Chapter I: Front Matter

THE

NEW CONSPIRACY

AGAINST THE JESUITS

DETECTED AND BRIEFLY EXPOSED;

WITH A

SHORT ACCOUNT OF THEIR INSTITUTE;

AND

OBSERVATIONS ON THE DANGER OF SYSTEMS OF

EDUCATION INDEPENDENT OF RELIGION.

* * * * *

BY R. C. DALLAS, ESQ.

* * * * *

Omnes qui se Societati addixerunt, in virtutum solidarum ac
perfectarum, et spiritualium rerum studium incumbant.

INSTITUTUM SOC. JESU, ed. Pragae, 1757, vol. ii, p. 72.

The causes which occasioned the ruin of this mighty body, as well as
the circumstances and effects with which it has been attended in the
different countries of Europe, are objects extremely worthy of the
attention of every intelligent observer of human affairs.

ROBERTSON'S CHARLES V, vol. iii, p. 225.

* * * * *

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR JAMES RIDGWAY, PICCADILLY.

1815.

C. WOOD, Printer,
Poppin's Court, Fleet Street.

* * * * *

{v}

TO

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

GEORGE CANNING, M. P.

HIS MAJESTY'S AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY TO

THE COURT OF PORTUGAL, _&c._ _&c._

SIR;

Your absence from this country, and the observation of the historian, which I have adopted as a motto, will plead my excuse for dedicating this volume to you, without a previous intimation of my wish for that honour to my work and to myself. "The causes {vi} of the ruin of the society of Jesuits, with its circumstances and effects, are worthy of your attention." I have bestowed a considerable degree of labour in making myself acquainted with them, and, having been induced to throw the result of my inquiries into the form of a book, I know not to whom I can better present it than to a man, who, among the services which he has been active in rendering to his country, in her legislation and letters, has been the liberal advocate of the catholic body in general, and who, I am confident, will be pleased to see any society, or any individual, rescued from opprobrium, which time and colouring may have fixed on character. You are on the spot, Sir, where the Jesuits were persecuted with the greatest virulence; a circumstance, to {vii} my apprehension, not the most favourable to the investigation of truth, as it may well be imagined, that the prejudices, which were raised by the unprincipled and unrelenting minister of Joseph I, of Portugal, have too strongly enveloped it to be easily removed: but there are minds gifted with a discernment approaching to intuition, and, if any man can unweave the web, which has been spun around this unfortunate society, to your penetration may it be trusted. I have examined the subject with sincerity and disinterestedness, and, from conviction, I feel such interest in the establishment of the facts which I have stated, and the conclusions which I have drawn, that I dare hope that what I here offer to your consideration will one day be corroborated by testimony and {viii} talents, that shall remove all the doubt which the feebleness of my pen may leave upon it.

I have the honour to be,

Sir,

Your most obedient and

humble Servant,

R. C. DALLAS.

_September 4, 1815._

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