The Crisis in Portugal.
Portugal has never yet recovered from the disasters which crushed it at
the end of the sixteenth century. At the end of the eighteenth it was
already in a state of decadence, which followed principally on the ruin
of the marvelous empire of the Indies, won by Vasco de Gama,
Albuquerque, and Juan de Castro, the subjection of Portugal to England
by the Treaty of Methuen, and finally in a moral abasement such as the
times were then producing in France and all countries affected by the
French Revolution. This decadence was easily favorable to the reign of
the sophists, the encyclopaedists and other open or secret enemies of
religion.
It was in Portugal that the notorious Pombal exercised his power by a
brutal expulsion of the Jesuits, who had brought so much glory to their
fatherland by their missionary successes in Brazil, Paraguay and India.
Pombal had misused the resources of Portugal, leaving that little nation
a prey to a profound demoralization, which betrayed itself especially in
the higher classes of society.
When the French Revolution broke out, Portugal was weakened by its
economic dependence on England, a country which took away the wines and
olives, and flooded the land with its own industrial products. In this
way the triumphal progress of the French armies placed Portugal in a
very delicate position. It became a question of following England, and
inviting the wrath of the French, or of yielding to Napoleon with the
consequent certainty of invasion and ruin.
[Illustration: MANUEL II.]
The Prince Regent of Portugal at the time was John VI. of Braganza, who
was enjoined by Napoleon to close his ports to the English, and to expel
all English persons residing in the country. Upon the refusal of the
Regent, Napoleon sent General Junot with an army against Portugal, and
John VI. in his terror embarked with his Court for Brazil.
The fortunes of the Portuguese throne were diversified from that time
until the present. After the flight of the Regent, John VI., the country
was governed some years by the brother of Napoleon, King Joseph
Bonaparte. When the French were driven out by Wellington and Moore, the
throne reverted to the house of Braganza, but remained under the control
of the English Lord Beresford, governing in the name of the absent
Regent, then exiled in Brazil. In 1816, the Regent, upon the death of
his imbecile mother, Maria I., succeeded to the throne. In 1820 the
Cortes adopted a Constitution, and the King, John VI., returning from
Brazil in 1821, swore to observe it, accepting it for Portugal and
Brazil.
In 1826 John VI. died, and the Portuguese crown should descend in the
regular line to his eldest son, Dom Pedro, then reigning in Brazil. As
Emperor of the latter country, he could not at the same time be king of
Portugal. Hence, in 1826, he renounced his claim to the Portuguese
throne in favor of his daughter, Maria da Gloria, a child of seven
years. The regency for the child was conferred upon the brother of Dom
Pedro, the exiled Dom Miguel, who returned upon invitation for that
purpose. The latter, however, recalling the laws which prohibited
succession to the throne to the female children, while a brother of the
preceding monarch or a son remained, contrived to place himself upon the
throne. Dom Pedro, in anger at the event, returned to Portugal in 1831,
after abdicating the Brazilian Empire in favor of his son, Dom Pedro
II., and began a war with his brother, in favor of the deposed Maria da
Gloria. In 1834, Dom Miguel was defeated and forced to leave Portugal.
Thenceforth, the Portuguese crown descended by succession to Dom Pedro
V., who succeeded his mother, Maria da Gloria in 1853 and reigned until
1861; Louis I., from 1861 to 1889; Carlos I., from 1889 to 1908, when he
was assassinated. He was then succeeded by Manuel II., the present
unhappy victim of the Revolution of 1910.
[Illustration: TEOFILE BRAGA, Provisional President of the Portuguese
Republic.]
The Revolution of 1833 was especially marked for its violence. Bishops
and priests were imprisoned, and men of very questionable virtue were
put in their places. Ecclesiastical property was confiscated, for which
indemnity was promised, but never accorded. Convents were suppressed and
the religious persecuted. The sacred rites in the administration of the
sacraments were regulated by the civil procedure. Only the death of the
tyrant, Maria da Gloria, brought some relief to the Church.
The history of Portugal for many years has been a story of gradual
decadence. The secret societies aided by English encouragement have
honeycombed the country until the terror of the lodges invaded every
institution and home in the land. A dynasty represented by a king like
Carlos I., who showed himself utterly incapable of manly feelings or
kingly instincts, gave color to the evil machinations of the
hypocritical crew who love to feast upon the decay of ancient glory.
_ASSASSINATION OF CARLOS I._
On the first day of February, 1908, a terrible event horrified the
world. In the afternoon of that day Carlos I., the King of Portugal, and
his son Luis, the heir apparent, were assassinated, as they were
returning with their family to the royal palace at Lisbon. The
conspirators had shot their victims. Queen Amelia courageously shielded
her loved ones with her own body, but in vain. If she herself was spared
it was not through any pity on the part of the regicides, who would have
stricken her as fiercely, if they had not believed they had extinguished
the royal line in the blood of the King and his children. For the time
being, however, the hopes of the revolutionists were not realized, and
the monarchy yet lived in the person of the younger son.
The blood of the victims, in fact, seemed to have infused new virtue
into the Portuguese people, who in the horror of the royal tragedy, and
the pity aroused for the remainder of the family, tried to forget the
past with its faults, and sustained the crown.
The younger son, Dom Manuel, a young man of eighteen, was proclaimed
king, in the gloomy afternoon of that sad day, with the title of Manuel
II. His proclamation to the people made mention of the "abominable
crime," declared his adhesion to the Constitution, and promised his
every effort for the welfare of his country and the affection of his
people.
