1541-1774.
MISSIONS.
Before we proceed any further, we feel obliged to say a few words
regarding the missions which were undertaken by the Jesuits soon after
the establishment of their order. To write a complete history would be
almost interminable. To analyse Orlandini, Sacchini, Bartoli, Jouvency,
the _Litteræ Annuæ_, and _Les Lettres Edifiantes_, not to speak of a
hundred others, would take up a great many volumes.[85] We think we may
fill our pages with more instructive matter.
We shall now confine ourselves to a short chapter on the missions of
India. We shall next speak of those of America, and finally, in what
condition the missions are at the present day. In speaking of the
missions of India, we fear we shall incur the reproach we have addressed
to others, because we frankly confess that we are partial to Francis
Xavier; but our Protestant readers, to be impartial, must not judge
those missions by too rigid a standard, or by too constant a reference
to the doctrinal errors of those who undertook them, furthermore, by
the consideration of what those missions subsequently became. All human
institutions emanating from imperfect beginnings, are necessarily
imperfect, and the further they recede from their origin, the more they
lose of their primitive character, and the less are they calculated to
answer the end for which they were established. The idle and immoral
monk—this gangrene of Catholic countries—was at one time the most
industrious of men; and Europe owes much to the monastic orders, not
only for the preservation of the greatest part of the works of genius
of our forefathers, but also for the tillage of its barren wastes. If
the monks and priests now bring disorder, confusion, and often civil
war into the countries where they are sent under pretence of missions,
such was not the case at the discovery of the Western World, and at
the conquest of India by the Portuguese. The first zealous and devoted
missionaries attempted to civilise and Christianise savage and barbarous
populations. And if you object that in their missions they preached the
Popish creed, and destroyed one idolatry by introducing another, at least
you ought to give them credit for their good intentions. Nor are you
to suppose that they undertook the task of civilising these nations in
order to acquire dominion over them. No. Such, indeed, has been the case
in later times, but in the beginning they were actuated by worthier and
more disinterested motives. In going thither they had before their eyes
martyrdom rather than worldly establishments. They carried with them
no theological books. Having no antagonist to dispute with, they had
left behind the acrimony and hatred inherent in almost all theological
controversies. They brought with them the essence of the Christian
religion—the most consoling and sublime part of it—gratitude to the
Creator, with charity and love to their fellow-creatures. Undoubtedly,
when we speak of their missions, we must not blindly believe all that
the Jesuitical historians, who are often the only chroniclers of these
events, relate to us. We shall not give them credit for the prodigies
and miracles said to be performed by their missionaries, even though
that missionary be Xavier himself. We shall not believe that he raised
from the tomb another Lazarus, or that at his bidding the salt waves of
the ocean were changed into sweet and palatable water. Yet there are
irrefragable proofs of the good done by their exertions, and of their
success in introducing Christianity, or at least civilisation, into India
and America. The man who first engaged in that glorious work was Francis
Xavier—Xavier, whom, if Rome had not dishonoured the name by conferring
it upon assassins and hypocrites, we would gladly call a saint.
[Illustration: _Francis Xavier_
_Hinchliff._]
He was the offspring of an ancient and illustrious Spanish family, and
was born in 1506, at his father’s castle in the Pyrenees. He was about
the middle size, had a lofty forehead, large, blue, soft eyes, with
an exquisitely fine complexion, and with the manners and demeanour of
a prince. He was gay, satirical, of an ardent spirit, and, above all,
ambitious of literary renown. All his faculties, all his thoughts, were
directed to this noble pursuit, and so efficiently, that at the age of
twenty-two he was elected a professor of philosophy in the capital of
France. There he lived on terms of intimacy with Peter Lefevre, a young
Savoyard, of very humble extraction, of a modest and simple character,
but of uncommon intelligence and industry. It was with Lefevre that
Xavier first met Ignatius. Francis was shocked at his appearance, his
affected humility, his loathsome dress; and when he spake of spiritual
exercises, Xavier looked at his own fair, white arms, shuddered at the
idea of lacerating them with the scourge—this principal ingredient of
the spiritual exercises—and laughed outright in his face. But Ignatius,
having cast his eyes upon such a noble being, was not to be discouraged
by a first or second repulse in his endeavours to become intimate with
him. He spared no exertions to ingratiate himself with Xavier; and at
last, as Bartoli says, “he resolved to gain him over by firing his
ambition, just as Judith did with feigned love to Holofernes, that she
might triumph over him at the last.”[86] As we have already stated,
Xavier was ambitious, and eager for literary renown. Ignatius made
himself the eulogist of his countryman. He gathered around his chair a
benevolent and an attentive audience, and gratified the young professor
in his most ardent wishes. The generous heart of Xavier was touched by
this act of kindness, and he began to look upon this loathsome man with
other eyes. Ignatius redoubled his efforts. The improvident Xavier was
often surrounded with pecuniary difficulties. Ignatius went begging, to
replenish his purse. It was not wonderful that Xavier, having fallen
under the influence of such a persevering assailant, who was admonitor at
once and friend—who flattered and exhorted, rebuked and assisted, with
such matchless tact—should gradually have yielded to the fascination. He
went through the _Spiritual Exercises_, and from that moment became a
mere tool in the hands of Loyola. This was the first missionary sent to
India.
The order had not yet been approved by the Pope, when John III. of
Portugal, by means of his ambassador D. Pedro de Mascaregnas, asked
of him six missionaries to be sent to the East Indies. The Pope, who
was undecided whether he should consent to the establishment of this
new order or not, thought this a plausible pretext to get rid of them
altogether, and asked Loyola for six of his companions. But Ignatius
was not the man to consent to the suicide of the intended Society,
and offered the Pope only two members for the undertaking. The choice
fell upon Rodriguez and Bobadilla. The first set out immediately, but
Bobadilla falling ill, Ignatius called Xavier, and said to him, “Xavier,
I had named Bobadilla for India, but Heaven this day names you, and I
announce it to you in the name of the Vicar of Jesus Christ. Receive
the appointment which his Holiness lays upon you by my mouth, just as
if _Jesus Christ_ presented it himself. Go, brother, whither the voice
of God calls you, and inflame all with the divine fire within you—_Id
y accendedlo todo y embrasadlo en fuego divino_.” Ignatius often used
these words, and in his mouth they were a talisman which fanned the
flame of enthusiasm. It is impossible to describe the exultation of
Xavier at the thought of the boundless regions which would open before
him there, to exercise his unbounded charity and love of mankind. Xavier
went to receive the Pope’s blessing, and the very next morning he left
Rome—alone—penniless—clothed in a ragged cloak, but with a light heart
and joyful countenance. He crossed the Pyrenees without even visiting his
father’s castle, and hastened to Lisbon, where he joined his companion
Rodriguez. Portugal at this epoch was experiencing the influence of
the wealth brought from the recently conquered provinces of India.
