"Directing to that end all our powers in the Lord, that holy obedience be always perfect in all its attributes, 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-rejecting 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 conversation with his fellows. The Constitutions of the Society, quoted in principles, the practices, the peculiar- pp. 146, 147 :— ities, the objects, the anticipations of Jesuitism, constitute the elements in which he lives, and moves, and has his being. All the relations of social life are sacrificed, or held only in subordination to the plans and purposes of the society. Father and mother, brother and sister, relative and friend, must be nothing to a Jesuit in comparison of hisorder. All concern for the public good, all patriotism, all loyalty are merged in that "one thing needful" of the Jesuit's object and aim, the success and pros-be defined to enter. perity of his order. To it whatever property he possessed is freely and absolutely surrendered. At its disposal is all that he may gain by his talents and his labour. To the society every gift, every attainment, is to be solemnly and perpetually consecrated. A finished Jesuit must have obtained a complete mastery over his own will. The power of self-control must be carried to the highest point. He must at any time, with or without a reason assigned, be ready to give up that which is dearest to his heart, or perform that to which he has the strongest aversion. He must, in the service of the society, be prepared to encounter any danger, to risk either life or fame, to submit to any indignity, to bear any disgrace, to endure any suffering. He must be able to bear every kind of contradiction, to sacrifice any opinion of his own; in a word, to exercise self-denial, at any time, in any way, to any extent, over both body and soul, understanding and conscience. "I must," saysthe novice, and we quote from the diary of Mr. S., "I must divest myself of myself, so as not to desire health more than sickness, riches more than poverty, honour more than ignominy, a long life more than a short one; finally, in all things, singly desiring and choosing those things which rather conduce to the end for which I was created-to glorify God in the Society of Jesus," page 131. The well-trained Jesuit renders the most complete obedience to his superior. He must be a piece of living mechanism, to be put in action or set at rest, or worked, just according to the will of the superior. This is that holy obedience," the slightest appeal to which silences every scruple, represses every murmur, and annihilates personal and voluntary action. Such is the requisition of the And each one should persuade himself, that those who live under obedience ought to allow themselves to be borne and ruled by Divine Providence through the superior, just as if they were a carcass which may be borne in any direction, and permits itself to be handled in any manner-or like an old man's staff, 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 whatever 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 conform to the divine will by that means, rather than by any other whatever that he could apply, by following his own will and judgment.” And finally, the Jesuit must be formed, not for seclusion only, unless by that seclusion he can in some especial way forward the objects of the society; he must be prepared to mix with the world, to take his share in its concerns, in every possible way in which, by so doing, he can advance the objects of the society. While his closest relations, his warmest affections, his entire sympathies are with his order, he must appear as a citizen of the world, polished in manners, polite in behaviour, and well acquainted with all its ways. In order to form a body of men who, amidst all the variety of their talents and acquirements, and natural tendencies, shall be thus characterised, and thus adapted to work out the plans and and accomplish the great objects of the society, it is evident there must be a peculiar and effective training, a long course of preparatory instruction and discipline. The community consists of picked men, who not only appear to have the natural advantages both of body and mind which will fit them for their work, but they must abide the ordeal of a long probation; and all who cannot endure the tests which are applied, whose purpose wavers and whose heart fails, whose "vocation" appears from any cause doubtful, are dismissed before their initiation is completed. And it is owing to a case of this sort that we are, by the author of "The Novitiate," presented with the course of training adopted during the first year and discipline in a Jesuit establishment in England. Mr. Steinmetz was born in the West Indies. His father was a protestant and his mother a catholic. "Of six children, five were devoted to the baptism of Rome, and only one conceded to that of Luther. The author was one of the five. In his twelfth year, his mother took him from school, and consigned him to the care of a priest to prepare him for his first communion; or, as she said, 'to break him in.' The dogmas of the faith were then imparted to him for the first time. The seeds of religion sank deep in the virgin soil; he 