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 <><li-r ,lie ,/<-liani,-n SUnilen de*
Papsthums (1801, II.), were, and still are, in accordance with the
spirit of the age, is proved by the proceedings of the Jesuitical
party in the Council of 1870. Griesinger also attempted historical
novels, not without success, both in the L<'t:t,n T<Ki>-n '/>/ < inn; nit:
(Heilbron, 1889), and the Jltinri<-h nm .Vnw//7<///r</ mnl Klixuleth
von Bitsch, ;i historical novel of the end of the fifteenth century
(Stuttgart, 1860, II.)."
Dr. Griesinger, in addition to the above mentioned, published
also several other historical works, such as Dux I>inm-n llxjiinrnt
nn den verschiedem-n ///<// {-'.uro/m* ( Stuttgart, 1871-72), and Die
Geheimnisse des K*>-uiinl (Stuttgart, 1869), Oeschi<-ht,- >/.r Ihntm-ltrn
(Stuttgart, 1874, IV. I, now out of print. His M>/.<t>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<?'
13
194 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS.
consequently was applicable to all Christians. He further required
of them that they were not in future to meddle with secular
affairs, and that they should abstain especially from interfering
in political questions. Lastly, he expressed the opinion
that it would be best if the sons of Loyola were to consent to
become monks, like the members of other Orders, with the sole
object of singing the praises of the Lord from the quiet retire-
ment of their cloisters. Such would, indeed, have been a
terrible consummation, " equivalent to the extermination of
the Society as it had been hitherto constituted," and the
General of the Order, Claudius Aquaviva, directed that litanies
should be offered up in all the Jesuit churches in order that
God should be implored to offer resistance to the projected
reforms of Pope Sixtus V., that " old man with the iron head."
The litanies seemed, in fact, to bring assistance to their cause,
as the Pope shortly afterwards died, on the 27th of August of
the year mentioned, without having been able to carry out his
reforms, which circumstance therefore gave rise to the proverb,
" When the Order of Jesus gives out a litany the holy stool will
become vacant."
The successor of Sixtus, Gregory XIV., who was chosen
through the influence of Aquaviva, however, at once annulled
all that his predecessor had ordered inimical to the sons of
Loyola ; and the Dominicans were unable, for this time at all
events, to make good their complaints. The same contention
for supremacy which had been begun under Philip II. continued
under the reigns of his successors, Philip III. (1598-1621), and
Philip IV. (1621-1665), and at one time matters went in favour
of the Dominicans, while at another the Jesuits succeeded in
gaining over the heart and sceptre of the monarch. It cannot,
however, be denied that the sons of Loyola, on the whole, lost
rather than gained ground under the two monarchs above men-
tioned, and they had, indeed, much difficulty in not being obliged
to vacate entirely the field at Court.* Quite otherwise was the
* More especially was this the case in the year 1636. At that time, in
order to be enabled to carry on the war with France, Philip IV., or, rather,
his Prime Minister, Count Olivarez, demanded a certain money-tax from
the whole of the Spanish ecclesiastics, and made a beginning with the
Jesuits. " We bind ourselves." answered the Provincial, "to supply as much
money as the whole of the other corporations put together , so commence
with them, and then, at last, turn to us.'' This, in short, was done, and all
Orders, as well as ail other secular ecclesiastics, did their best, and often
THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 195
-case, however, when, upon the death of Philip IV., his widow,
Maria Anna of Austria took over the government as guardian of
her minor son, the future King Charles II. (1665-1700), as she
happened to he so completely in the hands of the Jesuits that
she at once conferred upon her Father Confessor, Everard Ritard,
the title of a Grand Inquisitor, and never did anything without
first of all asking his advice. The Dominicans now, of course,
hurled fire and flames, and to them adhered not only the regular
olergy, hut also the whole of the nohility. As it also came to he
fully known that Ritard was a German by hirth, both of his
parents being Protestant heretics, the discontent still increased
to a much greater extent, and there was only a spark wanting to
give rise to the outbreak of a great revolution. Don Juan ot
Austria, a natural son of Philip IV., his mother being a play-
actress called Maria Calderma, now came to the front, and
placing himself at the head of the malcontents, supported by the
army, which was completely subservient to him, demanded cate-
gorically, on the 23rd February 1669, the deposition of the Grand
Inquisitor. He declared to the Regent that if Father Ritard
did not, within the space of one hour, find himself outside the
gates of Madrid, he would thrust him out of the same ; and
both Ritard as well as Maria Anna soon perceived that this
declaration was in truth meant in earnest. Consequently, Ritard
