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 The
Customer-
Driven
Playbook
Converting
Customer Feedback
into Successful
Products

Travis Lowdermilk & Jessica Rich

The Customer-Driven
Playbook
Converting Customer Feedback
into Successful Products

Travis Lowdermilk and Jessica Rich

Beijing Boston Farnham Sebastopol Tokyo

The Customer-Driven Playbook
by Travis Lowdermilk and Jessica Rich
Copyright © 2017 Travis Lowdermilk and Jessica Rich. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
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978-1-491-98127-6
[LSI]
This book belongs to Dr. Monty Hammontree, our team, and
all our friends at Microsoft. Without them, this book would
not have been possible.
 [ contents ]

Preface . . . ........................................................................................................................ ix

Part I tHE FOUNDatION

Chapter 1 The Hypothesis Progression Framework and the Customer-Driven

Cadence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
What Is the Hypothesis Progression Framework? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The Customer-Driven Cadence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chapter 2 Formulating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
A Great Hypothesis Focuses on the Customer’s Limitations, Not Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . .
13
Formulating Assumptions into Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
The Parameters of the Hypothesis Progression Framework . . . . . . . . . 16
Formulating a Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Formulating Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Chapter 3 Experimenting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Conducting a Successful Customer Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
How Many Customers Do I Need to Validate a Hypothesis? . . . . . . . . . 33
Surveys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Analytics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
Focus Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Customer Visits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
Usability Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
40
 How to Find Customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Getting the Customer’s Attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Chapter 4 Sensemaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
The Sensemaking Loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Chapter 5 The Customer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Formulating a Customer Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65
Chapter 6 The Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

Focusing on Customers’ Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

How to Identify Customers’ Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70

Formulating a Problem Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Avoiding Problems Not Worth Solving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76

Chapter 7 The Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
The Power of Problem Framing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81

Formulating Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82

How to Pick the Best Potential Opportunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85

Formulating a Concept Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Plotting Events Using a Storyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Testing Your Concepts with Customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91
The Concept Value Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Things to Consider While Creating a Concept Value Test . . . . . . . . . 100
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Chapter 8 The Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Formulating a Feature Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Talking with Customers About Your Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Formulating a Discussion Guide (with Tasks) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Chapter 9 Using the Playbooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Experiment Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Roles and Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

120

Part II tHE PLaYBOOKS

Chapter 10 The Customer Playbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Formulating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Experimenting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Sensemaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Chapter 11 The Problem Playbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Formulating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Experimenting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Sensemaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Chapter 12 The Concept Playbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Formulating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Experimenting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Sensemaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Chapter 13 The Feature Playbook . . . . . . . . . . .
199
Formulating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Experimenting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Sensemaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Afterword . ................................................................................................................... 221

References . . ................................................................................................................. 223
Index . ........................................................................................................................... 227
About the Authors . . ................................................................................................. 235
[ Preface ]

“Over the next 10 weeks, we want you to come up with product

ideas that can attract new customers and triple our revenue.”

Susan, a UX lead for PartyTime Apps, felt her mouth fall open and
heard the team shift uncomfortably in their chairs.
Susan and her team worked on an immensely popular mobile
party-planning app called PartyOrganizr.
The app was at the top of the charts in all the mobile app stores, and the
company had enjoyed several years of success. Yet leadership was look-
ing for ways to capitalize on their success and generate new revenue.
They didn’t have a lot of time, so Susan believed the team needed to
be Lean. She was going to have the team talk to as many customers as
they could, iterate quickly, and—above all else—“fail fast.” She sched-
uled daily calls with customers and the team quickly fell into a cadence
of meeting with customers, asking a myriad of questions, and taking
copious notes.
The team had a lot of ideas about how they could generate new reve-
nue, and they found that talking with customers was a great way to get
direct feedback. Jerry, an engineer on the team, even started building
a prototype for one of his ideas and began showing it to customers. It
appeared that the team was on their way.
Then progress came to a complete halt. The team began arguing over
what they were hearing from customers. Mary, a product manager,
believed they weren’t asking the right questions or talking to the right
types of customers. Even though it would be costly to build, Jerry was
convinced that customers liked his prototype. Richie, the team’s soft-
ware tester, became hyperfocused on fixing bugs that customers hap-
pened to mention on the calls. The team was divided and heading in
separate directions.

ix
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After the 10 weeks was complete, the team was left with a half-baked
prototype that leadership deemed a “solution in search of a problem.”
Even worse, after all the time they had spent with customers, the team
had more questions than answers.
Does this sound familiar?
All too often, we find ourselves in this reality. While many Lean
approaches and customer development strategies produced over the
past decade have been transformational in how we think about build-
ing products, many teams find it difficult to put those principles into
meaningful action.
That’s why we’ve come up with The Customer-Driven Playbook. It’s a
complete end-to-end guide that will help you and your team move from
understanding the customer to identifying their problems to concep-
tualizing new ideas—and ultimately to creating fantastic products.
Bottom line: this book will help you and your team put Lean theory
into action.
Every element of this book has been used in the real world. This meth-
odology has been proven successful in an organization of over 8,000
people that spans multiple countries.

Who Can Use the Customer-Driven Playbook?

Most of our experience in building this methodology has been in the
software industry, so our book has been written primarily with soft-
ware and technology products in mind. However, you can use our
framework successfully when creating any product or service.
More specifically, this book is for program, product, project, or ser-
vice managers; UX, visual, and interaction designers; UX researchers;
team leads; engineers; testers; managers; and directors.
In short, if you have a desire to make great products, this book is for
you.

How Is This Different from Other

User-Centered Methodologies?
The customer-driven approach puts customers at the center. You may
be asking, “How is that different from being user-centered?”

x | THE CUSTOMER-DRIVEN PLAYBOOK

We believe a user and a customer have some subtle, yet profound,
differences.
We call the people who use our products customers because it acknowl-
edges the fact that they’re choosing our products. When a customer
chooses our product, it’s an incredible gift and it’s our responsibility to
continually reward them for putting their trust in us.
Sam Walton was a multibillionaire who founded the colossal retail
chains Walmart and Sam’s Club. He once said:1
There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody
in the company, from the chairman on down, simply by spending
his money somewhere else.

Walton knew that his customers had the power to dictate whether his
business succeeded or failed. When you transform your thinking from
users (people who are currently using your product) to customers (peo-
ple who are choosing your product), it shows respect and appreciation
for the people who are deciding to use your products.
The Customer-Driven Playbook approach goes beyond usability and use-
fulness. It considers the customer’s motivation, goals, and desires, and
starts to identify the problems and limitations that prevent them from
achieving what they want to do.
Everyone is a customer—either a current customer, a potential cus-
tomer, or a “churned” customer (someone who has recently abandoned
your product). At any point, the customer may choose to join you or
leave you. So, you must continually ask yourself:
Who are my customers?
What motivates them?
What frustrates them or limits them from achieving their goals?
What do they find valuable and useful?
And ultimately:
How can I move customers from trying my products to needing
them to loving them?

PREFACE | xi
 How This Book Is Organized
The foundation of this book, and our whole approach, is the Hypothesis
Progression Framework (HPF). It has four stages: Customer, Problem,
Concept, and Feature (see Figure P-1).

FIGURE P-1.
The Hypothesis
Progression
Framework

The HPF is the foundation that we’ll use to successfully guide you
through customer and product development.
The HPF is completely flexible. We’ve designed it so that it can work
at whatever stage of development you’re in. We’ve seen our framework
scale to define new product categories, and we’ve seen it successfully
revitalize existing products that have been available to customers for
decades.
Additionally, we’ve organized the book to cover our Customer-Driven
Cadence (see Figure P-2). These are three phases that you’ll employ
within each stage of the HPF (Formulating, Experimenting, and
Sensemaking). This cadence has a familiar “build, measure, learn”
(or “learn, build, measure”) pattern that is found in many Lean
approaches. You’ll find that we repeat this pattern in all our playbooks.

FIGURE P-2.
The Customer-Driven
Cadence

xii | THE CUSTOMER-DRIVEN PLAYBOOK

Here’s what we’ll cover in each chapter:

Part I: The Foundation

Chapter 1: The Hypothesis Progression Framework and the
Customer-Driven Cadence
You’ll learn about our foundational framework as well as our
Customer-Driven Cadence. The framework and cadence will
serve as an end-to-end guide to help you through customer
and product development.
Chapter 2: Formulating
You’ll learn how to collect your assumptions and formulate
them into hypotheses that can be tested. You’ll also learn
how to formulate a Discussion Guide, a set of questions that
you can ask your customers to validate or invalidate your
hypotheses.
Chapter 3: Experimenting
You’ll learn how to not only talk to customers, but find them
as well. We’ll also discuss the advantages and disadvantages
of various research methods.
Chapter 4: Sensemaking
While it’s important to engage with customers and gather
their feedback, the process is less impactful if you can’t
make sense out of the data you’re collecting. In this chapter,
you’ll learn how to derive patterns and meaning in your data,
and most importantly, share your findings throughout your
organization.
Chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8 (Customer, Problem, Concept, and Feature)
Through these chapters, we’ll dive into each stage of the HPF.
You’ll learn the purpose of the stage and see examples of how
hypotheses and structure can help the team. In the sidebars
“PartyTime Apps Revisited,” you’ll get to follow along with our
fictional-but-rooted-in-reality team, PartyTime Apps. You’ll
see how they use our methods to tackle the challenge pre-
sented earlier, achieving a much more successful outcome.

