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WEAVER ORGAN AND PIAN ) CO., MANUFACTURERS, YORK, PA , U S A. H^^i^S$g;^oKMCSK&t^KC^C^!^S4$^9Ki^^MC;^;^^ ■ I '•t 'V. IT I\v f ■£■ h '■)/ 1\ I•V Students' Headquarters —FOR— HATS, SHOES, AND GENT'S FURNISHING. Sole Agent for WALK-OVER SHOE ECKERT'S STORE. Prices Always Eight lite Lutheran PuMicfltioii Society No 1424 Arch Street, PHILADELPHIA, PA. Acknowledged Headquarters for anything and everything in the way of Books for Churches, Colleges, Families and Schools, and literature for Sunday Schools. PLEASE REMEMBER That by sending your orders to us you help build up and develop one of the church in-stitutions with pecuniary ad-vantage to yourself. Address HENRY 8. BONER, Supt, THE M ERCURY The Literary Journal of Gettysburg College. Voi. XVI GETTYSBURG, PA., NOVEMBER, 1908 No. G CONTENTS. THE SPIRIT OF SELF-SACRIFICE, 2 S. SNYDER, '09. I A DEFENSE OF FOOTBALL, 7 H. DOLLMAN, '08. THE IDEAL AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, 10 G. L. KIEFFER, '09. THE DANCE OF DEATH, 11 S. BOWER, '10. OUR LITERARY SOCIETIES—I. PHILO, 16 FRIENDSHIP AND THE STRENUOUS LIFE, 18 PAUL M. MARSHAL, '10. OUR TREATMENT OF AN INFERIOR RACE, SO R. E. BOWERS, '10. THE POWER OF PUBLIC OPINION, 22 MISS VIRGINIA BEARD, '09. WHAT KNOWLEDGE IS BEST FOR CULTURE, 25 O. D. MOSSER, '09. EDITORIALS, 27 BOOK REVIEWS, 29 EXCHANGES, 31 THE MEFCUKY THE SPIRIT OF SELF-SACRIFICE. S. SNYDER, '09. N this age of commercialism and industrialism every man is striving for a position in the world. His high-est aim seems to be that this position should make him prominent in the eyes of his fellow-men. The spirit of the age tends somewhat towards selfishness. Man seems to have lost the dee]) meaning of the term sacrifice. Webster de-fines the term, in the light we wish to consider it, as surrender, or suffer to be lost, for the sake of obtaining some thing; to give up in favor of a higher or more imperative object of duty. Self-sacrifice is then, the sacrificing of one's self, one's interest, for others. Such a spirit we all admire. Every nation immortalizes her heroes and her martyrs. Why is this? Why does the spirit of self-sacrifice fill our minds with the greatest admiration and gratitude? Admiration, because the man who sacrifices is worthy to be admired. Gratitude, because through the efforts and sacrifices of men from age to age, the world stands at the present time more nearly perfect than ever before. Self-sacrifice is an unchangeable law. All around us are il-lustrations of this. It may be traced from man to the far dis-tant beginnings of life in its lowest forms. Below even the or-ganic we find the atom giving itself to the molecule and the molecule giving itself to the crystal, it is prevalent throughout the vegetable and animal kingdoms. In these the weaker are sacrificed to the stronger. It is very evident then, that in the plan of nature the lower was intended as a means to the higher. Naturally then the question arises, if this is an unchangeable law in all the lower ranks of nature, where everything is sacrificed unconsciously or unwillingly, does it stop when it reaches man, the very point when the beauty of morality and the glory of heroism becomes possible? Nay, rather the reverse. Sacrifice in the lower forms simply fortells what it should be when it reaches man, something higher and nobler, because man ] - sesses an intellect—a will. It is then no longer a fixed law. • It-is in the power of the individual to use at bis will. THE MEROUEY. Man realizes the importance and the joyful reward of a life infused with this noble spirit, but in this like many of his other activities, he is unwilling to pay the price. He too willingly gives up his high and noble ideals of self-advancement to his baser and more ignoble passions. As a country grows richer the sacrificial spirit naturally de-clines, but never should it be forgotten. For this spirit has made history. Progress of any kind can be attained only through sacrifice. AVhatever vocation in life one aspires to is attained only by a certain amount of sacrifice upon the part of the aspirant. (Glory and renown will be brought to the seeker and his vocation in proportion as his life is filled with the spirit of sacrifice.) The story of individuals is precisely the same as that of na-tions, it was not an easy task to found the great empires of Greece and Rome. Not simply one sacrifice but a series of sac-rifices accomplished these two great tasks. Greece, lovely Greece, the land of poets, the mother of art and philosophy! How proud she can feel of her illustrious men! Men whose works are still alive and helping to mark destinies. Her governmental found-ers who were so filled with that high sense of honor and right that her history became famous! Her citizens in general, how brave and noble! They were willing to sacrifice their very lives in the pass of Thermopylae and on the plains of Marathon that the honor of their nation might survive. They fondly hoped her influence should go on forever. But alas! All her glory suddenly turned to shame and she fell. Rome, the city of the seven hills, was likewise the seat of a e mighty nation. She was invincible on land and sea. She ruled the world. Her list of illustrious men how wonderful! The very founders of law and government which today we fol-low. But alas! Her death knell, too, was sounded and she fell. "Why did these great nations fall? Simply because they ne-glected to carry out the fundamental principles on which they were founded. Jealous}-, avarice, and debauchery virtually : • ?ed their ruin. Is this not the story of many a lost life? The downfall of Greece and Borne remain a message to every republic in every time. The same enemies of Greece are at WOTk todav. Every nation should be on her guard lest these -4 THE MERCURY, same enemies gnaw at her vitals and place her honored name among the nations that were, but are no more. What is true of nations is likewise true of individuals, because a nation is nothing more than an aggregation of individuals. Who can read the history of that little country, the Nether-lands, that so valiantly defended its religious and civil liberties, without regarding it as one of the noblest examples of self-sac-rifice in all history? Think of the little children crying in the streets at the death of her noble leader, William the Silent. How many children cried in the streets at the news of Napoleon's death? The lives of truly great men are measured by the sac-rifices wherewith they have lifted humanity to a higher stand-ing. Away with the person whose motives are merely for the grati-fication of self. Scott points out the destiny of such an ideal in these words:— "The wretch concentered all in self, Living shall forfeit fair renown, And, doubly dying shall go down To the vile dust from which he sprung Unwept, unhonored, and unsung." Our own country, today the head of all nations, was establish-ed through the glorious spirit of sacrifice. Queen Isabella of Spain gave Columbus her jewels that he might plough through the mighty waters of the untried sea and discover the shores of an unknown world. After the discovery came the colonization of America, and we can but faintly picture the hardships endured by emigrants com-ing to strange shores. Yet they passed through all these trials cheerfully in the hopes that their posterity would fare better. The Revolutionary War which secured national independence to the colonies, shone brilliantly with the noble spirit of self-sacrifice. It was the spirit that moved Patrick Henry, in that memorable Virginia convention, to utter those inspiring words. "Give me liberty or give me death." It was this spirit that prompted Washington to leave his comfortable and peaceful THE JIERCUHY. home at Mt. Vernon to assume the cai-es and duties of command-er- in-chief of the Continental Army. It was this spirit that ciuised Lafayette to leave the sunny clime of France to fight for America's liberty. It was this spirit that caused Nathan Hale to utter those inspiring words, dear to the heart of every loyal American, "All that I regret is that I have but one life to give to my country." It was this spirit that possessed those three patriots, who refused to release their captive prisoner even though offered bribes of gold. Yea, it was this spirit that prompted the thousands of brave heroes to give the very best they had—their very lives—that their country might be free and independent of Great Britain to become the greatest repub-lic the world has ever known. But these are historical facts of many years past. Behold our present surroundings! All around us are the marks of a once bloody struggle. Here on this historic battlefield of Gettysburg-thousands of brave heroes gave their life-blood for the cause they thought to be right. But I woud not hold up before you such examples as those heroes of the Bevolution, nor would I hold before you the heroes of hard fought battlefields as the highest and only types of self- Bacrifice. There is one sacrifice of the battlefield and there is another not of the battlefield. The sacrifice of giving one's life on the battlefield simply shows what man will do when put to the test. In this there is an objective impulse impelling him on- • id. The other type of sacrifice is that type which is working ■secretly, the results of which come out before the world in deeds, not words. That type of sacrifice that sees in the future some noble purpose which will be a benefit to humanity and which dares to stand firm in the presence of opposition. That type which, when wrong is in its presence, dares to hurl against it all the powers of right. Such a spirit of sacrifice has recognized the mutual relations of Sacrifice and Service. True sacrifice should always serve. Patriotic self-sacrifice was known before Christ, and it is known outside of Christendom. That is but saying that Christi-anity interprets the sublime experiences as it supplies the deep-est needs of the human race. This it does by showing human. virtue to he a manifestation of the divine life. 6 THE MERCURY. But sacrifice has done more than mould great nations given to man eternal life. The stories of ancient struggles assume a new significance when read in the light of Christ's life and death. They are but revelations of that life of God in the soul of man which is as universal as humanity. Remove from the Bible the historical interpretation of sacri-fice, and from the Christian hymns the expression of the Chris-tian faith in divine sacrifice; and by that very act the inspiration to self-sacrifice as the consummate flower of the divinity in man and the supreme ethical expression of the highest life is taken away. it has The life of Christ was one of contin-uous sacrifice but the sacrifice of giving His life on the cross that man might be saved far eclipsed all others. But there is another type of sacrifice which is seldom men-tioned and it has done and is still doing more than any other, humanly speaking, to mould characters and to shape destinies. This is the sacrifice of the mother in the home. Of all earth's sacred shrines the home is supreme. What is home without a mother? The sacrifices of a mother are unparalleled. Words can paint no picture of them. To realize their deep significance they must be experienced. We are in a sense what our mothers make us. How many of us would be compelled to write shame upon our foreheads were it not for the sacrifices and guiding hand of mother? She is the colossal figure that towers above •all others. She is the one who solves the many perplexities of the home and radiates it with a brightness and sacredness inde-scribable. She is the essence of love divine. THE MERCURY. A DEFENSE OF FOOTBALL. HARRY DOLLMAN, '08. j OOTBALL has been condemned by many, but mostly by those who know little or nothing about the game itself and the real merits of the game. Now, it is only rea-sonable and fair that football should be judged from an unprejudiced and unbiased point of view. Man is not only unfair to himself, when he forms hasty opinions without having weighed all the facts in the case, but his actions become very ignoble when he endeavors to enforce his ungrounded con-clusions upon others. We will admit that there are some marked evils attached to the game, but we do not believe they belong to the main body of football any more than a wart or a mole is a part of the nor-mal physical organism. They are mere accidents. If we elimi-nate from our sports, which are so essential to keep the body and mind in a normal healthy state, every game that bears some evil fruit, we will be compelled to do away with athletics alto-gether and possibly with all forms of recreation. There is a well-grounded sociological principle which bids us to substitute something positive when we wish to eliminate an evil tendency. This is especially true when the evil tendency attracts the attention of the young. Since the hostile football critics have not been able to offer a substitute, the wise course is not extermination but rather a readjustment of the game so as to suppress the evil effects. Do away with football in college life and you will introduce a series of escapades. Do away with athletics altogether and you will usher in a chaotic state of disorder. All the penned up pas-sions of youth would then be let loose to work havoc and destruc-tion. Football is an exhaust valve through which all the super-fluous energy of mob violence escapes by means of a natural and harmless outlet. You never hear of college eruptions during the football season. College strikes, raids, and the like are un-known when the student body has a common interest at stake in the success of their team. This branch of athletics has also a harmonizing effect upon. 8 THE MERCURY. the students. They gather in mass meetings to arouse enthu-siasm for a common cause. There are no class distinctions. There is no fraternity prejudice. The faculty, the college men. the preparatorians, and the seminarians are on the same level. All have come together in a common hond of fellowship, that each one may contribute his part to the athletic success of ! i - Alma Mater. If this great American game touches I lie emotions of the soul and causes it to overflow with enthusiasm, will these same emo-tions lie dormant when the student goes out in active life? No, he will undertake the great tasks before him with that enthusi-asm which he developed and fostered in college. He will ac-quire that unerring confidence which will enable him to tackle every obstacle and to press forward towards the goal of his life's ambition. Injury of body, a sluggish intellect, and immorality have been associated with football. But here again, the critic is laboring under a false impression. He is judging rather from the excep-tions and not from the broad general effects. Football develops the physical, quickens the intellectual, and disciplines the moral side of man. It only requires a little direct observation to determine how quickly football transforms a slow, awkward, round-shouldered,, anatomy into a spry, supple, square-shouldered organism. It produces in a player a firmness and alertness of step, a strong, graceful movement of the body, and above all, it is the best ex-ercise known to increase the amount of chest expansion. On the other hand, football teaches the participant to think quickly and act quickly. He must be able to comprehend and interpret signals and act instantly. He must learn to size up his opponents' strength, to take into account his own position on the gridiron, to strike the right blow at the right time and at the right place. Many brawny men stand along the side lines because they are not able to use their heads while in a game. Generalship is more important than avoirdupois in gaining a victory on the gridiron. There is no other game in the curriculum of athletics that tones down an explosive temper so well as football. The univer-sal testimony of football men bear witness to this fact. A playeY THK MLERCtniY. ■will very soon learn that be must respect the rights of others. Clean playing wins, while Foul playing carries the ball towards the enemy's go.il. Apart, from all this, the host moral benefit a player receives is the discipline he derives from careful training. I take the liberty of quoting the pledge which forty-three football candi-dates in Gettysburg College have signed: "1st. I do hereby pledge upon my honor to abstain-from the use of tobacco in any form, intoxicating liquors of any kind, to indulge in no licentious acts or conversation, nor willingly listen to or observe the same, to observe proper sleeping hours as or-dered, to lake no part in any gambling (including betting on any contest), to attend promptly every game and practice (un-less excused in advance by the coach), to do all in my power to promote harmony and good feeling among the members of the team, and cheerfully to obey all rules and regulations which may be adopted in the future. "2nd. The fact that I do not win a position on the team will not absolve me from this pledge." Does it mean anything to the moral life of a small institu-tion to have forty-three men adopt such principles in their every day life as are embodied in this document? Does it not also .strengthen the individual to observe these rules rigidly when he is tempted to break them ? Will men be disposed to ignore these principles when.they get out into the real contests of life? There is a price put upon a clean moral life that his mind may be free to act and his body quick to respond. 10 THE MEKCUUY. THE IDEAL AMERICAN GOVERNMENT. Q. L. KIEFFEK, '09. |HEN our forefathers left the sovereign dominions of Europe and settled on the American shores, they sought a tolerance of thought and action. And when the hand of tyranny still persisted in reaching across the seas mi (I grasping them in its despotism, they arose with one accord and declared themselves free and equal. They then set up upon this earth a form of government which they meant to be ideal. Yea, it has even modified the form of every existing government. But its firm establishment was not without a price. The welding of the nation as a world power was amid the din of battle. But not alone by din of battle was this accomplished. Her illustrious sons in her halls of state during peace, also won for her eternal fame. What would she have been but for a Jef-ferson, a John Sherman, a John Hay, or a Boosevelt? Surely their achievements added to those of a Washington, a Lincoln, and a McKinley. But did the establishment of this government alone require the coping with an external world? Ah, no! Internal foes had to be met. There was a time when the curse of slavery threatened the disunion and annihilation of the nation itself. She had met her external foes and had conquered. Was she to perish by her own hand? No. Again mid the din of battle and in her halls of state victories were won. Upon the heights of Gettysburg it was decreed the nation should live. From her halls of state came forth the Emancipation Proclamation and the immortal words of Lincoln at Gettysburg. Such in brief has been our nation's historic past. But let us examine whether the ideal government, of our forefathers' con-ception is today firmly established. Is this ideal being correctly interpreted when it is necessary for the cry to go forth through-out the land : "Shall the people rale?" Is this cry, if the ideal is being correctly carried out, not tautological? Evidently an apathy exists among the American people which necessitates such a cry. The nation is not thinking of her historic past and high ideals. She has permitted her leaders to become the asso- THE MERCURY. 11 ciates of a corrupted few, and the legalizers of a despot which: corrupts her sons and daughters. But this shall not continue. The American people have not forgotten the ideals of their forefathers. They will rule su-preme. From north, from south, from east, from west, there-comes the rumor of her sons uprising to their might of self-gov-ernment. . Down with the betrayers of your confidence and: blighters of your homes. Arise ye true sons of America and save-her from the hands of her enemy. Let the righteous and just rule. God grant that the emblem of our nation shall no longer be a misnomer. May the time come when its stars in the held of" blue shall brightly be the symbol of ripening fields and happy homes; its red, the symbol of the valor and heroism of her sons not vainly manifested; its white, the undeniable symbol of the purity and the true faith of her people. And as the sun makes his daily circuit may this emblem even be found waving before-his path—a symbol of "a government of the people, by the peo-ple and for the people"—which "shall not perish from the earth." A THE DAHCE OF DEATH. S. E. BOWER, '10. T was midnight in the little Canadian town of St Francis. The continuous rattle of many shuttles and. the steady grind of factory wheels had long since died, away. Only the echo of a foot-fall on the stone pave-ment, or the distant barking of a dog across the Walloostook broke the profound silence. Probably none of the villagers were conscious of the superb, beauty of this night. All of them had long since retired—save one man. John Maynard, a bachelor, lived in the upper story of an old mansion which, divested of its former glory, was now used as a kind of apartment house. The court was to meet the-following week and he had been working for several hours on his briefs. His work finished, be folded his papers, and leaned back 12 lUE 11EKCCKY. to relax in his chair. He contemplated retiring but his atten-tion was suddely attracted by the light of the clear moon. He stepped to the window to drink in the beauty of this night. From his position he could look down upon the Walloostook as her shining waters moved along silently. On the ridge yon-der his eye beheld an oak standing in profile against the sky. and near it one pale star caught in the upper branches of a dead pine. On the opposite ridge but a short distance away, the little graveyard stood out in full view where tops of the pine trees were rocking to and fro' in the night breeze and the white stones shone in the moonlight and the long shadows crept silently o • this dwelling place of the dead. For some time Maynard stood silently musing upon the see] '•This is the very witching time of night when the spirits stalk abroad," said he to himself, startled by the sound of his owi voice. Suddenly it flashed through mind that this was the eve of All Saints' Day, the night on which the disembodied spirits returned to visit the scenes of their life on this earth. Just then the town clock struck the half hour after eleven. He hastily threw on his coat, reached for his hat and betook himself to the graveyard. He was a venturesome fellow and de-termined to find out for himself whether this superstition had any foundation in fact. He hurried along at a breathless pace and was soon at the entrance of the cemetery where the rusty gate created an unwelcome greeting as he passed within. For a moment he stood still, hesitating to pursue this adventure, but the sound of the midnight hour from the distant clock spurred him on to quick action. He rushed to a secluded corner of the graveyard and concealed himself beneath a grave-stone. "This is indeed a ghostly scene," thought he, "and I wonder whether my foolhardiness will be rewarded." The echoing ring had not yet died away when the graves be-gan to yawn forth their dead. One after another opened and there floated majestically forth all that was left of that frail form which men and women so often worship here on earth. Others came more slowly as though reluctant to be aroused from their peaceful slumber. Some had but one leg, others but one-arm. Some forms were bowed with a ripe old age, others had' THE MERCURY. 13 the bearing of a knight. Some jaws were set with teeth of gold,. while others had no teeth at all. At first there was heard not a sound to break the awful still-ness, but as the assembly increased in number the spirits began. to seek out each his own friend or relative and soon the conver-sation became general. '"How are you, Brown, I'm glad to see you out again." ■•Hello, Smith, where've you been keeping yourself?" •'And here's our old friend Jones. Jones, we're mighty glad-to see you." "Well, just think of it," grumbled poor old Mrs. Black, "if my old man didn't go and git married again, and buried his second wife within two feet of me. I won't lie there, so I won't. No, I won't." "Oh, dear," sighed old maid Perkins, "nary a hand has teched my grave in twenty years, by the look of it, an' think of the money I had." And thus it continued. Here a young fellow muttering male-diction on a certain young doctor who had made an unsuccessful attempt to remove his appendix; and there an old miser griping two rusty pennies—sole remnants of his earthly store. At length a huge and bony frame, more stately than his fellows, mounted a tomb-stone and addressed the assembly: "My clear fellow spirits: Some of you have been rather tardy in coming forth but I guess we are about all here at last. And now what shall be the manner of our celebration ? You remem-ber last year we scattered about the town on a visit to our old homes and friends; shall we do that again? "Yes, let's us visit the town," said one, "I have but one living relative and I must call on him." "No, let's stay here and have a dance," said another, "I want to get limbered up." "Let's have a good old experience meeting," said a third. "Not much. I had enough of them on earth to satisfy me." A sudden whiff of smoke hid the little assembly for an in-stant and when it cleared away Herr Teufel himself was stand-ing in their midst. He was greeted with an enthusiasm which carried Maynard back to his college days in which he figured in 8 football star and his comment was,. '^^tWB«i^a^tJji(.