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 zeal for the conversion of heretics. He studied controversy. In his twelfth year he strove to propagate the faith. He attacked the forlorn hope of his father's religion-his eldest sister; and she was converted to the faith of Rome." Having studied medicine for two years, and being determined to enter the priesthood, he was sent to England, and for five years pursued his studies with diligence and success at St. Cuthbert's college, near Durham. After this he travelled for some time on both continents, and being left destitute of parents and of property, his mind naturally active and enthusiastic, with strong religious tendencies, was fixed on the order of Jesuits, as affording scope to his energies, while it excited his imagination with objects of boundless grandeur. On application made to the agent of the society in London, he was, after some delay, accepted. He arrived at Stonyhurst in February, 1838, full of zeal and high determination; passed one of the two years to which the term of the novitiate extends; attended in a very creditable manner to all the rules and exercises enjoined; and, becoming disappointed and dissatisfied, quitted the society with an honourable testimonial. By this publication our author affords us an opportunity such as is rarely found, of a peep behind the scenes, where we see the future actors preparing to play their parts. We are introduced to one of the schools of the gladiators, where we see the future combatants going through their exercises under the training of the lanista, preparatory to their public appearance in the amphitheatre. We are admitted to an inspection of the elementary processes of this moral manufactory, in the singular productions of which the whole ecclesiastical world is interested. We see no reason to doubt the fidelity of the author's statements, or the accuracy of his descriptions. Every unprejudiced reader will at once perceive that, throughout the whole, there is an air of truthfulness, and sincerity, and candour, which goes far towards removing every thing like suspicion of the author's veracity. There has not been, as we are aware, any attempt to invalidate the statements here made, farther than the angry vituperations and dark insinuations of some who have been galled by these disclosures, though the author has challenged official contradiction, and has produced a copy and fac-simile of the testimonial which he received from the master of the novices, on quitting Stonyhurst. And certainly, if the author's narrative were a mere fabrication, or an extravagant distortion of the truth, nothing would be easier than for the agent in London, or those in office at the establishment, to prove it such. In addition to this view which is given to us of the interior of this wonderful system, the historical notices of the author himself, and the workings of his mind in the various positions in which he was placed, and which ended eventually in his leaving, not only the Society of Ignatius, but even the catholic church itself, are far from being uninteresting. Our readers may not perhaps be generally aware that the establishment of a Jesuit college, or the existence of any such society in England is illegal. So late as the passing of the Catholic Relief Bill in the reign of George IV. the existence of any such community is prohibited. But this law is never enforced. It is a dead letter on the statute book. "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; may remain such time as such secretary shall permit, not exceeding six months; unless the licence is revoked before the end of the six months. ** They remonstrated by their delegates against the stringency of the act in question; but it was intimated to them sub rosa, that they need be under no apprehension, as they might drive a coach and six through the said act.""Pp. 33, 34. and The members of this body are now, in various parts of the kingdom, very quietly but very actively pursuing their objects, but their seat is at Stonyhurst, in Lancashire. Here they have a college for the education of Roman catholic youth, furnished with Jesuit masters. “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 profane, and geography. The higher classes receive lessons in algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. The philosophical course embraces logic, metaphysics, ethics, and natural philosophy, with chemistry, and the higher mathematics. There is in the college an extensive apparatus for experimental philosophy, an astronomical observatory, a chemical laboratory, a collection of minerals, &c. There is also a considerable 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, aud fencing, give lessons to those whose parents may desire it. closely examined four times a year, in what they have learned during the preceding quarter, and rewarded accordingly."-Pp. 38, 39. All are From this college, it appears, many, and some even of the Roman catholic aristocracy, are induced to enter as novitiates. Alluding to the methods "It is not to be wondered at that this insidious course has lured into the novitiate the sons of noblemen and the wealthy of the land. There is a very nostalgia generated in tender minds, 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 confessional that drips the potent fluid, which encrusts the heart with a coating impervious to all external 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."