MELCHIOR CANO, when a Bishop, persisted in the judgment which he had at first pronounced against the Society: indeed, this Prelate, whom THE KING OF PORTUGAL, in his Manifesto of June, 1759, states to have distinguished himself by his science and virtues, expressed himself in these terms in his letter to the Confessor of the EMPEROR CHARLES V.

"God grant that it may not happen to me as it is fabled "to have happened to Cassandra, whose predictions obtained "no credit until after the capture and burning of Troy. If "the Members of the Society continue as they have begun, "God grant there may not come a time when Kings will wish "to resist them, and will find no means of doing so." The Jesuits, however, were only then in their infancy.

Among other privileges which PAUL III. granted, was that by which he exempted the Society and the persons and property of all its members, from every kind of superintendence, jurisdiction, and punishment of Ordinaries: he further prohibited all Archbishops and Bishops, and every other authority, as well ecclesiastical as secular, from obstructing or molesting the companions of Ignatius, their houses, churches, or collegest. With such arms as these, nothing could resist them in countries professing a devoted submission to all the Decrees of the Popes.

CHAP. II.

EARLY EFFORTS OF THE JESUITS TO ESTABLISH
THEMSELVES IN FRANCE.

FROM the year 1540, immediately after the approval of the
Society by PAUL III. IGNATIUS, having dispersed his compa❤

*See the King of Portugal's Manifesto, accompanying his Circular Letter to the Bishops in 1759, where he cites this passage.

+ See this Bull as given by the Jesuits themselves. They enumerate forty Bulls, but they are in fact much more numerous,

nions in different parts of the world, had sent some Disciples to Paris under the care of EGUIA; and afterwards under that of DOMINIQUE: but the King having ordered all the subjects of CHARLES V. to quit the kingdom, the greater part of this small society, which consisted of the Emperor's subjects, withdrew to Louvain*.

In 1545, however, there were thirteen in the College of the Lombards, either Bursars or Students, and under the guidance of VIOLE, but without being known: they found a powerful protector in GUILLAUME DU PRAT, Bishop of Clermont, natural son of the famous DU PRAT, Chancellor, Cardinal, and Legate, who had offered 120,000 livres for the purchase of the Popedom, and who had left great wealth to his son this Prelate had first established some Jesuits in his town of Billon; he afterwards lodged those who were in Paris, in his Hotel de Clermont, and left them a considerable legacy.

IGNATIUS had insinuated himself at Rome into the favor of the Cardinal of Lorraine, who promised to protect his Institution at the Court of France, on his return: accordingly, at the instance of this Cardinal, HENRY II. of France issued Letters Patent + in January, 1550, by which he approved and confirmed the Bulls obtained by the Jesuits; and gave them permission to erect, with the funds which might be granted them, a House and College in the City of Paris only, and not in other cities, there to live according to their Rules and Statutes; and commanded his Parliament to sanction such Letters, and permit the Brethren to enjoy the said privileges.

The Jesuits presented their Letters Patent to the Parlia ment, which determined that the subject should be referred to the Crown Lawyers for their opinion: M. BRUSLART, the Attorney General, whom PASQUIER and DU BOULAY call the Cato of his age, consulted with his colleagues, M. DE MARIL

*See Dupin, 16 Siècle, part iii. chap. 4.

See an Extract from them in the Report of the Assembly of Poissy in 1561.

LAC and M. SEGUIER; who gave their written opinions against ratifying and accrediting the same, and advised that, at all events, the Parliament should remonstrate with the King against validity being given to the Letters in question: the Jesuits, however, obtained a Mandate, by fraudulent means, for registering the Letters Patent *.

Shortly after, the University agreed to petition the King that the Bull of PAUL III. might not be inserted in the Re gisters of the Parliament; and the Parliament referred the consideration of the subject to the Bishop of Paris, and to the Dean and Faculty of Theology of that City and University, in order to a proper conclusion being formed upon it.