Manuel was not educated for the throne, and now under the horror of the
awful murder, and with the heavy burden of an unexpected royalty, he
made every sacrifice to bring about a thorough pacification.
In the two years of his reign Manuel appeared to be, but was not, the
ruler. Seven ministries succeeded one to another in the government, all
of them under the influence of one determination: to hush up as far as
possible the assassination of the former king. It would not do to
divulge the mysterious connection between the revolutionary regicides
and the secret societies.
The first ministry was conservative, but it was quickly driven out of
power, to be succeeded by the party of the Left. The door was thus
opened to the Republicans. Already in secret they had manifested their
power; they had organized plots against individuals, conspiracies
against the monarchy, and violent measures against the Church and
religion.
Manuel II., as yet too young to give a strong impress to his regime,
made close relations with England and France. At home, unhappily, he
fell under the secret and malign influence of the very men who had
assassinated his father. In the Speech from the Throne, delivered on
September 23, 1910, at the opening of the Cortes, he betrayed his
subjection to the sectaries who surrounded his throne. The Minister
Teixeira de Sousa deceived the King in the anti-clerical struggle
against the religious orders. His promises were only a sop thrown to the
revolutionaries to calm their anger, but they signified that the last
blow was being prepared to destroy the monarchy, since the Catholic
people showed themselves friendly to it inasmuch as it held out the only
guarantee of peace and security.
_REVOLUTION ALWAYS ACTIVE._
In the meantime the Republicans were active, building up their forces,
and gaining over the army and navy by their promises and insinuations.
Portugal had forgotten the old traditions which inspired Camoens, the
greatest of her poets, to sing the memory of those kings who made the
name of Portugal glorious in far-off lands. The modern muse of
Portuguese song is represented by a renegade, Guerra Junqueiro, who
reviled the ancient glories of his country, and now a demoralized sense
sees only the glory of the regicide and the license of anarchy.
The proclamation of the new Republic in Portugal followed a military
pronunciamento of the type that obtained formerly in uncivilized
countries, a manifesto of the army and navy rather than of the people.
The new political institution with a poet for its President is the fruit
of the revolt of insubordinate officials armed for the assassination of
their superiors, and of all who would dare to remain faithful to their
oath and to their flag. The horde of pretorians, janizaries, and other
instruments of tyranny, meant only the momentary preponderance of
military power, the followers of a few agitators, the illuminati who
relied more on the sharpness of the bayonets than on the justice of any
reasons they might adduce.
The European and often the American press viewed the whole disgraceful
affair with favor. The daily reviews of the situation spoke in glowing
terms of the "pacific and honest" event at Lisbon, while breaking into
tirades against the wickedness of the religious.
[Illustration: COSTA.]
Certain it is that on the night of October 4, 1910, while the King was
at Lisbon for the purpose of receiving with due honor the new President
of Brazil, Marshal Hermes de Fonseca, then visiting Portugal, the
Republican conspirators decided to anticipate the stroke of revolt by
imprisoning the King and preventing him from flying to the Northern
provinces. The Vice-Admiral, Candido Reis, awaited with his squadron in
the Bay of Lisbon, and gave the signal to turn the fire of the cannon
upon the Royal Palace. On land the Sixteenth Regiment of infantry killed
the royal officials, joined with the revolutionary mob, took possession
of the Arsenal in order to arm the rebels, and launched the war against
their sovereign and the throne.
Manuel, taken unawares, found himself practically alone. While his
uncle, the Duke of Porto, attempted a desperate defence by placing
himself at the head of the mountain artillery, and was constrained to
retreat, the young King, abandoned by his councillors and his courtiers,
the friends of his brief day of power, determined to shed no unnecessary
blood and took refuge in exile.
[Illustration: SOLDIERS ARRESTING RELIGIOUS.]
There was indeed a moment when the tide of revolution seemed forced back
towards failure, and in that moment Candido Reis, the principal
instigator of the revolution, committed suicide. The news only aroused
the mob to increased fury, and sent them burning with anti-clerical
hatred against the helpless religious. The horrors and the excesses of
that oppression have been demonstrated by the numberless murders and by
the horrible cruelties practised upon the defenceless victims of
"Liberty."
It is probable that the complete story of the persecution inflicted upon
the religious of Portugal will never be known. Some of the victims have
disappeared as completely as if the earth had swallowed them. But the
history of the survivors is full enough in its appalling details to give
an idea of the utter barbarity of the oppressors and the ignorance which
impelled them to action.
Against the Jesuits the Portuguese secret societies have entertained an
abiding hatred ever since the days of the infamous Pombal. Long before
the late Revolution the writer visited the ancient church of the Jesuits
in Ponte Delgado in the Azores Islands, and there beheld the evidences
of vandalism perpetrated years before upon altars and shrines that have
not their equal in the world. Naturally the fury of the mob, in the
recent upheaval, sought out these Fathers as a worthy object of
brutality, and inflicted upon them indignities with a savagery worthy of
the inhabitants of the Fiji Islands.
Three of the great Jesuit institutions met with especial attention,
those of Quelhas, Barro and Campolide. When the revolutionists stormed
the first of these establishments, they reported a story that the
priests had fired bombs upon the soldiers, and then retreated into
underground passages to hide. The facts of the case, as it later
developed, showed that the house at Quelhas had actually been shut by
the Government and deserted by the Jesuits. Nevertheless the story of
the bombs and the underground passages went the round of the press of
the world. These underground passages, by the way, were shown to be
little sewer conduits about eight or ten inches in diameter, so that it
would be extremely difficult for even the most ascetic Jesuit Father to
enter, much less to live in them.