Eagerness for pleasure, effeminacy of manners, relaxation from every
duty, had completely changed the aspect of the nation. These two Jesuits,
by exhortation and preaching, endeavoured to stem the onward march of
that fast spreading corruption. Their panegyrists assure us that they
succeeded in their efforts, but the subsequent history of Portugal gives
them the lie. To no man is given the power to stop the propensities
or the vices of a nation, when they are in the ascendancy. Xavier may
perhaps have made the Portuguese nobility for a moment ashamed of their
luxurious and profligate life; but if so, a more complete abandonment to
a life of idleness and pleasure succeeded a fugitive shame.
However, the King of Portugal, changing his mind, wished to retain in the
capital the two Jesuits whom he had intended for India, but he could only
prevail on Rodriguez to remain. Xavier was impatient to be sent on his
mission. At length, on the 7th of April 1541, the fleet, having on board
a thousand men to reinforce the garrison of Goa, left the Tagus, and
spread her sails to the wind. It was under the command of Don Alphonso of
Sousa, the vice-king of India. As the fleet sailed on, the eyes of the
soldiers were bedimmed with tears; even the bravest of the host could not
see without emotion and dismay the shores of their native land receding
from their view. Xavier alone was serene, and his countenance beamed with
delight. On sailed the fleet, and after five long and weary months, they
reached the coast of Mozambique. Under a burning African sun, they found
little relief from the fatigues of their tedious voyage, and an epidemic
fever spread consternation and death among these European adventurers.
Xavier was indefatigable among them, nursing the sick, consoling the
dying, and cheering all with his joyful and placid countenance.
After six months’ stay, they left this inhospitable land, and arrived at
Goa, the capital of the Portuguese dominions in India, thirteen months
after their departure from Lisbon.
There Xavier was horror-struck at the indescribable degradation in which
he found, not the Indian idolaters, but the Portuguese Catholics, their
own priests foremost in the path of vice. The contempt that these proud
conquerors had for a feeble and despised race, the charm of the East, the
wealth they found, the climate inspiring voluptuousness—all combined to
banish from their breasts every sentiment of justice, shame, and honesty.
The history of their debauches and immoralities is really revolting.
Thirst for gold and voluptuousness were their two predominant passions;
and the gold, acquired by infamous and cruel means, was dissipated in
revolting and degrading deeds. Bartoli gives us a fearful picture of
the demoralised condition of the Portuguese in India.[87] But, without
trusting implicitly to all this historian represents regarding their
corruptions and licentiousness, we know by other sources that the
corruption was extreme, and that it was their dissolute life that induced
the Indians who had been converted to our religion, feeling ashamed of
the name of Christian, to return to their idols. Xavier thought it would
be useless to attempt converting the idolater before he had reformed the
morals of the Christian; but he considered it neither prudent nor useful
to attack so great an evil directly and openly. He rightly judged that
the children would be most easily worked upon, and he resolved to reach
this by exciting their love of novelties and unwonted sights. He arms
himself with a hand-bell, which he swings with a powerful hand, throws
away his hat, and calls in a loud and impressive tone on the fathers to
send their children to be catechised. The novelty of the fact, the noble
and dignified countenance of a man dressed in rags, could not fail to
excite curiosity at least. Men, women, and children rush out to see this
strange man, who draws along with him a crowd to the church, and there,
with passionate and impressive eloquence, endeavours to inspire them with
shame for their conduct, and lectures to them on the most essential rules
of morality. Then he begins to teach the children the rudiments of the
Christian religion, and these innocent creatures love to listen to a man
who shews himself the kindest and gentlest companion, joyfully mixing
in all their pastimes. A number of children soon became his constant
auditors, and to say he did not work any good among them would be an
untruth. Nor did he confine his apostolic ministry to the instruction of
children. He was, on the contrary, indefatigable in his exertions to be
of use to every one. He took up his abode in the hospital, visited the
prisoner, assisted the dying. With a flexibility characteristic of the
system, and often employed for the worst ends, he mixed with all classes,
and spoke and acted in the most suitable manner to please them all.
Often might you have seen him at the same table with the gamester—often
did he by his gay humour rejoice the banquet table—often might he have
been seen in the haunts of debauchees; and in all those places exquisite
good taste, combined with jest or bitter sarcasm, _à-propos_ to time
and place, rendered the vice either ridiculous or loathsome. Many, to
enjoy Xavier’s friendship, renounced their profligate habits, and fell
back to the paths of virtue. But it is a gratuitous assertion, and
contradicted by Xavier himself, that the aspect of the town was changed
by his predications and catechisings. We repeat it again—no man has
the power to work such miracles. After Xavier had spent twelve months
in Goa, he heard that the pearl fishermen on the coast of Malabar were
poor and oppressed. Thither Xavier went without delay. He took with
him two Malabarese whom he had converted, as his interpreters. But
finding this mode of communication slow and ineffectual, he committed to
memory the creed, the decalogue, and the Lord’s Prayer in the Malabar
language, and repeated them to the natives with passionate and eloquent
eagerness. By degrees he began to be able to communicate with them; and
here, as elsewhere, Xavier not only acted the indefatigable apostle,
but also shewed himself the best friend, the kindest consoler of these
poor people, and shared in their fatigues and privations. Many were the
favours which he obtained for them from the vice-king, and these grateful
fishermen willingly embraced the religion preached by their benefactor.
He lived among them for thirteen months, and we are assured that at his
departure he had planted no less than forty-five churches on the coast.
From Cape Comorin he passed to Travancore, thence to Meliapore, to the
Moluccas, to Malacca; and, in short, he visited a great part of India,
always vigilant, zealous, and indefatigable in his endeavours to make
these idolaters partake of the benefits of the Christian religion.
In 1547 he returned to Goa. Ignatius had sent him in the year 1545 three
Jesuits. Xavier had directed two of them to go to Cape Comorin, and
named the third, Lancillotti, Professor of the College of Saint Foi.
Soon after, nine other Jesuits were sent to assist him. Xavier assigned
a place and an occupation to each of them, and he himself returned to
Malacca. Here he learned something about Japan. He was informed that the
Japanese were moral, industrious, and very eager to acquire knowledge of
every kind. Xavier at once determined that neither the distance nor the
difficulties of the way should deter him from visiting Japan. Listening
to no remonstrance which would have dissuaded him from this undertaking,
he named the Jesuit, Paul of Camarino, Superior in his place, and with
two companions set out for Japan.
Before leaving Malacca he wrote to Ignatius thus:—“I want words to
express to you with what joy I undertake this long voyage, full of the
greatest dangers. Although these dangers are greater than all I have yet
encountered, I am far from giving up my undertaking, our Lord telling
me internally that the cross once planted here will yield an abundant
harvest.”
We shall not relate the various extraordinary incidents or miracles
which we are told he performed whilst on the way, and we shall conduct
him at once to that cluster of islands, with mountains barren of fruits
and grain, but rich in mines of all sorts, which we call Japan, where he
arrived in the summer of 1549. The Japanese of those days were partly
atheists, partly idolaters. Xavier endeavoured to ingratiate himself with
the Bonzes, those crafty priests of Japan. He succeeded in converting
some of them, and by their influence a great many more of the idolaters,
and prepared the ground which should afterwards have produced an
abundant harvest, if this father’s successors had possessed a little more
of his uprightness and charity.
