of Christian Verities and of the Secrets of an interior Life he admir'd the Wisdom more then Natural which appear'd in his Discourses and said by a kind of Inspiration This man is a Saint I am mistaken if one day he be not a Founder of some Religious Order This Supply out of Flanders gave him a Subsistance for two years after which time not to importune the same People again he went to seek Relief in England from the Spanish Merchants who resided at London But in the years following he made no more of these Voyages for not only the Spanish Merchants of the Low-Countries upon the knowledge of his Vertues return'd him their Charities to Paris but he moreover receiv'd a new Recruit from his Friends at Barcelona A Man of Biscay residing at Paris call'd John Madera discover'd I know not by what means who Ignatius was and was mightily scandaliz'd at his proling and begging Life which his poverty reduc'd him to Taking him one day apart he told him with freedom that the Life he lead was a dishonor to the Illustrious Family of Loyola and that a Man well born and of rich Parentage could not live upon begging Alms without offending God Tho' Ignatius had no scruple upon it yet he thought it expedient to consult the Sorbon upon the Point both for his own security and chiefly to undeceive Madera He drew up the Case in these terms Whether a Gentleman who having renounced the World to follow Jesus Christ going about in several Countries to beg Alms doth any thing against Conscience The Doctors to whom he propos'd the Case in Writing all Answer'd and put their Hands to it That there was neither sin nor the shadow of a sin in it He shew'd to Madera the Answer of the Doctors not so much to justifie his own Conduct as to vindicate the honor of Voluntary Poverty which has been enobled by Jesus Christ himself Being thus at repose in the Matter of Subsistance as well as of Conscience he began now to advance very fast in Learning After he had spent eighteen months in the Colledge of Montaign he made his Course of Philosophy in the Colledge of St. Barbara His Study was now his principal Employment and he apply'd himself to it the more for that he knew the design which God Almighty had in it It was upon this Consideration that during the Course of his Philosophy he would not give the Spiritual Exercises to several Persons of the Town nor be engag'd in such other Works of Charity which required much time and would have distracted his Studies He even abstain'd to speak of heavenly things with his Chamber-Fellows in the Hours of Study because he found that if he enter'd upon a Discourse of Piety at those Hours he had not the power of giving it over nor of reassuming his Notions of Study But with all this he no day omitted to take an account of the secret motions of his Heart And to tame more and more his natural Inclinations he constantly made the particular Examen of his Conscience according to the Method set down in the Book of his Spiritual Exercises Tho' the love of Science hindred him from communicating himself outwardly and made him keep those Measures we now spoke of yet upon good occasions and at spare hours he ceas'd not to entertain the Scholars with the Vanities of the World the Horror of Sin and the Pains of Hell Some of them touch'd with his Discourses left their bad Haunts and sinful Commerce and enter'd into so Christian a Conduct that they frequented the Sacraments every Sunday and Festival Day It being the Custom in the Colledge of St. Barbara to have Disputations upon those Days for the Exercise of the young Students the Master call'd John Pegna soon found that his Scholars were more assiduous at the Church then in the School He mightily complain'd of Ignatius and finding that Devotion did make Philosophy to be every day more and more neglected he was sofar transported as to call him the Disturber of the Colledge But that which most provok'd him was that many of his Scholars left him to make themselves Religious Men. This Professor who found not his Account in all this and who lean'd a little more to his own Interest then to the spiritual good of his Scholars demanded Justice of the Principal of the Colledge against Ignatius declaring that the Warning which had been given him serv'd to no purpose that the evil daily increas'd and that the irregularity of one Scholar which broke all Order in the Colledge deserv'd an exemplary punishment Doctor Govea was Principal of St. Barbara he had a grudge against Ignatius upon the account of the three Spaniards and particularly for that Amador for whom he was most concern'd had resolv'd to embrace Religious Poverty before the end of his Studies So that he easily suffer'd himself to be preposess'd by Pegna and without any great Examination of the matter he resolv'd to have Ignatius publickly Corrected They had a Custom at that time for the punishing scandalous Scholars who debauch'd their Companions to assemble the whole Colledge in the great Hall at the ringing of a Bell The Regents came with Rods in their Hands and every one in their turn gave a Lash to the Delinquent and this Correction was call'd The Hall The Design of Pegna was hereby to render Ignatius in a manner infamous so to hinder young Men that were of any Quality from having Communication with him The Business could not be so secretly carry'd between the Professor and the Principal but that Ignatius had intelligence of it from some of his Friends in the Colledge The thought of so shameful a Punishment gave him at first som horror But he instantly suppress'd this motion of Nature and instead of disappearing as his Friends advis'd him to do or at least not to come that day to the Colledge he came and openly presented himself being glad of the occasion of suffering for a good Cause Yet for all this he began to consider that the young Men whom he had reclaim'd might possibly take scandal at his disgrace and thereupon leave their holy Practices out of humane Respects that his words would no more have the efficacy of perswading them and that they would avoid him as a Corrupter of Youth that altho' this Chastisement might conduce to his own perfection yet he ought not to suffer any thing that might prejudice the spiritual good af his Neighbour In fine his zeal for Souls prevail'd above his love of Mortification so that while all things were prepar'd for this Execution Ignatius went to the Principal who was not yet come out of his Chamber and following the inward Light which directed him he modestly declared the Reasons of his Conduct to him adding withall by a Sentiment of Christian Generosity that he was not afraid to suffer for the Cause of Jesus Christ and that the Prisons of Alcala and Salamanca had prepar'd him for
