Mariana's Life and Works

The novitiate ended, Mariana returned to Alcalii to com plete his philosophical and theological studies. Early in 1561 he was called to the newly erected Roman College to teach philosophy and theology. One of his pupils was Rohert Bellarmine, destined to he a great controversialist and later a Cardinal. After four years of teaching, the young professor was sent to Sicily to teach theology in the college established there hy his order, and to introduce a new plan of studies. Meanwhile he had gained a reputation as a theologian and in 1569 was summoned to teach at the Sorbonne in Paris, at that time the most famous university in the world. III health forced him to leave Paris four years 1" •••it lui arriva plus d'une fois de fixer I'attention de ses contemporains." Pascal Duprat, in Journal des Economistes, V. 17, 1870, p. 85. 1 MARIANA:-POLITlCAL ECONOMY later and to return to his native country. He lived for the rest of his long life at the Professed House in Toledo.

Although he had retired from the world, Mariana ex ercised a great influence upon the contemporary history of Spain and (to a certain extent) of the world. His reputa tion as a theologian and his vast knowledge in almost every field of learning gave him a truly extraordinary prestige. He was consulted as an oracle by private persons, and by both temporal and ecclesiastical authorities. Matters of im portance waited upon his approval and were carried out under his direction and advice. His leisure gave him oppor tunity to deepen and enlarge his knowledge and to develop a most fruitful literary activity. While Mariana was living abroad he had noticed that foreigners were extremely ignorant of Spain and Spanish conditions, and that they were eager to learn something about that great nation. This led him to the idea of writ ing a history of Spain, from the time of its early settlement by the descendants of Noah. It was an enormous project, -too enormous indeed to be an independent investigation based upon original sources, nor were archives accessible to students of history in those days. Mariana, however, intended to write not a scholarly work but a popular his tory of his native country, parts of which had been treated by others. His aim was simply to unite these monographs into one great general history of Spain. This was not an impossible task.

In 1592 Mariana's Historiae de Rebus Hispaniae Libri XX, dedicated to Philip II, was published in Toledo. Four years later he published a second edition with five more books, bringing the story as far as the conquest of Granada. The whole work was republished with another addition of five books at Mayence in 1605. This edition covered the 2 MARIANA'S LIFE AND WORKS whole history of Spain up until the death of Ferdinand the Catholic (1516). Meanwhile Mariana had translated this history into Spanish. It appeared at Toledo in 1601, was dedicated to Philip III, and was really the first edition of the author's complete Spanish history in thirty books. One can hardly call it a simple translation. It is rather a new work with many additions, corrections and improvements, as Mariana tells us himself. The Spanish edition is superior to the Latin text and is still considered a masterpiece of classical Spanish style. Four new editions were printed during the life time of the author, and many more followed after his death until the year 1863. Many of these incorporated ad ditions related to Spanish topics.

The second best known work of Mariana, De Rege et Regis Institutione, appeared in 1599 at Toledo, having been prepared at the suggestion of the tutor of the royal princes and published at the expense of Philip II. It was dedicated, however, to Philip III who had become king while it was in course of preparation. In this book Mariana sets forth many sound political principles and makes a number of contributions to the development of democracy. The vir tues of a good king, who is to be like a father to his people, are painted in the most attractive colors. On the other hand, the tyrant assumes a most atrocious aspect and is de scribed in terms which have seldom if ever been deserved by a living ruler. It is here that Mariana discusses the question whether it be lawful to depose and even to kill such a monster-a question which he answers in the affirmative. This book was enthusiastically received in Spain and was approved without the slightest comment or criti.cism. Some French Jesuits, however, apprehended from the very he 3 MARIANA:-POLITICAL ECONOMY ginning that it might cause trouble and debate in France, the more so because the author had referred to the assassina tion of Henry III by the Dominican friar, Jacques Clement.

Claudius Aquaviva, the General of the Society of Jesus, disapproved of Mariana's doctrine on tyrannicide. He or dered him to omit the offensive passages in the new edition, but all that was left out of the edition of 1603 was the phrase aeternum Galliae decus which had been most ob jectionable to the French critics. It was not until 1610 that a storm of indignation broke out against this book and against the Society of Jesus in general. Henry IV had been assassinated by the well-known Ravaillac, and enemies of the Society attacked the Jesuits as the supposed authors of this crime. Ravaillac was ques tioned as to whether he had been induced to commit the murder by Mariana's book on royalty, but he denied even an acquaintance with it. Nevertheless, many maintained that Jesuit doctrine was responsible for the outrage, and De Rege was hurned in puhlic by the hangman. Since then Mariana's teaching on tyrannicide has regularly been im puted to the whole Order of the Society of Jesus, even though no other Jesuit, either contemporary or later, has subscribed to the dangerous doctrine. The General of the Order, Claudius Aquaviva, emphatically protested against the book by forbidding all his subjects for all time to teach tyrannicide.

