THOMSON
705
THONISSEN
About 1860 the noted missionary Oblate father
(afterwards bishop), Paul Durieu, spent a sliort time
with the tribe. In 1861 Rev. John B. Good, acting for
the Episcopahans, estabhshed a regular mission work
among them, continuing for nearly twenty years
with the result that most of the tribe are now
of that denomination. In 1862 in common with the
other Fraser River tribes, they were terribly wasted
by smallpox. In ISSO the distinguished Oblate mis-
sionarj- and philologist Father ,Iohn M. R. Le Jeune,
best known for his invention of a Salishan system of
shorthand, began work among the Thompson River
Indians extended after some years to the Okanagan
and Shuswap. The entire tribe is no%v Christiaa,
about 1500 being Episcopalian, the rest Catholic, in-
cluding all of the Coldwater band. Valuable ethno-
logic studies of the Thompson River tribe have been
made by Teit and Hill-Tout. Important linguistic
contributions are a grammatic sketch and vocabulary
and several religious publications by Rev. Mr. Good
of the Episcopalian (Anglican) mission, and a number
of prayer, hymn, catechism, and primer compilations
by Father Le Jeune, all in the Salishan shorthand
characters of his own invention. The official report
for the Coldwater band (Catholic) will answer for all:
"They have a good class of buildings and are steadily
improving them. They are industrious, steady and
extremely law-abiding. They have made good prog-
ress in farming. They class among our most tem-
perate and moral Indians."
Teit. Thompson Indians of B. C. in Memoir Am. Mus. Nat. Hisl. (New York. 1900) ; Ide.m. Traditions of the Thompson River Indiana in Memoir Am. Folklore Soc. (Boston. 1898): Hili^Toot. Thompson River Indians in Rept. Ethnol. Survey Canada, Brit. Assoc. Adv. Science (London. 1889); Annual Rept. Dept. Ind. Affairs (Ottawa) : B-\ncroft. Hist. Brit. Columbia (San Francisco. 1887): MOBICE. Catholic Church in Western Canada (2 vols.. Toronto, 1910): Pillino. Bibliography Salishan Languages (Bu- reau Am. Ethnology, Washington, 1893).
James Mooney.
Thomson, William, Venerable. See Sergeant, Richard, Vener.\ble.
Thonissen, Jean-Joseph, professor of law at the University of Louvain, minister in the Belgian Government, b. at Hassett, Limbourg, 21 Jan., 1817; d. at Louvain, 17 Aug., 1891. After a brilliant career as a student he first performed duties in the magis- tracy and the administration of the province, but even then was occupied with juridical works on penal law. When dismissed by the Liberal (anti-clerical) ministrj', the University of Louvain appointed him in 1848 to the chair of criminal law. In 1863 he was elected to Parhament. It is difficult to sum- marize briefly Thonis.sen's activity. Although he achieved his fame in his chosen field of penal law, his writings covered the most varied points of history and social science, as was evidenced by the fact that in 1886 the national jury of social sciences awarded him the prize. In penal matters he began with commentaries on the penal code and devoted himself especially to the reform of the penal procedure which he advocated while he was minister, and for the history of which he wTote important works. He had conceived the vast plan of a history of criminal law, but realized only a part of it. The first part, which met with considerable success, dealt with Brahmin- ical India, Eg>T>t, and Judea, and contained a "Penal Code of the Pentateuch". He published a work on the penal law of the Athenian Republic. Considering the Roman period as sufficiently well- known, he took up the Frankish period, which he was unable to finish. These works are his chief title to fame from the scientific standpoint a-s are his reports on penal procedure from the practical stand- point. He aroused lively controver.sy by advocating the suppression of the death penalty, which his influ- ence brought about in Belgium. While not rejecting it as absolutelv unlawful, Thonissen considered it XIV.^5
Jean-Jo8eph Thonissen
useless in the social condition of the time. In fact,
although the death sentence is still legal, capital
punishment is no longer inflicted in Belgium.
Detailed lists of Thonissen's numerous publica- tions are given in the Bibliography of the Acad^mie Royale and in that of the Catholic University of Louvain, to which the reader is referred. He showed a marked preference for national political history, his principal work on the subject being the "History of the Reign of Leopold I". He also published biographies of prominent Belgians such as Felix de M^rode. He had been impressed by the events of 1848 which determined his career and he devoted himself to a laborious study of innovating systems, especially of those men who are sometimes called the romanticists of Socialism, St. Simon, Fourier, Cabet, Owen, Louis Blanc, and others, beiiij; led eventually I ( i write a history i^f Socialism from an- cient times to 1S.V_' These works ami many others se- cured his admission to the Royal Acad- emy of Belgium and the Institute of France : he was commissioned by the former institu- tion to writ e t he vol- ume devoted to its centenary (1872).
Thonissen's political life began in 1863 and was never interrupted by his con.stituents. In the Chamber his value as a jurisconsult was much appreciated and he drafted many of the parlia- mentary reports. He occupied a unique posit ion owing to his characteristic independence which made him disagree with the Right on certain points, for instance, on military matters. He was deeply attached to the Belgian Constitution of 1831, which contained articles proclaiming liberty of worship, of the press, etc. Although profoundly religious he was imbued like many men of his generation with the errors of Liberal- ism, and he wrongly regarded these liberties as of natural right and defended this opinion in his com- mentary on the Constitution (1844). After the papal decisions on these matters, he corrected his ideas, but always had a leaning towards solutions favouring broad tolerance. Although tempered by great geni- ality Thonissen's independence of character was such that even the Right feared him and did not desire his participation in affaiiB. Thus when the king dur- ing a period of stress entrusted him with the forma- tion of a ministry (1872), he was not supported by his party, which dreaded concessions to the Left or to the Crown. When he finally entered the ministry (1884), age had rendered him unfit for laborious work, though he was able to enforce the new school law which the victorious Right had substituted for the lay regime of 1879; this task consumed the last of his strength and left him unable to resume his scientific pursuits in his retirement (1887); his faculties soon became clouded. Thonissen was an intrepid worker, a firm Christian, an upright and simple man, with ju.st a touch of artless vanity, though sometimes brusque in manner and given to occasional out- bursts. He was one of the most important members of the faculty of law at Louvain and he will be chiefly remembered in the sphere of jjenal law, where his name is destined to .survive.
Numerous articles have been devoted to Thonissen and to his works. The list of the latter will be found in the bibliography mentioned above. See also Lamt in Annuaire de I Acadimie royale de Belgiqur (1K92): Ntbsens in Annuaire de Vunivertitl catholique de Louvain (1892). VICTOR HraNTS.
