"Luther attacks the chair of St. Peter with abuse and blasphemy :-Ignatius is miraculously cured by St. Peter, in order to become his defender.

"Luther, tempted by rage, ambition and lust, abandons the religious life :-Ignatius, eagerly obeying the call of God, quits the profane for the religious life.

"Luther, with the guilt of sacrilege, contracts an incestuous marriage with a virgin of the Lord :-Ignatius binds himself in the vow of perpetual continence.

"Luther despises all authority of superiors :-the first precepts of Ignatius, full of Christian humility, are to submit and obey.

"Luther, like a madman, declaims against the apostolic see-Ignatius everywhere undertakes its defence.

"Luther withdraws from it as many as he can :-as many as he can, Ignatius reconciles, and restores to it.

"All the devices and efforts of Luther are directed against it :-Ignatius consecrates to it, by a special vow, all his own labours, and all those of his companions.

"Luther has stripped the sacred rites of the church of all their venerable solemnity :-Ignatius studies to procure them

reverence.

"The sacrifice of the mass, the eucharist, the virgin mother of God, the guardian angels, and the indulgences of popes, which Luther attacks with so much fury, are the objects which Ignatius and his companions exert themselves continually to celebrate, by new inventions and indefatigable industry.

"To Luther, that disgrace of Germany, that Epicurean swine, that curse of Europe, that monster destructive to the whole earth, hateful to God and man, &c., God by his eternal decree has opposed Ignatius.'

"In truth, the new society acquitted itself faithfully in the new service to which it was destined from its origin.

"A great number of Catholic associations and fraternities, to which the general movement of the human mind gave rise at that period, appeared and eclipsed one another without glory-like those meteors which shine for a short time in the atmosphere, and leave no trace behind them.

"The society of Jesus, however, rose above the horizon, like an awful comet, which scatters terror among the nations.

While it was scarcely yet established, it rendered important service to the holy see, during the sitting of the Council of Trent, and powerfully influenced the decrees of that assembly. The ancient orders, especially the mendicant, conceived great envy against those new-comers, who set out with so much celebrity, and attracted all consideration, and all favours. This emulation redoubled the activity of all such as were not Jesuits, and in particular of the Dominicans, who wielded in a more terrible manner than ever the sword of the inquisition, intrusted to their hands. The Jesuits, however, outstripped all their rivals, acquired the unlimited favour of the Pontiffs, and an immense power through the whole Catholic world. To them and to the popes, missions were the same as colonies to political governments, a source of wealth and power.

Loyola died in 1556. Lainez and Aquaviva, the two next generals of the order, applied their powerful minds to the completion of its plan and organization, and eventually produced as finished a specimen of ingeniously devised subtlety as the world ever saw. The defence and advancement of the Romish faith are the ostensible objects aimed at by the Jesuits. In addition to the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, they take a fourth, by which they place themselves at the Pope's disposal, engaging to go wherever he may send them, at any risk or expense, and at a moment's warning. But in return for this they enjoy the most extraordinary privileges. They are exempted from the obligation to discharge those duties which occupy so much of the time and attention of the other monastic orders. "They appear in no processions; they practise no rigorous austerities; they do not consume onehalf of their time in the repetition of tedious offices. But they are required to attend to all the transactions of the world, on account of the influence which these may have upon religion; they are directed to study the dispositions of persons in high rank, and to cultivate their friendship; and by the very constitution as well as genius of the order, a spirit of action and intrigue is infused into all its members."+ Nor is

Villers's "Essay on the Spirit and Influence of the Reformation of Luther," translated by Mill, p. 374.

↑ Encyclopædia Britannica, art. Jesuits,-an ably written paper.

this all. Whatever exemptions or privileges have been bestowed in successive ages upon other orders are enjoyed in full by the followers of Loyola. They are also released from ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and may pursue their plans without the slightest fear of interference from any bishop, archbishop, or other functionary, however exalted. Their form of government, too, is admirably adapted to secure the ends they have in view. The general of the order is absolute master and lord; his will is law; his commands are obeyed without hesitation or repining; and by the complete organization of the order, and the compact arrangement of its members, the general is perfectly acquainted with the whole, and is able to assign to every individual the employment which he judges best suited to his talents. In short, an order so constituted combines in itself, in the present state of human nature, the elements of all evil, and must expose the community in which its existence is allowed to imminent hazard. Such power,

combined with the immunities and wealth possessed by the order, and wielded by men of commanding genius and profound subtlety, could only be intrusted with safety to the purest minds. Even innocence itself would be in danger of falling under the influence of temptations so mighty and so complicated.

