ey scheme to
get a hold on Constantinople and Palestine, in order to establish
seminaries of fanatics and assassins. They are responsible for the
murder of Henri IV., for if they did not instigate Ravaillac, their
doctrine of regicide inspired him. They can creep into any kingdom, any
institution, any household, because they readily accept any terms and
subscribe to any conditions in the certainty that by the adroit use of
flattery, humbug, falsehood, and corruption, they will soon become
masters of the situation. In France they are the real Morbus Gallicus.
In Italy they are the soul of the Diacatholicon.

[Footnote 169: It is worthy of notice, as a stern Venetian joke, that
when the Jesuits eventually returned to Rialto, they were bade walk in
processions upon ceremonial occasions between the Fraternities of S.
Marco and S. Teodoro--saints amid whose columns on the Molo criminals
were executed.]

The torrent of Sarpi's indignation against the Jesuits, as perverters of
sound doctrine in the Church, disturbers of kingdoms, sappers of
morality and disseminators of vile customs through society, runs so
violently forward that we are fain to check it, while acknowledging its
justice. One passage only, from the many passages bearing on this topic
in his correspondence, demands special citation, since it deals directly
with the whole material of the present work. Writing to his friend
Leschassier, he speaks as follows: 'Nothing can be of more mischief to
you in France than the dishonesty of bad confessors and their
determination to aggrandize Rome by any means, together with the
mistaken zeal of the good sort. We have arrived at a point where cure of
the disease must even be despaired of. Fifty years ago things went well
in Italy. There was no public system of education for training young men
to the profit of the clergy. They were brought up by their parents in
private, more for the advantage of their families than for that of the
hierarchy. In religious houses, where studies flourished, attention was
paid to scholastic logic. The jurisdiction and the authority of the Pope
were hardly touched on; and while theology was pursued at leisure, the
majority passed their years in contemplation of the Deity and angels.
Recently, through the decrees of the Tridentine Council, schools have
been opened in every State, which are called Seminaries, where education
is concentrated on the sole end of augmenting ecclesiastical supremacy.
F