第 44 节
作者:乐乐陶陶      更新:2021-02-24 23:08      字数:9322
  stood; these stood: when the living creatures were lifted up; the
  wheels were lifted up over against them; and their wings were full
  of eyes round about; and they were so high that they were dreadful。
  So of the institution of Ignatius;one soul swayed the vast mass;
  and every pin and every cog in the machinery consented with its
  whole power to every movement of the one central conscience。〃
  Luther moved Europe by ideas which emancipated the millions; and
  set in motion a progress which is the glory of our age; Loyola
  invented an agency which arrested this progress; and led the
  Catholic world back again into the subjections and despotisms of
  the Middle Ages; retaining however the fear of God and of Hell;
  which are the extremes of human motive。
  What is the secret of such a wonderful success?  Two things: first;
  the extraordinary virtues; abilities; and zeal of the early
  Jesuits; and; secondly; their wonderful machinery in adapting means
  to an end。
  The history of society shows that no body of men ever obtained a
  wide…spread ascendancy; never secured general respect; unless they
  deserved it。  Industry produces its fruits; learning and piety have
  their natural results。  Even in the moral world natural law asserts
  its supremacy。  Hypocrisy and fraud ultimately will be detected; no
  enduring reputation is built upon a lie; sincerity and earnestness
  will call out respect; even from foes; learning and virtue are
  lights which are not hid under a bushel。  Enthusiasm creates
  enthusiasm; a lofty life will be seen and honored。  Nor do people
  intrust their dearest interests except to those whom they
  venerate;and venerate because their virtues shine like the face
  of a goddess。  We yield to those only whom we esteem wiser than
  ourselves。  Moses controlled the Israelites because they venerated
  his wisdom and courage; Paul had the confidence of the infant
  churches because they saw his labors; Bernard swayed his darkened
  age by the moral power of learning and sanctity。  The mature
  judgments of centuries never have reversed the judgments which past
  ages gave in reference to their master minds。  All the pedants and
  sophists of Europe cannot whitewash Frederic II。 or Henry VIII。  No
  man in Athens was more truly venerated than Socrates when he mocked
  his judges。  Cicero; Augustine; Aquinas; appeared to
  contemporaries; as they appear to us。  Even Hildebrand did not
  juggle himself into his theocratic chair。  Washington deserved all
  the reverence he enjoyed; and Bonaparte himself was worthy of the
  honors he received; so long as he was true to the interests of
  France。
  So of the Jesuits;there is no mystery in their success; the same
  causes would produce the same results again。  When Catholic Europe
  saw men born to wealth and rank voluntarily parting with their
  goods and honors; devoting themselves to religious duties; often in
  a humble sphere; spending their days in schools and hospitals;
  wandering as preachers and missionaries amid privations and in
  fatigue; encountering perils and dangers and hardships with fresh
  and ever…sustained enthusiasm; and finally yielding up their lives
  as martyrs; to proclaim salvation to idolatrous savages;it knew
  them to be heroic; and believed them to be sincere; and honored
  them in consequence。  When parents saw that the Jesuits entered
  heart and soul into the work of education; winning their pupils'
  hearts by kindness; watching their moods; directing their minds
  into congenial studies; and inspiring them with generous
  sentiments; they did not stop to pry into their motives; and
  universities; when they discovered the superior culture of educated
  Jesuits; outstripping all their associates in learning; and
  shedding a light by their genius and erudition; very naturally
  appointed them to the highest chairs; and even the people; when
  they saw that the Jesuits were not stained by vulgar vices; but
  were hard…working; devoted to their labors; earnest; and eloquent;
  put themselves under their teachings; and especially when they
  added gentlemanly manners; good taste; and agreeable conversation
  to their unimpeachable morality and religious fervor; they made
  these men their confessors as well as preachers。  Their lives stood
  out in glorious contrast with those of the old monks and the
  regular clergy; in an age of infidel levities; when the Italian
  renaissance was bearing its worst fruits; and men were going back