at once took French leave and went to Rome, where he was
.accredited by the Regent as ambassador to Clement X. Father
Moya, one of the most ill-reputed of the Jesuits who ever made
an appearance there, took his place at Madrid, and, con-
sequently, the opposite party gained but very little by this
beyond their power. Olivarez now renewed his demand, reminding the
Provincial of his promise. But what did the latter reply ? " The different
Universities of Spain," he was of opinion, "had endowments amounting to
at least eight millions of ducats, from the interest of which property the
salaries of the professors were supplied. Now, the Order of Jesus offered to
undertake to fill all the university chairs gratis, without payment of any
description, and, consequently, the King might take possession of these eight
millions of ducats without any detriment whatever to the State. The King
woulc! be able then to acquire not less money thereby than if, with the
Pope's approval, he were to seize upon the whole of the professions of the
ecclesiastical brotherhood in Spain and India, and this could without fail be
accomplished, as the Jesuits were sufficiently numerous to undertake to fill
all the pulpits, as well as all the appointments of father confessors." Such
was the reply given by the Jesuits, and it was pretty plain how the matter
would end ; but, in consequence, they brought down upon their heads, at the
same time, all the ecclesiastics, as well as all the universities of Spain, and
ior a long time there were great difficulties, therefore, with which to contend.
13 *
196 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS.
revolution. With Charles II. the line of the Spanish branch of
the house of Hapsburg died out, and, after a war of twelve years'
duration, a grandson of Louis XIV. of France, second son of
the Dauphin, ascended the throne of Spain, under the name of
Philip V. Upon him the Jesuits built their best hopes, as he
was, indeed, a true grandson of Louis XIV., and, in fnct, these
expectations were not disappointed. He brought with him from
France, as Father Confessor, Father William d'Aubenton, one of
the most crafty members of the Order, and he was so completely
governed by him, as was also the Queen, Marie Gabrielle, of
Savoy, the friend of the never-to-be-forgotten Madame de Orsini,
that for a succession of several years no favours could be obtained
except through him. After d'Aubenton's death, Father Juan
Marino was raised to the dignity of Father Confessor of the
monarch, and this wily Jesuit, who had been indoctrinated by
Le Tellier, the Father Confessor of Louis XIV., counselled also
his weak and insane successor, Ferdinand VI. (1746-1759).
Thus, in a word, it happened under the line of the Spanish
Bourbons that the power and influence of the Jesuits rose higher
than ever, and very few Spaniards, writes Llorente, in his
History of the Spanish Inquisition, had the courage to offer any
opposition to their party, as in doing so all employment in any
public office, or any ecclesiastical preferment, had unquestionably
to be renounced.
IV. SWAY OF THE JESUITS IN FRANCE.
It was much more difficult for the Jesuits to form any permanent
settlements in France, than in the three countries already men-
tioned, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, although they certainly left
nothing untried which they had found to succeed elsewhere.
Loyola had already taken much pains in endeavouring to charm
the French people with his newly-founded Order, and quite at
the commencement of his Generalship sent to Paris sixteen of his
scholars, for the most part Spaniards, under the pretext that they
might have the advantage of completing their theological studies
at the famous university in that city ; in truth, however, in order
that they might there sound the country and gain friends for
Jesuitism. They were either very unskilful, however, or had
Tery bad luck, for not a single soul took any notice of them, and
THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OP THE JESUITS. 197
Loyola was obliged to send money to them from Rome in order
to meet their daily wants. Their affairs, however, seemed to
take quite a different turn after the celebrated Fathers, Laynez
.and Salmeron, made the acquaintance, at the Council of Trent,
of William du Prat, Bishop of Clermont, and were successful
enough to interest him greatly in their Order, so much so, indeed,
that this extraordinarily wealthy prelate (he was son of the
former Chancellor of France), presented them with a special
residence in Paris, in the Rue St. Jaques, and the chapel
attached thereto. They had then, at length, a possession from
which they might be enabled to carry on their operations in
future, and, as may be easily understood, a number of the Fathers
at once entered it in order to prosecute these designs. But
what signified their visits to the hospitals, and their fanatical
preaching at the corners of the streets ? What mattered their
self-inflicted floggings and such-like proceedings ? The Parisians
were neither Spaniards nor Italians, and consequently laughed
at them in their face when they merely ventured to look up.
