there were effected by the Divine power, and the charity of a few particular Friars, the government and crown having no other aim therein, but the robbing of kingdoms and cities: and there were always the greatest conversions where there was most to gratify their covetousness. But where there was nothing to be had, there the people were obdurate, and not to be wrought upon. And so we see their zeal expired quickly in all places, where it was not animated by covetousness; and they who had nothing else to say but, LORD OPEN UNTO us, were not thought fit to enter into Heaven.”1 The few friars that roamed up and down the country, were permitted to preach wherever they chose, and to erect small churches for the people whom they had collected together: but no conversions of any consequence appear to have taken place until the arrival of Francis Xavier, whose unexampled labours and success merit some detail. He was one of the first disciples of Loyola, the founder of the order of Jesuits; and as the missionaries of that society acted so prominent a part in the establishment and extension of the Romish Church in India, it may not be deemed irrelevant here to give a brief account of its origin. A. D. 1542. Loyola. 2. Ignatius Loyola was born of a noble family History of at the castle of Loyola, in Biscay, 1491. He Ignatius commenced his career as page to Ferdinand V., King of Spain. After this, he entered the army at an early age, and signalized himself by his courage and energy. At the siege of Pampeluna, in 1521, he was wounded by a cannon ball in both legs, and fell in the breach: but 1 A similar complaint is made by Manuel de Faria in the 3rd Vol. of Asia Portuguesa.-Geddes' History of the Church of Malabar, pp. 4-6. CHAP. III. Rise of the the French, instead of taking him prisoner, had the humanity to convey him to the castle of Loyola, to be nursed by his family. This incident led to the institution of the order of Jesuits; and in the annals of the world, few events are to be found apparently so unimportant, leading to such consequences as have marked the course of that society. 3. While confined under the cure of his wounds, he amused himself with reading a Life of the Saints, and his enthusiastic mind was fired with ambition to emulate their example. Despairing, probably, of recovering the use of his limbs sufficiently to resume the active profession of arms, he resolved to change it for that of the Church. His first exercise of devotion in his new profession looked like a parting tribute to that which he had left: this was the dedication of himself to the Virgin Mary as her knight. He next devoted himself to the poor in the hospital at Marenza: and afterwards went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Upon his return to Europe he prosecuted his studies with diligence, first in the Universities of Spain, and then in that of Paris, where he laid the foundation of his celebrated Order. Having presented his Institutes to the pope, Paul III., for his sanction, that pontiff referred them to a committee of cardinals, who objected to the proposed Society as unnecessary and dangerous. Upon this representation, the pope refused to confirm it : Ignatius, however, was not to be so repelled. Resolved to succeed, and considering the jeopardy into which the papal interests were then brought, through the publication and extensive acceptance of the Gospel, he saw that the most likely way to attain his object was to offer the services of his order to the pope. Ac cordingly, besides the three vows of poverty, of chastity, and of monastic obedience, common to most orders of monks, he now added a fourth, requiring all the members of his society to take a vow of obedience to the pope, to do whatsoever, and to go whithersoever, he should command them, in the cause of the Church, without demanding any thing from him for their services. This proposal was not to be resisted, especially in the present exigency of Rome. The pope hesitated no longer, and the order received his sanction in the year 1540. Ignatius drew up two sets of rules for his disciples: one for their personal use, entitled, spiritual exercises, which contain some profitable suggestions for self-examination. The other consisted of the Constitutions of the Order, in which are found many things hostile to the interests of all other societies, and, in fact, incompatible with the liberty and welfare of mankind. It ought, however, in justice to the memory of Ignatius, to be remembered, that these Constitutions, as well as the Secreta Monita, which contain some rules for the members' conduct that have been justly characterized as diabolical, are generally attributed to Laynez and Aquaviva, the generals who succeeded Loyola. Innumerable writers of the Romish Church have abundantly testified,' and many of the most illustrious communities of that Church publicly lamented,' that the Jesuits have not only perverted and corrupted almost every branch and precept of morality,' but that they have sapped and destroyed its very foundations.' The infamous Rules of this order ? Those who bring these heavy charges against the sons of Loyola, have taken abundant precautions to fortify them M A. D. 1540. CHAP. were not generally known until towards the close of the 18th century. Loyola's ostensible object in founding his society, was to stop the course of the Reformation in Europe, which, in the beginning of the 16th century, set in like a flood against the pretensions and abuses of Rome. It is probable, however, that his object was merely to signalize himself as a selves against the reproach of calumny. The following maxims, which the whole society adopts and inculcates, will sufficiently justify their accusers. That persons truly wicked, and void of the love of God, may expect to obtain eternal life in heaven, provided that they be impressed with a fear of the divine anger, and avoid all heinous and enormous crimes through the dread of future punishment. "That those persons may transgress with safety, who have a probable reason for transgressing, i. e. any plausible argument or authority in favour of the sin they are inclined to commit. "That actions intrinsically evil, and directly contrary to the divine laws, may be innocently performed, by those who have so much power over their own minds, as to join, even ideally, a good end to this wicked action, or, who are capable of rightly directing their intention. "That philosophical sin is of a very light and trivial nature, and does not deserve the pains of hell."-By philosophical sin the Jesuits mean an action contrary to the dictates of nature and right reason, done by a person who is ignorant of the written law of God, or doubtful of its true meaning. "That the transgressions committed by a person blinded by the seduction of lust, agitated by the impulse of tumultuous passions, and destitute of all sense and impression of religion, however detestable and heinous they may be in themselves, are not imputable to the transgressor before the tribunal of God; and that such trangressions may often be as involuntary as the actions of a madman. "That the person who takes an oath, or enters into a contract, may, to elude the force of the one, and the obligation of the other, add, to the form of words by which they are expressed, certain mental additions and tacit reservations." These and other enormities of a like nature, are said to make an essential part of the system of morality inculcated by the Jesuits. Mosheim. Century 17. sec. 2. part 1. xxxv. saint: but, whatever his real motive, when we remember the tyranny and barbarities of the Jesuits almost all over the world, it is natural for the mind to revolt at the very name of the man to whom they owe their origin. Who then can be surprized at the opprobrium which has been heaped upon his memory? Some, however, giving him credit for honesty of intention, have lent their aid to throw a veil over the injury which his society has done to the cause of pure religion. But who that considers the character and amount of that injury, can fail to regard this order as one of the severest scourges ever permitted to afflict the Church of God? Far be it from the Christian wantonly to stigmatize the character of its founder: but it is equally incumbent upon us to refrain from such conjectures as to his motives, as may tend to diminish the abhorrence with which we contemplate the miseries that he was the means of bringing upon the disciples of Christ. We know, from the instance of Saul of Tarsus, that a zealot may verily think that he is doing God service, even while persecuting His most devoted servants, and laying waste His church. But this does not render his bigotry less calamitous to its victims. There is a strong propensity in some minds to tolerate the infirmities, the excesses, and even the mischief of a man whom they look upon as meaning well, though they acknowledge his infatuation to be extreme. This will, no doubt, account for all the apologies that have been offered, by men professing a purer creed, for the extravagances of Ignatius Loyola. They are performing, however, to say the least, a very gratuitous service, and one that is calculated to injure the cause of charity, which A. D. 1540. |