|§.,mjti 1 GETTYSBURG COLLEGE Gettysburg, Pa. LIBRARY - 14 THE MERCURY. confined to earth."' .Now the devil persuaded them to celebrate with a dance, explaining that if any relative needed attention he would be glad to look after the matter himself. "We have no instrument," objected one spirit. "Give me a fiddle," shouted the devil. An old musician came forth, through iho crowd and produced a violin which had been buried with him at his request. "This instrument has suffered somewhat from neglect," ob-served his Satanic Majesty, "it has only two strings." But that, however, is not of any circumstance to a good musician. This,. in fact, gives me an opportunity to prove to you thai ! can w\ a bow as expertly as that form of intra-mundane trident that is peculiar to my lordly office. Let's see. Two strings. A and G. "Why, that makes a discord.*' The assembled spirits laughed a hollow laugh at this remark. "Yes, a discord," continued the devil, "the sort of progression not without canon in my tin of music. But enough of this palaver. I'll show you that if necessity is the mother of invention I'm its father." In a I ri he pulled up the A string a half tone to B fiat and began a stir-ring dance in G minor. As the strains of music began to sound shrill and clear on the night air, the shadowy forms snatched each one his partner, whether man or woman, old or young. The many joints, stiff from non-use, began to creak and grind together till the music itself was almost drowned. The practiced violinist became warmed to the fray and brought forth such magical strains that one was reminded of the sacred cremona in the hands of the master. The steps and swing of the dancers increased to the rythm of the music till the dry bones rattled and clattered aa only dry bones can. "They glided past, they glided fast Like travelers through a mist. They mocked the moon in a rigadoon Of delicate turn and tryst. "With mop and mow we saw them go Slim shadows—hand in hand. About, about, in ghostly rout They trod a savaband. THE MERCURY. 21 would require too much space. Let us limit ourselves to the manner in which the American negroes are treated by the people ef the United States, and show why they are considered so in-ferior, how they are treated and the possible remedy for closing the breach between the two races. The negro is here'to stay. It is a case of "visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth gener-ation,'' in a magnified sense. When the old slave-traders were conveying thousands of human beings across the waters, so as to make the men of another race rich and prosperous, little did they think that they would be as free and independent by law as the masters themselves. They brought them here to serve, and they thought that they would naturally serve to the end of time. Born and reared ignorant, degraded, and illiterate, they were brought to this country, where they were often treated as brutes. They were ranked as animals. As animals they received no edu-cation; they had no social intercourse with intelligent people; the}- had no chance for intellectual development, and if they would have had, they did not have the time. As a result, we have the negro of today on our hands. While they receive a much, more human treatment than they did fifty years ago, yet they are counted socially, mentally, morally, and racially inferior to the white man. There are nine millions of negroes in the United States at present. This great mass of humanity must live in some man-ner. As it is now, they must live by serving. They are not per-mitted to hold great social and political positions. They even are not permitted to earn a living as carpenters, plumbers, ma-sons, painters, and the hundred other mechanical trades. A negro can be a fireman on a locomotive, but when he is fit to be an engineer he is turned back. That position is reserved for whitemen only, although a negro may be more capable than many a white engineer. The most responsible positions that the great majority of negroes may hold is to be a bootblack, a barber, a servant, or perhaps a teamster. A great crime has been commit-ted if he becomes a prosperous farmer, or banker, or prosperous-business man. In the South he is even treated more harshly than in the North. There race prejudice exists so firmly that special schools, special hotels, and special conveyances, besides a. THE MERCURY. host of other specials, are required so that th uiv be no ming-ling of the races. We all recognize the fact that the negro is as free as we but when it comes to the point we can never admit him as an equal. Even a negro who stands at the head of his race, and who really is our equal, and possibly superior, is still held, as our inferior. Negroes are undoubtedly advancing in civilization and culture. But the very thought that they may some day be our equals, or even our superiors, is a disagreeable and repulsive thought, I dare say, to every white man and woman in the United States. To remedy these conditions a co-operation of white and I must be formed. Surely we must not retire into the old sysi of the feudalism of the Middle Ages, having the white man as the employer, and the negro as the servant. So in order not to have the feudalism of the races, the negro must be changed and become an equal of the white man. The white man should give the negro the rights of common humanity, the right to better himself, socially and economieallj'. Booker T. Washington sums up very clearly the negro's part in the following statement: "The more I study our conditions and needs, the more I am con-vinced that there is no surer road by which we can reach civic, moral, educational, and religious development, than by laying the foundation in the ownership and cultivation of the soil, the saving of money, commercial growth, and the skillful and con-scientious performance of any duty with which we are intrusted.'" THE POWER OF PUBLIC OPINION. MISS VIRGINIA BEARD, '09. |NE of the most potent factors in the direction or forma-tion of a business enterprise, political campaign, social reform and in many eases even the selection of a life course, is found to be the great motor power of public opinion. Consciously or unconsciously we hold up to this light our undertakings and their possible or probable results, and BR, IMJLLF.U IJV IPTTH.ITITTTS.IIS PICTURE FRAMES 0F AU S0RTS M W ft** * A W «h4U, REPA|R woa|( DQNE pROlwpTLY I WILL ALSO BUY OR EXCHANGE ANY SECOND-HAND FURNITURE NO. 4 CHAMBERSBURG STREET, GETTYSBURG, PA D. J. SWARTZ DEALER IN COUNTRY PRODUCE, GROCERIES, CIGARS AND TOBACCO. GETTYSBURG. SHOES REPAIRED —BY— J. ff. QoHep, 115 Baltimore St., near Court House. GOOD WORK GUARANTEED. —TS— J. I JVfUJVTPEfi Your Photographer ? If not, why not? 41 BALTIMORE ST., GETTYSBURG, PA. 8EFT0N I FLEMING'S LIVERY, Baltimore Street, First Square, Gettysburg, Filbert St. A convenient and homelike place tostay while in the city shopping. An excellent restaurant where good service combines with low prices. BOOMS $1.00 PER DAY AND UP. The only moderate priced hotel of reputation and consequence in 3Pla.ilad.elplaj.a, ModgnLSteamu^dry . . OF YORK . . Offers the COLLEGE STUDENTS first-class work at Special Low Prices. E, C. STOUFFER, Local Agt. C. D. SMITH, Prop. COMPILER IMPRINT ON JOB WORK MEANS TASTY WORK CAREFULLY DONE. MENU CARDS, LETTER HEADS, WINDOW POSTERS. ENVELOPES, PANCE CARDS TICKETS, Programs of all kinds. Everything the College Man wants in Paper and Ink. Specially designed work. Latest Effects in Paper, done in Colors along lines of College Men's Associations. Catalog and Book work. The Gettysburg Compiler will keep old and new students in touch with town and college life.
The College Metcufy. VOL. IV. GETTYSBURG, PA., JANUARY, 1897. No. 9, THE COLLEGE MERCURY, Published each month during the college year by the Students of Pennsylvania (Gettysburg) College. STAFF. Editor: ROBBIN B. WOLF, '97. Associate Editors : LEWIS C. MANGES, '97. ED, W. MEISEN H ELDER, SAMUEL J. MILLER '97. CHARLES T. LARK '98. JOHN W. OTT, '97. CHARLES H. TILP, '98. E. L. KOLLER, '98. Alumni Association Editor: REV. D. FRANK GARLAND, A. M., Baltimore, Md. Business Manager: HARRY R, SMITH, '97. Assistant Business Manager: JOHN E. MEISENHELDER, '97. mi™™./One volume (tenmonths). . . . $1.00 ILKMS. jslngleCOpies 15 Fayatle is advance All Students are requested to hand us matter tor publication. The Alumni and ex-members or the college will favor us by-sending Information concerning their whereabouts or any Items they may think would be interesting for publication. All subscriptions and business matters should be addressed to the business manager. Matter intended for publication should be addressed to the Editor. Address, THE COLLEGE MEKCUKY, Gettysburg, Pa. CONTENTS. EtllTORIAL, 13° CODBX SlNAITCUS, I31 THE COLLEGE LITERARY SOCIETY, - - - - - 132 BOOK REVIEWS, 135 NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS, --- 135 COLLEGE LOCALS, 135 ALUMNI NOTES, --- 137 TOWN AND SEMINARY NOTES, --- 139 ATHLETIC NOTES, --- 139 Y. M. C. A. NOTES, 140 FRATERNITY NOTES, --- 140 LITERARY SOCIETIES, 141 EXCHANGES, -- 141 EDITORIAL THIS issue of the MERCURY appears some-what later than the usual time on account of the date of opening. . * ., COLLEGE reopened oir the morning of the fifth with the majority of the boys back on time, but the usual number of stragglers keep up the reputation of id genus omne. All re-port a pleasant vacation and many New Year's resolutions. The loss of several has been more than compensated by the arrival of new ones. Very few of the boys accomplished the work mapped out by themselves for the vacation, such as essays, Specttum and MERCURY work. Who can blame them ? The Christmas vaca-tion should be a real vacation, and the appear-ance of the boys after the examinations showed their need of rest. Now comes the hard work which the middle term always brings. How-ever, if the work is more arduous, it is to be remembered that this season is most propitious for close application. * * EVER since the MERCURY was given to the present Staff, extraordinary efforts have been made to increase the number of Alumni per-sonals. Our efforts have not been altogether unrewarded. But as this publication is main-tained chiefly in the interest of the Alumni, it is fitting that a yet greater portion of its space should be devoted to them. The present plan has been found inadequate. It is unreasonable to expect that two under graduates can keep themselves informed concerning the great body of Alumni scattered all over the habitable globe. The following plan commends itself as more likely to meet the end aimed at; That in lV THE COLLEGE MERCURY. every city or section of the country which has enough Alumni residents to justify it, some Alumnus regularly furnish such personal notes, one in such places respectively as New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, York Altoona, New England and at two or three points in the South and West. This plan proposed only as tentative, at least deserves a trial, and personal letters will be written to those who are thought most willing to attend to the work and the names of those who accept will ap-pear in the MERCURY, so that all the Alumni in that section may send their personals to them. Any further suggestions which may improve this plan will be gratefully received. * *' * WE take pleasure in calling the attention of our readers to the article, in this issue, of Dr. J. W. Richard, and to the letter of Dr. J. H. W. Stuckenberg. We extend our hearty thanks to the gentlemen and commend their example to others. * * * THE Philadelphia Press of Jan. 4th, contains a striking editorial on the subject, Small Col-leges and degrees, the substance of which fol-lows. "At a meeting last week of representatives from the leading colleges of Iowa a resolution was offered asking the Legislature to change the law of that State concerning the conferring of college degrees. As the law now stands any three men can organize a college by in-corporating it under the laws of the State, and any college so incorporated can confer de-grees. Under the law there has sprung up a large number of so-called colleges in Iowa, and as all of them are handing out degrees lib-erally, much discredit is brought upon the honor. The struggle among them to attract students is fierce and many inducements are offered, one college agreeing to pay the mile-age of students in proportion to the length of time they remain in college. The question of college degrees was brought prominently before the public last winter by State Senator Garfield, of Ohio, a son of the late President Garfield. He introduced a bill in the Legislature of that State the object of which was to examine into and pass upon the fitness of colleges to confer honorary degrees. The bill provided for the creation of a univer-sity council consisting of ten members ap-pointed by the Governor. * * * When in the opinion of this council an institution did not have the requisite standing its right to confer honorary degrees should be taken away. New York has ahead}' conferred this power on the regents of the State University and this State should confer it on the University Council." * * * * * We are surprised that so eminent a journal does not know that this State has already taken a similar step, of which we are heartily glad, and that it has done away with the evil of a college like Gettysburg and others of a like high standard having the value of their degrees decreased by the host of small, so-called, colleges which are scarcely better than a good high school. Some estimable men of culture have refused the offer of a degree be-cause a degree has largely lost its significance. It is to be hoped that the Iowa Legislature will pass the bill and that all the other States will join in the movement to prevent charter-ing new institutions and withdrawing the charter from those whose standard does not justify their existence. CODEX SINAITICUS. THE CODEX SINAITICUS is the name given to a celebrated manuscript of the Bible, dis-covered by Prof. Dr. Constantine Tischendorf, February 4th, 1859, nl the Convent of St. Catharine, at the foot of Mount Sinai. The manuscript consists of 346^ leaves. Each leaf is 13^ inches wide and 14^6 high, and contains four columns of writing; and each col-umn contains forty-eight lines. It is supposed to have been prepared in Egypt, or at Con-j stantinople, about the middle of the fourth century of our era. It is written in what is known as uncial or capital letters. Each letter is separated from the others, and all are of the same size, except that frequentty a letter is re- ' duced in size in order to make it fit into the line. Tischendorf calls it "omnium codicum i unclalium sohis integei omniumque a?itiqtiissi- THE COLLEGE MERCURY. 132 mus." His designation solus integer is cer-tainly correct as applied to the New Testament portion, for it is the 011I5' known uncial manu-script that contains the entire text of the New Testament, without any omission, together with the Epistle of Barnabas and a part of the Shepherd of Hennas in Greek (147^2 leaves in all). The designation "antiguissimus." has been questioned, for it is thought by many scholars that the Codex Vaticanus at Rome, is at least as old, if not a little older. But it deserves to be called one of the two oldest, and one of the most valuable biblical manuscripts in the world. Tischeudorf having obtained possession of it as a loan, carried it to Cairo, where in two months, assisted by a German physician, and a druggist, he made a complete copy of it. Then having secured the permanent possession of it for the Russian government, he trans-ferred it to Leipzig, where a quasi-facsimile edition of three hundred copies was printed from types cast specially for the purpose. The original was then taken to St. Petersburg, where it is sacredly kept. The printed copies were distributed among the crowned heads and large libraries, mostly of Europe, except one third of the number which were placed at the disposal of Dr. Tis-cheudorf. Copies of this rare and valuable edition, which for the purposes of textual crit-icism are almost as good as the original, are in the libraries of the Theological Seminaries re-spectively at Gettysburg, Princeton, Union (New York), Andover, Rochester, Auburn, and in the Astor and Lenox Libraries and the library of the American Bible Society in New York, and in the University libraries of Har-vard and Yale. J. W. R. IT has been my privilege to address many students in Colleges, Universities, and Semi-naries; but I do not think I ever addressed any who were more attentive, more earnest, more appreciative, and more eager to learn, than those I recently met at Gettysburg. Compared with what I found there in the past it looks as if a new spirit had come with a quickening influence. The young men are evidently intent on understanding the age in which they live, through which must come all the influences which can affect them, and which is the only age which they can work on directly. They were anxious to know how they can use most effectively all that the school gives them of knowledge and wisdom. There were many evidences that the stu-dents want to make the most of their oppor-tunities in order to make the most of them-selves. With this object in view many ques-tions were asked respecting the best methods of study. It was gratifying to find that many are not content with being mere learners; they want also to become scholars and thinkers. For this purpose they strive to enter upon original research and seek to become indepen-dent investigators. The friends of higher edu-cation ought to see to it that the best means for this purpose are put within the reach of these young men. I saw evidence at Gettysburg that excellent teaching has been done in the College and Seminary. The church has reason to cherish the brightest hopes respecting these institu-tions if the aspiring and energetic spirit is pro-moted and developed. Connected with the earnest intellectual trend I found also a living faith and sincere devotion to the church. J. H. W. STUCKENBERG. Cambridge, Mass., Dec. 21, 1896. THE COLLEGE LITERARY SOCIETY. From no other source during his college course does a man receive so much training as he does from the literary society. He may be a good student and lead his class in scholarship, but if he does not make use of the advantages offered by the literary society he feels when he leaves college that he neg-lected that which would be of more practical good to him than much he learned in the class-room. The important feature of the literary society 133 THE COLLEGE MERCURY -is the training it gives a man for public speak-ing, so, that when he is called upon to make an address he has the ability to use the knowl-edge he has acquired and impart it to others in a manner easily understood. Another important feature is the knowledge of parliamentary rules' and the ability to pre-side at meetings which one receives from the literary society. After a man leaves college his influence is to a great extent measured by his knowledge of the qualifications just mentioned. We have attended meetings over which incompetent men have presided and we have noticed how uninteresting the proceedings have become and the inability of the chairman to decide questions of dispute. In some cases, perhaps, it was possible to overlook this incompetency, as in the case ot a man who has had no ad-vantages to gain any knowledge in such mat-ters ; but there is no excuse for a college man to be placed in such a position. If he should be, he can blame no person but himself, be-cause most of the institutions provide oppor-tunities for the acquirement of such qualifica-tions. . We thus see the college days are, above all others, the time, and the literary societies the place, to acquire those abilities which a stu-dent may be called upon at any time of his life to exercise. A society in order to be of any influence in the institutions in which it may exist must have members who are devoted to its welfare and who take an active part in its exercises. It is not the society which has the largest number on its roll which is the most prosper-ous, but the one in which the members work for their own good and the best interests of their society. Those who participate in the exercises because they are compelled so to do by the rules of the society do not receive nearly so much benefit as they who do so for the instruction and training derived from the participation in the exercises. The literary sotiety is the same as all other organizations in that it needs earnest, active and devoted members in order to make it a success. There has never yet been anything at-tempted for good which has not been sub-jected to influences which proved harmful to it. In many institutions the literary society is practically dead or rapidly declining. From one who is interested in the welfare of the lit-erary societies the following information was received concerning the condition of the so-cieties in about thirty-five representative in-stitutions: Eight institutions report the so-cieties flourishing. In sixteen they are rap-idly declining, some among this number are yet active and doing good work, but yet are no longer what they once were, while others have practically died as far as usefulness is concerned. In eleven of the thirty-five insti-tutions the literary society no longer exists. The societies are dying from New England southward. All institutions reporting their societies as dead are north of Pennsylvania. Those speaking of a decline are in the Middle States, while the flourishing ones are south and west of Pennsylvania. Some of the societies report the cause of their decay is the literary work done by the Greek Letter Fraternity and additional liter-ary work in the college curriculum. Other causes, such as over-prominence of athletics and the tendency of students to specialize in-stead of getting a general culture prove very detrimental to the welfare of the literary so-cieties. In the institutions in which the literary so-ciety has ceased to exist the Greek Letter Fraternities have been most full}' developed, and their influence is reported as the main cause of the society's decay. It is a question if the fraternities will ever take the place of the literary society, and if so, will they prove a satisfactory substitute. Personally, I do not believe the fraternity will supplant the society, notwithstanding the reports to the contrary. [ My opinion is the same as that of the college > president who writes: "I can conceive of no substitute for the literary societ}'." When there is anything to be neglected be-cause of press of class-room work or the meet-ings of any of the college' organizations the THE COLLEGE MERCURY. 134 duties of the literary society are invariably the first neglected. Instead of considering the weekly meetings of the society as the place to which "our duty calls us" and from which we should have a very good excuse to absent our-selves, we often think it is only the place to | pass the evening when we do not have an en-gagement for another place. The great attention given to athletics by the colleges of to-day detracts seriously from the interest in the literary society. The intense interest of the student body in one sphere is very likely to produce relaxation in others, especially in those in which the work is volun-tary. As said before, the literar)' society is the first to suffer from athletics. For some reason it has become the opinion of many peo-ple that there is more glory in the feats of brawn than those of brain. The contests to-day between the different institutions are more in athletics than in literary contests. Because of the great interest taken in athletics, Yale to-day enjoys the honor of holding the suprem-acy in athletics in the college world. In order to attain this position her literary work has suffered, and she, for this reason, meets defeat at the hands of Harvard each year in the lit-erary contests. Athletics are a good thing and cannot be denied the student, but a little less interest in them and more in the work of the literary society would prove of much advan-tage in many institutions. What is most needed by the students of to-day is a broad, liberal culture. But there are many who think this is not necessary, hence they begin early in their course to specialize. Consequently in those institutions which en-courage specializing we find less interest in the literary society. This seems contrary to what ought to be the case. If a student is unable to take a regular college course before he be-gins to specialize, he should take an active part in the literary society which would do something to aid him in securing the general culture needed to exercise the proper influ- • ence in society. The college man of to-day has much expected from him by the world be-cause of the advantages he has enjoyed. It has been said: "No one in England has any-thing to say but the scientific men, and they do not know how to say it.'' For these reasons we are led to believe the literary society has not outlived its day of use-fulness. The present time demands of men the qualifications which the work of the literary society gives. The first qualification is the art of public speaking. We notice to-day that the-number of able speakers is not increasing in the same proportion as the number of well-educated men. Public speaking is beginning to be spoken of as a lost art. The tongue is not the moving power it once was. Depew says: "In one respect the graduates of 1895 are far behind those of 1855. Few of the boys who leave college this year will be good speak-ers. They may be as good thinkers as those who were graduated four decades ago, but they will not be nearly so capable of telling what they know, or what they think, because of the decline of the debate as a means of training." In speaking about the decline of the debating society, he says: "I regard it as a national calamity." The man who desires to exert any influence in these days, when every question receives the attention of the people in public gatherings, should be able to express himself clearly and forcibly. Depew says again: "If the young college man only knew how to speak he wrould be invincible." The greatest difficulty college graduates ex-perience is that they are unable to think on their feet before an audience. As students they neglected this training and now they are at a great disadvantage in public meetings. H. R. S., '97. Where are our literary men ? Both the Spectrum and MERCURY editors would like to hear from them. Let some of our new men be heard from. There must be material in so large a class. Remember these two publica-tions depend upon the efforts you put forth in their behalf. Let us receive aid from every one. Try your hand. •35 THE COLLEGE MERCURY. BOOK REVIEWS. Abraham Lincoln—A poem by Lyma?i Whitney Allen ("Sangamon"),.pp. 112, 12 Mo. G. P. Putnam's So7ispublishers. This is the bc5und copy of the New York j Herald's $1,000 prize poem. The fact that this poem alone of all its competitors was se-lected by the set of competent judges, is the highest commendation. The poem gives a just portrait of one of America's greatest presi-dents and men. "A Princelonian," by James Ba?nes, pp. 4.31. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. This story of the college life of a Prince-tonian is particularly welcome just at this time, coming, as it does, not so long after this old and revered institution has celebrated its ses-quicentennial. It is written in a good and pleasing style and is sure to hold the interest of any reader from start to finish. But to the collage man, no matter where his Alma Mater may be, it strikes chords which find an an-swering vibration in his own breast ; and of his leisure hours he will regret none spent in reading it ; but once having begun he will look forward with pleasure to every succeed-ing hour's reading, and will close the book with a sigh because he has finished it. Besides furnishing a very vivid and delight-ful picture of college life, it is praiseworthy, as a piece of literature, for its character sketches, the character of the heroine being especially well delineated. The hero, Newton Wilber-force Hart, cannot but inspire in many a young man the ambition for a college life. The story, as a whole, reflects much credit on Princeton University and will surely bind the hearts of her sons more firmly to their Alma Afa/et and attract to her classic walls many whose ears had otherwise never heard her voice. Are you attending your literary society as regularly as you should ? If not, there must be a reason. Is it a good one? Men, be loyal! NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS. Our resolutions good we plan, To take effect the first of Jan. Generally they're on the ebb As slowly creeps the first of Feb., And often sadly broken are As quicker dawns the first of Mar. They are nowhere unless on paper When Fool's Day comes, the first of Apr. Our minds now free, we're light and gay When flowers bloom, the first of May. The skies are fair, the earth in tune We have t/uod times the first of June. Days still more bright, why should we sigh? Speed quick the hours, first of July. Our memory, conscience in a fog. # The Summer glides, 'tis first of Aug. A good resolve we mijht have kept Come.1- stealing o'er us first of Sept. Our better selves by it are shocked As it grows clearer, first of Oct. "Bad habits old with which I strove Have mastered me." The first of Nov. "To give my troubled conscience peace, 'I now resolve' "—. The last of Dec. P. S.—The new resolution is, "I now resolve not to forget my resolutions." W. H. B. C, '99. COLLEGE LOCALS. EDMUND W. MEISENHELDER and E. I*. KOLLER, Editors. Mr. B., 1900 recently told an interesting story about the "Giant's Causeway" in the northern part of Africa. H., 1900, (speaking of Fred. I. in History)— "Every one in his time smoked beer and drank tobacco.'' Dr. M.—"I guess you don't know much about that, Mr. H.," "Do you?" Mr. F., '98, would like to know if "isolated means discovered.'' Mr. L,., '99, (in looking through a book) asked, "L,et me see the picture on the frontis-piece." A young lady of town recently asked our charming and bashful Mr. B., 1900, for one of his curls. We hear that "Brigy" is right in it. Recently Mr. L,., '99, listened to a young lady singing "Tell me do you love me?" After she had finished, George stood a short while in amazement. When he at last recov-ered himself he said: "Well, you do your share, I'll do mine." THE COLLEGE MERCURY. 136 Mr. E., '99, who has quite a reputation as a student of the Bible, told some boys that they should not tease old people, lest they would be devoured by the wolves, as were the children in the Bible. Dr M. (in French)—"What does ses mean ?'' Mr. F., 1900, (after thinking awhile)—"I don't think I can guess." Mr. H., '97, recently rendered effective service at a slight conflagration in a private house up town. "Hutty" cannot tell a lie, he did it with his big feet. Prof. H.—"Mr. T. What is a bias?" Mr. T., '99—"A part of a dress." hiforniation desired.—A Prep, would like to know what building that is with a balloon on top of it. Will some one please inform him ? Now is the time to hand in your applica-tions for the base ball team. Let every one who can play ball apply early. Don't wait to be coaxed ! There is material enough in college and prep, to make two first-class teams. Mr. E., '99, (in German declining "sich") "ich, er, sich." Well done, Luther ! Let the literary matter for the Spectrum be handed in as soon as possible. Let every one be represented. "Josey" K, '99, startled Dr. H. recently by affirming that "David was related to his grandmother, Ruth." The new men take well to "gym." work and we hope that the "good work may go on." The MERCURY extends its sympathy. Luther, '99, tells us that "the hills of Judea are west of the Mediterranean." A Freshman says that Sapho was the great-est poet of the 19th century. A Seminarian says the Mercury is going down. He meant that in the thermometer. Are we going to have field sports next term ? Some of the men in other colleges are at work indoors. Don't let us be behind time. Although guying seems to be one of the necessary evils of Gettysburg College, yet it certainly is out of place in Chapel and in the halls of the literary societies. Spayd, '99, has returned after his recent illness. F. & M. may not have a base-ball team this spring and will devote their time to the relay team, etc. As yet we have taken no definite steps in this direction. It is time. > The class in philosophy has been organized and has held some meetings. Prof. Klinger is the leader of the class. New members can join at any time. If you think you can be bene-fited, join. Nick got a "hair-cut." A Freshmrn lately asked one of the biolog-ical students when they were ' 'going to bisect that cat." K., '98, gives a new version of Oedipus' so-lution of the Sphinx's riddle. He says: "When a man is a baby he goes on four legs ; in middle age he goes on two, and when he is an old man he goes on one.'' H., '98, says that a certain old Greek was taunted with being a fondling \ F., '98, has discovered a new art—the "art of distance," and he says it is based upon Astronomy. Ask Johnnie M., '99, what kind of ham sandwiches they have at the Union Depot, Baltimore. Every student should be sure to attend the course of lectures given in Brua Chapel, under the auspices of the Y. M. C. A. The course this season is especially fine. The Juniors in their first recitation in Greek this term were not exactly conversant with the Oedipus mythus. Their intellects must have been dazzled by the new tables. K., '98, has coined a new word ; it is "rip-erable," and he uses it to describe the condi-tion of silk after having been acted on by nitric acid. Kitzmeyer and Wendt of '98, and Eberly, Koppenhaver and Wendt, of 1900, have not returned to college. It is gratifying to see the large number of new men who are connecting themselves with the literary societies of the college. It is a step in the right direction ; let the good work go on. Quite a number of 1900 men who thoughjt that the first term of Freshman was a "snap," were disagreeably surprised to find the "D's" and "E's" quite prominent on their reports. '37 THE COLLEGE MERCURY. ALUMNI. I,. C. MANGES and CHARLES H. TILP, Editors. '34. Jacob B. Bacon, after having spent a very eventful life as a professor and a contri-- butor to New York papers for more than a half century, died recently in New York. He was the first matriculate of the College and by his death his class becomes extinct. '42. The Lutheran Almanac and Year Book for 1897, is out in its familiar dress. Rev. M. Sheeleigh, D. D., has been editor of this val-uable pamphlet since 1871. '43. John Gneff made a very interesting Christmas address in St. Matthews church, Philadelphia Christmas evening. '44. Rev. P. Anstadt, D. D., of York, is translating Luther's "Commentary on the Gospel," which will soon appear in book form. '•57. Rev. Dr. Earnest closed his pastorate at Mifflinburg, Pa., with the close of the year and will rest awhile from public speaking, in hope of overcoming bronchial difficulty. '57. H. Louis Baugher, D. D., presided at thegreat Lutheran Home Mission Rally held in York,. Jan. 5th. '63. Volume IX of the Lutheran Commen-tary, prepared by Prof. E. J. Wolf, D. D., is in press. It contains the Annotations on the Pastoral Epistles and Hebrews. '64. Rev. J. G. Griffith, of Lawrence, Kan., has tendered his resignation to take effect the first of May. He expects to return B)ast in the early summer, and will work there if a field is opened to him. '67. Wm. E. Parson, D. D., of the Home Mission Board, delivered a very interesting ad-dress before that board on the subject, "Does Our Work Pay?" '67. Rev. C. S. Albert, D. D., editor of "Lutheran Lesson Helps," teaches the Bible lesson once a mouth at the Y. M. C. A. in Germantown. '67. J. Hay Brown, Esq., of Lancaster, was united in marriage with Miss Margaret J. Reilly on Wednesday, December 30th. It has been reported that Mr. Brown would be offered the Attorney Generalship in Mr. McKinley's cabinet. No other lawyer in Pennsylvania would be likely to fill the office with greater credit. '68. Rev. Geo. F. Behrniger, of Nyack, N. Y., delivered the discourse to the students of Cornell University on Sunday, Dec. 6th, in the regular order of the University, which en-gages clergymen of different denominations to officiate in turn. '69. Rev. E. T. Horn, of Charleston, S. C, has been delivering a course of lectures to the students of the Theological Seminary at New-berry, S. C. '69. In addition to his duties as president of Midland College Rev. Jacob A. Clutz, D. D., preaches every two weeks for the congrega-tion at Moray, Kansas. '72. Rev. Samuel A. Weikert presided at the anniversary meeting of the Y. M. C. A. held in Poughkeepsie. The Poughkeepsie Journal pronounces his address a masterpiece. '72. Rev. B. B. Collins and family, of Meyersdale, were somewhat surprised on Fri-day evening, Dec. 18, 1896, when a wagon well laden with provisions stopped at the par-sonage and began to unload its store. The mystery was cleared up later when a large number of the members of Zion church called to extend their greetings. The Luther League presented him with a purse. '75. Rev. M. L. Young, Ph. D., Meyers-dale, Pa., is contemplating a trip through the South in the interest of the "Young Luth-eran." '76. Rev. J. C. Jacoby, of Webster City, de-livered an address on the subject, "The Sab-bath in Relation to Our Civil Government," at the State Convention of the Sabbath Rescue Society, recently held in Des Moines. '77. Rev. F. P. Manhart, of Philadelphia, has been elected pastor of our Deaconess Motherhouse in Baltimore. '77. Wm. M. Baum, Jr., delivered a pleas-ing address during the Christmas exercises of his father's church, St. Matthew's, Philadel-phia, Pa. '78. Rev. Adam Stump, of York, Pa., has received notice from the Board of Publication that the second premium of the $300 offered last spring for two new Sunday school books, has been awarded to him. '78. Rev. C. L. McConnell, of Belleville, Pa., has been elected pastor of the Mifflinburg charge (Pa.) from which Rev. J. A. Earnest is about to retire. THE COLLEGE MERCURY. 138 '78. Rev. H. Max Lentz will complete the seventh year of his pastorate at Florence, Ky., in March, 1897. '80. Rev. C. W. Heisler, of Denver, Col., is President of the Colorado State Sunday School Association. '83. Longmans, Green & Co. have issued Macaulay's Life of Samuel Johnson with notes and an introduction by Prof. Huber Gray Buehler, of the Hotchkiss School. '83. The address of Rev. W. W. Anstadt is changed from Bedford to Hollidaysburg, Pa. '84. Rev. L. M. Zimmerman, of Baltimore, has lately issued a new book entitled "Sun-shine." '87. Rev. H. C. Alleman preached his in-troductory sermon as pastor of Christ church on Sunday, Dec. 13. He was greeted by a large congregation. '88. Rev. John E. Weidley, pastor of Beth-any Lutheran church, of Pittsburg, was kindly remembered by his congregation on Christ-mas with a purse of $70 and a set of Johnson's Cyclopaedias. '89. Morris W. Croll spent the Christmas holidays in Gettysburg with his mother. '90. On Thursday, Dec. 17th, Rev. U. S. G. Rupp, pastor of the Church of the Refor-mation, Baltimore, Md., was united in mar-riage to Miss Mary O. Sheeleigh, daughter of Rev. Dr. and Mrs. M. Sheeleigh, of Fort Washington, Pa. '90. Sanford B. Martin, Esq., of Hartford, Conn., spent the holidays with his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Martin. '91. Schmucker Duncan, of Yale College, spent the Christmas holidays in Gettysburg. '91. Rev. August Pohlman, M. D., has reached his field of labor in Africa and speaks very encouragingly of the prospects for the future. '92. Rev. H. E. Berkey, of Red Lion, Pa., is actively engaged in establishing and push-ing forward a new parish paper to be called The. Yotk County Luthetan. '92. Rev. Jesse W. Ball sent a very inter-esting paper to the Luthetan World last month, showing the prosperous condition of Southern California. '93. W. C. Heffner has received a call from the Fayetteville charge in the West Pennsyl-vania Synod. '92. Rev. E. E. Parsons, who is pastor at St. Clairesville, Bedford, county, Pa., is meet-ing with great success in his work. '93. Dr. Wm. H. Deardorff, of Philadel-phia, was hurt recently in a street car accident, but is on a fair road to recovery. '93. Rev. Ervin Dieterly filled the pulpit of the Fort Washington Mission at Fort Wash-ington, Pa., Dec. 18, 1896. '93. The beautiful Lutheran church at Silver Run, Md., Rev. W. H. Ehrhart, pas-tor, was dedicated on the 21st of December. Dr. Richard, of the Seminary, preached the dedicatory sermon. '93. Mr. J. F. Kempfer, who is one of the managers of the Alpha Publishing Co., was recently married to Dr. Darietta E. Newcomb, of Worcester, Ohio. Chas. Kloss, '94, was best man. '93. At the opening of the fortieth annual session of the Somerset County Teachers' In-stitute, on Dec. 7, Mr. Virgil R. Saylor, prin-cipal of the Salisbury schools, responded to the address of welcome in an eloquent and schol-arly manner, showing that he had carefully considered the diverse questions concerning the public schools, and was thoroughly equp-ped for the profession of teaching. '94. Rev. Paul W. Kohler, of the Semin-ary, filled his father's pulpit on Dec. 13. '94. Prof. Herbert A. Allison, of Susque-hanna University, spent the Christmas holi-days with his parents, near Gettysburg, Pa. '94. Fred. H. Bloomhardt and David W. VanCamp are doing creditable work in the Medical Department of U. P. '94. James W. Gladhill has entered the Philadelphia School of Pharmacy. '95. C. H. Hollinger and Edw. Wert are reading law with prominent lawyers in Har-risburg. '95. Herbert F. Richards is studying in Mt. Air}'. Seminary, Philadelphia, Pa. '95. M. G. L. Rietz and Roscoe C. Wright are pursuing their Theological studies at Hart-wick Seminary. '95. Fred. A. Crilly has entered his broth-er's store in Chicago as clerk. '96. Prof. D. E. Rice, of the Harrisburg High School, was in Gettysburg, Tuesday, ' Dec. 22, '96, visiting friends. 139 THE COLLEGE MERCURY. '96. Wm. Menges is at present engaged in his father's mill at Menges' Mills. "Bill's" flonr is the very best. TOW|\I /\|\ID SEWIINARY NOTES. S. J. MILLER, Editor. TOWN. It has been announced that an electric rail-way, recently surveyed, will be constructed from Washington to Gettysburg by way of Frederick next spring, or probably this winter if the weather be favorable. The company s corporating under a charter known as the Baltimore and Washington Transit Company, and under that charter it enjoys the privilege of operating throughout the State of Maryland. The capital stock is $1,000,000. A grand reception was given the newly elected pastor, Rev. D. W. Woods, Jr., of the Presbyterian church, on Friday, Dec. 4th. An attractive musical program was rendered and tea was served by the ladies of the congrega-tion. It was a most successful and enjoyable affair. At the exhibition of "Dolls," recently given by the ladies of the Reformed church, the neat little sum of $80 was realized for the benefit of the parsonage fund. Mr Frank Blocher, of this place, has been awarded the contract for furniture for the Meade High School, recently erected. He represents the U. S. School Furniture Com-pany, of Bloomsburg, Pa. Misses Ethel Wolf and Emily Horner spent their holidays at home. The former is attend-ing school at Lakeville, and the latter is at the Teachers' College, New York. The various churches observed the week of prayer and the services were conducted on the line of thought suggested by the Evangelical Alliance. The ninth annual reunion of Company C, Cole's Cavalry, was held a few miles from this place, on the 17th ult. Nineteen of the sur-vivors of the company, with members of their famjlies, comrades and others, assembled and had a very enjoyable time. After the banquet a business meeting and a camp-fire were held. At the business meeting the following persons from Gettysburg were elected officers for the ensuing year : President, W. H. Dot; Treas., J. E. Wible; Sec, Lieut. O. D. McMillan. Rev. H. C. Alleman spent Christmas with his parents at Lancaster. A jury of seven was recently appointed by Judge Dallas, in the U. S. Circuit Court, in the condemnation instituted by District At-torney Beck for aji additional strip of land wanted by the United States to preserve the battlefield. SEMINARY. Rev. J. Henry Harmes, of the Senior class, was unanimously elected pastor of Trinity church, Chambersburg, Pa. The call has baen accepted but he will not take permanent charge until his graduation the coming sum-mer. Rev. J. W. Richard, D. D., filled the pulpit of the Presbyterian church, this place, Sun-day, Dec. 26th. Rev. L. B. Hafer preached in the First Lutheran church, Chambersburg, Dec. 13th; at St. Thomas on Dec. 27th, and at Chambers-burg on Jan. 3d. Rev. J. C. Nicholas preached at New Free-dom during vacation. Rev. W. O. Ibach filled the pulpit of the St. Matthews Lutheran church, of Philadelphia, on Dec. 20th. Rev. R. W. Mottern preached at Dallis-towu on Dec. 13th; at the Memorial Luth-eran church, Harrisburg, on the 20th, and at Bethany Lutheran, Philadelphia, on the 27th. G. Z. Stup preached at Conshohocken, dur-ing vacation, Rev. J. F. Shearer, pastor. Among the others who preached during va-cation were: Messrs. Clare, Yule, Apple, Shinier, Yoder and Fulper. Rev. W. M. Cross preached in the Second Lutheran church, of Baltimore, on Jan. 3d, and in the Messiah Lutheran, of Harrisburg, on the 10th. Rev. Paul W. Koller assisted his father in the administering of the Hoi}' Communion on Jan. 10th. ATHLETICS. CHARLES T. LARK, Editor. Considerable interest has been manifested of late in the formation of a Basket Ball team. This game, as it requires considerable skill and activity, is fast winning its way, and de servedly so, into popularity amongst college THE COLLEGE MERCURY. 140 men. It is played somewhat on the order of foot-ball with perhaps the danger element eliminated. Basket ball would be a new departure in the athletics of our college and there seems to be no reason why we should not put a strong team in the field as we have abundant material from which to select. Our gymnasium affords excellent advantages for the game and it is just the thing for livening up the winter term. Let us, by all means, "get into the game." At a recent meeting of the Athletic Associa-tion, Charles J. Fite, '98, was elected as man-ager of next seasons eleven. Mr. Fite is, as a manager should be, a young man with honest business principles, and with plenty of push, in fact he is just the man for the place. Dale, '00, has been elected to the captaincy of the team for the season of '97. He is a brilliant, energetic player, and under his lead-ership "our kickers" will doubless make many additions to the list of victories. Y. M. 0. A. NOTES. The Association will observe the usual da}7 of Prayer for Colleges on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 31, It is hoped that Mr. Wile, of Car-lisle, will consent to come and address the stu-dents. The services will be made as interest-ing as possible, and the students of all three institutions are invited to attend From July 18-21. the twenty-ninth annual state convention of the Pennsylvania Young Men's Christian Association will be held at Reading. The Association will endeavor to have as many go as possible. Reading is not far from here, and we ought to send at least six and possibly more. We are glad to see the students take an in-terest in the coming course of entertainments. These alone vary the routine of the term. It is no easy task to arrange this course, and the committee deserve our approval and support. FRATERNITY NOTES. PHI KAPPA PSI. The Chapter was saddened by the news of the very sudden death of Frank K. Cessna, Pa. Eta, who captained the F. and M. eleven during the season which is just past. Rev. M. C. Horine, '62, was elected Presi- I dent of the East Pa. Conference of the Luth-eran Ministerium. Ed. C. Hecht, '91, for some years General Manager of the Real Estate Department of the Southern Railway Union, is now connected with the management of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. of New York City. White, '97, spent a portion of the holidays with Lark, '98. Weaver, '99, has been elected manager of the annual Tennis Tournament. Albert F. Smith, '00, and Frank P. Shoup, '00, were initiated Dec. 7th. PHI GAMMA DELTA. Bro. Sanford Martin, '90, spent the holidays with his parents in Gettysburg. Bro. Fichthorn, '94, is employed as draughts-man at Shiffler Bridge Works, Pittsburg, Pa. Bro. D. A. Buehler, '90, spent the holidays with his mother in Gettysburg. We were pleased to have with us during the past month Bros. Stahler, '82, and DeYoe, '86. The sympathy of the Chapter is extended to Bro. J. S. Kausler, '84, whose father died re-cently. Bro. H. L. Hoffman, '95, won the prize at the tumbling contest at Yale last term. SIGMA CHI. Henry Wolf Bikle, '97, Gettysburg, Pa., was initiated Jan. 5th, 1897. Frank Hersh, '92, was home for a few days at X'mas. Heindle, ex-'97, made us a visit several weeks ago. John Wendt, '98, who left college at the end of last term, intends to take a course in the Columbia Law School. Dale, '00, visited the Chapter at State Col-lege when home at X'mas. Norman and Will McPherson were home over X'mas. Leisenring, '97, visited the Chapter at the University of Pennsylvania a few weeks ago. Charles Wendt, '00, expects to enter a busi-ness college in New York City. PHI DELTA THETA. St. John McClean, of Gettysburg, was ini- i4i THE COLLEGE MERCURY. tiated into the fraternity at the end of last term. Ben. F. Carver, Hanover, Pa., was initiated Saturday, January 9th. Rev. Harry Lee Yarger, '83, Atchison, Kansas, field secretary of the Lutheran Board of Church Extension, attended a meeting of that body in York, Jan. 1. Singmaster attended the hop given last month by the Lehigh Chapter. Dave J. Forney recently returned from a visit to Carlisle. ALPHA TAU OMEGO. White Hutton, '97, represented the Chapter at the fifteenth biennal Congress of the Fra-ternity held at Cleveland, O. It was conceded by members of other Greek Societies to have been one of the greatest gatherings of its kind ever held. H. B. Cessna, 1900, of Bedford, Pa., was initiated into the Fraternity Jan. 5, 1897. We are glad to have Charles H. Spayd. '99, with us again, who was compelled to leave college on account of sickness. W. H. Menges, '96, will enter the Semi-nary at the opening of the next collegiate year. Maurice Zullinger, '98, who left college last year, is still confined to his bed. H. H. Jones, '92, is practicing medicine at Codorus, York county, Pa. LITEFJARY SOCIETIES. JOHN W. Orr, Editor. PHILO. Philo's business meetings have taken on a new interest lately owing to several heated ar-guments on different points of parliamentary law. This is a step in the right direction as many of our members will no doubt have use for a practical knowledge of the rules of pro-cedure after leaving college. Our last special program rendered on the evening of Dec. 11, was one of the best ever given. Instead of taking up an author as usual, Christmas furnished the special theme. Dr. Stuckenberg, an honorary member of Philo, who had been giving his course of lect-ures on Sociology here, gave us a very inter-esting talk on "Christmas in Germany." The doctor was especially pleased with the solo, "Stille Nacht." The only thing to detract from the pleasure of the evening was a bit of "guying" which took place before the exer-cises had begun. Philo takes this means of disavowing the action of those who forgot themselves, and promises its visitors that it will not happen again. It was attended by fully 300 persons who greatly enjoyed the following program: Music. Announcement to the Shepherds (Bible), - - ROLLER Announcement to the Shepherds (Ben Hur), - ENGLAR Hvmn 011 the "Morning of Christ's Nativity." - Miss SiEBER Music. Christmas: Historical Sketch, SMITH Christmas in Germany. Dr. STUCKENBERG Hymn—"Stille Nacht," Miss SIEBER Christmas in England, - HERMAN "Christmas," Irving, CLUTE Our Christmas, -.