Chapter XXI (2)

Intelligence having been conveyed to the grand master of the perilous situation of the fortress, troops were despatched to the rescue; but they were forced to return, leaving the little garrison weak but determined, faced with certain destruction, yet prepared to meet it heroically. It commands our deepest admiration to see, even through the film of distance, that little band, undaunted, cooped up within that fiery furnace awaiting that doom which was drawing nearer and nearer, and which heralded its dreadful approach with a pageantry at once terrible and sublime; to see them with the blazing canopy showering death down upon their uncovered heads; to see them, having only to regret their former cowardice, adding to their already resplendent laurels. A prouder moment does not come to the historian--a moment more replete with the fulness of joy than can ever be known to the fictionist, as he lingers with enchanted pen upon such scenes; and yet, when followed by those which are revolting to our more refined sense of enlightenment, he painfully discharges his duty.

Having spent the night which witnessed the blasting of every hope of relief in prayer, they bade each other affectionate adieus, and repaired to their death posts. To throw themselves upon the mercy of a foe which indeed knew no mercy, was not for a moment entertained by those who were wedded to the Catholic Church. The wounded and disabled, at their request, were placed where sure death might meet them. St. Elmo was attacked upon the 23d of July, 1505, which day saw the infidel flag flaunting triumphantly over its ramparts, so soon to be struck in disgrace and be replaced by the standard of St. John. The resistance which its handful of defenders made provoked rather the rage of the Turks than incited their admiration, and, after an unparalleled struggle of four hours, nothing was left but the broken walls to urge resistance to the overwhelming foe. Supremely grand was the terrific display which its heights commanded amidst the fiercest of the strife! A multitude of swaying human beings, actuated by a maddened revenge, hurtling one against the other, stretching away, whilst those more closely drawn to its sides were in numbers joined in fiery chains, and in the embrace of their blazing bonds expired with the wildest shrieks of agony! St. Elmo, wrapped in fire, arrayed in its funereal pall of lowering smoke, became the prey of the Turks.

Mustapha surveyed the scene of his dear-bought victory with feelings no doubt adverse to those which flattered him upon his arrival. Brutal, indeed, were the means by which he sought to carry consternation to Il Borgo; all that had been found yet alive were ripped open, and, with the holy symbol of their faith gashed upon their bodies, they were thrown into the harbor, and winds and tides invoked to beat these messengers to the gates, to inform the town of the fall of St. Elmo.

But a period awaited the siege of Malta which reflected more disgrace upon Mustapha than one hundred victories could efface.

La Valette looked out upon the harbor now filled with the floating bodies, {487} horribly gashed, of the gallant defenders of St Elmo, but no one could read his reflections as he viewed those dead-freighted waves depositing their burden upon the beach; no matter what his acts may have been when suggested by such an inspiration, for they were no index by which to read his heart.

We are informed by the historian that he dissembled his true feelings that the Knights and soldiers might not see in him a cowardly exemplar. But it is not impossible that the grand master looked unmoved upon those whose dress and sacred wounds alone betrayed them to have been bound to him by the endearing ties of the order. His retaliation, however, is not in accordance with our finer conceptions of right, but who will question the justness of _war_-expedients? La Valette was the master-spirit of the defence, and he evinced himself not unworthy his station. For had he been less decided, and succumbed to the importunities of his subordinates, indeed the siege of Malta would have been of short duration; no Spanish forces that would have been sent could have retrieved the advantages that would have been lost by a cowardly precipitation. And thus to him may we ascribe the glory of the long masterly defence which kept an enemy, thirsting for Christian blood, at bay, and which made an ultimate recovery practicable; which, indeed, made the Turkish triumph but preparatory to an indelible disgrace. La Valette's emotions of sorrow soon hardened, and he ordered his captives to be decapitated and their heads shot from the cannon's mouth into the enemy's camp. The significance of this act, in part, may justify its commission, though it would be more in harmony with our ideal to believe him incapable of perpetrating such an offence. The object which Mustapha aimed to accomplish in forwarding those ghastly dead to Il Borgo was to intimidate the place into submission; the return which La Valette made was designed to bespeak an unwavering disposition, and to hurl defiance in the face of the infidels.

Mustapha, incensed at the undaunted response made to his white flag, and the message sent back by his Christian slave, that they hoped soon to bury him and his janissaries in the only ditch which they could consistently surrender, immediately invested the town and re-commenced the carnage. Subsequent to the fall of St. Elmo, the basha had been strengthened by the arrival of Hascem with the bravoes of Alters, amounting to 2,500 choice troops.

Il Borgo and St. Michael were now continuously under fire; but, to expedite his purposes, Mustapha adopted the suggestion of Piali, to make the Christian slaves draw their shipping across the neck upon which stood St. Elmo, into the harbor, that there might be a simultaneous charge from both land and Naval forces. This hardship was rendered necessary because the grand master had caused a heavy chain to be swung across the mouth of the harbor, to which impediment were added the resources of St. Angelo, which commanded its entrance.

Having mastered this difficulty, Mustapha consented to the pompous demands of Hascem to intrust to him the assault of St. Michael, promising to support him if necessary. Hascem shared his command with Candelissa, an experienced corsair, who was to sustain the attack by sea.

With much display Candelissa proceeded to perform his part. Meeting with unexpected resistance in the staccato which had been erected to perplex his landing, he suffered great loss from the fort, which did not delay in improving so cardinal an advantage, He resolved to abandon this and attempt the intrenchments under the care of Gulmaran; the Christians reserved their fire until it might be spent effectively, and, at their first discharge, cut down 400 of the assailants. Candelissa pushed vigorously on whilst Gulmaran was reloading, and gained the shore; the latter, having prepared {488} for such an emergency, now threw from his cannon grapeshot, which did overwhelming execution, and Candelissa, seeing with dismay his wavering troops, ordered his boats to be put off a little from the shore.

