That the great object of the institution of the Jesuits in the first instance, was the overthrow of THE REFORMATION, will appear from every Author who has adverted to their early history. The following Extract from VILLERS will set this matter in its true light:

"The Sixteenth Century saw LUTHER and LOYOLA arise "almost at the same moment; the one in the North, the other " in the South of Europe: the latter, a Spaniard, appeared to "be a natural product of the soil and spirit of the country "where he was reared. A century earlier, he would probably "have only founded an Order, like so many others, a fraternity of worshippers of the Virgin, to whom his devotion was particularly addressed: the religious innovations, however, which then threatened the existence of the Romish “Church, gave to the enthusiasm of the pious and warlike "IGNATIUS another direction. He conceived the idea of a "sort of spiritual crusade against Heresy. His scheme was eagerly adopted at Rome after some hesitation; and the design was seriously formed of converting the new Society "into a formidable phalanx which might be employed against "the boldest champions of the Reformation,

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"To the reaction, therefore, excited by that event, may be "ascribed the origin of the Society of Jesus. It will pro"bably be satisfactory to read the words of DAMIANUS, one "of the first Historians of the Order, who thus expresses "himself in his Synopsis Historia Soc. Jesu-primo seculo, printed in 1640*.

* "Eodem anno vigesimo-primo, adulta jam nequitia, palam Ec"clesiæ bellum indixit LUTHER US: læsus in Pampelonensi arce IGNA"TIUS alius ex vulnere fortiorque quasi defendendæ religionis signum ❝ sustulit.

"LUTHERUS Petri sedem probris convitiisque lacessere aggreditur: "IGNATIUS, quasi ad suscipiendam causam à S. Petro prodigiose

4 curatur.

"LUTHERUS irâ, ambitione, libidine victus, à religiosa vita desci"scit: IGNATIUS, Deo vocante, impigre obsecutus, à profana ad refi“giosam transit.

"In the same year 1521, LUTHER, with consummate "wickedness, openly declared war against the Church :"wounded in the fortress of Pampeluna, renovated and "strengthened by his accident, IGNATIUS raised the standard "in defence of religion.

"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, $6 quits the profane for the religious life.

"LUTHER, with the guilt of sacrilege, contracts an inces “tuous 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.

“LUTHERUS cum sacra Deo virgine incestas nuptias init sacrilegus: "perpetuæ continentiæ voto se adstringit IGNATIUS,

"LUTHERUS omnem superiorum contemnit autoritatem: prima "IGNATII monita sunt, plena Christianæ demissionis, subesse et parere. "In sedem apostolicam, furentis in morem, declamat LUTHERUS: illam ubique tuetur IGNATIUS.

"Ab ea quotquot potest LUTHERUS avertit: quotquot potest con"ciliat, reducitque IGNATIUS.

"Adversus illam nitentur omnia LUTHERI studia atque conatus: IGNATIUS Suos, suorumque labores peculiari voto illi consecrat. "LUTHERUS Sacris Ecclesiæ ritibus venerationem, cultumque detraxit: IGNATIUS omnem illis reverentiam asserit.

"Missæque sacrificio, Eucharistiæ, Deiparæ, Tutelaribus divis, et * illis, tanto LUTHERI furore impugnatis, Pontificum indulgentiis: in " quibus novo semper invento celebrandis IGNATII sociorumque de"sudat industria.

"LUTHERO illo Germaniæ probro, Epicuri porco, Europæ exitio, orbis infelici portento, Dei atque hominum odio, etc.—æterno con"silio Deus opposuit IGNATIUM."-Synopsis, etc. Lib. I. Diss. VI. p. 18.

LUTHER, like a madman, declaims against the Apos "tolic See: IGNATIUS every where 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 Frater"nities, to which the general movement of the human mind 66 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 Assem

bly. The ancient Orders, especially the Mendicant, con"ceived great envy against those new-comers, who set out "with so much celebrity, and attracted all consideration, and "all favors. This emulation redoubled the activity of all such

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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 "favor of the Pontiffs, and an immense power through the "whole Catholic world. To them, and to the Popes, Mis❝sions were the same as colonies to Political Governments, a "source of wealth and power*."

With the above account of VILLERS, agrees the statement of HUME:

"The Order of Jesuits" (says he)" was erected when the "Court of Rome perceived that the lazy Monks, and Mendi"cant Friars, who sufficed in times of ignorance, were no

longer able to defend the ramparts of the Church, assailed ❝on every side; and that the inquisitive spirit of the age re"quired a Society more active and more learned to oppose its "dangerous progress +.

The Jesuits had no sooner appeared than they overran the universe with surprising rapidity: they became the Instructors of Youth; the Masters of Seminaries; the Confessors of Kings; the distributors of favors; and the nominators to every office, civil and ecclesiastical, and sometimes even to crowns; in a word, the arbiters of every great event: they acquired immense wealth in freehold estates, and in the benefices which they procured for their houses: they formed the most substantial and brilliant establishments; and laid the foundations of a monarchy, calculated to resist the most powerful princes.

How poor Mendicants (for it is thus that these Fathers are designated) could have attained so speedily to an empire of such an extensive and absolute nature, so that they domineered over the properties, the lives, the liberties, and the minds of others, is a prodigy which (said the University of

See VILLERS's Essay on the Spirit and Influence of the Reformation of LUTHER, translated by MILL, P. 374.

HUME's History, Elizabeth, ch. 41. Ann. 1581.

Paris above a century since) would be regarded by posterity as a fable, if such power should cease to exist *.

The Faculty of Theology in Paris, whose advice the Parliament had sought, pronounced, in 1554, that "the Society, "withdrawn from the obedience and submission due to autho "rities, unjustly deprived both temporal and spiritual Lords "of their rights; brought discord into every form of govern"ment, and occasioned among the people many subjects of "complaint, many lawsuits, altercations, schisms, and jea"lousies; that it appeared dangerous to all that concerned the "Faith; calculated to disturb the peace of the Church; to "overturn the monastic order; and more fit to destroy than "to build up."

The recital of the crimes committed by the Jesuits, in every part of the world for more than two centuries, will serve to verify this statement. At present it shall suffice to apply to them the powerful language of the first of Roman Orators, reserving the proofs of its application to their Order, to the History which follows:-" CUM FERRO, CUM METU, CUM PRI66 VILEGIO, CUM PRÆSENTIBUS COPIIS PERDITORUM, ET MINIS, ET NEFARIO FEDERE, SERVITUTE OPPRESSAM CIVITATEM TENE66 RENT.

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IGNATIUS LOYOLA, the Patron and Founder of this Society, was born in Spain +. He followed at first the profession of arms. Thrown upon the world by this occupation, he gave himself up to his passions; and the Jesuits who have written his life, observe that vanity and ambition were his ruling pursuits. In 1521, being then 30 years of age, he was at Pampeluna when the French besieged it, and had his right leg broken, which was unskilfully treated. During his cure he met with a life of the Saints, written in a romantic style; he read it, and was impressed by it. If we may believe the Je

See Answer of the University, in 1644, to the Apology of the Jesuits, chap. 27; and Memorial of the University, presented to the King in 1724. See his life by BAILLET, and in the Continuation of Fleury.