No More Learning

Yes, I trow there are, and better ones than in this land, and
asses, and mules. In the land of the Corahai you must hokka-
war and chore even as you must here, or in your own country,
or else you are no Caloró. Can you not join yourselves with
the black people who live in the despoblados? Yes, surely; and
glad they would be to have among them the Errate from Spain.
and London. I am seventy years of age, but I wish not to die
in this chim, but yonder, far away, where both my roms are
sleeping. Take the chabi, therefore, and go to Madrilati to win
the parné; and when you have got it, return, and we will give a
banquet to all the Busné in Merida, and in their food I will mix.
drao, and they shall eat and burst like poisoned sheep.
And when they have eaten we will leave them, and away to the
land of the Moor, my London Caloró.
During the whole time that I remained at Merida I stirred
not once from the house; following the advice of Antonio, who
informed me that it would not be convenient. My time lay
rather heavily on my hands, my only source of amusement con
sisting in the conversation of the women, and in that of Antonio
when he made his appearance at night. In these tertulias the
grandmother was the principal spokeswoman, and astonished my
ears with wonderful tales of the land of the Moors, prison
escapes, thievish feats, and one or two poisoning adventures, in
which she had been engaged, as she informed me, in her early
youth.
•


## p. 2203 (#401) ###########################################

JUAN BOSCAN
2203
There was occasionally something very wild in her gestures
and demeanor; more than once I observed her, in the midst of
much declamation, to stop short, stare in vacancy, and thrust
out her palms as if endeavoring to push away some invisible
substance; she goggled frightfully with her eyes, and once sank
back in convulsions, of which her children took no further notice
than observing that she was only lili, and would soon come to
herself.
JUAN BOSCAN
(1493-P1540)
HE reign of Juan the Second of Spain (1406-1454), character-
ized as it was by a succession of conspiracies and internal
commotions, represents also one of the most important
epochs in the history of Spanish poetry, which up to that period had
found expression almost exclusively in the crude though spirited his-
torical and romantic ballads of anonymous origin: Iliads without a
Homer, as Lope de Vega called them. The first to attempt a reform
in Castilian verse was the Marquis of Villena (died 1434), who intro-
duced the allegory and a tendency to imitate classical models; and
although he himself left nothing of consequence, his influence is
plainly revealed in the works of his far greater pupils and successors,
the Marquis of Santillana and Juan de Mena. Strangely enough, the
reigns of Ferdinand and Isabella, and of the Austrian Charles the
Fifth, covering the most brilliant and momentous period in Spanish
history, are yet marked by comparative stagnation in letters until
after the first quarter of the sixteenth century. During the greater
part of this period the increasing pomp and formality of the court
rendered the poetry correspondingly artificial and insincere.
It was
not in fact until after many years of constant intercourse with Rome,
Naples, and Florence, while the bulk of the noble youth of Spain
resorted to the universities of those cities for higher education, that
a wide-spread and profound admiration for Italian culture and refine-
ment began to pave the way for another and more important revo-
lution in Castilian poetry than that inaugurated by Villena.
Juan Boscan Almogaver, who was the first of his nation to compose
verses after the manner of Petrarch, and whose successors in the
sixteenth century include some
ne of the most brilliant and inspired
lyrists of Spain, was born in 1493 at Barcelona, a city which had
witnessed the recent triumphs of the Provençal Troubadours. Boscan,


## p. 2204 (#402) ###########################################

2204
JUAN BOSCAN
however, from the beginning of his career, preferred to write in Cas-
tilian rather than in the Limosin dialect. Of patrician descent, and
possessed of ample means, he entered the army like the majority of
the young nobles of his age. After a brief but honorable service as
a soldier he traveled extensively abroad, which led to his becoming
deeply interested in the literature and art of Italy. Meanwhile he
had produced verses in the ancient lyric style, but with only a mod-
erate measure of success.
The year 1526 found Boscan at Granada, where Andrea Navagiero,
Ambassador from Venice to the Court of Charles the Fifth, was then
in residence. A common love of letters drew the two young men
into closest intimacy with each other. "Being with Navagiero there
one day," says Boscan in his 'Letter to the Duquesa de Soma,' "and
discoursing with him about matters of wit and letters, and especially
about the different forms they take in different languages, he asked
me why I did not make an experiment in Castilian of sonnets and
the other forms of verse used by good Italian authors; and not only
spoke to me of it thus slightly, but urged me to do it. . . . And
thus I began to try this kind of verse. At first I found it somewhat
difficult; for it is of a very artful construction, and in many particu
lars different from ours. But afterwards it seemed to me- perhaps
from the love we naturally bear to what is our own-that I began
to succeed very well; and so I went on little by little with increas-
ing zeal. " Little dreamed the Venetian diplomat that, owing to his
friendly advice, a school was destined to arise shortly in the poetry
of Spain which would by no means have ceased to exist after the
lapse of nearly four centuries. From that day Boscan devoted him-
self to the exclusive composition of verses in the Italian measure,
undeterred by the bitter opposition of the partisans of the old school.
The incomparable Garcilaso de la Vega, then scarcely past his major-
ity, warmly supported the innovation of his beloved friend, and soon.
far surpassed Boscan himself as a writer of sonnets and canzones.
The Barcelonese poet spent the remainder of his life in compara-
tive retirement, although he appeared occasionally at court, and at
one time superintended the education of the young Duke of Alva,
whose name afterwards became one of such terror in the annals of
the Netherlands. Boscan's death took place at Perpignan about 1540.
An edition of Boscan's poems, together with those of his friend
Garcilaso, was published at Barcelona in 1543. The collection is
divided into four books, three of which are devoted to the produc-
tions of the elder poet. The first consists of his early efforts in the
old style, songs and ballads-'Canciones y Coplas. ' The second and
third books contain ninety-three sonnets and canzones; a long poem
on Hero and Leander in blank verse; an elegy and two didactic