But Xavier’s vivid imagination and restless activity made him soon desert
Japan for a more ample and splendid theatre. He formed the project of
penetrating into the Celestial Empire. Leaving his two companions in
Japan, he returned to Goa to settle the affairs of the Society, which had
increased in numbers, influence, and authority; and this duty performed,
he returned to Malacca, to embark from thence for China.
Better to succeed in his undertaking, he had obtained for a Portuguese
merchant, Pereyra, the title of ambassador to the emperor. Pereyra,
according to custom, had purchased many presents, in order to obtain a
more cordial reception for himself and his friend Xavier. The vessel in
which the two friends were to take a passage was on the point of sailing,
when Don Alvarez, Captain-General of Malacca, opposed their departure,
and, effectually to prevent it, laid an embargo on the Saint Croix, the
only vessel which was bent thither. Xavier remonstrated in vain. The
captain persisted in opposing the embassy of Pereyra. Xavier shewed him
the commission of John III., which conferred upon him great and almost
unlimited power, and also his commission as the Pope’s legate. Alvarez
still refused to consent to their departure, and Xavier fulminated
against him the anathemas, but without any effect.
Pereyra was thus obliged to remain, and Xavier, after having lost much
time, took a passage in this same vessel, which was now ordered for the
island of Sancian. There they at length landed, to the inexpressible joy
of Xavier, who saw himself within a few leagues of this promised land
of his own. But, alas! his hopes were frustrated. It was ordained that
his praiseworthy ambition should not be gratified, and that he should
not see the vast empire he aspired to conquer to Christianity, but at a
distance. Others might attempt this difficult mission; Xavier, a victim
to fatigue and fever, lay powerless on the inhospitable shore of Sancian.
In a very few days his illness made fearful progress, and on the 2d of
December 1552, Xavier, in the forty-sixth year of his age, breathed his
last. Thus ended the adventurous life of this noble and extraordinary
man, which we have merely sketched.
We pass over the absurd and miraculous facts which the panegyrists of
the saint have coupled with his name. We think they have injudiciously
smothered, in ridiculous and supernatural legends, the many noble
exploits and the great qualities of Xavier. In respect for his memory,
we shall therefore make no mention of his miracles. Besides, Xavier’s
miracles are as nearly as possible the same as those performed by other
saints. We really believe that the biographers of any saint might do
like that gentleman who, after having written a long letter without
either comma, colon, period, or point of interrogation, put down a
great quantity of these at the close of the epistle, and enjoined his
correspondent to insert them in their requisite places. Our biographers
should, in like manner, place at the end of their panegyrics some
hundreds of miracles performed on the sick, or the blind, or those
possessed with devils, and let the judicious reader insert them in those
parts of the narrative they may think proper.[88]
No one, however, will deny to Xavier uprightness of purpose, sincerity
of conviction, mildness and intrepidity of character, self-denial,
and a fervid zeal for the propagation of the Christian religion. But
while we gladly give him praise for his excellent qualities, we cannot
overlook some of his defects. Thus, for example, we cannot approve of his
continual wandering, and we think, that in undertaking his voyages, he
was actuated, perhaps, as much by the love of novelty as by the desire
of propagating Christianity. His way of making Christians was also in
the highest degree inconsiderate and hasty; for, most assuredly, the
10,000 idolaters whom he christened in a single month, had no more of the
Christian than the baptism.
But we must impute to him a still greater fault, and one which seems to
be inherent in the character of the Romish priests—the absolute authority
which they claim over all men, and their unscrupulous proceedings against
any one who is bold enough to resist their orders—nay, their very wishes.
Observe. Don Alphonso de Sonza, vice-king of India, although an exemplary
Roman Catholic, because he does not yield to all Xavier’s wishes, the
Jesuit writes to the king and procures his recall! Alvarez opposes the
embassy of Pereyra, which Xavier had contemplated, and for this the
Jesuit priest excommunicates him! These two acts are characteristic of
the Romish priests, and we quote them to shew that even the mildest does
not hesitate at anything, in order to carry his point.
However, in the time of Xavier, and for some fifty years afterwards,
the missions, if they were far from what they ought to have been, as
instrumental for propagating the gospel, were nevertheless conducted in
a manner not altogether unpraiseworthy. The missionaries were laborious,
energetic, indefatigable. They submitted to every kind of privation,
persecution, even death itself, with a courageous and sometimes joyful
and willing heart. Had they simply preached the gospel, and not mingled
with it the diffusion of the superstitious practices of the Church of
Rome, no praise would be adequate to their deserts. But, alas! the noble
qualities which they brought to work were soon perverted, and directed to
interested and impure motives, so that we fear the good which they did at
first can hardly compensate for the evil which they at length produced.
The man who after Xavier had the greatest success in India, but who
also perverted the character of the mission, and introduced the most
abominable idolatry, was Father Francis Nobili. He arrived at Madura in
1606, and was surprised that Christianity had made so little progress
in so long a time, which he attributed to the strong aversion which the
Indian had for the European, and to the fact, that the Jesuits, having
addressed themselves more especially to the Pariahs, had caused Christ
to be considered as the Pariahs’ God.[89] He therefore resolved to play
the part of a Hindoo and a Brahmin. After having learned with wonderful
facility their rites, their manners, and their language,[90] he gave
himself out as a Saniassi, a Brahmin of the fourth and most perfect
class; and, with imperturbable impudence, he asserted that he had come
to restore to them the fourth road to truth, which was supposed to have
been lost many thousands of years before. He submitted to their penances
and observances, which were very painful; abstained from everything that
had life, such as fish, flesh, eggs;[91] respected their prejudices,
and, above all, the maintenance of the distinction of classes. It was
forbidden the catechumen Pariah to enter the same church with the
Sudra or Brahmin converts. All this was the beginning of those heathen
ceremonies and superstitions with which the Christian religion was
contaminated.