Besides which, they soon began to quarrel with the regular
clergy, who did not hesitate to call them publicly by the name
of hypocrites. Indeed, one of the doctors of the Sorbonne (that
is to say, a professor belonging to the Theological Faculty of
Paris),* published a pamphlet against them, in which he pointed
out to the Government that the best thing to be done with them
would be to hunt them at once out of the country with disgrace
and ignominy as beggars and vagabonds.
This was, indeed, but a bad beginning, and a rough snubbing
into the bargain ; but they were soon to fare better. In the
year 1549, Cardinal Charles of Loraine, one of the most in-
fluential men in France at that time, who belonged to the equally
powerful as wealthy house of Guise, made a journey to the Papal
Court of Rome ; and here Ignatius Loyola contrived, by flattering
.his passions, to gain him over to such an extent that the former
* About the year 1250, Robert, born at Sorbonne, in Champagne, Chan-
cellor of Louis the Holy, founded in Paris a " Collegium Pauperum Magis-
trorum Studentium in Theologica Facultate," that is to say, an educational
institution for poor young secular priests, which institution was designated
after the founder " the Sorbonne." Whilst, however, the duty of teaching
in the same devolved upon the professors of the Theological Faculty of the
University of Paris, the said name was latterly attached to the Theological
Faculty itself, and from the 14th century it never went by any other than the
" Sorboime."
198 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS.
promised, on his return to France, to take the Society under
his special protection. This, in fact, he truly and loyally did,
but, naturally, not so much, out of a feeling of friendship
towards the holy Ignatius as from purely selfish motives,
us he was promised for himself, and ventured to expect,
great assistance from the Jesuits in carrying out his plans
against the hated heresy of the Huguenots. Suffice it to say,
however, that he did all in his power in their favour with
Henry II. of France, and in consequence of this the Order
obtained through a Patent Brief of January 1050, royal authority
to establish a college in their abode in Paris, having the same
privileges and rights as Jesuit colleges established in the other
countries of Europe. The pious Fathers were now jubilant ; but
they had begun too soon to rejoice, as there was still something
wanting to justify this glee, namely, the approval of the Par-
liament, the supreme tribunal of Paris.* The King of France,
in fact, was not, as it happened, so absolute a monarch as his
colleagues of Spain and Portugal, inasmuch as it had been the
unimpeachable custom, for a century at least, that the royal
ordinances, dispensations, and edicts cocld only have legal
sanction accorded to them, and be observed by the French
nation, after they had been recorded and registered by
Parliament, and consequently the said tribunal, so to speak,
stood in the relation of a legislative assembly a legislative
assembly, moreover, be it well understood, for old France,
that is to say. for that portion of the French kingdom
which during ages bad belonged to the Crown territories
of the French kings. The remaining, and certainly much
smaller portion of the kingdom, which had been subse-
quently acquired either by conquest or through confiscation of
feudal tenure, had, again, its own particular Upper Tribunal
* Parliament is derived from " parlor," to speak, and originally signified
an assemblage called together for the public discussion of this or that Act.
