Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/414

 OZANAM

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OZANAM

Mosohus, ctp. In 1S'.17, in I'.K).') anil tho years folkiw- inp, Oronfel ami Hunt found papyri containing four- teen sentcnees or frasmenis of sentences (XAyia) attributed to Jesus ami which seoin to belong to the first half of the second century, also fragments of (Sospels, now lost, besides Christian documents of the third century, etc. A letter, recently discovered, written by Peter the martyr. Bishop of Alexanilria, in 312, gives an interesting piclure i>( this Church at that time. Le Quien (riens christ ianus, 11, .'iTT-.'iOO) mentions 7 metropolitans of this city, marly all Mele- tians or Monophysistes. In the Middle .\ges under the dynasty of the Mamelukes, it was the leaiiing city of a province. To-day under the name of Behneseh, it is entirely dismantled. Mounds of debris alone make it possible to recognize its circuit.

Grenfel axd Hunt, The Oxyrynchus Papyri, in the publica- tions of the Egypt Exploratiox Fu.vd (London); Wessely, Les plus ancif'ns monuments du christianii^me Merits sur papyrus (Paris, 1906): Schmidt. Fragmente einer Schrift des Mdrtyerbischo/s Pe- trus von Alexandrien (Leipzig, 1901).

S. VAILHfi.

Ozanam, .\ntoine-Fr£d6ric, great grand-nephew of ,Jac(iues Ozanam, b. at Milan, 23 April, 1813; d. at Marseilles, 8 Sept., 1853. His father, settled at first in Lyons as a merchant, after reverses of fortune decided to go to Milan. Later he returned to Lyons and became a physician. At eighteen Fr(5d(''ric, in de- fence of the Faith, wrote " Reflexions sur la doctrine de Saint-Simon". Later he studied law in Paris, and lived for eighteen months with the illustrious physi- cian Ampere. He formed an intimate friendship with the hitter's son, Jean-Jacques Ampere, well known later for his works on literature and history. Mean- while he became a prey of doubt. "God", he said, "gave me the grace to be born in the Faith. Later the confusion of an unbelieving world surrounded me. I knew all the horror of the doubts that torment the soul. It was then that the instructions of a priest and philosopher (Abbe Noirot) saved me. I believed thenceforth with an assured faith, and touched by so rare a goodness, I promised God to devote my life to the services of the truth which had given me peace". Rarely was a promise more faithfully fulfilled.

In 1836 he left Paris, where he had known Chateau- briand, Ballanche, Montalembert, and Lacordaire, and was appointed to the bench at Lyons, but two years later returned to Paris to submit his thesis on Dante for his doctorate in letters. His defence was a triumph. "Monsieur Ozanam", Cousin said to the candidate, "there is no one more eloquent than you have just proved yourself." He was given the chair of commercial law, just created at Lyons. The following yi'ar lu- competed for admission to the P^aculties at Paris, and was appointed to substitute for one of the judges of the Sorbonne, Fauriel, philosopher and pro- fes.sor of foreign literature. At the same time he taught at Stanislas College, where he had been called by Abbe Gratry. On P^auricl's death in 1844, the Faculty unanimously elected Ozanam his successor. Like his friend Lacordaire he believed that a Christian democracy was the end towards which Providence was leading the world, and after the Revolution of 1848 aided him by his waitings in the "Ere Nouvelle". In 1846 he visited Italy to regain hisstrength, undermined by a fever. On his return he published "Etudes ger- manique.s" (1S47); "Poites franciscains en Italic au Xllle sieele"; finally, in 1849, the greatest of his works: "La civilisation chrC'tienne chez les Francs". The Academy of Inscriptions awarded him the "Grand Prix Gobert" for two successive years. In 1852 he made a short journey to Spain an account of which is found in the posthumous work: "Un pC'ldri- nage au pays du Cid". In the beginning of the ne.vt year, his doctors again sent him to Italy, hut he re- turned to Marseilles to die. When the priest exhorted him to have confidence in God, he rephed "Oh why

should 1 fi';ir God, whom I love so much?" Comply- ing with his desire the Govermncnt allowed him to be interred in the cryiit of the "Carnics".

