Chapter XII

1608-1700.

OVERGROWING INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIETY.

New Phase of the History of the Order—The Jesuits contend
for Supremacy wherever they are established—Their Influence
in various Courts—They become Confessors of the Kings of
France—Assassination of Henry IV.—The Jesuits accused by the
Parliament of being the Accomplices of Ravaillac—Apologetic
Letters of Father Cotton, the late King’s Confessor—The
_Anti-Cotton_, a Pamphlet against the Jesuits—Cotton, Confessor
of Louis XIII.—Death of Acquaviva, 1615—His Acts—With him
ends the _prestige_ exercised by the Generals—Election
of Vitelleschi—His Character—Canonisation of Loyola and
Xavier—Rules to be observed in making Saints—Quantity of
Saints found in the Cemetery of St Lorenzo fuor delle
mura—They are at last discovered to have been dug up from a
Pagan Burial-place—Feasts on the Canonisation of Loyola and
Xavier—Impious Panegyrics in their Honour—Solemnisation of
the Secular Year of the Establishment of the Society—_Imago
Primi Sæculi_—Some Extracts from it—How Crétineau excuses
the Extravagancies of the _Imago_—The Book expresses the
real Feelings of the Jesuits—The greatest Houses have one
of their Members a Jesuit—The Jesuits under Richelieu—Under
Mazzarini—Louis XIV. assumes the Government—Beginning of the
extraordinary Influence of the Order—Louis XIV. and Philip II.
both bigoted Papists—Both wage War against the Pope—Servility
of the Jesuits towards Louis XIV.—They are allowed to persecute
the Protestants—De la Marca’s Formula to be subscribed by the
Jansenists—They refuse to do so—Persecution raised against
them—Edict of Nantes—Father Lachaise—His Character—He becomes
the King’s Confessor—His Ascendancy over the King—Revocation
of the Edict of Nantes—Massacre of the Huguenots—Their Bodies
exhumed from the Tombs—Numberless Families obliged to leave
France—Lachaise becomes an important Personage—His Residence—He
disposes of _Lettres de Cachet_—What these were—He unites in
Secret Marriage the King and Madame de Maintenon. The Right
of disposing of all the Livings and Bishoprics attached to
the Office of the King’s Confessor—Immense Power which it
confers upon the Order—Letellier succeeds Lachaise as King’s
Confessor—His Character—His Persecuting Spirit—By his orders,
Port-Royal Destroyed from the Foundation, the Tombs Violated,
and the Bodies of the Deceased given to be Devoured by the
Dogs, 253

The Jesuits in Spain—Their Influence under Philip III. and
IV.—Olivarez leaves them little share of Authority—They
resolved to be Revenged—Their Conspiracy in Portugal—Father
Corea and the Duke of Braganza—Crétineau confesses the part
they took in the Revolution—The House of Braganza ascend the
Throne of Portugal—Paramount Influence of the Jesuits—Lisbon
the Centre of their Commerce—Decrees of the General
Congregations forbidding the Jesuits to mix in Political or
Commercial Matters—Whether observed or not—Why enacted, 274

The Jesuits in Germany—They are the most able Auxiliaries of
Ferdinand in destroying the Protestants—Tilly, Wallenstein, and
Piccolomini, their Pupils—Conduct of the Jesuits in the Thirty
Years’ War—Advantages which they derived from it, 278

Influence of the Jesuits in Poland—They used it against
the Protestants—Letter of the University of Cracow to
that of Louvain on the Jesuit Cruelties—Cassimir, King of
Poland, formerly a Jesuit—He is on the point of losing his
Kingdom—Commits it to the care of the Virgin Mary, 280

The Jesuits and Christina of Sweden—Father Macedo converts her
to Romanism—She Abdicates the Crown and goes to Rome, 282

The Jesuits in England under James I.—Gunpowder Plot—What part
the Jesuits had in it—Difficulty of arriving at the Truth—The
Jesuits from first to last the Contrivers of all the Plots
against Elizabeth and James—Parson disposes of the Crown of
England—He obtains from the Pope a Bull which forbids the Roman
Catholics to take the Oath of Allegiance—Percy reveals to
Father Gerald the Gunpowder Plot—Garnet pretends not to have
known the Conspiracy but under the Seal of Confession—This Plea
cannot exculpate the Jesuits from being Accomplices in the
Plot—Reasons why—Imprisonment of Garnet—The Government violates
all the Laws of Justice and Humanity—Punishment of Garnet—Moral
Torture he is made to endure on the Scaffold—Execution
of Father Oldcorne—The Jesuits are not discouraged from
Plotting—Struggle of Charles I. with his Parliament—The Jesuits
accused of fighting in both Camps—Absurdity of the Recital of
Jurieu to prove the Accusation—The Author’s opinion upon the
Fact—The Jesuits’ Discouragement under Cromwell—They re-appear
under Charles II.—Crétineau on a Treaty to Re-establish
the Roman Religion—Popish Plot—Oates and Bedloe—Their
infamous Character —Their absurd Inventions—Credit they
obtain—Persecution of Papists—Father Ireland executed—Reign of
James II.—Influence of the Jesuits—Father Peter, Member of the
Privy Council—Revolution of 1688, 283