The history of the Jesuits reveals scenes of knavery, vice, and treason, unparalleled in the annals of any country under heaven. Their entire policy is based on the assumption, that the end sanctifies the means, and thus the most atrocious villanies are excused and even applauded. It is not to be denied that they have rendered good service to the cause of literature, and that in their missions to the east, they have exhibited the most heroic zeal and perseverance. On the other hand, it must not be forgotten that all their efforts have been employed in upholding the grossest errors and superstitions of Romanism, and have been unscrupulously characterized by craft, treachery, or violence, separately or conjointly, as circumstances might seem to dictate. Nothing can exceed the iniquity of the system of morals advocated by some of their best writers, and so happily exposed in the inimitable pages of Pascal. Without going into further detail in this place, (the reader will find ample information in Pascal's

"Provincial Letters,") it may suffice to assert, that it can be scarcely compatible with a due regard to the peace and safety of any country to tolerate a society which allows the commission of vice, under the pretence of a good intention in the act; permits promises to be broken and oaths to be cancelled, when the party promising or swearing has mentally reserved a different purpose from that which his words express; authorizes all kinds of crime, whenever it is pleaded that some good will probably arise therefrom; enjoins the temporary concealment of principles and character in order to accomplish its nefarious designs; declares assassination or murder to be venial, and even meritorious, in certain cases, and acts upon the principle, (witness the history of Henry IV. of France;) and at the same time connives at idolatry, persecutes fellow missionaries of the same communion, when their efforts clash with its own, and pursues heretics to the death. No one can wonder that the governments of Europe were successively compelled to rid themselves of these mischievous intruders, whose intrigues (often carried on under the veil of sacramental confession) were found to compromise the safety of kingdoms.*

The Jesuits were expelled from England in 1604; from Venice in 1606. On their expulsion from Portugal, in 1759, the king (Joseph Emanuel) published a manifesto, alleging the misdemeanours and crimes for which they were deservedly banished. In 1764, they were driven out of France; three years after, even popish Spain expelled them; and in 1775, the then reigning Pontiff, Clement XIV., abolished the society, after a long and careful inquiry, in which it was proved by incontestible evidence, that Jesuitism was destructive of good order and morals; that scandalous and impious. opinions had been propagated by its advocates, and dangerous practices engaged in ; and that therefore the existence of the society was no longer to be tolerated. Pope Pius VII. revived the order in 1814. In the latter part of that year, "two Protestant diplomatists were conversing with the prime minister of a Roman-catholic country, himself a Roman

* See "A History of the Jesuits; to which is prefixed, a reply to Mr. Dallas's defence of that order." Two volumes, 8vo. London, 1816.

Catholic, when this distinguished individual asked one of them, then on his way to take part in the approaching congress, what was likely to be done there respecting the Jesuits? 'The Jesuits!' replied the Protestant, evidently as much astonished as if he had been asked the question respecting the priests of the Dalai Lama. The Jesuits!' Ay, the Jesuits,' replied the Romanist, who, during a long official life, had closely watched their manoeuvres when they were supposed to be extinct; I give you full assurance, that if due measures of precaution are not taken at Vienna respecting them, within twenty years they will convulse Europe.' Within sixteen years after the utterance of this prediction, (to say nothing of what they have done in Ireland, Canada, Newfoundland,) they had by their evil counsels convulsed France, driven Charles X. from the throne, and dismembered the kingdom of the Netherlands; and almost within the given period sown in Prussia the seeds of a rebellion, which is intended to bring on a general war for the recovery of papal ascendancy."

It is believed that there are between three and four hundred members of different Romish orders now resident in this country. How many of them are Jesuits is not clearly ascertained. But it is well known that the deleterious influence of the Jesuits' College at Stoneyhurst, Lancashire, has long been extensively felt in that neighbourhood, and lamented by the Protestant population. Their proceedings should be carefully watched.

* Quarterly Review, No. 125, p. 88.