The War Upon Religion Part 29

It is probable that the complete story of the persecution inflicted upon the religious of Portugal will never be known. Some of the victims have disappeared as completely as if the earth had swallowed them. But the history of the survivors is full enough in its appalling details to give an idea of the utter barbarity of the oppressors and the ignorance which impelled them to action.

Against the Jesuits the Portuguese secret societies have entertained an abiding hatred ever since the days of the infamous Pombal. Long before the late Revolution the writer visited the ancient church of the Jesuits in Ponte Delgado in the Azores Islands, and there beheld the evidences of vandalism perpetrated years before upon altars and shrines that have not their equal in the world. Naturally the fury of the mob, in the recent upheaval, sought out these Fathers as a worthy object of brutality, and inflicted upon them indignities with a savagery worthy of the inhabitants of the Fiji Islands.

Three of the great Jesuit inst.i.tutions met with especial attention, those of Quelhas, Barro and Campolide. When the revolutionists stormed the first of these establishments, they reported a story that the priests had fired bombs upon the soldiers, and then retreated into underground pa.s.sages to hide. The facts of the case, as it later developed, showed that the house at Quelhas had actually been shut by the Government and deserted by the Jesuits. Nevertheless the story of the bombs and the underground pa.s.sages went the round of the press of the world. These underground pa.s.sages, by the way, were shown to be little sewer conduits about eight or ten inches in diameter, so that it would be extremely difficult for even the most ascetic Jesuit Father to enter, much less to live in them.

The College at Barro was one of the finest in Portugal, and it is a noteworthy fact in connection with it, that on the very last day of his reign the young King had signed a decree closing that Novitiate. In the house on the day of its attack there were eighty-six priests, brothers, novices and students, all members or intending to be members of the Society of Jesus. It is well known that the lower cla.s.s of the Portuguese who fell under secret society influence were superst.i.tious to an incredible degree. Hence, when it became noised abroad that there were strange apparatus in the college, such things as microscopes, X-rays, radium, and electrical appliances, the excited mob held up its hands in holy horror. The Jesuits who had such things, and talked in such learned language could surely be nothing less than hobgoblins, unnatural sprites and wicked spirits. The sentiment was fostered and encouraged in them by the unscrupulous spirits of discontent, who knew that anarchy could never prosper while learning and virtue remained unabused.

On October 5, the college was sacked, and its inmates marched out. After a humiliating journey on the railroad, they were finally imprisoned in the fortress of Caxeas. Father Torrent, a learned scientist of the band, was in a few days liberated as a French citizen.

The college at Campolide, the glory of Portuguese educational inst.i.tutions, shared the same fate. Its Fathers were arrested and led away to swell the number of prisoners at Caxeas. The collection of laboratory apparatus, one of the finest in Europe, was delivered up to the fury of a mob, who could no more appreciate their worth than the savages of Africa. The magnificent library of 25,000 volumes contained rare works that can never be duplicated.

The wave of indignation and contempt that followed in the whole world when the true nature and character of the revolutionists began to be known, has urged the Portuguese controllers to excuse and palliate their acts. When the nuns were driven from their convents they were led to the vile quarters of the a.r.s.enal where their humiliations were continued. It was said that this was done to protect them from the mob; yet it is now known that the mob had no intention of sacking the convents; this work was done almost altogether by the soldiers and sailors. In fact when a few soldiers guarded the Irish convent at Belim, the Dominican convent at Benfrica, and the Irish Dominican monastery at Corpo Santo, the mob had nothing to do, and these convents remained untouched.

When the nuns were taken from their convents they were piled like criminals into any handy vehicle, and then driven in the midst of a shouting, hooting mob along the streets. The soldiers who marched with them, as is shown in the many photographs taken of the event, laughed with idiotic bravado, and a.s.sumed as much importance as if their delicate, helpless charges were so many fierce warrior captives taken on the field of battle. In the a.r.s.enal several hundreds of them were huddled together in one large room. Here they were visited by Senhor Affonso Costa, the Minister of Justice, who swaggered about among the gentle-minded ladies, roared at them, and glared with his magnetic eye.

For three hours he questioned and insulted them, while a score of attendant press agents took down his magnificent bravadoes to be embellished for the press of the day. Except for the misery of the poor Sisters, the whole scene was worthy of one of Sullivan's comic operas, calling for laughter where it did not inspire contempt.

This is the Portuguese Republic, the government to which the people of Portugal have been consigned. Its direction is plainly indicated from the fact that one of its first proposed laws is that which permits of free divorce. The Republic of Portugal has one rival on earth, that of the West Indies, to which people, laughing, give the name of Hayti.