PREFACE | xiii
 Chapter 9: Using the Playbooks
This chapter gives a brief overview of how to use the play-
books covered in Part II.

Part II: The Playbooks

Chapters 10, 11, 12, and 13
We have a variety of design thinking activities and customer
and product research methods that will help you track the
progression of your assumptions, hypotheses, early ideas,
concepts, and product features. Each stage of the Hypothesis
Progression Framework has its own playbook and is placed in
its own chapter so you can quickly find and reuse it.

Website
We have a lot of things we want to share. However, we’re passionate
about creating a book that’s light, approachable, and engaging. We
believe this book will be your companion guide to our approach. Our
hope is that you’ll find it continually useful and you’ll return to it often
as you begin to implement our framework and activities.
We’ve created a website (customerdrivenplaybook.com) that you can use
alongside our book. This website will continue to grow, and it’ll be
the landing space for more in-depth activities, methodologies, cheat
sheets, and approaches.
This book has everything you need to be successful. As you mature in
your understanding, we encourage you to continually visit the website
to learn new ways to leverage our framework.

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Endnote
1 [anderson] p. 136

PREFACE | xv
[ Part I ]

The Foundation

1
[1]

The Hypothesis Progression

Framework and the
Customer-Driven Cadence
In the summer of 2000, General Motors, an American car manufac-
turer, introduced the Pontiac Aztek, a radically new “crossover” vehi-
cle—part sedan, part minivan, and part sports utility vehicle (see
Figure 1-1). It was marketed as the do-it-all vehicle for 30-somethings.
It was the car for people who enjoyed the outdoors, people with an
“active lifestyle” and “none to one child.”1
On paper, the Aztek appeared to be fully featured. It had a myriad of
upgrades that included options for bike racks, a tent with an inflatable
mattress, and an onboard air compressor. GM even included an option
for an insulated cooler, to store beverages and cold items, between
the passenger and driver seat. Their ideal customer was someone
who would use the Aztek for everything from picking up groceries to
camping out in the wilderness.

FIGURE 1-1
2001–2005
Pontiac Aztek

3
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The Aztek had a polarizing visual aesthetic; many either loved or hated
it (most hated it). Critics found its features, like the optional tent and
cooler, awkward and downright gimmicky. GM insisted these were
revolutionary ideas and suggested that they were ahead of their time.
They believed that, once customers took the Aztek for a test drive, they
would quickly realize just what they were missing.
After a $30 million marketing push,2 it appeared that the critics were
right. The Aztek failed to make even a modest dent in the overall mar-
ket. The year that the Aztek was released, the American auto indus-
try had sold 17.4 million vehicles. The Aztek represented only 11,000
of those vehicles (a number that some believed was still generously
padded).3
To customers, the Aztek seemed to get in its own way. It was pushing
an agenda by trying to convince customers how they should use their
vehicles, rather than responding to how they wanted to use them.
It’s easy to point at this example in hindsight and ask, “How could GM
spend so much time, money, and resources only to produce a car no
one wanted?” Some suggested it was because the car was “designed by
committee” or that it was a good idea with poor execution.4 Insiders
blamed the “penny-pinchers” for insisting on cost-saving measures
that ultimately produced a hampered product that wasn’t at all consis-
tent with the original vision.5
The lead designer of the Aztek, Tom Peters, went on to create many
successful designs, like the C6 Chevy Corvette and 2014 Camaro Z/28,
and eventually won a lifetime achievement award. He suggested that
the poor design of the Aztek had started with the team asking them-
selves, “What would happen if we put a Camaro and an S10 truck in
a blender?”6
The reality is that it was all of these reasons. Even though it appeared,
at the time, that GM was “being innovative,” they had forgotten the
most crucial element: the customer. They had fallen in love with a con-
cept and tried to find a customer who would want it.
They were running focus groups and also doing their own market
research. They probably even created personas or some variant of the
“ideal customer” that was perfect for the Aztek. GM believed they were

4 | THE CUSTOMER-DRIVEN PLAYBOOK

being customer-focused. Yet they weren’t paying attention to the right
signals. They had respondents in focus groups saying, “Can they pos-
sibly be serious with this thing? I wouldn’t take it as a gift!”7
While we can commend GM for trying to push the boundaries of the
auto industry, we must admit that by not validating their assumptions
and listening to their customers, they had created a solution in search
of a problem.
We make assumptions about everything. It’s a way for us to make
meaning of what we understand based on our prior beliefs. However,
our assumptions aren’t always grounded in fact. They may come
from “tribal knowledge,” experience, or conventional wisdom. These
sources start with a kernel of truth, which makes them feel real, but too
often we mistake assumptions for facts.
This is not to say that assumptions are a bad thing. They can be incred-
ibly useful in tapping into our intuition. It’s when our assumptions go
unchecked that we open ourselves to vulnerabilities in our design.
Unchecked assumptions can have a powerfully negative effect on our
products, because they cause us to:
• Miss new opportunities or emerging market trends
• Make costly engineering mistakes by creating products that
nobody will use
• Create technical debt by supporting features that customers aren’t
using
• Respond to problems too late
What’s most dangerous about unchecked assumptions is that they
become conventional wisdom and are carried so long that they cre-
ate a false sense of security. Then a competitor swoops in with a bet-
ter understanding of the customer and quickly takes over the entire
market.
Henry Petroski, a professor at Duke University and expert in fail-
ure analysis, once said, “All conventional wisdom has an element of
truth to it, but good design requires more than an element of truth—it
requires an ensemble of correct assumptions and valid calculations.”8

THE HYPOTHESIS PROgRESSION FRAMEwORK AND THE CUSTOMER-DRIVEN CADENCE | 5

 Therefore, it introduces a high level of risk if teams move forward with
underlying assumptions that haven’t been formulated, tested, and
validated.

What Is the Hypothesis Progression Framework?

The Hypothesis Progression Framework (HPF) allows you to test your
assumptions at any stage of the development process. At its heart,
the HPF breaks up the development of products into four stages:
Customer, Problem, Concept, and Feature (Figure 1-2).

FIGURE 1-2
The Hypothesis
Progression
Framework

Using the HPF, your team will:

• Formulate your assumptions into testable hypotheses
• Validate or invalidate your hypotheses by running experiments
• Make sense of what you’ve learned so that you can plan your next
move
As the name suggests, the HPF is founded on the principle that if you
state your assumptions as hypotheses and try to validate them, you
will remain objective and focused on what the customer is telling you
rather than supporting unconfirmed assumptions.
For now, understand that each stage in the HPF works together to
address these fundamental questions (Figure 1-3):

6 | THE CUSTOMER-DRIVEN PLAYBOOK

Who are your customers?
When we sit down with teams, we will often hear something to
the effect of, “Oh, we know who our customers are. That’s not our
problem.” Then we’ll ask questions like:
{ What environments do your customers live/work in?
{ Why do they choose your product over that of your competitors?
{ What are they trying to achieve with your products?
{ What unique attributes make your customers different from
one another?
You may (or may not) be surprised how many teams have diffi-
culty answering these types of questions.
Customer engagement is not customer development. It’s one thing
to engage customers by having an ongoing dialog using social
networks, support forums, and the like. That’s great. However, it’s
another thing entirely to systematically learn from your custom-
ers and generate actionable insights.
Your customers are not in a fixed position. Their values and tastes
change over time. Therefore, you must be willing to journey with
them and continually refine your products to remain one step
ahead of where they plan to go.

What problems do they have?

At times, we get so enamored and focused on our solution that
we need to step back and ask ourselves, “How many people are
really experiencing this problem?” or “How much of a frustration
is this problem for our customers?” If GM had been willing to ask
their customers, “How valuable is it to have your car convert into a
tent?” they would have learned that the tent was not solving a nec-
essary problem for most of their customers. We must appreciate
that, to create successful products, it’s more than solving a prob-
lem—it’s a matter of solving the right problem.

