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* JESUITS. 191 JESUITS. tory of the Order. A general congregation is composed of the general, or his deputy, and the live assistants, who form his council, besides the provincials, or heads of provinces, and two deputies from each province. The provincial deputies are elected by the professed fathers and the rectors of the province. The general congre- gation meets every six years, and all important concerns come before it. It alone has power to dissolve a college, or professed house, or a, novi- tiate once established. The general has power to dispense from some provisions of the Constitution in particular cases, but he cannot alter or annul them. All others in authority liold office for a limited time, usually for three years. The as- sistants who compose the general's consultors are elected by the general congregation, and are chosen from certain gioups of provinces. At the present time there is the Italian assistancy, the French, the Spanish, which includes also mis- sions in South America ; the German, which in- cludes the Low Countries and Austria ; and finally the English, including England and North Amer- ica, with missions in South Africa and in India. For the assistance of the general there is also an admonitor and a father confessor. The general's admonitor is bound to inform him of any faults he may commit. While the general consults with his assistants, he is not obliged to follow their advice, even when imanimous. There are four clas.ses of .Jesuits : ( 1 ) Pro- fessed fathers, who, after their eighteen years of preparation, have taken the four solemn vows mentioned above. It is from this class alone that the general and all the higher officials of the Society are chosen. (2) Coadjutors, spiritual and temporal. Spiritual coadjutors are priests whose health or talents have not permitted them to reach the standard of sanctity or knowledge required for professed fathers, and who help in preaching, teaching, and the direction of souls. Temporal coadjutors are the lay brothers to whom the menial offices and certain minor duties are assigned. ( 3 ) Scholastics, who, having passed through the novitiate, are engaged either in their own studies or in teaching in the colleges. (4) Novices, who after a short trial as postulants are engaged for two years exclusively in spiritual exercises, prayer, ascetic reading, and practices. The administrative and executive government of the .Society is intrusted under the general to provincials who are named by the general and hold office for three years. In each province the superiors of the colleges, professed houses, and novitiates are appointed by the general, Avho re- ceives from them at stated intervals — monthly from provinces, quarterly from colleges and novi- tiates — a detailed report of the character, con- duct, and occupation of each member of the So- ciety. Far from making a system of espionage, this detailed knowledge only gives superiors such information with regard to subjects as enables them to make the best possible use of them with the least possible danger of failure under trying circumstances. Isnatius gave his Order no dis- tinctive dress (though that of the Spanish priests of that time has come to be adopted by .Jesuits generally), so that thej- might be freer for inter- course with the world. The Jesuits spread rapidly. At the death of Ignatius (15.56) there were 1000 members of the Order, in twelve provinces. At the end of the centurv there were over 10.000. When the cele- bration of the centenary of their foundation came in 103!!, they numbered over 13,000. A century and a quarter later, at the time of their suppres- sion, there were 22,600 Jesuits throughout the world. 'herever they were, they were considered as the special upholders of the Papacy and the most faithful defenders of the Catholic Church. This accounts for most of the opposition to them. When there was difficulty between the Republic of Venice and the Pope, during the first half of the seventeenth century, the Jesuits were ex- cluded from the Venetian States. Their close adhesion to the Pope made their position in France often insecure. Gallieanism saw in them implacable opponents, and .Jansenism (q.v. ) rec- ognized them as the foes most to be feared. The Sorbonne and tiie University of Paris opposed the introduction of the Society into France, and always continued to be jealous of the educative influence acquired by it. Finally, ilme. de Pom- padour became a bitter enemy, because the •Jesuits refused her the sacraments, unless there should be an end of her liaison with the King. The philosophic party was opposed to the .Jesuits because they saw in them the most prominent factor in the conservation of Catholic thought and education. This united opposition brought about the suppression of the .Jesuits by royal edict throughout the French dominions in 1764. The example was followed in a few years by the other Bourbon courts — Spain. Naples, Parma, and Jlodena. In 1759, through the machinations of the Prime Minister Pombal, who saw an op- portunity of enriching himself at their expense, the .Jesuits had been expelled from Portugal. The charges that they were the source of the attempt upon the King's life and were fomenting disaf- fection among the Indians in the so-called reduc- tions of Paraguay, recently transferred from Spain to Portugal, were evidently trumped up. Pope Clement XIII. (1758-69) interposed vainly in their behalf and used every effort to reconcile the governments. Pope Clement XIV. (1769-74), pressed by the ambassadors of so many Catholic governments, at length issued, .July 21. 1773. the brief Dominus ac Redemptor yoster. by which, without adopting the charges made against the Society or entering in any way into the ques- tion of their justice, acting solely on the motive of 'the peace of the Church' he suppressed the Society in all the States of Christendom. Sub- mission to the brief was immediate and complete. In Spain and Portugal the members of the So- ciety were driven into exile. In other Catholic countries they were permitted to remain as indi- viduals, engaged in the ministry or in literary occupations. Two non-Catholic governments, those of Frederick the Great of Prussia and Catharine II. of Russia, refused to allow the brief of suppression to be published in their do- minions, because they could not replace the Jes- uits as educators. In these States the .Jesuits re- tained a quasi-corporate existence as a Society for education. What was meant to be the suppression of the Society proved but a temporary suspension. In 1792 the Duke of Parma secured a partial reor- ganization for his dominions. In 1801 Pope Pius VII. (1800-23) permitted the formal reestab- lishment of the Jesuits in Lithuania and Wliit* Russia, and with still more formality in Naples in 1804. On August 7, 1814. by the bull Solici- liido omnium eeelesinnim, the complete rehabili-