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 Novitiate or, a year amonjg the Enalsh 
 
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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029412917 
 
THE NOYITIATE; 
 
 OB, 
 
 A YEAR AMONG THE ENGLISH JESUITS.- 
 
THE NOVITIATE; 
 
 OR, 
 
 A TEAB AMONG THE ENGLISH JESUITS: 
 
 A PERSONAL NARRATIVE. 
 
 WITH 
 
 AN ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS, 
 Cde Canfessional jKtoralits, anii l^tstors ot t^e Jfesuits. 
 
 BY ANDKEW STEINMETZ. 
 
 * Nor aught so good, but strain'd from that fair use, 
 Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse 1" 
 
 Romeo and Juliet^ Act. II. Scma III, 
 
 LONDON: 
 SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 65, COENHILL. 
 
 1846. 
 
London : 
 
 Printed by STEWiar and Mcbhat, 
 
 Old Bailey. 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 A TRUNCATED biography, like a cone in the same 
 condition, seems to require some account of the 
 eliminated section. The author must disclose so 
 much of his previous history, as will be necessary to 
 enable the reader to comprehend, and duly to appre- 
 ciate, the events that must, to a great extent, be 
 intimately connected with the former. 
 
 The past, the present, and the future in the life of 
 man, are three interjections in one and the same 
 sentence : and the reader whose heart can sympathise 
 with the feeling indicated by the first, will respond, 
 like the vibration of the musical string, to the sigh 
 that saddens the second in the dirge of life. 
 
 I was born in an island situated between the 
 tropics — a Swedish colony. My parents were of 
 German and French origin : at the time of my birth, 
 and long after, they were sufficiently wealthy. 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 My father was a "liberal" Protestant, my mother 
 not a "bigoted" Catholic: still, of six children five 
 were devoted to the baptism of Rome, and only one 
 conceded to that of Luther. 
 
 To my seventh year, I was permitted to grow in 
 health and strength, unmolested by study of any 
 kind. Scorched and tanned by the vertical fierce sun 
 of the tropics ; battling ever and anon with the wild 
 waves, and borne on their crests as they lashed the 
 rocks of our sea-girt isle — with hook and line, seated 
 on some solitary boulder, the waves breaking around 
 — or with my father sailing in our pleasure-boat far 
 out to sea, on that ocean which I had so often to 
 cross in after life — or engaged in some handy-work at 
 home, learning to use every mechanical tool — for my 
 father prided himself in being able to work at every 
 trade, self-taught : such was my childhood. 
 
 In my tenth year I lost my father. In my twelfth 
 my mother took me from school, and consigned me 
 to the care of a priest to prepare me for my first 
 communion ; or as she said, " to break me in." The 
 dogmas of the faith were then imparted to me for the 
 first lime. The seeds of religion sank deep in the 
 virgin soil — I embraced the faith with rapture — went 
 to confession every week, and to communion every 
 fortnight. Such was the result of two months, 
 exclusively dedicated to the study of religion in the 
 house of the priest. With religious fervour came 
 
PREFACE. VU 
 
 zeal for the conversion of heretics. I studied contro- 
 versy. In my twelfth year I strove to propagate the 
 faith. I attacked the forlorn hope of my father's re- 
 ligion — my elder sister; and she was converted to 
 the faith of Rome. I often think of the day when 
 she surrendered to me her poor Common-Prayer Book 
 to be transferred to the priest, at his request — then to 
 be consigned emendaturis ignibus, to the cleansing 
 fires ! 
 
 My mother destined me for the medical profession : 
 I studied it two years, vowing myself, meanwhile, to 
 the priesthood. I obtained her consent, at length, 
 and was sent to England. At St. Cuthbert's Col- 
 lege, commonly called Ushaw, near Durham, I re- 
 mained rather more than five years. 
 
 Within the first year after my arrival, I lost my 
 mother: and then my nigLt of bitterness began — 
 every letter I received from my home gave a pang! By 
 intense application to study, and increased devotional 
 fervour, I strove to forget the fate that impended. 
 
 I was now a poor student on the funds of the 
 college — pledged to the priesthood. Tolerable suc- 
 cess in my studies tended to soothe the pangs of 
 pride in humiliation. 
 
 Controversy continued to be my favourite study. 
 Tt cost me " the faith." I argued myself into doubts. 
 
 By my nineteenth year I had read more than the 
 course of studies required, or allowed, in classic and 
 
VUl PHEFACE. 
 
 general literature ; in natural and moral philosophy : 
 for I have never lost a day in idleness of mind since 
 the hour vrhen I first went to school, in my seventh 
 year. 
 
 About this period a hope flashed on my mind, that 
 I might be able, by returning to the world, to re- 
 trieve the fortunes of my family. This hope sounded 
 a truce to my temptations against the faith, from 
 which I longed to escape by a life of action ; and I 
 resolved to resign the certainties of the priesthood 
 for the hopes of my dreams. 
 
 The reader is now in possession of all the informa- 
 tion h^ requires, concerning my previous history. 
 
 In the Narrative that follows, he will find the 
 next stage of my journey, — 
 
 " While still pursuing, still unblest, 
 I wander on, nor dare to rest !" 
 
 Andrew Steinmetz. 
 
 Fakeriham, Nin-folh. 
 Feb. 1846. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 
 Page 
 Inlioduction ,1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Inspiration, and Reception at Stonyhurst ... 8 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Impressions .... r .... 16 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Admission to the Novitiate 25 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Three Houses : Ways and Means : Silent Influences 
 
 — Progress 32 
 
 a 
 
K CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER v.* 
 
 Page 
 
 The Retreat — Doubts and Wavering — The Investment and 
 
 Blessing 49 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The Novice — A Contemplation — Results .... 78 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 A Day's Occupation ....... 91 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Cui Bono, or What's the Good of it? . . . .117 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 EcOLomics of the Novitiate — The Master, Minister, 
 
 Monitors . . . . . . . . 135 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Gaires — Recreation — Missionary Duties . . . 166 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Effects of the Training 182 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 The Feast of Ignatius ....... 191 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Dryness — Remarkable Cure — Opinions . . . .217 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Page 
 
 Visits from Friends — Letters — Festivities — Strangers' 
 
 Retreats 229 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Mortifications — Reprimands — Briefs — The Chapter — 
 
 Manifestation 238 
 
 CHAPTER XVr. 
 The Chain— the Discipline, Fasting, &c 248 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Reflections — The Superior's Retreat — A General Order 
 
 —A Pang 259 
 
 CHAPTER XVHI. 
 
 Interview with the Provincial — Les Adieux — A Blessing 
 
 and a Prayer — The Departure ..... 266 
 
 An Essay on the Constitutions, the Confissional Morality, 
 AND History of the Jesuits : 
 
 Introduction ...... 
 
 Ignatius of Loyola — The Society — Its Rise 
 The Society — Its Constitutions — Progress 
 The Society — Its Decline and Fall . 
 The Society — Its Present State 
 The Jesuits in England 
 
 275 
 278 
 287 
 337 
 367 
 368 
 
THE NOVITIATE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The following narrative is an autobiography; with 
 this distinction, that it is only the history of one year 
 of my life — only twelve months : but a year of pecu- 
 liar interest in a man's life, it must be allowed. Dur- 
 ing that time of trial, what opportunities of self-exami- 
 nation have I not had ? In it I lived over again the 
 past — I sought to anticipate the future. Separated 
 from the world, from kindred, and friends — from all 
 the ordinary pursuits and objects of life — from their 
 anxieties, hopes, and fears — I gazed upon the world 
 as a dispassionate observer, who was to mix in its 
 concerns, perhaps take an active part in its manage- 
 ment, without entertaining a thought of self, or 
 having any individual interest to forward. I was 
 trained in spirit as men are trained in body who 
 have to struggle desperately for mastery, or to per- 
 
-6 INTEODUCTIOX. 
 
 form feats which seem impossible to ordinary mortals. 
 The novice of the Society of Jesus has to pierce 
 into his own mind, to examine the depths of his natm-e, 
 to consider his affections, to feed (so to speak) on his 
 own heart. He has wrenched himself from father 
 and mother, brother and sister, friends and connec- 
 tions — in a word, from society, root and branch, in 
 order to be reconstituted as an individual, according 
 to the plan and system laid down by Ignatius of 
 Loyola. His battle has been with "nocturnal fear" 
 and " the noon-day devil ;" he has wrestled with the 
 angel ; he has gone through the fires of temptation ; 
 and if he has not become a Jesuit, he can look back 
 dispassionately on the process through which he has 
 passed ; and, perhaps, instruct his fellow-creatures 
 with the narrative of his experience, without indulg- 
 ing any ill will towards those who permitted him to 
 try their method. 
 
 It is this that I purpose to do in these pages. 
 My object is truth alone. I desire to exhibit the 
 Jesuits and their course of instruction exactly as I 
 found them and it. I have no motive for conceal- 
 ment or exaggeration. It has been usual to exhibit 
 the men among whom for a time my lot was cast, as 
 either angels or devils; I shall merely represent 
 them as I found them. I would rather that my 
 statements should be accused of wanting interest than 
 attempt to make them startling by the insertion of 
 fictitious details. I leave others to furnish materials 
 for romance. My aim is less to amuse the idle, than 
 to afford information to those serious and earnest 
 
INTRODUCTION. tj 
 
 minds, who, surveying the rapid growth and expan- 
 sion of Jesuit power, ask whether the movement is 
 for good or for evil — who would fain know something 
 authentic of the training, organization, and govern- 
 ment of that tremendous Society, which once enacted 
 so great a part in the history of the world, and now 
 again appearing on the scene, changed to suit the 
 changes of the world — adapted to its new wants, 
 wishes, conditions, trials, and temptations — aims once 
 more to obtain supremacy over the mind and actions 
 of mankind. 
 
 At the same time, I trust that there is no breach 
 of confidence in divulging the doings of the Novi- 
 tiate; since the object of all the discipline of train- 
 ing-houses of every description being honest and 
 honourable, there can be no rational objection to the 
 means being known to all the world. No promise 
 was exacted from me to that effect; therefore, it 
 is to be presumed, the reverend fathers were not 
 ashamed of anything that took place in the Novitiate 
 — at least, I hope not. 
 
 Since I left the Novitiate, I have often spoken of 
 my experience to my friends, and, as they have been 
 interested with my recital, I have imagined that a 
 narrative of my spiritual training and progress, under 
 the influence of the famous "Exercises" of Ignatius, 
 may be instructive at this time, when pious people 
 seem to be convulsed all over the world — yearning 
 after change, desirous of novelty, uncertain what to 
 do with their souls. Let them not fancy that the 
 Jesuits will be inactive spectators of any movement 
 
4 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 that takes place in the religious or political constitu- 
 tions of the world. They are spread abroad over the 
 earth ; they are mixing in all societies ; they have 
 their institutions in the midst of the most crowded 
 marts of life. People must not imagine that the 
 "Wandering Jew" has demolished the Society 
 more eflPectually than the "Provincial Letters" of 
 old ; and still less must they opine that the severe 
 measures against the Jesuits in France have mate- 
 rially damaged the " cause" — far from it : the hydra 
 will put forth more heads than have been lopped off; 
 and, what is more, I will venture to predict that the 
 secret machinations of the redoubtable conspirators 
 will, before very long, be found to have given them a 
 pretty solid foundation even in this country, the bul- 
 waik of Protestantism. The Jesuits are tough 
 fellows ; every man amongst them has all the strong 
 motives for action, which give force, energy, intention 
 to the whole body, and the whole body moves as one 
 man. To my mind the Jesuits, or rather Loyola, 
 has devised a system which gives to his sons all the 
 properties which the Creator has given to "matter:" 
 that is, the true Jesuit has mobility, divisibility, 
 malleability, compressibility, tenacity, elasticity, and 
 porosity. It is to all these mental qualities of these 
 wonderful workers that we must ascribe their signal 
 triumphs in every quarter of the globe, and their 
 greatness even in defeat and desolation. They have 
 such fascination that their deadliest enemies have, in 
 the moment of their extreme peril, declared them- 
 selves their "friends indeed." Witness the conduct 
 
INTRODUCTION. 6 
 
 of the Russian cabinet at the time of their suppres- 
 sion : the very power which had pertinaciously re- 
 sisted and proscribed their attempts, received them 
 with open arms when rejected, even from the paternal 
 bosom of the " Holy Father," who disowned his best 
 supporters ! It is no wonder that these men look 
 ,upon themselves as the objects of special Provi- 
 dence, and walk forward, muffled in portentous 
 gloom, to the grand consummation which they still 
 believe will make amends for their past humiliation. 
 But that gloom is a blind only to their enemies: there 
 is a beacon-light in their van, — they fancy, at least, 
 that they see it, and they march on confident of 
 victory. 
 
 I confess that I cannot refrain from admiring the 
 unflinching tenacity of these men. To the philo- 
 sopher there can be but one opinion with regard to 
 their practices, doctrines, and morality ; but putting 
 these questions aside, I propose to show them forth 
 in a psychological and social point of view : how they 
 twist and wreneh, and bend and dove-tail poor 
 humanity to serve their purposes, that is: " For the 
 greater glory of God" — the standing motto, as every 
 one knows, of the Jesuits. 
 
 Bold or submissive — firm as a rock, or pliant as a 
 willow— the Jesuit must know his "time for all 
 things" — when a virtue must be possessed or feigned, 
 or a vice be absent or dissembled. Thus without, he 
 is a Proteus of wonderful versatility — within, always 
 and for ever the same — man of o&erfience— fashioned 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and trained in heart and mind strongly to will, and 
 promptly to act — and yet, if it| should seem more 
 expedient, content to bide his time ! He has had 
 certain principles of action drilled into him over and 
 over again ; he has been made to acquire a perfect 
 mastery over himself; he has been set to study him- 
 self before the mirror of perpetual self-examination ; 
 he has been humbled to the very dust in ten thou- 
 sand trials, in all which he has stood firm to the test; 
 he has been "inspired" with the belief — as firm as 
 his belief in God — that obedience to his superior 
 can never be wrong; he has been impressed with the 
 conviction that he has no tie on earth or in society, 
 but to his order: something more than a nominis 
 umbra — indeed, its very name is guaranteed immor- 
 tality, by the exalted source of its derivation ! 
 
 Again, the Jesuit is a. picked man. No one will be 
 admitted into the Novitiate, who is the least de- 
 formed; he must be guiltless of any public or noto- 
 rious crime; he should be born in lawful wedlock. 
 He must have talent of some kind : rather more than 
 average abilities. For the rest, it will be shown 
 hereinafter, what care they take to teach the novice 
 the useful art of "behaving himself in company." 
 Talk of "Hints on Etiquette!" The Jesuits can 
 show you a huge folio on the subject, written for the 
 study of the novices by one of their own Society ; 
 which, as all the world knows, can boast of writers 
 on every subject from the most trivial to the most 
 important. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I shall have occasion to speak of the origin 
 and progress of this Society, but I have first to 
 narrate the commencement of my personal connectioa 
 with it. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE INSPIRATION, AND EECEPTION AT STONYHUEST. 
 
 I SHALL never forget the glow of enthusiasm that 
 sent the blood rushing through my heart when 
 I first conceived the idea of becoming a Jesuit. 
 
 It was in London — in Fleet-street. I can point 
 out the very stone of the pavement on which I stood 
 at that eventful moment. Hardly an instant was 
 given for consideration. The idea took complete 
 possession of my mind, and I believed it to be an 
 inspiration. I turned on my heel, wended my way 
 
 to street, knocked, was admitted, and stood in 
 
 the presence of a — Jesuit, for the first time in my 
 life. 
 
 My resolve, though it assumed the character of 
 religious enthusiasm, was not, I must confess, wholly 
 free from worldly feelings. My position at that time 
 may be stated in the very words which I addressed 
 to the agent of the J esuits. I was in a strange land, 
 disappointed in all my hopes, friendless, despairing; 
 and — with every reason, as I thought, to be so — dis- 
 
THE INSPIRATION. 9 
 
 gusted with the world — ay, disgusted with this beau- 
 tiful world, which offers an equal share of bliss to 
 all, if we would only learn to adapt our minds to the 
 state in which we find ourselves, and would fall back, 
 in the very midst of the worst destiny, on the sooth- 
 ing, and, I may say, proud conviction, that because 
 we are permitted to live, therefore are we the fa- 
 voured retainers of a beneficent Providence, which 
 has some work for us to do. 
 
 The reverend gentleman listened to my animated 
 address apparently with interest. When I con- 
 cluded, he put several questions to me respecting my 
 former life, the place where I was educated, and 
 finished with assuring me that, if I could get testi- 
 monials of my good conduct from the president of 
 the college in which I had been brought up, there 
 was every probability of my being received into the 
 Novitiate. In the mean time he advised me to go 
 to the library of the British Museum and read the 
 " Constitutions of the Society." He promised me 
 that he would write to the Provincial on the subject, 
 but said that some time would elapse before a final 
 answer would be given. " Still," he added, " you 
 may hope for the best." 
 
 If my enthusiasm was great before I entered the 
 house, it was transcendent when I left! Despair 
 was changed into hope ! I looked up to Heaven, 
 and breathed a fervent prayer of thanksgiving. I 
 blessed the misfortunes that had hurled me into 
 poverty, apparently but to lead me to the destiny 
 which was appointed for me by Heaven. 
 
10 THE INSPIEATION, AND 
 
 It is singular how great a change was wrought in 
 my feelings by this brief interview with the reverend 
 father. His hopeful words, acting on my mind 
 then excited to the highest pitch of religious enthu- 
 siasm, made me believe myself under the especial 
 guidance of Providence : this belief affected the 
 course of my conduct, and made even trivial cir- 
 cumstances appear to me direct interpositions of 
 Heaven. 
 
 I was aware that I could not enter the library 
 of the Museum without a recommendation ; but I did 
 not hesitate to enter boldly, search the catalogues, 
 and write for the book I wanted. I was now in the 
 hands of Providence ; and the barriers of human 
 will, against such a motive, were as nought. One 
 must have felt this species of enthusiasm to compre- 
 hend it in its fullest extent. 
 
 I was not disappointed. The book was brought 
 to me without a question. I considered this trivial 
 incident as another Divine interposition. I read 
 with avidity the pages which were to me a new 
 Gospel or " good tidings" of the happy vocation to 
 which I was called: nay, as I conceived, predestined; 
 for I now clearly discovered that every circumstance 
 of my life was but a link of the celestial chain that 
 extended from my birth to the bosom of Ignatius ! 
 
 Week after week I called on the agent, but no 
 answer had been sent. My visits were short, but 
 still long enough for scrutinising questions as to my 
 " vocation." I stood the test — my enthusiasm had 
 increased, not diminished. Though, strange to say, 
 
RECEPTION AT STONYHUEST. 11 
 
 I had read every book that had been written against 
 the Jesuits, and saw reason to believe many of the 
 charges, still I set them all aside with this sincere 
 exclamation : " Whatever they have been, or are, 
 Heaven calls me to this Society. I, at least, will be 
 an honest Jesuit !" 
 
 At length an answer came — I was accepted ! 
 
 "Thank God!" said I to the agent, "then I have 
 not lived in vain I" 
 
 But, medio defonte leporum- — surgit amari aliquid ; 
 I was in debt for my lodgings! When aware of my 
 circumstances, the agent gave me the requisite sum 
 of money — thus, thought I, Heaven has repurchased 
 ray body as it had my soul ! I was affected to tears 
 by my emotion, and by the mark of confidence and 
 regard which was given me on the threshold of my 
 Novitiate. 
 
 In the month of February, 1838, I left London 
 for Stonyhurst. — the world for religion — myself for 
 " the phantom of hope !" 
 
 On reaching Liverpool, my first visit was to a 
 priest who had been my master of elocution at 
 college. With this kind gentleman I spent a plea- 
 sant day. My fervour was increased by his rehgious 
 and philosophical conversation. 
 
 On the foUovying day, I set out once more for 
 Stonyhurst — my first stage being to Blackburn. I 
 arrived at Blackburn in the afternoon; and, not 
 having money enough to pay for a conveyance, 
 I left my trunk, and set out on foot for the college, 
 ten or twelve miles distant. It was a brilliant frosty 
 
12 THE INSPIRATION, AND 
 
 night of February. The silent stars looked down on 
 my pilgrimage as the eyes of approving Heaven. 
 Oh ! what a future seemed opening before me ! I 
 felt as Ignatius must have felt when he set forth 
 to dedicate his body and soul to "our Lady of 
 Montserrat •" but I regretted that I had no arms to 
 hang up on her altar as trophies of the " Queen of 
 Heaven."* 
 
 ,^ Accustomed to long walks from one end of Lon- 
 don to the other, I felt my strength redoubled by the 
 hopes whose first earnest of fulfilment was now in 
 my grasp — my admission to the Novitiate ! 
 
 Mile after mile on the frost-flinty road I n^ea- 
 sured — my thoughts far away in the brilliant future. 
 
 In spite of my inquiries at the few cottages I 
 passed, I missed my way twice — till at last the 
 towers of the ancient mansion cast their lengthened 
 shadows towards me, as the moon, declining to the 
 west, lavished upon their aged heads that inspiring 
 light in which " ruined battlement and tower" seem 
 to dream of " other days" — seem to meditate their 
 history, pensively, sadly, as one whose regrets awake 
 no kindred feeling of pity or of love. 
 
 I knocked, was admitted, and led to a parlour, 
 where I did not wait many minutes before one of 
 the Fathers made his appearance. He was the 
 rector of the college at that time — a man of mild, 
 bland features, and tender expression. He has since 
 then been sent forth to the vineyard, and has had 
 the gratification, as I have been informed, to " re- 
 * BouHOUBs — La Vie de St. Ignace, liv. i. 
 
HECEPTION AT STONYHUEST. 13 
 
 ceive into the church" more than one, or two, or 
 three of the Tractarian harvest 
 
 I was received with welcome, and congratulated 
 on my zeal which had not grudged a walk of twelve 
 miles in the holy cause. " Welcome to the Society of 
 Jesus !" said the gentleman just alluded to, cordially 
 grasping my hand — and his kind manner compen- 
 sated for the uncouth bluntness of another Jesuit 
 who came in shortly after. 
 
 A good supper was kindly prepared for me ; and 
 after a short conversation — for the Fathers commise- 
 rated my long walk — I was shown to my room — to 
 sleep and dream of my happy lot! 
 
 On the following day, which was Sunday, I 
 " offered up the mass" in thanksgiving for the glo- 
 rious vocation which was vouchsafed unto me ; never 
 doubting that I had at length found the destiny to 
 which I was born, and had only "to go forth and 
 conquer." 
 
 On the Monday I was formally enrolled : my 
 name, age, &c., being recorded in the book kept for 
 that purpose. After the lapse of two days, which I 
 spent very agreeably with the reverend fathers, I 
 was told that my room was ready to receive me at 
 the Novitiate, and that the " Father of the Novices" 
 would be glad to see me as soon as possible. I 
 must state that I had passed much of my time since 
 my arrival with different " Fathers," whose care was 
 to prepare my mind for my future life in the Novi- 
 tiate, and to observe my character, according to the 
 custom of the Jesuits. 
 
14 THE INSPIRATION, AND 
 
 The " Constitutions" require twelve or twenty dayS) 
 and even a longer period, as the Superior may think 
 fit, to be spent by the future novice in this preli- 
 minary probation. Formerly a separate part of the 
 establishments was consecrated to this ordeal. No 
 intercourse was permitted with any one not deputed 
 by the Superior, and those who had the candidate 
 in charge were to instruct him in those concerns of 
 the Society which he might safely know; whilst by 
 the same intercourse the Society would become 
 more fully cognisant of his character "in our Lord."* 
 This is a convenient set-phrase which may be called the 
 talisman of Ignatius ; for almost every page of the 
 " Constitutions" iterates it with such seeming so- 
 lemnity, that one is well nigh apt to believe that 
 the " Constitutions" are one thing, and the Jesuits 
 another — a belief to which I admit my inclination. 
 
 Notwithstanding the rule of the " Constitutions" 
 just given, I was not kept longer than three days as 
 a " guest :" very few questions were put to me. I 
 could gain but little information concerning the 
 Society from my companions; so that although my 
 time passed, so to speak, very agreeably, I was not 
 sorry when I received the order to start for the Novi- 
 tiate. 
 
 I think I am fully justified in saying, in the 
 introduction, that the Order is changed to suit the 
 changes of society : perhaps the sequel will further 
 attest this judgment. The changes may be small, 
 but they show a clever adaptability to meet the re- 
 
 * Const. Part i. cap, 4. et Decl. A. Part i. 
 
RECEPTION AT STONYHUBST. 15 
 
 quirements of the age. If the Jesuit owes his youth 
 to the spirit of the " Constitutions," he has to thank 
 the obloquy of fame, the design of his order, his 
 segregation from humanity, for his manhood — that 
 manhood which no honest man envies in the miud of 
 him whose greatness stoops to craft — whose virtue 
 dallies with vice — whose gifts to humanity are bribes 
 to the frivolous, and whose religion, if it is not the ad- 
 vancement, the aggrandizement of his order, is cer- 
 tainly the lever which is made to work to that un- 
 conquerable lust of his burning heart — that advance- 
 ment, that aggrandizement of his order ! 
 
16 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 The impression made on my mind by the " Fathers" 
 of the Society, at my first interview and in subse- 
 quent conversations, was by no means such as I had 
 expected to receive from the sons of Igisatius. Bona- 
 parte said,"Qu'il nefaut jamais se faire de tableaux;" 
 but I am a physiognomist : I love a fine face, and still 
 more a fine head. Aware of what the " Constitutions" 
 require on that score, I was disappointed with the 
 specimens of Jesuits who had me in charge for the few 
 days before I went to Hodder-house. I had pictured 
 them to myself as keen-eyed, quick, and intellectual: 
 I found them generally the reverse. This may, per- 
 haps, be accounted for by the fact (which should be 
 known), that the Jesuits in England send out their 
 best men to work " in the vineyard;" apparently con- 
 scious that, if the out-posts be well defended, the inner 
 fortress must be secure. The agent in London and 
 the Provincial were thus exceptions. The former, 
 from the very first interview, seemed to me a some- 
 thing of former days : there was that in his flashing 
 
IMPRESSIONS. 17 
 
 eye, massive brows, and dark features, which told a 
 history to come that might be not unlike the past. 
 He was a man of few words, and spoke without " su- 
 perlatives," according to the practice of Ignatius.* He 
 seemed to me a man of strong passions, and yet emi- 
 nently prudent. His glance was vivid, but it did not 
 centre in my eyes : it fell somewhere below the eye- 
 lids. I never enjoyed that pleasure, to me most gra- 
 tifying, of mingling glance with glance in the heart's 
 uprightness. His exterior, though rather portly, was 
 imposing from its altitude ; and he sat like one whose 
 mind is never idle, and whose portrait, if taken by a 
 hundred different pencils, would still present in each 
 the same expression — like that of Dr. Johnson, or 
 Napoleon. 
 
 Of his acquirements I was unable to judge, my 
 visits being very short — shorter than I wished. Of his 
 natural endowments I am perfectly convinced : he has 
 tact, energy, and penetration. His extreme caution 
 was exhibited in the fact, that he positively refused to 
 apply for an introduction to the library of the Museum 
 for me : " he did not wish to come forward." I asked 
 him to lend me the " Constitutions ;" this, he said, he 
 was not allowed to do.f Hence my successful attempt 
 to " dispense" with the regulations of the library — an 
 attempt which would be very difficult in the present 
 organization of the reading-room. 
 
 A curious incident, which I will now relate, may 
 enable the reader to appreciate, according to its true 
 
 * Boubours, La Vie de St. Ignace, lir. vi. 
 t According to Rule xxsvui, 
 C 
 
18 IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 Standard value, much of the Jesuit-discipline to be 
 detailed in the sequel : — 
 
 At the agent's request I wrote for testimonials to St, 
 Cuthbert's college,stating to the president my intention 
 of joining the society. I forgot to give my address in 
 the letter; and not having received the reply on the 
 expected day, I went to the agent to tell him of my 
 disappointment. On being admitted, he pointed to a 
 letter on the mantelpiece ; I opened it and found that 
 it was the president's letter, I read it off to the Jesuit ; 
 it began with stating why it was sent to the agent's 
 well-known address, viz., on account of my omission ; 
 and proceeded to testify that, in the absence of any 
 moral fault, I had given indications of considerable 
 mental extravagance, impatience to discipline, &c. ; 
 ^nd he left it to the agent to decide whether my sub- 
 sequent trials in the world had sobered my mind to 
 the requisite submission, 
 
 Having read the letter aloud, I handed it to my 
 judge, saying, " Will this ' character' do, sir ?" 
 
 " Certainly," said he ; " these are not impediments : 
 means will be given you in the Novitiate to conquer 
 and govern your mind."* 
 
 I should, perhaps, inform the reader that I had 
 already presented my testimonials of success in my 
 academical career at college. 
 
 I often tried to gain his ideas on his profession ; but 
 a very laconic answer, which referred me to the 
 
 * This opinion was perfectly in accordance with the declar, b. 
 Parti, cap, 3, Const. Sed quia accidere posset, aliquem hujusmodi 
 defectum aliis praeclaris Dei donis compensari, &c. 
 
IMPEESSIONS. 19 
 
 " Constitutions," was all that I could ever get from 
 him. I remember, on one occasion, I alluded to the 
 charges made against the Society. " What do they 
 accuse us of?" said he, freezingly. I was rather star- 
 tled by this apparent ignorance, and, in self-defence, 
 stumbled on the Paraguay affair. " It is all false, 
 sir," said he, " from beginning to end ;" and he began 
 to give me some spiritual advice. This is curious ; but 
 the fact is, I believe, that the Jesuits are, for the most 
 part, kept in total ignorance of their own history in 
 general. A discretion is used in this matter, as in 
 the permission to read the Scriptures generally among 
 Roman Catholics ; and only " the great and glorious 
 deeds" of Holy Father Ignatius (as he is called, par 
 excellence) of Father Xaviee, Father Campion, Fa- 
 ther Parsons, &c., are familiar to the uninitiated. I 
 say uninitiated ; for the members of the society, like the 
 wheels in a clock, have different stations, more or less 
 removed from the main-spring ; and it is only after a 
 long and severe probation that the favoured members 
 are admitted to the grand concerns of this mysterious 
 body.* Even the spiritual books written by accredited 
 Roman Catholic divines are not permitted to be read 
 
 * Primum ne libellus iste (Compendium Privilegiorum) uspians 
 rursus typis sine permissu nostro edatur. Deinde ut exemplaria, quffi 
 singulis Domibus et CoUegiis distribui curavimus, ut Superiorum, et 
 Consultm'um Usui priEcipu£ inserriaut: in suis quaeque Domibus, et 
 CoUegiis semper retineantur, nee inde ad alia looa asportentur. Pote- 
 I'unt tamen cum facultate Provincialis commodato nostris ad ea perle- 
 genda concedi — sic tamen, ut diligenter prius admoneantur, ne ea cir- 
 cumferantur, neve ostendantur, et multo magis, ne dentur externis. 
 Ordin. Prsep. Gen. c. xi. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 without extreme caution. I need not state the fact,' 
 that no Jesuit is allowed to read a book without the 
 permission of his superiors ;* this is an all-important 
 rule of the " Institute." 
 
 The Provincial I saw seldom, except at meals, dur- 
 ing the fevf days in question ; and but very few words 
 passed, otherwise than professional, when he admitted 
 me into the society. He seemed eminently a man of 
 business, and one who knew the value of a flattering 
 hint ; for when, on referring to the Jesuit calendar of 
 remarkable socii, he observed the name of the one for 
 that day — which, as chance would have it, was just the 
 halfoi my own patronymic f — he wished me joy of the 
 good omen, and shook hands with gratifying emo- 
 tion. I afterwards met him in the Novitiate, when he 
 spoke very feelingly on the downfall of the society. 
 
 But, for the most part, I saw few indications of 
 talent, or even of extensive information, amongst the 
 " Fathers" introduced to me. To one of them I put 
 the question, " How it happened that, amongst so 
 many clever men of the society, no triumphant answer 
 was put forth to meet the ' Provincial Letters' of Pas- 
 cal ?" « There was," said he ; " but Father Daniel's 
 reply was heavy — it lacked the wit of Pascal." I ex- 
 pected this answer, and dropped the subject. The 
 same gentleman was, I remember, very anxious to 
 prepare my mind to submit, as he said, to the Novi- 
 tiate. One of his remarks I think worth recording. 
 He said — " Sir, I am only anxious lest a mind, used 
 to inquiry, should compel you to ask too frequently, 
 • Eeg, viii. f Andrew Metz, a German. 
 
IMPRESSIONS. 21 
 
 in the practices of the Novitiate, Cui bono ?" " But," 
 said I, " the object — the end — how sublime ! — to the 
 greater glory of God ! Shall I not thus answer the 
 rebellious cui hone of pride ?" 
 
 I was sincere, and he exulted in my devotion to the 
 sacred cause. 
 
 Whilst passing through the library of the " semi- 
 nary," I observed some works on geology ; and upon 
 my asking the " master" if he favoured a science so 
 replete with strange inductions, he replied, " We must 
 keep pace with the age ; these are eventful times ; we 
 must be armed at all points." 
 
 I must confess that, notwithstanding the kindness 
 shown to me on all sides, my enthusiasm — nourished 
 as it had been by the study of the " Constitutions" of 
 the Society, and by preconceived ideas of Jesuit 
 intellectuahty and austerity, — suffered considerable 
 diminution during the iesv days that I spent as " a 
 guest" at the college, previously to my entrance on 
 probation. It was not, perhaps, the fault of the Je^' 
 suits to whom I allude, that I found them less intel- 
 lectual, less austere, than my ideal model; but it is 
 in accordance with the promised scope of this narra- 
 tive that I should signalise the minutest fact that can 
 throw its reflected light on the system to which those 
 men belong. In my intercourse with them, it was as- 
 suredly their object to influence my mind so as to fall 
 in with their views on every subject; — the conduct, 
 the manners of each member, therefore, were to me 
 the criterions of what the " training," which I was to 
 undergo, had left in the Jesuits in question. From the 
 
22 IMPRESSIONS, 
 
 impressions made on my mind by the " Constitutions," 
 I expected to find extraordinary virtue; from their 
 history, I looked for extraordinary men : in both ex- 
 pectations I was painfully disappointed. Few men 
 could be more indulgent to poor human nature than 
 I always have been, and am at the present time; but 
 I was certainly " scandalised" at hearing, on the 
 Sunday after my arrival, a daily newspaper read, over 
 " our wine" after dinner. I was unedified at the irre- 
 pressible merriment of one of the fathers, when ridi- 
 culing the manner and expression of some absent 
 individual on whom the conversation turned. Had I 
 found these Jesuits as austere as La-Trappists, I 
 should have been more at ease, with regard to my 
 " vocation,? than I was at finding them, in the matter 
 and manner of their conversation, passable " men of 
 the world." Indications of bodily " mortifications" 
 ■were certainly invisible : the men alluded to were de- 
 cidedly well-conditioned, evidencing that the good 
 things and comforts of this world are not always " of 
 none effect" on the bodies of those whose minds are 
 systematically devoted " to the greater glory of God." 
 Whether the phenomena alluded to were equivocal — 
 in fact, whether there was a "mental reservation" in 
 what seemed of the world so worldly, — I will not un- 
 dertake to decide. I state impressions : apparent incoD" 
 sistencies, which damped the ardour of my enthusiastic 
 devotion. 
 
 On the other hand, turning to my own individual 
 tastes and habits, there was much to console me — 
 there was much to flatter hope. I was to live among 
 
IMPRESSIONS^ 23 
 
 men whose very name has become a pass-word to lite- 
 rature — men who considered intellectual eminence 
 worthy of emulation, and had the means, by seques- 
 tration from the world and by ample wealth, of en- 
 couraging every talent and predilection to their great- 
 est development : by determined exercise, rendered 
 doubly eflBcient by the soul-satisfying motives of 
 conscience — the greater glory of God — the good of 
 religion — the exaltation of the sublimest hopes that 
 can warm the heart or guide the pen. I saw around 
 me all the traces of dignity in ease. The time- 
 honoured walls of the old lordly mansion, now a hall 
 of literary pursuits ; the land and tenements attached — 
 in times of old exclusively appropriated to the sup- 
 port of individual wealth — perhaps, of pride and sen- 
 suality, — now sanctified, so to speak, by being heaven- 
 destined to administer to the corporeal necessities of 
 those who had left all things in order to feed the souls 
 of men unto eternal life. Such were my reflections. 
 Applying them to my own motives — my own hopes, 
 the sweetness at the heart which ensued easily in- 
 duced me to overlook, to palliate, what seemed dis- 
 cordant with the beautiful harmony which thus could 
 unite in my imagination things human and divine : 
 a harmony of all that is of heaven, heavenly ; with 
 that only of earth which is rational and necessary — 
 and no more. 
 
 I have now given the reader a faithful reflection of 
 my mind and sentiments at the time in question ; and 
 I trust that all my subsequent conduct, as detailed in 
 these pages, will be found consistent with this reflec- 
 
24 IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 tion. If I misled myself in the desperate step which 
 I took, it is in my power now to make amends by a 
 conscientious account of my experience during the 
 year that followed my admission into the Society of 
 the Jesuits : or, as I then fervently called it, the So- 
 ciety of Jesus. 
 
25 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ADMISSION TO THE NOVITIATE. 
 
 At length, accompanied by two or three members of 
 the Society, I went to " Hodder-house" — so the Novi- 
 tiate is called. I was received at the door by the 
 Father of the Novices, who seized my hand with rap- 
 ture, kissed it, and, leading me to the little chapel, 
 knelt down, to offer, I supposie, a thanksgiving similar 
 to mine of the previous Sunday. I was much affected 
 by the fervour of this venerable-looking man : his 
 hair grey with age, and his countenance furrowed 
 by care or religious mortifications. I found him 
 throughout a kind, simple man ; but was always at a 
 loss to imagine the cause of a perpetual sadness which 
 dimmed his features. 
 
 A " brother-novice" led me over the various parts 
 of the house, and then I was introduced to all the 
 novices, who were assembled in the " recreation- 
 room." 
 
 All the novices wore long black cassocks, with 
 a strip of the material of which they were made hang- 
 ing down from the shoulders : to typify, I believe, the 
 
26 ADMISSION TO THE NOVITIATE. 
 
 wings on which, by meditation, the soul soars to 
 heaven. They had caps which seemed very much 
 the worse for wear — a fact which was afterwards 
 explained by another, viz., that for the sake of 
 " mortification" the old clothes and cast-off habili- 
 ments, &c., of the students at the college were 
 consigned to the use of the novices. There was 
 nothing, however, in their countenances that indicated 
 excessive austerity, or much success in the art of 
 looking religious ; which, of course, is to be acquired 
 only by practice : by a/ier-practice, when the devout 
 novice shall have been transformed into a devoted 
 Jesuit, factus ad unguem, fashioned to a nicety — 
 according to the memorable pattern exhibited by 
 Ignatius to his followers, namely, "as soft wax in 
 the hands of his superior, to take what form he 
 pleases !" 
 
 After this introduction, the novices left the room. 
 I remained with the brother who had me in charge, 
 and whose duty it was to apprise me of all the regula- 
 tions of the establishment: the hours of rest and 
 rising, the things that might and might not be done 
 — in fine, he was to be my dictionary, my encyclo- 
 pedia for the week, to be consulted on every emer- 
 gency in my difficulties touching the " exact science" 
 of probationary discipline. He was a little man, not 
 very prepossessing in features, but nevertheless very 
 obliging, and extremely attentive. I may observe here, 
 by the way, that it was most unfortunate for my 
 "vocation," as the result proved, that I could not 
 harmonise with the men with whom I came into im- 
 
ADMISSION TO THE NOVlTIATJj;. 27 
 
 mediate contact : somehow or other, desideravire 
 oculi quicguid, my mind or my heart always found 
 something wanting; so that I was always, as it were, 
 on a bed of thorns, even when in full devotional 
 bloom. 
 
 As the wintry evening had closed in, we remained 
 at the fireside in the recreation-room, till the bell 
 rang for supper. My companion then instantly 
 rose, and rehearsed the Angelas; to which I responded 
 as well as this sudden appeal to my religious memory 
 (somewhat weakened by worldly pursuits) would 
 allow, and then accompanied him to the refectory. 
 
 The novices stood in front of the tables on both 
 sides of the room ; — the Superior entered, went to his 
 table near the fire-place, and said grace in Latin, the 
 novices repeating the responses with ready exactness 
 and solemn cadence. 
 
 During supper I could not help observing that the 
 novices never raised their eyes from the square foot 
 of surface that included their plate and cup : this was 
 " keeping custody of eyes," as I shall afterwards ex- 
 plain more at large. I saw their faces, but they did 
 not see mine ; so that, by sympathy, I imitated their 
 pious demeanour, feeling, as it were, ashamed of my 
 worldly curiosity. 
 
 The silence, too — for not a word was spoken to ask 
 for aught or in thanks for the supply — had a solem- 
 nity in it which had never struck me before ; though, 
 from my youth upwards, I had been accustomed to 
 eat where " no talking was allowed." All that was 
 needed was before us, or the vigilant " waiters" — 
 
28 ADMISSION TO THE NOVITIATE. 
 
 conscientious novices as they were — anticipated every 
 want. 
 
 As soon as the novelty of the scene had produced 
 its first eflFect, my attention was directed to the 
 reader, who was delivering to us the axioms on 
 politeness alluded to in the introduction. These 
 axioms were composed in Latin : good Ciceronian 
 Latin ; which indeed most of the ancient Jesuits wrote 
 on every topic prescribed or sanctioned by Holy Obe- 
 dience. I regretted that I had not fallen in with that 
 book before ; for at that period of my life, I was en- 
 gaged in collecting the most remarkable axioms of 
 all writers ancient and modern. 
 
 The fact of this book being read to the novices 
 was highly gratifying — I saw in it the presage of the 
 men who were " to be armed at all points." .... 
 
 When about half an hour had elapsed, or rather 
 when all the novices had finished their meal, the Su- 
 perior rose — a simultaneous but orderly rising of all the 
 novices followed — grace was said and responded to 
 — the Superior led the way, and we followed him to 
 the chapel, where we remained for a few minutes, and 
 thence proceeded to the recreation-room. 
 
 All the novices knelt down on entering the room 
 for a second or two, and then commenced the clatter 
 of tongues, once more joyfully free. 
 
 I have not a distinct remembrance of the topics 
 discussed during that hour of recreation. One thing, 
 however, was evident, there was nothing spoken that 
 the most scrupulous ear could object to : the subjects 
 mooted being either devotional, or Jesuitico-bistorical, 
 
ADMISSION TO THE NOVITIATE. 29 
 
 It was a strange sensation, that : I mean that pro- 
 duced by being in the company of young, buoyant 
 men, who did not blush in speaking of religion, and 
 the practices of devotion ! It struck me at the time, 
 as worthy of remark, how soon the human mind 
 adapts itself to influences from without, after once 
 the idea of uncompromising necessity is impressed 
 upon the will. Here were youths who left college 
 only the year before, — here were two full grown men 
 who seemed to have known the world. They had 
 spent but one year in the Novitiate, and yet they 
 talked of the soul's, concerns as if they had passed 
 their lives with Jerome in the " howling wilder- 
 ness." 
 
 Was it the necessity for talking only, on any 
 subject, so urgent to those who are condemned to 
 "solitary confinement" — that agony without death? 
 or was it the suggestion, the interpretation of the 
 soul now triumphant over the body and its lusts, in 
 this solitude where the " flesh" was made — was com- 
 pelled to be " obedient:" ay, "even unto death?" 
 
 I am inclined to believe the latter opinion ; for I 
 cannot think it possible, judging from my own ex- 
 perience, that a novice under the Jesuits, can simu- 
 late, or dissimulate, without detection, even if " un- 
 converted" in that awful purgatory. Of this opinion, 
 perhaps the reader will be convinced in due time. 
 
 On the other hand, he must totally discard the 
 idea that there was aught of melancholy or out- 
 rageous cant in our conversations ; very far from it — 
 we were rational on the most irrational absurdities ; 
 
30 ADMISSION TO THE NOVITIATE. 
 
 for we were, for the most part, young, unsophisticated ; 
 with minds of wax, which the innate spirit of de- 
 votion — that solace of every woe, — had complacently 
 impressed with her beautiful image. 
 
 On this first evening of my probation, I was gra- 
 tified with the animated conversation on all sides : 
 frequent peals of laughter resounded on my startled 
 ear, — for the reader must be told that there are many 
 amusing, highly exhilarating stories in the " Lives of 
 the Saints," and in devotional " tradition ;" and 
 surely it is as possible to laugh piously as it is to 
 laugh profanely. But in the very midst of this en- 
 joyment — at the very height of this reciprocal exul- 
 tation of heart, suddenly a bell rang. 
 
 This was my first lesson in the Novitiate. As if 
 struck dumb, the syllable, half uttered, was cleft in 
 twain, and a dead pause ensued. In silence we as- 
 cended the stairs, and entered the chapel. We knelt. 
 After the lapse of about ten or fifteen minutes, passed 
 in silence, the Superior entered, and, kneeling on the 
 steps of the altar, said the " Litany of the Virgin," 
 and a few other short prayers, concluding with his 
 blessing. Then followed the kissing of a relic, of 
 Ignatius or Xaviee, I forget which : the father held 
 the glass case in his hand, which we all kissed in 
 succession as we filed off to bed. As I had "a 
 retreat" of a week's duration to pass through, in 
 order to be in a fit condition to perform the duties of 
 a novice, I went to a spare room reserved for the 
 purpose, and the novices retired to the dormitory : 
 which I shall afterwards describe. 
 
ADMISSION TO THE NOVITIATE, 31 
 
 Here I received a visit from the Superior, who ex- 
 plained to me the nature of the "retreat" upon which 
 I was about to enter, and left me, after committing 
 me to the care of the angels and the saints. I slept 
 very soundly till morning, when I was wakened by a 
 scratching noise on the curtains of my bed ; as 
 soon as my ears were opened, I heard the words 
 " Deo gratias .'" to which I responded (not being 
 acquainted with the proper answer), "Very well!" 
 and made all haste in dressing, as I had been called 
 after the other novices, since it was one of them who 
 gave me the " Deo gratias .'" I went to the lavatory, 
 or washing-place, and there I found my " brothers" 
 performing their ablutions, all in silence, in tin pans 
 over a stone trough. After the given time was 
 elapsed, the bell rang, and as all were ready, we en- 
 tered the chapel for " morning meditation." Thus 
 began my first day, after my first night, in the 
 Novitiate. 
 
 Here we will leave the novice for a while, to return 
 to him after having described the scene of his future 
 struggles. 
 
32 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE THREE HOUSES : WAYS AND MEANS : SILENT 
 INFLUENCES — PEOGEESS. 
 
 By the name of Stonyhurst, a Roman Catholic semi- 
 nary for the education of youth under the direction 
 of the Jesuits, is commonly understood. But, as in 
 most things, there is more here than meets the eye. 
 The Society of the Jesuits is regularly established in 
 England. 
 
 The Catholic Relief Bill is but a foil to the Jesuits 
 where it pronounces their non-existence. That bill 
 forbids Jesuits — and members of other religious orders, 
 communities, or societies of the Church of Rome, 
 bound by monastic or religious vows — from coming 
 into the realm, under pain of being banished from it 
 for life : excepting only natural born subjects who were 
 out of the realm at the time of the passing of the Act. 
 Such religious persons may, however, enter the 
 United Kingdom on obtaining a licence in writing 
 from one of the principal secretaries of state who is a 
 Protestant ; and may stay such time as such secretary 
 shall permit, not exceeding six months: unless the 
 
THE THREE HOUSES. 33 
 
 license is revoked before the end of the six months.* 
 A Jesuit by his vows is legally or civilly dead (this 
 is the Jesuitical formula) and the society by the law 
 of the land is legally dead ; but both the Jesuit and 
 his society are vegetating in full luxuriance. 
 
 " Man makes laws, but God breaks them," say 
 their friends, with questionable logic, when com- 
 menting on the progress of the Jesuits in the United 
 Kingdom ; and certainly, if we can ennoble a cause 
 by tracing it to the councils of the Eternal, human 
 logic and matter-of-fact deductions are struck dumb 
 by the awful conviction, and we tremble at the 
 thought that the avenging thunderbolt is about to 
 be hurled against the bold, presumptuous mortal who 
 dares to lift the veil I 
 
 But the Jesuits, notwithstanding a few indis- 
 cretions in their history, rarely expose themselves to 
 pains and penalties without a substantial, visible, 
 tangible safeguard. They remonstrated by their de- 
 legates against the stringency of the Act in question ; 
 but it was intimated to them suh rosa, that they need 
 be under no apprehension, as "they might drive a 
 coach and six through the said act." They believe 
 that only the Attorney-General can bring an action 
 of ejectment against them, and, consequently, the 
 " coach and six" permission is a virtual set-ofF on the 
 part of a lenient government against the interesting 
 disgrace of a verbal proscription. Est naturalis favor 
 pro lahorantibus, says Quintillian; and the generous 
 Englishman, of all men, is the last to strike the 
 • The Act of the 10th Geo. IV. c. 7. 
 D 
 
34 THE THREE HOUSES. 
 
 fallen foe. One thing is certain, however, the Jesuits 
 hold up their heads in the high places, and move on, 
 like all things at the present day, with " Occupet 
 scabies exiremos!" tacked behind them, and, "For the 
 greater glory of God!" blazing in their van. 
 
 In the very heart of the Metropolis they are now 
 building a magnificent church, to be served, it is said, 
 by twelve Jesuits, — mass every day, and a sermon 
 after every mass ! This looks like progress, cer- 
 tainly ; and what is still more curious and significant, 
 no begging-box goes round — no subscriptions are 
 solicited : as if by the lamp of Aladdin, the edifice 
 rises rapidly, — a monument to attest the shielded 
 audacity and the obedient munificence of the quiet, 
 peaceful, harmless Jesuits] 
 
 I am informed by a competent authority, that the 
 Tractarians prefer " to be received into the Church" 
 by the Jesuits : four have been received by one 
 Jesuit in London. Commenting on these mystifica- 
 tions, a Roman Catholic periodical emits the fol- 
 lowing unintentional pleasantry, and well-seasoned 
 sarcasm :■ — 
 
 " We can — we do forgive them, — that urged by 
 the clamour of their opponents, many of them ex- 
 hibit'towards us an extreme degree of intolerance, by 
 way of proving their abhorrence of such of our tenets 
 as they do not as yet hold, and exhibiting themselves 
 as good and true men to the eyes of their brethren. 
 All this we can readily excuse, because we know how 
 natural is such misguided zeal to our frail nature ; 
 but yet, even in this temper against us, such is the 
 
THE THREE HOUSES. 35 
 
 foi'ce with which the modicum of truth they have 
 received has operated, that their voices have been 
 raised to swell the shout with which we hailed the 
 late great triumph of truth and humanity over error 
 and persecution. For that shout we thank them, 
 and for all wherein they have sinned against us we 
 forgive them heartily, and wish them strength and 
 grace to persevere in the path along which tliey are 
 now journeying."* The Jesuits seem to argue thus. 
 
 If your neighbour's servant is defrauding his master 
 by digging in your garden, whilst he is paid by that 
 neighbour for work supposed to be done, are you 
 not justified, considering the benefit you receive, 
 in mystifying the conscience of that servant, by per- 
 suading him that he is only performing an act of 
 charity 1 
 
 I was informed in the Novitiate, that the present 
 tenement of the Jesuits at Stonyhurst was presented 
 to the fathers by the late Cardinal Weld (or his 
 father, I forget which) and a curious story is told of 
 the place. It is said that the old mansion was built 
 by special permission of Queen Elizabeth for one of 
 her courtiers, a Roman Catholic. It happened that 
 his son and heir, when a mere boy, one day while 
 walking in the grounds, swallowed some poisonous 
 berries and died. This event so afflicted the father 
 that he retired from the place in disgust. The 
 deserted mansion was given over to~desolation, and 
 
 * Catholic Mag., March, 1839, quoted in the Catholic Directory 
 for the present year as something " remarkable and almost pro- 
 phetic," p. 174. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 WAYS AND MEANS. 
 
 fell, at length, into the hands of the Jesuits : 
 through the munificence of the pious Cardinal. 
 The Jesuits soon set to work, rebuilt and added, 
 cultivated and improved, till, at the present time, 
 they possess an ample domain of some thousand 
 acres of excellent land, three flourishing establish- 
 ments, and a splendid church. 
 
 The " College of Stonyhurst" was, for a long time, 
 the chief Roman Catholic school for the education 
 of the nobility and gentry of that persuasion. Of 
 late years Ushaw-college, Prior- park, Oscott, &c., 
 have risen into eminence ; not without a slight feeling 
 of jealousy — or, perhaps, I should say, holy emulation 
 — in the respective parties. The number of pupils 
 varies ; at the time of which I am speaking, I believe, , 
 U was about 150: it has amounted to near 300 in 
 more prosperous times. The stipend is, for children 
 under twelve years of age, forty guineas ; for those 
 above that age, fifty ; and for students in philosophy, 
 one hundred guineas. 
 
 The course of studies professed, comprises the 
 Greek and Latin classic authors, composition in 
 Greek and Latin prose and verse; regular instruction 
 in reading and elocution, writing and arithmetic ; 
 English, French, Italian ; history, sacred and pro- 
 fane, and geography. The higher classes receive 
 lessons in algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. 
 The philosophical course embraces logic, metaphy- 
 sics, ethics,and natural philosophy, with chemistry 
 and the higher mathematics. There is in the college 
 an extensive apparatus for experimental philosophy. 
 
■WAYS AND MEANS. 37 
 
 an astronomical observatory, a chemical laboratory, 
 a collection of minerals, &c. There is also a con- 
 siderable and increasing library of approved works of 
 history and of general information ; of which the 
 scholars have the use, on paying a small monthly 
 subscription. Masters of music, drawing, dancing, 
 and fencing,, give lessons to those whose parents may 
 desire it. All are closely examined, four times a 
 year, in what they have learned during the preceding 
 quarter, and rewarded accordingly. At the annual 
 exhibition which precedes the vacation a consider- 
 able number of prizes, consisting of books and silver 
 medals, is distributed among those who have made 
 the most distinguished progress. I have quoted the 
 foregoing almost literally from the prospectus of the 
 college. 
 
 There is a "theatre" in the college. When I 
 visited the apartment so called, it presented no ap- 
 pearance of a theatre ; but I was told that all the 
 necessary apparatus could be erected with very little 
 trouble, all being in readiness for the appointed time. 
 According to my informant, the dresses were all in 
 character, and some of them very costly. The per- 
 formances take place at the annual exhibition, or at 
 Christmas; and are either tragic or comic, or, as at 
 other theatres, a tragedy is followed by a farce. All 
 the performers are students of the college; some 
 were named to me as " stars," and one had established 
 his fame in the character of Richard the Third. 
 
 One of the Jesuits is appointed to superintend thie 
 proceedings, in other words, to be " manager." 
 
38 WAYS AND MEANS. 
 
 As many of the students learn music, and as the 
 music master resides on the spot — and is thus enabled 
 to " lead" the band — we may infer that the profane 
 model which suggests the main idea is faithfully 
 imitated : the overture and the interludes calling forth 
 the plaudits of a delighted audience. The friends of 
 the students are invited to be present on such occa- 
 sions, and are most liberally entertained by the 
 authorities. 
 
 Doubtless these Jesuit-theatres — for they were 
 " open" in most of the Society's colleges in former 
 times — present the heau ideal of the theatre : as far, at 
 least, as the morality of the thing is concerned ; and if 
 the Jesuits had the good sense to attempt the reality 
 of the thing, rather than its mockery in the religious 
 " mysteries" of old, their good taste and artistic 
 consistency would be incontestible. 
 
 1 must leave other discussions arising out of this 
 dehcate sensual gratification afforded by " religious 
 men," to be settled by my intelligent readers ; con- 
 tenting myself with the opinion, that there was much 
 in it, as in most things Jesuitical, to captivate the 
 multitude : and surely if the Jesuits are not decidedly 
 honest in their motto, Ad mqjorem Dei gloriam, they 
 may be so in their standing rule to weep or laugh, to 
 whine or smile, as occasion suits, ad captandum 
 vulgits. • 
 
 A curious anecdote was related to me, to the effect 
 that a popular actor, whose son was educated at 
 Stonyhurst, expressly desired that the youth alluded 
 to should not be permitted to take a part in the 
 
WAYS AND MEANS. 39 
 
 theatricals, fearing lest he might imbibe a taste for 
 that profession. When informed of this, it struck 
 me as " a palpable hit :" a hint to the reverend 
 fathers, that the thing was not exactly consistent — 
 at least when carried out to the extent which pre- 
 vails, or prevailed, at Stonyhurst. 
 
 It may be proper to mention that ecclesiastics of 
 the Roman Church are positively forbidden by the 
 canons, to be present at any theatrical exhibition. 
 Truly there may be a distinction drawn between 
 public and private exhibitions of the sort; but I 
 certainly never could have imagined that " dispensa- 
 tions" might extend, in this matter, to " a priest of 
 the Church :" which, however, I can state as a fact. 
 On entering one of the great London theatres, a 
 few years ago, I met such a priest issuing from 
 "the house of scandal;" and on expressing my 
 astonishment to this gentleman (who was an old ac- 
 quaintance, and not a Jesuit) he told me with evident 
 peace of mind and quiet of conscience, that the 
 "bishop" had given him a "dispensation" in order 
 to perfect himself in the practice of elocution ! . . . . 
 Here, it is clear, the end justified — may I not say, 
 sanctified ? — the means. 
 
 To show how necessary this dispensation was to 
 my young friend in " pursuit of knowledge under 
 difficulties," I must inform the reader that the 
 canonical penalty for such a transgression is excom- 
 munication ipso facto .' . . . But the frail omnipotence 
 of Rome-^with its ever-varying unchangeableness, 
 its limping, halting, infallibility — what will it not 
 
40 SILENT INFLUENCES. 
 
 concede to expediency, if we only cease to be 
 heretics !* . . . 
 
 . All the regular masters at Stonyhurst are Jesuits, 
 either in orders or destined for the priesthood. The 
 students are never left to themselves: an official, com- 
 monly called " prefect," is their constant attendant, 
 whether in the common room of resort, on the 
 play-ground, or walking in the vicinity on play-days. 
 The . strictest regularity prevails throughout the 
 establishment. The students rise at an early hour, 
 attend mass, and proceed to the " study-place," 
 vphere they prepare for their respective schools or 
 classes. No talking is permitted in proceeding 
 from place to place, nor in the dormitory or public 
 sleeping-room, nor in the refectory or eating-room: 
 where signs-manual interpret the silent cravings 
 of the stomach. ; During dinner and supper some 
 book is read by a student appointed for the purpose, 
 in accordance with one of the rules of the Novitiate, 
 viz., that "whilst the body is refitted, the soul, too, 
 may have her food." The usual mode of correction 
 is . the rod ; but never severely administered ; for 
 flagrant misdemeanours expulsion is reserved. But 
 the confessional obviates, in a great measure, the 
 necessity for the lash. Obedience — that talisman 
 to all who are connected with the Jesuits — is in- 
 culcated with awful solemnity; and the example of 
 
 * Clement XIV. received some indirect compliments from Voltaire 
 very kindly: he enjoyed his joke and told him, through his old friend 
 the Cardinal de Berris, that he would willingly take him to his heart if 
 he would end hy becoming a good Capuchin. — Saint-Prieat, Chflte des 
 Jes, 
 
SILENT INFLUENCES. 41 
 
 " St. Aloysius," a saint of the society's own produc- 
 tion, is held forth to the young student for his imi- 
 tation. Besides, the " Good Virgin," who adopted 
 Aloysius, will bless only those who strive to follow 
 his footsteps ; and obedience was his great virtue : so 
 the pious youth resolves to be like St, Aloysius, and 
 learns " to bear the yoke" from his youth, until he 
 becomes transplanted into the Novitiate ; where all 
 the nascent virtues of the society, par excellence, are 
 duly watered and expanded into bloom. The con- 
 versation of the masters and prefects is always 
 calculated to inspire a deep veneration in the students 
 for the society and all its concerns ; and apparently 
 unintentional reports* circulated about such and 
 such a one who is " doing so well " in the Novitiate, 
 insensibly inspire an undefined wish in the unthinking 
 youth, fast approaching the term of his " humanity 
 studies," to be received there. Then he ventures to 
 express half a wish to his " spiritual adviser" — the 
 keeper of his conscience — who tells him to think of 
 the matter — to ask the aid of " Mary and her Divine 
 Son," and then to follow the finger that points the 
 way — to the Novitiate, as a matter of course. 
 
 It is not to be wondered at that this insidious 
 course has buried in the Novitiate the sons of noble- 
 
 * This view of the case is not fictitious : it results from the con- 
 versation of the "fresh novices" who came to Hodder during my 
 year; and the " such a one'' alluded to in the present instance was 
 myself. I shall scrupulously avoid recording any deduction un- 
 founded on facts, seen or related to me, in the Novitiate. My infor- 
 mation respecting the Jesuits in England, Stonyhurst, &c., was there 
 obtained. 
 
42 SILENT INFLUENCES. 
 
 men and the wealthy of the land. There is a very 
 nostalgia generated in tender miijds, which makes 
 them cling (as if under the fascination of the serpent) 
 to the spot where their minds first budded into 
 spring, and to the men who possess the tender secrets 
 of their youthful indiscretions, which Heaven has 
 long since forgotten! It is through the confes- 
 sional that drips the potent fluid, which encrusts 
 the heart with a coating impervious to all ex- 
 ternal influences that do not pass first through the 
 medium of the " father of the conscience," who 
 reigns in undivided and undisputed possession over 
 the mind. 
 
 The priests of the society are enjoined to display 
 these arts of seduction — nor are motives of ostensible 
 religion here wanting to gild the " soft impeach- 
 ment." They are to invite those whom they meet 
 on any occasion, vel levis amicituB, and even to con- 
 ciliate the parents of their pupils to the society.* 
 Among the questions put to the novice before bis 
 admission, he is to be asked " when, where, and by 
 whom he was first moved* to enter the society." 
 These questions are suggested by the characteristic 
 caution of the Jesuits ; and their answers must ne- 
 cessarily tend to explain character by the circum- 
 stances to which they refer. It might be inferred 
 that such influence from without is contrary to the 
 spirit of the " Constitution," if not to fact ; but I 
 
 * Cum occurrunt nobis in viis, inritare eos qu^libet occasione, 
 vel leris amicitise, turn etiam parentes discipulorum nostrorum con- 
 ciliare Societati. — Instr. ir. 3. Edit. Eom. 1606. 
 
SILENT INFLUENCES. 43 
 
 find in the " Examen" which precedes the " Con- 
 stitution," the following pertinent declaration : — 
 
 " Should he affirm that he has been induced,* 
 (although it is lawful and meritorious) still it will 
 apparently conduce to his own greater spiritual 
 utility, if a certain time be prescribed to him ,• that, 
 by thinking of the matter, he may commend himself 
 entirely to the Creator and his Lord, just as if no 
 one of the society had induced him.-f-" 
 
 Not far from the " college " is the " seminary," 
 which is a new building, tastefully built and re- 
 markably well laid out in the interior. It is ex- 
 clusively occupied by those who have passed through 
 the Novitiate, and, having taken the three simple 
 vows of voluntary poverty, perfect obedience, and 
 perpetual chastity, are continuing their studies for 
 the priesthood. The rules of the Novitiate are here 
 considerably relaxed, as far as spiritual occupation is 
 concerned ; but still the seminary may be considered 
 as a prolongation of the Novitiate.J This, indeed, 
 may be said to last for ever ; for the Jesiiit, as will be 
 afterwards shown, is always under surveillance, 
 always in a state of probation. This might be un- 
 endurable, but for the conviction that there is no 
 escape from it, and that all the members of the 
 Society are subject alike to its influence. The 
 teachers in the "college" are drafted from this 
 establishment. 
 
 * Fuisse motum. 
 
 f Exam. Geii. cap. lii. 14. 
 
 I Aquar. Inst. xiv. n. 1. 
 
44 FBOGBESS. 
 
 I now return to the Novitiate, or Hodder-house, as 
 it is called. It is situated on the sloping bank of a 
 streamlet from which it derives its name. 
 
 In speaking of this Novitiate the English Jesuits 
 always call it Hodder, and a stranger visiting Stony- 
 hurst, would never be informed of its existence, cer- 
 tainly he would not be taken to see this supernatural 
 curiosity. The Jesuits are invisible people, known by 
 their effects only — a species of " processionary catei- 
 pillars :" interesting silk-worms that live in societies 
 where the eye of the incurious observer sees nothing 
 but a tree and its waving foliage. Here they spin, when 
 young, a kind of silken tent, divided into cells. They 
 may be seen to issue from it in the evening in procession. 
 One of them advances at, the head, and seems to act 
 as a guide ; two then follow, next three ; then four, 
 and so on : each rank containing one more than the 
 preceding. To complete the comparison, I must 
 state that the larva when first hatched is in weight 
 about one-hundredth of a grain; but just before its 
 metamorphosis it increases to ninety-five grains,- or 
 9j600 times its original weight.* The quiet, im- 
 ])erceptible expansion of the Jesuits — ^when other men 
 are sleeping through ignominious dreams — is not less 
 certain — is not less wonderful ! There may not be a 
 large majority of extraordinary men in the society at 
 present, but there are not a few "large figures" 
 among the Jesuits that make up a good round " sum 
 total :" if there be many small items of a penny 
 each, a few large entries of many shillings and some 
 * Rud.ofZooI. p. 279. 
 
PEOGEESS. 45 
 
 pounds will raise a very fair "deposit" for this 
 established bank to let out at all manner of " in- 
 terest." In possession of their perfect system of 
 training and governipent — I mean with reference to 
 their objects in view — all their men may be consi- 
 dered as useful members — useful for some purpose, 
 like the copulative conjunction, " expressed or under- 
 stood." 
 
 The situation of the English Novitiate has sug- 
 gested these reflections. The river winds round it on 
 one side and the high banks opposite shelter it in 
 that direction. Fronting the road are plantations in 
 various stages of growth' — like the members of the 
 society : the sapling that you may bend as you like ; 
 the full-grown tree that, by the rustling hiss of its 
 leaves, seems to mock the strong winds of the tem- 
 pest ; and the " old tree," quite dead at the pith, but 
 still passably verdant in its deceptive branches. 
 Hodder-house reminded me somewhat of Abbotsford, 
 the residence of " the great magician," which is 
 invisible till you have entered the gate — like the 
 genius of its amiable in-dweller that bursts upon you 
 as an angel's visit, or the calm sweet light of a hospi- 
 table hearth to the traveller when the stars of heaven 
 have ceased to twinkle. 
 
 The house is an ordinary-looking building, appa- 
 rently not built for the purpose to which, in the lapse 
 of wonder-working time, it is now devoted. A neat 
 gate opens upon a well-gravelled walk, winding to 
 the front-door of the Novitiate, whose threshold is 
 crossed only twice by the novice; once on entering, a n 
 
46 PEOGRESS. 
 
 then on his departure — either to the world once more, 
 or to the second House. This word brings to mind the 
 strangely, curiously concocted, and most fascinating 
 system of judicial astrology: the Jesuit has his 
 destined " house," like the child of fate, and looks 
 forward to it with a faith and a hope that stagger not. 
 In truth, though the system be not divine, it has 
 much of divination. 
 
 A few shrubs adorn the front of the house, oppo- 
 site which is a ground for foot-ball. On the slope to 
 the river is a kitchen-garden, cultivated by the 
 novices, with the aid of a lay-brother attached to the 
 establishment : he is mentioned at the end of the 
 present chapter as " cook," but he made himself, as 
 every Jesuit should, " generally useful." 
 
 The interior comprises a small chapel; a public 
 dormitory divided into compartments about eight 
 feet by five in dimensions, with a green curtain in 
 front ; the Superior's room ; a spare room for casual 
 novices (like myself) to perform their introductory 
 retreat in, and for the use of strangers, who ga occa- 
 sionally for the same pious purpose ; lastly, the 
 kitchen, lavatory or washing-place, and another large 
 room, which is used as a school-room for very young 
 children (under seven years of age) sent to Stony- 
 hurst. One of the novices of the second year is ap- 
 pointed schoolmaster to these little ones. Just over 
 the school-room is their dormitory, and a little chapel 
 where they hear mass ; for they might otherwise be a 
 distraction to the novices. 
 
 At the back of the house, in a dwelling quite sepa- 
 
PROGKESS. 47 
 
 rate, lived the laundresses of the Novitiate, whom we 
 never saw. 
 
 I have not mentioned servants' rooms, simply be- 
 cause there were no servants in the Novitiate. 
 Every man in the Novitiate was a Jesuit, or to be 
 one. The very cook was a Jesuit, commonly called 
 a " lay brother:" that is to say, a man who took the 
 simple vows of the society, and dedicated his trade 
 or craft to the service of the society. His assistants 
 were lay novices also. These men have, of course, 
 more work than prayer ; or, at least, quite as much 
 of one as of the other. Thus, in the palmy days of 
 the society, there were all manner of workmen be- 
 longing to the Jesuits ; thus rendering it totally in- 
 dependent of the world at large : and thus, we can 
 imagine what this wonderful combination of the 
 trades, the sciences, the spiritualities of this nether 
 world could effect in swaying the destinies of hu- 
 manity. In those days when a Jesuit, proprement 
 dit, went forth on his " mission," he was attended by 
 his lay brother,* who went with him in the two-fold 
 capacity of a servant and a spy on his actions : for 
 all are bound to keep a watch on their brethren as 
 well as on themselves. If they "manifest them- 
 selves," they must " manifest their brothers. "-|- 
 
 There are funds belonging to the Novitiate exclu- 
 sively, resulting from pious bequests and donations ; 
 the novices, consequently — who are always considered 
 
 * Or by a socius in orders, Const. Part iii. cap. 1. Thus in Non- 
 wicH there are two — in Lonoon, three, &c. 
 t Keg. 9 and 10. Can. 10, Congr. 6. 
 
48 PHOGEESS. 
 
 by the "Constitutions" as without friends, kindred, 
 home, and wealth, except in the society — pay nothing 
 for their board and lodging. On entering the gates 
 of probation, the novice gives himself to the society, 
 " for the greater glory of God ;" and the society under- 
 takes to be his mother, father, brother, sister, friend, 
 and only acquaintance. 
 
 True, a man cannot at once forget all these tender 
 ties, unless by the hand of death they exist not ; 
 but the progress of this consummation is not the less 
 certain for being gradual. I never heard during 
 my year a word mentioned of " kith or kin." Of the 
 undying thoughts that rise in spite of ourselves, I 
 can, of course, say nothing with regard to others. 
 I heard the voices coming from afar, like voices of a 
 dream, and I frequently asked myself, " Can you all 
 forswear humanity?" But the "spirit of Ignatius" 
 whispered, *' He who has left father," &c., let him 
 believe that he must relinquish father, mother, 
 brothers, and sisters, and whatever he had in the 
 world : yea, let him believe that those words are ad- 
 dressed to himself — " He who does not hate father 
 and mother, and more, even his own soul, cannot be 
 my disciple."* Thus was the sacred text perverted, 
 to countenance an unnatural dissevering of all the 
 ties that the God of our common nature lias woven 
 together — a web which, hack and tear it as we 
 will, still repairs and renews itself for ever ! 
 
 * Exam. Gen. oh. iy. 7, a rule of the Summary to be got by heart 
 by the novices. 
 
