BOLLANDISTS
636
BOLLANDISTS
of Brussels, to which had been sent all the equip-
ments of the printing establishment which the
BoUandists had founded at Antwerp exclusively for
their work. The printing expenses as well as those
of pensions and indemnities were largely made up to
the public treasury by the confiscation of the capital
amassed by the older BoUandists through the sale of
their volumes, the collective pension of 2,000 Brabant
florins received from the government all through the
eighteenth century up to the suppression of the
Society, and the liberality of certain benefactors.
This capital had grown by 1773 to the sum of 130,000
Brabant florins, (.$47,166) yielding an annual revenue
of 9,133 florins and 18 sous to which were added the
results of the sale of the Acta Sanctorum which
averaged 2,400 florins yearly. The Empress Maria
Theresa to the very last showed favour to the work
of the BoUandists. The same benevolence was not
experienced from her successor, Joseph II. The
BoUandists now felt the consequences of one of the
so-called reforms introduced into the ecclesiastical
domain by this imperial philosopher. Among the
religious houses suppressed as useless was the Abbey
of Caudenberg. The decree of suppression was en-
forced in May, 17S6. The BoUandists were not at
first involved in the catastrophe, as they were as-
signed a dwelling-place and library in a part of the
buildings formerly occu(5ied by the college of the
Society of Jesus, and were allowed to retain the pen-
sions and privileges granted them in 1778. This was
only a short postponement, however, of the com-
plete destruction of the work. Already, in 1784, the
Prince von Kaunitz, minister of Joseph II and his
chief counsellor in the matter of religious reform, had
intimated that the Emperor was not content with the
slow progress of the undertaking, and that for the
future he would expect to see the publication of at
least a volume a year, so that the work might be
entirely finished in ten years. The minister even
went so far as to send word to the municipality of
Brussels that "he attributed the lack of activity on
the part of the BoUandists to their desire to keep up
forever [eterniiier] the profits accruing from the work,
and that if they did not give satisfaction there was
nothing to do but suppress the establishment." The
accused had no difficulty in justifying themselves.
But the Court of Vienna had fully decided to hear
no explanation, and in 1788 asked for a report from
the Court of Accounts concerning the expenses entailed
by the work of the BoUandists. The conclusion de-
duced from this report was that the suppression of
this work and that of the historiographers would
result in an annual gain to the treasury of two
to three thousand florins. The Chamber, moreover,
took it on itself to say that there was no advantage
to be gained by continuing it. The ecclesiastical
commission and commission of studies (one and the
same), consulted in its turn, gave a decision to the
same effect (11 October, 1788). "The work of the
BoUandists ", it said, " is far from completion, and
we cannot flatter ourselves that the end is yet in
sight. This work has no merit but that of being an
historical repertory, filled with an enormous quantity
of details, which will always have but slight attraction
for real savants. It is astonishing that at the time
of the suppression of the Jesuit Order, they should
have been successful in interesting the Government
in such trash, and that it is such is proved by the
scanty profit the BoUandists have deriveil from their
labours. In business parlance, it is a very poor in-
vestment, and as it is not better, regarded from a
scientific standpoint, it is quite time to put an end
to it." Strengthened by this advice, the "Govern-
ment Council" notified the Court of Accounts by a
despatch dated 16 October, 1788, that it had been
decided to put a stop to the work of the Acta Sanc-
torum, and that in consequence, beginning from
that date, no more payments should be made to the
Fathers De Bye, De Bue, Fonson, Ghesqui^re, and
Cornelius Smet (a former Jesuit, associated first with
Ghesquiere in the publication of the " Analecta
Belgica" and later enrolled among the BoUandists)
of the annual pension of 800 florins which had been
assured them. It was to be decided later what should
be done with the printing outfit and the other effects
of the suppressed establishment. These spoils com-
prised the library of the BoUandists and the copies
of the volumes already published which they had in
stock. This involved no slight annoyance. Once
the series was abandoned, it would be difficult to
find a purchaser for these works, and they wished to
realize as much money as possible from them. It
was decided to ask the BoUandists themselves to
undertake the sale of these effects for the benefit of
the public treasury. The BoUandists willingly ac-
cepted the charge, hoping to keep intact the treas-
ures of their library and tlius to ensure, in a certain
measure, the resumption of the work, if not at once,
at least in the near future.
Cornelius De Bye, who had been especially com- missioned to conduct the sale, turned first to Martin Gerbert, the learned abbot of the monastery of St. Blasius in the Black Forest. On behalf of the Government commissioners he named a purchase price for the library and such of the published vol- umes as remained unsold, and offered to come to St. Blasius for some months in order to train some of the young religious of the abbey for the work of publishing the Acta Sanctorum. His letter, dated 11 November, 1788, remained unanswered, whether as a result of dispositions little favourable to the Society of Jesus, such as had been more than once manifested by this famous abbot, or whether, al- ready absorbed by many important works, he felt he could not think of undertaking yet another entirely new. About the same time, i. e. in November and December, 1788, the Congregation of Benedictines of Saint-Maur, in France, of its own accord made advances to the officials of the Imperial Government of Vienna for the acquisition of the BoUandist library, with a view to continuing the pubhcation. This attempt was equally void of result. It was with the abbey of the Prenionstratensians of Ton- gerloo that arrangements were fuially concluded. By a contract signed 11 ^lay, 1789, the Government transferred to this abbey the BoUandist library and the Bellarmine Museum, together with the furnish- ings appertaining to them, and the volumes already printed and the printing equipment. In return, the abbey was to pay the go\-ernment for the libraries 12,000 Brabant florins (•«4.353.84) and for the other things 18,000 florins. Half of the latter sum was turned over to the three hagiographers, De Bye, De Bue, and Fonson. Moreover, the abbey agreed to pay a yearly salary to these three as well as to Ghesquiere and Smet. The BoUandists were scarcely established in their new home when the Brabantine Revolution broke out. Nevertheless, they continued their labours and in 1794 pubUshed the sixth volume of October, signed with the names of Cornelius De Bye and James De Bue, former Jesuits, John Baptist Fonson, ex-Canon of Cauden- berg, Anselni Berthod the Benedictine, and Siard van Dyck, Cyprian van de Goor, and Matthias Stalz, Premonstratensian canons. The same year Belgium was invaded by French troops and reunited to the great Republic. Ecclesiastical goods were confis- cated, priests and religious hunted like criminals, the Prenionstratensians of Tongerloo and the BoUandists whom they harboured forced to disperse, and the work of the BoUandists actually suppressed. Part of the treasures of the library were concealed in the homes of neighbouring peasants, and the rest, hastily piled into wagons, were taken to Westohaha. When