## p. 2205 (#403) ###########################################

JUAN BOSCAN ·
2205
epistles in terza rima, and a half-narrative, half-allegorical poem in
one hundred and thirty-five octavo stanzas. The sonnets and can-
zones are obvious imitations of Petrarch; yet at the same time they
are stamped with a spirit essentially Spanish, and occasionally evince
a deep passion and melody of their own, although they may lack the
subtle fascination of their exquisite models. The 'Allegory,' with its
cleverly contrasted courts of Love and Jealousy, suggests the airy,
graceful humor of Ariosto, and is perhaps the most agreeable and
original of all Boscan's works. The 'Epistle to Mendoza' is con-
ceived in the manner of Horace, and amidst a fund of genial philo-
sophic comment, contains a charming picture of the poet's domestic
happiness. He also left a number of translations from the classics.
While in no sense a great poet, Boscan united simplicity, dignity,
and classical taste in a remarkable degree; and, inclined as he
seemed to entirely banish the ancient form of verse, he yet beyond
question introduced a kind of poetry which was developed to a high
degree of perfection in the Castilian tongue, and which may be
studied with keen delight at this day in some of the noblest poetical
monuments of Spanish literature.
The best modern edition of Boscan's works is published under the
title of Las Obras de Juan Bosćan' (Madrid, 1875).
ON THE DEATH OF GARCILASO
TELL
ELL me, dear Garcilaso,- thou
Who ever aim'dst at Good,
And in the spirit of thy vow,
So swift her course pursued
That thy few steps sufficed to place
The angel in thy loved embrace,
Won instant, soon as wooed,
Why took'st thou not, when winged to flee
From this dark world, Boscan with thee?
Why, when ascending to the star
Where now thou sitt'st enshrined,
Left'st thou thy weeping friend afar,
Alas! so far behind?
Oh, I do think, had it remained
With thee to alter aught ordained
By the Eternal Mind,
Thou wouldst not on this desert spot
Have left thy other self forgot!


## p. 2206 (#404) ###########################################

2206
JUAN BOSCAN
For if through life thy love was such
As still to take a pride
In having me so oft and much
Close to thy envied side,--
I cannot doubt, I must believe,
Thou wouldst at least have taken leave
Of me; or, if denied,
Have come back afterwards, unblest
Till I too shared thy heavenly rest.
Translation of Wipfen.
A PICTURE OF DOMESTIC HAPPINESS
From Epistle to Mendoza
T
Is peace that makes a happy life,-
And that is mine through my sweet wife;
Beginning of my soul, and end,
I've gained new being through this friend;-
She fills each thought and each desire,
Up to the height I would aspire.
This bliss is never found by ranging;
Regret still springs from saddest changing;
Such loves, and their beguiling pleasures,
Are falser still than magic treasures,
Which gleam at eve with golden color,
And change to ashes ere the morrow.
-
But now each good that I possess,
Rooted in truth and faithfulness,
Imparts delight to every sense;
For erst they were a mere pretense,
And long before enjoyed they were,
They changed their smiles to grisly care.
Now pleasures please; love being single,
Evils with its delights ne'er mingle.
And thus, by moderation bounded,
I live by my own goods surrounded,
Among my friends, my table spread
With viands we may eat nor dread;
And at my side my sweetest wife,
Whose gentleness admits no strife,-


## p. 2207 (#405) ###########################################

JUAN BOSCAN
2207
Except of jealousy the fear,
Whose soft reproaches more endear;
Our darling children round us gather,-
Children who will make me grandfather.
And thus we pass in town our days,
Till the confinement something weighs;
Then to our village haunt we fly,
Taking some pleasant company,-
While those we love not never come
Anear our rustic, leafy home.
For better 'tis to philosophize,
And learn a lesson truly wise
From lowing herd and bleating flock,
Than from some men of vulgar stock;
And rustics, as they hold the plough,
May often good advice bestow.
Of love, too, we may have the joy:
For Phoebus as a shepherd-boy
Wandered once among the clover,
Of some fair shepherdess the lover;
And Venus wept, in rustic bower,
Adonis turned to purple flower,
And Bacchus 'midst the mountains drear
Forgot the pangs of jealous fear;
And nymphs that in the water play
('Tis thus that ancient fables say),
And Dryads fair among the trees,
Fain the sprightly Fauns would please.
So in their footsteps follow we,-
My wife and I, as fond and free,
Love in our thoughts and in our talk;
Direct we slow our sauntering walk
To some near murmuring rivulet,
Where 'neath a shady beech we sit,
Hand clasped in hand, and side by side, -
With some sweet kisses, too, beside,
Contending there, in combat kind,
Which best can love with constant mind.
――
―――
Thus our village life we live,
And day by day such joys receive;
-


## p. 2208 (#406) ###########################################

2208
JUAN BOSCAN
Till, to change the homely scene,
Lest it pall while too serene,
To the gay city we remove,
Where other things there are to love;
And graced by novelty, we find
The city's concourse to our mind;
While our new coming gives a joy
Which ever staying might destroy.
We spare all tedious compliment;
Yet courtesy with kind intent,
Which savage tongues alone abuse,
Will often the same language use.
And Monleon, our dearest guest,
Will raise our mirth by many a jest;
For while his laughter rings again,
Can we to echo it refrain?
And other merriment is ours,
To gild with joy the lightsome hours.
But all too trivial would it look,
Written down gravely in a book:
And it is time to say adieu,
Though more I have to write to you.
Another letter this shall tell:
So now, my dearest friend, farewell.


## p. 2209 (#407) ###########################################

2209
JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
(1627-1704)
BY ADOLPHE COHN
ACQUES BENIGNE BOSSUET, sacred orator, historian, theologian,
and controversialist, was born in Dijon, capital of the then
Burgundy, on September 27th, 1627. There is no question
but he is the greatest Catholic divine whom France ever knew, and
one of the greatest, some say the greatest, of prose writers and ora-
tors of that country. His importance in the literary history of
France is due, moreover, not simply to the high excellence of his
productions, but fully as much to their rep-
resentative character. The power that was
wielded with absolute authority by Louis
XIV. found in Bossuet the theorist who
gave it a philosophical basis, and justified
to the Frenchmen of the seventeenth cen-
tury the conditions under which they lived.
The future educator of Louis XIV. 's
son sprang, like most of the great French-
men of that time, from the upper ranks
of the bourgeoisie. The Bossuet family had
been for a long time honorably connected
with the legal profession and the judici-
ary: the father of Jacques Bénigne was in
1627 a counselor practicing before the "Parlement de Dijon," where
his own father had sat as "Conseiller," or Associate Justice. Later
in life he was himself called to a seat on the bench, when a new
Parlement was organized in the city of Metz for the province of
Lorraine (1638). Ten years later (January 24th, 1648) Bossuet, who
had received his education partly from the Jesuits of Dijon, partly
in the celebrated Collège de Navarre in Paris, and who had been
shriven for the Catholic priesthood when only eight years of age,
made what may be called his first public appearance when he de-
fended his first thesis in theology. With this important event of his
life we find connected the name of the most brilliant Frenchman
of that time, the celebrated Prince de Condé, - famous already by
many victories, though hardly twenty-six years of age, - who attended
the disputation and had allowed the young theologian to dedicate
his thesis to him. Thirty-nine years later, after a long period of
—