The Algerines, seeing no avenue of escape, were conscious that through success alone could they secure their safety. They therefore marched forward with maddened resolution upon the earthworks. Before their irresistible charge the Knights fell back in confusion. But stung with shame upon seeing the infidel colors planted upon their works, they rushed to the rescue, having been reinforced; the ardor of their charge struck terror to the hearts of the assailants, and Candelissa was among the first that fled. Of 4,000 only a fifth escaped. The Christians continued firing upon the boats, sinking many, and covering the waters with wrecks. Amidst this vast devastation, dying and dead bodies were mingled in the wildest confusion. This defeat was decided, and Candelissa's untimely exultation, which characterized his reparation to the contest, was of a marked contrast to his inglorious return as his craft ploughed their way through the thickly strewn waters. The Knights were in nowise discouraged in this sudden turn in the fortunes of the day.

In the meantime the attack was also going on by land. Hascem had well-nigh expiated in disgrace his taunting threat; having led his troops to the charge, he was confounded with the confusion which the fearful havoc wrought among the ranks. Being driven back, he renewed the assault in the face of the belching cannon roaring defiance to his arms in vindication of the sanctity of invaded rights, but to no purpose. His mortification was extreme in being compelled by the intrepid garrison to sound a retreat. The basha now advanced with his janissaries, and the united forces compelled the Knights to retire from the beach, where, with undaunted spirits, they had proceeded to meet the fresh troops. But they did not yield without the most strenuous exertions, and the invaders had paid a dear price for the dreadful spot. Though exhausted by fatigue, their determination knew no abatement, and they awaited within the breach the renewal of the conflict. Their hopes were now reinspired by the addition of those forces which had contributed so largely to the discomfit of Candelissa. The janissaries, unable to withstand their onslaught, were forced to retire amidst the showering missiles and cheers of the gallant Christians.

Mustapha, enraged beyond control by the obstinate defence, employed one-half of his troops under Piali against the town, and with the remainder resolved to reduce the fort at any cost. To secure every chance of success he raised more batteries, dug new trenches, sprung mines, and prepared in every way possible to facilitate his design. But upon every hand did the valiant Christians, animated by the presence of the grand master, baffle his arms. Mustapha's principal engineer constructed a machine, upon the efficacy of which they entertained high hopes; it was a huge cask, firmly made, and filled with powder, chains, bullets, and everything calculated to work mischief which the place could command. This was projected into the midst of the Christians, who, ere it exploded, managed to roll it back upon its artificers, which did fearful execution among them. Whilst yet the Turks were paralyzed by the effect of its report, the Knights rushed out and engaged them hand to hand. Many of the infidels were killed, and the remainder made good their escape. But Piali was not idle. Though coping with superior strength, he was more successful against Il Borgo than his rival against St. Michael. He had gained great advantages, and, as night terminated his operations, he prepared the minds of his intimates for the glorious entry which he proposed to make on the morrow. He had, by a piece of stratagem in calling off the {489} attention of the garrison by a furious assault, managed in another and important position to erect a platform of earth and stones. It was upon this that night closed his work, and which inflamed within his breast lively hopes of speedily terminating the siege, and of reaping new laurels.

A council of the Knights was now held, and an abandonment of the works advised by the principal part; but La Valette was inexorable, and defeated every such proposition by his superior wisdom. He employed all available hands in digging trenches during the night, and by a master-stroke gained possession of the cavalier which had so excited the exultation of the Turkish basha. He detailed a select body of troops to steal along the foot of the wall, and who, when arrived at the spot designated, raised a loud shout and rushed upon the guard; these, supposing that the whole garrison were upon them, precipitately fled. The Christians were not slow in securing this advantage beyond any hope of recovery which the Turks might entertain.

The delay of the Spanish troops was inexplicable to La Valette, who attributed it to the treachery of the Viceroy of Sicily, but which historians impute to the infidelity of Philip. Now, the grand master was aware that their only hope was to hold out till they brought relief; and the bashas were fearful lest they should arrive after so long a delay at this very opportune moment.

Piali, receiving intelligence that the Spanish forces were to be landed at St. Angelo, lay in wait there, after interposing every obstacle practicable to impede their progress. Resolved to urge every possible resistance, the infidels awaited the Spanish sail, and were ill prepared for the tidings which came, to the effect that they were already landed in another part of the island. Thus was accomplished by the duplicity of the Catholic king a result which was not anticipated; his object in landing his forces at the extreme of the island was to shield, as far as possible, his subjects from the rigors of the siege. But Mustapha no sooner learned of their approach than he withdrew all of the Turkish forces into the shipping. In his haste he had deserted St. Elmo, manned with his best cannon. Ere long he was informed by a deserter that he had thus disgracefully fled before a force of 6,000 poorly officered Spaniards, the same being only little more than one-third of his own numbers. His rage knew no bounds. From this indelible disgrace he knew his only escape was to disembark and retrieve his fallen fortunes; but his command was shared by those whose personal considerations and jealousies prevented them from extending any sympathy to him.

La Valette improved the interim in taking every precaution to prevent the fort from again falling into the hands of the Turks. The grand master was now looked upon as the one to whom too much credit could not be given, and whose orders were obeyed with cheering alacrity by all who were able in any way to assist. A stronger affection was generated toward him, to which his merits entitled him, as the most fitting reward which the Knights could return.

