Within their own ranks they have furnished great scholars in all branches of philoiophy, theology, history, philology, literature and science. It is sufficient to name such men as Suarez, De Lugo, Bellarmine, Toletus, Lessius, a Lapide, and to note that the treatises of Jesuit writers form the textbooks in all the theological seminaries of the Catholic Church to-day. They have written in almost every lan guage and on every conceivable subject, and the mere catalogue of their writers, though not yet complete, already fills more than seven large quarto volumes. Their missionary enter prises were never disjoined from scientific in vestigation.
Their history is marked by ceaseless activity in launching new schemes for the spread of the Catholic faith, and by absolute fearlessness in opposing error regardless of any consequences to themselves. These two characteristics may explain why even by some Catholics they are regarded as a disturbing element in the Church. One of their most noted disputes with church men was with the Dominicans on grace, during which the Jesuit doctrine of grace was formu lated. The contest lasted for nine years, and although great theological learning was adduced on both sides a truce was imposed by the Pope without any decision being arrived at. Of far greater consequence was their war with the Jansenists. It was chiefly on this occasion that the society was accused of laxity in their moral code and that their great antagonist Pascal won fame by his Qettres Provinciales ' which like the famous Monita Secrete of former times purported to he the private instruction of super riors to members of the order. After this con test their expulsion from France was an easy task, as the Jansenists wielded great political influence and were backed by the irreligious element which was growing rapidly there.
They have been expelled over and over again from almost every Catholic country in Europe, always, however, coming back again to renew their work when the storm had subsided; and this fact has been adduced as a proof that there is something iniquitous in the very nature of the organization. Worse still in 1773 the entire order was suppressed by a brief of Pope Clement XIV and all their goods confiscated. They then numbered 24,000 members and had establishments in all parts of the world and flourishing missions, all of which were immedi ately destroyed, but not one Jesuit uttered a word of complaint or protest. What is remark able is that while Catholic Popes expelled them they were protected by the schismatic Catherine of Russia, and the Protestant Frederick of Prussia, the friend of Voltaire. This very pro tection was urged as a reproach against them and as a proof of their guilt.
With the exception of the disastrous finan cial speculation of Lavalette, which was the sin of an individual and not imputable to the entire society, as commercial transactions were abso lutely prohibited by the statutes, the society is proved to be guiltless both in its partial sup pressions and in its total abolition. This is
clear from the very brief of Clement XIV which dealt the blow. In that document all the charges are enumerated, but not one is pro nounced to be true. The society was suppressed as a political necessity and for nothing else. The encyclopaedists of France regarded it as their most redoubtable opponent and had vowed its destruction. °Destroy the Jesuits,'' said Vol taire, °and we shall make an end of the beastry Church?' In this work the Bourbon kings had to be enlisted. Madame de Pompadour, the king's mistress, whom the Jesuits had refused to absolve, influenced Louis XV; the Spanish and Portuguese ministers wrought on the fears of their sovereigns by forged documents con taining threats and plans of assassination, and when all was ready the monarchs gave the Pope a choice of suppression of the society or schism. The Pope yielded, and is said by Pius VI and Pius VII to have lost his mind in consequence. The vindication of the society came immedi ately. The very Pope who suppressed them approved of their corporate existence in Russia. Pius VI who succeeded him in the following year readmitted them into Italy, and Pius VII on the fall of Napoleon re-established the so ciety in all its integrity on 7 Aug. 1814.
Since its rehabilitation the society has con tinued to increase in spite of constantly in creasing difficulties. In the beginning of 1916 it counted 17,008 members, of whom 8,448 were priests, and 4,413 scholastics in preparation for the priesthood. The general of the society is Ulcdimir Ledochowski, who was elected 11 Feb. 1915. In the United States the beginning of 1917 there were 2,626 Jesuits, with colleges and churches in the principal cities and with flourishing missions among the Indians of the Rocky Mountains and Alaska. In Cuba and the Philippines their schools have achieved remark able success, and the great meterological observ atories of Havana and Manila were established and are at present controlled by them. The chief houses for studies for the American mem bers of the order are at Woodstock, Md., Saint Louis, Mo., and Montreal, P. Q.
In some countries of Europe the same hos tility still pursues them. In the revolutions of 1830 and 1848 their houses were closed and the members driven out of the country. In the Kulturkampf inaugurated by Bismarck they were the first victims, and all the efforts of the Centre party have hitherto failed to secure their re-entrance into Germany. Similarly they were the first to be struck in the present religious persecution in France. On the other hand they have been the recipients of countless marks of esteem and affection on the part of Leo XIII, and he placed the stamp of his approval on the society by adding many new names to its already long list of canonized saints and martyrs. _