BOSSUET
IV-139


## p. 2210 (#408) ###########################################

2210
JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
close friendship, their names were again associated when the illus-
trious Bishop of Meaux delivered the funeral oration of the great
warrior, and announced, at the close of a magnificent eulogy, that
this would be the last occasion on which he would devote his oratory
to the praises of any man; a promise which he kept, though he out-
lived his friend for no less than seventeen years.
Bossuet's period of study lasted until the year 1652, when at the
age of twenty-five he was appointed Archdeacon of Sarrebourg. By
virtue of his position he thenceforward, for no less than seven years,
resided in Metz, a city whose peculiar position, especially in religious
matters, exerted a powerful influence over the direction of his whole
intellectual life. He found there what was very rare then in France,
representatives of three religions. In addition to the Catholics to
whom he was to minister, there were in Metz numerous Protestants-
both Lutherans, and Calvinists or Presbyterians,- and a not inconsid-
erable number of Jews; and the city was used to continuous theologi-
cal controversy between minister, rabbi, and priest. The Protestants
of Metz received the teachings of two brilliant ministers, David An-
cillon and Paul Ferri, the latter of whom soon published a Catechism
which was considered by the whole body of French Protestantism the
clearest exposition of its doctrines. The Catholic clergy of France
had then not yet renounced the hope of bringing all the inhabitants
of the country to place themselves voluntarily under the spiritual
guidance of Rome; and the conversions that were announced from
time to time from the upper ranks both of Protestantism and Juda-
ism to a certain degree justified such a hope.
Bossuet, while constantly improving his knowledge of the writings
of the Fathers, especially of St. Augustine, threw himself into the
contest with characteristic energy. As against the Jews he tried
to demonstrate that the coming of Christ is clearly foretold in the
Prophecies. He thus became more familiar with the Old Testament
than any other Catholic theologian of his time, and so far molded his
style on that of the Bible that it soon became difficult to distinguish
in his productions that which came out of the sacred writings from
the utterances which belonged only to him. This was done, however,
strange to say, without any knowledge of the Hebrew language.
Bossuet never read the Bible except in Greek or Latin. There was
no good French version of the Bible; and it may be stated here that
there is none to the present day which occupies in the French lan-
guage anything like the position held in English by the Bible of
King James, or in German by Luther's version.
His attitude in regard to the Protestants is more interesting,
because more characteristic of the time in which he lived.
France
in the seventeenth century had become convinced that harmony,


## p. 2211 (#409) ###########################################

JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
22II
unity, fixedness, are the clearest manifestations of truth, the best
guarantees of peace, happiness, and prosperity; that variety and
change are signs of error and harbingers of disaster. Bossuet's
whole effort in his controversy with Protestantism was directed
towards demonstrating that Protestantism lacks and that Catholicism
possesses the traits which were considered by his contemporaries to
clearly belong to truth; and as his opponents were not unwilling
to follow him on his chosen ground, as they never for a moment
denied his main proposition,- his statement of the characteristics of
truth,—as he even managed during the controversy to bring about a
number of conversions to Catholicism, he left Metz fully convinced
that he was waging a successful warfare upon unassailable ground.
He had been in Paris less than a year when an event happened
which made him doubly sure of the soundness of his position, and
tenfold increased his belief in the ultimate victory of his Church
over all other denominations. The Commonwealth of England col-
lapsed, and Charles II. was called to the throne from which his
father had been hurled by Oliver Cromwell. Nothing can give any
idea of the shock experienced by France on hearing of the develop-
ment and success of the Great Rebellion in England. No Frenchman
at that time understood what the English Constitution was. The
course of French history had led the people of France to put all the
strength they possessed in the hands of their kings, and to treat as
a public enemy any one who resisted, or even attempted to limit in
any way, the royal authority. To people holding such opinions the
English nation after the month of January, 1649, appeared as a nation
of parricides. And the feeling was intensified by the fact that the
wife of the beheaded king, Henrietta Maria, was a sister of the King
of France, a daughter of the beloved Henry IV. , whose death by
Ravaillac's dagger was still mourned by every French patriot. The
triumph of Cromwell, the proud position which England occupied in
Europe during his protectorate, left however hardly any hope that
the rebellious nation would ever acknowledge the errors of her ways;
and lo! in a moment, without any effort on his part, without any
struggle, the dead king's son resumed his rights, and every one who
had been in arms against him lay prostrate at his feet. The same
nation that had rebelled against the levying of the "ship money"
and the proceedings of the Star Chamber allowed Charles II. almost
as absolute an authority as ever the King of France possessed. Once
cured of her political errors, was England not to be soon cured of
her theological errors? After repenting her rebellion against the
King, was she not to repent her rebellion against the Pope? Such
were the questions which Bossuet, which the whole of France, began
to ask. Or rather, these were to them no longer questions: the
people of France began to look across the Channel with confident


## p. 2212 (#410) ###########################################

2212
JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
expectation of a religious counter-revolution. The collapse of the
Commonwealth could not but be followed by the collapse of the
Reformation.
When Louis XIV. , after Cardinal Mazarin's death, took in his own
hands the management of the affairs of the State; when the marriage
of the brilliant Henrietta of England with the Duke of Orleans made
the sister of the English King a sister-in-law to the King of France;
when triumph after triumph on the field of war, of diplomacy, of
literature, of art, added to the power and glory of France, which
had never swerved in her allegiance either to King or Church, — the
feeling grew that only in unity of Faith, Law, and King were truth
and prosperity to be found by nations. The saying "Une foi, une
loi, un roi" (one faith, one law, one king), which may be said to
sum up Bossuet's religious, social, and political beliefs, seemed to all
an incontrovertible and self-evident axiom.
-
These were the times when Bossuet's utterances grew in power
and magnificence. He was heard in a number of Parisian churches;
he was heard at court, where he several times was appointed preacher
either for Advent or Lent; he delivered panegyrics of saints, and
was called upon to eulogize in death those who had held the highest
rank in life. He had just delivered the most splendid and the most
touching of his funeral orations, those on Henrietta of France, widow
of Charles I. of England (November 16th, 1669), and less than a year
later, on her unfortunate daughter, Henrietta of England, Duchess
of Orleans (August 21st, 1670), when the King, at the request of the
upright Duke de Montausier, called him to court from the bishopric
of Condom to which he had been raised, and intrusted to him the
education of his son and heir-apparent, the Dauphin of France.
Bossuet's royal pupil never reigned. He died in 1711, four years
before his father's death: and it must be admitted that during the
thirty-one years that elapsed between the moment when he came out
of Bossuet's hands and the end of his life, he gave no evidence of
being anything except a very commonplace sort of a man. No such
halo surrounds him as surrounds his unfortunate son, the Duke of
Burgundy, whose death two years after that of the Dauphin was
mourned as a public calamity. Whether Bossuet's failure to make
a great prince out of the Dauphin was due to a faulty system of
education or to the unresponsive nature of the pupil, can hardly be
considered to-day a matter of great interest. But French literature
was certainly the gainer by the appointment of Bossuet to the post
of tutor to the Prince. Three of his most remarkable works-his
'Discourse upon Universal History,' his Policy according to the
Holy Writ,' and his Treatise on the Knowledge of God and Man'-
were written especially for the Dauphin, and read by him as text-
books a long time before their publication. The opening sentence of
-


