THE JESUITS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 14, 2 August 1873, Page 12

THE JESUITS.

The Catholic « Standard ' of Philadelphia publishes a lecture of one Ye. Lord, one in which he abuses the Jesuits in the usual stereotyped way, and in- its reply makes the following remarks :-— - Dr Lord has overshot the mart. He has acknowledged too much It is contrary to « the eternal law* of mind," that men possessed of the vtotvefsalfy conceded vittttes of the early Jesuits ,« men of thair groat learning, "genias," and "piety;" men' whose "great influence" and fame were " well merited ;" men whose enduring reputation " ooUld not be based upon falsehood," and therefore Must h<Me beta based upon teutS -either could or Would have organize I a system of falsehood, of immorality and of political and social degradation and corruption, such as he- charges upon them. There is no fellowshftr between light and darkness, between truth and falsehood, between vuv tue and vice. Nearly nineteen hundred years ago our Divine Lobd enunciated the true principle by which the followers of Loyola. ai» ro be judged. " There is no good tree that hringeth forth evil fruit " •■ • • " Every tree is knotin by its fruit: For men do not gather Jigs from thorns; nor from a bramble do they gather grapes. A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that tOhich is good. This is sufficient of itself to vindicate the founders and the' early Jesuits from the aspersions of Dr. Lord. According to his own declarations, they possessed great " talent," " learning" and "genius." They conld not, therefore, have erred through ignorance. They were eminent for their " virtues,'* their' " devotion," their " zeal," and their piety. It is equally impossible that they could knowingly and wiliully devise and uphold a system whose principles were based upon falsehood, and whose tendency was immoral. Liberty does not consist in independence of or resistance to legitimate authority, neither doer implicit obedience to that authority constitute slavery. Submission to the truth, to Him who is the embodiment and source of truth, snd to those whom Hb has constituted and ordained to be the teachers of truthm the highest freedom. It is so because iv obeying the truth, and His, teachers of truth we obey Him, whose fear is the beginning of all wisdom and whose service is life and freedom in their highest forme. Hence our Saviour lays down the principle : "If you continue in mu> tVord, you shall know the truth, and the Truth Shim. Makb Yaxs' F^bb." This is the principle that underlies the obedience of the Jesuit, and we may Bay of every faithful Catholic— the free submission by. thtf autoonmy of his own will, of himself, not to man or any body of men, but to Tfiß tbuih. And hence of all men Catholics are the most free: And history for eighteen hunared years when properly studied and- read, bears glorious testimony to the value they have ever attached: to true .freedom, the jealousy with which they have guarded it. the heroic courage with which they have defended it, and the sacrifices—not counting their lives dear in comparison— they have mide to trans* mit it to tho coming generations. As to the Jesuits being the upholdersof absolutism in Europe, thefact is patent in history, that the absolutists were their' bitterest enemies and persecutors. Dr. Lord's allegation also, that the mem* bers of the Order of Jesus had no confidence in the capacity of man for self-government, is of the same character with most of his mia--representations—a grain of truth in a bushel of falsehood. Tlwy had not-~nor have we — any faith in the capacity of ignorant viuiom and corrupt men to govern themselves. But this is far from believin* that mankind are incapable of self-government. According to Dr. Loed 1 the founders of the Order of JB3TTS and the '• early members" of the Ordet possessed sufficient " talent," " learning " and " genius " to understand the nature and tendency of the system they formed. They were men of eminent virtue, " devotion " a?id piety, therefore they could not designedly or wilfully form a system- other than good. The present Jesuits, too; are acknowledged faithfully to have adhered to the principles of the founder of their Order: No change of principle or system has ever been charged- against them. Consequently, both* the " early- Jesuits " and their late and present followers must beequally deserving of commendation.

The J * Cliurch Herald ' says that the Eoman Catholics have" pro--vided their archbishop with a suitable residence or palace in West--minster. Et is situated at the west end of Victoria street, near the junction of that street with Vauxhall Bridge road. Ifc is a large and: commodious residence; and is being suitably fitted up. The archbishop's receptions will be on- a much larger scale than usual, as the' present residence is vastly superior to tho old house in. York place, as also to'the'late cardinal's previous residence in Golden square. The 1 income of the Roman Catholic see of Westminster, is said now toamount to about £3000 per annum. The Catholic population of the United States is divided under 7 seven ecclesiastical provinces. There are seven archbishops, 52 ; bishops, and six vicars-apostolic. The number of priests is 4,890: There are 47' cathedrals and 4,250 churches, besides 1,754 chapelß v and stations, 138 _ monasteries, 383 convents, 283' charitable institutions, 1,577 academies, 112 seminaries and colleges, 848' students for tho priesthood. The' Catholic population is estimated' lit 9,600,000, the entire population of the Union being a little less than 40,000,000.

The 'Spectator,' referring to tho part taken by Archbishop Mannitig as a social reformer, and especially to his advocacy of the came' of the agricultural laborers, contrasts his conduct with With that of the ministers of the National and Nonconformist' Churches,' (except Oanon Girdlestone, of whom it makes honorable mention,) and proceeds : — " No doubt the Bishop of Manchester has taken the'right side inthis matter, as he always does in most matters: .... The Roman Catholic Church understands its relations to the'poor and needy better than our own. Are we to 'leave theworld to 1 suppose that' this is because it is itself poor, because it is a voluntary Church, without offioial authority and without national' tribute? We venture to say that the English Church has never missed a greater opportunity of reaching the hearts of the people than when it left Arc lbishop Manning to plead the cause of these poor' , labourers alone.-'