[1] Marginal note: “Father Aloysius Knapp was born at Rheinfelden, canton of Aargau, in Switzerland, in 1720; entered the Society (in the province of Upper Germany) in 1740, and professed in Mexico in 1749. Thence he went to the Philippines; after exile therefrom he returned to his native land, where he died in 1775.” [↑]
[2] See account of this council on pp. 41, 42, ante. At that time the governor was Anda, and the archbishop was Santa Justa. [↑]
[3] Archbishop Santa Justa’s scheme of doing away with all popular church devotions (under the plea presented in this letter) had, singularly, its exact counterpart in several European countries, where, in almost the very same year, that identical movement was inaugurated in many places throughout all the dominions of Joseph II of Austria—in Austria itself, the Low Countries, Tuscany, Naples, etc. The mass of existing documents clearly show that the courts of Vienna, Paris, Madrid, and Lisbon were openly enlisted with the powers of irreligion to undo all Christian belief even among the poor people at large. Another point to be considered in connection with this is the social ferment and disquiet of that period.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. [↑]
[4] Latin, conciliabulum (cf. Spanish conciliabulo); see VOL. XLII, p. 109, note 36. [↑]
[5] Latin, clerici (Spanish, clerigos); it always means secular priests, in contradistinction to the “regulars,” or “religious,” of the monastic orders. The same distinction is found in the use of presbyter and sacerdos (Spanish, presbítero and sacerdote), the former meaning a secular priest, the latter a regular priest. [↑]
[6] As here used, institutis means literally “their proceedings,” or “devices,” or “schemes;” and comprecationes, “their prayer-meetings,” and the like—which have been rendered by the words which seem to convey the meaning intended. The friars (the “Padres,” as the Indians called them) established many sorts of sodalities, brotherhoods, fraternities, etc., to keep their natives straight; they also furnished all sorts of attractions in the church—music, chants, prayers, etc.—to keep them engaged during divine service. In this way the padres kept the natives fairly Christian.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O. S. A. [↑]
[7] “Come, let us adore the King, for whom all things live; come, let us exult,” etc. The invitatory is the opening part of Matins, which is here parodied à la Voltaire.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O. S. A. [↑]
[8] These were Ildefonso Garcia de la Concepción and Joaquín Traggia. [↑]