MINISTER
326
MINNESOTA
the (lociimonts puMishctl by I'ita iiTtaiiily iiulioatc,
bcloiiKc'il at that time to the Minims, ah hough tho
papal Hull of appointment (w-o reproduction in this
ExcYrLOPEDiA. I, 414) used the words ordinis Min-
orion. See Robcrti, op. cit. below, I, 89-102. Dis-
tinguished thoologian,s were: Ijalemandct, d. 1647;
Salier, d. 1707; Boucat, d. 1718; Palaiieo, d. 1720;
Perrimezzi, d. 1740; hi.storians (.see bibliography),
Giry, d. 16SS; Marin, d. 1767; mathematicians, Maig-
nan, d. 1676; Mersenne, d. 1648; philosophers, Sa-
guens, d. about 1718, and some of the previously
mentioned theological authors. For the bishops
chosen from this order see Roberti (op. cit. below, I,
377, II, 681). The cause for beatification of two
Minims has been introduced.
III. Present St.vte. — Since the French Revolution the Minims are greatly reduced in number. At present there are 19 convents with about 330 friars. There are 15 convents in Italy, 2 in Sicily, 1 in Sardinia, and 1 in Spain. The corrector general resides at St. Andrea delle Fratte, Rome. There are two other convents at Rome, S. Francesco di Paola and 8. Maria della Luce. The second order is spread especially in Spain, where it has 10 convents. There arc single eon- vents at Marseilles, Rome, and Todi. The thinl order is spread in Latin countries and also in South America, where secular priests are delegated and authorized to receive members.
Roberti (O. Minim.), Dhegno storio delV Ordine de' Minimi dalla morte del santo Jnstitutore fino ai nostri tempi, I, 1507- 1600 (Rome, 1902), II, 1600-1700 (Rome. 1909); Francis- ccs LANO\au8 (O. Minim.), Chronicon generate Ordinis Minimo- ruin . . . accedii Registruni Pontificium seu Bullarium a Sixto IV ad Urbanum VIII (Paris. 1635); Dony d'Attichi (O. Minim.), Histoire Generate de VOrdrc desMinimes (2 vol.s., Paris, 1624); J,\coBus L.\dore-Franc. a Longobardis {O. Minim.), Digestum Sapientits Minimitanw tripartitum, complectens regu- las S. Francisci de Paula, Statuta Capitulorum Genrralium . . . 3 pts. (Rome, 1664); Toscano (O. Minim.), Delia vita di S. Francesco di Paola (Venice, 1691). The rules of the three ordera alsoin HoLSTENlus, Codex Regularium, ed. Brockie, III (Augsburg, 1759). S-i-100, and in Bullarium Romanwn.V (Turin, 1860), passim. On the relation of the first redaction of the rule (1493) with the Rule of .St. Francis, see Maearra. Legen- dario Francescano, IV (Venice, 1721). 441-60; Montoia (O. Minim.), Cronica general de la Orden de los Minimos de S. Fran- cisco de Paula (Madrid, 1619); Annibali da Latera (O. Minim.), Compendia delta Storia degti Ordini regotari esistenti, pt. II, vol. II (Rome, 1791), 351; Heimbucher, Die Orden und Kongregationen der katholischen Kirche, 2nd ed., II (Pader- bom, 1907), 527. Forfull bibliography see Roberti, I, 17-22. Heimbucher, loc. cit. The information concerning the present state of the order was furnished by the present corrector general.
LiVABius Oligeb.