THE HYPOTHESIS PROgRESSION FRAMEwORK AND THE CUSTOMER-DRIVEN CADENCE | 7

 Will this concept solve their problem and do they find it valuable?
There are many ways to solve a problem, but how can you be con-
fident you’re solving it the right way? Are you sure that customers
value the way you’re trying to solve the problem, or are you intro-
ducing new problems you hadn’t considered?
During the Concept stage, you’re trying to ensure that you’re solv-
ing the customer’s problem in a way they find valuable.
You want to leverage your customers’ feedback and continually
validate that your ideas are on the right track. You’ll establish the
benefits of your concept (as well as its limitations) and increase
your confidence that you’re building something customers want.

Can they successfully use this feature and are they satisfied with it?
We’ve all been excited for a product release only to be disappointed
later because it didn’t deliver on its promises. Throughout the
design and development process, you must ensure that your con-
cept works as expected and is successful in helping customers
solve their problems. While the Concept stage is to ensure you are
building the right thing, the Feature stage ensures you are building
it the right way.

FIGURE 1-3
The fundamental
questions of the HPF

By using the HPF as a guide, your team will remain customer-focused

as it progresses through customer and product development. Together,
these stages represent your entire solution. It’s important to note that
the HPF doesn’t necessarily need be worked from left to right; it can
be started at any stage. Depending on where you are in your product’s
development, you may decide to start at the Concept stage or Problem

