The Jesuits, 1534-1921

After a weary journey of four months, they arrived at Macao. Meantime the Brief had been published, and the Bishop of Macao, a creature of Pombal's made haste to inform them of the fact. Had he held his peace there would have been no difficulty about the continuance of the journey to Pekin, and their subsequent standing at the court, for the Brief was not effective until it was promulgated. But once they knew it, the poor men were in a dilemma. Not to heed the invitation of the Chinese emperor meant death, if he laid hold of them; but, on the other hand, to go to China without the power of saying Mass or preaching, or hearing confessions, namely as suspended priests, was unthinkable. For three days, the unfortunate wanderers studied the problem with aching hearts, and finally determined to run the risk of capture by the Chinese with its subsequent punishment of death. They stowed themselves away on separate ships and thus got back to Europe. Incidentally, it serves as a proof that the Jesuits did not go out to China to be mandarins, as some of their enemies alleged. They accepted what honors came to them, but only to help them in their apostolic work.

It was found out subsequently that these poor men would have had better luck had they continued on their journey to China instead of returning to Europe. The promulgation of the Brief and the observance of all the legal technicalities connected with its enforcement was next to impossible in China, and hence we find a letter of Father Bourgeois from Pekin to his friend Duprez in France, which bears the date May 15, 1775, announcing that "the Brief is on its way." It had been issued two years previously. Of course, Bourgeois is in tears over the prospective calamity, and tells his friend: "I have nothing now but eternity and that is not far off. Happy are those of Ours who are with Ignatius and Xavier and Aloysius Gonzaga and the numberless throng of saints who follow the Lamb under the glorious banner of the Name of Jesus."

Crétineau-Joly discovered another letter from an Italian lay-brother named Panzi, who writes eighteen months later than Bourgeois. It is dated November 11, 1776. In it he says "the missionaries had been notified of the Bull of Suppression (he does not state how), nevertheless they live together in the same house, under the same roof and eat at the same table." Apparently there had been a flaw in the promulgation of the "Bull" or Brief. The brother goes on to say, that "the Fathers preach, confess, baptise, retain possession of their property just as before. No one has been interdicted or suspended for the reason that in a country like this it would have been impossible to do otherwise. It is all done with the permission of the Bishop of Nankin, to whom we are subject. If the same course had been pursued here as in some parts of Europe, it would have put an end not only to the missions but to all religion, besides being a great scandal to the Chinese Christians who could not be provided for and who would have abandoned the Faith.

"Thanks be to God, our holy Mission is going on well and at present everything is very tranquil. The number of converts increases daily. Father Dollières brought over an entire tribe which lives on the mountains two days' journey from Pekin. The Emperor, so far, shows no signs of embracing the Catholic Faith, but he protects it everywhere throughout his vast dominions, and so do the other great men of the Empire. I am still at my work of painting. I am glad I am doing it for God; and I am determined to live in this holy mission until God wishes to take me to himself."

About this time, the Fathers addressed a joint letter to Cardinal de Bernis, the French ambassador at Rome, who had been so conspicuous in wresting the Brief of Suppression from Clement XIV and had originated the calumny about the poisoning of the Pope.

"Would your Eminence," says the document, "cast a glance at the inclosed report on the present condition of the French missions of China and the Indies which has been asked for by the Holy Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith. To these missions as you know, his majesty has sent great amounts of money and a large number of his subjects, knowing as he did that the interests of France are bound up with those of religion, and the advancement of the latter was what he had chiefly in view. It will be gratifying to you to learn that the Chinese Emperor takes great pleasure in having these French missionaries employed in his palace; he frequently takes them with him on his journeys through the empire, and makes use of them to draw up maps of the country, which are of invaluable service to him. On the other hand, the missionaries, on account of the esteem in which they are held, use all their influence to prevent the persecution of Christians and have succeeded in obtaining favors for Europeans and especially for the Frenchmen who arrive at Canton, by protecting them from the annoyances to which they are exposed. Over and above this, several of the Fathers are in correspondence with the Paris Academy of Science, and also with the ministers of State, and are sending them the results of their astronomical observations, and of their discoveries in botany, natural history, in brief, whatever can contribute to the advancement of science and art.

