six chosen associates who formed the nucleus of that great society which gives the title to this book, and which, in a truly incredible short time, spread over every region of the globe, and even down to our own day exercises a decided influence upon mankind. They were, in a word, together with their master the first seven Jesuits, although this denomination was only first applied to them about a couple of years later; so it happened that the University of Paris, which after- wards became the most deadly enemy of their teaching, was the birth-place of this Order the same city and University of Paris from which issued forth for centuries the spirit of freedom and intellectual light. At its commencement the new society appeared of very moderate dimensions ; so much so, that very few Parisians had any conception of its existence. Ignatius designed, it is true, a similar costume for himself and his companions ; but, as burnt children dread the fire, nothing so striking as the former frieze cloaks. Their attire consisted simply of a narrow black cloak which reached down to the ankles, and for head-dress a black broad-brimmed hat similar in form to that of the Spanish THE VICISSITUDES OF THE NEW SAINT. 27 sombueros, while on their feet they wore black leather shoes, there being no question now of bare soles. Moreover it must not be thought that the seven allies formed, as yet, a close society, with laws and statutes of association ; for they merely lived together as brethren, and reciprocally pledged themselves for the future as Spiritual Knights of Christ, that is to say, as mission- aries for the promulgation and extension of the Roman Catholic religion. For this voluntary pledge, however, Ignatius was not satisfied merely with an ordinary promise and a mere shake of the hand ; he required much more than this, he demanded that his associates should not in future harbour any thought of again returning to the world, and, therefore, a formal oath taken in the most solemn manner was imperative. They agreed all seven to assemble on the festival of the Ascension of Mary (J5th August 1534) at day-break, in the Faubourg St. Jacques, and thence ascended the heights of Montmartre and immediately betook themselves to a subterranean chapel situated there, in which, some centuries before, Dionysius, the Areopagite, had been beheaded. This was a dismal kind of grotto, of coarse, rough construction, with bare, dark grey walls dripping with moisture, and quite unadorned with flowers, gold, or precious stones. On the contrary, all appeared here dull and dreary, bare and silent, while hardly a breath of air could penetrate from without ; the lighted tapers emitted a sickly, pale yellow light, which rendered the chapel even more awful in appearance than it might other- wise have seemed. A frightful impression was given by the plain rough stone altar, behind which rose an old ruinous statue which held the head severed from the trunk in its outstretched arms that of the holy Denis. Before this altar the seven men. kneeled, on entering, and muttered their low prayers. Then one of them rose up it was Le Faber, who, alone of all of them, had been already consecrated to the Priesthood and read a solemn mass, after which he administered the Holy Communion. Scarce had this taken place when Ignatius Loyola placed himself before the altar, and swore upon the Bible to lead hence- forth a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience. He swore to- fight to all eternity only for the things of God, of the Holy Mary, and her Son Jesus Christ, as true spiritual knights, as also for the protection of the holy Romish Church and its supreme head, the Pope ; and for the extension of the true faith, among 28 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. unbelievers devoting his life thereto. " Ad majorcm dei gloriam" (to the exaltation of the glory of God), he exclaimed, as he had finished taking this oath, and his wild piercing eyes shot like lightning out of his leaden-coloured haggard counten- ance. After him the six others took the same oath, and each exclaimed at the finish, " Ad majorem dei gloriam." On the termination of this ceremony, however, they did not at once leave the chapel, but remained shut up in it until late in the evening, muttering their prayers, and without a bit of food or a drop of water having passed their lips. As they at last rose up from their knees, Ignatius Loyola marked upon the altar three Jarge capital letters ; these were I. H. S. '* What do these signify ? " demanded the others. " They signify," answered Ignatius, with solemn utterance, "Jesus Hominum Salvator" (Jesus the Saviour of Mankind), " and they shall henceforth be the motto of our institution." From that time these words were inscribed on the banners of the Society to indicate that the members of the same desire to be considered Assistants of the Saviour Jesus. 29 CHAPTER III. LOYOLA IN ROME. THE reader has now been made acquainted with the origin of the- Society of Jesus. Still, the purpose of Loyola and his com- panions, after taking the oath at Montmartre, was not to make off at once and commence the conversion of the heathen as well as the hitherto disbelievers and heretics ; the rather, in order not to have the regular clergy again going against them, they wished to remain in Paris until they had completed their theological studies and been ordained priests. From this good resolution,, however, Ignatius himself, after a short time, was again com- pelled to depart ; for, through joy at the successful progress of his undertaking, he again chastised his body as cruelly as he had formerly done at Manresa, and weakened his constitution so much in consequence, that the physicians declared that if he wished to be restored to health he must at once resort to a warmer climate, and go either to the south of France or to Spain. He chose the latter country ; not so much, however, from attachment to his own native land, as that in this way he might have the opportunity of arranging the family affairs of his two associates, Laynez and Salmeron, who would otherwise have been obliged to return themselves to Spain on that account. This latter contingency he wished to prevent at any price, and simply for the reason that there might be danger that their exertions for the holy knighthood and missionary zeal might be damaged by the influence of their kinsfolk. He quitted Paris, 30 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Consequently, in the spring of 1535, after a seven years' residence there; not, however, without making proper provision for the further prosperity of the Brotherhood ; he especially nominated Le Fevre, as next senior to himself, to be interim director. Moreover, he arranged that the six should leave Paris at the end of 1537, in order to meet him in Venice, as by that time theology would be done with, and all studies relinquished ; while, again, the latter city would be the best place for the holy knighthood to embark to begin the conversion of the unbelievers in Palestine. Ignatius, travelling by way of Loyola, was received by his relations and kinsfolk with much honour, and he was more especially esteemed by the common people, whom he knew how to attract by his zealous preaching of morality and repentance. Moreover, had not his time been spent in the hospitals of Aspezia rather than in his paternal castle, where the most costly food was always obtainable at the table of his relatives ? had he not, too, supported himself by begging his bread from door to door, a proceeding which produced a powerful effect upon the populace ? He thus soon obtained a great reputation throughout the whole neighbourhood, and at the same time visibly improved in health. But the remaining year and a half he had to pass in Spain soon elapsed, and the period upon which he had fixed for the meeting in Venice came upon him before he knew what he was about. He consequently now transacted the business he had undertaken for Laynez and Salmeron as quickly as possible with great skill, and betook himself, in the autumn of 1.036, to Valentia, whence he embarked for Genoa, and from there proceeded in a pilgrimage on foot towards Venice, where he arrived on the 8th January 1537, and joined his associates; not, however, without having met with many adventures and dangers on the way. All had, as we have already seen, the intention of proceeding to Jerusalem, in order to turn the whole of the Turks into Christians. They had left Paris a few weeks sooner than was intended, as at that time a war was impending between France and Spain, which would have made the journey to Italy impossible, and one can thus well imagine how immensely pleased was Ignatius at their happy meeting. Besides, what rejoiced him still more was that they did not come alone, but brought along with them three other associates, viz. Claud LOYOLA IN ROME. 31 "Lejay from the diocese of Geneva, John Cordur from the city of Embrun, and Pasquier Brouet from the diocese of Amiens, all young and very apt theologians, whom Le Fevre had won over for the Society. The little band of holy knights. now con- sisted of ten or, rather, of thirteen as Ignatius, during his sojourn in Venice, had succeeded in picking up three more associates. I allude to the brothers Stephen and Jacob Eguia, two Navarese of very good birth and education, as also Jacob Hosez, a very sagacious man, and at the same time a sworn enemy of heresy, who, however, died soon afterwards, to the great grief of the Society. While, as it was now in the midst of winter, the departure for Palestine was for the moment inadmissible, Ignatius divided his associates between two hospitals, " The Incurable " and the " St. John and Paul," to which they devoted themselves in such a manner that their reputation spread all over Venice, and, indeed, far and wide, beyond it. They received not only ordinary patients, but also especially lepers upon whom attendants would no longer wait even for high remuneration. Nor did they hesitate, even when there was danger of infection, to wash out the most disgusting sores, or to suck them out with their mouths when it was necessary so to do. Indeed, they took into their own beds some incurably afflicted persons who had 'been, owing to the hopelessness of their cases, turned out of the Lazareth ; and so it happened that the Jesuit baud sacrificed themselves for the good of suffering humanity, and it was no wonder then that the people became enthusiastic about them. In spite of all this, his sojourn in Venice still nearly brought a heavy misfortune upon Ignatius. His zeal did not allow him to remain satisfied with merely nursing at the sick-bed, but he also engaged in preaching, and the people flocked in crowds when he appeared in the market-place or other public resort in order to summon the passers-by to repentance and holiness. This success enraged not a little the ecclesiastics of Venice, who spread abroad a report secretly that Ignatius was a runaway heretic from France and Spain, who now wished to poison Italy with his teaching. But they were not satisfied with themselves doing this ; they further drew the attention of the Tribunal of the Inquisition upon him so much so that it was to be feared that he would again be shut up in prison, as he had formerly 32 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. been in Alkaln and Salamanca. In this critical moment Ignatius by his intelligence completely secured his safety, knowing welF by means of flattery how to procure a powerful patron in John Peter Caraffa, Archbishop of Theate,* who understood how to give this unfortunate affair such an advantageous turn, that the Papal Nuncio, Jerome Veralli, decided in favour of the accused. In this way Ignatius escaped from harm this time, but it taught him the lesson that in order to preach with impunity he must get himself consecrated as priest ; and he determined forthwith to use the high patronage of Caraft'a and Veralli for the attain- ment of this object. He was not fully qualified in theology, it is true ; while several of his associates were in the same position. He had not the right to demand his ordination from the Pope, but, on the other hand, might not the latter accord his per- mission thereto through his supreme grace, in order to obtain which he immediately despatched three of the most prominent among the Society Xavier, Laynez, and Le Fevre to Rome, well provided with letters of recommendation from Caraffa and Veralli. In fact, the deputation met the most favourable recep- tion from the then Pope, Paul III., and having explained to him the design of the brotherhood for the conversion of the Turks in Palestine, they not only obtained permission for the ordination of all those associates who had not taken holy orders, but were also favoured with the Papal blessing, and a present of sixty- ducats as a contribution towards defraying the expenses of the journey to Palestine. This was, indeed, almost more than could have been expected, and Ignatius, with redoubled zeal, took upon himself the " patronage " of the Institution ; but above every- thing he at once availed himself of the accorded permission, and had himself and his associates consecrated as priests by the Bishop of Arba. In the spring of the year Loyola and his friends were now prepared to carry out their previous arrangement of proceeding * This Archbishop of Theate, afterwards Pope Paul IV., was the same who at that time founded the Order of Theatiners, an order of regular priests, whose task it was to improve the scandalous lives of the priesthood,, and it is affirmed that it was the wish of the illustrious man to get Ignatius to join the brotherhood, but that he declined the request. This, however, I venture to doubt, as one does not generally give a refusal to a man whose- favour one wishes to obtain, and therefore it seems much more probable that Peter Caraffa put no such proposal before Ignatius. At that time the latter thought but of the conversion of the heathen, a project of which the Archbishop heartily approved. LOYOLA IN HOME. 33 by sea to Jerusalem, but the war which had just broken out between the Venetian .Republic and the Ottoman Porte inter- rupted communication with the Holy Land, and the contemplated journey had to be deferred, at least for the present. What was now to be done ? was the question. To indulge in idleness and depend on begging for a living ? or to continue to devote themselves to the service of the hospitals of Venice, as they had done for several months past ? No. This would have been far too narrow a sphere for men like them ; and had they not obtained the long-desired priesthood, which gave them the right to devote themselves entirely to the cure of men's souls the right to preach, and by preaching to convert ? Yes, truly it would be a sin not to make use of that right, and thus Ignatius resolved with all his associates to proceed to work immediately. Yet not quite immediately, but after a forty days' preparation by prayer, fasting, and self-castigation. Ignatius then divided his society thus : He himself, along with Le Fevre and Laynez, established his domicile at Vicenzia ; whilst Xavier, Cordur, Hosez, and the two Eguia, went to Treviso ; Lejay and Eodri- guez to Bassano ; Brouet with Bobadilla, however, proceeded to Verona ; in which several cities they all began preaching on the same day and, indeed, at the same hour. I say " preaching," but whoever fancies that this word preaching is to be taken in its usual acceptation would fall into a great error. Loyola and his companions, for instance, would place themselves in some open place, or at the corner of some street where there happened to be much thoroughfare, and mounting upon a stone or barrel, or something of the kind would swing their hats round in the air, gesticulating with hands and feet, and shouting out individual words with a loud scream, so that the people passing involuntarily stood still. When at length they had succeeded in gathering together a gaping crowd, they proceeded to harangue the same in a truly stormy manner, exhorting them to repentance and contempt of all worldly things, and on the other hand describing the advantages of a saintly life, and delineating the charms of Paradise for the godly, so that no one could dissent from the fiery eloquence and glowing enthusiasm of the speaker. On the other hand there was much that was comical in their discourses, for there were few who understood anything of the Italian language, and they consequently poured 3 34 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. forth a strangely variegated mixture of Latin, Spanish, French, and Italian fragments. Notwithstanding all this, however, their appearance was not altogether without effect ; and often the most wicked scoffers, after listening for a time, ended by beating their breasts and repenting of their ways. But this effect was more to be attri- buted to their gestures and gesticulations, and to their fantastical appearance, than to the apparent earnestness of the words they uttered. In this manner Ignatius and his associates conducted them- selves for more than a year, and, as I have already mentioned, with results of which they might have indeed been proud. During the period, however, of this preaching, they had the bitter experience of finding that the poison of heresy was more deeply rooted in the hearts of men than superficially seemed to be the case, and, deeply impressed thereby, Loyola again asked himself the question, as he had done once before in Paris, in what way this fundamental evil might be checked. " The Romish Church, the Papacy, and the Pope himself, are all in the greatest danger," he exclaimed, " and the whole religious fabric must collapse, owing to its former supports being now thoroughly worm-eaten, unless some entirely new foundation pillars can be found." Continually did he go on further to investigate this theme, and constantly and often did he converse upon it with the cleverest, most cultivated, and most clear-sighted of his associates, namely with Jacob Laynez, uniil at last he came to the fixed determination of placing himself completely at the disposal of the Pope for the protection of the Papacy. Consequently, in the autumn of 1537, the whole of the brethren were summoned to assemble at Vicenza for a great consultation, before which assemblage Loyola detailed his new project with uncommonly convincing power. " The journey to Palestine would indeed be a most meri- torious work, and you ought never to lose sight of the aim and object for which you have bound yourselves the aim, namely, of the conversion of the heathen ; but what would be still more profitable would be to save the Papacy (or, as he termed it, Christianity) out of the clutches of the dominion of Heresy ; and with this end in view it concerns you all, above everything, to follow out what you have already sworn at Montmartrp You LOYOLA IN ROME. 35 ought to consider the reason why Providence has just at this time allowed war to break out between the Turks and Venetians. It is certainly on no other ground than to hinder the journey to Palestine, because you are destined for a somewhat greater career." And Ignatius closed his animated speech as follows : " Let us, therefore, offer our services to the Holy Father, and tell him that we are determined to raise a mighty army of holy knights, whose sole aim and thought should be directed to over- throw all enemies of Rome, under the banner of the Saviour." These words told, and they not only all declared themselves favourable to the proposal of Ignatius, but they became enthusi- astic in the idea of forming a " Phalanx Jesu " (" a society of Jesus warriors "), as the knightly-born Ignatius expressed it. Accordingly, this resolution was at once concluded, that Loyola himself, with Laynez and Le Fevre, should forthwith proceed to Rome, and throw themselves at the foot of the Pope ; the rest, however, undertook the duty of making tours through Italy, with the object of enlisting as many retainers as possible, in order that the company to be placed at the disposal of the Pope should be a really considerable one. From this period the affairs of Ignatius and his associates took a completely new turn ; up to the present time it had been merely a small missionary band, but it now became a great society with a distinct programme and fixed statutes. In other words, it was a question of a new Order, which, under the title of *' Phalanx Jesu," should flash forth as the light of the world. For the present, at any rate, Loyola, on his arrival in Rome, in October, in speaking about his undertaking, avoided making use of the expression " Order," as it was well known that all Orders were just then looked upon with no friendly eye at the Vatican, on account of their evident inutility ; on the other hand, h-e busied himself all the more with the principles he had laid down at Venice, to look about for well-wishers and for friends of all descriptions, in order through them to attain his end more surely even though it should be by bye-ways. Among these, I must mention particularly an old acquaintance, the celebrated Parisian Professor and Doctor of Theology, Pater Ortiz, who, by command of Charles V., was now in Rome, playing a prominent part at the Romish Court. It was, indeed, this Ortiz who presented Ignatius to Pope Paul III. The latter, too, receiving with great 3 * 36 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. favour the offer made of forming a " Jesus '* company for the- purpose of combating heresy, not only permitted Loyola himself to preach in all the churches of Rome, hut also accorded to Le Fevre and Laynez two theological professorial chairs in the College della Sapienza. The spell was thus broken, or, at least, the first step thereto was secured. Through Ortiz, Ignatius was made acquainted with Cardinals Gastpar Contarini and Vincenz Caraffa, two extremely sagacious, though not exactly holy, men, and both, likewise, highly approved of the notion of a "Jesus " association. They were also of opinion that above all things the idea ought to be more clearly defined, and a formal statute drawn up for the Society about to be founded, for when it is known exactly what is wished one is in a much better position to render effectual service More especially, they added, the new Society must not in any way be a copy of any of the previously existing Orders, but it must have its foundation on something that had never before been thought of, the advantage of which to the Papacy should be palpable, otherwise it would not be worthy of being placed before the Pope for confirmation. In consequence of this, Loyola immediately called together all his associates, as well as those more recently added, to delibe- rate on the proposed statute for the Society, and the assembly took place in the beginning of the year 1538. However, weeks passed, and, indeed, months, before they came to any conclusion on the subject, in spite of there being now among the members many who need yield to no one in acuteness of understanding. Perhaps, indeed, their invention might have met with no success at all had it not been for the assistance of men of higher stand- ing, such as Dr. Ortiz and the two Cardinals above named, and it cannot be affirmed that the principles of Jesuitism emanated entirely, or even for the most part, from Ignatius Loyola. The idea of the same, the conception to form a " Phalanx Jesu/' originated, indeed, from him, and from him alone, but with the accomplishment of this idea, the shaping of this conception, and its further development, many other heads co-operated, and it is a pity that in those days nothing like stenography existed, for then, doubtless, we would have been furnished with a report of the long and earnest consultation, and we might have then known exactly what, and how much, might be ascribed to each of the LOYOLA IN BOMB. 37 contributors and participators therein, as regards the conclusions arrived at. But while the above fact is undeniable, as must be admitted even by those most ardently favourable to the Jesuits, it must not be forgotten, on the other hand, that Loyola always remained the very heart and soul of the consultations, and that the final conquest over all the hindrances which had to be over- come in the foundation of the Order must be attributed alone to his fiery zeal, and indomitable untiring force of will. It may well be imagined that Loyola and his comrades, by their peculiar costume, and still more their extraordinary manner of haranguing the public, excited great attention, and obtained, among a large portion of the inhabitants, a certain degree of celebrity. Already this stirred up the envy of others, and especially among the lower classes of ecclesiastics, and those parties complained, with more or less justice, that the newly-baptised "Black Cloaks," as they were called in Rome, were encroaching on their preserves. Still more angrily behaved the monks ; and as it became rumoured about that the object of Ignatius was to found a new Order, their rage no longer knew any bounds. " What ! " cried they, and amongst the foremost of the dissentients were the Augustines and Dominicans, who had hitherto been accustomed to appro- priate to themselves the fattest morsels among the people ; " What ! Our table, through this detestable Reformation, and the enlightenment extending among the people, has already become much diminished, and now the last remains are to be snatched from us by a parcel of wandering vagabonds ! No ! this must not be allowed, if life and death depend upon it ! " In short, the above-named monks immediately set to work, and used every endeavour to ruin Ignatius and his adherents. They especially spread about reports that these "Black Cloaks" were secret partisans of the new doctrine of Luther and the Reformers, and called upon the Inquisition to interfere and to protest against these dangerous emissaries, who had already succeeded, through lying, in escaping the hands of justice in Spain. In consequence of such-like complaints, an investigation was insti- tuted, and Ignatius narrowly escaped from being arrested ; however, in this respect, that is, in regard to heresy, no one could be more innocent, and thus it was no difficult matter for him to clear himself entirely from the result of those made-up .stories. Not only so, but on the 18th December 1538, he 38 HI8TOKY OF THE JESUITS. succeeded in obtaining formal public satisfaction through a judicial judgment upon this untiring persecution, which proved to be extremely humiliating for his accusers, but which turned out very honourably for himself. From this time forth the credit of Ignatius daily increased considerably, and he naturally hastened to take advantage energetically of the same, to attract and gain over new patrons and retainers. He thus won over, among others, Franciscus Strada, a man distinguished for his learning ; also Pietro Codaci, a superior officer and relation of the Pope, who placed his whole very considerable property at the disposal of the Society ; and, lastly, Quirino Garzoni, who evacuated one of his own houses, near the Sante Trinita, at the foot of the Quirinal Hill, for Ignatius and his associates to live therein. And not only among the rich and noble did Loyola seek to acquire proselytes ; he speculated also especially upon obtaining the friendship of the great mass of the people, and with this purpose it was his first principle to give assistance to the poor and suffering, by aid of contributions obtained by begging from the benevolent rich. He did this especially in the winter of 1538-39, when a dearth spread vast misery in Rome, and on that account one can well imagine how greatly esteemed the " Black Cloaks " were among the common people. When, such was the case, when high and low at the same time sang the praises of Ignatius, how could it be otherwise than that the Pope's attention should more and more be directed towards him by whose efforts it was mainly owing that the Order was founded. In this locality, too, Loyola succeeded in obtaining no trifling results and reputation in the conversion of the Jews, of whom there were very many at that time in Rome, some of them being very rich. By what means, however, was this accomplished ? Among others, by an order obtained from the Pope, that no physician could be allowed access to the sick bed of a Jew until the latter had been brought to confession with the view of his embracing Christianity. Ignatius, therefore, so to speak, brought a knife to the Jews' throats in order to convert them, and from- this a conclusion may easily be drawn as to the spirit which influenced the Society of Jesus. The founder of the new Order also now became conscious that, with the view of placing himself in the ascendant, he must, above everything, endeavour to gain the favour of the Roman ladies, and especially that class o LOYOLA IN ROME. #9 them whose name is not usually mentioned in polite society. About the time in which our history runs, there reigned in Rome, as was well known, an almost unbounded state of licen- tiousness ; indeed, it appeared as if nearly all the profligate women in the whole of Italy had assembled there. All who had money at their command, whether lay or clerical, married or unmarried, young or old, kept their own mistresses ; and there were not a few who were scarcely even satisfied with two or three. There was no question but that this shamelessness existed concealed behind the walls of the houses ; but these ladies, too, were to be seen flouncing about the streets by day as well as by night, and in all pro- cessions they were present, especially in the churches, where they placed themselves in the most conspicuous places in their half-naked beauty. Moreover there swarmed about the residence of the followers of Christ a still more despicable class of the female creation, who went by the name of common women ; and as a large number of strangers was wont to resort annually to Rome, thousands upon thousands continued to support a miserable existence by the barter of their bodily charms. This, certainly, was a great scandal ; but, whilst in other large cities the state of things in this respect was no better, and as in Rome, previous to its becoming the capital of Christendom, there had been periods in its history of much greater profligacy, this discreditable state of things would have been winked at in high places, had it not been that Luther was then preaching the regeneration of Christendom, and that all his followers were pointing the finger of scorn at the old city of the Csesars. Indeed, this latter generally received in Germany the name which Luther assigned it, " The Whore of Babylon" Even in those countries in which the Romish faith flourished unim- peached, this appellation was universally accepted by acclamation. Such a scandalous thing must be rectified if the greatest injury to the Pope and his dominion was to be averted, and Paul III. convoked a commission of cardinals, whose task it was to find a remedy for the evil. The commission assembled and held weekly meetings during many months. The means desired, however, were not to be found, excepting the sensible proposal to expel by force the disreputable females out of the city ; this plan, however, had to remain in abeyance, for otherwise a revolution among the people would have to be faced. Liceu- 40 HISTOBY OF THE JE80IT8. tiousness continued, therefore, to rule the roost, and the Princes of the Church found themselves in the most wretched dilemma. Ignatius Lbyola now came on the scene, and what the cardinals, invested with the fullest powers, failed to accomplish, he alone, quite unaided, completely effected. What were, then, these means which he proposed to himself to use ? Simple enough ; it was through the influence which he knew how to bring to bear upon the minds of those poor wretched beings. First of all he collected among the Roman ladies of rank sufficient money to found a cloister for converted sinners of the female sex, and as he at the same time named these ladies patronesses of the said cloister, they contributed largely through mere vanity, and collected together considerable sums. A suitable building was thus soon erected, and very ornamentally and invitingly arranged as to its interior economy. It was baptised with the beautiful title " To the holy Martha." A regular nunnery, however, it was not the intention of Loyola to make it ; but the future inmates were to have the right to leave the home again whenever it pleased them to do so, and if they found that it did not suit them to remain in it. They were, therefore, on that account, not bound by any kind of oath, nor were they obliged to live according to any certain rules. In short, all restraint was from the first pro- hibited, and it was rendered, on the contrary, exceedingly attractive by offering the prospect of an easy existence without the trouble of work. Having now brought the matter so far, he commenced not so much openly as secretly to make interest for his new institution, and he soon won over some dozens of the poorest and most forsaken of those lost damsels on whom he forth- with conferred the pompously sounding title of " Congregation of the grace of the Holy Virgin." To enter, in our days, an asylum or refuge for fallen damsels, would have awakened a feeling of natural timidity ; but by the entrance into the " Con- gregation of the Holy Virgin," those miserable beings considered themselves raised instead of lowered, and each of the poor creatures looked upon herself as a penitent Magdalen. But this was the least part of the business. As soon as the Martha cloister became in some degree peopled, Loyola began to organise processions of his repentant beauties, and displayed in them such splendour that all Rome went down upon their knees as soon as he appeared in the streets with his remarkable LOYOLA IN ROME. 41 following. Immediately preceding them marched a troop of beautiful children, who swung about smoking censers, exhaling delicious perfumes, or throwing a shower of flowers on all sides over the gaping crowd. Then came three gigantic men, each of whom carried a still more gigantic banner. Upon the first was delineated, richly ornamented with rubies, the three capital letters I. H. S., i.e. Jesus Hominum Salvator ; upon the second sparkled the image of the mother of God, with the inscription, " Congregation of the grace of the Holy Virgin," and lastly, upon the third, shone the representation of a wonderfully beautiful penitent, over whom a martyr's crown was held by three angels. Behind the banner-bearers followed Ignatius, surrounded by his associates, all clad in closely-fitting black cloaks reaching down to the ankles, and broad-brimmed black hats bent down on all the four sides, similar to what the Jesuits wear at the present time. Behind Ignatius marched the penitents, that is to say, the inmates of the cloister of Saint Martha, not, however, in sombre penitential garments, but gaily enveloped in white muslin cloaks finely ornamented, with flowers in their hair, and strings of pearls round their necks. The younger members of the Society of Jesus, brought up the close of the procession, with garlands of roses in their hands, and looks cast humbly on the ground, all singing together the hymn, " Veni Creator Spiritus," " Come Grod the Holy Ghost," or some other suitable song. In this manner did Ignatius appear in the streets of Rome, with his " Congregation of the grace of the Holy Virgin," and before the palaces of each ot the cardinals, and especially before the dwellings of the noble patronesses a short halt was made, at which both the former as well as the latter were not a little flattered. The result was that the inventor of these processions received encouragement from -all quarters for his undertaking, which prospered more and more, -notwithstanding the ridicule thrown upon it by the enlightened Romans themselves. Indeed, certain of the beautiful sinners became so enthusiastic on behalf of the new order of things that the Cloister of the Holy Martha was soon filled from top to bottom, and the name of Ignatius resounded throughout all countries, as care was taken to noise it abroad that he had succeeded in turning all the abandoned women and mistresses of Rome into pious penitents. 42 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. When, however, this work of Loyola was more closely looked into, the nimbus pretty well vanished, and, properly speaking, no- real moral worth could be attributed to it. In the first place, only a very small number of ladies who had made themselves notorious entered into the Congregation of the grace of the Holy Virgin, since it appeared that the whole number comprised in the Cloister of the Holy Martha did not exceed 300 penitents, and the conversion of the Roman world of profligacy, if not quite inconsiderable, became reduced to very small proportions. Secondly, there was really no question of any true conversion,, that is as to a change and amendment of the moral perception in any single one of the penitents, whose repentance appeared to consist in nothing else than mere pompous show, and in the outward confession of past sins, upon which absolution imme- diately followed. Nevertheless, Loyola thereby gained two uncommon advantages ; first of all he put the holy Father under great obligation to him, it being trumpeted forth to the world that the whole profligacy of Home had gone over into the cloister; while in the next place, in consequence thereof, the- severe reproaches of the adherents of the Reformation regarding the licentiousness of the high ecclesiastics ol the Papal Court were capable of refutation; added to this, hearing the confessions of so many profligates and mistresses, put him in possession of such a mass of secrets that the information he thus obtained was of extraordinary value to him. As for example, it could not be easy for a cardinal or any other high personage to dare to oppose him in his projects relating to his Order, when such persons were conscious that in all probability Loyola was initiated into the story of their amours and former misdoings with this or that Donna, Olympia, or Julia ! Moreover, what influence had not these beautiful sinners over their lovers when the former, as not unfrequently happened, at a future time returned again to the world from the cloister of Saint Martha ? What power did it not put in the hands of a father confessor ? Loyola, therefore, was never in his life engaged in such a cunning business as in adopting the profligate women of Rome, and from that time forward all his scholars and associates have taken trouble, above everything, to win for themselves the lair sex, whether married or otherwise. In this manner Loyola obtained for himself a firm footing in Rome, and us he now LOYOLA IN ROME. 43 thought that he had sufficiently won over to his views such as had influence with the Pope, in August 1539, he had the statutes of his Order, so far as then prepared, laid before His Holiness at the time residing on the Tiber. This was done by Cardinal Con- tarini, who was very favourably affected towards Ignatius. The Pontiff charged Father Thomas Badia, who at that time held the office of High Chamberlain (Magistrum Sacri Palatii), and who afterwards became Cardinal, to read through the document ; but as the latter extolled it so much, he took it into his own hand, and after carefully examining it, full of astonishment and admiration, exclaimed, " Digitus Dei est hie ! " " The finger of God is here." He forthwith summoned Ignatius before him in September 1539, and, after loading him with praise, informed him that there was nothing whatever to hinder the ratification of the new Society. Who could now be more joyful than Ignatius ? Still this delight was soon again disturbed on his urging His Holiness to confirm in writing, that is to say, by a Bull, his verbal approval. After further consideration the ruler of Christendom began to entertain some scruples. The Pontifex was of opinion that the matter was far too weighty that he should dare to trust entirely to his own opinion and judgment ; it must rather, as usual with all vital Church questions, be referred first of all to a Commission of Cardinals, and only after a favourable opinion being pronounced upon it by them could the Pope give his final approval. In short, he at once nominated such a Commission, consisting of three of the most distinguished Cardinals. It was thought, however, to be a bad omen that one of the number was the learned, upright, and sagacious Cardinal Bartholomew Guidiccioni, who was well known to be thoroughly unfavourable to the ecclesiastical Orders. From this quarter Ignatius was seized with great alarm as to the fate of his Order ; and that he had good cause for this anxiety the immediate future disclosed. Guidiccioni at once declared the proposed Society to be completely inadmissible, inasmuch as, according to the 4th Synod of Lateran of the year 1215 and the 2nd of Lyons of the year 1274, it was distinctly decided that no new Order could in future be founded. And even were this prohibition of the Church to be set aside, the ratification of this proposed society of Loyola must be relinquished, as envy and jealousy would be aroused thereby among the Orders already existing; 44 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. while, as so much hatred and disputation already reigned ram- pant in the Church, it was most desirable that all occasion fbr new conflicts should most carefully be avoided. " Rather abolish the Orders entirely," said the Cardinal at the close of his judgment, " or reduce their overwhelming number, than create an accession of monks who, we all know, bring at present more injury than advantage to the Papal throne.'' Thus judged Cardinal Guidicoioni, and his two colleagues agreed with him xiompletely at least, at first so that the ambitious Loyola was almost driven to despair. At last, however, after an opposition which had continued for almost half a year, the efforts of Ignatius and his friends succeeded in bringing about a change of opinion, and finally even Cardinal Guidiccioni came to be, instead of an enemy, one of his most zealous supporters. And wherein lay the grounds for this change of opinion ? Simply and solely because the cardinals now came to the conviction that the new Society might be made a lever by which Roman Catholicism, so greatly shaken by the Reformation, might be raised up again a lever and point of support for the Pope and the Papacy such as had never yet existed.* This conviction found favour for itself, partly in that the statutes of the Order and its inherent prin- ciples and rules had survived a long-continued and very searching trial, and partly also on account of several explanatory additions proposed to be made, to which Loyola and his friends gave their consent. It was after this that, as the college charged with the exa- mination of the statutes had declared itself favourable thereto, * All authors unanimously agree that the Pope ratified the Order of Jesuits solely on grounds of utility, that is, because he believed that through it the degraded Papal power might again be resuscitated. The learned Schrock, for instance, declares his views : " The acceptance of, and favour shown to, the Order of the Jesuits by the Pope is not to be wondered at from the state of the Catholic Church at that time ; on the contrary, it must have been heartily welcome to the Roman Court. The latter had already lost an immense deal of ground through the Reformation of Luther and Calvin, and stood in danger of being always still more a loser, as the former means of the Popes for securing the obedience of Christians were no longer sufficient ; the other orders and ecclesiastical societies which had hitherto rendered good service had become powerless and effete, and enjoyed but little consideration hi their own proper church. More powerful institutions and more active defenders than the Roman Catholic Church hitherto had, were required against such formidable and fortunate opponents. Now a society offered itself which promised to devote itself to all the requirements of the Church, and render the most implicit obedience to the Popes. Why should it, then, be rejected ? " LOYOLA IN ROME. 45 the Pope himself naturally took no further exception to the solemn formal ratification of the new Society under the name of " Societas Jesu," * and this, in fact, took place on the 27th September 1540, through a special Bull commencing with the words, " Regimini militantis ecclesice." In this manner was the Order of the Jesuits called into existence. * Most of the remaining orders were named after their founders. Loyola, however, did not seek for Loyolites or Ignatianites, but for Jesuits, as not himself but Jesus he wished to be considered the head of the Society he had founded. On that account he had from the first the intention of giving his Society the expressive title of "Phalanx Jesu," and also "Compagnia di Giesu," " Societas Jesu " in Latin, and it was not, therefore, Paul III. who invented this name, which originated entirely with Ignatius Loyola. The designation " Jesuit " came, moreover, into use only after Loyola's death,, and according to general belief originated in Paris from the celebrated Etienne Pasquier, the advocate of the Parisian University in its transactions with the Jesuit Order during the latter half of the 16th century. Previoua to this time the Jesuits were called, as has been already related* " Companions of Jesus." 46 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. CHAPTER IV. THE ORGANISATION AND STATUTE BOOK OP THE NEW ORDER. THE reader will now be curious to become acquainted with the statute which Loyola submitted to the Pope, and I therefore place it before him in a verbal translation. Thus begins this very memorable document : " Whoever will, as a member of our Society, upon which we have bestowed the name of Jesus, fight under the banner of the Cross, and serve God alone and His representative on earth, the Pope of Rome, after having in the most solemn manner taken the vow of chastity, must always recollect that he now belongs to a Society which has been instituted simply and solely in order to perfect in the souls of men the teaching and dissemina- tion of Christianity, as also to promulgate the true faith by means of the public preaching of God's word, by holy exercises and macerations, by works of love, and especially by the educa- tion of the young, and the instruction of those who have hitherto had no correct knowledge of Christianity, and lastly by hearing the confessions of believers, and giving them holy consolation. He should always have God before his eyes, or, more correctly, the aim of our Society and our Order, which is the sole way to God, and strive with his best exertions to bring about the accomplishment of this aim. On the other hand, each one should be satisfied with the measure of grace dispensed to him by the Holy Ghost, and not contend in judgment with others THE ORGANISATION OF THE NEW ORDER. 47 who are, perhaps, more discreet. In order to effect this more easily, and with the view of upholding that order rightly which is necessary in all well-regulated societies, it shall be for the General alone, the Chief selected from among us, to have the right of deciding how each should be employed, and of determining who would be most suitable for this or that office or business. " Further, this Chief or General shall have the power, with the approval of his associates, to frame the fixed rules and constitu- tion of the Society, and judge whatever will be most fitted for the attainment of the chief aim of the Society, not, however, without having previously asked the associates and consulted with them. On all important occasions, and where it concerns permanent regulations, the General has on that account to con- voke the whole members of the Society, or, at least, the greater number of them, and then the point will be decided by a simple majority. In the case of less important matters, however, especially where dispatch is needed, it shall be quite sufficient to call together in council such of the associates as may happen to be present on the spot where the General resides. The carrying out of the laws, moreover, no less than the proper right of command, and supreme power, belongs solely to the Chief, and to no third person. "Be it known to all men further, that it must be engraven, not only on the doors of their Profess-houses, but also on their hearts in capital letters as long as they live, that the entire Society and all and sundry who enter into the same are bound to render implicit obedience to our holy lord the Pope, as also to all his successors, and in this obedience to fight only for God. However learned and thereby orthodox they may have become in the Bible, all Christian believers owe obedience and allegiance to the Pope of Home as visible head of the Church and representative of Jesus Christ ; so, also, do we hold our- selves bound by a special vow of general obedience for the submission of this Order in general, as also for the formal spiritual mortification of each individual among us in particular, and for the public renunciation of our own proper will. This vow requires that whatever the present Pope or his successors may order, provided it redound to the advantage of souls and the propagation of the faith, that for whatever mission it is 48 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. desired we may be employed in, whether it be to the Turks or other unbelievers, even if it be as fnr as India, or to heretics,. Lutherans, or schismatics, or, lastly, even should it be wished to send us among the orthodox, we shall immediately obey without any delay, and without offering any excuse whatever. On this account it behoves all who are minded to join our Society, before they take this burden upon their shoulders, well and maturely to consider whether they have the command of such spiritual means as would enable them to climb, with God's assistance, those steep heights ; that is, whether the Holy Ghost, who impels them, has poured upon them such a measure of spiritual grace, that they may dare to hope, with His assistance, they may not succumb under the burden of their vocation. Are you quite prepared to range yourselves for war service under the banner of Jesus Christ ? So must you gird up your loins day and night, and be ready at any hour of the day or night to bear the burden you have undertaken. " No one belonging to the Society shall, impelled by ambi- tion, carry out, of his own accord, this or that mission or function, and still less shall any member have the right to enter inde- pendently into communication, directly or indirectly, with the Roman chair, or other ecclesiastical authorities ; it is only God alone, or rather, that is to say, His representative, the Pope, as also the General of the Order, who can do this. All such orders must proceed from them ; but when a member has a commission given to him to execute, he shall not under any circumstances whatever hesitate to undertake the same ; on the other hand, he may not engage to concert or come to an arrangement with the Pope regarding any great mission work without the approval of the Society. All and every one must vow to render implicit obedience to the decision of the Chief on all points relative to the rules of the Order ; he himself, however, on the other hand, must engage to issue only such commands as he considers conformable to the attainment of the object the Society has in view. Also must he in the administration of his office always have before his eyes the example of the good- ness, gentleness, and love given by Christ and His Apostles, Peter and Paul, and so shall he also instruct all his councillors- and higher officials. Especially must he take care that the education of the young, and the instruction of ignorant adults in THE ORGANISATION OF THE NEW ORDER. 49 the principles of Christian teaching, in the Ten Commandments and the other elements, both as to time and place, as also with regard to the person himself, shall never be neglected, and, indeed, this is the more necessary, as without a well-founded faith no true edifice can be erected. Moreover, it is clear that if the General should not take the business strictly in hand, one or other of the brethren, erroneously thinking himself more accom- plished, and believing this or that land, or this or that district, to be much too small and inconsiderable for the extent of his knowledge, might abandon the instruction, whilst in fact nothing could be more serviceable than this instruction, as well for the edification of his neighbour as for exercise in works of humility and love, and, lastly, for the attainment of our chief object. In a word, the members of the Society shall, according to the rules of the Order, implicitly obey the Chief, or General, in every particular, and on all occasions, to the infinite benefit of the Society, and the continual exercise of humility never to be sufficiently commended, considering him with becoming rever- ence as the representative of Christ, the commander-in-chief of the heavenly hosts. Now, whilst experience teaches that there are no men who have a purer, more edifying, or more agreeable life as regards their neighbours, than those who are furthest removed from the poison of avarice, and stand closest to evan- gelical poverty ; and while we further know that the Lord Jesus Christ provides all his servants, when engaged in the service of the kingdom of heaven, with all necessaries of food, drink, and clothing; so shall each and every member of our Order make a vow of perpetual poverty, and at the same time declare that neither for themselves, that is, for their own proper persons, nor also for the maintenance and use of the Order itself in common, shall they take or obtain possession of any lands or property, wherever situated, or merely the income derived therefrom, but rather be satisfied with what they can voluntarily spend in administering to the wants and necessities of others. "It will be still free to them to establish one or more colleges at the universities, for the maintenance of which the acceptance of lands and estates, with the income derived therefrom, need not be declined, on the understanding that they are to be used for the good of the students. The superintendence, however, over the before-mentioned colleges, the students attached to them, 4 50 HISTOBY OP THE JESUITS. as well as the administration of the same, and of the incomes appertaining to them, rests entirely with the General and with those brethren of the Order entrusted by him with such power, as also, indeed, the appointment, dismissal, recall, and expulsion of the teachers, superiors, and students, besides whatever con- cerns the introduction of statutes, regulations, and laws, the instruction of the pupils, their indoctrination, their punishments, their clothing, and, above all things, their education, guidance, and management. It will, in this way, be best made certain that the students can never misuse the said estates and incomes, nor can it even be a question of the Society employing the same for their own benefit and advantage. On the contrary, the entire interest of the college properties shall be appropriated to their maintenance, and to defraying the expenses of the education of the pupils ; the latter, however, may be admitted into our Society as soon as they have obtained sufficient proficiency in science and learning, and can even themselves work as teachers. All members of the Order who are consecrated to the priesthood, though they enjoy neither any church benefices, nor any other revenues, still have the duty of discharging all church functions, and are also bound to rehearse the office after church usage privately, that is, each individually for himself, but not in common as monks in cloister. " This is the statute of our Order, which we have sketched by the suggestion of the Holy Father Paul, and now submit for the approval of the Apostolic Chair. It is only a summary outline, but it will sufficiently enlighten those who are interested in our doings and proceedings, and it will serve as a criterion for those who subsequently join this Order. Since we now, moreover, know exactly, by long personal experience, with how many and great difficulties a life such as ours is surrounded, we have likewise found how advantageous it is that no one should be allowed to join our Society as a member who has not pre- viously undergone an exact and searching examination. First, then, he can only be admitted to the war service of Christ if he has been found efficiently skilled in the service of Christ, and clean and pure in his teaching and mode of life ; may he, how- ever, to our small beginning add his grace and favour, to the honour of God the Father, to whom be glory and praise in eternity, Amen." THE ORGANISATION OP THE NEW ORDER. 51 Thus run the rules of the new Order, which Paul III. con- firmed, on the 27th September 1540, under the title of the Society of Jesus, but, it must be added, with the addition that the number of members should be limited to sixty. Still, these rules formed only the first principle, the mere beginning of the subsequent organisation of the Order of the Jesuits, and we shall be informed, in the next chapter, that the more precise and weighty of the laws and constitutions were only added afterwards. Still, in this initiatory sketch, or rather, by this small commencement, indications are not wanting of something entirely different from what at first existed. First and foremost, in addition to the three customary vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience to superiors, comes a fourth, the vow of absolute and unlimited submission to the Pope (obedientia illimitatce erga Pontificeni), and from this it follows that the members of the Society of Jesus are nothing else than an army of spiritual warriors who devote themselves entirely to the service of the Romish Chair. The second not less important point is that the new Order should not by any means be a monkish order, in spite of the obligation of the above-named vows. Up to this time the monks went by the name of whatever Order to which they belonged ; they lived together in cloisters, and led therein a life apparently devoted to God ; the Jesuits, on the contrary, were to live in the world, and not in seclusion. They were to possess, it is true, profess-houses, that is to say, houses of accom- modation for the members who had bound themselves by all the four vows (" profess " is equivalent to " vow "), but none of them could remain stationary anywhere for any length of time, and each must always hold himself in readiness to be sent about here and there on any particular duty for which he might be required. Their task was not that of following a life of contemplation, but that of working among men for the benefit of the Pope, and of labouring in far-away missions among the heathen, as well as in their native Europe fighting against heretics and schismatics. The third cardinal point is that they acknowledge education, secular as well as spiritual, to be the chief object of their lives. By the former must be understood the education of adults back- ward in knowledge, as well as that of the young, in the true, or Roman Catholic religion, for only in this way could a lasting and effectual stop be put to the extension of heresy. Spiritual 4 * 52 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. education, on the other hand, would be prosecuted among th& so-called novices, such youths merely as had the desire of pre- paring themselves for admittance into the Jesuit Order, as it may be supposed that the novices or pupils in question ought to be thoroughly perfected for the objects of the Order. With the view, moreover, that this essential principle of the Order, education, should be effectual, and, indeed, might be looked upon as a fourth cardinal point, it was required that the vow of poverty should be modified in some degree, or, rather, raised, as it wore, by an artificial lever, and so transformed into the reverse. The professed brethren themselves should, properly speaking, be poor and possess nothing of their own; but the educational institutions and colleges, on the other hand, which were entirely under the protection and control of the members and General of the Order, had the right to take whatever might be given them, and the more that was given the better pleased were the rectors and directors appointed by the General. As the fifth and last car- dinal point, which, indeed, gave to the Order from the commence- ment its firm internal cohesion, I have to state that the General or Chief was elected for life, and was endowed with completely absolute sovereign authority. He might not, indeed, alter or remodel the constitution without the advice and approval of his associates, but in all other matters implicit and unconditional obedience must be rendered to him, without any one having the right even of asking questions as to his reasons, and he might not only bestow offices and commissions according to his judg- ment, but he had to be looked upon as Christ's representative,, the embodied Jesus. Under such circumstances was it that the Order must neces- sarily obtain such a unified power as no society or institution in the whole world had ever before acquired, seeing that each member of the Society of Jesus, on his admission, gave up his own will and became, indeed, henceforth an instrument merely for the use of the Order. These are the five cardinal points by which the statutes of the Jesuit Society were pre-eminently distinguished from any pre- ceding Order, and when we contemplate these points the more- closely we cannot but be astonished at the extraordinary wisdom which they reflect. Not the less are we struck, at first sight, with the reason why the Roman Court promised for itself great THE ORGANISATION OF THE NEW ORDER. 53 Advantages from the new Order, especially in opposing the increasing progress of the Reformation, and on that account we need not wonder that Paul III. solemnly confirmed the institution. On the other hand, there is not to be found in the statutes the slightest thing that detracts from the prosperity and advancement of the human race, and even the object of self- perfectibility, which among religious bodies had hitherto been the principal one, must give way thoroughly before that of the " defence of Papal things." Leaving all this nside, the new Order presented but a glaring contradiction, with its laws of reason and morality, because it required of its members, as an indispensable condition of their admittance, a complete surrender of all personal wishes and inclinations, of all personal dealings and striving after advancement ; in like manner must all thought of domestic life and friendship, all love of parents and sisters, all thought of country and home, all desire after or taste for beauty and art, be abandoned completely. In a word, all sources of the inner life of soul and body must be extinguished, in order to obtain the knighthood of Faith, with its concomitants of uninterrupted zeal and obedience. 54 HISTOBY OF THE JESUITS. CHAPTER V. IGNATIUS LOYOLA AS GENERAL OF THE ORDER. THE first business which the new Order had to take in hand was to elect a Chief or General, and the choice fell unanimously on Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society. It is true, certainly, that there happened to be at that time only five members of the Order present in Rome, namely Lejay, Pasquet-Brouet, Laynez, Cordur, and Salmeron, but the election, nevertheless, may still be termed unanimous, because the remaining members trans- mitted their votes in writing. Ignatius, in fact, entered on his contemplated office on holy Easter Day of the year 1541, and it must have been uncommonly flattering to his fiery ambition that he had, through immense perseverance, at length brought the matter so far. On the other hand, he frequently asked him- self whether he would be able to carry out even a small part only of what he had with his people promised to perform, as the situation in which at that time the Papacy found it- self was a superlatively difficult one. Throughout the whole Christian world purity of the faith was completely obli- terated ; and, instead of Christian fervency and love, complete indifference had crept in. The ecclesiastics and priests had shown themselves to be unworthy of their office through their almost general shameless mode of life, and they possessed so small a knowledge of God's Word as to be unable to determine whether Melchisedec had been a butler or a dancing-master. As to the cloisters I will not at present speak, and still less of the chastity IGNATIUS LOYOLA AS GENERAL OF THE ORDER. 55 to be found therein. It could not be denied that even in Rome itself more heathenism than Christianity prevailed, and so little awe was there for the Almighty among men, that, as a proof thereof, in lonely churches a dog even might be seen chained to the high altar to protect the deeply venerated property, and prevent the Pyx being stolen out of the tabernacle. If this were the case in Rome, it seemed even worse throughout the rest of the world. Spain and Italy were smothered in ignorance and sloth ; Germany through Luther, France through Calvin, Switzerland through Zwingle, and England through its own king showed a great falling away from the Catholic faith ; every day added to the number of heretics as well as heresies. In those regions still remaining Catholic the most shameless and wicked abominations were perpetrated with laughter and derision ; as, for instance, wicked grooms were not ashamed to mix the consecrated Host with the oats they gave to their horses, or to solemnise their carousals with the holy cup. And who now espoused the cause of the miserably down-fallen Romish Church ? Scarcely anyone in the whole wide world ; and if any did do so, it was without earnest good-will. With the initiation of the Order of Jesuits, however, all this was changed ; things soon assumed a very different appear- ance, and the world saw with astonishment what immeasurably great things a small society could accomplish as soon as it was conducted by one of iron will, who never lost sight of the aim and object he had in view. This same iron will Ignatius now, indeed, in his fiftieth year possessed even in a still greater degree than when, formerly, he insisted upon his half-healed leg being broken again in order that he might not appear in the world a mutilated cripple. Had he not day and night before his eyes the victory of Christ's Kingdom, as he designated the supremacy of the Papacy ? As he now considered himself con- secrated to the service of Jesus, he at once severed all bonds that still tied him to the world, especially that of blood-relation- ship ; as, for instance, he threw into the fire, without reading them, letters which after a long interval arrived for him from his home, and which had been joyously handed to him by the porter of the profess-house. He claimed also from his associates the absolute renunciation of all personal relations, and especially required of them, as warriors of Christ, the same unconditional 66 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. blind obedience which a soldier owes to his officer. In this respect he was quite inexorable, without the slightest considera- tion for the birth, knowledge, understanding, or attainments of the individual. It might so happen, for instance, that he would suddenly call upon the most learned among the associates to perform the duties of cook, merely with the object of exercising him in humility ; or he would require another, who from his noble birth might consider himself capable of some important service, to clean out the kitchen or sweep the street. He was especially severe on idleness, and two younger brethren who were standing gaping idly about them, at the door of the Roman College, were compelled to carry up a heap of stones to the upper storey piece by piece, and to bring them down again on the following day. But, above all things, he exhibited the greatest severity upon those who did not immediately and on the instant attend to his orders, or who in the least seemed to allow it to be seen that they were inclined to submit those orders to their own judgment. Even Laynez himself, who might, so to speak, be looked upon as the chief in the Order, was obliged to apologise most humbly, as he on one occasion disapproved of an order of Ignatius, and permitted himself to raise expostulations against it. He, Ignatius, the Master of the Order, he took care to say, was ready day and night to comply with the orders of the Pope, and exactly, in like manner, must the members of the Society of Jesus be ready to comply with his (Ignatius's) orders. A brother, even while engaged in listening to a confession or in performing mass, dare not delay an instant if wanted by the Master, as the summons of the General was to be looked upon as equivalent to the call of Christ Himself. In short, Ignatius went upon the principle that if something substantial was to be effected, it could only be when one mind and one will pervaded the whole Society, and that it was only by carrying out this principle to the utmost that the end in view could really be accomplished. As soon as the new General was elected, on the 22nd of April 1541, he organised a great procession to all the most remarkable churches and stations in the city of Rome, and marched along with it to the Church of St. Paul, outside the walls, and after reading mass he took before the high altar first the third and then the fourth vow, and finally demanded the same four vows IGNATIUS LOYOLA AS GENERAL OF THE ORDER. 57 from his associates. After the conclusion of this ceremony 'began the proper work of the Society. Ignatius allotted to each of his associates his own particular sphere of action, and urged upon every individual the task of being, before everything, most active in the extension and augmentation of the Society. Araoz and Villanouva, two newly-acquired members, he sent to Spain, Rodriguez to Portugal, Xavier to India, Brouet with some others to England, Lejay, Bobadilla, and Le Fevre to Germany, Cordur with fifteen others to France, Laynez and Salmeron as Papal legates to the assembly of the Church at Trient. In short, he apportioned off the world among his asso- ciates, while he himself remained in Rome in order thence to . conduct the whole affair. The results completely answered the expectations of Ignatius and of the Pope, and even, indeed, sur- passed them, for, after the lapse of some years, there arose in the great majority of the university towns Jesuit colleges, in which there was no lack of novices. Wherever there was con- tention in religious matters, in whatever countries the princes and people were at variance on this account, and, in short, wherever the old faith strove with the new, there now also appeared the ambassadors of Loyola, and the Black Cloaks with their sagacity, their eloquence, their zeal and energy, caused the side which they defended to triumph almost universally, the result being that they obtained for themselves a firm footing.* While the Pope now derived so much benefit from the new "Society, he naturally enough could not prove himself ungrateful, and Ignatius, therefore, easily acquired from him one advantage after another. It was thus that the Jesuit General obtained the two churches, " De la Strata " and " To the Holy Andrew '' ; as also sufficient space at the foot of Engelsburg for the erection of a splendid " Profess-house " for the members of the Four Vows. He thus succeeded in bringing into existence a number of costly institutions, as, for instance, the " Rosenstift," designed for the protection of young girls, and as a refuge for fallen women. Also schools, where catechising took place, for Jews who had embraced Christianity, as well as orphanages for parentless boys and girls who were destitute. The chief thing, however, which occasioned Ignatius to rejoice, was the amplification of the privileges for his * The particulars regarding all this are to be found in detail in the second took of this work. 58 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Order under Paul III., for without such proofs of favour the Society of Jesus could never have been able to raise itself to that height of splendour which, as history teaches us, it succeeded in attaining. Already, in 1543, two years only after the foundation of the Order, it became apparent that the number of sixty members, which was at first determined on by the Pope, had been found to be far too limited, as in such an uncommonly large field of labour which the Jesuits occupied, what could be accomplished by sixty members only ! On that account Paul III. issued a new Bull on the 14th of March 1543, which, by the words with which it commences, Injunction nobis, gives to Ignatius the power to take as many members as he wishes, a privilege of which advantage was, naturally enough, at once taken. What was even a still more valuable addition for the Order, contained in the same Bull, was an authorisation the effect of which wa in fact immeasurable, and such as no order could hitherto boast. It was no less than that Loyola, as well as all future Generals of the Order, could, with the sanction of the most distinguished members in council, alter, expunge, or make additions to the laws of the Society, or create entirely new regulations, according as it appeared under the circumstances to be most advantageous; and it was decreed that these altered and newly-framed statutes, even in the case when the Roman Chair had no knowledge of them, should have the same validity as if the Pope himself had confirmed them. Although it seems almost madness that a Pope should impart a privilege of this description to any General of any Order, it thus stands verbally written in the Bull [njunctum nobis. It, in fact, made the individual in question thereby almost independent of the Papal chair, and at the same time a despot of such extraordinary power that it was calculated to render all States distrustful of him. For instance, does not every Government, solicitous for the welfare of its subjects and for its own stability, require that the rules and constitution of all such societies as that of the Jesuits should be submitted for its acceptance and toleration ? Would it not carefully examine beforehand the contents of the same to ascertain exactly whether they were in accordance with the laws of the country, or whether there might be any possibility that the weal of the State might be undermined thereby ? Certainly every wise Government IGNATIUS LOYOLA AS GENEBAL OF THE ORDER. 59' would naturnlly thus act, and the Jesuits, therefore, as well as all other Orders in the different countries into which they had penetrated, had to submit their constitution for approval. How would it be, then, if the General, after permission being granted, was pleased to alter its constitution, and incorporate among its rules some resolution, perhaps, highly dangerous to the State ? Truly the above-described authorisation might well startle and be a warning to any State in allowing the Order of Jesuits to become rooted among them, while this Papal Bull made it indeed a chameleon whereby every succeeding General might be able to give a new colour to the rules, so that conse- quently no trust could be placed at all in them. Ignatius then obtained a new privilege, through another decree, published on the 5th of June 1545, which also contri- buted not a little to the power of the new Order. The Pope thereby conferred on the Jesuits the right to ascend any pulpit wherever they went, to teach in all places, and to establish Professorial chairs everywhere ; to hear confessions, and grant absolution for every sin, even for such as the Papal Chair had reserved for itself to consider; to exempt from all Church penal- ties and curses ; to dispense with vows and pilgrimages, and to order, as well, other good works ; to read mass in all places and at all hours ; to administer the sacraments without necessarily having the acquiescence of the local priesthood, or even the bishop of the place. This was once more an enormous advantage for the Jesuits over rival Orders, none of whom ever possessed such extensive privileges ; and, indeed, it caused them to burst with envy. What embittered the ordinary priesthood still more against the Black Cloaks was that in granting absolution they never imposed any very severe punishment, even for grave sins, thereby snatching from their rivals many penitents, and consequently depriving them of no inconsiderable part of their income and influence. But indignation was of no avail to them, and even the com- plaints of distinguished bishops had no weight with the Pope, who entertained a particular affection for the Jesuits, and, in very truth, on good grounds. Moreover, about a year afterwards, a further extension of the Order occurred. Hitherto there had existed only two classes of the same, novices and professed members ; that is to> tiO HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. ay, such as had taken upon themselves the four vows, and such as had been received into the holy colleges as pupils, in order 'that they might be properly brought up as regular Jesuits. The latter were as yet not members, properly speaking, but only aspirants or candidates, who might easily be again dismissed at pleasure, on being found unsuitable. It was now, however, indispensably requisite, if the Order, as Loyola designed it, was to be spread over the whole world, that the number of instru- ments should be increased, as with the hundred or hundred and twenty which there were in the year 1546 the claims upon them could not be by any means fully satisfied. How, then, was this evil to be remedied ? In the first place it was requisite, some way or other, that a greater number should be made to take the four vows, becoming thereby professed members. Loyola, indeed, had the power of doing this through the Bull Injunctttm nobis, but was it advisable ? The professed members formed, so to speak, the privy councillors of the General, and without their consent the constitution of the Order could not be altered. A large conclave, however, would make unanimity difficult, according to the old proverb, " Many heads many minds." Some plan for preventing this must be found, as it would be unwise to trust a large body of men with the innermost thoughts and ideas of the Order, for there must always be a greater number of scabbed sheep in a large flock than in a small one. Thus prudence, certainly, strongly forbade that thousands should be promoted to be professed members, and Loyola, as well as his associates, held the opinion that the number of Jesuits proper, that is to say, of professed members, should be limited as much as practicable.* While, therefore, no assistance could well be gained in this direction, more instru- ments must, in some way or other, be found at any price. It then entered into the mind of Loyola to create a third class of members, who might be of as much use to the Order as the professed members, without, however, having the rights of the same. This class he designated " Coadjutors," and he at once divided them into two subdivisions, "the secular and spiritual * In the year 1715, when the Order had attained its highest state of prosperity, when it possessed over 700 colleges and numbered more than :22,000 members, there existed only twenty-four profess-houses, in none of which lived more than ten professed members. Proof sufficient that the principle above stated remained a fixed rule. IGNATIUS LOYOLA AS GENEKAL OF THE ORDER. 61 coadjutors." The Pope, also, at once sanctioned this new arrange- ment, in a special Bull, which was signed on the 5th of June 1 546. In this way the Order of Jesuits had the following organisa- tion. The novices formed the lowest grade, out of which the proper stock might be recruited. The most talented and highly educated youths were selected and first brought into the "Trial House" (domus probationis] , where the novice master (magister novitiorum) kept them under observation and watched over them with an assistant during a period of twenty days. Should they then continue firm in their determination of entering the Order, and should this inspection prove favourable to them, i.e. should they be found to be fit and suitable subjects, they were then promoted to be true noviciates, and came into the Noviciate House, where they had to remain during two years. In the first year they had to undergo all the degrees of self-denial, they had to castigate their flesh, and had to nurse in the hospitals the most filthy and disgusting patients; they were also kept at the occupation of begging and other low employments, besides which they were practised by the master in frequent confessions, and compelled to lay open all their most secret thoughts and desires daily, with the most blind obedience. In the second year, when they had proved their humility and submission to authority, they were assigned more intellectual than corporeal employments, and were exercised especially in preaching, cate- chising, and in other things concerning the welfare of the soul. But at the same time, care was taken against fatiguing them too much, in order that the next stage should not be rendered dis- agreeable to them, and several amusements even were not denied them, as, for instance, attending prosecutions of the Inquisition and other similar sights. On their having completed the two years of noviciate successfully, then the three vows of poverty, , chastity, and obedience were administered to them, and they were promoted to be spiritual coadjutors. As such, during the first two years, they were only so-called scholastics, that is to say, proved pupils who might be employed in the colleges, or, also, as assistants in missions. When, however, they had : acquired sufficient experience to render them more independently useful, they were advanced, according to their talents and ability, to be professors, rectors, preachers, confessors, &c., and were, now designated coadjutor esformati, i.e. true assistants. 62 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Besides them, there were secular assistants, or coadjutores xactilares, who acted, so to speak, as lay brethren, and without having received any higher ordination were charged with the house-keeping duties in colleges, missions, and profess-houses. They had nothing to do with the priesthood, i.e. with the cure of souls, or with education, and, as they had to perform menial services, were held in but trifling esteem. The superior lay brethren, however, not infrequently received ihe title of secular coadjutors, to distinguish them, on account of their true services to the Order, and then such under- took no definite functions, but continued to remain rather in their hitherto worldly position. They were merely confederates, or " affiliates " ; they were also called, derisively, short-coated Jesuits, or Jesuits in voto ; and the pupils of Loyola boasted that even crowned heads belonged to this class of the Order, in the persons of the Emperor Ferdinand II. and King Louis XIV. Lastly, the professed members formed the highest grade and proper "heart and soul of the Society, i.e. those who had taken the four vows upon them, and consequently gave implicit obedience to the Pope, and such were selected from the class of coadjutors distinguished among their brethren for their worldly wisdom, knowledge, fidelity, and experience. To these only were entrusted by the General the highest offices and most important posts, as he could depend upon them in every respect. They seldom, therefore, lived at ease in the profess-houses, only, indeed, when unwell or temporarily unemployed from some other cause ; one would serve as a missionary among the heathen, another as a warrior of 'God against the heretics, a third as a ruler of some colony in a distant quarter of the globe, a fourth as father con- fessor of some prince or lady of distinction, a fifth as Resident of the Order in some locality where it had not as yet possessed a college, a sixth as legate of the Pope in some special mission, a seventh, eighth, or ninth, as assistant to the General in Rome, or as supreme leader in some particular province, as provincial or as superior of a profess-house, or as rector of a college. Under these circumstances, as none can at the same time serve two masters, they were for the time quite exempt from the obligation as to the instruction of youth, which last duty was left entirely to the coadjutors. On the other hand, the professed members had from time to time to make their appear IGNATIUS LOYOLA AS GENERAL OF THE ORDER. 03 ance in Rome, at general chapters, or meetings, in order to take a part in consultations regarding any proposed change in the statutes, and it was they also who elected from amongst their number the General when that office happened to become vacant. From the time Loyola conceived the idea of calling the class of coadjutors into existence, the interior economy of the Order was in this manner henceforth arranged, and one may perceive now that the fixed regulations were much more important than at first sight appeared. In the same year, 1546, in which the new classification of the Order of Jesuits was effected, Loyola gained still another important victory. It happened, namely, that King Ferdinand, ^brother of the Emperor Charles V., came to form so high an opinion of Lejay, who, as we have seen above, laboured for the Order in Germany, that he wished him to be made Bishop of Triest. He wrote on this account to the Pope, who was natu- rally quite ready to confer a favour on the great man. The Society of Jesus also hoped to consolidate its power through the elevation to such rank of a member of their Order, as the remaining Orders, such as the Dominicans, Franciscans, Bene- dictines, or whatever else they may be designated, always courted such dignities, and were in the highest degree proud whenever anyone of their body gained an important Church preferment as Bishop or Archbishop. One might easily, therefore, suppose that this would be the case with Ignatius Loyola, and that he would be ready to clutch with both hands the contemplated honour for one of his associates, more especially as to the Bishopric of Triest a considerable income was attached. To the great astonishment, then, of the Pope and King Ferdinand, Loyola took quite a different view, and opposed the elevation of Lejay, through think and thin, as soon as he received news of the same. " We members of the Society of Jesus," said he to the Pope, as he afterwards wrote in quite similar terms to the King, " are warriors of Christ, and must therefore possess all the characteristics of good soldiers. We must be always ready to advance against the enemy, and be always prepared to harass him or to fall upon him, and on that account we must not venture to tie ourselves to any particular place. How could we else, at the first hint from your Holiness, which is certainlv our duty above everything, fly from one town or city to another, 64 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. or from one end of the world to another ? Besides, the lowly character of our Order forbids that one of us should accept a high Church preferment, and we must be most careful not to awaken again the jealousy of the other Orders as we have before done." It was in this sense that Loyola spoke, and it may be that he was in earnest in giving the arguments he advanced as the cause of his dissent ; but, at any rate, such were not the only reasons, but besides them he had still others in the background, and, indeed, much more weighty ones. Why, truly, was it not much more probable, as, indee'd, it became in the future the rule, that the most ambitious among the Jesuits never would remain quiet until they had secured for themselves places of great honour ? We know now that the Order was almost deprived of its highest glory, and its transcendant powers were taken away, owing to this cause. Independent of this, too, how would it be with the rigorous monarchy in the Order, with the omnipotence of the General, and the subordination of the members, were there a possibility of the power of the Grand Master being in any way diminished ? Could there be any longer a question that the Bishops or Archbishops, and, together with them, the Prince of the kingdom in which they lived, would not remain in such subjection to the General of the Order as had previously been the case ? It would not be possible, even if it were wished, because a prince must necessarily fulfil his required obligations, against which orders from Rome would be of no avail. All this said Loyola to himself; therefore, as the Pope and King Ferdinand did not on the instant assent to his representa- tions, he, without any more ceremony, finally forbad Lejay to accept the proffered appointment. Indeed, this was not enough for him ; but he made it from this time an irrefragable law, that a member of the Society of Jesus should never on any account accept an episcopal chair, and for this reason he himself declined the office of Cardinal which was offered to him. What did the " I " signify to himself, or what did the " I " matter to his associates ? His only pride and pleasure was the success and prosperity of the Society he had founded. Along with the continuously increasing extension of the Order of Jesus their wishes, as may well be imagined, kept pace ; for although individual members were obliged, for themselves, to take the vow of poverty, as has been above explained, they still retained thfr IGNATIUS LOYOLA AS GENEEAL OF THE ORDER. 65 right of accepting all they could get for the use of the colleges they had founded, and of this right, indeed, they made the most extensive use. They also showed themselves, from the very first, not at all scrupulous in regard to the means they took to acquire this or that possession, and as a proof of this, I will now give the reader an instance. In the year 1542, Laynez, who was at that time working for the Order in Venice, caused a rich old nobleman, of the name of Andreas Lippomani, to make over the house and property which he possessed in Padua to the Jesuit Order on hehoof of a college to he founded ; and as this present was of considerable value, the whole farm being estimated to be worth 40,000 ducats, Loyola rejoiced exceedingly. He felt it, however, to be all the more disagreeable, when on the death of Andreas, the rightful heir disputed the will and brought an action before the Venetian Senate, within whose jurisdiction the matter rested. At the commencement it seemed doubtful which party would gain the cause, and the balance of justice for some time oscillated considerably backwards and forwards undecidedly ; in the end, however, it appeared tolerably clear that the Senate would decide in favour of the legitimate heir, as he proved that his deceased relative, at the time the deed was drawn up, had become imbecile from old age, and had not his clear wits about him. This news drove Loyola into despair, and in his agitation he promised to the Virgin three thousand masses, and if that was not sufficient, two thousand more, provided that she would win over the minds of the senators to his side. At the same time, however, as he- made this appeal to Mary, which might possibly prove ineffec- tual, he did not forget to claim, also, human assistance, and forthwith he secured for himself the powerful aid of a Cardinal who had great influence with the Venetian Senate. He was doubtless very well aware that he had no right to gain the cause, and had nothing to expect from justice; he, therefore, had recourse to influence from another quarter, quite uncon- cerned and indifferent that he was thereby cheating the legiti- mate heir out of his property. But Laynez, his principal aider in founding the Order and its statutes, went a step further; for as soon as he discovered that the Doge, to whose pipe if I may be allowed to use a popular expression all the Senate danced, possessed a mistress who exercised great influence over 5 f)6 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. him, he filled his pockets with gold, and therewith had not much difficulty in gaining over the mercenary woman to his side, the result being that the final decision of the Senate turned out to "be in favour of the Jesus Association, and the rightful heir, in spite of his strong claims, was non-suited ; but the conscience of Loyola on that account did not in the least appear to trouble him. The same diligence that was exercised in the acquisition of riches, was, also, employed wherever the question was to win over substantial, influential, and powerful men of high standing, to be patrons and abettors of the Order, if not, indeed, members of the same ; and in this respect, in fact, several of Loyola's desciples rendered signal service. Among the foremost who distinguished himself in this particular, was Aroz, the delegate to Spain, as he was successful in inducing Francis Borgia, Duke of Gandia, and a grandee of Spain, as, also, formerly Viceroy of Catalonia a very weak man, however, in mental capacity to take up the cause of Jesuitism ; so much so, that this nobleman was the first person in Europe who founded a Jesuit College for the education of youth. He shortly afterwards, too, in the year 1546, endowed a University, with all privileges. Overjoyed at this, Loyola commenced a correspondence with the Duke, and the result of these letters was that Borgia became so enamoured with the Society of Jesus, that he at length came to the firm determination of joining it as a true member; in fact, notwith- standing his already being considerably advanced in years, he forthwith put off the purple, and began the study of theology. His progress therein, however, advanced but slowly, and conse- quently Loyola allowed him to take the four vows without being previously well versed in theology, or even having gone through the course of exercises required of noviciates. Thus the Duke of Gandia became Pater Franciscus Borgia, and the newly-made member showed great, zeal for the Society. He, however, did not at once enter a profess-house, and still less was he employed in the service of the Order ; Ignatius, indeed, permitted him to live in the world during a period of fully four years, in order that the newly-acquired brother might be able to settle his worldly affairs, and conveniently make arrangements for the maintenance of his children. It was natural enough that such a highly-born man as Pater Borgia should not be treated exactly like an ordinary member. IGNATIUS LOYOLA AS GENERAL OF THE ORDER. 67 I 'have already spoken of the privileges which the Pope granted to the Order, even in the first year of its existence ; but what did these prerogatives signify compared with those which Paul III. conceded to the Society of Jesus on the 18th October 1549. One would, indeed, be perfectly correct in calling the Bull which refers to them the " Magna Charta " of the Jesuits ; and they themselves admitted as much when they conceived such a designation for this decree as " the great sea of their privileges." If one should inquire what could have been the reasons which actuated the Pope in bestowing such conspicuous favours on the the new Order, they are to be found in the preamble of the Bull, which terms the Society a fruitful acre, which, effecting much for the increase of the kingdom of God and the faith that is to say, the exaltation of the Papacy and the suppression of heresy through instruction and example, therefore well deserves to be rewarded with special favours ; and, in fact, favours of quite a peculiar description were given them, as the reader will suffi- ciently understand from the following extracts : 1. " The General of the Order, as soon as he is nominated, shall have complete power as to the government of the Society, and especially also over the whole members of the same, where- soever these latter may reside, and with whatsoever office or dignity they may be endowed. His power shall indeed be so unlimited, that should he deem it necessary for the honour of God, he shall even be able to send back, or in other directions, those who have come direct from the Popes."* Thus, from this paragraph, his own power is placed over that of the Pope. How does it fare, then, with the four vows ? 2. " No General, without the consent of the General Con- vention, and no member of the Society, without the express oonsent of the General, shall accept a bishopric, archbishopric, or any similar dignity; and whoever may have attempted in any way to obtain any such place, shall be considered so unworthy of * In this first paragraph there is also a question regarding the deposition of the General, which could be pronounced by a general chapter of professed members, whenever he could be proved guilty of heresy or of leading a life of vice, or was useless on account of mental derangement, &c., but as long as the Society existed there never was an instance of a General being charged before a general chapter, and still less deposed. He might, in fact, do whatever he chose. I should like to see the person who would dare to bring an accusation against such a complete despot as was the General. 5 * 68 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the Society of Jesus, that he shall never more he employed in-, any important commission, office, or business."* 3. " In order that discipline may be quite strictly maintained, there shall be no appeal against the rules of the Order to any judge or other official whatever ; much less can any member be released from his vows by any person." Even the keys of Peter, therefore, can have no power over a Jesuit, and it was the Pope himself who pronounced this ! 4. " Neither the General nor the high officials of the Society shall be bound to hand over any member of the Order for the service of the Church to any prelate of the Church, be he patriarch, archbishop, or merely bishop, even when the said prelate shall have given strict orders regarding the matter ; should, however, such cession be voluntarily desired, then those whose services are lent are still to be considered under the power of their superiors, and can be recalled by the General at any moment." Thus the power of even the highest dignitary of the Church is inferior to that of the General of the Jesuits ! 5. "The General, or those who may be ordered by him, shall have the power to grant absolution for all and every kind of sin, whether committed before or after entrance into the Order, and from all ecclesiastical and secular censures and penalties (those few cases excepted which are set forth in the Bull of Pope Sixtus IV. as appertaining solely to the Roman Chair), to all members of the Order, as well as to all such as may express a wish to enter the Order as novices, or to serve as lay brethren ; should, however, anyone not hitherto a member, who in this manner obtains absolution and dispensation, not immediately thereafter join the Order, the indulgence and dispensation shall become of no effect.'' That is an unheard-of privilege, as even * The reader will, no doubt, see that this paragraph has the above- mentioned " Affaire Lejay " to thank for its origin. It was also soon seen that the same rule was quite in its place, and by its strict maintenance protected the Society from much iniury. The Emperor Charles V. saw with displeasure that the Duke of Gandia had laid down his title and entered the Jesuit Order as a simple professed member, as he considered such a position much too low and humiliating for a prince. He had on this account wished the Pope to raise Pater Borgia to the dignity of cardinal, and his Holiness declared himself prepared to do so. But what a loss would this have been for the Order ! This proceeding of Borgia's might serve as an example to the most noble and most distinguished ; and, more- over, his opulence would be such an excellent thing for the Society ! No, it would never do to allow him to be snatched away : and it was simply in allusion to the above paragraph that the former Prince Loyola was induced; to refuse at once a cardinal's hat. IGNATIUS LOYOLA AS GENEEAL OP THE ORDER. 69 the worst criminals may, in this way, escape with impunity as soon as they enter the Jesuit Order ; that great advantage should have been taken of this privilege can well be imagined ! 6. " No member of the Order shall confess his sins to any other than the General, or to those whom the General may have nominated, especially to any priest or monk of any other Order. Much less can anyone who has once joined the Order, be he called novice, coadjutor, or profess, quit the Order again except with the express consent of the General ; nor can he go over into any other Order, that of the Carthusians alone excepted. Should anyone infringe this command, the General has the power to prosecute such fugitives, either in person or through authorised agents, to excommunicate them, to seize them, and to put them in prison, and with this object the assistance of the secular authorities may be invoked." By this command the secrets of the Society of Jesus are prevented from ever being betrayed, and the means adopted have proved themselves indeed to be very efficacious. I may here remark, with respect to the permission to enter the Carthusian Order, that, as far as is known, no Jesuit ever took advantage thereof, owing to the extreme strictness of that sect. Who can be ignorant of the command of perpetual silence ? This has been generally re- ported to be one of the rules, and no doubt Loyola allowed the exception, as regards the Carthusians, on this ground alone. 7. " The whole members of the Society, as well as the goods, incomes, and possessions of the Order, are exempt from the jurisdiction, supervision, and control of the bishops and arch- bishops, and shall be taken under the special protection of the Papal Chair." The Jesuits might, so to speak, do anything they chose, and no Church prelate could dare, on any account, to say even an unpleasant word to them. 8. " Those members of the Order consecrated to the priest- hood, consequently all the professed, may, wherever they reside, have their own houses of prayer, or erect an altar in any other suitable locality, and may, even at the time of a Papal interdict, say mass there with closed doors, and administer the sacrament, after having excluded all excommunicants and heretics. Also, in all places bound by interdict or excom- munication, the young men and servants in the employment of 70 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the Jesuits, as, also, all the laity belonging to them, as procurators, labourers, and officers, are exempt from excommunication and interdict." 9. " No bishop or prelate shall have the power of imposing upon any member of the Order, or any layman friendly to the Society, an excommunication or other Church penalty, and if any presume to do so it shall be null and void." 10. " It shall be quite free to all Christian believers to attend the worship and preaching of the members of the Society of Jesus, as well as to receive the sacrament and absolution, after confession, from them, without being in any way liable to inter- ference by the ordinary clergy." 11. "Every bishop or archbishop is bound to consecrate- members of the Society of Jesus presented to him who are not already priests, without any payment whatever, or promise of any such." 12. " The members of the Society of Jesus, with the permission of their General, have the right to settle in the countries and cities of the excommunicated and schismastics, as well as of heretics and unbelievers, and to hold intercourse with the same." 13. " They shall not be bound to allow themselves to be em- ployed in the visitation of cloisters, or in inquisitions and other church functions, as, also, when they desire it, they are to be exempt from the supervision or conscience-keeping of nuns." 14. " They shall not be required to pay tithes on their estates or possessions, by whatever names they may be called, not even. excepting Papal holdings ; in short, they are not to pay any taxes- er dues whatever." 15. " The donation of houses, churches, and colleges built, founded, or bequeathed by princes, counts, &c., shall be con- sidered from the moment of delivery as confirmed by the Pope, without any special deed of ratification being required to be* drawn up." 16. " All their churches and places of interment are to be forthwith consecrated by the bishop of the diocese without any hesitation; should such bishop, however, delay doing so for more than four months, the ceremony may be performed by the fittest prelate at hand. Also, all archbishops, bishops, prelates, and ordinaries, as well especially as all ecclesiastical and secular authorities, are strictly prohibited from hindering the erection: IGNATIUS LOYOLA AS GENERAL OF THE OKDEll. 71 and occupation of such buildings and possessions by the Society of Jesus." 1 7. " The General, and, with his approval, the provincials and their vicars, have the right to receive into the Order all and sundry, even should they be the offspring of adultery or incest, as also all burdened with any description of sin (with the excep- tion of murder and bigamy), and the mutilated, to consecrate them as priests, and to employ them in all duties and offices appertaining to the Society." 18. " Whoever during the year has for once visited any par- ticular church or other holy place, fixed on by the General, for purposes of devotion, on any individual day, also determined by the General, obtains for himself dispensation from all his sins, exactly as at the time of the Jubilee in Home ; but whoever does so on any other day obtains remission for seven years, or seven quadrayenen, that is to say, seven times forty fast days." 19. " The General is empowered to send to any favourite University such as he deems fit, in order to deliver lectures on Theology and other sciences, without having previously obtained the permission of anyone whomsoever." This was a more than unheard-of infringement of the rights of the Universities, as well as of the secular governments, and consequently entangled the Jesuits in the most bitter of strifes. 20. "Those who sojourn in countries belonging to un- believers have the right, as missionaries, to grant absolution for such sins and crimes as the Papal Chair has reserved for itself, according to the Bull In coena Domini, so called from the words- with which it commences ; and, moreover, it rests with them to- perform all episcopal duties till such time as the Pope shall have- installed there a true bishop." 