The College at Barro was one of the finest in Portugal, and it is a
noteworthy fact in connection with it, that on the very last day of his
reign the young King had signed a decree closing that Novitiate. In the
house on the day of its attack there were eighty-six priests, brothers,
novices and students, all members or intending to be members of the
Society of Jesus. It is well known that the lower class of the
Portuguese who fell under secret society influence were superstitious to
an incredible degree. Hence, when it became noised abroad that there
were strange apparatus in the college, such things as microscopes,
X-rays, radium, and electrical appliances, the excited mob held up its
hands in holy horror. The Jesuits who had such things, and talked in
such learned language could surely be nothing less than hobgoblins,
unnatural sprites and wicked spirits. The sentiment was fostered and
encouraged in them by the unscrupulous spirits of discontent, who knew
that anarchy could never prosper while learning and virtue remained
unabused.
On October 5, the college was sacked, and its inmates marched out. After
a humiliating journey on the railroad, they were finally imprisoned in
the fortress of Caxeas. Father Torrent, a learned scientist of the band,
was in a few days liberated as a French citizen.
The college at Campolide, the glory of Portuguese educational
institutions, shared the same fate. Its Fathers were arrested and led
away to swell the number of prisoners at Caxeas. The collection of
laboratory apparatus, one of the finest in Europe, was delivered up to
the fury of a mob, who could no more appreciate their worth than the
savages of Africa. The magnificent library of 25,000 volumes contained
rare works that can never be duplicated.
The wave of indignation and contempt that followed in the whole world
when the true nature and character of the revolutionists began to be
known, has urged the Portuguese controllers to excuse and palliate their
acts. When the nuns were driven from their convents they were led to the
vile quarters of the arsenal where their humiliations were continued. It
was said that this was done to protect them from the mob; yet it is now
known that the mob had no intention of sacking the convents; this work
was done almost altogether by the soldiers and sailors. In fact when a
few soldiers guarded the Irish convent at Belim, the Dominican convent
at Benfrica, and the Irish Dominican monastery at Corpo Santo, the mob
had nothing to do, and these convents remained untouched.
When the nuns were taken from their convents they were piled like
criminals into any handy vehicle, and then driven in the midst of a
shouting, hooting mob along the streets. The soldiers who marched with
them, as is shown in the many photographs taken of the event, laughed
with idiotic bravado, and assumed as much importance as if their
delicate, helpless charges were so many fierce warrior captives taken on
the field of battle. In the Arsenal several hundreds of them were
huddled together in one large room. Here they were visited by Senhor
Affonso Costa, the Minister of Justice, who swaggered about among the
gentle-minded ladies, roared at them, and glared with his magnetic eye.
For three hours he questioned and insulted them, while a score of
attendant press agents took down his magnificent bravadoes to be
embellished for the press of the day. Except for the misery of the poor
Sisters, the whole scene was worthy of one of Sullivan's comic operas,
calling for laughter where it did not inspire contempt.
This is the Portuguese Republic, the government to which the people of
Portugal have been consigned. Its direction is plainly indicated from
the fact that one of its first proposed laws is that which permits of
free divorce. The Republic of Portugal has one rival on earth, that of
the West Indies, to which people, laughing, give the name of Hayti.
It would be well in speaking of these events to reproduce the letter
written by the Rev. Provincial of the Portuguese Jesuits, and addressed
to his fellow countrymen. The letter was suppressed in Portugal, but was
published later in England. It is as follows:
To My Countrymen: The prolonged period of distress which elapsed while
the Fathers and Brothers of the Society of Jesus were quitting Portugal
to take the road of exile, being driven from their beloved native land
on the charge of abominable crimes, whereas their life had been wholly
spent in self-sacrifice on behalf of others, whilst I was moreover
occupied with the care of my spiritual children, having to determine for
each a new scene for the exercise of his zeal--all this, I say, occupied
me to such an extent that hitherto I have been unable to find time to
address this protest to my countrymen, which, however, is demanded of me
as a relief for my own grief and by my duty as a Christian and a
religious whose office lays upon him this responsibility.
In this, my protestation and complaint, I shall speak only of those
religious who, as members of the Society of Jesus, were subject to my
jurisdiction, since for them alone was I responsible. I must, however,
begin by saluting the glorious children of all religious orders whom we
cherish and reverence as ennobled by their sufferings and their
participation in the cross through insults, bondage, and even death
itself, some of them having sealed a life of saintliness and
self-devotedness with the testimony of their blood.
But in thus solemnly addressing my country, I must, as a father, speak
of my own well-beloved sons, expressing my grief on beholding what they
suffer, and protesting their innocence of the charges brought against
them.
In this free country men who extol the spirit of liberty, and claim to
be leaders of the principle of universal equality, have on the instant
expelled from Portuguese territory more than three hundred of their
fellow citizens, spread amongst some score of houses in the Motherland
and colonies beyond the seas in Asia, Africa and Oceania.
This cruel act was executed without the victims being permitted to speak
one word in their defence, no time being allowed them to carry away a
stitch of clothing, their books or their papers, though these contained
the fruit of active studies pursued for years.
_SPOLIATION._
In the name of liberty they have taken from us all that we possess, have
seized our property and our houses, built with what by dint of careful
economy has been saved out of the pensions of our pupils, or has been
assigned by individuals and legally invested for the purpose in their
own names.