French authorities importuned the King of Spain to sup press the hook but met with no success. It continued to he very popular. Today one can say that although the author of De Rege greatly erred in one respect, his work is one of the hest of all treatises on royalty and one of the most re markahle publications of the sixteenth century. As late as 1870 Dr. Leuthecher, a Protestant, wrote: "Mariana's 4, MARIANA'S LIFE AND WORKS excellent mirror for kings . . . contains more healthy material for the education of future monarchs than any existing princely mirror, and is worthy of all respect, as much from kings themselves, as from their educators .... Would that all kings were as Mariana wanted them to be." 1 Paul Janet also pays high tribute to the famous book and tries to defend its author against the charge of having been the first to teach regicide openly: "The question of tyran nicide" he says, "naturally leads us to a book the name of which has remained attached to this doctrine, De Rege of Mariana, although one can see from the preceding quota tions that he has hardly done more than summed up an idea common to all the parties (both Catholic and Protestant).

De Rege is nevertheless one of the most interesting works of the sixteenth century, if not by reason of its substance, which shows no great originality, then at all events for its form, which is elegant and learned." 2 De Rege deals not only with political philosophy and the art of government, but outlines many economic ideas. An other economic treatise was De Ponderibus et Mensuris. This was first published in 1599, and in later editions ap peared together with De Rege in one volume. It is in the main an historical discussion of the various Greek, Roman, Hebrew and Spanish measures, weights and coins. A strictly economic treatise, De Monetae Mutatione, ap peared at Cologne in 1609 as the fourth numher of Tractatus VII or Seven Treatises. It was occasioned hy an adultera tion of the Spanish copper coinage by Philip III. In his pamphlet (for it was virtually that) Mariana severely criti1 Catholic Encyclopedia, Article "Tyrannicide."

1I "La question du tyrannicide nous conduit naturellement a un livre dont Ie nom est reste attache a cette doctrine, Ie 'De Rege' de Mariana quoiqu'on Vale par les citations precedentes, qu'il n'a guere fait que resume une idee commune a taus les parties. Le 'De Rege' est neanmoins un des ouvrages les plus interessants du XVle siecle, sinon pour Ie fond qui n'a oas une, grande originalite, au mains pour la forme, qui est elegante et savante." Histoire de fa science politique, Tome II, page 89. 5 MARIANA:-POLITICAL ECONOMY cizes the king and his counsellors for robbing the people and disturbing the equilibrium of commerce. He also de velops with exhaustive thoroughness the scientific principles of money and proves his assertions from Spanish history. No sooner had this little book appeared than Mariana was denounced to the king for lese-majeste. Errors in matters of faith were also charged against him. The Pope was in formed and was asked to grant permission to summon Mari ana to court. He delegated his nuncio, who took up the matter with the Spanish court. The author of Tractatus VII was arrested and taken to the Franciscan convent in Madrid.

When asked whether he had made the utterances laid to his charge, he confessed hut added that he had acted in good faith and had endeavored to serve the common good. He complained that being seventy-three years old he might rightly have expected some reward for the numberless hard ships endured during fifty-six years in the service of religion and of the State, but that all the recompense he found was the rigor of a prison. The judges, who could not find any substantial error in his philosophical or theological teachings, endeavored to convict Mariana of lese-majeste. The sentence, as it would seem, could not be pronounced until the acts of the whole trial had heen laid before the Pope, who showed very little inclination to inflict punishment on the aged Jesuit. Whether sentence was ever pronounced is not definitely known. We are certain, however, that the prisoner was released after a confinement of four months on the condition that he would amend the offensive passages in his work and be more care ful in the future.

