ra 



MISSAL. 



MISSIONS. 



70* 



piouatj of the offender absolutely, and of the rent* and profit* of his 

 real pnijMTty for life. 



Mispnaioti of felony u a similar concealment in respect of felonies, 

 and it u punishable by fin* and imprisonment In aome, if not in all 

 eam of felony, the party may be proceeded against for the minor 

 offence, or misdemeanor, although a felony ha* actually been com- 

 mitted by him. 



The concealment of treasure-trove [TREARUBK-THOVK] u another 

 species of criminal neglect, which constitute* a misprision puniahable 

 by fine and imprisonment, 



II. Mupruion by malfeasance, (by doing something which ought not 

 to be done,) U the commission of such misdemeanors a* are construed 

 to involve a contempt of the royal authority or prerogative. Hal- 

 administration in high offices of public trust, though indictable as a 

 miaprision, U commonly, on account of its importance, made the 

 subject of parliamentary impeachment. 



It is a contempt of the prerogative to refuse to assist the king 

 when called upon, either in his councils by advice, or in his wars by 

 personal service within the realm in cases of invasion or rebellion ; to 

 refuse to join the posse comitatus, or power of the county, when duly 

 required by the sheriff or justices ; to accept a pension from a foreign 

 potentate without the consent of the king ; to go abroad when forbidden 

 so to do either by writ of ne exeat rtyno, or by a general proclamation, 

 or to neglect to return from abroad when commanded by the king's 

 letters; to disobey an Act of Parliament where no particular penalty is 

 n^^H ; to speak or write against the king's person or gevernment, or 

 do anything tending to lessen him in the estimation of his subjects ; to 

 weaken his government, or to raise jealousies between him and his 

 people ; to deny the king's title to the crown in common unadvised 

 speech [Fluent: NIRE] ; to use threatening or reproachful words to a 

 judge in court ; to assault or threaten the adverse party in a suit, or 

 his counsel or attorney, or a juror for his verdict, or a jailor or other 

 officer for exceeding his duty ; to commit an affray near the courts of 

 Westminster Hall, or at the assizes, but out of the view of the judges ; 

 to dissuade a witness from giving his evidence ; to advise a person to 

 stand mute; to disclose an examination before the privy-council or 

 a grand-jury. All these are positive misprisions or contempts, 

 punishable by fine and imprisonment. Maliciously striking in the 

 palace in which the king resides, whereby blood is drawn, is punishable 

 by fine, forfeiture, imprisonment, and formerly also by loss of the 

 offender's right hand. Rescuing a person from the custody of one of 

 the superior courts of justice, in Westminster Hall, or at the assizes, is 

 puniahable by imprisonment for life, forfeiture of personal property, 

 and forfeiture of the rents and profits of real property during life. A 

 stroke or blow given in any of these courts, whether blood be drawn or 

 not, or an assault upon a judge whilst he is sitting in court, by drawing 

 a weapon, though no blow be struck, subjects a person to the same 

 penalties as those List mentioned, and formerly also to the additional 

 punishment of loss of the right hand. 



The misprision which is stated above to be included in the actual 

 commission of treason or felony, may be referred to this second 

 division, as it consists in mal-feasance rather than in non-feasance. 

 (Blackst. ' Com. 1 by Kerr, v. iv., pp. 119-128.) 



III. The term mispriaion is also applied to careless but involuntary 

 mistaken, or, as they would now be called, clerical errors, particularly 

 those committed by public officers in entering the proceedings in a 

 cause or in a judicial proceeding upon the rolls or records of the court ; 

 though it is also applied to misrecitals and mistakes in deeds, &c. 

 (BoU.'Abr./tfrmH.) 



MISSAL (from the Latin MUM), the book or ritual containing the 

 several misirs to be used on particular days or feasts. 



The Roman missal was originally compiled by Pope Oelasius, and 

 afterwards reduced into better order by Gregory the Great, who called 

 it the Book of Sacraments. The ' Missale Romauum, ex decreto Concilii 

 Tridentini restitutum,' is that at present in use. We have on edition 

 before us, printed at Rome, in folio, 1826. 



Anciently, each diocese, and each order of Religious, where they 

 chose, had their particular Missal, accommodated to the festivals of 

 the province or order. They were consequently extremely numerous. 

 The Missals of the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, written previous to 

 the discovery of the art of printing, present us, in many instances, with 

 the finest specimens of illumination now preserved in our libraries, and 

 cnmmanH enormously high prices. 



MISSIONS. The 15th verse of the 16th chapter of the gospel by 

 Mark is the great scriptural authority for missions. In the 6th century 

 (590-604) Pope Gregory the Great sent missionaries to Britain, to con- 

 vert the people to the Christian faith. Similar means were adopted in 

 other countries, until, about the close of the 10th century, when the 

 Christian religion had become the prevailing faith throughout Europe. 

 Other fields for missionary exertion were then sought Attempts were 

 mads to propagate Christianity in Tartary and China ; and the Portu- 

 guese, who visited Abyssinia about 1490, endeavoured to bring over 

 the Christians of that country to the Catholic faith. The history of 

 this mission may be seen in Mosheim's ' Ecclesiastical History.' 