The College of Campolide was established in 1858 by three English
subjects in order to assist Father Rademaker in the development of
education and material progress in Portugal. The College of Campolide
was accordingly for a long period English property and flew the British
flag. Later, after the death of these persons, the trust was dissolved,
and Campolide, with all its belongings, was acquired by other
individuals, Portuguese or foreign. One of these, Father Bramley, now in
India, has, of course, claimed his share. I do not know why the
Portuguese partner cannot do the same, there being a fundamental law
which absolutely prohibits the confiscation in all cases of property
belonging to private citizens. Since 1834, when the possession of
property in Portugal was forbidden to religious orders, it has been the
rule, as in England, that individuals alone could buy, sell or own such
properties as were assigned by their legal owners to the use of Jesuits
or others.
Along with buildings and land was seized, likewise the furniture of our
houses, comprising first-rate scientific collections in the museums,
scientific institutes and laboratories of the colleges at Campolide and
S. Fiel, where for more than half a century, by means of the monthly
pensions of our boys, and the generosity of friends inspired by esteem
and devotion, the intelligent and disinterested labors of our fathers
and brothers had succeeded in accumulating valuable materials for study,
which by every right were ours, and ours alone.
Our libraries disappeared in like manner during the same period, the
store where our linen was kept, the private rooms themselves, in each of
which could be found, besides a washstand and bed, only a writing table
and a modest bookstand with a few books, the companions of our
solitude--all were suddenly declared to be the property of the State.
We ourselves, thus summarily and arbitrarily despoiled of everything,
and turned out of our own doors, were led to prison by a throng of armed
soldiers and civilians, amidst the insults and jeers of a mob long
excited against us by the calumnies of a ribald press.
Those who, forewarned of these outrages, succeeded in making their
escape, were hunted like wild beasts through fields and streets, some of
them--as I know certainly in the case of six--were pursued with gun
shots--in some instances their assailants spat in their faces.
[Illustration: A CONVENT AFTER BEING SACKED.]
Yet these were men who had never made any appearance in politics,
criminals of a novel species, who had renounced and sacrificed all that
is attractive in human life to devote themselves, without thought of
worldly recompense, to the education of youth in our schools, to preach
the gospel to the heathen in our transmarine colonies, or to exercise
every kind of priestly ministry, however hard and unattractive. Against
these men a disreputable press, which in any other country would be
sternly repressed, though spreading vague and blustering charges, could
not in any single instance succeed in proving, I will not say a solitary
crime, but even a misdemeanor.
Yet such were the men who were clapped into gaols and dungeons as
notorious criminals, exposed to barbarous sufferings, and for several
days not even permitted any intercourse with one another. Let it not be
said that all this is but exaggeration prompted by my grief. What has
been endured by our exiles and captives went far beyond my simple
sketch.
[Illustration: ARRESTING A PRIEST.]
In my own case--of which I may be allowed to speak--to say nothing of
what the Society of Jesus has legitimately obtained through its work and
administration, I had at least a right to what I duly inherited from my
parents, with which I had acquired personal and landed estates, all
registered in my name; yet I was forced to leave Portugal without
anything but the clothes on my back, and even these I owed to a friend,
for I possessed no secular dress in which to make my escape. I had,
moreover, no money in my pocket, save what was sent me by a stranger who
knew me only by name and sight, and to whom in my exile I desire to
testify my gratitude.
_TREATMENT IN PRISON._
As to the sufferings of my beloved brethren I will only say that in the
artillery barrack, which was under the control not of the military, but
of the dregs of the populace, not even a spoon was given to the
prisoners wherewith to eat their mess of food, that they were allowed to
withdraw privately but once in eight hours, and poor invalids to whom
such tyranny might prove fatal, were told that they only sought a
pretext for retirement.
At night the guards threatened to shoot anyone who attempted to get up.
Finally, these warders had the brutality to bring in abandoned women,
but these were compelled to retreat before the calm and dignified
bearing of my worthy brethren.
As to their furniture, I will only say that afterwards when, being
transferred to Caxeas, they were there provided with a mattress laid on
the ground, a hard bolster, and a single blanket, they thought
themselves in comfort, by comparison.
In a dungeon of the Town Hall, before their removal to the central
prison of Limovro, some of the captives were still worse treated, being
crammed together, to the number of twenty-three, where there was scarce
room for three or four, and they had for five days to breathe foul air,
not being suffered to leave the chamber, and there being no ventilation
save through one small aperture.
I am well aware that many officers and soldiers, coming to know the
captives, manifested towards them not only sympathy but respect. These
kindly feelings, however, for which we all desire to record our
heartfelt gratitude, did not hinder the sufferings endured during five
whole weeks.
_OUTLAWED AND EXILED._
Nor is this all. When after all these hardships and torments the
Provisional Government set about executing the sentence of exile and
outlawry against these Portuguese subjects in whose breasts there dwelt
and still dwells the most ardent affection for their beloved country,
these men who had bereft us of everything, who had taken possession of
our goods and land, did not hesitate to require that they who, by a
special decree, were to be driven from Portugal should pay for their own
transport; and when one of our Fathers ventured to tell one of the
officers who was more exigent in this exaction, that we had no means of
doing so, he was answered: "Well, we shall see; when we squeeze you a
bit, and you begin to fester, you'll find a way."
Money was soon forthcoming, for Portugal is not yet entirely in the
hands of a crew whose passions are aroused against persecuted innocence.
Many families contributed to supply funds for the journey, plentiful
stores of provisions and clothing were furnished, and I was deeply moved
to see many of my spiritual children reach foreign lands in the attire
supplied by our well-loved scholars of Campolide during their frequent
visits to their persecuted masters. In spirit I salute these
benefactors, and I shall never forget these young men who, without a
hint from us, came to the succor of these poor sons of the society. But
ere they took the road of exile there was reserved for them yet one more
cruel humiliation.
