Chapter VI. The Struggle for France.

The facts stated in the last chapter prove incontestably that the persistent efforts of the Jesuits to procure the establishment of their society in France as a recognized religious order were insidious and stealthy, if not incendiary, from the beginning. The Bishop of Clermont—influenced, probably, by the Cardinal of Lorraine—was favorable to them; and being the owner of a house in Paris, he offered it to them, that they might inaugurate the Jesuit method of education. But neither the French Parliament, nor the universities, nor the Gallican Church could be prevailed upon to withdraw their opposition. Consequently, in order to accomplish by indirection what was forbidden by law and the public sentiment, the Jesuits opened a college at Clermont, within the diocese and under the patronage of the bishop, and beyond the limits of the city of Paris.¹

¹ Daurignac, Vol. I, p. 36.

By the time of the death of Henry II the growth of Protestantism in France had become conspicuously marked. The Jesuit historian, Daurignac, represents this as a “calamity” —as a “deplorable state of things’—which it became necessary to counteract by the most active and efficient means. But as nothing could shake the stability of the people of Paris, it was deemed necessary to reach the population of that city by gradual approaches, after the manner of military commanders. Accordingly the Bishop of Pamiers was induced to solicit the assistance of the Jesuits in his diocese, and had no difficulty in finding enough of them to engage in that mission, for they were held in constant readiness to obey the orders of their superior. These Jesuit missionaries are represented as having caused many who had professed Protestantism to renounce their “heretical errors,” and as having commenced their educational plan of operations by establishing a college at Pamiers. Whatsoever else they did, they obeyed implicitly the teachings of their society, for it is boastingly said that they caused the Protestants to be treated as possessing no rights of citizenship worthy of regard; for “their books were destroyed and their preachers compelled to flee.”² But the Jesuits were still unable, by these violent means, to obtain entrance into Paris, the combined opposition of the Gallican Christians and the Protestants—who had, by this time, become sufficiently numerous to take part in the controversy—being sufficiently formidable to keep them out.

While there is no evidence of a direct and positive alliance between the Gallican Christians and the Protestants, yet it is apparent that their united opposition to the Jesuits had created between them such common sentiments as materially softened the asperities which had previously separated them. This is seen in the fact that large and influential numbers of the former—notably many in Parliament and attached to the universities—became disposed to grant to the latter “entire freedom in the propagation of their doctrines and control of their clergy.”³ Even the king, bigot as he was, was constrained, in consequence of their rapidly increasing influence, to grant some concessions to the Protestants which it would have been far more agreeable to him to have withheld. “They had rendered such essential service to the State as soldiers in the army of Francis I—who rewarded their patriotism by persecution—and had shown such marked courage in battle, that he was obliged, manifestly against his will, to recognize them as a power neither to be despised nor trifled with, unless a force could be employed to crush them out entirely.

² Daurignac, Vol. I, pp. 103-104. ³ Ibid., p. 104.

This was especially the case after the Prince of Condé became the acknowledged leader of the Huguenots. Fear, therefore, far more than the spirit of toleration, influenced the king in conceding to the Protestants the rights of citizenship, which he so grudgingly granted that his concession was almost a denial. That which was considered the most valuable was the allowance to the Protestants of the right to assemble in open conference at Poissy, and to consider and discuss such matters as pertained to their own interests and religious opinions. The sincerity and honesty of their religious convictions inspired them with the belief that if they could ever be submitted to the arbitrament of reason, they would, if not fully justified, be found entitled to legal protection in the open profession of them, On this account they considered the conference at Poissy as a favorable omen, and hailed its assembling with satisfaction. Their flattering anticipations, however, were not realized. It was not in- tended that reason and argument should avail anything in the presence of the only ““legitimate authority”—that of Church and State; and the Jesuits were standing ready and filled with the most anxious solicitude to demonstrate that the highest duty of life consisted of “uninquiring obedience”—the closing of every avenue through which the light could reach the minds and consciences of the multitude. Evidences of this are found in what transpired at Poissy, where, for the first time in the history of France, the general of the Jesuits was allowed to appear in a public assemblage as the representative of the order, and to suppress any inquiry whatsoever into the matters which the conference was especially appointed to consider, except by ecclesiastics. From that time forward the Protestants were reminded at every step they took that the sleepless eyes of the Jesuits were constantly upon them, ready to drive them to their hiding-places, turn them over to the Inquisition, or hunt them, with tireless vigilance, to the point of entire extermination.