,\ brilliant apologist, inipri'.ssed by theb<'nefitsof the Christian religion, he desireil that they should be made known to all ulio might rea<l his works or hoar his words. To him the Gospel had renewed or revivified all the germs of good to be found in the ancient and in the barbarian world. In his many miscellaneous studies he endeavored to develop this idea, but was unable to fully realize his plan. In the two volumes of the " ICtudcs gcrmaniques" he did for oiie nation wli.-it he desired to do for all. He also ]nihlished, with the same view, a valuable collection of hitherto unpub- lished material: "Documents inedits pour servir k I'histoire de I'ltalie, depuis le Vllle sieele jusqu'au Xlle" (Paris, 1850). Ozanam was untiring in energy, had a rare gift for precision and historical insight, and at the same time a naturalness in his verse and a spon- taneous, pleasing eloquence, all the more charming be- cause of his frankness. "Those, who wish no religion introduced into a scientific work," he wrote, "accuse me of a lack of independence. But I pride myself on such an accusation. ... I do not aspire to an inde- pendence, the result of which is to love and to believe nothing." His daily life was animated by an apostolic zeal. He was one of those who signed the petition ad- dressed to the .Vrchbishop of Paris to obtain a large body of religious teachers for the Catholic school chil- dren, whose faith was ciidangcrc-d by the cunciit unbe- lief. Asaresult of thispetition MonscigneurdcQuelen created the famous "Conferences de Xotre Dame", which Lacordaire (q. v.) inaugurated in 1835. When but twenty, Ozanam with seven companions had laid the foundations of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, in order, as he said to "insure my faith by works of charity". During his life he was an active member and a zealous propagator of the society (see Saint Vincent de Paul, Society of). With all his zeal, he was, however, tolerant. His strong, sincere books ex- hibit a brilliant and animated style, enthusiasm and erudition, eloquence and exactness, and are yet very useful introductions to the subjects of which they treat.

(Euvres compliles d'A.-F. Ozanam (2nd cd., in 11 vols., Paris, 1862) ; Lacordaire, Frederic Ozanam, in the V vol. of the com- plete edition of his works; O'Meara, F. Ozanam (London. 1879); C.-A. Ozanam (a brother of FrM6ric), Vie de Frederic Ozanam (2nd ed.. 1882); HuiT. Frldiric Ozanam (1888); Bacdrillart. VapologHique de Fridiric Ozanam in Revue pratique d" apologitique (15 May, 1909).

Georges Bertrin.

Ozanam, Jacques, French mathematician, b. at Bouligneux (Ain), 1640; d. in Paris, 3 April, 1717. He came of a rich family which had renounced the Jewish for the Catholic religion. From the same family sprang the better known Antoine-FrC'd^ric Ozanam (q. v.). Though he began the study of theology to please his father, he was more strongly attracted to mathematics, which he mastered without the aid of a teacher. At the age of fifteen he produced a mathe- matical treatise. Upon the death of his father, he gave up theology after four years of study and began, at Lyons, to give free ])rivate instruction in mathemat- ics. Later, as the family property passed entirely to his elder brother, he was reluctantly driven to acceiit fees for his lessons. In 1670, he published trigonomet- ric and logarithmic tables more accurate than the then existing ones of Ulacq, Pitiscus, and Briggs. An act of kindness in lending money to two strangers se- cured for him the notice of M. d'Aguesseau, father of the chancellor, and an invitation to settle in Pans. There he enjoyed prosperity and contentment for iijany years. He married, had a large family, and derived an ample income from teaching m;ithematics to private pupils, chiefly foreigners. His niathemuticid publica- tions were numerous and well rec(iv<ii. The manu- script entitled "Les six livres de rArithm(tique de