Immediately after the appearance of Tractatus VII the king had charged his officers and ambassadors to buy all the copies of the book they could possibly get, and his 6 MARIANA'S LIFE AND WORKS order was promptly oheyed. Very few copies escaped their hands; and in all they could find they cut out: pages 189 221, i.e. the treatise De Monetae Mutatione. This accounts for the fact that the Latin text of this valuahle booklet re mained unknown during nearly 250 years and might never have been read again had not the Spanish text been in corporated into Rivadeneyra's collection of Spanish clas sics. After Mariana's death Tractatus VII was, moreover, expurgated by the Spanish Inquisition. Many sentences were deleted and whole columns and pages covered with ink. All copies not expurgated were put on the Spanish Index Librorum Prohibitorum et Expurgandorum, and al most all surviving copies have been expurgated acccording to the decrees of 1632 or 1640. As a result, very few com plete copies of Tractatus V11 survived. The only one in the United States is in the Boston Public Library. This Library also possesses a copy of Mariana's work which had been mutilated by the Spanish King and the Inquisition.

An expurgated copy in the author's possession hears on the back of the title page the remark: "Como Visitador General de las Librerias de estes Reinos; corregi este libro conforme al indice expurgatorio del ano 1640." Don GERONIMO DIAZ XIMENES Madrid 26 de Octobre 1696. Another panlphlet by Mariana aroused widespread at tention and caused a great deal of disturbance among the members of his order. After his arrest by the king, all his notes and papers were seized, among them a manuscript dealing with the faults and imperfections in the Constitution and administration of the Society of Jesus. Under the gen eralate of Claudius Aquaviva considerable differences of opinion had arisen within the body of the Society itself. Many Spanish members in particular were dissatisfied with its Constitution, which differed so much from those of the 7 MARIANA:-POLITICAL ECONOMY older religious orders. Mariana's pamphlet was probably written about 1605. When Aquaviva heard that it had been confiscated he requested its return. Whether he suc ceeded in getting it we do not know; but if he did, the enemies of the Society must previously have made copies of it. No sooner had Mariana died than there appeared a booklet bearing his name and the title: Discurso de las En fermedades de la Compaiiia. It was published almost simul taneously in French, Latin and Italian and has since been frequently reprinted under varying titles. The Jesuits found that it was the same pamphlet which had been seized on Mariana's arrest. It has been a constant source of at tacks upon the Society and, coming as it did from the pen of a member, has proved an especially welcome weapon.

After his release from prison, Mariana spent his remain ing years composing commentaries on various books of the Bible and in re-editing his works, notably his history of Spain. On February 16, 1624, his death brought to a close a life which had covered the period of nearly a century. Great changes had taken place during this time, great strug gles had been in progress almost everywhere in Christen dom, struggles against the old Church, struggles against the ever growing claims of absolutism, struggles in the economic and social orders. Mariana stood in the midst of the com batants and took an active part in the fight. It is not sur prising that a man so passionate in character should, at times, have been led by his zeal to say more than was right or more than he could prove. 'Pascal Duprat may not be far from the truth when he calls Mariana one of the greatest men of his age. He was both a notable scholar and a remarkable personality. Be fore joining the Society of Jesus he distinguished himself among the students of Alcala by his talent and his devotion 8 MARIANA'S LIFE AND WORKS to study. Nor did he manifest less zeal for learning after joining the order. The fact that he was appointed professor at the Roman College, a highly important office, before his ordination shows what his superiors thought 'of his quali fications. Many a scholar has probably envied Mariana the distinction of teaching at the famous university of Paris when he was only thirty-three. Though it was unfortunate that ill health compelled the young scholar to abandon a splendid career, the forced leisure enabled him to give all his time to study and literary activity, and to devote his attention to the settlement of many burning questions. It was his favorable review of the celebrated Polyglot Bible of Cardinal Archbishop Ximenes that made possible the re publication of this work, and in questions of a similar nature Mariana's word was decisive. His comnlentaries on the Bible are still considered remarkable.

It was as an historian, however, that Mariana became most famous. Although it cannot be denied that he lacks the critical sense which today is expected of every student of history, he nevertheless compares very favorably with his contemporaries in this respect also. He tells many heroic stories which can scarcely be more than beautiful legends, but at the same time he discards many which had been told and believed by other historical writers. Nor need we assume that he believed all he wrote. He often saw that some of these stories were simply inventions and was even exasperated by them. Yet he inserted many things into his work which can make no pretensions to historical truth. He openly confessed that he "copied much more than he believed" 1 and as Z. Garcia Villada tells us, this statement of his has become famous among historians. 2 1 ipse etiam muIto plura transcribo quam credo. Historiae de Rebus Hispaniae, Lib. 15, cap. 4, p. 412.