## p. 2213 (#411) ###########################################

JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
2213
the 'Discourse' tells us clearly the author's purpose: "Were history
useless to other men, it would still be necessary to have it studied
by princes. "
In 1680 Bossuet left the Dauphin, who then married a Bavarian
princess, and one year later he was called to the bishopric of Meaux.
Louis XIV. was then taking steps leading to the important and fatal
venture by which three years later he repealed the Edict of Nantes,
and forbade the existence in France of the Protestant religion. No
one can deny Bossuet's share in determining the king to follow a pol-
icy so fatal to the interests of France, but at the same time so much
in accord with the views of Rome. A natural outcome would have
been the raising of Bossuet, who was certainly then the greatest ora-
tor, the greatest writer, and the greatest theologian in the Catholic
clergy, to the Cardinalate. Still Bossuet was never a cardinal.
The explanation lies in Bossuet's conduct in the year 1682. The
King of France in that year called together a General Assembly of
the clergy of France, a kind of National Council. His object was to
have the clergy assert its national character, and to state that in
civil matters it was subject not to the Pope, but to the King. The
various statements to that effect constitute what is known as 'The
Liberties of the Gallican Church. ' The statements were adopted
after being drafted by Bossuet, who had at the opening of the ses-
sions delivered before the Assembly his celebrated 'Sermon on the
Unity of the Church,' the main part of which is an eloquent defense
of the above-stated views. France was too powerful then for the see
of Rome not to yield, but no favors were thenceforth to be expected
for the spokesman of the French national clergy.
Still the great divine continued his efforts, and in 1688 he put
forth the most complete and masterly exposition of his beliefs, his
'History of the Variations of the Protestant Churches. ' The Revo-
lution of 1688-89 in England did not in the least, sad though it
seemed, weaken his faith in the ultimate triumph of Catholicism. In
France at that time the English revolution was not considered an
assertion by the people of political and religious rights, but the
carrying out of a detestable family conspiracy of a daughter and
son-in-law with their father's enemy. This better than anything else
explains the hatred which was harbored against William III. , and
which found expression in the works even of as free-minded a writer
as La Bruyère. It is during the period of the fiercest struggle
between Louis XIV. and William III. that Bossuet carried on with
the German philosopher Leibnitz a series of negotiations, the object
of which was the return to Catholicism of Protestant Germany. We
need hardly state that the negotiations utterly failed.
In another controversy which occupied Bossuet's last years he was
entirely successful. The most eloquent of his disciples, Fénélon, then


## p. 2214 (#412) ###########################################

2214
JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
Archbishop of Cambrai, seemed to him to have fallen into dangerous
errors. He had adopted the mystic doctrine of Quietism, which had
been made known to him first by an erratic woman, Madame Guyon.
Bossuet determined that the eloquent archbishop must be compelled
to recant. A number of works were published by him in support of
his position, the most important one being his 'Relation on Quiet-
ism'; and he did not rest until the Pope had condemned his rival,
and Fénélon had submitted to censure in his own cathedral at Cam-
brai. Some accuse Bossuet of too much harshness in the contest.
The Pope himself was reported to have said, "The Archbishop of
Cambrai sinned by too much love of God, the Bishop of Meaux by
too little love of his fellow-man. "
Bossuet was then a very old man, but neither growing age nor
the care that he took of what he considered the general interests of
Catholic Christianity ever kept him from giving the closest attention
to the spiritual government of his flock. He was a model bishop.
He died April 12th, 1704, aged seventy-six years, six months, and
sixteen days.
Bossuet was a very prolific writer. In the best edition, that of
Abbé Caron, begun in Versailles in 1815, his writings fill not less
than forty-one volumes. But it must be stated at once that a great
deal of this production belongs decidedly more to theology than to
French literature. Some of it is not even in French, but in Latin;
for instance, Bossuet's letter to the Pope on the subject of the edu-
cation of the Dauphin. Although in French, such works as the
Treatise on Communion' or the 'Explanation of John the Baptist's
Revelation' are decidedly outside the pale of literature, as the word
is usually understood. We shall mention here only those works of
Bossuet which, by virtue of their perfect form and the accessibility
of the subject to the general reader, are to this day more or less
familiar to the best educated people in France.
The first to be mentioned among these are the 'Sermons,' the
'Funeral Orations,' and the Discourse upon Universal History. '
Bossuet's sermons undoubtedly were among his most perfect pro-
ductions. He was a born orator; his majestic bearing, his melodious
and powerful voice, his noble gestures, made the magnificent sen-
tences, the beautiful and striking imagery of his speeches, doubly
impressive. Unfortunately, with only a few exceptions Bossuet's ser-
mons have reached us in a very imperfect form. He did not, as a
rule, fully write them, and the art of taking down verbatim the
utterances of public speakers had not yet been invented. The ser-
mon On the Unity of the Church' we possess because Bossuet
had committed it to writing before delivering it; other impressive
sermons, those on 'Death,' on the Conversion of the Sinner,' on
<Providence,' on the 'Duties of Kings,' etc. , have reached us in a
(


