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LOYOLA. 


^Ixje  (Stmt  %&xxc^toxs 

Edited  by  NICHOLAS   MURRAY  BUTLER 


LOYOLA 


THE  EDUCATIO]^AL  SYSTEM  OF 
THE  JESUITS 


BY  / 

'/ 

THE  REVEREND   THOMAS   HUGHES 

Of  the  Society  of  Jesus 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1892 


t\ 


COPYRIGHT,   1892,  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS. 


\% 


PREFACE. 


In  the  following  work  on  the  Educational  System 
of  the  Jesuits,  I  have  endeavored  to  present  a  critical 
statement  of  the  principles  and  method  adopted  in  the 
Society  of  Jesus.  The  effort  to  explain  the  sources, 
process  of  development,  and  present  influence  of  the 
system  within  and  without  the  Order,  has  made  of 
the  first  part  a  biographical  and  historical  sketch,  hav- 
ing for  its  chief  subject  the  person  of  the  Founder; 
while  the  details  and  the  pedagogical  significance  of 
the  various  elements  in  the  method  appear,  in  the 
second  part,  as  a  critical  analysis  of  the  Batio  Stu- 
diorum. 

The  educational  literature  which  treats  of  this  sys- 
tem is  very  extensive.  Various  estimates  and  con- 
clusions have  been  arrived  at,  on  the  merits  of  docu- 
ments frequently  referred  to,  for  an  exposition  of  the 
meaning  and  philosophy  of  the  system.  Hence,  with 
the  view  of  facilitating  a  clear  and  comprehensive 
judgment  on  the  subject,  I  have  thought  it  not  in- 
advisable to  quote  accurately  from  such  documents, 
omitting  none  which  bore  upon  the  matter,  if  only 
they  were  within  reach.  It  so  happens  that,  at  pres- 
ent, a  large  number  of  the  sources,  regulations,  and 
commentaries,  heretofore  rare  and  altogether  out 
of  reach,  have  been  rendered  easy  of  access,  being 
embodied  in  the  great  work,  Monumenta  Germanice 
Fcedagogica,  which  is  already  beyond  its  tenth  vol- 


vi  PREFACE. 

ume.  Three  of  the  volumes  so  far  issued  are  upon 
the  Jesuit  System ;  they  have  been  compiled  by  the 
late  Rev.  G.  M.  Pachtler,  S.J.  If  the  three  or  four 
volumes,  which  still  remain  to  be  issued  by  the  Rev. 
Bernard  Duhr,  S.  J.,  had  been  available,  they  too  could 
have  been  laid  under  contribution  for  examples  and 
illustrations.  But  perhaps  the  theme  will  appear 
sufficiently  illustrated  as  it  is. 

Besides  the  original  documents,  I  have  used  no  less 
authentic  an  exponent  than  that  which  the  maxim 
of  law  approves :  Consuetudo,  optima  legis  interpres, 
"  Custom,  which  is  the  best  interpreter  of  law." 

While  all  that  is  oldest  and  most  authentic  has  thus 
been  made  use  of  in  explaining  the  Ratio  Studiorum, 
the  actual  condition  of  pedagogics  to-day  is  new,  and 
so  is  the  state  of  the  question  involved.  Hence,  to 
satisfy  the  requirements  of  the  present,  reference  has 
been  made  not  exclusively  either  to  the  customs  or 
the  learned  documents  of  a  former  age. 

In  a  word,  the  object  aimed  at  has  been  to  indicate 
the  chief  traits  which  are  characteristic  of  the  sys- 
tem, and  which  may  be  suggestive  in  the  development 
of  pedagogical  science.  Whether  such  an  object  has 
been  attained,  so  as  to  meet  many  questions  which 
may  possibly  arise,  and  to  satisfy  the  desire  which 
actually  exists,  it  will  be  for  others  to  decide. 

THOMAS  HUGHES,  S.J. 

St.  Louis  University. 


CONTEB-TS. 


PAGE 

Preface      v 


PAKT    I. 

EDUCATIONAL  HISTORY   OF  THE  ORDER, 

CHAPTER   I. 
Introduction 3 

CHAPTER   II. 
Knight,  Pilgrim,  and  Scholar 19 

CHAPTER   III. 
The  University  of  Paris.     Rome 30 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Colleges  as  Proposed  in  the  Jesuit  Constitution      .       52 

CHAPTER  V. 
Colleges  Founded  and  Endowed 68 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Intellectual  Scope  and  Method  Proposed  .      82 

vii 


viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VII.  PAGE 

The  Moral  Scope  Proposed 98 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Ignatius  Administering  the  Collegiate  System.     His 

Death 109 

CHAPTER   IX. 
Subsequent  Administrations 124 


PAKT    II. 

ANALYSIS  OF  THE  SYSTEM   OF   STUDIES. 

CHAPTER  X. 
Aquaviva.    The  Ratio  Studiorum 141 

CHAPTER   XI. 

Formation  of  the  Master.     His  Courses  of  Literature 

AND  Philosophy 156 

CHAPTER   XIL 
Youthful  Masters 176 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

The    Courses    of    Divinity     and     Allied    Sciences. 

Private  Study.     Repetition 191 

CHAPTER   XIV. 
Disputation.     Dictation 208 


CONTENTS.  ix 


CHAPTER   XV.  PAGE 

Formation  of  the  Scholar.     Symmetry  of  the  Courses. 

The  Prelection.     Books 225 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

The    Classical    Literatures.       School    Management 

AND  Control 248 

CHAPTER   XVII. 

Examinations  and  Graduation.     Schedule  of  Grades 

and  Courses 259 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Conclusion 285 


Bibliographical  Appendix 297 


Part  I. 
EDUCATIONAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  ORDER 


LOYOLA 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  SYSTEM  OF  THE  JESUITS 


CHAPTER    I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

A  LEARNED  and  elegant  work,  which  narrates  the 
rise  and  progress  of  Christian  Schools,  from  the  sixti- 
eth year  of  the  Christian  era  onwards,  ends  its  long 
journey  at  the  date  of  the  Reformation,  and  takes 
leave  of  its  varied  subject,  and  of  its  lines  of  Chris- 
tian Scholars,  in  these  words:  "We  leave  them  at 
the  moment  when  the  episcopacy  was  recovering  its 
ancient  jurisdiction  over  the  ecclesiastical  seminaries, 
and  when  a  vast  majority  of  the  secular  schools  of 
Catholic  Christendom  were  passing  into  the  hands  of 
a  great  Religious  Order,  raised  up,  as  it  would  seem, 
with  the  special  design  of  consolidating  anew  a  sys- 
tem of  Christian  education."  ^ 

Two  centuries  and  a  half  later,  when  the  Society  of 
Jesus  had  run  a  long  course,  from  the  date  of  the 
Reformation  which  had  seen  it  rise,  up  to  the  eve  of 
the  Revolution  which  beheld  it  extinct,  a  General  of 
the  Order,  Ignatius  Visconti,  addressing  the  Provincial 

1  Christian  Schools  and  Scholars,  by  A.  T.  Drane;  1881;  last 
chapter. 


4  LOYOLA. 

Superiors  over  the  world,  takes  note  of  a  new  stage  in 
the  process  of  educational  development :  "  The  taste 
for  letters  now,"  he  says,  '^  is  more  keen  and  exquisite, 
and  the  number  of  literary  schools  has  increased  so 
much,  that  ours  may  no  longer  appear  so  necessary. 
For  I  may  mention  the  fact  that,  besides  our  schools 
of  polite  letters,  there  were,  for  a  long  while,  either 
none  or  very  few.  So  that  parents  were  forced  to 
send  their  children  to  us,  even  if  otherwise  they  did 
not  want  it."  ^ 

This  refers  in  a  quiet  way  to  what  Leopold  von 
Ranke  states  with  more  emphasis.  Speaking  of 
Grammar  classes,  the  German  historian  says :.  "  Here 
also  the  Jesuits  succeeded  to  admiration.  It  was 
found  that  young  people  gained  more  with  them  in 
six  months,  than  with  other  teachers  in  two  years. 
Even  Protestants  removed  their  children  from  dis- 
tant gymnasia  to  confide  them  to  the  care  of  the 
Jesuits."  ^  Ranke  narrates  in  the  same  place  how  it 
was  "toward  the  universities  above  all  that  the  efforts 
of  the  Jesuits  were  directed."  And  he  describes  what 
the  results  were  in  Germany. 

D'Alembert  writes  of  their  progress  in  France : 
"Hardly  had  the  Company  of  Jesus  begun  to  show 
itself  in  France,  than  it  met  with  difficulties  without 
number,  in  the  endeavor  to  establish  itself.  The  uni- 
versities especially  made  the  greatest  efforts  to  keep 
the  new-comers  out.     It  is  difficult  to  decide  whether 


1  On  the  Furthering  of  Humane  Studies ;  Monumenta  Germanise 
Ppedagogica,  vol.  ix,  p.  129. 

2  History  of  the  Papacy,  vol.  i,  hook  v,  §  3;  Jesuit  Schools  in 
Germany. 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

tliis  opposition  is  a  praise  or  a  condemnation  of  the 
Jesuits  who  stood  it.  They  announced  gratuitous 
teaching;  they  counted  among  their  number  cele- 
brated and  learned  men,  superior  perhaps  to  those 
whom  the  universities  could  boast  of,"  etc.^ 

Speaking  of  the  Protestants  in  the  iSTetherlands, 
a  chronicle,  which  reviews  the  first  century  of  the 
Order's  existence,  records  that  "the  Jesuit  schools 
were  expressly  interdicted,  under  severe  penalties,  to 
all  members  of  the  Protestant  communities.  Even 
in  a  twelve-year  truce  which  the  Order  partially 
enjoyed,  a  monthly  fine  of  one  hundred  florins  was 
still  imposed  upon  all  delinquents,  or  on  their  par- 
ents, who  persisted  in  patronizing  the  Jesuit  schools. 
To  escape  the  fine,  parents  sent  their  children  under 
an  assumed  name.- 

In  every  country,  the  same  drama  of  struggle  and 
contest  evolved  itself  through  two  and  a  half  cen- 
turies, till  a  momentous  scene  was  witnessed.  It  was 
a  scene  of  such  a  kind  as  seldom  has  occurred  in  his- 
tory; and  never  certainly  was  any  similar  event 
thrown  into  such  relief  by  the  sequel.  The  event 
which  I  refer  to  was  a  universal  and  instantaneous 
suppression  of  the  Order;  with  consequences  following 
thereupon  which  were  exceptional,  both  in  the  world 
that  witnessed  it,  and  in  the  subject-body  that  suf- 
fered it.  ^ 

The  sequel  in  the  world  at  large  was  that,  a  few 

1  Sur  la  destruction  des  Jesuites,  par  un  auteur  desinteresse, 
p.  19. 

2  Imago  Primi  Sseculi,  lib.  vi,  Societas  Flandro-Belgica,  cap.  iii, 
§  1,  p.  772. 


6  LOYOLA. 

years  later,  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
there  broke  out  the  great  Kevolution  under  the  lead- 
ership of  men,  of  whom  scarcely  one  had  been  more 
than  seven  years  of  age  at  the  date  of  the  Jesuits' 
expulsion.^  They  represented  in  France  the  first  gen- 
eration which  had  not  been  educated  by  the  Society. 
The  remote  causes  which  overwhelmed  the  Order  were 
the  same  that  ushered  in  the  devolution.  But,  among 
the  immediate  causes,  assigned  by  historians  to  ac- 
count for  the  precise  form  which  the  great  convulsion 
assumed,  and  for  the  date  at  which  it  occurred,  is 
placed  the  dissolution  of  this  Order.  According  to 
the  Count  de  Maistre,  who  speaks  of  the  political 
sentiment  of  his  own  times,  all  observers  agreed  that 
the  revolution  of  Europe,  still  called  the  French 
Eevolution,  was  impossible  without  the  preliminary 
destruction  of  the  Jesuits.  And,  in  keeping  with  this, 
it  was  equally  a  subject  of  observation,  as  being  a 
palpable  historical  fact,  that  during  two  centuries  the 
Jesuits  had  formed  in  their  College  at  Paris,  the  elite 
of  the  French  nobility;  and  that,  only  a  few  years 
after  the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuit  Masters,  the  same  col- 
lege turned  out  the  Eobespierres,  Camille  Desmoulins, 
Tallien,  Noel,  Freron,  Chenier,  and  other  such  dema- 
gogues. This  College  of  Clermont,  or  Louis-le-Grand, 
from  which  the  Jesuits  were  expelled  in  1762,  had 
been  immediately  occupied  by  the  University  of 
Paris.  The  Ee volution  broke  out  twenty-seven  years 
later. 

Another   sequel,  not   heard   of  before   in   history, 

1  Cre'tineau-Joly,  Histoire  de  la  Compagnie  de  Je'sus,  torn,  iv, 
ch.  3,  p.  210  ;   3me  edit.  1851. 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

affected  the  Society  itself.  Europe,  having  gene 
through  the  violent  commotions  which  changed  the 
old  order  of  things  into  the  new,  reached  the  begin- 
ning of  this  nineteenth  century,  and  found  the  Soci- 
ety alive  again.  This  was  in  defiance  of  a  political 
maxim,  which  we  may  admit  with  Baron  von  Hiibner, 
that  in  politics,  in  the  affairs  of  states,  in  the  life  of 
all  great  social  institutions,  when  once  death  super- 
venes, there  is  no  resurrection. 

And  now,  at  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the 
same  forces  of  repulsion  and  attraction,  of  devoted 
love  on  the  part  of  friends,  of  intense  hatred  on  the 
part  of  enemies,  have  been  seen  operating  as  always 
before.  It  has  become  a  commonplace  in  the  philoso- 
phy of  history,  —  this  hatred  which  has  been  sworn 
against  the  Order  of  Jesus,  and  the  multitude  of  ene- 
mies whom  it  has  made.  One  explanation  suggests 
itself  to  the  Viscount  de  Bonald,  —  the  presence  in 
it,  he  thinks,  of  something  good ;  of  that  good  which, 
as  it  alone  is  the  object  of  the  most  ardent  love, 
can  alone  become  the  object  of  the  intensest  hate  ; 
and  therefore  has  always  made  persecutors  and  mar- 
tyrs. 

The  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  give  an  historical 
sketch,  with  a  proportionate  analysis,  of  the  educa- 
tional development  effected  through  the  Society  of 
Jesus.  Others  have  taken  different  fields  of  Jesuit 
history  to  survey,  either  general  and  comprehending 
all  the  paths  of  external  and  internal  activity,  or  par- 
ticular and  comprising  only  parts  of  the  history.  Some 
of  these  particular  views,  especially  in  later  years,  are 
in  the  line  of  studies,  and  are  most  valuable  contribu- 


8  LOYOLA. 

tions  to  the  history  of  pedagogic  development.  None 
of  them,  however,  happens  to  coincide  with  the  scope, 
purpose,  and  form  which  have  been  designated  for 
this ;  as  the  Series  to  which  it  belongs,  the  Editor  in 
charge,  and  the  country  for  which  it  is  intended,  suffi- 
ciently indicate. 

The  subject  then  is  the  educational  system  of  the 
Jesuits,  that  system  which  technically  is  called  the 
Ratio  Studiorum.  It  requires  no  literary  nor  histori- 
cal ingenuity  to  centre  all  that  has  to  be  said  about 
it  in  the  personality  and  character  of  St.  Ignatius  of 
Loyola.  I  shall  draw  upon  Jesuit  sources  of  informa- 
tion, except  when  it  will  be  necessary  to  state  results, 
or  give  estimates,  which  imply  commendation.  Then 
I  shall  quote  freely  from  sources  outside  of  the  Order. 
Otherwise,  for  the  purpose  of  explaining  and  analyz- 
ing domestic  matters,  these  extraneous  references 
would  be  imperfect  indeed. 

The  situation,  which  met  the  military  view  of  the 
cavalier,  lately  the  knightly  cai^tain  of  Loyola,  was 
a  new  one,  on  an  old  field  of  battle.  The  demand,  which 
it  seemed  to  make  upon  tactical  resources,  was  as 
intense  as  the  political  and  religious  crisis  which 
created  the  situation.  Erom  the  year  1522  till  1540, 
while  Ignatius  was  prospecting  the  scene  in  Europe, 
and  preparing  to  take  an  active  part  in  it,  he  had  time 
and  the  opportunities  for  observing,  what  precisely, 
at  that  epoch,  were  the  accumulated  results  of  all  the 
Christian  ages  gone  before ;  and  why  the  results  just 
then  were  only  what  they  were.  The  issue  appeared 
fatally  determined  by  social  conditions  around,  which 
more  than  neutralized  the  Christianity  visible.     Edu- 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

cation,  in  particular,  was  laboring  under  the  action  of 
causes,  which  had  begun  to  operate  several  centuries 
earlier,  and  which  were  then  evidently  working  them- 
selves out  to  one  final  effort.  That  was  the  under- 
mining of  Christian  education. 

In  this  respect,  it  was  the  same  question  which  had 
confronted  the  Augustines,  the  Basils,  and  Jeromes, 
of  one  thousand  years  before.  But  it  was  a  different 
state  of  the  question.  ^  Augustine,  the  brilliant  youth 
of  Hippo  Kegius  in  Africa,  will  serve  as  an  instance 
of  what  the  issue  then  had  been.  He  had  made  him- 
self master  of  the  very  best  results,  which  the  public 
schools  of  the  time  were  able  to  accomplish  in  the 
most  gifted  of  minds.  But  he  had  lost  his  virtue. 
He  lived  to  complain  with  bitterness,  that  it  was 
accounted  a  grievous  error  to  pronounce  homo  "a 
man,"  without  the  "  h,"  but  it  was  no  error  at  all  to 
hate  a  man,  signified  by  the  word,  homo.  The  con- 
sequence with  him  was  that,  when  he  became  a  Bishop 
of  the  Church,  he  met  the  need  of  providing  a  Chris- 
tain  education,  by  instituting  in  his  own  house  a  kind 
of  school,  for  the  moral  and  spiritual  education  of  his 
clergy. 

Thus  arose  the  cathedral  or  canonical  school.  So 
too,  the  cloistral  schools  came  to  flourish  in  the  abbeys 
and  the  monasteries.  And,  even  if  these  two  kinds 
of  educational  centres  had  not  also  been,  as  they 
really  were,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  the  preordained  means 
for  the  salvation  of  learning  in  Europe,  they  would 
still  have  had  reason  enough  for  their  existence,  in 
the  paramount  necessity  of  continuing,  for  the  tender 
age  of  youth,  the  ministry  of  a  virtuous  education. 


10  LOYOLA. 

Events  took  a  new  turn  with  the  rise  and  progress 
of  the  university  system.  At  first,  the  universities 
were  mostly  annexed  to  cathedral  churches.  As  they 
developed,  the  cloistral  influence  waned.  And  again, 
as  they  developed  still  more,  they  presented  phe- 
nomena which  originated  the  subsequent  system  of 
the  Jesuits. 

From  the  twelfth  to  the  sixteenth  centuries,  as 
many  as  sixty-six  of  these  universities  were  in  exist- 
ence ;  sixteen  of  them  are  credited  to  Germany ;  about 
as  many  to  France ;  and  the  rest  to  Italy,  Spain, 
and  other  nations.  It  is  not  within  my  province  to 
describe  their  formation,  or  the  order  of  their  foun- 
dation. They  received  their  charters  from  the  Popes, 
who  used  their  power  thus,  and  showed  it  under  a 
form,  which  no  age  will  be  apt  to  depreciate ;  least  of 
all,  our  own.  Addressing  these  habitations  of  "Gen- 
eral Studies  "  with  the  appellative,  Universitas  Vestra, 
the  Sovereign  Pontiffs  sent  them  on  their  course,  and 
encouraged  them  in  every  line  of  Theology,  Law,  or 
Medicine ;  whether  all  these  lines  were  followed  in 
each  centre,  or  respectively  some  here,  some  there. 
Orleans,  Bourges,  Bologna,  Modena  professed  Law, 
either  as  their  specialty,  or  as  their  distinguishing 
faculty ;  Montpellier,  Salerno,  Medicine ;  Padua,  the 
Liberal  Arts ;  Toledo,  Mathematics  ;  Salamanca,  and, 
above  all,  Paris,  general  culture,  Philosophy,  and 
Theology. 

These  universities  became  such  well-springs  of  learn- 
ing, that  for  Theology  the  Bishops'  seminaries  prac- 
tically ceased  to  exist ;  and,  to  acquire  the  general 
culture  of  the  times,  the  children  of  the  faithful  no 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

longer  turned  to  the  monastic  schools.  Nay,  in  quite 
a  contrary  sense,  the  clergy  and  the  monks  them- 
selves, in  pursuit  of  the  best  learning  that  the  age 
could  give,  left  their  cloisters  for  a  while,  and  betook 
themselves  to  the  universities.  They  followed  up 
that  step  by  settling  down  there.  Paris  beheld  the 
great  old  orders  of  Augustinians,  Benedictines,  Car- 
thusians, the  Carmelites,  the  Bernardines,  all  estab- 
lishing monasteries  or  colleges ;  no  otherwise  than  the 
newest  order  of  Trinitarians,  which  was  chiefly  made 
up  of  university  men.  Two  institutes  arose,  those  of 
the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  ;  who  with  men  at 
their  head,  like  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  and  St.  Bonaven- 
ture,  placed  themselves  right  in  the  heart  of  these 
intellectual  centres;  and  they  became  bulwarks  of 
sound  learning,  as  opposed  to  the  inanities  of  a  false 
scholasticism.  They  kept  the  leaven  of  religion  and 
virtue  in  the  midst  of  what  was  not  quite  a  perverse 
generation,  but  was  most  certainly,  from  whatever 
side  we  view  it,  a  very  dubious  multitude,  belonging, 
it  is  true,  to  a  Christian  generation.  Consider  the 
10,000  at  Bologna,  which  was  the  centre  for  Law 
studies ;  the  30,000  at  Oxford ;  or  the  40,000,  all  at  one 
time  studying,  or  reckoned  to  be  studying,  in  Paris,  the 
acknowledged  centre  for  Theology. 

An  indiscriminate  mass  of  humanity  like  this, 
pressed,  thronged,  and  crowded  together,  stimulated 
with  all  the  ardor,  and  alive  with  all  the  passions  of 
youth,  could  not  fail  to  be  little  better  than  a  nursery 
for  indiscriminate  license.  Whatever  might  be  the 
vigilance  of  the  Church,  or  however  strenuous  the 
exercise  of  legitimate  authority,  nothing  in  the  usual 


12  LOYOLA. 

course  of  human  society  could  prevent  its  becoming 
a  prolific  soil  for  the  propagation  of  every  species  of 
error.  And,  as  during  three  hundred  years  the  in- 
tellectual and  educational  powers  of  Europe  followed 
this  course,  the  law  of  evolution  asserted  itself  in 
many  directions. 

On  the  one  side,  those  tens  of  thousands  of  Chris- 
tian youths,  who  were  aiming  at  all  the  posts  of  in- 
fluence in  Church  and  State,  and  who,  entering  their 
native  university,  or  journeying  to  foreign  ones,  began 
life  there  at  as  early  an  age  as  twelve  or  fourteen 
years,  to  remain  in  this  environment  some  nine  or 
twelve  years  more,  became,  as  was  natural,  the  living, 
swarming  members  of  a  state  of  society  so  dissolute, 
that  successive  occupants  of  the  Papal  See  depicted 
the  condition  of  things  as  one  of  moral  contagion. 
In  the  manner  of  thought  and  mind  which  prevailed, 
no  form  of  theoretic  error  was  wanting.  In  philoso- 
phy, there  was  scepticism ;  in  theology,  heresy ;  while, 
in  politics,  Csesarism  and  absolutism  became  rife. 
Then,  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Renais- 
sance came  ;  and  one  of  the  first  things,  which  it  ex- 
pressly and  formally  did,  was  to  renew  in  life,  art,  and 
politics,  the  same  old  paganism,  upon  the  ruins  of 
which,  so  many  centuries  before,  Christianity  had 
begun  its  upward  and  laborious  ascent.  Newly 
fashioning  then  much  of  what  was  old,  Christianity 
had  augmented  all  this  with  so  much  which  was  new, 
that  in  a  thousand  years  it  had  made  a  Eenaissance 
possible.  And  now  the  form  of  this  Renaissance 
threatened  its  own  ascendancy  in  morals  and  in  life. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  old  spirit  of  conservatism  in 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

religion,  and  of  preservation  in  the  matter  of  morals, 
maintained  itself  for  a  time,  through,  those  bodies  of 
religious  men  and  clergymen,  who  had  left  the  clois- 
ter or  the  seminary,  to  take  up  their  abode  in  the 
secular  seats  of  learning.  It  was  this  spirit  which 
originated  the  latest  and  best  development  of  the 
universities,  that  of  the  "  college  "  system,  established 
in  their  midst.  Salamanca  had  twenty  colleges ; 
Louvain,  forty ;  Paris,  fifty.  Still,  in  the  final  issue, 
there  was  now  scarcely  any  reserve  force  of  cloistral 
or  episcopal  learning  behind  the  universities,  and  out- 
side of  them.  And  the  religious  and  the  clergy 
themselves,  who  at  best  were  not  a  little  out  of  their 
element  from  the  moment  they  migrated  into  the 
secular  environment,  conformed  insensibly  to  the  con- 
ditions in  which  they  found  themselves,  and  so  far 
ceased  to  be  the  power  they  had  been. 

Witness,  in  the  time  of  Ignatius,  the  Paris  Univer- 
sity, as  described  by  contemporary  records.  "  It  was 
fallen  from  its  ancient  splendor.  The  bonds  of  dis- 
cipline had  been  gradually  relaxed ;  studies  were  aban- 
doned ;  and  with  masters,  as  with  scholars,  all  love 
of  letters,  and  respect  for  the  rule,  had  given  place  to 
sombre  passions,  to  political  hate,  to  religious  fanati- 
cism and  dissolute  habits."  ^ 

Here  then  we  have  two  elements  in  the  educational 
condition  of  Europe,  which  explain  the  rise  of  the 

iHistoire  de  I'llniversite  de  Paris,  par  Charles  Jourdain,  liv.  i, 
ch.  1;  quoted  with  other  testimonies,  in  the  learned  work,  Un 
College  de  Je'suites  aux  xvii  and  xviii  siecles,  Le  College  Henri  iv 
de  la  Fleche,  par  le  P.Camille  de  Rochemonteix,  1889;  torn,  i,  ch.  1, 
p.  3. 


U  LOYOLA. 

Jesuit  system.  One  was  the  positive,  concrete  fact, 
embodied  in  that  great  developed  system  of  university 
learning.  The  other  was  a  negative  element,  the  de- 
cline therein  of  the  essential  moral  life.  These  two 
factors  are  not  mere  antecedents  in  the  order  of  time, 
as  being  only  prior  to  the  method  of  Loyola.  One  of 
them,  the  university  system,  supplied  the  very  mate- 
rial out  of  which  his  method  and  matter  were  taken ; 
yes,  and  the  men  themselves,  the  Jesuits  who  applied 
the  principles  of  reform  to  education.  The  other  fac- 
tor, which  I  have  called  negative,  that  decline  of  the 
essential  moral  life,  was  the  adequate  occasion,  which 
prompted  Ignatius  to  approach  the  question  of  educa- 
tion at  all.  For  we  may  say  with  confidence  that,  if 
the  universities  of  the  sixteenth  century  were  still 
doing  the  work  which  originally  they  had  been  char- 
tered to  do,  the  founder  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  would 
not  only  have  omitted  to  draw  out  his  system  as  a 
substitute  for  them,  and  as  an  improvement  upon 
them,  but  he  would  have  done,  what  he  always  did 
with  anything  good  in  existence  ;  he  would  have  used 
what  he  found,  and  have  turned  his  attention  to  other 
things  more  urgent.  He  did  use  these  university 
centres  for  his  own  young  men,  until  he  had  better 
educational  institutions,  and  a  better  method  of  his 
own  in  progress. 

Hence  the  educational  problem,  when  it  falls  under 
the  notice  of  Ignatius,  presents  itself  as  the  identical 
one  of  old,  that  of  moral  regeneration.  But  it  is  a 
different  state  of  the  same  question.  In  circumstances 
rendered  acutely  critical  by  the  agitations  of  the  epoch, 
social,  moral,  and  religious,  it  was  a  favorite  contem- 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

plation  of  his  to  look  with  compassion  on  men  living 
like  the  blind,  dying,  and  sinking  into  eternal  depths ; 
on  men  talking,  blaspheming,  reviling  one  another; 
on  their  assaulting,  wounding,  slaying  one  another ; 
and  all  together  going  to  eternal  perdition.^  It  was 
from  this  moral  point  of  view  that  he  descended  into 
the  arena  of  education. 

But  before  he  can  teach  men,  or  mould  teachers 
of  men,  or  even  conceive  the  first  idea  of  legislating 
for  the  intellectual  world,  he  must  himself  first  learn. 
There  are  two  fundamental  lessons  which  he  does 
learn,  and  they  go  to  form  him.  One  is  that,  among 
all  pursuits,  the  study  of  virtue  is  supreme  ;  the  other, 
that,  supreme  as  virtue  is,  yet,  without  secular  learn- 
ing, the  highest  virtue  goes  unarmed,  and  at  best  is 
profitable  to  oneself  alone.  He  learns  these  two  les- 
sons, not  only  in  theory,  but  in  practice.  To  accom- 
plish the  purpose  of  the  latter,  he  takes  his  seat  upon 
the  scholars'  bench,  and  begins  to  learn  with  little 
children.  Though  he  may  not  meet  with  brilliant 
success  in  the  art  of  learning,  still  in  the  art  of  under- 
standing what  learning  is,  and  in  the  lessons  of  expe- 
rience, he  becomes  a  finished  scholar.  He  remains 
even  then  too  much  of  a  chevalier  to  give  up  a  cher- 
ished idea  of  his  about  a  spiritual  crusade  in  the  East. 
And  it  is  only  when  thwarted  in  this  project  that, 
like  a  true  knight,  he  simply  turns  to  another  side  of 
the  field.  He  stays  in  the  West.  He  is  still  the 
Captain  of  a  Company.  But  he  becomes  also  a  legis- 
lator among  doctors ;  and,  amid  his  other  works,  he 
effects  an  educational  reform. 

1  Exercitia  Spiritualia. 


16  LOYOLA. 

In  his  whole  campaign,  we  may  discern  two  charac- 
teristics in  the  spirit  of  his  movements.  One  is  that 
of  defence,  the  other  that  of  advance.  His  method  of 
defence  showed  itself  in  the  reassertion  of  old  prin- 
ciples, in  the  conservatism  of  morals,  —  a  plan  of  cam- 
paign, which  determines  the  whole  frame  of  mind, 
and  the  social  construction  of  the  Company.  It  rests 
on  the  principle  of  upholding  what  is,  and  not  moving 
the  ancient  landmarks.  On  the  other  hand,  his  ad- 
vance is  towards  the  solution  of  the  highest  questions 
which  can  interest  mankind.  These  formed  part  of 
the  very  object  and  direction  of  the  Order's  march. 
And  so  it  came  to  pass,  that  his  Company  drew  to 
itself  that  class  of  minds  which  are  most  powerfully 
arrested  by  the  prospect  of  solving  such  questions, 
especially  when  times  are  agitated.  His  times  were 
agitated,  if  any  ever  were,  more  so  than  our  own, 
when  the  same  questions  still  must  dominate.  His 
were  times  of  wars  with  Turks  in  the  East,  and  with 
Christians  at  home ;  of  battles  lost  and  won,  with 
their  effects  reaching  into  every  household ;  of  royal 
and  imperial  administrations  confused  and  over- 
thrown ;  of  new  opinions  without  number ;  of  the 
Church  losing  ground  along  the  whole  line  of  the 
frontier,  and  withal  new  worlds  looming  over  an  hor- 
izon, where  from  the  beginning  of  time  the  unknown 
had  brooded  in  absolute  darkness.  At  such  a  moment, 
"Defence  and  Advance,"  or  as  the  Papal  authority 
expressed  it  in  the  solemn  instrument  which  chartered 
his  Institute,  Defensio  ac  propagatio  Jldei,  were  stir- 
ring watchwords  to  men  of  parts,  who  felt  restive 
under  the  inactivity  and  inefficiency  of  older  methods, 
on  older  lines. 


INTRODUCTION.  17 

I  will  not  pause  to  say,  that  the  personal  poverty 
and  exact  obedience,  required  in  the  new  service,  pre- 
sented no  obstacles  to  the  minds  and  characters  which 
were  otherwise  attracted  to  his  standard.  The  antece- 
dents of  all  antiquity  seem  to  show  that  such  condi- 
tions, to  such  minds,  are  rather  an  inducement  than  a 
check.  And  if  one  takes  notice  that  to  this  was 
added,  in  the  Order  of  Jesus,  an  absolute  equality, 
whereby  every  formed  member  binds  himself  to  accept 
no  dignity  within  or  without,  or,  at  least,  to  affect 
no  dignity  at  home  or  abroad,  which  will  prejudice  his 
full  franchise  as  a  member,  then,  perhaps,  the  attrac- 
tiveness of  such  a  life,  the  conservatism  and  intense 
concentration  of  the  Order,  as  well  as  the  alacrity  and 
endurance  manifested  in  the  service,  will  not  appear 
inexplicable  to  the  minds  of  this  age,  in  which,  under 
a  very  different  form,  the  same  equality  is  called  lib- 
erty, is  made  to  construct  republics,  to  bring  down 
monarchies,  and  develop  some  of  the  most  potent  agen- 
cies for  unfolding  the  energies  of  men.  Yet  the  lib- 
erty of  this  latter  equality  reflects  but  faintly,  and  as 
from  a  broken  surface,  the  freedom  of  him,  who  hav- 
ing liberated  himself  from  the  shackles  of  the  world, 
and  from  all  solicitude  as  to  his  movements,  office,  and 
place,  finds  in  turn,  as  the  German  historian  expresses 
it,  "his  own  personal  development  imposed  upon 
him  " ;  ^  and,  in  the  firm  companionship  of  one  aim, 
formation,  and  life,  enjoys  the  manifold  support  and 
ready  sympathy  of  individualities  as  developed  as  his 
own. 

I  shall  narrate,  in  the  first  part,  the  facts  of  Igna- 

1  Rauke,  History  of  the  Papacy,  vol.  i,  book  ii,  §  7. 


18  LOYOLA. 

tius'  career,  so  far  as  to  indicate  the  stages  of  that 
magisterial  art,  by  which  he  himself  was  formed,  and 
which  then  he  reformed  in  the  Jesuit  Ratio  Studiorum. 
In  the  second  part,  I  shall  sketch  briefly  the  history 
of  the  Ratio  itself,  and  analyze  the  System  as  a  theory 
and  practice  of  education. 


CHAPTER  II. 

KNIGHT,  PILGRIM,  AND  SCHOLAR. 

The  story  of  the  cavalier  wounded  on  the  ramparts 
of  Pampeluna  has  often  been  told.  Loyola  was  not 
at  the  moment  governor  of  the  city,  nor  in  any  re- 
sponsible charge.  But  official  responsibility  was  not 
necessary  for  him  to  see  the  path  of  duty  and  follow 
it.  As  one  bound  to  the  service  of  his  sovereign  by 
the  title  of  honor  and  nobility,  he  retired  to  the 
citadel,  when  the  town  surrendered ;  and  then,  when 
the  ramparts  began  to  give  way  under  the  cannonad- 
ing, he  stood  in  the  breach.  A  ball  shattering  the 
rock  laid  him  low,  maimed  in  both  his  limbs.  At 
once  the  defence  collapsed.  Cared  for  chivalrously 
by  those  whose  arms  had  struck  him  down  in  battle, 
he  was  transported  with  every  delicate  attention  to 
his  castle  of  Loyola.  It  was  found  that  one  of  his 
limbs  had  been  ill  set.  He  had  it  broken  again,  to  be 
set  aright.  Meanwhile,  instinct  with  all  the  ambition 
of  a  knight,  belonging  to  a  chivalrous  nation  in  an 
age  of  chivalry,  he  was  not  insensible  to  the  charms 
of  society  and  affection.  And,  out  of  a  sensitive  care 
for  his  personal  appearance,  he  must  needs  have  a 
protruding  bone,  which  still  threatened  to  mar  his 
figure,  sawed  off  while  he  looked  on.  In  the  loneli- 
ness and  tedium  of  a  sick-room,  he  whiled  away  the 

19 


20  LOYOLA. 

hours  by  dreaming  of  his  ambitions  and  his  aspira- 
tions, and  he  sought  to  feed  them  with  suitable 
nourishment.  He  wanted  a  romance  to  read.  There 
was  none  to  be  had.  So,  instead  of  the  novel  which 
was  not  forthcoming,  he  took  what  they  gave  him, 
the  Life  of  Christ,  and  the  Lives  of  some  who  had 
served  Christ  faithfully.  The  soldier  of  the  field 
and  of  blood  felt  the  objects  of  his  ambition  change ; 
he  became  a  soldier  of  the  spirit  and  eternal  life. 
And,  after  the  experiences  of  his  bed  of  pain,  and  the 
protracted  communings  with  another  world,  he  arose 
another  man ;  he  went  forth  a  knight  as  ever,  but  not 
on  an  expedition  terminating  as  before.  An  evening 
and  night  spent  in  the  sanctuary  of  Montserrat,  as 
once  before  he  had  passed  a  vigil  of  arms,  when 
dubbed  a  chevalier  by  the  King  of  Kavarre ;  a  morn- 
ing begun  with  the  Holy  Sacrifice  attended  and  Holy 
Communion  received,  opened  to  him  a  new  era ;  and 
he  went  forth,  bound  novf  by  a  new  oath  of  fealty  to 
the  service  of  the  King  of  Heaven. 

At  the  side  of  the  altar  in  this  sanctuary  of  Mont- 
serrat, the  Abbot  of  the  monastery,  eighty-one  years 
later,  committed  to  a  marble  tablet  the  record  of  this 
event,  for  the  perpetual  memory  of  the  future: 
''Blessed  Ignatius  of  Loyola  here,  with  many 
prayers  and  tears,  devoted  himself  to  God  and  the 
Virgin.  Here,  as  with  spiritual  arms,  he  fortified 
himself  in  sack-cloth,  and  spent  the  vigil  of  the 
night.  Hence  he  went  forth  to  found  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  in  the  year  MDXXII." 

He  first  looked  about  him  to  find  a  retreat,  and 
immerse  himself  in  the  contemplation  of  time  and 


KNIGHT,  PILGRIM,   AND   SCHOLAR.  21 

eternity.  It  was  a  Saturday.  John  Sacrista  Pascual 
tells  us  that  his  mother,  a  devout  lady  of  Manresa, 
was  in  the  church  that  morning;  and,  accompanied  by 
two  young  men  and  three  women,  she  was  at  her 
devotions  in  the  chapel  of  the  Apostles.  A  young 
stranger  came  up  and  accosted  them.  His  clothing 
was  of  very  common  serge;  for  Ignatius  had  given 
away  his  knightly  robes  to  a  poor  man.  The  youth 
looked  like  a  pilgrim.  He  was  not  tall ;  he  was  fair 
in  complexion  and  ruddy  in  cheek.  His  bare  head 
was  somewhat  bald.  Altogether  he  was  of  a  fine  and 
grave  presence,  and  most  reserved  in  look.  He 
scarcely  raised  his  eyes  from  the  ground.  Coming 
up,  he  asked  if  there  were  a  hospital  anywhere 
which  might  serve  him  for  shelter.  Kegarding  his 
noble  and  fair  features,  the  lady,  as  became  a  Chris- 
tian woman,  offered  her  services ;  if  he  would  follow 
her  company,  she  would  provide  for  him,  in  the  best 
way  possible.  Courteously  and  thankfully  he  ac- 
cepted her  offer,  and  followed  the  party  as  they  left 
the  sanctuary.  They  proceeded  slowly ;  for  they 
noticed  that  he  was  lame.  However  much  they  urged 
him,  they  could  not  induce  him  to  ride  upon  the  ass. 
Three  leagues  away  from  Montserrat,  they  arrived  at 
the  little  town  of  Manresa ;  and  he  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  the  common  hospital  for  the  poor  and  pil- 
grims. Whatever  alms  or  food  was  henceforth  sent 
him  first  went  to  others,  whom,  in  these  matters,  up 
to  the  end  of  his  life,  he  always  considered  to  be  more 
in  need  than  himself. 

He  now  entered  on  his  probation  of  Christian  vir- 
tue.    In  the  mind  of  the  Catholic  Church,  the  degree 


22  LOYOLA. 

of  virtue  which  he  practised  is  that  accounted  heroic. 
As  it  is  not  for  me  to  dwell  on  it  here,  I  will  pass  it 
over  with  one  remark.  That  which  is  accounted 
ordinary  Christian  virtue,  resting  as  it  does  on  faith 
and  hope,  on  principles  not  barely  natural  but  super- 
natural, is  not  very  intelligible  to  the  world  at  large. 
Still  less  the  heroic  degree  of  the  same.  Both  how- 
ever claim  to  be  estimated  by  their  own  proper 
motives  and  principles.  When  they  enter  iuto  the 
very  subject,  which  the  biographer  means  to  treat,  it 
appertains  to  his  art  not  to  ignore  the  objective 
motives  and  reasons  of  things,  as  they  operated  in  his 
subject.  In  the  shortest  monograph,  like  the  present, 
we  cannot  separate  from  the  work,  which  he  did,  the 
man  who  did  it.  And  the  man  is  made  by  his 
motives.  It  were  bad  literary  art  to  describe  feats, 
which  are  confessedly  great,  and  not  to  find  motives 
which  are  proportionate. 

Ignatius,  after  a  year  more  or  less  spent  at  Manresa, 
took  his  pilgrim's  staff  and  journeyed  on  foot  to  Italy, 
and  thence  to  the  Holy  Land.  It  was  in  the  spirit  of 
the  old  Crusaders,  whose  chivalry  had  a  charm  for 
him  up  to  the  day  many  years  later,  when,  with  his 
first  associates  of  the  Company,  he  endeavored  once 
more  to  cross  over  from  Italy  to  Palestine.  Had  he 
succeeded  on  this  later  occasion,  he  would  most  prob- 
ably never  have  known  the  others  who  attached  them- 
selves to  him ;  nor  might  history  have  busied  itself 
with  him  or  with  them. 

At  the  date  of  his  return  from  the  Holy  Land,  we 
find  that  he  has  advanced  already  to  the  second  lesson 
in  the  development  of  his  future.     It  is,  that  mature 


KNIGHT,  PILGRIM,   AND   SCHOLAR.  23 

in  years  as  he  is,  and  full  of  desires  for  doing  good  to 
his  neighbors,  yet  neither  does  mere  piety  place  in  his 
hands  the  instruments  for  such  work ;  nor,  if  study 
alone  can  give  the  means  of  apostolic  zeal,  can  he  con- 
sider himself  exempt  from  the  law,  that  he  must  labor 
to  acquire  what  are  only  the  results  of  labor.  He 
was  thirty-one  years  of  age,  when  he  betook  himself, 
after  his  night's  vigil,  to  the  cave  of  Manresa.  He  is 
two  years  older  now.  So,  at  the  age'  of  thirty-three, 
he  sits  down  on  the  school-bench  at  Barcelona,  and 
begins  his  Latin  declensions. 

Begrudging  his  studies  the  time  which  they  demand 
exclusively,  he  mistakes  the  situation,  and  allows  him- 
self the  exercises  of  an  apostolic  life.  At  his  age,  even 
supposing  his  earlier  pursuits  to  have  been  more  in 
harmony  with  his  present  life  of  letters,  he  is  not  an 
apt  pupil.  However,  he  labors  conscientiously.  After 
two  years  spent  at  Grammar,  he  is  judged  by  his 
teacher,  who  takes  a  lenient  view  of  the  case,  to  be 
competent  for  approaching  his  higher  studies. 

He  himself  was  dubious.  His  friends  recommended 
him  to  ascend.  He  still  hesitated.  But,  receiving 
the  same  favorable  opinion  from  a  theologian  whom 
he  consulted,  Ignatius  acquiesced,  in  accordance  with 
his  unvarying  rule,  to  follow  competent  direction. 
How  unfortunate  this  step  was  for  the  happy  progress 
of  his  studies,  but  how  advantageous  for  his  experi- 
ence as  a  future  legislator,  I  shall  joroceed  to  show. 

Leaving  Barcelona  for  Alcala,  he  meant  to  enjoy 
the  best  advantages  which  a  great  university  could 
afford.  He  lived  on  alms  as  ever;  and  others  lived 
on  the  alms  which  he  received.    It  was  the  year  1^26. 


5 


24  LOYOLA. 

He  entered  upon  the  study  of  Logic,  using  the  Summa 
of  Di  Soto ;  also  the  Physics  of  Aristotle ;  and  he 
pursued  besides  the  Master  of  Sentences. 

He  had  stayed  only  a  year  and  a  half  in  this  rich 
variety  of  pursuits,  scholastic  as  well  as  apostolic, 
when  the  novelties  apparent  in  his  manner  of  life 
ended  by  making  him  a  suspected  character  to  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities.  To  a  few,  among  the  popu- 
lation of  the  city,  his  fruitful  zeal  made  him  dis- 
tinctly odious.  The  result  was  a  juridical  process 
against  him,  which  issued  in  a  complimentary  ver- 
dict, the  Vicar  of  the  diocese  pronouncing  him  and 
his  companions  quite  blameless.  But  restrictions 
were  imposed  regarding  his  future  ministrations, 
since  Ignatius  was  not  yet  in  holy  orders.  During  a 
term  of  four  years  he  was  not  to  preach.  After  that 
time,  his  progress  in  studies  would  enable  him  to 
honor  that  important  ministry,  without  giving  offence. 
This  was  a  deathblow  to  the  aspirations  of  the  stu- 
dent. He  m-ade  up  his  mind  to  go  elsewhere,  to  the 
famous  university  of  Salamanca;  and  he  turned  his 
back  on  Alcala. 

The  time  was  soon  to  come  for  a  pleasant  revenge ; 
and  apparently  he  knew  of  it  long  before  it  came. 
Just  six  years  after  the  foundation  of  his  Order,  when 
he  sent  Francis  Villanova  to  open  a  house  at  Alcala, 
not  only  did  he  find  men  of  the  university  embracing 
his  Institute,  but,  two  years  after  that,  the  whilom  per- 
secuted pilgrim  received,  in  a  single  twelvemonth, 
thirty-four  Doctors  into  the  Society,  all  from  that  one 
seat  of  learning.  The  mere  passing  by  of  Francis 
Borgia,  Duke  of  Gandia,  who  had  become  an  humble 


KNIGHT,    PILGRIM,   AND  SCHOLAR.  25 

follower  of  Ignatius,  made  the  choicest  spirits  flock  to 
his  standard ;  and,  all  over  Spain,  colleges  sprang  up  as 
if  from  the  soil. 

In  Salamanca,  where  likewise  he  and  his  were  to 
figure  in  the  future,  the  personal  history  of  Ignatius 
is  briefly  told.  In  ten  or  twelve  days  after  his  arri- 
val, he  was  thrown  into  chains.  He  spent  twenty- 
two  days  in  prison.  When  released,  with  the  same 
commendation  for  himself  and  his  doctrine  as  he  had 
received  at  Alcala,  but  with  a  similar  restriction  on 
his  action,  he  thought  it  was  not  worth  his  while  to 
repeat  the  same  experiences  at  the  same  cost.  So,  in 
spite  of  all  the  eloquence  of  dissuasion  brought  to 
bear  on  him  by  friends,  he  took  a  new  departure, 
which  seemed  plausible  to  him,  and  therefore  feasible. 
He  would  try  his  fortunes  in  another  land,  and  con- 
tinue his  studies  in  the  greatest  philosophical  and 
theological  centre  of  the  world,  the  University  of 
Paris. 

To  any  one  who  judged  of  things  by  an  ordinary 
standard,  the  project  was  not  feasible.  War  was 
raging  between  Spain  and  France ;  the  roads  were 
infested  with  hostile  soldiery  ;  many  murders  and 
robberies,  committed  on  the  persons  of  travellers, 
were  recently  reported.  But  these  and  other  consid- 
erations of  the  kind  had  no  weight  with  Loyola,  to 
stay  him  in  a  course  once  deliberately  ado^^ted.  Ac- 
cepting some  alms  from  friends  at  Barcelona,  to 
obtain  on  the  way  the  necessaries  of  life,  he  accom- 
plished on  foot  the  whole  journey  from  Barcelona  to 
the  French  capital ;  where  he  arrived  at  the  beginning 
of  February,  a.d.  1528. 


26  LOYOLA. 

He  has  now  had  experience  of  prisons  and  chains, 
on  the  charge  of  teaching  error,  or  of  being  a  dan- 
gerous enthusiast.  One  of  the  calmest  and  coolest 
of  men,  who  never  acted,  but  he  first  calculated,  and 
who  never  allowed  himself  to  approach  a  conclusion, 
without  first  freeing  himself  from  all  bias  and  impulse, 
he  had  suffered  repeated  arrest  for  setting  people 
beside  themselves,  for  moving  them  to  give  up  all 
they  had  in  behalf  of  piety,  or  charity,  and  inducing 
them  to  go  and  live  on  alms  themselves  ;  nay,  per- 
haps throw  in  their  lives,  talents  and  acquirements, 
to  serve  others  gratis.  The  founder  of  the  Jesuits, 
himself  the  first  of  an  Order  which  has  the  reputation 
of  being  the  staunchest  upholder,  as  well  of  authority 
in  every  rank  of  society,  as  of  the  truths  taught  by 
the  Catholic  Church,  was  put  in  chains,  or  arraigned 
by  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  almost  wherever  he 
appeared,  though  always  acquitted  as  blameless. 

In  a  letter  written  at  a  subsequent  period  of  his 
life  to  King  John  III  of  Portugal,  Ignatius  sums  up 
his  experiences,  as  including  two  imprisonments,  at 
Alcala  and  Salamanca;  three  judicial  investigations, 
at  Alcala,  Salamanca,  and  Paris ;  later  on,  another 
process  at  Paris  ;  then  one  at  Venice  ;  finally  another 
at  Kome ;  —  eight  investigations  about  this  one  man 
in  Spain,  France,  and  Italy.^  Wherever  he  came,  in 
after  life,  it  passed  as  a  proverb  among  the  Fathers, 
that  his  appearance  was  the  sure  harbinger  of  a  storm, 
soon  to  break  out  against  them  somewhere,  in  the 
social  or  religious  world.  He  braved  all  this  fury  in 
his  own  manner,  weighing  as  deliberately  every  word 
1  Genelli,  Life  of  St.  Ignatius  Loyola,  p.  351. 


KNIGHT,  PILGRIM,  AND  SCHOLAR.  27 

he  spoke,  and  measuring  every  step  he  took,  as  when 
he  had  stood  in  the  breach  of  the  ramparts  at  Pam- 
peluna.  But  his  personal  experience  made  him  com- 
mit to  the  sacred  keeping  of  the  ^'  Spiritual  Exercises  " 
an  important  principle  of  liberal  and  humane  pru- 
dence. It  is  couched  in  the  first  words  of  his  little 
book,  to  guide  teacher  and  learner  alike.     He  says  :  — 

"  In  the  first  place,  it  is  to  be  supposed  that  every 
pious  Christian  man  should  be  more  ready  to  inter- 
pret any  obscure  proposition  of  another  in  a  good 
rather  than  a  bad  sense.  If,  however,  he  cannot 
defend  the  proposition  in  any  way,  let  him  inquire  of 
the  speaker  himself ;  and,  if  then  the  speaker  is  found 
to  be  mistaken  in  sentiment  or  understanding,  let 
him  correct  the  same  kindly.  If  this  is  not  enough,  ; 
let  him  employ  all  available  means  to  render  him 
sound  in  principle  and  secure  from  error." 

How  far  the  personal  experiences  of  its  founder 
attached  by  a  law  of  heritage  to  his  Order,  I  can 
hardly  undertake  to  describe.  But,  just  for  the  sake 
of  completing  the  family  picture,  I  will  mention  the 
heads  of  a  doleful  list,  which  an  historian  of  the  Soci- 
ety catalogues.  He  enumerates,  as  objects  of  attack 
and  misrepresentation,  the  founder  himself,  the  name 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  the  dress,  rules,  manners, 
books,  doctrine,  schools,  sermons ;  the  poverty,  obedi- 
ence, gratuitous  service  of  the  Jesuits ;  that  they 
affected  a  kind  of  literary  empire,  under  the  spur  of 
an  intolerable  ambition ;  that  they  were  lightly  tinc- 
tured, and  had  just  sipped  of  many  things,  of  which 
they  had  nothing  solid  to  offer ;  yes,  that  they  wanted 
to  have  it  believed  there  was  no  sanctuary  of  the 


28  LOYOLA. 

Muses,  no  shrine  of  sacred  or  human  wisdom  in  exist- 
ence, outside  of  their  own  colleges;  that,  from  these 
offices  of  theirs,  all  arts  and  sciences  came  forth,  done 
up  in  the  best  style.  "  In  fine,  whatever  they  do  or 
don't  do,  granted  that  there  are  many  false  charges 
which  their  enemies  concoct  against  them,  —  things 
too  extreme  to  be  believed,  —  granted  that  they  are 
acquitted  of  many  vices  laid  to  their  account,  never 
certainly  will  they  escape  the  suspicion,  at  least, 
which  these  charges  excite."  ^  We  believe  it.  There 
is  a  good  homely  English  proverb  which  expresses 
the  very  same  idea  —  about  the  happy  adhesiveness 
of  a  clayey  compound  when  cleverly  thrown. 

This  retrospect  of  history  was  taken,  exactly  one 
hundred  years  after  the  foundation  of  the  Order. 
The  story  had  begun  some  thirteen  years  before  it 
was  founded.  AVhen  Ignatius  became  a  responsible 
leader  w^ith  associates,  he  had  recourse  more  than  once 
to  the  process  of  justice,  to  clear  his  reputation  in  full 
form.  But,  beyond  the  cases  which  rendered  such 
defence  prudent  and  necessary,  his  practical  policy 
was  expressed  in  a  practical  maxim,  which  after  him 
his  successor,  James  Laynez,  had  often  in  his  mouth : 
Deus  faxit  ne  unquam  male  loquantur  et  vera  clicant ! 
"  God  grant  they  never  talk  ill  of  me  and  be  saying 
the  truth  ! "  Indeed,  as  there  is  no  use  in  trying 
to  change  men,  for  they  will  never  be  born  anew, 
Ignatius  looked  rather  in  another  direction  for  the 
solution  of  difficulties  ;  expecting  that  troubles,  which 
defied  other  treatment,  might  still  not  survive  their 
authors.  Speaking  of  "a  powerful  adversary,  who  was 
1  Imago  Primi  Sseculi,  lib.  iv,  cap.  ix,  pp.  521-2 ;  De  Calumniis. 


KNIGHT,  PILGRIM,  AND  SCHOLAR.  29 

raising  a  great  storm  at  Toledo  and  Alcala,  and  whom 
it  took  the  royal  council  and  then  a  brief  from  the 
Pope  to  quellj  Ignatius  said  of  him  to  Ribadeneira: 
"He  is  old,  the  Society  is  young;  naturally  the 
Society  will  live  longer  than  he  will."  The  same  dig- 
nitary, suppressed  though  he  was,  rose  again  in  vio- 
lent opposition.  Whereupon  Jouvancy  makes  the 
apt  remark :  "  So  difficult  is  it  for  even  the  most  emi- 
nent men,  and  so  rare  a  thing,  when  once  they  have 
conceived  a  notion,  to  get  it  out  of  their  heads  again !  "^ 
Ko,  men  are  not  born  anew. 

It  is  time  now  to  contemplate  Ignatius  of  Loyola 
at  Paris,  where  some  of  the  most  precious  elements 
in  his  educational  experience  are  to  be  acquired. 

1  Jouvancy,  Epitome  Hist.  S.  J.,  p.  168,  ad  annum  1551. 


CHAPTEK  III. 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PARIS.     ROME. 

Voluntary  poverty,  the  austerest  manner  of  life, 
the  ungrateful  labor  of  studies,  and  the  perpetual  self- 
discipline  of  a  mind  like  his,  ever  bent  on  lofty- 
thoughts  and  endeavoring  to  dominate  the  very  first 
movements  of  his  soul,  all  these  conditions,  added  to 
the  climate  and  the  nature  of  the  situation  in  which 
Ignatius  found  himself  at  Paris,  brought  such  a  strain 
to  bear  on  his  broken-down  constitution,  that,  to  keep 
up  his  course  at  all,  he  had  to  interrupt  it  awhile,  and 
give  some  relief  to  his  overtaxed  body,  or,  as  he  held 
it  to  be,  his  "beast  of  burden." 

And  what  about  the  studies  themselves  ?  If  they 
had  been  a  brilliant  success  thus  far,  they  could 
scarcely  have  outlived  such  conditions  of  existence. 
As  it  was,  they  were  as  good  as  if  they  had  never 
begun;  or  somewhat  worse.  He  had  gone  about 
them  the  wrong  way.  Whatever  solidity  of  learning 
he  had  kept  objectively  in  view,  something  else, 
equally  important  with  solidity,  had  been  unwittingly 
omitted.  That  was  a  good  method.  Logic,  Philos- 
ophy, and  Theology,  all  taken  up  together,  and  with 
such  compendious  haste,  now  went  together  in  his 
mind  like  a  machine  out  of  joint;  and  his  speed  was 
nil!     The   Latin  language  itself,   the   indispensable 

30 


THE   UNIVEHSITY   OF  PARIS.     ROME.  31 

vehicle  of  all  learning,  was  just  so  far  possessed  by 
him  as  to  show  him  that,  to  be  of  any  real  use,  it  had 
better  be  commenced  all  over  again. 

Here  his  character  asserted  itself.  And  in  no  par- 
ticular of  his  life  is  he  more  like  himself,  more 
thorough,  more  of  a  brave  cavalier,  "  governing  him- 
self, in  great  things  and  small,  by  reasons  most  high," 
than  when,  having  little  facility  for  such  pursuits, 
and  less  inclination,  he  makes  up  his  mind,  after  a  short 
breathing  spell,  to  sit  down  again  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
seven  years,  and  resume  his  Latin  declensions !  In 
the  college  of  Montague,  he  spends  about  two  years 
acquiring  this  tongue.  Meanwhile,  he  tries  various 
plans  to  find  wherewithal  to  live. 

I  need  not  dwell  on  the  nature  of  this  great  centre 
into  which  Ignatius  had  penetrated,  an  unknown 
stranger,  ]ust  one  of  its  tens  of  thousands  of  scholars. 
It  had  more  than  two  scores  of  colleges.  To  this, 
the  queen  of  universities,  though  she  w^as  going  to  be 
no  kind  alma  mater  to  him  and  his  Order,  still  the 
recollections  of  Loyola  in  his  future  legislation  would 
always  turn  back  with  reverence.  His  first  Profes- 
sors for  the  Roman  College,  the  typical  institution 
of  the  Society,  would  be  taken  from  those  of  his 
men  wdio  were  Doctors  of  this  university.  And, 
whatever  might  be  the  moral  condition  and  the  relig- 
ious lassitude  of  the  university  men,  as  compared 
with  this  penniless  stranger,  in  1529,  occasions  were 
to  come  in  after  times,  when  they  showed  themselves 
not  unworthy  of  the  enemy  whom  they  fought  to  the 
death.  When  the  plague  of  1580  made  a  desert  about 
them,  the  university  men  and  the  Jesuits,  otherwise 


32  LOYOLA. 

never  seen  together,  save  in  the  lists  and  face  to  face, 
now  were  everywhere,  and  fell  fast,  side  by  side  on 
the  field  of  Christian  charity. 

For  the  understanding  of  the  Jesuit  system,  in  its 
origin  and  its  form,  attention  must  always  be  paid, 
in  the  first  place,  to  the  kinship  subsisting  between 
it  and  the  Paris  University.  There  are,  besides,  many 
other  degrees  of  relationship,  which  do  not  go  unac- 
knowledged, in  the  formation  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum. 
The  system  of  the  English  universities  may  be 
recognized  in  the  line  of  ancestry.  Whatever  was 
best  anywhere  enters  the  pedigree ;  as  Lord  Bacon 
takes  note,  when  delivering  himself  like  a  good  phil- 
osopher, but  also  like  a  good  Protestant,  he  eulogizes 
and  stigmatizes  in  the  same  breath:  "The  ancient 
wisdom  of  the  best  times,"  he  says,  "  did  always  make 
a  just  complaint,  that  states  were  too  busy  with  their 
laws,  and  too  negligent  in  point  of  education ;  which 
excellent  part  of  the  ancient  discipline  hath  been  in 
some  sort  revived,  of  late  times,  by  the  colleges  of  the 
Jesuits ;  of  whom,  although  in  regard  of  their  super- 
stition I  may  say,  ^  quo  meliores,  eo  deteriores' ;  yet  in 
regard  of  this,  and  some  other  points  concerning 
human  learning  and  moral  matters,  I  may  say,  as 
Agesilaus  said  to  his  enemy  Pharnabaus,  '  Talis  quum 
sis,  utinam  noster  esses. ^  '^  ^ 

In  the  University  of  Paris,  then,  as  his  real  alma 
mater,  Ignatius  commenced  his  course  of  Philosophy 
in  the  year  1529.  He  finished  it  by  standing  success- 
fully the  severe  examination,  called  examen  lapideurrij 

1  Advancement  of  Learning,  book  i;  Philadelphia  edit.  1841,  vol. 
i,  p.  167. 


THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   PARIS.     ROME.  33 

^''the  rocky  test,"  considered  the  most  searching  of  all 
in  the  Paris  Academy.  He  thus  became  a  Master  of 
Arts,  after  Easter,  a.d.  1534;  having  become  Licen- 
tiate in  the  previous  year.  Particulars  about  his  four 
examiners  in  the  "  rocky  test,'^  his  graduation,  the  de- 
grees of  his  companions,  with  the  dates,  as  found  in 
the  Paris  records,  are  given  by  the  Bollandists.  ^ 

He  now  entered  on  his  theological  studies.  It  was 
evident  that  the  obstructions,  which  had  thwarted  so 
many  of  his  efforts  heretofore,  were  disappearing  one 
by  one.  And  more  than  that ;  the  means  were  being 
placed  in  his  hands  for  the  great  work  before  him. 
These  means  were  a  company  of  men.  He  was  in  the 
midst  of  a  devoted  little  band,  each  one  of  whom  he 
had  won  individually.  They  were  Peter  Lef^vre  and 
Francis  Xavier;  James  Lainez  and  Alphonsus  Sal- 
meron,  both  of  them  mere  youths ;  there  were  Claude 
Le  Jay,  John  Coduri,  Nicholas  Bobadilla,  Simon  Kod- 
riguez;  and  lastly,  the  only  one  who  at  this  time 
was  a  Priest  among  their  number,  Pasquier  Brouet. 
Among  these,  never  at  their  head  though  considered  a 
father  by  all,  never  leading  the  way,  though  on  that 
account  showing  himself  the  more  effectively  a  leader, 
Ignatius  was  all  in  al]  to  each  one  of  them.  He 
had  previously  acquired  some  valuable  experience  in 
selecting  and  forming  companions.  But  such  as  had 
gathered  round  him  in  Spain  were  no  longer  with  him. 
Each  one  of  his  present  party  was  a  picked  man. 

When  six  of  them  were  sufficiently  advanced,  he 
and  they  held  a  solemnity,  which  was  the  real  birth- 
day of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  On  the  fifteenth  day  of 
1  Month  of  July,  torn,  vii ;  auct.  J.  P.,  §  xviii,  pp.  443-4. 


34  LOYOLA. 

August,  1534,  tliey  took  a  vow,  in  the  church  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  at  Montmartre  in  Paris.  They  bound 
themselves  to  renounce  all  their  goods  by  a  given  date, 
and  betake  themselves  to  the  Holy  Land ;  failing  in 
that,  they  would  throw  themselves  at  the  feet  of  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff,  and  offer  him  their  absolute  service. 
Meanwhile  they  pursued  their  studies ;  and,  as  each 
of  the  two  following  years  brought  round  the  fifteenth 
day  of  August,  it  found  them  in  the  same  place,  and 
with  the  same  solemnit}^,  and  with  an  enlarged  num- 
ber, renewing  this  vow.  The  legal  birthday  of  the 
Order  came  only  with  the  Papal  charter  on  Septem- 
ber 27,  1540. 

I  shall  pass  over  the  movements  of  Loyola,  when 
bidden  to  go  and  recuperate  in  his  native  climate.  He 
returned  to  Spain,  in  1535,  leaving  his  companions 
to  study  till  1537 ;  and  he  settled  the  affairs  of  his 
young  Spanish  associates  at  their  homes.  All,  when 
the  time  came,  disposed  of  their  goods  in  a  summary 
way.  They  gave  to  the  poor,  reserving  nothing, 
except  what  would  pay  their  way  to  Venice,  and 
thence  to  the  East.  Their  principle  was,  Dispersit, 
cleclit  pauperihus,  "  He  hath  distributed,  he  hath  given 
to  the  poor."  Besides  this,  Xavier,  at  the  date  ap- 
pointed, gave  up  the  last  stage  of  his  theological 
studies,  and  resigned  the  glory  of  receiving  the  Doc- 
tor's cap  in  Paris ;  the  brilliant  young  Professor  sac- 
rificed the  one  thing  which  had  appealed  most  power- 
fully to  his  ambition  and  imagination.  Laynez  was 
recuperating  from  a  severe  illness,  and  could  do 
scarcely  more  than  inove.  Nevertheless  they  are 
all  in  Venice,  when  the  early  spring  of  1537  arrives. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PARIS.     ROME.  35 

Ignatius  himself^  meeting  them  there,  has  accom- 
plished the  work  which  faced  him  thirteen  years 
before,  and  which  he  had  taken  in  hand  with  his 
Latin  grammar.     He  is  now  forty-six  years  of  age. 

There  are  three  lines  of  activity,  in  which  the  abil- 
ity and  energy  of  Ignatius  Loyola  stand  out  before  the 
world.  One  is  the  capacity  he  showed  as  a  governor 
or  leader  of  men ;  another  is  a  similar  competency  to 
direct  souls  in  the  spiritual  life ;  the  third  is  that, 
which  we  are  considering  at  present,  his  legislative 
genius  in  the  intellectual  order.  Admitting  the 
innate  talent  which  must  have  been  the  basis  and 
foundation  of  his  gift  for  governing,  we  may  affirm 
of  all  the  rest,  that  the  best  part  of  his  sagacity 
and  tact  had  been  acquired  by  personal  experience. 
He  learnt  how  to  act  by  suffering.  He  perfected 
his  natural  gift  of  guiding  and  commanding  by 
first  submitting  to  all  the  contingencies  of  human 
life. 

We  may  develop  the  meaning  of  this  in  the  present 
matter,  pedagogy ;  and  the  meaning  of  it  will  help  to 
unfold  the  subject.  In  quest  of  the  necessaries  of 
life,  he  spent  intervals  of  his  studious  career  in  travel- 
ling from  Paris  to  a  great  distance.  He  found  him- 
self returning  each  year  to  Belgium,  always  on  foot : 
he  visited  Eouen,  and  even  reached  London,  to  address 
the  Spanish  merchants  there.  It  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  parsimony  on  their  side  that  kept  him  in 
such  straitened  circumstances.  It  was  his  principles 
which  were  not  all  in  keeping  with  his  conditions 
of  life.  He  was  endeavoring  to  combine  the  life  of  a 
student  with  absolute  poverty ;  and  he  aggravated  the 


36  LOYOLA. 

inconveniences  of  such,  a  state  of  dependence  by  plac- 
ing no  limits  to  the  exercise  of  his  charity.  It  was 
his  deliberate  choice ;  for  he  fed  his  mind  continuously 
upon  the  life  and  example  of  the  King,  to  whom  he 
had  sworn  his  service,  Christ  poor  and  in  labor  from 
his  youth.  He  spoke  afterwards  from  the  wisdom  of 
experience,  when  he  said,  that  in  absolute  penury  the 
pursuit  of  science  cannot  easily  subsist,  and  the  cul- 
ture of  the  mind  is  impeded  by  the  duties  of  provid- 
ing for  the  body.  Hence  he  legislated  that,  though 
poverty  was  to  be  the  basis  of  his  Institute,  still  the 
members,  as  long  as  they  were  engaged  in  studies, 
should  be  set  free  from  all  care  of  seeking  the  means 
of  subsistence. 

He  had  endeavored  to  combine  a  life  of  apostolic 
ministrations,  though  not  yet  a  Priest,  with  that 
requisite  absorption  of  mind,  which  alone  can  warrant 
scholastic  success.  And  he  saw  what  it  had  come  to. 
The  very  esteem  and  love,  which  he  entertained  for 
the  exercises  of  the  higher  spiritual  life,  interrupted 
with  intrusive  thoughts  that  application  to  study, 
which,  was  the  duty  in  hand.  In  order  that  no  such 
intrusion  of  even  the  most  sacred  pursuits  should 
obstruct  the  onward  progress  of  the  members  in  learn- 
ing, he  defined  by  rule  the  measure  of  such  occupa- 
tions, as  long  as  study  was  the  main  duty. 

Diseases  weakened  him.  Therefore  he  took  the 
greatest  pains  to  protect  the  health  of  the  members. 
While  he  lived,  he  did  this  with  a  personal  and  pater- 
nal solicitude.  In  his  Institute,  he  provided  the  same 
for  the  future. 

On   commencing  his   studies,   he   embraced    many 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PARIS.    ROME.  37 

branches  at  the  same  time ;  and  he  had  suffered  all 
the  consequences  of  disorder.  Grasping  at  too  many 
things,  he  lost  all ;  and  he  had  then  to  retrieve  all 
with  loss  of  time.  To  obviate  any  recurrence  of  such 
costly  experiences,  he  provided  that  the  courses  fol- 
lowed in  the  Society  should  have  nothing  disordered 
in  them,  nothing  mutilated  or  curtailed;  everything 
was  to  be  in  method  and  system;  until,  system  and 
method  having  been  carried  out  in  every  line,  and  the 
special  good  of  each  department  having  been  secured 
sufficiently  for  the  general  plan,  specialized  perfection 
should  be  consulted,  after  all  that ;  and  this  was  to  be 
the  appointed  life  of  individuals,  while  a  rounded  and 
complete  education  remained  the  culture  of  all. 

Once  in  later  years  he  let  fall  these  words,  relative 
to  his  early  experience  :  "  He  would  very  much  ques- 
tion whether  another  but  himself,  having  to  struggle 
with  so  many  difficulties  and  obstacles  in  the  course 
of  his  studies,  would  have  given  so  long  a  time  to  the 
acquisition  of  the  sciences."  ^  Thus  then  was  he  op- 
pressed with  poverty,  without  the  satisfaction  ot  acting 
under  orders  ;  suffering  so  many  diseases,  and  yet  look- 
ing neither  to  honor,  dignity,  nor  other  human  reward, 
such  as  is  wont  to  draw  men  on,  and  animate  them 
under  fatigue ;  finding  no  pleasure  nor  satisfaction  in 
the  life  of  studies,  an  inducement  which  is  so  great 
an  alleviation  to  mortals  in  the  work  before  them. 
And,  in  all  these  respects,  he  was  quite  unlike  the 
very  men  whom  he  singled  out,  and  enlisted  in  the 
new  service  of  devotion ;  unlike  Francis  Xavier,  who 
had  seen  with  perfect  indifference  all  his  brothers  take 
1  Genelli,  Life  of  St.  Ignatius  Loyola,  part  i,  ch.  8. 


38  LOYOLA. 

to  their  ancestral  profession  of  arms,  or  to  a  courtier's 
life,  while  he  himself,  with  the  whole  force  of  an 
ambitious  soul,  ran  on  successfully  and  brilliantly  in 
his  chosen  career,  as  a  Professor ;  unlike  Laynez  and 
Salmeron,  whose  extraordinary  gifts  had  made  them 
Doctors  of  Philosophy  and  Divinity,  while  still,  in 
age,  little  more  than  mere  youths ;  very  unlike  by 
nature  to  the  gentle  make  of  Lefevre,  who  began  life 
as  a  shepherd  boy,  and  ever  retained  a  pastoral  sweet- 
ness of  character.  Unlike  all  of  them,  Loyola,  a 
soldier  born  and  bred,  and  still  true  to  his  profession, 
discarded  every  consideration  of  taste,  comfort,  and 
convenience,  in  view  of  one  objective  point  to  be 
reached :  through  thirteen  years  he  struggled  towards 
it ;  and,  when  that  time  of  probation  was  over,  he  was 
a  marked  man.  According  to  the  law,  that  like 
attracts  like,  and  like  begets  like,  he  was  surrounded 
by  a  company  of  marked  men,  few  if  you  count  their 
number,  many  if  you  consider  the  type.  His  name 
was  Avidely  known,  and  favorably  so.  When  he  had 
been  paying  five  times  over  the  price  of  his  daily 
bread,  by  travelling  to  Belgium,  to  Kouen,  and  Lon- 
don, and  collecting  there  some  Spanish  florins,  the 
event  seemed  to  show  that  he  had  been  but  opening 
the  door,  here  and  there  and  everywhere,  for  his  col- 
leges and  universities  in  the  future;  albeit,  if  they 
came,  adversaries  came  too,  in  proportion.  But 
clouds  and  storms  purify  the  air.  When  they  come 
again,  they  will  still  leave  the  air  the  clearer  for  their 
coming.  If  the  laws  of  human  conduct  are  consistent 
in  one  way,  they  are  consistent  in  another.  The  dis- 
turbance comes,  but  it  does  its  work  and  goes. 


THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   PARIS.     ROME.  39 

M.  Cretineau-Joly,  the  popular  French  historian  in 
our  own  times,  speaking  of  events  at  a  later  juncture 
in  the  life  of  Loyola,  makes  the  following  observa- 
tion: ''Loyola,"  he  says,  "could  apply  to  himself 
admirably  well  that  proverb  which  says,  ^When  a 
Spaniard  is  driving  a  nail  into  the  wall,  and  his  ham- 
mer breaks,  the  Spaniard  will  drive  the  nail  in  with 
his  head !  ^ "  Loyola  would  have  his  idea  go  through 
at  any  cost. 

