STATE PAPERS. 



439 



the administration of the other sa- 

 craments, we felt it our duty the 

 more willingly to comply with 

 their prayer, inasmuch as the then 

 reigning Emperor Paul I. had re- 

 commended the said priests in his 

 gracious dispatch, dated the 11th 

 of August, 1800, in which, after 

 setting forth his special regard for 

 them, he declared to us that it 

 would be agreeable to him to see 

 the company of Jesus established 

 in his empire, underourauthority ; 

 and we, on our side, considering 

 attentively the great advantages 

 which these vast regions might 

 thence derive ; considering how 

 useful those ecclesiastics, whose 

 morals and doctrine were equally 

 tried, would be to the Catholic reli- 

 gion, thought fit to second the wish 

 of so great and beneficent a prince. 

 In consequence, by our brief, 

 dated the 7th of March, 1804, we 

 granted to the said Francis Karen, 

 and his colleagues residing in Rus- 

 sia, or who should repair thither 

 from other countries, power to 

 form themselves into a body or 

 congregation of the company of 

 Jesus ; they are at liberty to unitein 

 oneor more houses to be pointed out 

 by their superior, provided those 

 houses are situated within the Rus- 

 sian empire. We named the said 

 Francis Karen general of the said 

 congregation : we authorized them 

 to resume and follow the rule of 

 St. Ignacius of Loyola, approved 

 and confirmed by the constitutions 

 of Paul III. our predecessor, of 

 happy memory, in order that the 

 companions, in a religious union, 

 might freely engage in the instruc- 

 tion of youth in religion and good 

 letters, direct seminaries and col- 

 leges, and with the consent of the 

 ordinary, confess, preach the word 

 of Cod, and administer the sacra- 



ments. By the same brief we 

 received the congregation of the 

 company of Jesus under our im- 

 mediate protection and dependence, 

 reserving to ourselves and our suc- 

 cessors the prescription of every 

 thing that might appear to us proper 

 to consolidate, to defend it, and to 

 purgeitfromtheabuses and corrup- 

 tion that might be therein introduc- 

 ed ; and for this purpose we express- 

 ly abrogated such apostolical con- 

 stitutions, statues, privileges, and 

 indulgencies granted in contradic- 

 tion to those concessions, especially 

 the apostolic letters of Clement 

 XIV. our predecessor, which be- 

 gin with the words, Dominus ac 

 Redemptor noster, only in so far as 

 they are contrary to our brief, be- 

 ginning Catholicce, and which was 

 given only for the Russian empire. 

 A short time after we had or- 

 dained the restoration of the order 

 of Jesuits in Russia, we thought it 

 our duty to grant the same favour 

 to the kingdom of Sicily, on the 

 warm request of our dear son in 

 Jesus Christ, King Ferdinand, who 

 begged that the company of Jesus 

 might be re-established in his do- 

 minions and states as it was in Rus- 

 sia, from a conviction that, in these 

 deplorable times, the .lesuits were 

 instructors most capable of forming 

 youth to Christian piety and the 

 fear of God, which is the beginning 

 of wisdom, and to instruct them in 

 science and letters. The duty of 

 our pastoral charge leading us to 

 second the pious wishes of these 

 illustrious monarchs, and having 

 only in view the glory of God and 

 the salvation of souls, we, by our 

 brief, beginningPer a/iay,and dated 

 the 30th of July, 1804, extended to 

 the kingdom of the Two Sicilies 

 the same concessions which we 

 had made for the Russian Empire. 



