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 CARMELITE

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CARMELITE

means of bringing about the conversion of infidels. This religious, in his works "Stimulus missionum" (Rome, 1610) and especially "De procuranda salute omnium gentium" (Antwerp, 1613), laid down the principles upon which the Holy See actually insti- tuted and organized the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda; other fathers, particularly Yen. Dom- inic of Jesus Mary, contributed towards its success by collecting funds; the Bull of institution by Greg- ory XV pays a just tribute to the zeal of the Carmel- ites. In establisliing missions the order had in view not only the conversion of infidels but also that of Protestants. St. Teresa herself had been deeply afflicted by the spread of Lutheranism; hence the foundation of the Dutch, English, and Irish missions. The history of the first of these is only partly known; of the three it was the least beset with difficulties, and although obstacles were never wanting, it did not pass through the dangers which were a matter of almost daily occurrence in England and Ireland. The most prominent members were Peter of the Mother of God (Bertius, d. 1683) and his brother Caesar of St. Bona venture (d. 1662), the sons of Peter Bertius, rector of the University of Leyden, a famous convert to the Catholic Faith.

Missions in the British Isles. — The establishment of a mission in England dates back to the year 1615. Thomas Doughty of Plombley, Lincolnshire (1574- 1652), probably himself a convert, entered the Car- melite novitiate of La Scala in 1610 after having spent some years at the English College where he had taken Holy orders. After a few months he was obliged by ill-health to return to England, but remained in cor- respondence with the order and sent some postulants to Belgium. Finally he resumed the religious life and after profession proceeded to London, where he had charge of important negotiations. Having become acquainted with the Spanish ambassador and having secured a chaplaincy for himself and his successors, he was introduced at Court and gained the confidence of Queen Anne of Denmark. Nevertheless he was never secure from priest-hunters and had many hair- breadth escapes. Other missioners having joined him, he withdrew to a country place near Canterbury where he died after a long illness. He was the author of several controversial and spiritual books much appreciated in his time. For years he loudly advocated the establishment of an English novitiate on the Continent, for which he collected the necessary funds, but unfortunately the superiors did not see their way to take up the idea and when at last it was carried out it came too late to be of much practical use.

The next missioner, Eliseus of St. Michael (William Pendryck, 1583-1650), a Scotchman and a convert, who had received his religious training at Paris and Genoa, arrived in London with letters patent con- stituting him vicar-provincial and superior of the mission. He led for the most part a very retiring life but did not escape persecution; towards the end of his activity he became involved in one of the in- numerable disputes as to the extent of the pope's powers; compelled to justify his attitude before the nuncio in Belgium, he returned to England crushed with disappointment. Among the prominent mis- sioners must be mentioned Bede of the Blessed Sac- rament (John Hiccocks, 1588-1647), a converted Puritan, who had been the first superior of the mis- sionary college at Louvain. Soon after his arrival m London he was offered a mission on the estates of Lord Baltimore in Newfoundland, which he appears to have been inclined to accept, but when the facul- ties from Home arrived, he was in prison, having been surprised by the priest-hunters while writing to his superiors. For several months his fate as well as that of a brother religious and fellow-prisoner was uncer- tain, but being at last set free through the interven-

tion of the French ambassador he returned to Belgium. He underwent imprisonment for a second time in Holland, but after a long interval came back to Lon- don where he resumed his missionary work. Francis of the Saints (Christopher Leigh, 1600-41) died of the plague contracted in prison. John Baptist of Mount Carmel (John Rudgeley, 1587-1669) spent a consid- erable portion of his life in prison. Joseph of St. Mary (Nicholas Rider, 1600-S2), after many years of fruitful activity, devoted his old age to the training of aspirants to the order; these were sent abroad for their novitiate and studies and on their return were appointed to one or other of the missionary stations belonging to the order.

The most remarkable men in a long series of mis- sioners were Bede of St. Simon Stock (Walter Joseph Travers, 1619-96) and his half brother, Lucian of St. Teresa (George Travers, 1642-91). The son of a Devonshire clergyman, Walter Travers was articled to a London solicitor. An elder brother having be- come a Catholic and a Jesuit, Walter, desirous of guarding himself against a like fate, began to study controversial works with the result that he became convinced of the truth of the Catholic Church which he went to Rome to join. He became a student at the English College and afterwards entered the Car- melite Order in which he filled various offices. He was active in London during the whole period of the Restoration and has left a record of his manifold ex- periences. At the outbreak of the Oates' Plot he was obliged to return to Italy, but after some years re- sumed his work in London, until old age and grief over his brother's death compelled him to retire to Paris where he died in the odour of sanctity. He had had the consolation of solemnly inaugurating a chapel in Bucklersbury in London, as well as those at Here- ford and Worcester, but the Orange Revolution undid the work begun by him. George Travers, after a dis- solute life, accidentally met his brother in London, was rescued by him, instructed, and received into the Church. He made his studies under Joseph of St. Mary, and entered the novitiate at Namur. At the outbreak of the plot he was sent to London, where he passed through many thrilling adventures. Some tune after the Orange Revolution he was betrayed by a false friend, and thrown into prison, whither his ac- cuser, on a different charge, followed him. This man was suffering from a contagious disease which Lucian, while nursing him, contracted, and of which he died, 26 June, 1691.

Much less is known of the missioners of the eigh- teenth century than of those of the seventeenth. Their lives, though still exposed to dangers, were as a rule quiet; moreover, the art of memoir writing seems to have been lost under the House of Orange. One of the more prominent missioners of this period was Francis Blyth (q. v.). In 1773 the English mis- sion acquired the college of the Society of Jesus, re- cently suppressed, at Tongres, where a number of missioners were prepared for their work before the French Revolution swept over Belgium. The disap- pearance of this short-lived establishment dealt the death-blow to the Carmelite mission in England. A few missioners remained stationed in various places, but they received no fresh help and little encourage- ment; the property of the mission as well as its li- brary and archives were lost through the iniquitous laws which rendered the last will of a Catholic illegal. On the occasion of the Catholic Emancipation, Fran- cis Willoughby Brewster was obliged to fill up a par- liament ary paper with the laconic remark: "No su- perior, no inferior, being the last man". He died at Market Rasen in Lincolnshire 11 January, 1S49. Cardinal Wiseman, anxious to introduce the Dis- calced Carmelites into his archdiocese, obtained in 1862 an order authorizing him to select some suitable subjects. His choice fell upon Hermann Cohen (Au-