I professed the institution of the Dominicans, with the view of being freed from every distraction, and enabled first to perfect myself in the sciences, and afterwards to teach them to others. I preferred this task to every other, and it was a passion with me to learn all that was worthy of being learnt. The hours of the day were insufficient for this desire, and during several years I accustomed myself to pass two whole nights, every week, in reading and writing.
My most delightful study was that of the classics, both ancient and modern; but I felt it necessary to apply myself to the sciences, especially to logic, for which I had much taste. I studied the philosophy of the Peripatetics, in order to become acquainted with it, though I did not teach it; also the theology of the Schoolmen, to purify it from the dross by which it is defiled. All that I acquired of these sciences was by studying books, as I learned nothing from the teaching of preceptors, which was at that time inconsiderable among the Dominicans.
I must confess that I was at this time well contented with my condition, and would not have changed it for any other, because it enabled me to satisfy my desire of learning. I had all the comforts of life necessary for a student, and amply sufficient leisure, uninterrupted by any thing either to trouble me or distract my attention. I had, in short, retirement, quietude, and an abundance of books. I thought also that I should have had learned conversation, but in this I was mistaken.
The life of the Dominicans is intended for the cultivation of the sciences; and the design, not only of Domenico di Guzman himself, but of the succeeding heads of the Order, appears to have been to form an institution of learned men devoted to the service of the Romish Church.
The privileges accorded by the laws of the Order to any individual who cultivates the study of the sciences, and, moreover, the honours granted to it by the popes, corroborate this design. The doctor, or Master of Theology, as he is called, enjoys many distinctions and advantages: his degree is equal to that of the principal universities, and the same as that of the Sorbonne and of Salamanca. With the Dominicans the road which leads to this academical rank is long and difficult, while in the other Orders, and from the class of priests, the path is easy and short. A doctor of Theology, among the Dominicans, is chosen from the class of professors after many rigid examinations, and a course of lectures which last twelve years: but once elected, he is free from all the inconveniences of a monastic life, and enjoys every comfort and honour. Happy, then, is he who can attain to this high rank! The number, however, is very limited; hence arise endless disputes and intrigues to obtain admittance into it.
Il Maestro Domenicano is generally considered a personage of much importance; he would not abandon this way of living for any other employment; and if he accepted it, he would consider himself unhappy, in having given up his cherished idleness.
It is related of Friar Orsini, a Dominican, who in his youth was made cardinal and bishop of Benevento, and in his old age was elected pope under the title of Benedict XIII., that one day being with his fellow-monks in the monastery of the Minerva, he said: "If I had not been removed from my office of lecturer to my Order, I should now have been a Padre Maestro;" thus manifesting that his elevation to the papal chair was regarded by him as a loss.
At the age of thirty I was a Maestro, to which high rank no one had ever before attained so early. My having taught many different things at the same time, was of use to me; as during the seven years of my lecturing I occupied three chairs at once; viz. those of theology, Holy Scripture, and philosophy. The head of the Order was anxious to advance me to this degree, as he wished to promote me to the post of Rector, or Principal of the Minerva, which is the highest of all that the Order has to bestow.
The Dominicans endeavoured still more studiously to make me a devotee to the Romish system, as they perceived I was departing from it more and more every day; and they thought the best means for accomplishing their ends would be to appoint me to offices of importance, at the same time holding out delusive promises of even higher dignities. This is the net by which they entrap many, but I was one of the few who did not allow themselves to be ensnared: on the contrary, I several times entreated the General of the Order to allow me to remain in peace with my occupations at Viterbo, in the exercise of which I desired to live and die; but he obstinately refused to comply with my request, and ordered me to renounce my professorships and repair to Rome. The Bishop of Viterbo interested himself for me, in order that I might not be compelled to leave the place against my will; and he adopted every method, both of persuasion and entreaty, on the occasion: but the General was no friend to the bishop, whose mediation therefore only served to strengthen him the more in his determination to withdraw me from Viterbo, and bring me to Rome. At last I could resist no longer, and was obliged to surrender my two professorships into the hands of the bishop, who reluctantly accepted my resignation, at the same time muttering strong expressions of resentment against the General of the Dominicans.
It was thus that I was forced, at the close of 1833, to quit Viterbo, having first received a thousand proofs of friendship from the bishop, the Prelato Governatore, and all classes of the inhabitants.