49 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE RETREAT — DOUBTS AND WAVERINGS THE 
 
 INVESTMENT AND BLESSING. 
 
 I NOW resume my narrative where I left off, viz., wrth 
 the commencement of the Retreat. 
 
 The first meditation was on the "End of Man," 
 that is to say, on the object for which man was 
 created. I dare say few of my readers have the least 
 idea what is here meant by meditation. It is a diffi- 
 cult art. A man may be annoyed by disagreeable 
 thoughts for days and weeks together ; but in this 
 case the mind is passive — thoughts impinge upon it 
 like the excruciating drops of water falling on the 
 head of the regicide of old, when every drop, as he 
 remarked with unutterable anguish, felt like the blow 
 of a mallet. This is meditation in spite of ourselves, 
 and we would be glad of some "distraction" or 
 change of thought. But ascetics understand a very 
 different thing by meditation : the mind must be fixed 
 and retained on one idea or sentiment, until it is com- 
 pletely exhausted in all its bearings and applications 
 to the spiritual state of the meditator ; and all change 
 
 E 
 
50 THE RETREAT. 
 
 of thought, commonly called " distraction," must be 
 instantly checked as a wily temptation of the devil. 
 In proof whereof we read in a book, recommended 
 by the learned and pious pastors of the Romish 
 church, and written by a Jesuit, as follows, speaking 
 of this " distraction :" — 
 
 " At other times it may proceed from the malice of 
 the devil, as is stated by some of the Fathers of the 
 desert, who, by God's permission, saw in spirit some 
 devils sitting upon, the heads of the religious, to 
 oblige them to sleep; and others putting their fingers 
 in their mouths to make them yawn."* 
 
 I had been accustomed to meditate from early 
 youth. At the Roman Catholic college^ where I was 
 educated, the more advanced students had to medi- 
 tate daily for the space of an hour before mass ; and, 
 during the annual retreat, meditation was an im- 
 portant part of the proceedings ; but I never knew ■ 
 what meditation was or might be till I became a 
 Novice. It is among the Jesuits that one must live 
 in order to know the true nature of a religious re- 
 treat, and of meditation or mental prayer. This is 
 considered the highest order of prayer, the most 
 acceptable to God ; for it is supposed to bring the 
 fervent soul into the immediate presence of the 
 Divinity, when, by the enlightening of that grace 
 which descends on the compunctious spirit, we be- 
 hold ourselves as we are — all our wants, all our im- 
 perfections, all our stains and spiritual wounds. 
 " Happy is the man," says the master of ascetics, 
 * Bodrig. Christ, Perf. chap. xxiv. 
 
THE RETREAT. 51 
 
 " who can reject every distracting thought, and can 
 centre himself completely in a holy compunction !" 
 
 I will endeavour to give the reader an idea of the 
 method, by the following meditation on the Last 
 Judgment. 
 
 As I have forgotten none of the strong thoughts — 
 none of the stirring emotions of my Novitiate, the ex- 
 position will be as easy as it is authentic. 
 
 JUDGMENT. 
 
 " But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun 
 shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her 
 light. 
 
 " And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers 
 that are in heaven shall be shaken. 
 
 " And then shall they see the Son of Man coming 
 in the clouds with great power and glory." 
 
 Point I. I began by impressing my mind with the 
 certainty of the coming event, and made thereon a 
 firm, fervent act of faith. I reasoned with my soul 
 on the necessity of that judgment. Throughout all 
 time the good have been oppressed, afflicted, scorned 
 by the judgment of men; that judgment must be 
 reversed. God himself will right them on that awful 
 day. They have sighed in bitterness of heart : " O 
 Lord, my God, in thee do I put my trust : save me 
 from all them that persecute me, and deliver me : Lest 
 he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while 
 there is none to deliver. 
 
 " O Lord my God, if I have done this : if there be 
 iniquity in my hands : If I have rewarded evil unto 
 E 2 
 
52 THE RETREAT. 
 
 him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have deli- 
 vered him tlaat without caase is mine enemy :) 
 
 " Let the enemy persecute nay soul, and take it : 
 yea, let him treaid down my life upon the earth, and 
 lay mine honour in the dust. 
 
 "Arise, O Lord, in thine anger, lift up thyself 
 because of the rage of mine enemies : and awake for 
 me to the judgment that thou bast commattded. 
 
 " Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an 
 end : but establish the just : for the righteous God 
 trieth the hearts and reins." 
 
 On the other hand, the bad exult in prosperous 
 iniquity — all things succeed to their liking ; they are 
 favoured, comforted, exalted by the juidgment of men ; 
 that judgment must be reversed. God himself will 
 condemn them on that awful day. They have said in 
 their hearts exulting : " God hath forgotten : he 
 hideth his face : he will never see it." 
 
 Among which class shall I be on that day of joy 
 to the good, and of woe to the wicked ? How stands 
 it with thee, my soul ? What hast thou done,, what 
 hast thou not done ? Were this the day, the hour of 
 Judgment,, art thou prepared? Consider the number- 
 leas graces of Heaven which thou hast abused. Thou 
 wast bred in the true faith — ^instructed in its saving 
 words — snatched from the world of scandal before it 
 had made thee its own — placed in the garden of the 
 saints, where thou wast sheltered from every blast of 
 evil, and cherished with the warmth of celestial 
 hFeathiiiigs " with healing on their wings." Of what 
 avail have been all these blessings 1 Hast thou less 
 
THE RETREAT, 53 
 
 reason to fear the coming judgment? Dost thou not 
 still linger on the brink of the rushing stream that 
 hurries on countless myriads to destruction ? Hast 
 thou not ever and anon turned a listening ear to their 
 seducing appeals, as from their treacherous bark 
 they have waved their hands to thee, inviting thee to 
 join in their ceaseless revels by night and by day — • 
 little thinking that all their frivolous and pernicious 
 joys are only pains glossed over with pleasures,* 
 soon to be uncoloured, unvarnished, laid bare? Then 
 the judgment! .... 
 
 PoiMT II. Consider who will appear at that final 
 judgment — that judgment which shall never be re- 
 versed — which will proclaim the exclusive existence 
 of joy which " it has not entered into the heart of 
 man to conceive" — and of woe equally inconceivable 
 — unutterable! Then there will be no Purgatory to 
 expiate the temporal penalties of sin — mere human 
 frailties : then there will be no earth where we may 
 retrieve the past ! All who appear then to j udgment, 
 will hear a final blessing, or a final curse ! Who shall 
 appear ? All who have sprung from the first-created 
 man — from the beginning of time to the day of tri- 
 bulation — the great and the little — the rich and the 
 poor — the learned and the ignorant — Christians and 
 infidels — Jews and Gentiles — obedient children of the 
 church and heretics — sincere believers and philoso- 
 phers ; all, absolutely all of every age, of every land 
 
 * AiJTrat dpa riaav r/dovais Trepnmrtiiiiivai, — Socrat. in CEconom. 
 
54 .THE RETREAT. 
 
 shall appear to judgment. Thou, my soul, shalt 
 be there ! . . . . . . ... 
 
 On that day of what avail will be the dazzling 
 glory, and endless renown of mighty conquerors — the 
 power of riches — the power of learning that destroys 
 as many as it saves, — this proud learning which thou 
 covetest so much ! Of what avail will it be to thee, 
 my poor soul, if thou hast not on "the wedding 
 garment?" 
 
 Sincere Christians, the elect and the rejected — 
 among which wilt thou be? The obedient children 
 of the church and the disobedient heretics ; among 
 which wilt thou be? Once more thou hast been 
 •reconciled to the faith ; what a mercy ! what a favour ! 
 Wilt thou remain faithful to the end— to the judg- 
 ment? Tremble at the awful thought ! .... 
 
 Point III. Imagine the scene of judgment ; see, as 
 it were now, the God of glory; Jesus the crucified, 
 now the glorified, coming in majesty from on high in 
 his chariot of celestial fire that illumines the whole 
 •earth from bound to bound, surrounded by all the 
 angels of heaven, — thrones, principalities, domina- 
 tions, cherubim and seraphim, hymning renown and 
 glory to Him alone, who was, is, and ever will be 
 worthy of all honour and praise. 
 
 The trumpet sounds ! Phalanx on phalanx, 'and 
 troop on troop roll in position, instantly, at that 
 sound. Behold ! — the two divisions stand widely 
 apart. Behold them ! read the features of the 
 wicked ; then turn to those of the good. 
 
THE EETEBAT. 55 
 
 All stand again in the fiesh — in the flesh wherein 
 they have sinned: but oh! dreadful pang! They 
 are now seen by all; by friends and by foes, — by 
 angels and by devils, — ^just as they were seen when in 
 the flesh, by God alone. Every hidden crime — every 
 humiliating frailty that human vanity was so anxious 
 to conceal, to palliate, to justify, — all will be laid 
 bare. God will even thus deign to make this appeal 
 to his creatures for the j'wsiice of his judgment ! . . 
 How stands it with thee, my soul ? Hast thou con- 
 fessed all? Lacks there not some cherished sin, or 
 tender failing that thou hast not thoroughly repented 
 of, not wholly discarded ? 
 
 Now turn to the good. O entrancing change ! 
 All the stains of human sin have been wiped away, 
 and the hearts of the saints reflect the divine thoughts 
 of good that beam from the breast of the Redeemer ! 
 It is as though they had never sinned ; for they were 
 born again in grace. The troops of martyrs with 
 their crowns of glory ; the troops of confessors with 
 their wreaths of light; the holy virgins, with Mary 
 at their head, close beside the God of purity^ next to 
 his bosom, — all, all smile heavenly smiles, and wait 
 exulting to ascend with their Strength and their 
 Hope, the Redeemer, to the joys that never end. 
 
 Once more the trumpet sounds, — list ! 'tis the 
 Judgment ! 
 
 " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, 
 prepared for the devil and his angels!" 
 
 " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king- 
 dom prepared for you from the foundationof the world I" 
 
56 THE RETREAT. 
 
 A shriek ! — a wail from bound to bound ! The 
 sides of the doleful valley, with sounds of endless 
 woe,* echo to the dreadful judgment. Hell, the 
 insatiate, is now satisfied at last — filled with the 
 eternal dead ! 
 
 A cry of joy ! — a shout of exultation, from bound 
 to bound ! The heavens open, and the choirs of the 
 angels and the saints sing welcome to the children of 
 God ; and the gates of heaven gently, gently close on 
 them — eternally blessed — for ever good, and, there- 
 fore, for ever happy] ...... 
 
 This may be considered as a faithful specimen of 
 my meditations in the Novitiate. The scriptural 
 phrases occur in the " Office of the Dead," appointed 
 to be said or sung for the benefit of the souls in 
 purgatory. I have given the version of the Pro- 
 testant Bible ; but in the texts in question, it does 
 not diflFer materially from that of the Roman church. 
 
 Of course I have only recorded the most prominent 
 thoughts and sentiments, on the most impressive of 
 which I would dwell, and, as it were, steep my soul in 
 anguish or in bliss, — in harmony with the key-note 
 of the wonderful counter-point in question, which, 
 with " dulcet symphonies and voices sweet," or 
 " stunning sounds, and voices all confused," sweetly 
 soothed, or harshly racked my helpless soul, when I 
 resigned her to the impulse of " thoughts that wander 
 
 ■ Bu la proda mi trovai 
 
 Delia valle d' Abisso dolorosa, 
 Che tuono accoglie d' infiuiti guai. 
 
 Dante, luf. Cant. iv. 
 
THE RETREAT. 57 
 
 through eternity." In truth, those thoughts were 
 hurnt in — they can never be erased. Not a day of 
 my life passes without some occurrence, some remark 
 that I hear or read, bringing to mind the thoughts 
 and sentiments which I cherished as the distinctive 
 marks of a disciple of Jesus, ere I perceived the 
 reverse of the cunning transparency which exhibited 
 the Jesuit. 
 
 Other speculators require a certain degree of craft 
 in the novice whom they admit to a share of their 
 " privileges ;" but only the Jesuits require perfect 
 simplicity — innocence without guile — in their novice ; 
 cruelly concluding that such a nature is best adapted 
 for that perfect, blind, entire obedience which "re- 
 cognises God in his superior." * 
 
 The foregoing specimen of meditation is from my 
 last retreat in the Novitiate — the great retreat of 
 thirty days — which will be described in the sequel. 
 When that retreat took place I had made consider- 
 able progress in the art of meditation : during the 
 retreat now in question the subjects of n^editation 
 were to my mind, in a great measure, "like water 
 dripping on a hard rock," that rebounds and flows 
 off, scarcely moistening the polished surface. I had 
 certainly been accustomed to reflect, to think deeply ; 
 but the subjects of such reflection were congenial, 
 were scientific, philosophical ; I could always come 
 to satisfactory conclusions — conclusions as to the 
 admirable design of Providence, the beautiful har- 
 
 * Ut constanter applicet animam, Deum in Superiore coguoscat. 
 R. P. Claudii Aquav. P. G., Indust. cap. t. 6, Rom. 1606. 
 
58 THE RETREAT. 
 
 mony of creation, the destined moral government of 
 the world, and that wonderful retributive justice 
 which is dispensed to all men in reward for physical, 
 moral, intellectual obedience to the laws of nature, 
 or in punishment for physical, moral, intellectual in- 
 fringement of the same Divine legislation. That was 
 philosophical meditation. As will be presently evi- 
 dent, this habit of thought, far from being of service 
 in my present meditation, only tended to " distract" 
 my mind — to thwart the influence of the topics se- 
 lected for my spiritual transformation. 
 
 But there was "a necessity upon me;" I must 
 advance : to fall back at the very gates of the strong- 
 hold which was about to surrender, would be absurd, 
 disgraceful. 
 
 Patiently, humbly, then, I listened to the words 
 which explained to me the form and method of my 
 first meditation. 
 
 I was enjoined, first, "to place myself in the 
 presence of God ;" that is, to make a firm act of faith 
 in his omnipresence ; secondly, to ask his aid well to 
 perform my meditation, and to derive the expected 
 benefit therefrom ; and, thirdly, to invoke the assist- 
 ance of the Virgin, the saints, and angels. The 
 meditation lasts one hour. The subject was given on 
 a slip of paper, and was divided into three points, 
 giving the heads of the argument that was to be 
 discussed between the soul and its inclinations, or, 
 as phrenologists would say, between the superior 
 sentiments and the animal propensities. 
 
 We meditated in three positions — kneeling, stand- 
 
THE RETREAT. 59 
 
 ing, sitting — a quarter of an hour in each position ; 
 and, as by the last quarter the soul was supposed to 
 have gone through that severe scrutiny which was 
 to produce the resolution of amendment, we knelt 
 during the last quarter, and made supplications to 
 God, the Virgin, the saints and angels — to God for 
 grace, to the Virgin, 8&c., for the aid of intercession. 
 This distinction is accurately made by Roman 
 Catholics ; but the Jesuits certainly carry their 
 veneration for the Virgin to an extravagant extent. 
 
 At first this veneration, or hyperdulia, as it is 
 termed, was but very indifferently embraced by me ; 
 but after a while, when my feelings — the ardent feel- 
 ings of one on whom woman's beauty always made 
 an impression — were sanctified by the apparently 
 virtuous source of their excitement, then it was 
 that the worship of the Virgin was established in my 
 heart to the fullest extent. If she was not my God, 
 she had the power of my God, united to the fondest 
 love of the fondest mother ! 
 
 There was a time when I could make a satisfactory 
 distinction between the worship of God and that of 
 Mary ; but it was before I became a novice. I trust 
 that I am justified in using the word "worship" with 
 reference to the Virgin, since in the Libellus, or prayer- 
 book, which I used at Hodder — now open before me 
 — the words Modus colendi are the same that would 
 be applied to the Creator. An extract from the book 
 will render that meaning more evident: — 
 
 " All gifts, virtues, and the graces of the Holy 
 Ghost himself, to whomsoever she wishes, in the 
 
60 
 
 THE RETREAT. 
 
 manner she wishes, and when she wishes, are dis- 
 pensed through the hands of Mary. 
 
 " Give her thanks, therefore, for all the benefits 
 which she has obtained for thee from Christ, but par- 
 ticularly for those which thou especially knowest 
 that thou hast obtained by her intercession ; such as 
 the remission of the sins whereby thou hast offended 
 God, — thy preservation from many sins, — many holy 
 inspirations, greater fervour and devotion, greater 
 relish for holy things ; a desire of virtue, particularly 
 of humility, chastity, meekness, charity, sobriety, — a 
 more ardent desire of promoting thy salvation and 
 that of others — a brighter genius, a better memory, 
 a keener intellect, greater diligence in study, and the 
 like blessings, which, from the name given to her 
 Congregation, thou seest and feelest, have been in- 
 creased in thee. Yield and offer thyself entirely to 
 her, beseeching her to take thee under her guardian- 
 ship and patronage, and to vouchsafe to defend thee 
 — protected by her safeguard — ^from every danger of 
 body and soul." 
 
 In accordance with this advice, the name of Mary 
 was constantly invoked by the novices : it was oftener 
 uttered than that of God or the Redeemer. In truth, 
 whatever verbal distinctions are made, the virtual 
 effect is certain — God is contained in Mary : if she be 
 not God to the deluded fanatic! The missiuided 
 Israelites forgot the God whom they could not see 
 nor imagine, and fell down and worshipped the 
 molten calf, which they could see and feel when 
 present, and imagine when absent. Herein the 
 
THE KETREAT. 61 
 
 human sympathies and cravings act in perfect ac- 
 cordance with their seducing nature. Thus, if I 
 could not see or imagine my God, I could mentally 
 see and imagine Mary; and ohl how beautiful is 
 she pictured to the mind in the glowing, thrilling, 
 gushing words of her worshippers, who have ex- 
 hausted every metaphor, expended every figure of 
 the beautiful, the sublime, the sweet, in eulogizing 
 " the Queen of" Heaven*" I 
 
 I pity the mortal thus deluded into idolatiy, whilst 
 I denounce the carnal system ; for who that has had 
 a kind, fond mother — of whom, though long since 
 laid in the cold grave, he often thinks, weeping 
 sweet tears — can resist the impulse which urges him 
 to seek and to find in Mary all that he loved in his 
 kind, fond mother, infinitely enhanced by the power 
 to bless him with the dear suggestions of a mother's 
 heart ? 
 
 I have been speaking of emotions which were not 
 yet awakened. At the commencement of my retreat, 
 my mental movements were simply mechanical ; or, 
 to develope the figure, my mind worked on the hori- 
 zontal principle — afterwards the leve?- was substituted 
 with wonderful success, 
 
 I had four meditations each day, the intervals 
 being filled up with verbal prayer, spiritual reading, 
 an examination of conscience, preparatory to confes- 
 sion, and a walk in the garden for relaxation. On 
 the last occasion I was accompanied by the 
 "brother" who had me in charge for the week. This 
 * See note A at the end of the Volume. 
 
62. THE KETBEAT. 
 
 indulgence was doubtless kindly intended to ease the 
 pressure of the solitude into which I was suddenly 
 thrown from the turmoil and busy scenes of life. In 
 general, according to the requisition of Ignatius, a 
 person, in retreat, must be left entirely to himself and 
 his spiritual director, who should not visit him oftener 
 than is absolutely necessary : the influence — the im- 
 pulse being given in a certain direction, he is left to 
 sail as the inner breathings blow : as long, at least, as 
 the coast is clear and the light-house visible ; if not, 
 he should prudently take his " pilot" on board ere his 
 tiny bark founders on the hidden shoal. 
 
 It must be manifest that few minds can be capable 
 of this mental exile, which the " Spiritual Exercises" 
 of Ignatius suppose to exist. A habit of abstraction — 
 of self-communion, is not to be p&t on as a garment ; 
 a spiritual divorce from thoughts and sentiments to 
 which we have been long wedded, cannot be ob- 
 tained without considerable difficulty : if the will 
 accuses the heart, the latter still makes out a strong 
 case, and it rarely happens on such occasions 
 that a reconciliation is not effected. Apparently 
 aware of this obstacle, the Jesuits are cautioned not 
 to administer all the " Exercises" to every mind ; 
 but only "to a select few, and such as may seem 
 adapted to greater things." The opinion of Ignatius 
 on this subject is curious, and may throw some 
 light on his system. He is said to have dictated the 
 following sentiments : — " It does not appear to me 
 that any one is to be exhorted to go through these 
 exercises, unless he has these or the most important 
 of these dispositions — first, that he should be so 
 
THE EETRBAT. 63 
 
 constituted as to give hopes of becoming very useful 
 to the house of God, if he be called to his service : 
 secondly, if he has not as yet acquired those arts and 
 sciences which give evidence of this utility, he should 
 at least be young and clever enough to make it 
 evident that he may in time acquire them : thirdly, he 
 should be free to dispose of himself, even so far as to 
 embrace the state of perfection, should God call him 
 to that state : fourthly, he should seem inclined to 
 spirituality, and have a comely and agreeable personal 
 appearance :* fifthly, he must not be so addicted to 
 anything as to seem unable to be separated from it 
 without difficulty, and be trained to that equanimity 
 which is required for this business of the soul, to be 
 properly carried on with God.-f- 
 
 Supposing, then, that the most important of these 
 dispositions were sufficiently evident, the reader will 
 now accompany me in spirit through my first retreat 
 among the Jesuits. 
 
 I will describe the scene of my retreat. As you 
 entered the room, on the left was my bed, decently 
 hung with homely curtains ; opposite the bed was a 
 small table upon which was a crucifix, and beside 
 the table was a cushion to kneel on — imagine a chair, 
 and my room is described. At some distance from 
 the part of the house occupied by the novices, I 
 
 ^ Habitumque corporis honestum ac decentem habeat. 
 
 t Direct. Exerc. Spir. c. i. This is an interesting little book, in 
 my possession, printed in 1600, and bearing the following inscription 
 on the title page : Coll. Soc. Jem, Louanii — thus it belonged to one of 
 the colleges before the suppression, viz., that of Lourain. 
 
64 THE EETREAT. 
 
 beard nothing, saw nothing of them, except during 
 meals. 
 
 I have an unpleasant recollection of the first day, 
 or rather of the first morning. A comparison will be 
 the best exponent of my position. Travelling in 
 Scotland several years before, I made an excursion 
 on foot, visiting Melrose, Abbotsford, — and vener- 
 ated the memory of the Scott over his tomb at Dry- 
 burgb. On leaving this thrilling memory of the 
 past — rendered still more acute by the assoeiation 
 of the warrior's tomb bard by, and the damp chill 
 cloisters of the abbey through which I had pre- 
 viously strolled — I strayed from the road, and 
 struggled for a footstep with the weeds and briars 
 in general possession of the river's bank. I stood 
 beneath the rough but thoughtful statue of 
 Wallace. Thence following the winding stream, 
 I journeyed on, hoping to find an easy fording- 
 place ; but the farther I went the deeper it seemed to 
 become. The day was far spent — to return would be 
 long and tedious — but how to cross that impassable 
 stream ? I strained my eyes up the river towards 
 the chorus of " giggling waves"* that were hurrying 
 down to mock my dilemma ; but the rolling river 
 rolled on, deep and broad, and seemed to say: " If 
 you would reach your home, throw off all that will 
 encumber you in the only path that I can give you ; 
 tie up that all in a bundle, and hold it high above 
 your head, to be useful again when necessary: but you 
 
 • UovTiiav KVfiuTav avrjpiBnov yiKaafia. — Prom. iEseb. 90. 
 
THE RETREAT. 65 
 
 must take to my bosom — you must strike out boldly — 
 advance, and God speed to you ! 
 
 I did as the stream seemed to advise, and swam 
 across to the opposite bank. 
 
 If the reader will spiritualise this my little adven- 
 ture, translating it into mind from body, he will con- 
 ceive my mental position on that first morning of my 
 "retreat." I will not offend his ingenuity by point- 
 ing to all the similitudes ; and should they not be 
 apparent at first sight, I am now to open my mind 
 and heart to him with such unhesitating confidence, 
 that from imagining my distress on the river's bank — 
 from witnessing my struggle with the rushing 
 stream — his transition will be easy to my solitude ; 
 where the world and all my fascinating hopes were 
 the bank on which I stood, and the unpitying stream 
 was adequately represented by the mental ordeal 
 through which I had to pass, ere the home I was 
 seeking could be reached. 
 
 I have spoken of my enthusiasm. I now began to 
 discover that, in embracing so rapturously the idea of 
 becoming a Jesuit, I had given but very little thought 
 to what Jesuits have to believe. The sight of that 
 crucifix in my room produced an emotion of which 
 I had never been conscious before ! And whilst 
 fixedly gazing on that awful image of hideous 
 anguish,— feeling, as it were, the endless pangs of 
 those cruel wounds that suspended what they tor- 
 tured, — the spell of my dreams was broken : a deso- 
 lating reality stood before me, and I seemed to hear 
 those uncompromising words of life : — " Ue that 
 
66 THE EETBEAT. 
 
 taketh not his cross, and foUoweth after me, is not 
 worthy of me." 
 
 The Jesuits had presented themselves to my excit- 
 ahle imagination as gods of intellect ; whose mental 
 omnipotence and beneficence had showered innumer- 
 able gifts on every department of knovyledge, human 
 and Divine. 
 
 My ambition was certainly equal to my enthu- 
 siasm, and the " inspiration " which agitated my 
 mind seemed an earnest, not to be doubted, of a 
 glorious future in this world at least : for the thought 
 of another world is not a haunting spirit of 
 youth. Conscious of possessing a will whose efforts 
 have rarely been unsuccessful, by the unflinching 
 industry and application which are its instruments 
 in the pursuit of knowledge, I had resolved to strive 
 for the highest, the noblest wreath of intellectual 
 renown. A Tuesellimi in classical learning — a 
 BoscoviCH in mathematics — a Tieaboschi in 
 general literature — a Bellaemino in ecclesiastical 
 learning and controversy — or a Bouedaloue in 
 sacred eloquence : such were my models, to be 
 selected by my superiors for my imitation, — to be 
 imitated by me. How ravishing was the thought! 
 how strong and sublime the hope ! But it was the 
 last high eminence that glimmered to my mind's eye 
 from afar, like the constellation of the Southern 
 Cross^flaming above in majesty, and beautiful 
 amidst the beautiful — to the mariner in his midnight 
 -watch when doubling the " Cape of Hope." I 
 pictured myself standing in the pulpit, pouring 
 
THE RETBEAT. 67 
 
 forth the forceful words of resistless conviction, and 
 the conquering appeals of sweet persuasion. Oh ! 
 how my heart beats even now when I think of that 
 entrancing thought — those fascinating hopes I The 
 desire of inspiring my fellow-men with exalted 
 thoughts of man's high destiny, and with expanding 
 sentiments of large, god-like benevolence towards all 
 that is man, even now makes me regret sometimes, 
 that it is not my calling " to preach the gospel !" . . . 
 
 All these thoughts and hopes vanished as I stood 
 gazing on that crucifix : the fire of my human desires 
 grew dim : was eclipsed by the cloud of that agony, 
 pain, humiliation, — the withering scorn of men ! 
 These must now be the objects of desire, for it was 
 spoken : " He that taketh not his cross, and fol- 
 loweth after me, is not worthy of me !" . . . . 
 
 To one who is keenly alive to every internal and 
 external impulse, the emotion produced by the sight 
 of the crucifix was like the sight — to the hopeless 
 merchant — of his long-desired ship, laden with all 
 the riches of the East, wrecked and sunk as it enters 
 into port. Then, for the first time, I became aware 
 of the unfitness of my mind for religious practices, 
 as suggested by the faith of the Romish church. 
 True I had not been, as I am now, totally separated 
 from that communion ; but there were many points 
 of "dissent" in my creed, which certainly drove me 
 to the very brink of heresy. Still I was a Roman 
 Catholic — as it were, a believer under temptation : 
 a state in which, perhaps, many of that communion 
 live and die! From my eighteenth year I had 
 r 2 
 
68 THE KETEEAT. 
 
 doubts — temptations against tlie faith. Contro- 
 versial works had been my favourite study : I 
 erideavoured to arm myself in defence of the Church ; 
 but it was this very process that produced the doubts 
 that threatened my final separation from the faith 
 which I, not unfrequently, and successfully defended. 
 
 During the few weeks that intervened between my 
 first interview with the Jesuit who was then the 
 London agent of Stonyhurst, and my departure for 
 the ISfovitiate, I had been to confession and com- 
 munion. At the request of the Jesuit, the priest 
 who absolved me gave me a testimonial of his 
 unqualified belief as to my "vocation." My enthu- 
 siasm stifled my doubts ; but they returned with the 
 greater violence when I had been a day or- two in 
 the company of the " Fathers " at Stonyhurst. I 
 have already enlarged on my disappointed expecta- 
 tions: if it was not the fault of these men that 
 they did not edify me, it was doubtless mine that 
 I was scandalized. I am willing to give them the 
 benefit of the doubt: content to state facts and 
 impressions without exaggeration or suppression. 
 
 In this frame of mind, then, I had to meditate on the 
 saving truths of Christianity, as unfolded and applied 
 by Ignatius to the " ground-work "* of the Jesuit. 
 
 I meditated on " the end of man." The subject 
 had long been familiar to my thoughts. I had 
 worked out the problem : to my own satisfaction at 
 least; and notthe most unimportant corollary deduced, 
 
 * Ad fundamentum. Exerc. Spirit. 
 
DOUBTS AND WATERINGS. 69 
 
 was the conviction that we have considerably unsiin- 
 plified the plain words of Revelation, and have been 
 unaccountably deaf to the suggestions of Nature : 
 which, after all, is revelation more or less obscured 
 or invisible to the eyes of the thoughtless and the 
 sensual. : The " prelude — " for there were preludes to 
 each meditation — was quite in accordance with my 
 religion or philosophy : if the candid reader will not 
 be terrified by the legitimg,te use of a much-abused 
 term, which, like the holy name of the Redeemer in 
 the word " Jesuit," has been piteously degraded from 
 its original acceptation.* " Man was created for 
 this end — to praise and revere the Lord his God, 
 and by serving Him, to be saved at last."f - 
 
 I embraced the pleasing theme as an old friend : 
 but I could not help thinking, ever and anon, that 
 my thoughts on the subject were not those of the 
 Jesuits, however firmly convinced I was that they 
 were in perfect accordance with the doctrines and 
 life of Jesus. In the doctrines and life of the 
 Redeemer I had found nothing wanting ; whereas 
 the Jesuits would require from me the unqualified 
 profession of the Romish faith : which had been 
 likened, in my imagination, to certain tropical nuts 
 whose kernel is inexplicably involved in a hard, 
 tough, intertwisted husk enclosing a harder shell. 
 For I was willing to admit that there was some truth 
 in the system : some signs of vitality, some indica- 
 tions of soundness: a period of decomposition so 
 
 * See note B. 
 
 t Exere. Spirit. Med. i. 
 
70 DOUBTS AND WAVERINGS. 
 
 grateful in rich viands to the epicure. How easy is 
 the transition from the "flesh-pots of Egypt" to 
 the flesh-pots of religion! And what a splendid 
 mental epicureanism is the religion of Rome ! And 
 how the Jesuits of old enhanced its attractions by 
 their orthodox expediency in the ticklish matter of 
 morality ! But I am anticipating a momentous ques- 
 tion — I return to the " end of man." Some of the 
 motives held forth for a grateful return to the Creator, 
 in consideration of all His manifold blessings, were 
 satisfactory; but I outstripped the scope of the 
 " point," and expatiated in universal nature for the 
 unnumbered motives that suggest the name of the 
 all-wise, all-good, eternal God, to the heart as well 
 as to the mind of the grateful worshipper. And to 
 crown all, God himself took the form of his favoured 
 creature, and thus exalted man still higher in the 
 grades of creation : hence, perhaps, the noblest 
 secondary motive of Christian morality — namely, not 
 to degrade that which was glorified by a God made 
 man 
 
 I need not say that I was but little " distracted " 
 during the meditation : if the whole train of my 
 thoughts, strictly speaking, was not a palpable dis- 
 traction throughout, according to the ideas of Igna- 
 tius. However, the hour passed ofF very agreeably. 
 
 According to practice, the Father of the Novices 
 visited me after the meditation. He seemed, as it 
 were, the divine physician feeling the pulse of my 
 soul. I " reported progress " to his satisfaction. 
 
 My next meditation was on " sin," and was less 
 
DOUBTS AND WAVERINGS. 71 
 
 satisfactory. My philosophy totally revised the 
 " points." I found them inconsequent through- 
 out: confused, absurd. That is, of course, according 
 to the views which I had taken of the subject: 
 having apparently reconciled the morality of pure 
 revelation with that suggested by the laws which 
 govern external nature in which we move, by the 
 bodily and mental structure or organization with 
 which we are endowed, and by the bodily and 
 mental rewards and penalties which perpetually 
 remind us of a superintending Providence. 
 
 I became uneasy. I thought of arguing the points 
 with the Superior: but a moment's reflection con- 
 vinced me that I came to be converted not to convert. 
 Was it possible for me to assent to the doctrine? 
 If not, how could I be a conscientious, an honest 
 Jesuit ? . . . . I told the Father despondingly that 
 I had been sadly distracted in this meditation. He 
 smiled benignly ; said he was not surprised at it, 
 and with great " unction," as sentimental piety is 
 called, he unfolded the cause of the failure : which, 
 he said, manifestly resulted from the Jiesh battling 
 with the spirit!* "Never mind, brother!" said he, 
 sweetly, " grace will be given you to see all things 
 clearly : by-and-by all will be well !" The apparent 
 candour of his sentiment nearly extorted from my 
 heart the confession of my heresy ; but he continued 
 
 * I find this cause among the many given by Aquavita in his 
 Industrie, cap. 3, viz., Ex desideriis etinordinato affectu erga aliquid, 
 quod subinde recurrit et animum pulsat, mentemque ad se importune 
 reyocat. 
 
72 DOUBTS AND WAVERINGS. 
 
 his pious instruction with such seeming gratification, 
 that I was unwilling to blast the hope which he had 
 so fervently and confidently expressed. 
 
 By this time, I had half convinced myself that my 
 hope of becoming a Jesuit was very uncertain ; for 
 the idea of subscribing to their doctrines with a 
 "mental reservation" never entered into my mind. 
 
 " Death" was the subject of my third meditation. 
 I grappled with the grim tyrant, and brought him to 
 a parley. This time I could give a good account of 
 my soul, as far as its peace and quiet were concerned ; 
 for the wise, and merciful, and beneficent ends sub- 
 served by death throughout creation, filled my mind 
 with sweet thoughts of the Creator's universal love: 
 By a curious contradiction, it was impossible for me 
 to follow the leading ideas of the " points." I could 
 see nothing terrible in death, or the simple cessation 
 of the body's functions, after having done their ap- 
 pointed work. Further, from the constant tendency 
 of all organic nature to give pleasure : to bless with 
 comfort some one or other of God's creatures, I had 
 been deeply impressed with unbounded faith in the 
 Creator!s goodness and love ; so that I looked beyond 
 the grave with unshaken hopefulness, despite the 
 consciousness of my infirmities : since I had re- 
 marked, as every one must, that the physical blessings 
 of nature are freely dispensed to all — to the unjust 
 as well as the just; though their pleasures are con- 
 fined to those who use and do not abuse them. 
 
 Such were the thoughts that entertained my first 
 hours of the Retreat: it is evident that they were not 
 
DOUBTS AND WAVEEINGS. 73 
 
 in the spirit of Ignatius. This state of things was 
 not to continue : the trial was at hand. 
 
 "Judgment," "Hell," and "Heaven," were the 
 following topics. ... I confessed my doubts : I 
 could conceal them no longer. My views of the 
 subjects were totally at variance with the doctrine 
 of the " points." I could not reconcile them. I 
 despaired for my "vocation," and wept with bitter 
 anguish. The good Father endeavoured to calm my 
 agitation. Of course he did not argue with me : that 
 was out of the question ; for " the devil is not to be 
 argued with." He advised me to pray : to pray fer- 
 vently for aid : it would be given : the tempter would 
 vanish. He said he would pray for me : 't was 
 natural that I should not be easily surrendered by the 
 Evil One : but the will of Heaven would be accom- 
 plished in me in spite of all his efforts ! . _ . . . 
 
 These his last words were to me like the last and 
 conquering remedy of the physician to the desperate 
 patient. 
 
 " The will of Heaven would be accomplished in me, 
 in spite of all his efforts !" This appeal to my ruling 
 sentiment was electric in its effects. Instantly I de- 
 termined, with all the strength of my will, to believe : 
 and I believed ! From that moment, the few doubts 
 that rose up against me were easily vanquished. I 
 felt totally changed in opinion on every subject. I 
 prayed with fervour, meditated with comfort, and was 
 eager, "like a giant prepared to run his course," 
 to begin a new life of action as well as of sen- 
 timent 1 
 
74 DOUBTS AND WAVERINGS. 
 
 Strange ! inexplicable ! if the sentiment was not an 
 illusion. Here was an inspiration of faith produced 
 by an appeal to a sentiment which was certainly in- 
 timately allied to vanity ; or at least to a self-idea, thai 
 mere human pride may suggest as a motive of rational 
 ambition ! I have felt the force of this omnipotent 
 flattery, and therefore can pity the deluded "con- 
 verts" who seek in the Midian of Romanism that 
 sensual spirituality which is not permitted to the 
 faithful pilgrims of the desert. More of the letter of 
 the law is required of the Roman Catholic than of 
 the Protestant, but not more of the spirit, if so 
 much ; since the heart must be strong in faith to live 
 up to the doctrines and model of Jesus, when the 
 allurements, the pleasant devices, the ." soft impeach- 
 ments" of Romanism are not admitted into the 
 sanctuary : where, in spirit and singleness of heart, 
 the spiritual worshipper seeks God, and God 
 alone. 
 
 Henceforth I have to describe myself as a devout 
 believer : tempted, but still striving to resist — to con- 
 quer the thoughts that were ready, at every moment, 
 to rise and appeal for a dispassionate judgment. 
 
 With faith came compunction, I was anxious to 
 unburthen my conscience to my spiritual director. 
 About the middle of the Retreat I began my con- 
 fession. 
 
 This, of course, was essential. Whoever is admitted 
 into the society must, on his entrance, make a general 
 confession of his whole life, to be repeated every six 
 months after : on account, it is said, of the manifold 
 
DOUBTS AND 'WAVEKINGS. 75 
 
 utility to the spirit which is evidenced in that per- 
 formance.* It was a general confession, then, that I 
 had to make : a confession which included all the 
 sins of my past life up to that time. 
 
 This great undertaking is performed by Roman 
 Catholics at their first communion ; and only occa- 
 sionally afterwards, according to the advice of their 
 spiritual directors, which is influenced by the sup- 
 posed state of the penitent's soul : for it is considered 
 useful to rouse the lukewarm to a fruitful eiFort, when 
 their relaxed vigilance is preparing a grievous fall. 
 
 It is only necessary to confess " mortal sins ;" for 
 " venial sins" are not " matter for absolution." The 
 distinction between a mortal and a venial sin, is, in 
 most cases, easy enough ; as the " intention" of the 
 penitent, together with the " circumstances," decides 
 the judgment of the expert casuist; who has been 
 diligently instructed in all the intricate, and fre- 
 quently disgusting shades of human frailty. By a 
 mortal sin is meant a sin which causes " death to the 
 soul :" in other words, which would consign the soul 
 to eternal perdition. It is defined as a wilful infringe- 
 ment of the commandments of God, or of the church, 
 in a grave matter, by thought, word, or deed. A 
 venial sin is defined to be a slight dereliction of those 
 duties which result from the commandments of God, 
 or of the church, in a light matter j or in a grave 
 matter, without perfect consent of the will; and con- 
 sequently pardonable, as the Latin word, rather in- 
 congruously, is made to signify : for by implication 
 * Exam. Gen. cap. 4. 
 
76 INVESTMENT AND 
 
 we might conclude that a mortal sin is not pardon- • 
 able. Absolution, however, is always given — " to 
 make sure;" and for this purpose the penitent is 
 requested " to accuse himself of some particular sin 
 of his past life, with a fervent act of contrition." 
 
 In my confession to the ather of the novices, I 
 was candid and minute to the utmost. Every sin of 
 my past life : every propensity, was confessed without 
 reluctance. I never felt shame in confession. I 
 looked, upon the priest as the vicegerent of the 
 Almighty, and often exaggerated rather than dimi- 
 nished my guilt. To the Jesuit I told all— absolutely 
 all : his every question received an unhesitating reply. 
 It is commonly thought that Homan Catholics do not 
 tell all in confession : for myself, I can only say that 
 the idea of a sacrilegious confession and communion 
 was always horrific to my mind; and I have even 
 confessed a nightly dream on the morning of com- 
 munion, in order to be " spotless" for that astounding 
 ceremonial. Gratified, doubtless, by my candour; 
 exulting in my fervour, and triumphing in the victory 
 gained, the good father poured forth the honeyed 
 words of consolation : assuring me that " all the 
 past was past" and would be forgotten, and that 
 it was now, by a most especial grace, granted me to 
 make amends by a life of meritorious deeds in the 
 holy Society of Jesus. Then followed the absolution, 
 which he pronounced with strong emotion, and con- 
 cluded with the words " Go and sin no more ! pray 
 for me !" 
 
 In the evening he brought me my cassock, with 
 
BLESSING. 77 
 
 the discipline and the chain; and, with a fervent 
 blessing and prayer that I would wear it in holiness 
 and sincerity, he commended me to the Virgin and 
 holy Aloysius, and left me — a saint in anticipation : 
 for I was determined to wear the garb in the manner 
 recommended, and I certainly endeavoured to my 
 utmost to do so during my eventful year ; as the 
 Jesuits can testify, and have testified. 
 
78 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE NOVICE A CONTEMPLATION RESULTS. 
 
 On the following morning I received the sacrament, 
 or the Eucharist, as Roman Catholics call it, at 
 mass. The recollected demeanour of the novices 
 during that ceremony — their hands joined on the 
 brea%t — using no book, but with eyes downcast in 
 mental prayer, — the apparent fervour of the Superior : 
 seeming to weep as he ejaculated the words that 
 others repeat as a task, — these signs of a religious 
 life I had not appreciated till the morning of my 
 first communion in the Novitiate. I cannot forget 
 the mere sensation of the gown, which, as it were, 
 veiled all that was worldly in me from my eyes, that 
 now would fain forget every object that they had 
 ever rested on with pleasure. That gown transformed 
 me as much as any other influence in the Novitiate. 
 On all occasions it was a monitor to me. I always 
 put it on with pleasure, and could have wished 
 never to appear without it: for to me it seemed to 
 suggest the resolve to attain perfection. I con- 
 sidered it in the light of a contract made with 
 
THE NOVICE. 79 
 
 Heaven— a covenant which cancelled the past, and 
 gave me a rule of life for the future. 
 
 I remember my sensations on that morning, as if 
 they were of yesterday. My meditation was most 
 interesting by its comparisons and association of 
 ideas ; which enable me to call to mind thoughts as 
 far back as ray sixth year, and have rendered easy the 
 task of reproducing my mind in the Novitiate. Thus 
 all things that the eyes can see, the ears hear, the 
 hands touch, the nostrils smell, the tongue taste, 
 have been made to me records of thoughts to be re- 
 called to mind at any moment. 
 
 On the morning in question, during that medita- 
 tion, I likened my soul's condition to scenes that I 
 had witnessed after a hurricane within the Tropics. 
 
 The roar of the winds, that have raged from every 
 quarter in succession, has ceased — the shout of the 
 sailor striving to save his ship from the shore— the 
 crash of falling rafters — the screams of women, have 
 heard their last echo ; and the sea, the terrible deep, 
 that seemed in its fury last night about to engulf the 
 little island, now smiles in its thousand ripples, curled 
 by the morning breeze born from its own cool bosom,* 
 as the rising sun in the east pours his life-giving 
 radiance on the isle now waking from its troubled 
 sleep. 
 
 Let us go forth and see the work of the hurricane. 
 Here are the remnants of a wreck, the greater part of 
 which is now floating far and wide on the wilderness 
 of ocean, soon to be covered with moss, and weeds, 
 
 * The sea breeze. 
 
80 A CONTEMPLATION. 
 
 and shell-fish, and then to become a shelter for the 
 fish that seek their food, only to be preyed, upon by 
 others larger and fiercer than themselves. 
 
 There, see ! are numerous shells and curious 
 mosses thrown up from the treasury of ocean — 
 useless where they were — but if some clever: hand 
 will cleanse, them from their dross, and ; polish, and ' 
 sort them, how beautiful they will be — those shells of 
 every hue ; and yet not tinted in vain, but for some 
 wise end, some bounteous purpose, some providential 
 destiny. 
 
 Here is a dead body — cold — stiff! Poor sailor! 
 the ocean, thy adopted mother, has wafted thee 
 kindly once more to a home — the home of the grave; 
 and strangers will bury thee in a strange land, far 
 from all that may love thee ; and no mother . will 
 weep over thee a mother's tear, nor sister wreathe a 
 garland of the wild fiowers, that daily she may 
 renew. 
 
 Observe that man. Sadly he sits beside that 
 wreck ; he was the owner of the vessel which but 
 yesterday rode gaily at anchor in the harbour — a 
 strong, tight bark, ready for a voyage. He laments, 
 uselessly bewails, his sudden loss: the wreck must be 
 broken to pieces, sold by lots, all to be burnt, or 
 applied to uses for which it seemed never to have been 
 destined.* 
 
 Such was my contemplation. I likened the world 
 that I had left to the hurricane ; my present state was 
 
 * The foregoing contemplation is, in every particular, a scene which 
 I witnessed in the West Indies in my tenth year. 
 
A CONTEMPLATION. 81 
 
 the calm that followed, and the rising sun was the 
 quickening spirit of rehgion. 
 
 The remnants of the wreck were my remaining 
 propensities and faiUngs ; those that were floating far 
 and wide were my evil deeds — their scandal, that 
 might be made an excuse to sin by others whom I 
 had influenced, and thus the Evil One would find 
 his prey. 
 
 The mosses and shells were the faculties of my 
 mind — Will, Memory, and Understanding — which 
 would now be divinely trained and directed to the 
 work of edification. 
 
 The dead body — the carcass — was self-will — was 
 self, now no longer living, if it was still unburied, 
 and resigned to decay without reluctance, in spite of 
 the heart's suggestions. 
 
 The disconsolate owner of the stranded bark was 
 the spirit of the world, that might now lament in 
 vain the wreck of all that it had in me — all that 
 was now to be burnt or applied to other uses, — uses 
 which the spirit of the world could not conceive. 
 
 My first day after the retreat was a holiday for me 
 in both senses of the word : recreation for the body 
 as well as gladness — exultation for the mind. 
 
 Two of the novices were ordered to take me for a 
 walk in the vicinity. We conversed cheerfully on 
 the rules and regulations to which I was now to con- 
 form ; and they seemed surprised, I remember, to find 
 me so happy in my lot — so eager to run the race, to 
 fight the battle, to ascend "unto the holy moun- 
 tain." 
 
82 BESCLTS. 
 
 On meeting my brothers at recreation after dinner, 
 I received congratulations on all sides — radiant, sweet' 
 looks, that seemed to reflect the emotions of gladness 
 I felt in being called to their brotherhood. 
 
 My duties began in the afternoon, I think, with 
 " manual works," but my probation did not virtually 
 commence till the morning after. A preliminary idea 
 of life in the Novitiate will be given in the following 
 chapter; meanwhile I shall enable the reader to 
 judge of the results of the Novitiate in my individual 
 case, by transcribing a portion of a letter written to 
 a friend in London, within a month after my admis- 
 sion. With this friend I corresponded during the 
 year. It is necessary to state that he was my fellow- 
 student at college, and is a Roman Catholic. His 
 letters were always given to me open: that is, with 
 the seal broken ; my letters were given to the Supe- 
 rior open, and he sealed and sent them to their desti- 
 nation : whether they were read, or merely glanced 
 over, I cannot say. This was perfectly undersftbod 
 and agreed to on my part. I merely mention "• the 
 fact as an elucidation : the extraordinary sentiments 
 which my letters contained went forth "by permis- 
 sion," either read or glanced over. I state the fact, 
 the reader must draw conclusions. 
 
 This letter, which has been kindly returned to me 
 at my request, bears date the 8th of March, and is 
 headed thus: — " From my sweet Hermitage at 
 Hodder." Curiously enough, the name and day of 
 the month are in Greek. It is written on a large 
 sheet of paper. The first twenty or thirty lines relate 
 
RESULTS. 83 
 
 to some literary matters I had on hand when I left 
 London : totally foreign to the present purpose, except 
 a certain note which was to have been appended to a 
 passage, and which called attention to a curious old 
 book written by a Jesuit — the same which is alluded 
 to in the introduction as " Hints on Etiquette." The 
 letter proceeds as follows : — 
 
 "However, now it (the note aforesaid) must be 
 anathema ! for although our good Superior gave me 
 leave in the first instance to write the note, he has 
 since expressed his doubts whether it might not be 
 detrimental to the Society, by exciting researches 
 which may be directed to a wrong end, in these times 
 of atrocious scandal. To such reasons I submit un- 
 qualifiedly; nay, to the slightest intimation. You 
 
 will, therefore, call on , and request him to omit 
 
 the note, without explaining reasons, but merely by 
 second thought. However, I leave all to your good 
 judgment, do what you think fit, and you will do 
 right. There was a time when I might have pre- 
 ferred my own darling will in such a moment ; but,^ 
 thank God ! I make the sacrifice with pleasure, so 
 that you may consign it ' emendaturis ignibus' aut, 
 'in mare Creticum portare ventis,' and God be 
 praised ! On its end I said, ' Laus Deo semper,' 
 as I said in its beginning, ' Ad majorem Dei 
 gloriam' — now, anathema sit! 
 
 " And now, my dear friend, having eliminated 
 
 these preliminaries, let us turn to our honey-comb, 
 
 and sip of its sweets. Daily I grow more and more 
 
 enamoured with this terrestrial paradise ; daily my 
 
 G 2 
 
84 RESULTS. 
 
 heart overflows with love to my God, who has been 
 so singularly kind to me ! I shudder when the me- 
 mory of the past rises in judgment against me ! How 
 I fluttered on the abyss of infidelity ! You remember 
 the wanderings of my mind — the specious arguments 
 she framed on the basis of impassioned flesh. Yes, 
 I was almost a Deist, and imagined I served God in 
 simphcity of heart. But the winter is past, and the 
 spring-flowers of repentance have budded in my poor 
 soul. For all God's mercies may his holy name be 
 blessed ! I talked to you of a ' system' which I had 
 framed ; I have given it to oblivion, fearful of the 
 curse pronounced by the oracle of Truth — Corrupti 
 et ahominahiles facti sunt in studiis eorum, &c. &c. 
 Now I am cured ; now I begin to relish the milk of 
 Truth ; and, from the midst of my soul, I exclaim — 
 How happy and enviable is the mental condition of 
 those, who, cradled on a boundless Faith, and cheer- 
 fully sleeping on a magnificent Hope, can feel edified 
 by every act of piety — can relish every legend, how- 
 ever absurd in its conception, and rest secure as to 
 the merit of their minutest practice, in the presence 
 of their God ! The sceptic, puffed up with a proud 
 exaltation of mind, may smile, and see an exemption 
 from all such ' absurdities' in the abyss of God's 
 mercy ; but he must still confess that his faith is but 
 weak, and his hope but frail ; for if we ' would enter 
 into life, we must become as little children.' 
 
 V '^ tF ^P sjP" 
 
 " Yes, my dear friend, without virtue no one can 
 be happy. I was high-spirited before, but only now, 
 
RESULTS. 85 
 
 since I have left all to gain all, do I feel a joy 
 which is inexpressible ; in truth, my. heart bursts 
 with exultation, and I had almost said, ' Enough, 
 enough !' . . . 
 
 "All with ns is so regular j every minute appro- 
 priated ; all my brethren so charitable, so loving, so 
 filled with that piety which, albeit I have it not so 
 abundantly as they, I can still admire it in them, 
 and bless God. Oh! would that you were here, my 
 dear friend ! Next to heaven, I cannot wish you 
 anything greater ; for these solitudes only lack the 
 ' beatific vision" to make them heaven itself ! Emi- 
 nently favoured by nature, as you shall see when j'ou 
 come to visit me, (which must be in June or July), 
 they are fit for angels, not men. 
 
 " Oh yes ! my soul, let us a thought of love ex- 
 press ; for now the spring begins to rise from out her 
 Testal grave, and, pure as virgin's heart, ascend her 
 buds. Her breasts are fair, her locks stream beauti- 
 fully down, and lo! her feet are sandalled by the 
 flower-awakening showers. Haste ! my beloved ! 
 my soul ! and with thy breath invite the primrose 
 and the daisy to adore, with us, our God, when 
 Spring shall ope her eyes. Invite the roses of the 
 bowers, and daisy of the everlasting fields ; bid them, 
 too, come and deck the garland for the Saviour's 
 altar ; and His lily, too, honoured of flowers ! inno- 
 cent and modest-eyed, with downcast look, and 
 virgin purity. Come all ! and let us sing the praises 
 of our God, because the Spring doth come to gladden 
 all. The hills, the mountains, the dales, the bosky 
 
86 RESULTS. 
 
 dells — all shall re-echo to our song, because all shall 
 rejoice! The flocks, the herds, slowly emerging 
 with their unbound feet, shall come to our acclaim ; 
 and lo ! the birds will chorus join, and all creation 
 will a hymn upraise to God eternal ! Lovely Spring ! 
 
 time of flowers J time of the loves and song of 
 little birds ! Now breathes my soul a pious aspira- 
 tion to her Love, my Saviour ! Blessed is Thy name, 
 because Thou art the Love, the Life, of all — thrice 
 blessed is Thy name !" 
 
 Excuse this long quotation from a little work which 
 
 1 have conceived for you, particularly, to be entitled, 
 "Solitude; or, the Spring-Flowers of my Hermitage." 
 I shall give it to you, permissu superiorum, when 
 concluded, if you come to see me next June or July. 
 It will be religious, or mixto-religious — it will treat of 
 the heart and its eternal love. The above is an ex- 
 tract from it. I intended to send you the prooemium, 
 but have not time or room. I find it a wonderful 
 help to piety to record the burstings of sudden reli- 
 gious feeling, and have found many of my inveterate 
 presentiments overcome by writing down the contrary 
 inspirations of the moment. These thoughts occur 
 when L am at my " silent occupation"* in the garden, 
 and my soul is so entranced with delight that, in 
 truth, the body " dulci laborum decipitur sono"— 
 they 
 
 " Dissolve me in svreet exstacies, 
 , And bring all Hearen before my eyes !" 
 
 * That is, •• Manual Works,'' which are described in the next 
 
RESULTS. 87 
 
 The other morning, as I was in silence beneath the 
 garden-willows, I heard the thrush warbling its little 
 hymn to its Creator. I rejoiced with it, and imagina- 
 tion bearing me to distant climes, I felt the delicious 
 dream steal over me, and thus my memory narrates 
 my thoughts — an offering to the God of all things 
 and of Spring.* 
 
 Tp tF w tF 
 
 And now, my dear friend, I must tell you my 
 joy for the pious resolution of our good friend 
 
 . God be praised ! I have not ceased to pray 
 
 for you both. Yesterday's fast and exercises I 
 offered up for you — to-day's for our perseverance in 
 our good purposes — and now I must beg you to pray 
 for me, that I may be faithful to the great grace 
 which has been vouchsafed to me — that it may 
 be in truth eduxit in soliludinem, et quoniam voluit, 
 salvum me fecit. Do take your resolution with de- 
 termination — certa veriliter et prospere procede. Re- 
 member the adage, consuetude consuetudine vincitui — 
 cella continuata dulcescit — retirement becomes sweeter 
 and sweeter, and the end of it is " a perfect 
 possession of one's self" — a conviction that we 
 walk in God and with God, and that angels attend 
 us. But the election must be speedily made — 
 delay were fatal. An eternity is at stake — present 
 graces may never be offered again — seize them 
 now — " for Heaven suffers violence, and the 
 
 chapter. We were cautioned not to write about anything- that took 
 place in the Novitiate — heuce the mystery of the allusion. 
 
 • This is aa ode written in French — it is given in the Appendix. 
 
88 RESULTS. 
 
 violent bear it away." It is related* in Hilary de 
 Cost's " Eloges des femmes illustres," that Jane, 
 daughter of Alphonsus V., King of Portugal, was 
 sought after in marriage, on account of her incom- 
 parable beauty, by the greatest princes of Christen- 
 dom. Three particularly desired her hand — Louis XL, 
 for his dauphin, Charles VIIL; Maximihan of 
 Austria; and Richard IIL of England. But she, 
 elevating her thoughts still higher, renounced the 
 marriage of earthly kings for that of the King of 
 Heaven ; to whom she sacrificed the beauty which 
 she had received from his hand, and became a re- 
 cluse in the very austere monastery of Alveiro, of 
 the order of St. Dominic. The conduct of this 
 young princess may serve to symbolise that of our 
 soul. We may say that she is beautiful, because 
 she serves God, and therefore must love Him — amrni- 
 do Deum pulchra efficitur. 
 
 And she is sought after in marriage. The princes 
 of darkness have all desired her.— Mammon, the god 
 of riches and the pride of life — Lucifer, the god of 
 human applause and ambition — and Asmodeus, the 
 god of pleasure and sensuality. But she has re- 
 jected all their offers for the Divine spouse Christ 
 Jesus. Let us make her choice eternal. If we love 
 a creature, however beautiful or amiable, our love 
 still craves on, and there is no fuel to satisfy its 
 burning : but if we love Thee, my God ! where shall 
 it end ? or when shall the soul exclaim " Enough ?" 
 
 • Vide St. Jure, Connais. de Jesus Christ. 
 
RESULTS. 89 
 
 Thou art beyond all space, all time — and at the 
 thought of Thy name, the soul swells and is 
 exalted. In Thee, as in an abyss, we may lose our- 
 selves in infinite and eternal love — may ascend to the 
 highest heaven where Thou livest midst the blaze of 
 seraphim and cherubim — or descend to the lowest of 
 hell where Thou art terrible in the furnace of Thine 
 anger ! We may see and love Thee in all Thy 
 creatures — in the modest primrose which first salutes 
 the spring, or in the grandeur of the centenary oak. 
 We may love Thee in the song of the friendly linnet 
 that pipes its little accent of praise, or in the 
 thunder and crash of elements when the devastating 
 hurricane rages, and to Thy name sings "Venite 
 adoremus .'" Come let us adore ! for thou art an 
 unfathomable and boundless ocean of being — HiXayos 
 y&p 2i; ducrias &TreLpov Kai aopia-rov. 
 
 My dear friend, you know the sincerity of my 
 heart — believe me, if I now hold a different language 
 to you than I was wont to indulge in, I love you, 
 and therefore would wish you as well off as myself 
 on the Great Day ! 
 
 Tell , * he has done well — but has yet more 
 
 to do. Let him consider the case well ! Still for 
 ever yours — adieu — and pray for me, both of you — 
 that I may persevere — that is all — I am, thank God ! 
 ver^ happi/," 
 
 Such were the " results" of three weeks in the 
 Novitiate. That a total change — a metamorphosis, 
 
 • Alluding to a friend whom I had advised to embrace the priesthood 
 — he took my advice — at all events he has become a priest ! 
 
90 RESULTS. 
 
 had taken place in my mind, is, perhaps, very evi- 
 dent ; and the enthusiasm of the letter will prepare 
 the reader for what is to follow. Every previous 
 train of thought in my mind was broken up ; newr 
 roads and by-paths were being made through its 
 wilderness. 
 
91 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A day's occupation. 
 
 The reader may perhaps remember a pretty little 
 fable {^Der Adler) of Leasing : — " Man once asked 
 the Eagle, ' Why dost thou bring up thy young so 
 high in the air ?' The Eagle replied, ' Would they, 
 when grown up, venture so near the sun if I brought 
 them up low down on the earth 1 ' " 
 
 The plan of Ignatius is just the reverse: he clips 
 the wings of the will long before the joyous scenes of 
 nature's freedom tempt it to soar. He begins with 
 abasement — humiliation — complete subj ection — de- 
 gradation, and ends with (the certain result) " perfect 
 obedience." This he ensures by never-ending prac- 
 tice : of this he is convinced before he says to the 
 trembling novice, " Proceed !" ; and this, finally, he 
 secures by a vow — pronounced freely, fervently, in the 
 presence of his representative and a witness — to the 
 Eternal God ! If I am asked what is the essential 
 characteristic of a Jesuit in the estimation of his 
 superiors — the characteristic which alone gives value 
 to every virtue or talent — without which characteristic 
 
92 A day's occupation. 
 
 in its most unscrupulous, in its blindest extravagance, 
 the society disowns, discards him, — I say that cha- 
 racteristic is perfect obedience. This is the very 
 soul of the society, — the heart, the mainspring, the 
 fulcrum, the foundation, the royal hank of the society 
 which is alvyays solvent, however large, sudden, or 
 unexpected the demand may be! In his Superior 
 the Jesuit "lives, moves, and has his being;" the 
 will of the Superior is to him the will of God.* 
 
 We rose at five, or half past, I forget which. The 
 brother porter (of whose office, morg anon) walked 
 from curtain to curtain, which he scratched, uttering 
 the words " Deo gratias !" " thanks be to God !" 
 to which every novice replied, " Lfeo gratias .'" and 
 rose instantly. As soon as he was out of bed he 
 pulled the upper sheets over the foot of the bed, and, 
 "collecting himself," that is, thinking of God, or% 
 making some pious ejaculations, he dressed him- 
 self as speedily as possible, but still with the 
 utmost decorum, without bustle or noise. When 
 completely dressed, and not before, he emerged from 
 his cell. 
 
 One after another we filed down to the back 
 regions of the house, where there was a pump, and 
 there we performed the first menial duty of " Holy 
 Obedience." 
 
 * See CoNSTiT. passim — ^but more particularly Part vi. c. 5, where 
 it is decided that the guilt of sin is attached to disobedience when the 
 Superior commands, " in the name of our Lord Jesus Cfcn'st, or in 
 Virtue of Obedience ! " The subject will be fully discussed in the 
 sequel. 
 
A day's occupation. 93 
 
 This was done calmly, seriously, piously, — for we 
 walked in prayer. I doubt not that the reader will 
 imagine that we must have been tempted to smile 
 and indulge an excusable merriment at many of our 
 occupations. At first, such symptoms of frivolity 
 were apparent; but after a week or two, it was 
 astonishing how seriously the very thing that had 
 seemed so comical inspired sentiments of devotion. 
 But the reason is obvious. Clement XIV., the 
 pope who abolished the society of the Jesuits cooked 
 for himself, whilst a prey to the dismal malady that 
 proceeded from, or followed that suppression,— 
 because " poniards and poison were incessantly before 
 him."* CiNCiNNATUS the Roman, victorious over 
 the enemies of his country, returned in triumph to 
 Rome, but laid down his office as dictator, and retired 
 to plough his fields. Dionysixis of Syracuse, and 
 Louis Philippe, it is said, were not ashamed " to 
 keep a school." A hundred examples of the like 
 nature crowd to the mind, and all give evidence that 
 when the human will is firmly directed by any 
 motive, human or divine, things despised, abhorred 
 before, become invested with honour — inspire sen- 
 timents of esteem and affection. The first repug- 
 nance will give place to satisfaction ; and the motive 
 held forth, whatever it may be, will induce us to 
 outstrip the letter of necessity in the spirit of love. 
 
 " Call it a travel that thou tak'st for pleasure, 
 The sullen presage of thy weary steps, 
 
 • Count A. de Saint Priest— Fall of the Jesuits, p. 91. 
 
94 A day's occupation. 
 
 Esteem a foil, wherein thou art to set 
 The precious jewel of thy home return."* 
 
 From the pump aforesaid, we proceeded to the 
 lavatory ; washed, and returned to our cells to brush 
 our hair. 
 
 We had not much to brush. When I went to the 
 Novitiate my hair was long, and fell to my shoulders; 
 The contrast, when I saw the jail-fashion of the 
 novices, was unpleasant • and I had the weakness to 
 retain the "honour of the head," despite the tacit 
 admonition. I expected every day an order to con- 
 form, but it never came ; till at length, ashamed of 
 myself, I sacrificed the toy of vanity, and was reli- 
 giously shorn by the cook. 
 
 " Hyacinthine locks," then, were out of the ques- 
 tion, — few retained more than an inch or two, — but 
 still we brushed the stubble, and brushed it well, for 
 there was "meriff in every action when performed 
 by holy obedience. 
 
 The reader must bear in mind that not one word 
 but the " Deo gratias" has been spoken, and nothing 
 has been seen but what was immediately before the 
 eyes. We walked with looks prone to the earth ; no 
 one durst raise his eyes from the ground : " for the 
 custody of the eyes" was never relaxed except during 
 recreation-hours, and even then " much might be 
 done" in the spirit of the rule. 
 
 The rule of the Summary, which fashions the ex- 
 terior of the novice, is the following : — 
 
 " All should take the most diligent care to guard 
 • Shaksp., Rich. II. t Const., Part iv. c. 6. 
 
A day's occupation. 95 
 
 the gates of the senses, — particularly the eyes, ears, 
 and tongue, from all irregularity ; and preserve them- 
 selves in peace and true internal humility, — and to 
 exhibit this humility by silence, when it is to be 
 observed ; but when they are to speak, by the cir- 
 cumspection and edification of their words, and mo- 
 desty of their looks, and demureness* of their steps, 
 and every movement — without any sign of impatience 
 or pride : in all things procuring and deserving that 
 the best of everything should be given to others, 
 esteeming in their mind, all others, as it were, their 
 superiors, and by outwardly exhibiting with sim- 
 plicity and religious moderation, the respect and 
 reverence which the rank of the party demands : and 
 thus it may come to pass that, taking thought for 
 each other reciprocally, they may increase in devotion, 
 and praise God our Lord, whom each should study 
 to recognise in another as in His image.f 
 
 Twenty minutes, or half an hour, I forget which, 
 elapsed from the time of rising — the clock gave its 
 notice — the brother porter rang thrice successively — 
 we marched into the chapel. After a short prayer in 
 silence, the porter read the "points" of the medi- 
 tation. We meditated kneeling, standing, sitting, 
 and kneeling again, for the space of an hour. 
 
 The chapel is about the size of an ordinary par- 
 lour. Benches, with long cushions in front, are placed 
 transversely, and along the sides. 
 
 The porter's place was near the door, and any one 
 quitting the chapel had first to ask his leave. 
 
 * Maturitate incessfls. t Const., Part iii. c. 1, 4. 
 
96 A day's occupation. 
 
 The Superior meditated in his room, I suppose ; 
 for he only came in for mass. In the Superior's, 
 absence, on all occasions, the Porter, a novice of the, 
 second year,* was, as it were, Superior : we could not 
 even leave the recreation-room, the garden, or play- 
 ground, without his permission ; which, of course^ 
 was always given. Any irregularity in the applicant, 
 as to the frequency of the application, or otherwise,, 
 would be reported to the Superior ; who, if he thought 
 proper, would reprimand the delinquents, either 
 privately or in public, by a " brief :" of which more, 
 anon. 
 
 Meditation ended, the Superior entered, and re- 
 hearsed the " Litany of Jesus," — a sweet, affection- 
 ate appeal to the Redeemer, which makes every 
 thrilling incident in the life of the Man made God, 
 a source of ardent hope and steadfast confidence. 
 Standing before the chest of drawers that contained 
 the vestments, the Superior robed himself, muttering 
 the prayers which the Romish Church prescribes for 
 the occasion: but there was no looking-glass before 
 him, as I have seen on other similar occasions, whea 
 the thought occurred to me, that if vanity sug- 
 gested to the priest that use of woman's " best com- 
 panion," — still,. 
 
 " Vice sometime 's by action dignified." 
 
 Mass commenced ; and we joined in spirit in the 
 awful " Sacrifice." 
 
 As soon as mass was ended, we rose — eyes down- 
 
 • That is, a novice who had passed one of the two years of proba- 
 tion. 
 
A day's occupation. 97 
 
 cast, head inclined a little, not much — hands joined 
 on the breast — and walked decorously to our cells 
 for half an hour's " spiritual reading." 
 
 This was Rodriguez on " Christian Perfection." 
 
 If the Jesuits were asked to produce a book which 
 contained their recognised morality, " Christian Per- 
 fection," by Rodriguez, would be, I imagine, the 
 book selected : not " Escobae," " Lessius," " Bu- 
 SEMBAUM," &c., though published with the neces- 
 sary* " FacuUaS) approbatio, licentia, consensus et per- 
 missio,"f whereby the respective works became the 
 exponent of the Society's indoctrination. 
 
 Accordingly, "Rodriguez" is put into the hands 
 of the Novices, who must be conquered by the sweet 
 spirit of Heaven before they can be ruled and fash- 
 ioned by the spirit of men — for I will spare the anti- 
 thesis. Admirable means and worthy of a better end ! 
 
 I relished the book exceedingly : my half hour 
 before breakfast always passed agreeably even when 
 tormented by the restless " chain," of which more in 
 the sequel. 
 
 Our breakfast consisted of oatmeal porridge, with 
 milk and bread. Grace was said in Latin. We ate 
 in silence and "recollection,"! and with downcast eyes. 
 
 * Const. 5, d. 0. I was reminded of the mandate by the Provincial 
 when he admitted me. 
 
 t See Lib, Theol. Moral., by Escobab, 8vo. Lugd. 1659, which ex- 
 hibits all the above credentials duly signed and dated. 
 
 X Thomas a Kempis will explain what is meant by this technical 
 term of asceticism. " My son, you should diligently strive, in every 
 place and action, or external occupation, to look within thyself, un- 
 fettered, in self-possession; and let all things be subjected to you, 
 
 H 
 
98 A DATt'S OCCUPATION. 
 
 The porter alone was exempt from this restriction, 
 for he had to see that others did their duty. When 
 all had finished he rose — we did the same — grace 
 was said — we followed him to the dormitory. 
 
 A minute or two elapsed and the bell rang. It 
 called us to the chapel for a lecture on the rules of 
 the Novitiate. Each novice had a little book called 
 "The Summary." "The Summary" is written in 
 Latin, and contains about thirty rules, extracted from 
 the " Constitutions," for the guidance of the novices. 
 We had to get these rules by heart ; but some how 
 or other I could never say them well. I have 
 penanced myself over and over again for this defalca- 
 tion ; have tried every means, but could never suc- 
 ceed. I always stammered and broke down. This 
 was very annoying to me. My memory is naturally 
 very quick and tenacious. I easily learned and retain 
 to the present time the " Odes of Horace ;" but the 
 rules of " The Summary" have not left a vestige 
 behind as far as the Latin construction is concerned; 
 though the duties involved I shall for ever remember: 
 I learned them by practice. 
 
 The lectures read to us were composed by one 
 Father Plowden, formerly master of the novices at 
 Hodder. They were remarkably well written, always 
 wel,l arranged, luminous, full of vigour, and not 
 unfrequehtly facetious. I enjoyed these lectures. 
 And yet, strange to say, it was the lecture which 
 
 and not yourself to them : that you may be the lord and ruler of your 
 actions, not their servant and slave." — De Imit. 1. III. t. 38. 
 
99 
 
 referred to the downfall of the society, and the 
 charges brought against it, that first shook D»y reso- 
 lution to become a Jesuit. I shall never forget the 
 impression made on my mind by the concentrated 
 ferocity with which the character of an English 
 priest* who had written against the society, was 
 assailed. In reading the passage the meek Father of 
 the novices seemed to tremble at the words of wrath. 
 