"The king and his ministers, have in the past few years, accorded free transportation to the Fathers who are sent out here to the French missions of India, and deservedly so, for these missionaries have frequently rendered important service to France, and for that reason, the Supreme Council of Pondicherry has taken up their defense against the rulings of the Parliament of Paris, which sent officers out here to seize the little property we possess. The Pondicherry authorities would concede only that the Fathers might make a small change in their soutane and be called the "Messieurs les missionnaires de Malabar." It is in accordance with this arrangement that we continue to exercise our functions under the jurisdiction of the bishop. We are the only ones who understand the very difficult language of the country and there does not seem to be any reason why we should not be left as we are. Besides these two missions, there are two others in the Levant, one in Greece, the other in Syria. They have always been and still are under the protection of France. M. le Chevalier de Saint-Priest, who is ambassador to Turkey, said, on his arrival at Constantinople, that the king had explicitly recommended to him the French missions and ordered him to assure the Fathers of the continuance of his protection."

Of the missions in Hindostan it may be of use to quote here the utterance of M. Perrin of the Missions Etrangères, who went out to India three years after the destruction of the Jesuit Missions in those parts. "I cannot be suspected when I speak in praise of those Fathers. I was never associated with them. Indeed, they were already extinct as a body when Providence placed me in the happy necessity of having had to do with some of the former members. I belonged to an association which had protracted and sometimes very lively debates with the Jesuit Fathers, who might have regarded us as their enemies, if Christians are capable of entertaining that feeling; but I feel bound to say that, notwithstanding these discussions, we always held each other in the highest esteem, and I hereby defy the most audacious calumniator to prove that the Society of Jesus had ever to blush for the conduct of any of its Malabar missionaries either at Pondicherry or in the interior. All were formed and fashioned by virtue's hand and they breathed virtue back in their conduct and their sermons." (Voyage dans l'Indostan, II, 261.)

Among the French Jesuits in China, Father Amiot was conspicuous. Langlès, the French Academian who was ambassador in China, dedicated to him a translation of Holme's "Travels in China," in which the Jesuit is described as "Apostolic Missionary at Pekin, Correspondent of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres; an indefatigable savant, profoundly versed in the knowledge and the history of the sciences, the arts and the language of China and an ardent promoter of the Tatar-Manchou language and literature." With Amiot was Father Joseph d'Espinha, who was president of the imperial tribunal of astronomy, and simultaneously administrator of the Diocese of Pekin. Fathers de Rocha and Rodrigues presided over the tribunal of mathematics, and Father Schelbarth replaced Castiglione as the chief painter of the emperor; there were other Jesuits also who evangelised the various provinces of the country under the direction of the Ordinary.

This condition of things lasted for ten years and it was only then that the question arose of handing over the work to the Lazarists. Thus in a letter of Father Bourgeois, of whom we have already spoken, he says: "they have given our mission to the Lazarist Fathers." The letter is dated November 15, 1783, namely ten years after the suppression of the Society. "They were to have come last year," continues the writer; "Will they come this year? They are fine men and they can feel sure that I shall do all in my power to help them and put them in good shape." It was not until 1785 that a Lazarist, Father Raux, took over the Pekin Mission, and in 1788, three years afterwards, Bourgeois was able to say to Father Beauregard who had contrived to remain in Paris in spite of the Revolution: "Our missionary successors are men of merit, remarkable for virtue, talent and refinement. We live together like brothers, and thus the Lord consoles us for the loss of our good mother, the Society, whom we can never forget. Nothing can tear that love out of our hearts, and hence every moment we have to make acts of resignation in the calamity that has fallen upon us. Meanwhile it is hard to say in our house whether the Lazarists live as Jesuits or the Jesuits like Lazarists."