Referring to the conference at Poissy, and the liberality indicated toward the Protestants by the king when he consented that they should attend it, Daurignac instructs his readers that the pope “beheld with pain and regret” this tendency toward liberalism and free religious thought; and that, in order to check the progress of events in that direc- tion, he commanded Laynez—the immediate successor of Loyola as general of the Jesuits—to attend the conference at Poissy, with the view of preventing any adjustment of the existing religious differences, and deferring the final determination of them until they could be decided by the Council of Trent. Nobody can doubt that the object of the pope was to bring matters into such a condition as should require universal obedience to the decrees of that Council, by persuasion if possible, but by coercion if necessary. With the same end in view, the court of France continued its efforts to establish the Jesuits in Paris, well understanding what efficient aid they would willingly render in the work of suppressing every tendency toward liberalism and freedom of religious belief. The hostility of the Parliament toward the Jesuits, however, was so decided and violent that it still refused to yield obedience to the royal command; and affairs remained in this condition until the death of Henry II led to the introduction of other influences. It was then deemed necessary to invoke the aid of Catharine de Medicis, mother of the new king, Francis II, “to show a bold front against the incursions of heresy by at once compelling the Parliament to acknowledge and receive the Jesuits.”⁴ It was not difficult to enlist the aid of Catharine, who was always ready to promise anything either to mislead or destroy the Protestants, greatly preferring the latter. By her influence and authority royal orders were issued commanding the Parliament to ratify and register the letters-patent to the Jesuits which had been prepared by Henry II before his death.

⁴ Daurignac, Vol. I, p. 105.

It should not be overlooked that this was an effort to force the Jesuits into Paris against the repeated remonstrances of Parliament, the universities, the leading ecclesiastical authorities of the Gallican Church, the whole body of the Gallican and Protestant Christians; and, in fact, against the existing laws and the public sentiment of the people. A fact like this not only tends to show, but is convincing proof, that the Jesuits were ready to defy all these influences, and to disregard every existing law or custom that imposed the least restraint upon them, their controlling object being not only to aid the king and the pope in destroying the “liberties” of the Gallican Church and Christians, and thus subjecting France to the temporal domination of the papacy, but to destroy forever the free religious thought which Protestantism had intro- duced. “But,” says the Jesuit Daurignac, evidently with regret, “the Parliament was as intractable as ever,” still refusing to obey the mandate of the king, or to allow the Jesuits to enter Paris. If all this opposition to the wishes of the Parisian people had been the result of impulse, arising suddenly out uf rapidly passing events, it might be passed over as a sudden outbreak and forgotten. But it was the result of a fixed, settled, and determinate papal policy, which had already had several centuries of growth, and which it was deliberately resolved to persist in until the heresy of Protestantism should be exterminated, and free religious thought made impossible. Such a contest as that was most congenial to the Jesuits, because they saw, in the achievement of these results, the fulfillment of the highest objects of their society. With a stake like that in view, backed by the king and the pope, they persisted in their course with untiring vigilance, considering the most serious difficulties they encountered as mere trifles compared with the end they hoped to reach. That they might be assured of the royal sympathy, the king, Francis II, was easily induced by Catharine de Medicis to issue “new letters-patent, with orders for their immediate enrollment by Parliament, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the assembly and of the Bishop of Paris.”⁵ But Parliament, still unyielding, submitted them to the four Faculties of the university, “ thus indicating,” says Daurignac, “a disposition ‘not to submit even to the authority of royalty,’” a most grievous offense, which, in those days, was considered a flagrant sin.

