Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1870-03-09


prefer Aristntle's medium jus, and
common gratitude cOmpels me to
sneak of men and things as / find
them. although this and truth are
generally ignored to color them up to
the taste of prejudice and unreason-
ing bigotry.1
There is foundation for the suppo-
sition that craftiness and guile are
connected with Jesuit. He would
call it caution. His rule is, EHdedUor
hOrouqhLy to understand man. His
is bound to study psychology as
physician does the symptoms of dis
ease. once saw a curious diary of a
Jesuit, in which the names of all the
persons he met with We're classed un-
der particular heads, each denoting a
species of the human character. He
met John Jones, say, three times q
month. Each time he learned some
thing of his character, disposition,
and tastes. All these We're jotted
down opposite his name. When all
was learned about Jones that seemed
necessary or possible, he was classed
under a head, such as Easy to Man.
age" !" "Docile," /" Weak in Intellect"
etc. The particular failing or failings
of Jones were specially noted. ST. il
came to pass that if Jones was to be
made use of, the operator knew ex-
actly how to manage him. In such
ways the Jesuits, having so much
intercourse with Roman society, have
a complete chart of every disposition
worth noting. If hundred ardent
Youths are wanted for any object.
tbey can fix upon them instantly.
Here may be found key to the in
fluence exercised by this great order.
1t is unquestiOnably political. but for
a religious end. 1t is practically true
that in most things the end justifies
I the means. The secret of the great
mover of the order is its disciplin.
History has numerous instances in
Z which a general with a small force
thoroughly under control has effected
prodigies of valor. So, the question
/ ing obedience, the entire annihilatioD
of the will, render a Jesuit perfectly
passive in the hands Of his superior.
/ How is this attained? Let us look al
/ their nOvitiate in st. Stanislaus, near
/ the Quirinal Palace. We shall see o
repetition of the Greek idea that only
entire self-subjugation makes heroes
This church of st. Stanislaus is the
resting place of the famous youthful
saint whose name it bears. OF royal
descent, this young Pole, thoroughly
imbued with the spirit of the 'Spirit
ual Exercises" is held in great ven
Grafton, and shares with st. Luigi di
Gonzaga the devotion of Roman
youth. Here the latter saint lived
and died. His room is pointed out ;
and, dismissing all ideas of fanaiicism
and error from our minds, there comes
over us rs we contemplate it some
thing of the feeling with which we
regard the place where a hero fell.
Here a Youthful enthusiast of great
talent and purity of character strug-
gled through frightful tOrments, only
explained by the apostles metaphor
of "crucifying the flesh," after that
grand ideal life which is the noblesi
of human aspirations.
The novices of the society here pass
four long years-long, because meas
ured by mental and physical suffer
ings. In this army none are inactive.
A disobedient thought is criminal.
The abnegation of sense will make 8
novice refuse to read letter from his
mother, or even to see her, as in the
case of st. AlOysius. If Jesuits used
the Inuuisitiun and its tortures, they
i'm a lesser degree did not spare them.
selves. A true vocation is estimated
by ability to bear suffering and hu'
initiation of the most degrading kind
fla blush of ingenious shame should
rise at a command, it is symptom oi
an unruly will, and must be corrected
/ When one can so far restrain himself
as actually only to think in the direc-
ton and so far as his cOnfessor indi-
Gates, he is attaining the true Jesuit
spirit. Once every year, on the feast
of st. Aloysius, a curious custom Is
observed. The youth of Rome write
letters to the saint containing re-
quests. These are placed on the alter
and on the octave, that is, the eighth
dav afterward, the answers, whether
from the saint or not, are found in
the same place. The domestic ar.
rangements of st. Stanislaus are very
similar to those at st. Scholastica,
But the regime is far more severe.
More study, more fasting, more disei-
pline-i. e., ScOurging- sleep, talk
ing, intercourse with the world. Their
course of theology is far more COM
plete than that of any other religious
house. They are not permitted To
read newspapers, to converse of the
outside world, to laugh immoderately,
to eat anything they particularly
like, to refuse to eat things nauseous
and repelliDg, to refuse the lowest
meniai Office, to complain OF cold,
heat, etc.
The attractiveness Of the services at
the "Gesu" is remarkable. They are
frequent, and sometimes of the most
gorgeous character. In addition to
the three organs it contains, a superb
brass band is called into requisition
for great festivals. The sermons are
always eloquent, sometimes remark
ably so. At all hours of the day the
most aristOcratic persons may be seen
worshipping, or lounging in the cor
ridors under pretext of waiting for
one of the fathers. The attention the
priests give to the confessional (the
! chief source of their influence, by the
way) is most RfAisewOrthy. Thirty
six hours l have known one priest
sit. You may notice in the "Gesu"
the prevalence of that strange anOm-
| ally, a popular confessor. We have
often been asked, How is it Father
! A. is so much more sought after as Il
cOnfesssoT than Father B. ?" 1t may
be difference of manner, or the easier
way i'm which one person enables the
penitent 10 confess compared with
another.
The mendieant orders, under which
head we specially designate the Capu-
chins and the Franciscans, meet you
/ evervwhere at Rome The Can1cl1ins
are certainly of the two the most de-
spised. They eschew ablutiOns, new
er taking off their habit until it falls
off from rottenness, and practise the
other wretched habits which confirm
ed dirtiness engenders. 1t is esteem
ed self-denial to allow colony of fieas
to feast upon your writhing flesh.
| The hetOrments at first are dreadful. You
Zee the specimen friar going about
Rome in his dark-brown habit (from
which keep clear, his black horn
snuff-box, and his filthy blue cotton
handkerchief stuffed in his sleeve,
and his wallet hanging On his arm.
He has his regular houses of call,
where he gets broken meat and aims.
He cracks indelicate jokes and gives
blessings indiscrimInately. Follow
him to his convent. The united con-
ents of the wallet reappear under the
skilful management of chief in deli
cate dishes, and the aims purchase
many good bottle of wine. You,
who cannot dine without clean plate
and table-cloth, would be disgusteu;
but here, remember, dirt is sanctified.
He sleeps on board, rises at mid