It would be well in speaking of these events to reproduce the letter written by the Rev. Provincial of the Portuguese Jesuits, and addressed to his fellow countrymen. The letter was suppressed in Portugal, but was published later in England. It is as follows:

To My Countrymen: The prolonged period of distress which elapsed while the Fathers and Brothers of the Society of Jesus were quitting Portugal to take the road of exile, being driven from their beloved native land on the charge of abominable crimes, whereas their life had been wholly spent in self-sacrifice on behalf of others, whilst I was moreover occupied with the care of my spiritual children, having to determine for each a new scene for the exercise of his zeal--all this, I say, occupied me to such an extent that hitherto I have been unable to find time to address this protest to my countrymen, which, however, is demanded of me as a relief for my own grief and by my duty as a Christian and a religious whose office lays upon him this responsibility.

In this, my protestation and complaint, I shall speak only of those religious who, as members of the Society of Jesus, were subject to my jurisdiction, since for them alone was I responsible. I must, however, begin by saluting the glorious children of all religious orders whom we cherish and reverence as enn.o.bled by their sufferings and their partic.i.p.ation in the cross through insults, bondage, and even death itself, some of them having sealed a life of saintliness and self-devotedness with the testimony of their blood.

But in thus solemnly addressing my country, I must, as a father, speak of my own well-beloved sons, expressing my grief on beholding what they suffer, and protesting their innocence of the charges brought against them.

In this free country men who extol the spirit of liberty, and claim to be leaders of the principle of universal equality, have on the instant expelled from Portuguese territory more than three hundred of their fellow citizens, spread amongst some score of houses in the Motherland and colonies beyond the seas in Asia, Africa and Oceania.

This cruel act was executed without the victims being permitted to speak one word in their defence, no time being allowed them to carry away a st.i.tch of clothing, their books or their papers, though these contained the fruit of active studies pursued for years.

_SPOLIATION._

In the name of liberty they have taken from us all that we possess, have seized our property and our houses, built with what by dint of careful economy has been saved out of the pensions of our pupils, or has been a.s.signed by individuals and legally invested for the purpose in their own names.

The College of Campolide was established in 1858 by three English subjects in order to a.s.sist Father Rademaker in the development of education and material progress in Portugal. The College of Campolide was accordingly for a long period English property and flew the British flag. Later, after the death of these persons, the trust was dissolved, and Campolide, with all its belongings, was acquired by other individuals, Portuguese or foreign. One of these, Father Bramley, now in India, has, of course, claimed his share. I do not know why the Portuguese partner cannot do the same, there being a fundamental law which absolutely prohibits the confiscation in all cases of property belonging to private citizens. Since 1834, when the possession of property in Portugal was forbidden to religious orders, it has been the rule, as in England, that individuals alone could buy, sell or own such properties as were a.s.signed by their legal owners to the use of Jesuits or others.

Along with buildings and land was seized, likewise the furniture of our houses, comprising first-rate scientific collections in the museums, scientific inst.i.tutes and laboratories of the colleges at Campolide and S. Fiel, where for more than half a century, by means of the monthly pensions of our boys, and the generosity of friends inspired by esteem and devotion, the intelligent and disinterested labors of our fathers and brothers had succeeded in acc.u.mulating valuable materials for study, which by every right were ours, and ours alone.

Our libraries disappeared in like manner during the same period, the store where our linen was kept, the private rooms themselves, in each of which could be found, besides a washstand and bed, only a writing table and a modest bookstand with a few books, the companions of our solitude--all were suddenly declared to be the property of the State.

We ourselves, thus summarily and arbitrarily despoiled of everything, and turned out of our own doors, were led to prison by a throng of armed soldiers and civilians, amidst the insults and jeers of a mob long excited against us by the calumnies of a ribald press.

Those who, forewarned of these outrages, succeeded in making their escape, were hunted like wild beasts through fields and streets, some of them--as I know certainly in the case of six--were pursued with gun shots--in some instances their a.s.sailants spat in their faces.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A CONVENT AFTER BEING SACKED.]

Yet these were men who had never made any appearance in politics, criminals of a novel species, who had renounced and sacrificed all that is attractive in human life to devote themselves, without thought of worldly recompense, to the education of youth in our schools, to preach the gospel to the heathen in our transmarine colonies, or to exercise every kind of priestly ministry, however hard and unattractive. Against these men a disreputable press, which in any other country would be sternly repressed, though spreading vague and bl.u.s.tering charges, could not in any single instance succeed in proving, I will not say a solitary crime, but even a misdemeanor.

Yet such were the men who were clapped into gaols and dungeons as notorious criminals, exposed to barbarous sufferings, and for several days not even permitted any intercourse with one another. Let it not be said that all this is but exaggeration prompted by my grief. What has been endured by our exiles and captives went far beyond my simple sketch.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ARRESTING A PRIEST.]

In my own case--of which I may be allowed to speak--to say nothing of what the Society of Jesus has legitimately obtained through its work and administration, I had at least a right to what I duly inherited from my parents, with which I had acquired personal and landed estates, all registered in my name; yet I was forced to leave Portugal without anything but the clothes on my back, and even these I owed to a friend, for I possessed no secular dress in which to make my escape. I had, moreover, no money in my pocket, save what was sent me by a stranger who knew me only by name and sight, and to whom in my exile I desire to testify my grat.i.tude.

