SAINT LOUIS
363
SAINT LOUIS
main fagade with its imposing gable and deep receding
central rose-window, and three great main entrances
below, flanked on either side with imposing isolated
towers giving great breadth to the fagade, present a
front of great dignity and charm. The sides, with
many gabled entrances, one-story chapels and great
clerestory windows, the suppressed towers at the
angle of the dome and central transepts form a beau-
tiful combination, giving fine light-and-shadow ef-
fects. The building is roofed with a sea-green glazed
tile; the typana of all the arches, illuminated with
mosaics in subdued colours, impart warmth and in-
terest to the whole. The building has great bronze
doors with sculptured panels depicting Bibhcal sub-
jects. The interior is of a purely Byzantine type,
an original composition in colours never before at-
tempted in this type of church architecture. The
general plan consists of two minor domes, a large cen-
tral dome, and a nave, with transepts and apse, sur-
rounded with spacious ambulatories, through which
the circuit of the church may be made without cross-
ing the more sacred parts of the building. There are
spacious chapels with groined and vaulted ceilings to
the right and left of the sanctuary; these are dedica-
ted to the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin.
Other chapels of equal importance are on either side
of the front minor dome, while two transepts form
chapels dedicated to St. Ivouis and St. George. In
the ambulatory circling these transepts are Stations
of the Cro.ss in bronze. The colonnade's are of rare
imported coloured marbles, the cai)s and bases of
which are finished in gold with shatlowcd blues and
reds. The ceilings, s])andrils and arch balustrade
are decorated with highly illuminated glass mosaics,
of varied interlacing geometries i)at terns and religious
emblems. The interior presents an ever-changing
vista of design and colour when observed from differ-
ent points of view.
The statistics of the diocese (1911) are as follows: archbishop, 1; diocesan priests, 314; regular clergy, 214; Jesuits, 83; Passionists, 12; Redemptorists, 40; Franciscans, 32; Lazarists, 42; Servite Fathers, 2; Brothers of Mary, 3; total priests, 528; churches in city, 83; churches outside city with resident priests, 159; total, 242; churches without resident priests, 98; total churches, 340; stations, 66; chapels, 120; semi- nary for diocesan clergy, 1; students, 250; semina- ries of religious orders, 7; students, 900; colleges and academies for boys, 8; students, 2500; academies for young ladies, 22; other institutions of higher educa- tion for females, 15; females educatccl in higher branches, .')()()(); i)ari.shes with parochial schools in the city, 69; number of jjupils in city, 20, 93(1; parochial schools outside of city, 110; i)U])ils, (MUo; total schools, 179; total i)upils, 30,5S1; new.sboys' home, 1; hotel for working men, 1; oi-phan asylums, 7; orphans, 1500; House of the Good Shepherd, 1 ; children in preservation class, 250; deaf-mute asylums, 2; pupils, 190; indus- trial schools, 3; pupils, 300; total number of young people under Catholic care, 40,321 ; hospitals and in- firmaries, 16; patients during the year, about 10,000; asylums, 4; homes for aged, 2; Catholic population, about 375,000.
The statistics of the diocese at the time of this writ- ing, June, 1911, are as above quoted, but by "Brief of the Consistoriale " dated Rome, 16 June, 1911, the northern portion of the diocese has been detached and affiliated to the Diocese of St. Joseph, Mo. This will necessitate a readjustment of the above figures which cannot just now be done with any degree of accu- racy. The territory affected comprises 11 counties: Clsirk, Adair, Knox, Lewis, Macon, Shelby, Marion, Chariton, Randolph, Monroe, and Ralls. In the coun- ties named there are numbered 15 parishes with 16 missions and 20 diocesan and 3 regular priests.
RosATi, Relazione, Letters to the Propaganda and Private Letters; Idem, Diocesan Archives; Shea, Hist, of the Catholic Church in the U.S., I (Akron, 1888), paasim; Thornton, Historical
Sketch of the Church in St. Louis; Walsh, Jubilee Memoirs (St.
Louis, 1891); Encycl. of the Hist, of St. Louis (St. Louis, 1899);
Catholic Directory (Milwaukee). JoHN J. TaNNRATH.
University of St. Louis, probably the oldest uni- versity west of the Mississippi River, was founded in the City of St. Louis in 1818 by the Right Reverend Louis William Du Bourg, Bishop of Louisiana. Since 1827 the institution has been under the direction of the Society of Jesus. On 16 November, 1818, Bishop Du Bourg opened St. Louis Academy, putting it in charge of the Reverend Francois Niel and others of the secular clergy attached to St. Louis Cathedral; in 1820 the name of the institution was changed to St. Louis College. The college was successful, but the secular clergy, owing to their numerous ecclesiastical duties, found it difficult to attend to this professorial work. In consequence Bishop Du Bourg, who had been President of Georgetown College, soon began to formulate plans to put St. Louis College in care of the Society of Jesus, for he realized that its existence would be precarious without some such guarantee for supplying a corps of trained professors. He there- fore made application to the Provincial of the Jesuits in Maryland, but his reejuest could not be granted, as the establishments of the Society at Georgetown anrl elsewhere in the (^astern states fully occupied all the members at that time. However, early in 1823, Bishop Du Bourg visited Washington to consult with James M(jnroe, President of the United States, and John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, on the Indian affairs of his diocese. Mr. Calhoun suggested that he invite the Miuyland Jesuits to give him their assist- ance in this difficult pioneer work. Bishop Du Bourg tliereujjon once more entered into negotiations with the Provincial of Maiyland, offering to make over to the Society of Jesus his cathedral property in St. Louis, which comprised church and college, as well as a farm near Florissant, Mo., for an Indian seminary, if the Jesuits would establish themselves in his dio- ce.se. The provincial a(;c(>pt(>d that part of the propo- sition which referred to the Indian seminary, but stated that priests could not b(> si)are(l for the St. Louis educational project. Accordingly in June, 1823, the Jesuits from Whitemarsh, Md., took up their abode in Florissant where they opened an In- dian seminary. In 1S24 they yielded to Bishop Du Bourg's earnest solieiitations to take over St. Louis College, but the transfer was not actually effected until 1827.
The last session of St. Louis College under the man- agement of the secular clergy was that of 1826-27. The Jesuits decided to erect new college buildings on property given by Bishop Du Bourg, and in the in- terval the pupils of St. Louis College were accommo- dated at Florissant. Thence they were transferred to the new establishment in St. Louis where classes were opened under Jesuit masters on 2 November, 1829. In its new environments the college flour- ished, and in 1832 received its charter as a univer- sity by act of the Missouri Legislature. President Verhaegen at once began to organize the post-gradu- ate faculties. In 1834 the school of divinity was es- tablished, which continued its courses until 1860. A faculty of medicine was constituted in 1836 and was eminently successful until 1855 when, owing to the Know-Nothing movement, its separation from the university was deen.ed advisable. A law school was organized in 1843 but was closed four years later. In 1889 the work of reconstructing these faculties was begun. The school of philosophy and science was opened in 1889; the school of divinity in 1899; the school of medicine in 1903; the dental college, school of advanced science, and institute of law in 1908; the department of meteorology and seismology in 1909; and the school of commerce and finance in 1910. Although founded in the pioneer days of ed- ucation in the West, the old professional schools of