21. "The General is empowered to admit into the Order as. many coadjutors as may seem to him to be desirable. He can, also grant permission that the taking of the fourth vow that is, the admission of professed members may bo made outside Home." 22. " Lastly, all clerical and secular powers, by whatever name they may be called, are admonished to take great care not to hinder, harass, or disturb the Society of Jesus in the exercise of the above privileges and liberties, under the penalty, indeed,. 72 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. of excommunication, as also by the aid of secular power being invoked in case of necessity." Such is the great charter of the Jesuits, their " Magna Charta," as 1 have above termed it ; and, so armed, was it to be wondered that the Society soon attained to enormous power? The whole world lay open before them and all their proceedings ; and even upon the most violent and unjust of them, by order of the Supreme Ruler of the Church, could no restraint whatever be put. Pope Paul III., the great patron of the Society of Jesus, died in the self- same year in which he proclaimed the Magna Charta Bull, but his successor, Julius III., formerly Cardinal John Maria del Monte, who acted as Papal legate at the Council of Trent, and who had there become well acquainted with the utility of the Jesuits, followed exactly in his footsteps, and forthwith confirmed all the prerogatives hitherto accorded to them. He, too, approved of the establishment of a large new college in Rome, as also of a new profess-house, to both of which the former Duke of Gandia, now Pater Borgia, gave 1 0,000 ducats. His Holiness, too, on the 22nd October 1552, promulgated, although after a considerable amount of pressure exercised by Loyola, a Bull, in which the rights of the Jesuits were still further enlarged. In what, however, did this enlargement con- sist ? In nothing else than the extensive decree that the students of the Jesuit colleges, if the rectors of the universities in which the colleges were situated hesitated to promote them to be doctors of philosophy and theology, might be promoted by the General himself, or by any provincial or rector of a college under his authority, with the assistance of three doctors, and that such graduates should have the same honours, rights, advantages, and privileges as those promoted by the universities themselves. In addition to this, so proceeds the Bull, the same privileges were held to belong to those colleges situated in places where no universities exist ; and in order to obtain the highest degree of distinction in philosophical and theological science, it was decreed unnecessary to enter an university, but all this might be equally well attained in a Jesuit college. In this way these institutions were almost completely put on an equal footing with the universities, and the rectors of the former made to rank with those of the latter. While, too, only universally accomplished teachers taught in the high schools, IGNATIUS LOYOLA AS GENERAL OP THE OPDER. 73 those who did so in the Jesuit colleges, as may be easily under- stood, were only such as had received their education and spiritual bias entirely in the Jesuit colleges themselves ! It was impossible, therefore, for the latter to accomplish, even approxi- mately, what the former offered to do, and Julius III. must naturally have been well aware of this ; but was it to be expected that Popes should consider themselves bound to know anything about science? The chief thing was that the Jesuits should attain their great object to get, as much as possible, the sole education of the young into their own hands in all Catholic states, and the surest way of doing this was, no doubt, by means of a Bull. Thus the whole educational institutions of the Jesuits, namely the colleges in which philosophy and theology {studio, superiora), as well as the seminaries and schools in which Latin, grammar, and rhetoric as preparatory knowledge were taught, now began to increase in numbers in an enormously rapid manner, while all zealous Catholics hastened to gain heaven by giving a small contribution towards their establish- ment, and there was soon no country, or rather no province, throughout the Catholic world, where several members of the Society of Jesus were not established more or less as teachers. What the tendency of those institutions was became most clearly apparent from the Collegium Germanicum, a German college which Loyola himself founded in the city of Rome immediately ou the accession of Julius III. to the government a very peculiar name will the reader say, a German college in the capital of Italy ! What can that signify ? We shall soon see. Already, before the foundation of the Order of Jesuits, there was no want of educational institutions, for their number was simply legion. This did not prevent, however, the Society of Jesus, as we have already stated, from establishing a college also, and in truth a very magnificent one, as well in regard to its internal arrangements as to its external appearance. It was called Collegium Romanum, and the best educational instructors which Loyola could find were engaged for it ; but so many rooms were available in it, that it could satisfy every claim. And in spite of all, a new college ? Certainly ; and, forsooth, for very ^cogent reasons. The Collegium Romanum was in the first place established for Romans, in a wider sense for Italians, and as the Italian language was alone employed in it, none 74 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. consequently could join it who were not acquainted with that* tongue. Now, however, in Germany heresy acquired the upper hand more and more, and the Romish Church was daily losing ground. Envoys must therefore be despatched there who could, combat with this heresy, and such, be it understood, as could discourse in the German language with the Germans. Whence,, however, could Loyola take these ? By far the greater part of his scholars belonged to the Spanish, Italian, and French- speaking nationalities, and only a very small portion understood German merely one or two here and there. Thus the country in which, above all others, the presence of Jesuits was most needed, in which lay the widest sphere of duty, and where action must be taken with as little delay as possible, seeing that the complete loss of the Romish position must otherwise take place, was beyond the reach of Loyola when the necessary forces were wanting. Here, then, help must be obtained at any price, and that help was to come through the Collegium- Germanicum. Loyola gave the order, therefore, to those mem- bers who were operating in Germany to send to Rome from among those youths who were desirous of joining the Jesuit Order a couple of dozen of the aptest and most zealous, and at the same time he induced two rich cardinals, Morano and San Cruce, to place at his disposal a large roomy dwelling in which to lodge the youths. He then placed teachers there, who were required to bring them on in the Italian language. As soon, however, as the students were sufficiently advanced in it, they now had to turn their attention to theology, as may be well, understood, and, above all, to the Theologia Polemica, along, with the art of disputation. The object, then, which he now placed before himself became clearly apparent. The Collegium Germanicum was to become a nursery for such as in future should be placed at the head of the combatants for the Romish faith in Germany. In other words, the pupils of the college, as- soon as they were sufficiently accomplished, should be sent back again to their own country, in order there to conduct, as speaking German, the great controversy on religion, and to re-establish there the unlimited authority of the Pope and his officers. This was Loyola's object he completely attained it. Pope Julius III., as soon as he had assured himself of Loyola's ultimate design, assigned a large income to the new IGNATIUS LOYOLA AS GENERAL OF THE ORDER. 75 college, and the latter thereby progressed so quickly that it was- enabled to take in twenty-four German pupils during the first year. On the accession to the Papal throne of John Peter Carafa, Cardinal of Theate, who, as Pope, took the name of Paul IV., Loyola was inclined to augur not much good for his Order, as- he felt convinced that the same would favour above all the others the Order of Theate ; but this apprehension soon proved to be groundless, at least, as long as Ignatius lived,* for Paul IV. was much too sagacious to injure an institution which had proved so useful to the Eomish Chair. Besides, the Order was now already so firmly rooted that it would have been difficult to have overturned it, and if the Pope had ventured to attempt doing so, the Society of Jesus would have been able to have offered such a strenuous resistance that he would soon have beea compelled to desist. The General, from his seat in Rome, now ruled with almost unlimited power the whole body of his subjects, who were trained to honour him as the visible Saviour, while all placed their entire services at his disposal, and allowed themselves to be guided by him as willing puppets. Thus writes a far- travelled and distinguished author of a history of the Jesuits not by any means inimical to the same : " He ap- pointed and discharged all the higher officials ; he disposed of the rank and efficiency of all belonging to the Order, who must act exactly according to his will. He regulated everything as appeared to him most necessary and useful for the well-being, discipline, and improvement of the Society ; he manipulated the privileges, prerogatives, fundamental principles, and constitution obtained from the Holy Chair,, which he took upon himself to accentuate, abate, or disavow without scruple ; he frequented and regulated the general con- vents ; he decided, in short, all the principal affairs of the community." This latter, however, possessed, on the other hand, four assessors or assistants, to check any abuse of the * Shortlj after his death, in the year 1558, an attack was certainly made by Paul IV., which affected the Jesuits rather closely, in that he required they should perform equally all religious exercises, chorus singing, &c., which duty had hitherto fallen upon the other ecclesiastics and priesthood, and from which, owing to their many other employments, they had up to this time been exempt ; but he soon withdrew again this request, and the sons of Loyola continued as before, and were not in any way obliged to lose their time in lazy stupor, praying and singing. Such a monk's life would, have ill accorded truly with their aim and object. 76 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. patriarchal supreme power.* These were elected by the great electoral college, a description of deputies or ministers, whose duty it was to support the General in all matters of difficulty with their advice and assistance, and to call his attention to this or that error. Indeed, they might even go so far as re- monstrance and warning, but this last proceeded from the mouth of the admonitor, or spiritual adviser, who was chosen by every General. The provincials, or heads of circles, as they might be called, acted as leading officials of the Order, while the Catholic world was divided by the General into smaller or larger circles provinces over each of which he placed a vice- gerent. Again, to each provincial were assigned four assistants and an admonitor, who ruled in a small way as the General did in Rome in a larger way, only in all weighty matters such person was required to make previous reference, and was himself responsible in even the very smallest transactions. He had the right of proposal of the so-called Praponiti studiorum, that is, the super- vision of the stewards of the colleges, and it lay with him to inspect carefully, at least once a year, the condition of the whole circle as regards houses, persons, incomes, &c. He supervised in the colleges and other educational institutions the diligence of teachers as well as pupils, and also the course of instruction and discipline, and he remained the whole year at his post, unless sent elsewhere by the General. Immediately below him came the superiors, that is, the heads of the prufess-houses, in which resided the brethren sworn to observe all the four vows, and their duties were to supervise discipline, devotions, and other affairs. The rectors coming next under them that is to say, the heads of colleges had equally to supervise the individual teachers as well as scholars, and to hold once a week a principal examination. In short, all was well ordered, down to even the lowest menial, and there was no State in the world which could exhibit a more regular or more uniform government. The thing, however, which first put the seal upon it, was the constant correspondence which united all circles and provinces, all lower and higher officials, partly among each other and partly with the General. The rectors, for instance, as well as the superiors, sent in a weekly report to the provincial, and the latter replied thereto every month. To the * The four first Jesuits, on whom devolved the duty of assistant, were Jerom Natalis, Johii of Polanco, Gonzalez de Caniara, and Christofal of Madrid. IGNATIUS LOYOLA AS GENERAL OF THE ORDER. IT General himself the whole of the provincials wrote once a month, and the rectors and superiors once in three months. This, how- ever, was still insufficient, for the rectors and superiors had to send in a report every fourteen days to the provincial, as well as every month to the General. Likewise it was incumbent on the assistants of the provincials to transmit sealed letters twice a year respecting their provincials for the time being. In short, it was a regular system of reciprocal supervision, or, rather, it might be regarded as a legal espionage entering into the smallest details, as well from above downwards as from below upwards, and in this way it was made impossible for any member to over- step the prescribed boundary lines of obedience. The General, by this means, knew from each individual what he thought and did, and while all the wires of the entire machinery ran. together into his cabinet in Home, he could guide to a nicety by leading strings, in the blindest subjection, individuals as well as the whole fabric ! Ignatius Loyola had now brought his matters so far, steeped, forsooth, in nothing else than worldly pleasure and vanity ; but the future warrior, having accomplished this much, found that the- time had now arrived when he must pay to nature its usual tribute. The former extravagant punishments he had inflicted on his body,, the many cares and vexations he had to encounter in the forma- tion of his Order, and, lastly, the frightful anxiety inseparable- from the duties of so gigantic an office as that of a Jesuit General,, gradually weakened his naturally very strong constitution, and he found himself at the commencement of the year 1556 obliged to hand over the greater part of the business to Pater Jeromi Natalis, who had been elected to be his vicar by those professed members present at that time in Home. He himself withdrew to a country house near Rome, which had been presented to him by a rich patron of the name of Louis Mendoza,* in order to attend to the state of his health, but the weakness increased so much during the summer that he caused himself to be brought back again to Rome, as he had a desire to die in the profess-house among his own people. Towards the end of July he there dictated his will, took leave of the world and his, * The same was situated close to the picturesque ruins of the Villa of Mercena, and was not only beautifully constructed, but also surrounded by a charming park. In this way the good Ignatius, at the end of his life, did. not seem to observe very closely the vow of poverty. 78 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. companions, and departed this life on Friday, 31st July, an hour before sunset, in his sixty-fifth year, consequently, thirty-five years after the date of his being wounded, and of his conversion ; his death happened, notwithstanding the declaration of his surgeon, the celebrated Dr. Alexander Petronius, that there was nothing particularly dangerous in his condition. Only four of his first colleagues were present at the time, Rodriguez, Salmeron, Laynez, and Bobadilla ; the remainder were prosecuting their calling in far distant lands, or had already been overtaken by death, as in the case of Lejay and Le Fevre. But from the nine original associates thousands had already sprung up, and the Order had established itself in no less than twelve countries Italy, Portugal, Sicily, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Arragon, Castile, Andalusia, India, Ethiopia, and Brazil.* Incredible things had been accomplished by Loyola in a com- paratively short space of time, but not so much, assuredly, through his wisdom and understanding. In this respect he had not particularly distinguished himself, at all events not remark- ably. Laynez, however, had made up for his deficiencies more than three or four-fold, and the genius of a Salmeron and a Le Fevre was not to be despised. But his success was due rather to his energy, his perseverance, his ambition, his iron will, his glowing zeal, and, lastly, through his heroic soldierly bold- ness, which infused quite a peculiar spirit into the Order he had founded. Still, whether on that account he was really a great man ; whether, as the Jesuits contend, he deserved to be placed in line with the most distinguished persons which the world has pro- duced, I leave the reader himself to form a judgment.f I myself, The details respecting this will be found in the next book, to which I must refer those curious on the matter. t How extremely high the Jesuits placed their founder is proved by the inscription on the monument which the Dutch members erected to his memory in the year 1640. Cujus animus Vastissimo coerceri non potuit unius orbis ambitu, Ejus Corpus Humili hoc angustoque tumulo contiuetur. Qui magnum aut Pomptjum, aut Caesarem, aut Alexandrwn oogitas, Aperi oculos veritati, Majorem his omnibus leges IGNATIUM. Non coerceri maximo, contineri tamen a minimo, divinum est. IGNATIO Virtute maximo, submissione minimo Totius orbis locus angustus est. IGNATIUS LOYOLA AS GENEEAL OF THE ORDER. 79 for my own part, am contented with referring to what happened respecting Ignatiiis alter his death, as I presume the reader Hinc auimum gerens mundo majorem Plus ultra unius orbis et aevi terminos saepe quaesivit, Quo opera suae pietatis exteuderet: Inde de se cogitationem habens minimo minorem, Minus citra communis sepulcri latebras semper optavit, Quo inhumati corporis pondus abjiceret. Coelum animo, Boma corpori Illi ad majorem Dei gloriam summa spectanti Aliquid summo majus attribuit : Huic ad majorem sui objectionem ima spectanti, Modum posuit mediumque virtutis. Anno M.CD.XCI. in arce LOJOLAE loco apud Cantabros illustri Mortalium plane bona et juvantis hominibus vere natus, Suae primum gloriae cupidus, in aula et campo Catholici regis, Naturae dedit, quod dein divinae tantum gloriae studiosus, Sanctioribus in castris, saluti et gratiae consecraret. Cum hostes adversus innumeros unus prope Pompejopolim tueretur, Idem Sauli instar et Pauli, vi, non virtute, victus Ita cecidit, ut optandus fuisse casus, non fugiendus, Etiam IGNAT1O, videretur : arcem perdidit ; servavit ecclesiam. Ex eo non jam suus, Sed ejus, qui stantem tormento perculit, Ut prodigio fulciret abjectum Sacramentum, quod mundo dixerat, Christo dedit. Per militiae sanctions asperrima rudimenta, Per insidias daemonum, per oppugnationes hominum, Per conjurata in unum omnia Factus Dux e milite, ex tirone veteranus, Jesu nomine, non suo, Legionem in ecclesiam Dei fortissimum conscripsit, Quae vitam pro divini cultus incremento paciscens In Romani Poutificis verba juraret. Hie ille est, in quo ostendit Deus, Quantum ei curae sit ecclesiae securitas, In quo miserantis, Dei bonitatem atque potentiam Ecclesia catholica veneratur. Quern prostratum tamquam Paulum erexit Deus, Ut nomen suum coram gentibus populisque portaret: Quern praelegit Dominus, ut eorum Dux foret, Qui sui in terris Vicarii authoritatem defenderent, Et Rebelles haereticos ad unitatem fidei revocareut. Quern suo Jeau commendavit Pater aeternus ; Cui ipse Jesus se propitium fore promisit, Quern spiritus sanctus omnium virtutum genere decoravit : Quern praesens toties et propitia virgo Mater dilexit ut filium, Erudivit ut alumnum, defendit ut clientem. Qui Dei amans, non coeli, osor mundi, non hominum, Paratus pro his excludi gloria, pro illo damnari poena ; Mortalis apud homines vitae non prodigus, sed contemtor Vitalis apud inferos mortis non metueiis, sed securus, Profuit vivus mortuis, quos revocavit ad vitam ; Mortuus vivis, quos servavit a morte ; Utrisque se partem exhibens ; Dignus haberi potuit Jesu nomine, Qui praeter Dei gloriam et salutem hominum nil quaesivit. Anno M.D.LVI. prid. Kalendas Augustas Nutu summi Imperatoris jussus a statione decedere, Curam mortalium, quam vivus habuerat, Etiam mortuus nou amisit. 80 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. would have no small interest therein ; and it may be truly said that there are not too many men who have a history after death. Ignatius had frequently expressed a strong wish that on his decease his corpse might be thrown into a flaying place, in order that it might be torn and picked to pieces by birds of prey and wild animals, as the same was no longer anything else than a lump of clay, a mere heap of refuse. In this respect, however, his associates did not obey him. They buried him, on the con- trary, with great pomp, on Saturday, the 1st of August, in the church of Maria da Strada, which belonged to them, and there the coffin remained until the year 1587, when, by order of the General Aquaviva, it was conveyed with still greater pomp into the splendid Jesuit church then newly built by the Cardinal Alexander Farnese. As on the occasion of this latter re- moval of the coffin several wonders took place, and as after it a number of sick men who called upon his name were restored to health, Paul V., in the year 1609, pronounced the deceased to be holy; and in the year 1622, thirteen years afterwards, he was translated among the saints by Gregory XV. Since that time a number of altars have been dedicated to him, on the whole, more than 2,000 ; and, besides, not less than half a hundred churches, of which some, especially that erected, in the year 1626, by the Cardinal Ludovico in Rome, close to the Collegium Romanum, Coelo transscriptus, Bed propensus in terras; Aniinarum avidus, etiam cum Deo plenus : Ecclesiae triumphantis socius, pro militante solicitus, Quod unum potuit Corpus Buum pignus auimi fideique deposition hie reliquit; Cui ne quid decesset ad gloriam, Non semel angelicoa inter cantus submissa de Coelo lumina micuerunt. Age, quisquis baec leges, Beatos immortalis viri et patria communis omnium cineres veuerare, Hos tu, cum videris, religiose cole, Cum habueris, pie complectere; Et latere sub his, etiam nunc, suam ignem, Hoc est, servientem humanae vitae et saluti IGNATIUM deprehendes. Vivit annis quinque et sexaginta inter mortalea, Octoginta quatuor inter immortales, A Gregorio XV, Catholicis aris solenniter additus anno hujus Saec. XXII. A Deo perinni gloria coelitum ultra omne saeculum feliciter cumulaudus_ Hoc sui animi et venerationis perpetuae monumeutum Non structum auro vel marmore ; Bed tenaci grataque memoria consecratum Optimo Maximoque, post Deum, Patri Minima Jesu Societas X.D.C.XL. Anno suo Saeculari primo posuit, dedicavit. IGNATIUS LOYOLA AS GENERAL OF THE ORDEU. 81 are truly elegant buildings. An object of particularly great veneration, too, was the altar in the church of Aspeitia before which he was baptized ; and still more esteemed was the ancient castle of Loyola, upon which, after they had received it as a present from the Queen of Spain, who purchased it with this object in the year 1695, the Jesuits bestowed the name of Santa Casa, or holy house. The Jesuits, however, were still not satis- fied, but, in addition to their more than foolish religious worship, they declared afresh that their holy Ignatius was equal to the Apostles in worth, and that in heaven he would hold intercourse with no one except with Popes, as the holy Peter, with em- presses, as the Virgin Mary, and with sovereign monarchs, as God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Such great honour fell to the lot of Ignatius Loyola after his death, an honour which was truly regarded by many as the offspring of madness 1 BOOK II, THE SHEEWDNESS OF THE JESUITS; AND THE GIGANTIC PEOGEESS OF THEIE GEOWTH. 6 * FIOLIA son d* an Boldato, odio la place: Naqui fra 1' armi, ho la pieta abaudita. Mi fu Madre crudel una fcrita. Onde la Morte ed il aangue d' altrui mi piaca. Son barbara, son cruda, e son rapace, E nell* armi avezzai 1' alma in fierita. E se in mezzo alle stragi ebbi la Vita Porto vo unque men vado, e ferro e foce. Non conosco altro Dio, ch' il proprio orgoglio. L' issesse Monarcbie per me son dome, E nel hipocrisia ho quel che voglio. Delude il Monat ognor; Me si sa come Compagnia di Giesu, chiamarmi foglio non ho di Giesu, ch' il nudo nome. 85 CHAPTER I. THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN DISTANT REGIONS OF THE WORLD. I. THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. ACCORDING to tradition, it was the Apostle Thomas who first spread Christianity in India ; others, however, ascrihe this honour to a rich merchant of the name of Max Thomas, who, in the 6th century, lived in the time of the great Emperor, Ceram Perumal, the founder of Calicut ; and, through his great mer- cantile transactions, which extended even as far as Constanti- nople, became acquainted with the teaching of Jesus Christ. Let this be as it may, this much is certain, that the Portuguese, as they became possessed of the whole of Malabar, along with Goa, Ceylon, Malacca, and the Sunda Islands, under the cele- brated Alfonso Albuquerque, their great naval hero, and, for a long period, Viceroy of India, had already found their way to Asia round the Cape of Good Hope, under the guidance of Vasco de Gama, about the same time as the discovery of America, and had met with persons of the Christian faith, although not Christians " according to the Roman Catholic views of the 15th century." On the contrary, much of what is heathen, both as regards their customs and faith, was so mixed up with it, that the good Catholic ruler of Portugal at that time, being much shocked with such a kind of Christianity, sent Franciscan monks to Goa this latter city being at that time the central point, and the capital of their East Indian possessions in order that ;the true, that is to say, the Roman Catholic faith, might be 6 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. promulgated in these regions. The Franciscans proved them- selves to be but very ill adapted for this kind of work, and showed that " conversion," or, as it was more correctly expressed, " the mission to the heathen," was not their forte, although the Governor and Viceroy placed the bayonets of his military force entirely at their disposal. The progress they made was, there- fore, quite insignificant, and, with the exception of Goa itself, where the Bishopric was founded, the Catholic faith took no root to any great extent. The Indians continued to be just the same as before, and to worship their gods according to the fashion of their fathers and ancestors ; and although some few, through military compulsion, nominally became Papists, the great mass of the worshippers of Bramah and Vishnu still showed themselves to be as stiff-necked as ever. This state of things did not at all give satisfaction to the Kings of Portugal, and John III., who reigned from 1521 to 1557, was particularly shocked at it, as he was not only an extra- ordinarily pious adorer of Rome and the Papacy, but believed that the inhabitants of his newly- acquired possessions, could not become good Portuguese subjects until they had prostrated themselves at the same cross before which the Portuguese knelt. It was now that the said John heard of the new Order, instituted by the conception of Ignatius Loyola at Rome an order whose great aim and object was said to be " the conversion of un- believers " and he, therefore, soon proffered a request to Loyola to send out to India a sufficient number of missionaries. Indeed, he would gladly have seen the founder of the Society of Jesus proceed thither himself, propria persona, as he entertained the firm belief that " the warriors of Christ could have no other design than the Christianising of all the idol-worshippers in the world." Loyola, however, was not at all of this opinion, and not only remained in Rome himself, but explained to the King that he was only in a position to send forth two of his associates, Rodriguez and Francis Xavier, and that "he required the remainder for other purposes." This took place in the summer of 1540, and the two above- named men made their way to Lisbon, where the monarch received them most kindly. They could not, however, proceed at once to India, as the fleet, destined to proceed there annually, had already weighed anchor; but they would have been very. THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. 87 wrong not to have blessed most heartily this adverse incident, as they won the favour of John III. to such a high degree, that the bitter was quite unwilling again to part with them. He, in truth, carried this out to a certain extent, inasmuch as, with the permission naturally of Loyola, he retained one of them, Rod- riguez, who took up his permanent abode in Lisbon. Francis Xavier, however, in whom the zeal for conversion overcame every other consideration, was not to be diverted from the journey to India. The monarch provided him in the best way with Papal briefs which he obtained from Paul III., as also with letters of full powers made out by himself. By one of these letters Francis Xavier acquired the position of " Nuntius Apostolicus " ; that is to say, representative of the Pope for the whole of India ; in a second, in virtue of the right assigned to him for the conversion of the heathen, he had authority to claim all secular influence of the Portuguese officials in the Asiatic colonies ; lastly, in a third writing, King John himself recommended him most earnestly to all the chiefs, princes, and governments, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Ganges. Thus, well provided, Francis Xavier proceeded to India on the 7th of April 1541, with the royal fleet destined thither from Lisbon, and his heart swelled wiih gladdening hopes at the prospect of victory which he wished to gain for the banner of Chrict over the unbelievers. He had forgotten one thing, however, and that, in my opinion, the chief one indeed ; he had not thought it worth the trouble to make himself acquainted in the least degree with the language of the populations which he had set out to convert. " God gives his own in sleep," thought he. And might not, then, the Holy Ghost be so favourable to him as to work a miracle ? The voyage to India was a very slow one, and, while they were compelled to make an involuntary halt of six months in Mozam- bique, they only arrived in the harbour of Goa after a lapse of thirteen months, on the 6th of May 1 542. This made Francis Xavier all the more zealous in respect to the task he had to fulfil ; and although a royal equipage and princely residence were placed at his disposal by the governor of the city, his first care was to betake himself at once to the hospital, in order there to nurse the sick himself, and to get his own means of support from the public alms. Little or nothing, however, was in this way done 88 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. for his proper object, the conversion of the heathen, and conse- quently, after a little time, he presented himself to the Bishop of Goa, in order to produce before that prelate the full powers which he hud brought along with him, and humbly at once to crave permission to set about the conversion of the heathen. For him this authority was, indeed, certainly not requisite, since as Pope's nuncio, he superseded the bishop ; but it was of consequence to him to make sure of the favour of the latter, named Don Juan d' Albuquerque, descended from one of the very highest families, and possessing great influence as well in Goa as in Portugal itself. He, in fact, completely succeeded in winning over Don Juan to his views, and consequently the work of conversion might now commence without further delay. But, Lord, what a misfortune The stupid natives did not understand one single word of what Xavier chattered to them, and the Holy Ghost did not render him any assistance " with the gift of tongues." He arrived at the conviction, at last, that nothing could be done as long as he had no knowledge of the language of the country, and he consequently at once set about the study of Hindustani with the greatest zeal. Along with this task, however, he by no means forgot to exercise further activity in his calling as a Jesuit, and proved it by the clever way in which he at once set about establishing a college, the first in the heathen world. The pair of Franciscan monks, who were already established in Goa, had a seminary in which they instructed a few of the native youths in the Roman Catholic religion, and it at once struck Xavier that their building, which appeared quite well adapted for the purpose, might be made available for his future plans. He addressed himself, therefore, to the superior of the institution, Brother James Borbona, produced before him his Papal briefs, and urged him so much that he not only gave over the house, with everything appertaining to it, to the Society of Jesus, but also, in his own person, became a member of the same. It is true that he did not act thus from entirely disinterested motives, as he made the condition that he should continue to be the rector of the institution for life. But what did that matter to Xavier? He had now, in this way, got rid of competition, and, at the same time, had the glory of converting the seminary hitherto denominated " Santa Fe," into the college of Holy THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. 89 Paul. He, moreover, took care to turn the school, hitherto -small and poor, into an educational institution of the richest and most brilliant description, not so much, however, by means of voluntary gifts obtained by begging, but rather in this way, that i>y the aid of the vice-regal troops he pulled down the heathen temples in the neighbourhood of Goa, and appropriated their very considerable property for the use and benefit of the new college. As soon, now, as Xavier had made sufficient progress in the Hindustani and Malay languages to enable him to make him- self in some degree understood, he left Goa in order to preach 'the gospel in the so-called " pearl coast " of Malabar, the whole of which country had been brought into subjection by the Por- tuguese, and as, besides, they possessed many valuable settlements there, the inhabitants of which were sunk in the grossest kind of heathenism, it would be possible, for that reason, to bring about some considerable result, if the thing were but skilfully managed. In what way, then, did Xavier proceed ? In a truly most remarkable manner, which the missionaries of the present day might be inclined not a little to despise. He took along with him a bell, armed with which he ran about the streets ringing it in broad mid-day, until he succeeded in drawing after him a troop of boys and others, attracted by curiosity, who greeted him with jeers and laughter. When he had thus got together a considerable auditory, placing himself on some large stone, he forthwith began his sermon, which was delivered in the language of the country interlarded with fragments of Latin, Spanish, Italian, and French, to which he added much gesticu- lation with both hands and feet. He then finally produced a large cross, which he piously kissed, and required the crowd to do likewise, presenting each one who complied with a beautiful rosary, thousands of which he had brought with him from Portugal. This, however, was only the first part of his method of conversion. The second was much more effectual, and con- sisted in pulling down, with the assistance of the Portuguese troops, which he called into requisition, the native temples, and breaking in pieces the idols found therein, not, however, with- out replacing them by Christian chapels, with the image of the crucified Jesus, and erecting in the neighbourhood a handsome building constructed of bamboo canes, for the instruction of the 90 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. yoimg. He already knew, from experience, what an impression- a solemn service, with the sacrifice of the mass, made upon the fanciful imaginations of Orientals, and he also knew that in order to render the work of conversion lasting, it was neces- sary to win over to the new faith the growing youth, the^ foundation of the population. For this reason, he threw him- self, with great zeal, into the matter of education, and, partly by means of friendly presents, and partly hy fear of the Portuguese- soldiery, who had destroyed the heathen temples, succeeded in inducing many of the native boys and girls to attend his schools. It was but an easy matter, however, from a missionary point of view, as, far from making them acquainted with the principles of Christianity, he merely contented himself in teaching them to say the Lord's Prayer, along with the Creed, and causing them to understand the same, as also to cross the arms with humility over the breast. After getting them on as far as this, Xavier now accepted them as Christians through the performance of & solemn baptismal service, and he soon managed in this way to acquire a pretty considerable number of souls for the kingdom! of Heaven. In spite of all this, the business of conversion went on much too slowly to please him, and, on that account, even iu> the first year of his residence in India, he wrote to his General,, requesting him to send out a number of assistants. Loyola* complied most willingly with this demand, and sent him more than twenty of them, almost all being Portuguese whom Rodri- guez had recently gained over for the Order ; amongst them were the Paters Anton Criminal, Anton Gomez, Casper Bergaus,, Paulus Camerti, Alonzo Cyprius, Melchior Gonzales, and Fran- ciscus Peren, who all, more or less, subsequently distinguished, themselves. He was now able to carry on the work of conversion* in a wholesale manner, and, during the next six years, in almost every place where the Portuguese flag waved, and especially inj Ceylon, Cochin, Negapatam, Meliapur, Malacca, and Ternate,. he succeeded in establishing schools, small and large. The prin- cipal seminary, however, which served as a nursery for the educa- tion of native missionaries, was the college in Goa, into which,, immediately on the arrival of the assistants from Europe, Xavier at once drove before him 120 sons of the Hindu gentry, by means of a military force, in order that they might be brought up in future for the purpose of converting their fellow-country- THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. 91 men ; and there could be no question that the power of the Por- tuguese bayonets, and still more, the fear engendered by the same, contributed in no small degree to the great results which Francis Xavier and his associates obtained,* and this circum- stance diminished not a little the glory of the great apostolic- hero, who was often so thoroughly tired at night from the exer- tion of baptising, that he was hardly able to move his arms- Still more injury, however, was done to this glory by the circum- stance that the baptised, or converted, were, as a matter of fact,, not real Christians, but remained heathens just as much as before. It is certainly true that they could repeat the Creed, and that the water of Christian baptism had been thrown over them, as,, also, that they were taught to have some sort of understanding of the matter, that they took part in processions, and could sing some hymns, and join in other external observances. In truth, however, they still retained all their old manners, customs, usages, and notions, and when the Padri, as the Christian missionaries were denominated, with drew from one con- verted neighbourhood, being of the opinion that it had been completely won over to Christianity, and proceeded elsewhere in* order to prosecute the work of conversion, it so happened that the native priests, the Brahmins, had not the least difficulty in bringing the people back again to the religion in which they had been born and bred. This was now, indeed, an embarrassing di- lemma, and one of Xavier's companions, Anton Criminal, who had gained proselytes at Cape Comorin, became so furious on that ac- count against the Brahmins that he persecuted them with the most inhuman cruelties. They, however, in their despair, at once appealed for aid against this Criminal and his handful of soldiers obtained from the Governor of Goa, which he had brought along with him, to a tribe of people which had not as yet come under subjection to the Portuguese, the latter being, in fact, in point of numbers,, in a very small minority. A battle thereupon ensued, in which all the Portuguese, Criminal himself not excepted, were massacred.f * It was thus, for example, that the King of Condi, in Ceylon, was com- pelled by force of arms to receive the Cross, also was constrained by- order of Xavier to be baptised, by whose directions also his lieutenants and governors of provinces who offered any resistance to the baptismal ceremony were threatened with confiscation of their property. It was easy in this way to gain over thousands daily to Christianity. t There were no less than four lance-wounds through the heart of Criminal, and, when dead, he was so hated by the Brahmins that they cut 92 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Some time now elapsed before any other missionary attempted to show himself. The Brahmins, however, did not by any means improve their position by their strenuous resistance, but, on the contrary, rather made it worse, for Francis Xavier took occasion on this account to institute in Goa a religious tribunal, after the pattern of the Spanish Inquisition, over which he ruled without opposition,* and, being aided by the Portuguese arms, he proceeded, with the most frightful severity, against all those who offered any hindrance to the spread of Christianity, or who also dared to beguile the baptised natives back again to their old idol-worship. In this way, then, innumerable Brahmins, and more particularly the richest among them, lost their lives by the executioner's hands, or, at least, were exiled from their country in order that their property might be seized for the benefit of the Society, and thus, by degrees, all opposition to the reception of the Christian religion presently ceased through- out the whole of the countries under subjection to the Portu- guese. As a matter of course, the effeminate Hindus now pressed forward to have themselves baptised, rather than make acquaint- ance with the prisons of the Inquisition, or run the risk of being roasted alive over a slow fire ! After this fashion did Francis Xavier and his associates conduct themselves in India, and the consequence was that Jesuit colleges sprang up in all suitable places, being enriched by the property of the slaughtered and banished heretics. And still more numerous were the churches which were erected, as they no longer hesitated to destroy, with fire and sword, all the heathen temples which they were able to get at, and, indeed, it almost seemed as if the Jesuits bad taken for their example the cruel conduct of Charles the Great against the Saxons. Xavier now, after he had carried things to this height, thought it was time to extend still further his Christian conquests, and this he did by an acquaintance he had made, in 1549, with an inhabitant of Japan. The his head off. The Jesuits, on the other hand, made him out to be the first martyr of the Order, and there was but little wanting that he should have been placed in the category of saints. * The Portuguese governors and lieutenants rendered every assistance on that account to the great converter of the heathen, because they knew very well that they would otherwise be denounced to King John 111., and that whoever was in this way singled out might rest assured that he would be certain to lose his appointment and be recalled to Lisbon to render an Account of his actions. THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. 93- latter, a rather cunning fellow, but springing from a good family, called Anger, who had at least one murder on his conscience, directed the attention of Xavier to the infinite resources of Japan, so much so, indeed, that he at once deter- mined to convert the great Empire, with its millions of in- habitants, and to claim possession of its enormous riches for the benefit of the Order of Jesus. He first began, then, by baptising Anger, the same thereby receiving the name of" Paul de Saint Foi," and at once proceeded to Goa to make sure that things there might not get into disorder during his absence. After he had accomplished this, and had nominated Paul Camerti as his representative, under the title of General Superior, and Anton Gomez as Hector of the now very important college of the " Holy Paul," he embarked in the summer of 1549, and, in company with Anger and the very zealous Pater Come de Torrez, proceeded to Japan, where he landed, on the 15th of August, in the harbour of Canxawa, or Gang Xuma, the capital 1 of the kingdom of Sazuma, or Hsuma ; this happened in the fifteenth year, to the very day, from the taking of the vows at Montmartre. In those days Japan formed, as it does now, nominally one single monarchy, or, indeed, an empire, with its capital, Miako,. in which the Emperor, under the name of a Dairi, or Mikado,, sat on the throne. At the same time the whole was divided! into several provinces or kingdoms, the rulers of which reigned quite independently; amongst the number was the kingdom of Hsuma. It now so happened that the above-mentioned Anger had formerly been on fairly friendly terms with f the ruler of Hsuma, in consequence of which Francis Xavier,. was not only hospitably received at Court, but at once ob- tained permission, from the very tolerant king, to preach the Christian religion. Xavier, as we may well imagine, immediately took advantage of this privilege, but unfortunately not with the result he had promised himself, as his preaching was almost un- intelligible to his hearers, while the little Japanese that he had; picked up from his intercourse with Anger, was mixed up with a variegated jargon of Spanish, Italian, and Latin, to say nothing of his peculiar manners. Bell in hand he collected the people together as he had done before in Goa and its neighbourhood, a proceeding which, to the Japanese of a rather higher degree of 94 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. cultivation, conveyed the impression of charlatanism and absurdity. This Xavier himself, after the lapse of some little time, felt but too plainly ; and, seeing that it was impossible for him to gain his end in this way, he shortly resolved to alter his mode of opera- tion, and from a Jesuit to become a Bonze. A Bonze ? asks the astonished reader ; but he will cease to be astonished when he calls to remembrance that the Bonzes are nothing more than the higher priests of Buddhism, which is by far the most widely diffused religion of Japan, and that this Buddhism itself has many points of resemblance to the Roman Catholic faith. In one, as in the other, there are, cloisters with nuns and monks, and even hermits are not wanting. The Buddhists, like the Roman Catholics, have connected with their worship pictures and relics, as well as processions, pilgrimages, and holy proclamations. Both make use of rosaries in saying their prayers, and chastise their bodies with fasting and other similar privations. The Bonzes or Lamas, as they are called in Tibet, shave their heads exactly as the Roman priests do, and both are dedicated to celibacy. Further, both are regarded by the people with much reverence, and exercise a decided influence over them. Such is the state of matters which obtains in Japan, and it cannot therefore be wondered at that Xavier determined, under these circumstances, to become a Bonze so far as clothing, habits, manner of life, and customs went. As plain Jesuit he had as yet only rendered himself offensive. As Bonze, however, he hoped to gain influence as much as his heathen colleagues, and then might be able to insinuate Christian doctrine underhand in place of Buddhist polytheism. It was perceived that his design was good, and therefore there was not the least difficulty raised as to the dishonesty of the means adopted, as the Jesuits were never scrupulous in this respect ; but still this artifice did not lead him to the attainment of his aim. The legitimate Bonzes, to wit, began to move heaven and earth in order that the obtrusive new comer should be sent about his business, and represented to the king that the greatest danger would threaten the kingdom were he to allow a miserable stranger to throw ridicule on the old tutelary gods of Japan, and introduce in their stead a new and hitherto quite unknown God, whom no neighbouring deity might endure. They also added a warning to this representation, threatening THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. 95 to call upon the other kings of Japan for assistance, if Xavier were not expelled from the kingdom ; and, indeed, little was wanting for the breaking out of a great revolution at their instigation. Under such circumstances the king now resolved to abandon the principle of toleration, which he had hitherto followed, and issued a decree in which he forbad the acceptance of Christianity to all his subjects, under the penalty of death, and advised Francis Xavier that, if he put any value upon his life, he must leave his dominions in the shortest space of time. There was, of course, now nothing else for the great heathen- converter to do but to obey instantly this order, and he quitted the city of Canxawa, after a residence in it of nearly one year, without having accomplished anything whatever. But where was he now to bend his steps ? Was he to return again to Goa ? or, at the risk of meeting with the same kind of treatment as he had experienced at Hsuma, to try some other Japanese kingdom ? He did not require to remain long undecided, as there happened to be at that time, as he immediately ascer- tained, several Portuguese ships in the harbour of Ferando, the capital of a neighbouring province of the same name, and, as he naturally thought it possible that he might meet with a more friendly reception, under the protection of these ships, from the King of Ferando than he had done from the ruler of Hsuma, he therefore at once made his way to the above- mentioned sea-port. Nor did he deceive himself in this respect, the less so that there happened to subsist a deadly feud at that time between the Kings of Ferando and Hsuma, and conse- quently permission was at once granted to him to make as many proselytes as he was able to find. He therefore turned this permission to such good use that he effected more baptisms within a period of twenty days in Ferando than during the whole year that he had been in Hsuma. So, at least, it is reported by his biographer, and we leave it to be determined whether this be the case or not. The fact, however, was that he still despaired of effecting anything of much consequence until he had converted the Dairi himself, in his capital of Miako, or had at least got from the latter permission to proselytise ; so on that account he himself cleared the way, after a residence of some weeks, for the further operations of Come de Torrez, 96 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. whom he left behind. He did not, however, proceed alone, but took along with him two newly-converted Japanese, called Matthias and Bernhard, as also an interpreter of the name of Fernandez. After meeting with many dangers in trying to- make proselytes on the way, he was more than once nearly stoned. It seems to be clear, from the report of his most intimate followers, that he was only allowed to escape owing to his being looked upon as a description of fool, which, in the east, is a better protection than any other weapon. He at last arrived in the great capital of Japan in February 1551, and at once betook himself to the largest public place with the object of proclaiming the Gospel to the people. But what kind of a sermon was it that he preached ? O Lord ! one can hardly believe it possible that any man of the least common sense could think that he could, in such a way, convert anyone to his opinion. He certainly, indeed, did not allow himself to repeat the hocus focus of Goa, but he preached by means of his interpreter, as he still was so badly acquainted with the Japanese language that he was unable to put two consecutive sentences together.* It can be readily surmised, then, how laugh- able was the situation ! as one may further easily imagine that Fer- nandez understood Spanish badly, and consequently that all that Xavier said was expounded in complete confusion. It was truly, then, no wonder that the religion which Xavier preached was re- ceived with general misunderstanding, and that he could nowhere make his appearance in public without being followed by the street boys, who looked upon him as a sort of half-witted fool. In spite of all this, he had the audacity to request an audience with the Emperor, which, however, was refused with disdain and derision by the imperial employes ; consequently nothing else remained for the zealous missionary to do, but to seek for good fortune elsewhere, and he betook himself to Amanguchi, the capital of the kingdom or province of Mangate. Un- fortunately, however, he met there with no better success, although he was careful enough to make his appearance attired * Xavier thus wrote verbatim to Ignatius Loyola : " If I but understood their language (Japanese) I have no doubt that many unbelievers would accept the Christian religion. Would to God that I had sooner acquired knowledge of it! for I might then have hoped to render some service to the Church. At present we are only like statues which cannot talk. They speak much to us, but we cannot reply, as we do not know what they say- to us." THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. 07 in rich Bonze vestments, and took the precaution of sending beforehand certain presents to the King, as, for instance, a beautiful repeating watch, a musical instrument of good tone, and other such trifles. The Japanese, however, still continued to look upon the foreign Bonze as a fool, and considered their own established religion to be much more sensible than that preached by such a ninny. As Xavier now, however, learned that this said religion originated, properly speaking, in China, and as he was of opinion that it would be an easy matter to Christianise the Japanese Em- pire after he had first of all converted the mother country, he forth- with determined to make a descent upon the Celestial Empire. The way thither brought him to the sea-port of Bungo, the residence of another Japanese king, and at that time there happened to lie several Portuguese ships at anchor, commanded by Edward de Gama, a descendant of the renowned Vasca de Gama. This was for him a fortunate circumstance, as Edward de Gama was aware of the favour in which the missionary stood with John III., and he was not the less conscious that political wisdom demanded the encouragement of missionary enterprise, as the only way by which it was possible to open up to European trade this carefully- closed kingdom. On that account it appeared to him necessary that Xavier should be received with marks of the greatest honour, amid the thunder of cannon; the consequence being that the ruler of Bungo wished to know what was the reason of all these salutes. He was duly informed that all this parade was in honour of a holy European Bonze, who had come on board the Admiral's ship ; and, in reply to the Prince's question, whether he might not be afforded an opportunity of seeing and becoming acquainted with this distinguished indi- vidual, he was told that the latter had the intention of paying his respects to His Majesty very shortly. This interview, in fact, took place ; not, however, in any ordi- nary manner, but with every degree of pomp that it was pos- sible to observe. The entire line of ships hoisted their pennants, and salutes were fired, the whole of the crews participating on the occasion, and all the officers being decked out in the greatest gala.* In a word, everything was done to impress upon the * The whole train proceeded to the land in three boats, decorated as for a fete, an ornamental awning being spread, and the benches being covered 7 98 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. inhabitants, as well as the King, that Francis Xavier was a man worthy of the highest consideration, and he was consequently not only received by the whole standing army as the great Bonze of Europe, but welcomed with much distinction by the Regent himself. He, moreover, at once obtained leave to proceed with his work of conversion to Christianity, wherever he chose, and he, naturally enough, took the fullest advantage of this permission. Matters, however, soon took a different turn, as the native Bonzes, fearing to lose their influence, sought to stir up the people against the " Bonze of Chemachicogin," as they called Portugal, and, moreover, represented to the King, before heaven and hell, how dangerous the new teaching was to the State. Now, as the King did not at once yield to their solicitations, being desirous of not giving offence to the Chinese, he called together a sort of Bonze council in the city of Bungo ; at this appeared about three thousand heathen priests, who called upon the stranger to defend his doctrines before the assembled council. This religious conference, in fact, which took place, led, as may be easily imagined, to no result. In other words, each party ascribed the victory to itself, and each had reason for so doing, as neither of them in any way understood each other. The people, however, sided entirely with the native priests, and such a commotion ensued that the Portuguese themselves com- pelled Xavier to withdraw, fearing that a revolution might be the consequence. The upshot of the matter was, that the missionary quitted the ity of Bungo, after a residence in it of forty-seven days, on with the most beautiful Persian carpets, each boat also having its own particular band of music, which played the most beautiful airs, while the cannon thundered away and the whole of the sailors shouted out hurrahs ! On arriving on shore Edward de Gama, with uncovered brow and his marshal's staff in his hand, placed himself at their head, and then followed after him five of the Portuguese of the greatest distinction, who, also uncovered, bore the presents destined for the King of Bungo, to wit, an ornamented sceptre of chisled gold, a richly-bound Bible, a pair of black slippers embroidered with pearls, a picture of the Virgin Mary painted in oil colours, and a beautiful umbrella. Then came Francis Xavier himself, attired in a choir shirt of Indian muslin studded with precious stones, as also a stole of gold brocade ornamented with diamonds, and surrounded by thirty richly-clothed naval officers, all of them of noble birth and adorned with gold chains and precious stones. The procession was closed by the sailors and marines, all, of course, decked out in their Sunday clothes, march- ing along with hat in hand, as in order to show sufficient respect to Francis Xavier it was necessary for their heads to be uncovered. THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. 99 November 20th, 1551, not, however, without leaving behind him a shepherd for the small flock which he had collected together, and sailed away in a ship placed at his disposal by the Admiral, for the city of Canton, which was the nearest place in the Chinese Empire. A storm, however, compelled him to land on a small island on the way, and here he was informed by certain Portuguese merchants that it was not permitted for any stranger to cross the frontier of China unless he came in the capacity of an am- bassador. He, therefore, caused the ship, thus detained by the storm, to direct its course back again to Goa instead of to Canton, and, on his arriving there, urgently solicited the Viceroy now Don Alphonso de Norogna to despatch an embassy to Peking, under whose auspices he might be able to penetrate into this empire, so closed against the outer world. At first the Viceroy was unwilling to entertain this project, but in the end he allowed himself to be persuaded into it by a rich merchant of the name of Jaques Pereira, who was anxious to speculate in Chinese wares ; on him he conferred the patent of an ambassador, and Francis Xavier, along with some other members of the Society of Jesus whom he selected from the College, accompanied him, leaving on the 14th of April 1552. The route lay vid Malacca, where a landing was first made, but it would have been better for them had they passed on with- 'out stopping. It appeared to the Portuguese governor here, a proud noble, called Don Alvarez d'Atayde, that it was a per- fectly preposterous thing that a common bourgeois merchant should be sent as an ambassador to one of the greatest monarchs of Asia, and he, therefore, declared that the Embassy could not be allowed to proceed until he had received further intelligence ifrom the Viceroy of Goa. Francis Xavier protested against this detention, and excommunicated Don Alvarez, as the latter would not in any way acquiesce in his wishes. This, however, did 'not improve matters in the slightest, but, on the contrary, the proud man felt so provoked, that he forthwith put the whole ambassadorial fleet into arrest until something further was heard about the affair. This circumstance drove Francis Xavier almost frantic, and he made his escape in a small barque, leaving behind him most of his companions in Malacca, his destination being the island of Sancian. 7 * 100 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. The said island being situated on the southern coast of China not far from Canton, he hoped to be able to smuggle himself from it with ease into the Celestial Empire ; and with the assist- ance of a Chinese merchant whom he had bribed, would no- doubt have succeeded, had not the providence of God ordained it otherwise for him. He had hardly landed, after a stormy passage of nearly one month's duration, when he was laid up with a violent fever, and, being treated by an unskilful doctor, he succumbed to the disease twelve days afterwards, on the 2nd of December 1552, at the comparatively early age of forty-six years.* Such was the end of a man who underwent the greatest dangers in order to spread in distant lands what he called the Christian religion of a man whose courage and constancy could not he daunted or overcome, even by the greatest of misfortunes, and who, on that account, had the right to range himself side by side with the most valorous of soldiers ; but also of a man who was never in the service of mankind, but merely in that ot the Papacy, and who, from his more than unwise zeal, never hesitated in the least to render the teaching of Christianity, in. truth, really laughable, and to bring down upon it the ridicule of unbelievers. His Order, however, had much for which to thank him, as he laid the foundation of many establishments in. India, China, and Japan, in which only a few decades afterwards it might well rejoice; and, without his animating example, his- followers in missionary undertaking could, certainly, never have accomplished what they eventually notoriously brought about to> the astonishment of the world. On that account he was most highly honoured and revered by his fellow Jesuits, who, after the lapse of two years, conveyed his corpse, which at the time of his death had been buried with quite sufficient ceremony at Sancian, to Goa, in order that it should be deposited with great pomp and solemnity in the College of the Holy Paul. There, later on, also, they erected a splendid mausoleum for him in the Jesuits' church, and a similar monument was also raised to his memory in the Jesuits' Church in Rome, where, by the command of the General of the Order, Claudius Aquaviva, an arm of Xavier was brought. The principal thing, however, was that the Pope, Paul V., pronounced the apostle of India, as Francis * He was born in the year 1506, at the Castle of Xaviero, in Navarre, at the foot of the Pyrenees. THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. 101 Xavier was designated after his death, to be holy, and Gregory XV., on the 12th of March J622, translated him into the category of saints, an act which, however, was only announced to Christendom on the 6th of August of the year following by Pope Urban VIII. Still later, in the year 1747, Pope Benedict XIV. bestowed upon him the honourable title of " Protector of India," and kings as well as queens hastened to erect churches to his honour, which were, of course, named after him. I have dilated, I admit, very considerably on the work of Francis Xavier in Asia, as he was in fact a much too interest- ing personage to be passed over in a short description. In regard, however, to his successors in office I allude to the associates and soldiers of Christ, who after him carried on the missionary work in Japan, China, and the East Indies, and the different fates they met with I will content myself with a much shorter description, and rather look to the results upon which they ultimately had to congratulate themselves. In East India, Xavier had completely paved the way for them, as in all places of any consequence which had become subject to the Portuguese, Jesuit establishments by whatever name they were called, be it colleges, residences, or missions were founded, and it only remained to increase their number, as also to enlarge those already existing. For the sons of Loyola it was always everywhere an easy matter to succeed in doing so, as, in the first place, the Portuguese governors (Don Alvarez d'Altayde being almost a solitary exception), by order of the king, played into their hands ; and as, secondly, they could get the better of any opposition to their projects very easily with the assistance of the tribunals of the Inquisition, established by themselves. To increase, too, the number of missions was by no means difficult, as in every place, wherever the Portuguese or other Euro- pean despoilers had penetrated, the Jesuit missionaries pressed forward, and, by very simple means, contrived to plant their feet firmly, as well as to form Christian communities. In what, then, did these simple means consist ? The mode was nothing else than this : these missionaries attired themselves as Indian priests or Brahmins (throughout all India the Brahminical religion prevailed), in order that, before the Indians, who enter- tained a strong inborn repugnance to foreigners, they might pass .themselves off as natives, while they, at the same time, actually 102 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. amalgamated the Christianity which they taught with the already- subsisting heathenish views and customs of the inhabitants. The good Hindus (or native Indians) might thus still continue to be Hindus as long as they merely submitted to be baptised and to bear the name of " Christians ! " It was, indeed, not even necessary to adopt a Christian name in baptism, as the people might retain their own heathenish ones, as St. Paul him- self said, "one should be all things to all men! " It would, of course, be very easy for me to form a complete list of all the Jesuits who, as Brahmins, travelled about the country, and who, if they did not exactly trample on the Cross of Christ, at nil events denied the same. But I will content myself in noting merely two of them, hoping from these examples to give to the reader a clear notion as to the nature of Jesuit work and pro- ceedings in India. One of them, namely, Pater Constantino Beschi, who had most carefully studied the Hindi language, ns well as Sanscrit, imitated the customs and manners, no less than the mode of life of the Brahmins so correctly that the people of the Dekkan, where he for a long time resided, actually began to honour him as a saint as a saint, however, be it well under- stood, in the heathen heaven ; and, as he published, besides, popular poems in the native language, he thus became celebrated throughout all lands. What was, then, the consequence of this ? The ruler of the Dekkan, in the belief that he was a true Brahmin, raised him to be his first court official and minister, and Constantino Beschi did not trouble himself in the least to explain the mistake. On the contrary, the worthy Pater, hence- forth completely renouncing all European customs and origin, attired in a fine oriental costume, appeared in public riding upon a richly-caparisoned horse, or carried in a palankeen by slaves, and always accompanied by a numerous escort on horseback, who cleared the way for the great man, proclaiming his going and coming at the same time with a flourish of trumpets. No one could have supposed that he was in reality a European, and much less a baptised Christian. A Jesuit, however, he still remained to the end of his days, and his companions of the Order were not a little proud of him. A perfectly different character was presented in the very worthy Pater Barthelemi Acosta, the second example which I now bring to notice, as he did not frequent the society of the THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. 103 great ones of the land, but rather contented himself with mixing among the very lowest dregs of the people ; influenced, of course, by the same aim and object as that of Constantino Beschi, the Prime Minister and Grand Vizier. He sought out,, namely, the ill -famed dwellings of the public dancing girls and courtesans, and the huts of those called " Bayaders," being well aware that, always ready, at any day and hour, to sacrifice to the god of love, they thereby possessed great influence over the male sex, and he thus soon found himself on the most intimate terms with them. He was in the habit of playing with them,, as well as dancing and drinking with them, by which means he become their dearest friend and confidant. The poor creatures were quite delighted with him, and desired nothing better than to become translated into heaven at the hands of him. who made the matter so easy for them. One thing only stood in the way of their embracing the Christian religion, which was that they had been told that Christian priests condemned, as a sinful vice, the trade by which they lived, and, consequently, they delayed from hour to hour to receive the sacrament of baptism. What, then, did the worthy father do ? He taught them that they might become Christians and still, without com- mitting sin, might continue to devote themselves to the god of love, provided they dedicated a portion of their gains to the Christian church, and, at all events, did their best endeavour to convert those persons to whom they were in the habit of yielding their charms. By these, and other similar ways, the Jesuits contrived to insinuate themselves everywhere throughout the whole extent of India, and, as long as the dominion of the Portuguese lasted, they made themselves absolute masters of the soil ; that is to say, they found themselves all alone at liberty to despoil the whole of the enormous territory, without being interfered with by other Orders, making proselytes, or founding colleges and residences, as they were beloved almost beyond all measure by the King of Portugal, as we shall here- after see. But how was it after the lapse of a century ? When other sea-faring nations also came forward, especially the French, Dutch, and English, to participate in the great hunt after the riches of India, and, as by degrees the power of the first despoiler collapsed on all sides, then came also the downfall of the Jesuit dominion. As I shall hereafter, in the fourth, fifth, 104 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. and seventh books of this work, come to speak of the way in which the Jesuits conducted themselves during the height of their glory in India it is sufficient for us to know at present that, during the period of a hundred years, the Society of Jesus was the sole ruler in India in matters connected with religion and the Church. They were also quite as fortunate in Japan, although with much greater trouble than in India, and so far back as the year 1573, only twenty years after the death of Xavier, they were able to congratulate themselves on the possession of large establishments in about half of the hundred small kingdoms into which the great Empire was divided. Moreover it was a fact, that already at that time more than two hundred thousand Japanese, exclusive of women and children, had come under their banner, and it may be considered no exaggeration at all to say that the Popes of Rome exulted over this circumstance, declaring that they would never rest satisfied until they had brought the whole of Japan under the dominion of Christen- dom. But what had the Jesuits to thank for this result ? Simply and solely their own cunning, and the circumstance that Japan formed no single and entire sovereignty ruled over by one single monarch. It had from the first, become obvious to Xavier that, in order to gain over the Japanese to his opinions, it would be necessary for him to mix himself up with theirs also, and on that account, as we have already seen, he commenced his operations as a Bonze. The associates he had left behind him in Japan, namely Come de Torrez, Juan Fernandez, Cosmos, or whatever might be their names, adopted the same convenient system of morality, and each took good care of himself, as it is said, to get into the house by the door. The place, thought they, cannot be carried by storm, but by quite gently creeping on all fours; and protected by trenches, the holy fathers made their advances, and placed before the garrison such easy and agreeable conditions that they could hardly fail to yield. After conversion the Jesuit fathers still allowed their followers, although they had received the sacrament of baptism, to frequent the heathen pagodas, and to pray on their knees before their gods Jebischu, Daitotu, Fatziman, Fottei, or by whatever other names they might be called, if they in thought only transferred their worship and adoration to Christ! Still their THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. 105 conquest would not have been so easy, nor would it have certainly been extended within so wide a circle, had it not been assisted in a large measure by the breaking up of the great empire. Each of their different smaller kings merely sought, indeed, his own aggrandizement, and not that of the common fatherland; a continual jealousy consequently reigned amongst Jill, and an ever-enduring envy and hatred prevailed among the .rivals. To none of them was anything else at heart than the depreciation and disparagement of their neighbour, and every oneans that tended thereto was hailed with hearty welcome. Especially several of these petty despots believed that great advantages would accrue to them, if they entered into commercial relationship with a seafaring nation such as the Portuguese, or if they succeeded in forming an alliance with those brave men who had, just at that time, despoiled India. By what means could they attain this object more easily than through inter- course with the Jesuits ? I have already apprised the reader of the reception given to Francis Xavier by Edward de Gama in the seaport of Bungo ; and, as the Jesuits were universally met by the Portuguese sailors with servile submission, wherever a Portu- .guese ship lay at anchor in a Japanese harbour, the sons of Loyola might indeed be certain that their captain would be sure to .place the men at their disposal, as, at the same time, their Order was all powerful at the Court of Lisbon. Not a few, accordingly, of those minor kings made haste to make themselves as friendly as possible with the Loy elites, and, on the principle that " one hand washes the other," gave them as much assistance as they possibly could. Some of them, indeed, even allowed themselves to be baptised, by which example their subjects were naturally Jed to do the like, and then, conjoined to the act of baptism, for the most part a liberal donation of lands was at the same time given to the Jesuits, upon which, after becoming settled, they might erect their respective colleges and residences. We learn, for instance, respecting the King of Omura, that, in the year 1562, he assigned to the Jesuits, for their own particular use, the town of Vocoziura, with all the villages within a radius of five miles ; and if other princes did not go quite so far as this, they, at least, presented the missionaries with all the cloisters for which they had occasion. The Jesuits then, in short, after a few decades, acquired a most extraordinary influence in Japan, 106 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. and even in Miako, the seat of the Dairi, they succeeded in- establishing a college along with a noviciate ; and, as they wera once before known to do, even made use of their power to threaten therewith the rulers inimical to them. What do I say to threaten ! That is by far too mild an expression, as, from threatening they often came to action ; that is to say, the Black Cloaks beguiled the converted princes into making an attack on the unconverted, and exerted their whole power and influence, in this way, to obtain a victory for the former. Many volumes might be written concerning these everlast- ing machinations, excitations, and houndings on of the Japanese one against the other, the consequence being that the history of Japan at that time consisted in nothing else than a constant catalogue of insurrections, rebellions, conspiracies, wars, and massacres ; each of these fraternal feuds, however, and each of these rebellions, &c., ever aided the Jesuits to a new triumph, and at last to such a pitch did matters come that, in the year 1585, three of the converted kings, namely, those of Bungo, Arima, and Omura, organised under their guidance a brilliant embassy to the then reigning Pope, Gregory XIII., in order to render homage to the head of Christendom. This was glory, indeed ! Truly such splendid results could hardly have been brought about by all the other Orders put together; but the Pope himself, also, showed himself grateful, and forthwith, through a Special Bull, forbade for the future all monks or other ecclesiastics from going to Japan, with the object of exercising any ecclesiastical function whatever, without his express permission, under the penalty of being subjected to- the greater excommunication. In this manner was Japan given over to the unrestrained spoliation of the Jesuits, and one may easily imagine that they well knew how to make full use of their opportunity. In what respect, however, did Christianity gain by this ? Certainly in none whatever, but, on the contrary, it was simply hurtful to it, as the Christianity which was taught by the Jesuits in Japan had nothing whatever of its character but the name, not even its tenor, as it soon became evident that the Jesuits, in fact, fabricated a life of Christ especially adapted to meet the ideas of the Japanese, in which they represented the son of the wife of the carpenter as coming into the world arrayed in THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. 10T purple, governing as King of Judah, and dying on his bed of state in all the glory of a monarch. Still less was done for the education of the baptised Japanese ; on the contrary, they were allowed designedly to retain all their old superstitions- along with their depraved habits and vices of sensuality.* It was much more difficult, however, for the Jesuits to pene- trate into China than into Japan, as at that time the former empire was completely closed against all foreigners, and the strong door could not be opened either by force or artifice. Francis Xavier, as we have already been made aware, died, within sight of its inviting coasts ; nor did it fare any better with others of his Order, more especially with brethren Michael. Ruggieri, and Pazzio, who, coming one from Goa, the other from Macao, attempted for thirty years to climb the Chinese rocks, as Father Valigno expresses himself. This difficult problem was, however, at last solved by one of them, no other than the celebrated Mathias Ricci. Born in the same year in which Xavier died, to wit, on the 6th of October 1552, his birth-place was the town of Macerata, in the district of Ancona. He, at a very early age, showed great capabilities, and, after acquiring to some extent the old lan~ guages, he proceeded to Rome in the year 1568, in order there to study law. He then became acquainted with the Jesuit fathers, and more especially with Laynez and Salmeron, and their persevering efforts at length succeeded in winning over the highly- gifted young man to their Order. At the age of nine- teen, he entered as a novice into the Collegium Romanum, and, began to go through the ordinary course in it; but Pater Balignano, who at that time was the head of the Novice House, soon discovered that young Mathias possessed an extra- ordinary talent for mathematics and mechanics. Who could have been more rejoiced at this than the Jesuit fathers ? For several years had they endeavoured in vain to get hold of some- one possessed of this talent. * In the years 1633-35 the pious ecclesiastics, Antoninus de St. Maria, . Francis Almeda, and Jean Baptist, travelled all over the East by order of the Pope, and from their statements it is apparent, as is allowed by the Jesuits, that the Japanese continued still to carry on all their old idol ceremonies, and only practised that of Christianity secretly. The Jesuits themselves do not at all deny this, but on the contrary admit it. The Apostles had employed the same means towards the cou verted Jews and, heathens. 108 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. As soon as it had been brought to the knowledge of the General, through the reports current in India and Japan, that the Chinese of distinction had an especially great leaning to the -cultivation of the so-called exact sciences, as, for example, mathematics, chemistry, and astronomy, as well also of the mechanical arts, and that anyone who distinguished himself in those paths would be highly esteemed by them, it was determined to send into the " Empire of the Centre," in the garb of a Chinese savant, a well-armed Jesuit, deeply instructed in such knowledge, and it was not unnatural therefore that the Chief of the Order should rejoice in having at last found the long-sought- for talent. The pursuit of theology was consequently instantly thrown aside by Ricci, in order, on the other hand, to prosecute his studies in mathematics, chemistry, and astronomy, and with this object the most celebrated teachers and professors of those sciences available at the period in Rome were had in requisi- tion for him. This young man was at the same time instructed -in mechanical learning, and more especially in the art of making physical instruments, that of watch-making not being neglected. Ricci acquired a knowledge of all these branches with wonderful acumen, as well in practice as in theory. It 'nevertheless took him fully eight years before he had entirely perfected himself. He now embarked for the East, not, however, immediately for China, but for Goa, the head and central point of the Asiatic mission. It was here, in the College of the Holy Paul, that the finishing touches were given to his education, and, more parti- cularly, he there acquired a knowledge of the Chinese language so perfectly, that he was quite capable of being taken for a native of the Celestial Empire. He applied himself to it with untiring zeal, and at last, after four years more, he was now considered to be perfect in this respect. Nothing further was now wanting to hinder him from pro- ceeding to his destination, and he therefore embarked in September 1583, in the attire of a Lama, or Fo priest, for China, where he presently landed in a small sea-port town called Tschao-tcheu. Fo is only another term for Buddha, and a Lama, or Fo Priest, thus signifies the same in China as Bonze does in Japan. He did not dare, at first, indeed, to approach THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. 109 Canton or any of the other large cities, for fear of being recog- nised as a European ; he held it to be more prudent to work, quietly from below upwards, and on that account had he, indeed, dressed himself in the modest attire of a Lama. He advanced so far during the first year as to give instruction to the young in mathematics and the other sciences, and thus soon won confidence for himself in the neighbourhood. He also succeeded in interesting in himself several of the superior officials, or mandarins, as they are called in China, by executing a geographical chart of the Celestial Empire, a thing unheard of before in China. For his main object, however, that is the con- version of the Chinese to the Christian religion, he dared not at first attempt much, at all events in public, but he contented himself in this respect rather by insinuating in the intervals of his teaching some points of Christian doctrines, but only such as did not appear to be in contradiction to the religious views of the Chinese. There existed at that time in this large Empire, and there now, indeed, are to be found, two systems of religion,* which maintain themselves side by side without being inimical to each other, both possessing an equal right to flourish, both having equal support from the Emperor and his officials. Regarding the one, the Buddhist religion, or, as it is called in China, the religion of Fo, we already know something in Japan, con- sequently T have nothing further to say of it here than this, that its followers are, for the most part, to be found among the lower classes of the people; it is polytheism, with its monks and nuns, its cloisters, its miracles, and its superstitions. The other religious system was that established by Confucius, or more correctly Kung-fu-tse, and which, as I have already remarked, and now repeat, consists merely in a pure morality having much resemblance to Christianity. The followers of this latter system, also, to whom belong all the educated classes, along with the whole Court and body of Mandarins from the lowest to the highest grade, bestow upon the founder of it divine honour, although they admit that he was a mere man ; * A third religious system was not also uncommon, the Tao faith, or, as it was called the " Keligiou of the right way." This system, however, has long been almost completely amalgamated with Buddhism; it is on that, account not necessary to make any particular mention of it. 110 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. they reject all polytheism, along with miracles, and, further, heathenish religious pomp and decoration. Under such circumstances as these it was easy for Ricci to insinuate into his teaching the moral fundamental truths of Christianity, without coming into collision with the Chinese, and he was thus, indeed, enabled, without showing any antagon- ism to them, to proceed so far " as to compose expressly for the Chinese a Christian catechism," as everything in this little book harmonised with the teaching of Confucius. On the other hand, he carefully avoided all mention to any of his scholars of the doctrine of the Trinity, of the birth and ascension of Christ, of the Redemption, or of any other Christian mystery, and, in the said catechism all such matters were omitted. One thus sees that he advanced stealthily with double craftiness, in that in the first place he merely here and there insinuated some- thing of Christianity, and, secondly, he adapted such Christianity to Chinese ideas ; in other words, he re-modelled it to suit China. After that Ricci had thus carried on his operations for some years in the neighbourhood of Tschao-tcheu, and made ihimseJf otherwise thoroughly master of Chinese manners and customs, he went on into the neighbouring kingdom of Kiang-Sy, :and, somewhat later on, into Nanking, where he passed himself off as a literary savant of the religion of Confucius, in the rich attire worn by such, whilst he, at the same time, practised as a physician. In the latter capacity he became acquainted with a mandarin of very high rank, who called him in on account of the illness of a sick son, who had been badly treated by the Chinese medical practitioners, and, as he was successful in bringing him round, the mandarin invited him to Peking, the capital of the Chinese empire. This was precisely what Ricci had for a long time striven to accomplish, and he therefore responded to the call in the year 1595 with the most joyful feeling of zeal. He soon came also to get acquainted with the higher classes of the community among the Fetisches of his highly-conditioned patron, and everyone was amazed at the wonderful knowledge which he brought to light. He, moreover, strove especially to make friends at Court, in order that he might obtain an introduction to the Emperor himself, and, that he might the more easily attain his object, he approached even the lowest Court officials with the most cringing flattery, while THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. Ill ? he tried others, according to their dispositions, with presents and hribes. He finally, in the year 1601, caused himself to be so much talked about among those immediately surrounding the Emperor Van- Lie, that the latter, hearing of the wonders produced by the learned Ricci, especially concerning a self- striking clock, became curious to inspect the apparatus, and -ordered the possessor of it to be brought hefore him. Eicci presented himself before the monarch, and not only brought with 'him the "self-striking clock," made by himself, which had a very fine appearance, but also several other mechanical curiosities which had hitherto been unknown in China. Of course, he brought these not alone to exhibit them, but to lay them, as presents, at the feet of the Emperor, who was so delighted with them, and especially with the clock, that, after the dismissal of the disguised Jesuit, he spent several hours in watching the action of the works, the revolution of the indicator, .s well as the means for striking. Not contented with this, His Majesty required that his wives, along with the Empress mother, should also be brought to inspect this marvellous production. But, alas ! what with the constant manipulation, making it per- petually strike, and winding it up, it happened that it suddenly got out of order and stopped, whereupon Van-Lie became in- consolable at this " extinguished life," and with a complaining expression exclaimed to Ricci, who had been quickly summoned, " She is dead." The Jesuit, however, comforting him with these words, " She shall soon live again, if the Son of Heaven [the title given to the Emperor] orders it," took the clock home with him, and put it all right again in the course of a few hours without much trouble. From this time forth Ricci had, as may be said, the game in his own hands, as the Emperor could now no longer do without him, or, rather, Ricci contrived to render himself indispensable to His Majesty. He knew at once how so to make use of the monarch's weakness for machin- ery, to obtain a commission from him for a whole quantity of clocks and watches, and, as they were procured from Goa, they were, of course, accompanied by other Fathers, and he naturally was himself appointed to be supervisor of clocks, as who, besides him, was capable of keeping the numerous works in order ? Then, again, this Father Mathias, as it appears, engaged in -another of the favourite sciences of the Emperor, namely, in that 112 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. of astronomy, and, lastly, the wily Jesuit managed to show his acquaintance as well with chemistry and mathematics. Such uncommon endowments as these certainly deserved recognition,, and, consequently, Van-Lie could no longer refrain from bestow- ing upon the Father the distinction of Court Mandarin, con- sisting in the position of a superior Court official. Moreover, he made him the present of a large house in the city, in order to establish a college, and endowed it with an enormous in- come, as in it astronomers, mathematicians, chemists, opticians, and other artists of every description were to be educated. It was, thus, no Christian college, nor in any respect an educational institution for future priests of any particular denomination, but merely a high scientific institution where the chief inhabitants of Peking might send their sons, in order that they might be instructed and made as skilful as Mathias Ricci and his newly-arrived associates. Of course, Christian instruction was not altogether excluded from the place, but it was only of such a nature as not to rouse against it the opposi- tion of the young nobility and their Mandarin parents. On the contrary, Ricci and his associates only taught what Confucius had taught before, and what had won for that religious founder his well-merited place in Heaven. They avoided either attack- ing Chinese habits and customs, or even making but slight objections to them, but on the other hand, they rather just allowed their pupils to live on quietly in the way they had been accustomed to do. They might continue, for instance, to pray as before to their household gods, if they had any. They might, as before, attend their lantern-feasts, and soul-feasts, the fete of Phelo, and all similar Chinese religious festivities. They might sacrifice at the graves of deceased relatives, and, when sick, might provide themselves with the "Luin," that is, with the prescribed Passe-par-tout, which the Lama priests require as an entrance into the other world ; they might, on arriving at the age of puberty, observe the custom of the plurality of wives, and take to themselves as many spouses and concubines as they desired; they might even take to wife their own sisters, should they wish it, and, moreover, relationship of any kind formed no impediment to marriage. They might do all this, and still more, if they would only allow themselves to be baptised, and just declare their wish to become Christians;. THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. 113 so, with the view of avoiding any opposition,* the Jesuit Fathers carried out to the fullest extent all such customs and ceremonies. It was thus certainly made as easy and convenient for them as it reasonably could be ! and as little as possible was demanded in return. On the other hand, such immense advantages were promised them, that it would have been indeed a perfect marvel had they not been entrapped. All the science of Europe was freely offered them for the present life, and by means of such knowledge they might thus be enabled to surpass all their fellow-countrymen, so that, for the future, the Emperor would only select from their number his governors, generals, and ministers. As regards the life to come, too, they might thus secure for themselves such an eternally enduring happiness, and a glorious place in Tien, i.e. heaven, that all the rest, and even the souls of those who were burning in hell-fire, must on that account greatly envy them, and all this might be attained for nothing more of a sacrifice than merely a declaration of the desire of being henceforth called Christians. No, indeed, nothing more, I repeat, than this ; but along with this declara- tion, be it well understood, was the obligation conjoined of having no other spiritual advisers than the Jesuit Fathers. Herein lay the point, for when the Fathers became, first of all, the confessors and spiritual advisers of a family, it was as much as if all the members of the family had sworn allegiance to them. In this manner Ricci succeeded in securing an extremely influential position at the Court of Pekin, and the consequence was that he was not only permitted to build a church adjoining the college, but he was enabled also to establish colleges and churches in other towns in the great Empire, by means of his associates, of whom he constantly obtained an accession in numbers from Goa. It must not be believed, however, that he * This is reported in a letter from the Jesuit Ignatius Lobo, dated 12th September 1635, to the Franciscan Father, Antonio de Saint Marie. I may especially mention, once for all, that what is related here concerning the Christian teaching of the Jesuits in China is but an extract taken from the reports of the Jesuits themselves. As, for instance, from the great work ou China by Du Halde, from the memoranda of Fathers Le Coute and Martini, from the report of Father Boym, as also from the posthumous writings of Kicci himself ; allusion is not made to the false imputations emanating from enemies to the Jesuits, but to facts confirmed by the Jesuit missionaries themselves. 114 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. had no difficulties to contend with in this respect. On the contrary, the priests of the Fo religion, in particular, did everything in their power to throw suspicion on him and his associates, and succeeded so far at Canton, in the year 1608, that the Governor there ordered Franz Martinez to be bastinadoed, to which punishment he succumbed, and yielded up the ghost. Father Longobardi, also, nearly shared the same fate, and even Ricci himself was within an ace of being overthrown by a cabal got up against him by the great Bonze of Peking. He contrived, however, to make such good use of the friendship which the Emperor entertained towards him, that he came off at last triumphant, and the blow intended for him and his associates fell back upon his enemies.* On the whole, therefore, his mission had been so marvellously successful that, in 1610, when death overtook him, it might be correctly boasted concerning him that he had effected, during his twenty-seven years' operations in China, as much, if not more than Francis Xavier had done in India and Japan ; not, however, had he effected anything of consequence for Christianity, for what he taught certainly had but little more than just the name of Christianity, and totally deviated from the religious principles of the Roman Oatholic faith. But so far as his Order was concerned, he opened up for it the largest empire in the world, in which was to *be gained an immensity of power, riches and glory ; in this respect things had been properly handled.f Not long after the death of Ricci, his great protector and patron the Emperor Van-Lie also died, and under his successor, Tien-ki, who also did not reign long, the native priests fre- * The Court intrigue to which I have alluded above was occasioned by a master-stroke of ignominy, in that the Emperor was made to suspect the Grand Bonze by means of a libel, circulated through the Court of Peking, a document probably having Ricci for its author, being not only spread .about but also clearly fabricated. The Governor of Canton, too, who had so maltreated Father Martinez, came off badly, as, for his officiousness, he was removed from hia government to one of less importance, and must have held himself to have been fortunate in escaping with so mild a punishment. t The best proof of how Kicci troubled himself about Christianity lies in the fact of his literary activity. He wrote for the Chinese and the support of his mission, among others, the following works: (1) The Practical Mathematics of Clavius, (2) the six first books of Euclid, (3) the Spheres of Euclid, (4) a Treatise on Physics, (5) a Method of Making Sun Dials, (G) the Art of Employing Astrolobiums, (7) on the Use of the Spinet, <{8) a Catechism of Moral Philosophy the same in which he develops his Chinese Christianity. From these posthumous publications I think we cau fcest form a judgment respecting the " Apostle of China." THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. 115 quently renewed their endeavours to obtain a decree prohibiting the proceedings of the intruding foreigners. Intrigue followed intrigue, calumniation calumniation, complaint complaint, while at one time this party, at another that party, appeared likely to get the upper hand. It would naturally be of but little interest to the reader were I to enter more fully into detail regarding these matters, and I will, therefore, only remark that the Jesuits were at one time on the point of being completely foiled. The Governor of the king- dom of Kiang-Nan, for example, who, in the year 1615, resided in Nanking, declared himself to be their particular enemy, and not only published a circumstantial decree against them, which he transmitted to the Court, but also actually commenced to expel them, even without waiting for the approval and sanction of higher authority. The Governor of the neighbouring pro- vince of Quang Tong now followed his example in this respect, and in these portions of the enormous empire the Jesuits suffered the most cruel persecution. Their colleges were closed and their churches pulled down ; they were themselves thrown into the closest prison, bastinadoed, and then packed into a ship like bales of goods, and transported out of the country to Macao. The authorities ought, however, to have waited a little before acting thus, lest the Court of Peking might possibly interfere, seeing that the Jesuits still remained in the highest repute there, as mathematicians, astronomers, chemists, musicians, and mecha- nicians. This interference, however, did not take place, and the Nanking decree of expulsion was, on the contrary, immediately confirmed, probably from the fact of the memorandum of the Governor of Kiang obtaining unanswerable support on the points of complaint. And it may be remarked that the Jesuits themselves observed unbroken silence regarding this circum- stance in their hitherto most detailed reports on China. Political events now, however, occurred, which had the effect of bringing the pious Fathers into higher honour than they had ever before enjoyed. The Tartars, a numerous and brave race of people, whose home lay in the northern frontier of the empire, had for a long time past given rise to frightful trouble to the Emperor of China, who had been only able to repel the inroads of these nomad hordes by mustering his whole forces against them. It was an inroad of this description that took ft * 116 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. place in the year 1618, and the Khan of Tartary, called by the Chinese historians the thief " Thien-Min," penetrated almost to the very walls of Peking. The Emperor was now in great straits, as his cowardly people fought badly, and it was much to be feared that even Peking itself might fall into the hands of the enemy. Then, again, Mandarin Seu, one of the highest officials of the Empire, whom the Jesuits, through his pious daughter, Kandide, who had been baptised by them, and solemnly proclaimed to be a saint, had got completely into their power, counselled the Emperor to solicit the pious Fathers to obtain the assistance of Portuguese officers and, in par- ticular, artillerists, in order that, from their superior attain- ments in the art of war, the enemy might be driven back. The Emperor with great joy welcomed this counsel. The Jesuits, of course, most readily complied with his wishes, not, however, except under certain conditions, among which were included naturally the solemn abrogation of the Nanking decree of ex- pulsion. The result was that after the successful defeat of the Tartars the Emperor fell completely into the hands of the Jesuits, who at the same time in this way obtained the keys of government. Full power was then again accorded to them to erect colleges in all the cities of the Empire, and also churches as well in connection with the former ; and it cannot be doubted that they made the most unrestrained use of this privilege. The incursions of the Tartars did not by any means cease with the defeat of Thien-Min, but were still renewed more than ever during the reign of the Emperor Hoai-tsong, the successor of Tien-ki. Matters, however, became still worse when Prince Li-tse-tching raised a rebellion, and with the aid of 70,000 Tartar cavalry advanced on Peking. There could not be any question of long resistance, and in despair Hoai-tsong along with all his wives committed suicide in his Palace, where- upon Li-tse-tching took possession of the throne. But if the capital paid him homage, it did not thereupon follow, as a neces- sary consequence, that the whole province should do so likewise, and such infinite confusion ensued throughout the Chinese Empire that shortly no one could distinguish between a cook and a butler. Deep was the misery that reigned among all the friends of the fatherland, and still more dire were the necessities of the people. The Jesuits, however, on the other hand, rubbed THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. 