Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/250

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

234 RED REDEMPTORISTS 1829. In 1813, by 53 George III., relief was extended to those who denied the doctrine of the Trinity ; but the statutes against recusancy still exist, though they are seldom enforced, against persons who absent themselves from church, being neither Roman Catholics nor Protestant dissenters. BED. See LIGHT, vol. x., p. 440, and PIG- MENTS. RED BIRD. See CARDINAL BIRD. REDBREAST. See ROBIN. REDDING, Cyras, an English journalist and author, born in Penryn, Cornwall^ in 1786, died in London, May 28, 1870. He went to London in 1806, was engaged upon the staff of " The Pilot," and established and conduct- ed the " Plymouth Chronicle." From 1815 to 1818 he resided in France, where he edited " Galignani's Messenger." He was editor of the "New Monthly Magazine" from 1820 to 1830, jointly with the poet Campbell, with whom in the latter year he began the "Me- tropolitan," which proved unsuccessful. Sub- sequently he edited for two years the " Bath Guardian," and in 1836 established the " Staf- fordshire Examiner," both liberal in politics. He returned to London in 1840. His works include a collection of poems published under the title of " Gabrielle " (1829) ; " History and Description of Modern Wines" (1833), which has been many times republished ; " Fifty Years' Recollections, Literary and Personal " (3 vols., 1858) ; " Keeping up Appearances," a novel (1860) ; " French Wines and Vineyards, and the Way to Find them" (1860); "Liter- ary Reminiscences and Memoirs of Thomas Campbell" (2 vols., 1860), originally contrib- uted to the "New Monthly" soon after the poet's death; "All's Well that Ends Well" (1862); "Memoirs of Remarkable Misers" (2 vols., 1863); "Yesterday and To-day" (1863); and "Past Celebrities whom I have Known" (2 vols., 1865). REDEMPTION, Eqnlty of. See MORTGAGE. REDEMPTORISTS, or Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known also aa Liguorians, a society of missionary priests in the Roman Catholic church, founded by St. Alfonso Maria .da Liguori. The foundation of the society dates from Nov. 9, 1782, when Alfonso, with twelve priests, two candidates for orders, and a rich gentleman who volunteered to serve them as lay brother, united in community at Scala, in the Neapolitan province of Benevento. After laboring together successfully for some time, Alfonso deliberated with his companions on the choice of a rule of life ; but the diver- sity of opinions among them became irrecon- cilable, and they dispersed, one priest and the lay brother, Vito Curzio, remaining with Al- fonso. As Alfonso continued his labors, new members nocked to him, several houses were established, and the rules drawn up by him for the government of the society were approved in 1749 by Pope Benedict XIV., Alfonso him- self being chosen superior general for life. The rule of the Redemptorists prescribes, be- sides the three usual monastic vows, a fourth, which obliges the members to accept outside of the order no dignity, office, or benefice, except upon an express order of the pope or the superior general, and not to leave the order unless by special permission of the pope. The principal sphere of action of this order has been the conducting of what is called a " mis- sion," lasting one, two, or more weeks, during which time the missionaries endeavor to pre- vail upon all the members of a church to de- vote their time principally to religious exer- cises and a thorough reformation of their lives. St. Alfonso and his companions followed in this the method of the Jesuit missionaries in Italy. When the Jesuits were suppressed by Clement XIV., Alfonso aimed at replacing them by his order as popular instructors. This cir- cumstance, and Alfonso's known love for the suppressed order, caused the Redemptorists to be not unf requently confounded with the Jesu- its. The order spread early from Naples into Sicily and the Papal States; but even before the death of the founder all the houses in the kingdom of Naples were excluded from the order, because they had procured a ratification from the government at the expense of impor- tant and unauthorized alterations of their rule. The division lasted till 1790, when a reunion was effected. The first German members es- tablished missions in Courland and at Warsaw, but both succumbed to the wars arising out of the French revolution. In Austria they have had since 1808 many influential patrons, and it has ever since remained one of the most im- portant provinces of the order. In France they suffered some losses from the interference of the government in 1830, and again in 1861. They have found an important sphere of ac- tion in the United States, whither they first came .in 1841, and where they principally la- bor among the German population. In 1858 a number of American Redemptorists left the order and established with the pope's sanction an independent missionary congregation. (See PAUUSTS.) In 1874 they were called to Cana- da and placed in charge of St. Patrick's church, Quebec. In 1870 the Redemptorists were in- volved with the Jesuits in the decree of the Italian parliament suppressing all religious or- ders in Italy ; in 1373 their central residence in Rome was also suppressed. In the latter year the German parliament decreed their ex- pulsion from Germany, and on May 31, 1875, another decree sequestrated their property and deprived them of all civil rights in Prussia. A similar proscription swept away their houses in Switzerland and banished their members. In France, where they possessed eleven houses in 1869, their numbers have not increased since the war, the French government refusing the Redemptorists exiled from Germany permis- sion to settle there. These have taken refuge principally in the British empire and colonies, and in the United States. In this country