The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1853-09-09
From the New York Tribune.
THE GENERAL OF TIE JEsUIrs,

The recently elected General ofihe
Jesuit Order, Father Peter Becks, was
born February 9Th, 1895. He en-
tered into The Order Oct. 20, 1919. For
several years he was with the Duke and
Duchess OF Auhalt Kothen, who, alter
their conversion to Catholicism had re
quesied conlessot Of Pope P'us VII.
The places which he filled were the
Rectoralc OF the Seminary at Lowen, and
aherward the government OF the Order
in The Province of Austria. From these
posts, where he is said to have rendered
important services TO the Catholic cause
throughout, Germany, he has been eleva>
ted to the Office of General. All the
an,ecedents of the new General, his
character, his talents, his tried discretion
in the most delicate emergencies, are
guarantee that he will prove a worthy
successor TO the distinguished Father
Rpothan. He was elected with grea,
unanimity by the General Congregation.
aud his accession to Office is hailed by the
SLciety of Jesuis us giving promise OF
the richest traits for the benefit Of their
Oder. .
In the choice Of the Jesuil-General,
the following order of ceremonies was
observed. The General Congregation
which made the election was the twenty
second since tho establishment of the
O'der, and consisted oflify-,wo members
fifteen from The department. of Italy,
with the Provinces of Rome, Naples, Sic
!y. Turin and Venice.-nne from France,
including the Provinces Of Paris, Lyons.
Toulouse-lwcnIy from the department.
of Germany, with the provinces Of Ger
many, England, Austria B lgium, 6 'lli-
cia, Holland, and Maryland, and three
from Spain. The number was compile
ted bv the addition of Father Picrling.
the Vicar General, and one assistant from
each department. The soletnnlies are
opened By the celebration of mass by the
Vicar, after which the whole company Of
members Of the Order present, with
cruc;fx borne before Them, and singing
the Veni Creator, walk in procession 1"
the hall designated by the Vicar, which,
after The members have entered, is closed
aad guarded by some OF the members Sc
!ectcd for the purpose. The electors
fast on bread and water, and ale not
allowed to leave the hall until .he choice
ia decided. One Of the members, ap
pointed bv tie congregation, admcnisheA
them in a Latin discourse, 10 keep sin.
gle eye to the glory Of God and the ben>
fil Of their Oder III making choice.
l. ,ch member then receives car on
which he writes, in disguised hand, the
name Of his candidate, adding his sigma
ture in a way that it shall not be read by
those who count the ballots After all
members have prepared their votes and
returned TO their seats, the Vicar, the
Private Secretary, and the Assistant take
the following oath to make true declara.
,ion of The votes: 81 call God TO witness.
from whom nothing is concealed, tha, |
will truly reseive and declare the votes,
and will perform my duty with pure pnr
pose. also swear, in the view Of ,te
Divine Majesty and Of the whole Order,
that wilt admit no one who has not
righ, to be admitted, and will exclude
M one who ought not to be excluded"
The private secretary then turns TO The
Vicar. with The words, "My father, give
your vote in the name Of Jesus Christ"
The Vicar rises, kneels before the cruel,
fix, makes the sign of the cross, and
takes the oath which is inscribed on the
b1ck of each ballot: ~ take Jesus Christ,
who is E'ernal Wisdom, to witness tha, ]
choose Cor the Gcneral>in-C Chief Of the
Society of Jesus, him whom | regard as
tie fi,,cst fot the Office" Then rising,
he deposits his vote in the urn, showing
ii 10 the assistant. He then sautes the
cruci6x, returns TO his seat, and SAYS to
The secretary, tho assistant, aud the mem
bers generally, "Lot each now give his
vote in order" The Provincals sit on
the right, the other members on the left,
according to the date of their admission
in the order. When the members, in
accordance with their oath, have all given
their votes, the secretary takes them from
the urn, counts them aloud, and hands
them one after the other to the vicar
who examines them and reads them aloud
or causes the secretary 10 read them
giving only the name o! The candidate
and concealing tina, of the vcter. Aflel
all the votes are thus announced, if any
one has more than half, he is elected
Otherwise, they proceed to a new ballot
ing, bich may be repeated four or five
times, but after the filth trial it is optional
to continue the ballo,lng or TO enter into
compromise. In the last case, electors
arc chosen from each department by ar
absolute majority, who elect the Genera
by simple plurality, being limited, how
ever, TO candidates who have received al
least three votes on the former trial.
The choice being determined, the Vica'
announces it, unless it has fallen upon
himself, and in tina, case it is declared by
the Secretary, who makes out the decree,
which receives the seal Of the Society
The whole company ofthe Fathers, the
al, al =.