- ERB " 'Twas the Night Before Christinas," - - Miss MYERS Music. The new men initiated since the last issue of the MERCURY are: H. B. Cessna, W. B. Claney, R. Z. Imler, F. E. Kolb, W. G. Lawyer, F. P. Shoup, G. D. Weaver, of the the class of 1900; Evans and Mehring, of the class of 1901. The following officers were elected at the last meeting for the ensuing term: Pres., Clute; Vice Pres., Lutz; Cor. Sec, Tilp; Rec. Sec, Weaver, Sr., Treas., R. L. Smith; Asst. Libr., Hess; Critic, H. R. Smith. EXCHANGES. Said a biker to a farmer, * "Did a lady wheel this way ? " Said the farmer to the biker, "I'll be hanged if I can say," From the outfits they are wearing From the mountains to the sea, Whether the biker is a she or whether "Tis a he." WTe are glad to see that quite a number of our exchanges contain good, short stories. We think this more tasty than so many essays, yet a few good essays are not out of place. It is policy to endeavor to please the literary tastes of all. "Politeness," says Dr. Prather, "is like a pneumatic tire, there isn't much in it, but it eases many a jolt in the journey of life. An adveitisement in a Western paper read thus : Run away, a hired man named John, his nose turned up five feet eight inches with corduroy pants much worn. ADVERTISEMENTS. BASE- i/isitors to JO A I _J i_J Gettysburg College, $ . . SURRUES, . . Pipaldi i-)cr LeatjUQ Ball, jL J^litB, >'\a.sl-,.s, Qto. Managers should send for samples and special rates. Every requisite for TENNIS, GOLF, CRICKET, TRACK AND FIEID. GYMNASIUM EQUIPMENTS AND OUTFITS, COMPLETE CATALOGUE SPRING AND SUMMER SPORTS FREE. fi'~Ths Name the Guarantee." A. G. Spalding & Bros., NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, CHICAGO. 1108 CHESTNUT STREET, PHILADELPHIA fy/right's Qngraving ^jfouse *? /?AS become the recognized leader in unique styles of «^f COLLEGE and FRATERNITY EN-GRAVINGS and STATIONERY, College and Class-pay Invitations, engraved and printed from steel plates; Programmes, Menus, Wedding and Reception Invitations, Announcements, etc., etc. Examine prices and styles-before ordering elsewhere. 50 Visiting Cards frcm New Engraved Plate for $1.00. ERNEST A. WRIGHT, UOS Chestnut Street, PHILADELPHIA Hon. W. J. Bryan's Book All who are interested in furthering the sale of Hun. W.J. Bryan's new book should correspond immediately with the publishers. The work will contain . . AN ACCOUNT OP HIS CAMPAIGN TOUR, HIS BIOGRAPHY, WRITTEN Bi HIS WIFB HIS MOST IMPORTANT SPEECHES. THE RESULTS OP THE CAMPAIGN OF 1896. A REVIEW OF THE POLITICAL SITUATION. •••ACENTS WANTED••• Mi. Bryan DUB an-nounced his intention of devoting one-half of all royalties to furthering the cause of bimetallism. There are already indications of an enormous sale. Address W. B. CONKEY COMPANY, Publishers 341-351 Dearborn St.CHICAGO Settysburg, !Penn*a, WILL FIND THE-Cumberland Valley R. R. running in a South-Westerly direction froniHarrisbnrg, Pa., through Carlisle. Chambersburg, Hagerstown an 1 Martinsburg to Winchester, Va., a direct and available ^ route from the North, East and West to Gettysburg, Pa" via. Harrisburg and Carlisle. Through tickets via. this route on sale at all P. R. K. offices, and baggage checked through to destination. Also, a popular route to the South via. Carlisle. AS for your tickets via. Cnmberlauil Valley Railroad anil Carlisle, Pa, I. F. BOYD, Superintendent. H. A. RIDDLE, Gen. Passenger Agent. FPH. H. MlNNlCrl, Manufacturer, Wholesale and Retail Dealer in onfeetionepNj I OYSTERS AND G>dt fe=t fe=di&%f==/j) • CLOTHIER, * FASHIONABLE TAILOR, II GENTS FURNISHER. No. 11 Balto. St. - GETTYSBURG. J. E. BOYLE, OF LEECH, STILES & CO. EYE SPECIALISTS, 1413 Chestnut Street, Phila. Will be in Gettysburg, Pa., at W. H. TIPTON'S, THURSDAY, MX 10, From 9 a. m. to 3.SI) p. m. 'No charge for consulta-tion and examination and every pair of glasses or-dered guaranteed to be *■ satisfactory by LEECH, STILES, & Co. GOTO, ♦•HOTEL GETTYSBURG -XfiAilBER SHOPX- ^Photographer, No. 2g Baltimore St., GETTYSBURG SPECIAL ATTENTION PAID TO a-cnege (p.ins Collection of. BATTLEFIELD VIEWS _®ffixOa%s on hand. Centre Square. B. M. SEFTON. 2/ou ivili find a full lino of {Pure 'Drugs dc ^ine Stationery {People 'a Drug Store. ^Proscriptions a Specialty. MAIL ORDERS RECEIVE PROMPT ATTENTION. Latest Styles \% ipssfeg^ Sl|X5«^, Elliott ffyg^T
Issue 1.3 of the Review for Religious, 1942. ; Review for Religious MAY 15, 1942 The General Chapter of Elections . Adam C. Ellis Retreat Resolutions . Clarence McAuliffe Reparation to the Sacred Heart . Malachi J. Donnelly The, Pivotal Point of Good Will . G. Augustln~ Ellard Scruples Versus the Human Way . ~ Gerald Kelly Hints for Sacristans . Gerald Ellard The Presumed Permission . ¯ . James E. Risk Book Reviews )uestions Answered E)ecisions of the Holy See VOLUME NUMBER 3 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS VOLUME I MAY 15. 1942 NUMBER CONTENTS. THE GENERAL CHAPTER OF ELECTIONS IN A RELIGIOUS CONGREGATION Adam C. Ellis, S.3 . 146 FOR CHURCH MUSICIANS . " . 156 RETREAT RESOLUTIONS---Clarence McAuliffe, S.J . 157 BOOKS RECEIVED . , . 166" ¯ SOME PAMPHLETS . 166 REPARATION IN THE DEVOTION TO THE SACRED HEART Malachi J. Donnelly, S.J. . ." . . . 167 THE PIVOTAL POINT OF EFFECTIVE GOOD WILL G. Augustine Ellard, S.J . 170 SCRUPLES VERSUS THE HUMAN WAY---Gerald Kelly. S.J. 187 HINTS FOR SACRISTANS~erald Ellard, S.J . 194 THE PRESUMED PERMISSION--Jame$.,E~. Risk. S.J . 196 BOOK REVIEWS PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAN AND RELIGIOUS PERFECTION . 206 BLESSED ARE THEY THAT HUNGER By the Reverend Richard Graef, C.S.Sp. 206 THE MASS OF BROTHER MICHEL. By Michael Kent . 207 FAST BY THE ROAD. By John Moody . ; 208 THE CATHOLIC REVIVAL IN ENGLAND. By John ,J. O'Connor 209 MEDIEVAL HUMANISM. By the Reverend Gerald G. Walsh, S.J. 209 DECISIONS OF THE HOLY SEE OF INTEREST TO RELIGIOUS 210 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Extension of Temporary Vows; Use df Parish School Funds; Is Reli-gious Habit a Sacramental; Days of Abstinence during Lent; Languages during Canonical Year; Inspection of Letters: Administration of Anes-thetics: Aspirant of East Syrian Rite: Converts from Greek Orthodox Church; Indulgence for Kissing Habit: Extending Period of Probation: Chanting of Little Office; Working during Evening Recreation 211 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, May, 1942. Vol. I, No. 3. Published bi-monthly: January, March, May, July, September, and November, at The College Press, 606 Harrison Street; Topeka, Kansas, by St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approbation. Entered as second class matter January 15, 1942, at the Post Office, Topeka, Kansas, under the act of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Adam C. Ellis, S.J., G. Augustine Ellard, S.J., Gerald Kelly, S.d. Copyright, 1942, by Adam C. Ellis. Permission is hereby granted for quotations of reasonable length, provided due credit be given this review and the author. Subscription price: 2 dollars a year. PHnted in U. S. A. The General Chap!:er ot: I::lect:ions in a Religious Congregat:ion Adam C. Ellis, S.3. BY CHAPTER in a reli.gious institute is meant the lawful assembly of those members to whom the con-stitutions give the right to vote when matters of im-portance are to be discussed and decided. Chapters may be general, provincial, or local, according as they represent an entire institute (order or congregation), or a province, or a local community. Provincial and local chapters meet, as a rule, only for the election of delegates to the general or provincial chapter respectively. In this article we are concerned only with the g.eneral chapter, though many of its provisions will apply equally well to a provincial or local chapter. An ordinarg general chapter is convoked at the times prescribed by the constitu-tions-~ every three or six years, or at other regular inter.- vals. An extraordinar~ general chapter is ofie convoked outside the time of the ordinary chapter~ Constitutions approved by the Holy See usually prescribe that an ex-traordinary chapter may not be convoked without the per-missioh of the Holy See, except in the case of the death or resignation of the superior general. The purpose of the general chapter is two-fold: to elect superiors, and to transact other important business. The first kind of chapter is usually called the chapter of elections; the second, the business chapter, or the chapter of affairs. We are dealing here with the chapter of elections only, which is governed by the regulations of the Code of Canon Law as well as by the provisions of the constitu-tions which are not contrary to the Code (cf. canon 507. §1). 146 CHAPTER OF ELECTIONS Time, Place, and Cor~oocation of Chapter. The common law of the Church does not prescribe any particular place for the meeting of the general chapter of elections. The constitutions usually allow the superior general to determi.ne the date and place of the chapter, with the deliberative vote of his council. Sometimes, however, they prescribe that the chapter be held in the motherhouse, and set the day for it as well. In the absence of any definite regulations of the constitutions, the superior general with his council is free to determine the day on which the chap-ter is to be held, as well as its meeting-place. This is true even in the case of a diocesan congregation of religious women which has houses in more than one diocese, as was declared by the S. Congregation of Religious on June 17, 1921, when it explicitly stated that the choice of the meet-ing- place of the chapter rested with the superior general, and not with the local Ordinary in whose diocese the moth-erhouse is located. At the same time the S. Congregation declared that the right to preside over the election in the case mentioned belonged to the local Ordinary in whose diocese the election took place, hence not to the Ordinary of the motherhouse, unless the election is held in his dio-cese. Pope Benedict XV confirmed these decisions and ordered them to be published. The day and place of the general chapter having been determined upon, the superior general will then convoke the chapter, usually by means of a circular letter to be sent to all those who have a right to assist at the chapter. The constitutions usually pr.escribe that such letters are to be sent at least three, if not six, months before the day on which the chapter is to meet. An error in convoking the chapter does not make the election invalid unless one third of those who have a right to attend have not been sum-moned and, by reason of this irregularity, have not taken 147 ADAM C. ELLIS part in the voting (cf. canon 162, § 3). Electors or Members of the Chapter The constitutions will determine who have a right to take part in a chapter of elections. The following are com-monly members of such a chapter: 1. The superior general; 2. The members of his council; 3. All ex-superiors general; 4. The secretary general; 5. The treasurer general; 6. Provincials and two or more delegates from each province, if there are provinces; 7. Local superiors, and delegates of the various houses chosen according to the constitutions. The common law of tl~e Church prescribes that reli-gious with temporary vows have neither active nor pas-sive voice1 unless the constitutions explicitly grant it to them. The constitutions sometimes grant active voice to religious with temporary vows, seldom if ever passive voice. The number of years required by the constitutions for the enjoyment~ of active and passive voice is tO be counted from the" first profession of temporary vows, un-less the constitutions provide otherwise (cf. canon 578, 30). It is customary to elect substitutes for all delegates who are elected to take part in a chapter of elections. These substitutes take the place of such delegates as are impeded or who do not wish to attend the chapter. Unless the con-stitutions declare otherwise, the religious who have been elected delegates may give up their right to attend the chap-ter. XActive voice is the tight to vote: passive voice is the right to be voted for or to be elected to an ot~ce, 148 CHAPTER OF ELECTIONS Prelirainar~.t Session of Chapter In a preliminary session of the .chapter it is customary to examine the credentials of all the delegates to the chap-ter. This having been done, the assembly proceeds by se-cret vote to the election of at least two "scrutineers".0r tellers (cf. canon 171, § 1), unless these are already desig-nated by the constitutions. They must be elected from among the members of the chapter. After being elected they take an oath to fulfill their of Iice faithfully, and to observe secrecy regarding everything done in the chapter of elections. A secretary is usually elected in a similar man-ner, unless one of the tellers acts in this capacity. General Regulations Regarding Voting On!y those religious who are actually present in the chapter have a right to vote. Votes sent in by mail or cast by proxy are forbidden and invalid, unless the constitu-tions or a special privilege granted by the Holy See author-ize the employment of those methods (cf. canon 163). An exception., however, is made in favor of members of the chapter who are in the house but unable to attend the meetings because of illness. Such a person's vote given in writing shall be collected by the tellers and placed with the other votes, unless particular laws or a legitimate custom determine otherwise (cf. canon 168). All must abstain from seeking votes either directly or indirectly for themselves or for others, and no one may validly vote for himself (cf. canons 507, § 2, 170). This does not forbid the members-of the chapter from seeking information from one another regarding the qualities of this or that religious. The constitutions frequently pro-vide for such an opportunity before the day of the election. All votes must be freely given. A vote directly or indirectly extorted by grave fear or fraud in favor of a 149 ADAM C. ELLIS determined person, or of one of a group of persons, is an invalid vote (cf. canon 169, §.1). In order to be valid, a vote freely cast for an eligible candidate must have four qualities: it must be secret, cer-tain, absolute, and determined (cf. canon 169, § 2). Each one of these qualities demands a brief explanation. A secret vote. This means that no member of the chapter may make known to another, the pers6n for whom he voted. A vote which is made public is by that very fact invalid. However, for special reasons, a member of the chapter may declare before the president and the tellers which person he wishes to vote for. The vote is secret, since all the persons to whom it is made. known are bound under oath. not to reveal it. Though not strictly speaking required by law, a written ballot is the most common and most convenient form of carrying on the election and safe-guards the secrecy req.uired. It would seem to be the only form contemplated by the Code. A certain vote. In order to be certain the vote must glare the full name of the person v6ted for so as to distin-guish him from all other persons having a similar name. A vote cast for "the person who will receive the majority of the votes," is an uncertain vote. A vote which cannot be read, or understood, is likewise uncertain; as is also a blank vote. An absolute vote. Each vote must be free from all con-ditions. A vote cast for Peter "provided he is fifty years old," would be an invalid vote. If the condition, however, merely expresses a requirement of the law for the valid election of the person voted for, the. vote would not be invalid: But such conditions should not be put in the vote when given since they are presupposed. A determined vote. An alternative vote is invalid. 150 CHAPTER OF ELECTIONS Such would be, for example, a vote cast for "either Peter or Paul." In conclusion it may be well to note that an invalid vote does not make the balldt in which it is cast invalid. Such an invalid vote is simply not.counted. By accident it may keep the person for whom it was given from getting the required majority of votes. The Election of the Superior General -Before the voting begins for the election of higher superiors in institutes of religious men, all and each of the members of the chapter shall promise under oath to elect those whom they deem before God should be elected (cf. canon 506, § 1). This oath is not required of reli-gious women. In institutes of religious men the superior general pre-sides over the election unless the constitutions provide otherwise. In congregations of religious women the elec-tion of the mother general is presided over by the Ordinary of the place in which the election is held. He may preside personally or through a delegate (cf. canon 506, § 4). For the election of superiors the common law requires an absolute2 majority of votes on either the first or second ballot, while a relative majority suffices on the third ballot, If, on the third ballot, the highest number of votes is given equally to two or more persons, the presiding officer may determine the election by casting his vote, but never in his own favor. Should he decline to do so, then the senior by reason of ordination, or of first profession, or of age, shall be regarded as elected (cf. canon 101, § 1, 1°). Theconsti- 2An absolute majority is constituted by any number exceeding half the number of valid votes cast, for instance, 9 out of 16, 10 out of' 19, and so forth. The person receiving the greatest number of votes cast is said. to have a plurality or relative majority of the votes cast when that number does not constitute an absolute majority of all the'votes cast. Thus, in a chapter in which 25 votes are cast,-,John may receive 11, Peter 8, and Paul 6. ,John has a relative majority. 151 ADAM C. ELLIS tutions may require a greater number of votes, for instance, a two-thirds majority for the election of the superior gen-eral. Constitutions approved by the Holy See usually require that :a fourth ballot be taken in case the third ballot does not result in an absolute majority. ¯ In this fourth bal-lot only the two religious who have received the greater number of votes on the third ballot are eligible for election, though they themselves are excluded from voting on the fourth ballot. In case this fourth ballot results in a tie, the election is determined by priority of ordination, or of first profession, or of age, respectively as mentioned above. The Voting Process When all are prepared the voting begins. It is the duty of the tellers to see to it that the votes be cast by each elector secretly, diligently, separately, and according to the order of precedence (cf. canon 171, § 2). No particular form of collecting the votes is prescribed by the common law, though the constitutions usually determine some detailed method, for instance, the tellers carry a locked box into which each member casts his sealed vote, or the members proceed slowly, one by one, to-the table or desk of the presiding officer, and there deposit their votes in an urn or box, under the watchful eyes of the tellers. When all the votes have been thus.collected, the tellers shall examine in the presence of the presiding officer, according to the manner prescribed by the particular con-stitutions or legitimate customs, whether the number of votes corresponds to the number of electors. Should the number of votes exceed the number of electors, the ballot is invalid (cf. canon 171, §§ 2 and 3), the ballots are destroyed, and a new vote taken. If the number of ballots does not exceed that of the number of electors, they are opened one by one so as to be seen by both tellers, and by 152 " CHAPTER OF ELECTIONS the presiding officer, and noted down by the secretary. After the votes have been counted the presiding officer or one of the tellers announces to the chapter how many votes each candidate has received. This may be done in either of two ways. After each vote is opened and inspected by the tellers and the presiding officer, the name of the person voted for is read aloud.-Or after the votes have been counted, the final results may be read to the chapter by the presiding officer or by one of the tellers. The constitutions or custom will determine the method to be followed. The votes are to be burned immediately after each bal-lot, or at the end of the session if several ballots were taken during it (cf. canon 171., § 4). When the election of the superior general has been com-pleted according to the prescribed formalities, the presiding officer will declare it lawful, proclaim it, and receive the oath of the newly elected superior general. Thereupon the religious both of the chapter and of the community will make their obedience according to custom. All the acts of the election shall be diligently written down by the secretary and, after being signed at least by him, by the presiding officer, and by the tellers, they shall be carefully preserved in the archives of the congregation (cf. canon 171, § 5). Acceptance and Confirmation of the Election The announcement of the result of the election made to the chapter is sufficient notification if the person elected is present; if he is not present the result should be officially communicated to him, and he is to be summoned to the chapter, all further business of which is suspended until his arrival. Unless the constitutions state the contrary, the reli-gious elected is not obliged to accept the office. Should he 153 ADAM C. ELLIS renounce it; he loses all the rights connected with the same, and a new election is held. In the case of diocesan congregations of religious women, the election of the mother general must be con-firmed by the Ordinary who presides over it. For grave reasons, according to his conscience, he may refuse to con-firm the election (cf. canon 506, § 4). In that case, how-ever, he may not appoint the superior general, but a new election must be held. Postutaiion It may fiappen that the members of a chapter wish to have for their superior a religious who is able and worthy to fill that office, but who is excluded from it by some impediment of church law from which the-competent ecclesiastical ~uperior can and is accustomed to dispense. Such a person cannot be validly] elected, but the members of the chapter may postulate him, provided that he receives two-thirds of. the votes of the chapter (cf. canons 179, § 1; 180, § 1)which means that they ask the Holy See to grant the necessary dispensation. Postulation, however, may be admitted only in an extraordinary case and provided the constitutions do not forbid it. (cf. canon 507, § 3). In a letter addressed to the local Ordinaries of the world on March 9, 1920, the S. Congregation of Religious instructed them to be very strict in allowing postulation in the case of the superior general of a congregation of religious women who has just com-pleted two terms of office. In such a case the simple desire of the members of the chapter to re-eleCt the same superior, or the mere ability of the person to fill the office, is not a sufficient reason for postulation. If, however, other grave reasons seem to require the choice of the same person beyond the time allowed by the constitutions, the Ordinary must 154 CHAPTER OF ELECTIONS send a petion to the S. Congregation, in which it is clearly stated what the reasons are, how many ballots were taken, and how many votes were in favor of the person postu-lated. Finally the OMinary must state his own opinion in the matter. The S. Congregation will then give a decision. The fact that the constitutions expressly allow postulation does not excuse from the requirements of this instruction. In case of postulation the members of the chapter who wish to vote for an ineligible person, must write on their ballot: "I postulate N. N." Election of Other Officers The newly elected superior general presides over the election of the other officers to be chosen by the general chapter, unless the constitutions allow the Ordinary the right of presiding likewise at the election of the members of the general council. These elections are usually held in a separate session Of the chapter. The manner of voting is the same as that employed in the election of the superior general. An absolute majority of votes is required on the first and second ballot. If no one has received such a major2 ity, a third ballot is taken in which a relative majority is sufficient. ,If on this third ballot two or more candidates receive an equal number of votes, the presiding officer may cast a deciding vote, though he is not .obliged to do so. If he declines to use his right, the person who is senior by ordi-nation, or by first profession, or by age, is considered elected. The constitutions may provide for a fourth bal-lot in case the third re.sults in a tie. If the person elected is not a member of the chapter, he must be summoned at once, but the chapter does not await his arrival in order to continue its business. After the elections are over, the former superior gen-eral, the members of his council, the secretary general and 155 ADAM G. ELLIS the treasurer general, usually continue to sit in chapter with active voice as long as it r~mains in'session, even though they may have been replaced in their offces by other reli-gious. Should the superior general die during his term of offce, or resignbefore its completion, the assistant superior gen-eral will take his place in the government of the community and will ~onvoke an extraordinary chapter in which dec-tions will be held not only for a new superior general, but also for all the other offices which are usually filled by election in general chapter. The reason for this is that all ¯ the officers elected in a general chapter hold office from chapter to chapter, rather than for a "definite number of years. FOR CHURCH MUSICIANS Of unusual yalue to religious and seminarians working in the field c~f church music is 'the new Catholic Choirmasters' Correspon-derice Course. Four semesters of ~olle'giate° work, accredited by St. Albertus College Department of Music, are done under personal tutorship and will be coricluded with summer schools in 1943 and 1944. The lessons have been prepared by a~ faculty international in personnel and repute, including Dom Desrocquettes0 Dr. Becket Gibbs, Dom Ermin Vitry, Father Gerald Ellard, and others. Zest and .authority characterize their teaching, and phonograph recordings assist amply in problems that need the living voice. General' editor is Clifford Bennett, Gregorian Institute, 1515 Berger Building, Pittsburgh, Pa. Those interested may obtain an attractive pros-pectus by writing to the General Editor. 