so appalling had been formed. Yet
it was easier to consent to the proposal, abstractedly placed before
them, than to yield themselves to all its undefined and irrevocable
consequences, when the awful surrender of what is most precious to
man--his individuality--was to be made, not to a chief unnamed, but to
this or that one among themselves. To whose hands could the ten consign
the irresponsible disposal of their souls and bodies? They had, however,
already advanced too far to recede. They had, as they believed, in
humble imitation of Christ the Lord, offered themselves as a living
sacrifice to God--so far as concerned the body--by the vow of poverty
and the vow of chastity. They had thus immolated the flesh, and had
reserved to themselves nothing of worldly possessions, nothing of
earthly solaces; all had been laid upon the altar. They, had, moreover
professed their willingness to deposit there their very souls. The vow
of unconditional obedience, as thus understood, was a holocaust of the
immortal well-being. Each now, as an offering acceptable to God, was to
pawn his interest in time and eternity, putting the pledge into the
hands of one to be chosen by themselves. It was debated whether this
absolute power should be conferred upon the holder of it for life or for
a term of years only, and whether in the fullest sense it should be
without conditions, or whether it should be limited by constitutional
forms. At length, however, the election of a general for life was
assented to, and especially for this reason--and it is well to note
it--that the new society had been devised and formed for the very
purpose of carrying forward vast designs which must demand a long course
of years for their development and execution; and that no one who must
look forward to the probable termination of his generalship at the
expiration of a few years could be expected to undertake, or to
prosecute with energy, any such far-reaching project. On the contrary,
he should be allowed to believe that the limits of his life alone need
be thought of as bounding his holy ambition. Provisions were made,
however, for holding some sort of control over the individual to whom so
much power was to be intrusted. The actual election of Loyola to the
generalship did not formally take place until after the time when the
order had received pontifical authentication. Meantime, all implicitly
regarded him as their master; from him emanated the acts of the body;