Minister. — The term minister has long been ap- propriated in a distinctive way to the clergy. The language of I Cor., iv, 1-2; Heb., viii, 2; Matt., xx, 26, etc. must have helped to familiarize the thought that those charged with spiritual functions in the Christian Church were called upon to be the servants (tninistri) of their brethren. Even before the Reformation the word minister was occasionally used in Eiii^lish to describe those of the clergy actually lakiiit; p.iri in a function, or the celebrant as distinguislie.l tnim the assistant.s, but it was not then used sine iidilitn i <] desig- nate an ecclesiastic. This employment of the term dates from Calvin, who objected to the name priest etc. as involving an erroneous conception of the nature of the sacred office. These CalvinLstic views had some influence in England. In the Book of Common Prayer tho word minisl er occurs frequently in the sense of the officiant at a service, and in the thirty-second of the Canons Ecclesiastical (1603) we read " no bishop shall make a person deacon and minister both upon one day", where clearly minister stands as the equiva- lent of priest. As regards modern usage the Hist. Eng. Dictionary .says: "The u.se of minister as the designation of an .Anglican clergyman (formerly ex- tensively current, .sometimes with more .specific appli- cation to a l)enefieed clergjanan) has latterly become rare, and is now chiefly associated with Low C'hurch
-views; but it is still the ordinary appellation of one
appointed to spiritual oliice in any non-Episcopal com-
munion, especially of one having a pastoral charge ".
As regards Catholic use, minister is the title of cer- tain superiors in various religious orders. The head of the Franciscan Order is known as the minister gen- eral, and the superior of the different provinces of the various liranches is called minister provincial. The same is true of the Order of the Trinitarians for the Redemption of Captives and of some other orders. In the Society of Jesus the second in command in each house, who is usually charged with the internal dis- cipline, the commi.ssariat, etc., is called minister. The statement made in Addis and Arnold's "Catholic Dictionary" and thence incorporated into the great Hist. Eng. Dictionary that each of the five assist- ants of the General of the Jesuits is called minister is without foundation.
Herbert Thurston.
Minkelers, Jean-Pierre, inventor of illuminating gas: b. at Maastricht, Holland, 1748; d. there 4 July, 1824. At the age of sixteen, in 1764, he went to Lou- vain, where he studied theology and philosophy at the College du Faucon, in which he became professor of natural philosophy in 1772. At this time the question of aerostats and Montgolfiers was oecuj)\iiig the mind of scientists, and the Due d'Arenlierg, a Maecenas of science and art, engaged a committee to examine into the question of the best gas for balloon purposes. Minkelers was on this committee, and published in 1784, after many experiments, a work entitled " Memoire sur I'air inflammable tire de differentes substances, r^dige par M. Minkelers, professeur de philosophic au college du Faucon, universite de Louvain" (Louvain, 1784). As an appendix to this memoir there was a "Table de gravites sp^cifiques des differentes especcs d'air ", by T. F. Thysbaert, a member of the committee. In his memoir Minkelers tells us how he made his precious discovery: from the very beginning of his experiments he had had the idea of enclosing oil in the barrel of a gun and heating it in a forge. LInder action of the heat the oil dissolved and gave place to a remark- ably light gas, having other advantageous qualities. Having proved that oil gas was the best for balloons, Minkelers used it for many balloons which rose rapidly and travelled great distances in the neighbourhood of Louvain. As we learn from his pupil von Hulstein, who was in his class in 1785, Minkelers at times used this same gas to light his workshop. Moreover, the drift of his memoir proves clearly that in its inventor's eyes the great combustibility of the gas was one of its leading qualities. When Joseph II, in 1788, transferred the University of Louvain to Brussels, Minkelers continued as professor, but when it was re- moved back to Louvain he refused to return. He re- signed in 1794 and was appointed professor of physics and chemistry at the Central School of Maastricht, 4 July, 1824.
Minkelers, Memoire sur Vair inflammahlc tire de diffircntes sulistances (Louvain, 17S4); De Ras, Historisch Verstag over J . P. Minkelers (Maastricht, 1.S97); Verhaegen, Les cinquante demicres ounces de I'univcrsite de Louvain (Lit-ge, 1894); De Bocke, De vervaardiging van lichtgas uil steenkoten (Alkmaar, 1882).
D. NTS.
Minnesota, one of the North Central States of the American Union, lies about midway between the eastern and western shores of the continent, and about midway between the Gulf of Mexico and Hudson's Bay.
GEOGR.\PHy. — Minnesota extends from 43° 30' to 49'" X. lat. and from S9° 39' to 97° 5' W. long. Its length from north to south is about 400 miles, and its greatest breadth about 354 miles. Of its total area of 84,287 sq. miles, no less than 5637 are watx:"r surface, owing to the great number of inland lakes (numbering about ten thousand) and watercourses, large an<-l
