Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/651

 SCHOTT

589

SCHOTTENKLOSTER

Westfalen und was ilim not thut" (The condition of the peasant class in WestphaHa and what it needs). In this pamphlet he proposed the founding of an inde- pendent peasant union. In the same year the first two societies were formed, and, following the example of these, peasant unions were formed in nearly all the districts of Westphalia, so that by the end of the six- ties there were nearly 10,000 members. Schorlemer worked both by speech and in writing for the develop- ment of this great undertaking. In 1863 he was made a member of the Prussian agricultural board; in 1865 he was the temporary president of the central agri- cultural union, and in 1867 he was made the manager of the same. As such he founded the agricultural schools at Liidinghausen and Herford. In 1870 he was also the manager of the provincial agricultural union of Westphalia.

His parliamentary career began in 1870. In the years 1870-89 Schorlemer was a member of the lower house of the Prussian Diet; in 1870-89 and 1890 a member of the imperial Reichstag. He belonged to the Centre party, and during the Kulturkampf -was an indefatigable champion of the Church. He was con- sidered one of the best speakers and debaters in each of these parliaments; possessing both acuteness and racy humour, "ruthless but honourable", as Bis- marck said; he fought unweariedly the opponents of the Church in the Kulturkampf. In 1893 he came into conflict with the Centre because he demanded a better presentation of agricultural interests.

His permanent reputation, however, rests upon his organization of the peasants. In 1871 the various peasant unions were dissolved, and on 30 Nov., 1871 one peasant union, the Westphalian Peasant Union, as it exists at present, was founded. Its purpose is the moral, intellectual, and economic improvement of the peasant class, on a foundation of Christian prin- ciples. In 1890 the union had 20,500 members, in 1895 25,000, and now has over 30,000. The activi- ties of the association extend in all directions; among its branches are: loan and savings banks, testing sta- tions for agricultural machinery and implements, de- partment of building, department of forestry, insur- ance against liability, association for the purchase and sale of articles necessary in agriculture, boards of arbitration and amicable adjustment of difficulties, legal bureau, etc. The association is not only a bless- ing to Westphalia, but also for the whole of Germany, for it has been the model for the formation of a number of other peasant associations.

Many honours were conferred upon the founder of this organization. Among other marks of distinction he was made in 1884 a mtnnber of the council of state, and in 1891 a member for life of t he upper house of the Prussian Diet. The Emperor William II had a very high regard for him. The pope appointed him privy chamberlain and commander of the orders of Gregory and Sylvester. In 1902 the peasant imion of West- phalia erected a monument to him in front of the par- liament building of the provincial diet at Munster.

Schorlemer, as even non-Cathohc newspapers ad- mitted, was a nobleman in the true sense of the word, a harmonious and thorough man; one who success- fully combined an ideal conception of Ufe with practi- cal aims; his motto was "Love and justice".

Schorlemer-Alst, Reden gehalten 1S72-79 (Osnabriick, 1880); BuER, Dr. Burghard Freiherr von Schorlemer-Alst (Miinater, 1902).

Klemens Loffler.

Schott, Gaspar, German physicist, b. 5 Feb., 1608, at Konigshofen; d. 12 or 22 May, 1666, at Augsburg. He entered the Society of Jesus 20 Oct., 1627, and on account of the disturbed political condition of Germany was sent to Sicily to complete his studies. While there he taught moral theology and mathematics in the college of his order at Palermo. He also studied for a time at Rome under the well-

known P. Kircher. He finally returned to his na- tive land after an absence of some thirty years, and spent the remainder of his life at Augsburg engaged in the teaching of science and in literary work. Both as professor and as author he did much to awaken an interest in scientific studies in Germany. He was a laborious student and was considered one of the most learned men of his time, while his simple life and deep piety made him an object of veneration to the Protestants as well as to the Catholics of Augs- burg. Schott also carried on an extensive corre- spondence with the leading scientific men of his time, notably with Otto von Guericke, the inventor of the air-pump, of whom he was an ardent admirer. He was the author of a number of works on mathemat- ics, physics, and magic. They are a mine of curious facts and observations and were formerly much read. His most interesting work is the "Magia universa- lis naturae et artis", 4 vols., Wiirzburg, 1657-1659, which contains a collection of mathematical problems and a large number of physical experiments, nota- bly in optics and acoustics. His " Mechanicahy- draulica-pneumatica" (Wiirzburg, 1657) contains the first description of von Guericke's air-pump. He also published " Pantometricum Kircherianum " (Wiirzburg, 1660); "Physica curiosa" (Wiirzburg, 1662), a supplement to the "Magia universalis"; "Anatomia physico-hydrostatica fontium et flu- minum" (Wiirzburg, 1663), and a "Cursus mathe- maticus" which passed through several editions. He also edited the "Itinerarium extacticum" of Kircher and the "Amussis Ferdinandea" of Curtz.

Heller, Geschichte der Physik, II (Stuttgart, 1882), 144; So\iMERVoaEh, Biblioth. delaComp.de JesuK, VII (Paris, 1896), 903; St. L^qer, Notice des ouvrages de Q. Schott (Paris, 1765).

H. M. Brock.

Schottenkloster (Scotch Monasteries), a name applied to the monastic foundations of Irish and Scotch missionaries on the European continent, particularly to the Scotch Benedictine monasteries in Germany, which in the beginning of the thirteenth century were combined into one congregation whose abbot-general was the Abbot of the monastery of St. James at Ratisbon. The first Schottenkloster of which we have any knowledge was Sackingen in Baden, founded by the Irish missionary, St. Fridolin, towards the end of the fifth century. The same missionary is said to have founded a Schottenkloster at Constance. A century later St. Columbanus arrived on the con- tinent with twelve companions and founded Anne- gray, Luxeuil, and Fontaines in France, Bobbio in Italy. During the seventh century the disciples of Columbanus and other Irish and Scotch missionaries founded a long list of monast(!ries in what is now France, Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland. The best known are: St. Gall in Switzerland, Disiboden- berg in the Rhine Palatinate, St. Paul's at Besangon, Lure and Cusance in the Diocese of Besan^on, Beze in the Diocese of Langres, Remiremont and Moyen- moutier in the Diocese of Toul, Fosses in the Diocese of Liege, Mont-St-Michel at Peronne, Ebersmiinster in Lower Alsace, St. Martin at Cologne. The rule of St. Columbanus, which was originally followed in most of these monasteries, was soon superseded by that of St. Benedict. Later Irish missionaries founded Honau in Baden (about 721), Murbach in Upper Alsace (about 727), Altomunster in Upper Bavaria (about 749), while other Irish and Scotch monks restored St-Michel in Thierache (940), Wal- Bort near Namur (945), and, at Cologne, the Mon- asteries of St. Clement (about 953), St. Martin (about 980), St. Symphorian (about 990), and St. Pantaloon (1042). Towards the end of the eleventh and in the twelfth century, a number of Schotten- kloster, intended for Scotch and Irish monks exclu- sively, sprang up in Germany. About 1072, three Scotch monks, Marian, John, and Candidus, took