SAINT-SULPICE
379
SAINT-SULPICE
the age crept into that of Paris, in consequence of the
weakening of morals at the Court, contact with the
world, and the great number of sons of the nobility
who had become seminarians. At this period kSaint-
Sulpice was charged with the spiritual direction of
schools of philosophy and even of pelits seminaires
both at Paris and Angers, always with the object of
preparing the pupils for the priesthood. When the
Revolution broke out the seminary of Paris alone had
trained more than five thousand priests, and more
than half the bishops who faced that dreadful tem-
pest (about fifty) had been in Sulpician seminaries.
Claude Bourachot (1770-77) and Pierre Le Gallic
(1777-82), who governed with the mournful presenti-
ment of the Revolution, were succeeded by Andre Em-
ery, the man providentially chosen to guide the society
during those dark days. He beheld the seminaries
closed, his brethren scattered, hunted, and compelled to
seek safety in exile, but he had the great consolation, at
a time of frequent defections, of seeing them all faithful
to their promises. Not one of them took the oath to
the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, and eighteen of
them died for their faith. The hfe of this illustrious
priest belongs to the whole Church, whose rights he
defended with unshakable firmness against Napoleon
I (see Emery). After the Concordat he reopened the
seminary of Paris. He should be regarded as the
restorer of the Society of M. Olier.
During the nineteenth centurj' the Society of Saint- Sulpice has quietly continued its work of clerical training while sharing all the vicissitudes of the Church in France. The following superiors general have governed it: M. Duclaux (1811-26); Gamier (1826-45), a noted Hebrew scholar; de Courson (1845-50); Carriere (1850-64), an eminent theolo- gian; Caval (1864-75); J. H. Icard (1879-93); and Captier (189;i-1900), the founder and first superior of the procure of Saint-Sulpice at Rome. Living within the walls of its seminaries, which, constantly increas- ing, numb(;red twenty-six in 1900, the Society of Saint-Sulpicc has, so to speak, no history. Its mem- bers, absorbed in their professional duties, share the hfe of the seminarians, being solicitous to train them not only in the ecclesiastical sciences, but also in priestly virtups, and this more by their own daily ex- amples than by the lessons which they teach. A good Sulpician constitutes himself everywhere and always the companion and the model of the future priests, in their pious exercises, recreations, meals, and walks, briefly in all the details of their life.
That such a hfe is eminently fruitful is proved by the numerous prelates, dist inguishcd priests, founders of religious orders, missionaries and religious from Sulpician seminaries, but it will be readily under- stood that it furnishes few facts of histor>'. For the Church of France Saint-Sulpice has been a great school of ecclesiastical dignity, love of study, regu- larity, and virtue. Pius X paid the society this tribute: "Congregatio Sulpicianorum fuit salus Gal- ha;" (Audience of 10 Jan., 1905, to the pastors of Paris). The recent persecutions brought about in France by the separation of Church and State did not fail to attack it. A circular of Minister Combes (1904) declared Saint-Sulpice unfitted to teach in seminaries. At the same time the old seminary of Paris was taken away from it. Nevertheless the society was not dissolved. It subsists in its essen- tial organs, and its members, in most instances in the seminaries of their native dioceses, continue work of devotion to the clergy and the Church.
At different dates the society extended branches to American soil, to Canada in 1657, to the United States in 1791. (See Sulpicians in the United States.)
M. Olier had desired to go to Canada to work for the conversion of the savages; this he was unable to do, but in union with several pious persons, among
them Jerome Le Royer de la Dauversiere, he founded
the Society of Notre-Dame de Montreal. The under-
taking was inspired by the desire to found a city in
honour of the Blessed Virgin (Villemarie in the Island
of Montreal) which should serve as headquarters for
the Indian missions and as a stronghold again.st the
Iroquois. The manner in which Alaisonneuve ac-
complished this foundation is well known. In 1657
the dying Olier sent four of his disciples to the mission
of Villemarie, where the colonists were asking for
them. They were led by M. De Queylus and thence-
forth the Sulpicians shared the vicissitudes of the
Montreal colony. Two of them, Vignal and Lemaitre,
were slain by the Iroquois (1660). In 1663 the asso-
ciates of Notre-Dame, reduced to eight by death and
wearj' of a colony which yielded only expenses, ceded
their rights and duties to the Society of Saint-Sulpice,
which was thenceforth owner and lord of the Island of
Montreal. It paid 130,000 livres in debts and pledged
itself never to alienate the property of the island. M.
de Bretonvilliers gave no less than 400,000 livres of his
personal fortune for the maintenance of the colony
and M. Faillon has calculated that from 1657 to 1710
the seminary of Paris transmitted to that of Montreal
not less than 900,000 livres or one million dollars.
Personal devotion was added to these expenses.
Eleven Sulpicians were labouring at Montreal in
1668, teaching boys, exercising the sacred ministry,
or doing missionary work among the savages. MM.
Trouve and de Fenelon founded the mission of Kent6
on Lake Ontario. DoUier de Casson and Brehan de
Gallince explored the region of the Great Lakes
(1669), of which they made a map. In 1676 was
opened the mission of the Mountain on the site of the
present seminary, where M. Belmont built a fort
(1685). The brandy traflic necessitated the removal
of this fixed mission and in 1720 it was transferred to
Lac-des-Deux-Montagnes, where it is at present. At
the end of the seventeenth century the Sulpicians had
created and organized in the vicinity of Montreal six
parishes which they zealously administered, besides sup-
plying them with churches, presbyteries, and schools.
During the eighteenth century the history of the
society in Canada continued closely linked with that
of Montreal, in all of whose works it assisted by its re-
sources and devotion. The number of priests in-
creased to meet the needs of the time, and at the con-
quest (1760) they numbered thirty. They were
headed by worthy men: Vachon de Belmont (1700-
31), who succeeded Dollier de Casson; Louis Normant
du Faradon (1731-59), who assisted Ven. Mere d'You-
ville in the foundation of the Grey Nuns; Etienne
Montgolfier, who had the difficult task of governing
his community during the period of conquest. To
the Sulpicians who remained after the Treaty of
Paris (1763) the seminary of Saint-Sulpice ceded its
possessions in Canada on condition that they would
carry on the work of M. Oher. Being unable to re-
cruit their numbers the Sulpicians of Montreal would
have become extinct had not the Enghsh Govern-
ment humanely opened Canada to the priests perse-
cuted by the French Revolution. Twelve Sulpicians
reached Montreal in 1794. After lengthy disputes
the possessions of the society coveted by the English
agents were recognized by the British Crown (1840)
and the Sulpicians were free to continue undisturbed
their work for the Church and society. Beside.^ the
College de Montreal, founded in 1767, and which per-
formed important services after the conquest, they
founded a higher seminary (1840) for the education of
the clergy. In this house several thousand priests
have been trained for the priesthood. They have
since founded (1894) for the benefit of the clergy a
seminary of philosophy at Montreal, opened the Ca-
nadian College at Rome for higher ecclesiastical study,
and quite recently (1911) have organized the School
of St. John the EvangeUst for the recruiting of clergy