We  shall  now  follow  him  to  Italy  and  Rome".  ^ 

In  the  year  1537,  Rome  was  not  quite  the  luxurious 
capital  which  had  fallen  under  the  sword  of  the  Con- 
stable of  Bourbon.  The  eternal  city,  whose  Papal 
Sovereigns  have  left  it  on  record  from  time  imme- 
morial, that  in  no  part  of  the  world  were  they  less 
recognized  as  lords  than  in  their  own  city,  had  under- 
gone a  purification,  which  differed,  not  substantially, 
but  only  in  its  consequences,  from  what  was  called 
for,  over  half  the  countries  of  Europe.  The  riches, 
the  luxury,  the  idleness,  which  elsewhere  resulted  in 
a  complete  change  of  religious  history  for  many  of 
the  northern  nations,  had  here  brought  about  a  catas- 
trophe which  sobered  minds.  And  no  longer  an 
exclusive  absorption  in  elaborate  sloth  prevented  a 
large  portion  of  the  influential  element  here  from 
doing  honor  to  the  Queen  of  European  civilization,  by 
doing  good  to  the  world. 

All  roads  still  led  to  Rome.  Thence  too  all  roads 
diverged.  It  was  still  true,  that  Avhatever  commanded 
this  centre  could  reach  out,  if  only  by  the  force  of 
prestige,  to  the  uttermost  limits  of  the  civilized 
domain.     Whatever  this  venerable  source  of  author- 


40  LOYOLA. 

ity  chartered  to  go  on  its  way,  in  strength  and  bene- 
diction, had  reason  to  behold,  in  the  privilege  so 
bestowed,  the  auspicious  opening  of  a  useful  career, 
intellectual  or  moral.  It  is  so  to-day,  though  not  in 
a  temporal  sense.  The  charter,  or  confirmation,  or 
bull,  which  conveys  the  recognition  of  the  Church's 
Head  to  a  project,  a  cause,  or  an  institute,  bestows 
thereupon  a  moral  power  which  naturally  transcends 
every  franchise  in  the  gift  of  the  most  powerful  gov- 
ernments. Compared  with  it,  they  are  local.  And, 
standing  no  comparison  with  it,  under  a  moral  aspect, 
they  do  not  pretend  to  such  a  power  as  touches  the 
inner  conscience  of  nations. 

When  therefore  Ignatius  turned  to  the  great 
Rome,  he  was  like  the  skilful  commander  whom  he 
describes  in  a  certain  place ;  he  was  possessing  him- 
self of  the  vantage-ground,  taking  the  citadel.  It 
would  be  more  correct  to  say,  as  all  history  avers, 
that  he  meant  to  defend  that  citadel,  the  See  of  Rome. 
He  had  waited  nearly  a  year  at  Venice,  to  carry  out 
his  project  of  voyaging  to  Jerusalem.  War  made  that 
impossible.  Now,  in  accordance  with  the  express  pro- 
viso in  their  vow,  he  and  his  companions  repaired  to 
Rome,  and  offered  their  services  to  the  spiritual  head 
of  Christendom. 

To  win  approbation  for  a  new  religious  institute  was 
no  easy  matter ;  then  less  than  ever.  The  recent 
occurrences  in  the  North  had  been  due  to  this,  among 
other  moral  causes,  that  the  later  history  of  certain 
religious  orders,  which  centuries  before  had  begun  one 
way,  latterly  had  taken  a  novel  and  fatal  turn.  Still, 
in  spite  of  criticism  and  hostility,  chiefly  in  the  high 


THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  PARIS.     ROME.  41 

places,  Ignatius  received  at  length  the  approving  word 
of  the  Pope  ;  and  his  Institute  was  chartered  with  a 
bull  of  confirmation.  Henceforth,  the  evolution  of 
events  belongs  to  general  history.  What  concerns  us, 
in  this  chartering  of  the  plan  and  Institute  of  Igna- 
tius Loyola,  is  the  new  character  it  gave  to  educa- 
tion, and  the  epoch  it  made  in  the  intellectual  history 
of  the  world.  To  explain  this  matter,  we  may  follow 
briefly  the  deliberations  which  the  Fathers  held,  and 
in  the  course  of  which,  among  other  conclusions,  they 
came  to  decide  upon  reestablishing  education. 

It  was  the  fourth  of  May,  1539,  a  year  and  a  half 
before  their  services  were  finally  accepted  by  the 
Pope.  Such  of  the  ten  members  as  were  then  in 
Kome  occupied  themselves,  after  the  labors  of  the 
day,  in  nightly  deliberations,  which  were  protracted 
during  three  months.  They  decreed,  among  other 
things,  that  they  should  teach  boys  and  uncultured 
persons  the  necessary  points  of  Christian  doctrine,  at 
least  once  a  year,  and  for  a  definite  time.  This  decree 
obviously  is  not  about  that  secondary  and  superior 
education  of  youth,  which  is  our  subjeot ;  neither  does 
it  concern  primary  education,  of  which  there  is  no- 
where question  in  the  Institute  of  the  Jesuits.  But, 
as  the  Constitution  subsequently  drawn  up  says, 
"  this  work  of  charity,  in  the  Divine  service,  is  more 
likely  to  be  consigned  to  oblivion,  and  to  pass  into 
disuse,  than  other  duties  more  specious  in  their  char- 
acter, as  preaching,"  etc.-^ 

Teaching  Christian  doctrine  pertains  to  the  duty  of 

1  Bollandists,  as  above,  nn.  313-4  ;  ibid.,  Suarez,  Nigronius,  and 
otbers. 


42  LOYOLA. 

those  who  have  the  ordinary  care  of  souls.  No 
duty  of  this  kind,  as  belonging  to  the  ordinary  sphere 
of  the  Church's  clergy,  would  Ignatius  assume  as 
characteristic  of  his  own  Institute,  except  this  one. 
He  was,  indeed,  more  than  ready  to  throw  in  his  con- 
tribution of  personal  zeal  and  charity,  for  the  further- 
ance of  all  kinds  of  benevolence  and  beneficence. 
Personally,  at  the  cost  of  untiring  activity,  he  sowed, 
as  Genelli  well  observes,  the  first  seeds  of  those  ame- 
liorations in  social  life,  and  of  those  humane  institu- 
tions, which  are  so  marked  a  feature  of  later  ages.^ 
He  was  an  original  benefactor  of  humanity  at  the 
turning-point  of  modern  history,  which  has  since 
become  an  era  of  social  organized  beneficence.  Urban 
VIII  solemnly  testifies,  that  Ignatius  organized  homes 
for  orphans,  for  catechumens,  for  unprovided  women ; 
that  the  poor  and  the  sick,  that  children  and  the  igno- 
rant and  prisoners,  were  all  objects  of  his  personal  solic- 
itude.^ These  works  of  zeal  and  charity  became,  in 
subsequent  years,  the  specific  reasons  of  existence  for 
various  other  communities,  which  rose  in  order  and  in 
number.  But  he  did  not  adopt  them  as  specific  in  his 
Institute ;  nor  did  he  assume  as  characteristic  anything 
within  the  province  of  the  ordinary  parochial  clergy, 
except  the  teaching  of  Christian  doctrine  to  boys  and 
uncultured  persons.  The  rest  he  attended  to,  while 
not  provided  for ;  ready  to  drop  them,  when  provision 
should  be  made  for  them. 

But  he  did  assume  five  works,  which  were  outside 
of  the  ordinary  lines  ;  and,  among  them,  is  the  subject 

1  Genelli,  Life  of  St.  Ignatius  Loyola,  part  ii,  ch.  13. 

2  Bulla  canouiz.  S.  Ign.  de  Loyola,  §  22. 


THE  UNIVERSITY   OF  PARIS.    ROME.  43 

of  our  study,  the  Education  of  Youth.^  As  the  selec- 
tion of  all  these  specialties  for  his  Institute  reveal 
the  commander's  eye  resting  on  a  field,  where  many 
issues  were  being  fought  out,  so,  in  particular,  his 
selection  of  education  as  a  specialty  betrayed  the 
same  masterly  thought,  in  the  institutions  he  pro- 
jected, in  the  scope  he  proposed,  and,  above  all,  in  the 
formation  of  his  teachers. 

There  had  been,  among  the  Fathers  deliberating,  a 
difference  of  opinion,  with  respect  to  Christian  doc- 
trine. Bobadilla  had  dissented  from  making  that 
work  the  subject  of  a  special  vow;  and  the  others 
deferred  to  him.  But  there  was  unanimity  with 
regard  to  every  other  topic  of  deliberation,  including 
this  one,  "  the  education  of  youth,  having  colleges  in 
uuiversities."  - 

As  defined  by  Jesuit  authors,  the  education  of  youth 
means  the  gratuitous  teaching  of  Letters  and  Science, 
from  almost  the  first  beginnings  of  Grammar  up  to 
the  culminating  science  of  Sacred  Theology,  and  that 
for  boys  and  students  of  every  kind,  in  schools  open 
to  all.^  Evidently  these  university  men,  who  were 
engaged  in  drawing  up  the  Institute,  considered  that, 
if  the  greatest  Professor's  talents  are  well  spent  in 
the  exposition  of  the  gravest  doctrines  in  Theology, 
Philosophy,  and  Science,  neither  he,  nor  any  one  else, 
is  too  great  to  be  a  schoolmaster,  a  tutor,  and  a  father, 
to  the  boy  passing  from  childhood  on  to  the  state  of 
manhood,  —  that  boyhood  which,  as  Clement  of  Alex- 

1  Bollandists,  nn.  313-4;  317. 
Bollandists,  July,  torn,  vii, 
N'gronius ;  Bollandists,  n.  317. 


44  LOYOLA. 

andria  says,  furnishes  the  very  milk  of  age,  and  from 
which  the  constitution  of  the  man  receives  its  temper 
and  complexion. 

It  is  requisite  here  to  observe,  that  there  was  no 
such  thing  in  existence,  as  State  Education.  Two  rea- 
sons may  briefly  be  mentioned  for  this,  one  of  them 
intrinsic  to  the  question,  the  other  an  historical  fact. 
The  intrinsic  and  essential  reason  was  the  sacred  char- 
acter of  education,  as  being  an  original  function,  be- 
longing to  the  primary  relations  of  parents  and  child. 
States,  or  organized  commonwealths,  come  only  in  the 
third  or  fourth  degree  of  human  society.  It  was 
much  later,  in  that  short  interval  between  the  extinc- 
tion of  the  Society  of  Jesus  and  the  outburst  of  the 
French  Revolution,  that  new  theories  came  to  be  pro- 
claimed, as  La  Chalotais  did  openly  proclaim  them, 
of  a  bald  and  blank  deism  in  social  life,  and  therefore 
of  secularizing  education.  Between  deism  and  secu- 
larization the  connection  was  reasonable.  For,  if  the 
rights  of  God  went  by  the  board,  there  was  no  rea- 
son why  the  rights  of  parents  and  children  should 
remain.  All  alike,  the  persons  and  ''souls  of  men,"  ^ 
fell  back  into  the  condition  in  which  Christianity  had 
found  them ;  they  became  chattels  of  the  state,  man- 
nikins  of  a  bureau  in  peace,  "food  for  powder'"  in  war. 

The  other  reason  was  an  historical  fact.  For  all  the 
purposes  of  charity,  mercy,  and  philanthropy,  there 
were  powers  in  existence,  as  part  of  the  normal  relig- 
ious life  of  general  Christian  society.  They  were  the 
same  powers  that  had  made  Christendom,  and  had 
carried  it  on  so  far  as  the  Christian  world,  the  same 
1  Apocalypse,  ch.  xviii,  13. 


THE  UNIVEKSITY   OF  PARIS.     ROME.  45 

to  which,  we  owe  the  civilization  of  to-day.  More 
than  that.  As  there  is  not  a  single  work  of  charity 
or  mercy,  say  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  which  may  not  be 
made  the  object  of  an  institution,  religious  men  or 
women  devoting  their  lives  as  a  service  to  G-od,  in  a 
special  service  towards  their  neighbors ;  so,  in  point 
of  fact,  there  were  very  few  such  objects  which  had 
not  originated  some  service  of  religious  self-consecra- 
tion in  their  behalf. 

Now,  as  operating  on  education  in  particular,  the 
powers  in  the  world  were,  as  they  had  been,  almost 
entirely  clerical  or  religious.  In  the  universities, 
there  were  clergymen  and  Eeligious.  All  the  great 
institutions  had  the  religious  cast  about  them.  The 
old  ones  have  it  still.  Traces  of  it  hang  about  Oxford 
and  Cambridge.  The  Church  founded  them  and  super- 
vised them.  Kings  protected  them.  And  the  highest 
outcome  of  their  schools  was  Divinity  in  its  widest 
sense ;  that  is  to  say,  the  triple  knowledge  of  God,  and 
of  man  as  signed  with  the  light  of  God's  countenance, 
and  of  nature  as  bearing  the  impress  of  God's  foot- 
step. As  it  was  in  the  universities,  so,  outside  too, 
all  pedagogic  influence  had  rested  with  religious  men. 

But  no  one  of  all  these  religious  powers  was  bound 
by  its  constitution  to  this  labor  of  education,  which 
Loyola  now,  formally  and  expressly,  assumed  as  part 
of  his  work.  It  is  at  this  stage  of  history,  that  edu- 
cation enters  into  the  fundamental  plan  of  a  Eeligious 
Order.  This  is  a  fact,  and  an  epoch,  of  prime  impor- 
tance in  Pedagogics. 

Por,  inasmuch  as  education  entered  thus  into  the 
plan  of  a  Eeligious  Order,  it  became  the  vocation  of  a 


46  LOYOLA. 

moral  body,  wMcli,  while  incorporated  like  other  bod- 
ies, did  not  confine  itself,  like  single  universities,  to 
limited  circumstances  of  place ;  it  was  a  body  diffu- 
sive. And  so  with  regard  to  conditions  of  time ; 
though  all  corporations  give  an  assurance  of  perpe- 
tuity, a  diffusive  body  like  this  does  more ;  it  multi- 
plies the  assurance,  in  proportion  to  its  own  diffusive- 
ness. 

And  again,  inasmuch  as  the  body  which  undertook 
the  work  of  education  was  a  religious  one,  bound  to 
poverty,  it  guaranteed  that  the  members  would  endow 
the  work,  at  their  own  cost,  with  that  which  is  the 
first,  the  essential,  and  most  expensive  endowment, 
among  all  others,  —  the  labors,  the  attainments,  and 
the  lives  of  competent  men,  all  gratuitously  given. 
This  endowment,  which  is  so  substantial,  is  besides 
so  far-reaching,  that  no  other  temporal  foundation 
would  be  needed,  were  it  not  that  the  necessaries  of 
life,  and  the  apparatus  for  their  work,  are  still  neces- 
sary to  living  men,  even  though  they  live  in  personal 
poverty. 

Thus  then  it  was  that  Ignatius  took  in  charge  the 
secondary  and  superior  education  of  the  Christian 
world,  as  far  as  his  services  should  be  called  for: 
he  threw  into  the  work  the  endow^nent  of  a  Eeligious 
Order.  This,  as  the  sequel  proved,  meant  the  whole 
revival  of  learning.  Lord  Bacon  bears  witness  to  it 
in  a  few  words,  when  he  says,  that  the  Jesuits  "partly 
in  themselves,  and  partly  by  the  emulation  and  provo- 
cation of  their  example,  have  much  quickened  and 
strengthened  the  state  of  learning."  ^  Father  Daniel 
1  Advancement  of  Learning,  book  i,  p.  176;  Phila.  edit. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PARIS.    ROME.  47 

gives  some  of  the  details  in  a  summary  way.  He 
says  :  "  The  exclusively  University  regime  of  the  late 
centuries  replaced,  for  a  notable  portion  of  students, 
by  a  scholastic  discipline  much  more  complete  ;  Scho- 
lastic Philosophy  and  Theology  renovated,  through  the 
care  applied  to  prevent  young  men  from  throwing 
themselves  too  early  into  the  disputes  of  the  schools ; 
in  fine.  Literature  and  Grammar  resuming  the  place 
they  had  lost  in  the  twelfth  century,  and,  over  and 
above  that,  enjoying  the  new  resources  created  for 
their  use  by  the  Kenaissance  ;  all  this  I  call  a  capital 
fact  in  the  history  of  the  human  mind,  and  even  in 
the  history  of  the  Church."  ^ 

After  the  time  of  Ignatius,  other  religious  congre- 
gations, fortified  with  their  own  special  means  for 
respective  departments  of  activity,  entered  upon  the 
same  general  field  of  work.  They  were  the  Orato- 
rians,  the  Barnabites,  the  Fathers  of  the  Pious  Schools, 
the  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools,  and  others 
whose  names  may  occur  in  the  course  of  this  essay. 
And,  for  the  education  of  women,  inferior  and  superior 
alike,  congregations  of  devoted  religious  women  came 
into  being,  and  opened  their  convents  to  supply  the 
best  and  highest  culture. 

Por  fear  that,  in  the  execution  of  this  plan,  and  in 
their  other  enterprises  of  devotion  and  zeal,  any 
secondary  intentions  or  results,  with  regard  to  power 
and  office,  might  mar  the  purity  of  the  work  and 
defeat  the  main  object,  the  same  men,  whose  future 
under  the  generalship  of  such  a  leader  was  about  to 

1  Pere  Charles  Daniel  S.  J.,  Des  l^tudes  Classiques  dans  la  Societe 
Chretieune,  cli.  8,  La  Concile  de  Trente;  1853. 


48  LOYOLA. 

open  as  one  of  transcendent  influence  in  the  civilized 
world,  bound  themselves  by  vow  never  to  accept 
any  dignity  or  office  in  the  Church.  Naturally  they 
should  keep  aloof  from  affairs  of  state.  In  fact,  it 
would  be  incompatible  with  their  own  purposes  of 
literary  and  scientific  competence,  to  leave  themselves 
at  the  mercy  of  other  men's  views,  and  be  drafted 
into  posts  outside  of  the  Institute,  and  be  placed  in 
an  impossible  situation  for  working  out  the  specific 
end  intended.  It  would  be  suicidal  too.  Just  when 
a  man  was  capable  of  continuing  his  kind,  he  would 
be  lost  to  the  body,  and  be  rendered  incapable  thereby 
of  propagating  his  own  type  of  eminence.  Besides, 
without  touching  upon  the  inner  reasons  of  the  spirit- 
ual life,  which  made  this  resignation  of  all  honors 
desirable,  it  is  a  fact  standing  out  in  clear  relief, 
as  history  sketches  the  marvellous  fecundity  of  an 
Order  requiring  such  a  high  level  of  attainments, 
that  many  of  the  choicest  souls  have  felt  specially 
attracted  to  a  kind  of  life,  which  at  one  and  the 
same  time  satisfied  their  ideas  of  Christian  perfec- 
tion, and  cut  them  off  from  all  the  paths  of  worldly 
glory. 

And  now,  to  mention  in  the  last  place  another 
point,  which  is  equally  important  for  understanding 
the  educational  history  of  the  Order,  and  to  the  gen- 
eral mind  is  equally  obscure  with  some  of  those  men- 
tioned already,  there  was  introduced  the  principle  of 
religious  obedience.  It  was  sanctioned  by  a  unani- 
mous vote.^  The  Fathers  had  concluded  the  first 
deliberation,  whether  they  should  form  a  society  at 
1  Bollandists,  auct.  J.  P.,  na.  293-7. 


THE   UNIVERSITY   OF  PARIS.     ROME.  49 

all ;  and  they  had  decided  in  the  affirmative  sense.^ 
Then  the  question  took  this  phase.  If  they  were  to 
found  a  closely-knitted  society,  they  could  do  so  only 
by  assuming  a  strict  bond.  That  was  none  other 
than  a  strict  obedience. 

On  this  head,  as  on  all  others  that  came  in  order, 
they  began  the  deliberation  by  reasoning,  one  day, 
in  an  adverse  sense,  all  having  prepared  their  minds 
to  emphasize  every  objection  which  they  could  find 
against  it.  The  day  following,  they  argued  in  a  posi- 
tive sense.  The  motives  in  favor  of  strict  obedience 
won  their  unanimous  assent.  They  were  such  as 
these :  — 

If  this  congregation  undertook  the  charge  of  affairs, 
and  the  members  were  not  under  orders,  no  one  could 
be  held  responsible  for  an  exact  administration  of  the 
charge.  If  the  body  were  not  bound  together  by 
obedience,  it  could  not  long  persevere;  yet  this  was 
their  first  intention,  to  remain  associated  in  a  per- 
manent body.  Whence  they  concluded  that  scattered 
as  they  would  be,  and  already  had  been,  in  assiduous 
and  diverse  labors,  they  must  be  united  by  a  strict 
principle  of  subordination,  if  they  were  to  remain 
such  a  body.  Another  argued  thus  :  Obedience  begets 
heroism  of  virtue ;  since  the  truly  obedient  man  is 
most  prompt  to  execute  whatever  duty  is  assigned 
him  by  one,  whom,  as  by  a  religious  act,  he  regards 
as  being  in  the  place  of  God,  and  signifying  to  him 
God's  will :  wherefore  obedience  and  heroism  go  to- 
gether. 

This  reasoning  seems  to  be  enforced  by  the  history 
1  Bollandists,  n.  292. 


60  LOYOLA. 

of  all  great  nations,  in  the  crises  of  their  military  and 
other  public  affairs.  But,  as  is  clear,  the  principles 
of  religious  obedience  are  of  a  different  order ;  they 
are  on  a  higher  plane ;  and  they  reach  much  farther  in 
time  and  eternity,  than  those  of  obedience  elsewhere. 
Here  then  we  discern,  sufficiently  for  present  pur- 
poses, the  meaning  and  historical  location  of  this 
Institute.  The  members  have  cut  themselves  off 
from  the  possession  of  all  private  property,  by  the 
voluntary  engagement  to  poverty,  and  thereby  they 
have  prepared  the  endowment,  on  which  education 
will  chiefly  rest,  —  that  is  to  say,  the  endowment  con- 
sisting of  the  men  to  teach,  and  their  services  tendered 
gratis.  Position  and  dignity  are  alike  rendered  inac- 
cessible by  an  express  vow  of  the  members  professed. 
Obedience  keeps  the  organization  mobile  as  a  company 
of  trained  soldiers.  And,  if  any  observant  mind,  well 
acquainted  with  the  course  of  human  affairs,  detects 
in  these  principles  some  reasons  for  success,  normal, 
habitual,  and  regular,  in  the  face  of  unnumbered  obsta- 
cles, and  of  unremitting  hostility,  his  view  will  be  sin- 
gularly corroborated  when  he  rises  to  a  plane  higher, 
and  regards  the  same  principles  as  "  religious,'^  carry- 
ing with  them  the  sanction  of  divine  worship ;  which 
I  should  be  loath  to  call  "enthusiasm,"  much  less 
"  fanaticism."  These  sentiments  are  never  very  pru- 
dent, nor  enlightened,  nor  cool ;  they  are  either  very 
natural  or  are  short-lived.  A  mild  fever  of  fanaticism 
can  scarcely  produce  high  results ;  and  a  high  fever 
of  the  same  can  scarcely  last  three  hundred  and 
fifty  years,  with  perpetuity  still  threatening.  But  I 
would  call  this  phenomenon,  in  its  origin,  religious 


THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  PARIS.    ROME.  51 

devotion;  in  its  consequences,  a  supernatural  effi- 
ciency ;  and,  taking  it  all  in  all,  that  whicli  is  called 
a  grace  of  vocation. 

On  the  27th  day  of  September,  1540,  the  Society  of 
Jesus  received  from  the  See  of  Eome  its  bull  of  con- 
firmation, by  which  it  became  a  chartered  body  of  the 
Church.  While  these  pages  were  being  penned,  the 
27th  day  of  September  came  by,  1890.  It  Avas  the  an- 
niversary of  that  foundation,  three  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

COLLEGES  AS  PROPOSED  IN  THE  JESUIT  CONSTITUTION. 

The  written  rule  about  the  system  of  education  is 
found  in  a  double  stage  of  development.  The  first  is 
that  in  which  Loyola  left  it :  it  gives  us  the  outline. 
The  second  is  that  in  which  Aquaviva  completed  it : 
this  presents  us  with  the  finished  picture.  Likewise 
in  the  historical  course  of  administration  out  in  the 
world,  the  development  is  twofold.  It  runs  its  first 
course  from  Loyola  to  Aquaviva,  while  experience 
was  still  tentative.  Its  second  course  was  subsequent 
to  Aquaviva,  when  experience,  having  gathered  in  its 
results,  had  only  to  apply  the  approved  form.  This 
was  subject  thenceforth  to  none  but  incidental 
changes,  as  times  and  places  change.  And,  for  these 
contingencies,  the  application  remained  expressly  and 
always  pliable. 

Hence,  whatever  was  embodied  in  the  Ratio  Studi- 
orum,  as  completed,  had  been  the  result  of  the  most 
varied  experience  before  legislating,  an  experience 
in  the  life  of  the  Order  extending  over  fifty-nine 
years.  Whatever  this  universal  experience  had  not 
yielded  as  a  positive  result,  or  as  applicable  to  all 
places,  was  not  embodied.  Teachers  are  different; 
national  customs  vary ;  vernacular  tongues  are  not 
the  same.  With  regard  to  these  mutable  elements, 
52 


JESUIT  COLLEGES.  53 

the  maxim  of  the  Order  in  studies,  in  teaching,  in 
conducting  colleges,  was  the  same  as  that  which  it 
proposed  to  itself  in  the  various  other  functions  of 
practical  life.  An  exponent  of  the  Institute  states 
the  maxim  thus :  "  One  should  have  a  most  exact 
knowledge  of  the  country,  nation,  city,  manner  of 
government,  manners  of  the  people,  states  of  life, 
inclinations,  etc. ;  and  this  from  histories,  from  inter- 
course, etc."  ^  General  indications  alone  are  given 
with  regard  to  these  variable  factors.  The  same  is 
done  with  respect  to  new  sciences,  which  from  the 
time  of  the  Eenaissauce  were  felt  to  be  approaching 
and  developing.  Subsequent  legislation  arises  to 
meet  them  as  they  come. 

While  the  Fathers  were  carrying  on  the  same  delib- 
erations to  which  I  referred  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
a  resolution  was  taken  to  leave  the  drafting  of  a  Con- 
stitution in  the  hands  of  those  who  should  remain  in 
Italy.  Circumscribing  the  task  still  more,  they  de- 
cided to  appoint  a  committee  of  two,  who  should 
address  themselves  to  this  work,  and  report  to  the 
rest.  The  general  assembly  when  convened  would 
issue  the  final  decree.  Whatever  that  should  be,  such 
of  those  present  as  might  then  be  absent  hereby 
endorsed  it  beforehand. 

Their  small  number  of  ten  was  already  reduced  to 
six  members  present,  the  other  four  being  scattered  in 
divers  countries.  They  designated  as  a  commission 
Fathers  Ignatius  and  John  Coduri.  Soon  afterwards 
Coduri  died,  and  the  rest  were  distributed  through 
the  countries  of  Europe,  Africa,  and  the  far  East. 
1  Gagliardi. 


64  LOYOLA. 

During  the  following  years,  Laynez,  who  was  for 
some  time  Provincial  of  Italy,  remained  more  regu- 
larly than  the  rest  within  the  reach  of  Ignatius. 
For  this  reason,  therefore,  besides  several  others,  we 
may  understand  why  Ignatius  paid  such  a  high  tribute 
to  this  eminent  man,  when  he  said,  as  Eibadeneira 
tells  us,  that  "  to  no  one  of  the  first  Fathers  did  the 
Society  owe  more  than  to  Laynez.'^  Whereupon  the 
historian  Sacchini  observes  :  "  This,  I  believe,  he  said 
of  Laynez,  not  only  on  account  of  the  other  eminent 
merits  of  so  great  a  man,  and,  in  particular,  for  devis- 
ing or  arranging  the  system  of  Colleges ;  but  most 
especially  because  the  foundations,  on  which  this 
Order  largely  rests,  were  new,  and  therefore  likely  to 
excite  astonishment ;  and  Laynez,  having  at*command 
the  resources  of  a  vast  erudition,  was  the  person  to 
confirm  and  commend  them  to  public  opinion.  And 
that  this  praise  was  deserved  by  Laynez  will  appear 
less  dubious  to  any  one  who  considers  that  other 
period  also,  during  which  he  was  himself  General; 
if  one  reckons  how  many  points,  as  yet  unshaped  and 
inceptive,  in  the  management  of  the  Society,  were 
reduced  to  form  and  perfected  by  Laynez ;  how  widely 
it  was  propagated  and  defended  by  him."  ^ 

But  to  return  to  Ignatius.  After  ten  years  of  gov- 
ernment, he  gathered  together  in  Rome  such  of  the 
first  Fathers  as  could  be  had,  besides  representatives 
from  all  the  Provinces.  Forty -seven  members  were 
present.  He  submitted  to  them,  in  general  assembly, 
the  Constitution  as  now  drawn  up,  and  as  acted  upon 
in  practical  life,  during  those  ten  years.  The  Jesuits 
1  Hist.  S.  J.,  2da  pars,  Lainius ;  ad  aunum  1564,  n.  220,  p.  340. 


JESUIT   COLLEGES.  55 

present  did  not  exhaust  the  number  of  those  whose 
express  opinions  were  desired.  That  not  a  single  one 
of  the  principal  Fathers  might  be  omitted  in  the  de- 
liberation, he  sent  copies  of  the  proposed  code  of  laws 
to  such  as  were  absent.  With  the  suggestions  and 
approbations  received  from  all  these  representative 
men  he  was  not  yet  content.  Two  more  years  had 
elapsed  when,  having  embodied  the  practical  results  of 
an  ever-widening  experience,  Jie  undertook  to  promul- 
gate the  Constitution,  by  virtue  of  the  authority 
vested  in  him  for  that  purpose.  But  he  only  promul- 
gated the  rule ;  he  did  not  yet  exercise  his  authority 
to  the  full,  and  impose  it  as  binding.  He  desired  that 
daily  use  might  bring  out  still  farther,  how  it  felt 
under  the  test  of  being  tried,  amid  so  many  races  and 
nations.  Thus  1553  came  and  went ;  and  he  waited, 
until  the  whole  matter  should  be  revised  and  approved 
once  more  by  the  entire  Society  in  conclave.  His 
death  intervened  in  1556. 

Two  years  later,  representatives  from  the  twelve 
provinces  of  the  Order  met  together,  and  elected 
James  Laynez  as  successor  to  Father  Ignatius.  Ex- 
amining once  more  this  Constitution  in  all  its  parts, 
receiving  the  whole  of  it  just  as  it  stood  with  absolute 
unanimity,  and  with  a  degree  of  veneration,  they 
exercised  the  supreme  authority  of  the  Order,  and 
confirmed  this  as  the  written  Constitution  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus.  By  this  act  nothing  was  wanting 
to  it,  even  from  the  side  of  Papal  authority.  Yet,  that 
every  plenitude  of  solemnity  might  be  added  to  it,  they 
presented  it  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  Paul  IV,  who 
committed   the   code   to  four   Cardinals  for  accurate 


56  LOYOLA. 

revision.  The  commission  returned  it,  without  having 
altered  a  word.  From  that  time,  whatever  general 
legislation  has  been  added,  has  entered  into  the  corpus 
juris,  or  "  Institute ''  at  large,  as  supplementing  or 
explaining  the  "Constitution,"  which  remains  the 
fundamental  instrument  of  the  Institute. 

In  the  Constitution  there  are  ten  parts.  The  fourth 
is  on  studies.  In  length,  this  fourth  part  alone  fills 
up  some  twenty-eight  out  of  one  hundred  and  eleven 
quarto  pages  in  all,  as  it  stands  printed  in  the  latest 
Homan  edition.  The  legislation  about  studies  is  thus 
seen  to  be  one-fourth  of  the  whole.  It  has  seventeen 
chapters.  In  one  of  them,  on  the  Method  and  Order 
to  be  observed  in  treating  the  Sciences,  the  founder 
observes  that  a  number  of  points  "  will  be  treated  of 
separately,  in  some  document  approved  by  the  Gen- 
eral Superior."  This  is  the  express  warrant,  con- 
tained in  the  Constitution,  for  the  future  Ratio  Studio- 
rum,  or  System  of  Studies  in  the  Society  of  Jesus. 
In  the  meantime,  he  legislates  in  a  more  general  way. 
And  he  begins  with  a  subject  pre-eminently  dear  to 
him,  the  duty  of  gratitude.  Since  corporations  are 
notoriously  forgetful,  and  therefore  ungrateful,  he 
lays  down  in  the  first  place  the  permanent  duty  of  the 
Order  towards  benefactors :  then  he  continues  with 
other  topics.     They  stand  thus  :  — 

The  Pounders  of  Colleges ;  and  Benefactors.  The 
Temporalities  of  Colleges.  The  Students  or  Scholas- 
tics, belonging  to  the  Society.  The  Care  to  be  taken 
of  them,  during  the  time  of  their  Studies.  The  Learn- 
ing they  are  to  acquire.  The  Assistance  to  be  ren- 
dered them  in  various  ways,  to  ensure  their  success  in 


JESUIT   COLLEGES.  57 

studies.  The  Schools  attached  to  the  Colleges  of  the 
Society,  i.e.  for  external  Students  not  belonging  to  the 
Order.  The  Advancement  of  Scholastics,  belonging  to 
the  Order,  in  the  Various  Arts  which  can  make  them 
useful  to  their  Neighbor.  The  Withdrawal  of  them 
from  Studies.  The  G-overnment  of  Colleges.  On  Ad- 
mitting the  Control  of  Universities  into  the  Society. 
The  Sciences  to  be  taught  in  Universities  of  the 
Society.  The  Method  and  Order  to  be  observed  in 
treating  the  foregoing  Sciences.  The  Books  to  be 
selected  as  Standards.  Courses  and  Degrees.  What 
concerns  Good  Morals.  The  Officials  and  Assistants  in 
Universities. 

Keserving  the  pedagogic  explanation  for  the  next 
part  of  this  essay,  I  shall  here  sketch  some  of  the 
more  general  ideas  running  through  the  whole  legisla- 
tion of  Ignatius  of  Loyola;  and,  first,  in  the  present 
chapter,  I  shall  begin  with  his  idea  of  Colleges. 

Choosing  personal  poverty  as  the  basis  on  which  to 
rest  this  vast  enterprise  of  education,  he  did  not  there- 
fore mean  to  carry  on  expensive  works  of  zeal,  without 
the  means  of  meeting  the  expense.  Obviously,  it  is 
one  thing  not  to  have  means,  as  a  personal  property, 
and  therefore  not  to  consume  them  on  self ;  it  is  quite 
another,  to  have  them  and  to  use  them  for  the  good  of 
others.  The  most  self-denying  men  can  use  funds  for 
the  benefit  of  others  ;  and  can  do  so  the  better,  the  more 
they  deny  themselves.  It  was  in  this  sense  that,  later 
on  in  the  century.  Cardinal  Allen  recognized  the  labors 
and  needs  of  the  English  Jesuit,  Kobert  Parsons,  who 
was  the  superior  and  companion  of  Edmund  Campian, 
the  former  a  leading  star  of  Oxford,  the  latter,  also  an 


58  LOYOLA. 

Oxford  man,  and,  as  Lord  Burghley  called  him,  "a 
diamond  "  of  England.  Since  Queen  Elizabeth  was  not 
benign  enough  to  lend  the  Jesuits  a  little  building- 
room  on  English  soil,  but  preferred  to  lend  them  a 
halter  at  Tyburn,  Parsons  was  engaged  in  founding 
English  houses  of  higher  studies  in  France  and  Spain, 
at  Valladolid,  Seville,  Lisbon,  Eu,  and  St.  Omer. 
Cardinal  Allen  sent  a  contribution  to  the  constructive 
Jesuit,  writing,  as  he  did  so  :  "  Apostolic  men  should 
not  only  despise  money ;  they  should  also  have  it." 
And  just  in  this  sense  was  Ignatius  himself  a  philoso- 
pher of  no  Utopian  school.  So  we  may  examine,  with 
profit,  the  material  and  temporal  conditions  required 
in  his  Institute,  for  the  establishment  of  public 
schools  and  universities.  I  shall  endeavor  to  put 
these  principles  together  and  in  order.^ 

First,  there  should  be  a  location  provided  with 
buildings  and  revenues,  not  merely  sufficient  for  the 
present,  but  having  reference  to  needful  development. 

Secondly,  these  material  conditions  include  a  refer- 
ence to  the  maintenance  of  the  faculty.  The  means 
must  be  provided  to  meet  the  daily  necessities  of  the 
actual  Professors,  with  adequate  assistance  of  lay 
brothers  belonging  to  the  Order ;  also  to  support  sev- 
eral substitute  Professors ;  besides,  to  carry  on  the 
formation  of  men,  who  will  take  the  places  of  the 
present  Professors,  and  so  maintain  the  faculty  as 
perpetual ;  moreover,  to  "  provide  for  some  more 
Scholastic  Students  of  the  Order,  seeing  that  there  are 
so  many  occupied  in  the  service  and  promotion  of  the 

1  Chiefly  from  P.  Eurico  Vasco,  S.  J.,  II  Ratio  Studiorum  Addat- 
tato  ecc,  vol.  i,  cap.  vii,  u.  33 ;  a  private  memoir,  1851. 


JESUIT  COLLEGES.  69 

common  weal,"  These  conditions  also  include  "  a 
church  for  conducting  spiritual  ministrations  in  the 
service  of  others."  ^ 

Carrying  out  this  idea,  Laynez,  in  1564,  promulgated 
a  rule  or  ''  Form  regarding  the  acceptance  of  Col- 
leges." He  laid  down  the  conditions,  on  which  alone 
the  Society  would  take  in  charge  either  a  Latin 
School,  requiring  a  foundation  for  twenty  Jesuits  ;  or 
a  Lyceum,  with  fifty  persons ;  or  a  University,  with 
seventy.^  Twenty-four  years  later,  Father  Aquaviva 
drew  up  a  more  complete  and  a  final  "  Form,"  distrib- 
uting colleges  into  the  three  classes,  the  lowest,  the 
medium,  and  the  highest.  The  lowest  must  have 
provision  made  for  professing  in  the  departments  of 
Grammar,  Humanities,  Ehetoric,  Languages,  and  a 
course  of  Moral  Theology ;  —  fifty  Jesuits  to  be 
supported.  The  medium  class  of  colleges  consists  of 
those  whose  founders  desire,  in  addition  to  all  the 
foregoing  departments,  a  triennial  course  of  Philos- 
ophy, which  begins  each  year  anew ;  eighty  persons 
to  be  supported.  The  highest  class  is  that  of  the 
Studium  Generale,  or  University,  in  which,  besides  the 
above,  there  are  professed  Scholastic  Theology,  Sacred 
Scripture,  Hebrew ;  one  hundred  and  twenty  persons 
to  be  provided  for.  However,  the  countries  of  the 
Indies,  as  well  as  the  northern  countries  of  Europe, 
were  not,  for  the  present,  brought  under  this  ordi- 
nance.^ 

1  Monuraenta  Germanise  Psedagogica,  ii,  p.  71 ;  Ratio  Studiorum, 
etc.,  by  G.  M.  Pachtler,  S.  J. ;  Berlin,  1887. 

2  Ibid.  Pachtler,  p.  334  seq. 

3  Ibid.  Pachtler,  p.  337  seq. 


60  •  LOYOLA. 

Thirdly,  the  locality  is  to  be  such  that,  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  events,  there  should  be  no  prospective  like- 
lihood of  a  deficiency  in  the  concourse  of  students,  and 
those  of  the  right  kind.  As,  on  the  side  of  the  Jesuit 
Province,  its  educational  forces  are  kept  at  least  equal 
to  the  posts  which  it  has  undertaken  to  fill,  so,  on  the 
side  of  the  population,  the  prospect  should  correspond 
to  this  undertaking,  and  give  assurance  of  filling  the 
courses.  Hence  it  was  only  in  larger  cities  or  towns 
that  Ignatius  contemplated  the  foundation  of  colleges  ; 
as  the  distich  has  it,  contrasting  the  different  fields  of 
activity  chosen  by  different  orders  in  the  Church :  — 

Bernardus  valles,  montes  Benedictus  amabat, 
Oppida  Franciscus,  magnas  Ignatius  urbes. 

That  is  to  say,  "  The  monks  of  Clairvaux  loved  their 
valleys ;  the  Benedictines  their  mountain-tops ;  the 
Franciscans  the  rural  towns  ;  Ignatius  the  great  cities." 
This  was  the  more  obviously  his  idea,  as  we  find 
him  reluctantly  granting  permission  for  ministerial 
excursions  through  a  country,  if  thereby  the  Fathers' 
influence  in  a  great  city  be  likely  to  suffer.  He 
writes  to  Father  Kessel,  the  Eector  at  Cologne,  where 
as  yet  the  Society  had  no  college  of  its  own,  that 
''under  the  circumstances  he  approves  of  Kessel's 
making  a  short  excursion  through  the  province,  pro- 
vided he  and  his  companions  are  not  long  absent 
from  the  city,  and  do  not  sacrifice  the  main  thing  to 
what  is  accessory;  but  he  does  not  give  them  per- 
mission to  fix  their  abode  out  of  the  town,  because 
places  of  less  importance  afford  fewer  occasions  of 
gathering  the  desired  fruit :  and,  besides,  they  must 


JESUIT   COLLEGES.  61 

not  leave  so  famous  a  university ;  their  exertions  will 
be  more  useful  for  the  good  of  religion,  in  forming 
scholars  to  become  priests  and  officers  of  the  State, 
than  all  the  pains  they  may  bestow  on  the  small 
towns  and  villages."  ^  Again,  when  in  1547  he  had 
accepted  the  donation  of  a  church,  buildings,  and 
gardens  at  Tivoli  from  Louis  Mendosa,  he  found  the 
place  not  suited  to  the  convenience  of  scholars ;  it 
was  too  near  Eome,  and  yet  too  far;  subsequently, 
the  institution  had  to  be  transferred  within  the  city."  ^ 

Fourthly,  in  addition  to  these  material  and  local 
conditions  for  the  normal  conduct  of  colleges,  it  is 
supposed  that  the  external  relations  of  political  soci- 
ety are  so  far  favorable,  as  at  least  to  tolerate  freedom 
of  action  on  the  part  of  this  educational  Institute. 
Such  toleration  was,  as  a  general  rule,  not  only  the 
least  that  could  be  asked  for,  but  the  most  that  was 
enjoyed. 

These  are  the  chief  conditions,  material  and  tem- 
poral, which  Ignatius  requires.  They  give  him  a 
footing  to  commence  his  work,  and  allow  the  animat- 
ing principles  of  his  Institute  to  come  into  play.  The 
animating  principles,  to  which  I  refer,  may  be  reduced 
to  three  brief  heads  :  First,  an  intellectual  and  moral 
scope,  clearly  defined,  as  I  shall  explain  in  the  follow- 
ing chapters.  Secondly,  the  distinct  intention  to  pro- 
mote rather  the  interests  of  public  and  universal  order 
and  enlightenment,  than  a  mere  local  good  of  any  city, 
country,  province.  Thirdly,  a  tendency  in  the  intel- 
lectual institution  itself  to  become  rather  a  great  one 

1  Genelli,  part  ii,  ch.  8. 

2  Jovivaucy,  Epitome  Hist.  S.  J.,  Anno  Christi,  15i7. 


62  LOYOLA. 

than  a  small  one,  witli  more  degrees  of  instruction, 
more  and  more  eminent  Professors,  a  greater  number 
of  the  right  kind  of  scholars.^ 

As  to  the  forces  available  for  all  this,  and  the  pro- 
portion of  colleges  to  be  manned  in  perpetuity,  the 
mind  of  Ignatius  was  most  express,  and  became  more 
fixed  from  day  to  day.  "  Cut  your  cloak  according  to 
your  cloth,"  he  said  to  Oliver  Manare,  when  the  lat- 
ter, on  going  to  establish  a  college  at  Loretto,  asked 
how  he  should  distribute  his  men.  Ignatius  preferred 
to  refuse  Princes  and  Bishops  their  requests,  excusing 
himself  on  the  score  of  limited  resources,  than  com- 
promise the  reputation  of  the  Society,  by  an  ill-ad- 
vised assent.^  And  he  said,  as  Polanco  his  secretary 
tells  us,  that  "if  anything  ought  to  make  him  wish 
to  live  a  longer  time,  it  was  that  he  might  be  severe 
in  admitting  men  into  the  Order."  ^  He  did  not  want 
to  have  many  members  in  the  Society ;  still  less,  too 
many  engagements. 

Having  stated  thus  briefly  the  material  conditions 
required  by  Ignatius,  and  the  animating  principles 
or  motives  which  determined  him,  we  are  in  a  posi- 
tion to  discern  more  distinctly  the  central  object 
of  his  attention,  that  for  which  the  material  conditions 
were  provided,  that  by  which  the  ultimate  objects 
were  to  be  attained.  It  was  the  teaching  body,  the 
faculty,  the  "  College,"  properly  so  called.  The 
"  College  "  was  the  body  of  educators  who  were  sent 
to  a  place.     Por  them  the  material  conditions  did  but 

1  Vasco,  vol.  i,  cap.  vii,  n.  33  seq. 

2  Orlandini ;  Bollandists,  n.  843. 

3  Bollandists,  n.  839. 


JESUIT   COLLEGES.  63 

supply  a  local  habitation,  subsistence,  books,  appa- 
ratus. The  very  first  decree  quoted  by  Pachtler,  from 
the  first  general  assembly,  uses  the  term  "College" 
in  this  sense :  "  No  college  is  to  be  sent  to  any  place," 
etc.i 

It  is  only  by  derivation  from  this  meaning  that  the 
term  is  applied  to  the  buildings  and  appointments. 
It  is  the  body  of  men  that  makes  the  institution.  It 
is  this  also  which  makes  the  institution  perpetual ; 
and  therefore  must  itself  be  so ;  and  must  have  the 
material  conditions  provided  for  continuing  itself,  by 
means  of  a  constant  stream  of  younger  men  under 
formation,  who  will  perpetuate  the  same  work. 

Now  it  would  be  an  ideal  conception  of  practical 
life  to  be  looking  for  virtuous  and  erudite  men,  viri 
honi  simul  et  eruditi,  as  Ignatius  calls  them,  ever 
pouring  into  the  Order,  straight  from  the  chairs  of 
universities,  from  benefices,  and  XDOsts  of  leisured 
ease ;  and,  armed  already  with  the  full  equipment  of 
intellectual  and  moral  endowments,  presenting  them- 
selves  and  their  services  thenceforth,  under  the  title 
of  absolute  poverty,  to  cities,  provinces,  and  countries, 
which  never  had  anything  to  do  with  their  formation. 
"These  men,"  says  Ignatius,  "are  found  to  be  few  in 
number,  and  of  these  few  the  majority  would  prefer  to 
rest,  after  so  many  labors  already  undergone.  We 
apprehend  that  it  will  be  difficult  for  this  Society  to 
grow,  on  the  mere  strength  of  those  who  are  already 
both  good  and  accomplished,  boni  simul  ac  literati;  and 
this  for  two  reasons,  the  great  labors  which  this  maus 
ner  of  life  imposes,  and  the  great  self-abnegation 
1  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  ii,  p.  72. 


64  LOYOLA. 

needed.  Therefore,  .  .  .  another  way  has  seemed 
good  to  adopt,  that  of  admitting  young  men,  who,  by 
their  good  lives  and  their,  talents  afford  us  ground  to 
hope  that  they  will  grow  up  into  virtuous  and  learned 
men,  in  probos  simul  ac  doctos  vivos;  of  admitting  also 
colleges,  on  those  conditions  which  are  expressed  in 
the  Apostolic  briefs,  whether  these  colleges  be  within 
universities,  or  independent:  and,  if  within  univer- 
sities, whether  these  institutions  themselves  are  com- 
mitted to  the  care  of  the  Society,  or  not.  .  .  .  Where- 
fore, we  shall  lirst  speak  of  the  colleges ;  then  of  the 
universities,"  etc.^ 

There  were  never  wanting  men  of  the  former  kind, 
already  accomplished  and  of  tried  virtue,  who  offered 
themselves  for  this  service  of  a  lifetime.  A  note- 
worthy testimony  to  their  numbers  may  be  found  in  a 
dispute  with  Philip  II  of  Spain,  who  objected  to  any 
moneys  leaving  the  Jesuit  Provinces  of  his  realm,  for 
the  service  and  maintenance  of  the  great  central  col- 
lege in  Eome ;  and  this,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
Spanish  members  were  being  maintained  and  formed 
there.  The  general  assembly,  gathered  in  Eome, 
1565,  discussed  the  difficulty ;  and  one  of  the  circum- 
stances mentioned  was  this :  "  The  Provinces  of  Spain 
did  not  need  the  assistance  of  the  Roman  College  as 
much  as  others;  since  many  entered  the  Society, 
already  mature  in  age  and  accomplished  in  learning, 
so  that  they  could  be  employed  at  once  in  public  posi- 
tions ;  nor  had  they  to  be  taught,  but  they  were  able 
to  teach  others.  ...  It  was  finally  recommended 
that,  to  lessen  the  burden  of  expense  on  the  Roman 
^  Constitutiones  S,  J.,  pars  iv,  declarationes  in  prooemiurn. 


JESUIT   COLLEGES.  65 

College,  and  in  order  that  fewer  scholastics  need  be 
called  to  Eonie,  each  Province,  as  soon  as  convenient, 
should  organize  a  general  university;  especially  as 
there  was  already  a  sufficiency  of  students  (members 
of  the  Order)  and,  besides,  of  Professors."  ^  This  was 
only  twenty-six  years  after  the  foundation  of  the 
Society. 

But,  even  with  all  the  advantages  accruing  from 
these  large  contingents  of  learned  men  already  formed, 
the  idea  of  Ignatius,  to  train  young  men  within  the 
Order,  was  more  practical  for  the  formation  of  facul- 
ties ;  and  it  carried  the  general  efficiency  much  further. 
Powerful  and  effective  as  the  most  pronounced  person- 
alties may  be,  when  each  striking  character  goes  for- 
ward into  the  open  field  of  battle  and  leads  the  way, 
they  are  not  more  powerful  than  when  also  qualified 
to  move  in  the  steady  and  regular  march  of  the 
trained  forces.  Father  Montmorency,  referring  to 
the  strength  which  comes  of  uniformity,  sociability, 
and  harmony,  said.  Homo  unus,  homo  nullus,  "A  man 
alone  is  as  good  as  no  man  at  all." 

Ignatius  then,  having  perpetuity  and  development 
in  view,  and  therefore  the  steady  and  trained  devel- 
opment of  talented  and  virtuous  young  men,  would 
not  accept  foundations,  except  on  the  basis  of  endow- 
ment, just  described.  He  had  not  learned  in  vain  the 
lessons  of  Barcelona,  Alcala,  Salamanca,  and  Paris. 
How  wisely  he  acted  is  shown  by  the  troubles,  which 
later  legislation  reveals,  upon  this  very  point  of  in- 
adequately endowed  colleges.  The  questions  of  ill- 
endowed  colleges,  small  colleges,  too  many  colleges 
1  Sacchini,  pars  iii,  lib.  i,  nn.  36-42. 


66  LOYOLA. 

for  the  forces  of  a  Province,  are  all  excellently  dis- 
cussed and  settled  in  the  general  assembly,  which,  in 
1565,  elected  Francis  Borgia  to  succeed  Laynez.  And 
''on  the  same  day,"  says  Sacchini,  "the  Fathers  set 
the  example  of  observing  the  decree  which  they  had 
just  made,  with  the  same  degree  of  severity  with 
which  they  had  made  it;  for,  the  letters  of  several 
Bishops  and  municipalities  being  read,  in  which  foun- 
dations for  five  colleges  were  offered,  they  decided 
that  no  one  of  them  should  be  admitted ;  and,  besides, 
they  gave  the  new  General  full  authority  to  dissolve 
certain  colleges  already  existing."  ^  In  a  similar  vein, 
this  was  the  theme  of  an  elegant  apology  delivered 
before  King  Stephen  by  Father  Campano,  Provincial 
of  Poland,  who  requested  the  King  to  desist  from 
urging  on  the  Society  the  multiplication  of  its  insti- 
tutions.^ 

A  tuition-fee  paid  by  the  scholar  to  the  Professor, 
or  to  the  institution,  was  nowhere  contemplated.  At 
Dijon,  where  Bossuet  was  afterwards  a  pupil,  the 
magistrates  when  offering  a  college,  in  1603,  desired 
to  supplement  an  inadequate  endowment,  by  requiring 
a  fee  from  the  students.  In  the  name  of  the  Order, 
Father  Coton,  the  King's  confessor,  remonstrated;  and 
Henri  IV  himself  wrote  to  the  Parliament  of  Bour- 
gogne,  desiring  another  arrangement  to  be  made  ;  which 
was  accordingly  done.^  The  foundation  was  always 
to  be  received  as  a  gratuitous  donation,  for  which  the 

1  Sacchini,  pars  iii,  Borgia;  lib.  i,  nn.  36  seq. 

2  Sacchiui,  pars  v,  Claudius  Aquaviva,  torn,  prior ;  lib.  iv,  n.  81. 

3  Recherches  sur  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus  en  France  au  temps  du 
Pere  Coton,  par  le  P.  Prat,  torn,  ii,  p.  296. 


JESUIT  COLLEGES.  67 

Order  owed  permanent  gratitude.  In  turn,  thence- 
forward, it  gave  gratuitously,  and  allowed  of  no 
recompense.  ^'Xo  obligations  or  conditions  are  to  be 
admitted  that  would  impair  the  integrity  of  our  prin- 
ciple, which  is :  To  give  gratuitously,  what  we  have 
received  gratis."  ^ 

Thus  then  the  faculty,  a  competent  and  a  perma- 
nent one,  is  installed.  It  is  not  one  conspicuous  for 
leisured  ease.  Professors  and  Scholastics  alike  are 
working  for  a  purpose.  They  are  a  '^  college,"  in  the 
sense  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  Yet,  if  there  is  not 
leisured  ease,  but  a  life  of  work  and  self-denial,  the 
system  has  been  found  to  result  in  all  the  conse- 
quences which  may  be  looked  for  in  literary  "ease 
with  dignity " ;  and  perhaps  in  more,  since  no  one 
does  more,  than  he  who,  in  his  own  line,  has  as  much 
as  he  can  well  do,  and  do  well.  System  and  method, 
the  great  means  for  making  time  manifold,  become  so 
absolutely  necessary ;  and  the  singleness  of  intention 
in  a  religious  life  intensifies  results.  Then,  after  the 
general  formation  has  been  bestowed,  in  the  consecu- 
tive higher  studies  of  seven  or  nine  years  within  the 
Order,  the  plan  of  Ignatius  leaves  open  to  individual 
talents  the  whole  field  of  specialties,  in  Science  and 
Literature.  Hence,  to  speak  of  our  own  day,  Secchi 
or  Perry  devotes  himself  to  astronomy,  Garucci  to 
archseology,  Strassmeyer  to  Oriental  inscriptions,  the 
De  Backers  and  Sommervogel  to  bibliography,  others 
to  philology,  mathematics,  and  the  natural  sciences ; 
while  five  hundred  and  more  writers  follow  the  lines 
of  their  own  inclinations,  either  for  some  directly  use- 
ful purpose,  or  because  their  pursuit  is  in  itself  liberal. 
1  Constitutiones  S.  J.,  pars  iv,  cap.  vii,  n.  3. 


CHAPTEE  V. 

COLLEGES  FOUNDED  AND  ENDOWED. 

What  was  the  response  of  the  Christian  world, 
when  it  had  become  alive  to  the  nature  of  this  new 
power  in  its  midst,  and  to  the  proposal  which  the  new 
power  made  ?  What  did  the  answer  come  to,  in  the 
way  of  providing  temporalities,  necessary  and  suffi- 
cient ?  Strange  enough  !  Loyola's  own  short  official 
lifetime  of  fifteen  years  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
too  short,  for  the  purpose  of  awakening  the  world  with 
his  idea ;  which,  like  a  two-edged  sword  of  his  own 
make,  not  only  aroused  the  keenest  opposition  at  every 
thrust,  and  at  his  every  onward  step,  but  opened  num- 
berless resources  in  the  apostolic,  the  charitable,  and 
educational  reserves  of  human  nature. 

This  man,  who  had  inserted  in  the  authentic  for- 
mula and  charter  of  his  Institute  that  watchword  of 
his  movements,  "  Defence  and  Advance "  ;  who  had 
taken  the  whole  world  for  the  field  of  his  operations, 
in  defending  and  advancing ;  this  cavalier  of  a  new 
military  type,  who  had  only  to  show  himself  upon  the 
field  to  gather  around  him  the  flower  of  youth  as  well 
as  mature  age,  from  college  and  university,  from  doc- 
tor's chair  and  prince's  throne,  left  behind  him,  as  the 
work  of  fifteen  years  from  the  foundation  of  the  Order, 
about  one  hundred  colleges  and  houses,  distributed 
68 


COLLEGES  FOUNDED  AND   ENDOWED.  69 

into  twelve  Provinces.  The  territorial  divisions  were 
named,  after  tlieir  chief  centres,  the  Provinces  of 
Portugal,  Castile,  Andalusia,  Aragon,  Italy,  Naples, 
Sicily,  Upper  Germany,  Lower  Germany,  France, 
Brazil,  and  the  East  Indies.  Individuals  under  his 
orders  had  overrun  Ireland,  penetrated  into  Scotland, 
into  Congo,  Abyssinia,  and  Ethiopia.  The  East  In- 
dies, first  traversed  by  Francis  Xavier  either  on  foot, 
or  in  unseaworthy  vessels,  signified  the  whole  stretch 
of  countries  from  Goa  and  Ceylon  on  the  West,  to 
Malacca,  Japan,  and  the  coast  of  China  on  the  East. 
Some  of  this  activity  might  be  credited  to  apostolic 
zeal  alone,  were  it  not  that,  wherever  the  leaders  ad- 
vanced into  the  heart  of  a  new  country,  it  was  always 
with  the  purpose,  and  generally  with  the  result,  that 
the  country  was  to  be  occupied  with  educational  in- 
stitutions. De  Backer  notes  this  in  another  connection, 
when,  in  the  preface  to  his  great  work  of  bibliography, 
"  The  Library  of  Writers  of  the  Company  of  Jesus," 
he  says :  "  Wherever  a  Jesuit  set  his  foot,  wherever 
there  was  founded  a  house,  a  college,  a  mission,  there 
too  arose  apostles  of  another  class,  who  labored,  who 
taught,  who  wrote."  ^ 

What  this  means,  with  regard  to  its  strategic  value, 
there  is  no  need  of  our  being  told.  The  Duke  of 
Parma,  writing,  in  1580,  from  the  seat  of  war  in  the 
Netherlands  to  Philip  II  of  Spain,  said :  "  Your  Maj- 
esty desired  that  I  should  build  a  citadel  in  Maes- 
tricht ;  I  thought  that  a  college  of  the  Jesuits  would 
be  a  fortress  more  likely  to  protect  the  inhabitants 

1  Bibliotheque  des  l^crivains  de  la  Compagnie  de  Je'sus,  Preface, 
1869. 


70  LOYOLA. 

against  the  enemies  of  the  Altar  and  the  Throne.     I 
have  built  it."  ^ 

Sixty  years  later,  after  the  long  generalship  of  . 
Aquaviva,  who  during  34  years  governed  the  Order 
with  the  ability  of  another  Ignatius,  the  number  of 
colleges  was  372.  Well  might  his  immediate  succes- 
sor, Mutius  Yitelleschi,  writing  to  the  whole  Society 
about  the  Education  of  Youth,  speak  of  the  "  beauti- 
ful and  precious  mass  of  gold,  which  we  have  in  our 
hands  to  form  and  finish."  ^ 

One  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  death  of 
Ignatius,  the  collegiate  and  university  houses  of  edu- 
cation numbered  769.  Two  hundred  years  after  the 
same  date,  when  the  Order  was  on  the  verge  of  univer- 
sal suppression,  under  the  action  of  University  men. 
Parliamentarians,  Jansenists,  Philosophers,  and  of  that 
new  movement  which  was  preparing  the  Eevolution, 
the  Jesuit  educational  institutions  stood  at  the  figure, 
728.  The  colleges  covered  almost  the  whole  world, 
distributed  into  39  Provinces,  besides  172  Missions 
n  the  less  organized  regions  of  the  globe.^ 

If  we  look  at  these  700  institutions  of  secondary 
and  superior  education,  under  the  aspect  of  their 
constitution,  that  is  to  say,  of  their  scope,  their  sys- 
tem, the  supreme  legislative  and  executive  power 
which  characterized  them,  we  find  that  they  were  not 
so  much  a  plurality  of  institutions,  as  a  single  one. 

1  Cretineau-Joly ;  Histoire  Religieuse,  Politique  et  Litteraire  de  la 
Compagnie  de  Je'sus,  torn,  ii,  ch.  iv,  p.  176 ;  troisieme  edit.  1851. 

2  De  Institutione  Juventutis ;  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica, 
vol.  ix,  p.  61. 

^  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  ii ;  Pachtler,  p.  xx. 


COLLEGES   FOUNDED   AND   ENDOWED.  71 

Take  the  92  colleges  of  France  alone.^  In  one 
sense,  these  may  be  considered  as  less  nnited  than 
the  50  colleges  of  the  Paris  University,  for  the 
Paris  University  was  in  one  quarter  of  a  city,  which 
offers  a  material  unity ;  these,  on  the  contrary,  were 
spread  over  the  whole  of  France,  presenting  the  char- 
acteristics of  ^^ national"  education;  just  as  the  700 
were  over  the  whole  world,  a  cosmopolitan  system. 
But,  regarded  in  their  formal  and  essential  bond, 
they  were  vastly  more  of  a  unit,  as  an  identical  edu- 
cational power,  than  any  faculty  existing.  Ko  faculty, 
whether  at  Paris  or  Salamanca,  Rome  or  Oxford,  ever 
possessed  that  control  over  its  50,  20,  or  even  8  col- 
leges, which  each  Provincial  Superior  exercised  over 
his  10,  20,  or  30,  and  the  General  over  more  than  700, 
with  22,126  members  in  the  Order.  In  the  one  Gpu- 
eral  lay  the  power  of  an  active  headship ;  froiu  him 
the  facultative  power  of  conferring  {Legrees  ema- 
nated; and  he  had  one  system  of  studies  and  disci- 
pline in  his  charD-p  t^  administer,  with  a  latitude 
of  discretion  according  to  times,  places,  and  circum- 
stances. 

As  to  the  numbers  of  students,  and  the  general 
estimate  to  be  formed  of  them,  I  will  record  such 
data  as  fall  under  the  eye,  while  passing  rapidly 
over  the  literature  of  the  subject. 

In  Rome,  the  20  colleges  attending  the  classes 
of  the  Roman  College  numbered,  in  1584,  2108  stu- 
dents. Father  Argento,  in  his  apology  to  the  States 
at  Klausenburg,  in  1607,  mentions  that  the  schools  in 

iThey  are  catalogued  by  Rochemonteix,  College  Henri  IV,  torn. 
ii,  ch.  i,  p.  57,  note. 


72  LOYOLA. 

Transylvania  were  frequented  by  the  flower  of  the 
nobility ;  and,  in  his  '^  History  of  the  Affairs  in 
Poland,"  dedicated  to  Sigismund  III,  he  attests  that 
from  8000  to  10,000  youths,  chiefly  of  the  nobility 
and  gentry,  frequented  the  gymnasia  of  the  Order  in 
Poland.  At  Rouen,  in  France,  there  were  regularly 
2000.  At  La  Fleche  there  were  1700  during  a  cen- 
tury ;  300  being  boarders,  the  other  1400  finding  ac- 
commodation in  the  village,  but  always  remaining 
under  the  supervision  of  the  faculty.  Throughout 
the  seventeenth  century,  the  numbers  at  the  College 
of  Louis-le-Grand,  in  Paris,  varied  between  2000, 
1827,  and  3000 ;  including,  in  the  latter  number,  550 
boarders.  In  1627,  only  a  few  years  after  the  resto- 
ration of  the  Society  by  Henri  IV,  the  one  Province 
of  Paris  had,  in  its  14  colleges,  13,195  students ; 
which  would  give  an  average  of  nearly  1000  to  a  col- 
lege. Cologne  almost  began  with  800  students,  —  its 
roll  in  1558.  Diiingo^-*  in  1607  had  760  ;  in  its  con- 
victus,  110  of  the  boarders  wcj?  T^f^ligious,  besides 
other  Ecclesiastics ;  the  next  year,  out  of  250  convic- 
tores  or  boarders,  118  were  Religious  of  various  Orders, 
the  secular  Priesthood  being  represented  among  the 
students  generally.  At  Utrecht,  during  the  first  cen- 
tury of  the  Order's  existence,  there  were  1000  scholars ; 
at  Antwerp  and  Brussels  each,  600 ;  in  most  of  the  Bel- 
gian colleges,  300.  As  to  Spain  and  Italy,  which  first 
saw  the  Society  rise  in  their  midst,  and  expand  with 
immense  vigor  all  over  them,  I  consider  it  superfluous 
to  dwell  particularly  upon  them. 

In   many   of    the   capitals   and   important   centres 
throughout  Europe,  there  were  separate  colleges  for 


COLLEGES   FOUNDED   AND    ENDOWED.  73 

nobles.  Elsewhere  the  nobility  were  mixed  with  the 
rest ;  thus  400  nobles  and  more  were  attending  the 
Jesuit  schools  in  Paris.  It  was  studiously  aimed  at 
by  the  Order  to  eliminate,  in  matters  of  education,  all 
distinguishing  marks  or  privileges.  Thus  Father  Buys 
endeavors,  in  1610,  to  reduce  the  practice  at  Dilingen 
to  the  custom  of  the  other  colleges  in  the  upper  Ger- 
man Province.-^ 

Most  of  the  Papal  Seminaries  founded  by  Gregory 
XIII,  at  Vienna,  Dilingen,  Pulda,  Prague,  Gratz, 
Olmiitz,  Wilna,  as  well  as  in  Japan  and  other  coun- 
tries, were  j^ut  under  the  direction  of  the  Society ;  as 
Pius  IV  did  with  his  Eoman  Seminary;  and  St. 
Charles  Borromeo  with  that  of  Milan. 

Not  knowing  what  the  absolute  average  really  was 
in  these  700  institutions,  we  may  still  form  some  idea 
of  w^hat  the  sum  total  of  students  must  have  been 
at  its  lowest  figure.  Por  this  purpose,  we  can  take 
an  average  which  seems  about  the  lowest  possible. 
I  have  not  met  with  any  distinct  mention  of  a  college 
having  less  than  300  scholars.  There  are  indeed  fre- 
quent complaints  in  the  general  assemblies,  regarding 
what  are  denounced  as  "  small "  colleges.  However, 
it  seems  clear  from  numerous  indications,  as,  for 
instance,  from  the  Encyclical  letter  of  the  General 
Paul  Oliva,^  that  these  colleges  were  called  small, 
not  primarily  on  account  of  an  insufficient  number 
of  students,  but  because  of  insufficient  foundations, 
which  did  not  support  the  Professors  actually  em- 
ployed.    A   document    for    the    Eectors   notes    that 

1  Monumenta  Germaniae  Paedagogica,  vol.  ix;  Pachtler,  p.  192,  n.  3. 

2  Monumenta  Germanise  Peedagogica,  vol.  ix,  pp.  110-2. 


74  LOYOLA. 

^'thus  far  almost  all  the  colleges,  even  such  as  have 
received  endowments,  suffer  want  regularly,  and  have 
frequently  to  borrow  money."  ^ 

Hence  we  may  be  allowed  to  take,  as  a  tentative 
average,  300  students  to  a  college.  At  once,  we  rise 
to  a  sum  total  of  more  than  200,000  students  in  these 
collegiate  and  university  grades,  all  being  formed  at  a 
given  date  under  one  system  of  studies  and  of  govern- 
ment, intellectual  and  moral. 

If  statistics,  in  that  nicely  tabulated  form  which 
delights  modern  bureaus,  have  failed  us  as  we  run 
over  the  whole  world  to  decipher  the  indications, 
there  is  yet  another  view  which  we  may  catch  of  the 
same  subject,  and  one  that  is  equally  valuable.  It  is 
the  multitude  of  nations  into  which  this  educational 
growth  ramified.  At  Goa,  in  Hindustan,  the  semi- 
nary, which  was  inferior  to  none  in  Europe,  had  for 
its  students.  Brahmins,  Persians,  Arabians,  Ethiopians, 
Armenians,  Chaldeans,  Malabari,  Cananorii,  Guza- 
rates,  Dacanii,  and  others  from  the  countries  beyond 
the  Ganges.  Japan  had  its  colleges  at  Funai,  Arima, 
Anzuchzana,  and  Nangasaki.  China  had  a  college  at 
Macao ;  and  later  on  many  more,  reaching  into  the 
interior,  where  the  Fathers  became  the  highest  man- 
darins in  the  service  of  the  Emperor,  and  built  his 
observatory.  Towards  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century  a  large  number  of  colleges  were  flourishing 
in  Central  and  South  America.  All  of  these  disap- 
peared, when  the  Order  was  suppressed.     The  youth, 

lArch.  Eheni  Sup.,  quoted  by  Paclitler;  Monumenta  Germaniae 
Paedagogica,  vol.  ix,  p.  110;  see  also  the  letter  of  the  Geueral  John 
Paul  Oliva,  ibid.  p.  106. 


COLLEGES  FOUNDED  AND  ENDOWED.  75 

who  could  afford  to  obtain  the  education  needed,  went 
over  to  Europe,  whence  they  returned,  a  generation 
quite  different  from  what  had  been  known  of  before. 
They  returned  with  the  principles  of  the  Revolution. 
And  the  whole  history  of  Central  and  South  America 
has  changed,  from  that  date  onwards,  into  a  series  of 
revolutions,  which  are  the  standing  marvel  of  political 
scientists  to  our  day. 

To  consult  a  graphic  representation  of  how  this  edu- 
cational Order  looked  on  the  map  of  the  world,  one 
may  glance  into  the  ninth  volume  of  the  Monumenta 
Germanioe  Pcedagogica.  There  Father  Pachtler,  as  in 
his  other  volumes  of  the  series,  sketches  only  the  Ger- 
man "Assistency  "  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  The  five 
Assistencies  of  the  Order  served  the  purposes  of  gov- 
ernment, by  grouping  many  Provinces  together  into 
larger  divisions.  In  1725,  the  German  Assistency 
comprised  nine  out  of  thirty-two  Provinces.  The  nine 
in  question  are  those  of  Flandro-Belgium,  French 
Belgium,  the  Lower  Rhine,  the  Upper  Rhine,  Upper 
German}^,  Bohemia,  Austria,  Poland,  Lithuania.  The 
map  at  the  end  of  Father  Pachtler's  volume  repre- 
sents all  this  countr}^,  with  the  towns  marked  differ- 
ently, according  as  they  contained  either  universities 
of  the  Order,  or  colleges,  or  convictus,  that  is,  boarding- 
colleges,  or  seminaries,  or  residences.  The  chronologi- 
cal order  of  their  rise  is  presented  in  a  table  at  the 
beginning  of  the  same  volume,  with  a  note  to  indicate 
more  in  particular  the  grade  or  amplitude  of  each,  as 
being  a  Studimn  Generale,  otherwise  called  University 
or  Academy,  a  College  or  a  Gymnasium,  as  well  as 
the  annexes  of  each,  in  the  shape  of  one  or  more  cot?- 


76  LOYOLA. 

victus,  one  or  more  Episcopal  or  Papal  Seminaries, 
a  college  of  nobles,  a  conv ictus  for  poor  scholars.  By 
means  of  this  map,  a  graphic  presentation  is  afforded 
of  one  Assistency,  from  which,  by  a  proper  extension, 
the  whole  world  may  be  portrayed  to  the  imagination. 
In  1750,  within  the  limits  of  this  map,  there  were  217 
colleges,  55  seminaries,  73  residences,  24  novitiates, 
160  missions,  6  professed  houses.^ 

The  universities  here  spoken  of,  otherwise  called 
Studia  Generalla,  or  Academies,  are  quite  typical,  a 
special  Jesuit  development  of  the  mediaeval  style. 
An  exact  and  official  form,  drawn  up  for  the  Univer- 
sity of  Gratz,  may  be  found  in  the  same  Monumental 
As  Father  Pachtler  remarks,  it  shows  at  a  glance  the 
inner  working  of  a  Jesuit  university,  and  the  general 
system  prevailing  over  the  whole  Society.  He  en- 
titles the  document :  "  Ordnung  einer  ausschlieschlich 
von  Jesuiten  geleiteten  Universitdt/'  or  "  Einer  selbstdn- 
dige  Universitdt,  1658."  The  Latin  title  is:  "Forma  et 
Ratio  Gubernandi  Academias  et  Studia  Oeneralia  S.  J. " 
It  was  the  compilation  of  Father  John  Argento. 

Upon  this  basis  of  the  amount  of  work  done,  as 
well  as  its  intrinsic  character,  shown  by  the  results, 
I  was  going  to  draw  some  inferences  with  regard  to 
the  amount  of  the  temporal  endowments,  which  must 
have  been  required  to  support  such  a  vast  organiza- 
tion, and  must  have  been  vested  in  the  Order  by  the 
Christian  world.  One  might  compare  the  work  done 
with  what  Oxford  accomplishes ;  and,  seeing  that  the 
latter  university  supplies  the  facilities  for  higher  edu- 

1  Monumenta  GermanifB  Psedagogica,  vol,  ii ;  Pachtler,  p.  xx. 

2  Vol.  ix,  pp.  322-389. 


COLLEGES   FOUNDED   AND   ENDOWED.  77 

cation,  and  that  far  from  gratuitously,  to  only  a  couple 
of  thousands  among  the  nobility  and  gentry,  then, 
since  it  spends  upon  this  an  annual  revenue  of  $2,500,- 
000,  how  much  would  be  required  to  conduct  the  edu- 
cation of  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  students  ?  Our 
arithmetic  would  feel  oppressed  by  the  calculation. 

But  the  calculation  is  not  necessary.  It  is  quite 
evident  that  religious  poverty  gave  the  key  to  the 
situation,  —  poverty,  self-abnegation,  the  resignation 
of  all  temporal  considerations  in  life,  by  men  who  had 
no  families  to  provide  for,  no  station  to  acquire  ;  who 
had  themselves  given  up  every  station,  from  that  of 
the  clerical  benefice,  or  the  liberal  and  martial  careers, 
to  ducal  coronets,  princedoms,  and  even  ro3^alty ;  men 
therefore,  who  were  bestowing  with  themselves,  and  in 
themselves,  the  essential  endowment  of  education  upon 
the  world,  and  who  needed  only  to  have  that  supple- 
mented with  the  few  temporal  necessities  still  remain- 
ing. And  the  conclusion  to  be  draAvn  seems  to  be  this. 
The  Christian  world,  whether  ruler  or  people,  republic 
or  municipality,  was  making  a  safe  and  lucrative  in- 
vestment, whether  at  home  or  abroad,  in  the  midst  of 
civilization  or  of  barbarism,  when  it  consigned  the  ab- 
solute use  of  sufficient  temporalities  to  a  world-wide 
faculty,  inspired  by  the  sentiment  of  religious  devo- 
tion. 