-P. 44. Not far from this college is the Seminary, where the process of training is carried on when the novitiate terminates and the vows are taken, after having passed through which its members become complete Jesuits, fit for their work, called the "professi." Before entering the seminary, two years must have been passed in the novitiate. The place appropriated to this probationary course is called Hodder House, which visitors seldom see. main of Stonyhurst was the munificent gift of Thomas Weld, of Lulworth Castle, "who enhanced his generosity by giving his son to the society." The occasion of this was the expulsion of the Belgian Jesuits in consequence of the French Revolution, who subse quently took refuge in England, and obtained this asylum. The do "The Jesuits soon set to work, rebuilt and added, cultivated and improved, and at the present time, they possess an ample domain of some thousand acres of excellent land, three flourishing establishments, and a splendid church."-P. 38. Our limits will not allow of a detailed account of the various duties and exercises through which the candidates have to pass during their novitiate. Suffice it to say, that all is order, method, and punctuality. The whole time, day and night, is with singular tact so distributed, that mental and bodily exercise, devotion and meals, penance and recreation, are all so arranged as to combine in producing one great result, a perfect Jesuit. Not a moment is lost, no kind of means is left unemployed which a profound knowledge of human nature can suggest, to further the proposed end. The period of the novitiate is not so much a time of learning or of study, as of creating and fixing of certain habits, the formation of a certain character; in fact, the casting of a man into a new mould. It is like the training of some animals, by which all the general instincts and particular tendencies of their nature become so modified and combined, so subdued or stimulated, as to produce the type desired. The subject of this process remains still generically a man; but a Jesuit belongs to a species in a very marked manner distinct from all others. On this course of preparation all the powerful aids of religion are brought to bear. But the religion with which the spirit is imbued, under the influence of which the character is formed, and the mind fortified for all the possible contingencies of future life, is not the religion of the Bible; it is essentially deficient in the simplicity, the spirituality, the universal benevolence, which the New Testament inculcates. The reading, which is regular and constant, is not that of the divine word. We did not," says the author, "read the bible; or, if any did so, they did it privately, and by special permission." Their reading is the lives of saints, the legends of ascetic heroes, the labours, and achievements, and glories of St. Ignatius and his followers. And as Loyola was the sworn knight of the Virgin Mary, the members of his fraternity become her enthusiastic worshippers, to whom innumerable prayers are addressed, and without the invocation of whose aid, not even a walk is attempted. The thoughts of the novices are incessantly familiarized with the presence, the approving regards, and the intercessions of angels and archangels, of confessors and martyrs, and holy virgins; so that they live constantly in an ideal world, peopled by supernatural beings of their own imagination, which gradually acquire the vividness, and force, and permanent impression of reality. The action of these influences is intensely sustained by daily masses, innumerable acts of devotion, and by a peculiar kind of exercise called "meditations." These meditations, indeed, form a remarkable part of the training. Every day (as we understand our author) an hour before breakfast is employed in the little chapel in these exercises. VOL. X.-FOURII SERIES. A subject is announced by the superior, and its points, or principal topics and divisions, are given. The first quarter of an hour the mind pursues the prescribed course of thought kneeling; the next quarter is similarly employed in a standing posture, the third sitting, and the fourth, kneeling again. At the commencement of the novitiate, a week is passed in the Retreat, a seclusion in which the novice has, at least our author had, four meditations of an hour each, every day, the nature of which, and the manner of performing them are described at some length : "I had four meditations each day, the intervals being filled up with verbal prayer, spiritual reading, an examination of conscience, preparatory to confession, 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 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 necessary.” There is also annually "the Grand Retreat," or "the Spiritual Exercises" of Ignatius, which the novitiates enter on immediately after the feast of that saint. During this time, there is the same strict seclusion, except a few short intervals of recreation. The whole of chap. xiii. is occupied with a remarkably interesting description of the course of exercises during