Venerable elders, distinguished men of science, held in repute at home
and abroad, religious venerated for their virtue, youths still almost
boys, with innocence stamped on their features--all had to go to an
anthropometric station and to be treated like notorious criminals, being
described, photographed and measured in every detail, down to the joints
of their fingers. The photographs then appeared in the newspapers, with
the number assigned to each as to a convict. I cannot refrain from
special protest against a proceeding so incredibly vexatious.
One circumstance in the persecution yet remains to be exhibited. A
decree with the force of law published by the Provisional Government on
October 10 revokes all exceptional legislation, and in its first
article, No. 2, it assigns as the motive of such revocation that "there
are now no permanent penalties of unlimited duration in the Portuguese
Republic." But, strange to say, the law fulminated against the Society
of Jesus is in flat contradiction to this declaration. Against us has
been issued an exceptional law, so odious that one is astounded to think
that in the twentieth century it has been possible to institute in full
vigor such draconian legislation, and to claim for it the attribute of
most absolute despotism. As though it were not enough to show its
palpable opposition to the liberal profession of the new republic, the
sentence which condemns us to exile and deprives us of the rights of
Portuguese subjects is a permanent one, solemnly promulgated with the
ruthless formula "for ever."
Such is the slight sketch of the tyrannies of which we have been the
victims in the name of liberty.
_THE CHARGES AND THEIR ANSWERS._
It will naturally be asked, what were our crimes?
In the first place, it is passing strange that to this moment not a
single offense has been alleged against us.
The law of October 8 assigns none, but appeals to the ancient obsolete
legislation of Pombal (1758) and Aguiar (1834) it revokes Hintese
Ribeiro's decree, and promulgates antiquated vexations by which to
victimize us.
On the other hand, public opinion--so-called--misled by the wild
declamations of an irreconcilable press, never succeeded in formulating
against us more than the vague charges devised by Jacobin novelists. In
spite of all researches in the columns of anti-Jesuit journalism, or
amongst the legends which circulate amongst the most credulous of my
compatriots, I can find no accusation that does not fall under one of
these six heads:
1. Armaments and subterranean galleries.
2. Wealth and fraudulent acquisition of inheritances.
3. Inveigling youths to become Jesuits.
4. Secret associations.
5. Political and anti-republican activity.
6. Reactionary influence.
In this dark hour, when with sad hearts we are all compelled to quit our
beloved Portugal, I owe to my country a categorical reply to these
accusations of our persecutors.
_1. ARMAMENTS AND SUBTERRANEAN GALLERIES._
The answer is simple. We had no armaments whatever, nor in any of our
houses were there subterranean passages by which to escape or
communicate with others.
[Illustration: ARRESTING A NUN.]
And yet, had it been otherwise, had we possessed such covered ways--what
then? Had we not a right in view of what had occurred? Our conduct,
though less frank and open, would have been at least more business-like,
as was said a few weeks ago in the Spanish Parliament, by the Premier
Canalejas, in regard of defensive works said to exist in some religious
houses. How then, what happened at Campolide, where the mob broke in,
flooding corridors and private rooms, bursting open everything, throwing
about books and papers, and threatening to shoot the unfortunate
inmates? Does not all this show that it would have been highly
advantageous to have had some means of hindering the sack of the college
until the public force could come to the rescue? In reality, however,
there was nothing of the sort.
In the whole building of Campolide were only a couple of guns for
purposes of sport, when our professors went for a fortnight's holiday to
a country house at Val de Royal. Moreover, these guns were not employed
when the assault took place.
What, then, of the shots fired from our residence at Quelhas? These
shots were the occasion for bitter calumnies against us, in an official
note which has as yet not been contradicted by the Provisional
Government.
The general himself commanding at Lisbon, who was appointed by the
republic, acknowledged to the representative of the Paris Illustration
that, as was clearly proved, none of us had any hand in anything so
done. Who it was that fired the shots, some being dressed in costumes
found in our rooms, can easily be understood, especially when we know
what occurred at Campolide, where one of these pseudo-Jesuits who fell
to the shot of one of his comrades, was found under his cassock to be
wearing his military uniform, betraying his true character.
It is certain, moreover, that two days prior to the assault on the
Quelhas residence, all the fathers there had been arrested and
imprisoned. As to the secret underground passages and communications by
which these mythical Jesuit riflemen made their escape, no one ever saw
them to this moment.
Moreover, the general in command has likewise declared that there are no
such subterranean works excepting narrow sewers.
So much for Quelhas. As to Campolide, I may add that beneath the surface
were cut various water channels, amongst them a fine cistern constructed
by one of my predecessors as director of the college. But although these
channels had been inspected and their real character understood, the
anti-clerical press did not hesitate to produce a sketch of one of them
and to style it "entrance to a subterranean."
I confess that I had never thought I should one day be called upon to
defend myself against the charge of such arsenals and ambushes. Such
Arabian Night tales, so frequent in the Jacobin press, had often amused
my brothers and myself, and when about a twelvemonth since terrible
stories about an arsenal at Campolide were being circulated, and a
friend of mine who had recently been a Minister of the Crown, warned me
that we should at last be obliged to provide against an assault I
answered plainly that we would rather have our lives taken than take the
lives of others.
_2. WEALTH._
The belief in Jesuit wealth was so deeply rooted in Portugal as to be
entertained not only by our enemies but even by our best friends.
