VIEL
410
VIEL
studied under the Jesuits, and entered the Society
of Jesus in 1623, pronouncing his first vows in 1625.
At eighteen he was teaching rhetoric, and shortly
after writing commentaries on the "Canticle of
Canticles", the tragedies of Seneca, and the "Meta-
morphoses" of Ovid. Ordained priest in 163.5, he
immediately astounded all by his eloquence. When
the Dutch besieged Bahia (1640), he delivered his
"Discourse for the Success of the Portuguese Arms",
called by the sceptical Raynal the most extraordinary
outburst of Christian eloquence. Portugal, under
John IV, had thrown off the Spanish yoke in 1640.
The following year Vieira went to Lisbon with young
Mascarcnhas, whom the viceroy had commissioned to
assure the new king of the loyalty of the colonists.
John, recognizing the Jesuit's merit, made him tutor
to the Infante Dom Pedro, court preacher, and a
member of the Royal Council. Vieira did efficient
work in the War and Navy Departments, revived
commerce, urged the foundation of a national bank
and the organization of the Brazilian Trade Company.
A champion of freedom, he maintained that no citizen
should be exempt from taxation, and denounced the
severity of the Portuguese Inquisition. He ad-
vocated a purely defensive war with Spain, and to his
skilful plans are partly due the victories of Elvas,
Almeixal, Castello-Rodrigo, and Montes-Claros.
At difTerent periods (1646, 1647, 1650) John IV sent Vieira on diplomatic missions, to Paris, The Hague, London, and Rome. The Jesuit little relished such honours, and steadily refused the official title of ambassador and the offer of a bishopric. In 1652 he returned to Maranhao. But so fearless were his denunciations of the slave owners and their excesses that in 1654 he was obliged to return to Lisbon, where he pleaded the cause of the outraged Indians. He was successful, and sailed for Brazil in 1655. Six years he worked for the Indians, translating the Cate- chism into their rude idioms, teaching them the arts of peace, travelling hundreds of miles on the Amazon and its tributaries, winning even the fierce Nheen- gaibas by his eloquence, but again arousing the hatred of the slave owners, who in 1661 "exiled" him to Lis- bon. The corrupt Alphonso VI had succeeded John IV, and Vieira found many enemies at Court. For his leniency to the converted Jews, for alleged doc- trinal errors, for his ultra-patriotic "Sebastianism", and his too credulous acceptance of the prophecies of Bandarra, who foretold a millennium in which Portu- gal and the Church should rule the world, for his harmless, but extravagant, "As Esperangas do Por- tugal" and "Clavis Prophetarum ", he was con- demned by the Portuguese Inquisition, forbidden to preach, and kept a prisoner from Oct., 1665, to Dec, 1667. Under Pedro II the Inquisition reversed its sentence. But Rome was a safer residence, and from 1669 to 1675 he found there an enthusiastic welcome. Clement X, the cardinals, his general, the great preacher Oliva, that erratic princess Christine of Sweden, who vainly begged him to become her direc- tor, and high and low were fascinated l)y his eloquence. But Vieira, amid his triumphs, longed for his Indians of Maranhao, and after a brief stay in Portugal sailed for South America in 1681. Trial and tribulation again faced him. Worn out byhis labours as preacher, superior, and visitor of the missions, slanderously accused of conniving at the murder of a colonial offi- cial, denounced to his superiors for illegal canvassing in a provincial congregation of his order, and cleared of the charge only when in his grave, he died, .sorrow- ing, but unbroken, in his ninetieth year. The slav<-s and the poor wen- his chief mourners.
Vieira is one of Portugal's greatest figures in the seventeenth century. Scnithey (History of Brazil) calls him one of the greatest statesmen of his country. A thorough-going Jesuit, Vieira was also a progressive administrator with large and democratic views. His
character, though streaked with a vein of extrava-
gance, was of the noblest. He had lofty conceptions,
and, in their execution, was independent and bold.
