son and virtue in all the
members of the order, in consequence of the vow of obedience. And he
evidently apprehends, that, if we go to war with Russia, the constitution
of Great Britain will be endangered by the plots of Jesuits in this
country! "We are," says he, "at this hour, {85} on terms of amity with
Russia; within how short a period was it otherwise?" In neither country is
catholicism the established religion, yet sir John sees, that Jesuits may
busy themselves so foully with Greeks and Lutherans, that the pope will be
brought in. The objection is really absurd; but, on the _despotism_ of the
general, and the _blind_ obedience of the companions of the order, I shall
make some remarks, when I consider the institute itself; at present, I
shall only repeat, that these are calumnies to which no man would be a
dupe, who had ever cast his eye over the pages of that almost inspired body
of religious and moral statutes. The general, as well as the members of the
community, is bound by those laws. A general congregation may be assembled,
without his consent, and in defiance of him, to make laws against him: and
"blind obedience is a sacrifice of passion, not of reason; Jesuits are to
obey blindly, only when they see clearly, that they may do so without a
crime, nay, without the slightest fault." The obedience which all
religious, as well as Jesuits, paid to their chief {86} superior, who
generally resided at Rome, was well understood to relate merely to their
professional duties. It was first made an object of jealousy, exclusively
with regard to the Jesuits, at the time that the parliaments were studying
every mode of making them odious; and, before that time, the native country
of their general was a matter of indifference. The native country of the
pope was never alleged as a motive for rejecting his authority. The
obedience of the Jesuits was voluntary; and they knew, from their
institute, that it never could supersede the duty which they owed to the
government under which they lived. Can sir John adduce a single instance of
a Jesuit's betraying the country, or the government, which protected him?
The first superiors of the French Jesuits were Spaniards and Italians. The
superior of the Venetian Jesuits, during the famous contest between that
state and Paul V, was a Frenchman.

In friendly consideration for the instructors of his numerous valuable
friends, sir John informs {87} the House of Commons, that, though the
em