156 Retreat Resolutions Clarence McAuliffe, S.3. AS ~WEGO ON in the religious life, certain practices, n6t binding under pain of sir/, but nevertheless, of paramount importance in their bearing on the whole spiritual structure, become increasingly .difficult. Among these are the particular examination of conscience, certain rules governing religious discipline, such as the rule of silence, and the formulation of apt resolutions during re-treat. That the delicate web of religious virtues clings for partial support upon the particular examen is admitted by all ascetical writers. The same holds true for the rule of silence, since its utter neglect means the undermining of the spirit of prayer and recollection. But the resolutions we take in our annual retreat are even of greater moment since the continued practice of the particular examen and the preservation of a prayerful disposition depend in no small measure upon them. If we reflect on our happy novitiate days, we shall remember that we experienced no difficulty in making resolutions and recording them. We jotted them down carefully as tokens of our affection for our Divine Savior Who alone besides ourselves knew what they were. We may still have them. We may smile now at some of their characteristics. No doubt we took too many resolutions; we aimed too often at purely external practices; we may even have aspired to fanciful performances. But we can-not deny that they did us good. They kept us fervent: they kept our ideals high; they were concrete proof of our good will in God's service; they bolstered our flagging spir-itual forces. As long as we exercised care in formulating and inditing resolutions during our retreat, we were also 157 CLARENCE MCAULIFI~E faithful to our particular examen and observant of a cred-itable practice of silence. If we ever relaxed our diligence in making resolutions during retreat, our particular exa-men becamea half-hearted or neglected undertaking and our love for silence grew notably remiss. No Excuse t:or Neglect W.hy should the task, for task it is, of taking retreat resolutions ever be neglected by. us? What truly solid rea-son can we give for not writing them down and keeping them close at hand? Every man or woman engaged in a profession or business or in any other activity of moment pauses now and then to determine hn altered course of ac-tion. Small defects ard bound to seep in unnoticed, but they impede success and must b~ removed. Positive prog-ress also must be made; knowledge must be extended; greater zest must be engendered or the business will grow languid and die. Merchants do not hesitate to pay ample fees to public accountants and efficiency experts. These men detect pecuniary losses and open up new fields of ac-tivity for the merchant, and he makes definite plans accord-ing to their advice. Are we religious not engaged in a pro-fession, and a profession transcending all others? Can we deny that peccadilloes of one kind or another are, almost unobserved, weakening the fabric of our spiritual gar-ments? .that we are yet far distant from the glorious hori-zon of perfec~tion to which God beckons each one of us? Should we hesitate during our annual retreat to be our own public accountants and efficiency experts because of the unreasonable murmurings of our natural selves? A Faoorable Time for Resolutions Certainly no time is better suited for determining new spiritual policies than the annual retreat. During it we are segregated from our active duties; we engage in several days RETREAT RESOLUTIONS of silent communing with God; we see again what we al-ways know, but never reduce to perfect practice, that we are made only to serve Him; our spiritual ideals, dimmed by a whole year's mis~, are refurbished; God himself speaks to us and we hear His whisperings periodically, during each day of retreat pleading with us: "Why not give up this sin-less, but inordinate attachment for my sake? Why not de-vote more attention to developing this virtue?" Further-more, our subjective condition is fit for taking sage resolu-tions. We are calm, tranquil; excessive nervous tension, emotional ebullitions, the agitation engendered by custom-ary daily contact with other human personalities m all these vanish in the solitude of retreat. Those New Year resolutions so widely publicized by the newspapers can scarcely ever be successful if brought to bear upon spiritual matters, because the hectic round of daily duties and dis-tractions impedes clear vision and sound judgment. But the retreat is the New Year for religious and it is certainly to our shame if we pass up this one propitious occasion for taking efficacious resolves. Retreat resolutions are apt to be successful for another reason. Our profession is spiritual and its successful prac-tice does not depend on mere human endeavors. God called us to the religious life; He keeps us in it'; .He enables us every day to live it. Any resolution we take is doomed to failure if we count upon our own natural energies to fulfill it. Even the simplest, such as thedetermination to prepare Our meditation more carefully, to make an additional visit to the Blessed Sacrament, to relinquish some convenient, but unnecessary article, cannot be accomplished without the grace of God. Consider what vast stores of grace we must obtain in time of retreat. Not only do we perform our ordinary spiritual exercises, but the whole time is one continual prayer. A veritable mountain of sanctifying. 159~ CLARENCE MCAULIFFE grace is accumulated and with it the right to actual graces to be given us in the future as we need them. We shall need them particularly in order to be faithful to our reso- ¯Iutions, the fruit of our retreat, and they will be supplied generously and persistently by God, success depending solely upon our wholehearted cooperation. Negative Resolutions Why, then, we may ask have our resolutions so often been failures?' Why is it that we can hardly recall them after a few weeks perhaps? Have we been grossly negli-gent in corresponding with the grace of God? Not neces-sarily so. Perhaps our resolutions were not prudently made. God constructed the human being according to very definite laws. If we take resolutions contrary to these laws, especially our psychological laws, we can scarcely expect God to work a miracle to enable us to keep them. For in-stance, most' of us are probably too negative in drawing.up our resolutions. We will not do this; we will not do that; we will quit doing this, and so on. In other words, we pay entirely too much attention to our faults. If we are com-mitting deliberate sins, we must, of course, make them the first object of our determinations. But 'such is not usually the case. We fret over our imperfections or merely semi-deliberate faults, forgetting a sound teaching of theology which declares that it is impossible for any person without a special privilege, rarely granted, to keep from these even for a single day. The chances are that such defects spring from temperament, nervous disposition, unstable health or some other natural cause, partially, at least, beyond our control. Now it is a psychological law that negatives de-press the human soul. If our retreat resolutions comprise merely a lengthy list of "Don'ts" over inconsequential matters, we are .quite surely going to let them lapse. The 160 RETREAT RESOLUTIONS human soul is too lofty in its aspirations to be fettered' by a chorus of petty "I will not's"; it soars to the highest heavens in search of God Himself; unending vistai of per-fection lie stretched out before it and microscopic imper-fections are no obstacle to exalted sanctity even if they stay with us to our dying day. How much wiser it would be to 'resolve: "I will pay an additional visit to the Blessed Sac-rament each day this coming year for a few minutes out of love for my Savior," than to promise: "I will never sit down during meditation in the chapel", when, as a matter of fact, constant kneeling may so distract us that we cannot pray at all from bodily uneasiness. Besides, protracted kneeling may even do us positive corporal harm unless our backs and nerves are of rugged texture. How Man~/ Resolutions? Another mistake to which we may easily succumb is that of taking too many resolutions. It is true that a hun-dred resolutions would be none too many when we see in retreat the intricate labyrinth of perfection. Even so, it would certainly be unwise to take more than four. or, at most, five. Here again asimple law of. human psychology enters into play. We are so constructed that a multiplicity of resolves overbalances US~ dissipates our energies and re-sults in no accomplishment whatever. We cannot expect our Savior to rescind that law in our case by a miracle. It is well for us to recall that old axiom of spiritual au-thors that to advance in one virtue is to advance in them all. Progress, for instance, in the spirit and practice of obedi-ence necessarily reflects progress in the love of God. But love is the pith and core of all sanctity; loreis the all-em-bracing virtue; it means a closer alliance with God, more intimate union with Him; if it makes the tree of obedience more verdant, it must necessarily transmit its vigor to the 161 CLARENCE MCAULIFFE entire forest of virtues. Bearing this in mind, we should in retreat pay heed, firit of all to our vows. An outpost to one of them may have been weakened during the previous year. Then we should look to the virtues animating the vows and make a few positive resolutions that will stimu-late their growth. We must never forget that a religious observant of the vows is a good religious. Focusing our attention upon them, we keep our resolutions down to a minimum. Yet we will make more rapid spiritual s~rides .than we would if we squandered our resources by making decisions on the whole gamut of faults and virtues. The Search After Causes Our resolutions may result in failure for another rea-son also. They may be too vague, too imprecise, too gen-eral. For example, how often have we resolved in retreat to be more fervent in our spiritual exercises! No one could condemn a determination to better these exercises of piety. It is they especiall.y that keep our spiritual lives vigorous and bolster our flagging virtue. But what happened to that resolution to make them more devotedly? For a day or two, for a week or two perhaps, we were more attentive .to them and then, behold, we soon found ourselves in the same old rut of routine and mechanical performance. Why? Simply because our resolution violated a metaphysical law which states that to attain a purpose it is necessary to .~elect means, causes, that will conduce to its realization. If we resolve only upon the end to be achieved, we shall accomplish nothing. Every day we dream ofthings we should like to do, but we neglect the specific means to the end and our resolves are thus mere fancies relegated to the vast mound of inefficacious desires. If we really wish to improve our meditation, examinations of conscience and other spiritual exercises, let us investigate the reason 162 RETREAT RESOLUTIONS why they are performed so perfunctorily. Ii it because we indulge in considerable unnecessary talking? This will certainly dissipate the mind and react upon our spiritual exercises. If we make a determination to practise silence, we shall find that contact with God will become much eas.ier and our meditations will improve. Is it due to un-regu. lated affections of the heart? Then a resolution must be taken to watch carefully over such ungoverned move-ments by removing their occasions as far as possible. Is it due to stark physical fatigue? Then we can do nothing directly, but perhaps we can adopt some regime that will improve our health. Is it due to some other cause? Then let us examine for that cause and decide to overcome it if possible. Definite resolutions of these kinds will inject new life into our meditation whereas a mere hazy resolve to perform it better will soon vanish. This point is of the utmost consequence. Take another example. Most of us are guilty of positive faults against charity and all of us could practise this virtue much more perfectly. Shall we then determine during retreat: "I shall be more charitable"? Such a resolution is praiseworthy,, as a sign of our good will in God's service, but it is bound to lapse just as is the vague determination to do better in our spiritual exercises. If we wish to be more charitable, we must pry into the reasons why we are not more charitable. If we wish to obtain an effect, we must find a proportion-ate cause to produce it. Do we fail in charity because we associate only with those whose temperaments .are con-genial? because we areof a squeamish disposition and allow tiny impolitenesses to jar our nerves? because we indulge in idle ,gossip and small talk? because we have a biting or ridiculing tongue? Could we add blossoms to our charity by interesting ourselves in the activities of others? by de-veloping the spirit of a good listener? by watching for 163 CLARENCE MCAULIFFE opportunities to say a kindly word or express Our sym-pathy? Ways and means to add lustre to this virtue are truly endless. If one defect, in particular, makes us un-charitable, let us in retreat decide to banish it; if some precise means of burnishing our charity occurs to us, let us determine to adopt it. Then we shall find that Christ's own spirit of charity will take root and flourish in our souls. The Bizarre Resolution Fantastic and complex resolutions should also be avoided. Though we never relax our aim at the highest possible perfection, we always keep our feet anchored to earth by the bonds of prudence and common sense. The human mind can only think of one thing at a time; the will can be directed toward only one conscious goal at a time. Both faculties are bound to be smothered by kaleido-scopic resolutions. Suppose a religious were to emerge from retreat armed with this single resolve: From eight o'clock in the morning when her active day began until ten at night when she retired, exactly fourteen hours inter-vened, the same number of hours as there are stations of the cross. During the coming year she would divide the day according to the stations. From eight to nine in the morning she would live in the spirit of the first station, the condemnation of the Savior. From nine to ten her thoughts would Be engrossed with the second station, and so on throughout the day. It is not likely that this well-inten-tioned religious would keep that resolution. It is too bizarre and too involved .and would require constant at-tention from morning to night every single day. Human nature could not stand such a strain without well-nigh miraculous support. 164 RETREAT RESOLUTIONS Keeping the Resolution Once our resolutions are taken and written down, how can we perpetuate them for three hundred and sixty-five days? By adopting them as subjects for Our particular ex-amination of conscience. How often we puzzle over a suitable subject for this examen! The problem vanishes if we have our retreat resolutions on hand. Even though these be only three or four,, they will provide ample matter for the examen. Each resolution can be the subject for a few weeks or a month. Thereafter each resolution can be repeated again and, if this becomes wearisome, variety may be introduced without changing the subject matter. FOr instanc.e, if one of our retreat resolutions is to eliminate unnecessary talking, we can practise this for some days under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin and in imitation .of her silence in the home at Nazareth. Later on, we might exercise it in union with Christ in the desert and in His infancy and in His secluded hours of prayer upon the mountain. At another time we may practise it by repeated ejaculatory prayers to some favorite saint whose help we implore. In this way the subject will not grow tedious and it will never lose its value Since it is one of our rdreat resolutions. These may also be kept alive and vibrant by referring to them duriag the monthly recollection. Why devote this period to any other consideration when God has shown us in our previous retreat what actions of ours will most please Him? Despite our best efforts, however, we shall make un-successful resolutions. In framing them we may continue to violate the laws of human psychology. We may not observe them even for a week though we honestly wanted to do so. We should not be discouraged. God values our good will; and our retreat resolutions, if written down, are 165 CLARENCE MCAULIFFE palpable proof of this" good will. The resolutions of our novitiate days were often ill-formed and impossible of achievement, but they secured God's blessing for us. We kept the vows though we did not as yet have them; rarely did we commit even a deliberate venial sin; we strove by our clumsy retreat resolutions to improve our religious lives. These resolutions won from Christ the gift of fer-vor. He Will reanimate and increase that fervor if we per-severe in taking and recording resolutions during our re-treat. BOOKS RECEIVED (7"0 be reviewed later.) I PRAY THE MASS~. By Hugo H. Hoever, S. O: Cist. Catholic Book Publishing Company. New York. MARCH INTO TOMORROW. By, 3ohn ,J. Considine, M.M. Field Afar,Pres~. New York. ~, . WATCH AND PRAY. By ,John Moffatt, S.~J. The Bruce Publishing' Company. Milwaukee. IN THE SHADOW OF OUR LADY OF THE CiENACLE. By Helen M. Lynch; R.C. The Paulist Press. New York. SOME PAMPHLETS Cheer Up!; Be of Good Heart!; Have ConfidenCe!; Take Courage! These four pamphlets are by Father Bruno Hagspiel, S.V.D. They consist of a varied collection of Scripture texts, anecdotes, poems, and so forth, all designed to cheer the downhearted.~ Price, 10 cents a copy. May be obtained from The Mission Press, Techny, I11. Also, four pamphlets listed under the general title, GOSPEL MOVIES, that treat of Grace; Faith; Sin; Wed in Christ. They contain brief stories based on the Gospels and illustrating these various topics. All are written by Father Placldus Kempf, O.S.B. Price, 10 cents a copy. May be obtained from THE GRAIL, St. Meinrad~, Indiana. 166 Reparation in t:he Devotion t:o !:he Sacred I-leart: Malachi 3. Donnelly, S.J. THE "great apparition" of our Lo~d to St. Margaret Mary took place duiing the Octave of Corpus Christi, most probably in 1675. Showing her His Heart, our Lo~d said: "Behold this Heart which has so loved men, which has spared nothing, even to being exhausted and consumed, in order to testify to them its love. And the greater number of them make me no other return than ingratitude, by their coldness and their forgetfulness of me in this Sacrament of love. But what is still more painful to me is, that it is hearts who are consecrated to me who use me thus." And our Lord continued: "It is because of this that I ask you to have the first Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi kept as a special feast in honor of my Heart. by receiving Communion on that day and making it a reparation of honor for all the insults offered to my Heart during the time that it has been exposed on the altars." The end of the devotion to the Sacred Heart, as revealed to St. Margaret Mary and as approved by the Church, is reparation to this same Heart for the coldness and indif-ference, for the sins and insults suffered by the Sacred Heart, especially in the Sacrament of His love. Reparation, in general, means the making up for an injury or offense committed against one to whom honor and love are due. In the case of reparation to the Sacred Heart, this presup-poses a real personal wound in that Heart caused by the sins of men, and a real ability on the part of those devoted to the Sacred Heart to repair this wound. This confronts us with two difficulties: 1) how can the Heart of Jesus now suffer? 2) how can we repair His sufferings? 167 MALACHI ,J. DONNI~LLY The soul of Jesus Christ.in heaven experiences no sor-row, nor does His glorified body know aught of pain. His perfect happiness can be dimmed by absolutely nothing: nay! not even by the most heinous sins of ungrateful men, How, then, could He complain of the coldness and indif-ference of m~n, and that in words which, seemingly indicate that each sin of the present day is a direct and piercing wound in His Sacred Heart? In a word, the solution lies in an Understanding of the knowledge that Christ, as Man, enjoyed during His, life on earth. Our Blessed Lord was both God and Man. As Man He enjoyed the beatific Vision throughout His whole life. Now, through this vision He received the complete perfection of His intellect. He knew all things that per-tained to His office, His dominion, His mission on earth, all that pertained to the plan of redemption. The knowledge that Christ had, as Man~ was like unto the eternal knowledge of God. During His whole lithe, .especially during the Passion, Christ',' as Man, had knowl-edge of future things; the good and bad 'actions of all men were directly1 present to His mind. Just as a giant search-light in one blazing stream of light covers at once a half-mile area and every inch of space therein, or just as the human eye gazing on a distant landscape sees the whole and each detail at the same time, so, too, did Christ see through the whole of time to come and all the actions of men con-tained therein. He saw all future events as actually present before His eyes and each event was the direct object of His vision. In order to understand better the relationship between the knowledge of Christ and reparation in the devo-tion to the Sacred Heart, let us go in imagination with Jesus to the garden of Gethsemani. As Jesus kneels in 168 REPARATION TO THE SACRED HEART meditation, He begins to grow sad. Why? This sadness can only be caused by the vision in His human mind. As He kneels there, the sins of all men Unfold before His eyes; all the ingratitude of men--especially, of those from whom He might well have expected better things--is directly present to His clear vision. Not a.single sin --- even an ever so secret sin of desire-~elu~les His all-seeing gaze. Also (and this is the consoling aspect of Gethsemani), every single act of reparation of those especially devoted to His Sacred Heart was present to Him. And, as Jesus looked upon these acts of reparation, His loving Heart felt real and deep consolation. When, therefore, at the present time we perform acts of reparation, it is perfectly true to say that there is direct contact between our act of reparation and the Heart of Christ in Gethsemani. Time and space are wiped out. His knowledge bridges nineteen hundred years as readily as we look across a river. We are present before His eyes: our acts of reparation console Him, our sins cause Him sorrow-ful agony. What should be the effect of this truth that all our actions were actuatl~t present to the suffering Christ in His Passion? A deep realization of this can only ground more firmly our love for the Sacred Heart and spur us to more ardent acts of loving reparation to the Sacred Heart. Just as the spokes of a wheel lead to the hub, with which they are in direct contact, so likewise do all the reparatory actions of men the world over lead back to Christ in the Garden; establish immediate contact with His Suffering heart. And the deep realization of this solidly established truth should arouse the deepest aspirations of our hearts and wills to do our utmost to console the great and loving Heart of Jesus. 169 The Pivol:al Point: ot: l=fl:ec!:ive ,ood Will G. Augustine.Ellard, S.J. ['Because of the importance of Father Ellard's theme, and because of the length of the article, we thought that the followihg summary might be appreciated by those who wish some handy way of visualiz!ng and recalling the points devdopedin the article. The Roman numerals refer to the same divisions of the text.--ED.] Summary I. The problem of bringing about moral good will is illustrated by three cases: a)" Good~ but weak, will in oneself; b) Generous, but inconstant, will in oneself; c) Irresponsive or bad will in others. II. What is meant by the expression: "the pivotal point of good will"? III. Things which do not constitute it. IV. It does consist in the realistic appreciation of values. These terms defined. V. Reasons for the assertion: a) Common sense; e) Philosophy; b) ExperienCe; f) Sacred Scripture; c) Observation; g) Theology. d) Experimental psychology: gI. The characteristics of the knowledge that is d~]namic, i.e. apt to move or strengthen the will: a) Presentation of the right aspect; e) Actuality: b) Sufficient" quantity ; f) Novelty ; c) Personal reference: g) Affinity and sympathy. d) Immediacy and imagery; VII. Practical conclusions-- 1. To move or strengthen the will for the present: Realize the values of motives: a) Learning what the pertinent values are; Means: b) Serious reflection and prayer, especially mental: c) Organization of the motives. 