## p. 2215 (#413) ###########################################

JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
2215
sufficiently correct form to give us an idea of Bossuet's eloquence:
but the reader who really wishes to know the great sacred orator
of Louis XIV. 's reign had better turn at once to the Funeral Ora-
tions. '
Bossuet's funeral orations were prepared with great care. They
were delivered as a rule several months after the death of the per-
son to be eulogized, as part of a religious ceremony in which a mass
was said for the repose of his soul.
Bossuet delivered eleven funeral orations, one of which - that of
Anne of Austria, widow of Louis XIII. and mother of Louis XIV,—
is lost. Of the other ten, four are youthful productions and deal
with people of comparatively small importance. Six remain that are
known as the great funeral orations, and they were delivered between
November 16th, 1669, and March 10th, 1687. They are those on
Henrietta of France, Queen of England; Henrietta of England,
Duchess of Orleans; Maria Theresa of Spain, Queen of France; Anne
of Gonzaga and Clèves, Princess of the Palatinate; Michel Le Tellier,
High Chancellor of France; and Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé.
The most remarkable of these are the first two and the last one.
In the funeral oration on Henrietta of France, Bossuet had just the
kind of subject which he was best fitted to treat, and it must be
considered his masterpiece. It presents in magnificent style, in
pompous development, a complete exposition of his historical and
political theories, together with a strikingly vivid account of the
great English rebellion. His portraits of Charles I. and Oliver Crom-
well-the one, of course, altogether too enthusiastic, the other too
- stand out in as bold relief as the paintings of Van Dyck or
Velasquez. His theory of revolutions, which he considers the punish-
ments inflicted by God upon sovereigns for violations of His law, is
presented with a wealth of illustrations which was simply overwhelm-
ing for the audience that listened to it.
It remains to this day one
of the most plausible, as it will remain forever one of the most elo-
quent pieces of historical and theological reasoning.
-
severe
In the funeral oration on Henrietta of England we find little of
history, still less of politics. Here we have a domestic catastrophe
of appalling suddenness: a brilliant woman, the worshiped centre of
the most brilliant court, one to whom the speaker himself was most
tenderly attached, so abruptly snatched away by death that the
suspicion of foul play at once arose and has not to this day been en-
tirely dispelled. Nowhere has Bossuet, nor perhaps any other orator,
so powerfully depicted the uncertainty of everything human. The
closeness with which he treated his subjects is well illustrated by an
anecdote that is connected with this oration. Only two or three
hours before her death, when already conscious of her desperate
position, the unfortunate princess had directed that an emerald ring


## p. 2216 (#414) ###########################################

2216
JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
of hers should be after her death handed to the great preacher.
"What a pity," he was told, "that such an incident cannot find place
in a funeral oration! "-"Why not? " he answered. When he deliv-
ered the oration, the emerald ring was on one of the fingers of his
right hand; and when speaking of the princess's virtues and charm-
ing qualities, he alluded to the art of giving, in which she signally
excelled. "And this art,” he went on, “never deserted her, not even,
I know it, in the throes of death," at the same time raising his right
hand and placing the precious jewel in full view of the audience.
-
The funeral oration on the Prince de Condé shows us how he
triumphed over difficulties. He was a warm friend and ardent ad-
mirer of the Prince, and at the same time a devoted subject of the
King, rebellion against whom he considered a very grievous sin. Yet
the Prince had for years been a rebel against the King during the
wars of the Fronde, and had continued in the ranks of the hostile
Spaniards even after all the other rebels had submitted to the royal
authority. After conducting his narrative down to the time when the
Prince, still a faithful subject, was unjustly imprisoned by order of
Cardinal Mazarin, — "And," he goes on, since I have to speak of
these things over which I would fain keep eternally silent, until this
fatal imprisonment he had not even dreamed that anything could be
attempted against the State. . . This is what made him say
(I certainly can repeat here, before these altars, the words I received
from his lips, since they so clearly show the bottom of his heart) —
he said then, speaking of this unfortunate prison, that he had entered
it the most innocent, and had left it the guiltiest of men. " Nearly
the whole of this oration is devoted to history; it teems with brilliant
passages, the most famous of which is the narrative of the Prince's
first victory, the battle of Rocroi, in 1643.
Thoughtful readers seldom pass by the funeral oration on Anne
of Gonzaga. It forms a curious incident in Bossuet's life. The great
preacher's most striking fault was a lack of energy in his dealings
with royal characters. "He lacks bones," some one said of him: and
thus when his enemies so intrigued as to have him required to
eulogize from the pulpit the erratic princess, who had been a polit-
ical intriguer and the heroine of many scandals before repentance
took hold of her, he lacked the courage to decline the doubtful honor.
But in the pulpit, or whenever the priest had to appear, and not
simply the man, his better manhood, pure and commanding, at once
took the upper hand; and so, facing his critics, "My discourse,"
he said, "which perhaps you think you are to judge, will judge you
when the last day comes; and if you do not depart hence better
Christians, you will depart hence guiltier men! "
With the funeral orations one might mention another series of
religious discourses not strikingly different from them, — the pane-
―――――


## p. 2217 (#415) ###########################################

JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
2217
gyrics of saints, of which twenty have been preserved, that of Saint
Paul being indisputably the best.
The 'Discourse upon Universal History,' which was originally
written for the Dauphin, is a masterly attempt to give a philosophical
explanation of the facts of history, beginning with the Biblical
account of the Creation, and ending with the assumption by Charle-
magne of the imperial crown in 800 A. D. It is divided into three
parts: The Epochs; Religion; the Empires. The first part contains
the significance of twelve events considered by Bossuet as epoch-
making: the Creation, the Flood, the calling of Abraham, Moses and
the giving of the Law, the taking of Troy, the building of the Tem-
ple of Solomon, the foundation of Rome, Cyrus and the re-establish-
ment of Hebrew nationality, the defeat of Carthage, the birth of
Christ, the triumph of the Church under Constantine, the re-estab-
lishment of the Empire with Charlemagne.
The second part, which contains thirty-one chapters, has a two-
fold object: to demonstrate that the coming of Christ is clearly fore-
told in the Old Testament, and that the Roman Catholic Church is
the only faithful representative of true Christianity. The third part
is less theological. It is an attempt to explain the facts of history,
at least partially, by a study of the various influences to which the
different nations have been subjected. The general purpose of the
whole work is best explained by the last chapter of this third part,
the title of which is: Conclusion of the whole Discourse, in which is
shown that all events must be ascribed to a Divine Providence.
Next to the above works we must mention the History of the
Variations of the Protestant Churches,' partly a work of theological
controversy, but partly also a brilliant exposition, from a strictly
Catholic point of view, of the history of the Reformation. It con-
tains a portrait of Luther which is almost worthy to be compared
with that of Cromwell in the funeral oration on Henrietta of France.
The only other works of Bossuet that we would mention here
are two admirable devotional works, the Meditations upon the Gos-
pel,' and the Contemplations on the Mysteries of the Catholic
Religion,' the latter a clear and concise but now superannuated
treatise on philosophy; the Treatise on the Knowledge of God and
Man,' a very curious and eloquent and at the same time thoroughly
Biblical treatise on theocratic policy; 'Policy according to the Holy
Writ'; and finally his 'Relation on Quietism,' which shows what
hard blows he could, when thoroughly aroused, deal to a somewhat
disingenuous opponent.
Adolphe Cha


