le-Grand 3,000, in Rennes 2,500, in Toulouse 2,000.[1] Cologne began its roll in 1558 with almost 800 students; Dillingen in Bavaria had 760 in 1607. At Utrecht in Holland there were 1000; at Antwerp and Brussels each 600 scholars. Münster in 1625 had 1300, Munich had 900 in 1602. The absolute average is not known, three hundred seems, however, the very lowest. This would give to the seven hundred and more institutions a sum total of two hundred and ten thousand students, all trained under one system. That thus the Jesuits exercised a great influence on the minds of men, is undeniable. The question is only, was their influence for good or evil? Was their teaching a benefit to the individuals, and more so, was it advantageous to the communities? Was their method considered as productive of good results? Let us listen to contemporaneous writers in high positions, to men known for their intellectual achievements, to men who, owing to their religious tenets, cannot be suspected of partiality to the Jesuits.
The testimony of Lord Bacon, the English philosopher and statesman, is well known: "Of the Jesuit colleges, although in regard of their superstition I may say, 'Quo meliores eo deteriores,' yet in regard of this and some other points of learning and moral matters, I may say, as Agesilaus said to his enemy Pharnabaces, 'Talis cum sis, utinam noster esses'."[2] Our American historian Bancroft does not hesitate to say of the Jesuits: "Their colleges became the best schools in the world."[3] And Ranke writes: "It was
