l sermon on the text
"the harvest is plenteous but the laborers are few." He drew a picture
of the duties of the Church in the lands of the faithful and of the
heathen, in the new and old worlds, by Turks and by Idol-worshippers,
and described the wants of the copper-colored heathens, who to-day like
the Macedonian of the time who appeared to the apostle at Troas, called
to the scholars of the Institution "come help us." Going into details
he stated that the mission in Malabar had lost through a rising of the
population half of the messengers of the Faith lately send out. For
those who might be called upon to fill up these vacancies, the same
martyrs' crown and the same eternal life, awaited. Then he called out
ten of the pupils by name and asked them: "Are you willing to go to
those heathen coasts, to teach Christ, to preach and to die?" The ten
young men stood up and answered with one voice: "Yes, General." A
shudder ran through the assembly, and in the benches occupied by the
ladies no eye was dry. The old man continued: "In Vera Cruz the yellow
fever has carried off two thirds of our Convent. The College is empty.
The pestilence has ceased, but will return next summer with double
severity. The Rector proposes the following Novices to fill the
vacancies," and again the hard old man read certain names, in a harsh
voice. "Are you willing to sail thither, to preach the Word, and to
die, if such be the will of God?" The young men had risen from their
seats and they also answered: "Yes, General."

"Worse than heathens or pestilence," continued the aged Cardinal, "is
the heresy which rages among the savage nations of Germany on the other
side of the Alps. Those whom we send thither, must be armed with all
the weapons of the mind, they must perhaps for a time even lay aside
the garb of the holy Ignatius and each await his especial danger." A
number of names were then called for this service, among them that of
Paolo Laurenzano. These young men likewise answered the question as to
their readiness, with one voice: "Yes, General."

"You have sworn, my dearly beloved Sons," proceeded the Cardinal, "to
die for the sacred cause of the Church. That is not however the most
difficult, it is on the contrary the easiest part of your task. Much
more difficult is, that which from this hour is incumbent upon you, to
live for the Church. To live as if you lived not. You know the vows, in
which you have already been approved through the n