Iowa capitol reporter. [volume] (Iowa City, Iowa) 1841-1855, 1851-09-03

, they were also expelled, the Spanish
monarch also having conceived a dis
like to them. He was afraid, how
ever, to let them suspect his inten-
tons; he had seen with his own
eyes what the priests could do against
their enemies, SO, in profound silence
he conducted his proceedings against
them for nearly a whole year, with
old Spanish discretion. When the
plot was complete, the King wrote, in
a simple autograph letterto the Pope,
that the Jcsuits had ceased to exist in
his kingdom. When the news reach
ed Rome, Clement XIV, shed tears,
but what could he do but weep like
an old woman. It tasalways been
- = "a
make Their adherrnts, wkek vanqussh-
ed, to appear in the light of martyrs
sacrificed, because they were too
good to live; and SO they have eleva-
ted the Jesuits to that rank.
After wandering for six months
about Europe, they found a place of
refuge in Corsica. They had been
expelled from Portugal, France, and
Spain, and only one act now remained
to be performed, the suppression ofthe
Order by the only person who could
annihilate it; and this their enemies
determined to effect. They were not
content with prosecuting them-they
aimed at their absolute ruin. The
ambassadors of the great Catholic
monarchs demanded their suppress
sion; but the poor old man at the
head of the Church could not stand
the shock of such arrogant demands;
he fell speechless, and few days af.
ter, died, unable to contend with the
new spirit of the eighteenth century.
Every thing that could be done was
done, by the ambassadors, to secure
the election of a Pope favorable to
their object, and he was found in the
person Of Clement XIV. Yet when
he was called on to decide, he felt the
difficulty of his position; the Jesuits
threatened his life if he fulfilled his
pledge, and the ambassadors threat
ened his deposition, and secession
from Rome, if he failed to perform his
promise. He at last consented to
their suppression, after long protract-
ed delays, and the order Of Jesuits
ceased to be one of the institutions of
the Catholic Church.
The Jesuits had their revenge, how
ever, for Pope Clement XIV: died, it
is supposed by poison, exclaiming,
"Mercy, mercy, | have been compel
led to do this" The fall of the Jes-
uits was the greatest blow the Papacy
had received since the Reformation,
and never did soslSrge body Of men
receive SO little sympathy in distress;
all parties felt glad of their ruin
Now why was this? Had no public
sentiment set like an Irresistible tide
against them, the Pope would not
have suppressed the order. Let it be
acknowledged, however, that they
were reformers; they maintained that
there was such a thing as human
progress, and they believed in science
as the handmade Of reform in the
worlds redemption; they were the
new school party in the Roman
Church. The lecturer spoke of the
constitution of the order and its or
ganization, and said it was one Of
the grandest conceptions that had
ever been formed by the mind of man.
Their grand object was, the CONVEX
sion of the world, and their motto
was, "To the great glory of Cod
Nothing could surpass their spirit of
devotion, they willingly offered them
selves as martyrs for the principles
they professed; they revived the mis-
sionary spirit which had sluihbered in
the Church for thousand years; for
a time they practised great virtues,
and to these causes alone may be at
tributed their success. Rev. Mr.. Lord
then proceeded to show how their
vices ambition had conspired to ruin
the order and concluded by saying,
that they were the instigators of the
Massacre of st. Bartholomew, and
the excesses that led to the thirty
years war in Germany.