## p. 2218 (#416) ###########################################

2218
JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
FROM THE SERMON UPON THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH'
WHE
HEN the time had come at which the Roman Empire of the
West was to collapse and Gaul was to become France,
God did not allow such a noble part of Christendom to
remain long under idolatrous princes; and wishing to hand over
to the kings of the French the keeping of his Church, which he
had formerly intrusted to the emperors, he gave not to France
only, but to the whole Western world, a new Constantine in the
person of Clovis. The miraculous victory which he sent from
heaven to each of these two princes in their wars was a pledge
of his love, and the glorious inducement which attracted them to
Christianity. Faith triumphed, and the warlike nation of the
Franks knew that the God of Clotilda was the true God of
armies.
Then Saint Remi saw that by placing the kings of France
and their people in the bosom of Jesus Christ, he had given to
the Church a set of invincible protectors. This great saint, this
new Samuel called to anoint the kings, anointed these, in his own
words, "to be the perpetual defender of the Church and the
poor": a worthy object for royalty to pursue. After teaching
them how to make churches flourish and populations thrive
(believe ye that he himself is now speaking to you, as I only
recite the fatherly words of this apostle of the French), day and
night he prayed to God that they should persevere in His faith
and reign according to the rules he had given them; assuring
them at the same time that in enlarging their kingdom they
would enlarge the kingdom of Christ, and that if they faithfully
kept the laws he prescribed in the name of God, the empire of
Rome would be given to them, so that from the kings of France
would issue Emperors worthy of that title, through whom Christ
would reign.
Such were the blessings which a thousand and a thousand
times the great Saint Remi poured upon the French and their
kings, whom he always called his dear children; unceasingly
praising God for his kindness, because, with a view to strengthen
the incipient faith of this God-blessed nation, he had deigned,
through his own sinner's hands (these are his own words), to
repeat, before the eyes of all the French and of their king, the
miracles which had burst upon the world in the early foundation
of Christian churches. All the saints then living rejoiced; and


## p. 2219 (#417) ###########################################

JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
2219
in this decline of the Roman Empire, it seemed to them that
there appeared in the kings of France "a new Light for the
whole West. " "In occiduis partibus novi jubaris lumen efful-
gurat;" and not for the West alone, but for all the Church, to
which this new kingdom promised new advances. This is what
was said
said by Saint Avitus, the learned and holy bishop of
Vienne, the weighty and eloquent advocate of the Church of
Rome, who was directed by his colleagues, the revered bishops
of Gaul, to recommend to the Romans in the cause of Pope Sym-
machus the common cause of the whole episcopacy; "because,"
so said that great man, "when the Pope, the chief of all the
bishops, is assailed, then not one bishop alone, but the whole
episcopacy is in danger. "
OPENING OF THE
FUNERAL ORATION ON HENRIETTA OF FRANCE
My Lord: *
HⓇ
E WHO reigns in heaven and who is the Lord of all the
empires, to whom alone majesty, glory, and independence
belong, is also the only one who glories in dictating laws
to kings, and in giving them, when it so pleases him, great and
terrible lessons. Whether he raises or lowers thrones; whether
he communicates his own power to princes, or reclaims it all
and leaves them nothing but their own weakness, he teaches
them their duties in a manner both sovereign and worthy of him;
for when giving them his power, he commands them to use it,
as he does, for the good of the world; and he shows them in
withdrawing it that all their majesty is borrowed, and that,
though seated on the throne, they are nevertheless under his
hand and supreme authority. Thus does he teach princes, not
only by words but by deeds and examples.
intelligite; erudimini, qui judicatis terram. "
"Et nunc, reges,
Christians, ye who have been called from all sides to this
ceremony by the memory of a great Queen,- daughter, wife,
mother of powerful kings and of sovereigns of three kingdoms,-
this speech will bring before you one of those conspicuous exam-
ples which spread before the eyes of the world its absolute vanity.
*This oration was delivered in the presence of the Duke of Orleans, son-
in-law of Henrietta of France; it is he whom Bossuet addresses in beginning
his speech.


## p. 2220 (#418) ###########################################

2220
JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
You will see in a single life all the extremes of human affairs:
boundless felicity and boundless misery; a long and peaceful pos-
session of one of the world's noblest crowns; all that can be
given of the glories of birth and rank gathered upon a head
which is afterwards exposed to all the insults of fortune; the
good cause at first rewarded by success, then met by sudden turns
and unheard-of changes; rebellion long restrained, at last over-
riding everything; unbridled licentiousness; the destruction of all
laws; royal majesty insulted by crimes before unknown; usurpa-
tion and tyranny under the name of liberty; a queen pursued by
her enemies, and finding no refuge in either of her kingdoms;
her own native land become a melancholy place of exile; many
voyages across the sea undertaken by a princess, in spite of the
tempest; the ocean surprised at being crossed so often, in such
different ways, and for so different causes; a throne shamefully
destroyed and miraculously restored. Those are the lessons which
are given by God to the kings; thus does He show to the world
the emptiness of its pomps and splendors. If I lack words, if
expression is unable to do justice to a subject of such magnitude
and loftiness, things alone will speak sufficiently; the heart* of
a great queen, formerly raised by long years of prosperity and
suddenly plunged into an abyss of bitterness, will speak loudly
enough; and if private characters are not allowed to give lessons
to princes upon such strange occurrences, a king lends me his
voice to tell them. "Et nunc, reges, intelligite; erudimini, qui
judicatis terram: » Understand now, ye kings of the earth; learn,
ye who judge the world.
But the wise and religious Princess who is the subject of this
discourse was not simply a spectacle presented to them that
they may study therein the counsels of Divine Providence and
the fatal revolutions of monasteries: she was her own instructor,
while God instructed all princes through her example. I have
said already that the Divine Lord teaches them both by giving
and by taking away their power. The Queen of whom I speak
understood one of these lessons as well as the other, contrary as
they are, which means that in good as well as in evil fortune
she behaved as a Christian. In the one she was charitable, in
the other invincible. While prosperous she made her power felt
by the world through infinite blessings; when fortune forsook
her, she enlarged her own treasure of virtues, so that she lost
* The Queen's heart was kept in the church where Bossuet was speaking.


