good. Eleventhly, for those who are devoted to some determinate object, as for example to the study of the sciences, if they have some aptitude for it, but at the same time such study be prejudicial to them, our Father has made it a rule to turn them from it. He acts thus on this principle, that it is more important they should make progress in virtue than in learning, when the two cannot be had together. For this reason he has prevented a great many from study, because it took away the peace of their souls, and hindered them from walking in the path of perfection. It is the same in other things. Our Father does not require the strict observation of the rules of the House in those who, for some particular reason, as from sickness, or the occupations of their office, cannot fulfil them all; and he dispenses at times with his usual prudence. But he is very severe on this point with those who have no legitimate reason to excuse them. He requires of them the observance of all the rules, and if they fail to observe them, he gives them penances for their correction and as a warning to others. In fact, as there is no sin in transgressing the rule (and yet it is right that it should be kept), those who break it must be penanced. However, these penances are light for unimportant things, and in general are not severe, except in what concerns obedience.*

Rome, July 1, 1551.

*This important letter has been already printed in the Historia Provincie Toletana, S.J. Madrid, 1710. By Father Balth. Aleazar, and is to be found in Latin in Menchacha (iii., 6).

CHAPTER XIII.

ST. IGNATIUS IN RELATION WITH PRINCES.

It is undeniable that St. Ignatius, by his Institute, was a support and rampart to royalty. This was in a great measure due to circumstances. The Protestant doctrine had broken the old ties between Princes and peoples, although it was compelled, contrary to its own principles, to accord for a considerable time to the sovereigns attached to it an extension of power, hitherto unknown and impossible, namely, territorial supremacy in spiritual things. England and Germany were not long in experiencing the fatal results of this disastrous legacy. It was a natural consequence, for this exorbitant power was the fruit of a revolution in a domain which should be sacred to all, and the product of such a foul usurpation is poisonous to generations to come. The action of the principles of Ignatius could only be conservative. Add to this that his Order, embracing in its Institute the solution of the highest questions that interest mankind, drew to itself, notwithstanding its personal poverty and the exact obedience it required, the noblest and most highly cultivated minds, and men distinguished for learning and for birth. But the conservative action of the Society came especially from this-that every distinction of birth and fortune disappeared within its bosom; and if, on the one hand, its members laboured with an admirable devotion to raise and regenerate the lowest ranks of society, they appeared also with authority in the Courts of Princes, and spoke to them with a perfect evangelical liberty. They sought to reunite in the bonds of the religion of Jesus Christ the ties of affection between sovereigns and their subjects, for their mutual advantage. The first Prince who comprehended this mission of the Society was John III. of Portugal. The acquaintance he had made with two disciples of the Saint,

Xavier and Rodriguez, led him to desire to know their Master. Ignatius anticipated the wish, and his first letter to John, which is still extant, gives us some information on some passages of his life, although he only speaks of things that would have been to his disadvantage if he had not been innocent. He says―

Many indications and conjectures (as our Lord knows) lead me to suppose that your Royal Highness will hear, if you have not heard already, some circumstances of my former life which do not concern myself so much as God's glory, Who is worthy of all praise for ever. Now, as I would wish always, not for my own sake, but for my Master's and Creator's, to glory in these things, I think I shall do well in briefly declaring them to your most Christian Majesty, to whom we are for ever so much indebted. After my return from Jerusalem, I was put in prison at Alcala de Henares, in consequence of a three-fold inquiry about me by my Superiors, and I remained in it twenty-four days. At Salamanca, a new inquiry was made, and I was put in fetters in a prison, where I remained twenty-two days. At Paris, where I resided to continue my studies, there was a new inquisition made into my conduct. In these five processes and these two imprisonments, I never would take, thanks be to God, nor did I take, any other advocate or resource for aid but Him in Whom, by His divine grace and favour, I have placed all my hopes, both present and to come. Seven years after this, another process was taken against me in the same University of Paris, and again at Venice; and finally at Rome against our whole Society. As in these three last affairs I was not alone, but together with all who belong to the Society, we insisted on justice taking its course, that God might not be injured by the calumny. Now there were precisely present at Rome in this last process, three judges who had received information against me, one at Alcala, another at Paris, and the third at Venice. Neither in these eight trials, nor since, thanks to the Divine Mercy alone, have I ever been condemned for a single proposition, or even for a single syllable; and I have never received the least punishment, nor been banished from any country. If your Majesty desires to be informed why so many inquests have been held upon me, I can assure you that it is not because I belonged to the Schismatics, the Lutherans, or the Illuminati, for I never had any relations with them, nor have known any of them, but because they were astonished, especially in Spain, that, having never studied, I allowed myself to speak at length and discourse on spiritual things. I protest and call God our Lord to witness, Who is my Creator and will be my Judge for all eternity, that I would not wish, for all the treasures and temporal power under heaven, that these things had not at all happened to me. Ñay, more; I desire that much more than all this might happen to me again, for the greater glory of the Divine Majesty. Most gracious sir and master in our Lord, if any news of this kind reaches you, you will know how, with the grace and mercy of God, to distinguish between good and evil, and make use of all to your profit. The more, in fact, we desire to be clothed, without scandal, and for the good of our neighbour, with the livery of Jesus.