Supposing this belief to be well-grounded, why should it make us
criminals? It would be a strange measure to expel a man from his country
merely because he possessed a large sum of money. But our reputed
wealth was purely fabulous, without any foundation in fact. Would that
the society had actually in Portugal abundant material resources, we
should have no lack of good works on which to expend them for the good
of our country.
But we had no such resources. Frequently after my appointment as
superior I had a hard struggle against grievous difficulties to find
means of supporting my subjects.
So many are the misconceptions regarding Jesuit property that with a
view of dispelling them I long projected the course of lectures on the
subject. I was, however, prevented from doing as I wished by the
incognito in which I was placed by Hintese Ribeiro's decree. God knows
what a mortification it was to me to have to assume a disguise imposed
by law, but wholly repugnant to my own straightforwardness and natural
ideas concerning truth as well as to the heartfelt love and admiration
which I entertained for the Society of Jesus.
This matter will require but a few words.
If the government of the society is strictly monarchial, its
administration is, on the contrary, extremely decentralized. Each house
is separately administered, and nothing can be more imaginary than the
bottomless common purse which has inspired so many falsehoods.
As a fact, if in Portugal, thanks to the careful administration of their
superiors, the Jesuit houses have been free from debt, they have usually
possessed few comforts, and have sometimes endured great hardships.
Residences subsisted merely upon stipends for masses and preaching, or
alms spontaneously offered. In the colleges the great expenses required
to provide our boys with board and lodging, with the comforts and
amusements they enjoyed, and still more with what was required to keep
abreast of modern educational developments. All this, I say, obliged us
to interrupt our building works till the number of pupils should be much
increased.
It is remarkable that while by universal consent Campolide ranked first
in respect to board, tuition and hygiene as well as physical training,
and while other colleges charged L5 or L6 per month, Campolide never
charged more than L4. In the provinces, at Beira, S. Fiel, giving the
same education, long exacted only L1 10s.--only recently was the monthly
fee raised to L2. Among the recreations provided for our boys must not
be forgotten the scientific excursions initiated at Campolide two years
ago by myself along with Father Luisier, for the benefit of the elder
students who were about to finish their school course and proceed to the
university, and were thus introduced to all branches of natural history.
The public schools which adopted the same plan later on did but imitate
us, and not so thoroughly.
The anti-religious movement of 1901 having alarmed many families, so
that the number of scholars decreased, it was found necessary to suspend
operations. At a later period, when I myself was made rector of the
college, I contrived to make considerable additions, but the troubles
stirred up by the revolutionary press checked the work, which has been
at a standstill for two years. Such is the truth of our wealth in
Portugal.
What am I to say of our seminary fund, that, I mean, which is devoted to
the education of young men in the society? How many of our opponents
have expended their eloquence in vigorous denunciation of our wealth,
without reflecting on the circumstances under which our recruits are
enrolled and trained! The training in the society is very slow; one who
goes through the entire course is occupied in it for fifteen or even
seventeen years. There are included the ascetical training of the
Novitiate, then the literary and philosophical and the theological, and
as a rule there is introduced one of practical pedagogy for those who
are to teach in the colleges.
On the other hand, the great majority of vocations to the order were
from the middle or lower classes, and the subjects had but little to
obtain from their parents.
[Illustration: NUNS ARRESTED.]
It thus resulted that for the heavy expenses necessary for this lengthy
training of some two hundred priests and scholastics, about a hundred of
whom were engaged in study at home or abroad, the sole resource was the
fund established by some of our own members who had devoted their own
fortunes to this very purpose. I can here testify that the vast majority
of ours in Portugal never gave aught to the society, either because they
had nothing to give or because superiors would not permit them, on
account of the poverty of their relatives. Hence it resulted that the
funds destined for the training and instruction of our young men were
wholly inadequate, and opulent benefactors whose generosity might supply
the deficit were but rare in our country, where wealthy Catholics are
few, and the fixed idea of Jesuit wealth hinders even our best friends
from allowing us to benefit even by the large sums spent upon charitable
purposes.
What, then, about our methods of acquiring inheritances? Against this
slander I protest with all my energy. The fantastic pictures, frequently
drawn in lurid colors by our enemies, are mere repetitions of the time
worn fables invented by pamphleteers. Seldom indeed have legacies been
bequeathed to us in Portugal, and in two cases alone were they at all
considerable. Had they been more frequent we should have notably
extended our propaganda, religious, educational, literary and likewise
patriotic--both in our own country and its dominions over sea. How often
in conversation with my brethren, when speaking of generous bequests
made to the Misericordias, and especially to that of O'Porto, have I not
remarked on the terrible outcry which would be aroused were any portion
of such wealth to be assigned to works of the Society of Jesus.
_3. INVEIGLING YOUTHS TO JOIN THE ORDER._
Never has it been thought blame-worthy for anyone to invite others, by
word or writing, to join the association which he himself esteems, and
whose prosperity he accordingly desires; a religious man has a right to
recommend any who possess the requisite qualities to join his order, and
serve God therein. I must, however, make an exception in the case of our
society, which will doubtless astonish many.
We have a special rule forbidding us to advise anyone definitely to join
the society, or to do more than further what we believe to be a genuine
vocation from God, without any particular determination.
Such I know was the conduct of all my brethren, and had they done
otherwise they would not only have transgressed their rule, but,
moreover, have acted foolishly. In fact, the first question put to a
candidate for admission is whether he has been influenced by anyone in
this way, it being certain that a youth so attracted would not
persevere. In truth, life in the society demands such self-sacrifice,
and obedience so perfect, that nothing but a genuine call from God can
insure fidelity, no human influence will avail for perseverance.
