men whose very name has become a pass-word to literature- men who considered intellectual eminence worthy of emulation, and had the means, by sequestration from the world and by ample wealth, of encouraging every talent and predilection to their greatest development: by determined exercise, rendered doubly efficient by the soul-satisfying motives of conscience-the greater glory of God-the good of religion-the exaltation of the sublimest hopes that can warm the heart or guide the pen. I saw around me all the traces of dignity in ease. The timehonoured walls of the old lordly mansion, now a hall of literary pursuits; the land and tenements attached— in times of old exclusively appropriated to the support of individual wealth—perhaps, of pride and sensuality, now sanctified, so to speak, by being heavendestined to administer to the corporeal necessities of those who had left all things in order to feed the souls of men unto eternal life. Such were my reflections. Applying them to my own motives-my own hopes, the sweetness at the heart which ensued easily induced me to overlook, to palliate, what seemed discordant with the beautiful harmony which thus could unite in my imagination things human and divine : a harmony of all that is of heaven, heavenly; with that only of earth which is rational and necessaryand no more.

I have now given the reader a faithful reflection of my mind and sentiments at the time in question; and I trust that all my subsequent conduct, as detailed in these pages, will be found consistent with this reflec

tion. If I misled myself in the desperate step which I took, it is in my power now to make amends by a conscientious account of my experience during the year that followed my admission into the Society of the Jesuits: or, as I then fervently called it, the Society of JESUS.

25

CHAPTER IV.

ADMISSION TO THE NOVITIATE.

At length, accompanied by two or three members of the Society, I went to "Hodder-house"-so the Novitiate is called. I was received at the door by the Father of the Novices, who seized my hand with rapture, kissed it, and, leading me to the little chapel, knelt down, to offer, I suppose, a thanksgiving similar to mine of the previous Sunday. I was much affected by the fervour of this venerable-looking man: his hair grey with age, and his countenance furrowed by care or religious mortifications. I found him throughout a kind, simple man; but was always at a loss to imagine the cause of a perpetual sadness which dimmed his features.

A "brother-novice" led me over the various parts of the house, and then I was introduced to all the novices, who were assembled in the "recreationroom."

All the novices wore long black cassocks, with a strip of the material of which they were made hanging down from the shoulders: to typify, I believe, the

wings on which, by meditation, the soul soars to heaven. They had caps which seemed very much the worse for wear-a fact which was afterwards explained by another, viz., that for the sake of "mortification" the old clothes and cast-off habiliments, &c., of the students at the college were consigned to the use of the novices. There was nothing, however, in their countenances that indicated excessive austerity, or much success in the art of looking religious; which, of course, is to be acquired only by practice: by after-practice, when the devout novice shall have been transformed into a devoted Jesuit, factus ad unguem, fashioned to a nicetyaccording to the memorable pattern exhibited by Ignatius to his followers, namely, "as soft wax in the hands of his superior, to take what form he pleases!"

After this introduction, the novices left the room. I remained with the brother who had me in charge, and whose duty it was to apprise me of all the regulations of the establishment: the hours of rest and rising, the things that might and might not be done -in fine, he was to be my dictionary, my encyclopedia for the week, to be consulted on every emergency in my difficulties touching the "exact science" of probationary discipline. He was a little man, not very prepossessing in features, but nevertheless very obliging, and extremely attentive. I may observe here, by the way, that it was most unfortunate for my "vocation," as the result proved, that I could not harmonise with the men with whom I came into im

mediate contact: somehow or other, desideravére oculi quicquid, my mind or my heart always found something wanting; so that I was always, as it were, on a bed of thorns, even when in full devotional bloom.

As the wintry evening had closed in, we remained at the fireside in the recreation-room, till the bell rang for supper. My companion then instantly rose, and rehearsed the Angelus; to which I responded as well as this sudden appeal to my religious memory (somewhat weakened by worldly pursuits) would allow, and then accompanied him to the refectory.

The novices stood in front of the tables on both sides of the room;-the Superior entered, went to his table near the fire-place, and said grace in Latin, the novices repeating the responses with ready exactness and solemn cadence.

During supper I could not help observing that the novices never raised their eyes from the square foot of surface that included their plate and cup: this was "keeping custody of eyes," as I shall afterwards explain more at large. I saw their faces, but they did not see mine; so that, by sympathy, I imitated their pious demeanour, feeling, as it were, ashamed of my worldly curiosity.

The silence, too-for not a word was spoken to ask for aught or in thanks for the supply—had a solemnity in it which had never struck me before; though, from my youth upwards, I had been accustomed to eat where "no talking was allowed." All that was needed was before us, or the vigilant "waiters"—