In the midst of courts, he remained humble and morti-
fied. He had one dream, to see Portugal the standard-
bearer of civihzation and Christianity in the old
and new world. As a prose writer he is perhaps the
greatest Portugal has produced. As an orator he is
undoubtedly one of the world's masters, equally great
in the cathetlrals of Europe and the rude shrines of
Maranhao. He is not free from the bad taste and
artificial "gongorism" imported from Spain, but he is
clear, popular, and practical, profoundly original and
frequently sublime. In this respect he does not suffer
by comparison with Bossuet himself. He has variety,
dialectical skill, imaginative colouring, pathos, power,
and even humour. He is amazingly fertile; he has, for
instance, 30 sermons on the Rosary, 18 on Saint Francis
Xavier, 14 on the Eucharist. He had mastered the
Scriptures, and his interpretations, if forced at times,
are always striking. Vieira's works have been fre-
quently pubhshed, as, for example, "Obras Com-
pletas" (Lisbon, 1854), fairly complete with 15 vol-
umes of .sermons alone, .500 letters, etc.; this edition,
however, omits many manuscripts kept in the British
Museum and the National library, Paris; "Obras
Completas" (Porto, 1907); "Sermoes Selectos" (6
vols., 1852-.53); "Cartas" (3 vols., Lisbon, 1735).
For a complete list cf. Sommervogel and Cabral's
fine work, "Vieira Pregador".
Barros, Vida do Padre Antonio Vieira (Liabon. 1746) : BaK- BOSA Machado, Bibliolhecn Lvsilmn. I (Lisbon, 1741-39), 416;
Perreira de Bekredo. .1 jn^n^r- ' ■ 'r,-,^ ,io Estado do MaranhSo
(Lisbon, 1749); LoBO, Di^r'^- ' , . rriUco (Coimbra, 1823);
Mag.nin, Causeries et m. ,' -r.-s (Paris, 1842); Ro-
tiJj^TVE, Epitome da Vida '," I' I \ , ,.j \n Revista trimensal do instituo historico (Rio de J.iiieiru, iM.lOi HoNORATi, O Chrijsos- tomo Portuguez (Lisbon, ISTS); Lisbua, Vida do P. A. Vieira in Obras posthumas (S. Luis de Maranhao. 1864) ; Carel, Vieira, sa vie et aes ceuvres (Paris, 1S79) ; Cabral, Une grande figure de prttre, Vieira (Paris. 1900); Cabrai., Vieira Pregador (Porto, 1901); DE SouSA, Trechos Selectos do P. A. Vieira (Lisbon. 1897); Avelino d'Almeida e Santos Lourenco, O livro de oiro do P. A. Vieira (Porto. 1897) ; G. Alves in Introduction to Obras com-' pletas (Porto, 1907); Prestage, Portuguese Literature to the end of the eighteenth century (London, 1909) ; Sommervogel, Bibliothique de la C. de J., VIU, 653. JoHN C. RevILLE.
Viel, Nicolas, d. 1625, the first victim of apostolic zeal on the shores of the St. Lawrence. After per- sistently asking for three years, he at length obtained the favour of consecrating his life to the Canadian missions. He arrived at Quebec, 28 June, 1623, ac- companied by Brother Sagard, the future historian. After a few days rest he set out for the Huron country, which he reached with great difficulty, taking up his residence in the village of St. Nicolas (Toanchd), but did not remain long before joining Father Le Caron stationed at St. Joseph (Carhagouha). Here he began earnestly to study the language, collecting the first elements of a dictionary, and sowing the good seed of faith amidst great difficulties and tribulations. In the spring of 1624 he foimd himself completely iso- lated, Fr. Le Caron and Br. Sagard having left for Quebec. The following jear he consented to ac- company a band of Hurons going down to Quebec, with the intention of making a few days retreat and then returning to his missions. It is known that he never reached Quebec, but was drowned in the last chute of the Riviere des Prairies, which from that tiiTir bears the name of Sault-au-Recollet. The nco- ph> le Auhaitsique, whom he had instructed and bap- tized, met with the .same fate. It was learned later that this was not an accident ; but that a few Hurons, enemies of religion, drownc'd them in hatred of the Faith. If we can rely on the "Mai-tyrologe des HecoUets", Father \'iei was buried in St. Charles's Chapel, 25 June, 11)25.
Sagard, Orand voyage: Histoire du Canada; Leclercq. PrfmiffT etablissement de la Foi: Le Tac, Histoire chronologique; Jones, Huronia; Jesuit Relations.
.\HT. MlSLANgON.
