Produced by MFR and the Online Distributed Proofreading
Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Transcriber’s Note: A list of changes made to the text to correct typos,
etc., is given at the end.
The original of this book was printed with the Latin and English on
opposite pages. This isn’t terribly practical for an e-text, so instead,
the chapters are presented first in Latin, followed by the English
translation (and the original page numbering has been removed, as it
would no longer be accurate or helpful).
SECRETA MONITA
SOCIETATIS JESU.
THE
SECRET COUNSELS
OF THE
SOCIETY OF JESUS,
IN LATIN AND ENGLISH.
THE LATIN BEING THE TEXT USED IN FORMER EDITIONS:
THE ENGLISH, A NEW AND MORE LITERAL VERSION.
TO WHICH IS PREFIXED
A DISCOURSE
ON THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE WORK,
BY
ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE.
SECOND AMERICAN EDITION.
BALTIMORE:
EDWARD J. COALE & CO.
1835.
Entered
According to Act of Congress,
In the year Eighteen Hundred and Thirty-five,
By EDWARD J. COALE & Co.
In the Clerk’s office of the District Court
Of Maryland.
DEDICATION.
TO
The present ARCHBISHOP of BALTIMORE;
Who is said,
By his friends, to be a person of talents and learning;
And who is believed,
By many, to belong to the
ORDER OF JESUITS;
THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED:
Under the conviction, that his duty, as a GENTLEMAN,
A SCHOLAR, AND A CHRISTIAN,
Requires him,
To refute the book if false;
or,
To admit its genuineness, if it is true:
By his obedient servant,
THE EDITOR.
BALTIMORE, _July 22, 1835_.
DISCOURSE ON THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE SECRETA MONITA.
I. It is certainly of the greatest importance, in determining the
value of the SECRETA MONITA as evidence in estimating the character
of the _Society of Jesus_, to come to some satisfactory conclusion
as to the authenticity of the work itself. If it can be shown to be
really what it purports to be, then indeed the most secret principles
of the most extraordinary and most universally execrated fraternity
that ever appeared amongst men, are plainly laid open to the public
view; and all may see the profound source of all those active, extended
and unceasing operations, by which these persons kept so large a part
of the world in ceaseless commotion for so many years. If indeed the
work be not perfectly authentic, that is, if instead of being the real
_Secret counsels_ of the order emanating from its very head, revealed
by accident; it should appear to be a revelation made by an expelled
Jesuit, as some of them say, or a mere supposititious composition as
others pretend, compiled from their various authors and embodying what an
enemy might suppose they would say, if they officially propounded their
real secret instructions, the case would perhaps appear to be somewhat
weakened. But even then, if an expelled member had written it, it might
all be true; and while the power to show it was not, if indeed it was
not, would be complete in the society, its failure to do so, added to
inherent evidence of genuineness, in the work itself, might establish
its reality on as unquestionable grounds as if it had the imprimatur
of the general himself upon its face. Or if the last supposition can
be considered as possible, a compilation of the most clear and well
defined rules of action drawn from unquestionable sources, and thrown
together into one volume would seem if possible the very clearest mode,
of exhibiting the general and real spirit of the body, to which all
the writers belonged. There are schools of _morals_, of _politics_, of
_crime_, as well as of letters and of all things else. It is a wide,
terrible, and peculiar school whose opinions and conduct are here
illustrated. And if it be faithfully done, by the laborious compilation
and classification of materials drawn from a thousand sources, a more
impressive and fair method cannot well be imagined.
II. It is certainly past all dispute that this book has, for a very
long period, been in possession of the world. Here it is, handed down
to us through several centuries. To sneer at it, and pass it by, is
simply to establish its unanswerable authority. To be unable to give any
satisfactory account of it; is to let it prove itself. It exists; it
could not have produced itself. Whence did it come? But three solutions
are possible.
1. It is an authentic work, containing the real facts it pretends to
contain; and being what it purports to be.
2. It is the work of some expelled Jesuit, and may be more or less true,
according to his knowledge of what he tried to reveal, or his integrity
in telling truly what he knew.
3. It is the work of an enemy, who never was a Jesuit, but who has
pretended to put into the mouth of the chief authorities of that order,
what he believed they would say, if they uttered their real sentiments on
the points here treated of.
III. Let us then briefly examine each of these suppositions in turn. And
_first, is this work authentic?_ I reply there is scarcely a particle of
reason to doubt it.
1. In the British Museum there is a work printed at Venice in 1596, with
this title “_Hæ Formulæ diversarum Provisionum a Gaspare Passarello
summo studio in unum collectæ et per ordinem in suis locis annotatæ_.”
At the end of that (and where more likely?) the SECRETA MONITA, in Latin
is copied in Manuscript, apparently by a Jesuit, for his own private
use;—with solemn cautions at the end, similar to those found in the
printed preface to the work itself, that the utmost care was to be taken
that few, and these most trusty, should know them; and that if ever
imputed to the society, they must be denied.
2. In the year 1658, there was a translation of the work from Latin into
English, published in England. This edition is frequently to be met with.
In the preface to it, it is related that Duke Christian of Brunswick
took possession of the Jesuit College at Paderborn, in Westphalia, when
he entered that place, and gave the Library and Manuscripts to the
Capuchins, who found the SECRETA MONITA amongst the archives of the
Rector. It is also asserted that other copies were found at _Prague_ and
elsewhere.