1I La medida de la fe que a varias de elias (cr6nicas) attribuia Mariana nos la da esa 9 MARIANA:-POLITICAL ECONOMY Though Mariana is not altogether free from the larger faults of historians in those days, his work is superior to most other productions _of a similar kind. He had a genuine historical sense which is evident in practically everything he wrote. When dealing with political questions, in De Rege for example, he draws most of his ideas from history, ancient and modern. His treatise on money was distin guished from other early writings on the subject in that it based its assertions upon historical evidence. Mariana knew that history is the great teacher of mankind, that the present is much like the past, "that what has happened once will happen again," and that from the past we can forecast the future. He realized as well as we of the present time do that there is nothing new under the sun. It is worthy of note that in treating economic questions he used the in ductive or historical method. This made his works so much the more interesting to students of economics.

1 History told Mariana that whenever coinage was debased, rising prices followed and that normal conditions were re stored only by deflation. He did not agree with those writers who believed that the prices of gold and silver are stable but maintained that these were, like other commod ities, subject to the laws of supply and demand. 2 He warns us against taking figures at their face value and tells us to interpret them in the light of historical circumstances. 3 frase suya que se ha hecho ya celbre entre los historiadores: "Plura transcribo quam credo." El P. Mariana Historiador, in Ra::6n y Fe, V. 69, 1924, p. 460. 1 In re gravissima aequum est, non ex meo capite et cogitationibus subtilia et rhetorica ducere argumenta, quae fucum saepe faciunt, sed exemplis potius pugnare rerum gestarum nostra aut majorum aetate. Eam rationem tutissiman puto, viamque ad veritatem certam, quoniam PRAESENTI A TEMPORA HAUD DUBIUM PRAETERITIS SUNT SIMILIA.

QUOD FACTUM EST FIET. Sic superiores rerum eventus magnam vim habent ad persuadendum pares habituros exitus, quicunque eandem viam fuerint ingressi. De Monetae Mutatione, cap. 9, p. 205. l! Atque haec proportio fere servatur inter haec metalla (scI. argentum et aurum) nisi alterius inopia copiave ea mutetur ratio, ut in aliis mercibus copia detrahit de pretio (,) penuria addit. Ibid., cap. 12, p. 217. Quominus mirari debenus in analogia auri et argenti inter se veteres sententiis dissentire: Ibid. B Tempora ergo consideranda diligenter, et juxta ea statuendum quantum vetus 10 II MARIANA'S LIFE AND WORKS All writers who have dealt with Mariana as an historian agree that his achievement in this field was truly great. Antonio Astrain, S.J., calls him the greatest Jesuit historian of the age. The editor of Historia General de Espaiia pub lished at Madrid in 1845, compared its author with Livy for elegance and majesty of style, with Sallust and Thucydides for power of expression, and with Tacitus for skill in de veloping many principles of political philosophy and gov ernment.

1 He attributed to Mariana celebrity both in Spain and everywhere by reason of his vast learning, his subtlety of mind, and the felicity of his manner. 2 Good taste, elo quence and precision are characteristic of his works. 3 Mariana's productions are, moreover, masterpieces of Spanish classic literature and as such have permanent value. M. Rivadeneyra, we have seen, included them in his Biblio teca de autores Espaiioles. His language is powerful and graceful though, as has been pointed out by Astrain and Cirot, he sometimes uses archaisms. His contemporaries were strongly attracted to his political and economic writings, in which he displayed eminently practical sense and utilised his vast historical knowledge in expounding many sound principles. His hatred of tyranny led him to adopt an extreme view of the question of tyran nicide, and his honesty and fearlessness nearly deprived him of liberty and life.

It is astonishing how vast a knowledge Mariana displays Maravedinus in qualibet lege, quantum novus valeat, tum inter ipsos, tum cum nostri5 facta comparatione. Neque praetermitti debet l\faravedinum veterem aliquando bonum dici, certe lege prima superius allata .... N empe non loquitur de aureis lex, qui multo majoris erant, sed de veteribus, qui eo Rege in usu erant valentes singuIi, quantum decem e nostris. Ibid .. cap. 8, p. 204. 1 La Historia de Espana que es igual en la elegancia y la majestad a la de Titolivio, no inferior en la gravid ad a la de Salustio y Tucidides, y tan IIena de maxim as politicas y de buen goberno que mereceria la estimacion del mismo Tacito si viviera. Vida del P. Juan de Mariana p. V. in Historia General de Espal1a. 2 Mariana es uno de estos hombres celebres, que ha excitado la admiraci6n no solamente de la Espana, sino de todas las naciones, por la extension de sus conocimientos y la sublimidad de sus ideas, la feIicidad de su genio y la excellencia de sus obras. Ibid.