Eor  what  is  the  object  of  any  religious  society  whatso- 
ever ?  It  is  to  complete  in  each  of  its  members  the 
duties  of  the  man,  the  citizen  and  the  Christian,  with 
other  duties  called  "religious,"  which,  correlative 
with  the  former,  are  nevertheless  distinct  from  them. 
They  are  duties  which  presuppose  the  moral  virtues, 


78  LOYOLA. 

the  civil  and  Christian  virtues,  and  tend  to  complete 
them  with  the  highest  qualities  to  which  perfect  Chris- 
tianity aspires,  those  of  self-devotion  and  religious 
self-consecration. 

Hence  the  experiences,  making  a  drama  and  a 
tragedy,  when  the  Society  abruptly  disappeared. 
Supposing  even  that  enough  of  competent  men,  with 
all  personal  requirements,  could  have  been  found  to 
fill  the  void,  what  of  their  salaries  and  support  ? 
Take  an  instance.  The  revenues,  which  at  Bourges 
had  been  enough  for  the  support  of  thirty  Jesuits, 
were  found,  after  the  Suppression  of  the  Order,  not  to 
afford  an  adequate  compensation  for  ten  secular  Pro- 
fessors.^ Frederic  II  of  Prussia,  sending  an  agent  to 
negotiate  with  Pius  VI  about  retaining  the  Order  in 
his  States,  expresses  himself  thus  in  a  letter  to  Vol- 
taire :  "  The  surest  means  (to  perpetuate  a  series  of 
Professors)  is  to  preserve  a  seminary  of  men  destined 
to  teach.  In  studying  the  sciences,  they  fit  them- 
selves for  the  office  of  instructing.  It  would  be  no 
easy  task  to  fill  instantaneously  a  vacancy  left  by  a 
skilful  professor.  If  the  education  of  ordinary  citi- 
zens be  necessary,  the  training  up  of  instructors  must 
be  no  less  so."  And  then,  coming  to  the  point  before 
us,  the  King  continues :  "  Besides,  there  are  reasons 
of  economy  for  preferring  such  a  body  of  men  to  mere 
secular  individuals.  The  professor  taken  from  the 
latter  class  will  cost  more,  because  he  has  a  greater 
number  of  wants.     It  is  needless  to  remark  that  the 

1  Maynard;  The  Studies  and  Teaching  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  at 
the  Time  of  its  Suppression,  1750-1773;  Baltimore  edit.  1885,  eh.  2; 
The  Jesuits  in  Germany,  pp.  112-3. 


COLLEGES  FOUNDED   AND   ENDOWED.  79 

property  of  the  Jesuits  would  not  be  sufficient  to  re- 
munerate their  successors ;  and  that  revenues,  which 
pass  over  to  the  administration  of  the  government, 
always  suffer  diminution."  ^  Speaking  of  Ganganelli, 
Pope  Clement  XIII,  who  was  under  pressure  from 
various  quarters  to  make  him  suppress  the  Order, 
Frederic  writes  to  Voltaire  in  1770 :  "  For  my  own 
part,  I  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  him ;  he  leaves 
me  my  dear  Jesuits,  whom  they  are  persecuting  every- 
where. I  will  save  the  precious  seed,  to  give  some  of 
it,  one  day,  to  those  who  should  wish  to  cultivate  a 
plant  so  rare."  ^ 

The  testimony  of  documents  is  uniform  upon  the 
poverty  of  these  men,  whom  Protestant  historians  like 
Grotius,  Eobertson,  and  others  marvel  at,  for  the  au- 
thority they  possessed  in  the  world,  for  the  purity  of 
their  lives,  their  success  in  teaching,  and  their  art  of 
commanding  with  wisdom  as  they  themselves  obeyed 
with  fidelity.  Their  life  was  one  of  straitened  circum- 
stances and  self-abnegation.  We  may  see  it  illus- 
trated in  Dilingen.^  Or  again,  at  the  great  royal  college, 
founded  by  Henri  IV  at  La  Fleche,  where  three  hun- 
dred boarders  w^ere  supposed  to  be  paying  their  own 
expenses,  as  pensionnaires,  we  find  Louis  XIII  issu- 
ing a  royal  decree  that  his  magistrates  are  to  prose- 
cute "  les  retardataires  et  les  recalcitrants  par  toutes 
les  voyes  raisonnables,"  persons  who  did  not  pay  the 
expenses  of  their  own  children,  but  left  that  interest- 

1 1777,  18  novembre ;  CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  vol.  xcv,  p.  207 ;  edit. 
1832. 

2  Lettre  a  Voltaire,  7  juillet,  1770;  CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  torn,  xii, 
p.  495 ;  edit.  1817. 

3  Monumenta  Germanise  Psedagogica,  vol.  ii,  pp.  358-9. 


80  LOYOLA. 

ing  occupation  to  the  college.  With,  all  that,  says 
Eochemonteix,  nothing  came  of  it,  neither  of  the  royal 
injunctions,  nor  of  judicial  suits ;  things  went  on  the 
same  way,  "  the  parents  paying  badly,  and  the  treas- 
urers lamenting."  ^ 

I  will  close  this  chapter  with  one  case,  because  it 
serves  to  emphasize  a  particular  sequel  of  the  Suppres- 
sion; that  is,  the  revival  of  a  tuition-fee.  A  recent 
author,  writing  in  1890,  tells  the  history  of  the  Col- 
lege of  Saint- Yves  at  Vannes,  in  Brittany.  He  sums 
up  its  revenues  at  6000  livres.  Placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  Order,  this  college,  in  1636,  that  is,  seven  years 
after  the  Society  had  assumed  charge,  directed  400 
students  ;  later  on,  900 ;  and  then  1200.  In  1762,  the 
faculty  consisted  of  thirteen  members,  besides  the 
four  Fathers  engaged  in  the  adjoining  house  of  re- 
treats. All  rendered  various  services,  as  is  usual  in  a 
college  of  Jesuit  instructors.  To  these  we  must  add 
the  requisite  complement  of  the  faculty,  at  least  half 
as  many  more  lay  assistants,  belonging  to  the  Order, 
and  to  the  same  local  community.  Here  then  are 
twenty-two  at  the  least,  subsisting  on  6000  livres  a 
year;  and  meanwhile  providing  their  house,  their 
library,  their  physical  cabinet,  which  was  fully  fitted 
up  with  all  necessary  instruments,  and  their  observa- 
tory.^ u  r^^Q  moment  after  the  Suppression,"  he  goes 
on  to  say,  "  it  was  quite  another  affair !  Ten  secular 
professors  cost  11,000  livres  for  their  salaries  alone ! " 

1  Le  College  Henri  IV,  torn,  ii,  ch.  1,  p.  20. 

2  Fernand  Butel,  Docteur  en  Droit,  etc. ;  L'l^ducation  des  Jesuites 
autrefois  et  aujonrd'hui,  Un  College  Breton,  ch.  1,  p.  51;  p.  19; 
p.  28;  Paris,  Firmin-Didot,  1890. 


COLLEGES  FOUNDED   AND  ENDOWED.  81 

The  author  gives  the  list  of  their  salaries.  "To  rees- 
tablish equilibrium,  one  of  the  first  acts  of  the  parlia- 
ment was  to  exact  from  each  scholar  a  tuition-fee  of 
twelve  livres;  and  yet  they  complained,  they  could 
not  make  ends  meet." 

Observe,  a  tuition-fee !  On  the  day  after  the  Sup- 
pression, they  begin  to  undo  the  very  work,  which, 
two  hundred  and  thirty  years  before,  the  Order  had 
begun  to  do  at  its  birth,  spreading  education  gratu- 
itously, without  drawing  on  pupils,  or  drawing  on  the 
public  treasury. 

Well  might  the  General  Vincent  Caraffa  say,  in 
the  time  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  '^We  abound 
rather  in  men  than  in  revenues.''  And  he  says  so,  in 
the  same  breath  and  in  the  same  sentence,  in  which 
he  is  asking  Priests  to  offer  themselves  for  life  to  the 
work  of  teaching  the  lower  branches,  a  work  which 
he  calls  laborious,  in  times  which  he  specifies  as 
disastrous,  and  in  circumstances  which  he  describes 
as  having  no  provision  made  for  the  means  of  living.^ 

This  brief  sketch  will  go  to  show  how  the  Christian 
world  did,  indeed,  meet  the  proposal  of  the  Order, 
and  found  seven  hundred  colleges.  But  it  also  shows 
how  the  Order  endowed  the  world,  and  had  even  to 
make  good,  with  its  personal  heroism,  the  defects  in 
many  of  the  foundations. 

1  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  ix,  p.  65. 


CHAPTER   VI. 
THE  INTELLECTUAL  SCOPE  AND  METHOD  PROPOSED. 

As  the  second  part  of  this  book  is  intended  to  be  a 
pedagogic  analysis  of  the  mental  culture  imparted,  I 
need  not  sketch  here,  save  in  a  general  way,  the  in- 
tellectual scope  proposed  by  Ignatius  of  Loyola,  and 
the  method  which  he  originated.  Both  scope  and 
method  vary  somewhat,  according  as  the  students 
contemplated  are  respectively  external  to  the  Order, 
or  members  of  it.  The  latter  are  to  be  qualified  for 
becoming  future  Professors,  even  though,  in  point  of 
fact,  only  a  certain  proportion  of  them  become  so. 

Studious  youth  in  general,  including  Ecclesiastics 
and  Eeligious  of  the  various  Orders,  are  considered 
by  Ignatius  as  distributed  amid  two  kinds  of  educa- 
tional institutions.  One  of  these  he  calls  the  Public 
School ;  the  other,  a  University.  The  first  is  that 
which  extends,  in  its  courses,  from  the  rudiments  of 
literature  up  to  the  lower  level  of  university  educa- 
tion. He  says :  "  Where  it  can  conveniently  be 
done,  let  Public  Schools  be  opened,  at  least  in  the 
departments  of  Humane  Letters."  ^  In  a  note,  he 
explains  that  Moral  Theology  may  be  treated  in  a 
gymnasium  of  this  kind.  Father  Aquaviva,  in  1588, 
puts  this  kind  of  school  down  as  the  lowest  of  three 

1  Coustitutiones,  pars  iv,  c.  7,  n.  1. 
82 


INTELLECTUAL   SCOPE   AND   METHOD.  83 

ranks  of  colleges ;  and  sums  up  the  courses  as  being 
those  of  Grammar,  Humanities,  Ehetoric,  Languages, 
and  Moral  Theology.^  He  also  explains  why  the 
lowest  Jesuit  curriculum  must  fill  these  require- 
ments, "  in  order  that  the  Society  be  not  defrauded  of 
the  end  it  has  in  view,  which  is,  to  carry  the  students 
on  at  least  as  far  as  mediocrity  in  learning,  so  that 
they  may  go  forth  into  their  respective  vocations, 
Ecclesiastics  to  their  ministry,  lay  students  to  their 
own  work  in  life,  qualified  in  some  degree  with  a 
sufficiency  of  literary  culture."^  This  curriculum 
served  also  the  purpose  of  those,  who,  while  members 
of  the  Order,  were  for  some  reason  dispensed  from 
the  full  course  of  studies.^  If  any  grades  are  want- 
ing in  a  college,  it  must  be  the  lower  ones  which  are 
omitted,  the  higher  being  retained.'*  Ignatius  goes 
on  to  limit  the  courses  in  a  gymnasium  of  this  kind : 
"  Let  not  higher  sciences  be  treated  here ;  but,  to 
pursue  them,  the  students  who  have  made  due 
progress  in  literature  are  to  be  sent  from  these  col- 
leges to  the  universities.^ 

Passing  on  to  universities  of  the  Order,  he  defines 
for  their  scope,  first,  in  behalf  of  those  who  are  to  be 
Ecclesiastics,  Scholastic  Theology,  Holy  Scripture,  and 
Positive  Theolog}" ;  secondly,  for  all  students.  Humane 
Letters,  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  and  other  such 
languages  as  Chaldaic,  Arabic,  and  Indian,  subject  to 

1  Formulae  acceptandorum  Collegiorum,  etc.,  summarium ;  Mon- 
umenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  ii ;   Pachtler,  p.  338.      2  ibid. 

3  Monuraenta  Germauiae  Paedagogica,  vol.  ii,  Pachtler,  p.  76,  5. 
Their  curriculum  was  enlarged  in  1829;  ibid.,  p.  110,  6. 

4  Ratio  Studiorum  1599  ;  Reg.  Prov.  21,  §  4.  Pachtler,  Monumenta 
Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  ii,  p.  258.  ^  Constitutiones,  ibid. 


84  LOYOLA. 

the  demands  of  necessity  or  utility ;  moreover,  Logic, 
Physics,  Metaphysics,  Moral  Philosophy,  and  Mathe- 
matics. All  these  departments  are  to  be  provided 
for  by  Professors  of  the  Order.  If  the  departments 
of  Civil  Law  and  Medicine  are  added,  they  will  be 
conducted  by  Professors  not  of  the  Society.-^ 

As  to  the  Scholastic  members  of  the  Society,  their 
mental  culture  in  the  Order  begins,  of  course,  where 
their  collegiate  curriculum  had  closed,  that  is,  at  the 
end  of  their  classical  course.  Their  studies  hence- 
forth are  defined  by  two  objects ;  one,  that  of  pro- 
fessing, as  formed  Jesuits  in  the  future,  what  they 
are  studying  now ;  the  other,  that  of  being  differen- 
tiated, according  to  talent  and  circumstance,  into 
preachers,  writers,  directors  of  consciences,  or  mana- 
gers of  affairs. 

In  view  of  this  two-fold  object,  all  the  examina- 
tions, arranged  for  members  of  the  Order  in  the 
advanced  courses,  are  regulated  by  one  standard,  that 
the  Jesuit  Scholastics  must  be  found  competent,  at 
each  stage,  to  teach  the  course  in  which  they  are 
being  tested.  Accordingly,  they  review  their  previous 
literary  acquirements,  in  all  the  lines  which  the  Soci- 
ety regularly  professes ;  then,  during  three  years, 
they  apply  exclusively  to  Philosophy  and  Natural 
Sciences ;  and,  four  years  more,  to  Divinity  and  allied 
Sciences.^ 

This  protracted  course,  therefore,  as  given  more  in 
detail  by  the  subsequent  Ratio,  consists  of  Poetry, 
Ehetoric,  and  Literature;  Mathematics,  Physics,  and 

1  Constitutiones,  pars  iv,  c.  12, 

2  Constitutiones,  pars  iv,  c.  5,  n.  1. 


INTELLECTUAL   SCOPE   AND    METHOD.  85 

Chemistry;  Logic,  Ontology,  Cosmology,  Psychology, 
and  Natural  Theology;  Ethics,  Natural,  Social  and 
Public  Eight,  Moral  Theology,  Canon  Law,  Eccle- 
siastical History,  Scholastic  Theology,  Hebrew,  Sacred 
Scripture.  The  courses  are  to  be  pursued  either  in 
the  same  classes  which  external  students  attend,  or, 
in  their  own  university  classes,  when  a  general  house 
of  studies  is  formed  as  a  "  Scholasticate."  In  both 
cases,  they  have  Seminary  exercises  of  their  own, 
beyond  what  is  required  in  the  most  condensed  uni- 
versity courses, 

Those  whom  health  and  excellence  have  approved 
at  every  step  are  ordinarily  to  be  withdrawn  from 
studies,  "  when  the  course  of  Arts  has  been  finished, 
and  when  four  years  have  been  spent  on  Theology."^ 
Specialties  are  to  be  cultivated.^  Subsequent  legis- 
lation places  these  specialties  in  the  interval  between 
the  Arts  and  Theology  ;  and,  again,  after  the  latter. 

This,  in  brief,  is  the  practical  idea  of  the  Profes- 
sorial Seminaries,  philological,  philosophical,  scientific, 
and  theological,  through  which  the  stream  of  future 
Professors  is  continually  passing.  Each  one  is  sub- 
ject, at  every  stage,  to  examination  tests  which  in- 
clude the  most  distinct  reference  to  professorial  capac- 
ity. The  technical  standard  in  the  examinations  is 
that  of  "  surpassing  mediocrity,"  which  term  is  ac- 
curately defined,  as  we  shall  see  later,  when  analyzing 
the  Batio.^ 

While  the  depleted  ranks  of  the  professorial  body 
are  thus  regularly  supplied,  it  is  clear  that  more  ser- 

1  Constitutiones,  pars  iv,  c.  9,  n.  3.  2  ibid.,  c.  5,  n.  1,  C. 

3  Ch.  xi.  below. 


86  LOYOLA. 

vices  remain  available  in  the  Order  at  large,  than  the 
single  purpose  of  education  would  at  any  time  re- 
quire. But  this  only  serves  the  wider  scope  which 
the  Society  has  in  view,  much  wider  than  education 
taken  alone.  And  Ignatius  makes  mention  of  this 
expressly  when  he  says,  that  the  Scholastic  students 
"  may  never  come  to  profess  the  learning  which  they 
have  acquired  "  ;  still  "  they  are  to  consider  that  labor 
of  studies  as  a  work  of  great  merit  in  the  sight  of 
God."  1 

So  much  for  the  widest  and  highest  intellectual  ob- 
jects aimed  at  in  these  studies.  Looking  down  now 
to  its  lowest  limit,  we  perceive  that  education,  as 
imparted  by  the  Society  to  the  external  world,  is  to 
begin  not  below  "the  rudiments  of  grammar,  in 
which  boys  must  already  be  versed ;  they  must  know 
how  to  read  and  write  ;  nor  is  any  allowance  to  be 
made  in  favor  of  any  one,  whatever  be  his  condition 
of  life ;  but  those  who  press  these  petitions  upon  us 
are  to  be  answered,  that  we  are  not  permitted "  to 
teach  the  elements.  This  is  the  ordinance  of  Aqua- 
viva,  in  1592,  and  he  simply  refers  to  the  Constitu- 
tion.^ He  also  notes,  in  the  same  document,  that  the 
new  Ratio  Studiorum  elevates  every  grade,  as  it  stood 
at  that  date,  one  year  higher  than  it  had  been  before. 
The  document  is  from  the  German  archives.  Pachtler 
observes  that  most  of  the  Latin  schools,  particularly 
in  Protestant  Germany,  took  children  up  from  the 
alphabet.^     The  effect  of  the  Jesuit  system  was  that 

1  Constitutiones,  pars  iv,  c.  6,  n.  2. 

2  Monumenta  GermanisB  Psedagogica,  vol.  ii,  p.  311. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  310,  note. 


INTELLECTUAL   SCOPE  AND   METHOD.  87 

of  a  constant  upward  trend  to  what  was  higher,  more 
systematic,  and  complete. 

This  brings  us  to  the  question  of  method.  Here  a 
number  of  elements  occur,  some  of  them  essential, 
many  of  them  subordinate.  These  latter,  at  least,  were 
the  products  of  ingenuity  and  industry  on  the  part  of 
the  teaching  body,  and  were  productive  of  industry 
and  life  on  the  part  of  scholars.  To  illustrate  the 
whole  matter,  I  will  refer  to  authors  who  were  ad- 
dressing the  world,  soon  after  the  Society  had  taken 
its  stand  as  an  educational  power,  and  when  its  insti- 
tutions were  conspicuous  to  the  eyes  of  all. 

First  comes  classification,  which  was  an  essential 
feature  of  the  Jesuit  system,  ^ibadeneira,  the  inti- 
mate friend  of  Ignatius,  when  writing  the  life  of 
Loyola,  in  the  year  1584,  and  describing  the  work  of 
the  Order,  now  forty -fours  years  old,  observes  :  "  Else- 
where one  Professor  has  many  grades  of  scholars  before 
him ;  he  addresses  himself  at  one  and  the  same  time 
to  scholars  who  are  at  the  bottom,  midway,  and  at  the 
top ;  and  he  can  scarcely  meet  the  demands  of  each. 
But,  in  the  Society,  we  distinguish  one  rank  of 
scholars  from  another,  dividing  them  into  their  own 
classes  and  orders  ;  and  separate  Professors  are  placed 
over  each."  ^ 

The  division  of  classes,  a  thing  so  natural  to  us, 
was  in  those  times  a  novelty.  There  were  practically 
only  two  degrees  of  teaching;  one  superior,  embrac- 
ing Theology,  Law,  and  Medicine ;  the  other  prepara- 
tory. The  preparatory  instruction  had  already  been 
tending  towards  the  later  system  of  grading;  the 
1  Ribadeneira,  Bollaudists,  July,  torn,  vii,  nu.  335  seq. 


88  LOYOLA. 

term  "  class  "  was  an  expression  of  the  Eenaissance. 
Father  Rochemonteix,  speaking  of  the  Paris  Univer- 
sity, notes  that  the  first  authentic  act,  in  which  the 
term  is  used,  dates  from  1539.^  From  1535,  the  divis- 
ion of  studies,  by  means  of  classes,  was  already  being 
accomplished.  Still  there  was  no  definite  number  of 
grades.  The  study  of  literary  models  was  defective. 
Grammar  was  beclouded  with  the  subtleties  of  dialec- 
tics, to  the  great  prejudice  of  written  composition,  as 
well  as  of  the  reading  and  imitation  of  models.^ 

Now  it  will  be  observed  that  Ignatius  was  studying 
in  the  University  of  Paris  from  1528  to  1535 ;  and  his 
companions  remained  till  1536.  By  the  time  he  pub- 
lished the  Constitution  as  a  rule  of  guidance,  he  had 
become  surrounded  by  men,  who  Avere  not  merely 
graduates  of  universities,  but  had  been  Doctors,  Pro- 
fessors, and  Eectors  in  Portugal,  Spain,  France,  Italy, 
Belgium,  Germany.  One  consequence  was  that  Igna- 
tius, from  the  very  beginning,  formulated  a  complete 
system  of  graded  classes.  He  relegated  dialectics  to 
its  proper  field.  Philosophy  and  Theology.  And,  bring- 
ing into  prominence  the  reading  of  authors,  and  the 
practice  of  style  in  imitation  of  the  best  models,  he 
defined  a  method.  This,  after  being  elaborated  during 
forty  years,  was  then  found  to  be  not  only  new,  but 
complete,  and  good  for  centuries  to  come.  It  arranged 
courses  in  a  series,  having  reference  to  one  another ; 
it  coordinated  definite  stages  of  the  courses  with  defi- 
nite matter  to  be  seen;    and,  in  the  lower  branches 

1  Le  College  Henri  IV.,  torn,  iii,  pp.  5-7. 

2  Compare  the  ordinance  of  Father  Oliver  Manare,  1583,  n.  114; 
Monumenta  Germanife  Piiedagogica,  vol.  ii,  p.  269. 


INTELLECTUAL   SCOPE   AND   METHOD.  89 

it  distributed  the  students,  with  their  respective  por- 
tions of  tiie  matter,  into  five  grades,  classifying  pre- 
cepts, authors,  and  exercises,  as  proportioned  to  each 
successive  grade.  Nothing  more  familiar  to  ourselves 
now ;  nothing  newer  to  the  world  then !  This  was  the 
Ratio  Studiorum. 

The  grades  of  the  gymnasium  may  include  several 
divisions,  according  to  the  number  of  students ;  but 
the  grading  itself  remains  fixed,  and  leaves  no  ele- 
ment, either  of  actual  culture,  or  of  future  develop- 
ments, unprovided  for,  or  without  a  location.  Nor  do 
these  grades  mean  five  years.  They  mean  a  work  to 
be  done  in  each  grade,  before  the  next  is  taken  up. 
On  this,  the  mind  of  Ignatius  was  most  explicit.  As  an 
almost  universal  rule,  they  never  mean  less  than  five 
years.  And,  for  one  of  them,  the  grade  of  Ehetoric, 
in  which  all  literary  perfection  is  to  be  acquired,  the 
system  contemplates  two  and  even  three  years.  In 
this  point,  too,  we  may  note  a  characteristic  view  of 
Ignatius.  It  is  that  the  longer  term,  whenever  pro- 
vided, whenever  prescribed,  urged,  and  insisted  upon, 
is  always  for  the  talented  student,  the  one  who  is  to 
become  eminent.  To  use  his  own  words,  when  laying 
down  the  rules  in  this  matter  for  the  Eector  of  a 
University,  his  full  idea  will  be  carried  out,  when 
"those  who  are  of  the  proper  age,  and  have  the 
aptitude  of  genius,  endeavor  to  succeed  in  every 
branch  and  to  be  conspicuous  therein."  ^ 

To  enumerate  now  some  of  the  subordinate  elements 
in  the  Jesuit  method,  I  will  quote  from  the  same 
author,  Eibadeneira.  He  says,  speaking  of  young 
1  Cons  tit  utienes,  pars  iv,  c.  13,  n.  4. 


90  LOYOLA. 

scholars  :  ^'  Many  means  are  devised,  and  exercises  em- 
ployed, to  stimulate  the  minds  of  the  young  —  assidu- 
ous disputation,  various  trials  of  genius,  prizes  offered 
for  excellence  in  talent  and  industry.  These  preroga- 
tives and  testimonies  of  virtue  vehemently  arouse  the 
minds  of  students,  awake  them  even  when  sleeping, 
and,  when  they  are  aroused  and  are  running  on  with  a 
good  will,  impel  them  and  spur  them  on  faster.  For, 
as  penalty  and  disgrace  bridle  the  will  and  check  it 
from  pursuing  evil,  so  honor  and  praise  quicken  the 
sense  wonderfully,  to  attain  the  dignity  and  glory  of 
virtue.''  He  quotes  Cicero  and  Quintilian  to  the 
same  effect.-^ 

This  was  not  to  develop  a  false  self-love  in  young 
hearts ;  which  would  have  been  little  to  the  purpose 
with  religious  teachers.  ^'Let  them  root  out  from 
themselves,  in  every  possible  way,  self-love  and  the 
craving  for  vain  glory,"  says  the  oldest  code  of  school 
rules  in  the  Society,  probably  from  the  pen  of 
Father  Peter  Canisius  himself.-  What  is  appealed  to, 
is  the  spirit  of  emulation,  and  that  by  a  world  of 
industries ;  which,  disguising  the  aridity  of  the  work 
to  be  gone  through,  spurs  young  students  on  to 
excellence  in  whatever  they  undertake,  and  rewards 
the  development  of  natural  energies  with  the  natural 
luxury  of  confessedly  doing  well.  In  the  dry  course 
of  virtue  and  learning,  satisfaction  of  this  kind  is  not 
excited  in  the  young,  without  a  sign,  a  token,  a  badge, 
a  prize.  Then  they  feel  happy  in  having  done  well, 
however  little  they  enjoyed  the  labor  before.     Honor- 

1  Bollandists,  ibid.,  376-7. 

2  Monuinenta  Germanise  Psedagogica,  vol.  ii,  Pachtler,  p.  169. 


INTELLECTUAL   SCOPE   AND   METHOD.  91 

able  distinctions  well  managed,  sometimes  a  share  in 
the  unimportant  direction  of  the  class,  brillianc}^  of 
success  in  single  combat  on  the  field  of  knowledge,  of 
memory,  or  of  intellectual  self-reliance,  the  ordered 
discrimination  of  habitual  merit,  all  these  means  and 
many  others  keep  the  little  army  in  a  condition  of 
mental  activity,  and  sometimes  of  suspense;  '^and  if 
not  all  are  victorious,  all  at  least  have  traversed  the 
strengthening  probation  of  struggle."  ^ 

In  all  the  courses  of  Belles-lettres,  Ehetoric,  Phi- 
losophy, and  Theology,  the  institutions  called  "  Acade- 
mies" gather  into  select  bodies  the  most  talented  and 
exemplary  of  the  students.  The  young  literatears,  or 
philosophers,  having  their  own  officials,  special  reun- 
ions, and  archives,  hold  their  public  sessions  in  pres- 
ence of  the  other  students,  the  Masters,  and  illustrious 
personages  invited  for  the  occasion.  In  their  poems, 
speeches,  dialogues,  they  discuss,  declaim,  and  rise  to 
great  thoughts,  and  to  the  conception  of  great  deeds. 

Civil  discords  are  not  the  subject  of  their  debates, 
but  the  glories  of  their  native  country,  its  success  in 
arms,  all  that  is  congenial  to  the  young  mind  and  fos- 
ters the  sentiment  of  love  of  country.  Among  the 
students  of  Rhetoric,  forensic  debates  and  judicial 
trials  are  organized ;  "  and  when  the  advocates  of  both 
sides  have  pleaded  their  cause  in  one  or  two  sessions 
of  the  court,  then,"  says  a  document  I  am  quoting 
from,  dated  1580,  ^'the  judge,  who  has  been  elected 
for  the  purpose,  will  pronounce  his  judgment  in  an 

1  L'Education  des  Jesuites  autrefois,  etc.,  par  Dr.  F.  Butel,  ch.  1 
pp.  22-8.  This  author  sketches  agreeably  the  means  touched  upon 
in  the  text,  and  his  references  are  useful. 


92  LOYOLA. 

oration  of  his  own ;  this  will  be  the  brilliant  perform- 
ance ;  and,  to  hear  it,  friends  will  be  invited,  and  the 
Doctors  of  the  University  and  all  the  students  will  be 
in  attendance."  ^  In  the  programme  for  the  distribution 
of  rewards,  there  is  described  an  interesting  element, 
puer  lepidus,  "sl  bright  young  lad,"  and  what  he  is  to 
do  and  how  he  is  to  bring  out  the  name  of  the  victor, 
"whereupon  the  music  will  strike  up  a  sweet  sym- 
phony."^ At  another  time,  a  set  of  published  theses 
are  defended  against  all  comers  by  some  philosopher 
or  theologian.  And,  while  games  and  manly  exercises 
outside  develop  physical  strength,  gentility  of  demea- 
nor and  elegance  of  deportment  have  the  stage  at  their 
service  inside,  for  the  exhibition  of  refined  manners. 

In  all  this,  princes  and  nobles,  future  men  of  letters 
and  of  action,  are  mingling  in  daily  life,  in  contest  and 
emulation,  with  sons  of  the  simplest  burghers.  Des- 
cartes^ notes  these  points  sagaciously,  when  he  recom- 
mends to  a  friend  the  College  of  La  Fleche  :  "  Young 
people  are  there,"  he  says,  "  from  all  parts  of  France ; 
there  is  a  mingling  of  characters ;  their  mutual  inter- 
course effects  almost  the  same  good  results  as  if  they 
were  actually  travelling;  and,  in  fine,  the  equality 
which  the  Jesuits  establish  among  all,  by  treating  just 
in  the  same  Avay  those  who  are  most  illustrious  and 
those  who  are  not  so,  is  an  extremely  good  invention."  ^ 

1  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  ii,  Pachtler,  p.  261.  Ad- 
dita  quffidam  Exercitiis  Litterariis  Humanistarum,  1580 ;  prior  to 
tlie  completed  Ratio  Studiorum.  2  ibid.,  p.  262. 

3  Lettre  xc. 

4  Compare  Chateaubriand's  Genius  of  Christianity,  part  iv,  book 
vi,  Recapitulation;  translation  by  Dr.  Chas.  L  White;  Baltimore, 
1884,  p.  037  seq. 


INTELLECTUAL   SCOPE   AND   METHOD.  93 

As  the  new  sciences  came  into  vogue,  they  received 
at  once  the  freedom  of  this  city  of  intellect ;  and  here 
they  received  it  first.  It  has  been  said,  indeed,  that 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  "obstinately  bound  to  its  for- 
malism, refused  to  admit  anything  modern,  real,  and 
actual,  and  that  the  national  languages  and  literatures, 
as  well  as  the  new  developing  sciences,  fared  ill  at  its 
hands.''  This  statement,  as  far  as  it  concerns  France, 
is  examined  by  Father  Charles  Daniel,  who  to  other 
valuable  works  of  his  own  has  added  the  neat  little 
essay  called,  Les  Jesuites  InstUuteurs  de  la  Jeunesse 
Frangaise,  au  XVII^  et  au  XVIII^  si^de}  As  to  Ger- 
many, we  shall  see  indications  enough  on  all  these 
subjects  in  the  Monumenta  Germanice  Pcedagogica. 
For  all  countries  there  is  a  sufficiency  of  information, 
in  the  mere  text  of  the  Eatio  Studiorum,  in  Jouvancy's 
classic  commentary  thereupon,  De  Batione  Discendi  et 
Docendi,  and  other  authentic  documents,  besides  the 
actual  practice  visible  in  the  colleges.  But  the  whole 
question  about  the  vernacular  tongues,  as  if  they  were 
kept  out  of  the  colleges  by  Latin  and  Greek,  is  so  far 
an  anachronism  for  the  dates  and  epochs,  regarding 
which  some  moderns  have  agitated  the  question,  that 
I  shall  tell  a  little  anecdote,  which  will  not  be  so  much 
of  a  digression,  but  that  it  will  place  us  back  just 
where  we  are  at  present. 

In  1605,  Lord  Bacon  published  his  two  books  on 
the  Advancement  of  Learning.  The  work  is  consid- 
ered the  first  part  of  his  "Novum  Organum."  He  un- 
dertakes to  "make  a  small  Globe,"  as  he  says,  "of 
the  Intellectual  World,  as  truly  and  faithfully  as  he 
1  Paris,  Victor  Palme,  1880. 


94  LOYOLA. 

can  discover.^  His  subject  is  identical,  as  far  as  it 
goes,  with  the  much  more  extensive  and  exhaustive 
work  of  Father  Anthony  Possevino,  a  famous  Jesuit, 
who  had  published,  twelve  years  before,  the  results 
of  twenty  years'  travel  and  observation,  while  ful- 
filling, in  many  countries,  the  important  duties  of 
Apostolic  Legate,  Preacher,  Professor.  I  have  two 
editions  of  his  great  tomes  before  me.  The  first  is 
that  of  Kome,  1593 ;  the  other  that  of  Venice,  1603  ; 
this  latter  is  called  "  the  most  recent  edition."  ^  The 
only  indication  which  I  discern  of  Bacon's  not  having 
profited  by  Possevino  is  this,  that  he  says :  '^  No  man 
hath  propounded  to  himself  the  general  state  of  learn- 
ing to  be  described  and  represented  from  age  to  age."  ^ 
Now,  as  this  is  saying  too  much,  for  it  just  indicates 
what  Possevino's  labors  had  been  showing  to  the 
world  during  twelve  years,  I  must  conclude  that  there 
is  no  assurance  whatever,  but  that  Bacon  profited  by 
Possevino :  he  seems  merely  to  have  gone  over  the 
same  ground  in  English,  and  done  justice  to  the  subject, 
in  his  own  peculiar  way.  Accordingly,  he  did  it  what 
justice  he  could,  in  English.  Three  years  later  he 
writes  to  Dr.  Playfer,  Margaret  Professor  of  Divinity 
in  the  University  of  Cambridge,  requesting  that  the 
Doctor  would  be  pleased  to  translate  the  work  into 

1  Works ;  Philadelphia  edit.  1859,  vol.  i,  p.  244. 

2  Bibliotheca  Selecta  in  qua  agitur  de  Ratione  Studiorum,  in 
Historia,  in  Disciplinis,  in  Salute  Omnium  procuranda.  De  Backer 
in  his  Bibliotheque  des  Ecrivains  de  la  Campagnie  de  Jesus  gives 
the  list  of  republications,  either  in  whole  or  in  part.  Sommer- 
vogel's  new  work,  royal  quarto,  Bibliotheque  de  la  Compagnie  de 
Jesus,  1890,  has  reached  thus  far  only  to  the  letter  B ;  hence  Posse- 
vino is  not  yet  entered.  3  ibid.,  p.  187. 


INTELLECTUAL   SCOPE    AND   METHOD.  9o 

Latin;  and  his  lordship  promises  eternal  gratitude. 
What  reasons  does  the  noble  author  urge  for  this  re- 
quest ?  Two  reasons,  of  which  the  first  is  very  note- 
worthy for  our  purpose :  —  "  the  privateness  of  the 
language,  wherein  it  is  written,  excluding  so  many 
readers ! "  And  the  second  is  almost  as  worthy  of 
note  :  — "  the  obscurity  of  the  argument,  in  many 
parts  of  it,  excluding  many  others  !  "  ^  Here  we  have 
our  domestic  classic  author,  in  the  year  1608,  endeav- 
oring to  get  out  of  his  narrow  cell,  the  "  privateness 
of  the  English  language,"  into  the  broad  world  of  the 
literary  public,  where  the  Jesuit  with  his  tomes  was 
enjoying  to  the  full  his  literary  franchise.  This  does 
not  look  as  if  the  colleges,  at  that  time,  kept  the  lan- 
guages down,  but  rather  that  they  had  in  their  gift  the 
full  freedom  of  the  literary  world,  and  sent  students 
forth  to  walk  abroad  at  their  ease  there,  where  Bacon 
humbly  sued  for  admission  ! 

■  I  was  going  to  quote  from  Posse  vino,  describing  in 
a  graphic  way  the  daily  intellectual  life  of  the  great 
Roman  College,  with  its  two  thousand  and  more  stu- 
dents, besides  the  great  body  of  Professors.  But  my 
limits  forbid  me  to  do  more  than  refer  to  it.^ 

There  are  two  views  which  may  be  taken  of  a  coin 
and  its  stamp.  One  is  taken  direct,  looking  at  it  in 
itself:  the  other  is  indirect,  observing  the  impression 
it  leaves  in  the  mould.  It  leaves  a  defined  vacancy 
there.  What  kind  of  vacancy  was  left  in  the  intellec- 
tual culture  of  Europe,  when  this  intellectual  system 

1  Ibid.,  p.  136. 

2  Ch.  10,  of  book  1,  Ratio  Collegiorum  et  Scholarum,  etc.,  end  of 
chapter ;  Roman  edit. 


96  LOYOLA. 

was  suddenly  swept  away  ?  Before  the  Suppression 
of  the  Society,  some  of  the  institutions,  which  had 
thriven  at  all,  had  been  inspired  by  a  healthful  rivalry. 
They  found,  when  the  Society  was  gone,  that  part  of 
their  life  decayed.  And,  while  they  themselves  be- 
gan to  languish,  the  place  of  the  Jesuits  they  could 
not  fill.  Of  some  others,  who  lived  a  life  barely  dis- 
cernible, we  are  given  to  understand,  that  their  vital- 
ity consisted  in  the  effort  to  keep  the  Jesuits  out.  I 
will  take  an  instance  from  Bayonne. 

A  work  has  just  been  published  on  the  municipal 
college  of  Bayonne,  by  the  Censor  of  Studies,  in  the 
Lyceum  of  Agen.^  In  seventy  pages,  which  concern 
transactions  with  the  Jesuits,^  the  author,  in  no  friendly 
tone,  narrates  the  entire  history  from  the  documents 
of  the  Jansenist  party.  I  will  imitate  this  example 
of  his  so  far  as  to  narrate  the  following  entirely  in 
his  own  words. 

Beginning  his  last  chapter,  entitled  "Eeform  and 
Conclusion,"  he  says  in  a  tone  somewhat  subdued,  but 
not  more  so  than  his  subject:^  '^This  then  was  the 
College  of  Bayonne,  which,  for  a  few  years  more,  pro- 
longed an  existence  ever  more  and  more  precarious ; 
and  it  was  finally  closed  in  1792,  in  spite  of  several 
generous  efforts  at  restoring  it. 

^^But  already,"  he  continues,  "for  thirty  years,  a 
great  literary  event  had  been  accomplished  in  secondary 
education.   A  decree  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  dated 

iHistoire  d'un  College  Municipal  aux  XVI«,  XVII «,  et  XVIII « 
siecles  ...  a  Bayonne  avant  1789.  These  presentee  a  la  Faculte 
des  Lettres  de  Toulouse,  par  J.  M.  Drevon,  censeur  des  Iiltudes  au 
Lycee  d'Ageu,  1890.    About  500  pages.        2  Pp,  160-234.         3  p.  429. 


INTELLECTUAL  SCOPE   AND   METHOD.  97 

the  16th  of  August,  1762,  had  pronounced  the  expul- 
sion of  the  ^  ci-devant  soi-disants  Jesuites ' ;  which 
decree  was  this  time  definitively  executed.  ISTow  the 
Jesuits,  in  their  five  Provinces  of  France,  possessed 
then  nearly  a  hundred  colleges.  Judge  of  the  immense 
void  Vvdiich  was  suddenly  created  in  the  secondary' 
instruction  of  the  Province,  ill  j)repared  for  so  abrupt 
a  departure !  There  was  a  general  confusion,  and  a 
concert,  as  it  were,  of  complaints  and  recriminations. 
Where  get  the  new  masters  ?  .  .  .  The  disciplinary 
and  financial  administration  of  the  colleges,  left 
vacant  by  the  Jesuits,  was  confided  to  the  bureaus, 
that  is  to  say,  assemblies  composed  of  the  Archbishop 
or  Bishop,  the  Lieutenant  General,  the  King's  Proctor, 
and  the  senior  Alderman.  .  .  .  Every  one  soon  felt 
the  inconveniences  of  this  system.  The  municipal 
officers  of  the  cities,  the  bureaus  themselves  hastened 
to  petition  the  King,  that  their  colleges  might  be  con- 
fided to  religious  communities.  Thus  it  was  that  the 
greater  part  of  the  old  Jesuit  colleges  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Benedictines  and  Bernardines,  of  the 
Carmelites  and  Minims,  of  Jacobins  and  Cordeliers, 
of  Capuchins  and  Recollects,  of  Doctrinaires  and  Bar- 
nabites,  and  above  all,  of  the  Oratorians.  But  all 
these  Religious,  except  the  Oratorians,  fell  far  short 
of  the  Jesuits.  The  greater  part  had  not  even  any 
idea  of  teaching,  etc."  Then  the  author  devotes  a 
heavy  page  to  the  novel  systems  which  were  intro- 
duced. He  closes  the  paragraph  sadly  :  "  All  this 
agitation,"  he  says,  '^  was  unfortunately  sterile ;  and, 
as  I  have  just  said,  secondary  instruction,  on  the  eve 
of  the  French  Revolution,  had  not  taken  a  step  for- 
ward during  fifty  years." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  MORAL  SCOPE  PROPOSED. 

Sweet  is  the  holiness  of  youth,  says  Chaucer.  Nor 
less  grateful  to  the  eye  are  those  gentle  manners  of 
youth,  which  another  bard  portrays  as  impersonated 
in  his  "  celestial  lights,"  who  say :  — 

We  all 
Are  ready  at  thy  pleasure,  well  disposed 
To  do  thee  gentle  service,  i 

Christian  morals  and  Christian  manners  make  the  per- 
fect gentleman. 

Plato  had  put  it  down  that  "he  who  hath  a  good 
soul  is  good" ;  and  he  insisted  that  no  youth,  Avho  has 
had  a  personal  acquaintance  with  evil,  can  have  a 
good  soul.  He  did  not  mean  that  a  youth  must  be  ig- 
norant of  what  temptation  is.  There  is  no  hot-house 
raising  in  this  world  which  will  keep  off  that  blast. 
Every  child,  while  keeping  on  the  royal  road  of  in- 
nocence, has  enough  in  himself,  and  in  the  choicest 
of  surroundings,  to  know  the  realities  of  life  and  its 
warfare.  But  Plato  refers  to  a  personal  experience  of 
the  by-ways,  which  are  not  virtue,  and  which  it  is  not 
necessary  to  travel  by,  in  order  to  know  enough  about 
them.     The  educational  means,  the  industry,  the  vigi- 

1  Dante,  Parad.  viii. 
98 


THE   MORAL   SCOPE   PKOPOSED.  99 

lance,  which  have  for  a  result  the  preservation  of  youth 
in  the  freshness  of  innocence,  signify  a  medium  of  res- 
piration which  is  kept  pure,  and  a  moral  nutriment 
Avhich  is  good  and  is  kept  constantly  supplied,  until 
tender  virtue  has  risen  steadily  into  a  well-knit  recti- 
tude, and  is  able  thenceforth  to  brave  manfully  the 
incidental  storms  of  life. 

For  this  moral  strengthening  of  character,  no  less 
than  for  the  invigorating  of  mental  energies,  the  sys- 
tem of  Ignatius  Loyola  prescribes  an  education  which 
is  public,  —  public,  as  being  that  of  many  students  to- 
gether, public  as  opposed  to  private  tutorism,  public, 
in  fine,  as  requiring  a  sufhciency  of  the  open,  fearless 
exercise  both  of  practical  morality  and  of  religion. 
Since  the  time  of  Ignatius,  Dupanloup  has  observed 
on  this  subject :  — 

"  I  have  heard  a  man  of  great  sense  utter  this  re- 
markable word,  '  If  a  usurping  and  able  government 
wanted  to  get  rid  of  great  races  in  the  country,  and 
root  them  out,  it  need  only  come  down  to  this,  that  it 
require  of  them,  out  of  respect  for  themselves,  to  bring 
up  their  children  at  home,  alone,  far  from  their  equals, 
shut  up  in  the  narrow  horizon  of  a  private  education 
and  a  private  tutor.'  -'  ^ 

The  youthful  material,  on  which  the  Jesuit  system 
had  to  work,  may  be  described  from  two  points  of  view. 
There  were  home  conditions ;  and  there  were  condi- 
tions too  of  the  educational  system,  which  was  com- 
monly prevalent  in  those  centuries. 

As  to  the  circumstances  of  polite  society  at  the  boys' 

1  De  La  Haute  Education  Intellectuelle,  liv.  iv,  cli.  4.  Compare 
Vasco,  vol.  i,  n.  24. 


100  LOYOLA. 

homes,  Charles  Lenormant,  speaking  of  those  times, 
tells  us  that  "  it  was  the  privilege  of  a  gentleman  to 
have  from  his  infancy  the  responsibility  of  his  own 
actions.  The  fathers  of  families  were  the  first  to 
launch  their  sons  into  the  midst  of  the  perils  of  the 
world,  even  before  the  age  of  discernment  had  begun."  ^ 
Even  when  boys'  homes  effect  no  positive  harm,  still, 
oidy  too  often,  they  answer  this  description,  that  they 
undo  the  best  of  what  the  school  training  is  endeavor- 
ing to  effect,  by  the  discipline  of  subordination  and 
the  practice  of  obedience. 

It  was  this  state  of  things  which  made  the  German 
Jesuits,  in  spite  of  themselves,  petition  for  the  requi- 
site authorization  to  open  boarding  colleges  in  the 
north,  as  had  already  been  done  in  Portugal  and  else- 
Avhere.  Eeluctantly  the  authorization  was  given  by 
the  general  assembly.^  These  convictus,  or  loensionyiats, 
were  known  to  make  great  inroads  on  the  time  of  the 
Fathers,  on  their  study,  their  religious  retirement, 
and  especially  on  that  immunity  of  theirs  from  finan- 
cial transactions,  which  they  enjoyed  as  Eeligious. 
The  Constitution  of  Ignatius  offers  no  more  than  a 
bare  foothold  for  the  introduction  of  these  colleges.^ 
Yet  they  have  proved  to  be  the  most  prolific  nurseries 
of  the  eminent  men,  whom  the  Society  has  sent  forth 
into  all  the  walks  of  life. 

Not  at  home  alone  were  effeminacy  and  dissolute- 

1  Essais  sur  I'lnstructioii  Piiblique,  par  Charles  Lenormant, 
membre  de  I'lnstitut;  quoted  by  Rochemonteix,  Le  College  Henri 
IV,  torn,  il,  ch.  1,  p.  49,  iu  his  very  instructive  discussion  on  the 
Jesuit  inter nat,  ox  pensionnat. 

2  Monumenta  Germaniaa  Paedai^ogica,  vol.  ii,  Pachtler,  p.  78. 

3  Const.,  part  iv,  ch.  3,  decl.  B. 


THE  MORAL   SCOPE   PROPOSED.  101 

ness  to  be  feared.  There  were  couditions  of  life  in 
the  university  system  of  the  sixteenth  century,  which 
seemed  considerably  worse  than  those  already  de- 
scribed in  the  first  chapter  of  this  book.  Possevino, 
who  had  spent  ten  years  in  the  midst  of  the  religious 
turmoils  of  France,  and  ten  more  in  Papal  legations 
to  Germany,  Poland,  Hungary,  Transylvania,  Kussia, 
Muscovy,  Sweden,  and  Gothia,  and,  after  that,  four 
more  years  in  visiting  the  universities  throughout 
Europe,  notices  that  there  were  five  ways,  whereby  a 
general  corruption  of  society  had  come  about.  Pirst, 
he  mentions  the  dissemination  of  bad  books.  Secondly, 
"  the  omission  of  lectures ;  or,  when  lectures  were 
held,  such  disturbances  during  them,  with  noise  and 
yells,  that  there  scarce  remained  an  appearance  of 
human,  let  alone  of  Christian,  society.  Thirdly,  fac- 
tions. Fourthly,  sensuality,  to  which  cause  must  be 
referred  that  atrocious  kind  of  iniquity,  whereby  the 
very  walls  of  the  schools  were  defiled  with  writing  and 
the  vilest  pictures  ;  ^  so  that  the  tender  age,  which  had 
come  innocent,  must  go  away  more  polluted  with 
crime,  than  imbued  with  learning,  becoming  hateful 
to  God  himself.  Fifthly,  an  aversion  for  Divine  wor- 
ship, inasmuch  as  disputations  and  graduating  festiv- 
ities and  lectures  have  constantly  been  transferred  to 
those  days  and  those  hours,  when  by  Divine  precept 
public  worship  is  due."  ^ 

The  means  organized  by  Ignatius  into  a  method  of 
moral  education  I  will  sketch  in  the  words  of  his 

1  Turpissimis  signis. 

2  Bibliotbeca  Selecta,  lib.  i,  cb.  44  ;  Quasnam  tetenderit  insidias 
bumani  generis  bostis,  etc. 


102  LOYOLA. 

contemporaries.  Ribadeneira,  his  biographer,  says  : 
''  Those  means  are  employed  by  our  Masters,  whereby 
virtue  is  conceived  in  the  hearts  of  the  pupils,  is  pre- 
served and  augmented.  They  are  morning  prayer, 
for  obtaining  grace  from  God  not  to  fall  into  sin ; 
night  prayer  and  a  diligent  reflection  on  all  the 
thoughts,  words,  and  actions  of  the  day,  to  do  away  by 
contrition  of  heart  with  all  the  faults  committed ;  the 
attentive  and  devout  hearing  of  Mass  every  day ; 
frequent  and  humble  confession  of  sins  to  a  Priest ; 
and  if  they  are  old  enough,  and  great  devotion 
recommends  it,  and  their  confessor  approves  of  it, 
the  reverent  and  pious  reception  of  the  Body  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Clrrist ;  teaching  and  explaining  the 
rudiments  of  the  Christian  faith,  whereby  the  boys 
are  animated  to  live  well  and  happily.  Besides,  great 
pains  are  taken  to  know  and  root  out  the  vices  of  boy- 
hood, especially  such  as  are  somehow  inborn  and 
native  to  that  age."  ^ 

Here,  by  the  way,  the  reader  may  advert  to  the 
fact  that  the  confessional,  of  which  mention  is  made, 
never  comes  in  as  part  of  the  external  means  of  moral 
development ;  nor  is  a  superior  ever  the  confessor 
of  those  under  his  charge,  except  when  desired  to 
be  so  by  the  free  choice  of  the  subordinate  himself. 
A  general  law  of  the  Catholic  Church  ordains  it 
thus. 

Loyola's  biographer  goes  on  to  the  various  means, 

whereby,  in  such  a  multitude  of  young  persons,  the  bad 

element,  which  unfortunately  will  never  die,  is  either 

suppressed  and  kept  at  its  lowest  stage  of  a  struggling 

J  Ribadeneira,  BoUaudists,  nn.  373  seq. 


THE   MORAL   SCOPE   PROPOSED.  103 

vitality,  or  else,  if  it  happens  to  shoot  up,  is  \Yeeded 
out.      The  garden  will  be  none  the  poorer  for  that. 

Nil  dabit  inde  minus  ! 

There  are,  moreover,  the  division  of  students  into 
categories  and  ranks,  with  their  own  officers  from 
among  the  boys  themselves ;  the  degrees  of  honor  and 
preeminence  assigned  to  good  conduct  and  virtue ; 
especially  the  pious  societies  or  Sodalities,  into  which 
none  are  admitted  save  the  most  studious  and  virtu- 
ous among  the  youths ;  and  that  with  a  discrimina- 
tion in  favor  of  superior  merit^  even  among  such  as 
answer  the  general  description.  The  Sodalities  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus,  as  the  subject  of  a  study  upon  the 
management  of  youth,  and  indeed  upon  the  cultivation 
of  all  ranks  in  Christian  society,  from  Peer  and  Field 
Marshal  and  Yicero}^,  down  to  the  little  boy  beginning 
his  career  at  school,  would  deserve  a  special  discourse 
for  themselves. 

I  will  continue  now  from  Possevino,  describing  the 
Koman  College,  which  was  an  object  of  daily  obser- 
vation to  the  capital  of  the  Christian  world.^  "  Here," 
he  says,  "you  have  two  thousand  youths,  among 
whom  reigns  a  deep  silence ;  there  is  no  commotion. 
In  the  classes  there  is  no  reading  of  profane  author  or 
poetj  who  might  inoculate  the  mind  with  defilement." 
I  may  remark  that  Ignatius  had,  from  the  very  first, 
begun  the  method  of  expurgating  authors,  a  task 
which  was  then  carried  on  with  diligence  by  the  lit- 
erary men  of  the  Society.  Our  author  resumes :  "  A 
hundred  daily  occasions  of  sin  and  idleness  are  pre- 
1  Bibliotheca  Selecta,  lib.  1,  ch.  40. 


104  LOYOLA. 

eluded;  a  continuous  series  is  going  on  of  lectures, 
repetitions,  disputations,  conferences."  Then  he  por- 
trays, as  visible  there  in  every-day  life,  many  of  the 
features  which  Ribadeneira  has  mentioned. 

While  idleness  was  under  a  ban,  vacation  was  not  de- 
barred. Its  principles,  however,  were  defined  on  new 
lines.  There  was  a  sufficiency  of  rest  to  be  provided ; 
but  then  no  new  intermissions  were  to  be  granted.  The 
"  sufficiency  "  would  appear  spare  luxury  to  our  looser 
times.^  "  One  week  of  doing  nothing,"  say  the  Fath- 
ers of  Upper  Germany  to  the  General  Aquaviva,  "is 
more  hurtful  to  students,  than  four  weeks  in  which 
some  literary  exercise  is  kept  up " ;  and  "  parents 
take  very  much  amiss  this  state  of  idleness,  if  the  boys 
remain  on  our  hands."  ^ 

In  all  this,  there  was  no  question  of  making  relig- 
ious men  of  the  students.  It  was  a  question  only  of 
Eeligious  making  men  of  them.  Father  George  Bader, 
Provincial  of  Upper  Germany  in  1585,  left  it  in  his 
instructions  for  the  management  of  the  convictus,  at 
Dilingen,  that  "the  Prefects  were  not  to  despair  or 
despond,  if  they  did  not  see  at  once,  or  in  all,  the  im- 
provement desired ;  nor  were  they  to  require  the  per- 
fection of  Eeligious  from  them,  nor  introduce  among 
them  such  practices  of  life,  as  elsewhere  the  students 
could  not  keep  up  in  their  calling ;  but  the  directors 

1  Ratio  Studiorum  of  1599  and  1832,  Reg.  Prov.  37.  The  higher 
courses  are  allowed  a  midsummer  vacation  of  between  one  and  two 
months;  in  the  lower  or  literary  course,  Rhetoric  is  allowed  one 
month,  the  others  classes  less.  Besides  certain  feast-days  during 
the  year,  every  week  must  have  one  day  free,  which,  in  the  higher 
courses,  is  the  whole  day,  hut,  in  the  lower,  is  only  the  latter  part  of  it. 

2 1G02 ;  Monumenta  Germauife  P?edagogica,  vol.  ii,  Pachtler,  p.  467. 


THE   MORAL   SCOPE   PROPOSED.  105 

should  be  content  with  having  a  manner  of  life  fol- 
lowed, which  was  ordinary,  virtuous,  and  pious/"  ^ 

According  to  this  idea,  the  religious  teacher  being  a 
man,  a  citizen,  and  an  ecclesiastic,  his  educational  in- 
dustry has  produced  its  effect,  when  it  has  made  accom- 
plished men,  worthy  citizens,  competent  Ecclesiastics, 
or  Eeligious ;  "  when  in  the  school,"  says  Eibaden- 
eira,  "  as  in  an  arena,  the  students,  foreshadowing  the 
future,  practise  already,  in  their  own  way,  those  same 
virtues  and  duties,  which  in  maturer  years  they  will 
exhibit,  in  the  management  of  the  republic."^  The  rich 
material  of  the  youthful  mind  and  soul  receives  the 
manifold  influence  which  the  teacher's  mind  and  heart 
possess  ;  and  receives  it  after  the  manner  of  the  recipi- 
ent, according  to  his  future  vocation. 

What  the  Jesuit  professors,  in  fact,  were  like,  those 
who  in  after  years  showed  themselves  but  little 
friendly  to  the  Order  did  not  omit  to  testify.  "  Dur- 
ing the  seven  years,"  says  Voltaire,  "  that  I  lived  in 
the  house  of  the  Jesuits,  what  did  I  see  among  them  ? 
The  most  laborious,  frugal,  and  regular  life,  all  their 
hours  divided  between  the  care  they  spent  on  us  and 
the  exercises  of  their  austere  profession.  I  attest  the 
same  as  thousands  of  others  brought  up  by  them,  like 
myself ;  not  one  will  be  found  to  contradict  me.  Hence 
I  never  cease  wondering  how  any  one  can  accuse 
them  of  teaching  corrupt  morality.  .  .  .  Let  any  one 
place  side  by  side  the  'Provincial  Letters'  and  the 
Sermons  of  Father  Bourdaloue ;  he  will  learn  in  the 
former  the  art  of  raillery,  the  art  of  presenting  things, 

iMonumenta  Germaniae  Paedagogica,  vol.  ii,  Paclitler,  p.  411. 
-  Bollandists,  n.  374. 


106  LOYOLA. 

indifferent  in  themselves,  under  aspects  which  make 
them  appear  criminal,  the  art  of  insulting  with  elo- 
quence ;  he  will  learn  from  Father  Bourdaloue,  that  of 
being  severe  to  oneself,  and  indulgent  toward  others."^ 

History  is  uniform  in  bearing  witness  that  the  gen- 
eral effects  of  their  teaching  corresponded  to  the  ex- 
ample of  these  Professors,  in  spite  of  the  fact,  as 
Cretineau-Joly  puts  it,  that  even  from  the  hands  of 
religious  men  the  impious  can  still  come  forth,  as,  in 
the  school  of  the  wise,  dunces  and  dolts  may  still  be 
found.^  Man  is  still  and  always  free.  However,  if  it 
follows  thence,  that  not  only  a  positive,  but  a  negative 
result  may  always  be  expected ;  such  a  double  result 
may  be  set  off  by  two  consoling  reflections,  which  I 
will  mention,  in  order  to  complete  the  picture  of  this 
education  in  practice. 

The  first  is,  that  since,  from  the  school  of  virtue 
and  religiousness,  vice  can  still  issue  forth,  and,  as  the 
General  Vitelleschi  says,  a  good  education,  though 
almost  omnipotent,  may,  like  the  morning  dew,  evapo- 
rate and  be  lost  in  the  first  heat  of  manhood's  passions,^ 
what  would  be  the  results  of  the  system,  if  it  had  less 
piety  to  enlighten,  or  less  of  an  organized  practice  of 
virtue  to  confirm,  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  young  ? 

Another  reflection  is  this  :  that  human  nature,  how- 
ever erratic  by  defect  of  will,  still  remains  beautiful, 

1  Lettre  7  fevrier,  1740 ;  CEuvres,  torn,  viii,  p.  1128 ;  edit.  1817. 

2  Cretineau-Joly,  Histoire  de  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus,  torn,  iv,  ch. 
3,  p.  209;  edit.  1851.  This  chapter  and  the  following  one,  ch.  4,  in 
Cretineau-Joly,  pp.  158-207,  contain  the  most  varied  information  on 
our  subject,  regarding  professors,  writers,  scholars,  etc. 

3  Epistola  de  Institutione  Jiiventutis,  et  Studiis  Litterarum  Pro- 
movendis,  1639;  Mon.  Germ.  Paed.,  vol.  ix,  Pachtler,  p.  62. 


THE   MORAL   SCOPE   PROPOSED.  107 

thanks  to  the  original  gift  of  God.  Whence  it  comes, 
that  impiety  is  found  beautifully  inconsistent ;  and, 
in  its  lucid  intervals,  it  makes  the  due  acknowledg- 
ment, as  he  did,  who  once  said  :  — 

0  thou,  that  with  surpassing  gloiy  crowned, 
Look'st  from  thy  sole  dominion  ... 

To  thee  I  call.  .  .  . 

To  tell  thee  how  I  hate  thy  beams, 

That  bring  to  my  remembrance  from  what  state 

1  fell.i 

The  Society  of  Jesus  has  many  a  time  been  elegantly 
blessed  and  cursed  by  the  same  eloquent  lips  and  pens. 
The  secret  of  this  magisterial  ascendency,  as  Ig- 
natius of  Loyola  projected  it,  was  to  be  found  in 
the  Masters'  intellectual  attainments,  which  naturally 
impressed  youthful  minds;  and  also  in  a  paternal 
affection  which,  of  course,  won  youthful  hearts.  Does 
anything  more  seem  necessary  for  the  full  idea  of 
authority  ?  The  committee  appointed  by  the  canton 
of  Eribourg,  for  restoring  the  Fathers  to  their  old  col- 
lege in  1818,  mention  as  one  reason  for  having  done 
so,  that  "  the  will  cannot  be  chained ;  it  will  not  sub- 
mit to  restraint.  You  can  win  it,  but  not  subjugate 
it."  And  they  speak  of  that  "most  lively  attach- 
ment" ever  abiding  in  the  hearts  of  students  towards 
members  of  the  Order,  which  they  have  known  as  the 
cradle  of  their  youth.-  The  same  Father  Bader, 
whom  I  have  quoted  before,  defines  where  authority 
lies,  w^hen  he  says  :  "  Let  not  the  Prefects  consider 
their  authority  to  consist  in  this,  that  the  students  are 

1  Paradise  Lost,  book  iv. 

2  Notice  sur  le  Pensionnat .  etc.  a  Frihourg  en  Suisse,  1839,  pp.  56  seq. 


108  LOYOLA. 

on  hand  in  obedience  to  their  nod,  their  every  word, 
or  their  very  look;  but  in  this,  that  the  boys  love 
them,  approach  with  confidence,  and  make  their  diffi- 
culties known."  Speaking  of  penalties,  he  goes  on : 
"  The  pupils  should  be  led  to  understand  that  such  rep- 
rehensions are  necessary  and  are  prompted  by  affection; 
and  let  it  be  the  most  grievous  rebuke  or  penalty  for 
them  to  know  that  they  have  offended  their  Prefect."  ^ 

Thus,  in  the  education  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
there  came  into  play  a  gradual  reaction  against  the 
harshness  and  brusquer  manners  of  earlier  times. 
Speaking  of  conversation  with  the  students,  the  Gen- 
eral Vitelleschi,  in  1639,  gives  characteristic  direc- 
tions :  "  It  will  be  very  useful  if  from  time  to  time 
the  Professors  treat  with  their  auditors,  and  con- 
verse with  them,  not  about  vain  rumors  and  other 
affairs  that  are  not  to  the  purpose,  but  about  those 
which  appertain  most  to  their  well-being  and  educa- 
tion ;  going  down  to  particulars  that  seem  most  to 
meet  their  wants;  and  showing  them,  in  a  familiar 
way,  how  they  ought  to  conduct  themselves  in  studies 
and  piety.  Let  the  Professors  be  persuaded  that  a 
single  talk  in  private,  animated  with  true  zeal  and 
prudence  on  their  part,  will  penetrate  the  heart  more 
and  work  more  powerfully,  than  many  lectures  and 
sermons  given  in  common."  - 

Here  then  I  have  touched  on  the  secrets  of  success, 
those  principles  which  commanded  esteem,  and  shed 
about  the  Order  an  unmistakable  halo  of  educational 
prestige. 

1 1585 ;  Monumenta  Germanise  Psedagogica,  vol.  ii,  Paclitler,  p.  411. 
2  Monumenta  Germanise  Psedagogica,  vol.  ix,  Pachtler,  p.  59. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

IGNATIUS    ADMINISTERING   THE    COLLEGIATE    SYSTEM. 
HIS  DEATH. 

The  first  two  colleges  were  established  in  the  same 
year,  1542,  —  one  of  them  in  the  royal  university  at 
Coimbra  in  Portugal,  the  other  at  Groa  in  Hindustan. 
Though  they  were  organized  at  an  early  date,  only 
two  years  after  the  foundation  of  the  Order,  when  as 
yet  no  system  had  been  formally  adopted,  neverthe- 
less these  two  first  colleges,  a  good  many  thousands  of 
miles  apart,  were  found  to  have  been  established  in 
precisely  the  same  way.  Francis  Xavier,  having  been 
assigned  to  the  apostolic  ministry  in  the  East,  began 
a  university  there,  in  which  all  the  sciences  and 
branches  were  professed,  just  as  in  the  European  col- 
leges. This  became  the  base  of  operations  for  Japan^ 
China,  Persia,  Ethiopia,  and  the  other  nations  of  the 
East.  Forty  years  later,  there  were  as  many  as  one 
hundred  and  twenty  Jesuits  in  the  college. 

In  1542,  Ignatius  had  a  select  body  of  fifteen  or  six- 
teen young  men  studying  in  Paris ;  others  he  had 
placed  in  Padua  or  elsewhere.  He  availed  himself  of 
the  actual  universities  until  such  time  as  he  should 
have  his  own.  War  breaking  out  between  the  Em- 
peror Charles  V  and  the  French  King  Francis,  all 
Spaniards  and  Belgians  were  ordered  out  of  France. 

109 


110  LOYOLA. 

Such  as  were  Italians  remaining  in  Paris,  the  other 
young  Jesuits  crossed  the  frontier  to  Louvain,  under 
the  charge  of  Father  Jerome  Domenech.  There  the 
Latin  oratory  of  the  youth,  Francis  Strada,  whom  Le- 
fevre,  on  his  way  through  Belgium,  supplied  with 
matter  for  his  orations,^  helped  to  build  up  the  Order 
rapidly  with  two  kinds  of  men,  talented  youths,  who 
were  captivated  by  the  things  they  saw  and  heard, 
and  men  already  eminent,  who  were  equally  at- 
tracted by  the  scope  of  the  new  Institute.  In  the 
young  Strada  preaching  and  the  eminent  Lefevre 
going  out  of  his  way  to  subsidize  him  with  matter,  we 
catch  a  family  glimpse  of  that  intensified  force  which 
can  be  developed  in  a  closely  bound  organization. 

Conspicuously  wanting  in  gifts  of  presence  and  of 
learning,  Francis  Villanova,  sent  by  Ignatius  to  the 
university  seat  of  Alcala,  won  such  an  ascendency 
there  by  his  other  qualities  as  a  Priest,  that  a  com- 
modious and  flourishing  college  was  soon  founded. 
Father  Jerome  Domenech  endowed  one  in  his  native 
city  of  Valentia,  1543.  Lefevre  and  Araoz,  following 
awhile  by  royal  request  in  the  suite  of  the  Princess 
Mary,  daughter  of  the  Portuguese  King,  and  queen  of 
the  Spanish  King,  founded  a  college  at  Yalladolid. 
In  Gandia,  his  own  duchy,  Francis  Borgia  erected 
and  richly  equipped  a  university,  which  was  the  first 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Society. 

Colleges  at  Barcelona,  Bologna,  Saragossa,  arose 
within  the  next  two  or  three  years ;  also  at  Messina, 
Palermo,  Venice,  and  Tivoli.  It  is  evident  that  Igna- 
tius had  a  world  of  administration  already  on  his 
Manare,  Comnientarius. 


THE  COLLEGIATE   SYSTEM.  Ill 

hands.  As  early  as  March  16,  1540,  he  had  excused 
himself  from  granting  an  application,  because  of 
"  much  pains  he  was  taking  in  sending  some  to  the  In- 
dies, others  to  Ireland  and  to  parts  of  Italy."  Now, 
though  his  forces  were  increasing,  yet  he  was  husband- 
ing them ;  and  even  so,  while  refusing  many  applica- 
tions, he  seemed  to  be  everywhere.  But  this  need  not 
be  so  much  a  matter  of  wonder,  if  we  consider  that  it 
is  the  right  place,  and  the  right  move  at  the  proper 
time,  that  commands  other  places,  movements,  and 
times. 

At  the  death  of  Lefevre,  in  1546,  the  onward  move- 
ment of  these  select  men,  coming  in  contact,  either 
friendly  or  adverse,  with  every  actual  power  in  Eu- 
rope, was  so  impressive  for  its  strategic  completeness, 
and  so  far-reaching  in  its  results,  that,  as  an  historian 
remarks,  "  These  ten  men,  so  ably  chosen,  had  accom- 
plished to  their  entire  satisfaction,  in  less  than  six 
years,  what  the  most  absolute  monarch  would  not  have 
ventured  to  exact  of  the  most  blind  devotedness."  ^ 

Hardly  had  Lefevre  departed  this  life,  when  his 
place  was  taken  by  the  last  man  whom  he  had  dealt 
with,  Francis  Borgia,  Duke  of  Gandia,  the  friend  and 
cousin  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  Still  wearing  his 
ducal  robes,  until  his  temporal  affairs  could  be  settled, 
he  came  to  Rome  in  1550.  He  founds  the  Eoman  Col- 
lege, which  is  the  centre  and  type  of  all  Jesuit  col- 
leges. 

It  was  begun  on  February  18th,  1551,  at  the  foot  of 
the  Capitol,  with  fourteen  members  of  the  Order,  and 
Father  John  Peltier,  a  Frenchman,  at  their  head. 
1  Cretineau-Joly,  torn,  i,  ch.  3,  p.  150. 


112  LOYOLA. 

Doubling  this  number  in  the  following  September,  the 
College  moved  to  a  larger  building.  The  Professors 
taught  Ehetoric,  and  three  languages,  Hebrew,  Greek, 
and  Latin.  In  1553,  the  entire  course  of  Philosophy 
and  Theology  was  added.  The  number  of  Jesuit 
students  among  the  auditory  amounted,  in  this  year, 
to  sixty,  and,  in  the  following  year,  to  one  hundred. 
A  few  years  later,  Vittoria  Toffia,  niece  of  Paul  IV, 
and  wife  of  Camillo  Orsini,  provided  the  institution 
with  a  splendid  property.  Thenceforth,  the  number 
of  Jesuit  students  alone  was  as  high  as  220,  brought 
together  from  sixteen  or  more  different  nations,  most 
of  them  familiar  with  many  languages,  all  speaking 
by  rule  the  tongue  of  the  country  in  which  they  were 
residing,  and  all  competent  to  speak  and  teach  in  the 
one  universal  and  learned  language  of  the  time,  the 
Latin  tongue. 

Of  students  not  belonging  to  the  Order,  nearly 
twenty  colleges  are  enumerated,  at  some  periods,  as 
following  the  courses  of  this  central  Koman  College. 
They  included  the  colleges  of  the  English,  the  Greeks, 
the  Scotch,  the  Maronites,  the  Irish,  and  the  Ne- 
ophytes; the  Colleges  named  Capranica,  Fuccioli, 
Mattel,  Pamfili,  Salviati,  Ghislierij  the  German  Col- 
lege and  the  College  Gymnasio;  also  the  Koman 
Seminary.  Of  the  2107  students  counted,  as  follow- 
ing the  courses  at  a  given  time,  300  were  in  theology. 
The  most  eminent  professors  filled  the  chairs,  in  suc- 
cessive generations ;  theologians  like  Suarez  and 
Vasquez,  commentators  like  Cornelius  a  Lapide  and 
Maldonado,  founders  or  leaders  in  the  schools  of  na- 
tional history  like  Mariana  and  Pallavicini ;  Clavius, 


THE    COLLEGIATE   SYSTEM.  113 

reformer  of  the  Gregorian  calendar ;  Kircher,  univer- 
sal in  all  exact  sciences ;  and  so  of  the  rest ;  while 
the  cycle  of  colleges  over  the  world  remained  pro- 
vided with  their  requisite  forces,  and  maintained  their 
own  prestige.^ 

The  emblem  of  this  institution  was  Theology,  en- 
throned, as  it  were,  in  a  temple  of  imposing  propor- 
tions. At  her  right  and  left  two  Maids  of  Honor  stand; 
they  are  the  Natural  Sciences.  One  of  them,  repre- 
senting Mathematics,  is  placing  the  celestial  sphere 
under  the  feet  of  the  august  goddess  seated ;  the  other, 
representing  Physics,  is  subjecting,  in  like  manner, 
the  orb  of  the  earth.  The  legend  attached  reads  : 
Leges  impone  subactis. 

In  forty  or  fifty  years  such  an  investment  of  talent, 
character,  and  virtue,  had  been  made,  by  management 
within  the  Order,  and  by  that  power  to  which  Igna- 
tius always  appealed.  Divine  Providence,  that  Kome 
had  seen  pass  through  this  house  the  most  distin- 
guished men  of  the  age,  in  every  line  of  intellectual 
life,  of  moral  eminence,  and  of  all  that  could  elevate 
the  thoughts  of  noble  and  generous  minds.  For  the 
young,  in  particular,  three  characters  came,  figures 
that  were  to  fill  the  niches  and  terminate  the  aisles 
of  contemplation,  as  the  ideal  choice  of  the  bloom  of 
youth  —  Stanislaus  Kostka,  a  young  Polish  noble  of 
seventeen,  Aloysius  G-onzaga,  an  Italian  prince  of 
twenty -three,  and  John  Berchmans,  a  Flemish  burgher 
of  twenty-two.  Being  what  they  were,  and  leaving 
this  life  at  such  an  age,  they  have  appropriated  in  the 
Catholic  Church  the  honors  of  the  young. 

1  Compare  Cretineau-Joly,  torn,  i,  ch.  6;  torn,  iv,  chs.  3,  4. 


114  LOYOLA. 

Witli  regard  to  Germany,  it  is  with  a  classic  touch, 
as  of  Caesar's  style,  that  an  historian  introduces  the  sub- 
ject thus :  Germayiia,  quo  gravius  laboravit,  hoc  studiosius 
adjuta  est;  Ignatio  nulla  regio  commendatior}  Nor 
will  the  association  be  considered  far-fetched,  if,  sub- 
stituting for  Caesar's  pen  and  Caesar's  sword,  Loyola's 
legislation  for  letters  and  his  strategic  tactics,  one 
catches  a  suggestive  idea,  on  the  present  topic,  from 
that  statue  of  the  same  Koman  General,  which  repre- 
sents him  as  holding  in  one  hand  a  sword,  and  in  the 
other  a  pen,  with  the  words  inscribed  underneath.  Ex 
utroqne  Coesar. 

