MIAMI
271
MIAMI
the university, which relieved him financially. In
1S06, he refused an invitation of Napoleon to estab-
lish himself at Paris. In 1S08, the chair of Oriental
languages was suppressed, and Mezzofanti received, in
compensation, a pension of 1000 lire; but, in 1815, he
became liljrarian of the university, and occupied his
chair once more. Besides the study of languages, to
which he gave many hours of the day and night, he
devoted himself to the study of ethnology, archaeol-
ogy, numismatics, and astronomy. Moreover, he
performed the offices of his holy ministry, and was
commonly called the confessor of foreigners. In
1831 he was among the deputies who went to ask
the pope's forgiveness, in the name of the city of
Bologna, for the rebellion of that year, and the
pope, repeating Pius VII's invitation of 1814, re-
quested Mezzofanti to remain at Rome and place his
learning directly at the service of the Holy See, an in-
vitation which the modest priest, this time, accepted,
after long resistance; soon he received the title of Do-
mestic Prelate, and a canonry at Santa Maria Mag-
giore, which was changed, later, for one at St. Peter's.
At Rome, also, he took advantage of opportunities to
practice the languages that he had acquired, and to
master new ones and in order to learn Chinese he
went to the Capodimonte college for foreign missions,
at Naples. In 183.3, he was named Custodian-in-Chief
of the Vatican Library, and Consultor of the Congrega-
tion for the correction of the Liturgical Books of Orien-
tal Rites, of which he became Prefect. On 12 Febru-
ary, 1838, he was created cardinal under the title of St.
Onofrio al Gianicolo; he was also a member of the con-
gregations of the Propaganda, of Rites, of the Index,
and of the Examination of Bishops. The events of
1848 undermined his already enfeebled health, and a
combination of pneumonia and gastric fever put an
end to his life. He was buried without pomp in a
modest tomb of his titular church, over which a monu-
ment was raised in 1885.
According to RusseU, Cardinal Mezzofanti spoke perfectly thirty-eight languages, among which were: biblical and rabbinic Hebrew, Arabic, Chaldean, Coptic, Armenian, ancient and modern, Persian, Turkish, Al- banian, Maltese, Greek, ancient and modern, Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Eng- lish, Illyrian, Russian, Polish, Bohemian, Magyar, Chinese, Syriac, Geez, Amharic, Hindustani, Guzerati, Basque, Wallachian, and Californian; he spoke thirty other languages, less perfectly, and fifty dialects of the languages mentioned above. His knowledge of these languages was intuitive, rather than analytic, and consequently he left no scientific works, although some studies in comparative linguistics are to be found among his manuscripts, which he left, in part, to the municipal library, and in part to the library of the University of Bologna.
Manavitt, Esquisse historique sur le cardinal Mezzofanti (Paris, 1853) ; Kussell, The Life of Cardinal Mezzofanti CLon- don, 1S58).
U. Benigni.
Miami Indians, an important tribe of Algonquian stock formerly claiming prior dominion over the whole of what is now Indiana and western Ohio, including the territories drained by the Wabash, St. Joseph, Maumee, and Miami rivers. They were closely con- nected, both linguistically and politically, with their western neighbours, the Illinois, the two tribe-groups speaking dialects of the same language. The Miami, however, were of more independent and warlike char- acter. The tribal name, properly pronounced as in Latin, Me-ah-me (whence Maumee), and in the full plur.il form Ou-miami-wek, is of uncertain meaning and derivation. They were called by the early Eng- lish writers Twightwee, a corruption of their Iroquois name, intended to imitate the cry of a crane. About 1685 the French recognized six bands, or subtribes, in the tribe, consolidated at a later period into three,
namely: Atchatchakangouen, "crane people", or
Miami proper; Ouiatanon, "whirlpool people", or
Wea; and Pianguichia, "separators" (?), or Pianki-
shaw. By the tfnited States Government these were
recognized as three distinct tribes. Altogether they
may have numbered originally over 4000 souls. It is
possible that Nicolet in 1634, and Radisson and
Groseilliers in 1658-60 may have met in their Wiscon-
sin joumeyings the Miami, but this is not known.
They are first mentioned by the Jesuit Dreuillettes in
1658 as a tribe recently discovered, under the name
of Oumamik, living south-west from Green Bay, Wis.
The estimate of 24,000 souls is an evident exagger-
ation. About 1668 and again in 1670 they were
\Tsited by Perrot. In the latter year the Jesuit Father
Claude Allouez found them, or a part of the tribe,
living with the Mascoutens in a palisaded town, in
which he established the mission of Saint-Jacques,
about the head of Fox river in south-east Wisconsin
(see Mascoutens). He describes them as gentle,
affable, and sedate, whUe Dablon, his companion, calls
them more civilized than the lake tribes. Apparently
these were only a part of the tribe, the main body be-
ing farther south, although all the bands were repre-
sented. They listened eagerly to the missionary's
instruction and to satisfy them Allouez was obliged
to set up a large cross in their section of the \'illage
as well as in that occupied by the Mascoutens.
In 1673 Allouez, who had learned the language, reports good progress, and that they now hvmg their offerings upon the cross instead of sacrificing to their heathen gods, chief among which was the Sun. There was however a strong opposition party. In June of this same year the noted Fr. Jacques Marquette stopped at the village and procured Miami guides for his voyage dowii the Mississippi. He describes the Miami as the most civilized, liberal, and shapely of the three tribes then assembled m the town. They wore their hair in two long braids down their breasts, were accounted brave and generally successful war- riors, lived in cabins covered with rush mats, and were so eager to listen to Fr. Allouez that they left him little rest even at night. The cross was decorated with Indian offerings, and one chief who had recently died at a distance had asked to have his bones brought for interment beside it, which was done. But despite their willingness the mission languished and was soon afterwards abandoned, partly on account of lack of missionaries and partly on account of the disturbed conditions growing out of the inroads of the Iroquois, who, having destroyed the Hurons and others in the east, had now turned upon the Illinois and others of the west, and latterly (1682) upon the Miami. The missionary LambervQle, then stationed at Onondaga, gives a graphic account of the wholesale butcheries and horrible tortures of prisoners of which he was witness. The Iroquois, it must be remembered, were well armed with guns from Dutch and English traders, while the remote western tribes had only the bow. Shortly after the building of La Salle's temporary fort on the St. Joseph river, near the present South Bend, Ind., a band of Miami moved do\vn and formed a village near to the same spot, while some Potawatomi also settled near them. Allouez followed them and, prob- ably about 1685, established the mission of Saint Joseph, where he continued until his death in 1689. In 1692-3 Fr. Gravier wintered with the Miami, prob- ably in Illinois. In 1694 we find the Wea in a village where Chicago now is. In 1721 Fr. Charlevoix visited the St. Joseph village, where he found nearly all of both tribes nominally Christian, but, from long ab- sence of a niissiimary, "fallen into great disorders". Soon afterwards this matter was remedied and in 1750 the niissiiin was in flourishing condition. At the same time Fr. Pierre du Jaunay was nmoiig the Wea, then residing at Wea creek on the Wabash, near the present Lafayette, Ind. —A third Jesuit mission ex-