Christ, Who was always the mark for scorn, false witnesses, and affronts of all kinds, the more we shall make progress, and the more we shall acquire those spiritual treasures with which our souls, if we are of one and the same spirit, would wish to be adorned and satiated.*

Rome, March 15, 1545.

We have had occasion more than once in the course of this history to see what care and precaution Ignatius took in his relations with Princes when any difficulty arose. We will relate to this purport the following fact. John III. held so much at heart the increase of the Society in Portugal, both in numbers and action, that, in order to prevent any from being sent away elsewhere, he forbade the Colleges of the country to send into foreign parts either subjects or money. This prohibition, so far as it concerned the members of the body, might become very prejudicial to the general good of the Society; for, taken in a literal sense, it would have separated this portion of it from the whole, contrary to the King's intention, who wished, indeed, to guard himself from all injury, but not to put limits to the government of St. Ignatius. In this sense the Saint understood it, and wrote the following letter to the King

I have received your Majesty's letter by the hands of Father Louis Gonzalez, who, thanks to God, arrived in good health at Rome on the 23rd of last month. This letter, in which your Majesty expresses your joy with regard to the change of the Provincial, and the communications of Gonzalez, to whom your Majesty desires me to give entire confidence in all that he shall say to me on your part, confirm me in the persuasion I have always had concerning your Majesty. In fact, as our Divine Lord has willed that you should be the first among Christian Princes and the principal instrument of His providence to begin and increase this Society, which is wholly your Majesty's devoted servant, so it will, I am convinced, prevail upon you to content yourself in its advancement and prosperity with all that is convenient for it, since you seek with so much zeal and sincerity to promote the glory of God and the good of souls, His property, which is the sole end of all our efforts.

With regard to the communication made to me by Father Gonzalez, namely, that your Majesty desires that neither men nor money be drawn from the Colleges in Portugal, your Majesty may rest assured that your will shall be followed in every point, not only during my life, but even after my death. For as to money, our Constitutions forbid us to take it away, and as to the persons, I am much more disposed to send them to Portugal and to the Indies than to diminish the number of those that are there already. However, it would be, in my opinion, a very advantageous thing for the service of your Majesty and the Lord our *Collection at Rome.

God, if some Portuguese were educated in other kingdoms, so as to be sent back when they are formed, and that there should be some foreigners among those who are educated in Portugal, that they may mutually aid one another. However, we will do nothing without the approbation and full consent of your Majesty.

Ignatius had also frequent relations with Philip II., afterwards King of Spain, though he was never so intimately connected with him as with John III. Feelings of antipathy have contributed to render this Spanish Prince an object of dislike, and party passion has judged him with too great a severity. His melancholy and sombre character was inherited from his grandmother Joanna, and if a place among great Kings is refused him, at least he ought to have the merit of a sincere goodwill and a constancy of soul amid the political mishaps which befell him during his life. There are few men on whom it is more difficult to pronounce with safety. However, we do not wish to justify him in all his acts as a King. It was a task beyond his power to take in hand the inheritance left him by Charles V. But he was yet young, his administration in Spain had gained him the affections of the people, and gave hopes at the time that he would do still more in future. Spain was at this period the first political power and the representative of Catholic interests. Soon after this it fell from its high estate, but this is not the place to enter into the cause of its fall. We can, however, say that nothing then gave reason to anticipate such a result, and St. Ignatius, finding in Philip a Prince truly devoted to the service of God, supposed him to be also a good King; and in this without doubt he had good reason, for rectitude in spiritual things implies rectitude in temporal things in a well regulated mind. Perhaps Ignatius had these hopes when he wrote to him the following letter, the occasion of which is not known. Philip was then in the Low Countries.

May the sovereign grace and eternal love of our Lord Jesus Christ give greeting to your Majesty, and visit you with all holy gifts and spiritual graces. Possessing a soul so highly privileged and illuminated with invaluable gifts and spiritual graces, you rule and govern your interior faculties with a marvellous facility, and thus submitting your understanding, your knowledge, and your will to the Supreme Wisdom and Infinite Goodness, you are disposed to allow yourself to be guided and conducted by your Master and Creator. It is, therefore, very just

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