Of  the  services  of  those  nine  men,  with  whom  he 
founded  the  Order,  he  spent  a  large  part  upon  Ger- 
many. Lefevre  was  there,  Le  Jay,  Bobadilla,  Sal- 
meron,  Laynez ;  not  to  mention  the  great  Canisius  (de 
Hondt),  a  young  man  already  in  the  field,  who  was  to 
stay  there  for  half  a  century.  It  is  of  these  men  and 
their  work  that  Eanke  writes :  ^'  Of  what  country 
were  these,  the  first  of  their  Order  amongst  us  ? 
They  were  natives  of  Spain,  Italy,  the  Netherlands. 
For  a  long  time,  even  the  name  of  their  Society  was 
unknown,  and  they  were  styled  the  Spanish  Priests. 
They  filled  the  chairs  of  the  universities,  and  there 
met  with  disciples  willing  to  embrace  their  faith. 
Germany  has  no  part  in  them ;  their  doctrine,  their 
constitution,  had  been  completed  and  reduced  to  form, 
before  they  appeared  in  our  midst.  We  may  then 
regard  the  progress  of  their  Institute  here,  as  a  new 

1  The  more  heavily  the  strain  of  war  bore  upon  Germany,  the 
more  assiduously  were  the  succors  sent  in;  no  part  of  the  field 
was  more  under  Loyola's  eye. 


THE   COLLEGIATE   SYSTEM.  115 

participation  of  Latin  Europe  in  German  Europe. 
They  have  defeated  us  upon  our  own  soil,  and  wrested 
from  us  a  share  of  our  fatherland."  ^ 

In  concert  with  the  Duke  of  Bavaria  and  the  Em- 
peror Ferdinand,  Ingolstadt  and  Vienna  became  the 
two  first  centres  of  operations.  Ingolstadt  was  in- 
deed destined  to  become  soon  one  -of  the  most  repre- 
sentative universities  of  the  Company,  and  the  Ger- 
man centre  of  what  has  been  called  the  "Counter- 
Reformation."  2  But  Ignatius  would  not  accept  it, 
without  the  clearest  enunciation  of  some  fundamental 
principles  in  the  educational  work  of  his  Institute. 
I  will  mention  them. 

First,  the  condition  of  all  higher  studies,  and  of  lower 
studies  as  well,  was  such,  that,  as  Ignatius  said,  it  was 
useless  to  begin  with  the  top,  which  without  a  good 
foundation  will  never  stand.  The  disappointment  of 
individual  hopes  and  of  general  expectation  would  be 
the  only  result,  with  demoralization  for  the  future. 
Let  Literature,  he  said,  and  Philosophy  be  gone 
through  satisfactorily;  then  Theology  may  be  ap- 
proached. Literature  must  come  first  of  all.  Hence 
Polanco,  the  secretary  of  Ignatius,  writes  to  the  Duke 
of  Bavaria,  in  1551,  that  the  "  Jesuits  must  begin  by 
undertaking  preparatory  teaching,  with  Professors 
capable  of  inspiring  their  young  students,  little  by 
little,  with  a  taste  for  Theology."  ^ 

1  History  of  the  Papacy,  vol.  i,  book  v,  §  .3;  The  First  Jesuit 
Schools  in  Germany;  Foster's  translation,  p.  417. 

2  Compare  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  ix,  Pachtler, 
Nr.  72 ;  Nr.  91 ;  Nr.  92,  etc. 

3  This  very  instructive  correspondence  may  be  seen  sketched  in 
Genelli's  Life  of  St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola,  part  ii,  ch.  8,  pp.  342  seg.  1889. 


116  LOYOLA. 

Secondly,  we  may  recall  to  mind  what  was  mentioned 
before/  that  Ignatius  provides  for  Law  and  Medicine 
in  his  universities,  but  the  professors  of  these  depart- 
ments are  to  be  taken  from  without  the  Order.  Now, 
quite  as  a  counterpart  to  this,  we  find  him  declaring 
to  the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  that  it  is  at  variance  with  his 
plan  to  lend  any  Professors  or  Lecturers  of  the  Order 
for  work  outside  of  Jesuit  institutions.  Therefore 
a  college  must  be  founded  for  them,  or  the  Duke 
cannot  have  them. 

The  reason  for  this  reserve  is  not  hard  to  discern. 
In  an  organization  like  his,  there  are  no  men  at  large 
to  lend.  And,  were  the  most  eminent  men  assigned 
for  work  outside  of  the  Jesuit  colleges  and  universi- 
ties, the  younger  generation  of  the  Order  would  prac- 
tically be  debarred  from  the  influence  of  their  type  of 
eminence.  And  again,  if  there  were  eminent  men 
laboring  in  a  country,  without  the  stable  abode  of  a 
Jesuit  college  in  the  same  place,  there  would  be  no 
propagating  the  distinctive  work  of  the  Order  itself, 
by  means  of  the  men  of  that  country.  Yet,  as  he  pro- 
jected a  native  clergy  for  Germany,  so  he  intended 
native  Jesuits  for  the  Germans.  Besides,  it  does  not 
seem  possible  to  accept  of  a  chair  outside,  except  on 
the  basis  of  some  pecuniary  consideration  for  the  in- 
dividual Professor.  Now  this  is  a  situation  which  he 
does  not  accept.  A  Professed  Father  is  not  to  sacri- 
fice his  religious  life  and  independence,  bound  to  a 
work  outside  of  the  Order's  own  houses,  and  that  for  a 
valuable  consideration.  Ignatius  accepts  of  no  obli- 
gations to  fill  chairs,  save  as  accepting  universities, 
1  Ch.  6,  above,  p.  84. 


THE   COLLEGIATE   SYSTEM.  117 

which  coutain  those  chairs.^  And,  as  to  pecuniary 
considerations,  his  principle  is,  Gratis  accepistis,  gra- 
tis date;  "Give  freely  what  you  have  freely  re- 
ceived." To  this  cardinal  principle  the  statutes  of 
so  many  universities,  if  not  of  all,  in  which  a  Jesuit 
College  conducted  any  of  the  faculties,  distinctly 
refer,  as  the  ground  for  exempting  Keligious  of  the 
Society  from  all  pecuniary  charges,  incidental  to 
university  affairs.^  No  ingenious  compromise  was 
admitted  which  tended  to  relax  this  principle,  regard- 
ing a  pecuniary  consideration.^  On  the  contraiy,  the 
most  legitimate  and  ample  revenues  offered  were  not 
accepted  as  a  recommendation  for  a  university,  it 
there  were  any  conditions  whatever  not  in  keeping 
with  the  Institute.^ 

The  German  College  in  Rome  was  founded  by  Ig- 
natius, to  form  German  ecclesiastics  for  the  Germans. 
At  that  time  benefices  and  parochial  cures,  in  the 
German  Emperor's  dominions,  Avere  generally  vacant 
for  want  of  Priests.  It  soon  came  to  pass  that  Priests 
were  found  to  be  in  waiting,  for  want  of  benefices.  It 
was  not  merely  for  the  ordinary  cure  of  souls  that 
this  college  received  so  much  attention  from  Loyola. 
True  to  himself,  ever  contemplating  something  emi- 
nent,—  rarum  et  eximium  facinus,  as  he  said  once  to 

1  Const.,  pars  iv,  c.  7,  decl.  E. 

2  Compare  Mon.  Germ.  Paed.,  vol.  ii,  Pachtler,  Nr.  38,  the  theo- 
logical faculty  of  the  University  of  Wiirzburg,  p.  303,  n.  7  ;  Mon. 
Germ.  Psed.,  vol.  ix,  Pachtler,  Nr.  67,  p.  102,  and  Nr.  68,  p.  178,  the 
theological  and  philosophical  faculties  of  the  University  of  Trier,  etc. 

3  Compare  Monumeuta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  ii,  Pachtler, 
p.  38,  note  about  Perugia. 

•*  Ibid.,  p.  51,  note  about  Valencia. 


118  LOYOLA. 

the  Scholastics  of  Coimbra,  "that  rare  and  excellent 
achievement,  which  is  worth  more  than  six  hundred 
common  ones,"  —  he  was  founding  a  seminary  for 
preachers,  professors,  prelates.  If  the  students  sent 
from  Germany,  to  be  admitted  and  supported  on  this 
foundation,  are  not  noblemen,  "at  all  events,"  writes 
Ignatius  in  1552,  "let  nobility  of  soul  not  be  wanting 
to  them."  ^  This  is  the  institution  which  caused  so 
much  vexation  to  non-Catholic  Germany.  It  renovated 
the  priesthood. 

Thus,  then,  in  a  short  official  career  of  sixteen  years, 
Ignatius  had  the  gratification  of  seeing  a  new  and 
vast  educational  policy  crowned  with  success.  In 
spite  of  the  active  opposition  which  powerful  interests 
in  Eome  led  against  him  —  and  a  vigorous  siege  from 
the  side  of  the  schoolmasters  was  not  to  be  despised, 
nor  should  it  fail  to  be  recorded, —  in  spite  of  the  des- 
perate hostility  of  the  Sorbonne,  which  was  but  be- 
ginning its  war  upon  the  Society  in  France,  with 
storms  at  Toledo  and  Saragossa  flanking  his  movements 
in  Spain ;  in  spite  of  the  open  war  with  heresy  in 
Protestant  Germany,  where  acrimony,  distilled  to  its 
last  degree  of  concentration,  was  to  embitter  history, 
till  the  days  of  Eanke  and  Janssen  should  come,  and 
begin  to  vindicate  the  truth  of  history ;  thanks  to  the 
labors  of  Ignatius,  the  monopoly  of  education  was  be- 
ing broken  down  ;  the  old  universities  were  no  longer 
either  the  sole  depositories  of  superior  instruction, 
or  the  arbiters  of  the  intellectual  life  of  Europe ;  and 
all  the  best  learning,  which  the  most  accomplished 

1  Monumenta  GerniauifE  Paidagogica,  vol.  ii,  p.  369,  Letter  to 
Father  Kessel. 


THE   COLLEGIATE   SYSTEM.  119 

men  could  impart,  was  now  being  given  gratuitously, 
and  in  as  many  centres  of  educational  activity  as  the 
Society  was  allowed  to  create.  And,  whereas  it  is 
put  down  to  the  credit  of  Gern^ny,  that  sixteen  of 
the  old  universities  had  arisen  on  its  soil,  now,  in  the 
German  Assistency  of  the  Society,  there  arose  more 
than  sixteen  Jesuit  universities,  besides  two  hundred 
colleges.  And,  in  virtue  of  Papal  charters,  it  was 
already  an  accomplished  fact,  that  all  the  powers  of 
universities,  with  regard  to  the  degrees  of  Bachelor, 
Master,  Licentiate,  and  Doctor,  were  vested  in  the 
head  of  the  Order,  w^ho  could  delegate  the  same  to 
subordinate  Superiors.^ 

No  wonder  all  the  faculties  of  Christendom  con- 
sidered the  Order  an  intruder  and  an  aggressor.  It 
might  be  considered  so  to-day.  Free  and  universal 
education  w^as  at  the  doors  of  all.  We,  men  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  may  flatter  ourselves  that  it  was 
the  spirit  of  our  age  which  breathed  upon  the  Order 
of  Jesus,  three  centuries  before  the  time.  Perhaps 
so.  But  we  shall  have  to  w^ait  a  few  centuries  more, 
even  beyond  the  nineteenth  century,  before  we  come  to 
such  education  given  universally  and  given  gratui- 
tously. For  it  is  one  of  the  most  palpable  character- 
istics of  all  educational  and  other  philanthropy  which 
w^e  know  of,  that  it  is  an  extremely  expensive  thing. 

Let  us  now  close  our  sketch  of  the  great  educator. 
Saint  Ignatius  of  Loyola.  All  the  particulars  of  his 
death  have  been  preserved  for  us  by  those  who  were 
with  him  at  the  last.     They  were  not  his  first  compan- 

1  Compare  Monumenta  Germaniae  PaBdagogica,  vol.  ii,  Pachtler, 
Papstliclie  Privilegieu,  pp.  1-8, 


120  LOYOLA. 

ions.  Of  these,  the  few  who  survived  at  the  present 
date,  sixteen  years  after  the  foundation  of  the  Society, 
were  scattered  in  various  climes.  The  members  with 
him  were  John  Polanco,  his  polished  secretary,  Andre 
Frusis,  a  Frenchman,  one  of  the  most  gifted  of  lin- 
guists and  of  litterateurs,  Christopher  Madrizi,  a  uni- 
versity Doctor  of  Alcala,  and.  Jerome  Nadal,  whom  in 
Paris,  long  before,  Ignatius  had  endeavored  to  enlist 
in  the  service  of  his  Institute  ;  but  Nadal  had  rejected 
all  overtures,  pointing  to  the  Bible  under  his  arm,  and 
saying  he  wanted  no  other  institute  save  that.  He 
was  a  man  of  the  first  quality  in  judgment  and  the 
governing  cast  of  mind.  Later  on,  when  the  exploits 
of  Saint  Francis  Xavier  in  India  and  Japan  had  be- 
come the  talk  and  admiration  of  Europe,  Nadal  en- 
tered the  Order,  so  cautiously  that  one  might  say  he 
did  it  reluctantly ;  yet  he  did  it.  His  subsequent  ca- 
reer showed  that  he  had  made  a  mistake,  when  he 
missed  a  place  in  the  very  first  ranks. 

Others  were  close  by.  Laynez  lay  in  a  sick-room ; 
as  was  thought,  on  his  death-bed;  Mendoza  too,  and 
Martin  Olave.  The  latter,  some  thirty  years  before, 
was  a  boy  whom  Ignatius  met,  when  as  a  poor  pilgrim 
he  reached  Alcala  from  Barcelona,  to  take  up  his  uni- 
versity studies.  The  boy  gave  him  an  alms,  the  first 
received  by  Ignatius  in  that  city.  Time  had  passed 
since  then.  The  boy  had  become  a  Master  of  Arts, 
and,  in  1543,  a  Doctor  of  the  Paris  University,  remark- 
able in  many  ways  for  virtue  and  learning.  Now,  a 
man  of  mature  age  and  great  authority,  he  had  em- 
braced the  Institute  of  Ignatius.  He  alone  of  the  in- 
valids died  immediately  after  his  master  in  religion. 


THE   COLLEGIATE   SYSTEM.  121 

The  latter,  on  July  the  30th,  told  thein  he  was 
about  to  die.  But,  diseases  having  preyed  upon  him 
for  years,  the  physicians  did  not  confirm  what  he  said; 
and  Father  Ignatius  made  no  more  statements  on  the 
subject.  He  spent  the  evening  in  his  usual  manner, 
transacted  some  business  with  perfect  serenity  of 
mind,  and  then  was  left  alone  till  the  morrow. 

The  morrow  is  just  dawning,  when  they  find  him 
breathing  his  last.  He  declines  to  accept  any  po- 
tion. Joining  his  hands  together,  with  his  eyes  fixed 
heavenward,  and  pronouncing  the  name  of  "Jesus," 
the  founder  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  passes  away  from 
this  life,  in  the  Professed  House  at  Kome. 

It  was  the  thirty-first  day  of  July,  1556.  He  was 
sixty-five  years  of  age.  Thirty-five  years  had  passed, 
since  the  Knight  of  the  King  of  Navarre  had,  with 
such  solemnity,  changed  his  garb,  hung  up  his  sword 
and  poniard  in  the  sanctuary  of  Montserrat,  and  vowed 
himself  to  be  a  Knight  in  the  Kingdom  of  Christ. 

All  the  time  since  then  he  had  spent  in  extreme 
poverty,  in  the  practice  of  austerity,  in  the  laborious 
travels  of  a  pilgrim,  in  the  more  laborious  pursuit  of 
letters,  under  the  stress  of  persecution,  prisons,  and 
chains,  and  under  the  relentless  fatigue  of  a  universal 
foresight,  vigilance,  and  administration.  He  had 
proved  himself  a  leader  and  commander  of  men,  as 
nature  had  made  him  to  be,  and  as  history  shows  that 
he  was. 

In  an  especial  manner,  he  is  famous  for  his  prudence. 
Approaching  every  enterprise  with  the  most  varied 
and  exhaustive  deliberation,  spending  forty  days  of 
meditat'ion  on  determining  a  single  point  of  the  Con- 


122  LOYOLA. 

stitution,  throwing  upon  his  premises  every  kind  of 
light  from  consultation  and  advice,  and  having  habit- 
ually in  his  room,  for  reference,  only  two  books,  the 
New  Testament,  and  the  Imitation  of  Christ,  he 
thought  out  every  plan  to  the  last  degree  of  definite- 
ness  and  consistency.  Having  once  reached  such  a 
definite  conclusion,  he  was  not  easy  to  move  thence- 
forth out  of  the  direction  taken.  Quite  otherwise. 
With  the  utmost  vigilance,  he  aj^plied  himself  and  he 
applied  all  the  means,  whether  they  were  persons  avail- 
able or  measures  necessary,  to  the  execution  of  his  pur- 
pose. Even  when,  as  often  seemed  to  be  the  case,  he 
was  starting  from  principles  other  than  those  of  or- 
dinary human  foresight,  apparently  from  a  pure  trust 
in  Divine  Providence,  he  did  not  exempt  himself  from 
applying,  with  the  same  circumspection  and  diligence 
as  ever,  the  means  adequate  to  execute  what  he  had 
begun.  Waiting  fourteen  hours,  and  fasting  withal, 
in  the  ante-chamber  of  a  prince,  lest  the  propitious 
occasion  should  slip,  writing  out  the  same  letter  twice, 
thrice,  and  oftener,  lest  the  right  thing  should  not  be 
said  in  the  right  way,  and  sending  out  thirty  letters 
in  one  night,  he  exhibited,  in  the  administration  of 
great  things  and  small,  what  had  marked  all  his  pre- 
vious deliberation,  the  highest  degree  of  consummate 
prudence  and  of  practical  perfection. 

If,  in  all  this,  there  are  many  eminent  qualities  to 
admire,  there  is  a  resultant  fact  more  marvellous  still. 
He  did  his  work  so  that  it  went  on  without  him. 
And  hence,  if,  whenever  he  happened  to  be  anywhere 
on  the  field  of  action,  account  had  to  be  taken  of  such 
a  man,  it  will  not  perhaps  appear  singular  that  his  Order 


THE   COLLEGIATE   SYSTEM.  123 

too,  even  when  ostracized  and  expatriated,  is  taken  into 
account,  if  it  is  anywhere  visible  on  the  social  horizon. 
While  I  am  writing  this,  three  hundred  and  fifty  years 
after  his  time,  the  Bundesrath,  on  closing  the  Kultur- 
kampf,  and  admitting  all  the  exiled  Orders  of  the 
Catholic  Church  back  into  the  Empire  of  Germany, 
makes  an  exception  of  the  Jesuits.  It  bans  the  Order 
of  Jesus,  and  gives  no  reason,  beyond  the  palpable 
fact  that  the  Order  is  what  it  is.  Evidently,  Ignatius 
of  Loyola  did  his  work  so  as  to  make  it  go  on  without 
him ;  and  go  on  just  as  he  made  it. 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

SUBSEQUENT  ADMINISTRATIONS. 

According  to  a  contemporary  chroniele  for  the  year 
1556,  the  first  announcement  of  the  death  of  Ignatius 
caused  such  a  profound  sentiment  of  grief  in  all  mem- 
bers of  the  Order,  that  a  degree  of  stupor  seemed  for 
the  moment  to  possess  them.  But  this  was  only  tem- 
porary. It  was  followed  by  a  marked  alacrity  of 
spirit  appearing  everywhere.  The  Society  was  begin- 
ning its  course.^ 

In  the  first  general  assembly,  Eather  James  Laynez 
was  elected  to  succeed  the  founder,  in  the  ofiice  of 
General  Superior.  The  matters  which  concerned  the 
assembly  in  its  legislation,  and  the  new  General  in  his 
administration,  were  the  proper  temporal  foundation 
of  colleges,  the  admission  of  convictus  or  boarding- 
colleges,  and  other  questions,  which  may  be  noted  in 
the  Monumenta  Germanioe  Pcedagogica.^  Laynez  gov- 
erned the  Order  during  nine  years,  till  1565. 

Father  Francis  Borgia,  who  had  resigned  his  duke- 
dom, and  by  this  example  led  Charles  V  to  seek  repose 
in  the  monastery  of  St.  Yuste,  was  elected  third  Gen- 
eral    His  virtues  and  his  presence,  wherever  he  ap- 

1  Bollandists,  J.  P.,  n.  612. 

2  The  pedagogic  legislation,  from  this  date  onwards,  is  to  be  found 
in  Monumenta  Germanise  Psedagogica,  vol.  ii,  Pachtler,  pp.  70-125. 

124 


SUBSEQUENT  ADMINISTKATIUNS.  125 

peared,  exercised  such  a  magic  influence  that,  when 
he  had  merely  passed  through  Spain,  colleges  had 
sprung  up  as  from  the  soil.  Three  Provinces  had 
been  formed  in  that  country  alone,  within  thirteen 
years  from  the  foundation  of  the  Society.  But  this 
multiplication  of  colleges,  often  not  sufiiciently  en- 
dowed for  their  future  development,  was  already  seen 
to  be  one  of  the  threatened  weaknesses  of  the  Company. 
The  special  legislation  passed  at  the  time  of  his  elec- 
tion regarded  the  proper  establishment,  in  every  Prov- 
ince, of  philological,  philosophical,  and  theological 
seminaries,  for  the  formation  of  Professors.-'  Instead 
of  the  proportionate  number  of  Jesuit  students  being 
supported  on  each  collegiate  foundation,  this  legisla- 
tion, and  much  more  that  followed  later,  ordained  a 
system  of  concentration  in  seminaries  of  humane  letters, 
philosophy,  science,  and  divinity,  which  were  conducted 
respectively  by  corps  of  eminent  Professors  selected 
for  the  purpose,  and  were  maintained  either  on  some 
munificent  foundation  specially  made  for  this  object, 
or  by  a  due  proportion  of  the  other  collegiate  founda- 
tions. At  this  date  it  was  that  colleges  for  the  for- 
mation of  diocesan  clergy,  or  ''  Bishops'  Seminaries," 
as  they  are  commonly  called,  were  coming  into  exis- 
tence, in  accordance  with  the  decrees  of  the  Council 
of  Trent.  The  manner  of  admitting  them,  as  annexed 
to  colleges  of  the  Society,  and  thereby  availing  them- 
selves of  the  Jesuit  courses,  was  regulated  by  this 
assembly.  In  no  case  were  they  to  be  provided  with 
a  corps  of  Professors  distinct  from  the  faculty  of  the 
college. 

1  Pachtler,  ibid.,  p.  75. 


126  LOYOLA. 

In  1573  Father  Everard  Mercurian,  a  Belgiaiij  was 
elected .  to  succeed  Saint  Francis  Borgia.  He  was 
sixty-eight  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  election,  and 
lived  eight  years  after.  He  drew  out  of  the  Constitu- 
tion various  summaries  of  rules  for  the  guidance  of 
the  chief  officers  in  the  Society.  Those  which  concern 
studies  are  given  in  a  few  pages  of  the  Monumenta} 

At  his  death,  a  young  man  thirty-seven  years  old, 
who  had  entered  the  Order  only  about  twelve  years 
before,  was  elected  to  succeed  him.  This  was  Clau- 
dius Aquaviva,  son  of  Prince  John  Aquaviva,  Duke  of 
Atri.  He  was  a  man  who,  for  his  superior  executive 
abilities  and  his  services  rendered  to  the  Order  in 
times  most  critical,  has  been  regarded  as  a  second 
founder.  As  to  what  his  administration  saw  effected 
in  the  matter  of  education,  the  Ratio  Studiorum  bears 
witness.  He  governed  the  Society  during  thirty-four 
years. 

Mutius  Yitelleschi,  one  of  the  mildest  and  gentlest 
of  men,  but  not  on  that  account  ineffective  in  his  gov- 
ernment, succeeded  Aquaviva,  filling  a  term  of  thirty- 
one  years,  from  1615  to  1646.  Various  pedagogic  inter- 
ests occupied  the  attention  of  the  general  assembly, 
by  which  he  was  elected ;  in  particular,  the  promotion 
of  Humane  Letters,  the  means  of  supplying  Profes- 
sors, and  the  searching  character  of  the  examinations 
ordained,  at  every  step  in  their  studies,  for  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Society. 

The  farther  the  Society  advanced  in  history,  the 
less  there  was  of  new  legislation.  The  tension  grew 
on  the  side  of  administration ;  and  the  urgency  shown 
1  Pachtler,  ibid.,  pp.  126-132. 


SUBSEQUENT  ADMINISTRATIONS.  127 

by  general  assemblies  evinces  this.  The  philological 
seminary  was  developed  for  the  junior  scholastics ; 
and  a  classic  form  drawn  up  for  it  by  Jouvancy.  As 
distinguished  talents  for  preaching  and  governing 
were  treated  with  the  special  favor  of  being  allowed 
to  compensate  for  some  deficiencies,  in  the  qualifica- 
tions requisite  for  the  degree  of  Profession  in  the 
Order,  so  special  legislation  provided  for  similar  emi- 
nence in  literature,  in  Oriental  languages,  in  Greek 
and  Hebrew. 

Mathematics  had,  from  the  first,  been  a  department 
of  activity  native  to  the  energies  of  the  Company. 
The  schools  of  Geography  and  History  developed  in 
the  seventeenth  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  eigh- 
teenth centuries.  The  school  of  modern  Physics  then 
asserting  itself,  and  running  so  close  upon  the  field  of 
Metaphysics,  was  subjected  to  regulations  in  the  as-, 
semblies  of  1730  and  1751. 

After  the  restoration  of  the  Order,  social  and  edu- 
cational circumstances  being  so  immensely  altered,  the 
whole  ground  had  to  be  surveyed  again,  with  a  view 
to  adaptation ;  the  curriculum  had  to  be  expanded,  and, 
where  necessary,  prolonged  to  meet  the  growing  de- 
mands of  the  exact  sciences  ;  and  an  indefinite  number 
of  specialties  to  be  provided  for,  by  the  selection  and 
fostering  of  special  talents.  These  special  line^  are, 
in  the  terms  of  the  latest  general  assembly,  "  Ancient 
Languages,  Philology,  Ethnology,  Archaeology,  His- 
tory, Higher  Mathematics,  and  all  the  Natural  Sci- 
ences." We  are  thus  brought  down,  in  the  history  of 
general  legislation,  to  the  very  recent  date,  1883,  less 
than  ten  years  ago. 


128  LOYOLA. 

Meanwhile  the  Generals,  on  whom  rested  the  burden 
of  supervising  all  this,  discharged  the  functions  of  ad- 
ministration. Father  Vincent  Caraffa  promoted  and 
urged  on  the  pursuit  of  Belles  Lettres,  and  defined  posi- 
tions in  Mathematics.  Father  Francis  Piccolomini,  in 
a  general  ordinance  for  all  the  higher  studies,  defined 
the  stand  to  be  taken  by  Professors,  as  representing 
the  Society  itself  in  their  chairs ;  so,  too,  Father  Gos- 
wiu  Nickel,  with  reference  to  certain  new  issues. 
Both  he  and  his  successor,  Paul  Oliva,  had  to  face 
the  new  contingencies  which  arose  from  the  charges 
of  the  Jansenists  against  what  they  called  the  loose 
moral  teachings  of  the  Jesuits.  Father  Oliva  stimu- 
lated the  pursuit  of  excellence  in  Humane  Letters,  in 
the  Greek,  Hebrew,  Arabic,  and  Chaldaic  languages. 
Positions  of  Descartes,  Leibnitz,  as  well  as  of  certain 
others  in  Philosophy  and  Theology,  were  animad- 
verted upon  by  the  Generals  Tamburini  and  Retz. 
Father  Ignatius  Visconti  urged  again  the  pursuit  of 
perfection  in  literary  matters,  and  in  the  manner  of 
conducting  the  schools  of  literature.  And  the  Gen- 
eral Aloysius  Centurione,  shortly  before  the  Suppres- 
sion, laid  down  the  clearest  principles  with  respect  to 
the  study  of  Moral  Theology,  and  the  examinations 
therein.  Since  the  restoration  of  the  Order,  Fathers 
Eoothaan,  Beckx,  and  the  actual  General,  Anthony  M. 
Anderledy,  have  devoted  their  own  attention  and 
directed  that  of  the  Society  to  the  ways  of  accepting, 
with  undiminished  energy,  the  altered  and  unfavor- 
able situation,  in  which  the  present  century  has 
placed  the  Order,  and  hampers  the  revived  Institute. 


SUBSEQUENT  ADMINISTRATIONS.  129 

For  this  immense  organization  had  been  almost  en- 
tirely destroyed  by  the  stroke  of  a  pen — the  signature 
of  Clement  XIV  given  in  pencil.  They  dispute 
whether  he  gave  it  at  all;  or,  at  least,  whether  he 
meant  it.  Howsoever  that  be,  the  Order,  which  had 
been  erected  on  the  principle  of  obedience,  received 
the  word  and  disappeared.  The  rock  on  which  it 
had  set  its  foot  became  the  altar  of  a  sacrifice  ;  and 
that  a  sacrifice  offered  without  a  struggle  or  a  remon- 
strance, to  betray  any  change  in  the  spirit,  with  which 
Ignatius,  two  hundred  and  thirty-three  years  before, 
had  vowed  obedience  to  the  Vicar  of  Christ.  An  epi- 
gram had  been  written,  on  the  occasion  of  the  first 
centenary,  under  a  picture  of  Archimedes  and  his 
lever ;  Archimedes  is  getting  a  foothold  for  his  lever 
to  move  the  world ;  and  beneath  is  the  epigram  :  — 

Fac  pedem  figat,  et  terrain  movebit. 

Its  footing  was  now  taken  away,  and  it  vanished  from 
the  world. 

While  the  Catholic  Bourbon  courts  were  thus  suc- 
cessful in  accomplishing  a  manoeuvre,  which  at  fitful 
intervals  they  had  essayed  heretofore,  the  schismati- 
cal  Empress,  Catherine  II  of  Eussia,  denounced  it  and 
endeavored  to  counteract  it.  She  wrote  to  the  Pope 
in  1783,  "that  she  was  resolved  to  maintain  these 
Priests  against  any  power,  whatsoever  it  was " ;  and 
she  was  good  to  her  word ;  the  Society  remained  un- 
suppressed  in  White  Eussia.  The  Protestant  King 
of  Prussia,  Frederick  the  Great,  without  exhibiting  all 
the  temper  of  the  irascible  lady,  manipulated  things 
as  best  he  could  to  preserve  the  Society. 


130  LOYOLA. 

To  sum  up  the  Order's  experiences,  it  may  well  be 
said  that  in  public  life  there  is  no  resurrection ;  and 
the  State  which  dies  is  dead  forever.  From  infancy 
on  through  maturity  it  goes  its  way  decrepit  to  the 
grave.  Yet  Balmez  observes,  "the  Society  of  Jesus 
did  not  follow  the  common  course  of  others,  either  in 
its  foundation,  its  development,  or  its  fall ;  that  Order, 
of  which  it  is  truly  and  correctly  said,  that  it  had 
neither  infancy  nor  old  age."  ^  It  rose  again;  and 
the  flag  of  the  Knight  of  Loyola,  though  worn  and 
torn,  was  none  the  less  fair  for  that :  — 

Jam  se  ipso  formosius  est. 

For  neither  the  violence  of  endurance,  nor  the  vehe- 
mence of  energy,  although  begetting  intensest  fatigue, 
is  to  be  confounded  with  decay. 

It  was  not  decay,  a  century  ago,  when  expropria- 
tion and  exile  were  the  confessed  policy  of  the  courts 
in  Europe ;  when,  as  an  American  writer  states  it,  in 
Portugal  "Pombal  cut  the  Gordian  knot.  ...  He 
commenced  by  the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits  and  the 
expropriation  of  their  property.  "  Nor  is  it  decay  in 
the  Order,  when  a  liberal  confederation  in  Switzer- 
land, on  obtaining  the  political  ascendency  in  1848, 
suppresses  the  Jesuit  University  at  Fribourg,  and  pro- 
vides in  this  wise,  as  an  American  writer  records : 
"  No  religious  society  shall  be  allowed  to  teach ;  and 
persons  hereafter  educated  by  the  Jesuits,  or  by  any 
of  the  Orders  affiliated  to  the  Jesuits,  shall  be  incapa- 
ble of  holding  office  in  Church  or  State."  ^    Policy 

1  European  Civilization,  ch.  46. 

2  National  Education,  part  ii,  vol.  ii,  p.  659 ;  p.  74 ;  New  York,  1872. 


SUBSEQUENT  ADMINISTRATIONS.  131 

like  this,  whether  in  the  countries  "expurgated,"  or 
iu  countries  thereunto  "affiliated,"  proves  no  decay 
in  the  Order. 

But  where  decay  may  come  in  has  been  clearly 
pointed  out  by  one  of  its  Generals.  Speaking  of  the 
Education  of  Youth  and  the  Promotion  of  Humane 
Letters,  Mutius  Vitelleschi  wrote,  in  J 639,  "If  ever 
the  Society  were  to  decline  from  that  lofty  position 
which  it  holds  with  so  many  provinces  and  peoples, 
such  an  event  could  come  about  in  no  other  way  than 
by  failing  to  walk  in  the  same  steps,  by  which,  with 
the  Divine  Grace,  it  has  acquired  that  high  esteem."  ^ 

Those  steps  had  been  taken  in  various  paths,  of 
which  only  two  have  concerned  us  here.  For  its  men 
of  action  were  largely  identified  with  the  general  his- 
tory of  Europe ;  and  its  men  of  the  word,  who  tailed 
in  apostolic  work,  at  home  or  abroad,  have  entwined 
their  memories  in  the  history  of  souls,  often  ungrate- 
ful, yet  always  worthy  of  the  toil.  But  its  men  of 
the  school  did  a  w^ork  which  we  have  sketched  in  a 
general  way,  and  which  we  shall  analyze  in  the  second 
part  of  ttiis  essay;  while  its  men  of  the  pen  deserve  a 
passing  word  of  notice  here. 

They  concern  us  from  a  pedagogic  point  of  view,  in 
many  ways.  They  wrote  text-books,  many  of  which 
are  the  basis  of  manuals  in  almost  every  line  of  edu- 
cation to-day,  sometimes  without  the  change  of  a 
Avord,  and  generally  without  acknowledgment.  Be- 
sides that,  their  literary  productions  were,  as  a  rule, 
the  offspring  of  their  labors  in  the  schools.  It  might 
not  be  safe  to  estimate  their  standing  as  litterateurs, 

1  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  ix,  Pachtler,  p.  57. 


132  LOYOLA. 

by  the  process  which  a  Scotch  Professor  uses,  who, 
in  the  course  of  forty-seven  elegant  lectures  on  Ehet- 
oric  and  Belles  Lettres,  sees  little  occasion  to  recog- 
nize the  existence  of  this  Jesuit  school  of  literature, 
except  when  he  goes  out  of  his  way  to  salute  P^re 
Eapin  in  a  somewhat  questionable  manner.^  Many 
of  those  whom  the  Scottish  Professor  himself  does 
honor  to,  in  his  pages,  were  Jesuit  scholars, —  Bossuet, 
Corneille,  Moliere,  Tasso,  Fontenelle,  Diderot,  Vol- 
taire, Bourdaloue,  himself  a  Jesuit.  It  would  be  safer 
then  to  determine  the  standing  of  these  Professors, 
who  were  in  control  of  a  great  literary  age,  by  look- 
ing at  the  golden  age  itself,  that  of  Louis  XIV.  The 
majority  of  the  brilliant  figures,  whom  Dr.  Blair 
names  as  illustrating  the  epoch,^  were  all  Jesuit 
scholars.  Naturally,  then,  the  fifty  Professors  of 
the  Jesuit  College  at  Paris  were,  as  Cardinal  Maury 
affirmed,  a  permanent  tribunal  of  literature  for  all 
men  of  letters,  a  high  court  of  judicature,  a  focus  of 
public  attention  from  which  radiated  the  public  opin- 
ion of  the  capital ;  in  short,  as  Piron  had  emphatically 
said,  "  the  Star-chamber  of  literary  reputations."  ^ 

Devoted  as  they  were  to  an  austere  profession,  we 
may  say  of  many  among  them,  that  they  were  not 
themselves  romancers  of  a  lively  fancy  or  great  poets ; 
and  so  far  agree  with  Voltaire,  who  made  this  very 
remark  about  his  old  Professor,  P^re  Poree.    Yet  also, 

1  Blair's  Lectures  on  Rhetoric  and  Belles  Lettres,  Lecture  26. 

2  Lecture  35. 

3  Eulogy  pronounced  by  the  Cardinal  Maury  on  his  predecessor  in 
the  Institute  of  France,  the  Jesuit  De  Radonvilliers,  1807.  — Ora- 
teurs  Sacres,  Migne,  torn.  Ixvii,  column  1161. 


SUBSEQUENT  ADMINISTRATIONS.  183 

without  inconsistency  I  believe,  we  may  agree  with 
the  spirit  of  P^re  Poree's  rejoiner,  when  the  remark 
was  reported  to  him,  that  "he  was  not  one  of  the 
great  poets."  The  Jesuit  replied,  "At  least  you  may 
grant  that  I  have  been  able  to  make  some  of  them." 

And,  should  results  be  gauged  on  a  wider  basis  than 
mere  poetry,  not  a  few  of  the  most  prominent  men  in 
European  history  would  seem  to  have  been  the  out- 
come of  this  system,  men,  too,  who  represented  every 
possible  school  and  tendency,  in  their  subsequent  lit- 
erary and  public  life.  A  few  names  show  this.  There 
are  those  of  Descartes,  Buff  on,  Justus  Lipsius,  Mura- 
tori,  Calderon,  Vico,  the  jurisconsult,  founder  of  the 
philosophical  school  of  history.  There  are  Richelieu, 
Tilly,  Malesherbes,  Don  John  of  Austria,  Luxem- 
bourg, Esterhazy,  Choiseul,  with  those  of  Saint  Francis 
de  Sales,  founder  of  a  religious  Order,  Lambertini, 
afterwards  the  most  learned  of  Popes,  under  the  name 
of  Benedict  XIV,  and  the  present  Pontiff,  Leo  XIII, 
also  most  erudite.  These  certainly  represent  many 
schools  and  tendencies,  and  they  come,  with  many 
others,  from  the  same  schools.^ 

As  authors  of  every  kind,  and  in  departments  even 
far  remote  from  the  regular  courses  of  the  schools, 
Jesuit  writers  were,  at  the  very  least,  so  far  related  to 
Jesuit  teachers,  that,  as  we  see  in  the  bibliographical 
dictionary  of  the  Society,  all  had  been  Professors, 
with  scarcely  an  exception ;  and  almost  all  had  pro- 
fessed Humanities,  Belles  Lettres,  Rhetoric. 

When  Father  Nathaniel  Southwell  of  Norfolk  en- 

1  A  classification  of  eminent  students  may  be  found  in  Cretineau- 
Joly,  torn,  iv,  ch.  3,  p.  207. 


134  LOYOLA. 

deavored,  in  1676,  to  compile  a  dictionary  of  these 
authors,  lie  recorded  those  whose  works  had  the  qual- 
ification of  a  respectable  bulk  to  recommend  them. 
He  entered  the  names  and  works  of  2240  authors 
who  answered  this  description.  This  was  136  years 
after  the  foundation  of  the  Order.  The  enterprise 
was  repeatedly  taken  in  hand  afterwards.  The 
possibility  of  ever  accomplishing  it  was  much  jeop- 
ardized by  the  Suppression.  But  at  length  the 
two  Fathers  De  Backer  published  a  series  of  seven 
quarto  volumes,  in  the  years  1853-1861 ;  and  this 
first  step  they  followed  up,  in  the  years  1869- 
1876,  with  a  new  edition,  in  three  immense  folios,  con- 
taining the  names  of  11,100  authors.  This  number 
does  not  include  the  supplements,  with  the  names  of 
writers  in  the  present  century,  and  of  the  anonymous 
and  pseudonymous  authors.  Of  this  last  category. 
Father  Sommervogel's  researches,  up  to  1884,  enabled 
him  to  publish  a  catalogue,  which  fills  a  full  octavo 
volume  of  600  pages,  with  double  columns.  The  wri- 
ters of  this  century,  whom  the  De  Backers  catalogued 
in  their  supplement,  fill  647  columns,  folio,  very  small 
print.  Altogether,  the  three  folios  contain  7086  col- 
umns, compressed  with  every  art  of  typographical  con- 
densation. 

Suarez  of  course  is  to  be  seen  there,  and  Cornelius 
a  Lapide,  Petau,  and  the  Bollandists.  A  single  name, 
like  that  of  Zaccaria,  has  117  works  recorded  under 
it,  whereof  the  116th  is  in  13  volumes  quarto,  and 
the  117th  in  22  volumes  octavo.  The  Catechism  of 
Canisius  fills  nearly  11  columns  with  the  notices  of 
its  principal  editions,  translations,  abridgments;  the 


SUBSEQUENT   ADMINISTRATIONS.  135 

commentaries  upon  it,  and  critiques.  Rossignol  has 
66  works  to  his  name.  The  list  of  productions  about 
Edmund  Campian,  for  or  against  him,  chiefly  in 
English,  fills,  in  De  Backers'  folio,  two  and  a  half 
columns  of  minutest  print.  Bellarmine,  in  Father 
Sommervogel's  new  edition,  fills  50  pages,  double 
column.^ 

Under  each  work  are  recorded  the  editions,  transla- 
tions, sometimes  made  into  every  language,  including 
Arabic,  Chinese,  Indian;  also  the  critiques,  and  the 
works  published  in  refutation  —  a  controversial  enter- 
prise which  largely  built  up  the  Protestant  theologi- 
cal literature  of  the  times,  and,  in  Bellarmiue's  case 
alone,  meant  the  theological  Protestant  literature  for 
40  or  50  years  afterwards.  Oxford  founded  an  anti- 
Bellarmine  chair.  The  editions  of  one  of  this  great 
man's  works  are  catalogued  by  Sommervogel  under 
the  distinct  heads  of  54  languages.^ 

In  the  methodical  or  synoptic  table,  at  the  end  of 
the  De  Backers'  work,  not  only  are  the  subjects  well- 
nigh  innumerable,  which  have  their  catalogues  of 
authors'  names  attached  to  them,  but  such  subjects  too 
are  here  as  might  not  be  expected.  Thus  "  Military 
Art "  has  32  authors'  names  under  it ;  "  Agriculture  " 
11 ;  "  :Nravy  "  12 ;  "  Music  "  45 ;  ''  Medicine  "  28. 

To  conclude  then  our  History  of  this  Educational 
Order,  we  have  one  synoptical  view  of  it  in  these  twelve 

1  Bibliotheque  de  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus,  nouvelle  edition,  par 
Carlos  Somraervogel  S.  J.,  Strasbourgeois,  torn,  i,  from  Abad  to 
Boujart;  large  quarto  edition,  1890. 

2  Doctrina  Christiana,  etc. ;  Traductions ;  Sommervogel,  sub  voce, 
Bellarmine,  columns  1187-1204. 


136  LOYOLA. 

or  thirteen  thousand  authors,  all  of  one  family.  We 
have  much  more.  This  one  work  "attesting,"  as 
De  Backer  says  in  his  preface,  "  at  one  and  the  same 
time  a  prodigious  activity  and  often  an  indisputable 
merit,"  whereof  three  and  a  half  centuries  have  been 
the  course  in  time,  and  the  whole  world  the  place 
and  theatre,  is  a  general  record  of  religion,  letters, 
science,  and  education,  in  every  country,  civilized  or 
barbarous,  where  the  Society  of  Jesus  labored  and 
travelled.  And  where  has  it  not  done  so  ?  In  many 
parts  of  the  world  it  was  the  first  to  occupy  the 
field  with  literary  men,  who  then  sent  communications 
to  their  superiors,  or  to  learned  societies,  about  the 
manners  of  different  countries,  the  state  of  religion 
there,'  of  letters,  science,  and  education,  including  re- 
ports of  their  own  observations  in  geography,  meteo- 
rology, botany,  astronomy,  mineralogy,  etc.  Original 
sources,  from  which  later  history  in  North,  South,  and 
Central  America  is  drawing  materials,  are  seen 
described  here  as  they  appeared ;  so  too  with  regard 
to  Japan,  China,  Thibet,  the  Philippine  Islands,  Hin- 
dustan, Syria,  as  also  to-day  with  respect  to  the  na- 
tive tongues  of  the  North  American  Indians.  Here 
the  record  of  published  literature,  described  and 
catalogued  according  to  date,  marks  the  stages  of 
mathematical  and  physical  science,  from  the  end 
of  the  sixteenth  century  onwards,  and  of  magnetic 
and  electrical  researches  all  through  last  century ; 
as  well  as  the  relationship  between  the  books  of 
Jesuit  authors  and  similar  or  kindred  ones,  by  per- 
sons outside  the  Society,  in  different  countries  and  of 
divers  religions. 


SUBSEQUENT  ADMINISTRATIONS.  137 

In  short,  works  composed  in  most  of  the  tongues  of 
the  world  exhibit  the  chief  periods  in  universal  cul- 
ture, and  the  developments  elaborated  in  the  civiliza- 
tion of  mankind.^ 

1  In  the  matter  of  general  philology  alone  compare  the  mono- 
graph, Die  Sprachkunde  und  die  Missionen,  von  Joseph  Dahlmann 
S.  J.,  15  January,  1891,  fiftieth  supplement  to  the  Stimmen  aus 
Maria-Laa«h,  121  pages. 


Part  II. 
ANALYSIS  OF  THE  SYSTEM  OF  STUDIES 


CHAPTEE   X. 
AQUAVIVA.    THE  RATIO  STUDIORUM. 

So  centralized  an  Order  as  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
which  formed  its  Professors  for  every  country,  and 
sent  them  from  one  place  to  another,  undertook,  in 
doing  so,  to  exhibit  a  definite  system  of  education,  of 
courses,  of  method.  Besides  such  a  unity  of  method, 
it  professed  also  a  consistent  uniformity  of  doctrine. 

Before  its  time  there  was  no  one  method  which 
could  be  considered  universal ;  because  there  was  no 
teaching  body  itself  universal.  The  Order,  as  it 
branched  out  into  the  world,  found  a  variety  of  sys- 
tems in  vogue ;  and  the  Jesuit  Professors  conformed,  as 
best  they  could,  to  the  local  traditions  of  populations 
very  diverse,  in  universities  which  were  distinct  and 
mutually  independent.  But,  while  they  endeavored 
to  better  such  systems,  in  accordance  with  the  plan  of 
their  own  Constitution,  it  was  clear  that  they  fell 
short  of  realizing  the  idea  of  their  founder.  Hence 
variations  and  dispensations  were  part  of  the  usual 
order  of  the  day. 

Yet  there  is  a  best  way  of  doing  everything ;  and, 
not  least,  in  education.  In  such  a  best  way,  some 
elements  are  essential  at  all  times,  while  others  are 
accidental,  and  vary  with  time,  place,  and  circum- 
stance.    The  ideal  system  will  preserve  in  its  integ- 

141 


142  LOYOLA. 

rity  all  that  is  essential,  and  then  will  adapt  the  gen- 
eral principles  with  the  closest  adjustment  to  the  par- 
ticular environment. 

Besides  the  unity  of  method  desired,  which  I  may  de- 
fine to  be  the  best  ivay  best  adjusted  to  circumstance,  there 
was  need,  as  I  have  just  said,  of  a  consistent  uniform- 
ity of  doctrine;  lest,  in  the  same  chair  of  philosophy,  of 
divinity,  or  of  science,  or  in  chairs  placed  side  by  side, 
one  Professor  should  say  Yea  to  a  question,  and  another 
Nay  to  the  same  question,  with  no  more  material  a  rea- 
son evident  for  the  difference,  save  that  one  taught  here 
and  the  other  there,  one  spoke  yesterday,  the  other 
speaks  to-day.  The  educational  effects,  however,  are 
far  from  being  immaterial ;  for,  contradictory  state- 
ments eliding  one  another,  it  is  quite  possible  that 
the  students  understand  less  the  next  day  than  the 
day  before.  And,  as  to  the  Professors  themselves, 
nothing  can  imperil  more  the  harmony  and  efficiency 
of  an  educational  organization,  than  disagreement  of 
opinion  in  the  function  and  act  of  teaching.  In  philos- 
ophy, the  occasions  for  dispute  spring  off  at  every 
turn.  Theology,  as  every  one  knows,  is  made  to 
bristle  with  them.  And,  among  men  who  are  them- 
selves educated  to  the  highest  degree  of  mental  cul- 
ture, interests  and  questions  like  these  are  far  more 
absorbing  than  money,  place,  or  power  elsewhere.  If 
anywhere  ideas  rule,  it  is  among  men  of  profound 
thought ;  as  the  intense  intellectuality  of  the  mediaeval 
universities  had  shown,  with  all  the  consequences  of 
unlimited  vagaries  in  an  unbridled  scholasticism ;  or, 
again,  as  the  whole  history  of  the  intellectual  Greek 
world  had  evidenced,  whether  in  the  early  ages  of  the 


AQUAVIVA.     THE   RATIO   STUDIORUM.  143 

Cliristian  Church,  or  in  the  heathen  generations  be- 
fore. 

Whatever,  then,  a  man  may  think  privately,  and  be 
free  to  think,  in  matters  of  mere  opinion,  the  genius 
of  education  imposes  limits  on  the  manner  and  matter 
of  his  actual  teaching;  and  the  speculations  of  a 
thinker,  a  writer,  or  an  investigator,  are  not  to  be 
confounded  with  the  best  results  of  an  educator, 
who,  doing  his  work  in  the  best  way,  is  to  effect  a 
definite  and  immediate  object.  That  object  is  noth- 
ing less  than  the  equipping  of  fresh  young  spirits  with 
principles  of  thought  and  habits  of  life,  to  enter 
fully  ajDpointed  on  their  respective  paths  of  duty.  In 
this  view,  therefore,  definiteness  of  matter,. no  less 
than  unity  of  method,  were  required  from  the  first  for 
an  effective  system  of  education. 

During  forty  years,  the  individual  enterprise  of 
experienced  and  responsible  men  had  been  interpret- 
ing the  values  and  measuring  the  results  of  existing 
methods.  The  Society  itself  had  mounted  into  such 
a  position,  as  practically  to  command  the  whole  field 
of  secular  education.  Its  own  system  must  have  been 
excellent  already.  Nor  could  that  system  have  been 
uniformly  excellent,  but  for  some  uniformity  which 
characterized  it.  Still  the  unity  was  defective.  The 
Provinces  were  petitioning  for  an  improvement.  Evils 
obstructed  the  way  to  something  better.  For  these 
reasons,  the  matter  was  taken  in  hand  by  one  Gen- 
eral after  another.  And  the  final  outcome  of  their 
work  was  a  "Form,^'  or  "Method  of  Studies,"  Formula, 
or  Ratio  Studiorwn. 

On   the  nineteenth  day  of  February,  1581,  Father 


144  LOYOLA. 

Claudius  Aquaviva  was  elected  fifth  General  Superior 
of  the  Society.  Taking  up  this  educational  project 
where  his  predecessors  had  left  it,  and,  like  them, 
availing  himself  of  his  almost  boundless  resources  for 
obtaining  information,  he  began  by  putting  the  work 
through  every  possible  stage  of  consultation,  to  which 
the  traditions  of  his  office,  and  his  own  executive  abil- 
ity prompted  him ;  and,  when  all  prudent  means  had 
been  exhausted  in  deliberating,  he  then  used  the  exec- 
utive power  which  was  vested  in  him  ;  and  he  required 
that  what  had  been  so  laboriously  designed,  by  the 
united  efforts  of  many,  should  henceforth  be  reduced 
to  practice,  with  the  good  will  of  all. 

It  will  be  interesting  to  review  briefly  the  process 
of  elaboration.  In  the  general  assembly  which 
elected  Aquaviva,  a  committee  of  twelve  Fathers  from 
different  countries  was  appointed  to  draw  up  a  method 
of  studies.  How  far  their  work  proceeded  does  not 
appear.  Three  years  later,  in  1584,  the  General 
named  a  Commission  of  six,  John  Azor  from  Spain, 
Gaspar  Gonzalez  from  Portugal,  Peter  Buys  from 
Austria,  Anthony  Guisani  from  Upper  Germany, 
Stephen  Tucci  of  Rome,  and  James  Tyre  to  represent 
France.  This  last-named  Jesuit,  a  Scotchman,  was 
not  unknown  in  the  lists  of  controversy  to  his  coun- 
tryman, John  Knox.  They  were  all  experienced  in 
the  administration  of  colleges,  and  versed  in  the  sub- 
jects of  all  the  faculties.  Entering  on  their  labors, 
they  worked  during  six  winter  months  in  the  Poeni- 
tentiaria  of  St.  Peter's  in  Rome ;  and,  during  the  next 
three  summer  months,  they  resided  in  the  Quirinal. 
The  eyes  of  the  chief  authorities  in  the  Catholic  world 


AQUA  VIVA.    THE  KATIO  STUDIORUM.  146 

were  turned  in  expectancy  towards  them.  Indeed, 
some  of  the  chief  interests  of  Catholic  Christendom 
seemed  to  depend  upon  them. 

They  spent  three  hours  a  day  in  consultation.  The 
rest  of  their  time  they  devoted  to  consulting  authors 
and  conning  over  methods,  in  the  three  fields  of 
letters,  philosophy,  and  divinity.  The  documents 
which  they  studied  are  enumerated  by  themselves  as 
being  the  minutes  of  previous  deliberations  held  at 
Eome,  or  in  the  more  prominent  colleges  of  the  Order ; 
the  letters,  consultations  and  laws  of  the  universities, 
and  other  such  documents,  sent  at  different  times  up 
to  that  date  from  Italy,  Spain,  France,  Germany, 
Poland ;  the  fourth  part  of  the  Constitution,  as  the 
standard  of  guidance  ;  the  canons  of  the  general  assem- 
blies ;  the  rules  and  statutes  of  the  schools  ;  moreover, 
the  customs  and  regulations  of  the  Koman  College.^ 

After  nine  months  of  consecutive  labor,  they  pre- 
sented the  results  to  the  General,  in  August,  1585. 
Father  Aquaviva  submitted  the  document  for  examina- 
tion to  the  Professors  of  the  Roman  College.  Then 
he  took  the  whole  matter  under  his  own  personal  con- 
sideration, with  his  four  General  Assistants,  who  rep- 
resented each  a  certain  number  of  Provinces.  At  this 
stage,  the  report  was  printed,  not  as  a  rule  determined 
on,  but  as  the  preliminary  outline  of  a  rule.  The 
copies  struck  off  were  few,  just  enough  for  the  use  of 
the  Provinces.  The  General's  letter,  which  accom- 
panied the  report,  defined  the  precise  stage  at  which 
the  process  was  now  understood  to  be.^ 

1  Monumenta  Germaniae  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  Pachtler,  p.  29. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  V,  p.  9  seq. 


146  LOYOLA. 

He  says  that,  in  a  matter  of  such  grave  and  univer- 
sal consequence,  it  was  not  his  intention  to  prescribe 
anything,  without  first  learning  the  opinions  of  the 
chief  Doctors  of  the  Society.  Accordingly,  he  had 
been  content  with  reading  the  results  of  the  Commis- 
sion's labors,  decreeing  nothing,  changing  nothing,  ex- 
cept so  far  as  was  necessary  to  put  it  in  shape  for 
distribution.  He  now  required  the  Provincial  Supe- 
riors, immediately  upon  receipt  of  the  present  letter, 
to  select  at  least  five  men,  who  were  the  best  qualified 
in  point  of  learning  and  judgment,  along  with  other 
members^  who  were  eminent  in  literature,  and  whom  the 
Provincial  might  think  fit  to  convoke.  To  these  the 
report  was  to  be  submitted,  for  each  to  examine  priv- 
ately, and  with  great  care.  On  certain  days,  several 
times  in  the  week,  they  were  to  meet  and  hold  con- 
sultations ;  to  i)ut  their  conclusions  in  writing,  as 
well  with  regard  to  the  practical  method  of  studies, 
as  with  regard  to  the  speculative  opinions  which  they 
favored ;  they  were  to  note  whatever  they  thought 
should  be  added,  or  be  made  clearer,  or  otherwise  reg- 
ulated, for  the  greater  perfection  of  the  work.  If 
any  of  the  Fathers,  designated  for  this  Provincial 
committee,  could  not  possibly  attend  the  meetings, 
still  they  were  to  send  their  opinions  in  writing  to  the 
Fathers  actually  in  session ;  so  that  full  account  might 
be  taken  of  the  public  opinion  in  that  Province.  The 
criterion  they  were  to  follow,  in  making  up  their  minds, 
was  not  so  much  their  own  private  sentiment  or  their 
own  leaning  this  way  or  that,  as  the  general  good  of 
the  whole  Society,  the  practice  of  the  universities 
and  schools,  and,  in  fine,  the   judgment   of  Doctors 


AQUA  VIVA.     THE   RATIO   STUDIORUM.  147 

most  approved  for  their  authority  and  solidity  of 
doctrine. 

Aquaviva  refers  to  the  idea  and  intention  of  Igna- 
tius with  respect  to  the  present  undertaking ;  and  he 
adds:  "I  would  have  all  steadfastly  keep  this  object 
in  view,  that  they  endeavor  to  find  out  reasons,  not 
how  a  final  decree  may  be  prevented,  as  if  the  enter- 
prise were  hard,  and  could  not  possibly  be  carried  out 
(for  we  have  made  up  our  mind  to  carry  it  out,  since 
it  is  necessary^  and  is  recommended  by  the  Constitu- 
tion) ;  but  how  the  difficulties,  if  any  such  there  be, 
may  disappear,  and  the  whole  Order  may  combine  in 
one  and  the  same  arrangement ;  for  otherwise  the 
final  result  would  only  be  the  greater  detriment  of 
the  Society." 

He  calls  their  attention  to  an  important  point,  in 
what  is  now  styled  Pedagogics,  or  the  Science  of  Edu- 
cation. It  is,  that,  in  the  form  now  sent  out,  the 
Fathers  had  taken  pains  to  explain  their  reasons  for 
arriving  at  conclusions.  That  would  not  be  done  in 
the  System  to  be  drawn  up  later,  which  would  con- 
tain only  the  statement  of  directions  for  all  to  follow. 
In  these  words,  we  have  a  most  important  distinction 
laid  down  between  the  science  which  underlies  the 
system  of  education,  and  the  practical  method  itself 
which  rests  upon  the  science.  The  Ratio  Studiorum, 
as  subsequently  promulgated,  is  a  practical  method. 
The  science  is  sketched,  as  need  arises,  in  the  prelim- 
inary Ratio  of  1586. 

At  the  same  time,  Father  Aquaviva  despatched 
another  letter,  about  which  he  says,  in  a  postscript  to 
the  foregoing,  that  the  six  points  provisionally  laid 


148  LOYOLA. 

down  in  it  are  to  be  subjected  to  tbe  same  examina- 
tion as  the  preliminary  Ratio  itself. 

In  this  supplementary  epistle,  he  premises  that  it 
will  require  much  time  and  consideration  to  issue  the 
final  code  of  rules ;  and  therefore,  as  a  direction  for 
the  time  being,  he  issues  the  following :  — 

First,  Professors  shall  adhere  to  St.  Thomas  Aqui- 
nas as  their  standard  in  theology. 

Secondly,  they  shall  take  care,  in  their  manner  of 
teaching,  always  to  consolidate  faith  and  piety. 

Thirdly,  he  lays  down  a  principle  of  still  wider 
application,  and  one  which  seems  vital  in  the  whole 
theory  and  practice  of  teaching :  "  Let  no  one  defend 
any  opinion  which  is  judged  by  the  generality  of 
learned  men  to  go  against  the  received  tenets  of 
philosophers  and  theologians,  or  the  common  consent 
of  theological  schools."  This  touches  a  vital  element 
in  education.  If  we  suppose  that  the  teacher's  art 
lies,  not  in  giving  forth  the  lucubrations  of  his  own 
private  thoughts  and  theories,  but  in  imparting  solid 
results,  approved  and  ascertained,  to  those  who  come 
for  such  results,  and  wish  to  receive  them  in  the  most 
approved  way,  then  the  Professor  in  his  chair  ought 
not  to  mistake  himself  for  the  author  in  his  study, 
nor  should  he  practise  on  living  men,  whose  life  is  all 
before  them,  what  he  might,  with  more  propriety, 
first  practise  on  the  leisured  world,  and  test  elsewhere, 
either  in  the  printed  page,  or  in  conference  with  his 
equals.  The  Professor,  as  such,  is  not  the  original 
investigator.  In  mathematics,  he  is  notoriously  not 
so.  In  that  branch,  the  best  teacher  is  the  man  who 
walks  along  a  definite  line,  turns  neither  to  the  right 


AQUAVIVA.     THE   RATIO   STUDIORUM.  149 

nor  left,  and  finishes  in  a  definite  time;  or  else  his 
scholars  will  never  finish.  To  a  certain  degree,  the 
same  holds  in  all  courses.  If  a  man  is  theorizing, 
when  he  ought  to  be  instructing,  he  goes  off  the  line 
of  perfect  system,  however  much  pains  he  takes  with 
his  matter ;  just  as  much  as  if,  taking  no  pains  what- 
ever, he  neglected  his  matter  altogether,  went  behind 
it,  or  around  it,  gave  histories  of  his  branch,  methods 
of  teaching  it,  and  descanted  on  pedagogics,  to  young 
people  who  were  never  sent  to  him  for  that  purpose. 
They  are  sent  to  learn  definite  matter,  and  to  be 
formed  therein  on  a  good  plan,  by  the  man  who  under- 
stands it.  Then,  as  Loyola  said  in  another  connec- 
tion, "  when  they  have  experienced  in  themselves  the 
effects  thereof,"  they  will  be  qualified  for  all  the  rest, 
for  understanding  the  plan  itself  on  which  they  have 
been  formed,  and  enjoying  all  the  practical  results  of 
it ;  and,  if  their  line  of  life  invites,  for  understand- 
ing other  plans  too.  This  is  practical  wisdom  in  edu- 
cation ;  neither  dilettantism  nor  speculation. 

Fourthly,  Aquaviva  lays  down  a  principle  regard- 
ing the  public  advocacy  of  opinions.  He  is  not 
referring  to  authorities  denouncing,  or  Professors 
repudiating,  them  ;  but  merely  to  certain  conditions 
for  putting  them  forward:  ^'If  opinions,  no  matter 
whose  they  be,  are  found  in  a  certain  province  or  city 
to  give  offence  to  many  Catholics,  whether  members 
of  the  Society  or  not,  that  is,  persons  not  unqualified 
to  judge,  let  no  one  teach  them  or  defend  them  there, 
albeit  the  same  doctrines  may  be  taught  elsewhere 
without  offence."  The  Avord  "  defence,"  in  a  context 
like   this,   means   publishing   and   sustaining    theses 


150  LOYOLA. 

against  all  comers  in  public  disputations ;  wherein  the 
Professor  represents  the  school,  and  the  school  is  put 
to  the  account  of  the  Order.  The  principle  seems 
discreet.  If  a  corporate  body  does  not  want  to  be 
compromised,  it  is  not  for  the  member  to  compromise 
it.  If  he  wants  to  use  the  perfect  freedom  of  his 
opinions,  and  deliver  himself  of  his  own  pronounce- 
ments, he  ought  first  to  assure  himself  that  his  circum- 
stances are  such  as  to  set  him  free  from  representing 
others.  This  is  an  elementary  principle  of  social  and 
urbane  existence. 

The  fifth  point  concerns  the  march  of  improvement 
in  the  advancement  of  opinions.  It  describes  the 
method  of  discreet  development :  "  In  questions  which 
have  already  been  treated  by  others,  let  no  one  follow 
new  opinions,  or,  in  matters  which  in  any  way  pertain 
to  religion,  or  are  of  some  consequence,  let  no  one  in- 
troduce new  questions,  without  consulting  the  Prefect 
of  Studies,  or  the  Superior.  If,  then,  it  still  remains 
dubious,  whether  the  new  opinion,  or  the  new  ques- 
tion, is  permissible,  it  will  be  proper  for  the  said 
authority,  in  order  that  things  may  proceed  more 
smoothly,  to  learn  the  judgment  of  others  in  the 
Society  upon  the  subject ;  and  then  he  will  determine 
what  appears  best  for  the  greater  glory  of  God."  In 
the  sixth  and  last  point,  Aquaviva  calls  attention  to  a 
former  decree,  upon  the  manner  of  treating  the  Aris- 
totelian philosox^hy.^ 

So  much  for  this  letter  of  Aquaviva.  On  the  sense 
and  purport  thereof  he  invited  the  communication  of 
views  from  the  Order  at  large,  as  well  as  on  the  docu- 
1  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  12  seq. 


AQUA  VIVA.    THE   RATIO   STUDIORUM.  161 

ment  which  he  encloses,  the  preliminary  Ratio  Stu- 
diorum.     To  this  we  may  now  turn  our  attention. 

The  six  Fathers,  who  drew  it  up,  state,  in  their  in- 
troduction, that  there  are  two  mainstays  and  supports 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  "  an  ardent  pursuit  of  piety 
and  an  eminent  degree  of  learning,"  ardens  pietatis 
studium  et  proestans  rerum  scientia.  If  piety  is  not 
illumined  with  the  light  of  learning,  it  can  be,  no 
doubt,  of  great  use  to  the  person  who  possesses  it,  but 
of  scarcely  any  use  in  the  service  of  the  Church  and 
of  one's  neighbor,  in  the  administration  of  the  Word 
and  of  the  Sacraments,  in  the  education  of  youth,  in 
controversies  with  those  who  are  hostile  to  the  faith, 
in  giving  counsel,  answering  doubts,  and  in  all  other 
offices  and  functions,  which  are  proper  to  men  of  the 
Order.  All  these  call  for  an  endowment  of  learning 
not  common,  but  excelling  in  its  degree. 

To  acquire  such  learning,  it  is  of  supreme  conse- 
quence that  we  set  before  ourselves  what  path  we 
enter  on,  what  arts  we  employ,  and  what  means  we 
use ;  because,  unless  a  ready  and  tried  method  be 
adopted,  ratio  facilis  ac  solers,  much  labor  is  spent  in 
gathering  but  little  fruit;  whereas,  if  the  labor  of 
studies  be  guided  by  some  sage  rule,  great  results  are 
compendiously  obtained,  at  the  cost  of  little  research. 

Then  the  Commission  goes  on  to  say :  "  We  have  un- 
dertaken to  teach,  not  only  members  of  the  Order,  but 
youth  from  the  world  outside.  The  number  of  this 
latter  class  is  vast ;  it  includes  brilliant  talent,  and 
represents  the  nobility.  We  cannot  imagine  that  we 
do  justice  to  our  functions,  or  come  up  to  the  expecta- 
tions formed  of  us,  if  we  do  not  feed  this  multitude 


152  LOYOLA. 

of  youths,  in  the  same  way  as  nurses  do,  with  food 
dressed  in  the  best  way,  for  fear  they  grow  up  in  our 
schools,  without  growing  much  in  learning.  An  addi- 
tional spur  is  felt  in  the  circumstance,  that  whatever 
concerns  us  is  public  and,  day  after  day,  is  before  the 
eyes  of  all,  even  of  those  who  are  not  well  disposed 
towards  us."  The  Fathers  consider  it  unnecessary  to 
enlarge  upon  that  harmony  of  views,  so  much  com- 
mended in  the  Constitution,  as  to  matters  of  public 
policy  or  teaching  ;  they  say,  "  sufficient  regard  could 
not,  up  to  this,  be  paid  to  such  harmony ;  for,  when 
no  common  order  or  form  was  as  yet  prescribed,  every 
one  thought  that  he  could  hold  what  sentiments  he 
liked,  and  teach  them  to  others  in  the  manner  he  him- 
self preferred ;  so  that  sometimes  the  members  of  the 
Order  disagreed  as  much  among  themselves,  as  with 
others  outside."  ^ 

After  describing,  in  vivid  terms,  the  manner  in 
which  they  had  conducted  their  deliberations,  and 
arrived  at  conclusions,  and  how,  when  any  keen  dis- 
pute had  arisen  among  them,^  they  had  divided  and 
distinguished  the  disputed  matter,  and  had  examined 
it  during  two  and  even  three  days,  till  they  came  to 
settle  at  last  on  what  all  of  them  accepted,  the  critics 
come  to  the  Practice  and  Order  of  Studies ;  ^  and 
upon  this  they  enlarge,  in  successive  chapters,  under 
the  following  heads  :  — 

The  Sacred  Scriptures.  The  Length  of  the  Course 
in  Divinity.  The  Means  of  finishing  that  Course  in 
Four  Years.     The  Method  of  Lecturing.     The  Ques- 

1  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  26  seq. 

2  Disputatio  acris  oriebatur.  3  ibid.,  Nr.  8,  p.  65. 


AQUA  VIVA.    THE  EATIO  STUDIORUM.  163 

tions  which  are  either  not  to  be  treated  by  the  Theo- 
logical Professors,  or  are  to  be  treated  only  at  a  Certain 
Part  of  the  Course.  Repetitions.  Disputations.  The 
Choice,  Censorship,  and  Correcting  of  Opinions.  The 
Private  Studies  of  Students.  Vacations.  The  Degrees 
of  Bachelor,  Master,  Doctor.  Controversial  Theology. 
Moral  Theology.  Hebrew.  The  Study  of  Philoso- 
phy, which  includes  Physics.  Mathematics.  Litera- 
ture, that  is.  Grammar,  History,  Poetry,  Rhetoric. 
Seminaries  for  Literature  and  the  Higher  Faculties. 
The  Professors  of  Literature.  The  Grammar  to  be 
used.  Greek.  Different  Exercises  in  the  Classics. 
Incitements  to  Study.  The  Method  of  Promotion. 
Books.  Vacations  in  the  Lower  Classes.  Order  and 
Piety.  The  Respective  Objects  and  Exercises  of  the 
Classes  of  Grammar  and  Humanity.  The  Class  of 
Humanity.  The  Class  of  Rhetoric.  General  Distri- 
bution of  Time  during  the  Year. 

These  are  the  matters  handled  in  the  publication  of 
1586.  In  the  course  of  treatment,  this  document  con- 
tains, by  way  of  a  running  commentary,  the  complete 
theory  of  Education,  or  Science  of  Pedagogics,  as  un- 
derstood by  these  critics.  It  will  not  be  possible, 
within  the  brief  limits  of  this  work,  to  give  more 
than  a  bare  sketch  of  the  pedagogical  elements  con- 
tained in  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  pages  of  the 
Monumenta  Germanioe.  Pcedagogica} 

A  second,  partial  edition  of  this  preliminary  Ratio 
was  sent  out  by  Father  Aquaviva,  in  1591,  to  which  an 
entertaining  bibliographical  history  is  attached.^     In 

1  Vol.  V,  pp.  67-217. 

2  Monumeuta  Germauiae  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  15  seq. 


154  LOYOLA. 

1593,  the  fifth,  general  assembly  of  the  Order  met, 
Claudius  Aquaviva  presiding.  By  this  time,  during 
the  interval  of  seven  years  which  had  elapsed  since 
the  first  edition,  the  book  had  been  subjected  to  exam- 
ination in  all  the  Provinces ;  observations  and  criti- 
cisms had  been  returned  ;  it  had  been  re-committed  to 
the  Fathers  at  Eome,  and  revised  by  the  General  with 
his  Assistants ;  and  had  again  been  sent  out  for  trial. 
The  Provincials  and  Deputies,  meeting  in  1593,  brought 
with  them  the  reports  of  how  the  system  worked.  Its 
slightest  defects  were  noted. ^  Most  asked  for  an 
abridged  form. 

Amid  the  very  grave  questions  then  pending,  the 
assembly  took  some  action  on  the  Ratio.  It  was  re- 
committed once  more  to  the  competent  authorities  for 
revision.  And  it  assumed  its  last  and  definite  form, 
in  what  was  probably  its  ninth  edition.  This  last 
issue,  in  the  year  1599,  after  fifteen  years  spent  on  the 
elaboration  of  it,  is  the  EATIO  STUDIORUM. 

One  hundred  and  twenty-seven  years  later,  the 
great  old  University  of  Paris  seems  to  have  become 
a  disciple  of  its  educational  rival,  the  Society  of 
Jesus.  Querard  observes  that  the  Eector,  Rollin, 
''  without  saying  anything  about  it,  translated  the 
Ratio  for  his  Traite  des  Etudes."  ^  Indeed,  as  M.  Breal, 
historian  of  that  University,  observes,  referring  to  the 

1  As  an  instance  of  the  minute  criticism  brought  to  bear  upon  it 
in  Germany,  consult  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica.  vol.  v,  p. 
218  seq.  Similar  animadversions  are  to  be  understood  as  coming 
from  other  quarters. 

^  Supercheries  litteraires  devoilees  iii,  446,  f ;  Sommervogel,  Dic- 
tionnaire  des  Ouvrages  Anonymes  et  Pseudonymes,  etc.,  S.  J.,  sub 
voce.  Ratio. 


AQUAVIVA.     THE   RATIO   STUDIORUM.  155 

suppression  of  the  Order :  "  Once  delivered  from  the 
Jesuits,  the  University  installed  itself  in  their  houses, 
and  continued  their  manner  of  teaching."  ^ 

In  all  general  works  on  education,  there  is  ques- 
tion of  this  System.  Its  form  is  that  of  a  practical 
method,  without  reasons  being  assigned,  or  arguments 
urged.  It  is  a  legislative  document,  which  superseded 
all  previous  forms.  The  General's  letter,  which  ac- 
companied it,  ordered  the  suppression  of  them  all, 
promulgating  this  one  to  the  exclusion  of  the  rest. 