117 their hands with joy, well knowing how to fish in troubled waters, and to each of the different pretenders who were striving with each other for the mastery they promised mountains of gold in return for certain advantages. The two Fathers, Cofler and Schall, made themselves more particularly conspicuous in this respect, and it is really worth while to look a little more closely into their conduct, whilst both of them not on their own account, it is true, but by the order of their General in Rome, who held all the threads of the machinery operated in entirely opposite camps. Thus, while Turn-Lie, a grandson of the Emperor Van-Lie, allowed himself to be proclaimed Emperor in the province of Chan Sy, Father Cofler at once attached himself to his side, bringing along with him Doctor Lucca, a good engineer officer, and, still better, Jesuit, besides several other Fathers among whom was Martin Boym. Moreover, besides those mentioned were several lay Portuguese, all of them being officers, who were sent to him by the Governor of Macao, to be attached to his suite, so that, consequently, he could make an appearance with some ostentation. Cofler thus acting, Turn-Lie was thereby soon brought to the conviction that it would now l)e no difficult matter, while the Christians had ranged them- selves on his side, to bring the whole of China under subjection. Here was, then, already an influential party, and Cofler promised their unanimous support as soon as the Prince had been himself baptised, along with his wives and children. The latter con- sidered a little, as he did not quite know at this time whether he might not, by so acting, give too much offence to the great mass of the Chinese people ; but, in the meantime, as news came of the defeat of his forces by the enemy, he consented to allow his wives and children at least to be publicly baptised, though he himself did not " outwardly" recognise Christianity. In return for this concession, it was agreed that Peter Cofler should create a Christian army, under the command of Lucca. Both of these events took place, that is, the baptism and the commencement of the assembling together by Lucca of a small army. The two spouses of Turn-Lie received the names of Helena and Anna ; these, first of all, were immediately required to send to the Pope Alexander VII., through Pater Michael Boym, autograph letters, dated 4th December 1650, wherein they assured the Holy Father, the representative of Christ upon 118 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. earth, that the whole of China had subjected itself to him with the most profound devotion.* The heir to the throne, how- ever, Tum-Tym, was christened " Constantine," and Cofler drew up his horoscope in the following words: "The child born at midnight, like the Son of God, shall be fortunate in everything, and resemble a sun which will overspread all China with good fortune." Considering all this, then, one would have naturally been inclined now to come to the conviction that the Jesuits had thoroughly sided with the pretender Turn-Lie, and had col- lectively worked to procure for him the victory over all his opponents for the throne. It was not so, however, for they played quite the same kind of game, besides, with another of the pre- tenders ; seeing that, without doubt, one or other of these must eventually succeed in carrying off the palm. To wit, then, after that Li-tse-tching had seized upon Peking, Osan-Quei, a brother of the deceased Emperor, collecting in Mantchuria a large army by means of the treasure which he had brought along with hinv placed himself at the head thereof, and, entering China, laid siege at once to Peking, and compelled Li-tse-tching to abdicate the throne. He, however, immediately after this, died, and bequeathed the inheritance to his only son, Schun-tchin, who forthwith armed himself with his whole power in order to subjugate also the remaining provinces of China, and put an end thereby to all other pretenders to the throne. He was known to be a brave commander, and as he could place confidence in his well- exercised army, he did not allow himself to doubt for a moment that the result of the coming struggle would turn out anything else than favourable for him. Nevertheless, while he, like so many brave warriors before and after him, was wedded to belief in the influence of the stars, before commencing operations he determined to consult them and ascertain what was to be his fate. He therefore ordered Adam Schall, the Jesuit who at that time held the position of astronomer to the Peking College, to consult the heavens nightly. Schall, like another Seui, did what was demanded of him, and foretold to the valiant Schun-tchin This document also, to which the Jesuits attach not a little importance, aa it was a proof of the high estimation in which they were held at the- Court, can be read in extenso in Du Halde's Description de la Chine, torn. iii. p. 301. THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN ASIA. 119 that he would not only obtain a most glorious victory, but that he should also secure for himself and his posterity easy pos- session of the whole celestial empire. Schun-tchin now advanced with his army, conquering one province after another,, and ended by overthrowing Turn-Lie. He took him prisoner, indeed, along with his whole family, and caused all the members thereof, including his firstborn, Tam-Tym, to whom Andreas Xavier Cofler had predicted such a glorious future, to be miserably strangled. Nothing, however, happened to the Jesuits who had been hitherto working at the Court of the conquered one, as they came over in a body, by order of Schall, into the camp of the conqueror, he having all this time the patent of Vicar- General of the China Mission in his pocket,, given to him by the General of the Order. It turned out, then,, that the Jesuits had been working at the same time in each of the two hostile camps, and, no doubt, had the goddess of fortune shown herself favourable to Turn-Lie, they would likewise have come over just the same to him. They now, however, extolled, immensely the mighty Schun-tchin, and he proved himself to be so gracious to them that, at the time of his death, in 1661,. although not more than eighty years from the advent of Ricci in. the country, they possessed no fewer than thirty-eight colleges and residences, along with 151 churches. Moreover, Pater Adam Schall carried matters to such an extreme extent that his most gracious monarch actually bestowed upon him the dignity of a mandarin of the first rank, nominating him also, at the same time, supreme head of the European Bonzes and president of the Tribunal of Mathematics of the Celestial Empire. This was one of the highest and most influential positions in China, and Adam Schall was no longer to be seen in public unless attired in the richest stuffs, covered all over with precious stones, sitting in a palankin borne by twelve slaves, and escorted by a squadron of his own body-guard, being protected from the rays of the sun by an enormous umbrella, under which he was continually fanned by numerous attendants, and regarded with the utmost respect by crowds of people, who made way for him obsequiously in order to escape being driven aside by blows from bamboo staves. Moreover, the great Emperor, besides loading him with riches, presented him with a large palace in the immediate neighbour- hood of his residence, and on more than twenty occasions visited 120 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. him personally, whilst it is well known that in China the etiquette is for the sovereign never to cross the threshold of a subject. To put a crown upon the matter, indeed, he gave him permission to address the throne directly on all matters, whereas, in the instance of all other Crown and Court officials, it had to be approached only through the Tribunal of Petitions ; and, lastly, he entrusted to him the education of his firstborn son and successor ! Such was the magnificent position accorded to the Jesuit Adam Schall at the Court of Peking, and no less splendid was the position of the successor to his post, given after his death by the General of the Order to the venerable Pater Verbiest, who was also a grand mandarin and president of the Tribunal of Mathe- matics, and who obtained, moreover, the title of Ma-Fa, stepping along, not as an humble preacher of the Christian faith, but as a grand dignitary of the great Chinese empire. What was, then, in those glorious days, done in respect to the colleges which the Jesuits conducted ? Much, as regards mathematical instruments, pianos, watches, astronomical tables, and all such studies, but, as regards the progress of the Christian religion, nothing at all. They turned out, it is true, a number of architects, painters, geographers, musicians, astronomers, mathematicians, mechanics, physicians, and even diplomatists.* But as for Christian theo- logians and preachers, none were produced. Verily, a cannon- foundry was erected by the worthy Fathers, under the super- vision of the venerable Verbiest, close to the Peking college, and the guns made there proved to be much more perfect than those manufactured by the Chinese. Nothing was heard or under- stood, however, about what the Fathers did . as regarded the diffusion of the spirit of God among the Chinese people. II. THE JESUIT MISSION IN AFRICA. WE have above seen how greatly extended had become the Jesuit missions in Asia ; so much so, indeed, that it was hardly possible to comprehend all within anything like a narrow compass. Entirely different, however, was this the case as to the Jesuit mission in Africa, which was limited to a single locality and to a comparatively very short space of time. * The Jesuits were also employed by the Emperor Eang-hi (tne same as had been educated by Schall) especially in the latter capacity, as it was they who, in the year 1689, concluded treaties with Russia, regulating the boundaries between Siberia and Mantchuria. THE JESUIT MISSION IN AFEICA. 121 When embarking on the Nile in Egypt, with the view of pro- ceeding to the frontier, as soon as the latter is passed, one reaches Nubia, which has now become a province of Egypt ; but on proceeding still further south, there are extensive high- lands, which reach out between the great plain of Kordofan and the Red Sea, whose waters separate them from the peninsula of Arabia. This region figures in geographical works under the names of Abyssinia (or Habesch ) and Ethiopia. These fertile lands, in which are the sources of the great neighbouring river Nile, as well as other fine streams, and in which the fruits of the south flourish along with those of more temperate regions, formed, at one time, during the 1st century of our era, a mighty kingdom, called Azumitia, after its great capital Azum, while Byzantine authors inform us, respecting the same, that its rulers had extended their conquests as far as Yemen and Saba in Arabia, and on its frontiers, more especially, had shattered the power of both Romans and Parthians. At the time these events took place, the heathen religion was there naturally prevalent, and we read, for instance, that the valiant King Aizanes, who reigned at the commencement of the 4th century, after having gained a glorious victory, erected, in the year 333, some statues in honour of Aries and Mars. Immediately after this, however, about the year 340, two wandering missionaries, named Frumentius and Adesius, after- wards designated the Apostles of Ethiopia, coming from the direction of Egypt, began to preach the doctrines of Chris- tianity, and, as King Aizanes himself was one of the first to be baptised, their doctrines found such great favour with high and low, that in less than ten years' time two -thirds of all the heathen temples were converted into Christian churches. In addition to which, numbers of cloisters and hermitages were established, as a matter of course, after the pattern of the Egyptian ones, as Egypt supplied hundreds of secular priests who were required for the performance of divine worship, and, as may well be supposed, the entire ritual was no other than that customary in the mother country. In order, however, to put a seal upon the whole affair, the Patriarch of Alexandria conse- crated the missionary Frumentius to be the first bishop of the newly-converted country, and, from that time forth, it became the privilege of the Patriarch to nominate the " Abuna " as the 122 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. primate bishop was designated. It was thus that Ethiopia became the most remote bulwark of Christianity in Africa, and many attempts were then made to gain a footing for this* faith even in Arabia; but, the religion of Mahomet starting into existence in the 7th century, a completely different com- plexion was given to the whole matter. Mahornedanism, which, as is well known, made proselytes sword in hand, seized not only upon Arabia, along with all the coasts bordering upon the Red Sea, comprehending therein the territory of the Kings of Azum, but also subjected Egypt up to the frontiers of Nubia, thereby rendering Abyssinia, as it were, a Christian oasis in the midst of countries now become Mahomedan. Not contented, indeed, with this, the Khalifs (Mahomet's successors) sought to penetrate into Abyssinia itself, and not merely weakened it much by successive aggressive raids, but continued their efforts until they had gained over to Islam a portion of the population. What was still worse, they gradually excluded the country, both by sea and land, from all intercourse with other nations in such a way as to draw a cordon round it ; so isolated, indeed, did it thus become that for centuries nothing was heard of it in Europe. It was not till the Middle Ages that a tradition sprang up regarding the lost Christian monarchy, when much was talked of respecting a certain " Priester John " who governed this kingdom, and who was said to be the lineal descendant of King Solomon. Still no one could give any very distinct information about the matter, and many thought it to be a myth and an idle dream, until the end of the year J483, when an Abyssinian made his appearance at the Council of Florence, giving himself out to be an ambassador from the ruler of that country, Za Yacub by name. He disappeared again, however, immediately after it was brought to a close, and then no more was again heard of the kingdom than previously. As the Portuguese, in one of their expeditions to the east coast of 1 Africa, in the year 1484, learned, through an embassy to the negro State of Benin, that, twenty months' journey beyond the latter, a powerful king of the name of Za-Ogano reigned, and as they, with reason, thought that this Christian kingdom could be no other than that of the mythical "Preste Jono," they fitted out an expedition at once, under the supreme command of Pero- de Covilha, which should proceed through Egypt and the Red THE JESUIT MISSION IN AFKICA. 128 Sea to the east coast of Africa. Covilha accomplished his commission in the most brilliant manner, and after a three years' search, found that for which he was instructed to look, namely, the Christian State of Habesch, in the midst of a surrounding partly heathenish and partly Mahomedan. The great problem was at last solved, and the reward of the Portuguese was that they obtained permission from the ruler of the State mentioned, the Negus Za-Densal (" Negus " is in Abyssinia the equivalent of " King ") to trade at their pleasure, and to found therein commercial establishments; for which privilege they were, however, required to give effectual assistance against the Mahomedans, who made their incursions even as far as from Aden, as also, later on, against the Gallas, a wild tribe of people who had their home south of Abyssinia. So far, all was right between them, and the two nation- alities agreed very well together, especially after becoming known to each other, partly through the aid of interpreters, and partly by conversing through the medium of their respective languages. The Pope of Rome now made a discovery which might sud- denly have the effect of interrupting at once the continuance of a lasting good understanding. And in what did this discovery, indeed, consist ? Simply in this, that the Abyssinians proved themselves to be no true Roman Catholic Christians, but, on the other hand, heretics of the class of so-called Monophysites. so they must at once be converted to the only true Catholic Church. The Pope was right to a certain extent from his own stand-point, that is, that the Abyssinians adhered to the same faith as the Christians in Egypt (the so-called Kopts), contend- ing that in Christ were united two natures in one person, the human and divine without admixture, transmutation, or separa- tion. Besides which, they deviated also in some other respects from the practice of the Latin or Roman Catholic ritual, as for instance in that of baptism, which was always preceded witto them by circumcision ; as also in the observance of the Sabbath, and in that of fasting, which they extended always to sunset, while the Romish Christians abstained from food only up ta mid-day. But the principal difficulty did not consist, by any means, merely in these two externals, which signified next. 124 HISTOBY OF THE JESUITS. to nothing as regards the Oriental Christian ritual, but in this, that the Abyssinian clergy did not look upon the Pope of Rome as their supreme Church authority, preferring rather the Patriarch of Alexandria, and they could not be prevailed upon to yield on this point, in spite of all Roman argument. This was clearly nothing but open heresy, and must be opposed with the greatest energy. But whom should the Popes nominate as executors of their will and pleasure ? No other, of course, than the Order of the Jesuits, which had already taken upon itself the task of contend- ing with heresy all over the world, and in re-establishing the Papal supremacy everywhere. And had not the sons of Loyola already given proof of their zeal and energy in Japan and China ? What were they not capable of doing, and if they could not bring about the Romanising of the Abyssinians, no one else, assuredly, would be likely to succeed in so doing. What now took place can well be imagined, and I will just allude to it in a very few words. The Jesuits first of all, as usual, sought to establish them- selves in the country by means of founding colleges, in which they succeeded with the assistance of their friends the Portu- guese, in whose ships they reached Abyssinia. They then directed their attention to the great men of the kingdom, in order to bring them over to their views, and with this object left untried no means, including flattery and even bribery, to mould them to their wishes. At length, after ten years of under- mining and agitation, it fell to the lot of Father Paez, who gave promise of becoming another Ricci, to succeed in bringing over to his side, at the end of the 1 6th century, Socinius, successor to the throne, and the same made a vow, in his spiritual weakness, as soon as he should succeed to power, to do his utmost that the *' unity of the Church " might be re-established ; this was the bait of which the Jesuits made use. In fact, he kept his word; and, in the year 1603, as soon as he became King, he immediately, along with his whole family, abjured the previous heresy of Monophysism, at the same time making a solemn declaration that he would henceforth recognise the Pope alone as Spiritual Lord of the Kingdom. As may be easily imagined, his example was at once followed by a number of the courtiers ; and, as the favour of the ruler must, as a matter of course, have been .renounced by all those who adhered to the old faith, most of THE JESUIT MISSION IN AFRICA. 125 the provincial governors also, after a short time, espoused the side of the Jesuits. It seemed, in fact, to be a settled affair that the latter had gained the victory, and thus it was represented to Pope Gregory XV., who was induced thereby to nominate one of their number, Alfonso Mendez, under the title of Patriarch of Abyssinia, to be supreme bishop of the country, with all proper dictatorial power in matters of faith ;. while, at the same time, the weak-minded Negus Socinius was induced to declare himself ready to carry out, with his wordly weapons and despotic power, all that was required by the Latin Patriarch. There now commenced, as may be well imagined, a cruel time for the hitherto happy land of Abyssinia a period of such frightful strife, persecution, and affliction, that the pen almost refuses to describe the inhuman cruelties which were enforced by the Jesuits against the refractory believers in the old faith ; but it was just this very blood-thirsty barbarity and torture for conscience' sake, this inexorable passion with which the cause of Rome was prosecuted, that snatched the victory from the sons of Loyola. Abyssinia, for example, contained a very numerous body of clergy, consisting of " kasis," or parsons, " debteraten," or deacons, " komosaten," or prelates, besides, lastly, an " Abuna," or metropolitan bishop, of whom I have already made mention ; there were, moreover, of monks and nuns almost more than enough in number; all of these priests and cowl-wearers, however, clung with invincible tenacity to their rites and customs which they had for centuries observed, and would especially have nothing whatever to do with the Pope of Rome, who wished to be dominant over all bishops and patriarchs in the world. The Jesuits could not thus conceal from themselves that the innovations which they desired to introduce would raise up against them many adversaries, the number of such being all the greater in that the Abyssinian priests exercised great influence over the minds of the people, and especially held unlimited power over the wills of their confessants belonging to the lower orders; they could not well help seeing that it could only be by a slow process of undermining religious convictions, patiently continued for many years, that anything of consequence could be effected ; the alternative was that a whole race of people could be coerced by force. They determined, then, in their impetuosity and 126 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. arrogance, to adopt the latter course, and thought that they would be able to attain their end with the rabble as readily as they had already done with the Indians and Japanese. They, therefore, incited the King to issue orders to his governors to proceed against the refractory priests with the greatest severity. But, behold ! now it soon became apparent that the Abyssinians were not going to show themselves so effeminate as tamely to submit, with humble submission, to an order from superior authority, like mindless slaves and degraded creatures. Such was not the case ; on the contrary, led by their priests, they declared in thousands, by vigorous petitions to the throne, that they would not yield, and that they were, moreover, prepared to live or die for their faith. What did it now signify, if the King's officials, at the desire of the Jesuits, sought to overcome this opposition of the people by means of cudgelling and sword-cuts ? What did it matter now that some of the governors, and among them one especially, called Zela, and bearing the nickname of Christ, distinguished .himself by consigning to the gallows all those priests who pre- .ferred that alternative to conversion ? The people rose in rebellion, the storm broke loose, and the agitation became so universal, that, in order that all might not be lost, King Socinius was compelled to abdicate in favour of his son Facilidas, who, at once turning completely round, reverted to the old religion, and drove the Portuguese, along with the Jesuits, entirely out of the country. He caused, indeed, some of the Fathers, who endea- voured to raise a counter revolution, to be publicly executed, and promulgated a decree, by which all the Black Cloaks were pro- hibited for the future from crossing the frontiers, under pain of death. Thus terminated the short domination of the Jesuits in Habesch, and by the energetic action of Negus Facilidas these -were so completely cured of their rage for conversion in this part of the world, that they never again made any further attempt ; neither did they even so much as think of trying to settle in any other places in Africa, but, on the contrary, at once renounced all idea of attempting to form any other permanent settlements, as well in Egypt, among the headstrong and obstinate Kopts, as on the Congo among the half-savage blacks, probably because in their opinion the field did not give promise of any productive harvest THE JESUIT MISSION IN AFKICA. 127 Thus vanished in the African sands every trace of the Jesuits, and if, later on, agents of the Society did from time to time occasionally make their appearance in the Portuguese settlements on the west coast of Africa, they did not come there to preach the Christian doctrine, or to make any permanent settlement, but merely to purchase cargoes of blacks, and to ship them off as slaves to their colonies in America. III. THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN AMERICA. With the Portuguese the Jesuits came into Asia, with the same people they also came into Africa, and still again the Jesuits came with them into America. In the last-mentioned quarter of the globe that nation already possessed an enormous extent of territory, which is now known under the name of Brazil, and in the year 1549 King John III. of Portugal sent a fleet of ships containing a number of emigrants, who founded the city of San Salvador, in the Gulf of Bahia, on the east xsoast of Central America. As the missionary work of Francis Xavier had been so extraordinarily successful among the populations of Asia, who had thus been converted into good subjects of the King, he .requested Loyola, the Jesuit General in Home, to supply him -with some missionaries for America also, in the hope that the long-cloaked Fathers might get on as well with the inhabitants of the West Indies as they had done with those of the East Indies ; and Loyola at first sight recognising the importance of this mission, at once consigned to him six members of his Order. Those six, among whom was Emanuel Rodrega, who, by his untiring energy, as well as by his superior sagacity, was highly esteemed by Jesuit historians, and not without reason, at once built a house for themselves at San Salvador that is to say, & residence and thence commenced their efforts, in order to see what could be effected with the natives in the interior of the .country. It soon was apparent, however, that the latter manifested a very different disposition from the degraded and enervated Hindoos, and under the oppressions and tortures inflicted on them by the Europeans they, if possible, became still more savage and cruel than they had previously been. The Jesuit Fathers, therefore, were not received with anything like a good 128 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. welcome, and could not in consequence do much with them at all events at first, as they were not yet at all acquainted with the language of the Indians, as the natives of America were commonly called. They lived, moreover, in constant fear of being murdered by the savages, who, being cannibals, entertained an irresistible longing for the taste of human flesh. They had so much to endure, besides, from oppression during their wanderings, that it was indeed surprising that any of them escaped, under the circumstances, in their zealous efforts. Nevertheless they soon found their exertions crowned with a certain amount of success, as the Indians allowed all the unfortunates who were condemned to be eaten, and who were, for the most part, prisoners taken during their constant feuds with other tribes, to be baptised previous to their being slaughtered.* Besides this, they met with some success among the Indian females at least, with those tribes who had pitched their camp in the neighbourhood of European settlements and induced the same to accept of rosaries and Agnus Dei. Through the women they obtained some influence, too, over the men, and the result was that the conversion always terminated with the rite of baptism, although those baptised had not, indeed, the slightest conception of Christianity. The Jesuits at length brought the matter so far, that most of the whites in the Portuguese settlements, as well as the half- castes, or progeny of whites and Indian women, accepted them as father confessors the great thing, however, being that they obtained large tracts of extensive territory in the way of presents, in order to build thereon residences and colleges. This took place all over the country wherever it was at all possible, and there soon flourished in San Salvador, Pernambuco, and Rio Janeiro three magnificent and very numerously attended educa- tional institutions. Not long after this less than twenty years subsequent to their first landing the Jesuits had already overstepped the boundaries of Brazil and penetrated Peru, where in Lima, La Paz, and Cusco they also established colleges. Later on after another * Not infrequently, moreover, the Indians recalled the permission for the baptism of the human victims, because they entertained the prejudice that flesh lost its good flavour by the act in question. They looked upon baptism then as a description of ma<,'ic, and the Jesuits were careful to avoid removing the superstition which they entertained. THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN AMERICA. 129 twenty years however, they possessed settlements in every part of South and Central America, wherever the banners of Portugal or Spain waved, as, for instance, in Chili, Mexico, Tukuman, and Maranham, and their agents and missionaries permeated throughout the whole of that enormous continent, which extend from the Isthmus of Panama to the Straits of Magellan, as on the other hand from Panama upwards to the Kio del Norde. They, indeed, penetrated even into Canada, and the banners of Ignatius proudly waved wherever the white flag with the three lilies protected it. When, however, that country came to be given over from the French to the English, the Jesuits had to take their departure, and fly precipitately to the south, as neither the English nor Dutch, and not even the Danes, tolerated Jesuit settlements in their American colonies. Great, however, as was the power and possessions which the Jesuits obtained in the individual countries of America, this splendour was almost entirely eclipsed by another grand acqui- sition which they encompassed in this same land, where they got possession of a complete empire, over which they ruled as absolute monarchs a dominion, indeed, even twice as large as Italy. This country was called Paraguay, and, since it has never before come to pass that a purely ecclesiastical Order has elevated itself to the position of a sovereign king, on that account it is well worth the trouble of going into the matter a little more in detail. The Paraguay of the present day, one of the smallest free states of South America, is bounded on the west by the river Paraguay, on the east and north by Brazil, and on the south by the territory of Parana, having an extent of only 4,175 square miles. The Paraguay, however, of the 16th and 17th centuries was, on the contrary, of infinitely larger proportions, and embraced nearly all the land now included in the states of La Plata and the Banda-oriental. The same comprehends almost uninterruptedly a large continuous plain, with but a few ranges of hills of not more than a few thousand feet in height, and is watered by a number of delightful streams, especially the rivers called Paraguay and Uruguay, which discharge themselves entirely into the Parana, which, after its union with the Uruguay, assumes the name of Rio de la Plata. Its climate is semi-tropical, and on that account its soil surpasses in fertility 9 130 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. that of almost any other country in the world ; consequently, not only do all the ordinary descriptions of fruit which are made use of for food by man thrive and prosper, but also such plants as tobacco, cotton, and sugar can be grown there with advantage. Of not less importance, but perhaps, indeed, much more so, is the condition of the animal creation therein. On the one hand, there are to be found enormous troops of all descriptions of wild animals, such as swine, stags, and different kinds of deer ; while, on the other, domesticated animals, more especially horses and other cattle, abound in herds. Nothing, however, surpasses the magnificence of the forests, and the so-called Barrigudos, of no less than three fathoms in cir- cumference, as also palm-trees of 180 feet in height, are by no means uncommonly to be met with. In short, it is indeed a wonderfully delightful country, being the only region, perhaps, which can be made available for such opposite uses, as it happens that enormous tracts, during the rainy season, disappear under water. The first discoverer of this superb territory was the Spaniard, Juan Diaz de Solis, Grand Pilot of Castile, who, in the year 1516, entered into the Rio de la Plata, and was killed by the natives. He was afterwards eaten by them within sight of his ships' crews. Three years after this, Don Martin de Sosa, Captain-General of Brazil, sent Alexis Garcia, along with four other Portuguese, all brave and powerful men, to the Rio de la Plata, in order that they might endeavour to penetrate thence into the gold and silver coasts of Peru, which, at that time, belonged to the Spaniards, and this adventurous journey was indeed effected. On the return journey, Garcia and two of his companions were massacred by the savages, and the two remain- ing ones alone succeeded in reaching alive the town of Bahia, or San Salvador. The expedition of George Sedano terminated in a result quite as unfortunate. He, with sixty other Portuguese, set out like- wise from Bahia for the Parana, and they also, through the treacherous cunning of the Indians, all found their graves in the same river. At last, the Emperor Charles V., in the year 1 525, sent his grand pilot, Cabot, with five ships, to the river Plate, and this distinguished mariner succeeded in ascending it until he arrived at Paraguay, and, consequently, no one but him can be thanked for the first correct information concerning that THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN AMEKICA. 131 country. He took possession, also, of the whole territory of Parana, or Paraguay, for the Spanish crown, and erected, at the confluence of the Rio Ticero with the Parana, a tower known afterwards by the name of Cabot's tower. The first settlement, however, properly so called, namely, the city of Buenos Ayres, was only founded ten years later by Don Pedro de Mendoza, who, in 1530, by order of Charles V., set sail from Seville, also for the Rio de la Plata, with fourteen ships and a crew of nearly 30,000 men ; and two years after this, at the confluence of the Pilco Mayo with the Parana, the city of Assumption, which is situated equi-distant from the boundaries of Peru and Brazil, was established. From this time forth began the actual appro- priation of the country, as well as its gradual colonisation, by the Spaniards, and thence arose the vice-royalty of La Plata, over which, in the name of the King, ruled one of those so-called Adelantade, or Captains- General. Still, after the lapse of some time, other cities were again founded, as, for instance, in the year 1557, Ciudad Real, at the junction of the Piquiry with the Parana; and in 1570, Santa Fe, on the Rio de Salado ; thus one must not keep out of sight that all these settlements lay on the great rivers of the country, while, on the contrary, not a single colony was established on the mainland ; consequently, they were considerably apart from the several commercial arteries which served instead of roads. On the other hand, the said mainland continued to be quite uncolonised, completely un- conquered, and thus thoroughly unknown to the Spaniards, who, in the provinces subdued by them, only troubled themselves about the search for gold and silver, and had no desire to know anything concerning agriculture and the breeding of cattle, or, indeed, industry and trade, proving themselves here, as throughout the whole of America, to have but a bad talent for colonisation. Everyone of them who embarked for America desired only to live like a nobleman, regarding it as derogatory to engage himself in labour of the very slightest kind ! Under such circumstances, the Captains-General must, very shortly, have come to the conclusion that the provinces entrusted to them could never attain to any degree of development, or arrive at any prosperity or order, unless the natives of the country, the in- digenous Indians, could be induced to become efficient citizens. These, indeed, formed by far the greater majority of the popu 9 * 132 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. lation, and from them could alone be obtained the labour which was wanted most imperatively. How, then, was this desirable object to be accomplished ? The answer to this was simply by making Christians of them, as along with the Christian religion they would involuntarily also acquire, at the same time, Christian manners, Christian culture, and a Christian mode of living. Charles V. had not at the time sufficiently im- pressed upon the Captains- General whom he had sent out to La Plata, that the ecclesiastics and monks taken with them were intended for the conversion of the native Indians ; neither did" Philip II. see to this. The Cap tains- General, too, were in this respect very remiss in their duty as to the orders they gave. They brought out to Paraguay, it is true, several Franciscan monks, among whom Francis Solano and Ludwig de Bolanjos were notably distinguished. Moreover, to the province of Para- guay was given a bishop, in the person of John de Barras, also a Franciscan monk, and the city of Assumption was raised to be his See, into which he himself made a solemn entry in the year 1554. He had, however, no great desire to prosecute with vigour the introduction of Christianity, for two equally weighty reasons. In the first place, on account of the behaviour of the Spaniards, which displayed the strongest contrast to the teaching of mildness and benevolence indoctrinated by the gospel, as it is notorious with what unmerciful severity and cruelty the proud and insatiable conquerors treated the poor oppressed natives ; and, in the second place, there was no desire on the part of the latter to embrace the religion acknowledged by their tormentors, as, on the contrary, they disliked this religion as much as the Spaniards hated them, and if, here and there, in order to escape oppression, they allowed themselves to be baptised, they imme- diately, as soon as a favourable opportunity presented itself,, reverted to their original faith. Then, again, there was a com- plete dearth of priests, and there existed whole districts where there was not a single member of the fraternity to be seen, no one to baptise and marry, no one to instruct the young, no one to tender extreme unction to the dying on their way to eternity; should, however, an isolated spot happen to be so fortunate as to possess one or, at most, two ecclesiastics, they were prac- tically of no avail among this vast extent of territory; and on account of this want of power, but much more even from the THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN AMEKICA. 133 circumstance that few were acquainted with the language of the Indians, it became evident that all attempts to convert the un- believers must be abandoned. And whence arose this great want ? Simply from this, that Paraguay was still completely devoid of civilisation, and, lying as it did beyond the sphere of traffic in the commercial world, it could offer no powers of attraction to the Catholic priesthood, accustomed to enjoyment of every description ; and on this account it was that even the begging monks of the lowest grade looked upon this distant land as a kind of penal exile, having as yet but the attributes of a wilderness, with which no one could have any desire to become acquainted. During seventy years, therefore, the conversion and civilisa- tion of the Indians made but little progress in Paraguay, that is to say, up to the year 1586. It then occurred to Don Franciscus de Victoria, the newly-appointed bishop of ihe Province Tukuman, adjoining Chili, in the whole of whose extensive diocese there did not exist even a couple of dozen priests, whether it would not be well to crave assistance for them from the Society of Jesus. The want, indeed, must have been very urgent, otherwise Don Franciscus, who belonged himself to the Order of the Dominicans, would not certainly have entertained any such idea. Be this as it may, it pleased the first bishop of Tukuman to call in the aid of the Jesuits, for the reason that, by this time, good service had been done by them in the neighbouring states of Brazil and Peru, in the way of conversion; he at once, then, in the year 1586, wrote to the Provincials of both of the above-named states, the Fathers Anchieta and Atiensa, who, indeed, at once complied with his wishes and immediately sent him, to begin with, eight members of the Order ; promising, at the same time, that more would follow if they were needed.* This was, indeed, hardly required, as they were no ordinary Fathers, skilled merely in the dispensing of the sacraments and the singing of masses, but persons who likewise understood something of what * As a matter of curiosity I will here give the names of these eight Jesuits. They were called Franciscus Angulo, Alphonso Barsana, Juan Villegas, Emanuel de Ortega, Stephan Grao (properly Grau, who was a German), Juan Salouio, Thomas Field (a Scotchman), and Paulo Arminio. All of these were Fathers, and, consequently, for this reason were authorised to conduct all kinds of divine service. Father Arminio, however, acted as -the superior or head of them all. 134 . HISTOBY OP THE JESUITSv monks, intended to act as missionaries, had not hitherto studied,, namely, the language of the natives, concerning which much zealous attention had been bestowed in all of the Jesuit col- leges of Brazil and Peru ; and, consequently, they could come to a good understanding with the natives from the commence- ment. This was the foundation of the Jesuit settlement in- this part of America, a very modest and innocent beginning, as one sees ; but after a few years both modesty and innocence were lost, and an entirely different condition of affairs came into play. From the town of Tukuman and its provinces, the Fathers visited the remaining cities of the country one after the other, especially Cordua and Assumption, along with the extensive province of Guayra, which latter was selected as the sphere of duty for Fathers Ortega and Fields, who were more especially versed in the Guayraian language, and who the longer they regarded the territory the more they were pleased with it. They tried, above everything, to make themselves at home in their settlement, . "exactly the same as they had done in India, Japan, and China; it still required, however, fully three years before they obtained their first possession, then, indeed, but a very modest one, so much so, that it might almost be called paean, as it consisted merely of a small dwelling-house, with an equally small chapel,. in the small town of Villarica. From this time forwardprogress, as may be said, went on at a galloping pace, and, in accordance with the idea originally entertained, a large number of new members were sent to their assistance from Peru and Brazil, and among them several Fathers of distinction ; as for instance,. Romero, Caspar de Monroy, Juan Viana, and Marcel Lorenzana ; so that, after the lapse of two years, as may be supposed, they were able to found a college. ' This took place in the year 1593, tin tke -city of Assumption, the capital of Paraguay; and the Spanish inhabitants of it, including the Governor and principal nobility, taxed themselves to such a considerable extent, thnt they were enabled to erect quite a beautiful building adjoining the church. In the year 1599, this building was followed by the erection of a mission-house in Cordua, with a magnificent cathedral ; and there was every appearance that very shortly similar establishments might also be founded in Santa Fe, as- well as in other towns. This, however, did not prove to be the case, as in the year 1002 the whole tenure of the Jesuits in. THE, JESUIT MISSIONS IN AMERICA. 135 Paraguay assumed a totally new aspect. Up to this time they had worked as true missionaries ; and, indeed, as we have seen, they had, acquired here and there landed property, and even built a college, or a mission-house, whilst they were at the same time occupied in travelling about from one district to another, and from one tribe to another, in order to proclaim everywhere the cross of Christ. This constant journeying backwards and forwards, however, owing to the great distances at which the settlements lay from one another, gave rise to great difficulties. Moreover, they could not reckon that the Indians, as soon as the missionaries had turned their backs, would not revert to their heathenish practices; consequently, it appeared evident to them that, if any permanent impression was to be made among the natives, it would be necessary to give up this system of travelling about, and take up a permanent abode among them. This was one discovery which, up to this date, had been made. A second consisted in this, that the Jesuits by this time had become aware exactly how the enormous territory that went under the name of Paraguay was situated, while this still remained a secret to the Spaniards in general, beyond the couple of towns and their immediate neighbourhood lying on the great rivers. The latter, for instance, had not gone further into the country than up to the first waterfall, and they continued to be in great ignorance respecting the vast territory which lay between the" Uruguay and the Parana, as well as between the latter and the Paraguay river ; they had not taken the least trouble to become acquainted with the different tribes inhabiting these reigons, or to gain their friendship ; but their whole plans had consisted in laying the severest possible yok*e upon all such nations as they had been able to subjugate, and to keep them on their plantations, or " commands," as these were designated in, Paraguay, at the most slavish work. All this, and indeed much more, was known to the Jesuits operating in Paraguay, only too well, and they, of course, made an accurate report of the true state of matters to their General in Home. And who was he but the same Claudius Aquaviva ? a man endowed with extra- ordinary mental capacity, and, at the same time, most actively energetic ; who at once devised a mode by which the greatest portion of Paraguay should fall completely into the hands of the Society of Jesus, beyond all interference from any secular 136 HISTOBY OF THE JESUITS. power. This plan was arranged with the most infinite skill and cunning, and the carrying out of it was entrusted to a no less skilful individual than the Father Stephan Paez, whom Aqua- viva had despatched to Paraguay as visitor of all the houses of the Order in the new world. This same Father arrived, in the year 1602, in the town of Salta, and at once ordered all the professed Jesuits to appear before him. He then took each one of them separately to task, and questioned him in regard to all details most particularly, in order that everything essential appertaining to the future organisation of the Order in Para- guay might be extracted ; lastly, assembling all those present, he made a long speech to them, communicating to them the orders of their General. These were to the effect, as already- indicated, that a proper and distinct Christian State must be constituted in Paraguay, over which the Jesuit General in Rome should rule as absolute monarch, and, in order to carry- out this comprehensive idea, the work each one had to do was assigned to him. From this time forth each step taken by the Jesuits in Paraguay was most carefully considered, and when progress was but slow, and often effected by very roundabout ways, the great aim and object to be attained was never lost sight of. Above everything it was of consequence to conciliate the natives, and the Jesuit missionaries began unanimously and most zealously by severely censuring the frightful oppression under which the Indians groaned. " The commands, upon which the poor redskins work as slaves, are an abomination in the sight of God," cried they, " and a complete extermination of the popu- lation must follow if the present system continue." Such and similar expressions aroused the hatred of the Spaniards not a little, and the Jesuit Fathers had, in consequence, during the next two years, to undergo much injustice. They were, indeed, regularly driven out of several of the towns, such as Cordova and San lago, but they won over all the more retainers among the redskins, and they thus succeeded in con- verting and making friends of a not inconsiderable portion of the great nation of Guayranas, that is, of the inhabitants of Guayra. Previous to the Spanish conquest, the tribe of Tubinambas Indians was by far the most powerful in Paraguay, being dis- tinguished at the same time for its peculiar ferocity; to them, indeed, may be ascribed the cruelties to which the intruding THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN AMERICA. 137 whites were subjected. They, the Tubinambas, slaughtered their prisoners ; they looked upon human flesh as the most delicious of food under the sun, and they offered resistance to the death against the God of the Christians. As they came to be aware, from many years of warfare, that the weapons of the white men were too much for them, they arrived at the bold resolution of turning their backs on their fatherland, and, at once carrying this resolution into effect, withdrew far away into the wilds of -the primeval forests, up to the broad valley of the Marranon, or Amazon river, to a region so distant that they hoped the pale .faces would never venture to penetrate there. The vast plains of Paraguay, Parana, and Uruguay, thus iremained abandoned to the other tribes, which had hitherto been in some measure dependent on the Tubinambas, to wit, the Apiatas and Cahivas, the Calchaquis and Lulles, the Fron tones and Omacuguakas, as well as, before all of them, the Guayranas, who were more numerous than all the others put together. The latter fact must have directed the attention of the Jesuit missionaries to those in particular, and, further- more, they had the least wild character of the various tribes of redskins in Paraguay. On the one hand, it was found that they were not shut out from some kind of civilisation, as they lived in villages ruled over by hereditary Kaziken, or heads of clans, and existed almost entirely upon corn and maize, which they planted, while the other tribes led a nomadic life, and shifted about from place to place, regarding the chase as the only employment worthy of man's consideration. On the other hand, there lay upon them the reproach of want of warlike spirit, as well as deficiency in energy, and they tamely submitted, although filled in their inmost soul with the most intense hatred, as all over the Spanish commands they were made use of by the whites as nothing else than beasts of burden, and treated .accordingly. Moreover, the number of the tribe who lived in Spanish territories was but small in comparison with the vast multitude of those who inhabited the interior, and who, as I .have already mentioned, remained quite unknown to the Spaniards, and it may be affirmed with certainty that fully nine-tenths of the Guayranas had not as yet felt the burden of oppression ; but the anxiety caused by the prospect before .them of soon being also subjected to this yoke, induced 138 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. them to be all the more favourable towards the preaching of the Jesuits against Spanish tyranny. Such was the state of matters at this time in regard to the Guayranas in Paraguay, when the Jesuits came to the determina- tion of creating a government of their own, and it will con- sequently not astonish anyone as to how they succeeded in procuring an entrance for Christianity. Having thus so far proceeded, they adopted the following plan of operation ; in the districts into which, up to this time, the Spaniards had not penetrated, they induced those who were scattered about in small villages to unite into large communities, which were called Bourgaden or Reductions, that is to say, communities that had been reduced into the Christian faith, and to each of these Reductions were assigned two spiritual shepherds, of whom one, a professed member of long standing in the Order, bore the title of pastor, or spiritual guide ; the other, in most instances a younger associate who had just arrived from Europe, being designated vicar. This was the arrangement, as we shall soon see, as to the foundation of their Christian Republic, or, if one would rather term it, of their theocratic State ; and this had such an innocent appearance that, at the commencement at least, it did not meet with any great opposition, either from the side of the Spaniards or that of the Guayranas. The sons of Loyola represented to the Indians that the several small communities which lay scattered about, many miles apart, were but ill-suited for protecting them- selves against the attacks of the Spaniards ; while if, on the other hand, they were collected together into Bourgaden, or townships, of 8,000 or 10,000 souls, they might readily keep off with ease the marauding white adventurers, and this naturally became clear to the understandings of the redskins. They had, further, no reason to object to the " spiritual shepherds," as they were in this way relieved from the supervision of the Kaziken and superiors under the title of Corregidors, or Alcaldes, and handed over to that of the spiritual guides. In other words, the Indians were enabled to select for themselves their own secular magistracy, as previously, and the Jesuits merely affixed the stipulation that in all the punishments awarded by them, or in all weighty and important decisions, they must first of all obtain the sanction of the said spiritual shepherds. And was this too much to require THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN AMERICA. 139 Ah! truly the good Padres treated them in such a fatherly and remarkably kind manner, that they therefore ought to be allowed the right of a father over his children. In addition to this, the Jesuits with perfect honesty represented the state of affairs to their great patron and friend Philip III., the King of Spain, that is to say, they explained to him and his high council for India, in several communications, that the chief obstacle to the speedy and permanent extension of Christianity in Paraguay and La Plata, arose entirely from the recently-arrived Spaniards being, without hardly a single exception, a set of haughty, arro- gant, cruel, avaricious, blasphemous, and thoroughly dissolute men, whence it happened that the natives could not do otherwise than entertain a disgust to Christianity itself, on account of the conduct of these bad Christians. Moreover, the Indians were maltreated in such a shameful manner by the royal governors and officials that, on that account, a thorough hatred had sprung up among them against everything of Spanish origin. For this reason, if it was desired that these poor creatures should be received into the bosom of the Church, they should be equally protected from the tyranny of the Governor and the bad example of the Spaniards, and these two desiderata could only be accom- plished by the Jesuits being permitted to carry out the long- considered plan for the creation in Paraguay of a Christian Republic. " In this said Christian Republic, no secular Governor may- be allowed to have any control; but, on the other hand, the Indians belonging thereto should, among themselves in com- munity, be allowed to lead a quiet harmonious life, under the Jesuits, after the manner of the early Christians, so that a verit- able paradisiacal state of innocency might be established ; but, in order that no injury might thereby be occasioned to the King's power, all members of the Christian Republic were bound to recognise him as their supreme lord and master, and every adult must pay to him the tribute of one dollar." Such was the upright scheme that the Jesuits suggested to the King, Philip III., and as they were at that time almost all-powerful at the Court of Spain, not only was this proposition accepted by that King in the year 1609, but it was also confirmed in all its particulars later on, from the year 1649 to 1663, under the reign of Philip IV., notwithstanding that any sagacious statesman-. 140 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. might well see how the Spanish Ring's authority was by this Christian Republic in Paraguay reduced to a mere sham. But at that time the Councillors and Minister of the most Catholic court of the world were as if smitten with blindness, *nd it was only after the lapse of a century that the scales fell from their eyes. The first Reduction, which received the holy name of Loretto, and was situated at the confluence of the Pirape and the Parana, was founded in 1609, through the exertions of Padres Maceta and Cataldino, who united into one small community somewhere about sixty small Guayrana vil- lages which were in existence thereabouts. Next after Loretto came the Bourgade of St. Ignatius, and subsequently a third and fourth, until at length, after the lapse of a couple of decades, their number amounted to about thirty, with a population of 'between nine and ten thousand inhabitants. The internal organisation of them all was the same that is, they were governed each by a Jesuit Father, who was also supported by a vicar as his assistant, and for the purpose of espionage ; this Father, again, was under the orders of a superior, who was placed over a diocese of from five to six parishes; the super- vision and management of these latter, however, rested with the Provincial, residing in Assumption, who again received his orders direct from the General in Rome. One sees, then, that the Jesuits did not in any way proceed to work without a plan, but that they were in possession of a Christian Republic as well if not better regulated than the government of any secular monarch. The Indians, too, were not badly off with this system of administration, as they were care- fully educated as good citizens, and, moreover, were all accus- tomed to take up some regular employment. " Idleness is the root of all vices," thought the Jesuit Fathers, and upon this principle they ruled the whole of their subjects, be their age or sex what it might, and they looked to their bodily constitution almost as much as to their aptitude and talent. Agriculture and cattle-breeding naturally came first and foremost as a pursuit, and most of the adult men were thus employed in the fields; into their hands also the elder boys were confided ; to the women and girls, on the other hand, a certain quantity of flax and cotton was given out, which they had to spin within a certain prescribed time. Moreover, the different trades and arts were THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN AMERICA. 141 not neglected, and a Jesuit chronicle upon the state of affairs- reports in the following words : " In regard to trades, we daily make further progress, and our- population becomes always more and more useful. After teach- ing them the arts of making bricks and burning lime, we build the most beautiful churches and houses, and our carpenters and glaziers know very well how to ornament them internally. Others spin the finest yarns, and weave therefrom the most beautiful cloths and quilts. Some, again, manufacture hats, and employ themselves in shoe-making, or any other like occupation. Even in the weaving of lace they are expert, and when we require in particular fine and broad priestly albs, the women manufacture them after a certain pattern with such skill that no difference could be detected between the copy and the original. One man made an organ after an European pattern, and finished it off in so perfect a manner that I was truly amazed. Another has indited a missal so accurately, after the beautiful Antovfer edition, that the manuscript might pass for a printed copy. They manu- facture trumpets, also, and all descriptions of musical instru- ments. They make the most perfect clocks, and watches for the pocket, and they paint them in a way that leaves nothing to be desired. In a word, they can copy anything that we desire them to do, and show themselves, also, to be equally as teach- able as they are diligent as soon as ~we set them to any par- ticular kind of work."* There can, therefore, seeing all this, be no question that the Indians, under the rule of the Jesuits, were moulded into thoroughly capable and useful men; and, in regard to this, one certainly cannot withhold one's admiration from the Society of Jesus. But now comes the dark side, which, to- a great extent, counterbalanced the bright side of the matter. The Indians, so far as concerns spiritual affairs, were kept in a degree of the profoundest ignorance, and their religion simply consisted in the grossest superstition, whereby the Jesuits represented themselves to be the oracles of God this same Deity, however, being for the white Padres alone, who formed a superior class of beings ; and, on that account, the Guayranas * All this is to be found, word for word, in the History of Paraguay, by Franz Xaver de Charlevoix, part ii. (preface), p. 3, 4. 142 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. were obliged, under a severe penalty, to regard the so-called " superior beings," namely, the Jesuits, with the most profound respect with such respect, indeed, that they were compelled to receive orders from them in a kneeling posture, and it was held to be a high honour to he allowed to kiss the sleeves or hem of the holy Fathers' garments. From such spiritual child- hood, however, the Guayranas were never to be emancipated, and 'the chief means of accomplishing their thraldom was by fear and intimidation. For this reason all the churches were orna- mented with holy pictures of the most extraordinary description, and with statues of truly gigantic proportions, of frightful aspect and threatening gesture. These figures, also, were fur- nished with movable limbs and rolling eyes, all of which filled the poor Indians with mortal terror ; and such crazy nonsense as this was called by the Jesuits Christianity ! As in this manner spiritual liberty was suppressed, even so also was political and social freedom kept under subjection. Not any one of the Jesuit subjects might for a moment think of raising himself, by his talent, energy, or industry, to a higher place in the social grade than that of his fellows, but he continued to be a mere machine in the hands of the Fathers, who assigned this or that employment to each according to their will and pleasure. Like- wise, also, there existed in the Guayranian Republic no rights of property whatever, not even of the smallest description; no true communism was, therefore, by any means actually created. On the contrary, every day all the produce of agriculture and other industries was delivered into the hands of the Jesuits, to be deposited in their store-houses, and in return for this the Indians were merely provided with what was absolutely necessary for their daily sustenance. One might well say, then, that the poor subjects of the Jesuits were nothing better than slaves and slaves, truly, in the fullest acceptation of the term ; but this bondage was so uncommonly enveloped in sugar, and exercised with such a degree of fatherly benevolence, that the Guayranas, in their simplicity, desired nothing better. Almost every evening there was a lively dance to the music of a well-instructed band, played by the natives, and the severest labour in the field was at once lightened by the sound of trumpets and fifes taken along with them, whilst, on Sundays and festivals, as well in the churches as out of them, the most lively dances and plays THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN AMERICA. 143 were the order of the day.* There was thus no lack of enjoy- ment, but only such kind of amusement was permitted as was calculated to leave the Indians in a state of childhood and sim- plicity, and none was ever allowed by which they might develop into thinking human beings. On these very grounds great care was taken never to allow any European to set his foot in any of these Jesuit Reductions, as what could more be feared than the pestilential expose which might be made by any such stranger ? And more especially the Spaniards were denied an entrance into these Jesuit territories, and on this account the Indians were encouraged to resist by force any attempted intrusion of such visitors, that is to say, all such were turned out of the domain by strength of arms. The Guayranas, with all alacrity, rendered implicit obedience to such appeals as were made to them of this nature, as the Jesuits had instilled the belief into their minds that the Spaniards only came there to take possession of their territories, and to exact the same statute labour from them by which so many thousands of their brethren had been destroyed, owing to over- work. To prevent effectually, however, the approach of any stranger amongst the Guayranas, the * The Jesuit Father Charlevoix verbally states as follows in his report on this subject: "It is an old custom in Spain that on fete days dances should be conducted by children. The missionaries adopted this laudable custom, and by means of it introduced a system of inducing the heathen to come into their churches. With this object I therefore selected four and twenty of those best suited to carry it out, and in this manner devoted such days to great enjoyment and general edification. At one time they performed such dances in the most approved way, at another they joined in plays of a knight-errant description, partly on horseback and partly on foot. At one time they danced upon stilts six ells in height, at another upon ropes ; or they would run at a small ring with lances. On another occasion I caused them to perform small comedies, all of which, although after great trouble to myself, were driven into their thick heads and elegantly represented." Another report upon the operations of one of the Reductions runs as follows : " After this (namely, after the inspection of the school) I go among the musicians and listen to their melodies ; first to the baritones, of whom I have eight ; the altos, next in order, of whom there are six ; tenors, too, without number ; but of basses, however, only six. After these, four trumpeters, eight horns, and four cornets perform their exercises. I then instruct the harpists, of whom there are six, and the organists, of whom four ; and, lastly, the flautiets, of whom only one. I now took in hand the dancers, and taught them all such dances as occur in comedies. It is of the greatest consequence to attract unbelievers in this way with things of this nature, and by the splendid ceremonies of the Church to create an internal inclination in favour of the Christian religion, on which account small booths are beautifully decorated on all festival days after vespers, and, before high mass, dances are conducted in the church where all are assembled. We also find great advantage from the official processions, just as it happened in olden days before the Venerabile, in the times when David danced before the Ark of the Covenant." (See Charlevoix, vol. ii., p. 7, 8, 21, preface.) 144 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. only language which was taught in their schools was the Guay- rana, and by this means the comprehension of all other tongues was nipped in the bud. Indeed, the Jesuits even went so far as to form, in every Reduction orBourgade (borough), an armed force, consisting of cavalry as well as infantry; and by means of these troops, well armed and drilled as they were, besides being also provided with artillery, they could easily get the better of any foreign attempt at intrusion, even when made by force, without the boundaries of the Christian Republic in Paraguay. They soon, indeed, succeeded in extending even their own original domains far across the borders of the province of Guayra, so that in a short time their possessions comprehended all the countries to the right and left of Paraguay, even as far as Brazil; but no information, or, at least, very uncertain news, respecting their enormous possessions was allowed to reach Europe, as the country was, so to speak, hermetically sealed, and even the Court of Madrid, although the King was recognised by them as nominal 1 Lord Paramount of Paraguay, was kept in ignorance of all' details concerning the proceedings of the Jesuits. I say, em- phatically, nominal ; as never, from the year 1609 up to the middle of the 18th century, had the King exercised any kind of authority whatsoever in that Republic ; and even the head- money, that the Jesuits had contracted to pay annually to the kings of Spain, came in so sparingly that it might be well supposed to have been derived from only some thirty or forty thousand subjects, instead of from at least ten times that number. Still, notwithstanding the excessive power to which the Order of Jesus attained in Southern America, and even the unbounded dominion that placed the General of the Jesuits in Rome on a par with the mightiest monarchs in the world, the reader will learn in the fourth, fifth, and sixth books of this work the prin- cipal causes which led to the downfall of this much-dreaded Society in these parts of the globe. Thus much for the Jesuit missions in the distant regions of the world, or, rather, concerning the gigantic growth of the Society of Jesus in Asia, Africa, and America. 145 CHAPTER II. THE POWEEFUL INFLUENCE OP THE JESUITS IN EUROPE. IN the preceding chapter I have described in what way, by what means, and with what results the sons of Loyola contrived to spread themselves throughout Asia, Africa, and America. It was otherwise, however, in regard to their extension in Europe, as in this instance they had to deal with professing Christians, and had not to trouble themselves so much with the conversion of unbelievers. They were, at least, unable to establish their power under that insignia. On this account they at once blotted out this motto on their banner, and in its place wrote in large capital letters, Extension and Re-establishment of the True Faith, that is, of the Roman Catholic religion, with the Papacy at its head. Was not this faith, as I have shown in the first book, in so many places most profoundly shaken, and was there not immediate danger of the great Pontiff himself being soon bodily hurled from the almighty throne upon which he had previously sat, and ousted from his hitherto most faithful pro- vinces ? In what manner, then, and by what means, did the Jesuits now succeed in their object under the motto that they displayed intended for Europe ? It was everywhere, indeed, by the same means and in the same way, namely, by the establishment of educational institutions, by seizure of the confessional stools of kings, by fighting with heresy, by the incorporation of the most powerful forces into their Order, as also by their fanatical influence on the great mass of the people. As regards the 10 140 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. founding of educational institutions, their method of procedure was as follows : They entered into a town by twos and threes, not, indeed, on horseback, or in a carriage, richly and ex- pensively attired, but, on the contrary, on foot, and without shoes and stockings, in mean clothing, and with such a miser- able appearance that it was impossible to refuse to give them alms. It was thus that their exnmpler Ignatius had first made his appearance, and it was thus also that they pre- sented themselves in public. They did not alight at inns, or at the houses of the rich, even when pressingly invited. No ; on the contrary, they made their way to the hospital or the poor- house, considering these, the most miserable quarters, to be but too good, indeed, for them ; they tended the sick, especially those whom no one else would approach on account of the con- tagious character of their diseases, and discharged offices of the most menial kind, as if the humility of servants became them. They, at the same time, did not delay in at once attach- ing to themselves some children of the poor, teaching them to read and write, as well as instructing them in the first principles of the Roman Catholic religion. For this instruction they demanded no return, not even the very slightest, knowing full well that gratuitous teaching formed the great power of attrac- tion for the poor people to induce them to entrust their children to their care. Soon everyone throughout the whole town began to speak of them, and to sing their praises, and the number of their young pupils increased to such an extent that the room where they afforded this instruction became much too small for the purpose. " We would willingly, now," said the good Fathers, "receive more children, had we only more room," and this equally pious as modest wish stirred up the hearts of the people who were rich, to such a pitch that they purchased a small house for the devout instructors, in order to carry on their school therein. Naturally enough, the number of the scholars now went on continually increasing, and thus it became neces- sary for more Jesuit Fathers to come forward in order to satisfy the demands made upon them. They could not well refuse to receive the children of the richer classes of the community, and those of higher consideration ; consequently, the subjects for instruction still continued to extend beyond those required merely for the poor and persons of low degree. But apart THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 147 from this, even what was taught enticed always more and more scholars to come to them, and the small house became presently quite insufficient for their purpose. Those inhabitants of the town who were in good circumstances continued to render assistance to them, and after a year, or, at the most, a couple of years, the pious Fathers were enabled to erect a college which, in regard to its external appearance, had more resemblance to a palace than to an educational institution. This was the usual course of things, and when once the college was founded the Jesuits naturally had the game all in their own hands, as, for the most part, the whole youth of the population flocked to them for education. For, to attain their object, they usually formed in their college three classes, or grades, of in- struction : first of all, the elementary school, then the middle school, and, lastly, the higher school. In the elementary school was taught merely the primary groundwork, reading, writing, and, to a certain extent, accounts, but more especially the Faith, that is to say, strict obedience to the teaching and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as abhorrence of all here- tical innovations. In the middle school were placed those who were destined to be instructed ordinarily during a period of nine years in the Greek and Latin grammar, and then advanced to a two-years' course of rhetoric ; but religious instruction was here, again, the principal topic, and each of the pupils was imbued with a veneration for the Papacy and Catholic priesthood, as -well as with hatred against all recreants and heretics, salient characteristics of the Roman Catholic faith. In the high school the students received a finishing stroke to their studies, during a three-years' course of philosophy, or, more properly speaking, of logic and metaphysics, followed by a four-years' course of theology, regarded by them as the absolute queen of all sciences. As regards medicine and jurisprudence, the sons of Loyola did not usually meddle ; but what they regarded as of transcendent importance when they were destined to the priesthood, was readiness in making use of their tongues, as well as dexterous -behaviour on being taken suddenly by surprise. The reader must now, then, readily admit, when things were so far advanced, that the Jesuits must have obtained an enormous influence over the Catholic community in Europe by the esta- blishment of their educational institutions. In religious matters 10 * 148 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. they taught, indeed, all who were educated by them, whether lay- er ecclesiastical, just exactly what suited them, and nothing else; and, afterwards, laymen as well as ecclesiastics worked in their avocations according to their spirit. Not the less effectual for the dominion of the Jesuits in Europe was the acquisition by them of the confessional stools of kings, and none of the other Orders that ever existed, or all the ordinary priesthood put to- gether, effected such great results in this direction as the cele- brated Society of Jesus. The institution of confession, concerning which Christ himself does not say a single word, was first of all established in the 2nd or 3rd century of the Christian era, by the public confession of sins being exacted from those who wished to be allowed readmittance into the Church, from which they had been expelled on account of the more grievous description of transgressions ; but it was not till the 5th century, under the reign of Pope Leo the Great, that secret confession to priests was declared to be indispensable for the forgiveness of sins, while private oral confession was legally sanctioned by In- nocent III. in the year 1215. The Father Confessor, at the commencement, was, as may be readily understood, the parson of the community for the time being, and the greatest of earthly beings knew no other, but had to confess to him, as other Christians did, in the public Church. At the end of the 6th century, on the other hand, there existed in the palace of the Emperor of Constantinople a special chapel with a special confessional stool, as it was held by their Majesties not to be respectable for them to acknowledge their sins in one and the same place as that where their subjects repaired, and this invention of the Court of Constantinople was forthwith imitated by all the other monarchs of the world. When once, then, a Court chapel was instituted, it followed, as a matter of course, that a Court chaplain should not be wanting ; and we find, therefore, such-like priests as early as the time of the French kings Childebert and Clothaire. These said priests belonged originally to the secular priesthood ; with the introduction, however, of the monkish Orders, many of the cowl-wearers were to be found among the spiritual advisers of ruling princes and great lords. These offices were more especially filled by Benedictine monks. In this way did the holy Berlin come to perform the office of Father Confessor to THE POWEKFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 149 <3ount Valbert of Flanders ; thus also did Martin, a monk in Gomez, officiate as Court chaplain to Charles Martel ; as also in a similar manner did Benedict of Aniane act as soul-councillor of Louis the Pious. Later on, the barons and nobles of the times proceeded to follow the customs of the Court, and also built for themselves their own particular chapels ; while the begging monks, especially the Franciscans, came to be very favourite Father Confessors among them, probably from the circumstance of their being procurable at a cheap rate. In king's courts, however, the Dominicans were all the fashion, and certainly not to the detriment of their Order. Still there always were, at the same time, many of the ordinary priesthood who aspired to be the soul-councillors of princes, and it cannot in any way be affirmed that the monkish Orders laid claim to a monopoly of the business of Father Confessorships to the higher classes of the community. It was a very different matter, however, when the Order of the Jesuits came into existence, for hardly had the sect been fairly established when at once everyone about the Court who had anything to do in regard to such posts was solicited to use his influence for this Order; and the remaining Orders might contend against them as much as they were able, the latter were certain to be outflanked and com- pletely over-ridden. It would be a very great error to suppose that this was effected by individual Jesuits alone, who had succeeded in ingratiating themselves at particular Courts. No, emphatically no ; it was all regularly planned on a peculiar system. Even Loyola himself had vehemently taken to task Jacob Miro, who wished to refuse the proposal of John .III. of Portugal to be his Father Confessor, on the plea .that such places were not at all suited for an Order whose calling it was to frequent hospitals and devote itself to the .insti'uction of youth sunk in the deepest state of poverty. " The atmosphere of Courts,'' wrote the General to his sub- ordinate, " might not prove to be so dangerous, and zeal might well be shown for the welfare of the souls of men in hospitals .and in the galleys and prisons, without on that account there being any necessity for shunning the Courts. On the contrary, kings required good priests for their guidance all the more from the circumstance that they had many more allurements to sin .than ordinary mortals, and on that account it was his wish that 150 HISTOllY OF THE JESUITS. it should fall to the lot of a member of the Society of Jesus to- be the Father Confessor of a king." This order of Loyola was now carried out so effectually that henceforth no Jesuit perpetrated the pious folly of Jacob Miro, and it did not by any means satisfy his successors in the office of General to be contented with a solitary post, but, on the other hand, directions were in future formally given to members of the Order to seize upon the consciences of kings, and a dis- tinct regulation was made, to which those chosen to act us Father Confessors had to adhere. " The chief aim " thus runs the order " of all our efforts ought to be to procure the confidence and favour of princes and men hi places of distinction, to the end thai no one might dare to offer opposition to us, but, on the contrary, that all should be subject to us." Is not this, then, expressed sufficiently distinctly ? With equal clearness are the ways and means also indicated, by following which the favour of rulers was to be obtained : " The favourites of princes, high and low, female as well as male, must be put under obligation through presents, flattery, and favours of all description, so that they may intercede for us with their masters, and give us correct information as to the characters and inclinations of the latter. On the other hand, however, all servants who have shown themselves to be in any way adverse to the Order, should by all manner of means be removed from the surrounding of the monarchs and their councillors, or be gained over to our side by great promises." Moreover, as a matter of course, it was clearly for the advan- tage of the Jesuits that they should not only gain the ear of the princes, but also, in accordance with the above instructions, be equally zealous in doing the same in respect to the princesses;. the chief aim and object being thus to gain their favour, it was, well worth while to bribe the chamber- women, " as through them access may be obtained to the most important family secrets." The document in question shows not less characteristic- ally how, when favour has once been successfully gained, it is to be retained. " This may best be effected in this way by laying a cushion under the arms of the sinner, according to the Prophet Ezekiel (chap. xiii. 18) ;" in other words, not to- appear to observe their objectionable proceedings, and, when it THE POWEBFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 151 becomes really necessary to make any remarks about these, not to make absolution difficult. " The conscience of a ruler must be cleared without any ceremony, especially when this has been refused to be done by other ecclesiastics ; by this means the princes may abandon our rivals, and become wholly dependent on our councils and guidance. In short, the Jesuit Order looks upon it as their highest aim and object to seize upon the place of Father Con- fessor at all the different Courts and among all persons of distinction, well knowing that enormous power lies hidden therein ; at the same time the making publicly known of this- earnest striving after power must be carefully avoided, especially as regards those princes who operate somewhat beneficially by their worldly might. Assurance must often and earnestly be given," proceeds this same above-cited document, " that it is not sought in any way to interfere with the affairs of the State, and it is recommended to those who might be pleased to see them- selves at the rudder not to make it evident that they are mani- festly in that position. This ought rather to be effected through means of some trusted third party, that then the opinion of the ruler's Father Confessor might be asked ; when by this means all appearance of direct interference is avoided, then will be the reality of the influence all the more effectually secured." After all this, can there be any further evidence required in order to prove that the Jesuits strove by every means in their power to obtain the monopoly of the royal confessionals, and that shortly after the institution of the Order they did actually contrive to acquire possession of them, regarding this as the great lever of their influence ? A third mode of firmly planting their dominion in Europe, was by their perseverance, courage, and skill in combating heresy, and more especially that of Luther and Calvin, well knowing that they in this manner rendered themselves absolutely indispensable for the defence of the Catholic faith. Whenever, in Germany or other countries, religious dis- putations, during some dozens of years, took place, did not the Jesuits sustain the principal part ? Wherever there happened to be any kind of Church assemblage, or when an Imperial diet was held, was it not that the sons of Loyola were always in 152 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. requisition as indispensable ? It could not, indeed, well be otherwise ; and, in fuct, simply on this account that, as it was in those days well known, the rest of the priesthood, when Protestantism had sprung into existence, were very far from being up to a high standard as regards knowledge, information, and culture ! whilst the Jesuits, on the other hand, had been brought up in their colleges expressly in the art of disputation, so much so as to be able to cope even with the " God be with us" ones. Moreover, it signified very little to them by what means they slew their enemies ; and by no one else in the world was the art of calumniation practised on such a colossal scale, as well as artificial perversion, and, indeed, downright falsehood. Whenever such arts as these, too, failed them, had they not recourse to violence, and, indeed, to the brute force that every- where prevailed ? Regarding such proceedings, many volumes have been written ; but it is here sufficient to give only one example. Concern- ing the death of Luther, for instance, the following statement is to be read verbatim in a Jesuit report which was given out from the pulpit : " I may not make mention of this hellish monster by name, this traitor to the Catholic religion, this fugitive from the cloister, this restorer of all heresy, this hideous wretch before God and man. He died in the eighteenth year of his fall, after having become fearfully intoxicated in partaking of a banquet, when, as was his custom, he had there made a fool of himself ; so his vile spirit became a delicious morsel for the devil, who might right well sate himself with such-like tit-bits." Everyone knows that this account of the death of Luther was nothing but a bare-faced untruth, and the Jesuits themselves were likewise well aware that it was so ; but against heretics, according to their principles, all means were allowable, and it was well done to spread abroad the very meanest of calumnies, provided it was only possible to obtain credence for them with the multitude. I am compelled by truth to add, too, that they made use of similar wicked and morally exceptionable artifices, not alone among the illiterate mass of the people, but also among the higher classes; and especially they contrived to persuade and talk over the Catholic monarchs, in such a manner as to make them believe that all revolutionary fermenta- THE POWEBFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 153 tions and disturbances among their subjects arose only from the spirit of heresy. In this manner, indeed, the Jesuits wished to make it appear that they alone were to be regarded as the saviours and pillars of the monarchies, and to be treated accordingly, as they were also always at warfare with heresy, and never gave in so as to render it possible for peace to be concluded between the contending parties. A fourth means by which the Order of Jesuits knew how to raise its power to an important height, lay in the art they pos- sessed of gaining over to their side the best heads of the State, either in fact, as regular and professed members of the Society, or as affiliated and secret members. As regards the first class, there existed, as we know, in the colleges, youths of all condi- tions, and in their education the best opportunity was afforded .for discovering the most conspicuous talents; having thus found out those who were best fitted to become useful sub- jects for the Order, their object was to entice them over for their purposes. Had not everyone, especially when still young, some more or less weak point in his character which might be fastened upon ? and no Father was assuredly selected as rector of a college who had not distinguished himself by a thorough knowledge of human nature, as well as the faculty of attracting to himself the youths under his tuition. In matter of fact it was ; so brought about, that those young men whom it might be wished to make novices were so trained, by this means or that, that they themselves solicited admission into the Order, and the only obstacle to this plan was that the parents of the young men frequently withheld their consent strenuously to such a step; this difficulty was, however, often got over by causing such scholars to disappear from the scene, while they were brought again into some far distant college. They were there, necessarily, received under an entirely different name, in order to oblite- rate all trace of their birth; and by this means, and other cunning and forcible devices and measures, the opposing parents, when they even belonged to the richer and higher classes of society, were successfully prevented from snatching their sons out of the Jesuit novitiate. Do whatever they would, the Order , retained the youth as belonging to itself, even when an appeal was made for aid to the highest courts of law, the reigning sovereigns, or even, indeed, the Pope himself. It retained them 151 HISTOKY OP THE JESUITS. and brought them up in its own ideas, considering that such members would afterwards be of the greatest use to the fraternity. The so-called affiliated or secret members were almost of still greater importance those, namely, who had bound themselves by only a single vow, that is to say, to render to the Society oi Jesus with true devotion all services that might be demanded of them, and who on that account were allowed to continue to live as people of the world, in the same station and sphere as had been their wont. Those, for the most part, were men of high rank, who would have lost situations as councillors or ministers to princes had they formally and openly joined the Jesuit Order; and herein is seen a great advantage, as such persons, while retaining their former occupations, when they worshipped in the profess-houses might, on receiving a formal dispensation from the General, deny openly their secret admission into the Society of Jesus. Further than this, they might even outwardly make themselves appear to be the enemies of the Order, so as to be enabled all the more surely to spy into matters with which, they wished to become acquainted, and on that account there existed affiliated Jesuits even in the Protestant camp itself. Still no one, of course, was aware of their existence there, except the Provincial of the district for the time being, as also the General of the Order in Rome, and the sole private mark by which they might be recognised consisted in a scapular which they wore next their naked breasts, on which was imprinted the letters I. H. S. The fifth mode by which the Jesuits gained admission all over Europe, was not be sought among the cultivated classes, but, on the contrary, among the profanum vulyus, and consisted in a sort of fanaticism into which the pious lathers knew how to work themselves. Thus it was not at all uncommon for two or three of them to be found running through the streets by night or day in a half-naked condition, bawling out loudly that owing to the sins of mankind the end of all things was at hand, on which account they flogged themselves with whips so unmer- cifully that streams of blood flowed from their bodies. As a. matter of course, when such a spectacle was enacted, it was sure to collect a great crowd about them, and while at first some people laughed at their proceedings, and many from disgust turned away from them disdainfully, this disposition at length gave THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 155 way to another feeling, namely to that of astonishment, if not,, indeed, of admiration. The Padres flogged and chastised their bodies to such an extent that even a stone might have pitied them ; should they not, then, be looked upon as holy saints? They, indeed, transgressed all laws of propriety in exhibiting themselves in this half-naked condition, and one often felt inclined to give them a kick, in order to make them under- stand this ; but on being thus treated, they would at once, in : the most humble manner, express themselves thankful for the well-deserved punishment, and thereupon present both of their cheeks to the chastiser for fresh blows to be given them. But enough of these silly and ecstatic follies of the Jesuits, which were not, indeed, without effect ; the more so that their proceedings became contagious, to an extent that whole troops of people ran after them, similarly flogging themselves and calling out, "Alas, the sinners! Alas, the great sinful city!" Such were the means adopted by the Jesuits for establishing themselves as a great power in the Catholic countries of Europe ; and having now analysed all appertaining thereto, I proceed to- enter upon the subject more in detail. I. POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS IN ITALY. The Papal Court of Paul III. in Home gave to the founda- tion of the Jesuit Order, as we have already seen, its approval simply on this account, that Ignatius Loyola promised that all his exertions, and those of his associates, should be directed towards defending and upholding the rights of His Holiness, and re-establishing everywhere the then depressed interests of Rome. Ignatius Loyola kept to his word, and on that account gained from Paul III. himself, as well as from his successors, the greatest privileges and favours. The Popes who followed him thought and acted in a similar manner; and how, indeed, could they have done differently, as the sons of Loyola, for nearly 100 years, fulfilled, or, at any rate, appeared to fulfil, the promise of their founder ? But in what respect did they carry out this pledge ? Who, for example, was it that defended at the Council of Trent, with the greatest zeal, those assumptions and abuses of the Papacy which even good Catholic historians designate as being " extravagant " ? Was it not the ICG HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. ,1. 'suits l.iiyiiiv.. Siilmeron, and ( 'ouvilluii '.' Wli.i was it tliaL resisted with Huch skill those ideas of reform in Church mm ins BO unanimously demanded by everyone, ami of abuses which caused the Human Chair to bo looked upon everywhere with horror, but they alone, and always they ? Who was it that supported before the Congress of Poissy, as well us in all other places in which it was in question, the unlimited omnipotence of the Pope, and placed it above even all other common councils? Who was it that, with similar energy, defended it with such eloquence and such success as the members of the Society t Jesus? It having thus acted, would not the Popes have exhibited iho greatest in: mtitudo had they not done everything that possibly lay in their power towards the elevation of the Order, and the Imthenmee of the extension of its colleges, seminaries, residences. novitiates, and nil Us ether houses'.' Would not the Popes, indeed, have been considered to blame had they aeted otherwise? as they certainly would not have understood what was evidently for their advantage. " One hand washes the other," is an old saying, and, not the less true, " Live and let live." Both of these proverbs were, as a rule, observed by the Popes, and thus it came about that after the death of Pius V., in the year 1572, the Order was already in possession of five houses or establishments of some kind in Rome. Gregory XIII., the successor of the above-mentioned Pope, was, again, still more liberal towards them, as he pre- sented them with no less than twenty-five tons (?) of gold, in order to enable them to erect a still more splendid college than that which they already possessed, and, through his example, many great and rich people were induced to accord their favour to the Order. It came to this, in short, that, within the space of a few decades, the Jesuits possessed within their province of Rome (including the state of Tuscany), a profess-house (in Rome itself), two profess-houscs or novitiates (in Rome and Florence), six residences, besides not fewer than thirty-four colleges and seminaries ; and their possessions throughout the other ports of Italy were in much the same proportion. Thus, lor example, in the province of Milan they could boast of the possession of two profess-houses (those of Milan and Genoa), three novitiates (those of Genoa, Arona, and Chiara), besides sixteen colleges and six residences ; then, in the province of THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JE9UIT3. 157 Naples they had one profess-house (that of Naples), two novi- tiates (those of Naples and Atri), one residence and twenty-six colleges ; in the province of Sicily they possessed two profess- houses and novitiates (each at Palermo and Messina), ten seminaries, and twelve colleges ; and, lastly, in the " province of Sardinia, or Savoy," they owned two profess-houses (those of SafTari and Cagliari), one novitiate (that of Cagliari), besides six colleges. Who, then, could now affirm that the Order had not come to be a great power in Italy ? The Fathers did not, indeed, shrink from knocking at all the doors that they thought might be opened to them, and if they failed at first they returned again a second and third time. They especially desired to operate upon the masses, and succeeded only too well, as, in those days, the poorer classes among the Italian people were still in a state of great ignorance and superstition, as well as being very sensitive and excitable, especially in southern- Italy. The Jesuits caused, for instance, an enormous dis- turbance amongst the inhabitants of Gaeta and its environs, as, accompanied with masks, they ran about the streets in despair, the upper parts of their bodies being naked, while, with thorns thrust through their flesh, they called out in a lamentable tone of voice, " Do penance, do penance ! hell is for sinners and Paradise for the elect." It was similarly in Naples that they formed bands among the very lowest classes of the people, and whole companies of both male and female flagellate rs over- ran both town and country ; and I could write a thick volume full of the follies and obscenities carried on by these fanatical gangs, and especially by those of them consisting of females. Here I only content myself with the mere mention that such was- the case, as I shall come to speak on this theme more in detail 1 in the third book. I cannot refrain, however, from saying a few words as regards the so-called funeral masquerades, which- were carried on in Palermo and Messina, as Death in person was there brought upon the scene, and the people were thereby filled with such fear and horror that it resulted in not a few being driven almost mad. To have a proper idea of these masquerades one must imagine a great procession in a broad street, looked upon by a body of many thousand spectators. At the head of this- procession is to be seen a naked body, covered with blood, wrest- ling with Death, and borne upon an open bier by a troop of men* 158 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. uttired in long talars. On both sides of this bier, as also imme- diately behind it, walk beautiful boys dressed in white em broidered dalmaticas, and furnished with wings attached to their "backs, while each of them carries a cross in his hands. These are intended to represent a choir of angels, who, with clear voices, perform a concert that might not, indeed, be more beauti- ful in heaven itself. But, unfortunately, while listening to it one is disturbed by seeing a great swarm of ugly black devils, furnished with great claws, flourishing their tails about, wildly raging and roaring in order to harass and impede the angels, and with this object yelling and cursing in such a way as to cause a frightful uproar. The devils also wave about lighted torches, made of pitch, the sickening smoke of which darkens the atmosphere to such an extent as at times to prevent anything from being seen. Now, however, comes the principal object, viz. Death himself, mounted upon a carriage entirely black, and drawn by six black horses. This representation of Death is quite horrible to look at, as it consists of a leaden- coloured skeleton of colossal dimensions, so much so, indeed, that his head reaches up to the upper windows of the houses. In his right hand he carries a colossal scythe, and with the left Tie drags after him a chain, to which is attached a whole herd of howling ghosts representing every sex, age, and class of -society. Those hideous and horrible-looking hobgoblins from time to time utter lamentable cries, while exhibiting, by the contortions of their limbs, the torments of hell which they are suffering. Moreover, despite all this wailing, Death pursues his course, as if deaf and dumb, gnashing his teeth and giving evident -signs that nothing would deter him from sweeping away every living thing on earth, and casting them into the abyss of hell. It is, on this account, quite in vain that a choir of mournful repentant psalm-singers following in his train groans out the most doleful airs, exciting thereby, in the highest degree, the anguish and horror of the surrounding bystanders, who can see no escape from eternal perdition. But now, behold ! the Jesuits come upon the scene; they look, however, earnest and solemn, but also, at the same time, friendly and celestial, while glancing around them. A magnificent radiant sun, borne by four stalwart lay brethren, is carried along above their heads, indicating the light of eternal blessedness, so thnt the minds more hesvilv THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 159 oppressed may breathe lightly again, knowing at length where to look for the dispensation of eternal grace. So great was the power to which the Jesuits now attained in Italy, and so easily were they ordinarily enabled to gain the end and aim which they set before them. But it so happened that there was one hindrance to their being able to conquer ; and similar difficulties occurred, too, in Milan, Venice, Veltlin, and Savoy. In Milan, from the year 1566 to 1584, there ruled as Archbishop, Count Carlo Borromeo, well-known as one of the most distinguished men of his times, whose diocese, as long as he lived and laboured, might well have served as a model for all others. This Borromeo, in the hope of bringing better order and condition into his hitherto rather lax church discipline, invited the Jesuits to Milan, selecting one from among their ranks as his Father Confessor, and putting a seminary at their disposal in order to establish a splendid educational institution, overloading them at the same time with favours of every description, to such an extent that he even entertained the idea of making over to them the possessions belonging to the Order of the wild "Humiliaten," which it was his wish to suppress. As he carried out, with becoming zeal, the reform of the priesthood, and especially of the monkhood, both of which had become dissolute, the refrac- tory monks brought an accusation against him before the Pope, and at the same time caused him to become an object of suspicion to the Spanish Governor of Milan (Lombardy at that time belonging to the Crown of Spain), making it appear that he entertained the idea of assuming the royal prerogative. In con- sequence of this accusation the Pope, as well as the Governor, took steps against him, and to all appearance it seemed as if he would succumb to his enemies. The Jesuits also, at whose head Father Mazarini, the Rector of their college in Milan, par- ticularly distinguished himself, were of this way of thinking. Not only did they at once go over with flying colours to the camp of the Spanish Governor, but they reviled their former benefactor, the Archbishop, in the most calumnious manner, in every church which had been given to them by him as a present. They reckoned, however, without their host, in imagining that Count Borromeo must of necessity make room for another, as he victoriously met all the accusations and calumnies which had been brought against him. It now 160 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. became the turn of the miserable creatures who up to this time- had been open-mouthed against him, to shake in their shoes, and the Jesuits, especially, fully expected nothing else than that the Archbishop would launch out all his fury against them. He, however, a man full of Christian love, contented himself with taking their church and college from them, and expelling them from the city of Milan, but not, however, altogether out of his very extensive diocese. It was, indeed, a very lenient punish- ment for such base ingratitude as the Jesuits had shown him, and the latter ought to have thanked him with all humility. This they did not do, however ; but they thought that they might again establish themselves in the favour of Borromeo by laying all the blame of what had taken place on the shoulders of their Rector, Mazarini. On this account, the then General of the Order, Claudio Aquaviva, expressed his disapprobation of tbe conduct of Mazarini in a special letter addressed to the Archbishop, forbidding the delinquent, at the same time, from preaching during two years, and ordering him to throw himself humbly at the feet of the offended Borromeo. The Rector, as may be understood, rendered obedience to this order ; but the Archbishop did not, however, on this account, rescind bis decree of banishment ; and his nephew and successor, Count Frederico Borromeo, who held possession of the Archiepiscopal chair from 1595 to 1631, went still further on assuming possession of the government, and took away from the Jesuits the conduct of all the colleges and seminaries which had been established in Lombardy, forbidding all who wished to devote themselves to the priesthood from prosecuting their studies in any Jesuit college,, under the penalty of loss of consecration. This injunction con- tinued as long as he lived, and it was only after the year 1631 that the Jesuits ventured to establish themselves again in the ter- ritory of Milan. It went even worse than this with them in the city of Venice, which had always shown itself more free-thinking than was agreeable to the Romish priesthood; and it was for this reason that the Jesuits had very early established themselves there, in order to bring about, through their influence, a change in the state of matters. Now. however, Jesuit machinations did not at all meet with the approval of the Venetian Senate, and on this account it decreed a law in 1608 by which neither any new churches nor cloisters could be built THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 161 without the permission of the Government, nor any new Order of Monks or societies founded. This was a severe blow to the Romish priesthood, and more especially to the Jesuits, who at that time had entertained the idea of establishing themselves permanently all over the Venetian territories ; but still harder was it when, two years after this, the order was publicly pro- mulgated " that no subject of the Venetian Republic should be allowed, without the previous knowledge and permission of the State, to make over or alienate any immovable property, by will or sale, or in any other manner, to the priests or monkish Orders, under no less a penalty than imprisonment, banishment, and confiscation of their property." This constituted an open declaration of war against the Society of Jesus, and thereupon Claudio Aquaviva, their General, took up the matter. He- hastened, with his friend Cardinal Bellarmin, to Pope Paul V., and so worked upon the latter that a brief was forthwith addressed by him to the Venetian Senate, in which the Pope demanded an unqualified revocation of both the laws of 1603 and those of 1605. The Senate appealed to their rights, but Paul V., in his hot displeasure, would listen to no statements based on reason, and, in 1606, launched an interdict, without further delay, against the Republic of Venice, hoping that, as by it all churches had to be closed forthwith, and all preaching of the Word of God consequently discontinued, this would give rise to a general insurrection among the people against the Senate. With such thoughts, at least, had Aquaviva and Bellarmin flattered him ; but, as will shortly be seen, they found themselves completely in error. The Venetian Senate, forsooth, instantly took up the gauntlet which had been thrown down, and not only forbad the publication of the Papal interdictory Bull in its dominions, but also issued an order to all its clergy to continue divine service as hitherto, or immediately to quit Venetian territory. This edict was obeyed by the whole of the priesthood and monkish Orders; the Jesuits alone hesitated to give respect to it. They were under the impression that as their influence had hitherto been so great they would conquer in spite of every opposition. The Senate, however, remained firm, and intimated to them that they must at once quit Venetian territory, if they wished to avoid forcible expulsion. There now remained for them no other course than to obey, and they, along with the Capuchins, whom 11 162 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. they had contrived to bring over to their side, went in great processions towards the closing of the gates, carrying before them huge crucifixes. Their expectations, however, that such a solemn exodus out of Egypt might give rise to fanatacism among the lower orders of the people, and create, at least, some disturbance, completely failed, even as much as the previous hope enter- tained by the Pope ; for when the masses of the people pressed forward to witness the spectacle, not a single hand was raised in their favour, but, on the contrary, curses were sent after them. After their departure, the Senate confiscated all their houses, and now some very strange discoveries were made. Besides leaving their riches in gold and silver, they fled also, in all haste, with the greatest portion of their books and manu- scripts, to deposit them with the Spanish Ambassador, as well as with some private friends ; but sufficient letters of theirs were found from which it was plain that they had devoted themselves much more to things temporal than to things spiritual, and suspicions arose that they had an understanding with the Spanish Court, which had for a long time striven to obtain possession of Venice, tt now appeared clear, besides, to many of the senators, what was the reason that the Order had sent the handsomest members of their Society to Venice, as several of the epistles they had left behind were evidently written by female hands, and their contents gave but unfavour- able testimony respecting the innocence of Venetian house- wives. Added to this, it so happened that the exiles, in order to ventilate their anger in Bologna, Ferrara, Mantua, Bari, Palermo, and other places, preached in the most violent manner against the Republic, doing their utmost to incite against it the Courts of Madrid and Prague, in order to induce Philip III. and the Emperor Rudolph II. to wage war with Venice ; the Jesuits also did their best to excite insurrections in that kingdom. In short, there existed incontestable evidence that the Jesuits constituted themselves very dangerous enemies to the Venetian Republic. The Senate consequently passed a resolution unani- mously to banish them for ever from Venetian territories. But even this course was not sufficient to satisfy the require- ments of the case, but an addition was also unanimously attached to the above decree, to the effect that no proposals of their ever again being received into Venice should be even listened to, THE POWEEFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 163 unless five-sixths out of the number of 180 senators were favourable to the consideration thereof ; and, besides, every person in the Venetian State, of any condition or sex whatever, was strictly prohibited from holding communication with the sons of Loyola, under the heavy penalty of fine, imprisonment, or condemnation to the galleys. This decree, too, remained in force in spite of the Pope himself making an offer to revoke the interdict which he had issued, on condition that the Jesuits should be again received a proviso which the Senate peremptorily rejected. So, at last, Paul, being left in the lurch, saw himself compelled by France, the ally of Venice, and by the King of Spain, the friend of the Jesuits, to conclude peace with the Senate, being under the necessity thereby of sacrificing the sons of Loyola. The latter now set about matters in another way, begging the Senate to revoke the decree of banish- ment of 1612, and secretly offering for this favour the enormous sum of 500,000 ducats, but the nobility of Venice conducted itself on this occasion in a truly worthy manner, and refused with disdain the attempted bribery. Precisely the same fate that they had met with in the Venetian State, they had previously experienced in Veltlin, a portion of Graubiinden. There, in the year 1560, they brought it about that a very wealthy and esteemed old man, but at the same time weak-minded and almost childish with the burden of years, of the name of Anton Quadrius, who lived at Ponte, the capital of the country, bequeathed his whole property to them, in order to found a college therewith. His rightful heirs, how- ever, made a complaint forthwith to the head-man of the country, who issued orders that the Black Cloaks should at once not only leave Ponte, but also quit the whole territory. The Jesuits now addressed themselves to the Diet of Graubiinden (Grisons), which in the year 1561 usually assembled at the town of Chur, and brought the matter to such a point that the all-powerful Sovereign of Catholic Christendom exerted himself in their favour. The Grisonites, as free Republicans, paid, however, but little attention to the advice of crowned heads, and immediately after a full trial passed a resolution unanimously, in a public sitting, that the Jesuits, " as enemies of the Gospel, who were more qualified to corrupt youth than to educate them," should at once evacuate for ever the territory of the Grisons. 