 After the lecture we assembled, in groups of three 
 or four, in the dormitory, for the purpose of repeating 
 as much of it as we could remember; making notes 
 upon a slate : for on a subsequent day we had to 
 appear in the chapel to be questioned on the sense 
 and spirit of the rule as explained in the former 
 lecture. I think a quarter of an hour was the time 
 allotted to this rehearsal. At its expiry the porter 
 went to the end of the dormitory, and cried out 
 " Deo gratias !" Every voice was stopped : it was 
 the order " to make our beds I" 
 
 Our. beds were comfortable, though of coarse ma- 
 terials : hard, " mortifying" mattresses to the sensual. 
 The bedstead was so constructed as to turn on a hinge ; 
 so that, after making the bed, we strapped the lower 
 part and turned the bedstead up, securing it with a 
 belt, so as to leave more room in our little cells. I 
 say cells, but the Jesuits are not monks : they scorn the 
 very notion. A wooden partition, which did not reach 
 
 * Referring, perhaps, to the fierce dissensioDS between the regular 
 and secular clergy of England, many years ago. 1 think a full account 
 of the matter appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine. 
 Tantsne animis caelestibus irse ! 
 
 H 2 
 
100 A day's occupation. 
 
 the ceiling, divided the dormitory into compartments, 
 giving to each novice about as much space as a pas- 
 senger has in a packet-ship for his berth. Each 
 compartment contained a small desk (without a lock, 
 of course) and a chair. A crucifix was suspended 
 over the desk, and I think there was a pot containing 
 " holy water." In the desk were our books, papers, 
 discipline or whip, chain, &c. I say our, but I am 
 wrong : meum and tuum were to be totally forgotten. 
 A quarter of an hour was allowed for making beds. 
 Then came " manual works." These were divided 
 into in-door and out-of-door works. When there 
 was no lecture, an hour for each division — on other 
 occasions, half an hour. 
 
 I could not help admiring the neatness and facility 
 with which the novices worked in every department. 
 Only a few lessons were requisite in the first instance, 
 and then each seemed to become master of the 
 respective art, whether it was that of sweeping, 
 dusting, shoe-cleaning, &c. Indeed, after a year's 
 training in these mysteries, I think a man might 
 conscientiously, in a case of emergency, undertake to 
 make himself " generally useful," as " a servant of 
 all work." 
 
 In-door manual works consisted in all the func- 
 tions of domestic economy. You went to the porter, 
 and said ^'Deo gratias!" He replied, "sweep the 
 dormitory, clean knives, clean shoes, sweep the 
 recreation-room, sweep up the hearth, dust the 
 chairs," &c. 
 
 Sometimes the " Deo gratias" would be answered 
 
A day's occupation. 101 
 
 by, " go to Brother So-and-so, ' ia the refectory." 
 Brother So-and-so would then order you to sweep 
 the room, or set the benches, or lay the cloths, or 
 plates, or knives and forks ; and when he had nothing 
 more for you to do, he would answer your " Deo 
 gratias!" by another "Deo gratias!" and you went 
 again to the porter. 
 
 The porter would then, perhaps, order you to go to 
 another brother. This brother, on hearing the " Deo 
 gratias !" might order you to go and fetch the " tub ;" 
 or perhaps he would go with you, as it required two 
 persons to lift it. This tub was set ready by the lay- 
 brother at the kitchen door. You carried the tub to 
 the back region of the house, and then you washed, 
 and wiped the utensils there deposited; and then 
 you scrubbed the sedilia, swept out the adjacent 
 localities, made all neat and tidy, and returned the 
 tub aforesaid to where you found it. This part of 
 manual works was considered the most trying to 
 pride; and, consequently, it was not ordered to new 
 novices. For my part, I often longed for the order, 
 in my fervour; afid when it was vouchsafed me, I 
 was rather grieved to think that perhaps the compa- 
 nion selected for me was chosen in order to diminish 
 my repugnance — which certainly did not exist. At 
 
 all events, my companion was a son of Lord , 
 
 a Catholic nobleman. I may mention that at the 
 time of which I am speaking there were in the No- 
 vitiate, besides the gentleman just alluded to, the 
 son of a baronet, and two near relatives of another 
 Roman Catholic nobleman. Before I left I think we 
 numbered about twenty novices in all. 
 
102 A day's occupation. 
 
 Other occupations consisted in dusting the books, 
 cleaning out the chapel, polishing plate, &c. Ste- 
 in a word, every domestic work was performed by 
 the novices, excepting cooking ; which was, however, 
 in the hands of the lay-brother, and an assistant who 
 was a lay-novice. 
 
 When the appointed hour was passed,, we were 
 ordered into the garden. Here we were sent to dig 
 potatoes or root up weeds — to pick fruit, or sweep 
 away dry leaves, to roll the play-ground, or clean 
 the walks, — according to the season. 
 
 The "custody of the senses" is strictly kept 
 during all these various operations. Imagine the 
 scene — its pious regularity — sanctified homeliness — 
 beautiful poverty — and perfect obedience. Some- 
 times several worked in company. On such occa- 
 sions 1 have been reminded of a scene I beheld when 
 sailing past one of the West India islands — a " gang" 
 of poor negroes on a hill side — naked to the waist, 
 whilst the tropical sun blazed cruelly hot : but little 
 they recked that terrible sun ! They stood in a row 
 — curved to the work — and their hoes went up 
 and their hoes went down, like the hammer of a 
 clock that seems to curse with its clash the tyrant 
 time ! 
 
 All the works, then, were carried on in perfect 
 silence : the eyes fixed on what was before you : they 
 were indeed, never raised on any account as we walked 
 through any part of the house, on any occasion what- 
 ever. 
 
 When the time was very nearly expired, on giving 
 the porter the " Deo gratias," he said " Deo gra- 
 
A. day's occupation. 103 
 
 tias;" which meant that he had nothing more for 
 you to do. You then went and washed your hands, 
 put on your cassock and slippers — for slippers were 
 worn in the house to favour silence — and remained 
 in your cell for the next order. 
 
 This time the " Deo gratias " meant " study "— 
 which lasted an hour. The term is apt to mislead: 
 no profane study is allowed in the Novitiate. The 
 " study" of the Novitiate is asceticism, spirituality. 
 But then this was acquired through the medium of 
 the languages with which the novices were ac- 
 quainted : the languages were " kept up ;" nothing 
 was to be lost in the Novitiate except individuality 
 or self-will. For instance, I was ordered to read a 
 little German, Italian, and Spanish daily, though 
 only for a quarter of an hour. All the novices had 
 acquired the French language, and were well 
 grounded in Latin. 
 
 The subjects for "study" were appointed by the 
 Superior. It might be the lives (in Latin) of eminent 
 Jesuits who suffered "martyrdom" in Holland, in 
 England, and in Japan ; or it might consist in trans- 
 lating from St. Cyprian or Bernaed, or the " Con- 
 fessions of St. Augustine," &c. The discourses of 
 Bernard on the Canticles were appointed to me, 
 and they certainly well accorded with the glowing 
 enthusiasm which filled my soul with "love divine." 
 It was during this hour that we wrote letters to our 
 friends, concerning which I shall speak in its proper 
 place. These, of course, were necessarily sermons in 
 their way. During this hour we wrote our short dis- 
 
104 A day's occupation. 
 
 courses to be preached to our brother-novices — for 
 we had sermons of this sort, I think, twice or thrice 
 a week. In a word, the hour was industriously em- 
 ployed in the manner prescribed by the Superior. 
 Had you been permitted to enter the dormitory during 
 that hour, you would never imagine that every cell 
 contained an active, intelligent, thoughtful soul 
 engaged in a mighty struggle^ without a doubt of 
 victory : and yet it was intent on one grand consum- 
 mation, namely, to die to itself in order to live in 
 perfect obedience. I need not say that the stillness 
 of the tomb prevailed on all sides; and if ever my 
 thoughts wandered, the sound of the wind, or of the 
 rushing waters of the stream below when the wintry 
 torrents gave it voice, seemed an admonition as it 
 were of the eternal trumpet that has yet to proclaim 
 " Awake, O dead ! " But I must not anticipate my 
 visions and my dreams. I had enough. Heaven 
 knows! I shall hereafter narrate one or two; and 
 the reader will then believe me when I say that I 
 wonder at no recital of the kind in times of old or 
 times present. 
 
 About twenty minutes before dinner, the "Deo 
 gratias " was given out by the porter. We went and 
 washed, and at the sound of the bell we said (to our- 
 selves) what Roman Catholics call the " Angelus." 
 It consists of three sentences and three Ave Marias 
 in memory of the Annunciation of the Virgin Maey. 
 We then went to chapel. 
 
 The reader may perhaps fancy that we have 
 not had much time for sinning ; but he is mistaken : 
 
A day's occupation. 105 
 
 we went to chapel for the examination of conscience. 
 We remained kneeling during this quarter of an 
 hour. 
 
 It may be asked what we examined our consciences 
 to find ? I will state a few novice-sins,* and the 
 result of this proceeding will render the matter per- 
 fectly intelligible. Suppose a novice walked rather 
 hurriedly — it was a fault. If he contradicted his bro- 
 ther in conversation — it was a fault. If he failed in 
 the custody of the eyes — it was a fault. It might 
 happen that he spoke more to one than another — it 
 was a fault. He laughed too loudly — that was a 
 fault. In fine, he has not "done his best" in every 
 public duty — this is a fault. These are sins; but 
 every novice has some particular failing, which he 
 has determined more or less fervently to vanquish: 
 here, then, is an interesting battle to fight. I will 
 copy from my diaryf at Hodder, five resolutions made 
 on the " day of St. Stanislaus." 
 
 * "The Constitutions, Declarations, and Order of Life do not bind 
 under penalty of sin " in the usual acceptation of the term : but it was 
 difScuIt — I speak from experience — to divest the mind of the fear. 
 The mystification, therefore, just alluded to, answers the end in view. 
 Those who stand beside the roaring cataract of Niagara can hear, but 
 indistinctly, if at all, the report of a cannon, but in the chapel where 
 we meditated in the Novitiate, you might hear a pin fall, or the heart 
 beat. In after life a Jesuit may sin against the Constitutions, &c., 
 without scruple ; but a novice — I speak from experience — has a con- 
 science whose nerves, like the fingers, ears, and smell of the blind, 
 keenly admonish or rack with afixight. 
 
 f I regret to say that I have lost a whole volume of that diary — it 
 would have been very useful on the present occasion. 
 
106 A day's occupation. 
 
 " Resolutions on St. Stanislaus. 
 
 " Henceforth my continual thoughts will be Jesus, 
 Mary, Stanislaus. O Lord, it is good for us to be 
 here ! Let me make three tents — one for Thee, one 
 for our sweet Mother, and one for Stanislaus. I will 
 wait upon you — not daring to enter — but standing 
 without, and ministering. O sweet ! O most sweet 
 Jesus ! never more permit me to be separated from 
 Thee! 
 
 " Res. I. — To do everything in the best manner. 
 " XL — Never to go to public duties with dirty 
 
 shoes, &c. 
 " in. — To keep my room in order. 
 " IV. — ^To conform to the will of others. 
 " V. — To do nothing extra without the consent 
 of the Superior. 
 " Jesus ! Mary ! Stanislaus." 
 
 I find also an entry thus : — 
 
 " December* — Review and Renovation. Defect 
 in observing the 29th Rule — Occasional vanity. Re- 
 solution — Five or ten minutes' prayer daily to St. Ig- 
 natius to obtain the spirit of the 11th, 12th, and 
 29th Rules. 
 
 " Noster autem Jesus, tanquam agnus mansuetus, 
 omnem austeritatem abstulit !" 
 
 Every novice kept a small piece of paper (one is 
 
 * That is, about a month before my secession — it is manifest, there- 
 fore, that my fervour in self-reformation had not subsided. 
 
A DAY S OCCUPATION. 
 
 107 
 
 still in my possession), ruled with seven lines, for 
 every day in the week, and he made dots on the lines, 
 accordingly as he broke his resolution. The number 
 should, of course, diminish on the lines with the days 
 of the week. 
 
 The subjoined is the form of the Soul's Day-book 
 for casual entries — the two lines referring to the two 
 daily examinations. 
 
 Thus, by sheer necessity, were the sins to diminish 
 in number by the end of each week ! 
 
 Had you been in the chapel during this examina- 
 tion, you would have wondered why some of the 
 novices left their places and went into the Superior's 
 
108 A day's occupation. 
 
 room, one by one ; returning after the lapse of a 
 second or two. The Superior stood in his room, the 
 novice knelt before him, and said : — " Holy Father I I 
 have done such and such a thing, for which I beg 
 permission to perform such and such a penance." 
 The Superior gave leave, if he thought proper; or 
 commuted the penance into something else, more or 
 less severe. It must be remembered that only public 
 faults could be thus proclaimed ; but, of course, with 
 permission, public expiation of a private fault might 
 be made. 
 
 The clock struck — we went to the refectory. We 
 stood around — not all, for the novices who had gone 
 into the Superior's room were now kneeling on the 
 floor, with their arms outstretched at full length in 
 the form of a cross. The superior said grace ; those 
 who were standing took their seats, and those who 
 were kneeling began their " public confession." 
 
 As there were penitents every day, the novices were 
 divided into three companies for that purpose; five or 
 six in each company doing penance in rotation on 
 the appointed day. 
 
 Kneeling, as I have described, and the Superior 
 standing in his place, the first penitent would stoop, 
 kiss the floor, and confess, as follows : — 
 
 " Holy Father ! I acknowledge my fault in having 
 neglected the custody of eyes on one or two occa- 
 sions, for which fault holy obedience enjoins me to 
 do penance." 
 
 This penance was probably a De profundis for the 
 souls in purgatory — that is, he repeated to himself 
 
A day's occupation. 109 
 
 the 130th Psalm, kneeling where he was, with out- 
 stretched arms. 
 
 The second penitent would say : — 
 
 " Holy Father ! I acknowledge my fault in talking 
 too loud during recreation, for which, &c. &c." 
 
 He probably had to say the " Miserere," or 51st 
 Psalm. 
 
 When the psalm was concluded, the penitent 
 kissed the floor again, rose and went to his place at 
 the table. 
 
 The third penitent would say : — 
 
 " Holy Father ! I acknowledge my' fault in having 
 been too positive in maintaining my opinion, for 
 which fault, &c. &c." 
 
 His penance was, perhaps, to rise after havmg 
 dined, with his can in his hand ; he then went to a 
 brother, knelt before him, and presented his can to 
 be filled : he drank the drink of humihation, kneel- 
 ing. 
 
 A fourth would say : — 
 
 " Holy Father ! I acknowledge my fault in having 
 spoken somewhat sharply to a brother, for which 
 fault, &c. See." 
 
 He went to the brother and kissed his feet 
 
 The fifth might be the porter. He might 
 say:— 
 
 " Holy Father ! I acknowledge my faults in having 
 neglected several duties, and in scandalising my 
 brothers by my worldly remarks in conversation, for 
 which faults, &c. &c." 
 
 He stooped, kissed the floor, rose, and, proceeding 
 
110 A day's occupation. 
 
 from brother to brother, he kissed the feet of all, the 
 Superior included. 
 
 This penance affected me very much when I first 
 witnessed it, which occurred during ray retreat. 
 
 Sometimes the penitent would eat his dinner 
 kneeling, at a small table placed for the purpose in 
 the middle of the refectory. 
 
 On one occasion a novice prostrated himself at the 
 threshold of the door, crying to each brother as he 
 stepped over liiin, "Pray for. me, brother!" This 
 penance occurred but once in my year. It was dur- 
 ing the awful time of the " thirty days' retreat ;" and 
 the penitent was — myself. ■' 
 
 The penitent chose his penance ; or rather the 
 penance presented itself to his mind in the similitude 
 of an inspiration. So much, indeed, was this symp- 
 tom a part of my mind's distemper during my 
 Novitiate, that the idea of what I wished to do 
 remained in my mind as the remembrance of the 
 penance performed. Thus, upon reflection, I am 
 unable to say whether I actually prostrated myself — 
 as my mind suggested, or only knelt by the door and 
 repeated the words. When I wrote the passage I 
 had a full conviction that the penance was performed 
 as I have given it, but a few days since the thought 
 suddenly occurred to me that I had requested per- 
 mission to perform that penance, but it was commuted 
 by the Superior into the last mentioned modification. 
 
 Of course we dined in silence ; but a rule of the 
 Summary enjoins that " whilst the body is refreshed, 
 the soul, too, may have its food." Accordingly we had 
 
A day's occupation. Ill 
 
 a reader. The first thing read was the " Rornaa 
 Martyrology," that is, the notice of the saint for the 
 day ; then followed the " Fasti Societatis Jesu," 
 giving the commemoration of the saint of the society, 
 or eminent member, for the day. If there was no 
 " Brief" to be read, the reader proceeded with the 
 work in hand. 
 
 The work in hand was, of course, appointed by the 
 Superior, and always spiritual, or directly in accor- 
 dance with the scope and aim of the Novitiate. When 
 I first went to the Novitiate, the work was the one 
 alluded to in the first article, as " Hints on Etiquette." 
 I regret that I can neither remember the name of the 
 book nor of the author. Every sentence was an 
 axiom on politeness, and in accordance with the most 
 rigid opinions on that subject. It was written by a 
 German, and in Latin. I need not state that the 
 "Martyrology" and " Fasti" were also in Latin. Among 
 the works read in the refectory during my year, I 
 may mention the " History of the Church of Japan," 
 detailing the exploits of Xavier and his companions j 
 " Christian Perfection," by Rodriguez ; " Difference 
 between Temporal and Eternal," — a truly awful affair ; 
 " The lives of the Saints," by Alban Butler. 
 
 After dinner, we went to the chapel for a few 
 minutes ; this being a visit to the " blessed Sacra- 
 ment :" for the " holy elements" were constantly 
 kept on the tabernacle of the altar. 
 
 This visit ended, we walked demurely to the 
 recreation-room. 
 
 I fancy I hear the reader exclaim, " At last !" but 
 
112 A day's occupation. 
 
 we have not done with prayer and " recollection" as 
 yet. As soon as the novice entered, he knelt down 
 and said an Ave Maria, to place himself under the 
 protection of the Virgin. 
 
 If the weather permitted we adjourned to the 
 garden, where we paced up and down the walks, 
 chatting on " professioual" topics, pleasantly, quietly 
 — entertaining each other by what we had read, 
 and stimulating the spirit by original thoughts, if 
 any, expressed in the glowing words of sincerity : for 
 I cannot imagine it possible for a man to be a hypo- 
 crite in the Novitiate. I judge from myself. It 
 requires an overwhelming fervour and determination 
 to conquer human nature in order to submit to the 
 Novitiate for two long years without intermission. 
 And who is the man that can play the hypocrite in 
 the midst of so many rules and regulations, goading 
 him on every side : in the midst of so many eyes that 
 have him in charge — ay, that have his immortal soul 
 in charge, for which they have to answer according to 
 the " spirit of Ignatius ?" 
 
 An hour was allowed for recreation. At its ex- 
 piry the bell summoned us to the chapel for another 
 visit to the " blessed Sacrament." It was now two 
 o'clock. " Manual works" began our afternoon 
 duties. These lasted only one hour ; half an hour in 
 the house and half an hour in the garden. Any work 
 left unfinished in the morning had then to be com- 
 pleted : for it must be remembered that, as soon as 
 the bell rang, whatever you were doing must be in- 
 stantly relinquished, or you committed a fault against 
 
A day's occupation. 113 
 
 holy obedience. In-door work in the . afternoon con- 
 sisted chiefly in preparing the Refectory for supper ; 
 out-of-door work as usual. 
 
 The remaining hours before supper were employed 
 in reading, writing, rehearsing the Rosary, &c. 
 
 The Rosary is a devotion to the Virgin, consisting 
 of one hundred and fifty Ave Marias, of fifteen Pater 
 Nosters, and the Gloria ; with a Meditation, during 
 the rehearsal, on the principal incidents in the life of 
 Mary and Christ. This always seemed to me rather 
 strange ; for I could never comprehend how one could 
 pray to God or the Virgin whilst thinking of something 
 else. I used to say the prayers, and then meditate 
 for a few minutes. 
 
 During this portion of the day the novice might 
 be sent for by the Superior to be " advised" or " lec- 
 tured," or " questioned" on his spiiitual progress. 
 Or he might go to the Superior with his " diflSculties," 
 after asking leave of the brother porter to leave the 
 dormitory : for no one could leave the room without 
 permission. The novice scratched the curtain, 
 the porter whispered " Come in !" and you stated 
 your wish, which was always granted. 
 
 The curtain was never to be closed until you 
 retired, if on any occasion you had to remain a few 
 minutes in a brother's cell* — nor could vou go to it 
 without leave. 
 
 Towards six o'clock (when we supped) the porter 
 
 went to the end of the dormitory, and sang out "Deo 
 
 gratias !" This meant that you had to go to your 
 
 * Const, p. iii. c. 1. D. p. 109. 
 
 I 
 
114 A day's occupation. 
 
 brother monitor. Of this personage I shall speak in 
 the proper place. 
 
 This duty ended, we retired to our rooms, and after 
 the lapse of a few minutes the bell rang for supper. 
 
 During supper we were read to, as during dinner; 
 excepting the " Martyrology" and " Fasti." 
 
 I may mention that there were two novices ap- 
 pointed by turns to wait at table. They wore a long 
 white apron as a badge of their office during the per- 
 formance of their functions. 
 
 Our dinner was always plentiful and substantial. 
 Supper consisted either of sliced meat or rice pud- 
 dings, crowned with preserves and milk. We had 
 beer and water to drink. Most of the novices drank 
 water, but the jug of beer was always there. By 
 long standing the beer sometimes got sour : in that 
 state I have drunk it for " mortification." I cannot 
 say whether it was always drunk with the same 
 intention. 
 
 I must here state, that we were enjoined to satisfy 
 our appetite — no mortifications were allowed in this 
 matter. The Superior once said to me, " Brother 
 Steinmetz, you do not eat enough^-yoa require all 
 you get to preserve your strength for the duties of 
 the Novitiate : 'tis hard work, and nature must be 
 supported." 
 
 On the other hand, any " pampering" was instantly 
 checked. When I first went I once or twice used 
 some vinegar. I was checked for this. On another 
 occasion I ate mustard with boiled meat- — I was told, 
 that this was irregular : nor was I permitted to eat 
 
A day's occupation. 115 
 
 meat without salt and mustard when I took it into 
 my head thus to " mortify" the spirit. The Superior, 
 in his admonition, remarked, that in this cold climate 
 such accessories tended to promote digestion. Reasons 
 are not often given to novices, but this worthy gentle- 
 man did sometimes kindly explain the why and 
 wherefore to me. 
 
 After supper we had another hour of recreation, 
 which was, as before, preceded by the " visit" and 
 "Ave Maria" aforesaid. In summer we walked in 
 the garden ; in winter we remained at the fireside. I 
 must state that there was also a stove in the dor- 
 mitory. 
 
 The Superior sometimes visited us during recreation, 
 and told us such pious news as he thought would 
 interest us. 
 
 At eight o'clock the porter rang his bell. We now 
 went to chapel for another examination of conscience, 
 which lasted a quarter of an hour, as before. 
 
 Then followed the reading of the " Points" of the 
 meditation for the next morning ; the " Litany of the 
 Virgin ;" the " Blessing ;" the " Kissing of the Relic." 
 
 This last duty was performed thus : — the Superior 
 held the relic in his right hand, and a small napkin 
 in his left. After presenting it to the lips of one 
 novice he wiped it, and so on. I must say that I 
 never thoroughly conquered my repugnance to 
 " submit" to this kissing ; but " Ad majorem Dei 
 gloriam" was my adopted motto : I forgot the act in 
 the intention. 
 
 From the chapel we retired to the dormitory. In 
 I 2 
 
116 A day's occupation. 
 
 an instant you might hear all the beds creaking on 
 their hinges, and resuming the horizontal. We got 
 between the sheets as soon as possible, " right tired" 
 in body and mind, and never likely to suffer from 
 want of sleep. A few minutes after, the porter came 
 round, scratching at each curtain with his " Deo 
 gratias !" to which each novice responded : if he had 
 not fallen asleep, which sometimes happened. 
 
 If it was a " mortification night" the novices re- 
 mained sitting in their beds,, waiting for the tinkling 
 of a small bell ; and then each administered to himself, 
 on his back, bared for the purpose, the " discipline :" 
 of which more hereafter. 
 
 , Such is a day's occupation in the Novitiate — not 
 every day's occupation, but one that may serve as a 
 sample. Other duties of the Novitiate required de- 
 viations from this "order of the day," 
 
 I think the reader will readily agree with me that 
 if Eugene Sue intended his terrible "Moroc"* to 
 typify the Society of the Jesuits, the idea of that 
 " tamer of wild beasts" was well imagined. One 
 must either break down in the Novitiate, or break 
 forth a being of another world. Le Sage intimates 
 that a monk should be more or, less than a man; 
 and I will add that a Jesuif should be a — Jesuit. 
 Perhaps by the time we part the reader may be 
 enabled to form some distinct, definite idea of this 
 wonderful being. 
 
 * See "The Wanderiog Jew." 
 
117 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 GUI BONO, OR what's THE GOOD OF IT ? 
 
 The details of a day's occupation in the Novitiate 
 have produced, I doubt not, various effects on my 
 readers. Some have smiled, others have laughed, 
 some have shuddered, others have been indignant. 
 Not a few, I trust, have penetrated beneath the rip- 
 pling surface, and have caught a glimpse, as it were, 
 of the " hidden things" that lie at the bottom. All 
 have asked " Cui bono ?" 
 
 I shall now endeavour to answer the question. 
 One striking fact must, however, have surprised 
 the reader. He must have exclaimed : " What ! no 
 mention of the Bible among the books set before 
 men studying Christian perfection?" 
 
 I answer, None ! We did not read the Bible ; or, 
 if any did so, they did it privately and by special 
 permission. But, in point of fact, why should a 
 Roman Cathohc read the Bible ? By so doing, he 
 only exposes himself to temptation against the faith : 
 he may " wrest the Scripture to his own perdition.'' 
 All " proximate occasions" of sin must be avoided : 
 — the Bible is such to him — therefore the Bible 
 whould be avoided! Observe, the Roman Catholics 
 do not admit this matter-of-fact argumentation — not 
 
118 GUI BOKO? 
 
 they, indeed ! They will tell you to read, of course : 
 but beware of interpreting contrary to the promul- 
 gated doctrines ! 
 
 Of what use, then, are the Scriptures to these men ? 
 For the study of the priest, who will take care to 
 read and explain them to his congregation. 
 
 Besides, they are necessary in order to prove that 
 the "Church" is the Churchj and then the " Church" 
 returns the favour by proving that the Scriptures 
 are the Scriptures — as beautiful a " vicious circle" 
 as was ever circumscribed by the compasses of 
 sophistry. 
 
 For my part, I read the Bible when a boy : I read 
 it when at college. Roman Catholics are not for- 
 bidden to read the Bible ; only a discretion is used in 
 the permission to read : such is the distinction, which 
 answers the important end in view, viz., subjection to 
 the Infallible Popedom. 
 
 I return to the question. The scope and end of 
 all the training in the Novitiate were, to teach the 
 meaning and practice of the Three Vows which were 
 to be made at the end of two years' probation. Its 
 aim was to lay a deep, broad foundation, whereon 
 the " Society " would build, as it thought most ex- 
 pedient : ostensibly " for the greater glory of God," 
 but virtually, effectually, infallibly for its own ad- 
 vancement. This is not an unfair assertion. I con- 
 clude thus from facts. Is not a devoted life-and- 
 death love of the Society considered the first sign of 
 a true vocation to it? Is not this love cherished, 
 fostered, stimulated by every motive human and 
 divine ? It may be objected that such characteristics 
 
CUI BONO? 119 
 
 must be more or less common to the members of 
 every association, and are essential to its existence. 
 I admit the objection, and affirm that it only renders 
 my assertion more probable. Further, if my impres- 
 sions in the Novitiate be worthy of attention, I say 
 that every conversation in which the concerns of the 
 Society were discussed, tended to plant and water 
 this conviction in my mind. It was always " what 
 we (the society of Jesuits) have done — what we are 
 doing — what we will do." Every man strove to 
 render himself acceptable to the Society : the sample, 
 the pattern being given, every man knew the number 
 of stitches and shades requisite to knit together the 
 " coat of many colours" which adorns the favourite 
 son of Ignatius. 
 
 " Begun by God," it is written, "the Society must 
 be preserved by Divine, not by human means" ;* but 
 still care must be taken that it be increased in num- 
 ber,-j- and prayers must be said for its preservation and 
 increase. As the past was, so will the future be ; if 
 human nature is the same for ever. 
 
 And yet one is inclined to doubt the fact. Were 
 there ever such men in the Society ? Many reasons 
 may be alleged for the negative opinion. For how 
 could men, dead to the world, crucified with Christ, 
 who made themselves a holocaust to God — formed by 
 so many constitutions, so many regulations ; tried by 
 so many probations, admonished by so many illus- 
 trious examples, aided by so many annual retreats, 
 so many meditations, reading, daily exhortations — by 
 
 * Const. § 1. p. 61, and P. x. § 1. 
 
 t P. i. c. 1, Const., and Part ii. cap. 1, § 1. 
 
1 20 CtJI BONO ? 
 
 so many holy sacraments, vows — by so many divin 
 words and illuminations, — fall off so basely to such 
 an extent as to think of Egypt in the Holy Land, 
 — after having put their hands to the plough, to look 
 behind, — forgetting the Divine glory, their salvation, 
 the edification of their neighbour, wickedly to indulge 
 the suggestions of private affection and human neces- 
 sity, basely to consult their own interests; and, as 
 far as they could go in this direction, to dare to shake 
 the foundations of obedience, annul discipline, and 
 destroy the work of God without hesitation !* 
 
 These are not my words. The whole paragraph is 
 faithfully translated from the epistle of Goswin 
 Nickel, the General of the Society, to the Fathers 
 and Brothers of the same Society, in the year 1656: 
 about one hundred years after this Divine Society was 
 established. 
 
 All this is perfectly natural. It is human nature; 
 and this is all I contend for. I affirm that these 
 human motives weld the Jesuits together: the 
 Divine motives being, as it were, the bellows in the 
 hands of the'clever "Superiors," wherewith the pas- 
 sive metal of the society is rendered malleable, porous, 
 and ductile. 
 
 In this fact is the element of decay. But human 
 reason discovers its errors always too late ; and the 
 deceitful heart cheers itself the while with the short- 
 lived hopes, which, like wintry suns, have but a 
 small arc to describe in the jealous firmament of 
 day. 
 
 Ever and anon the voice of a just man rises supe- 
 * Episf. ii. Gosvr. Nick. 
 
CUI BONO? 121 
 
 rior to the clamours of the multitude, and cries, Be- 
 ware! but the torrent rolls on — the abyss is dug by 
 the falling waters ; and the fate of great names has a 
 place in the map of history ! 
 
 The modern Jesuits, like those of old, march on : 
 who shall arrest their progress? They themselves — 
 the Jesuits. They are working their own ruin ; and 
 the more influence they gain in this country, the 
 nearer they will approach destruction. Their history 
 will always be the same, because the essentials of 
 their institute are unchangeable. The veil of mystery, 
 which dims the sight even of the subordinates of the 
 Society, gives them the prime fulcrum of diplomatic 
 craft. But it is too human to be an element of long 
 life. The man who cannot, in every action, look in the 
 face of day, and say to the witness, Is it not well ? — 
 works not as the champion of Truth, but the menial 
 of Error, and its tyrant — Self. 
 
 But is there no understanding in the first instance 
 as to the precise position that a man might expect 
 to fill in the Society ? Expect ! why a tractarian 
 might as well expect, in becoming a Roman Catholic, 
 to become Pope ! No, no ; a Jesuit can expect no- 
 thing, as far as his individual ambition is concerned.* 
 He must consider himself perfectly worthless, till the 
 voice of God — that is, of his Superior — shall call him 
 forth from penance to power, from prayer to politics, 
 from obscurity to renown. But from his birth in the 
 Novitiate, to his death in the Society, all that he is 
 permitted to think himself is, that he is only a too- 
 
 * For the Tarious denunciations against ambition, vide Const. P, x. 
 p. 9, c 1, A. P. viii. c. 6. 
 
122 CUI BONO ? 
 
 fortunate fellow-labourer in the Society of Jesus. 
 Meanwhile, he must patiently gnaw like the beaver 
 — ^lie must float down the felled trunk like the 
 beaver — he must gather and carry mud like the 
 beaver; and he must "lend a hand" to build up the 
 dam and the habitation like the beaver ; but he must 
 be content with his allotted nook : his " angulus 
 terrse," in the absolute monarchy wherein his lot is 
 cast. If not, he must put forth his ambitious claims, 
 like the clever pope of old, in the celestial form and 
 figure of consummate wisdom, unapproachable tact, 
 discretion, and humility, such as to deceive Lucifer 
 himself. 
 
 Eugene Sue's "Rodin" is quite a misconception : 
 his habitual filth alone is enough to ruin the cha- 
 racter : a Jesuit must be clean — clean as a lancet, a 
 dirk, a stiletto, or a tiger's fangs. 
 
 Voluntary poverty, perpetual chastity, perfect obe- 
 dience ; these are the three symbols of the professed 
 piety of the Jesuit — these are the bulwarks of his 
 lofty ambition. The pains taken by the trainer, and 
 the determined efforts of the trained, point forward 
 to a boundless reward — universal power immovably 
 based on mind, on conscience — a power whereon the 
 sun shall never set. 
 
 During those hours of recreation in the Novitiate 
 which we were permitted to spend in solitude, I 
 would sometimes take the "Summary," skim through 
 the thirty or forty rules it contained, and endeavour 
 to understand my intended profession by seeking out 
 its requirements in the perfect Novice. 
 
CUI BONO 1 123 
 
 As I frequently revolved the subject, and as all 
 my thoughts during that probation, particularly 
 towards its conclusion, wrere strong, serious, never to 
 be forgotten, I have now only to summon them from 
 the " dark backward, and abysm of time," and give 
 them words, that they may bear witness. I shall be 
 an impartial interpreter to myself, as it were, of those 
 mystic thoughts — that wild infatuation, strong fana- 
 ticism — and with the serious reader I shall strive to 
 profit by the awful lesson. 
 
 VOLUNTARY POVERTY. 
 
 It was difficult for me to conceive how a man 
 could take a vow to remain poor, or to become poor, 
 and yet possess all that he could rationally desire of 
 the world's comforts. We were decently clad — we 
 would always be so in all likelihood : we were well 
 fed ; there was no probability of being starved ; we 
 were sheltered ; in every region of the globe the 
 Society would hereafter possess its " three houses." 
 What, then, was to be the meaning of the vow which 
 we were to make to God, or rather to the Society? 
 It is as follows : — We were taught to believe that 
 we could possess without feeling that we possessed. 
 We used, we did not take. We consumed — not we, 
 but the Society in us — and the Society was to us as 
 God ; for it said to us, " Consider the lilies of the 
 field," &c. Self-abnegation was the specific which 
 was to effectuate this frame of mind : this sublime 
 
124 GUI BONO? 
 
 " mental reservation.* On this topic I find among 
 my papers, written at Hodder, the following conclu- 
 sion : " I must divest myself of myself, so as not to 
 desire health more than sickness, riches more thau 
 poverty, honour more than ignominy, a long life more 
 than a short one ; finally, in all things, singly desir- 
 ing and choosing those things which rather conduce 
 to the end for which I was created, viz., to glorify 
 God in the Society of Jesus." Such is the Jesuit's 
 interpretation (as expounded to the novice) of the 
 Beatitude, " Blessed are the poor in spirit !" 
 
 That transcendent philosophy, that divine Chris- 
 tianity was held forth to us as perfectly attainable by 
 prayer, practice, and the peculiar grace which we 
 were taught to believe was vouchsafed to him who 
 was called to the Society. No ordinary virtue was 
 sufficient in a Jesuit : the name did not suggest a 
 model without expecting a copy faithful to the divine 
 original. 
 
 Hence we became inenials for His sake ; hence we 
 gloried in humiliation ; hence we exulted in spirit 
 when thwarted in the dearest wish ; hence we would 
 always, in every action however trivial, fervently 
 breathe, " Father, not my will but thine be done !" 
 and hence — the Society being the exponent of the will 
 of the Eternal — we would be prepared for any fate 
 whilst in its service : seeing that we must necessarily 
 be indifferent in all things. 
 
 * See Const. P. iii. u. 1, § 7. Exam. c. 4. P. vi. o. 2. But, in 
 point of fact, there is no end of the praises, explanations, &c., of this 
 TOW in the Institute. 
 
CUI BONO? 125 
 
 So much for" the enthusiasm, the fanaticism : of the 
 thing. Let us now indulge a few mattei-of-fact, com- 
 mon-sense reflections on this very curious topic. 
 
 If I remember aright, there was in the lecture 
 which explained the rule enjoining the self-abnega- 
 tion necessary for this vow, an attempt to show how 
 the Society could possess riches whilst each member 
 thereof vowed poverty. I think the argument rested 
 mainly on the necessity of possessing funds in order 
 to carry out one grand object of the Society, viz., the 
 education of youth. It is clear that no other excuse 
 or explanation will hold ; since, by the distinct en- 
 gagement of Ignatius, a Jesuit would expect no 
 viaticum or pecuniary support in his " mission :" he 
 was to go forth as an apostle; that is, provided 
 with faith, hope, and charity, to which he was to 
 superadd, " For the greater glory of God ;" without 
 a thought for the body, which Heaven would take care 
 how to support. 
 
 It is then on educational grounds that the Jesuits 
 excuse themselves from being poor in body as well 
 as in spirit. But then why take the vow at all, if it 
 becomes virtually a dead letter? What! not take 
 the vow! this would never answer. And why not? 
 Because, when a novice has money, it is clear that he 
 will have to make it over to somebody before he 
 takes the vow ; but surely he would make it over to 
 the Society in preference to anybody, therefore the 
 vow is retained.* Again, it is by no means clear that 
 
 * Tbere is a delicate piece of dexterity in the injunction respecting 
 the distribution of property. The distribution should be made to the 
 
126 cm BONO? 
 
 these men of piety must absolutely have funds in 
 order to fulfil the engagements which the Society has 
 undertaken. They should give their services accord- 
 ing to the rule which enjoins every Jesuit " freely to 
 give what he has freely received."* From the stipend 
 which the pupils pay, it is clear that a large annual 
 surplus must fall into the coffers of the Society. 
 Who owns this money? Not the Jesuits, but the 
 Society, they will tell you ; and will seem perfectly 
 satisfied with the equivocation. It follows that the 
 vow of "voluntary poverty" is only a by-way of 
 enriching the body and accumulating funds, which 
 may be applied to whatever purpose is thought expe- 
 dient: labelled and ticketed "To the greater glory of 
 God." When the Jesuits put themselves under some 
 religious association or government, to depend entirely 
 on that association or government for the means of 
 subsistence and education, then they will be con- 
 sistent in this vow; but then they will be shorn of 
 half their power : and that time will never come. 
 Aut Cesar aut nullus is the motto of those who feel 
 that they were born to command. 
 
 truly poor, and not on acconnt of relationship — propinquitatis — Exam. 
 «. 4, 2 ; and if any one wishes to give his property to the Society, he 
 must resign it freely into the hands of the General. Fart. iii. c. I, 9. 
 * This rule is clamorous : — " Meminerint se gratis dare debere, 
 quae gratis acceperunt ; nee postulando, nee admitteado stipendium, vel 
 eleemosynas ullas, quibus Missas, vel Confessicnes, rel Frsedicationes, 
 vel Lectiones, vel visitationes, vel quodvis alivd officiiim ex iis quae 
 Societasjuxta nostrum Institutum exercere potest, compensari vide- 
 atur."— Const. P. yi. c. 2, 7. 
 
CUl BONO? 127 
 
 PERPETUAL CHASTITY. 
 
 We read that Aloysius " received of God so 
 perfect a gift of chastity, that in his whole life 
 he never felt the least temptation either in mind or 
 body against purity, as Jerom Flatus and Cardinal 
 Bellarmiit assure us from his own mouth." 
 Again : — " He never looked at any woman, kept 
 his eyes strictly guarded, and generally cast down ; 
 would never stay with his mother alone in her 
 chamber; and if she sent any message to him by 
 some lady in her company he received it, and gave 
 his answer in a few words, with his eyes shut, and 
 his chamber-door only half open. * * * * It 
 was owing to his virginal modesty that he did not 
 know by their faces many ladies among his own re- 
 lations, with whom he had freqently conversed, and 
 that he was afraid and ashamed to let a servant see 
 so much as his foot uncovered."* We read also that, 
 after a visit from the Virgin Mary and Jesus 
 Christ, Ignatius had all impure images wiped 
 from his heart. Angels came down and " bound 
 the loins" of Thomas Aquinas, and thenceforward 
 he was " never annoyed with temptations of the 
 flesh." The reader may consult the " Lives of the 
 Saints" for more examples of such Divine inter- 
 position. 
 
 These examples were objects of our intense admi- 
 ration. But who could aspire to such matchless 
 purity? Only those who were "humble, watchful, 
 * Butler — Lives of the Saints — Aloys. 
 
128 CUI BONO? 
 
 and obedient." Hence the humiliations to which 
 we were constantly subject — the state of servitude 
 and degradation, corporeal and mental, which our 
 training was intended to effect. And is the habit 
 of chastity thus to be acquired ? This question 
 must be answered in the affirmative ; and that such 
 is the case will be evident from this simple axiom, 
 that any of the sentiments being predominant in the 
 mind, obliterate, or tend to obliterate, the rest. , I 
 am tempted to enlarge on this topic ; but the dis- 
 cussion would be out of place, and enough has been 
 said to direct the application of the principle. Doubt- 
 less some encountered more difficulties than others; 
 but the awful necessity which was upon all to ac- 
 quire the mental habit, at least, of this virtue, en- 
 hanced our fervour in embracing the infallible means 
 held forth to us, by being to the best of our power 
 humble and obedient. The peculiar views of my 
 philosophy tallied well with many of the regulations 
 of the Novitiate. The infinite variety of occupation 
 I never could sufficiently admire; and in a very short 
 time I felt convinced that the object and scope of all 
 the training were to give to every faculty of the mind, 
 every sentiment of the heart, that peculiar bent which 
 emphatically stamps the Jesuit. In my private 
 interviews with the Superior, I frequently expressed 
 my thoughts on this subject with enthusiasm. He 
 listened to me with delight; and he once said, 
 " Brother ! the grace to understand these things is 
 not given to all — be thankful for it." In the matter 
 of chastity, particularly, I found in the books as- 
 
GUI BONO? 129 
 
 signed to me sufficient to convince me that "love 
 divine" in all its objects — but most to the Virgin 
 and other female saints of the calendar — was but 
 human love, with all its raptures : only it was shorn 
 of its grossness. How have I exulted — how entranc- 
 ing were my thoughts and feelings — when reading 
 the discourses of Bernard on the Canticles ! parti- 
 cularly the one on the words, " Osculetur me osculo 
 oris sui !" " Let him kiss me with the kisses of his 
 mouth!" Oft have I repeated to my "Brothers" 
 those words of its conclusion — " Show me, O most 
 sweet ! O most serene ! show me where thou goest 
 to pasture, where thou reposest at mid-day! My 
 brothers, it is good for us to be here, but behold ! 
 the malice of the day calls us away." I got passages 
 by heart — I translated others — and my soul swam, 
 as it were, in an ocean of delights. Easily, then, 
 was the idea of carnal pleasure denied access to a 
 mind which luxuriated, so to speak, in ethereal de- 
 lights unknown before : for never have I experienced 
 pleasures so intense, complete, absorbing, as that 
 which frequently resulted from spiritual contempla- 
 tion and meditation in the Novitiate. I had my 
 trials, of course — my diseases, as it were ; and a 
 curious dream which, as it was pronounced good by 
 authority, I shall now relate for the amusement of 
 the reader. I had been troubled during the day 
 with certain thoughts and remembrances which we 
 will call "temptations." I had told my distress 
 thereat to the Superior: he consoled me; said it was 
 natural; I must not be disheartened. I fell asleep 
 
130 GUI BONO? 
 
 and dreamt. How keen is the mental vision when 
 the mind, by its strong nervous excitement, seems to 
 be totally independent of the body, which it com- 
 mands and holds in subjection ! I dreamt that I 
 saw in the heavens a beautiful woman, clad in azure, 
 star-bespangled. She looked down upon me benignly, 
 and with her finger pointed to her brow, which was 
 encircled with a luminous band. On that band I 
 read, in my dream, the word Atheeia ; and in my 
 dream, I interpreted the word to myself thus:— 
 "Atreria — a nonTpica trepido — Intrepidity;" and 
 I seemed to hear a voice, which said — -"Yes ! by intre- 
 pidity you shall conquer." I need ^ot say that I 
 awoke in consolation. I told my dream — it was ap- 
 proved — I was happy !* 
 
 It was this exaltation of sentiment, thus turned 
 into the "proper channel," that enabled me to fall 
 in with the extravagant devotion of the Jesuits to the 
 Virgin Mary; and whilst I prayed to the male 
 saints of the calendar with warmth, I poured forth 
 my soul's languishings to the Agathas, Theresas, 
 Perpetuas, with rapturous devotion. I " look 
 advice" on this matter, and it only called forth this 
 remark, viz., " that St. Theresa always preferred 
 the advice of holy men to that of holy women." 
 This was meant to keep in check the natural tendency 
 of my heart; but the remark brought to mind the 
 strange sentiment of Balzac, viz., " That the most 
 malicious man cannot say of women as much evil as 
 
 * WLat rendered tbe dream more striking was, that I had never 
 seen nor heard the word Atreria, nor hare I met with it since. 
 
CUI BONO ? 131 
 
 they thinli: of themselves." I repeated the words to 
 the father, and he said they were quite true ! Still 
 it is curious how the human mind strives to re- 
 concile apparently contradictory feelings. It is a 
 significant psychological fact that men prefer female 
 saints for their patronesses, and that women prefer 
 male saints for their patrons. 
 
 In this explanation which I have given, it was 
 absolutely necessary to bring myself forward : and 
 only myself; but I may be permitted to give a 
 curious instance of the strong emotion that still, 
 amongst "holy men," goes by the name of "love 
 divine." The verses were repeated to me by a brother 
 novice, and were composed by " St. Fkancis of 
 Assysium." The burning translation of Alban 
 Butler, himself a very exemplary priest, is quite 
 equal to the original : — 
 
 " Into love's furnace I am cast ! 
 I burn, I languish, pine, and waste ! 
 
 love divine, how sharp thy dart ! 
 How deep the wound that galls lay heart ! 
 As wax in fire, so from above 
 
 My smitten soul dissolves in love ! 
 
 1 live, yet languishing I die. 
 Whilst in thy furnace bound I lie. 
 
 * * » * 
 The tiee of love its roots has spread 
 Deep in my heart, and rears its head. 
 Rich are its fruits, they joy dispense. 
 Transport the heart and ravish sense. 
 
 * * * * 
 While throbbing pangs I feel, my breast 
 Finds love its centre, joy and rest. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 CUI BONO ? 
 
 Lore's slave, in chains of strong desire 
 I'm bound, nor dread edged steel or fire. 
 * * • • 
 
 The hills shall melt, hack rivers roll, 
 Heavens fall, ere love forsake mj soul ! 
 All creatures love aloud proclaim — 
 Heavens, earth, and sea increase my flame— 
 Whate'er I see, as mirror bright, 
 Reflects my lover to my sight." 
 
 I found the whole ode a splendid piece of senti- 
 mentality, and asked the brother to give it me ; he 
 said he would, if permitted. Permission from the 
 Superior was obtained — he gave me the verses, and 
 I did not read them over many times before they 
 became part and parcel of my heart. 
 
 Such direct helps as these, particularly among the 
 philosophical Jesuits, render the habit of chastity 
 comparatively easy. The physiologist will under- 
 stand me when I say that the chastity referred to is 
 a mental habit. 
 
 PERFECT OBEDIENCE. 
 
 We heard comparatively little about the vows of 
 poverty and chastity ; but every moment of the day 
 we were reminded of that of obedience. If chastity 
 was the crown, and poverty the robe, obedience was 
 the head and the body to wear them : it was to be 
 the virtue of the Jesuit. No boundaries, no limits, 
 were set to this virtue — it was infinite space for ever 
 enlarging ! It was to extend over body and soul, as 
 if we had " sold them to the devil !" One single 
 example, which was held forth to us for a " sign," 
 
\ CUI BONO? 133 
 
 will enable the thoughtful reader to apply the prin- 
 ciple in all its bearings. It was to show the nature 
 of blind* obedience and its reward. A certain holy 
 man was ordered by his Superior to water a dry stick 
 set upright in the ground. He obeyed without a 
 question, or a thought of a question — and behold! 
 the stick put forth branches and grew a beautiful 
 tree! .... 
 
 True, we read that " for no reason in the world, 
 for the pleasure of no man, was any evil to be done ;" 
 but were we to judge what was evil ? Did the holy 
 man referred to judge what seemed to be absurd, use- 
 less ? The will of the Superior is " as it were the will of 
 God ;" and were we to question His morality ? If 
 "there was a way which seemeth good unto man, 
 but leadeth unto death," there might also be a way 
 which seemeth evil unto a man but which leadeth 
 unto life ! . . . . 
 
 Now, then, for the cardinal points : the north, 
 south, east, and west of this mighty argument ! 
 Consider the' fact of twenty thousand men thus 
 obedient to the will of one man — the General of 
 the Society ! From the highest official next in suc- 
 cession — the provincials in their respective countries 
 in every region of the world, the masters of colleges, 
 the professed, the simple socii, the lay-brothers, — 
 down to the aspirant Novice : all ready, eager to obey 
 the will of this one man, without a question or a 
 thought of a question — as if he were God himself! 
 Consider the possibility of this man being bought over 
 * Const. Part ri. c. 1, § 1. 
 
134 GUI BONO? 
 
 or bribed, or from himself possessed of some " Napo- 
 leonic idea," to bring all his forces to act on any- 
 given point : all his forces of intellect, eloquence, secret 
 influence of the confessional; in a word all the arts, 
 human and divine, at his command ! I ask, who shall 
 resist this man? It is not a question whether such 
 has been or will be the case, but whether such 
 might not be the case ? To say that there would be 
 some honest, worthy men among them, who might 
 question the morality of the mandate, is quite beside 
 the question ; the majority must always yield a blind 
 obedience, for this is essential to the very existence 
 of the Society. The love for the Society has been 
 shown to exist to an unlimited extent : all desire its 
 advancement and prosperity. Each member, there- 
 fore, is satisfied that every mandate of the General 
 will tend to those grand objects of desire; and, con- 
 sequently, as his temporal welfare depends on the 
 temporal welfare of the Society, his own individual 
 interest is involved in blind obedience ; for it is not 
 to be supposed that the inculcation of a splendid 
 " indifference to all things," has anything to do with 
 the prosperous condition of the Society: to that, 
 indeed, the Jesuit must not be indifferent. 
 
135 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ECONOMICS OF THE NOVITIATE THE MASTEE, 
 
 MINISTER, MONITORS. 
 
 The day's occupation' has doubtless given the reader 
 an idea of the training pursued in the Novitiate. In 
 that article I have alluded to many matters on which 
 I have now to enlarge. 
 
 It was a common axiom with us, that he who 
 went through his novitiate with perfect satisfaction 
 to his superiors, would give the best proof of a true 
 vocation to the Society. It is in the Novitiate that 
 the Jesuit learns the fundamental principles of his 
 art : in after life, he has but to apply or enlarge on 
 those principles — all, of course, in accordance with 
 the direction of holy obedience ; for I need not say- 
 that a carte blanche in the portfolio of a Jesuit sent 
 out on his " mission," is quite out of the question. 
 He can do nothing without the " permission of his 
 superiors."* 
 
 Every ordinary duty, then, which he has after- 
 
 * Debet iis a Superiore dari instructio in scriptis — non tautum de 
 negotiis, sed etiam de personU. C. P. vii. c. 2 ; ibid. N. 
 
136 ECONOMICS OF 
 
 wards to perform, has its representative in the Novi- 
 tiate. This will appear in the sequel. The Novice 
 studies to learn these duties ; meanwhile the Supe- 
 rior studies the Novice: hence the terms novitiate 
 and probation are synonymous. To speak anatomi- 
 cally, his mentality is dissected from his cranium 
 down to the metatarsal bones ; the keen scalpel laying 
 open every viscus, every organ ; and the j udgment 
 thereon being deliberately weighed and recorded, as 
 if only a de^d body was on the table. But I forget 
 — Ignatius, on his deathbed, enjoined every Jesuit 
 to be in the hands of his Superior, perinde ac cadaver, 
 mst like a carcass. 
 
 The character, attainments, qualifications of every 
 Jesuit are thoroughly known to his Superior;* and 
 not only to his Superior, but to the General himself, 
 though constantly resident in Rome. This must not 
 be understood to mean a mere general idea of these 
 attainments, qualifications, and character ; but a real, 
 certain knowledge, resulting from repeated tests on a 
 thousand different occasions. A statement of the age, 
 attainments, character, country, and, I think, " form 
 and figure," of every member, even in the Novitiate, 
 is annually, immediately after the " manifestation of 
 conscience," sent to the General at Rome, by the 
 various provincials from every part of the world where 
 the Society is, as in England, estabhshed. 
 
 Besides, in these annual reports, the state of reli- 
 gion, prospects of the Society, &c. &c., in the respec- 
 
 * Oportet eos esse DOtissimos Supeiiori. Ex. c. 4 — 35. 
 
THE NOVITIATE. 137 
 
 tive countries, are given with the same precision.* 
 Letters, also, in Latin, occasionally pass between the 
 Novices of one country and those of another. This 
 correspondence, of course, is only intended to unite the 
 confraternity more closely together ; and as such it is 
 " part of the system." We wrote a letter to the Ro- 
 man Novices whilst I was at Hodder; and having 
 had much to do with the Latin construction (the 
 matter was furnished by the Novices of the second 
 year), I can answer for some of the hopes therein fer- 
 vently breathed, as bearing the fruit of fulfilment 
 in these days of Tractarian conversion. If our 
 Joshuas only could go forth to smite Amalek, 
 we could stand on the top of the hill, and hold 
 up our hands in prayer for victory against the " he- 
 retics," whose land we piously coveted : for it was a 
 "good land, that beyond Jordan, that goodly moun- 
 tain, and Lebanon !" For this consummation we 
 prayed daily — for this all Roman Catholics pray 
 daily : and they will continue to pray till they enter 
 the promised Canaan, and " mass be sung in West- 
 minster Abbey !" 
 
 "Novices are sometimes interchanged : thus an En- 
 glishman might be sent to the Roman Novitiate. Some 
 of the Jesuits at Stonyhurst passed their novitiate at 
 Rome. The utility of this is obvious. Foreign lan- 
 guages are acquired without loss of time : not that 
 the languages are grammatically studied in such cir- 
 cumstances ; but most assuredly a facility of expres- 
 sion is therein acquired; and we may rest assured 
 • Vide Inetr. xviii. pro Consvlt. 
 
138 ECONOMICS OF 
 
 that the person thus selected to go abroad is per- 
 fectly qualified to make the most of his opportunity. 
 No men "seize Time by the forelock" with such a 
 prompt and resolute grip as the Jesuits. 
 
 From all that I have said it is clear that the selec- 
 tion of a Jesuit to work in any given " vineyard" — 
 whether by the Provincial or by the mighty General'— 
 is, on most occasions, an easy matter. 
 
 It may be thought that this general training, to 
 which all are subjected alike, would necessarily pro- 
 duce a similarity in the characters of all. It pro- 
 duces a similarity, but no more : and yet — 
 
 Facies non omnibus una, — 
 
 Nee dirersa tamen — qualeiu decet esse sororum. 
 
 The training is intended eminently to effect a habit 
 of perfect obedience; for, strange to say, perfection in 
 this " virtue" is considered a preservative against 
 every crime which would disqualify a Jesuit. 
 
 The following is the rule in all its fervour. After 
 having alluded to the vow of Chastity, whose model 
 is to be the purity of the angels, Ignatius proceeds to 
 speak of Obedience, " which all are most* to observe, 
 and study to excel in — not only in things of obli- 
 gation, but even in others — although nothing but the 
 sign of the Superior's will should appear without an 
 express command. They should have before their 
 eyes God the Creator, and our Lord for whose sake 
 obedience is yielded unto man : and, that this may 
 follow in the spirit of love and not with the pertur- 
 bation of fear, care must be taken, so that we may 
 
 * Flurimum. 
 
THE NOVITIATE. 139 
 
 all strive with a stedfast mind not to set aside 
 aught of perfection which we may be able to attain 
 with Divine grace, in the absolute observance of all 
 the Constitutions, and in corresponding to the pecu- 
 liar design of our Institute : — and we should strenu- 
 ously strain every nerve in our power in manifesting 
 this virtue of obedience, in the first place to the 
 Pope, and secondly to the Superiors of the Society. 
 So that in all things to which obedience can extend 
 with charity, we should be eagerly ready* at its 
 voice, just as if it came forth from Christ the Lord, 
 since we yield obedience to one who holds His place, 
 and for the sake of His love and reverence — in any- 
 thing whatever, and indeed, even a letter [of the 
 alphabet] begun, being left unfinishedf [at the word 
 of command]. 
 
 " Directing to that end all our powers in the Lord, 
 that holy obedience be always perfect in all its attri- 
 butes, in the execution, in the will, in the intellect — 
 with great agility, spiritual joy, and perseverance, 
 performing whatever we have been enjoined to do — 
 persuading ourselves that all things are just — re- 
 jecting every opinion and judgment of ours which 
 may be contrary, with a certain blind obedience; 
 and this indeed in all things which are ruled by the 
 Superior — wherein (as has been said) no kind of sin 
 can be defined to enter. And each one should per- 
 suade himself that those who live under obedience, 
 ought to allow themselves to be borne and ruled by 
 
 * Quam promptissimi. 
 
 t Litera a nobis inchoata nee dum perfecta relicta. 
 
140 ECONOMICS OF 
 
 Divine Providence through the Superior, just as if 
 they were a carcass which may be borne in any direc- 
 tion, and permits itself to be handled in any manner 
 — or like an old man's staiF which everywhere serves 
 him, and for whatever purpose he who holds it in his 
 hand, wishes to use it. For thus the obedient man 
 ought to perform with alacrity of soul anything what- 
 ever to which his Superior may wish him to apply 
 himself, for the aid of the whole body of the Order* 
 — being convinced as of a certainty that he will con- 
 form to the Divine will by that means, rather than by 
 any other whatever that he could apply, by following 
 his own will and judgment."-}- 
 
 The novice who strives to attain this perfection of 
 obedience should have Divine superiors. Has the 
 reader ever imagined it possible for man to expect, or 
 have yielded to him such prostrate submission as this 
 rule exemplifies ? Does the reader think that it can 
 possibly exist ? He will say no ! if he has not pene- 
 trated into the depths of his own mind — if he has 
 not been accustomed to imagine the various circum- 
 stances, in which as a human being, he might be tried, 
 tempted, proved as by fire — and if, uninstructed 
 by this species of experience open to all, he is yet to 
 be convinced that the human mind can be brought 
 to beheve anything when its predominant sentiments 
 are trained to bribe the rebellious will to subjection. 
 
 No man can be more intensely convinced than 
 I am of the resistless force of Divine religion — 
 
 * Religionis. 
 
 t A rule of the Summary. Const, F. vi. cap. I. 1. 
 
THE NOVITIATE. 141 
 
 God-inspired in the humble soul: an impulse that 
 may have all the energetic fervour of enthusiasm, 
 combined with religious sobriety, such as charity 
 in her sweetest mood, breathed into the heart which 
 truly said — " Not I, but Christ in me !" But for this 
 Divine religion I look in vain in the Jesuits. I found 
 its sentiments inculcated by the spirit which presided 
 over my meditations — I looked above me for a model ; 
 but found it not. As the prophets of old, they 
 were trained in a school ; but they became not pro- 
 phets — and yet they would go forth as such ! It was 
 a painful thing, this : to seek what one wished to find, 
 and yet to seek in vain. 
 
 Perhaps the impression was unfounded — doubtless 
 the friends of the Jesuits will think it so. The former 
 I should be happy to believe, the latter I cannot 
 allow to have any weight in the balance of facts — 
 of conduct, that my eyes beheld and have perused. 
 
 How humanly all things progressed in the path 
 quasi Divine, will be evident in my narrative: still 
 more in the history which is to give completeness 
 to this exposition of the Jesuit mind. 
 
 Let it be distinctly understood that, philosophi- 
 cally, I give the Jesuits unbounded credit for the 
 tact and cleverness of their system. This view of 
 the matter will not recommend it to the sincere fol- 
 lower of Christ ; but it may tend to place a momen- 
 tous topic on its right footing, and give a key to the 
 secret of the rise, decline, and fall of the Jesuits. 
 
 To such a Society, union is absolutely necessary — 
 union of thought as well as of action. The will of the 
 
142 ECONOMICS OF 
 
 Superior should settle every doubt: answer every 
 question, without appeal. Obedience, then, is the 
 bond of union.* 
 
 Among the many motives held forth for this union 
 of thought and action, or execution, I find the fol- 
 lowing, in the Declarations superadded by way of 
 running commentary to the Constitutions, viz. — 
 " There are also other reasons, namely, because there 
 will be for the most part literary men amongst us, 
 and who will have not a little influence by favour 
 with princes and men of high rank, and the people."t 
 
 We will now inquire into the method of effectuat- 
 ing this obedience. 
 
 Obedience — in its ascetic acceptation — is not pecu- 
 liar to the Jesuits : all monks were, or should have 
 been ; are, or should be, obedient. Obedience in the 
 Jesuit acceptation is certainly peculiar to the Jesuits ; 
 and it is rendered so by the peculiar functions which 
 the Jesuits have to perform. This distinction should 
 be borne in mind by those who ask if the Benedic- 
 tines, the Dominicans, the Franciscans, Sec, do not 
 vow obedience? Bearing this distinction in mind, 
 they may quote whole treatises of Bernard, Basil, 
 &c., without touching the main question. Ignatius 
 himself shall tell us what sort of obedience he means. 
 On the occasion of certain " misguided " mortifica- 
 
 * Unio magn^ ex parte per Obedientis Tinculum conficitur. Const. 
 P. viii. c. 1. 
 
 t Sant et alis rationes, qualis est, quod ut plurimum literati erunt, 
 et gratis apud principes et primarios viros, ac populos, non parum 
 Talebunt. Const, P. viii, c. I. 
 
THE NOVITIATE. 143 
 
 tions and austerities, Ignatius addressed his cele- 
 brated Epistle, " On the Virtue of Obedience," to his 
 devoted followers. He begins with stating that 
 obedience is the only virtue which produces and 
 cherishes the other virtues ; that, properly speaking, 
 it is the virtue of the Society, and the character 
 which distinguishes its children; that thus other 
 religious orders might surpass them in fastings, in 
 watchings, and in many other austere practices, 
 which each of them observes piously, according to 
 the spirit of their vocation ; but as to what concerns 
 obedience, they ought not to yield the palm to them ; 
 and that their vocation obliges them to render them- 
 selves perfect in that virtue. 
 
 He then establishes, on reasons deduced from the 
 Scriptures and the Fathers, three degrees of obe- 
 dience. The first and the lowest consists in doing 
 what is commanded. The second is, not only to 
 execute the orders of the Superior, but to conform 
 our will to his. The third, to consider what is com- 
 manded as the most reasonable and the best, for this 
 only reason — that the Superior considers it as such. In 
 order to attain this degree so elevated — which is 
 called the obedience of the understanding — he says 
 that we ought not to care whether he who commands 
 is wise or imprudent, holy or imperfect ; but consider 
 in him only the person of Jesus Christ : who has 
 placed His authority into his hands, in order to guide 
 us ; and who, being wisdom itself, will not permit His 
 minister to be mistaken.* 
 
 * Bouhours, La vie de St. Ignace, \iv. t. 
 
144 ECONOMICS OF 
 
 On his deathbed Ignatius exclaimed : — 
 
 " Write ! I desire that the Society should know, 
 my last thoughts on the virtue of obedience." I 
 shall only quote one, as most of them have been 
 given already. The following is significant : — 
 
 " VI. If the Superior judges that what he com- 
 mands me to do is good, and I believe that I cannot 
 obey without offending God — unless that be evident 
 to me — I must obey. If, however, I find a difficulty 
 by some scruple or other, I will consult two or three 
 persons of good sense, and I will abide by their 
 opinion. But if I do not yield after that, I am very 
 far from the perfection which the excellence of a reli- 
 gious state demands."* 
 
 This last bequest speaks out clearly enough : it 
 needs no "declaration," no commentary. But a ques- 
 tion arises — was there, then, a necessity to foresee 
 the circumstances in which a Jesuit might scruple 
 as in temptation ? — might fear to offend God by 
 pleasing man ? — might object to sin " by virtue of 
 Holy Obedience 1" Jn the seventh congregation of 
 the Society it was decreed, that whoever said to the 
 minister commanding "I will not do it," falls into a 
 " reserved case"t — that is, a crime the absolution from 
 which is exclusively vested in a higher functionary of 
 the Society. 
 
 I proceed to develope the philosophy of this inte- 
 resting topic. 
 
 • Bouhours, La Vie de St. Tguace. liv. v. 
 
 t Conor. 7. D. 45. Ministro qui dicit, 'Nolo facere, ia casum 
 incidit reservatum. Index Gen, Inst. S. I, 
 
THE NOTITIATE. 145 
 
 How are the novices conquered? — how are they 
 made to conquer themselves ?— How are the Jesuits 
 conquered ? — how do they conquer themselves ? — so 
 as to execute, with hand and heart, blind in will, 
 obscure in intellect, any'and every command " with no 
 less eagerness than a child in the extremity of hunger 
 obeys the voice of the nurse that calls it for food."* 
 
 If all physicians and surgeons would study physi- 
 ology with the perseverance that its necessity in 
 the correct diagnosis and proper treatment of disease 
 seems to demand, doubtless the art of medicine would 
 become something like a system — one system instead 
 of a thousand. Jesuit casuistry and spiritual nosology 
 are based on a most respectable knowledge of mental 
 physiology. In reading some of their casuists, 
 one is astounded by the extraordinary minuteness of 
 criminal distinctions, which smell of phosphorus, in 
 every page. Tliey have made a terrible use of the 
 confessional. On the other hand, their "spiritual 
 books" give evidence of deep thought. Take the 
 following in the matter of disobedience : I quote it in 
 proof of what I have said with regard to the senti- 
 ments in the motives to obedience. 
 
 " If any command is abhorrent to self-esteem or 
 self-respect, the difficulty of obedience results from 
 pride ; we must here apply the examination of con- 
 science, meditations; and remedies are to be adminis- 
 tered by considering what an empty thing is pride, 
 particularly in a religious man, who professes a con- 
 tempt for himself, and declares himself to be crucified 
 
 * S. Basil, cit. ab Aqua v. in Instr. pro Super, de Obed. 
 L 
 
146 ECONOMICS OF 
 
 to the world. If any work is imposed, or any office to 
 Which we feel a repugnance, the difficulty flows from 
 an unmortified nature ; but if, on the contrary, we 
 have to leave an office to which we are rather inclined, 
 the difficulty emanates from the very same inordinate 
 affection for that office, or a person with whom it 
 brings us in contact. If the difficulty of the work 
 frightens us, fortitude is deficient ; and in like manner 
 in similar cases. Let us humble ourselves then, and 
 striving to attain the aims before us, we may gain a 
 glorious victory over self."* 
 
 The same renowned General of the Society thus 
 explains the conquering discipline of his troops : — 
 
 "It will be advantageous if the Superior should 
 sometimes command the subject to hold himself in 
 readiness to do something as yet uncertain, in two or 
 three days, which, perhaps, will be against his will 
 and mind, but still he should resolve in his mind that 
 he will never positively consent to the contrary."'f 
 
 Only divine motives are ever to be held forth, and yet, 
 
 " Let the Superior frequently enjoin him to do 
 trivial things in which he, knows that the subject 
 finds no difficulty, so that he may thus accustom him 
 to do something towards the command of something 
 else ; when he has done it let the Superior praise him, 
 encourage him, 8tc."J 
 
 Again, "Sometimes let the Superior select some- 
 thing certain, in which the subject finds great diffi- 
 
 * Aquav. De Spir. cap. 4, 7. 
 
 ■j" Id. Ad curand. anim. morb. o. 5 . 
 
 t Id. De Perfect. Obed. <;. 5. 
 
THE NOVITIATE. 147 
 
 culty, and let him tell him to prepare himself to do it 
 in the course of two or three days, as if he is to do it 
 by common consent. When he has done it, if with 
 alacrity, let him be cheered and encouraged, showing 
 him that it will come to pass by that example that all 
 things will become more easy. If he has done it with 
 difficulty, let his patience be praised, promise him 
 victory, telling him that he may easily conquer and 
 by degrees may become stronger by this exercise. 
 
 " Let the Superior sometimes condescend so far as 
 to pass over that order to comply with which he feels 
 a great repugnance ; but in so fatherly a manner that 
 the subject may understand that it was a. pious dis- 
 pensation and sweet condescension, only in order that 
 he may profit by it and gain vigour, and after having 
 become stronger, be able to bear with alacrity what is 
 now above his strength. Meanwhile, although the 
 Superior may do this on his part, let the subject, 
 however, know that he has diminished his merit and 
 strength, which he would have increased if he had 
 conquered himself with magnanimity."* 
 
 To give examples of Jesuit obedience would be to 
 narrate the history of the society. 
 
 It is the human will — considered as a cause and not 
 an effect by the majority of moralists — that the 
 Jesuits seem most anxious to direct ; esteeming all 
 other mental phenomena as purely indifferent : that 
 is neither good nor bad in themselves, but only so 
 in proportion as they are directed by a will quasi 
 perverse, or quasi right, according to their notions. 
 * Id. ut antea, 
 L 2 
 
148 ECONOMICS OF 
 
 In effect the Jesuits are more philosophical than 
 other ascetics. They do not strive to change nature, 
 but only to direct it from one object of appetence to 
 another. Thus they endeavour to sanctify (so to 
 speak) ambition into what they call apostolic fervour : 
 thus Ignatius, from a warrior, aspired to be a saint. 
 I remember reading in the Novitiate — I think in a 
 Latin life of Xaviee — some very striking remarks on 
 this subject, the conclusions whereof may be enun- 
 ciated as follows : viz., that the characters of men 
 were all wisely ordained for some purpose — that they 
 were not to be radically altered — indeed, that was 
 impossible — but only directed into a proper channel, 
 so as to sail prosperously down the stream of Grace, 
 which leads each to the same ends by different 
 means. There is something worthy of consideration 
 in that exposition of Jesuit-ethics ; and though liable 
 to extravagant abuse, it is perhaps a good principle 
 whereon to build a rational and religious system of 
 education. 
 
 Thus, whatever is altered in a man's mentality 
 by the Jesuits, his ruling passion is not virtually 
 changed : it is held in check — it is trained — it is 
 purified — sublimated according to their notions — but 
 it is still there — coiled up as an everlasting mainspring 
 which is wound up at stated times by Holy Obedience, 
 and keeps the whole system in accurate movement : 
 whether laid by, like the chronometer after a voyage, 
 in one <jf the "Three Houses," or when — like the 
 chronometer, again hung on gimbals in the cabin of 
 the ship tempest-tossed on the waste of waters — he is 
 
THE NOVITIATE. 149 
 
 set adrift to work his way in the latitude and 
 longitude of a heretic-world. 
 
