: The Jesuits by Hoare Edward - Jesuits Controversial Literature; Jesuits History 19th century

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THE JESUITS.

Second Edition.

LONDON: J. H. JACKSON, ISLINGTON GREEN, AND PATERNOSTER-ROW; HATCHARD, PICCADILLY; AND SEELEYS, FLEET STREET.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

THE first edition of the following pages was prepared as a Lecture for the Islington Protestant Institute. The delivery of that Lecture has led to a more careful study of the subject, so that in this second edition there is a considerable quantity of additional information, which I trust may be found important.

One gentleman has done me the honour of noticing the first edition, and publishing a pamphlet in order to show that the constitution quoted on page 32 should be rendered as the reader will find it there. It is a matter of great regret to me that he should have thought it right to say of the remainder of the lecture, that "statements which few surely can believe, will, he trusts, produce in the minds of readers an effect the very reverse of that intended." If he had pointed out any inaccuracy, I should have been only too happy to correct it; and any proof of error on my part would have been much more satisfactory to his readers than a general and unsupported insinuation. In the present edition he will find, I believe, a clear reference to every important extract; and abundant opportunity is afforded him, if possible, to disprove my statements.

E. H.

OF all the various human combinations that have ever risen to adorn or to disgrace humanity, the Society of the Jesuits is perhaps the most remarkable. The great men of the world have constructed mighty schemes for its government, and the utmost powers of the human mind have again and again been called out in order to combine men for the attainment of some given end; but of all these varied schemes, I believe it may be safely affirmed that there never yet has been known one so admirably suited to its end, so beautifully adjusted in its parts, so wonderfully adapted to the real condition of society, or possessing so extraordinary a capability of applying its movements, so as to meet the ways and wishes of all those countless characters upon whom its action is employed. The question whether such an institution is a curse or a blessing to the human race must, of course, depend on two things, viz., the object to which its efforts are directed, and the principles by which they are controlled. If that object be the honour of the Lord Jesus Christ, and if those principles be in harmony with the Word of God, then, clearly, so varied and effective an instrumentality must act most powerfully for the benefit of man; but if, on the other hand, its object be to pervert the truth and impede its progress,--if, again, the principles of its action be flatly opposed, not merely to the Word of God, but also to the most elementary maxims of even natural morality,--then it is equally clear that the perfection of the instrument merely adds to its fatal power, and just in proportion to the completeness of the machinery will be the deadliness of the blight which it will produce upon society.

The full principles of the Society it is extremely difficult to discover or to describe, inasmuch as there appears to be a very wide difference between the system as exhibited in its public documents and as carried out in the practice of its members. There are countless facts in the history of the order which prove conclusively that there is one code for the world to look at, and another for the world to feel; a uniform for inspection days, and a plain dress for common life. The constitutions and other acknowledged documents are open to the world, but if we want to know how the Jesuit will act when he has secretly wormed his way into the confidence of our family, or to discover any real moral principle by which the conduct of such an one will be guided, I believe that we shall be utterly at a loss. He has his own secret instructions from his superiors, and what they are will probably be never known out of the Order, till the great day shall come when the secrets of all hearts shall be made known.

We must be content, therefore, with only superficial information upon the subject; but there is enough in the undoubted avowals of the Society to amaze the conscience of any honest mind. It is true that we are able to examine merely its authorized documents as prepared to meet the world's eye, and that when we have been through them all we shall know but a fragment of the system; but at the same time we shall learn enough to discover that, in order to the attainment of its object, the Society is prepared to set aside all the dictates either of conscience or of Scripture; and we shall also obtain ample evidence to convict the Church of Rome of the awful guilt of abandoning honesty in order to secure power, and of sacrificing moral virtue in order to attain supreme dominion.

ORGANIZATION.

The Members of the Society are arranged in the following classes:--

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