The old and infirm Jesuits who were homeless and could find no ecclesiastical employment had much to suffer. They became pitiable objects of charity. Zalenski in "Les Jésuites da la Russie Blanche" (I, 77) gives an instance of it, in an appeal made to the King of Poland by one hundred and five of these outcasts, many of whom had been distinguished professors in the splendid colleges of the country. They had been granted a miserable pittance out of their own property in the way of a pension, but even that was often not forthcoming. After reminding His Majesty that this pension had been guaranteed them by the Church, by their country, and by the Sovereign Pontiff, and that the allowance was from their own property; and was due to them from the natural law; and also that the amount needed was every day decreasing, because of the great number among them who were dying, they asked him imploringly: "Will Poland, so long known for its humanity, be cruel only to us; will you permit us the Lord's anointed, the old teachers of the youth of Poland, to go begging our bread on the streets, with our garments in rags, and exposed to insults; will you permit that our tears and our cries which are forced from us by the grief and abandonment to which we are reduced should add to the affliction of our country; will you permit that our country should be accused of inhumanity and insulted because it withholds our pension? It is sad enough for us to have lost the Society, the dearest and nearest thing to our heart in this life, without adding this new suffering. Should you not have pity on our lot and grant us a pension? Do not bring us down to the grave with this new sorrow." Whether their prayers were answered or not we do not know. However, as Cardinal Pallavicini denounces the king as "impious and inert," it is very likely that the poor old men were left to starve.

Quite unexpectedly the Protestant Frederick the Great of Prussia and the schismatical Catherine II of Russia insisted on having what Jesuits they could get for educational work in their respective domains. As neither sovereign would permit the Papal Brief to be read in the countries which they governed, a number of the exiles in various parts of Europe flocked thither. Efforts were made to have the Brief promulgated in both countries, but without success; for Catherine as well as Frederick denied any right of the Pope in their regard; nor would either of them listen to any request of the Jesuits to have it published. They were told to hold their peace. Of course, they were condemned by their enemies for accepting this heterodox protection; but it has been blamed for almost everything, so they went on with their work, thanking God for the unexpected shelter, and knowing perfectly well that Clement XIV was not averse to the preservation of some of the victims.

CHAPTER XXI

THE RUSSIAN CONTINGENT

Frederick the Great and the "Philosophers" – Protection of the Jesuits – Death of Voltaire – Catherine of Russia – The Four Colleges – The Empress at Polotsk – Joseph II at Mohilew – Archetti – Baron Grimm – Czerniewicz and the Novitiate – Assent of Pius VI – Potemkin – Siestrzencewicz – General Congregation – Benislawski – "Approbo; Approbo" – Accession of former Jesuits. Gruber and the Emperor Paul – Alexander I – Missions in Russia.

Even before the general suppression of the Society, Frederick II of Prussia had given a shock to the politicians of Europe and to his friends the philosophes of France, by welcoming the exiled Jesuits into his dominions and employing them as teachers. Hence d'Alembert wrote to remonstrate; though at first glance he appears to approve of the king's action, his insulting tone when speaking of the Pope reveals the animus of this enemy of God. It ran as follows:

"They say that the Cordelier, Ganganelli, does not promise ripe pears to the Society of Jesus and that St. Francis will very likely kill St. Ignatius. It appears to me that the Holy Father, Cordelier though he be, would be very foolish to disband his regiment of guards to please the Catholic princes. Such a treaty would be very like that of the sheep and the wolves; the first article of which was that the sheep should deliver their dogs to the wolves. But in any case, Sire, it will be a curious condition of affairs, if while the Most Christian, the Most Catholic, the Most Apostolic, and the Most Faithful kings are destroying the grenadiers of the Holy See, your Most Heretical Majesty should be the only one to protect them." A little later he writes: "I am assured that the Cordelier Pope needs a good deal of plucking at his sleeves to get him to abolish the Jesuits. I am not surprised. To propose to the Pope to destroy this brave troop is like asking Your Majesty to disband your body guards."

D'Alembert was playing double. He was as anxious as any one to bring about the Suppression, and on April 3, 1770, Frederick wrote him that, "The Philosophy which has had such vogue in this century is bragged about more brazenly than ever. But what progress has it made? 'It has expelled the Jesuits,' you tell me. Granted, but I will prove, if you want me to do so, that the whole business started in vanity, spite, underhand dealing and selfishness."