 The same principle is applied to genius, talents, 
 and their predilections. The whole history of literature 
 in every language attests this fact : the Jesuits know 
 their wants, they have the means to supply them, and 
 they shape their course accordingly. 
 
 What are the means taken to discover the real 
 character of the novice ? 
 
 I have spoken of my " general confession" on 
 entering upon my probation ; but there are other 
 means still to be mentioned — and these, the most im- 
 portant of all. To show how such means are ap- 
 plied, I shall now draw a sketch of the various 
 functionaries in the Novitiate, and describe their 
 respective functions in operation. 
 
 THE MASTER. 
 
 It must be evident that the master of the novices 
 fills an important office in the society. Very pecu- 
 liar tact and discernment are required in the man 
 whose duty it is to discover all that is in the heart 
 within, and at the same time render all that is out- 
 wardly unpleasant bearable, at least, if not sweet and 
 palatable. From the immense importance attached 
 to obedience' the reader must not conclude that per- 
 fection in this quality is absolutely " the one thing 
 needful ;" though, assuredly, like charity, it " co- 
 vers a multitude of sins." There are other qualifi- 
 cations which are certainly essential in a Jesuit. All 
 these qualifications constitute what is called a 
 " vocation" to the Society of Jesus. These the master 
 
150 
 
 THE MASTER. 
 
 of the novices has to discover, and two entire years 
 are allowed him for this investigation. Other re- 
 ligious confraternities require but one year for pro- 
 bation before the vows are taken. 
 
 This simple fact alone declares something of no 
 small importance in the eyes of the philosopher; and 
 all will be convinced that the qualifications required 
 must be both extraordinary and difficult to be dis- 
 covered. If I may be permitted to express by a 
 single word what the spirit of Ignatius requires in 
 his novice, I say it is malleability. The master of 
 the novices once said to me, " I have reason to hope 
 for the best because you are so amenable — in this 
 sense, that you are easily led by the heart." This 
 forced and peculiar meaning which he gave to the 
 word has stamped it on my mind as a philological 
 curiosity.* It is then a nature which is easily worked 
 that is required in the novice destined to become a 
 Jesuit — a gentle, confiding, candid, ingenuous heart, 
 which, like the clear still water over pure white 
 sand, reflects the thoughts unspoken, but still well 
 shadowed, of his Superior, as truthfully and as beau- 
 tifully imaged as the pictured heavens with passing 
 clouds, momentary gleams, shade mingling with light, 
 towers and battlements, a cottage and a church, a 
 prison and a palace, trees and sign-posts, cattle and 
 labourers, children and birds of passage, the straight 
 and the crooked, the hurried, the slow — there, on 
 
 * Amenable — that may be moved, brought to answer inquiries, to 
 account for actions ; or may it not rather be — subject to the jurisdic- 
 tion of a Mesne Lord ; to be summoned before him, adjudged by him ; 
 and then — subject to trial or examination. See Richardson. 
 
THE MASTER. 151 
 
 that still mirror of the lake wliich takes every im- 
 pression without a murmur, and asks not why nor 
 wherefore ! 
 
 It must be difficult to find such a nature : approxi- 
 mations, therefore, must satisfy where perfection 
 cannot be found. Here the tact and discernment of 
 the master are constantly required. 
 
 Again, he must be a man of great patience and 
 natural kindness of disposition, to bear with all the 
 little afflictions which the novices must give him, in 
 spite of themselves. Doubts and fears, bitterness 
 and sadness, come upon them at times, and often, — 
 they rush to him for aid and consolation. But if 
 too many of these crotchets molest the mind — in 
 other words, if a novice is " too scrupulous" he will 
 not do for the society. When at Hodder, one of the 
 novices disappeared rather unexpectedly — I say 
 unexpectedly, because he was with us at night, and 
 we only missed him at recreation. I asked a novice 
 
 of the second year why Brother had left ? The 
 
 answer was to the following effect, and nearly in the 
 
 very words : " Brother was too scrupulous : 
 
 men of strong minds are wanted ; when holy obe- 
 dience has spoken, all doubts and difficulties should 
 vanish." I confess that I was pained for the depar- 
 ture of our friend, who was truly an amiable youth ; 
 and I was by no means satisfied with the cause. 
 How the report was put into circulation, or whether 
 my informant was correct, I know not ; but I have 
 many reasons, in my own experience, for taking 
 his words in their literal and fullest sense, as develop- 
 
152 THE MASTER. 
 
 ing a fundamental principle of the system in questioa. 
 To show that few other considerations, if any, will 
 induce the Jesuits to deviate from the model on 
 which all their men must be fashioned as to tlieir 
 essentials at least, I may state that the gentleman 
 who left under the circumstances mentioned, was the 
 son of a baronet. 
 
 It is the Father of the Novices who has to scrutinize, 
 advise, and pass judgment on these secret matters. 
 He heard the sacramental confessions of the novices 
 every Saturday, preparatory to our communion on the 
 following day. If any particular saint's day occurred 
 during the week, we went to communion without 
 going to confession ; a fervent act of contrition being 
 considered sufficient. Besides this sacramental con- 
 fession, he would send for every novice once a week, 
 in order to have a private conversation with him as to 
 his spiritual progress. These interviews were always 
 interesting to me, and they were frequently prolonged 
 beyond the time which was allowed to others. In- 
 deed, these were the only occasions on which I could 
 fully express the thoughts that occurred to me during 
 meditation. We often had very animated conversa- 
 tions on all the topics connected with a spiritual life ; 
 and it was most gratifying to observe the pleasure 
 which beamed on his countenance at observing the 
 total change which had taken place in me, in the 
 short space of a few months. 
 
 Again, the Master of the Novices must be highly 
 gifted in what is called the " discernment of spirits:" 
 that is to say, , the peculiar influences from within 
 
THE MASTEB. 153 
 
 that retard or promote spiritual progress. His con- 
 clusions in this matter direct his advice, and deter- 
 mine the selection of books for the study of the 
 novice. As I shall afterwards relate, his discernment 
 on one occasion raised me from the depths of bitter- 
 ness to exultation : instantly, suddenly as the light- 
 ning-flash that lights up a hemisphere, — I thought 
 the man was inspired. 
 
 A mother's gentleness is also requisite to inspire 
 that confidence which has no secrets. In this respect 
 the man selected to guide us at Hodder left nothing 
 to desire : in unbosoming my heart to him I often 
 thought of my mother. Oh ! how sweet it was to be 
 thoroughly known, thoroughly understood — even as 
 I was to Him from whom nothing is hid ! 
 
 " I have now before me," says one of the Generals, 
 "the true image of our novice — the more perfect 
 form — ^but we need the reality. All my anxiety and 
 difficulty consist in this, namely, how to describe the 
 model and the likeness of this ideal perfection to 
 which the imperfect flesh itself is to be moulded. It 
 is not by himself that this novice just escaped from 
 the world, and still intensely burning with its flame — 
 it is not, I say, by his own unassisted mind that he is 
 fit to receive the doctrine and transcendent wisdom 
 which Christ unfolds to him in the inculcation of 
 self-abasement — an infant lately born to life cannot 
 swallow hard bread. It is the duty of the mother to 
 crumble the food of such a little one, and make it soft 
 in her own mouth, and, as Augustin observes, give it 
 to her child, after having changed its nature in her 
 own milk. What the mother eats, the infant eats 
 
154 THE MASTER, 
 
 but as the infant is unable to eat the bread, the 
 mother incarnates the bread, and by the humility of 
 the breast* and the juice of the milk, feeds the infant 
 with the sanie bread itself. 
 
 "The Superior or Master of the novices is their 
 father, mother, and nurse. His duty is to break the 
 too solid bread, to grind it once more with his own 
 teeth, then change it into milk and present it to the 
 novice. ****** 
 
 " If the novice is fed with this milk, we may promise 
 ourselves to find in him the virtue which is expected 
 in those who are far advanced in the path of religion 
 and perfection. For, if St. Bernard most elegantly 
 calls twilight the hope of the sun, and names a 
 flower the hope of the fruit, so in like manner we may 
 call the best and perfect novice the hope of the best 
 and consummate professed."f 
 
 After this, I trust that my idea of the man to be 
 selected to fill the post of Master of the Novices is 
 perfectly in accordance with the spirit of the Institute. 
 
 THE MINISTER. 
 
 The second functionary in the Novitiate is the Father 
 Minister. When I went to Hodder-place there was 
 no father minister ; but about six months after my 
 arrival one was appointed. It would appear that the 
 father minister is nominated somewhat with the same 
 view as the "coadjutors" of the Roman Catholic 
 bishops, or "vicars apostolic" in England, viz., in 
 order to succeed to the higher office in the event of 
 
 * Humiliiatem mammills. 
 
 t Epist. Fran. Ficcoloh. Frsp. Gen. S. J. 1650. 
 
THE MINISTER. 155 
 
 death, or other translation. He is a kind of immediate 
 superintendent; is generally, if not always, with the 
 novices,and consequently advises and reprimands as he 
 thinks fit and expedient. When I say reprimand, I wish 
 it to be understood that there never was any harshness 
 in the exercise of that function. At all events, the re- 
 prehensions applied to try my " spirit" were kindly and 
 meekly expressed : a harsh word was never spoken in 
 the Novitiate, though unpremeditated slips of the 
 tongue might to a vigilant conscience occasionally 
 assume the form of uncharitableness; in which case 
 they were duly expiated by a public acknowledgment 
 and penance. 
 
 The father minister, then, is an additional instru- 
 ment of probation — another eye to the omniscient 
 Argus, none of whose eyes are ever asleep ; and it is 
 precisely because no lute with notes melodiously 
 sweet can charm these eyes to repose, that this mo- 
 dern Argus — the Society of the Jesuits — fears no sur- 
 prise : lives on, if not for ever. 
 
 The Father Minister at Hodder, at his very first 
 appearance, cast a shadow on my mind and heart. 
 There are natures which are attracted or repelled at 
 first sight. An innocent babe will scream at the 
 glance of one man, and sweetly smile at that of 
 another. Surely this voice of nature — this uncon 
 querable instinct — must be oftener right than wrong. 
 At least, such is my idiosyncrasy ; and it was un- 
 favourably affected by this Jesuit, the father minister. 
 When I first raised my eyes to his countenance I felt 
 a shock similar to that of electricity, and a foreboding 
 
156 THE MINISTER. 
 
 seemed to tell my heart that I could not live with one 
 whom it was impossible for me to esteem and to love. 
 He came at a time, too, when my mind was assailed 
 by doubts as to my " vocation;" and I well remember 
 that at the sight of his features I thought o? the front 
 door by which I had entered the Novitiate. 
 
 I remember that thought ! 
 
 This may seem strange — preposterous ; but there 
 are self-ideas — strong thoughts — sweet and bitter 
 thoughts — that stamp themselves on the mind and 
 memory for ever ; to be recalled ever and anon, like 
 the scenes we have witnessed — the events which con- 
 stitute our history, whereby we have been made happy 
 or wretched. 
 
 I strove to overcome my repugnance to this man — 
 I confessed it to the Superior — I prayed for aid — I 
 tried to reason myself out of it; but that was the 
 "rock on which I split :" reasoning was the hundred 
 arms of the polypus that entangled and stifled the 
 pious wish whenever it floated within reach on my 
 little " sea of troubles." I shall have to speak of 
 this Jesuit again towards the close of my narrative ; 
 but a few words are necessary here in order to justify 
 my repugnance. Of all the Jesuits whom I met at 
 Stonyhurst, this man seemed the most insincere. I 
 never heard a word from his lips that could edify or 
 inspire devotion — ^he always seemed tired in body or 
 mind of something that was never to be disclosed. 
 This last remark may apply to the " Fathers" gene- 
 rally ; and it was to me a matter of wonder how men 
 could have been trained as I was in the Novitiate, 
 
THE MINISTER. 157 
 
 and yet be so cold, unimpassioned on the most vital 
 topics of religion, as I found them; — though, it must 
 be confessed, they brightened considerably on all 
 occasions when the affairs of the Society ■were dis- 
 cussed. Far be it from me to write ought that may 
 wantonly wound the feelings of any one. I denounce 
 the system— not the men who were kind to me : ex- 
 cept so far as they are inseparable from it. I pity 
 them ; therefore have I undertaken to attempt a dis- 
 section of that system, which, amongst all its other 
 contortions, wrenchings, and twistings of the human 
 heart and miad, renders even the godlike virtue of 
 brotherly love and human kindness suspicious in its 
 manifestations 
 
 Aversions must necessarily occur at times among 
 men living together : the mysterious influences that 
 make the most vigorous plant droop to decay in a 
 single day, a single hour, may have their representa- 
 tives in the human heart. We are not always the 
 same : the plant of love has its Spring, Summer, 
 Autumn, 'and Winter; and though its seasons are 
 subject to considerable perturbations, still, doubtless, 
 in every heart its Spring and Summer are well 
 remembered. 
 
 Against the aversions alluded to, I find certain 
 " cures" prescribed by Aquaviva in his Instruction for 
 the Superiors of the Society. The patient " must be 
 stimulated by the confessor, and he is not to be per- 
 mitted, as in other imperfections, to delay in over- 
 coming his aversion, in discarding all bitterness, and 
 in being reconciled to his brother, persuaded as he 
 
158 THE MINISTER. 
 
 must be that neither his prayers nor other actions 
 can be such as they should be, unless this imperfec- 
 tion be amended. The Superior must see that he be 
 reconciled as soon as possible with his brother, and 
 must by no means permit, should the thing ever 
 occur, that the common signs of salutation, conversa- 
 tion, and duty, or the like, be reciprocally withheld. 
 
 *^ Jt, Jf. M. 
 
 ■Tt* tF Tt" ■«" , , 
 
 " Let the Superior speak to the brother who is the 
 object of aversion, in order that the latter, although 
 innocent of any cause of offence, should, neverthe- 
 less, overcome evil with good, should humble himself, 
 be the first to go and blandly address the delinquent, 
 and by ail means entice him to brotherly love. In 
 fine, let the Superior, or any other mediator, settle 
 the matter entirely and without delay."* 
 
 In the Life of Ignatius, a curious instance of 
 this aversion is related, together with its sudden cure, 
 by the magic of the eyes. I must preface the anec- 
 dote by a few remarks. Of all the faces that the 
 limner's art has handed down to posterity, as the 
 compendious records of the renowned or notorious 
 dead, that of Ignatius of Loyola always seemed, 
 and seems still to me, unlovable amongst the least 
 lovable. I have before me now a well-executed en- 
 graving of his miniature, and it produces the same 
 repugnance that I felt in the Novitiate, without the 
 pious wish to overcome the feeling. ' And yet " he 
 could bend the minds of his followers in whatever 
 direction he pleased." 
 
 * Aquav.i De impat. & aversio. 2, et seq. 
 
THE MINISTER. 169 
 
 RiBADENEYRA was youHg, and not very regular 
 nor prudent ; his extravagance went so far as to shake 
 off the yoke of obedience, and to feel so strong a 
 repugnance to Ignatius, that he could not bear the 
 sight of the holy Father: such v?as his secret 
 aversion. 
 
 Ignatius sent for hira one day, and only said two 
 or three words to him. In the instant, Ribadeneyra 
 threw himself at his feet, and bursting into tears, 
 exclaimed — " I will do. Father ! I will do whatever 
 you like !"* 
 
 In my case the cause was too deep, too continuous 
 to admit of a radical cure : the disease was organic. 
 With the exception of my Superior — the Master of 
 the Novices — no Jesuit that I conversed with left a 
 pleasing impression on my mind. Doubtless, obe- 
 dience under such circumstances would indeed have 
 had " great merit;" but my faith in the possibility of 
 thus rendering myself acceptable to God, was too 
 weak for a Jesuit. 
 
 I must do justice to the immediate object of my 
 "aversion," by stating, that on one occasion he 
 jocosely animadverted on the " prevarication and equi- 
 vocation" of certain English Jesuits during the times 
 of persecution ; including, or directly alluding to, 
 Parsons and Garnet,- if I remember rightly. But 
 though this was only "in jest," still I felt inclined 
 to open my heart to the man : even for that candour 
 which, by a little charitable twisting, might, to " the 
 
 • BouHODHS — Vie d' Ignace. liv. vi. 
 
160 THE PORTER. 
 
 simplicity of the dove," seem not to be " the cunning 
 of the serpent." 
 
 Had I gone among these men as an enemy, I 
 would now suspect my impressions; but I went as a 
 friend, as a passionate admirer: and surely it was 
 scarcely my fault, if the peculiarities of their minds 
 did not please me — veluti JBalbinum polypus Hagna ! 
 
 THE POKTEB. 
 
 The porter was one of the novices of the second 
 year. He continued in office for some time : there 
 were but three different porters during my year. All 
 the general and particular orders of the Superior 
 came through him ; and, though without any power 
 resulting from his office, he directed, as we have 
 seen, all the movements of the novices during the 
 public works. He was expected to be more watchful 
 over himself, because he was porter, in addition to his 
 being a novice of the second year : which was itself 
 an influential motive to perfection in all the duties of 
 a novice. He was expected to give an account of 
 all the novices — to report any public infringement of 
 the rules. Whatever was needed by the novices was 
 to be asked from him ; whether clothing, shoes, pens, 
 ink, and paper. These were always liberally supplied ; 
 ia accordance with that part of one of the rules of the 
 Constitutions, which enjoins every Jesuit " freely to 
 give what he has freely received:" a doctrine which 
 it is difficult to reconcile with the educational re- 
 venue derived by the Jesuits in most parts of the 
 world 
 
MONITORS. 161' 
 
 The porter was thus, as it were, housekeeper in the 
 establishment. He rose first, and went to bed last ; 
 after having bolted the outer doors, put out the fire 
 and the lights, and wound up the pious old clock on 
 the stated days. That old clock ! I think I hear it 
 now clicking its on-for-ever and contented pulse, as 
 its obedient children passed by, but never greet- 
 ing it with a friendly look. It stood on the landing, 
 opposite the door of the dormitory, close to that 
 of the chapel : we therefore passed it frequently ; 
 but if I did not see its face in the first days of 
 my first retreat, I have never seen it: and yet I 
 often think of that good old clock — that venerable 
 old clock! 
 
 MONITORS. 
 
 Every novice had his monitor. Sunday-schools 
 and union-schools, and likewise the Methodists (who, 
 by the way, have borrowed a few rules and regula- 
 tions from Ignatius), have made the word monitor 
 quite familiar to the language ; but its original phi- 
 lological meaning has not been preserved. The 
 Jesuits, and, I believe, the Methodists, use it pretty 
 much in its strictest sense: certainly it means some- 
 thing in the Novitiate. 
 
 The monitors were appointed by the Superior. At 
 certain times — for these were not perpetual curacies 
 — all the novices were ordered to the Refectory just 
 before " Manual Works." They stood around, and 
 the porter at the end of the room, with a paper in 
 his hand, read off, in Latin, the appointment of all 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 MONITORS. 
 
 the minor functionaries by name: — the waiters for 
 the week, the readers, the monitors reciprocally, 
 and the porter, if the will of the Superior had put 
 a period to his functional existence : and that 
 would be the first intimation he would have of the 
 supersedeas issued against its continuance. Power, 
 over mind or body, is pleasant to the human heart. 
 We soon habituate ourselves to the possession ; aipd 
 however unselfish we are, it will be found, if we 
 probe the heart, that we never part with it without 
 some "trifling" reluctance. Ignatius knew this: 
 the Jesuits know it ; and so they habituate the no- 
 vice to this bitterness by times : for no one knows 
 how long he is to discharge any oflSce. As is the 
 porter in the Novitiate, so is the Jesuit everywhere. 
 Wo handwriting on the wall forewarns him of his 
 fate : with the shriek of the prey-bird, or the stun- 
 ning crash of the whirlwind, ." Othello's occupation 's 
 gone !" The highest are levelled to the lowest, and 
 beneath them ; the most glorious plume is snatched 
 from the cap of one, to be placed in that of another: 
 unscrupulously, unhesitatingly, suddenly, by Holy 
 Obedience ;— 
 
 " — Line, apicem rapaz 
 
 cum stridore acuto 
 
 Sustulit : htc posuisse gaudet." 
 
 The duty of the monitor is to remark any irregu- 
 larity in the novice whose monitor he happens to be, 
 and to admonish him of it at the appointed time. I 
 think this occurred twice a week. As I have said 
 before, the porter gave the signal by his " Deo 
 
MONITOKS. 163 
 
 gratias." The novice then went to his monitor (who 
 should be in his cell in readiness), scratched the cur- 
 tain^ entered as soon as permission was given, and 
 with downcast eyes said " Deo gratias." His 
 monitor mentioned whatever he had observed amiss 
 ia his conduct; conclading with "Deo gratias," 
 •which was a dismissal, and then went to his own 
 monitor : if he had not already received his admo- 
 nition. This was a painful duty to perform ; parti- 
 cularly if you had to admonish one considerably older 
 than yourself, as was my case. I fulfilled the duty 
 once, and I think but once. ' I took refuge in that 
 concentration of the heart and mind which strives, 
 at least, to see no evil in others : a consummation to 
 which all may in a great measure attain, if we ana- 
 tomise our own heart and its suggestions. The novice, 
 when admonished, was expected to receive the ad- 
 monition with grateful humility, and resolve to avoid 
 the fault admonished. Of course, no question was 
 asked as to the when? or why? of the time and 
 reason of the objected imperfection : you listened, 
 but never rejoined. 
 
 If the monitor had observed nothing, he said " Deo 
 gratias." 
 
 " To the greater glory of God !" was the end held 
 forth to us, in all that we were taught to think, to 
 feel, to do; and it was certainly not impossible to 
 console our nettled self-love with " banc veniam peti- 
 musque damusque vicissim" — "we give and take" — 
 sanctifying the worldly motto with an aspiration in 
 " the spirit of holy Father Ignatius." 
 M 2 
 
164 MONITORS. 
 
 In a state of primitive Christianity — or among the 
 Jesuits if they could reproduce that golden age, — how 
 beautiful would be that reciprocal anxiety or rather 
 solicitude for each other's spiritual welfare ! But 
 when one has felt, as I have, the fearful temptations 
 of bitter thought which the practice multiplies for 
 poor humanity — already sufficiently tempted — it 
 requires but little reasoning to convince us that it sub- 
 serves the unalloyed selfishness of the Society, much, 
 more than the cause of religious amendment in the 
 individual. " He who toucheth pitch," it is written, 
 " shall be defiled therewith" — there are defiling 
 things in our nature which not even the Jesuits can 
 sanctify by the end of their application. 
 
 True, the novice is aware of this regulation before 
 he enters into probation ; but the previous knowledge 
 of their existence does not diminish the pang or the 
 poison of the sting of the musquitoes in the pestilen- 
 tial swamps of America, when the traveller feels their 
 sting, or hears their sepulchral serenade : a thousand 
 times more annoying than the silent sting. 
 
 To an honest man — to a generous heart, counsel, 
 advice, a friendly admonition must always be accept- 
 able : " a word to the wise" should be the motto of 
 every man, because eveiy man should strive to attain 
 the perfection of his state; but by rendering such 
 reprimands the result of a systematic espionage (I 
 rejoice that there is no English word to express it), 
 you open the way to unholy selfishness in its 
 deadliest rancour, precisely because it: can work 
 unseen as the blast of pestilence. 
 
MONITORS. 165 
 
 Of what import will it be, if I adinit that all things 
 may be endured for the sake of Him who endured all 
 things for us ? Let those things be endured as He 
 endured them, namely, when they came upon Him 
 as man — but let us not lead ourselves into tempta- 
 tion whilst we pray to be delivered from evil ! 
 
 Perhaps my conclusions would have been different 
 had I beheld better effects of the training than it was 
 my misfortune to witness : had I seen a pure, morti- 
 fied spirit in the Fathers generally^ — an honest con- 
 sistency with the dazzling models of my daily medi- 
 tations. But I looked around in vain : I waited in 
 vain — my gorgeous dreams dissolved in the presence 
 of the sad reality. I therefore am compelled to 
 admit that I was constantly " tempted" to think the 
 " Fathers" with whom I associated — whose looks, 
 eyes and words 1 could study — as eminently self- 
 seekers : men of an association ; not of the " Constitu- 
 tions," where these described my model. 
 
 This impression was never thoroughly overcome ; 
 and the last interview with the Provincial, when I 
 made known my determination to leave, engraved on 
 my mind what had only been traced or sketched 
 before : it will be given in full in its proper place. / 
 
 Training gives the Jesuit power to do what otl^er 
 men cannot do— as it does to the acrobat, the 
 tumbler, the equestrian : what the latter effect in the 
 brute muscle and limb, the former display in mind 
 and morals. All have, . doubtless, motives strong 
 enough to rouse the most uncompromising exertion. 
 
166 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 GAMES. RECKEATION. MISSIONARY DUTIES. 
 
 This is a strange combination of topics : it will not, 
 however, appear so very strange at " the end of the 
 chapter." The Jesraits do nothing in vain : at least 
 without an object ; and their " Philosophy in sport" 
 is as admirably devised as it is, in the long run, per- 
 fectly successful. In effect their whole system is a 
 gigantic speculation — a cunning stratagem — a splen- 
 did deceit — a most bewitching artifice. And yet, like 
 the conjurer, it is by natural means that they exhibit 
 supernatural manifestations. Whatever be the mental 
 deficiencies of the Jesuit, like Ignatius himself, he 
 must have, he has, tact — such tact, precisely, as a 
 tiger would acquire were its original cunning modified 
 and trained by the patient, wise, discreet elephant. 
 Such a result would evidently be a remarkable phe- 
 nomenon in zoology ; and such is the Jesuit-mind in 
 psychology — nothing more, nothing less. The Jesuits 
 are terrible because they are natural. We do not 
 habitually fear the devil as much as we do a bad 
 man — and a child can tell you the reason. 
 
GAMES. 167 
 
 My admiration of the wonderful adaptalility of 
 the human mind has been so vastly increased by the 
 study of these men and their system, that I have 
 great pleasure in returning the favour, by enabling 
 others to deal fairly with them : to do them justice, 
 as honest Milton, in " Paradise Lost," seems to have 
 intended by his gorgeous development of Satan and 
 his awful theory. They are conscious of their 
 " cleverness." Perhaps one of the best specimens of 
 harmless Jesuits was my old friend the master of the 
 novices at Hodder; and yet the following incident 
 rather staggered my esteem of this gentlerian — it 
 suggested "temptations." The reader shall judge. 
 One day I was ordered to mend a torn leaf of the 
 missal. I required some india-rubber : there was 
 none to be had. I suggested a piece of bread as a 
 substitute. He accordingly led me to the kitchen, 
 seized a loaf, and taking a knife in his hand he cut a 
 slice, not in the usual way, towards the breast, but 
 from him ; observing, "Remember, Brother Steinmetz, 
 le Jesuite coupe, mais il ne se coupe pas" — " the Jesuit 
 cuts, but he takes care not to cut himself." He 
 smiled — I did the same — but I certainly wished he 
 had forgotten the maxim. At the end of my work, 
 however, he partly did away with the bad impression 
 by delicately praising my work; adding — " Qui dedit 
 tihi pietatem, dedit et scientiam" — " He who gave thee 
 piety, gave thee also skill." The latter anecdote 
 certainly shows a delicate perception of the pleasant 
 and beautiful, if the former does not point to an ac- 
 knowledged and systematic craft : still it seemed to 
 
,16& > GAMES. 
 
 me as if any clergyman should say (in jest, of course, 
 which makes the matter worse), " Do as I say, not as 
 I do." 
 
 But cool cleverness is essential to a Jesuit — a pa- 
 tient cleverness united to a soul possessed in patience 
 — whose joy at success is subdued, and whose annoy- 
 ance at failure has no voice. Means were given to 
 us in the Novitiate to acquire this frame of mind. 
 We played at backgammon, chess, and draughts. I 
 know not whether dice, and so absorbing a game 
 as chess, are conducive to " holy living ;" but I do 
 know that the former, at least, are positively forbid- 
 den to the priest by the Council of Trent; and I also 
 know that we found them very useful in curbing the 
 temper, and in giving us numerous opportunities to 
 afiSict, mortify, contund, the spirit — the rebellious 
 spirit. 
 
 Our times of play were the recreation-days. Al- 
 though these days came round every week pretty 
 regularly, still they were occasionally stopped ; and 
 they were always announced by the porter in the usual 
 way, thereby giving us to understand that they did 
 not come as a matter, of/course. 
 
 We also played at football, and here slight ebulli- 
 tions of temper were sometimes seen ; but the re- 
 pentant brother, on his knees in the Refectory, was 
 sure to make ample amends for his misdemeanour. 
 
 I have felt the pleasure of apologising for an un- 
 premeditated word of anger, and I have experienced 
 4;he pain of receiving such an apology, mingled though 
 it was with pleasure j but I had neither pleasure nor 
 
A WALK. 169 
 
 pain when I beheld a brother kneehng, and heard him 
 confess a trivial contradiction, and felt the kiss of his 
 lips on my feet : only then reminded (not that / had 
 been offended), but that he had committed a fault 
 against brotherly love ! I had neither pleasure nor 
 pain on such occasions: I was simply humbled — 
 lowered still more in my own estimation — more re- 
 signed — more contrite. 
 
 Truly there is something of Heaven in this gene- 
 rous humility of the heart, expiating all its guilt in a 
 , noble acknowledgment, by loving kindness prompted, 
 and with Christian simplicity expressed ! 
 
 Recreation superseded manual works and the lec- 
 ture, so that it lasted about three hours ; sometimes 
 in the forenoon, sometimes in the af|;ernoon, when we 
 now and then went out for a walk in the vicinity. 
 
 The porter announced the order to that effect. 
 We made ready as expeditiously as possible, by doff- 
 ing our cassocks and donning our coats, — and great 
 coats in winter, — putting on thick shoes, and taking 
 our sticks and hats : thus equipped, we walked de- 
 murely to the recreation-room, said the usual " Ave 
 Maria" kneeling, and then went and stood in a line 
 opposite the door which opened into the garden — for 
 I must repeat that we never went through ihe front 
 door of the Novitiate except twice : once on entering 
 for the first time, and then on departing from the 
 gates of probation. Standing in a line, then, presently 
 the porter appeared, and stood on the steps of the 
 door, with a paper in his hand. This was a list of 
 the different companies into which we were divided ; 
 
170 THE lilTANT. 
 
 generally a second-year novice was in eadi company ; 
 the novice first named had the company in charge. 
 When each company vras named it filed off, the leader 
 rehearsing the Litany of the Virgin Maht in Latin, 
 and his companions answering the " Ora pro nobis" 
 in sonorous cadence. As this Litany has been men- 
 tioned before, I may state, for the information of the 
 reader, that it consists chiefly of eighteen laudatory 
 epithets of the Virgin, as the mother " of the Creator," 
 " of the Saviour," and " of Divine Grace." Next 
 follow thirteen incongruous and middle-age metaphors 
 or tropes, expressive of certain mystic qualities which 
 Romanticism has ascribed to the " Queen of Heaven." 
 She is then stated to be the " health of the sick," the 
 " refuge of sinners," the " consolatrix of the afflicted," 
 the " aid of Christians ;" and the Litany winds up 
 with invoking Mary as the queen of angels, patriarchs, 
 prophets, apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins, and of 
 all the saints. 
 
 It is repeated rapidly, and the sound reminds one 
 of that husky guttural note with which the palanquin- 
 bearers of ihe East supply the place of a pedometer, 
 and kill monotony : to their own satisfaction, at least, 
 if not to that of the traveller. 
 
 The list was in Latin, the Litany was in Latin, and 
 we talked Latin for the first hours of recreation, on all 
 occasions. To those whose tongues are habitually 
 tied, I doubt not that Hebrew or Chinese would soon 
 be sufficiently mastered as a vehicle of thought when 
 the ordinary locomotive of the mind is forbidden "to 
 run." Few of us found much difficulty in conversing 
 
A DISCUSSION. 171 
 
 fluently, particularly as our topics were invariably 
 spiritual or Jesuitico-historical, and of course most, if 
 not all, our reading in the Novitiate was " in Latin> 
 Generally the Father Minister was in one of the com- 
 panies, and he was often in mine. There were three 
 or four" in each company — very seldom only two. 
 The object of this is evident — the conversation of two 
 is much more likely to become irregular than that of 
 three. 
 
 I was once reminded of the wisdom of this regula- 
 tion. It happened that two of us — another novice 
 and myself — were permitted to go out without the 
 usual third. From one thing to another, our conver- 
 sation — according to the usual phases of that social 
 Proteus — turned on the noble sacrifices that have 
 beeti made for the sake of religion ; and I charitably 
 alluded to one of our brothers, who, being the son of 
 a nobleman, was content with exchanging that high 
 honour for the obscurity of the Novitiate. My com- 
 panion, to my great surprise, treated the idea very 
 lightly, informing me that the novice alluded to was 
 only a younger son of a nobleman not very rich. 
 
 But not stopping here, he very lucidly explained 
 how he had made a much greater sacrifice by leaving 
 considerable property in the world. 
 
 " After all," said I, " perhaps it does not matter 
 much what we have left in the world, provided we 
 have left our sdf-will there also." 
 
 Thus I managed to give the conversation another 
 turn ; for it was evidently not very edifying on that 
 tack. I did not report the error, though doubtless 
 
172 REMARKS. 
 
 I ought to have done so. Let me now make amends 
 for my irregularity by a few remarks flowing directly 
 from the subject. ' 
 
 People are apt to lay too much stress on what 
 "converts" resign 4^or the sake of religion. For my 
 part I value their mental much more than their 
 bodily sacrifice. Philosophers of old — pagan philo- 
 sophers — have shown their contempt for riches in 
 many a beautiful anecdote. I am aware that their 
 motives have been unkindly called in question by the 
 moderns ; but if we undertake to find out the motives 
 of men without decided proofs of their tendency, we 
 may o£Pend as much against true morality as against 
 logic. 
 
 Again, how many men have thrown up most 
 lucrative employment, with the certainty of vast 
 pecuniary inconvenience before them, when merely 
 their self-love has been wounded by an insulting word 
 of their employer ? 
 
 The love of literature, of music, the love of women, 
 of the bottle, has seduced thousands into desperate 
 resolutions, fraught with worldly ruin. 
 
 I do not suggest these hints by way of depreciat- 
 ing the "great sacrifices" in question, but simply to 
 show that they are at most but negative criteria, if 
 there be such things in the chaos of mind. 
 
 The poor labourer, who despite the bitterness of 
 the hour — pinching poverty — with many a little one 
 beside him to feed, and but little to feed their 
 craving mouths withal — un pitied by the rich man 
 whose mansion is inconvenienced by the sight of 
 
REMARKS. 173 
 
 his humble cottage hard by — such an outcast of 
 men — so desperately tried in the fire of temptation — 
 if he can feel his honest heart beat with devotion, 
 can look up to Heaven — can think sweetly of his 
 merciful good God, saying, "Thy will be done !" Then 
 is there a sacrifice indeed : a whole burnt-ofiering^ 
 whose odour ascends undeviating, unscattered, un- 
 spent, to the judgment-seat of God ! 
 
 Still, perhaps, taking a worldly view of the ques- 
 tion, the novice just alluded to, and those who are 
 interested in "conversions" may be very right in 
 estimating them according to pounds, shillings, and 
 pence; as the computation is thereby rendered ex- 
 tremely easy to all. 
 
 Guided by a sort of traditionary map, we always 
 managed to avoid other companies, though we 
 frequently contrived to reach the outer gate about 
 the same time, so great was the punctuality of our 
 leader. 
 
 We were not allowed to speak with another com- 
 pany if we ever fell in with one — nor with any one 
 else we might meet : we merely raised our hands to 
 our hats in salutation, and silently passed on. We 
 were not even allowed to speak to the scholastic! of 
 the seminary on such occasions. 
 
 All seemed happy as we set out, particularly dur- 
 ing the summer months ; and very often, as soon as 
 the Litany was concluded, one of the company would 
 burst into a fit of laughter ! — a sort of pent-up torrent- 
 like fuU-heartedness that could not be resisted any 
 longer. This must not remind the reader of what 
 
174 A SHOCK. 
 
 Cicero says of the ancient augurs of Rome when they 
 got together :* at least I should be very sorry to hear 
 the remark paralleled to the incident just described. 
 
 We went as much as possible by unfrequented 
 paths : by the river's bank and its beautiful vale ; 
 or through the meditative woods, where the love- 
 notes of the summer-birds oft recalled, to my affliction, 
 that true and real inspiration of heaven — music and 
 song : which, in our solitude, I rarely heard, except 
 in dreams of the night. When we were permitted to 
 go to the church at the college, to be present at high 
 mass on the great festivals, the sound of the organ 
 was ravishing, ecstatic. To the sensual, music may 
 be sweet, but to the spiritual, it is divine : a child 
 of the imagination, it is maimed and crippled by 
 grossness. 
 
 In our walks we were careful to preserve " custody 
 of eyes," and we rarely saw the faces of those whom 
 we met. I shall never forget the pang that shot 
 through my frame, when once, on passing a stile, I 
 inadvertently raised my eyes and beheld — a hand- 
 some woman ! 
 
 It required some days for me to recover from this 
 shock; and I must say that the Superior perfectly 
 convinced me, at last, that "'twas quite natural," 
 Mark, here, a curious fact. In my contemplations 
 my soul was frequently in company with the beauties 
 of the saints — to the present time I am sometimes 
 reminded oi familiar faces, but I was happy in those 
 
 * Namely, that they could not look each other in the face without 
 smiling at the deceit they practised. 
 
MISSIONARY DUTIES. 175 
 
 visions. Was it the idea alone that there was no 
 danger in the latter case, and some in the former, 
 that thus changed bliss into misery ? 
 
 It was during recreation that we were often sent on 
 our missionary duties — particularly on Sundays. 
 
 Once for all, I will now state, that considerable 
 relaxations are made in the Novitiate in England, 
 Novices in the Roman Novitiate have, I was told, 
 a much harder time of it. I remember one parti- 
 cular instance of its severity was, the custom for 
 one of the novices to eat his dinner at the gate 
 with the lowest beggars of Rome; who were fed 
 there, apparently in order to give the novices one 
 trial more. By the Constitutions the novice is re- 
 quired to go on a pilgrimage, to attend for the 
 space of a month in some hospital, and to teach the 
 Christian doctrine to the children of the poor. We 
 had only the last duty to perform at Hodder. Here- 
 after, when " mass is sung in Westminster Abbey," 
 doubtless our English novices will go on a pilgrimage, 
 and attend at some hospital, in their picturesque cas- 
 socks, walking demurely, keeping custody of eyes, 
 and working miracles by edification. 
 
 The Jesuits have established a school for the poor 
 near the college ; and the novices instruct the children 
 in the Romish faith. Besides this general collec- 
 tion, we went to various poor families, and catechised 
 the little ones who were assembled for the purpose. 
 To judge from the crowds I saw at mass on the first 
 Sunday I spent at the college, the Roman Catholics 
 in the vicinity are very numerous ; and, doubtless. 
 
176 MISSIONAEY DUTIES. 
 
 are annually increased in numbers, if not in fervour : 
 for the Catholic or Universal Church delights in 
 numbers, mere numerical force being an essential 
 " mark of the true church." It is indeed remarkable, 
 that the Roman church, like the Roman republic and 
 empire of old, should be satisfied with nothing short 
 of universal power! And it is also a curious fact, that 
 as the tough Germans of old gave the first mighty 
 blo\* to the latter, so has a tough German of modern 
 times given another such blow to the former : a blow 
 from the effects of which she will never recover ; any 
 more than her predecessor in tyranny, inj ustice, and 
 craft. 
 
 If tyranny, injustice, and craft, be crimes against 
 the mere body of man, that called for a mighty and 
 lasting retribution, why should the retribution for 
 similar crimes against his soul be lessoned in extent, or 
 shortened in duration ? ... It cannot be ! The 
 men of Rome exult in this " reaction," as they call 
 it, which is making " St. Mary's, at Oscott," a true 
 "refugium peccatorum," a refuge of sinners. But, 
 perhaps, from among the very men whose captive 
 chains clank in their triumphal thanksgiving, there 
 will be shot the " lethalis arundo," the deadly arrow 
 that will pierce and cling to the side of their " Mother 
 Church" in the appointed time. It is not children 
 that they are receiving, but full-grown men, who 
 have been accustomed most pertinaciously " to think 
 for themselves." They began with being reformers : 
 and it must be confessed with some of the boldness 
 of reformers. Will they be content to " change their 
 
MISSIONARY DUTIES. 177 
 
 skins:" to become sheep, from having been, as it 
 were, wolves : to smother the cunning and the clever 
 thought, which seems so flattering to one's own 
 vanity, in the cold, dead ashes of papal infallibility? 
 We shall see! 
 
 On our return from our walk and missionary 
 duties, we begun the Litany again, just as we entered 
 the outer gate ; and as we walked slowly on departing 
 from and returning to the Novitiate, we generally 
 finished before we reached the steps aforesaid. We 
 went to the recreation-room, said the " Ave Maria," 
 deposited our sticks, 8cc., put on our cassocks, and, if 
 not otherwise ordered, we might remain in our cells, 
 or walk in the garden ; but we generally assembled 
 altogether, on the same days, in the recreation-room, 
 or in the garden, for conversation: the porter an- 
 nounced the termination of the hour prescribed for 
 Latin conversation. 
 
 For our missionary duties we were directly and 
 indirectly prepared ; indirectly, by all our reading ; 
 and directly, by the short sermons which every novice 
 in his turn had to compose and deliver; and by a 
 course of Christian doctrine which was read in class. 
 The book was in French, and each novice, when his 
 turn came round, standing at the end of the Recrea- 
 tion-room, translated it into English, as if he were 
 reading an English book. Time was given to prepare 
 for the lecture ; and some of the novices, I remember, 
 gave the viva voce translation with considerable neat- 
 ness and elegance. The Superior was always present, 
 and he sometimes put questions to the novices on the 
 
 N 
 
178 MISSIONAEY DUTIES. 
 
 topic discussed in the book, which was written by a 
 Jesuit. 
 
 The morality of the catechism which we read at 
 Hodder was, as far as I remember, that of Roman 
 Catholics in general ; nor do I think there was any- 
 thing read to us from it contrary to the notions of 
 Christians in general on questions of simple morality, 
 I must state that the passages read were appointed 
 by the Superior ; and we never had the book on any 
 other occasions but those when we had to read over 
 the passages preparatory to translation. The time 
 given was barely sufficient for the woi'k, much less to 
 lead more ; even if we would do violence to conscience 
 by reading without permission, which, of course, was 
 contrary to rule. 
 
 ■Our sermons were short discourses — delivered viva 
 -voce, in like manner — on the virtues and vices, from 
 texts of Scripture selected by the Superior. A 
 short, clever model of the discourse was given to 
 us, to be committed to memory and imitated as 
 closely as possible ; and we had to rehearse the 
 model before delivering our imitation. We had 
 also to compose and deliver longer sermons after 
 the great retreat — a list of the subjects with the 
 preacher's name being deposited for inspection on a 
 table in the dormitory. On this table, I may men- 
 tion, by the way, were a few books ; to read which, 
 general permission was given. These books were 
 small pious tracts, the only one of them worth men- 
 tioning being a life of Segneri, a renowned preacher 
 of the Society. 
 
MISSIONARY DUTIES. 179 
 
 There was a library in the dormitory containing 
 two or three hundred volumes of miscellaneous spi- 
 rituality, which, however, we were not permitted to 
 read without express leave from the Superior; but, as 
 we had to dust these books occasionally, I remember 
 having seen among them a copy of the Bible and the 
 sermons of Bourdaloue. 
 
 We delivered our sermons without gesture, keeping 
 custody of eyes, after the manner of the last-named 
 celebrated orator.* 
 
 A sermon, or the catechism, or a translation from 
 Cyprian, alternated in the afternoons, twice or thrice 
 a week. The sermon was generally criticised by the 
 Superior, or the minister when he was appointed ; and 
 sometimes keenly — I suppose " to try the spirit." 
 
 From what I have said the reader will judge what 
 care is taken to prepare the novice for his future func- 
 tions. Indeed, with the Romish priesthood in gene- 
 ral, divinity is not an afterthought — is not a matter 
 
 * I was told an interesting anecdote of this celebrated preacher. 
 As it was related in the Novitiate, I suppose we may rely on its 
 authenticity. 
 
 On one occasion Bockdaloue had to preach a sermon on some very 
 serious topic — I was not told what — and had retired to his room for 
 his previous meditation. 
 
 Being a few minutes beyond the appointed hour, he was sent for — 
 when lo ! they found him with a fiddle in his hand, scraping a lively 
 air, to which he was dancing with all his might and merriment ! On 
 being surprised, he said : — " Pardon me ! brothers ; but the fact is, 
 I was so depressed in spirits by the terrible subject, that I have been 
 striving to rouse my heart by this little foolery." 
 
 It is said he never preached a more powerful sermon than the one 
 which followed " this little foolery." 
 N 2 
 
180 MISSIOiNAEY DUTIES. 
 
 }eft in a great measure to individual piety, honesty, 
 and zeal ; but a first necessity : a kind of mother's 
 milk which is imbibed betimes. Hence the tenacity 
 with which the Roman faith sticks to the mind — a 
 tenacity which gains strength with every year of the 
 mind's growth. It is a well-concocted system, 
 adapted to suit every weakness of the human mindj 
 which it knows how to exalt into the semblance of 
 strength, by argument and example suited to every 
 capacity. The like principle is not less evident in 
 Mahomedanism ; whose tenets are inculcated and 
 practices enforced> in the earliest youth of the beUeVer. 
 A hatred of all other religions is sedulously imbibed 
 by the follower of Mahomet, as by the Roman 
 Catholic ; and the Koran is decidedly a parallel to 
 infallibility. Man is the puppet of both supersti- 
 tions : both are contrived to mystify his mind with 
 similar illusions, in the many outward practices which 
 evolve its inward graces. 
 
 " I must not forget to call the reader's attention to 
 another means of preparation in the Novitiate for 
 the " sacred functions" — I mean meditation. To 
 me it is a matter of wonder that the Jesuits are not 
 all orators — extemporaneous orators. Truly, if all 
 meditate according to the plan set down by Ignatics, 
 they can never lack ideas. But sincerity, and earnest- 
 ness are the founts of eloquence — certainly of sacred 
 eloquence : as the word means, it is speech out o/'the 
 heart. 
 
 Perhaps, however, all things cloy on the mind as 
 on the palate, in time. And who shall give life to 
 
MISSIONARY DUTIES. 181 
 
 the heart when all its sympathies are no longer felt 
 — or lie inactive till the will of self interest or of a 
 party shall command them to feel as they were 
 wont ? Let it die, and be dead for ever — if it cannot 
 live to its God and humanity, constant and true in 
 word and deed ! 
 
 If I may be permitted to speak of myself, I will say 
 that, when I left the Novitiate, it would have been 
 an easy matter for me to preach a sermon extempo- 
 raneously on most of the topics of Christian morality; 
 and I record the fact with candour and thankfulness, 
 that the habit of meditation acquired in the Novitiate 
 gives me great facility in rivetting my mind to any 
 subject suggested by the will or the fancy : and for 
 any length of time, without " distraction." 
 
182 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 EFFECTS OF THE TBAINING. 
 
 There are certain hardy bulbous plants in my gar- 
 den which I have repeatedly removed, even when in 
 full flower, from one bed to another, as fancy directed, 
 for the sake of a pleasing contrast. Despite the trans- 
 plantation, these plants have flourished as vigorously 
 as ever, after every removal. I feel a kindred affec- 
 tion for these plants. Their hearty acquiescence and 
 submission in every fate, and apparent determination 
 " to do their best" in all circumstances, I cannot 
 help associating and comparing in idea with my own 
 career through life. Perhaps, however, my trans- 
 plantation to the Jesuit-Novitiate is the one which 
 ■will outlive in my memory every other : in recalling 
 that period of my life I seem to contemplate another 
 self, distinct from my present individuality. This 
 statement will, I trust, exonerate me from the charge 
 of egotism in speaking of myself with seeming ad- 
 miration. I wish to contribute a few striking facts 
 to the mysterious science of mind — to psychology — 
 
EFFECTS OF THE TRAINING. 183 
 
 nothing more ; and I trust that the reader's candour 
 will not accuse me of vanity in the exposition. I 
 have far higher aims and intentions. In other re- 
 spects, history furnishes examples similar, if not 
 identical, of such transplantation — among the rest, 
 Alcibiades, the Athenian, leaving the delights of 
 Athens, conformed with the rules and regulations of 
 the ancient Jesuits of Greece : the hard, tough, un- 
 compromising Spartans. 
 
 RoBEKT de' Nobili, the Jesuit, became a Brah- 
 min among Brahmins — conforming with all their 
 ceremonies and customs:* — but he was a Jesuit — 
 and the parallel diverges. 
 
 Nevertheless, the malleability of the human mind 
 is evident. I may, then, describe the effects of 
 Jesuit-training on my mind after six months' proba- 
 tion. To enable the reader to judge of its extent a 
 retrospect is necessary : I must give him an idea of 
 what I was before I underwent the operation. 
 
 After spending nearly six years in England — years 
 of intense application and mental industry — I took 
 ship for America. I spent my twenty-first birthday 
 in an island of the Western Archipelago. With the 
 last remnant of a ruined fortune I resumed my travels, 
 visited several of the islands, returned to the United 
 States, crossed the Atlantic once more to France, 
 travelled the Continent, and finally, in the following 
 year, took refuge in London: possessing very little 
 more than hopes wherewith to meet " the evil of the 
 day." 
 
 • Jouvency, Hist. S. I. p. 5, 1. 18. 
 
184 EFFECTS OF 
 
 From an enthusiastic student I had become as 
 enthusiastic "a man of the world." But in the 
 midst of the whirlpool into whose eddies I unscru- 
 pulously ventured, thoughts of my previous " voca- 
 tion" rose up ever and anon, like the buoyant rem- 
 nants of a wreck which has gone down, suddenly 
 rising and striking the sides of the forlorn mariner, 
 who dreads their violence more than that of the 
 raging waves. My forlorn condition in Loudon was 
 interpreted, as I have said in the introduction, into a 
 judgment of Heaven against my preVarication — 
 hence my self-love was gratified by this providential 
 character which my poverty assumed ; and, as my 
 intentions were honest and honourable, I never gave 
 my poverty a thought as to its having influenced me 
 in the least: besides, the reception of one of the 
 first Jesuits, Bobadilla, by Ignatius himself, was, 
 so far at least, quite identical with mine. Certainly, 
 in offering a refuge to merit of every kind, the Jesuits 
 are the most extensive patrons in existence ! 
 
 The reader's imagination can now easily picture to 
 itself the effects of a sudden introduction to the 
 world from the strict seclusion of a Romish college, 
 on a mind, all whose studies had tended to invest it 
 with the keenest sensibility, the most passionate 
 a,dmiration of the beautiful in nature, in art, and, I 
 VEill add, in woman. 
 
 These effects, these habits, did they not tempt the 
 mind to cast " a longing lingering look behind" as I 
 journeyed up the winding paths of that, to me, 
 heaven-indicated Sinai? What! a mere "philo- 
 
THE TRAINING. 185 
 
 sopher" this week, mingling in the gay and sad 
 scenes of London's gorgeous wealth and heart- 
 rending penury — and, the next week, a " true 
 believer," humbled, contrite, and yet happy! I 
 answer, even so ! Scarcely a week elapsed, and I 
 felt as though all my life had been spent in the 
 Novitiate. Strange as this seems, it admits of an 
 easy explanation. It is simply this: — Sentiments 
 hitherto but superficially excited were now stirred, so 
 to speak, throughout their whole breadth and depth, 
 by the wand of a religion whose handmaid is enthu- 
 siasm. It did, indeed, seem " good for me to be 
 there," where my destiny would be evolved for me 
 by the direct interposition of Heaven ! Now, it was 
 that which I was seeking; and the clever system 
 which had taken me by the hand, pointed to the 
 " everlasting hills," that seemed to my deluded eyes 
 "already near." Little did I think that "Alps on 
 Alps" would arise ere the Jong-desired Pacific of my 
 fate (as to the way-worn traveller in the far-west) 
 would rise to view and hail me to its bosom. In truth, 
 there was poetry in the thoughts that sent me among 
 the Jesuits ; there was poetry in the feelings inspired 
 and maintained by their system ; and there was poetry 
 in the triumph gained over me. " Brother," said the 
 Superior to me, after a friend from St. Cuthbert's 
 College had visited me, " they come to see the tamed 
 lion 1" Had that friend described me as he saw me 
 at Rodder, he might have said : — " His eyes were 
 downcast, his features pale and trembling, his voice 
 was soft, like that of a woman who loves strongly." 
 
186 EFFECTS OF 
 
 After I returned to the world, the friend with whom 
 I had corresponded from the Novitiate remarked to 
 me, that from my letters he had feared lest my enthu- 
 siastic religion should end in insanity ! In concluding 
 this topic I will only add, that I attained in a short 
 time so complete a mastery over mind and heart, that 
 at the slightest thought of evil, the vigilant conscience 
 shuddered, as the body starts, in a solitary walk, at 
 the rustling of the leaf suddenly falling. 
 
 A few extracts from my letters may justify my 
 friend's remark just alluded to. The letter was 
 written about six months after my admission : — 
 
 "My Dear Friend, — I believe that in my last 
 letter you could perceive a strain of feeling not in- 
 consonant with your present situation. Your mind, 
 feelings, and dispositions, you exclaim, have under- 
 gone a total subversion. I rejoice at it. It is a 
 blessing of God for which you cannot sufficiently 
 thank Him. You have hitherto been amusing your- 
 self in criminal desires — flying from your God, and 
 striving to fly from yourself! You remind me much 
 of poor Orestes of olden time, who would compensate' 
 for his terrible torments by flying from himself, 
 taking refuge in dissipation : but in the hey-day of 
 merriment the furies were upon him, and death had 
 then been welcome! Be not offended at my com- 
 paring you to a poor pagan, for you will, I trust, in a 
 very few minutes, allow, that in point of fact, you are 
 little richer in true magnanimity of soul than the 
 poor pagan who had no sweet Redeemer — no good 
 ' priest to compassionate his infirmities— tried in all ' 
 
THE TRAINIHG. 187 
 
 things,' as the Apostle exclaims, ' for an example.' 
 But let us proceed. Before I appeal to your reason, 
 howfever, let me breathe a sweet perfume to your 
 heart: a black sky is aSj, a troubled heart, but 
 the rain falls, and the sky is gladdened, so by a 
 flood of tears will the heart exult. The mind is at 
 ease when the passions are still, but she suddenly starts 
 when the passions, like bats, are disturbed from their 
 repose. Nevertheless, like some celestial melody, 
 swelling from instrumental harmony, through tone 
 and semitone, alt and tenor, through treble and 
 through bass — such is the enduring harmony, the 
 entrancing melody of that soul whose passions God 
 attunes, touches and modulates into the chorus of 
 his love. 
 
 " Upon deep reflection, a question occurred to me 
 in these words : All things considered, whose enjoy- 
 ment is the greater — that man's who has had the 
 contentment of all his passions, or the enjoyment of 
 another man who has subdued them all — who has left 
 not a wish uncontrolled by reason and religion ? . . 
 Now, my passions being decidedly the best judges 
 in this case, at least, I appealed to them — instantly 
 they exclaimed — the last! — the last! — we cannot 
 govern ourselves ! And reason confirmed the sentence, 
 and religion, who sat beside, rejoiced thereat, and I 
 have chosen the bett,er part. 
 
 "As you are, my dear friend, what are you? 
 Without religion, without virtue, without God ! 
 Can there be conceived a state of greater or 
 more deplorable dereliction ! Your heart is like a 
 
188 EEJIECTS OF 
 
 morass teeming with immundicities that spring up 
 incessantly and scatter their disastrous seeds in every 
 direction. You admit every desire, every thought, 
 every suggestion of your soul's enemy. You dally 
 with him — you expose to him the source of your 
 weakness, and behold ! the infernal Dalilah despoils 
 you of your only defence — then she exclaims in glee, 
 the Philistines are upon you!— you are taken, 
 thrown down, your eyes plucked out ! — that is, you 
 are blinded by your passions, now become unruly. 
 If your conscience were well, your will would not he 
 diseased. I cannot imagine, how you can remain in 
 your present condition, seeing yourself thus without 
 God, utterly unable to bear up against the afilictions 
 of life. It has pleased God to give you riches, &c. 
 What, if by a single stroke, very possible if not pro- 
 bable. He deprived you of all, and left you naked ! 
 God in his mercy avert so terrible a visitation! 
 But, my dear friend, are you in the right way to 
 avoid the exterminating angel? Do you expect to 
 confirm God's temporal itiercies by the most in- 
 veterate spiritual barrenness ? And if the Almighty, 
 provoked by your hardness, (which your present 
 calamity ought to soften,) fulmined against you the 
 avenging terrors of his justice, what corner of the 
 earth would shield you when the breath of His name 
 strikes dismay in the uttermost caverns of hell? 
 Look, my dear friend, to yourself, to your poor soul, 
 to your true earthly comfcHrt! To yourself — ^you 
 have bad health — is this not a sufficient warning? 
 To your soul, if you die suddenly in your present 
 
THE TRAINING. 189 
 
 condition, can you expect heaven, or purgatory, or 
 hell ? Three tremendous alternatives ! To your 
 bodily comfort, for, in truth, from your obduracy, I 
 do really fear for you, my friend. O beware of the 
 judgments of God! They are terrible. 'He hath 
 made some to wither away and hath destroyed them, 
 and hath made the memory of them to cease from 
 the earth.' Again I say — again I intreat you, haste 
 to be reconciled ! For God's wrath may be at hand, 
 and may His mercy protect' you in the day of trouble. 
 If you have sinned, have we not all sinned ? The 
 Apostle exclaims ' in multis ofFendimus omnes,' and 
 if you have not been ashamed to sin, why be ashamed 
 to own your sin 1 This is ungenerous, unworthy of 
 you ! Beware of the secret passion that perchance 
 clings T^ith you still to the flesh ! Oh ! spare no 
 pains to eradicate the hellish monster — the hideous 
 Gorgon whose very face is death to the soul. * * * 
 " From considerable experience in this world, I am 
 sometimes inclined to hold it for certain that disap- 
 pointment in every affection of the heart is the only 
 certainty of our existence here, death alone excepted. 
 Certes, I have had my desires, and many, perchance 
 most of them, accomplished, but I can confidently as- 
 sert that I was disappointed in all. I would particularly 
 recommend this consideration to you. The hearts of 
 the young and ardent may be said to teem with 
 desires, as the bottom of the sea with weeds. They 
 are all doomed to be disappointed. The fact is that 
 we form our notions of things, at second hand — on 
 se fait de tableaux — and was there ever a fool who, 
 
190 EFFECTS OP THE TRAINING. 
 
 in his particular pursuit, owned himself at fault ? 
 
 tF -tF ^ tF 
 
 " For the rest, my dear friend, be not offended at 
 my freedom with you. You know my heart, what 
 would I not do to bring you to God ! I have com- 
 menced a Novena for your consolation and reconcilia- 
 tion with offended Heaven, and under the patronage 
 of our blessed Lady and St. Francis Xavier, I hope 
 for success. Be of good heart ! Remember, Quern 
 diligit Dominus castigat; flagellat autem omnem 
 filium quem recipit " 
 
191 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE FEAST OF IGNATIUS. 
 
 At length the joyous holiday came — the Feast ot 
 Ignatius. The novices whose probation was ended 
 took their vows, and fresh aspirants to the blessings 
 of Ignatius knocked at the gate. The novices whose 
 second year was ended took the vows in the morning. 
 The other novices did not know when this ceremony 
 was performed ; but, as all the usual occupations of 
 the day were suspended, we saw them depart to the 
 seminary, all apparently glad of the change. I was 
 told by one of them that only the lay-brother — the 
 cook of the establishment — was present, besides the 
 Superior, when each novice] was admitted to the room 
 to take his vows. He also said that the object of the 
 vows being taken in private was to guarantee the 
 Jesuit from legal conviction, inasmuch as it is con- 
 Irary to law to take such vows in England. This 
 was perfectly new to me, and the intelligence was at 
 least unpleasant: it reminded me of the agent in 
 London, who, finding from what I had said to him 
 that I made no secret of my intention to become a 
 
192 THE FEAST OP 
 
 Jesuit, cautioned me " not to say anything about the 
 matter to any one." He gave me no reason for his 
 caution, but I have no doubt now that he alluded to 
 the clause of the Act of the 10th Geo. IV., c. 7, 
 which makes it " a misdemeanour in any Jesuit, or 
 member of other religious body described in the act, 
 to admit, or to aid in or consent to the admission of, 
 any person within the United Kingdom, to be a mem- 
 ber of such body ; and any person admitted or be- 
 coming a Jesuit, or member of other such body within 
 the United Kingdom, shall, upon conviction, be ban- 
 ished from the United Kingdom for life." It may 
 be questioned whether the law against smuggling is 
 more stringent — but there can be but one opinion as 
 to which is enforced. Verily, the act is a thorough- 
 fare, and the Jesuits " drive their coach-and-six 
 through it" with admirable dexterity. 
 
 The following is the formula of the simple vows 
 taken by the novices, who then become scholastic! or 
 scholars of the Society : — 
 
 " Omnipotent, Eternal God ! I, K, although in 
 every respect most unworthy of thy Divine presence, 
 still, confiding in thy infinite bounty and mercy, and 
 impelled by the desire of serving thee — vow, in the 
 presence of the most holy Virgin Mary and thy uni- 
 versal celestial court, to thy Divine Majesty Poverty, 
 Chastity, and Obedience perpetual, in the Society 
 of Jestjs; and I promise to enter that Society in 
 order to live and die in it,* taking all things in the 
 sense of the Constitutions of the same Society. Of 
 * Ut ritam in e& perpetud degam. 
 
IGNATIUS. 193 
 
 thy immense bounty and clemency, therefore, through 
 the blood of Jesus Christ, I pray and beseech that 
 thou wouldst vouchsafe to accept this holocaust in the 
 odour of sweetness; and as thou hast granted me the 
 desire and permitted the offering, so mayst thou grant 
 me also the plentiful grace to fulfil it. Amen." 
 
 I need scarcely state that the vow was pronounced 
 in Latin. 
 
 On the same day, as I have said, the fresh novices 
 came from the college at Stonyhurst. I think there 
 were six, two of whom left after a week's probation 
 — all students from the college, averaging in age from 
 seventeen to twenty. These were accompanied by 
 all the " Fathers" and students from the seminary ; 
 and our little garden was roused from its " sober sad- 
 ness" by the joyful greetings of many voices exulting 
 at the " harvest home !" and the goodly prospects of 
 the revolving year. 
 
 Then it was that we "heard the news" from the 
 four points of the compass — from Rome, Switzerland, 
 France, Germany, Ireland, India, Jamaica, &.c. &c. ; 
 then it was that we saw the men who made " the 
 news" in England ; then it was that I had another 
 sight of the Provincial and the London agent, whose 
 distinguished air was a study — I would turn back and 
 meet that man fifty times, merely for the pleasure of 
 studying his expression. If he ever becomes General of 
 the Society, the Jesuits will enact exploits for history. 
 
 Immediately after tlie accession of fresh novices 
 commenced the grand Retreat of thirty days, or the 
 " Spiritual Exercises" of Ignatius. 
 
 o 
 
194 THE SPIRITUAL 
 
 The book of the " Spiritual Exercises" is the grand 
 *' Inquisition" of the Jesuits. The Jesuits assert that 
 Ignatius composed that famous book ; but a Bene- 
 dictine aflBrms that it is copied from the work of a 
 Spanish Benedictine whose name was Cis needs. 
 The question, however, may be settled, if the reader 
 can believe what Ignatius asserts ; namely, that he 
 was inspired by the Virgin Mary herself in the com- 
 position ; or rather, that " the book was truly written 
 by the finger of God, and delivered to St. Ignatius 
 by the holy Mother of God."* 
 
 There may be doubts as to its authorship, but there 
 can be none as to its efficacy in the dissection of con- 
 science, if the prescribed "Exercises" are sincerely 
 performed. A retreat in a retreat — for such is the 
 Novitiate — seems unnecessary; but the important 
 changes which Ignatius intended to effect in his 
 novice required a broad and deep foundation to be 
 laid beforehand ; and this is to be done by the Thirty 
 Days' Retreat and its " Spiritual Exercises." 
 
 • "A beat^ scilicet Virgine per manus sancti Ignatii Patris nostri. 
 Est enim liber Exercitioium vere digito Dei scriptus, et k heatk Dei 
 Matre sancto Ignatio traditus. Homo Orat. a J. Nohet. S. J. 1843. — 
 " The iuternal responses," says another Jesuit, " which the Holy 
 Ghost gave to St. Ignatius," &c. &c. Having once asked Father 
 Laynez if he thought that Gfod had revealed to the founders of orders 
 the form of their institute ; and Laynez having said that he thought 
 it very probable, at least v^ith regard to essentials : ' I am of your 
 opinmi,' replied the saint ; and it was doubtless his own ezperienca 
 that dictated his opinion." Bochouks, 1. iii. 
 
 The age in which Ignatius lived may palliate this presumption ; 
 T)ut (he tradiliona are still ripe in the Novitiate — I heard them at 
 Hodder ! 
 
EXERCISES. 195 
 
 On the day when it commenced all the novices had 
 " recreation" — all were sent forth to take a long walk 
 in the country round, most of the usual duties being 
 superseded. In the evening the Retreat commenced 
 with the reading of the " Points" of the meditation 
 for the next morning, as I have stated with regard to 
 my first Retreat : indeed, the meditations of that 
 retreat consisted of the most prominent meditations 
 of the "Spiritual Exercises:" as it were, the grand 
 Retreat abridged. There were four meditations daily, 
 with spiritual reading and walking in the garden for 
 relaxation ; but during the week we had no inter- 
 course at all with the other novices, who were now 
 beginning their second year : they, of course, had 
 made their great Retreat the year before. Silence 
 was the order of the day : during the whole week we 
 spoke to no one but the Superior. At the end of each 
 week we had a holiday — a truce, as it were, between 
 the soul and its spiritual enemies. On that day we 
 mixed with the other novices, played at football, or 
 walked in the vicinity. 
 
 A few remarks on the Spiritual Exercises may be 
 acceptable to the reader. 
 
 The pious Alban Butlek says: — "Though the 
 Saint was at that time unacquainted with learning 
 any farther than barely to read and write, yet this 
 book is so full of excellent maxims and instructions 
 in the highest points of a spiritual life, that it is most 
 clear that the Holy Ghost supplied abundantly what 
 was yet wanting in him of human learning and study. 
 The spirit which reigns in this book was that of all 
 o 2 
 
196 THE SPIRITUAL 
 
 the saints. Frequent religious retirements had been 
 practised by pious persons, in imitation of Christ and 
 all the saints from the beginning : likewise the use 
 and method of holy meditation were always known, 
 but the excellent order of these meditations prescribed 
 by Ignatius was new; and though the principal 
 rules and maxims are found in the lessons and lives 
 of the ancient fathers of the desert, they are here 
 j udiciously chosen, methodically digested, and clearly 
 explained."* 
 
 With the exception of the first sentence of this ex- 
 position, I agree with the writer. I give Ignatius 
 credit for his judgment in selection, sagacity in 
 arrangement, and wonderful tact in adaptation. 
 Next in rank to the genius which conceives "things 
 unattempted yet in verse or rhyme," is the vigorous 
 talent which collects the diverging rays of the former 
 into that focus whence a new fire is born, as it were, 
 from old materials — old though they be as the rays of 
 the first created sun. 
 
 Again — " Every good gift and pvery perfect gift is 
 from above, and cometh down from the Father of 
 Lights:" perhaps the unnatural division of knowledge 
 into human and divine, has marred the eflBcacy of 
 both in directing the grateful heart of the creature to 
 the Creator. All knowledge that has not a positive 
 tendency to evil should be considered divine ; as it 
 must necessarily tend to expand the mind and heart 
 with thoughts of grateful love to the Author of all 
 good things. 
 
 * Lives of Saints, Ignat., July 31. 
 
EXERCISES. 197 
 
 Here, however, is a book admitted to be a com- 
 pilation ; and yet the direct agency of the Holy Ghost 
 is called in to inspire what was already known to 
 men : namely, " what was wanting in Ignatius of 
 human learning and study." 
 
 The Spiritual Exercises have worked miracles of 
 conversion in all times ; the commonest of which was 
 the greatest: I mean the creation, of the Jesuit. 
 
 I shall endeavour to give the reader some idea of 
 this mental process. 
 
 All the exercises or meditations are divided into 
 four weeks ; but this division refers more to the sub- 
 j ects of meditation than to the number of days. Each 
 week's ending should find the soul inspired with 
 appropriate and peculiar sentiments. 
 
 In the first week we meditated on the end of man ; 
 the object for which he was created ; and the various 
 pursuits which thwart the accomplishment of that ob- 
 ject: namely, the pursuit of riches, glory, knowledge, 
 and power. The nature and enormity of sin ; its penal- 
 ties; judgment; hell; were prominent topics of this 
 "week's meditations ; preparatory to the " general con- 
 fession," which all the fresh novices had to make : 
 myself included, though 1 had. made one only a few 
 months before. In fact, the "Exercises" require a 
 general confession, as a part essential of their effects.* 
 But, even had it not been necessary, I would have 
 requested permission to make mine ; for my increased 
 devotion and spirituality discovered during my medi- 
 * Exefc. Spir. 
 
198 
 
 THE SPIEITUAL 
 
 tations numerous forgotten " crimes and misdemea- 
 nours," when conscience was probed by the searching 
 scrutiny of self-examination. Great, indeed, was my 
 affliction : I shed tears of contrition, and repaired to 
 the confessional for that absolution which would 
 speedily reconcile me to an offended God. 
 
 I desired to feel that I was free from all sin ; and 
 I felt so — thanks to that miraculous tribunal ! Pro- 
 testants must walk in uncertainty as to the absolute 
 remission of their sins ; but Roman Catholics know, 
 even in this world, that their " sins are forgiven 
 them." Nay, more, even the temporal penalties due 
 to their sins are remitted by "indulgence;" and won- 
 derful to tell ! they can even send one soul at a time 
 from purgatory to heaven ! I hold now in my hand 
 a piece of paper given to me at Hodder, whereon is 
 written a prayer, for the rehearsal of which, before a 
 crucifix, after having received the sacrament, a full 
 remission of sin is granted, together with the libera- 
 tion of one soul from the pains of purgatory — unius 
 animcB a purgatorii pcenis liberationem concessit t The 
 " indulgence " is stated to have been granted by 
 Pius Vll.* 
 
 This is, doubtless, the most important week. In 
 it the beginning, or foundation,-!- is to be laid : that 
 
 * Pius VII., in perpetuam concessit plenariam peccatorum remis- 
 sionem, et unius animse a purgatorii pcenis liberationem, ab omnibus 
 lucrandum, qui, corde contrite confessi, et saci^ refecti synaxi, ante 
 sanctissimi crucifixi imaginem, banc orationem, quocumque idiomate, 
 pie recitaverint. 
 
 t Principium sive Fundamentum. 
 
fiXERCISES. 199 
 
 is, a total indifference to all things in themselves ; 
 preferring only such as conduce to the end for which 
 we were created. 
 
 The diflSculties that may be expected to arise ia 
 the soul of the self-reformer are obviated : at least aa 
 attempt is made to that effect. 
 