Mustapha having convened a council of his principal officers, they determined with little dissent to land and renew the siege. The soldiery, greatly disheartened at their late reverses, were very reluctant to obey, and frequently force was resorted to to compel them. But it must have been patent to the commanders that thus, being forced to use compulsory means, they could not expect them to effect what willing and eager troops could easily accomplish. Mustapha was unable to stay the current of flying soldiers, and was hurled along with it; twice was he jostled from his horse, and was with difficulty rescued from being captured. Such was the overwhelming defeat visited upon Mustapha's command, who, we doubt not, would have welcomed even captivity rather than face the sultan, whose arms he had {490} thus signally disgraced. What the reflections were that this destiny animated in his mind, we are left to infer--a destiny so different from what he anticipated for the thousands who were to destroy the Knights of Malta, only as an insignificant incident collateral to the brilliant career which awaited them at the hands of the larger Christian powers. When he saw the mere skeleton of his army returning, he might well be impressed with the vanity of human calculations.

The siege of Malta continued four months, and it, amid the general destruction, worked no little benefit to the Knights of Malta. This success created joy throughout Christendom, which was expressed in the most gratifying manner. If they were left to fight their battles alone, it was only to achieve the greater glory. And thus ended the famous siege of Malta, whose valorous defence is unparalleled in the records of history.

------

From The Literary Workman.

A SONG OF THE YEAR.

Solemnly comes thy last hour, Old Year,
Mercy and love were thy dower, Old Year;
Though with thy gifts came the sigh or tear.
Parting, we'll bless thee, Old Year, Old Year.

With thy best gifts in thy hand, Old Year!
Dying while blessing the land, Old Year!
Welcoming Christians again, again.
Joyous Old Year, how we loved thee, then!

Softly thou com'st in the night, New Year!
Robed all in pure virgin white, New Year!
Deeds all unknown of shall fill thy days.
Songs now unheard of will sound thy praise.

Meeting, we fear thee almost, New Year,
Welcome might sound like a boast, New Year
When thou art old, like the year just past,
Then let us bless thee, New Year, at last.

{491}

Translated from the Civiltà Cattolica.

THE RELIGIOUS STATISTICS OF THE WORLD.

1. NUMBER OF CATHOLICS IN FIVE DIVISIONS OF THE WORLD.

2. CLASSIFICATION OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH AFTER THE DIFFERENT RELIGIONS.

3. PROGRESS OF CATHOLICITY IN GREAT BRITAIN.

4. IN HOLLAND.

5. IN THE UNITED STATES.

6. MISSIONS OF ASIA.

7. ITALIAN MISSIONARIES.

I. Let us, at first, take a comprehensive view of the number of Catholics scattered over the globe. In this very year some writers have limited their number to _one hundred and fifty millions_, with the remark that the figure is rather above a real census. Mr. Balbi, a writer of fame in statistics and in geography, gave, as far back as 1827, in his work published in Paris, his own estimate of the various populations of the world, classifying them under the heading of Religions Professed; and, according to his calculations, he allotted to the Catholic Church only _one hundred and thirty nine millions_(139,000,000), his figures exceeding those of many geographers who had preceded him. The _eleven millions_ by some authors allowed this day to the Catholic denomination, are rather a restitution than an augmentation. The former reckoning was a mistake, and new statistics, when accurately put together, have exhibited a far larger number both of inhabitants and of Catholics. But we still take this restitution as very inadequate. From an accurate investigation of the matter, we aver that the _minimum_ of Catholics, over the world, amounts to _two hundred millions_ (200,000,000). To afford the reader the means of testing the accuracy of our opinion, we shall here give the number of Catholics found in the different states of every part of the world. We have taken for our guide official statistics, either civil or ecclesiastical, whenever we could obtain them, or, otherwise, statements of modern geographers and of most trustworthy national writers. We have only omitted such fractions which were under _five hundred_ (500); but when they were above the _half thousandth_ we have set them down at _one thousand_. Thereby, in a computation, which cannot be but approximate, omissions will counterbalance the additions, and the final result will not undergo any material change. Let it, moreover, be borne in mind that we have not been actuated by any desire to attain large figures. We have only aimed at fixing the surest, or, at least, the most probable amount. Thus, for example, we have accepted only _six hundred and ninety thousand_ (690,000) Catholics for the Portuguese possessions in Africa, although national authors, by no means exaggerating, have reckoned them at _two millions_.

With such preamble, here is the result of our investigations:

[Transcriber's note: View these tables with a fixed pitch font.]

NUMBER OF CATHOLICS.

I. EUROPE.

Papal States 900,000 Two Sicilies 9,500,000 Tuscany 1,900,000 Sardinian States and Lombardy 7,700,000 Modena 660,000 Parma 560,000 Monaco and San-Marino 10,000 Spain 17,000,000 Portugal 4,300,000 Andorra 12,000 Switzerland 1,120,000 Great Britain 7,500,000 France 36,000,000

Carried forward 89,462,000

{492}

Brought forward 89,462,000

Belgium 4,800,000 Netherlands 1,300,000 Austrian Empire 30,000,000 Bavaria 3,500,000 Prussia 7,000,000 Baden 960,000 Brunswick 6,000 Bremen 5,000 Frankfort 12,000 Hamburg 8,000 Grand Duchy of Heese 240,000 Hesse Electoral 200,000 Würtemberg 580,000 Mecklenburg-Schwerin + Mecklenburg-Strelitz 4,000 Nassau 226,000 Oldenburg 86,000 Lesser Duchies of Sachsen-Weimar, Sachsen-Coburg, Sachsen-Altenburg, etc. 60,000 Lubeck 3,000 Hanover 256,000 Luxemburg 209,000 Saxony 65,000 Denmark 5,000 Sweden and Norway 7,000 Poland 4,000,000 Russia 3,000,000 European Turkey and Montenegro 1,000,000 Greece 100,000