11 * 164 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. In precisely the same manner the Wallisers, the neighbours of the Grisons, fifty years later, in the year 1610, declared them- selves, and consequently defeated the attempts of the Jesuits to penetrate into Veltlin through Wallis. The latter became all the more enraged against the man through whose eloquence these results had been mainly brought about, namely Bartholma Alett, who, in the year following, died with evident symptoms of poisoning, and the general belief was that the poison had been administered to him through the agency of a Loyolite in disguise. The Jesuits pursued quite another course in Savoy from that adopted by them in the other above-mentioned parts of Italy. There were here, in the middle of the 16th century, not a few Protestants who had come from other countries, where they had been persecuted on account of their faith, while they hoped that in the depths of these quiet Alpine valleys, quite cut off, so to speak, from the rest of the world, they might be able to live undisturbed and unmolested. To these attached them- selves that remnant of the Waldenses who had their home here and in the neighbouring country of Piedmont during the last two centuries, and who, almost Protestant already, now entirely recognised the Reformed Church. This, however, was of course anything but agreeable to the taste of the Catholic priesthood, and the Duke at that time, Philibert Emanuel, proceeded to oppose by force in the severest manner this remnant of heresy in his hitherto thoroughly Catholic country. The Dominican monk Thomas Giacomello, more especially, proceeded against them in a very brutal way, and did not rest satisfied until a frightful example had been made of them, a number of the Reformers being burnt alive or sent to work in the galleys. The Protestants, however, being in so large a majority, threatened to take up arms in their defence against the Duke, who, then yielding, addressed himself to Pope Pius IV., asking the ques- tion whether all this contention might not best be settled by a religious conference. The Pope's answer to this was No ! Nothing had been hitherto gained in such matters by religious disputations. No ! A religious conference must not by any means take place, but he would send some theologians in order to instruct the ignorant in the true faith. " Moreover," added he, in concluding his written communication, " no instance THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 165 as known where such a matter has been arranged by clemency ; but experience teaches that the best means of conversion lay in the hands of justice, and when this failed, from being too weak, there remained military coercion." Who, then, were those theologians whom Pius IV. directed should be sent to Savoy ? Oh ! he himself, indeed, sent none ; but he charged the General of the Jesuits, Laynez, with the carrying out of the matter, and the latter caused Father Anton Possevin, a man who afterwards became so notorious, to proceed to the Ducal Court on this mission, in order to negotiate with Philibert Emanuel regarding the -establishment of some Jesuit colleges. This, however, was only one part of his task. The other and much more impor- tant duty consisted in this that the ruler of Savoy should -be induced to make, once for all, a complete end of the affair by the extirpation of the heretics now and for ever. Possevin soon found that the Duke, who from his long experience in the field as a General of Charles V. and Philip II. had become very domineering, being particularly distinguished, also, as a tolerably wild prince, did precisely all that the Jesuit desired of him, .although not being himself conscious of it. Above everything the latter brought it about that Philibert Emanuel, through his influence, permitted the erection of two colleges. Possevin looked upon this as indispensably necessary, in order thereby to be enabled to call into the country a proper number of his associates; and to the Duke's objection that the State was too poor to admit of the possibility of the establishment of Jesuit -institutions, his reply was that the Society would be satisfied with whatever could be obtained from the lands confiscated irom the heretics. Now, however, when the Jesuit Fathers came to be fairly established in Savoy, they commenced setting about in earnest the fulfilment of their promise respecting the conver- sion of the refractory subjects; and it was indeed a curious description of conversion which they employed. Father Possevin and his associates travelled about all over the country attired in ordinary plain clothes, and penetrated especially into all the out-lying mountains and valleys in which all the reformed com- munities had taken shelter. On discovering such persons, did they now take care to let it be known who they themselves were, .and set about an attempt at conversion by preaching the Roman 166 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Catholic faith ? No, indeed ; on the contrary, they hastened; back to their head-quarters in order to bring to their aid several thousand soldiers ; and when they now returned along with them into the lonely mountain valleys, then, indeed, was it most imperative for God to have mercy upon the poor reformed people ! But how was it that they obtained the soldiers ? In the simplest way in the world, as has been previously mentioned, inasmuch as the Duke had been convinced, by the eloquence of Possevin, that a Catholic Prince would tarnish his honour if he tolerated any longer a miserable herd of heretics in his country ; and as the only really efficacious mode of conversion lay in the employment of coercion, it was easily to be understood that a large number of troops would be required to give support to the exertions of the Jesuits. Philibert Emanuel was also all the more disposed to this course, as the Pope made him a grant of a. considerable sum of money to meet the expenses attendant on the entertainment of this small faithful army; and, moreover, was not a prince of his character to consider himself fully justified in. punishing as rebels and disturbers of the peace, subjects who did not accede to his wishes, that they should openly recognise that faith which was held by the ruler of the country ? Suffice it to say, then, that the heretics were, as a matter of course, defeated by the soldiers under the guidance of the Jesuits, and that there now followed a time of misery and woe for Savoy, the details of which the pen, indeed, is reluctant to describe. In this manner, for instance, Possevin, at the head of two thousand men, fell upon the village of St. Germain, and put to the sword all the male inhabitants, although these had not taken up arms ; but the two reformed clergymen who were found there were burnt by means of a slow fire, the wood necessary for which the women and girls were constrained to bring at the point of the sword. A precisely similar fate befell many dozens of reformed communities, and all over the country, even in remote farms, the sword prevailed furiously, and the funeral piles glowed. At last, when they saw that nothing else than their extermination, was intended, the Reformers rose all through the land, and, courageously taking up arms, offered a brave resistance to the faithful army of soldiers. Here and there occurred sieges in a small way, for it was easy for them to entrench themselves in their mountain fastnesses, and the Savoyan troops were at. THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 1G7 times exhausted in storming them. Possevin, being now furious at the thought that the victory, of which he had believed himself to be certain, should thus be wrested out of his hands, had resort to cunning and deceit, offering to the heretics, in the Duke's name, the free exercise of their religion on condition that they should lay down their arms and pay a sum of 16,000 gold dollars by way of conciliation. The Reformers accepted these terms, and signed the treaty proposed to them ; but as soon as the money was paid and the arms laid down, the poor deluded people found themselves laughed to scorn in their faces, and the Jesuits now began afresh their blood-thirsty mode of conversion. Anew did they now penetrate into the mountain valleys at the head of a rough band of soldiery, ravagiag them with lance and sword, and once again were the heretical clergy, as well as the wealthy and respectable among these wretched people, consigned to the stake. This despicable con- duct, accompanied as it was with the most frightful oppression, awakened such fury and rage among the people, that, rushing again to arms, they obtained such a decisive victory over the Ducal army in May 1561, as to constrain Philibert Emanuel to think of making peace. His finances, too, were now exhausted, as his army had been on foot for two years, at a great cost of money ; and as the Pope had long ceased to send him any con- tributions, after the destruction of his army, what means had he at his disposal to provide himself with another ? Moreover, had it not, for a long time, appeared clear to him that when he made war upon the heretics in his country, he was only slaying his own subjects, and while he was enriching the Jesuits by bestow- ing the confiscated estates upon them, he was impoverishing his own states ? Oh, no ; enough blood had now been spilt, and sufficient misery had been spread broadcast ; Philibert Emanuel, therefore, at once discarded Father Possevin and his asso- ciates, and on the 5th of June 1561 concluded an agree- ment with his Protestant subjects, wherein he again promised them the free exercise of their religion, with the partial restora- tion of their confiscated property, whilst they, on the other hand, engaged to tolerate the Roman Catholic religion in all their communities, under condition that they themselves should never again have the acceptance of that religion forced upon them. Prom this time forth the country again enjoyed the blessings of 168 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. peace, and the inhabitants lived in concord with one another ; but this state of matters only lasted for a hundred years, until the time of Louis XIV., as we shall afterwards see, when the Jesuits again obtained the upper hand, and a period of misery once more returned. II. THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS IN PORTUGAL. It has been already described in the foregoing books how that King John III. applied to Ignatius Loyola for some members of the Society of Jesus, with the view of sending them to India as missionaries for the conversion of the heathen ; and, further, bow that Ignatius despatched to him at Lisbon Francis Xavier and Simon Rodriguez, with this object ; and, lastly, how that John III., being so favourably inclined towards the latter, retained him at his Court, and constituted him his Father Confessor, con- fidential friend, and adviser. This said Simon Rodriguez now laid the foundation of the truly extraordinary power which the Jesuits came to exercise in Portugal and its colonies, during a period of nearly 200 years, as he contrived to make such great use of the almost imbecile king, who had scarcely any will of his own, that, after the space of only ten years, the Order already pos- sessed most beautiful colleges in Coimbra, Evova, Lisbon, and Braga, as well as several seminaries and educational institu- tions in other towns. Not only was this the case, but of these latter seminaries several in Coimbra and Evova were raised to the dignity of being made High Schools, and, consequently, the Jesuits soon completely commanded all the science, faith, and customs of Portugal. The Jesuit General in Rome, indeed, as soon as he saw that the ground in Portugal was so easily workable for his objects, despatched from Italy and France as many members of the Society as he could spare, to the assistance of Rodriguez ; he then contrived to enrol in its ranks a great body of proselytes, and with such rapidity and success that, for instance, tbfi college of Coimbra, which we have above mentioned, could already number as many as sixty members of the Order. In like proportion, also, their affairs prospered in other respects, and the richest and most noble of the land vied with each other how to bestow their riches among these institutions. But how could this well be otherwise, seeing that, following the THE POWEHFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS.- 169 example of the King, all the great men of the country had taken Jesuits as their Father Confessors ? Father Michael de Torres .acted in this capacity to Queen Catherine, while Father Leon Henriquez stood in the same relationship to the Cardinal Infant Don Henri; again, to Father Simon Kodriguez, being himself the Father Confessor of the Ruler, was entrusted the conscience of the Duke of Aveiro, first minister of the kingdom, as well as that of Count Castanheira, and several others of the nohility. In short, under John III. the Jesuits became almost all-powerful at Court, as Rodriguez was so much the right hand and bosom friend of ^the monarch that the latter transacted hardly any Government affairs without first consulting with his Father Confessor. " Yes," so Telles writes in his Chronicles of the Jesuits, " as Rodriguez was on one occasion lying sick at Almeiren, the King in person, accompanied by the Prince and high Court officials, .actually proceeded thither in order to pay a visit to the sick man, and the monarch, in this, seemed to forget his Royal .dignity merely to show his friendship for the Father/' The natural consequence of all this was, as it had hitherto generally proved to be the case, that the extraordinary consider- ation in which the Fathers were now held, as well as the bound- less treasures lavished upon them by the King, made them so ;proud, presumptuous, indolent, and luxurious, that soon a .general feeling of discontent sprang up on this account among ,the people. This, too, was not a silent disgust, for the in- habitants of Lisbon caused their complaints to reach the Throne, and they loudly accused the Government of wasting the means of the State unworthily and on undeserving objects. Still, what did that matter ? Simon Rodriguez had the weak monarch too much in his power that their complaints should be listened to ; ;and at last it came to this, that the petitioners were put into prison, or banished from the kingdom. Thus did the Father Confessor carry on up to the year 1551, and, as one may, indeed, easily suppose, with an ever-increasing audacity. It now, however, reached the ears of Ignatius in Rome precisely how matters stood, and it became sufficiently apparent to him that the extraordinary hatred with which the Portuguese people regarded the Society must produce the worst results ; he, there- fore, came to the firm determination of grappling with the diffi- culty, at once, and with a strong hand. The college of Coimbra 170 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. being, as it was, greatly to his mind, it deeply distressed him to find that, according to all reports, the same had become quite ruined and degraded, being more like a school for scandal than edification, and that instead of being devoted to study and educa- tion everything therein tended to foster laziness, debauchery, intrigue, and gossiping. Loyola, therefore, on the strength of his unlimited power as General of the Order, suddenly despatched Father Emanuel Godin to Coimbra, with the object of again bringing the college into some degree of order, recalling Father Rodriguez to Rome, and replacing him, as newly-nominated Rector, by the modest Jacob Miron, the former being, in his opinion, unworthy of acting in the capacity of Father Confessor to a King. John III. was at first very indignant at this violent measure of Loyola's, and, indeed, threatened, in consequence, to send all the Jesuits back again to Italy ; but, intellectually weak youngster as he was, he soon cooled down again, and after the lapse of about a month the new Father Confessor had him as much in his power as had previously been the case. Thus it was that in Lisbon, or, if one prefers to say, at the Court, all things reverted again to their former condition, only with this difference, that instead of the overbearing and hated Rodriguez, the quiet and mild Miron held sway. In Coimbra, on the con- trary, things did not go on so well, notwithstanding that Father Godin put down, with much strictness, the external scandalous condition of the college. The inhabitants of the town had, indeed, far too long observed the dissolute manner of life and conduct of the Jesuits, and were too full of contempt at their immorality to have any belief in any such sudden change in their demeanour. They felt inclined, rather, to look upon all this as nothing else than pure dissimulation, and the people, for the most part, contented themselves with casting ridicule upon the Long Cloaks, by greeting them openly with satirical songs. It followed, therefore, that if the old consideration for them was to be established, some great and striking effect must be produced, by bringing on the scene some kind of heart-stirring theatrical thunderbolt; and this coup was actually carried out. One fine morning, at some quite unusual hour, all the bells of the Jesuit church pealed forth in the most solemn manner, and a moment afterwards the chief door of the church was thrown open to exhibit the most extraordinary procession that ever was. THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 171 witnessed. First of all, there advanced a true Goliath, bearing a gigantic representation of the crucified Christ; then, after him, came Father Godin, not attired, however, in his usual dress, hut naked as far as the waist, and armed with a weighty scourge ; behind him followed the whole of the novices in a similar attire, and then came the lay brethren, also, of course like those pre- ceding; the close of the procession was brought up by the teachers and coadjutors; and all, as they slowly proceeded onwards with downcast looks, sang a penitential psalm in a monotonous tone, which sounded extraordinarily mournful and melancholy. At every cross road and open place they made a halt, singing in the most doleful manner as hitherto, and causing, in addition to this, the scourges to hiss through the air, while they punished themselves with them in the most unmerciful way. The blood then soon began to flow from their naked shoulders, and the people, who streamed i n crowds in order to witness this extraordinary scene, were naturally much affected. The Jesuits, however, with their pupils, cried aloud, while imploringly wringing their hands, " Ye men of Coimbra, forgive us, for Christ's sake, the scandal which our Society has brought upon us ! " In this manner did the procession move further and further, until it reached the Church of Charity, when Father Godin ascended the pulpit and delivered a discourse of such extraordinary contrition that all the audience, which was so numerous that the church was as full as it could be, fell upon their knees and, with tears in their eyes, shrieked out aloud, " Charity, Charity, Charity ! " What, then,, was the effect of all this marvellous play ? Naturally, of course, no other than this, that the people of Coimbra again received the Jesuits into favour ; but to the educated and enlightened among them the whole affair appeared nothing else than a theatrical display; still, the mob entertained a different opinion, and especially the women, looking upon the penitents as in some degree holy. When now, in the year 1557, King John died, he left behind him a widow, the Queen Catherine, sister of the Emperor Charles V.,as well as a grandson of three years of age, Sebastian, son of the deceased Infant John, the successor to the throne, and a second son, the Cardinal Henri. Queen Catherine became guardian of the young Sebastian, and at the same time Regent of Portugal. She did not, however, reign alone, being in the 172 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. hands of the Father Confessor Michael de Torres, and Leon Henriquez, Father Confessor of Cardinal Henri. These two .gave to the heir to the throne, with his brother, their sagacious companion, Louis Gonsalva de Camara, as Court Chamberlain and tutor. Now commenced the worst days for Portugal, as from this time forth the Jesuits completely ruled the country, as uncontrolled as if they had been the rightful possessors thereof. The Queen certainly, on one occasion, ventured to assert her authority, and in her excitement she actually wrote to Borgia, the then General of the Order, bitterly complaining of Father Gonsalva and his mode of education : " He imparts to his pupil, the future King, wild and volup- tuous habits," said she in this epistle, among other things, " and teaches him to despise and maltreat his grandmother. Especially he does not educate him as a future ruler ought properly to be instructed ; but he brings him up to be an instrument in his Father Confessor's hands, without any will of his own, and fills his head with phantastical images, by which the development of his understanding will be totally prevented." What, now, was the effect of this letter ? The removal, per- haps, of Gonsalva ? Oh, nothing of the kind, but, on the contrary, the removal of the Queen Regent. The Jesuits and their creatures, among whom was the Minister and other high officials about the Court, from this time forth spited the poor lady in every way in which they possibly could do so, affirming that the government of a woman was not at all suitable for such a state as Portugal ; and they carried, indeed, this kind of thing so far as to render her existence miserable for her. On that account, and in order that she might obtain peace and quiet, the poor woman, at length, in the year 1562, gave up her guardianship and government, and handed it over, before the assembled Parliament, into the bands of the Cardinal Infant Don Henri. He, however, being satisfied with the honour of being called Regent, just allowed the pious Fathers to do as they liked ; and if he at any time felt inclined to take the initiative, and to act for himself, he was the very next moment pounced upon and brought under the influence and dominion of his Father -Confessor. The Jesuitical power rose still higher, if it were possible for .it to do so, when, in 1568, the young Sebastian, now in his THE POWEKFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 173' fourteenth year, was declared to be of age (as the understand- ings of kings are believed to be in advance of their years, at a period when other people's children are still engaged at school). The young man, as may easily be imagined, being brought up by the Jesuits, was not capable of thinking otherwise than what he had been taught to think by the pious Fathers. Day by day Gonsalva de Camara instilled into him that the first duty of a Christian King was to do everything to further the spread of the- Roman Catholic religion, as God had set him on the throne for this object alone; and while Sebastian was naturally of a fiery and vehement disposition, thirsting after glory, it was an easy matter, consequently, to make him take up the idea that he had been specially called upon to effect some great and extraordinary, as well as unprecedented, undertaking for the Catholic faith. Gonsalva, indeed, gave himself no rest until he had aroused the piety of his pupil to a high degree of fanaticism, and his heroic spirit to the adventuresomeness of a crusader. The Father Confessor did not, at the same time, neglect to take the pre- caution to keep at a distance from the King everyone who might be able to operate upon him in a contrary direction, and, from the period of Sebastian's accession to the throne, all important places about the Court, and connected with the Government, were filled with creatures of the Jesuits. In this way, the young ruler was kept in ignorance as regards the riches and power of the State which he governed ; he was quite unaware of the fact that, since the entrance of the Jesuits into Portugal, all advance- ment made by the nation, either in science, commerce, or in- dustry, had been backwards, like that of a crab, or, at least, that it threatened to fall into a condition of stagnation; he was ignorant of the daily increase in the number of malcontents, and of the fact that this highly-esteemed people entertained the idea of completely depriving him of all honour and consideration ; and least of all did he know anything as to the Jesuits being entirely to blame for all the misery into which the country, from their bad management, had fallen ; and he could not possibly learn this, as anyone who might make the most remote attempt ta enlighten the King knew well that he must render expiation severely, both in soul and body, for so doing. Nor would the Jesuits, indeed, allow him to enter into the marriage state, although the interests of the nation demanded this of him, seeing 174 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. that on the decease of his uncle Henri the male line of his honse would expire. No, this must not be, by any means ; for a young and beautiful Queen might have sufficient influence over him to burst the bonds of slavery in which he was held by the Fathers.* One sees, then, with what system the Jesuits acted in Portugal, in order that the weapon of power should never be wrested out of their hands. At last, Gonsalva de Camara, the all-powerful Father Confessor of Sebastian, died, and not a few now believed that this circumstance might possibly give rise to a change in the system of government ; but they were entirely mistaken. The Ring at first felt deeply distressed, and, in reply to all repre- sentations, met them only with these words, " What would you require of me ? I have never known another father, and never had another mother, than Father Gonsalva." By degrees, how- ever, his distress became blunted by means of the consoling administrations of another Jesuit, Father Gaspar Muricio, who soon obtained the head and mind of the King fully as much in his power as it ever was in that of Gonsalva. Shortly after this, in the year 1577, war broke out between Spain and the Mohamedan Empire of Morocco opposite to it, in which Mulei -Moloch, and his nephew, Mulei-Mehemed, who had both a claim to the throne, were opposed to each other. Mulei- Mehemed was vanquished, and fled to Lisbon to solicit the pro- tection of Sebastian ; but the new Father Confessor now taught him that, in this circumstance, lay a manifestation of God's will, tending to the transplantation of the gospel into the soil of Africa. " The Moors," said the Confessor, once came over from Africa and turned the whole of the Spanish peninsula into a Mahomedan empire ; the hour of retribution has now arrived, and it was he, Don Sebastian, that was the fortunate person whom the Lord Jesus had selected to eradicate the Moors entirely from the face of the earth." These words inflamed the fiery heart of the King, and he at once determined upon waging * The whole of the Royal Family, the Privy Council, the great ones of the kingdom, and all its subjects, urged that the King should con- ' tract a marriage, in order that an heir to the throne might be secured ; indeed, the Princess Margaret of France, sister of Charles IX., was selected. But the Jesuits moved heaven and earth to prevent such a thing ; and they succeeded although, indeed, by sly calumniation. In a precisely similar manner they contrived to cause a proposed union with an Austrian princess to fail, as they wished that the heart of their slave should < remain, undivided. THE POWEKFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 175 \var upon Mulei-Moloch. This, indeed, was the moment for the Jesuits inwardly to rejoice, as now, when the monarch took his departure for a foreign country, they might have the opportunity of carrying out their own arrangements and operations all the more unimpeded; for while he was taken up with the idea of this crusade, he would have no time to think about the melancholy condition of his own kingdom. It may be quite certain, too, that they had good grounds for encouraging the resolution that the monarch had formed, seeing that they allowed their thoughts to go further, calling to mind the mortality of human life. Should, for instance, during the campaign, an enemy's arrow deprive him of existence, the old original royal family of Portugal would have died out with him, and the succession would open up to Phillip II. of Spain, the great patron and supporter of the Society of Jesus ; in this way, another corner-stone would be added to the establishment of a universal Spanish monarchy, which would bring about all the more surely the gigantic aim of the Society the mastery over the whole world. Let that, how- ever, be as it may, Sebastian, through the constant instigations of the Jesuits, remained firmly resolved to make an end of Mahomedanism in North Africa, and, in the spring of ^1578, commenced to collect together an army with this object. There existed great difficulties connected with his finances, which, thanks to the blundering proceedings of the Society of Jesus, were at that time completely exhausted, and it could only be through the severest extortion, which would have the effect of entirely destroying the well-being of his kingdom, that he would be enabled to raise the amount necessary for the purpose. In regard to this, the greatest men of the country now offered the most strenuous representations, in order to divert him from such a foolish enterprise, which must of necessity end in failure; the King of Spain, also, whom he had begged to share with him in the glory of the undertaking, had sent him a decided reply in the negative. All this was to no purpose, as he had got into his head the idea of becoming a victorious hero of the Faith, and consequently a small army of about 15,000 men was brought together about June of the above-named year. Fully a good third of the same consisted of foreign recruits, among whom, most marvellously, were a number of German heretics ; of the remaining two-thirds, however, consisting of indigenous 176 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. inhabitants, the most of them were obtained by compulsion, and it was only the nobles who rendered voluntary service ; so, there- fore, there could be no question of a regularly well-trained 1 army fit to enter upon war. Taking this circumstance into con- sideration, and the small number of combatants, a disastrous result might easily be predicted. On the 24th of June 1578, the troops embarked in thousands, for the most part in small craft. The departure, however, was no happy one ; all went into the ships in silence, and the eyes of the spectators were filled with tears. The landing took place at Arzilla, and thence the army advanced as far as Alcazar without meeting with the least resistance. In the meantime, Mulei-Moloch had brought to- gether a large army of a hundred thousand men, and now, on the 3rd of August, he was only separated from the Portuguese by a river. It was, no doubt, an advantage for him, too, that he was posted on the heights, while, moreover, there prevailed 5 in the camp of Sebastian much want of provisions. Those who were most experienced in war counselled the latter to retreat to Arzilla, and even Mulei-Mehemed, the Morocco pretender, declared himself favourable to this course ; for, in the worst case, they would then be able to secure their safety in the fleet. The foolishly adventurous Sebastian, however, in spite of everything, resolved upon making an attack ; and now, on the 4th of August, took plane that most unfortunate battle the disastrous result of which brought Portugal to the very brink of ruin. In a short space of time the small Christian army became completely surrounded by large hordes of Moorish cavalry, and, in con- sequence of bad war-organisation, all order among the ranks was entirely at an end. Each one fought, as it might be said, " on his own hook/' and although some struggled valorously, an inglorious death awaited them in the general confusion. The right wing, to which Don Sebastian had attached himself, held out the longest, and it was really marvellous to behold such strength and courage. But at length, here also, the enemy obtained the upper hand, and death gained a rich harvest. With rash temerity the Christian monarch held out, in the midst of a large troop of Moorish cavalry, until at length he succumbed, pierced by a hundred lances. How it precisely ended, however,, was never exactly known, as there was no witness of his death among his own people, and his corpse was not to be found on THE POWEEFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 177 the field of battle. The fact only remained that he had for ever disappeared, and, besides himself, as certainly the whole army lay on the field of battle, with the exception of a few hundreds who were taken prisoners. Thus, in one single battle, was annihilated all the bloom of the Portuguese youth, and more especially of the Portuguese nobility, and there was scarcely a single family in the whole country which was not thrown into the deepest mourning. The greatest grief, however, that sprang out of this sad disaster was that the crown of Portugal must now fall into foreign hands, and the nation incur the danger of losing its nationality. The only remaining scion of the old royal house was the aged Cardinal Don Henri, who at once ascended the throne ; but in his case, even had the Pope given him a dispensation to marry, no heirs could be expected, and, therefore, after his accession, there arose several pretenders to the throne. Among these, there first of all appeared Donna Catherina, of Braganza, along with her spouse, John ; then came Philibert, Duke of Savoy ; thirdly, there was Rainuzius, Prince of Parma ; fourthly, Catherine de Medicis, Queen of France; lastly, Philip II., King of Spain, and all of these five proved from their genealogical tree that they were more or less related to the royal house. But this, too, was not by any mean& sufficient, for all of them seemed bent upon gaining their object, each one of them assailing the venerable Don Henri in order to secure the succession to the throne. The one who had manifestly the nearest title was Catherina of Bra- ganza, as she was lineally descended from Alfonso I., the founder of the House of Braganza, who claimed as his father the celebrated King John I., and who was also acknowledged by the latter as his son, although not a legitimate one. There could not, also, be the slightest doubt that the Portuguese people, not the lower classes and country folk alone, but also- the nobility and regular clergy as well, had no desire that their future ruler should be any foreign pretender. It was, moreover, held to be quite clear to everyone that the house of Braganza, which belonged to the country, was alone entitled to the throne, and Don Henri himself, it was well seen, was also inclined to take this view of the matter. The Jesuits, how- ever, held an entirely different opinion. They had the con- viction that the uncontrollable stream of the Reformation, or 12 178 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. heresy, as they termed it, along with its detestahle innovations, could have no more lasting and invincible check put upon it than when the already powerful Philip II. of Spain, grandson of the Hapshurger Philip I., who had obtained the throne of Spain by marriage with Johanna of Castile and Aragon, should become sole ruler over the whole of Christendom ; they desired, in other words, that one universal monarchy should he founded, the chiefs of which should be the kings of Spain and their cousins the rulers of the Austrian possessions. So, on that account, they left no stone unturned in order to create this universal monarchy ; always, however, with this proviso, " that those kings and rulers should allow themselves to be guided by them (the Jesuits), and that, consequently, the supreme direction of this monarchy of the world should fall into no other hands than their own." Such was the main thought by which they were influenced, and, resting upon this idea, they most naturally devoted their whole energies to bring it about that Philip II. should be successor to Don Henri on the Portuguese throne, seeing that the annexation of Portugal was still a step onward toward the realisation of the design of this universal Spanish monarchy. What a lucky circumstance, then, was it that Don Henri happened to be entirely in the hands of his Father Confessor, Leon Henriquez, and what a further piece of good fortune was it that this Father Confessor happened to he among the most cunning and sagacious of his Order ! How easily, then, was the reigning monarch, imbecile from old age, persuaded that the gates of heaven should be closed against him for ever were he to declare any other than the good Catholic Philip II. to be successor to the Portuguese crown ! He was also further in- fluenced so far as to prohibit John of Braganza, with his spouse Catherina, and their cousin Don Anton of Braganza, from appearing at Court, hoping by this maans to take away from them, in the eyes of the people, all rightful expectancy of succession to the throne. Leon Henriquez, as it may he imagined, was not the only one connected with this intrigue ; he was, besides, excellently supported by his numerous other fellow-brethren, ana more especially by the extremely influential Father, George Serraon, the Provincial of the Order in Portugal, as well AS by the two Fathers, Rodrigo Basquez and Ludovico of Molino, two most thoroughly experienced Jesuits, who had THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 179 been sent expressly to Lisbon by Philip II. to look after his interests. King Don Henri died on the 31st of January 1580, being the last of his House. During the year and a half of his govern- ment he was completely under the uncontrolled power of the Society of Jesus, and now the question came to be considered -who should be the heir to the throne; but scarcely was the breath out of Don Henri's body when Philip II. sent the blood- thirsty Duke of Alba to Portugal, at the head of a numerous army, in order, with weapons in his hand, to prove the legiti- macy of his claim to the throne. The nobility, together with nearly all the regular clergy, now raised their voices in favour of the House of Braganza, and the people cried loudly against this forcible usurpation, vehemently cursing all the Jesuits. But still, what did that matter ? What did it signify that here and there the Spanish arms were also opposed by arms ? The only result was that the refractory towns were pillaged, and that the whole of the country was handed over to the brutality and cruelty of the Spanish soldiery, upwards of two thousand of the native priesthood and monkish orders being ruthlessly massacred.* This was the way in which Philip II. pacified the country, and on the llth of September 1580 he had the satisfaction of being able to put himself upon the throne of Portugal without experiencing further resistance. Portugal now remained, during eighty years, subject to the Spanish crown, and was treated precisely like a conquered province, the result being that the country fell more and more every year into decay, and one may well imagine the despair into which the Portuguese, in their misery, were thrown. When, however, the whole of this formerly * " One could not," writes the good Catholic, Louis de Menezes, " once speak of the new Government and escape unpunished ; but whoever was not of assistance to the king (Philip II.) when he usurped the kingdom, had to expiate this want of service with his life, and even the priesthood was not hy any means excepted." On the other hand, whoever made it appear that he viewed tyranny with disfavour, and even when there was a mere suspicion attaching to him in this respect, he was secretly and unexpectedly seized upon and thrown into the sea. Therefore, the fishermen began to catch the dead bodies of those unfortunates in their nets in place of fish ; and thus it was that such enormous misdeeds, by the destiny of Providence, were not allowed to remain in darkness. Precisely the same things were reported also by the Frenchman Mezeray, and the Spaniard Emanuel Rodriguez Leitaon, as also by the thoroughly trustworthy Thuan, the latter of whom still added that Philip, later on, demanded and obtained dispensa- tion from Pope Gregory XIII., inasmuch as during his usurpation of Portugal, he had allowed over 2,000 ecclesiastics to be executed. 12 * 180 HISTOBY OF THE JESUITS. well-to-do population had now been brought to ruin through the indolent and incapable government of the Spaniards, as well still more by their avarice and cruelty, the ship of the Jesuits seemed to swim all the more merrily on that account, and all the more did Philip II. (1556-98), as well as his successor Philip III. (1598-1 C21), continue to shower down favours upon them. It may, indeed, be affirmed that it fared equally and powerfully as well under these two rulers and their governors as it had under the preceding Portuguese kings ; and how immensely great this power must have been may best be seen from a memorandum of the Procurator- General Royal, Don Seabra da Sylva, who, under Joseph I., had to examine the acts of the Jesuits. To wit, on the occasion of a trial which hnd been instituted in the year 1617, before the Crown Law Court in Lisbon, in which the Jesuits appeared as the party ac- cused, the aforesaid Procurator- General entered the following remarks concerning them : " It had gone so far as this, that no one dare venture to proceed against the Jesuits in an allowable way, without being thrown into the sea, assassinated, or, indeed, punished as an enemy of the King and the Government, and, this being the case, they had indeed usurped the sole lord- ship over the whole of Portugal." Such a statement as this appears to me to be sufficiently plain, and I have, therefore, nothing more to add to it. Somewhat differently did things proceed under King Philip IV. (1621-65), as, during the reign of this equally weak as extravagant ruler, the power of Spain sank so low that the Jesuits became clearly aware how impossible it was to found the projected universal monarchy by means of this line of rulers ; and the consequence was that the great lead which they had hitherto taken in Spain began to cool down considerably. And still more despondent did they become when they observed, to their great annoyance, according to the words of an historian of these times, " that the sun of royal favour had not infrequently become obscured to the good Fathers, in order that it might be allowed to shed its delightful rays upon the holy Dominicus and his children ;" and, as they were not wont to put up patiently with the slightest affront or neglect, they at once contemplated revenge. This, truly, was not of such a nature that the enemy would be met with open mask, but, rather, in a secret and disguised manner, the authorship of THE POWEBFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 181 which might be publicly denied, as there was far too much at stake to enable them boldly to oppose Philip IV. before all the world. In what, then, did this revenge, consist? Simply an this, that they attacked the despotism of the Spaniards in anonymous publications of the most violent character, and at the same time in the confessional, assuring the Portuguese that King Philip IV. had no right to the crown of Portugal, but that it belonged properly to the House of Braganza. By means of such and similar machinations they succeeded in attaining two objects at the same time ; for, in the first place, while at the *ourt of Madrid they loudly professed that everything was done on their part in order that the people in Portugal should be brought into submissiveness to Spain, they secretly fanned 'into constantly increasing flames the smouldering ashes of the fire of hatred which the Portuguese entertained towards the Spaniards'; and then, secondly, the Portuguese people were led to begin to put in play the treachery which had been practised toy the fraternity in former times in favour of Philip II. On the 1st December 1640, the conspiracy, arranged with much adroit- ness, and carried out with equal skill by the Portuguese grandees, broke out, which was to put on the Portuguese throne John, Duke of Braganza, a direct descendant of the frequently above- mentioned Donna Catherina of Braganza, under the title of John IV. ;* so it happened that the Jesuit Father, Gaspar Correa, was the first to greet him as King. John IV. was con- sequently bound to remember what a leading part the Jesuits had taken in this revolution, and the weak and timid monarch bore this in mind but too well, for he at once dismissed the regular priest, Barthelemy de Quental, who had up to this time been his Father Confessor, and nominated in his place the Jesuit Father Anton de Bieira, who had exercised great influence over -the inhabitants of Lisbon by his fanatical preaching. As soon, rhowever, as Bieira had become Koyal Father Confessor, he .discontinued preaching, and made himself indispensable to his master as political counsellor. First of all, he busied himself in ^procuring the removal of the State Minister, Fraz Lucena, an enemy of the Order, and had no scruple, by means of the blackest calumnies, in committing to the scaffold this honest man. * The details of this, as well as of the subsequent war with Spain, may ibe read, if desired, in any general history of the world. 182 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. He next contrived to carry things so far that the monarch entrusted to him for supervision all the resolutions of the Privy Council, and, consequently, although Bieira had not the title of Premier, still the Ministry was in fact subject to his criticism and authority. Lastly, the confidence of John IV. increased in him to such an extent that he was despatched with ambassadorial messages to several of the Courts of Europe, and the cunning Jesuit acted at the same time as Royal Plenipotentiary. The Society of Jesus was in reality, then, more than ever the actual ruler of Portugal, and consequently, in order that this should continue to be the case, the education of the royal princes was entrusted to the two Fathers, Cossmander and Andre Fernandez. These persons naturally, devoted themselves with much zeal to their task, and while they rather neglected the two younger children, the second and third born sons, viz. Don Alfonso and Don Pedro, they succeeded, on the other hand, in bringing up the Crown Prince, Tbeodosius, in the right way, that is to say, in making him a friend of the Jesuits of the purest water. The Jesuit Father Franco thus wrote, in the annals of the Order which he published, concerning this matter: " No son can cling more closely to his mother than Don Theodosius to his tutor Fernandez, and this prince entertained such a predilection for our Order that the coat alone was wanting to make him one of ourselves." In all other respects, the Crown Prince remained in profound ignorance, with the exception of astrology and mystic- ism ; and had he ever lived to attain the throne, he would have been truly a most peculiar monarch. What was, now, the object of all this ? The great aim was that the Society of Jesus might retain their rule over Portugal, irrespective, be it well under- stood, of the welfare of the country and its inhabitants. In the year 1656 John IV. departed this life, and immediately thereafter died also the Crown Prince Theodosius, so that the neglected Alfonso came now to the throne ; being, however, under age, the widowed Queen, Donna Louisa, a born Guzman of Medina Sidonia, undertook his guardianship, as well as the government, and certainly, under this regency, the Jesuit Fathers had also no reason to complain. Female monarchy was, as history testifies, always favourable to the priesthood, and the rule of Donna Louisa proved to be fully so. She previously had lor Father Confessor a Capuchin monk ; as, however, the above- THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 183 mentioned Anton de Bieira had already, during the lifetime of her husband, called the Jesuit Father Johann Nunnez to the Court, she would not hear any more of any other ecclesiastic, but confided the welfare of her soul to the latter only. Ah ! he indeed, was a real saint. He lacerated himself so cruelly, in the sight of all the Court ladies, that the blood ran in streams from his bare back ; and, besides this, who could pray so earnestly with his confessants as Nuunez ? The new Father Confessor thus soon became all-powerful, and things were carried so far under his rule and governance that hardly any single situation in the whole country was to be obtained except through the intercession of the Jesuits. They formed, indeed, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end, to gain all favour, and in order to avoid getting into disgrace every one worshipped them without mea- sure. In short, all people bowed slavishly in the dust before them, " the Apostles," as they were designated ; and the proof of this was that when Nunnez came to die, of course under the odour of sanctity, he was carried on the shoulders of the first nobility of the land into the funereal vault, where he was interred with princely splendour. The guardianship and government of Donna Louisa was now completely in the hands of the Jesuitical fraternity. A severe blow to the Order was, however, threatened as soon a& the heir to the throne became of age, and ascended it under the title of Alfonso VI. This young prince had felt himself kept very much in the background as long as his brother Theodosius lived, and on that account was led to take a thorough hatred to the Jesuit Fathers. And this dislike became intensified by the bigotry and self-torture which were introduced at Court by Father Nunnez, there being every reason to entertain the opinion that the holy Father must be a complete hypocrite, an opinion which the prince held, and which he did not at all attempt to conceal. Indeed, he had, moreover, the courage, in his- eighteenth year, to take a Benedictine monk as his Father Con- fessor instead of a Jesuit, and expressed himself, in fact, quite openly, to the effect that his future ministry should be of a very different character from the present body. In all this lay great danger for the Society of Jesus, and it may be well imagined that the holy Fathers looked to the future by no means without anxiety. Alfonso, however, fortunately for them, did not by any means possess that strength of mind, and still less that 184 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. energy of will, which were necessary for the carrying out of the project he had. in view. Whence then, too, could he take the necessary men of enlightened views and free thought for his protection,- as throughout the whole of Portugal there were no persons of culture among the higher classes of society who had not derived their education from the Jesuits? Certainly, then, those good Fathers had no occasion to entertain such great anxiety, and they themselves, indeed, said as much. In order, however, to he prepared for all eventualities, they determined to nip in the bud any attempt of the prince to free himself from the Society of Jesus, by not allowing the youth, in fact, ever to assume the reins of government. With this object in view, therefore, they spread about all over the country reports regard- ing his manner of life, which they represented as so unbridled that he had ruined himself both in body and soul ; in order, also, to insult him and make him appear despicable both in the eyes of the common people as well as of the nobility, they arranged that prayers should be offered up publicly in all the churches with a petition for his recovery. Later on, they procured, by bribery, a couple of physicians to declare him to be half-witted, and so worked upon the Regent-mother that, before the whole of the assembled grandees, she treated her son as mentally incapable. Their idea was, in short, to make the Portuguese believe that Alfonso was unfit to govern, hoping that on that account, he would resign in favour of his brother Don Pedro, who was entirely devoted to them. This idea, however, was only half of what they desired to effect ; and in order not to spoil their previous game of intrigue, while taking care that the deeply calumniated prince should not, on attaining his majority, ascend the throne, they thought it prudent to receive with smiling and agreeable mien the proposal that he should take unto himself (in the year 1666) a suit* able spouse, in the person, namely, of Princess Maria Franciska Isabella of Savoy-Nemours. Still, even this last act, which at first appeared to them particularly dangerous, turned out in the end to be entirely in their favour, and speedily brought them unexpectedly to their long-wished-for aim. The young Queeu happened to be of a very warm nature, and did not, by any means, feel disposed to remain faithful to her liege lord. So she cast her eyes upon the handsome and finely-formed, though THE POWEKFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 185 ^weakly endowed, younger brother of the King, 'Don Pedro: These affections did not, of course, long remain concealed from her Father Confessor, Francis de Ville, whom she had brought with her, and he communicated these matters to his friend, the -Jesuit Father Verjus, who had come to Lisbon as Father Con- fessor of the Duke d'Estrees, the companion of the princess. These two crafty Fathers put themselves in communication with the rest of the Jesuit party at the Court, and such a black plot was now soon devised for the removal of King Alfonso as it would be difficult to find its match in the world a plan, more- over, which could only be carried out with the connivance of Donna Maria the Queen, and her brother-in-law Don Pedro. They both, indeed, willingly lent their assistance, as the Queen -thereby might attain the object for which she so much longed, and, as regards Don Pedro, he might readily venture to commit a crime in order to gain possession of a crown. The comedy exploded on the 21st of November, on the morn- ing of which day the Queen, bursting into tears, declared openly that, as the King was quite unsuitable as a hus- band, she must consequently take refuge in a convent, for she could no longer submit to his disgusting society. She, indeed, forthwith carried her intention into effect, and took flight, accompanied by all her ladies, in order to betake herself .into the Franciscan convent. Here she was again seized with .a violent fit of sobbing, while at the same time repeating her (lamentations ; and the Jesuits, being t quickly summoned, made the matter their own business, and promulgated the grand event of the day with unparalleled assiduity all over Lisbon. This, of course, naturally gave rise to a great commotion, and everyone commenced to rush about the streets, either into their neighbours or the public-houses, in order to talk over the scandalous story. The majority of the people took the Queen's part, for, as I have already mentioned, the Jesuits long before had thrown contempt upon the King, as may be easily imagined, and now added other reproaches to their previous calumnies. Alfonso in vain com- manded his spouse to return to the palace, on the affair, so shameful to himself, being brought to his notice. She, however, hesitated to comply, and he in vain proposed to his Council of State, which he had at once assembled, that inquiry should be .made into her conduct. Feelings of shame, however, forbade 186 HISTOBY OF THE JESUITS. this being done, but the Queen still protested that the King was not a suitable husband for her. Driven to distraction, the monarch in vain endeavoured to carry out his wishes by the employment of force. Some dozens of the nobility, sword in hand, now furiously penetrating into the palace, accompanied by thousands who followed them, attracted by the uproar, shut the King up in his cabinet, and after bringing forward Don Pedro in triumph, compelled the monarch to affix his signature to two documents, in one of which he solemnly affirmed that his spouse the Queen was in the right, whilst in the other he " from his own action, in virtue of his own unlimited royal power, relinquished the reins of government in favour of his brother Don Pedro." What now followed may be easily imagined. Don Pedro assem- bled the Parliament in order that a document, drawn up by the Jesuit Father N una de Cunha, should be placed before them, detailing the motives why it was impossible to do otherwise than proceed against Don Alfonso VI. ; and the assembled Parliament, entirely under the influence of the Jesuits, decreed the deposition of the unfortunate monarch, on the ground of his being imbecile and impotent. Don Pedro thereupon ascended the throne, with the title of Pedro II., and after Pope Clement IX. had granted the neces- sary dispensation, and bestowed his blessing on the new marriage, shared the incestuous marriage bed with the woman who had hitherto been his sister-in-law ; poor Alfonso, on the other hand, who had now taken the place of brother-in-law instead of husband, was brought first of all to Terceira, and next to Gintra, finally dying in prison on the 12th of September 1683, in great misery. What were, then, the privileges which the Jesuits now obtained, under a king who had alone to thank them for placing him upon the throne ? No one on earth could have the slightest doubt ; power and influence especially now became concentrated in Father Emanuel Fernandez, who succeeded to the office of Father Bieira, the former Father Confessor of Don Pedro pre- vious to the accession of the latter to the throne. His exalted- patron created him to be a Privy Councillor, and, later on, even President of his Council of State, so that all transactions, a*, well as all nominations, passed through his hands. The war department was even placed under him, although one might have thought that such an office was not very compatible with that uf THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 187 a confessor and preacher ; but it now belonged to the plan of the Jesuits gradually to take possession of all the highest tribunals, in order that they might be enabled to rule with com- pletely unlimited and despotic power. In short, Don Pedro,, as long as Emanuel Fernandez lived, was nothing else than a complete machine in his hands, and when the all-powerful man died, in the year 1693, Father Sebastian von Magellhans took his place, with all the privileges attached thereto. Naturally enough, however, the burden of the State became too great a load for him to bear alone on his shoulders, and he therefore shared it along with his associates. Nunha de Cunha more especially,, the Provincial of the Society in Portugal, as well as Francis de Ville, the Father Confessor of the Queen, reigned supreme, and those three, namely, Fernandez, Cunha, and de Ville, were now designated the " Triumvirate." Yet it was, indeed, no tri- umvirate of love, but, on the contrary, of terror, and it made itself feared by all those who did not blindly follow the orders which proceeded out of the profess-house of the Society in Lisbon. We have had enough now of the sway of the Jesuits in Portugal, respecting which I have gone almost too much into detail. It was, however, necessary to do so, as in no kingdom on the earth did the Society of Jesus succeed so admirably in gaining the upper hand over all classes of people as here. In no other Court did they understand better how to combine the character of Confessor with the power of Minister of State. Nowhere else had they so completely the education of the people in their hands, and nowhere else did their despotism prevail so much over the weakness of rulers as in Portugal, which for several centuries was nothing more than a slavishly- obedient province of their universal monarchy. III. INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS IN SPAIN. The first Jesuits who were sent to Spain by their General imme- diately after the institution of the Order, during the government of the Emperor Charles V., were Father Araoz, who selected Barcelona, and Father Villanouva, who chose Saragossa, re- spectively, as the field of their operations. The first Jesuit college, however, which was established in Loyola's native country was founded in Gandia by Duke Francis Borgia, of 188 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 'Gandia, who afterwards became the third General of the Order. A very great increase, moreover, soon took place both in the number of their members and of their colleges and other settle- ments, for in a nation so much inclined towards superstition and fanaticism as that of Spain, the pious Fathers were naturally enabled to attain their end all the more easily than in the more sensible and sober lands. It must now be shown in what manner they conducted themselves, and what means they pursued in order to get over the bigoted Spaniards, and to cause themselves to be regarded by the latter as quite extraordinary men, if not, indeed, as saints. They made their appearance, then, wherever they came, always clad in miserable clothing, dirty and torn ; they generally took up their abode in hospitals, and went about in company begging, in order to obtain a subsistence. They commenced teaching among children of the houses of the poor, and, as regards preaching, any corner-stone they came across was suffi- cient for them. They flogged their bodies with scourges before everyone, and carried on this mad career to such an extent that the magistracy had frequently to be appealed to, it being feared that they might torture themselves to death ; in a word, they carried fanaticism to its height, while they sought at the same time to bring mankind to the faith they themselves professed. Thus, apart from the self-inflicted cruelties, their whole proceed- ings were nothing else than a real and exact imitation of apostlic manners and customs. Notwithstanding, however, that the common people of Spain that is, I mean, the great masses, and especially the women ran truly in swarms after the Society of Jesus, it did not, however, easily meet with such success in this beautiful country as it had done in Italy, and more particularly in Portugal, and there were many who were much astonished in regard to this 'being the case. They erred, however, mainly owing to the fact that the Emperor Charles V., the then ruler of Spain, although not himself otherwise inimical to the Society, was never once induced to take a Jesuit as his Father Confessor. He, on the contrary, selected the Dominicans as his spiritual advisers, an Order doubtless hitherto much esteemed, while the influence of his 6rst Father Confessor, the distinguished Ximines Eisneros, the great Inquisitor, Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, and Minister of State, regulated the whole course of his life. THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 189 The more remarkable of these spiritual guides, besides Ximines, were as follows : Peter of Soto, a very learned man ; Garcias de Loaysa, Bishop of Osma; Caranza, afterwards Bishop of Toledo ; Johann de Regla, a Hieronomite ; Juan de Ortega, almost con- sidered a saint ; and Constantine Ponce de la Fuente, Bishop of Seville. When these non-Jesuits, then, had possession of the great monarch's conscience, how could it possibly be expected that the Society of Jesus should attain to such great power as it had done in Portugal, where its members were able to turn the heart of the King in any way that pleased them ? A second not lesser hindrance to the rapid development and extension of the Order in Spain lay in the resistance given, partly by other individual theologians and priests, and partly, more especially, by that offered by the whole of the remaining Orders, the Dominicans at their head. The latter sect, as must by this time be sufficiently apparent to my readers, through the history of many decades, was fashionable in Spain ; it had long since gained the heart of the people, through the confessional, and by means of the Inquisition ruled with a grasp of iron over all alike, rich and poor, male and female ; towards it flowed hitherto all the riches of the country, and from it and its members were supplied, for the most part, all the appointments to bishoprics and archbishoprics. Could it, then, be quietly submitted to that another Order should be allowed to penetrate into its domains, trying to reap where it alone had sown, and was wont to flourish the sickle ? Therefore, wherever the Jesuits wished to establish themselves, especially in Salamanca, Alcala, and Saragossa, it bestirred itself to offer resistance to their encroachments. The bishops, by whom by right the education of the young, as well: as, above everything else, the wants of the confessional were supplied, offered opposition to them, and on that account con- tentions and angry encounters arose in those three cities. At the commencement, too, at all events, the Jesuits always got the worst of it, and not infrequently the people, incited thereto by the other Orders, rose against them; as when, for instance, in- the year 1555, their college in Saragossa was nearly taken by storm, and they were only able to save their lives by the most immediate and secret flight. But besides this opposition by open force, individual theologians, entering the lists against them, injured them in every way by spiritual and scientific weapons ; . 190 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. and among such may be named especially Melchior Cano, the celebrated doctor of theology belonging to the Order of the Dominicans. This far-seeing and cultivated priest, on his way to Rome, had become acquainted with Ignatius Loyola and his followers, certainly not in the most favourable manner, and as later on, in the year 1548, the first Jesuits, with Fathers Le Fevre and Ortiz at their head, entered into Salamanca, where he liimself worked as professor of the University, he particularly directed his attention to them, and soon became convinced that they were far from being "by God's will the fools and blockheads " that they appeared to be, but rather that poverty, humility, and ^elf-punishment were only to be looked upon as a pretext and artifice to insinuate themselves ; so he described them, both from the pulpit and in his professorial chair, as false apostles, as well as dangerous men who should neither be trusted in the con- fessional nor with the education of youth. Thus, from the great consideration in which he was held, he would probably have succeeded in effecting the expulsion of the Loyolites from Sala- manca had it not been for the order of Pope Paul III., whom, as is well known, the Society of Jesus did everything in its power to favour, when called upon to do so at the Council of Trent. By this means the sons of Loyola obtained free scope, and also, later on, little injury could be done them, as after the termination of the Council the bishopric of the Canary Islands was bestowed upon them by the Roman Chair. How greatly, moreover, was the Society of Jesus at that time already esteemed by His Holiness, appears in a despatch addressed by him to John de Regla, Father Confessor of Charles V., where a remark- able passage occurs, which may be translated as follows : " Would to God that we may not meet with that fate which, as history teaches, Cassandra predicted, and which was not believed by anyone until after that Troy was sacked and burnt ! If the Jesuits carry on as they have begun, a time may yet come may God forbid ! in which kings may feel inclined to resist them ; but then it will no longer be in their power to offer opposition to them." In the year 1555 Charles V. abdicated the throne of Spain, and in the year following, as Emperor of Germany, handed over the sovereignty, including the Spanish possessions in America, as well as the crowns of Naples, Milan, Sardinia, and the Nether- lands, to his son Philip II., now eighteen years of age. That, THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 191 indeed, constituted an immense power, sufficient always to main- tain an ascendancy in Europe, more especially as the Austrian House of Hapsburg, intimately connected with the ruling House of Spain, was friendly disposed, and in no way inclined to frustrate its designs. In addition to this, also, the most distin- guished armies and the most experienced commanders belonged to the side of the young King ; moreover, the gold derived from the new world had been taken possession of by the Spaniards, and flowed in plentifully. Besides this, what the commercial fleets of the Netherlands acomplished might well be considered. In a word, Philip II. possessed, as regards power and splendour, everything that was necessary to make him, as a monarch, governor of the world. Now, had this ruler been a wise man, animated with zeal for the welfare of mankind, he might, indeed, . have been able to accomplish much with such extraordinary means at his dis- posal. But Philip II. was not such a ruler. On the contrary, his intellectual sphere was confined to very narrow limits, being restricted to obstinate bigotry, universal belief, extermination of heresy, and suppression of all the rights of the people. Such were the great ends after which he strove, and he sought to attain them by the roughest, most determined, and most cruel despotism that was ever exercised by one of the Lord's anointed. This, of course, was but too well known to the Jesuits, and this being the case, no one need wonder that they got a hold over Philip II. in order that, through him, they might be enabled to establish the Roman Jesuitical universal monarchy, which was their great desire, and, as I have already detailed in the preceding paragraph, to make him the most supreme despot of Europe. Between, the Jesuits and Philip II., then, the former having for their General at that time Jacob Laynez, a formal contract was drawn up, by which the extension of the Order of Jesus made truly gigantic progress in Spain. They now acquired a right to establish themselves wherever they wished, and a whole legion of colleges sprang into existence one after the other, of which those of Saragossa, Cordova, Seville, Cadiz, Malaga, Granada, Marcia, Valentia, Maloria, St. lago di Compostella, Leon, Cuenga, Belmont, Plasencia, Montillia, Trigueros, Toleda, Logronno, Ocanna, Onnate, Salamanca, Talavera, Monterez, Burgos, Medina del Campo and Madrid, became distinguished 192 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. with the eclat of universities. The highest pinnacle of power for the Order was, however, attained when Francis Borgia was called upon to hecome the successor of Laynez, as Philip II. never refused any request made by him a veritable grandee of Spain, and formerly Viceroy of Catalonia, while naturally, the example of the monarch was followed with devo- tion, as a matter of course, by all the other grandees of the kingdom. And now, will it be necessary for me to enumerate all the possessions which individually belonged to this Order at this time so all-powerful ? It will, I think, be sufficient for me to give but a general view only as it stood towards the end of the 16th century. Spain was in those days divided into four provinces, so far as Jesuitism was concerned, viz. Toledo, Aragon, Castile, and Seville ; and each of them vied with one another in regard to the number of their establishments, as well as the list of members belonging to the Order. Thus the province of Toledo could boast of two profess-houses (Toledo and Madrid), two novice-houses (Madrid and Villarejo), two- and-twenty colleges and seminaries, four residences, and no fewer than seven hundred members, belonging to the Order. Then, as to the province of Aragon, it had one profess-house (Valencia), one novice-house (Terragona), fourteen colleges and seminaries, three residences, and somewhere about five hundred Jesuits. In the province of Castile, there were a profess-house and novitiate, both being in Garcia, nine-and-twenty colleges, two residences, and about six hundred Jesuits ; and in the province of Seville, one profess-house (Seville), two novice- houses, those of Seville and Baeca, seven-and-twenty colleges and seminaries, two residences, and seven hundred actual members of the Order. Not less strongly did the Jesuits develop themselves in the neighbouring territories belonging to Spain, which Philip II. inherited from his father ; and in the province of Naples alone they numbered one profess-house, one residence, two novitiates, six-and-twenty colleges, along with at least six hundred Loyolites. In Milan, there existed two profess-houses, three novitiates, sixteen colleges, six residences, along with five hundred members of the Order. Still more numerous, how- ever, were their possessions in Sicily, consisting of two profess- houses, two novitiates, two -and- twenty colleges, and seven hun- THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 193 dred Jesuits. In Sardinia, on the contrary, there were only six colleges, one probation-house, and about two hundred members of the Order. The most fertile field of all, however, was that of Belgium and the Netherlands, as within a very short space of time there were established in these countries two profess-houses, three novitiates, five-and-twenty colleges, and six residences, together with no fewer than seven hundred members of the Order, and there would undoubtedly have been many more, had not the rebellion of the States- General of Holland restricted the lordship of Philip II. over the Belgian countries to the so-called Spanish Netherlands. It will thus be seen already, from this mere sketch, to what an enormous extent the Society of Jesus had expanded its power in Spain and its Netherland possessions under Philip II. In spite of all this, however, it must not be believed that the rest of the Spanish priesthood, and more especially the Dominicans, tamely submitted themselves without any resistance to the supe- rior power to which the Jesuits had in so short a time attained. On the contrary, several bishops and university professors had in the meantime directly appealed to Philip II., in order to explain to him the mischievous tendency of the Order ; and that cele- brated doctor of Theology, Benito Arias, surnamed Montanus, dedicated to the monarch, in 1571, a memorial, in order to prove to him that the greatest mischief must necessarily ensue if the Jesuits were permitted to mix themselves up with the affairs of the Government. The Dominicans even went still further than this, as they not only dragged several members of the Society of Jesus before the terrible tribunal of the Inquisition, the direc- tion of which had been entrusted to them, but they also, in the year 1590, made a strenuous appeal to the Pope then ruling, Sixtus V., begging him to submit the statutes of the Jesuits to a more strict investigation than had been hitherto done, and requesting that he should put some bounds to the unlimited supremacy assumed by the Order. Sixtus did, indeed, actually take into consideration the matters advanced by the Dominicans, and there was all the appearance that this dangerous Society would have to undergo a thorough reform. He first of all ordered that the Jesuits should be in future called Ignatians, after their founder Ignatius, seeing that the name of Jesuit appertained, properly speaking, to the followers of Jesus, an and even when he occasionally descended amongst the hum- blest of their ranks, and sometimes conducted himself with force and violence towards his mistresses ; the Jesuits, indeed, rather encouraged him in his wild conduct, calling his atten- tion to new charms when they were of opinion that special advantages might be obtained for themselves through their possessors. As yet, however, the founding of colleges and the acquiring of settlements throughout the entirely, or partially > Catholic territories of Germany, was still far from being by any means satisfactory, as, in spite of the establishment of these colleges and settlements, the great majority of the Germans still adhered to the Protestant faith ; and as long as this was the case there could be no question as to the proper sway of the Order of Jesus in the Roman Empire. " Wholesale conversion " must follow, if anything of great importance was to be effected, and, in order to pave the way for this, it must be necessary to put an end to the friendly intercourse which had hitherto subsisted among the Catholics and Protestants. The old rancour between the two opposite faiths, which for several decades had remained dormant, must again be stirred up ; and the spectre of religious fanaticism must no longer be allowed to remain chained in hell, to which it had lor some time been consigned. When things came so far as this, that the Catholics had been roused to entertain resentment, and more especially the rulers among them had been excited to such a pitch of anger as earnestly to desire the complete extermination of heresy, then, indeed, might the visor be thrown aside, the time having at length arrived for conversion by force to be initiated, and then, also, might the- expectation of final victory be entertained. In the meantime, 222 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. through the royal House of Hapsburg, the two most mighty thrones in the world, those of Spain and Austria, had been secured, together with a number of the neighbouring provinces. Moreover, was not powerful Bavaria, and were not all of the Catholic Principalities, on their side ? and what was even of still greater consequence, were not the Protestants themselves divided into two parties, who were so inimical towards each other that their large numerical preponderance was not by any means a real one, but existed only on paper ? Certainly the division of Evangelicals into the two sects of Lutherans and Calvinists must, of itself, be a great advantage for Catholicism, and when once an established hatred had been thoroughly roused between them, or, at least, when such a feeling was knowu to exist, unanimity could never again be brought about among them; and then, indeed, would they not be weakened by at least one half? Such was the remarkably shrewd calculation respecting the situation made by the Jesuits, and the honour of the dis- covery or, at any rate, of its practical application, was due, before all other able heads, to Father Peter Canisius, to whom I have already made frequent allusion. The mode in which he proceeded to carry out his projects was, besides, not open or straightforward ; his means were rather sly and stealthy, like the steps of a cat. At the period that the operations of the Jesuits in Germany began, almost all religious education was in the hands of the Protestants, and those for the most part firmly adhered to the catechism of Luther, which, indeed, reflected the Evangelical faith in short, clear, and distinct formulas. Every one, even among the common people, could easily under- stand his catechism, and on that account it was to be found in every school and almost in every family. It might well be affirmed, indeed, that the great extension to which Protestantism had at that time attained was in no small degree to be attri- buted to that popularly written little religious book. But how was it now, in this respect, in the Catholic world ? Ah ! they did not possess any work at all approaching to it, but the whole of their religious instruction was confined entirely to the public devotional exercises prescribed by the priesthood, namely, the Mass, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer, along with processions. 'Consequently, it now entered into the head of Canisius to supply this notorious want, by publishing a handbook of Catholic THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 223 Instruction, after the pattern of the Lutheran catechism, and therefore, in the year ] 554, there appeared, written in Latin, his Summa Doctrina Christiana, that is to say, The Summary of Christian Teaching. But while the Summa entered con- siderably into details, he prepared, at the same time, an abridge- ment of it, after the form of the smaller Lutheran catechism, under the title of Institutiones Christiana pietatis, sen parvus Katechismus Katholicurum, and also took care that a German translation as well should appear of this " small Catholic cate- chism." Both of these publications soon found an enormous circulation, as Ferdinand I. of Austria (12th August 1554), as well as King Philip II. of Spain (6th December 1557), ordered their general introduction into all schools and educational insti- tutions within their dominions ; the best proof thereof was that thirty years after its first appearance the Summa had already reached its four hundredth edition, while, at the same time, the small catechism was to be found in nearly every Catholic house in town or country. But what were the principles which were inculcated by these Principles of Christian Piety ? Was there any of the spirit of Christianity or of Christian love contained in them ? No, no ; oh, three times no ! It was the spirit of intolerance that was therein displayed, the spirit of religious rancour, the spirit of religious fanaticism. " Only he was a Christian " (according to the teaching of anisius) " who acknowledged the Pope as the representative of Christ; those, on the other hand, who did not do so were deserving of the punishment of eternal hell-fire." He even con- demned " the holding of any intercourse whatever with heretics as highly deserving of punishment and supremely dangerous on account of contagion; but friendship with apostates, or, in a still greater degree, connection with them by marriage, led to immediate damnation, and the good Catholic must avoid every Protestant as he would a person tainted with leprosy. He must, indeed, not only shun him, but he must fight against him, as one has to contend with the wicked, and the more valorously one carries on the combat, the more one contri- butes to the extermination of heresy, so that the rays in the halo surrounding the head of the beloved Son of the only blessed Church should thus shine more brightly." In this way did Canisius teach, and the great aim and 224 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. object of his religious handbook could be looked upon as nothing- else than an endeavour to propagate the extension of hatred among the Catholics towards the non-Catholic community. He- also fully attained this object, as a more poisonous seed of the dragon was never sown than in this case, while the whole of the Catholic rising generation was henceforth brought up in accordance with this said spirit of religious rancour. Now,, moreover, as this fanatic hatred began to take root, oppor- tunity must, of course, be given for it to express itself; and on that account, in the year 1570, the Jesuits determined, by an arbitrary rupture of religious peace, to initiate a kind of Protestant persecution in a small way. This persecution was at the same time to be a sort of touchstone, whereby to show whether the Evangelicals would allow of it without at once taking up arms; and according as it turned out, one might either in this way proceed further, or temporise for some time- longer. It was not, indeed, necessary to consider long where to- carry out the tragedy now about to commence, for an opportunity at this time offered itself respecting the princely Abbey of Fulda, one of the smallest priestly principalities of Germany. It was. here, at the beginning of the year 1570, that Balthasar von Dernbach, a priest brought up in the Protestant faith, but who had only latterly gone over to Catholicism, had been elected Abbot ; immediately after his installation, he summoned the Jesuits to his small court, notwithstanding that previous to his accession to the Government he had bound himself by an oath not to burden the bishopric with any foreign ecclesiastics. The sons of Loyola, naturally enough, came, and at once began to make themselves at home ; they at the same time urged upon their protector that he should come forward as a hero of the faith, and restrain his Protestant subjects, who for several generations had lived unmolested, from the free exercise of their religion. The zealot Balthasar, like all new converts,, acted at once with vigour, and not only turned to the right- about the pair of Evangelical clergymen in his diocese, but even handed over their churches to the Jesuits, in order that they might from that time conduct public worship therein. This oppressive action of the Abbot created an enormous uproar throughout Germany, and the most prominent Evangelical members of Parliament took up the cause of the poor oppressed THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 225 people, writing at the same time to their oppressor, demanding that he should remove the Jesuits and discontinue his oppres- sive measures. On the other hand, however, he received the highest approval of his conduct from the Pope, as well as from the Romanists on German soil ; and Alhert V. of Bavaria, as well as the Archduke Ferdinand of Austrian Tyrol, promised him their strenuous support. Both parties now finally appealed to the Emperor, and seeing that at that time Maximilian II. was in possession of that dignity, it was fully expected that strict justice would be done. The question, however, did not actually come before the Emperor for his decision, as the Chapter of Fulda, who were equally in the highest degree incensed at the appointment of the Jesuits, by the aid of the united knighthood of Hesse insisted upon the abdication of Balthasar in June 1576, and handed over the administration of the Abbey to Bishop Julius ofWiirzburg, who put an end to the discontent by the removal of the Jesuits.* As it was now indubitably appa- rent, as the result of their proceedings in Fulda, that the Pro- testants hesitated to have resort to arms, the sons of Loyola saw fit to begin the same game in some of the other archi- episcopal states, and they selected the Archbishopric of Mayence for their purpose. In this territory Protestantism had by de- grees become so established that some of the villages and towns, more especially Diiderstadt and Heiligenstadt, contained only a few Catholic families, nor was it uncommon that Lutheran clergy- men were actually appointed by Catholic patrons. No opposition had been offered to this state of matters, and the burgesses of both confessions lived quite cordially together during several decades. It was quite different, however, in this respect, on the accession of Archbishop Daniel, as he selected as his Father Confessor the Jesuit Louis Backarell, and moreover, the Jesuit Provincial of the Lower Khine, Father Tyreus, obtained the greatest influence over him. At the instigation of Backarell and Tyreus, Daniel declared himself ready to commence purifying the whole of the bishopric from heresy, and as it had more par- * It was not for long, however, as I shall presently remark. After much strife and contention, the deposed Abbot was restored in the year 1602, under the Emperor Kudolph H., and he thereupon immediately recalled his beloved Jesuits. He also succeeded, with their assistance, in bringing over again his whole country to Catholicism, and on that account he obtained a special letter of thanks from Pope Clement VIII. 15 220 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. ticulnrly domesticated itself in n place called Eicbsfeld, he nomi- nated a certain Leopold von Stralendorf as chief magistrate of that district, a man whom the Jesuit Lambert Auer had con- verted to the only saving Church from the Protestant faith. This person might, indeed, be called a man after the heart of the Order of Jesus, and his zeal was so great that he carried out the expulsion of the Protestant ecclesiastics from all of the villages of his circle. He had, indeed, at his disposal, to assist him in this work, an armed troop, who made short work with the contumacious, and he might be pretty well sure that even the hardest of his regulations would meet with the hearty approval of the ruler, or rather of the Jesuits as rulers of the ruler. The inhabitants of Diiderstadt alone showed any hesita- tion in deciding upon giving over their churches to the Jesuits for them to conduct their religious services therein, and declared themselves prepared to meet force by force. What did the Archbishop do now by the advice of Stralendorf and his Father Confessor ? He forthwith prohibited all his subjects (1576) from procuring beer from the contumacious town, and thereby deprived it of a chief source of existence. Besides this, he also levied taxes upon the civic revenues of all the surrounding villages, with the alternative of arrest in case of failure, and, finally, in this way, compelled the bur- gesses to give in after a continued resistance of three years' duration. In the Archbishopric of Mayence, then, the Jesuits succeeded in their aim, as to the suppression of heresy, without any very great difficulty, and this circumstance, therefore, gave them encouragement to proceed in the same manner in the Bishoprics of Treves and Worms. Here, also, everything went in accord- ance with their wishes, or, at all events, mostly so, and on this account their courage assumed always increasing dimen- Rions. Still, however, they would never have dared to offer opposition to Protestantism with even more startling bold- ness, had it not been for a peculiar case which showed them that they might with impunity attempt anything, even of the most foolhardy nature, against their antagonists, though the latter were by far numerically superior to them, and this peculiar case was the celebrated defection of the Archbishop Gebhard of Cologne from the Catholic faith. THE POWEBFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 227 Gebhard had sprung from the celebrated house of the Truch- sissen (grandmasters) of Waldberg. Those who wish to read the whole story in detail, may do so either in my own or some other history of Germany ; hut we may here in a few words relate how that the said Gebhard, after he had succeeded, in 1570, with much trouble, in getting himself raised to the dignity of arch- 'bishop, no lesser a personage than Duke Ernest of Bavaria being his fellow candidate for this distinguished position, and shortly after his elevation to it, was seized with such a violent passion for the beautiful Countess Agnes von Mansfeld, that he could no longer live without her. The question with him now came to be, what was he to do under the circumstances ? Should he abdicate as his predecessor Salentin von Isenberg had done, who, with the Pope's approval, had reverted to the condition of layman in order to be in a position to be able to marry ? Must he abdicate, and instead of being a rich and electoral prince, with almost royal consideration and income, become again a poor count ? No, by no means ; that was, indeed, too much to be demanded of him; and consequently Gebhard determined to adopt another way of getting out of the difficulty, namely, he openly went over to the Protestant faith in the year ]582, and married his beloved Agnes ; he did not, however, on that account, relinquish the Bishopric of Cologne, but, on the contrary, continued to reign as he had done hitherto, and with the publicly expressed avowal of making it henceforth an heritable Electorate. In this bold undertaking, he, of course, naturally reckoned upon having the support of the great Protestant party of Germany, as it was of great importance to them to have one Catholic Electoral hat the less in the Empire ; and, moreover, it might, he considered, be looked upon as a certainty that most of the inhabitants of the Archbishopric would follow the example of their ruler, and go over to the Evangelical faith. What a gain would there then be for Protestant interests, and, at the same time, what a blow would be dealt to Catholicism if Gebhard carried out his intention ! All the friends of Rome were consequently at once seized with panic and horror, and more especially the Jesuits, as soon as they heard this news ; so messengers were immediately sent off to Italy, in order to get the Pope, Gregory XIII.. to launch instantly his anathema upon the apostate prince of the 15 * 228 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Church. This took place, and even more than this, indeed, for Gregory not only excommunicated Gebhard, but also pronounced upon him the sentence of deposition from the Electorate, thereby giving a slap on the face to German rights. The Chapter of the Cathedral, which was now assembled outside of Cologne, pro- ceeded to a new election in the year 1588, and the choice fell upon Duke Ernest of Bavaria. As Gebhard, however, would not voluntarily yield, but resisted to the uttermost, the former brought against him a powerful army, to which flocked his brothers and cousins, as well as many other high Catholic per- sonations, at the instigation of the Jesuits ; and, aided with money and men, proceeded to seize upon the Bishopric by force. What now took place on the side of the Protestant princes ? They saw very well that, as the whole German world friendly to< the Pope now embraced the side of Ernest of Bavaria, Gebhard must of necessity be defeated if powerful aid was not given to him, nor did it escape their observation that great advantages- would accrue to the Protestant Church were the victory to be on the side of Gebhard, and consequently no one in the world gifted with any sense doubted that the Catholic army would be encountered with a Protestant force. How differently, however,, did it turn out ! Gebhard, poor man, had not, as it appeared, adopted the teaching of Luther, but, on the contrary, that of Calvin ; and as soon as the Lutheran princes became aware of this fact, they completely withdrew their support from him. They, in their spiritual narrow-mindedness, hated Calvinism even* more than the Papal, or, indeed, the Turkish abomination ; how could they then give their countenance to an adherent of that faith ? Gebhard might, indeed, beg and pray as he would, and even bind himself to allow all his subjects to become Lutherans ; nothing could overcome the hatred of such faith among the Electors of Saxony, Brandenburg, and the like, and they looked with the gravest indifference and scorn at the further proceedings- of the Witelsbacher. This was truly " more than brutal stupidity " (belluina stupiditas) writes a contemporary his- torian, the Swiss Gualtherus ; but the narrow-mindedness, of the Lutheran princes did not perceive this to be the case, not even when Gebhard, after losing Bonn, the last of his strongholds, was compelled to fly to Holland in the year 1584 ; and when the new Archbishop, Ernest, compelled by force all THE POWEBFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 229 his subjects, hitherto Lutherans, to return again to the Catholic faith. What a glorious triumph now was this for the Catholics, and more especially for the Jesuits. More than this, with what heartfelt scorn did the latter look down upon the wrong- headed Lutherans, whose blindness, disorganisation and weakness were now apparent to everyone. The natural result of this "victory, gained at Cologne, was that the whole of the Episcopal sees, as they in future became vacant, were filled up by men Jesuitically minded; as, for instance, those of Freisingen, Wildesheim, Liege, Hablo, Munster, Osnabruck, Minden, and Paderborn. The first five, indeed, were all united together by Ernest of Bavaria, the Archbishop of Cologne, all were com- pletely in his hands, and one may well imagine what a fine kind of life was led by this spendthrift, without strength either of mind or body, and entirely governed by the Jesuits.* In the other three spiritual principalities it went otherwise, and only by a hairbreadth ; the Jesuits, however, had free scope to proceed with their operations of conversion within them without the least obstacle being placed in their way by either high or low. They also, indeed, succeeded in a comparatively short space of time iin again bringing round to Roman Catholicism all the Evan- gelicals in these territories ; and one might be tempted to feel astonishment at these stupendous results, were it not that taking into consideration the ways and means which they employed, the illusion is at once removed. This may best be made clear by an example, as in the case of the Bishopric of Paderborn. Here Protestantism had, indeed, already taken deep root, and when, in the year 1 585, the Jesuits' friend, Theodore Ton Fiirstenburg, was raised to the throne, if one may be allowed to make use of the expression, hardly one tenth part of the whole population, both in the capital as well as throughout the territory, belonged to the old faith. In consequence of this state of matters, the whole of the magistracy, which were elected by the people, were worshippers of heresy ; and the ruler had, therefore, to take good care not to issue any order of an anti- JProtestant sounding nature, otherwise not only would it be dis- -obeyed, but it would be even treated with mockery and disdain. * The proof for this assertion cau be read in Aretius' History of Maxi- milian I., in which the miserable condition of Ernest, and his immorality, ^re depicted. 