The  sentiment,  to  which  the  last  words  of  this 
letter  gives  expression  as  a  fond  hope,  was  fully  re- 
sponded to  by  the  course  of  events,  in  the  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-four  years  which  were  to  elapse 
before  the  general  suppression  of  the  Order  :  "  It  is 
believed,"  he  said,  "  that  it  will  bring  forth  abundant 
fruit,  for  the  benefit  of  our  scholars,"  Quae  nostris 
auditoribus  uberes  fructus  allatura  creditur.  Aquaviva's 
letter  is  dated  the  eighth  day  of  January,  1599.^ 

1  Quoted  by  Ch.  Daniel,  S.  J.,  Les  Jesuites  Instituteurs  de  la  Jeu- 
nesse,  etc.,  last  ch.  p.  297. 

2  Monumenta  Gerinaniaj  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  Nr.  11,  p.  227. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

FORMATION     OF    THE    MASTER.     HIS    COURSES  OF  LIT- 
ERATURE AND  PHILOSOPHY. 

It  seems  an  apt  distribution  of  our  subject,  to 
consider,  first,  the  formation  of  the  Master,  and 
secondly,  the  formation  of  the  Scholar.  The  Master's 
development  will  conduct  us  chiefly  through  the 
higher  studies ;  the  Scholar's,  rather  through  the 
lower.  Thus  the  two  persons,  about  whom  the  science 
of  education  revolves,  will  be  directly  under  inspec- 
tion ;  while  the  elements  which  go  to  form  them  will, 
at  the  same  time,  pass  under  review. 

Without  theorizing  on  pedagogy,  the  Jesuit  system 
itself,  merely  as  observed  and  realized,  results  in  the 
formation  of  Professors.  There  are  several  reasons, 
apparent  on  the  surface,  why  it  should  do  so.  The 
studies,  which  the  members  of  the  Order  pursue,  are 
the  same  courses  as  the  Order  professes  for  the  world 
at  large.  But,  for  the  Jesuit  members  of  the  divers 
courses,  a  most  elaborate  system  of  examinations  at 
every  stage,  with  a  specially  searching  manner  of 
testing  the  students,  is  made  to  regard  one  objective 
point,  which  is  the  capacity  of  the  Jesuit  to  teach 
what  he  has  learnt,  and  this,  as  evinced,  while  under 
examination.  The  manner,  in  which  this  point  is 
judicially  determined,  consists  in  referring  the  ex- 
166 


FOEMATION   OF  THE    MASTER.  157 

aminers  to  a  standard,  called  "mediocrity.''  After  a 
personal  and  oral  disputation  with  the  young  Jesuit, 
lasting  either  half  an  hour,  or  one  hour,  or  two  consec- 
utive hours,  according  to  the  stage  at  which  he 
happens  to  be,  a  preponderating  vote  of  the  four  or 
five  examining  Professors  must  aver  that  he  has 
"  surpassed  mediocrity."  The  learning,  prudence,  and 
sincerity  of  the  examiners  are  appealed  to  without 
further  sanction,  except  at  the  very  last  stage  in  the 
young  man's  progress,  when  success  under  the  ordeal 
will  entitle  him  to  Profession  in  the  Society.  Then 
each  examiner's  prudence  is  stimulated,  and  his  sin- 
cerity bound  down,  by  an  oath.  Only  at  one  initial 
stage,  that  of  the  first  examination  in  the  course  of 
his  three  years'  Philosophy,  is  a  certain  margin  allowed 
the  beginner,  in  favor  of  bare  mediocrity. 

"  Mediocrity  "  is  defined  to  be  that  degree  of  intel- 
ligence, and  comprehension  of  the  matters  studied, 
which  can  give  an  account  of  them  to  one  asking  an 
explanation.  "  To  surpass  mediocrity "  designates 
the  student's  ability  to  defend  his  entire  ground 
with  such  erudition  and  facility  as  show  him  quali- 
fied, in  point  of  actual  attainments,  to  profess  the 
philosophy  or  theology  studied.  The  final  degree  in 
the  Order,  which  is  that  of  Profession,  requires  this 
competency  for  all  Philosophy  and  Theology  together. 
Here  then  we  see,  that  the  capacity  to  teach  is  made 
the  criterion  of  having  learned  sufficiently  well. 
Passing  through  all  the  grades  with  this  mark  of  ex- 
cellence, the  man  who,  after  a  general  formation  of 
seventeen  years,  and  the  requisite  development  of 
other  qualifications,  is  then  appointed  to  profess  in  a 


158  LOYOLA. 

chair  of  the  higher  faculties,  has  been  very  much  to 
the  manner  born  of  "  surpassing  mediocrity/'  and  of 
doing,  so  with  the  characteristics  of  a  Professor.^  How 
the  same  principles,  if  not  in  the  same  form,  affect  the 
conduct  of  the  literary  curriculum,  we  shall  now  see 
in  the  rest  of  this  chapter. 

The  literary  curriculum  has  been  already  finished 
by  the  Jesuit,  before  entering  the  Order.  But,  after 
his  admission,  special  means  are  taken  to  have  him 
revise  those  studies,  extend  them,  and  grasp  them  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  teacher.  It  happens  in  Jesuit 
history,  and  the  nature  of  secondary  education  will 
always  have  it  so,  that  the  largest  amount  of  teaching 
has  been  done  in  the  arena  of  these  literary  courses. 
And  it  was  no  small  part  of  the  general  revival  of 
studies,  effected  by  Ignatius  of  Loyola,  that  justice 
was  done  to  literature,  as  well  by  students  who  were 
to  enter  on  philosophical  or  scientific  courses,^  as  by 
those  who  contemplated  embarking  on  life  in  the  world. 
We  noticed,  on  a  former  occasion,  the  reasoning  of  Aqua- 
viva  with  respect  to  this  policy.^  The  literary  courses  in 
question  are  those  of  Grammar,  Humanities,  and  Eheto- 
ric,  which  fill  from  five  to  seven  years.  The  Fathers  of 
1586  urge  the  importance  of  these  studies  for  the 
English  and  German  students  in  Rome,  as  if  special 
difficulties  were  experienced  with  them.* 

1  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  252,  Ratio  Stu- 
dioruin  of  1599,  Reg.  Pro  v.  19,  §  11. 

2  Compare  Lord  Bacon,  The  Advancement  of  Learning,  book  ii, 
p.  186,  1st  column ;  Philadelphia  edit.  1846. 

s  Chapter  vi,  above,  p.  83. 

4  Monumenta  Germanise  Psedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  129,  Ratio  Studi- 
orum  of  1586,  c.  Stud.  Philos. 


FORMATION   OF  THE   MASTER.  159 

If  we  inquire  what  were  the  results  of  the  stringent 
regulations  adopted  to  enforce  this  policy,  and  what 
degree  of  proficiency  was  attained  in  the  Jesuit 
courses  of  Belles-Lettres  and  eloquence,  we  have  only 
to  consult  the  concordant  testimony  of  history  upon  the 
"  handsome  style  "  and  literary  finish  of  the  scholars. 
An  interesting  answer,  from  a  domestic  point  of  view, 
is  casually  afforded  us  by  a  remark,  which  the  Fathers 
of  Upper  Germany  make,  when  in  1602  they  send  to 
Aquaviva  some  animadversions  of  theirs  upon  the 
Ratio.  They  say  that  students  in  the  class  of 
Rhetoric  might  deliver  their  own  orations,  "  since  there 
are  generally  found  in  that  class,  particularly  among 
those  of  the  second  year,  young  men  who  often  sur- 
pass even  their  own  Professors  in  genius,  and  in  the 
variety  and  fluency  of  their  language."  ^ 

The  bearing  of  all  this  is  obvious,  in  determining 
the  grade  of  those  students  who  ask  for  admission 
into  the  Order.  It  is  after  a  full  gymnasium  course 
of  this  kind,  that  the  life  of  the  Jesuit  is  to  begin. 
And  these  are  the  studies  which  he  will  have  to  pos- 
sess after  the  manner  of  a  teacher.  He  will  review 
them  as  soon  as  his  two  years  of  novitiate  are  over. 

Those  years  of  novitiate  are  blank,  under  the  aspect 
of  secular  pursuits.  But,  in  other  respects,  being  a 
time  for  reflection  and  for  internal  application  to  the 
affairs  of  his  mind  and  heart,  they  are  worth  a  long 
season  in  the  process  of  developing  character,  by 
habits  of  assiduous  labor,  of  acquiring  a  taste  for  re- 
tirement and  virtue,  and  practising  the  spirit  of  docility 
to  counsel.  Indeed,  on  issuing  from  this  period  of 
1  Monumenta  Germanise  Psedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  491,  n.  32. 


160  LOYOLA. 

intense  application  to  the  knowledge  of  self,  the 
young  religious  student  is  already  started  on  his 
career  of  knowing  men,  and  dealing  successfully  with 
human  characters.  Henceforth,  ecclesiastical  knowl- 
edge and  other  acquirements  will  be  proper  to  his 
state,  as  a  Eeligious ;  but,  for  the  special  vocation  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  he  returns  to  secular  studies. 

In  view  of  his  approaching  "  regency,"  or  Professor- 
ship in  the  curriculum  of  letters,  the  critics  of  1586 
give  this  advice  :  "  It  would  be  most  profitable  for  the 
schools,  if  those  who  are  about  to  be  Preceptors  were 
privately  taken  in  hand  by  some  one  of  great  expe- 
rience ;  and,  for  two  months  or  more,  were  practised 
by  him  in  the  method  of  reading,  teaching,  correcting, 
writing,  and  managing  a  class.  If  teachers  have  not 
learnt  these  things  beforehand,  they  are  forced  to 
learn  them  afterwards  at  the  expense  of  their  scholars  ; 
and  then  they  will  acquire  proficiency  only  when 
they  have  already  lost  in  reputation ;  and  perchance 
they  will  never  unlearn  a  bad  habit.  Sometimes,  such 
a  habit  is  neither  very  serious  nor  incorrigible,  if 
taken  at  the  beginning;  but,  if  the  habit  is  not  cor- 
rected then,  it  comes  to  pass  that  a  man,  who  other- 
wise would  have  been  most  useful,  becomes  well-nigh 
useless.  There  is  no  describing  how  much  amiss  Pre- 
ceptors take  it,  if  they  are  corrected,  when  they  have 
already  adopted  a  fixed  method  of  teaching;  and  what 
continual  disagreement  ensues  on  that  score  with  the 
Prefects  of  Studies.  To  obviate  this  evil,  in  the  case 
of  our  Professors,  let  the  Prefect  in  the  chief  College, 
whence  our  Professors  of  Humanities  and  Grammar 
are  usually  taken,  remind  the  Rector  and  Provincial, 


FORMATION   OF  THE   MASTER.  161 

about  three  months  before  the  next  scholastic  year 
begins,  that,  if  the  Province  needs  new  Professors  for 
the  following  term,  they  should  select  some  one  emi- 
nently versed  in  the  art  of  managing  classes,  whether 
he  be,  at  the  time,  actually  a  Professor,  or  a  student  of 
Theology  or  Philosophy  ;  and  to  him  the  future  Mas- 
ters are  to  go  daily  for  an  hour,  to  be  prepared  by  him 
for  their  new  ministry,  giving  prelections  in  turn, 
writing,  dictating,  correcting,  and  discharging  the  other 
duties  of  a  good  teacher."  ^ 

This  advice  was  in  keeping  with  an  ordinance  of 
the  second  general  assembly,  held  in  1565,  nine  years 
after  the  death  of  Ignatius.  It  had  been  resolved, 
that  at  least  one  perfect  Seminary  of  the  Society 
should  be  established  in  each  Province  for  the  forma- 
tion of  Professors  and  others,  who  would  be  com- 
petent workmen  in  the  vineyard  of  Christ,  in  the 
department  of  Humane  Letters,  Philosophy,  and  Theol- 
ogy, so  as  to  suffice  for  the  needs  of  the  whole  Prov- 
ince. This  was  to  be  done  as  soon  as  convenient  in 
each  Province. 

Henceforward,  it  became  a  matter  of  general  observ- 
ance that  all  should  have  spent  "at  least  two  years 
in  the  school  of  eloquence,"  besides  repeating  gram- 
mar, if  that  were  necessary.^  "And  if  any  are  so 
gifted  as  to  promise  great  success  in  these  pursuits, 
it  will  be  worth  while  seeing  whether  they  should  not 
spend  three  years  in  them,  to  lay  a  more  solid  founda- 

1  Monumenta  Germaniae  Pfedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  154,  n.  6 ;  Humani- 
tatis  Doctores  quos  et  quales,  etc. 

2  Vitelleschi,  1639,  Monumenta  Germaniae  Paedagogica,  vol.  ix,  p. 
60,  n.  4. 


162  LOYOLA. 

tion."  ^  To  such  a  solid  foundation  in  Humane  Let- 
ters corresponds  a  special  privilege  in  the  crowning  of 
a  member's  formation,  inasmuch  as  the  Society  admits 
to  Profession  one  who  is  altogether  eminent  in  litera- 
ture, even  though  in  Theology  he  may  not  have  sur- 
passed mediocrity ;  a  privilege  which  was  extended  to 
great  proficiency  in  the  Indian  and  Oriental  languages, 
as  also  to  a  marked  excellence  in  Greek  and  Hebrew.^ 

Examining  more  in  detail  this  literary  formation, 
we  may  take  up  the  programme  for  the  seminary  of 
the  junior  members,  as  drafted  by  Jouvancy.  He  drew 
it  up  in  pursuance  of  a  decree  to  that  effect,  passed 
a  hundred  years  later,  by  the  general  assembly  of 
1696.  This  decree  required  that,  "  besides  the  rules, 
whereby  the  Masters  of  Literature  are  directed  in  the 
manner  of  teaching,  they  should  be  provided  with  an 
Instruction  and  Method  of  learning  properly,  and  so 
be  guided  in  their  private  studies  even  while  they  are 
actually  teaching."  ^  The  method  in  question  is  out- 
lined in  the  first  part  of  Jouvancy's  little  book,  enti- 
tled Ratio  Discendi  et  DocencU,  "  The  art  of  Learning 
and  of  Teaching."  A  cursory  glance  at  this  part  shows 
that,  while  addressing  Masters  on  the  subject  of  their 
own  private  studies,  his  directions  bear  chiefly  upon 
their  efficiency  as  teachers. 

Jouvancy  divides  his  subject  into  three  chapters : 
first,  the  knowledge  and  use  of  languages ;  secondly, 
the  possession  of  sciences  ;  thirdly,  some  aids  to  study. 

1  Ratio  Stud.,  Reg.  Prov.  19;  Monumenta  Germaniae  Paedagogica, 
vol.  V,  p.  242. 

'■^  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  ii,  pp.  84,  93. 
3  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  101. 


FORMATION   OF  THE    MASTER.  163 

As  to  languages,  they  are  three  in  number :  Greek, 
Latin,  and  the  native  tongue.  Laying  down  some 
principles  on  style  in  general,  he  says :  "  If  a  correct 
understanding,  according  to  Horace,  be  the  first  prin- 
ciple and  source  of  writing  well,  it  follows  that  style, 
which  is  nothing  else  than  a  certain  manner  of  writ- 
ing, has  two  parts;  first,  the  intelligent  thought  or 
sentiment,  properly  conceived;  secondl}^,  the  expres- 
sion of  the  same ;  so  that,  as  man  himself  is  made  up 
of  soul  and  body,  all  style  likewise  consists  of  the 
underlying  thought  and  the  manner  of  its  expression." 
Thought  must  be  true,  perspicuous,  and  adapted  to  the 
subject.  To  think  truly  or  justly  of  things,  there  is 
required  mental  power  and  insight,  which  distin- 
guishes what  is  really  the  gist  of  a  subject-matter 
from  what  is  only  a  deceptive  appearance,  or  is  super- 
ficial. Assistance  is  to  be  had  for  all  this  from  the 
reading  of  good  books,  from  accurate  reflection  and 
protracted  thought,  w^hich  does  not  merely  skim  over 
the  subject,  or  touch  it  in  a  desultory  way ;  again, 
from  the  analysis  of  parts,  causes,  adjuncts ;  finally, 
from  the  prudent  judgment  of  others,  or  what  is  called 
criticism.  As  to  the  ways  of  acquiring  proper  dic- 
tion, Jouvancy  says :  "  I  would  have  you  avail  your- 
self of  books  which  treat  of  this  matter,  not  so  as 
to  imagine  all  is  done  by  thumbing  them ;  you  will 
gain  much  more  by  the  plentiful  reading  of  the  best 
writers";  and  again,  "'abundance  of  diction,'  copia 
verhorum,  will  be  easily  acquired  by  reading  much." 
It  is  by  reading,  writing,  and  imitating  the  best 
authors  that  a  good  style  is  formed;  and  only  the 
best  authors  are  to  be  read,  "  lest  the  odor  of  a  for- 


164  LOYOLA. 

eigu  and  vicious  stj'le  cling  to  the  mind,  as  to  new 
vases." 

Coming  to  treat  of  one's  native  tongue,  Jouvancy 
lays  down  these  points  :  "  The  study  of  the  vernacular 
consists  chiefly  in  three  things.  First,  since  the 
Latin  authors  are  explained  to  the  boys,  and  are  ren- 
dered into  the  mother-tongue,  the  version  so  made 
should  be  as  elegant  as  possible.  Wherefore,  let  the 
master  elaborate  his  version  for  himself,  or,  if  he 
draws  on  any  writer  in  the  vernacular,  let  him  com- 
pare first  the  Latin  text  with  the  version  before  him ; 
thus  he  will  find  it  easy  to  perceive  what  is  pecul- 
iar to  either  tongue,  and  what  is  the  respective  force 
and  beauty  of  each.  The  same  method  is  to  be  ob- 
served in  explaining  and  translating  histories  in  the 
lower  classes.  Secondly,  all  the  drafts  of  compositions, 
which  are  dictated  in  the  vernacular,  must  be  in  ac- 
cord with  the  most  exact  rules  of  the  mother-tongue, 
free  from  every  defect  of  style.  [Thirdly,]  it  will  be 
of  use  to  bring  up  and  discuss,  from  time  to  time, 
whatever  has  been  noticed  in  the  course  of  one's  read- 
ing, and  whatever  others  have  observed  regarding  the 
vicious  and  excellent  qualities  of  speech.  The  younger 
Master  should  be  on  his  guard  against  indulging  too 
much  in  the  reading  of  vernacular  authors,  especially 
the  poets,  to  the  loss  of  time,  and  perhaps  to  the 
prejudice  of  virtue." 

The  interest  here  manifested  in  the  vicious  and 
excellent  qualities  of  the  mother-tongue  was  a  contri- 
bution of  the  schools  to  the  development  of  modern 
languages.  Nor  was  the  severity,  which  is  here  pre- 
scribed, with  reference  to  the  use  of  poetry,  a  barrier 


FORMATION  OF  THE   MASTER.  165 

to  the  formation  of  some  good  poets  among  the  Jes- 
uits themselves.  Friedrich  von  Spee  is  considered  a 
distinguished  lyric  poet  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Denis,  as  the  translator  of  Ossian  into  German,  helped 
to  inaugurate  the  later  period  of  German  literature. 
In  Italian  prose,  Bartoli,  Segneri,  Pallavicini,  have 
ranked  as  classics ;  Tiraboschi,  as  the  historian  of 
literature ;  Bresciani,  in  our  days,  as  the  popular  nove- 
list. As  writers  of  French  prose,  Bourdaloue  and 
Bouhours  appertain  to  the  choicest  circle  of  Louis 
XIV's  golden  age ;  Du  Cygne,  Brumoy,  Tournemine, 
besides  others  already  mentioned  in  these  pages,  took 
their  place  as  literary  critics.  And,  in  their  several 
national  literatures,  Cahours,  ^lartin,  Garucci,  have 
attained  their  literary  eminence  as  art-critics. 

Reverting  to  solidity  of  thought  as  the  basis  of 
style,  Jouvancy  eliminates  the  false  ornaments  of  a 
subtle  and  abrupt  style,  by  reducing  the  conceptions 
to  a  dialectical  analysis :  "  What  does  the  thing 
mean  ?  "     And  he  gives  examples. 

In  the  second  chapter  of  the  same  part,  the  Ars 
Discendi,  he  comes  to  the  acquisition  of  those  sciences, 
which  are  proper  to  a  Master  of  Literature.  He  says  : 
"  The  erudition  of  a  religious  master  is  not  confined  to 
mere  command  of  languages,  whereof  we  have  spoken 
heretofore ;  it  must  rise  higher  to  the  understanding 
of  some  sciences,  which  it  is  usual  to  impart  to  youth. 
Such  are  Ehetoric,  Poetry,  History,  Chronology,  Geog- 
raphy, and  Philology  or  Polymathy,  which  last  is  not 
so  much  a  single  science  as  a  series  of  erudite  attain- 
ments, whereof  an  accomplished  person  should  at 
least  have  tasted."     History  he  divides  into  Sacred, 


166  LOYOLA. 

Universal,  and  Parcicular.  "  As  to  the  histories  of 
particular  nations,  writers  of  the  respective  nationali- 
ties record  them  ;  "  "  and  if  you  do  not  add  Chronology 
to  History,  you  take  out  one  of  History's  eyes."  For 
Geography,  he  designates  the  books  and  maps  which 
were  then  to  be  had.  And,  for  all  the  branches,  he 
indicates  standard  authors. 

Now,  in  this  little  rhetorical  sketch  of  Jouvancy's, 
we  may  take  note  of  two  features,  one  pedagogical, 
the  other  historical.  The  distinctively  pedagogical  cast 
is  put  upon  these  private  studies,  in  as  much  as  they 
are  magisterial,  being  pursued  with  express  reference 
to  the  Master's  chair.  The  historical  feature,  to  be 
noted  here,  is  common  to  the  Jesuit  educational  lit- 
erature in  general ;  which,  in  its  many  departments, 
marked  several  epochs  and,  as  a  whole,  made  an  era 
in  education. 

Thus,  at  the  time  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum,  there 
were  indeed  several  guides  of  the  very  first  rank,  in 
the  path  of  a  literary  formation.  They  were  three  in 
number,  Cicero,  Quintilian,  and  Aristotle.  From  these 
the  Professor  of  Ehetoric  had  to  derive  his  matter  and 
make  clear  his  method.  The  Ratio  names  them  as 
his  text-books  for  the  Precepts.^  From  these  sources 
the  literary  activity  and  experience  of  many  genera- 
tions of  Professors,  in  several  hundred  colleges  of  the 
Order,  tended  to  mark  out  the  best  line  to  follow, 
for  the  attainment  of  literary  perfection.  The  liter- 
ary course,  in  which  they  themselves  were  proximately 
formed  for  the  duties  of  teaching,  served  but  to  organ- 

1  Rt.  St.  1599,  Reg.  Prof,  Rhet.  6;  Monumenta  Germauiaj  Paeda- 
gogica,  vol.  V,  p.  404. 


FORMATION   OF  THE   MASTER.  167 

ize  the  matter,  and  to  digest  it.  The  numberless 
pedagogical  text-books,  issued  before  Jouvancy,  and 
after  him,  exhibit  the  progress  of  the  movement  dur- 
ing the  several  centuries.  And,  at  present,  the  sys- 
tem may  be  seen  in  its  most  developed  form,  if  one 
consults  the  newest  guides,  like  Father  Kleutgen's 
Ars  Dicendi,  or  Father  Broeckaert's  Le  Guide  du 
Jeune  Litterateur.  But,  long  before  our  day,  the 
most  ordinary  systems  of  literary  instruction  have 
embodied  the  method ;  and  the  commonest  text-books 
have  it. 

A  similar  epoch  was  made,  as  early  as  1572,  by  the 
Grammar  of  Father  Emmanuel  Alvarez,  De  Institutione 
Grammatica  Libri  Tres,  a  work  adopted  by  the  Ratio, 
then  republished  in  editions  so  numerous  as  to  baffle 
all  calculation,  translated  either  entire,  or  in  part,  into 
thirteen  languages ;  while  one  portion,  well-known  in 
our  times  as  a  "  Latin  Prosody,"  is  credited  to  divers 
authors  or  publishers.^  The  latest  editions  of  this 
Grammar,  issued  in  different  languages,  are  of  the 
last  twenty -five  years.  This  era  of  development  in 
grammar  superseded  the  subtleties  and  metaphysical 
abstractions  of  mediaeval  methods.^ 

In  history,  not  to  mention  the  voluminous  James 
Sirmond,  whose  researches  among  original  sources 
were  made  before  the  sixteenth  century  had  closed. 
Father  Denis  Petau  (Petavius),  early  in  the  following 
century,  composed  his  great  work  on  Chronology,  lay- 

1  Sommervogel  fills  twenty-four  columns  with  a  partial  enumera- 
tion of  the  editions  of  Alvarez;  Bibliotheque  de  la  Compagnie  de 
Jesus,  1890,  sub  coce,  Alvarez. 

2  Compare  Monumenta  Germauiae  Psedagogica,  vol.  ii,  p.  269,  n. 
114 ;  Manare's  Ordinance  for  Germany. 


168  LOYOLA. 

ing  down  the  exact  basis  in  this  respect  for  Universal 
History,  both  sacred  and  profane.^  Geneva  and  Hol- 
land alike  reproduced  the  work.  Labbe's  publications 
on  ancient  and  modern  History  and  Chronology,  the 
greater  part  of  his  eighty  works  being  upon  these 
subjects,  with  several  abridgments  and  geographical 
adjuncts  ;  Father  Bufher's  "  Practical  History,"  which 
was  published  for  the  schools  in  1701,  and  then  rapidly 
went  through  divers  editions,  to  be  supplemented  in 
1715  by  his  "  Universal  Geography,"  his  treatise  on  the 
Globe  and  his  Maps,  all  of  which  went  through  some 
scores  of  French,  Italian  and  Dutch  editions ;  these 
and  other  works  of  the  kind  indicate  the  line  of 
pedagogical  development  going  on  at  the  same  time 
in  the  various  colleges.  Hence,  the  ^'  New  Elements 
of  History  and  Geography  for  the  use  of  the  Scholars 
of  the  College  Louis-le-Grand,"  which  was  an  abridg- 
ment of  Buffier's  book,  could  say,  with  some  propriety, 
on  its  first  page :  "  How  great  has  been  the  careless- 
ness of  an  age,  otherwise  so  judicious  and  cultivated 
as  ours,  in  not  having  as  yet  made  the  science  of 
History  and  Geography  an  essential  part  of  the  educa- 
tion of  youth  ?  The  public  and  posterity  will  per- 
haps be  grateful  to  the  College  of  Louis-le-Grand,  for 
having  shown  in  this  regard  an  example,  which  ought 
to  do  honor  to  our  time."  ^  Thus  the  same  resources 
were  at  the  service  of  Jesuit  education  as,  in  the  gen- 
eral literary  world,  helped  to  form  the  Jesuit  historians : 
Mariana,  historian  of  Spain;  Damian  Strada,  of  the 
War  in  the  Netherlands ;  Balbin,  of  Bohemia ;  Narus- 

1  Rationarium  Temporum,  Paris,  1632. 

2  Daniel,  Les  Jesuites  Instituteurs,  etc.,  ch.  10,  p.  216. 


FORMATION  OF   THE   MASTER.  169 

zewicz,  of  Poland ;  Katona,  of  the  Kings  of  Hun- 
gary ;  Damberger,  of  the  Middle  Ages ;  Francis 
Wagner,  of  Leopold  I ;  G.  Daniel,  historiographer 
royal  of  France. 

Geography  is  not  to  be  separated  from  History. 
Up  to  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  Ptolemy's 
Geography,  corrected,  modified,  altered,  according  to 
the  reports  of  navigators,  had  been  the  scientific 
standard,  but  uncertain,  vacillating,  and  self-contra- 
dictory. From  the  earlier  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  the  astronomical  observations,  sent  from  the 
far  East  by  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  emphasized  the 
need  of  a  general  reform,  already  sufficiently  evident. 
Father  Eiccioli,  assisted  by  Father  Grimaldi,  who  is 
known  in  science  as  one  of  the  precursors  of  Newton, 
undertook,  in  his  GeograpJiia  lieformata,  the  reform 
of  Geography  by  means  of  Astronomy.^  For  this 
purpose,  he  created  first  his  own  metrology,  identify- 
ing, and  reducing  to  a  common  denomination,  all  the 
measures  received  in  reports  from  different  parts  of 
the  earth.  The  first  eclipse  of  the  moon  which  he 
makes  mention  of,  among  his  astronomical  reports, 
had  been  observed  on  the  night  of  November  8,  1612, 
by  Father  Scheiner  at  Ingolstadt  and  by  Father 
Charles  Spinola  at  Nangasaki  in  Japan.  At  the 
time  that  Eiccioli  was  writing,  the  Jesuit  mission- 
aries had  multiplied  in  China.  Adam  Schall  died 
in  1666,  holding  the  post  of  President  of  the  Mathe- 
matical Tribunal  at  Pekin ;  he  was  followed  by  Fer- 
dinand Verbiest ;  and  then  a  long   line  of  imperial 

1  Geographiae  et  Hydrographiae  Reformatae  Libri  xii,  Bologna, 
1661,  in  folio. 


170  LOYOLA. 

astronomers  of  the  Celestial  Empire,  Koegler,  Haller- 
stein,  Seixas,  Francesco,  De  Eocha,  Espinha,  con- 
tinued to  send  their  reports,  either  to  the  colleges  of 
their  respective  Provinces,  or  to  other  mathematical 
centres,  or  to  the  learned  societies  in  Europe,  Avhereof 
not  a  few  Jesuits  were  members.  Meanwhile,  scien- 
tific returns  from  Hindustan,  Siam,  Thibet,  on  one 
side  of  the  globe,  and  from  San  Domingo  on  the  other 
side,  poured  into  the  College  Louis-le-Grand,  and 
made  of  this  educational  centre  an  indispensable 
auxiliary  to  the  Bureau  of  Longitudes.  All  this,  re- 
acting on  education,  was  received  with  satisfaction  by 
the  general  world,  and  drew  the  pedagogic  bodies 
steadily,  though  with  some  difficulty,  on  the  line  of 
progress.  The  University  of  Paris  was  quite  tardy 
in  following  up  the  steps  of  the  Jesuits.^ 

As  to  Mathematics  in  education,  it  is  evident  that 
a  similar  process  of  development  must  have  been  the 
history  of  this  branch,  with  the  limitation  however, 
that  mathematical  science  has  not  been  so  nearly 
created  anew  within  these  last  centuries,  as  some 
other  departments.  Father  Christopher  Clavius,  "  the 
Euclid  of  his  time,"  was  engaged  by  Gregory  XIII  in 
reforming  the  Calendar,  the  same  which  we  use  to-day ; 
he  died  in  1612.  His  death  intervening,  while  his 
complete  works  were  being  republished,  Father  Zieg- 
ler  superintended  the  neiv  edition,  till  it  was  finished 
in  five  tomes.  Francis  Coster,  at  Cologne,  Hurtado 
Perez,  at  Ingolstadt,  Henry  Garnet,  an  Englishman, 

1  See  the  pleasant  sketch  in  Daniel's  Les  Je'suites  Instituteurs,  etc., 
chs.  2-5 ;  also  Maynard's  The  Jesuits,  their  Studies  and  Teaching, 
ch.  i,  Scientific  Condition  of  the  Jesuits,  etc. 


FORMATION  OF   THE    MASTER.  171 

and  G-rienberger,  successor  of  Clavius,  both  at  Eome, 
belonged,  with  other  mathematicans  of  the  Order,  to 
the  sixteenth  century.  The  writers  of  the  prelimi- 
nary Ratio,  1586,  require  that,  in  a  brief  course  of 
Mathematics,  "  Euclid's  Elements  "  "  be  seasoned  al- 
w^ays  with  some  application  to  Geography  or  the 
Sphere '' ;  then,  in  the  following  year,  the  rest  of 
Father  Clavius'  "  Epitome  of  Practical  Arithmetic  "  ^  is 
to  be  finished ;  -  and  special  courses  are  provided  for 
members  of  the  Order,  who  give  promise  of  eminence.-'^ 
Indeed,  whether  as  Professors  of  officers  for  the 
army  and  navy,  or  as  constructing  and  directing  ob- 
servatories, the  members  pursued  everj^  branch  of 
Mathematics,  pure  and  applied.  Father  L'Hoste's 
''  Treatise  on  Xaval  Evolutions"  was  used  in  the  French 
navy,  as  "  the  Book  of  the  Jesuit."  *  Of  this  book 
the  Count  de  Maistre  writes  quaintly  in  1820  :  "  An 
English  Admiral  assured  me  less  than  ten  years  ago, 
that  he  had  received  his  first  instructions  in  the  'Book 
of  the  Jesuit.'  If  events  are  taken  for  results,  there 
is  not  a  better  book  in  the  world  !  "  ^  Eximeno,  at  the 
school  of  Segovia,  instructed  young  nobles  in  Mathe- 
matics and  the  science  of  Artillery.  And  so,  in  gen- 
eral, courses  were  provided,  according  as  the  needs  of 
respective  localities  required.  The  Kepublic  of  Venice 
struck  a  gold  medal  in  honor  of  Vincent  Eiccolati,  the 
Jesuit  engineer,  just  as  the  King  of  Denmark  honors 
De  Vico,  the  astronomer,  with  a  gold  medal  struck  in 

1  Rome,  1583,  8vo,  pp.  219. 

2  Monumenta  Germaniae  Psedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  141,  De  Mathe- 
maticis.  3  Reg.  Prov.  n.  20.  ^  Y\vs,i  edition  in  1697. 

5  De  r:6glise  Gallicane,  lir.  1,  ch.  8,  p.  46 ;  edit.  1821. 


172  LOYOLA. 

his  honor,  and  having  the  words  inscribed,  "  Comet 
Seen,  Jan.  24, 1846."  ^ 

Kircher,  Boscovich,  Pianciani,  Secchi,  Perry,  hon- 
ored with  the  fellowship  of  so  many  learned  and 
scientific  Academies,  and  exercising  a  distinct  influ- 
ence to-day,  either  by  the  far-reaching  effects  of  their 
researches,  or  by  their  actual  contact  with  science,  may 
be  looked  upon  as  belonging  to  our  most  recent  times.^ 

It  is  remarked  that  to  the  Order  was  due  the  mul- 
tiplication of  observatories,  in  the  middle  of  last  cen- 
tury. Pather  Huberti  superintended  the  building  of 
an  observatory  at  Wiirzburg ;  Father  Maximilian  Hell, 
the  court  astronomer,  built  one  at  Vienna.  At  Man- 
heim,  a  third  was  erected  by  Mayer  and  Metzger; 
at  Tyrnau,  one  by  Keri ;  at  Prague,  another  by  Step- 
pling ;  one  at  the  Jesuit  College  of  Gratz ;  similarly 
at  Wilna,  Milan,  Florence,  Parma,  Venice,  Brescia, 
Eome,  Lisbon,  Marseilles,  Bonfa.  In  short,  Montucla 
remarks:  "In  Germany  and  the  neighboring  coun- 
tries, there  were  few  Jesuit  colleges  without  an  observ- 
atory. They  were  to  be  found  at  Ingolstadt,  Gratz, 
Breslau,  Olmiitz,  Prague,  Posen,  etc.  Most  of  them 
seem  to  have  shared  the  fate  of  the  Society  ;  though 
there  are  a  few  which  survive  the  general  destruc- 
tion." 3 

1  The  medal  is  in  the  Coleman  Museum  of  the  Georgetown  Uni- 
versity, where  De  Vico,  with  Sestiui,  was  astronomer  for  some  time. 

2  For  an  historical  sketch  of  Bavarian  Jesuits,  under  the  aspect 
of  scientific  eminence,  see  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol. 
ix,  pp.  445-6,  where  Father  Pachtler  gives  the  Prospectus  of  a  new 
scientific  and  literary  review,  to  be  issued  in  Bavaria,  1772.  The 
Suppression  forestalled  it. 

3  Histoire  des  Mathematiques,  t.  iv,  p.  347;  quoted  by  Cretineau- 
Joly,  t.  iv,  c.  4,  p.  283,  who  contains  a  large  amount  of  literature 


FORMATION  OF  THE   MASTER.  173 

These  few  indications  go  to  illustrate  the  pedagogi- 
cal epochs  made  by  the  system  of  the  Order.  And 
the  young  member,  who  is  being  formed  to  contribute 
his  own  share  towards  carrying  on  the  education  of 
the  world,  passes  all  these  branches  under  review. 
One  of  them,  Mathematics,  is  conducted  outside  of 
the  ]3hilological  seminary,  which  we  have  so  far  been 
considering;  it  is  left  for  his  course  of  Philosophy, 
which  he  will  pursue  during  three  years,  before  actu- 
ally embarking  on  the  life  of  the  class-room,  or  his 
^'regency."  We  may  now  suppose  that  the  time  has 
arrived  for  his  entering  the  class-room,  as  a  Master 
of  Grammar  and  Elementary  Literature. 

When  he  does  so,  he  has  possessed  himself,  in  that 
philosophical  triennium,  of  positive  intellectual  attain- 
ments, neither  meagre  nor  common.  He  has  surveyed 
the  whole  field  of  natural  thought  and  investigation, 
in  the  various  branches,  mental,  physical,  and  ethical. 
To  enumerate  them,  there  is  Logic,  including  dialec- 
tics, and  the  criteria,  objective  and  subjective,  of  truth ; 
Ontology,  or  general  metaphysics ;  Special  Metaphys- 
ics, in  its  three  divisions  :  —  Cosmology,  which  imme- 
diately underlies  physics,  chemistry,  and  biology ; 
Psychology,  which  underlies  all  the  anthropological 
sciences  about  the  human  compound,  its  principles, 
and   the  formation  of  its   ideas ;   Natural  Theology. 

upon  this  subject.  According  to  late  researches,  made  by  MM.  C. 
Andre  and  G.  Rayet,  astronomers  of  the  observatory  of  Paris,  the 
number  of  observatories  established  in  the  whole  world,  towards 
the  close  of  the  last  century,  was  130.  Of  this  number,  32  were 
founded  by  Jesuits,  or  were  under  their  direction. — Victor  Van 
Tricht,  La  Bibliotheque  des  Ecrivains  de  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus, 
etc.,  appendice  l^r,  p.  221;  1876. 


174  LOYOLA. 

All  this  is  tlieoretic  or  speculative  philosophy.  There 
is  besides  the  science  of  moral  life,  which  comprises 
Ethics,  Natural  Kight,  and  Social  Eight.  Concurrent 
with  Philosophy,  there  has  been  a  double  course  of 
Physics  and  Chemistry,  during  one  year,  with  a  course 
of  higher  Mathematics,  varying  from  one  year  to 
three  ;  as  well  as  a  half-year's  course  of  Geology,  As- 
tronomy, and  some  other  subsidiary  matters.  This  is 
the  general  formation.  The  principle  which  guides 
individual  cases  was  laid  down  by  Ignatius  in  these 
terms :  ''  In  the  superior  faculties,  on  account  of  the 
great  inequality  of  talents  and  age  and  other  consid- 
erations, the  Eector  of  the  University  will  consider 
how  much  in  each  line  individuals  shall  learn,  and 
how  long  they  shall  stay  in  the  courses ;  although  it 
is  better  for  those  who  are  of  the  proper  age,  and  who 
have  the  requisite  facility  in  point  of  talent,  that 
they  should  endeavor  to  advance  and  become  conspicu- 
ous in  all."  ^  During  all  this  course  of  higher  natural 
sciences,  some  attention  has  still  been  paid  to  acces- 
sories ;  literature  has  not  been  entirely  neglected ; 
oratory  has  been  practised,  and  poems  presented  on 
stated  occasions.  And  then  the  new  Master  is  intro- 
duced into  his  course  of  "  regency." 

1  Constitutiones,  pars  iv,  c.  13,  u.  4. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

YOUTHFUL  MASTERS. 

Whex  Ignatius  of  Lo3'ola  was  governing  the  Society, 
the  multiplicity  of  affairs  which  he  had  to  administer, 
and  the  absorption  of  mind  which  they  demanded,  did 
not  prevent  him  from  devoting  to  every  minute  ele- 
ment the  attention  which  it  specially  invited.  Hence 
he  required  the  young  Scholastics,  who  were  review- 
ing their  literary  studies  at  Valencia,  to  send  him 
their  orations  and  a  poem.  So,  too,  with  the  Masters 
of  the  lower  classes  at  Messina,  in  Sicily.  This  college 
had  opened  with  the  higher  courses  of  letters  ;  but  the 
very  next  year  such  numerous  throngs  of  younger 
boys  came  asking  for  admission,  that  the  system, 
begun  with  Rhetoric  and  Humanities,  was  carried 
down  to  meet  their  needs ;  and  the  entire  course  was 
distributed  into  five  grades.  Ignatius  required  the 
teachers  of  these  lower  grades,  no  less  than  those  of 
the  higher,  to  write  each  week,  and  send  him  an  ac- 
count of  the  affairs  of  his  class. ^ 

It  is  indeed  an  eventful  moment,  when  a  man  be- 
comes a  teacher  of  others.  They  may  be  boys.  But, 
whether  they  are  boys  merely  blossoming  into  life,  or 
youths  on  the  verge  of  manhood,  the  teacher  of  them 
has  to  be  a  teacher  of   men;    and   perhaps  more  so 

1  Bollandists,  J.  P.,  n.  871. 

175 


170  LOYOLA. 

with  the  boy  than  with  the  man,  inasmuch  as  his  con- 
trol of  the  younger  student  has  to  be  so  much  the 
more  complete.  It  is  not  merely  such  a  control  as 
will  address  the  intellects  of  men  mature,  whose  char- 
acters are  already  far  advanced  in  the  way  of  forma- 
tion, or  are  perhaps  fixed  for  life ;  but  it  must  be  such 
as  will  form  a  whole  human  nature,  which  is  still 
pliable  and  docile. 

As  an  almost  universal  rule,  the  Jesuit  Scholastic, 
after  his  course  of  Philosophy,  takes  his  place  in  a 
college  to  teach  Grammar  or  Literature.  If  it  be 
asked,  why  should  this  be  an  almost  universal  rule, 
several  reasons  are  at  hand.  In  the  first  place,  the 
candidate  for  admission  into  the  Order  has  been  ac- 
cepted with  special  reference  to  this  work.  If  this 
reference  was  expressly  overlooked,  the  candidate  so 
admitted  is  in  an  exceptional  category.  In  the  sec- 
ond place,  the  whole  tenor  of  what  has  to  be  said  in 
the  present  chapter  will  show  the  pedagogical  policy 
in  the  arrangement.  But,  in  the  third  place,  not  to 
pass  over  too  summarily  one  special  fitness,  I  will  say 
a  few  words  upon  it  at  once. 

The  manner  of  teaching  the  young  is  oral  and  tuto- 
rial. All  through  the  Jesuit  System  the  manner  fol- 
lowed is  oral :  in  the  examinations  of  the  lower  classes, 
where  writing  is  admitted,  it  is  only  as  a  specimen 
of  style  and  composition  that  writing  enters  the 
examination  exercises.  With  the  younger  students, 
the  manner  of  teaching  is  oral  in  its  most  specific 
sense.  It  is  not  that  generic  quality  which  will  suit 
as  well  the  lecturer  or  the  public  speaker.  But  it  is 
the  tutorial  manner,  which  includes  a  fund  of  sym- 


YOUTHFUL   MASTERS.  177 

patliy,  of  that  tact  which  supposes  sympathy,  of  such 
a  superiority,  both  moral  and  intellectual,  as  knows 
how  to  stoop,  and  elevate  the  boy  by  stooping,  and 
does  it  all  naturally,  instinctively,  gracefully.  In  the 
ordinary  course  of  human  affairs,  this  magnetic  power 
of  the  teacher  is  more  intense,  according  as  in  years 
he  is  nearer  to  the  subject  on  whom  liis  ascendancy 
plays,  and  by  whom  it  is  spontaneously  admitted.  I 
mean  that  inestimable  and  precious  subject,  the  mind 
and  heart  of  the  impressionable  boy,  who  is  about  to 
develop  into  manhood,  first  young,  and  then  mature. 

The  youthful  subject  is  rich,  though  not  in  posi- 
tive acquisitions  already  made  its  own ;  for,  in  this 
respect,  it  may  rather  be  considered  param  fructiiosa, 
as  Sacchini  says ;  that  is,  bearing  little  fruit  as  yet, 
either  of  judgment  or  positive  acquirements.  But  it 
is  rich  in  its  promise,  as  it  struggles  upward  into  the 
sunshine  of  varied  and  beautiful  truth.  This  is  the 
fact  which  imposes  upon  liberal  education  the  duty  of 
omitting  nothing  that  is  either  beautiful  or  polished, 
in  imagination,  thought,  or  style.  It  justifies  Belles 
Lettres  and  the  most  finished  course  of  Literature,  as 
being  the  chosen  garden  of  flowers  and  fruit,  to  enter^ 
tain  withal,  richly  and  exquisitely,  the  youthful  prom- 
ise of  mind,  sentiment,  and  heart. 

Or,  inverting  the  figure,  if  we  liken  the  mind  itself 
in  youth  to  the  choice  and  prolific  soil  of  a  garden, 
we  may  note  that,  to  till  such  soil,  there  is  need  of  a 
gardener  who  has  a  delicate  hand  and  a  light  touch. 
He  must  not  be  a  lecturer  who  stands  off,  nor  a  speaker 
who  declaims,  nor  a  text-book  monger  who  reads,  and 
hears  recitations  of  what  a  book  says  ;  nor  is  he  to 


178  LOYOLA. 

dole  out  methods  and  analyses  to  an  inquisitive  sense 
and  emotional  fancy,  which,  in  the  youthful  soul, 
are  the  temporary  vesture  of  an  unfolding  intellect ; 
even,  as  in  nature  around,  things  tangible  and  pal- 
pable are  bursting,  to  the  boy's  inquisitive  eyes,  with 
the  great  intellectual  truths  which  fhej  contain. 
Analyses,  text-books,  lectures  are  not  the  powers  with 
the  young  mind.  But,  often  enough,  we  see  where 
the  real  power  lies ;  when  young  men,  scarcely  as  yet 
approaching  the  prime  of  life,  exercise  over  impres- 
sionable and  brilliant  youths,  not  much  beneath  them- 
selves in  age,  such  a  personal  influence  as  bids  fair 
to  rank  them  among  the  greater  forces  of  human 
nature  —  forces  which  are  great  in  leading,  because 
they  know  so  well  how  to  follow.  That  other  form  of 
ascendancy,  more  purely  intellectual,  and  originating 
in  wide  learning  and  maturity  of  scholarship,  belongs 
to  the  University  Professor  of  a  later  stage  of  life. 
Hence  it  appears  that  youthfulness  in  the  Master  is 
an  advantage  for  the  tutorial  teaching  of  the  young. 
The  critics  who  drew  up  the  preliminary  Batio  in 
1586  were  of  opinion  that  the  Masters  in  the  liter- 
ary courses  should  be  assigned  to  their  work,  not 
after  their  course  of  Philosophy,  but  before.^  They 
would  except  from  this  arrangement  only  the  Profes- 
sor of  Ehetoric ;  perhaps,  also,  in  the  chief  colleges, 
the  Professor  of  Humanity  or  Poetry;  besides,  of 
course,  those  "  whose  age  or  deportment  shows  that 
they  are  too  young  to  become  Masters  as  yet,  or  too 
far  advanced  in  years  to  be  kept  back  from  their  Phi- 
losophy." In  support  of  this  view,  they  urge  several 
1  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  151  seq. 


YOUTHFUL  MASTERS.  179 

reasons,  which,  do  not  much  concern  us  here ;  as,  for 
instance,  that,  if  young  men  have  once  tasted  of  the 
subtleties  of  the  philosophers,  they  can  hardly  bring 
themselves  to  take  pleasure  any  more  in  the  insipid 
subject-matter  of  Grammar  5  they  will  pore  over  phil- 
osophical lore ;  they  will  branch  off,  during  class,  into 
philosophical  digressions,  which  may  serve  for  show, 
but  not  for  utility.  The  critics  also  express  a  fear 
that  these  philosophers  will  bring  into  the  school- 
room a  style  of  language  infected  with  philosophical 
terms ;  and  they  quote  the  eminent  Jesuit,  Annibal 
Codret,  to  the  effect  that,  if  Philosophy  has  been 
tasted  beforehand,  nothing  brilliant  in  literary  style 
can  subsequently  be  guaranteed.  But,  these  argu- 
ments notwithstanding,  the  Society,  when  it  came  to 
sanction  a  final  arrangement,  in  the  legislative  docu- 
ment of  1599,  seems  to  have  entertained  a  higher 
idea  of  the  younger  members,  and  of  their  ability 
and  resolution  to  shake  off  any  deleterious  effects  of 
scholastic  Latin,  when  they  advanced  to  the  chair  of 
purest  Latinity.  Hence  the  legislation  ordains  that 
Philosophy  is  to  be  studied  before  undertaking  to 
teach  Letters.^ 

There  are  several  reasons,  however,  which,  as  urged 
by  these  critics,  are  quite  relevant  to  our  present 
topic.  They  urge  that  Grammar  studies  require  a 
certain  fervor,  or  alacrity,  which  is  rather  to  be  found 
in  persons  who  are  younger,  and  so  far  are  nearer  to 
the  thoughts  and  sentiments  of  boyhood.  The  fuller 
results  of  education,  in  this  respect,  are  not  to  be  had 

1  Ratio  St.,  Reg.  Prov.  28 ;  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica, 
vol.  V,  p.  260. 


180  LOYOLA. 

from  them  when  older.  If  authority  or  experience 
is  felt  to  be  wanting,  it  can  readily  be  supplemented 
by  the  Prefect  of  Studies,  who  is  constantly  in  at- 
tendance on  the  classes  of  Grrammar  ;  and  his  direction 
finds  a  sufficient  response  in  the  teacher's  aptitude  and 
docility.  Indeed,  docility  to  counsel  is  so  indispensa- 
ble a  requisite,  on  the  part  of  young  teachers,  that 
the  General  Mutius  Vitelleschi  observes  :  "  If  they 
were  to  show  themselves  impatient  of  correction,  and 
were  to  refuse  the  necessary  aids  for  becoming  effi- 
cient, they  should  on  all  accounts  be  removed  from 
teaching,  even  if  they  had  filled  only  half  a  year ; 
since  it  is  more  just  and  expedient  that  one  suffer 
shame,  than  that  many  be  injured."  ^ 

Unless  singular  talents,  or  the  bare  force  of  cir- 
cumstance, recommend  another  course  of  action,  it 
is  not  desirable  that  new  teachers  should  at  once 
become  Masters  of  the  higher  class  of  Grammar  or 
of  Humanity,  though  otherwise  not  unfit  for  these 
grades.  On  all  accounts,  say  the  critics,  the  rule 
should  be  that  they  start  with  the  lowest  classes,  and 
then,  year  after  year,  advance  to  the  next  higher 
grade,  with  the  best  part  of  their  scholars.  A  certain 
crudeness  and  inexperience  which,  at  the  beginning, 
are  unavoidable  in  their  management,  will  cause,  as 
long  as  it  lasts,  not  so  much  evil  with  the  younger  as 
with  the  older  students.  Inexperience  wears  away 
with  practice.  Then  again,  if  the  Masters  go  up 
each  year,  and  the  scholars  go  with  them,  the  same 
students  are  very  much  with  the  same  teachers. 
The  young  people  have  not  to  pass  so  often  from  one 

1  Ibid.,  vol.  ix,  p.  59. 


YOUTHFUL  MASTERS.  181 

kind  of  management  to  another.  Frequent  change 
entails  a  waste  of  time,  until  each  party  comes  to 
know  the  other,  and  understand  his  own  as  well  as 
the  other's  part.^  In  1583,  Father  Oliver  Manare, 
visiting  the  German  Provinces  by  the  General's  au- 
thority, had  noticed  this  point,  in  his  ordinance  for 
the  management  of  convictus,  or  boarding  colleges  ; 
that  "  frequent  changes  were  burdensome  to  the  stu- 
dents themselves,  because  they  were  forced  to  accom- 
modate themselves  often  to  new  teachers  or  prefects."  - 

In  the  same  sense,  these  critics,  whom  we  are  fol- 
lowing, consider  it  undesirable  that  a  Master  should 
resign  his  post  in  less  than  three  years.  Frequent 
and  manifold  changes  provoke  complaints  on  the  part 
of  the  outside  world.  Besides,  the  Master's  own 
efforts  at  acquiring  perfection  in  the  magisterial  art 
will  be  cut  short.  When  there  is  no  prospective  per- 
manency in  a  position,  the  mind  is  not  so  seriously 
applied  to  the  work  in  hand.^ 

In  all  this,  a  most  important  question  regarding 
boys  is  being  faced  by  these  critics ;  and  a  definite 
practical  solution  is  adopted.  The  question  is,  which 
of  the  two  alternatives  to  adopt,  whether  to  sub- 
mit boys  to  one  person's  dominant  influence,  or  to 
pass  them  on  through  the  hands  of  divers  experienced 
and  permanent  Professors,  stationed  respectively  in 
the  different  grades.  This  latter  alternative,  if  it  is 
understood  to  mean  that  one  Professor  remains  per- 
petually in  one  grade,  and  another  in  another,  scarcely 

1  Ibid.,  vol.  V,  Rt.  St.  1586 ;   Humanitatis  Magistri,  n.  5,  p.  153. 

2  Monumenta  Germaniae  Psedagogica,  vol.  ii,  p.  415. 

3  Ibid.,  vol.  V,  n.  3,  p.  152. 


182  LOYOLA. 

seems  to  merit  consideration  with  tliem,  except  as  re- 
gards tlie  two  highest  literary  classes,  —  of  Poetry  and 
Rhetoric,  —  where  the  requirements  of  erudition  are 
so  considerable  as  to  need  a  lengthened  term  of  years 
for  filling  the  chairs  worthily.  But,  if  the  alternative 
regarding  permanent  Professors  means  that  the  same 
teachers  remain  constantly  within  the  limits  of  the 
same  curriculum,  then  the  question  seems  to  be  the 
one  which  the  critics  of  the  preliminary  Ratio  argue 
about  in  both  senses,  for  and  against ;  and  they  finally 
arrive  at  a  solution,  or  rather  a  compromise.^ 

The  severest  thing  they  say  against  the  plan  is  in 
this  wise,  when  sj)eaking  directly  of  the  two  highest 
grades :  "  Perpetuity  of  that  kind  may  give  occasion  to 
mere  idleness  and  indifference ;  for  after  acquiring,  in 
the  first  years,  some  esteem  and  name  for  their  learning 
(in  Poetry  or  Ehetoric),  Masters  prefer  to  enjoy  the 
fruit  and  name  of  the  labor  already  undergone,  how- 
ever moderate  that  was,  rather  than  wear  themselves 
out  with  new  labors.  Hence  they  make  no  new  ac- 
quisitions in  the  learning  and  accomplishments  proper 
to  their  branch;  they  get  rooted  in  very  much  the 
same  spot,  and  teach  what  they  have  taught  before 
over  and  over  again,  though  with  some  variations. 
What  is  worse,  as  if  they  were  quite  worn  out  with 
their  prolonged  exertions,  they  say  that  they  cannot 
any  longer  stand  all  the  labor  of  exercising  their  stu- 
dents; whence  everything  freezes,  and  they  ask  for 
an  assistant,  who,  if  he  is  unlearned,  does  more  harm 
than  good;  if  learned,  then  why  are  two  doing  the 
work  of  one?" 

1  Ibid.,  vol.  V.  n.  4,  p.  152. 


YOUTHFUL   MASTERS.  183 

The  solution  which  they  arrive  at  is  a  compromise, 
which  recognizes  peculiar  advantages  in  both  arrange- 
ments. It  is  embodied  in  several  rules  of  the  Ratio 
Studiorum}  As  many  perpetual  Professors  as  possi- 
ble, for  Grammar  and  Ehetoric,  are  to  be  provided; 
and  some  candidates  for  admission  to  the  Order,  who 
seem  qualified  for  this  field  of  work,  though  apparently 
not  likely  to  succeed  in  the  higher  studies  of  the  So- 
ciety, may  be  admitted  on  this  condition,  that  they 
devote  themselves  in  perpetuity  to  this  work  of  zeal. 
Thus  such  exigencies  are  provided  for  as  postulate  a 
perpetuity  of  professorship  within  the  same  limited 
curriculum. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  normal  process  is  that  which 
arranges  a  constant  succession  of  teachers  in  the  col- 
lege, but  not  a  constant  change  with  the  same  boys. 
The  same  boys  go  hand  in  hand  with  the  one  Master, 
with  whom  they  have  most  to  do.  And  no  one  is  to 
take  charge  of  them,  however  transiently,  says  the 
General  Vitelleschi,  "whether  on  account  of  fewness 
of  numbers,  or  merely  to  suppl}^  for  another  in  his 
absence,  of  whom  it  is  not  certain  that  he  is  qualified 
for  the  post."^  The  very  frequent  mention,  in  all 
these  discussions,  of  something  like  domestic  trage- 
dies resulting  from  the  change  of  masters,  seems  to 
show  two  things;  first,  it  justifies  the  practice  of 
keeping  the  same  Professor  over  the  same  boys  for  a 
certain  term  of  years,  if  not  until  the  class  itself  dis- 
solves into  higher  courses ;  secondly,  it  shows  what  a 
usual  condition  it  was  for  masters  to  have  won  the 

1  Ibid.,  vol.  V,  p.  260;  Reg.  Prov.  24,  25. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  ix,  p.  60;  letter  of  the  year  1639, 


184  LOYOLA. 

most  absolute  attachment  to  themselves,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  their  magisterial  duties,  both  on  the  side  of 
parents  and  on  the  part  of  the  scholars.  Thus,  speak- 
ing of  the  Professors  mounting  with  their  classes,  the 
critics  say :  "  They  will  have  observed  what  their  dis- 
ciples need;  they  will  take  them  up  to  the  next  class. 
And  hence,  that  changing  of  Masters,  which  has  caused 
so  many  tragic  scenes,  will  not  be  felt  so  much."  ^ 

Add  to  these  elements  of  permanency  and  identity, 
another  which  is  most  fundamental  of  all,  the  identity 
of  their  formation  as  Masters;  so  that  the  young 
Jesuits,  as  the  General  Yisconti  sums  up  the  matter 
in  1752,  "  must  have  the  most  accomplished  Profes- 
sors of  Rhetoric,  immediately  after  their  novitiate, 
men  who  not  only  are  altogether  eminent  in  this  fac- 
ulty, but  who  know  how  to  teach,  and  make  every- 
thing smooth  for  them;  men  of  eminent  talent  and  the 
widest  experience  in  the  art;  who  are  not  merely  to 
form  good  scholars,  but  to  train  good  Masters  " ;  and 
that  "  two  years  entire  must  be  given  to  Rhetoric,  ac- 
cording to  the  custom  of  the  Society,  which  term  is 
not  to  be  abridged,  unless  necessity  is  urgent."  ^  Add, 
moreover,  the  uniformity  of  plan,  "  so  that  the  form  of 
our  schools  may  be  everywhere  as  much  as  possible 
the  same,  and,  when  Masters  are  changed,  itself  need 
undergo  no  change."'^  It  follows  that,  though  the 
flow  of  new  blood  is  constantly  entering  the  pedagogic 
body,  and  a  constant  renewal  is  taking  place,  neither 
the  permanency  nor  the  identity  of  the  teaching  body 
and  its  system  is  found  to  depend  upon  the  same  in- 
dividuals remaining  at  the  same    posts.     Naturally, 

1  Ibid.,  vol.  V,  p.  154.       2  ibid.,  vol.  ix,  p.  130,  n.  2.       3  ibid.,  n.  6. 


YOUTHFUL  MASTEES.  185 

such  conditions  are  not  to  be  looked  for,  except  in  tlie 
special  circumstances  of  a  religious  community,  with 
perfect  organization  in  the  body,  with  the  conscien- 
tiousness of  a  self-denying  formation  actuating  the 
members,  with  the  landmarks  of  traditions,  and  a 
statutory  method  to  show  the  way;  and,  finally,  with 
executive  officials  adequate  to  control. 

As  to  this  last-named  condition  of  executive  super- 
intendence over  persons  and  things  in  the  system, 
several  rules  for  the  Prefect  of  Studies  of  these  liter- 
ary courses  will  explain  themselves.  The  Ratio  of 
1599  says:  "Let  him  have  the  rules  of  the  Masters 
and  scholars,  and  see  that  they  are  observed,  as  if 
they  were  his  own.  Let  him  help  the  Masters  them- 
selves and  direct  them,  and  be  especially  cautious 
that  the  esteem  and  authority  due  to  them  be  not  in 
the  least  impaired.  Let  him  be  very  solicitous  that 
the  new  Preceptors  follow  with  accuracy  the  manner 
of  teaching,  and  other  customs  of  their  predecessors, 
provided  that  these  were  not  foreign  to  our  method; 
so  that  persons  outside  may  not  have  reason  to  find 
fault  with  the  frequent  change  of  Masters.  Once  a 
fortnight,  at  least,  let  him  listen  to  each  one  teach- 
ing."^ 

This  moral  identity  being  secured,  in  the  ways, 
means,  and  views  of  the  teaching  body,  the  individual 
and  personal  elements,  which  each  Master  brings  to 
bear  upon  the  work  before  him,  are  no  more  interfered 
Avith,  or  hampered  by  community  of  method,  than 
are  all  the  varieties  of  race,  nation,  politics,  and  en- 
vironment,  slighted  or  interfered  with  by  a  single 

1  Ibid.,  vol.  V,  p.  352. 


186  LOYOLA. 

system  of  collegiate  institution  being  placed  in  their 
midst.  It  was  in  view  of  being  everywhere,  that  the 
system  was  cast  in  its  precise  and  adjustable  form,  so 
that,  in  spite  of  being  everywhere,  it  should  be  found 
equally  manageable  and  effective.  And  similarly,  in 
spite  of  the  system  itself  being  one,  the  play  of  indi- 
vidual talents  can  be  various,  as  are  the  movable  fac- 
tors in  any  great  organization. 

We  may  close  this  chapter  by  observing  several 
far-reaching  consequences  of  the  foregoing  principles. 
In  the  first  place,  those  who,  after  personal  experience 
in  the  classes,  come  to  take  charge  of  colleges  in  the 
capacity  of  Electors,  are  found,  say  the  critics  of  1586, 
to  take  full  and  accurate  account  of  studies  and  Profes- 
sors alike ;  for  they  themselves  "  have  borne  the  bur- 
den of  the  schools,  and  know  how  to  sympathize  with 
others  from  their  own  experience  " ;  a  fact  which  is 
the  more  conducive  to  the  end  in  view,  as  "colleges 
have  been  instituted  for  the  study  of  letters.  Be- 
sides, not  unfrequently  there  arise  in  the  classes,  espe- 
cially of  the  smaller  colleges,  difficulties  which  can 
scarcely  be  overcome,  except  by  a  Kector  who  has 
personal  experience  to  guide  him;  otherwise,  whether 
he  chances  to  solve  the  difficulty  aright,  or  solves  it 
awry,  he  will  not  do  much  good  either  way,  since  they 
do  not  give  him  the  credit  of  knowing  how."  ^  The 
"  smaller  colleges  "  spoken  of  here,  as  more  liable  to 
encounter  internal  difficulties,  are  contrasted  else- 
where by  these  critics  with  "  the  greater  and  principal 
ones,  in  which  there  are  many  counsellors  or  referees 
at  hand,  to  whom  the  Masters  can  have  recourse  for 

1  Ibid.,  vol.  V,  p.  149. 


YOUTHFUL   MASTERS.  187 

assistance ;  and  the  schools  themselves  have  sufficient 
authority. ' '  But,  in  what  they  call  the  minor  colleges, 
"  the  authority  of  the  schools  depends  for  the  most  part 
on  the  reputation  and  authority  of  the  individual  Mas- 
ters," who  happen  at  a  given  time  to  be  filling  the  posts.^ 
In  the  spirit  of  this  personal  and  experienced  con- 
currence with  all  the  affairs  of  the  college,  the  Eector 
is  required  so  to  moderate  the  other  concerns  of  his 
office,  as  to  be  prompt  in  fostering  and  advancing  all 
literary  exercises.  He  is  to  go  often  to  the  classes, 
those  of  the  lower  faculties  as  well  as  of  the  higher.^ 
Every  month,  or  at  least  every  other  month,  he  is  to 
hold  general  consultations  with  all  the  Masters  be- 
low the  course  of  Logic,  the  several  Prefects  being 
present ;  and,  after  the  reading  of  some  selection  from 
the  Ratio,  concerning  the  Masters  or  the  piety  and 
good  conduct  of  the  students,  he  is  to  inquire  what 
difficulties  occur,  or  what  omissions  are  noticed  in  the 
observance  of  rules. ^  Books  are  never  to  be  wanting, 
in  the  sufficiency  desired  by  the  members  generally, 
whether  they  are  engaged  in  teaching,  or  are  pursuing 
their  studies. '^  To  this  regulation,  which  concerns  the 
chief  authority  in  a  Province,  the  revised  Batio  of 
1832  adds:  "The  same  is  to  be  said  of  literary  pe- 
riodicals for  the  use  of  the  Professors ;  of  museums, 
physical  apparatus,  and  other  equipments,  which  are 
needed  by  a  college  according  to  its  degree.''  The 
General   Visconti   observes    somewhat   emphatically, 

1  Ibid.,  p.  153. 

2  Rt.  St.,  Reg.  Rect.  3 ;  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  v, 
p.  268. 

3  Ibid.,  n.  18,  p.  272. 

4  Reg.  Prov.  33 ;  Monumenta  Germannise  Pajdagogica,  p.  262. 


188  LOYOLA. 

that  "in  buying  books  the  Eectors  will  never  con- 
sider the  money  of  their  colleges  ill  spent."  ^ 

Jouvancy  applies  the  same  principle  to  publishing 
the  literary  productions  of  the  Masters.  He  first 
sketches  the  series  of  literary  productions  expected 
from  them,  —  the  annual  addresses  of  inauguration  to 
be  given  by  each  Professor  in  his  own  class,  the  public 
and  solemn  one  to  be  delivered,  on  the  same  inaugural 
occasion,  by  the  Professor  of  Ehetoric,  the  poem  to  be 
composed  and  read  by  the  Master  of  Poetry;  then, 
during  the  year,  a  certain  number  of  addresses  to  be 
delivered ;  and,  at  the  end,  a  tragedy  composed  by  the 
Professor  of  Ehetoric,  a  minor  drama  by  the  Professor 
of  Poetry,  both  to  be  acted  on  the  stage.  Jouvancy 
goes  on  to  recommend  that  no  public  occasion  be 
allowed  to  go  by,  without  receiving  the  tribute  of 
some  such  literary  work.  Then  he  adds :  "  jSTor  is  that 
expense  to  be  considered  useless  which  is  incurred  for 
printing  and  publishing  good  poems.  In  all  these 
matter,  splendors  should  be  added  to  literary  exercises, 
and  to  the  exhibition  thereof,  in  such  wise  that  every- 
thing meanwhile  tends  to  solidity  of  erudition. "  ^ 

A  second  consequence  of  the  literary  cast,  marking 
the  whole  Order,  is  the  vantage-ground  on  which  it 
placed  the  Jesuits,  with  regard  to  all  the  learning  and 
the  learned  men  of  Europe.  The  fluent  and  elegant 
command  of  the  Latin  language  gave  at  once  a  mastery 
over  the  vehicle  of  intercourse,  in  which  all  learning 
was  conveyed.  Our  critics  of  1586  sum  up  the 
bearings  of   this  particular  advantage  under  several 

1  Ibid.,  vol.  ix,  p.  131. 

■^  Jouvancy,  Ratio  Discendi ;   c.  Ordo  Studendi. 


YOUTHFUL   MASTERS.  189 

heads:  The  members  of  the  Order  deal  with  so 
many  nations;  scholastic  disputations,  whether  in 
Philosophy  or  Theology,  are  always  conducted  in 
Latin ;  the  members  write  so  many  books ;  they  can 
do  justice  to  the  ancient  Fathers  of  the  Church; 
they  have  to  deal  constantly  with  learned  men.^ 

A  last  consequence,  which  I  shall  present,  is  sug- 
gested by  an  observation  of  the  same  writers,  in 
the  same  place.  It  throws  no  little  light  upon  the 
history  of  the  Society,  and  it  shows  the  practical  ad- 
justment of  the  educational  system  to  the  times.  They 
say  then,  it  is  by  the  studies  of  Belles-Lettres,  more 
than  by  the  higher  faculties,  that  the  Society  has,  in 
a  short  time,  been  propagated  through  all  the  principal 
parts  of  Christendom.  Nor  can  it  be  preserved  better 
or  more  solidly,  than  by  the  same  means  through 
which  it  was  first  introduced.  Unless  they  endeavor 
to  maintain  this  honorable  distinction,  with  which 
God  has  been  pleased  to  grace  the  Society,  there  is 
reason  to  fear  that  they  themselves  may  yet  lapse  into 
the  barbarism,  which  they  are  far  from  admiring  in 
others.  "As  to  the  other  faculties,  which  are  bril- 
liant enough  of  themselves,  there  is  no  trouble  in  cul- 
tivating them.  But,  natural  inclinations  feeling  a 
repugnance  for  less  conspicuous  pursuits,  people 
have,  as  it  were,  to  drag  themselves  to  these  lower 
faculties.  They  should  take  lesson,  therefore,  by  good 
husbandmen,  who  bestow  more  care  on  transplanted 
and  exotic  growths  than  on  native  shoots."^  And 
they  proceed  to  quote  the  rule,  formulated  in  the 
words  of  Ignatius,  by  the  General  Everard  Mercurian, 

1  Monumenta  Germanife  Predagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  144.         2  ibid. 


190  LOYOLA. 

who  required  the  institution  and  ^^reservation  of  the 
literary  seminary.^  So  that  we  end  here  this  discus- 
sion on  the  lower  faculties,  at  the  point  where  we 
began. 

In  all  well-assorted  plans  each  element  has  a  refer- 
ence to  every  other.  Men  must  match  the  work,  and 
the  work  be  suited  to  the  men.  Were  the  men  not 
formed,  the  best  system  would  settle  into  an  inert 
state;  and,  the  more  consistency  and  vitality  of  its 
own  it  offered  to  contribute,  the  more  inept  and  inert 
would  it  look,  a  memorial  of  what  it  might  do,  dead 
to  what  it  can.  In  itself,  and  in  its  effects,  it  might 
appear  to  be  out  of  date,  as  not  being  understood. 
Only  the  practical  working  of  a  thing,  by  the  man 
who  understands  it,  shows  it  off  for  what  it  is  worth. 
This  is  a  rule  quite  universal,  wherever  practical  in- 
sight is  needed  for  the  working  of  a  mechanism.  It 
must  be  worked  intelligently  to  be  understood.  Once 
it  is  understood,  the  practical  intelligence  grows. 

1  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  126;  Reg.  Prov.  n.  50. 


CHAPTEE    XIII. 

THE  COURSES   OF  DIVINITY  AND  ALLIED  SCIENCES. 
PRIVATE   STUDY.    KEPETITIOX. 

1.  Having  finished  his  course  of  teaching  literature, 
the  Jesuit  returns  to  his  higher  studies.  Divinity 
and  its  allied  sciences  stand  out  in  prominence  for 
their  intrinsic  dignity;  but  they  have,  besides,  a 
studied  preeminence  assigned  them  in  the  system 
before  us.  The  almost  universal  rule,  of  intermit- 
ting the  higher  studies  with  a  course  of  literary  teach- 
ing, undergoes  "a  special  exception  in  the  case  of  those 
"theologians,  whose  number  is  few,  and  use  so 
manifold  " ;  ^  of  whom  Aquaviva  says  that,  "  accord- 
ing as  the  higher  courses  are  developed,  the  fewer 
proportionately,  out  of  many  students,  become  quali- 
fied to  profess  those  exalted  sciences."^  The  same 
policy  holds  with  respect  to  those  who  have  an 
eminent  talent  for  oratory.  Laynez,  himself  a  great 
preacher,  and  a  competent  judge  in  the  matter, 
relieved  Father  Francis  Strada  of  the  office  of  Pro- 
vincial, to  set  him  free  for  the  ministry  of  the  pulpit ; 
and  he  wrote,  as  he  did  so :  "  If  only  he  had  a  suf- 
ficiency of  those  whom  he  could  put  in  the  offi.ce  of 
Provincial,   he  would   relieve  all   preachers  of   that 

1  Rt.  St.  1586 ;  Monumenta  Germaniaj  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  150. 

2  Formula  Acceptandorum  Collegiorum,  b ;  Monumenta  Germa- 
niae  Paedagogica,  vol.  ii,  p.  339.  191 


192  LOYOLA. 

office,  that  they  might  devote  themselves  entirely  to 
spreading  the  seed  of  the  Divine  Word. "  ^  Of  these 
and  others,  "  who  give  eminent  promise  of  being  equal 
to  the  graver  occupations,  or  for  whom  an  immediate 
need  exists  in  that  direction, "  ^  an  immediate  applica- 
tion is  to  be  made  to  the  study  of  Theology.^ 

All  who  graduate  in  these  higher  courses  do  so,  as 
''  qualified  to  profess  " ;  just  as  they  had  graduated 
in  Philosophy  and  its  cognate  branches.^  But,  though 
a  master  in  the  matter  of  his  philosophical  triennium, 
no  student  is  called  upon  to  profess  any  of  those 
branches,  until  he  has  graduated  also  in  Theology. 
Here  we  may  advert  to  several  lines  of  strict  paral- 
lelism in  the  system,  both  with  regard  to  admitting 
any  students,  whether  Jesuits  or  not,  to  the  respective 
courses  of  study,  and  with  regard  to  admitting  Jesuits 
themselves  to  profess  in  the  chairs. 

As  a  condition  for  admitting  any  students  at  all 
into  the  higher  courses,  the  Society  introduced  a  much- 
needed  reform,  in  requiring  that  literary  qualifica- 
tions of  a  sufficiently  high  grade  should  precede  ma- 
triculation. Thus  the  University  of  Ingolstadt  ordains 
that  no  one  shall  be  admitted  to  Academic,  that  is, 
University  lectures,  except  after  one  year  of  Ehetoric ; 
and  it  adds  very  strict  regulations  about  the  election 
of  courses,  repetitions,  disputations,  etc.,  in  the  three 
years'  curriculum  of  Philosophy.^ 

1  Hist.  S.  J.,  Sacchini,  pars  ii,  Lainius,  lib.  viii,  n.  219,  ad  annum 
1564.  2  Rt.  St.  1586,  ibid. 

3  Rt.  St.  1599,  Reg.  Prov.  27 ;  Monumenta  Germanise  Psedagogica, 
vol.  V,  p.  260.  4  Chapter  xi,  above,  p.  155. 

5  Statuten  der  philos.  Fak.  Ingolstadt,  1649;  De  Auditoribus; 
Monumenta  Germanise  Psedagogica,  vol.  ix,  p.  284. 