Catholic population
in Europe 147,194,000

H. ASIA AND OCEANIA.

Asiatic Turkey 600,000 Moldavia and Wallachia 130,000 Asiatic Russia 100,000 British India 1,100,000 Netherland India 25,000 French India 170,000 Portuguese India, Islands, and Macao 546,000 Spanish India and Philippine Islands 4,750,000 Persia 120,000 Anam 600,000 Siam 25,000 China 1,000,000 New Holland 300,000 Tasmania 40,000 New Zealand 60,000 New Caledonia and adjoining islands 70,000 Sandwich Islands 80,000

Catholic population in Asia and Oceania 9,666,000

III. AFRICA.

Egypt 172,000 Abyssinia 2,000,000 Tripoli, Tunis, and Morocco 30,000 Spanish Possessions 25,000 Canaries 260,000 Portuguese Possessions 690,000 Madeira and islands 260,000 Continental French Possessions 250,000 Reunion and other islands 180,000 Continental British Possessions 30,000 Mauritius and other islands 150,000 Liberia 4,000 Madagascar 10,000 Gallas 10,000

Catholic population in Africa 4,071,000

IV. AMERICA.

United States 5,000,000 Mexico 8,500,000 Guatemala 1,200,000 San Salvador 700,000 Honduras 400,000 Nicaragua 500,000 Costa Rica + Panama 200,000 New Granada 3,000,000 Venezuela 2,000,000 Ecuador 1,500,000 Bolivia 2,200,000 Peru 2,800,000 Chili 1,800,000 Argentine Republic 1,500,000 Paraguay 1,600,000 Uruguay 360,000 Brazil 3,500,000 British Guiana 60,000 Netherland Guiana and Islands 40,000 French Guiana and Islands 305,000 Jamaica, Trinidad, and other British Isles 150,000 Spanish Islands 2,260,000 Danish Islands 34,000 Canada and British Possessions 1,560,000 Hayti 800,000

Catholic population
in America 46,970,000

RECAPITULATION.

I. Catholic population in Europe 147,194,000

II. Catholic population In Asia and Oceania 9,666,000

III. Catholic population in Africa 4,071,000

IV. Catholic population in America 46,930,000

Catholic population in the four parts of the globe 207,801,000

Thus we reach the sum of nearly _two hundred and eight millions_; nor do we fear exaggeration in the number. But were even some one reluctant to accept our results, such attenuating doubts could never diminish our total beyond _eight millions_. Thus when we asserted that there are _two hundred millions_ of Catholics in the world, we gave a figure far under our calculations, in order to place it above all doubt.

II. We will now exhibit, in very simple tables, the grand division of the inhabitants of the world, according to the different religious creeds:

_Christianity_ 344,000,000 Catholic Church 208,000,000 Eastern Churches, schismatic or heretical 70,000,000 Protestantism 66,000,000 Total 344,000,000

{493}

_Judaism_ 4,000,000 _Islamism_ 100,000,000 _Brahminism_ 60,000,000 _Buddhism_ 180,000,000 _Worship of Confucius, Sinto, of Spirits_, etc. 152,000,000

Total of inhabitants of the world 840,000,000

These results are not from data as certain as those which we were enabled to obtain for the Catholic Church; yet they are founded on great probability. There is a remarkable increase in all, owing to the fact that more reliable researches have given a larger number of inhabitants on the globe.

Let us now compare our own results with those of the most celebrated geographers. Malte-Brun wrote in 1810, Pinkerton and Balbi in 1827, and yet, although so near to one another, they are not of one accord as to the inhabitants of the earth, and consequently they do not agree in their divisions. More recent geographers admit a number far larger than that allowed by Balbi, and seem to hesitate between _eight hundred and a thousand millions_. We are of opinion that the grand total cannot, with any good reason, be reckoned beyond _eight hundred and forty millions_ (840,000,000); at the same time it cannot be set at any figure much below it. The following figures represent _millions_:

Malte-Brun. Pinkerton. Balbi. Civ. Catt's.

_Christianity_ 228 235 260 344 _Judaism_ 5 5 4 4 _Islamism_ 110 120 96 100 _Brahminism_ 60 60 60 60 _Buddhism_ 150 108 170 180 _Other creeds_ 100 100 147 152 Total 653 700 737 840

III. A glance at some particular countries will show how much the Catholic Church has gained in numbers and influence within a few years. Let us begin from two Protestant countries in Europe.

The "Catholic Directory," annually issued in England for the last hundred years, will, by comparing a few data, exhibit the progress of Catholicity in Great Britain's most Protestant sections--we mean England and Scotland. We limit ourselves to the official returns given within the last nine years. We mass them in two tables, which will place our assertion upon the strongest basis of truth. The _first_ will show that in these two kingdoms, so totally averse to Catholicity--nay, intensely hostile to it--England and Scotland, the number of clergymen has increased, within _twenty-five_ years, at the rate of 137 per centum; that of churches 30; religious houses for men 222, for women 105. The _second_ table will give the same numbers, but divided in the various dioceses, in varied ratio indeed, but everywhere with the same tokens of increase:

GENERAL STATISTICS OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

Years |Clergymen| Churches | Relig Men | Relig Women | Colleges &Chapels 1856 1142 849 17 91 12 1857 1162 894 23 106 11 1858 1204 902 27 109 11 1859 1222 926 34 110 11 1860 1236 950 37 123 12 1861 1342 993 47 155 12 1862 1388 1019 50 162 12 1863 1417 1065 55 177 12 1864 1445 1098 56 186 12

But if we draw our figures from earlier dates, the comparison will be even more striking. Behold the result within the last twenty-five years:

1839 610 513 0 17 10 1849 897 612 13 41 10 1864 1445 1098 56 186 12

Limiting our researches only to England, we find the increase within _eight_ years, between 1856 and 1864, stated in the official returns of the several dioceses, at the following rates:

