Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 14.djvu/120

 SOCIETY

SOCIETY

and the dispute thus occasioned was not settled until 1838, under Archbishop Eccleston.

French Missions. — The French missions had as bases the French colonies in Canada, the Antilles, Guiana, and India; while French influence in the Mediterranean led to the missions of the Levant, in Syria, among the Maronites (q. v.), etc. (See also Guiana; Haiti; Martinique; China, III, 673.) The Canadian mission is described under Canada, and Missions, Catholic Indian, of Canada. (See also the accounts of the mission given in the articles on Indian tribes like the Abenakis, Apaches, Cree, Hurons, Iroquois, Ottawas; and in the biographies of the missionaries BaiUoquet, Bifibeuf, Casot, Cha- Ijanel, Chastellain, Chaumonot, Cholonec, Cr^pieiil, Dablon, Druillettes, Gamier, Goupil, Jogues, Lafitau, Lagrene, Jacques- P. Lallemant, Lamberville, Lauzon, Le Moyne, Rale, etc.) In 1611 Fathers Biard and Masse arrived as missionaries at Port Royal, Acadia. Taken prisoners by the English from Virginia, they were sent back to France in 1614. In 1625 Fathers Masse, Brebeuf, and Charles Lalemant came to work in and about CJuebee, until 1629, when they were forced to return to France after the English captured Quebec. Back again in 1632 they began the most he- roic missionary period in the annals of America. They opened a college at Quebec in 1635, with a staff of most accomplished professors from France. For forty years men quite as accomplished, labouring under incredible hardships, opened missions among the Indians on the coast, along the St. Lawrence and the Saguenay, and on Hudson Bay; among the Iroquois, Neutral Nation, Petuns, Hurons, Ottawas, anil later among the Miamis, Illinois, and among the tribes east of the Mississippi as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. When Canada became a British possession in 1763, the.se missions could no longer be sustained, though many of them, especially those that formed part of parochial settlements, had gradually been taken over by secular priests. The college at Quebec was closed in 1768. At the time of the Suppression there were but twenty-one Jesuits in Canada, the last of whom. Rev. John J. Casot, died in 1800. The mission has become famous for its martyrs, eight of whom, Br(''beuf, Gabriel Lalemant, Daniel, Garnier, Chabanel, Jogues and his laj- companions Goupil and Lalande, were declared venerable on 27 Feb., 1912. It has also become noted for its literary remains, es- pecially for the works of the missionaries in the Indian tongues, for their explorations, especially that of Marquette, and for its "Relations".

Jesuit Relations. — The collections known as the "Jesuit Relations" consist of letters written from members of the Society in the foreign mission fields to their superiors and brethren in Europe, and contain accounts of the development of the missions, the labours of the missionaries, and the obstacles which they encountered in their work. In March, 1549, when St. Francis Xavier confided the mission of Or- mus to Father Ga.spar Barza;us, he included among his instructions the commission to write from time to time to the college at Goa, giving an account of what was being done in Ormus. His letter to Joam Beira (Malacca, 20 June, 1549) recommends similar accounts being .sent to St. Ignatius at Rome and to p^ather Simon Rodriguez at Lisbon and is very expUcit con- cerning both the contents and the tone of these accounts. These instructions were the guide for the future "Relations" sent from all the foreign mi.ssions of the order. The "Relations" were of three kinds: Intimate and personal accounts sent to the father- general, to a relative, a friend, or a superior, which were not meant for publication at that time, if ever. There were also aiiiuial letters, intended only for members of the order, manuscript copies of which were sent from house to house. Extracts and analj'- ses of these letters were compiled in a volume entitled:

"Littera> annuae Societatis Je.su ad patres et fratres ejusdem Societatis". The rule forbade the communi- cation of these letters to persons not members of the order, as is indicated by the title. The publication of the annual letters began in 1581, was interrupted from 1614 to 1649, and came to an end in 1654, though the provinces and missions continued to send such let- ters to the father-general. The third class of letters, or "Relations" properly so called, were written for the pubhc and intended for printing. Of this class were the famous "Relations de la Nouvelle-France", begun in 1616 by Father Biard. The series for 1626 was written by Father Charles Lalemant. Forty-one volumes constitute the series of 1632-72, thirty-nine of which bear the title "Relations", and two (1645-55 and 1658-59) "Lettres de la Nouvelle-France". The cessation of these publications was the indirect outcome of the controversy concerning Chinese Rites, as Clement X forbade (16 April, 1673) missionaries to publish books or WTitings concerning the missions without the written consent of Propaganda.