EUSTACHE DU BELLAY, Bishop of Paris, after observing, that the Bulls of PAUL III. and of JULIUS III. had been communicated to him by order of Parliament, does not hesi tate to pronounce that "those Bulls contained many things "which appeared to him utterly contrary to reason, and such "as ought not to be tolerated or received in the Christian religion." He calls the title of the Society, "an arrogant name, as if they would represent themselves as alone con

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stituting the Church;" affirms that, "in spite of their "vow of poverty, they held and disposed of Ecclesiastical 66 dignities that they would not be corrected by Bishops; "that they usurped the rights of those who have the cure of "souls; and the rights of Bishops, and even of the Pope him"self, whom they specially vowed to obey, and to go where

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ever he should send them; while their Superior might recal those whom the Pope should send; and that they had ob "tained exemption from joining in the public service." The Bishop of Paris concludes in these terms; "Finally, let the "Parliament consider that all innovations are dangerous; and "that from these, many unforeseen and unexpected dangers "must arise.

* See the Memorial of M. Seguier to the Parliament, presented 26th January, 1552.

With regard to the opinion of the Faculty of Theology after a discussion which lasted several months, the Faculty, on the 1st December, 1554, came to that celebrated decision which has been so often cited * : "This new Society" (say they) "appropriates particularly to itself the unusual title of the "name of Jesus, receives with the greatest laxity, and with"out any discrimination, all kinds of persons, however cri“minal, lawless, and infamous they may be-it withdraws "from the obedience and submission due to Ordinaries-un"justly deprives both temporal and spiritual Lords of their rights-brings disturbance into every form of government, "and occasions many subjects of complaint, many law-suits, contentions, jealousies, and schisms, among the people. "The Society, therefore, appears to us to be dangerous in "all that concerns the faith, calculated to disturb the peace “ of the Church, to overturn the Monastic Order, and more "fit to destroy than to build up."

When we call to mind the universal disorder which the Jesuits have occasioned throughout the world; their multiplied crimes; the pertinacity with which, for more than two hundred years, they have resisted all authority, both spiritual and temporal; sought to ruin all other bodies in succession; attempted the lives of Princes, and of all others who were regarded as unfriendly to them; their flagrant errors upon all points of theology; the dangerous maxims in morals which they have either fathered or countenanced; must we not recognise in the judgment thus formed of them, even from their origin, by the Faculty of Theology, a prophecy too precisely verified?

The opinions of the Bishop of Paris, and of the Faculty of Theology, operated as an ordeal to the Jesuits. They admit that opposition arose in every quarter; that the Preachers did not spare them in the pulpit; that the Clergy

See M. d'Argentré, Collect. Jud. Vol. ii. p. 192. t Life of Ignatius, by ВOUHOURS.

loudly attacked the Institution; and that the Professors made them the subjects of their lectures.

The Bishop of Paris, thus supported by the suffrages of his whole diocese, interdicted them from all their functions *; and this example of EUSTACHE DU BELLAY was followed by all the Prelates who were then at Paris; but, in defiance of the Bishop, the Jesuits, as intractable then as since, retired into the Quarter of St. Germain, where they pretended they were exempt from his jurisdiction†, and where they continued to exercise their functions in spite of the interdict.

IGNATIUS, who was still alive, exhorted his disciples to expect every thing from time, and not to be discouraged (a maxim of which they have since made abundant use ‡); and, in order to console them, he obtained FROM THE INQUISITION OF SPAIN a Decree, censuring the opinion of the Faculty: the Jesuits, however, did not dare, for many years, to shew themselves in France. Before their re-appearance there in 1560 is noticed, a few facts concerning them may be related.

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CHAP. III.

DIFFERENT EVENTS RELATING TO THE JESUITS BETWEEN THE YEARS 1554 AND 1560.

Ir is not alone in France that so unfavorable an opinion was formed of the rising Society: GEORGE BRONSWELL, the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, in 1558, prophesied of them as follows:

"There is a fraternity which has lately arisen, called "the Jesuits, who will seduce many; who acting, for the "most part, like the Scribes and Pharisees, will strive to overturn the truth: they will go near to accomplish their

* Continuation of Fleury, Vol. xxx. lib. 150.

+ History of Paris, lib. 21.

PASQUIER'S Catechism of the Jesuits, lib. iii. chap. 20