3. Dr. Compton, the celebrated Bishop of London published another English
version of the SECRETA MONITA in the year 1669; having satisfied himself,
after full examination, of the genuineness of the work.
4. In the year 1717, there was published at Amsterdam, a Latin edition of
the SECRETA MONITA, under the title of “_Machiavelli Mus Jesuiticus_,”
inscribed to _John Krausius_, a Jesuit. A copy of this edition is in the
British Museum.
5. There are also in the British Museum several German editions of the
SECRETA MONITA.
6. In the year 1722, another edition of this work was published in
London, dedicated to _Sir Robert Walpole_, prime Minister of England.
7. Another Edition, and which is supposed to have been the last that
appeared in England, was published in 1746. This, as well as the last
preceding Edition, has the Latin, and English, on opposite pages; and are
both preserved in the British Museum.
8. In the year 1727, a French edition of the SECRETA MONITA was published
at _Cologne_ under the title _Les Mysteries les plus secret des Jesuites
contenus en diverses Pieces originales_.
9. In the year 1831, the first American edition of the SECRETA MONITA was
published at Princeton N. J. with the original Latin on one page, and
a very diffuse English translation on the other. This edition is said
on the title page to be printed verbatim from the English edition of
1725; which is one not contained in the above list, and will therefore
be added, by the reader as an additional testimony. In the advertisement
to this edition a statement is made, which I suppose relates to the
edition, numbered 4 in the above series. If however the statement relates
to a different edition, it forms an additional support to the proof in
the case. The story in substance is that a bookseller in Amsterdam, by
name _John Schipper_, bought a copy of the SECRETA MONITA at Antwerp,
and reprinted it. The Jesuits hearing that he had such a work, demanded
it of him, but he had sent it to Holland. A Jesuit of Amsterdam, soon
afterwards learned from Van Eyk, a Catholic Bookseller that Schipper was
printing a book that concerned the Society; he replied that if it was
only the _Rules of the Society_ he should not be under any concern: but
desired him to ascertain what it was. When the Bookseller discovered that
it was the _Secreta Monita_, the father greatly agitated said, it must
be denied that this piece comes from the Society. As soon however as the
book appeared, the whole edition nearly was bought up by the Jesuits.
From one of the few copies not suppressed, the book was reprinted, with
this story prefixed, there said to be taken from two _Roman Catholics of
Credit_.
Now, here is 1. the Venice Edition of 1596, or thereabouts; 2. the
English edition of 1658, taken from the Paderborn and Prague copies;—3.
Dr. Compton’s edition of 1669, to which let us add the other English
editions of 1722, 1725 and 1746, and the first American edition of 1831,
as all drawn from the same source, though this is entirely gratuitous;
4. the Amsterdam edition of 1717, to which add the other two Amsterdam
editions, mentioned in the first American edition, which is also
gratuitous; 5. the several editions, (supposing them to be reprints of
each other, which is gratuitous,) found in German in the British Museum;
6. the French edition of 1727. At the least we produce six separate, and
wholly independent proofs, from six different sources that this is a
perfectly genuine and authentic record. These records are found in the
Latin, German, French and English Languages. They extend over a period
exceeding two hundred years. They were found in five or six sovereign
states, the most of which, professed the Catholic faith and one of them,
Venice, under the very eyes of the Sovereign Pontiff. And they all agree,
in every fact, stated by each. Now it would be the most incredible event
ever established by proof, if this various and concurring evidence
should be proven to have accidentally conduced all to the very same
result and still all be false. It would on the other hand be the most
extraordinary circumstance ever conceived of, that so many persons, in so
distant places, and so separated by ages, should conspire, and succeed in
practising such a fraud as this, upon the minds of men. Indeed it is hard
to imagine, how the genuineness and perfect authenticity of any record,
could be established on more irrefragable proofs.
IV. There are however those who deny that the SECRETA MONITA is
authentic: but make the allegation contained in the second of the three
suppositions made above. This brings us to consider, whether as they say,
this book may not be the work of some expelled Jesuit, and therefore
false.
It may be observed that, it would not by any means follow that because
the Jesuits had expelled a man, therefore all his statements must
necessarily be false. Perhaps the contrary would be quite as fair a
conclusion; unless indeed, all the allegations of history against this
order be false. It would seem, amongst the most probable events, that an
upright man, who chanced to become possessed of their real designs, would
desire to leave them as fast as he could; and would thus subject himself
to expulsion, if that were their way of treating the refractory.
But an expelled Jesuit is, I apprehend, a rarer being, even than a candid
one. They know little of priests, little of Rome, nothing of the spirit
of the Society of Jesus, as they profanely call themselves, who can for
one moment suppose, that the high and trusty dignitaries of the order,
(and none else knew their secrets,)—would escape with expulsion, and the
power to reveal them. The cord, the bowl, the dagger, are instruments not
perfectly unknown to this fraternity; and none ever knew better, that the
dead speak not. The light of history must be put out, and the ferocious
spirit that even in this free land gnashes on us with its hideous teeth
must be more warily concealed, before such stories about _expelled
Jesuits_ can gain credence.