Later on, in the 12th century, the French Senate, consisting of the highest
nobility, set aside this name, and nominated a committee of the said Senate,
which had to deal with the acts of the peers. Gradually, however, a per-
manent legislative commission was formed from this committee, a kind of
supreme tribunal for which only experienced judicial legislators could be
elected ; and iii order to secure the independence of this law court, a member
could only be deprived of his place therein by a judicial sentence. Such was
the Parliament of Paris as it was constituted in the 16th century, a most
important tribunal, but, at the same time, a purely judicial one, which had
no resemblance to what we now understand by Parliament
THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS.
or Parliament ; * consequently, a royal decree, in order that it
should be valid throughout the whole of France, must also be
registered hy all the Parliaments of the country. But still it
seldom happened that the provincial Parliament differed from
that of Paris, as the latter enjoyed special consideration, and
consequently the whole of the law-courts centred in that cor-
poration, where questions were determined by a majority of votes.
King Henry II., as a matter of course, at once remitted his
Patent Brief relating to the Jesuits to the Parliament of Paris,
demanding its registration. The High Court of Law, however,
referred the case for the consideration of its procurators,
Bruslart, Marillac, and Segnier, and they at once declared that
France stood in need of no new Order, more especially of none
such as that of the Society of Jesus, which had been favoured
by Rome with exemptions of so curious a nature. The sup-
plicants, i.e. the Jesuits, were always at liberty to travel about
among the Moors and Mahomedanswith the object of converting;
them, but in France they were not required. This refusal and
rebuff was taken up by the proud Cardinal of Loraine as an
insult to himself, and afresh he urged the King to insist on his
Patent Brief being carried through Parliament ; and he so far
succeeded as to cause the ruler to come to a firm determination
on the subject. So Henry II. forthwith issued a command to
the Supreme Law Court to register the brief. The latter now,
however, showed its independence of royal caprice by, instead of
obeying the command, handing over, as well to the Archbishop
of Paris as to the Sorbonne, in order that they might be more
carefully examined and well considered, the whole of the Acts,
that is, the petition of the Jesuits, the Patent Brief of Henry
II. together with all the Papal Bulls referring to the Society
of Jesus. Eustach du Bellay, being at that time the Arch-
bishop, took his time over the matter, in spite of all the
King's importunity and the pressure put upon him by the latter;
the Theological Faculty of the Parisian University, which at that
time was not excelled in learning, stability, and talent by any
other in the world, also pursued a like course. At the end of
two years they were at length ready, and, strange to say, the
* Such parliaments existed from 1302 at Toulouse, from 1451 at Grenoble,
from 1462 at Bordeaux, from 1476 at Dijon, from 1499 at Eouen, from 1501
at Aix, from 1553 at Kennes, from 1620 at Pau,from 1633 at Metz, from 165S
at Douai, and from 1775 at Nancy.
200 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS.
decision at which both parties had arrived agreed pretty well
together, although that of the Archbishop was certainly much
more moderate than that of the Sorbonne. The first declared
that the privileges accorded to the Jesuits were not only
contrary to the common law, but also equally so to the dignity
and consideration due to the Bishops and Universities ; and he.
lastly, gave it as his opinion " that it would be more advisable
to build houses for the supplicants on the frontiers of Turkey,
in order that thence they might be able to convert the heathen,
than that they should be allowed to have settlements in the
midst of Christendom." The Sorbonne, on the other hand, in
its sitting of 1st December J 554, delivered its decision (which
it may be remarked was come to unanimously), verbatim in the
following terms : " This Society which arrogates to itself the
name of Jesus, without having any right to do so, a name
adopted by penal, dishonourable, and infamous people without
distinction, whose members differ in no degree from the secular
priesthood in customs, divine service, manner of life or clothing,
although monks this Society which, in regard to preaching
and teaching, as well as the administration of the Sacrament,
directly infringes upon the rights of the Bishops and Ordinaries,
is in opposition to the whole of the hierarchical Orders hitherto
established, and conduces to the detriment as well of other re-
maining Orders as. of princes and the great men of the world,
as also to the prejudice of university freedom and the injury
of the people, has been accorded many privileges, indulgences,
and liberties on the part of the Papal Chair this Society casts
a slur upon all other Orders of monks, weakens the diligent and
pious exercises of virtue in the lonely cell, causes the members of
other Orders to desecrate their vows, draws away believers from
the obedieace and submission which they owe to their ordinary
spiritual advisers, robs ecclesiastical as well as secular authorities
of their rights, and gives rise to disturbances in both of these
classes as well as among the people, causing many hardships,
controversies, schisms, and a number of other disorders. Indeed,
in a word, when one takes everything into account, this Society
appears to be destined to produce an imperilment of the faith,
disturbance of the Church's peace, and the undermining of
monachism. It is, in fact, more adapted for pulling down than
Jor building up."
THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 201
It was thus that the Theological Faculty of Paris expressed
itself, in its celebrated sentence, and in consequence thereof the
Parliament hesitated to give effect to the Patent Brief of the
King. Eustach du Bellay, however, the Archbishop of Paris,
thereupon went even a step further, and forbade the members of
the Society of Jesus from henceforth exercising any priestly
offices whatever within the range of his diocese.
The pious Fathers were then worse off than ever, as the
power of the King could not protect them against episcopal
orders, and consequently everyone expected that they would
have, from this time forth, to turn their backs upon Paris for
ever. They did not, however, by any means do so, for they
contrived to find out a back-way of escape. They certainly, it
is true, shut up their house in the Rue St. Jacques, leaving
behind them only a few of their number for its management ;
they themselves, however, withdrew in corpore, as one is used
to say, to the neighbourhood of St. Germain des Pres, to one of
the magnificent abbeys independent of the bishopric of Paris,
where they were joyfully received, and a chapel was therein
allotted to them to enable them to hold divine service and
carry on other priestly offices. At the same time their old
friend, the above-mentioned William du Prat, Bishop of Cler-
mont, in proof of his abiding favour, presented them with a
large property in the little town of Billon, along with no less
than 40,000 thalers in ready money, so that they might by these
means be able to erect there a college.
They consequently, then, still remained in France, and ac-
quired, moreover, another possession; it must be admitted,
however, that this was as nothing compared with the property
they had obtained in the other proper Roman Catholic countries.
Besides this, did not the publicly expressed sentence of the
Sorbonne find an echo throughout the whole of civilised Europe,
and was not the injury arising to them out of this of much
greater consequence than might have been at the first moment
expected ? Still, it is said, " Time will discover a plan," and the
Jesuits relied upon this ancient proverb. Protestantism, or,
more properly speaking, Calvinism, as is well known, now
extended itself with rapid progress throughout France, and were
it only to go on progressing at the same rate as it had already
done, the Huguenots, as the adherents of the Reformation were
202 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS.
designated in France, must soon necessarily gain the upper
hand.
Such a great misfortune for the Catholic Church, which
now impended, the pious Fathers well knew how to turn most
excellently to their own advantage, for they secretly spread
themselves about everywhere, and more especially about the
Court ; and none were more skilful in fighting against the
detested heresy than the members of the Society of Jesus, and in
this, beyond all of them, did Father Pontius Gongordan
especially excel, going about everywhere in ordinary plain,
clothes. On this account many of the French began now to
look upon the Order with more friendly feelings, and tha
injurious impression caused by the Sorbonne decree by degrees-
disappeared, at all events among good Papists. A favour-
able circumstance for them now took place in the year 1559,
when, on the death of Henry II., there came to the throne his
first-born son Francis II., espoused to Mary Stuart ; at that time
the Queen's uncle, the Loraine Prince of Guise, was all-powerful
at Court.* The pious fathers, however, with the Cardinal of Lo-
raine at their head, urged the weak King to prepare a new Patent
Brief in favour of the Jesuits, supporting it and exerting their in-
fluence upon Parliament with all their power, in order that the lattea
should undertake the registration of the King's commands. Strange-
to say, however, the Court remained obstinate, notwithstanding
that it was well disposed, all the same, towards Catholicism, the
proof of such being the case consisting in the fact that many
sentences of death were hanging over the Huguenot heretics. It
was, however, necessary for it to remain obstinate, as it rested,
with itself to save the rights of the Gallican Church, and the
independence of the Government of the country in all secular
affairs, since the sons of Loyola placed the Papal power
above all church assemblies, as well as above princes, kings,
and emperors, their whole thoughts and energies being, as
we know, directed towards forming a universal Romish,
The House of Guise, an offshoot from the House of Loraine, was
founded in the year 1527 by Claude, a younger son of Duke Rene of Lo-
raine, who acquired by marriage the lordship of Guise. Claude left behind
him six sous, the most distinguished of whom were Francis de Guise,
Charles Archbishop of Kheims, and a Cardinal (commonly called Cardinal
of Loraine), as well as five daughters, the eldest of whom, Marie, was
married to James II. of Scotland, and gave birth to the unfortunate Mary
Stuart.