:3 • • • y adquiri6 el buen gusto, la cIocuencia y la precisi6n que forman eI caracter principal de sus obras. Ibid., p. VI.

MARIANA:-POLITICAL ECONOMY in all his writings, and how he could treat the most diverse subjects in the most scholarly fashion. His Tractatus VII contains seven learned monographs on as many different topics, yet all of them are expounded with the thorough ness of an expert. It is not surprising that our author was listened to as an oracle and consulted about the most im portant issues of the time. Therefore Gonzalez de la Calle, who knows the works of his hero and his influence on the time in which he lived, calls Mariana the "famous" Jesuit, the "illustrious" author of De Rege, the "distinguished" his torian, and uses many similar expressions to bring out his appreciation of the great man whom he eulogizes in a scholarly article. Mariana is no less remarkable for character than for learning. His honesty and fearlessness made him a champion of the truth even at times when it was dangerous to tell the truth. Living in an age when European kings claimed for themselves unlimited power by divine right, Mariana openly voiced indignant opposition and declared in his work on royalty that it is a sign of tyranny to wish absolute power, and that absolutism is not merely tyranny but is found only among savage peoples. A legitimate king will (he holds) consider himself the father of his subjects and not their master. The welfare of his subjects, not his private interest, must be the guiding principle in his rule. Kings are not appointed by divine right, but are invested with power by the people with the understanding that the people retain the right of withdrawing it, should it be used against their legitimate interests. In questions of great importance, such as the enactment of laws, taxation and changes of coinage Mariana holds that the nation is higher than the king. 1 If 1 This statement is correct whenever royal power is limited by constitutional law, but it does not directly follow from natural law. Mariana does not always distinguish, as did other Jesuit writers, between the natural and the conventional element in the State.

12 MARIANA'S LIFE AND WORKS a ruler disregards these supreme rights of the people, he is a tyrant and may be deposed, even killed, by the com munity. Mariana hates tyranny more than anything else, and for this reason comes to the dangerous conclusion that, under certain conditions, a private citizen may lawfully take the life of a tyrant. When Philip III debased the Spanish copper coinage, the whole nation complained. But Mariana alone had the cour age to denounce the practice as robbery. This bold asser tion cost him dearly, and brought him into conflict with the very monarch whose grace he had enjoyed for so many years. Only his great services in former years and his honesty saved him in that critical situation. Though Mariana is not free from prejudice, he reveals in the main a remarkable broadmindedness in dealing with his adversaries. When he discusses the pros and cons of an adulterated coinage, he produces all the arguments ad vanced by both sides, weighing the importance of each in turn.

1 He admits that no question is without two sides, but he maintains that it is a sign of a wise man to choose the side which has greater advantages and fewer drawbacks. 2 Progressiveness is another characteristic of this famous Jesuit. Without subscribing to the radicalism of various alleged reformers, he is convinced that many conditions can be improved and is willing to change old institutions if something better has been invented. He believes that human nature is wrongly inclined to denounce whatever is new, as if nothing could be added to the old wisdom or lOperae pretium putabam, si commoda, quae ex mutatione aereae monetae veniunt et incommoda accurate examinarem, oculis utraque subjicerem, ut quae sunt majoris ponder is et momenti prudens lector et cordatus consideret sedato animo nequ(: infecto aliquo praejudicio, sic pro veritate victoria maneat: quod enim aliud votum esse debet I De M onetae M utatione, cap. 7, p. 200.

2 Omnino nihil in hac vita syncerum liberumque omni noxa d reprehensione. Ita prudentis partes sunt ea persequi, quae majores commoditates afferant, minus vituperen· tur, •••Ibid., p. 201. 13 MARIANA:-POLITICAL ECONOMY no improvement of customary institutions be made. 1 Mariana, though in the main a monarchist and a defender of the prerogatives of the nohility, shows a democratic hent of mind that is really astonishing when viewed against the hackground of his age. He advocated a distribution of State offices according to ability and not merely according to rank or wealth. If it is right that the noble and the rich should he granted a certain preference, this must not he taken to mean that persons of humble. birth should be ex cluded if they have the proper qualifications. The king should rely in the main upon his native subjects but should by no means debar from high offices foreigners of proved ability. Mariana even goes so far as to favor the promotion of heretics if they distinguish themselves above the rest.

