PLESSIS
166
PLOCK
1801. He assumed the greater part of the administra-
tion, his superior remaining at Longueuil; by the
latter's death in 1806 he became Bishop of Quebec.
The programme of tlie oligarchy then in power com-
prised the organization of an exclusively Protestant
school system; and the subjection of ecclesiastical
influence to the royal supremacy and the governor's
good pleasure, in the erection of parishes and the nomi-
nation of pastors. Plessis's aim was to obtain the civil
recognition of bishop and clergy, without forfeiting any
right or privilege of the Church. His title of Bishop of
Quebec, assumed by all his predecessors before and
since the Conquest, was odious to the officials and to
the Anglican bishop. Plessis, by his firm yet deferen-
tial attitude, his prudence and moderation, and his
loyalty to the Crown, removed all opposition. He
wisely resisted every offer of temporal betterment to
maintain the fulness of his spiritual jurisdiction.
When the American Congress in 1812 declared war
with England, Plessis aroused the loyalty of the
French Canadians, who by remarkable victories, nota-
bly at Ch&teauguay, saved Canada to Great Britain.
The bishop was honoured wdth a seat in the Legislative
Council, his title and dignity officially recognized, and
the creation of vicariates Apostolic in Upper Canada,
Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island approved of.
He succeeded in preventing the application of the
odious monopolizing educational law called the ' ' Royal
Institution". An energetic and enlightened patron of
education, he redeemed Nicolet College, generously
contributing to reorganize, enlarge, and endow it; he
likewise favoured the foundation of St-Hyacinthe Col-
lege, whose regulations he wrote, and established a
Latin school at St-Roch to prepare students for semi-
nary or college.
Three times after his consecration he visited every parish in Lower Canada; in 1811 and 1812 he trav- elled through the Maritime Provinces, and in 1816 to Upper Canada. Long since convinced of the necessity of dividing his immense diocese, he strove to create new sees. Nova Scotia was separated in 1817. To realize the formation of other dioceses in Upper Can- ada, in the North- West, in Prince Edward Island, and at I\Iontreal, Plessis crossed the Atlantic in 1819 to negotiate with Rome and England. Anticipating the conclusion of the case pending before the British Gov- ernment, Rome had made Quebec a metropolitan see, with two of the above-named for suffragans. The new archbishop successfully counteracted English suscepti- bilities, alarmed at his promotion, and obtained the other two dioceses he had in view. He likewise suc- ceeded in preventing the Sulpicians from losing by ex- propriation their seigniory of the Island of Montreal. Public opinion had improved since Briand's time. On his return voyage, Plessis, at the request of Propa- ganda, visited Philadelphia and Baltimore. When in 1822 the House of Commons proposed a bill for the legislative Union of the two Canadas, whereby the French Catholic province would have been the suf- ferer, Plessis, though stricken with the disease that was to end his life, undertook an active campaign by letter to avert the disaster. His advice and influence strengthened the delegates who had been sent to Eng- land to prevent the passing of the bill.
T&TV,LcsBvlquesde Quebec (Quebec, 1889); Ferland, Joseph- Octave Plessis (Quebec, 1864) ; Baker, True stories of New Eng- land Captives (Cambridge, 1897). LIONEL LiNDSAT.
Plessis d' Argentre, Chahles du. See AROENTRfi.
Plethon, GEOnciirs(iKMisTUS,b.in Constantinople about ]'■',')'). (1. in the Pcloiioimesus, 14.50. Outof vene- ration for Pluto he changed his name from Gemistos to Plethon. -Vltliough lie wrote commentaries on Ari.'f- totle's logical treati.scs an<l on Porphyry's "Isagoge", he was a professed Platonist in philosophy. Owing, most probably, to the influence of Mohammedan teachers, he combined with Platonism, or rather with Neo-Platonism, the most extraordinary kind of Orien-
tal mysticism and magic which he designated as
Zoroastrianism. It was due, no doubt, to these ten-
dencies of thought that he openly abandoned Chris-
tianity and sought to substitute paganism for it as a
standard of life. When he was about fifteen years old
he visited VN'estern Europe in the train of the Emperor
John Palaeologus. After his ret urn to Greece, he settled
at Misithra in the Peloponnesus, the site of ancient
Sjiarta, and there he spent the greater part of his life.