  to Pagan antiquity for their pleasures and opinions。
  That the early Jesuits blazed with virtues and learning and piety
  has never been denied; although these things have been poetically
  exaggerated。  The world was astonished at their intrepidity; zeal;
  and devotion。  They were not at first intriguing; or ambitious; or
  covetous。  They loved their Society; but they loved still more what
  they thought was the glory of God。  Ad majoram Dei gloriam was the
  motto which was emblazoned on their standard when they went forth
  as Christian warriors to overcome the heresies of Christendom and
  the superstitions of idolaters。  〃The Jesuit missionary;〃 says
  Stephen; 〃with his breviary under his arm; his beads at his girdle;
  and his crucifix in his hands; went forth without fear; to
  encounter the most dreaded dangers。  Martyrdom was nothing to him;
  he knew that the altar which might stream with his blood; and the
  mound which might be raised over his remains; would become a
  cherished object of his fame and an expressive emblem of the power
  of his religion。〃  〃If I die;〃 said Xavier; when about to visit the
  cannibal Island of Del Moro; 〃who knows but what all may receive
  the Gospel; since it is most certain it has ever fructified more
  abundantly in the field of Paganism by the blood of martyrs than by
  the labors of missionaries;〃a sublime truth; revealed to him in
  his whole course of protracted martyrdom and active philanthropy;
  especially in those last hours when; on the Island of Sanshan; he
  expired; exclaiming; as his fading eyes rested on the crucifix; In
  te Domine speravi; non confundar in eternum。  〃In perils; in
  fastings; in fatigues; was the life of this remarkable man passed;
  in order to convert the heathen world; and in ten years he had
  traversed a tract of more than twice the circumference of the
  earth; preaching; disputing; and baptizing; until seventy thousand
  converts; it is said; were the fruits of his mission。〃*  〃 My
  companion;〃 said the fearless Marquette; when exploring the
  prairies of the Western wilderness; 〃is an envoy of France to
  discover new countries; and I am an ambassador of God to enlighten
  them with the Gospel。〃  Lalemant; when pierced with the arrows of
  the Iroquois; rejoiced that his martyrdom would induce others to
  follow his example。  The missions of the early Jesuits extorted
  praises from Baxter and panegyric from Liebnitz。
  * I am inclined to think that this statement is exaggerated; or; if
  true; that conversion was merely nominal。  In any event; his labors
  were vast。
  And not less remarkable than these missionaries were those who
  labored in other spheres。  Loyola himself; though visionary and
  monastic; had no higher wish than to infuse piety into the Catholic
  Church; and to strengthen the hands of him whom he regarded as
  God's vicegerent。  Somehow or other he succeeded in securing the
  absolute veneration of his companions; so much so that the sainted
  Xavier always wrote to him on his knees。  His 〃Spiritual Exercises〃
  has ever remained the great text…book of the Jesuits;a compend of
  fasts and penances; of visions and of ecstasies; rivalling Saint
  Theresa herself in the rhapsodies of an exalted piety; showing the
  chivalric and romantic ardor of a Spanish nobleman directed into
  the channel of devotion to an invisible Lord。  See this wounded
  soldier at the siege of Pampeluna; going through all the
  experiences of a Syriac monk in his Manresan cave; and then turning
  his steps to Paris to acquire a university education; associating
  only with the pious and the learned; drawing to him such gifted men
  as Faber and Xavier; Salmeron and Lainez; Borgia and Bobadilla; and
  inspiring them with his ideas and his fervor; living afterwards; at
  Venice; with Caraffa (the future Paul IV。) in the closest intimacy;
  preaching at Vicenza; and forming a new monastic code; as full of
  genius and originality as it was of practical wisdom; which became
  the foundation of a system of government never surpassed in the
  power of its mechanism to bind the minds and wills of men。  Loyola
  was a most extraordinary man in the practical turn he gave to
  religious rhapsodies; creating a legislation for his Society which
  made it the most potent religious organization in the world。  All
  his companions were remarkable likewise for different traits and
  excellences; which yet were made to combine in sustaining the unity
  of this moral mechanism。  Lainez had even a more comprehensive mind
  than Loyola。  It was he who matured the Jes