Great care was taken by these Roman _Saniassi_ that they might not
be taken for _Feringees_,[92] and still greater care not to hurt the
prejudices of the Hindoos. We might multiply quotations _ad infinitum_
to prove our assertions, but we shall content ourselves with two. “Our
whole attention,” writes Father de Bourges, “is taken up in our endeavour
to conceal from the people that we are what they call _Feringees_; the
slightest suspicion of this would prove an insurmountable obstacle to our
success.”[93] And Father Mauduit writes,—“The catechist of a low caste
can never be employed to teach Hindoos of a caste more elevated. The
_Brahmins_ and the _Sudras_, who form the principal and most numerous
castes, have a far greater contempt for the Pariahs, who are beneath
them, than princes in Europe can feel for the scum of the people. They
would be dishonoured in their own country, and deprived of the privileges
of their caste, if they ever listened to the instructions of one whom
they look upon as infamous. We must, therefore, have Pariah Catechists
for the Pariahs, and Brahminical catechists for the Brahmins, which
causes us a great deal of difficulty.” “Some time ago, a catechist from
the Madura mission begged me to go to Pouleour, there to baptize some
Pariah catechumens, and to confess certain neophytes of that caste. The
fear that the Brahmins and Sudras might come to learn the step I had
taken, and thence look upon me as infamous and unworthy ever of holding
any intercourse with them, _hindered me from going_! The words of the
holy apostle Paul, which I had read that morning at mass, determined
me to take this resolution,—‘Giving no offence to any one, that your
ministry might not be blamed’ (2 Cor. vi. 3). I therefore made these
poor people go to a retired place, about three leagues from here, where
I myself joined them _during the night, and with the most careful
precautions_, and there I baptized nine!”[94]
We appeal to every impartial man, if these were apostles and teachers of
the gospel. But it seems by all their proceedings, that they considered
the conversion of these idolaters to consist in the mere fact of their
being baptized. To administer baptism to a man _volens nolens_, was the
Jesuits’ utmost ambition, and this ambition they satisfied _per fas et
nefas_. Let them relate the facts themselves:—
“When these children,” says Father de Bourges, “are in danger of death,
our practice is to baptize them without asking the permission of their
parents, which would certainly be refused. The catechists and the private
Christians are well acquainted with the formula of baptism, and they
confer it on these dying children, _under the pretext of giving them
medicines_.”[95]
Women were also found very useful in the case of newly born infants,
when none other could obtain access. Father Bouchet mentions one woman
in particular, “whose knowledge of the pulse and of the symptoms of
approaching death was so unerring, that of more than ten thousand
children whom she had herself baptized, not more than two escaped
death.”[96] In like manner, during a famine in the Carnatic, about
A.D. 1737, Father Trembloy writes, that according to the report of the
catechists and missionaries, the number of deserted and dying children
baptized during the two years of death, amounted to upwards of twelve
thousand. He adds, that, as every convert knew the formula of baptism, it
was rare, in any place where there were neophytes, _for a single heathen
child to die unbaptized_.[97]
The logical consequence of this mode of making Christians was, that at
the first opportunity these converts repudiated the name of Christian
with as much facility as they assumed it. This was seen on many
occasions, and more particularly, perhaps, in 1784:—
“When Tippoo ordered all the native Christians in Mysore to be seized,
and gathered together in Seringapatam, that he might convert them to
Mahometanism, amidst that vast multitude, amounting to more than 60,000
souls,” says the Abbé Dubois, “not _one_—not a single individual among
so many thousands—had courage to confess his faith under this trying
circumstance, and become a martyr to his religion. The whole apostatised
_en masse_, and without resistance or protestation.”[98]
But even when these converts retained the name of Christian, we are much
at a loss to distinguish them from the pagans, either in their manner of
worship, or in their moral conduct. And what is still more disheartening,
is to see that the Jesuits, who nourished them in those idolatrous and
diabolical superstitions make light of them—nay, even seem to approve of
them.
Listen to M. Crétineau:—
“The Malabar rites consist in omitting some ceremonies in the
administration of baptism, respecting, however, the essence of the
sacrament; in disguising the name of the Cross, and of the objects of the
Catholic religion, under a more common and vernacular appellation; _to
give them heathen names_; to marry children before the age of puberty,
_seven years_; to allow the women to wear the Taly (bijou),[99] which
they receive the day of their nuptials, and upon which is engraved an
idol, _the Greek god Priapus_; to avoid assisting the Pariahs in their
illness, and to refuse them certain spiritual succours—_the sacraments
of confession and communion_.”[100] He might have added that these rites
consisted also in the use of burned cows’ dung applied to the body,[101]
in a joyous feast, at an occasion which decency forbids us to name, in
dancing and playing instruments of different kinds, in idol processions,
in ablutions according to the Brahminical rites, and in sundry other
pagan superstitions. Now, listen to what Crétineau and the Jesuits think
about these abominable acts of idolatry:—
“The Jesuits of Madura, Mysore, and the Carnatic found themselves
surrounded by so many superstitious practices, that they thought best
to tolerate those _who in their eyes did not cause any prejudice to the
Christian religion_.”[102] Now, these practices which in their eyes “did
not cause any prejudice to the Christian religion,” were exactly those
which we have named; which the Jesuits pertinaciously maintained even
after they were condemned by three successive Popes, and which they still
considered “innocent ones.” Really, we don’t know whether we ought most
to execrate their wickedness, or to lament their blindness. We could
almost regret that they do not _deny_ these facts. A lie more or less
would not matter much in the sum total, and would, at least, shew that
they are still alive to some sense of shame. Mycio, seeing Eschinus blush
at his remonstrances, looks complacently aside, and says, “_Erubuit,
salva res est!_” Terentius was right. Eschinus was capable of feeling
shame, and amended; but the Jesuits blush not. Either they have lost all
shame, and you would not find—
“Chi di mal far si vergogni”—
“any one blush at doing wrong,” or they consider as innocent the most
abominable profanation of our holy religion. In both cases, I fear, we
must renounce all idea of seeing them change till their impenitent heads
be visited by the wrath of God. May their conversion avert it!
Complaints of these scandalous profanations were sent to Rome, even
in the lifetime of Nobili. Paul V. delegated the Archbishop of Goa to
inquire into the nature of these practices, which the prelate utterly
condemned. The Jesuits stirred themselves up in their own defence, and
represented to Gregory XIII., Paul’s successor, that those rites were
merely civic ceremonies, and not at all religious ones. Gregory, either
little scrupulous or persuaded by their misrepresentations, by a brief,
dated 1623, approved conditionally of some of those practices, such as
absolution, painting with sandal-wood, and some others, which, as we
said, were represented by the Jesuits to be merely civic ceremonies.
This success confirmed the Jesuits in pursuing the same line of policy;
and as they were also at that time at war with other monks to acquire,
each for his order, paramount influence over the Indians, they thought
that nothing could be more efficient to accomplish their ends than
to flatter the prejudices of their neophytes, to be liberal in their
concessions, and, in fact, to tolerate almost all the pagan usages. They
acted in India, in all respects, as they did in Europe, where, to be the
confessors of kings and of the powerful, they invented the doctrines of
probableism, of mental reservation, and others of a character as immoral,
which we shall examine by and by. For eighty years, therefore, they went
from one abomination to another, till the scandal became so great and so
universal, that the Roman See was again moved to interfere. Accordingly,
Clement XI. delegated Charles Maillard de Tournon, Patriarch of Antioch,
with unlimited authority to investigate into and settle the matter.
The patriarch is described by Clement XI. as “a man whose well-known
integrity, prudence, charity, learning, piety, and zeal for the Catholic
religion made him worthy of the highest trust;” and, according to
Crétineau, “a man who possessed the highest virtues and best intentions,
which, however, should have been directed by a less intemperate
zeal.”[103]
He landed at Pondicherry on November 6, 1703, and immediately commenced
a thorough and minute investigation of the whole affair. After eight
months, he, on June 23, 1704, published the famous decree condemning and
prohibiting all these idolatrous practices; although the noble prelate, a
good Roman Catholic as he was, is not altogether free from superstition,
as may be seen in the decree itself. Here are some extracts from it:—
“Charles Thomas Maillard de Tournon, by the grace of God ... Legate _a
latere_, &c.... having maturely examined all things, ... having heard the
above mentioned fathers (the Jesuits), having by public prayers implored
divine aid; we, ... in our capacity of Legate _a latere_, have enacted
the present decree:—
“And to begin by the administration of the sacrament. We expressly forbid
that, in administering baptism, any of the Christian rites are to be
omitted.... We command, moreover, that a name of the Roman martyrology be
given to the catechumen, and not an idolatrous one.... We order that no
one, under any pretext whatever, shall change the signification of the
names of the cross, of the saints, or of any other sacred thing....