This is, indeed, an almost unheard-of concession in an age when religious bigotry was rampant throughout Christen dom. The purpose of this monograph does not permit a detailed discussion of Mariana's views concerning the relation be tween State and Church. We may remark in passing that he was just as intolerant towards non-Catholics as Pro testants of the period were towards Catholics. He main tained that the king had no right to change the religion of his subjects, but at the same time he obligated the king to root out heresy. Since, in his view, a division in religion destroyed the national unity of a people, he would not suffer the presence of heretics. Next he tried to prove from con temporary history that it was fatal for the State to be dis rupted by divisions in religion. To those who objected that the old Christian emperors had tolerated non-Catholics, he replied that times had changed. When others maintained 1 •••praesertim cum humana natura hoc quoque sit nomine prava, quod semper accusare solet recentia commenta et artes, moris antiqui maxime ten ax, quasi nihil possit corriii addiQue veterum institutis. Ibid. .

14 MARIANA'S LIFE AND WORKS that in Switzerland, Germany and Bohemia Catholics and Protestants lived peacefully together, he did not meet the objection but instead referred to the persecution of the Catholics in England. Mariana's underlying conception was his conviction that the Catholic Church is the only Church founded by Christ and that no one born in this Church can leave it without grievous sin. Therefore it hecame the duty of the Catholic King to lead the erring individual back to the True Fold; and if someone would not listen to reason and conscience, it became lawful to punish and even kill him so that he might not prove a menace to others. To some extent Mariana's writings reflect the warlike spirit of Spanish knighthood. He knew from history, we must bear in mind, that Spain had grown powerful by fight ing the Moor and the infidel. Just one hundred years before Mariana published his General History of Spain, Ferdinand the Catholic had conquered Granada, the last stronghold of the Arabs on the Pyrenean peninsula; and the reigns of both Charles V and Philip II had been characterized by wars against the Turks. Then, however, the loss of the Great Armada on Philip's expedition against England marked the decline of Spain's greatness. Mariana, aware of this deterioration, endeavored to revive the old spirit of chivalry, feeling in his heart that soft living and vice had made Spanish youth effeminate and unfit for war. He therefore urged a return to the old simplicity and martial exercise. In his desire to save his beloved country from ruin our author advocated principles of war, which, as we shall see later, can hardly win approval.

According to all who knew him, Mariana led a blameless life and apparently refused to indulge even in innocent pleasures. He himself tells us that he never attended a theatrical performance and that he believes priests and 15 MARIANA:-POUTICAL ECONOMY monks should not degrade their sacred character by listen ing to actors. 1 The fact that the Spanish stage in those days kept to a very low standard of morality may explain why it is denounced by Mariana in De Spectaculis. Gonzalez de la Calle admits that Mariana was a just critic. But the fact that he absolutely condemns the theatre, bull fighting and other popular amusements seems to indicate that he was too rigorous and that he measured the moral standards of the people by the austerities he imposed upon himself. Mariana's austerity may he accounted for partly by the fact that he was inclined to melancholy. This is revealed most clearly in De Morte et Immortalitate, in the first book of which he endeavors to show that this mortal life is dangerous, full of miseries and very precarious in character 2 On the other hand death is praised for making an end to an existence which can scarcely be called a real life and for opening the gates of the land of eternal bliss. Mariana's honesty and fearlessness were doubtless praiseworthy quali ties, but one can hardly deny that he was much inclined to faultfinding. He enjoyed criticizing everything that was not in accordance with his own views. This led him occa sionally to make utterances which amuse the reader but indicate that Mariana was something of a cynic. Discussing the vastness of the universe, he records the fact that accord ing to some scholars each star is larger than the whole earth and then goes on to say: "I will not argue whether it is true, for many things are taught in schools as truths which border rather on insanity." While describing the hardships 1 Ipse nunquam his scenieis ludis interfui, neque vero decere putabam, ut sacerdotes aut monachi fabularum auditione sacratum ordinem sugillarent. Sed ea tamen cani refer rique audiebam, quae neque ipse sine pudore scribere possim neque alii sine taedio audiant. De Spectaculis cap. 10, p. lSI.