 He must, on first rising in the morning, call to 
 mind the sin or defect which he particularly desires 
 to discard. At noon, and in the evening, he must 
 examine his conscience, to see how far he has suc- 
 ceeded in this particular; having imprinted every 
 lapse of thought or deed on his memory, by pressing 
 his hand on his breast on every occasion of offence. 
 After the examen he must enter these debts of con- 
 science on the lines of his Sin-book before described ;* 
 continuing the practice day after day, and comparing 
 one day with another, till he is free from sin. 
 
 Ignatius then proceeds with some instruction : 1st, 
 on the various ways of sinning by thought, word, 
 and deed, " most useful for the purgation of the soul, 
 apd the confession of sins :" 2ndly, on " the emolu- 
 ments of a General Confession." 
 
 The method of meditating is then given. Each 
 meditation has two or more preludes. The first is 
 the " composition of place." In every meditation or 
 contemplation on sensible objects, such as Christ, 
 we must fancy, according to some imaginary vision, 
 the visible place, representing what we contemplate: 
 such as a temple, a mountain, where we may find 
 Christ Jesus or the Virgin Mary ; and other circum- 
 • Page 107. 
 
200 THE SPIRITUAL 
 
 stances which enter into the argument of our con- 
 templation. On the other hand, if the topic of 
 speculation be not corporeal : such as the considera- 
 tion of our sins, the composition or construction of 
 the locality may be as follows. Imagine that you 
 see your soul in this corruptible body, as it were 
 confined in a prison, and both body and soul, or the 
 whole man, exiled in this valley of misery amongst 
 the brute beasts. 
 
 The second prelude is to beg of the Lord that 
 which you desire, according to the argument of the 
 proposed contemplation. For instance, if we have to 
 meditate on the Resurrection of Christ, we must beg 
 to be inspired with the joy wherewith we may rejoice 
 with Christ rejoicing ; but if on the Passion, we 
 must beg for tears, pains, and anguish, in order to 
 sympathise with Christ suffering. 
 . In the meditation on Sin, we must beg for shame 
 and self-confusion : considering how many men have 
 been consigned to eternal perdition for mortal sin: ay, 
 even one! and that we have so often merited damna- 
 tion by sin. 
 
 A preparatory prayer, to consecrate the intention, 
 and two preludes, must precede every meditation and 
 contemplation : the prayer always the same, the 
 preludes varying with the subject. 
 
 Colloquia, or familiar mental conversations^ con- 
 clude the meditations. In the one on Sin, we must 
 imagine Jesus Christ present before us, nailed to the 
 cross. We must ask ourselves the reason why the 
 infinite Creator himself became a creature, and 
 
EXERCISES. 201 
 
 deigned to descend from a life of eternity to the 
 death of time for our sins. Moreover, we must 
 press the argument to ourselves ; asking what hitherto 
 have we done for Christ, worthy of being remem- 
 bered ? What shall we do at length ? what ought we 
 to do? And looking on him thus nailed to the cross, 
 we must express the suggestions of our minds and 
 affections. In a word, it is the peculiar property of 
 the colloquy, that it is as it were the address of a 
 friend to a friend, or of a servant to his master ; at 
 one time begging some particular grace or favour, at 
 another time accusing ourselves of some fault — 
 sometimes proposing our difficulties, asking advice 
 and aid. To conclude with the Pater noster. 
 
 The sin of the angels in revolt, the sin of Adam, 
 our own sins, are the three points of the first exer- 
 cise; the memory, understanding, and will being 
 respectively affected and influenced by cause and 
 effect, sin and its consequences. 
 
 Following up this beginning, we are to review our 
 whole life, recapitulating where we have lived, our 
 usual topics of conversation, and the various occupa- 
 tions in which we have been engaged. 
 
 We must perpend — deliberately weigh — our sins 
 themselves, their foulnesSj the heinousness of each 
 according to its nature, even if they had not been for- 
 bidden. 
 
 A conscious comparison of ourselves with the infi- 
 nite Creator, must cover us with confusion at our 
 presumptuous littleness; and yet so corrupt, so de- 
 praved in mind, loathsome in body — in fine, like an 
 
202 THE SPIRITUAL 
 
 ulcer or impostume, whence issue so great a dis" 
 charge of sins and pestilent vices.* 
 
 Then consider the attributes, the perfections of the 
 God whom we have offended ; opposing them all to 
 our vices and defects — to wit. His power, wisdom, 
 goodness, and justice; to our extreme weakness, ig- 
 norance, malice, and iniquity ! 
 
 The soul will then burst forth into exclamations, 
 impelled by this vehement commotion of the feelings ; 
 wondering greatly how all God's creatures, instancing 
 each, could have borne with us so long, and permitted 
 us to live till now. How the angels, bearing the 
 sword of Divine justice, have endured, guarded, and, 
 by their suffrages, even aided us: how the saints 
 have interceded for us: how the heavens, the sun, 
 moon, and other heavenly bodies; the elements and 
 all manner of animals and productions of the earth, 
 instead of punishing, have preserved us : how, in fine, 
 the earth opening beneath our feet has not swallowed 
 us down, throwing open the gates of a thousand hells, 
 where we should suffer eternal punishment.^ 
 
 This meditation is followed by repetitions of the 
 first and second just given, and of the third, — new 
 coUoquia being introduced in the third, viz., with the 
 Virgin Mary, with Christ, and lastly, with God the 
 Father. 
 
 The Virgin Mary is asked to " impetrate" the Son, 
 the Son to " impetrate" the Father, and the Father 
 
 * Tanquam ulcus, sire apostema — ex quo tanta sanies peccatorum, 
 tantaque vitioram lues defiuxerit. Exerc. Spir. 2. 
 t Exeic. 2. 
 
EXERCISES. 203 
 
 to give the grace of perfect repentance ; which should 
 result from having dwelt anew on the various topics 
 of the meditation which affected us most: for it must 
 always be remembered, that we should suffer the soul 
 to dwell on such topics as made the most impression.* 
 
 The fifth meditation is one of the most singular in 
 the whole book — certainly the most characteristic of 
 the system, whose influence on the minds of men I 
 am now endeavouring to explain. The subject is 
 Hell. 
 
 The first prelude gives the composition of place : 
 viz., the eyes of the imagination must behold the 
 length, breadth, and depth of hell. The second con- 
 sists in praying for an intimate knowledge or consci- 
 ousness of the sins for which the reprobate are suffer- 
 ing; so that if ever we should forget the love of God, 
 the fear of punishment, at least, should restrain us 
 from sin. 
 
 The first point is to behold, in imagination, the vast 
 conflagration of hell, and the souls therein, enclosed 
 in certain flaming bodies : as it were in a prison of 
 fire.-j- 
 
 Secondly, to hear in imagination the wailings, the 
 shrieks, cries, and blasphemies against Christ and his 
 saints, issuing thence. 
 
 Third, thoroughly to smell, even with the smelling 
 of the imagination, the smoke, brimstone, and the 
 horrid stench of some sewer or filth and rottenness. 
 
 * Illis diutius, cliligentiusqne immoTandum est. 
 t Animas igneis quibnsdam corporibus, relut ergastalis inclusag. 
 £z. 5. 
 
204 
 
 THE SPIRITUAL 
 
 Fourthly, to taste in like manner the bitterest 
 things; such as tears, rancour, the worm of con- 
 science. 
 
 Fifthly, to touch in a manner those fires, by whose 
 touch those very souls are burnt up. 
 
 In the colloquy with Christ, we must call to mind 
 the souls of those who are condemned to hell, either 
 because they would not believe in the coming of 
 ■Christ; or if they believed, did not live in conformity 
 with his precepts, either at the same time when Christ 
 lived in this world, or after and subsequently. We 
 must then give thanks to the same Christ most fer- 
 vently, for not having permitted us to rush to such 
 destruction, but rather has, to this very day, treated 
 lis with clemency and mercy.* 
 
 Other meditations may be given by the Spiritual 
 Director, such as Death, Judgment, &c. 
 
 The place where the retreat is to be made should 
 be, as much as possible, remote from " the busy hum 
 of men" — some solitude wherein the terrors of con- 
 science will make the strong man tremble as the babe 
 in the cradle when the wolf comes to devour it. 
 
 According to Ignatius, the first exercise should 
 take place at midnight — the second in the morning at 
 rising — the third before or after mass, before breakfast 
 — the fourth about the time of vespers — the fifth 
 during the hour before supper. This distribution of 
 time is common to the four weeks, but it may be 
 varied, with additions or diminutions according to the 
 .age, habit of mind and body, or temperament of the in- 
 * Ex. 5. 
 
EXERCISES. 205: 
 
 dividual. Under the title of " additions," Ignatius 
 gives the following regulations for the retreat. 
 After going to bed, and before closing the eyes to 
 sleep, a few seconds must be spent in thinking of 
 the hour of rising, and the meditation then to take 
 place. 
 
 To collect one's thoughts as soon as the eyes are 
 open, directing them exclusively to the subject of 
 meditation; and for the sake of greater modesty 
 and confusion, to set some such example as this 
 before the mind : namely, how a soldier would stand 
 before his king and royal court, blushing, anxious 
 and confused, if he were convicted of having com- 
 mitted a grave misdemeanour against the king, after 
 having received from him many benefactions, many 
 and great gifts. In the second exercise, considering 
 how much I have sinned, (continues Ignatius) I 
 will fancy myself bound in chains ; and soon to be 
 placed before the judge, as a culprit is wont to be 
 dragged to the tribunal, bound in irons. Imbued 
 with such thoughts or others, according to the sub- 
 jects of meditation, I will dress myself. 
 
 Thirdly, at a step or two from the place of medi- 
 tation, I will stand for a short time, as long as it 
 might take to recite the Pater noster, raise my soul 
 on high, and contemplate my Lord Jesus, as present^ 
 and seeing what I am going to do : to whom I ought 
 to do reverence by an humble gesture.* 
 
 Fourthly, I will enter upon the contemplation, 
 sometimes prostrate on the ground, with my face 
 * Eeverentiam, cum humili gestu exhibere. 
 
206 . THE SPIBITUAL 
 
 downwards, or on my back ;* sometimes sitting, or 
 standing, and composing myself in that manner 
 whereby I may hope more easily to obtain what I 
 wish. Here two things milst be borne in mind: 
 first, if I obtain my desire whilst on my knees, or 
 in any other position, I shall seek no more : secondly, 
 in the point wherein I shall feel the desired devotion, 
 I ought to rest at ease without any anxiety of passing 
 on, until I am satisfied. 
 
 Fifthly, after the exercise, either sitting or walking 
 for a quarter of an hour, I will consider with myself, 
 how my meditation or contemplation has succeeded : 
 if not well, I shall seek out the causes with sorrow 
 and the resolve of amendment ; but if well, I shall 
 thank God, resolving to follow the same method 
 afterwards. 
 
 Sixthly, I will avoid the thoughts which produce 
 joy, such as that of Christ's glorious resurrection ; 
 because any such thoughts impede tears, and the 
 grief I should feel for my sins : which grief is then to 
 be sought after, by rather indulging the remembrance 
 of death or judgment. 
 
 Seventhly, for the same reason, I will deprive 
 myself of all light by closing the doors and windows 
 whilst I am there, except whilst I have to read or 
 eat. 
 
 Eighthly, I will refrain from all laughter, and 
 words that induce laughter, with the greatest care. 
 
 Ninthly, I will not set my eyes on any one, except 
 for saluting or taking leave. 
 
 * Fronns aut supinus jacens. 
 
EXERCISES. • 207 
 
 Tenthly, I will add some satisfaction or penance, 
 &c. — rejecting, in the matter of food, not only cer- 
 tain superfluities (which is the part of temperance, 
 not penitence), but even necessaries ; and the more 
 the better, avoiding, meanwhile, any injury to nature, 
 or great debility or infirmity. In the manner of 
 sleeping, and the condition of my bed, removing not 
 only what is soft and comfortable, but even other 
 things that are requisite, as much as may be without 
 serious danger of life or health. Sleep is not to be 
 abridged, unless one has been accustomed to indulge 
 it to excess. With regard to the flesh, I will inflict 
 on it and make it feel pain, by applying and wearing 
 haircloths, ropes or iron bars, or by inflicting stripes 
 and lashes, or by other kinds of austerity. In all 
 which, however, it seems more expedient that the 
 feeling of pain should be in the flesh only, and should 
 not penetrate the bones, &c. 
 
 Wherefore, let us rather use whips made of small 
 cord, which afflict the surface, but not the inner 
 parts, to such an extent as to injure health. 
 
 Few of these '' additions" were observed at Hodder, 
 particularly with regard to the last mentioned ma- 
 cerations. On the other hand, all the advice as to 
 the mental phenomena was strictly inculcated, and 
 influenced all the training in the Novitiate ; which, in 
 one word, is assimilated throughout the year to the 
 four weeks of the Spiritual Exercises. 
 
 Supposing that the soul has turned her back on 
 all the "pomps and vanities" of this world; is broken 
 in by contrition; is convinced of her destiny, and 
 
208 • THE SPIRITUAL 
 
 ready to embrace it — a great model is proposed after 
 the manner of Ignatius. 
 
 The second week begins with a grand contempla- 
 tion of the kingdom of Christ, in the similitude of an 
 earthly king. Synagogues, villages,* and towns, 
 through which Christ journeyed, stand before the 
 eyes in the pious panorama which the fancy of Igna* 
 tius always constructs for the interested soul. 
 
 The king speaks — we listen. " I intend to con- 
 quer all the regions of the infidels. Whoever will 
 go with me must be ready. He must not use any 
 other kind of food, raiment, or any thing else than 
 he sees me use. He must also stand out with me in 
 the same labours, watchings, and other occasions, in 
 order that each may share my victory and bliss, ac- 
 cordingly as he shall partake in my labours and diffi- 
 culties." 
 
 A prompt response to this offer must be made by 
 acceptance of the terms ; or else, mark the conse- 
 quence, ye generous hearts, but still full of vanity ! 
 " If any one refuses, of how much blame will he be 
 worthy among all men, and what a cowardly soldier 
 he will be thought !" 
 
 All who are in their senses will be eager to offer 
 themselves to the service of Christ. 
 
 But the rebellious flesh, the senses, self-love, and 
 the love of the world must be stormed. Then the 
 terras of surrender: — "Behold, O King, supreme 
 and Lord of all ! Although most unworthy, still, 
 confiding in thy grace and assistance, I offer myself 
 • Villas. 
 
EXERCISES. 209 
 
 entirely to Thee, and submit all that I have to thy 
 will J attesting in the presence of thy infinite good- 
 ness, and in the sight of the glorious Virgin thy 
 Mother, and of the court of Heaven, that this is my 
 intention, this my desire, this my firmest resolve; 
 that, provided it conduce to the greater increase of 
 thy praise and my service, I may follow Thee as 
 closely as I can, and imitate Thee in bearing injuries 
 and all adversity with true poverty of spirit, as well 
 as of worldly goods; provided, I say, it please thy 
 most holy Majesty to choose and receive me for this 
 manner of life."* 
 
 This contemplation, which may be said " to come 
 to the point," is to take place twice in the day. 
 Doubtless it has given many an " indiflTerent" peni- 
 tent to the Society, at the time when, by the permis- 
 sion of popes, princes, and prelates, the Spiritual 
 Exercises of Ignatius recruited its ranks in every 
 region of the globe. And wonderful to think ! a maa 
 entangles himself — fails by his own mind, as if by his 
 own hand — a most fascinating and irresistible mental 
 suicide. Ignatius gives us the weapon ; we commit 
 the fatal act ; the Society buries, embalms, or burns 
 our lifeless carcass ! 
 
 " In this and the following weeks," Ignatius ob- 
 serves, " it would be useful to read out of the New 
 Testament, or other pious book, such as the ' Following 
 of Christ,' and the ' Lives of the Saints.' "f 
 
 * Exer. 1. Heb. sec. The above may be called the shadow of tho 
 vow " cast before ;" the latter resembles it most sisterly, 
 •f Exer. Spir. Heb. sec. 
 
 P 
 
210 
 
 THE SPIRITUAL 
 
 At Hodder we read the second, but not the first. 
 The second week, then, is passed in meditating on 
 the life of Christ — the Incarnation, Nativity, Cir- 
 cumcision, 8cc. ; all presented to the mind according 
 to the spirit of Ignatius, and brought home, by the 
 same spirit, to bear with conquering energy on the 
 soul: supposed, as we have seen, to be "indifferent 
 to all things," but still ready to decide on the 
 election. 
 
 There is some wisdom in this. The mind should 
 come unprejudiced to the study of every subject, 
 otherwise she had better remain in primitive igno- 
 rance: the jaundice of the mind, like that of the 
 eyes, is the never-failing source of erroneous judg- 
 ment. 
 
 All the incidents just named were to be contem- 
 plated as if we were present at the very scene in per- 
 son : the soul, meanwhile, in her ardent colloquy, 
 endeavouring to derive strength in her resolutions of 
 amendment, by the hope of assistance from the foun- 
 tain of Divine grace. 
 
 The views of Ignatius are always striking, sometimes 
 magnificent. Thus on the Incarnation, the preludes 
 exhibit the three Divine Persons in the act of looking 
 down upon the earth, densely peopled with its inhabi- 
 tants, who were dropping into hell. In the eternity 
 of their Godhead, they decree that the second Person 
 should assume the nature of man for the salvation of 
 the human race. Accordingly, at the time prescribed, 
 the archangel Gabriel is destined to be the messenger 
 to the blessed Virgin Mary. 
 
EXJERCISES. 211 
 
 Then the imaginary vision, just as if the circumfe- 
 rence of the universal earth were spread before the 
 eyes, with all her habitants — nations unnumbered ! 
 The mental eyes look around, and in a certain part of 
 this spreading; earth, they discover the little house* of 
 the blessed Virgin at Nazareth, in the province of 
 Galilee ! 
 
 I behold all the men who are the objects of my con- 
 templation, — ail men dwelling on the face of the 
 earth, so different in manners, movements, and ac- 
 tions; some white, others black; some enjoying 
 peace, others agitated by wars; one man weeping, 
 another laughing; one in health, another diseased; 
 some at the moment of birth, others, in their turn, in 
 their last agony; and so on according to the almost 
 countless varieties of human action and passion. 
 
 In the midst of this scene, I raise my eyes and con- 
 template the three Divine Persons, from the royal 
 throne, beholding all the races of men on the surface 
 of the earth, living like the blind — on all sides dying 
 — descending into hell 
 
 Then I let fall the eyes and see the Virgin Mary 
 in her little house, with the angel saluting her at the 
 eventful moment; bringing home always the thought 
 to myself, and from such a contemplation deriving 
 some fruit in the soul. 
 
 The various personages in this drama must be 
 
 heard, as well as seen. I hear "men in the world 
 
 conversing, blaspheming, and abusing each other," I 
 
 direct my hearing heavenward, and hear the Divine 
 
 • Domuncula. 
 
 p 2 
 
212 
 
 THE SPIRITUAL 
 
 Persons in heaven discussing the redemption of the 
 human race: from heaven to earth once more — to a 
 little room descending, I hear the Virgin and the 
 Angel negotiating* the mystery of the Incarnation. 
 From reflecting on each and all, or by applying the 
 circumstances to myself, I shall study to derive not a 
 little fruit. 
 
 I have heard the words of these personages, I 
 must also see their aciions — see "how mortals injure 
 one another, strike, murder, and rush all to hell! . . ." 
 
 Then, — "How the most holy Trinity executes the 
 work of Incarnation." 
 
 Thirdly, " How the Angel fulfils his mission,t and 
 the blessed Virgin, with most humble demeanour, 
 gives thanks to the Divine Majesty. 
 
 " Directing the reflected light of all these incidents 
 to ourselves, we may gather fruit as we proceed. 
 
 " In the colloquy 1 shall diligently seek for the ex- 
 pressions wherewith I may worthily address each 
 Divine Person, the Word incarnate, and his Mother ; 
 praying, according to the emotion I shall feel in 
 my heart, for whatever may aid me to a greater imi- 
 tation of my Lord Jesus Christ, as it were just made 
 man."j 
 
 This contemplation will give the reader an idea of 
 the plan by which Ignatius leads the soul into his 
 enticing trap. How sweet are the baits suspended 
 there ! how delicious the odours around that make us 
 ask — Whence come they ? these odours ! but they 
 
 • Traotantes. f Fungatur legatioae. 
 
 X Exer. Spir. Heb. sec. 
 
EXERCISES. 213 
 
 are so sweet, so delicious, that poor hiniian nature 
 bribes the judgment to believe them divine — they 
 are so sweet — so delicious ! 
 
 Every meditation, and every contemplation, are 
 scenes of a drama — instinctwith life: its pleasures and 
 its pains, its vices and its virtues, and every corporeal 
 sense — the five senses all — must perform, each, its 
 function: metaphorically at least, to aid the deception, 
 
 Merelj' to see and hear the personages in contem- 
 plation is trivial ; we must, with a certain interior taste 
 and smell, relish the suavity and lusciousness* of the 
 soul imbued with divine gifts and virtues, according 
 to the personages. 
 
 Again, we must, " by means of an internal touch, 
 feel and kiss the garments, places, footsteps, &c., 
 where we may expect a greater increase of devotion, 
 or any other spiritual gift."i- 
 
 Such is the "application of the senses" to the 
 uses of the soul. 
 
 It is towards the end of this week that occurs 
 the famous meditation of " The two Standards," 
 in which Ignatius sanctified his previous warlike 
 notions, just as he has applied all his natural predi- 
 lections and refined sensuality to the purposes of his 
 religion. We contemplate two camps in battle array 
 — two generals appealing to us, eager to enlist us in 
 his service. In the rear of each general is his re- 
 spective city or stronghold. One general is Jesus 
 Christ, his city Jerusalem ; the other is Satan, his 
 
 * Dulcedo. f Ibid, ut antea. 
 
214 THE SPIRITUAL 
 
 city Babylon the Great. The latter displays a 
 splendid banner on which is inscribed his watch- 
 word —" RICHES, HONOUR, PRIDE!" On 
 the standard of the Redeemer appear the words — 
 "POVERTY, SHAME, HUMILITY!" "To 
 arms !" is sounded on all sides — we must instantly 
 decide in whose ranks we will fight — shall it be with 
 Satan or with Chhist ? . . . . 
 
 Having joined the ranks of the latter, having made 
 the "election,"* we must learn how to conquer by 
 patience and submission — by non-resistance unto 
 death ; these being the arms of the novice, and of 
 every Christian who wishes to enlist under the re- 
 cruiting flag of Ignatius, Tlie third week, there- 
 fore, we contemplated the passion of Christ' — we 
 walked in the awful procession from the garden of 
 Gethsemane to the hall of Caiaphas — to the tribunal 
 of Pilate — we witnessed the hideous flagellation, and 
 seemed to hear the sound of the remorseless lash ! 
 and thence we repaired to Calvary to see the end. 
 It was the contemplation which follows the Cruci- 
 fixion, viz., the lament of the holy women at the 
 burial of Christ — the mother's anguish, the friend's 
 affliction — that I most remember. My eyes filled 
 with tears — thoughts of sincere sadness filled my 
 soul — my sentiments assumed the form of verse, and 
 when informed of the fact, the Superior, at my re- 
 quest, gave me leave to write the verses ! — Truly if 
 anything can bind the soul irrevocably to a system, 
 • Exer. Spir. Heb. 2. 
 
KXERCISESi 215 
 
 it is this facile humouring of the mind and temper 
 — this identification of things human with things 
 Divine ! 
 
 Still we were " persuaded that our progress in spi- 
 rituality, would be commensurate with our estrange- 
 ment from the love of self and of our own conve- 
 
 nience 
 
 1"* 
 
 The fourth week is the Sabbath of the Retreat. 
 The " glorious mysteries " then make amends for the 
 gloom of the preceding weeks, when no thought of 
 gladness was permitted to distract the soul deter- 
 mined on its self-affliction. 
 
 Now the scene is changed. We stand by the 
 sepulchre of Christ, in the little house of the blessed 
 Virgin : the form, parts, and other peculiarities of 
 which, as a cell or oratory, we examine with dili- 
 gence one after another.f We must think of those 
 things only which give spiritual joy, such as the 
 thought of glory. The light of day is to be ad- 
 mitted; in spring and summer we must be cheered 
 by the sight of the verdant herbage and of flowers> 
 or the loveliness of some sunny spot ; during winter 
 by the now seasonable rays of the sun or a fire ; and 
 so on, in like manner, with regard to the other be- 
 fitting delights of body and mind, wherewith we can 
 rejoice with the Creator and our Redeemer.f 
 
 * Exer. Spir. Heb. 2. f Heb. 4. 
 
 i Heb. 4. The edition from which I have translated is that of 
 NocET, with notes by Roothan, the present General of the Society. 
 
 Other writers hare thought proper to dismiss the Spiritual Exercises 
 of Ignatius with contempt or abuse. For my part, I am of opinion 
 that nothing can be gained by misrepresentation, certainly with 
 
216 CONSOLATION. 
 
 The contemplation of Divine love concludes the re- 
 treat. The perfections of the Creator, the joys of 
 the saints and angels, become the subjects of affec- 
 tionate meditation. The soul has made its choice — 
 its wings are fledged — it soars triumphant to the 
 empyrean of " love Divine." 
 
 My enthusiasm was raised to the highest pitch 
 during the latter part of this retreat. I could not 
 help speaking from the fulness of my heart to my 
 " Brothers," of the gushing consolations that en- 
 tranced me with delight. Sometimes I was uncon- 
 scious of existing in the body — my breast within 
 seemed to glow with a fire that gently warmed but 
 did not consume ! I saw no difficulties in perfection 
 — all things were easy to him who loved strongly. 
 All that I did gave me intense satisfaction ; my heart 
 yearned for some great occasion when the sacrifice 
 would be made complete : martyrdom or a natural 
 death would have been sweet in that exaltation ! 
 
 I was imprudent enough to speak of my sensations 
 to some of the "Brothers:" the Superior sent for me, 
 and mildly reprimanded me for the indiscretion; He 
 said, " Brother, your consolations, if spoken of, may 
 discourage those who have not been thus favoured ; 
 but beware ! the time of ' dryness' will come ! So, 
 moderate your exultation." It came — that time of 
 "dryness," as ascetics call that sterility of thought, 
 that disgust for prayer and meditatiop and all spiri- 
 tualities, which must naturally follow intense unre- 
 mitted application to any pursuit, carnal or spiritual, 
 regard to the Jesuits — tie reality exceeds the fiction in terrible 
 import ! 
 
217 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 DRYNESS — BEMARKABXE CUBE OPINIONS. 
 
 Ascetics understand by " spiritual consolation," 
 that joy of the soul, that alacrity, gifted with which, 
 it finds no religious duty irksome, but, on the con- 
 trary, highly pleasant, and performs all its functions 
 with inexpressible satisfaction. The " gift of tears" — ; 
 that is, the flowing of tears during meditation — is 
 esteemed the highest degree of "consolation." It is 
 said that few — even of the greatest " saints" — have 
 had much " consolation" in their earthly pilgrimage. 
 St. Theresa passed, I believe, two and twenty years 
 of her life in "spiritual dryness,"* which is the anti- 
 thesis of "consolation." Her "merit" was conse- 
 quently greater, since she persevered in all the 
 practices of devotion, despite the denial of consola- 
 tion, or the heavenly encouragement vouchsafed to 
 piety. A'Kempis exclaims with a pious sneer, " That 
 soul rides pretty easily whose steed is the grace of 
 
 * Bibaden. p. 799. " The fervid Ignatius often found all the 
 liquid pleasures of the inward man quite dried away." — Bartol. p. ■20. 
 
218 
 
 DRYNESS. 
 
 God !"* thereby implying that it is an easy matter to 
 persevere in devotion when its practices are pleasant 
 to the soul. 
 
 The time of aridity is therefore a time of trial; 
 when the soul is left as it were to herself, to battle 
 with the cunning tempter, who then endeavours to 
 terrify her with all manner of doubts and fears, 
 disgusts and bitterness. This is the ascetic view of 
 the subject. What is the true cause ? If a man 
 takes much wine, it will produce on his mind, first 
 exhilaration, then delirium. If for several days he 
 works incessantly at his desk, the result will be total 
 exhaustion of idea, and extreme fatigue. Here are 
 eifects whose causes are apparent to "the meanest 
 capacity." 
 
 Enlightened physiology traces mental effects un- 
 erringly to physical causes, and, vice versd, physical 
 effects to mental causes. If the " Saints" could 
 have been enlightened in this matter, how soon 
 would they have shaken off their desolation by giving 
 their over-toiled faculties a short respite, or a change 
 of exercise ! 
 
 The Jesuit system, by varying and alternating cor- 
 poreal and mental application, obviates, to a con- 
 siderable extent, the pernicious effects of this mental 
 lassitude ; or, in the language of asceticism, this exile 
 of the heart. Still the constant return of the same 
 duties must sooner or later dispel the charm which 
 deludes the mind by novelty. To youths trans- 
 
 * Satis suaTJter eqnitat, quam gratia Dei portat ! De Imit. Chiiat. 
 1. ii. c. 9. 
 
DRYNESS. 219 
 
 planted from the nursery-bed of a Romish College, 
 the extra confinement and prayer are only a good 
 " set-off" against " tasks and lessons." They conse- 
 quently " submit" to the Novitiate with tolerable 
 ease : they only enlarge that obedience which the 
 Jesuits have, from their early years, drilled into them 
 with prescient solemnity. Of course all are ^here 
 completely tamed — at the college they were only 
 caught, and they came to the Novitiate with the 
 mark of the lasso on their necks. To them the duties 
 of the Novitiate soon become mechanical, and they 
 bear the yoke easily. 
 
 It is very different, however, with those who went 
 to Hodder from worldly pursuits : full grown, mature 
 men, with habits long formed, and inclinations long 
 used to gratification. I often pitied one of my brother 
 novices in this respect. I am sure that the Novitiate 
 was a hard trial to that poor fellow. 
 
 For myself, I was in my twenty-second year ; and, 
 though I h&A. been in the world, still I had con- 
 tracted no habits which a strong effort of the will 
 could not overcome. I never felt the duties irksome, 
 but I suffiered intensely for several days from a dis- 
 mal depression of spirits. Doubtless it was brought 
 on by mental application and confinement ; but, as a 
 matter of course, I considered it a trial and the work 
 of the enemy. Hideous dreams by night and bitter 
 thoughts by day — remorse for the past, despair of the 
 future — I could not think of Heaven ! 
 
 It seemed to my desolate heart that I was des- 
 tined to commit some horrible crime — inconceivable 
 
220 EEMAKKABLE C0EE. 
 
 though it was, and impossible to a will long 
 resigned to Heaven and bent on perfection: and 
 yet the visible, tangible thought rose up and 
 mocked me with the awful words : Thou art 
 doomed! 
 
 Such was my desolation. The Superior's watch- 
 ful eye perceived my sadness; he questioned me, I 
 told him of my soul's unrest. He ascribed it to a 
 natural cause. " Brother," he said, " you need a 
 change of occupation — your mind yearns after its 
 former studies — what would you like to read ? What 
 
 say you to St. Cheysostom ?" 
 
 I was already half cured. I wiped away my tears, 
 for they were flowing fast, and assented to the pro- 
 posal. He went into the library, which opened ihto 
 his room, and brought me a huge folio, saying, 
 " Here, brother, read this and be happy !" I thanked 
 him, took the book, went to my cell, opened the 
 folio at random, and the first words that caught my 
 eye were as follows: — 
 
 "To Stageieitts, on Providence. It was be- 
 fitting, my dearest friend, Stageieius, that I should 
 now both be at your side, and together with you 
 thoroughly share your affliction ; and by exhortation 
 of words, and ministering to you by services, and 
 taking a share in everything else for your comfort, 
 lighten in part, as much as I were able, your sad 
 despondency." 
 
 Here, then, was a pious man, suffering from the 
 same malady that afflicted me ! 1 was now the 
 patient, and St. Cheysostom was my physician! 
 
KEMABKABLE CUBE. 
 
 221 
 
 Oh ! how soon was my sorrow changed into gladness 
 even by the few lines of the introduction. I was, 
 above all, struck with the beautiful expressive word 
 of the original avvhiaTaXanrcopetcrBai, which requires to 
 be paraphrased in English by " together with you 
 thoroughly to be afflicted." No modern language 
 but the German can express its meaning by a single 
 compound verb : perhaps, a German may translate it 
 into durch-mitleiden; but still some of the original 
 force and descriptiveness is lost — unexpressed. 
 
 It is needless to state that my cure was as perfect 
 as it was instantaneous. Sadness fled from my heart, 
 and joy was restored to it, as to its own loved dwell- 
 ing — eager to return ! To borrow a beautiful com- 
 parison of the same author, "as a bird when it 
 hath flown from its nest, so is man oppressed as a 
 slave, when he becomes a stranger far from his own 
 home."* I found the treatise throughout strikingly 
 apposite to my own case; the symptoms of the 
 malady of his friend were singularly similar to those of 
 my own distemper ; and the forceful yet tender, the 
 argumentative yet passionate appeals of Cheysostom, 
 compounded a panacea to which I am happy to append 
 my testimonial. I have now before me an analysis 
 of the tract, with translations of the most striking 
 passages, all written atHodderat the time in question. 
 
 I fancy I hear the reader exclaim, " What a strange 
 coincidence !" And so it appeared to me, nay more, I 
 
 • "Qf yap opj'Eoj' orav iKveraaBy, Ik Tr)Q voaaiag avTOv, ovTia 
 avBpiuirog SovXovrai, 'orav djro?ev(o0y, dvr6 tSiv iSiuv Toiriav.— 
 Chryaost. De Provid. 
 
222 
 
 REMARKABLE CURE. 
 
 could not help considering it as another providential 
 interposition; for, as I have said, I opened the book 
 at random, and it opened at the very beginning of 
 that address to Stageirius concerning his despon- 
 dency and the adorable providence of God ! Whether 
 the Superior expected that I would light on that 
 treatise sooner or later, and so derive consolation, I 
 know not now; but I certainly thought he was in- 
 spired to bless me with the means of cure.* And 
 yet the thoughts that occurred to me whilst reading 
 that book were, I may say, additional stones that 
 paved the way to my emancipation from the Society. 
 My mind listened, deeply thinking, to these words 
 that follow : — " Let us shake off this dust (the prej u- 
 dice of the ignorant and their superstitions), for thus 
 the violence of this grief will be rendered tolerable 
 and light, provided we yield not ourselves to be hur- 
 ried by the distemper over the precipice ; but rather 
 let us be sohcitous to lookback and rationally consider 
 what is expedient — aXXa koI biavacrTTJcrov creavrov — 
 rouse thyself!" 
 
 The reader would doubtless wish to know whether 
 similar influences to those which I have hitherto de- 
 tailed, were brought to bear upon my fellow-novices. 
 I know not. I could not help telling them, some- 
 times, the " strange things" and the burning thoughts 
 that occurred to myself ; but whether they were more 
 
 • It is but fair to state that the book had been evidently very little 
 used, and, for an old edition, was quite new ; the tract Ilpoe Sray. 
 was not the least " thumbed." The incident was a casualty rendered 
 remarkable only by the state of my own mind; just as the accidental 
 opening of a window refreshes the patient under burning fever. 
 
OPINIONS. 223 
 
 discreet, or less "favoured," I cannot say. They 
 seemed to me — all of them — sincere in their determi- 
 nation to be strict conscientious novices ; and, though 
 at all times some one or other was evidently " in de- 
 solation," yet, on the whole, I may safely say that 
 they seemed satisfied with their " vocation." As all 
 allusions to mere " worldly matters " were to be 
 utterly discarded from our conversations, we had to 
 speak of " things divine," or of the Socie ty : its heroic 
 apostles, its martyrs, its present state, its progress. 
 Unless the last-mentioned topics are to be included 
 in " things divine," I say that " things divine" were 
 frequently substituted by " the Society and its con- 
 cerns." There was a difference in the conversation 
 of the second-year novices : these, I could not help 
 remarking, spoke very pointedly on the vow of Obe. 
 dience. . From them I heard the tropes and metaphors 
 which Ignatius has bequeathed for a sign to his 
 faithful followers. " I must be," said they, " like 
 soft wax in the hands of my Superior, to take what 
 form he pleases." Again, "I must look upon myself 
 as a corpse, which has no voluntary motion ; or as the 
 staff in an old man's hand, which he uses according 
 to his own convenience." 
 
 This is wo^ " tyranny ! oppression! a gross insult to 
 common sense !" : not the least in the world : it is 
 only the perfection of holy obedience, nothing more. 
 How can there be tyranny, oppression, where men 
 are willing and eager to do all that is commanded ? 
 The enemies of the Jesuits never stumbled on a more 
 stupid argument than this : it is the very essence of 
 
224 OPINIONS. 
 
 ignorant prejudice, and only serves to interest us by 
 the comparison of Eugene Sue, whereby he assimi- 
 lates the Jesuits to the Thugs, who also make corpses ! 
 — a pitiful conundrum, but quite legitimate according 
 to the principles of the paranomasia in question. 
 But we will take quite a diiFerent view of the subject ; 
 expressing our thanks to the party who suggested the 
 objection.* Here, then, has Holy Father Ignatius 
 selected three metaphors to " give an idea" of what 
 sort of obedience he expects to find in his Jesuits, 
 These metaphors are — 1st, wax; 2d, a corpse; 3d, an 
 old man's stick. Very expressive, certainly. But 
 he did not stop there ; he subjoined the property of 
 wax, namely, " to take what form he pleases ;" he 
 intimates the passiveness of a corpse, " which has no 
 voluntary motion ;" he declares the unscrupulous 
 adaptation of an old man's stick, " which he uses 
 according to his convenience." 
 
 Now, in all fair play, I ask, if a man becomes, in 
 the hands of his superiors, as this wax, this corpse, 
 this old man's stick, in the" manner that Ignatius 
 superadds by way of explanation— I ask, "in the 
 name of common sense," will that man not do what- 
 ever his Superior commands ? He will, you say, but 
 " where no sin lies !" Will your wax demur to be 
 made into a Rataillac by Madame Tussaud? 
 Will your corpse refuse to be dissolved into rank cor- 
 ruption ? Will your old man's stick aid his steps, 
 but refuse to " knock down" " according to his con- 
 venience 1" 
 
 * Notes, &c., on the Jesuits, by " John Fairplay, Esq." 1845. 
 
OPINIONS. 225 
 
 Here is no " confusion of tongues," indeed ! Here 
 is argument — argument suggested by yourself. True, 
 we were told that " holy obedience would never exact 
 what was contrary to the will of God." Alas ! what 
 crimes have men not committed under the sanction 
 of conscience ! — a false conscience, of which you 
 know how to declaim.* The boundless confidence, 
 the divinity with which you are invested as " Supe- 
 riors" — a mystification which you constantly keep 
 alive — suppresses every question or thought of a 
 question in your wax, your corpse, your old man's 
 stick ; and your Jesuit will be true to his calling in all 
 things : superadding, if you like, " where no sin, lies;" 
 for that is necessarily understood, and would not be 
 more satisfactory if you printed the words in italics as 
 long as a line of longitude. 
 
 Many of these thoughts occurred to me in the No- 
 vitiate, but I resisted them, treated them as " temp- 
 tations." I listened to the conversations of our 
 second-year novices, humbly seeking to be enlight- 
 ened. Had they been vaore fervid in their sentiments, 
 generally, doubtless they would have pleased me 
 more. They were, however, always courteous, as, 
 indeed, the rules require. They seemed for the most 
 part to be the sons of the English gentry and nobility 
 or titled families, but younger sons. There was, how- 
 ever, no distinction as to rank or wealth. Punctu- 
 
 • Consoientia erronea — qusE objectum aliter ac est, agaosoit. Cou- 
 scieutia autem hujusmodi assolet jam invincibiliter, jam vincibilit^r 
 eirare ! — says the accommodating Escobar. Lib. Theol. de Consc. 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 OPINIONS. 
 
 ality, the spirit of the rules — ^obedience — these were 
 the only distinctions in the Novitiate, and they re- 
 dounded to individual credit with the heads of the 
 Society. 
 
 Whether in a climate different to that of Britain, a 
 climate where the glow of a more ardent sun sends 
 the blood in quicker motion through the veins, the 
 physical temperament could be repressed as easily as 
 in the austerity of a Novitiate in the north of Eng- 
 land, is a question which I will certainly not answer 
 in the affirmative. But still I see no reason to doubt 
 the adaptability of means to ends by the Jesuits, in 
 order to meet the obstacles of climate ; particularly 
 in the matter of the second vow. Of the scrupulous 
 purity of my own mind I have spoken. I could not 
 possibly be expected to express an opinion of others 
 in this matter otherwise than favourable. On the 
 other hand, if any particular legislation presupposes 
 crime, I say that the disgusting minuteness of several 
 matters in the lecture on that vow, staggered my belief 
 in the omnipotence of all rules and regulations 
 against depraved nature. That lecture completely 
 disgusted me — I shuddered as the Superior read it. 
 I had nothing to write on the slate when we assem- 
 bled for that purpose in the dormitory; and to my 
 borror — I must speak the fact — to my horror, I say, 
 the whole lecture was minutely repeated on the, fol- 
 lowing day; and, to make the matter worse, the Su- 
 perior sternly questioned the novice who stood before 
 him as to passages which the latter seemed inclined 
 
OPINIONS. 227 
 
 to pass over ! There are subjects on which one must 
 speak enigmatically: this is one ; and the reader must 
 solve it to his own satisfaction. 
 
 All special friendships — all preference for one 
 "brother" more than -for another — were strictly pro- 
 scribed. One day the Superior sent for me; he said, 
 
 '• Brother, I wish to warn you. Brother seems 
 
 inclined to court your society ; treat him coolly — 
 avoid his conversation — until he learns to conform to 
 the rules." Strange ! I actually felt an affection for 
 the youth that very moment — I felt inclined to love 
 him for his apparent love for me ! . . . . Of 
 course, the " brother" was lectured for his misde- 
 meanour; but I roust confess, /, at least, had not 
 before been conscious that he had any extra affection 
 for my poor self. I was at the time struggling with 
 doubts, and this incident did not allay them. I com- 
 plied as well as I could with the injunction, but from 
 that day certainly felt more inclined to my '' admirer" 
 than to any other " brother." It was only two or 
 three months after, that I left Hodder, and the affec- 
 tion thus sown by the Superior brought forth mutual 
 tears as we parted — perhaps for ever — on that me- 
 morable leave-taking which was publicly vouchsafed 
 to me on my departure from the Novitiate. Truly, 
 this last struggle was the greatest ; and, had not my 
 mind, as it were, taken arms against my heart on that 
 occasion, I know not how much longer I should have 
 continued "a child of Ignatius." 
 
 Such a public farewell was not given to any other 
 novice that left — three left during my year — and I 
 Q 2 
 
228 OPINIONS. 
 
 leave it to the Superiors to say what induced them to 
 grant me that signal favour — that fevour which well 
 nigh laid me at their mercy once more ! 'AA.A« Kai 
 biavdaTri<Tov c-eavTov. "Rouse thyself!" whispered 
 ray mind, and my heart said, "perhaps it was riglit!" 
 
 ■V- 
 
229 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 VISITS FEOM FRIENDS. LETTERS. — FESTIVITIES. 
 
 strangers' RETREATS. 
 
 The novice must learn to forget his father, mother, 
 brother, sister, and friends ; except in his " universal 
 prayer" for the salvation of all mankind. This re- 
 quisition is at least consistent: a Jesuit must neces- 
 sarily forswear all the claims of kindred. The Society 
 is everything to him — all the world nothing : that is, 
 of course, as far as the sympathies are concerned. 
 The novelist has invented a strong case, in which the 
 most sacred feeling of our nature — mother's love — is 
 unscrupulously thwarted, resisted, crushed. Whether 
 such a case has ever occurred, or will ever occur, 
 matters not to the question'; but such a case, in the 
 circumstances supposed by Eugene Sue, I believe to 
 be quite in accordance with the spirit of Jesuit policy. 
 The rule of the summary on this subject is, I re- 
 member, one of the longest: it mentions all whom 
 we had " to leave" in the world, viz., father, mothrff', 
 brother, sister, and friends, in order to be adopted*Dy 
 the Society ; and the strong words of the rule were 
 
230 VISITS FROM FBIENDS. 
 
 enforced by the stronger words of the lecture thereon. 
 My impression, after that lecture, was that a total 
 oblivion of all human ties was to be the result, and 
 the test of our true vocation to the Society of Jesus ; 
 whose well-known words were made to sanction the 
 requirements of Ignatius. 
 
 In the Novitiate, of course, the novice is only in a 
 state of probation ; some relaxation as to the strict- 
 ness of the letter and the spirit must, therefore, be 
 made : besides, it would not "look well" if all inter- 
 course of friends were interdicted. Permission is 
 therefore, on application, granted by the Superior, to 
 friends and relatives sometimes to visit the novices : 
 except during the great retreat. During that time, 
 some friends from St. Cuthbert's College wished, as I 
 was afterwards informed, to see me ; but permission was 
 refused. We saw our friends in a parlour below the 
 Superior's room; and as they generally, if not always, 
 came attended by some of the Jesuits from the col- 
 lege, the meeting was a public one : permission was, 
 however, granted me to accompany my fellow-colle- 
 gian to some distance on his way back to Stonyhurst. 
 As we always '' heard the report" when strangers 
 came, I can say that the visits were very few during 
 my year : whether resulting from application not 
 being made, or refused, I cannot state; nor have I a 
 positive opinion on the subject, unless I appeal to the 
 spirit of the rule and its exposition in the lecture 
 thereon. 
 
 The same lecture dwelt with considerable earnest- 
 ness on the correspondence by letters, which we were 
 
LETTERS. 231 
 
 permitted to carry on in the Novitiate. I remember 
 that allusions were made to the topics that might not 
 be introduced : namely, what took place in the No- 
 vitiate; and an attempt was made, by a strange 
 inconsistency, to assimilate the " secrets " of the 
 Novitiate to those of a private family : whereas only 
 divine motives were held forth to us in all the 
 practices to which we were expected to "submit." 
 Surely the method of training pursued by any body 
 of men, whether as to intellectual or Inoral develop- 
 ment — open to all men who choose to enter — must be 
 to all intents and purposes a public matter. Let the 
 world know what you do, how you do it, and why 
 you do it; and then this very expressive little pro- 
 noun will honestly as well as grammatically resign its 
 place to a substantial, tangible, or conceivable noun. 
 The world will judge and decide whether you are 
 " honest in the sacred cause." Suppose a novice 
 like myself had written his experiences in the No- 
 vitiate, praising everything, lauding the " fathers" to 
 their hearts' content, &c. &c. This would not dis- 
 please you, though I am convinced it would not please 
 you, for you do not like these things to be known ; 
 hence our letters were only to contain spiritual ex- 
 hortations to piety, and expressions of joy at our 
 " vocation." 
 
 The letters written to us were opened by the Supe- 
 rior before we received them, and those that we wrote 
 were given to him open, to be sealed and sent by him 
 if he thought proper. Shortly after I went to the 
 Novitiate I wrote to a friend in London, requesting 
 
232 LETTERS. 
 
 him to send me a German and a Spanish dictionary. 
 He sent the books. The Superior ordered me to 
 bis' room, and reprima^ided me for writing for the 
 books without permission ; adding that " now I was 
 to ask the Society for what I wanted, not having a 
 claim on anybody, nor anybody on me." I was on 
 the point of replying, that if he had told me so when 
 he saw the request in the letter, I would have erased 
 it ; but ere the first word was out of my mouth he 
 said, " Nay, brother, when holy obedience speaks 
 there should be no reply." I begged pardon for my 
 forgetfulness, he gave me the books, and I left himj 
 but the thought would rise, " if he knew of my sin 
 beforehand, why did he not anticipate the completion 
 of the act ?" But perhaps he did not read my letter, 
 or perhaps he wished to render the books a monu- 
 ment of rebuke to me ; or perhaps anything else : for 
 I was quite mystified by this queer, very queer in- 
 <5ident. We had to ask permission to write letters, 
 and we wrote them during " study," or during that 
 portion of "recreation" which we might employ as 
 we liked : that is, in reading, or writing, or walking in 
 the garden, or playing at chess, &c., in the recreation- 
 room, if more than two novices were there at a time. 
 All extra prayer was discountenanced : he who did 
 well what was prescribed in that matter did all that 
 was required. I may here state that every precaution 
 was taken lest the novices should suffer in health by 
 the austerity of the Novitiate. A physician from the 
 neighbouring town came at stated times, or was sent 
 for when required. When a novice was indisposed 
 
FESTIVITIES. 233 
 
 his religious duties were considerably relaxed ; he 
 took up his abode in the infirmary, which was a 
 room adjoining the recreation-room, and two novices, 
 by turns, were constantly with him^ to entertain him 
 with conversation. To show the tenderness of the 
 Jesuits on proper occasions, I may state a fact which 
 occurred at Hodder. One of the novices was attacked 
 with a severe inflammation of the eyes. The patient's 
 eyes had to be frequently bathed with the prescribed 
 lotion : he found, or fancied that he found, the touch of 
 one of his " brothers" more gentle than that of all the 
 rest, and requested that the brother alluded to might 
 be sent always to give him relief. The wish was 
 granted. 
 
 With these relaxations may be mentioned the fes- 
 tivities vvhich the novices enjoyed from time to time. 
 On great festivals, such as Christmas, Easter, the 
 feast of Sts. Ignatius, Xavier, Aloysius, and Holy 
 Innocents, we always made merry. On the eve of 
 the last-named festival, the Superior would come to 
 the recreation-room, with a nurnber of small slips of 
 paper in his hand, each having a sentence from 
 A'Kempis, or some other ascetic, inscribed on it : 
 except one, on which was written, I think, "Ego 
 sum innocens" — " I am the innocent." We each 
 drew a slip, and the novice who drew the one in 
 question was to be Porter for the next day. I have 
 now the one which I drew: the maxim inscribed 
 is thus translated: "For nothing in the world, and 
 for the pleasure of no man, is evil to be done."* 
 
 * A'Kempis. / 
 
234 
 
 FESTIVITIES. 
 
 Of course the office of porter, thus assumed by 
 chance, was like many similar chance-appointments 
 in the world, very clumsily discharged. But the 
 fun of the thing did good to the mind, and we were 
 always permitted to laugh when we could not help 
 it — not unfrequently some quaint remark or strange 
 story in the lecture on the rules, or in the reading in 
 the Refectory, set us off in a fit of laughter : the more 
 irresistible from our efforts to suppress that lene tor- 
 mentum, that gentle torment and fascinating tyrant of 
 the human breast. Doubtless, by agitating the dia- 
 phragm, laughter promotes digestion ; and of " all 
 the ills that flesh is heir to," most assuredly those re- 
 sulting from a disordered stomach are the most com- 
 mon and disastrous — it has been said, that " we dig 
 our graves with our teeth." So we laughed and 
 laughed again, feeling all tlie fresher for the pleasant 
 excitement; only we endeavoured to laugh like 
 " religious men :" that is, as little as possible in 
 imitation of Balaam's monitor. 
 
 On these festivals we went to High Mass at the 
 church. We walked two a-breast, with eyes down- 
 cast, in silence, to that part of the church appro- 
 priated to the novices exclusively. It is the eastern 
 transept or gospel-side of the altar : the western was 
 occupied by the Superiors and the scholastici of the 
 seminary, &c. We were expected to edify all our 
 brethren by our pious, demure, and recollected de- 
 meanour. There is a private entrance to this part 
 of the church, and we were invisible to the con- 
 gregation. I need not say that High Mass, the 
 
strangers' retreats. 235 
 
 sermon, and the organ's celestial tones, and the song 
 of human voices, were at least a desirable gratifica- 
 tion ; if they were not a necessai*y relief to us, children 
 of solitude — pilgrims in the desert of the heart. 
 
 We returned to Hodder as we came, recognising 
 no one that we met ; unless the long robe was visible, 
 and then we raised our hands to our hats in saluta- 
 tion : every novice, according to the rule must touch 
 his hat or cap to his Superior, and when the latter 
 entered the recreation-room, we always rose and stood 
 until he was seated. 
 
 After dinner we assembled in the recreation-room, 
 as usual, and after a convenient interval the bell 
 rang : we returned to the Refectory, where our eyes 
 beheld the now innocent baits of sensuality — cake, 
 fruit, and wine. We sat down, the Superior at the 
 head of the table, and indulged in holy merriment. 
 It was a pleasant, rational symposium, that might be 
 quoted as an example of creation's gifts used but not 
 abused : the blessings of the Creator without the 
 superadded curse of the creature. On those occa- 
 sions we chatted, we laughed j we laid up spirit and 
 strength for another stage in our pilgrimage. 
 
 At the conclusion of the feast, we made ready to 
 attend at " Vespers," or the evening song of the 
 church, and thus had another treat of music. After 
 vespers we took a walk, and returned to Hodder to 
 resume our onward march to perfection. 
 
 These were the only breaks in our monotonous life : 
 if the casual sojourn of strangers coming to make a 
 retreat may be excepted. Several came during my ' 
 
236 
 
 STRANGERS RETREATS. 
 
 year: On6 was, as I was told, a "convert." In 
 general they were kept entirely apart from the 
 novices ; but this gentleman was permitted to take 
 his meals in the Refectory, and thus was doubtless 
 edified by the pious demeanour of the novices. I 
 think, however, that the public penances were. sus- 
 pended during that week : but I cannot speak with 
 certainty as to this fact. Of course their retreat con- 
 sisted in meditation, confession, and communion, r A 
 strange occurrence connected with these strangers' 
 retreats once " frightened us out of our proprieties." 
 One morning, during the most solemn part of the 
 mass, the Superior's door was thrust open, and we 
 heard some one crying out in the tones of a madman, 
 
 « Father ! Father ! Oh, Father !" 
 
 .... We were terrified, of course : but the lay- 
 brother went into the Superior's room whence the 
 noise proceeded, closing the door after him, and 
 we endeavoured to "recollect ourselves" for the 
 "awful sacrifice" that was thus interrupted.. As we 
 were forbidden to speak of such unpleasant, un- 
 edifying occurrences, I never heard any explanation 
 of this most unaccountable manifestation. Still I 
 was reminded of it on one occasion, when a novice 
 told me the following anecdote. He said that when 
 inquiries were instituted to discover the " pretended" 
 diabolical influences of the Jesuits, one man, in evi- 
 dence, was asked what he saw in his " retreat" 
 among the " holy fathers." His reply was: " I saw 
 a huge beast, a hideous monster !" Highly gratified 
 with the prospect of finding irrefragable evidence as 
 
STHANGEES' RETREATS. 237 
 
 to the supposed malpractices, the inquisitor winked 
 to his assistants, chuckled, and mended his pen to 
 take down the desired evidence with extraordinary- 
 care. 
 
 " Well, my man, let us hear exactly what beast, 
 what monster you saw." 
 
 The man replied : — 
 
 '' I saw — myself!" 
 
 A decidedly pretty story ; which shows that Epic- 
 TETUs was quite right, when he said that " every 
 pitcher has two handles :" in other words, that the 
 Jesuits have always had, as they have, friends as 
 well as enemies ; only, unfortunately for them, one 
 handle was wrenched off altogether when the pitcher 
 got full — a casualty that may chance again. 
 
238 
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 MORTIFICATIONS. — REPRIMANDS. — BRIEFS. — THE 
 CHAPTER. — MANIFESTATION. 
 
 If the reader is accustomed to contemplate, to study 
 the growth and development of plants, he has an in- 
 exhaustible source of pleasure and instruction. Last 
 summer I remarked a beautiful sprout of honeysuckle 
 rapidly intertwining the trellis of my verandah : it 
 was then a brilliant purple, soft and succulent ; to- 
 day I observed it again — it has become tough, 
 yellowish wood, as hard as a brick. What time and 
 grovyth effect in the plant, time and training produce 
 in the Jesuit. There are all manner of plants in the 
 Society, and the skilful gardeners that have this in- 
 teresting conservatory in charge know by what soil, 
 manure; and temperature to guarantee the production 
 of the desired bloom and fruit. Chesterfield tells us 
 that the Superior of the Roman College, after having 
 exultingly alluded to his philosophers, mathemati- 
 cians, orators, &c., exclaimed, " Ed ahhiamo anche 
 
MORTIFICATIONS. 
 
 239 
 
 martiri per il martirio se bisogna — and we have men 
 for martyrdom if they be required !"* This is very 
 fine, it is the very moral of my exposition : the Jesuits 
 have men adapted for every enterprise. The boast of 
 the Roman Superior, if it does not reduce the whole 
 argument to the capacity of a nutshell, certainly 
 gives us the kernel thereof without the trouble of 
 cracking. 
 
 To produce men who shall be fit for every situation, 
 so that they shall come off without " being cut them- 
 selves," as the good father observed to me, they 
 must be used to bear without shrinking, as the 
 Spartan youths bore the lash, that severe ordeal of 
 our nature, — the rebuke, the reproaches of friends and 
 enemies. Many a public character would deserve 
 well of the present generation, and of posterity, were 
 it not for this pusillanimity, this coward-vanity. 
 Not that I believe the Jesuits become insensible to 
 such pangs : I believe nothing of the sort. They 
 retain — they have "temper ;" but they learn to curb it : 
 to cover it with smiles : hence they are true " men of 
 the world." Lainez certainly belaboured Beza and 
 
 * Letters to his Son, L. 236. In letter 176, alluding to these 
 chevaliers d'ivdustrie, he says: — "Among your graver company, I 
 recommend (as Thave done before) the Jesuits to you ; whose learning 
 and address will both please and improve you. Inform yourself, as 
 much as you can, of the history, policy, and practice of that Society, 
 from the time of its founder, Ignatius of Loyola, who was himself a 
 madman. If you would know their morality, you will find it fully and 
 admirably stated, in Les Lettres d'un Provincial, by the famous 
 Monsieur Pascal, and it is a book very well worth your reading." 
 
240 MORTIFICATIONS, 
 
 his fellow-reformers with splendid abuse j and the 
 Provincial and London agent were rather severe with 
 me when I left; but then " circumstances alter cases:" 
 there was no necessity for "dumb-show" on these 
 occasions. I allude to these facts without the 
 slightest acrimony : seven years have been quite suffi- 
 cient to make me " forget and forgive ;" besides I 
 think " 't was all quite natural." 
 
 And this particular training, how is it applied ? 
 
 First, as to the external man. Our habiliments, 
 during manual works, were sublimely ridiculous : I 
 was often remin4ed, when working in company with 
 another " brother," of certain crustaceous animals 
 in the West Indies, which I have seen lugging a shell 
 five times too large, into which they had insinuated 
 their tiny bodies, doubtless without a thought of the 
 previous in-dweller. Coats vastly too large; trousers 
 decidedly too wide or too narrow, too short or too 
 long ; waistcoats in the same predicament, all patched, 
 greased, threadbare; and the greenish trousers that 
 I had on when I went to the Novitiate, I brought 
 away with an extensive cataplasm of sober quaker-? 
 brown. 
 
 This appears ridiculous enough: still the thing 
 tried us — it tried me, this beggar's garb ; but soon I 
 got used to it, and the object was gained. This was 
 the only thing, among the Jesuits, that ever virtually 
 reminded me of the vow of voluntary poverty. So 
 much for the mortification of the outer, or rather the 
 external, man ; for there were three gradations : the 
 
REPRIMANDS. 241 
 
 inner man, or the spirit ; the outer man, or the flesh ; 
 the external man, or the integuments, looks, car- 
 riage, &c. 
 
 Of the second gradation I shall speak anon; I pass 
 to the first, namely, the mortifications to contund the 
 spirit. These were reprimands, which came, when 
 you least expected them, in various forms. You 
 might not be conscious of the alleged misdemeanour: 
 perhaps it had not been committed ; but you received 
 the reprimand in humble silence, and battled, as well 
 as you could, with the old Adam within, that will 
 strive to throw the blame on somebody or something 
 else. Perhaps a penance would be superadded : you 
 performed it with rapturous fervour; Take a case in 
 . point. " It happened that the pious and learned 
 Jerome Platus, whilst he was his ( Aloysius's) master 
 qt novices, thinking his perpetual application to 
 prayer and study prejudicial to his health, ordered 
 him to spend, in conversing with others after dinner, 
 not only the hour allotted for all, but also the half hour 
 longer which is allowed to those who dined at the 
 second table. Father Minister, not knowing this 
 order, punished him for it, and obliged him publicly 
 to confess his fault; which he underwent without 
 offering any excuse. The minister, learning afterwards 
 how the matter wais, admired very much his silence, 
 but, for his greater merit, enjoined him another penalty 
 for not telling him the order of his master."* 
 
 This story was a " staple commodity" of admiration 
 in the Novitiate — I often heard it quoted. To my 
 * Butler — Saints' Lives — Aloys. 
 R 
 
242 REPRIMANDS. 
 
 mind it suggests other conclusions besides that which 
 is intended by the Jesuits. If the reader remembers 
 the form of pubHc confession of faults given in a 
 "Day's Occupation," something very much like false- 
 hood appears in this "acknowledgment" of Aloysius, 
 which had "great merit;" but holy obedience en- 
 joined him to say he was guilty of a fault, and he 
 obeyed, and had "great merit." What crimes has a 
 Jesuit to commit, in order to have greater merit? At 
 least this is the view I take of the matter. These men 
 invest themselves with lofty pretensions to piety when 
 they figure before us in the field of life — let them be 
 uncloaked, laid bare, that we may distinguish the in- 
 terloper from the rightful heir. 
 
 Such reprimands might proceed directly from the 
 Superior's own observation or inclination, or from re- 
 ports made to him by the porter and "brother novices." 
 It happened, during the first month of my probation, 
 that, whilst in conversation with some of the brothers, 
 I spoke rather slightingly of the "Visions" of St. 
 Theresa. I observed no visible effect that my incre- 
 dulity produced on the hearers, and the conversation 
 turned on other topics. The very same evening the 
 Superior sent for me, and mildly rebuked me for my 
 heresy ; giving me a reason for my future orthodoxy, 
 by saying, " that very clever and learned men believed 
 in the said visions" — an argument which, I confess, 
 enabled me to "take in," as I advanced, a vast deal 
 of "doctrine" that I was "tempted" to eschew. He 
 did not inflict a penance; but I trust that my subse- 
 quent enthusiasm in all the major and minor probabi- 
 
BRIEFS. 
 
 234 
 
 lities and plausibilities of Romanism " did away" with 
 my primitive incredulity. 
 
 It was a bitter thing this to comply with — I mean 
 this spy system — but it was " for the greater glory of 
 God :" what should not that motive induce us not to 
 do? And yet Englishmen must find it a sticking pill. 
 True, we have informers, but they are as much de- 
 tested here as they were at Athens, and the language 
 perpetuates that abhorrence by having applied the 
 Greek name, sycophant, to a very shabby individual.* 
 For my part I will only say, as a certain facetious 
 worthy said of his eating pease, I once told a fault 
 committed by a brother; but I felt so essentially 
 ashamed of myself, that the incident is as fresh in my 
 memory as if it had occurred but yesterday. 
 
 As there was no regular " confession of faults" dur- 
 ing supper, whenever a novice was then seen on his 
 knees, we might be sure that he was doing penance 
 for some reported offence against the rules and regu- 
 lations. 
 
 In the Novitiate, though many things were fearfully 
 true to their name, yet some were characteristic equi- 
 vocations — such as the discipline, chain, chapter, and 
 the brief: of which last mortification I 'am now to 
 speak. 
 
 Imagine the novices pleasantly engaged at dinner, 
 
 * " They say, they did forbid in the old time that men should carry 
 figs out of the country of Attica; and that from thence it came that 
 these pick-thanks which bewray and accuse them that transported 
 figs, were called sycophants." — North. Plutarch. The term is derived 
 from two Greek words signifying an indicator of Jigs, 
 B 2 
 
■ 244 BRIEFS. 
 
 satisfying the grateful stomach with savoury food, and 
 the pious soul with holy thoughts. The Martyrology 
 and Fasti have been read. One novice has the cup 
 in his hand, another his fork to his mouth, a third is 
 dividing his meat, a fourth is masticating. Suddenly 
 the reader solemnly entones, " By order of holy obe- 
 dience !" Now look ! — the cup is down — the fork 
 deposited — the meat relinquished— the teeth forget 
 their function — the mouth is closed in the death of 
 obedience. The hands are joined on the breast — 
 each throbbing heart is asked by vanity, " Is it I ? Is 
 it I?" 
 
 Now listen to the brief. 
 " By order of holy obedience ! 
 "Brother is hereby reprimanded for his gene- 
 ral unedifying conduct — want of punctuality — hurried 
 gait — bustling demeanour, totally unbecoming a no- 
 vice of the Society of Jesus. He must remember 
 what is required of him by the rules of the Summary, 
 and entirely discard the habits of a schoolboy. Holy 
 obedience enjoins him to kiss the feet of all the bro- 
 thers as soon as he has dined." 
 
 The reader sat down, and dinner proceeded as if 
 nothing had taken place, except the crimson blush 
 on the cheek of the brother whose brief has just been 
 read. Briefs did not come often, but they always 
 made an impression. Soon after my admission I re- 
 ceived a brief, reprimanding me for " sitting with my 
 legs sprawling at church, a manner totally unbecom- 
 ing a novice of the Society of Jesus." 
 
 The brief was in English ; and the one given may 
 
THE CHAPTER. 245 ' 
 
 be taken as a faithful imitation of the Superior's 
 style, as well as a correct exposition of the " subject- 
 matter." , 
 
 The "chapter" was quite a different affair. It 
 superseded the sermon or translation of which I have 
 spoken. On entering the recreation-room we saw a 
 cushion in the centre : this announced a " chapter." 
 We sat down, the Superior entered, and filled the 
 seat at the end of the room. After a pause he named 
 one of the novices. The novice rose, walked to the 
 cushion, and knelt. Another pause ensued. Then 
 
 the Superior said, " Brother , mention what you 
 
 have observed amiss in the conduct of Brother :" 
 
 that is, the novice kneeling on the cushion aforesaid. 
 The brother obeyed if he had anything to say, if not 
 he remained silent. Another novice might be called 
 on, and so on, according to the Superior's discretion. 
 Then followed a solemn lecture to the penitent — mild 
 though severe ; for our master of novices was a kind 
 man by nature. I was told that a former master of 
 novices — the Father PiiOWDEN before alluded to — 
 was remarkable for the severity of his admonitions. 
 Two or three novices might thus be made to go 
 through the ordeal of reproach : I should state that 
 they were generally, if not always, novices of the 
 second year. 
 
 No allusion should ever be made in conversation to 
 the reprimands, briefs, chapters, or penances — they 
 were sacred subjects: like the name of the Eternal to 
 the children of Israel. 
 
 The brief and chapter referred to public faults. 
 
246 THE MANIFESTATION. 
 
 These the Society requires to be known; but it re- 
 quires more— it requires to know secret propensities, 
 hidden inclinations — it seeks to rival the Divinity in 
 its knowledge of the human heart. Hence the fre- 
 quent interviews with the Superior — hence the annual 
 manifestation of conscience to the Provincial. These 
 manifestations — as we were undisguisedly, pointedly, 
 unmistakeably given to understand by the lecture on 
 the subject — were to have all the sincerity, nothing- 
 concealing candour of sacramental confession without 
 that consolatory safeguard of the latter, sacramental 
 secrecy. The object and intention of the Provincial 
 are bona fide to make use of the knowledge gained by 
 manifestation. Observe, we were perfectly aware of 
 this ! no man is deceived as to what is required of 
 him in becoming a Jesuit — that is, in one word, a 
 total surrendry — no capitulation — no by-clause — no 
 codicil — soul and body like wax to the designer, mind 
 and will like a corpse to corruption, hands and feet 
 like an old man's staiF — these are conditions which 
 every man accepts in becoming a Jesuit. 
 
 Accustomed as I was to " tell all" to my indulgent 
 Superior, I should not have felt the least repugnance 
 to open my heart to the Provincial. This was not 
 the Provincial who admitted me, but his successor— 
 a man of hard features, rough and cog-wheeled in 
 manner and expression. I did not like the man. 
 Still I " manifested" myself, and his advice and ob- 
 servations were like the sensation produced by passing 
 one's hand along the teeth of a saw. 
 
 A whole day was set apart for this annual manifes- 
 
THE MANIFESTATION. 247 
 
 tation. The Provincial occupied the infirmary for the 
 day, and sent for each novice in his turn. A report 
 is subsequently sent to the General at Rome, touch- 
 ing the character, &c., of all the novices. Antici- 
 pating the analysis of the constitutions, I may state 
 that monthly reports are forwarded to the General by 
 all Provincials, and quarterly communications to the 
 same potentate by the heads of the houses of the 
 profesd. 
 
248 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE CHAIN — THE DISCIPLINE, FASTING, &C. 
 
 The expositions of the rules of the Summary read to 
 the novices were argumentative ; but all the argu- 
 ments by which they were enforced were deduced 
 from the nature or definition of the three vows which 
 -we were to pronounce at the end of our probation. 
 From our expressed determination, the main gist of 
 the argument was assumed ; therefore, this line of 
 argument, if not strictly logical, was perfectly j usti- 
 iiable in point of fact and common sense. Appeals 
 ■were occasionally made to motives of worldly pru- 
 dence — one such appeal, with regard to " manifesta- 
 tion of conscience" to the Provincial, struck me, at 
 the time, as being the best argument in the exposi- 
 tion. It was as follows : — If a man is not thoroughly 
 known to his Superiors he may be sent to an appoint- 
 ment where his "ruling passion" may be tempted 
 beyond resistance — decidedly a clever forethought, 
 and worthy of consideration and application by all 
 whom it concerns. The alleged motive — ^like "Ad 
 majorem Dei gloriam" — is good, very good; but it 
 
THE CHAIN. 249 
 
 would follow from this argument that all the secular 
 clergy of Rome must be chosen to a great extent 
 blindly to fill their various appointments. I leave 
 the respective parties to argue the point. One thing 
 is pretty certain, however ; this very manifestation — 
 rendered as it is virtually identical with sacramental 
 confession, and to a very certain extent guaranteed 
 authenticity by that confession ; this manifestation, I 
 humbly submit — is the mighty lever of the society, 
 which, outstripping Archimedes, has found a ful- 
 crum in the consciences of men, whereby it has 
 moved the world : and may move it again. But it is 
 the heaven-influenced nature of all despotism that it 
 works out its own ruin : and so the fulcrum sank — 
 and the lever was shattered — and the world was at rest 
 once more. Space is not allowed me to pursue this 
 argument through all its interesting labyrinths : I 
 have given the clue to it, have signalised the fact — 
 the object of pursuit — the beauty and the beast — and 
 the reader may investigate for himself. But as the 
 physician, whilst he requires a perfect knowledge of 
 all the symptoms of disease, also expects that his 
 drugs be swallowed, so Ignatius, knowing the dis- 
 eases of the soul, applies his specific. The second 
 vow is acknowledged to be the greatest trial of the 
 Romish clergy in general ; perhaps the Jesuits may be 
 included : at all events we had our nostrums — our 
 preservatives in the Novitiate. These were the dis- 
 cipline and the chain. I confess that I have been 
 anxious to reach this point of my narrative, in order 
 to set the reader's mind at ease on this subject ; and 
 
250 THE DISCIPLINE. 
 
 I think it prudent, now at least, to remind him of the 
 " Mountain in labour, a Fable." 
 
