road with alacrity if they think their fears or prepossessions are not to be put to the trial, and they will undergo real tire without complaint, or to avoid exciting a "phobia" they will go a roundabout way that may require double or triple the time and energy. Time is a great friend to the infirm. Curative processes are slow; but small, steady gains, patience, and the will to improve do great things in time. Let our friends of the weak nerves take upon themselves, subject to Divine Will, a life-burden suited to their strength; let them consider "quid ferre recusent, quid valeant humeri." If subject to another's orders, they will find that frankness with the superior officer will save embarrassment to both parties. No competent person in charge of others willingly drives square pegs into round holes. If inclined to be hurried along by the "madding crowd," let the nervously predisposed remember the advice of Holmes, the serene Yankee: Don't catch the fidgets; you have found your place Just in the focus of a nervous race, Fretful to change, and rabid to discuss, Full of excitements, always in a fuss Think of the patriarchs; then compare as men -- BROTHER VALENTINE, C. F. X. Baltimore, Md. (5) Urania: a Rhymed Lesson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, THE SOCIETY OF MARY AND EDUCATION In the Brief Omnium gentium salus of April 29, 1836, by which Pope Gregory XVI approved the Society of Mary, we read the following words: "The chief end of this society is to increase the glory of God and the honor of His most holy Mother, and to extend the Church of Rome, both by the Christian education of youth and by missions even in the remotest parts of the world." It may be noticed that, whereas in the Constitutions of the Society of Mary, which were approved by Pope Pius IX, February 28, 1873, the missions are mentioned before the colleges, in the canonical approval given to the Society itself the first place is assigned to the work of education. With the missionary labors of the Marists, and in particular with the evangelization of the islands of Oceanica which they undertook in 1836, and in which about three hundred priests are now engaged, we are not concerned in the present sketch. We may mention in passing, however, that the missionary activity of the Marist Fathers has been connected to a great extent with educational work. Before the missions were brought to their present state of complete organization by eighty years of incessant labor, the priest had to busy himself in the temporal as well as the spiritual welfare of the souls entrusted to his care. Along with the truths necessary to eternal salvation, he also endeavored in his humble way to impart the essentials of knowledge required for the uplifting of those races which were among the lowest and most degraded on the face of the earth. Under its direction and care at present the Society has about one hundred and forty schools in New Zealand, and almost two hundred in the islands of the South Pacific Ocean. In the foundation and management of these schools the missionary very naturally has the principal share. An especially interesting account could be given of the schools for catechists, from which, after a training of three or four years, married natives are sent to various centers by the bishops in order to instruct in schools, preside at common prayers, teach catechism, and baptize children in danger of death. But to enter into details of the educational enterprise of the Marists under the Southern Cross would take us too far afield. It would be simply to write a history of the arduous missionary work carried on with success among the scattered islands of the South Seas. Nor shall we speak of the direction of seminaries which is only a secondary end of the Society of Mary. Our purpose is only to give a short outline of the work of the Marists in the field of college education, a work which, according to the fundamental spirit of the Society, they have always carried on simply, modestly, and without ostentation. I The idea of founding the Society of Mary was conceived as early as 1815, by some students in the Seminary of Lyons. After their ordination they separated, but kept in their hearts the desire and resolution to unite again into a community as soon as circumstances would allow. The birthplace of the Society was an educational institution, the "Petit Séminaire" of Belley of which the founder of the Society, Venerable Jean Claude Marie Colin, was superior from 1829 to 1845. Like almost every institution of its kind in France, the Little Seminary at Belley was not open only to boys who aspired to become priests. It also received many who intended to remain in the world; and it gave them the Christian education which their parents were anxious they should receive. Freedom of education, however, had not yet been granted by the French government. Religious establishments had to contend with many and sometimes insurmountable difficulties, which at times threatened them with destruction. It was to save the Little Seminary from impending ruin that Father Colin was called to its head. In the many missions given by Father Colin previous to this time, he had always taken special care to instruct the children, a practice which he earnestly recommended to his missionaries. While at Belley, he realized more fully the importance of Christian higher education, and there also he acquired the experience which he needed for the guidance of the members of his Society in this special work. "From its beginning," he said later on, "the aim of the Society of Mary has been the education of youth. I trust that this will remain its chief object.' And again: "My highest ambition, and one of the first ideas which led to the foundation of the Society, is education. I should be hopeless concerning its future, and look upon it as lost, should it ever abandon this aim." For, "there is nothing more meritorious, nothing greater, nothing more excellent." At one time he even gave serious thought to the advisability of binding Marists by a special vow to devote themselves to this work "by which, with the help of God, one contributes to make a man-by shaping and training the child's heart, mind, and character." Nothing in his eyes was so deplorable as a purely secular education. "An education which is not Christian destroys all the hopes of religion." He compared young men educated in institutions where religion is ignored or looked upon as a matter of no importance to vessels thrown on the sea without a rudder. Those who are educated in Christian institutions may, it is true, forget the guiding principles received, or neglect to follow them. But "owing to their Christian education they will know that they have lost this rudder, that they must look for it and find it again. And assuredly it may be hoped that they will indeed find it again later on. Truly those who devote themselves to work in colleges are great missionaries." The conditions then existing in France filled his heart with sorrow: "Nothing affects me more than to see children who are the innocent victims of a bad education. The present persecution is perhaps the most disastrous which we ever had to suffer." Realizing as he did the importance of education, Father Colin constantly endeavored to instil in the hearts of all Marists a great love of youth. He incessantly encouraged them to undertake the task of education with a thorough understanding of its necessity and of its noble aim. Some other forms of priestly activity may be more agreeable to nature, but none is more agreeable to God, since none is more useful to religion and the welfare of society (Const. S. M., 5, and App. 1), and "nothing seems to contribute more effectively to the salvation of souls" (ibid. 5). It is indeed "a high ministry, a heavenly work, and a truly apostolic office" (ibid. app. 1). Nor did he fail to insist on the fundamental principles of education. Writing while superior at Belley he says: "The principle which must govern the work of Christian education is that the children intrusted to our care are, first of all, the children of God. It is therefore toward God that their hearts must be directed by constant and painstaking endeavors to give them safe rules of conduct, and by examples in conformity with these rules." After laying down this general principle, he develops the threefold purpose of Christian education as summed up in the Constitutions S. M. (app. 3-7), namely, to form good, sincere, and enlightened Christians; to train upright men and useful citizens; and to impart the knowledge of |