II The very headings of the chapters of this book indicate that Mariana had a somewhat melancholic view of life: Cap. 2 : Non esse bona quae vulgus putat. Cap. 3: Quotidie morimur. Cap. 4: De vitae brevitate. Cap. 5: Vita precario datur. Cap. 6: Multis diu vixisse nocuit. Cap. 7: Vitae molestiae. Cap. 8: Mortis laudes. De Morte et I mmortalitate, pp. 365-384. 16 MARIANA'S LIFE AND WORKS of married life our author remarks mischievously: "Some one cleverly said that the first and the last day of marriage are desirable., but that the rest are terrible."" 1 Nor does Mariana spare his own people the penalty of cynical remarks when he finds them acting at variance with his preconceptions. After denouncing the Spanish bull fights, he had to meet the objections of those who defended their usefulness to the nation, and who based their opinion on the authority of some theologian. Indignantly Mariana declared that lax theologians are responsible for Inaking the people indifferent toward many crimes by inventing pallia tive explanations in order to please the masses. He goes so far as to say that "there is nothing howsoever absurd which is not defended by some theologian."" 2 Something must he said, finally, about Mariana as a Jesuit. During his life and after his death, right up to the present, his teachings regarding tyrannicide and his pamphlet about "the faults of the Society of Jesus" have, no doubt, done great harm to the order. The question as to how he stood with his order during his life is another matter. It is certain that he never left the Society and that he was not dismissed; but it is true that on more than one occasion he greatly embarrassed his superiors. He was also one of the malcontents who caused so much internal trouble under the general ate of Aquaviva. Yet until 1593 Mariana took no part in the disturbance. Previous to that year he not only did not oppose the institute but wrote an apology (Defensorio) of his order in which he answered 1 Multi nuptiali face rogum accedunt, praesertim si majori, si immatura aetate implicantur nuptiis. Acute quidam primum et postremum diem nuptiarum optandum dixit, ca,'teros repudiandos. De Marte et Immartalitate, Lib. I, cap. 2, p. 368.

2 Multa in omnibus nationitus negliguntur crimina, praesertim si patroni adsint fucata ratione fallaces viri Theologi, quorum quanta saepe sit libertas pronunciandi, quanta quibusdam cupiditas populo placendi scimus omnes: et est miserum negare non posse quod pudet confiteri, quae magna est nostri ordinis calamitas, nihil esse tam absonum, quod a Theologo aliquo non defendatur. De Spectaculis, cap. 20, p. 180. 17 MARIANA:-POLITICAL ECONOMY numerous attacks emanating from Catholic opponents. He had even endeavored to convert Father Dionisio Vazquez, one of the chief perturb adores, though his intercourse with him seems to have had just the opposite result to what had heen intended at the outset. Instead of winning Father Vazquez to his side, Mariana seems to have gradually adopted views similar to those of his associate. For soon after Vasquez' death (1589) Mariana became one of the leaders of the opposition, a change which Father Astrain helieves to have been due to the influence of Father Vaz quez.

1 None of Mariana's adversaries has ever charged him with grievous moral delinquencies. Nor is this surprising in view of his austere asceticism. But his hrethren do criticize him for his undisciplined character, his stubbornness and rough ness of manners. Thus Astrain, before giving an account of Mariana's share in the trouble to which we refer, re marks: "Above all we must bear in mind that his (Mari ana's) character was very rough and unmortified." 2 As early as 1581 it was said that Mariana had given great scandal by his insulting conduct towards his brethren. From these and similar statements it would seem that our author was not an altogether amiable companion, that he treated his brethren roughly and uncharitably. His stubbornness made him intolerable to others, and his superiors had to make concessions to him for the sake of peace. Being him self over-sensitive at meeting with opposition to his views he, nevertheless, criticized and found fault with everybody and everything.