But if this were the work of expelled Jesuits,—the order must have been
peculiarly unhappy. For, from the proofs adduced, there must have been
at the least _four of them_, widely separated in country and distant by
generations from each other! This Venetian Jesuit about 1596, and this
Jesuit at Amsterdam in 1717, nearly a hundred and twenty years after him:
these Jesuits at Prague and Paderborn about the middle of the seventeenth
century, and those French Jesuits at Cologne far into the eighteenth,
eighty years apart; how could it be, that so many of them should have
been expelled as if for the very purpose of miraculously writing
falsehoods, that were perfectly identical! Upon the whole, this is a
better story than that for which some are silly enough to say they have
the unanimous consent of the fathers, about the miraculous translation
of the Septuagint, by seventy men, in seventy cells who in an incredibly
short time turned all the old Testament from Hebrew into Greek, all using
identically the same words!
The story originally set on foot by one CORDARA, (as quoted by Mr.
DALLAS, the English defender of this order,) and afterwards repeated
by the Jesuit GRETSER, that the SECRETA MONITA, was the production of
an expelled Polish Jesuit, by name _Jerome Zarowich_; and that it was
written by him in 1616; is not only absurd, but is contradicted by
himself. It is absurd to suppose that any one man could have produced
the whole copies of the work, under the circumstances already stated.
It is equally absurd, to call a man the Author of a work in 1616, which
was in existence about 1596, as is shown above, in a distant country.
But _Gretser_ himself says, that the SECRETA MONITA, was put into the
Index of prohibited books, and its perusal condemned at Rome in 1616;
which proves clearly, that it could not have been at that very time in
a process of composition, at Cracow in Poland, hundreds of leagues from
Rome!—This admission shows, however, the great antiquity of the work; and
its being put into the _Prohibitory Index_, shows the great anxiety of
the Jesuits to have it suppressed; and confirms the story told in the
_first American edition_, about one of the _Amsterdam_ editions. Those
who wish to see GRETSER demolished, may examine DR. JONES’ _Defence of
the Bellum Papale_.
These persons however call this work, a mere forgery: not giving the
expelled Jesuit, even a pretext for his alleged libel on the society.
This however is as ridiculous, as it is shamelessly false.
In the first place, if any one man ever lived who was capable of
producing, from his mind, this system of subtle, profound and all
grasping crime, (which is hardly credible,)—then it may be confidently
maintained, that if he had ever fallen into the hands of this society, he
was just the man, that the world’s wealth could not have purchased from
them.
Again, whoever will attentively read over these _secret counsels_,
will at once perceive that they exhibit a system so peculiar in all
respects, as could only have been suggested and concocted under the most
extraordinary circumstances. It is such as must have been social in its
origin,—and founded on the common sagacity, experience, forecast, and
interests of several, if not many, utterly unscrupulous minds. There is
no possible account of this system’s origin, that can be so incredible
as that which pretends, that one man produced it by mere excogitation.
If that were indeed so, it would be the greatest intellectual wonder the
world ever beheld.
But the truth is, that the minute proofs, which establish the fact that
this book is no forgery, are so remarkable, as to force us to admit its
genuineness, or to shut our eyes to truth.
In the first place, the style of the Latin composition, is such that
it must have been written, by persons, having slight pretensions to
learning. The expressions are occasionally grossly ungrammatical; very
often most singularly vulgar. And yet the scope of the whole is awful!
Again, the turn of the expression, is such as to render it certain,
that the authors of the Latin did not think in English. I dare not use
the same confidence as to other languages,—but I believe no scholar
will deny, that the manner of writing shows that the authors could
not have thought either in French or German.—It is probable that one
individual put this work originally into form, as we find the expression
“_inquam_,”—_I say_, _&c._; and it is nearly certain that that person
was a _Spaniard_. For first, the spelling of the Latin is sometimes
peculiar, and resembling the Spanish; and secondly, unusual technical
words, are drawn from that language. Such are _syndicationibus_, (Chap.
vii. 8.) from the _Spanish_, _Sindicado_ (_judicium_,) the judgment or
authoritative sentence, instead of the French _Syndical_, which could not
express the sense intended; and the German _Syndicat_ which only means
the tribunal itself. So also, _Cilicia_, (Chap. vii. 9.,) which passing
by the Latin _Cilium_, from which the word might have been formed,
and the French _Cilice_, uses almost the very letters of the Spanish
_Cilicio_, _a hair shirt_.—
Such peculiarities seem to draw down our minds almost irresistibly, to
the very band of detestable, ignorant, and yet shrewd conspirators, who
originated, and for the first fifty years, controlled this fearful and
diabolical corporation. Their very speech betrayeth them.
So again the whole turn of thought, in those numerous and most infamous
passages which relate to females, and especially to widows, show
evidently, that the prevailing ideas were drawn from a state of society
neither English, French, nor German, but peculiarly _Spanish_.
Thus too, some of the most incredible things contained in the whole book,
and which no audacity would think of forging, and nothing but absolute
truth could embolden a man to assert, from the very unreasonableness of
the thing, and the certainty of exposure, have actually been remarkably
exemplified in practice, years after their publication. In chap. vi.
