to time and to observe the Conduct of the Patriarch Don Alphonso d'Alencastre Grand Commander of the Order de Christo the Portugal Embassador had receiv'd a Letter from the King his Master in which he was Commanded to use his Interest with the Pope upon all occasions in behalf of the General of the Jesuits which Letter was brought by Father Lewis Gonzales when he came to Rome and in the same Letter the King declar'd to Don Alphonso how great his Confidence was in that Father Whereas the General perceiv'd that the Embassador was a little slow in the business of the Aethiopian Mission he order'd Father Gonzales to quicken him in it and for that end to Visit him every third day which the good Father so regularly perform'd for three Months together that it was said in Rome by the way of Raillery that Gonzales visited the Portugal Embassador like a Tertian Ague These Solicitations of the Fathers were not unprofitable for Don Alphonso vigorously took the business in hand and ended it in a short time notwithstanding all the delays of the Court of Rome The Pope nam'd Nugnez Patriarch of Aethiopia according to the demand of the King of Portugal who had discover'd the inclination of Father Ignatius therein He sent him a little after the Pall with the Rights and Powers thereunto belonging to be exercis'd not only in Aethiopia but in all the Neighbouring Provinces He made Oviedo Bishop of Nice Carnero Bishop of Hierapolis and declar'd both the one and the other Successors to the Patriarch Lastly he gave the Title and Authority of Apostolical Commissary to Father Gasper Barzee whom Father Ignatius nam'd to the Embassador and who was then Rector of the Colledge of Goa Father Ignatius chose for the Patriarch and the Bishops ten Companions and when they all parted for Aethiopia he writ to the King of the Abyssins this following Letter My Lord in our Lord Jesus Christ I Wish to your Highness all Grace Happiness and abundance of Spiritual Gifts The most Serene King of Portugal nsov'd by his Zeal for the Glory of the holy Name of God and for the Salvation of Souls which Jesus Christ has Redeem'd with his precious Blood has more then once signifi'd to me his Pleasure that I should name twelve Persons of our small Society which is Entituled of Jesus for the Service of the States of your Highness and that among them there should be a Patriarch and two Bishops I have executed the Orders of that Prince being oblig'd thereunto by the innumerable Favors which our Society has receiv'd from his Highness and by the due Veneration which we all owe to the Commands of so great a King I have designedly imitated the Number of our blessed Saviour and his Apostles in chusing besides the Patriarch twelve Priests of our Body to Sacrifice their lives for the Salvation of your Subjects and I have done it the more willingly in regard that we cannot better imploy our selves then in the service of a Prince like your Highness who in the mid'st of so many Nations that are Enemies to the Christian Name endeavor by the Example of your Ancestors to maintain and augment within your Empire the Religion of Jesus Christ These Good intentions and Honorable endeavours of your Highness did truly stand in need of such Spiritual Pastors by whose Ministry the Church of Aethiopia might receive both Legitimate Power deriv'd from the holy Apostolick See and also the pure Doctrine of the Christian Faith For those are the two Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven which our Lord Jesus Christ first promis'd to St. Peter and afterwards intrusted him with He did but promise them when he said to him as we read in the Gospel of St. Matthew I say unto you that you are Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church and I will give you the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatsoever you shall bind upon Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever you shall loosen upon Earth shall be loosen'd in Heaven He Actually gave them to him when after his Resurrection and before his Ascention he said to him as St. John tells us Feed my sheep By these words the Son of God committed to his charge not a part only but the whole Flock with a Plenitude of Power much more ample then what he communicated to the rest of the Apostles This is that which our Lord seems to have figuratively signifi'd by the Prophet Isaiah when speaking of the High Priest Eliacim he said I will give you the Key of the House of David that shall open and no man shall shut that shall shut and no man shall open This Symbole is the Figure of St. Peter and of his Successors and the Keys which have the signification of a full and absolute Dominion denote the Power of the See of Rome This being so your Highness has great reason to give thanks to Heaven for having vouchsafed under your Reign to send