Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1906-09-29
THE yEsUITs
in Amy Of Men Trnircd Mentally aud
Spiritually.

Al Sparta In the old Greek days,there
| was 4 race whose one ain was the Gull
/ tNatsou and hardening OF their phys.
I ical powers The Jesults have speut
! Just the same eagsrness and culture on
their brains. They are a sort Of In
teiiectgal cosmopolitan aristocrzey OF
The world 1t takes seventeen years
OF strenuous study and training to
make Jesuit only the strongest
physically and Intellectually can, as a
result attain 10 fun rank. A fully
prof,ssed Jesuit priest under the age OF
thlrty-four is practically an impossi-
bility.
There Is one remarkable feature of
the Jesuits. their oath OF obedience.
They are bound absolutely, within
reason and right" 10 obey their superl-
or H. all that is not sinful. The Exer-
cises OF lgnatius Is the famous book in
the study OF which their noyices spend
two years. II has been Justly con-
demned by many great authorities for
its power Of breaking the will, but on
the other hand, there is the view that
strong VIII that survives II has be-
come as steel in the fire. After two
years OF novitiate they spend about
seven years In general study-three ON
philosophy and about five on theology,
besides some six or seven in teaching.
one can understand from that why the
Jesuits have been the best-equipped
sch0olmasters the world has known.
- The internal regulations Of the So
ciety are very similar 10 those OF an
army In respect OF obedience and execu-
tive. There are at the present time
1880 In the world, collected into twen-
ty-fiye provinces under the control OF
proyinciala The provinces are grouped
into five assistancies. which include, as
a rule, the races OF the same tongue
Each assistancy has an assistant who
represents IL, and acts as adviser 10
the general. Every official except the
general. who Is elected for life. and can
only be deposed for some moral, per-
sonal error lsuch a thing has not oc-
CURED IN the 400 years Of its existence).
IS elected for term. An officer who
may be I'm the ranks again tomorrow
has a strong incentive against peremp-
tory or dictatorial behavior. The gem
eral. then. Is ruler for life Of an ex-
tremely carefully organized army.
which is exqulsitely trained in the use
OF the Intellectual weapon. which |
speaks every tongue and has influence |
In every country.
And yet among the Jesuits no one Is |
very eager to be general Every fully |
professed member Is eligible, and may |
be elected 10 grasp the handle OF what
Mas been compared TO sword with the
head at Rome, and the point facing |
10 every corner OF the world; but none |
are. as rule. ambitious. No one may |
refuse the Office II elected
The general OF the society is one OF
the hardest-worked men I'm a hard !,
world. Every member Of the
1880 may write I'm complaint or for
advice 10 the very reverend father The
is famiharly known In Rome as the
Black Pope"). and though there Is a
permanent stan Of secretaries, the gen
eral is supposed TO pass every reply
he must control men, many
II whom are more brilliant than him
self, aud tremendously strong-willed,
and In addition he has 10 conduct the
external relations Of the society. The
political influence OF the Black Pope Is
1 matter OF history.
on the death OF the Jesuit general,
/ vicar-general whom he has appointed
takes command til the new general is
elected.