matter to God to the end his most holy Will may be done in all things to his greater Glory and to the greater good of Souls and of the whole Society The Reading of this Letter did very much Surprize and Contristate the Assembly some with admiration extol'd the humility of their Father others more astonisht and inwardly toucht kept a profound silence but in conclusion they all oppos'd his laying down his Office Father Ovidoe only excepted who was a man that had the plainness and candor of the first Ages When it came to his turn he said that to him it appear'd that Father Ignatius ought not to be resisted and when the Fathers asked him his reason because he repli'd he who is a Saint has lights which we have not But opening his eyes and finding that Saints are sometimes unjust to themselves he condemn'd his first thoughts and came in to the rest They sent to declare the Resolution of the Assembly to the General which was that as long as God should please to preserve his life they would have no other Head nor Superior So that notwithstanding all his endeavors to the contrary they would not hearken to him and he was forc'd to submit This Submission lay heavy at the bottom of his Heart and was probably the cause of a great Sickness which soon after siez'd upon him He fell ill upon Christmas-day after he had said two of the Masses His Disease growing dangerous he did believe that God was pleas'd by taking his Life to free him from that Load of which Men would not discharge him This thought fill'd him with joy and his hopes of being quickly loosed from the Fetters of his Body fill'd his Soul with the most sensible Delights which Saints can taste in this World He now desir'd nothing but to see his God and the approaches of Eternity did so enflame his Desires that he was in a continual Transport The Physicians order'd him to moderate those ardent Affections least they should hasten his Death Whether it were that he obey'd them or that they were deceiv'd in their Conjectures he by degrees recover'd and entred again upon the Exercise of his Charge Don Francisco de Borgia who was a Member of the Society under the outward appearance of a Grandee of Spain and whom Father Ignatius had invited to Rome was now arriv'd there with the Spanish and the Portuguez Fathers after having Marry'd his eldest Son and his Daughters He was Lodg'd in an Apartment of the Casa Professa separated from the Community and all his delight was to entertain Father Ignatius He gave him an exact Account of his Interior and he often conferr'd with him about his manner of Prayer his Pennances and the whole Conduct of his Life During these Entertainments it came into the thoughts of the Duke of Gandia to do something which might make the Society more flourishing in Rome which was to Establish a Colledge there He gave Six thousand Crowns in Gold towards the Foundation whereupon Father Ignatius offering him the Title of a Founder he refus'd it saying That Honor was to be reserv'd for some other Person who should give a Foundation worthy of the Metropolis of the World As if he had foreseen that Pope Gregory the Thirteenth was one day magnificently to Erect the Roman Colledge The Society was not at Paris in the same Posture as at Rome Many of the University and of the Parliament seem'd to make it their Business to discredit the Order They disputed every thing with them even to their very Name A certain Carmelite Preaching in the Church of St. Severin took an occasion to inveigh against the new Society upon these words of St. Paul Brethren in Jesus Christ Hereupon he was much offended that they should arrogate to themselves the Name of The Society of Jesus not considering that the Sovereign Bishops and the Fathers of the Council of Trent had nam'd them so At the same time a Man of the long Robe and of great Reputation and Credit set upon them by calumniating their Manners and Doctrine This Enemy was so much the more to be fear'd for that under the appearances of a holy Life he conceal'd Heretical Sentiments which afterwards he made manifest when retiring to Francfort he publickly profess'd Heresie These new Persecutions rais'd no small hopes in Ignatius of a happy success in the conclusion according to the word of David that God revives after having mortifi'd As his hopes at length did not fail him so neither did these present difficulties deject him The Bishop of Clermont still continu'd his good Offices to the Jesuits of Paris who yet Lodg'd in the Colledge of the Lombards His desire was to bestow upon them Clermont House for their Habitation with annual Rents for their Subsistence But there was no profess'd Father among them to take possession of the House and to accept of the Foundation in the Name of the General On the other side there wanted the King's Letters for their being receiv'd in the Kingdom as Religious and their Enemies who were powerful at Court hinder'd their obtaining them The first of these Obstacles was easily remov'd by Father Ignatius He order'd John Baptista Viola to make the Vows of Profession according to the Form which he sent him from Rome and he humbly requested the Bishop of Clermont to receive them As to the King's Letters which were look'd upon as impossible to be obtain'd the General found an Expedient which had effect The Cardinal of Guise who after the death of his Uncle was call'd the Cardinal of Lorain being come to Rome to Negotiate a League between the Pope the Venetians and the Duke of Ferara against the Emperor Father Ignatius went to see him and took occasion to inform him particularly concerning the Institute of the Society which had rais'd so much Jealousie in France The Cardinal promis'd his assistance and protection of them at Court and desir'd the Father to look out no farther for any other Intercessor or Patron He kept his Word for as soon as he was return'd to France the first thing he did was to introduce Ignatius and his Society into the knowledge of Henry the Second and to obtain for them Letters of Reception which had been formerly refus'd But since they could not procure these Letters to be Registred in Parliament where the Jesuits found more Enemies then at Court all the Protection of the Cardinal came to no more then to give them Countenance for changing their Abode John Baptista Viola who was chosen Provisor of the Colledge of the Lombards and who had a Command from the General to quit a Title so little suitable to a Person Profess'd of the Society went to Lodge with all his Brethren in Clermont House of which the Bishop gave them the use not being able to give them the Propriety because their Letters were not Register'd This House we may call the Origine and as it were the Cradle of the
