Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/656

 638 FOREIGN MISSIONS ing northward, the French in 1608 began to send missionaries to North America, and es- tablished prosperous settlements among the Abenaquis, Hurons, Iroquois, and other Indian tribes. Biard, Brebeuf, Lalemant, and Sebas- tien Rasle were the most celebrated among those who devoted their whole lives to thor- oughly organizing the colonies of native Chris- tians. The French missions gradually advanced up the St. Lawrence and along the lakes. In Abyssinia repeated efforts were made from 1550 to 1634, mostly by Jesuits, to bring the national church, which had been isolated from the rest of the Christian world for more than 1,000 years, into an organic connection with the Roman Catholic church. Several princes entered into their views, and a member of the Jesuit order was appointed patriarch; but at length a successful insurrection thwarted the project. Several other portions of Africa re- ceived Catholic missionaries in the course of the 17th century, as Morocco (1630) and Mada- gascar (1648), but without permanent success. In the 18th century the Jesuit missions in the East greatly declined. In China and India they were involved in a controversy with the Dominicans respecting certain accommodations to native customs, which the Jesuits regarded as lawful, while the Dominicans stigmatized them as idolatrous. Rome then gave against the Jesuits a decision which has since been cancelled ; and from that time the prosperity of their missions declined. In China, more- over, a fierce persecution broke out, which be- tween 1722 and 1754 diminished the number of Christians from 800,000 to 100,000. In Thibet, the Capuchins tried to establish mis- sions, but with only slight success. A larger number of conversions were made in Indo- Ohina, especially in Cochin China and Tonquin, and the Catholic population gradually rose to several hundred thousand, mostly attended by native priests. A firm foundation, amid the continuance of persecution, was also laid in Corea. In Africa a third attempt was made (l750-'54) to unite the Abyssinian church with Rome, but without success. The Portuguese missions on the W. coast of Africa almost en- tirely decayed. In the Spanish and Portuguese possessions of America the progress of the missions among the Indians was completely arrested by the expulsion of the Jesuits, and the attitude which the governments of Spain and Portugal assumed toward the Roman Cath- olic church. The French revolution greatly diminished the power and resources of the Ro- man Catholic church, in consequence of which nearly all the foreign missions declined, while some were given up entirely. Since 1814 the operations in the various missionary fields have again been taken up with renewed zeal; the number of missionary bishops and priests has been greatly increased, but no extraordinary suc- cesses have as yet been announced. In China proper, in Corea, and in India, the Catholic population has, however, considerably risen. Cochin China and Tonquin enjoyed likewise for some time a season of great prosperity, until, about 1857, the persecution to which more or less the Christians were generally exposed assumed such dimensions that nearly all the priests were killed or obliged to flee, and nearly every congregation was scattered. This led in 1858 to an intervention of the French and Spaniards, which terminated in 1862 in the cession to France of three prov- inces, and in stipulations guaranteeing the free exercise of the Christian religion. Neverthe- less the persecution broke out more fiercely than ever in 1868, and four Christian parishes with about 10,000 converts have been blotted out. Japan was reopened to Catholic missionaries in consequence of the treaties of 1858, and was at once occupied as a mission field. In the summer of 1868 a most cruel persecution was begun against the native Christians, espe- cially at Nagasaki and vicinity. The imperial decree recited that the rigorous measures pur- sued in the 17th century against the Christian religion had not entirely extirpated it, and that of late the number of Christians had consider- ably increased. Consequently 4,100 persons were taken away from their homes and distrib- uted among 34 daimios, who were to isolate them from their fellow citizens and employ them in the most rigorous penal servitude. The several consuls at Nagasaki and the ministers resident at Tokio protested in vain against the merciless acts of the government. In 1873 the representatives of the Christian powers obtained a promise that the persecution should cease; but 660 persons had in the interval perished in prison. "The whole number of native Cath- olics in Japan was variously estimated in 1873 at from 13,000 to 24,000, with two resident Ro- man Catholic bishops. The missions in Turkey, and more particularly those among the eastern churches, were in recent times greatly enlarged, and considerable numbers of Armenians, Jaco- bites, and Nestorians entered into union with Rome. The same step was taken in 1859 by the king of Tigre in Abyssinia, with 50,000 of his subjects. The conquest of Algeria by the French gave rise to some enterprises for the conversion of the Mohammedans, but without notable results. Special missionary associa- tions were formed in Austria for Khartoom in Nubia, and in France for western Africa ; but the majority of missionaries were swept away by the deadly climate soon after their arrival at the missionary stations. In North America, the labors among the Indians were taken up again, especially by the Jesuits and Oblates, and the missionaries advanced up to the northern- most settlements in the British possessions. In South America the Jesuits have made repeat- ed attempts at reentering the fields of their former missionary labors along the Parana, the Amazon, and their affluents ; but their ef- forts, being looked iipon with disfavor by the local authorities, have had but a partial suc- ! cess. In Australasia numerous congregations