2. To steady the will in the future: Have the realization in the focus of consciousness at critical moments. a) Recollection; c) Habituation: Means: b) Association; d) Experience. 170 PIVOTAL POINT OF GOOD WILL SISTER Mary Frail is making her annual retreat. More clearly than she has been wont, she sees the magnifi-cence and beauty of the divine plan for herself, she is delighted with it, and she feels that it would the grand-est thing possible to carry it out in all its fulness. Also she notices that to do so would mean giving up certain rather dear little habitual imperfections. She is torn between two conflicting attracti6ns. Though she is free, and by all means would be pleased to embrace .the whole of the divine plan for her, especially since it is all for her own happiness, still she finds that her will does not respond as she would like. Making his retreat also is Father Inconstant. He finds no great difficulty in resolving upon the noblest courses, but in looking back over many retreats, many excellent resolutions, and many performances not so excellent, be feels rather distressed at the sight of his inconstancy. This time, if possible, he is going to make the new beginning that will stick. Just how--well, that is not too clear to him. Brother Zealous faces a different kind of difficulty. He is a teacher, and he is glad to do everything he can to make good Christians out of his charges. But often enough he finds that his pupils are irresponsive or wilful. Is there anything we can do for Sister Mary Frail, Father Inconstant, and Brother Zealous? Their problems concern wills, their own and those of their charges. Pos-sibly, some consideration of that upon which moral good will turns in a peculiar way, may be of service to them. II. By "the pivotal point of good will" let us under-stand a certain something that precedes good will itself and that, more than anything else, is a condition of its coming into being. Of course it does not determine the will; for man, being free, makes his own determinations, But even the free will is dependent upon previous conditions, and it 171 -G. A. ELLARD is the principal of these that we propose to consider. Ill. This pivotal point of good will cannot be simply knowledge. Hardly anyone would maintain nowadays the old doctrine attributed to Socrates that knowledge makes virtue. It is not freedom of the will; everybody knows by sad experience that he cannot make himself good by a mere fiat of his will, nor even by many of them. Imposition of good habits from without, though continued over a period ,of years, in the discipline, for example, of a boarding school,, may ultimately produce, not what is sought, but a reaction in the contrary direction. Good habits developed freely and from within cannot be the point we are inquir-ing after, primarily because they presuppose much good volition and action, .and the pivotal point is antecedent to these. Nor, to pass to the supernatural order, is grace as such the pivot. Grace could not help to explain natural good will:. Even in supernatural activity, it is not sanctify-ing grace, which of itself is not operative, but a habit in the order of b.elng, not of action. Nor can it be the infused virtues or the gifts-of the Holy Spirit; neither are these of themselves operative; to go into action, they need stimula-tion. In what sense actual grace may fulfill the function we are investigating, will be taken up later on. Prayer, that is, asking God for good will, cannot bethe pivotal point. If the request be granted, the question would remain by what means the good will is brought about. Realistic Appreciation of Values IV. The pivotal point does seem to be found in a realistic, sense or appreciation of values. Let us consider. Everything that is good has value, and therefore value here is understood to be any good. Good is, according to the classical division: the.pleasant, the useful, the proper. Val-ues may be high or low, and positive, like pleasure, or nega- 172 PIVOTAL POINT OF (~00D ~'ILL tive, like pain. Appreciation is the subjective or'personal response to the objective goods that we call values. To appi~eciate is, according to the dictionary, "to set a just value on; to esteem to the full worth of; to be fully sensi-ble of; to exercise a niceperception of worth." Good busi-ness people, like SisterMary Buyer, who has been chosen out.of many to make the purchases for the convent or hos-pital, presumably know how to discern values and prices, In art or literature a man is said to have appreciation if he recognizes or prizes what is beautiful. In general, a person has appreciation if he knows a good thing when he sees it. The wise man has been defined as he who knows true val-ues. Religious who properly evaluate the excellence of God and of His plan have appreciation. Realistic apprecia-tion equals .the reality, or at least approximates the reality, of the value. Appreciation, or evaluation, knowing good things as good, seems to be the vital link between the two spiritual facultieS. It involves knowledge of a certain kind, and thus it is intellectual; since complacency or some other indelib-erate movement of.will must follow the perception of. good or evil, it brings in the will also. In practise, the cultivation of appreciation of true or major values ri~quires the har-monious cooperation of both faculties. V. Among the reasons for placing the pivotal point of good will in a realistic sense or appraisal of values, we may notice the following. Common sense would seem to indicate that it is mo-tives that move the will. But what are motives, directly or indirectly, except values? If athing be of no value to one, why should one bother about it? Our own experience seems to teach the, same. If we consider carefully the best moments and the worst mo-ments in our past lives, and allow for all influences; internal- 173 G, A. ELLARD and external, can we give a better reason for our own inte-rior strength or weakness at such times than that just then our sense of values, our perception of what was really good, ~was most adequate and realistic or least so? A little observation of men shows how eagerly they react to what they value highly; to money, for example, or pleasure, or power, or honor. Salesmen and advertisers achieve their, purpose by inducing people to conceive, the highest possible idea of the worth of their merchandise. Everybody notices how much clerks will put up with from prospective buyers. Would the same persons be so com-plaisant if there were no immediate .gain in view? If it be necessary to, hold his job a man may rather easily bear with the caprices of his employer, ~though at home; with his wife and children, he acts like an 01d bear. Wars, in spite of all their evils, are fought for great economic or. political values. Suppose that, in the iight of experience and observa: tion of men, we. consider this hypothetical case. Let A be anybody who has great sums of money at his disposal. Let B be anybddy else. Let A ask B to do anything that is within the limits of reason. If A0 offer greater and greater amounts of money to B indefinitely, is it likely that B w~ill resist the attraction? Is it not to be expected thathe will yield~ and moreover like it? But money .is only the measure of .material values. That volition is a function Of appreciation or evalua-tion is also a finding of experimental psychology. This is the main practical contention in the works on the w.ill of the distinguished German ~lesuit psychologist, Lindwor-sky1. He specialized in0 the psychology~of~this faculty, and it is to him that I am mostly in~tebted for the ideas in this 1See especially The Training of the ~rill, translated by Steiner and Fitzpatrick (Brute. Mil~.'aukee) ; and The Ps~Icholog~t of Asceticism, translated by Heiring (Edwards: Eondotl). ~ " 174 PIVOTAL POINT OF GOOD WILL paper. According to Lindworsky, experiments show that volition depends chiefly upon insight into values, without of course being determined by them. The will can embrace whatever appears to it to be of value, and it can become very strong if one feels sufficiently that the value is great enough. To move the will, values must be subjectively. experienced. Keeping a resolution is dependent, not so much upon the energy with which it was made, nor upon an inner general strength of will developed by particular exercises, as upon sufficient initial evaluation and especially upon the presence of it in the focus of consciousness at critical moments. "That the secret of influencing the will lies principally in this, to present the ~right motives at the right time, is no new discovery; . it was always the doctrine of the tradi-tional Scholastic psy, chology": so writes Hertling2, a con-temporary authority in ascetical theology. From modern American psychologists: "Forcing oneself to an early rising, and compelling oneself to run six times around the barn before breakfast, or to do some other useless and diffi-cult thing daily, will not bring the result sought for . Will training implies bringing sufficient motivation into play.''8 Philosophy teaches that the object of the will is good that is known. There are two elements expressed in the object and a third is implied. The first is goodness, real or apparent. Hence no one can expect to influence the will except by proposing some good to it. To do anything else would be like trying to make one see what has no color or to hear something that is not sounding. Knowledge is the second requisite, and it is just as necessary. If one had an opportunity to pick up a million dollars, but did not ~Hertling: Lehrbuch der Aszetlschen Theologie (Rauch, Innsbruck), p. 177. 8Goult and Howard: Outline of General Ps~lcholog~l, pp. 338-339. 175 G. A. ELLARD notice it, nothing would come of it. Thirdly, the good whichis presented and known, must be apprehended not merely as true or in any other way, but as good. Where there is no good or no perception of it, there can be no voli-tion. If the good be sufficiently great and seen with suf-ficient clarity, there can be no resistance to its-attraction, as happens with the Infinite Goodness and Beauty in the beatific vision. Hence, in general, the greater the good and .the clearer one's knowledge of it, the more likely the will's acceptance of it, and the more energetic and constant that acceptance will be: Sacred Scripture seeks to move men mostly by prom-ising good things and threatening evil things. But these are values, positive or negative. Christ Himself appears to have indicated what the will follows in such texts as these: "For where thy treasure is, there shall thy heart be also" (Matthew 6: 21). "For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his soul? Or what shall a man give asaprice for his soul?" (Matthew 16: 26). "The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a treasure hid in the field, which a man findeth and covereth; and in his j6y he goeth and selleth.all that he hath and buyeth that field. Again, the .kingdom of the hea~'ens is like unto a merchant in search of. goodly pearls; and when he .hath found one pearl of great price, he goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth it" (Matthew 13: 44-46). A theological consideration: interior actual grace helps us to do good or avoid evil by enlightening the mind and inspiring the will. Psychologically Speaking, one would say that grace moves the will by enlightening the mind. The indeliberate inclination excited in the will corresponds to the ideas aroused in the intelligence. Light relative to a practical step can conceivably bear upon any or all of these three points: what is to be done, why it is to be done, and 176 PIVOTAL POINT OF GOOD '~rILL bow it is to be done. The firstalone would be quite insuf-ficient, and might well be deterrent, as when an unpleasant duty is indicated. To show why a thing is to be done: what is this but to manifest its motives or values, to reveal that it is becoming, profitable, necessary, and so on? In this way, by giving one a subjective appreciation, actual grace enters into the pivotal point of supernatural good will. It tends to correct that perversity which the prophet Isaias denounces: "Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for dark-ness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter" (Isaias 5: 20). It gives one something of that gift of the Messias: "that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good" (Isaias 7:. 15). In modern terms, it enables one to share in Christ's sense of value. The Church has incorporated into the Breviary4 a famous passage of St. Augustine in which he comments on the text: "No one can come to me, except the Father . draw him" (John 6: 44), and uses a quotation from Ver-gil: "If the poet could say, 'Each one's pleasure draws him,'5 not necessity but pleasure, not obligation, but delight, how much more strongly ought we to say that the man is drawn to Christ who is delighted with truth, delighted With beatitude, delighted with justice, delighted with everlasting life, all of which Christ is? . You show a green branch to a sheep and you draw it. Sweets are shown to a child, and he is drawn. Because he runs, he is drawn; he is drawn byloving; without injury to body he is drawn; with bonds of the heart he is drawn. If. earthly delights and pleasures revealed to lovers draw them; does not Christ, revealed by the Father, draw us? For what does the soul desire more strongly than the truth?''° 4Ember Wednesday after Pentecost; Lessons 7-9. 5Eclogues, II, 65. OTractatus 26 in doannem. 177 G. A. ELLARD It may be objected that we know enough or too much already. What we need is not more knowledge, but more willing. Sometimes that is true. But at other times, it may be asked; have we the right kind of knowledge, and enough of that kind? In ~any case, if a man cannot directly make a decision that he would like to make, what do you advise him to try? Have you anything better than that he should reconsider his motivation? Dynamic Knowledge VI. Now let us see if we can discern what kind of knowledge of ~;alues it is that, as it were, magnetizes the will. It is a certain, dynamic knowledge, found to be char-acterized more or less by the following attributes. First, it will present things under the right aspect, that is, it will propose things, not as true--the usual function of knowledge--but as good or evil, lovely or odious, beau-tiful or hideous, and so on. Such are the phases of things that it will bring out into relief. A quotation from the psychologist James will illus-trate what is meant by the right aspect. Consider "the case of an habitual drunkard under temptation. He has made a resolve to reform, but he is now solicited again by the bottle. His moral triumph orfailure lil~erally consists in his finding the right name for the case. If he says that it is a case of not wasting good liquor already poured out, or a case of not being churlish and unsociable when in the midst of friends, or a case of learning something at last about a brand of whiskey he never met before, or a case of celebrating a public holiday, or a case .of stimulating him-self to a more energetic resolve in favor of abstinence than any he has ever yet made, then he is lost. His choice of the wrong name seals his doom. But if, in spite of all the plausible good names with which his thirsty fancy so copi- 178 PIVOTAL POINT OF GOOD WILL ously furnishes him, he unwaveringly clings to the truer bad name and apperceives the case as that of 'being a drunk-ard, being a drunkard, being a drunkard,' his feet are planted on the road to salvation. He saves himself by thinking rightly.''7 The right aspect is not enough. There must also be a certain quantitg in the knowledge. It must be sufficiently clear, evident, rich, and full. In fact, the closer it approaches equality to the reality, the better. This is a particularly important dement in the realism of dynamic appreciation. Hence, obscure, vague, or hazy conceptions of the most tremendous realities may remain inert and sterile. Moreover, personal rfference is vitally necessary. To see that a thing matters to another may leave me unaffected. I must see the vital importance of it for my own dear self. In the last analysis evaluations must be based on one's past experiences of pleasure, pain, or love. Through these gen-uine experiences present knowledge must be vitalized. A man, for example, who does not remember vividly how it feels to have his finger burned, is in no position to begin to imagine how it would feel to be consumed with raging fires in the infernal regions. If one should never have experi-enced the thrill of unselfish love, one could hardly under-stand God's absolute loveliness and make an act of divine charity. Nor could a man who ha~ never been aroused by created beauty react to the Uncreated Beauty. Personal reference is necessary in another sense also. Great things have many values or suggest many motives, some of them apt to appeal to one and others t6 another. Each one must discover those that evoke interest and response in himself and exploit them. One soul may love God as a father, another as a friend, and a third as a spouse. 7James: Talks to Teachers, pp. 187-188. 179 (3. A. ELLARD Two more marks of dynamic recognition of worth are iramediac~t and iraaqer~. Direct perception of an object is much more apt to stir one than knowledge that is only mediate, discursive, or abstract, because it is closer to the object and more like it. Hence .the weakness, from an affective and effective point of vie.w, of reasoning and argu-ments. Love at sight, even to infatuation, is said to occur at times; but nothing like it is possible when men and women know each other only through description or cor-respondence. A dreadful catastrophe may horrify one who sees it but leave.a reader little affected. To make up for lack of immediate knowledge when it cannot be had, the imagination must be used. The more vivid and realtand rich the imagery, the better. The human mind is depend-ent on the senses and the imagination. Hence, to get at the emotions and, through them, the will, fill the imagination. "Empathy," the ability "to feel-oneself into situations," for example, into the Gospel scenes, or into the conse-quences of one's choices, into the pleasures or pains that may follow them, can compensate to some extent for the deficiencies of indirect knowledge. Happily most of the moral and spiritual values may be contemplated in the concrete in persons who have real-ized them. The scale would range from Christ, the Blessed Virgin, and the Saints down to the humblest person who has Something to be admired and imitated. Actuatit~I of knowledge gives it power. It is of deci-sive importance that the motives be actually before con-sciousness at the critical moments when they are moit needed and least likely to be there. It is not enough that they be stored away in the recesses of the memory. Actual consciousness, for instance, of the ~ttractions of unchaste pleasure may win the battle against merely habitual aware-ness of the reasons for keeping chaste. The force of occa- 180 PIVOTAL POINT OF GOOD 'q~rlLL sions of sin illustrates well the characteristics of dynamic knowledge that we have been reviewing; the impression they produce is thoroughly realistic. Nooeln.I is also an aid, as it makes a greater appeal to the sensibilities. Hence, ~o keep a good idea from losing its motive power, consider it from new angles and find new beauties in it. Since choice is always comparative, a preference of one thing to another, superiority! of knowledge of one alterna-tive gives it an added chance of being taken. A slight value well known may be preferred to a much greater one less well known. In general, .other things being equal, that alternative will be chosen the values of which are better known or predominant in the focus of consciousness at the time. FinaliSt, a factor of knowledge that induces prefer-ential appreciation is found in the subject himself, namely. a certain s~tmpath~t, based on a natural or supernatural affinity: the "connaturality" discussed by St. Thomas in the Summas. The classical example, from Aristotle on, is the chaste man's knowledge of chastity as opposed to the theoretical ethician's. With respect to the Supreme or Absolute Value, that is, to God, this affinity is founded principally upon the essential relations of the creature to the Creator and of sonship to the Divine Father. Such seems to be the kind of knowledge that leads to willing and to action. It does not make one learned, and may be greater in the ignorant peasant than in a scholar or theologian. But if its object be divine values, it will help to make one wise and holy. If we could make our knowledge and estimation of eternal values equal to our appraisal of temporal things, our probation would be over. We cannot, to cite an 88umraa Tbeologic~, 2a, 2ae, q. 45, a. 2. 181 G. A. ELLARD instance, have an experimental knowledge of God in this life, though the mystics do lay claim to just that or some-thing like it, and in the light of it they conceive for God a love like that fierce, overwhelming, personal love which arises between man and woman. On the other hand, and to our misfortune, the false or minor values of material things do solicit us through precisely that form of knowl-edge which is thoroughly realistic and dynamic. There-fore it is all the more imperative for us to be mindfully aware of the advantages that sensible attractions have over spiritual, values, and in oposition to do whatever we can to compensate for the difference. Practical Corollaries VII. Suppose we consider separately the cases in which ¯ one wishes to influence a will at the moment and in the future, or what is about the same thing, making a resolu-tion now and endeavoring to secure its observance in the future. 1. To move the will now, and to charge it with power, get l~y all available means the maximum possible appreciation of the values or motives that are pertinent, and diminish as much as possible any antagonistic evalua-tion. ¯ First, it is important rightly to discern just what ought to be done, that is, in our case, what the law of God is or what He prefers. Missing this point, through impru-dence or scrupulosity or laxity, is not conducive to good will. But then focus attention, feeling, and effort on the advantages, gains, and reasons for so acting. Not u~bat ought to be done is to be stressed, but the u;h~/'s. Imitate the clever salesman who sells his wares by persuading the potential buyer that it is really to his own interest and profit to buy. Exhortation had better take this form than a tedious repetition of "Let us'es" or "Let us not's." Put 182 PIVOTAL" POINT OF GOOD WILL the accent, not on the rights of authority, but on the advantages to the subject in obeying; these include the values of obedience itself. Even if you urge that it is God's will, try to explain whg He wills it, what values He has in mind. With most persons, begin with a stron.g appeal to self-interest; then proceed to the nobler interests, such as God's; Christ's, souls'. Very especially in case something difficult or distressing be involved, for example, self-- abnegation, or love of the Cross, the greater the disagree-able feature, the greater must be the emphasis on the good aspects and results. This is a simple psychological neces-sity. Some who exhort to abnegation would seem to think the greater the evil, the more it will be welcomed. Mere negatives--"Dont's"--are never inspiring, and therefore negative resolutions should somehow be given a positive character and value, for instance,-by substitution or sub-limation. To acquire a dynamic sense of moral values two chief means are available; first, to learn what those means are; and secondly, by serioi~s reflection and prayer, to take their measure or realize their magnitude. What the values are is to be learned by study and reading or listening to sermons and conferences. We could not attempt to outline them here. But it may be sug-gested that the perfect man Would strive to know and will .the same values that. God Himself wills and to have a simi-lar appreciation of them. They are the Infinite Goodness Itself and the excellences of the divine cosmic plan, cul-minating in divine beatitude for an,gels and men, with immunity from all evil, for eternity. Included in that plan would be the sublime grandeurs of the Incarnation and of its effects in time and eternity. Next in order is to work up an adequate appreciation of these motives, justly to appraise them, to recognize their 183 G. A. ELLARD ' full worth, to feel their force and significance. This is ~o be done principally by serious reflection and prayer, or better, by both together, that is, by mental prayer. This is the great means and hence the supreme importance and efficacy of it in the spiritual life. St. Thomas has a whole article in the Summa to demonstrate that "contemplation or meditation is the cause of devotion.''9 In it he quotes these words from St. Augustine: "the act of the will arises from understanding." Without mental prayer, or something approaching it, one cannot expect much grasp of moral values: such is human nature. The senses and the world overwhelm one with their values, which are in possession. as it were, from the beginning. A counterbalancing per-ception of the worth of things divine does not come with faith nor without effort. The germ of it.is there, but it must be developed. The human spirit is immersed in mat-ter, and if it is to raise itself above material attractions and maintain itself upon that superior level, it-must exert its forces with an energy comparable to that of the powerful motors of the big clippers or flying-fortresses. This means in the beginning hard thinking and much of it, with ener-getic and sustained will-activity corresponding to the light won. In mental prayer.a vitalized and dynamic insight is gained into divine truths and values, the will reacts and responds at once, the appropriate affections are elicited, the consequences of possible courses of action are carefully weighed and felt in anticipation, the correct moral atti-tudes are assumed, practical resolutions are made and their execution rehearsed, many fervent petitions are made, and grace, coming in ever increasing measure, deepens and enhances the whole process. In a word, one is filled with that light, good will, and strength which are needed to ful-fil one's part in God's magnificent plan. 9Summa Theologica, 2a, 2ae, q. 83, a. 3. 