he was Superior and should follow Don John de Vega in his Expedition against the Moors to attend the Hospital of the Army Four other Jesuits before this time were gone into the Western Parts of Aethiopia to the Kingdom of Congo where the Gospel was quite extinguish'd which Don Emanuel King of Portugal had formerly there caus'd to be Preach'd and Planted And it was now at the Instance of John the Third Son and Successor of Emanuel that Father Simon Rodriguez sent those Evangelical Laborers in the Name of their common Father Ignatius Lastly under the auspicious Protection of that Prince the Society enter'd also into the Southern Parts of America when Don Soza Captain General of the Portugal Fleet Landed in Brasile to build a new Town in that new World God was not pleas'd to grant such happy Progress without some allay and at the same time that the Society spread it self over the whole World it was his Divine Pleasure to exercise it at home with troublesom Accidents After the Battel which the Protestants of Germany lost and in which the Duke of Saxony was made Prisoner the Emperor seeing that the Assembly at Bologna was broken up and that according to all appearances it would not be renew'd in a long time undertook himself to Regulate the Faith of his People till such time as the Council should meet again to Decide about it Wherefore he caus'd to be publish'd in the Dyet of Auspurg a Formulary of Faith which was call'd The Interim and contain'd Articles altogether contrary to the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church as for Example the Marriage of Priests and Communion under both Kinds Among all the Doctors who oppos'd this Imperial Libel Nicholas Bobadilla whom Father Ignatius had still left in Germany was the most zealous and fervent He was then at the Court of Charles the Fifth cherish'd by the Catholick Lords whose Consciences he Directed and fear'd by the Protestants whom he always vigorously oppos'd His resolute and untemporizing Humour was the cause that declaiming against the Interim with great heat he let fall some sharp words which reflected upon the Person of the Emperor He highly blam'd such Condescendence and Compliance with Hereticks and warmly maintain'd even in the Presence of Charles the Fifth that nothing was more likely to keep Divisions still on foot then a false Peace Charles the Fifth who thought his Honor concern'd to justifie what he had done and who look'd upon all as Rebels that did not concur with him could not endure the liberty of Bobadilla He not only forbad him the Court but banish'd him out of all the Territories of the Empire Bobadilla obey'd ful of Glory for having suffer'd Reproch in the Cause of God and immediately came to Rome where the Agreement of Auspurg had but very little approbation But Father Ignatius did not think it expedient to receive at his first coming into the House of the Society a Man whose Zeal had carry'd him too far and who in defending the Church had not shewn due Respect to his Imperial Majesty The Saint hereby design'd to make a publick Satisfaction to the Emperor and moreover to teach the Religious of his Order how they ought to respect Princes even when their Conduct is irregular The Indignation of Charles the Fifth gave occasion in Spain to the Enemies of the Society to rise up against them Melchior Cano a Dominican and Doctor of Salamanca being possess'd I know not how with a Fancy that the end of the World drew near and that Antichrist would quickly appear to make up his Vision compleat would needs have it that the Jesuits were the Praecursors of Antichrist the People call'd them Inigists from the Name of Inigo which in Spanish signifies Ignatius Some gave them the Title of Theatines for the Reason formerly told and this Appellation continu'd afterwards as Palafox observes upon a Letter of St. Teresa The Theatines of which she speaks says he are the Fathers of the Society of Jesus and it appears that the Spirit with which they acted was holy and great since she compares them with the blessed Peter of Alcantara Cano grounded his Imaginations upon the newness of the Institute which had no resemblance with the ancient Orders Their having no peculiar Habit seem'd to him a good cover for Libertinism Their resort and Commerce with the People of the World and in the Courts of Princes made him believe that they liv'd according to the Maxims of the World Lastly the Retirements which they caus'd their Proselytes to make according to the Method and Spirit of their Founder were no less then Mysteries of Abomination in the Judgment of Cano. He utter'd all he thought and his great Reputation gave so much Credit to his Words that the People now treated those as Impostors and Malefactors whom before they look'd upon as Men dropt from Heaven Father Ignatius when he heard of this Persecution in the first place gave God thanks that the Society was judg'd worthy to suffer Contumely for the Name of Jesus Christ In the next place he gave order to the Fathers of Spain to shew the Bull to Cano which Confirm'd their Institute and modestly to represent to him that the Kingdom of God would be divided if the Vicar of Jesus Christ should approve a Society opposite to Jesus Christ That of these pretended Forerunners of Antichrist Paul the Third had chosen two to be his Divines in the Council of Trent and that his Holiness had nominated another to be his Legat Apostolical in the Indies He sent at the same time into Spain a new Copy of the Sentence pronounc'd by the Governor of Rome Benedict Conversino in favour of the Society against false Accusations and he joyn'd thereunto a Brief from the Pope which constituted the Bishop of Salamanca Protector of the Reputation of an Order Confirm'd by the Holy See The General of the Dominicans himself writ a Circular Letter in which after having magnifi'd the Advantages which the Church receiv'd from the Regular Priests Establish'd under the Title of The Name of Jesus he commanded all his Religious to love that Holy Order and did forbid them in vertue of holy Obedience to speak ill of them under any pretence whatsoever Cano's Imaginations were so deeply rooted in him that he had no regard either to the Pope's Bull or to the Letter of his General for he continu'd his Invectives with an Animosity which border'd upon Fury But such was his Extravagancy that it only serv'd to undeceive those Men whom his Authority had misled All the World took the Society's part there were none even among the Religious of St. Dominick who did not declare in their behalf against one of their own Brethren F. John Penna a Doctor of Salamanca and no less eminent in Vertue then in Learning was he who signaliz'd himself most for not content to refute the Visions of Melchior Cano in the Pulpit he publish'd an
