Into the novitiates of the religious orders, and into the seminaries which hold their place for the secular priesthood, the noblest men of our race have entered joyfully; some to be wedded to the Divine Spouse in the quiet seclusion of holy contemplation, and others, of the more militant orders, to be trained to follow worthily the standards of the apostolic warfare against vice and error.

The novice-master was puzzled by his three Americans, though Brother McMaster was easily comprehended—­an over-frank temperament, impulsive, and demonstrative.  Not only were his banners always hanging on the outward wall, but his plan of campaign also.  The other two were a study, and Brother Hecker was a curiosity.  Yet both were cheerful, obedient, earnest, courageous.  The novice-master was annoyed at the Americans’ incessant demand for the reason why of all things permitted, and the reason why not of all things prohibited; until at last Brother Walworth was named Brother Pourquoi.  As to Brother Hecker, besides showing the same stand-and-deliver propensity, he occupied much of the time of conversation in philosophizing, plunging into the obscurest depths of metaphysical and ethical problems, using terms which were often quite unfamiliar to strictly orthodox ears, and exhibiting a fearless independence of thought generally conceded among Catholics only to practised theologians.  Yet the novice-master was well pleased with both, though we shall see that his journey with Brother Hecker was for some time in the dark.

When the Fourth of July came around he learned that it was the great American holiday, and he called the three Americans to him and asked, “How do you celebrate your national holiday at home?” “By shooting off fire-crackers,” they answered with a twinkle.  This being out of the question, and the grand military parade which was next suggested also impracticable, Brothers Walworth and Hecker both exclaimed, “Ginger-bread!” “Take all you want,” was the answer, “and go off on a long walk, and spend the day by yourselves.”  And of they went to wander among the ruins of the outposts of the old Roman republic, and make Fourth of July speeches in honor of the great new Republic beyond the sea.  Those who have been novices themselves will not be surprised at the boyishness of these three manly characters under the circumstances.

Isaac Hecker’s spirit was not anywise cramped by the routine exercises of the novitiate; he made them easily and well.  He always seemed to his companions what he actually was, and what he described himself to be in his letters to New York, a cheerful and contented novice.  But, as one of them since expressed it, he was not a “dude” novice, not the very pink of external perfection, and had a long period of interior trial.  He did not exhibit at any time the least hesitancy about his vocation, for his mind was made up.  Yet once, when he took a walk with Brother Walworth to visit a house of Recollects, Franciscans of the strict observance, both he and his companion were greatly struck by that charming poverty which the poor man of Assisi has bequeathed to his children; they did ask each other whether they had not made a mistake.  This question, however, was but the expression of a shadowy doubt, vanishing as suddenly as it had come.