 The highly imaginative Romish Church has found 
 in the Scriptures allegories, facts, and words to ticket 
 all the "sights" in her phantasmagoria — a perfectly 
 easy process from the very nature of the book, but 
 by no means more satisfactory to the thoughtful 
 Christian than the said tickets, in other phantasma- 
 gorias, are to the extensive traveller. Among the 
 rest, the extravagant efficacy of bodily macerations, 
 in the matter alluded to, may be said to be deduced 
 from the remark* of St. Paul; just as the famous 
 " hair-cloth" may be said to be derived from the food 
 whereon the horse was fed whose mane and tail com- 
 pose it: or, in fact, from the soil — good mother 
 earth — that fed the grass, that fed the horse, &c. 
 
 The use of the discipline, "whereby to subdue and 
 punish the flesh," has been recommended by most of 
 the " Saints." Three thousand lashes, says Butler, 
 with the recital of thirty psalms, were a redemption 
 of a canonical penance of one year's continuance.f 
 Luckily it is not stated whether these three thousand 
 lashes were to be inflicted on the monk's own back, 
 or on that of any other " beast of burden ;" so we 
 may suspend the judgment of incredulity, and solace 
 ourselves with harmless merriment. 
 
 I am far from denying the efficacy of vigorous 
 
 * " But I keep under my body, and bting it into subjection, lest 
 tbatby any means, wlien 1 have preached to others, I myself should 
 be a castaway." 1st Corinth, ix. 27. 
 
 t Lives of the Saints. Feb. 23. 
 
THE DISCIPLINE. 251 
 
 exercise, bodily or mental, in the matter in question. 
 I consider such means physiological specifics: this, 
 and what has been said before to this effect, are all 
 that the present occasion renders necessary, or per- 
 mits. I will now describe the " discipline" and 
 chain of the Novitiate, which are delineated in the 
 subjoined wood-cut. 
 
 The discipline or whip is made of whipcord. It 
 is a kind of cat-o'-nine-tails, duly knotted At the 
 ends of the tails. The chain — this name has doubt- 
 less conjured up phantoms which I must unfortu- 
 nately dispel — the chain was made of steel-wire, 
 exactly the thickness of that indicated in some 
 knitting-books as No. 23": or about the diameter of 
 whipcord. The wire was bent into the shape of a 
 horse-shoe, so as to form links, the extremities being 
 twisted so as to keep the links together, and allow of 
 motion up and down ; and at every link the super- 
 
252 
 
 THE DISCIPLINE. 
 
 fluous wire projected about half an inch, not rounded 
 off" nor pointed, but just as it was cut or filed. I 
 have just constructed one, and think that there must 
 have been about a dozen or fourteen links with the 
 two prongs on each, I must describe these " helps 
 to holy living" in operation. 
 
 They were not constantly used, but only at stated 
 times, such as during Lent; but at any time with 
 permission. During Lent we used them twice a 
 week. The porter gave out "Mortification!" — we 
 understood him. After he had gone the round of the 
 curtains with the " Deo gratias — thanks be to God !" 
 we made ready by uncovering our shoulders — each 
 novice sitting in his bed — and seized the whip. The 
 time the porter took for these preliminaries pre- 
 supposed an equal alacrity in the other novices : we 
 were always ready when he rang a small bell, and 
 then, oh ! then, if the thing edifies you, gentle reader, 
 be edified; if it makes you laugh, laugh to your 
 heart's content, at the sound of twenty whips crack- 
 ing like a hailstorm on the twenty innocent backs in 
 question. I think we were restricted to twelve 
 strokes : they were given as rapidly as possible : all 
 ended almost at .the same instant. In the excitement, 
 Tery similar to a shower-bath, we could not help 
 tossing the whip into the desk; and then, diving into 
 the sheets, felt very comfortable indeed ! Perhaps, 
 after the chorus of flagellation, you might hear a 
 young novice giggling; "it was quite natural," he 
 could not help it ! 
 
 Why have I described this foolery in this merry 
 
THE CHAIN. 253 
 
 vein ? Because it is a foolery, and the " holy- 
 fathers" must con&ider it as such : but more, I main- 
 tain it to be a most pernicious foolery, and conducive to 
 anything rather than the end proposed. The reader 
 must imagine my meaning. ..... 
 
 Manat 
 
 In venas animumque ! 
 
 A foolery as it is, why do the Jesuits prescribe it to 
 the novices ? It serves to keep them alive, to kill 
 monotony ; to flatter their minds with the idea that 
 they are "doing something" in the labour of per- 
 fection, ccedi Jerarum ritu, after the manner of the 
 wild monks of old and their three thousand lashes ! 
 . . . If a good stiff rope were used, the purpose, 
 by physical pain, might be attained ; but the whip 
 at Hodder only excites: it tickles. Oh ! I remember 
 it well: it was hideous to me. And yet, in the 
 .outrageous fanaticism of the Great Retreat, I asked 
 leave to self-administer an extra flagellation : deter- 
 mined to " punish" myself; but I failed : I left the 
 room essentially ashamed of myself, and irrevocably 
 disgusted with this erotic instrument of " com- 
 punction." The chain was less objectionable in 
 this respect: it gave some pain, but more annoy- 
 ance. It was worn on the morning following. We 
 tied it by the two strings, which were attached to the 
 extremities, round the middle of the thigh, next to 
 the skin ; drawing it tight enough to hinder it from 
 slipping down, which sometimes happened. We 
 wore it about six hours, taking it off" for manual 
 works. 
 
254 THE CHAIN. 
 
 Let the reader fancy his thigh tightly gripped in 
 the embrace represented by the image of the thing. 
 
 Every one knows that even the blunt end of a 
 bodkin, though gently pressed, will, after a given 
 time, produce considerable pain in any part of the 
 body where the cuticle is not sufficiently hardened to 
 shield the nerves from pressure. Thus, after a time, 
 the prongs of our chain produced a continuous dull 
 pain, such as that which the teeth of a playful spaniel 
 gives the hand, when he holds the member but bites 
 it not. It was put on as soon as we rose out of bed. 
 My fancy often likened it to the huge centipedes of 
 the West, crawling romid the limb, that felt a 
 sudden sting if it made the slightest motion: for it 
 was when we moved that we were truly " mortified." 
 As we meditated, breakfasted, heard the lecture, re- 
 peated the lecture in the dormitory, with the chain on 
 our thigh — the right thigh — sometimes sitting, some- 
 times standing, moving to and fro from different 
 places — it often happened that we struck the prongs 
 into the flesh (however careful degenerate fear might 
 make us), by coming in contact with the lid of a 
 table, the seat of a chair or bench. I could not walk 
 without limping both in body and in mind ; for the 
 chain was a perpetual source of " distraction." I was 
 constantly reminded of it, and where it was; and con- 
 sequently, by the natural association of ideas, it was 
 to me, at least, a real " proximate occasion" of 
 temptation ; though not of sin, and so perhaps my 
 " merit" was increased. If my own experience is worth 
 anything, I tell the Jesuits that their " discipli>ie>nd 
 
FASTING. 255 
 
 chain" totally defeat the alleged object of their use ; 
 and appeal to the principles of physiology in proof of 
 my opinion. In this matter, at least, we may say 
 with perfect truth — nocet empta dolore voluptas! 
 
 The efBcacy of fasting is not so doubtful. All or 
 most men eat too much : superabundant nourishment, 
 as Dr. Johnson might have said, eflfectuates plethora 
 iii body and mind. Periodic fasting may thus, in 
 some measure, bless us with the boon reserved for 
 habitual temperance.* 
 
 The Church of Rome does not require any of her 
 members to fast before their twenty-first year is ac- 
 complished. By fasting is understood one full solid 
 meal a day, with a " cubic inch" of bread, or six 
 almonds, in the morning, and a slight collation at 
 night. Many people confound fasting with absti- 
 nence; but they are totally distinct: all Fridays are 
 abstinence days with the Roman Catholics, but not 
 days of fasting ; except in Lent. By abstinence is 
 meant an abstaining from meat of all kinds — eggs, 
 fish of every kind being lawful canonical substitutes. 
 Thus the Church of Rome has kindly taken the de- 
 scendants of the Fisherman under her patronage, 
 whilst she lays claim exclusively to the descendants 
 
 * Food is the main stimulant of the system ; hence its withdrawal 
 is beneficial in all acute diseases. The passions may be termed acute 
 diseases of the brain, when they riot in excess ; consequently fasting 
 operates on the passions by the physical medium. Apoplexy, morbid 
 affections of the stomach, derangements of the lirer, many diseases of 
 the heart, may be averted or subdued by well-directed fasting-. Now 
 many of the mind's diseases are sympathetically deduced from the 
 morbid state of the respective organs diseased in the fore-mentioned 
 cases. Thus the efficacy of fasting is manifest, besides being " highly 
 ; meritorious," like everything else done ?' by authority,'' 
 
256 FASTING. 
 
 of the Apostle, Queen Elizabeth produced the 
 same effect by means more direct and satisfactory : 
 namely, by her statute against the consumption of 
 meat on certain days of. the week. 
 
 It must be evident, however, that what would be 
 fasting to one stomach would be only temperance to 
 another, and the temperance of the latter would be 
 positive fasting to the former; consequently "ad- 
 vice" must be taken in this matter: then follow "in- 
 dulgences and dispensations." 
 
 To a man, like myself, who seldom eats anything 
 for breakfast, conscience must be appealed to in order 
 to settle what is to be the quantum sufficiat of ortho- 
 dox fasting. Being of age at Hodder, I fasted during 
 Lent, together with two or three other novices simi- 
 larly conditioned. I may observe here, that the 
 Jesuits by no means approve of excessive corporeal 
 austerities : health of body is essential in a Jesuit : 
 sound health is as requisite in the candidate for ad- 
 mission into the Society as into her Majesty's regi- 
 ments. Our method of fasting was as follows : — We 
 had a small piece of dry toast and a cup of excellent 
 coffee in the morning : we had a good dinner of fish, 
 or meat ; if it was not a day of abstinence as well — 
 that is, every other day. Sunday is neither a fast 
 nor abstinence day in our cold latitudes, though for- 
 merly, in the palmy days of '' modern Rome," a 
 Black Lent was occasionally fulminated on the faith- 
 ful, when even Sundays were included as days of fast 
 and abstinence. 
 
 In the evening we had a slight collation : I forget 
 what it consisted of, but it was quite satisfactory ; 
 
SUNDAY. 257 
 
 the fasting-diet at Hodder was just what has always 
 constituted my ordinary fare whilst in " tbe world." 
 Obedience sanctified the pious wish to "punish" 
 the flesh, although it denied the fulfilment. 
 
 On Sunday, those whose stomachs had virtually 
 fasted during the week might recruit their strength 
 by indulgence. 
 
 Sunday ! day of rest, by Heaven appointed for 
 the joy of soul and the comfort of body! Day 
 that brings the poor labourer to his grateful bench, 
 beside the partner of his toils, in the midst of his 
 little ones, who have reason to bless God for the 
 strength of those arms, those work-hardened limbs, 
 whereby God gives them food and raiment ! Sweet 
 day ! we did not feel thy blessings in our solitude. 
 Little reminded us that the angel came down on that 
 day, and stirred the pool of aflSiction, so that many 
 were comforted even in that world whence we had fled 
 to seek consolation, as it were in the desert! 
 
 We received the sacrament at mass, and then read 
 Rodriguez on " Christian Perfection," as usual, for half 
 an hour before breakfast. After breakfast we made 
 our beds ; and, after an interval spent as we liked, we 
 went to " Conference" — so I l^hink it was called — in 
 the recreation-room. Here one of the novices trans- 
 lated a chapter or two of a work by Thomas h Kem- 
 pis on Asceticism — not the "Following of Christ," 
 but another work of the same author : the title I have 
 forgotten. After conference we went to our cells, and 
 read or wrote or walked in the garden, either with 
 another brother or alone, repeating the " Office of the 
 
 s 
 
258 SUNDAY. 
 
 Virgin Mary" in Latin, which occupied a good hour, 
 as far as I can remember. I am not sure whether the 
 occupation just mentioned did not precede the "con- 
 ference" — at all events all the morning Sunday duties 
 have been mentioned. After dinner, there being no 
 public confessions on Sunday, we had recreation for 
 an hour; then came " Vespers," which were read by 
 the Superior, the novices repeating the alternate verses 
 of the psalms and responses. After vespers we went 
 out to catechise the children of the poor, and pro- 
 ceeded on our walk, when the time allotted to that 
 m.issionary duty had expired. On our return home, 
 everything went on as usual, precisely as on any other 
 day. 
 
 Such was our Sabbath in the Novitiate : if it has 
 not edified, I trust that it has not scandalised, the 
 reader. 
 
259 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 REFLECTIONS. THE SUPERIOR'S RETREAT. A GENE- 
 RAL ORDER. — ^A PANG. 
 
 My narrative is now drawing to a close. Having 
 just recalled and meditated the events which I am 
 about to describe, I feel a sadness of the heart : the 
 sadness of human sympathy at the remembrance of 
 those hopes which it was my destiny to nourish into 
 bloom, and again my destiny to cause to wither and 
 to die ! At this still hour of the wintry night, medi- 
 tating, I have cast my eyes ever and anon on the 
 exotics that adorn my window and its inner arch. 
 The few flowers that remain droop and are withering, 
 but the vigorous Coboea that intertwines the arch is 
 as verdant as when the summer sun kissed it with his 
 beams : it will bloom when they woo it again. An 
 exotic, as I was, transplanted from the world into the 
 conservatory of Probation, my soul put forth its forced 
 bloom in this winter of youth — the brilliant flowers 
 pleased the gardeners of my soul — and in the height 
 of that blossoming, as in all beautiful sweet things, it 
 seemed that no blight could ever mar the well-pro- 
 
 s 2 
 
260 
 
 EEFLECTIONS. 
 
 * ected plant. But the blight came ; and the plant 
 which had been forced to bloom, to please the eyes or 
 cupidity of its trainers, dropped the flowers that had 
 pleased so well. Meanwhile the arch of reason, 
 with its everlasting verdure, lived on transparently 
 bright; hoping for a natural spring, an appointed 
 summer. 
 
 Eleven months of my probation had passed away. 
 Occasional doubts, frequent doubts, as to my fitness 
 for the Society of the Jesuits had marred the joys of 
 that solitude which I may be permitted to call the 
 oasis of my life : since there, only, did I feel the im- 
 measurable supremacy of mind over body. Had I 
 meditated less fervently, had I been less sincere in 
 ■my ardour for perfection, doubtless I had become a 
 ■ Jesuit ; but the very moment that I felt the full force 
 -of the awful vow — perfect obedience to man — at that 
 moment my dream was passed— I exclaimed: The 
 -die is cast ! Poverty, be thou once more my rriother! 
 World of my fellow-men, be thou once more my 
 battle-field! I can at least die with self-respect; 
 that last and satisfying solace of those who have 
 " fallen on evil days !" 
 
 Again I seemed to stand alone. I had long en- 
 deavoured to distinguish between the " greater glory 
 of God" and the greater glory of the Society of the 
 Jesuits. I had fixed the idea in my inind that 
 in this matter, as in everything else^ the end was 
 distinct from the means ; and though on one occa- 
 sion I heard the same thought expressed by a novice, 
 yet I am compelled to declare every other remark 
 
REFLECTIONS. 261 
 
 pronounced in the Novitiate, whether by novices or 
 Superiors who visited us, brought home the growing 
 conviction that we were prepared to take our "^ shares" 
 in a grand speculation which was to invest the entirq 
 earth in its grasping monopoly. 
 
 I looked for faith ; I found self: its interests and its 
 cravings. In the men who had been trained as we 
 were, I saw no indications of that training. We 
 were taught to keep every sense in restraint — I was 
 often scandalised by the trivial remarks, eager 
 curiosity, wwreligious deportment of the men who 
 were far advanced in the grades of the Society. What, 
 then, has become of all this training — has it been of 
 no effect? See the same Jesuits in the world, 
 — demure or gay, mild or severe, learned or ignorant 
 — worming their way like Ignatius, who never spoke 
 in conversation with strangers until he had divined 
 the characters of all his hearers from what they had 
 uttered. The " Fathers" were natural with us ; it is 
 in the world that they become supernatural — that 
 they show how they were trained. Unsatisfactory as 
 was the opinion I formed of the intellectual attain- 
 ment of those whomi met at Stonyhurst, I doubt not, 
 (and I candidly record the fact) that each and all had 
 their peculiar talent : their tact, adapted to some pecu- 
 liar emergency. These opinions are sincere. I stand by 
 them. No party feelings, no base motives, have in- 
 fluenced me : the very important fact that I have lived 
 among these men has made me scrupulous lest I should 
 emit aught that may mislead the mindfe of those who 
 read for instruction. I believe what I have written : 
 
262 THE superior's retreat. 
 
 what I write ; and sincerity makes me earnest in the 
 cause of truth. If I say beware ! I speak as one who 
 has seen : who has felt. The reader is now, I trust, 
 prepared to accompany me to the end. 
 
 In the month of January of the year following my 
 admission, the Superior of the Novitiate made his 
 annual retreat. He resigned his office, for the time, 
 to the Father Minister. It was a time of edificatioa 
 to us all. He did penance like the humblest novice. 
 He knelt in the centre of the Refectory with his arms 
 outstretched ; he kissed the floor ; he kissed our feet — 
 the feet of all the novices. Once he dined kneeling 
 at the small table, in the midst of the room : an old 
 man, grey with age, weak in health, knelt during 
 dinner on the hard cold floor; and when he had 
 finished he joined his hands on his breast and conti- 
 nued kneeling till grace was said. He worked in the 
 garden during manual works; and I think, but cannot 
 state the fact for certain, that he said " Deo Gra- 
 tias !" in my hearing to the porter, and had some task 
 
 appointed for him to do I liked this man. 
 
 I like him still ; and will only say that his conduct 
 during that retreat filled me with sorrowful admira- 
 tion. I leave all other reflections to the reader. There 
 are sacred thoughts which only Heaven should know. 
 
 Nam neque chorda sonvm reddit quern vult manus et mens ! 
 
 Saturday came, the day of sacramental confession. 
 An order came down that we were to confess to the 
 Father Minister. 
 
 I have felt some shocks of the mind and the heart 
 
A GENEJfiAL ORDER. 263 
 
 in my hitherto short career ; but few are more keenly 
 remembered than that given by the order to confess 
 to the Father Minister. What had I to confess? 
 Perhaps a little negligence in this, a trivial omission 
 of that duty, nothing more ; and yet, had my soul 
 been guilty of the foulest sin, confession could never 
 have been more repugnant to me than on that sad 
 day. My mind was overcast — the sudden chillness 
 of that shadow numbed my heart. In all that I did 
 the thought dispelled devotion. I went to the Su- 
 perior — he could not see me. The man who could 
 console me, turned me away : directed me to go to the 
 minister — the man I was flying from !....! left 
 his door agitated and sad. I met the minister: 
 gracious Heaven ! he reprimanded me for walking 
 hurriedly ! He did not stop there — " he also thought 
 that I might speak less dictatorially in conversation- — 
 my bearing was proud." And yet it had seemed to 
 me that I was beloved ! I went to my cell and wept 
 bitterly : resolved to go once more to my good old 
 friend, struggling helplessly as I was against obe- 
 dience. I knocked, he came to the door. "Bro- 
 ther!" he said, "what brings you here after my 
 order?" One word was enough to speak all, and 
 the word was uppermost — " May I not confess to 
 you, Father?" I asked, weeping, " Holy obedience 
 has spoken," said he firmly, but mildly and sorrow- 
 fully; " go, brother, and obey !" ... He closed the 
 door once more, but the victory of love was gained : 
 I determined to go: I conquered myself: I went. I 
 remember that moment well — full well ! When I 
 
264 A PANG. 
 
 have seen the struggle of woman's features striving 
 to wwharmonise their expression with the thoughts 
 that rack the heart, then have I thought of myself on 
 this memorable day. 
 
 My confession took but a few minutes : the minis- 
 ter absolved me. I rose determined to leave the 
 Novitiate. 
 
 I had yielded in weakness — was conquered to do 
 what my mind and heart rejected. Such was obe- 
 dience! such might be obedience hereafter: and it 
 might not be so innocent. Confidence in my Superior 
 won the day : it might win it again ! On the follow- 
 ing day, Sunday, my sadness was changed to serenity ; 
 though it must have been evident to all that there 
 was something more than usually weighty on my 
 mind. Whilst walking in the passage, the minister 
 met and asked me " if he could be of any use to 
 me with his advice?" This question surprised me, 
 but I hurnbly declared that I did not need the 
 proffered service. On that Sunday night occurred 
 the fearful storm which did so much damage on 
 sea and land, in the month of January, 1839. 
 When I went out to work in the garden, on the 
 following morning, the first object that caught 
 my eye was an old thorn-tree torn up by the roots. 
 " 'T was natural," gentle reader : I compared all the 
 hopes, the enthusiastic hopes, that I had built on my 
 "vocation" to the Society of the Jesuits, to that 
 strong tree which had stood the appointed time, but 
 was uplifted by the breath of Heaven. That tree 
 might have been shaken, disengaged from the soil so 
 
A PANG. 265 
 
 as to sef m to be living still, though dead at the core — 
 but no ! it was an honest tree ; it would cling by no 
 o£Fset when the main root was wrenched asunder. . . 
 
 In the evening I went to the Superior ; he came to 
 the door. "Well, brother, what now?" .... 
 
 I replied, " I have resolved to leave. Father ; 
 
 and would wish to apprise the Provincial of my reso- 
 lution." 
 
 "You shall see the Provincial to-morrow, brother; 
 in the mean time be calm : do not resist the grace 
 of God !" 
 
 Had he looked in my face then he would have seen 
 that I was calm : that there was joy in my looks; but 
 his eyes were downcast, and he saw me by the mind, 
 not by the faithful eyes. 
 
 That night I slept well, and went through my 
 morning meditation with " unction :" that is, with 
 spiritual relish and virtuous resolve: with glow of 
 heart and light of mind. 
 
 At ten o'clock the Provincial sent for me, and the 
 following interview took place in the parlour; be- 
 neath the room where the Superior was then in 
 « retreat." 
 
266 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 INTERVIEW WITH THE PROVINCIAL LES ADIEUX 
 
 A BLESSING AND A PRAYER THE DEPARTURE. 
 
 It was during manual works. I hastily put on the 
 gown which I was soon to resign : I put it on for the 
 last time. At the parlour-door, then, I tapped ; the 
 voice which I have described before bade me enter. 
 The man to whom I had "manifested" sat before 
 me : I saw him smile for the first time. Kindly he 
 requested me to sit — I obeyed. Then ensued the 
 following questions and answers : — 
 
 " Well ! how now ! what has happened ?" 
 " Sir, I wish merely to say that I am unfit for the 
 Society — I must leave." 
 
 " Leave ! why must you leave?" 
 " Because, sir, I am unfit for the Society." 
 " But you did not think so when you entered." 
 " You have given me the means to know myself: 
 I have gained that knowledge." 
 
 " Have you been induced by any one from without 
 to take this resolution 1" 
 
 " My letters have been given to me always open ; 
 
INTERVIEW WITH THE PEOVINCIAL. 267 
 
 you would have been apprised ot such influence. I 
 am not influenced from without." 
 
 " Then you wish to re-enter the world, in order to 
 indulge your passions?" 
 
 Was this an allusion to my " manifestation ?" . . . 
 I replied, " It seems to me, sir, that your conclusion 
 is neither just nor necessary." 
 
 " But what reason have you to leave ?" 
 
 " I have said it — I am unfit for the Society." 
 
 " Well ! we cannot force you to stay." 
 
 " I am poor ; I have not the means to pay for my 
 
 journey to London May I depend on the 
 
 charity of the Society ? It may be in my power here- 
 after to refund all that I have cost you." 
 
 " Oh ! certainly, we will see to that. But this is 
 very annoying !" 
 
 A pause ensued — I rose and said : — 
 
 " May I leave without delay ?" 
 
 " When you like !" 
 
 I think I hear the growl of these last words : they 
 were the very antithesis of Chesterfield's advice, 
 namely, to yield with seeming pleasure when you 
 cannot resist with certain efiect. I thanked him, 
 left the room, and went to my old friend, the Superior, 
 to apprise him of the result. He heard me with evi- 
 dent sorrow, but merely said, " Very well. Brother 
 Stein raetz, God's will be done in all things!" 
 
 I requested him to permit me to stay till the fol- 
 lowing day, in order to prepare myself, by confession 
 and communion, to re-enter the world of temptation. 
 He kindly assented. I went to the chapel and 
 
268 LES ADIEUX. 
 
 prayed fervently. Returning to my cell, I began to 
 read over my diary — calm, collected, cheerful. I had 
 not been seated many minutes when the porter came 
 and told me that the Superior wanted me. I was 
 glad to hear this, for I could have wished to have one 
 more conversation with him before we parted for ever : 
 in this world at least. But, alas ! it was not for con- 
 versation that he sent for me. He merely said, 
 " Brother Steinmetz, I know that your departure will 
 give pain to the novices : your stay under such cir- 
 cumstances will throw a damp on their minds ; so, 
 perhaps, all things considered, you had better leave 
 to-night.^' 
 
 All that this kind man ever requested or ordered 
 me to do I did from my heart ; on the present occa- 
 sion the justness of his remark was evident at a 
 glance : I assented without a murmur. 
 
 In the course of the day the lay brother brought 
 me the sum requisite to pay the coach-fare to London, 
 with a pair of trousers and a hat of a very antique 
 fashion : rather a tight fit, but still very " thank- 
 fully received," like all similar " contributions." He 
 informed me that a chaise would take me to a neigh- 
 bouring village, whence the coach started for Man- 
 chester, and from the last-named place I would go by 
 railway to London. 
 
 I dined for the last time in the Novitiate. I saw 
 and heard the "public confessions" for the last time; 
 and for the last time I spent the hour in company 
 with the novices about to be my " brothers" no more. 
 It was a heavy hour — a dull hour ; the inner works 
 
LES ADIEUX. 269 
 
 seemed running down, and the hands marked mid- 
 night. 
 
 After recreation, manual works went on as usuaL 
 I remained in my cell ; visited the " sacrament ;" 
 prayed with fervour. 
 
 About five o'clock I was told by the porter that the 
 novices were in the recreation-room to bid me fare- 
 well. 
 
 Agitated by the rushing emotion, I went to the 
 room and saw my " brothers" standing around. All 
 seemed affected — none more than myself. It was, 
 " Good-by, Brother Steinmetz ! Good-by, brother !" 
 I shook hands with each, and one wept. The inter- 
 view lasted but a moment or two ; and yet how my 
 resolution staggered — how my heart battled for the 
 mastery ! . . . . 
 
 The novices left the room. I remained, and sat 
 down overpowered by the scene I had witnessed : by 
 the emotions I felt. The Father Minister remained 
 also : he was sitting beside me. He seemed pained 
 at my departure : in fact, he said mournfully, 
 " Brother, I am sorry that you are leaving us." I 
 did not reply ; I was stunned, as it were : my tongue 
 was tied ; and there was no one beside me whose words, 
 whose looks, whose heart could set it free. 
 
 As yet I had not taken leave of the Superior. He 
 sent for me. He gave me the testimonial which I 
 had requested as to my conduct in the Novitiate, 
 saying, " I suppose this will do." It was as 
 follows : — 
 
270 THE TESTIMONIAL. 
 
 " I hereby testify that Andrew Steinmetz, Esq., 
 during his stay at Hodder, conducted himself in every 
 respect as a Christian and a gentleman. 
 
 (Signed) " Thomas Brownbill." 
 
 I give the above from memory. It was short 
 enough and gratifying enough to be remembered 
 without an effort: the last words particularly; and 
 though it would be a consolation to have the docu- 
 ment in my possession, yet it would be at present, 
 perhaps, unimportant. I felt the loss of it, however, 
 on one occasion — one bitter occasion ; and I cer- 
 tainly then denounced the unjustifiable unkindness 
 with which it was taken from me. It happened 
 thus : — When I reached London I thought it advis- 
 able to write a note to the London agent who had 
 been instrumental to my admission, apprizing him of 
 my secession, and enclosing the testimonial in ques- 
 tion ; requesting him very urgently to return it, as it 
 was my only fortune. The friend in whose presence 
 I wrote the note advised me not to send the testi- 
 monial : which, in point of fact, was by no means ne- 
 cessary to the party ; but my feelings overruled the 
 caution : I sent it. I waited : no reply came : no tes- 
 timonial. I wrote, and wrote again, and at last 
 " gave it up :" resigned to my fate, and determined to 
 prove a character similar to the one attested by the 
 kind Father of the novices. 
 
 Some time after I called on the London agent. It was 
 on a Sunday morning. I had written to him before. 
 
ANOTHER pang! 271 
 
 asking if he could recommend me to any literary em- 
 ployment. My letter was unanswered. On the Sun- 
 day morning, then, I called, and knocked : the servant 
 said, " Not at home !" — but it unluckily happened 
 that the gentleman at that very moment emerged 
 from a side door in the passage, apparently just about 
 to enter a carriage which stood at the door. As soon 
 as he saw ine he said with flashing eye and rapid 
 words : — 
 
 " Sir, I can do nothing for you !" 
 
 " But the testimo — " 
 
 He rushed into the carriage : there was a lady in 
 it; and the last syllable of my word shrunk back 
 from the ear that closed upon it, like the carriage 
 door slammed in the face of the poor man begging for 
 bread. 
 
 Still I must defend : at least must paUiate, the un- 
 kindness of this Jesuit. It would never answer for a 
 man to carry about a testimonial from the Novitiate, 
 in a country where, by the law of the land, no such 
 place should exist; and doubtless my poor old friend, 
 the master of the novices, was "reprimanded" for 
 granting me the testimonial. If so, 't was a pitiful 
 thing !* 
 
 But to the conclusion — to the end of my connec- 
 
 * Since the above was written my Hodder letters have been re- 
 stored to me by the friend to whom they were addressed. In the 
 last letter, apprizing him of my intended departure, I have found, to 
 my delight, a testimonial written by the Superior on the page opposite 
 to the address. I remember haviug'requested him to state in the 
 letter that I left of my own accord, — but I am unable to account for 
 
272 THE DEPARTURE. 
 
 tion with the Jesuits! The kind Father was too 
 much affected to speak much during our last inter- 
 view. It was short. I knelt before him : he blessed 
 me; and, making the sign of the cross on my fore- 
 head, he prayed that I "might never swerve from the 
 faith." 
 
 A few minutes after the chaise drove up ; I entered ; 
 and the gates of Probation closed upon me, departing 
 as joyful as when I entered : for my mind and heart 
 bore testimony to good intentions, honourable mo- 
 tives; on both occasions equally strong, equally 
 salient. I had left poverty in the world ; I had de- 
 serted poverty : perhaps one of my best friends ; for it 
 has advised, admonished, and, I trust, improved my 
 heart and mind. I was now again to be reconciled 
 to poverty, and make amends for ray apparently equi- 
 vocal dereliction. And we were desperately recon- 
 ciled. I knew the fate that awaited me : I was pre- 
 pared for it; and I received the cup brimful and 
 foaming with that bitter drink, which has rendered a 
 time of comparative rest and comfort sweet, cheerful : 
 the very nurse of memory and its ever-attendant 
 meditation ; which it varies with endless alternation of 
 
 the word "insists" being used by the Reverend Father, unless he 
 
 meant that there was no need of it. Here is the testimonial : * ' 
 
 " Mr. Steinmetz insists upon my giving your goodness a testimonial 
 
 that his conduct here has been everything creditable and praiseworthy ; 
 
 which I beg hereby to do most fully and cordially, 
 
 " Sir, your obt. sert. 
 
 " Thomas Bkownbili,. 
 " mdder Place, Jan. 15, 1839." ~ 
 
 * A fac simile of this Testimonial is given. 
 
E4€.^MaiE ^ay IW^HWmmi 
 
 y74^AV! 
 
 ..^ 
 
 
 ' // 
 
 jr^y yi^zJ yt^^a4^^y;>^ cCy-~ 
 
ANTICIPATION. 273 
 
 instructive topics j never flagging, always interested, 
 and yearning for the fulfilment — the blessed fulfil- 
 ment — human happiness : the harmony of body and 
 soul by Heaven united to work together ; then the 
 future — the mystery explained to rejoicing hearts, to 
 exulting minds for ever ! 
 
AN ESSAY 
 
 ON 
 
 THE CONSTITUTIONS, 
 C9e fflonfeseional jWtoralits, mis Htstars of tfje Jesuits. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Jesuits have had, and have, opponents ; they 
 have had, and have, apologists. The former have accused 
 them of every crime ; the latter have met every charge 
 ■with unscrupulous denial.* The violence and misrepre- 
 sentations — in many instances, falsifications — of their op- 
 ponents, excite strong suspicion in the minds of the 
 candid, and disgust in the lovers of truth and fair-dealing. 
 Their apologists do not exhibit less rancour — but excite 
 a stronger suspicion, if possible — by waiving the main gist 
 of the argument to trumpet forth the achievements of the 
 Society, in Science, the Arts, and the work of " Con- 
 
 * Saint Priest observes : "The system of apology which the Jesuits 
 have adopted, has uniformly led them to deny everything — even 
 courageous and honourable acts — to serve a temporary purpose.''— 
 Fall of the Jesuits, p. 5. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 INTHODUCTION. 
 
 This was the successful manoeuvre of Demosthenes, in 
 his oratorical encounter with jEschines.* If their cause 
 were to be judged by the giddy, frivolous Athenians, per- 
 haps the dexterity of the Jesuits would serve the tem- 
 porary purpose : there are minds that will be made blind 
 to a hundred crimes by the sudden blaze of one, two, or 
 three " glorious deeds" claimed by the accused, and un- 
 denied as matters of fact, though admitting of a damag- 
 ing investigation. The apologists of the Jesuits have 
 undertaken to prove what was not denied ; but the ten- 
 dency to abuse — the time-serving expediency of the So- 
 ciety, or a large number of her members, hurried forward 
 in the slippery path by the " pressure from without," to 
 which, " by virtue of holy Obedience," they were exposed 
 — the vices of Intellect running riot in the intoxication of 
 renown — the vices of the Will irresistibly tempted to 
 abuse its influence on the minds of men, and the conse- 
 quent price of that ambition, to-wit, confessional laxity 
 in the sacred matter of morality ; — in a word, question- 
 able means resorted to when the end in view seemed to be 
 good, was manifestly expedient — these are the topics 
 which I find cleverly avoided, or Demosthenically dis- 
 missed. 
 
 ViTELLEscHi, a General of the Society, is more candid. 
 He compares the Society to the skies : the Society is 
 Aurora ; Ignatius is the sun ; the members are the stars, 
 " during so many years, and in so many lands, shining 
 with the splendour of virtue, eminent and perfect." 
 " But if," he continues, " any comet of disastrous result, 
 compounded of the foul and pestilential vapours of a 
 
 * See his Oration Ucpi SrE^., in wbicti the damaging charge? are 
 very summarily slurred, at the very moment when the syren-notes of 
 the orator, by modulating on his achierements, have entranced his 
 excited audience. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 277 
 
 •world too near, should light its deadly flame among so 
 many benign and propitious fires, we should not, on that 
 accountj-condemn those skies, since even in the beautiful 
 skies of nature we sometimes unwillingly behold the same 
 anomaly."* A bad Jesuit is therefore a comet ; but a 
 comet is a functionary in the celestial systems ; it is a 
 secondary cause, produced and propelled by a great De- 
 signer : then, may we substitute this Jesuit for the comet, 
 and the spirit of Jesuitism for the great Designer ? 
 
 Thus, then, much has been said in favour of the Jesuits 
 — more against them ; accusations have been denied, 
 countercharges have been brought, and even questions of 
 history still remain uncertain, undecided. 
 
 I am surrounded with books of every description about 
 the Jesuits. They have all been written with one pro- 
 fessed object in view — ^Truth. Truth has been contem- 
 plated by all ; but in how many different ways have they 
 gazed at her charms I Some have peered with one eye, 
 others with half an eye ; some " with spectacles on nose," 
 others with quizzing glasses ; and not a few with that 
 vacant stare which sees nothing! It is thus with the 
 aflPairs of the Jesuits; any and every mind may find 
 something to praise or blame in these extraordinary men, 
 and their extraordinary achievements. 
 
 " Nor aught so good, but strain'd from that fair use, 
 Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse!" 
 
 Such is the lenient motto that will soften down my 
 argument to the requisite tone of sober Truth. If the 
 conclusions evolved be against the Jesuits, that result 
 will issue from facts of undeniable vouchers, and reason- 
 
 • Epist. 4 R. P. N. Vitell. 1639. The letter was written to the 
 Society on a joyous occasion — its centennial anniversary — but its sad 
 foreboding must have marred the joy of every member. 
 
278 IGNATIUS OF LOTOIiA. 
 
 ings based on the admitted principles of human conduct — 
 on the philosophy of the human will. 
 
 My object in this Essay is to enable the reader to judge 
 
 Jot himself. Its materials will be taken, for the most 
 
 part, from Jesuit writers and historians. The charges on 
 
 which it will be my misfortune to insist, shall be in the 
 
 words of the Generals themselves of the Society. 
 
 VlTELLESCHI, CaRRAFA, PiCCOLOMlNI, NiCKEL — all 
 
 Generals of the Society — shall accuse the Jesuits of the 
 past : the Jesuits of history ; and their own historians 
 shall be quoted for the facts on which the argument of 
 this Essay shall be raised, without exaggeration as with- 
 out extenuation ; for, if I err, I err from the mind, not 
 from the heart. 
 
 I. 
 
 IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA. — THE SOCIETY. ITS RISE. 
 
 Lycurgus undertook to reform his countrymen. His 
 laws continued in force seven hundred years.* 
 
 Mohammed, with ten followers, went forth on his 
 "divine mission;" and within twenty years from the 
 moment of inspiration, his followers amounted to one 
 hundred and fifty thousand. 
 
 Islamism has lasted more than twelve hundred years. 
 
 The Society of the Jesuits has existed three hundred 
 and twenty-five years ; for the Brief of Clement XIV. 
 was one of those measures of expediency which weak, 
 imbecile governments emit, only to inconvenience a great 
 
 * Lycubgus flourished 884 years before the Christian era. — Lemp,, 
 Flut., &c. 
 
THE SOCIETY. — ITS RISE. 279 
 
 many people without advantaging any : mental reserva- 
 tions all — successful equivocations. 
 
 It was a "Brief;"* intentionally such; not a " Bull ;" 
 and almost as wide a thoroughfare to the Jesuits as the 
 Catholic Eelief Bill, which proscribed them in Great 
 Britain. The Jesuits boast of both ;t and well they 
 may; for it is highly flattering to feel convinced, that 
 both our friends and enemies are respectively less severe 
 or less unkind than appearances indicate. 
 
 Who was Ignatius of Loyola? He was born the yearj 
 before Boabdil, the Moor, surrendered by capitulation 
 the Albayzin and Alhambra, and delivered up to Ferdi- 
 nand and Isabella the keys of Granada. The age of 
 chivalry was gone for ever, — its excitements remained ; 
 the poetry of the human passions was now to be sung in 
 the terrible notes that Dante listened to in the realms 
 of woe. 
 
 "We are contemplating the age that is to bring forth a 
 Luther. It is easy to discover, in every direction, the 
 beginning of an insatiable spirit in the heart — the very 
 heart of Roman Catholicism ; variously modified, but 
 
 * A " Brief" is a letter which the Pope writes to kings, princes, 
 or magistrates, and sometimes to private individuals : they are gene- 
 rally written on paper, and refer to brief, succinct, unimportant mat- 
 ters. The matter of " Bulls" is more important : their form is 
 more ample : they are always written on parchment. The name is 
 derived from bulla, the leaden seal which is attached to the document. 
 On one side of the seal are the heads of Sts. Peter and Paul, on the 
 other the name of the reigning Pope. On the briefs or mezse bolle, 
 there is only the impression of the Apostles. — Dizonar. di Erud. di 
 Moroni. 
 
 t La sentence da Clement XIV., parait sous forme de bref et uon 
 de bulle, afin qu'elle soit mains solennelle et plus facile & revoquer. Ca- 
 hours — a Jesuit. I have before alluded to the opinion respecting the 
 Belief Bill, page 33. 
 
 t 1491. 
 
280 IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA. 
 
 acting even reckless of means, and tending directly to its 
 end. 
 
 It was at the very foot of the papal throne that the 
 mine was sprung : Italy pioneered the way to the human 
 mind escaping from its fastness. 
 
 Who was Ignatius of Loyola ? A French array has 
 marched into Spain — the province of Guipuscoa is over- 
 run — the invading forces lay siege to Pampeluna, the 
 capital of Navarre. A Spanish officer in the garrison 
 endeavours, but in vain, to inspire the troops with courage 
 to resist the invaders— they must capitulate. Besieged 
 and besiegers come to a parley in the citadel ; the severe 
 terms of surrender are proposed ; a base compromise is 
 about to be effected, when that Spanish officer, seizing 
 the hopeful moment, launched into furious invective 
 against the French. The conference broke up — the elec- 
 tion was made — "To arms!" resounded on all sides. 
 Now look to yon fortress ; sword in hand the warrior 
 heads his devoted band to the breach ; now compelled to 
 fight by the clever stratagem of the leader. Hand to 
 hand, and foot to foot — ^the struggle is for victory or 
 death; but fortune or Providence decides the day — the 
 hero of the fight falls desperately wounded. The hero of 
 that fight was Ignatius of Loyola. 
 
 He was born in the castle of Loyola, in Guipuscoa, a 
 province of Biscay. His father was a nobleman ; his 
 mother not less illustrious by her extraction. Inigo, or 
 Ignatius, was the youngest of eleven children. Bred in 
 the court of Ferdinand V., in the quality of page to the 
 king, he was taught all the exercises calculated to make 
 him an accomplished officer, the profession of arms being 
 the object of his choice. 
 
 In the army he gave tokens of distinguished valour ; 
 and by declining on one occasion to share the booty of a 
 
THE SOCIETY. ITS RISE. 281 
 
 captured town, he won the universal good-will that such 
 generosity always creates in the hearts of men. 
 
 If the love of glory was the god of his soul, gold was 
 not its idol. In such a man the love of woman rnles by 
 its own right : he was addicted to gallantry, and full of 
 the maxims of worldly honour, vanity, and pleasures. 
 
 Dexterous in the management of affairs, he had no 
 tincture of learning ; but the place of science was ade- 
 quately supplied by a natural cleverness ; and from his 
 tenderest years he evinced a discretion but rarely witnessed 
 in youth. 
 
 He was vjell made — of an ardent temperament — 
 haughty in demeanour — even violent in disposition ; and 
 yet he could compose his features into that soft, seduc- 
 ing expression which few men and fewer women can 
 resist. 
 
 His leg was broken in the fight. As soon as the pa- 
 tient's condition permitted, he was carried to the castle of 
 Loyola. His surgeons were now of opinion, that it was 
 necessary to break the bones anew, in order to replace 
 them into their natural position, having been badly set, or 
 jolted out of place by the movement of the journey. 
 He submitted to the cruel operation without a groan. 
 
 The result was nearly fatal. A violent fever ensued, 
 and he was given over by his medical attendants. Re- 
 signed to his fate, the warrior slept ; and in his sleep be- 
 held St. Peter, who cured him with his own hand ! 
 " The event," BouHouRs, the Jesuit, remarks, "showed 
 that this dream had nothing false in it :" when he awoke 
 he was found out of danger — his pains ceased — his 
 strength returned. I omitted to state that Ignatius had 
 composed a poem in praise of St. Peter. 
 
 This miraculous recovery seems to have left him un- 
 converted; for, finding that the bone protruded, even 
 
282 IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA. 
 
 after the miracle, and marred the elegance of his boot,* 
 our interesting admirer of grace and fitness in all things, 
 determined to resort to the bone-nipper for that perfection 
 which the apostle of his dream had not thought neces- 
 sary : he had the deformity cut away without uttering a 
 word — without changing countenance ! 
 
 This was not all : he had the limb stretched by a ma- 
 chine of iron ! But vain was this struggle for the sake 
 of the world of beauty, which requires elegance in its 
 votaries! To his despair — the operation justifies the 
 word — to his despair the experiment failed ; and he re- 
 mained crippled ever after — one leg shorter than the other. 
 
 Still confined to his bed, Ignatius asked for a book to 
 while away the tedious hours. He wanted a romance ; 
 some work of chivalry ; but though the castle of Loyola 
 was just the place for such fabulous stories, there hap- 
 pened not to be one there at the time in question : they 
 brought him the Life of Christ, and the Lives of the 
 Saints, instead. 
 
 It would amuse the reader to recount the highly 
 spiritual conclusions which the biographer ascribes to our 
 gallant, after the perusal of the works aforesaid ; but this 
 brief narrative will not admit of the detail. The reader 
 must consider Ignatius a changed man— converted. 
 
 He left the castle of his ancestors, and went to the 
 monastery of St. Benedict at Mont-Serrat ; where, 
 before the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary, he de- 
 voted himself " to Mary and to Jesus," as their knight: 
 according to the martial notions which inspired all his 
 interpretations of thoughts divine. 
 
 It is necessary to state that the Virgin Mary had also 
 appeared to him in the castle : she held the infant Jesus 
 
 • Qui empSchait le cavalier do porter la botte bien tir^e. — 
 Boubours. 
 
THE SOCIETY. ITS RISE. 283 
 
 in her arms, in the midst of a blaze of light. It was on 
 this occasion that he was freed for ever from all the troubles 
 of concupiscence. 
 
 What wonder, then, if on his journey to the shrine, he 
 coolly deliberated whether he was not called upon to kill 
 a poor Mahometan, who spoke disrespectfully of the 
 Virgin ! Returning in pursuit of the blasphemer, he left 
 it to chance to decide, by dropping the bridle of his 
 horse: determined to kill the man if the horse took the 
 fatal road. But the animal was more charitable, more 
 virtuous than its master ; it took the other road (which 
 was actually a worse road than the poor Mahometan's) 
 and spared Ignatius — the converted sinner, blessed with 
 holy visions — from the commission of a mortal sin ! 
 
 He now began a life of excessive bodily maceration ; 
 beating himself with an iron-chain four or five times a 
 day, fasting rigorously, and bewailing the crimes of his 
 youth. He was tried — he had his temptation : the devil 
 spoke to him internally. All the temptations are given 
 by the learned biographer. But he triumphed ; and if he 
 has not said that angels came and ministered unto him, 
 still he affirmed that, whilst rehearsing the office of the 
 Virgin Mary, he was elevated in spirit, and saw as it were 
 a figure, which clearly represented to him the most holy 
 Trinity ! 
 
 Devils had shaken the room where he prayed ; but of 
 what avail was their impotent foolery against one so 
 strong in faith, without the merit of belief? 
 
 The most remarkable of all the favours that he re- 
 ceived, says his biographer, was a rapture of eight days' 
 duration. They thought him dead, and were on the point 
 of burying him, when he opened his eyes, and, with a 
 tender and devout voice, exclaimed — " Ah ! Jesus !" 
 
 <« No one knows," continues the same authority, " the 
 
284 IGHATIUS OF LOYOLA. 
 
 secrets which were revealed to him in that long ravish- 
 ment : for he would never tell ; and all that could ever 
 be extorted from him was, that the graces with which God 
 favoured him were inexpressible." 
 
 After these events he composed his Spiritual Exercises, 
 and undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Indeed, it 
 would appear that his intention was to labour for the 
 conversion of souls in the East. However, after visiting 
 the holy places, he returned to Europe, and was miracu- 
 lously saved from shipwreck, to be subsequently impri- 
 soned on a suspicion of heresy. Escaping from the 
 Inquisition, he went to Paris, with the intention of sup- 
 plying the deficiencies which his Divine knowledge still left 
 in his enlightened mind. He entered at the university; 
 but, experimenting with his Exercises on some of the 
 students, he got into trouble : these youths sold all they 
 had, and gave the money to the poor. 
 
 Meanwhile, it must be evident that Ignatius has 
 hitherto been a very extensive traveller for a man without 
 funds, subsisting on charity ; but such is the fact never- 
 theless. Doubtless it was his own experience that induced 
 him, subsequently, to bribe the Pope's good will to his 
 enterprise, by stipulating for no pay or support in the 
 missions of the Jesuits. 
 
 In Paris — as elsewhere when he made the attempt — ^he 
 was more anxious to extend the practice of his Exercises 
 than to advance in science ; for when a man gets a 
 hobby of any kind, he is irresistibly inclined to ride it for 
 ever. At Barcelona, for instance, he forgot everything he 
 read; and whilst conjugating the verb Amo, I love, he 
 could only repeat to himself, " I love God," or, " I am 
 loved by God." And at Alcala, where he attended some 
 lectures in logic, physics, and divinity, he only con- 
 founded his ideas by the multiplicity of his studies ; and 
 
THE SOCIETY. ITS RISE. 285 
 
 learned nothing at all, though he studied night and 
 day. 
 
 He managed by his dexterity to exchange a public 
 whipping, at the college of St. Barbara, for a public 
 triumph. It seems that Ignatius had been admonished 
 not to interfere with the studies of the students by his 
 devotional practices ; he disobeyed, and the punishment 
 was announced. But by a single interview he operated 
 so effectually on the principal of the college, that without 
 replying, the latter led him by the hand to the expectant 
 students, all ready for the sign to inflict the penance ; — 
 then threw himself at the feet of Ignatius, and begged 
 his pardon for having believed the evil reports against 
 him ; and, rising, pronounced him a saint ! 
 
 After this the reader will not be surprised to hear, that 
 Ignatius now began to collect followers : the Spiritual 
 Exercises were operating. Peter Le Fevre, or Faber, 
 was his first convert ; Xavier, afterwards a saint, was his 
 next; and Laynez, Salmeron, Bobadilla' — all famous 
 men in the Society — subsequently enlisted. Moved by 
 the pressing instances and exhortations of Ignatius, they 
 made a vow to renounce the world, and to preach the 
 gospel in Palestine ; or, if that design were thwarted, 
 to offer themselves to the Pope, to be employed in the 
 service of God in what manner he should judge best. 
 They pronounced this vow aloud in the subterraneous 
 chapel at Montmartre, after they had all received the 
 sacrament from Peter Faber. 
 
 Claudius Le Jay, Codure, and Brouet afterwards joined 
 the band; which, with Ignatius, now amounted to ten 
 men — of different nations — of widely different disposi- 
 tions and attainments, but all devoted to Ignatius. 
 
 They went to Rome. The Pope, Paul III., received 
 
286 IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA. 
 
 them graciously, and permitted those among them who 
 were not priests to be immediately ordained. 
 
 War having been declared against the Turks by the 
 Venetians, their pilgrimage, it is said, was rendered im- 
 practicable. It was at this time, and whilst the band re- 
 mained at Vicenza, that Ignatius enjoined his companions 
 to call themselves "the Society of Jesus" — "because 
 they were to fight against heresies and vice under the 
 standard of Christ." 
 
 From this place he set out for Rome. On the journey, 
 whilst in prayer, he saw the Eternal Father presenting 
 him (Ignatius) to His Son; and he saw Jesus Christ 
 bearing a heavy cross — who, after having received him 
 (Ignatius) from His Father, said these words to him : / 
 shall be propitious to you at Rome. 
 
 He related this vision to his companions, in order to 
 fortify them against any contrarieties that might stand in 
 their way. 
 
 " This vision," says Bouhours, " is one of the most 
 remarkable that St. Ignatius ever had ; and it is so well 
 vouched for, that it admits not of a doubt,'' It is a strik- 
 ing, awful — I had almost said hideous fact — that this 
 presumptuous mortal, referring to this (his vision) actually 
 wrote these words : " When the Eternal Father placed 
 me with His Son ! "* 
 
 Again was Ignatius well received at Rome. All his 
 companions soon followed at his command ; and he pro- 
 posed to them his design, and motives, of forming them- 
 selves into a religious order. They agreed. 
 
 Three cardinals were appointed by the Pope to examine 
 the merits of the application made by Ignatius : they at 
 
 • Quando el Padre Eteruo me puso con su Hijo. Bouhours trans- 
 lates jiuso into associa ou mit. — Vie d' Ignace, 1. 111. 
 
THE SOCIETY. ITS HISE. 
 
 287 
 
 first opposed it, but afterwards changed their opinion : it 
 is said, " on a sudden." One of them avowed that the 
 order seemed necessary to remedy the evils of Christen- 
 dom, and arrest the progress of heresy then spreading all 
 over Europe. Possibly the disinterestedness of the pro- 
 mise to serve his Holiness v^ith desperate devotion, and 
 without the expectation of any pecuniary support, had 
 considerable influence in the determination that followed 
 — the Jesuits would be " a cheap defence" of the Pope- 
 dom. Paul III. confirmed the Institute of Ignatius, by a 
 Bull, dated September the 27th, 1540. The number of 
 the professed was at first limited to sixty ; but the re- 
 striction was taken off two years after by another bull — 
 the scheme having proved eminently successful.* 
 
 II. 
 
 THE SOCIETY ITS CONSTITUTIONS PROGRESS. 
 
 The Society being established, Ignatius deemed it 
 necessary to begin with electing a commander-in-chief — 
 or general ; for he would not resign his martial notions :. 
 they might certainly be sanctified — rendered innocent. f 
 With this view he summoned his little troop to Rome — 
 not all, for some of his men were already at important 
 posts. True to its subsequent history, the Society was 
 
 * For all the facts recorded in this Section, see Bouhours, La Vie de 
 St. Ignacc, and Butler's Lives of the Saints, July 31. 
 
 t All the facts stated in this Section are from Bouhours, or Butler 
 quoting Jesuit historians. This general notification is thought more 
 advisable in order not to encumber the text with references. 
 
288 THE SOCIETY.. 
 
 already in position to influence the minds' of kings. 
 Xavier and Rodriguez were at the court of Portugal ; 
 Faeer at the Diet of Worms ; and Bobadilla had ex- 
 press orders not to leave the kingdom of Naples before 
 the affairs committed to his management were accom- 
 plished. The absent members had left their votes ; the 
 suflFrages were collected — Ignatius was elected General. 
 
 Ignatius was afflicted and even surprised at seeing 
 himself elected General ! — What ! A man who had been 
 favoured with Divine visions— who had been enlightened 
 so as to see through the mysteries of faith — who had 
 been placed or associated by God the Father with God 
 the Son — such a mortal considered fit to govern! Im-' 
 possible ! 
 
 Ignatius, as modestly as Julius CiESAR, refused the 
 dignity — nobly but gently pushed away the proffered 
 diadem ! 
 
 This refusal only served to confirra the electors in their 
 judgment : still, obedient to his request they spent four 
 days more in prayer and penance, before the next election. 
 Ignatius was again elected ! 
 
 Surely the Divine will is now manifest. Ignatius is of 
 a different opinion : he makes another effort to escape. 
 He says that " he will put the matter into the hands of 
 his confessor; and if the latter, who knows all his bad 
 inclinations," which the reader is aware, were all wiped 
 away by the Virgin Mary — " if his confessor shall com- 
 mand him in the name of Jesus Christ, to submit, he will 
 obey blindly.'' 
 
 It is needless to state that the said confessor " told 
 him plainly that he was resisting the Holy Ghost in resist- 
 ing the election; and commanded him, on the part of 
 God, to accept the appointment." 
 
 One curious question arises here. For whom did 
 
PBELIMINAKIES. 289 
 
 Ignatius vote in the election ? Surely if this man did 
 not think himself qualified, he should have named the 
 companion whom he deemed worthy of the high function ; 
 particularly as he had called the electors to Rome for 
 the express purpose of the election. But the sentimental 
 votes recorded by Bouhours, lack that of Holy Father 
 Ignatius. Xavier, Codure, Salmeron, have left their 
 votes on the grateful page ; and doubtless every other 
 vote was equally fervid — but it seems that we must 
 remain perfectly mystified as to the conduct of this 
 modest saint on that interesting occasion. It exhibits 
 character however, and therefore have I dwelt on the 
 incident : I have to depict Ignatius in the sequel. 
 
 Anticipating the celebrated " Constitutions," Ignatius 
 issued a few regulations for the guidance of his soldiers ; 
 the sum total whereof was " to have God before their 
 eyes always" as much as possible — with Christ for a 
 model ; to see God in their Superiors : obedience being 
 an infallible oracle, &c. Mutual charity, silence, and 
 religious deportment, were enjoined; and if they should 
 fall into any sin that might become public, they were not 
 to despair; but rather " to give thanks to God for 
 permitting them to commit a fault, and for teaching 
 them the weakness of their virtue." Lastly to press for- 
 ward gaily, but not excessively so, in the Divine work ; 
 undeviating, unflinching. 
 
 Xavier was sent to India by a Brief; Salmeron and 
 Brouet were despatched into Ireland by the Pope; 
 Laynez went to Venice ; Faber to Madrid ; Bobadilla 
 to Vienna, and Le Jay to Ratisbon. Ignatius remained 
 at Rome to be inspired in the concoction of the Consti- 
 tutions. 
 
 Meanwhile, at the very time when Luther was engaged 
 in purging the church of Romanism, Ignatius was use- 
 
 u 
 
290 THE INSTITUTE. 
 
 fully occupied with purging Rome of its licentiousness : 
 both excellent works and worthy of being recorded on the 
 same page. All mankind owed a debt of gratitude to 
 Luther for the light of mind; and the streets of Rome 
 ■were a monument to Ignatius for the darkness which he 
 rendered innocent.* 
 
 From the contemplation of this pious work, we will 
 turn to the famous Constitutions of the Society. The 
 Institute of the Jesuits is contained in fifteen distinct 
 works; the book of the Constitutions being the ground- 
 
 * See Bouhours, for the account of this reformation of the public 
 sinners at Home. It is usual to talk very finely on the public 
 depravity which is said to have " followed" the Keformation ; but if 
 the holders of such an opinion will take the trouble to investigate the 
 history of the church at the period which immediately preceded that 
 event, they may perhaps be disabused of that opinion. In truth, the 
 corruption of morals — enclosed though it was by the universal church 
 —was rampant throughout society. The conduct of pontiffs was 
 ambiguous, if not highly criminal ; bishops, priests, monks, and laity 
 alike slid in the slippery path, that seemed to stretch from the sanc- 
 tuary itself. See Cornelii Aurelli Gaudani Apocalypsis, seu Visio 
 Mirabilis super Miserabili Statu Matris Ecclesiae, in Caspar. Burmanni 
 Analect. Hist, de Hadriano VI. See also Mosheim, Eccl. Hist vol. ii. 
 i. 4. c. 1. See also Villani, Istor. c. 9. As far back as the tenth 
 century, vice rioted in the papal chair. " John XII.," says Villani, 
 " was a man of evil life, tenendo publicamente le femine, and hunted 
 and hawked like a private gentleman, and did many guilty and furious 
 things." The " infamous Borgia," as even Reeve, the Roman 
 Catholic, calls him — began the sixteenth century as Alexander VI. 
 Dante, Petrarch, and Battista of Mantua, have immortalized the crimes 
 of popes, monks, and priests, in the chorus of guilt — their books were 
 in the libraries of cardinals : Sadolet and Bembo knew long passages 
 by heart, which, they recited, notwithstanding the papal censure by 
 •which they were prohibited. Battista wrote these verses : 
 
 Vivere qui sancte oupitis, discedite Rom& ; 
 Omnia cum liceant, non licet esse bonum. 
 
 —See Jewel's Apolo. c. 4, 
 
DEFINITIONS. 291 
 
 work of the system : strongly, deeply built ; with a know- 
 ledge of mental architecture unsurpassed, except in the 
 Spiritual Exercises of the same cunning Builder. 
 
 Subsequent Rules, Decrees, Canons, &c., are stated to 
 have resulted from the spirit of the Institute, which they 
 are intended to uphold and enforce. 
 
 The Constitutions are divided into ten parts. They are 
 preceded by a " General Examen," to be proposed to all 
 who wish to be admitted into the Society of Jesus. Ac- 
 cording to this Examen, the end of the Society is not only 
 to give to each member the means of working out his own 
 salvation and spiritual perfection, with the grace of God ; 
 but with the same grace diligently to apply himself to the 
 salvation and perfection of his neighbour. To attain 
 this end the better, three vows are taken ; namely, of 
 Obedience, Poverty, and Chastity : understanding Poverty 
 to mean that the Jesuit will not and cannot have any 
 revenue for his own maintenance, nor for any other pur- 
 pose. This is to be understood not only with regard to 
 each member in particular, but also with regard to the 
 churches and houses of the professed. No stipend nor 
 alms are to be received for masses, sermons, lectures, the 
 administration of any sacrament, or any other pious office 
 which the Society, according to its institute, can perform. 
 Such emoluments are lawful to others, but to the Jesuit 
 they are forbidden : God alone is to reward the child of 
 Ignatius.* 
 
 The professed Jesuits are those who make, besides the 
 three vows just mentioned, an express vow to the Pope 
 and his successors ; to set out without excuse, without a 
 viaticum or travelling expenses, to any part of the world 
 ■ — among Christians or Infidels — " for the prosecution of 
 such matters as tend to divine worship and the good of 
 * Exam, Gen. 
 
 u 2 
 
292 DEFINITIONS. 
 
 the Christian religion" — a very comprehensive formula as- 
 suredly ! 
 
 As to externals, the manner of life — for-just reasons, 
 having the greater service of God always before them — is 
 common ; the Society does not assume, by obligation, 
 any of the ordinary penances or macerations of the body. 
 These are left to the dictates of individual piety and the 
 judgment of the immediate superior. 
 
 The members of the Society are divided into four 
 classes. 
 
 I. The Professi, or Professed. 
 
 II. The Coadjutors ; who are admitted into the Society 
 for the divine service and aid of the Society in matters 
 spiritual ' and temporal. These are the temporal coadju- 
 tors or lay-brothers ; they bind themselves by the three 
 simple vows only. 
 
 III. The Scholastic!, or Scholars ; whose future position 
 in the Society is to be determined by their respective 
 qualifications. They may become either spiritual coad- 
 jutors or simple priests of the Society; or be permitted to 
 enter the ranks of the Pope's life-guard aforesaid, after 
 mature deliberation on the part of the authorities con- 
 cerned. 
 
 IV. The Novices. These are admitted indeterminately : 
 their respective talents will hereafter assign their position 
 in the Society. They must be " indifiFerent ;'' that is, 
 totally resigned to the god-like will of the head that 
 governs. 
 
 A probation of two years' duration precedes the vows 
 of the temporal coadjutors ; and of the scholastici, who 
 are to become spiritual coadjutors. 
 
 Another probation of one year's duration precedes the 
 last vow of the Professi, or Professed. 
 
 Although the Society may have colleges and bouses of 
 
QUALIFICATIONS. 293 
 
 probation, endowed with revenues for the sustenance of 
 the scholastici before they are received into the ranks of 
 the professed, still, revenues of this kind cannot be ex- 
 pended for any other purpose, according to the apostolical 
 letters; nor can any of the members, even the coadju- 
 tors, make use of the same. 
 
 So much for the "ways and means" of the Society in 
 its original conception. 
 
 I shall now endeavour to give the outlines of the sys- 
 tem ; refraining from such minute details as would not 
 interest the general reader — always translating the text 
 of the original, or giving its substance. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 The more endowed the applicant for admission is with 
 natural talents or acquirements, and the more trying the 
 experiments have been in which he has stood the test, the 
 more fit will he be for the Society. The Society requires 
 sound knowledge, or an aptitude to acquire it, in the 
 candidate, united to tact in the management of afiairs ; 
 or certainly the gift of a good judgment to acquire that 
 discretion. He must have a good memory, both quick 
 and retentive. The desire of spiritual perfection must be 
 in the will; coolness, constancy, and determination in action. 
 There must be zeal for the salvation of souls ; " which is 
 the cause of the love that the candidate has for the So- 
 ciety." 
 
 Elegance of expression is particularly to be desired ;* 
 being very necessary in his intercourse with others ; and 
 a handsome or agreeable person, t which usually edifies 
 those with whom we have, to deal : good health and 
 
 * Exoptanda est sermonis gratia,-7P. !• c. 2. 
 t Species honesta — Ibid. 
 
294 IMPEDIMENTS. 
 
 Strength of body are essentials. The age for admission 
 to the Novitiate is fourteen and above; for Profession, 
 five and twenty. 
 
 The external recommendations of nobility, wealth, repu- 
 tation, and the like — since they are not sufficient if others 
 be wanting — will not be necessary when other qualifica- 
 tions are possessed. Still, as far as they conduce to edi- 
 fication, they enhance the fitness of the candidate. 
 
 The impediments to admission are previous apostacy 
 from the church, and heresy; having committed murder, 
 or being infamous on account of some enormity; to have 
 been a monk or hermit; being married, or a slave, or 
 partially insane. These are stringent impediments; but 
 the Pope and the General can grant a dispensation even 
 in the case of these impediments, when it is certain that 
 the candidate is adorned with such divine gifts as to be of 
 great assistance to the Society — always understood, "for 
 the service of God and our Lord." 
 
 Minor impediments are, apparently indomitable passions, 
 and such a habit of sin as to give little hope of amend- 
 ment ; inconstancy of mind; " a defective judgment, or 
 manifest pertinacity, which usually gives great trouble to 
 all congregations." 
 
 Among the questions to be put to candidates are the 
 following: — Whether any of his ancestors were heretics? 
 whether his parents are alive ? their name, condition as 
 to wealth or poverty, their occupation ? whether he has 
 ever been in pecuniary difficulties, or is bound by any 
 claim to his parents qr relatives ? whether, discarding his 
 own opinion and judgment, he will leave that point to the 
 judgment of his Superior or the Society ? how many 
 brothers and sisters he has ? their situation, whether mar- 
 ried or otherwise, their occupation or manner of life ? 
 
A DISTINCTION. 295 
 
 with regard to himself, whether he has ever uttered words 
 that may seem to have pledged him to marry ? or has 
 had, or has, a son ? 
 
 A severe scrutiny as to his spiritual bent, faith, and 
 conscience, follows this domestic inquisition. If the candi- 
 date has any property, he must promise " to leave all," 
 without delay, at the command of his Superior, after he 
 has been a year in the Novitiate. But he is to resign his 
 property to the " poor ;" for the Gospel says, " give to 
 the poor," not to relatives. Thus he will give a better 
 example of having put off his inordinate love towards his 
 parents, and of avoiding the usual unpleasantness of dis- 
 tribution, which proceeds from the said love ; and thus — 
 the opening to return to his parents and relatives, and to 
 their very memory, being closed beforehand — he may 
 persevere firmly and fixedly in his vocation. 
 
 He may, however, give something to his relatives ; but 
 this must be left entirely to the discretion and judgment 
 of the Superior, and those who are appointed by him to 
 investigate the claim to relief or benefit. 
 
 All ready money that he may have must be given up, 
 to be returned to him should he leave, or be found unfit 
 for, the Society. 
 
 Any defect in the integrity of the body — disease, weak- 
 ness, or remarkable deformity ; being too young or too 
 old, or bound by civil obligations or debt, constitute 
 minor impediments. But in case of these minor impedi- 
 ments, as in the major, the Society can grant dispensa- 
 tions. 
 
 Part II. 
 The power of dismissal from the Society is granted by 
 the General to the various Provincials, or rulers of a 
 province (like that of England) ; and to local Superiors 
 
296 DISMISSION. 
 
 and Rectors, in order that, in the whole body of the So- 
 ciety, the subjection of holy Obedience may be continued 
 — that the inferiors may clearly know that they depend 
 on their immediate Superiors ; and that it becomes them 
 very much, yea, is necessary, that they should be submis- 
 sive to them in all things. Caution is advised in the 
 matter of dismissal ; and the caution is to be increased 
 according to the position in the Society which the delin- 
 quent happens to hold — a suggestion of mere human 
 prudence which is self-evident. 
 
 In important cases, Provincials should not dismiss 
 without consulting the General. I need scarcely state 
 that a case becomes important, not by the guilt of the 
 delinquent, but by his rank in the Society.* 
 
 The causes of dismissal are, " Incorrigibility in certain 
 depraved affections and vices ; even should they not scan- 
 dalise others, on account of their secrecy." 
 
 Secondly, If it be contrary to the good of the Society 
 to retaiu any one : the good of the whole body should be 
 preferred to that of the individual. 
 
 Of course, any of the impediments being subsequently 
 discovered in probation, may be just causes of dis- 
 missal. f 
 
 So far the Constitutions. But a Declaration runs on 
 hand in hand to the following effect ; — " How far certain 
 faults,! which are said to be contrary to the divine honour 
 and the good of the Society, should be tolerated, — since 
 the matter depends on many particular circumstances, of 
 persons, times, and places, — it must necessarily be left to 
 the discreet zeal of those who have that matter in 
 charge."! 
 
 Dismissal is to take place as privately as possible, so 
 
 * Part 2, u. 1, Decl. f fart 2, c. 2. 
 
 t Defeetus. § Ibid, A. 
 
CAPIAS. 297 
 
 as to cherish the good-will and charity of the delinquent 
 towards the Society ;* and aid should be given him to 
 embrace some other state of life. Charity should offer 
 him her hand at dismissal, and defend his memory in his 
 absence ;t at least, such is the import of the passage 
 ■which I have thus condensed. 
 
 Those who leave the Society of their own accord are 
 not to be sought after, unless for very good reasons. 
 " Should they be such as we should not thus resign- 
 particularly if they seem to have left on account of some 
 violent temptation, or deceived from without by others — 
 we may endeavour to bring them back, making use of the 
 Privileges conceded to us for this purpose by the Apos- 
 tolic See." 
 
 The Privilege referred to pronounces " excommunica- 
 tion ipso facto" against any Jesuit who returns to the 
 world after having taken the vows — from the guilt of 
 which he cannot be absolved, except by the Pope or a 
 Superior of the Society. By another such mandate, 
 eight days are allowed him to return, under the penalty of 
 excommunication latm sententicB, which is a case reserved 
 to the Pope ; and all who aid, advise, or abet the fugitive 
 are obnoxious to the same penalty. 
 
 By another mandate, the General and other Superiors 
 can summarily, and without the form of judgment, re- 
 claim, take, and imprison the delinquent, and compel 
 him to undergo the merited penance, just as if he were 
 an apostate, calling in the aid of the secular arm. 
 
 Nay, even those who are dismissed from the Society — 
 unless they enter some other order with permission of the 
 General, the Provincial, or the Pope — are forbidden to 
 
 * Ibid. 6. tllbid. 8 et 9. 
 
298 CONSEQUENCES. 
 
 hear confessions, teach or preach, under penalty of ex- 
 communication.* 
 
 These severe enactments seem to scoff with the hiss 
 of contempt at the words of the Constitutions, where 
 the spirit of mildness is enjoined in this proceeding, 
 without exception — omnino, in spiritu mansuetudinis pro* 
 cedere.t 
 
 What wonder, then, that the " secsets" of this Society 
 have rarely transpired, at a time when such terrible 
 penalties hung in all their Apostolical horrors over the 
 head of the apostate ! 
 
 Why should a Society need such a defence, if its 
 motives, its means, its exploits were honest? Some 
 idea of the power of the Jesuits in the day of their great- 
 ness, may be formed from what we have just read: as 
 we proceed, the argument will be developed with fearful 
 iteration in the same strain. 
 
 On being re-admitted, the fugitive must perform his 
 appointed penance, undergo another examination, make 
 a general confession, and be subjected to other tests and 
 trials. 
 
 Part III. 
 
 The training and preservation of the novices are 
 amply discussed in the third part of the Constitutions. 
 Having already thoroughly developed the subject, I 
 shall now confine my remarks to those matters which 
 
 * Comp. Privil. Ajiost, All the Superiors Lave the power to " in- 
 flict coirectioss and punishments" — provided they are deliberate and 
 mature, " they may proceed freely" in the matter — ^libere procedera 
 possunt, — Ibid. Correct, 
 
 t Part 2. c. 4, 5. t 
 
A DELICATE QUESTION. 299 
 
 were not enforced^in the English Novitiate; or such 
 particulars as have not been incidentally mentioned. 
 
