The Sun.
London, England, 1848-07-27 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

THE HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. By

Andrew Steinmetz. 3 Vole.

To write history is not only an arduous, but an
ungracious task. The impartiality of the historian is
almost invariably called in question. If he evince
any enthusiasm for his theme his revelations are re-
garded as the utterances of a partizan ; if, on the other
hand, he do full justice to the iniquities with which his
historical researches have made him acquainted, he
is forthwith assailed as a calumniator, and if,
nein, (rare miracle !) the historian be impartial,
his popularity will in consequence be rather dimi-
nished than increased, for in that case all parties will
most probably unite in censuring him. The reason
for this apparent injustice is very simple: The his-
torian has invariably to contend with some forgone
conclusion in the minds of the majority of his readers;
he attacks their prejudices, and they impugn his
historical probity. If such be the invidious
accompaniments of the authorship of history,
generally speaking, how immeasurably must
their invidious character be augmented in the
case of him who shall attempt to write the
history of the Jesuits I The Jesuits, than whom no
body of men have been the objects of greater adula-
tion or greater contumely. Every individual who
has taken up a pen or opened his lips in their cause
has been either a panegyrist or a traducer. Hence
the impartial observer finds it impossible to form a
correct estimate regarding the company of Jesus.
This extraordinary society, as manifested to us by
the double revelations of the zealous enthusiast

and the rancorous opponent, now elicits our admira-
tion and now our indignant horror, and always our
interest, and always—always—our astonishment. A
true and trust worthy history of such a body would

perhaps constitute the greatest boon which :in histo-
rian could confer on the human race ; a true history

of the Jesuits would solve many an enigma which has
hitherto baffled the sagacity of the theologian, the
moralist, and the philosopher—it would be a work as

elaborate in its construction, and as important in its
consequence, as the " great work "—the History of
Human Error—which occupied the lifetime of the
father " Caxton." Such a work has not been written

by Andrew Steinmetz. The three large octavo vo-
lumes now before us, although in many respects supe-
rior to what we had expected from the author of the
" Novitiate," are both in manner and matter greatly
inferior to what they claim to be—the history of the
Jesuits, or to use their author's grandiloquent
expression, " the Temple of Jesuitism." Yet,
although no such colossal edifice in itself, Mr. Stein-
metz's book may serve as a not unimportant frag-
ment in such a structure. These volumes, most

certainly, do not constitute the history of the Jesuits,
but a history they are, or rather a chapter in
the great history to be hereafter completed.
The impartial observer; • to whom we have
already referred as being anxious to unravel
the mysteries of Jesuitism, may very profitably
peruse Mr. Steinmetz's work in conjunction
with others. In conjunction with others, be it well
remembered ; for if it contain much of truth, it most
assuredly does not contain the whole truth. Mr.
Steinmetz is, of course, peculiarly inimical to Jesuits
and Jesuitism, and naturally so, for no foes, it is ge-
nerally admitted, are so violently antagonistic as
those who " once were friends," and Mr.
Steinmetz, it is well known, passed ,some years as a
novice at Stonyhurst. Mr. Steinmetz is therefore
no impartial writer, as has been fully evidenced by
his former compositions, but in this work, and we re-
mark it with equal surprise and satisfaction, he has
endeavoured to obtain for himself that honourable
commendation. He has endeavoured to be im-
partial. In the pursuance of this design he has
gone so far as to acknowledge the admirable
qualities of many individual Jesuits, and the parti-
cular merits of an institution of which, as a whole, he

of course disapproves. Fully aware of the importance
of the task which he had undertaken, the author of this
history says, in his preface, " To every mind the
history of the Jesuits presents subjects of
interest. In their exploits the churchman, the mis-
sionary, the preacher, the educator—all who possess
influence on the minds of men, may find hints and
demonstrations; their industry and perseverance are
models for all humanity. They laboured indefatig-
ably, and received their reward in a world-
encircling power. From the first the society
was never in obscurity. Like Minerva from the
head of Jove, the company of Jesus went forth
from the brain of Ignatius ready for battle." In the
following effective but somewhat theatrical passage
Mr. Steinmetz sums up a description of the seem-

ingly desperate condition of Catholic Europe on the
portentous advent of Jesuitism. " And shall it be
so," he asks, after having alluded to the
so-called heresy of Germany, " shall Scan-
dinavia, England, Sweden, France, and even
Italy and Spain, all tainted with heresy, shall all
be resigned without a struggle? The man is born
who shall answer the question by his deeds—lgnatius
Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. We shall meet
him anon." So says Mr. Steinmetz, at the com-
mencement of his history, and " anon" we do meet
with the man destined to answer the momentous
question—the man who seemed to come forward
expressly, although unconsciously, to lead the forlorn
hope of Catholicism, and be the most effectual oppo-
nent of Martin Luther—lgnatius Loyola. Ranke,
in his " History of the Popes," hat very beautifully
and emphatically observed, when alluding to the fact
of Luther and Loyola having both come forward as
religious champions nearly at the same epoch,
both impelled by the same feeling of reli-
gious enthusiasm, and both from the same
motives pursuing such very different courses—
" Thus rise two neighbouring and kindred springs on
the summit of the mountain, but each seeks its path
to the valleys in an opposite direction, and their
waters are separated for ever." Unlike as were the
conclusions, yet more unlike were the commence-
ments of the careers of these two remarkable men.