In 1438, although he was then in his eighty-third year,
he again accompanied the Emperor to Italy, where he
was designated as one of the six champions of the
Orthodox Church in the Council of Florence. His
interest in ecclesiastical matters was, however, very
slight. Instead of attending the Council, he spent his
time discoursing on Platonism and Zoroastrianism to
the Florentines. It was his enthusiasm for Platonism
that influenced Cosimo de Medici to found a Platonic
Academy at Florence. In 1441 Plethon had returned
to the Peloponnesus, and there he died and was buried
at Misithra in 1450. In 1465 his remains were carried
to Rimini and placed in the church of St. Francis,
where an inscription, curiously enough, styles him
"Themistius Byzantinus". Among his disciples was
the learned Cardinal Bessarion. Plethon's most im-
portant works are the "Laws" written in imitation
of Plato's "Laws", which was condemned by Gen-
nadios. Patriarch of Constantinople, and "On the
Differences between Plato and Aristotle", in which
he attacks the Aristotelian philosophy and asserts
the superiority of Platonism. He also composed a
work in defence of the Greek doctrine of the Pro-
cession of the Holy Ghost. In his philosophical sys-
tem he borrows largely from the Neo-Platonist,
Proclus, and mingles with the traditional Neo-
Platonic mysticism many popular Oriental supersti-
tions. His influence was chiefly negative. His attack
on .'\ristotelianism was to some extent effective, al-
though opposed to him were men of equal ability and
power, such as Gennadios, Patriarch of Constanti-
nople. He was honoured by the Italian Platonists as
the restorer of the Academy, and as a martyr for the
cause of Platonism.
The Laws, written about 1440, was printed at Paris, 1541 and (in Latin tr.) at Basle, 1574. The comparison of Plato and Aris- totle was also printed at Basle. 1574. Migne, P. G., CLX, 773 sqq., reprints these and other Greek works of Plethon, with Latin tr. The best work on Plethon is a dissertation by Fritz ScHULTzE, Georgios Gemistos Plethon (Jena, 1871). See also Sandys. Hist, of Classical Scholarship, II (London, 1908). 60; Sy.MONDS, Renaiss. in Italy, Pt. ii (New York, 1888), 198 sqq.; Creighton, Hist, of Papacy, IV (London, 1901), 41-46.
William Turner.
Plock, Diocese of (Plocensis), in Russian Po- land, suffragan of Warsaw, includes the district of Plock and parts of the districts of Lomza and War- saw. Apparently the diocese was founded about 1087, through the eff'orts of the legates sent to Poland by Gregory VII; the first certain notice of it is of the year 1 102, when Duke Ladislaus Hermann was buried in the cathedral of Plock. The diocese included the region between the rivers, Vistula, Narew, and Bug, and extended as far as the northern and eastern boundaries of the Kingdom of Poland of that era. At a later date the stripof land nortlmf the Drewenz River was added to it. It therefore included the greater part of the Duchy of Masovia and the northern jiart of Podlachia; but was much smaller than the two other dioceses — Gncsen and Po.sen — then existing in Poland. Its bishops were under the nirtnipolitan authority of Gnesen. The endowment of the bishopric was very large; according to a charter of Duke Conrad of Masovia, in 1239 the episcojial landed property in- cluded 240 riU(r and at a later date also 20 prcedia. In the thirl e<Tilh century these estates were divided between the bishop and the cathedral chapter. The Partitions of Poland gave the greater part of the dio- cese to Russia, and a smaller portion to Prussia; since