 It is not thought necessary that the novice should 
 resign the property he may happen to possess at the 
 time of his admission, unless the Superior should com- 
 mand him to do so, after the lapse of a year; "judg- 
 ing that in property of this kind, he may have an occa- 
 sion of temptation, or be impeded in his spiritual pro- 
 gress, since he may cling to his wealth with some im- 
 moderate affection or confidence." 
 
 Anticipating a delicate^ question, the prudent legislator 
 says: — "Whenever at his entrance, or after his en- 
 trance on the practice of obedience, the novice, being 
 moved by his devotion, wishes to dispense his property 
 or a part of it, to the subsidy of the Society, doubtless 
 he would do a work of greater perfection, alienation, 
 and abnegation of all self-love, by not descending with 
 a certain tender affection to particular places, applying 
 his property to this purpose rather than to that, accord- 
 ing to its suggestion : but rather earnestly wishing the 
 greater and more general good of the Society,* he should 
 leave this matter to the judgment of him who has the 
 care of the whole Society, whether the property is to be 
 applied to another place rather than to that which is in 
 the same province ; for he (the General) can know better 
 tban any one else what is proper to be done, and what 
 is most urgent in all places, taking into consideration, 
 kings, princes, and potentates, lest any cause of offence 
 be given them."f 
 
 Each novice is to have his settled confessor ; and the 
 latter should know what cases of conscience the Superior 
 
 * "Instituted for the greater glory of God, and the universal good 
 and utility of souls." 
 t Part 3, u. 1, 9. 
 
300 PRECAUTIONS. 
 
 reserves to himself for absolution. Such cases shall be 
 reserved to him as may seem necessary or very proper to 
 be known by him, in order that he may the better 
 apply a remedy. 
 
 Temptations must be anticipated : so that if any one is 
 observed to be inclined to pride, he should be exercised in 
 lowly occupations;* and so on with regard to the other 
 propensities. 
 
 Women must not enter the houses of the Society, nor 
 the colleges, but only the churches ; unless they are 
 remarkable for their very great charity and dignity: 
 then the Superior may give them a dispensation to enter 
 — always for just reasons, justas ob causus — in order to 
 see the houses, if such be their wish. 
 
 Public punishments should be awarded to public faults. 
 If the novices do not go to confession within the prescribed 
 time, their food must be stopped, till they take the food 
 of the spirit. If any one goes to another confessor 
 than the one appointed, he must repeat all that he has 
 confessed to his proper confessor ; who being thus ig- 
 norant of nothing with regard to his conscience, may 
 better assist him in the Lord. The third part concludes 
 with the following general observations : — 
 
 " With regard to the preservation of our temporalities, 
 besides that care which charity and reason impose on all, 
 it will be right to assign this function to some one in par- 
 ticular ; in order that he may take care of them as the 
 goods of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 For other necessary functions, likewise, and those par- 
 ticularly which are more decently performed at homef 
 
 * Rebus abjectioribus. 
 
 t Such as tbe functions of tbe washer-man, barber, and tbe like : 
 who should be in the house if possible. Ibid. H. The head-tailor at 
 Stonyhurst was a temporal coadjutor, lay-brother, or Jesuit. How 
 
EDUCATION. 301 
 
 than abroad, care must be taken that the necessary number 
 of oificials be appointed ; and it is expedient that the 
 temporal coadjutors, or lay-brothers, should learn to 
 perform these offices, if they are ignorant of the art — all 
 for the glory, &c.* 
 
 Part IV. 
 
 The colleges of the Society are governed by Rectors 
 and their assistants. 
 
 If the revenues are insufficient for the support of all 
 the functionaries, alms may be begged, even from door to 
 door, if necessary. 
 
 After prescribing the species of devotional exercises to 
 be administered to the scholastici, their studies are enu- 
 merated. The languages, logic, natural and moral phi- 
 losophy, metaphysics, theology, and the Scriptures, enter 
 into the prescribed course ; the time allotted for each 
 being unlimited, and dependent on the judgment of the 
 Rector after examination. 
 
 The scholars may be trained in all these faculties ; but, 
 as they cannot excel in all, each must be made to excel 
 in some one or other of them, according to his age, 
 genius, inclination, and previous acquirements. 
 
 In the books of heathen writers, nothing must be read 
 that can offend decency. They must be expurgated ; and 
 
 many more such officials were or are in the English province, I cannot 
 state. Alluding to the time when the Society numbered all manner of 
 workmen among her temporal coadj utors, I asked a Jesuit at Stony- 
 hurst, if anything of the kind existed at the time in question ; he 
 said, " Not as yet," 
 
 It would be a curious inquiry to find out, how poor ignorant opera- 
 tives are made acquaiiited with the fact that the Society is open to 
 them also? But, in point of fact, " licite et cum merito moveri" pos- 
 sunt ! 
 
 * Part 3, c. 2. 
 
302 TALIS QUUM SIS, ETC. 
 
 the Society will " use the remnants as the spoils of 
 Egypt."* 
 
 The books written by Christians, although good in 
 themselves, are not to be read if the author be a sus- 
 pected character, lest there should result a partiality for 
 the author. In every department, such books as may or 
 may not be read, must be determined by the authorities. 
 
 All impediments to study must be removed, whether 
 resulting from devotional practices, or mortifications in- 
 dulged in to excess, or unseasonably. 
 
 There must be a library common to all ; but its key 
 must be confided to those whom the Rector may consider 
 trustworthy, and each student is to have what books are 
 necessary. 
 
 Assiduity in the classes, repetitions of what they have 
 learned, the solution of difficulties that result, public dis- 
 putations, private conferences — all these train the Jesuit 
 mind, and give it that perfection which induced the philo- 
 sopher to exclaim — " Talis, quum sis, utinam noster 
 esses !"t This enthusiastic admiration of Jesuit art, 
 in so great a man, must be excused, if not shared, by all; 
 and we have only to lament — sadly to regret — that our 
 admiration, as well as that of the philosopher, must be 
 confined to the " application and ability of those masters 
 in cultivating the minds and forming the morals of the 
 young." 
 
 The Latin language is to be commonly spoken, and 
 perfection in style is to be acquired by diligent practice. 
 Emulation must be excited by competition ; two stu- 
 dents being opposed to each other by a pious challenge.! 
 
 * Ut spoliis ^gypti Sooietas uti poterit. 
 
 t Bacon, quoting the words of Agesilaus to Pbarnabasus, — De 
 dign. and Augm. Scient. 
 
 X Sanct^ emulatione se invicem provocent. 
 
STIMULAMTS. 303 
 
 A specimen of their composition may be sent to the Pro- 
 vincial or the General ; and an additional impulse is 
 given to emulation by the fact, made known to every 
 student, that he will be examined in all his studies at 
 their conclusion. 
 
 Public schools, for general education, may be opened. 
 
 In these, instruction in Christian doctrine must be 
 attended to ; monthly confessions enjoined ; and corporal 
 correction must not be wanting when necessary, but not 
 to be inflicted by a Jesuit, There should be a public 
 corrector : if one cannot be had, some means of castiga- 
 tion must be devised, either administered by one of the 
 scholars themselves, or in some other convenient manner. 
 
 For these spiritual services the Jesuits should receive 
 no pay, according to the Constitutions ; should receive 
 no temporal reward ; they give freely what they have 
 freely received — dare grath quue gratis accepimus ; but an 
 endowment is permitted for the support of those who are 
 employed in the various offices of the college. 
 
 The Rectors of colleges are appointed by the General, 
 or by those to whom he delegates the appointment. 
 They may be deprived of office by the General, but are 
 absolute whilst in command. The Rector is aided in his 
 duties by a minister or vice-rector ; and minor officials 
 march in the train of obedience — each with his meritorious 
 contribution to the common fund of philosophical comfort 
 and spiritual perfection. 
 
 The Society may undertake the direction of universi- 
 ties, where, besides the humanity studies, theology, and 
 philosophy, Arabic, Chaldaic, Hindostanee, and the 
 Turkish language may be taught ; indeed these languages 
 are to be taught in the colleges, when the future " apos- 
 tles" are being prepared for their arduous mission among 
 the Gentiles. 
 
304 THE JESUIT METHOD. 
 
 Logic, physics, metaphysics, and mathematics must 
 also be taught, but only so far as the scope of the Society 
 admits. 
 
 The course for a master of arts occupies three years 
 and a half; for divinity, six. Strictness in the examina- 
 tion for the degree is enjoined; and ambition is held in 
 check by the uncertainty that exists as to the position to 
 which a successful candidate may be promoted. 
 
 The fourth part conchides with a minute assignation of 
 all the officials in the universities — evidencing consider- 
 able tact and discretion, as usual — not forgetting the 
 standing motto* of the Jesuits, which palls upon the ear 
 like the sound of a musical string struck as you turn the 
 screw in tuning — till it snaps and makes your blood 
 run cold. The " Ratio Studiorum" and " Ars Discendi" 
 of the Jesuits exhibit an admirable course of studies, 
 adapted to every capacity by its easy and smooth deve- 
 lopement, and calculated to bring forth every hidden gift 
 which nature conceals so often — apparently apprehensive 
 of that tendency to abuse the gifts of Heaven, to which 
 the human will is exposed. 
 
 The limits of this work will not permit me to give an 
 analysis of the Jesuit method. The task would have 
 been equally pleasant and easy; since the method was 
 fully carried out at the college where the author was 
 educated — a secular college, but originally organized by 
 some English Jesuits, as I was informed at Stonyhurst. 
 Indeed, my memory now brings to mind very many rules 
 and regulations, which point to the Jesuit system as their 
 source. 
 
 The main characteristics of the Jesuit system of educa- 
 tion are, regularity, adaptation of the subjects to the 
 student's capacity ; frequent repetitions ; — and perhaps 
 * For the greater glory, &c. 
 
THE PROFESSED. 305 
 
 the most important — due time is given for each depart- 
 ment to be studied exclusively, such as a year, two years, 
 three years or more, for each. A student of common 
 capacity, who has to ascend regularly from the lowest 
 to the highest school, would require sixteen years for 
 the course ! I believe the system to be a good one, but 
 the time required will never permit it to be more than 
 partially applied by those who agree with Bacon — unless 
 time is no object in the end proposed. ' 
 
 Each pupil has his pedagogue, or tutor, who prepares 
 him for the classes by explaining all his difficulties, whilst 
 the pupil construes the classics : thus, he first learns the 
 portion to be construed ; secondly, he reads it to his 
 tutor ; thirdly, to the master ; fourthly, he should read it 
 over to himself afterwards ; fifthly, he will be examined 
 at the end of the quarter in all that he reads ; sixthly, 
 likewise at the end of the year. Truly this is enough to 
 weld knowledge to the brain, however adamantine it may 
 be by nature ! 
 
 Part V. 
 
 The fifth part treats of the qualifications requisite in the 
 professed members. Considerable progress in learning 
 and the prescribed essentials of a perfect Jesuit, are the 
 introductions to this distinction — I mean the permission 
 to take the fourth vow — the vow that admits the favoured 
 member to his position in the body of the hydra. 
 
 Part VI. 
 
 This section treats more at large respecting the nature, 
 extent, and motives of obedience; reverence to superiors; 
 manifestation of conscience by every member, once a year, 
 to the local Superior ; and inculcates unlimited confidence 
 in his judgment in all things — since " he holds the place 
 
 X 
 
306 VERISIMILITUDES. 
 
 of Christ himself in regard of those who are beneath him 
 by holy obedience." 
 
 It also treats of Poverty — " the firm wall of the order." 
 No innovation is to be made in the thorough, perfect in- 
 terpretation of this vow : to which effect a promise is re- 
 quired from the professed. 
 
 The professed must live on alms in their houses ; and 
 no one must try to induce persons to leave endowments 
 to the houses or churches of the Society : the pious gift 
 must flow, as by . inspiration, or by a natural syphon, 
 from the heart of charity. 
 
 The injunction to receive no stipend for any service is 
 again most solemnly given: indeed, from the numerous 
 repetitions to this effect in the constitutions, one can 
 scarcely imagine how the Jesuits could transgress — unless, 
 with " veterem cecinere querelam," they smile, and sleep, 
 and dream the sound away ! 
 
 To avoid all appearance of avarice, there must be no 
 box in the churches of the Society to receive the offerings 
 of the faithful. 
 
 The Jesuits must not accustom themselves to visit the 
 great, unless for pious purposes. 
 
 Jesuits cannot succeed to property (hereditariae suc- 
 cessionis non erunt capaces). The houses and churches 
 are included in this prohibition ; which is intended to 
 preclude " all litigation and disputes." 
 
 The Jesuit's dress must be decent, but homely : silks 
 and precious stuffs seem repugnant to poverty, and there- 
 fore must not be used. 
 
 No Jesuit can submit to be examined before a court of 
 justice, in civil or criminal cases, without special permis- 
 sion of his Superiors ; and in certain cases no Superior 
 can grant permission : such as criminal or defamatory 
 cases. 
 
JESUITISM. 307 
 
 Part VII. 
 
 The Missions of the Society are now under considera- 
 tion. The whole earth is open to the Jesuit. At the 
 word of command from the Pope or the General, he is 
 ready for every fate : to share the luxury of kings, whose 
 "conscience" he must govern; or to be devoured by 
 cannibals who prefer his flesh to the spirit of his religion. 
 
 The General sends out his missionaries whithersoever 
 he pleases; and must select them according to the quali- 
 fications required by the circumstances in which they will 
 be placed. The strong and healthy, the trustworthy and 
 tried^ — probati et securiores — the discreet and insinuating 
 — qui discretionis et conversandi gratiam habent — the 
 well-favoured in person — cum exteriori specie — men of 
 genius and peculiar talent, orators and skilful confessors ; 
 all must be sent where their respective qualifications are 
 most required, or are likely to reap a plentiful harvest. 
 
 The missionaries, being sent in company, must be con- 
 trasted : the talent of one must co-operate with that of 
 another; or modified effects must result from the union 
 of different natures. 
 
 With a very fervid and fiery temper — ferventi et ani- 
 moso — let a more circumspect and cautious spirit be 
 joined : a single missionary should not be sent; and more 
 than two, according to necessity, may be despatched by 
 the General. 
 
 The seventh part concludes thus : — He who has talent 
 for the composition of books may compose them ; but he 
 must not publish them before the General has seen them 
 and caused them to be examined. 
 
 x2 
 
308 JESUITISM. 
 
 Part VIII. 
 
 Exhorts to union and enumerates the means that con- 
 duce to that end. 
 
 It will be expedient not to admit " a great crowd" — 
 maguam turham — to profession ; but only s.elect men : a 
 precaution which is also to be observed with regard to the 
 coadjutors and scholastici. 
 
 Prompt, humble, devout obedience, well exhibited in 
 his previous conduct, must accompany the distant mis- 
 sionary; if not, his companion must excel in that virtue 
 by way of a holy check. 
 
 A constant correspondence is to be kept up with the 
 Provincial, and all must conduct themselves according to 
 his will. 
 
 Obstinacy is to be prevented from causing disunion; 
 either by removal to another scene of action, or by expul- 
 sion. 
 
 The local Superiors, or Rectors, must write to their 
 Provincial every week, if possible; the Provincials and 
 others to the General every week, if in the same country; 
 if not, every month; and the Provincials must write every 
 month to the rectors, and oftener if necessary. 
 
 Frequerit correspondence among all the members indi- 
 vidually and collectively, one with another, tends to edifi- 
 cation and the knowledge of those whose occupations are 
 therein contained. The General may distribute copies of 
 the various letters among the provinces ; so that all may 
 become acquainted with the matters interesting to all, 
 distant or near. 
 
 Every fourth month there must be sent to the Provin- 
 cials, from the houses and colleges, a catalogue of all the 
 members ; succinctly noticing the qualifications of each, 
 ad clariorem omnium cognitionem. 
 
THE ELECTION OF THE GENERAL. 309 
 
 A general congregation of the Society is called to 
 deliberate on matters of great moment and difficulty — 
 to elect or to depose a General, if that can ever take 
 place — or for the purpose of dissolving colleges and 
 houses, or a transfer of property. It must be deter- 
 mined by the General ; but his assistants, the Provincials 
 and Rectors, can, by a majority of votes dispense with 
 his assent : or rather he should then consider the thing 
 meet and justifiable. Only the professed and some of 
 the coadjutors, if expedient, are to attend in a general 
 congregation. For the election of a General, none can 
 vote but the professed ; and the General elected must 
 be a professed. 
 
 Any underhand attempt to influence a vote by indivi- 
 dual ambition, deprives the delinquent of the vote 
 " active and passive ;" and vphoever does not denounce 
 such conduct, if known, is " excommunicated latce sen- 
 ten ti a." 
 
 The mass of the Holy Ghost is to be celebrated on the 
 day of election. At the sound of the bell, all must pro- 
 ceed to the place of congregation ; one of the members 
 delivers an exhortation on the subject : the doors are 
 closed : none can leave, nor have anything by v?ay of 
 support, but bread and water, till the General is elected. 
 
 If " the Holy Ghost moves them" to an unanimous 
 election, the object of their choice is the General elect. 
 If not, each elector writes the name of the object of his 
 choice, and his own likewise ; the votes are collected, and 
 the election goes by plurality as usual. 
 
 When the General is elected all must kneel before 
 him and kiss his hand. The person elected cannot re- 
 fuse to undertake the function, nor object to the reverence 
 aforesaid : all repeat the Te Deum laudamus ! 
 
310 
 
 THE GENERAL, 
 
 Part IX. 
 
 The General is elected for life. His qualifications 
 must be great piety and the spirit of prayer ; he must 
 be exemplary in all the virtues; calm in his demeanour, 
 circumspect in words. Magnanimity and fortitude are 
 most essential attributes. He must have extraordinary 
 intellect and judgment; prudence rather than learning; 
 vigilance, solicitude in his duties; moreover his health 
 and external appearance must be satisfactory. He must 
 be middle-aged; and due regard is to be had to the 
 recommendations of nobility, or the wealth and honours 
 that he might have enjoyed in the world. 
 
 His power is simply absolute — absolute as to the ap- 
 pointment of ofHcials, the disposal of the temporalities,' 
 admission of fresh members to the Society, — absolute in 
 the power of " dispensation." To the Pope alone is he 
 subservient. 
 
 He cannot be deprived of office unless he commits some 
 mortal sins of a delicate nature, and external — in externum 
 prodeuntia — or wounds any one, or misapplies the re- 
 venues, or becomes heretical. 
 
 He has five assistants, corresponding to the great pro- 
 vinces, to aid him in his function. 
 
 Part X. 
 
 Treats of the means of preserving and increasing the 
 whole body ; exhorts to perfect obedience and discipline ; 
 forbids any Jesuit to afl:ect any dignity in the church, 
 which he cannot receive without a positive command from 
 the Pope ; enjoins the care of health, moderation in mental 
 and bodily labour, and observance of the Constitutions ; 
 which all must read every month : at least that portion 
 of them which concerns himself. 
 
THE WISDOM OF THE SERPENT. 311 
 
 Such are the Constitutions of the Society of the 
 Jesuits. The despotic Richeheu termed them a model of 
 administrative policy ; but surely any form of govern- 
 ment can rule men if they can be induced to bind them- 
 selves by a vow of perfect obedience, and be kept in 
 awe by penalties similar to that of expulsion from the 
 Society of the Jesuits. 
 
 A principal share in the composition of the Constitu- 
 tions is attributed to Lainez. They were written in 
 Spanish and translated by Polancus, the founder's secre- 
 tary. As the anecdote previously given* intimates, Igna- 
 tius wished it to be believed that he viras inspired in the 
 composition. According to his biographer, " a flame 
 was frequently seen over his head, just as tongues of fire 
 appeared on the heads of the Apostles." Indeed the 
 supernatural visitings that were vouchsafed to Ignatius, 
 as recorded in the various biographies of this remarkable 
 man, are of a nature to make one laugh with horror ! 
 
 For my part, I look upon the " Spiritual Exercises" of 
 Ignatius as a more remarkable work than his " Consti- 
 tutions." The former effectuate that frame of mind with- 
 out which the Constitutions would be ineffective. It is 
 the training under their constant influence, that stamps 
 and moulds every Jesuit with unerring precision, as to 
 the various mental qualities which enter into his com- 
 position. 
 
 But the natural cleverness of the founder is still brilliant 
 in the prominent essentials of his institute. 
 
 XuTHER was raising his mighty voice — whose echoes 
 still resound — against the sordid avarice of the hierarchy : 
 priests and prelates. Ignatius stipulated for no pdy to 
 his troops, however important might be their functions. 
 Again the monks were out of date, if not contemptible ; 
 * Page 194. 
 
312 
 
 THE WISDOM OF THE SEEPENT. 
 
 but Ignatius soon convinced the cardinals that nothing 
 was further from his intention than to institute an order 
 of monks : his Jesuits would wear the dress of ordinary 
 ecclesiastics or totally conform to that of the people 
 among whom they lived. Here was another "capital 
 idea ;" and of wonderful use in after times. 
 
 Thirdly, there was to be no public rehearsal or chaunt- 
 ing of the Breviary among the Jesuits — no canonical 
 hours : the Jesuits must be here, there, and everywhere. 
 This was a bold innovation ; but it took place in the 
 age of Luther, and was, I repeat, a capital idea. 
 
 Fourthly, the Jesuits were placed under the immediate 
 protection and patronage of the Pope. The servants had 
 but to serve faithfully and the master would be kind — 
 and he was kind to an astounding extent, as we shall 
 presently see. So much for the sagacity of this first 
 Jesuit, as to outward matters. Look within : see how he 
 thumb-screws the novice, and yet preserves the integrity 
 of the man — whatever that may be ; for it must be evi- 
 dent, from " the Novitiate," and the analysis of the 
 Spiritual Exercises, that every passion of our nature is 
 therein appealed to and roused to the fiercest excitement 
 to- be hereafter applied by the Society. Meanwhile the 
 charms of Holy Obedience woo and win the destined 
 Jesuit by all the alluremants of bodily comfort, or glo- 
 rious peril ; in the bosom of friends, or in the wilds of the 
 savage. But that manifestation of conscience and decla- 
 ration of each other's faults ; how they tend to exact 
 discipline in the letter of the law ! Or if the Jesuit in- 
 dulges his corrupt nature, how strong must be his 
 motives to imitate the cunning Spartan, who was per- 
 mitted " to carry off things by surprise," but severely 
 punished if detected ! 
 
 Ignatius isolated his Society, and thus made it strong 
 
A CHAKACTEE. 313 
 
 by union. The Jesuits were not to receive any eccle- 
 siastical dignity unless imperative circumstances made 
 the step expedient; as when the common cause* would be 
 decidedly advanced — as in the case of Bellaumino, 
 
 The grand merit of the Constitutions is, that they lay a 
 foundation round about the " hanging garden" of the 
 Spiritual Exercises; and sustain the props thereof ; like 
 the Banian tree, always striking in new roots and striking 
 out new branches. Herein is the focus of my admiration 
 of this wonderful Spaniard. He may never have guessed, 
 imagined, or foreseen that the voluntary beggars of his 
 order would rise to the right hand of princes and sway 
 the destinies of nations. Nevertheless he laid such a 
 foundation, that any superstructure, whatever might be its 
 magnitude, could be raised thereon. He was a shrewd 
 man, and yet highly imaginative : a calculator, and yet no 
 gambler. Another Lycurgus he was: but a Lycurgus 
 of a deeper mould and higher powers. He was a man of 
 one idea : " too much learning had not made him mad." 
 His was a Spanish will ; which means a haughty, in- 
 domitable will — that would have bridged the Red Sea if 
 the waters had not parted — " If by ordinary means I can- 
 not succeed," said he once, " / will sell myself rather 
 than disband my German phalanx 1" His mind was en- 
 dowed with the cunning of the fox, the constructiveness 
 of the spider, and its patience withal, the sagacity of the 
 elephant, and the cool, sound common-sense of — Oliver 
 Cromwell. Ignatius was no fanatic, no more than 
 Cromwell; but both knew how to make and manage 
 fanatics to serve a purpose. 
 
 Ignatius made his religion the basis of his commoii- 
 wealth : thus he gained the appeal to a motive as omni- 
 potent as it is inexplicable. He made talents of the 
 * Quasi, Ad majorem Dei gloriam ! 
 
314 SWOEN FRIENDS. 
 
 highest order its ramparts and defence. Aware that 
 universality of talent is in general too diffuse for eflfective 
 operation, the Jesuit seized the salient point — the pecu- 
 liar talent — and fortified it by a well-directed and exclu- 
 sive exercise. As a mechanician has a lever for one 
 movement, a screw for another, a wedge for a third ; so 
 had he an orator for one enterprise, a statesman for an- 
 other, a philosopher for a third, and a gentleman — a man 
 of the world — for all. Such an institution could not fail 
 to be successful ; and its success, to a superficial observer, 
 would appear the result of mere intrigue or divine inter- 
 position — " so wisely did they charm" — whereas it was 
 the necessary consequence of genius (which is power) 
 acting against dulness (which is weakness) in the midst 
 of circumstances that favoured its success : nor was 
 novelty the least important of secondary aids. 
 
 Hac arte Pollux, et vagus Hercules 
 
 EnisQs, arces attigit igneas ! 
 
 The Pope of Rome, the kings of the earth bethought 
 themselves that such men would be valuable friends to them 
 in subduing the masses; at that time set in commotion 
 by the ardent breathings of Liberty, civil and religious. 
 The advent of this spirit then for the second time born 
 again, was heralded to the universe by the trumpet-note 
 of Luther ; who was goaded to the onslaught by unjust 
 contempt in the first instance, and by subsequent perse- 
 cution. 
 
 And the kings of the earth made friends with these 
 men — gave them their hands — and with their hands, full 
 purses — and for a time they worked together in amity. 
 
 The Pope of Rome set the example; and with few 
 exceptions the Jesuits served him well ; faithfully to the 
 end. Doubtless it was their interest to " keep in" with 
 the arbiter of their fate ; still it was surely the " unkind- 
 
PROGRESS. 315 
 
 est cut of all" when that mighty Bull drove his horns into 
 them ! But he was the last to worry them — like the ass 
 kicking the decrepit lion almost defunct — and that was 
 some consolation ! 
 
 What were the favours lavished upon them by the 
 Popes ? 
 
 Herein, I apprehend, is the key to the history of the 
 Jesuits : I mean the privileges granted to them by suc- 
 cessive Popes ; for a permission to do, in this matter at 
 least, points to the deed — particularly if facts of history 
 stand recorded in the colours to match. Before answer- 
 ing the question, let us see what progress the Jesuits 
 made in their early career. 
 
 At his death in 1556 — sixteen years after the establish- 
 ment of the Society — Ignatius was bewailed by upwards 
 of a thousand Jesuits, in twelve flourishing provinces. 
 
 Xavier — like Alexander the Great in rapidity and 
 duration of conquest — ^had overrun the continent of India 
 — numbering the suddenly made captives to his Chris- 
 tianity by thousands and tens of thousands: the times of 
 the Apostles were come again — to all appearance. From 
 his strong-hold of Goa to Cape Comorin, his progress 
 was the "triumph of the faith." "In the space of one 
 month, as he himself informs us, he baptized with his own 
 hand, ten thousand souls" — about four hundred a day! 
 . . . " Here the Saint seems to have received the 
 gift of tongues for the first time ; here he wrought many 
 miracles ; he restored the sick instantaneously to health, 
 and raised four from death to life, as is juridically 
 proved."* 
 
 Japan, Africa, America, the isles of the sea, — every 
 nook of earth became familiar with " the greater glory of 
 God." The golden age of the church was restored — 
 * Reeve's Hist, of the (Roman) Church, p. 461. 
 
316 PROGRESS. 
 
 Heaven compensated Rome for her eternal and temporal 
 
 i! 
 
 This was magnificent ! And the Jesuits were the divine 
 instruments of this bewildering crusade — this metamor- 
 phosis that eclipses the wildest of Ovid. 
 
 How could the REroBMATioN escape? .... For 
 every one heretic that the apostate Luther made, a thou- 
 sand savages leaped into the church, and made the sign 
 of the cross with holy water : — the Jesuits taught them. 
 
 By " a wonderful and inscrutable ordination of Provi- 
 dence," these men were no less triumphant in Europe : all 
 vied to do them honour — the rich, the great, the noble 
 knocked at their gates, humbly begging to be admitted 
 into the Society of Jesus — in its glorious entrance into 
 the Holy city, whilst all men were shouting Hosannah ! 
 Hosannah to the sons of David ! Francis Borgia, duke 
 of Gandia, became a Jesuit ; it was he who afterwards 
 said ; " Like lambs have we crept into power, Hke wolves 
 have we used it, like dogs shall we be driven out — but 
 like eagles shall we renew our youth." He was a Gene- 
 ral ; and, like Ignatius, was canonised — sainted by the 
 Pope, to gratify his favourite children, the Jesuits: the 
 usual number of miracles were duly attested. 
 
 Germany, Bavaria, Austria received the Jesuits with 
 open arms; privileges and foundations dropped upon 
 them like the golden shower of Jove. 
 
 In controversy dexterous, if not always triumphant, 
 they fascinated by their well-composed exterior, and 
 charmed by their eloquence. They fulfilled the object 
 of the Pope, and did some service in checking the spread 
 of the Reformation. 
 
 Lainez, the successor of Ignatius — more learned than 
 the latter, if not equally astute — gave a greater develope- 
 ment to the system: expanded the hand that the one idea 
 
THE INFANT OF A HUNDRED YEARS. 317 
 
 of Ignatius closed and shut alternately as occasion suited : 
 the sciences began to flourish in the virgin soil of the 
 Society. The church had been accused of fostering 
 ignorance ; the Jesuits disproved the charge : they opened 
 schools to all the world. 
 
 Aquaviva confirmed and promoted this expedient 
 measure. Mild and affectionate to their pupils, and yet 
 learned in all things human and divine, the Jesuits capti- 
 vated the hearts of their youth, — delighted the ears of all 
 who came within the influence of their magic. Prizes, 
 marks of honour, gymnastic exercises, theatrical represen- 
 tations were certainly no longer mere human things ; 
 since they tended to rouse the intellect, give grace to the 
 body, a pleasing address to the whole outward man ; and 
 as such, might surely promote " the greater glory of 
 God." 
 
 From these public colleges, how easy and successful 
 was the choice of a future historian, mathematician, 
 statesman, orator, man of business, apostle, martyr — in a 
 word, Jesuit! Mariana, Bellarmino, Tursellinus — but 
 the catalogue would fill pages — blazed to the world like 
 iire-ships of equivocal destination to the enemies of the 
 Popedom. 
 
 At length, in 1618, numbering thirteen thousand one 
 hundred and twelve members, and thirty-two provinces ; 
 having houses in France, the Rhenish provinces, America, 
 China, India, the Moluccas, and Philippines — the Jesuits 
 might be said to have fought their way valiantly to the 
 grand consummation. Four years after, in 1640, the. 
 Society celebrated her " secular year," or centennial 
 anniversary — " an infant of a hundred years," just 
 doubled ! 
 
 On that occasion Vitelleschi, the General, addressed 
 to the Fathers and Brothers of the Society a memorable 
 
318 THE DISEASED EAOLE. 
 
 Epistle. It was an occasion of triumph — a glorious 
 jubilee for all. But prophetic sounds boomed, with the 
 stifled muttering of the muffled horn sounding the dismal 
 reveille in the morning-watch of the camp, when the 
 scouts have announced the enemy at hand. 
 
 After feelingly bewailing the tendency of mankind to 
 make all the members of a body responsible for the 
 crimes of a few, he urges the necessity to act upon the 
 maxim ; quoting the words of Augustin — " What thou 
 doest, the Society does, on whose account thou doest it, 
 and whose son thou art." With strong words of earnest 
 impeachment — and yet so cautiously that he prefers to 
 quote old dead authors and Scripture, rather than bring a 
 pointed accusation — he insists that the primeval ardour 
 and spirit of the society must be restored. 
 
 " Thy youth shall be renewed as the eagle's." On this 
 theme he quotes a curious exposition of Augustin, giving 
 the diagnosis of the eagle's disease; to the effect that 
 there happens to have grown on the tip of the beak of 
 this queen of the birds a stony induration, the upper and 
 lower beak being united by a sort of fleshy tie or mem- 
 brane, so that they cannot open to feed : hence, says he, 
 she is sorely distressed by the languor of old age, and 
 pines away for the want of food. But; he adds, she is 
 instructed by nature to retrieve her better days ; for, 
 striking, and worrying, and rubbing the excrescence of 
 her crooked beak against a stone, she wears away by de- 
 grees the morbid obstruction, and at length opens a way 
 for food. Then she sets to, in right good earnest, enjoys 
 her meal ; the vigour of all her members return — her 
 feathers shine again ; with the rudder of her wings she 
 cleaves the upper air as before ; she becomes, after her 
 old age, a young eagle. 
 
 Vitelleschi continues : — "1 do not deny the truth of 
 
THE DISEASED EAGLE. 319 
 
 these observations ; let the authors whom Augustin 
 reads aoswer for it. I am satisfied that somehow in 
 this manner, whether by the infirmity of age, or some 
 carelessness on our part, an indescribable mass of affec- 
 tions, curved to the earth, and desires, is gathering on the 
 lips of our hearts — whence, as it were by fleshy curbs,* 
 the mouths of the mind are violently closed, so that they 
 cannot be opened to heaven, and be refreshed by Divine 
 food. The royal prophet lamented the same affliction in 
 a different figure : — ' I am stricken as hay, and my heart 
 is dried up :'+ behold our languor and old age ! But 
 what is the cause ? ' Because I have forgotten to eat my 
 bread.' • * » • 
 
 " But whence can we suspect the cause of our insipi- 
 dity in Divine things? — our laborious irksomeness in 
 recollection ? — in checking the wanderings of our 
 vague imaginings, frequently tending to that direction 
 which is least to be desired, because we have not re- 
 pressed them when we could ? What is that tenacious 
 and entangling lovej of the lowest objects— the world, 
 honour, parents, and worldly comforts ? That greater 
 authority conceded to the rebellious flesh and blood, rather 
 than to the spirit — in actions, for I care nothing for words 
 — ^^that enervated, exhausted weakness in resisting the peti- 
 tions of the adversary in our conflicts with the domestic 
 enemy — perhaps not entirely yielding, but still not evi- 
 dencing that alacrity and exaltation of mind to which 
 the name of victory is given ? These are the fruits of 
 tepidity and of a dissolute spirit; which, unless it is 
 raised betimes and warmed anew, is clearly approaching a 
 fall and destruction."^ 
 
 * Carneis lupatis. 
 
 t The reader will remark this forced application of the text. 
 
 if Tenax amor et viscatus. 
 
 § Epist. 4, Mutii Vitelleschi— Ed. Antwerp. 1665. 
 
320 balthasae's feast. 
 
 Remissness in the Superiors ; the fear of giving offence 
 to the inferiors ; too great indulgence, favouritism, self- 
 love, self-interest,* excessive care and solicitude in worldly 
 matters — such are the notes of preparation prophetic of 
 a fall, that Vitelleschi kindly and most cleverly alludes to 
 in this curious epistle ; which, he says, to use his own 
 metaphor, " has been ploughed out of his own and inmost 
 heart, and the very blood of his soul — for it would be his 
 last to the Society."t 
 
 The conclusion is strong and urgent : — " I eagerly call 
 all to witness, and proclaim to them that, with Bernard, 
 I expect an answer of your benignity to this Epistle ; but 
 an answer of deeds, not words."I The letter is dated 
 November the 15th, 1639. 
 
 A subsequent Epistle — that of the General Vincent 
 Caraifa — exhorts to a preservation of the primeval spirit 
 of the Society. Caraffa pointedly alludes to infractions 
 of the vow of Poverty, dividing the various delinquents 
 into five classes, and thereby throwing some light on the 
 various animal instincts that prevailed in the Society. He 
 indirectly alludes to the indiscriminate literary pursuits of 
 the Jesuits, as contrary to the spirit of the Society ; " for 
 how monstrous will it be to consign the chalice which is 
 dedicated to the altar, to profane uses, following the 
 example of the sacrilegious Balthasar ! But the matter 
 is not a little more serious when the mind of a religious 
 man is defiled by the refined knowledge of empty topics." 
 The following passage is certainly important : — 
 
 * Ftivatus in seipsum amor cum proprii nominis, et commoditatum 
 acriore studio conjunctus. It is clear that I have not exaggerated the 
 text. 
 
 t Utique scripta ex peouliari meo et intimo sensu, et animi san- 
 guine exarata. 
 
 f Omnes cum B. Bernardo impatientius obtestor, iisque denuntio 
 expeotare me ad hanc Epistolem, benignitatis vestJB responsum; sed 
 responsum facti, non verba. — Ibid, sub fin. 
 
Satan's toast. 321 
 
 " If you ask me, what it is to read unchaste books ; 
 books conceived by the instinct of the evil spirit, com- 
 posed and published in his own type, to indicate to men 
 the way of destruction, as if it was not already known, 
 and precipitous ? [If you ask me this question] you will 
 hear me repeat that it is to drink to the devil in the sacred 
 cup ! It is to labour to gratify the devil and afflict God, 
 as far as possible. For, if this proscribed reading of such 
 books prevails in the world, how much more detestable is 
 it in a religious man — in a Jesuit* — in a stud,ent of the 
 sacred pages — in one who is appointed for the conversion 
 of souls, and, by the function of his institute, for the 
 defence of the faith ! Nor does the excuse avail, namely, 
 the language and eloquence of such books, whose bril- 
 liancy some allege as a cause of their reading — to acquire 
 that recommendation. "t 
 
 After pointing out the mighty evils that overwhelm the 
 spirit by this practice, and alluding to profane, worldly 
 conversation in general, CarafFa says : — 
 
 " Nor can I possibly pass over in silence, that these 
 errors result, in a great measure, by the error of the 
 Superiors." J 
 
 That the practice existed, may be evident from the fol- 
 lowing : — 
 
 " I speak particularly to our younger scholars, and I 
 wish this exhortation to penetrate deeply in their minds ; 
 but I enjoin the Superiors that if they detect any one 
 (which Heaven forbid !) reading such books, or having 
 them in his possession, let them, without admitting any 
 
 * In bomine de Societate. 
 
 t Nee valet excusatio linguarum et eloquentiae quarum iude nitorem 
 se petere nonnuUi causantur. 
 
 I Neo posse videor tacitus preeterire, quEecumque hlo errantur, mag- 
 nam partem Snperiorum errore venire. 
 
 Y 
 
322 A JESUIT ATTOHNEY. 
 
 excuse or intercession, send him at once back to the 
 Novitiate, there to imbibe the spirit of religious virtue, 
 ■which he has not hitherto tasted." 
 
 Some pertinent advice follows, such as to refrain from 
 all worldly affairs — "they are not ours — they are fo- 
 reign :" — nostra non sunt, aliena sunt. 
 
 "Our Procurators should be more cautious; for al- 
 though they seek what is just, by lawful right, still they 
 seem to seek it with avarice and cupidity ;* and exhibit: 
 too much avidity that smells of the world." 
 
 Nevertheless, I find in the " Instructio pro Procura- 
 tore" the following very pertinent language — in reading 
 it, one fancies it is the character of a griping attorney. 
 " The ofHce of Procurator is defined in five heads. 1st, 
 he must preserve the good? and rights of the college. 
 2ndly. He must take care that the revenues do not 
 decrease, but rather, be augmented. 3rdly. He must 
 exact with the greatest diligence the debts that are owed 
 to the college. 4thly. He must see that the goods and 
 moneys be properly disposed of. 5thly. He must take 
 care to be able to give an account of what he has received 
 or delivered. Whence it is especially evident that to this 
 function would be destined a very prudent, skilful, and 
 faithful man, one who is not engaged in any other occu- 
 pation which can impede his duty." After this sum- 
 mary, a minute detail is given, most cleverly enumerating 
 all the partiQulars to which he has to attend in his 
 farming-book — the number of acres, quality of land, pro- 
 ducts of wheat, wine, olives, fodder, and wood, &c. 
 *' He must be present when the products are measured, 
 sown, and collected, and when the vintage takes place, 
 and the olives are pressed ; and must not trust too^much 
 to the rustics. At the same time, he must get back what 
 * Avare et cupide videntur petere. 
 
HUMAN NATURE. 323 
 
 he has lent to the labourers, and must recover from other 
 debtors at stated times, and must not be too indulgent ; 
 for, by conceding a long delay in the payment of debts, 
 it comes to pass at length that they are not paid at 
 all." 
 
 And yet, will the reader believe it ? this griping Pro- 
 curator is, in the three last lines, told to confide in 
 "Divine Providence."* 
 
 Caraffa concludes effectively thus : 
 " I can add nothing more to this Epistle, for if this be 
 done, it is sufficient — si hoc fiat, sufficit — to renew the 
 Society, and to restore her to her primitive complexion 
 and health : but I again and again desire that these 
 words should not vanish into the air, but be ratified by 
 deeds and things." To aid them in this object, he 
 strongly recommends " all to renovate and bring to per- 
 fection their piety in the worship of the most holy mo- 
 ther of God."t 
 
 In 1653, the General Goswin Nickel signalised "with 
 grief" those members who were devising specious argu- 
 ments for relaxing the vow of Poverty; Decency and 
 Necessity were the pretexts — " names clearly innocent in 
 themselves, and therefore more adapted to deceive." 
 These are the words of Nickel ; he says there were six 
 hundred machinations of the devil, whereby they were 
 endeavouring, with all their might, to subvert the vow of 
 Poverty. 
 
 " But although this true vanity and pride, under the 
 false name of Decency, may aflfect all ; still they affect 
 much more easily those who perform splendid functions, 
 particularly those who frequent the courts of Princes." 
 
 * Inst, pro Adminst. Rer. temp. — Proc. 
 t Epist. R. P. N. Vincent, Caraff;e. 
 Y 2 
 
324 
 
 JESUIT NABOBS. 
 
 After alluding to the love of individual comforts — in- 
 clination to particular places — he proceeds thus : — 
 
 " "What shall I say of those who, when they are ordered 
 to remove to another place, carry away so many move- 
 ables, that if one may judge the matter by the baggage, 
 you would think that a whole family, not a single man, 
 was migrating ! Suppose, one of the: men of our ancient 
 Society, not as yet acquainted with baggage and effects 
 — were to meet these men thus burthened? Peter 
 Faber, for instance, who returned the precious gifts of 
 a cardinal, saying that he was one of those who carry all 
 
 their goods with them." 
 
 Extravagance in the purchase of books calls for anim- 
 adversion ; " nor are those to be praised who consign 
 the books which they have bought with the alms of pious 
 men, to another college, and thus defraud the one wherein 
 they happen to dwell." 
 
 Intermeddling in the temporal affairs of theirrelatives — 
 its sad effects — the difficulty of curing that disease — are 
 feelingly brought forward. 
 
 " But what of those who, relinquishing the culture of 
 the Lord's field, and of their neighbours, turn themselves 
 to the negotiation of worldly affairs !" 
 
 Extravagance has been lashed ; its opposite vice, 
 avarice, too, has unfortunately "crept in." 
 
 "There are those who honour their" hardness of heart 
 and filth (the vice of their nature) with the name of 
 economy and frugality ; and whilst they are griping — 
 tenaces — they wish to seem to be lovers of poverty. 
 Hence they hoard up much, lay out little ; clutch what 
 they have, and dispense even what is necessary with a 
 sparing hand ; and, lest their inferiors should complain, 
 they thrust in their faces everywhere and lament, the 
 penury of the establishment!"* 
 
 • Epist. 1, E. P. N. G. Nickel. 
 
PKIVILEGES. 325 
 
 Three years after this epistle was written, the same 
 General wrote a desperate and stirring manifesto " to the 
 Fathers and Brothers" respecting " the pernicious pro- 
 vincial and national spirit" which had begun to spread 
 disunion in the Society. I have already quoted* a 
 striking passage from this letter ; and will only add that 
 Nickel justifies the severity of his animadversions by the 
 numerous letters — non unis Uteris — which he had re- 
 ceived on the subject, and admits his belief that the" 
 complaints and representations were substantially cor- 
 rect.f Eight years after, Nickel resigned. 
 
 Again I ask what were the privileges conceded, what 
 were the powers confided to these men : these Jesuitsj 
 whose characters we have just read by the pen of their 
 own Generals ? For though all could not have given 
 cause for the various strictures in question, yet a consi- 
 derable number, if not a large majority, must have been 
 obnoxious to the charges ; since a General's epistle was 
 considered necessary on the subject, and was couched in 
 the strong terms we have read : though tender and cau- 
 tious in vituperation. 
 
 What are these privileges ? Some are held in common 
 with other Orders, some are peculiar to the Society. All 
 are granted by the different Popes who cherished the sons 
 of Loyola. 
 
 The Jesuits might absolve sinners from any and every 
 crime — from all ecclesiastical censures, pains, and penal- 
 ties, with only one or two exceptions.^ 
 
 Alexander VI. permitted the General and Provincials 
 to absolve all Jesuits who, living in the world, might 
 
 • Page 119. 
 
 t Ego quoque subesse aliquid, idque non Levis momenti, tot querelis, 
 scriptiouibusque suspicer, — Epist. 2, Gos. Nickel. 
 t Com. Priv. Absol. 
 
326 PRIVILEGES. 
 
 incur an ecclesiastical censure propter delationemligami- 
 num, seu f err amentorum ad partes injidelium. This pri- 
 vilege was afterwards extended to all the Superiors and 
 other confessors of the Society. 
 
 The Jesuits may build churches, chapels, houses, &c., 
 anywhere and everywhere ; and no one is to molest them 
 in the undertaking. They may sell, exchange, or other- 
 wise transfer all their property, moveable and'iramoveable, 
 present and to come — pro illorum utilitate seu necessitate, 
 to any persons, of every rank and condition — in other 
 words, might trade, traffic, barter, or sell* 
 
 The power of excommunicating those who might pre- 
 sume to leave the Society, has been mentioned. 
 
 There is no appeal from the correction of the Society. 
 
 Powers hitherto confined to bishops — such as the so- 
 lemn consecration of churches, vestments, &c. were con- 
 ceded to the Jesuits. 
 
 Whoever seized the goods or money of the Society — 
 or belonging to persons thereof — whether colleges or 
 houses — unless restoration be made in three days, incur- 
 red the penalty of excommunication. 
 
 All the " merits " of all other religious orders ia all- 
 regions of the world, resulting from fasting and other 
 spiritual good works, are shared suojure by the Jesuits. 
 
 The Jesuits may commute or compound all vows — 
 may " relax" each other's oaths, without the prejudice of 
 a third party ! Juramenta sine prejitdicio tertii, relax- 
 are possunt nostri. 
 
 They may impose censures, penalties, even pecuniary 
 fines on all who rebelled against them, or otherwise 
 oiFended, when constituted judges and conservators: 
 
 * This is one of the most explicit of the Fiivilegia. See Compen- 
 dium Privilegiorum, AUenatio, $ 2. 
 
PBIVILEGES. 327 
 
 they might even place a country under an " interdict" or 
 minor excommunication. 
 
 The General and Provincials can grant a dispensation 
 to Jesuits (^Nostris sibi subditis) in the irregularity in- 
 curred by homicide — provided such homicides are not 
 certain that they actually killed, &c. Again, the General 
 in foro conscientice, can dispense with persons of our 
 Society in all irregularity, even in those cases, which are 
 reserved to the Pope — namely, "in the case of death, 
 cutting of the limbs, and great effusion of blood, provided 
 any of these cases be not notorious : and this, on account 
 of the scandal" ! 
 
 I omit other convenient and comfortable dispensations 
 which the Jesuits can grant in favour of the tender pas- 
 sions.* They can or could dispense with the prohibition 
 of eating meat on certain days, fasting, &c., when they 
 thought proper, either with or without the advicej of a 
 physician. 
 
 According to Escobar, " a dispensation is an act of 
 jurisdiction whereby any one is exempted from the obli- 
 gation of a law, or by which the obligation of a law is 
 suspended." 
 
 They and their lands and tenements are exempted 
 from paying all taxes, even the papal tithe. 
 
 The Jesuits might postpone the mass without scruple: of 
 course, for " just reasons" ; they might also, in like man- 
 ner, compensate for any part of the divine office omitted, 
 by repeating the Pater Noster or Ave Maria. 
 
 Immunity was granted to all who took refuge in their 
 churches ; and all persons were prohibited from laying 
 
 * Possunt nostri Confessarii, si sint vere docti, &c. ; dispensare in 
 foTO coDscientiiB ad petendum debitum cam iis, qui consanguineum 
 aut consanguineam sui corijugis, post matrimonium, carnaliter cogno- 
 verunt. Frivileg. Dispens. 8, See 9 and 10. 
 
328 JESUIT CASUISTS. 
 
 hands on such fugitives, under penalty of excommunica- 
 tion. In the word churches, says the Privilege, are in- 
 cluded colleges, houses, gardens, offices, all places. 
 
 Numerous indulgences were granted to the Jesuits for 
 , the performance of the most trivial actions : also to the 
 fathers and mothers of the Jesuits, were they even in 
 Purgatory, in Purgatorio existenfes. , ■ 
 
 Under penalty of excommunication all are forbidden 
 to impugn the " Constitutions," &c. 
 
 Even during the time of an Interdict, the Jesuits could 
 open their doors, say mass, hear confessions, &c. 
 
 The Jesuits might practice medicine, provided they did 
 not perform operations. 
 
 Such are a few of the privileges of the Society. The 
 Jesuits possessed the power of bishops in most matters ; 
 they were omnipotent in the confessional. We will now 
 consider their casuists. 
 
 Did the Jesuits ever teach or touch suspicious topics of 
 morality, or topics of suspicious morality? 
 
 As far back as 1612, Aqcaviva deemed it necessary to 
 issue three stringent mandates " in virtue of Holy Obe- 
 dience, and under penalty of excommunication," against 
 any members who should inculcate lax morality respecting 
 the vow of obedience, the vow of chastity — and respect- 
 ing the murder of tyrants, kings, and princes.* 
 
 In 1614, the same General issued a similar mandate 
 against the publication of any work in which the last 
 named topic was discussed — unless first approved of at 
 Rome, and acknowledged. f 
 
 The Fifth Congregation, " in Virtue of Holy Obedience," 
 forbids all Jesuits to intermeddle in the afiairs of Princes, 
 on any account whatever. J 
 
 * CensursB CoUectaa in Congreg. VIII. 
 
 t Epist. C. Aquav. 2 Aug. 1614. 
 
 t V. Congreg. Can. 12, Dec. 47 and 49. 
 
THE RIOT OF INTELLECT. 329 
 
 In 1651, Piccolomini sent forth his Ordinatio respecting 
 the questions that might and might not be mooted by 
 Jesuits. In the introduction to this mandate, he says : 
 
 " There are not wanting serious complaints from the 
 various Provinces, respecting certain teachers of Philo- 
 sophy and Divinity, both in the eighth and ninth Con- 
 gregation."* 
 
 A list of permitted and forbidden topics is subjoined — 
 all curiously illustrative, of " the activity of the Jesuit 
 mind," at that period — mere trifles and momentous ques- 
 tions following each other in admirable confusion : the 
 diurnal motion of the earth, and the motion of the planets 
 being among 'the proscribed topics. The "hypothesis" 
 had not yet become a " theory." 
 
 Six " other propositions" are superadded — " not that 
 he believes any member of the Society has taught them 
 — but because they have been brought forward by the 
 deputies." The first proposition is the following : 
 
 " God is the cause of sin." 
 All the other five propositions refer to the attributes of 
 the Divinity. The General continues : 
 
 " However, we do not at all censure all the aforesaid 
 propositions ; but we only forbid them to be taught in 
 our schools — for the sake of greater uniformity, and more 
 solid and copious fruit in the hearers : nor should the 
 authority of any authors be alleged, if perchance any of 
 these propositions be found in their works, or in the 
 books already published by our men, even with some ap- 
 probation — for it were to be wished that many of the 
 Revisors had been more diligent and severe," f 
 
 It follows from what we have read, that the conscien- 
 tious or more prudent members of the Society were 
 
 • Ordinatio pro Stadiis, super, 
 t Ibid, ut antes. 
 
330 CONFESSIONAL MOBALITY. 
 
 seriously alarmed by the extravagance of opinions that 
 had begun to characterise the Jesuits. 
 
 The Jesuits are fond of quoting Voltaire in their 
 defence. The authority is suspicious : it has just about 
 as much weight in the question as the authority of Jack 
 Sheppard would have when quoted by a highwayman in 
 his own defence. In a letter which Voltaire wrote to a 
 Reverend Father, alluding with considerable pungency 
 to the Provincial Letters of Pascal, he says : 
 
 " De bonne foi, is it by the ingenious satire of the Pro- 
 vincial Letters that we should judge of the morality of 
 the Jesuits? Assuredly, it is by Father Bourdaioue, 
 by Father Cheminais, by their other preachers, by their 
 missionaries."* 
 
 I would agree with Voltaire, if I could permit myself 
 the mental reservation, suhintelligendo, as to the public 
 morality of the Jesuits. 
 
 Was it at all likely that a public preacher would dare 
 to hold forth, in the pulpit, such doctrine as Escobar, 
 Hurtado, Salas, Busembaum, &c., infused into the young 
 confessors of the Society for inculcation in the con- 
 fessional? 
 
 Herein is the terrible peculiarity of this Society ; that 
 its moral needle, turning on the pivot of expediency, 
 points to Heaven and Hell, as steadily as the magnetic 
 needle points to the north and south. 
 
 It is the good inextricably blended with the evil that 
 stamps the Jesuit system with its unenviable originality. 
 
 Again, if the men whose immoral opinions and per- 
 missions I am about to unfold, had been profligate in 
 their outward conduct, we might be disposed to overlook 
 the attempt to corrupt ; thus rendered, comparatively, 
 impotent by the acknowledged character of the authors. 
 * Lettre de Volt., au Pere La Tour. 
 
PEEJTJBY. 331 
 
 But the case is different. The Jesuit casuists were men of 
 " character" in the Society : Escobar died an " exem- 
 plary "member of the Society of Jesus! .... 
 
 What reason could an " exemplary" teacher have for 
 inculcating " rather lax opinions" ? He shall tell you 
 himself. 
 
 " But if I often seem to adhere to rather lax opinions, 
 that is not to define what I think myself, but to put forth 
 •what the learned shall be able to apply practically, without 
 a scruple, whenever it shall seem expedient to quiet the 
 minds of their penitents."* 
 
 Another question — what proof have we that others 
 before him inculcated these " rather lax opinions" ? 
 Again he shall answer : 
 
 " This I candidly declare that I have written nothing in 
 the whole book that I have not received from some Doc- 
 tor of the Society of Jesus." 
 
 Consequently his book has the "Faculty, Approba- 
 tion, Licence, Consent, and Permission of the respective 
 functionaries, and professes to be an exposition of the 
 opinions, in cases of conscience or casuistry, of twenty 
 doctors of the Society, for the instruction of young con- 
 fessors — in Questions and Answers. A question is pro- 
 posed : 
 
 " Q. Is it lawful to ask an oath from the man who, I 
 fear, will swear falsely ? 
 
 "A. It is lawful, provided he is not ashed to swear 
 falsely ; and there is a just cause for asking the oath, such 
 as necessity, such as utility ; because I am not held to 
 * Quod si ssBpe videor me laxioribns opinionibus adhaerescere, id 
 certe non est definire quod seotio, sed ezponere quid sine conscientis 
 Issione Docti poterunt, cum eis visum fuerit ezpedire, ad sedandas 
 penitentum animas, ad praxin adducere — Escobar y Mendoza, Lib. 
 Theol. Moral. 80. Lugd. 1659. The quotation is from the preface. 
 The book is in the Library of the British Museum, Press Mark, 848 c. 
 
332 EQUIVOCATION. 
 
 abstain from asking the performance of an action (with 
 serious loss) [to myself], which action any one may do 
 either well or ill"* — bene et male ; that is indifferently, as 
 far as the mere action is concerned. 
 
 " Q. Is it lawful for a man who takes an oath, to 
 make use of amphibology or equivocation ; namely, utter- 
 ing an oath which is understood by the persons present, 
 in the common sense of the words, in which, however, the 
 swearer sub'under stands something different ? 
 
 "A. Sanchez replies in the affirmative — Sum. tom i. 
 lib. 3, c. 6, n. 15. / (Escobar) confirm the opinion with 
 practical examples. ' Being interrogated by a Judge, on 
 oath, if you have killed Francis ; if you have killed him in 
 your own defence, you can deny it, sub-understanding as 
 to criminal homicide. Less. 1. 2. Dub. 9, n. 47. If it 
 is a probable opinion, that the tax imposed on anything is 
 unjust, and therefore a tradesman compensates himself by 
 using false weights, or in any other way': — being after- 
 wards interrogated by the Judge, he can deny the whole 
 ■with an oath — sub-understanding that he has acted un- 
 justly. Sanch. Sum. tom i. lib. 3, cap. 6, n. 29. A 
 priest being interrogated, having heard a sin in confes- 
 sion, can answer, even adding an oath if necessary, that 
 he has heard nothing of the sort — sub-understanding, as 
 a private individual. You have concealed some neces- 
 sary effects, lest they be taken by your creditor, and you 
 may be compelled to beg your bread : — ^when interrogated 
 by the Judge, you can swear that you have nothing con- 
 cealed— sub-understanding what you are bound to bring 
 forth. A man may swear to a robber that he will give 
 him his money, without intending to give it; using this 
 mental reservation, 1 will give it if I am bound. A guilty 
 wife, being asked by her husband if she has sinned against 
 * Escobar, Theol. Mot, £z!un. 3, i:. 3. 
 
MURDER. 333 
 
 him,* may swear negatively ; conceiving in her mind a 
 different day to the one on which she committed the 
 crime. Coming from a place which is falsely believed to 
 be infected with pestilence, when interrogated you can 
 swear that you have not come from that place — sub- 
 understandittg , as from a place of •pestilence. Omnia ex 
 Sanchez et aliis.f 
 
 " Q. Is it lawful for a man belonging to an Order 
 {Religioso) to kill a calumniator who is spreading serious 
 accusations (crimina) against his Order, just as it is law- 
 ful to any one, in defence of his honour, to kill with ma- 
 nagement, cum moderamine interimere ? 
 
 "A. Father Amicus {vihose eight volumes, De Cursu 
 Theologico, have just come to hand), torn. 5 de Just. d. 
 36. sec. 7. n. 118, does not dare to adhere to the affirma- 
 tive opinion, lest he may seem to go against the common 
 one. Nevertheless he thus strengthens it by argument. 
 If, says he, this is lawful to a layman, on account of his 
 honour and fame; it seems much more lawful to a cler- 
 gyman and a man of any Order (Religioso) ; inasmuch as 
 the profession, learning, and virtue, whence the honour of 
 a clergyman and a member of a religious body is pro- 
 duced, are superior to the dexterity of arms, whence 
 
 * Adultera rogata a marito, an admiserit adulterium. 
 
 •j- Esci. Theol. Moral. Tract I. By a curious coincidence, I find 
 this last " practical example" used by Garnet, the English Jesuit, of 
 gunpowder-plot notoriety, in a paper dated 20th March, 1605-6 : it is 
 given as an illustration in the same vein as that of Escobar, but is 
 supposed to hare been written by Francis Gresham. " Let us 
 suppose," says he, " that I have lately left London, where the 
 plague is raging: and, on arriving at Coventry, I am asked before T 
 can be admitted into the town, whether I come from London, and am 
 perhaps required to swear that I do not: it would be lawful for me 
 (being assured that I bring no infection) to swear in such a case that 
 I did not come from London j for I put the case, &c. &c." 
 See Criminal Trials, vol. ii. p. 316. 
 
3^4 DTTELLING. 
 
 •worldly honour arises. Then, again, it is lawful for cler- 
 gymen and members of a religious Order, to kill a thief, 
 m defence of their property (facultatum), if no other 
 means of defence are at hand ; therefore it is lawful also 
 in defence of their honour.* 
 
 " Q. A nobleman is on the point of being slapped or 
 cudgelled by any one :— will it be lawful for him to kill 
 the aggressor before the act ? 
 
 " A. Lessius answers in the affirmative. Lib. 2. cap. 9. 
 Dub. 12. n. 77., because it is the greatest disgrace in 
 some regions to suffer slaps and cudgellings to remain 
 unavenged. However, I limit the sentence to noblemen, — 
 for slaps and cudgellings are not disgraceful to ple-^ 
 beians.f 
 
 " In fine, if a nobleman at court, or a military man in 
 the camp, being challenged (provocatus) should stand, 
 merely on his own defence, with the hope of coming best 
 off, cum spe pravalendi — if he will be deprived of his 
 dignity, office, or favour of his prince oh account of the 
 suspicion of cowardice, — Layman does not dare to con- 
 demn the man — Laym. I. 3. t. 3. p. 3. c. 3. — the same 
 man is excused by Hurtius, Lessius, Filliucius, Navarrez. 
 Hence, even others say, for instance^ Sanchez, 2. Mor. 
 c. 22., and others, that it is lawful to kill the man who is 
 plotting by false accusation or testimony, &c., to a judge, 
 such things whereby you are sure to be killed, or muti- 
 lated ; or even (others concede this with more difficulty), 
 to lose your temporal goods, honour, &c. ; because it is 
 not an attack then, but a just defence ; it being settled, 
 that you are certain of the injury intended, and cannot 
 escape by other means. But Lessius, Filliucius and 
 Layman dare not defend this sentence, on account of the 
 danger of great abuses 1% 
 
 * Exam. vii. n. 45. t Tract I. Exam. vii. 
 
 + Escob. De Duello— Tract I. 
 
PROBABLE OPINIONS. 335 
 
 " Can a nobleman accept a cha\len^e,\duellum, in de- 
 fence of his honour, nobilitatis ? He can. The reason is 
 because in such a case the acceptance of the challenge to 
 defend his honour, is the only means.* 
 
 " Q. What is a probable conscience ? 
 
 "A. That, which embraces a judgment from a probable 
 opinion. That is called a probable opinion which de^- 
 pends on reasons of some importance. Hence, some- 
 times, one doctor alone, of very grave authority, can 
 effect a probable opinion ; for a man especially given to 
 learning would not adhere to any opinion, unless induced 
 by the force of a great and sufficient reason. 
 
 " Q. Is it lawful to follow a probable opinion — leaving 
 a more probable one ? 
 
 "A. It is lawful, yea, and safe; provided no danger 
 impends, to avoid which, prudence, or justice, or charity 
 may dictate that the opposite opinion is to be chosen. 
 
 " Q. Can I accommodate myself to the probable opinion 
 of others, leaving my own which is more probable and 
 safer ? 
 
 "A. Yes, evidently ; nor would I, in the action, act 
 against conscience ; provided, I think, that the other 
 opinion which I follow is probable."f 
 
 In fact, it is the intention that is to distinguish the 
 action — intentio enim discernit actionem.X You have 
 but to impress your mind with the idea that you wish to 
 " fulfil all justice," and then break the commandments — 
 you may " believe like angels, and sin like devils !" § 
 
 In fact, perjury, as the reader has seen, duelling, 
 
 * Escol). De Duello— Tract I. § 12. 
 t Escobar, De Conscientia — ^Theol. Moral, sub init. 
 t KUiue. Tract xxv. c. 11, n. 331. 
 
 § I heard that phrase applied to the Irish, whea I was a child. It 
 was uttered as a quotation. 
 
336 
 
 PITCH. 
 
 fraud, falsehood in all its ramifications,* murder and 
 violence, — these are the crimes which I see permitted by 
 
 the casuists of the Society which calls itself of 1 
 
 will not blaspheme that adorable name by recording it in 
 juxtaposition with these atrocities! 
 
 Other misdemeanours I see permitted in like manner — 
 too foul to translate — disgusting beyond endurance ! In 
 reading the passages, I knew not whether to wonder more 
 at the astonishing physiological inquiries which the 
 authors must have made, than at the shameless effrontery 
 with which the immundicities are minutely detailed. f 
 
 Other most pernicious inculcations might be adduced. 
 
 And yet Escobak says in his preface, that he has not 
 maintained a single proposition which cannot be confirmed 
 by the "gravest doctors" oui of the 'Society! — thus in- 
 volving all Romanism in the mire of this demoniac mo- 
 rality ! 
 
 How far Escobar could have made good his boast, I 
 leave others to determine ; but I do not believe .that any 
 other casuists ever equalled the Jesuits in confessional 
 levity, when it was expedient, cum eis visum fuerit expe- 
 dire. 
 
 Much of this immorality is to be ascribed to the prac- 
 tice of sacramental confession ; for, when the conscien- 
 tious conviction, of simple right and wrong is deemed in- 
 
 » Vide Vincent. Filliucii, Tract xxv. c. 11, u. 331. (Edit. Lug. 
 1634.) Questiones Morales — in the Library of the B. Museum^ 
 press mark, ''^ m. 
 
 t See Azor. Institut. Moral., Lug. 1613, Part iii. 1. 3, c. 11 D. 
 Item, c. 21. Item, c. 31. — See Busembaum, Medulla Theol. Moral. 
 Pat. 1729— Lib. iii. Tract iv. c. 3.— See Dubium iv. § 3.— See 
 Escobar De Luxuril, Exam. 8. — See Triot i. § 67. Ef alibi. 
 
 X Nullam enim propositionem quae non possit gravissimis extra 
 Societatem Coctoribus confirmari. 
 
EECAPITULATION. 337 
 
 sufficient to determine guilt, the specious, interested 
 distinctions of man run riot in the darkened chambers of 
 the heart's desires. 
 
 The royal road of right and wrong is cut up into a 
 thousand intersecting by-paths, and the tyrant-will of the 
 usurper who sits in the confessional, permits or forbids 
 the deluded creature of the God whose right he has 
 usurped, to luxuriate or not in those perilous by-ways, 
 just as his own heart whispers— by weakness urged, or by 
 the moment's whim determined ! 
 
 THE SOCIETY ITS DECLINE AND FALL. 
 
 Here let us recapitulate. Ere we contemplate effects, 
 let us estimate causes — causes efficient, working to a des- 
 perate end I 
 
 In the Novitiate we have seen how the man is put in 
 possession of himself — we have examined the Constitu- 
 tions and their mistress, the Spiritual Exercises — we have 
 penetrated into the character of the Founder — glanced at 
 the state of the world at the time of his speculation — 
 witnessed its success in every region of the globe — 
 weighed some of the privileges entrusted to them, and 
 found them heavy. 
 
 "For the greater glory of God" was the loudly- pro- 
 claimed motto in that bewildering, bewitching first scene 
 of Act the first. We have done justice to the performers 
 — we have bestowed upon their efforts due applause — and, 
 then, we quietly listened to the Generals, the heads of the 
 
 z 
 
338 THE SOCIETY 
 
 Society, cautiously, but severely, lashing the characters 
 of his own troops, now become as it were desperate free- 
 booters ! 
 
 In this conjuncture, an exclamation escaped us, " There 
 were then some honest men among the Jesuits !" 
 
 And yet, observe the bent of these animadversions : it 
 is not so much the interests of religion, the cause of God, 
 that will suffer from this prevarication — but the good 
 odour of the Society — its influence — power ! Listen to 
 GoswiN Nickel, the General, 1656. 
 
 " Let the elements be separated into their primitive parts, 
 and be restored each to its own nature and place : as a 
 compound they are no longer disturbed ; but the com- 
 pound has evidently ceased to exist, is utterly annihilated. 
 Why have the empires of the Assyrians, Greeks, Per- 
 sians, and Romans, for a long time vast and powerful, 
 vanished from the earth, if not by the dismemberment of 
 their Provinces, and by breaking down the barriers of 
 union ? Our Society, if I may compare the least with the 
 greatest ; our Society, I say, from the holy compound of 
 different men, by the uniting force of the Holy Ghost, has 
 been gathered together into this most beautiful body ; by 
 the same force it has grown up, by the same it is spread 
 to the utmost limits of the earth. Woe to us if this vital 
 bond is ever relaxed" !* 
 
 True, the famous watchword " For the greater glory of 
 God" was muttered ever and anon with clenched teeth ; 
 but the gasping mouth opened wide, oft and oft, when 
 the political integrity of "Our Society" called for atten- 
 tion. " 'Twas natural " — 'tis natural — but let us see the 
 natural effects thereof : to these the Society is hastening 
 as the devoted stream within sight of Niagara's fall to be 
 * Epist. ii. De Nation. Spirit. 
 
ITS DECLINE AND FALL. 339 
 
 engulfed in its everlasting eddy, wherein the uprooted 
 tree and the dead man's carcass reel in a wild, whirling 
 dance of death.' 
 
 The following apparently well authenticated passage 
 from a sermon preached by Dr. Brown, Roman Catholic 
 Bishop of Dublin, in 1551 — shall prelude the events I am 
 about to record. 
 
 " But there are a new fraternity of late sprung up, who 
 call themselves Jesuits, which will deceive many, who are 
 much after the Scribes and Pharisees' manner. Amongst 
 the Jews they shall strive to abolish the truth, and shall 
 come very near to do it. For these sorts will turn them- 
 selves into several forms ; with the heathens a heathenist, 
 with the Atheist an Atheist, with the Jews a Jew, with 
 the Reformers a Reformade, purposely to know your 
 hearts, and your inclinations, and thereby bring you at 
 last to be like "the fool that said in his heart, ' There is 
 no God.' " These shall spread over the whole world, 
 shall be admitted into the councils of princes, and they 
 never the wiser; charming of them, yea, making your 
 princes reveal their hearts and the secrets therein, and 
 yet they not perceive it ; which will happen from falling 
 from the law of God by neglect of fulfilling the law of 
 God, and by winking at their sins ; yet in the end, God, 
 to justify his law, shall suddenly cut off this society, even 
 by the hands of those who have most succoured them, and 
 made use of them ; so that, at the end, they shall become 
 odious to all nations. They shall be worse than Jews, 
 having no resting-place upon earth, and then shall a Jew 
 have more favour than a Jesuit." * 
 
 The natural jealousy of mankind would necessarily be 
 
 * This sermon is stated to have been given to Sir James Ware, 
 and may be found in the Harleian Miscellany, vol. v. p. 556. See 
 Mosheim, vol. ii. p. 85. 
 
 z 2 
 
340 
 
 THE SOCIETY — 
 
 roused by such unparalleled prosperity as the Jesuits en- 
 joyed two hundred years after their establishment.; but 
 how soon would that weakness of our nature be changed 
 into righteous indignation, when the objects of jealousy 
 become the subjects of guilt ! 
 
 It IS manifest from the strictures of their own Generals 
 that the Jesuits were mingling in politics ; consequently, 
 despite the denial of these men, who "deny everything," 
 I shall rapidly glance at all the charges brought against 
 them as historical facts ; leaving the reader to decide for 
 himself as to their probability. If my opinion is of any 
 weight with the reader, I say that I believe every charge 
 recorded in these pages to be extremely probable, if not 
 positively true. The clever precautions which the Jesuits 
 display in all their movements and exploits have mystified 
 both their enemies and their friends. I am the enemy of 
 no man. My object is simply to place a momentous topic 
 in its truest possible light — would that all error Avere 
 purely abstract, " indifferent" — so that we might cherish 
 the man to our bosom, whilst we consign his error to its 
 fittest abode ! 
 
 To the thoughtful reader, accustomed to draw conclu- 
 sions as he reads, the history of the Jesuits is already, 
 traced — and that, too, by the pen of their own Generals ! 
 Let us once more pause — and sigh — and palliate, if possi- 
 ble, what we cannot justify. For the sake of humanity 
 let us feel for the frailties of human nature. 
 
