The Irish standard., 1894-02-17
SONS OF LOYOLA.
A MAGNIFICENT Vindication Of the
Society of Jesus by Rev.
Thomas Sherman.
THE SON OF GOLD TECUMSEH",
The Eloquent Young Jesuit Defends
His Order in a Brilliant Lee
ture at Chicago.


ture at Chicago.
The audience that assembled in Cen
trail Music Hall on Monday night, Feb
ruary 5, in response to the announcement
that Rev. Thomas Sherman, S. j., the
son of "Old Tecum," was to lecture on
the subject "The Jesuit of Fiction and
the Jesuit of Fact, was one of the larg.
est ever seen within 9 public hall in
Chicago. Every seat in every part of the
immense hall was occupied and many
hundreds of people, ladies as well as
gentlemen, were glad to obtain standing
room. And it was typical Chicago au-
dience, we'll dressed, attentive, appreci-
ative and enthuslastic. 1t was splendid
testimony, not only Of the respect in
which the son of the great old general
is universally held in this country, but
also of the veneration in which the Jes
uit Fathers all over the country are held,
and the desire of the people to hear the
great order vindicated and defended
from the calumnies which the enemies Of
she Church, have heaped upon them.
The lecturers appearance was the sig
xal for one of the most enthusiastic
oursts of applause ever heard in Chicago.
1t would be impossible, without COM
plete report of the lecture, to give true
idea of the character of the discourse,
and even full and verbatim report in
print would fail to carry to the mind of
the reader true conception of the char
acter of the discourse. That pleasue
was confined to those who we're so for
tunate as to be present in the hall
Father Sherman is of medium height
about similar in stature to his soldier
father slender, and wears glasses; but
he has voice which, though far from
stentorian, reaches, without effort on his
part, every part of the hall. Not word,
not syllable was lost, not merely be-
cause the audience was intensely atten-
tive, but also because Father Sherman
is master of the art of careful enunciR-
tion. The following few passages, SO
hected almost at haphazard, may help to
give a faint idea of the character of the
4ecturt 1885,.
The lecturer began by alluding to the
SUCCESS of the Worlds Fair and the
beauty and harmony of it's buildings, and
he revived the scene OF the Court of
Honor, picturing it as he eaw it in July,
as be stood with his back to the great
peristyle, the great statue of Liberty in
the foreground and the great basin and
court before him.
Liberty is the divine prerogatiye;
colossal IN proportion, springing straight
from the broad basin of the souls essence,
overawing the petty myths that adorn
frieze and gallery and minaret and COM
ing close down to the level of nature.
Take her away, your court OF honor is
meaningless; diminish her, your court Of
honor is not human; cloud her with
seoresy, or slander, or unmanly plotting,
and she is the opposite of divine; touch
her little finger, you are guilty of out
rage; cut of her right hand, you are a
villain; stab at her, you are traitor.
America is built on liberty, and when
say liberty mean, first Of all, liberty
to worship God according to the dictates
OF my conscience. There is no other lib
erty worthy the name. II my rights are
in the least diminished; nay, if they are
questioned because worship God under
one form Of Christianity rather than an.
other, then America is dream, to vanish
like the White City, and all men will
point the finger ofscorn at it. But no,
America is true to herself and to her tra-
ditions. She says: My segis is over
you, your rights are sacred; in my court
OF honor no word is heard against you.
La Rablda is too near; so is the Santa
Maria. cannot forget my cradle. Yon-
der tiny vessel is your best emblem and
pledge Of security, fellow Catholics and
comrades in Loyola's band.
And yet as recently as January 20, 1894,
threats of banishment have been uttered
against our order by noted periodical.
The issue contains cut OF the burning
peristyle and Music Hall. It is q happy
coincidence. Burn the peristyle, Danish
the Jesuits. The two propositions stand
closer than the writer imagined
Speaking Of st. Ignstius Loyols, the
founder of the Jesuits, the lecturer said:
Twas he that conceived the daring
plan Of forging the weapon TO beat back
the Reformation, TO rehndls fervor in
tspid souls, e reform congregations de-
caysd and establlsh now ones fitted q do
the i eiant Il work II (lhrist i'm charity