true Pastors who have receiv'd their Power and Authority from the Vicar of Jesus Christ to your People who have stray'd from the Fold of the true Church And it is not without great reason that your Father and Grand-Father had difficulty to receive a National Patriarch from the hands of the Patriarch of Alexandria A Member separated from the Body receives from it neither life nor motion in like manner the Patriarch of Aegypt whether he resides at Alexandria or at Grand Cairo being a Schismatick separated from the Holy Apostolick See and from the Supream Bishop Head of the Universal Church can neither receive for himself nor communicate to others the life of Grace or Pastoral Authority For in fine as there is but one Catholick Church so there cannot be one true Church depending upon the Bishop of Rome and another upon him of Alexandria As the Bridegroom is one so is the Bride and 't is of her that Solomon representing the Person of Jesus Christ says in the Canticles My Dove is one The Prophet Osee speaks to the same purpose The Children of Israel and of Judah shall be assembled and shall have but one Head In the same Spirit St. John along time after said there is but one Fold and one Shepherd And as we read in Genesis there was but one Ark of Noah out of which none were sav'd from the Deluge so there was but one Tabernacle built by Moses but one Temple of Jerusalem built by Solomon where they Sacrifiz'd and Ador'd but one Synagogue whose Judgments were legal All these things were Figures of the Unity of the Church out of which nothing can avail For whoever ever is not United to this Mystical Body shall not receive from the Head who is Jesus Christ Divine Grace which gives life to the Soul and disposeth it to Eternal happiness To declare this Unity against certain Hereticks it is Sung in the Creed I Believe in the one Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church and the holy
Councils have Condemn'd of Error the Opinion of those who maintain'd that the particular Churches of Alexandria or of Constantinople were true Churches without being United to the Bishop of Rome the common Head of the Catholick Church out of which have descended in a continual Succession all the Popes from St. Peter to this day who by the relation of St. Marcellus the Martyr fix'd his Chair at Rome by order from Jesus Christ and cemented it with his own Blood These Popes have been held without Controversie to be the Vicars of Jesus Christ by innumerable holy Doctors Greek and Latin and of all Nations they have been acknowledg'd by Anchortes Bishops and other Confessors Illustrious for Sanctity Lastly they have been Authenticated by an infinity of Miracles and by innumerable Martyrs who have dy'd in the Union and for the Faith of the holy Roman Church It was therefore with good reason that in the Council of Calcedon all the Bishops cry'd with one Voice in Saluting the holy Pope St. Leo Most Holy Apostolick Universal and that in the Council of Constance those were Anathematiz'd who deny'd the Primacy and Authority of the Bishop of Rome over all the Churches of the World These Decrees so Express and so Authentick are farther confirm'd by the Council of Florence which was held under Eugenius the Fourth and in which were present the Greeks the Armenians the Jacobites and other Nations We Define say the Fathers of this Council that the holy See Apostolick and the Bishop of Rome hath the Primacy over all the Churches in the World that he is Successor of St. Peter the Vicar of Jesus Christ the Head of the whole Church the Father and Doctor of all the Faithful that our Lord Jesus Christ hath given him in the person of St. Peter a full power to instruct to direct and to govern the Universal Church Wherefore the most Serene King David Father to your Highness with great right did formerly acknowledge by a sollemn Embassy the Church of Rome for the Mother and Mistress of all Churches And amongst the many illustrious Actions by which both he and you have recommended your Names to Posterity two there are which will outshine all the rest and for which your People ought to render immortal thanks to God Your Father is the first King of the Abyssins who put himself under the Obedience of him who holds the place of Jesus Christ upon Earth and you are the first who hath brought into your Dominions a true Patriarch a Legitimate Son of the holy See and deputed by the Vicar of Jesus Christ For if it ought to be reckon'd the highest Blessing as in effect it is to be United to the Mystical Body of the Catholick Church which is enliven'd and directed by the Holy Ghost teaching her all Truths according to the Testimony of the Evangelist If it be a great happiness to be enlightned with sound Doctrine to be settl'd and to rest upon the Foundations of the Church which the Apostle St. Paul