_TREATMENT IN PRISON._

As to the sufferings of my beloved brethren I will only say that in the artillery barrack, which was under the control not of the military, but of the dregs of the populace, not even a spoon was given to the prisoners wherewith to eat their mess of food, that they were allowed to withdraw privately but once in eight hours, and poor invalids to whom such tyranny might prove fatal, were told that they only sought a pretext for retirement.

At night the guards threatened to shoot anyone who attempted to get up.

Finally, these warders had the brutality to bring in abandoned women, but these were compelled to retreat before the calm and dignified bearing of my worthy brethren.

As to their furniture, I will only say that afterwards when, being transferred to Caxeas, they were there provided with a mattress laid on the ground, a hard bolster, and a single blanket, they thought themselves in comfort, by comparison.

In a dungeon of the Town Hall, before their removal to the central prison of Limovro, some of the captives were still worse treated, being crammed together, to the number of twenty-three, where there was scarce room for three or four, and they had for five days to breathe foul air, not being suffered to leave the chamber, and there being no ventilation save through one small aperture.

I am well aware that many officers and soldiers, coming to know the captives, manifested towards them not only sympathy but respect. These kindly feelings, however, for which we all desire to record our heartfelt grat.i.tude, did not hinder the sufferings endured during five whole weeks.

_OUTLAWED AND EXILED._

Nor is this all. When after all these hardships and torments the Provisional Government set about executing the sentence of exile and outlawry against these Portuguese subjects in whose b.r.e.a.s.t.s there dwelt and still dwells the most ardent affection for their beloved country, these men who had bereft us of everything, who had taken possession of our goods and land, did not hesitate to require that they who, by a special decree, were to be driven from Portugal should pay for their own transport; and when one of our Fathers ventured to tell one of the officers who was more exigent in this exaction, that we had no means of doing so, he was answered: "Well, we shall see; when we squeeze you a bit, and you begin to fester, you'll find a way."

Money was soon forthcoming, for Portugal is not yet entirely in the hands of a crew whose pa.s.sions are aroused against persecuted innocence.

Many families contributed to supply funds for the journey, plentiful stores of provisions and clothing were furnished, and I was deeply moved to see many of my spiritual children reach foreign lands in the attire supplied by our well-loved scholars of Campolide during their frequent visits to their persecuted masters. In spirit I salute these benefactors, and I shall never forget these young men who, without a hint from us, came to the succor of these poor sons of the society. But ere they took the road of exile there was reserved for them yet one more cruel humiliation.

Venerable elders, distinguished men of science, held in repute at home and abroad, religious venerated for their virtue, youths still almost boys, with innocence stamped on their features--all had to go to an anthropometric station and to be treated like notorious criminals, being described, photographed and measured in every detail, down to the joints of their fingers. The photographs then appeared in the newspapers, with the number a.s.signed to each as to a convict. I cannot refrain from special protest against a proceeding so incredibly vexatious.

One circ.u.mstance in the persecution yet remains to be exhibited. A decree with the force of law published by the Provisional Government on October 10 revokes all exceptional legislation, and in its first article, No. 2, it a.s.signs as the motive of such revocation that "there are now no permanent penalties of unlimited duration in the Portuguese Republic." But, strange to say, the law fulminated against the Society of Jesus is in flat contradiction to this declaration. Against us has been issued an exceptional law, so odious that one is astounded to think that in the twentieth century it has been possible to inst.i.tute in full vigor such draconian legislation, and to claim for it the attribute of most absolute despotism. As though it were not enough to show its palpable opposition to the liberal profession of the new republic, the sentence which condemns us to exile and deprives us of the rights of Portuguese subjects is a permanent one, solemnly promulgated with the ruthless formula "for ever."

Such is the slight sketch of the tyrannies of which we have been the victims in the name of liberty.

_THE CHARGES AND THEIR ANSWERS._

It will naturally be asked, what were our crimes?

In the first place, it is pa.s.sing strange that to this moment not a single offense has been alleged against us.

The law of October 8 a.s.signs none, but appeals to the ancient obsolete legislation of Pombal (1758) and Aguiar (1834) it revokes Hintese Ribeiro's decree, and promulgates antiquated vexations by which to victimize us.

On the other hand, public opinion--so-called--misled by the wild declamations of an irreconcilable press, never succeeded in formulating against us more than the vague charges devised by Jacobin novelists. In spite of all researches in the columns of anti-Jesuit journalism, or amongst the legends which circulate amongst the most credulous of my compatriots, I can find no accusation that does not fall under one of these six heads:

1. Armaments and subterranean galleries.

2. Wealth and fraudulent acquisition of inheritances.

3. Inveigling youths to become Jesuits.