“Further, as it is the custom of this country that children, six or seven
years old, and sometimes even younger, contract, with the consent of
their parents, an indissoluble marriage, by the hanging of the _Taly_,
or golden nuptial emblem, on the neck of the bride, we command the
missionaries never to permit such invalid marriages among Christians.
“And since, according to the best informed adherents of that impious
superstition, the Taly bears the image, though unshapely, of Pullear,
or Pillear, the idol supposed to preside over nuptial ceremonies; and
since it is a disgrace for Christian women to wear such an image round
their necks, as a mark that they are married, we henceforth strictly
prohibit them from daring to have the Taly with this image suspended from
their necks. _But, lest wives should seem not to be married, they may
use another Taly, with the image of the holy cross, or of our Lord Jesus
Christ, or of the most blessed Virgin, marked on it!_
“The nuptial ceremonies also, according to the custom of the country, are
so many, and defiled by so much superstition, that no safer remedy could
be devised than to interdict them altogether; for they overflow with the
pollutions of heathenism, and it would be extremely difficult to expurge
them from that which is superstitious....
“In like manner, we cannot suffer that these offices of charity which
Gentile physicians, even of a noble race or caste, do not consider
unworthy (for the health of the body) to be given to those poor people,
the Pariahs, although in the most abject and lowest condition, be
denied, for the sake of souls, by spiritual physicians. Wherefore, we
strictly enjoin the missionaries, as far as they can, to see that no
opportunity for confession be awanting to any sick Christian, although
he be a Pariah, or even of a more despised race, if there were. And lest
they should be compelled to consult for their eternal welfare, when the
disease is increasing, and their temporal life is in evident danger, we
charge the missionaries not to wait till those in this weak condition
are brought to church, but, as far as they are able, to seek for them
at home, to visit them, and to comfort them with pious discourses and
prayers, and with sacramental bread; and, in short, to administer extreme
unction to them, if they are about to die, without making any distinction
in persons or sexes, expressly condemning every practice contrary to the
duty of Christian piety....
“We have learned with the greatest sorrow, also, that Christians who
can beat the drum, or play on a flute, or other musical instruments,
are invited to perform during the festivals and sacrifices in honour
of idols, and sometimes even compelled to attend, on account of some
species of obligation supposed to be contracted towards the public by
the exercise of such a profession, and that it is by no means easy for
the missionaries to turn them from this detestable abuse; wherefore,
considering how heavy an account we should have to render to God did we
not strive, with all our power, to recall such Christians as these from
the honouring and worshipping of devils, we forbid them,” &c.
“The missionaries also shall be held bound, not only to acquaint them
with the aforesaid prohibition, but also to insist on its entire
execution, and to expel from the Church all who disobey, until they
repent from the heart, and by public marks of penitence expiate the
scandal they have caused.”
In like manner, the legate expressly prohibits the heathen ablutions
and superstitious bathings, at set times, and with certain ceremonies,
to all, and more especially to the preachers of the gospel, whatever
pretence they allege, were it even to pass themselves off as _Saniassi_,
who were distinguished by their manifold and multiplied washings—‘ut
existementur Sanias seu Brachmanes, præ ceteris dediti hujusmodi
ablutionibus.’
“We, in like manner, prohibit that the ashes of cow-dung, a false and
impious heathen penance instituted by Rudren, should be blessed and
applied to the foreheads of those who have received the sacred unction
of Chrism; we also proscribe all the signs of a red and white colour, of
which the Indians are very superstitious, from being used for painting
their face, breast, and other parts of the body. We command that the
sacred practice of the Church, and the pious usage of blessing the
ashes, and of putting them upon the head of the faithful, with the sign
of the cross, in order to recall their own unworthiness, be religiously
observed, at the time and after the manner prescribed by the Church, on
Ash-Wednesday, and at no other time.
“And, lest from those things which have been expressly prohibited in
this decree, any one may infer or believe that we tacitly approve of or
permit other usages which were wont to be practised in these missions,
we absolutely reject this false interpretation, and we explicitly
declare the contrary to be our intention. We will, also, _for just
causes known to us_, that the present decree should have full force, and
should be considered as published, after it has been delivered up by our
Chancellor to Father Guy Tachard, Vice-provincial of the French Fathers
of the Society of Jesus in India; and we command him, by virtue of holy
obedience, to transmit four similar copies to the Father-provincial of
the province of Malabar, to the Superiors of the Mission at Madura and
Mysore, and of the Carnatic, who after two months, and all the other
missionaries after three months, from the day in which this decree shall
be notified to Father Tachard, shall be bound to consider it as having
been made public, and notified to every one.
“Given at Pondicherry, this day, 23d June 1704.”
Nothing can more effectually prove the culpability of the Jesuits, and
their sacrilegious crime, in encouraging such abominable idolatry, than
this decree, emanating from so high a Roman Catholic authority, and from
a man who reproaches himself for being too lenient towards the fathers.
This document is a terrible and overwhelming proof against the order’s
orthodoxy, and M. Crétineau himself can find no fault with it. His only
complaint is, that the different historians who have quoted the prelate’s
decree, have omitted to speak of the preamble, in which the patriarch
declares that he had been assisted in the investigation by two of the
Jesuits, from which fact he (M. Crétineau) seems anxious that we should
infer that the Jesuits themselves have condemned these practices. This,
besides being contradictory to what M. Crétineau has just said, is by no
means true in the sense in which he wishes us to receive it. According
to Father Norbert’s version,[104] it seems that the patriarch arrived
at the truth of the whole matter by making use of a little Jesuitical
cunning. He called two of the fathers to a private conference, received
them with great kindness and urbanity, praised their zeal, pitied them
in their difficult position, and so overcame them, that they frankly
confessed every thing to him. Now, their confession was written down by
two secretaries, who were concealed in a closet for the purpose. The
superior, to whom the Jesuits related what had taken place, was indignant
and alarmed at their wonderful ingenuousness, and sent them back to the
prelate to retract what they had said.[105] But it was too late. The
legate, to give more weight to the decree, begins somewhat maliciously
by saying, that he had been helped in his investigation by Fathers
Venant Bouchet and Charles Bartolde, “learned and zealous men, who had
resided long in the country, were perfectly acquainted with its manners,
language, and religion, and that from their lips he had got a right
understanding regarding the real state of matters, which rendered the
vine and branches feeble and barren, from adhering, as they did, rather
to the vanities of the heathen than to the real vine, Christ Jesus.”