writing to Timothy calls the House of God the Pillar and Basis of Truth to which our Lord Jesus Christ hath promis'd an Everlasting Assistance when he said to his Apostles Behold I am always with you to the end of the World as we read in the Gospel of St. Matthew These Nations have certainly great reason to thank their Saviour and Creator whose merciful Providence has made use of your Father and of your self to bestow such benefits upon them and their acknowledgment should the more shew it self in regard also of the Temporal Advantages which are likely to follow these Spiritual Blessings For we may justly hope that by the means of this Reunion with the Church your Enemies will soon be vanquish'd and your Empire enlarg'd The Priests which are sent you are indeed all but principally the Patriarch and the two Bishops of try'd Vertue and selected out of our Society for so important a Function in regard of their eminent Learning and of their perfect Charity They want neither Courage nor Zeal well to acquit themselves of their Ministry hoping that they shall Labour usefully for the Glory of God for the Conversion of Souls and for the Service of your Highness Their only desire is to imitate in some sort the Son of God who willingly suffer'd death to redeem Mankind from Eternal Damnation and who saith by the Mouth of the Evangelist I am the good Shepherd the good Shepherd gives his Life for his Sheep The Patriarch and the rest animated by the Example of our Saviour come dispos'd to relieve and gain Souls by their Counsels by their Labours and even by their Death if need shall require The more freely your Highness shall be pleas'd to open your mind and to communicate your thoughts to them the greater I hope your inward Consolation will be And for what regards the Credit to be given to what they shall say either in private or in publick your Highness is not Ignorant that the words of these Missioners sent by the Holy See and chiefly those of the Patriarch have Apostolical Authority and in some sort are no less to be credited then the voice of the Church whose Interpreters they are And in regard that all the Faithful ought to adhere to the Sentiments of the Church obey her Decrees and consult her in doubtful Cases I am perswaded that your Piety will lead you to make an Edict which may oblige all your Subjects to follow without resistance the Orders and Constitutions both of the Patriarch and of those whom he shall substitute in his place The Deuteronomy teaches us that it was the Custom among the Jews in the Controversies and Difficulties which occur'd to have recourse to the Synagogue which was the Figure and Forerunner of the Christian Church For this reason it was that Jesus Christ said in the Gospel the Scribes and Pharisees are seated on the Chair of Moses the wise Man teaches the same thing in the Proverbs Do not neglect the Precepts of your Mother This Mother is the Church And in another place pass not the bounds which your Fathers have set these Fathers are the Prelates of the Church In conclusion Jesus Christ requires of us to have so great deference to his Church that he plainly tells us by the Evangelist St. Luke He who hears you hears me and he who contemns you contemns me And by St. Matthew If he hears not the Church let him be to you as a Heathen and a Publican Hence it follows that we must not hearken to those who hold forth any thing that is not conformable to the Sense and the Interpretation of the Catholick Church of which we are admonish'd by those words of St. Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians But altho ' we or any Angel from Heaven should Evangelize to you otherwise then we have Evangeliz'd to you be he Anathema In fine the Testimony of the Holy Doctors the Canons of Councils the Consent and
our Ladies of Montserrat out of the Devotion which he always conserv'd towards the miraculous Image which is honor'd at the Place of Montserrat where he made his Renunciation of secular Warfare He Preach'd very feelingly and his Talent was to make the Truths of the Gospel enter into the Heart by laying them forth in a plain manner such as they are in themselves and as he himself relish'd them so that pious Persons and of good sence who us'd to hear his Sermons were wont to say That the Word of God naked and plain had in the Mouth of Ignatius its full Majesty and force Faber Xaverius Laynez and the rest did also Preach with great fervour and with no other aim but the good of Souls From their first Sermons there was observ'd a remarkable change in the Manners of the People The frequentation of the Sacraments which was then little in use was restor'd according to the Model of the first Ages of Christianity and 't is since that time that so holy a Custom has been introduced into all Catholick Countries as well as that