Churches Clergyman Convents Monasteries Dioceses 1856 1864 1856 1864 1856 1864 1856 1864 Westminster 56 117 129 214 5 15 18 31 Beverly 75 90 93 116 3 6 7 19 Birmingham 96 100 132 141 3 3 19 27 Clifton. 37 49 50 62 2 3 5 13 Hexham 63 81 72 99 -- 1 4 11 Liverpool 94 110 166 195 2 5 12 25 Newport 35 42 29 47 -- 3 3 6 Northampton 30 36 25 31 -- -- 2 5 Nottingham 42 52 47 59 3 5 5 5 Plymouth 26 35 28 34 -- -- 3 8 Salford 47 70 72 107 1 5 9 14 Shrewsbury 53 59 52 71 1 3 3 7 Southwark 79 100 90 147 3 9 10 15

Total 730 941 985 1321 23 58 100 187
-730 -985 -23 -100

Increase 211 336 35 87

{494}

IV. Let us now step over to the Continent, and investigate the increase of Catholicity in a province where Protestantism has had it all its own way since the beginning of the Reformation--we allude to Holland. To understand the progressive development of Catholicity in the Low Countries, we need only compare the figures of two years, with an interval of half a century intervening between them:

Years |Catholic population | Parishes | Clergyman | Churches 1864 1,300,000 941 1725 976 1814 850,000 814 1216 898 Increase in 50 years 450,000 127 310 78

The amount expended in repairing the old and building new churches is reckoned, during this lapse of time, at _thirty_ millions of Dutch florins, a little more than _sixty-four_ millions of francs [over $18,560,000--Ed. CW.] All that government has contributed of its own toward this sum amounts only to _two_ millions of florins. In the above sum of _thirty_ millions no account is taken of what has been expended in churches and chapels belonging to religious communities, or for convents, hospitals, charitable institutions, orphan asylums, and the like. Add to this what has been contributed for the endowments of those places, and the original sum of sixty-four millions of francs becomes well-nigh double its amount.

V. But nowhere has the Catholic Church increased so prosperously, within the last fifty years, as in the United States of America. Above two thousand churches and chapels built; an increase of one thousand and eight hundred clergymen; one hundred and sixty schools established, for the Catholic training of 18,000 boys and 34,600 girls. Moreover, there existed in 1857 _sixty-six_ asylums, with 4,963 orphans of both sexes; _twenty-six_ hospitals, with _three thousand_ beds; _four_ insane asylums, with _eighty-two_ patients, beside many other charitable institutions, all established and supported by the private charity of Catholics. Here we copy a comparative table from the "Metropolitan Catholic Almanac" of 1857:

Year Dioceses Vicariates Bishops Clergyman Churches Ecclesiastic Colleges Schools Apostolic & Stations Institutions for Girls 1808 1 -- 2 68 80 2 1 2 1830 11 -- 10 232 230 9 6 20 1840 16 -- 17 482 812 13 9 47 1850 27 -- 27 1081 1578 29 17 91 1854 41 2 39 1574 2458 34 20 112 1857 41 2 39 1872 2882 35 29 134

1861 43 3 45 2317 3795 49 -- -- [Ed. Cath. World]

VI. Canon Joseph Ortalda, in a work of great value, [Footnote 68] the result of much labor and accurate investigations, supplies us with two very interesting documents. One is a _Synoptic Table_ of the _missions_ in Asia, exhibiting both the number of Catholics in each _mission_ and that of missionaries employed in them; a number, by the way, generally very inadequate, especially when we take into consideration the vast territories over which every mission is extended.

[Footnote 68: "Italian Apostolic Missionaries in the Foreign
Missions, over the Four Parts of the World." Turin: G. Marietti,
1864. Ortalda's intent is to prove before the Senate of the Kingdom
of Piedmont how the suppression of religious orders would be
injurious to the Church and to civilization, whilst from their
bosoms go forth so many missionaries to all parts of the world.]

APOSTOLIC VICARATES MISSIONARIES CATHOLICS Aleppo 25 80,000 Asia Minor 70 100,000

China and adjacent kingdoms: Xensi 16 30,000 Xansi 12 20,000 Hu-pè, in the Hu-quang, native missionaries, 14 11 15,865 Hu-nan, in the Hu-quang 7 10,000 Sut-chuen, North-west vicariate 15 23,000 Sut-chuen, Eastern Vicariate 12 17,000 Sut-chuen, Southern Vicariate 14 20,000 Konein-kon 7 10,000 Lassa 5 7,000 Jun-nan 6 8,000 To-chien 14 30,000 Nankin 36 73,000 Pekin, Western Vicariate 17 30,000 Pekin, Southwestern Vicariate 15 26,600 Pekin, Eastern Vicariate 12 13,000 Tse-Kiang 6 5,000 Kiang-si 8 10,000 Lenotung 9 11,000 Mongolia 8 10,000 Xan-tung 11 12,000 Ho-nan 6 5,000 Siam, Western Vicariate 12 10,000 Siam, Eastern Vicariate 20 30,000 Cochin, Eastern Vicariate 29 32,000 Cochin, Northern Vicariate 21 25,000 Cochin, Western Vicariate 19 30,000 Camboge, and the people of Laos 10 15,000 Tonchin, Eastern Vicariate 13 54,000 Tonchin, Western Vicariate 85 135,000 Tonchin, Southern Vicariate 49 80,000 Tonchin, Central Vicariate 62 150,000 Corea 12 15,000

East Indies: Japan 10 12,060 Ava and Pegu 11 8,000 Bombay, South Mission 20 15,000 Bombay, North Mission 15 13,000 Bengal, Western Vicariate (Calcutta) 12 15,000 Bengal, Eastern Vicariate 6 9,000 Ceylon--Colombo 18 84,900 Ceylon--Safnapatam 17 60,000 Madras 18 44,880 Hyderbad 7 4,000 Visagapatam 15 7,130 Pondicherry 53 100,000 Mayssour 16 17,110 Coimbatour 11 17,200 Sardhana 12 15,000 Agra 25 20,000 Patna 10 4,000 Verapolis--native priests, Latin rite 28, Syriac 340 7 330,000 Canara, or Mangalor-- Native priests 24 7 40,000 Quilon--Native priests 17 8 50,000 Madura 37 140,000

