APPENDIX. ADVERTISEMENT. The following Instruction, written to Philip the Second by the illustrious Dr. Benito Arias Montano (the Spanish Jerome), a professed Monk of the order of Santiago in the Royal Convent of San Marcos de Leon, and one of the most distinguished of the Doctors who were present at the Council of Trent, is in manuscript, in the library of the Author of this History. INSTRUCTION FOR PRINCES RESPECTING THE MANNER IN WHICH THE FATHERS OF THE COMPANY CON- THAT the order of the fathers of the Company in Christ's vineyard was planted by the work of the Holy Spirit, as a tree which was to produce both an antidote to the poison of heresy, and flowers of religious and Christian works, of such exquisite sweetness that their very fragrance might constrain sinners to abhor the may bad odour of their sins and walk in the good path of repentance, is clearly shown by the manner in which this plant was put into the ground by its first cultivator, St. Ignatius, of glorious memory; and truly I say it was watered with the charity of those first fathers who gave it life; that it was cultivated according to its first planter's directions, and produced two branches, one of love towards God, the other of love towards our neighbour: and so, the fruits reaped in the good education of the young, in the conversion of souls and the increase of the Catholic faith, were abundant; but the devil, who labours as hard to destroy and undo the works and designs of God as others strive to carry them out, took such advantage of the very greatness and increase of this order as, in a short time, to pervert the ends for which it was instituted; for with as much subtilty as artifice, instead of those two first branches of charity (now nearly withered), he grafted in two others, one of self-conceit, the other of expediency, from which such injury is done to the Christian community as cannot, perhaps, be surpassed;-all which I purpose showing in the progress of this discourse, wherein I protest before God that I am not influenced by interest or passion, but simply by my zeal for the public good (to promote which I was sent into the world), and by my desire that when Christian princes become acquainted with their arts and devices, they may make such provision against them as they shall judge it to be most expedient for them to make. Now it must be known that when first this order of the fathers of the Company was instituted, efforts were made in many places to enlarge it, principally with the view to the education of children, a thing wanted in every city in the kingdom; and thus in a few years this order, owing to the favour of several princes, spread wider and further than any other order in many. It was this aggrandisement, which ordinarily creates in our minds a change of habits, that aroused in the successors of St. Ignatius such love to the Company, that, thinking their own to be more useful to the Church and more serviceable in the reformation of manners than all religious orders in the world, they determined among themselves to extend it with such art and industry, and to found upon it the true defence of Christianity and the real welfare of the Church, or (to use their own term) the sole patrimony of Christ. It now needed the acuteness of an Aristotle and the eloquence of a Cicero to explain the marvellous way, which from its novelty seems incredible to many, whereby these fathers extended their order; but I shall content myself with merely noting down some things, leaving a wide field open to other geniuses to form the opinion which may to them appear the most probable; I shall therefore propound some points which may supply the reader with a foundation on which to build his theories. I must premise that these fathers did not suppose that their order could acquire that pitch of preeminence to which they aspire, by mere teaching, preaching, and administering of the sacraments, or other like religious exercises; for though they were at first (as I have already stated) received with open arms and caressed by many, they observed in course of time that (either from dissatisfaction with them, or from other causes, whatever they might be,) the affection and devotion of many had cooled; wherefore, doubting whether their order, still almost in its infancy, had made its last effort and acquired its full preeminence, they devised other means for aggrandizing it. The first plan they adopted was to bring all other religious orders into bad odour with princes, and afterwards with as many others as they could, by showing up their imperfections, and then with good and dexterous management they procured their own grandeur through the oppression and fall of other persons: by this means they have made themselves masters of many abbeys as well as the large revenues attached to them, of which, through their representations, they have deprived those religious communities to which they originally belonged. Their second plan was to meddle with matters of state, interesting and gaining over the majority of the Christian princes to their party by the most artificial and subtle method that ever was known; of which, as it is difficult to dive into, so is it impossible to give a thorough explanation. They have constantly residing at Rome a General, to whom they all yield implicit obedience: this man makes choice of certain fathers who, from the assistance they continually render him, are called Assistants. There is at least one of these assistants to every nation, from which he derives his name and title; thus, one is called the Assistant of Spain, another the Assistant of France, a third the Assistant of Italy, or of any other province or kingdom. It is the business of each of these individuals to inform the father-general of all the political events that occur in that province or realm of which he is the assistant; his information is derived from correspondents residing in the principal cities of that province or kingdom; these correspondents, after acquainting themselves with the state, quality, nature, inclination, and intention of the princes, give notice, every post, to the assistants of all events that have recently taken place. These give information to the father-general, who calls all the assistants together and holds a council with them: they then anatomize the whole universe, setting forth the interests and designs of all the Christian princes; this done, they consult together upon all the matters of which they have been recently advised by their correspondents, and, after examining them and balancing one thing against another, promptly decide on supporting the interests of one prince and opposing those of another, according as best suits their own convenience and private ends; and as mere spectators of a game see better than the persons actually engaged in it what turn it is likely to take, so do these fathers, with the interests of all the princes before their eyes, know well how to observe conditions, time, and place, and |