it but what was Orthodox one passage only excepted which could not be excus'd from Heresie This passage was further examin'd and upon comparing the Printed Books with this Manuscript there was a plain discovery made of Cano's foul dealing Thus Truth carry'd the cause against Forgery and the Inquisitors of Judges to Condemn became Compurgators of the Spiritual Exercises While an Ecclesiastick and a Religious Man vainly endeavor to stain the Reputation of Father Ignatius and to overthrow his Order the King of Portugal Solicited the Pope to chuse for Aethiopia a Patriarch and Bishop out of the Society of Jesus The choice which was made and the occasion of making it cannot well be understood unless we look a little back into the Affairs of that Country The People of Aethiopia which are at this day call'd Abyssins are the most Ancient Christians in the World they receiv'd the Faith in the very beginning from the Apostle St. Matthew and from the Euenuch of Queen Candace who was Baptiz'd by Philip the Deacon as it is related in the Acts of the Apostles But in process of time they left the law of Jesus Christ for that of Moses or rather they confounded these two Laws together using both Circumcision and Baptism so that intending to be at once Christians and Jews they were truly neither the one nor the other They acknowledg'd the Patriarch of Alexandria for their Head in matters of Religion from whose hands they receiv'd their Abuna or High Priest They embrac'd with the Cophtes of Aegypt the Heresies of Dioscorus and of Eutyches On the other side being mixt with Mahometans and Idolaters they every day contracted something of Mahometanism and Paganism In this manner their Religion was a mixture of all Sects But they had no Communication with Rome both in regard of their great distance and that the Greeks infus'd Hatred into them against the Latin Church When the Portuguez in their Navigation to the East-Indies discover'd that part of Aethiopia which is under the Obedience of Prester John or to speak properly the Kingdom of the Abyssins whose King we call Prester John by a popular Error which has prevail'd in Europe of attributing to this African Potentate a Title Anciently us'd by the Monarchs of the Asian Tartars he that then Reign'd among the Abyssins was a young Prince call'd David naturally Wise and Vertuous He was instructed by the Portuguez in the Mysteries of Faith and he so open'd his Eyes to Truth that relinquishing the Patriarch of Alexandria he writ to the Sovereign Bishop of Rome Clement the Seventh and by a solemn Embassy yeilded him Obedience in the Assembly at Bologna and in the Presence of Charles the Fifth who was newly there Crown'd Emperor David being dead his Son and Successor nam'd Claude who had been bread up in the Roman Religion and was a Man of good sence judg'd that the true Faith could not well be Propagated and Establish'd in his Kingdom unless the Pope sent thither a Patriarch and Bishops Whereas he had contracted an Amity with John the Third King of Portugal who had assisted him with Money and Forces against the King of Zeilan Gradamete he requested him likewise to procure these Spiritual Succors for him from Rome John the Third undertook the business with a great deal of Zeal But the troubles of the Church in those times retarded the effecting it nor was it dispatch'd till under the Pontificate of Julius the Third when it was brought to pass in this manner The King of Portugal writ to Father Ignatius to send him the Names of some of his Order whom he might propose to the Pope for Patriarch and Bishops of Aethiopia These Titles of Dignity for any of his Subjects did at first very much startle the Father But upon reflection that a Patriarcate and Bishopricks of this nature were rather Crosses then Dignities and that it was a single Case not likely to be drawn into Example he took courage and consented to all that the Prince requir'd of him He nam'd to him three Fathers of profound Capacity and of eminent Vertue John Nugnez Andrew Oviedo and Melchior Carnero without determining which of them he would have chosen for Patriarch tho ' his desire was that Nugnez should be the person which he only shew'd by recommending him with a little more advantage then the rest He only declar'd himself upon this point that those who were the Bishops might succeed the Patriarch when the case should require it Nugnez who had been imploy'd many years in Africa about the Redemption of Slaves and the Conversion of Renegades was then come to Lisbon to procure Money to redeem those Christians whom the King of Algiers had taken from the King of Fess when he drove him out of his Kingdom Upon the first rumor of his new employment he writ with all earnestness to Rome to break the design He represented to Father Ignatius that he did not refuse the Mission of Aethiopia but that he could not yeild to go thither with a Miter and that he had a great deal rather spend the rest of his days in a Chain among the Slaves of Barbary He conjur'd him by the precious wounds of our Crucifi'd Saviour to have consideration of his weakness and not to charge him with a Load which might possibly be the cause of his Damnation He added that if his good Father would not relent he should at least send him his Will in writing to the end that an Order under his hand might be a comfort and support to him in his difficulties Carnero who was then at Rome and Oviedo who was call'd thither from Naples made no less Resistance They would themselves plead their cause before the Pope As painful as their design'd Dignities seem'd to be they still thought them more illustrious then painful and the Luster gave them a Horror of them Tho' Father Ignatius had other thoughts yet he prais'd their modesty and was well pleas'd that all three upon this occasion had need of an absolute Command from the Vicar of Jesus Christ But he made them understand that all the Honor and all the Revenue of these Prelatures consisted in great Labors in continual Dangers by Land and by Sea in Poverty and possibly in Martyrdom Julius the Third was so well satisfi'd with the Conduct of the Father and of his Sons in this matter that he said publickly before all the Cardinals that now it might be seen what the Jesuits pretended to in this World since they refus'd Miters that were more splendid then burdensome and accepted those that had nothing belonging to them but Labors and Sufferings Tho' Father Ignatius did not fear that any one of the three Fathers was capable of abusing the Patriarchal Authority yet he judg'd that the more securely to oblige him who should be Patriarch to do his Duty it was convenient that an Apostolical Commissioner should reside at Goa to make his Visitation from time