 The Jesuits were never in obscurity. Like Minerva 
 from the head of Jove, the Society sprang forth from the 
 brain of Ignatius, full-grown, armed, ready for battle. 
 Hers was the infancy of years only, not of vigour and 
 action. All the first disciples of Ignatius became eminent, 
 extraordinary men, — How similar to a feature in the 
 career of Napoleon is this fact in the life of Ignatius ! 
 
ITS DECLINE AND FALL. 341 
 
 The Council of Trent suspended its sessions owing to the 
 temporary illness of Lainez ; Xavier, Salraeron, Bobadilla 
 — all the first ten are historic characters. It was vigour 
 from vigour, as fire from fire. 
 
 In a few years the Jesuits — the clever, polished, gentle- 
 manly preachers and teachers— engrossed the suffrages of 
 all who, in every age, find an irresistible charm in novelty. 
 The Jesuits, to the annoyance of their predecessors, be- 
 came "fashionable" confessors., They were recommended 
 by their very name to every Christian; and the sworn 
 disinterestedness of their motives invested them with that 
 conscious power of the man on whom sordid gold makes 
 no impression ; except that of unmitigated contempt, 
 when the heart speaks forth its words of fire. , 
 
 Years rolled on ; the fame of the Society, like the flame 
 of the lamp that illumes the universe, blazed brightly 
 forth — it was the "greater light" to the first men who 
 could not imagine an eclipse of that luminary which 
 shone so intense in its dazzling — so glowingly warm ! 
 
 But the wonderful rise, progress, and eminence of the 
 Jesuits could not take place without the usual concomi- 
 tant of all distinction (merited or unmerited) — jealousy — 
 then cankering envy. This fact must be borne in mind 
 by those who sincerely seek truth in the judgments of his- 
 tory. 
 
 Meanwhile, despite a few unimportant checks in its 
 earliest career, the Society advanced. Cherished by 
 Popes, fondled by princes, beloved by the people, it was 
 but natural that the Jesuits should strive to render them- 
 selves acceptable men to all who came within their influ- 
 ence. Hence the development which they gave to all the 
 sciences — their indefatigable exertions in the education of 
 youth — their missions at home and abroad — blinking all 
 ranks together by the magic influence which they brought 
 
342 THE SOCIETY — 
 
 to act on the consciences of men. This is the philosophi- 
 cal view of the subject that may be translated into their 
 motto " Forthe greater glory of God," by the Jesuits and 
 their friends : and yet all the authentic extracts which 
 the reader has perused in the foregoing pages dissolve this 
 beautiful motto into that disenchanting philosophical 
 view ! 
 
 Their temptations were too great. The exaltation of 
 mind to which the Society ostensibly aspired was the 
 badge of each member ; but scattered as they were in 
 every part of the world, whither they were expressly in- 
 vited, or sent on speculation, provided amply yrith all the 
 credentials of talents human and divine, how was it pos- 
 sible for these Jesuits to act otherwise than as men under 
 strong temptation ? The energetic denouncement of their 
 General, Goswin Nickel,* under the form of a gentle 
 doubt, insinuates the inefficacy of all the many " helps" to 
 perfection in certain characters, to whom he alludes ; his- 
 torical facts in every age attest this axiom of daily expe- 
 rience ; why will not the Jesuits acknowledge that they 
 grasped at too much -for mortals to hold — that they in- 
 serted their hands through the fatal hole, seized the 
 enticing bait, clenched their fist, and were caught ? — for 
 they could not relinquish that fatal hold ! Why will they 
 not acknowledge that in every region of the globe their 
 influence extended far beyond the pale of religion — that, 
 qualified as they were by talent and training, many: of 
 their body, " as confessors of kings," presided over the 
 fortunes of empires, undertook the negociations of princes, 
 dexterously' achieved exploits far above the reach of. men 
 endowed ■ with only ■ ordinary, experience and ordinary 
 knowledge of the human heart. A frown may ripple the 
 saddened face of Religion at the avowal ; but philosophy, 
 * Novitiate, page 119, et seq. 
 
ITS DECLINE AND FALL. 343 
 
 worldly justice will smile and admire : or if we permit a 
 jealous scruple to suggest the words " Non Jesu itd. .'"* 
 we shall be forced to admit, that by the scope of his 
 talents, such exploits were natural to the Jesuit. . With a 
 similar candour we will proscribe the absurd denunciations 
 of those who consider every Jesuit a rogue by profession 
 —who exhibit the Society of Nickel, Carraffa, Picco- 
 LOMiNi, and ViTELLESCHi, as the systematic corrupter of 
 mankind — as if the very sentiment of self-preservation 
 which is sublimely characteristic of that Society, were not, 
 of itself, sufficient to scout the atrocious temptation, in 
 any and every phase of its appearance ! The writers who 
 thus poison the minds of those who ask for the food of 
 mind, may flourish in notoriety, but cannot promise them- 
 selves that peace of unmolested conscience which results 
 from the pursuit of Truth. That the Jesuits of old were 
 men of different nations — of different characters — placed 
 in different circumstances — with different obstacles to 
 overcome — and yet tending — all of them — to the binary 
 end, the spread of the Roman Faith and the " good" of 
 the Society, is, perhaps, the surest clue to their history ; 
 whilst an adequate knowledge of the Institute, and a 
 thorough perception of its training, are necessary to evolve 
 a judgment as to the powerful temptations to overlook 
 the guiltiness of means in the glorious end, that must 
 always knock at the hearts of those whose minds have in 
 the process of training, been familiarised with self-deceit 
 in the Jesuit-theory and practice of obedience. I have 
 endeavoured to supply the premises of this judgment. .It 
 only remains for me to signalise such events in the history 
 of the Jesuits as are not only admitted, but put forth by 
 the Jesuits themselves ; after having briefly catalogued, 
 as it were, those charges which I should be glad to omit 
 • Jesus did not so ! 
 
344 THE SOCIETY 
 
 if they were not necessary in the balance of judgment. 
 In forming his conclusions, the candid reader will bear in 
 mind that he is judging a body of men whose scientific 
 labours alone entitle them collectively to respect and 
 admiration ; and the irreproachable lives of many of them 
 individually, compensate, to a vast extent, for the errors 
 of those who abused their high powers, their talents, and 
 the witchery of their training, for purposes incompatible 
 with the " design" of the Order. Their General's injunc- 
 tion in 1639 — to all the Fathers and Brothers of the 
 Society, namely, " What thou doest, thy Society does, 
 on whose account thou doest it, and whose sou thou art,"* 
 should render our judgment less severe ; seeing that the 
 grand exponent of the Society's will endeavoured to stay 
 the abuses that threatened infamy to all its members. 
 There is something awful in Vitelleschi's words that im- 
 mediately follow his quotation just given : " This thought," 
 says he, " ought not to render us careful of the good esteem 
 of the multitude only, but also, and much more, of that 
 Divine judgment whereby the sin of one man is often 
 punished in the whole people." 
 
 Another important fact must be borne in mind — the 
 Tiumbers that went forth sanctioned by the name of the 
 Society. There were upwards of twenty thousand Jesuits 
 in all parts of the world, for many years previous to the 
 suppression of the Society. In juxtaposition with this 
 fact, place the perfect training in all arts human and 
 divine, of talents above mediocrity, if not transcendent — 
 consider all that these pages have unfolded^ — and then 
 you will be able to judge whether the Jesuits of old were 
 not the dupes of ambition under some specious misnomer 
 — and whether the interested schemes of Popes and Kings 
 :^id not urge them to the fearful retribution that must, 
 • Epist. iy. M, Vitell. 
 
ITS DECLINE AND FALL. 34& 
 
 sooner or later, descend on those who strive to serve men 
 better than God. The history and downfall of the Jesuit* 
 are the " pillar of infamy" to the chair of St. Peter — an 
 everlasting satire — a burning sarcasm on the Popedom ; 
 and a perpetual reproach to the memory of those royal 
 ingrates whom they served too well — served with the 
 devotedness of men who felt convinced that they were also 
 serving themselves. 
 
 Talent, always eminent, belonged to the Jesuits — de- 
 termination that no danger could check, was theirs— 
 dexterity and craft (call it " pious" if you please) were 
 their constant or usual characteristics as a natural result 
 — hearts and minds of sublime piety from time to time 
 burnt brightly in their firmament ; and, if there were not 
 " ten just men" to save them from destruction in the evil 
 day ' but I must not anticipate this tragi-comedy 
 
 of the Popedom ! Let us contemplate the declining 
 vitality of this renowned Society. 
 
 The edict of Nantes was one of the first measures of 
 Henry IV. of France : it confirmed and re-established all 
 the concessions that had been made in favour of the 
 Protestants. The conspiracy of Barriere followed — a 
 Jesuit rector of the college of Paris, "is said" to have 
 been one of the accessories to the conspiracy,, which was 
 defeated. Soon after another fanatic attempted the 
 king's life : Chatel had only been a pupil of the Jesuits ; 
 but they were attainted of the crime, and banished in 
 1594 ; in consequence of the suspicions produced by that 
 crime, and its real or forged approbation by Guignard, a 
 Jesuit, who was hanged. I lay no stress on these charges; 
 and will even palliate the doctrine of " tyrannicide" that 
 may be found in the works of Jesuit casuists — particularly 
 in Busembaum's lucubrations; which, it is not denied, 
 became the text-book in the seminaries of the Society. 
 
346 THE SOCIETY 
 
 Other writers of the age maintained the same doctrine* 
 —whence it was an age of plots and massacres : the mur- 
 • der of Henry III. was certainly not very charitably be- 
 wailed by the Father of the Faithful, Pope Sixtus V. 
 
 Why do I signalise these facts ? these characteristic 
 events of the age when the Jesuit schools were flourishing 
 — when they might have preached the mild doctrines of 
 the Redeemer — might have pacified the spirit of anarchy 
 and rebellion, if they had deemed it expedient so to do ? 
 Here is my reason : because, the Jesuits and their friends 
 are fond of pointing to the events of the French Revolu- 
 tion as the consequence of their moral influence being 
 taken away by the suppression of the Society ! . . . . 
 
 Henry IV., at the request of the Pope, or induced by 
 the Jesuit Cotton, his confessor, recalled the Society in 
 1603. Like Cjesah, kind and forgiving, he acquitted 
 them of the charges brought against them, and gave them 
 a college; whence a Brutus went forth, and the "good 
 Henry" was murdered by Ravaillac, a pupil of the Je- 
 suits. This unfortunate coincidence (like a dolphin and 
 flying-fish meeting anon) was, doubtless, fortuitous; it 
 proves nothing — I lay no stress upon this fact, though I 
 have used it "to point a moral." 
 
 The conduct or machinations of the Jesuits in England 
 are detailed in every history. Perhaps the severe mea- 
 sures of Elizabeth against the Catholics, are mainly to 
 be attributed to the machinations of the English Jesuits. 
 The suspicion of treason became synonymous with 
 Romanism — and Romanism (to the afifliction of the 
 secular priests) became identified with Jesuitism — and 
 Jesuitism was apparently doing its darksome work of 
 treason incessantly, indefatigably determined.f 
 
 * Dumoulin, Bodin, Artiiisiiis, Buchanan, &o., Catholic and 
 Protestant. 
 
 t See " Important Considerations," by Watson, a Catholic priest. 
 
ITS DECLINE AND FALL. 347 
 
 Perhaps the destruction of Elizabeth was the day- 
 thought and the night-dream of the Jesuits. The arma- 
 ment of Spain that sank "in the yeast of waves" — van- 
 quished by God and man — may be called a tribute of 
 his country to the manes of Ignatius ! Parsons flour- 
 ished in those days : Paksons, that legion of Jesuitism ! 
 His disguises, perils, and escapes are the standing 
 budget of the Order — of that Order whose aim — if we 
 may conclude from the sum total of its achievements — 
 seems to have been an accomplishment, or a desperate 
 parody on the words of the Apostle : " I am made all 
 things to all men." At these words let us turn from 
 Garnet and the Gunpowder Plot, to contemplate the 
 Brahmins, and Pariahs of the Society of Jesus.| 
 
 Alluding to the facts which I am about to narrate, the 
 Jesuit from I quote, makes the following obsei^vation :— 
 
 "Great sacrifices imply a mighty will ; and in the soul 
 of the new apostle, the ambition of evangelical conquests 
 equalled its generosity." 
 
 In 1605, Goa witnessed the disembarkation of an 
 Italian missionary, whose age was twenty-eight. Robert 
 de' Nobili was the scion of a family which had given 
 two popes to the church, and a cardinal Bellarmin to the 
 Society, besides tracing its descent to the emperor Otho 
 III. Aquaviva had resisted the pious ambition of the 
 missionary ; but at length yielded to . " the inspiration of 
 God," when the Jesuit's family consented to his depar- 
 ture. This seasonable deference to the feelings of nature 
 must speak for itself: — it looks well. 
 
 The exigencies of the case, now presented to the Jesuit 
 mind, may be stated in a single sentence of the Jesuit 
 
 detailing the political machinations of the Jesuits. He was executed 
 for treason in 1603. This very interesting tract is republished b 
 '*Vbittaker & Co., edited hy the Rev. J. Mendham. 
 
348 A JESUIT BEAHMIN. 
 
 historian ; — " The Europeans were deeply despised, and 
 the Christians of the country Hved under the opprobrium 
 and burthen of an universal, indestructible anathema."* 
 
 I must suppose that the reader is aware of the contempt 
 and aversion which all the castes of India evince for the 
 unfortunate Pariahs ; and the utter destitution and immo- 
 rality resulting from that inhumanity. It was from the 
 lowest castes alone that hitherto the Christians of the 
 Jesuits had been made ; or, to use the forcible expression 
 of the Jesuit, " The water of baptism had rarely mois- 
 tened any but the brows that never blushed." Even 
 Xavier was baffled by the Brahmins ; " nowhere did he 
 -work more miracles than in the peninsula of India; and 
 yet no noble castle surrendered to his preaching." 
 
 De.' Nobili conceives a grand project, and " his Pro- 
 vincial and brothers give hira their approbation — the 
 Archbishop of Cranganor his benediction ; he puts it 
 into execution." 
 
 Avoiding all intercourse with Europeans, he put off 
 their dress, resigned their customs ; and, penetrating into 
 the interior of the country, dwelt in a hut, after the 
 fashion of the Brahmins. He took care to anticipate 
 detection by the rapidity of his first movement. He 
 chose to himself a servant, poor, but from a noble caste. 
 He carefully learned all the habits and ceremonies in use 
 among persons of quality, in order to copy them with 
 scrupulous exactness. He mastered the tamul, or vulgar 
 tongue; learned the language of the Court, and the 
 Sanscrit, or the language of science and religion. So 
 rapid was his progress^ that in a short time he might have 
 been supposed a native of the country. 
 
 And now prepared for his undertaking, he exhibited 
 himself in the costume of the penitent Brahmins. From 
 * P. A. Cahour— Des Jesuites— Sec. Part. p. 148. 
 
A JESUIT BHAHMIN. 349 
 
 the time of his arrival he had lived a life of austerity ; 
 abstained from flesh-meat, fish, eggs, wine, and all 
 intoxicating drinks; living on milk-meats, vegetables, 
 and rice, and of these eating only one meal a day. 
 
 When the Indian Brahmins beheld the European 
 Brahmin dressed like themselves, speaking as vpell as 
 themselves, resembling them in every feature, from the 
 tuft of hair at the top of his shaved head, down to the 
 socks or clogs, in which he moved with ease, despite the 
 goading peg of wood by which they were held to the 
 feet, — all were eager to see and hear him. " Still there 
 remained doubts respecting his titles of nobility. He 
 ■produced witnesses, and swore that he was from an 
 illustrious caste. The document was prepared ; and the 
 Roman Brahmin, judicially recognised, received the name 
 of Tatouva Podagar Souami : that is to say, " the man 
 who has passed master in the twenty-five or ninety-six 
 qualities proper to the true sage." 
 
 " The town of Madura was roused — visitors thronged 
 from all parts. He kept them at a distance ; admitting 
 only certain persons, and at certain hours, in order the 
 more to entice attention and curiosity." 
 
 The Jesuit continues : " His science, his manners, and 
 penitent life, attracted a great number of disciples : he 
 opened a school ; mixed lessons of the gospel with human 
 doctrine ; and in a short time the doctrine of the gourou 
 of Europe was reputed noble and w6rthy of the Indians. 
 In order to " ingraft"* Christianity on those natures, till 
 then rebellious, he availed himself of everything — attack- 
 ing them on all sides where he could find an entrance, 
 by the aid of reason, by their prejudices, and national 
 traditions." 
 
 * Enter is the French word, " ingraft" the English. Is it inten- 
 tionally used, or a slip of the pen 1 
 
350 A JESUIT BEAHMIN.j 
 
 He told them that he was come to announce to them 
 that sublime and blessed law which was the object of 
 their wishes, as held forth by their traditions respecting 
 a law long lost or obscured. 
 
 " He was believed. He developed the laws of the 
 Gospel and its mysteries : seventy Brahmins bowed 
 before the cross, and were baptised in a short time." 
 
 This conduct or success of Nobili naturally excited a 
 clamour in the rivals of the Jesuits in the work of con- 
 version ; or in those who objected to the specious 
 Christianity which was its object : he was summoned 
 to Goa to make his defence. 
 
 " He had given out that he was born of the forehead 
 of Brahma, because he had incorporated himself with the 
 haughty caste of a like origin. When he appeared with 
 his cylindrical cap of flame-coloured silk, covered with 
 a long scarf that fell like a shawl over his shoulders, 
 with his red muslin robe, his large ear-buckles, and his 
 forehead distinguished by a broad potou, or yellow mark, 
 made with the paste of sandanum wood, — ^his Superior, 
 Father Palmerio, the visitor of India, would not deign to 
 look at him; and all his Jesuit Brothers exclaimed, that 
 they ought to eject from the mission a man who gave 
 himself to idolaters, instead of gaining them to Jesus 
 Christ. Four . things particularly shocked them ; his 
 name, the mark on his brow, his continual ablutions, 
 and the string composed of a hundred and eight yellow 
 threads, which he permitted his disciples to wear." 
 
 It is difficult to reconcile this " shock" of the Jesuits 
 with an assertion made in the page that precedes, where 
 the Jesuit historian says — " Encouraged by the approba- 
 tion of his Superiors, and by thirteen years of experience, 
 Father De' Nobili followed up the course of his apostolic 
 triumphs." 
 
ANOTHER. 351 
 
 Still he defended himself successfully ; " every one 
 amongst his brothers sided with him." This did not pre- 
 vent Cardinal Bellarmin from writing to his nephew, a 
 severe letter on his equivocal experiment — " a letter full 
 of reproaches," says the Jesuit historian. 
 
 The reader would probably like to know the number of 
 idolaters converted by this Roman Brahmin. It is stated 
 to be " nearly one hundred thousand." He died at the 
 age of seventy-six, "venerated as a saint." 
 
 Such was the origin of the famous charge brought 
 against the Jesuits with regard to the Malabar rites and 
 ceremonies, which the Jesuits permitted their " converts" 
 to retain. Their defence must be quite satisfactory, to 
 Roman Catholics in general ; but as it would not hold 
 with Protestants, it is only necessary to state the fact as 
 an elucidation. 
 
 De' Nobili had worthy imitators. John de Britto 
 walked in his footsteps and with the like success ; but the 
 fame of De' Nobili was eclipsed by another Jesuit, Con- 
 stant Beschi. His dress, in all its gorgeous magnifi- 
 cence, is fully described by the Jesuit, enhancing that of 
 his predecessor by the pearls or red stones that adorned 
 his ears ; he wore a ring composed of five metals, Turkish 
 slippers on his feet, and carried a long cane. He sat in 
 a palanquin on a tiger-skin remarkable for its beauty. 
 Two men, one on each side, shook over him magnificent 
 fans of peacock's feathers ; they carried before him a silk 
 umbrella tipped with a golden ball. Such was the great 
 Viramamouni's mode of travelling. If he ever stopped 
 in any place, he always sat on a tiger's skin." 
 
 Beschi was a prodigy of learning. Besides Italian, his 
 mother-tongue, he had mastered Hebrew, Greek, Latin, 
 Portuguese, and several other languages. In India he 
 
352 A JESUIT DEW AN. 
 
 learned the Sanscrit, the Telenga, and the Tamul. He 
 read all the works of the native poets, and composed, in 
 the languages which he had acquired, works that are com- 
 pared by the Jesuit to " a mountain of gold, which, reflect- 
 ing the rays of the sun, scatter afar torrents of light." 
 
 The subjects selected by Viramamouni — for the Jesuit 
 still gives him that name — were characteristic of Jesuit 
 sagacity. They were the " Sufferings of Christ," the 
 " Virginity of Mary," the " Immaculate Conception," and 
 the " Dolours of the Virgin," &c. 
 
 The more one knows of Indian superstitions, the more 
 striking will this sagacity appear. 
 
 He required " five scribes, when he composed ; the first 
 wrote the first part of the quatrain, the second, the 
 second, and so on ; then the fifth put all those copies in 
 order. One would not have sufficed for the rapidity of 
 his conception." 
 
 He required to have an audience of a native prince ; 
 and " in three months he mastered the Persian and 
 Turkish languages" ! The interview was successful. The 
 prince was charmed by his genius ; gave him a new name, 
 and his grandfather's palanquin. Nay more, like the 
 patron of Themistocles of old, he assigned him four pro- 
 vinces for his maintenance, with a revenue of twelve hun- 
 dred rupees per annum ; and constituted him Dewan, or 
 prime minister. Then he might be seen with " an escort 
 of thirty horsemen on every occasion, with twelve standard- 
 bearers, and four attendants with silver staves. He was 
 mounted on a magnificent white horse, or a black one, 
 richly caparisoned. Behind him went a trumpeter on 
 horseback ; a camel laden with enormous cymbals ; an- 
 other camel carrying a huge drum, which resounded afar ; 
 on another were the ornaments necessary to celebrate the 
 
MYSTIFICATION. 353 
 
 Mass ; and three other camels carried his baggage and 
 tents." 
 
 The Jesuit shall comment on this curious picture ; — 
 " This oriental picture of the magnificence of Father 
 Beschi is calculated to scandalise, if we permit ourselves 
 to catch at the colouring : and more than one reader has, 
 perhaps, already exclaimed — Jesuita, Jesuita, Jesus nOQ 
 ibat it^ ! Still, I have thought proper to cite it, in order to 
 make known the appreciation of the Indians, and not the 
 reality ; for beneath the pencil of an European the figures 
 would lose vastly of their brilliancy," 
 
 I confess that this last remark totally surpasses my 
 comprehension. The mystification is enhanced by the 
 conclusion of the chapter which describes the austere 
 private life of the same Brahmin, as if it were not " part 
 and parcel" of his assumed profession as Brahmin. 
 Horace boasts of his cowardice in the field of Philippi ; 
 for his parmuld none benii relictd, is the " small blame" 
 that strives to conciliate a gentle judgment. Does this 
 Jesuit publish these, at the least, equivocal facts with the 
 same intention ?* 
 
 * Cahours's work is an answer to that of Michelet, On the Jesuits — 
 which last, like his other work, On the Priest, &o., evinces more 
 violent rancour than knowledge of his subjects. Cahours's defence is 
 quite as incomequent, but better written j and has the peculiar merit of 
 damaging the cause of the Jesuits more effectually than his oppo- 
 nent's perfectly French hallucination. Cahours, with considerable 
 simplicity, says that he thought proper to adopt the same size in his 
 book as that of Messrs. Michelet and Quinet, because "his brochure, 
 serving as a complement to theirs, it was befitting that they should 
 both be bound up together" — in other words, perhaps, that they are 
 "six for one, half a dozen for the other;" an estimate in which I 
 would agree as to the mere attach and defence — but must vastly prefer 
 the Jesuit's book, for the instructive reflections that it suggested. 
 Disgust was the only sentiment produced in me by Michelet in both, 
 of his works : he has abused a serious topic, if I may be allowed 
 A A 
 
354 A JESUIT IS A — JESUIT. 
 
 Dismissing this topic, I may state that other Jesuits 
 became Pariahs,'" as well as Brahmins, and with the 
 same " pious intention ;" and kennelled with the outcasts 
 of men, as if they had been born among them ! This 
 astounding fact is enhanced in import by another, namely, 
 that the men who thus crushed every human feeling in 
 their determination to accomplish the dictates pf the will, 
 ■were men of high birth, scions of noble families ! 
 
 I trust that the reader by this time understands what I 
 meant by the phrase that a Jesuit is a — Jesuit .' 
 
 We are now hurrying to the crisis — the penumbra of 
 fatal eclipse is fringing the satellite of Rome. The cla- 
 mours of envy or the scruples of pure Christianity roused 
 the Popedom to an expedient interference in these equi- 
 vocal means of the Jesuits, As philosophers, the latter 
 defended their scheme of Christianity ; and as philosophers 
 we are compelled to give them the victory of unlimited 
 knowledge of the character and institutions of the pagans 
 on whom they would " ingraft" the religion of Rome. 
 Based on this undeniable foundation, they were more than 
 a match for their opponents — their logic should have been 
 triumphant. But they were condemned ; and they made 
 signs of resistance. " The men the most devoted to the 
 authority of Rome were about to wage against it a war for 
 the settlement of evangelical duties and moral principles. "+ 
 The scene is shifted to the Celestial Empire; for the 
 
 the opinion. It is curious that the Jesuit proves very satisfactorily, 
 that the assertion on the title-page of his opponent's book about 
 ■" editions" is all " humbug." It seems that Cahours kept a " sharp 
 look-out:" he certainly shows that the book was not reprinted, or 
 " set-up," for the subsequent " editions." 
 
 * Cr^tinean-Joly, Hist, de la Comp. de Jesu, vol. v. p. 43, quoting; 
 Pertin, Voy. dans I'Indost. Cretineau-Joly is a friend of the Jesuits, 
 if not more — Stat nominis umbra ? 
 
 t Cr^tineau-Joly, ibid. p. 50, et seq. 
 
A JESUIT MANDARIN. 355 
 
 intellectual Chinese necessarily sympathised with the 
 Jesuits. Their influence had become paramount in the 
 land of Koung-Fou-Tseu, the renowned Confucius. 
 
 A crowned head of Europe exulted in the achievement : a 
 predecessor of Louis Philippe — that tinsel of history, Louis 
 XIV. — " had perceived the changes that such a state of 
 things were influencing in Europe ; and in order to confirm 
 to France, at some future time, the plenitude of commerce ia 
 those empires, he strove to invest the Chinese mission with 
 a national ratification.*" Let this fact be remembered, and 
 referred to its peculiar section of this essay : it is also the 
 key-note of what is to follow in disgraceful contrast — the 
 kings of the earth were never remarkable for gratitude— 
 Quicquid delirant reges plectuntur AcHvi ! 
 
 The court of Peking was the asylum of the sons of 
 Ignatius ; the emperor showered honours on the men of 
 science; Father Dominic Parrenin was made a Man- 
 darin ! His portrait is now before me, and well he looks 
 the character ! Nostri barbam non immitlant is glo- 
 riously superseded, and the Jesuit Mandarin sports the 
 honours of the lip and a luxuriant beard : his mandarin- 
 cap is not invisible, Parrenin, like Schall, another Jesuit 
 Mandarin, performed the functions of Grand Mandarin 
 with merited applause : as mediator between the Russian 
 and Chinese cabinets, Peter the Great forgot the Jesuit, 
 and lavished honours on the statesman. Bouvet, an- 
 other Jesuit, and " Imperial Geographer," vied with a 
 third Jesuit, Father Gaubil, in " rendering science the 
 vehicle to the good graces of the prince."t I need not 
 say that the good of religion was the end proposed. 
 
 Benedict XIV. proscribed the expedient connivance of 
 the Jesuits in the Malabar rites and the Chinese cere- 
 
 * Cr^tineau. t Ibid. 
 
 A A 2 
 
356 A JESUIT FOUNDRY. 
 
 monies. As might be expected » the Jesuits submitted to 
 the mandate which " cut short all the difficulties, and 
 sacrificed the uncertain to the certain, — the hopes of the 
 future to the realities of the present,"* 
 
 Now mark the consequence. "As the Jesuits had 
 foreseen, their deference to the pontifical judgment was 
 the signal of the fall of Christianity on the banks of the 
 Yellow River and the Ganges. The Missionaries were 
 imprisoned, proscribed, or consigned to destruction." f 
 Perhaps this consequence of the Pope's expedient mea- 
 sure attests the extent of the sacrifice which those rites 
 and ceremonies supposed in the Christianity of the Mis- 
 sionaries, thus *' engrafted" on paganism ; if not, the 
 papal court bore the penalty awarded to those whose 
 first and last desire is to " save appearances." 
 
 The Emperor kept his Jesuits however : he consented 
 to the persecution of Christianity, but still cherished his 
 astronomers and statesmen : they were useful. 
 
 As a contrast — for such is Jesuitism throughout — the 
 Jesuits in Abyssinia were persecuted for preaching 
 against the rite of circumcision, and the plurality of 
 wives ! Take another case : the Jesuit Verbiest accom- 
 panied the Chinese army, marching to reduce a rebel. 
 Cannon was wanting : he was ordered to found guns of 
 various calibres. He replied that his mission was to 
 bring down the blessings of Heaven on men, not to furnish 
 them with new means of destruction. Verbiest was sus- 
 pected of favouring the enemy : he and his companions 
 and converts were threatened with persecution : he yielded 
 to the order ; set up a foundry ; directed the works ; the 
 messengers of death went forth ; and Kang Hi had to 
 thank the Jesuits for victory.! 
 
 * Crdtineau, Hist. vol. v. p. 81, et seq, f Ibid. 
 
 X Cretineau. 
 
CURIOSITIES. 357 
 
 Nevertlieless " Christianity was expiring in China — it 
 was a deadly conflict. The Jesuits, in order to preserve 
 the germ of the Faith, placed it under the safeguard of 
 the Sciences. 
 
 " Honoured with the imperial favour as literary men, 
 execrated as Catholic priests, they conformed to the condi- 
 tion traced out for them by circumstances. Father De Ven- 
 tavon resided at the court in the capacity of Mechanician 
 to the Emperor : the brothers Castiglione and Attiret 
 were his favourite painters : Father Hallerstein presided 
 over the tribunal of Mathematics. Some of the mission- 
 aries made clocks with moving figures, others applied to 
 the Fine Arts, or the mechanical Arts, for inventions that 
 might be worthy %o please Kian-Loung ; all tortured their 
 wits to devise some means of averting the storm that 
 growled over the heads of the Christians. Father Michael 
 Benoit applied the principles of hydraulics. The spurt- 
 ing water, whose scientific management was not as yet 
 known in China, excited the applause of the Prince and 
 his court. He desired to multiply the prodigy in his 
 gardens. Benoit was charged with the direction of the 
 works. He thus gained frequent opportunities of seeing 
 the Emperor, in order to overcome his prejudices against 
 the Christians and Europeans. Benoit set to the work : 
 he did more : he studied the art of engraving in copper- 
 plate : he trained artists, and produced engravings. He 
 initiated the Emperor in the use of the telescope, and the 
 mystery of the air-pump."* 
 
 Let the scene be shifted once more. The evening is 
 come : night will soon follow ; and after that morning 
 will return. 
 
 Pascal and Jansenism must have a place in every his- 
 * Cr6tineau, vol. v. p. 83. 
 
358 DECLINE. 
 
 tory of the Jesuits. I have studied the quarrel, and have 
 found nothing in it adapted to develope the object of this 
 essay ; namely, the system of the Jesuits. The Pro- 
 vincial Letters only accelerated events which the Jesuits 
 themselves, unwittingly, had been preparing during the 
 course of the preceding century. They had given an 
 impulse to the age by their universal development of 
 education : intellectuality was in the ascendant. A 
 similar process has, in the present age, been in operation 
 for the last fifty years or more. The idea of universal 
 equality, or the " levelling" mania, is one of the abuses 
 of intellect, trained without the moral sentiments being 
 raised to pilot the adventurous bark on the trackless 
 ocean of mind. The pursuit of knowledge, after the 
 example, or under the sanction of the great educators, 
 had become a mania : the result was that yearning after 
 change which flatters the heart with the accomplishment 
 of every desire. At the present day, are we hurrying to 
 the same result? 
 
 In the case of the Jesuits, novelty had lost its charm ; 
 Escobar, Busembaum, and other " moralists" of the 
 Society had been made to cover the Jesuits with shame 
 or suspicion, — the finger of scorn was raised with im- 
 punity. Their name became a term of reproach ; every 
 language had consecrated it to fraud, cunning, and du- 
 plicity. It is hard to battle against ridicule and evil 
 fame. 
 
 Portugal was the first kingdom in which the influence 
 of the Jesuits became paramount : it was the first eflFec- 
 tually to strike it down. If Philippe II. humbled Por- 
 tugal by the aid of the Jesuits,* the vengeance of Pombal 
 was a fearful retribution — such as may be ever and 
 * Rabbe et Chatelain, Hist, de Portug. 
 
PAEAG PAY. 369 
 
 anon recognised in the history of man, ruled by Provi- 
 dence. 
 
 I allude to the affair of Paraguay. In modern times 
 Dr. Francia despotically and most successfully isolated 
 the people who inhabit that country, or a contiguous de- 
 partment. The Jesuits, as must be admitted, blessed the 
 savages Vfith the usual gifts of semi-civilization ; and 
 governed them, or enabled them to govern themselves in 
 the midst of prosperity resulting from order, industry, 
 and the nature of a soil that may be said to dispense with 
 the labour of man. It is not my intention to depreciate 
 the exertions of the Jesuits in ameliorating the condition 
 of the savage. I have only endeavoured to give an idea 
 of the reality without exciting increduhty. The " Utopia" 
 of the Jesuits, had it stood the test of time, might have 
 become a model government for the world. In 1753, the 
 kings of Spain and Portugal made an exchange of pro- 
 vinces in South America : the inhabitants respectively 
 were to change territories. The religious subjects of the 
 Jesuits refused to obey. I applaud the conduct of these 
 men, if they thought they could resist with effect; for, 
 unquestionably, the mandate was tyrannical. On the 
 other hand, it was to be expected that the " mother 
 country" would enforce the demand ; and the result was 
 the destruction of this Jesuit republic. The Jesuits deny 
 that they aided the Indians with their advice and martial 
 science ; they deny that they stimulated them to resist- 
 ance ; — if there was no chance of success, the denial is 
 probably correct. 
 
 Pombal followed up this first assault. Strange! that 
 such a man should proclaim, as the motive of his persecu- 
 tion of the Jesuits, that " they had remained less faithful 
 than their predecessors to the principles of Ignatius 1"* 
 * Saint Priest, Fall of tlis Jesuits. 
 
360 INDISCRETIONS. 
 
 They were expelled from Portugal and its dependencies. 
 What motive had Fombal for the expulsion of the Jesuits? 
 His other atrocities furnish a clue to the answer — doubt- 
 less he feared their influence, which he either knew to 
 exist or imagined possible. He nevertheless feared the 
 Jesuits. 
 
 In 1764, the sons of Ignatius were expelled from France. 
 This event is certainly connected with an offended woman, 
 Madame de Pompadour. Her confessor De Sacy, a Jesuit, 
 refused to sanction what she styled her " purest attachment 
 fortheking." The reader, who is aware that Father Cotton 
 another Jesuit, was confessor to the tender-hearted Henry 
 IV., and who has probably read the curious Historiette 
 of Talleirient-des Reaux, will be pleased to see this con- 
 trast of affairs. The lady resolved on the expulsion 
 of the Order, and was successful. Previously to this, 
 the Society had become the laughing stock of Paris by 
 the credulity of Gerard, one of the body, in the case of a 
 misguided woman whose ambition was to rival St. Ca- 
 tharine of Sienna with her Stigmata or sympathetic 
 wounds.* Pamphlets, songs, logic, and sarcasm swarmed 
 like a nest of hornets — the Jesuits were become con- 
 temptible. Voltaire, D'Alembert, the " philosophers" 
 were in the zenith of their fame. The Jesuits cannot 
 speak of their downfall without stigmatising the " philo- 
 sophers :" for my part I am incredulous as to the large 
 share assigned to these men in the expulsion of the Jesuits. 
 The Jesuits prepared their own destruction ; they have 
 the merit of having ruined themselves : had they not 
 grasped too much, their hands might have remained 
 moderately full to the present time. 
 
 The affair of Lavalette supervened; another lever of 
 destruction. This Lavalette was the Jesuit-procuratcr of 
 * Cr^tiueau, vol. v. p. 214. 
 
LAVALETTE. 36 1 
 
 the West India missions. Jesuit missionaries in South 
 America had endeavoured to ameliorate the condition of 
 the poor African, but Lavalette owned slaves at Dominica. 
 An epidemic disease broke out among his negroes, and 
 several died. In addition to this the English cruisers 
 took his freighted ships — ^he became a bankrupt for a 
 large sum, which the Society refused to pay. This was a 
 fatal imprudence in the Jesuits, or the result of decep- 
 tion ; they suffered the matter to go before the French 
 Parliament, and were condemned to pay the full amount 
 of the debt. 
 
 Louis XV., " wearied out rather than convinced," 
 yielded to the solicitations of Madame de Pompadour 
 and Choiseul, his minister; the Jesuits were expelled. 
 
 In 1767, the Jesuits were suddenly and unexpectedly 
 driven out of Spain by Charles III., a pious, zealous, 
 most Catholic sovereign, if history is to be credited. This 
 act took the Jesuits totally to windward — it mystified 
 even the Jesuits ; and to this day the motives that dic- 
 tated their expulsion from Spain remain inexplicable, if 
 we may not believe the exclamation of the king, alluding 
 to a frivolous revolt some time before, which the Jesuits 
 suppressed so easily that they were suspected of having 
 fomented it ! The king is said to have declared " that 
 if he had any cause for self-reproach, it was for having 
 been too lenient to so dangerous a body;" and then, 
 drawing a deep sigh, he added, " I have learned to 
 know them too well !"* 
 
 I pass over the sufferings of the Jesuits ; their utter 
 dereliction by all who had before been served by them, 
 when, on the same day, and at the same hour, — in 
 
 * Despatches of the Marq. of Ossun to Choiseul. quoted by Saint 
 Priest, — Fall of the Jesuits^ 
 
362 ATROCITIES. 
 
 Spain, in the north and south of Africa, in Asia and 
 America, in all the islands of the Spanish monarchy — 
 the alcades of the towns opened the despatches -which 
 they received from Madrid, commanding them, under 
 penalty of death, to enter the establishments of the 
 Jesuits, armed, to take possession, to expel the Jesuits, 
 and transport them, within twenty-four hours, as prisoners 
 to such port as was mentioned. The latter were to em- 
 bark instantly, leaving their papers under seal, and 
 carrying away with them only a breviary, a purse, and 
 some apparel ! " Nearly six thousand priests, of all 
 ages and conditions — :men illustrious by birth and learn- 
 ing — old men oppressed with infirmities, despoiled even 
 of the most indispensable requisites — were stowed away 
 in the hold of a ship, and sent adrift upon the ocean, 
 with no determinate object, and without any fixed direc- 
 tion."* They neared the coast of Italy; the Pope 
 refused to receive them ! What were his motives for 
 this apparently unchristian act, in the Father of the 
 Faithful ? Perhaps their numbers suggested the fear of 
 famine ! If Ricci their General, as is alleged, joined in 
 or suggested the refusal, it was a sad indiscretion at a 
 time when the reputation of the Society was at its 
 lowest ebb. 
 
 The Courts of France and Spain now determined to 
 effectuate the total abolition of the Society of Jesus, by 
 the Pope himself ! 
 
 After long and tedious negotiations on the part of the 
 respective potentates, nothing was done in the matter : 
 the death of the Pope Clement XIII. raised the hopes of 
 those princes bent on the destruction of the Jesuits. 
 
 • Saint Priest. 
 
THE BRIEF OF SUPPRESSION. 363 
 
 The election of Clement XIV., which followed in due 
 time, was eiFected by these princes. This is not denied 
 by any party. The princes of the earth placed in the 
 papal chair a man who was to fulfil a written promise to 
 suppress the Jesuits. So the vicegerent of the Redeemer 
 — the exponent of councils over which the Holy Ghost 
 presides — sold himself to a party, and the price was the 
 honour of the pontificate ! 
 
 Ricci was the last General of the Jesuits before the 
 suppression. If the accounts respecting the doings at 
 Rome, during the period in question, be correct, that 
 man was bitterly humbled by his former friends ; still he 
 exerted himself to his utmost in endeavouring to avert 
 the ruin of his Order : but failed. Ganganelii assumed 
 the tiara ; and after the most disgraceful tergiversations, 
 displaying a degree of weakness that would cover the 
 pettiest prince of Europe with scorn — the Pope of Rome 
 condemned the Jesuits — the Pope did this — compelled by 
 the kings of the earth, whom his predecessors had 
 trampled to the dust ! Here was a retribution indeed ! 
 If you would have your contempt for the papal court, 
 at that time at least, raised to the highest, read 
 the brief of suppression, and see how it sings the 
 song of expediency. It went forth on the 21st of July, 
 1773, and began with the words : " Our Lord and 
 Redeemer" ! 
 
 Dread must have been the anxiety of the Jesuits whilst 
 that conclave was preparing their destruction ! If the 
 authorities of Count Alexis de Saint Priest are true — (he 
 seems to be an impartial historian) the last struggles of 
 the Jesuits were truly systematic, that is, in accordance 
 with the theory by these pages unfolded. 
 
 Father Delci started for Leghorn, with the trea- 
 sures of the Order — intending to transport them to 
 
364 THE LAST GENERAL. 
 
 England :• but the energetic Ricci — his portrait stands 
 before me — stopped the pusillanimous flight. 
 
 The fortune of Cromwell was decided, the star of Na- 
 poleon was made a sun, by that supernatural boldness 
 inspired by the emergency of life or death ! Ricci put 
 forth his character, or rose with the occasion. Anxious, 
 disturbed, he was seen hurrying from place to place — " one 
 while mingling in the numerous bodies of the Guarda 
 Nobile, the pompous escort of the dinners of the cardi- 
 nals, which are carried through the city in rich litters ; at 
 another time mixing in the groups of the grave Traste- 
 verini, or the motley crowds of cattle-drivers and peasants 
 assembled from the Sabine territory, Tivoli, Albano, and 
 every part of the Pontine marshes, to witness the grand 
 ceremony. At daybreak Ricci was on foot, traversing 
 every quarter of the city from Ponte-Mola to the Basilica 
 of the Lateran. The Jesuits de consideration (so styled 
 in a cotemporary document) imitating the example of 
 their chief, were continually engaged in paying visits to 
 the confessors and friends of the cardinals ; whilst, loaded 
 with presents, they humbled themselves at the feet of the 
 Roman princes and ladies of rank. Nor was all this 
 attention superfluous : the current of public favour had 
 already been diverted from the Jesuits ; and, amongst 
 
 * The Jesuit Bernard Rhodes, a physician, cured the Chinese Em- 
 peror Kang-hi. The monarch gave him ahout 8000i. in gold. This 
 money was deposited with the East India Company, on interest. At 
 the suppression of the Society, the Company, like all the Catholic 
 powers, confiscated the money, applying the interest to the hospitals. 
 But the Jesuits sent a deputy from India to represent tl^eir case to the 
 Board. They were kindly received, the arrears were paid up, and the 
 interest was given till the death of the last Jesuit missionary. In 1813 
 the Propaganda transferred this money from the Jesuits to the Laza- 
 Tists of China, The generosity and honesty of the Board stands in 
 contrast with the injustice of the Propaganda. Such is Rome ! 
 
A ROYAL INSULT. 
 
 366 
 
 Other fatal prognostics, the Prince de Piombino, a partisan 
 of Spain, had withdrawn from the use of the General the 
 carriage which his family had for more than a century 
 placed at his disposal." The last General of this redoubt- 
 able Society threw himself at the feet of the cardinals ; 
 and in tears, " commended to their protection that Society 
 which had been approved by so many pontiflfs, and sanc- 
 tioned by a general council — the Council of Trent : he 
 reminded the cardinals of his services, and claimed the 
 merit of these, without casting blame upon any court or 
 cabinet. Then, in an under tone, and in the freedom of 
 secret conference, he represented to the princes of the 
 Church the indignity of the yoke which these courts were 
 attempting to impose upon them."* But the honour of 
 the Popedom was sold and bought : Judas, the Iscariot, 
 with the price of blood in his hands, not Peter in repent- 
 ance, was now to be the papal model ! 
 
 Joseph II. of Austria would be present at Rome on 
 that pregnant occasion. On this straw of royalty the 
 Jesuits fondly relied: he stooped to insult the men who 
 could not resent the injury ! He paid a visit to the Gran 
 Gesil, a " House" of the order, and a perfect marvel of 
 magnificence and bad taste. The General approached 
 the Emperor, prostrating himself before him with pro- 
 found humility. Joseph, without giving him time to 
 speak, asked him coldly when he was going to relinquish 
 his habit ? Ricci turned pale, and muttered a few inar- 
 ticulate words : he confessed that the times were very 
 hard for his brethren, but added that they placed their 
 trust in God and in the holy father, whose infallibility 
 would be for ever compromised if he destroyed an Order 
 which had received the sanction and approval of his pre- 
 decessors. The emperor smiled and, almost at the same 
 * St. Priest. 
 
366 A SUSPICION. 
 
 moment, fixing his eye upon the tabernacle, he stopped 
 before the statute of St. Ignatius, of massive silver, and 
 glittering- with precious stones, and exclaimed against the 
 prodigious sum which it must have cost. " Sire," stam- 
 mered the father-general, " this statue has been erected 
 with the money of the friends of the Society." " Say, 
 rather," replies Joseph, - " with the profits of the 
 Indies!"* 
 
 Clement XIV. died. Suspicious symptoms attended his 
 death ; he was probably poisoned : but I can find no 
 proof that the Jesuits promoted the crime, though such is 
 the implied accusation. Nay, Ricci, the General, is said 
 to have visited the " prophetess" -v/ho foretold the Pope's 
 death !t 
 
 What motive could the Jesuits have for desiring the 
 Pope's death ? I discard the idea of mere revenge, — but 
 was there hope in the probable successor ? This is the 
 most dismal page of their history ; if guilty of all the 
 alleged Climes and misdemeanours, they became doubly 
 so by their humiliations — such is the world's judgment. 
 
 The successor of Clement XIV. connived at the dis- 
 obedience of the Jesuits in not being abolished. Frederick, 
 the king of Prussia, gave them an asylum, and they were 
 permitted to open a Novitiate in Russia by the Empress 
 Catharine, and by the ambiguous will of the Pope who, 
 like his predecessor, feared to offend the crowned heads, 
 the foes of the Jesuits, vpho had caused their sup- 
 pression. 
 
 In 1814, Pius VII. restored the Jesuits as an Order, 
 by a Bull, revoking the paltry Brief of Clement XIV. 
 Why was Ricci, the ex-General of the Jesuits, detained 
 in prison by Clement XIV ? . . . . Still, as might be 
 
 * Saint Priest, Fall of the Jesuits, 
 t St. Priest." 
 
PRESENT STATE. 367 
 
 expected, he died protesting his innocence, and that of 
 the Society. 
 
 If my inquiries are correct, the number of Jesuits in 
 all parts of the world at the present time, cannot be 
 much less than seven thousand of all ranks in the 
 Society. 
 
 In the province of Turin the number of the Jesuits in- 
 creased between the 1st of January, 1841, and the 1st of 
 January, 1845, from 379 to 428. They have in Turin a 
 " noble" college, another college and a ^jensionnaf, in- 
 cluding 81 Jesuits; a professed house at Genoa; novi- 
 tiates at Chiari and at Cagliari ; colleges and pensiomiats 
 at Aosta, Charabery, Genoa, Nice, Novara, Cagliari, San 
 Remo and Voghera. Since the commencement of the 
 year 1845, a new college has been opened at Massa. 
 
 The establishments of the province of Spain have been 
 disorganised by the political events which have convulsed 
 that country. In 1845, there were 113 Jesuits dissemi- 
 nated in Spain, particularly in the dioceses of Toledo, 
 Seville, Pampeluna, and Valencia. This province has a 
 " residence" at Nivelle in Belgium, and another at Aire, 
 in France ; it has also residences in South America, 
 namely, in Paraguay, Uruguay, La Plata, Brazil, New 
 Grenada and Chili. Another list gives 536 Jesuits in 
 Spain.* 
 
 At the commencement of 1845, the province of Paris, 
 which includes the northern part of France, numbered 
 420 Jesuits, thus giving an increase of 129 from the year 
 1841. 
 
 The province of Lyons includes the southern part of 
 
 France; in 1841 it contained 290 Jesuits, in 1845, 446, 
 
 — scattered over the country,— at Lyons, Bordeaux, Dole, 
 
 Grenoble, Marseilles, Toulouse, and Avignon, as priests, 
 
 • Frankfort Postamts Zeitung. 
 
368 PRESENT STATE. 
 
 noviciss, and brothers. The Society in France numbered 
 872 Jesuits. 
 
 As the colleges are not open to them in France, they 
 have founded one in the frontiers of the kingdom, at 
 Brugelette, in Belgium. The French province has still 
 19 Jesuits, employed on the mission in Grenada, and 8 in 
 China : it also possesses in North America, two flourish- 
 ing establishments, containing 19 priests, 35 novices, and 
 1 1 brothers. These are the novitiate of St. Mary, and 
 the college of Louisville, in th^ state of Kentucky. 
 
 The French province had also 39 Jesuits in Africa, 
 namely, at Algiers, Oran, and Constantine ; also 22 mis- 
 sionaries in the East Indies — at Trichinopoly, in the pre- 
 sidency of Madras, and in the island of Madura; 10 in 
 Syria, and 6 in Madagascar. 
 
 The province of Belgium is one of the most flourishing 
 at the present time. In 1841, there vrere 319 Jesuits in 
 that province; there are now 472. The novitiate of 
 Trbnchiennes contains 129. They have colleges at Alost, 
 Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Louvain, Namur, Liege, &c. : 
 residences at Bruges, Courtray, and Mons : missions at 
 Amsterdam, the Hague, Nimeguen, Dusseldorf, and in 
 Guematala, in America. 
 
 The province of Germany includes Switzerland, which 
 contained 245 Jesuits in 1841, and 273 in 1844. 
 
 There are 88 " houses" in Germany, containing 1000 
 Jesuits, of whom 400 are priests. 
 
 In Columbia, Maryland, Mkssachusetts, and Pennsyl- 
 vania, the Jesuits have found a footing, — and " go ahead" 
 in " the land of the Free and the Brave," as gaily as all 
 other speculators. 
 
 In England they have thirty-three establishments, or 
 houses, colleges, residences, and single missions. Of 
 course, Stonyhurst, in Lancashire, is the principal estab- 
 
PRESEKT STATE. 369 
 
 lishtnent ; and it is stated to contain, at the present time, 
 twenty priests, twenty-six novices, and fourteen brothers. 
 
 Such is an abstract of the numerical force of the Jesuits 
 at the present time.* I am unable to vouch for the accu- 
 racy of these numbers : it is difficult to come at correct 
 Jesuit statistics. 
 
 Of the seven hundred and seventy-six priests in Great 
 Britain, the Jesuits alone can say how many are enlisted 
 under the banner of Ignatius, unless this knowledge is 
 shared by the " Vicars Apostolic" of the various districts 
 in which they are privileged to move unmolested. They 
 are muffled in England : it is difficult to distinguish them ; 
 and they endeavour to keep up the mystery — omne igno- 
 tum pro magnifico. They have established a " Classical 
 and Commercial Academy," at Mount St. Mary's, near 
 Chesterfield ; and the prospectus of the establishment, 
 after describing the suit of clothes that the pupils are to 
 bring, not forgetting the ominous " Oxford mixture"t — 
 simply informs the world that " the college is conducted 
 by gentlemen connected with the college of Stonyhurst" 
 These " gentlemen" are generally sent out m pairs, by 
 the Provincial, according to the Constitutions ; and thus 
 may charm by variety ; for the quantity of work on hand 
 in the various Jesuit missions in England is by no means 
 so evident as the speculation for more, by this constitu- 
 tional provision. The secular priests are doubled and 
 tripled by the necessities of the mission ; the Jesuits are 
 
 • The /ormo J restoration of the Society by Pius VII., in 1814, is 
 too unimportant to deserve a notice in the text. Its suppression only 
 inconvenienced the Jesuits for a time : their energies vf ere condensed, 
 — the pressure was taken off in 1814 — and vast was the expamioti 
 thereof! In Italy alone there are 4000 Jesuits, in 150 houses. 
 
 ■f Cath. Direct, p. 126 — " trousers of Oxford mixture." 
 B B 
 
370 PRESENT STATE. 
 
 doubled, tripled, and quadrupled, by the requirement of 
 the Constitutions, and the prospects before them. 
 
 The Jesuits in England dress as any clergyman, or any 
 gentleman : by their outward man you cannot tell them. 
 Strange notions are afloat respecting these men. I have 
 been asked if I do not think that there are Jesuits 
 incognito in the University of Oxford; and, stranger still, 
 if I do not believe Dr. Pusey to be a veritable Jesuit .' 
 These questions I cannot undertake to ansvi^er. Such a 
 speculation would indeed be a bold one, even in the 
 Jesuits : but then, consider De' Nobili, Beschi, &c. ; 
 surely, if a Jesuit may assume the Brahmin and Pariah, 
 in order to " ingraft Christianity on Paganism," he may 
 assume the Protestant, in order to ingraft Romanism 
 on Protestantism, firmly convinced of Lucian's axiom, 
 namely, that "a beginning is the half of everything."* 
 This is arguing from the past to the present — nothing 
 more. I do not emit an opinion on the subject. 
 
 Again have I been asked, by what sign can one dis- 
 tinguish a Jesuit? Perhaps the sign whereby you may 
 know the Jesuits, is their being better housed, better 
 clothed, and better fed than most other Roman Catholic 
 priests. This sign is, of course, equivocal: huti' the fad 
 is undeniable : the " missionary funds" of the Jesuits are 
 liberally applied — " they give freely what they have freely 
 received." In other respects the Jesuits show themselves 
 by " results." They dare not interfere openly in '^ mis- 
 sions" pre-occupied by the secular clergy ; but they are 
 independent of the Roman Catholic Bishops, except for 
 ordination, which is a matter of course. Still, perhaps I 
 am justified in believing that their movements in London 
 are considered by many of the orthodox as rather strong, 
 somewhat encroaching. 
 
 * 'Apxi) >i/*i<TU navTog. 
 
PRESENT STATE. 371 
 
 From the Catholic Directory, it appears that there are 
 at least twelve Jesuit priests at Stonyhurst — eleven by 
 the list ; but I have added one for " the Master of the 
 novices," whose name is never given, I believe, in the list 
 of the clergy. 
 
 Of the Jesuits in Scotland I can give no account. 
 That a " Mission" of the Society formerly existed there, 
 is certain ; in fact, the copy of the Constitutions in my 
 possession belonged to that mission, as is evident from a 
 written inscription on the title-page, as follows : — Mis- 
 sionis Scoticce Soc. Jesu. The Jesuits are not the men to 
 forget their hiding-places. If their " doings" in London 
 are " for a sign" as to other localities, they are not idle. 
 Seven years ago, at the time of my secession, there were 
 only two Jesuits in London ; there are now four in one 
 "residence;" and if the current report among Roman 
 Catholics in London be correct, there will soon be twelve 
 Jesuits in London, to " serve" their great church now 
 building in the heart of the metropolis ! f Crescit occulta 
 velut arbor tevo. 
 
 A bill is now before Parliament, one of whose clauses, 
 it is said, is intended to free the Jesuits from the odious 
 verbal proscription to which I have before alluded.* 
 When the discussion comes on, their friends will say 
 that the Jesuits are proscribed for being pious, religious 
 men, wishing to serve God according to His counsels ; 
 and those who have studied their Institute and history, 
 •will reply, that the Jesuits are proscribed lest they do 
 as they have invariably done in every region of the globe ; 
 and will perhaps suggest this remark, namely, that if we 
 must fight the battle of politics and diplomacy, let it be 
 fought fairly ; but your Jesuits, who have always had a 
 
 * In Farm-street, Berkeley-square. See p. 34, Novitiate, 
 t Page 32. 
 
372 MORNING RETURNS. 
 
 peculiar fancy for finance, diplomacy, and the affairs of 
 the great in general, will always have an advantage, a 
 small, trifling advantage over other candidates, since tkey 
 can know more than comes to their ears as " private indi- 
 viduals." 
 
 A cunning minister would certainly shake hands with 
 the Jesuits — because such a man is apt to overreach him- 
 self; an honest, prudent Minister would, in the present 
 state of all parties, take time and consider the matter 
 and the men, and would perhaps die undecided what to 
 do — so hard is all Jesuit matter to understand in all its 
 bearings; but your slashing, keep-pace-with-the-times 
 Minister would use Jesuits to serve his purposes, and then 
 sacrifice them, as every other friend or foe, to expediency 
 — if the Jesuits would be simple enough to be caught a 
 second time — which is quite possible, — for it is astonish- 
 ing how a little sunshine, after dull weather, deceives the 
 ants, bees, ground-worms, all the natural barometers of 
 earth ! 
 
 TheEnglish province has twenty missionaries at Calcutta, 
 and a " house," or residence, in Jamaica. It is asserted, 
 that the English Government is even assisting the Jesuits, 
 at the present time, to found a new college, especially 
 destined for China. Assuredly Englaod is making ample 
 amends for her ancient persecutions of the Catholics and 
 Jesuits, as well as for her part in the nefarious slave- 
 trade I But as Divine Providence weighs motives, not 
 actions, time only will unravel the mystery. The Jesuits 
 will serve their patrons, and they will serve themselves, 
 and the history to come, like all history, will have many 
 points of resemblance to that of the pmst. 
 
 The vice-province of Ireland numbered sixty-three 
 Jesuits in 1841, and seventy-three in 1844. They pos- 
 sess, in Ireland, the colleges of Clongowes, Tollabey, and 
 
WARNINGS. 373 
 
 Dublin. They have recently established a second " bouse" 
 in the last mentioned city. 
 
 From France the Society has been expelled ; but the 
 Jesuits may remain ; the Government has given them the 
 earnest of success in this mystification; they may work 
 unseen, unknown, unsuspected — as a hidden disease, or 
 the mine of the enemy, sprung in the midnight-watch. 
 
 Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and the Isles of the sea 
 are mapped for Jesuit navigation — hope sits at the helm, 
 but they cannot rule the elements. Their day is passed 
 — they can interfere in the concerns of the world, but 
 can never more rule kingdoms by conscience. The reign 
 of the latter is also passed — commerce is the prime-mover 
 of the age ; and its " balance-sheet" is uncompromising, 
 omnipotent. May not the Jesuits direct their attention 
 to that quarter ? They are quite competent to the task. 
 We shall see. 
 
 My task is accomphshed. Are the Jesuits, is the Society 
 of Jesus to be judged by the facts of its history only— 
 whether good, bad, or indifferent ? I think not. It has 
 been ray endeavour to lead to the contrary conclusion. In 
 its perfectly organised system, its power of mind, its isola- 
 tion, we must seek to find its tendency. This will be 
 satisfactory, if the reader is a Roman Catholic in heart 
 and mind ; for the Jesuits are most assuredly working for 
 the universality of the Church of Rome. They are, con- 
 sequently, the sworn foes of Protestantism in all its 
 phases. The preceding pages will have attested the 
 enemy's power ; and should be well computed by those 
 who are concerned in the momentous conflict. 
 
 On the other hand, I have endeavoured to suggest a 
 warning to the Jesuits. The end can never justify the 
 means — even if we admit the former to be indifferent or 
 even good. The human heart, with its fond deceptions, 
 
374 FAITHj HOPE, AND CHAHITY. 
 
 will for a time have Cause for exultation in seeing all its 
 schemes successful : then it will yearn for more : zeal 
 will have all the restlessness of ambition without its hon- 
 esty — and then the pit will be dug — deep as the human 
 heart itself — as devouring as death ! 
 
 Beautiful image, entrancing reality of the Redeemer's 
 religion ! When shall it bless mankind with all its hea- 
 venly gifts ! Its never-ceasing faith, hope, and charity — 
 love that strives to find and succeeds in finding motives 
 to love on, in all that is man, in all that is created — and 
 rises, from every contemplation, with renewed benevolence 
 that prompts the heart to attest its faith, hope, and charity 
 by deeds, such as a God vouchsafed to model for the imi- 
 tation of his creature. How simple, and yet how sub- 
 lime ! The parching blast of exclusive opinions dries up 
 the heart; but the gentle glow of charity makes it the 
 centre whence a thousand rays shall diverge, and move on 
 for ever — refracted or reflected — but still indestructible, 
 and never ceasing to fulfil their destiny — good to all whom 
 the God of all wills us to cherish as friends, as brothers ! 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 Note A. p. 61. 
 
 The great storehouse of the praises of Mary is a comparatively 
 modern work, entitled the 'Glories of Mary,' by Alplionsus 
 Liguori, who died in the year 1787. He wrote in Italian, but his 
 book has been recently translated by " a Catholic Clergyman." 
 
 Le 'Soulas du P^cheur' was famous enough : but the ' Glories 
 of Mary' by Liguori, since canonised, have far outshone all pre- 
 vious coruscations of similar fires. Liguori has collected every 
 eulogium from previous writers, and has surpassed them in the 
 extravagance of his pregnant fancy. A few extracts may be in- 
 teresting. 
 
 "But," says St. Bernard, "how can you, O Maryl refuse to 
 relieve the miserable, since you are the queen of mercy ? And 
 who but the miserable are the subjects of mercy? You are the 
 queen of mercy, and I a sinner the most miserable of all ; since, 
 then, I am the greatest of your subjects, you should take more 
 care of me than of all others. Have pity then on us, O Queen of 
 Mercy, and watch over our salvation. Do not tell us, O sacred 
 virgin, that thou canst not assist us on account of the multitude of 
 our sins ; for thy power and clemency are so great that no num- 
 ber of sins can overcome them." Thou hast insuperable strength, 
 lest the multitude of sins should overcome thy clemency. No- 
 thing resists thy power, for the Creator esteems thy glory as his 
 own. Nothing resists thy power, since thy Creator and the Creator 
 
376 APPENDIX. 
 
 of all, honouring tliee, who art his mother, regards thy glory as 
 his own. And," adds the saint, " the son exulting in her, as it were 
 paying his debt, fulfils thy petitions." He meant to say, that 
 though Mary owes an infinite obligation to her Son for having 
 destined her for his mother, still it cannot be denied that the Son 
 is under an obligation to this mother for having given him his 
 human existence. Hence, as if to repay what he owes to Mary, 
 Jesus, for his own glory, honours her in a special manner, by 
 always hearing all her prayers. How great then should be our 
 confidence in this queen whom we know to be so powerful before 
 God, and at the same time so rich in mercy that there is no one 
 living on this earth who does not partake of the clemency and 
 favours of Mary. 
 
 The Blessed Virgin herself said to St. Bridget : " I am the 
 queen of Heaven, and the mother of mercy; I am the joy of the 
 just, and the door by which sinners are introduced to God; 
 neither is there on earth a sinner so accursed as to be deprived of 
 my mercy. For every one, if he obtains nothing else through my 
 intercession, at least receives the grace to be less tempted by the 
 devils than he would otherwise be." 
 
 Mary is " a worthy mediatrix between men and God" — propterea 
 Deum inter et homines mediatrix intercedens, according to St, 
 Basil. Liguori expands with the theme, and bandies his logic 
 like a Thomas Aquinas in proving the " attributes" of Mary : 
 
 " Mary, then, was the mediatrix of all men : but how, some 
 one may ask, was she mediatrix of the angels ? Many theologians 
 are of opinion that Jesus Christ merited grace even for the angels : 
 then, as Jesus Christ was their mediator de condigno, so Mary was 
 their mediatrix de congruo, inasmuch as by her prayers through 
 the merits of the Redeemer to come, she accelerated his coming. 
 At least, by meriting de congruo to be made the mother of the Re- 
 deemer, she merited for the angels the reparation of the angelic 
 thrones, lost by the devils. She has therefore merited for them 
 this accidental glory." " By or through Mary," says Richard of 
 St. Victor, " the ruin of the angels is repaired, and the human 
 race reconciled." And long before, St. Anselm said : " All 
 things by this virgin — per banc virginem — liave been restored and 
 reinstated in their first state — in statum pristinum." 
 
APPENDIX. 377 
 
 It is difficult to find one's ■way through this logic : but Liguori 
 is quite at home in the labyrinth — he has found the object of his 
 search — the "divinity" of his pious imagining. He proceeds : 
 
 "It is not a mere opinion," says Father la Colombiere (a 
 Jesuit), " it is the opinion of the whole world, that when Mary 
 received the gift of sanctifying grace in the womb of St. Anne, 
 she at the same time received the perfect use of reason, along with 
 a great light from God, corresponding to the grace which had 
 been bestowed upon her. « « « * 
 
 " Hence, from the first moment of her existence, Mary, grateful 
 to her God, began to do all that was in her power, negociating 
 faithfully with the capital of grace which had been conferred upon 
 her, and employing all her faculties to please and love the Divine 
 goodness. From that moment she loved God with all her 
 strength, and thus continued to love him during the nine months 
 she spent in her mother's womb, and never ceased for a moment 
 to unite herself always more intimately with God, by fervent acts 
 of love. She was free from original stain, and was therefore 
 exempt from every earthly attachment, from every irregular 
 motion, from every distraction, &c. &c. Hence, she has called 
 herself the plane-tree, planted near the running waters : " As a 
 plane-tree by the water . . . was I exalted." Eccles. xxiv. 19 : 
 for she was that noble plant of the Lord, that always grew beside 
 the current of the divine graces. Hence she has called herself 
 a vine : " As the vine I have brought forth a pleasant odour." — 
 Eccles. xxiv. 23. 
 
 Does Liguori mean that Mary inspired the sacred penman 
 when he wrote those words ? Is this the result of the attribute 
 given in the Litany to Mary as " Queen of the Prophets ?" 
 
 Adopting the theory of " several respectable theologians'' with 
 regard to the geometrical progression of grace by every merito- 
 rious action, Liguori thus makes his calculation : " If, in the first 
 instant, Mary had received a thousand degrees of grace, in the 
 second she had two thousand; in the third, four thousand; in 
 the fifth, sixteen thousand; in the sixth, thirty-two thousand. 
 We are now at the sixth instant: but when the degrees of 
 grace are thus multiplied for an entire day, andyor nine months 
 [the time before her birth] consider the treasures of grace, of 
 
378 APPENDIX. s 
 
 merit, and of sanctity, which Mary brought into the world at her 
 birth!" * » * « 
 
 ' " Some saints," adds the angelic doctor, " have grace sufficient 
 to save not only themselves but many others. To Jesus Christ 
 alone, and to Mary, was given grace suflScient for the salvation of 
 all men : Sed, writes the saint, quando quis haberet tantum quod 
 sufficeret ad salutem omnium, hoc esset maximum, et hoc fuit in 
 Christo et beatS, Virgine. Thus, what St. John said of Jesus, 
 "of his fulness we have all received" — the saints say, in a certain 
 sense, of Mary. St. Thomas of Villanova calls her, " full of 
 grace, of whose fulness we all receive."' 
 
 We are reminded that " we receive grace from Jesus as from 
 the author of grace, from Mary as a mediatrix"; and then Ber- 
 nard, the seraph of hagiology, bursts upon us with the inspiration 
 that totally confounds our orthodox distinction : " Consider,' 
 says he, " with what tender devotion God wishes that we honour 
 this great Virgin, in whom he has placed the treasure of his gifts, 
 that for whatever hope or grace or salvation we receive from him, 
 we may thanlc this most amiable queen, because all comes to us 
 from her hand, and through her intercession." — Serm. de Aqsed. 
 
 Note B. p. 62. 
 
 The name " philosopher'' is of Greek origin, and signifies " a 
 lover of wisdom" — an appellation modestly assumed by the wise 
 men of old, objecting to the implied arrogance of the itame sophoi 
 or " the wise." I need not explain the derivation of the word 
 Jesuit. " It is believed," says Bouhours, the Jesuit, " that God 
 revealed to Ignatius the name of the Society, in the meditation 
 of the Two Standards, wherein he was shown the first features 
 and general plan of his Order, in a martial metaphor." 
 
APPENDIX. 379 
 
 Note C. p. 87. 
 ODE COMPOSED IN THE NOVITIATE. 
 
 A LA GSIVE. 
 
 Belle Grive du Printems ! 
 
 D'ou viens tu, ma chere si t6t? 
 
 C'est peut-^tre les hauts vents 
 
 Qui font chass^e sur les eaux — 
 ■ Pour beuir notre Dieu 
 
 Qui, de I'hirer fait renaitre, 
 
 Le Printems, douce saison ! 
 
 Quand torrent de chaque creux 
 
 Va riviere pour repaitre : 
 
 Bref ! voila, sur vieux gazou 
 
 Laboureur prepare charrue, 
 
 Attendant la pluie des cieux 
 
 Douce, bruinant a gouttes menues. 
 
 Beau Soleil et belle Lune ! 
 
 D^ja commence le cr^puscule — 
 
 La montagne d^ja est brune. 
 
 Car les ombres se reculent. 
 
 Les oiseaux font tous leurs nids, 
 
 Ou de paille ou d'autre chose — 
 
 C'est qu'ils pensent a leurs petits, 
 
 Comme les boutons a leurs roses. 
 Le vieillard a cheveux blancs, 
 £t la vieille dans la cfaaumiere, 
 'A genou au Tout-puissant, 
 Le supplient en humbles prieres. 
 Le garfon, la jeune iille, — 
 
 ous iuvoquent une belle vendange. 
 Tous se h^tent d^votement 
 'A I'autel de la Vierge : 
 Disent leurs prieres, font leurs ofirandes, 
 Chacun, de fleurs, ou bien de cierges, 
 Four b^nir leurs demandes. 
 C'est alors que Ton entend 
 Sur le saule ou ch@ne grand, 
 Belle Grive du Printems ! 
 X)e ton gozier liquide 
 
380 APPENDIX. 
 
 Suavit^s et delices 
 
 Sans cesse decouler ! 
 
 Tu te rois a I'onde limpide 
 
 Quand tes ailes la-haut glisseut 
 
 Pour te voir voltiger ! 
 
 Alors c'est foi qui nous inspire 
 
 Des doux timbres de ta lyre ! 
 
 Viens, ma belle ! aide-moi, — 
 
 Cbautons Dieu, d'une voix — 
 
 A j amais beni soil ! 
 
 PALINODE OF THE RETREAT. 
 
 TO MAGDALEN. 
 I. 
 
 What though the rose at noon shall fade. 
 And droop its panting breast to die t 
 
 By one sweet drop of dew array'd 
 'T will cheer again the evening sky. 
 
 II. 
 What though the stream by summer sun 
 
 Be parched with cruel thirst and dry ? 
 One little shower will bid it run 
 
 And sing again its lullaby. 
 
 III. 
 
 What though thy heart, poor Magdalen ! 
 
 Was sear'd, and withered, and forlorn 1 
 Thy God did make it bloom again, 
 
 Fresh as the virgin-dew of morn. 
 
 IV. 
 Bedash'd with Heav'n's grace, thy soul 
 
 Did overBow with endless love- 
 Then bless the sin which, though so foul. 
 
 Such tears of blissful grief could move ! 
 
 Prlntoil by Stewart anct Hvsstiz, Old IBailey.