230 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. On this account the Jesuits, as they entered into the smalf kingdom along with Theodore von Fiirstenburg, and obtained from him money and the site for erecting a Jesuit College, said 1 to themselves, "Here, at least at the commencement, nothing can be effected by the hitherto favourite means of force, but it will, {irst of all, be necessary that the field-acre (as they termed the tiJcritory of Paderborn), should be well prepared before it could, to good purpose, be gone over with the plough." Experience had, as previously shown, proved that certainly Protestant princes and deputies need not be feared any more than formerly in Cologne ; but the people of Paderborn must not be roused to anger, and thereby driven either to depose the Bishop, or to cause him to abdicate, and to give the Loyolites their conge ? Prudence, therefore, dictated that the faith of the people in their Protestant belief must first of all be shaken, previous to the Catholic faith being offered them, and, in order to accomplish this, one must not drive it into them with the fist. On the contrary, it is necessary to proceed with subtlety, modesty, and humanity, as if one was unable to count even five. One must conduct oneself like an innocent child in order to- gain the confidence of the people, and, above everything else, it is imperative to exhibit a halo of sanctity round the head, in order thereby to give Catholicism the appearance of being the sole saving faith. The sons of Loyola, therefore, acted" thus, and proceeded, indeed, with a patience and perseverance worthy of all commendation. They found themselves, however, in an exceedingly difficult position, as the Paderborners received them not only with extreme distrust, but even with the most intense hatred, and they barely, indeed, escaped being stoned on their making their appearance in the streets. Many, indeed, entertained the conviction that the pious Fathers were not even uade of flesh and blood, like other mortals, but that they were demons spewed out of hell ; and the women, especially, were in the habit of frightening their children with the name of the Black Brotherhood. By degrees, however, people were brought to change their opinions and sentiments. Ah ! the Fathers con- ducted themselves so lovingly, and with such kindness of heart, that, in fact, it came even to be considered a sin to think ill any longer of such angelic beings. They voluntarily attended upon the sick, and without any recompense or reward. They not- THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 231 only nursed them tenderly, but provided them also with food and drink when necessary. They educated the rising generation, too, without recompense ; they not only educated them, indeed, but they even supplied the needy ones among the children with lodging and clothing, relieving the poorer parents of a burden which weighed heavily on their heart. Then, in addition to all this, wonderfully beautiful processions were introduced from time to time by the worthy Fathers, while, to crown all, the pageantry, pomp, and splendour of their religious services made an impression in the eyes of the non- Catholic population. They lastly, moreover, knew how to make use of the credulity of the masses in the most cunning way, and especially of the women ; and from this time forward no daughter of Eve dared to work against them, as on one occasion a woman, who had hitherto been one of their most deadly enemies, had a mis- carriage a circumstance which was represented by them as a punishment from heaven. In short, they succeeded so well in gradually inducing the people of Paderborn to change their opinions that, in a period of less than eleven years, they were no longer hated by the majority, as before, but even contrived to make no less than seven hundred and fifty proselytes. Having thus, then, got on so far as to consider that they had sufficiently prepared the soil, in order, as I have said before, to be able to go over it with the ploughshare, they now began to throw off their sheeps* clothing, and, on the other hand, to assume again their own true wolf- skin. In other words they now urged their patron, the reigning Prince Bishop, to further the work of conversion by coercion, and, of course, Theodor von Fiirstenberg promised to meet their wishes in every respect. He accordingly issued an order, in the year 1596, that all Protestant ecclesiastics should either revert to Catho- licism, or leave the country without the least further delay; whoever did not at once obey was imprisoned, and kept on bread and water until he at length became compliant. As a matter of course, he delivered over to the Jesuits, at the same time, all the churches belonging to the Protestants, and these did their best endeavour, and skilfully made use of all their persuasive powers, in order to instil into the people the doctrines of the old faith. With many, too, they were successful ; but by far the greater majority still remained stubborn, and after earnest exertions, 232 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. extending over a period of six years, the sons of Loyola came to the conclusion that they would be unable to attain their object by the means they had hitherto employed. The Bishop, therefore, by their advice, adopted another method, namely this, that all his Evangelical subjects were given the choice of becoming again Catholic, or of quitting the country ; a method which proved to be of a much more effectual nature. Nor did he remain satisfied with this order only, but he stationed, at the same time, a number of troops about his dominions, with whose assistance the Jesuits knew well how to give expression to their episcopal teaching. In what manner did the burgesses of the towns and inhabitants of the country receive this frightfully cruel arrangement ? Eh ! part, indeed, did either become again Catholic, or emigrated to neighbouring countries ; but another part now forsook the quiescent attitude which they had hitherto strictly maintained in regard to the law of the land, and, in their rage and fury, stormed the Jesuit College, threatening to put all its inmates to death. This, however, was a frightful mistake, for now the Jesuits had reason to call out " Rebellion," and assured the Bishop that he would be quite justified in making short work with the mutineers. They next came to blows, and in the strife the burgesses, unaccustomed to the use of arms, and, besides, having no one to take the lead, were of course defeated. In short, it was not long ere the rebellion was suppressed, and the result was that, in the year 1604, the whole of the people of Paderborn had to abjure Protestantism, and pay homage afresh to their liege lord. In this manner the sons of Loyola attained their object in Paderborn ; and, in precisely the same manner, they set about the business of conversion to Catholicism from Protestantism in the remaining Principalities of which I have made mention. Still the results were, after all, of not so great consequence, as the above-named territories formed, relatively speaking, but a small portion of Germany, and consequently there was no need for wonder when the pious Fathers were observed to brood over the matter day and night, considering whether it might not be possible for them, with the aid of the secular rulers, to purge, now this province, now that dukedom, or even that kingdom, of Evangelical teachers. More especially did they direct their attention in this respect to " Inner Austria," as it happened to THE POWEKFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 233 le governed by a man quite after their own heart; so here again their schemes met with success. King Ferdinand I. so divided by his will all his heritable possessions between his three sons, that the eldest, who became his successor directly in the Empire, obtained the Archduchy of Austria, along with Bohemia and Hungary ; the second-born, Ferdinand, the Tyrol, along with Outer Austria ; and the third, Carl, that of Inner Austria that is to say, Styria, Carinthia, Krain, Gorz, Istria, and Trieste. Now this Archduke Charles, the founder of the Styrian line of the House of Hapsburg, was held by the Loyolites in great estimation ; and they well knew what they were about, as the same duke had, in the year 1571, married Maria, daughter of Albert V.Duke of Bavaria, who, being a supremely pious Catholic, was esteemed by the Jesuits with the innermost devotion of their hearts. Having convinced herself that the greater part of Inner Austria at that time adhered to the Evangelical Church, she never ceased to din into the ears of her husband that there was no other means of preventing the complete overthrow of the true faith than by convoking the aid of the Black Brother- hood, and she soon succeeded in inducing her husband to believe in what she told him. He, consequently, made an application for his assistance to the General of the Order in Kome, who sent him, in the year 1573, five members of the Society, at the same time promising that several others should immediately follow whenever there appeared to be need of them. Those five, however, at once domesticated themselves in Gratz, the capital of the country, and soon obtained from their high patron so many buildings, together with so much money and property, that within the course of a few years they possessed a college and seminary for priests, and an educational establish- ment for the nobility. In spite, however, of accomplishing all this, they did not succeed in attaining great results as regards conversion; on the contrary, there appeared even to be an exten- sion of Protestantism more than ever since their advent, and the annals undoubtedly show that in the year 1580 not only the burgesses of most of the villages, market-places, and towns, but also almost the whole of the nobility, as well as by far the greater number of the Government officials, belonged to the Evangelical faith. This was a great grief to the pious Fathers, and the Father Confessor of the Archduke, the worthy Father 234 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Johannes, represented to his confessant that it would be neces- sary to adopt much stricter measures against the Protestants. The same course was followed by his spouse Maria in her curtain lectures, while her brother, the fanatical Duke William V. of Bavaria, in the year 1581, undertook on one occasion a* journey to Gratz expressly in order personally to influence his- brother-iu-law. The latter now actually began to waver, and issued at this time several enactments which restricted the free religious exercise of the Evangelical religion ; but as he hap- pened to be in financial difficulties, from which he could only be relieved by his deputies, and as the latter would not suffer any serious Catholic attacks, he limited his whole proceedings against the Protestants to almost nothing. On the other hand, he endeavoured to indemnify his friends the Jesuits for his inactivity by a large distribution of favours, the most consider- able being this, that he raised their college in Gratz, in the year 1585, to the dignity of a university, with all the rights and pri- vileges of such. In this way, as long as the Archduke Charles lived, all the desires of the sons of Loyola regarding religious matters were fulfilled in respect to Inner Austria; but things assumed a very different aspect when, in the year 1590, his first-born, the Archduke Ferdinand, who afterwards became the Emperor Ferdinand II., succeeded him on the throne. This Prince, born in Gratz in the year 1578, was handed over to the Jesuits for his education, while yet in his very tender years, and his name appears in the matriculation books of the newly-founded University of Gratz. Still, at that time, although matriculated from the 25th November 158C, he was too young to be considered as a regular student; however, on the youth entering upon his twelfth year, his father, at the instigation of his brother- in-law, William V. of Bavaria, the great friend and patron of the Jesuits, sent him to the High School of Ingoldstadt, the head-quarters of the sons of Loyola in Germany ; and here he was, in company with William V., the first-born son of Maxi- milian, who, however, exceeded him in age by five years ; he was thus so excellently instructed in all the principles of Jesuitical state wisdom, under the special supervision of Duke William, that he might, at the age of eighteen, be looked upon as the perfect pattern of a Catholic ruier. " All the good fortune, and all the blessing of a then existing THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 235' good government," so taught the Jesuits, " depend upon the establishment of unity in the Catholic faith, as religious dispu- tations had brought about nothing but disorder into a State, and had roused the burgesses one against another. On that account a ruler who happened to be called to the throne during a time of distraction through religious dissensions in his country, ought to look upon it as his first duty to accord no considera- tion whatever to heretics, and show such no toleration or for- bearance ; no means should be considered too stringent and no sacrifice should appear too dear in order to restore again the foundations of society, shattered by religious separation."* It is evidently perceptible that it was similar principles which made Philip II. of Spain to prosper, and consequently historians are quite right in reporting that his dear friend as well as cousin Ferdinand was only a true copy of bis great Spanish model. " The same glowing, stifling hatred of all feeling of right and morality regarding the new religious convictions, the same dis- avowal of all truth and all faith, the same wicked toying with the solemnity of an oath and of the most solemn treaties, the same want of feeling in regard to the misery of peoples writhing in the agony of death, the same spiritual energy united to an almost stupid obstinacy in the prosecution of principles once determined upon, and, lastly, the same boundless arrogance in respect to good fortune which almost demanded the wrath of heaven ; in short, all the same poisonous principles and quali- ties which luxuriated in the Spanish Philip animated also the breasts of Ferdinand and Maximilian, and the two striplings left the High School of Ingoldstadt, in the year 1596, with the firm determination to devote their whole lives to the task of exterminating heresy." t Tn the year 1596, Ferdinand took charge of the government of his dominions, which since the death of his father had been * Compare Sugenheim's History of the Jesuits in Germany, vol. i., pp. 119-120. t In a letter still extant (see Hormay's Archives of Geography and History for the Year 1812, p. 540) the Rector of the University of Ingoidstadt writes to the Rector of the College in Gratz : " The Archduke Ferdinand has, up to this time, concluded the fourth year of his studies, and certainly -with no small advantage. Nothing is spoilt which has been planted in so fruitful a soil, and the disposition of the good prince has been thus conlirmed in such. a way as nothing better could be desired." 236 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. conducted by his guardians, and at once intimated to his cousin, the Emperor Rudolph II., that he would no longer tolerate the religious freedom which had hitherto subsisted in his territories. As, however, the Emperor in his reply reminded him of the great superiority of the Protestants, and at the same time gave him to understand that such conduct might very easily give rise to a bitter loss of his land and people, for the first two years he refrained from taking coercive measures of a very powerful nature. On the other hand, this time was employed in ascertaining, by means of trifling oppressions, whether the Pro- testants possessed courage enough to oppose force by force ; and here the pious Fathers, who naturally undertook the busi- ness of feeling the national pulse, stepping forward, came to the conclusion that the Evangelicals of Inner Austria possessed far too great a respect for the legitimate rights of their princes, or, as it may be more properly expressed, an incarnate loyalty as subjects, to induce them ever to revolt. Upon this report being made to him, Ferdinand determined not to put off his under- taking any longer; still, previous to that resolve, he made a journey to Rome, in the year 1598, in order to invoke the blessing of the Holy Father for the success of his work ; besides which, he carried out a pilgrimage to Loretto, where he solemnly renewed his "Generalissima" vow before the image of the Mother of God, to purge all his lands thoroughly of heresy. Hardly, however, had he returned from Rome, where he had taken up his quarters in the profess-house of the Society of Jesus, when, before taking any steps, he summoned to his council his three chief Jesuit advisers, namely his Father Con- fessor, Bartholomew Viller, along with the two rectors, Hauer and Neukirk, and after he had also taken into his counsel the Catholic town priest of Gratz, by name Lorence Sunabenter, a plan of campaign against the Evangelicals was then discussed. It was, indeed, of a very simple nature (as why should it be necessary to make much ado about heretics), and it began in this way, that Sunabenter complained bitterly, in a well-drawn-up petition, how ; the Evangelical preachers conducted themselves, going about in Iris circle, daring to baptise, marry, and perform other spiritual functions. Such a representation was, indeed, founded on fact; the town parson forgot, nevertheless, to add that these duties had for many years been exercised by the Evangelical THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 23T preachers unhindered in a time of religious freedom. How, then, did the Archduke reply to this petition of Sunabenter ? Simply in this way, that he rescinded the religious liberty which had been previously granted, declaring the mode of proceedings of the preachers in question to be a breach of the peace, and as such liable to punishment ; an order was, therefore, issued to the chief authority in the land of Styria to close all the Pro- testant churches and schools, within a period of fourteen days from the 13th of September 1598, and a further decree was pro- mulgated that the schoolmasters and preachers were, under the penalty of death, to cease all preaching and instruction, or within eight days to leave the country. Edicts of an exactly similar tenour were now published in the remaining provinces of Inner Austria, and with the further proviso, moreover, that all Evan- gelicals and heretics were either to become at once Catholic again,, or instantly to sell their goods and possessions, and, after paying a tenth part of the proceeds, to leave the country. Duke Fer- dinand, it may be observed, now made use of flowery language no longer, nor did he conceal, in the least degree, what was his great aim. But what did the Protestants do on the occasion, seeing that it was now a matter of life and death for them ?' They formed, as I have explained above, by far the greatest majority of the population, and might, if they wished to do so,, thus offer with ease a stout resistance, especially as most of the property was in their hands. But did they, then, offer this resistance ? Yes, certain communities did, indeed, do so, as,, for instance, that of Klagenfurt, the capital of Carinthia. All the others, however, contented themselves, from submissive courage, in making merely earnest remonstrances, or, at most,, vehement representations on the subject, and in this case it was an easy matter for the Archduke to crush them by means of his troops and powerful opposition, the small communities being so isolated. I will not further dilate upon this unworthy submission of those Protestants of Inner Austria, founded upon the teach- ing that it was the duty of Christians rather to endure the greatest injustice than oppose the divine right of the ruler of the country, merely reiterating the observation that the victory would certainly have been on their side had they only risen in masses against their oppressor. Under such circum- 238 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. stances as these, a sentence was forthwith pronounced against them such a sentence, indeed, as was seldom carried out against a city taken by storm. As soon, namely, as the Jesuits and these were from this time forth the sole directing powers of Inner Austria saw, to their particular astonishment, that the hundred thousands of their heretical opponents allowed with humility anything to take place, they then moved their Archduke to establish a great tribunal of the Inquisition, and the emis- saries thereof penetrated throughout the whole country under the designation of royal commissioners, proceeding from village to village, and from town to town, in order to bring back the stray lambs into the sheep-fold of the only saving Church. This result, however, was not effected by means of mild persuasion, or derived in the least degree from convictions originating in the Bible or the Word of God, but rather by the sword of the warriors by whom the commissioners were accompanied, and especially by fear of the gallows ; before every village, indeed, the latter were erected, and whoever did not at once either abjure Protestantism, or emigrate, might be certain to find a halter round his neck. After this fashion, the Jesuits proceeded for five long years, and during that space of time they consigned to the flames more than forty thousand Lutheran Bibles, while they also occa- sionally, to make short work of it, converted a number of Pro- testant churches into ruins by means of cannon or by blowing them up into the air with gunpowder. At the commencement of the year 1600 they could thus trust that the whole of the heretics had become reconverted, at least outwardly, with the exception of about 30,000 who had chosen to emigrate, and thus was the peace of the Church scattered to the winds. Thus terminated the fearful war of heresy-extermination which was undertaken by the Jesuits in Germany, and it may easily be understood that they had at the same time not neglected to enlarge the supremacy of their power. In this way they obtained, at the beginning of Ferdinand's govern- ment, a large college at Laibach, the capital of Carinola ; while, further, in the year 1598, the lordship of Mullstadt in Carinthia was given to them, with all thereto belonging, equal, ndeed, to a principality endowed with comprehensive sovereign THE POWEKFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 239 eights. Then, again, in the year 1607, a fine new college was erected by them in Klagenfurt, and another not less splendid at Leohen ; besides, lastly, in the year 1609, a really princely palace, in the shape of a university building in Gratz itself, together with a whole quantity of smaller properties and incomes, to enumerate which would take up far too much time. Of con- siderably greater importance, however, was the fact that, since the accomplishment of the heresy conversion, they governed the whole of Inner Austria as supreme lords, and ordered every thing according to their own will and pleasure. The Protestant princes of Germany, it is true, perceived the progress of events in Inner Austria with much inward indigna- tion, seeing all this, however, without moving hand or foot ; and consequently, going upon the principle of striking when the iron is hot, the Jesuits did not cease to whisper into the ears of the Emperor Eudolph II. that now was the important juncture and now was the time for again establishing the universal faith throughout all the states of Austria. Kudolph showed him- self not at all disinclined to follow this counsel, nominating, for instance, special commissioners for his Archduchy of Austria who, during the years from 1599 to 1603, penetrated throughout the whole country for the purpose of hunting out all the Pro- testant clergy. He also presented to the sons of Loyola a splendid dwelling together with several ruined Protestant churches in Linz Austria's capital, ob der Ens, " beyond the Ens " and in it sprung up shortly such a beautiful college as few like it had ever before made their appearance. On the other hand, he did not hesitate carrying out similar measures in his other two kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary, which, with the aid of the Turks, had hitherto quite withdrawn themselves from his sway ; but now they were penetrated by the four Jesuit Fathers, Oeorge Scherer, William Lamormain, Jacob Geranus, and Johannes von Millen, who, during the last ten years of his life, had almost completely ruled over this weak monarch. As, however, in this case, the Order had to renounce the above- mentioned measures, at least openly, it indemnified itself in this way, that it now began in a truly fiendish spirit, and by slan- derous writings of all kinds, to stir up and irritate the Catholics against the Evangelicals ; and it is an established fact that they pursued this plan with true art, although the Protestants 240 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. certainly, it must be admitted, were not behindhand in their replies. It would, indeed, be very amusing to serve up before the public a list of such-like abusive writings, but I must for good reasons forego this, and the reader must just be content with a few fragments instead of with a full meal. Father Andreas, for instance, wrote in this way : " It would be better to marry the Devil rather than a Lutheran woman, as one might be able to drive away the Evil One with holy water and exorcism, whilst, with a Lutheran woman, the Cross, Chrysom, and baptismal water would be thrown away." Then,, again, Father Gretser gave it as his opinion " that whoever received the sacrament in both kinds from a Lutheran parson, received the Devil into his body " ; and in another place he affirmed " that Evangelicals, when they wished to marry, were not worthy of being proclaimed by a priest, but by the execu- tioner or hangman." Father Conrad Better used to describe the Evangelicals publicly as "rogues, miscreants, and traitors''; and Luther himself was, in his opinion, "a lost apostate, a thief, a robber, a filthy sow, and a senseless beast, the Devil's boon companion." Then, in the year 1610, Father Christopher Ungersdorf published a pamphlet, in which he applied to the Evangelical deputies of the state the following flattering nick- names: to the Elector of Saxony, "the serene sow"; to him of the Pfalz, " the beast from Heidelberg " ; to the Landgrave of Hesse, " the highly-learned swine " ; to the Duke of Wiirtemberg, " the rich temple-robber of Stuttgart"; to the Landgrave of Bran- denburg, " Biittels von Anspach*'; and to the Pfalzgrave von Neuburg, " a senseless and demented fool." The sons of Loyola, indeed, were not satisfied merely with loading the Lutherans with insults and derision of all kinds, but they also, without disguise, from their pulpits as well as in their publications, demanded that the Catholics should take up arms for the extermination of the heretics ; and Anton Possevin, one of the most prominent members of the Society, went so far as to deny eternal happiness to the Emperor Ferdinand I., because he was actually so godless as to grant to the Protestants the free exercise of their religion. " For what object have we given to us money, soldiers, sabres, and cannon," cried the Fathers Adam Tanner, Paul Windeok, and Vitus Eborman, " but to use them against ihe enemy t" THE POWEBFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. '241 Why do we hesitate, then, in commencing to eradicate and root out heresy root and branch, and especially this Calvinistic abomination ? Kill them, then, the hounds, strike them down, and hurl them to the ground, give them their finishing stroke, burn their houses over their heads, and overwhelm them with everything of the worst description that can be invented, so that the hateful brood may finally disappear from off the face of the earth." So cried out the Loyolites ; and there could be no longer any doubt that what they had been striving for was nothing else than to stir up a war of annihilation against Protestantism. This must become, moreover, the more clear to everyone who vouchsafes a penetrating glance at the proceedings of the pious Fathers in their beloved Ba- varia. There, as we have seen, the fraternity had attained to great power under Albert V., and still more so under his son and successor William V., who reigned from 1579 to 1596. During the education of the latter, Father Hoffaus had obtained such an influence over him that one might, on that account, well prophesy a brilliant future career for the Order under the coming reign of William ; and then, again, these expectations would be all the more increased on the said William, as Crown Prince, becoming united in marriage, in 1568, with the over-pious Eenata, the daughter of Duke Francis I. of Loraine, whose Father Confessor, Dominicus Mengin, also made her his own. As this man was naturally not only at heart a very arrogant individual but outwardly a very fawning and courtier- like Jesuit, he, too, in a short time, completely obtained the mastery over his distinguished confessant son. William, indeed, after his succession to the Government, allowed himself to be led like a child by the pious Father, and vied with his spouse, from this time forward, in the most foolishly extravagant favouritism towards the Order of Jesus, of which the splendid building devoted to it in Munich is a most striking proof. As, however, this waste of Government property gradually assumed enormous proportions, and as the ruler came at last to have no thought for anything else than for Jesuit affairs, a general feeling of discontent manifested itself at length among the people, and in consequence thereof, the Duke saw himself compelled to abdicate in favour of 16 242 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. his son Maximilian,* in the year 1596. He became so infatu- ated, indeed, that he was especially fond of making pilgrimages on foot along with his beloved Father Confessor, even in the burning sun or pouring rain, clad in the garments of a poor pilgrim, sometimes to theDuntenhausen, sometimes to Allotting, sometimes to the Black Virgin Mary, carrying with him con- siderable offerings. The Bavarians now indulged a hope that they were going to enter upon a golden age, thinking, from outward indications, that the young monarch would do his best endeavour to bring his country into a most flourishing condition ; but they had not taken the Jesuits into account. Maximilian I., Duke of Bavaria, from 1596 to 1651, was educated by the Jesuits at Ingoldstadt, as we already stated, along with the Archduke Ferdinand, and had, of course, there imbibed precisely the same principles as the latter. It may well, then, be imagined that the influence of the Jesuits, at the time of his accession to the Government, was not by any means smaller than it had been under that of his father ; only he gave expres- sion to his views in another way, as Maximilian was of quite a different stamp of character, and could boast of being possessed of an energetic mind, and of no inconsiderable degree of culture. How, and in what manner, did Jesuit influence then manifest itself? It was, indeed, in nothing less than this, that the holy Fathers succeeded in bringing the new ruler to the conviction that God had provided him with armour in order that the universal faith might be restored throughout the whole of Germany, and an end, once for all, made of the hated heresy of Protestantism. As respects Bavaria itself, there was, indeed, nothing for the zealous prince to do,t as the whole country, thanks to the fostering care of his forefathers, had remained thoroughly Catholic, and there was aroused in his honour- seeking breast an emulous feeling of envy towards his brother- * William V. withdrew, after his abdication, into the College of the Jesuits in Munich, in order to devote his life to meditation, and died therein in the year 1626, as a kind of saint, leaving behind a manuscript prayer- book, which, however, was never printed. t In order to give the reader an idea of his zeal for the faith, I will only adduce one curious fact, that he was the first Catholic ruler who gave the baptismal female name of Mary to his first-born, in conjunction, at the same time, with that of the Jesuit General Ignatius. He also caused, for the first time, coins to be struck with the image of Mary, along with the superscription " Patrona Bavarise " the " Protectoresa of Bavaria." THE POWEKFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 243 iu-law, Ferdinand of Inner Austria, the friend of his youth,* whose heroic deeds in church matters had at the time electrified the whole of the Catholic world. Was there, then, anything more natural than that the Jesuits should take advantage of this feeling to fan such envy into ever higher and increasing flames, so that they might lead the aspirant to similar renown, in order that he might succeed in attaining even still greater results ? In this respect Maximilian had, no doubt, from the very beginning, entertained an idea that the religious peace, which the Emperor had concluded in the year 1555 with the Protestants, might now foe broken at any moment by the Catholics, because by this means the country would be freed from an erring religion, and in his eyes Evangelical teaching was erroneous. To do this was nothing but an allowable transaction, and consequently the only question was as to the proper time "when" it should be broken. In order to determine that this " when " should take place at once, and with the view of immediately carrying the affair into effect, he very quickly assembled soldiers, with war material and ammunition, under the pretext that this was on account of the Turkish war then imminent, the truth being that it was, on the contrary, for a great struggle for the faith, for the prosecution of which the Jesuits were now working with all their might and main. Before, however, lifting the curtain of what might be such a frightful tragedy, they desired to previously exercise the intended hero of the scene with some preliminary and tentative transactions, two of which are especially worthy of notice, namely, the forcible capture and conversion of Donauworth, as well as the secession to the Catholic faith of Wolfgang Wilhelm of Pfalz-Neuburg, and the eradication of Protestantism from his country. Donauworth, in former times a Bavarian town, had been successful in wresting its freedom, and had contrived to retain it for a period of nearly two centuries from the year 1420. Regarding the faith of its inhabitants, a part belonged to the Catholic belief, which found its support in the cloister of the Holy Cross, in possession of the Benedictine Order of monks. More than four-fifths, however, of the inhabitants adhered to Lutheranism, and the Protestants might, therefore, be considered the ruling body. But since the * The Grand Duke Ferdinand had become united in marriage with the sister of Maximilian on the 23rd of April 1COO. 16 * 244 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. establishment of religious peace both parties had got on very well together, and during the last twenty years of the IGth century a most friendly relation subsisted between the Catholics and the Lutherans. After the decease of the tolerant Abbot Christopher Gerung, the Jesuits succeeded (in May 1605i), through the intercession of their great patron, Maximilian I., as also of their very particular friend Bishop Henry V. of Augsburg, in inducing the monks of the time to elect as their Abbot, Leonard Horman, a Bavarian subject ; and now, consequently, there would doubtless soon be an end of peace. By the advice and at the instigation of his Father Confessor, the Jesuit John Buslidius, Duke Maximilian now incited Horman no longer to re- gard the magisterial regulation, which had for dozens of years been established, to the effect that no public processions with cross and banners should be allowed to proceed through the town, and the Abbot immediately took the hint: this was in the year 1605. He, therefore, organised a most pompous procession on the Feast of Corpus Christi, and thereby hurt not a little the Protestant inhabitants. No disturbance, however, occurred ; the only result being that the magistrate forbade that anything of the kind should in future take place. Upon this, however, the Abbot, as well as the above-mentioned Bishop of Augsburg, took great offence, and both of them made a complaint to the Imperial Councillor in . regard to the oppression which they represented the Catholics of Donauworth had to suffer. The Imperial Court Councillor, not, indeed, the most suitable person to determine the point, now gave it as his decision, in October 1605, that all such processions might be allowed to take place, and determined to make the magistrate responsible for any excesses that might come to pass ; the magistrate, however, firm to his purpose, affirmed that it would be better not to irritate the common people, and entreated the Abbot to keep the peace. Horman, nevertheless, thereupon organised a magnificent procession to a neighbouring village, on the 1 Ith of April J 606, proclaiming his project from the pulpit the day before, to the whole of the in- habitants, in a very scornful manner. It was not, then, a matter of any surprise that the rough element among the Protestant population collected, and greeted the procession scornfully, not only with showers of stones, but that they also tore into pieces one of the flags belonging to the fraternity. Naturally THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 245 enough, this proceeding gave rise to a much more energetic complaint to the Aulic Court, and afterwards to considerable wrangling and contention between the parties concerned. The Emperor Rudolph II., being urged to do so by Maximilian I., authorised the latter " to protect the Catholics in Donauworth from further insolence, as the magistrate was clearly too weak to hold in check the evil-disposed part of the population." The Jesuits had accomplished as much as they wanted, and the result followed as a natural consequence. In the first place, Maximilian sent certain commissioners to the town, in order to take the necessary measures for the protection of the Catholic community ; but these gentlemen, having been previously in- structed by Buslidiushow to proceed, conducted themselves with such arrogance that the people hustled them out of the gate. It was then declared that Donauworth was in a state of rebellion against His Imperial Majesty ; and the Jesuit entourage of the Emperor Rudolph urged him so much to do so, that he finally decided that from the 3rd of August 1607 the town should be put under the ban of the Empire. As was, of course, to be understood, the carrying out of this was entrusted to Maximilian, as the nearest Catholic power belonging to the Empire, and he forthwith surrounded Donauworth by a military force of such considerable numbers that resistance was, of course, no longer to be thought of. Moreover, not a single one of the Protestant princes came to the aid of the poor inhabitants, conse- quently, nothing else remained for them to do but to open the gates, on the 17th December 1607, to the Bavarian Duke. This they did, however, only on condition that no one was to be interfered with as regards his religious liberty, and Maxi- milian promised, on his "princely honour," to maintain this condition. In what way did he, then, keep his plighted word? It was, truly, a very peculiar mode of respecting his " princely honour." His secular counsellors, or, as one would now call them, ministers, advised him, it is true, to leave untouched the religious condition of the conquered town, and merely to hold "it in occupation until the expenses of the war had been paid ; -for, had he acted otherwise, Donauworth having hitherto been a free Imperial town, he would necessarily have rendered himself liable to very severe reproaches from the Protestant Imperial 246 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Members of Parliament ; his spiritual adviser, however, the above-named Father Confessor Buslidius, together with the pious Fathers Matthias Mitner and George Schrettl, whom he had brought along with him to Donauworth, as well as several other Jesuits, demanded of him that he should at once put an end to heresy in Donauworth by force, in order that Catholicism might be able to hold up its head therein, and without further ado to incorporate the town in his dominions. They very well knew that, by thus acting, he would make himself an open violator of the religious peace, and they, at the same time, were equally well aware that the Duke, in following their advice, would be regarded by the world as a dishonourable traitor to his word. But, out the latter point, they consoled him that he was bound by reli- gious duty not to keep faith with heretics, and, as regards the first point, they scornfully expressed their opinion that the Pro- testant members of the Imperial Government would not allow themselves to proceed to extremities for such a trifling affair, as they would at once be silenced by what had already occurred in Inner Austria and other places. Should they, however, deter- mine upon taking coercive measures, then the aim of the Jesuits would be attained by the " opening up of a great religious war," and in this the Catholics would, most certainly, be sure to get the- upper hand, as Maximilian was already fully prepared, whereas the Protestant party were not so. Maximilian could not with- stand such arguments as these, and he therefore at once took the necessary steps for the suppression of Protestantism in Donau- worth. He commenced by driving out of doors the whole of the Protestant clergy, and by assigning their churches to the sons of Loyola. At the same time he proceeded equally against the Evangelical teachers, whose places were, without exception, at once filled up by Catholics ; the burgesses, moreover, were obliged by force to send their children to the schools to which, they had not gone before ; and those who wished to escape being teased and tormented were, as well, obliged to go to Mass. In- short, no means were omitted, not even the most execrable, in- order to drive the burgesses to receive the old faith, long laid aside, while Maximilian, at the same time,, fully carried out the other advice of the Jesuits in making Donauworth, with the approbation of the Jesuitically bigoted Emperor Kudolph II.,. a Bavarian country town, and in this way. the work of con- THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 247 version met with complete success in the course of a few years. How, then, was it with the Protestant members ? These were at that time (1607-1608) assembled, along with the Catholics, in the Parliament at Ratisbon, and they right well understood what this exercise of power properly signified. They per- ceived that the occupation of Donauworth was, so to speak, nothing else than the flight of the first arrow in the great reli- gious war, and that doubtless it must have been determined upon in the High Council of the Society of Jesus, so that the work of annihilation of heresy, begun as it was among the weaker portion of the Protestant estates and Imperial towns, would be, later on, continued, according to circumstances, among the stronger places also. They clearly perceived all this, and now candidly gave expression to their opinion ; but what, in fact, did they now do ? Ah ! action was expected from them, but in vain. They contented themselves merely in making a protest, that is to say, they confined themselves to words only, to which the other party gave themselves no trouble to pay any heed whatever. This much good was, however, caused thereby, that in May it gave rise to the formation of the Protestant League, with the view of in- cluding within one bond of brotherhood the Lutherans and Calvinists, who had hitherto been sworn enemies. Unfortunately, this said union was but of too short duration in order to have anything of a truly permanent effect, besides which, in July 1609, Maximilian I. called into existence a Catholic League, the strength of which counterbalanced that of the other union. What, then, was the upshot of this attempt of the Jesuits upon Donauworth ? Nothing else than, apparently, the open division of Germany into two great inimical camps, which now only awaited a signal from the leaders to enter into a deadly strife with each other. Thus the Jesuits always advanced nearer to their object. But still another skirmish must yet be undertaken prior to the proper commencement of this great religious war, namely, the secession to the Catholics of Wolfgang Wilhelm of Pfalz- Neuburg, and the extinction of Protestantism in his dominions. After the death of John William III., Duke of Ziilich and Cleve, without leaving behind him any direct heirs, the two princely Houses of Pfalz-Neuburg and Brandenburg each believed them- 248 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. selves to have an equal right to the inheritance, and Ziilich was at once taken possession of by the Crown Prince Wolfgang Wilhelm of Pfalz-Neuburg, while, on the other hand, Cleve was seized upon by the Electoral Prince of Brandenburg. Each of these magnates, however, was desirous of obtaining the whole of the inheritance for himself, and each of them applied to the Protestant union, of which both were members, demanding of the same to make intercession for him with the Imperial Diet. The union had then to determine to which of the two pretenders they would give their support, and, for a time, it appeared that Kurbrandenburg was to gain the victory. This, however, was only apparent, as the members constituting the union were too disunited and wanting in energy to come to any definite decision on the subject, and, consequently, Kurbrandenburg as well as Pfalz-Neuburg was put off from one session to another. It was now pointed out to Wolfgang Wilhelm by the Jesuits, through the medium of the Ambassador of Philip III., King of Spain, that an excellent means of obtaining the inheritance for himself would be for him to form an alliance with the House of Bavaria, and thereby gain the powerful intercession of Duke Maximilian I. ; so the Catholic league united with him. This enlightened Pfalz-Neuburger then lost no time in soliciting the hand of the Princess Magdalena, the sister of Maximilian. This offer was received very favourably by the latter, who, at the same time, declared that he could not call a heretic his brother-in- law. Such an announcement, clearly made, could not be mis- understood. Now Wolfgang Wilhelm, together with his whole family, had, up to the present time, belonged to the most orthodox of all orthodox Lutherans, and often used to make a boast of having read through the whole Bible not less than, at least, two dozen times during the course of the year. How, then, could he ever be expected to make a change in his faith ? Wonderful to relate, however, doubts now began to arise in the mind of the Neuburger as to whether he had hitherto really fol- lowed the true faith ; so when he proceeded forthwith to Munich, in order to expedite his marriage projects, the above so often mentioned Johann Buslidius contrived to work upon his mind so strenuously that it at last yielded, and the affair came thereupon to a head. He, consequently, in July 1613, went over to the Catholic religion secretly, fearing the anger of his old father, who THE POWEBFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 249 \vas still then living, and four months afterwards married the sister of Duke Maximilian. Not long after this, the Jesuits began purposely to spread abroad the intelligence of his having 43ome over, in order to compel him to throw off this secrecy, which he at length formally did in May 1614, not caring that, by so doing, he would necessarily break the heart of his poor i'ather, whose death actually occurred in consequence two months ^afterwards. The Jesuits had now attained their first object, in the gaining over to their side of Wolfgang Wilhelm, and their second aim, that is, the extinction of Protestantism in his dominions, could no longer be very difficult of accomplishment. Those newly converted, as a rule, make themselves conspicuous as zealous partizans of the newly-accepted faith, in order to prove their sincerity to the world, and Wolfgang Wilhelm, formed no exception to the rule. In a few days, too, after he had taken the step of secession, he assured the then Pope, Paul V., in an autograph letter, of his unqualified devotion to him, and expressly added that he had formed the resolution " of rooting out Lutheranism and of making himself a pillar of the Roman Catholic Church, of prohibiting in his dominions the free exercise of the Evangelical religion, and of proceeding to the uttermost against the Protestants, and bringing about their destruction and downfall," thereby proving himself to be a true disciple of the Jesuits. Nevertheless, two months after his accession to the Government, he did not hesitate to promise solemnly, in a special edict, to allow his Protestant subjects the undisturbed retention and free exercise of their religion, for otherwise the Pfalz-Neuburgers would have failed to pay him homage ; moreover, what did his promise signify, when at any moment he might easily free himself from it ? I will now shortly state what took place. Immediately after his arrival, in February 1615, in Neuburg, the capital of his paternal possessions, he gave over the Castle church to two Jesuits, named Jacob Reihing and Anton Welser, the first of whom was his own, and the second his wife's, Father Confessor. And now the expulsion of Lutheranism vigorously proceeded, the means employed being just the same as in Donauworth and elsewhere, namely, in the first place, the expulsion of all Protestant eccle- siastics and teachers, followed by the deposition of all opposing 250 HISTOBY OF THE JESUITS. officials, and the oppression of all those who still were disposed towards heresy, favour being shown to all who went over to the only saving Church. For instance, such means were specially em- ployed as the quartering of soldiers on such of the inhabitants as proved to be refractory, a proceeding which was found to be so efficacious that not only the Neuburgers but the inhabitants of the other remaining villages became acquiescent within a few months or years; but wherever any resistance showed itself among this sorely-tried people oh ! this, indeed, constituted nothing else than rebellion, and against such it was at once necessary to take up arms. By such means as these, complete success was now attained, in a comparatively short space of time, in the territory of Neuburg, as well as in the Princi- pality of Ziilich, in which Wolfgang, thanks to the aid of the league, was supreme ; for this the Jesuits had occasion to rejoice. With the Principality of Cleves, however, on account of which he had become a Catholic, he never succeeded, as it continued, along with Kurbrandenburg, to remain stedfast to the Protestant cause. It no less rejoiced the Jesuits that the Duke was pleased, through the influence of his beloved Jacob Reihing,* to found colleges for them in various parts of his small domains, especially in Neuburg and Diisseldorf, as by such means their sway became all the greater, and it was all the more pleasing to them in that they now had an opportunity of further extending their influence in other neighbouring Protestant countries. It will be observed, from these proceedings of the Jesuits in Germany, that progress was now being rapidly made in the furtherance of a great war at annihilation against heresy, while before they came into these parts the most perfect peace reigned there between Catholics and Protestants. The latter especially were in no degree to blame, as it was not until the coercive measures of the Jesuits came upon the scene that they took weapons into their hands and opposed like with like. Had they done so previously, in the first Protestant persecutions in * I cannot here refrain from mentioning that the so-called Beihing him- self went over afterwards to Protestantism. On account of his disputations with the Protestants, he found himself under the necessity of studying the Bible accurately, and thereby such a light was thrown upon the faith he had hitherto professed, that, in the year 1621, he came over to the Evan- gelical faith at Tubingen. He became, also, professor of theology in the- baid university, and thus remained until the end of his life. THE POWEEFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 251 Fulda, Mayence, and elsewhere, instead of manifesting internal disunion and cowardice, as in the case of the Archbishopric of Cologne, the arrogance of the much smaller Catholic com- munities would never have increased, year by year, as occurred in the Bishoprics of Paderborn, Minden, Minister, &c.; nor, equally, would what happened in Donauworth andPfalz-Neuburg ever have taken place. There existed, indeed, a much too great amount of passiveness and want of energy, and a much too great spirit of the innate feeling of loyalty and submissiveness towards the laws of the country and towards Imperial Majesty. This was the only reproach that could be made against them with any reason, and I now reiterate that the action proceeded entirely from the side of the Jesuits, and upon them, therefore, rested the responsibility for the frantically atrocious thirty years' religious war. But now let us proceed to facts. The several examples we have already given had been continually preparing the world for the approaching tragedy. But how could this come about, unless the destiny of Germany should happen to be in the hands of a prince who was fully competent to the task ? Such must prove himself to be a man of great spiritual power, and at the same time, of indomitable and terrible energy ; a man endowed with a will which could work itself up to a condition the most hard-hearted of hard-heartedness, so as not to shrink from any deed, even of the most horrible nature ; not the less, also, a man who, brought up in the principles of the Jesuits, would allow himself to be completely guided by them, never turning a deaf ear to their inspirations. It was only when such a prince was found to occupy the German Imperial throne, and threw his weighty Imperial sword into the balance on the side of the Catholics, that it could have been hoped, with any degree of confidence, that Protestantism in Germany, in spite of its always increasing and preponderating majority, would not only not maintain the upper hand, but, on the contrary, be beaten, down even to extinction. It was only then that all this could have a chance of taking place, as the sons of Loyola very well knew. What a great piece of luck was it, indeed, for them that there happened to exist at that time such a prince as this ; and, besides, what still greater good fortune for them was it that he, the said prince, happened to 252 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. be an Archduke of the House of Hapsburg, who, moreorer, had a claim to the Imperial throne, in the person of the said Ferdi- nand of Inner Austria, of whom mention has already been made above more in detail. It was he, indeed, this said Ferdinand, who must wield the Imperial sceptre, if the great religious war now about to commence was ever to turn out to be a glorious victory, and, therefore, was it of so much importance that this sceptre should be procured for him. This, however, was indeed no easy matter, as, on the demise 'of the Emperor Rudolph II., it was his brother Mathias who, in the year 1612 ascended the Imperial throne, and in respect to him it was pretty well known that, for various reasons, he had for some time past fostered a grudge against Ferdinand ; of the numerous causes in question, only a single one need here be adduced, namely, that Ferdinand had induced the childless Emperor Rudolph to make over to him, a distant cousin, the crown of Bohemia and Hungary, instead of to the King's brother Mathias, the rightful heir. There was, therefore, a deep grudge existing on the part of the latter, and this apparently seemed likely to be of permanent continuance. How, then, would the equally childless Mathias appoint the cousin Ferdinand as heir ? for there happened to be several rivals, some of whom could boast of even a nearer relationship to him. But the Jesuits had already shown what they could be capable of effecting, making what was impossible, or what appeared to be impossible, simple enough. They strove, above everything, to win over to their side all those persons who were in the immediate surrounding of the Emperor, and more especially the venal women in whose arms he was wont to revel. This, indeed, was certainly but a very impure channel in which to labour; the pious Fathers, however, would have been quite ready to adopt still more dis- gusting measures had it been for their advantage to do so. The inamoratas of Mathias were now, therefore, assailed in every sort of way, at one time by presents, at another by flattery, at & third time by a lightly-obtained absolution, and then again by frightful threats regarding the world to come, and such-like means; and the cunning Fathers in this way succeeded in gain- ing a considerable sway over the new monarch. They attained even to a still greater influence, when the Bishop Melchior Klesel, the confidant of Mathias for many years, and whom, shortly THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 253 after his accession to the throne, he made his Prime Minister, came over to their side. This Klesel, the son of a Lutheran baker in Vienna, had been converted to Catholicism by Father George Scherer, of whom I have already made men- tion. As a convert of the Jesuits, he clearly could not be unfavourable to the Order of Jesus. As the pious Fathers now promised this baker's son that, first of all, he would be advanced to the post of first minister, while, if he supported them in their plans respecting the Archduke Ferdinand, they agreed to help him to obtain the long-wished-for aim of his highest ambition, a cardinal's hat, he unreservedly engaged himself to do so, and became henceforth their particular friend through thick and thin. Both parties loyally and honestly kept to their engagements, that is to say, Klesel obtained his cardinal's hat in the year 1616, and thereupon the views of Mathias became altered in favour of the Jesuits. By far the greatest service in this matter was accomplished by two members of the Order, i.e. Peter Pazman and Christopher Scheiner, and it was, indeed, they who, properly speaking, brought it about that Fer- dinand was nominated heir to Mathias. Pazman, just as in the case of Klesel, was the son of Protestant parents, who first lived at Grosswardein and then in Gratz. In 1 587, when he was in his- seventeenth year, he was converted to Catholicism by the Jesuits ; he then studied theology in Gratz, and being promoted very early, by his distinguished talents, to be Professor in the local university,, he later on entered the service of the Cardinal Archbishop of Gran, Francis Forgats, and distinguished himself so very much, that the high prelate made him at once not only his most con- fidential counsellor, but, also, in the year 1615, on feeling himself to be on the point of death, recommended him to the Hungarian magnates to be his successor. The latter accordingly solicited the Emperor Mathias that the Archbishopric should be conferred upon him, and the Sovereign, being very well disposed towards him, would have gladly been ready to comply with the request had the laws of the Order not prohibited the acceptance of so high a church preferment by any member of the Society of Jesus. Still this might easily be got over by Pazman's apparent retirement from the Order. This, indeed, actually took place, and as Paul V., the Pope at the time, gave his con- sent to the arrangement, there remained now nothing in the 254 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. way of his nomination as Archbishop. As such he now came into so close and intimate relations with the Emperor Mathias, and so completely won his confidence, that no State business could be carried out without the Jesuit's approbation. The question, especially, of the succession to his Austrian domi- nions as well as to the dignity of Emperor having now to be determined, because his two brothers still living, i.e. Maxi- milian, Archduke of the Tyrol and Outer Austria, and Albert, Regent of the Spanish Netherlands, were both old, sickly, and childless, Pazman naturally suggested to the Emperor that the Archduke of Styria should be nominated his heir. He not only gave this advice, but supported it so eloquently, and with such arguments, that Mathias at length gave his consent, although unwillingly, at the beginning of the year 1617, that the succession should pass to his cousin Ferdinand, even during his own lifetime, and that he should be his universal heir. Still, the cunning Jesuit would hardly have attained his object so easily and so quickly, had it not been for his brother and fellow-worker, Scheiner, who loyally aided him. The latter, at the commencement of the 17th century, working as Professor of Mathematics at the University of Ingoldstadt, was frequently summoned by the Archduke Maximilian, the ruler of the country who, a great lover of mathematics, invited him to proceed to the Tyrol ; and he so ingratiated himself in the good graces of the latter, in the year 1615, by repairing completely for him a valuable telescope which had met with an accident, that Maxi- milian could now no longer rest until Scheiner gave up his Professorship and came to settle at Innsbruck, as his Father Confessor. In this capacity he obtained such an influence over his old confessant, that at length the latter had no other will but that of the Jesuit Father. It consequently came about that, in the same year, 1615, the Archduke, having before him the highly important question of the Imperial succession, which lay so much at heart with the Jesuits, made a step forward of his own accord, and not only renounced for himself the succession, but also engaged to persuade his brother Albert in the Netherlands to do likewise. The Archduke, in fact, at once consented to take this course, and, travelling to Brussels, accompanied by Scheiner, succeeded in getting his brother to take the desired step, as well also as Philip III., King of THE POWEEFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 255 'Spain, who, as grandson of the Emperor Maximilian, had like- wise a claim to the Austrian succession.* But after all this had been committed to writing, and sealed, the ruler of the Tyrol now directed his steps towards Prague, in the autumn of 1616, with the purpose of there meeting his brother Mathias, the reigning Emperor, in order to render an account to him of his proceedings. The latter, indeed, had now no alternative but to give his acquiescence to the persuasive words of Archbishop Pazman. In this manner was the Emperor Mathias influenced to nominate as his successor the Archduke Ferdinand, while the election was recognised by the German people the majority of the Electors being, then, Catholics as also by Bohemia and Hungary, &c. ; naturally, however, only after the same had given his solemn promise sacredly to maintain the privileges and rights of his future subjects, as, before his coronation in Bohemia could take place, he was obliged to take his oath never to alter or evade a single letter in the so-called " Eudolphian Majesty Brief," in which the religious liberty of the country was guaran- teed. But what did an oath signify to a pupil of the Jesuits ? Therefore, the pious Fathers now rejoiced, and with no uncertain Toice proclaimed loudly throughout the whole world, " Novus Rex nova lex," that is to say, " With a new king there will be , new law," or in other words, " A new prince having come to the throne, is not bound to observe the guaranteed rights of the people." It was thus that one of them, Father Andreas Neubauer, held forth from the pulpit in Prague : " His Bohemian Majesty's Brief might as well sanction the coercive .permission of improper houses in the large towns;" while other smembers of the Society of Jesus did not hesitate to speak even of the necessity of the excommunication and confiscation, or -even of the execution, of Evangelicals throughout all German ^countries. It, therefore, became clear to all thinking men that now, with the election of Ferdinand, must begin the fearful war to ensure the complete annihilation of the Protestants of Inner Austria, * Without renunciation, moreover, on the part of Philip III., but Ferdi- nand promised, according to a secret treaty, to give over to him, after his enthronement as Emperor, the Tyrol, Outer Austria, Alsace, and the Breisgau This promise, however, was never carried out, and, from the rst, Ferdinand had no intention of fulfilling it. 256 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. for which the sons of Loyola had all along been working ; and he, in fact, began this great struggle, as everyone knows, in May 1618. He commenced his operations in Bohemia, and it was in consequence of the continued and systematical persecu- tion of the Evangelicals by the sons of Loyola, as also by the treatment to which the Government subjected the rebels, that they banished the Jesuits out of Bohemia for all time. He began, then, this business during the regime of the Emperor Mathias, who, as is known, did not die till the year 1619. The latter, however, was by this time so sick and decrepit that he could only be looked upon as a poor tool in the hands of his successor, Ferdinand ; and the whole frightful responsibility for this terrible thirty years' war must rest upon the Emperor Ferdinand II., and his teachers, rulers, and bosom friends, the sons of Loyola. Is it now necessary for me to cause all the horrible scenes of this ferocious war to pass in review before the eyes of the* reader ? To adopt such a course would be a departure from the original intention of this work. It will, therefore, be sufficient merely to direct attention to the influence exercised by the Jesuits upon the course of this war. It must be stated at the outset that Ferdinand II., in the first year of the struggle, was on the point of putting an end to the tumult he had created ; for almost all of his heritable states, especially Moravia, Silesia, Hungary, as well as Lower and Upper Austria, took part in the rebellion, on which account, behind the backs of the Jesuits,, he made an application to the Pope, through an extra- ordinary ambassador, Count Maximilian von Trautmansdorf, despatched in 1619, to be allowed to conclude peace on the condition of granting religious liberty. When, however, the sons of Loyola came to be made aware of the secret, they imme- diately sent a messenger to their General, Mucius Vittelleschi, with the object of working upon the Pope, in order that the latter should give a negative reply to the Emperor's petition ; and this actually in the end occurred, while, in addition, the Imperial Father Confessor, Johann Weingartner, was led to make the infernal regions so hot to his high and mighty con- fessant, on account of the wicked deed he had in contempla- tion, that Ferdinand at length abstained from his intention. Their aim and object was that the war should not be again THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 257 smothered at its inception, but that it should, in truth, become a war of annihilation. Besides, was it possible for them to allow peace to be concluded with countries whose rebellious Govern- ments had issued a law ruling that no Jesuit should ever again dare to show his face, under pain of death, within their boundaries ? This, indeed, had Bohemia done, as also Hungary, Moravia, Silesia, with Upper and Lower Austria; and not only had they acted thus, but, at the same time, had publicly disclosed to the world, all the nefarious peculiarities and deeds of the Order of Jesus, in such a manner as to em- bitter the feelings of the Jesuits in the highest degree.* But when Ferdinand II. had formed the resolution of prosecuting the war, was it in his power to do so ? All his treasure- chests were well-nigh exhausted, and his armies did not, at the most, number more than about J 2,000 men, which were insufficient to make a stand against four times the number of enemies ; the support from abroad, too, which Philip III. of Spain had prof- fered, was but scanty, and did not much signify. The sons of Loyola, however, knew a way how to get out of the difficulty, and it consisted in this, that they gained the help of Maximilian I. of Bavaria for their protege. The House of Wittelsbach, it is true, stood in no very friendly relationship to Austria, as through it much injustice had been done to the Hapsburgers since the time that the latter obtained possession of the German Imperial throne ; and the Dukes of Bavaria had, more especially, to complain of the enormous robbery, perpetrated in 1505, of the rich territory of Landshut, the inheritance of Duke George. Ferdinand II., moreover, had not, for a long time past, given evidence of having acted the part of a very dear friend towards the companion of his youth, Maximilian, or the part, indeed, of an honest man; for he had even been intriguing against him in every way, out of a feeling of jealousy, in order to * In the legal document to which this refers it is stated, among other things, " We have discovered that the authors of all this premeditated mischief were the Jesuits, who alone applied themselves thereto, as they rendered secure the Roman Chair, and were desirous of bringing all kingdoms and countries under their control and power. Towards accomplishing this end, however, they permitted themselves to make use of the most inadmissible means ; they urged the magistracy against the subjects, and the subjects against the magistracy ; they caused friends to take up arms against friends, and everywhere stirred up strife, uproar, and insurrection ; they arrogated to themselves on all occasions the political government, and promulgated the doctrine that whoever did not adhere to the Catholic religion sinned againat truth and faith," &c. 17 258 HISTOBY OF THE JESUITS. cause him to give up the leadership of the League ; and besides, several other things had occurred that had naturally vexed the Bavarian princes. Might it not, then, have been considered likely that Maximilian would have been inclined to take advan- tage of the great straits in which the ruler of Austria then was, to procure satisfaction for all the former offences and injustice that had been sustained by him? One might certainly have thought so, indeed, and even supposed that the policy of the State would have called for such action ; but it was the desire of the Jesuits that it should be otherwise, and these were, as I have already shown, all-powerful at the Court of Munich. Thus, for instance, the Duke was unceasingly importuned by his Father Confessor, and other members of the Society of Jesus, to place himself at the head of the war, for the honour of God, the glory which would accrue to heroes of the true faith being depicted to him in glowing terms. Therefore, when, in the beginning of October 1619, the friend of his youth came to him in Munich, begging for aid, Maximilian not only did not refuse to give it to him, but, on the contrary, promised him his full support. And, indeed, a very disinterested treaty, as it proved, was concluded between them on the 8th October 1619. We shall now see, from the history of the Thirty Years' war, what effect this union between Ferdinand and Maximilian pro- duced, entirely brought about as it was by the art and cunning of the Jesuits, who were in this way successful in securing the victory of the former, instead of his downfall, in proof of which I must refer my readers to the history of that war. Such was the first indication of the extraordinary influence which the Jesuits exercised on the course of the great religious war, and I must now pass over to the consideration of the part they played in securing the Catholicizing and pacification of Bohemia. After the decisive battle of the White Hill at Prague, in November 1620, Duke Maximilian, overtaken by a temporary paroxysm of humanity, promised the Bohemians, in return for their unconditional submission, security of person as well as a complete amnesty, and the Bohemians naturally enough put con- fidence in his princely word. Now, such a promise was extremely hateful to the Jesuits, as they unceasingly continued to thirst after the blood of the heretical leaders by whom, two years THE POWEKFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 259 previously, they had been driven out of Bohemia, and con- sequently they perpetually beset the ears of the Emperor Ferdi- nand with the argument that he need not give himself any trouble about the plighted word of Maximilian. Ferdinand for a long time withstood their importunities, not wishing to rudely insult the man who had reconquered Bohemia for him, and who had crushed the insurrection in the other Austrian pro- vinces; at last, however, beginning to waver, he convoked a secret Clerical Council, in the beginning of June 1621, in order to arrive at a satisfactory determination. The chief speakers in this assembly were the two Imperial Father Confessors, the Jesuit Fathers Johann Weingartner and Martin Becanus,* as also four other members of the Order, among whom was the Eector of the College at Vienna, the greatly distinguished William Lamormain,f and the latter, with whom rested the casting vote, exclaimed with a firm voice that he wo^ild take upon himself and upon his conscience all the bloodshed which might occur. The Emperor now declared himself prepared to sign the sentence of death which had been long prepared by the Jesuits, and the tragedy commenced on the 21st of June 1621, by the murder of seven-and-twenty of the richest, most conspicuous, and most noble of the Bohemian nation. In the self-same hour, however, Ferdinand lay on his knees before the image of the Virgin Mother of God at Mariazell, to which he had made a pilgrimage, earnestly praying, as a true disciple of the Jesuits, for the souls of his victims. The affair, naturally, did not end with this "first" bloody sentence, but there now began a regular system * Becanus, properly speaking, called Van der Beek, was born about the year 1561, in the village of Wolveren in Belgium. He entered into the Order of Jesuits in the year 1583, and five years afterwards took upon himself, the duties of Professor of Theology in Cologne. In the same capacity he came to Vienna in the year 1613, and, seven years later on, the Emperor Ferdi- nand promoted him to the office of Second Confessor, as the Father Weiu- gartner had now become very old. He did not, however, retain this important office long, as he died in January 1624. t Wilhelm Lamormain, or more properly called " Lammermann," first saw the light at Ardenne, in the Luxemburg territory, about the year 1570, and joined the Order when very young. In the main his career was much the same as that of Becanus, only he advanced from Professor of Theology to be Rector of the College in Gratz, and was, at the request of Ferdinand II., transferred to Vienna and placed in a similar capacity there. Ferdinand felt himself uncommonly strongly drawn towards Lamormain, so that the latter exercised the greatest influence upon 'the Sovereign's determinations, and on that account, after the death of Becanus in the year 1624, he was immediately raised to the dignity of the Emperor's Father Confessor, and acted in this capacity up to the time of his own .death in 1648. 17 * 260 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. of Protestant persecution more mean, cruel, and horribly bloody- things happened, indeed, than can well be conceived and, ac- cording to the evidence furnished by the Jesuits themselves, the originator of all this was their distinguished brother, William Lamormain. I will not further depict the horrors which were practised during the next four years under the cloak of conversion from heresy. I will not speak thereof, or as to how and in what manner the whole of the non-Catholic community was robbed, not only of all civil, but of all human rights ; I will not relate anything further regarding their actions the deeds, I mean, of the so- called Reformation Commission of Ferdinand, which was nothing else than an imitation of the Spanish tribunal of the Inquisition, having, as its characteristic, the same harsh barbarity, the same unlimited power of branding, cutting off noses and ears, as well as of hanging, beheading, and breaking on wheels. I will even, pass over in silence the horrible military hatred aroused, which consisted in this, that the Croats, Cuirassiers, or Lachtensteiners, were employed, with drawn swords, in hunting down the people, forcing them to the Mass with dogs and whips, and throwing the refractory ones into cages in which they could neither sit, lie down, nor even stand, while they were compelled to witness, at the same time, the most horrible violence applied to their poor wives and daughters, until the husbands and fathers swore upon their knees to renounce heresy. All this, and much more, will I pass over. It is my duty, however, to mention the names of those who were leading spirits and instigators, for the most part, of those devilish persecutions, and they were no other than the Jesuit Fathers Adam Krawarsky, Andreas Metsch, Leonard Oppel, Kaspar Hillebrand, George Ferus, Ferdinand Kollowrat, Friedrich Bridel, and Mathias Vierius. What were the ter- rible results of this reign of terror, more especially to the unfortunate Bohemians, are related by the Jesuit historian Balbin, who was an eye-witness of the horrors he depicts; he says, indeed : " It is truly astounding that, after all that has taken place, there were any remaining inhabitants to be found;" but he adds, it is an established fact, on the other hand, that " the existing population of these desolated lands completely recognise Catholicism, and Evangelical faith was entirely exterminated.'' As a third proof of the extraordinary influence exercised by the Jesuits in the course of the great religious war in Germany,. THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 261 I must bring to notice the extinction of Protestantism in Silesia ; and, as a fourth, the murder of the great Frieslander, the Imperial Generalissimo. The Silesian insurgents had, in the year 1621, submitted to the Emperor Ferdinand; not, however, by force of arms, but in consequence of a solemn treaty entered into between the parties, which ensured a general amnesty to the inhabitants for their participation in the Bohemian insurrection, and granted a confirmation of all their rights and privileges, more especially that of religious liberty. This treaty was promulgated through- out the whole of Silesia, by the Emperor himself, on the 17th of July 1621, by means of public Patents, and no one living in the country could have thought there was any possibility that any Prince or Emperor could have been so dishonourable and devoid of all shame as to break such a solemn oath and engage- ment. But Ferdinand II. showed himself to be a worthy pupil of the Jesuits, and the Fathers Martin Becanus and William Lamormain knew how to quiet his conscience. There conse- quently began a systematic persecution of the Silesian Protes- tants in the year following, and, as they did not at once burst out into rebellion, the same means were used to obtain this end as had been resorted to in Bohemia. "Extermination of heresy," -was the watchword which the sons of Loyola preached from morning to night, and the Lichtensteiner, together with other inhuman warriors, served on this occasion as "Saviour." With what unmeasured cruelty they, however, conducted themselves, may best be understood by this, that a Jesuit even, Father Nerlich of Glogan, was unable any longer to witness it, and on that account demanded his withdrawal from Father Lamormain in Vienna. But enough has been said on this subject. Silesia was, in this way, regained by the Jesuits, but in such a manner that the country lost half of its inhabitants, and sank into the greatest state of misery ! I come now to speak more particularly of the fourth proof of Jesuit influence ; of the murder, mamely, of Albert Wenzel -of Wallenstein, Duke of Friesland, Mecklenburg, and Sagan, beyond doubt the greatest General of all those who com- manded the Catholic armies in this war. The Jesuits had selected him as leader, on account of his having made the House of Hapsburg the all-ruling Power in Europe, and Ferdinand II. 262 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the absolute ruler of the German Empire, for the sons of Loyola never for one single instant left out of sight their great aim and object, that, namely, of a universal monarchy. He, then, the Frieslander, was the man for the business in hand ; not merely on account of his great talents as a commander, but, still more, because he had been educated at the College of Olmutz, and; consequently his views were completely in accord with theirs. For a long time both of these parties had agreed well together, for at least the Frieslander had to thank the intercession or Father Lamormain, the most influential man at the Imperial Court, and in reality the Prime Minister, for the bestowal on him of the Dukedom of Sagan and Mecklenburg. Thus Wallenstein, his palm having been well greased, that is to say, having rich presents bestowed upon him, set himself zealously to work along with his coadjutors, to obtain for the Order of Jesus a firm footing in this hitherto Protestant country belonging to the Empire. As, however, later on, Wallenstein, on account of the great straits to which the country was at that time reduced, hud been appointed to be Generalissimo, with full dictatorial powers, and had taken such unlimited advantage of his dictatorship that not only the army, but the Court also, came to be completely under his control and guidance, a frightful feeling of resentment was aroused towards him in the mind of the Father Confessor of the Emperor, who had hitherto alone managed him, and con- ducted the ship of the State. This feeling of resentment on the part of the Jesuits became exchanged for perfect fury when they considered that the Frieslander had been raised to the giddy height on which he now stood, properly speaking, on their own shoulders; and they, therefore, at once resolved upon his down- fall, as soon as they became convinced that they could no longer make use of him as their tool. Of this state of matters, too, the Frieslander was not, indeed, in ignorance, and he frequently expressed himself to his most intimate confidants as hating the Jesuits from the bottom of his heart, so that, as soon as it was possible for him to do so, be would be prepared to hunt them out of the Empire. The sons of Loyola, however, were beforehand with him, and in com- bination with Maximilian of Bavaria, and his other enemies, succeeded, at the beginning of the year 1634, in persuading the Emperor Ferdinand that now the time had arrived when this- THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 263 troublesome dictator was no longer required. The mere deposi- tion or removal of the hated man was not sufficient for them, as they had been taught to fear him ; what they desired was his death and complete disappearance from this world's stage, and, therefore, through the medium of Father Lamormain, they talked, over the Emperor without much trouble, and got him to attach his signature to a death-warrant, which was carried into effect at Eger on the 24th of February 1634. It was they, besides, who made use of messengers and riders, in order to communicate with the treacherous captains under the Frieslander's command, and more especially with Gallas, Butler, and Piccolomini, and it was in their college at Prague where, according to the evidence of contemporaries, the decisive consultations took place as ta the carrying out of the death-warrant. The fifth proof of the extraordinary influence of the Jesuits upon the course of the great religious war in Germany lay in. the nefarious Restitution Edict, of which they were the framers, and which the Emperor Ferdinand II., instigated solely by their advice and suggestions, issued, on the 6th of March 1629, just as the fortunate turn of the war had placed him at the zenith of his power. According to this proclamation, the Protestants were required to give up all the cloisters, foundations, bishoprics, and church property which had been acquired by them since the Treaty of Passau in 1552, in order that the same should be restored to their rightful, and formerly Catholic, owners. This, at first, immensely rejoiced the hearts of the whole Catholic priesthood, the bishops and archbishops of Germany, as well as of the Pope of Rome himself; but it was only at first, as it became apparent, after the lapse of a few years, what was the real meaning of the edict in question. It came out that the Em- peror Ferdinand, who retained expressly for himself the free disposition over those church properties, was by no means dis- posed to restore them to their former owners, but wished, on the contrary, to keep them for his own use and for the extension of his power, and, in fact, did so retain them for the most part.* * Pope Urban VIII., on that account, also complained in the strongest manner possible, in the year 1632, and replied quite ludicrously to the Jesuit Cardinal, Peter Pazman, whom Ferdinand had sent to him : " The great advantages which Sweden had at that time gained, were, undoubtedly, only a divine punishment for the non-restoration to the Church of the Church properties taken from the Protestants, and for the retention of the same for State purposes." 261 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. His edict set forth that the sons of Loyola had framed the proclamation in order that they should be able to expel by force those persons adhering to the Evangelical faith in all the territories evacuated by the Protestants, with the view of taking possession of all the churches, and everything pertaining to them; in this way, they acquired them for their Order. With this object in view, also, the sons of Loyola were never, on any occasion, missing whenever an Imperial army entered a conquered city, the plea being that they must needs be required to incite the inhuman warriors to a still greater degree of fervour "to couch their lances for God's honour " against the Protestants, inflaming them to perpetrate, that is to say, even still more hor- rible deeds of cruelty. They must needs make their appearance wherever the Imperial or Leaguist banners penetrated, in order, with the aid of the soldiery, to see that such scenes of butchery were fully carried out, quite unrestrained, and to the same extent as were witnessed at the beginning of the war in Bohemia and Silesia! It is mentioned, for example, that Father Lorenz Forer, Professor at the Jesuit school of Dillingen, admonished the commander of the Imperial army with such words as these: *' Estote ferventes," that is to say, " Do not slacken in your zeal, but seize and commit to the flames in such a manner that it will be necessary for the angels to draw up their feet, and the stars begin to melt." It is also recorded that Father La Mornay, at the storming of the city of Olmutz by the Im- perial troops, murdered, with his own hand, three Protestant clergymen, and, as a reward, granted free absolution from all his sins for such a deed of horror to a brute who had dashed against a wall the head of a child who was clinging to his feet. Then, again, the Fathers Jeremias Drexel, Franz Dubuisson, and Ignatius Plachy, together with many others of their brethren, often put themselves at the head of the battalions, and at the battle of Breitenfeld, in which Gustavus Adolphus completely defeated Tilly, a number of Loyolites were found among the dead. In this way, too, they entered Raufbeuren, and many other Suabian Imperial towns, along with the Imperial garrison troops, nine men in number, and, in the year 1630, compelled all the Protestant inhabitants either to migrate or else become Catholic ; between such alternatives they allowed of no excep- tion, not even in the case of the dying, the sick, the old, as, for THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 265 instance, in that of the Burgomaster Lauber, who was seventy- ix years old. It was thus, also, that Father Lamormain came in person to Augsburg, with the view of carrying out the Edict of Restitution, in conjunction with Konrad Raising, the rector of the college there, when, with the help of the soldiers which they brought along with them, all the Protestant schools and churches were either closed or pulled down ; those of the in- habitants, too, who still adhered to Protestantism were driven to Mass with whips, and even migration, in this instance, was not allowed, unless they left their property behind them. "Such was the state of affairs throughout the whole of the Empire," writes a chronicler of these times; "whatever the Jesuits wished for was, by the Emperor's orders, forcibly carried out by the Spaniards against the Bavarians what the commissaries insinuated, that the soldiers executed and is it not sufficient to make mention of the miserable and frightful murders, robberies, and incendiarisms which were perpetrated V " As the sixth, and last, proof of the influence of the Jesuits over the course of the Thirty Years' war, I may adduce the extra- ordinary efforts of the sons of Loyola in producing and main- taining a preconceived understanding to prevent, at any price, the conclusion of peace as long as a single Protestant existed. In the year 1632, Cardinal Richelieu endeavoured to put, n end to the war, and in a manner which truly does great honour to this distinguished statesman. At that time Fer- dinand II. was, through the victorious career of Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, hurled from his proud and giddy height into the dust, and, being in the direst need, it appeared, without doubt, that the House of Hapsburg would be compelled, after a short war, to conclude a very humiliating peace with the brave Swedish King and his Protestant allies, in the event of Maximilian I. determining to maintain a neutral attitude with his League. In this wise, Bavaria might have been able to remain completely exempt from the war, and to raise itself up to be an intermediate power, so considerable, indeed, as to give the tone to Germany, thereby conferring such an advantage as any wise ruler might well have seized with both hands. The French Ambassador, Charnac, made use of all his eloquence in order to induce the Wittelsbacher to take this view, and was supported by all the weight of the Committee of Country 266 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Delegates then assembled at Munich. But what would have become of a Hapsburg universal monarchy, according to the plan nnd design of the Jesuits, if Maximilian had been induced to take this course ? The latter fraternity, therefore, bestirred them- selves to the uttermost on the occasion, and Adam Contzen,* the Father Confessor of Maximilian, moved heaven and earth to dissuade him from according his consent to such a pernicious plan of action. He and, as a matter of course, all the other Jesuits about the Court of Munich blew quite the same little horn was of opinion, with others, that should the Electoral Prince refrain from taking a part in this war for the faith, he would not only forfeit all bis preceding renown, but stigmatise himself with an indelible mark of shame. He, moreover, asked the Prince Elector how he could reconcile it to his conscience to favour the victory of the heretics by entering into a treaty of neutrality with the Swedish King, and whether, in that case, he had taken into consideration that he would be necessitated to grant toleration to the Protestants in Bavaria. In short, he contrived to establish in the mind of his high confessant such a panic that Maximilian determined to prosecute the war still further, and to allow himself to be used as an advanced rampart ngainst the Swedish King, to the unspeakable misery of Germany in general, and of Bavaria in particular. In this way it came about, entirely through the Jesuits, that peace was not concluded in the year 1632, and in the same manner in the years 1G35 and 1638 their efforts in this direction were equally successful. In the year 1635, the Austrian Court, by the so-called Peace of Prague, succeeded in dissolving the alliance of Saxony and Sweden ; and this said peace was of incalculable value to the Emperor Ferdinand, as his resources at that time were completely exhausted, so much so as to render it almost impossible for him to carry on the war any longer with all of his former enemies. Nevertheless, the Jesuits, with Father Lamormain at their head, continued to hurl * Father Contzen, born in the year 1575 at Montjoye, in the Dukedom of Ziilich, entered into the Jesuit Order in the year 1595, and became in the year 1617, from being Professor of Theology in the College at Mayence. Con- fessor of the Bishop Johanu Gottfried of Wiirzburg. He was advanced, how- ever, after the death of Johaim Buslidius, in the year 1623, to be Confessor to the Electoral Prince Maximilian I., and remained in this influential position up to the time of his death, in the year 1635. I may observe, by the way, that Buslidius had been for twenty-eight years the keeper of Maximilian's conscience THE POWEKFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 267 fire and flames over this peace, and sought with all their eloquence to prevent the Catholic Electors from giving their consent to it, while they daily continued to urge the Emperor to hreak it. With this said instrument of peace, religious liberty would, of course, have been granted to the Lutherans, and the enforcement of the Jesuit Edict of Restitution have ceased. The Hapsburger was now driven to such shifts that he was unable to do anything else but render obedience to his Father Confessor, and he consequently, compelled by necessity, had only to await a more favourable opportunity. Ferdinand II. at this time died, having drawn down upon himself the curses of Germany, as the people, through him, had fallen into a most miserable condition. They at once implored Amelia Elizabeth of Hesse, the guardian of the new Emperor, Ferdinand III., then a boy of eight years of age (1G37-57), to hold out the hand of peace under the same conditions as Saxony had done. The new Emperor, being strenuously urged by Bernhard of Weimar, now empowered the Electoral Prince, Anselm Kasimir, Archbishop of Mayence, with the conduct of this highly im- portant business, and he succeeded in bringing it to a conclusion in August 1638, under very favourable conditions to Austria. All the secular counsellors of Ferdinand exulted much over this treaty, and, for the most part, the majority of the ecclesiastical dignitaries were also delighted. It was only the Jesuits who resisted it with hands and feet, and uttered such a wail of misery over it that even the reformer Hesse was an adherent of Calvinism was obliged to agree to promise legal toleration, to the most hated of all hated creeds. What a piece of good fortune was it for them, however, that the Emperor had, as Father Confessor, Johann Gans,* the most: skilled of all their body, and it was a still greater stroke of good' luck that, through their urgent entreaties, the monarch allowed himself to be induced not to ratify the treaty ! The Land- gravine, therefore, renewed an alliance with Sweden, and her brave army henceforth fought on the Protestant side up to the termination of the war. * Johann Gans, born in "Wurzburg territory, and a Jesuit from 1610,. accompanied Ferdinand III., previous to his accession to the throne, in his. campaign as camp preacher, and became afterwards his confessor for fully twenty-two years. He survived his master, moreover, about five years, as- he died in the year 1662, while the Emperor died in the year 1657.. "268 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Thus did the Jesuits go on further and further, and it was in vain that the deputies who were, in the autumn of 1640, assem- bled at Ratisbon, urged the Emperor to grant a general amnesty, for the present at least, whereby a reconciliation might have been effected between Austria and the Protestants. The Emperor, however, did not do so, not being able to get the consent of the Jesuits thereto. On the contrary, they opposed the idea of a general amnesty as a thing thoroughly sinful and objectionable, and with the greatest bitterness continued to urge the further prosecution of the war, which should never be allowed to cease before the complete extermination of the Protestants was effected ; and this is proved by a public document published at that time, in the name of the Order, by Father Lorenz Forer, of whom I have already made mention. Ultimately, however, the demand for an amnesty became of necessity altogether too urgent for the Emperor to be able to adhere to these principles as laid down by the Jesuits, and con- sequently peace negotiations were commenced in 1643, at Osnabruck and Munster, between the different contending -parties, together with foreign countries, France and Sweden "being powerfully represented. All Germany now breathed afresh, as it was clearly to be perceived that the work of -peace was taken up in real earnest, and, tired to death with the long fearful struggle, it was hoped by both Catholics and Protestants that an end should thus be put to the war as soon as possible ; for still, during the time the negotiations were proceeding, combats and battles went on as before, and to the blood-thirsty deeds which had already taken place new ones were constantly being added. In spite of everything, it was, not- withstanding, fully five years before these negotiations were brought to a conclusion ; and who was it that was to blame for all this delay, during which the poor Fatherland was completely exhausted almost to destruction ? It was no one else than the Order of Jesus ! The first thing that was demanded and required by the Protestants was unconditional religious liberty, as well as rights and privileges, especially as regards those appertaining to them by birth, equal with those enjoyed by the Catholics. Unless these essential conditions were at once con- ceded no consent could be given by them to any peace, ns otherwise they would be left without any rights ; but even these THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 269* preliminary conditions were rejected by the Jesuits as an abso- lute religious outrage, while they urged the Emperor rather to hand over the finest districts of Germany to France and Sweden than to give his consent to such terms. And not only did they continue to urge this upon the Emperor, but they also brought all their influence to bear upon the lesser and greater Catholic powers and Imperial Princes which were represented in. the Peace Congress. What, however, the result of their machi- nations must have been can be best measured by the fact that at that time there was neither a single prince throughout the whole Catholic world, nor, indeed, a minister and statesman, whose con- science was not in the keeping of some member of the Society of Jesus. They so contrived to manage, above everything, that the peace negotiations should be carried on entirely at Miinster and Osnabruck, as in both of these towns they possessed colleges, and the Bishop of Osnabruck, the leader of the Imperial Catholic Princes, happened to be their particular friend. This said ecclesiastical dignitary, by name Francis William, an illegitimate son of Duke Ferdinand of Bavaria, was educated by the sons of" Loyola at their college in Ingoldstadt, from the time of his being nine years old, and he consequently imbibed similar prin- ciples to those of his cousin Maximilian, and could not, there- fore, be less Jesuitically inclined. Whatever influence he then exercised by his great eloquence and his high connection, at the Congress, whither he had been sent as representative of seven- teen Catholic votes, was in the spirit of his teachers, and even the two Generals of the Order, Vitelleschi and Caraffa, who held, that high office at the time of the Congress, and were personally present at it, could not have watched over the interests of the- Order better than he did. Equally active as himself, too, were the Jesuit professors who conducted the instruction given at. the colleges of Miinster and Osnabruck, and more especially the two Fathers, Johannes Miihlmau and Gottfried Coeler, together with their Rector, Johannes Schiichling, all of whom could not be excelled in Jesuitical cunning, and who, in fact, were perfect, specimens of their Order. There was no ambassador there from, any of the Catholic Princes with whom they had not daily intercourse, and there was no chamber where they had not their spies, who could not even be excluded from the residences of the Protestant plenipotentiaries. The garden-pavilion, of the 270 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Minister college, however, was the great Catholic rendezvous where their consultations were held, under the presidency of the Spanish ambassador, their resolutions being moulded, as may well be imagined, in true Jesuit style. By such means they succeeded in putting off the work of peace during a period of fully five years, and, assuredly, had not Ferdinand III., in the year 1G48, given authority to his ambassador, Count Maximilian von Trautmannsdorf, " the Angel of Peace," as he was rightly called by many, to view with favour the desired concessions demanded by the Protestants, in the ques- tion of religious liberty had it also not been that at this time the impetuous Wrangel had succeeded in completely shattering into a thousand pieces the last army which the Emperor had been able to bring to the front, things would have continued as they were. Under such circumstances, however, as those stated, be was obliged to yield, and thus it came about that the earnestly desired peace was at length concluded, on the 24th October 1648, which went by the name of the Treaty of West- phalia. But how did matters look at that time in Germany ? Ah ! indeed, the Thirty Years' war, with its terrible ills produced by fire and sword, had brought about such a condition as pen could hardly describe. Thousands of towns and villages were in ruins; the most luxuriant plains, whole districts of country, before pastured by flocks and herds, were now converted into wildernesses where only wild beasts were to be found. There still remained in existence, it is true, but brutalised, and sunk as low often as mere animals, young and old, buried, alas ! in such complete ignorance, that many could not tell the difference between Christ and the Devil. In short, it was a condition of things which could not be more pitiable, and which many years of peace could not by any possibility restore. And still, notwith- standing all this cruel suffering, the Jesuits had strained their very utmost in order that a union might not be brought about; and when at length it was effected in spite of all their endeavours, they refused to take the state of affairs at all into consideration, and received it with a hearty curse. It was not, under such circumstances, to be wondered at, that instead of, as they had hoped, extending their power and influence over Uje whole of Germany, they had now to be con- THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 271 tented with only two-thirds of it. On the other hand, they could, it is true, boast of the conquest of those two-thirds as being a victory of greater importance than that which they had attained in any other European State, as at the conclusion of peace they were in possession, in Austria, Bavaria, and the other different ecclesiastical principalities, of no fewer than one hundred and eighteen colleges throughout the whole Empire, along with a corresponding number of residences, as well as novitiates and profess-houses ; yet still, notwithstanding all this, there could not be a greater grief for them than to see as a certainty that, through the Peace of Westphalia, so large a field for their operations had been snatched from them by a stroke of the ,pen, so to speak. VI. THE SWAY OF THE JESUITS IN ENGLAND AND OTHER NORTHERN KINGDOMS. The Jesuits were not nearly so successful in establishing them- selves in any of the northern European states, with the single exception of Poland, and on that account I will be very brief in this last description of Jesuit progress. By the tyrannical conduct of Henry VIII., England 'became disunited from the sway of Rome, and as long as this monarch lived everything having the name of Catholic was banished from his country. The founder of the Jesuit Order grieved very much indeed over this circumstance, and at once despatched his two disciples, Pasquier-Brouet and Sal- meron, in order to ascertain whether there was no soil to be found to his mind for the construction of a colony. Brouet and Salmeron soon became convinced that there was nothing to be done there, and at once embarked for the Emerald Island, as Ireland is commonly called, in order to give support to the inhabitants thereof, in their strenuous resistance to Henry VIII. and his reforming efforts. But here, also, they were not allowed to remain long, as Henry very soon brought his rebellious subjects into subjection by means of blood and iron; and the Jesuit emissaries had to fly for their lives. Little was also effected in Scotland, as John Knox, the great reformer, had the whole population at his back in his controversy with the Papacy. These conditions, so inimical to the Jesuits, changed for their 272 HiSTOKY OF THE JESUITS. advantage after the short interregnum of Edward VI., when the- daughter of Henry VIII., by his marriage with Catherine of Aragon, Mary I., commonly called Bloody Mary, and in Scot- land Mary Stuart, the daughter of James V. and of Mary of Loraine, respectively came to the throne, as both sovereigns had< been strictly brought up in the Catholic faith. Notwithstanding however, that such gigantic efforts were made by the Romanists, with the powerful co-operation of the sons of Loyola, especially the two Fathers Edmund Hay and Thomas Dasbire, to eradicate the remnants of Protestantism notwithstanding that great cruelty was also exercised, and so much Protestant blood was shed, still, for all this tragical state of things, the Jesuits had eventually to evacuate Great Britain completely, as soon as the celebrated Elizabeth in England (anno 1558), and the Earl of Murray, as Regent for the under-aged James VI., in Scotland, seized the reins of government (anno 1568). As a matter of course, how- ever, the sons of Loyola, in their exertions to establish their influence in the British Islands, did not entirely leave off their machinations, but, on the other hand, continued them still more, as well in Rome itself as on French territory, by the erection of seminaries in Douay and Rheims, and, later on, in St. Omer, Liege, and elsewhere on the continent, with the view of educating young Englishmen according to Popish and Jesuitical views and doctrines ; from these institutions emissaries proceeded from time to time to England, under all sorts of disguises, in order to create dissension in the kingdom.