658 ROBERTS, MARSHALL O. 



ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



broke through all trammels, good and bad, in 

 their zeal for the ideal, to ripe old age, when 

 he persistently presented the claims of science 

 and literature in an absorbed and practical com- 

 munity, Dr. Ripley's influence on the thought 

 of his day was continuous. 



ROBERTS, MARSHALL OTIS, was born in New 

 York, in 1812. He began life as a ship-chandler. 

 During the Mexican War he accumulated a for- 

 tune by contracts for stores and transportation. 

 This he ultimately lost. During the rapid col- 

 onization of California he was largely interested 

 in a steamship company, which was awarded a 

 lucrative contract for transportation of mails 

 across the Isthmus of Panama. The company 

 became bankrupt, Mr. Roberts acquired their 

 claims against the Government, and years after 

 obtained a judgment for above a million dol- 

 lars. In 1856 he was a delegate to the first 

 National Convention of the Republican party, 

 at Pittsburg, which nominated Fremont for 

 the Presidency. In 1861 Mr. Roberts was an 

 ardent friend of the Union. He placed the 

 steamer Star of the West at the disposal of 

 General Scott. His patriotism was acknowl- 

 edged by the award of contract after contract, 

 by which he amassed a colossal fortune. He 

 was connected with many enterprises. He was 

 at the head of the Tehuantepec Canal and Rail- 

 road Company. He was one of the five capi- 

 talists who undertook the laying of the Atlan- 

 tic cable. On the assassination of President 

 Lincoln Mr. Roberts presented his family with 

 a gift of ten thousand dollars. He was also a 

 munificent patron of art, and expended in the 

 acquisition of pictures more than a million of 

 dollars, the greater part of which went to the 

 encouragement of native art. He was the 

 founder of the Women's Christian Associa- 

 tion and the Home for Girls in New York 

 City. He died at Saratoga, New York, Sep- 

 tember 11, 1880, in the sixty eighth year of 

 his age. 



ROMAN CxVTHOLIC CHURCH. During 

 the year 1880 the Roman Catholic Church 

 remained under the direction of Pope Leo 

 XIII, the position at Rome being unchanged. 

 The Italian Government pursued its course of 

 seizing ecclesiastical property, all that belong- 

 ing to the College of the Propaganda, the great 

 missionary college of the Church, arising from 

 contributions from all countries, being taken, 

 and, though the Propaganda appealed to the 

 courts, the judges decided (November 13th) 

 in favor of the Government from whom they 

 received their salaries. Pope Leo XIII con- 

 tinued to encourage the study of the works of 

 St. Thomas Aquinas, and set apart rooms for 

 the preparation of a new and careful edition. 

 Theological disputations were frequently con- 

 ducted in his presence. In February he ad- 

 dressed an encyclical to the Lenten preachers 

 on marriage and the tendency of civil govern- 

 ment to undermine it, by opening the door to 

 divorces on any pretext. 



In Germany no new laws were passed op- 



pressing the Catholics, but those on the statute- 

 book were enforced, gradually depriving Catho- 

 lics in that empire of all religious services, and 

 punishing with rigor any attempt to supply the 

 vacancies. 



In Switzerland the Catholics, by taking part 

 in the elections in some places, recovered their 

 churches by electing their duly appointed par- 

 ish priests. 



The French Republic, by the decrees of 

 March 29, 1880, ordered the suppression of all 

 unauthorized religious orders, that is, of orders 

 that were not incorporated and recognized un- 

 der the French laws. The appeals of the epis- 

 copate and clergy to the President and his Cab- 

 inet were disregarded. Under this the Jesuits 

 were expelled from their houses and colleges 

 by the police at Paris, Angers, and elsewhere, 

 convents of Carmelites and Recollets were 

 mobbed, and even the famous Sister Jeanne de 

 Chantal, known as the heroine of Chateaudun, 

 for her services during the war with Germany, 

 was driven from her convent. Similar scenes 

 were enacted throughout the republic, and re- 

 ligious orders were compelled to disperse and 

 break up their colleges, academies, and schools, 

 as well as institutions of charity and houses for 

 home missions among the poor and neglected. 

 Many of these religieuse took up temporary 

 residence in England and the British Isles, 

 and in Spain. In many cases the religieuse 

 protested against the decrees and against in- 

 vasion of their individual rights, and yielded 

 only to force. Large bodies of troops were 

 at times sent against monasteries to overawe 

 the people while the expulsion was effected. 

 On the llth of November Cardinal Guibert 

 addressed a letter to the members of the com- 

 munities dispersed under the March decrees. 



On the 81st of November a preliminary 

 agreement was signed between the Holy See 

 and the Russian Government in regard to the 

 nomination of bishops and the regulation of 

 seminaries. This gave hopes of some freedom 

 to members of the Catholic Church in the 

 Russian dominions, although many points were 

 not touched, especially the condition of the 

 United Greeks in Poland. It was hailed, how- 

 ever, as an indication of better feeling toward 

 the Catholics in general, but the death of 

 Alexander II, before the agreement was com- 

 pletely carried out, left the whole matter in a 

 state of uncertainty. 



To encourage the Slav Catholics, Leo XIII, 

 on the 30th of September, issued an encyclical 

 on their apostles Sts. Cyril and Methodius, and 

 the church founded by them, and made their 

 feast one of higher rank in the church-at- 

 large. 



The ancient order of St. Benedict celebrat 

 the fourteen hundredth anniversary of the 

 birth of its founder, the Prince-Archbishop of 

 Salzburg officiating, at Monte Casino, April 

 6th, and similar celebrations took place in Aus- 

 tria, Switzerland, England, the United States, 

 and other parts where the order still flourishes; 