COURSES   OF   DIVINITY.  193 

In  like  manner,  to  be  admitted  as  a  student  of  Di- 
vinity and  its  correlative  sciences,  it  is  necessar}^  to 
have  graduated  in  the  course  of  Arts,  that  is  to  say, 
Philosophy  and  its  branches.  Thus  the  University 
of  Wiirzburg  ordains  that  no  one  shall  be  admitted 
as  an  auditor  of  Scholastic  Theology,  unless  he  be 
Magisterio  insignis,  "a  Master  of  Arts";  it  excepts 
only  the  members  of  religious  Orders  in  attendance, 
and  also  Pmicipis  Aliumios,  "the  Prince's  scholars." 
Others,  who  have  not  so  graduated,  it  will  admit  to 
Moral  Theology  and  its  supplementary  branches.  It 
will  not  even  examine,  for  the  Mastership  in  Arts, 
any  one,  whether  a  Eeligious  or  not,  who  has  studied 
Philosophy  in  a  private  institution  or  a  monastery.^ 
To  apply  for  Academic  Degrees,  "they  must  prove 
that  they  have  followed  all  the  courses  in  some  ap- 
proved public  University."  - 

The  curriculum,  now  before  the  student,  is  a  quad- 
riennium,  or  four-year  course.  It  is  prolonged  into 
a  fifth  and  sixth  year,  for  reviewing  the  whole  ground 
of  one's  studies;  for  preparing  a  public  defence  against 
all  comers;  and,  in  the  case  of  Jesuit  students,  for 
an  immediate  preparation  to  fill  the  Professor's  chair, 
the  pulpit,  or  to  discharge  other  functions.  Hence 
the  University  of  Cologne  specifies,  in  general,  a  sex- 
ennium,  or  six-year  course  for  Theology.^ 

1  Qui  non  in  Academia,  sed  privatim  in  aliquo  Auditorio  aut 
Monasterio  audierunt  philosophiam. 

2  Nisi  probent  se  omnes  materias  publice  audivisse  in  aliqua 
Academia  probata  :  Wiirzburger  Promotionsgebrauche,  1662 :  Monu- 
menta  Germanise  Psedagogica,  vol.  ix,  p.  387. 

3  Rhetius  S.  J.  fiir  Reform  der  theol.  Fak.  zu  Koln,  November, 
1570;  Monumeuta  Germanise  Pjedagogica,  vol.  ii,  p.  217. 


194  LOYOLA. 

Not  unlike  to  this  is  the  parallelism  which  we  may 
noticcj  in  appointing  the  members  of  the  Society  to 
Professors'  chairs.  Though  qualified  to  teach  litera- 
ture after  his  own  complete  course  of  letters  in  the 
seminary,  yet,  as  we  have  seen,  no  one  is  to  be  put 
over  the  classes  of  Grammar  or  Humanity  who  has 
not  first  studied  his  Philosophy.  And  so  again,  at 
this  stage,  though  apparently  competent  to  teach 
Philosophy,  and  approved  as  being  qualified  to  pro- 
fess it,  yet  no  one  is  to  be  put  in  a  chair  of  that 
course  who  has  not  also  studied  his  Theology.^ 

The  reasons  for  this  are  assigned  by  the  critics  of 
1586.  The  philosopher,  they  say,  who  has  not  yet 
become  a  theologian,  will  not  be  so  safe  in  his  con- 
clusions, in  his  proofs,  in  his  manner  of  expression. 
He  will  be  of  an  age  less  mature.  His  learning  will 
be  less  superabundant.  He  will  scarcely  be  able  to 
answer  the  arguments  of  unbelievers.  ISTor  will  he 
treat  Philosophy  in  a  way  to  render  it  useful  to 
Theology.  In  fine,  the  proprieties  of  things  cannot 
be  well  observed,  if  he  who  has  just  filled  a  chair  of 
Philosophy  has  to  sit  down  as  a  mere  student  in  The- 
ology.- 

The  branches  of  this  theological  course  are  Scholas- 
tic Theology,  Moral  Theology,  Sacred  Scripture,  He- 
brew and  Oriental  Languages,  Ecclesiastical  History, 
and  Canon  Law.  The  general  category  of  students 
is  naturally  more  limited  than  in  the  philosophical 
curriculum.      There  the  auditors   were   young   men, 

1  Rt.  St.,  Reg.  Prov.  28;  Monumenta  Germaniae  Psedagogica,  vol. 
V,  p.  260. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  V,  p.  133,  n.  10,  Studium  Philos. 


COURSES  OF   DIV^INITY.  195 

who  would  betake  tlieiiiselves,  at  its  close,  to  Medi- 
cine, or  other  walks  of  life.  They  may  have  taken  to 
Law;  though  Possevino,  himself  eminent  in  jurispru- 
dence, would  seem  to  imply  that  Canon  Law  must 
have  been  pursued  first.  ^  The  students  now  are  chiefly 
Ecclesiastics,  with  various  careers  before  them ;  or  they 
are  Religious  of  different  Orders;  or,  finally,  the 
members  of  the  Society  itself.  The  principal  object 
of  our  consideration  is  the  formation  of  these  latter, 
as  qualified  to  profess.  The  pedagogical  elements 
before  us  may  be  ranged  under  three  heads :  Private 
Study;  Eepetition,  which  includes  Disputation;  Lec- 
turing, which  is  supplemented  by  Dictation. 

2.  As  to  the  method  of  private  study,  all  the 
auditors  of  the  course  are  directed  to  look  over,  prior 
to  the  lecture,-  the  text  in  Aristotle,  St.  Thomas, 
etc.,  which  the  Professor  is  about  to  explain.^  Then, 
while  the  lecture  is  being  delivered,  they  take  down 
notes;  the  copying  of  mere  dictation  is  not  favored. 
After  the  lecture,  they  are  to  read  over  the  notes  which 
they  have  taken  down.  L^t  them  endeavor  to  under- 
stand their  annotations.  Understanding  what  they 
have  written,  they  are  to  make  objections  to  them- 
selves against  the  thesis  established,  and  endeavor  to 
solve  their  own  objections.  If  they  cannot  find  a  solu- 
tion, let  them  note  the  difficulties,  and  take  occasion  to 
ask  the  Professor,  or  reserve  them  for  disputation. 
Such  is  the  method  of  private  study  prescribed  for  the 
members  of  the  Order,  ^  and  laid  down  in  more  general 

1  Biblioth.  Selecta;  de  Cultura  Ingeniorum,  cap.  27. 

2  Prsevidere.  3  Prselegere. 
^  Monumenta  Germauiae  Psedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  450,  n.  4. 


196  LOYOLA. 

terms  for  the  other  students.^  To  develop  habits  of 
such  study,  and  to  afford  the  requisite  leisure,  a  cer- 
tain custom,  then  prevailing  in  Portugal,  of  keeping 
the  Professors  of  Philosophy  and  their  students  dur- 
ing two  hours  and  a  half  consecutively  in  the  lecture 
room  is  discountenanced  by  the  critics  of  1586 :  "  That 
the  philosophers  should  remain  two  whole  hours  and 
a  half  in  class,  as  is  now  done,  is  burdensome  to  the 
Professor  and  troublesome  to  the  students ;  for  these 
latter  should  get  accustomed  to  private  study,  lest, 
like  parrots,  they  seem  to  be  always  talking  by  rote."  ^ 

This  curtailing  of  class  hours  was  characteristic  of 
the  Society's  system.  In  1567  the  G-eneral  Father 
Francis  Borgia  wrote,  through  his  secretary  Polanco, 
correcting,  in  this  respect,  a  school-regulation  which 
had  been  followed  in  the  lower  classes  of  the  German 
Province.  The  secretary  writes:  ''It  is  found  by  ex- 
perience, in  the  schools  of  the  Company,  that  to  teach 
three  consecutive  hours  in  the  forenoon,  and  three 
more  in  the  afternoon,  is  injurious  to  the  health  of 
our  Masters,  and  does  no  good  to  the  health  of  the 
scholars ;  for  which  reason  it  is  now  ordained  that  in 
our  schools  the  morning  classes  shall  not  last  longer 
than  two  and  a  half  hours,  and  the  same  in  the  after- 
noon."^ 

Nothing  intensifies  more  the  results  of  studies  than 
concentration,  nor  dissipates  them  more  than  division 
of  attention,  while   a   given   pursuit  is  in  progress. 

1  Ibid.,  p.  460,  n.  9. 

2Rt.  St.  1586,  Studium  Philos.  n.  12;  Monumenta  Germanise 
Pjedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  134.  Compare  also  tlie  German  Province, 
where,  in  1586,  four  hours  are  reduced  to  three,  ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  283. 

3  Monumenta  Germanife  Pfedagogica,  vol.  ii,  p.  154. 


COURSES   OF   DIVINITY.  197 

This  principle  applies  to  the  number  of  courses  taken 
up  at  one  time,  the  conduct  of  private  studies  in  any 
single  course,  and  the  degree  to  which  the  appointed 
teachers  and  the  standard  authors  have  full  justice 
done  them.  On  this  head,  the  critics  of  1586  give 
recommendations,  derived  from  the  Constitution,  for 
the  direction  of  all  the  students  in  general,  and  for 
the  members  of  the  Order  in  particular.  The  recom- 
mendations are  embodied  briefly  in  the  Ratio  JStu- 
diorum}  With  Aristotle  in  Philosophy,  or  with  St. 
Thomas  in  Theology,  one  commentary  is  to  be  desig- 
nated, and  that  a  specially  chosen  author,  suited  to 
the  individual's  capacity.  In  the  second  year  of 
Theology,  one  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church  can  be 
added,  "  to  be  read  at  odds  and  ends  of  time,  or  after 
the  fatigue  of  a  long  stretch  of  study.  Another  can 
be  substituted,  if  after  a  while  they  ask  for  another. 
But  care  should  be  taken  that  they  do  not  spend  too 
much  time  on  this  reading,  as  if  they  were  getting  up 
a  sermon." - 

All  this,  no  doubt,  tends  to  make  the  student  ''a 
man  of  one  book,"  who,  as  the  adage  saj^s,  is  much  to 
be  feared.  However,  when  he  goes  through  every 
course,  and  is  everywhere  a  man  of  concentrated  at- 
tention, while,  for  the  purpose  of  public  disputation 
and  the  attempted  refutation  of  his  own  and  the 
Professor's  conclusions,  the  side  avenues  of  various 
authors  and  systems  are  studiously  and  necessarily 
kept  open,  it  is  probable  that,  after  being  "a  man  of 

1  Ibid.,  vol.  V,  p.  108,  De  Private  Studio  Scholasticorum ;  ibid, 
p.  133,  n.  11,  Studium  Philos. 

2  Ut  concionabundi. 


198  LOYOLA. 

one  book,"  in  many  courses  successively,  lie  will  also 
be  well-rounded  by  the  time  his  formation  is  com- 
plete. With  students  in  general,  this  can  be  accom- 
plished by  the  age  of  twenty-five ;  with  the  Jesuits 
themselves,  about  the  age  of  thirty-three. 

3.  I  come  now  to  the  subject  of  Eepetition,  of 
which  two  chief  forms  offer  themselves.  One  is  just 
what  the  word  of  itself  indicates ;  it  belongs  to  all  the 
faculties,  but  chiefly  to  the  lower  courses.  I  shall 
call  it  by  the  generic  name  of  Eepetition.  The  other 
has  place  principally  in  the  higher;  it  is  Disputation j 
of  which  a  preparatory  exercise,  called  Coricertatio, 
prevails  also  from  the  lowest  class  of  Grammar  up- 
wards. 

Eepetition  then  rehearses  in  full  class,  under  various 
forms  or  modifications  of  that  exercise,  what  the  Pro- 
fessor has  explained  in  class.  Just  before  the  close 
of  the  hour  spent  on  his  lecture,  the  Professor  of 
Philosophy  or  Theology  signifies  that  he  is  ready  for 
questions  on  the  matter  treated;  he  asks  sometimes 
an  account  of  the  lecture,  and  he  sees  that  it  is  re- 
peated. The  revised  Batio  of  1832  puts  it,  in  more 
general  terms,  thus:  "He  is  often  to  require  an  ac- 
count of  the  lectures,  and  to  see  that  they  are  re- 
peated " ;  and  then  it  desires  that,  after  the  lecture, 
either  in  the  class-room,  or  somewhere  near,  he  re- 
main accessible  to  the  students  for  at  least  a  quarter 
of  an  hour,  to  answer  their  questions.^  This  is  all 
from  the  Constitution  of  Ignatius. 

The  Eepetition,  which  he  is  to  see  to  personally, 

^  Rt.  St.,  Reg.  comm.  Prof.  sup.  fac.  n,  11;  Monumenta  Germanise 
Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  290. 


COURSES   OF  DIVINITY.  199 

is  that  which,  takes  place  in  small  circles  of  about 
ten  students  each.  "  At  the  close  of  the  lectures  let 
them,  in  parties  of  about  ten  apiece,  repeat  for  half 
an  hour  what  they  have  just  heard ;  one  of  the  stu- 
dents, and,  if  possible,  a  member  of  the  Society, 
presiding  over  each  party,  decuria."^  Neither  the 
preliminary,  nor  the  final,  Batio  demands  that  the  Pro- 
fessor himself  preside  over  any  of  these  parties.  But 
"  those  who  do  preside  will  become  more  learned,  and 
will  be  practising  to  become  Masters  themselves."^ 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  tenor  of  many  re- 
marks in  the  earlier  document  of  1586,  shows  the 
presence  of  Jesuits  among  the  auditors  to  have  acted 
on  the  course  as  a  leaven  and  a  relief;  although  the 
concurrent  testimony  of  historians,  about  the  Jesuit 
schools,  indicates  little  or  nothing  there  of  that  license 
of  manners,  such  as  Possevino  described  for  us  in  a 
former  chapter.^  In  a  special  manner,  those  Jesuit 
students,  already  young  priests,  who,  having  gone 
through  their  four-year  course,  were  now  reviewing 
in  a  biennium,  of  a  fifth  and  sixth  year,  all  their  long 
studies  of  the  higher  sciences,  stood  ready  at  hand  for 
many  functions  in  the  arena  of  direction  and  presi- 
dency, either  over  the  repetitions  or  the  disputations, 
or  in  the  chair;  to  which  as  many  of  them  as  were 
needed  would  be  officially  assigned,  when  their  private 
studies  left  them  at  last  free.* 

1  Rt.  St.  1599,  Reg.  Prof.  Phil.  n.  16;  1832,  n.  9;  Monumenta  Ger- 
manije  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  pp  340,  332. 

2  Rt.  St.  1586,  Repetitiones,  n.  3;  Monumenta  Germanias  Paeda- 
gogica,  vol.  V,  p.  99. 

3  Chapter  vii,  above,  The  Moral  Scope,  p.  101. 

4  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  268;  Reg.  Rect.  n.  6. 


200  LOYOLA. 

To  say  a  word  upon  this  class  of  Jesuit  students, 
they  show  us  the  Professor's  formation  at  its  last 
stage.  They  are  reviewing  all  Theology,  Philosophy, 
Sacred  Scripture,  Canon  Law,  Polemical  or  Contro- 
versial Theology,  and  ecclesiastical  erudition  gen- 
erally. The  last  of  their  rules  for  self -guidance  says : 
"In  particular,  they  are  to  devote  themselves  most 
of  all  to  that  pursuit,  to  which  they  feel  chiefly 
drawn,  without,  however,  omitting  any  of  the  rest."^ 
Meanwhile,  they  present,  in  various  ways,  specimens 
of  their  talent  and  erudition ;  they  throw  into  the  form 
of  a  digest,  "from  their  own  genius,"  all  Theology, 
under  certain  heads  and  principles ;  they  can  choose 
some  "splendid  subject,"  ^  and  deliver  ten  public  lec- 
tures thereupon  to  the  auditors  who  choose  to  attend, 
Avhich,  we  may  observe,  was  precisely  the  status  of 
all  Professors  in  the  mediaeval  universities.  In  their 
acts  of  public  defence,  five  of  which  are  prescribed 
during  the  two  years,  they  are  free  to  follow  or  to 
leave  the  opinions  of  their  late  Professors.^ 

These  students  then  are  assistant  and  extraordinary 
Professors.  They  have  begun  the  work,  which  some 
of  them  will  continue  when  called  upon  to  become 
Professors  in  ordinary.  They  are  already  in  train- 
ing for  that  independent  work,  which  the  revised 
Ratio  of  1832  shows  some  anxiety  about  preserving; 
for  it  says  to  all  who  occupy  any  chair  in  these  fac- 
ulties, that,  in  case  they  adopt  a  standard  author  to 
follow  in  their  lectures,    which  is  a  custom  rather 

1  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  p.  456 ;  Institutio  pro  bien- 
nio,  n.  14.  ^  Prseclara  aliqua  materia. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  454. 


COURSES   OF   DIVINITY.  201 

prevalent  in  more  recent  times,  they  must  neverthe- 
less deliver  each  year  some  special  question  elaborated 
independently  by  themselves.^  This  independence  of 
style,  perfect  command  of  the  matter,  with  express 
leave  for  the  incipient  Professor,  in  the  course  of  his 
final  biennium,  to  relinquish  the  opinions  of  his  late 
Professors,  are  made  the  subject  of  many  a  remark  by 
the  critics  of  1586.  Withal,  it  is  clear  enough  that 
for  a  younger  man  to  leave  an  approved  opinion 
safely,  it  is  very  necessary  for  him  to  know  well  what 
he  is  about;  and  doubly  necessary  when  he  comes 
forward  in  a  public  defence;  for  his  own  late  Pro- 
fessors are  among  the  Doctors  present,  and  are  there 
to  assail  him  in  all  his  tenets. 

These,  then,  or  others  presiding  over  the  circles, 
"one  person  repeats,  the  others  listening;  they  pro- 
pose difficulties  mutually,  and,  if  they  cannot  solve 
their  own  objections,  they  consult  the  Professor."^ 
The  one  who  repeats  is  to  do  so,  not  from  his  notes, 
but  from  memory.  Thus  "  the  memory  is  exercised ; 
practice  is  afforded  those  who  are  to  be  Masters,  so 
that  they  accustom  themselves  to  develop  their 
thoughts  before  others ;  it  makes  them  all  keep  alive 
and  attentive  during  the  lecture,  to  take  down  the 
necessary  notes,  as  they  might  not  do,  if  they  were 
free  from  such  repetition."^  There  are  several  other 
possible  forms  of  conducting  this  exercise. 

1  Reg.  coram.  Prof.  sup.  fac,  n.  9 ;  Monumenta  Germanise  Paeda- 
gogica,  p.  288. 

2  Constitutiones,  pars  iv,  c.  6,  H. 

3  Rt.  St.  1586,  Repetitiones ;  Monumenta  GermanifB  Psedagogica, 
vol.  V,  p.  99. 


202  LOYOLA. 

When  once  the  first  crude  repetition  is  over,  the 
series  of  disputations  begins,  daily,  weekly,  monthly, 
yearly.  Without  counting  in  the  "  Grand  Acts  "  of  pub- 
lic defence  against  all  objectors,  at  stated  times  and  by 
specially  designated  persons,  we  may  enumerate  as 
many  as  seven  ordinary  rehearsals  of  the  same  matter. 

First,  before  going  to  the  lecture  hall,  the  student 
looks  over  the  text.  This  is  done  easily  enough  in 
St.  Thomas  or  Aristotle,  if  one  of  these  is  the  stan- 
dard. '  As  Ignatius  expected  would  be  done,  many 
standard  works  have  been  published  by  writers  of  the 
Society.^  Their  recommendation  is,  as  he  intimated, 
that  they  are  "  more  adapted  to  our  times  " ;  and  they 
have  incorporated  recent  researches  in  progressive 
branches.  In  the  sense  of  this  adaptation  to  times 
and  circumstances,  the  theologians  in  Cologne,  making 
their  announcement  for  the  year  1578,  say  that  they 
follow  St.  Thomas  as  a  general  rule,  but  not  so  "  as  to 
treat  all  that  he  treats,  nor  only  what  he  treats.  .  .  . 
Every  age,"  they  say,  "has  its  own  debated  ground 
in  matters  of  doctrine,  and  this  brings  it  to  pass  that 
Theology  is  not  only  constantly  enlarged  with  a 
variety  of  new  disputations,  but  assumes,  as  it  were,  a 
new  cast."  ^  And  the  critics  of  the  preliminary  Ratio, 
treating  of  the  Scripture  course,  lecture  at  some  length 
-all  whom  it  may  concern, — theologians,  professors, 
preachers, — precisely  on  'this  ground,  the  need  of 
amplifying  and  adapting  the  course  of  Scripture  to 
the   conditions    of   the  times. ^     Accordingly,  works 

1  Constitutiones,  pars  iv,  c.  14,  B. 

2  Monumenta  Germanise  Psedagogica,  vol.  ii,  p.  245. 

3  Ibid.,  vol.  V,  p.  68. 


COURSES  OF  DIVINITY  203 

always  new  and  adapted  to  latest  needs,  have  poured 
forth  from  the  writers  of  the  Order.  And  such  as 
furnish  the  conditions  of  a  text,  which  may  readily 
be  followed,  also  supply  the  conditions  for  conning 
over,  before  going  to  the  lecture  hall,  what  the  Pro- 
fessor means  to  treat.  If  no  such  standard  is  being 
followed,  still,  as  I  find  noted  in  a  documentary 
report  of  1886,  "  the  Professors  should  always,  as  far 
as  possible,  throw  out  directions  enough  for  the  stu- 
dents to  look  up  the  subject  before  coming  to  the  lec- 
ture." 

In  this  connection  many  familiar  names  of  authors 
occur.  For  Scholastic  Theology  and  Philosophy, 
there  is,  in  the  first  place,  the  prince  of  modern  the- 
ologians, Francis  Suarez,  with  his  library  of  tomes; 
there  are  the  three  Cardinals  Toletus,  Bellarmine,  De 
Lugo;  Valentia,  Vasquez,  Lessius,  Franzelin;  and, 
in  the  modern  school  of  Scholastic  Philosophy,  the 
elegant  Liberatore,  Kleutgen,  Tongiorgi,  Pesch,  along 
with  the  writers  of  Louvain,  Stonyhurst,  Innsbruck, 
and  elsewhere ;  in  Positive  Theology  and  Controversy, 
Canisius,  Becanus,  Petau,  Sardagna;  in  Exegesis, 
Maldonado,  Salmeron,  A  Lapide,  Menochius,  Patrizi, 
Cornely,  with  the  school  of  Maria  Laach;  in  Moral 
Theology,  an  endless  number,  Sanchez,  Laymann, 
Busembaum,  with  his  two  hundred  editions,  Gury, 
Ballerini.^ 

Secondly,  the  student  hears  the  Professor's  lecture. 
Thirdly,  one  of  the  forms  of  regular  repetition  is 
gone  through.     Fourthly,  the  daily  disputation  takes 

1  Consult  the  five  volumes  of  Nomenclator  Litterarius  Recentioris 
Theologian  Catholicae,  by  H.  Hurter,  S.  J.,  1871-1886. 


204  LOYOLA. 

place,  at  least  among  the  Jesuit  Scholastics:  "At 
home,  every  day  except  on  Saturdays,  free  and  feast 
days,  one  hour  is  to  be  appointed,"  during  which, 
after, a  preliminary  summarizing  of  the  matter  for 
defence,  the  disputation  follows ;  and,  if  time  remains 
over,  difficulties  may  be  proposed.  "  In  order  to  have 
some  time  remain  over,  the  president  must  have  the 
syllogistic  form  of  discussion  rigidly  observed;  and, 
if  nothing  new  is  being  urged,  he  will  cut  off  the 
debate."! 

Fifthly,  there  is  the  weekly  disputation:  "On 
Saturday,  or  some  other  day,  as  the  custom  of  the 
University  has  it,  let  them  hold  disputations  in  the 
schools  during  two  hours,  or  longer  still,  whenever 
there  is  a  large  concourse  of  persons  who  come  to 
hear."^  Sixthly,  the  more  solemn  disputation  fol- 
lows, every  month,  or  nearly  so :  "  Each  month,  or, 
if  the  students  are  few,  every  other  month,  let  dispu- 
tations be  held  on  a  certain  day,  both  morning  and 
afternoon.  The  number  of  defendants  will  correspond 
to  the  number  of  Professors  whose  theses  they  de- 
fend. "  ^  Seventhly,  towards  the  close  of  the  scholastic 
year,  though  no  time  is  to  be  set  aside  for  the  purpose, 
so  as  to  prejudice  the  continuous  course  of  the  Pro- 
fessor's lectures,  yet  "all  the  matter  of  the  year  is  to 
have  been  gone  through,  by  way  of  repetition,  when 
the  time  of  vacation   arrives."*    The  whole  of  this 

1  Rt.  St.,  Reg.  comm.  Prof.  sup.  fac,  n.  12 ;  Monumenta  Germanise 
Psedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  290;  compare  also  Monumenta  Germanise 
Paidagogica,  vol.  ix,  Ordnung  Einer  Selbst.  Univ.  der  Ges.  J.  1658, 
pars  ii,  c.  4,  p.  355 ;  De  Repetitonibus  et  Disputationibus  Scholasti- 
corum  S.  J. 

2  Ibid.,  n.  14.  3  Ibid.,  n.  20.  ^  Ibid.,  n.  13. 


COURSES  OF  DIVINITY.  205 

matter  forms  the  subject  of  tlie  year's  examination  for 
the  Jesuit  members  of  the  course.^  To  all  these  argu- 
mentative repetitions  may  be  added  the  discursive 
form,  in  the  shape  of  lectures  given  by  the  students 
themselves,  or  dissertations  read  on  stated  occasions." 

It  is  evident  that  the  members  of  the  Society  are 
the  chief  subjects  of  this  completeness  of  formation; 
and  that  for  two  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  no  other 
students,  even  if  convictores,  that  is,  boarders  in  the 
Jesuit  colleges,  can  be  brought  under  such  a  thorough- 
ness of  system.  Secondly,  other  students  are  not  in 
the  same  way  subject  to  the  regular  gradation  of  exam- 
inations from  year  to  year.  When  they  are  com- 
petent, they  may  apply  for  admission  to  the  requisite 
public  tests,  or  Acts  of  Defence ;  and,  in  the  philosoph- 
ical courses,  they  become  Bachelors,  Licentiates,  and 
Masters  of  Arts ;  in  Theology,  Bachelors  in  the  first 
and  then  in  the  second  grade.  Licentiates,  Doctors. 
"Ko  degree  is  to  be  conferred  on  any  one  who  has 
not  stood  all  the  tests,  which,  according  to  the  custom 
of  Universities,  must  precede  the  conferring  of  these 
degrees."  The  character  of  each  degree,  its  condi- 
tions, tests,  formalities,  are  treated  of  fully  in  the 
"  Form  and  Method  of  conducting  Academies  and  Stu- 
cUa  Generalia  S.  J.,"  1658. 

Here,  then,  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution  is  fully 
observed,  with  regard  to  repetition  and  also  disputa- 
tion.     The    Fathers    remark  that  Ignatius   "recom- 

1  Monumenta  Germaniae  Psedagogica,  vol.  ii,  p.  95;  Congr.  gen.  11. 

2  Reg.  Prof.  S.  Script.,  n.  19,  20;  also  Statuten  der  philos.  Fak. 
Ingolstadt,  1649,  Monumenta  Germaniae  Paedagogica,  vol.  ix,  p.  291. 

3  Monumenta  Germaniae  Psedagogica,  vol.  ix,  pp.  359-381. 


206  LOYOLA. 

mends  nothing  with  more  urgency  than  disputation, 
and  constancy  in  its  exercise;  so  much  stress  does  he 
lay  upon  it,  as  not  to  let  the  students  of  Letters  and 
Grammar  go  without  it."^  In  the  lower  classes  it 
takes  the  form  of  concertatio  and  mutual  challenges,  in 
the  matter  of  Grammar  and  literary  doctrine.  Here 
it  is  in  its  full  form;  and  we  may  pass  on  to  consider 
it  in  the  next  chapter,  not  as  a  manner  of  repetition, 
but  on  its  own  merits. 

I  will  make  the  transition,  by  quoting  an  important 
passage  or  two  from  the  preliminary  Ratio.  They 
bear  not  only  on  disputation,  but  on  that  very  essen- 
tial point,  where  it  is  that  the  vital  power  for  actuat- 
ing the  whole  system  lies ;  and  what  is  the  intrinsic 
value  of  any  system,  as  a  mere  code  of  legislation. 

The  critics  say  that,  to  counteract  the  apparent 
decline  of  disputation,  and  to  restore  this  exercise 
to  its  ancient  form  and  splendor,  everything  depends 
on  the  vigilance  and  diligence  of  those  in  authority. 
"  Without  this,  nothing  will  be  effected,  even  though, 
for  the  proper  administration  of  this  department  of 
studies,  many  laws  and  precepts  are  put  down  in 
writing."^  Elsewhere,  acknowledging  in  another 
connection  that  there  is  indeed  a  multitude  of  points 
defined  for  observance,  the  same  writers  go  on  to  make 
these  pertinent  reflections:  "The  perfection  of  doc- 
trine, like  the  perfection  of  moral  life,  stands  in  need 
of  many  aids;  whence  it  is  that  there  is  no  people 
under  the  direction  of  more  laws  than  the  Christian 
people,  nor  any  Eeligious  Order  more  under  the  obli- 

1  Rt,  St.  1586,  Disputationes ;  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica, 
vol.  V,  p.  103.  2  Ibid. 


COURSES   OF  DIVINITY.  207 

gation  of  Constitution  and  Decrees  than  our  own." 
They  undertake  to  prove  the  advantage  of  this,  both 
from  the  side  of  those  in  authority,  and  of  those 
under  authority.  "Aristotle  and  St.  Thomas,"  they 
say,  "are  both  of  opinion  that  as  few  points  as 
possible  should  be  left  to  the  private  opinions  of  a 
judge,  and  as  many  as  possible  should  be  determined 
by  the  clear  definition  of  law.  They  prove  it;  for 
it  is  easier  to  find  the  few  wise  men,  whose  wisdom 
is  equal  to  the  task  of  determining  fixed  rules  of 
guidance,  than  to  find  the  multitude,  which  other- 
wise is  required  to  pass  judgment  in  all  contin- 
gencies of  time  and  place;  there  is  the  sanction  of 
greater  maturity  in  laws  which  have  stood  the  test 
of  time  and  experience,  than  in  the  off-hand  decision 
of  the  present  hour;  there  is  less  of  a  corrupting  in- 
fluence on  law-givers,  when  they  are  defining  things 
in  general  and  for  the  future.  "Wherefore,  whatever 
can  be  despatched  by  general  law  is  so  to  be  despatched; 
what  cannot  be  provided  for  by  such  law  is  to  be  left 
to  the  judge,  as  the  living  rule.  Under  this  head 
come  the  particular  decisions  to  be  passed  in  given 
junctures,  whereof  the  general  law  cannot  take  cog- 
nizance." So  far  Aristotle  and  St.  Thomas;  and  the 
Fathers  of  1586  agree  with  them.^ 

1  Ibid.,  vol.  V,  Commentariolus,  p.  45  seq. 


CHAPTEE   XIV. 

DISPUTATION.    DICTATION. 

1.  Many  wise  things  had  been  said  by  the  experi- 
enced masters  of  old  on  the  subject  of  disputation. 
Thus  Eobert  of  Sorbon,  the  founder  of  the  College  of 
tho  Sorbonne,  had  put  it  down  in  one  of  his  six  es- 
sential rules  for  the  scholar,  that  "  nothing  is  perfectly 
known  unless  masticated  by  the  tooth  of  disputa- 
tion." ^ 

Our  Jesuit  critics  mention  incidentallyj  in  one 
place,  that  "their  age  is  eminently  versed  in  disputa- 
tion." ^  They  are  cautioning  the  Professor  of  Scrip- 
ture against  using  disputation  at  all,  lest  he  come 
thereby  to  relinquish  his  own  eloquent  style  of  com- 
mentary. Por  every  chair  has  its  own  character;  and 
that  which  the  Ratio  Studiorum  of  1599  attributes  to 
the  chair  of  Scripture  includes,  among  a  number  of 
qualifications,  this  one,  which  is  mentioned  in  the 
last  place,  that,  "  as  far  as  possible,  the  Professors  be 
well  versed  in  eloquence."^ 

1  Nihil  perfecte  scitur,  nisi  dente  disputationis  feriatur ;  see  the 
Life  and  Labors  of  St.  Tliomas  of  Aquin,  by  Bede  Vaughan,  1871, 
vol.  i,  ch.  16,  p.  388.  The  two  chapters  on  Paris,  in  this  learned  work, 
are  replete  with  information  pertinent  to  our  subject. 

2  Mouumenta  Germanise  Pajdagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  71,  n.  5 ;  De  Scrip- 
turis. 

3  Reg.  Prov.,  n.  5;  Monumenta  Germanise  Pfedagogica,  vol.  v,  p. 
234.  208 


DISPUTATION.    DICTATION.  209 

On  tlie  other  hand,  in  the  proper  arena  of  disputa- 
tion, they  caution  Professors  against  its  abuse.  Tak- 
ing note,  in  one  place,  of  the  discord  which  can  arise 
among  learned  men,  they  illustrate  their  point  Avith 
some  instances,  taken  precisely  from  a  disputatious 
tendency,  from  that  exaggerated  scholasticism  which 
had  run  into  dialectic  excesses.  They  say:  "For  the 
disturbance  of  harmony,  it  makes  very  little  difference 
whether  discord  arises  in  great  things  or  in  little. 
It  is  not  only  the  importance  of  a  question,  it  is  also 
the  spirit  of  emulation,  that  fosters  contention ;  so  that 
sometimes  a  Avar  of  words  and  the  bitterest  altercation 
is  kept  up  on  a  single  term  and  phrase.  Forsooth, 
what  is  more  trivial  than  to  ask  Avhether  God  is  in 
imaginary  space?  Yet  Avhat  tragic  scenes  does  not 
this  very  question  give  rise  to !  "  ^ 

Excesses  of  this  kind  being  guarded  against,  the 
Fathers  lay  doAvn  the  thesis  that,  when  employed  in 
its  proper  place,  no  exercise  is  more  useful  than  dis- 
putation. You  will  see  not  a  few  Avholly  taken  up 
with  reading,  writing,  arranging,  and  paging  Avhat 
they  have  Avritten ;  but  they  escheAv  most  carefully  all 
disputation,  neglecting  it,  looking  upon  it  as  an  idle 
occupation,  having  all  their  Theology  locked  up,  not 
so  much  in  their  memory  and  intelligence,  as  in  their 
paper  books.  Men  of  authority,  they  go  on  to  say, 
have  always  been  persuaded  that  Philosophy  and 
Theology  are  learnt,  not  so  much  by  hearing,  as  by 
discussing.  For,  in  this  exercise,  you  have  a  most 
certain  test  how  much  a  man  understands  of  what  he 

1  Commentariolus,  Monumenta  Germaniae  Paedagogica,  vol.  v, 
p.  53. 


210  LOYOLA. 

is  writing  about  or  teaching;  also  how  much  solidity 
there  is  in  one's  own  private  cogitations,  since  it 
happens  not  unfrequently  that  what  appears  brilliant 
in  one's  private  room  is  seen  to  drag  in  the  mud, 
when  it  comes  to  disputation.^  Then,  too,  while  we 
are  hard  pressed  by  our  adversary,  we  are  forced  to 
strain  every  nerve  of  our  wits,  and,  when  others  are 
bearing  down  heavily  upon  us,  we  knock  out  of  our 
brains  many  things  which  would  never  have  come 
into  our  heads,  while  we  stayed  in  the  quiet  of  leisure 
and  rested  in  the  shade.  We  hear  things  which  others 
have  found  out,  and  which  either  throw  light  on 
doubtful  points,  or  indicate  the  path  to  some  other 
point.  Or,  if  what  is  said  does  not  commend  itself 
to  our  judgment,  we  see  through  the  opponent's  arti- 
fice ;  we  meet  him  with  more  facility,  and  establish 
our  own  thesis  with  more  stability.  The  auditors, 
meanwhile,  can  take  note  of  the  good  points  one  Pro- 
fessor makes,  the  strong  points  of  another,  and,  after 
the  example  of  their  Doctors,  they  quicken  their  wits 
for  the  fray,  observing  where  the  arguments  limp, 
which  are  the  distinctions  that  tell,  how  the  whole 
doctrine  of  a  Professor  hangs  together.  In  short,  it 
is  well  established  by  the  authority  of  the  gravest 
men,  and  by  the  test  of  experience,  that  one  disputa- 
tion does  more  good  than  many  lectures ;  not  to  men- 
tion the  other  consideration,  that  there  is  nothing 
more  calculated  to  render  our  schools  illustrious,  than 
making  our  students  competent  to  win  great  approba- 

1  Cum  non  raro,  quse  splendescere  videntur  in  cubiculo,  sordeant 
in  Scholasticis  concertationibus. 


DISPUTATION.     DICTATION.  211 

tion  and  applause,    in  public  sessions  and   disputa- 
tions.^ 

These  critics  express  tlieir  mind  upon  tlie  need 
which  exists,  of  reviving  considerably  the  fervor  and 
dignity  of  this  exercise,  and  so  restoring  it  to  its 
former  educational  influence.  But  we  can  observe  for 
ourselves,  how  congenial  an  element  the  whole  exercise 
must  be  in  a  system  like  this,  which  is  preeminently 
oral  —  oral  examinations,  oral  and  self-reliant  defence 
and  attack,  free  and  open  lecturing,  with  the  influence 
of  eye,  voice,  and  person,  to  bring  everything  home, 
even  though  all  the  Avhile  there  is  no  question  of 
oratory,  but  of  mere  teaching.  In  the  earlier  stages, 
too,  of  the  scholar's  life,  however  much  has  been  made 
of  the  acquirement  of  style,  "  forging  the  word  with 
Grammar, "  as  Eobert  of  Sorbon  had  said,  "  and  polish- 
ing it  with  Ehetoric,"  to  make  it  glow  on  the  written 
page,  yet  from  the  very  first,  also,  no  less  account  has 
been  taken  of  the  ability  to  express  one's  thought, 
with  perfect  presence  of  mind,  without  depending  upon 
note  or  book.  In  the  higher  faculties,  this  holds  good 
more  than  ever.  Xow  the  time  has  come  for  matter 
of  the  most  approved  kind.  And  the  independent, 
self-possessed  delivery  of  one's  thoughts,  with  the 
power  to  force  them  home  unto  conviction,  or  to 
maintain  them  against  all  odds,  appears  not  only  as 
the  scope  proposed  in  the  system,  but  also  as  the  his- 
torical result,  effected  in  the  public  career  of  the 
Order. 

1  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  Disputationes,  n.  8j 
p.  102. 


212  LOYOLA. 

Father  Laynez,  at  the  Conference  of  Poissy,  con- 
tended thus  with  Peter  Martyr  and  others ;  Possevino 
at  Lyons  with  Viret,  using,  not  so  much  the  severe 
syllogistic  form,  as  copious  and  learned  discussion. 
Maldonado  was  double-handed,  either  syllogistic  or 
discursive.  In  the  Conference  at  Sedan,  in  J  572,  he 
argued  first  in  dialectic  form;  then,  on  the  demand 
of  his  opponents  for  a  different  kind  of  weapon,  he 
took  with  the  same  facility  to  discursive  exposition. 
Edmund  Campian,  in  England,  on  being  removed 
from  the  rack  more  dead  than  alive,  was  immediately 
brought  face  to  face  with  Newell  and  Day,  able  cham- 
pions as  well  of  the  Queen's  spiritual  supremacy,  as 
of  the  doctrine  of  Justification  by  Faith  alone.  He 
proceeded  to  argue :  "  If  faith  alone  justifies,  it  justi- 
fies without  charity;  but  without  charity  it  does  not 
justify;  therefore  faith  alone  does  not  justify."  Now 
for  the  answer,  clear  and  incisive  as  the  propositions. 
Deny  or  distinguish  major  or  minor  proposition,  if 
you  want  to  deny  the  conclusion;  for,  those  premises 
standing,  the  inference  remains  intact,  since  the  syl- 
logism is  perfect  in  form.  And  so  argumentations 
proceed. 

To  revive  disputation  in  its  best  style,  the  critics 
devote  several  pages  to  a  most  valuable  analysis  of 
the  conditions  and  method  of  the  exercise.^  Their 
suggestions  are  embodied  in  the  final  Ratio.  The 
Rectors  are  to  show  their  lively  and  active  interest  in 
the  disputations,  by  attending  on  public  and  private 
occasions  alike,  and  by  the  various  arts  which  such 
interest  will  inspire.  As  argument  "  freezes  except  in 
1  Ibid. 


DISPUTATION.    DICTATION.  213 

a  crowd,"  the  critics  require  that  the  attendance  of  all 
be  insisted  on,  when  the  days  and  hours  of  disputa- 
tion arrive.  This  susceptibility  of  human  nature, 
which  the  Fathers  touch  upon,  when  they  speak  of 
disputation  freezing  except  in  a  concourse,  is  not 
without  an  exact  counterpart,  when,  in  another  con- 
nection, they  are  speaking  of  the  humanists,  or  Pro- 
fessors of  the  literary  classes.  There  they  adopt  the 
view  that  the  literary  seminary  of  the  Province 
should  be  in  the  same  great  college,  along  with  the 
faculties  of  Philosophy  and  Theology;  for,  say  they, 
among  other  reasons,  "  the  humanists  would  languish 
in  obscurity,  if  they  had  not  the  philosophers  and 
theologians  to  be  witnesses,  spectators,  and  applaud- 
ing auditors  of  their  literary  achievements."  And 
again  they  plead  sympathetically,  "the  philosophers 
and  theologians,  when  composing  the  prefatory  essays 
for  their  disputations,  call  for  the  taste  of  the  hu- 
manists, by  whose  verses  and  orations,  moreover,  they 
are  refreshed  from  time  to  time."^ 

Continuing  their  remarks,  the  Pathers  define  the 
limits  of  the  weekly  disputations  to  be  two  hours,  not 
more,  assigning  four  regular  objectors  for  that  time. 
The  Professors,  belonging  to  different  faculties,  should 
invite  one  another  reciprocally  to  the  private  disputa- 
tions in  their  classes,  at  least  for  an  hour  or  so,  that 
the  intellectual  contest  may  wax  warm  by  the  meeting 
of  these  Doctors.  Other  Doctors,  too,  not  of  the 
faculty,  can  be  invited  for  the  same  purpose.  But, 
continues  the  Ratio  of  1599,  in  undertaking  to  push 
the  arguments  which  are  being  urged,  "they  should 
1  Ibid.,  p.  147,  Separandane  sint  Semiuaria,  etc. 


214  LOYOLA. 

not  take  tlie  thread  out  of  the  hands  of  an  objector, 
who  is  still  ably  and  strenuously  following  it  up."^ 
Meanwhile,  the  students  who  receive  the  commission 
to  act  as  objectors,  on  occasions  of  some  publicity, 
must  be  the  more  qualified  members  of  the  course; 
the  others  have  the  practice  of  their  private  arena, 
until  they  can  take  part  with  dignity  in  a  public 
tournament. 

If  argument  freezes  except  in  a  crowd,  so,  too,  it 
palls,  if  it  never  comes  to  a  conclusion;  and  no  useful 
point  of  doctrine  is  carried  away  by  the  listeners. 
Truth  is  lost  in  clouds,  and  there  is  no  gain  to  good 
humor.  Acrimony  or  melancholy  may  well  be  the 
only  outcome  of  an  unfinished  or  revolving  argu- 
mentation. It  will  not  revolve,  if  the  disputants 
keep  to  strict  syllogistic  form.  But  when  both  or  all 
parties  become  heated,  and  wit  becomes  lively,  the 
syllogism  may  suffer,  and  then,  when  will  they 
finish?  To  obviate  this  inconvenience,  two  persons 
are  charged  with  the  responsibility  of  the  perform- 
ance, one  the  Professor  himself,  who  is  presiding  over 
his  own  disputation,  the  other,  the  G-eneral  Prefect 
of  Studies,  who  controls  the  whole  series  of  disputa- 
tions, as  they  follow  one  another  in  turn. 

Of  the  Professor  it  is  said,  that  he  is  to  consider 
the  day  of  disputation  as  no  less  laborious  and  useful 
than  that  of  his  own  lecture;  and  that  all  the  fruit 
and  life  of  the  exercise  depends  upon  him.  The 
earlier  Ratio  lays  even  more  stress  upon  the  private 
disputations,   "which  are  wont  to  grow  more  frigid 

1  Reg.  coram.  Prof.  sup.  lac,  n.  16;  Monumenta  Germanise  Psed- 
agogica,  vol.  v,  p.  292. 


DISPUTATION.     DICTATION.  215 

than  the  public  ones."  He  is  to  assist  the  two  dis- 
putants, "  so  as  to  be  himself  apparently  the  person 
contesting  in  each;  let  him  signify  his  approval,  if 
anything  specially  good  is  urged,  excite  the  attention 
of  all  when  any  first-class  difficulty  is  proposed,  throw 
out  a  hint  now  and  then  to  support  the  respondent  or 
direct  the  opponent;  call  them  back  to  strict  syllogis- 
tic form,  if  they  wander  from  it;  not  always  be  silent, 
nor  yet  be  always  talking,  so  as  to  let  the  students 
bring  out  what  they  know.  TMiat  is  brought  forward, 
he  can  amend  or  improve;  let  him  bid  the  objector 
proceed,  so  long  as  his  argument  carries  weight  with 
it;  carry  on  the  objector's  difficulty  for  him  farther; 
nor  connive  at  it,  if  he  slips  off  to  another  track.  He 
is  not  to  allow  an  argument  which  has  been  well  an- 
swered to  be  kept  up,  nor  an  answer  that  is  not  solid 
to  be  long  sustained ;  but,  w^hen  the  dispute  has  been 
sufficiently  exhaustive,  let  him  briefly  define  the  mat- 
ter, and  explain  it."  ^ 

The  General  Prefect  of  Studies  is  required  to  keep 
the  series  of  disputations  in  due  form;  arguing  him- 
self but  sparingly,  and  thereby  discharging  the  duty 
of  general  direction  with  more  dignity.  He  is  not  to 
suffer  any  difficulty  which  comes  under  debate,  to  be 
agitated  this  way  and  that,  "so  that  it  remains  as 
much  of  a  difficulty  after  as  before  " ;  but  when  such 
an  agitated  question  has  been  sufficiently  mooted,  he 
will  see  that  an  accurate  explanation  of  it  is  given  by 
the  Professor  who  is  presiding.^ 

1  Monumenta  Germanise  Psedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  292;  Rt.  St.  1599, 
Reg.  comm.  Prof.  sup.  fac,  n.  18;  Rt.  St.  1586,  Disputatioues,  ibid., 
p.  lOG.  2  Ibid.,  p.  102,  n.  7;  p.  276.  n.  6. 


216  LOYOLA. 

With  the  last  public  act,  or  general  defence  of 
Philosophy  and  Theology,  the  formation  of  the  fu- 
ture Professor  closes.  This  public  defence  occupies 
four  or  five  hours,  in  two  sessions.  If  the  defendant 
is  not  a  member  of  the  Order,  special  care  is  taken 
to  honor  it  with  all  solemnity,  and  with  the  at- 
tendance of  all  the  faculties,  of  guests  invited.  Doc- 
tors from  without,  and  princes  or  the  nobility.^  This 
act  will  be  followed  by  the  solemnity  of  conferring 
the  final  degree  upon  the  Licentiate.  When  the  stu- 
dent is  a  Jesuit,  much  more  is  made  of  thoroughness 
in  a  searching  examination  then,  as  at  all  times  pre- 
viously. He  has  now  passed  through  a  long  series  of 
yearly  examinations,  which  were  almost  always  dis- 
putations, and  that,  not  with  equals,  but  with  four  or 
five  Professors.^  So  that,  on  viewing  him  at  the 
close  of  his  formation,  we  are  enabled  to  conceive, 
with  more  distinctness,  the  meaning  of  that  standard, 
"surpassing  mediocrity,"  which,  in  a  former  chapter, 
I  endeavored  to  define.^ 

2.  On  turning  our  attention  now  to  the  Professor's 
chair,  and  examining  his  manner  of  lecturing,  of  ex- 
plaining, of  teaching,  whether  in  the  field  of  Letters, 
Science,  Philosophy,  or  Theology,  we  have,  on  the  one 
side,  to  suppose  him  complete  in  his  formation,  and, 
on  the  other,  to  regard  the  scholar  as  undergoing 
formation.  Here,  then,  we  begin  the  second  part  of 
this  analysis.     The  style  of  teaching  and  of  manage- 

1  Rt.  St.,  Reg.  Prof.  Stud.,  nn.  12, 21;  Monumenta  Germanise  Pseda- 
gogica,  vol.  V,  pp.  278,  282. 

2  Ibid.,  Reg.  Prov.,  n.  19,  p.  244. 
8  Chapter  xi,  above,  p.  157. 


DISPUTATION.     DICTATION.  217 

ment,  which  is  distinctively  the  Jesuit  type,  is  pre- 
sented in  the  Ratio  Studiorum  under  its  practical 
and  ideal  aspect.  There  is  also  a  manner  of  instruc- 
tion which  is  not  considered  an  ideal  method,  however 
much  it  may  sometimes  recommend  itself  as  practi- 
cally expedient.  I  will  touch  upon  this  latter,  the 
negative  side  of  the  question,  first,  to  be  free,  in  the 
next  chapter,  for  approaching  the  matter  on  its  posi- 
tive and  constructive  side. 

In  putting  dictation  down  as  not  being  the  ideal 
form  of  teaching  in  the  Society,  I  do  not  speak  of  the 
proper  use  of  dictation.  The  Ratio  itself  leaves  room 
for  it.  It  is  the  abuse  of  dictation  that  merits  and 
receives  a  protracted  examination  of  its  value,  at  the 
hands  of  the  critics.  The  discussion  is  of  the  highest 
importance.  In  analyzing  a  style  of  instruction,  with 
which  they  are  not  in  harmony,  they  bring  out  the 
essential  elements  of  all  true  teaching.  And,  if  we 
approve  at  all  of  their  principles,  the  implied  disap- 
proval for  the  rejected  form  becomes  only  aggravated, 
on  contemplating  an  exaggerated  development  of  the 
same ;  that  is  to  say,  when,  instead  of  dictating  what 
has  the  merit  of  being  one's  own  laborious  produc- 
tion, the  teacher  is  seen  to  become  the  servile  de- 
pendant on  a  text-book  printed  by  somebody  else; 
and  neither  does  the  teacher  show  any  of  the  qualifi- 
cations necessary  to  have  composed  the  book,  nor  does 
the  scholar  expend  the  industry  which  would  have 
been  necessary  to  copy  it.  But  it  is  left  to  speak  as 
best  it  may,  is  read  by  the  teacher,  instead  of  his 
teaching,  is  read  by  the  scholar  as  the  talk  of  some 
third  person,  and  is  found,  in  the  last  issue,  to  have 


218  LOYOLA. 

spoken  just  articulately  enough  for  tlie  pupil  to  have 
learnt  a  memory  lesson,  and  perhaps  to  have  gathered 
information  wliich  may  or  may  not  adhere  to  his 
mental  structure.  But,  as  to  anything  like  mental 
training,  or  what  is  properly  education,  the  final  re- 
sult of  a  long  series  of  years  seems  to  show  that,  if 
there  has  been  any  of  it,  possibly  the  man  who  y^^rote 
the  book  had  it;  and  with  him  it  has  remained.  So 
must  it  always  be  under  such  conditions.  For  when 
the  living  Master  has  contributed  so  little  in  the  way 
of  live  education,  the  scholar  must,  of  necessity,  go 
away  with  somewhat  less. 

These  critics  say  trenchantly:  "Let  no  dictation 
be  given,  unless  the  explanation  of  very  much  all 
that  is  dictated  has  gone  before,  or  accompanies,  or 
follows  the  dictation;  where  the  custom  does  not 
exist,  let  no  dictation  be  introduced;  where  it  does, 
an  effort  should  be  made  to  do  away  with  it,  as  far  as 
possible."  Then  they  support  their  position  by  many 
quotations  from  the  Constitution  of  Ignatius.^ 

They  go  on  to  state  that  this  habit  of  dictating  was 
a  thing  unheard  of  till  within  the  last  forty  years ; 
"yet  the  auditors  were  not  less  learned  then  than 
now."  In  fact,  but  a  slight  acquaintance  with  the 
old  university  system  of  Europe  will  show  how  jeal- 
ously the  empire  of  the  spoken  word  was  maintained 
—  the  spoken  word,  as  distinct,  not  only  from  reading 
what  the  Doctor  had  himself  composed,  but  also  from 
consulting  even  notes,  while  actually  lecturing.  He 
might  have  the  text  of  Aristotle,  or  Peter  the  Lom- 

1  De  Ratione  et  Modo  Prselegendi ;  Monumenta  Germanise  Pfeda- 
gogica,  vol.  V,  p.  S2. 


DISPUTATION.     DICTATION.  219 

bard,  before  him;  lie  might  himself  have  written  and 
published  works;  the  student  might,  with  permis- 
sion, take  down  notes  in  shorthand,  from  which 
in  part,  but  chiefly  from  memory,  he  would  com- 
mit the  whole  lecture  to  writing,^  on  his  return  from 
school.  It  was  not  mere  want  of  facilities  that  de- 
termined the  system  so.  But  the  objective  point  was, 
not  to  have  learning  in  one's  papers  and  bound  up ; 
still  less  to  have  it  in  books,  bought  for  the  learning 
that  is  in  them,  and  left  afterwards  with  the  learning 
still  remaining  there.  The  object  was  to  make  learn- 
ing one's  personal  possession,  and  to  profess  the  live 
mastery  of  it,  with  voice,  eye,  and  person  showing 
how  live  it  was. 

These  Doctors  continue:  ^'The  common  impression 
in  men's  minds  is,  that  dictating  is  not  lecturing; 
also  that  it  is  one  thing  to  write  after  the  manner  of 
polishing  off  a  treatise,  a  different  thing  to  have  at 
hand  merely  some  brief  heads  and  references.  And, 
should  the  matter  which  is  dictated  be  from  some 
author,  the  labor  of  taking  it  down  is  superfluous." 

The  living  voice  actuates  the  mind  more ;  it  ex- 
presses, it  impresses;  it  arouses,  suspends  the  atten- 
tion; it  explains.  All  these  effects  are  nowhere  in  a 
dead-and-alive  dictation.  'Nov  do  they  give  satisfac- 
tion, who  append  the  explanation  afterwards;  for 
then  both  times  seem  to  be  lost,  that  taken  up  with 
dictation  and  that  with  the  explanation.  First, 
while  the  dictation  was  going  on,  the  auditors  were 
intent  upon  writing  rather  than  understanding ;  partic- 
ularly as,  before  the  end  of  a  sentence  is  come  to,  the 
1  Ad  literam  legibilem. 


220  LOYOLA. 

beginning  of  it  has  already  slipped  from  the  mind; 
and  the  writing  has  to  go  on,  without  allowing  any 
of  that  time  to  breathe,  which  is  frequent  enough  if 
the  Professor  lectures  and  explains.  Secondly,  when 
the  time  for  explanation  comes  after  the  dictation,  the 
students  are  tired;  they  think  they  have  all  their 
learning  now,  doAvn  in  their  papers ;  so  they  go  off, 
or  they  yawn,  or  they  read  over  their  copy,  to  see  if 
anything  is  wanting. 

After  dictating,  the  Professor  thinks  that  he  has 
now  done  his  part.  What  follows,  that  is,  the  work 
of  explaining,  he  gulps  down,  as  best  he  can,  —  a 
laborious  work,  requiring  memory,  promptitude, 
facility  of  development,  fluency  of  speech;  whence 
he  will  gradually  vanish  away  into  a  nonentity,  as 
we  see  actually  taking  place  in  some  universities. 

More  time  is  lost.  For,  Avhile  he  goes  over  his 
dictation  to  explain  it,  he  has  to  take  up  again  things 
which  were  clear  enough,  in  order  to  follow  out  the 
whole  thread  of  his  matter.  If  he  had  lectured,  he 
would  have  said  those  things  once  for  all.  Then, 
since  it  must  be  something  polished  and  finished  in 
style  that  a  man  dictates,  the  poor  scribes  have  to 
take  down  much  that  is  not  necessary. 

As  if  they  had  wearied  themselves  with  this  general 
assault  on  dictation,  the  Fathers  go  on  to  relieve  their 
feelings  by  exclaiming:  "What  an  amount  of  tedium 
meanwhile  to  those  who  are  not  writing,  especially  to 
Prelates  and  other  illustrious  persons  present!  Must 
they  be  told  not  to  come  wdiile  the  dictation  is  going 
on,  and  to  appear  only  afterwards  when  the  matter  is 
being  explained?     If  so,  they  will  be  in  attendance 


DISPUTATION.     DICTATION.  221 

barely  half  an  hour,  and  what  they  will  hear  will  be 
meagre  enough;  and  the  person  they  listen  to  will  be 
one  accustomed  to  languid  dictation,  one  who  relies 
on  his  papers,  and  is  but  little  practised  in  the  oral 
development  of  his  thoughts.  Besides,  the  students 
themselves  ought  to  get  accustomed  to  make  things 
their  own  when  they  hear  them,  and  to  exercise  their 
own  judgment  in  selecting  what  to  write.  Thus  they 
will  understand  things  better,  and  be  kept  more  on 
the  alert." 

Not  to  disguise  inconveniences,  from  whatever  side 
they  come,  these  critics  take  note  of  the  difficulties 
which  are  thought  to  exist;  that,  unless  the  matter  is 
dictated,  the  students  cannot  do  justice  to  it,  that  the 
lecturer  is  too  quick,  or,  out  of  the  many  things  he 
says,  they  do  not  know  how  to  select  the  necessary 
elements  for  annotation;  and,  while  phrase  is  piled 
upon  phrase,  they  are  at  a  loss,  their  notes  are  disor- 
dered, inept,  and  sometimes  simply  wrong. 

To  this  the  critics  promptly  make  answer :  Those 
who  are  to  lecture  in  future  are  either  such  as  are 
now  beginning  their  career  of  Professorship,  or  such 
as  are  long  accustomed  to  dictation.  For  those  who 
are  uoav  beginning,  previous  exercise  is  to  be  recom- 
mended in  the  most  approved  form  of  lecture,  or 
prcelectio.  And  they  sketch  the  form.  As  to  the 
others  who  are  long  habituated  to  dictating,  the 
critics  ask  such  Professors  to  give  this  form  of  lec- 
turing the  benefit  of  a  trial.  If  they  despair  of  being 
able  to  adopt  it,  let  them  go  their  own  way,  until 
another  generation  of  Professors  is  ready  to  take  their 
places.     Dictation  can  also  be  permitted,  where  our 


222  LOYOLA. 

Professors  liave  often  tried  to  give  it  up,  but  with  the 
consequence  that  the  students  took  fright,  and  aban- 
doned the  classes.  ''Yet,"  continue  the  Fathers, 
"  they  would  not  be  apt  to  abandon  the  courses,  nor 
complain  so  much,  if  all  the  Professors  would  devote 
themselves  to  brilliant  lecturing,  ^  and  would  put  away 
dictation.  For,  if  one  dictates  and  nurses  the  lazy 
folks,  and  another  does  not,  who  doubts  but  that 
sloth  will  still  be  dearer  to  the  slothful  than  the 
labors  and  thorns  of  study?  Yea,  by  dictation  they 
are  made  daily  more  and  more  lazy,  so  as  to  be  always 
asking  for  more  and  more  time )  whereas,  without  dic- 
tation, they  become  daily  more  prompt,  and  need  less 
time  for  everything. "  ^ 

The  final  Ratio  of  1599  embodies  these  sugges- 
tions, without  being  absolute  in  excluding  all  dicta- 
tion, for  which  it  suggests  the  form  most  useful  and 
in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  true  lecturing.  It  depre- 
cates the  dictation  of  what  may  be  found  in  authors 
within  reach  of  the  students.  "Let  the  Professor 
refer  his  hearers  to  those  authors  who  have  been  copi- 
ous and  accurate  in  their  treatment  of  any  matter." 
As  to  what  the  critics  of  1586  recommend,  that,  if 
dictation  be  given,  the  lecture  should  extend  to  five 
quarters  of  an  hour,  the  Ratio  says  nothing  about  it.^ 

Possevino,  in  his  Bibliotheca  Selecta,  has  a  chapter 
on  this  question,  "  Whether  mental  culture  suffers  by 

1  Ad  praelegendura  egregie. 

2  Rt.  St.  1586,  De  Ratione  ac  Modo  Praelegendi ;  Monumenta  Ger- 
maniae  Psedagogica,  vol.  v,  pp.  81-5. 

8  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  v>  Reg.  comm.  Prof, 
sup.  fac,  nn.  9,  10,  p.  288. 


DISPUTATION.     DICTATION  223 

the  dictation  of  lectures  ?  "  He  answers  in  the  af- 
tirmative,  and  he  speaks  on  the  subject  with  his  usual 
erudition.  He  refers  to  the  Pythagorean  ^' acoustic  " 
disciples,  who  were  never  copyists,  and  not  even  talk- 
ers, until,  by  a  prolonged  silence  for  years,  they  had 
thought  enough  to  be  able  to  talk  well,  to  put  ques- 
tions, and  make  comments.  He  quotes  the  cynicism 
of  Diogenes,  about  writing  at  the  expense  of  true 
exercise.  He  notes  the  plan  of  Xeniades  the  Corin- 
thian ,  who  gave  a  written  compendium  to  the  young 
people,  but  one  so  short  that  they  had  to  have  the 
best  part  of  their  learning  in  their  heads.  The  So- 
cratic  method  was  eminently  one  of  living  speech. 
And,  as  to  Aristotle's  "peripatetic"  school,  which 
was  conducted  while  ivalking  about  the  Lyceum,  that 
was  certainly  neither  in  practice  nor  in  principle 
favorable  to  writing.  Coming  to  speak  expressly  of 
dictation  and  citing  a  pleasant  old  rhjane :  — 

Quod  si  charta  cadat,  secum  sapientia  vadat,i 

Possevino  goes  on  to  plead  for  the  chests  of  the  stu- 
dents, and  says  that  the  ink  is  the  price  of  their  blood, 
and  the  end  of  their  studies  becomes  the  end  of  their 
lives.  Hence  one  singular  result  of  it  all  is,  that 
scholars  even  employ  amanuenses  to  go  to  school 
instead  of  themselves,  and  bring  back  in  writing 
what  was  said.  But  all  that  money,  says  Possevino, 
could  have  been  reserved  for  the  buying  of  books,  to 
supplement  real  study. 

Then  he  enforces  what  he  has  said  with  a  piece  of 
university  history,  wherein  perhaps  no  one  of  his  time 

1  Why,  if  the  paper  drops,  the  wisdom  too  must  be  off  I 


224  LOYOLA. 

was  better  versed.  The  University  of  Paris,  two  and 
a  half  centuries  before,  had  legislated  against  dictat- 
ing, and  against  the  Doctors  who  used  it,  and  who 
were  dubbed  Nominatores  ad  pennayn.  One  century 
before,  the  Cardinal  Legate  had  again  formulated  a 
law  on  the  subject.  And  finally  the  Jesuits,  "of 
whom  a  great  number  are  chiefly  engaged  in  this  pro- 
fession, taught  by  experience  the  evils  of  that  system, 
have  long  understood  the  necessity,  not  merely  of  mod- 
erating it,  but  simply  doing  away  with  it.  Wherefore 
the  Fathers  in  the  universities  of  Portugal  have 
already  published  a  part  of  Natural  Philosophy, 
whereby  writing  is  dispensed  with,  room  is  left  for 
quickening  genius,  and  much  material  stored  up  to 
bring  into  the  arena  of  discussion."  ^ 

1  Possevinus,  Biblioth.  Selecta,  lib.  i,  de  cultura  ingeniorum,  cc. 
25-G ;  edit.  Venet.  1603,  pp.  21-2.  He  refers  to  tlie  publication  of  the 
Conimbricenses,  a  consolidated  work  of  the  faculty  of  Coimbra,  just 
as  the  "  Wirceburgenses,"  later  on,  and  at  present,  under  Father 
Cornely,  the  writers  of  the  Cursus  Scripturae  Sacrse  are  publishing 
their  works  as  a  corporate  whole. 


CHAPTER  Xy. 

FORMATION  OF  THE  SCHOLAR.  SYMMETRY  OF  THE 
COURSES.  THE  PRELECTION.  BOOKS. 

What  is  developed  to  perfection  can  make  other 
things  like  unto  itself;  it  is  prolific.  So  the  Aristo- 
telian principle  has  it:  Perfectum  est,  quod  general 
simile  sihi.  This  is  the  outcome  and  test  of  perfection. 
Having  followed  the  Master,  therefore,  till  he  was 
complete  in  his  own  formation,  we  have  now  turned 
to  look  in  another  direction,  and  see  him  reacting  upon 
those  whom  he  is  to  form.  Though  much  has  been 
said  already^  implicitly  or  otherwise,  on  the  method 
and  principles  of  this  reactive  process,  3^et  some- 
thing remains,  especially  with  regard  to  the  lower 
faculties,  the  literary  courses.  In  this  chapter, 
we  may  consider  the  attitude  which  the  Professors 
take,  singly  and  as  a  body,  towards  the  students  and 
towards  their  own  courses ;  and  then  their  chief  man- 
ner of  imparting  knowledge,  or  what  is  called  in  the 
Ratio  the  prcelectio.  In  the  next  chapter  we  can 
survey  the  principal  class  exercises,  and  the  method 
of  school  management,  throughout  the  lower  grades. 
And,  in  the  chapter  after  that,  I  shall  sketch  the 
system  of  grades  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest. 

1.  One  of  the  first  most  general  rules  lays  it  down 
that  the  authority,  in  whose  hands  is  the  appointment 

225 


226  LOYOLA. 

of  Professors,  "  should  foresee  far  ahead  what  Profes- 
sors he  can  have  for  every  faculty,  noting  especially 
those  who  seem  to  be  more  adapted  for  the  work,  who 
are  learned,  diligent,  and  assiduous,  and  who  are  zeal- 
ous for  the  advancement  of  their  students,  as  Avell  in 
their  lectures  (or  lessons)  as  in  other  literary  exer- 
cises."^ "They  are  to  procure  the  advancement  of 
each  of  their  scholars  in  particular,"  says  Ignatius.- 
The  Professor  "  is  not  to  show  himself  more  familiar 
with  one  student  than  with  another;  he  is  to  disre- 
gard no  one,  to  foster  the  studies  of  the  poor  equally 
with  the  rich."^ 

These  are  the  regular  and  "ordinary  Professors, 
who  take  account  of  their  students  in  particular."  ** 
There  can  also  be  in  a  university  one  or  more  of 
another  kind,  "who,  with  more  solemnity  than  the 
ordinary  lecturers,  treat  Philosophy,  Mathematical 
Sciences,  or  any  other  branch,  after  the  manner  of 
public  Professors."^ 

In  the  lower,  or  literary  courses  the  Masters  must 
"  be  good  and  skilled, ' '  who  '  ^  seriously,  and  with  all  the 
attention  of  their  mind,  v\'^ork  for  the  advancement  of 
their  scholars,  as  well  in  what  concerns  learning,  as  in 
the  matter  of  morals.  They  will  have  to  take  care  that 
besides  the  Christian  doctrine,  which  is  so  integral  a 
part  of  our  Institute,  they  also  give  frequent  exhorta- 
tions,  suited  to  the  capacity  of  the  boys,   and  not 

1  Et.  St.  1599,  Reg.  Pro  v.,  n.  4;  Monumenta  Germanise  Pseda- 
gogica,  vol.  V,  p.  234. 

2  Constitutiones,  pars  iv,  c.  13,  n.  3 ;  Monumeuta  Germaniae  Pseda- 
gogica,  vol.  ii,  p.  55. 

2  Reg.  comm.  Prof.  sup.  fac,  n.  20;  Monumeuta  Germaniae  Pseda- 
gogica,  vol.  V,  p.  292.  •*  Constitutiones,  ibid.,  C.  ^  Ibid. 


FORMATION   OF   THP:   SCHOLAR.  227 

devised  for  empty  ostentation;  let  them  endeavor  to 
instil  solid  affections  of  piety  and  love  for  the  things 
of  God,  and  a  hatred  for  sin. "  ^ 

AVhat  is  meant  by  "  good  and  skilled  Masters  "  in 
these  courses,  we  have  already  seen  from  Jouvancy's 
sketch  of  the  accomplishments  proper  to  a  teacher  of 
Literature.^  If  anything  remained  to  be  said  on  this 
topic,  it  would  only  be  to  note  and  reject  false 
standards,  by  which  the  position  or  efficiency  of  Pro- 
fessors might  possibly,  but  incorrectly,  be  measured. 
Thus,  some  five  years  ago,  that  is  to  say,  three  hun- 
dred years  later  than  the  drawing  up  of  the  Ratio,  I 
find  two  such  false  standards  distinctly  repudiated; 
one  is  the  idea  of  gathering  in  just  enough  of  doctrine 
beforehand  to  be  able,  when  occasion  calls  for  it,  to 
develop  the  attainments  of  a  Professor;  another  is 
that  which  would  look  only  to  the  environment 
around,  and  would  measure  the  intellectual  formation 
of  men,  and  the  supply  of  learning,  by  the  estimate 
commonly  formed  of  the  article,  and  the  actual  de- 
mand for  it. 

2.  If  we  regard  not  individual  Professors,  but  the 
whole  moral  body  or  faculty  of  them,  there  are  two 
characteristics  which  it  may  be  difficult  to  find,  or  at 
least  to  ensure,  outside  of  an  organization  such  as  the 
Society  of  Jesus.  One  is  the  very  strict  unity  of 
educational  matter  presented  to  the  studious  world. 
The  other  is  the  degree  of  coordination  and  subordi- 
nation of  courses  professed.     A  word  upon  each. 

The  unity  of  matter  in  question,  as  designed  for 

1  Yitelleschi,  1639;  Monumeuta  Germanise  Pfedagogica,  vol.  ix, 
p.  59.  2  Chapter  xi,  above,  p.  162. 


228  LOYOLA. 

the  purposes  of  education,  is  prescribed  on  the  strength 
of  a  double  maxim;  first,  that  the  sifting  of  many 
opinions,  by  the  varied  and  multiplied  activity  of 
many  minds,  leaves  a  residue  of  matter,  quite  solid 
enough  to  support  a  compact  and  reliable  system  of 
teaching ;  secondly,  that,  in  point  of  fact,  such  matter, 
which  I  have  called  "a  residue,"  is  nothing  else  than 
the  basis  of  truth,  divine  and  eternal ;  since,  in  clear- 
ing away  the  ground,  all  the  criteria  of  each  order, 
the  natural  and  supernatural,  have  been  faithfully 
and  assiduously  regarded. 

Hereupon,  intellectual  concord  is  felt  to  be  the 
result  in  the  entire  teaching  body.  Of  this  concord 
the  critics  say,  that  it  is  the  condition  and  cause  of 
a  wider  and  profounder  learning  in  the  faculties  at 
large.  Each  Professor  is  engaged,  "not  in  tilling 
some  patch  of  his  own,  but  in  contributing  his  in- 
dustry to  the  general  field  of  all."  Where  is  the 
gain,  they  ask,  "  if  what  one  establishes,  another  up- 
sets, not  as  if  he  had  always  excogitated  something 
better,  but  for  fear  he  should  be  thought  to  profit  by 
the  fruits  of  another's  genius?  Sometimes  it  really 
makes  no  difference  whether  one  or  other  tenet  is 
held;  but,  if  we  are  bent  on  receiving  no  support  from 
another,  then,  for  all  our  labor,  we  get  no  other  fruit 
but  dissension."^  I  presume  there  is  not  a  univer- 
sity anywhere  but  will  bear  witness,  by  its  internal 
history,  to  the  justice  of  this  remark. 

Nor  do  these  Fathers  apprehend  that  reputation 
for  real   science  will  suffer   by  such   concord,    since 

1  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  Commentariolus,  p. 
43. 


FORMATION   OF  THE   SCHOLAR.  229 

"  reputation  for  science  does  not  come  from  opinions 
contradicting  one  another,  but  from  their  having 
agreed."  They  express  no  lofty  esteem  for  the  no- 
toriety which  may  be  had,  by  fighting  no  less  with 
friends  than  with  foes,  and  reserving  admiration  for 
only  what  is  at  a  respectable  distance,  and  "turning 
up  one's  nose  at  what  is  near."  ^  This  pungent  remark 
seems  to  be  a  new  and  pedagogical  application  of  the 
old  proverb,  Nihil  vicinia  molestius,  "Nothing  more 
annoying  than  one's  neighbors!"  They  hold  that, 
upon  a  basis  of  concord,  there  is  always  room  and 
liberty  for  the  exercise  of  talent;  first,  in  those  ques- 
tions which  are  manifestly  indifferent;  secondly,  in 
thinking  out  new  distinctions  and  reasons,  whereb}' 
truths  already  certain  may  be  made  more  secure  still; 
thirdly,  in  attacking  the  same,  either  when  publicly 
disputing,  or  also  when  actually  teaching,  if  what 
they  acutely  urge  against  a  position,  they  more  acutely 
refute;  fourthly,  in  proposing  new  opinions  and  ques- 
tions, but  after  they  have  sought  the  approval  of  the 
responsible  authorities,  lest  the  labor  be  spent  amiss. 
The  most  learned  men  have  always  been  persuaded 
that  there  is  more  subtlety  shown,  more  applause 
merited  and  comfort  enjoyed,  in  pursuing  the  lines 
of  approved  and  received  thought,  than  in  a  gen- 
eral license  and  novelt^^  of  opinion.-  But  these 
critics  throw  out  an  idea  of  theirs,  which  quite  pos- 
sibly will  not  meet  with  universal  acceptance.  The}^ 
say,  "It  is  not  every  one  vvdio  can  build  up  a  The- 
ology for  himself."  The  remark  they  add  is  grace- 
ful, that  a  modest  genius  does  not  court  every 
1  Ibid.  2  Ibid.,  p.  41. 


230  LOYOLA. 

kind  of  liberty,  but  that  which  is  not  divorced  from 
virtue. 

These  principles  explain  for  us  the  unity  of  educa- 
tional matter,  as  presented  to  the  studious  world. 
The  same  marshalling  and  husbanding  of  force,  which 
effectuates  this  result,  operates  another,  akin  to  the 
former.  It  is  the  most  definite  coordination  and 
subordination  of  courses,  with  a  mutual  understand- 
ing between  Professors  and  facuUies.  Where  grades 
exist,  either  in  their  perfect  form,  as  in  the  five 
stages  of  the  classical  or  literary  coTirse,  or  in  a  shape 
approximating  to  that,  as  in  the  three  stages  of  the 
philosophical  triennium,  such  subordination  is  easily 
secured.  But,  also,  elsewhere  the  conditions  of  per- 
fectly definite  outlines  are  laid  down  for  courses, 
which  have  any  points  of  mutual  contact. 