On July 7, 1770, Frederick wrote to Voltaire and said: "The good Cordelier of the Vatican lets me keep my dear Jesuits whom they persecute everywhere. I will guard the precious seed so that some day I may supply it to those who may want to cultivate this rare plant in their respective countries." Frederick had annexed Silesia which was entirely Catholic, while the part of Poland which was allotted to him at the time of the division had remained only half faithful. To gratify them and keep them at peace, he thought he could do no better than to ask the Jesuits to take care of the education of the youth of those countries, "let the philosophes cry out against it as they may." Hence, on December 4, 1772, he wrote to d'Alembert: "I received an ambassador from the General of the Ignatians, asking me to declare myself openly as the protector of the Order; but I answered that when Louis XV thought proper to suppress the regiment of Fitzjames (the Jansenists), I did not think I could intercede for that corps; and moreover, the Pope is well able to bring about such a reformation without having heretics take a hand in it."

A Jesuit named Pinto had, indeed, presented himself to Frederick to ask for his protection, but he had no warrant to do so. Someone in Rome had suggested it, and he was encouraged in his enterprise by Maria Theresa. When apprised of it, the General sent a very severe reprimand to the volunteer ambassador, and that disposed of Father Pinto. No more was heard of him.

Frederick showed himself a very vigorous protector of the Society. When the Brief was published he issued the following decree: "We, Frederick by the Grace of God, King of Prussia, to all and every of our subjects, greeting:

"As you have already been advised that you are not permitted to circulate any Bulls or Briefs of the Pope, without our approbation of the same, we have no doubt that you will conform to this general order, in case the Brief of the Pope suppressing the Society of Jesus arrives at any department within your jurisdiction. Nevertheless, we have deemed it necessary to recall this to your memory, and as, under the date of Berlin, the sixth of this month, we have resolved, for reasons prompting us thereto, that this annihilation of the Society which has recently taken place shall not be published in our states, we graciously enjoin upon you to take all necessary measures in your district to suppress the aforesaid Bull of the Pope; for which end you will, in our name, as soon as you receive this communication, issue an explicit order, under penalty of rigorous chastisement, to all ecclesiastics of the Roman Catholic religion domiciled in your territory not to publish the aforesaid Bull annulling the Society of Jesus. You are commanded to see carefully to the execution of this order, and to inform us immediately in case any high foreign ecclesiastics endeavor to introduce any Bulls of this kind into our kingdom surreptitiously."

This mandate had the effect of protecting the Jesuits who were in his dominions; for as canon law made the promulgation of the Brief an indispensable condition of the suppression, it followed that the Jesuits in Prussia could conscientiously continue to live there as Jesuits. Indeed, the king had previously notified the Pope that such would be his course of action, and an autograph dispatch to the Prussian representative at Rome, dated Potsdam, September 13, 1773, reads as follows: "Abbé Columbini: You will say to whomsoever it may concern, but without any ostentation or affectation, and indeed you will endeavor to find an opportunity to say naturally, both to the Pope and his prime minister, that with regard to the affair of the Jesuits, my resolution is taken to keep them in my States as they hitherto have been. I guaranteed in the treaty of Breslau the statu quo of the Catholic religion, and I have found no better priests than they under every aspect. You will add that as I am a heretic, the Pope cannot dispense me from the obligation of keeping my word nor from nullifying my obligation as an honest man."

