1823.] 



Memoirs of Don Jean Antoine Uorente. 



519 



Italy, ecclesiastics may, without scan- 

 dal, appear in the pablic theatres. 



INI. L. took the degree of Bachelor in 

 Laws ill 1776; and, the year following, 

 he was elected Beneficiary of the Chap<- 

 ler of Calahorra, and received, succes- 

 sively, the four minor orders, and the 

 sub-diaconat : this fixed him, irrevoca- 

 bly, in the church. He afterwards stu- 

 died the Canon Law in tlie University 

 of Saragossa. The false decretals and 

 ultramontane principles of certain ca- 

 nonists of tiiose times, took no eflFect on 

 M. L. ; liberal sentiments had taken 

 deep root in liis mind, and the exten- 

 sive knowledge which he had acquired 

 made him a zealous defender of ecclesi- 

 astical liberty. At lengtii he was or- 

 dained priest, by dispensation, in 1779, 

 at the age of 23 years and two months, 

 by tiie Bishop of Calahorra, his dio- 

 cesan. In about a month after, he ob- 

 tained authority to hear confessions of 

 men ; and, in four years after, those of 

 women. Soon after his sacerilotal 

 ordination, M. L. repaired to Valentia, 

 to receive the bonnet of Dr. in Canon 

 Law. So well founded were the notions 

 which he had even then imbibed, that lie 

 took great pains to dissuade an old 

 ecclesiastic from bequeathing his pro- 

 perty to certain monks, to the prejudice 

 of Ills relations, though his efforts proved 

 ineffccliial. 



On his return to Madrid for the se- 

 cond time, in 17H1, M. L. was admitted 

 advocate in the .Supreme Council of 

 Castile, after a very critical examination 

 in respect to the laws and national cus- 

 toms. In the course of that year, he 

 became a member of the Royal Aca- 

 tlemy of Holy Canons, of the Liturgy 

 and Ecclesiastical History of Spain, 

 established at Madrid under the invoca- 

 tion of St. Isidore. 



The office of Promoter Fiscal General 

 (Ecclesiastical) of the Bishopric of 

 Calahorra becoming vacant, in 1782, M. 

 L. was nominated to it by his bishop, 

 who confcrri'd on him, at the same time, 

 the title of vicar-general. In* tlic 

 midst of these multiplied occii|)ations, 

 M. L. found ti lie to c(iin|)ose a sort 

 of dramatic work, known in Spain by 

 the name of (J|)cretla, and partly re- 

 seml)liiig onr melo-dramas. The piece, 

 with itH aricttu.4, inodelicd on the Ita- 

 lian airs then in vogue, had for its title 

 "The CJalician Recruiter," aiMl was 

 successfully acled in private theatricals. 

 This taste for dramatic poetry M. L. 

 long retained ; for, later in life, he com- 

 posed a tragedy, " Lurick, King of 



the Goths," in which he retraced some 

 of the intrigues and vicissitudes which 

 disquieted bis country ; this piece never 

 came into publication. 



In 1783, M. h. addressed a represen- 

 tation to King Charles HI. to obtain 

 some mitigation of the taxes payable by 

 his province ; and not only was fortunate 

 enough to succeed, but the king granted 

 him a large pecuniary supply, Co distri- 

 bute himself among the poor inhabitant!*. 



It was in the year 1784, says M. L. 

 in his Biographical Notice written by 

 himself, that I renounced the ultramon- 

 tane principles in point of discipline, the 

 scholastic doctrines in theology, and the 

 peripatetic maxims in ]>hiIosophy and 

 physics, which I had previously imbibed 

 An enlightened and learned inhabitant 

 of Calahorra proved tlie instrument of 

 convincing me, that a great part of my 

 scholastic acquisitions were founded on 

 prejudices, and derived from books full 

 of errors. He offered to direct my stu- 

 dies. I found his knowledge superior 

 to that of the ecclesiastics and laics of 

 Calahorra, and his ideas and reflections 

 were such as I had never met with in 

 books. He was wont to repeat. Every 

 thing is reducible either to facts, or to 

 reasonings grounded upon tlicm; give 

 no credit to the former, unless well sup- 

 ported by authentic testimonies, ami 

 jicld not to the latter, whatever autho- 

 rity they may be traced to, if your mind 

 do not feel their full weight and evi- 

 dence; no authority out of ourselves can 

 be competent to subjugate the reason 

 implanted in us by nature. Under this 

 impression, the ideas of M. L. took a 

 new direction, in direct opposition to 

 authority, as the only guide to truth. 



It was about this time (in 1785,) that 

 the Inquisition of Spain made an ill-ad- 

 vised choice of M. Llorente for its com- 

 missary. On his part, he had to prove 

 that his ancestors, to the third genera- 

 tion, had incurred no punishment from 

 the Holy Office; and that they were 

 neither descendants of Jews, Moors, nor 

 Heretics. M. L. applied himself, also, 

 with some success, to preaching, when, 

 in 1788, the Duchess of Sotomayor, first 

 lady to Qin-eii Louisa, wife of Charles 

 IV. mjide him her chamber counsel, 

 under the title of Consultor de Camera. 

 Afterwards he became one of her tesla- 

 mcntary executors, in concert with 

 several grandees of Spain, bishops, and 

 members of the Council of Castile ; and, 

 at length, tutor to the present Duke of 

 Sotomayor, one of the richest lords iu the 

 kin((dom. 



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