Daughter who was with her near enough to touch the Body of Father Ignatius the cure would be effected But the crowd was so great that it was not possible for them to get near the Body before it was laid into the Grave However they did not lose courage and the Mother intreated the Fathers to apply something that had belong'd to the Saint to the part affected of her Daughter Father Cornelius Vischaven did what she desir'd and in the same moment the Evil left her with all the marks and effects of it His Body remain'd in the place where it was first laid till the Year 1568 at which time it was remov'd to another part of the Church by reason of the Foundations that were there to be laid for the new Church of the Giesu built by Cardinal Alexander Farnesius But in the Year 1587 when that Church was finish'd Father Claudius Aquaviva then General translated thither the Body of the Holy Founder upon the 19th of November and plac'd it on the right side of the High Altar with this plain Epitaph upon a Marble stone Ignatio Societatis Jesû Fundatori The Blessed Institutor of the Congregation of the Oratory Philip Nerius who was at Rome when Father Ignatius dy'd spoke of him after his death as he did when he was alive He said that he was a Man fill'd with the Spirit of God that he had often seen a Resplendency in his countenance that he had learnt from him the way of mental Prayer and that all Christendom was infinitly beholding to him As soon as the news of the Fathers death was spread over Europe many eminent Persons writ to the Society and their Letters were so many Elogiums of the Saint Cardinal de la Cueva in his Extol'd his Christian prudence and said that the Church had lost in him one of her ablest Subjects The Cardinal of Ausbourg writ in these terms My very Reverend and Religious Brethren in Jesus Christ I cannot say whether the Death of our most Holy Father Ignatius has caus'd in me more joy or sadness For on one side if I consider that God hath releast him out of this miserable World to recompence his Labours it would be a kind of Impiety for our own interest to grieve at his happiness On the other side we have great cause to be afflicted seeing our selves become Orphans by the loss of such a Father who was a Refuge to us and a safe Harbuor in all our Distresses But in regard that transitory things must not enter into Competition with Eternal we comfort our selves by your Example upon our assurance that this happy Soul is at this time our Advocate with God Don John de Vega Viceroy of Sicily expres'd his Sentiments in the Language of a Soldier The Servant of God said he has left behind him Trophies of his Vertue which time will never destroy as it has destroy'd the proudest Monuments of Human Vanity Me thinks I have before my Eyes the Solemnity with which a great and holy Captain is receiv'd into Heaven loaded with the spoils of Hell who has gain'd so many signal Victories upon the Enemy of Mankind in reducing to the Christian Faith by his Conduct and the Valor of his Soldiers so many Barbarous Nations who before knew not the Name of Jesus Christ It also appears to me that upon a just account his Standard may be rais'd in Heaven with those of St. Dominick of St. Francis and of the other Saints to whom God has given the strength to overcome the World and to save a great number of Souls I must not omit the Letter which the Regular Clericks of St. Paul commonly call'd Barnabites writ from Milan to Father Laynez Vicar of the Society And I think it worth the while to set it down as it lies faithfully Translated out of the Latin The news of the Decease of Venerable Father Ignatius of happy memory has caus'd great sorrow in us both upon your account and of all the holy Society of Jesus who have lost such a Master and such a Father and upon our own who also have always look'd upon him as our Father There is certainly great reason for us to be afflicted to have him taken from us in a time when good Men are so scarce but his happiness ought to out ballance with us our own loss For Jesus Christ is the life of the just and their Death is their gain because it brings them to their happiness of being with Jesus Christ when they are loosn'd from the Fetters of the Body Thus did this holy Soul going out of Prison together with St. Peter upon the first day of August take its place in Heaven We only ought to fear least our Sins may have been the cause of our losing him and least his death in our regard may have been a punishment from God like that of King Josias who was taken out of the World before the wrath of Heaven broke out upon the Jewish people However it were such was the Will of God and may his holy Name be prais'd At least he is not wholly lost to us This blessed Man who has done so great service to Christendom will always live in the memory of the Faithful and his Name will be glorious in all the parts of the Earth where the Name of Jesus Christ is known It was under the Conduct of this Governor that the Christian Faith was carry'd even to the Antipodes and that in those unknown Climates are at this time to be seen thousands of Souls Converted and a new Church every way resembling the Antient Erected of new Apostles and of new Martyrs He has sent his Children before him and after having himself taken great pains in the Service of Jesus Christ he follows them worn out and consum'd like them with Labour and Fatigue opprest with the care of so many Churches and to conclude a Martyr in Peace He has been for several Years the support of your Family and of many others or rather a common Father of all good People What sad Hearts has he not reliev'd by his Discourses full of Sweetness and Charity To whom has he not given profitable Counsel in difficult matters and Relief in greatest necessities He has been the Foot of the Lame the Eye of the Blind the Refuge of the Poor and the Comfort of the sorrowful May Heaven reward him for all his good Works On our parts we cease not to offer to God the holy Sacrifice of the Altar for so holy a Soul which as we verily believe at this present enjoys the Beatifick sight of God Let others strew Flowers upon his Tomb the proper Offerings of Priests are the holy Mysteries At least in paying him these last duties now that he is deliver'd from the miseries of corrupt Mortality we shall testifie to the end the affection we bore him whilst he liv'd amongst us To conclude we desire you to receive these Tears of Brotherly love as most
