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