The long training, too, prior to the taking of final vows, affords such
a guarantee of human liberty as there is in no other state of life, for
during all this period--extending, as I have said, to fifteen or
seventeen years--each of us may be released from the society, as he
surely will be if he have not a real vocation.
As a matter of fact, our enemies in Portugal provided us with abundant
arguments to refute this charge. For some weeks before the republic was
proclaimed the revolutionary newspapers published various letters of one
of our fathers to a young man who had intended for some time to join the
society. These letters are models of prudence, moderation and spiritual
honor, and whoever without prejudice or heed of the malicious comments
in which they were embedded, will but study these harmless epistles, so
worthy of a good religious, will find in them a conclusive answer to the
slander against us.
_4. OUR SECRET ASSOCIATIONS._
If there were any such amongst us would it not be somewhat curious to
find that those who prosecute us on this account are amongst the most
influential patrons of secret societies? However this may be, there is
no accusation more utterly false than this. The institute and rules of
the society are today--more than ever--open to all the world in every
public library. It is true that since 1901 the society has assumed a
kind of pseudo character in the eyes of the public and the law. But this
was imposed upon us by statesmen who, though at the head of a Catholic
government, did not dare to grant to a religious order approved by the
Holy See that liberty given us even in Protestant countries which have a
true notion of freedom.
We had therefore to assume the pseudonym of "Association for Faith and
Fatherland" ("Associao Fe e Patria"). I must acknowledge that,
threatened as we were with dispersion and banishment, we were but too
glad to obtain this simulacrum of liberty, and to avail ourselves of any
title under which we might devote ourselves to the utmost for the
benefit of religion and of Portugal. But, I repeat, it was unwillingly
that we adopted this incognito, which moreover hoodwinked nobody.
The actual Republican Government took possession of our own official
catalogues, in which were recorded all our names and occupations. They
may thus see that we never thought there was any reason to make a
mystery of our existence or to shrink from letting it be known to the
full that we bear a title which esteem next to that of Christian, namely
of religious of the Society of Jesus.
_5. POLITICAL AND ANTI-REPUBLICAN ACTIVITY._
Opinions expressed in certain articles of the Mensageiro whispers of
later years concerning our share in the polemics of the newspaper named
Portugal, and innumerable fictions about the Jesuits, on occasions of
the late elections; such were the causes of the accusation that we
meddled with politics.
As for the Mensageiro, its articles are open to all who choose to read
them, and the doctrines there expressed as to the responsibility of the
electorate in regard of legislation and its execution, as to the
solidarity of the members of our party, its traditions, programme and
political life, are after all only those which are common amongst every
people with whom the principles of civic culture and the social
obligations of Catholics have not been so lamentably forgotten as with
us. Only those who realize how utterly all is ignored which has been
ventilated in these subjects outside Portugal, by episcopal pastorals,
ecclesiastical instructions, and the zealous propaganda of the press,
can explain the astonishment of many Portuguese, to whom conclusions
concerning morals and conduct which elsewhere were familiar to all
seemed altogether novel.
But however we may differ in regard of such matters, what kind of
liberty would a country enjoy in which a theologian or moralist was not
permitted to express the doctrines in which he believed or to write in
periodicals on subjects of his special study?
As to the journal Portugal, a letter from its editor-in-chief published
a few days ago may take the place of a reply. In it he declares that
during the latest phase of the paper, precisely that in which it was
most fiercely attacked for its polemical attitude, the society had no
share whatever.
In saying this I have no desire to shirk responsibility, or to express
disapproval of the energy displayed by the Catholic press. Far from it.
Truth must be vigorously championed, and the more so in proportion as
the enemies of religion claim for themselves unrestrained license of
language and calumny. They cannot indeed be fought with their own
weapons, which honor and Christian charity forbid us to use, but at
least they must be encountered with unflinching courage and resolute
independence.
A revolutionary journal lately published a letter of mine in which I
asked a correspondent to interest himself in obtaining support for those
responsible for the "Portugal." I say nothing of the surreptitious
publication of a private letter, nor of the insidious comments by which
it was accompanied. I would only observe that the interest which I
exhibited in this undertaking shows no more than that its general drift
was in accord with my own views. Is there any offense in this?--even
were it a fact that the articles written during the last stage of this
newspaper were in reality ours.
Finally, as regards the last election, I must absolutely deny the fables
circulated concerning my brethren by an unscrupulous press. I say
nothing of the silly tales of Jesuits, crucifix in hand, threatening all
who voted for the government with everlasting damnation. Such nonsense
proves only how little those who spread these stories know about us.
More than this, not one of my brethren took part in any electoral
propaganda. Some Catholics even will be surprised to learn that very
few of us recorded our votes, this abstention being justified in most
cases for serious reasons, by which alone can it be justified in such
circumstances.
As to advice given by us when privately consulted, and in matters of
conscience, I should not say anything, but for the factitious
indignation exhibited by the hostile press, and its misrepresentation of
facts divorced from their circumstances.
The last government of the monarchy from its commencement not only
showed itself distinctly anti-clerical, but after variously infringing
the rights of the Church, began a persecution of religious orders,
affording clear evidence to all who did not choose to shut their eyes
that their purpose in regard of these was no other than that exhibited
in the last decrees issued in the king's name the day previous to his
deposition, and exaltingly proclaimed in the public press immediately
after the revolution. Now, I would ask, what Catholic priest wishing to
do his duty in face of such a state of things would not uplift his voice
against so manifest a danger and with the Baptist denounce what he holds
to be unlawful?