APOSTOLIC DELEGATIONS

Persia, Mesopotamia, Kurdistan, and Armenia Minor 30 25,000 Syria--Holy Land alone counts 54 28,986

APOSTOLIC PREFECTURES Aden, in Arabia 3 1,300 Hong-Kong, in China 7 5000 Hai-noou, Quan-tong, Quan-si, China 31 40,000 For the French colonies in India 12 7,000 For the Dutch colonies in India and Oceania 7 1,000 Laboan and adjacent places 6 3,000

{495}

VII. The chief object of Ortalda's work is to show how many missionaries Italy gives to the Catholic Church. He gives the name, the grade in the hierarchy, and the residence of each, adding such items of information as will aid him in the object he has in view. We draw from his laborious work the following table, which, by way of conclusion, gives the final result of all his researches:

_Italian Apostolic Missionaries in Foreign Missions over the Whole World._

MISSIONARIES Europe Asia Africa America Oceania Total

Bishops 14 21 4 2 -- 41 Secular priests 33 45 11 65 8 162 Benedictines 7 9 -- 5 3 24 Minor Conventuals 9 2 -- 2 -- 13 Minor Observants 31 115 30 184 8 368 Minor Capuchins 369 108 35 130 5 447 Minor Reformed 60 58 29 67 1 215 Dominicans 22 11 -- 1 -- 34 Carmelites -- 39 -- -- -- 39 Augustinians 1 -- -- 1 -- 2 Jesuits 106 118 46 207 13 490 Lazarists 8 22 9 12 -- 51 Alcantarines -- -- -- 1 -- 1 Barnabites 24 12 3 10 8 57 Friars of St. Bonaventure 5 6 -- -- -- 11 Redemptorists -- -- -- -- 3 3 Servite -- -- -- -- 1 1 Oblates -- 16 -- -- -- 16 Pallottines (of A. Pallotta) 2 -- -- -- -- 2 Rosminians 16 -- -- 4 -- 20 From the Seminary of Milan 4 22 -- -- 3 29 From the seminary of Brignole Sale 17 6 -- 5 -- 23 529 610 167 696 53 2055

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BOOKS.

Welcome, my books, my golden store!
Your leaves my eyes, my hands explore;
With you my sweetest hours have flown--
My best of life with you alone.
When none in the wide world could cheer,
Your wisdom dried the bitter tear;
When summer skies were fresh and blue,
None could rejoice with me like you.
What living voice may speak among
Your silent and time-hallowed throng?
For you, the best of every age,
I quit the world's degenerate stage.
_Translation from Ranzan._

------ {496}

From The Month.

THE ANCIENT FACULTY OF PARIS.

At the corner of the Rue de la Bûcherie and the old Rue des Rats, now known by the more dignified appellation of the Rue de l'Hôtel Colbert, may still be seen, unless the unsparing hand of "modern improvement" has very recently swept it away along with so many other memorials of the past, a dirty, dilapidated building topped by a round tower, which you might take for some old pigeon-house. The half-obliterated inscription upon an escutcheon on one of the facades of the edifice indicates, however, some heretofore high and venerable destination--_Urbi et orbi salus_. If curiosity lead you to penetrate into the interior of this dismal edifice, you find yourself, after mounting a damp staircase, in a great circular hall, divided into four irregular compartments. Above some empty niches hollowed in the thickness of the wall runs a wide cornice, the now-defaced sculptures of which represent alternately the cock--Esculapius's bird and emblem of vigilance--and the pelican nourishing its young, the type of self-sacrifice--watchfulness and unselfish charity, the two great duties incumbent on the professor of the healing art. You stand, in fact, in the midst of the ancient amphitheatre of the Faculty of Medicine. There studied, and there, in their turn, taught, the great anatomists of the seventeenth century, Bartholin, Riolan, Pecquet, Littre, Winslow. This building was an old adjunct to a large and handsome hotel belonging to the medical body, containing their chapel, library, laboratory, a vast hall for solemn disputations, with minor saloons for the daily lectures, etc., with the addition of a large court and botanical garden. It was abandoned long before the Revolution, and not a trace of all this corporate glory of the medical faculty now remains. The quarter of Paris in which it stood, known formerly as the Latin quarter, long preserved a peculiar stamp and physiognomy. Here were the colleges of St. Michel, of Normandy and Picardy, of Laon, Presles, Beauvais, Cornouailles, and that long succession of churches, convents, colleges, and high toppling houses, filled with a studious youth, which formerly crowded the Rue St. Jacques and the Rue de la Harpe. All these and many other sanctuaries of religion and of science, so intimately connected in the middle ages, clustered around the faculty. Here, in fact, was the centre of the university of Paris, whose origin is lost in the obscurity investing the early mediaeval period. The methodical classification under the head of faculties of the different studies pursued at that celebrated institution dates, however, from the close of the twelfth century. These faculties formed independent companies, attached to their common mother, the university, like branches to the parent stem.

Disregarding all apocryphal pretensions to antiquity, we cannot assign an earlier date for the formation of the medical body into an independent corporation than the year 1267. About that time we find the faculty in possession of its statutes, keeping registers and affixing to documents its massive silver seal. The term Faculty of _Medicine_, it must be observed, is modern. The title _Physicorum Facultas_, or _Facultas in Physica_, was long preserved. Whatever we may think of the empirical practice and dogmatic character of the medical art in those times, we cannot but see in this an {497} indication that natural science was even then the recognized basis of medicine. We have here, if not a principle clearly understood and habitually followed, at least an intuition and a kind of programme of the future. A memorial of the old designation survives in our own country in the title of physician, while in the land where it originated it has been discontinued.