## p. 2221 (#419) ###########################################

JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
2221
for her own good this royal power which she had had for the
good of others. And if her subjects, if her allies, if the Church
Universal were the gainers by her greatness, she gained by her
misfortunes and humiliations more than she had done by all her
glory.
THE GREAT REBELLION
I CONFESS, on entering upon my undertaking, that I realize
its difficulty more than ever. When I fasten my eyes upon the
unheard-of misfortunes of such a great queen, I fail to find
words; and my mind, revolted by so many undeserved hardships.
inflicted upon majesty and virtue, would never consent to rush
into such a maze of horrors, if the admirable constancy with
which this princess bore her reverses had not risen far above
the crimes by which they were caused. But at the same time,
Christians, I labor under another solicitude: what I meditate
upon is no human work; I am not here a historian, about to
unravel to you the mysteries of cabinets, or the order of battles,
or the interests of parties; I must rise above man in order that
every creature should tremble under the judgments of God. << I
shall enter with David into the powers of the Lord," and I have
to show you the wonders of his hand and of his resolutions:
resolutions of deserved punishment for England, resolutions of
compassion for the Queen's salvation; but resolutions stamped by
the finger of God, whose imprint is so striking and manifest in
the events of which I have to treat, that no one can fail to be
dazzled by his light.
When we go back in time, no matter how far, and investigate
in the histories the instances of great revolutions, we find that
hitherto they have been caused by the licentiousness or violence
of princes. For when princes, ceasing to study their civil and
military affairs, make hunting their only labor, or as was said by
one historian, find all their glory in their splendor, and put all
their mind to the invention of new pleasures; or when, carried
away by their violent natures, they cease to respect the laws and
to know any bounds, and thus lose both the respect and the
fear of their subjects, because the ills those subjects are bearing
seem more unendurable than those they only fear, then, either
excessive licentiousness or patience driven to extremity is full
of menace to reigning houses.


## p. 2222 (#420) ###########################################

2222
JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
it.
Charles I. , King of England, was just, moderate, magnani-
mous, very well informed in regard to his affairs and to the arts
of government; never was there a prince more able to make
royalty not only venerable and holy, but also loved and cherished
by his people. What fault can be found with him, save clem-
ency? I am willing to say of him what a celebrated writer said
of Cæsar, that he was so clement as to be compelled to repent
("Cæsari proprium et peculiare sit clementiæ insigne qua
usque ad pœnitentiam omnes superavit. ") Let this be, then, if
you will, the illustrious fault of Charles as well as of Cæsar;
but if any one wishes to believe that misfortune and defeat
are always associated with weakness, do not let him think, for
all that, he can persuade us that either strength was wanting in
Charles's courage or energy in his resolutions. When pursued
to the very last extremities by Fortune's implacable malignity,
and betrayed by all his people, he never deserted his own cause;
in spite of the ill success of his unfortunate arms, though con-
quered he was not subdued; and just as he never when vic-
torious refused that which was reasonable, when captive he
always rejected that which was weak and unjust. I can hardly
behold his great heart in his last trials: but certainly he showed
that no rebels can deprive of his majesty a king who really
knows himself; and those who saw with what visage he appeared
in Westminster Hall and in Whitehall Square can easily judge
how intrepid he was at the head of his armies, how august and
imposing in the middle of his palace and court. Great Queen, I
satisfy your tenderest desires when I celebrate this monarch; and
this heart, which never lived but for him, wakes up from its
dust and resumes sentiment, even under this funeral drapery, at
the name of such a beloved husband, whom his enemies them-
selves will call wise and just, and whom posterity will name among
great princes, provided his history finds readers whose judgment
does not allow itself to be swayed by events and by fortune.
Those who are informed in regard to the facts, being com-
pelled to admit that the king's conduct had given no reason and
not even a pretext for the sacrilegious excesses the memory of
which is abhorred by us, ascribe them to the unconquerable
haughtiness of the nation; and I own that the hatred of parri-
cides is apt to throw our minds into such an opinion: but when
we more closely consider the history of this great kingdom,
especially during the last reigns, in which not simply adult kings,


## p. 2223 (#421) ###########################################

JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
2223
but even children under guardianship and queens themselves
have wielded a power so absolute, and inspired so much terror;
when we see the incredible facility with which the true Religion.
was by turns upset and restored by Henry, Edward, Mary, Eliz-
abeth, we do not find either the nation so prone to rebel nor its
Parliaments so proud and factious. Rather we are compelled to
reproach these people with too much docility, since they placed
under the yoke even their faith and conscience. Do not let us
then make blind accusations against the inhabitants of the most
celebrated island in the world, who according to the most reli-
able histories trace their origin back to Gaul; and do not let us
believe that the Mercians, the Danes, and the Saxons have so far
corrupted in them the good blood which they had received from
our ancestors as to lead them to such barbarous proceedings, if
some other causes had not intervened. What is it, then, that
drove them on? What force, what transport, what disturbance
of the elements stirred these agitations, these violences? There
is no doubt, Christians, that false religions, infidelity, the thirst
of disputing on things divine without end, without rule, without
submission, carried away their hearts. Those are the enemies
against which the Queen had to fight, and which neither her
prudence, her leniency, nor her firmness could conquer.
A man appeared, of a mind incredibly deep, a consummate
dissembler and at the same time a powerful statesman, capable
of undertaking everything and of concealing everything, no less
active and indefatigable in peace than in war; who left nothing
to fortune of that which he could take from it by wisdom or
foresight, but withal so vigilant, so well prepared for everything,
that he never failed to improve any opportunity: in short, one
of those restless and audacious minds which seem to have been
born in order to transform the world. How dangerous the fate
of such minds, and how many appear in history who were
ruined by their very boldness! But at the same time, what do
they not achieve when it pleases God to make use of them! To
this one it was given to deceive the people and to prevail against
the kings. For as he had discovered that in this infinite medley
of sects, which no longer had any fixed rules, the pleasure of
dogmatic arguing without any fear of being reprimanded or
restrained by any authority, either ecclesiastical or secular, was
the spell that charmed their minds, he so well managed to con-
ciliate them thereby that out of this monstrous medley he created


