SAINT-OUEN
366
SAINT PAUL
the King of Spain. The first students were obtained
by the removal of a small establishment which had
been set up by Father Parsons at Eu, in Normandy.
Other boys quickly arrived from England and within
ten vears of its foundation the college numbered
over' a hundred scholars. Thu-ty years later this
number had been doubled. The character of the
college was kept as Enghsh as possible, notwith-
standing that several of the early rectors were
Spanish. The buildings consisted of a large house
joined to several smaller ones, and in 1610 a regular
chapel was added. The whole was burnt down in
168-4; but it was rebuilt on a comprehensive scale.
A second fire, in 1725, led to further improvements in
rebuilding and the greater part of the college then
constructed is still standing. The college continued
its work for over a century and a half. Many devout
Cathohcs received their education within its walls,
over twenty of whom won the crown of martjTdom.
In 1678 "the Province of Artois passed into the hands of the French; but the Government was friendly to the college, which continued to prosper till the year 1762, when the Parliament of Paris decreed the expulsion of all Jesuits from France, and proposed to place the college under the direction of secular priests. In order to defeat this scheme, the Jesuits determined to remove the whole establish- ment. The boj-s expressed their willingness to ac- company their masters, and by one of the most dramatic adventures in the historj^ of any school, they succeeded in escaping from France, and re- assembling at Bruges. Here the college was carried on until the suppression of the Society throughout the world in 1773. Even then, the college did not finally come to an end. Most of the boys escaped, and many of them reassembled in the academy car- ried on by English ex- Jesuits under the protection of the prince-bishop at Liege. From there they were driven by the Revolution in 1794, and the Penal Laws in England having by that time been modified, they returned to their own country, where by the generosity of Mr. Thomas Weld, one of their former pupils, they were presented with the mansion and property at Stonyhurst, which celebrated college thus claims a descent from that established at Saint Omer by Father Parsons.
In the meantime, the French Government finding itself in po.sses.sion of the building at St. Omer, but without either masters or scholars, invited the clergy of the EnglLsh College at Douai to undertake its management. After .some hesitation, they consented to do so, feeling that this was the only way to save it from the French, and hoping some day to restore it to its rightful owners. They accordingly trans- ferred their preparatory school there and this became the nucleus of what was practically a new college. Their action was much traversed by the Jesuits, and a long altercation ensued. The facts were laid before the Holy See, and though no final decision was given, the Roman authorities refused to censure the action of the Douai clergy. In its new form, the college became fairly prosperous, the scholars numbering over one hundred. The learned Alban Butler wiis president from 1766 to 1773, and died in the college. At the outbreak of the Revolution, however, it came to an end. The students and professors were im- prisoned at Anas, in August, 1793, whence they were afterwards removed to Doullens, in Picardy, and joined to the Douai community. After the fall of Robespierre, they were removed to Douai, and in February, 1795, they were set at liberty. They re- turned to England, and the president. Dr. Staplcton, became the huaxl of the new College of St. Edmund at Old Hall. He wa.s followed by two of the professors and a few of the scholars; but the college there was based chiefly on the traditions of Douai, and the Becular College of St. Omer practically came to an end.
After the restoration of the French monarchy, the
building was restored to the executors of Dr. Staple-
ton, and by them sold to the French Government.
It is used to this day as a military hospital.
Ger.\rd, Stonyhurst College (London, 1S94) ; Keating and Gruggen, Stonyhurst (London, 1901); Foley, Records S.J. (London, 1877-83); Dodd, Church Hist, of England, cd. Tiekney (London, 1839-43); Ward, History of St. Edmund's College (London, 1893); Burton, Life of Challoner (London, 1909); Idem, Dawn of Catholic Revival (London, 1909); Petre, English Colleges on the Continent (Norwich, 1849); Bled, Les Jf suits Anglais d St. Omer; Deschamps de Pas, Histoire de St -Omer (Arras, ISSO). Several contemporary pamphlets concerning the dispute between the Jesuits and Seculars when the latter ac- cepted the college: Hoskixs, Expulsion of English Jesuits out of St. Omar's; Reeve, Plain and Succinct Narrative etc. ; Hodgson, Dispassionate Narrative etc.
Bernard Ward.
Saint-Ouen, Abbey of, Rouen, France, was a Benedictine monastery of great antiquity dating back to the early jNIerovingian period. Its foundation has been variously credited, among others, to Clothair I and to St. Clothilda, but no sufficient evidence to settle the question is forthcoming. It was dedicated at first to St. Peter when the body of St. Ouen, Arch- bishop of Rouen (d.678), was buried there; the name of St. Peter and St. Ouen became common and finally St. Ouen only. The history of the abbey, on record from A. D. 1000, presents nothing of an exceptional nature. The list of abbots is in "Galha Christiana", XI, 140. In 1660 the monastery was united to the Congregation of St. Maur, and when suppressed, in 1794, the community numbered twenty-four.
The chief interest of Saint-Ouen hes in its glorious church, which surpasses the Cathedral of Rouen in size and beauty, and is one of the few among the greater French churches completely finished. The present building, the third or fourth on the same site, was be- gun in 1318 by Abbot Jean Roussel, who had completed the choir with its chapels in the Decorated style, and a large portion of the transepts, by his death, twenty-one 3'ears later. The nave and central tower, more Flambo3'ant in design, were finished early in the sixteenth century after the original plan. Un- happily the west fagade, which had been planned on a unique and most beautiful scheme, was left un- finished. Although nothing could have been simpler than to execute the original designs still existing, the whole of the old work was swept away about the middle of the last century and an ugly pretentious modern design put up instead. Internally the church is 416 feet long, 83 feet wide, and 104 feet high, the central tower, crowned with an exquisite octagonal lantern, being 285 feet in height. Within, the effect is remarkably light and graceful, "the windows seem to have absorbed all the solid wall", and the roof rests simply on the pillars and buttresses, the intervening spaces being huge masses of gla.ss. Fortunately most of the old glass has been preserved, and its silvery white and jewels of colour give the final touch to one of the finest interiors in the world.
PoMMERAYE, Histoire de Vabbaye royale de S.-Ouen de Rouen (Rouen, 1662); GaUia Christiana, XI (Paris, IT.W), 135-55; Anli- qua statuta archimonasterii Rotomagensis S. Audoeni in MARTfeNE, Thes. nov. anecdot. (Paris, 1717), IV, 1205; Chronique des abbis de S. Ouen de Rouen, ed. Michel (Rouen, 1840); Gilbert, Descrip- tion historique de I'iglise de St-Ouen de Rouen (Rouen, 1822); Cook, The story of Rouen (London, 1899).
G. Roger Hudleston.
Saint Patrick, Brothers of. See Partician Brothers.
Saint Patrick, Purgatory of. See Porgatory,
Saint Pathkk'.s.
Saint Patrick, The National College of. See Maynooth College.
Saint Paul, Archdiocese of (Sancti Pauli), comprises the counties of Ramsey, Hennepin, Chis- ago, Anoka, Dakota, Scott, Wright, Rice, Lesueur, Carver, Nicollet, Sibley, McLcod, Meeker, Redwood,