Born in the cloister, medicine long retained an ecclesiastical character. Most of the doctors in early times were canons; and those who were neither priests nor even clerks were still bound to celibacy; a regulation which remained in force long after councils had decreed the incompatibility of the exercise of the medical profession with the ecclesiastical state.

The general assemblies of the faculty were held sometimes round the font of Notre Dame, sometimes at St. Geneviève des Ardents, sometimes at the Priory of St. Eloi; while, for the ordinary purposes of instruction, it shared fraternally with the faculty of theology the alternate use of some common room with a shake-down of straw in the Quartier St. Jacques. But by-and-bye riches began to pour in, chiefly through the means of the legacies of members of the medical corps or other well-wishers; and, thanks to the liberality of Jacques Desparts, physician to Charles VIl., the corporation of doctors was finally installed in the abode we have just described. To the general worth and respectability of the body in the fifteenth century we have the testimony of Cardinal d'Estoutteville, who, in 1452, was deputed by the Pope to reorganize the university of Paris, and who found less to reform in the faculty of medicine than in any other department. Indeed, no change of much importance was introduced, with the exception of the revocation of the law of celibacy, which the cardinal pronounced to be both "impious and unreasonable."

Independence of spirit and great reverence for its own traditions were characteristic of the medical body from its earliest beginnings. It loved to describe itself as _veteris disciplinae retentissima._ In those days men gloried in their respect for antiquity. In common with all the different bodies which composed the university of Paris, the medical corporation possessed great privileges--exemption from all taxation, direct or indirect, from all public burdens, from all onerous services or obligations. When we sum up all the advantages enjoyed by this and other favored bodies and classes in the middle ages, the reflection naturally suggests itself--what must have been the condition of the poor, who possessed no privileges and bore all the financial burdens? In the days, however, when standing armies in the pay of government had no existence, when the king himself was a rich proprietor with large personal domains, when national debt and its interest were things unheard of, the ordinary imposts, as distinguished from all arbitrary and accidental exactions, were, of course, very much lighter than those of modern times. Liberty in those days assumed the form of privilege; and its spirit was nursed and kept alive within the bosom of these self-ruling corporations, and in none more remarkably than in that of medicine. The _esprit de corps_ naturally existed with peculiar strength in a body not merely organized for purposes of instruction, but exercising a liberal profession, of which it had the monopoly. [Footnote 69] Hence a minute internal legislation imposed upon all its members, and willingly accepted in view of the interests of the body. Its _alumni_ were aspirants to a life-long membership; whereas with us the medical man's dependence upon the faculty virtually ceases the day he takes his doctor's degree. He has nothing more to ask or to receive from it; his affair is now with the public; {498} and the sense of brotherhood with his colleagues in the profession is lost, it is to be feared, not unfrequently in a feeling of rivalry. But it was otherwise in the olden time. The day which now sends forth the full-fledged doctor to his independent career drew the tie closer which bound him to his order, in which then only he began to take his solemn place. The honor and the interest of each member thus became common property, and unworthy conduct was punished by summary exclusion from the body.

[Footnote 69: It is probably this peculiarity which caused the
medical to be considered as pre-eminently _the_ faculty. Its
practice brought it into intimate contact with the world at large;
and this has also doubtless led to the exclusive retention, in this
instance, of a designation common in its origin to other departments
of learning.]

Unfortunately this _esprit de corps_ had its bad as well as its good results. It produced a certain narrowness of mind, a love of routine, and no slight attachment to professional jargon. It is not that the faculty was actually the enemy of all progress, but progress must come from itself. As no association of men, however, can enjoy a monopoly of genius, useful and brilliant discoveries emanating from other quarters had to encounter the hostility of the chartered body. This spirit was exemplified in its animosity toward surgery, long a separate profession, in its prejudice against the doctrine of the circulation of the blood, because an English discovery; against antimony, because it originated with the rival Montpelier school; against quinine, because it came from America. To these subjects we may hereafter recur; in the meantime we note them as instances of medical bigotry, which exposed the profession to just ridicule, but which has drawn down upon it censure and disesteem of perhaps a somewhat too sweeping character. It would be unfair to judge the ancient faculty solely from its exhibitions of foolish pedantry and blind prejudice; and it is our object on the present occasion to give a slight sketch of its constitution and internal government, such as may enable the reader to form a juster and more impartial view both of its faults and of its substantial merits. Indeed, without some solid titles to general esteem, it would seem improbable that the faculty should have attained to the high position which we find it occupying in the seventeenth century.

One accidental cause, no doubt, of the importance of the doctors during the whole period which we are considering was their small relative number. From a computation made by a modern member of the medical profession in France, [Footnote 70] to whom we are indebted for our facts, the average number of doctors in the capital from the year 1640 to the year 1670 did not exceed 110. Compared with the population of Paris, which is reckoned at 540,000 souls, this gives one doctor for every 4,900 of the inhabitants. The medical corps is now 1,830 strong, while the population has risen only to 1,740,000. Great as is this increase of population, greater, we see, proportionally has been that of the medical practitioners, who are at present as 1 to 940. If sickness was as prevalent in the seventeenth century as it is now, and recourse to physic and physicking as frequent, we can imagine that the faculty must have necessarily occupied a distinguished position. Many offices now undertaken by public institutions or by government devolved, also, at that time on the faculty, which to the best of its ability supplied the want of sanitary regulations, and exercised a kind of medical police, including the supervision of articles of diet. All this must have helped to swell their importance. A large proportion of the doctors received during this selected period of thirty years were Parisians; and nothing is more common than the perpetuity of the profession in certain families. This circumstance must have combined with the corporate reverence for their traditions to intensify their attachment to a received system, and to strengthen that spirit of union which is a source of power. The respect which the lower bench paid to the upper, and the young to the ancient {499}--and by "young" we mean young in their degree, not in years--must have contributed toward the same result. It required ten years of doctorate to qualify a man to take his place amongst this venerable class; and the statutes are prolix on the subject of the respect due to the ancients from their juniors on the bench; a respect which was to be marked by every external act of deference.

