What the Jesuit astronomers accomplished in China from the time of Ricci down to Hallerstein in 1774 has been continued there to the present day. The first government observatory in Europe was erected in the University of Vienna, then in the hands of the Jesuits. There were others at Vilna, Schwetzingen and Mannheim. Twelve other private ones had been built in the various European colleges of the Society. The establishment of these observatories was providential, for when the Society was suppressed they afforded occupation and support to a great number of dispersed Jesuits, who remained in charge of them during their forty years of homelessness and kept alive the old spirit of the Order in its affection for that particular study. As in the old Society this work is still a matter of private enterprise. As far as we are aware there is only one observatory where a government assists, the Observatory of Manila, in which the employees are salaried by the United States government. The equipment itself, however, was provided by the Jesuits, who reduced their living expenses to the minimum in order to build the house and buy the instruments.
On the other hand, the number of actual Jesuit observatories in the strict sense of the term already rivals that of the old Society. The Roman establishment which had been made famous by Scheiner, Gottignes, Asclepi, Borgondius, Maire and Boscovich was continued during the Suppression by the secular priest Calandrelli. In 1824 Leo XII restored it to the Society, and Father Dumouchel took charge of it with De Vico as an assistant. The latter's reputation was European. He was known as the Comet Chaser, for he had discovered eight of them. The well-known five and a half years periodic comet bears his name. He succeeded Dumouchel as director in 1840, and was holding that office when the Revolution of 1848 drove the Jesuits from Rome. He was received with great enthusiasm in France by Arago, and in England he was offered the directorship of the Observatory of Madras but he preferred to go to Georgetown in the United States. Being called to London on business, he died there on November 15, 1848, at the age of 43. Herschel wrote his obituary in the "Notices of the Astronomical Society."
Secchi had gone with De Vico to Georgetown, but was recalled to Rome in 1849 by Pius IX, and given charge of the observatory. He was born at Reggio in 1818, and, after studying in the Jesuit college there, entered the Society at the age of sixteen. He began as a tutor in physics and continued at that work when he went to Georgetown. Astronomy had as yet not appealed to him, but in Washington he met the famous hydrographer, meteorologist and astronomer, Maury, and a deep affection sprang up between them, and Secchi dedicated one of his books to his American friend. His appointment to the Roman Observatory in 1859 was due to the recommendation of De Vico, and in two years his brilliant success as an observer attracted the attention of the scientific world. He began by a revision of Struve's "Catalogue of Double Stars," which necessitated seven years' strenuous work, and he was able to verify 10,000 of the entries. Meantime he was studying the physical condition of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and the four great moons of Jupiter. In 1852 the moon became the special object of his investigations, and his micrometrical map of the great crater was so exact that the Royal Society of London had numerous photographs made of it. In 1859 he published his great work "Il quadro fisico del sistema solare secondo il piu recenti osservazioni." The study of the sun spots was his favorite task, and his expedition to Spain in 1860 to observe the total eclipse established the fact that the red protuberances around the edge of the eclipsed sun were real features of the sun itself and not optical illuminations or illuminated mountains of the moon. He began the "Sun Records" in Rome, and they are kept up till this day. No other observatory has anything like them. All this, with his inventions, and the study of the spectroscope, heliospectroscope and telespectroscope, besides the mass of scientific results which he arrived at, has put him in the very first rank of astronomers. He was equally conspicuous as a meteorologist and a physicist. When the Piedmontese took Rome, Secchi was offered the rank of senator and the superintendency of all the observatories of Italy if he would leave the Society. Of course he scoffed at the proposal; but his authority in Italy was so great that the invaders did not dare to expel him from his observatory. He died in 1878.
Clerke says of him: "The effective founders of stellar photography were Father Secchi, the eminent Jesuit astronomer of the Collegio Romano, and Dr. Huggins with whom the late Professor Mullen was associated. The work of each was happily made to supplement that of the other. With less perfect appliances, the Roman astronomer sought to render his work extensive rather than precise; whereas, at Upper Tulse Hill, searching accuracy over a narrower gauge was aimed at and attained. To Father Secchi is due the merit of having executed the first spectroscope view of the heavens. Above 4000 stars were all passed in review by him and classified according to the varying qualities of their light. His provisional establishment (1863-7) of four types of stellar spectra has proved a genuine aid to knowledge, through the facilities afforded by it for the arrangement and comparison of rapidly accumulating facts. Moreover it is scarcely doubtful that these spectral distinctions correspond to differences in physical conditions of a marked kind."