⁵Daurignac, Vol. I, p. 105.

The conclusion of the four Faculties was that the Jesuits were “inadmissible,” based upon satisfactory reasons which were fully assigned. This obstinacy was unpardonable, and, inasmuch as it could not be overcome by direct means, the Jesuits, at last, were driven to the necessity of resorting to indirection, manifestly intending, if thereby successful, to regain whatsoever ground they might be compelled to lose. Accordingly they changed their tactics, and in order to remove the existing obstacles, declared, in a petition to the king, that if admitted into Paris they would conform to the laws of the country, and “to the Church of France,” a purpose they had never avowed before, and which subsequent events proved they did not then intend to fulfill. But the Parliament was not entrapped by this Jesuitical device, and, in response, proposed to the king that they would withdraw their objection to the Jesuits upon the condition that they should cease “to apply to the society the name of Jesus; and that, moreover, they should not be considered as a religious order in the diocese of Paris, but be designated simply as members of a society,”⁶ with civil rights exclusively. This probably was a mere subterfuge, inasmuch as the Jesuits could not have consented to the proposition without self- destruction. It shows, however, how intense was the opposition to the society.

⁶ Daurignae, Vol. I, p. 106.

The whole Christian population of Paris, including both the Gallicans and Protestants, were thrown into a condition of intense excitement when Charles IX ascended the throne as the successor of Francis II. The Protestants were in fear of total extermination; and the Gallican Christians were con- vinced that the main object of the Jesuits, the pope, and the monarchical rulers of the country, was to change the destiny of France by bringing the country into humiliating obedience to Rome, both in religious and temporal affairs, without any regard whatsoever to their system of Church government, or to the integrity of their ancient Christian faith. Charles IX was a mere child, only nine years of age, and was, consequently, the mere creature of his mother, Catharine de Medicis, whose familiarity with court intrigues enabled her, as guardian of the king, to grasp all the powers of queen regent, without reference to the sentiments or will of the French people. She relied solely upon the possession of the powers and prerogatives of royalty to maintain her authority; and, being an Italian, her character resembled as nearly that of the prince portrayed by Machiavelli, her countryman, as that of any other ruler who ever governed. She was always profuse in her promises when she considered them necessary to gain her objects; but never regarded herself bound by them beyond her own pleasure. She violated them at will, whensoever her royal or personal interests required it. In her dealings with the French Huguenots she practiced treachery and perfidy to an extent which would have brought a blush to the cheek of a Turkish sultan. She was, therefore, a fit instrument in the hands of the papal authorities and the Jesuits to bring France and the French Christians in subjugation to Rome—an object which, as an Italian and foreigner, was especially attractive to her. She caused the king to yield, or readily yielded herself, as the king had no will of his own, to the entreaties of the Jesuits by again requiring of Parliament that it should consent to their establishment in Paris without further delay. But the Jesuits were still so obnoxious that Parliament continued to hesitate, and demanded an explanation of the reasons for a step of such doubtful propriety, and so in conflict with public opinion. In explanation, one of the leading Jesuits, with “much eloquence,” it is said by Daurignac, “clearly and energetically exposed the plans and projects of the Calvinists,” or Protestants, and “the machinations and collusions existing between them and the university for the purpose of obtaining their ends;” that is, their united efforts to establish in France the freedom of religious belief—a form of heresy which the disciples of Loyola had solemnly sworn to eradicate. This open avowal of the only motive which influenced the Jesuits surrounded the controversy with so much delicacy and importance, that it was referred by the Parliament to the States General, as the representative of the whole nation, or to the next National Council of the Church. Thus we find constantly accumulating the most conclusive evidence to show the persistence of the Jesuits, and how steadily and earnestly they were resisted by the best and most enlightened part of the French people.