THE POWEEFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 203
Jesuitical despotism. Francis II. thus compassed the legal
admission of the Jesuits even as little as Henry II. had done,
and, as he died shortly afterwards, in the year 1560, his efforts
were unavailing. It was not otherwise under his successor
Charles IX., whose guardian, during his minority, was his
mother, Catherine de Medicis. She certainly, at first, became
captivated hy the pious Fathers, and some authors even maintain
that she had secretly selected Father William Petit as her Father
Confessor. She also truly attacked the Parliament in two acri-
monious documents, and demanded of the same that it should
at length relax its opposition towards the Jesuit Fathers. She
assuredly, too, did not hesitate to declare publicly as follows :
" One must hasten to receive the Jesuits into the kingdom, as,,
otherwise, from such delays and stubborn opposition they might
be driven into an evil disposition, and be constrained to quit
France again of their own accord, to the great detriment of religion
and of the common weal." The Parliament, however, remained
obstinate in its determination, and the only thing that it could
be induced to do was to make a declaration that the Church
Congress, which the Regent had the idea of summoning, should
decide in regard to the reception or otherwise of the Jesuits.
The said Church Assembly, or, more properly speaking, the said
Religious Conference between the Huguenots and the Catholics,
which was indeed at that time a thing determined upon, had for
its object to make an attempt, if possible, to bring about some
amicable arrangement and unity between the two parties into
which France was then divided, with the view of averting a civil
war, which otherwise appeared to be inevitable. Pope Pius IV.
tried in every way to prevent this conference taking place, as the
Chair of Rome was a sworn enemy to all such endeavours to
bring about any such accommodation, attempts wherein the
Romish Church always suffered in reputation through the skilful
attack of the Protestants ; but it was all in vain that he did so.
By the invitation of the Regent the Catholic prelates, consisting
of a body of six cardinals and forty bishops, with twenty- six
doctors of theology, assembled together at Poissy, where the
Conference took place at the commencement of the year
1561. At the same time there made their appearance fourteen
Huguenot ecclesiastics, at whose head was the celebrated
Theodor Beza, together with Petrus Martyr, while a number
204 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS.
of other secular gentlemen, who were desirous of attending
the convention, were also present. The disputation at once
commenced under the Presidency of Cardinal de Tournou; and
the Catholic prelates, and more particularly the Cardinal of
Loraine, gave themselves all the trouble possible to bring round
the Huguenot preachers to their views. Still the Pope, in the
first place, was right; that is to say, the affair turned quite
contrary to their wishes, and the two distinguished leaders of the
Huguenots, Beza and Martyr, daily obtained new adherents by
means of their sharp intellect and stirring eloquence. Further
help must, then, be obtained, if a deep incurable wound to
the Roman Catholicism of the Papacy was not to be inflicted,
and Pius IV., on that account, forthwith despatched to Poissy
another legate, in the person of Prince Hippolyte d'Este,
Cardinal of Ferrara, in order to uphold the rights of the Holy
Chair, and he sent also, as a companion to the legate, Father
Xiaynez, the then General of the Jesuits, as he, at that time, was
held to be better fitted than anyone living, as a debater, to parry,
by his masterly serpentine mode of speaking, the severe blows
dealt by the Huguenot combatants. The General, indeed,
completely justified the high opinion the Pope entertained of
him, and the Catholic party had to thank his keen eloquence
alone that it not only sustained no defeat, but even when the
conference was broken up in the autumn, on account of its use-
lessness, without yielding an iota, it could claim a victory with
the same right as the Huguenots. Laynez became, then, among
the Catholics at Poissy, as may be well understood, the extolled
hero of the day, and a man of such exalted talents had, indeed, a
high claim upon their gratitude. On this account, therefore, when,
through the Fathers Brouet and Pontius, he presented a care-
fully elaborated petition for the legal admission into France of the
Society of Jesus, it met not only with the support of the whole of
the prelates well disposed towards Rome, such as the Cardinal
of Loraine and his friends, but also, indeed, of all the rest of
the assembly of course, with the exception of the Protestants,
who by this time, however, had already taken their departure ;
so the required decree was at once prepared on the loth Sep-
tember 1561. Nevertheless, this admission, properly speaking,
did not take place unconditionally, as in Spain, Portugal, and
Italy, but, on the other hand, the prelates introduced all kinds
THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 205-
of clauses therein, with reservations, in order to protect the
rights and privileges of the Gallican Church ; and, moreover,
the Papal Bulls issued in favour of the Jesuits were subjected^
to the most rigid paring.