184 PIVOTAL POINT OF GOOD WILL If one cultivati~ m~ntal prayer well and sufficiently, he will also use all the other means to spiritual advancement and thus he will become perfect. If one be faithful in the lower degrees of mental prayer, he may be led on even to mystical contemplation, wherethe labor will be less, and the infused light, appreciation, and love may be incom-parably greater. Mostly in the intimate commerce of con-templation do the spouses of God come to their peculiar experience and all-absorbing love of Him. The funda-mental difference between a mere believer, a person of medi~ ocre virtue, and a saint, seems to be that, whereas they all assent to the same truths, the believer hardly does more, the mediocre person feels to some extent what they mean, and the saint truly realizes their significance. All the motives, general and particular, having been considered, they are to be assembled and associated together, so that one may recall the others, and then they are to be thrown into the scales against their false contraries, and proposed for acceptance to the will, with an inexorable "either. or!" 2. To aid in securing future execution of a resolution, four means in particular are effective: recollection, associa-tion, habituation, and experience. Recollection will tend tO prevent the light and warmth of one's vivid appreciation from vanishing into the dark-n~ ss. God and divine things are in themselves interesting, and if one's insight into them has been sufficient, interest in them will spontaneously spring up. Then without too much difficulty interest will direct attention; attention to divine values will keep them in the field of consciousness; and naturally the affections and will should follow. One should foresee as far as possible the occasions in which one's constancy will be put to the test, and deter-mine in advance by .what precise means one is going to 185 G. A. ELLARD react. "The modern psychology of will teaches that mere volition accomplishes nothing, unless a definite "way of behaving has been planned and practised.''1° Then the occa-sion, the resolution with its means, ~nd the motives, already organized among themselves, are to be associated together in thought as firmly as possible, so that when the occasion comes, it may recall into the focus of consciousness the reso-lution with its means, and this in turn the whole constella-tion of motives. Thus their cumulative force will be available, and successful action may be expected. To illustrate by'an example from Lindworsky: John notices that whenever he meets Charles on the way to work, he falls into uncharitable conversation. He adds to his gen-eral resolve not tofail against charity this means, that when he meets Charles again, he will promptly open a discussion of such or such a topic. Thus he links together all four: -the occasion, the r.esolution, the precise means, and the ¯ motives. 1~ All the procedures indicated in the preceding pages can be cultivated more and more until they become solid l~abits of virtue. Thus greater sureness, facility, and perfection in good are acquired. With every success in accomplishing what one desires, one actually feels and experiences to a certain extent the fruition of one's ideals and values, and thus one's appreciation of them becomes ever more realistic, and more like the divine or Christiike sense of what is of value. If with sufficient realism you. see that your treasure is ~n the Infinite Goodness of the Blessed Trinity and in the advantages of the divine plan, you will find your will there also. lOLindworsky: The P~cbolog~/ of Asceticism, p. 38. ~lbid.o p. 37. 186 Scruples Versus !:he Human Gerald Kelly~ S.3. THIS sketch concerns two characters, both of whom .are "| purely fictitious. Any resemblance to any person in real life.is a mere coincidence. One character is called Humanus, because he represents the ordinary conscientious human being, one who is.cheerfully content to be .~'like the rest of men," The other character is Scrupulosus, so-called because he typifies the victims of that gnawing and unfounded fear of sin known as scruples. ' For Scrupulosus, a supreme difficulty is to appreciate what may be called "the human way of acting." It is hard to.define this human way. It expresses itself in a quiet resignation to the fact that human problems cannot be solved with the exactness of mathematical problems. ~.It is an essential requisite for peace among men and for interior peace with God and oneself. Humanus takes this human way in full, easy stride. A reliable man tells him something; he believes it without struggle. True, the .man might be wrong, might be lying, using a mental reservation, or even deceiving himself. But Humanus does not tr6uble himself about these things, unless there is some reM evidence.to make him suspect them. When a man gives him money, Humanus does not bite it or ring it on a counter. He knows the possibility of counter-feit money; but he knows .too that social life demands that we practise a certain amount of trust in the good will of others. (Incidentally, the author once lived in a place where there must have been a great deal of. counterfeiting. Every time one paid for something in coins, a cautious clerk rang the coin on~the counter. It was most distressing.) . ¯ . Humanus follows the.same human way in his dealings with Go&and himself.God made him huma'n; God.ought GERALD KELLY to be content if he simply acts humanly. And he has enough troubles in life without suspecting himself unduly. Scrupulosus can follow the human way in his dealings with other men; but in those things which concern God and himself he is decidedly inhuman. He seems to thinl~ that, in dealing with God, he must have God's own unerring and penetrating vision of the human heart; that in dealing with himself none of the canons of human peace are applicable. Perhaps a few examples will make this clear. The Sacrament of Penance, truly a Sacrament of peace according .to our Lord's designs, affords no real peace to Scrupulosus. Definitely, it is a torture; a torture to go. a torture to stay away. And the reason for the torment, to put it simply, is that the reception of this Sacrament involves four elements---examination of conscience, con-fession, contrition, satisfaction--each of which can be fulfilled only :in a human way. Suppose we follow Humanus and Scrupulosus through an examination of conscience. Humanus says a few pre-liminary prayers, then looks into-his soul. This is riot a very strenuous process for him;in fact, it verges on sheer routine. Humanus is conscious of the fact that he could improve his method, but he also knows that he fulfills all the essentials. Mortal sins first; and it does not take him long to find :them. Heis no laxist. He knows a mortal sin when he sees one; but he. knows too that they are big enough to be seen with the naked eye. On some Com-mandments he does not even examine himself. Idolatry, murder, robbing banks--all such things are off his list. He would waste his time searching his soul for them. If he does find that he has sinned seriously, he notes the number of times; and if he cannot recall the number, he is content to add the saving word "about." If he is doubtful about the serious sinfulness of~anything--well--he is doubtful: 188 SCRUPLES VERSUS THE HUMAN '~AY There is no use wrestling with the doubt now; if he could not solve it before, he is less likely to solve it now. Venial sins? Humanus knows there were many little things, but it is often hard to cat~ilogue them. He selects two or three, and phrases them as best he can. Sometimes he numbers venial sins, sometimes he doesn't; and he" knows tha~ the number need not be confessed. Finally, Humanus makesan act Of contrition. In this, too, there is a trace of dry routine. Humanus has often resolved to "polish it up" a bit. Contrition never causes him worry; though it has at times puzzled him. However, he has solved the puzzle in the following manner. When a friend offends him and afterwards comes to him, holds out his hand and says he is sorry, Humanus takes the hand and forgives. He never looks to see if there are tears in the man's eyes. He does not stop before forgiving to ask: "Now, John, are you sure you're sorry? Can you swear you're sorry? Do you t:eel sorry? Maybe you're deceiving me, or yourself?" No, Humanus does none of these things; so he solved his puzzle about contrition by deciding that God doesn, t act that way, either. God is content with our just being human. Scrupulostis also examines his conscience! After lengthy preparatory prayers, he finally musters the courage to plunge into the .abysmal depths of his black soul. He goes after mortal sins with searchlight and microscope; and at the end of the search he is amazed that he hasn't found any. That cannot be right. There must be some; at least, there might be some some grim deed that his lax conscience is covering up. Further examination still fails to reveal a clear-cut mortal sin, but by this time he has managed to work up a doubt. Now, is he doubtful? He'd better con-. less it as certain, because if he only thinks he is doubtful and really is not doubtful he will be deceiving the priest. 189 GERALD KELLY As for venial sins, he must have scores of them. Missed morning prayers--distractions in the prayers he did say! He has been told that missing morning prayers is really no .sin, that there is no law of either God or man that says: You must pray in the morning. But be ought to pray in the morning. As for distractions, he has also been told that when involuntary they are not sins, and that even when voluntary they are merely small irreverences. But be ought not to get distracted; it is base ingratitude for him to neglect God in that manner. He'd better give the number of the distractions: 15--no, perhaps it was only 14. He cannot make up his mind, so he decides to say 15; in fact, he finally decides to give the whole background of the ghastly affair. And so on. It is time for him to go to confession. He is not ready, but he will try. Humanus makes his confession, returns to his pew and says his penance and a few prayers of devotion. The time passes very quietly. He leaves the church, full of peace and ready, as he has often.expressed it, "to be hit by a truck." In a general way, he knows that his .confession is not mechanically perfect. Sometimes be does not say things just as he had planned them; he becomes confused, dis-tracted, or even a bit embarrassed. Also--and he has this on the authority of adevout priest--he knows that the confessor may get distracted, or even nod a bit. But this percentage of error does not greatly concern Humanus. God Himself arranged that this Sacrament should be received and administered by human beings. The essentials are quite easy to fulfill; the accidentals allow both the priest and the penitent the opportunity to strive for greater perfectio.~l and increase in humility. It should: be evident from the story of his preparation that no great peace floods the soul of Scrupulosus as he emerges from the confessional. Nevertheless, he grits his 190 SCRUPI~S VERSUS THE HUMAN ~rAY teeth and kneels dowh to say his penance. Three .Hail Marys! He literally "tackles" the first one. But in the middle something goes wrong; he must have missed a word. He starts again, and then again; but he cannot satisfy himself that that Hail Mary is properly said. As he pauses'in desperation, the whole blurred story of the confession begins to unfold before his mind. Nothing was said right. The priest must have misunderstood him com-pletely. The fact that he got only three Hail Marys con-firms him in this fear; if the priest had understood him cor-rectly, he would have given him at least a Rosary. At this moment, a new source of interior torment opens up. Even if the confession had been good, the absolution could not be valid because he did not make a real: act of con-trition. He just went through some words. God must know that he was not really sorry. And his confessions have been that way for a long time; he'simply must make a gen-eral confession. He has made general confessions before without any subs.equent peace of soul, but this one will be different. We might take Holy Communion as another example of the difference between Humanus and Scrupulosus. It should be one of the supreme consolations of the Cath-olic's life. The essentials for its reception are very small: the state of grace, acquired by Sacramental absolution, if need be; and the keeping of.the fast from midnight. Humanus finds the fulfillment of these conditions simple enough. He is satisfied with normal, .human assur-ance that he is in the state of grace. If he doubts about a serious sin, he generally prefers to go to confession, but he knows he has no strict obligation to do so, and he is con-- tent on occasions merely to make an act of contrition and go to Communion. The fast presents him with no prob-lem at all. The law is a safeguard to the reverence due the 191 GERALD KELLY Blessed Sacrament. It forbids eating and drinking after midnight. Humanus knows what ordinary people look upon as eating and drinking, and he does not have to con-sult a chemist~ to find out just what is food. or a physiologist to discover precisely what is meant by eating. All these things are so many thorns for S~'rupulosus. How does he know he is in the state of grace? He can't prove it. He is not sure he can make an act of contrition, so he must always go to confession when in doubt. It may be that his confessor has assured him again and again that, in his present trial, he mayalways~go to Communion, no matter what his doubts, no matter how many sins he thinks he has committed. Even after this and though he knows that the Providence ofGod guides souls through superiors and confess.ors, yet his case is different, and the confessor does not really understand it. As for the fast, here is but one of Scrupulosus'.many hard experiences with it. He is on his way to Mass. His lips tickle. .He rubs his coat-sleeve over his mouth. A moment later he feels something strange in his mouth-- some lint from his coat, he thinks! He gathers all his salivary forces to remove it, but he is too late. He swallows. Well, that's the end. He has broken his fast, he may not go to Communion. This is his first conviction, but in church a gleam of saving common sense is still able to pierce the fog of fear and he does go to Holy Communion. Later the fear returns with a vengeance. He made a sacrilegious Communion. After that, one thing leads to another. He begins to notice a strange taste in his mouth every morning--the lint from the bedclothes! He tries again and again to remove it; but the consciousness of the lint remains, and with it the conviction that he may not receive Communion. There are two ways of solving this lint problem. One 192 SCRUPLES VERSUS THE HUMAN WAY way is to consult a trained theologic/n, wh~ might show Scrupulo~us by keen argumentation that lint is not food, or who might indicate that, even if. it were food, it was not taken "in the manner of food." This is a perfectly legiti-mate method of solving the problem, but hardly a satis-factory one for Scrupul0sus. It allows for too much quibbling, and, even when it does convince, its appeal is only to the intellect. Scrupulosug needs something that will impress his imagination and thus remove the emo-tional pressure of his fears. The second method is therefore a much better one for -Scrupulosus. It is a method suggested by an old and experienced diagnostician of his problem. It is very simple. "You take awoolly blanket, the woollier the bet-ter. Seize firmly in both hands, raise to the mouth with-out flinching, and bite hard. When you have a good bite, then you chew thoroughly and trot to swallow.'" This is a guaranteed cure. After one such experiment Scrupulosus needs no metaphysical discussion to be °con: vinced that human beings do not eat coats or blankets. In this matter, at least, he will be content with ?he human toad. No one-should gather from this brief sketch of Huma-nus and Scrupulosus that the latter does not wish to act as others do. His difficulty .is more subtle. Briefly put, it amounts to thi~: he cannot relax. 'He is like a sick man who fights an anesthetic; or, perhaps more accurately, he is like a man who will take the anesthetic, even if it kills him. So it is with Scrupulosus; at times he fights his fears, at other times he clenches his fists and says he will be human. Neither method will help him. He must relax under the pressure of his fear. This is not easy to do; yet it can be done if only one retains the power of laughing at oneself. For Scrupulosus, a sense of humor is more precious than the gift of tears. 193 Nint:s t:or Sacris!:ans Gerald Ellard, S.J. SACRISTANS for whom its cost or other considerations make Self-Lite Charcoal undesirable may readily secure the advantage of a large glowing surface with ordinary charcoal in the following way. After the unlighted charcoal ~has been placed in the censer, a little wood-alcohol is allowed to, drip on it and soak into it. It is then ignited, and, when the alcohol has burned away, the charcoal will be alight through and through and thus able, when fed with incense, to send up what is actually something like a pillar of smoke, a symbol of prayer visible to the entire congre-gation. The matter of securing the most suitable incense within the means of all is no small concern, and prompts one to mention a variety now being used with eminent satisfac-tion. Its cost is very low' but it is not on sale, as far as we know, in the church-goods houses. Trees of Syria exude a balm that is known in trade as. olibanum. This fragrant and gummy substance is widely used in varnish-making. It is graded in trade circles by the size of the lumps: egg (large) and tears (small). Tears of olibanum make an ideal incense.:~ Stocks available in this country may not.~ last much longer, but up to the present time wholesale drug dealers have had no difficulty in supplying it. The tears should not be powdered, as much of the fragrance would be lost, but burned as they come. In sacristies serving a large number of priests the prob-lem of quickly providing each priest with an alb of just the right length often proves formidable. A Chicago church 194 HINTS TO SACRISTANS where many Masses are the daily rule has at the edge of its alb-cabinet, at shoulder height, an unobtrusive measure indicating the number of inches from the floor. A priest has just to hold up an alb to the measure to see if it is the proper length for his use. It may no longer be news .to sacristans that candle~ burners in pyrex glass are now available in all candle sizes. In style they follow-not the older lamp-chimney shape, which "black out" tOO much of the candle flame and cause difficulties in lighting the candles, but the snug, dose-fitting sleeve pattern. The pyrex burners have all the advantages of the better type of metal burners, with the big additional one of beirig practically invisible. Sacristans shudder to see priests, in adjusting the man-iple, disregard the little tab provided for pinning, .and run the pin.into the precious fabric of the maniple itself. This is riot perverseness, but a measure of necess!ty (or rather, convenience), inasmuch as many of these little .tabs are too narrow to aliow one to run a pin crossways. Many new vestments now provide a shield-shape, or even semicircular, tab which affords ample room for pinning without being conspicuous. In repairing vestments sacristans might well provide such "pin-space." A strict law of the Church prescribes that the priest mix a "very small quantity;', of water with the wine to be consecrated at Mass. Most priests wish to take only a few drops of ,water; and sacristans can help them in this regard by filling the .water cruet almost to the top. When the cruet is pract.ica!ly full, it is easy to shake out a few drops. This is not so easy to do when the neck of the cruet is empty. 195 The Presumed Permission James E. Risk, S.J. THE philosophers tells us that what happens by chance happens rarely and cannot be foreseen. The Church, in her legislation, makes provision for many unusual situations that have arisen in the course of her past history, and may arise again. Hence she grants to all priests emer-gency faculties such as to absolve from censures, to assist at marriages and to perform other priestly functions. Fac-ulties of this kind are not granted to all priests save in cases of spirituhl emergency. Now, the most conscientious reli-gious, too, will find himself at times in an unforeseen situ-ation where permissions required by his vow of poverty or obedience are needed; where the delay necessarily in-volved in obtaining such permissions cannot be admitted. Unusual circumstances arisirig from the uncertainties of travel or health may, for example, produce a situation calling for the legitimate application of the principles gov-erning the presumed permission. Since actions based on presumed permissions should be the exceptioh in the normal life ofa religious, the older theologians took great care to limit their number to the minimum, lest a too liberal application of the-norms of presumption tend to obviate the necessity of asl~ing for many of the ordina~ry permissions. Sincere reflection and a normal exercise of foresight will lead a religious to limit the number of presumed permissions, while a ready ad-mission by superiors that unforeseen situations are, from time to time, inevitable, will prompt them to make allow-ances for the reasonable presumptions of their subjects. Though the question of presumed permissions is by no means limited to the field of religious poverty, it is chiefly from this angle that we shall endeavor to examine it. 196 THE ~RESUMED ~ERMISSION Various Kif~ds or: Permissions Progress in the exercise of religious poverty demands an accurate knowledge of the various kinds of permis-sions granted by superiors. By obtaining permission to acquire, dispose of, and use material things possessing some economic value such as books, money- and the like, the religious is faithful to the obligations freely accepted when he vowed poverty. He does not act in his own name nor as an independent proprietor, but as a poor man who has nothing that he can .truly call his own. Acting w~th-out permission in these matters, he violates his vow by committing what many moralists choose to call a "sin of proprietorship." They say that such a religious acts like a man who is bound by no vow of poverty and is independ-ent of any superior in the acquisition, use, or disposal of property. The commentators on the religious life usually speak of superiors as granting permissions; though in most communities there is generally appointed an assistant su-perior who is empowered to grant many of the ordinary permissions demanded by the obligations of the vow of poverty. Our purpose in examining the nature of the pre-sumed permission leads us to comment briefly on the other forms of permission employed by a religious in the observ-ance of his vow. This will serve to clear the ground for a more accurate understanding of the presumed permission. We spea~k of an express permission as one given by word of mouth or in writing, indicating unmistakably the mind of the superior. A tacit permission, as the very name implies, is p[udently considered as granted from the silence of the superior, who is aware of certain actions that are governed by poverty or obedience. The axiom "silence gives consent" may be reasonably applied when circum-stances are such that, if the superior objected, he would voice his disapproval. An implied permission is one that 197 JAMES E. R~sK is contained in another permission. The permission of a superior, for example, authorizing a /eligious to make a trip, implies the permission to use the funds necessary for traveling. A general permission may embrace many acts of the same or different species. In some religious commu-nities there prevails the practice of renewing each month general permissions in virtue of which a religious may ac-quire or dispose of objects of a very small economic value, such as articles of devotion and the like. The extent of such permission depends on-the constitutions, rules and customs Of the institute. A particular permission .is granted for an individual case. Such a permission, how-ever, if the superior so desired, might be extended not only to a singie occasion but to several occasions calling for the same permission. Thus, permission granted to an ailing religious to consult a specialist might be limited to a single visit or extended to several, according to the nature of the indisposition requiring attention. The Presumed Permission Authors who have treated of the obligations of the religious life agree that a religious is justified in presuming permission when, owing to some inconvenience in obtain-ing permission without delay, he prudently decides that if the superior in the present circumstances, were .asked for the same permission, he would readily grant it. Now be-fore proceeding further, let it be noted that there is one very substantial difference between the presumed permis-sion and. every other kind. All permissions save the pre-sumed permission have this note in common, namely, that they are expressions of the will of the superior