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Show Catholic Missionaries as Scientists. An article no less timely than interesting, written writ-ten by a prominent non-Catholic. M. Bonet-Maury, appears in the Bevue des Deux Mondes, of Paris, on the subject of Catholic missionaries as agents of civilization. Amongst other things this fair-minded fair-minded Protestant writer points out that the Jesuits. Bicci ami Secchi, were eminent astronomers. astron-omers. In the thirteenth century a Pope, and a king of France sent civilizing educated monks among the Turks. The Franciscans and D.omini-cans D.omini-cans by their great learning exerted a powerful influence over the Grand Khan. One of the Laz-arists. Laz-arists. Pere Hue. traveled extensively in Tibet and China, and his books of description are still authorities. Pere Amand David corrected the maps of China. Pere Chevalier, a French priest, did such excellent and valuable hydrographic work in Tonking that .in lS'.iy. the French Catholic mission mis-sion which founded and still conducts the celebrated cele-brated astronomical observatory at Ki-ka-wei, founded by the Jesuit fathers, Lciec and Colombel, fhe meteorological observations of which havo been used by Sir Bobert Hart since 1S0S to determine deter-mine the approach of the typhoons throughout China. |