The last phrase, of course, is very insulting, but there was no help for it. It was the king's. When d'Alembert heard of the letter, he revealed his true colors, and warned Frederick that he would regret it, reminding him that in the Silesian War, the Jesuits had been opposed to him; that is to say, the Silesian Jesuits were faithful to Silesia. Frederick replied, on Jan. 7, 1774: "You need not be alarmed for my safety. I have nothing to fear from the Jesuits; they can teach the youth of the country, and they are better able to do that than any one else. It is true that they were on the other side, during the war, but, as a philosopher, you ought not to reproach me for being kind and humane to every one of the human species, no matter what religion or society he belongs to. Try to be more of a philosopher and less of a metaphysician. Good acts are more profitable to the public than the most subtle systems and the most extravagant discoveries, in which, generally speaking, the mind wanders wildly without ever finding the truth. In any case, I am not the only one who has protected the Jesuits. The English and the Empress of Russia have done as much." This correspondence with d'Alembert continued for a year or so; and in 1777, when Voltaire was dying, the king wrote to advise him to think of his old school days at Louis-le-Grand. "Remember Father Tournemine, who was your nurse and made you suck the sweet milk of the Muses. Reconcile yourself with the Order which in the last century gave to France its greatest men." To all appearances Voltaire did not take the advice of his royal friend.

The politicians of Spain were particularly irritated at this action of Frederick, but he paid no attention to their anger. It is even said that the Pope ordered his nuncio at Warsaw to suspend all the Jesuits in Prussia from their ecclesiastical and pedagogical function and that a request was made to the King to have it done pro forma, with a promise to lift the ban immediately afterwards, a proposition which seems too silly to have ever been seriously made. But when Clement XIV died, Pius VI, after a few perfunctory protests, so as not to exasperate the other powers, let it be known that he was not dissatisfied with the status of the Jesuits in Prussia, and he not only wrote in that sense to Frederick, but encouraged him to continue his protection of the outcasts. Whereupon Frederick dispatched the following letter to the superior of Breslau. It is dated September 27, 1775:

"Venerable, dear and faithful Father: The new Pontiff having declared that he left to me the choice of the most suitable means to be employed for the conservation of the Jesuits in my kingdom, and that he would put no obstacle in my way by any declaration of irregularity, I have in consequence enjoined on my bishops to leave your Institute in statu quo, and not to trouble any of your members or to refuse ordination to any of your candidates to the priesthood. You will therefore conform to this arrangement and advise your confrères to do likewise."

Until the death of Bishop Bayer of Culm, who was the staunch friend of the Fathers, there was no cloud on the horizon; but he was succeeded by Bishop Hohenzotten, who belonged to the House of Brandenburg. He had been extremely friendly before his installation as bishop, but immediately afterwards he advised the king to secularize the Jesuits and to forbid the establishment of a novitiate. The king, however, would not yield any further than to permit of their dressing as secular priests, and until his death in 1786 they continued to live in community under the name of the "Priests of the Royal Institute." His successor was not so benignant, for he seized all the revenues of the houses and thus put an end to their existence in Prussia, and they, like their brethren elsewhere, took the road of exile. Some joined the secular clergy and others made their way to Russia.

More surprising still was the protection accorded to them by the terrible Empress Catherine II of Russia. Indeed, it was she who made it possible to preserve unbroken the link between the old and the new Society. On the other hand, not a few Pharisees have reproached the Society for having accepted the protection of this imperial tigress. For the same reason, they might have found fault with Daniel in the lion's den. He could not get out of it; and, the animals were kinder than the humans above ground.

Catherine of Russia was not a Russian but a Prussian. Her name was Sophia Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst. She and her unfortunate husband had been adopted by the czarina, Elizabeth, as her successors on the imperial throne of Russia, on condition that they would change their name and religion. There was no difficulty about either, especially the latter. According to Oliphant, Kohl, Döllinger and others who have described the state of the empire as it was about forty years later, sixteen millions or about one fourth of the entire population of Russia did not profess the Greek faith. The educated classes neither cared nor affected to care for the state religion. From the mercantile classes and most of their employees and the landed aristocracy all faith had departed. The peasants were divided into about fifty sects, and hatred and contempt for one another and the enmity of all of them for the Orthodox Church were extreme. No two Russian bishops had any spiritual dependence or connection with any other. They were simply paid officials of a common master who appointed, degraded or discarded them at pleasure. De Maistre who lived in Russia about that time says. "The words: "Oriental Church" or "Greek Church" have no meaning whatever." "I recognize," said Peter the Great, "no other legitimate Patriarch than the Pope of Rome. Since you will not obey him you shall obey me only. Behold your Pope." On that basis the Russian Church was built.