much the more rigorously by how much he found himself better recover'd in his health But withall this not to be unprofitable to his Neighbour he every day taught poor Children the Christian Doctrine Don Garcias who was a wise Worldling and who look'd upon all these Actions of his Brother with Carnal Eyes could not endure that any of the Name of Loyola should lead so abject a Life which he several times reproached to him It mightily disgusted him to see his Brother constantly with a Troop of little Children about him and once when Ignatius was going out to Catechise to disswade him from it he told him that no body would come to hear him If I have but one Child at my Catechism reply'd Ignatius I shall be very well content with my Auditory Besides this he Preached every Sunday and two or three days in the Week The Churches not being able to contain the great Crouds which flock't to him he was forced to instruct them in the open Fields An infinite of People from all the Neighbouring Towns came to hear him and many got upon the Trees to see him The first time that he Preached he told his Auditors that one of the reasons which mov'd him to return into his Country after an absence of so many years was to quiet his Conscience concerning a sin of his youth and to make satisfaction to an Inhabitant of those parts The Person of whom he spoke was there present and he had found him out in the Croud He told them therefore that on a certain time breaking into a Garden with other young Boys as mad as himself they stole and spoiled a great quantity of Fruit that a poor Man was accus'd of the Theft put in prison for it and condemn'd to pay the Dammages Then he rais'd his Voice saying Be it known to all this Assembly that in satisfaction of the injustice and the loss which that Innocent man has sustain'd I do here give and grant to him two Farms which belong to me He then called him aloud by his Name and asked him Pardon before all the People The words of a Preacher whose Actions are of this sort will easily perswade After he had Preached against the Costly and Immodest Attire of Women it was presently seen that the richness of their Habits their undecent Fashions and naked throats so common in Spain did all disappear The same day that he spoke against Play all the Gamesters threw away their Cards and Dice into the River and not a Man in the Town touched them any more in three years time When he Explicated the Ten Commandements during the ten Days between the Ascention and Pentecost to prepare the Faithful for receiving the Holy Ghost he so well acquitted himself that in the Second day he quite abolish't and exterminated all Blasphemies and false Oaths which were too frequent in that Country The sixth Day made a great Conversion of Curtezans of which some made long Pilgrimages a foot and the most famous among them bound her self to serve the Sick in the Hospital all the days of her Life so to Expiate their former sins But Ignatius was in nothing more successful then in reforming the manners of Church-men who thereabouts were great Libertines and for the most part lived in open Concubinage He made them change their Conduct by laying open to them the Holiness of their Profession and to the end that temporal punishments might restrain them if the principles of Christianity would not he engaged the Magistrates and all Governors rigorously to execute the Laws against Scandalous Priests He did some other good works which still last and will last to the end of the World For he instituted a Confraternity of the Holy Sacrament for the relief of the Poor that are not Beggars and he founded it with a part of his Estate which he had not yet renounounc'd he Introduced the Custom of Praying at Mid-day for such as were in Mortal sin and least time should wear out this practice he gave something in perpetuity to the daily Ringer of the Bell for this Prayer He establish't also the Prayer commonly called the Angelus Domini He renewed the ancient Custom of the Country of Praying every Night for the Dead He engaged his own Family at Loyola to give every Sunday in the great Church twelve Loaves of Bread to so many poor People in Honor of the twelve Apostles In conclusion he did what he pleas'd in Azpetia These were the very Words of the Witnesses who were heard after his Death in the Process of his Canonization and who had seen with their own Eyes what they deposed While Ignatius labour'd in this manner at home his Companions follow'd their Studies at Paris without intermitting their Works of Piety They were all animated with his Spirit and Faber who Govern'd in his absence had so well learn'd his Maxims that they all liv'd as if Ignatius himself had Govern'd them Their number was then increas'd by three other Divines whom Faber found to be very proper to be their Fellow-Labourers after a due trial made of them in the Spiritual Exercises of their common Father The First was Claude l' Jay who was of Anessy a Man of an extraordinary Genius and of an excellent Disposition The Second John Codure and the Third Pasquier Brouet both of them Learned Men and both Frenchmen one of the Diocess of Ambrun and the other of Amiens So that the first Fathers of the Society of Jesus were Ten in number Upon which Subject a certain Hugonot Writer strains hard for a Conceit telling us a little nonsensically that among the Pythagoreans the number of Ten is surnamed Atlas and that it is not without Mystery that Ten Men made up the Foundation of a Society which upholds the See of Rome as Atlas doth the Heavens These three last made their first Vow at Mont martyr when the other six renew'd theirs the second time And they were all so united together that notwithstanding the difference of Nation and of Humor they all seem'd to have but one Heart and one Soul Such happy News much comforted Ignatius in the absence of his beloved Disciples But the Reputation which he had gain'd in Biscay did sensibly mortifie him and this was that which made him resolve to hasten his Journey to Venice He pass'd every where for a Saint and the People believ'd he could do Miracles Whereupon they brought to him a Woman who had been four years possess'd and had all the signs in her of a true Possession He remanded her to the Exorcisms of the Church saying that he was no Priest and that a Sinner like himself had no command over the Devils But they still press'd him at least to make the Sign of the Cross over the possess'd Person which he could not refuse them to do and immediately she was deliver'd Some few days after they brought him a Maid whom the People would needs have to be also Possess'd she
