These  were  the  six  associates — four  Spaniards,  one  Portu-
guese, and  one  Savoyard — whom  Loyola  selected  for  the  accom-
plishment of  his  designs,  as  above  described  and  already  the-
immediate  future  proved  that  his  choice  could  not  have  been
more  judicious  or  more  excellent.  The  half-crazed  or  rather
quite  demented  ascetic  of  Manresa,  made  wiser  by  his  several
experiences  in  the  course  of  time,  and  relieved  of  several  of  the
QOtions  to  which  he  was  inclined,  was  now  changed  in  many
respects.  His  energy,  however,  and  his  iron  will  he  still  pos--
sessed,  and  also  his  enthusiastic  fiery  zeal  had  not  in  the  least
diminished.  On  the  contrary,  with  his  forty  years,  his  under-
standing began  to  work,  and,  although  with  some  degree  of
struggling,  it  broke  out  in  such  a  grandiose  manner  as  one
would  previously  have  thought  to  have  been  quite  impossible.
To  return  now  to  the  six  chosen  associates  who  formed  the
nucleus  of  that  great  society  which  gives  the  title  to  this  book,
and  which,  in  a  truly  incredible  short  time,  spread  over  every
region  of  the  globe,  and  even  down  to  our  own  day  exercises-
a  decided  influence  upon  mankind.  They  were,  in  a  word,
together  with  their  master  the  first  seven  Jesuits,  although  this
denomination  was  only  first  applied  to  them  about  a  couple  of  vears
later;  so  it  happened  that  the  University  of  Paris,  which  after-
wards became  the  most  deadly  enemy  of  their  teaching,  was  the
birth-place  of  this  Order — the  same  city  and  University  of  Paris  ■
from  which  issued  forth  for  centuries  the  spirit  of  freedom  and
intellectual  light.
