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第53章

beacon lights of history-iii-2-第53章

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monarchs。  Mary of Scotland was a tool in their hands; and so was

Madame de Maintenon in France。  La Chaise and Le Tellier were mere

politicians。  The Jesuits became political priests; the history of

Europe the last three hundred years is full of their cabals。  Their

political influence was directed to the persecution of Protestants

as well as infidels。  They are accused of securing the revocation

of the Edict of Nantes;one of the greatest crimes in the history

of modern times; which led to the expulsion of four hundred

thousand Protestants from France; and the execution of four hundred

thousand more。  They incited the dragonnades of Louis XIV。; who was

under their influence。  They are accused of the assassination of

kings; of the fires of Smithfield; of the Gunpowder Plot; of the

cruelties inflicted by Alva; of the Thirty Years' War; of the

ferocities of the Guises; of inquisitions and massacres; of sundry

other political crimes; with what justice I do not know; but

certain it is they became objects of fear; and incurred the

hostilities of Catholic Europe; especially of all liberal thinkers;

and their downfall was demanded by the very courts of Europe。  Why

did they lose their popularity?  Why were they so distrusted and

hated?  The fact that they WERE hated is most undoubted; and there

must have been cause for it。  It is a fact that at one time they

were respected and honored; and deserved to be so: must there not

have been grave reasons for the universal change in public opinion

respecting them。  The charges against them; to which I have

alluded; must have had foundation。  They did not become idle;

gluttonous; ignorant; and sensual like the old monks: they became

greedy of power; and in order to retain it resorted to intrigues;

conspiracies; and persecutions。  They corrupted philosophy and

morality; abused the confessional; privilege; adopted SUCCESS as

their watchword; without regard to the means; they are charged with

becoming worldly; ambitious; mercenary; unscrupulous; cruel; above

all; they sought to bind the minds of men with a despotic yoke; and

waged war against all liberalizing influences。  They always were;

from first to last; narrow; pedantic; one…sided; legal; technical;

pharisaical。  The best thing about them; in the days of their

declining power; was that they always opposed infidel sentiments。

They hated Voltaire and Rousseau and the Encyclopedists as much as

they did Luther and Calvin。  They detested the principles of the

French Revolution; partly because those principles were godless;

partly because they were emancipating。



Of course; in such an infidel and revolutionary age as that of

Louis XV。; when Voltaire was the oracle of Europe;when from his

chateau near Geneva he controlled the mind of Europe; as Calvin did

two centuries earlier;enemies would rise up; on all sides;

against the Jesuits。  Their most powerful and bitter foe was a

woman;the mistress of Louis XV。; the infamous Madame de

Pompadour。  She hated the Jesuits as Catharine de Medici hated the

Calvinists in the time of Charles IX。;not because they were

friends of absolutism; not because they wrote casuistic books; not

because they opposed liberal principles; not because they were

spies and agents of Rome; not because they perverted education; not

because they were boastful and mercenary missionaries or cunning

intriguers in the courts of princes; not because they had marked

their course through Europe in a trail of blood; but because they

were hostile to her ascendency;a woman who exercised about the

same influence in France as Jezebel did at the court of Ahab。  I

respect the Jesuits for the stand they took against this woman: it

is the best thing in their history。  But here they did not show

their usual worldly wisdom; and they failed。  They were judicially

blinded。  The instrument of their humiliation was a wicked woman。

So strange are the ways of Providence!  He chose Esther to save the

Jewish nation; and a harlot to punish the Jesuits。  She availed

herself of their mistakes。



It seems that the Superior of the Jesuits at Martinique failed; for

the Jesuits embarked in commercial speculations while officiating

as missionaries。  The angry creditors of La Valette; the Jesuit

banker; demanded repayment from the Order。  They refused to pay his

debts。  The case was carried to the courts; and the highest

tribunal decided against them。  That was not the worst。  In the

course of the legal proceedings; the mysterious 〃rule〃 of the

Jesuitsthat which was so carefully concealed from the publicwas

demanded。  Then all was revealed;all that Pascal had accused them

of;and the whole nation was indignant。  A great storm was raised。

The Parliament of Paris decreed the constitution of the Society to

be fatal to all government。  The King wished to save them; for he

knew that they were the best supporters of the throne of

absolutism。  But he could not resist the pressure;the torrent of

public opinion; the entreaties of his mistress; the arguments of

his ministers。  He was compelled to demand from the Pope the

abrogation of their charter。  Other monarchs did the same; all the

Bourbon courts in Europe; for the king of Portugal narrowly escaped

assassination from a fanatical Jesuit。  Had the Jesuits consented

to a reform; they might not have fallen。  But they would make no

concessions。  Said Ricci; their General; Sint ut sunt; aut non

sint。  The PopeClement XIV。was obliged to part with his best

soldiers。  Europe; Catholic Europe; demanded the sacrifice;the

kings of Spain; of France; of Naples; of Portugal。  Compulsus feci;

compulsus feci; exclaimed the broken…hearted Pope;the feeble and

pious Ganganelli。  So that in 1773; by a papal decree; the Order

was suppressed; 669 colleges were closed; 223 missions were

abandoned; and more than 22;000 members were dispersed。  I do not

know what became of their property; which amounted to about two

hundred millions of dollars; in the various countries of Europe。



This seems to me to have been a clear case of religious

persecution; incited by jealous governments and the infidel or the

progressive spirit of the age; on the eve of the French Revolution。

It simply marks the hostilities which; for various reasons; they

had called out。  I am inclined to think that their faults were

greatly exaggerated; but it is certain that so severe and high…

handed a measure would not have been taken by the Pope had it not

seemed to him necessary to preserve the peace of the Church。  Had

they been innocent; the Pope would have lost his throne sooner than

commit so great a wrong on his most zealous servants。  It is

impossible for a Protestant to tell how far they were guilty of the

charges preferred against them。  I do not believe that their lives;

as a general thing; were a scandal sufficient to justify so

sweeping a measure; but their institution; their regime; their

organization; their constitution; were deemed hostile to liberty

and the progress of society。  And if zealous governmentsCatholic

princes themselvesshould feel that the Jesuits were opposed to

the true progress of nations; how much more reason had Protestants

to distrust them; and to rejoice in their fall!



And it was not until the French Revolution and the empire of

Napoleon had passed away; not until the Bourbons had been restored

(in August; 1814); that the Order was re…established and again

protected by the Papal court。  They have now regained their ancient

power; and seem to have the confidence of Catholic Europe。  Some of

their most flourishing seminaries are in the United States。  They

are certainly not a scandal in this country; although their spirit

and organization are still maintained: regarded with some mistrust

by the strong Protestants; as a matter of course; as such a

powerful organization naturally would be; hostile still to the

circulation of the Scriptures among the people and free inquiry and

private

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