is not only to be
examined, to see that it is free from a capital sin, but from any sin
whatever; _in omnibus quae a superiore disponuntur ubi definiri non possit
(quemadmodum dictum est) aliquod peccati genus intercedere_[77]. In a word,
discussion is not forbidden by the institute, but in cases where it is
evident that there is no sin; {216} _ubi non cerneretur peccatum_[78]; a
doctrine continually repeated on this head, _quemadmodum dictum est_, that
is, _in quibus nullum manifestum est peccatum_[79]. Where now is the horror
of this obedience? It will seem a paradox to say, that the rigour of it
arises from the mildness of the Jesuit government: but it is not less the
fact; for, as all violent measures and corporal punishments are excluded
from the society, a prompt moral obedience is absolutely necessary to its
existence. It thus becomes an amiable, as well as an indispensable law.

But the despotism of the general? The obedience, which the Jesuits owe
their general, is the same as that which they pay to their ordinary
superiors. It flows from the same source, and tends to the same end. Having
demonstrated the slavery of it to be a chimera, the despotism of the
general naturally vanishes with {217} it. The nature of the society
required, that it should be under a single chief: to have given to separate
houses independent chiefs would have destroyed the great objects depending
upon a union of councils. It was no cenobitical order devoted chiefly to
working out their own salvation; but one, whose members were to be spread
over the whole world, to promote the glory of God and the good of man. The
institute, however, takes great care, that the chief should not be a
despot: it gives him no slaves, nor even subjects, but friends, children,
and counsellors[80]; mildness is the sceptre it bestows upon him, and
charity the throne[81]; it {218} equally prohibits the superior to govern
by violence and the inferior to obey through fear[82]. The general is
elected by the whole society, who first swear to choose only him, whom they
believe to be the most worthy of the office[83]. There is nothing arbitrary
or changeable in the {219} authority of the general: it is subjected by the
institute to stable and invariable laws, and his duties are minutely
prescribed. If he deviates from them, it provides for his removal[84]. Far
from being a despot, he is not even exempted from the superintendance of a
monitor chosen by the society, who