8 | THE CUSTOMER-DRIVEN PLAYBOOK

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established Church authorities and with the monks at Goa, he
entered upon an independent course of his own, whereby he
evidently intended to indicate the superiority of his Jesuit methods.
He roamed the streets with a bell in his hand, and when the ringing
attracted a crowd of curious lookers-on, he invited them "to send
their children and slaves to catechism," so as to learn the truths of
Christianity from him. When the children gathered around him,
prompted alone by curiosity, he taught them "the Creed and
practices of devotion," which, of course, could have been nothing
more than the simplest form. After following this method for some
time, he engaged in public preaching, and it is gravely said that "in
half a year" he accomplished the "reformation of the whole city of
Goa," which must have included the native along with the
Portuguese population. The whole story is told after the manner of
the romance-writers.
Reflecting people, who read of the immense multitudes converted to
Christianity under his eloquent preaching, not only at Goa, but in
other parts of India, will naturally wonder how all this could have
occurred when the natives did not understand his language, nor he
theirs! But the Jesuits have no difficulty on that score—nor, indeed,
on any other—when the simple invention of a miracle will serve their
purpose. Xavier became as famous as Loyola in this respect. Butler
represents him as having "baptized ten thousand Indians with his
own hand in one month," and "sometimes a whole village" in a
single day; and as "having preached to five or six thousand persons
together," but without stating in what language he preached.
Seeming, however, to anticipate that there might be some to inquire
how much of real Christianity there was in these professed
conversions, and how he could have preached with so much effect
to those whose language he could not speak and who could not
understand his, he endeavors to remove the difficulty—evidently
following the Jesuit story—by declaring that, while in India, "God
first communicated to him the gift of tongues," so that "he spoke
very well the language of those barbarians without having learned it,
and had no need of an interpreter when he instructed them!"[84] It
is impossible now to decide how this statement originated. Xavier
reported only to Loyola—not to the pope or the Church—and
whatsoever was circulated in Europe to aid the cause of the Jesuits,
and to gain them popularity on account of the success of their
missions, was derived from him. But whether it originated with
Xavier or Loyola, or was invented after the death of both, neither the
repetition of it now, nor its recent appearance in an authoritative
ecclesiastical volume, published and extensively circulated in the
United States, can relieve it from the suspicion of a fabulous origin.
During the brief stay of Xavier at Goa, he availed himself of the
opportunity of setting an example which the Jesuits of every
subsequent period have been prompt to imitate—an example which
gives practical interpretation to the Jesuit vow of "extreme poverty."
The Franciscan monks had erected a seminary, where they taught
the native youths at least the rudiments of a Christian education. But
Xavier was not satisfied with this, having manifestly conceived the
idea, still maintained by the Jesuits, that the cause of education
should be intrusted solely to them, on account of their superiority
over all others, including every religious order. Influenced
presumably by this consideration alone, he conceived a plan of
having the Franciscan seminary turned over to him, with the view of
converting it into a Jesuit college. Claiming that he was a more
immediate and responsible representative of the Church than any of
the monastic orders, inasmuch as the brief of the pope conferred
special missionary prerogatives upon him, he succeeded in effecting
his purpose by inducing the Franciscans to transfer the building to
him. Whereupon the Franciscans were left to engage in such other
methods as they could to minister to the Portuguese Christians and
convert the natives, whilst Xavier was permitted to establish his
Jesuit college, so that whatsoever renown should follow the Indian
missions might inure to the benefit of the Jesuits, and not to that of
the monastic orders. The Jesuits have never since then lost sight of
this idea or failed to profit by it, always taking care in making up the
history of these missions to place their society in the front and the
monastic orders in the background, notwithstanding the latter
preceded them in India. They seem disinclined to allow the least
credit to any of the missionary agencies which the Church had been
accustomed to employ.
Having obtained possession of the Franciscan seminary at Goa,
Xavier decided that the building should be improved, so as to
impress the simple natives with the superiority of the Jesuits over
the monks. To an ordinary mind this would appear to be a difficult
thing to accomplish, inasmuch as it is not probable that voluntary
contributions could have been procured in such a community. But to
Xavier it was easy to overcome so trivial a difficulty as this, as it
always has been to the Jesuits, without finding the least impediment
in the vow of "extreme poverty." All he had to do was to employ the
Portuguese troops stationed at Goa "in pulling down the heathen
temples in the neighborhood of Goa, and appropriating their very
considerable property, for the use and benefit of the new college."
[85] Admirable strategy! The poor natives were powerless to resist
the Portuguese troops with arms in their hands, and were compelled
to stand by in silence and see their property despoiled without
compensation, all under the pretense that "the greater glory of God"
required it, when, in fact, it was prompted by Jesuit ambition. Xavier
must have felt gratified at his inexpensive mode of improving his
new college, and Loyola undoubtedly rejoiced when the fact was
reported to him. The former, therefore, having so successfully
occupied the missionary field at Goa by this display of Jesuit power
to the natives, and by reducing the Franciscan monks to inferiority,
hastened to other parts of India, to carry on the work he had begun
under such flattering auspices.
He proceeded to the coast of Malabar, where the missionaries
previously sent from Goa, under the authority and within the
jurisdiction of that episcopal see, had baptized a large number of the
natives, whom they claimed to have been converted to Christianity
under the methods employed by them. But in order to make it
appear that these missionaries were inefficient and incompetent, the
Jesuits pretend that these professed converts still "retained their
superstitions and vices,"[86] and that it was absolutely necessary
they should be brought under the influence of Xavier. The purpose of
this, at that time, was to prove to the Christian world that the
Church and the papacy had failed to accomplish any good
missionary results through the agency of the monks, and that the
Jesuits were absolutely indispensable. In this way it was hoped,
doubtless, to overcome the prejudice existing against the society in
Europe. Therefore, Xavier is represented as having saved the
Malabar converts from relapsing into heathenism, and increased the
number of natives who submitted to baptism. Whilst all this is
spoken in his praise, it is quite certain, from the most favorable
accounts, that they entertain but little, if any, just conception of the
ceremony of baptism, or, indeed, of any of the fundamental
principles of Christianity.
The first effort of Xavier upon the Malabar Coast was at Cape
Comorin, in a village "full of idolaters," to whom he preached; but as
they were unable to understand what he said, they remained
unmoved, having been probably attracted, like the people of Goa, by
his bell-ringing in the streets. Why the "gift of tongues" was then
withheld from him is not easy to determine, unless it was that he
might be furnished an opportunity of impressing the ignorant natives
with sentiments of awe by performing a miracle. At all events, Butler
records what happened in these words: "A woman who had been
three days in the pains of childbirth, without being eased by any
remedies or prayers of the Brahmins, was immediately delivered,
and recovered upon being instructed in the faith, and baptized by St.
Francis [Xavier], as he himself relates in a letter to St. Ignatius
[Loyola]." How she was instructed in the faith is, of course, not
explained, it being left to the imagination of the reader to conceive
by what extraordinary process this ignorant woman was instructed in
the Christian faith, so that she could be rightfully baptized into the
Church, when she did not understand the language in which she was
addressed. If she even realized that her safe delivery and
instantaneous restoration were occasioned by his intervention, there
was no possible mode of conveying to her mind the idea that it was
God's work and not Xavier's, for there was no word in any of the
languages of India signifying the Deity in the Christian sense. The
whole story is not only preposterous, but puerile. But it bears the
unmistakable stamp of Jesuitism, like others of the same general
character. For example, it is seriously recorded by the same author,
that after the happening of this event, "the chief persons of the
country listened to his doctrine, and heartily embraced the faith." He
preached to those who had never before heard of Christ, "and so
great were the multitude which he baptized, that sometimes, by the
bare fatigue of administering that sacrament, he was scarcely able to
move his arm, according to the account which he gave to his
brethren in Europe." He healed the sick by baptism, and where his
presence was impracticable, he sent a neophyte to touch them with
a cross, when, if they signified a desire to be baptized, they were
restored to health. In addition, it is also said that he brought back to
life four persons who were dead, during the fifteen months he
remained upon the Malabar Coast.[87]
He had preached at Travancore, near Comorin, where he was more
favored by having the "gift of tongues" given to him, so that he
could speak in one language as well as another. Thus endowed, as
the Jesuits insist, with divine power, he dispersed and drove out of
the country "a tribe of savages and public robbers," who were in
search of plunder, by approaching them with a crucifix in his hand,
although they had never heard of a crucifix before, and had no
means of knowing what it signified. When the people of a village
near Travancore remained uninfluenced by his preaching—an event
not at all wonderful considering their utter ignorance of Christianity
—he is represented as having again resorted to a miracle, which was
the never-failing Jesuit resource. He had a grave opened, which
contained a body interred the day before, and, after putrefaction
had commenced, restored it to life and "perfect health." Near the
same place he also brought back to life a young man whose corpse
he met on the way to the grave. "These miracles," says Butler,
"made so great an impression upon the people that the whole
kingdom of Travancore was subjected to Christ in a few months,
except the king and some of his courtiers."[88]
Every enlightened mind will reject such tales as pure fictions—as
absolutely incredible. They trifle with serious things, and their
