A Curious Correspondence.

Montmartre in 1534 , all Europe was convulsed by the Reformation which Luther had inaugurated seventeen years before . On the occasion of its first centenaiy , the Society thus described the mission which Loyola had marked out for its members : — " It is vain for heresy to expect the Society to tolerate it in silence . As long as we have any breath left in our bodies we shall bark at the wolves to protect the Catholic flock . No peace is to be hoped for : the

seeds of hate are inborn in us . What Hamilcar was to Hannibal , Ignatius was to us . At his instigation we have sworn eternal war upon the altars " ( "Imago primi sec . Soc . Jes . " Antwerp , 1640 . Lib . i ., 59 : Lib . vi . 843 ) . What was the heresy but Protestantism ? Who were the wolves but tho Reformers ? In face of these facts , can there be any doubt that Luther ' s great revolt against the Papacy contributed most powerfully towards the formation of tho Societ ?

y As to what might have happened , had there been no Reformation , there are few , I imagine , who would venture , like " Catholicus , " to express an opinion on the subject . " Catholicus " says : " It is untrue that Jesuits have no chance of legal

defence against unjust reports made by informers to the government of their Order . " What does he mean by "legal defence ? " I certainly never used that term . As he has required my authorit y for Mariana ' s statement regarding the disastrous effects of secret informations within the Body , I beg to refer him to a work , translated from the Spanish , entitled " Discours du P . Jean Mariana des grandes defauts , qui sont en la forme du gonvernement des Jesuites , "

. Paris , 162-5 , c . iii . In a memorial presented by Spanish Jesuits to Clement VIII ., they complained that the General , like the Lord of Lords , doeth what he will ; that he is bounden b y no laws ; killeth and maketh alive ; and oppresseth and raiseth up , according to his pleasure , as if he were God himself , free from every mental perplexity and incapable of error ( "Tuba magna , " Strasb . 1717 ii . 295 ) . By the Constitutionsevery Jesuit is directed to

, , persuade himself that all which his Superior commands is just , and submissively to abandon his own opinions ( " Institntum Soc . Jesu . " ' Prague , 1757 , ii . p . 73 sum . § 35 ) . Lastly , Gregory XIV . decreed by a Brief in 1591 , that the General should bo empowered to expel any member summarily , without investigation or trial , on being inwardl y satisfied as to his guilt ( " Inst . " i . p . 103 ) . What could be more conclusive than this ?

Membership in the Jesuit Order necessarily involves , in my opinion , what " Catholicus " calls " a sacrifice of filial duties . " P . de Ravignan , " iii his work " De l ' existence et de I ' utilito de la Compagnie de Jesus , " gives the following question , which every candidate for admission is required to answer in the affirmative : — " Vous sentez-vous genereusement determine a repousser avec horreur , sans exception , tout ce que les hommes esclaves des prejuges mondains ' aiment et embrassent ? The Novice is taught that he is dead to the flesh

, having no father but a heavenly one , no mother but his Order , no relations but his brethren in Christ , and no fatherland but heaven ( See C . L . Reinhold ' s "Leben . " Jena . 1825 , p . 10 ) . If we add to this his vow of unquestioning obedience and the absolute dedication of his life to the service of the Society , can it be said that its membership requires no sacrifice of filial duties F

( To he continued . )