This  may  be  illustrated  by  some  rules  of  the  Ratio. 
The  two  Professors  of  Dogmatic  Theology  are  to 
consider  themselves  dispensed  from  commenting  on 
(.questions  proper  to  Sacred  Scripture,  from  treating 
philosophical  matters,  from  evolving  cases  of  Moral 
Theology.  The  Professor  of  Moral  Theology  is  to 
despatch  with  the  briefest  definitions  the  matter 
which  belongs  to  dogma.  The  Professor  of  Holy 
Scripture  is  desired  not  to  go  at  length  into  points  of 
controverted  Theology.  The  Professor  of  Ecclesias- 
tical History  need  not  treat  canons  or  dogma.  The 
Professor  of  Canon  Law  will  not  touch  Theology  or 
Public  Eight,  any  more  than  his  time  permits,  and 
the  necessary  understanding  of  Canon  Law  requires. 
The  same  reserve  is  practised  between  Theology  in 
general,  and  Philosophy.     Thus  a  Professor  of  Moral 


FORMATION   OF   THE   SCHOLAR.  231 

Theology  despatches  perhaps  in  ten  minutes  the  defini- 
tion of  I^^Tatural  Law,  upon  which  he  knows  two  days 
are  sjDent  by  the  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy. 

Half  a  century  later,  this  question  of  coordination 
received  a  still  fuller  treatment  at  the  hands  of  the 
General  Francis  Piccolomini.  After  requiring  that 
philosophers  and  theologians  alike  finish  conscien- 
tiously all  the  matter  assigned  for  each  year,  he  will 
not  allow  that  "the  example  of  authors  who  have 
mixed  up  subjects,  or  have  followed  out  their  ques- 
tions into  mere  minutiae,  can  be  cited  as  of  any  weight 
with  our  Professors.  Por,  whatever  is  to  be  thought 
of  them,  this  method  is  not  opportune  for  practical 
teaching  in  the  schools."  The  General  scouts  the 
idea  of  "exploring  the  treasure-house  of  possibili- 
ties," to  find  out  new  questions;  for  there  is  reason 
to  fear  that  "  while  folks  search  about  for  truths  not 
ascertained,  they  will  catch  at  chimeras  and  shad- 
ows."^ Hence,  as  the  Ratio  prescribes,  "opinions 
which  are  useless,  obsolete,  absurd,  manifestly  false, 
are  not  to  receive  treatment."  The  Professors  are  to 
run  rapidly  through  questions  which  are  easy.  In 
Holy  Scripture,  difficult  passages  are  not  to  be  dwelt 
on  indefinitely,  nor  too  much  time  to  be  given  to 
chronological  computations,  or  topological  surveys  of 
the  Holy  Land. 

In  facing  the  objection,  that  all  this  entails  a  great 
expenditure  of  thought  and  matter,  when  Professors 
must  despatch  in  such  short  courses  Avhat  might  well 
be    treated    in    longer   terms,   the  preliminary  Ratio 

1  Ordinatio  pro  Stud.  Sup.,  1651 ;  Monnmenta  Germaniae  Pseda- 
gogica,  vol.  ix,  p.  88. 


232  LOYOLA. 

draws  a  sharp  line  of  demarcation  between  other  uni- 
versities and  those  conducted  by  Jesuits.  "Whatever 
is  the  custom  in  other  universities,  our  method  is 
very  different  from  theirs,  so  that  no  less  progress 
can  be  made  in  our  schools  during  four  years,  than  in 
others  during  five  \  because  our  Professors  are  for  the 
most  part  more  laborious;  we  have  more  numerous 
exercises ;  our  Society,  as  standing  in  need  of  many 
workmen,  requires  that  perfection  of  science  which  is 
necessary  for  its  men,  not  that  otiose  method  of  others, 
who,  having  no  motive  of  this  kind  to  make  them  ex- 
peditious, divide  up  into  many  lectures  what  could 
well  be  treated  in  fewer;  their  vacations  too  are  for 
the  most  part  longer  and  more  frequent."  ^ 

Ex  ungue  leonem,  "You  can  tell  a  lion  by  his  paw." 
Let  it  appear  that  the  brevity  which  you  study  is 
necessitated  by  your  limits  of  time;  let  discernment 
be  conspicuous  in  your  selection  of  matter,  whether 
to  treat  summarily  or  to  treat  coxDiously ;  let  the  al- 
ternate courses  supplement  one  another,  so  that 
what  had  to  be  skimmed  over  in  one  quadriennium  is 
dilated  upon  more  at  large  in  your  next;  then,  say 
the  Fathers,  the  authority  which  the  Professors  enjoy 
with  ecclesiastical  dignitaries  will  not  suffer  the 
detriment  anticipated  by  some,  when  we  give  con- 
densed and  accurate  treatment  in  a  shorter  time  of 
what  is  usually  spread  out  through  a  longer.^  The 
paw  shows  the  lion. 

3.  We  may  proceed  now  to  the  typical  form  of 
Jesuit  instruction.     It  is  called  prcelectio.     This  word 

1  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  Utrum  Quinquen- 
nium, etc.,  p.  76.  .  2  Ibid. 


FORMATION   OF   THE   SCHOLAR.  233 

is  largely  the  equivalent  of  "lecturing,"  in  the  higher 
faculties;  of  "explanation,"  in  the  lower.  In  either 
case,  however,  it  is  something  specific.  For  this 
reason,  and  because  I  shall  have  to  use  the  word 
often,  I  may  be  allowed  to  j)nt  it  in  an  English  dress, 
and  speak  of  "prelection." 

Its  form,  as  a  lecture  in  the  higher  faculties,  is 
conceived  thus:  The  whole  proposition,  Avhich  is 
advanced,  is  to  be  delivered  consecutively,  without 
interposing  any  stoppages.  Then  it  should  be  re- 
peated in  the  same  words ;  and  this  will  be  taken  by 
the  students  as  a  sign  that  it  is  to  be  written  down; 
and  the  delivery  of  it  should  be  marked  by  such  in- 
flections, and  proceed  at  such  a  pace,  especially  in  its 
obscure  and  finer  points,  that  the  students  may  readily 
distinguish  between  what  is  to  be  written  and  what 
is  not.  Now,  while  the  proposition  is  thus  being 
taken  down,  the  lecturer  ought  not  to  advance  new 
ideas,  but  should  dally  with  the  same,  either  explain- 
ing it  in  more  phrases  or  clearer  ones,  or  adducing  an 
example  or  similitude,  or  amplifying  the  topic,  or 
drawing  out  the  same  logical  sequence  in  another 
order,  so  as  to  make  it  stand  out  more  distinctly,  or 
throwing  out  a  reason  or  two,  which,  however,  it  is 
not  necessary  for  them  to  note.  Indeed,  if  the  Pro- 
fessor brings  his  own  papers  into  the  school,  he 
might  have  in  them  some  select  phrases,  brief  but  not 
obscure,  in  which  he  sums  up  in  few  words  the  gist 
of  the  propositions.  Longer  development  they  will 
receive  only  in  the  explanation,  which  is  then  to  be 
given. ^    In  that,  the  Professor  will  endeavor  to  prove 

1  Modus  Prselegendi,  n.  10;  Monumenta  Germanifie  P?edagogica, 
vol;  V,  p.  84. 


234  LOYOLA. 

liis  thesis,  not  so  mucli  by  tlie  number  of  arguments, 
as  by  their  weight.  He  should  not  be  excessive  in 
adducing  authorities.  And  it  belongs  to  his  dignity, 
as  a  Master,  scarcely  ever  to  quote  an  author  whom 
he  has  not  himself  read.^ 

In  the  grade  of  Rhetoric,  which  is  the  highest  of 
the  literary  or  classical  course,  the  prelection  is 
double;  one  is  upon  the  art  of  eloquence,  wherein 
precepts  are  explained;  the  other  is  upon  an  author, 
and  has  for  its  object  the  development  of  style.  Tak- 
ing up  an  author  such  as  Cicero,  the  Professor  will, 
in  the  first  place,  make  clear  the  sense  of  the  passage. 
Secondly,  the  artistic  structure  is  to  be  analyzed  and 
demonstrated :  the  Ratio  here  details  the  elements  of 
this  analysis.  Thirdly,  other  passages  which  are 
similar  in  thought  or  expression  are  to  be  adduced; 
other  orators  and  poets,  whether  in  the  classics  or 
in  the  vernacular,  are  to  be  cited  as  employing  the 
same  principles  of  art,  in  persuading  or  narrating. 
Fourthly,  if  the  matter  allows  of  it,  the  thoughts 
expressed  by  the  author  are  to  be  confirmed  by  what 
wise  men  have  said  on  the  same  subject.  Fifthly, 
whatever  else  will  conduce  to  ornamenting  the  pas- 
sage is  here  in  place,  from  history,  mythology,  eru- 
dition of  every  kind.  Finally,  the  words  are  to  be 
weighed  singly;  their  propriety  of  use,  their  beauty, 
variety,  rhythm  to  be  commented  upon.  The  whole 
of  this  treatment,  however,  does  not  come  within  the 
limits  of  each  and  every  lesson.^    The  ''  erudition ''  for 

1  Rt.  St.  1599,  Reg.  comm.  Prof.  sup.  fac,  nn.  7,  8 ;  Mouumenta 
GermanifB  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  288. 

2  Rt.  St.,  Reg.  Prof.  Rliet.,  u.  8;  Mouumeuta  Germaniae  Paeda- 
gogica, vol.  V,  p.  406. 


FORMATION  OF   THE   SCHOLAK.  235 

this  grade  is  defined  to  comprise  "tlie  history  and 
manners  of  nations,  the  authority  of  various  writers, 
and  all  learning,  but  sparingly,  to  suit  the  capacity 
of  the  scholars."  ^ 

The  prelection  on  the  precepts  or  rules,  "  the  power 
of  which, "  says  the  Ratio,  "  is  very  great  for  the  pur- 
poses of  oratory,"  comprises  six  points.  Cicero  is 
the  rhetorician  who  supplies  the  precepts ;  but  Quin- 
tilian  and  Aristotle  may  also  be  used.  First,  the 
meaning  of  the  rule  is  to  be  explained.  Secondly, 
upon  the  same  rule,  the  rhetoricians  are  to  be  collated. 
Thirdly,  some  reason  for  the  rule  is  to  be  expounded. 
Fourthly,  some  striking  passages  from  prose  writers, 
and  also  from  poets,  are  to  be  adduced  in  exemplifica- 
tion of  the  rule.  Fifthly,  if  anything  in  the  way  of 
varied  erudition  makes  to  the  purpose,  it  is  to  be 
added.  Lastly,  an  indication  should  be  given  how 
this  principle  of  art  can  be  turned  to  use  by  our- 
selves ;  the  style  in  which  this  is  done  must  be  marked 
by  the  most  absolute  choice  and  finish  of  diction  pos- 
sible.- 

In  the  grade  of  Humanity,  which  is  immediately 
below  Khetoric,  the  prelection  is  to  be  lightly  adorned 
from  time  to  time  with  the  ornaments  of  erudition, 
as  far  as  the  passage  requires.  The  Master  should 
rather  expatiate  to  the  fullest  extent  upon  the  genius  of 
the  Latin  tongue,  on  the  force  and  etymology  of  words 
as  shown  by  approved  authors,  on  the  use  and  variety 
of  phrases,  with  a  view  to  imitation.  Here,  as  in 
other  rules  of  this  kind,  we  may  notice  the  degree  of 
progress  made  in  the  native  tongues  during  two  cen- 
1  Ibid.,  n.  1.  2  Ibid.,  nn.  6,  7. 


236  LOYOLA. 

tnries  and  a  half.  While  the  Ratio  of  1599  adds 
these  words :  "  Kor  let  him  think  it  out  of  his  way  to 
bring  forward  something  from  the  vernacular,  if  it 
presents  anything  specially  idiomatic  for  rendering 
the  idea,  or  offers  some  remarkable  construction ; " 
the  revised  Ratio  of  1832  substitutes  these  words: 
"Let  him  expatiate  on  a  comparison  between  the 
genius  of  both  tongues,  with  a  view  to  imitation. '- 
When  he  is  explaining  a  prose  author,  he  should  in- 
vestigate the  precepts  of  art,  as  exemplified  therein. 
Lastly,  if  he  thinks  ht,  he  can  give  a  version,  but 
a  most  elegant  one,  of  the  whole  passage  into  the 
mother  tongue.^  Greek  has  its  own  form  of  prelec- 
tion. 

As  to  the  "  prose  writer  "  just  mentioned,  the  man- 
ner of  treating  an  historical  writer  in  Humanity, 
which  is  otherwise  called  the  class  of  Poetry,  will 
serve  by  the  way  to  illustrate  the  difference  between 
what  is  recognized  as  the  staple  of  studies  in  a  class, 
and  what  comes  in  as  subsidiary  —  a  most  essential 
distinction,  characterizing  this  system  of  literary 
teaching.  The  critics  of  1586  advert  to  it  clearly. 
After  shoAving  the  importance  of  including  the  study 
of  historians  in  the  course  of  Poetry,  they  say: 
"  This  will  not  be  too  onerous  to  the  Preceptor ;  for 
the  style  of  history  is  plainer  and  more  lucid,  so  as 
not  to  need  great  study ;  and  it  would  be  enough  to 
explain  the  course  of  events,  as  they  are  narrated  by 
the  author,  so  that  he  need  not  consult  other  authors 
who  have  written  on  the  same  matter.  The  prelec- 
tion of  the  historian  ought  to  be  easy;  after  render- 
1  Reg.  Prof.  Hum.,  n.  5 ;  ibid.,  p.  420. 


FOKMATION   OF  THE   SCHOLAR.  237 

ing  a  sentence  of  the  author,  the  words  may  be  lightly 
commented  upon,  and  only  such  as  have  some  obscu- 
rity hanging  about  them."  The  historians  of  whom 
there  is  question  here,  are  Caesar,  Sallust,  Q.  Curtius, 
Justin,  Tacitus,  Livy.^ 

"  In  both  classes  of  Ehetoric  and  Humanities,  not 
everything  indiscriminately  is  to  be  dictated  and 
taken  down,  but  only  certain  interpretations  of  dif- 
ficult passages,  which  are  not  readily  obvious  to 
every  one,  or  which  the  Master  has  elaborated  as  the 
outcome  of  his  personal  study;  besides,  some  rather 
striking  remarks  on  various  passages  of  the  author 
under  examination,  such  annotations  as  the  commen- 
tators give,  who  edit  books  of  various  readings.  This 
will  befit  the  Master's  dignity,  and  will  be  useful  for 
the  young  men  to  know."  - 

The  grades  of  Grammar  have  respectively  their 
own  forms  of  prelection,  given  in  detail  by  the  final 
Ratio.  It  will  be  enough  for  us  to  sketch  the  general 
form  of  the  earlier  critics.^ 

According  as  it  is  a  grammar  or  an  author  that  is 
being  explained,  a  very  different  method  of  prelec- 
tion is  to  be  followed.  In  the  grammar,  we  acquire  a 
fund  of  precepts ;  in  an  author,  a  store  of  words  and 
phrases.  Wherefore,  in  the  books  of  grammar,  the 
boys  must  understand  perfectly  the  things  explained; 
they  need  not  attend  scrupulously  to  the  words  there, 
with  a  view  to  forming  style.     But,  in  the  letters  of 

1  Rt.  St.  1856,  Classis  Hum.;  Monumenta  Germanise  Psedagogica, 
vol.  V,  p.  195.  2  Ibid.,  Class.  Rhet.,  n.  6,  p.  198. 

8  Ibid.,  Exercitationes  lat.  et  graec,  n.  2  ;  Monumenta  Germanise 
Psedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  166. 


238  LOYOLA. 

Cicero,  and  other  texts  of  the  kind,  it  is  not  so  much 
the  substance  of  the  sentences,  as  the  words  and 
phrases  that  are  of  chief  consequence;  the  significance 
and  force  of  his  thoughts  are  to  be  reserved  for  the 
higher  classes,  when  the  students  are  no  longer  mere 
boys. 

In  the  classes  of  Grammar  then,  let  the  Master 
follow  this  method  of  explaining  Cicero,  or  any  other 
author.  First,  he  will  sketch,  in  the  briefest  way, 
the  meaning  of  the  author,  and  the  connection  between 
what  has  gone  before  and  what  is  now  to  be  explained. 
Then  he  will  give  a  version  of  the  period  literally, 
j)reserving  to  the  utmost  the  collocation  of  words,  as 
they  stand  in  the  author;  and  also  the  figures  em- 
ployed. As  to  the  collocation  or  arrangement  of  the 
words,  this  is  of  such  consequence  that  sometimes, 
if  a  single  word  is  put  out  of  its  place,  the  whole 
thought  seems  to  lose  its  force  and  fall  flat.  Herein, 
too,  is  perceived  that  rhythmic  flow  of  the  style,  which 
of  itself,  even  if  other  ornaments  are  wanting,  pleases 
the  ear  wonderfully  and  gratifies  the  mind.  Thirdly, 
the  whole  period  is  to  be  resolved  analytically  into 
its  structural  elements,  so  that  the  boys  understand 
distinctly  what  every  word  governs;  and  their  atten- 
tion should  be  directed  to  some  useful  points  of  good 
Latinity.  As  to  this  structural  analysis,  I  may  be 
allowed  the  passing  remark,  which  is  familiar  to  every 
judge  of  a  classical  education,  that  the  disciplinary 
value  of  literary  studies  reaches  here  its  highest 
degree  of  mental  exercise ;  and  that  the  two  classical 
tongues,  Latin  and  Greek,  are  altogether  eminent  as 
supplying  materials  for  this  exercise,   in  their  OAvn 


FORMATION   OF   THE   SCHOLAR.  239 

native  structure ;  which,  in  the  Latin,  is  an  architec- 
tural build,  characteristic  of  the  reasoning  Eoman 
mind;  and,  in  the  Greek,  is  a  subtle  delicacy  of  con- 
ception and  tracery,  reflecting  the  art,  the  grace  and 
versatility  of  Athens  and  the  Ionian  Isles. 

After  this,  each  word  is  to  be  examined,  as  to 
what  it  signifies,  and  to  what  uses  it  may  be  applied; 
the  boy  is  to  understand,  as  far  as  may  be,  the  original 
and  proper  idea  and  force  of  every  word,  not  merely 
its  general  significance,  as  in  a  shadowy  outline ;  he 
should  know,  too,  the  phrases  in  his  native  tongue, 
which  correspond  with  precision  and  propriety  to  the 
Latin.  The  metaphors  and  the  figurative  use  of 
words,  especially  as  found  in  Cicero,  are  to  be  ex- 
plained to  the  boys  in  an  extremely  plain  manner,^ 
and  by  examples  drawn  from  the  plainest  objects. 
Unless  this  use  of  words  is  understood,  the  true  and 
genuine  knowledge  of  the  tongue  is  seriously  ob- 
structed. Then,  picking  out  the  more  elegant  turns 
of  style,  the  Master  will  dictate  them  to  the  scholars, 
and  afterwards  require  the  use  and  imitation  of  these 
phrases  in  their  themes.  Lastly,  he  will  go  back 
and  translate  the  words  of  the  author  over  again,  as 
he  did  at  the  beginning ;  and,  if  need  be,  do  so  a  third 
and  a  fourth  time. 

As  to  writing,  during  aM  this,  let  him  forbid  them 
absolutely  to  take  down  a  single  letter,  except  Avhen 
told.  What  he  does  dictate  to  them,  he  is  to  finish 
within  the  time  of  the  prelection,  and  not  prolong 
this  time  for  the  sake  of  the  writing.  It  happens 
now  and  then  that,  with  much  labor,  waste  of  time, 
1  Maxime  rudi  Minerva. 


240  LOYOLA. 

and  to  no  good  purpose  whatever,  the  boys  take  down, 
and  preserve  with  diligence,  a  set  of  notes  which  have 
not  been  thought  out  very  judiciously  nor  been  ar- 
ranged very  carefully,  —  notes  simply  trivial,  com- 
mon, badly  patched  together,  sometimes  worse  than 
worthless ;  and  these  notes  they  commit  to  paper,  in 
wretched  handwriting,  full  of  mistakes  and  errors. 
Therefore,  let  the  dictation  be  only  of  a  few  points, 
and  those  extremely  select. 

The  Masters  are  to  be  on  their  guard,  lest  private 
tutors  at  the  boys'  homes  explain  new  lessons  to  them. 
These  tutors  have  merely  to  repeat  with  the  boys 
what  has  been  heard  in  class.  Otherwise,  the  fruit 
of  the  good  explanation  which  is  received  at  school  is 
lost  at  home. 

Eepetition  is  now  in  order.  Two  principles  govern 
this  exercise.  First,  "  what  has  often  been  repeated 
sinks  deeper  into  the  mind. "  ^  Secondly,  "  the  industry 
of  youths  flags  under  nothing  so  much  as  satiety."^ 
As  soon,  therefore,  as  the  prelection  is  over,  the  Pro- 
fessor is  to  require  at  once  an  account  of  all  that  he 
has  said,  and  he  is  to  see  that  the  whole  line  of  his 
explanation  is  followed  in  the  repetition.  As  if  this 
seemed  to  imply  that  only  the  best  scholars  were  to 
be  called  upon,  the  critics  go  on  to  note  that  not  all 
of  what  has  been  explained  should  be  repeated  by  one 
only,  but  that  as  many  as  possible  should  be  practised 
every  day.  The  Master  should  not  follow  the  order 
in  which  the  boys  are  seated,  but  take  them  here  and 

1  Rt.  St.,  Reg.  Prsef.  stud,  inf.,  n.  8,  §4;  Monumenta  Germanise 
Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  354. 

2  Ibid.,  Reg.  comm.  Prof.  cl.  inf.,  n.  24;  ibid.,  p.  388. 


FORMATION  OF  THE   SCHOLAR.  241 

there.  However,  the  first  to  be  called  on  are  those 
more  advanced;  then  the  duller,  or  perhaps  lazier 
ones ,  and  these  should  rather  be  asked  oftener,  to  be 
kept  up  to  the  mark.  ^ 

The  final  Ratio  notes  that  the  daily  lesson  should 
not  exceed  four  lines  in  the  lowest  class  of  Grammar; 
seven  in  Middle  Grammar.  There  is,  as  I  have 
already  observed,  a  prelection  proper  to  grammatical 
rules ;  also  to  Greek,  whether  it  be  in  the  grammar  or 
in  an  author.  Proportion  in  width  and  depth  of 
matter  is  adjusted  to  each  grade.  A  careful  dicta- 
tion in  the  vernacular  is  to  be  given,  which,  when 
rendered  into  Latin  or  Greek,  will  exemplify  the  pre- 
cepts explained,  or  the  use  of  the  phrases  already  dic- 
tated. And  one  part  of  the  school  exercises,  from  the 
lowest  class  up  to  Khetoric,  is  a  concertatio  between 
rivals,  which  is  a  lively  discussion  either  upon  mat- 
ters explained  in  the  prelections,  or  upon  one  another's 
compositions.  In  this  field  of  debate,  as  is  natural, 
the  activity  of  the  students  grows,  both  in  the  extent 
of  the  field  to  be  covered,  and  in  the  depth  of  erudi- 
tion required,  according  as  the  grades  are  mounted. 
And  it  is  carried  out  of  the  class-room  into  select 
societies,  called  ^'academies,"  the  members  whereof, 
whether  grammarians  or  litterateurs,  conduct  their 
debates,  give  their  own  prelections  or  repeat  a  choice 
one  of  their  Professor's,  award  a  place  in  the  archives 
to  some  specially  meritorious  production;  and  they 
conduct  all  these  exercises  in  exact  keeping  with 
their   actual  prelections  and  studies.      Xor  do  they 

1  Exercitationes  lat.  et  graec,  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica, 
vol.  V,  p.  167. 


242  LOYOLA. 

yield   an   inch   in   gravity   or  dignity  to   the   great 
academy  of  theologians  and  philosophers.^ 

As  to  the  native  tongue,  one  of  the  earliest  systems 
of  studies  in  the  Society,  prior  to  the  general  Ratio 
by  about  forty  years,  lays  down  for  the  middle  class 
of  Grammar,  that  "  on  Mondays  and  Wednesdays  the 
boys  will  receive  the  themes  in  Bohemian  and  Ger- 
man for  their  epistolary  exercises."'''  This  document 
is  probably  from  the  pen  of  Peter  Canisius,  soon 
after  the  colleges  were  founded  at  Prague,  Ingolstadt 
and  Cologne.  In  a  directive  memorial  of  1602,  drawn 
up  for  Mayence  by  Father  Ferdinand  Alber,  a  post- 
script is  added  to  the  effect,  "Let  exercise  in  the 
German  tongue  be  furthered. "  ^  Jouvancy  lays  down 
the  practice  in  this  manner:  "After  the  correction 
and  dictation  of  the  written  exercises,  the  Latin 
author  is  rendered  into  the  mother  tongue,  or  a  con- 
certatio  is  held.  These  two  exercises  can  be  held  on 
alternate  days,  if  there  is  not  enough  of  time  every 
day  for  both.  In  rendering  the  author  into  the  ver- 
nacular, you  will  observe  three  things :  first,  the  idiom 
of  the  vernacular,  and  its  agreement  in  construction 
with  the  Latin,  or  else  its  disagreement,  so  that  the 
scholars  learn  each  tongue  by  the  other;  secondly, 
the  proper  turns  and  elegance  of  the  Latin  style; 
finally,  the  thoughts  of  the  author,  as  having  a  moral 
bearing,   and    as  calculated  to  form  and  mould  the 

1  Rt.  St.,  Special  rules  of  the  respective  classes ;  Monumenta  Ger- 
mauia  Psedagogica,  vol.  v,  pp.  398-448:  Rules  of  the  Academies; 
ibid.,  pp.  460-480. 

2  Monumenta  Germanise  Psedagogica,  vol.  ii,  p.  106 ;  Schulregeln 
urn  1560-61. 

3  Monumenta  Germanise  Psedagogica,  vol.  ix,  p.  145. 


FORMATION  OF  THE   SCHOLAR.  243 

judgment  of  the  boys;  also  the  ways  of  men,  the 
punishments  of  the  wicked,  the  maxims  of  sages. 
Some  part  of  an  historical  author  should  be  given 
sometimes  for  their  Avritten  exercise,  to  translate  into 
the  mother  tongue ;  or  it  may  be  added,  as  an  appen- 
dix, to  a  shorter  theme.  Let  the  boys  hold  a  dis- 
cussion among  themselves  upon  the  merits  of  the 
translation;  they  can  write  in  that  narrative  style,  to 
win  the  best  places  in  class ;  as  also,  at  the  close  of 
the  year,  for  the  premiums.  However,  the  whole 
time  of  class  is  not  to  be  taken  up  by  such  transla- 
tions, as  happens  sometimes  with  negligent  Masters, 
who  shirk  the  labor  of  the  prelection,  and  of  the  cor- 
rection of  themes.  While  the  boys  dispute  among 
themselves  on  the  precepts  of  grammar,  poetry,  or 
eloquence,  one  stands  against  many,  or  several  against 
several.  The  subject,  time,  and  manner  of  the  concer- 
tatio  is  to  be  defined  beforehand;  umpires  and  judges 
are  to  be  appointed,  prizes  for  the  victors,  penalties 
for  the  vanquished.  The  others,  who  are  merely  lis- 
tening during  the  contest,  will  show  in  writing  what 
fruit  they  have  derived  from  it,  or  will  be  asked 
questions  thereupon. "  ^ 

In  the  following  article,^  the  same  writer  gives 
several  specimens  of  a  prelection  in  Cicero,  Yirgil, 
Phsedrus,  as  adapted  to  the  different  classes.  They 
are  only  passages.  The  whole  of  this  system  goes  by 
passages,  taken  consecutively,  until  a  whole  piece 
has  been  mastered  by  the  students.  For  it  is  in  the 
prior  perfection  of  detail  that  xoerfection  in  a  larger 

1  Jouvancy,  Ratio  Docendi ;  c.  De  interpretatione  vernacula,  etc. 

2  Modus  explicandse  prselectiouis. 


244  LOYOLA. 

compass  is  attained.  And  we  may  also  note  that  it 
is  only  in  the  original  productions  of  perfect  Masters 
in  style,  that  detail  can  ever  be  adequately  studied. 
The  understanding  and  enjoyment  of  an  entire  master- 
piece, taken  as  a  whole,  is  by  every  law  of  nature  and 
of  art  an  easy  resultant  of  understanding  the  parts. 
If  any  writers  on  pedagogy  have  thought  that  no  stu- 
dent could  "understand  and  take  pleasure"  in  an 
original  classic,  and  therefore  have  advocated  the 
reading  of  translations  as  a  means  of  receiving  the 
"literary  impressions,"  I  fear  that  we  need  only  point 
to  the  style  of  literary  writing  which  seems  to  have 
resulted  from  doing  things  in  this  second-hand  fashion 
—  if  indeed  it  is  even  second-hand.  For,  after  all, 
style  itself  never  appears  in  a  translation;  only  the 
thoughts  are  translated.  Thoughts  are  the  soul  of 
style;  its  expression  was  the  body;  each  fitted  the 
other  in  the  classic  original;  and,  in  an  eminent  mu- 
tual fitness,  an  eminent  style  was  being  studied.  The 
best  translation  of  a  classic  piece  has  never  done  more 
than  produce  a  bare  equivalent.  Wherefore,  if  with 
the  striking  original  no  thorough  work  has  been  done, 
it  is  more  than  probable  that,  in  the  results,  nothing 
original  and  striking  will  ever  be  done. 

This  system  of  prelection,  which  in  addition  to  the 
perfection  of  its  teclinique,  required  erudition  from 
every  branch  of  learning,^  made  of  the  Professor  any- 
thing but  a  technical  pedagogue.  Voltaire  noticed  it, 
speaking  of  his  own  Professor.  "  Nothing  will  efface 
from  my  heart,"  he  wrote  to  Pere  de  la  Tour,  Kec- 

1  Eruditio  ex  omni  doctrina,  Reg.  Prof.  Rhet.,  n.  1 ;  ex  omni  eru- 
(Htione,  ibid.,  n.  8. 


FORMATION   OF  THE    SCHOLAR.  246 

tor  of  the  College  Louis-le-Grand,  "the  memory  of 
Father  Poree,  who  is  equally  dear  to  all  that  studied 
under  him.  Never  did  man  make  study  and  virtue 
more  amiable.  The  hours  of  his  lessons  were  deli- 
cious hours  to  us.  And  I  should  have  wished  that  it 
was  the  custom  at  Paris,  as  it  used  to  be  at  Athens, 
that  one,  at  any  age,  could  listen  to  such  lectures.  I 
should  often  go  to  hear  them.  I  have  had  the  good 
fortune  to  be  formed  by  more  than  one  Jesuit  of  the 
character  of  Pere  Poree,  and  I  know  that  he  has  suc- 
cessors worthy  of  him."^ 

The  productions  of  such  Professors  replenished 
the  literature  of  the  classics,  as  we  may  see  in  the 
great  editions,  or  bibliothecce  dassicoe,  published  during 
the  present  century.  Father  De  la  Cerda  of  Toledo, 
in  his  three  folio  volumes  on  Virgil,  in  1617,  gave 
to  literature  an  encyclopaedia  of  political  and  moral 
observations,  including  geography,  history,  and  the 
natural  sciences.-  His  technical  work  was  not  in- 
ferior; for  his  "Grammatical  Institutions  "  became  in 
1613,  by  an  exclusive  privilege,  the  standard  of  all 
the  public  schools  in  Spain.  Father  Nicholas  Abram, 
whose  "  Epitome  of  Greek  Precepts  in  Latin  Verse  ' ' 
went  through  fifty  editions  in  twenty -two  years,  pub- 
lished in  1632,  while  Professor  at  the  College  of  Pont- 
a-Mousson,  two  volumes  octavo  on  Virgil,  which  were 
then  republished  constantly  at  Kouen,  Paris,  Tou- 
louse, Poitiers,  Lyons,   etc.^     Undertaking  the  same 

1  Lettre  7  fevrier,  1746;  (Euvres,  t.  viii,  p.  1127;  edit.  1817. 

2  De  Backer,  Bibliotheque  des  Ecrivains  de  la  Compagnie,  sub 
voce,  Cerda. 

3  Sommervogel,  Bibliotheque  de  la  Compagnie,  sub  voce,  Abram. 


246  LOYOLA. 

labor,  in  behalf  of  Cicero,  lie  issued  two  volumes  folio, 
"  by  which  John  George  Grsevius  profited  in  his  edition 
of  Cicero,  Amsterdam,  1699;  as  well  as  the  editor  of 
Cambridge,  whose  work  appeared  in  1699,  1710,  and 
1717."  1  Father  De  la  Kue's  (Carolus  Euseus)  Del- 
phin  Virgil  is  a  familiar  work  in  France,  Holland, 
England;  so,  too,  De  Meronville's  Delphin  edition  of 
Cicero,  which  was  often  reproduced  at  Cambridge, 
London,  Dublin,  etc.  The  same  we  see  with  regard 
to  Sanadon  on  Horace,  Brumoy's  great  work  on  the 
Greek  Drama,  Eene  Rapin's  various  critical  and 
poetical  works ;  and  so  of  the  rest.  Of  Pere  Eapin's 
thirty -live  works,  there  are  few  which  were  not  trans- 
lated into  various  European  languages;  and  Oxford, 
London,  Cambridge,  have  been  among  the  most  active 
centres  of  republication,  or  translation  into  English. ^ 

4.  This  chapter,  Avhich  has  extended  beyond  the 
usual  limits,  cannot  close  better  than  with  a  word  on 
books,  a  matter  intimately  connected  with  its  subject. 
The  Fathers  of  1586  set  down  some  principles  with 
regard  to  the  proper  supply  and  use  of  books,  as  well 
as  the  expurgation  of  the  classical  standard  works ;  ^ 
and  accordingly  the  Ratio  of  1599  ordains  that  'Hhe 
students  are  neither  to  be  without  useful  books,  nor 
to  abound  in  useless  ones."^  A  multitude  is  consid- 
ered useless,  because  "  it  oppresses  the  mind,  and  in- 
terferes with  the  convenient  preparation  of  the  lesson. 
Of  books  by  more  recent  authors  few  are  to  be  allowed, 

1  Sommervogel,  ibid.  2  De  Backer,  suh  voce,  Rapin. 

3  Rt.  St.  1586,  c.  8,  De  Libris ;  Monumenta  Germaniae  Psedagogica, 
vol.  V,  p.  178. 

4  Reg.  Prsef.  Stud.,  n.  29;  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  p. 
284. 


FORMATION   OF  THE   SCHOLAR.  247 

and  those  very  carefully  selected."  Yet,  "a  variety 
of  authors  gives  a  richer  vein  to  the  boys,  and  makes 
imitation  easier."  ^  Here  the  Fathers  proceed  to  give 
directions  for  the  composition  of  an  entirely  new  kind 
of  work,  which  would  be  of  great  use  in  the  colleges. 
It  is  exactly  the  species  so  well  known  in  our  days 
under  the  various  titles  of  ^'Precepts  of  Ehetoric/' 
"Art  of  Composition/'  etc.  As  the  development  of 
pedagogical  literature,  which  we  took  note  of  in  a  for- 
mer chapter/  had  already  made  some  progress,  the 
critics  say :  "  Some  one  most  versed  in  all  these  mat- 
ters should  be  deputed  to  gather  whatever  is  best  in 
this  line,  and  to  compile  in  one  treatise,  written  in 
an  elegant  style,  all  that  he  has  selected,  about  the 
art  of  writing  epigrams,  elegies,  odes,  eclogues,  sylvm 
(that  is,  materials,  "objects"),  comedies,  tragedies, 
epopoeise,  a  brief  method  of  chronology;  explaining 
also  what  is  the  historical  (or  narrative)  style,  the 
poetic,  the  epistolary,  the  different  kinds  of  speaking, 
and  other  such  matters,  all  to  be  illustrated  by  ex- 
amples." ^  Elsewhere  they  call  for  a  similar  work  of 
a  higher  order,  on  the  Art  of  Oratory.  The  sources 
which  they  designate  for  such  a  compilation  are  "  the 
numerous  publications  of  our  Professors  of  Ehetoric, 
as  well  on  the  art  itself,  as  on  classical  orations."^ 
These  compendia,  or  text-books,  were  a  new  idea  in 
education. 

1  Ibid.,  p.  179.  2  Ch.  xi,  above,  p.  164  seq. 

3  Monuraenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  180. 

4  Rt.  St.  1586,  Class.  Rliet.,  pp.  197-8, 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

THE  CLASSICAL  LITERATURES.     SCHOOL  MANAGEMENT 
AND  CONTROL. 

The  subject  of  Literary  Exercises  and  School  Man- 
agement is  treated  in  sncli  a  manner  by  the  critics  of 
1586,  that  justice  could  be  done  to  it,  only  by  tran- 
scribing, word  for  word,  the  several  chapters  of  the 
preliminary  Ratio.  As  that  is  impossible,  within  the 
limits  of  space  remaining,  I  shall  endeavor  to  trace 
the  outline. 

1.  There  is  one  fundamental  point,  however,  which 
should  be  touched  on,  to  meet  a  latent  query  in  the 
mind.  It  refers  to  the  kind  of  education  projected 
throughout.  It  is  evidently  not  a  special  training 
which  is  contemplated;  not  the  training  of  specialists, 
or  technical  students.  All  through  the  system,  the 
field  of  pedagogical  activity  is  that  of  a  general 
culture;  and,  therefore,  properly  an  education.  The 
result  aimed  at  is  a  general  one,  that  of  develop- 
ing in  the  young  mind  all  fundamental  qualities;  of 
adjusting  it,  by  the  early  development  of  all  natural 
fitnesses,  to  any  special  work  of  thought  and  labor  in 
the  mature  life  of  the  future.  It  would  lay  a  solid 
substructure,  in  the  whole  mind  and  character,  for 
any  superstructure  of  science,  professional  and  special ; 
also  for  tlie  entire  building  up  of  moral  life,  civil  and 
248 


THE   CLASSICAL  LITERATURES.  249 

religious.  That  such  a  general  culture  should  go 
before  the  special  seems  to  be  obvious.  To  supplant 
it  by  the  special,  or  even  to  abridge  the  process,  is 
not  only  to  sacrifice  the  general  culture ;  it  has  a  more 
serious  effect  than  that.  By  a  false  economy,  it 
cramps,  curtails,  and  reduces  to  the  smallest  propor- 
tions whatever  possibilities  existed  of  general  and 
special  qualifications  in  the  youthful  mind.  AVithout 
a  broad,  radical  formation  below,  the  amplitude  of 
organic  growth  above  must  necessarily  fall  short;  the 
roots  underneath  not  having  shot  out,  the  develop- 
ment above  is  wanting  in  vigor,  to  ramify  according 
to  its  environment,  and  use  its  opportunities.  In  a 
boy's  mind,  there  is  needed  a  suppleness  of  general 
powers,  as  only  the  young  mind  can  be  made  supple, 
while  at  the  same  time  it  is  preeminently  apt  to  be 
general.  It  is  what  Seneca  calls  curiosum  ingenium, 
*'  an  inquisitive  genius, ' '  open  to  everything,  and  pry- 
ing to  open  everything.  Memory  is  then  at  its  flour- 
ishing stage,  ready  to  be  cultivated  throughout  the 
extent  of  a  potential  vastness,  which  will  never  again 
be  experienced  in  life.  If  cultivated  richly  in  its 
season,  it  will  be  capable  afterwards  of  every  kind  of 
ready  yield,  according  to  its  acquired  tenacity,  and 
according  to  the  richness  of  the  seed  deposited  in  it. 
The  imagination,  too,  is  at  the  stage  of  impression- 
able and  vital  expansion,  and  is  keenly  sensitive  to 
the  lights  and  shades  of  objective  life.  These  are 
either  brought  under  its  observation,  or,  better  still, 
are  pictured  for  it  in  beautiful  literature;  since  the 
fine  fancy  of  great  minds  paints  nature,  as  nature 
herself  is  not  found  dressed  at  every  one's  door.     The 


250  LOYOLA. 

opening  judgment  also  is  receptive  of  the  thouglits 
and  wisdom,  which  other  minds  have  thought  out  and 
handed  down,  encasing  it,  as  they  did  so,  in  a  style 
worthy  of  their  own  vigor,  and  presenting  it  as  the 
heritage  of  the  past  to  the  present,  of  the  wise  old 
age  of  the  world  to  its  youth,  which  may  be  wiser 
still.  And  thus  in  each  individual  youth,  the  judg- 
ment being  tenderly  nursed,  and  learning  ripening 
with  age,  what  was  before  in  the  memory  passes 
gradually  into  the  whole  character  and  competency  of 
the  man. 

In  the  system  which  we  are  considering,  the  in- 
strument employed  for  working  these  effects  is  a  lit- 
erature in  the  hands  of  a  competent  teacher;  it  is 
a  great  literature,  and  a  double  one.  The  great  lit- 
eratures of  Eome  and  Greece  have  always  been  con- 
sidered adequate  instruments  of  universal  culture. 
Under  a  literary  aspect,  the  eloquence  and  poetry  of 
Greece  had  been  the  mistress  of  Roman  excellence. 
Under  a  philological  aspect,  the  Latin  tongue  has 
been  the  principal  basis  of  our  modern  languages,  as 
formed  in  the  history  of  Christendom.  In  both  of 
them,  the  varied  elements  of  richest  thought  are 
brought  into  contact  with  the  undeveloped,  but  devel- 
oping nature  of  the  youth ;  glimpses  of  human  life,  in- 
dividual, social,  and  political,  favor  his  inquiring  eyes, 
and  lead  him  to  teel  the  finest  springs  of  human  senti- 
ment. Better  still,  he  feels  these  springs  as  touched 
by  the  greatest  masters  of  expression;  and  he  con- 
ceives thought  as  rendered  in  a  style  worthy  of  the 
greatest  thinkers;  and  that,  in  languages,  one  of 
them  the  most  delicately  organized,  the  other  perhaps 


THE   CLASSICAL  LITERATURES.  251 

the  most  systematically  elaborated,  of  all  tongues 
living  or  extinct.  And,  besides,  these  two  literatures 
come  down  to  us,  bearing  in  their  own  right  what  no 
other  tongues  can  convey.  Xot  as  translations,  which, 
in  their  best  form,  exhibit  only  a  respectable  degree 
of  mendicancy,  and  represent  other  men's  living 
thoughts  in  a  decent  misfit,  these  two  literatures 
come  down  to  us  bearing  in  their  own  right  all  the 
historic  memories  of  antiquity,  as  w^ell  sacred  as  pro- 
fane; all  the  masterpieces  of  eloquence  and  poetry, 
belonging  to  no  less  than  two  out  of  the  very  few 
great  epochs,  those  of  Pericles  and  Augustus;  all 
human  philosophy,  from  Socrates,  Plato,  and  Aris- 
totle, down  to  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  and,  further 
dowm,  to  Leibnitz  and  Newton,  both  of  them  men  of 
classical  letters ;  in  fine,  all  the  traditions,  the  Faith, 
and  Divinity  of  Christendom. 

To  these  considerations  we  may  add  one  more 
characteristic  of  the  classical  literatures,  as  instru- 
ments in  the  class-room,  and  we  shall  have  seen 
enough  on  our  present  topic,  to  understand  the  theory 
which  underlies  the  Ratio  Studiorum.  These  tongues 
are  dead.  They  are  not  the  language  of  common  life. 
They  are  not  picked  up  by  instinct,  and  without 
reflection.  Everything  has  to  be  learned  by  system, 
rule,  and  formula.  The  relations  of  grammar  and 
logic  must  be  attended  to  with  deliberation.  Thought 
and  judgment  are  constantly  exercised  in  assigning 
the  exact  equivalents  of  the  mother  tongue  for  every 
phrase  of  the  original.  The  coincidence  of  construc- 
tion is  too  little,  the  community  of  idiomatic  thought 
too  remote,  for  the  boy's  mind  to  catch  at  the  idea, 


252  LOYOLA. 

by  force  of  that  preestablislied  harmony  which  exists 
among  most  modern  tongues.  Only  the  law  of  thought 
and  logic  guides  him,  with  the  assistance  of  a  teacher 
to  lead  the  way,  and  reassure  his  struggling  concep- 
tion. 

And  when,  in  the  last  instance,  the  boy  comes  to 
write  and  to  speak  the  language  so  learned,  and  quick- 
ens it,  though  dead,  with  the  very  life  of  actual 
speech  which  makes  modern  languages  live,  we  have 
the  supreme  test  and  proof  of  successful  toil,  that 
which  consists  in  the  power  to  reproduce.  We  have 
also  the  very  specific  advantage,  in  this  case,  that  the 
toil  has  been  of  the  most  valuable  kind;  it  has  been 
personal  labor,  spent  in  the  freshness  of  life  on  com- 
plete self-culture.  For  that  great  law  of  all  success 
in  life,  personal  labor,  has  been  honored  in  the  most 
remunerative  way,  by  cultivating  memory,  exercising 
judgment,  and  acquiring  in  the  same  thoughtful,  re- 
flective manner  two  languages  together,  Latin  and 
the  mother  tongue,  Greek  and  the  mother  tongue, 
each  systematically  helping  the  others  by  analogy 
and  contrast.  And,  withal,  what  is  more  congenial  to 
the  young  than  letters,  language,  talk? 

As  to  the  working  of  this  Jesuit  system,  it  is  very 
much  of  a  commonplace,  in  pedagogic  history,  that 
"  a  handsome  style  "  was  aimed  at,  and  a  handsome 
style  was  the  outcome.  The  Scottish  Professor, 
whom  I  quoted  on  a  former  occasion,  states  very  ex- 
actly the  value  of  this  result.  Speaking  of  the  Struc- 
ture of  Sentences,  he  says:  "Logic  and  Rhetoric 
have  here,  as  in  many  cases,  a  strict  connection;  and 
he  that  is  learning  to  arrange  his  sentences  with  order, 


THE   CLASSICAL  LITERATURES.  253 

is  learning  to  think  witli  accuracy  and  order;  an  ob- 
servation wliicli  alone  would  justify  all  the  care  and 
attention  we  have  bestowed  on  this  subject."^  And, 
in  another  connection,  he  quotes,  with  the  approval 
which  it  merits,  the  Eoman  rhetorician's  saying: 
Curam  verborum,  rerum  volo  esse  sollicitiidinem,  "I 
would  have  a  sufficient  care  be  given  to  the  diction, 
but  the  thoughts  must  be  the  object  of  scrupulous  at- 
tention. "  2  This  latter  principle,  of  diction  first  and 
matter  afterwards,  as  translated  into  a  process  of 
educational  development,  assigns,  in  the  Ratio,  five 
grades,  or  seven  years,  more  or  less,  to  be  spent  on  the 
acquirement  of  style,  chiefly  as  to  its  body,  or,  if  you 
like,  its  form;  then  two  great  courses  of  Science, 
natural  and  revealed,  or  Philosophy  and  Theology, 
for  the  acquirement  of  the  same  style,  chiefly  as  to 
its  soul,  or,  if  you  wish  so  to  call  it,  the  substratum 
of  matter.  Prom  both  together  issues  the  thoroughly 
cultured  man;  as  the  well-known  phrase  has  it:  Le 
style  c^est  Vliomme,  "A  style  is  the  man  himself." 
And,  if  we  have  just  had  occasion  to  take  notice  that 
two  of  the  great  literary  epochs  of  the  world's  history, 
those  of  Pericles  and  Augustus,  are  made  present  to 
us  by  the  classical  literatures,  it  is  a  subject  of  his- 
torical verification  that  a  third  great  literary  epoch, 
the  age  of  Louis  XIV,  was  created  under  the  in- 
fluence of  this  system. 

The  manner  in  which  the  critics  of  1586  discuss  the 
question  of  Greek  shows  the  practical  eye  they  kept 

1  Blair's  Lectures  on  Rhetoric  and  Belles-Lettres ;  lecture  XII,  at 
the  end. 

-  Ibid.,  lecture  XIX,  On  Forming  Style,  at  the  end. 


254  LOYOLA. 

on  the  requirements  of  actual  life,  and  the  conditions 
of  concrete  surroundings.^  Their  conclusions  are  em- 
bodied in  a  rule  of  the  Director  or  Prefect  of  Studies : 
"  He  should  not  grant  an  immunity,  particularly  for 
any  length  of  time,  from  either  versification  or  Greek, 
except  for  a  grave  reason."  ^ 

Upon  this  theme  there  is  a  facetious  touch  in  the  re- 
port of  the  Upper  German  Province,  which  was  sent 
to  Father  Aquaviva  some  three  years  after  the  final 
Ratio  was  published.  The  de]3uties  say :  "  Some  ask 
for  an  exemption  from  Greek  and  versification,  in 
behalf  of  the  older  monks  and  nobles.  But  as  the 
rule  itself  insinuates  that  an  exception  can  be  made, 
for  a  sufficiently  grave  cause,  there  is  no  need  of  a 
change.  If  we  are  facile  in  the  matter,  whether  with 
monks  or  nobles,  we  shall  end  by  eliminating  Greek 
altogether.  But,  if  one  is  seen  to  be  altogether  inept 
and  incapable,  the  impossibility  of  the  thing  exempts 
him;  for,  if  God  himself  does  not  enjoin  impos- 
sibilities, why,  neither  should  Ave  impose  Greek  on 
such  disciples."  Father  Aquaviva  rex)lies,  "That  is 
correct."^ 

2.  Under  the  head  of  Exercises,  the  preliminary 
Batio  treats  elaborately  and  minutely  the  literary  di- 
rection of  a  class.  The  subjects  are  orthography,  and 
all  that  pertains  to  it;  the  prelection,  as  explained 
before;  the  repetitions,  daily  themes,  and  the  method 
of  daily  correction ;  the  recitation  of  lessons  by  heart ; 

1  Rt.  St.  1586 ;  Monumenta  Germaniae  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  pp.  160-4. 

2  Reg.  Praef .  stud,  inf.,  n.  31 ;  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica, 
vol.  V,  p.  364. 

3  Monumenta  Germaniae  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  491. 


I  THE   CLASSICAL   LITERATURES.  255 

parsing;  and  the  speaking  of  Latin.  Jouvancy  gives 
the  order  of  the  daily  class  exercises.  And  he  makes 
this  reflection :  Few  things  are  to  be  taught  in  each 
class,  but  accurately,  so  that  they  remain  in  the 
minds  of  the  boys;  the  teacher  is  to  remember  that 
these  young  intellects  are  like  vases  with  a  narrow 
oriiice,  which  waste  the  liquid,  if  it  is  poured  in  co- 
piously, but  take  it  all,  if  it  conies  in  by  drops. ^ 

There  are,  besides,  a  number  of  aids  to  School 
Management.  These  are  the  division  of  the  class 
into  parties  of  ten  apiece,  or  decurice;  the  exposition, 
once  or  twice  a  month,  of  some  passage  by  a  student, 
in  the  presence  of  invited  friends;  contests  betvvxen 
rivals  or  parties;  the  delivery  of  an  original  piece  or 
else  an  oratorical  contest,  every  week;  the  exhibition 
or  delivery  of  original  poems ;  the  annual  distribution 
of  premiums;  the  use  of  the  stage,  when  'Hhe  boys 
can  produce  some  specimen  of  their  studies,  their 
delivery  and  powers  of  memory."  The  composition 
of  the  tragedy  and  minor  drama  devolves,  as  we  saw 
before,  upon  the  Professors  of  Ehetoric  and  Poetry. 

A  general  condition  in  the  management  of  a  class 
is  absolute  silence  and  attention.  Besides,  it  belongs 
to  the  college  programme  to  insure  application,  not 
only  in  school  to  class  exercises,  but  out  of  school 
to  private  study,  especially  when  holidays  intervene. 
The  usual  weekly  relaxations  scarcely  rise  to  the  rank 
of  "holidays."  For  the  amount  of  time  to  be  assigned 
in  private  study  to  composition  and  other  work  is 
part  of  the  daily  order,  whether  the  students  be 
alumni,  day-scholars,  or  convictores,  boarders.  All 
1  Ratio  Doceudi,  c.  ii,  De  discipulorum  eruditione,  art.  3. 


256  LOYOLA. 

must  have  enough  to  occupy  them,  "  that  the  boys  be 
deterred  from  roaming  about  to  their  hurt."  The 
same  applies  to  the  ordinary  intervals  between  school 
hours,  "  particularly, "  say  the  Fathers,  "  on  the  days 
in  summer,  when  there  is  much  time  in  the  early 
afternoon,  before  classes  are  resumed;  and  we  hear 
the  court-yard  resounding  Avith  cries  and  noisy  pas- 
times, hour  after  hour. "  ^ 

Boys  were  the  same  genus  then  as  now.  It  took 
all  the  efficacy  of  a  benign  firmness  to  control  that 
element  which  tries  the  experience  of  every  age. 
The  German  Fathers  draw  a  graphic  picture  of  these 
sixteenth  century  boys.  They  are  commenting  on 
the  rule  which  requires  the  Prefect  of  Studies  at  the 
end  of  school  to  be  on  the  ground  and  supervise. 
They  write  thus  to  Father  Aquaviva :  "  Many  object 
to  this;  but  it  seems  reasonable.  For,  if  somebody 
is  not  on  hand,  some  one  whom  the  scholars  revere, 
then  like  a  herd,^  all  in  a  heap,  they  will  fill  the 
whole  place  with  their  yells  and  uproar,  their  tus- 
sling, laughter,  and  jostling.  Now,  it  is  necessary  to 
require  the  observance  of  decorum  on  the  part  of 
our  scholars;  since,  if  we  leave  room  anywhere  for 
unmannerliness,  it  will  get  at  once  into  the  school- 
rooms and  ruin  everything. "  ^  In  this  sense,  a  certain 
small  number  of  rules  in  the  Ratio,  only  fifteen  in 
number,  and  very  short,  are  directly  presented  to 
the  students  for  their  observance.  "None  of  our 
students  shall  come  to  college  with  arms,   poniards, 

1  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  v,  Exercit.  lat.  et  grsec, 
n.  8,  p.  170.  2  Sicut  porcelli  inter  se  commixti. 

3  Monumenta  Germanise  Psedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  493. 


THE   CLASSICAL  LITERATURES.  257 

knives,  or  anything  else  that  is  prohibited,  according 
to  the  circumstances  of  time  or  place."  Swords  and 
daggers  were  part  of  a  gentleman's  personal  equip- 
ment in  those  times.  "They  must  abstain  entirely 
from  swearing,  injurious  language  or  actions,  detrac- 
tion, lies,  forbidden  games,  from  places,  too,  that  are 
dangerous,  or  are  forbidden  by  the  Prefect  of  Schools ; 
in  line,  from  everything  which  is  adverse  to  purity  of 
morals."  Other  rules  follow,  equally  radical  for 
those  times,  and  reconstructive  of  education  for  the 
future.^ 

For,  in  these  days  of  ours,  we  are  not  accustomed 
to  see  students  walk  in  and  out  of  a  lecture  room  as 
they  choose.  And  many  other  inconveniences  of  the 
sixteenth  century  are  not  usual  with  us.  But  the 
reason  is,  that  we  come  three  hundred  years  later 
than  those  times,  and  are  enjoying  the  fruits  of  other 
people's  labors. 

An  ascendency  of  personal  tact  and  address,  con- 
spicuous in  the  Jesuit  teachers,  is  usually  commented 
upon  and  referred  to  some  cause  or  other,  in  them- 
selves or  in  the  general  organization  of  the  Society. 
Omitting  that,  I  prefer  to  designate  one  secret  of  con- 
trol, which  is  full  of  significance,  though  not  so 
likely  to  arrest  attention.  It  is  an  insensible  method 
of  organization,  making  its  way  among  the  youths 
themselves,  and  subserving  the  purpose  of  general 
collegiate  control.  There  were,  in  all,  four  classes  of 
auditors,  mingled  together,  and  intermingling  their 
influences.      That  of  the  strongest  of  course  prepon- 

1  Reg.  Externorum  Auditorum  Soc. ;  Monumenta  Germanise  Paeda- 
gogica,  vol.  V,  p.  458. 


258  LOYOLA. 

derated.  Tliere  were  Jesuits  themselves  in  the  higher 
courses.  There  were  boarders,  convictores,  who  re- 
mained for  ten,  or  rather  eleven  months  of  the  year, 
entirely  under  the  control  and  direction  of  the  Fathers. 
Among  these  were  whole  houses  of  Eeligious  or  Eccle- 
siastics. Besides,  there  were  alumni,  day  scholars, 
that  great  body  of  students  originally  contemplated 
in  the  Constitution  of  Ignatius.  These,  however, 
owing  to  their  divided  life,  partly  at  school,  partly 
at  home,  were  not  found  to  represent,  as  a  rule,  the 
fullest  effects  of  the  education.  Finally,  there  were 
externi,  external  students,  such  as  not  being  entered 
on  the  books,  still  attended  lectures;  and  to  this 
category  we  must  refer  such  general  gatherings  as 
those  several  thousand  hearers,  who  were  in  attend- 
ance for  hours,  before  the  time,  at  Father  Maldonado's 
lectures  in  Paris,  and  made  him  go  out  into  the  open 
air  to  satisfy  all.  Now,  besides  the  bond  of  affection 
which  attached  scholars  to  the  Professors,  there  was 
another  bond,  that  of  their  character  as  Sodalists. 
This  character  denoted  membership  in  the  Sodality 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  a  religious  association 
which  is  most  highly  c@mmended  in  the  Batio  Stu- 
diorum,  and  which  gathered  into  itself  all  that  was 
excellent  in  the  body  of  students.  The  literary  and 
scientific  ^^ academies"  were  recruited  only  from  the 
Sodality.  Thus,  by  a  double  process,  an  aristocracy 
of  virtue  and  talent  was  created  among  the  students 
themselves,  tending  not  only  to  the  maintenance  of 
order,  but  to  the  active  development  of  all  those  quali- 
ties which  an  educational  system  most  desires. 


CHAPTEK   XVII. 

EXAMINATIONS  AND  GRADUATION.      SCHEDULE 
OF  GRADES   AND  COURSES. 

1.  All  examinations,  as  projected  by  the  Ratio 
Studiorum,  are  conducted  by  word  of  moutli.  "Writ- 
ing enters  the  examinations,  only  when  the  written 
word  itself  is  the  subject  of  investigation.  Thus,  in 
the  grades  of  the  literary  course,  the  composition  of 
the  student,  from  its  elementary  qualities  of  spelling, 
punctuation,  grammar,  up  to  the  most  varied  forms 
and  species  of  style,  comes  under  examination  for 
advancing  to  the  next  grade.  But  even  then,  after 
each  of  the  three  examiners  has  inspected  carefully 
the  written  composition,  and  consulted  the  Master's 
reports  of  the  individual's  progress  during  the  year, 
they  call  in  the  writer,  submit  his  paper  to  him,  and 
subject  him  to  an  oral  investigation  upon  it.  After 
that,  they  proceed  to  the  other  branches,  all  by  word 
of  mouth. 

In  the  higher  courses,  where  style  is  no  longer  a 
matter  of  study,  writing  never  appears  in  examina- 
tions. Written  dissertations,  special  lectures,  literary 
pieces  of  all  kinds,  composed  for  certain  occasions,  are 
merely  a  part  thenceforth  of  the  exercises  incident  to 
those  courses. 

To  speak  here  only  of  Grammar  and  the  Humani- 

259 


260  LOYOLA. 

ties,  eacli  new-comer,  on  presentation  of  the  creden- 
tials required,  is  examined  by  the  Director  or  Prefect 
of  Studies,  who  "places  him  in  the  class,  and  with 
the  Professor,  adapted  to  the  boy's  qualifications;  in 
such  a  manner,  however,  that  the  young  person  be 
rather  worthy  of  the  class  above,  than  unworthy  of 
the  class  in  which  he  is  placed. "  ^  It  is  the  remark 
of  the  earlier  critics,  that  "  severity  must  be  practised 
in  examinations,  since  it  is  more  injurious  for  boys  to 
ascend  a  grade,  when  not  ht,  than,  if  really  lit,  to  be 
kept  where  they  are ;  and,  in  addition  to  that,  if  they 
are  advanced  when  not  qualified,  they  create  no  slight 
disturbance  in  the  upper  class."  ^ 

Into  the  lowest  grade,  neither  youths  advanced  in 
age,  nor  boys  of  very  tender  years,  are  to  be  admitted. 
The  plea  that  parents  merely  want  the  children  to  be 
in  good  hands  is  not  a  sufficient  reason  for  taking 
them;  the  only  exception  is  for  young  boys  who  are 
really  far  advanced  for  their  years. 

These  conditions  of  age,  and  sufficient  preparation 
for  entering  the  classical  course,  illustrate  very  dis- 
tinctly several  features  of  the  policy  which  the 
Society  pursued.  Father  Joseph  Calasanzio,  a  priest 
of  great  zeal,  petitioned  the  Kector  of  the  Eoman 
College,  which  was  flourishing  with  more  than  two 
thousand  students,  to  open  some  schools  for  the  un- 
provided children  of  Eome.  There  is  a  Latin  word 
coined  from   the  first   four   letters  of  the  alphabet, 

1  Rt.  St.,  Reg.  Praef.  stud,  inf.,  11 ;  Monumenta  Germanise  Paeda- 
gogica,  vol.  V,  p.  358. 

2  Rt.  St.  1586,  Ratio  promovendi,  etc.;  Monumenta  Germanifie 
Psedagogica,  vol.  v,  p.  177. 


EXAMINATIONS  AND   GRADUATION.  261 

for  designating  this  elementary  class  of  scholars, 
who  are  not  yet  qualified  for  literature.  The  word  is 
abecedarii.  The  term  is  employed  both  in  the  Con- 
stitution of  Loyola  and  in  the  Ratio.  The  Eector 
declined.  Father  Joseph  applied  to  the  General 
Claudius  Aquaviva.  He  too  declined;  he  referred  to 
the  Constitution  of  the  Society,  which  had  been  dis- 
tinctly and  in  all  its  parts  approved  by  the  Popes. 
Unable  to  have  his  idea  carried  out  by  the  Jesuits, 
Father  Joseph  opened  his  first  "Pious  School"  in 
Kome,  which  was  soon  frequented  by  1200  little  boys, 
abecedarii.  After  the  founder's  death  in  1648,  his 
work  spread  into  the  vast  system  of  Scuole  Fie.  In 
our  times,  the  revised  Eatio  of  1832  recognizes  the 
element  of  Preparatory  Departments.  It  merely 
requires  that  they  be  entirely  under  the  same  juris- 
diction as  the  College  proper.^ 

Another  feature  of  the  policy  which  these  condi- 
tions illustrate  and  which  they  also  further,  is  that  of 
their  tending  to  discriminate  between  the  right  kind 
of  scholars  and  others,  whose  circumstances  will  de- 
bar them  from  ever  reaching  the  ultimate  end  of 
higher  culture.  ^Miere  circumstances  are  not  propi- 
tious, neither  is  the  culture  altogether  desirable.  For 
what  is  more  injurious  to  society  at  large  than  to  have 
young  people  hurt  in  two  ways,  positively  and  nega- 
tively; positively,  by  placing  them  in  a  false  environ- 
ment of  culture,  which  cannot  be  theirs  in  future  life ; 
negatively,  by  taking  up  with  such  culture  all  the 
time  and  labor  which  might  usefully  be  spent  in  re- 
ceiving a  plainer  education,  and  reach  its  term  in  any 
1  Reg.  Prsef.  stud,  inf.,  n.  8,  §  12. 


262  LOYOLA. 

commonest  walk  of  life?  Besides,  the  liberal  educa- 
tion -itself  suffers  prejudice ;  for  it  is  misinterpreted ; 
since  it  comes  to  be  estimated  then  by  results  and  by 
circumstances  which  do  not  appertain  to  it.  Every 
system  should  be  set  on  its  own  basis,  and  be  built 
up  subject  to  its  own  conditions.  The  absoluteness 
of  Loyola's  Constitution  throughout,  and  of  the  Ratio 
Studiorum  in  particular,  throws  this  policy  into  relief 
at  every  turn. 

After  the  boy's  admission  into  a  class,  he  advances 
thenceforward,  either  with  the  whole  class,  at  the 
general  and  solemn  promotion  every  year,  or,  if  he 
excels,  as  the  reports  and  the  Master  will  determine, 
he  is  not  to  be  detained  in  that  grade,  but  may  ascend, 
at  any  time  of  the  year,  after  a  fitting  examination. 
A  number  of  conditions,  hard  to  realize,  make  this 
special  promotion  barely  possible  from  the  grade  of 
First  Grammar  to  Humanity,  or  from  Humanity  to 
Ehetoric.^  On  the  other  hand,  "if  any  one  is  found 
to  be  utterly  incapable  of  entering  the  next  grade,  no 
account  is  to  be  taken  of  any  petitions." 

2.  In  the  philosophical  and  theological  courses, 
both  of  which  terminate  in  the  conferring  of  degrees, 
the  system  of  examinations  for  all  students,  who  are 
not  members  of  the  Society,  refers  only  to  those, 
degrees,  at  the  time  when  application  is  made  for 
them.  For  the  philosophical  degree,  the  first  prelim- 
inary is  an  hour's  disputation  with  three  examiners, 
on  the  matter  of  the  whole  course,  and  that  in  pres- 
ence of  the  other  students.     The  result  being  satis- 

1  Rt.  St.,  Reg.  Praef .  stud,  inf.,  n.  13 ;  Monumenta  Germanise  Pseda- 
gogica,  vol.  V,  p.  360. 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   GRADUATION.  263 

factory,  permission  will  then  be  granted  to  prepare 
for  a  public  defence  of  all  Philosophy.  This  is  the 
method  for  the  solemn  form  of  graduation,  which,  in 
the  old  style,  confers  upon  the  successful  student, 
after  three  years  of  Natural  Sciences,  or  Philosophy, 
the  title  of  Master  of  Arts. 

At  this  point  start  the  three  professional  lines  of 
Medicine,  Jurisprudence,  Theology.  The  last-named 
faculty  ends  in  much  the  same  manner  as  that  of 
Philosophy,  but  with  a  much  greater  amplitude  of 
public  acts  or  defence,  and  then  finally  with  a  defence 
of  all  Philosophy  and  Theology  together.  This  en- 
titles the  defendant  to  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divin- 
ity, which  is  conferred  in  the  most   solemn  manner. 

There  is  a  pedagogical  history  connected  Avith  the 
present  subject,  which  it  may  be  well  to  sketch  in  two 
stages,  first,  that  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
secondly,  that  of  the  nineteenth. 

Ignatius  of  Loyola  had  legislated  in  his  Constitu- 
tion to  this  effect:  "In  the  study  of  Arts,  courses 
shall  be  arranged  in  which  the  ISTatural  Sciences  shall 
be  taught;  and,  for  these,  less  than  three  years  will 
not  suffice ;  besides  which,  another  half-year  shall  be 
assigned  the  students,  for  repeating  the  matters  they 
have  heard,  for  holding  public  acts  of  defence,  and 
for  receiving  the  degree  of  Master.  The  whole 
course,  therefore,  shall  be  three  years  and  a  half,  up 
to  the  reception  of  the  degree."  ^  Again,  Ignatius  had 
legislated  for  Divinity:  ''The  course  of  Theology 
shall  be  six  years  in  length;  all  the  matters  that  have 

1  Constitutiones,  pars  iv,  c,  15,  n.  2;  Monumenta  Germaniae  Paed- 
agogica,  vol.  ii,  p.  60. 


264  LOYOLA. 

to  be  read  will  be  treated  in  the  first  four;  in  the 
other  two,  besides  making  a  repetition,  those  who  are 
to  be  promoted  to  the  degree  of  Doctor  will  make  the 
usual  acts  of  defence."  ^ 

Having  this  legislation  before  them,  with  the  ex- 
perience of  forty  years  to  illustrate  its  working,  the 
critics  of  1586  are  confronted,  at  the  same  time,  with 
a  set  of  historical  facts,  which  seem  not  to  be  in  har- 
mony Avith  the  legislation.  While  Loyola's  system 
Avas  obviously  the  organization  of  education,  the 
facts,  which  they  notice,  show  a  concomitant  process 
going  on,  in  an  inverse  sense,  towards  the  dissolu- 
tion of  system.  This,  no  doubt,  was  owing  to  the 
disturbed  condition  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Mak- 
ing an  effort  to  bring  the  Ratio  and  the  facts  more 
into  harmony,  the  critics  reason  in  this  manner :  — 

"  It  is  hard  to  expect  everywhere  that  external  stu- 
dents will  be  content  to  hold  their  acts  of  public 
defence,  only  after  their  course  of  Philosophy  or 
Theology ;  and  that,  during  the  half-year,  or  the  two 
years  specified  beyond.  For,  in  Italy,  scarcely  any 
are  promoted  to  the  degrees  by  our  faculties,  except 
our  own  alumni,  or  convictores,  who  cannot  wait  so 
long  as  that  in  expectancy,  and  who  will  readily  slip 
away  to  Medicine  or  Jurisprudence;  nay,  they  are 
alienated  from  us,  and  are  offended  at  this  severity, 
seeing  that,  in  the  other  universities  of  Italy,  they 
can  most  easily  obtain  the  degree  if  they  want  it. 
In  Germany,  too,  such  intervals  of  protracted  waiting 
are  scarcely  tolerated;  and  they  rather  think  they 
have  done  something,  if  they  have  gone  through  a 
1  Ibid.,  n.  3. 


EXAMINATIONS  AND   GRADUATION.  265 

four-year  course  in  Theology.  And  it  would  seem 
proper  to  grant  them  a  relaxation  there;  otherwise, 
the  men  are  deterred  from  seeking  the  Doctorate;  so 
that  Germany  will  have  but  few  Catholic  Doctors  in 
the  future ;  whereas,  it  abounds  in  non-catholic  Doc- 
tors, whose  promotion  is  to  be  had  any  day.  In 
France,  too,  the  philosophers  do  not  wait  bej'Ond 
the  close  of  the  triennium  to  be  made  Masters  of 
Arts;  they  could  not  put  up  with  delay,  for  they  are 
hurrying  on  to  Law.  The  same  is  the  condition  of 
things  with  the  German  philosophers,  for  other 
reasons.  Therefore  the  Eeverend  Father  General 
might  consider  whether  he  will  dispense  with  the 
observance  of  the  Constitution  in  the  Italian  and 
Transalpine  Provinces;  the  more  so,  as  the  Consti- 
tution itself  says  that  it  is  to  be  observed,  as  far  as 
may  be."  ^ 

In  accordance  with  this,  the  Ratio  Studiorum  is  not 
absolute  in  its  general  legislation,  and  leaves  room  for 
the  special  conditions  of  different  countries.  A  most 
distinct  conception  of  the  meaning  and  process  of  con- 
ferring degrees  may  be  had,  by  consulting  the  typical 
constitution  of  an  exclusively  Jesuit  university,  as 
exhibited  in  the  Monumenta  Germcmice  Fcedagogica.^ 
The  third  part  of  this  document  treats  exclusively  of 
the  "  Variety  of  Academic  Degrees  and  the  Conditions 
for  Each."  And  it  begins  by  saying:  "As  it  is  ex- 
pedient to  confer  Academic  degrees  on  those  who  are 
found  worthy  of  the  same,  so  the  utmost  caution  is  to 
be  practised,  lest,  at  any  time,  they  be  conferred  on 

1  Rt.  St.  1586,  De  Gradibus,  etc. ;  Mouumenta  Germania?  Paeda- 
gogica,  vol.  V,  p.  110.  2  Vol.  ix,  pp.  359-387. 


266  LOYOLA. 

such  as  would  only  bring  the  name  of  the  Academy 
into  discredit,  and  the  degrees  themselves  into  con- 
tempt. Wherefore  no  degree  is  ever  to  be  conferred 
upon  any  one,  who  has  not  undergone  all  the  tests 
which  the  customs  of  universities  require." 

Passing  on  from  the  sixteenth  century  to  our  time, 
an  important  gap  has  to  be  crossed  in  the  educational 
history  of  the  Order.  It  is  that  of  the  Suppression, 
during  about  forty  years  at  the  end  of  the  last  century 
and  the  beginning  of  the  present.  These  blank  pages 
signify  the  total  loss  of  property  and  position,  with 
a  severance  in  many  places  of  the  educational  tradi- 
tions for  almost  sixty  years,  and  the  entire  destruc- 
tion of  them  in  many  other  parts.  Besides,  like 
"  goods  derelict, "  the  whole  system  of  education  which, 
by  means  of  the  Society,  had  passed  out  of  a  limited 
.number  of  mediaeval  universities,  and  had  been  accom- 
modated with  a  home  gratuitously  in  over  seven 
hundred  cities  and  towns  of  a  dozen  nationalities, 
was  found  by  the  Order,  at  its  resurrection,  to  be 
largely  in  the  hands  of  State  authorities,  or,  at  least, 
not  independent  of  State  control.  Eestored,  but  hav- 
ing had  to  struggle  into  existence,  under  altered  and 
unfavorable  circumstances,  this  pedagogical  system 
may  be  viewed  with  interest,  as  it  stands  towards  the 
close  of  the  nineteenth  century.  For  this  purpose 
I  may  be  allowed  to  glance  at  it,  in  several  parts  of 
the  world,  under  the  precise  aspect  which  I  have  just 
been  regarding,  that  of  endeavoring  to  complete  its 
work  of  education  with  Academic  degrees. 

In  the  United  States,  it  has  the  same  freedom  of 
action  as  any  other  system  of  higher  education,  with 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   GRADUATION.  267 

none  of  the  special  support  wliicli  is  given  to  organi- 
zations endow^ed  by  the  State. 

In  many  parts  of  the  continent  of  Europe,  the 
property  of  the  Order  is  in  an  habitual  or  chronic 
state  of  confiscation,  and  the  members,  as  educators, 
are  legally  outlawed.  Education  can  scarcely  thrive 
when  on  the  wing. 

In  Austria,  where  the  Society  is  fully  recognized, 
its  teachers  are,  by  a  cross-move,  practically  debarred 
from  State  recognition.  To  pass  on  their  students 
for  State  degrees,  it  is  required  that  they  themselves 
be  certified  State  teachers.  To  become  such  teachers, 
they  must  have  followed  in  actual  attendance,  and 
during  four  years,  the  special  course  of  Grammar, 
History,  etc.,  in  which  their  certificate  afterwards 
will  be  recognized.  Meanwhile,  as  Jesuits,  they 
have  gone  through  the  courses  which  I  have  sketched 
in  the  pages  of  this  essay ;  and  they  are  certainly,  by 
this  time,  not  to  be  confounded  with  young  persons, 
who  are  merely  prospecting  some  limited  field  of 
pedagogic  activity,  as  the  scope  of  their  lives.  Hence, 
at  this  most  energetic  and  ripe  period  of  their  lives, 
they  must  waste  four  years,  as  if  they  were  young 
normal  scholars,  in  following  out  some  one  or  two 
lines  of  pedagogical  formation;  and  that,  merely  to 
have  their  word  admitted  when  they  pass  their  stu- 
dents on  for  the  State  degrees. 