of making Catechisms to the Children and Sermons to the People every Sunday and Holy-day This Eavngelical Ministry did not hinder Ignatius from often Treating with his Companions concerning the Project of his Institute for tho' he had the Model of it within him yet he would do nothing in it without their concurrence Being employ'd all the day either in instructing the People in publick or in directing Consciences in private they took the Night for the time of their Consults They resolv'd in one of their Assemblies by the direction of Ignatius that besides the Vows of Poverty and Chastity which they had made at Venice they should make another of perpetual Obedience the more to conform themselves to the Son of God who was obedient even to death That to this end they should elect a Superior General whom they must all obey as God himself That this Superior should be perpetual and that his Authority should be absolute At another Meeting they agree'd That such as were Profess'd in their Society should add to the three Vows of Poverty Chastity and Obedience an express Vow of going wheresoever the Vicar of Jesus Christ should send them to labour in the Salvation of Souls and even to go without any Viaticum and living upon Alms if his Holiness should think it fit They had also other Conferences where they resolv'd That the Profess'd should possess nothing neither in particular nor in common but that in the Universities they might have Colleges with Revenues and Rents for the subsistence of those who Study After this manner they were employ'd in expectation of the Pope's return and the Blessing which God bestow'd upon their Labours made them hope for a happy success in their grand Design when on the sudden a Tempest was rais'd which almost over-turn'd all their hopes There was at Rome a famous Preacher by Nation a Piemontese and a Religious of the Order of the Augustine Hermits a reform'd Man in appearance but unworthy of the holy Habit which he wore and a Lutheran in his heart The absence of his Holiness gave him confidence from his Pulpit to vent the Errors of that Heresiarch The better to surprize the People he mightily lamented the relaxation of Discipline and of Doctrine in point of Manners and Christian Morals And thereupon he would insinuate some ambiguous Proposition which he fail'd not seemingly to back with the Authority of holy Fathers and with the Example of the first Ages Ignatius could not imagine that a Religious Man should be capable of Preaching Heresie in the middle of Rome and he believ'd at first that they had put a wrong sence upon the words of the Preacher or that the Propositions which made so much noise had negligently slipt from him without design However to be throughly inform'd of the truth he order'd Salmeron and Laynez who had formerly Disputed with the Hereticks in Germany and knew the bottom of Lutheranism to go at several times to hear him Being ascertain'd by them that he taught the very Doctrine of Luther under a specious pretence of teaching that of the Primitive Church he procur'd him to be admonish'd in secret that his Doctrine had caus'd a great deal of scandal and this Advice was given him with all the precautions which Prudence and Charity require But 't is the nature of Heresie to affect Moderation when 't is undisturb'd and let alone and to be violent in the highest degree upon any opposition made against it The Preacher whom all Rome follow'd as an Oracle made haughty by his Reputation and so much the more irritated by the Remonstrances which had been made him by how much they were founded upon Truth he vented his rage against those who suspected his Doctrine and boldly maintain'd all those Propositions which he had advanced Ignatius seeing that a secret Admonition had been unprofitable and that sweet Remedies increased the Disease thought it his duty publickly to oppose the Enterprize of a Man who made it his Business to corrupt the purity of Faith in the Capital City of Christendom Wherefore he and his Companions went into the Pulpit and with all their might confuted his Errors by defending the necessity of Good-works the Vows of Religion the Authority of the Church and such other Catholick Articles as are Impugned by the Lutherans The ten Preachers did not Preach in vain the Fryar became suspected of Heresie but being a Man very dextrous and intriguing he wanted neither Artifice to justifie himself nor Credit to be supported His first Address was to retort upon Ignatius the suspicion of Heresie saying aloud That it was the custom of cunning Hereticks to impute Errors to whom they pleas'd that by raising a dust they might undiscover'd and with Impunity vent worse themselves But the better to corroborate what he would have believ'd he drew into his Cabal three Spaniards who had an honest and sober out-side