The Jesuits were unquestionably much discomfited and chagrined at this continued resistance, and were constrained to seek assistance from every available quarter. The nobility of Auvergne were consequently persuaded to interpose in their behalf by soliciting the admission of the society into all the towns of that province, evidently supposing if that were done that the Jesuits would soon diffuse themselves throughout the whole country. That the entire destruction of Protestantism was the only and ultimate end they contemplated is sufficiently proven by the fact that in their petition to the king, wherein they asked for the introduction of the Jesuits, they said: “Unless the king wishes the whole of Auvergne to fall into heresy, it is necessary that the So- ciety of Jesus should be admitted into France.”⁷

⁷ Daurignac, Vol. I, p. 107.

These proceedings were soon followed by the National Council of the French Church at Poissy, to which, as we have seen, the Protestants had looked forward with so much anxiety, anticipating it as an occasion when they would be permitted to make known the reasons of their religious belief. It was attended by the queen regent, the king, and the entire royal court, representing monarchical power; by five cardinals, forty archbishops and bishops, and numerous doctors, in behalf of the Church; by several Calvinist ministers, representing that form of faith; and by Henry, King of Navarre, and the Prince of Condé, representing the Huguenots and the general Protestant sentiment in favor of religious liberty. Such a body, under ordinary circumstances, might have enabled the Protestants to realize their hopes, at least to the extent of convincing the authorities of the Government that they were loyal to it, and obedient to all its commands, except in the single particular of desiring to be left free to follow their own consciences in the worship of God. But Laynez, the Jesuit general, was also there, to demand conformity to the requirements of the papacy and of his society, that no discussion should be tolerated, and that “uninquiring obedience” to authority should be exacted from all. To him and to his society it was impossible to preserve the union of Church and State without this; and if this were not done, its joint monarchism would be endangered. Accordingly he took especial pains to point out to the king and queen-mother “the indecency and danger” of the free discussion of questions of religious faith, by those who were disposed to defend Protestantism, in such an assembly. Daurignac says that Laynez was “shocked and grieved by the fearful blasphemies which had fallen from the lips of one Peter Martyr, an apostate monk,” who had ventured to express his opinions freely. He considered it improper for any but theologians—that is, those whose minds had been already molded and fashioned to obedience—to be present upon such occasions. This rebuke offended the queen- mother, who withdrew from the Council. But this did not disconcert the Jesuit general, who was not so easily turned from his purpose. He knew the character of her majesty thoroughly, and said to the Prince of Condé, “She is a great dissembler,” believing, as he undoubtedly did, that whatsoever she might then do or say, he would, in the end, bring her into obedience to the Jesuit purposes. He soon had convincing proof of his power; for the queen, the king, and the nobles never afterwards appeared in the Council, and the Jesuit general had the matter in his own hands.⁸

⁸ Daurignac, Vol. I, pp. 108-109.

Instead of bringing the conference to any practical results, favorable in the least degree to freedom of conscience, Laynez succeeded in causing it to contribute to measures having reference to the admission of the Jesuits into all parts of France.⁹ The Protestants were dismayed, and the Jesuits were triumphant. Laynez then became the leader of the orthodox party, and from that time commanded an influence which Loyola himself did not acquire. We shall see hereafter how far-reaching and controlling this influence was.

⁹Church in France. By Jervis. Vol. I, p. 146.

