White Russia, and he lost no time in having him named Bishop of Mallo in partibus.

Catherine sent for him to St. Petersburg, and with her shrewd eye for character, saw that this was the very man she wanted. She was greatly taken, too, with his polished manners and his knowledge of languages. She explained to him that she intended to make him independent of Massalski, and subject only to the Pope. Siestrzencewicz accepted, knowing well that he could not do so legally without orders from Rome. A few days later Catherine sent him a letter nominating him Bishop of White Russia without any previous correspondence with the Pope. A letter of hypocritical submission from Siestrzencewicz was the first intimation Clement XIV. had of the matter, and he was naturally greatly surprised at the audacity of the Bishop and of the Government. But after a great deal of correspondence, the Pope once more thought it better to compromise, and he gave Siestrzencewicz the necessary powers, but only as Bishop of Mallo and not of White Russia.

Soon after the publication of the Brief of Suppression in Poland, the Jesuits were summoned to St. Petersburg to give an account of the property they owned. Father Czerniewicz and two others set out On the way they wrote to the Nuncio, Mgr. Garampi, explaining their difficult position. They told him that Catherine had promised them her protection, but they did not know what measures she intended to take; that they naturally hoped to save the Order in White Russia, but feared that their action might be regarded as disobedience to the Pope, and they were willing to give up everything rather than be considered wanting in loyalty to the Holy See. During the journey the three Jesuits discussed the situation. Father Czerniewicz's companions urged that they should do their utmost to preserve the Society, but he himself began to fear that the reputation and memory of the Order might suffer if a handful of Jesuits continued to live in community, to all appearances in defiance of the Brief. They resolved, therefore, on arriving at St. Petersburg to ask the Tsarina to allow them to conform to it. They first presented themselves to Tchernichef, the Governor-General. He received them in a friendly manner, expressed his distress at the turn events had taken and promised his support. Father Czerniewicz thanked him, but told him that they had decided to ask leave to disperse. Tchernichef was greatly astonished at this resolution and advised them not to act hastily. He promised, however, to present any petition of theirs to the

Tsarina. The Jesuits then wrote out their request, giving their reasons and dwelling on the obedience which they owed to the Holy See. They begged the Tsarina, by the favour which she had always shown them, to allow them to share the fate of their colleagues; they would be none the less useful to the Empire, and would continue to teach in the colleges.

Siestrzencewicz was then in St. Petersburg. According to instructions from the Nuncio, he had already broached the subject of the publication of the Brief to Catherine. She answered him angrily and forbade him to mention the matter again.

from the pulpit.

for the Fathers.

Before presenting the Jesuits' petition to the Tsarina, Tchernichef sent it to Siestrzencewicz. He was astounded at this step and approved of it eagerly. For four long weeks the Jesuits were kept waiting for an answer. To add to their anxiety, bad news came from home. Many of the younger men were in a state of acute unrest, the public were openly criticising the Society, and other religious Orders were condemning them At last, in January, 1774, Tchernichef sent He informed them that it was the supreme will of the Empress that they should remain as they were, observing their rules, and that they should never to dare to open the subject again. He then remarked: The Empress has every respect for the Pope, but there is no reason why she should be more zealous than either His Most Catholic Majesty or His Most Christian Majesty who do not allow the publication of pontifical decrees which concern neither dogma nor morals, without their royal consent. Her Majesty is pleased with your submission to the Pope, and you will be allowed to conform to the Brief as soon as you are notified but it is not for you to decide what laws shall be published and what measures taken in the Empire.” Then, tapping Father Czerniewicz on the arm, he added: "Believe me, Clement XIV. himself will be glad of your preservation; now think of what means you can take to make your existence permanent."

During this conversation a number of Russian magnates were present in Tchernichef's rooms. The contents of the petition were well known in St. Petersburg, and people marvelled at the extraordinary action of the Jesuits who, when it was possible to save themselves, asked for their own destruction. There were loud congratulations on all sides when the Tsarina's answer was heard.

But Father Czerniewicz was not content. He went to the Bishop and begged him to press the matter further. Nothing

would have given Sietrzencewicz greater pleasure, but he was obliged to acknowledge that he dare not mention the subject again.

Father Czerniewicz wrote a second time to the Nuncio. But Mgr. Garampi answered neither of his letters. His position and that of the Holy See was very embarrassing. In the face of the Brief they could not approve Catherine's actions, but there was no use in objecting, so silence seemed the best course.

