Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 2.djvu/206

old when given to AjTiierio". As a man of letters Aymeric was in close toucli mtli the learned men of his time. Pietro Crescenzio of Bologna completed his "De Re Rustica" at the repeated solicitations of AjTiieric, by whom it was corrected before the author presented it to Charles II of Sicily. The letters of Aymeric are found in "Littera; EncycHcK Magistro- rum Generalium Ord. Prsed. " (ed. Reichert, Rome, 1900), which forms the fifth volume of the "Jlonu- menta Hist. Fratr. Pra>d." (181-202). TiRBosrHl, Storia dflla litt. Itat., V. I, 152-153; QrETiF AXD ECH.4RD, SS. Ord. Pried.. I. 494 sqq.; Mortier, Histoire ties Maitres Gcneraux de I'ordre des Frcres Precheurs (Pans, ). n, 420-473; Kaufmaxn in Dcr Kalholik. Feb.. 1900. Thos. M. Schwertner. Azara, Feliz de, a Spanish naturaUst, b. at Bar- bunales in Aragon, 18 May, 1746; d. 1811. He first embraced the military career as an engineer, distin- guished himself in various expeditions, and rose to the rank of Brigadier General in the Spanish Army. He was appointed member of the Spanish commis- sion sent to South America, in 1781, to settle the ques- tion of Umits between the Portuguese and Spanish colonies. He remamed in South America tiU 1801. While there he turned liis attention to the study of mammals, less as an anatomist or physiologist than as an observer of the life and habits of quadrupeds. His observations, to which he added a large number of statements obtained by hearsay, were not always favourably criticized, but to-day the perspicacity of Azara "as a student of the life of South American mammals is generally acknowledged. He also ex- tended his investigations to birds. Before leaving South America, he sent liis brother (then Spanish Ambassador at Paris) many notes and observations of a zoological nature, which Moreau de Saint-Mery pubhshed at Paris in 1801 under the title of "Essai sur I'histoire natureUe des quadrupedes du Para- guay". In 1802 there appeared at Madrid "Apun- taniientos para la Historia natural de los cuadrii- pedos del Paraguay y Rio de la Plata ". In the sarne year Azara pubhshed " Apuntamientos para la His- toria de los pajaros del Paraguay y Rio de la Plata". In 1809 there appeared at Paris under his name "Voyage dans T.-Vmerique mcridionale depuis 1781 jusqu'en 1801". In the latter work he criticizes the Jesuit methods of organizing and educating the Indians, showing that he completely failed to under- stand the nature of the American aborigines. Azara, while an efficient soldier and good engineer, as well as shrewd observer of animal life, was incapable of imderstanding the character of the Indian, and of grasping the only method by which the Indian could slowly but surely be ci Uzed. Geografiu iisu-a y esfcrica de Ins provinciets del Paraguay y mi- riones Giuiranies, computsia en el ni'io 1790 (Montevideo, 1904. with pqrtrait and biography by Schuller); Tschvdi, Peru ReisesHzzen (St. Gall, 1S46); Idem. Fauna peruana; Brehm, Das Thierleben (3d ed.); and the works of Azara himself, enu- merated in article. Ad. F. B. delier. Azaria, Arist.ces, a Catholic Armenian abbot and archbishop, b. at Constantinople, 18 July, 1782; d. at Menna, 6 May, 1854. He was sent at the age of fifteen to the College of the Propaganda in Rome, but his studies were interrupted (1798) by the French invasion. Having taken refuge among the Mechitar- ists of Triest, he entered their order in 1801, and in the same year was ordained priest. The authorities of the ephemeral Kingdom of lUjTia confiscated (1810) the property of his convent, and, after vain attempts to obtain restitution, the monks settled in Vienna, where they lived by the instruction of Armenian youth and the revenue of a printing-press. Azaria was henceforth active as a missionary among his compatriots and a servant of the Holy See. In 1826 he was made general abbot of the community, and in 1827 was raised to the (titular) dignity of Archbishop of Caesarea. Under him the Mechitarist community in Vienna prospered, its library was in- creased, a bookstore added to the printing-press, and an abundant religious literature created, Ln Ar- menian and in German. He opened houses of his conununity in Rome, Triest, and Stamboul, founded the Armenian journal "Europa", established an academy for the literary and political improvement of his people, and obtained from the Porte (1830) the creation of an independent Catholic Armenian patriarchate. He WTOte several (mostly anonymous) works, among them "De Vita Communi Perfect^, Religiosorum Utriusque Sexus ", in which he criti- cizes the condition of many Austrian religious houses, and "Die Erziehung im Geiste des Christenthimies" (Vienna, 1839). After a visit to Rome (1850) in the interest of monastic reform, he returned to Vienna (1852) where he died after the celebration of his golden jubilee. Hergenrother in Kirchenlex., I, 1768. Thom.s J. SH.4a.N. Azarias, Brother (P.trick Francis Mull-^xy), educator, essayist, litterateur, and philosopher, b. near Killenaule, County Tipperary, Ireland, 29 June, 1847. His education began at home, and after the removal of his family to Deerfield, N. V., U. S. A . was continued in the union school of that place, and sub- sequently in the Christian Broth- ers' Academy at Utica. Believing himself called to the life of a re- Ugious teacher, he entered the noviti- ate of the Brot hers of the Clu-istian Schools, in New York City, on the 24th of February 1862. He taught in Albany, Xew York City, and Philadelphia un- til 1866, when he was called to the professorsliip of mathematics and literature in Rock Hill College, EUicott City, Md. Gradually his in- terests were diverted from mathematics and were absorbed by literature and philosophy, which, with pedagogy, continued to hold them until the end of his career. From 1879 to 1886 he was President of Rock Hill College. Then followed two years of research in European libraries, chiefly those of Paris and London. On his return to the United States, he became professor of literature in De La Salle Institute, New York City, and remained such till his death at the Catholic Summer School, Platts- burgh, 20 August, 1893. The fimeral services held in St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City, gave ample testimony to his widespread influence and to the esteem in which he was held. The secret of his success is to be found in his deep reverence for the apostolate of teaching, a reverence which found expression beyond the walls of the class room. He was a frequent contributor to the "Catholic World", the "American Catholic Quar- terly Review", and the "American Ecclesiastical Re- view", and his name appears in the files of the "Ed- ucational Review" and of the "International Jour- nal of Ethics". His lectures bore the stamp of culture and scholarship. The most notable are these;- "The Psychological Aspects of Education", delivered before the Regents' Convocation, University of the