inventors act in imitation of those who make merchandise of human
souls. It directly impeaches the wisdom of Providence to pretend
that he permitted miracles to be performed in his name—even the
dead to be raised to life—to influence the destiny of an ignorant
heathen population utterly unable to appreciate the character and
teachings of Christ, whilst, at the same time, he permitted almost
every variety of vice and corruption to prevail among the intelligent
populations of Europe, and to fester about the very heart of the
papacy itself.
The accounts of what was done by Xavier in the various parts of
India are of the same general character as the foregoing, the chief
variations being in the kind of miracles performed by him. To minds
capable of subjecting them to the test of reason and common sense,
it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that they were either
invented by Xavier himself, and sent to Europe to aid Loyola in giving
popularity to the Jesuits, or were made up by them after his death
for the same purpose. In point of fact, his whole claim to be
considered as the "Apostle of the Indies" rests upon a flimsy and
unsubstantial foundation. This is especially so, in view of the fact
that the multitudes he pretended to convert were turned into
professing Christians by the simple ceremony of baptism. Some of
them may possibly have been able to repeat the invocations "Our
Father" and "Hail Mary," but without any intelligent conception of the
difference between the one Omnipotent God of the Christians and
the many gods they had been accustomed to worship, or of the
meaning of the words uttered to them by Xavier, or of the
sacraments he administered, or of any of the attributes of the Deity,
or of a single essential principle in the Christian Creed. Nevertheless,
other accounts are added, whereby he is represented as having
visited other places upon the Indian coast, where like results are
said to have been produced, until, after having remained about
seven years in the East Indies, he went to Japan to bring that
idolatrous nation under the same influences, leaving the bulk of his
Indian converts to succumb to the dominion of the Brahmins, and
sink back into heathenism. He did not seem to realize that true
conversion to the Christian faith involves the sympathetic emotions
of the heart, the intelligent action of the mind, and that without
these, no signs, or genuflexions, or empty words spoken merely
from the lips, can give substantial value to the profession of it. A
knowledge of the manual of arms does not impart to a coward the
bravery of a true soldier, nor does the repetition of a few familiar
words convert a parrot into an intelligent being. And not a whit more
can a heathen, who never heard of Christ, be converted into a
Christian by any form of words, or by any bodily gestures, unless his
mind has been touched and his heart stirred by some knowledge of
what and who God is, and of the wisdom of his providences
displayed in the creation and government of the universe.
One would suppose that the "gift of tongues," when once conferred
upon Xavier, remained with him, inasmuch as he could not convey
his thoughts to the multitudes of people in any other way. But,
strange to say, it was otherwise. This miraculous gift was a mere
"transient favor,"[89] conferred only for a season, during his
intercourse with some of the heathen populations of India, and
withdrawn as miraculously as it had been given. What strange
infatuation it must be to accept it as true that, after he had been
divinely endowed with the faculty of preaching to the people of India
in their own languages, he should have entered upon his mission to
Japan without any knowledge whatsoever of the Japanese language!
Although that language is one of the most difficult in the world, and
wholly unlike any spoken then or now in Europe, yet that fact was of
trifling consequence to such a man as the Jesuits represent Xavier to
have been. He undertook this mission as if nothing were in the way,
relying, as may be inferred from the Jesuit accounts, upon his
miraculous powers to convert to Christianity an idolatrous people he
had never seen, and of whom the world at that time knew but little.
It is solemnly averred that in forty days (!) he acquired a sufficient
knowledge of the Japanese language to translate into it the Apostles'
Creed, and an exposition of its meaning by himself. With this he
began to preach, and "converted a great number." Still the intensity
of his zeal made him impatient, and, being unwilling to await the
slow process of appealing to the intelligence of the Japanese people,
he resorted again to the familiar expedient of miracles, which had
accomplished so much in India. Accordingly, we are told that, "by his
blessing, a child's body, which was swelled and deformed, was made
straight and beautiful; and, by his prayers, a leper was healed, and a
pagan young maid of quality, that had been dead a whole day, was
raised to life."[90] The Jesuits have never hesitated to assign to
Xavier, as they did to Loyola, the performance of some miracle,
when anything had to be done that could be accomplished in no
other way. The aggregate number of miracles attributed to them
exceed all that are recorded in the Gospels. And neither Xavier nor
Loyola ever hesitated to avow their authority to perform them, in
verification of the Jesuit doctrine that God had transferred his divine
attributes to each of them.
Such recitals are calculated to tax the patience of enlightened
readers of this day; but without them it is not possible to obtain
accurate knowledge of the record the Jesuits have made up to
inform the world of the glorious achievements of their society, and to
keep out of view the enormities for which they have been, in the
course of their history, condemned by every Christian nation and
people of Europe. They are necessary also to a proper
understanding why Xavier was beatified and canonized; for these
and other kindred fables were held to be sufficiently attested to
cause his name to be enrolled among the saints.
The difficulty of conveying to the minds of the Japanese people any
proper idea of God, when their language contained no word to
express it, has already been suggested with regard to India. He told
them, says Butler, that "Deos" meant God. But it is impossible that
this or any other single word can so signify the Deity as to convey to
an ignorant, idolatrous people any just conception of the Creator of
the world, or of his Divine attributes, or of their own responsibilities
to him either in life or death. But the wonderful exploits of Xavier
were not balked at this or any other point. The "gift of tongues" had
once been given to him, whereby he was enabled to preach to any
people without any previous knowledge of their language. This gift,
however, as we have seen, was only a "transient favor," granted for
a season, or some special occasion, and taken away. And,
notwithstanding, in consequence of this, it had become necessary
that he should learn the Japanese language in forty days, so as to
be able to speak and write it, it still became necessary also that he
should again have the power conferred upon him to understand and
speak all languages. Consequently, we learn from Butler that "at
Amanguchi God restored to St. Francis the gift of tongues; for he
preached often to the Chinese merchants who traded there, in their
mother tongue, which he had never learned."[91] To appreciate the
character of this statement, it should be borne in mind that, at that
time, he had never visited China. And it is proper to observe that,
notwithstanding this providential preparation for missionary labors in
that country, he never did visit there.
It converts serious things into mockery to pretend that God
conferred this gift upon Xavier in order to fit him specially for the
conversion of the Chinese, and yet that he so disposed his
providences with reference to him that he was never able to enter
that empire, or to hold direct intercourse with its people. If it had
been the Divine decree that he should be set apart for this great
work by this miraculous preparation, no earthly impediment would
have been likely to arrest him, or keep him out of China; for God's
fixed purposes are not subject to fluctuation to suit the exigencies of
human affairs. But, notwithstanding he made several earnest efforts
to get there, he signally failed in all of them. He returned from Japan
to India, and, after remaining a short time at Goa, resorted to the
expedient of attempting an entrance into China by indirection,
because the authorities there were inimical to the Portuguese. He
conceived the idea of procuring the organization of a diplomatic
mission, and having himself attached to it, so that, by this means, he
could enter the country. This plan having failed, he endeavored to
accomplish his object "secretly," says Butler, making the effort to be
landed somewhere upon the Chinese coast, "where no houses were
in view." Every step he took, however, proved abortive, and he died
before reaching China, thus leaving wholly unaccomplished what the
Jesuits allege was the foreordained purpose of Providence.
The death of Xavier occurred in 1552, and his remains were taken to
Goa about three months after, when, according to the Jesuit
account, his flesh "was found ruddy and fresh-colored, like a man
who is in sweet repose!" When it was cut, the blood ran! And so
necessary is it deemed by the Jesuits that his body shall appear to
have been absolutely incorruptible—as an argument to prove that
their society is under the special protection and guardianship of God
—it is seriously affirmed that "the holy corpse exhaled an odor so
fragrant and delightful that the most exquisite perfume came
nothing near it." When the body reached Malacca, a pestilence then
wasting the city, suddenly ceased, the effect alone of its mere
presence! It was transported to Goa—"entire, fresh, and still
exhaling a sweet odor"—and deposited in the church of the Jesuit
college he had dextrously obtained from the Franciscan monks.
Upon this occasion we are told that "several blind persons recovered
their sight, and others, sick of palsies and other diseases, their
health and the use of their limbs!" His relics, by order of the King of
Portugal, were visited in 1774—one hundred and ninety-two years
after his death—when "the body was found without the least bad
smell, and seemed environed with a kind of shining brightness, and
the face, hands, breast, and feet had not suffered the least
alteration or symptom of corruption!"[92]
In view of the universal experience of mankind and the
enlightenment of the present age, it is difficult to treat the foregoing
statements seriously, they are so palpably the product of Jesuit
imposture. And yet they are published in this country, and
recommended as positive truths, by the highest ecclesiastical
authority, as if some intelligent providential object would be
accomplished by believing them. Notwithstanding, however, that
every man of common sense will reject them, they are indispensable
to a proper understanding of the methods employed by the Jesuits
in setting forth the claims of their society to providential favor. And
although the vagaries of the wildest enthusiasts are more credible,
because they do not sport with sacred things, their recital puts us in
possession of some of the means of unraveling the nets this
wonderful society has cunningly woven.