* Still the prime and original aim and object thereof namely, to found permanent settlements the Order never succeeded in effecting ; and Great Britain may well boast of hardly ever having seen the banner of Loyola displayed on its soil. Equally might Denmark and Sweden, participate in this boast, though in the latter country this result was not achieved without contention and strife. After that here I mean in Sweden the Reformation had been, introduced by Gustavus I., and Catholicism had been completely: extinguished, the Jesuits entertained the belief that, under the second son and successor of this ruler (1568-1592), the proper * As such emissaries, Edmund Campian, Rudolph Serevin, Alexander Briant, and Robert Person, were especially conspicuous during the reign of Elizabeth, disguised at one time as soldiers, and at another as merchants. Person was also the author of various lampoons against the Queen, and the same was the case as regards Edmund Campian. THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 273 time had arrived for making a favourable impression for them- selves in Swedish territories, seeing that John III. had married, in the person of Catherine, a sister of King Sigismund- Augustus of Poland, a very good Catholic princess, who contrived to indoc- trinate him completely after her own wish. They did not dare, however, to go about the matter openly, because otherwise the people, being zealous for their Evangelical faith, would have cer- tainly risen in rebellion ; the King consequently was talked over quite quietly, and induced, in the first instance, to allow of some Jesuit Fathers coming into the country secretly. The Fathers then made their appearance with Lorenzo Nicolai from Louvaine, and conducting themselves as Protestant theologians, in this manner, through the peremptory decree of John, situations were found for them in the newly-erected University of Upsala. Their secret operations, however, proceeded in much too slow a manner to please Eberhard Mercurien, r the General of the Order in Kome, and he consequently despatched Anton Possevin, whose acquaintance we have already made in Savoy, in order to induce the King to allow the worship of the Catholic religion to be exercised openly. Possevin, who came, however, in the capa- city of an Imperial ambassador, did not carry the matter so far as that, but managed at the same time that John came over secretly to Catholicism, and after that he had taken Father Stanislaus Versovicius, his wife's spiritual adviser, to be his own Father Confessor, he caused a chapel to be erected in his palace, in which he permitted Mass to be read daily, according to the Catholic rite. Of far greater consequence, however, was it that, in order to make it possible for his son and successor to be elected King of Poland, he allowed him to be brought up in the Catholic religion; and in this manner Sweden was prepared to a certain degree, so that the true faith might, on the accession of Sigismund, be publicly introduced. Both of these circumstances seemed, in fact, to be on the eve of being accom- plished, for the latter was properly elected King by the Poles, in the year 1587, as the next heir of Sigismund- Augustus II.; and as, in the year 1592, John III. died, the young monarch thus succeeded to the throne of Sweden. What could now be more natural than that he who had been educated by the Jesuits, and was completely in their hands, should, on his accession, being urged on by them to do so, seek to find an entrance fot 18 274 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Catholicism into the kingdom of Sweden also ? The Swedish Deputies, on that account, assembled on the 9th of January 1593, at Upsala, and unanimously passed a resolution that for the future the Augsburg Confession of Faith should alone have any effect throughout the whole of their Fatherland ; this was signed by all present, viz. by the senate and knighthood, by the clergy, by the ministers of state, by the governors of provinces, and by all the burgomasters. What, then, did Sigismund do ? To commence with, he tried to get possession of the Swedish throne without taking the required oath ; failing, however, to succeed in this, and seeing that an insurrection threatened to break out, he acted on the advice of the Jesuits, and swore everything that was demanded of him, but with the Loyolite inner reservation of at once breaking his oath whenever it suited him so to do. He thus succeeded in getting himself crowned, and did not trouble himself any more about his oath, but brought his beloved Jesuits into Stockholm, and gave over to them several of the churches which he had seized and taken from the Protestants. Besides which he appointed Catholic councillors, and permitted processions to be formed ; he required, too, that Jesuit villages should be allowed throughout the whole country, and revoked the Resolution of Upsala on the ground of its being illegal. This proceeding, of course, exceedingly displeased the Swedish De- puties, who at once energetically protested against it ; but finding their efforts of no avail, they raised an army and defeated the troops brought from Poland by Sigismund, and, declaring the Swedish throne to be now vacant, they at length placed Duke Charles of East Gothland upon the throne on the 18th of March 1607. The short triumph, then, of the Society of Jesus had now come to an end, and its disciples were at once sent to the rightabout, and never again returned to Sweden. But no, I am wrong in saying so, as they did return once more under Queen Christine, the daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, " the lion of midnight," who accomplished such great things for the Protestants during the thirty years' war. They did not, however, come openly as Jesuits, but secretly in the disguise of savants, as in the case of the physician Bourdetol, and the two mathematicians, Paul Cassati and Francis Malines ; or as the innocent chaplains of foreign ambassadors, as, for instance, the Fathers Mannerschid THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 275 and Anton Macedo, the former of whom accompanied the Spanish, and the latter the Portuguese ambassadors. They did not even obtain anything of advantage for their Order, or for the Catholic religion, from the Queen, when the said monarch laid down her crown previously to abjuring her faith, which she did on the 24th December 1654, at Brussels, at the hands of Father Guernea; this change of religion, indeed, did not produce in Sweden the smallest results. It is affirmed, indeed, that when she came back on a solitary occasion to Stockholm, she did not even once exercise her newly-assumed religion. Quite a different result was obtained, indeed, by the sons of Loyola in Poland, in which country the Catholic religion still pre- vailed, even after the Reformation, although not a few of the in- habitants, to the extent of something like a fourth part, recognised the Protestant faith. The first person in that country who brought the Black Fathers into it was the Bishop of Wilna, under whose protection Father Magius founded a college there, which was afterwards regarded as a nursery for all the later Jesuit colonies in Poland and Lithuania. The Jesuits had chiefly to thank for their prosperity Stephan Bathori, who, in the year 1576, was elected by the Poles to be their King, for the cunning Fathers so contrived to ingratiate themselves, during the ten years in which he held the reins of government, that he almost overwhelmed them with riches. In this way there were established in the territory of Cracow, in addition to a profess-house and novitiate, not less than seventeen colleges and seminaries, besides eight residences, the number of members of the Order amounting to about six hundred ; while in the territories of Warsaw and Livonia there were two profess-houses, one novitiate, fifteen colleges, and four residences, with about five hundred members of the Order. They, indeed, even pushed their advanced posts as far as Riga and Smolensk, obtaining a settlement in the dis- tant town of Novgorod. Whatever advantages, however, they in this way obtained for themselves, they caused infinitely greater injury to the Polish nation ; for as soon as the sons of Loyola got a really firm footing in any locality, they began, partly with closed and partly also with open vizor, to take the field against the Protestant and non-Catholic party, which had, up to this time, according to established law, enjoyed complete religious liberty, and there arose then, in consequence of this 18 * 276 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. state of things, those internal disturbances in the kingdom which eventually, after the lapse of a century, terminated in the downfall of Polish independence. I need hardly here enter into any particulars descriptive of Jesuit proceedings, as the manner in which the Loyolites went to work was precisely the same as that pursued by them during the great religious war in Germany. I must content myself by remarking how the en- lightened among the Poles saw clearly, by the end of the 16th century, from what source arose the disorganisation in the State, and to what it must eventually lead. It is stated in a memo- randum communicated to the nobility of Prossnowitz, among other things, as follows : " The Jesuits have no idea of taking the trouble to persuade those of a different belief from themselves, but, on the contrary, just busy themselves in persecuting and harassing them, con- tinually keeping up a state of religious rancour. They make use of their most experienced and sharp-witted members more in flattering the ruling passions of those about the Court than in restricting themselves to the education of the youth, whereby influence might be brought to bear on the election of kings, as well as the issue of decrees made on royal authority. It was they who initiated the disturbances in Livonia, Riga, Lithuania, and Volynia, and it was they who were the means of expelling the Protestant clergymen from Cracow, without any respect to sickness or old age, in order to take possession of their churches, and, indeed, under these circumstances several temples of God were even set on fire. The colleges, seminaries, and profess- houses which they build resemble palaces and fortified citadels, and seem exactly adapted to enable traitors to hold out against the Fatherland. It is their design and chief object to create disturbances, and to resist all who are known as honest and good patriots. On this account there is nothing else for it, in order to save the State, but to drive them out of it, and from the whole country, as the celebrated Dr. Pir and the Imperial Chancellor, Zamoyski, have already expressed themselves." It was in this manner that the well-minded among the Poles thought as to the Society of Jesus at the end of the IGth century ; but the latter had at that time gained suoh a firm footing, as well at Court as among the nobility, giving the tone to Polish society, that their opinions were also acceptable to the THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 277 Parliament, and consequently, in 1717, the sons of Loyola at length attained the object they had in view, namely, the com- plete suppression of all that was anti-Catholic, as well as the deprivation of the political rights appertaining to the dissenters. On account, however, of this fanatical line of conduct a civil war broke out, whereon the latter class were taken under the pro- tection of Russia ; matters, indeed, reached such a pitch that the affair at last ended in the dissolution of the Polish kingdom, and its partition. It still remains for us to speak of the sway of Jesuitism in Russia, the most powerful of all the northern kingdoms; but this may be done in but few words, as the Order never obtained much power in that country. It is true, certainly, that the above-mentioned Father Possevin made an attempt to esta- blish for himself a position in this very extensive dominion, and in various disguises endeavoured to effect something in the provinces bordering upon Sweden. Wherever he knocked, how- ever, no one opened the door to him, as the people, both high and low, continued to adhere to the long-established Greek faith, and would have nothing to say whatever to the combatants for the Roman Catholic Church, more especially as regards Papacy. The consequence was that Possevin left Russia, with the few companions who accompanied him on his several erratic crusades, without having accomplished anything whatever; at length, however, at the beginning of the 17th century, a way suddenly presented itself for penetrating into the great northern empire, and although the path was indeed but a very crooked one almost, it may be said, a very criminal one the Jesuits still did not for a a moment hesitate in forcing a passage for themselves. It so occurred that after the death of the Czar Iwan II. Wasiljewitch, surnamed " the Terrible," there came to the throne the under-aged grandson, Feodor I. Iwanowitch, in the year 1584, and for him Prince Boris Feodorowitch Godonow, the husband of his sister Irina, wielded the sceptre. As regards this Boris, however, a tyrannical and ambitious man, it was whispered about that he h.ad caused the only brother of Feodor, the Grand Duke Dmitri or Demetrius, to be murdered, in order that he might the more easily seize the reins of government after the death of the sickly Feodor. The course of things, also, seemed to con- rm this suspicion, as Feodor, and together with him the last of 278 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the stock of Rurik, actually died in the year 1508, when Boris at once possessed himself of the throne, and the majority of the people, even including the nobility, recognised him as Czar. The extreme severity, however, with which he sought to carry out, among the Russian people, his detested innovations, as well as the circumstance of his conferring favours upon foreigners resident at his Court, raised against him a number of enemies, so that a spark was only required to cause flames to burst out from below the smouldering ashes. During this time of fer- mentation a man presented himself on the frontiers of Poland claiming to be the murdered Dmitri, but who, in fact, was no other than a young monk escaped from the Greek cloister of Ischudow, having the name of Grischka Otrepiew, and this man fell into the hands of the Polish Jesuit Father, Nicolaus Knennkowsky. This false Dmitri, brought into a Jesuit college in Livonia, was there educated in the Catholic religion, and no doubt at the same time instructed as to the part he was required to play, as testified, at least, the impartial Thuan in the history of his times. After this individual had been properly schooled, the Jesuits then presented him to their true friend and patron, the Wojewode of Sandomir, Mniszeck, and contrived to allure the latter completely by a promise of marriage between his daughter Marina and the new comer. In this way the Wojewode was at once induced to recognise the impostor as the veritable Dmitri, and by reason of his powerful influence, as well as by the still greater interest of the Jesuits, they succeeded in gaining over to the side of the pretender not only the King Sigis- mund III., but also most of the Polish nobility; so much so, that Mniszeck was enabled, in the autumn of 1603, to collect together a large army with the view of fighting, in the interest of his son-in-law, against the Czar Boris. The war began in the spring of the year, and out of hatred to the stern Boris, not a few of the Russians came over to the invading pretender. In the course of twelve months, then, matters advanced so far that the possessor of the Russian throne might well see in prospect his decisive discomfiture, and in order to secure the succession for his only son Feodor, who was beloved by the Russians, he ended his life by taking poison. Feodor was, as a matter of fact, made Czar, but about two months afterwards, during an unfortunate battle, he was taken prisoner by the THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 279 victorious Dmitri and forthwith strangled. The latter then made his entry into Moscow in great triumph, and with the utmost pomp caused himself to he crowned Emperor. Who could now exult more than the J esuits ? Their great coup had proved successful, and the false Demetrius, who had given his promise that they should be domiciled throughout the whole of Russia in the event of his pretendership proving successful, now sat upon the golden throne of the Kremlin. Dmitri V., as he called himself, in fact, now proceeded to take steps to fulfil his promise, and built for his advisers and protectors a magnificent college in Moscow. He also replied to Pope Paul V., with whom he now entered into correspondence, that his intention was to make the Catholic religion supreme throughout Russia, if he were only allowed the time requisite to overcome the prejudices of his subjects. Circumstances were now, in short, highly favourable to them, and the Order of Jesus began to dream that they were already masters of the whole of Russia. The goddess of fortune, coming so suddenly, was, however, succeeded as unexpectedly by misfortune. Dmitri had scarcely established himself on the throne a year and a half when, at the beginning of the year 1607, just on the very day that he was solemnizing his marriage with Marina daughter of the Wojewode of Sandomir, an insur- rection broke out, and the people, led on by Prince Wasili Schuiski, proceeded to storm the Kremlin. Dmitri and hi& Poles, indeed, fought valiantly, but numbers soon prevailed,, and Dmitri himself fell under the blows of Wasili Schuiski. Thus did his government come to a quick termination, and at the same time, as may be well understood, there was also an end of the existence of the Jesuits in Russia, as Wasili hunted them as well as the Poles out of the country, and henceforth the Greek religion remained for centuries predominant through- out this great Empire. I have now brought to a close the prolonged chapters upon the sway of the Jesuits in Asia, Africa, America, and Europe, and it only remains to express a hope that the reader has not become weary in following my statements. Small, indeed almost imperceptible, was the beginning ; but immeasurably great almost overpowering, in fact, was the ultimate result. A hundred 280 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. years after the foundation of the Order, its General ruled as absolute monarch in all parts of the world, and the different kingdoms of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America lay at his feet divided into provinces. Over each province was placed a pro- vincial, as lieutenant of the General, and every month it was the duty of this provincial to send in his report to his General. The rectors of colleges as well as the superiors of residences, and the professors and heads of seminaries and novitiates, along with the leaders of missions, had to do so likewise ; and from these thousands of reports the General was in possession of the most accurate information regarding all that was going on in the world. Moreover, by means of the Father Confessors at the various Courts, he was initiated into all the secrets of these latter, and he was, indeed, better informed respecting them than even the respective ministers themselves. One chief thing to be guarded against, however, was that none of these tale- bearers should prove false to him, and on that account each one of them was provided with an assistant who was also in direct communication with the General ; and this control was so precise, that each of the above-mentioned provincials, rectors, superiors, or whatever other office might happen to be held by those in high positions among the sons of Loyola, had to be careful to report nothing but the exact truth. The con- sequence was, that the Society of Jesus, at the height of its prosperity, could be likened to nothing better than to a huge net, which extended itself all over the world, the cords whereof were all collected into the hands of the General; in this net the greater part of mankind tumbled about, just as fish when the fisherman draws the meshes together closer and closer. However great, then, any king or monarch might consider him- self, he was but a weak vessel compared to the General of the Society of Jesus ; it was therefore said of Claudio Aquaviva, who governed the Order between the years 1581 and 1615, that he once exclaimed, "Why are there not regions beyond the stars, that one might be able to conquer other worlds than that pertaining to earth ? " BOOK III. THE MOEALITY OF THE JESUITS; OB, THE VOW OF CHASTITY. MOTTO: Eommt die Treu vor der Jesuiteu Haus, Bo Bsgt mann ihr ; der Wirth sei aus ; Kommt die Weisheit gezogen dafiir, Find't sie zugeschlossen die Thiir ; Kommt Zucht and Ehr dieselbe Strags', Sie mussen alsbald fiirbass; Eommt Chriatenlieb' und war' geru eiu So will Niemand ihr Thorwart sein ; Eommt Wahrheit and klopft an, So muss sie aussen bleiben stahn ; Eommt Gerecbtigkeit vor das Thcr, So findet sie Eetten and Riegel vor; Eommt aber das Weibsvolk hergeloffen, So stehen ihm alle Thiiren often. Drum Jeder komm' und schau' euch an, Hier 1st die Deck' euch abgezogea ; Die Wahrheit hat nun dargethan, Wie ihr bis jezt die Welt betrogen. Man kennt die Sodomiterei, Die ihr veriibt in euren Schuien ; Doch wer mag melden ohne Scheu Bur fiindhaf unnatiirlich Buhleu. O Schlangenzucht ! O Natter brut ! Die Wittwen, die euch sind zu Willen, Geniigen nicht? Auch nicht die Gluth, Die ihr mit Honnen pflegt zu stillen? Aus dem " Jesvitenspicgd." 283 CHAPTER I. [This book has been somewhat modified to render it presentable to English readers. One chapter has, indeed, been omitted in extenso ; even with these alterations there is much which would have been better omitted, were it not that it has not been deemed right to sacrifice entirely historical accuracy at the shrine of morality and propriety.] I WOULD willingly have shrouded this chapter, or, indeed, the entire book, in the mantle of night, as the theme of which it treats is not such as to enable anyone to dilate on it with any degree of pleasure ; but, before everything, truth must have precedence, and, moreover, how can one form a proper judgment of the real character of the Order of Jesus, if this side of their ways and doings be not brought before the judg- ment-seat of public opinion ? I mean that side of the question relating to matters connected with morality. But, further, it would undoubtedly have been the case that the sons of Loyola, as in the first period of their existence, would have been looked upon in quite a different light, had it not been possible to break down quickly the gigantic tower of Jesuit power and influence, of the immensity of which I have given a description in the former book, and had revelations as to the true state of the foundations upon which the fabric rested been excluded from consideration. On this account my historical description of the Jesuits would have been very incomplete had I, from a feeling of delicacy, omitted the book concerning the "Morality of the 284 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Society of Jesus/' and spared the reader from becoming acquainted with facts which must fill him with disgust as well as abhorrence. On the other hand, I shall proceed to make mention of even the most reprehensible matters, in such a way as not to soil my hands, and, moreover, it must be permitted to me to make my descriptions with as much brevity as possible. "It were much to be desired," said the holy Basilius, the great founder of Eastern monkdom, " that all those who take upon themselves the ' vow of chastity,' should completely renounce all worldly pleasures, and have nothing whatever to do with the senses, but be entirely released from them altogether ; but, unfortunately, let such persons do what they will, they still find that, after all, they are but men, and cannot completely banish from themselves at all times the feelings incident to frail mortality." The truth of this proposition is acknowledged by all celebates, whether they be monks, nuns, or ordinary ecclesiastics, and priests have to undergo frequent severe battles with them- selves in this respect. Many, feeling themselves valiant, have subdued their passions by starving, and other means ; but by far the greater majority have found themselves unable to conquer their natural inclinations, and have thus sinned just as other children of Adam and Eve. So, by degrees, vice got the upper hand in the cloisters as well as among the ordinary priesthood, and, at the time of the Reformation, the whole of the Catholic clergy, and all appertaining thereto, were sunk in the deepest mire of iniquity. They were regarded on all sides with reprobation ; and in this consisted the reason, as I have already above observed, why the Reformation made such gigantic strides. The sons of Loyola were only too well aware of this, and, on that account, strove to place themselves in marked contrast with the monks and ordinary clergy. Their own good sense told them that it would be an impossibility for them to obtain the smallest influence among Christian humanity as long as they gave way to such vices as prevailed among the other tonsured classes ; and, on the other hand, they might, indeed, feel it to be certain that it would astonish the world, and be a marvellous example to the priests, if they succeeded in establishing for themselves a reputation for such purity of morals as could be boasted of by an Anthony, Pachonius, or Basilius. It must, therefore, at all times, be the great aim and endeavour of the Order to gain such a reputation, THE OLD ADAM UNDER THE MASK OF HOLINESS. 285 and, from the days of Ignatius onwards, all Generals issued the strictest orders in reference thereto. For this reason appeared the orders " that in passing through the streets, the sons of Loyola should walk along casting on the ground downcast looks,, and especially turning their eyes away from any daughter of Eve they might happen to meet." Further, should a woman knock at their door, they were enjoined " not to open it, but the door-keeper should send her away with as few words as possible." Should a woman desire the services of a Father Confessor, "she must be directed to go into a church, and there must he proceed. The Father must, on the other hand, hold his conversation with her through a grating, as well as with his face turned away from her ; moreover, another brother should always be standing at some little distance off, in order to observe what went on, but not so near as to overhear, so that nothing else than the confession should be allowed to take place. Should a case at any time occur, where a sinful daughter of Eve entered a college or profess-house, with the object of visiting any Father, in spite of all precautions to the contrary, then a lay-brother should imme- diately lead her out by the hand, while the door-keeper collected the dust upon which she had trodden and threw it out at the door, in order that none of the other members might be contaminated with its contact." Such were the strict directions given by the Generals for the guidance of members in relation to- the conduct which ought to be pursued by them in reference to- the weaker sex ; and, as blind obedience was their first rule, these directions were imperatively to be observed. It was delightful, indeed, to notice how chastely the Fathers conducted themselves with their eyes, ears, tongue, and hands, just as if they had not been born of woman ; and they behaved themselves,, even to the most beautiful and youngest creatures, as if they had been blind and dumb. It seemed, indeed, as if they had sworn the deepest hatred to the whole class, and, when compelled to- speak to a woman in public, they did so with such a disdainful air, as to make it appear that they looked upon the whole of the daughters of Eve as lost creatures in God's sight, and sure of eternal damnation. Was there any wonder, then, under such circumstances, that Christendom should become full of the fame of the Jesuits, and even that they should be reverenced by many as almost saints ? Great care was also zealously taken by them 286 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. to promulgate everywhere this repute, and to cause the common people completely to be carried away by reading the tales de- scribing the strict innocence of the pious Fathers. Their virtue being thus so great, and the praises which they gave themselves so highly sung, they, of course, stood in most extraordinary favour with the Virgin Mary, who testified this by manifestations given by her to certain members among them. There thus appeared to Father Beraldus in broad daylight, in St. Paul's Church in Rome, an angel from heaven, bringing, together with many salutations from the Mother of God, a girdle which possessed the property of immediately removing all impure thoughts from the minds of those who simply touched it. For this reason Beraldus was obliged, by order of the General, to cut up the wonderful ornament into small pieces, in order that these fragments might be distributed among the Jesuit Colleges as far as they could go ; and, wherever such fragment was to be found, no transgression, as regards morality, could ever occur, but perfect paradisiacal innocence reigned ! To another member of the Order, Father Julius, who in the year 1585 was Professor in the Collegium Romanum, there appeared every night a wonderfully beautiful maiden who played very delightfully on the lute, and solicited him to make love to her. The Father, in his distress, complained to the Rector, who advised him to get up and flog himself as soon as the maiden made her appearance, until she had vanished. The Father, of course, followed this advice at once, and the next night flogged himself so unmercifully that his blood ran in streams. Upon this the maiden ceased to play, and said to him in a sweet voice, "Oh, pious Father, I come from the Virgin Mary, who has sent me to put you to the proof. As, however, you have gallantly fought and gallantly conquered, behold, therefore, take this garland of purity, which the Holy Mother of God sends to you to enable you to remain as constant as you have hitherto been, in order that you may receive the unwitherable crown of everlasting life at a future time, amid the choir of chaste and pure virgins." With these words, she vanished, and was no more seen. She, however, left behind her the garland, which consisted of different kinds of wonder- fully beautiful flowers, possessing precisely the same pro- perties as the girdle of Father Beraldus. Out of reverence, THE OLD ADAM UNDER THE MASK OP HOLINESS. 287 Tiowever, for the Virgin Mary, and as the flowers were so very heautiful, it was not divided in pieces, but was placed among other holy relics, of which the Order of Jesus, later on, had to boast, and there it always remained in its ever-enduring pristine freshness. Very many similar stories now became current, in each of which the sons of Loyola were represented as truly supernatural beings, only to be compared to the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. Indeed, one of these little books of self-praise * affirms that the Order of Jesus had over- come all improper tendencies, and, on that account, whenever member of the same lay on his death-bed, Jesus Christ in person came to his bed-side in order to take the soul of the dying one into His keeping. Yet, the more the Jesuits loaded themselves with praises, the more general became the opinion which, even in the first century of their existence, was held here and there, that all this was deceptive and merely out- ward in fact, only a pretence of holiness. " Their downcast looks," it was said, " when they happened to pass the weaker sex, their contemptuous style of conversation when in the company of females, in fine, their whole behaviour, as if they were never touched by the failings of mankind all this was merely put on in order to deceive the world, while secretly and in private they were no better than their fellow-creatures ; and this, indeed, without the smallest qualms of conscience, as they have their own peculiar principles of morality, and laugh in their sleeve, holding the idea that God has favours for those -who castigate their flesh. 1 ' Such opinions became prevalent very soon, not with the many, indeed, but only among a few; those few, however, gave themselves the trouble to watch very particularly the mode of life among the Jesuits, and the con- sequence of this was that many things came to light, through which their worst surmises became confirmed. Let us hear, for instance, what took place among them in 1560 at Monte Pulciano, a small town in Tuscany. They had there founded a college derived from charitable contributions, which they readily obtained; and hardly had the building, together with its adjoining church, been erected, than all flocked to their confessionals. The Fathers especially knew how to get the * This document bears the title : Imago primo Seculi Societatis Jesu, a'.e. a picture of the Society of Jesus in the first century of its existence. 288 HISTOBY OF THE JESUITS. female inhabitants of Monte Pulciano into their power, and maidens, as well as married women, confessed to them with the most amiable candour. In this manner, several tender relation- ships sprung up between the Father Confessors and their fair confessants; but both parties so contrived to conceal this that, although it was here and there whispered that something was going wrong, still, for a long time everything remained con- cealed, until at last the jealousy of one old maid let out the secret. The Rector of the College, called John Gombard, re- ceived visits at the same time from two sisters, an elder and a younger one, and first lavished his attentions pretty equally between them. Latterly, however, he more especially favoured the younger of them ; thereupon the elder became so enraged that she revealed the whole proceedings to their brother^ He at once forbade his two sisters to have any dealings with the Rector, either in the confessional or out of it, and at the same time made a complaint to the Bishop ; the latter, moreover, unexpectedly caused a domiciliary search to be made in the College, when a quantity of gallant love-letters were dis- covered which had been exchanged between the Jesuits and their female confessants. It was at the same time noised abroad that one of the pious Fathers had been more than usually in- discreet, while the misdeeds of some others amongst their number became the theme of general conversation. This, of course, had the effect of setting all Monte Pulciano in such an uproar that the Jesuit College was very nearly taken by storm. The people, however, thought better of it, and left the punishment of the guilty to the Episcopal See, which at once instituted a searching inquiry. Rector Gombard, however, did not wait for this, but took flight under cover of night, and the General Laynez at once expelled him from the Order. Nothing, however, was done to the rest of the Fathers, unless their transfer to other colleges be looked upon as a punish- ment, that of Monte Pulciano being closed, because the inhabi- tants withdrew all their support and ceased to have any relations with the occupants thereof. This was, indeed, an ugly circumstance, but still worse and more vile stories followed, and obtained currency, like wildfire, over the whole civilised world, so that the Society had much difficulty in defending itself against the evil reports which over- THE OLD ADAM UNDER THE MASK OF HOLINESS. 289 whelmed it. Thus, the tale of Father Majotius and his fair con- fessant, the female miller of Azenay, near Bourges, was in everybody's mouth, and, indeed, a particular brochure about this scandal made its appearance in the year 1576. Still greater indignation was aroused when the Jesuits endeavoured to repre- sent that the relation of their brother with the miller maid was only that of a father towards his child. Satirical squibs now appeared on the subject, the most cutting of which was that published in the year 1610, under the title of "Address of thanks from the butter-dealers of Paris to Monsieur Courbouson, the panegyrist of the Society of Jesus." It then became public that the Father Peter Galess, Rector of the College of Bordeaux, kept a private journal, wherein he preserved a list of his fair confessants, and noted at the same time the happy hours he had passed in their company. In a similar way it came to light that Father Fronton Gadauta, Rector of the College at Fontan, and his successor in office, Peter, passed every day in the week in the company of ladies, selected out of the most distinguished in the town, being in the habit of shutting themselves up with them for four or five hours together during the day. The following cases may be also noticed : A woman of Poitiers, living a life of luxury, represented herself, during fully ten years, as sick, and sent alternately every day for Fathers Bonnet and Danceron, while she smilingly declared that those two pious Fathers were the best solacers she had ever met with for her ailment. Father Galozin, Professor of the College of Metz, suc- ceeded at length, partly by persuasion and partly by force, in triumphing over the scruples of the daughter of the royal Governor, but as he was not sufficiently careful, the pair of lovers were surprised on one occasion, the consequence being that the Governor, in his fury, caused the ears of the seducer to be cut off. Father Gilbert Russow, who had been sent as secret agent of the Order to the town of Narack, conceived such an attachment for a washerwoman that, taking him for nothing more than a Catholic priest, she found herself compelled, with the view of saving her reputation, to demand that he should marry her. The Father, of course, was unable to gratify her in this respect, and the affair at once came before the law courts ; but tha 19 290 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. cunning Jesuit money and persuasive words effect much brought to the front a woodcutter, who took upon himself the responsibility which should have devolved upon the pious Father. The scandal to which he had given rise did not injure the good Father in the eyes of his superiors, and the General in Rome rather approved of his sagacity, and afterwards advanced him to the post of Provincial of the Upper Rhine provinces. Father Johann Delvoss, who had for twenty years excited religious fervour in the town of Luneville by his pathetic preaching, allowed himself to be surprised with a notoriously profligate person, in a bath at the mineral spring of Sundgau, to which he had betaken himself for an ailment of the breast, and on that account had to implore pardon on his knees from the Provincial Boer. Father Oliva, Professor at the College of Valencia, repre- sented a peasant girl, whose full bosom had inspired in him a violent passion, to be his nearest relative, and hired a room for her in the neighbourhood of the college; he visited her there, giving out that he had family business with her connected with an inheritance, and not infrequently passed many hours with her, in order, as he expressed it, to exercise discipline over her, as she was not sufficiently advanced in piety ! Stephan Petiot, the Provincial of Guienne, obtained for him- self the reputation of being one of the most holy of men, and when he preached in the principal church belonging to the Order, the space was found to be far too small to contain all the worshippers who thronged to listen to him. This, however, did not prevent him from becoming violently enamoured of a nut- brown maid, and persuading her to assume the disguise of n peasant boy in order to enable her to gain access into the college. In this disguise the girl now paid the Father frequent visits, and as often as she came he shut himself up with her for hours together ; this, latterly, however, did not satisfy him, but he got her placed as his servant, and had her to wait upon him day and night. This went on during several months, and pro- bably the matter might have continued for some time longer undiscovered, had not the woman possessed a tongue. But, being induced by sickness to speak, the girl revealed the whole affair to her former Father Confessor, Nathaniel Sichard, and he, of course, took care that an end should be put to the THE OLD ADAM UNDER THE MASK OF HOLINESS. 291 matter before it should come to the knowledge of the world. Nothing, however, happened to Stephan Petiot, except that he was warned to he more circumspect for the future, as, had such a scandal become public, the whole Society of Jesus might have sustained the deepest injury. We learn that Father Coprevitius, Professor at the College of Gratz, occasioned an unmarried young lady belonging to the Court of the Archduke Charles to get into disgrace, and that concerning this a terrible disturbance took place among the cavaliers and ladies of this pious Hapsburger. But the fellow brethren of Coprevitius neither lost their senses nor presence of mind, for the Rector of the university merely sent the erring sheep with a commission to an old friend of the Order, the occupant of the Lubian Bishopric in Spain, of the name of Thomas Cremius, who retained the fallen brother on the occa- sion entirely for himself. The lady, however, was under the necessity of making a four years' journey, travelling about the different baths, after which she returned again to the Court, as fresh and brisk as ever, just as if nothing whatever had taken place. And as for the erring professor's offspring, one of the Fathers took charge of it immediately after its birth, and nothing was heard afterwards as to what had become of it. I could still continue to give hundreds of such instances on the part of the Jesuits, or rather thousands;* it must, however, be observed, that only a very few of such crimes among members of the Order ever became known, as the first care among the Jesuits was to conceal all that occurred, which was done with such skill that it should not reach the ears of the people. A sin perpetrated was a purely accidental affair. The principal thing was the publication of the scandal, the blame cast thereby on the Order, which, by the notoriety of every such crime, must have the mantle of holiness in which it enveloped itself damaged considerably. On this account care was taken not to awaken public attention by the punishment of such fail- ings. They contented themselves with the private censure of the party, or his removal to another sphere of action, in order to * I recommend to anyone wishing to inform himself on this subject the book entitled, Histoire du P. La Chaise, Jesuitical Confesseui duRoi Louis XIV., contenant les particularity les plus secretes de sa vie, ses amours avec plusieurs . dames de la premiere qualite, et les agrables aventures qui lui sont arrivees dans le cours de ses galanteries." 2 vols. 19 * 292 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. put a stop to any talk about the matter. Should, perchance, the affair come under judicial cognizance, they never rested until the accused member was cleared, as the world must on no* account be allowed to feast its eyes on the humiliation of a brother of the Order ! The best proof that the Jesuits were in the habit of acting in this way, may be gathered from the following couple of stories, the first of which occurred at Sala- manca at the beginning of the 17th century : Father Mena was held there in great estimation, as well owing 1 to his mode of life, which resembled that of the holy martyrs, as- hy the surpassing gift of eloquence with which he was endowed. In appearance he was pale and haggard, with eyes deeply sunk in his head. His gait indicated the deepest humility, and his simple aspect displayed a modesty which was the admiration of all. But when he stood in the pulpit and thundered against the depravity of the world sunk in iniquity, such fire proceeded out of his mouth that all his listeners shook with emotion, and a visible quaking of despair seized upon the hearts of even the most obdurate. Under such remarkable circumstances, it was not to be wondered at that many of the inhabitants of Salamanca chose Father Mena to be their Father Confessor, and more especially the female sex thronged to him from the highest classes to the lowest. Now, among the fair confessants there also happened to be a very beautiful maiden of striking appearance,, whose understanding, however, did not at all correspond witli her bodily attractions, and, as she was generally regarded as a kind of simpleton, Father Mena, whose heart was inspired with a. glowing desire of obtaining possession of this charming being, hoped to be able to turn this circumstance to his advan- tage. After, then, he had properly prepared the maid, who- came to him every week for confession, he at length proceeded further with his project, and explained to her that God had ordered him in a revelation, with a view to the completion of his sanctity, to take upon himself the sacrament of marriage with her. Whatever good reasons the Father might have given, however, in support of his proposal, and notwithstanding th& credence the lady gave to almost every word he uttered, she was so terrified by such a proposition that she was at once seized with a desire to make her way out of the confessional. He, however, succeeded by honeyed words in preventing her THE OLD ADAM UNDER THE MASK OF HOLINESS. 293 from doing so, and represented to her that her reputation would in no way suffer any injury from this projected marriage ordered hy God, as he, under another name, possessed a small settlement, in which they might meet undisturbed, and that not less care would he taken to preserve secrecy in the event of her confinement. If she still cherished any doubts in her mind, proceeded he, with calculated slyness, regarding the necessity of complying with this command of God, she always had it in her power to consult one or other of the learned divines belonging to the university ; but, on the other hand, it would be necessary for her to preserve the most profound silence towards the laity and secular community, as she would otherwise draw down the anger of heaven upon her. With these representations the first fears of the chaste maiden were, up to this point, overcome, and after the Confessor had mentioned to her a couple of Fathers of his acquaintance with whom she might take counsel, she left the church, partially convinced that she was destined by God to be rendered holy in the world by a secret marriage with Father Mena. What now, then, took place ? As soon as the beauty had left, the Father hastened to the two theologians with whom she might take advice, and represented to them that he had a very conscientious confessant to deal with, who would only follow his instructions after other learned men should express themselves as favourable to the necessity of her doing so. He then asked his colleagues whether they had any reason to distrust him, or whether he had not given proof of his ability for instruction in matters of conscience, derived from the practice of many years. Seeing this to be the case, and as he had proved it to be so by the mode of life which he had hitherto followed, he hinted that his colleagues need not, therefore, go into any details, but merely counsel the maiden to follow implicitly everything recommended by Father Mena. This the two theologians most willingly agreed to do, as they knew their companion to be a very straightforward man, besides being regarded as the best preacher of morality in Salamanca. When, then, she came to them for advice, and from a sense of shame did not know what words to make use of in expressing herself, they declared to her that whatever was proposed by .Father Mena was certain to be right and good, and on that 294 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. account she ought without hesitation to follow implicitly any advice given by him. There was thus no longer any doubt remaining in the mind of the poor deluded fool, so on the next occasion when she came to him for con- fession he learned, to his inmost joy and satisfaction, that she was now fully prepared to follow the will of God. He then uttered a benediction on himself together with her, by the most truly blasphemous ceremonies, and they both at once withdrew to the above-mentioned retreat, where they lived together for a very lengthened period. During all this time Father Mena continued to attend to his spiritual duties, and busied himself especially in preaching with such zeal and fervour that his great reputation went on increasing year by year. At last, by some unlucky accident, the profound secret of this disgraceful relationship came to light, and then the Holy Inquisition got hold of the errant couple, who were at once conveyed to the prisons of the Inquisition in Valladolid. The woman now, on the very first examination, made a full con- fession, and as thus the base conduct of Father Mena was brought to light, in all its enormity, everyone believed that the Society of Jesus would at once expel the mangy sheep out of the Order as a reprobate, for the protection of its purity. Such, how- ever, was not at all the case, but, on the contrary, the Society espoused the cause of their member with such zeal as to pro- duce the greatest astonishment regarding the matter. The Jesuits, however, well knew the reason why, and the result showed that they had rightly calculated. As this scandalous story now caused such a commotion all over Spain, and, indeed, elsewhere, the idea might take hold of men's minds that all the members of the Order were more or less profligate, and saints* merely in appearance, and, therefore, cost what it might, Father Mena must be cleared from all imputations. A physician, therefore, was bribed by a large sum of money to declare that the simple woman was a complete fool, and this worthy doctor administered to the poor creature a sleeping draught of such potency that she never awoke again. At the same time the Provincial obtained from another physician a certificate that Father Mena was so dangerously ill that a further detention in the prisons of the Inquisition must bring about his certain death. Provided with this certificate, the Society,. THE OLD ADAM UNDER THE MASK OF HOLINESS. 295 which was at that time almost all-powerful at the Court of Spain, proposed that Mena should be brought into the Jesuit College in order that he should be better attended to, but, of course, only until such time as his health should be re-esta- blished. In this respect, however, the Inquisition took such precautions that several of its officials were appointed to accompany him, who were instructed never to lose sight of the patient. To all appearance Mena now became daily weaker, so- much so, indeed, that the officials fully expected his decease. They were consequently not at all surprised one day, when engaged at their dinner and the Jesuits took care to feed them right well to find that all the bells of the college commenced to ring, thereby announcing the death of the poor patient, and, as may be well imagined, they did not hasten to make any inspection of the corpse, except for form's sake, some hours later, in order to enable them to make a report to their chief; and as they then found the Father lying in his coffin in Jesuit attire, they took their departure from the college to convey the news of his death to their General. The Father, however, was by no means dead ; quite the reverse, indeed, for as soon as the officials had left he got out of his coffin, and after the death colour with which he had been painted was washed off, they put him, well disguised, on a quick-going mule, which soon conveyed him out of the country to Genoa. In the coffin they laid a wax figure, made to resemble him as much as possible, which was also dressed in Jesuit costume, and the burial then took place with much pomp. In this manner the Society contrived to put a speedy termination to the trial that had been instituted ; and, of course, it was everywhere given out that the whole com plaint had arisen merely from the diseased imagination of a demented person, as there never had existed a more holy man than the much-maligned Father Mena. The second affair which I wish to relate occurred in the town of Granada, also in Spain, in which the Jesuits possessed a very beautiful college, with large properties and endowments attached thereto. Among the latter there happened to be a pretty landed estate in the village of Caparazena, the management of which was entrusted to Father Balthasar des Hois. This latter, how- ever, fell in love, it seems, with the wife of a peasant of the place, a very robust woman of well-developed figure and 296 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. warm temperament. It was not very difficult, therefore, for the Father to overcome her scruples, and, in order to carry his wishes into effect undisturbed, he appointed the peasant to be steward, with a considerable salary. Thereupon the peasant was, of course, greatly delighted, and several months elapsed before he discovered the reason why the Father had favoured him so highly. The other people in the village had better eyes, however, and at length made the peasant aware of the state of the case. He, therefore, at once spoke about it to the Father, who denied all this as a pure calumny, and the woman, who was much flattered with the attentions of the holy man, confirmed all that he said. The peasant was pacified, but only for the moment, as the thorn of jealousy had sunk deeply into his heart, and he was therefore resolved to make certain of the matter. One day, therefore, when the Father was expected from Granada, he went out very early into the fields, telling his wife at the same time to give him something cold to take with him to eat, as his occupation would not admit of his return home until late in the evening. The woman joyfully did what he told her, and then placed herself at the window in order to look out for the beloved Father, whom she expected to make his appearance within a few hours. The peasant, on the other hand, sauntered about, not, however, to go to the fields, as he had said, but to return home again after a short time by a bye-path, when he slipped quietly into the house by a back-door, and equally quietly he went inside and hid himself, waiting to see what happened. Shortly afterwards the holy man arrived, whereupon the infuriated husband sprang out and stabbed the pair with a knife with which he had previously provided himself for the purpose. The Father was killed on the spot, and the woman also died shortly afterwards; she lived, however, long enough to make a full confession to a neighbour who had been quickly called in. The situation in which she was found with the Father completely justified the peasant, according to Spanish law, in vindicating his sullied honour with the dagger. He thought so, at least, and so did the secular court before which the affair was first brought, and which, after hearing the evidence of the neighbour, found the peasant not guilty. The Jesuit College in Granada, however, was anything but satisfied with this judgment being unable to THE OLD ADAM UNDER THE MASK OF HOLINESS. 297 endure the ignominy attaching to them, in that one of its members had thus rightfully met with his death hy the dagger ; and the Hector urgently petitioned at once, therefore, for a new inquiry, on the ground that the first had been conducted with partiality. He also personally betook himself to the spot, accompanied by a notary from Granada, and even, after all that had already taken place, endeavoured, hy means of presents, promises, and threats, to bring over to their side the people who had in the first instance given evidence against the deceased Father. They, in this way, succeeded with not a few, the final result being that those persons at once contradicted all the evidence they had previously given. Those, however, who were opposecl to them, in the face of this strong contradiction, admitted that they, at least, could no longer recollect with certainty, and, consequently the offence was made out to be at least doubtful. In addition to this, the Rector, by his generosity, obtained new witnesses, who at once swore that Father Balthasar was a most holy man, whom no one ever saw engaged in any other way than praying, with his rosary in his hands, and that, therefore, the story of his proceedings with the deceased must be rejected as perfect nonsense, as she had long passed her first youth she was not quite twenty-eight and consequently must be looked upon as an old woman. These and similar declarations were collected by the Rector with much zeal, and the notary carefully committed them to paper, and thus the matter advanced so far that this evidence was laid before a new court of investigation, and the severe punishment of the murderer demanded. It still, however, remained a matter of doubt whether the bribed witnesses would have stood their ground, as the sorely-pressed peasant requested 'that he might be confronted with them face to face ; in consequence of this, it was suggested to the poor man, by some one professing friendship, that the best thing he could do would be for him quickly to make him- self scarce, as he would doubtless be hanged as a convicted murderer. The man, from fear, followed this advice, and as his disappearance was silently facilitated, he made his escape quite undetected, while, as he had thus gone away under suspicious cir- cumstances, the Jesuits triumphantly exclaimed that the guilt of the man was as clear as daylight, as consciousness of this had cinduced him to take to flight. This cry they repeated so often 298 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. that they at length succeeded in bringing over even the judges- to their views ; in short, they carried the matter so far that, supported by their false witnesses, the poor peasant, betrayed by such villainy, was presumed to be proved guilty, and condemned " in contumaciam," to the halter. Thereupon, on this sentence being given, the sons of Loyola, by way of putting a crown upon this tragic comedy, caused the whole of the law proceedings to be printed, along with the judgment thereon, and distributed them through the whole town exactly as if they had gained a great victory. Indeed, this Balthasar des Rois was, indeed, little short of being canonised as a martyr of purity; at all events, the Jesuits believed that they had proved this much, at least, that among their Society there was not one who could be afflicted with weaknesses as other children of men. A third story of a similar kind relates to an escapade which took place in the town of Poitiers on the part of Father Mania, one of the most distinguished Jesuit preachers of St. Didier, nnd a widow of position ; but I shall refrain from entering into particulars, as the scenes enacted were, if possible, of an even more scandalous description than those already related. Of a fourth story of this kind I must at least say a few words, as it will afford not a little amusement to the reader. In the middle of the 16th century there lived, in the city of Bordeaux, a seamstress, who essayed to increase her resources, to a certain extent, by her charms, and, on account of this kind of life, had become notorious throughout the whole city. On one occasion this seamstress, after carrying on this double trade from her sixteenth to her thirty-second year, became seriously ill, and, in her terrible fear of death, caused Father Gaska to be called to her, in order that she might receive absolution from him for her long-continued sins of many years' standing. The same, how- ever, a Jesuit highly esteemed above all for his piety and advanced age, made the Divine wrath so hot for the woman that she promised that, as soon as she became again con- valescent, she would enter into a certain reformatory which had been founded in Bordeaux for the reclamation of sinners, and never again, for the remainder of her life, have any- thing to do with such matters. The woman in due course recovered, and, as the good Father Gaska \vas entrusted with the special supervision of the asylum, his wishes could, of course,. THE OLD ADAM UNDER THE MASK OF HOLINESS. 299 not be objected to by anyone. Nor was there any occasion for regret at her admission, as the seamstress at first conducted her- self in a most exemplary manner, and fulfilled well her duties in every respect ; as, however, her health became more and more re-established, and her bodily charms by degrees returned 1 to their former condition, she began to experience again at night powerful temptations, of which she, naturally enough, made mention to the Father, her Confessor. He, however, repre- sented to her that all such came from Satan, and gradually brought her to the conviction that the Devil had cast his eye particularly upon her. It came to pass now, that at the end of fourteen months this individual began to show signs by no* means agreeable to herself or those around her. A fearful com- motion now took place in the establishment, as it could be proved that no male person ever entered the building, with the- exception of Father Gaska alone, and he, owing to his great sanctity, was, as a matter of course, beyond all suspicion. Further, it could be also proved that the woman had never- crossed the threshold of the institution, which precluded the possibility of the only remaining means of accounting for her condition. She moreover declared, with the greatest confi- dence, that the Devil himself could alone have brought about this infernal mischief, and that she was prepared to take the sacrament on it that this was so. Confusion now became worse confounded. Physicians, who were now called in, declared that the woman must be out of her mind, as improper proceedings with an immortal being were not to be thought of; this view of the case, however, savoured so much of heretical reasoning that Father Gaska, in conjunction with several of his other colleagues, rejected it with indignation. The physicians now became silent, and contented themselves with merely shrugging their shoulders, in order that they might not be accused of heresy. The Jesuits, on the other hand, convoked a commission of learned theo- logians to consult upon the matter. Fathers Antonio Palomo and Martin de la Conchille, who were charged with drawing up the report, showed themselves to be conspicuously active on the occasion, and the pious Fathers cited so many instances from the Fathers of the Church, and especially from Augustine, that no clearer proof could be adduced. In fact, it was finally con- cluded that the Devil himself, and no one else, could have had 300 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. any dealings with the seamstress. It may be well imagined what a prodigious sensation this case caused throughout Bordeaux ; so everyone was, of course, curious to learn how this offspring of the Devil would look when it came into the world. Now, the poor person gave hirth presently to a little boy, having neither cloven hoofs nor the other characteristics of the Devil, but just resembling any of the other children of men. Nevertheless, the whole town rushed to take a look at the son of the Devil. Indeed, the house of the penitent barely escaped being taken by storm, so much so that Father Gaska and his associates were obliged to remove the mother and child out of the town the mother, in order to convey her to a far distant place of retreat ; the little boy, however, in order that he might be brought up by a hermit in the Pyrenees, who would soon drive the Devil's nature out of him. Moreover, the public had to be pacified, and it became so, although for a con- siderable time afterwards people spoke about the Devil's son, partly with horror, and partly with scorn and disdain, according as people were more or less enlightened. The mysterious veil in which this affair was shrouded was at last, however, very nearly lifted, and an eternal disgrace cast upon the pious Father Gaska. About ten years afterwards, the female guardian of the seamstress acknowledged to the doctor who attended her as she lay on her death-bed, that during several months she had been, by order of Father Gaska, obliged every Saturday night to bring a tumbler of wine to the seamstress, after she had mixed in it a white powder given her by the Father, which had the effect of regularly throwing the seamstress into a very deep sleep, and that then the Father introduced himself, remaining with tho sleeper usually for one or two hours. At the same time, too, that she made this acknowledgment, she handed over to the physician a small quantity of the powder which she had pre- served, and which on examination proved to be a strong opiate. The proceedings of Father Gaska now came to light in all their villainy, and the physician hastened at once to an advocate of "his acquaintance, in order to consult with him as to what course he should pursue in this most extraordinary case, and as to whether he should not lay the proofs before a court of justice. The advocate, however, advised him to leave the matter alone, Satan for a year ; indeed, he urged her to it so vehemently that she gave her consent to everything, and swore, with a holy oath, according to the following formulary : " I submit myself, and am ready to say, do, and suffer everything that may be required of me." From this time forth it was towards the end of the year 1729 the poor child imagined herself completely in the power of Satan, and in this state frequently broke out into most horrible reviling and cursing, so that her mother an& brother were terrified about it. But another far more important result was that the beautiful maid, in consequence, greatly suffered in health, owing to these attacks, and was obliged to- keep to her bed, or at all events to her room, during the whole time, and that thereby Father Girard had the opportunity of remaining alone with his penitent, not for a quarter or half an hour, merely, at a time, but for the whole day, from early in the- morning until late at night. He alone, and no other, had any power over her and the Devil ; could, then, access be denied to him at any time ? Besides, was he not generally considered to be a demi-saint, especially by the mother of the patient, a very piously disposed and bigoted woman ? It would, indeed, verily be looked upon as a deadly sin to think any evil of him ; and, consequently, it was permitted to him at all times to come to the poor Cadiere without the least let or hindrance, in order to- enable him to prevail over the exorcisms of Satan. When he- happened to be with her, the door was immediately locked upon them, and no one, not even the nearest relation, was allowed to open it until he considered it proper to allow it. We draw a veil over the remainder of the story, and pass on to 318 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the period when the wretched girl was taken to the cloister of St. Clara at Ollioules, on the 6th of July 1730. Who could now be a happier man than Father Girard ? His joy, however, soon turned out to be of but short duration, as we shall presently find. Girard allowed the first fourteen days to pass without visiting his beloved one; he personally, then, appeared at the cloister, and easily contrived to persuade the Abbess to allow him to see Cadiere, and enter into correspondence with her. Of this permission he took the fullest advantage, and, upon the pretext of hearing her con- fession, remained for many hours with her. He was still, how- ever, very circumspect at first, although all his letters abounded in extravagantly loving expressions, containing bits of moral teach- ing and spiritual advice " for his dear child favoured by God." So matters went on to the holy Father's taste for a con- siderable period ; but at length, the continuance of the love affair being now no longer practicable in Ollioules, he con- sequently suddenly declared that as Cadiere had now suffi- ciently benefited humanity by her holy manner of life in the cloister of St. Clara, as well as in Toulon, it was now time she should be transferred to another cloister, in order that it also might enjoy the fruits of her holiness. He, therefore, selected a cloister of the Carthusian nuns atPremola, near Lyons, as the next abode of the novice, and made arrangements for her transfer there within the next few days. In the meantime, however, the Abbess, having ascertained what had been going on, speedily informed the Bishop of Lyons of everything that had taken place, and he at once ordered Cadiere to remain where she was. He, furthermore, forbade her from employing Father Girard any longer as her Confessor, and, at the same time, prohibited the latter from ever again entering the cloister of St. Clara. He also, some days afterwards, charged Abb6 Camerle to convey Cadiere, for her greater security, in a carriage to the country house of Monsieur Panque, not far from Toulon, he being a near relative of his. Lastly, he appointed Father Niclas, Prior of the Carmelite cloister of Lyons, to discharge the duty of Confessor to Cadiere, with instructions to watch her as carefully as possible for the future. An ungovernable rage now seized upon Father Girard when he got tidings of the Bishop's regulations ; still greater, however, was his fright, as he imagined THE SPIEITUAL EXERCISES. 319 that Cadiere might already have made a full confession. How- ever, he soon regained his usual presence of mind, and at once despatched one of his hitherto trusted friends, Mademoiselle Gravier, to Cadiere at the country house of Panque, partly to find out exactly what had taken place, and partly in order to get away the many letters he had written to her. This latter was for him a matter of life and death, as, supposing the amorous correspondence were found, the disgraceful relationship between them would come to light, and, on this account, he had selected Gravier particularly as his ambassadress, as Cadiere had com- plete confidence in her. The mission, in fact, succeeded beyond all expectation, for not only did Gravier obtain possession of all the desired letters, with the exception of a few which still re- mained in a box at Ollioules, but Cadiere, in order to please her beloved Confessor, delivered to her also the whole of the mysti- fied and unmystified writings, by the reading of which she had formerly been attracted by him. Girard now felt as if he had been newly born. He had in his possession the chief corpus delicti, and anything which might be verbally said against him he could deny. Who, then, could do him any serious harm ? But this time it happened otherwise. The new Father Confessor soon had reason to surmise what had been the true relationship which had subsisted between the Jesuit and his confessant, and this suspicion soon found confirmation in the fact that Cadiere several times secretly left the country house by night, in order to visit, in the Jesuit seminary at Toulon, her fondly-loved former Confessor. On this account, he pursued an investigation of the matter still further, with much assiduity, and, by his strong remonstrances, brought it to this point at last, that the maid at length revealed to him the whole secret of this shameful transaction. He was, indeed, truly horrified at such wickedness in a priest of the Lord ; and in one, moreover, who had passed for being so holy, he would have considered it to be quite impossible. He, of course, at once laid the whole matter before the Bishop, who forthwith himself Tiastened to the country house in person, in order to obtain confirmation of the shameful transaction from the lips of the -wrongdoer herself. What a horror ! The Bishop, of course, swore to avenge the insulted Church, and to free the town of Toulon from this voracious wolf. But Cadiere, overwhelmed tears, besought him on her knees, for the honour of herself 320 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. and family, to throw a veil of silence over the past, and her brother, the Dominican, whom she had brought along with her as a witness, also entreated the Bishop with the same object. Added to all this were the representations of the Abbe Camerle, who brought the Bishop to be of opinion that it would be such a terrible scandal to the whole of Christendom, were the affair to become publicly known, that it would be wiser not to allow justice, for this time, to take its course. The Bishop, in short, was soon made to depart from his original intention, and at last promised to consign the whole hideous story to everlasting oblivion. He could not, however, bring himself to allow Father Girard to continue to act any longer as spiritual guide, and, consequently commissioned Father Niclas, the prior of the Car- melites, along with Father Cadiere, the Dominican, to undertake the spiritual supervision of the whole of the confessants of Father Girard. It seemed now that the whole of this frightful crime was to be buried in everlasting oblivion, and it would most cer- tainly have so happened had it not been for the boundless spiritual arrogance of the Jesuits. They could not at all brook the idea that their Rector, hitherto regarded as being so holy, should in future be debarred from hearing confessions, and he himself hurled fire and flames at the notion of a separation from those who had, up to this time, been his confessing daughters. The town of Toulon was, more- over, overrun with all kinds of reports as to what had taken place, and these latter did not, assuredly, at all redound to the credit of the sons of Loyola. Lastly, who could guarantee that Cadiere herself might not, sooner or later, reveal the matter, or come forward with a complaint ? Something, therefore, must be publicly done, in order to make the Society of Jesus secure against all injury, and such could best be effected by causing the confessant of Girard to be judicially, but in a very partial and summary manner, condemned as a liar and calumniator. Thus did the Jesuits reason with themselves, especially so Fathers Girard and Sabathir ; indeed, as regards the former, his very existence being now at stake, and love being now blown to the winds, there remained nothing else, in his case, but Jesuitical arrogance, more especially as the latter was to play the principal part in the trial. The black-cloaked fraternity, backed as they were by the Bishop's official, who was his vicar in all secular THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES. 321 judicial affairs, hoped that, as the ordained criminal court in ecclesiastical matters was completely favourable to them, they might with facility obtain the sentence they desired. Accordingly, after a consultation with their adherents, they suddenly declared to the Bishop that they felt themselves quite unable to reconcile themselves to the policy of silence ordained by him, and they, at the same time, handed over to the Epi- scopal Ecclesiastical Court a well drawn-up document in which they strenuously called for the most minute investigation. " Either," said they, in this memorial, " Father Girard has com- mitted the crime of which he has been accused, in which case he should receive the severest punishment, or he has not done so, when his accuser must be put down as a thoroughly depraved calumniator." Urged in this manner, the Bishop ordered his official to proceed, as in duty bound, and the latter at once commenced the investigation by the interrogation of Cadiere, of her brother the Dominican, and of her then Confessor the prior of the Carmelites. In this respect he went to work with great partiality, as it will afterwards be proved that the declarations of the three under examination were either not accepted at all, or, what was worse, were recorded most inaccu- rately, and, moreover, Cadiere, from a feeling of shame, became confused in her replies. The commencement of the process in this way proved to be very favourable for Girard, as, also, did the next stage in the proceeding. After the first hearing by the official, the business came on before the criminal: court, which thereupon made itself acquainted with the so- called " species facti" that is to say, the documentary evidence which could be adduced by the complainant. None was forthcoming, however, with the exception of five letters, three of which were directed to the Abbess of Ollioules, and two to Cadiere herself, the wily Father having contrived, as before stated, to have the others destroyed. Upon this, the hearing of the witnesses was now proceeded with, and here also was but little brought to light very damaging to the pious Father, because the judges stood in the most intimate relationship to the Jesuits, and the declarations inimical to Girard were consequently gone into very superficially, or designedly drawn up and modified. On the other hand, the statements previously obtained by the Jesuits, through bribery, and fabricated, of course, in favour of 21 322 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the Father, were dwelt upon in detail, and, more especially, the statements of the Hector's former confessor, which, as a matter of course, abounded in declarations favourable to Oirard's reputation for godliness and morality, were most care- fully noted. In short, the court of justice did not even refrain from illegal acts, and, in order that no trick or artifice might be forgotten or omitted, the judges assembled every evening in the seminary of the Jesuits, where, together with Fathers Girard and Sabatbiere, they concocted everything that should be pro- duced next day. At length they carried the matter so far as to convey Cadiere herself into the Ursuline convent in Toulon, over which the Jesuits had the right of supervision, and they then, in order to make her life as miserable as possible, con- fined her in a room where a lunatic had shortly before died, and where the smell and foulness of the air was quite pestilential, a bundle of foul straw being all that she had for a bed. In order, indeed, that her measure might be full, the Ursuline nuns were brought forward as witnesses against her, and swore that everything that she had hitherto alleged was nothing more than falsehood and calumny, and that, without doubt, she had been bribed by the enemies of Loyola in order to do them an injury. In spite of all, however, the matter did not come so speedily to a termination as the Jesuits imagined. On the contrary, it attracted such an immense interest throughout the whole of France, that the King, at the request of his Council of State, ordered the strictest investigation to be made into it, and entrusted the conduct thereof to the Supreme Court of Aix. The affair now entered upon a new phase, and the whole civilised world watched its progress with the greatest anxiety. The Jesuits, however, now seeing that it was to them a matter of life and death, called up the whole influence that the Society could muster in order to obtain a favourable result for themselves, and were so unsparing in their expenditure of money in bribes to the judges and witnesses, that it amounted to more than a million of francs. Whatever intelligence, cunning, and wickedness could effect was devised, and the perjuries perpetrated were to be counted by hundreds.* Father Girard ostensibly * Whoever is interested as to the details of this trial, and especially as to the web of Jesuit deceit, let him read the first volume of the work, Process zwischen dein Pater Girard, S.J., Rectoris des Seuunarii de la Marine du Touion ttnd der Jungfer Cadiere. Coin, 1732. THE SPIEITUAL EXERCISES. 323 produced before the court all the letters which he had for- merly written to Cadiere but they were not the identical ones, being specially fabricated and antedated, and accordingly breathing nothing but solicitude for the well-being of his confessant. Witnesses came forward who accused the Prior of the Carmelites and the Dominican Father Cadiere of having formed a conspiracy against Father Girard, and of having pledged themselves to ruin him, as well as the Order of Jesus, in the eyes of the world by the trumped-up false- hoods of Catherine Cadiere. The nuns of Ollioules were so worked upon that they retracted all that they had laid at the door of Father Girard, and, on the contrary, made out Cadiere to be a person unworthy and abandoned, who had tried to seduce the worthy Father. Cadiere herself was particularly tortured and tormented, both physically and morally, in a most barbarous way, and threatened with eternal ruin and deprivation of all spiritual consolation if she did not at once sign a declara- tion that the accusation which she had made against Father Girard was a falsehood and a calumny. She was, indeed, formally exorcised before a number of ecclesiastical and other witnesses, and so depressed by maltreatment and attempts at casting out of the devil, that she fell into a faint of several hours duration She was, lastly, subjected for three days, viz. the 25th, 26th, and 27th of February 1731, to an uninterrupted course of interrogation from morning till night, and it was hoped thus to confuse her by putting cross and crooked questions, while by the exceptionable means of suggestion she might be brought to contradict herself or be shown to be mentally incapable. On the first day she remained stedfast to her former declarations, and distinctly recapitulated, in clear un- doubtful words, all the shameful proceedings that had taken place between herself and Father Girard. She did so as well on the second day, without losing her presence of mind. On the third day, however, according to a statement made 'by a daughter of a widow, by name Guiol, who had a hand in the affair, a narcotic drug was given to her in her breakfast by her attendant, the action of which was so potent that she was for some time unable even to recognise her own mother. On this account an application was at once made to the court for an investigation into the treatment she had experienced ; 21 * 324 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. but this petition met with no attention, and the inquiry pro- ceeded further without interruption, after the poor creature had in some measure regained her senses. The result was that she r whose mind had been already unhinged by constant ill-treatment, threats, reproaches, and intimidation, as also by the stupifying effects of the drug before mentioned, became still more confused, so much so, I affirm, that, after long and strenuous remonstrance,, she recanted not only all that she had previously advanced to the prejudice of the Jesuit Girard, but also on the question being put to her as to who had instigated her to invent such a tissue of untruths, replied that " Father Niclas," the Prior of the Carmelites, was the originator of the whole scandal, and that it was he alone who had persuaded her to proceed legally against her former Father Confessor. What rejoicing now arose among the Jesuits when this confession came from the lips of Cadiere ! At last, after they had striven for months past, with such an infinity of trouble, and such an immense expenditure of money, the innocence of Girard and the saving of the honour of the Society of Jesus might be published to the world ! Still, how- ever, the matter did not by any means proceed so quickly. The court of justice, indeed, ordered the immediate transfer of Cadiere into the cloister of the Visitation in Aix, in order that she might be kept there in strict seclusion until the sentence was promulgated. So far well ; and it might, too, be foreseen very well, as a certainty, that this said sentence would be made as severe for the female calumniator as for the co-conspirator, the Prior of the Carmelites. It was a pity, however, that Cadiere, as soon as she had regained her senses, averred that her last confession had been absolutely false, and was obtained from her simply by compulsion, and ^ everyone of any intelligence gave credence to her in this respect. Notwith- standing, however, that Father Girard, as may well be imagined, strenuously denied with a bold face all the proceedings with Cadiere imputed to him, as well as all the grave charges that had been especially advanced against him, he could not alto- gether hold his own, as several of the witnesses stedfastly adhered to the evidence they had already given; some few of them, at least, testified to the truth of what Cadiere had brought forward against him, and those few already threw quite an extraordinary light upon the affair. He thus ultimately was induced to admit THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES. 325 that his confessant had for a long time suffered from hysterical attacks, by which she was deprived of consciousness for hours together, and that he had shut himself up with her alone during all this time. He further acknowledged that he had administered the Spanish discipline to her. All this did he, indeed, confess, heing unable altogether to deny the testimony brought forward against him, as his understanding told him that he must not make himself suspected by being too obstinate. He affirmed that he had the right, so to speak, of interpreting his deeds and actions, as well as his own words, and was thus consequently in a position to make them out to be as innocent as possible. But he might say what he liked, in what he himself acknowledged was there not a clear admission that he must have stood on a peculiarly confidential footing with his confessant ? On such terms, indeed, as were evidently entirely contrary to all decorum. It was thus, then, not to be wondered at that there was hardly anyone in the lay world who looked upon Father Girard as innocent, and, on that account, credence was even given to Cadiere, as, by a solemn protest made on oath, she cancelled all the proceedings which had taken place during her third hearing, affirming that the pure truth was only contained in her first confession. Still further, indeed, as Cadiere, by the advice of her advocate, now complained to the Council of State regard- ing the abuse of ecclesiastical justice, and appealed claiming a reversion to the former mode of investigation ; her petition was at once complied with, and the Parliament of Aix decided to refer the case for final determination to the last court of appeal. The trial thus began afresh from the commencement, and the Jesuits then incessantly used all their influence in order to bias the new judges in their favour. Kepeatedly did their friends, both male and female, work upon the members of Parliament, repeatedly did they make use of threats of eternal punishment, repeatedly did they employ gold in such quantities that, to the vast amount already expended, yet another million was added. In this manner, in fact, did the sons of Loyola win the judges over to their side, and another great advantage that they had was that the celebrated advocate, Thorame, was retained by them to plead for Girard before the Court. They, moreover, dared to 326 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. reckon upon the Procurator- General for themselves, as also the Chief Attorney of State, and secretly, too, even the president of the court sold himself to them, hody and soul. Under these circumstances, then, they might well calculate upon a favourable termination to the case, more especially, also, as Cadiere could neither command many friends nor much money. One thing, however, had been forgotten by the sons of Loyola that is, the sense of justice, which can never die out from the mind of man, and it was this feeling that obtained for Cadiere such a distin- guished advocate as Chaudon, who, if he did not excel Thorame in acumen and craft, was, at all events, his superior as regards knowledge and skill, and thus prevented, at least, all of the judges, or even a majority of them, from being blinded by the gold of the Girard party. I shall not now dwell any longer on the particulars of this scandalous story, most scandalous, indeed, in more ways than one, but hasten to bring it to a conclusion. On the llth of September 1731, Thorame, Father Girard's advocate, made this proposition, " That Cadiere should be sentenced in the first place to do penance before the Church of St. Salvador, and then be hanged and strangled." This sentence was, however, peremptorily rejected by far the greater majority of votes of the members of the Court of Justice, which consisted of twenty-five. A counter proposition on the part of Chaudon ran thus, " That Father Girard should be sentenced to death for having been completely proved guilty of ecclesiastical incest, as well as of the degradation of his priestly office, by repeated crimes against morality, 1 ' and not fewer than twelve judges voted for it; one was, therefore, wanting in order to constitute this to be the conclusion come to by the Court. The other twelve judges agreed upon a third proposition, of the nature of a compromise, which ran as follows : " That Father Girard, in consideration of the evident imbecility of mind that had come upon him, and which had made him to be an object of derision to his confess- ants, should be acquitted of the gravamen of the crime and misdemeanor laid to his charge, and, on the other hand, should be dealt with by the Ecclesiastical Court ; secondly, that Cadiere should be given over free to her mother, with the sole penalty of bearing the expenses incurred by the Criminal Lieutenant of Toulon, but without interest on former costs; thirdly, thatNiclas, the Prior of the Carmelites, as well as Cadiere's brother, both THE SPIKITUAL EXEECISE3. 327 of whom had heen accused of conspiracy against Girard, should be acquitted and released from prison ; fourthly and lastly, that the documents, which had been drawn up for the parties, so far as they might be prejudicial to the honour of the Church, should be torn up and destroyed by the chief clerk of the Court." Aa regards the second and third propositions, then, the former was rejected, while in the case of the latter, the votes being equally divided, it rested with the casting vote of the President; he, however, being a friend of the Jesuits, voted, as a matter of course, for the latter, and accordingly the above-mentioned com- promise, which allowed all the parties to go free, was passed, as the decision come to by the Court. Some of the judges, indeed, being strongly biased in favour of the Order of Jesus, were of opinion that it was right that some sort of punishment, at least, should be inflicted on Cadiere, in order that she might not be able to boast of having completely escaped scot-free, but the rest of the members of Parliament were not in the least to be moved. "What!" said one of them, full of indignation, "we have just acquitted a man who is perhaps one of the greatest criminals in the world, and are we to assign the least punishment to this poor girl ? Rather let this palace be consumed by fire, and our- selves buried in the ruins." These stirring words took effect, and Cadiere was released out of prison. So ended the case of Girard v. Cadiere, which caused such an enormous sensation throughout the whole of Europe. It terminated, according to the meaning- of the sentence, without result, and still, what an uncommonly clear signification lay therein. And why ? Had not the Order of Jesus accused Cadiere and her brother, along with the Prior of the Carmelites, of being false accusers and conspirators; why, then, did they go unpunished ? On the other hand, was it a light matter to bring charges of the most serious nature against a priest of the rank of Rector of the Jesuits ? Certainly, had Father Girard been innocent, Cadiere would not have escaped death, and the Jesuits had thus, with all their enormous influence and their terrific expenditure of money, contrived to do no more than prevent their brother being condemned to death. That he deserved such a fate, however, no right-thinking man in the whole civilised world could have the slightest doubt, and, on the promulgation of the sentence in Aix, it was indeed found to be necessary to have a large military force in order to be able to 328 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. convey him in safety through the howling crowd. But even further than this, the Archbishop of Aix, although not such a crow as to pick out the eyes of another, publicly came over to be of the opinion of those who designated the pious Father as a criminal, and maintaining that he was guilty, not only prohibited him from ever again mounting a pulpit, from which he might boast of his triumph, but banished him out of the town of Aix and entirely out of the whole of his Archiepiscopal See. Girard thus dared not to return to Toulon, as it was feared that his doing so might have caused an insurrection, and he consequently took up his abode in Lyons, and, not long after, in about a yenr, took his departure out of the world, people affirming that the sudden death of such a strong man could be looked upon no otherwise than as a judgment of God upon him. What did it matter that the Jesuits tried in every possible way to write him up as a persecuted saint ? None gave any credence to them, but thousands upon thousands came to the conclusion that a society which had not only refrained from expelling out of their body, as a mangy sheep, a criminal, evidently of the grossest description, but had taken him up in their arms and elevated him up to heaven, that such a society, I say, was no better than the criminal himself. A few words must, lastly, be snid concerning the future fate of Oadiere. On leaving the Court of Justice, she was greeted with the most vociferous cheers, and all made haste to tender to her the deepest sympathy. She was, indeed, regularly feted as a heroine, and a number of poems made their appearance in which her stedfastness, and especially her beauty, were extolled with the highest praise.* On the other hand, the tongue of malice and calumny did not remain silent; all maidens, espe- cially those who had Jesuits for Father Confessors, being disposed to defame her secretly in all kinds of ways. Her residence in Aix, consequently, soon became in the highest degree intolerable, and she also found it to be equally impossible " She was a brunette of middle stature, of peculiarly mild and agreeable features, with an uncommonly symmetrical figure. She was especially distinguished for a truly wonderful harmony in her whole appearance, as well as for a fulness and freshness of which it would be difficult to find the like; and, above all, her contemporaries extolled her dark, piercing, softly languishing eyes, corresponding exquisitely with her luxurious black hair. In a word, it would be no easy matter to find more charms united in a female form than in Catherine CadieVe, the victim of the Jesuit Girard. THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES. 329 to remain any longer in Toulon. Her mother, therefore, quickly disposed of all her property, and one fine morning both mother and daughter disappeared without leaving behind them a single trace of where they had gone. The sons of Loyola put themselves to no end of trouble to find out the place of her abode, and many persons who, it may be stated, had been initiated into the secret were, under various pretexts, thrown into prison, with the object of inducing them to let it out. History is, however, silent as to whether they were successful, as the world never heard anything more of the poor unfortunate creature. Several people affirmed that she had gone over the water into some foreign country under a feigned name ; others would have it that, out of disgust for the world, she had immured herself in some cloister, to which her mother had made over all her property. The majority, however, maintained that the Jesuits having discovered her abode, she had then been secretly .removed from the world by poison. BOOK IV, THE DISINTERESTEDNESS OF THE JESUITS, OR, THE VOW OF POVEETY. MOTTO: Die Schwarzruck sind die Hirten der Erde, Die Burger des Erdkreises sind die Heerde; Die Weid' ist ihr liegendes Gut, Die Woll' ihr Reichthum und Blut. Wer aber bestimmt die Platze zum Weiden? Das ist in Rom der schwarz 1 General, Der da herrscht aber Papst und Konige zumaL Er acheeret die Wolle, das Schaaf muss es leiden, Und muss noch danken demiithiglicb, Dass er mit der Wolle begnuget sich ; Denn wenn er auch noch das Fell wollt' nehmen, Wer Konnt's ihm wehren? Aus dem Drama: " Der Weinberg des Naltoth,"* 333 CHAPTER I. THE CONFESSIONAL AS THE KEY TO THE MONEY-CHEST.. THE first great nail in the coffin of the Order of Jesus was, as I have just shown, the vices which the sons of Loyola practised to such an extraordinary extent; the second still greater and still more important death-hlow which I conspicuously bring to notice was their inordinate desire to attain riches, by any kind of means, even the most exceptionable. We have learned through the First Book of this work, how very much the founder of the Society of Jesus sought to symbolize, through his own proper example, Christian humility, poverty, and self-sacrifice in the highest degree, and he urged with iron austerity that his disciples should imitate him in this respect. We also know that he claimed for bis Order at the same time, with the view to the establishment, endowment, and maintenance of colleges, semi- naries, novice-houses, and other educational institutions, the privilege of accumulating as much money and goods as could be gathered together, and that he attached at least as great impor- tance to this matter as to the symbolizing of Christian poverty, self-denial, and simplicity. Both rules riches for the Order, and poverty for the individual son of Loyola were, in accord- ance with the intention of the founder of the Order, kept with a truly rigorous consistency; and there was required of every Jesuit, on his entrance into the Society, the double duty to gain at once as much as ever was possible for the latter, and to sacrifice for the general benefit that is, for the Order and its 334 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. General all that he should personally win or acquire, himself living in the greatest frugality and poverty, under the obligation of self-renunciation. This was for mortal man a task very difficult of fulfilment, and, indeed, was almost impossible ; consequently it was never in reality carried out, but merely in appearance only so far as was necessary to lead mankind into error. And why ? Were not the more initiated soon well aware that, neither in the Jesuit profess-houses nor in the colleges and other institutions of the Order, was there even the least restric- tion in relation to eating, drinking, or other enjoyments of life ? It was true, indeed, that there secretly reigned in certain things a luxury that was not to be met with in even the most wealthy houses a luxury of such a refined description as to promote the very vices which it was the duty of the fraternity to avoid. All this gradually became known, but only, as before said, among the more initiated circles, as the great mass of the public allowed themselves to be deceived, through many dozens of decades, by the external appearance of indigence maintained for mere out- ward show, and strangers taken into a Jesuit institution saw there nothing but plainly furnished apartments, along with a corresponding simplicity in other respects. Yet far more is behind the scenes. As regards the riches which were collected by the Order for the general benefit, is one actually to rest satisfied that they were solely to be used for the educational establishment, as laid down by the statutes of the Order ? How, then, were there so many paid spies who were maintained at the several great and small courts, sunk in vice ? With what were the situations of Father Confessors to ministers and other influen- tial personages bought, frequently at uncommonly dear prices ? How much did the alliances and marriages cost, which the Order of Jesus brought about among the great of the earth for its own advantage, and how much was expended on mistresses and other similar creatures ? Certainly the great mass of the people might be managed through fanaticism, flattery, and bigotry ; in higher circles, however, very different machinery must be set in motion, and the acquisition and oiling of this machinery cost money, and, indeed, a very large amount. From these few indications one perceives why, in spite of all this display of poverty and indigence by individual members, the Society of Jesus had need to accumulate riches of every kind, THE CONFESSIONAL. 335 and it succeeded in this to such an extent that, so early as the year 1626, the University of Paris complained of the immensity of these possessions. "Along with their colleges," so it is stated in that written complaint, " are conjoined the best and richest benefices, landed estates, and foundations, and their revenues are now so great that they can no longer, with any amount of cunning, conceal that such is the case. On this account their houses can no more be termed houses, but resemble rather kings' palaces and residences of princes of the blood, as regards splendour and magnificence." Such was the case in France itself, and, indeed, in all other countries in which the Order of Jesus had procured an entrance. .And another question may now be put, How and by what means had these riches been accumulated ? The Jesuits, of course, maintained that it had all been effected in a straightforward, honourable, and honest manner, namely, by presents made to them by believers, of their own accord; and there cannot be any question but that much money and property came into their possession in this way. Moreover, as we have already seen in the First Book, the Popes, almost without any exception, showed themselves so favourable to them, that to obtain they had only to indicate a number of incomes which the Roman Senate had at its disposal ; they also stirred up the orthodox believers, by special Bulls, to accord benevolent contributions to the Order, while on the reverse, they launched heavy denunciations against all who endeavoured to hinder any such benevolence. Lastly, it is an acknowledged fact that a very considerable amount was derived from the masses read by the sons of Loyola, not to speak of rosaries sold, as in prosperous times the former averaged half a million annually, and, nota bene, those half million were only read for deceased persons who had shown especial liberality to the Society. Notwithstanding all this, however, it would appear incredible that such colossal riches as the Jesuits pos- sessed could have been acquired merely by these means, and thinking people soon began to be of opinion that the sons of .Loyola employed besides " entirely different " ways to succeed :in their object. And it was not difficult to produce the neces- sary proofs for such a supposition as soon as they had observed -more closely the behaviour which the Jesuits assumed towards the rich and highly conditioned, while as Father Confessors 386 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. towards the rulers of the world these spiritual guides were actually obliged, by the command of their General, to stir up their confessants continually to exercise benevolence towards the Order of Jesus, and experience proved that they fulfilled this obligation most assiduously. One has only to run through superficially the history of Bavaria and Austria, or that of Spain and Portugal, to be enabled to seize such things by the hands, so to speak, and such was the case, also, in all other countries and territories in which the sons of Loyola had made a nest for themselves. In a word, it was soon perfectly apparent to the intelligent that the sons of Loyola claimed for themselves, as a kind of monopoly, the spiritual counselling and conscience-keeping of all the rich people and persons of rank, and that they suc- ceeded, by their unremitting exertions, in confining the remaining monks and members of Orders to the confessions of the poor and those of low degree. But how was this? Simply because much was to be obtained from the wealthy and opulent, whereas one must needs go away empty-handed from those in humble spheres of life. But these are only general statements ; in particular cases, however, things came to light which proved that the sons of Loyola made use of the confessional in a way which may be denominated scarcely less than dishonourable. Thus, when examining the matter in regard to Venice, it will be seen, by letters which were found, that they made use of the confes- sional in order to pry into family secrets, and in particular into the circumstances of private individuals, and that they sent an accurate report to their General in Rome on the subject every six weeks. There was traced, too, on investi- gation of the Jesuit College at Ruremonde, in the Netherlands, a letter of the General Ricci, in which the chiefs were instructed in what way they might be able to prevent rich widows from contracting a second marriage. Thus they raised a hope in several of their confessants that they would be assured of happiness after death as soon as they should give themselves up wholly and entirely to Jesuit guidance ; for example, the rich Marie de la Coque, after she had made a will in favour of the Society of Jesus, allowed herself, on the persuasion of the Father La Colom- biere, to be bled, always on the first Friday in every month, THE CONFESSIONAL. 