" Above everything must the sons of Loyola," thus the excep-
tional conditions are expressed, " lay aside the name of Jesuit,,
or Society of Jesus, as they are not more entitled to assume these
designations than any of the other children of Christ." They
had further " to renounce calling themselves a religious Order,
like the Benedictines, Dominicans, Augustines, &c. ; they, in
fact, merely have the rights of a society or company, whose
statutes are to he regulated according to the constituted laws.
They must also, besides, promise to place themselves under the
jurisdiction of the bishops of the dioceses in which they reside,
the latter having it in their power to inflict the usual censures-
upon any of the members deserving of punishment. They should
especially undertake nothing that would be detrimental to the
bishops, founders, parsons, universities, or holy orders, and the
Papal Bulls, which give them a special exemption, are to be of
no effect or value. Lastly, they have to declare it to be under-
stood by them, that the present exceptional permission should
at once cease to have effect should they at any time overstep
the conditions imposed upon them, or obtain other privileges
from the Papal Chair which might be in opposition to any of
the conditions above mentioned, and thus and upon these grounds
and no other shall this treaty be concluded with them."
Such were the conditions which the convention of Poissy
stipulated as regards the admission of the Jesuits into France,,
and one sees thereby with what extreme distrust even the ultra-
Catholic French prelates looked upon the Order; but had one
ventured to make even more stringent injunctions, in regard ta
the Society of Jesus, they would have been accepted. It only
remained for them now to plant, therefore, a firm foot in France
to make themselves powerful ; once, then, that their first object
was attained, what, eh ! was easier for them than to break the
stipulated conditions, and pay no further attention to the treaty to
which they had agreed ? " What does it matter as regards per-
jury if one does not swear ? " says the Jew. The correctness of
this conclusion shortly, then, became apparent. Scarcely had
the pious Fathers secured the desired decree of legal permission.
206 HISTORY OP THE JESUITS.
in their pockets than they at once pulled down their house in
the Rue St. Jacques, in order to build in its place a beautiful
new palatial college ; and hardly had this magnificent building
been erected than they placed in front of the same the inscrip-
tion in black letters, " College of the Society to the Name of
Jesus." Thus they acted, although during the first two years, as
far as France was concerned, they had been obliged to submit to
the renunciation of this name ; still, that was by no means all
that they did, but in addition they hastened to erect colleges
in all the cities in that part of the country well affected towards
Catholicism, as, for instance, in Avignon, Rhodas, Morioc, Bor-
deaux, Lyons, Rouen, Marseilles, Clermont, De la Fleche, Rennes,
Moulius, and wherever else such might be the feeling, and
demanded for all those educational institutions the same rights
and privileges which were possessed by the universities. Speak-
ing more plainly, they were desirous of being qualified to
create masters of philosophy and doctors of theology, similar to
those of the Sorbonne in Paris, and, as the instruction was
all given gratis, they hoped to obtain many students, that, in
this way, they might soon be enabled to provide the whole of
France with priests of their own stamp and of their own reli-
gious opinions. The University of Paris, however, opposed this
arrogance with all its power, and along with it the Archbishop
of Paris, the Prefects and the Mayor of the city, the Cardinal
de Chatillon as Curator of the Sorbonne, the whole Orders of
monks, and all of the regular clergy made common cause. In
spite of all this, however, the Jesuits, favoured by the Court,
and more especially 
