GEORGETOWN
458
GEORGETOWN
to remove the more serious defects b}^ a reform of the
monasteries, which had become exceedingly worldly in
spiritand from which manyof the inmates were depart-
ing. He vainly sought to obtain from the Curia the
right, which was sometimes granted by Rome, to make
official visitations to the conventual institutions of his
realm. His reforms were confined mainly to imiting
the almost vacant monasteries and to matters of
economic management, the control of the property
being entrusted in most cases to the secular authori-
ties. In 1525, Duke George formed, with some other
German rulers, the League of Dessau, for the protection
of Catholic interests. In the same way he wa.s the
animating spirit of the League of Halle, formed in
153.3, from which sprang in 1538 the Holy League of
Nuremberg for the maintenance of the Religious Peace
of Nuremberg.
The vigorous activity displayed by the duke in so manj^ directions was not attended with much success. Most of his pohtical measures, indeed, stood the test of experience, but in ecclesiastico-political matters he witnessed with sorrow the gradual decline of Catholi- cism and the spread of Lutheranism within his domin- ions, in spite of his earnest elTorts and forcible prohi- bition of the new doctrine. Furthermore, during George's lifetime his nearest relations, his son-in-law, Philip of Hesse, and his brother Heinrich, joined the Reformers. He spent the last years of his reign in endeavours to secure a Cathohc successor, thinking by this step to check the dissemination of Lutheran opin- ions. The only one of Cieorge's sons then living was the weak-minded and unmarried Frederick. The intention of his father was that Frederick should rule with the aid of a council. Early in 1539, Frederick was married to Elizabeth of Mansfeld, but he died shortly afterwards, leaving no prospect of an heir. According to the act of settlement of 1499, George's Protestant brother Heinrich was now heir prospective ; but George, disregarding his father's will, sought to disinherit his brother and to bequeath the duchy to Ferdinand, brother of Charles V. His sudden death prevented the carr3'ing out of this intention.
George wa.s an excellent and industrious ruler, self- sacrificing, high-minded, and unwear^'ing in the fur- therance of the highest interests of his land and people. As a man he was upright, vigorous and energetic, if somewhat irascible. A far-seeing and faithful adher- ent of the emperor and empire, he accomplished much for his domain by economy, love of order, and wise direction of activities of his state officials. The grief of his life was Luther's Reformation and the apostasy from the Old Faith. Of a strictly reUgious, although not narrow, disposition, he sought at any cost to keep his subjects from falling awaj' from the Church, but his methods of attaining his object were not always free from reproach.
HUtor- polilische Blatter fiir das iatholische Deutschland (.Munich. 1S60). XLVI; von Welck, Georg der Bdrtige, Herzog von Sachsen (Brunswick, 1900); Gess, Die Klostervisitationen des Herzogs Georg von Sachsen (Leipzig, 1888); Idem, Akten and Briefe zur Kirchenpolilik Herzog Georgs vo7i Sachsen (Leipzig, 190.5), I, containing the years 1517-24, other volumes to ap-
H. A. Creutzberg.
Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, " is the oldest Catholic literary estab- Ii.shment in the United States. It was foimded immediately after the Revolutionarj- Vi'slt, by the incorporated Catholic Clergy of Maryland, who se- lected from their Body Trustees, and invested them with full power to choose a President and appoint Professors. Since the year 1805, it has been under the direction of the Society of Jesus" (The Laity's Directory, 1822).
Origin — Focnder. — In treating of the origin of Georgetown University, its chroniclers and historians are wont to refer to earlier schools in Maryland, pro- jected or carried on by the Jesuits. It is true that
Father Ferdinand Poulton, a few years after the set-
tlement of St. Mary's, wrote to the general of the
society about the prospects of founding a college in
the infant colony; and the general answered, in 1640:
" The hope held out of a college I am happy to enter-
tain; and, when it shall have matured, I will not be
backward in extending my approval." But the times
were not favourable. The laws against Catholic edu-
cation and educators were so stringent during the
greater part of the Maryland colonial period that it
was only at inter\'als, for brief spaces of time, and by
stealth, that the Jesuits, always solicitous for the edu-
cation of youth, were able to conduct a school. Such
a school was at Bohemia, in Cecil County; it numbered
among its scholars John Carroll, the founder of George-
town College. He is the link, moral and personal,
between Georgetown and earlier schools; and with his
name the history of Georgetown College is indissolubly
connected. He had a large share in its foundation
and upbuilding, and the sons of Georgetown, to
honour his memory, have formally instituted the ob-
servance of "Founder's Day", in January of each
year. His life and character are detailed elsewhere
"(see Carroll, John). Even before he became the
first bishop of the LTnited States, he saw and impressed
upon his former brethren of the Society of Jesus the
urgent need of a Catholic college. Having secured
their co-operation, he drew up the plan of the institu-
tion and issued a prospectus appealing to his friends in
England for financial assistance. It was he who se-
lected the site; and, although unable to give personal
supervision to the undertaking, burdened as he was
with the solicitude of all the churches, he watched
with paternal interest over the early growth of the
college. Georgetown still possesses his portrait, by
Gilbert Stuart, relics from his birthplace at LTpper
Marlborough, the manuscript of his course in theology,
the Missal which he used when a rural missionary at
Rock Creek, the attestation of his consecration as
bishop at Lulworth Castle, the circular which he issued
detailing the plan and scope of the college, and many
letters, original or copied, relating to its standing and
prospects.
In 1889 the college celebrated with befitting pomp the hundredth anniversary of its foundation. George- town, in 1789, was the chief borough of Montgomery County, Maryland. Father Carroll selected it for the site of the academy, influenced, no doubt, by a knowl- edge of the locality acquired during his missionary excursions. In speaking of the present site, he de- scribes it as "one of the most lovely situations that imagination can frame". The first prospectus says: "In the choice of Situation, Salubrity of Air, Con- venience of Communication, and Cheapness of Living have been principally consulted, and Georgetown offers these united advantages". In regard to the "Salubrity of Air", it is significant that the college records show the first death among the students to have occurred in 1843. In 1784, Father Carroll was appointed prefect-Apostolic, or superior, of the Church in the United States. In 1785 he wrote to his friend, Father Charles Plowden, in England: "The object nearest my heart now, and the only one that can give consistency to our religious views in this country, is the establishment of a school, and afterwards of a Seminary for youn" clergymen." At a meeting of the clergj', held at White Marsh, in 1786, he presented a detailed plan of the school, and recommended the site which had impressed him so favourably. The clergy sanctioned the project, adopted a series of " Resolves concerning the Institution of a School", and directed the sale of a piece of land licldiij^ing to the corporation, in order that the proceeds miglit bo applied to the erection of the first building. The Reverends John Carroll, James Pellentz, Robert Molyneux, John Ash- ton, and Leonard Neale were appointed directors. In 1788, the first building was undertaken. The work
