LXXV. 8. Their alleged Exemption from the Civil Power in consequence of Papal Bulls and Briefs. WE have now to notice the charge brought against the jesuits from the bulls and briefs, by which popes have affected to exempt the jesuits from the civil power. But these bulls and briefs, so far as they have this tendency, make no part of the institute of the society. In the Apologie de l'Institût des Jésuites, one of their standard works of defence*, this is explicitly asserted. The author of it proves, by numerous examples, that, while the jesuits would rather die, than give up their institute, they resign, without reserve, all claims to these exemptions, when they are repugnant to the laws of any country in which they settle. Thus, -in 1611, 1626 and 1713, they recognized the absolute civil independence of the sovereign on the pope, in solemn instruments, signed by them, with every legal formality, and entered on the records of the parliament of Paris. In a former part of this work, the writer has mentioned the declaration of the Gallican clergy in 1682. The first article of it proclaims the absolute civil independence of the sovereign on the pope. Now, these articles were taught in all the schools of the French jesuits, and in 1757 and 1761 they formally and explicitly avowed their adherence to 命 them. It has been related, that this was certified to the court, by the bishops of France ;-it ought to have been added, that, at this time, the gale of promotion veered in the opposite direction, so that a certificate of the contrary was then much more likely to obtain the favours of court. Finally," In the year 1761," say the authors of the Réponse aux Assertions*, "at which time, "the jesuits were most bitterly attacked for their "institute and doctrine,-a model of a declaration "was sent to the five provincials of the jesuits in France, by the chancellor Lamoignon; and a copy of it was desired to be returned to him, "signed by the priests and young jesuits of all the colleges and houses in the kingdom. All their signatures were accordingly given and trans"mitted to the chancellor."-The declaration is thus expressed: 66 "First, that they hold and profess, and will "ever hold and profess, that, in no circumstance, "in no place, under no pretence of tyranny, or "vexation from persecution, on no account of re ligion, under no other possible pretence, it is "lawful, or can be made lawful, for any person, "whatever be his state or condition, to make any attempt, directly or indirectly, on the persons of "sovereigns; or to speak, write, insinuate, favour, or do any other act, which can tend to endanger "their safety-that they condemn and detest, as pernicious and deserving the execration of all ages, any doctrine to the contrary, which may be 66 * Vol. iii. p. 597. "found in any works, that may have been com 66 posed, either by any member of their society, or by any other person, whosoever he may be. "Secondly,--That they hold and profess, and “will ever hold and profess, the doctrine of the clergy of France, declared in their assembly of “1682: ---consequently, they teach, and always will teach, that the power, given by Jesus Christ to "St. Peter, to his successors, and to the church "itself, is purely spiritual, and extends to that only, "which belongs to eternal salvation; that they "have no power over any thing that concerns tem"porals; and that thus the power of sovereigns in temporals is so totally independent of every spi"ritual power, that in no case, for no cause, and "on no pretence whatever, can they, either directly ❝or indirectly, be deposed by the power of the "keys, or their subjects absolved, from their oath "of allegiance. 66 66 Thirdly,―That they are, and always will be, "subject to the laws, ordinances, regulations, and usages of the kingdom, in the same manner as all "other subjects of the king, either spiritual or lay : "as also, to the rules of the discipline and the com66 mon law of the church, in the same manner as "these are binding on the other religious persons "in the kingdom, and that they cannot attempt 66 any thing contrary to the rights of the bishops, “curates, universities, or others:or make any use "of any privilege, whatever it may be, except so "far as it is conformable to the import of the laws "and maxims of the kingdom. 66 66 Fourthly, That, if it should happen, -(which may God forbid), that they should be ordered by "their general, or by any other person, invested with any authority, whatever it may be, to do, (contrary "to the declarations above expressed), any thing against the laws of the church or the state, to their duty to their sovereigns, or to the public welfare 6.6 66 66 or tranquillity, they declare, that they hold, and "ever will hold, such decrees or instruments to be "null,-on every ground of right, (de plein droit); "and that they would be, and would consider "themselves obliged to disobey them." The Monita Secreta, or Private Instructions, -a publication sometimes brought forward against the jesuits,—is a most infamous work, and wholly beneath notice.-It supposes, that the society has a deliberate plan of subjugating the universe to its sway, with a settled determination that, where any villainy would avail towards the accomplishment of this object, its members should adopt any villainy: that this horrid project was reduced to system; that this system is expressed in the Monita Secreta; and that these were put into the hands of the elect, to be used by them, whenever occasion should make it expedient. Is this possible? Has it entered into the mind of man to conceive such an infernal plan ?—When the queen of France was charged with corrupting the morals of her son, she nobly appealed for the impossibility of the charge, to the feelings of every mother; and the feelings of every mother absolved her. For the impossibility of the genuineness of the Monita Secreta, the jesuits may appeal, with equal confidence, to the feelings of every gentleman in the universe.-There does not live the jesuit, or the scholar of a jesuit, who, if any one of the doctrines which it inculcates, or any one practice which it recommends, were proposed to him, would not spurn it with indignation. Even in those exemptions from episcopal jurisdiction, which the religious of all orders have sought to enjoy, the jesuits have been moderate. This is evident from the tenor of the foundation of their house at Liege. On that occasion, the count de Velbronck, the prince bishop of Liege, presented a petition to the pope, in which he noticed the establishment of that institution, its dotation; and the suppression of the society of Jesus by pope Clement the fourteenth; that, to prevent the English catholics from being deprived of the benefits of this college, he formed by his letter's patent a new kind of institute to preserve the salutary effects of the former; that he had directed that the members of the college should remain subject to this ordinary authority of himself and his successors while they should be at Liege, and that when they should be on the English mission, they should be subject to the jurisdiction of the vicars apostolic; that the superior of the house should be chosen by the principal members of the house, the English vicars apostolic, and the English catholic nobility, and presented to the bishop of Liege for the time being for confirmation. And that he had annexed some houses and other property to the college, and finally sanctioned the whole by his letters patent. The pope granted the petition of the prince bishop, and confirmed the Neither the original, nor any certified copy, of this vile book was ever produced; no circumstance respecting its discovery, ever proved; no collateral fact to establish its authenticity, ever published. |