[Footnote 70: Maurice Raynaud, Docteur en Médecine, Docteur ès
Lettres. _Les Médecins au temps de Molière.--Moeurs, Institutions,
Doctrines_. Paris, 1862. Didler.]

But the first and great tie which bound all the members together was religion. To profess the Catholic faith was long an essential condition of admission to the examinations. The faculty gave an energetic proof in 1637 of the importance it attached to this fundamental rule, when it withstood the pressing solicitations of the king's brother, the Duke of Orleans; in favor of a certain Brunier, the son of his own physician and a Protestant, although the prince condescended to address a flattering letter to the dean of the faculty, signing himself "Votre bon ami, Gaston," and although his request was backed by a royal injunction. The sovereign must needs bow to the authority of the statutes, respectfully but firmly urged in contravention of his regal pleasure. Yet this would seem to have been a closing effort, for in 1648 we find four Protestant doctors on the lists. Every year there was a solemn mass on St. Luke's day, at which all the members were bound to be present, and which even at the commencement of the seventeenth century was still sung by the doctors of the faculty. After mass the statutes were publicly read. There was a like obligation, with a penalty for its neglect, to attend an annual mass for deceased doctors, and another for benefactors, as also to accompany the bodies of their brethren to the grave.

The head of the corporation was the dean. His powers were extensive, and the honor paid to him unbounded. He was the "guardian of the discipline and statutes" of the faculty, _vindex disciplinae et custos legum_; he was at once its foremost champion and its highest dignitary. He was also its historian, entering in its great registers all facts interesting to the corporation which occurred during the course of his administration. The account of each diaconate is headed thus:

"_In Nomine Omnipotentis Dei, Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Incipit commentarius rerum in decanatu . . . gestarum._"

Amongst other topics judged worthy of registration is a necrologic notice of members deceased during the period. Take as a specimen, which marks at the same time the high estimation in which the diaconate was held, the account given of Merlet's death in 1663. He was the "ancient of the company," and had been remarkable for the zeal he exercised in its behalf. The then dean, the illustrious Antoine Morand, pays the venerable doctor a visit just before he expires; and the dying man breaks out in a kind of _Nunc dimittis_--"Now I can die contented, since it has been given me to behold once more the dean of the faculty." Valot, the king's physician, who had come to see the patient, expresses in language of much reverence his hope that Merlet may still live to illustrate the supreme dignity in which he stands amongst them. The "patriarch" with his last breath energetically refuses such excessive honors. He confesses that he holds a high rank as ancient of the school, but not the highest. "To the dean alone," he says, "belongs supreme honor." "Sublime words," observes Morand in his funeral notice: "veritable song of the dying swan, proceeding from a man truly wise and endowed with all perfection! May he rest in the peace of the Lord." Of course, it is a dean who is speaking. The charge was indeed a weighty one, both externally and internally; for in spite of general respect, the medical corporation, like most privileged bodies, had active enemies. Every two years a fresh election took place on the first Saturday after All Saints'. The dean deposed the insignia of his dignity and gave a report of the state of affairs to {500} the assembled doctors, who, as usual on all solemn occasions, had previously attended mass. All their names were then placed in two urns; one containing those of the ancients, the other those of the juniors. The dean shook the urns, and drawing three names from the first and two from the second, proclaimed them aloud. The five doctors thus chosen by lot as electors, and, as such, themselves ineligible, swore to nominate the worthiest, and retired to the chapel to implore the divine aid. They then elected by a majority of their number three doctors, two ancients and one junior. Amidst solemn silence, the dean once more drew the lot, and the name which came forth was proclaimed dean for the next two years. The professors, who for long years were but two in number, were also chosen biennially, and by a similar combination of lot and election. Some good must have arisen from the liability under which every practitioner of the medical art lay of being called on to teach it. Another not unwise regulation was that which, reversing the order observed in the case of the dean, placed in the professional urn two junior names against one ancient. Long practice of teaching is apt to wear out the powers of the most able. Considering the times, the elements of instruction were abundantly supplied. The bachelors were not permitted to do more than comment upon and expound the ancients, and their programme was furnished to them. The professors took the higher and more original branches; they alone could dogmatize from the great pulpit of the amphitheatre (_ex superiore cathedrâ_). The teaching embraced, according to the quaint phraseology of the day: 1. natural things, viz., anatomy and physiology; 2. non-natural things--hygiene and dietetics; 3. things contrary to nature--pathology and therapeutics. In the year 1634 a course of lectures on surgery, delivered in Latin, and exclusively for the medical students, was added--a practical course of surgery in French already existed for the barber apprentices; and the faculty began to perceive that if they would keep their supremacy over the barber-surgeons, it would be as well to know as much as their disciples.

The oath taken by the professors is remarkable, especially the exordium: "We swear and solemnly promise to give our lessons in long gowns with wide sleeves, having the square cap on our heads, and the scarlet scarf on our shoulders." This we see was their first duty. Their second engagement was to give their lessons uninterruptedly, and never by deputy, save in case of urgent necessity; each lecture to last an hour at least, and to be delivered daily, except in vacation time, which extended from the vigil of St. Peter and St. Paul, the 28th of June, to that of the exaltation of the cross, the 13th of September, and on festival days, which were pretty numerous, including also certain other solemnities, as well as the vigils of the greater feasts, when the schools were closed, _causa confessionis_, as the statutes have it.