FOOTNOTES:
[83] Lives of the Saints. By the Rev. Alban Butler. Vol. XII, article
"St. Francis Xavier," December 3, p. 608.
[84] History of the Saints. By the Rev. Alban Butler, Vol. XII,
article "St. Francis Xavier," December 3, p. 610.
[85] Griesinger, pp. 88-89.
[86] Butler, pp. 608, 609.
[87] Butler, p. 609
[88] Butler, p. 611.
[89] Butler, p. 614.
[90] Butler, p. 615.
[91] Butler, p. 616.
[92] Butler, pp. 620-622.

CHAPTER X.
IN PARAGUAY.
The Jesuits had a fairer and better field for the display of their
peculiar characteristics, and for the successful establishment of the
principles of their constitution, during the existence of the
Government founded by them in Paraguay, than ever fell to the lot
of any other society or select body of men. It is not too late to try
them by the results they then achieved, so as to assure ourselves of
what might reasonably be expected if the modern nations should so
far forget themselves as to allow that sad and disastrous experiment
to be repeated.
After the Portuguese obtained possession of Brazil, they inaugurated
measures necessary to bring the natives under their dominion. The
problem was not of easy solution. The Indians had no conception of
the principles of international law, which the leading nations had
established to justify the subjugation of the weak by the strong, and
consequently had to be brought by slow degrees under such
influences as should persuade them to believe that their conquerors
were benefactors, and not enemies. The pretense of title, based
upon the grant of the Pope Alexander VI, was not openly avowed. If
it had been, the native population, in all probability, would have
united in sufficient numbers to drive the invaders into the sea.
Pacific means of some sort had to be employed, so as to delude the
multitude of natives into a condition of apparent but false security.
Spain had also acquired possessions in other parts of South America,
and the methods of colonization adopted by the two Governments
were substantially the same. Charles V of Spain and John III of
Portugal were both religious fanatics, and although their chief
purpose was to obtain wealth from the mines of America, each of
them professed to desire, at the same time, the civilization of the
natives. Hence, as this could not be accomplished without the
influences of Christianity, all the expeditions sent out by them to the
New World were accompanied by ecclesiastics, and were therefore
under the patronage and auspices of the Church of Rome. The
controlling idea of the period was that the Church and the State
should remain united, so that wheresoever the latter should obtain
temporal and political control, the former should be constantly
present to decide and direct everything pertaining to faith and
morals; that is, to keep both the State and the people in obedience
to the Church. With these objects in view, missionaries were sent
out by the Church with the first Spanish and Portuguese
adventurers, and every step was avowedly taken in the name of
Christianity. So deeply was this sentiment embedded in every mind
that the memory of some favorite saint was perpetuated in the
names of nearly all the newly-established cities. These missionaries
were taken mainly from the ancient monastic orders—the
Dominicans, Franciscans, etc.—and had been regarded by the popes
for many years as not only the most faithful, but the most efficient
coadjutors of the Church in the work of extending Christianity over
the world. We have elsewhere seen that the Jesuits did not
sympathize with this belief, and that Loyola had urged upon the
pope the necessity of creating his new society upon the express
ground that these ancient orders had become both inefficient and
corrupt. When the New World, therefore, was about to be opened
before them, the followers of Loyola endeavored to seize the
occasion to supplant the monkish orders, if possible, and take into
their own hands exclusively the dissemination of Christian influences
among the native populations. In this respect the Jesuits displayed
more zeal for their own success than for that of the Church, and
made the cause of Christianity secondary to their own interests. The
history of their missions in South America will abundantly show this,
as it will also display their insatiable ambition and unparalleled
superciliousness.
The first Jesuits were sent to South America by the King of Portugal.
They found a large district of country washed by the waters of the
Rio de la Plata and its tributaries, which had not been reached by
either the Spaniards or the Portuguese, but remained in the
exclusive possession of the Indians, who had never felt the influence
of European civilization. The natives generally had been treated by
the invaders with extreme cruelty, having been often reduced to
slavery and forced to submit to a variety of oppressions and
indignities. All the resources of the country susceptible of being
converted into wealth were seized upon to supply the royal
treasuries of the Christian kings who tyrannized over them. The
whole history of that period shows that, unless some counteracting
influences had been introduced, those who professed to desire the
civilization of the natives would, in all probability, have added to the
degradation and misery in which they were found when first
discovered. The Jesuits desired to apply some corrective, and there
is no reason why the sincerity of their first missionaries in this
respect should be suspected. It can not be justly charged against
them that they were disposed to treat the native populations with
cruelty, or to do otherwise than subject them to the influences of the
Jesuit system of education and government. Whatsoever faults of
management are properly attributable to them—and there are many
—are easily traceable to that system itself, which, from its very
nature, has always been, and must continue to be, inflexible.
Inasmuch as blind and uninquiring obedience to the superior is the
most prominent and fundamental principle of the society, everything,
in either government or religion or morals, must bend to that, or
break. There is no half-way ground—no compromise—nothing but
obedience. Everything is reduced to a common level, leaving
individuals without the least sense of personal responsibility except
to those in authority above them. For these reasons, it is necessary
to remember, whilst examining the course and influences of the
Jesuits in Paraguay, that whatsoever transpired was in obedience to
the command of the superior in Rome, who held no personal
intercourse with the natives, and whose animating and controlling
purpose was to grasp the entire dominion over the New World in his
own hands. It was chargeable to the constitution and organization of
the society, which, as already explained, so emphatically embodies
the principle of absolute monarchism as to place it necessarily in
antagonism with every form of liberal and popular government. If
the Government they established in Paraguay, and maintained for
one hundred and fifty years, had not been monarchical, it could not
have had Jesuit paternity or approval. If, from any cause, at any
period of its existence, it had become otherwise by the introduction
of popular features, it would have encountered Jesuit resistance.
Monarchism and Jesuitism are twin sisters. Popular liberty and
Jesuitism can not exist in unity; the former may tolerate the latter,
but the latter can not be reconciled without exterminating everything
but itself. Whatsoever institutions existed, therefore, in Paraguay
whilst the country was under the exclusive dominion of the Jesuits,
must be held to have been in precise conformity to the Jesuit
constitution, and of such a character as the society would yet
establish wheresoever they possessed the power either to frame
new institutions or to change existing ones.
The Jesuit idea of exclusiveness and superiority influenced the
conduct of their missionaries in Paraguay as elsewhere. But for this,
different results might have ensued. If they had been content to
recognize the monastic orders as equally important and meritorious
as their own in the field of missionary labor, and the ancient
machinery of the Church as retaining its capacity for effectiveness in
spreading Christianity throughout the world—if, in other words, they
had been content to recognize any merit as existing elsewhere than
among themselves—the natives might have been subjected to a very
different destiny from that which, in the end, overwhelmed them.
But they were not permitted, by the nature and character of their
order, to entertain any such feelings, or to cherish any ideas of
success other than those which promised to inure to their own
advancement. Accordingly we find them—as explained by one of
their modern defenders of high celebrity—basing their claim to
exclusive jurisdiction over the natives of Paraguay upon the express
ground that the ecclesiastical influences sent out under the auspices
of the Church and the patronage of the Spanish and Portuguese
kings, had become injurious rather than beneficial to the natives, in
consequence of the most flagrant corruption. In explanation of the
course pursued by the Jesuit missionaries, he says: "One of the first
experiences of the missioners was, that it was in vain to hope for
any permanent fruit among the Indians, unless they were separated
from the evil influences of the Europeans, who swarmed into the
New World, carrying with them all the vices of the Old, and adding
to them the licentiousness and cruelty which the freedom of a new
country and the hopes of speedy riches bring with them."[93] This
same author also speaks of "the hordes of adventurers who flocked
over to the New World, the scum of the great cities of Europe," in
order to show that by intercourse with them the natives knew "little
more of the Christian name than the vices of those who professed
it."[94] To let it be known that "lay adventurers" are not alone
referred to, he mentions expressly the "worldly and ambitious
ecclesiastics and religious," who were "forgetful of the spirit of their
calling, or apostates from their rule."[95] He casts a variety of
aspersions upon the characters of the Bishops of Assumption and of
Buenos Ayres, and maintains the proposition with earnestness, that
if the Indians were allowed to have unrestrained intercourse with the
Spaniards, "they would derive the worst consequences from their
bad example, which is entirely opposed to the principles of morality."
[96]

