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Roman Catholics THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG 80

stant stream of Roman Catholic immigrants is sufficient proof of this statement, if, indeed, any proof is required.

The charity work of this church is immense. Hospitals, orphan asylums, houses of the Good Shepherd, and similar eleemosynary g. Charities, institutions cover the face of the con-

Architec- tinent, and their administration is both ture, and efficient and enlightened. For the Schools. general absence of beauty in their ecclesiastical structures American Ro man Catholics have been criticized with severity. From this general censure, it is true, certain cathe drals, which are triumphs of architectural skill, are commonly excepted. In contrasting Protestant Episcopal churches with Roman Catholic churches it should be remembered that many entire Roman Catholic congregations are composed of the indus trial classes. The nature of their employments leaves little leisure for the cultivation of esthetics. Though American Roman Catholics are in advance of European Roman Catholics in many things, it may be admitted that in music, painting, sculpture, and architecture their triumphs are yet to come.

One of the grandest achievements of American Roman Catholics is the fine system of parochial schools (see RonsAN CAxaoLre PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS) that they have established. In good part this has been accomplished during the past thirty years and, of course, without assistance from any of the states, as the latter have public schools of their own. In these schools the instruction is even now efficient, and when their organization and unification are further perfected, it will be still more so. From the earliest times academies, ecclesiastical seminaries, and colleges have been in existence, and these have long been sending forth cultured men and women. The demand for higher education led later to the establishment of a number of universities. These are already doing scholarly work and are contributing rapidly to improve both secondary and primary education. The appearance of Roman Catholic pedagogical journals, the establishment of summer courses, and the institution of normal and other schools for the training of teachers are the present evidences of Roman Catholic activity in this important field.

What has been said of apostolic labors in South America is equally true of the northern continent. There was scarcely an achievement of :o. Achieve-Brazil or Paraguay that was not gar-

ments of alleled by the Jesuits of North America. Roman The nature of the task was the same Catholics. and the training of those who at tempted it was similar. In those vivid narratives known as the Jesuit Relations (see bib liography) there exists an early and an exceedingly valuable contribution to American scholarship. As historical documents they have great worth. There is also contained in them a vast mass of facts of the highest linguistic and anthropological value. In deed, there were few phases of human activity un touched by those trained observers. Since the seventeenth century American Roman Catholics have been contributors to pure as well as applied

literature. In the literature of power they are creditably represented in poetry, fiction, oratory, and criticism. It is true that there have been among them no great poets. Indeed, in this country there have been none of the first class among the members of any creed. For the entertainment of the reader, and that is a legitimate object for the poet, John Boyle O'Reilly, Father Ryan, Maurice Francis Egan, Father Tabb, Miss Eleanor Donnelly, and Miss Guiney take high rank. AS in the case of poets, there have been no American Roman Catholics in the first class among orators. A few, such as Daniel Dougherty and William Bourke Cockran, have been successful in political oratory, and many, like the late Archbishop Ryan, were pulpit orators of rare eloquence. In essay writing and in criticism Roman Catholic names are familiar. In this department are found Richard Malcom Johnston, Agnes Repplier, and Bishop John Lancaster Spalding (q.v.). Except to say that he was a prose writer of ability it is not easy to classify the convert Orestes Brownson. He was active in many fields. In the literature of knowledge Roman Catholics have been creditably represented. To say nothing of historical essays and monographs, of which many of excellence have appeared, Hughes, Shahan, and Shea rank with the first historians of America. On the subject of law, Dr. W. C. Robinson is an authority of considerable reputation, and Dr. Murphy is not unknown in the science of medicine. In economics Roman Catholics have been interested from the days of Matthew Carey to the time of Rev. John A. Ryan, the author of A Living Wage. Perhaps the best notion of the standing of Roman Catholics in applied literature will be obtained from an examination of The Catholic Encyclopedia, a publication covering, if not the entire realm of knowledge, at least many of its important provinces. In didactic literature also American Roman Catholics are well represented. In the ranks of translators and prose stylists there are authors of the type of Rev. Dr. Hugh T. Henry. There is not space even to enumerate those who have been distinguished in journalism. Many Roman Catholics may be found in the medical and in the legal professions. In a word, they are very rapidly rising into those classes that may be considered the natural leaders of society.

In the United States the affairs of the Roman Catholic Church are administered by an apostolic

delegate, by fourteen archbishops, of ii. Admin- whom one has the rank of cardinal,

istration. and by upwards of eighty bishops.

These ecclesiastical superiors, acting in perfect harmony with the Holy See, are assisted by more than 16,550 priests in attending to the spiritual needs of, perhaps, 15,000,000 Roman Catholics. Frequent reports furnish the Holy See with accurate information concerning American conditions and needs. If Rome were not very exactly acquainted with the institutions of America, Pope Leo XIII. could never have obtained so firm a grasp of its current problems and he never could have manifested for the entire American nation so enlightened and so profound a sympathy. His affection for this republic will be evident to even a casual