very proper to authorize a Calumny One of them was call'd Mudarra another Barrera and the third Castilla They were not contented to defame Ignatius only as a Lutheran and a wicked Man but they suborn'd Michael Navarr and engag'd him to depose something of a heinous nature against him This is that Navarr who at Paris being inrag'd at the Conversion of Xaverius made an attempt upon the Life of Ignatius He was come to Rome after he had run about the greatest part of Europe and he hated Ignatius the more for that having offer'd himself to be one of his Disciples he was not judg'd worthy This Man then declar'd before the Governor of Rome that the Ring-leader of certain Spanish Priests was an Heretick and a Sorcerer who had been burnt in Effigie at Alcala at Paris and at Venice He protested upon Oath That nothing but his Conscience forc'd him to accuse a Man of his own Nation that he averr'd nothing but what he had
the Confirmation of the Order the Children were only instructed in their Catechism The first Fathers were so full of other Employments that they could not keep Schools and those who were associated to them had not ability at first to do it The General would have them finish their own Studies in Philosophy Divinity and the Holy Scripture before they were employ'd to Teach And thence it comes that the first Colledges of the Society were only for teaching the young Men of their own Body It was to facilitate the use of all these Means so proportionate to the End of an Apostolical Calling that Father Ignatius made choice of a common conversible Life according to the Model of that of Jesus Christ Whereas he was a Priest and that his Order was no other then a Congregation of Priests or Regular Clericks he appointed no other Habit for his Religious then what was us'd by Ecclesiastical Persons nor did he prescribe to them any such Uniformity of Habit as was us'd in other Regular Societies He only order'd in general that theirs should be decent according to the Usage of the Country but such as should not be contrary to Religious Poverty The Design which he had to Convert all Men if it were possible made him judge that the Society having to treat often with Hereticks and Libertines who are apt to deride the holy Habits of other Orders it was most expedient for them not to take any that was remarkable and singular that so they might have freer access every where He regulated the Lodging Diet and the rest as he did the Habit according to the Laws of Decency and Poverty This Principle of a Communicative Life determin'd him also not to command in his Rule any Austerity by Obligation He well knew that Religious Societies are compos'd of Persons who are not all of the same Constitution or Age that when Austerities are of Obligation they must have recourse to Dispensations in favour of Persons infirm or Aged and that Dispensations how legitimate soever they may be have almost always troublesom Consequences On the other side he foresaw that the Macerations of the Body Establisht by the ancient Founders of Orders according to the Form of their Institute would be great Obstacles to the Functions and Business of his And yet in not prescribing any set measure of Pennances for all in his Society he doth not pretend to exclude all Austerities On the contrary he will have every one mortifie his Body as much as his Health and his Employment will permit But lest Self-love should hold back or Fervor should too much drive on he appoints that Superiors shall be Judges in these Matters who considering on one side the End of the Institute to which all the Means must be subordinate and on the other side the Constitution and Strength of the several Persons are to keep a Mean between a Relaxation hurtful to the Soul and an Excess ruinous to the Body Notwithstanding his Devotion to hear the Praises of God Sung and his Veneration for those Religious Persons who Sing them Night and Day yet the Injunction of keeping Quires he left out of his Order upon consideration that the Employments of his Institute were incompatible with that pious Exercise which however is not essential to a Religious Profession for the Military Orders and those which are employ'd upon Works of Mercy have no Quire even the Order of St. Dominick it self had none at the beginning and in the most reform'd Orders Masters of Divinity Preachers and Missioners are therein dispenced The Authority of the holy Pope St. Gregory who in a Council at Rome forbids Deacons that are Preachers to Sing And that of St. Thomas who teacheth that it is better to raise mens Hearts to Heaven only by the Ministry of the Word of God then by Singing and Musick did not a little serve to confirm St. Ignatius in this Resolution And it may be said that in reserving himself wholly for Evangelical Functions he follow'd the Example