In this the Jesuits displayed their wonderful astuteness, and it may

be supposed that they employed these and other kindred allegations
with effect in Spain, inasmuch as they succeeded in obtaining from
the king a special "prohibition for Europeans to set foot in" Paraguay,
so that they could thereby secure exclusive control of the natives
and bring them under Jesuit influences alone, independent of the
monastic orders and the ecclesiastical authorities of the Church.[97]
This was a great stroke of policy upon their part, because by
ignoring the Church, its ecclesiastics, and the monastic orders, they
were enabled to assume prerogatives of the most extravagant
character, and to hold themselves out to the natives as the only
Europeans worthy of obedience and the only true representatives of
Christian civilization. Not only, therefore, in the manner of securing
the royal approval of their exclusive pretensions, but in the character
of the Government established by them, did they exhibit their chief
characteristics of ambition, vanity, and superciliousness—
characteristics they have never lost.
The Government established by them in Paraguay was essentially
monarchical. It could not have been otherwise under the principles
of their constitution. Under the false name of a Christian republic, it
was, to all intents and purposes, a theocratic State, so constructed
as to free it from all European influences except such as emanated
from their superior at Rome. All the intercourse they had with the
Church and the pope was through him, and whatsoever commands
he gave were uninquiringly obeyed by them, without stopping to
investigate or concerning themselves in the least to know whether
the Church and the pope approved or disapproved them. In order to
impress the natives with the idea of their independence and of their
superiority over the monastic orders and the Church ecclesiastics,
they practiced the most artful means to persuade them to hold no
intercourse with either Spaniards or Portuguese, upon the ground
that they could not do so without encountering the example of their
vices and immoralities. The unsuspecting Indians were easily
seduced by acts of kindness, and the result was that, in the course
of a brief period, they succeeded in establishing a number of what
were called Reductions—or, more properly speaking, villages—with
multitudes of Indians assembled about them; the whole
aggregating, in the end, several hundred thousand. These
constituted the Jesuit State, and were all, by the mere ceremony of
baptism, brought under Jesuit dominion. At each Reduction the
natives were allowed to select a secular magistracy, with limited and
unimportant powers over such temporal affairs as could be intrusted
to them without impairing the theocratic feature of the Government.
But in order to provide against the possibility of permitting even
these few temporal affairs from being conducted independently of
them, they adopted the precaution of providing that, before any
important decisions were carried into effect, they should obtain their
sanction—as "spiritual shepherds." There never was anywhere a
more thorough and complete blending of Church and State together.
Although this new State was established under the pretense that it
was necessary to protect the natives against the bad influences of
the Spaniards and the Portuguese, the approval of it by the King of
Spain, Philip III, was obtained by the promise that "every adult must
pay him the tribute of one dollar"—a consideration of chief
importance with him. Philip IV was equally disposed to favor the
Jesuits, presumably for the want of proper information; for it would
have required but little investigation at that time to have discovered
that the only motive of the Jesuits for securing royal approbation in
Europe was that they might ultimately acquire power to plot against
European royalty itself when it should stand in the way of their
ambition. To show how little obedience was paid to the public
authorities of either Spain or Portugal, it is only necessary to observe
that each Reduction was governed by a Jesuit father, supported by a
vicar and a curate as assistants, but whose chief duty was
espionage. This governing father was under the orders of a superior,
who presided over a diocese of five or six parishes, the supervision
and management of the whole being lodged in the hands of a
provincial, who "received his orders direct from the general in
Rome."[98] If, therefore, the kings of Spain and Portugal supposed
that the Jesuits in Portugal intended to pay fidelity to them, or to
either of them, they were deceived—as, in the course of events,
they discovered. They obeyed their general in Rome, and him alone.
The praise ought not to be withheld from the Jesuits, that the
natives who were thus brought under their influences were better
and more kindly treated than those who were compelled to submit
to the dominion of Spaniards and Portuguese beyond the limits of
Paraguay. They "partook of their labors, of their amusements, of
their joys, of their sorrows. They visited daily every house in which
lay a sick person, whom they served as the kindest nurse, and to
whom they seemed to be ministering genii." By these and other
kindnesses they brought the Indians to look upon them with a
feeling bordering upon idolatry. But whilst they were friends, they
were also sovereigns, and "governed with absolute and
unquestioned authority."[99] This was a necessary and indispensable
part of their system of government, which embodied the Jesuit idea
of a Christian republic. It was in everything pertaining to the
management of public affairs an absolute monarchy, with all its
powers centered in the general at Rome, whose authority was
accepted as equal to that of God, and to whose command obedience
was exacted from all.
Apart from this governing authority, universal equality prevailed. The
principles of socialism or communism—very much as now
understood—governed all the Reductions. Everything necessary to
the material comfort and prosperity of the Indians was in common.
Each family had a portion of land set apart for cultivation. They also
learned trades, and many of them, both men and women, became
experts. But the earnings of the whole were deposited in common
storehouses at each Reduction, and distributed by the Jesuits in
such portions to each individual as necessity required. "Even meat
was portioned from the public slaughter-houses in the same way."
The surplus produce remaining after these distributions was sent to
Europe, and sold or exchanged for wares and merchandise, solely at
the discretion of the Jesuits. Everything was conducted in obedience
to them, and nothing contrary to their orders was tolerated. Rigid
rules of conduct and hours of labor were prescribed, and the
violators of them were subject to corporal punishment. Houses of
worship, colleges, and palatial residences for the Jesuit fathers, were
built by the common labor and at the expense of the common
treasury. Suffrage was universal; but "the sanction of the Jesuits was
necessary to the validity of the election." In fact, says Nicolini, "the
Jesuits substituted themselves for the State or community"[100]—a
fact which fully establishes the monarchical and theocratic character
of the Government.
In order to teach the confiding Indians that obedience to authority
was their chiefest duty, they were subjected to rules of conduct and
intercourse which were enforced with the strictest severity. They
were watched in everything, the searching eyes of the Jesuits being
continually upon them. They constituted, in fact, a state of society
reaching the Jesuit ideal completely; that is, docile, tractable,
submissive, obedient, without the least real semblance of manhood.
Having thus completed their subjugation, energetic measures were
adopted to render any change in their condition impossible. For this
purpose care was taken to exclude all other than Jesuit influences,
and to sow the seeds of disaffection towards everything European,
the object being to surround them with a high wall of ignorance and
superstition, which no European influences could overleap, and
within which their authority would be unbounded. They were
instructed that the Spaniards and the Portuguese were their
enemies, that the ecclesiastics and monkish missionaries sent over
by the Church were unworthy of obedience or imitation, and that the
only true religion was that which emanated from their society and
had their approval. If these simple-minded people were taught
anything about the Church, it was with the view of convincing them
that the Jesuits represented all its power, authority, and virtue, and
that whatsoever did not conform to their teachings was sinful and
heretical. If they were told anything about the pope, it was to
represent him as inferior to their general, who was to be regarded
by them as the only infallible representative of God upon earth. That
all other ideas should be excluded from their minds, they were not
permitted to hold any intercourse whatsoever with Europeans; for
fear, undoubtedly, they might hear that there was a Church at Rome,
and a pope higher than their general. They were not allowed to
speak any language but their own, so as to render it impossible to
acquire any ideas or opinions except such as could be expressed by
means of its limited number of inexpressive words; that is, to keep
them entirely and exclusively under Jesuit influences. To sum up the
whole, without further detail, the Indians were regarded as minors
under guardianship, and in this condition they remained for one
hundred and fifty years, without the possibility of social and national
development. They were saved, it is true, from the miseries of
Portuguese slavery, but kept in such a condition of inferiority and
vassalage as unfitted them for independent citizenship. Their limbs
were unchained; but their minds were "cabined, cribbed, confined,"
within bounds too narrow for matured thought, sentiment, or
reason.
It would not be fair to say that the first Jesuit missionaries to
Paraguay may not have been animated by the desire to improve the
condition of the Indians, or to withhold from them the meed of
praise justly due for the humanity of their motives. It is undoubtedly
true, as already intimated, that they did shield them from many of
the cruelties to which they had been subjected under the Spanish
and the Portuguese adventurers, who overran large portions of
South America in the search after wealth. But it can not be too
indelibly impressed upon our minds, in this age, that they acted in
strict obedience to the Jesuit system, which permitted no departure
from absolute monarchism, and centered all the duties of citizenship
in obedience to themselves as the sole representatives of the only
authority that was or could be legitimate. And not only did their
strict adherence to their system make it necessary for them to hold
the Indians in subjugation and treat them as inferior subjects, but it
involved them, at last, in collisions with the Spaniards and
Portuguese, and obliged them to treat the latter especially as
enemies, and to impress this fact upon the minds of the whole
Indian population. The consequence of this was to create an
independent and rebellious Government within the Portuguese
dominions, which necessarily brought the Jesuits in conflict with the
legitimate authority of the Portuguese Government. The Jesuits
foresaw this, and prepared for it. It is a fair inference from all the
contemporaneous facts that they desired it. At all events they
subjected the Indians at the Reductions to military training and
discipline, so as to be prepared for such emergencies as might arise
out of their relations with both the Spaniards and the Portuguese.
One would suppose that in a Government so far separated from the
rest of the world, and governed by those who professed to be
laboring alone for "the greater glory of God," the arts of peace
would be chiefly, if not exclusively, cultivated. But the successors of
the first Jesuit missionaries thought otherwise. Consequently,
besides refusing to allow the Indians any intercourse with the
Europeans, they would not permit them even to leave the
Reductions without permission, or to receive any impressions except
those emanating from themselves, or to do anything not dictated by
them. The result was what they designed, that the Indians came to
look upon all Europeans, whether ecclesiastic or lay, as enemies, and
the Jesuit as their only friends. They readily engaged, therefore, in
the manufacture of arms and ammunition, and submitted to military
discipline until they became a formidable army, subject, of course, to
the command of their Jesuit superiors. The sequel of Jesuit history
proves that in all this they were unconsciously creating an
antagonism which, in the end, overwhelmed them.
A violent feud sprang up between the Jesuits and the Franciscan
monks, which undoubtedly arose out of the claim of superiority and
exclusiveness set up and persisted in by the former. It may well be
inferred that the Jesuits were chiefly to blame for this feud, for the
reason that the Franciscans retained the confidence of the Church
authorities, and the Jesuits did not. At all events, however, they
were in open enmity with each other, and prosecuted their
controversy with an exceeding degree of bitterness upon both sides.
A distinguished citizen of the United States, who represented this
country as Minister to Paraguay, alluding to this fact, says: "The
Franciscan priests in the capital regarded them [the Jesuits] with
envy, suspicion, and jealousy. These last fomented the animosity of
the people against them, so that Government, priests, and people
regarded with favor, rather than otherwise, the destruction of the
missions, and the expulsion of their founders."[101] Notwithstanding
these hostile relations, however, between the Jesuits and the
Franciscans, and the disturbed condition of affairs existing between
the former and the Portuguese authorities, neither the pope nor the
King of Spain withdrew their patronage entirely from the Jesuits for
some years, and not until it was made manifest that they had
become an independent power, which might, if not checked, result in
complications injurious alike to the Church and the State. But the
time arrived, after a while, when it became necessary to impose
severe restraints upon their ambition, and to teach them that neither
the powers of Church nor State were concentrated in their hands.
They were required to learn—what they had seemed not before to
have been conscious of—that the authority they exercised in
Paraguay was usurped, and that if they desired to continue there as
a society, they must submit to be held in proper subordination. Being
unable or unwilling to realize this, they invited results which they
manifestly had not anticipated.
When the protracted controversy between Spain and Portugal, about
the boundaries of their respective possessions in South America,
reached an adjustment, it furnished an occasion for testing the
obedience of the Jesuits to royal authority. The two Governments,
after the usual delay in such matters, came to an amicable
understanding, and arranged the boundaries to their mutual
satisfaction. It placed a portion of the Jesuit missions under the
jurisdiction of the Portuguese, which they had supposed to belong to
Spain. The Jesuits refused to submit to this, and inaugurated the
necessary measures to resist it, being determined, if they could
prevent it, not to submit to the dominion of Portugal. Their
preference for Spain was because of the fact that the king of that
country was more favorably inclined to them than the Portuguese
king. But the history of the controversy justifies the belief that they
would not even have submitted to the former unresistingly,
inasmuch as it had undoubtedly become their fixed purpose to retain
the independence they had long labored to establish, by maintaining
their theocratic form of government. They had been so accustomed
to autocratic rule over the natives, that they could not become
reconciled to the idea of surrendering it to any earthly power. In this
instance, however, they encountered an adversary of whose courage
and capacity they had not the least conception, and whom they
found, in a brief period, capable of inflicting a death-blow upon the
society. This was Sebastian Cavalho, Marquis of Pombal, who was
the chief counselor of the Portuguese king.
Cavalho—better known as Pombal—and the King of Portugal, were
both faithful members of the Roman Church, and conducted the
Government in obedience to its requirements. But neither of them
was disposed to submit to the dictation of the Jesuits of Paraguay
with regard to the question of boundary—which was entirely political
—or submit to their rebellion against legitimate authority. Such a
question did not admit of compromise or equivocation. It presented
a vital issue they could neither avoid nor postpone, without
endangering the Government and forfeiting their own self-respect.
Consequently, they inaugurated prompt and energetic measures to
suppress the threatened insurrection of the Jesuits before it should
be permitted to ripen into open and armed resistance. From that
time forward the controversy constantly increased in violence. The
intense hatred of Pombal by the Jesuits has colored their opinions to
such an extent that they deny to him either talents or merit, and,
inasmuch as they charge all the ensuing results to him, he is
pictured by them more as a monster of iniquity than as a statesman
of acknowledged ability. All this, however, should count for nothing
in deciding the real merits of the controversy. The whole matter is
resolved into this simple proposition—that it was the duty of the
Government to vindicate and maintain its own authority in the face
of Jesuit opposition. It had nothing to do with the Church, nor the
Church with it. It did not involve any question of faith, but was
confined solely and entirely to secular and temporal affairs. And if,
under these circumstances, Pombal had quietly permitted the Jesuits
to defy the Government and consummate their object by successful
rebellion against its authority, he would have won from Jesuit pens
the brightest and most glowing praise, but his name would have
gone into history as the betrayer of his country.
With the foregoing facts impressed upon his mind, the reader will be
prepared to appreciate the subsequent events which led to the
expulsion of the Jesuits from all the Roman Catholic nations of
Europe, and finally to the suppression and abolition of the society, as
the only means of defense against its exactions and enormities.