In  Great  Britain  and  the  dependencies  of  the  British 
Empire  there  are  no  such  harassing  restrictions. 
The  conditions  for  matriculation,  and  for  the  subse- 
quent series  of  examinations,  in  such  universities  as 
those  of  London,  Calcutta,  or  Laval,  are  quite  in  keep- 


268  LOYOLA. 

ing  with  the  American  ideas  of  social  liberality; 
however  high  and  exacting  otherwise  may  be  the 
standard  requisite  for  success,  either  in  the  pass- 
examinations  or  in  the  Honors.  Nor,  if  special 
matriculation  is  again  required  in  certain  English 
universities,  before  entering  their  courses  of  Medicine, 
does  that  impose  any  special  hardship.  Hence,  St. 
Francis  Xavier's,  Calcutta,  ranks  among  the  highest 
of  what  are  called  the  "  Christian  schools  '•  of  India. 
To  make  matters  clearer,  I  shall  take  two  instances, 
one  from  Great  Britain  itself,  the  other  from  the 
Dominion  of  Canada. 

Stonyhurst  will  illustrate  the  working  of  the  State 
system,  as  coming  in  contact  with  the  Ratio  Studio- 
rum.  The  matriculation  examinations  at  the  London 
University  create  no  special  difficult}^,  although  the 
higher  classes  of  the  literary  curriculum  may  be  re- 
garded as  under  a  strain,  in  the  double  effort  to 
satisfy  the  Ratio,  and  to  matriculate  at  that  uni- 
versity. After  matriculation,  the  process  is  consider- 
ably smoother.  To  take  the  classical  or  mathematical 
Honors,  in  the  B.  A.  or  M.  A.  examinations,  is 
altogether  in  harmony  with  the  usual  course  of  the 
Jesuit  system.  At  once,  after  the  B.  A.  Honors,  a 
good  place  on  the  Indian  Civil  Service  list  is  within 
easy  reach.  And,  in  general,  changes  made  by  the 
Civil  Service  Commissioners  have  all  been  in  the  di- 
rection of  adapting  their  competitive  examinations  to 
the  ordinary  school  curriculum.  In  preparation  for 
the  military  academies  of  Woolwich  and  Sandhurst, 
students  follow  the  regular  school  course  at  Stony- 
hurst, to  within   two   years   or    so   of  the   time  for 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   GRADUATION.  269 

entrance ;  and  then  they  merely  take  up  their  special 
course,  designed  for  the  military  cadetship.  The 
same  is  now  possible  with  regard  to  the  navy,  since 
the  age  for  entering  that  service  has  been  some- 
what raised.  And,  to  mention  one  of  the  courses 
which  are  altogether  proper  to  the  Jesuit  system,  that 
of  Philosophy,  the  usual  lectures  of  the  two  years' 
philosophical  curriculum  have  only  to  be  supple- 
mented with  a  few  special  lectures,  and  the  students 
are  ready  for  the  philosophical  pa]3ers  of  the  B.  A. 
examination,  in  the  London  University. 

Montreal  exhibits  the  relations  of  Jesuit  and  State 
systems  in  a  Catholic  country.  The  University  of 
Laval  is  at  the  same  time  chartered  by  the  State  and 
by  the  Pope.  The  Jesuit  Professors  in  the  College 
at  Montreal  conduct  their  own  studies,  examine  their 
students,  and  merely  send  them  with  certificates  to 
receive  degrees  at  the  University. 

Prom  this  history  it  appears,  that,  though  the  cur- 
riculum of  Divinity  in  the  Jesuit  system  need  have 
undergone  no  great  change  during  three  centuries, 
beyond  the  usual  self-accommodation  of  the  courses 
to  new  and  pressing  questions,  its  curriculum  of 
Philosophy  has  been  materially  affected,  with  refer- 
ence to  the  general  world  of  students.  This,  as  fore- 
seen in  the  Ratio  Studiormn  of  1586,  and  as  referred 
to  again  in  the  revised  Ratio  of  1832,  causes  a  double 
arrangement  to  be  made.  First,  Avherever  members 
of  the  Order  are  pursuing  their  studies,  the  philo- 
sophical triennium  is,  as  a  matter  of  course,  in  full 
operation,  and  is  prolonged  with  individuals  into  a 
fourth  year,  for  reviewing  the  subjects  and  prosecut- 


270  LOYOLA. 

ing  them  further;  and  this  seminary  course,  if  con- 
nected with  a  public  college,  remains  open  as  ever  to 
the  outside  world.  Secondly,  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  external  students,  who  do  not  desire  the  full 
triennium,  the  Provincial  "  will  see  that  a  course  of 
Philosophy  be  established  according  to  the  customs 
and  necessities  of  the  country."  ^  Hence  a  biennium, 
or  two-year  course,  is  commonly  established;  and,  ac- 
cording to  the  needs  or  desires  of  the  locality,  it  is 
conducted  either  in  Latin  or  in  the  vernacular. 

3.  Now  we  may  review  succinctly  the  different 
courses  as  conducted  by  the  year,  and  as  distributed 
through  the  week. 

THE  LITERARY  CURRICULUM. 

The  grading  is  based  upon  the  principles  of  a  clas- 
sical education.  Other  branches  enter  a  classical 
course,  as  completing  the  staple  studies.  But,  on 
their  own  merits,  they  receive  a  special  distribution 
of  their  own.  The  Prefect  of  the  lower  studies  is 
instructed  to  "  distribute  History,  Geography,  the  ele- 
ments of  Mathematics,  and  whatever  else  is  usually 
treated  in  these  classes,  in  such  a  manner  that  each 
Master  can  satisfactorily  and  conveniently  finish  the 
matter  assigned  to  him."  This  is  to  be  done  "after 
consulting  the  Provincial  authority,"  which  assures 
stability  in  the  manner  of  organizing  these  branches.^ 
As  to  the  mother  tongue,  the  study  of  which  is  bound 
up  intimately  with  the  classic  literatures,  a  general 

1  Rt.  St.,  Reg.  Prov.,  17,  §  2. 

2  Rt.  St.  1832,  Reg.  Prref.  stud,  inf.,  n.  8,  §  11. 


EXAMINATIONS  AND   GRADUATION.  271 

direction  is  given  once  for  all  to  the  Professors  of 
these  grades:  "In  learning  the  mother  tongue,  very 
much  the  same  method  will  be  followed  as  in  the 
study  of  Latin."  And,  in  the  form  of  prelection  to  be 
used,  they  are  to  adopt  the  method  specified  as  pecul- 
iar to  the  historian  and  the  poet,  which  is  more  sum- 
mary than  the  prelection  of  the  central  prose  author : 
"  Much  the  same  method  will  be  followed  in  giving 
the  prelection  on  classic  authors  in  the  vernacular."^ 

Lower  Grammar.  The  grade  of  this  class  is  the 
perfect  knowledger  of  the  rudiments,  and  an  incipient 
knowledge  of  syntax.  In  Greek:  reading,  writing, 
and  a  certain  portion  of  the  grammar.  The  authors 
used  for  prelection  will  be  some  easy  selections  from 
Cicero,  besides  fables  of  Phsedrus  and  lives  of  Nepos. 

Middle  Grammar.  The  grade  is  the  knowledge, 
though  not  entire,  of  all  grammar;  another  portion  of 
the  Greek  grammar ;  and,  for  the  prelection,  only  the 
select  epistles,  narrations,  descriptions,  and  the  like 
from  Cicero,  with  the  Cominentaries  of  Csesar,  and 
some  of  the  easiest  poems  of  Ovid.  In  Greek :  the 
fables  of  JEsop,  select  and  expurgated  dialogues  of 
Lucian,  the  Table  of  Cebes. 

Upper  Grammar.  The  grade  is  the  complete 
knowledge  of  grammar,  including  all  the  exceptions 
and  idioms  in  syntax,  figures  of  rhetoric,  and  the  art 
of  versification.  In  Greek :  the  eight  parts  of  speech, 
or  all  the  rudiments.  For  the  lessons :  in  prose,  the 
most  difficult  epistles  of  Cicero,  the  books  De  Amicitia, 
De  Senectute,  and  others  of  the  kind,  or  even  some  of 

1  Ibid.,  nn.  12,  §2;  28,  §  2. 


272  LOYOLA. 

the  easier  orations;  in  poetry,  some  select  elegies  and 
e]3istles  of  Ovid,  also  selections  from  Catullus,  Tibul- 
lus,  Propertius,  and  the  eclogues  of  Virgil,  or  some 
of  Virgil's  easier  books.  In  Greek:  St.  Chrysostom, 
Xenophon,  and  the  like. 

Humanity.  The  grade  is  to  prepare,  as  it  were, 
the  ground  for  eloquence,  which  is  done  in  three 
ways,  by  a  knowledge  of  the  language,  some  erudi- 
tion, and  a  sketch  of  the  precepts  pertaining  to  Eheto- 
ric.  For  a  command  of  the  language,  which  consists 
chiefly  in  acquiring  propriety  of  expression  and 
fluency,  the  one  prose  author  employed  in  daily  pre- 
lections is  Cicero;  as  historical  writers,  Csesar,  Sal- 
lust,  Livy,  Curtius,  and  others  of  the  kind;  the  poets 
used  are,  first  of  all,  A^irgil ;  also  select  odes  of  Horace, 
with  the  elegies,  epigrams,  and  other  productions  of 
illustrious  poets,  expurgated;  in  like  manner,  orators, 
historians,  and  poets,  in  the  vernacular.  The  erudi- 
tion conveyed  should  be  slight,  and  only  to  stimulate 
and  recreate  the  mind,  not  to  impede  progress  in 
learning  the  tongue.  The  precepts  will  be  the  general 
rules  of  expression  and  style,  and  the  special  rules  on 
the  minor  kinds  of  composition,  epistles,  narrations, 
descriptions,  both  in  verse  and  prose.  In  G-reek :  the 
art  of  versification,  and  some  notions  of  the  dialects; 
also  a  clear  understanding  of  authors,  and  some  com- 
position in  Greek.  The  Greek  j)rose  authors  will  be 
Saints  Chrysostom  and  Basil,  epistles  of  Plato  and 
Synesius,  some  selections  from  Plutarch;  the  poets, 
Homer,  Phocylides,  Theognis,  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen, 
Synesius,  and  others  like  them. 


EXAMINATIONS  AND  GRADUATION.  273 

Rhetoric.  The  grade  of  this  class  cannot  easily 
be  defined.  For  it  trains  to  perfect  eloquence,  which 
comprises  two  great  faculties,  the  oratorical  and 
poetical,  the  former  chiefly  being  the  object  of  cul- 
ture; nor  does  it  regard  only  the  practical,  but  the 
beautiful  also.  For  the  precepts,  Cicero  may  be  sup- 
plemented with  Quintilian  and  Aristotle.  The  style, 
which  may  be  assisted  by  drawing  on  the  most  ap- 
proved historians  and  poets,  is  to  be  formed  on  Cicero; 
all  of  his  works  are  most  fitted  for  this  purpose,  but 
only  his  speeches  should  be  made  the  subject  of  prelec- 
tion, that  the  precepts  of  the  art  may  be  seen  in  prac- 
tice. As  to  the  vernacular,  the  style  should  be  formed 
on  the  best  authors.  The  erudition  will  be  derived 
from  the  history  and  manners  of  nations,  from  the 
authority  of  writers  and  all  learning ;  but  moderately, 
as  befits  the  capacity  of  the  students.  In  Greek,  the 
fuller  knowledge  of  authors  and  of  dialects  is  to  be 
acquired.  The  Greek  authors,  whether  orators,  his- 
torians, or  poets,  are  to  be  ancient  and  classic: 
Demosthenes,  Plato,  Thucydides,  Homer,  Hesiod, 
Pindar,  and  others  of  the  kind,  including  Saints 
Nazianzen,  Basil,  and  Chrysostom. 

The  compilers  of  the  preliminary  Ratio  throw  out 
some  very  useful  hints,  relative  to  the  work  and  scope 
of  this  class.  They  say,  for  instance,  that  the  stu- 
dents of  Rhetoric  "  are  to  be  assisted  with  almost  a 
daily  exposition  of  some  poet,  to  derive  thence  the 
variety  and  richness  of  poetic  imitation  and  diction." 
Again,  "  nothing  dialectic  is  to  be  made  the  subject  of 
prelection  in  this  class,  since  rhetoricians  are  to  be 
kept  as  far  away  as  possible  from  the  style,  invention, 


274  LOYOLA. 

and  spirit  of  dialectics."  "Two  or  three  years"  are 
spoken  of  as  spent  in  this  grade. ^  At  any  rate,  "all 
our  day-scholars  or  boarders  ^  should  spend  one  year 
in  Ehetoric  before  they  enter  on  Philosophy;  this 
should  be  brought  home  to  their  parents.  The  others, 
who  attend  our  courses  from  outside,^  should  be  per- 
suaded to  do  the  same."'*  If  they  still  insist  upon 
entering  the  philosophical  curriculum  at  too  early  an 
age,  special  means  are  suggested  to  discountenance 
such  a  practice. 

All  these  five  grades  are  evidently  so  connected  as 
not  to  overlap  one  another.  Neither  are  they  to  be 
multiplied,  except  in  the  sense  of  allowing  more  than 
a  single  division,  when  scholars  are  very  numerous. 
If  all  the  grades  cannot  be  maintained  in  any  place, 
"the  higher  ones,  as  far  as  possible,  are  to  be  kept, 
the  lower  being  dispensed  with."^ 


THE    PHILOSOPHICAL   CURRICULUM. 

With  the  side  branches  sufficiently  learned,  with  the 
boy's  native  talents  "stimulated"  or  "cultivated,"  as 
the  Ratio  frequently  expresses  itself,^  and  his  memory 
enriched  with  the  fullest  materials  for  style  in  two 
languages,  Latin  and  the  vernacular,  while  Greek  has 
subsidized  his  culture,  the  student  enters  on  the  study 
of  Philosophy,  using  scholastic  Latin  as  the  vehicle 
of  expression. 

1  Ibid.  2  Alumni  sive  convictores. 

3  Externi.  *  Reg.  Rect.,  n.  12. 

5  Reg.  Pro  v.,  n.  21,  §  4. 

6  Excitetur  ingenium ;  excolatur  ingenium. 


EXAMINATIONS   AND    GRADUATION.  275 

This  instrument  for  the  expression  of  philosophical 
thought  possesses  the  qualities  of  subtlety,  keenness, 
and  precision,  which  the  dialectic  practice  of  all  uni- 
versities had  tended  to  develop  in  it,  from  the  twelfth 
century  onwards.  With  the  addition  of  Cicero's  ful- 
ness and  richness,  which  the  colleges  cultivated  with 
so  much  ardor,  the  scholastic  Latin  of  men  like  Molina, 
Eipalda,  Liberatore,  Franzelin,  and  so  many  others, 
has  flourished  to  a  degree  of  literary  excellence. 

Mathematics  runs  parallel  with  the  course  of  Phi- 
losophy, and  upon  that  branch  of  science  there  is  a 
rather  eloquent  passage  in  the  Ratio  of  1586.^  Phys- 
ics was  always  included  in  the  Aristotelian  philoso- 
phy. The  career  of  Modern  Physics  was  then  in  the 
future.  But,  as  in  Mathematics  pure  and  applied, 
the  courses  were  always  advanced  to  the  foremost 
rank,  and  in  Arithmetic  and  Geometry  we  notice  that, 
as  early  as  1667,  a  single  public  course,  under  the 
direction  of  Jesuits  at  Caen,  numbered  four  hundred 
students,^  so,  in  the  middle  of  the  next  century,  the 
eighteenth,  we  find  physical  cabinets  in  regular  use, 
and  experimental  lectures  given  to  the  classes  by  the 
Professors  of  Physics.^  The  basis  of  the  study  is 
thus  laid  down  in  the  rules  of  the  revised  Ratio: 
"The  Professor  is  to  expose  theories,  systems,  and 
hypotheses,  so  as  to  make  it  clear  what  degree  of  cer- 
titude  or   probability   belongs    to  each.      Since  this 

1  De  Mathematicis ;  Monumenta  Germaniae  Paedagogica,  vol.  v, 
p.  141. 

2  Cretineaii-Joly,  Histoire  de  la  Compagnie,  torn,  iv,  ch.  3,  p.  202. 

3  Compare  the  ordinance  for  the  upper  German  Province,  1763, 
n.  7 ;  Monumenta  Germanise  Paedagogica,  vol.  ix,  p.  441. 


276  LOYOLA. 

faculty  makes  new  progress  every  day,  the  Professor 
must  consider  it  part  of  liis  duty  to  know  tlie  more 
recent  discoveries,  so  that  in  his  prelections  he  may 
advance  with  the  science  itself. "  ^  The  general  as- 
semblies had  legislated  on  this  subject,  as  I  indicated 
before;  assigning  its  proper  place  in  Philosophy  to 
what  they  called  "  the  more  pleasant "  or  the  "  lighter  " 
form  of  Physics.  Indeed,  Philosophy  itself  in  the 
course  of  three  centuries  came  to  feel  many  new  needs 
and  submitted  to  new  lines  of  treatment. 

First  Year.  Logic  and  General  Metaphysics. 
One  Professor:  eight  hours  a  tueek.  Introductory 
sketch  of  Philosophy.  Dialectics  or  Minor  Logic: 
ideas,  judgment,  reasoning.  Logic  Proper:  The  cri- 
teria of  truth;  species  of  knowledge,  and  general 
rules  of  criticism  and  hermeneutics.  General  Meta- 
physics or  Ontology:  The  notions  of  being  and  the 
categories.  Mathematics.  One  Professor:  six  hours 
a  tveek.  All  that  prepares  for  the  Physics  of  the  fol- 
lowing year,  viz.,  algebra,  geometry,  plane  and  spher- 
ical trigonometry,  and  conic  sections.  This  rapid 
course,  in  so  short  a  time,  supposes  that  the  matter 
is  not  entirely  new,  but  has  been  studied  already  in 
the  literary  course. 

Second  Year  and  part  of  the  Third.  Special  Meta- 
physics. One  Professor:  four  hours  a  iveek.  First, 
Cosmology:  The  origin  of  the  world,  the  elements  of 
bodies,  the  perfection  of  the  world,  its  nature  and 
laws,  supernatural  effects  and  their  criteria,  as 
examined  by  philosophical  principles.  Secondly, 
Psychology :  The  essence  of  the  human  soul,  and  its 

1  Rt.  St.  1832,  Pro  Physica,  nn.  34-5. 


EXAMINATIONS  AND   GRADUATION.  277 

faculties :  sensation,  imagination,  memory,  the  nature 
of  intelligence  and  reason,  appetite,  will,  freedom; 
the  essential  difference  between  soul  and  body;  the 
simplicity,  spirituality,  and  immortality  of  the  soul; 
the  union  of  soul  and  body,  the  nature  and  origin  of 
ideas;  the  vital  principle  of  brutes.  Thirdly,  ISTat- 
ural  Theology:  God,  His  existence  and  attributes, 
etc.,  as  viewed  by  the  light  of  human  reason.  Phys- 
ics. One  Professor:  nine  hours  a  week.  Mechanics, 
dynamics;  the  properties  of  bodies,  hydrostatics, 
hydraulics,  aerostatics,  pneumatics;  the  elements 
of  astronomy;  light,  caloric,  electricity,  magnetism, 
meteorology.  What  is  not  completed  in  this  year  is 
continued  in  the  next,  with  the  elements  of  natural 
history.  Much  of  this  course  may  have  been  seen  in 
the  literary  curriculum.  "The  matters  are  not  to 
be  treated  so  exclusively  from  a  rational  standpoint, 
as  to  leave  barely  any  time  for  experiments ;  nor  are 
experiments  so  to  occupy  the  time,  that  it  looks  like  a 
merely  experimental  science."  Chemistry.  One  Pro- 
fessor :  three  hours  a  loeek.     Inorganic  and  organic. 

Third  Year.  Metaphysics.  One  Professor:  four 
hours  a  week.  What  remains  of  the  course  just  de- 
scribed, under  the  second  year.  Moral  Philosophy. 
One  Professor :  four  hours  a  week.  The  end  of  man, 
the  morality  of  human  actions,  natural  law,  natural 
rights  and  duties;  the  principles  of  public  right. 
Physics.  One  Professor:  two  hours  a  iveek.  Geol- 
ogy, astronomy,  physiology.  Part  of  the  course  above 
can  be  reserved  for  this  year.  Mathematics.  One 
Professor:  three  hours  a  week.  Analytical  geometry 
and  differential  calculus. 


278  LOYOLA. 

In  these  courses  of  Natural  Science,  if  the  matter  is 
not  altogether  new,  as  having  been  studied  in  the 
lower  faculties,  the  philosophical  attitude  of  theoretic 
criticism  is  quite  specific  throughout  this  curriculum. 


THE  THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM. 

As  the  Jesuit  theologians  of  Cologne  announced  in 
their  programme  of  1578  that,  while  they  followed 
St.  Thomas,  yet  "  neither  all  the  matters,  nor  those 
alone  which  he  treated,"  were  to  be  handled  by  them; 
so,  in  every  age,  the  standard  adopted  has  been  ad- 
hered to,  with  the  same  practical  eye  to  the  needs  of 
the  times.  The  reason  is  tlie  same  as  those  theolo- 
gians assigned;  because,  they  said,  "Every  age  has 
definite  fields  of  conflict,  which  render  it  necessary 
that  Theology  be  enlarged  with  a  variety  of  newly 
disputed  questions,  and,  in  fact,  that  it  assume  a  new 
form."^  In  the  arrangement  of  Scholastic  Theology 
the  Ratio  suggests  the  following  form :  — 

Scholastic  Theology.  Four  Years.  Two  Profes- 
sors: each  four  hours  a  iveek.  One  course.  Religion 
and  the  Church;  God  in  Unity  and  Trinity;  His 
attributes,  predestination:  God  as  Creator;  the  An- 
gels; the  creation  of  Man  and  his  fall;  the  Incarna- 
tion; Three  of  the  Seven  Sacraments.  The  other 
course.  Human  acts,  virtues,  and  vices;  the  theolog- 
ical virtues;  the  cardinal  virtues;  right  and  justice; 
religion;  grace;  the  Sacraments  in  general;  the  rest 
of  the  Seven  Sacraments. 

1  Monumenta  Germanise  Psedagogica,  vol.  ii,  p.  245. 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   GRADUATION.  270 

Moral  Theology.  Two  Years.  One  Professor: 
Jive  and  a  half  hours  a  week.  The  scope  of  this  course 
is  to  form  Ministers  of  the  Sacraments.  One  year. 
Human  acts,  conscience,  laws,  sins,  the  Command- 
ments, excepting  the  seventh.  The  other  year.  The 
seventh  Commandment,  which  includes  contracts;  the 
Sacraments,  censures,  the  states  and  duties  of  life. 

Ecclesiastical  History.  Two  Years.  One  Professor  : 
iico  hours  a  iceek.  The  questions,  necessary  and  op- 
portune, in  the  history  of  each  centur}^ 

Canon  Law.  Two  Years.  One  Professor:  tivo 
hours  a  tceeJc.  One  year.  Persons,  judgments,  pen- 
alties.     The  other  year.     Things. 

Sacred  Scripture.  Two  Years.  One  Professor: 
four  hours  a  iceek.  General  prolegomena.  A  book 
from  the  Old  and  Xew  Testament  alternately. 

Hebrew.  One  Year.  One  Professor :  tivo  hours  a 
week.  Supplemented  with  one  hour  a  week  on  Syriac, 
Arabic,  Chaldaic,  during  four  years. 


GENERAL  DISTRIBUTION   OF  TIME. 

The  compilers  of  the  preliminary  Patio  made  an 
effort  to  draw  up  a  uniform  system  for  the  distribu- 
tion of  time  in  the  various  countries.  But  the  final 
Patio  preferred  to  leave  the  matter  thus :  "  Since  the 
variety  of  countries,  times,  and  persons  is  apt  to  in- 
troduce variety  in  the  order  to  be  observed,  and  in  the 
distribution  of  hours  for  study,  repetitions,  disputa- 
tions, and  other  exercises,  as  also  in  vacations,  the 
proper  authority  will  report  to  the  General  whatever 


280  LOYOLA. 

lie  thinks  more  expedient  in  his  Province,  for  the 
better  advancement  of  studies,  that  a  definite  arrange- 
ment may  be  come  to,  which  will  meet  all  exigencies ; 
keeping,  however,  as  near  as  possible  to  the  common 
order  of  our  studies."^  Accordingly,  a  rule  of  the 
General  Prefect  of  Studies  prescribes  that  "he  lay 
down  not  only  an  order  of  studies,  repetitions,  disputa- 
tions to  be  observed  by  members  of  the  Society,  by 
our  scholars,  and  by  external  students  at  large,  under 
the  direction  of  their  Professors;  but  also  that  he 
distribute  all  their  time,  to  the  effect  that  they  spend 
the  hours  of  private  study  well."^ 

I  shall  give  three  sketches  of  actual  arrangements 
for  the  conduct  of  the  literary  or  secondary  curricu- 
lum; and  one  normal  arrangement  for  the  two  de- 
partments of  superior  education  in  Philosophy  and 
Theology.  The  three  schedules  for  the  secondary 
course  are  taken  from  the  English  speaking  world. 
That  numbered  (I),  if  presented  in  full,  would  read 
very  much  like  the  usual  arrangement  of  an  Ameri- 
can college.  It  is  the  method  more  or  less  adopted 
by  the  Jesuit  colleges  which  centre  around  the  St. 
Louis  University  in  the  Western  States.  The  sched- 
ule numbered  (II)  represents  the  system  of  George- 
town College,  and  of  others  in  the  Eastern  States ;  it 
looks  like  a  close  adaptation  of  the  system  as  pre- 
sented in  these  pages.  Number  (III)  is  the  method 
of  Stonyhurst  College,  England;  and  to  it  may  be 
referred  the  Canadian  system,  and  that  of  Hindustan. 
The  hours  indicated  in  this  schedule  include  the  set 

iRt.  St.,  Reg.  Prov.,  n.  39. 
2  Reg.  Prffif.  Stud.,  n.  27. 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   GRADUATION.  281 

time  for  studies,  besides  the  hours  of  class.  The  set 
study  time,  iu  a  boarding  college,  may  be  taken  to 
average  four  and  a  half  hours  a  day;  other  hours  may 
be  added  thereto,  from  free  study  time,  or  hours  of 
superfluous  recreation.  The  Stonyhurst  arrangement 
is  interesting,  as  being  that  of  a  faculty  two  hundred 
and  ninety-nine  years  old,  without  any  intermission 
in  its  career.  Its  original  home  Avas  St.  Omer's, 
France,  where  Father  Parsons  founded  the  college 
in  1592.  At  the  suppression  of  the  Order  in  France, 
1762,  the  college  moved  to  Bruges  in  Belgium ;  thence, 
in  1773,  to  Liege;  whence,  under  the  stress  of  the 
French  Revolution,  it  took  refuge  in  England,  and 
opened  its  courses  at  Stonyhurst,  Lancashire,  in  1794. 
The  schedule  for  the  philosophical  triennium  (Su- 
perior Instruction,  B)  is  taken  from  Woodstock 
College  and  St.  Louis  University;  that  of  the  theo- 
logical course  (Superior  Instruction,  C)  from  Wood- 
stock. In  these  schedules,  as  well  as  in  that  not 
exhibited  here  for  the  seminary  course  of  Literature 
(Superior  Instruction,  A),  no  material  difference  would 
be  found  to  exist  between  one  house  of  studies  and 
another  in  the  Society. 


282 


LOYOLA. 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  HOURS  PER  WEEK. 


Secondary  Instruction.  —  Literary. 


I. 

Grades I.-IV.     V.-VL  VII. 

Four        Two  One 

Years.     Years.  Year. 

Age  of  Student  . . .     13-16.     17-18.  19. 


SUBJECTS. 

Classics 

9. 

9. 

12,X. 

13X. 

Mathematics 

4. 

4. 

4. 

5M. 

5X. 

English  and    | 
Accessories) 

12. 

9. 

0. 

8. 

5. 

Natural  Sciences. . 

3. 

3. 

10. 

Philosophy 

10. 

12. 

II. 

I.-IV.     V.-VI.  VII. 

Four        Two  One 

Years.     Years.  Year. 

13-16.      17-18.  19. 


Grades 


Age  of  Student 

SUBJECTS. 

Classics 

Mathematics 

English 

French  

History  and  Geography, 

Natural  Sciences 

Philosophy 


III. 

I.-IV.  V.-VII.   Philosophical  curriculum. 

Four  Three 

Years.  Years. 
11-15.      16-18. 


18. 
8>^. 
6. 
5. 


18. 
8X. 
6. 


3-6. 


Two  Year  Course, 
below  (6). 


SCHEDULE   OF   INSTRUCTION.  283 


Superior  Instruction.  —  (A)  Literary. 

SEMINARY  COURSE. 

Literature Two  Years For  Members  of  the  Order. 

Superior  Instruction.  —  (B)  Philosophical. 

TRIENNIAL  COURSE. 

Years L  IL  IIL 

Subjects  of  Courses. 
Philosophy : 

Logic,        1  ^     f.  /Di8pu-\ 

Ontology.; ^^i)^  tation  )• 

Cosmology,  )  .     o  /Dispu-\ 

Psychology.} t  +  o^^  Nation  J- 

Psychology,  |  .     o  /Dispu-\ 

Natural  Theology.  J *        v  tation  ; 

Moral  Philosophy 4  +  3        " 

Mathematics : 
Algebra,  Geometry,  |     ^^ 
Trigonometry.  |  •  -o. 

Analytical  Geora- )                                                             o 
etry.  Calculus.    J 

Mechanics 9  (Three  Months) . 

Physics 9  (seven  Months) . 

Chemistry 3  (Ten  Months)  . 

Geology,  Astronomy,  |  o 

Physiology.  j 

Specialties Outside  of  this  Triennium. 

biennial  course. 

(a)  Two  Year  Curriculum,  included  in  the  Triennium. 
(6)  Similar  Curriculum,  conducted  separately  in  English. 


284 


LOYOLA. 


Superior  Instruction.  —  (C)  Theological. 


SEXENNIAL   COURSE. 


III. 


IV. 


+5      8+5       i 

(Disp.).    (Disp.). 
5X  bX 

2  2 


Years I. 

Subjects  of 

Courses. 
Scholastic        \  8 

Theology.     J 
Moral  Theology, 
Ecclesiastical  | 

History.        J 

Canon  Law . .  2  2 

Sacred  )  4  4 

Scripture,     j 
Hebrew 2 

Syriac,  Ara-    1  i  i  i 

bic,  Chald.   {       ' '  ^  ^  ^ 

Specialties Outside  of  this  Sexennium. 


V. 


VI. 


f  5  8  +  5  Biennium  of  General 
(Disp.).  (Disp.)  Repetition,  Philo- 
^  ^  sophical  and  Theo- 

logical ;  and  Special 
Seminary  Work. 


Superior  Instruction.  —  (D)  Law. 
Conducted  by  a  Faculty  not  of  the  Order. 


Superior  Instruction.  —  (E)  Medicine. 
Conducted  by  a  Faculty  not  of  the  Order. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

CONCLUSION. 

It  will  not  have  escaped  the  attentive  reader,  that 
almost  all  the  history,  pedagogic  or  otherwise,  which 
has  been  sketched  in  this  essay,  falls  within  the  lines 
of  what  has  been  called  the  Counter-Reformation; 
and  some  portion  of  it  belongs  to  what  is  styled,  in 
the  present  century,  the  Counter-Revolution.  For 
this  reason,  if  the  facts  recorded  seem  at  all  new,  he 
will  discern  the  reason.  They  have  lain  outside  of 
one  of  the  beaten  paths  in  history. 

Beyond  the  facts  of  evolution,  as  they  may  have 
appeared  in  these  pages,  I  do  not  pretend  to  have 
found  a  place  for  this  system  in  any  plan  of  pedagogic 
development,  i^or  do  I  lay  claim  to  the  far-sighted- 
ness which  may  discern  any  posthumous  development, 
as  the  legacy  of  this  system  to  the  world  of  education. 
Politically,  its  place  has  often  been  assigned  to  it 
summarily  by  main  force.  But,  pedagogically,  too, 
the  day  may  come,  when  gathered  to  the  other  re- 
mains which  moulder  in  the  past,  it  can  look  down 
from  a  grade  and  place  of  its  own  in  evolution,  and 
look  out,  like  others,  on  a  progeny  more  favored  than 
itself,  the  fair  mother  of  fairer  children;  even  as  the 
old  university  system  of  mediaeval  Europe,  particularly 
that  of  the  great  University  of  Paris,  can  look  down 

285 


286  LOYOLA. 

from  its  silent  and  solemn  place  in  history,  as  the 
direct  progenitor  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum.  "  We,  too, 
have  been  taught  by  others,"  said  Possevino  in  1592. 
Indeed,  as  is  evident,  the  last  thing  which  the  system 
ever  seems  to  dream  of,  which  never,  in  fact,  crosses 
the  path  of  its  intellectual  vision,  is  that  it  is  play- 
ing the  role,  perchance,  of  a  pedagogic  adventurer,  or 
courting  notice  by  some  new  and  striking  departure. 
No  doubt,  in  its  integrity,  it  is  singularly  the  system 
of  the  Jesuits,  and,  in  a  multitude  of  practical  ele- 
ments, it  embodies  the  elaborate  experience  of  one 
practical  organization  of  men.  But,  none  the  less,  if 
we  look  down  for  its  foundations,  we  pass  through 
the  Kenaissance  of  Letters,  and  find  the  traditions  of 
scholastic  Europe;  and  further  down  still,  in  the 
stratification  of  history,  we  come  to  the  principles  of 
education  as  defined  by  Aristotle,  Plato,  and  Socrates. 
As  to  its  ulterior  evolution,  I  may  designate  two 
forms  which  the  system  has  been  invited  to  as- 
sume. Kather,  I  may  point  to  an  epoch  in  its 
history,  at  which  general  and  universal  education 
divided  off  into  two  lines ;  and,  by  one  or  other  way, 
almost  all  the  secondary  and  superior  education, 
which  prevails  amongst  us,  reaches  our  present  time. 
The  principles  adopted  on  one  side,  however  extrava- 
gant they  may  have  been  at  their  first  adoption  and 
in  all  the  glow  and  fervor  of  a  new  departure,  will 
certainly  recommend  themselves  to  some.  The  other 
was  practically,  if  it  has  not  as  yet  been  formally, 
adopted  by  the  Order  as  a  continuation  of  its  old 
method,  and  as  a  revision  in  the  nineteenth  century 
of  what  itself  had  laid  down  in  the  fifteenth.     I  will 


CONCLUSION.  287 

quote,  to  explain  one  of  the  movements,  a  writer, 
M.  Drevon,  whom  I  cited  once  before,^  chiefly  because 
he  is  quite  recent,  and  also  because  he  is  entirely  out 
of  sjanpathy  with  the  system  of  the  Jesuits.  For 
the  other,  I  Avill  quote  one  of  the  latest  Generals  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  Father  John  Eoothaan. 

When  the  Jesuit  colleges,  more  than  ninety  in 
number,  were  abruptly  closed  in  France,  then,  says 
the  first  writer,  "the  departure  of  the  Jesuits  was 
the  occasion  of  a  noisy  demonstration  against  the 
instruction  which  had  been  imparted  in  the  colleges. 
A  multitude  of  books  ^  were  at  once  seen  pouring  into 
the  market,  presenting  plans  for  a  new  system  of 
education,  which  should  be  more  in  keeping  with  the 
progress  of  Science  and  Philosophy.  Men  of  the 
gravest  authority,  like  the  President  Eoland,  did  not 
disdain  to  occupy  themselves  with  these  matters,  and 
to  enter  into  details :  '  The  moment  was  come, '  cried 
one  of  them,  'to  set  up  furnaces,  to  add  bellows 
thereto,  and  initiate  scholars  into  the  doctrine  of 
gases.'  ^  The  reaction  was  so  much  the  more  violent, 
as  spirits  had  been  the  longer  suppressed.  It  went 
even  beyond  the  just  measure,  as  hax)pens  almost 
always  in  such  circumstances ;  so  that,  says  a  contem- 
porary writer,*  children,  properly  instructed,  ought  to 
have  become,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  agriculturists  suf- 
ficiently well  qualified,  intelligent  naturalists,  pru- 
dent economists,  shrewd  business  men,  enlightened 
politicians,  profound  metaphysicians,  prodigious  geom- 

1  Chapter  vi,  above,  p.  96. 

2  By  M.  D'Alembert,  M.  L'Abbe'  de  Condillac,  and  others. 

3  L'Abbe'  Proyart,  De  L'Education  Publique.  *  Id.,  ibid. 


288  LOYOLA. 

etricians,  without  prejudice  to  writing  and  drawing, 
to  universal  geography,  and  ancient  as  well  as  modern 
history;  without  prejudice  to  the  French  language, 
English  also  and  German  and  a  little  Latin ;  and  again 
without  prejudice  to  music  and  heraldry,  to  dancing 
and  fencing,  to  horsemanship,  and,  above  all,  to  swim- 
ming. But  peox)le  had  not  long  to  wait  before  deplor- 
ing such  excess.  All  this  agitation  proved  unfortu- 
nately sterile;  and  as  I  have  just  said,  on  the  eve  of 
the  French  Kevolution,  secondary  education  had  not 
taken  a  step  forward  during  fifty  years.   .   .   . 

"  It  came  to  a  new  birth  in  1808,  and  found  itself 
very  much  where  it  had  been,  before  this  long  sleep. 
Napoleon  declared  that  the  new  method  of  the  Uni- 
versity was  very  like  that  of  the  ancient  University 
of  Paris;  only  that  the  courses  'left  something  to 
desire  with  regard  to  drawing,  modern  languages, 
geography,  history,  and  especially  mathematical  and 
physical  sciences.'  This  was  progress,  no  doubt,  and 
it  is  well  to  grant  it.  But  Napoleon  is  mistaken, 
when  he  pretends  that  the  new  University  is  a  child 
of  the  ancient  one.  It  is  preeminently  a  child  of 
the  Jesuits.  For,  as  we  have  remarked,  the  Jesuits, 
at  the  beginning,  took  great  care  to  make  no  innova- 
tions. They  accepted,  as  they  found  them,  the  old 
methods,  introduced  little  by  little  their  own  mode  of 
procedure,  an  alteration  most  calculated  to  assure 
their  influence  and  their  success.  The  grand  old 
University  which  went  down  to  the  second  rank,  so 
to  say,  in  public  education,  submitted  to  the  influence 
of  its  detested  and  triumphant  rivals,  and,  in  spite  of 
itself,    it   allowed   itself  to   be   permeated   by  their 


CONCLUSION.  289 

methods.  Hence,  in  1808,  at  the  moment  when 
Nai)oleon  dreams  that  he  is  reestablishing  the  Uni- 
versity, the  ideal  of  public  instruction  was  a  mixture 
of  the  old  university  traditions  and  the  empiric 
methods  of  the  Jesuits."  ^ 

It  does  not  come  within  the  scope  of  this  writer  to 
indicate  how,  from  this  historical  point  of  divergence, 
the  modern  practical  method  of  instruction  came  to 
be  fully  organized.  Each  system  went  its  own  way. 
I  pass  on  to  the  other  line,  or  rather  back  to  the  Jesuit 
Ratio ;  and  I  will  merely  point  out  what  process  of 
adjustment  it  then  underwent. 

In  1832,  Father  Roothaan,  General  of  the  Society, 
addressed  an  encyclical  letter  to  the  Order.  To  give 
an  abstract  of  it,  he  says :  "  In  the  very  first  assembly 
after  the  restoration  of  the  Society,  a  petition  had 
been  received  from  the  Provinces,  and  daily  ex- 
perience since  then  has  shown  it  to  be  more  and  more 
necessary,  that  the  System  of  Studies  should  be  accom- 
modated to  the  exigencies  of  the  times.  After  a  con- 
sultation, involving  much  labor  and  accurate  study,  a 
form  of  revised  Ratio  has  been  drawn  up,  which  is  now 
offered  for  use  and  practice,  in  order  that  after  being 
amended  again  if  necessary,  or  else  enlarged,  it  may 
receive  the  sanction  of  a  universal  law.  The  under- 
taking was  approached  with  the  greatest  reverence 
for  a  System  which  had  been  approved  by  two  cen- 
turies of  successful  operation,  and  which  had  been 
extolled,  not  unfrequently,  by  the  very  enemies  of 
the  Order. 

1  Histoire  d'un  College  Municipal,  etc.,  Bayonne;  par  J.  M.  Dre- 
von,  1889;  last  chapter,  Reforme  et  conclusion,  pp.  443  seq. 


290  LOYOLA. 

^' Of  the  novelties  which  had  been  introduced  into 
the  method  of  educating  youth,  during  the  last  lifty 
years  or  more,  was  it  forsooth  possible  that  all  could 
be  approved  and  adopted  in  our  schools?  New 
methods  and  new  forms  invented  day  after  day,  a 
new  arrangement  of  matter  and  of  time,  often  self- 
contradictory  and  mutually  repugnant  —  how  could 
all  this  be  taken  as  a  rule  for  our  studies? 

' '  In  the  higher  schools  or  in  the  treatment  of  the 
graver  studies,  it  is  a  subject  of  lamentation  with  pru- 
dent men  that  there  is  no  solidity  but  much  show, — 
an  ill-arranged  mass  of  superfluous  knowledge,  very 
little  exact  reasoning  — ;  that  the  sciences,  if  you  ex- 
cept Physics  and  Mathematics,  have  not  made  any  true 
progress,  but  are  in  general  confusion,  so  that  where 
the  final  results  of  truth  are  to  be  found  scarcely  ap- 
pears. The  study  of  Logic  and  severe  Dialectics  is 
almost  in  contempt,  whence  errors  come  to  be  deeply 
rooted  in  the  minds  of  men  who  are  not  otherwise 
illiterate;  and  these  errors,  by  some  fatality  or  other, 
are  made  much  of,  as  if  they  were  ascertained  truths, 
and  they  are  lauded  to  the  skies,  because  nothing  is 
treated  with  strictness  and  accuracy,  no  account  is 
made  of  definitions  and  distinctness  of  reasoning. 
Thus,  tasting  lightly  of  philosophical  matters,  young 
men  go  forth  utterly  defenceless  against  sophistry, 
since  they  cannot  even  see  the  difference  between  a 
sophism  and  an  argument. 

^^In  the  lower  schools,  the  object  kept  in  view  is  to 
have  boys  learn  as  many  things  as  possible,  and  learn 
them  in  the  shortest  time,  and  with  the  least  exer- 
tion  possible.      Excellent!      But  that  variety  of   so 


CONCLUSION.  291 

many  things  and  so  many  courses,  all  liglitly  sipped 
of  by  youth,  enables  them  to  conceive  a  high  opinion 
of  how  much  they  know,  and  sometimes  swells  the 
crowd  of  the  half-instructed,  the  most  pernicious  of 
all  classes  to  the  Sciences  and  the  State  alike.  As  to 
knowing  anything  truly  and  solidly,  there  is  none  of 
it.  Something  of  everything:  nothing  in  the  end.^ 
Kunning  through  the  courses  of  letters  in  no  time, 
tender  in  age,  with  minds  as  yet  untrained,  they  take 
up  the  gravest  studies  of  Philosophy  and  the  Higher 
Sciences;  and,  j)ossessing  themselves  therein  of 
scarcely  any  real  fruit,  they  are  only  captivated  by 
the  enjoyment  of  greater  liberty;  they  run  headlong 
into  vice,  and  are  soon  to  become  teachers  themselves 
of  a  type,  which,  to  put  it  as  gently  as  possible,  I 
will  call  immature. 

^'As  to  the  methods,  ever  easier  and  easier,  which 
are  being  excogitated,  whatever  convenience  may  be 
found  in  them,  there  is  this  grave  inconvenience; 
first,  that  what  is  acquired  without  labor  adheres  but 
lightly  to  the  mind,  and  what  is  summarily  gathered 
in  is  summarily  forgotten ;  secondly,  and  this,  though 
not  adverted  to  by  many,  is  a  much  more  serious  in- 
jury, almost  the  principal  fruit  of  a  boy's  training  is 
sacrificed,  which  is,  accustoming  himself  from  an 
early  age  to  serious  application  of  mind,  and  to 
that  deliberate  exertion  which  is  required  for  hard 
work. 

' '  In  some  points,  however,  which  do  not  concern  the 
substance  of  education,  the  necessities  of  our  times 
require  us  to  modify  the  practice  of  our  predecessors. 

1  Ex  omnibus  aliquid:  in  toto  nihil. 


292  LOYOLA. 

And  to  consult  the  requirements  of  such  necessities, 
far  from  being  alien  to  our  principles,  is  altogether 
in  keeping  with  the  Institute. 

' '  In  the  superior  courses,  how  many  questions  are 
there  which  formerly  never  entered  into  controversy, 
which  now  are  vehemently  assaulted,  and  must  be 
established  by  solid  arguments,  lest  the  very  founda- 
tions of  truth  be  sapped!  Therefore  the  questions 
which  are  alive  call  for  special  discussion,  solution, 
refutation. 

' '  In  Physics  and  Mathematics  we  must  not  i^rove 
false  to  the  traditions  of  the  Society,  by  neglecting 
these  courses  which  have  now  mounted  to  a  rank  of 
the  highest  honor.  If  many  liave  abused  these 
sciences  to  the  detriment  of  religion,  we  should  be 
so  much  the  farther  from  relinquishing  them  on  that 
account.  Eather.  on  that  account,  should  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Order  apply  themselves  with  the  more 
ardor  to  these  pursuits  and  snatch  the  weapons  from 
the  hands  of  the  foe,  and  Avith  the  same  arms,  which 
they  abuse  to  attack  the  truth,  come  forward  in  its 
defence.  For  truth  is  ahvays  consistent  with  itself, 
and  in  all  the  sciences  it  stands  erect,  ever  one  and 
the  same;  nor  is  it  possible  that  what  is  true  in  Phys- 
ics and  Mathematics  should  contradict  truth  of  a 
higher  order. 

^^Finall}^,  in  the  method  of  conducting  the  lower 
studies,  some  accessory  branches  should  have  time 
provided  for  them,  especially  the  vernacular  tongues 
and  literatures.  But  the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek 
letters  must  always  remain  intact  and  be  the  chief 
object  of  attention.     As  they  have  always  been  the 


CONCLUSION.  293 

principal  sources,  exhibiting  the  most  perfect  models 
of  literary  beauty  in  precept  and  style,  so  are  they 
still.  And,  if  they  were  kept  more  before  the  eyes 
and  mind,  we  should  not  see  issuing  from  the  press, 
day  after  day,  so  many  productions  of  talented  men, 
with  a  diction  and  style  no  less  novel  and  singular, 
than  are  the  thoughts  and  opinions  to  which  they 
give  expression.  The  commonalty  regard  them  with 
admiring  awe  and  stupor;  but  men  of  knowledge  and 
correct  taste  look  with  commiseration  and  grief  on 
these  unmistakable  signs  of  an  eloquence,  no  less  de- 
praved than  the  morals  of  the  times. 

^^The  adaptation  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum,  therefore, 
means  that  we  consult  the  necessities  of  the  age  so 
far  as  not  in  the  least  to  sacrifice  the  solid  and  cor- 
rect education  of  youth."  ^ 

This  is  the  substance  of  a  document  not  unworthy 
of  the  letters  and  ordinances  in  behalf  of  education, 
issued  by  a  long  line  of  experienced  and  learned 
judges  in  the  art  of  training  youth.  The  modifica- 
tions made  in  the  old  Ratio  have  been  few;  and  I 
have  taken  note  of  them  in  the  preceding  analysis. 

So  then  the  edifice  of  the  past  stands,  with  the 
latest  modifications  introduced  into  its  facade  by  the 
spirit  of  the  present.  As  the  monumental  structures 
which  stud  the  soil  of  Europe,  and  are  set  amid 
royal  parks  or  rich  fields  of  waving  grain,  have  been 
tributes  of  devotion  from  princes  of  the  church  or 
princes  of  the  land,  and  are  not  only  the  memorials 
of  kings  or  peoples,  but  are  especially  the  architec- 

1  Epistola  P.  Roothaan,  1832;  Monumenta  Germanife  Psedagogica, 
vol.  V,  p.  228  seq. 


294  LOYOLA. 

tiiral  record  of  centuries;  so  a  system  recognized  in 
history  as  great,  elevated  in  tlie  order  of  highest 
human  achievement,  that  of  educating  humanity,  and 
resting  on  the  basis  of  oldest  traditions  and  the  wisdom 
of  the  remotest  past,  has  not  been  the  work  of  an 
ordinary  individual,  nor  of  a  day.  Masters  in  their 
art,  and  centuries  in  their  duration,  have  combined  to 
build  it  up,  a  monument  of  the  practice  and  theory  of 
generations.  With  devoted  zeal  and  prudence,  secu- 
lar communities,  and  even  pagans  in  times  far  gone 
by,  had  brought  the  stones,  and  contributed  tithes  to 
the  erection  of  the  fabric.  But  it  is  only  too  well 
known  that  Ecclesiastics  and  Religious  men  have 
been  the  architects  of  the  monument  as  it  stands. 
And  they  did  not  build  better  than  they  knew;  for 
their  structure  is  precisely  one  of  knowledge,  chiefly 
of  divine  knowledge,  raised  into  a  consistent  theory, 
and  honored  by  the  most  practical  use.  So  the 
very  first  sentence  in  the  Ratio  Studiorum,  speaking 
of  the  "abundant  practical  fruit  to  be  gathered 
from  this  manifold  labor  of  the  schools,"  mentions 
that  fruit  as  being  "the  knowledge  and  love  of  the 
Creator." 

I  may  be  permitted  then  to  close  this  work  by 
quoting  their  OAvn  poetry,  which  is  inscribed  on  a 
statue  of  Christ.  The  statue  overlooks  a  park  in 
front  of  it,  and  the  fields  hard  by,  and  the  rich  garden 
of  studious  youth,  within  the  college  walls  alongside. 
Thus  one  inscription  reads :  — 


CONCLUSION.  295 

TIBI  •  HAEC  •  ARVA  •  RIDENT  •  ATQUE  •  AGGERE 

COMPLAXATO  •  HAE  •  FLORIBUS  •  NITEXT  •  AREOLAE  •  ET 

PUBES  •  UXDIQUE  •  ACCITA  •  VIRTUTIBUS 

SCIEXTIIS  •  QUE  •  ADOLESCIT.-^ 


And  again  the  granite  reads : 


QUAS  •  CIRCUM  •  CERXIS  •  CHRISTO 
URXAE  •  FLORIBUS  •  HALAXT  •  XE  •  CARPE 


1  For  Thee  these  meadows  smile,  and,  on  the  hill-top  smoothed 
away,  these  heds  bedeck  themselves  with  flowers ;  and  the  youth 
from  every  clime  unfolds,  in  virtue  and  in  science,  the  hopes  of 
Christian  manhood. 

2  The  urns  thou  see'st  around  breathe  the  fragrance  of  their 
flowers  to  Christ.  Pluck  them  not,  with  hand  unhallowed,  who- 
soe'er thou  be. 


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INDICATIXG    SOME    OF    THE    SOURCES    AND    OTHER 
WORKS,   MORE  EASY  OF  ACCESS. 


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Wetzer  und  Welte's  Kirchenlexicon  :  2d  edit.,  by  Cardinal 
Hergenroether  and  Dr.  F.  Kaulen  ;  vol.  vi,  "Jesuiten,"  col. 
1374-1424  ;  Freiburg,  Benjamin  Herder,  1889. 


Typography  by  J.  S.  Cushing  &  Co.,  Boston,  U.S.A. 
Presswork  by  Berwick  &  Smith,  Boston,  U.S.A. 


THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS. 

Edited  by  Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  Ph.D.    Sold 
separately.     Each  vol.,  i2mo,  net,  $i.oo. 

A  series  of  volumes  giving  concise,  comprehensive  accounts 
of  the  leading  movements  in  educational  thought,  grouped' about 
the  personalities  that  have  influenced  them.  The  treatment  of 
each  theme  is  to  be  individual  and  biographic  as  well  as 
institutional.  The  writers  are  well-known  students  of  education, 
and  it  is  expected  that  the  series,  when  completed,  will  furnish  a 
genetic  account  of  ancient  education,  the  rise  of  the  Christian 
schools,  the  foundation  and  growth  of  universities,  and  that  the 
great  modern  movements  suggested  by  the  names  of  the  Jesuit 
Order,  Rousseau,  Pestalozzi,  Froebel,  Herbart,  Dr.  Arnold  and 
Horace  Mann,  will  be  adequately  described  and  criticised. 

ARISTOTLE,  and  the  Ancient  Educational  Ideals.  By 
Thomas  Davidson,  M.A  ,  LL.D.      Ready. 

AL.CUIN,  and  the  Rise  of  the  Christian  Schools.  By  Andrew 
F.  West,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Latin  and  Pedagogics  in 
Princeton  University.     iVearly  Ready. 

ABELARD,  and  the  Origin  and  Early  History  of  Univer- 
sities. By  Jules  Gabriel  Compayre,  Rector  of  the 
Academy  of  Poitiers,  France.     A' early  Ready. 

LOYOLA,  and  the  Educational  System  of  the  Jesuits.  By 
Rev.  Thomas  Hughes,  S.  J.,  of  Detroit  College.     Ready. 

PESTALOZZI;  or,  the  Friend  and  Student  of  Children, 
By  J.  G.  Fitch,  LL.D.,  Her  Majesty's  Inspector  of  Schools. 
In  Preparation. 

FROEBEL.  By  H.  Courthope  Bowen,  M.A.,  Lecturer  on 
Education  in  the  University  of  Cambridge.     Iti  Preparation. 

HORACE  MANN;    or.    Public   Education   in  the   United 

States.     By  the  Editor.     In  Preparation. 
Other  volumes   on    **  Rousseau  ;    or,    Education    According    to 

Nature,"  "  Herbart  ;  or,    Modern   German   Education,  '  and 

on  "  Thomas  Arnold  ;  or,  the  English  Education  of  To-day," 

are  in  preparation. 


CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S  SONS,  Publishers, 
743  &  745   Broadway,  New  York. 


UNIVERSITY 
EXTENSION  MANUALS 

A  NEW  SERIES  OF 
USEFUL  AND  IMPORTANT  BOOKS 


EDITED    BY    PROFESSOR    WM.    KNIGHT 


CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S   SONS,   Publishers 


T^HIS  Series,  to  be  published  by  John  Murray  in 
*  England  and  Charles  Scribner's  Sons  in  America, 
is  the  outgrowth  of  the  University  Extension  move- 
ment, and  is  designed  to  supply  the  need  so  widely 
felt  of  authorized  books  for  study  and  reference  both 
by  students  and  by  the  general  public. 

The  aim  of  these  Manuals  is  to  educate  rather 
than  to  inform.  In  their  preparation,  details  will  be 
avoided  except  when  they  illustrate  the  working  of 
general  laws  and  the  development  of  principles  ;  while 
the  historical  evolution  of  both  the  literary  and 
scientific  subjects,  as  well  as  their  philosophical  sig- 
nificance, will  be  kept  in  view. 

The  remarkable  success  which  has  attended  Uni- 
versity Extension  in  England  has  been  largely  due  to 
the  union  of  scientific  with  popular  treatment,  and  of 
simplicity  with  thoroughness. 

This  movement,  however,  can  only  reach  those 
resident  in  the  larger  centres  of  population,  while  all 
over   the   country    there   are   thoughtful   persons  who 


UNIVERSITY   EXTENSION    MANUALS 


desire  the  same  kind  of  teaching.  It  is  for  them  also 
that  this  Series  is  designed.  Its  aim  is  to  supply  the 
general  reader  with  the  same  kind  of  teaching  as  is 
given  in  lectures,  and  to  reflect  the  spirit  which  has 
characterized  the  movement,  viz.,  the  combination  of 
principles  with  facts  and  of  methods  with  results. 

The  Manuals  are  also  intended  to  be  contributions 
to  the  literature  of  the  subjects  with  which  they  re- 
spectively deal  quite  apart  from  University  Extension; 
and  some  of  them  will  be  found  to  meet  a  general 
rather  than  a  special  want. 

They  will  be  issued  simultaneously  in  England  and 
America.  Volumes  dealing  with  separate  sections  of 
Literature,  Science,  Philosophy,  History,  and  Art,  have 
been  assigned  to  representative  literary  men,  to  Uni- 
versity Professors,  or  to  Extension  Lecturers  connected 
with  Oxford,  Cambridge,  London,  and  the  Universities 
of  Scotland  and  Ireland. 

JVOJr  READY 

THE    USE    AND    ABUSE   OF    MONEY 

By  Dr.  W.  Cunningham,  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 
i2mo,  ^r.oo,  net. 
CONTENTS — poutical  economy  with  assumptions  and 

WITHOUT  —  INDUSTRY  WITHOUT  CAPITAL — CAPITALIST  ERA  — 
MATERIAL  PROGRESS  AND  MORAL,  INDIFFERENCE — THE  CONTROL 
OF  CAPITAL  — THE  FORMATION  OF  CAPITAL— THE  INVESTMENT 
OF  CAPITAL — CAPITAL  IN  ACTION  —  THE  REPLACEMENT  OF 
CAPITAL — THE  DIRECTION  OF  CAPITAL — PERSONAL  RESPONSI- 
EILITY — DUTY  IN  REGARD  TO  EMPLOYING  CAPITAL — DUTY  IN 
REGARD  TO  THE  RETURNS  ON  CAPITAL — THE  ENJOYMENT  OF 
WEALTH. 

Dr.  Cunningham's  book  is  intended  for  those  who  are  already 
familiar  with  the  outlines  of  the  subject,  and  is  meant  to  help 
them   to   think   on  topics   about    which    everybody   talks.     It  is 


UNIVERSITY  EXTENSION  MANUALS 


essentially  a  popular  treatise,  and  the  headings  of  the  three  parts, 
Social  Problems,  Practical  Questions,  and  Personal  Duty,  give  a 
broad  view  of  the  large  scope  of  the  book.  The  subject  is 
Capital  in  its  relation  to  Social  Progress,  and  the  title  emphasizes 
the  element  of  personal  responsibility  that  enters  into  the  questions 
raised.  The  discussion  is  as  thorough  as  it  is  practical,  the 
author's  main  purpose  being  to  enlighten  the  lay  reader.  The 
novelty  of  his  point  of  view  and  the  clearness  of  his  style  unite  to 
make  the  book  botli  interesting  and  valuable.  The  volume  con- 
tains a  syllabus  of  subjects  and  a  list  of  books  for  reference  for 
the  use  of  those  who  may  wish  to  pursue  the  study  further. 

THE   FINE   ARTS 
By  G.  Baldwin  Brown,  Professor  of    Fine  Arts  in 
the  University  of  Edinburgh.     i2mo,  with  Illus- 
trations, $T.oo,  net. 
CONTENTS — Part  I. — art  as  the  kxpression  of  popu- 
lar   FEEUNGS    AND    IDEALS: — THE     BEGINNINGS   OF    AKT — THE 
FESTrVAL  IN  I're  RELATION  TO    THE  FORM   AND   SPIRIT  OF  CLASSI- 
CAL ART MEDIEVAL  FLORENCE  AND  HER  PAINTERS.      Part  IT. — 

THE  FORMAL  CONDITIONS  OF  ARTISTIC  EXPRESSION  :  —  SOME 
ELEMENTS   OF    EFFECT   IN    THE    ARTS    OF    FORM — THE   WORK   OF 

ART     AS     SIGNIFICANT THE     WORK     OF     ART     AS     BEAUTIFUL. 

Part  III. — THE  ARTS  OF  FORM  : — ARCHITECTURAL  BEAUTY  IN 
RELATION  TO  CONSTRUCTION — THE  CONVENTIONS  OF  SCULPTURE 
PAINTING   OLD    AND   NEW. 

The  whole  field  of  the  fine-arts  of  painting,  sculpture  and 
architecture,  their  philosophy,  function  and  historic  accomplish- 
ment, is  covered  in  Professor  Baldwin  Brown's  compact  but  ex- 
haustive manual.  The  work  is  divided  into  three  parts,  the  first 
considering  art  as  the  expression  of  popular  feelings  and  ideas — 
a  most  original  investigation  of  the  origin  and  development  of 
the  aesthetic  impulse  ;  the  second  discussing  the  formal  conditions 
of  artistic  expression  ;  and  the  third  treating  the  "  arts  of  form  " 
in  their  theory  and  practice  and  giving  a  luminous  exposition  of 
the  significance  of  the  great  historic  movements  in  architecture, 
sculpture  and  painting  ^om  the  earliest  times  to  the  present. 

THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  BEAUTIFUL 

Being  the  Outlines  of  the  History  of  Aesthetics.  By 
William  Knight,  Professor  of  Philosophy  in  the 
University  of  St.  Andrews.     i2mo,  $t.oo,  net. 

CONTENTS  —  INTRODUCTORY  —  PREHISTORIC  ORIGINS  — 
ORIENTAL    ART  AND  SPECULATION — THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  GREECE 


UNIVERSITY  EXTENSION  MANUALS 


— THE  NEOPLATONISTS — THE  GRAECO-ROMAN  PERIOD — MEDIAE- 
VALISM  —  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  GERMANY  —  OF  FRANCE  —  OF 
ITALY — OF   HOLLAND — OF   BRITAIN — OF   AMERICA. 

Not  content  with  presenting  an  historical  sketch  of  past  opin- 
ion and  tendency  on  the  subject  of  the  Beautiful,  Prof.  Knight 
sho\vs  how  these  philosophical  theories  have  been  evolved,  how 
they  have  been  the  outcome  of  social  as  well  as  of  intellectual 
causes,  and  have  often  been  the  product  of  obscure  phenomena 
in  the  life  of  a  nation.  Thus  a  deep  human  interest  is  given  to 
his  synopsis  of  speculative  thought  on  the  subject  of  Beauty  and 
to  his  analysis  of  the  art  school  corresponding  to  each  period 
from  the  time  of  the  Egyptians  down  to  the  present  day.  He 
traces  the  sequence  of  opinion  in  each  country  as  expressed  in  its 
literature  and  its  art  works,  and  shows  how  doctrines  of  art  are 
based  upon  theories  of  Beauty,  and  how  these  theories  often  have 
their  roots  in  the  customs  of  society  itself. 


ENGLISH    COLONIZATION    AND    EMPIRE 

By  Alfred  Caldecott,  St.  John's  College,  Cam- 
bridge. i2mo,  with  Maps  and  Diagrams,  $i.oo, 
net. 

CONTENTS — PIONEER  period — international  struggle 

— DEVELOPMENT  AND  SEPARATION  OF  AMERICA — THE  ENGLISH 
IN  INDIA — RECONSTRUCTION  AND  FRESH  DEVELOPMENT — GOV- 
ERNMENT OF  THE  EMPIRE — TRADE  AND  TRADE  POLICY — SUPPLY 
OF  LABOR— NATIVE  RACES — EDUCATION  AND  RELIGION — GEN- 
ERAL  REFLECTIONS — BOOKS   OF   REFERENCE. 

The  diffusion  of  European,  and,  more  particularly,  of  English, 
civilization  over  the  face  of  the  inhabited  and  habitable  world  is 
the  subject  of  this  book.  The  treatment  of  this  great  theme  covers 
the  origin  and  the  historical,  political,  economical  and  ethnological 
development  of  the  English  colonies,  the  moral,  intellectual,  in- 
dustrial and  social  aspects  of  the  question  being  also  considered. 
There  is  thus  spread  before  the  reader  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the 
British  colonies,  great  and  small,  from  their  origin  until  the  present 
time,  with  a  summary  of  the  wars  and  other  great  events  which 
have  occurred  in  the  progress  of  this  colonizing  work,  and  with 
a  careful  examination  of  some  of  the  most  important  questions, 
economical,  commercial  and  political,  which  now  affect  the  rela- 
tion of  the  colonies  and  the  parent  nation.  The  maps  and  dia- 
grams are  an  instructive  and  valuable  addition  to  the  book. 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  FRANCE. 

By  H.  G.  Keene,  Hon.  M.A.  Oxon.     i2mo.      $i.oo,  net. 

Contents:  Introduction.  — The  Age  of  Infancy  {a.  Birth)— The  Age  of 
Infancy  {b.  Growth)  — The  Age  of  Adolescence  (Sixteenth  Century)  —The  Age 
of  Glory,  Part  I.  Poetry,  etc.  — The  Age  of  Glory,  Part  II.  Prose  — The  Age  of 
Reason,  Part  I.  — The  Age  of  Reason,  Part  II.  — The  Age  of  'Nature'  — 
Sources  of  Modern  French  Literary  Art:  Poetry  —  Sources  of  Prose  Fiction  — 
Appendix  —  Index. 

French  literature  from  the  beginnings  of  the  nation  down  to  our  own  times, 
exclusive  of  living  authors,  is  the  broad  field  covered  by  Mr.  Keene's  survey. 
With  so  large  a  subject,  his  aim  has  necessarily  been  to  preserve  a  proper  per- 
spective and  give  a  correct  general  view,  and  his  success  in  this  is  eminent.  The 
reader  obtains  a  conception  of  the  literature  of  France  as  a  whole,  and  of  the 
evolution  and  mutual  relations  of  its  various  schools  and  stages  which  is  not  else- 
where to  be  obtained,  though,  of  course,  a  detailed  account  of  all  French  authors 
and  their  works  has  not  been  attempted.  As  the  table  of  contents  shows,  the 
subject  has  been  considered  logically  rather  than  treated  as  a  topic  for  mere 
chronicle,  and  the  chapters  on  the  sources  of  the  French  prose  fiction  and  poetry 
of  the  present  time  are  thoroughly  original  in  a  work  of  the  kind  without  being 
in  the  least  arbitrary.  Mr.  Keene  has,  indeed,  been  very  happy  in  avoiding 
dogmatism,  and  in  refraining  from  obtruding  "  his  own  opinions,  even  of  past 
writers,"  to  quote  from  his  preface,  has  given  his  book  the  air  of  authority  and 
impersonality  which  is  so  valuable  in  a  work  whose  main  purpose  is  educational. 


THE  REALM  OF  NATURE. 

An  Outline  of  Physiography.  By  Hugh  Robert  Mill, 
D.Sc.  Edin.  ;  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh; 
Oxford  University  Extension  Lecturer.  With  19  coloured 
maps  and  68  illustrations.     i2mo.     $1.^0,  neL 

Contents  :  The  Story  of  Nature  — The  Substance  of  Nature  —  Energy,  the 
Power  of  Nature  —  The  Earth  a  Spinning  Ball  —  The  Earth  a  Planet  — The  Solar 
System  and  Universe  —  The  Atmosphere  —  Atmospheric  Phenomena  —  Climates 
of  the  World —  The  Hydrosphere  —  The  Bed  of  the  Oceans  —  The  Crust  of  the 
Earth  — Action  of  Water  on  the  Land  —  The  Record  of  the  Rocks— The  Conti- 
nental Area — Life  and  Living  Creatures  —  Man  in  Nature  —  Appendices  — 
Index. 

This  happily  entitled  volume  treats  of  the  place  of  physical  science  in  the 
sphere  of  human  knowledge,  and  shows  the  relations  to  each  other  of  the  various 
special  sciences.  Much  the  larger  part  of  the  book  is  devoted  to  a  description  — 
in  outline  of  necessity,  but  admirably  luminous  —  of  the  facts  regarding  "the 
structure  of  the  Universe,  the  form,  material,  and  processes  of  the  Earth,  and 
the  relations  which  they  bear  to  Life  in  its  varied  phases."  Professor  Mill  has  a 
great  gift  of  lucid  exposition,  and  his  book  is  as  clear  as  it  is  comprehensive. 
Considering  its  range,  it  is  a  masterpiece  of  compression.  The  nineteen  maps 
are  specially  compiled  by  J.  G.  Bartholomew,  the  eminent  cartographer.  The 
work  has  been  reviewed  with  reference  to  the  use  of  American  students  by  Pro- 
fessor N.  S.  Shaler  of  Harvard  University,  who  has  supplied  occasional  illustra- 
tions from  the  point  of  view  of  the  American  physiographer. 


UNIVERSITY   EXTENSION   MANUALS 


IN  PREPARATION 


THE  STUDY  OF  ANIMAL  LIFE.  By  T.  Arthur  Thomson, 
University  of  Edinburgh. 

THE  DAILY  LIFE  OF  THE  GREEKS  AND  THE 
ROMANS.     By  W.  Anderson,  Oriel  College,  Oxford. 

THE     ELEMENTS     OF     ETHICS.       By  John    H.    Muirhead, 
Balliol  College,  Oxford. 

OUTLINES  OF  ENGLISH  LITERATURE.  By  William 
Renton,  University  ot  St.  Andrews. 

SHAKESPEARE  AND  HIS  PREDECESSORS  IN  THE 
ENGLISH    DRAMA.     ByF.  S.  Boas,  Balliol  College,  Oxford. 

THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  By  C.  E.  M.^llev,  Balliol 
College,  Oxford. 

LOGIC,  INDUCTIVE  AND  DEDUCTIVE.  By  William 
MiNTO,  University  of  Aberdeen. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  By  Arthur  Berry, 
King's  College,  Cambridge. 

THE  ENGLISH  POETS,  FROM  BLAKE  TO  TENNY- 
SON.    By  the  Rev.  Stopford  A.  Brooke,  Trinity  College,  Dublin. 

ENERGY  IN  NATURE.  An  Introduction  to  Physical  Science.  By 
John  Cox,  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 

OUTLINES  OF  MODERN  BOTANY.  By  Prof.  Patrick 
Geddes,  University  College,  Dundee. 

THE  JACOBEAN  POETS.  By  Edmund  Gosse,  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge. 

TEXT   BOOK   OF  THE    HISTORY   OF    EDUCATION. 

By  Prof.  Simon  S.  Laurie,  University  of  Edinburgh. 

BRITISH  DOMINION  IN  INDIA.  By  Sir  Alfred  Lyall, 
K.  C.  B.,  K.  C.  S.  I. 

THE  PHYSIOLOGY  OF  THE  SENSES.  By  Prof.  Mc- 
Kendrick,  University  of  Glasgow,  and  Dr.  Snodgrass,  Physiological 
Laboratory,  Glasgow. 

COMPARATIVE    RELIGION.     By  Prof.   Menzies,   University  of 

St.  Andrews. 

THE  ENGLISH  NOVEL  FROM  ITS  ORIGIN  TO  SIR 
WALTER  SCOTT.  By  Prof.  Raleigh,  University  College, 
Liverpool. 

STUDIES   IN    MODERN   GEOLOGY.      By  Dr.  R.  D.  Roberts, 

Clare  College,  Cambridge. 

PROBLEMS     OF     POLITICAL     ECONOMY.      By    M.   E. 

Sadler,  Senior  Student  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford. 

PSYCHOLOGY:   A    HISTORICAL    SKETCH.      By  Prof. 

Seth,  University  of  St.  Andrews. 

MECHANICS.  By  Prof.  James  Stuart,  M.  P.,  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge, 


CRITICAL  NOTICES  OF  THE  SERIES. 


"  The  series  of  manuals,  of  which  these  are  the  initial  volumes,  can 
but  prove  a  most  valuable  one." —  Boston  Traveller. 

"  We  are  impressed  with  the  merits  and  general  thoroughness  of  the 
'  University  Extension  Manuals.'  "  —  The  Independent. 

"They  are  admirable  condensations  of  the  best  thought  upon  the 
several  subjects,  and  will  be  eagerly  sought,  not  only  by  scholars,  but 
by  the  general  reader  as  works  of  reference."  —  Boston  Transcript. 

"The  Manuals  are  intended  rather  as  aids  to  education  than  for 
purposes  of  general  information.  The  two  which  have  so  far  appeared 
are  admirably  adapted  for  that  end."  —  Charleston  News  and  Courier. 

"  It  ['  The  Fine  Arts  ']  may  be  recommended  as  an  eminently  clear 
and  sound  brief  statement  of  the  aims  and  conditions  of  art,  especially 
in  the  three  forms  of  architecture,  sculpture,  and  painting."  —  N.Y. 
Evenmg  Post. 

"  This  series  promises  to  be  one  of  the  most  valuable  sets  of  educa- 
tional books  yet  projected.  The  selections  for  it  are  made  with  singu- 
larly good  judgment,  and  the  volumes  make  not  only  a  set  of  important 
'  texts.'  but  solid  additions  to  literature."  —  Philadelphia  Telegraph. 

"  The  series  promises  to  be  a  very  useful  and  attractive  set  of  books. 
The  name  explains  itself,  and  the  idea  of  a  further  widening  of  the 
extension  movement  by  supplying  students  with  authorized  books  for 
reference  and  detailed  study  is  one  heartily  to  be  commended."  — 
Hartford  Courant. 

"  The  scope  of  these  Manuals  is  very  broad,  —  and  the  old  college 
man,  who  has  forgotten  much  that  he  studied,  will  be  interested  and 
profited  if  he  takes  up  this  series  of  booklets ;  while  to  the  young  men, 
especially  those  whom  circumstances  will  not  allow  to  take  a  collegiate 
course,  but  who  are  anxious  for  a  collegiate  education,  the  series  is 
invaluable."  —  Cincinnati  Cotnmercial  Gazette. 

"  It  is  evident  from  the  volumes  already  published,  and  from  the 
announcements  of  others  to  come,  that  the  series  of  '  University  Exten- 
sion Manuals'  is  to  be  one  of  the  most  significant  educational  enter- 
prises ever  undertaken  in  this  country.  The  subjects  treated,  the  names 
of  the  writers  who  have  been  induced  to  co-operate  in  the  work,  and 
the  well-known  qualifications  of  Prof.  William  Knight,  who  is  the  respon- 
sible editor  of  the  series,  —  all  unite  to  inspire  confidence  in  the  high 
character  of  this  scheme  for  providing  a  sound  and  trustworthy  system 
of  popular  instruction  which  shall  at  once  appeal  to  the  unlearned  by 
the  simplicity  and  directness  of  its  aim,  and  to  the  cultivated  by  fresh- 
ness and  originahty  of  method."  —  Boston  Beacon. 


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