Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 3.djvu/118

 BUSS

BUSTAMANTE

Buss, Franz Joseph, Ritter von, jurist, b. 23 March, 1803, at Zell in Baden; d. 31 January, 1878, at Freiburg im Breisgau. He studied at the Uni- versity of Freiburg where he took the doctor's degree in philosophy, law, and medicine. After a short stay at the Universities of Bonn and Gottingen he returned to Freiburg, passed a brilliant examination and was appointed attorney for that city. He be- came ordinary professor at the university in 1836, where he soon obtained a large following among the students, because in the face of strong opposition he treated fearlessly vexed social and ecclesiastical questions. To meet his many opponents Buss often lectured four, even five, times a day. Throughout his life he warmly advocated the interests of the people, whom he habitually reached through the press and his public discourses. Besides a modern language club of which he was the founder and president, he gave much of his time to creating at Freiburg a centre for the comparative study of European legislation and jurisprudence. A large collection of valuable material was already in his hands, and his extensive knowledge of law and of the principal languages of Europe seemed to promise success. He soon found, however, that the means of international correspondence were inadequate to the enterprise. Some of the material collected ap- peared in book form (1S35-46), the sole fruit of this great scheme.

In 1837 Buss was elected to the Lower House of Baden and addressed himself at once to such subjects as the social question, the liberty of the Church, a uniform customs system, and closer commercial union between the States of Germany. Unfortunately, Buss met from the beginning a hostile majority, deaf to all his propositions and bent on his defeat. He was reproached in open Parliament with the errors and false steps into which the liberalism and restless activity of his youth had betrayed him. Unable to make the least impression on the assembly he resigned his seat. Elected again in 1846, Buss opposed vigorously the "Deutschkatholicismus" of Ronge. This brought out his opponents in full force. Extensive petitions in his favour compelled the Government to dissolve the Parliament; but the new election brought no improvement. Buss was still the only champion of the Church in the Lower House, whilst in the upper the whole weight of the op- position fell on Baron von Andlau and his colleague, Hirscher.

Buss now directed his irrepressible activities to more profitable work. The "Methodology of Canon Law" (1842), the "Influence of Christianity on Law and State" (1844), the "Difference between Catholic and Protestant Universities in Germany" (1846), the "German Union and the Love for Prussia", the "Re-establishment of Canon Law", and the "De- fence of the Jesuits" (1853) appeared in rapid succession, each to do the work of the hour. But these publications did not absorb all his energy. He introduced the Sisters of Charity into the Grand Duchy of Baden; transformed his own house into an ecclesiastical college; during the famine of the winter of 1846 he fed thousands of starving people in the Black Forest; and he organized the Catholics politically and formed them into societies. In 1848 l'>nss had the honour of presiding over the first general assembly of the German Catholic associations in .Mainz. He represented Ahaus-Steinfurt in (lie German Parliament at Frankfort. There, as in tin' Erfurt Union Parliament, where he was the leader of the Greater-Germany Party, he favoured Austria as against Prussia. When the opposition to the Church in Baden developed into open hostility. Buss was at the side of the archbishop, Hermann von Vi- cari. He now very opportunely published (1855) his "Life of St. Thomas of Canterbury", and dedicated

it to the persecuted archbishop. He was elected for the third time to the Baden Landtag when the Con- cordat between Baden and the Holy See was in jeop- ardy. He at once organized a popular deputation to the sovereign, comprising representatives from all the parishes of Baden. But the old opposition prevented the demonstration, invalidated his election, and ejected him from the Landtag, and finally, at the next election, his constituents forsook him. Buss now, more than ever, turned his face towards Austria. During the Austro-Italian war he was so active and successful at the head of an association for the relief of the German prisoners that in acknowledgment of his services the emperor conferred on him the Order of the Iron Crown. He also organized at Vienna a great manifestation in favour of the tem- poral power of the pope, for which he was decorated by Pius IX with the Order of Gregory the Great.

Under the strain of excessive work and some bitter disappointments, Buss broke down completely in 1866. A grave attack of melancholy unbalanced his mind. After long treatment he recovered, but events had meanwhile advanced so rapidly that he no longer recognized the old Fatherland. His long cherished hopes for the hegemony of Austria were blasted. He rejoiced at the victories of the German armies in the Franco-Prussian war, but remained averse to the new German Empire. Elected a fourth time to the Lower House of Baden, Buss main- tained his former reputation. In 1874 he was sent to the Reichstag by a very large vote and took his seat with the Centre Party. In 1877, after the death of his youngest child, he withdrew from public life and died soon after. In spite of failures Buss achieved a great success in keeping Catholics alive to current events and their bearing on the Church. He set Catholic Germany a stimulating example by organizing and binding together no less than four hundred Catholic associations, while to the Catholics of Baden he gave what they most needed, a con- sciousness of their strength, and the determination to fight for their civic and religious rights.

Goyau, L'Allemagne religiexuse (Paris, 1905), II, 269 sqq.; Hagele in Kirchcnler., II, 1556-61.

Charles B. Schrantz.

Bustamante, Carlos Maria, Mexican statesman and historian, b. at Oaxaca, Mexico, 4 November, 1774; d. in Mexico, 29 September, 1848. Although constantly concerned in the politics of Mexico, and occupying several very responsible positions during the most trying times of the Mexican Republic until the close of the war with the United States, Busta- mante found time and leisure to secure a prominent position in the historical literature of his country. In 1796 he took up the study of law, participated in the attempts to secure independence from Spain, and, when that was finally achieved, opposed the designs of Iturbide to transform the newborn republic into a hereditary monarchy. Repeatedly impri- soned and banished, he was nevertheless appointed to important positions in the Government. The American war was a source of deep grief to him, and he felt so keenly the disastrous results of it for his country that he survived its close only about one year. His historical sketch of that war is a sad record of the decay and disintegration which afflicted Mexico at that time. He writes with the greatest frankness, and unsparingly, about the conduct of the war on the Mexican side. His autobiography, published in 1833, is also valuable as a fragment of contemporary history.

Bustamante distinguished himself by publishing historical works on colonial times, till then in manu- script and partly forgotten. Above all, his publica- tion of the " [listeria general de las cosas de Nueva Espafla", by Pray Bernardino de Sahagun of the second half of the sixteenth century, was a service