On this particular question of politics, as on many others, I was
honored with gratuitous slander by the enemies of the society, who
attributed to my government of the province a new direction given to the
society in Portugal. The truth is that neither as superior nor as
counsellor had I ever to interfere, as these insidious writers
pretended, with the conduct of ours.
The policy of the Society of Jesus at the present day, as it has ever
been, is that expressed in the Lord's Prayer, "Thy kingdom come, Thy
will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The enemies of God and His
Church cannot forgive our combat for this ideal and our constant
endeavor for its realization.
Hence the implacable hostility wherewith we have ever been assailed,
with charges the most diverse which in various times and circumstances
have been found serviceable against us. In every case our adversaries
have proved to be those of God and the Catholic Church.
What is now in progress proves the truth of what I say. It is alleged
that we Jesuits are the worst enemies of the republic, and must
accordingly be treated with exceptional severity. This is a mere
pretence. The society has nothing to do with Republican institutions as
such. When absolute monarchies were the rule throughout the civilized
world, the foremost Jesuit writers already taught, on grounds of
philosophy and divinity, the fundamental principles of democracy, and at
the present day none of our provinces are more prosperous or enjoy
greater liberty than those established under republics; it will be
sufficient to name that of the United States.
There is, therefore, no such opposition as is pretended between Jesuits
and republics.
It will, however, be objected that in Portugal at least we are
anti-republicans.
But, in the first place, wherever it is situated, the society, like the
Catholic Church, inculcates loyalty to whatever form of government is
duly established. And Portugal was a monarchy.
A still more powerful reason precluded our sympathy with the Republican
movement in Portugal, namely, that the republic as exhibited in our
national history was not the republic imagined by speculative
sociologists. It is Republicans who make a republic, and who were these
in Portugal? With few very rare exceptions they were the declared
enemies of religion, either avowed unbelievers, or at best wholly
indifferent to all beyond politics. Could we, without being false to our
most cherished principles, affect sympathy with such a party?
They themselves undertook to show by their actions that we were not
wrong; just as the last government under the monarchy clearly showed by
its action that we were not mistaken in its regard.
I must, however, acknowledge that for all my dread of the revolutionary
intolerance of these advocates of liberty, my simplicity was at fault,
since I never dreamed of what we are witnessing today.
_6. REACTIONARY INFLUENCE._
As it seems to me, I have replied to all the pretexts alleged to justify
all the arbitrary tyranny, the spoliations and outrages against liberty
of which my religious brethren and myself have been the victims. It
remains only to speak of what is proclaimed as the final motive of the
laws enacted against us, that our influence is reactionary.
Well! our enemies are right! If this reactionary spirit signifies
fidelity and love for the Catholic Church, self-renunciation for
Christ's sake, earnest endeavor that no jot or tittle of His law be
neglected; if it means that we have striven to produce in Portugal a
body of active and fearless Catholics, who will not confine themselves
to prayers, but will labor by word and deed to renew all things in
Christ; that to this end we employ every means within our reach, the
pulpit, the confessional, lectureships, the press, in order thus to
promote the glory of God and salvation of souls--then in truth we are
reactionaries, and guilty of the offense laid to our charge.
Strange offense indeed, in a country where on every hand we hear our
enemies proclaiming liberty of conscience, of speech, of the press!
Strange offense of which to be accused by men who denounced the monarchy
for suppressing freedom, while in the columns of their newspapers and
the rhetoric of their meetings they were violently attacking authority
and its representatives; an offense to be punished by those who were
never weary of declaring that every man must be allowed to propagate and
fight for his own ideas. Yet what else did we do? Were we ever known to
enforce the agreement of others or to avenge ourselves for their
disagreement by inflicting upon them what we have ourselves
endured--arrest, imprisonment, confiscation, banishment? No, it cannot
be said that such conduct was ever ours; it is peculiar to those false
prophets of liberty who, instead of responding with reason and argument,
seek to reduce us forcibly to silence, or to crush us with insult and
declamation.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Punctuation and spelling errors repaired.
P. xvi, "transcendental and the empiric" original reads "empyric."
P. 6, "Abbe St. Cyran" original reads "Abbie."
P. 85-86, original shows block quote as one continuing paragraph, not
breaking for each article; retained.
P. 116, "Pius VII. embarked" original reads "Pius VI. embarked."
P. 148, "J. ARCHEVEQUE de CORINTHE," original reads "d CORINTHE."
P. 269-270, No "Art. 4" in the original.
P. 363 "three months relay" changed to "three months delay."
Five cases of Buonaparte (p. vi, 106, 114[2], 120) changed to more
frequent Bonaparte (50).
P. 415, "Shipman, in his expose" original reads "expose."
P. 438, "obsolete legislation of Pombal" original reads "Pomal."
The following variant spellings were standardized: Abbe, abbe and abbie
to abbe; Emigre, emigre, and emigre to emigre; Floreal and Floreal to
Floreal; Jaures to Jaures; protege to protege; Anti-christian(ism) to
anti-Christian(ism); Anticlerical/ to anti-clerical/, Leipsic and
Leipsig to Leipzig, licence to license, offence to offense, Salzbourg to
Salzburg, saviour to savior, Texeira to Teixeira, Souza to Sousa,
Tolentino to Tollentino, tranquillity to tranquility, ultra-montainism
to ultramontainism, defense to defence (except where "Defense" occurred
in the title of a referenced document), roues to roues, despatch to
dispatch.
Both advisers and advisors, monarchial and monarchical, Monsignor and
Monseigneurs, Savoy and Savoie (an area within Savoy), Braunsberg and
Brauensberg, czar and tzar were used in this text.