FOOTNOTES:
[93] The Suppression of the Society of Jesus in the Portuguese
Dominions. By the Rev. Alfred Weld, "of the Society of Jesus."
London, 1877. Page 24.
[94] Ibid., p. 30.
[95] Ibid., p. 33.
[96] Ibid., p. 42.
 [97] The Suppression of the Society of Jesus in the Portuguese
Dominions. By the Rev. Alfred Weld, "of the Society of Jesus."
London, 1877. Page 42.
[98] History of the Jesuits. By Greisinger. Page 140.
[99] Nicolini, p. 302.
[100] Nicolini, pp. 303-304.
[101] History of Paraguay. By Washburn. Vol. I, p. 87.

CHAPTER XI.
THE PORTUGUESE AND THE JESUITS.
At the period referred to in the last chapter the Jesuits were held in
low esteem everywhere in Europe. They were severely censured, not
alone by Government authorities, but by the great body of the
Christian people, more especially those who desired to save the
Roman Church from their dangerous and baneful influences. The
leading Roman Catholic Governments were all incensed against
them, and it only required some master spirit, some man of courage
and ability, to excite universal indignation against them. Protestants
had comparatively little to do with the matter—nothing, indeed, but
to make public sentiment somewhat more distinct and emphatic.
Pombal understood thoroughly the character of the adversary he
was about to encounter—the adroit artifices which the Jesuits,
collectively and individually, were accustomed to practice, and by
which they had often succeeded in obtaining assistance from
unexpected quarters. Therefore he resolved at the outset not to
temporize with them, but to put in operation immediately a series of
measures of the most active and energetic character. He may not
have known that the other Roman Catholic Governments would unite
with that of Portugal, but he must have seen ground for believing
that they would, in the general displeasure they exhibited at the
conduct of the Jesuits throughout Europe. Howsoever this may have
been, he saw plainly his own line of duty toward the Portuguese
Government, and had not only the necessary courage, but the ability
to pursue it. A royal council was held at the palace of the King of
Portugal in 1757, at which he suggested "the imperative necessity of
removing the Jesuits from their posts of confessors to the royal
family," for the reason that the controversy in South America could
not be satisfactorily settled, if at all, so long as they remained in a
condition to influence the action and opinions of the king in any
degree whatsoever.[102] He knew perfectly well how ingeniously they
had wormed themselves into the confidence of kings, so that by
becoming their confessors they should not only obtain a knowledge
of the secrets of State, but so to influence the policy and action of
Governments as to promote their own interests. And like a sagacious
and skillful statesman, as he undoubtedly was, he saw at a glance
how necessary it was that they should not be permitted to have
further access to the king. The Jesuits represent the king as having
been unwilling to assent to this proposition; but that is not of the
least consequence, because, as they admit, he signed "the decree
which excluded all Jesuits from their office of confessors of the
court."[103] This was a terrible blow to them—perhaps the first of a
serious character they had ever encountered. It was made the more
serious by the fact that Portugal was recognized as a thoroughly
religious country, and sincerely devoted to the Church of Rome.
Whatsoever may have been its immediate effect upon the Jesuits, it
left no ground for retreat or equivocation upon either side, but
placed the contestants in direct and open hostility, each with drawn
swords. From that time forward the conflict, on the part of the
Jesuits, was one of life or death, and they fought it with a
desperation born of that belief.
To justify itself, and to explain to the European nations the reasons
which influenced it, the Portuguese Government caused to be
prepared a statement of grievances, wherein the course of the
Jesuits "in the Spanish and Portuguese dominions of the New World,
and of the war which they had carried on against the armies of the
two crowns," were set forth. It is insinuated that Pombal was the
author of this pamphlet, but no evidence of that has been produced.
It does not matter whether he was or not, inasmuch as it amounted
to such an arraignment of the Jesuits as gave tone to the public
sentiment of Europe, and influenced the course of all the
Governments toward the society. Viewed in this light, it becomes of
the utmost importance, inasmuch as we may rightfully regard as
true, even without special investigation, whatsoever influences the
action of Governments and communities, and can not safely accept
in opposition to it what interested parties—such as the Jesuits were
—may assert to the contrary. The substance of this statement is
contained in the work of Weld, one of the most earnest of the Jesuit
defenders. It is in the nature of an indictment against the Jesuits,
preferred by one of the leading Roman Catholic Governments of
Europe, and on that account is both important and instructive. Abuse
and vituperation—in the use of which the Jesuits are trained as
experts—are no answer to it.
After alleging that the power of the Jesuits had so increased as to
render it evident that there must be war between them and the
Government in Paraguay, it proceeds to affirm "that they were
laboring sedulously to undermine the good understanding existing
between the Governments of Portugal and Spain," and that "their
machinations were carried on from the Plata to the Rio Grande." It
then embodies in a few expressive words, as given by the Jesuit
Weld, these serious charges:
"That they had under them thirty-one great populations, producing
immense riches to the society, while the people themselves were
kept in the most miserable slavery; that no Spaniard or Portuguese,
were he even governor or bishop, was ever admitted into the
Reductions; that, 'with strange deceit,' the Spanish language was
absolutely forbidden; that the Indians were trained to an unlimited,
blind obedience, kept in the most 'extraordinary ignorance,' and the
most unsufferable slavery ever known, and under a complete
despotism as to body and soul; that they did not know there was
any other sovereign in the world than the fathers, and knew nothing
of the king, or any other law than the will of the 'holy fathers;' that
the Indians were taught that white laymen adored gold, had a devil
in their bodies, were the enemies of the Indians, and of the images
which they adored; that they would destroy their altars, and offer
sacrifices of their women and infants; and they were consequently
taught to kill white men wherever they could find them, and to be
careful to cut off their heads, lest they should come to life again."
[104]

One would scarcely suppose that, after this terrible arraignment of

the Jesuits in Paraguay, there could be any other counts added to
the indictment. But in order to aggravate these offenses and to
explain their disloyalty to the Government—as we learn from the
same Jesuit authority—they were also charged with opposing and
resisting the treaty of boundary between Spain and Portugal; with
carrying on a war against the two Governments; fortifying and
defending the passes leading to the Reductions with artillery; inciting
the Indians to revolt; and with exhibiting an obstinate resistance to
royal authority.[105]
There has never been, in the civilized world, such an enumeration of
serious offenses charged against any body of men by so high and
responsible authority as that of one of the leading Governments, as
Portugal was. The modern reader can not avoid the expression of
surprise when he realizes that they were made by those who
faithfully adhered to the Church of Rome, and against a society
which professed to have been organized to promote "the greater
glory of God," for the express reason that no existing order
sufficiently did so.
It is scarcely possible that such accusations as these would have
been made without some justifying cause. If they were even
exaggerated, the Government of Portugal must have obtained
information from responsible sources sufficiently reliable to authorize
a searching investigation. That, undoubtedly, was the object of
Pombal and the king, not merely in explanation of their own official
conduct, but to bring the conduct and attitude of the Jesuits to the
notice of other Governments. Whatsoever the direct object they had
in view, the charges thus formally made by them against the Jesuits
led to a fierce and angry controversy. The Jesuits defended
themselves with their accustomed violence, and it has required many
pages to convey to the world the character of the maledictions
visited by them upon the name and memory of Pombal. To us of the
present time these amount to very little, inasmuch as they are
almost entirely supported by ex parte statements of those implicated
by the Government, and which are entitled to no weight whatsoever
against the general verdict ultimately rendered by the European
nations, in obedience to public opinion. We can not accept the Jesuit
theory that these nations were all misled by false accusations, or
that the subsequent suppression of the society was the consequence
of undue popular prejudices. It is not difficult to deceive individuals,
but Governments and communities are not apt to fall into serious
errors. The collective judgments of whole populations are seldom
wrong.
It was natural that the Christians of Europe should become, not only
interested, but in some degree excited, when they came to know the
character of the charges made against the Jesuits by the authority of
the Portuguese Government. Many of them desired to look favorably
upon the order on account of the relations they supposed it to bear
to the Church. The Roman ecclesiastics were divided, some attacking
and others defending it. It became necessary, therefore, that the
matter should be brought to the attention of the pope, in order that
the final judgment should be pronounced by him, inasmuch as they
were considered a religious order, and, consequently, within the
proper jurisdiction of the Church. With this view, Pombal, in behalf of
the Government of Portugal, forwarded an official dispatch to Rome,
whereby the pope was informed of the causes of complaint against
them. The Jesuits say this dispatch is filled with "libels;" but this is to
be attributed chiefly to their hatred of Pombal, to whom they, of
course, assign the authorship. Nevertheless, it emanated from so
responsible a quarter that the pope felt himself obliged to give it due
consideration. He owed it to Portugal, no less than to the Church, to
cause a searching investigation to be made, so that it might be
ascertained whether the charges against the Jesuits were true or
false. This could not have been avoided, even if he had desired it,
and there is no evidence that he did.
Benedict XIV was at that time pope, and his secretary of briefs was
Cardinal Passionei, who had the reputation of being a man of
integrity and ability. The initiatory steps had, consequently, to be
taken by them. The pope, however, was in infirm health, and the
Jesuits insist that his sympathies were with them. This may probably
have been so; but if it were, it furnishes no argument in their favor,
because there was yet no evidence before him upon which any
decision could have been based. The question he had then to decide
was not whether they were innocent or guilty, but whether his duty
did not require of him to take the necessary steps to ascertain what
the truth really was. The charges were too serious to be passed over
without this, and whatsoever the fact may have been with regard to
his sympathies, Benedict XIV felt himself constrained to order, and
did order, an investigation to be made. His brief to that effect was
dated April 1, 1758, and addressed to Cardinal Saldanha by
Passionei, as the pope's secretary, and commanded that the charges
made by the Portuguese Government should be thoroughly
investigated, and the facts laid before him for his pontifical guidance.
This was the inauguration of a regular trial before a tribunal of
acknowledged jurisdiction, and probably had the effect of
suspending, in some degree, the public judgment to await his final
decision. The Jesuits could not rightfully have objected to this
course; and if it be true, as they insist, that the pope sympathized
with them, they doubtless congratulated themselves upon his
favorable inclination towards them. Whatsoever may have occurred
afterwards, the investigation undoubtedly had an impartial
beginning. On this account, the inquirer who desires to understand
the history and character of the Jesuits, will be interested in its
important details.
Cardinal Saldanha was appointed "visitor and reformer of the
society," with full power to reform whatsoever abuses should be