of St. Paul who says of himself That Jesus Christ did not send him to Baptize but to Preach Not but that it was a holy and laudable Action to Baptize but in regard he had been chosen to publish the Gospel and there wanted not others to confer Baptism Whereas the divers Employments of a Society devoted to the good of Souls would require excellent Workmen the Founder did forecast all that was necessary thereunto For in the first place he ordain'd that good choice should be made of those who are received and he sets down himself the principal Qualities which they ought to have among others a good Nature a good Wit a vigorous Constitution a Body well made and a fair Carriage As for Nobility and the Advantages of Fortune he reckons them as nothing if the rest be wanting But he would have them consider'd when they are joyn'd with Talents requisite and for this Reason because Men of great Birth and such as have been considerable in the World are very proper to be hearkned to by the People to speak to Great Men and to maintain the Interest of the Church He excludes those who having been born Christians shall have abjured their Faith among Infidels or held publickly Heretical Opinions To whom he adds Infamous Persons and such as have been Convicted of enormous Crimes all Persons subject to Lunacy or Distempers of the Brain Lastly all those who have worn the Habit of an Hermit or of any Religious Order tho' but for a day And all those Exclusions are grounded upon this that St. Ignatius requir'd for his Institute Principles of Religion well settled in the Heart and untainted Reputation a sound Judgment and a Will constant in the good Course which once it hath embraced Besides these Impediments which are not so Essential but that the Holy See may dispence with them for just Causes and in extraordinary Cases there are others of less Consequence which the Superiors themselves according to discretion may dispence withal as being for Example under Fifteen years of age or above Fifty having violent Passions bad Habits indiscreet Devotions c. To have a perfect knowledge of those who Present themselves the Founder requires and directs a very exact Scrutiny even to know whether they be born in lawful Wedlock Whether they be only Sons What their Family is If they have any Engagement upon them either by Holy Orders or by Promise of Marriage or by Vow Above all he recommends that their inward Dispositions should be narrowly look'd into and chiefly that their Vocation should be well Examin'd Whether since their being call'd they had not chang'd their mind or suffer'd their holy Desires to grow cold Whether any of the Society had not allur'd them And in such case tho' it might have been done with good intention he declares that a reasonable time ought to be given them to re-consider upon so important an Affair by the only
amiss whereas if you make your self the Actor and things should not at first succeed it would not be very Honorable for you that your Inferiors should mend your Faults All things being settled in this manner it happen'd by a strange Revolution that the Portuguez pass'd from one Extremity to the other according to the nature of human things which seldom rest in an even poize and in their just situation The Fervor introduc'd into the Colledge of Conimbria increas'd so fast that at last it exceeded all measure Every one took upon him to be his own Director in Matters of Piety and Mortification only consulting his own Spirit and following the heat of his Devotion Some consum'd themselves with Austerities to a degree of wasting their Bodies and their Health others charm'd with the Delights of Contemplation spent whole Days and Nights in Prayer hardly minding their Study Father Ignatius to remedy this second Disorder which was the more dangerous in regard that it proceeded from an excess of Vertue endeavor'd by his Instructions to discover to them their Illusion but finding that the Advice given them had not its effect and that an indiscreet Fervor reign'd not only in Portugal but spread it self into Spain he writ a long Discourse in form of an Epistle to reduce those into a right way whom a mistaken Devotion had misled This Epistle Entituled Concerning the Vertue of Obedience and Address'd to the Portuguez begins with making it appear That Obedience is the only Vertue which bringeth forth and nourisheth all other Vertues That this in a peculiar manner is the Vertue of the Society of Jesus and the distinguishing Mark and Character of it so that we may suffer our selves to be surpass'd by other Orders in Fasting in Watching and in many other Practices of Austerity which each of them holily observes according to the Spirit of their Vocation but that in matter of Obedience we ought not to yield to any as being oblig'd by our Vocation to be perfect in