What astrologer would have predicted those conch)•
sions from those commencements? When Martin
Luther was a monk, studying the breviary in the mo-
nastery of the Augustines, Ignatius Loyola was the most
daring soldier and the most gallant cavalier in Spain.
A change, however, came over the spirit of his
dream ; seriously wounded at the siege of Pampeluna,
and condemned to a long period of forced inactivity,
he had ample time for reading and meditation ; he
read the lives of the Saints, he meditated on the
inanity of human glory. He rose from his sick couch
another man—still a soldier, still a hero, but a soldier
of the cross, a hero of spiritual chivalry. His mili-
tary predilections are apparent in his religious medi-
tations, and, by their novelty, add greatly to their
effect. It was, indeed, a glorious reverie which filled
the imagination of Loyola when he pictured to
himself two armies drawn out in battle ar-
ray, one under the guidance of the Sa-
viour, the other subservient to Satan. With
mi▪ litary exactitude he dwelt upon the various
peculiarities of the two camps; he listened to the
Di▪
vine leader exhorting his troops to sacrifice every-
thing and follow him, and then, with somewhat of
his old ambition, Loyola burned to signalise
hi▪
mself in the celestial ranks : ks would
be a " General," he would lead a " Com-
pany " under the banner of the heavenly King.
Hence the title of the followers of Loyola, "the com-
pany of Jesus ;" hence, while other religious orders
obey a " father" or " abbot," the soldier-company are
governed by a "general," and their first duty is
the military duty of obedience. This is ap-
parently a fanciful allegory, but it is in
reality only another illustration of the real,
every-day " Battle of Life." But, now the
company is established, and the general has taken
his station in the battle-front--what is the object of
the conflict ? What is the object of the conflict be-
tween the Saviour and the Destroyer ?—human
souls. To win human souls from the power
of Satan is, then, the avowed object of the
company of Jesuits. This was the object which in-
spired Loyola to fling aside his soldier's trappings,
and pass years in arduous study preparatory to em-
barking in his great undertaking ; this was the object
which impelled Francis Xavier, the apostle of India,
in that glorious mission where he converted hun-
dreds and thousands of the heathen, and this
is the object, at least the avowed object,
of the Jesuit missions throughout the world even to
this day. How far they may have desecrated their
sacred name, or abused the holy purpose of their
founder, it is not necessary here to say. What we
have said is enough to show what a most
interesting and most important theme has been
selected by Andrew Steinmetz for his present work.
We have purposely abstained from particularizing his
individual opinions, whether just or erroneous ; there
is one, however, which we cannot pass over without
comment. Mr. Steinmetz) speaks of Ignatius.
Loyola in terms of respect and admiration ;
nevertheless, because it happened that the
Jesuit expired without receiving the last sacrament
of his church, his historian, from that circumstance,
declaus him to have been a hypocrite ! a name which
has never yet been applied to the first Jesuit. Hypo-
crites his followers may have been, and Ignatius him-
self may be called a visionary or self-deceiver, but
history concurs in declaring him to have been sincere
—he was too enthusiastic for a hypocrite.

The Marchioness of Worcester has gone on a visit
to the Earl and Countess Howe, at Gopsall Hall,
Leicestershire. Her Ladyship intends to stay at Gopsall
about a fortnight, and then goes to Dublin to meet the
Marquis, who is stationed in that city with his regiment.
The Marquis of Abercorn, Earl of Harrowby and
party, Earl Fortescue, Earl Bathurst, Viscount Ossul-
ston, Viscount and Viscountess Jocelyn, Lady Wil-
loughby, Lady Buchan, Lady Franks, Sir Wm. Heath-
cote, Dr. Bright, S. Majoribanks, Esq., M.P., Hon. Mr.
Liddell, Col. Bonner, &c., visited the Colosseum, Regent's
Park, on Tuesday.
AN EXPERIENCED SALIMIAN.—A young man ad-
vertises in the Boston Post for a place as salesman, and
says ho has had a great deal of experience, having been
discharged from seven different stores witbila year.