1. for example, it is coolly laid down as a settled rule of conduct,
that initiated Jesuits are in certain cases _to pledge their faith and
stake their souls, on the behalf of those they wish to gain over to
their object_. This, I admit, seems wholly incredible. And yet the Duke
of Brunswick, has solemnly declared to mankind, that one of the most
weighty reasons (being the 50th of his series) which induced him to turn
Catholic was precisely this. He had asked many Protestants if they would
agree to be damned in his stead, if he remained a Protestant, and their
religion should by chance be false; and not one would agree to it! But on
the other hand, many Catholics readily agreed to such terms, if he would
become one of them. The little volume containing the Duke’s reasons,
(just such reasons, as one would expect to see used to justify such an
act,) has been actively handed about by Papists, as an instrument of
proselyting, in various parts of America.
Still further, the most minute details of these terrible chapters, have
been fulfilled even in this community, at the end of more than two
centuries after the wonderful book was put into the prohibitory Index at
Rome. Of this I make three signal citations.
1. In the preface to the book, they are directed as a principle, to deny
their own rules, acts and every thing, no matter how true, certain,
and estimable, provided policy requires it; and to have uninformed or
unscrupulous members to confirm their denial by oath. Now in this very
city, I have known priests, and many others, deny the very decrees
and canons, of their most famous councils; and openly traduce as
calumniators, those who quoted their books, printed by Archiepiscopal
authority in our very midst, and sold daily every where!
2. In the first chapter, it is recommended as peculiarly important, to
have connections with _Hospitals_, _Prisons_ &c. In this city at this
time, an _order_ of _female professed_, holding the nearest intercourse
with the Jesuits, has possession of two of our most important public
institutions, for the sick. In one, if not both, there are mass altars,
at the expense of the public; and the compensation given, to these
females, (of the order, two of whose members were witnesses to the will
forged by the late Rector of the Cathedral) is kept secret, while the
public is made to believe that nothing is paid for their services.
3. In Chapter viii. the method is pointed out by which the sons of widows
may be induced to join this monstrous fraternity. Now it so happens, that
both Mr. Whitefield the last Archbishop, and Mr. Eccleston the present
one, were _widows’ sons_! And what is worse, of Protestant extraction.
And what is final and conclusive, if the best proof in our reach is to
be credited, both Jesuits!
These are only specimens, of the exact and minute fulfilment, _of lies
forged two hundred years ago_, as they would persuade us by an expelled
Jesuit in impotent, and sheer malice! The least that can be said is
that our priests and prelates, and their——_sisters_, have been most
unfortunate in their _accidental confirmations of those falsehoods_!
V. We now come to the last supposition, of which the case seems to admit;
namely, that the SECRETA MONITA, is the work of some implacable enemy of
the Society, who never was a member of it, but has here exhibited the
principles by which he believed, or at least wished to persuade others,
that its secret affairs were conducted.
In refutation of such an opinion, if any one ever held an opinion so
entirely absurd, it may in general be observed, that the whole amount of
proof for two centuries, and the universal consent of all disinterested
persons, to the sufficiency of that proof, cannot be set aside by the
suggestion even of probable conjectures, still less by such as are highly
improbable, indicating a different state of case. Now all the learned,
both Protestants and Catholics, so that they were not Jesuits, have
constantly and with one accord, received this book as authentic in the
fullest sense. Every person who has written expressly on the subject
of the Jesuits, _not being one of their creatures_,—all who have had
occasion to touch incidently on the subject, all compilers of current
opinion, and received truth in the present and past ages, unanimously
agree, that these _secret counsels_, are the mystery of iniquity, by
which this association has produced so much harm. Surely something above
conjecture and assertion are wanting to rebut this _unanimous consent_.
It may also be observed, that he who will carefully examine this
system, will see, that organized as human society has been, and without
pronouncing on the merit or demerit of the system itself; it is in the
highest degree clear, that if the Jesuits had adopted such rules of
conduct as these, they must have produced great and lasting effects.
On the other hand, if we look back at what the Jesuits have done and
suffered, we see in these rules, the clearest exposition of their
greatness and their overthrow. To my mind, no proofs of genuineness could
be more complete, than those which thus spring up, from the very nature
of the case, and stamp themselves indelibly upon it.—And this is most
remarkably true, if we remember, that the production and publication of
this work, occurred within less than sixty years after the origin of
the order,—before the developement of its greatness, and its general
infamy for its crimes; and has come down side by side with it, through
successive ages crying to the world, at once with the voice of prophecy,
and the undeniable truth of history!
The difficulties which must have existed in the way of any attempt
to compile such a work as this, from the most abundant sources even,
are so very great, that it is next to impossible any man could have
done it, without committing such and so many blunders as to render
detection certain. That an obscure and now forgotten person should have
accomplished such a work, is not capable of belief. That such a person
should have completed and issued such a work before the great mass of
the publications from which they say he pretended to draw it, were
written, is childish folly to assert. And that these mighty and terrible
Jesuits afterwards wrote these works to confirm what the SECRETA MONITA,
had before said, or to give a colour to the allegation, that it was so
compiled, no one will be mad enough to pretend.