What makes us believe in the veracity of Father Norbert in this case is,
that the Jesuits never submitted to the decree, that they still continued
to persist in their old practices, and that neither Father Bouchet nor
Bartolde was punished or dismissed, one or other of which would most
certainly have taken place had they deliberately and openly denounced
these diabolical practices. On the contrary, Father Bouchet was one of
the two Jesuits who were sent to Rome to get the decree abrogated.
The Jesuits, however, did their utmost to parry the blow. Faithful to an
essential rule of Jesuitical cunning, they at first feigned to submit,
only entreating the patriarch to suspend for a time the censures attached
to the non-execution of the decree, which the good prelate granted for
three years, hoping that they would obey, and abolish these abominations
gradually. But they were far from intending to do such a thing. On the
contrary, they, as we have already said, immediately despatched two
Jesuits to Rome, for the purpose of getting the patriarch’s decree
abrogated by the Holy See. Father Tachard, the vice-provincial of the
India missions, thought that it would perhaps make a great impression
in Rome if, to the opinion of the legate De Tournon they could oppose
the opinion, not only of all the Jesuits residing in India, but also of
the other priests along the Malabar coast. With this end in view, he
sent many emissaries round with a sort of circular containing a number
of questions, to which he solicited answers, and these, as might be
imagined, were all found to be according to his wishes. This strange
circular is to be found in the eighth and tenth pages of the third volume
of the _Mémoires Historiques_. Did not subsequent facts and the whole
conduct of the Jesuits render it credible, we should have hesitated to
insert it as an historical truth, so strange does the document appear to
us. Here it is:—
“I. Is the frequent use of ashes (burnt cow’s dung) necessary for the
Christians of these missions? _They answered in the affirmative._
“II. As the Pariahs are looked upon in a civil light as so despicable
that it is almost impossible to describe how far the prejudice is carried
against them, ought they to assemble in the same place, or in the same
church, with other Christians of a higher caste? _They answered in the
negative._
“III. Are the missionaries obliged to enter into the houses of the
Pariahs to give them spiritual succour, while there are other means of
arriving at the same end, as is remarked elsewhere? _They answered in the
negative._
“IV. Ought we, in the said missions, to employ spittle in conferring the
sacrament of baptism? _They answered in the negative._
“V. Ought we to forbid the Christians to celebrate those brilliant and
joyous _fêtes_ which are given by parents when their young daughters
‘ont pour la première fois la maladie des mois?’ _They answered in the
negative._
“VI. Ought we to forbid the custom observed at marriages of breaking the
cocoa-nut? _They answered in the negative._
“VII. Ought the wives of the Christians to be obliged to change their
_Taly_ or nuptial cord? _They answered in the negative._”
And he, Father Tachard, was not content with the mere signature; he
wanted, also, a solemn oath—
“I, John Venant Bouchet, priest of the Society of Jesus, and Superior
of the Carnatic Mission, do testify and _swear, on my faith as priest_,
that the observance of the rites, as set forth in the preceding answers,
is of the greatest necessity to these missions, as well for their
preservation as for the conversion of the heathen. Further, it appears to
me, that the introduction of _any other_ usage contrary to these, WOULD
BE ATTENDED WITH EVIDENT DANGER TO THE SALVATION OF THE SOULS OF THE
NEOPHYTES. Thus I answer the reverend father superior general, who orders
me to send him my opinion as to these rites, and to confirm it by an
oath, for assurance and faith of which I here sign my name. Signed, Nov.
3, 1704, in the Mission of the Carnatic. JEAN VENANT BOUCHET.”
Fathers Peter Mauduit, Philip de la Fontaine, Peter de la Lane, and
Gilbert le Petit took the same oath, and attested it by their signatures,
and after like fashion swore all the Portuguese Jesuits in Madura and
Mysore.
Whilst two Jesuits were dispatched to Rome with this document, F. Tachard
set another battery at work. The Bishops of Goa and of St Thomas were
creatures of the Jesuits, and altogether devoted to their interest.
At the instigation of the fathers, they, respectively, published an
ordinance, by which, on their own authority, they annulled the decree
of the legate, under the specious pretext that they were not satisfied
that this prelate’s power and authority were sufficient to enact
it. The Bishop of Goa, to whom the Pope had sent De Tournon as his
representative, to whom he had granted full and unlimited power, went
still further, and had the impudence to write to the Pope, telling him
that he, the bishop, had annulled the decree of the patriarch, not
knowing that he had power to publish it.
The Pope was highly incensed, both against the bishops and Jesuits,
and on the 4th January 1707 he fulminated a brief against the bishop’s
declaration regarding De Tournon’s decree, giving his full sanction to
the legate’s decision in all its parts. At the same time he wrote a
terrible letter of admonition to the Bishop of Goa, reproaching him for
his impudence, and threatening to depose him.
One would now, perhaps, imagine that the Jesuits are going to acquiesce
in these ordinances, which, in fact, are merely directed to abolish
Pagan superstition, too abominable even in the eyes of a Popish prelate.
Doubtless, these champions of Rome, these devout servants of the Holy
See, to which they are bound by a special vow, are going to yield
implicit obedience to the supreme head of their Church. Far from it. On
the contrary, the Jesuits added perjury to disobedience, and uttered
falsehoods so bold and so barefaced, as Jesuits alone are capable of.
Fathers Bouchet and Lainez were unsuccessful in their mission to Rome.
Before they had even reached the capital, the decree of the legate
had been confirmed by a decree from the General Inquisition, dated
6th January 1706. The Pope received them very coldly; and while they
were in Rome, he published his brief against the Bishops of Goa and St
Thomas, and confirmed the ordinances of the patriarch. Well! can it be
believed—would it be credited, that there could be found two men, even
among these Jesuits, so lost to all sentiments of probity and honour,
as to declare on their return that the Pope had received them with the
greatest kindness, and that the decree of the legate De Tournon had
been abrogated! Great was the astonishment of the missionaries of the
other orders, and of some few Christians who viewed with abhorrence so
much idolatry as was introduced into the religion of Christ. But after
the first moment of surprise was over, they began to doubt the veracity
of the Jesuits’ report, and sent a memorial to Rome to ascertain the
whole truth. The Jesuits attempted to intercept this; but the messenger
with great difficulty escaped an ambush that had been laid for him near
Milan, and at length arrived at Rome. We shall say nothing regarding the
indignation of Pope Clement XI. on hearing this. We shall only report
part of his brief, which removes all doubt regarding the guilt of the
Jesuits:—
“_To the Bishop of St Thomas of Meliapar, Pope Clement XI.
wisheth health, &c._
“We have learned with the greatest sorrow, that it has been
divulged in your country (India) that we have nullified
and abrogated the ordinances contained in a decree of our
venerable brother, Cardinal de Tournon, dated 23d June 1704,
Pondicherry, whither he had gone on his way to China; and
that we have, moreover, permitted and approved of those rites
and ceremonies which in the aforesaid decree are declared to
be infected with superstition. Ardently wishing, that in a
matter of such importance, not only you, but by your care all
the other bishops and missionaries, should know the truth, we
have thought proper to send to you the joint documents,[106]
authenticated by an apostolical notary, and by the seal of the
General Inquisition; and we beg of the princes of the apostles,
&c.
