observes his conduct, tells him of his
faults, points out his duties, and is consequently compelled not to excuse
him in any point[85]. In spiritual affairs, the general is subject to the
pope; in temporal matters, to the government under which he lives; and, in
what {220} concerns himself personally, or the society solely, to a general
meeting of the order[86]. Though elected for life, he may be deposed for
several reasons stated in the institute; and the same hands that clothed
him with power may strip him of it[87]. It has been said, that the motive
for appointing a single chief was the facility it offers for promoting more
certainly the ends of ambition. The institute strongly condemns ambition in
individuals, and still more strongly in the general[88]. One great {221}
charge against the power of the general is, that his authority may injure
that of sovereigns, by withdrawing their subjects from their obedience: on
the contrary, he is expressly forbidden, by the institute, to take from a
state any Jesuit whatever, without the knowledge of the sovereign[89]. The
annulling of contracts is another source of abuse, founded on a mistaken
passage in the institute, where it is said; "Although the general, by his
open letters to particular superiors, confers on them an ample power in
that respect, yet that power may be restricted and limited by private
letters." This passage has no reference to contracts, and relates only to
the power given openly to local superiors to dismiss improper persons; and
there can be no objection to the private limiting of that power. But the
most obnoxious charge of all is, that the general of the Jesuits maintains
spies everywhere, for the purpose of diving into the secrets of courts, and
into the {222} affairs of private families. The institute contains a rule
directly the reverse of this assertion, a rule by which he is expressly
prohibited from meddling in affairs that do not concern the society, even
under any pretext of piety or religion[90].

After all, then, the general of the Jesuits is not such a monster as he has
been painted, and it is absurd to suppose, that a learned and sensible old
man, who, about to give an account of his ministry to God, has but a few
years to fill the office, should consider it as the spring of every kind of
crime; it is absurd to suppose, that the brethren of the order, who have
sacrificed every thing on earth to the hope of finding under the empire of
the inst