The new state of the world out of which this order arose made it
different from all things that had existed before. In compiling this
work, the author must know all their peculiarities, must understand
their entire design, must enter into their prejudices—must see through
their code of morals—must be perfect master of their grand scheme, and
all the means by which it was to be compassed. See their peculiarities,
their contempt of all other orders, their asserting contrary to all other
orders, _that the Church was a monarchy_ (chap. ix. 16.) their devotion
to the education of youth, their special intrigues with the great; their
snares for widows and servants—the singular privileges, personal and
social, of the order, the peculiar difficulties that they had met with,
in different places, and the especial hatreds they had already conceived,
their whole plan, and their whole profound, sagacious, corrupt,
complicated, and secret machinery! Who could know, who could gather out
of scattered volumes even if they existed, or by private industry and
opportunities, such a system as this! It is out of all the bounds of
belief, that such a system could be so formed, and then so fitted, as
this has fitted.
But if any choose to think otherwise, then let them rest satisfied
that he who should gather up, out of a thousand sources the true
principles and policy of any order of men, from their own writings and
actions, would thus give the most complete and comprehensive view of
it, that could by possibility be produced. It would then stand forth, a
living, moving, acting creature; and not, as in the naked principles,
dogmatically laid down, a great, but inanimate outline. Let them rest
assured moreover, that he who did this, in the case in hand, with no
very ample materials, at the period the work was done, if ever, has
accomplished a work, the like of which cannot be produced out of all the
annals of the world, for perfect accuracy and immeasurable success. If
such a man ever lived, we may safely pronounce him, the most remarkable
of his race, and mourn that he has left behind no trace of his being, but
this stupendous triumph.
VI. There is in this case one peculiar circumstance which gives to the
authenticity of the SECRETA MONITA, the seal of absolute certainty, while
it casts the darkest shade over the society. Why have the Jesuits any
_secret_ rules or instructions, or principles of conduct or objects of
effort? Why this secrecy? And how, at so early a period of their history,
as the end of the sixteenth century, was the author of this work,
supposing him to have been no Jesuit, to have known with such certainty,
the existence and the nature of such secrets?
For many years they did indeed deny that any such secret rules existed;
and doubtless, they will now deny, that these are the real _secret
counsels_ by which their affairs are conducted. But about the middle of
the last century, when the society was suppressed in Portugal for being
accessory to the assassination of King Joseph I. and suddenly expelled
from Spain for their complicated crimes; their constitutions and secret
records fell into the hands of the public. And in the famous controversy
before the great Chamber at Paris, between the merchants of Lyons and
Marseilles and the French Jesuits, in the year 1761, about the immense
losses in the Martinica trade, the court demanded, and in a luckless hour
the Jesuits produced, their secret constitutions; thus falsifying all
their former statements.
But it had been long certain, that what was now first admitted was really
true. In the year 1624 the University of Paris, charged this order with
being “_governed by private laws, neither sanctioned by kings, nor
registered by parliaments; and which they were afraid to communicate,
having done all in their power to prevent their being seen by any other
than those of the society_.” (Hist. of the Jesuits p. 329 of vol. 1.) How
perfectly does this accord with their own maxims, in their preface to
the present work; _let no one who knows our secrets, be allowed to join
any other order, except the CARTHUSIANS who preserve strict retirement
and perfect silence; WHICH THE SEE OF ROME HAS CONFIRMED_? So that the
allegation of the unknown libeller who the Jesuits would have us believe
forged the _Secreta Monita_, is confirmed by the direct declaration
of the University of Paris, and placed past doubt by the indirect
confirmation of the Pope himself!
But I will produce one more witness,—PALAEOX, _Bishop of Angelopolis_,
in his famous letter to POPE INNOCENT X. dated Jan. 8, 1649, writing of
this society, demands “_what other Religion has a secret constitution,
hidden privileges, and concealed laws of its own? And what other order
has all those things which relate to its government involved in so much
mystery? There is suspicion in mystery. The rules of all other orders are
open to all; even the Rules and Canons of Popes, Cardinals, Bishops, and
the whole clergy; the privileges, instructions, and statutes, of other
religious orders may be seen and consulted in almost every library; and
the lowest novice in the Franciscan order may read at one view, what
his duty would be, if he should ever become the General of his Order._
BUT THE SUPERIORS OF THE JESUITS DO NOT GOVERN THEM BY THE RULES OF THE
CHURCH, WHICH ARE KNOWN TO ALL, BUT BY CERTAIN SECRET RULES, (_Regles
Cachees_) WHICH ARE ONLY KNOWN TO THOSE SUPERIORS.” (See p. 36, of the
edition printed at Cologne, in 1666.)
VII. Such a system can of course be found nowhere else; for such another
order, never was established amongst men. Indeed the only real ground
for hesitation is the reluctance with which the heart allows itself to
credit such things of this kind. If history were less replete with the
crimes of this atrocious fraternity, if the irresistible evidence of the
past, left us some room to question the utter and horrible depravity of
this order; there might be some room left, to relapse into a grateful
incredulity of such amazing sin. But there is not “a single hook on which
to hang a doubt.” If every thing that is impartial in history, can be
said to concur with irresistible light and power, upon one single point,
it is that this society has been the most perfectly diabolical that
ever was conceived. If there is in the wide compass of human thought,
one expression, that in every dialect used amongst men, conjures up at
once, all that is wicked, fearful and degraded; the supreme union of sin,
activity and genius; the very essence of what is to be hated, feared, and
shunned, that expression is, _a Jesuit priest_! Whence this universal
execration? Whence this “_unanimous consent_,” of all countries and ages
against them! The Infidel, the Catholic, the Protestant, _and the very
father of the faithful_: Hume, De Thou, Mosheim, and Gongenilli, as
specimens of all; Protestant England, Catholic Venice, Infidel France,
Pagan China, as a committee of the universe; why have all, every where,
denounced, abhored _Jesuitism_, as the sum of all evil! Reader, examine,
ponder these _secret counsels_, and you will see the solution of this
problem; and in that solution you cannot but find the fullest authority
for asserting the genuineness and authenticity of the book itself.
