KONIG
688
koniggrAtz
change the subject-matter and methods of education
in Poland. Good school-books and teachers were
necessary; the latter he tried to train himself as " Mag-
ister novitiorum" at Rzeszow college, and then sent
them either to be tutors of young noblemen or to
study aliroad at his own cost. In 1740 he opened a
collegium nobilium at Warsaw, a most important ex-
periment. In the first year he had but one pupil, in
the second there were more than ten, while in the third
he had not room for all who came. The teachers he
had instructed now liegan to help him in writing
school-books, etc. In 1754 he built a college and ol>
tained from Benedict XIV a change in the rule of the
order: henceforth every Piarist was to be a teacher.
There were soon as many schools as Piarist convents,
and education was no longer a privilege of the nobility
alone. The classics, history and geography, natural
science, philosophy, Roman and Polish law, were
taught, together with the modern languages; and for
the first time the Polish tongue was taught as a sepa-
rate subject. Mental, rather than purely mnemonic,
work was encouraged; moral education was insisted
upon; emulation succeeded to fear; self-sacrifice, hon-
our, patriotism were inculcated as the duties of a citi-
zen. Konarski had found theatricals in use; he main-
tained the custom, thinking these performances might
become very instructive, had Racine and Corneille per-
formed, and himself wrote a tragedy, "Epaminon-
das". He also introduced discussions and debating
societies for advanced pupils. Together with this, he
laboured to reform style in Poland, wrote "De emen-
dandis eloquentite vitiis", and attacked the bad taste
prevalent at the time. The Piarist schools succeeded
so well that all others were obliged to follow his reform.
Konarski was subjected to envious attacks, and the
Papal nuncio, Durini, suspected his orthodoxy. He
cleared himself by his book, " De religione honestorum
hominum".
Having efTected a complete reformation in educa- tion, he returned to politics. From 1760 to 1763 ap- peared his " Effective Way of Dehberating", which proved that the right of one member to veto the pro- ceedings of the whole Diet had never been a law, but an evil custom, and showed from the procedure of other parhaments that a working majority was sufficient. The impression made by this work was immense, and even the most bigoted partisans of the veto were con- vinced. Thenceforward this custom was doomed — in itself a great step forward and a preliminary to the constitution of the Third of May. But the book con- tains many other valuable ideas. His style is clear, calm, eloquent, rarely passionate. He did much for the Piarist publications (v. g. the "Diplomatic Co- dex"), and the "Volumina Legum" is his work. A great admirer of French civilization and taste — which, however, were not without danger in their tendencies, as was subsequently seen — he was also the last Latin writer in Poland; his "Opera Lyrica" (1767) are per- fect in style and diction. King Stanislaus Augustus caused a medal to be struck in his honour, with the well-merited inscription, "Sapere auso".
S. Tarnowski.
Ebnig, Joseph, theologian and exegete, b. at Hau- sen on the Aach, District of Hegau, Grand Duchy of Baden, 7 Sept., 1819; d. at Freiburg ira Breisgau, 22 June, 1900. He was ordained to the priesthood in 184.5. In 1847 Kiinig was privaUhzent, in 1854 extraor- dinary, and from 1857 to 1894 ordinary, professor of Old Testament literature and exegesis at the Univer- sity of Freiburg. On the expiration of this term he re- signed his professorship. Kiinig's oxegetical writings include: "Die Unstcrbliclikcitsidee im Buche Job" (18.55);" Die ThcnlogicdcrPsalmen" (18.57), regarded by many as his ablest work; "Das alttest. Konig- tum" (programme, 18615); ."Alter u. Entstehung des Pentateuchs" (pro-roctoral discourse, 1884). The
editorship of the "Freiburger Diozesan-Archiv" was
entrusted to Konig, and his period of office witnessed
many notable contributions to the history of the great
abbeys and civilization centres of Reichenau, St. Gall,
and Fulda, several of which were from his own pen.
He was highly commended for research work in dioce-
san history, but it is chiefly in connexion with the Uni-
versity of Freiburg, to the history of which institution
Konig contributed many notable studies (see e. g.
"Freiburger Diozesan-Archiv", XXI and XXII),
that he is remembered. During the years 1885 to
1SS9 Konig's activity was centred mainly on the
"Necrologium Frib.", a record of the period 1827-87.
Lauchert in Buchberger, Kirchliches Handlex., 3. v.;
Herder, Komvrsations-Lexikon, s. v. Konig (10); Freiburoer
Diozesan-Archiv, XXVIII (Freiburg im Br., 1900), v-xvi.
P. J. MacAulbt.
Kbniggratz, Diocese op (Regin.b HRADECENsis),in Bohemia. This see owes its origin to Emperor Ferdi- nand III, who, soon after the creation of the Diocese of Leitmeritz (q. v.), decided to establish another to replace that of Leitomischl, which had been founded in 1344, but had disappeared during the Hussite wars. Through the mediation of Cardinal Ernst von Har- rach. Archbishop of Prague, he obtained from Count- ess Anna Eusebia von Harrach the domain of Chrast and the manor of Aufetitz in the district of Chrudim, and gave them to the new diocese. Alexander VII's Bull of erection is dated 10 November, 1664; Mat- thaus Ferdinand Zoubek von Bilenberg, abbot of the Benedictine monastery of St. Nikolaus at Prague, was appointed first bishop. The new diocese embraced at first only the old district (Kreis) of Koniggratz, which, however, included the subsequently formed district of Bydzow with the exception of two parishes. In 1784, during the reign of Joseph II, the diocese re- ceived its present boundaries by the addition of the two districts of Chrudim and Czaslau, separated for this purpose from the Archdiocese of Prague. Among the bishops of Koniggratz worthy of special mention are: Johannes Adamus, Count Wratislaw von Mitro- vic (1710-21), later Archbishop of Prague; Joseph Adam von Arco (1776-80); Aloys Joseph, Count Krakovsky von Kolowrat (1812-30), d. 1833 as Arch- bishop of Prague; Karl Borromaus Hani von ffirch- treu (1831-74). Joseph Johannes Hais (1875-92), and Eduard Johannes Nepomuk Brynych (1892- 1902) performed valuable services by their devotion to the training of the clergy, the development of pious associations, and the erection of churches. The pres- ent bishop is Josephus Doubrava (b. 29 February, 1852; consecrated 29 June, 1903).
Statistics. — The diocese is divided into 32 vicariates, and includes 1 ciiratia canonicalis (cure of souls com- bined with jurisdiction), 2 provostships, 3 archdean- eries, 38 deaneries, 404 parishes served by secular priests, 16 parishes served by members of orders, 10 other benefices, 11 chaplaincies in noble families, 18 chaplaincies attached to foundations. At the close of 1909 the secular priests numbered 998, the regular S3. The diocese contains 1,476,942 CathoUcs, 50,037 non- Catholic Christians, and 11,372 Jews. The great ma- jority of the inhabitans are Czechs. Of the vicariates 16 are entirely Czech, 3 entirely German, while in 13 the population is partly German and partly Czech. Three-quarters of the parishes are wholly Czech, over one-fifth wholly German, the rest include both Ger- man and Czech Catholics. The great majority of the secular clergy are Czechs, who minister even in par- ishes tliat are purely German, owing to the notable lack of German priests. This latter phenomenon is to be explained iiartlyl>y the fact that the Liberal tendencies long prevalent in Hohoniia have influenced German students against (he [)rii'stly life; partly by the ma- terial conditions of the (leinian parishes, which, being mainly in the mountains and far apart, repel German candidates for the priesthood. The cathedral chapter