With the earliest maritime discoveries of the Portuguese the desire 

 for the conversion of heathen people was excited with renewed zeal, 

 and my even be said to have been instrumental in stimulating the 

 passion for maritime expeditions. About 1430, Pope Martin Y. granted 



plenary indulgence to the Portuguese who conquered pagan and infidel 

 countries. Columbus himself was strongly urged to discovery l>y the 

 desire of propagating the Roman Catholic religion. 



Modern missions may be said to have commenced at the same period 

 with these discoveries, in which the popes took great intoiv.- 

 the return of Columbus to Spain from his first voyage, the results were 

 formally announced to Pope Alexander VI. 



The work of converting heathen people was at first undertaken in a 

 barbarous spirit The commanders of the expeditions which Don 

 Henry of Portugal sent out in the 15th century nod " orders to con- 

 vert the natives of the coast of Africa to Christianity ; " and nominal 

 conversions were often effected by the sword. 



In 1484, Diego Cam brought four natives of Africa to the court of 

 Portugal ; they were sent back with presents and a message to their 

 sovereign, desiring him to embrace Christianity. The natives whom 

 Columbus brought to Spain were baptised, the king and the prince his 

 son acting as sponsors. In hut second voyage to the new world, 

 Columbus was accompanied by priests with church vessels and orna- 

 ments, and they received orders to bring the natives within the pale of 

 the church by " fair means." But fair means were not always adhered 

 to. The natives were baptised by force, and without instruction, and 

 many facts might be adduced to snow that at this period true religion 

 made little or no progress in newly discovered countries; nn 

 during the 16th century not a fleet sailed for India or America without 

 i: , nMSJon :>. i- -. 



The stream of missionary enterprise was at length directed and 

 regulated by different religious orders and distinct institution-. < >ne 

 of the objects of the Society of Jesuits, established in 1540, was the 

 extension of the Roman Catholic faith, and the Jesuits soon became 

 the most active and energetic missionaries in heathen countries. Their 

 activity roused the zeal of the Franciscans, Dominicans, and other 

 orders, and early in the 17th century institutions were founded with a 

 view of rendering the labours of missionaries more effective by a pre- 

 paratory course of training. In 1622, Pope Gregory XV. founded at 

 Rome the ' College de Propaganda Fide,' which was soon richly en- 

 dowed. Pope Urban VIII. was one of its principal benefactors. This 

 college consisted of 13 cardinals, 2 priests, 1 monk, and a secretory. 

 It sent out large numbers of missionaries to aid the propagation of 

 the Catholic faith in all parts of the world ; published books to facili- 

 tate the study of languages ; distributed works of piety among various 

 nations in their own language ; and maintained in various institutions 

 young men intended for foreign missions. To the above institution 

 was added the " College or Seminary for the Propagation of the Faith," 

 founded by Pope Urban VIII. in 1627, which became the central insti- 

 tution in which missionaries were prepared. This establi-li 

 in active operation. Numerous institutions of a similar character were 

 soon after founded in France. The " Congregation of Priests of the 

 Foreign Missions " was instituted by royal authority, and about the 

 same time the " Parisian Seminary for Foreign Missions " was esta- 

 blished by on association of bishops and other ecclesiastics, for tin- 

 education of foreign missionaries. The " Congregation of the Holy 

 Sacrament " also a French establishment, was another of these institu 

 tions. These establishments were under the authority of tin 

 Propaganda" of Rome. Henry III. of France took considerable it: 

 in foreign missions, and Henry IV. and Louis XIII. assign- 

 their support Private associations were also formed in France, in the 

 time of Richelieu, for sending missionaries to Canada, which were 

 joined by many persons of rank and distinction. The Jesuit* first 

 visited Canada in 1608. In 1700, at the desire of Louis X I V.. they 

 endeavoured to propagate Christianity among the natives on the banks 

 of the Mississippi. Towards the close of the 17th century there were 

 not fewer than eighty seminaries in different parts of Europe which 

 prepared and sent out missionaries. The Jesuits, Dominicans, 

 ciscuu, and Capuchins were the most active in these undertakings, 

 which were conducted on a large scale and with a regularity and com- 

 bination of means altogether superior to the efforts made immedi:it<-ly 

 after the discovery of America and of the path to India round the Capo 

 of Good Hope. 



India, Japan, and China were the principal fields of exertion. Tli<> 

 exertions and success of Xavier in Japan and the East Indies will bo 

 found in the notice of him in the Bioo. Div. China was also for a 

 long time a scone of successful missionary exertion under the dii < 

 of the Jesuits. Father Roger, a missionary of this order, first preached 

 the gospel in China in 1581. Matthew Ricci,an Italian Jesuit, was the 

 first missionary who obtained an introduction to the court, and is justly 

 regarded as the founder of the Chinese mission. Ricci proceeded to 

 China in 1583, but he was not introduced to the emperor until 1301, 

 when he presented to him a picture of Christ and another of the 

 Virgin, and obtained permission to preach. Individuals were chosen 

 for this mission on account of their scientific acquirements, and it was 

 Ricci's mathematical attainments which rendered him acceptable to 

 the emperor and the court Adam Schaal, another of the missionaries, 

 was employed to reform the Chinese calendar and their system of 

 astronomy. Shortly afterwards two handsome churches were erected 

 at Pekin with the permission and under the protection of the emperor. 

 Under these favourable circumstances Christianity made considerable 

 progress. But after several vicissitudes of favour and disgrace, the 

 uiisuionarics were in 1717 accused of seditious designs, and the emperor 