Upon the whole, there cannot be a doubt on the mind of any candid man who
will examine the subject, that this SECRETA MONITA, is no forgery; that
it is no ingeniously deduced system; but that it is sustainable by proofs
the most conclusive in its pretensions to be the _real secret counsels
of the society of Jesus_, profanely so called; drawn up at a very early
period of its existence; combining all its experience; revealing its
grand purpose—and constantly followed by its leading spirits.
SECRETA MONITA SOCIETATIS JESU.
THE SECRET INSTRUCTIONS OF THE JESUITS.
PRÆFATIO.
Privata hæc monita custodiant diligenter et penes se servent superiores,
paucisque ex professis ea tantum communicent, et aliqua de iis instruant
non professos, quando nimirum et quanto cum fructu societati usui sit;
illaque non nisi sub sigillo silentii, ne quidem ut scripta ab altero,
sed ex professis horum secretorum sunt conscii, ideo vel ab initio cavit
societas, ne ullus conscius horum posset ad alias religiones se conferre,
excepta Carthusianorum, ob perpetuam vitæ abstractionem, et indelebile
silentium; quod etiam sacra sedes confirmavit.
Cavendum omnino ne in manus externorum hæc monita deveniant, quia
sinistre ea interpretarentur, destinationi nostræ invidentes: quod si
hoc accidat (quod absit!) negentur hæc esse sensa societatis, idque per
illos confirmando è nostris, de quibus certo constat, quod ea ignorent;
opponanturque his monita nostra generalia, et ordinationes seu regulæ
impressæ vel scriptæ.
Superiores etiam sollicite semper et caute inquirant, an alicui externo
à nostris hæc monita prodita sint; nullus etiam hæc pro se, aut pro alio
transcribet, nisi conscio generali vel provinciali; et si de asservandis
tantis secretis de aliquo dubitetur, in contrarium illi imputetur, et
dimittatur.
PREFACE.
These _Secret Counsels_, the superiors should diligently keep, and
preserve among themselves; and only communicate them to a few of the
professed, and instil some of them into those who are not professed,
when it evidently may be done with much advantage to the society; and
then only under the seal of secrecy, and not then as if prescribed by
any one, but as the fruits of personal experience; and because many of
the professed know these secrets, from their commencement, the _Society_
has especially provided that no one acquainted with them should remove
himself to other religious orders, except to the _Carthusians_, because
of their perpetual solitude of life and obligatory silence; which the
Holy See has confirmed.
The utmost care should be taken that these _counsels_ should not come
into the hands of strangers, because envying our destiny they would
maliciously misinterpret them; but should this occur, which must be
prevented if possible, let it be denied that these are the principles of
the society, and this denial confirmed by those of us, whom we certainly
know to be ignorant of these rules; and let our public instructions, and
our rules or regulations printed or written, be set in opposition to them.
Let the superiors also, always carefully and cautiously inquire whether
these _counsels_ have been made known to strangers by any of us; and
also, let none transcribe them for himself or for another, unless by
consent of a general or provincial; and if there be a doubt of any one’s
fitness to be intrusted with such important secrets of the society,
convince him that you confide in him, but drop him.
SECRETA MONITA SOCIETATIS JESU. THE SECRET INSTRUCTIONS OF THE JESUITS.
CAP. I.
_Qualem Societas præstare sese debeat, cum incipit de novo
alicujus loci Fundationem._
I. Ut se gratam reddat incolis loci, multum conducet explicatio finis
Societatis præscripti in regulis, ubi dicitur Societatem summo conatu in
salutem proximi incumbere, æque atque in suam: quare humilia obsequia
obeunda in Xenodochiis, pauperes, et afflicti, et incarcerati invisendi,
confessiones prompte et generatim excipiendæ, ut insolita in omnes
charitate, et rei novitate eminentiores incolæ nostros admirentur et
ament.
II. Meminerint omnes facultatem ad exercenda Societatis ministeria
modeste ac religiose petendam, et omnes tum ecclesiasticos præsertim, tum
sæculares quorum auctoritate indigemus, benevolos sibi facere studeant.
III. Ad loca distantia etiam eundum, ubi eleemosynæ quantumvis parvæ
recipiendæ, exposita necessitate nostrorum; eædem deinde dandæ aliis
pauperibus, ut sic ædificentur ii, qui nondum Societatem noverunt, et
sint in nos tanto liberaliores.
IV. Omnes eundem videantur spirare spiritum, ideoque eundem modum
exteriorem addiscant, ut uniformitas in tanta diversitate personarum
unumquemque ædificet: qui secus fecerint, tanquam nocui, dimittantur.