was very raging with violent Contortions over all her Body Ignatius when he had beheld her said she was not Possess'd and that those extraordinary Motions proceeded from a natural Cause and that if the Devil had any part in it 't was only in troubling the Imagination of the sick Person He made the Sign of the Cross upon her and her fury presently ceased There was in the Hospital of St. Mary Magdalen a poor Man call'd Bastida who for many years had the Falling-sickness He had once a long and violent Fit in the presence of Ignatius the Saint touch'd with Compassion lifted his Eyes to Heaven made an ardent Prayer for the poor Man and laid his Hand upon his Head Bastida instantly recover'd of his Fit and was so perfectly cur'd of his Disease that it never came more But God who gives his Servants the power of curing Diseases for the Glory of his Name permits them at the same time to be diseased themselves so to humble them and to try their patience Ignatius accordingly had then a great Sickness He would not be carry'd to Loyola but he could not hinder his Kindreds taking care of him Two Women of Quality his Cousin-germans one call'd Maria Doriola and the other Simona d' Alzaga tended him and continually watch'd with him One Night when they were retir'd into the next Chamber to take a little rest they heard him sigh in an extraordinary manner Going in to him they found him with his Hands joyn'd his Eyes lifted to Heaven his Countenance otherwise enflam'd then with his Feaver for it shin'd with such a light that it dazled their Eyes Ignatius was in Confusion to be so found by them and he earnestly pray'd his two Kinswomen to keep it secret As soon as he was cur'd he parted from Azpetia with the great regret of his Family and of all the Inhabitants He accepted of a Horse of Money and of Servants to content his Brother and to part fairly with him but he had no sooner got to the Confines of Biscay and Navarr when he rid himself of his Attendance He went by the Way of Pampelona to the Castle of Xavier to dispatch the Business of his Disciple Francis Xavier and afteward to Almazon and to Toledo for the Concerns of Salmeron and Laynez Having dispatch'd all these Affairs he took the Way of Valentia where he hop'd to find the opportunity of a Ship for Venice While he was waiting for it he went to Visit Don John de Castro at Segorbe who had lately made himself a Carthusian in the Charter-House of Val-Christ and had not yet ended his Noviceship This was one of the three Spanish Gentlemen who at Paris being mov'd with the Discourses and Example of Ignatius retir'd themselves into the Hospital of St. James This Novice having a very mature Judgment and being moreover a great Servant of God Ignatius told him in confidence his most secret thoughts That he intended to go into Italy in order to make a Voyage to the Holy Land and that there or elsewhere he intended to Institute a Society whose only Aim and Business should be to perfect their own and to save their Neighbours Souls He set down to him the Scheme and Drift of that Society in the manner he had then fram'd it within himself according to the present light he received from God He farther told him what Companions he had chosen for executing this Design a Xaverius a Laynez and others not unknown to Castro and then he asked his counsel in that important Business Casto did not immediately tell him his judgment upon it but having spent the Night following wholly in Prayer he came out of his Cell at Break-of-day with a transport of Joy which he could not moderate and went in great haste to tell Ignatius that his Undertaking was the Work of God and that it should succeed in spite of all the Contradictions of Men and that all Christendom should receive great Advantages by it And said he to let you see that I do not speak at random I offer my self to be your Companion and Disciple for being only a Novice I am not yet under any Engagement Ignatius receiv'd this Testimony of Castro as an Oracle of the Holy Ghost but far from consenting that this Recluse should leave the Solitude to which God had call'd him he exhorted him to persist in so holy a Vocation as his was and made him understand that a contemplative Life was his Lot The thought which this Novice had of changing his State lets us see that Persons inspir'd from Heaven in the behalf of others are not always so for themselves and that God made use of Ignatius to resettle Castro as he did of Castro to fortifie Ignatius The Records of the Charter-House of Val-Christ mention this whole Passage between these two of which there are besides Juridical Attestations of Don Antonio Martin d' Atarriba and of Don Andrea Soler both Carthusians who deposed that they heard this Transaction from Castro's own Mouth Ignatius more settled then ever in his Design went immediately to Valentia and there went on Board a Merchants Ship which parted for Genoua The famous Pirate Barbarossa who had driven Mulyassen out of the Kingdom of Tunis was abroad upon the Mediterranean Sea with a Fleet of an hundred Gallies pillaging the Coasts seizing all Ships and every where making Slaves But so it happens sometimes that one Evil is the cure of another The most furious Tempest that perhaps ever was known upon the Coasts of Spain brought this poor Merchants Ship to the last extremity The Rudder was carried away with the stress of the Weather the Masts were broken the Pilot and Mariners in despair Among the Cries of so many People who look'd for nothing but present death Ignatius was the only Person not discompos'd and so acquiescing in the Orders of Heaven that he had not the least trouble upon him to see all his holy Projects overthrown His only sensible grief was for not having corresponded with the Graces of Heaven with that fidelity he ought But when nothing but Shipwrack was look'd for the Wind by a miraculous Providence carry'd on the Ship to the Port of Genoua This was not the only Danger which Ignatius pass'd through in this Journey Going from Genoua to Bologna he lost his Way upon the Apennine After having a great while wander'd through difficult Passages he came at last to a Way wide and even at the entring but growing by degrees narrow and craggy which brought him in the end to a steep and upright Mountain which had at the bottom a great Torrent of Water gushing out of the Rocks Being insensibly engag'd into so dangerous a Passage he stopt with some terror at the sight of Precipices which were on all sides of him but after he had implor'd the succor of Heaven he took heart again and not knowing how to go back he resolv'd to adventure forwards Wherefore he crawl'd up
