Let us now see how Ganganelli gets over the difficulty arising from the approbation of the council of Trent. To the eternal disgrace of {107} this brief, then, we find the operative or suppressing clause made to depend upon a paltry sophism. Stating the _demands_ and _wishes_ of his dear sons, the kings and ministers, with the addition of pressing solicitations from some bishops and other persons, Clement, for a salvo to his conscience, declares (page 25), "that to choose the wisest course, in an affair of so much importance, he determined not to be precipitate, but to take due time to _examine attentively_, _weigh carefully_, and _wisely debate_ upon it." What was done? "_First of all_," continues the brief, "we proposed to examine upon what grounds rested the common opinion, that the institute of the clerks of the company of Jesus had been approved and confirmed in a special manner by the council of Trent! And we found, that, in the said council, nothing more was done, with regard to the said society, than to except it from the general decree respecting other orders. The same council declared, that _it meant not to make any change or innovation in the government of the clerks of the company of Jesus, that_ {108} _they might not be hindered from being useful to God and his church, according to the intent of the pious institute approved by the holy see_." If the lines in italics are not an especial approval and confirmation of the institute, then must I confess, that I know not the meaning of the words _approval_ and _confirmation_. To my understanding they convey a most decided approbation and confirmation of the institute. Well, what succeeds the _imprimis_? What does the pontiff next examine, weigh, and debate attentively, carefully, and wisely? The reader will look in vain for the second head of wise deliberation; the actuating assertion immediately follows: "actuated by _so many_ and important considerations," &c. &c., and _impelled by fear_, for that is the import of the following sentences, "WE DO SUPPRESS AND ABOLISH THE SAID COMPANY." The only possible apology, that can be made for Clement, in this rescript, is, that he acted, as lawyers term it, under duress. After his own avowal, while a cardinal, can any man doubt, that he {109} imagined that the intrigues going on in France, Spain, Portugal, and Sicily, against the Jesuits, would prove fatal to the power of Rome, if the society were protected? The whole of the preamble of his rescript consists of the approbation of his predecessors, and the appeals of the intriguers of the nations around him against the Jesuits. At last, the _Inquisition_[46] of Spain (see page 20), press so strongly, that Sixtus V determines to examine the matter; but he is saved the misfortune by death, and his successor, Gregory XIV, approves of the institution of the society in its utmost extent, confirms their privileges, and ordains that, under pain of excommunication, all proceedings against the society