337 "in honour of the holy heart of Mary"; this continued from 1674 to 1690, until she at length died from loss of hlood in the latter year. In this manner they intimidated many of their flock with the eternal pains of hell in such a truly barbarous manner, and did not grant them absolution until the fraternity had obtained a certain sum. The well- known Jesuit, Salmeron, made them pay as much as a thousand gold dollars. Thus, the two Fathers Alegambi and Ortiz carried on with the Countess Magdalena Ulloya, the widowed grand stewardess of the Emperor Charles V., to such an extent, in regard to being possessed with a devil, that she made over 16,000 ducats to them, in order to drive out Satan ; while in a precisely similar manner Father Canisius trans- gressed as regards the two Countesses Ursula and Sibilla von Fugger. Again, two other Jesuits, for the sum of 200,000 florins, finding that a very rich but half-witted man, in regard to his fate after death, wished for some assurance, furnished him with the following passport to eternity : " We, the undersigned, as priests of the true religion, attest and promise, in the name of our Society, which possesses the necessary authority in such cases, that it takes under its special protection Mr. Hippolyte Bram, licenciate of law, in order to defend him against the whole power of hell, in the event of its desire to undertake anything against his honour, his person, or his soul ; this we confirm by oath, employing in such a case the authority of our most illustrious founder, in order that the above-mentioned Bram may be pre- sented, through him, to the most holy chief the Apostle, with all the fidelity and precision to which our Society is bound. For the further confirmation of this, we have stamped it with the secret seal of our Society. Given at Ghent, on the 29th of March 1650. Francis Seclin, Rector of the College; Peter de Bic, Prior and member of the Society of Jesus." From these few instances it may be perceived how the Jesuits proceeded in order to acquire for themselves a rich inherit- ance from the dead, or a no less valuable present from the living ; and it is hardly necessary for me to add that they especially, on this account, looked well after wealthy widows. One knows, indeed, how much easier it is to deal with that description of God's creatures than with married women of the same age, or 22 338 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. with those of the male sex ; consequently, the Superiors selected only such members of the Society to be Father Confessors of widows as seemed most likely to secure the end in view. They required to be men of the so-called best age, that is to say, not too young, in order to avoid scandal, but also certainly not too old ; men of a cheerful, lively temperament, of a strong and stately frame, and especially well endowed with the gift of eloquence, in order to be able to ingratiate themselves with the ladies. They should be not merely Father Confessors, in the proper sense of the word, but also, at the same time, bosom friends to whom the widows might entrust all their little secrets and take counsel in worldly affairs ; with whom, too, they would willingly enter into conversation about the news of the day, presuming that the pious Fathers take as much interest in the state of the bodily condition of their penitents as in the health and welfare of their souls. Such counsellors ought to have much good fortune with widows requiring consolation, and as in the case of sickness they never stirred from the bedside, it could not fail that a passage in their will in favour of the Order was almost always found. Again, when the sons of Loyola keep a particular look- out upon rich widows, they by no means, on this account, also neglect to obtain from them other information, especially interesting themselves in drawing the sons of rich parents into their Order. These novices are then at once subjected to a strict examination respecting the age and worldly circumstances of their father, and not the less questioned as to their blood relationship, and as to whether here and there some inheritance may not be still expected. The rector thus becomes acquainted with all family particulars on these matters, and, making a careful note thereof, he confirms the same by information derived, in an underhand mode, from other sources. One need not have the slightest doubt that in this way the Order was accurately apprised respecting the private affairs of its members, and that it knew what part to play in the event of death taking place. Indeed, the Fathers acted mostly with an energy and perseverance which would, in fact, be deserving of admiration were it not that their impudence and interested- ness were also apparent, arousing a feeling quite the contrary to that of admiration ! THE CONFESSIONAL. 339 A couple of instances may make this clear to the reader. The 'Count Carl Zani, son of the Count Johann Zani, at Bologna, in Italy, allured hy the sons of Loyola, entered into their Society in the year 1627, hut was required, before he could ohtain his father's permission to take this step, to enter into a written bond, attested by a notary and witnesses, that as long as he continued to be a member of the Jesuit Order he would renounce his whole paternal inheritance, and would never at any time make any claim to the estates, either for himself or for the Society of Jesus. His elder brother, therefore, Count Angelo Zani, in- herited after his father's death the whole possessions, and it thus appeared that the sons of Loyola obtained no special advantage from the entrance of Carl Zani into their Order. But in the year 1639, immediately after entering upon his inheritance, Count Angelo died ; not, however, as is supposed, without the skilful assistance of a Jesuit physician who treated him. And now the sons of Ignatius exploded the long-laid mine. Carl Zani hastened to make at once a request to the General to be permitted to resign the Order, in order that, by returning into the secular state, he might be enabled to lay claim to the great inheritance, and the General did not delay in causing the necessary papers to be delivered to him through the Provincial Menochio. However, previous to this, he was required to make a promise on oath that, after settling the business connected with the inheritance, he would again re-enter the Order, and, on this account, a bond was laid before him which, literally translated, ran as follows : " After that I, Carl Zani, shall now receive from the Society of Jesus my letter of discharge respecting which I made a peti- tion, before the same shall be handed to me by the highly- 'esteemed Father Provincial, Stephan Menochio, I make a vow to 'God, and in his presence, by which I bind myself, on my con- science, to his Divine Majesty, that after the receipt of my letter of discharge, and as soon as I have brought into order the matters on which account I made the request, I will address the most urgent solicitation to the Superiors, as well as to the Society, that I may be again received back into the same, and, indeed, at that very time which may be considered to be most right and convenient by the most worthy Father Vincenz Maria Bargellini, 'who was assigned to me as my companion for the regulation of 22 * 340 HISTOBY OF THE JESUITS. my affairs, considering that I will thus engage to abide by this, his reasonable order and judgment, setting aside all scruple, and in order, with God's help, to give satisfaction to my vow, to place at the disposal of the college all that falls to my lot by the inheritance." After the execution of this bond, Carl Zani obtained the necessary documents, and at once put off the Jesuit costume, on the 27th November 1689. It was, of course, not difficult for him, as next of kin, to enter into possession of the said inherit- ance, and now not only was he looked upon as a rich indepen- dent cavalier, but he was also beset, on all sides, to enter into the state of matrimony, in order to continue the race of Zani, and many of the most beautiful ladies were suggested to him. The above-mentioned bond, sworn to on oath, now greatly troubled him, and he hastened then to Rome, in order to obtain from Pope Innocent a release from his vow. The latter, however, lent an ear to the Jesuit General, and thus neither money nor fair words had any effect upon him. In the meantime, Carl Zani became dangerously ill, and the Jesuits besieged his bedside day and night, as may be well imagined, in order to extort from him by pressure a will in their favour. They were successful, too, shortly before he breathed his last, in obtaining such a deed, wherein he bequeathed to them all the posses- sions belonging to him ; and now, of course, they fell upon the rich inheritance with great eagerness. But lo, behold ! the male relations of the deceased produced an ancient family statute, according to which Carl Zani had no right whatever to dispose testamentarily of the family estates which were an allo- dium (that is private property in contradistinction to freehold property), and there now at once arose a law-suit, which occupied the judges of the Roman Rota for many years. In the course of the law-suit the sons of Loyola persuaded themselves not only that they would not succeed in winning the same, but that they would be compromised thereby, through their insatiable avarice, as well as owing to the peculiar manner in which they acquired inheritances ; and, consequently, they addressed them- selves to Pope Alexander VII., the successor of Innocent X., with the most urgent appeal in respect to a so-called sign- manual of grace. The Pope granted it to them, that is, he ordered the counsellors of the Rota to bring the matter to a THE CONFESSIONAL. 341 suitable compromise, and thereupon the estates and possessions to which it referred were divided into twelve parts, five of -which the Jesuits obtained, while seven were allotted to the rightful heirs. Thus the sons of Loyola swallowed up a part, and, indeed, a very large part, out of the estate, although their claims were entirely unjust ; in addition to this, they had the pleasure of having almost entirely ruined the rightful heirs by the costs of the law-suit. Another not less remarkable inheritance suit came before the world at the end of the 16th century in France, under the government of Henry III., and likewise ended in favour of the Jesuits, although in this instance they were no less in the wrong than in the case just related. Peter Airault, Criminal Lieutenant at the Presidial Court of Angers, possessed an only son, Rene, a lad of great attainments, who had a brilliant future before him from the riches and rank of the family, and he placed the lad for the completion of his education in a Jesuit college which was very celebrated in his eyes from its great advantages in regard to learning. He did not, however, take this step without beforehand expressly declaring to the good Fathers that he destined his son to be his sole successor, and that he therefore wished him to be brought in contact with those youths only who were to be devoted to secular and not ecclesiastical pursuits. The sons of Loyola jpromised most faithfully and religiously to meet his wishes in this respect, and they would have perhaps done so had young Rene been merely a poor lad without prospects. But in this case it was quite the reverse, as he not only was to inherit, in the first place, a large property from his father, but also a rich estate belonging to his grandmother had already fallen to him. Could, then, the Society of Jesus let such a fat booty slip from them ? No, this the pious Fathers could not bring their hearts to do, and they gave themselves so much trouble that the long and short of it was that, after a three years' residence in their college, the youth confided to their care put on the habit of the Order. The father, on being informed of this, became furious, and instantly appealed to the law court in order to regain his son. The Jesuits, however, explained, in justification, that Rene had voluntarily entered the Society, and that now his connection it was indissoluble. The Criminal Lieutenant appealed at 342 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. once to the Parliament of Anjou, and it adjudged the accused to- deliver up their novice as being detained contrary to law. With the judgment in his hand, Peter Airault now hastened to Angers, and, supported by an armed force, knocked at the gate of the Jesuit college. But what was the answer which was givon to him ? Young Rene had flown under cover of night, and no one knew what had become of him. The Criminal Lieutenant could not believe this, and searched throughout the whole college. Still nowhere did he find his son, who was, in fact, not forthcoming. He had long before been secretly conveyed, for security, into a college in Loraine, thence into Germany,, and lastly to Italy. The precaution had, moreover, been taken to strike out the name of Rene Airault from the register of the college, as one who had disappeared, and to substitute for it another unsuspected name, under which the newly-ucquired member went henceforth. The extraordinary cunning of this method of procedure soon showed itself. King Henry III., urged by the unhappy father, intervened through his ambassador, and, appealing to Pope Sixtus V., demanded from the Holy See a mandate in favour of his Criminal Lieutenant. To comply with this demand, the eldest son of the Church ordered the Jesuit General, Claudio Aquaviva, to lay before him the list of the whole of the members of the Order, not omitting even the novices. The General obeyed at once, without delay, as he knew that it was impossible to find the corpus delicti. So it happened, and the Pope as well as the King had to be content with the answer that no Rene Airault could be found among the members of the Society of Jesus. In the meantime years elapsed, and no trace was discovered of the missing youth. And as it now became evident to the elder Airault that his son had taken part in the Jesuit conspiracy, and must have been privy to their intentions, for otherwise he would certainly have taken an opportunity of allowing his father to hear from him, at least once at all events, he consequently made a will before a notary and witnesses, wherein he gave his curse to the son, and disinherited him, so far as the laws would permit. Immediately thereupon he died, deeply pitied by all who knew him. But what took place now ? Hardly had the deceased been buried when Rene Airault came upon the scene and demanded what was due to him. He made his appearance, not as a Jesuit, THE CONFESSIONAL. 343 but as a civilian, and explained his long absence on the ground of his thirst for seeing foreign countries. He could not be refused the estate of his grandmother, as it had been up to this time administered by the Orphan Court, and with as little trouble did he take possession of the immovable estate which his father had not the power of alienating from him by his will. Scarcely, however, had he obtained possession of his property when he declared himself a member of the Society of Jesus, and gave over the whole of his newly-acquired inheritance to his superiors, as in duty bound, as he had now reassumed his black garment, and no Jesuit dare possess any property of his own. Thus did the Order of Jesus arrive at its end, and what now mattered the judgment and disdain of the world ? A similar instance of sneaking after an inheritance occurred a short time afterwards in Flanders, where the Jesuit Grebert, after he had, during thirteen years, filled the tolerably important position of an ecclesiastical coadjutor, retired for a couple of years into the lay condition in order to lay claim, at the expense of his brother, to the family patrimony. So again there was a question of many years of litigation, which, in the second half of the 17th century, the Knights of the Purgstalle of the Kiegerburg in Styria carried on with the Society of Jesus. But where would this end if I were to enter into this affair, and the many dozens of other cases of the same nature ? I must be satisfied, however, with the account of one other case, namely the great law-suit which the sons of Loyola carried on respecting the considerable lordship of Btiren in Westphalia, hoping that the reader, from the public exposure of this more than wicked affair, may obtain a true picture of the proceedings of the Jesuits in relation to matters of inheritance. In the year 1610, Baron Joachim of Biiren, a good Protestant, died, leaving behind an only little son, of course also Protestant, of the name of Moritz, over whom his mother, a no less zealous Protestant, acted as guardian. Because, however, at that time it was previous to the Thirty Years' war Protestants and Catholics for the most part associated quite well together as long as they were not hounded on by their clergy, the widow Elizabeth had no scruple in selecting as friends also some Catholic ladies among the nobility of the neighbourhood, especially in the neighbouring small town of Paderborn, and 344 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. these paid her frequent visits. Of course this could not long remain unknown to the Jesuits, who had at that period just settled in Paderborn ; and while they at the same time learned that the widow possessed more good nature than understanding, they at once concocted a plan to convert young Moritz von Buren, with his mother, to the Catholic Church, in order to incorporate with their possessions the two- fold inheritance, especially the beautiful lordship of Buren. This was indeed a bold undertaking ; but the sons of Loyola had one among them, in Paderborn, who was popular with everyone on account of his softness of manners and subtlety in social intercourse, more especially in everything which might ingratiate him among women ; and consequently they hoped through him to overcome all difficulties. In fact, Father Fried- rich Roerich, the name of this individual, immediately set to work with the greatest zeal in the prosecution of his task, and having been introduced by the above-mentioned ladies to Frau Elizabeth von Buren, he very soon succeeded in gaining the confidence of the latter. After he had now established himself as house friend and adviser in worldly matters, he did not desist until he had also advanced to the rank of spiritual adviser, and the long and the short of it was that, after three years of unremitting exertion, he enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing the widow von Biiren publicly go over into the only saving Church. This took place at the end of the year J613, and the natural consequence was that the education of young Moritz was ut once placed entirely in the hands of the sons of Loyola ; for how could a convert who required to show some zeal for the new religion act otherwise? The result was that the now nine-year- old boy was first placed in the Jesuit college of Paderborn, where he remained until the year 1617, at which time his mother married for a second time, with the High Bailiff William of Westphalia. Thereupon he was taken to the celebrated Jesuit institute at Cologne, where he was so manipulated, and his mind, inclined to extravagant ideas, was so worked upon with endless skill, that on attaining the age of seventeen he wished to forego the seductions of this sinful world, and to enter at once as a novice with the sons of Loyola. The latt> r believed that both his mother and stepfather would gladly say Yes, THE CONFESSIONAL. 345 -but they were mistaken. On the contrary, both parents earnestly expressed their opinion that the youth should, first of all, look a little about him in the world, that he should be sent on his travels to the various capitals and courts of the globe, as then was the custom, and by a prolonged residence in them become acquainted with the manners of the times. The Jesuits con- sented to this, as they did not wish to run counter to the power- ful High Bailiff, and Moritz commenced his educational travels at once, in the year 1621, with their approval. They contrived, however, that a certain Balthasar Bonninghausen, a young man who had been brought up by them in their principles, and was entirely devoted to their interests, should accompany him as tutor and marshal, and by this means they always were en- abled to obtain minute particulars of every step and proceeding of their former pupil. I will not enter upon a description of all the adventures and travels of the young von Biiren, but only remark that, after a .prolonged residence in France and Spain, he went to Italy in order to visit Eternal Home. Scarcely, however, had he arrived there than he deemed it most important to have himself pre- sented to the Pope, and, above everything, to pay his humble respects to the Jesuit General Mutius Vitelleschi. He was not, however, satisfied with making the latter a respectful visit, but he declared to the General that it was his intention to enter into his Order as soon as it was possible for him to do so, and the great man saw at a glance that the youth was entirely in earnest as to this. The General, however, did not at once pounce upon him, but rather advised him to delay for a little carrying out his pious intention, and in the meanwhile to prepare himself quietly for taking so great a step, as such things ought to be well considered beforehand. The advice sounded quite fatherly to von Biiren, and was accepted also by him ; but the motives which induced the General so to act were of a very different character. Young Moritz was now only in his nineteenth year, ;and as he was still a minor he had not, as yet, any valid power of disposal over his lordship of Biiren; nor had he, during the lifetime of his mother, those estates at his command, which he -would only inherit at her death ; and the General thus contem- plated nothing else, by his advice, than to induce von Biiren .not to enter the Society of Jesus previous to his mother's death, 346 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. or before he was of age. Of course, it was not for the sake of obtaining the amiable person of von Biiren for the Society of Jesus as an historian expresses it but, on the contrary, only in order to get possession of his great landed estates and pro- perties ! After von Biiren had returned home from his travels, he was urged by his mother and stepfather, with all their might,, to take unto himself a spouse, as he had no legitimate successor, and the beautiful lordship must in this case go to a collateral relative ; but upon this point the youth showed himself to be inexorable. He could not marry, because he had secretly taken an oath that he would later on belong to the Order, and his Father Confessor thought it well to remind him of the eternal punishment in hell, which every perjured person of any descrip- tion irrevocably obtains. On another point, on the contrary, he complied with the wish of his mother, namely, that he should select some secular field of employment, and felt himself much flattered when the Emperor Ferdinand II., through the efforts of the Jesuits, nominated him in October 1629 to the office of President of the Imperial Supreme Court of Judicature. He entered, at the same time, upon the control of his lordship, although to a limited degree, as his mother, so long as she lived, was entitled to draw a certain income therefrom. But, at length, this came to an end, as the death of Frau Elizabeth took place in the year 1632, and now the sons of Loyola urged him earnestly either to enter into their Order at once or, at least, to make a will in their favour. Moritz von Biiren promised to do both, only he begged to be allowed some respite, in order that he might previously have an opportunity of making an explanation to his stepfather and sisters, who had claims on a certain portion of the revenues. Thus year after year went past, and on this account they became more and more impatient. They now raised another storm against him in the year 1640, and he then was prevailed upon to execute a will on. the 21st of April of the same year, by which he bequeathed the whole of his possessions, without exception, to the Society of Jesus, with the object that after his death a college should be erected in Biiren. He also nominated the Bishops of Miinster and Paderborn, as well as the Emperor himself, to be executors of this his will, and accordingly the sons of Loyola believed that any possibility of its being upset had now been extinguished.. THE CONFESSIONAL. 347" Moreover, in order to make the matter even more certain,, they persuaded their faithful pupil, some years afterwards,, to enter formally into the Order; this happened in April 1644, and they now hoped to be able to levy an embargo on these great possessions, even during his lifetime, and they did this at once, although with the foresight of leaving to von Biireu the appearance of still having the enjoyment of the same. In : truth, however, he was merely administrator, being so completely under the supervision of the Superiors that he dare not do the slightest thing without them, and the whole of this juggling had no other object than to throw dust into the eyes of the world.. Taking into account their avidity of all sorts, it would not have been wise, indeed, if the sons of Loyola had contented them- selves with a simple seizure of the lordship ; they acted, how- ever, discreetly in preparing people gradually, and especially the relations of the Biiren race, for the great stroke which was- to follow, as it might be hoped that the latter would thereby become the more easily reconciled to the unavoidable. They succeeded for a time in the deception, but only for a time. As, after some years, the High Bailiff, William of Westphalia, who was a good Catholic, indeed, but, at the same time, a most haughty nobleman, came to a knowledge of the secret,, feeling himself most deeply aggrieved at the Jesuitical intrigues, he at once, with all the energy at his command, urged his step- son not only to annul the said will, but also to return into- the world and bid an eternal farewell to the Jesuits. At the same time he represented to him how much his sisters aiid other relations would be injured by this donation of the Biiren lord- ship to the sons of Loyola, and how the sisters, as well as him- self, were fully justified in claiming, on this account, the protection of the law, so that by the persistent refusal of Moritz. to lay aside the Jesuit habit it would become necessary for them to institute a law-suit, which, prosecuted between near relatives, must give rise to much vexation and scandal in the world. However, he might preach as much as he could, the step- sisters might pray as incessantly and as long as they were able,. Moritz von Biiren remained obstinate, and neither gave to his> stepfather any motive founded on reason, nor yielded one iota to his sisters' tears. Consequently the threatened law-suit now commenced, and the High Bailiff was justified when he called. 348 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. attention to the scandal that would be occasioned thereby on such things coming to light, as must necessarily fill the world with disgust and abhorrence. Indeed, the sons of Loyola showed thereby such a detestable and violent desire for thieving, that the Bishop of Paderborn, Diet- rich Adolphus von Reck, in whose diocese the lordship of Biiren was situated, saw himself necessitated to occupy the same with -troops in August 1657, and this sequestration continued fully three years, until at length the Emperor Leopold I. induced him to evacuate it in the year 1660. The year following, Father Moritz, as Von Biiren had been called since 1644, died, without, however, having seen the end of the great law-suit. The same lasted, on the contrary, seven- and-thirty years, as it only ended, indeed, in a compromise, in the year 1698, according to which the sons of Loyola retained the stolen inheritance, paying the then very considerable sum of 45,000 gold dollars out of it. From what has now been related, the reader will have been thoroughly convinced respecting the eminent talent which the Jesuits displayed in inheritance-hunting ; with this talent, how- ever, they conjoined shamelessness, which went as far even as baseness, and this, also, will best be made apparent by some examples. Count de Marie, formerly Equerry of the Prince de Conde, had an only son, and placed him in the Jesuit educa- tional establishment of St. Acheul, in order to have him there educated. The pious Fathers became acquainted, through the son, regarding the particular circumstances of the father, and as they ascertained that he would have a very large inheritance to leave behind him, they determined to win over this said only offspring for their Order. This was, however, not such an easy business, as the young de Marie was of a very jovial nature, and would hear nothing at all about entering into the ecclesias- tical state. On the contrary, he threatened the Superiors of the said ecclesiastical institution, that if they pestered him any more with any such proposals he would run away and make his father acquainted with everything about it. Thereupon, the sly Fathers suddenly changed their tactics, and afforded the sprightly youth so many opportunities for frivolous amuse- .ments, that the same would have been a more than steady man .if he had allowed those opportunities to puss by without making THE CONFESSIONAL. 349' use of them. The more, however, that the son transgressed, the more they wrote lamentable letters respecting him to his father;, so much so, that the latter hecame quite inconsolable. It was now arranged between the father and the rector of the institution that the young scapegrace should be transferred from St. Acheul to the Jesuit seminary in Bordeaux, with the hope that perhaps a change of teachers and fellow-scholars would be beneficial; but, unfortunately, there was still no improvement, according to the reports of the principal' of the seminary, at least, and the poor deluded father received' no other information. Indeed, they took care to prevent the' son from writing, and when he, at any time, ever did so, it was a letter dictated by the principal, or, at all events, corrected by him. As, however, the young de Marie became no better in Bordeaux, he was conveyed, as a last resource, to Forcalquier, and the father wrote to him that he would withdraw all interest in him if he ever again heard bad news about him. The son, deeply affected, firmly resolved to be foolish no longer, and pro- secuted his studies for some time. This, however, did not at all suit the taste of the sons of Loyola, and they consequently contrived to bring the youth into connection with a companion who might again awaken in him the old inclination for folly. Of course, the reports sent to the old Count became bad again, indeed, worse than ever, and thereby his grief and anger reached' to the highest degree. In this frame of mind, induced to do so by the Eector of the seminary at St. Acheul, he wrote such a reproving letter to the son, that the latter, in a state of despera- tion, made his escape from Forcalquier and betook himself ta the wide world. The pious Fathers had now brought the matter to the pitch' it was intended from the commencement ; whereupon the in- consolable father at once resolved to sell all his estates, as far as he could do so, and to take refuge, with this dowry, among the Jesuits, in order to die happy in their pious company. No- thing more was heard of the son, and it is probable that the pious Fathers prepared a speedy death for him. Almost more disgraceful, even, is the following story. Among the countries into which the sons of Loyola frequently en- deavoured to penetrate, although without bringing about, at once, any particular result, was especially European Turkey,. 350 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. and Father Sarot, among others, gave himself trouble quite heyond the common to make proselytes among the Greek Christians in Roumelia. His object appeared, however, to be much less for the welfare of their souls than for looking after their property, as he attached himself at once merely to the rich, and he favoured, above all, with his exhortations, well-endowed widows. To the latter class belonged a certain Sophia Nara, a woman who possessed in gold and valuables more than forty purses, that is about 30,000 florins, and Sarot, who had soon discovered this, did not desist until the good Sophia went over to Catholicism from the heretical sect of Armenians to which she had belonged, and at the same time consigned her whole property to the Society of Jesus, in consideration of the promise that she should be bountifully cared for during the rest of her life. This was a good stroke of fortune, as the woman was no longer young, and, besides, soon became sick, which encouraged a hope that the pension would not long have to be paid. But Sarot had reckoned, as is said, without his host, and during the next two years the lady advanced not a single step nearer the grave. He now, how- ever, began to be more close, and denied her, indeed, about half the allowance she had previously enjoyed, as she had evidently fallen into a long tedious sickness ; her nephews, to whom the woman at once turned, would have nothing more to do with her, after she had made it known that she had sunk all her goods and chattels with the Jesuits. Thus, the condition of the poor Sophia became always more unbearable, and as she was now confined to her one solitary room, which she could no longer leave on account of weakness, she was nearly out of her senses with despair. Once more she applied to her nephews, and once more received for answer that she should look for support to : those to whom she had assigned her property. The deplorable creature now collected together all her strength, and crawled into the street. Here, falling down, she was raised up by some compassionate soul, and conveyed in a carriage before the house -of her relative. They knocked at the door, and begged for com- passion for her. At first the nephews were deaf to all entreaties, but at last they opened the door and admitted her. The aunt related everything how she had been treated from the first up to the present time, how they had at the commencement allured THE CONFESSIONAL. 351 her with flattering speeches, and how latterly they had given her kicks. All were filled with pity for her, and were enraged at the vile conduct of the sons of Loyola. The Armenian Patriarch, at that time present, was made acquainted with all the details of the transaction. The woman acceded with joy to his admonition to return into the Arme- nian Church, and, after this was accomplished the Patriarch promised to use all his influence in order to recover the pro- perty which had heen given away. The Prince of the Church kept his promise, and made a complaint to the Pasha. The Pasha was no less resolute, as he caused Father Sarot to be fetched, and ordered him, with the alternative of having his ears cut off, to give hack the whole of the donation. The Father, however, affirmed that he had received only four, instead of forty, purses, and swore to this falsehood on the cross of Christ. Herewith content, the Pasha allowed him to go at liberty, and the Father rejoiced, internally, that he had, at all events, saved thirty-six purses. Immediately thereupon he found it well to vanish during the darkness of the night, as he learnt that the nephews were not satisfied with the decision of the Pasha, but had taken the trouble to collect facts by which the true condition of their aunt's property, and also the perjury of Father Sarot, could be proved. He found it well to disappear, said I ; but, as to this, I mean merely out of Eoumelia, not out of the world, for a short time afterwards he turned up in Italy, and the General rewarded him for his excellent service with a situation of Eector. But enough of this ! Enough, for it would only disgust most readers to listen to further proofs of the shamelessness of the sons of Loyola as to inheritance-hunting. Involuntarily the other question comes up for consideration, whether all the Jesuits thought and acted alike. One might be of opinion that it was a sheer impossibility that, in a Society numbering so many members, who in part, at least, were highly gifted that, I say, in such a Society there should not exist some brethren who would be ashamed of such a vile transaction as that of notorious inheritance-hunting. One might be of such an opinion, and I 'believe rightly so, but what does that matter ? The Superiors of the Society, and especially the General in Rome, knew every member perfectly, while annually the most detailed spying reports vmust necessarily be forwarded, and consequently they were 352 HISTOEY OF THE JESUITS. aware exactly for what position this one or that one was best suited. Is it to be believed, however, that one who, in the matter of inheritance-hunting, thought even but a little un-Jesuiticnlly, would be appointed to be Father Confessor, and, indeed, Father Confessor to a rich widow ? Suppose this to be the case, how- ever, had the mistake been made at any time of an unsuitable person being assigned as Father Confessor to this or that high personage, would not this error be at once rectified by the sub- stitution of a fit and proper successor ? The Superior retained the full right of disposal over the members, and notoriously made the most unlimited use of this right. To obey was the duty of every one of them, as otherwise punishment was certain, and the result most disagreeable. Suppose, however, the most extreme case, namely, that a member had contrived to deceive all his brethren as to his true character, and had made use of his posi- tion of Father Confessor to restrain his confessant from making a will in favour of the Order, or even had not encouraged him to do so ; suppose such a case, what would be the consequences ? The instance of Father Zimenes gives us the best reply. He was Father Confessor to a rich widow of Madrid, and as she lay on her death-bed, in the year 1633, made her will ; he did not use all his influence with her to bequeath her means to the Order, but, on the contrary, admonished her to leave it to her rightful heir. So the widow did, indeed, and more than that, she confessed immediately before death to her relatives the noble conduct of the Father ; from these relatives, however, the Jesuits at third hand learned this, and four weeks afterwards the worthy Zimenes was no longer among the living. He died in the profess-house in Madrid of a sudden attack of heart disease, as his fellow members affirmed ; he was, in truth, however, as most clearly came out on the subsequent expulsion of the sons of Loyola, condemned to death by his Superiors, and slowly killed by the deprivation of all food and drink. He ought to serve as a warning to his fellow members ; and this has certainly been the case, as no one ever afterwards heard that a Jesuit had advised anyone not to bequeath his property to the Society of Jesus. On the contrary, they proved themselves in this respect, almost without exception, so zealous and expert, that no other Order can be at all compared with them in this particular ; and an author of the last century gave them, on that THE CONFESSIONAL. 353 account, the characteristic nickname of " Legacy hunters paf excellence." I must not, however, conceal on this occasion that several booties escaped them from the fervour of their zeal. As hest proof that it is wiser in all things to be content with moderation rather than to covet everything, I allow myself to confirm this, by a couple of examples. In Brussels there lived at the beginning of the 17th century a couple of rich relatives a brother and sister quite pleasantly and in perfect accord with each other, although the sister was a little over-pious, while the brother entertained rather free views in regard to matters of religion. They were neither of them any longer young, and there could be no question of marriage either in the one case or the other ; on the other hand, there- was no lack of other sources of enjoyment, and the brother took especial trouble in visiting every year for a couple of months foreign lands and cities. On one occasion the latter set off again on such a journey, and as he contemplated remaining away for a lengthened time, he previously made his will, in which he designated his sister as his sole heiress ; not that there- was any thought about dying, but merely to be prepared for all contingencies, as a matter of duty. It appeared, however, that the brother remained away much longer than he had any inten- tion of doing, and as he did not during the whole of this time allow a single word to be heard from him, the sister began to have foreboding of something being amiss. She was strengthened in this foreboding by her Confessor, a worthy Father belonging- to the Society of Jesus, who looked already upon the death of the brother as certain, and built joyful hopes upon it. Upon her entreaty, moreover, he promised, in order that she should not be any longer vexed with uncertainty, to cause information to be obtained through his fellow members, who had their places of residence all over the world, and on this account she told him everything that she knew as to the aim and object of her brother's journey. It now occurred that she herself became sick shortly thereupon, and the Jesuit urged her most earnestly to make a will in favour of his Order. She hesitated for a long time, as her brother, whom she had promised to institute as heir in the event of her death, might possibly be still alive. The Confessor now suddenly brought a document, prepared by 23 354 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the rector and coadjutor of some distant college, and in this document it stood in black and white that the brother had died on such and such a day, and even the complaint from which he had suffered was mentioned. Of course there was now no longer any doubt about his death, and in consequence thereof, the Jesuit continued his urgent solicitations in regard to the will that he demanded. At length the pious devotee bequeathed to the Order not only her own property, but that also belonging to her brother, as upon this she had testamentary claims. Now, who could rejoice more than the worthy Society of Jesus ? But lo and behold ! She suddenly recovered again, although already being looked upon as lost, and, what was still worse, the brother, supposed to be dead, turned up again safe and sound. He had, sure enough, got through a severe illness, but in quite a diffe- rent town from where the sons of Loyola had made him out as dead, and now it became as clear as daylight that the attested document had been a mean and lying invention. Consequently the Jesuit Confessor was at once dismissed, and, besides, the sister then made a new will, in which the former one was com- pletely cancelled, so that the Jesuits were frustrated for this time at least. Another still more pleasant story, wherein it happened that the sons of Loyola had deceived themselves about an inheritance of which they had already made quite sure, had Metz for its playground during the second half of the 17th century. The Jesuits had there persuaded a very rich man, as he came to die, that his soul would only suffer torture for ten thousand years iu Purgatory, if they had ten thousand masses for the welfare of his soul, that is, a thousand a year for ten years, and the dying man not only believed this, but provided in his will that his sons should pay ten gold dollars for each mass, so that the heirs had to disburse annually an expenditure of ten thousand gold dollars for ten years. This now seemed to them to be a very dear ransom from the flames of Purgatory, and they consulted over the matter with their counsel, an extremely sagacious man, as to whether there was any way of remedying the matter. The will was, however, quite legally drawn up, and could not be dis- puted. Thus far, then, there appeared that nothing could be done, and they already were willing to submit to their fate, when a most cunning expedient occurred to the advocate. " How would THE CONFESSIONAL. 355 it be," thought he, " if we brought forward an attestation from the Pope that the soul of the testator had been already released from Purgatory ? Such an attestation ought to be obtainable for a moderate sum of money, and then soul masses would no longer be required for the release of the soul of the deceased. This being the case, the obligation for the payment would also cease, and I will now undertake that the sons of Loyola obtain for damages naught but ridicule." Thus did the man learned in the law reckon, and, in due course, he put himself in close communication with a Minorite brother, a crafty fellow of a monk. The latter, who, besides, was a thorough enemy of the Jesuits on account of their arrogance, undertook the 'Commission with the utmost joy, and set off for Rome in the greatest haste, well provided with money and recommendations. Of course he publicly gave out quite a different ground for the object of his journey, and the other participators in the matter preserved perfect silence as to the design, in order that the sons of Loyola might not have their attention called to the affair, and prevent its accomplishment. The Minorite arrived in Rome all safe and sound, and, as before said, possessing a proper degree of understanding, he immediately made application in the right direction and quickly succeeded in obtaining the testimonial he desired, for less than one thousand dollars. As soon, however, as he got this in his pocket he hastened back to Metz with a very contented mind, and handed the same over to the heirs, who richly rewarded him for it. In the meantime, the sons of Loyola were not idle in reading masses for the soul of the deceased, and, after the first quarter of a year had elapsed, they presented their first account for two thousand five hundred dollars. How, indeed, were they now startled when they received a reply quite seriously that the soul of the testator had already been released from Purgatory, and that as there had thus been no occasion to read the masses, the money must be refused. " This is, indeed, quite a foolish answer, which savours of the mad-house," exclaimed the Jesuits to the heirs ; but the latter held to it, and left the sons of Loyola to proceed as it pleased them. The advocate, indeed, declared that he was ready to produce proof of the truth of their assertion. It came now, of course, to a law-suit, and the Jesuits rested in the firm conviction that they must gain it *imply upon the passage in the will referred to. As, however, 23 * 356 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the man learned in the law pulled the testimonial of the Holy See out of his pocket and laid it before the Court, all self- possession disappeared from their faces, and they acknowledged themselves to have been outwitted. They renounced, conse- quently, all further legal proceedings, and at the same time, also, all money claims. Upon the advocate, however, on the other hand, who had adopted this cunning measure, and upon the Minorite monk, who acted as the mediator, they visited such intense irreconcilable hatred that they never rested until both of them quitted the town, and never more returned thereto. A still more unpleasant business, connected with a suc- cession, happened at that time to the sons of Loyola in Naples, when the Duke of Ossuna reigned there as Viceroy. A very rich merchant had bequeathed to them his whole property, under the condition that an only son, who was very young at the time of his death, entered into their Order; however, when interrogated, in his eighteenth year, as to whether it would be his wish to remain in the world, should the lad refuse to become a Jesuit, they should then be bound to pay over his patrimony to him, which amounted to more than a hundred thousand ducats, and they might, in that case, only retain, as a compensa- tion, what had been expended by them for his education, Christianly and economically reckoned. This was a very indefi- nite passage, out of which, at a pinch, anything might be twisted that was liked, and the Jesuits at once made up their minds, at any rate, to turn it to their own advantage. Therefore, when the young man, in his eighteenth year, declared his intention to remain in the world, they gave themselves no particular trouble to keep him back from doing so, but allowed him rather to withdraw conspicuously and without any difficulty ; as he then, however, desired to have his property delivered up to him, they intimated that it would be liberal on their part if they gave him back as much as ten thousand ducats, as, on the supposition that he would remain with them, they had already expended everything in benevolent objects. Upon this the youth declared himself not to be at all satisfied, and, on the other hand, put in a demand for eighty thousand ducats, as it was certainly more than enough if he allowed them twenty thousand on account of his education. Thus the two parties contended with the utmost vivacity about the matter, and the Jesuits especially showed not THE CONFESSIONAL. 357 the least desire to abate even one iota of their claim. In order to put an end to the matter as soon as possible, the youth, by the advice of his friends, addressed himself to the Viceroy (the Duke of Ossuna), who caused the accuser, as well as the accused, to come before him, asking each of them as to how far he went in his demand, and how much he was inclined voluntarily to abandon ? The youth declared that as a last resource he would be contented with seventy thousand ducats ; the Jesuits, how- ever, obstinately persisted that they would not be able to pay more than ten thousand. " Good, then," said the Viceroy now to the sons of Loyola ; " you can demand what you consider reasonable and Christianlike. I ask you, then, this : Is it a Christian principle that one should do to one's neighbour as one would wish to be done by ? '' " So teaches the Holy Scrip- tures," answered the disciples of Ignatius. " Then," decided the Viceroy, " act accordingly ; that is to say, give to the youth the ninety thousand ducats which you retained for your- selves, and take the ten thousand which you were prepared to ^pay." This decision held good, in spite of all the machinations of the sons of Loyola, and everyone praised the Duke, as well for his Solomon-like wisdom, as on account of the characteristic behaviour which he had brought to light. Thus, sometimes, the sons of Loyola came off badly; in general, however, they contrived to hold uncommonly fast to what had been testa- mentarily promised them, and the world would be astonished if one put upon paper all the particulars as to the whole of the .sums obtained by them through legacy-hunting. 358 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. CHAPTER II. ROBBERY AND THEFT AMONG LAITY AND ECCLESIASTICS. THERE is much material for this chapter, and one would almost be inclined to the opinion that the sons of Loyola liked nothing better than to busy themselves with stealing and robbing. One comes much more quickly and easily into possession of anything in this way than by honest gain and the industry of the hands why not, therefore, acquire riches thus ? In order, however, to give the reader a very clear insight into those villainous practices I will begin with " Cheating in a small way," then go on to regular " Theft," and, lastly, conclude with " Robbery on a large scale." But, in all these three specialities, villainy shall only be so far especially brought to notice as may be necessary to give a correct picture of the Order of Jesus, the object I have in hand, and I will not go to work with the Chronique Scan- daleuse in my hand. A most common practice among the sons of Loyola was to solicit a present from rich parents who desired the reception of their sons into the novitiate of their Order, and, indeed, such a present as corresponded to the property to which the young man Vould one day be entitled. One might, therefore, regard such prVents as a kind of " dotal gift," or, still better, a " gift in anticipation of the future inheritance," and upon this the sons of Loyola founded their right to demand the same. Besides, added they, is not a person taken care of for life as member of their Society, and therefore may one not sacrifice a bit of money ROBBERY AND THEFT. 359 for it ? In short, they knew how to get over, in this way, most cunningly, without deriving any hurt therefrom, the publicly expressed statute by which they were bound to impart all in- struction gratis, and the sums of money which they earned in this manner were by no means inconsiderable. Still, matters did not end here, seeing they dismissed very many of these youths after a short time as unsuitable, retaining, however, for themselves the dotal gift. Indeed, they were aware that not a few of those were unfit, and that they could not be made any use of, owing to their want of talent ; their sole object, therefore, in receiving them into the novitiate was to be able to possess themselves of what was paid on admission ! The proofs of these deceitful dealings might be brought to light by hundreds and hundreds ; it is sufficient, however, to refer to one instance alone, which is remarkable in this respect, that a father con- trived, in a most original way, to get back the entrance money which had been paid for his son. A very wealthy smith, settled in the neighbourhood of Milan, wished to participate in the honour of seeing his son among the Jesuits, and offered the rector of the college in the aforesaid capital the tolerably large sum, in ready money, of 2,000 ducats in the event of the latter meeting his wishes. The rector laughed in his sleeve, as the youth was a very strong, square- built churl, being at the same time such a queer fellow that it would not be possible to mould him into an ordinary monk, and still less into a Jesuit. Nevertheless, the rector assented with pleasure, slid the 2,000 ducats into his pocket, and enveloped the youth in a novice's habit. All went on well now, during a couple of weeks, and the son of Loyola in embryo was treated in a way as that nothing better could be desired. In course of time, however, they ceased to consider him as a stranger, and their teasing, chicanery, and maltreatment overstepped all bounds. They plainly wished to carry on so far with the fellow that he should take flight from the house of probation, for then the Jesuits could wash their hands in innocency. Because, however, the poor tormented fellow, fearing the wrath of his father, endured all without a murmur, the pious Fathers then lost all patience, and at length chased their pupil away without further ado, while they gave him no more than five dollars for sustenance on the way. The anger of the smith 360 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. may be well imagined, when bis son came back to him, and the latter had to suffer much at first from the circumstance of his return. The father soon, however, perceived that the fault lay entirely with the sons of Loyola, and he not only at once de- manded the return of his 2,000 ducats, but, as his request wns refused, he proceeded to lodge a complaint in the law courts. But what did this complaint matter ? The sons of Loyola proved that the smith had given the 2,000 ducats to them " as a present," and, as one could not be compelled to return dona- tions, so was the complainant put to silence. In the regular legal way there was, then, nothing to be done, but the smith now hit upon an extraordinary plan of proceeding, and this brought about his object. He caused a regular Jesuit's dress to be made for his son, and thus clad he was obliged to work in the smithy, to flog the horses in the streets, and to go on all errands that were required. This peculiar spectacle attracted a number of inquisitive loafers, as the Jesuit pupil was observed by everyone at the anvil, and soon nothing else was talked about in the whole neighbourhood than this affair. People not only chatted about it, however, but also railed and jeered uncommonly, and the honour of the sons of Loyola began to suffer considerably. They at once complained respecting the abuse of their Jesuit costume; but the legal authorities gave it as their opinion that the young smith had a right to the said costume, as he actually had been received as a Jesuit novice; and now the insults and jeers increased more than ever. In short, at last there remained nothing else for the sons of Loyola to do but to terminate the scandal by putting the best face on the matter, and returning the 2,000 ducats to the smith ; and thus the latter attained his end by means of his original idea. There was another custom among the sons of Loyola, accord- ing to direction to borrow from rich persons well disposed towards the Order, under the pretext of great poverty and on account of the colleges or seminaries, smaller or larger sums of money, and, if demanded, to give written bills of obligation, the repayment of which they put off as much as possible. If, then, the creditor should later on contract some illness which brought him near to death, they were wont to visit him unceasingly, and continue to put pressure upon him until he should hand over BOBBERY AND THEFT. 361 o them the note of hand they had given him, which was the same thing as giving them a present of the money lent. In this way the Society of Jesus acquired much riches. More than this, they borrowed sums of money wherever they could without giving in acknowledgment any note of hand for the same. In order to carry on this game effectually the Fathers put on an appearance of the greatest honesty and candour, and conducted themselves in such a way as if the word " deceit " were quite opposite to their character; so how could a pious .soul, from whom they had borrowed money for a holy object, think so meanly of them as to require a note of hand as security ? No ; the mere word of such distinguished men was quite sufficient, and anything more would have been an insult to religion itself. What did the sons of Loyola do, however, when, as was often -the case, they succeeded in obtaining a loan in this way ? Did they keep to their word, and pay back the loan honourably and ihonestly ? God forbid ! but, in nine cases out of ten, they denied having incurred the debt, and by perjury released them- selves from repaying it. Certes! a very convenient way of obtaining money, although they repudiated the idea of theft. " But," said the sons of Loyola, " only fools would have so inelastic a conscience as to shrink from doing such a trifle as that ! " Of course, moreover, it would be inadmissible for me ,to make so startling an accusation against the Society of Jesus without having the required proofs in my hands. In the town of Orleans a Mademoiselle Vinet, before her death, had presented to her maid, who had served her during many years, a considerable sum in Louis d'or, along with a valuable collection of old gold coins ; and this took place in the presence of her confessor, Father Director. The latter now offered to the .maid to deposit the money for her at very good interest, as also to hand over to an amateur with whom he was acquainted the gold coins, in order that they should be properly valued; and -the maid, greatly pleased at such an offer, at once gave him over her whole treasure. As regards a receipt for the same from the holy Father, it was out of the question, and never entered into the head of the maid to demand one, as she was fearful of com- mitting sin by not putting the fullest confidence in such a respectable gentleman as was the Father. Some time after this 362 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Mademoiselle Vinet died, and ns the maid, Alice by name, wished' to enter into the state of matrimony, she asked the Father, at the request of her lover how much had been realised from the sale of the gold coins, and where he had deposited the whole of the money. " Gold coins," replied the Father, " thou deceivest thy- self, my daughter; there were none such, but merely copper ones of little value, and as for the remaining money, thou canst have that any day, altogether about a thousand francs." The maid was astounded, as her deceased mistress had told her that the total value amounted to twenty thousand livres, or francs. But the Father stuck to his assertion, and became most indignant when the lover of Alice would not be contented with the thousand francs. The advice of an advocate was now taken, and re- course had to the law. But the Jesuits, who to a man sided with their fellow brother, at once adopted a lofty tone, and entered a complaint of gross calumny. Consequently, Alice and her betrothed were at length compelled to pray for forgive- uess, and publicly to confess that they had falsely accused Father Director of fraud. It went better with the Capucin Timotheus de la Flute, who acted for many years as agent, correspondent, and courier for Father Le Tellier, the ill-famed Father Confessor of Louis XIV., during his strife with the Jansenists. After the said Capucin had become Bishop of Berith, in the year 1732, he demanded of the Jesuits of Tours the return of the sum of 130,000 livres, which he had handed over to them for safe keeping; the sons of Loyola, however, denied ever having received a single sou from him, and he could not produce proof to the contrary, as he had been foolish enough not to have made sure by a note of hand of any description. With dismay he took to entreaty, and humili- ated himself, even to tears ; but the worthy Fathers remained obdurate, and declared they would make a complaint against him if he pestered them any more. At last, in his rage, he threatened to expose all the intrigues and wicked manoeuvres to which he had been subjected by order of the Father Confessor Le Tellier, and he already, indeed, began to entertain the idea of making the party of the Jansenists acquainted with every- thing, when Le Tellier interfered just in time, and constrained his fellow-members to yield. Timotheus de la Flute thus obtained his money back again, EOBBEKY AND THEFT. 363 but in thirteen yearly instalments, and, besides, without any interest, so that the Fathers still always derived some profit. At the beginning of the 18th century the Jesuits played a great game at Liege, and most of the widows and elderly un- married ladies wished to have only them as Father Confessors. Among these said ladies was a Mademoiselle Devise, a maiden of mature age, celebrated for her riches as well as her bigotry, who had on different occasions not only lent large sums to the Jesuit college, but also, in the year 1737, when very ill, given over in charge to her Confessor, Father Adrian Lontemberg, a casket filled with gold pieces, in order that the latter might hand it over to her nephew Devise as soon as he should arrive at Liege after her death. The Father Confessor, who also obtained a very considerable legacy for his Order, solemnly promised to do so, and the good old dame died imme- diately afterwards in the firm belief that she had acted for the- best for her dear nephew. When, however, he arrived, and at once demanded from the college the restoration of the sums which had been lent, as well as the casket entrusted to the care of Father Lontemberg respecting which two matters he had been fortunately made aware by a letter which the aunt caused to be written on her death-bed by the chamber-maid the above-named Father denied, in the strongest terms, ever having received any- thing but a small trifle from Mademoiselle Devise. Indeed, he declared the requisition of the nephew to be a villainous inven- tion, which was calculated to bring the Order of Jesus inta disrepute, for as far as he knew and he stood on the most in- timate terms with his deceased confessing daughter, so much so that she withheld no secret from him it was quite contrary to the inclination of the aunt Devise to allow large sums of money to lie without interest, and there never had existed such a thing as a casket filled with pistoles. The other sons of Loyola present in the college of Lige also assumed the same role, and, if they did not absolutely gainsay having received small donations now and then from the deceased, they stoutly denied, with a bold front, having obtained any such large sums as were laid claim to by the nephew. The poor Devise, who had believed himself entitled to a large inheritance, was now in a sad plight, and knew not what to do. He had, indeed, the letter of the chamber-maid, but the- 364 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. latter had suddenly disappeared from Li6ge overnight, without anyone heing in the least able to give any information as to her abode. How could he, then, be able to prove that the letter contained the truth, or, indeed, that it was authentic ? The situation was one of desperation ; still, overnight came good counsel. Father Golenvaux, who kept the secret register of the revenues and expenses of the college at Li6ge, had a nephew others affirm that he was his son towards whom he entertained extraordinary affection, and this latter, who always and at all times had access to his uncle, offered, for a sum of money, to make a copy of the whole receipts which flowed into the treasury of the Jesuit college. This was done, and, sure enough, in this secret book were not only found noted all the moneys as to which the nephew had laid claim, but there was also the statement of the number of pistoles contained in the casket above mentioned. The young Devise now, by the advice of his advocate, applied to the vicar apostolical of the day, and laid all these particulars before him, at the same time declaring that he would be willing and ready to spare the Jesuits the scandal of a public trial, if they voluntarily accorded to him what he was entitled to demand. Thereupon the vicar at once took action, and Father Golenvaux, by his order, was obliged to lay before him at once the original register, and as it was found to correspond with the copy, there remained nothing else, of course, for the sons of Loyola to do but to pay the amount for which they were liable, so that their design for this once completely miscarried. The greatly notorious law-suit, between them and the Herren von Viane, which began in 1738 and ended in 1745, terminated, on the other hand, quite differently, as the sons of Loyola com- pletely gained the day, although their proved rascality was quite apparent. In the year 1738, Frau Mariane Justidavis, spouse of Herr Rombault von Viane, succeeded to an inheritance in Oermany, to the amount of 300,000 florins, consisting partly in coin and partly in diamonds and other valuables, whereupon she <5ame to Brussels with the same, in order to convert all these objects into current money. Hereupon Father Lutger Jansens, whom, on account of his highly esteemed reputation, she took -as her Father Confessor, declared to her that he would assist her to the best of his ability ; and at the same time advised her, first BOBBERY AND THEFT. 365- of all, to place the valuables in the Jesuits' college, as they would he much safer there, at any rate, than in any private house. This was evident to Frau Mariane von Viane, and the' Father fetched a carriage, hy the aid of which he conveyed the gold and precious stones into the college ; no acknowledgment, was granted as to the receipt of these latter, which amounted in value to 630,000 francs, because it was intended shortly to con- vert them into Belgian coin. Scarcely had this taken place, than Herr Rombault von Viane arrived in Brussels, and when his wife told him all, informing him that she had received no receipt of any kind, he augured nothing good. He ordered the same, therefore, to preserve the most complete silence for the present as to his arrival, and then hastened to a sagacious lawyer, in order to consult with him as to what should be done. After long consideration, it was agreed that the Frau should fall 1 sick, and that, on this account, she should send for her Con- fessor, Father Jansens. After having received from him some religious consolation, she should then begin to speak to him con- cerning the valuables entrusted to his care, and tell him that she had received the orders of her husband in writing to deliver them over to Herr von Dormael, a well-known wholesale dealer in Brussels. It was arranged, moreover, that every word which was exchanged should be taken down by two notaries, who, with four worthy citizens of the town, would be hid in a neighbouring alcove, and the account then subscribed by these citizens as witnesses. In due course, the four witnesses,, with the two notaries, were so artfully concealed in the alcove, that they could see as well as hear all that went on in the neigh- bouring chamber, and the celebrated Father was now brought to render consolation to the sick Frau Mariane, who laid' herself down in bed. He, of course, came at once, and discharged his duty as ecclesiastic, receiving his fee. As this was over, however, the Frau asked him whether there was any hope yet that the German gold, together with the precious stones and other valuables, might be advantageously converted into Belgian money. " Not yet," replied the Father, who naturally presumed that he was quite alone with his confessing child ; on the other hand, " he hoped, in a short time, to be enabled to bring more favourable intelligence, and, in the meantime, the treasure was well taken care of." The Frau now explained to 366 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. him that her husband had given her orders that the gold and diamonds should be handed over to the wholesale dealer von Dormael, and, good or ill, that she must give effect to the order. Upon this the Father became very angry, and declared that he would in no case deliver the things to the said wholesale dealer. Indeed, he forbade the Frau to speak a single word about the matter with Herr von Dormael, and vowed solemnly that he would deny, without further ado, even at the risk of being burnt alive, having any concern as to the keeping of the treasure if she was so indiscreet as to speak to him again about this order. With these words he took his leave, without, however, having any conception of having been overheard by anyone with the exception of the Frau von Viane alone ; the two notaries, however, at once now stepped out of the alcove, completed their minutes, and caused the same to be subscribed by the four citizens as witnesses, who had likewise been concealed. The next step was, that Herr von Viane demanded from Father Jansens the restoration of the treasure committed to his keeping, and, as the Father actually carried out his threat of denying everything, he at once lodged a legal complaint. His advocate produced the protocol which had been taken, and the four sworn witnesses, to show that everything had occurred as stated in the deed. In spite of all this, Father Jansens persisted in denying everything, and all the Jesuits of Liege sided with him. The coachman was found who had taken the treasure into the Jesuit College, and the man acknowledged on oath having done so. On the other hand, the sons of Loyola maintained that every point of the accusation was invented, and that the two notaries, along with the four witnesses, had been bought over by Herr von Viane. They succeeded in getting the coachman to recall his first declaration, and further managed to produce sixty witnesses who gave evidence in their favour; they at length worked upon the people, by pamphlets distributed about, as well as by public denunciations from the pulpits, in such a way that not a few firmly believed that the couple Viane, with the said two notaries and four witnesses, had concocted a vile conspiracy to the injury of the Jesuit Order. The law-suit appeared inclined to go, too, in favour of the sons of Loyola, as the High Council of Brabant had already ordered proceedings to be taken against the perjured coachman. Indeed, it was also proposed to pro- KOBBERY AND THEFT. 367 ceed summarily against the two Vianes and their associates ; when suddenly, in May 1743, fifty out of the sixty Jesuit witnesses, driven into a corner by the Court of Law, declared that they had received money for their evidence, and that it was false. The leader of the sixty, by name Konisloe, who, with nine others, still adhered to his first assertion, was now subjected to torture, whereupon the whole web of villainy was revealed. The sentence against Konisloe and five other chief perjurers con- sisted in flogging, branding round the neck, and then ten years' imprisonment with hard labour, and, lastly, eternal banish- ment out of the town and its precincts. Two other guilty accomplices were condemned to be flogged and to be banished for life ; and another two merely to be placed in the pillory. At the same time the High Council of Brabant ordered proceedings to be tak,en against Master Versin, the secretary of the Pro- curator-General, because he had likewise allowed himself to be .bribed by the Jesuits, but he saved himself, together with some equally guilty associates, by flight, to which he was assisted by money from some unknown hand undoubtedly that of the Jesuits. It now seemed that the rightful case of the Vianes had ^von the victory, and everyone expected shortly a decree in their favour. But the sons of Loyola appealed to the Supreme Court of Brussels, and, supported by fresh evidence, demanded re-establishment in their former position. The Supreme Court, consisting for the most part of adherents to their Order, granted their petition, and the trial began afresh. At once every effort was made in order to get the judges to vote in their favour, and money and women played therein a principal part. Herr Rombault von Viane, on the other hand, was brought to extremi- ties from the hitherto enormous costs of the suit, and could no longer compete against Jesuit influence. At length, in the summer of the year 1745, the case was ripe for judgment, and the Supreme Court decreed as follows: First. Rombault von Viane is declared arrested, as he has falsely represented that he was possessed of a treasure of coined .and uncoined gold, as well as of rough diamonds and other precious stones, to the amount of 296,000 florins, and that he had committed this treasure to the Jesuit College, and more ^especially to Father Lutger Jansens. On account of the long 368 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. confinement, however, to which he has been subjected, as also* of his former imbecility of mind, and other mitigating cir- cumstances, he is released from arrest and condemned merely in law costs. Second. The two prisoners Michael Valder, painter, and Jodocus Roos, formerly infantry officer, are to be considered convicted in that they gave false evidence against Father Jansens, and shall be flogged on the scaffold and then banished ; their property also is to be forfeited to the State, after the deduction of legal expenses. Thirdly and lastly. The prisoner Cauve, citizen of Brussels, is also declared to be guilty of having sworn a false oath against Father Jansens; but on account of his lengthened imprisonment, he is released from further imprisoment, and condemned merely in costs. Thus ran the sentence of the Supreme Court of Brussels, and who can describe the joy of the Jesuits? They could now retain their booty, and had succeeded in legally justifying them- selves besides ! Nevertheless, it became at that time a proverb in Brabant, that one might as well throw one's money into the sea as entrust it to the Jesuits, for, with the exception of a few bigoted women, everyone was convinced of their villainy against the poor Rombault von Viane. But not only did the sons of Loyola know how to appropriate money entrusted to their keeping, their system of cheating extended itself much further, and they took possession of whatever they could lay their hands upon. Indeed, they showed such a degree of expert- ness in such matters, as one could hardly imagine; they were well up in the school of forgery, theft, and robbery, and many of them in this acquired actual perfection. Thus, to begin with a little example, they caused several very rich and, at the same time, very pious inhabitants of Bordeaux to make a large sarcophagus of pure silver in order to keep in it several relics upon the high altar of the principal church ; the superior, Bussow, in the night, substituting for the same a precisely similar one made of lead, which had a thin plate of silver over it, sold the silver one after having melted it, and thereby gained for the Order a hundred pounds of silver. Thus, too, the Fathers Cluniac and Marsan employed themselves for several years in the Jesuit College of Angouleme, in coining counterfeit money, for EOBBEEY AND THEFT. which operation they made use of a cellar underneath, and their fellow brethren brought the same into circulation ; as, however, in the year 1641, the affair got -wind, the two Fathers above- named were transferred quickly to some distant college, and it was declared that they had, for their crime, been expelled from the Order, and it was not known where they had gone. Again, King Philip III. of Spain gave permission to the sons of Loyola living in his kingdom, to coin the rough gold and silver that they obtained from America according to the usual standard, to the amount, indeed, of a million of piasters, in order that, with the profit thus obtained, they might be in a position to build a college in Malaga; the cunning Fathers, however, extended this permission to the extent of three millions, and the four-maravedi pieces which they coined were so bad that it gave rise to a general grumbling. It passed into a proverbial saying, if a dishonest debtor paid half to- his creditors, " he had liquidated his debt with the maravedis of the Jesuits " ; and ultimately it came to this, that the Govern- ment were compelled to lower the value of this denomination of coin, because no one would take them any longer. Again, in the year 1729, Father Dequet caused, arbitrarily, 101 pictures of great value to be removed out of the house of Monsieur Tardif, engineer and secretary of Marshal Bonfleur, in the same night on which the master of the house died ; this was done by twelve shoe-blacks, brought together in great haste, such, indeed, being the hurry that one-and-twenty of the paintings were lost ; when the police interfered he produced, in justification of hia robbery, a piece of waste-paper, on which was written, " I present all my pictures to the novitiate of the Jesuits in Paris, out of regard for my friend Father Dequet, who may cause the same to be removed at once. May 20th, 1729. Tardif." But when this bit of waste-paper came to be more narrowly inspected, it became apparent that the scribbling thereon had been made by Dequet himself, and the police authorities consequently ordered the immediate restoration of the pictures by the Jesuits of the novitiate of Paris, who were compelled to make compensation for those which had been lost a decision which was received with deafening applause by the public there assembled. Once more, the sons of Ignatius played a little game in St. Fe, not far from Granada in Spain, by means of a contrivance 24 370 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. \vhich would have done honour to the most cunning swindler, and on that account I cannot pass it over in silence. The inhabitants of St. F6, so far back as the 15th century, had obtained, from the royal pair Ferdinand and Isabella, the right to conduct a canal from the river Genii, and this canal was for them of incalculable value, as it served for the irrigation of their lands, which would otherwise have yielded no produce. Now, it so happened that the sons of Loyola had also, in the 1 7th century, acquired a large piece of land in the immediate neigh- bourhood for quite a ridiculous price, as this land. possessed no water right, and was, consequently, dry during the summer time ; and one knows what a rainless summer in Granada means. On this account they made strenuous exertions to be allowed to participate in the privilege as regards the water permitted to the inhabitants of St. Fe, and they urged to the utmost in order to obtain this liberty. The St. Feans did not, however, at all allow themselves to be talked over, as they were unable to spare even the smallest portion of their water without inflicting the greatest injury upon themselves ; and at length the sons of Loyola perceived that they could not prevail in a friendly way, and by persuasion, in arranging the affair. Father Fonuca, the rector of the college of Granada, there- upon resolved to take a daring course, and caused a lay brother, who was well skilled in architecture, to build quite quietly a complete mill. That is to say, the individual parts of the same were prepared, as, for instance, the beams, wheels, mill-stones, and all other requisites; these were so excellently fitted, that the erection of the whole work could be effected in the course of a few hours. The builder at length completed his preparations, nnd now everything, such as the woodwork, the stones, and other requisites, was loaded, one fine evening, on carts, in order to con- vey them to a certain spot where the property of the Jesuits nearly abutted on the irrigation canal. Having arrived there, imme- diately Father Fonuca, with the aid of his carpenters, proceeded with the erection of the mill, while he directed the labourers, who were waiting in readiness from the neighbouring farm belonging to the Jesuits, to dig a ditch up to the irrigation canal, in order that the mill might be supplied with water. Within a few hours all was done, and at the break of day the mill machinery rattled as lustily as if it had itself a pleasure in EOBBEBY AND THEFT. 371 its existence. Thereupon a notary who accompanied him, and who was well paid for his trouble, produced an instrument wherein it was stated how he had seen the said mill grinding ipon the land belonging to the Jesuits, without a single objec- tion ; and when the instrument was ready, and had obtained the signatures of more than twenty eye-witnesses, Father Fonuca put it in his pocket with a triumphant smile, as he thought, " Who can now be in a position to deprive us of our mill, and if none can do this, who can take away from us the mill-ditch, with which we shall be enabled to convert our unfruitful lands into a charming settlement ? " His rejoicing, however, came a little too soon, as, hardly had the inhabitants of St. Fe been informed of what had taken place in the night, when, under the command of their provost, Thomas Muros, a man as brave as he was sagacious, they attacked the mill, pulled it completely down, and filled up the mill-ditch, stamping it down so firmly that the water again took its own course. As a matter of course, the Jesuits made a com- plaint to the administration of justice at Granada, laying before the same the document wherein the quiet possession of their mill was testified to, and sure enough the law court, the majority of whose members stood on their side, not only admitted the justice of the complaint, but also forthwith ordered the leaders of those concerned in the work of destruction to be put in prison. The trial thus appeared to take a very favourable turn for the sons of Loyola, and as they spared no money in order to win over the judges to their side, the inhabitants of St. Fe were within an ace of being condemned to re-build the mill at their own cost. This, however, was prevented by the most respect- able amongst the judges of the law court, the equally wise and upright Don Paul Basquez de Aguilar, who was completely proof against all attempts at bribery, and upon his eloquent exposition of the true facts of the case an exposition which in the clearest manner proved the right of the inhabitants of St. Fe, as well as the thievish mode of proceeding of the sons of Loyola no one of his colleagues dared to express a contrary opinion. Consequently, on the motion of Aguilar, the complaint of the Jesuits was unanimously rejected, and the imprisoned St. Feans immediately obtained their liberty. The sons of Loyola, too, took good care not again to raise any claim to the 24 * 372 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. said irrigation works, and the most sensible amongst them admitted even as much as that, if the whole history of the affair came before the public, there could be no question of its anni- hilating all belief among the people as to the piety of the fraternity. I could relate dozens of similar stories. In order, however, not to tire the reader, I would rather now leave these alone. Of such there exist not merely a few hundreds, but tens of hundreds, indeed, hundreds of thousands, if not even still more ! It behoves me, then, from a fear of being guilty of too great prolixity, to make a selection, and I shall therefore content myself with the description of three wholesale robberies, of which each one exceeds the other in magnitude. But to begin. In the first decade of the 18th century an old sailor settled in Nantes ; his name was Grillet, and his family consisted of a grown-up daughter, who formerly, as long as her father was at sea, had lived at Orleans with her mother, now deceased. The sailor, to all appearance, was very poor, and for this reason performed the most menial offices in order to gain at least a little. The daughter, on her part, too, made herself useful as a washerwoman, and from morning till evening was never idle. They thus went on well for several years, and, as they were no burden to the town, no one took any particular notice of them. In the year 1713, the elder Grillet began to fall sick, and as bis life soon came to be con- sidered in danger, the daughter, as a matter of course, now- looked about for a Father Confessor. Her choice fell upon Father Drouet, one of the most prominent among the Jesuit Fathers of the town, and the same, in fact, undertook the post, although not without long resistance, as old Grillet was con- sidered to be very poor, as before said, and for the souls of the poor the sons of Loyola never troubled themselves much. Drouet now visited his new confessant from time to time, and these visits were always very important, because the old sick man, who was unable to leave his bed, lay almost unconsoled in his solitude ; while the daughter could not remain in the house, because she otherwise would not have earned the necessary money for their sustenance. Nevertheless, the Father did not give by any means frequent calls, and the few times that he did come he cut matters as short as possible,, BOBBERY AND THEFT. 373 without doubt because the poverty of the neighbourhood and the ill- odour of the poor creature disgusted him. He came, now, one day at an unexpected time, and greatly to his astonishment found old Grillet out of his bed sitting upon the ground. But his amazement was vastly increased as, silently approaching from behind, he found what the old man was occupied in doing. The latter had a chest, which the Father had previously often remarked under the bed; this was standing open before him, while he was rummaging about the contents of the same with both his hands. Of what, then, did the contents consist? Nothing else than heavy gold pieces, the number of which might amount, indeed, to as much as sixty thousand. Only imagine such a sight in a room like a beggar's dwelling ! Only fancy such riches with a man languishing in misery ! There was good ground here, indeed, for the Father to be quite beside himself with amazement; on the other hand, there was suffi- cient ground for old Grillet to have had a stroke of apoplexy from terror, as he caught sight of the Father, for he had up to this time initiated no one into the secret of his riches, and had only allowed himself a sight of his treasure when he knew that he was quite alone. Before everything, the Father was now desirous to know from what source these riches had come, and he presently made out that Grillet, in former times, had been the -captain of a piratical ship, by which he had rendered the bays of the Pacific Ocean unsafe. Curiosity now impelled the Father to make still more minute inquiries as to how these riches had been derived, and he did not rest until he had made certain, by himself counting them over twice, that the gold pieces amounted to not less than sixty thousand. Now, however, the thought distressed him as to whether the old man, whose mind began to be as infirm as his body, had enlightened any third person with the secret of the treasure in question, and he con- jured the same most solemnly to keep it from everyone most zealously, and even from his own daughter. The old man pro- mised this with a solemn oath, and, being reassured as to this, the Father took his departure, under the firm conviction that the other would keep his word, owing to the avarice with which he -watched over his treasure. He, indeed, fulfilled his promise, but nevertheless, as it afterwards turned out, there was some other people who became aware of the circumstance, in the shape of a 374 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. poor couple who inhabited the adjoining apartment to that of Grillet, and who had seen and heard everything that had passed, through a crack in the wall. But as these two, the man and his wife, whether owing to fear or from some other intention, did not allow a single word to escape them to indicate that they were aware of the secret, the Father, of course, could have no conception of this, and remained under the firm conviction that no one but the sick old man and himself knew anything respecting the contents of the wooden chest under the bed. But what was to be done now ? This much was firmly resolved upon by the true son of Loyola, that the contents of the said chest must become the property of the Society of Jesus ; but as to how this was to be accomplished, he for some time remained in doubt, and he tried first in one way and then m another. During the many hours which he now spent daily with the sick man, he endeavoured to persuade the latter that it was not at all safe to keep such a large amount of gold in such a poor house as that occupied by Grillet, and that it would be much more prudent to have it transported into the Jesuit college, where it could be better taken care of. As, however, Grillet showed himself to be vehemently opposed to this, or to allow himself to be ever separated from his treasure, the idea was abandoned, and some other plan substituted. At length, after long consideration, the following scheme was concocted. The Father kept constantly assuring the penitent that the many sins which he had committed as pirate could not be expiated by the ordinary means of masses for the soul and such-like things, but that his soul must remain eternally ruined unless he were to die in the habit of a Jesuit. The sons of Loyola had alone the privilege of being at once translated into heaven, after leaving this world, for whenever a Jesuit was on the point of death Christ Himself regularly came to his dying bed, and, in spite of all the devils, conducted the soul Himself to the gates of Paradise. Consequently, there was nothing else for Grillet to do but to join the Society of Jesus, and he, the Father, desired to be serviceable to him in this respect as a particular favour. To such-like and similar representations had the former pirate to listen, almost hour by hour; and what could be more natural than that he should give credence to these words, and that at ROBBERY AND THEFT. 375 length he should earnestly implore Father Drouet to delay no longer his transfer into the novitiate of the Jesuits ? The Father consented thereto, and one evening as the daughter returned home from her work, she found, to her great astonish- ment for all had been carried on secretly that her father, with his chest, had disappeared, without anything having been left to indicate what had become of him. She had not, however, to remain long in uncertainty, as it was related to her by the neighbours that her father had been conveyed away in a litter, and the heavy chest in a cart. Moreover, in the dead of night, the neighbouring pair who occupied the adjoining apart- ment came in, and now the poor daughter was, for the first time, informed of the whole secret, as to which she had hitherto not had the slightest conception. The first thing to be done next morn- ing was for her to seek out Father Drouet in the Jesuit college. She was referred to the novitiate, and she hastened thither. As she came there, however, she found the sons of Loyola there present in the greatest consternation, as old Grillet had just departed this life, even before they had been able to carry out the ceremony of his reception among the novices. The daughter at once demanded the property left by her father, more especially the heavy chest with its contents ; but they shortly showed her the door. Thereupon she addressed herself, on the advice of acquaintances, to an honest advocate, and he threatened Father Drouet and his associates with a criminal complaint. At the same time, he made his client aware that two things were wanting for the gaining of the trial, firstly, the necessary means of proof, because the married pair who had seen all were not in the apartment itself, but in the neighbouring one ; and, secondly, what was still more necessary, money for carrying on the suit. She ought, therefore, he added with a good intention, submit to a moderate compromise rather than stake all, as the Jesuits would employ all their influence and their enormous wealth in order to bring the matter to a victorious issue. This advice was good, and the poor washerwoman determined to follow it. Therefore, immediately when Father Guimont was sent to her in order to negotiate amicably with her, she contented herself with a sum of acquittance of 4,000 francs, and con- sequently the whole affair was an end. Nevertheless, the matter came to be so notorious, all agreeing as to the dis- 376 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. graceful nature of the transaction, that the law authorises of the town, who were conversant with the affair, expressed an unreserved opinion in regard to this shameful robbery on the part of the sons of Loyola. There was yet a far more magnificent robbery that the Jesuits perpetrated, as regards the inheritance of Ambrose Guy, and this is, perhaps, the most extraordinary swindling story which ever came before the civilised world. The said Ambrose, born at Apt in Provence, in the year 1613, after arriving at man's estate, settled at Marseilles as a pastrycook, and united himself in marriage, in the year 1040, with Anna Roux, who in due course presented him with two girls. Having become a widower at the covered bark not wishing to arouse the curiosity of the Brest people to Quay Recouvrance, and brought them, without any- one talking about the matter, or, indeed, as he presumed, anyone having seen anything of it, into the back chamber of Ambrose Guy, who showed himself not a little pleased at their arrival. All now went on satisfactorily as to the business of the will- making, and the pretended notary, with the greatest formality and with the most complete dignity, put down upon paper what was required of him by the patient. When the testament was now ready and properly drawn up in the usual form, in order that it might not be disputed by anyone, it was signed by the four so-called citizen witnesses, while the gardener, or as he gave himself out to be the notary, thereupon took the docu- ment, to be deposited at the office of the town hall. He did not, of course, convey it there, but, on the contrary, to the Jesuit college, where the four witnesses also followed him. Ambrose Guy, then, had made a will, and still had not made one ; that is to say, he had made a will, according to his idea properly executed, while it was totally invalid and utterly worthless as good, indeed, as none at all. He was under the belief, then, that his will lay at the town hall, and would be, after his death, opened by the authorities and carried into effect. In truth, however, no one was aware of its existence,, except the sons of Loyola, or, rather, the latter were under the conviction that no one knew anything about it, and acted accordingly. With this heroic little document the matter, how- ever, was only half done. What was required, if the sons of Loyola were to succeed in appropriating the whole of Ambrose Guy's effects, was to persuade the old man to transfer himsell and his treasure into the Jesuit college. Were he brought thither,, then might his property be taken possession of immediately after his death, before any could get news of the old man's decease having taken place. Were he not brought thither, was it not 380 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. to be feared that the secular authorities might put everything under their seal, and so retain it until it could be ascertained whether he had any rightful heirs or not ? It was requisite, then, at any price, to bring about the removal, and, thanks to the persuasive powers of Father Chauvel, this was effected. The Father chattingly represented to the old man, with a pleasing demeanour, how it was quite impossible to bestow upon him the .proper bodily and spiritual care that was necessary in such an hotel as that in which he was lodging, as there was much too great a noise going on there, and a locality where sailors, carters, and other people of a similar description frequented, was not at all suitable for a man such as Ambrose Guy ; on the other hand, the sons of Loyola would prize it as the greatest honour to give him shelter in their college, and would devote themselves to him day and night with such zeal that he could wish for nothing better. Moreover, the riches which he had with him would be much more secure in the college than in a public-house, which might possibly be frequented by disguised thieves and robbers; and, finally, it had to be con- sidered that, in the event of his sudden death, the State authorities, in the person of a rascally financial fellow, might pounce upon the effects he left behind and make the best of it for himself. Similar things had happened before, and just at the present time the Jntendant of Brittany did not stand exactly in the highest repute, while, on the other hand, the sons of Loyola, with their accustomed probity and honesty, would watch over the treasure, and, completely independent of all divisional authorities, devote themselves to its safe custody. Good Father Chauvel employed such, and similar other persuasive words, and Ambrose Guy, who had lived for forty years in a land where the sons of Loyola were held in the highest estimation, could not do otherwise than accept, with the greatest thankfulness, the offers made to him. Consequently, one evening the Father, accom- panied by several servants and lay brethren, landed from a sloop at the Quay Recouvrance, and, an hour later, Ambrose Guy was safely conveyed to the Jesuit College with all his gold and other property. What good fortune was this, indeed ! There could now, be nothing more to fear as to the old man con- ifiding anything whatever to the host or to any third person. EOBBEEY AND THEFT. 381 Especially there was no danger as to the parson making use of his privilege to visit the dying man, and, by means of confes- sion, becoming acquainted with everything which it had been sought carefully to conceal. No; Ambrose now belonged entirely to the sons of Loyola, and they alone knew exactly the true- state of his property; they alone had this same under lock and' key. When this was the case, what occasion was there any longer for them to give themselves any further trouble about the patient ? Where was there now any more need for tender solicitude concerning him, or why should there be a physician who might possibly be able to discover something from the patient ? The old man should now die, and as soon as possible I Consequently, they gave themselves no further trouble about him, but abandoned him to his pains and his misery, without administering to him the requisite medicine. Was there any wonder then that his life was not prolonged many days? Was there any wonder that he at length breathed his last with a curse against the Jesuits ? Already, a few hours after his death, the report was spread abroad that the stranger who had been taken away from Guimar's Hotel during the night-time, had been conveyed into their college ; and this report reached the parson of the church diocese of St. Louis, to which the Quay Recou- vrance belonged, and upon this report he now demanded the corpse and the property he had left. The Jesuits refused to- comply with this demand, declaring that they themselves would undertake to bury him ; and, as regards his property, that it was hardly sufficient to cover the expenses which they had incurred for the patient's cure. With this, however, the parson, whose name was Raignaut, was not satisfied, but he made a complaint to the police; and now the Fathers, so far at least yielded, that they placed the corpse before the College gate. Thence the parson took it, and had it honestly buried in the Hospital churchyard of St. Louis ; the expenses of the funeral, however, were not remitted to him, as the sons of Loyola repeated their declaration that the deceased had left as good as nothing, as to which assertion there lay no ground for any sufficient doubt. For this reason the police authorities made no further inquires as to the deceased, or, indeed, as to any more minute particulars regarding him, and as day after day no relation came forward to claim \shat he had left, the Jesuits dared to hope confidently "382 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. that the whole robbery would remain undiscovered. Still, wonderful to say, immediately after the funeral of Ambrose Guy, Teports began to be circulated over the town of Brest, that there had been enormous riches in the old man's possession, and it was even whispered about, indeed, as to what the same comprised. Also strong confirmation of these said rumours was found in the circumstance that during the years following the college had made large purchases of estates, and, besides, lent out large sums at interest. The jewel-dealers of the neighbouring large towns, too, said that many very costly precious stones coming from the Jesuit College in Brest had been priced by them, and regarding other valuables it became known that they had been forwarded to a man in Paris. Thus it could not fail to be that by degrees the statement regarding the fabulous treasures which Ambrose Ouy had left behind him penetrated far beyond the town of Brest, and, at length, the affair was talked about even in the town of Marseilles. Here, however, there resided a grand- daughter of Ambrose Guy, Franziska Jourdan by name, married to Esprit Beranger, and one might easily imagine what effect these reports must have had on the minds of the pair. Summoned by advocates, whom he had for this reason con- sulted, Beranger started for Brest in the beginning of the year 1715, in order to make more particular inquiries into the matter, and, as he went very cautiously to work, and was supported besides by an excellent legal friend, he succeeded, in a quiet way, in making himself acquainted with almost all the particulars that I have mentioned above. Particularly he found out the people who had witnessed the disembarkation of Ambrose Guy and his heavy effects, and had lived with him in Guimar's Hotel ; and others, again, former servants of Guimar, testified to him that the deceased Ambrose had desired to make a will, and also that the gardener of the Jesuit College, whom they knew very well, had, disguised as a notary, prepared this will. Lastly, he ascertained, for a certainty, as to how and by whom his wife's grandfather, with all his treasures, had been conveyed into the Jesuit College, and, consequently, the whole shameful deed of the sons of Loyola became now as clear as daylight. On this account Beranger, on behalf of his wife, demanded from the Brest College the inheritance belonging to her ; and, as he was ROBBERY AND THEFT. 883 refused, ht accused the Jesuits, on the 1 1th of August 1715, before the Court of Justice of Brest. In this manner arose the great scandal trial which, under the name of the " Cause celebred'Ambrosius Guy/' occasioned a great sensation, not only in France, hut among all civilised peoples throughout the world ; and the Society of Jesus, which made the affair of the College of Brest their own, proved thereby afresh how well it understood to transform the most crying injustice into a legal right. They acted in precisely the same way as in regard to the shameful transaction of Rombault von Viane, and in the Girard-Cadiere case, and neither money nor influence were wanting in order to bring over the judges to their side. Especially they set about, with success, causing dangerous witnesses to disappear, and Beranger himself found that his life was more than once placed in danger by a thrust from the dagger of a hired assassin. In short, after the lapse of two years, however right his case appeared to all impartial people, the plaintiff was non-suited by the Law Court of Brest, and as he possessed no more means to prosecute the matter in a higher court, there remained nothing else for him to do but to betake himself back again to Marseilles. Still, with this the cele- brated cause did not terminate. Convinced, on the other hand, that the Court of Brest, by reason of Jesuit money, had decreed an erroneous sentence, and fired, at the same time, by the cry of indignation which rang throughout the whole of France, Chancellor d'Argeausseau, the Procurator-General of the Parlia- ment of Eennes, the capital of Brittany, ordered the first Parliamentary Councillor to bring the matter before the said Parliament; and the latter formed a resolution, on the 7th of March 1718, to despatch the First Councillor to Brest, in order to inform himself respecting the nature of the case. Thereupon the sons of Loyola experienced a deadly panic, as, if the investi- gation were to be conducted with impartiality, their villainy must then be made apparent ; but they at once resolved to appeal to the council of the King, because they possessed, indeed, in d'Argenson, Keeper of the Great Seal, an especially good friend; they were successful, too, in getting a decree, dated 16th February 1719, which prohibited the Parliament of Kennes from carrying out its intended resolution. The case once more languished, when Esprit Beranger, 384 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. supported by the other descendants of Ambrose Guy, came into some pecuniary means, and at once addressed himself, in the year 1723, to the Parliament of Brittany with a petition that the matter in dispute might again be taken up. The latter was ready to meet his wishes ; still, the Jesuits again appealed,, for a second time, to the council of the King, and the new Keeper of the Great Seal, d'Armenonville, who had in the interim succeeded to the position of d'Argenson, was not less agreeable than Cardinal Fleury, the all-powerful minister of Louis XV., that the Court of Justice of Quimper, the second capital of Brittany, should be appointed as the Court of revision. Everyone might now easily predict how the case would turn out, as the members were all among the most intimate friend* of the Order of Jesus; and, consequently, it would have been regarded as a wonder if the sentence of the Court were not given in favour of the Jesuits. The decree, indeed, had not long to be waited for, and the Jesuits broke out into a perfect storm of triumph, holding the view that the case had now been ended for ever. In this, however, they were mistaken. In the year 1735, Father Chauvel, who had been the life and soul of all the villainous manoeuvres, was transferred, on account of his great age, to the profess-house of La Fleche, that he might there end his days in all comfort, the atmosphere being much milder ; in this his solitude his conscience was suddenly awakened, and he regarded with terror the punishments which/ awaited him in the next world for his infamous deeds. He was anxious to make compensation for them as far as could be done, but he was always too much watched, so that he might not have an opportunity of making a confession before the Law Court^ Indeed, he might be certain of meeting with death whenever he took the first step to advance this object; consequently, there remained for him nothing else to do but to commit to paper the whole course of the affair. He prepared, therefore, a complete inventory of all the riches which Ambrose Guy had possessed, and described everything in detail, from the time they had set about conveying him into the Jesuit College. This autograph testamentary document he entrusted, well sealed, to a secular friend upon whom he could depend, and this latter promised him that it should not be made any use of until he had closed his eyes. Scarcely was Chauvel dead, than the friend hastened to- ROBBERY AND THEFT. 