this Retreat; the tendency of which must necessarily be to leave a deep impression on the spirit, and at the same time to form the mind to habits of fixed and consecutive thought. Amidst all these duties and rigid observances, the health of the novices is not neglected. Such intervals of recreation are allowed, so mixed is bodily with mental labour, and such is the regularity, the sufficiency, and the quality of their meals, as may most effectively keep up their bodily strength. Nor is the study of etiquette neglected; a polished smoothness in their manner is assiduously cultivated, and the suaviter in modo is as essential as the fortiter in re. "For our missionary duties," says our author, we were directly and indi 3 K rectly prepared; indirectly by all our ing is an instance of a part of that discipline reading, and directly by the short ser- by which this habit is formed. Imagine the mons which every novice in his turn novices pleasantly engaged at dinner, satisfying had to compose and deliver, and by a the grateful stomach with savory food, and the course of Christian doctrine which was pious soul with holy thoughts. The Martyrread in class," page 185. "We had ology and Fasti have been read. One novice also to compose and deliver longer has the cup in his hand, another his fork to his sermons after the great Retreat," page | mouth, a third is dividing his meat, a fourth is 186. "We delivered our sermons masticating. Suddenly the reader solemnly without gesture, keeping custody of entones, By order of holy obedience!' Now eyes, after the manner of the last named look! the cup is down-the fork deposited-the celebrated orator," (Bourdaloue). "The meat relinquished-the teeth forget their funcsermon was generally criticised by the tions-the mouth is closed in the death of superior, or the minister when he was obedience. The hands are joined on the breast appointed; and sometimes keenly-I —each throbbing heart is asked by vanity, 'Is suppose, to try the spirits,' page 187. it I? Is it I?' Now, listen to the brief. 'By "If I may be permitted to speak of order of holy obedience! Brother myself, I would say that, when I left hereby reprimanded for his general unedifying the novitiate, it would have been an conduct, want of punctuality, hurried gait, easy matter for me to preach a sermon bustling demeanour, totally unbecoming & extemporaneously on most of the topics novice of the Society of Jesus. He must reof Christian morality; and I record the member what is required of him by the rules of fact with candour and thankfulness, the seminary, and entirely discard the habits of that the habit of meditation acquired a school-boy. Holy obedience enjoins him to in the novitiate gives me great facility kiss the feet of all the brothers as soon as he in riveting my mind to any subject sug- has dined.' The reader sat down, and dinner gested by the will or the fancy: and proceeded as if nothing had taken place, except for any length of time without dis- the crimson blush on the cheek of the brother traction," page 189. whose brief has just been read."-Pp. 252, 253. "He (Ignatius) establishes on reasons deduced from the scriptures and the fathers, three degrees of obedience. The first, and the lowest, consists in doing what is commanded. The For all the minutiae of mortifications and penances, including the habitual silence enjoined, the "custody of eyes," that is, the straight forward, or rather, the downcast look without any per-second is, not only to execute the orders of the mitted deviation, the prohibition of forming friendships, or even indulging in preferences, the perusal by the superior of all letters written or received, the mutual espionage, the scourge, and the chain, we must refer to the work itself. We shall close with a few brief extracts respecting what may be considered as the sum and climax of all Jesuitical virtues, that in which this order superior, but to conform our will to his. The third, to consider what is commanded 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 authority into his hands, in order to guide us; person of Jesus Christ; who has placed his and who, being wisdom itself, will not permit his minister to be mistaken."—Pp. 150, 15]. especially excels all others, that which renders the society pre-eminently dangerous, and capable of effecting conscientiously and devoutly, the most enormous wickedness, i. e., HOLY OBEDIENCE: obedience not to the precepts of God's word, nor the authority of Christ, but to the superior! An obedience into the reason of which no inquiry must be made, but a perfect, blind, entire obedience, man's stick. Very expressive, certainly. But which recognizes GOD in his supe-perty of wax, namely, to take what form be he did not stop there; he subjoined the prorior."" page 60. 66 "The very mention of this awful formula is sufficient to stifle the conceived reply, to cut short the half formed word, to suspend all action, and to still every motion. The follow has holy father Ignatius selected three meta"Here then, (referring to the prescribed rules) phors, to give an idea of what sort of obedience he expects to find in his Jesuits. These metaphors are, 1st, wax; 2nd, a corpse; 3rd, an old 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 |