V. Caveant nostri emere fundos in initio; sed si quos emerint nobis bene
sitos, fiat hoc mutuato nomine aliquorum amicorum fidelium et secretorum;
et ut melius luceat paupertas nostra, bona quæ sunt vicina locis, in
quibus collegia habeamus, per provincialem assignentur collegiis remotis,
quo fiet ut nunquam Principes vel Magistratus habeant certam notitiam
redituum Societatis.
VI. Non divertant nostri cum intentione residendi per modum Collegii nisi
ad urbes opulentas; finis enim Societatis est imitari Christum Salvatorem
nostrum, qui Ierosolymis maxime morabatur, alia autem loca minus præcipua
tantum pertransibat.
VII. Summum pretium à viduis semper extorquendum, inculcata illis summa
nostra necessitate.
VIII. In unaquaque provincia, nemo nisi Provincialis noverit præcise
valorem redituum. Sacrum autem esto quantum corbona Romana contineat.
IX. Concionentur nostri, et ubique in colloquiis propalent, se ad
puerorum instructionem, et populi subsidium venisse, ac omnia gratis, et
sine personarum exceptione præstare, nec esse in gravamen communitatis,
ut cæteri Ordines religiosi.
CHAP. I.
SECRET COUNSELS OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS.
_How the Society ought to conduct itself when it commences a
settlement in a new place._
I. An explanation of the design of the society, prescribed in those
rules, which declare that the society ought to labor with as great
diligence for the good of others, as for its own, will render it
acceptable to the people of the place; therefore the humblest duties in
the hospitals ought to be performed; the poor and the afflicted, and
those in prison, should be visited and the confessions of all promptly
received, that by such uncommon benevolence to all, and by the novelty of
the thing, the principal inhabitants may admire and love us.
II. Let all remember that the power to exercise the offices of the
society is to be requested modestly and religiously, and that they
should study to make all chiefly ecclesiastical, but also secular, whose
influence we want, favorable to themselves.
III. Also let them take care to visit distant places, where having
explained our poverty, alms, however small, may be received, which should
again be given to others who are poor, so that they who do not as yet
know the society, may be won, and may be so much the more liberal towards
us.
IV. Let all appear to breathe the same spirit, and so learn the same
exterior deportment, that by such uniformity in such variety of persons,
every one may be attracted; they who do otherwise should be dismissed as
injurious.
V. In the commencement, let our members be careful in buying lands; but
if they should purchase for us those well situated, let this be done in
the fictitious name of some faithful and confidential friend; and that
our poverty may better appear, let the estates which are near to places
in which we may have colleges, be assigned by the provincial to remote
institutions, by which it will be impossible that rulers or magistrates
can ever have certain knowledge of the society.
VI. Let not our members make any location for a college, except in
wealthy cities; for the object of the society is to imitate Christ, our
Saviour, who resided generally in Jerusalem, but only passed through
other places of less importance.
VII. Let the utmost means be always extorted from widows, and our extreme
poverty be proven to them.
VIII. In every province let no one, except the provincials, know
precisely the value of the revenues. Let what is in the treasury at Rome,
be sacred.
IX. Let us proclaim, and every where in conversation announce, that
we have come for the education of youth, and the good of the people,
and that all things will be performed _gratis_, and without respect of
persons, and that we will not be a burthen to the community, as other
religious orders are.
CAP. II.
_Quomodo Principum, Magnatum et Primariorum P. P. Societatis
familiaritatem acquirent, et conservabunt._
I. Conatus omnis ad hoc in primis adhibendus, ut Principum et primariorum
ubique locorum aures et animos obtineamus, ne sit qui in nos audeat
insurgere, quin immo omnes cogantur à nobis dependere.
II. Cum autem experientia doceat Principes et Magnates tum præsertim
affici personis ecclesiasticis, quando odiosa eorum facta dissimulant,
sed in meliorem potius partem ea interpretantur, ut videre est in
matrimoniis contrahendis cum affinibus, aut consanguineis, aut similibus,
animandi sunt qui hæc aut similia affectant, spe facta per nostros
istiusmodi dispensationes facile a summo Pontifice impetrandi, quod
faciet si explicentur rationes, proferantur exempla, et recitentur
sententiæ favorabiles titulo communis boni, et majoris gloriæ Dei, quæ
est scopus Societatis.
III. Idem faciendum si princeps aggreditur aliquid faciendum non æque
magnatibus omnibus gratum; permovendus nempe animus ei, et instigandus,
cœterorum vero animi commovendi ad hoc ut principi sese accommodent,
neque contradicant; in genere tamen tantum, nec unquam ad particularia
descendendo, ne societati imputetur, si male negotium successerit; et
siquidem hoc aliquando factum reprobetur, recitentur monita contraria hæc
plane prohibentia, et adhibeatur auctoritas aliquorum patrum, de quibus
constat quod hæc ipsa monita illos lateant, qui etiam cum juramento
asserere poterunt societatem, quoad hæc quæ illi improperantur, calumniam
pati.