Besides the fact that neither the Pope nor his Nuncio protested either to the Jesuits themselves or to the Court of St. Petersburg against their survival, there are some grounds for the opinion that Clement XIV. actually wrote to Catherine making an exception in favour of the Jesuits of White Russia. Lagnot, in his Annals, quotes a letter from Catherine to the King of Spain when the Spanish Court was reproaching Pope Pius VI. for protecting the Jesuits. The Tsarina writes: “I ask nothing from the present Pope (Pius VI.) and I have received nothing from him. I have only acted according to the powers given me by Pope Ganganelli (Clement XIV.)." The following is from the same source. At the Court of Ferdinand of Austria, this subject was often discussed. Once the Archduke's brother, the Emperor Joseph II., was present. They asked him what he thought of it. He answered that there was no doubt as to the legality of the Jesuit Order in White Russia, for besides the fact that the Brief had not been promulgated there, he had seen with his own eyes the letter in which Clement XIV. had given Catherine leave to keep on the Jesuits as they were in her State. Again, in the official document by which some years later Sietrzencewicz opened a novitiate for the Jesuits, he says: "Pope Clement XIV., of illustrious memory, in order to meet the wishes of the Most August Empress of Russia, omitted to have the Brief Dominus ac Redemptor noster executed in her dominions."

Another interesting fact is that in 1774, during Clement XIV.'s lifetime, the Warsaw Gazette announced that the Pope had given a written permission for the Jesuits to remain. The town was full of the news, and the Nuncio made no attempt to deny it.

(To be continued.)

A SUMMER FANCY

I GO where few may follow

My white skiff sailing free,
Swift as a summer swallow

She skims the silver sea.
A blue wave races after
Eager to join my flight,
While ring glad peals of laughter
From headlands of delight.

For there in mid-sea yonder
My land of dreaming lies,
And when my fancies wander
On some divine emprise
The bonds of earth are riven,
My captive soul wings free,
And one short hour is given
To flights of fantasy.

The winds that round it hover
Bring to this soul of mine
The ardour of a lover,

The joy of dreams divine.
And so, bereft of sorrow,

I lift earth's load again. And wait the coming morrow To greater heights attain.

And thus my days of labour
Are set to one glad song
Not born of sword or sabre
Where angry passions throng.
For being more than mortal,
Yet something less than man,
I see beyond the portal

Of life God's wondrous plan.

WM. O'NEILL.

WE

A MOUNTAIN WALK

E set out for our mountain walk with the intention (in consideration of the short-legged little people who were of our party) of taking the Blessington Steam Tram as far as Brittas, and then, making a detour to the left, of finding our way home again by the unknown road that sweeps leisurely down in a steady and gentle incline over the sunlit sides of Tallaght Hill and Mount Seskin.

As a matter of fact, this was the old coach-road to Blessington in times long gone by, and a famous resort, too, of highwaymen, if all that is told of it be true. And, oh, the wild joy it gave to many young hearts, and some older ones, to explore the mystery of that winding, high mountain road, with its wonderful view of the surrounding country, stretching away beyond Dublin and Kildare to the plains of Carlow and Meath -nay, on that first journey we could easily discern "the mountains of Mourne that roll down to the sea," towering loftily and hazily purple in the far distance-and its tumbledown wayside houses that were probably at one time prosperous inns, and spoke loudly now in decayed thatch and fallen rooftree of their untimely descent into an era of forgotten poverty and neglect.

"Man proposes," however, and tramway managers or secretaries dispose; and thus it came that when we reached the Embankment, within two stations and a good two miles of our intended stopping-place at Brittas, we found that our particular tram was destined to go no further for that journey, and that we must either return or get out and walk. Being entirely disinclined to do the first (on an October Sunday afternoon of radiant splendour) and almost equally averse to forging that extra two up-hill miles ahead-again with a thought for tired little legs-we decided to compromise; and presently found ourselves, by the advice of an obliging and amiable tram-conductor, entering a narrow lane on the left that would easily lead us out on the Mount Seskin Road, though at a point much lower than that which we had at first intended. A pretty winding road, or rather lane, it was, its hedges on either side thickly encrusted, low down, with large and delicious blackberries, while higher up the yellowing branches of the nut-hazel lent a touch of pleasant light and variation