INSTITUTE
59
INSTITUTE
Brother Superior Oonoral. at the request of the muni- what it was in 1789; wlien he ilieil, in 1874, it had in-
cipaHty, took up his residence in Paris, with his assist- creased in entirely unexpected proportions. The
ants. The institute then numbered 950 Brothers and venerable superior saw the number of houses rise from
novices, 310 schools, 66-t classes, and 50,000 pupils. 313 to 1149; that of the Brothers from 2317 to 10,235;
Fifteen'years had sufficed to reach the same prosper- that of their pupils from 144,000 to 350,000. And as
ous condition in which the Revolution found it in in France, and through the benevolence of the hier-
1789. It must not, however, be admitted that, in archy, Belgium, North America, the Indies, and the
consequence of the services rendered by the Brothers Levant multiplied Christian schools. Assuredly,
to popular education, they alwaj'S enjoyed the fa\our Brother Philippe was aware that, for a religious in-
of the Government. From 1S16 to 1819, Brother stitute, the blessing of numbers is less desirable than
Gerbaud, the superior general, had to struggle vigor- the progress of the religious in the spirit of their voca-
ously for the preservation of the traditional methods tion. In order to strengthen them therein, the supe-
of the congregation. The mutual or Lancasterian riorgeneralcomposedseven volumes of " Meditations",
method had just been introduced into France, and and a large number of instructive " Circular Letters",
immediately the powerful Society pour I'lnstruction in which are explained the duties of the Brothers as
Elementaire assumed the mission of propagating it. religious and as educators. Every year at the time
of the retreats, until he was eighty years of age, he trav- elled all over France, and spoke to his Brothers in most ardent language, made still more impressive by the saintly example of this ven- erable old man.
The Institute from 1874 TO 1908. — The generalship of Brother Irlide was marked by two principal orders of facts: a powerful effort to increase the spiritual \'igour of the institute by introduc- ing the Great Exercises or re- treats of thirty days; and the reorganization as free schools of the French schools which the laicization laws from 1879 to 1880 deprived of the char- acter of communal schools. This periotl witnessed, especi- ally in two regions, the estal> lishment and multiplication of Brothers' schools. The dis- tricts of Ireland and Spain, where such fine work is going on, were organized under the administration of Brother Irlide. Indefatigable in the hght, he asserted the rights of his institute against the powerful influence which strove to set them aside. He had broad and original views which he carried out with a strong, tenacious will. What
At a time when teachers and
funds were scarce, the Gov-
ernment deemed it wise to
pronounce in favour of the
mutual school, and recom-
mended it by an ordinance
in 1818. The Brothers would
not consent to abandon the
"simultaneous method"
which they had received from
t heir founder, and on this ac-
count they were sul>jected to
many vexations. During
forty years the supporters of
the two methods were to eon-
tentl, but finally the " simul-
taneous" teachers achieved
the victory. By holding fast
to their traditions and rules
the Brothers had saved ele-
mentary teaching in France.
The expansion of the Chris-
tian schools was not arrested
by these struggles. In 1829
there were 233 houses, in-
cluding 5 in Italy, 5 in Cor-
sica, 5 in Belgium, 2 in the
Island of Bourbon, and 1 at
Cayenne; in all, 955 classes
and 67,000 pupils. But the
Government of Louis-Phil-
ippe obstructed this benevo-
lent work by suppressing the
grantsmadetocertainschools:
eleven were p e r m a n e n 1 1 y
closed, and twenty-nine were
kept up as free schools by the
charity of Catholics. The hour
had now come for a greater expansion. Fortified and his predecessor had accomplished by indomitable en- rejuvenated by trial, fixed for a long time on the soil ergy, Brother Joseph, superior general from 18S4 to of France, augmented by yearly increasing numbers, 1897, maintained by the ascendency of his captivating the institute coukl, without weakening itself, send edu- goodness. He was an educator of rare distinction and cational colonies abroad. Belgium received Brothers exquisite charm. He had received from Pope Leo XIII at Dinant in 1816; the Island of Bourbon, 1817; the important mission of developing in the institute Montreal, 1837; Smyrna, 1841; Baltimore, 1840; .Alex- the works of Christian perseverance, so that the faith andria, 1847; New York, 1848; St. Louis, 1849; Kem- and morals of young men might be safeguarded after perhof, near Coblcnz, 1851; Singapore, 1852; Algiers, leaving school. One of his great delights was to trans- 1854; London, 1855; Vienna, 1856; the Island of Mau- mit this direction to his Brothers and to see them work
St. John B-\ptist de h\ S-\UiE
Foimder of the Brothers of tlie Christian Schools
Statue by Aureli, St. Peter's, Rome
ritius, 18.59; Bucharest, 1861; Karikal, India, 1862;
Quito, 1863. In all of these places, the number of
houses soon increased, and everywhere the same in-
tellectual and religious results proved a recommenda-
tion of the schools of the Brothers.
The perioil of this expansion is that of the general-
zealously for its attainment. Patronages, clubs, alumni
associations, boarding-houses, spiritual retreats,
etc., were doubtless already in existence; now they
became more prosperous. For many years the alumni
associations of France had made their action consist
in friendly but rare reunions. The legal attempts against
ship of Brother Philippe, the most popular of the liberty of con.scienee forced the members into the Cath-
superiors of teaching congregations in the nineteenth
century at the time of the Franco-Prussian war of
1870-71. Under his administration, the institute
received its most active impetus. When Brother
Philippe was elected superior general, in 1838, the
olic and social struggle. They have formed themselves
into sectional unions; they have an annual meeting, and
have created an active movement in favour of perse-
cuted Catholic education. The alumni associations
of the Brothers in the United States and Belgium have
number of schools and of Brothers was already double their national federation and annual meeting.
