88

A. D.

THEY BECOME AN ORDER.

Ch. 8. he made some distinguished converts, all of whom afterwards I became famous. In his narrow cell at Paris, in the year 1534 1534, he induced Francis Xavier, Faber, Laynez, Bobadilla, to and Rodriguez to embrace his views, and to form themselves 1540. into an association, for the conversion of the world. On the

Institu

the Je

summit of Montmartre, these six young men, on one starlit night, took the usual monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and solemnly devoted themselves to their new mission.

In 1537 they went to Rome to induce the Pope to constitute tion of them a missionary order. But they were ridiculed as fanatics. suits. For centuries there had been great opposition in Rome against the institution of new orders. Even St. Dominic and St. Francis had great difficulty in getting theirs instituted. But Loyola and his companions made extraordinary offers. They professed their willingness to go wherever the Pope should send them, among Turks, heathens, or heretics, instantly, without condition or reward, and at last they obtained their prayer. This was in 1540.

for it.

How could the Pope refuse them? His empire was in danger; Luther was in the midst of his victories; a new power was shaking to its centre the pontifical throne; all the old orders had become degenerate and inefficient. The venerReasons able Benedictines were revelling in the wealth of their splendid abbeys, while the Dominicans and Franciscans had become little better than itinerant pedlars of relics and indulgences, forgetful of those stern duties and virtues which originally characterized them. Everywhere the monks were inexhaustible subjects of sarcasm. Erasmus laughed at them, and Luther mocked them. They were sensual, lazy, ignorant, and corrupt. The Pope did not want such soldiers. But the followers of Loyola were full of ardor, talent, and zeal; willing to do anything for a sinking cause; able to do anything, so far as human will can avail. And they did not disappoint him. They increased with marvellous rapidity. The zealous, devout, and energetic, throughout all ranks in the

RAPID SPREAD OF THE JESUITS.

89

Catholic Church, joined them. They spread into all lands. Ch. 8. They became the confessors of kings, the teachers of youth, the A. D. most popular of preachers, the most successful of missionaries. 1540 In sixteen years after the scene of Montmartre, Loyola had to established his society in the affections and confidence of 1556. Catholic Europe, against the voice of universities, the fears of monarchs, and the jealousy of the other monastic orders. In rapid sixteen years, from the condition of a ridiculed fanatic, he extenbecame one of the most powerful dignitaries of the church, influencing the councils of the Vatican, moving the minds of kings, controlling a numerous fraternity, and making his power felt, even in the courts of Japan and China.

Their

sion.

Before he died (1556), his spiritual sons had planted their missionary stations amid Peruvian mines, among the marts of the African slave trade, in the islands of the Indian Ocean, and in the cities of Japan and China. Nay, his followers had secured the most important chairs in the universities of Europe, had made themselves confessors to the most powerful monarchs, teachers in the best schools of Christendom, and preachers in its principal pulpits. More than all this, the order had become an organization, instinct with life, endued with energy and will, and forming a body which could outwatch Argus with his hundred eyes, and outwork Briareus with his hundred arms. It And had forty thousand eyes open upon every cabinet and private great family in Europe, and forty thousand arms extended over the necks of both sovereigns and people. It had become a mighty power in the world, inseparably connected with the education and the religion of the age; it was the prime mover of all political affairs, the grand prop of absolute monarchies, the last hope of the papal hierarchy.

The sudden growth and enormous resources of the "Society of Jesus" impress us with feelings of amazement and awe. We almost attribute them to the agency of mysterious powers, and are prone to forget the operations of natural causes. The history of society shows that no body of men ever obtained a wide-spread ascendency, except by the exercise of remarkable

power.

90

A. D.

THEIR MISSIONARY EFFORTS.

Ch. 8. qualities of mind and heart. And this is the reason why the Jesuits prospered. When Catholic Europe saw young men, 1540 born to fortune and honors, voluntarily surrendering their to rank and goods; devoting themselves to religious duties; 1600. spending their days in hospitals and schools; wandering, as

sacri

fices.

missionaries, into the most unknown and dangerous parts of Their the world; exciting the young to study; making great attainments in all departments of literature and science; and shedding light, wherever they went, by their genius and disinterestedness, it was natural that they should be welcomed as preachers, teachers, and confessors. That they were characterized, during the first fifty years, by such excellencies, has never been denied. The Jesuit missionary has called forth the praises of Baxter, and the panegyric of Leibnitz.

