inistrative gifts marked him
out for the highest posts. He was soon nominated provincial of Naples
and then of Rome; and during this office he offered to join the Jesuit
mission to England that set out under Robert Parsons (q.v.) in the
spring of 1580. The following year, being then only thirty-seven years
old, he was elected, by a large majority, general of the society in
succession to Mercurian, to the great surprise of Gregory XIII.; but the
extraordinary political ability he displayed, and the vast increase that
came to the Society during his long generalate, abundantly justified the
votes of the electors. He, together with Lainez, may be regarded as the
real founder of the Society as it is known to history. A born ruler, he
secured all authority in his own hands, and insisted that those who
prided themselves on their obedience should act up to the profession. In
his first letter "On the happy increase of the Society" (25th of July
1581), he treats of the necessary qualifications for superiors, and
points out that government should be directed not by the maxims of human
wisdom but by those of supernatural prudence. He successfully quelled a
revolt among the Spanish Jesuits, which was supported by Philip II., and
he made use in this matter of Parsons. A more difficult task was the
management of Sixtus V., who was hostile to the Society. By consummate
tact and boldness Aquaviva succeeded in playing the king against the
pope, and Sixtus against Philip. For prudential reasons, he silenced
Mariana, whose doctrine on tyrannicide had produced deep indignation in
France; and he also appears to have discountenanced the action of the
French Jesuits in favour of the League, and was thus able to secure
solid advantages when Henry IV. overcame the confederacy. To him is due
the Jesuit system of education in the book _Ratio atque institutio
studiorum_ (Rome, 1586). But the Dominicans denounced it to the
Inquisition, and it was condemned both in Spain and in Rome, on account
of some opinions concerning the Thomist doctrines of the divine physical
premotion in secondary causes and predestination. The incriminated
chapters were withdrawn in the edition of 1591. In the fierce disputes
that arose between the Jesuit theologians and the Dominicans on the
subject of grace, Aquaviva managed, under Clement VIII. and Paul V., to
save his party from a condemnation that at one time seemed probable. He
died at Rome on the 31st of January 1615, l