After Laynez left the Council at Poissy, flushed with triumph, he repaired at once to the General Council of Trent, which was then in session, as a special legate of the pope— Pius IV—who had discovered in him such qualities as he supposed might become available in helping the sinking fortunes of the papacy. This was the first appearance of a Jesuit general in such a body, or in other general ecclesiastical assemblages, and consequently dates the beginning of a new era in the history of the Roman Church. Christianity had prevailed for more than fifteen hundred years without the aid of such a society as the Jesuits; but as that wonderful organization had been conceived by the restless brain of Loyola for the sole purpose of suppressing the Reformation and all its enlightening influences, it was readily accepted by the papal authorities as a valuable help, after the pope had given it his endorsement. Hence, Laynez was received by the Council of Trent with unusual manifestations of joy and enthusiasm. The prelates of the Council had undoubtedly been notified of his success at Poissy in obtaining the mastery over Catharine de Medicis, and, through her, over the king and court of France, as well as over the Protestants. Preference was shown him over all the representatives of the ancient religious orders of the Church, and when the latter complained of this, upon the ground that the Jesuit society was only of recent origin, the Council decided against them on account of the important services which the Jesuits, by means of their compact organization, would be able to render the cause of the papacy. And to manifest this preference of the Jesuits over the other orders, so that it could not be mistaken, a pulpit was prepared for Laynez in a conspicuous place in the Council chamber, so that what- soever he said should be distinctly heard.” The monastic orders were not satisfied with the inferior position thus assigned to them, and murmured, but could not help it.

Such a reception as this by so distinguished a body of prelates as the Council of Trent, was well calculated to incite the pride and ambition of the Jesuits—especially of Laynez— and to create in their minds the belief that if they continued to pursue the cautious but aggressive policy of Loyola, they would bring the pope and all the ecclesiastical authorities of the Church into obedience to them. Manifestly, the society considered this the ultimate end contemplated by Loyola; and Laynez was sufficiently skilled in the methods of government to understand the necessity of obtaining from the Council of Trent the recognition of the superiority of the Jesuits over the monastic orders. He had not yet succeeded in accomplishing the admission of the society into France, and this he evidently regarded as an important step in that direction. Flattering as was his reception by the Council, it was not all he desired. He considered an additional step necessary to obtain from the Council a full approval of the reasons assigned by Loyola to justify the establishment of his society. Accordingly, after the Council had passed upon the questions of faith and dogma, it proceeded to investigate “the causes of the evils which afflicted the Church.” This opened an exceedingly broad field of inquiry, and resulted, doubtless as Laynez desired, in the conclusion stated by Daurignac, ““that these causes were, principally, the ignorance and immorality of a great portion of the clergy and the monastic orders,” and that “the best remedy for this great evil was to prepare Christian generations by a good system of education;”¹¹ that is to say, that any effort to reform the existing clergy and ancient orders would be unavailing, but that the remedy lay in educating other and future generations. It is easy to see that this conclusion was unavoidable under the doctrine established by the same Council, and affirmed also by the Jesuits, that the clergy who lead virtuous and those who lead vicious lives, possess the same power and authority in the Church.

¹⁰Daurignac, Vol. I, pp. 111-112, ¹¹Ibid., p. 114.

This was a great triumph for Laynez and his society, inasmuch as it was a specific approval by the Council of Trent of the grounds upon which Loyola had justified the creation of the Jesuit society; that is, the incompetency of the Church to reform itself without extraneous aid, apart from the existing clergy and the monastic orders, and the necessity for an educational organization, like that of the Jesuits, to be maintained by authority and discipline for that purpose.¹² And thus equipped by so important an endorsement, the Jesuits at once assumed to have been constituted, with Divine approval, the exclusive educators of the world, and to be endowed with authority to enter every nation at will, and so to train and discipline the “Christian generations” as to bring them down to a common level of obedience to the united authority of Church and State.

¹² Daurignac, Vol. I ,pp. 177-178.

Without the endorsement obtained by the Jesuits from the Council of Trent, they might have been kept out of Paris entirely, or, at all events, their entry into that city would have been greatly delayed. As it was, the antipathy against them remained so great and universal among the Gallican Christians, that their admission at last was obtained only upon the condition that they should take a solemn oath to do nothing to impair the liberties of the Gallican Church; that they would submit to the laws of the nation, which recognized the pope as the head of the Church, but denied to him the power to excommunicate the king; or to lay an interdict upon the kingdom; or to exercise any jurisdiction over temporal matters; or to dismiss bishops from their office; or to exercise any authority by a legate, unless empowered by the king; and that they would, moreover, maintain those provisions of law which assigned to a General Council of the Church power superior to that of a pope—in other words, that papal infallibility was not a part of Christian faith.¹³ There is abundant reason for believing, in view of both preceding and subsequent events, that when the Jesuits took this oath, they had not the least idea of being bound by it. No Jesuit’s conscience was ever bound by such an oath.

