4. Present Condition of Roman Catholic Monachism. — In the 17th century the attention of many monastics was more specially directed towards the necessity of bringing back their institutions, as far as possible, to the rules and laws of their order, and the monks of the Roman Catholic churches now became divided into the Reformed and the Unreformed, and some real effort to restore the monasteries and nunneries to their original state was attempted. But whatever necessitj' existed for these institutions in an age of barbarism and vio- lence, it had now ceased. The printing-press was proving a more powerful preservative of the Bible and religious literature than the cells of the monks, and long experience had demonstrated that to shut one's self out from the world was but a sorry way to keep unspotted from it. Such a time was not likelj' to give life to new monastic institutions, and hence we find the productivity of the Church as regards monachism very greatly decreased. In the 18th century only one larger order, the Redemptorists, or the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, founded by St. Alfonso di Liguori, sprang up. Most of the orders, indeed, in the second half of this century, relapsed either into torpor or corruption, and made but a very feeble resistance when the rationalistic views which became so preva- lent among the educated classes in every European country. Catholic as well as Protestant, declared against them a war of destruction. Hence in many countries the state authorities interfered anew to destroy conven- tual life. In Austria, Joseph II suppressed as useless all convents of monks not occupied in education, pasto- ral duties, or the nursing of the sick ; and many Roman Catholic writers demanded the extirpation of monasti- cism altogether, after stamping it as both an outgrowth and a promoter of fanaticism. Even the papacy was influenced, and the incumbent of St. Peter's at Rome had no other alternative left him than to yield to the general pressure. The consequence was the abolish- ment of the most powerful of the orders, the Jesuits. The French Revolution threatened the very life of monachism, and had that movement proved successful the monastic institutions would have passed out of ex- istence probably in all Europe.
The downfall of the Napoleonic rule gave brighter prospects to the friends of monasticism, and as an evi- dence of its revival ma}' be cited the re-establishment of the Jesuits by Pius VII in 1814. These now rap- idly rose again to considerable strength and influence wherever they were not forcibly suppressed. See Jesuits. In the countries of the Latin races, both in Europe and America, the fate of monachism was close- ly allied with the political strife of the conservative and the liberal or progressive parties, the former pat- ronizing it, together with all other ecclesiastical insti- tutions ; the latter subjecting it to prohibitive rules, or suppressing it altogether. In consequence of the suc- cesses of the liberals, monachism was greatty reduced in South America, and in Italy (in 1848, and again in 1859, 1860, 1866, and 1870, until it is now on the eve of complete suppression by law of the state, 1875). See Monastery. It was also wellnigh extinguished in Spain (1835), and especially in Portugal (1834). In France alone the vicissitudes of political rule have thus far failed to affect monasticism — indeed, the rapid growth of monastic institutions in that country
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have not been in point of zeal, activitj-, and general prosperity behind what they had been during the golden a;ra of their existence. Under the Bourbons, and under Louis Philippe, the liberal party occasion- ally demanded coercive measures against them ; but since tlie establishment of the republic in 1848 even the liberals, liaving given a wider interpretation to religious liberty than Americans have ever dared to give, have accustomed themselves no longer to refuse the free right of association to the members of relig- ious orders. Nearly every one of the old orders es- tablished itself in France, and a number of new con- gregations were formed, and there is at present a greater variety of monastic institutions in that countrj' than any state has possessed at any previous period. In July, 1860, M. Dupin, in a speech before the senate of France, stated that tliere were then in the country 4932 authorized and 2870 unauthorized establishments, and since tlien tlieir number has somewhat increased. Next to France, they arc most numerous, wealthv, and influential in Uelgiuni, where, as in France, public in- struction is ver}-^ largely under their control.
Among tlie Teutonic nations the monastic establish- ments have, throughout the British possessions, Hol- land, and North America (see below ; see also Sisters of Charity), partalien more or less of the blessings of liberal institutions, and can hardly be accused of de- parture from their rules except in isolated instances. Public opinion, however, has provided for one measure in their constitution not known elsewhere, viz. that any member wishing to leave their establishments shall have liberty to do so. Austria protected mo- nastieisin, but kept the inhabitants of convents under a bureaucratic guardiansliip until 1848, when it was changed into a zealous support and encouragement. Since 186G, however, the monasteries have been under a shadow, and it is more than likely that ere long mo- nastic institutions will be done away with in that Ro- man Catholic countr}'. In many of the other German countries, the revolution of 1848 Ims procured for mo- nasticism a favorable position ; and in lands where for- merly it was either proscribed or but barely tolerated, it has since flourished. Even those states whose codes re- tain laws against their admission in general, as Sax- ony and tlie neighboring countries of Sweden and Denmark, have admitted the Sisters of Charity. See Deaconksses and Sisterhoods. In Russia the mo- nastics suflTered severe losses, but in Turkey they have as missionaries done much to build up the Chris- tian faith.