given thanks to God for having rais'd it in so corrupt an Age And that they desir'd to aid and assist it according to their Power to continue their Holy Ministery notwithstanding all Contradictions and Persecutions which inseperably attend the life of perfect Christians Thus these two Religious Orders which seem to have the least of similitude in their Institutes were the most united by the Spirit of Charity And after this we are not to wonder if the Jesuits at this day have a particular friendship and veneration for the Carthusians They have inherited these sentiments from their first Fathers and they are glad of the Occasion to manifest them But that which gave the greatest Credit to the Society was that Pope Julius the Third who had taken particular notice of it at the Council of Trent being now chosen in the room of Paul the Third gave to Father Ignatius publick marks of his good Will This was about the beginning of the Jubile year 1550. The Father went to do his Homage to the Pope and to beg of his Holiness that the Labourers of the Society who were in Africa in Brasile in the Indies and in Japan might together with their Neophits gain the Jubile without coming to Rome The Pope embrac'd him and after having declar'd to him how much he lov'd his Order As to the Favor which you ask of me he said smiling I grant it with this restriction that you shall have all my Power in that particular and that for your Brethrens gaining the Indulgences of the holy Year you shall Prescribe them to do what you think fit He granted him the same Favor not only for several persons in Messina in Venice and in Paris but also for the Troops which Don John de Vega Viceroy of Sicily had carry'd into Africk and for the whole Town of Gandia which in consideration of Don Francis de Borgia had this Preheminence above all the Towns in the World Besides this Julius the Third gave permission to Father Ignatius and to all the Priests of the Society to exercise in the Jubile year all those Privileges which Paul the Third had granted them Tho' according to the usage of the Church Religious Orders who have Power from the Holy See to absolve in reserv'd Cases are not to use their Power in the time of the grand Jubile To crown all his Favors he again confirm'd the Institute and by an express Bull in which all things are clear'd and explain'd His Liberalites were also very considerable to the Jesuites of Rome and what is worthy of remark he commanded the General in vertue of holy Obedience to come and tell him as often as the profest House should be in any necessity In the mean time Father Ignatius having finish'd his Constitutions had it in his thoughts to Print them but he would first submit them to the Judgment and Censure of the chief among the Fathers and the opportunity of the Jubile year favor'd his design Wherefore he summon'd to Rome all that were eminent in Merit and Authority and they all came except Simon Rodriguez whom the King of Portugal detain'd at Lisbon He put the Constitutions into their hands praying them strictly to examin and weigh them and to tell him freely what they thought might need amendment or alteration Intending that the Design and Spirit of the Society should be uniform in all places and that the Rules of Government should be suitable to different Nations and Tempers he was very glad that the Fathers Assembled who were of several Countries and of unlike Constitutions should be themselves Judges of these Rules He sent a Copy of the Constitutions to Rodriguez upon whose Judgment he much reli'd he also sent one for the same reason to some of the Spiritual Coadjutors who tho' not so Learn'd were Men of great Prudence After having heard the Opinions of those who were present and receiv'd the Answers of the absent he toucht over his work again and joyning their lights with his own he finisht the Piece Nevertheless being perswaded that only time and experience can demonstrate the Perfection of Laws he would have no absolute obligation laid upon the Society of observing the Constitutions until the whole Order assembl'd in a Body should approve them and this did not happen till after his death under the Generalship of Laynez They were not only Review'd and Authoriz'd by the first general Congregation but they were also confirm'd by the Holy Apostolick See after an exact discussion which four Cardinals made of them without changing one word As the year of the Jubile seem'd very proper to Father Ignatius for convening the Fathers in Rome so the Opportunity of their being there appear'd no less favorable to him to execute a design which he had long in his thoughts He at first took the charge of Government upon him with great repugnancy as we have already seen and when it was laid upon him against his will he made account that he should be one day freed from it to enjoy the ease of Obeying and the merit of Obedience He did believe that the happy day was now come and his continual Infirmities in an Age far advanc'd seem'd to promise him that which he so passionately desir'd To this end he call'd all the Fathers together but remembring the opposition they had made him when he refus'd to receive the charge of General instead of being present at the Assembly he sent them a Letter writ with his own hand and couch't in these terms To my dearest Brethren in Christ my Brethren of the Society of Jesus AFter divers Reflections which I have made at leisure not being mov'd thereunto by any Passion I will tell you sincerly as in the presence of my Creator and my God who must judge me for an Eternity what I believe to be most for the Glory of his Divine Majesty Considering my Sins my Defects and all my Infirmities Corporal and Spiritual I have often thought that I was very far from having those Qualities which are requisite to sustain the Burden which you have laid upon me I desire therefore in the Name of our Lord that you would find out and chuse some Body by whom this Office may be better or at least not so ill discharg'd and tho' another should not do better then I have done yet I desire to leave the Place After due consideration had upon it in the Name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost I depose my self and simply and absolutely I renounce all pretentions to the Generalship I Conjure in the Name of our Lord and with all my Soul the Fathers profest and those with whom they shall please to consult I Conjure them I say to receive my Demission which I make in the presence of God for Causes so just But if there should be diversity of Opinions among you I beseech you for the love of our Saviour Jesus Christ well to recommend the