The authority of Laynez, under the circumstances related, became potential enough to enable him to influence the decisions of the queen-mother and the court of France, and finding himself thus sustained, it was not long before the Jesuit policy began to bear its legitimate fruits. Of course, his most heavily charged batteries were immediately opened upon the Protestants, to whose heresies he traced all the existing evils of the times. An occasion for this soon occurred. The Protestants petitioned for “places of worship;” that is, merely to be allowed to worship at designated places according to their consciences. Laynez fully understood the meaning of this, and the ends it would ultimately accomplish if the Protestant petition were allowed. His keen sagacity enabled him to know that if the differences between Protestantism and the papacy became the subject of intellectual discussion, upon a forum where human reason had the right to assert itself, the triumph of the former over the latter would be assured. Therefore, true to his own instincts and the teachings of his society, he remonstrated with Catharine de Medicis against granting the prayer of the Protestants, and in his memorial upon the subject ” pointed out to her so forcibly the danger to the Church and State that such a concession would entail, that, appreciating his arguments, she refused to sanction the erection of Protestant places of worship.” ¹⁴

¹³ Nicolini, pp. 177-178, ¹⁴ Daurignac, Vol. I, p. 110.

These facts—related upon Jesuit authority, and boasted of by their historians—furnish the most palpable and incontestable proof of the conspiracy of Catharine de Medicis and the Jesuits, after the latter obtained admission into France, to suppress the freedom of religious worship, and so to mold the policy of Church and State as to render its existence impossible. It was an odious and revolting conspiracy; but the objects to be accomplished justified it in the eyes of the queen, of Laynez, and of all his followers. It was the cardinal point of the professed Jesuit policy—the most prominent feature of their organization. No imagination is fertile enough to picture the condition into which the civilized world would have been plunged if this conspiracy, besides its temporary and bloody triumph in France, had become sufficiently powerful to dictate the Governments of modern States. The Gallican Christians had for centuries successfully resisted all attempts of the papacy to interfere with the temporal affairs of France; and whilst they disagreed with Protestants upon questions of religious faith, the two forces were united in opposition to the Jesuits, because of the direct hostility of the latter to both. Each could see that the entrance of the society into France, under the control and dominion of an alien power, would be the introduction of a disturbing and hostile element, which would put an end to the concord and harmony then rapidly springing up between the two Christian bodies. This the Jesuits intended to prevent by whatsoever means they could manage to employ; for, from the beginning of their existence, they have opposed everything they could not subjugate. Therefore they realized the importance of having the monarchical power upon their side—especially when they saw it wielded by such a queen as Catharine de Medicis—so that by conspiracy with it against the Gallican Christians and the Protestants, they could destroy the liberties of the former, and entirely suppress the spirit of free inquiry asserted by the latter. Keeping these objects always before them, the Jesuits considered them of sufficient magnitude to justify any form of intrigue; and they were sufficiently familiar with the qualities of the queen to know that she possessed such love of power and capacity for conspiracy that they could successfully play upon her ambition and prejudices to accomplish their purposes.

There is no intelligent reader of French history who is not familiar with the steps taken by this perfidious queen regent, after the admission of the Jesuits into Paris, to bring about the terrible Massacre of St. Bartholomew—an event so closely allied with others, of which they were the undoubted authors, that one must close his eyes not to see the evidences which point to their agency in that infamous transaction. They needed such bloody work to give them the mastery over France; and although they have since then been more than once expelled in disgrace from French soil, they have returned again and again to torment her people, who still continue to realize, under their Republic, how unceasingly they labor for the entire overthrow of every form of popular government.

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