It was a simpler, less formal sort of school than we perhaps are
accustomed to. The Fathers and the boys lived together, almost as
one big family. They ate together in one large dining hall. There
were always some of the Fathers with the boys in their games, as
well as in their studies. It was a very pleasant place, and a very
good place.

In those early days of Protestantism, Catholics, even Catholic boys,
felt that they were in a fighting situation. The attacks upon the
old faith woke new courage and devotion in those who remained
faithful to the Church of the ages. And so, filled with that spirit
of loyalty, that new earnestness which the times called forth, and
living under the example of the simple manly piety of their Jesuit
teachers, it is no wonder that the boys in the College of Vienna
were an unusually good set of boys.

They had their regular classes, in languages, mathematics, and such
science as the age knew. Latin was then the language of all educated
people in Europe, the language of courts, the common meeting ground
of all nations. Many a time, both in those days and later; a noble
proved his rank and saved himself from mischance by the mere fact
that he spoke Latin. It was not a dead language then, as it is now.
It was in current use. Greek was comparatively new in Western
schools. And though from their beginnings the Jesuits were famous
teachers, we can hardly suppose that in their new and small college
at Vienna the boys were much troubled by the speech of Plato and
Demosthenes.

Of their games it is hard to know much at this late day. Sword-play