IV. Juvabit etiam non parum ad occupandos principum animos, si nostri
dextere et per tertias personas insinuent se ad legationes honorificas et
favorabiles ad alios principes aut reges pro illis obeundas, præsertim
apud pontificem et supremos monarchias; hac enim occasione sese et
societatem commendare poterunt, quare non nisi zelosi valde et versati in
instituto nostro eo erunt destinandi.
V. Alumni principum et domestici præcipue, quibus familiariter utuntur,
per munuscula præcipue et varia pietatis officia vincendi sunt, ut eandem
nostros fideliter de humoribus et inclinationibus principum et magnatum
instruant, sic facile illis societas sese accommodabit.
VI. Experientia etiam docuit in domo Austria, aliisque regnis Galliæ,
Poloniæ, &c. cæterisque ducatibus, quantum societas sese juverit
tractandis matrimoniis inter principes. Quare prudenter proponantur
exquisiti conjuges, qui cum parentibus vel amicis nostrorum sunt amici
vel familiares.
VII. Fæminæ principes per domesticas potissimum, quæ a cubiculis sunt,
facillime vincentur; quare illæ omnibus modis foveantur, sic enim ad
omnia, etiam secretissima, in familia aditus patebit.
VIII. In conscientiis magnatum regendis sequentur nostri confessarii
sententiam illorum auctorum qui liberiorem conscientiam faciunt contra
opinionem aliorum religiosorum, ut, relictis illis, a nostra directione
et consiliis toti velint dependere.
IX. Tam principes quam prælati, aliique omnes qui societati favorem
extraordinarium præstare possunt, participes faciendi sunt omnium
meritorum societatis, exposito illis momento hujus summi privilegii.
X. Insinuandæ etiam caute et prudenter facultates amplissimæ societatis
absolvendi etiam a casibus reservatis, respectu aliorum pastorum aut
religiosorum, item dispensandi in jejuniis, debito reddendo, aut petendo,
matrimonii impedimentis, aliisque notis, in quo fiet ut plurimi ad nos
recurrant et obstringantur.
XI. Invitandi ad conciones, sodalitates, orationes, actiones,
declamationes, &c. in quibus carminibus, inscriptis thesibus honorandi,
tum si expedit in triclinio mensa excipiendi, variisque et dictis
salutandi.
XII. Inimicitiæ et dissensiones inter magnates ad nos distrahendæ erunt
ut componantur, sic enim in notitiam familiarium et secretorum paulatim
poterimus devenire, et alterutram partem nobis devincire.
XIII. Quod si monarchæ vel principi serviat aliquis societati parum
addictus, invigilandum ut sive per nostros, sive potius per alios ille in
amicitiam ac familiaritatem societatis inducatur, promissis, favoribus ac
promotionibus per principem, aut monarcham suum procurandis.
XIV. Caveant omnes quacumque ratione dimissos a societate, et præsertim
illos, qui sua sponte ab ea discedere voluerunt, apud quemquam
commendare, aut promovere; quia quantumcumque illi dissimulent, semper
tamen irreconciliabile odium adversus societatem gerunt.
XV. Denique ita omnes solliciti sint, principes, magnates, et magistratus
cujusque loci conciliare, ut etiam contra consanguineos, et affines,
et amicos suos, pro illis, quando occasio sese obtulerit, strenue
fideliterque agant.
CHAP. II.
_By what method the Principal Persons of the Society may
acquire and preserve the familiarity of Princes, Noblemen, and
persons of great distinction._
I. For this above all things, every effort should be made, that we may
gain the ears and hearts of Princes and persons of distinction, so that
there may be none who will dare to rise up against us, but that all may
be obliged to depend upon us.
II. Experience teaches that Princes and Noblemen are especially pleased
with ecclesiastical persons when they connive at their vices, and give
them a favorable interpretation; such especially of the contracting of
marriages within the prohibited degrees of affinity or consanguinity,
and the like; they who desire such things are to be encouraged with the
hope that by our influence, dispensations can easily be obtained from
the _Pope_, which he will grant if the reasons be explained, examples
produced, and opinions quoted, to show that it may be done for the
promotion of the common good and greater glory of God, which is the scope
of this society.
III. The same is to be done when a Prince attempts any enterprise which
is not equally pleasing to all the nobility; for his mind is to be moved
and excited to go on, but the minds of the others are to be persuaded to
accommodate themselves to the ruler and not to oppose him; but this is
to be alone in a general manner, never entering into particulars, lest
should the enterprise not succeed, it be charged to the society; and
should this act be disapproved at any time, contrary counsels should be
provided plainly prohibiting the very thing; and the authority of some
Fathers should be addressed, from whom the real counsels are concealed,
who with an oath can attest that the society is calumniated when those
things are insinuated respecting it.
IV. It will also greatly help us in joining the minds of Rulers if we
skilfully, and by the aid of third persons, insinuate ourselves into
embassies for them at once honorable and beneficial, which are to be
undertaken to other Princes and Rulers; especially to the Pope and
supreme Monarchs; for we can thus promote at once ourselves and the
society; wherefore none but those devoted to our affairs and skilled in
them, should be destined to this service.
V. The favorites of Princes, and especially their domestics with whom
they are on familiar terms, by small presents chiefly, and by various
duties of piety, are to be gained, that by them we may acquire faithful
information respecting the humors and inclinations of Rulers and
noblemen; so that the society may readily accommodate itself to them.