The Jesuits - James Aitken Wylie

society were sent to the King of Portugal, at his
own request: the one he retained as his confessor,
the other he dispatched to the East Indies. This was
that Francis Xavier who there gained for himself,
says Ranke, "the name of an apostle, and the glory
of a saint." At the courts of Madrid and Lisbon
they soon acquired immense influence. They were
the confessors of the nobles and the counselors of
the monarch.
The Jesuits found it more difficult to force their
way into France. Much they wished to found a
college in that city where their first vow had been
recorded, but every attempt was met by the
determined opposition of the Parliament and the
clergy, who were jealous of their enormous
privileges.
The wars between the Guises and the
Huguenots at length opened a door for them.
Lainez, who by this time had become their
General, saw his opportunity, and in 1561
succeeded in effecting his object, although on
condition of renouncing the peculiar privileges of
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