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A History of the So-Called Jansenist
Church of Holland By the Rev. J.M. Neale, M.A. Oxford: John Henry and James Parker,
1858 Chapter VI. James De La Torre, Fourth Archbishop
Of Utrecht, Under The Title Of Archbishop Of Ephesus. 1651 — 1661. 1. James de la Rorre had been
consecrated, May 19, 1647, under the title of Archbishop of Ephesus; and it
afterwards became a point of importance that the ceremony had been performed
by one bishop[1], or according to others, by two bishops, only. In the
month of August following he administered confirmation to a large assembly at
Spanbroek, a village between Alkmaar and Schagen, in North Holland. On this
he was banished, his private estate was confiscated, and he himself took up
his residence at Antwerp. 2. Rovenius was no sooner in the
grave than the Jesuits recommenced their intrigues. Paludanus, an
Augustinian, who had distinguished himself by an attack on the Augustinus
of Jansenius, was presented to the internuncio at Brussels as a candidate for
the Vicariate Apostolic; on the reply that it was already conferred, he was
put forward as a fit coadjutor and successor to De la Torre. Here, again, he
was baffled, it being discovered that his own age was greater than that of
the man whom he proposed to succeed. “Had a regular, and a stranger to the
country, been appointed to the office, religion,” says De la Torre, “would
have been at an end[2].” 3. Firmly as this prelate resisted so
open an attack, he was not proof against persuasion and intrigue. The [154]
Jesuits asserted that they had the power of obtaining for him an episcopate
in the Low Countries, less onerous and more wealthy than that of Utrecht; and
having induced him only fourteen days later to enter the sacristy of their
house at Brussels, they obtained from him an act by which he permitted them
to establish eleven new stations, and to increase the number of their
missionaries in those which they already possessed. This document is known by
the name of the Concessiones Ephesinae[3]. 4. The chapter of Haarlem was
vigorous in defence of its rights. They represented to the Archbishop that,
without their consent, he could not allow so flagrant a violation of their
jurisdiction. The weak prelate endeavoured to retrace his steps, and the
Jesuits themselves gave him the opportunity. Not content with taking
possession of the posts that had been assigned to them, they presented a
petition to the Propaganda, in which they set forth, more boldly than ever,
their often-repeated assertion, that the Church in Holland had come to an
end; that all jurisdiction had perished, and that therefore they needed no
further authorization for their stations than that of the superior of their
mission[4]. De la Torre resolved to undertake the journey to Rome, and
his clergy gave him as companion Abraham van Brienen, who had already visited
the Eternal City in his company. Van Brienen was pastor of S. Gertrude at
Utrecht, a man celebrated, besides his learning and holiness of life, for the
ready wit with which, in his sermons, he seized the weak point of an
heretical argument, and reduced it to an absurdity[5]. The deputies
lost no time in presenting [155] a memorial to the Propaganda, in which the
Archbishop gave a full account of the state of his diocese and province,
vindicated his clergy from the calumnies charged against them, and exposed
the intrigues of the Jesuits. It must be confessed, however, that so far as
style and arrangement is concerned, a certain degree of weakness is visible
in this document[6]. 5. The Propaganda at once took the
matter into consideration. By the instructions of July 2, confirmed by a Bull
of Alexander VII., bearing date Sept. 20, the Jesuits, in common with the
other religious orders, are enjoined to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the
ordinaries throughout Holland; and this important success was announced by
the prelate, on his return to Holland, in two pastoral letters: and we find
him vigorously carrying out the decree of the Propaganda against a Carmelite
friar who obstinately refused obedience to it. 6. While at Rome, an affair was
commenced which shortly entailed vexatious consequences on the Church of
Holland. De la Torre was anxious to obtain a coadjutor, and was desired by
the Pope to furnish him with a list of ecclesiastics whom he thought qualified
for the dignity. Among the eight names which he furnished, the last was that
of Zachary de Metz, a canon of Thorren, near Liége, who had been acquainted
with the Nuncio Chigi (now elevated to the chair of S. Peter) at Cologne, and
who was now at Rome on the somewhat unedifying errand of procuring a
dispensation which should enable him to hold a second canonry at Maestricht.
His name was inserted merely [156] out of compliment to the Pope, but the
note was added that he was unknown in Holland, and would probably be
prejudiced in favour of the regulars. Baldwin Catz, Dean of Haarlem, was
first nominated; on his refusal, various negotiations took place, in which
the rights of the clergy to elect were entirely overlooked. The Chapter of
Utrecht at length furnished a list of four, among whom the great and good
John de Neercassel, then Vicar-General of the archdiocese, stood first. The
Pope passed by all, and finally resolved on De Metz. He was consecrated under
the title of Bishop of Tralles, and on going into Holland, took up his
residence at Amsterdam. Here his hasty temper involved him in many
difficulties, and embroiled his whole Church. 7. He had obtained a permission from
the magistrates to reside in the capital; but the open way in which he
conducted religious ceremonies, and especially his habit of wearing his
episcopal vestments in public, soon gave great offence, and excited fears
that another persecution would be the result. His domineering spirit was
resented by the clergy, and he was presently involved in an open rupture with
the Chapters of both Utrecht and Haarlem. Acting rather as ordinary than as
coadjutor, he at length proceeded so far as to annihilate the latter Chapter,
but was forced to retract this document. In vain did De la Torre, writing
from Antwerp, remind him that he was only invested with subordinate
authority, that the Propaganda had not elevated him to the episcopate to
enable him to destroy the clergy, but to assist them. The grand vicars of
Haarlem (who were De la Torre’s pro-vicars) were in continual opposition to
the Bishop of Tralles, and were obliged to act strenuously against his
aggressions. De Metz was in necessitous circumstances, [157] to relieve which
he had recourse to a collection of alms, which gave great offence. His
applications to Rome for an income were met with no more consoling reply than “Nos
mitram dedimus: tu caetera cures.” I hurry over an epoch that has but
little of interest, especially as more exciting times are approaching.
Zachary de Metz was seized with a tedious illness in the beginning of 1661,
which brought him to the grave July 15 of that year. 8. In the meantime, the state of
affairs at Brussels was not more favourable. It would seem that De la Torre
had always been ambitious of a superior station; and shortly after his
return, the Jesuits engaged to use their influence for his presentation to a
see in the Low Countries, provided he would make some fresh concessions. He
yielded, but not without afterwards expressing his regrets. The see of Ypres
falling vacant, he was, after some tedious negotiations, presented to it, but
too late for his own advantage. He had given several proofs of an enfeebled
mind, and these at length amounting to positive madness, he was confined in
the monastery of Huybergen, where he departed this life Sept. 16, 1661. The
acts of his last five years were afterwards rescinded by the Propaganda. [1] The celebrated Paradanus, Abbat of Vleerbech, in
Flanders, says one, (Recueil, p. 164); Van Heussen, two. Bat.
Sacr. 459. [2] See his letter, bearing date Dec. 17, 1651, to
Sivolt, Defens. Eccl. Traj. 456. [3] It is given at full in Bat. Sacr. ii. 459. [4] This document is printed at length in Tract. Hist.
i. 95. [5] Van Heussen possessed an account of his journey to
Rome, written very amusingly by himself. If it is in the archives, it escaped
my search. Van Brienen died in 1683, after more than fifty years’ pastorate.
His meditations on the Advent and the Passion, written under the name of Van
der Mat, and reprinted at Leyden in 1709, are very excellent. [6] Broedersen (Tr. Hist. i. 96) only
gives extracts. The document itself is preserved in the archives. |
John Mason Neale, 1818-1866 |