it The Saint in the next place upon Reasons drawn out of Scripture and the Fathers lays down these Degrees of Obedience The First and lowest consists in doing what we are commanded The Second is not only to execute the Orders of a Superrior but to conform our Will to his The Third to judge that what he Orders is best and most reasonable and upon this ground alone because the Superior doth judge it so To arrive at this high degree which is call'd the Obedience of the Understanding he says that we are not to take notice whether he who Governs us be Wise or Imprudent Holy or Imperfect but only to consider in his Person the Authority of Jesus Christ Delegated to him for our Conduct and that his infinite Wisdom cannot permit his Delegate to deceive us The whole Letter which may be call'd a Master-piece in its kind turns upon these grand Principles which the Father supports by solid Reasons and illustrates by divers Examples He particularly proves in order to his present Design That it is a strange Illusion to believe that one may go against the Will of a Superior in doing things which are good in themselves as in Praying and Fasting c. And he declares That according to the Doctrine of the ancient Masters of a Spiritual Life it is not a less Fault to break the Laws of Obedience in Watching then in Sleeping in Laboring then in doing nothing Father Ignatius was not content to send this Letter of Obedience only into Portugal and Spain he transmitted it into all Parts even to the Indies and Japony The Society had enter'd the Year before into the Island of Corsica and the two Workmen he sent thither by the Pope's Order at the Request of the Commonwealth of Genoua found work enough to do in their new Mission One of them was call'd Silvester-Landino and the other Emanuel de Monte-Mayor The whole Island had much of the Barbarity of a Heathen Country and tho' Religion for many Ages past had been planted there yet in their manner of living there was little of Christianity to be seen The Priests had not so much as a distinction of Habit and for the most part led not only a Secular but a Libertine Life There were among them who neither knew how to say Mass nor to Administer the Sacrament of Pennance The People on their side liv'd in profound Ignorance and many up and down the Country even old Men could not make the Sign of the Cross This Ignorance was accompanied with all sorts of Vices Superstition Sorcery Incest and Pligamy did every where reign with Impunity and without Scruple No sooner had the two Missioners made their Circuit about the Island but the face of it was wholly chang'd so great was the Blessing which it pleas'd God to bestow upon their Labours But this change drew upon them a terrible Persecution An Ecclesiastick considerable for his Office of Grand Vicar and more famous for the Debauchery of his Life could not endure the Zeal and the good Success of Landino and Monte-Mayor Besides his own Animosity against these Foreign Priests whose Apostolical Conversation seem'd to reproch the Irregularity of his Life and whose Character of the Pope's Visitors appear'd to lessen his Authority He was also instigated against them by some Apostates who had taken Refuge in that Island so that he sent an Accusation to Rome against the two Fathers He likewise Dispatch'd and Deputed one of his Friends to maintain the Charge against them viz. That Landino and Monte-Mayor were insupportable Persons extreamly Arrogant and outragiously severe that they treated the Religious of St. Francis with the lowest degree of Contempt and that they visibly abus'd the Authority of the Holy See This Deputy who neither wanted Cunning nor boldness prevail'd upon many Cardinals to believe his false Suggestions against the Apostolical Visitors Insomuch that Cardinal Sancte Croce complain'd of them to Father Ignatius The Father who perfectly well knew both Landino and Monte-Mayor had difficulty to believe what was said of them and imagin'd it was a Calumny But to know the bottom of the Business he sent into the Island of Corsica one of his own People in whom he could confide call'd Sebastian Romé who was not yet a Priest and he order'd him to disguise himself in the Habit of a Cavalier and narrowly to observe the Demeanor of the two Fathers without making himself known to them Romé remain'd in the Island as long as was necessary well to execute his Commission When he had throughly observ'd the Conduct of Landino and Monte-Mayor and had taken exact Informations of their manner of Life he came back to Rome with Letters from the Governor of the Island from the Magistrates and People and from the Provincial himself of the Franciscans so Advantagious and Honorable for the two Persons accus'd that the Cardinals who had been surpris'd made their Excuses to Father Ignatius for having too