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 THEOPHILANTHROPISTS

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THEOPHILANTHROPISTS

gathers for His pleasure. We are all flowers planted on this earth, which God plucks in His own good time: some a little sooner, some a little later. . . Father and son may we meet in Paradise. I, poor little moth, go first. Adieu". The cause of his beatifi- cation was introduced at Rome in 1879, and he was declared Blessed, 2 May, 1909. The beatifica- tion ceremony brought a large delegation from France, including the Bishop of Poitiers and the martyr's only surviving brother. Theophane Venard was beatified in cornpany with thirty-three other martyrs, most of whom were natives of Tonkin, Cochin-China, or China.

Herbert, Theophane Venard (London); Walsh. A Modern Martyr; Thoughts from Modern Martyrs: The Field Afar; Vie et Correspondance de J. Theophane Venard (Poitiers. 1865); Le Bien- heureux Theophane Venard (Paris. 1911); Letlres Choisies du Bienheureux ThSophane Venard (Paris, 1909); Cattaneo, Un Martire Moderno (Milan, 1910).

James Anthony Walsh.

Theophilanthropists, or "Friends of God and Man", a deistic sect formed in France during the lat- ter part of the French Revolution. The legal substi- tution of the Constitutional Chuich, the worship of Reason, and the cult of the Supreme Being in place of the Catholic Religion had practically resulted in athe- ism and immorality. With a view to offsetting those results, some disciples of Rousseau and Robespierre resorted to a new religion, wherein Rousseau's deism and Robespierre's civic virtue (regne de la vertu) would be combined. Chemin wrote the "Manuel des theo- philanthropes", and Haiiy offered his institute for the blind as a provisional place of meeting, \yhen, later, the Convention turned over to them the little church of Sainte-Catherine, in Paris, the nascent sect won a few followers and protectors; still its progress was slow till La Revellicre-Lepeaux, an influential mem- ber of the Directory, took up its cause. But it was only after the Revolution of IS Fructidor, which left hini master of the situation, that his sympathy bore fruit. Then was the apogee of Theophilanthropism. Blended in a way with the cu/(f decadaire, it came into possession of some of t he great churches of Paris Uke Notre-Dame, St-Jacques du Haut-Pas. St-Medard etc.; it took a conspicuous part in all the national cele- brations, and from the metropolis passed into the provinces, chiefly the Department of Yonne. The movement, in spite of a strong opposition not only on the part, of Catholics but also from Constitutionals and Philo.sophers, was gradually taking hold of the masses when the overthrow of the Directory brought it to an abrupt end. The First Consul set his face against the new religionists and they disbanded. Sporadic attempts at reviving Theophilanthropism were made in the course of the nineteenth centurj-. In 1829, Isambert circulated a manifesto for the pur- pose of grouping the French deists, but nothing came of it. In 1854 Henri Carle founded "L'alliance re- ligieuse universcUe" with "La libre conscience" as its organ, but both society and periodical disappeared during the Franco-Prussian war. In 1882, Ddcembre and Vallieres, through " La fraternity universelle" and many similar publications, sought directly to reorgan- ize the sect, but the attempt failed and, in 1890, Dd- cembre confessed the impossibility of rousing public interest. Camerlynck's voluminous book, "Theisme", published at Paris in 1900, had a similar aim and met a similar fate.

Theophilanthropism is described in the "Manuel du theophilanthropisme", of which there were new editions made ius the work progressed. The govern- ing body consisted of two committc^es, one called "comile de direction morale", in charge of the spirit- ual, the other styled "comitedesadministrateurs", in charge of the tem)5oralties. No dogmatic creed w:is imposed on the adlierents of the new religion, the two fundamental tenets, viz. the existence of God and the

immortaUty of the soul, being purely sentimental be- liefs (croyances de sentiment), deemed necessary for the preservation of society and the welfare of individuals. The moral teaching, considered as by far the principal feature of the movement, held a middle position be- tween the severity of Stoicism and the laxity of Epi- cureanism. Its basic principle was: good is all that tends to preserve and perfect man; evil is all I hat tends to destroy or impair him. It is in the hght of that axiom and not of the Christian standard — in spite of the phraseology — that we should view the command- ments concerning the adoration of God, the love of our neighbour, domestic virtues, and patriotism. Theophilanthropist worship was at first very simple and meant chiefly for the home: it consisted in a shori invocation of God in the morning and in a kind of ex- amination of conscience at the end of the day. A plain altar on which were laid some flowers and fruits, a few inscriptions appended to the walls, a platform for the readers or speakers, were the only furnishings allowed. The founders were particularly anxious that this simphcitj' be strictly adhered to. Nevertheless, the progress of the sect led gradually to a much more elaborate ceremonial. It is a far crj- from the early meetings where the minister, or pere de famille, pre- sided at prayer or mimicked Christian baptism. First Communion, marriages, and funerals, to the gorgeous display of the so-called national festivals. There even was a Theophilanthropist Mass, which, however, came much nearer to a Calvinist ser\'ice than to the Cath- olic Liturgy. Of the hymns adopted by the sect, some taken from the writings of J. B. Rousseau, Madame Deshoulieres, or even Racine, breathe a noble spirit but, side by side with these, there are bombastic lucu- brations like the " Hymne de la fondation de la r^pub- lique" and the " Ilynme a la souverainete du peuple". The same strange combination is found in the feasts where Socrates, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and St. Vin- cent de Paul are equally honoured, and in the sermon where political harangues interlard moral exhorta- tions. Quite noteworthy is Dubroca's funeral ora- tion of George Washington, wherein the orator, under cover of the American hero, catered to the rising Bonaparte and laid out for him a whole political pro- gramme which, read in the hght of subsequent events, sounds like irony. Despite the hint, Bonaparte cho.se to be the Cromwell rather than the Washington of the new religionists.

Under the appearance of moderation, Theophilan- thropism was really an anti-Christian movement. Whenever superstition was mentioned, it meant the Christian religion. There is no doubt that the first Theophilanthropists were Freemasons and that Free- masonry was the leading spirit of the movement throughout. Neither can a secret collusion between Protestantism and Theophilanthropism, at least in the beginning, be denied. The first idea of the sect really belongs to David Williams, an English minister who exercised a considerable influence in Paris during the Revolution. Chemin consulted the French Calvin- ists before launching his "Maimel". If later a con- troversy arose between Protestants themselves as to the merits of Theophilanthropism. this was due to the imprudence of the Theophilanthropists, who, elated by apparent success, hfted the mask. The constitu- tional clerg>-, in the national council held at Notre- Dame in 1797, protested against the new religion, and Gn^goire wrote in his ".\nnales de la Religion" (VI, no. .")): "Th<Mipliilanthropism is one of those derisive instit\i1i(iiis which pretend to bring to God those very people wlidin they drive away from Ilim by estranging thcMu from Christianity. . . ". .\bhorred by Christians, it is spurned by jihilosophers who, though they may not feel the need of a religion for themselves, still want the people to cling to the faith of their fathers." Catholics went further in their denunciations and e.v- poscd, beside the anti-Cliristian and masonic spirit