385 Marshall d'Estnee, with whom he was well acquainted, who in turn handed over the packet to King Louis XV. The King read it with astonishment, and, however favourable he had hitherto been towards the sons of Loyola, he could hardly restrain his indignation on this occasion. He instantly issued an order to the Jesuit College at Brest, wherein he charged th& same either to restore to the heirs of Ambrose Guy the things they had stolen, or to pay over to them 8,000,000 francs ; and this order was couched in such categorical language that the Jesuits were seized with the greatest consternation. Luckily for them, Louis XV. was one of the most lazy, most stupid, and most profligate of any rulers France ever had, and it was for them still greater luck that he allowed himself to be governed by the above-mentioned Cardinal Fleury, the friend of the Order of Jesus. The Cardinal, therefore, induced the King to allow the Jesuits time to collect the large sum, and they employed this interval in order to come to favourable terms with the heirs of Guy. That is to say, instead of 8,000,000, they paid them only one half, or, as stated by other accounts, only 200,000 francs ;. and thus was the whole affair arranged to the enormous advan- tage of the Society of Jesus. In the eyes of the world, however, this fraternity suffered a shck which for ever undermined their existence, and estranged them, as well, from many of those who had hitherto been their best friends. The third story of Jesuit robbery which I have to relate to the reader, runs as follows. In the middle of the 17th century, the Jesuit College at San. Herminigilde, in Seville, got into difficulties, and the High Council of Castille at once commissioned the President of the Government of Seville, by name Don Juan de S an talic6s- Guevara, to sequestrate the estates and revenues of the College for the satisfaction of the creditors, and also especially to institute an accurate investigation of the property belonging thereto. In accordance with this order, Don Santelices at once seized upon all the books, accounts, and manuscripts of the Seville Jesuits, and by this opportunity found a manuscript which had for its title Liber Piorum Secretorum Operum, which means " The book of secret good works." The title took his fancy, and he read it through carefully; he found, however, nothing suspicious until he came upon a page containing the following words : 25 38G HISTOBY OF THE JESUITS. " One must temporize with Don Rodrigo Barba Cabenza do Vaca until after the death of the beneficiary, Juan Segnero de Velasco ; so, too, on his death, one must slam the door in the face of Don Rodrigo Barba, as if one had never had anything to do with him." Further on was to be found an observation to the following effect : " No one except the Bailiff, the Rector, the Provincial, and the Counsellors of the Province, shall have any knowledge either of this book or of the estates and revenues of the College." It was, therefore, clear that there was something here treated of, which was not suitable for the ears of everyone, and, proceeding on this idea, Santelices required the former Procurator of the College, Father Andr6 de Villar, as well as Don Rodrigo Barba and Don Juan Segnero de Velasco, to come before him, each separately, in order to interrogate them on their oath. Don Rodrigo at once stated what he knew of the matter, but he was not properly acquainted with the secret itself. The other two, on the other hand, were perfectly cognizant thereof, and, on this account, faltered in their assertions. All, at length, however, confessed, and the story ran thus : Nine-and-thirty years previous to that time a noble gentle- man of the name of Juan de Monsalve returned to Seville from the West Indies, where he had lived for a long time, and brought with him great riches. He now, as a matter of course, found many good friends, for he had remained a bachelor during all his days, and was thus free to dispose of his property ; and this fact, also, the Jesuits of the College of San Hermenigilde especially treasured up in secret. Still, they took good care not to allow their views to become too apparent, but, on the contrary, assumed the air of disinterestedness, in order all the better to gain the confidence of Monsieur de Monsalve. It now happened, after some years had quietly elapsed, that a woman came to Seville and desired to be recognised by the old rich gentleman as his daughter. He had, affirmed the individual in question, begotten her previous to his marriage with her mother. This relationship had, however, latterly become legitimate, as her mother had been secretly married to him before his departure for the West Indies, and, on this account, she regarded herself, with every justification, as his legitimate child, as well as the future heiress of all his possessions. This was pretty well what the damsel asserted, and in con- ROBBEEY AND THEFT. 387 firmation of the same she had brought with her several papers, bearing external evidence which showed that her tale could not be altogether rejected. Juan de Monsalve, on the other hand, repudiated most distinctly all and every relationship with the mother of the woman, and declared the latter to be an arrant cheat. With this, however, the affair, as one might imagine, was everywhere extensive, and between the different seaports a number of ships plied which were alone freighted with their goods. They, also, did not at all hesitate to conjoin to their trading considerable smuggling; and as a proof of this assertion I will produce two examples. Father Tambin, general agent of the Jesuits for the trade between Genoa and Lisbon, employed a ship-captain during five-and-twenty years for the transport of Jesuit wares, and this captain, during the year, ordinarily made six voyages back- wards and forwards, it being observed that the chief freight from Lisbon consisted always of bags of coffee. Now, the Republic of Genoa issued a strict prohibition, in the year 1725, as to the importation of gold bars, and every shipowner who transgressed this prohibition rendered himself liable, not merely to a severe punishment, but also to the confiscation of the whole cargo. It may be well imagined, then, that the captains of merchant ships went to work from this time forward with great circumspection, and this was, of course, the case as regards the captain in question. It happened on one occasion, how- ever, that among several other wares committed to his care in Lisbon by secular merchants, and for which he was, of course, responsible, there were a good number of bags of coffee delivered by the local Jesuits, which presented a somewhat suspicious appearance, and he, therefore, caused them to be put in a space apart. Still he made no further remark, but took his bill of lading and set sail. However, on getting into the open sea, he was careful to make an investigation, and had each of the bags opened one after the other ; and what did he then find ? In each of them was carefully concealed, under the coffee, one or two gold bars ! He took them all out, landed them at some secure harbour on the way, and delivered them for safe keeping to a trustworthy mercantile house. Having arrived in Genoa, he immediately advised Father Tambin that he had wares for him, and when he came with his people to receive them, he made over to him all the bags of coffee, exactly as they stood indicated in the open bill of lading. The Father, finding everything in order, took his departure with his packages ; he returned the next day, however, and taking the captain aside demanded of him what had become of the gold bars. The captain, being- JESUIT COMMEECE AND USURY. 421 ;n man of honour, at once acknowledged the whole truth ; but what he told his inquirer may be readily imagined, as the Jesuits, by this deceitful smuggling transaction, had brought him into great danger of losing not only his whole cargo, but his liberty besides, together with his entire property. The other example of Jesuit smuggling, of which I have promised to make mention, sounds even still more edifying, and relates to a ship's captain who, in the year 1760, sailed from Cadiz to the same town of Genoa which I have already named. He had already completed his freight, when two Jesuit Fathers came to him and begged him to take a small chest containing church ornaments, together with some few pounds of chocolate. " He ought to do this," they said, " for the love of God, as they were very poor, and their brother in Genoa not the less so." The captain, a good-natured man, consented, and, taking their chest, stowed it away in the lowest compartment of the ship. Thereupon they delivered to him the bill of lading, in which the chest was described as being packed with church ornaments, and the ship sailed next day under a favourable wind. Unfortunately for the Jesuits, however, this did not long continue, but, on the other hand, changed into a storm, so that the waves came all over the deck, and penetrated into the innermost parts of the ship. The captain now, naturally enough, became afraid that the church ornaments would be spoilt, and ordered the chest to be brought up in order that it might be put in a more favourable place. The order was carried out, but behold, in spite of its small compass, its weight was found to be so great that it could scarcely be lifted by four strong men. This, of course, aroused the suspicion of the captain, who directed it to be placed in his own cabin, in order that it might be opened in the presence of the ship's company. What, then, was found ? A very considerable quantity of coined money, that was artfully concealed among the orna- ments ! Thereupon the captain became uncommonly irate, as, although it was not forbidden to import coin into Genoa, it was still necessary to declare the amount, under the penalty of con- fiscation ; and, moreover, a higher freight was paid for gold coin than for any other wares. He, consequently, could not have the smallest doubt that the pious Fathers, with their false .story of poverty, only wished to cheat him of his freight, so he 422 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. took out the money, without in the least disarranging the ornaments. After landing in Genoa, a Jesuit at once made his appearance with a couple of servants, in order to take posses- sion of the chest of which he had been already advised, and the captain gave it to him, both having previously compared the bill of lading and found it to be correct. Two hours afterwards, however, the Jesuit again made his appearance, and showed himself very agitated, because he had not found in it all that his brother in Cadiz had advised him of. "How?" exclaimed the ship-captain, " are any of your choco- lates or Church ornaments wanting ? " " Not so," rejoined the son of Loyola ; " but my brethren wrote to me that the several alms that they had collected from benevolent persons had been enclosed." " They have lied," replied the captain ; " but you wished to cheat, me, a poor ship-captain, of my freight, and placed me in the greatest danger, instead of acting honestly. Still, you can have your money, all told, only deducting the freight, of which I cannot make you a present this time." Thus did the sons of Loyola, in this case also, obtain their money again, because the captain was too honourable a man to cheat them ; but would the pious Fathers have acted towards him in this way had he been in their place ? One would still wish to know to what amount the trade of the sons of Loyola reached, and what sums it procured for them ; but this remains a secret among the Superiors, and certain information as to this never penetrated so far as the laity. There could not, however, be the slightest doubt that the profit was some- thing enormous, as their dominion of Paraguay alone gave them- annually over four millions of ducats, as is shown by an official, report of the Portuguese Governor-General of the town of Potosi, Don Mathia de Anglose Gortari, written in the year 1731. The said Governor, who had received from his Government orders to make the most minute investigation on all sides, found the country to be divided into thirty-six parishes, or reductions, and each of these comprehended in itself 10,000 families; in all of them, however, there existed so great a surplus of stores and produce that a single reduction was alone in a condition to- supply six others for the whole year. Even the smallest of their reductions possessed their 40,000 or 50,000 head of oxen and. JESUIT COMMERCE AND USURY. 423 cows, and the larger and richer ones of them not less than double that quantity. In consequence of this the Jesuits were enabled to export yearly to Spain about 300,000 hides of cattle, each of which was sold for six piastres or more, and the trade in leather brought in even as much. The fields proved to be very pro- ductive, and all kinds of grain were grown upon them, as well, especially, as tobacco, sugar, and cotton, which latter the Indian women were required to spin and weave ; all these articles were likewise transported to Europe, and cotton stuffs alone yielded an annual profit of 100,000 heavy piastres. Everywhere were to be observed well-appointed workshops, and the Indians manu- factured therein most beautiful gold and silver wares. More- over, there were numbers of locksmiths' shops, and forges and foundries even were not wanting, in which cannon, mortars, and the like might be cast. However, the latter manufactories were designed not so much for trade as for internal use ; and the same remark also holds good as to manufactories of arms. A particularly extensive commerce took place, on the other hand, in the so-called Paraguay herb,* and, as there was sale for it almost all over the world, it indeed brought a profit which was certainly as great as the gold and silver mines in other American countries. In short, the Jesuits derived from their trade in Para- guay truly immense sums, and these were dutifully taken into keeping by the Superiors of the missions. Every six years, however, the general Procurators came into the provinces and sent the proceeds to Home, either in bills of exchange or wares. * This vegetable is, according to the description of the Jesuit Father Francis Xavier de Charlevoix, the leaf of a tree about the size of a middle- sized apple tree, and has the shape of an orange leaf. It is met with in, commerce in a dried condition, almost converted into powder, and Peru alone formerly required 100,000 arobens of it (the arobe may be calculated at about twenty-five pounds). When infused in boiling water and then drunk cold, its action is purgative and diuretic ; a strong dose, however, taken at once, acts as an emetic, and afterwards as a promoter of sleep. On account of these excellent properties it was formerly never to be found wanting in any apothecary's shop, more especially in America ; later on,, however, as Paraguay became closed completely to the foreign world it fell into disuse, and as in the meantime medical men came to the knowledge of other drastic remedies, it never again attained its former renown, even after the country again became open. On account of its harsh taste, it also got the name of " Yerba Mate," and the scientific term for the tree or shrub- on which it grows is " Ilex Mate." 424 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. It was also to be remarked that in every parish considerable store-houses existed, in which the wares and land produce were stored until they could be conveyed to the great market-places of Santa F6, Buenos Ay res, and Tacumau, either for sale or exportation, and from this it will be seen how exceedingly well the Jesuits understood the draining of their dominion of Paraguay. Thus did Don Mathia de Anglose Gortari report concerning the Jesuits in Paraguay, and he calculated, as already remarked, the amount of their commercial trade at even more than ten millions of hard dollars annually, while he at the same time added that what the maintenance of the Indians cost I mean their eating, drinking, and clothing made but a slight deduc- tion. Not the less magnificently did the Jesuits come out by degrees in Mexico, through their intrigues; and the equally honest and truthful as unfortunate Archbishop of Mexico and Viceroy of Spanish America, so severely persecuted by the Jesuits, Don Juan de Palafox, submitted a copious report or the subject to Pope Innocent X. In this document, among other things, the following statements are made : " I find almost the whole wealth of Central America in the hands of the Jesuits, and the property they hold in herds of cattle and sheep is something truly enormous. Thus I am acquainted with two of their Colleges, each of which numbers 300,000 sheep, and another commands more than 60,000 oxen in their pasturages. Whilst the secular clergy, together with all other religious Orders, have only three sugar refineries, and those very small, the Jesuits possess, in the province of Mexico alone, in which they have no fewer than ten Colleges, the six largest manufactories that there are throughout the whole of Central America, and each of them represents a value of from half to a whole million of dollars. Indeed, some of them bring an annual net profit of more than 100,000 dollars, and the smallest clears at least 25,000 to 30,000. Moreover, they also possess tracts of land which frequently extend for several miles, and these territories, which they farm, as they belong to the most productive regions, bring them in an immense quantity of maize, tobacco, and other produce. Also very rich silver mines belong to their Colleges, and they have succeeded, in a word, to bring to such a height their power and riches that the JESUIT COMMERCE AND USUEY. 425 secular clergy will soon be compelled to beg their bread from the Jesuits." Thus did Palafox write, and his statements were only too amply confirmed from other quarters. From this it became clearly evident that the Loyolites had secured for themselves almost the entire traffic, and that they were even not ashamed of being usurious. Among other things, a gigantic traffic was instituted by them from Carthagena to Quito, and in order to procure the necessary means of doing this cheap, the worthy Fathers annually sent some ships to Angola, on the coast of Africa, where it was easy to procure a number of black slaves for little money. Indeed, in order to save expenditure they con- trived to sell a part of the human cargo to the Mexican planters, as by this means the cost of the ships employed in slave-catching was completely covered, and they had, so to speak, gratis and for nothing, the labourers and porters that they required. It is true that in this way they gained not a few enemies for them- selves, more especially among their competitors, that is, those hitherto engaged in carrying on the same business ; and, on one occasion, the same, with their servants, broke in pieces, during the night, the greater part of the Jesuits' carts. The pious Fathers, however, did not permit themselves to be terrified thereby, but continued to go on with the thing just as be- fore, until at length the High Council of Castile issued a prohibition against this trade, so unsuitable for priests and missionaries. Quite in the same flourishing condition was the trade which the Jesuits carried on in Japan, while Europe could not suffi- ciently admire the many wares derived therefrom. Hundreds ot ships were freighted therewith, and the only thing wanting was that the sons of Loyola did not hoist a flag of their own. It was then expressly remarked, too, by the noted author Navarette, who made his personal observations on the spot, that the sons of Loyola never neglected to place a shop or booth close to every church, and the Jesuits were afterwards compelled to admit this to be the case. For a long time not a word was heard from them as to their doings, and Fathers Cevico and Tellier, when interrogated by the Roman See, merely accounted for the annual shipment to Europe of fifty bales of silk ; but the most practical confession lay in the orders issued by their own General, Thyrsus 426 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Gonzalez, under pressure from Pope Clement XL, in the year 1 702, when he directed that the Japanese Fathers should give up their ships, as whoever possessed vessels must also have, naturally, freight and goods for the same. Enough, then, of such matters, although I could adduce a great number of others-. But there is still another question, How did it come ahout that the Catholic Church, and more especially the leaders of it, put up with such unpriestly conduct as that of the Jesuits? Did the representatives of Christ approve- of it, or did they condemn it ? Now, the first was only done by one single Pope, the latter, however, by a whole series of Pontiffs. That single one was the Pontifex Gregory XIII., who reigned from 1572 to 1585, and who showed himself during the whole of that period to be blindly de- voted to the sons of Loyola. The Jesuits represented to him that it would be impossible for them to maintain their several colleges, seminaries, and other houses in the far distant regions of the earth, if they were not allowed to carry on a little trade and business, and the Pope, believing this, permitted them to embark in transactions utterly unworthy of priests and missionaries. As, however, the whole of Christendom was amazed at the scandal, and, especially, as the different universities (more particularly that of Paris in the year 1594), as well as the whole of the secular and monkish clergy, together with the Bishops and Archbishops, frequently protested against it, the successors of Gregory expressly withdrew this permission ; and the Popes Urban VIII., Clement IX., Clement X., and Benedict XIV., besides, prohibited, in special Bulls, the priests from engaging in any kind of trade whatever. For instance, in a Bull of Benedict XIV., dated 25th February 1741, it is stated as follows: " We forbid, of our own motion and of our supreme power, all ecclesiastical persons from following commercial pursuits,, even in the case when a trade has not been established by them, but by lay people. We forbid ecclesiastics and monkish Orders doing this, as well in the case when the objects thereof are in their own domains as when they happen to be in the estates of their coadjutors and secular associates. We forbid them to- carry it on, be it in their own name of ecclesiastics, in the name. JESUIT COMMERCE AND USURY. 427 of their Society, or in the name of secular persons who may be dependent upon them." Precisely the same was affirmed hy Urban VIII. (1625) ; and if in this case the sons of Loyola were not expressly named, it was still apparent, from the words employed, that they alone, as members of the Society of Jesus, were alluded to. But what, then, did the Jesuits answer to this? They rejoined nothing, but continued to carry on their trade as before, not, troubling themselves in the slightest degree about the Papal Bulls. Thus, for example, the University of Paris, in the year 1664, brought to light a contract which was entered into in the town of Dieppe by Notary Thomas le Vasseur and his partner Rene Bense, and it was apparent from this contract that the worthy Fathers carried on a trade with Canada in partnership with the whaling outfitters of Dieppe, sharing, indeed, profit and loss* The contracting parties were Carl de Biencourt and M. de St. Just, of Dieppe, with Thomas Robin and M. de Calognes, of Paris, on the one part, and on the other the Fathers Biard and Ennemont Masse, of the Society of Jesus ; the deed runs thus : " The said present and covenanting parties acknowledge- that they trade in common on account of the cargo of the ship Grace of God, and the worthy Fathers Biard and Masse, who- have signed in the name of their Order, give this combination the right to the half of all kinds of wares, especially to the half of the cargo of the ship Grace of God." Thus it stands in the contract, and is not this sufficient evidence of what I have affirmed ? But I will allow still other witnesses to speak witnesses which excited the greatest attention throughout the whole of Christendom, because they proved the Jesuits to be not only merchants, but also common usurers and fraudulent bankrupts. In the year 1639, there prevailed a severe famine in the- island of Malta, and it caused the then Grand Master of the Knights of St. John, by name Laskaris, unspeakable trouble how. best to alleviate the general distress by the importation of meal and fruit from the neighbouring less indigent localities. Among those, now, who appeared to suffer more especially from want, the inhabitants of the Jesuit College were particularly remarkable,. 428 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. and the worthy Fathers never neglected to fetch, in person, their regular allowance of the portions which were distributed. As it happened that one among them, Father Cassia, committed an equally grave as common crime, the judicial authorities of the Grand Master sent to arrest him. He took flight into the college of his Order, in the hope of there finding safety ; but the police followed after him, and, behold ! what did they there discover ? The college itself, as well as the buildings and storehouses attached thereto, were actually filled to overflowing with corn and meal, as well as other necessaries of life ; and there was thus abundant proof that the worthy Fathers merely retained these stores in order that, when the famine had reached its height, they might issue them at an enormous price. The rage of the people, naturally, knew no bounds, and the whole of the Jesuits would undoubtedly have fallen victims, had not Laskaris at once packed them into a felucca, just as they were, and despatched them over to Sicily. Of course, the whole of their property was then confiscated, and all that had been latterly obtained by them was of no avail. The bankruptcy of the Jesuit College at St. Herminigilde, in the Spanish town of Seville, caused much more sensation. This bankruptcy is the one of which, by the way, I have already made mention in the Second Book, and it took place under the following circumstances. About the year 1640, Brother Andre de Villar, Procurator or temporary administrator of the said college, one of the richest in the whole of Spain, being a man of much capacity, formed the resolution, in common with the fellow-members of his com- munity, to double, if not to treble, their riches by an extended industry and trade. In order to effect this he required ready money, and, in truth, very much of the same. He addressed himself, then, to the credulous souls of Seville, and begged from them a loan for " pious purposes." To everyone who was dis- posed to be generous he promised the most substantial heavenly reward ; he did not the less, however, hold out the prospect of good interest in order to arouse the avarice of worldly men, and, moreover, he knew how to speak pathetically of the security afforded by the Jesuit Order for the borrowed money. His words had the desired effect, and a number of Sevillians, espe- cially small capitalists, widows, and guardians of orphans, JESUIT COMMEBCE AND USUBY. 429 pensioned officers, and such like, hastened to entrust their ready- money and deposit their valuable securities with the procurator. In this manner Andre de Villar collected, in a short space of time, not less than 600,000 ducats, and with this, for those days, enormous sum of money he hoped to be able to carry on a some- what profitable trade. He at once bought several large landed estates with immense herds of cattle on them ; caused manu- factories and mills to be erected ; instituted stores, which he filled with all sorts of wares ; built ships, which he freighted with iron, linen, and other European wares, and sending them out to the Spanish colonies, brought back the productions of the East and West Indies. In short, he became a great trader in the fullest acceptation of the term, and the firm of Villar & Co. for several long years did an immense business. All at once, in the year 1644, as several important bills of exchange became due the procurator declared that he was not,, under present circumstances, in a position to meet them, and, as in consequence of this not a few other creditors became very pressing in their demands, he legally announced his insolvency. The panic of the people who had deposited their capital with the house of Villar & Co. can now well be imagined, and as they amounted in all to about 300, their exclamations brought the whole of Seville into a state of commotion. But exclamations in such matters are ordinarily but unproductive, and, conse- quently, the sons of Loyola did not give themselves much trouble about the matter, but simply allowed things to take their course, and resigned themselves to the circumstances. At length, at the end of a year, the investigation as to the property had been so far proceeded with, that a general meeting of the* creditors was called, on the 9th of March 1645, in the profess- house of the Jesuits of Seville, and the Provincial of Andalusia, Father Pierre de Avilas, suddenly came forward with an offer of 50 per cent. "Andre de Villar," he stated, "had completely exceeded his powers as Procurator of the College at St. Herminigilde, and had simply traded on his own account, so that, properly speak- ing, the Order of Jesus was under no obligation whatever, but, out of special consideration for the number of widows and other poor creditors, the worthy Fathers wished to be liberal^ and therefore offered them 50 per cent." 430 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. He firmly believed that the creditors would ngree to this, and on that account he had brought a notary along with him in order to draw out immediately the necessary deeds. Still the creditors unanimously hesitated, and made out that the entire Society was responsible for the payment, so that the meeting dissolved without effect. The Father Provincial now took another course, and caused Father Villar to be thrown into prison, because, without the permission of his Superiors, and against the principles of the Society of Jesus, he had carried on a trade on his own account. At the same time, however, that this took place, they did not neglect, also, to treat privately with some of the individual creditors, in order to bring about some abatement by means of fair promises. The Provincial in this way actually attained some result*, as some few of the creditors agreed to his proposals ; the majority of them, however, with Juan Onufre de Salazar at their head, immediately addressed a petition to King Philip IV., and prayed for justice. Of course some time must naturally elapse before an answer could be obtained, and the Jesuits knew how to take the best advantage of this interval. They won over the commissary charged with the sequestra- tion of the estates, so that he advised the creditors rather to submit to a compromise than to enter into a law-suit ; and as now very many of the creditors, indeed the most of them, found themselves in great straits from the cessation of the payment of interest, nearly a hundred of them followed his advice. Con- sequently, all these at once received 50 per cent, of the original capital in ready money, or exchanged their claims for a mort- gage. Thus the number of creditors was diminished more and more daily, and hope began to be entertained that at length the whole debt of 450,000 ducats might be paid off with a sum of half that amount. Suddenly, however, things took a different turn, when the King's reply arrived, and the Pre- sident of the Government of Seville, Don Juan de Santelices, was entrusted with the investigation of the case. The latter being an impartial man, who did not allow himself to be blinded with Jesuit gold or talked over by Jesuitical suada (sweet words), at once removed the partisan commissary, then set at liberty the imprisoned Villar, and caused him to make a full circumstantial confession as to how the bankruptcy had been brought about. It now came out that the Jesuits had no JESUIT COMMERCE AND USURY. 431 other view in contemplation, from the very beginning, than to relieve themselves of their debt for the half of the money, and, in fact, several letters of the Father Provincial were forthcoming which proved this only too clearly. Juan de Santelic6s would have by far preferred to have sold at once all the estates belong- ing to the College of St. Herminigilde, so as to have fully satisfied .the creditors out of the produce ; but the sons of Loyola asserted that the greater part of these estates were ecclesiastical pro- perty, and consequently could not be sold under sequestra- tion. Upon this ground the law-suit continued to follow its course during a series of years, and during this long time many of the creditors were unable to hold out on account of .poverty, and voluntarily begged for a compromise. In short, these sons of Loyola succeeded tolerably well in gaining their end, although the final decision in the year 165.2 went against them ; and by the sale of the remaining territories and other estates, the rest of the creditors were satisfied in full. The public of Seville, however, now knew how to estimate the Society of Jesus, and the indignation raised against it could, on that account, be no longer restrained. A worthy parallel case to this Seville scandal was the noto- rious bankruptcy of Father La Vallette at Martinique, and I cannot refrain from making mention of it in conclusion. Brother La Vallette was sent as missionary to the island of Martinique, by his chiefs, in the year 1742, and first of all laboured in the small parish of Carbet, only a couple of miles .distant from the town of St. Pierre. This spot, however, was soon too small for him, as he was at that time a man of thirty- five years of age, and of a very enterprising character, as well as of great intelligence and activity. It consequently came about that, in the year 1747, he was nominated to the post of Procurator of the Profess-house of St. Pierre, and he at once -entered upon this important office with the design of being as useful as possible to his Order. The profess-house of St. Pierre had deteriorated very much through bad management, although it still possessed extensive properties, or, if one would rather call them so, plantations, and there was. therefore, a large sphere of .action open for a capable manager ; but in order to accomplish worthily what was required, much was needed much courage, 432 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. much intelligence, much knowledge, much speculation. La Vallette commenced, accordingly, by purchasing a strong body of negro slaves, in order to be able to form better planta- tions than formerly, and at the same time he acquired experienced overseers, who were entrusted with the manage- ment of the slave work. For this purpose he required money, however, and, indeed, no inconsiderable amount. Further cash was needed, too, for the acquisition of more exten sive lands, for which there occurred just at that time a peculiarly favourable opportunity, which he was anxious not to let slip, because these lands might afterwards be converted likewise, with ease, into charming plantations, adapted for sugar, tobacco, and cotton. But whence was this money to be obtained ? Being shrewd in mind and well versed in commer- cial matters, he weighed the thing well in its every aspect, and after long consideration a wise thought struck him at last, which he at once brought into operation. France at that time treated her colonies most cruelly, on which account it hap- pened that whoever was obliged to send money from Marti- nique to the mother country, lost almost a fourth, if not even a third. In other words, if a person in Martinique had to pay 20,000 francs in Paris, or say anywhere else in France, he was compelled to spend 28,000 francs or 30,000 francs in order to liquidate the sum ; and it may, then, well be imagined how severely the mercantile community of Martinique suffered from this oppression. La Vallette now declared, in a circular addressed to the merchants of the Antilles, " that he was in a position, through the assistance of his Order in Lyons, to pay in full moneys entrusted to him, without any loss or deduction, with this condition, however, that the payments were not to take place till after thirty to thirty-six months." He at the same time offered " to give for all sums entrusted to him as remit- tances safe bills of exchange ; of course, however, bills pay- able after the long sight of two years and a half without interest during the whole of that time." The mercantile people of Mar- tinique considered this offer, and found the same to be very advantageous for their money-bags, taking it for granted that the signature of the worthy Father would be at once honoured. But why should they have any doubt about it, as, indeed, the profess-house at St. Pierre possessed a large property in landed JESUIT COMMERCE AND USURY. 433 estates ? Money was therefore entrusted to him ; at first, it is true, in small sums only, hut later on in larger amounts, as it was found that prompt repayment was always forthcoming; then, indeed, still larger, and, at last, very important moneys, became available for him. The first object of La Vallette, then, was only to get into his hands very large sums of ready money, and thus after a few years he attained his object, and then, of course, land could be bought with borrowed money and converted into plantations. This was not sufficient for him, however, but he acquired, partly in Martinique itself, partly in the islands of Du Bent and San Domingo, a number of other plantations, and, with the help of his negroes, planted thereon such quantities of sugar, coftee, tobacco, indigo, and cotton, that no inhabitant of the Antilles, not even the richest of them, could any longer compete with him. In addition to this, he bought up the produce of other planta- tions, and erected, besides his head establishment in St. Pierre, several other counting-houses, as, for instance, at St. Do- mingo, Maria Galanda, Santa Lucia, and St. Vincent. Still, however, the stores in his magazines never accumulated, as might have been supposed, to anything enormous, but as much as he bought he again immediately sold; naturally, indeed, not in the Antilles or elsewhere in America, but in France, Spain, Italy, and Germany. On this account, he at once put himself in connection with the first commercial houses in Europe, that is, in the towns of Marseilles, Nantes, Lyons, Paris, Lisbon, Cadiz, Leghorn, Amsterdam, and elsewhere. In con- sequence of these operations, conducted with as much skill as success, the business of the house of La Vallette & Co. assumed such dimensions, after less than five years, that the whole trade of Martinique became, so to speak, a monopoly in its hands ; and now, of course, the remaining local mer- chants and plantation proprietors could no longer conceal from themselves how foolish they had been, as in entrusting him with their money they had contributed their aid to en- able this Black Cloak to found a business. As murmurings, however, brought no relief, they complained to the French Government, on account of the prejudice to their trade, and the authorities at once gave a hint to Father Sacy, the Procurator-General of the Jesuit Missions, to set some bounds, at least, to the speculative spirit of his brother Jesuit in 28 434 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Martinique. Sacy promised to do so, but without, however, any intention from the very first of keeping his promise, and conse quently the complaints of the merchants and plantation-owners were renewed more than ever. The Government now, at length, saw themselves obliged to take action, and consequently the French Governor of the Antilles received an order, at the end of the year 1753, to send Father La Vallette to Paris for the vindication of his pro- ceedings. The Father took his departure ; not, however, before causing the favourable evidence of the Governor, and those high in office whose confidence he fully possessed, to be adduced ; and when he arrived in Havre, in January 1754, he was received in triumph by his fellow brethren, especially by the Fathers Sacy and Forestier, his chief correspondents in France. Still more gratifying was his reception at the College in Paris, and the Jesuits sang his praises everywhere, more especially among the influential at Court. His vindication became, then, an easy matter ; or, rather, it was made easy for him, and people lent belief at once to his assurances, that he carried on nothing but a " legitimate " trade. And how could it be otherwise, seeing that he brought with him such excellent certificates in con- nection with his recall ? He possessed, indeed, credentials from M. Bompas, Governor of Martinique, who was bound to know what was going on in the island ! Thus, certainly, the good Father La Vallette was a perfectly innocent man, who busied himself entirely with the extension of the mission and the conversion of the savages ; and if, when there, he sent over at times sugar and coffee, he did so merely to be enabled to meet the exigences of the Mission. He also exported nothing but the sugar and coffee which the profess-house had produced on Its own estates, and this could not be called trading, more than that of a peasant who brings his corn to market. Thus was Father La Vallette pronounced to be not guilty, -J- sentes en 1724 au Souverain Pontife BenoitlLIV., sur les Missions des Peres Jesuites aux Indes Orientates, par R. P. Norbert. In vol. iii., pp. 99-148, authentic proofs are given by Canon Angelita, of St. Peter in Carcere, who was. an eye-wituesb when the poisoned chocolate was administered to the Cardinal. 452 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. make Europeans out of the Chinese, and this intention he must strenuously oppose." Thus was China henceforth left to the Jesuits alone, and they maintained themselves there up to modern times; for instance, i'iither Hallerstein, a Suabian, was still active in Pekin in the year 1780, as Mandarin and President of the great Mathematical Tribuual. One can now well imagine that the sons of Loyola, by their conduct in China, made deadly enemies of the Domini- cans and Capuchins, and it is equally self-evident that the latter took hold of every opportunity to injure the Order of Jesus and its godless un- Christian conduct, as well as to attack with the most heartfelt satisfaction its immeasurable violence in sub- jugating the whole world. They succeeded, too, in their object throughout a great part of Christendom, and the Jesuits began to be regarded as people who hunted to death everyone standing in the way of their missions, or daring to oppose them in any respect. The Fathers defended themselves, indeed, in the warmest manner against any such insinuation, or, as they ex- pressed it, calumny ; but with every ship that arrived from Asia, new facts became known which were fully confirmed by the affirmations of the Dominicans and Capuchins; and, lastly, pre- cisely the same thing was ascertained respecting their missions in America. Indeed, the cruelty with which they proceeded against Bishops Cardenas and Palafox, in the New World, sur- .passed even their proved villainy in the struggle with Cardinal Tourman, and I cannot do better than give a short description of these two affairs, at least. In the year 1041 the Pope nominated the Franciscan priest, .Bernardin de Cardenas, to be Bishop of Paraguay, with his See at Assumption, and he occupied this position during three years quite unopposed. He now, however, caused it to be made known that it was his intention to pay a visit to the parishes of the Provinces of Parana and Uruguay, in which, as we know, the -Jesuits ruled as lords; and now, although such a visitation was imperative on the Bishop as his bounden duty, the sons of Loyola made at once a terrible stir. It was most necessary for them, indeed, to keep concealed from the world their proceedings in their dominion of Paraguay, and not to allow anything to be made known, either respecting their trade or their State constitution. They therefore endeavoured, at first by CONFLICT WITH CATHOLIC ECCLESIASTICS. 453" flattering speeches and bribery, to dissuade the Bishop from his intention ; as, however, he held to it steadfastly, they at once disputed the right of his episcopal power, and loudly proclaimed, from all their pulpits, that Cardenas had arrogated to himself his alleged dignity, and that, therefore, no obedience need be given to him. Up to this time, however, no real injury had been done to the Bishop, as this could only happen with the assist- ance of the secular power, and, consequently, the sons of Loyola strove to bring over to their side the Spanish Governor of Assumption, by name Don Gregorio de Hintrosa. This they succeeded in doing with the aid of 30,000 dollars in gold, and 1 the consequence was that the Governor caused the Bishop to be put into a boat, which, being committed to the mercy of the wind and current, floated down the Paraguay river for upwards of eighty miles from Corientas. Here Cardenas remained during several years, naturally not without the necessary steps being taken for his re-establishment by the Royal Government of La Plata. This authority actually decided, in the year 1646, that Cardenas was the lawful Bishop of Assumption and Paraguay ; but as the reappearance of the same where the Jesuits were, in some measure, all-powerful, might lead to regrettable scenes, the' Bishop's See was transferred to Popayan, and he was requested to betake himself there as shortly as possible. With this Cardenas, however, did not comply, as Popayan lay at least a thousand miles distant from Assumption, and, to- a man of the Bishop's advanced age, such a journey might readily become dangerous. He continued, therefore, to remain in Corientas, and thence again endeavoured to have his right accorded to him. His efforts were crowned with success in the year 1648, when the then Governor of Assumption, Don Gregorio de Hintrosa, was recalled and replaced by Don Diego Escobar de Osorio. Upon this, DonBernardin de Cardenas set off imme- diately for Assumption, and was there not only received by the new Governor in the most friendly manner, but also immediately established in his Bishopric. The strife now seemed to have been finally settled ; but in- reality it was not so. The sons of Loyola possessed such influence at the Spanish Court that no royal servant dare to go against their interests with impunity or without injury. Indeed, as soon as he acted so he might be certain that the 454 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. ruling brethren in Madrid, having the ear of the King, would never rest until he was overthrown ; and Don Diego de Osorio could expect nothing better if he continued to favour Cardenas at the cost of the sons of Loyola. Consequently, he shortly went over into the Jesuit camp, and the old game was again "recommenced. Indeed, it went so far that the Bishop was 'literally besieged by the sonsof Loyola in his own church during 'fifteen days, with the approval of Don Osorio, and was within an ace of being starved to death ! Then Don Osorio died sud- denly, and now everything took a different turn. Because 'Cardenas was much beloved by the people of Assumption, while most of the citizens highly disapproved of the violent conduct of the Jesuits, there arose, on the death of Don Osorio, a kind of revolution, and the result was that Cardenas was appointed, in a great meeting, to be Governor and Captain-General until the Xing of Spain should nominate another. Of course, the sons of Loyola exerted themselves to the utmost to prevent the carrying into effect of this popular election, but they had already made themselves so universally hated that they did not succeed in this, and, consequently, Cardenas was installed in his new office unhindered, which put into his hands all secular aa well as ecclesiastical power over Paraguay. Even this, however, wns not sufficient, but the burgesses of the city at once came forward complaining against the Order of Jesus, and demanded 1 that the Fathers, who were unruly people and always brought about quarrels and confusion among the community, should be expelled out of Assumption. This demand was but a just one, and the Epis- copal Governor responded to it by requesting, on 6th March, 1649, that the Fathers should quit the city. Seeing, however, that they did not obey, but entrenched themselves immediately in their college, Don Villasanti, the Lieutenant of the Episcopal 'Governor, proceeded to employ force, and conveyed them on board ship, by which means they were transported to Corientas. It was now their turn to eat the bread of banishment, as the year before Don Bernardin de Cardenas had done; but they did not eat it so patiently. On the contrary, they at once assembled an army of 4,000 Indians in their reduction, and placed at their head Don Sebastian de Leon, an officer thoroughly devoted to them, nominating him at the same time provisional Governor of Assumption. They then advanced against the city CONFLICT WITH CATHOLIC ECCLESIASTICS. 455 : in order to take possession of it. This occurred after an almost ^bloodless fight. Bishop Cardenas, however, ohstinately defended lumself for ten days in his well-fortified church, which had to 'be regularly stormed before he yielded. As soon now as the black cohort had overpowered him, they first of all threw him into a dark underground prison, where he almost rotted, and then conveyed him in a miserable boat to Santa Fe, 200 miles from Assumption. Once more, then, had the Jesuits gained the victory, and yet a second time had Cardenas seen himself robbed of his dignity and honour. He then again addressed himself to the Royal Govern- ment of La Plata in order to demand justice, and himself pro- ceeded thither in the year 1651, with the view that in this way his affair might be all the sooner settled ; but, as they put him off from one month to another, and, indeed, from one year to another without doing anything for him, he at last discovered that the sons of Loyola had bribed most of the members of the Government, and he therefore determined upon setting out for Europe in order to demand justice there personally from the Spanish and Roman Courts. No sooner said than done. But the Jesuits did not remain inactive. Headed by their fellow-brother, Father Pedrasa, they invented such a tissue of calumnies, slanders, lies, and false- hoods, that one would have fancied Bishop Bernardin de Cardenas to be the most thorough scoundrel on the face of the earth, who, from the very commencement, had no other object than injuring as much as he possibly could the dove-like, innocent, sons of Loyola. Still Cardenas, having brought with him the judicial acts which proved the truth of his asser- tions, he finally succeeded, in spite of the devices and artifices of the Jesuits, in obtaining the upper hand over his enemies. In other words, the Court of Madrid rendered justice to him, and reinstated him in all the honours and dignities of which he had been deprived by the sons of Loyola. Pope Alexander VII. even went still further, and censured the Order of Jesus for its malevolent machinations, which had produced as gross a scandal as there had ever been in the world. But what was now the use of this favourable decision to Cardenas ? He died only a few months after obtaining it, and had no chance of taking posses- sion of his Bishopric for the third time. 456 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. A precisely similar outrage was committed by the sons of Loyola on the pious Don Johann Palafox, who united in his person the different offices and preferments of an Archbishop of Mexico and a Bishop of Angelopolis and Osina, so that one might have thought a man in such a high position would have been free from attack. But at whose hands had the sons of Loyola ever anxiety or fear ? Never even as regards kings and emperors, and, con- sequently, most certainly not an Archbishop, even let him be most pious and God-fearing. The first cause of sad strife between Palafox and the Fathers was to be found in the avarice of the latter, as they gave themselves immense trouble to secure for their colleges, by crooked ways, or even by force, certain tithes legally belonging to the Cathedral of Mexico, and thereby compelled the Archbishop to make a complaint against them to the Royal Government. This enraged the Jesuits, and they became all the more furious when the Archbishop gained his case against them in every instance. They consequently sought to revenge themselves on him, and, with this end, made use of every opportunity that presented itself. The best way, however, to make him feel their resentment, they thought, was to ignore his jurisdiction, and, as regarded themselves, they acted just as if he had no existence in the world. Now it happened to be a law, in the Roman Catholic Church, that no one dare exercise the office of a priest in any diocese without the approval of the respective Bishops, and the Council of Trent especially ordered that all monkish ecclesiastics, without exception, if they wished to preach or hear confessions anywhere, should previously produce their authority at the Bishop's See. When, then, the sons of Loyola wished to per- form priestly functions in the diocese of the Archbishop of Mexico, it was required that they should either make the neces- sary declaration to the latter in person, or, at any rate, to his Vicar-General, and deliver over their authorisation ; and if they did not do so, then the Archbishop was entitled to prohibit them from all ecclesiastical functions until further orders. Such was the law of the Church, and so must it continue if the greatest disorders were to be prevented ; as, otherwise, any incompetent person might ascend the pulpit and enter the confessional, and thus bring the priesthood into disrepute. CONFLICT WITH CATHOLIC ECCLESIASTICS. 457 What did the sons of Loyola do now ? They arrogated the priesthood to themselves throughout the whole of Mexico, with- out ever producing any credentials, precisely as if the before-said law had no application to them ! With the view of checking this misconduct, the Archiepiscopal Vicar-General called upon them, on the 6th of March 1647, to prove their documents of authorisation, and, until this was done, to desist from preaching and hearing confessions. There- upon the Jesuits replied that they had liberty from the Pope to enable them to exercise their priestly functions all over the world without being first of all obliged to obtain the permission of the respective Bishops. " Good," said now the Vicar-General, "show me your document of privilege, and I will then leave you unmolested." But the Fathers did not comply with this, but intimated that they were in possession of also a further privilege, which dispensed them from showing the first one ! This was open derision of the Archiepiscopal authority, and it was, indeed, setting it completely at defiance, for the Fathers still continued boldly to act as father confessors and preachers, &c. &c. Palafox, therefore, determined to make an example for the protection of his authority against such shameless dis- obedience ; so he interdicted the Jesuits, under the penalty of the great excommunication, from any ecclesiastical function whatever, and at the same time prohibited all Christians in . his diocese from confessing to them or attending their preachings. Most assuredly the Archbishop was perfectly right, and, had the Jesuits been true sons of the Church, as they boasted, they would at once have promptly submitted to his Order. However, they did not contemplate for a single moment acting thus, but, on the other hand, they were seized with boundless rage, and they determined, under all circumstances, to humiliate their antagonist. Now the Viceroy of Mexico, who at that time governed the country in the name of the King of Spain, was a particular supporter of theirs, and they at once greatly increased this friendship by a considerable present ; they, therefore, well believed* that they might dare to hope that he would, if necessary, assist them by an illegal act. They accordingly addressed themsehes to him, and delivered a long drawn-up complaint, from vrhich it was made to appear how very much Palafox had transgressed against the most holy Order of Jesus. The Viceroy thereupon 30 458 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. decided that they were in the right, and ordered the Bishops, by the withdrawal of this threat of excommunication, to allow the Jesuits to carry on undisturbed their preaching and hearing of confessions. The Archbishop, of course, protested against this as an illegal order, and represented to the Viceroy how, by such a proceeding, the whole hierarchical authority in the Church would be upset. In consequence of this, the representative of the Spanish monarch became somewhat startled ; so much so, indeed, that he very nearly rescinded his preceding order. But now the sons of Loyola caused the last mine to be ex- ploded. Suddenly they made bold to execute on their side excommunication against the Archbishop, along with his Vicar- General, and all his officials, and publicly proclaimed by kettle- drum and sound of trumpet throughout all the streets of the city of Mexico this sentence of excommunication, which abounded with the grossest slanders, calumnies, and infamous statements ! " Whoever, be his condition whatever it may," this sentence thus ran " still listened or adhered, from this moment forward, to the Archbishop and his officials, would render himself guilty of rebellion, and, in this case, would be punished, if in the higher ranks, by a fine of 2,000 ducats, or if poor by four years' hard labour ; if in the lower ranks, however, with two hundred lashes and four years of slavery in the mines." It is to be seen that the sons of Loyola adopted no half measures, and it now became a question whether the Viceroy would support their audacious proceedings with his secular authority, as otherwise they would be powerless. But they knew their man, and had him too much in their grasp not to be perfectly certain of him. His peremptory order, therefore, confirmed the Jesuit decree, and the military were instructed to give requisite expression to the violent measures of the sons of Loyola. What was, now, poor Palafox to do ? Should he yield, or oppose force by force ? He might, indeed, well adopt the latter course, as the people were entirely on his side, and it was only requisite for him to give a hint in order to arouse to arms all Mexico against the Jesuits and their Vice-regal creature ; but his soul shuddered from the shedding of blood, and, consequently, he preferred making his escape secretly from the city in order to find some place of refuge among the mountains, until he might CONFLICT WITH CATHOLIC ECCLESIASTICS. 459 ^obtain justice from the Courts of Rome and Madrid, to which lie had at once complained. " I fly," wrote he himself to Pope Innocent X., " into the mountains, and seek in the society of serpents and scorpions that security which is denied to me so perseveringly by the implacable Society of Jesus. After wandering for twenty days "with the greatest danger to life, and with such a pressing want of food that I had frequently nothing for nourishment but my tears, I finally found a small hut, with whose poor in- ihabitants I have concealed myself during four months." Now were the Jesuits masters of Mexico, and they played 'the part of lords with a despotism which has seldom been exer- cised by any usurper. Everything must yield to their caprice, and whoever dared in the slightest to blame their proceedings might expect banishment and imprisonment, if not, indeed, the scaffold. No one saw any other means of escape except by ; adhesion to their faction, and thus they managed that the 'Chapter of the Cathedral declared the Archiepiscopal See to be vacant. Against this the Vicar- General of the fugitive Palafox 'certainly remonstrated, as also some other of his adherents, but they were so firmly secured in prison that their voices could no longer be heard. In short, everything was done that could be thought of to smother the voice of justice, and to this was added a still more abominable and cruel insult such as the devil himself i could scarcely have devised.* It had now come to this, that a new Archbishop was on the point of being nominated, thereby putting a crown on the conduct of the Jesuits, when all at once :a royal fleet made its appearance in the harbour of Veracruz, from Spain, bringing commissaries, who at once came into the city of Mexico, accompanied with several officers of high rank. What was it that brought these three commissaries ? Nothing else than the deposition of the then Viceroy and the transfer of his appointment to the Bishop of Yukatan nothing else than an order to reinstate at once the Archbishop Palafox with -all honour in his bishopric, and strictly to carry into effect his orders previously issued against the Jesuits. * The scholars of the Jesuits formed a public procession calculated to degrade the dignity of the Archbishop, and led a mangy horse through the streets, to whose tail the Bishop's bonnet and staff were tied. They also sang the most shameful ditties, in which Palafox figured as a heretic, ;nd a blessing of the people in his name was bellowed through a cow's ihoru. 30* 460 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Not long after this, a Papal brief arrived in Mexico, which blamed the sons of Loyola even more severely than that of the King, and imposed silence upon them as to this matter for ever afterwards a brief which contained at the same time the greatest praises of Palafox, and esteemed him as a martyr of the true Church. For this time, then, the right cause obtained the victory, and the Jesuits never again succeeded in causing the revocation of the royal or Papal orders, much as was the trouble they gave themselves with this object. But how little had it come short of their violent despotism being triumphant? In any case, more- over, they showed by this procedure, exactly as was previously described, that their most earnest endeavour was to hunt every- one to death who dared to oppose them, as also that they shrunk from no means, even the most wicked that could be devised, for the accomplishment of this purpose. Even yet more than by these contentions did the sons of Loyola injure them- selves, through their long-enduring strife with the theological faculty of Paris, the so-called Sorbonne,* as the decisions of this celebrated institution were held in such esteem, not alone in Paris, but throughout the whole of the Christian world, that they were frequently regarded more as divine oracles than the views of fallible men. The so-called Sorbonne, however, that is, the whole doctors and professors of theology of the University of Paris, when called 1 upon by the Government to express an opinion as to whether the Society of Jesus should be permitted or not in France, pronounced, in the first week of Christmas 1554, the following judgment : " This Society (namely, the Society of Jesus) which arrogates to itself in an unseemly manner the name of Jesus which has for a principle to admit into its midst even punishable, dis- honourable, and infamous men, so long as they might be employed usefully for the fraternity whose members are dis- In the year 1250 Robert de Sorbonne, in Champagne, chaplain of Louis the Holy, founded an educational establishment at the University of Paris for young secular ecclesiastics, which was named after him " Sorbonne," and as this institution, at which only theological professors of the Univer- sity of Paris taught, soon acquired a great reputation, the name of Sorbonne was very soon transferred to the entire theological Faculty of Paris. Thus it remained up to the times of the Revolution, and the Sorbonne constituted the united tribunal of the Parisian doctors of theology, which was long, regarded as the most learned in the world. CONFLICT WITH CATHOLIC ECCLESIASTICS. 461 -tinguished neither by their habits, their worship of God, nor in their mode of life, from secular clergymen, which has been endowed by the Holy See with so many different privileges, indulgences, and liberties in relation to preaching and teaching, AS also in regard to the administration of the sacrament, against the rights of bishops, and to the prejudice of all the other Orders, quite contrary to hierarchical order, and to the injury of secular princes and rulers, finally to the great detriment of the liberties of universities, and to the uncommon inconvenience of the people, this Society disgraces the monkish Orders, weakens the laborious, pious, and necessary exercise of virtue in the cloisters, permits the members of other Orders to desecrate their -vows, releases the laity from the obedience due to, and the sub- mission prescribed for their regular spiritual advisers, robs secular and ecclesiastical authorities of their rights, and gives rise to ^disturbances in both directions, occasioning as well much trouble, strife, divisions, and other discords among the people. When, Jn a word, one would sum up everything, it appears that this Society is fitted to endanger the Faith, to disturb the peace of of Jibe Church, to extinguish the monkhood, and is especially calculated to pull down rather than to build up." Such was the judgment of the Sorbonne in the year 1554, at a time when the Society of Jesus first of all commenced to exercise their activity ; and one may well imagine what influence this judgment exercised upon the French, at least on the more cultivated amongst them. It is also remarkable that the said most learned theological faculty, from which emanated those views and principles, never in the least again departed from them, even after the whole of the French Court, not excluding the heads of it, even as high as the all-powerful Kings, became in the fullest degree favourable to Jesuitism, and the said doctors of theology of Paris might have derived great advantages there- from if they could have accommodated themselves to the views of the Court. I said it was remarkable, and I believe I may repeat this with all the more justification, as the theologians of the Sorbonne pronounced that severe judgment by no means from a greater religious liberality and free-mindedness. On the contrary, there was no one in France who was more zealous in combating the Reformation than were the Sorbonne and most of its members, as, for example, Drs. Maillard, Demochare, 462 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Perior, and Oeri, distinguished themselves for their truly inhuman- hatred of the heresy. Now, if this judgment on the Jesuits was a severe one, the celebrated Stephen Pasquier went even still, further, and it is a matter of astonishment, to see how profoundly and radically he knew how to anatomise the Society of Jesus. Moreover, it was not simply on his own account that Pasquier handled the matter before the Parliament of Paris, but as repre- sentative of the Sorbonne, and thus his words are to be regarded as those of the College. But, it may be asked, why was it that the Sorbonne required an advocate in Parliament ? Simply for this reason, that it had a law-suit with the Jesuits,, and truly a most determined one. Hardly had the sons of Loyola, in spite of the opposition of the University of Paris, obtained permission, under certain conditions, which, however, were certainly very stringent ones, to establish themselves in Paris, than they at once infringed these conditions in the grossest manner, and finally demanded for their college in the Hue Jacob similar rights and privileges to those possessed by the Sorbonne. Against this, however, the entire University of Paris remonstrated as one man, and demanded the relegation of the arrogant Fathers within the bounds of order. The University was perfectly right, and almost all Paris, and, indeed, almost all France, stood by it. The Court, how- ever, was against it. Now, the sons of Loyola well understood , how to win over to their side a depraved Court, as that of France was in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, and a most depraved one it was. They only too effectually influenced the Court, and obtained from it the favour of bringing their affair with the University before the highest law tribunal of the country, namely before the Parliament of Paris. It would, nevertheless, have been better for them had they not obtained this favour, as Etienne Pasquier, the advocate of the Sorbonne, told them truths which they had never heard before, and the whole enlightened world accorded to him their applause. Before everything, he laid bare the spirit of the Order of Jesus, and proved, by irresistible arguments, that its members knew how to blind the world through its sophistries, as well as by degrees to exhibit their four ill-famed vows in quite a different light from what they appeared, whenever it. was requisite for. them to do so. CONFLICT WITH CATHOLIC ECCLESIASTICS. 463 " Their whole system depends," said he, " on duplicity " ; and this duplicity was so dangerous to the quiet and security of the State, that he, Pasquier, maintained a firm conviction that the tendency of this sect had no other object than to bring about a complete disunion amongst all classes. " Wherever the Jesuits are tolerated," he exclaimed, " there no prince and ruler can place himself in security against their attacks ; there is sure to be a rupture in the peace of the Church/' He proved that it impoverished whole families by its absorption of their pro- perty; that it destroyed numbers of young people by an education which was merely apparent and superficial ; that by its deceptive teaching it had sown the seeds of rebellion and dis- loyalty throughout the whole of France. Lastly, he addressed himself to Parliament in the following words : " You, if you are at all inclined to tolerate the Jesuits in any way, will too late repent your credulity, and posterity will condemn you for it, as the literal proof is even now apparent, and will develop itself still more clearly in future times ; the matter-of-fact evidence is, that it will disturb the public peace, not merely of this kingdom, but of the whole world also, by artifice, deceit, superstition,, hypocrisy, and malicious tricks." Thus spoke Etienne Pasquier, and can anyone now entertain, a doubt that it would have been much more to their advantage had the sons of Loyola refrained from strife with the Sorbonne ? They injured themselves, however, far more by that other wrangle which, under the name of " the Jansenist dispute," obtained in a measure a world-wide fame, as through it they made for them- selves not merely thousands but hundreds of thousands of deadly enemies; and by it the entire Catholic clergy of the world arrived at the conclusion that one must either think and teach as the Jesuits, or else be treated by the sons of Loyola as an apostate from the Catholic religion ! As regards this strife with Jansenism, the case stood as follows. Regarding the doctrine of predestination as well as of grace and the free-will of man there had ever existed, from the establishment of Christianity, a difference of opinion among theologians, and the great teachers of the Church, Augustine and Pelagius, were diametrically opposed to each other on these three questions. Who was in the right 1 know not, and, at all events, it does not appertain to speak of the matter here. This, 464 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. however, was a fact, that the teaching of Augustine was declared, by far the greater majority of theologians, to be the only orthodox and correct doctrine ; while the Pelagians, and, indeed, the semi-Pelagians, who thought partly with Augustine, and partly with Pelagius, were condemned as heretics by all the Synods of the 5th and 6th centuries. Thus Pelagianism and semi-Pelagianism disappeared almost entirely out of the world, and no one thought more about the matter until it pleased the Jesuits Leonbard Less, Johann Hammel, Benedict Fonseca, Ludwig Molina, and others, to broach principles in their theological works, and from the professorial chairs in their colleges, which savoured completely and entirely of semi- Pelagianism. Especially was this the case in the celebrated work of Molina, a Portuguese Jesuit, which, under the title of Concordia Divinee Gratia et Liberi Arbitrii (the Harmony of Divine Grace and Free-will), appeared in the year 1588, and the Dominicans, as zealous adherents to Augustine orthodoxy, did not fail, of course, to put in the pillory, quite relentlessly, the semi-Pelagian heresy contained therein. Forthwith there arose a violent strife, and there appeared, for and against, an innumerable quantity of party-writings, as the whole of the Society of Jesus to a man took the part of Molina, while several Universities, especially those of Louvaine and Douai, as well as a large number of bishops and archbishops, not to speak of the inferior clergy, fought on the side of the Dominicans. Even the Inquisition mixed itself up in the matter, and was nearly committing to the flames the book of Molina together with its author. The Jesuit General, Aquaviva, now succeeded iu persuading the Pope, Clement VIII. , just at the right time, to bring the whole strife before his Forum, and to prohibit the Dominicans from taking any further individual action in the matter, as in such a weighty affair the Holy See had alone the right of decision. The Pope then issued his mandate, and both parties hastened to forward to Rome the acts and docu- ments which were in their possession, especially the arbitraments of the universities and bishops which were favourable to them. Clement VIII. now nominated a commission of investigation, which, under the title of Congregaiio de Auxiliis Divine Gratia, held its first sitting on the 2nd of January 1598. The cause, therefore, proceeded precisely as in a secular Court of CONFLICT WITH CATHOLIC ECCLESIASTICS. 465 Justice, and both parties were represented by their counsel ; the Dominicans by the learned brethren Alvarez and Lemoz, and the Jesuits by the Fathers Bellarmin, Arrubal, and Valentia ; and, of course, both parties neglected no opportunity, the former as well as the latter, in working upon the judges, even through the influence of foreign princes ; as, for instance, the services of the bigoted Jesuitly-inclined Empress Maria Theresa (spouse of .Rudolph II.), as also of her similarly-minded son, the Archduke Albert, were appealed to. But it happened that the Commission, on account of these many intrigues, were not able to come quickly to any decision, as from the year 1598 to the year 1605 jiot fewer than sixty-seven sittings were held ; and although the President and Chairman, Cardinal Madruzius, at the urgent -request of Clement VIII., worked untiringly to bring the case to a conclusion, the said Pope had to take his departure from this world without his being able to pronounce judgment against Molina, as he secretly wished to do, although he took good care not to let it be publicly known that such was his desire. Also Paul V., his successor, although he sat for nearly sixteen years upon the Papal throne, from 1605 to 1621, and presided himself for the most part at the many sittings of the Congregation, did not outlive the termination of the strife, and neither did Gregory XV. It was perceived at the time, both by the College of > Cardinals, as well as on the part of the Pope, that it was much wiser to keep a dead silence about the whole of the vexatious . matter, which had actually no practical value, than by a decision either to offend the Jesuits and their adherents, or the Domini- cans and their allies ; so the affair was allowed to remain in abeyance in the hope that it might be forgotten by the world. Such would, indeed, without doubt, have happened, and, indeed, really did occur for more than forty years from the holding of the first sitting of the Congregation, when a book appeared, in 1640, which at once renewed the strife, and, more- over, brought it to such a height as could not previously have sbeen conceived. This book was entitled Auguslinus seu .*Doctrina de Humana Natura, Sanitate, JEgritudine et Medi- cina, adcersus Pelagianos et Massilienses (Augustine on the doctrine of health, disease, and the cure of human nature, as .regards the Pelagians and semi-Pelagians, called Marseillaise). The author was Cornelius Jansen, who died Bishop of Ypern in 466 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. the Netherlands, in the year 1638. There was a very great amount of learning put into the work, as Jansen* had laboured at it for more than thirty years, and it contained extracts from the thirteen folios of Augustine, together with some from the writings of Bajus and other teachers of the Church ; but as it contained so much learned rubbish, and also because, when it came to be printed by the friends of the deceased bishop, in the year 1640 at Louvain, and the year following in Paris, it had become an immensely thick folio volume, but very few would have given themselves the trouble to read it if people had been so prudent as to have maintained silence about it. Yes, truly, the book would have gone the way of all flesh, just as many folios before and after it, and the lay world, as even the greatest part of the ecclesiastical fraternity, would have heard but little about it, if the sons of Loyola had possessed a little less poison in their nature. But scarcely had they discovered that the Molinists had met with little mercy in the book, than they regularly began to cast forth fire and flames ; and their General, Vitelleschi, gave himself no rest until he had worked up Pope Urban VIII. to such a pitch that he induced His Holiness to condemn the work of Jansen as heretical, by a special Bull, emitted in the year 1643, called, from the words by which it commences, " In eminent*." The Pope did this without even having read the work ! He trusted to the assurances of the Jesuits, and he flattered himself in being able to decide as supreme arbitrator in matters of faith. Amazed, however, the friends of the deceased Jansen asked in the public journals what was heretical about the book, and a number of learned theo- logians were induced thereby to look into the contents of the work more minutely. There then arose opponents and adherents of Jansen, and among the latter, who now called themselves Jansenists, were men like Anthony Arnauld, Blaise Pascal, Pierre Nicole, and Nicholas Perrault, whose names shone as stars of the first magnitude in the firmament of letters. More- over, a number of bishops and university doctors, with other ecclesiastics of eminence, ranged themselves on the side of the Jansenist-Augustine party, and a particular pattern cloister- ' Jansen, born in Holland in the year 1585 in a small village near Leer- dam, studied theology in Utrecht, Louvain, and Paris. He was advanced o be professor of theology, and obtained the bishopric of Yperu m 1636. CONFLICT WITH CATHOLIC ECCLESIASTICS. 467 school was established close to the celebrated Cistercian nun- nery, under the patronage of the Abbot of St. Cyran, Jean de Vergier du Havranne, in Port-Royal des Champs, in order to oppose the dissolute Jesuitism, and set up a purer morality, as well as a more solid and learned education. In short, through the Condemnation Bull " In eminenti," as well as the immeasurably violent polemic of the Jesuits against the work, Jansenism was, properly speaking, called into existence, and it won, as well throughout the Netherlands as in France, an increasingly powerful number of adherents in each succeed- ing year ; and the conclusion cannot be avoided that nobility of thought and a truly Christian spirit were much better repre- sented in it than in the Jesuitical Molinism. This stimulated the sons of Loyola all the more to get the power into their own. hands, in order to subdue their opponents by violent measures ; and this, in the course of time, they but too well succeeded in doing. It is, of course, not my intention to describe all the details of the war between these two parties, which lasted up to the year 1728 in France, and in the Netherlands even up to modern times, as in that case my work would become as thick a folio as that of " Augustinus " ; but I cannot refrain from giving a slight outline of the contention, and, indeed, on this account, because the sons of Loyola fought, forsooth, with weapons which could not be called either honourable, knightly, or manly. In the first place, they extracted five propositions out of " Augustinus," which, when read without connection with the context, acquired a Calvinistic colouring, and, in the year 1 653, they thereupon moved Pope Innocent X., the successor of Urban VIII., to condemn these five propositions. As they had gone so far, they now urged Cardinal Mazarin to carry out with force the Papal Bull of Condemnation, and seeing that at that time the all-powerful Minister of France was an obsequious adherent of Rome, they had but a too easy game to play. This oppressive measure, however, did not succeed in silencing the Jausenists, but they proved, on the contrary, that these five propositions did not stand in " Augustinus " in the way the Jesuits had represented ; and they declared " that these five pro- positions had quite a different sense when taken in connection with the context, and that the Pope had condemned something 468 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. with the nature of which he had not previously made himself acquainted/' This did not please the Papal See, and Innocent's successor, Alexander VII., in the year 1656, emitted a new Bull, at the instigation of the sons of Loyola, wherein he ordained that every Catholic Christian must believe, at the peril of his soul, that the five propositions had been rightly condemned. " Non- sense/' rejoined thereupon the leader of the Jansenists, " the Pope cannot condemn a thing that has no existence at all." '" Yes, indeed, he can," exclaimed the Jesuits, " and if he were even to order us to deny Jesus Christ we are bound to obey him, as he is all-powerful and infallible in matters of belief, and he is responsible for this order, and not we." Thus the strife waxed continually warmer and warmer, and there was really some danger that a conflagration might arise which would consume the whole of France. On this account, Pope Clement IX., who succeeded to the tiara in 1667, was induced, in conjunction with the then ruler of France, to give peace to the land, and, in fact, in the year 1668, their exertions were crowned with success in bringing about a compromise between the two contending parties. It consisted in this, that the leaders of the Jansenists should declare that the five notorious propositions were indeed damnable, and were rightly condemned, but that they did not appertain to Cornelius Jausen, and did not stand in " Augustinus " in that sense. With this explana- tion the Jesuits had to be satisfied, and the Jansenists obtained peace to a certain extent. But how long did it last? Commencing in the year 1671, the celebrated theologian Paschasius Quesnel, of the Order of the Fathers of the Oratorium, published gradually, that is to say, in parts, the New Testament in the French language, accom- panied with moral reflections ; and this work, which was com pleted in the year 1683, was greeted by all believers in France with much enthusiasm, on account of its edifying contents. Also, even many spiritual guides highly recommended it to their confessing children, as, for instance, Benignus Bossuet, Almoner of the Dauphin and Bishop of Meaux, and also Louis Anton Hoailles, Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, as well as Pierre La much printed matter is to be found concerning the Jesuit Order, but the little extant, when we can get a sight thereof, perfectly suffices to give the world a correct idea of that Society. This- knowledge, however, was not intended to be imparted to* mankind, and, indeed, simply on this account, because the sons of Loyola never on any occasion committed a copy of their statutes to a layman, and, indeed, not even to a brother of low rank in the Order. At least, up to the year 1761, there never occurred a single instance of anyone having in his hands a Corpus Institutorum Sorietatis Jesu, except the black-clad" Fathers themselves ; and whatever was known respecting the- Jesuit institutions was merely from oral communications, or consisted of mere conjectures. The astonishment of the world was all the greater, then, when- at the termination of the La Vallette trial, as we have seen in the Fourth Book, a copy thereof the Prague edition of 1757 was, on urgent demand, laid before the Parliament of Paris, and this astonishment rose the higher when the contents of the Corpus Institutorum became known. Truly, this production, on the part of the Father-Procurator Montigny, of a copy of their statutes, was the most highly inconsiderate error of judgment which the sons of Loyola ever perpetrated, and they would have given much, later on, had they been able to amend the error of the said pious Father; but the Parliament had this time got the book in its hands, and would at no price givo it up again. On the other hand, taking its stand on the contents of the same, it declared all Bulls, letters, and briefs of the Pope referring to the Jesuit Order, as likewise the constitutions of the same, and the explanations thereof, and lastly, the decrees of the Generals and of the General Congregations, as well as, generally, all other enactments of the Chief, as gross abuses, and this on the following grounds : In the first place, because the statutes of the Society were in contradiction even as much with the nature of the Church, ot the General Councils of the Holy See, and all ecclesiastical jurisdiction, as with that of the secular monarchs and sovereigns, as also of States in general ; while the General of the Jesuits, on the strength of the privileges and acts accorded to him, and orders issued, could absolutely set at defiance the resolutions BEPULSIVENESS OF THEIR TEACHING. 477 of the Councils, the Bulls of the Popes, the enactments of the higher ecclesiastics, and the laws of secular governments. Could, indeed, either the ecclesiastical or the secular power have any hold upon an Order to which power is given to alter, abolish, or recal its own constitutions, or to make them entirely new, according to circumstances, without any authority what- ever, not even the Holy See itself, having any control of the matter ? Secondly, because, according to the constitutions, a single individual, the General, excercised an absolute monarchical power over the whole Society distributed throughout all regions of the world, and over all the individual members of the same, ' even such as are exempt from control through the offices which they hold ; and because this power extended so far not only, 'indeed, respecting the management of estates, and as to the .right to conclude contracts and to abolish the same again that all who belong to the Society were bound to this supreme chief, even as to Jesus Christ, blindly to obey, with- out delay, without exception, without investigation, even without inward doubt, all his orders with as perfect punctuality as if they were the dogmatic laws of the Catholic Faith, and, like a, living corpse, to carry them out as tools with no will of -their own, and with entire abnegation of all moral perception. Thirdly, because privileges were accorded to the Order of Jesus which directly oppose the rights of rulers and authorities, the - rights of bishops and archbishops, clergymen and universities, and, lastly, the rights of all the other ecclesiastical and secular Orders, so that, properly, all parties in the State came under the greatest disadvantage through these Jesuit privileges. Fourthly, because, while otherwise every deed of social contract accords to its several members rights and duties, the members of the Society of Jesus were only assigned duties, and, indeed, duties -towards their General alone, to whom they owed implicit obedi- ence, without, on the other hand, possessing any rights. On the contrary, the General had the power to turn out of the Order this or that member of the same, according to his pleasure, and -the expelled member had neither the right of appeal against this despotic action, nor even could he ask the reasons for it, or make ny claim to a provision for the remainder of his life. Fifthly, and lastly, because every member of the Society of Jesus, ac- cording to the belief and to the statutes of belief, was bound to 478 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. render implicit slavish obedience to the General, even in the case of its being the pleasure of the latter and his Con- gregations to decree statutes which stand in open contradiction with the general Christian doctrines of the Church, so that it might be possible for completely heretical doctrine to become Jesuit articles of faith. On these grounds, to which may be added many others of a subordinate nature, the Parliament of Paris declared the con- stitutions of the Jesuit Order as through and through offensive, and such as it was impossible to tolerate in any well-ordered State ; and as this sentence was promulgated, it may be well imagined what an enormous sensation it caused in the minds of all right-thinking men. This sensation, too, was still vastly more increased when, a few months later, at the beginning of the year 1762, an abridgment of the repulsive principles con- tained in the Corpus Institutorum, appeared in a thick quarto volume,* and the sentence of condemnation pronounced against the frightful Society of Jesus was the subject of conversation in all cultivated and right-minded circles of human society. Oh ! how the sons of Loyola now regretted having laid before the Parliament of Paris their book of constitutions. How quickly they made haste to destroy, by fire, all copies of the same, as far as it was possible to get hold of them ; but they soon became convinced, to their most profound grief, that they had been too late with all these measures. It was not merely the books of the constitution of the Order regarding which the world was horrified, but almost still more the doctrinal works prepared by their most distinguished theologians. I mean the books of doctrine respecting Christian morals and moral theo- logy, the principles of which the whole Society of Jesus had hitherto claimed as their own, and for which they must thus now take upon themselves the responsibility. Therein were to be read truly horrible things calculated, indeed, to make one's hair stand on end ! For one could not but see, at the first glance, that here was no question of " Christian morals," but of a more than heathenish prudential doctrine, which even allowed, according to time and circumstances, the commission * The title of this book is, Epitome of the Dangerous and Disgraceful Affirma- tions which the Jesuits constantly and uninterrupted/j/ tuuyht in tlitir \\ritingt with the Approval of their General. REPULSIVENESS OF THEIR TEACHING. 479 of the worst sins. Truly, it could not any longer be denied that such books had ben written in part for a hundred years and more, and one now had the opportunity of becoming horrified regarding their contents ; but the sons of Loyola stood, at that time, in such extreme estimation that one could hardly dare to withdraw from them the nimbus of holiness, and when thus some few learned men called attention to the general pernicious tendency of the morality therein inculcated as, for instance, Anton Arnold, in his Moral Pratique des Jesuites, written in the year 1643 ; Blaise Pascal, in his Lettres Pro- vinciales, which appeared in 1656 ; or Nicholas Perrault, in his Morale des Jesuites, extraite de leur livres, published in 1669- such attacks had but little result. The sons of Loyola contrived to take care that all that description of literature should be forbidden by Government, and be burnt by the hand of the hangman; they contrived to take care that the great mass of mankind should be in- stilled into the firm belief that the writings of an Arnold, a. Pascal, or whatever name the opponents of the Jesuits might possess, contained nothing but unjustifiable calumnies. Now, however, as, by the study of the Corpus Institutorum, the dangerous tendency of the Order of Jesus was proved, in as far as it affected the whole society of mankind, the Jesuit writings came to be zealously looked into, and in them was now dis- covered what had previously been held to be quite impossible a moral doctrine was taught that was purely immoral. Indeed, on this account the Parliament of Paris caused a number of the most prominent Jesuitical writings to be officially investigated^ and the result was a unanimous resolution that the moral writings of the Jesuits Emanuel Sa, Martin Anton Delrio, Robert Person, S. Bridgavater, Robert Bellarmin, Ludvig Molina, Alphonso Salmeron, Gregor de Valentia, Clarus Bonarscius, Johann Azor, Jacob Keller, Gabriel Basquez, Johann Lorin, Leonard Less, Francis Tolet, Adam Tanner, Martin Becan, Edmund Pirot, Anton de Escobar, Jacob Tiriu, Jacob Gretser, and Hermann Busenbaum, should be torn up and burnt by the public executioner at the foot of the great staircase of the Palace of Parliament, on account of their highly pernicious tendency and their horrible contents, which were entirely sub- versive of Christian morality. 480 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. In order, now, however, to give the reader a more exact idea of what the sons of Loyola taught in their writings and colleges, I will serve up a little specimen of their doctrines. I will not, however, confine myself to the so-called head matadore of the Order, but quote more modern authors, as herein lies the proof that the principles alluded to belong not to an individual merely, but to the whole Society as such, not being altered by the lapse of time. Let us see, first of all, how the sons of Loyola give their judgment as to the crime of unchastity and adultery. " He," says Father Francis Zaver Fegeli (in his Practical Ques- tions regarding the Functions of Father Confessor, Augsburg, 1750, p. 284), " who leads astray a young maiden with her own consent, is not guilty of sin, because she is mistress of her own person, and can dispense her favours according as she wishes." Father Escobar affirms precisely the same in his Moral Theo- logy, which he caused to be printed at Lyons, in folio, in the year 1655, and also Father Moullet expresses himself in a similar manner in his Compendium of Morals. " But," the latter adds, further on, " whoever through force, threats, or cunning causes a girl to leave the path of virtue, without having promised her marriage, is bound to compensate the young maiden and her relatives for all damage which has been occasioned to her, giving her, when he cannot otherwise compensate her, a dowry in order that she may find some one who may marry her if he does not himself espouse her. If, nevertheless, his trans- gression should remain completely secret, she is not, according to the inward laws of conscience, entitled to any compen- sation." This Father Moullet further teaches : " If anyone enters into a guilty relationship with a woman, not on account of her being married, but on account of her being beautiful, the sin of adultery is not chargeable in such a case, even although she may be married, but simply that of impropriety." As regards unchastity in general, Father Etienne Bauny expresses himself (in his work De la Somme des Peches, Paris, 1653, p. 77) in the following manner : " It is allowable to all descriptions of persons to visit dis- orderly places in order there to convert sinful women, although it is very probable that one may even one's self fall into sin, as one may but too easily be seduced by the sight and endear- ments of these women. This, however, is no stuprum, but REPULSIVENESS OP THEIR TEACHING. 481 merely fomicatio, as a stuprum infers force ; fornicatio, on the other hand, depends on mutual consent, and therehy no injury takes place." Again, according to the views of the Jesuits, in the person of Father Castro Paulo (in his book De Virtutibus et Vitiis, 1631, p. 18): "When a domestic sees himself compelled, on account of his livelihood, to serve a dissolute master, it is allow- able for him to render assistance to the latter in the most grievous transgressions." Father Corneille de la Pierre gives a somewhat peculiar interpretation, in his Commentaries on the Prophet Daniel (Paris, 1622), to the familiar incident as to Susanna, when he puts the following reasoning into the mouth of the latter : " If," says Susanna, " I yield to the wishes of these old men, thus my honour is lost ; if, however, I offer resistance, then is my life at stake. I will not, then, consent to this dis- graceful transaction, but I will tolerate it, and say nothing about it, in order to retain at the same time both honour and life." Jacob Tirin, too, agrees entirely with Corneille de la Pierre, and says, in his Biblical Commentary (Commentarius ad Biblia, 1668, p. 787) : " The chaste Susanna was compelled to yield to the elders, nevertheless without mental consent, and nothing obliged her, to make known her shame by crying out, seeing that her good reputation and life of outward integrity were at stake." Unanimous, however, as were the Jesuit authors regard- ing the immoral principles hitherto adduced, it appeared, on the other hand, that on another point, namely, the taking of money for prostitution, some difference of opinion prevailed amongst them. Thus Father J. Gordon, a Scottish Jesuit, writes (General Moral Theology, vol. ii. book v.) : "A girl of pleasure is justified in receiving payment, only she must not make the price too high. The same holds good in the case of every young maid who pursues her calling secretly. A married woman, however, has not the same right to receive payment, seeing that the gain from prostitution has not been previously stipulated for in the marriage contract." The celebrated Escobar, -on the contrary, says : " What a married woman gains by adul- tery she may look upon as well earned property, only she must allow her husband to participate in her gains." Father Tam- burini goes still further than this (Confession aisee, from which 482 HI8TOBY OF THE JESUITS. I allow myself to quote the following passage) : " How dear can- a woman sell the pleasure of the enjoyment of her charms ?' Answer : In order to form a correct judgment one must take into consideration the nobility, beauty, and deportment of the woman, as a respectable woman is of more value than one who opens her door to the first comer. We must distinguish ; it depends upon whether the matter concerns a girl of pleasure or a respectable woman. A damsel of easy virtue cannot demand more from one than she has taken from another. She must have a fixed price, and it is a contract between her and her visitor. The latter gives the money, and she her favours, exactly as the host the wine and the guest the drink-money. But a woman of respectability and condition can demand what she pleases, for in matters of this kind, which have no fixed price in general, the person who sells is mistress of her wares. She has thus the right, like an innocent girl, to sell her honour as dearly as she values the same, and no one can, on that account, accuse her of usury." So much for the Jesuit teaching concerning the transgression of uncbastity. Let us now hear what these pious Fathers hold regarding the crime of theft. Father Pierre Aragon (in his Abrtge de la somme theologique de Saint Thomas d'Aquin, p. 365), asks: " Is it allowable for anyone to steal in consequence of the straits in which he finds himself? Answer : Yes, this is allowable, let it be either secretly or openly ; but only when a matt has no other means of meeting his wants. There must also be no question of either oppression or robbery, because, according to the rights of nature, all things are common property, while everyone is obliged to preserve his life." Father Benedict Stattler takes quite the same view, as he expresses himself as follows in his celebrated -workAllgemeine Katholisch-christliche Sittenlehre, oder wahre Gliictseliy-keitslehre, aus hinteichenden Grunden der Gott- lichen Offenbarung und der Philosophic fur die oberslen Schuleit der pfalz-bayrischen Lyceen auf hochsten, Kurfurstlichen Bejehl verfasst Miinchen, 1790, in the first volume, p. 427 : " When a needy person, on account of sickness or lack of employment, is not in a position to supply his wants by his own work, he has the right to abstract from the rich, by secret or open force, the superfluity of the latter." Anton deEscobar, also, to whom I have already several times alluded, is of the same opinion, only he adds (Theuluyica Moral, Tract v. Exempt, v., No. 120), that the person robbed must BEPULSIVENESS OP THEIR TEACHING. 483 necessarily be a rich man. " Therefore," it is further stated, " when thou findest a thief who has the intention to rob a needy person, thou must restrain him from doing so, and point out to him another rich person whom he may plunder instead of the needy one." Antoine Paul Gabriel goes still more into detail, as he fixes the sum which one may steal at one time at three francs, and in his Theoloyie Morale Universelle, p. 226, he gives the following opinion : " A man may repeat the theft as often and as long as he finds himself in want ; also, a person is not at all bound to replace what, from time to time, he has taken, even when the total may amount to a very large sum." Father Longuet teaches nearly the same thing, only in much more general terms, when he says (Question IV., p. 2) : "Is a man so poor and another so well-to-do that the latter is bound to assist the former? In this case the destitute person may take the goods of the other without sinning and without being bound, to restore them again, only he must do it secretly and not in an. open way." Thus, not only in the case of the greatest need may a man steal, according to Jesuit views, but also when the object is to equalise the great contrast between rich and poor, as, indeed, men were originally created equal and with equal rights! With- out this, however, one was justified in " taking" when it was a question of paying one's self, while that the right of secret compensation went for something with the sons of Loyola was to be understood. "When masters," says J. de Cardenas (Crisis Theologica, p. 214), " deduct something from the pay of their servants, the latter can either appeal to justice, or take the law into their own hands and make use of secret compensation." Father Zaver Fegeli (De Confessore, p. 137), teaches the same thing ; he adds, however, "It is, indeed, allowable to steal, by compensation, from one's master, but under the condition that one does not allow one's self to be caught in the act." Also, according to the information of Jean de Lugo (De Incarnatione, p. 408), a man may steal from his debtor, when he has reason to believe that he will not be paid by the same; "Only," adds Valerius Reginald, " one must take the exact compensation, and not steal anything more than that for which one has a claim." In relation, also, to falsehood and perjury, the sons of Loyola* 484 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. had very peculiar views, as they plainly expressed themselves to the effect that lying and false swearing were allowable in all oases in which a man's honour, or his property, or his health, might be injured if he spoke the truth. J. de Cardenas says, in the book above referred to : " It is allowable to take an oath, as well in important as in unimportant matters, without having 'the intention of keeping it, as soon as one has good grounds for so acting." " To make use of words of double meaning and to falsely deceive the judge, is allowable in certain cases," as Father Castropalos writes (torn. iii. of his work, Tract 14), "when one can only find a worthy excuse in concealing the truth. For instance, dissimulation might be necessary, in order not to pronounce sentence of death against one's self, where instant destruction is in question ; thus canst thou deny the truth and take refuge in dissimulation in such a case without being guilty of the least transgression. It is, indeed, allowable in such instances to take an oath of equivocation, as every man has a right to preserve his life by any means in his power. . . . To this view of mine our most learned theologians agree." Castropalos then adds, after some further discussion, " and for this I refer to the works of Navarra, Tolet, Suarez, Valencia, and Lessius." Sanchez and Bonacinus also teach the same thing, and the latter says : " Interrogated as to a crime com- mitted, it is not at all incumbent on you to confess, as long as