Letters from the missions were instituted by Saint Ignatius. At first they circulated in MS. and contained home as well as foreign news; e. g. Littercs quadrimeslres (5 vols.), lately printed in the Monumenta series, mentioned above. Later on Littera annum, in yearly or triennial volumes (1581 to 1614) at Rome, Florence, etc., index with last vol. Second Series (1650-54) at Dillingen and Prague. The Annual Letters were continued, and still continue, in MS., but very irregularly. The tendency was to leave home news in MS. for the future historian, and to publish the more interesting reports from abroad. Hence many early issues of Avvisi and Littera, etc.. from India, China, Japan, and later on the celebrated Relations of the French Canadian missions (Paris, 1634 — ). From these ever-growing printed and MS. sources were drawn up the collections — Lettres idi- fiantes et curieuses icrites par quelques missionaires de la comp. de Jesus (Paris, 1702; frequently reprinted with different matter, in 4 to 34 volumes. The original title was Lettres de quelques missionaires); Der Neue-WeUhott mit allerhand Nachrichten deren Missionar. Soc. Jesu, ed. Stocklein and others (36 vols., Augsburg, Gratz, 1728 — ) ; Huonder. Deutsche jesuiten Mis- sion&re (Freiburg, 1899). For literature of particular missions see those titles. Leclercq, Premier etablissemeni de la foy dans la Nouvelle-France (Paris, 1619), tr. Shea (New York, 1881); Cami^ BELL, Pioneer Priests oj North America (New York, 1908-11); Bourne, Spain in America (New York, 1904); Pahkman, The Jesuits in North America (Boston, 1868); Rochemonteix, Les jisuites et la Nouvelle-France au xvii« slide (Paris, 1896) ; Charle- voix, Hist, de la Nouvelle-France (Paris, 1744) ; Campbell (B.U.), Biog. Sketch of Father Andrew White and his Companions, the first Missionaries of Maryland in the Metropolitan Catholic Alma- nac (Baltimore, 1841); Idem, Hist. Sketch of the Early Christian Missions among the Indians of Maryland (Maryland Hist. Soc., 8 Jan.. 1846); Johnson, The Foundation of Maryland in Mary- land Hist. Soc, Fund Publications, no. 18; KiP. Early Jesuit Mis- sions in North America (New York, 1882) ; Idem, Hist. Scenes from the Old Jesuit Missions (New York. 1875); The Jesuit Relations, ed. Thwaites (73 vols., Cleveland, 1896-1901); Shea, Jesuits, Recollects, and Indians in Winsor, Narrative arid critical Hist, of America (Boston, 1889); Hughes, Hist, of the Soc. of Jesus in North America, Colonial and Federal (Cleveland, 1908—); Shea, Hist, of the Cath. Church vnthin the limits of the United States (New York, 1886-92) ; Schall, Hist, relalio de ortu et progressu fidei orthod. in regno Chinesi ISSl-ieSB (Ratisbon, 1672); Ricci, Qpere storiche, ed. Venturi (Macerata, 1911).

Suppression. 1750-73. — We now approach the most difficult part of the history of the Society. Having enjoyed very high favour among Cathohc peoples, kings, prelates, and popes for two and a half centuries, it suddenly becomes an object of frenzied hostility, is overwhelmed with obloquy, and overthrown with dramatic rapidity. Every work of the Jesuits — their vast missions, their noble col- leges, their churches — all is taken from them or de- stroyed. They are banished, and their order sup- pressed, wdth harsh and denunciatory words even from the pope, \\hat makes the contrast more striking is that their protectors for the moment are former enemies — the Russians and Frederick of Prussia. Like many intricate problems, its solution is best found by beginning with what is easy to understand. We look forward a generation and we see that every one of the thrones, the pope's not excluded, which had been active in the Suppression, is overwhelmed. France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy become, indeed still are, a prey to the extravagances of the Revolu- tionary movement. The Suppression of the Society