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 MONACHISM 731 are of later date. In France the religious wars of the 16th century, the degeneracy of most of the monastic institutions, the quarrels "between Jansensists and Jesuits, and other causes had begotten a decided aversion to monachism. This determined Vincent de Paul to found a society of regular clerks, who, under the name of Lazarists or Priests of the Mission, have wielded a great influence in France and else- where ; and this too determined M. Olier to g've a similar organization to the Sulpicians. f all these new orders the society of Jesus has had the most celebrity. It was founded on the principle of absolute devotion to the church and its visible head the pope. No order ever carried out its fundamental principle more faithfully, and in all subsequent contests of the Roman Catholic church the Jesuits stood in the front rank. The culture of secular litera- ture, against which in the middle ages some founders of monastic orders had expressly warned their members, showed itself after the 16th century so great a necessity, that it was practically observed by all, though but few gave it special attention. Of these few the Jesuits, the French Oratorians, and the Bene- dictine congregation of St. Maur hold by uni- versal consent a prominent place among the great literary societies of the world. A more general attention was given by the religious orders to the cause of education, especially to primary instruction. Many congregations, both male and female, were instituted for this sole purpose, especially in France, and a large num- ber of primary schools have ever since been under their direction. Foremost among these bodies, besides the Sulpicians and Lazarists, who are devoted to the education of the cler- gy, are those popular educators, the Brothers of the Christian Schools, the Ursulines, Visita- tion Nuns, and Sisters of Charity. The great losses which the Roman Catholic church suf- fered by the reformation directed the atten- tion of the monastic orders to the foreign missionary cause. Most of the great orders, especially the mendicants and the Jesuits, en- gaged in it with great zeal and emulation. The Jesuits took, in addition to the three common monastic vows, a fourth, binding them to go as missionaries to any country where it might please the pope to send them. The extent of their missionary operations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America excelled anything the Roman Catholic church had done in this field before. (See MISSIONS.) The great majority of the Roman Catholic missions in all pagan countries have ever been conducted by the members of religious orders or congregations. In the 18th century the productivity of the church, as regards monachism, greatly de- creased. The Redemptorists or the congrega- tion of the Most Holy Redeemer, founded by St. Alfonso di Liguori, sprang up during this time to fill the gap left by the suppression of the Jesuits. Most of the orders in the sec- ond half of that century made but a feeble resistance against the all-pervading rationalism. Joseph II. suppressed all convents of monks not occupied in education, pastoral duties, o*r the nursing of the sick ; and many Catholic writers demanded the entire extirpation of monachism as both an outgrowth and a pro- moter of fanaticism. Partly to this outcry, but principally to the pressure brought to bear on the court of Rome by the Catholic powers, was due the suppression of the Jesuits in 1773. The French revolution soon afterward endan- gered the existence of monacbism in most of the European states, but with the downfall of the Napoleonic rule its prospects began to brighten. Pius VII. in 1814 restored the Jesuits, who rose again to considerable influ- ence, wherever they were not forcibly sup- pressed. (See JESUITS.) In the countries of the Latin race, both in Europe and America, the fate of monachism was closely allied with the political strife of the conservative and the liberal parties, the former patronizing it, the latter subjecting it to prohibitive rules or suppressing it altogether. In Portuguese and Spanish America the suppression of the Jesuit schools in the last century had left the upper classes and the clergy in particular with very inadequate means of higher education. The ignorance and corruption which soon crept into conventual establishments served as a power- ful argument for their gradual suppression du- ring the present century. In Italy the great wealth of the monastic bodies, and the belief that they had outlived their period of util- ity, caused their final abolition in 1873. They may also be said to have been extinct in Por- tugal since 1834, and in Spain since 1835. In France alone the vicissitudes of political rule in no way affected the growth of monastic in- stitutions. Since 1848 even the liberals have accustomed themselves to accord the right of association to the members of religious orders. Nearly every one of the old orders reestablish- ed itself in France ; and as a number of new congregations were formed, there is at present a greater variety of monastic institutions in that country than any other state has ever pos- sessed. Next to France, they are most numer- ous, wealthy, and influential in Belgium, where, as in France, public instruction is to a great ex- tent under their control. According to the offi- cial census of 1866, there were in Belgium 1^8 communities of men with 2,051 members, and 1,1 44 communities of women with 15,205 mem- bers. They partook, throughout the British possessions, the United States, and Holland, of the blessing of truly liberal institutions, and peaceably lived in accordance with their rules, from which public opinion demanded only one departure, that no member wishing to leave their establishments should be restrained from doing so. Austria protected them, but kept them till 1848 under a bureaucratic guardian- ship, which has since been abandoned. In 1873 the number of convents and monasteries in that empire was about 950, with 8,500 monks