attempted to defend immorality upon principle, and to destroy the immutable distinctions between truth and falsehood. Others have fallen into errors and mistakes-they might plead ignorance, or passion, or credulity ;-but the Jesuits, with learning and education at their command, have sought to cover the world with crime and casuistry. They have turned the language of the confessional into the language of the brothel, and have debased the morality of the gospel, below that of pagans and unbelievers.* And when it is remembered, that these charges and accusations are here brought forward exclusively on the authority of professed Romanists, and that no Protestant prejudice, or surmise, is permitted to aggravate their criminality; they are deserving the attention of impartial members of the church of Rome, as well as of their antagonists. They rest on the attestation of their friends, not on the animosity of their opponents. But if it be said, this is raking up old grievances, and dwelling upon evils which have long since been amended,we reply, that the present church of Rome has seen fit to appropriate this scandal and reproach, by recalling the members of this very Order to its Councils, and by formally re-instating the Jesuits in all their ancient powers and privileges. The Bull, by which their expulsion from Rome was removed [Solicitudo Omnium Ecclesiarum,] expresses the unanimous demand of the Roman Catholic Church for the restoration of the Order for the return of "these skilful and cunning rowers." The Jesuits are now in possession of the most influential colleges and public offices at Rome. They are the bosom-friends and advisers of the Pope and Cardinals—the directors of their schools and missions; in short, they have eclipsed all the other Orders, and are now the sole influential Order in the Church of Rome. It is nothing to say, they * Part I. p. 61. cannot assassinate, or poison, as heretofore-that they do not so professedly teach the art of equivocation as their predecessors, embalmed in the ridicule of Pascal. We know enough of their proceedings, whether at home or abroad, to assure us that they are actuated by the same principles. The trickery and double-dealing which they have recently exhibited in England may convince us, that the power is wanted, but not the will, to recur to all their former nefarious practices, and that the "immortal hate " of Protestants still reigns supreme in their breasts. We shall conclude this chapter with the remark—that we deem it very bad taste in Englishmen to pay them any peculiar respect, or to overrate their learning and talents, as if they were superior to all the rest of the world, in ability and argument. We cannot allow, that the atmosphere of the "Collegio Romano," is superior to that of all Protestant Institutions, or that the distinction of a broad-leaved hat, or a narrow neckcloth, can confer any supremacy of intellect or knowledge. The Jesuits are, doubtless, many of them, very learned and accomplished—and they are polished and courteous in their demeanour. But, we protest against approaching them as our superiors in taste or learning. Their logic may be peculiar, it may combine the solemnity of the sophist with the dexterity of the conjuror,-but, as to talent, or scholarship, they must be content to share them in common with Protestant divines and professors. Mr. Seymour's "Mornings with the Jesuits" may convince us, that they are not invulnerable, even on the ground of their own theology; and whoever has read the compositions of Dr. Wiseman will perceive, that good taste is not essential to the hat of a cardinal. As to England, it would be difficult to produce a single Jesuit, who has attained to any extraordinary eminence in literature, arts, science, or theology. N Amongst all their Colleges and Academies at home and abroad, they have not furnished our country with a single name of European reputation. We miss them in the annals of philanthropy, but we find them in the annals of treason. In vain we look for a Jesuit-Howard, or a Jesuit-Wilberforce. The names of Parsons, Allen, or Garnet, will never be illustrious, till we are ashamed of our laws and liberties. CHAPTER III. A.D. 1540-1660. INNOVATIONS OF LAINEZ-DENOUNCED BY MELCHIOR CANO-BY MONTANUS -BY THE PARLIAMENT OF TOULOUSE-CONFERENCE ઃઃ OF POISSY- TALES QUALES"-OPPOSED BY THE SORBONNE BY MARIANA-BY FRANCIS BORGIA-BY CATHARINE OF PORTUGAL BY CARDINAL BORROMEO-FATHER RIBERA-ACCUSED AT SALAMANCA-CONDEMNED BY THE PARLIAMENTS OF NORMANDY AND PARIS-PRIVY TO THE MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLEMEWQUEEN ELIZABETH'S LETTER TO HENRY IV.-THEIR ASSASSINATION OF WILLIAM OF NASSAU REBUKED BY CLEMENT VIII.-CONDEMNED AT PARIS-ATTEMPT OF CHÂTEL TO ASSASSINATE HENRY -APOLOGY OF THE JESUITS-ACCUSED BY THE PROVINCIAL OF ARRAGON-THEIR DOCTRINAL DEVIATIONS FROM THE COUNCIL OF TRENT -THEIR PELAGIAN DOCTRINES AT LOUVAIN AND DOUAY-LESSIUS AND HAMELIUS-MOLINA-CHAMIER AND COTTON-LERMEUS. WE are now to dismiss all Protestant predilections,—to forget the recollections of our national history, and "nothing extenuate, and set down nought in malice,"—whilst we record, in chronological order, the charges which have been. brought against the Jesuits, and the verdicts pronounced, by the members of the Romish church. The original establishment of the Society, as we have al ready observed,* was based on the Bulls of Paul III., A.D. 1540-1545. To these, various privileges were added by him, A.D. 1549. To Paul succeeded in the following year, Julius III., who gave an ample confirmation of the acts of his predecessor. No sooner had they received their establishment, than they availed themselves of their missionary privileges. Forthwith they speeded away in every direction, immediately commencing colleges in France, Spain, Portugal, and almost every kingdom of Europe. The first opposition which they encountered was from Melchior Cano, an eminent Dominican, who attacked them from the pulpit at Salamanca, and who boldly applied to them the predictions of St. Paul, in the third chapter of the second Epistle to Timothy," Know, also, that in the last days, perilous times shall come. For men," &c.-He denounced them as "the emissaries and satellites of Antichrist," §-[Emissarii atque satellites Antichristi]. Melchior distinguished himself at the Council of Trent, where he opposed the innovations of Lainez. His denunciations of the Jesuits made such a deep impression on the people, that they applied to this Order some strange fanatical predictions of the Abbess St. Hildegarde, which we allude to for no other reason, than to shew the general detestation in which the Jesuits were held even on their first appearance. The same inference is confirmed by the almost prophetic denunciations of Archbishop Brown, A.D. 1551. See Part I. Chap. XI. The celebrated Arias Montanus, the Editor of the Antwerp Polyglot Bible, and Librarian of Philip II. of Spain, was the next [A.D. 1576] to stand forth, as their public opponent * Part I. p. 12. + Ibid. p. 18. Ibid. 71. Crétineau-Joly, vol. i. pp. 285–294. |