“_Rome, Sept. 17, 1712._”
Before we proceed further in our narrative, we must go back some few
years, and resume the history of the Patriarch de Tournon, who, after
having published his decree at Pondicherry, proceeded to China, where he
arrived in 1705. The Jesuits were already there. Before attempting to
penetrate into this vast empire, they had carefully studied the habits of
that (comparatively) scientific and learned people; and, to succeed in
their enterprise, they resolved upon flattering the national prejudices,
as well as instructing the natives in the sciences and arts. Towards
the end of the sixteenth century, Father Ricci made his first entrance
into China, and received a very friendly welcome, because he was an able
mathematician, and could repeat from memory the most important passages
of Confucius. The emperor esteemed him much for a clock which struck
the hours, and which had been made purposely for him by the Jesuit; and
still more for a map, far superior to anything the Chinese had attempted
in that department of knowledge.[107] But from their too great desire
to please the Chinese, the Jesuits did here as they had already done
in Madura—they allowed the Christian religion to be contaminated with
idolatrous practices, and adapted themselves to all the manners of the
Chinese. Ranke says that Ricci died in 1610, not by excess of labour
merely, but more especially by the many visits, the long fastings, and
all the other duties of Chinese society and etiquette.[108]
The first step of the Patriarch de Tournon, on entering the Chinese
Empire, was to summon all the missionaries and priests he was able, to
Canton, and to declare to them that he was determined to tolerate no
idolatrous superstition whatever. In consequence, he commanded them to
remove all idolatrous emblems from their churches. The Chinese Jesuits
seem to have shewn more of the hypocrite than those of Madura had done.
They manifested no opposition whatever to the commands of the patriarch,
and obtained for him a very kind reception from the Emperor Thang-hi. But
he enjoyed the imperial favour for a very short time indeed. The Jesuits
secretly stirred up the emperor against him, by representing to him that
the legate despised the Chinese, their sovereign, and their religion, and
that he was the instigator and adviser of the Bishop of Conon, who was
apostolic-vicar in the province of Foukin, and who had prohibited some
of the heathen superstitions, in compliance with the patriarch’s desire.
The emperor, indignant at this, by a decree in August 1706, banished
the legate from his dominions, and by a subsequent one, the Bishop of
Conon.[109] The Jesuits, these diabolical sons of hypocrisy, exulting
in their hearts at the defeat of their enemies, had the impudence—we
should say, the cruelty—to insult their grief by a letter full of false
condolences and tears, which they sent to De Tournon, while still in
Nankin. However, it does not seem that the prelate was the dupe of their
arts, as may be perceived from the following noble and pathetic answer to
the fathers of the Society residing at Pekin:—
“We have received, reverend fathers, in a letter of your
reverences, full of grief, the decree of the 16th December
1706, against the most illustrious Bishop of Conon and
others.... You say that this event causes you grief and
affliction. Would to God that your affliction would lead you
to repentance! I should rejoice at it, because it would be
acceptable to God, and might be the means of your salvation.
“Night and day I shed tears before God, not less for the
distressed state of the mission, than on account of _those who
are the causes of its affliction; for, if I knew not the cause
of the evil, and the authors of it_, I might endure all more
cheerfully. The Holy See has condemned your practices; but much
more to be detested is _that unrestrained licence with which
you try to bury your shame under the ruins of the mission_.
You have not lent your ears to salutary counsel; _and now you
betake yourselves to means that cause horror_ (modo ad horrenda
confugitis).
“What shall I say? Wo is me! The cause has been determined,
but the error continues; the mission will be destroyed sooner
than it can be reformed.
“However, your reverences are not in earnest, but merely
jesting (_ludunt non dolent reverentiæ vestræ_), when you
represent the emperor as being angry with you—the emperor who
does not act but according to your wishes. He would assuredly
be angry if he knew (God forbid!) what injuries you have
caused to his glory.... What faith can I place upon those
who in all their intercourse with me have used nothing but
insidious devices?... I pray of Him who has reserved revenge
for Himself, not to give you the recompence you deserve, nor
to measure to you with the same measure ye have meted to your
neighbour.... If you knew the emperor so well as to make you
think he deserves the name of Herod, why had you recourse to
him?... Why have you malignantly excited his hatred against an
apostolic legate?... Would to God that you would repent from
your hearts!—Yours, &c.
“_Nankin, 17th January 1708._”
But if the prelate was well acquainted with all the Jesuitical cunning,
he did not know the extent of their wickedness. Soon after De Tournon
had sent this letter, he was arrested by order of the emperor (we may
well suppose at whose instigation), sent to Macao, and delivered up to
the Portuguese. The Bishop of Macao, who was another creature of the
Jesuits, loaded him with chains, and threw him into prison. It is highly
instructive to read the bull of excommunication which Pope Clement XI.
fulminated against the Bishop of Macao for this deed. He complained
that a Papal legate had been arrested, “not by pagans, but by Christian
magistrates and officers, who, forgetful of his sacred character, of his
dignity, &c., had dared to lay their hands upon him, and to make him
endure such indignities and tortures that the heathen themselves were
horror-struck—_ipsis exhorrescentibus ethnicis_.”
In the same bull the Pope lets us know that De Tournon, for certain
causes, had been subjected to the ecclesiastical censures of the Church,
the College, and Seminary of the Jesuits, which leaves no doubt as to
the authors of the capture and ill treatment of the prelate, who was
used like the worst of criminals, all to gratify the revenge of the
Jesuits. To console De Tournon for all these hardships, Clemens bestowed
upon him the cardinal’s hat; but, alas! the prisoner did not rejoice
long in this high honour. His life was near a close. The ill treatment,
and, as many say, the fastings, which he endured, brought his troubles
to an end. He died in 1710, at the age of forty-two. Oh! one is almost
tempted to implore the vengeance of God upon such sacrilegious men, who,
calling themselves Christians—nay, most perfect Christians—condemned to
exquisite tortures, and to a most miserable and protracted death, this
noble-hearted man, for attempting to purify the religion of Christ from
pagan superstition. So perished De Tournon, a man certainly one of the
best prelates of the Romish Church. Clement XI. eulogised him in a public
consistory, and, as we have said, excommunicated the Bishop of Macao.
We shall not add a word of observation; the facts speak clearly for
themselves.
We shall now resume our narrative about the Malabar rites, and endeavour
to bring it to a speedy conclusion; the facts which we have already
reported being more than sufficient to give a very clear idea of the
religious teaching of the Jesuits in India, and of their deportment
there. Clement XI., in 1719; Benedict XIII., in 1727; Clement XII., in
1734 and 1739, published briefs upon briefs to oblige the Jesuits to
submit to the decree of Cardinal de Tournon, but in vain. The Jesuits
either refused or eluded obedience to them. And when Clement XII., in
1739, forced them to take a very stringent oath[110] to obey the decree,
every Jesuit took it, but no one observed it; finding a specious excuse
for not doing so in that doctrine of theirs, then in full force, which
declares that “the man who makes an oath with his mouth, without the
consent of his mind, is not obliged to keep the oath, because he had not
sworn, but only jested.”