who knows the wish of the subject and freely grants it. In doing so, he says, equivalently at least, "I grant you permission for this or that object." Yet when we examine the presumed per- 198 THE I~RESUMED PERMISSION mission, we find that the superior cannot say this for the simple reason that he is unaware of the subject's wish. This leads us to conclude that the presumed permission is, not a permission in the strict sense of the word, but it is a legitimate substitution; and the act resulting from a sin-cere presumption, whether it lies in the sphere of poverty or obedience, is quite in accord with the obligations arising from the religious vows. The religious is acting, not in his own name, but with a clear dependence on the will of the superior. To come more properly to an examination of the pre-sumed permission, the following points of division are suggested by the definition of the presumed permission given above. We must consider: I) On the part of thereligious who presumed: a) the inabitit~/ tO obtain permission in one its ordinarg forms, b) the motioes sufficient to justifg a presump-tion; c) a prudent conclusion. Z) On the part of the superior: the different~mental attitudes towards a presumed permission. Our first condition requisite for the legitimate pre-suming of a permission is the inability to obtain permis-sion in one of its ordinary forms because of the absence of the superior. The most circumspect religious may encoun-ter such a situation when both superior and assistant are .abse, nt or indisposed or so occupied as to permit no inter-ruption. If the proposed action of the religious is so urgent as to exclude a delay until such time as the superior may be contacted, permission may be presumed, supposing the .other conditions are fulfilled. In the second place sufficient motives, reducible to ne- 199 JAMES E. RISK cessity or utility, are required to make a presumpt.ion law-ful. Let us suppose that, while traveling, two sisters are caught in a heavy rainstorm that gives little hope of imme-diate abatement. An umbrella would be a very welcome addition to their equipment in the present predicament. To purchase an umbrella without delay may be instru-mental in protecting their health as. well as their clothing. In such straits it would be quite unnecessary to look for a telephone so as to obtain express permission to make this necessary purchase. The same religious now proceed to browse through a book store while waiting for a train. To their pleasant surprise a rare and very valuable book, much sought after by their superior, meets their eye. It is available at an extremely reduced rate. A real service would be rendered the convent by the immediate purchase of such a book. A situation such as this might even justify the conclusion that the permission to buy the book ought to be presumed. The prudent in.terpretation of the superior's mind, the third requisite for a valid presumption, must never be wanting. On this point, the commentators supply us with expressions that furnish a key to the solution of many a problem that in practice may arise when we wish to justify a presumed permission. They say: "_ . it is prudently judged that permission would be given if asked"; "Per-mission reasonably presumed is sometimes sufficient"; "To presume permission is to act conformably to the will of the $a p er" t "o't ; and so forth. "Prudent"l y" , reasonabl"y, and "conformably to the will of the superior" indicate that a well-founded judgment enters into the very character of the presumed permission. Resting on the basis of whim or hallucination, instead of prudence and reflection, the act of the presuming religious is not to be dignified by the title of a permission; it is rather a gratuitous-presumption or 200 THE PRESUMED PERMISSION the sin of proprietorship. The reasons tha~ justify the prudent judgment will at least approximate those which in ordinary circumstances influence the conscientious superior in consenting to the requests of his subjects. Such reasons will be reduced ulti-mately to necessity or utility in harmony with the norms of the particular religious institute of which both superior and subject are members. For each religious order or con-gregation professes a more or less definite standard in these matters, admitting, for example,, in the matter of poverty, the use of some things as necessary or useful, while exclud-ing others as superfluous or even detrimental to the. spirit-ual interests 6f the religious. With this in mind, the reli-gious about to presume a permission knows that the habit-ual attitude of the superior is to abide by these norms in granting permissions, that the object desired in the present emergency has been granted on other occasions by the same superior, that there is no reason that leads him to suspect that in the present situatioi~ the superior would act differ-ently. Thus, a religi6us says to himself, equivalently at least, "If, here and now; I should ask the superior to grant me this request, I am reasonably certain that he would readily grant it." He comes to this conclusion after hav-ing deliberated on his particular rule of life and the habit-ual inclination of ~i conscientious superior. The "if" clause just expressed is always at least implied in the legitim~te presumption. This explains why the presumed permission is sometimes called the conditioned permission. The per-mission that would involve the acceptance of gifts of an incon.sequential value can be much more readily presumed than the more costly kind. Needless to say, in practise the reasoning process re-quired for a presumed permission is far more quickly con-cluded than described. While walking through town, a 201 religious priest meets a crippled beggar, whom he knows to be sincere. He gives the poor man a few small coins on the presumption that his superior would not object. His own particular institute encourages devotion .to the poor and he has seen his superior, a conscientious religious, act in the same generous fashion. His presumption is reason-able; he has "conformed" his action to the .reasonably in-terpreted mind of the superior. I.s. a religious who has legitimately presumed a permis-sion, say in a matter governed by his vow of poverty, later obliged to notify the superior of his act?. The rule may call for such a manifestation in every case of a presumed permission. Supposing such a prescription does not exist, one would not be obliged to notify the superior of articles now consumed which'had been received b~r way of a legiti-mately presumed permission. Objects Of a more enduring nature, received in virtue of a presumed permission, should be made knov~n to the superior. A kind friend, for exam-ple, meets a' religious and invites him to take dinner with him. The religious accepts his friend's gracious invitation. Before parting, the same kind friend presents the religious with a very excellent volume. To what is the religious obliged in the case? We suppose, first of all, that his pre-sumptions in both cases are justified. If the rule of this religious obliges him to manifest all presumed permissions to the superior, his duty is clear. Without such a provision made by his rule, he would not be obliged to acquaint his superior with the fact that he had prudently presumed to take dinner with his friend. If he wishes to keep the vol-ume which he had lawfully presumed to accept, he would be obliged to approach the superior for permission. For while it was inconvenient to make contact with the supe-rior at the moment when he received the book, there should be no special inconvenience involved in asking for permis- 202 THE PRESUMED PERMISSION' sion on his beturn home. In other words, he can lawfully ¯ presume only as long as conditions justify it. Attitudes of Superior Having examined the conditions that warrant a pre-s. umed permission, let us now look briefly at the different attitudes with which a superior may view such presump-tions on the part ~of the subject. We may reduce them to three classes. 1) The first type of superior may be so disposed that he is ready enough, if asked, to grant the ordinary permis-sions, and does not object to the reasonable presuming of the same permissions. It is possible that he has. expressed himself on this point.To ex.emplify: a religious of the community of this superior knows that permission to sub-scribe to useful periodicals is readily granted. He knows too from his close acquaintance with the superior that there is no objection to presumed permissions in ordinary mat-ters. Such a religious, provided there be no insincerity on 'the point, .may presume to subscribe under the ordinary conditions. For he knows, in the language of the theo-logians, that his superior is opposed neither to. the sub-stance of the act (the~ subscription) nor to the mode or manner (by way of a presumed permission). 2) Another superior, perhaps .with a view of check-ing abuse in the matter of poverty, may be decidedly op-posed to his subjects' presuming permissions. So strong may be his attitude that, outside of cases of real emergency, he is prepared to veto the presumed permissions of his sub-jects. A presumed permission then, outside of extraordi-nary circumstances, would be tantamount to a violation of poverty or obedience as the case might be. To resume the example of subscription for periodicals. The superior in question is not opposed to the subscriptions to useful :peri- 203 JAMES E. RISK odicals. So strongly, however, is he opposed to presumed permissions, that he refuses to allow a subject to subscribe without first obtaining express permission. In this case he would object to the substance of the act (the act of subscribing') not because he failed to appreciate the cul-tural value of useful periodicals, but because he would be opposed to the toad/ir~ which such a subscription were made (i.e. by way of the presumed permission). 3) S~ill a third attitude might be evidenced towards the matter of presuming. Admitting the use of presumed permissions as sometimes justifiable, a superior may reveal his general attitude towards presumed permissions as one of reluctance and displeasure. Such a disposition, however, would not necessarily in'dicate his refusal to ratify a pre-sumption once made. The subject of this superior sub-scribes to a periodical and on the arrival of the first issue is reminded that the superior would gladly have granted the permission if asked. Has this religious violated poverty? He may have sinned venially because of the toay in which he obtained the subscription, that is, by presu~ming instead of asking. The substance of the act, namely, the mere sub-scribing, would not necessarily be'sinful, because the supe-rior would have gladly permitted it. Obedience too could be violated, if the religious deliberately acted against the expliCit order of the superior. To complete our consideration of the various attitudes which mayinfluence a superior in .these matters, this ques-tion may be proposed. Suppose that after a sincere and prudent presumption is made, it is totally repudiated by the superior? If, for example, a book were purchased in such circumstances, what could be done? Strictly. speak-ing, the superior might order the return of the book and reimbursement on the part of the proprietor of the book-store, if this were feasible. That would be for the superior 204 THE ~RESUMED PERMISSION to decide. The religious, who in good' faith erroneously estimated his superior's attitude, would in no wise be guilty of a violation of poverty. For in the case he sincerely inter-preted the mind of his superior and concluded that the con-ditions justified his transaction. Conclusion In conclusion, let .us remember that the presumed or interpretative permission, as some authors call it, has a defi-nite place in the life of an observant religious, but that p!ace is reserved for occasions when the ordinary methods to obtain permission cannot be observed. The conscien-tious religious, as we have already stated, will rarely fail to obtain whatever permis.sions are ordinarily necessary by the more express method of asking the superior. A habitual use of presumption can easily lead to laxity in the observ-ance of poverty so essential to a life in religion that is to be led with any degree of sincerity. What must never be. for-gotten is that cooperation is always necessary in the observ-ance of the vow of poverty: the superior should show him-self ready to grant any request in keeping with the particu-lar grade of poverty professed in hisinstitute, since it is not unknown for subjects to violate poverty rather than ap-proach a superio/Who has shown himself less gracious in the question of permissions. Subjects have been known to deliberately violate poverty, I say, not to mention the gratuitous or unnecessary presumption which is another name for the sin of proprietorship. The religious should be habitually disposed to express that dependence on supe-riors for the use of temporal things, not out of a spirit of servitude but out of a desire to imitate Him Who was hungry and Who had nowhere to lay His head. 205 ook Reviews PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAN AND RELIGIOUS FERFECTION for the use of the Merlst Brothers of the Schools. Trensleted from the slx~h French edition; revised end enlercjed. Pp. 567. To be procured from the Marlst Brothers, St. Ann's Hermltege, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. $1.~0. Though this book was written for the Marist Brothers, it could be of great service to other religious as well. In fact, it would make an excellent manual of introduction or a good brief guidebook to the spiritual iife in general and particularly to the religious life. It might be used as a sort of text-book for young religious; it was designed to serve that purpose for the Marist novices. It ~s small, but rich in content; its form is that of. question a~ad answer; in presentation of its material, it is systematic, clear, and definite. From it one could get a well ordered and fairly comprehensive knowledge of the practice of the spiritual and religious life. The Introduction supplies general notions on the end of man, holiness, the religious state, and religious institutes. Part I is entitled "General Means of Christian Perfection," and deals with the desire for perfection, prayei, mental prayer, exercises of piety, conscience, Confession, Communion, direction, spiritual reading, the exercise of the presence of God, and various devotions. In Part II, "General Means of Perfection in the Religious Life," are treated religious vocal tion, the noviceship and religious profession, the vows, and the corre-sponding virtues. It closes with a chapter on "Regularity." Part III is concerned with the obstacles to Christian and religious perfection, and the fourth part is devoted to the virtues. To many of the answers "to the questions are added brief further explanations in smaller type. On many points of major importance select quota-tions from the Fathers and Doctors of the Church are givefi; in these the' influence of St. Francis de Sales and St. Alphonsus Liguori is noticeable. The m~iterial make-up, paper, print, and binding, are neat and attractive. A full table of contents, an analytical tab!e, and a good index make it easy to find what the book contains on any particular point.--G. A. ELLARD, S.,J. BLESSED ARETHEY THAT HUNGER. By the Reverend Richard Graef, C;.S.Sp. Trensleted by Sister Mary Hildegerd Windecker, M. A., Sister of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians end Colored People. 206 BOOK REVIEWS Pp. ~vli + 175. Frederick Pustet, Inc., New York, 1942. $2.00. Father Graef attempts in various ways to encourage the good Catholic in the practic.e of a strong and living faith. His main lines of argumentation are the following: A dynamic faith is necessary for personal sanctity; because sanctity demands self-renunciation, and this renunciation will not be made unless one sees clearly and power-fully the value of making it. Such evaluation is had only in the light of faith. Moreover, supernatural efficiency demands the work both of Christ and of the soul. The principal part of the soul's cooperation consists in genuine, earnest desire; and the source of such desire is faith. Finally, the apostolic influence that each soul is called upon to exert in the world, and thus the ultimate mastery of the world by apostolic souls, can be appreciated only when the world is viewed with the eyes of faith. The" author has made frequent and apt use of the Sacred Scrip-tures. Each of the main sections of the book is divided into numer-ous brief topics. The meditative reading of one or two of these topics might prove, helpful to those wlJo are accustomed to make their men-tal prayer in that way.--G. KELLY, S.,I. THE MASS OF BROTHER MICHEL. By Michael Ken÷. Pp. 307. The Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee, 1942. $2.S0. Here is a new Catholic novel with an entirely different theme. The setting of the story is sixteenth-century France, a turbulent his-torical period for that country, owing to the threatening Surge of heresy. The spreading falsehoods of Calvin and Luther provide' a dramatic background for the lives of the de Guillemont family, about which the story is told. The interest centers in Michel de Guillemont, the elder son and heir. It is his story from his sincere, impetuous love of Louise to his final unyielding love of God and his Faith in the self-oblation of martyrdom. We share in the tragedy before his contemplated mar-riage that was partly due to the jealousy of his brother Paul and that led to his becoming a saintly religious. We are carried along from the injustice and cruelty of his father to ~he providential meeting with the und.erstanding Father Andr4. We sympathize with him in his deep suffering when the priesthood is denied him. Brother Michel's courageous acceptance of God's will and his intense love of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass keep the interest keen up to the power- 207 BOOK REVIEWS ful climax of his death. The subordinate characters of the least-resisting Paul, the unscru-pulous Anne; the bitter Louise, the heretic Armand, the lovable Father Andre, and others are well portrayed. The story is told with excel-lent description and good use of suspense. The tragic atmosphere is relieved by romance and clever humor. The one striking weakness is the characteristic trait of the modern novel: it leaves untold the retribution due to some charaCters. The Mass of Brother Michel shows the triumph of grace over .personal pain and loss, sin, and human frailty. The passages that deal with the spiritual consolation of the Mass, the reason for pain and suffering in this life, God's love for the sinner, and the courage coming to the soul through prayer are worth reading again and again. Priests, in particular, will find here many inspiring thoughts for practical use and may grow in their appreciation of the privilege of offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.---A. J. DEEMAN, S.J. FAST BY THE ROAD. By John Moody. Pp. xiv + 308. The MacM~llan C~rnpany, New Yorl~, 1941. $2.50. The Wall Street expert on investments and kindred subjects who occasioned not a little surprise a decade ago by embracing the Catholic Faith and reporting the event in the popular The Long Road Home has a new treat for his expanding reading public. The present vol-ume, to quote from the author's foreword, is "an attempt to explain in simple language or by illustration, certain teachings and view. points to be found within the Church which are often misunder-stood by non-Catholics. All this is merely incidental to the general purpose, which is primarily to tell of some of the experiences of one convert .during his first decade as a Catholic." Mr. Moody writes simply, entertainingly, and with precision on a wide variety of subjects connected with his Faith. In his chapters the hard-headed, efficient business man, with the help of God's grace, approaches the Truth. He turns back his cuffs and proceeds to defend it and, campaign for it with gusto. The chapters are topical for the most part, ranging with consider-able agility back and forth over some focal point of Catholicity by means of observation, analysis, chance discussion, and illustrative anecdote. Their cumulative effect is to deepen one's gratitu.de for the gift of Faith and to jolt one anew with the realization that most of 208 BOOK REVIEWS one's non-Catholic friends and neighbors are totally ignorant of or gr6ssly misunderstand the Catholic concept of supernatural life, and are usually indifferent to it. And Mr. Moody, so thoroughly at home in the Church after his ten years as a Catholic, writes with more than ordinary authority and perception of .the money-mad, speed-benumbed, materialistic American mentality. The book is recommended especially to those in search of reading matter never heavy or tiring yet providing food for serious thought --and prayer. The chapters m~y be read in any order, and any or all of them would be suitable for refectory reading.--C. DEMUTH, THE CATHOLIC REVIVAL IN ENGLAND. Pp. ix -I- 102. The MacMillan Company, MEDIEVAL HUMANISM. By the Reverend Pp. ix -!- 103. The MacMillan Company, By John J. O'Connor. New York, 1942. $1.00. Gerald G. Walsh, S.J. New York, 1942. $1.00. These books are respectively the third and fourth volumes in The Christendom Series. According to the announcement of the publishers, "this is a series of popular books on important topics in the history of Christendom, prepared under the auspices of the Con-fraternity of Christian Doctrine . The books are intended to provide informative reading for both Catholic and non-Catholic readers; for study clubs in the parochial units of~the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine: for study groups in the Newman Clubs: as collateral texts in colleges, normal schools, and senior high ~and preparatory schools.'~ Both books appear to measure up very well to the purpose of the series. Professor O'Connor's book gives a fine sweeping picture of that very important period in English life known as "The Catholic Revival," the story of the gradual breaking away from the tyranny of th~ penal laws to the winning of freedom and influence for Cath-olics. Father Walsh's book puts within the reach of the ordinarily intelligent reader with good educational background an illuminating study of the meaning of "Humanism" and of the development of Christian Humanism through the middle ages till it reached its high point in Dante. Bibliographical notes are appended to each book. Father Walsh has also included an abstract for study and review which should prove very helpful.~. KELLY, S.d. 209 Decisions o[ !:he Holy MEANS OF COMMUNICATING WITH THE HOLY SEE A communication from the Most Reverend Apostolic Delegate to the Most Reverend Ordinaries reads as follows:. "In order to remedy, the difficulties of correspondence with the Holy See, His Eminence the Cardinal Secretary of State has'directed me to inform the Diocesan and Religious Ordinaries and Superiors of this country'that in the present circumstances they may recur to the Holy See through this Apostolic Delegation, and so avail themselves of the facilities at our disposal. This office makes frequent use of radiograms, and also of the air-mails to Lisbon wblch, however, are not as regular as formerly. "Upon the receipt of the petitions of Religious for faculties and dispens,ations, this Delegation will communicate with the .Holy See by radiogram or by other channdls, according to the possibilities and the circumstances. When a response has been received from the Holy See, the relative rescript will be issued by this Delegation, in accord-ance with instructions already given or to be given in particular cases. "When requests are made for the renewal of a faculty, the orig-inal rescript should be presented with the petition for renewal. "The Holy. See hopes in this way to continue to correspond with the Religious !n this country and to furnish every assistance to them." 1942, March 21. At the request of many members of the Hier-archy, heads Of universities, and authorities in the world of science, among them members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, His Holiness Pope Pius XII proclaimed Saint Albert the Great to be the heavenly patron of natural sciences. The Most Reverend Martin Gillet, Master General of the Order of Preachers, read the Brief at a solemn meeting held in the Pontifical International Institute Ahgeli- CUmo 1941, November 18. The Sacred Congregation of Rites held a preparatory session in the cause of the Servant of God, Catherine Tekakwitha, Indian virgin, to discuss the heroicity of the virtues practised by her. 210 .uesffons and Answers !1. According +o our constitutions. +he members of our congregation pronoun~:e temporary vows for three years, +hen take. perpetual vows unless, for a very serious reason, a sister is obl;gecl by superior~ to renew her temporary vows for another period of three years. At the end of +ha+ time she must either pronounce perpetual vows or seek~ an inchlt from the S. Congregation of Religious for a fur+her ex+en-sion of temporary vows if she is not 1o return to the world. Recently this latter c~se occurred, but the rescript was delayed, "and the sister d~d not renew her temporary vows until twelve days after they had' expired. In this case, did +he sister cease +o be a member of +he congregation on the day on which her vows expired, and were her subsequent vows invalid? The sister would not cease to be a member of the congregation. by the mere fact that an interval of time elapsed between the expira-tion of the temporary vows and their renewal, unless the superior had positively ordered her to leave and to return to the world. As the case is presented, it is not clear whether or not the constitutions allow this appeal to the S. Congregation of Religious.