Francis Xavier, one of the first converts of Loyola, a Spaniard of rank, traversed a tract of more than twice the circumference of the globe, preaching, disputing, and baptizing, until seventy thousand converts attested the fruits of his mission. At a later period they penetrated into Canada, to the sources of the Mississippi, and into the prairies of Illinois. "My companion," said the fearless Marquette, "is an envoy of France, to discover new countries; I am an ambassador of God, to enlighten them with the gospel." But of all the missions efforts. of the Jesuits, those in Paraguay were the most successful. They there gathered together, in reductions, or villages, three hundred thousand Indians, bound together by a common interest, controlled by a paternal authority, taught useful arts, and trained to enjoy the blessings of civilization.

And

mission

ary

In that age the Jesuit excelled in any work to which he devoted his attention. He was not only an intrepid missionary, but a most successful teacher. Into the work of education he entered heart and soul. He taught gratuitously, without harshness, and with a view to gain the heart. He entered into the feelings of his pupils, and taught them to subdue their tempers, and to avoid quarrels and oaths. He excited them to enthusiasm, perceived their merits, and rewarded the

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE JESUITS.

successful with presents and favors.

91

Hence the schools of Ch. 8.

the Jesuits soon became the best in Europe, and were highly A. D. praised even by Protestants. Can we wonder that under such 1540 an agency Catholicism should revive?

το

Again, their constitution was wonderful, and admirably 1600. adapted to the ends they had in view. Their vows were indeed substantially the same as those of other monks, but there was among them a more practical spirit of obedience. All the members of the society were controlled by a single will-all were passive instruments in the hands of the general of the order. He appointed, dismissed, dispensed, and pun- Their ished at his pleasure. His power was irresponsible, and for constilife. From his will there was no appeal. The Jesuit was bound to obey even his own servant, if required by a superior. Obedience was the soul of the institution; it was absolute, unconditional, and unreserved-the entire abnegation of self. "Ad majorem Dei gloriam," was the motto emblazoned on their standards, and written on their hearts; but this glory of God was synonymous with the ascendency of their association.

tution

ence.

This unconditional obedience to a single will, which is the Vows of genius of Jesuitism, while it signally advanced the interests of obedi the body, and of the Pope, to whom they were devoted, naturally led to the most resistless spiritual despotism ever exercised by man. The Jesuit, especially when obscure and humble, was bound hand and foot by the orders of his superiors; and they alone were responsible for his actions.

ual

We can easily see how the extraordinary virtues and attainments of the early Jesuits, and the wonderful mechanism of their system, would promote the growth of the order and the Spiritinterests of Rome, before suspicion of evil would be aroused. despotIt was long after their piety had passed to fraud, their sim- ism. plicity to cunning, their poverty to wealth, their humility to pride, and their indifference to the world to cabals, intrigues, and crimes, before the change was felt. Moreover, it was above a century before the fruits of the system were fully reaped. It was then seen that their system of education, though spe

92

A. D.

EVILS IN THE JESUIT SYSTEM.

Ch. 8. cious, and in many respects excellent, was calculated to narrow the mind, while it filled it with knowledge; that the young 1600 men in their colleges were taught blindly to follow a rigid, to mechanical code; that truths of great importance were con1700. cealed or glossed over; that exploded errors were revived; and that the entire system was one of repression, guarding the avenues of thought, but not opening them, and fatal to cation. all independence of thought or feeling.

System

of edu

Again, as preachers, though popular and eloquent, they devoted their talents to make men Catholics rather than Christians. As missionaries, they were content with a mere nominal conversion; and even permitted their converts to retain many of their ancient superstitions and prejudices. Their They usurped the authority of native rulers. They greatly in- enriched themselves, in consequence of the credulity of the natives, whom they flattered; and in many respects they wielded a power as arbitrary as it was unlawful. To these causes may be traced their ultimate expulsion from the countries they had subdued.

trigues.

easu

istry.

As confessors, they were peculiarly indulgent to those who sought absolution, provided their submission was complete. The offender was told that sin consisted in wilfulness, and wilfulness in the perfect knowledge of the nature of sin, according to which doctrine blindness and passion were suffiJesuit cient exculpations. They invented the doctrine of mental reservation, on which Pascal was so severe. Perjury was allowable, if the perjured were inwardly determined not to swear. A man might fight a duel, if in danger of being stigmatized as a coward; he might betray his friend, if he could thus benefit his party. Finally, they invented a system of casuistry which confused all established ideas of moral obligation. They tolerated, and some of them justified, crime, if the same could be made subservient to the interests of the church. Their principle, in short, too often was to do evil that good might come. In a future chapter we shall glance at the decline and fall of this celebrated institution-the best adapted