At last Benedict XIV. resolved to put an end to the contest, by
publishing, in 1741, a terrible bull, in which he calls the Jesuits
disobedient, contumacious, crafty, and reprobate men (_inobedientes,
contumaces, captiosi, et perditi homines_), and in which he made such
stringent and undoubted provisions, that it was a difficult matter to
evade obeying it; and especially after the Pope, by another brief in
the following year, commanded that the brief of 1741 be read every
Sabbath-day in all the houses, churches, and colleges of the Society.
The influence of the Jesuits in India now began to decline rapidly.
Their Saniassi were discovered to be impostors. The war that began
shortly after between France and England caused still greater damage;
and when their order was abolished in 1773, the Jesuits had little or
no influence in India.—These are the principal features of the missions
in India, properly so called. In Japan, that turbulent and warlike
country, the Jesuits adopted a different and more appropriate method
to acquire influence among the people. Throwing away somewhat of their
cunning and pretended sanctity, they espoused the cause of one or other
of the various parties who were disputing for power, were cherished,
respected, and permitted to preach their religion, if the party they
sided with were triumphant; persecuted, exiled, and put to death if
it were vanquished. The hundreds of Jesuits who are represented to us
as having perished martyrs for their faith were oftener executed as
unsuccessful conspirators. The Japanese were not so bigoted a race as
the Indians, and the Bonzes, their priests, were not all-powerful like
the Brahmins. The persecutions they exercised against their dangerous
rivals, the Jesuits, could not be successful but when the people and
the sovereign were offended against them, not as missionaries, but as
defeated malcontents and conspirators. The Jesuits maintained their
ground in Japan with various vicissitudes, till they were suppressed.
In China, also, they maintained their ground by the same means which
opened it for their reception—they conformed themselves to the manners
and customs of the people as far as they could, and it appears that they
partly succeeded in conquering some of their national prejudices; they
were at least supported by the higher classes, who held them in much
esteem for their learning, and so much respected that some were made
mandarins; and even when the Christians were persecuted as dangerous
conspirators, the Jesuits were left unmolested. However, we possess few
documents, excepting those of the Jesuit historians relating their own
deeds, whereby to ascertain the real truth regarding their condition in
that country.
The Jesuits assure us that millions of idolaters were converted by them
in all these countries, but their fabulous narrations are contradicted
by facts. For, when a statistical account was made in 1760, of all the
Christians residing in India and Japan, the number was found to be less
than a half of what Xavier alone is said to have converted, and more than
one hundred times less than had been accomplished by the united labours
of all the Jesuit missionaries. This reminds us of the computation made
by a witty person of all the Arabians killed by the French bulletins from
1831 to 1841, which three or four times outnumbered the whole Arabian
population.
In all these countries the Jesuits derived from their converts great
contributions; but of their traffic more anon.
We have thus given an outline of these celebrated missions, and we
are sorry that we cannot extend the recital of them any further. A
characteristic fact ascertained from an accurate study of their missions
is, that the Jesuit missionaries, with the view of domineering over
these countries, altogether regardless of the interests of the Christian
religion, slandered and persecuted all other missionaries, even although
they were Roman Catholics. And so they do still.
We must further observe, that the Jesuits, these so-called fervent and
unexceptionable Roman Catholics, lived for more than fifty years in open
rebellion against the chief of their Church—God on earth—the infallible
vicegerent of Christ—and committed during that same period as many
sacrileges as were the sacerdotal functions they performed; for, since
by the non-observance of the Cardinal de Tournon’s decree, they incurred
a suspension _a divinis_, which means, suspension from the exercise of
their ministry—whatever sacerdotal act they performed, they committed a
sacrilege.
But methinks I hear some one say, do you believe that the court of
Rome persisted in such a contest because she abhorred such idolatrous
practices? By no means. The Popes fought for their authority, for the
infallibility of their oracles, and not to uphold the purity of the
Christian religion. Superstition—idolatry—they like, they encourage, they
live by it. Under their eyes such acts of idolatrous abominations are
daily committed, that those of India become insignificant when compared
with them. I beg permission to relate only one, which, if the fact could
not be ascertained by any one every year in many of the Italian towns,
I fear would not be credited, so very sacrilegious is it. In the little
town of San Lorenzo in Campo,[111] forty miles distant from Ancona, the
following procession takes place on the Good Friday of every year. The
line of procession extends from the town, through an almost open country,
for about a mile and a half, the whole way having been previously
prepared for the purpose. On platforms, erected at certain distances,
the different stages of our Saviour’s passion are represented. On one of
them you see the judgment-seat, and Pilate condemning Christ to death;
on another, Christ crowned with thorns; on a third, Christ falling under
the load of the cross on his way to Calvary, and so on. Next comes the
crucifixion, represented in four different acts. The first exhibits
Christ with one of his hands nailed to the cross; the second, with both
his hands nailed; the third, with both hands and feet; and in the fourth,
our holy Redeemer is exhibited as expiring, and with his breast pierced
by a spear. At the foot of the cross may be seen the three Maries. All
these personages chosen to represent our Lord’s passion, are picked out
from the very dregs of the people, and are paid more or less, according
to the uneasiness of the posture which they are made to assume. He who
personates our Saviour receives the greatest pay, a crown; while the
respective representatives of Pilate and Mary obtain the smallest named,
eighteenpence. All these sacrilegious pantomimers are at their post
half an hour before the procession begins, and dressed suitably to the
character impersonated by each. The miscreant who hangs upon the cross
(we shudder to relate such abominations) has only a belt around his
middle, the cross being so constructed as to lessen the difficulty of his
posture. About an hour and a half after sunset, the priests, in their
pontifical robes, issue from the church, accompanied by all the civil
authorities, and by a great concourse of citizens dressed in mourning,
and carrying lighted torches in their hands. On their way they kneel down
before every platform, offer up a prayer, and sing a part of some sacred
hymn! This impious ceremony is performed with becoming gravity so soon as
the priests and the bulk of the procession draw nigh to the respective
platforms; but before their arrival, and after their departure, the scene
presents a most revolting and disgusting spectacle. Many of the lazzaroni
go round, laughing and shouting, and address those who impersonate our
Saviour and the Virgin, in the most insulting and profane language. You
may hear many saying, “Ha, ha! thou art here, Theresa! Thou art the
Virgin, art thou not? Ah, ah! you”—(modesty forbids us to repeat the
remainder of the sentence). “Ah! Frances, thou art the Magdalen! By my
troth, it is not long since thou repentedst”—or, “Oh, Paul! Paul! there
is some mistake. Thou oughtest to represent the impenitent robber, and
not the Christ, thou arrant thief!” But we must draw a veil over the rest
of that infernal scene.
So abhorrent is idolatry to the Court of Rome!
[Illustration: _Jacques Lainès._
_Hinchliff._]