This is exactly Mariana's conduct throughout the whole of Discurso de las Enfermedades de La Compania. This book ]. Antonio Astrain, S. J., Historia de la Campania de Jesus, Torno Ill, p. 558. 2 Ante todos debemos notar que su caracter era por demas duro e inmortificado . • • Ibid., p. 557. 18 MARIANA'S LIFE AND WORKS reflects the thoughts and feelings of a man who considers himself called to pass judgment on everything that is at variance with his preconceptions and to reform his order according to his own notions. Nothing whatever is good, to his mind, and none of his superiors, from the lowest to the highest, has the proper qualifications for his office. He criticizes the training of novices and students, finds the number of lay-brothers too great, and calls his superiors unfit to rule. He finds fault with the administration of the estates, the food and clothing of his brethren and above all with the Constitution of his order.

The General, he believes, has too much power and the Provincials too little. The subjects are without even a voice in the nomination of their immediate superiors. It is a strange fact that the same man who in De Rege calls a mon archy, limited only by a body of counsellors, the best form of government, here denounces the Constitution of his order, which seemingly embodies the very ideal he had set forth, for being too monarchic. The only explanation for this inconsistency seems to be ~fariana's addiction to criticism. In view of the many and grave disorders of which Mari ana was guilty, it is astonishing to note with what consider ation and patience he was treated by his superiors. After the puhlication of De Rege, the General asked the author to omit offensive passages from the new edition; but all that was left out was the phrase "aeternum Galliae decus." 1 When Aquaviva first saw the manuscript of Discurso de las enfermedades de ia Compania, he took no immediate steps to correct his insubordinate subject, but waited for the right 1 According to H. Fouqueray it was due to the bad intention of some publishers that De Rege was republished without the corrections suggested by Aquaviva. He writes: "Retire de la circulation, Ie livre de Mariana n'aurait jamais pllru en France qu'avec correcti<ms, s'it n'avait eft-reimprime Ii Mayence par des gens mal intentionnes, qui pen soient en faire leur profit!' This quotation he took from Richeome, Examen cate~orique.

p. 219. Histoire de la Compagnie de Jesus en France, Tome III. p. 241. 19 MARIANA:-POUTICAL ECONOMY opportunity. When the pamphlet was in the hands of the enemies of the order and at the same time was causing dis content among the members of the Society itself, the Gen eral ordered Mariana to apologize for the scandal given. This command, however, was never obeyed. The age and great merit of the famous man probably induced his supe riors to be lenient. Mariana caused a great deal of trouble but his life was so free from immoral actions that not even the judges of the Inquisition could prove any charge against him. This per sonal integrity was one of the reasons why he was finally released from prison. Mariana was leading, on the whole, a blameless life but was strongly inclined to rigorism and austerity. Most of his criticisms of the Society call for more rigorous Constitutions. It was his weakness to possess an ex treme self-will and stubbornness which made him unjust and uncharitable towards his brethren and insubordinate to his superiors. Evidently he had never understood the spirit of his order, the spirit of loyalty to its standard, the spirit of mutual charity and co-operation, in one word the esprit de corps of a body of men who are to be like a well-organized army, directing all their energies towards the attainment of a well-defined end,-the greater glory of God. If the Society of Jesus is to be like an army as is indicated by the Spanish word Compaiiia it is evident that obedience to the leaders is essential for its success.

Mariana evidently did not see that in criticizing his own order he was playing into the hands of its enemies. En fermedades de la Compaiiia has remained a rich source of charges against the Jesuits. He never left the order, was not dismissed, greatly contributed to its fame, but harmed it by certain of his writings. 20 PART I POLITICAL IDEAS INTRODUCTION TO place a value on Mariana's contribution to political philosophy is no easy task if one takes as a basis of appraisal his historical position in relation to the great controversies of the times in which he wrote. Father Laures has explained how he stands in comparison with other noted Jesuit writers on this sub ject, most of whom were his contemporaries. As he shows, Mariana in many significant points was not typical of what might properly be called the Jesuit school. Yet it would be a mistake, on the other hand, to class even his, let alone all Jesuit treatises on the state, with the other forms of political doctrine which arose during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is the reiterated at tempt of Protestant and non-Catholic writers, such as Figgis and Laski, to do this that makes it so difficult to explain to the modern mind unacquainted with the scholastic tradition the full and thorough significance of the theory of these earlier Jesuits on the nature of society and of law, and on the foundations of the state and of political authority. Because of the failure to recognize certain essential differences in fundamental points, as well as a tendency to take a purely nominalistic view of doctrine wherever there happens to he a certain similarity of language, the non scholastic is only too likely to lend himself over-readily to the prejudices of those in the past who for partisan reasons insisted on identifying the Jesuits with the more radical reactionaries in the Protestant camp.