"I saw the great man," said one who was in the audience of the splendid hall of the Cancelleria, "when he was giving a course on the solar spectrum. The vast auditorium was crowded with a brilliant throng in which you could see cardinals, archbishops, monsignori and laymen, all representing the highest religious, diplomatic and scientific circles. Though an Italian, Secchi spoke in French that was absolutely perfect. Everyone was enthralled, but what captivated me was the gentleness and even deference with which he spoke to the men who were adjusting the screens. He almost seemed to be their servant and I could not help saying to myself, 'Oh! I love you.' I saw him later in the street. It was in the turbulent days of the Italian occupation. He was walking alone; his head slightly bowed. Suddenly the cry was heard: 'Death to the Jesuits!' and an excited mob was seen rushing towards him. He stood still; grasped the stout stick in his hand, glared at them; and they fled. I never saw anything like it. I loved him before. I adored him now." In brief, Secchi was a great man in the eyes of the world, but he was a greater religious. Indeed it is said that when his superiors told him to apply himself to mathematics he burst into tears. He wanted to be a missionary. He was such, while being at the same time one of the most distinguished men in the scientific world.
The Manila Observatory in the Philippines, strictly speaking, began its meteorological service in 1865, though observations had been made many years previously. In 1881 it was officially approved by the Spanish government and in 1901 by that of the United States. The meteorological importance and efficiency of the Manila Observatory overshadows its astronomical, for the reason that it is situated in the eastern typhoon path. Astronomy, however, is by no means neglected. From 1880 up to the present time it has rendered very valuable services to the world. First, the official time was given to the city of Manila and, after the American occupation, it was extended to all the telegraph stations throughout the islands. Secondly, about one hundred ship chronometers are annually compared and rated at the Observatory free of charge.
In 1894 Father José Algué began to complete the astronomical equipment and erected a new building at the cost of $40,000, equipping it with instruments of the latest and best type. Three years later he was given charge of the whole establishment, and is now rendering immense and indispensable service to the shipping interests of the Far East by his weather predictions. His barocyclonometer is carried on every ship in those waters. In 1900 he was sent to Washington by the United States government to supervise the printing of his immense work entitled "El Archipiélago Filipino," and he gave later to the World's Fair at St. Louis one of its remarkable exhibits, — a relief map covering a great expanse on the ground and representing every island, river, bay, cape, peninsula, volcano, village and city of the Archipelago. Previous to his appointment in Manila Father Algué had worked for several years in the Georgetown Observatory.
In the matter of the theological teaching it will suffice to note that the Collegium Germanicum was given back to the Society in 1829 and entrusted to Father Aloysius Landes as rector. The German government for some time forbade German students to attend its classes, but in 1848 there were 251 on the roster. Since it opened its doors to the present day, it has given to the Church 4 cardinals, 4 archbishops, 11 bishops, 3 coadjutor bishops, 1 vicar Apostolic, besides a number of distinguished professors, canons and priests.
A very notable recognition of the Society in the field of education was given by Pius IX, when he confided to it the government of the college known as the Pium Latinum. The distinguished ecclesiastic who suggested it was the Apostolic prothonotary, José Ignacio Eyzaguirre, a Chilian by birth. The college was founded in 1858 to prepare a body of learned priests for the various countries of South America. In 1908 at its golden jubilee it could show a record not only of distinguished priests but of a cardinal, Joachim Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti, and of 30 bishops, though it began with only 15 students. The house that first sheltered them was extremely small, but the Pope saw to it that they had a larger establishment. While urging the bishops of Latin America to support it liberally — for having been Apostolic delegate in Chili no one knew better than he the urgent necessity of such a school — he himself was lavish in his gifts of money, books, vestments, etc. In 1867 a part of the old Jesuit novitiate was purchased from the Government, and although in 1870 the Jesuits were expelled from Rome those in the Pio Latino were not disturbed. In 1884 a new site was found near the Vatican and on the banks of the Tiber where there is now a splendid college with a capacity of 400 students. In 1905 Cardinal Vives y Tuto published an Apostolic Constitution which gave the title "Pontifical" to the college and confided the education in perpetuum to the Society. This Constitution had been asked for by the Latin American Bishops during the Council, it was promised by Leo XIII, and finally realized by Pius X. When formally handed over to the Jesuits there were 104 alumni present. The trust was accepted in the name of Father General by Father Caterini, provincial of the Roman province.