## p. 2224 (#422) ###########################################

2224
JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
a formidable unit. When a man has once found a way of sedu-
cing the multitude with the bait of freedom, they afterwards
blindly follow, provided they still hear the beloved word. These,
occupied with the object that had first transported them, were
still going on without noticing that they were going to servitude;
and their subtle leader who while fighting and arguing, while
uniting in himself a thousand different characters, while acting
as theologian and prophet as well as soldier and captain, saw
that he had so bewitched the world that he was looked upon by
the whole army as a chief sent by God for the protection of
independence-began to perceive that he could drive them still
further. I shall not relate to you the story of his too prosperous
undertakings nor his famous victories which made virtue indig-
nant, nor his long tranquillity which astonished the world. It
was God's purpose to instruct the kings not to desert his Church.
He wished to reveal by one great example all that heresy can
do, how indocile and independent it naturally is, how fatal to
royalty and to any legitimate authority. Moreover, when this
great God has chosen any one for the instrument of his designs
nothing can stop his course: he either chains or blinds or sub-
dues all that is capable of resistance. "I am the Lord," he says
through the lips of Jeremiah; "I am he who made the earth,
with the men and animals; and I place it in the hands of whom-
soever pleases me; and now I wished to submit these lands to
Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, my servant. " He calls him
his servant, although an infidel, because he selected him for
enforcing his decrees. "And I order," he goes on, "that every-
thing be obedient unto him, even the animals;" thus it is that
everything bends and becomes flexible when God so commands!
But listen to the rest of the prophecy:-"I order that these
people shall obey him, and shall obey his son also, until the
time of the one and the other do come. " See, ye Christians,
how clearly marked the times are, how numbered the genera
tions: God determines how long the sleep of the world shall be,
and also when the awakening is to come.
-
God held twelve years, without relaxing, without any consola-
tion from men, our unfortunate Queen (let us loudly call her by
this title, which she made a cause for thanksgiving), making her
learn under his hand such hard but useful lessons. At last,
softened by her prayers and her humble patience, he restored the


## p. 2225 (#423) ###########################################

JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
2225
royal house; Charles II. is recognized and the injury of the
kings is avenged. Those whom arms could not conquer, nor rea-
soning convince, came back suddenly of their own accord: disap-
pointed in their freedom, they at last came to detest its excesses,
ashamed that they had had so much power, and horrified at their
own success. We know that this magnanimous prince might
have hastened things by making use of the hands of those who
offered to destroy tyranny at one blow: but his great soul dis-
dained these low agencies; he believed that whatever were the
conditions of kings, it behoved their majesty to act only by the
laws or by arms. These laws, which he defended, restored him
almost by themselves; he reigns, peaceful and glorious, on his
ancestors' throne, and with and through him also reign justice,
wisdom, and mercy.
FROM THE DISCOURSE UPON UNIVERSAL HISTORY
INTRODUCTION
E
VEN were history useless to other men, it would still be
necessary to have it read by princes. There is no better
way of making them discover what can be brought about
by passions and interests, by times and circumstances, by good
and bad advice. The books of historians are filled with the
actions that occupy them, and everything therein seems to have
been done for their use. If experience is necessary to them
for acquiring that prudence which enables them to become good
rulers, nothing is more useful to their instruction than to add
to the example of past centuries the experiences with which
they meet every day. While usually they learn to judge of
the dangerous circumstances that surround them, only at the
expense of their subjects and of their own glory, by the help of
history they form their judgment upon the events of the past
without risking anything. When they see even the most com-
pletely hidden vices of princes exposed to the eyes of all men,
in spite of the insincere praise which they received while alive,
they feel ashamed of the empty joy which flattery gives them,
and they acknowledge that true glory cannot obtain without real
merit.
Moreover, it would be disgraceful,—I do not say for a prince,
but in general for any educated man,-not to know the human
kind and the memorable changes which took place in the world.
IV-140


## p. 2226 (#424) ###########################################

2226
JACQUES BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
through the lapse of ages. If we do not learn from history to
distinguish the times, we shall represent men under the law of
nature, or under the civil law, the same as under the sway of
the gospel; we shall speak of the Persians conquered under Alex-
ander in the same way as of the Persians victorious under Cyrus;
we shall represent Greece as free in the time of Philip as in the
time of Themistocles or Miltiades; the Roman people as proud
under the Emperors as under the Consuls; the Church as quiet
under Diocletian as under Constantine; and France, disturbed by
civil wars under Charles IX. and Henri III. , as powerful as in
the time of Louis XIV. , when, united under such a great King,
alone she triumphs over the whole of Europe.
PUBLIC SPIRIT IN ROME
HE
WHO can put into the minds of the people patience in
labor, a feeling for glory and the nation's greatness, and
love of their country, can boast of having framed the polit-
ical constitution best fitted for the production of great men. It
is undoubtedly to great men that the strength of an empire is
due. Nature never fails to bring forth in all countries lofty
minds and hearts; but we must assist it in forming them. What
forms and perfects them consists of strong feelings and noble
impressions which spread through all minds and invisibly pass
from one to another. What is it that makes our nobility so proud
in battle, so bold in its undertakings? It is the opinion received
from childhood and established by the unanimous sentiment of
the nation, that a nobleman without valor degrades himself and
is no longer worthy to see the light of day. All the Romans
were nurtured in these sentiments, and the common people vied
with the aristocracy as to who would in action be most faithful
to these vigorous maxims.
The fathers who did not
bring their children up in these maxims, and in the manner
necessary to enable them to serve the State, were called into
court before the magistrates and there adjudged guilty of a crime
against the public. When such a course has been entered upon,
great men produce great men to succeed them; and if Rome
has had such men in greater number than any other city, it is
nowise due to chance; it is because the Roman State, constituted
in the manner which we have described, possessed as it were
the very nature that must needs be most prolific of heroes.


## p. 2227 (#425) ###########################################

2227
JAMES BOSWELL
(1740-1795)
BY CHARLES F. JOHNSON
AMES BOSWELL was born in Ayrshire, Scotland. His family
was of ancient origin and some social pretension, but the
name derives its real distinction from him. He attended
the University of Edinburgh and was admitted to the Scotch bar.
He was, however, of a socially excitable and adventurous spirit,
which impelled him out of the humdrum life of a petty Scotch laird
into the broad currents of the world, and led him to attach himself
to men of intellectual distinction. He was introduced to Dr. Johnson
in 1763, and scrupulously sought his society
till Johnson's death, making at least nine
journeys to London for the purpose, and
recording his conversation with painstaking
assiduity. To this enthusiastic industry we
owe the 'Life,' published in 1791, a book
allowed on all hands to fulfill the purpose
of a biography, in giving an exact and
lively picture of the central figure and of
his environment better than any other
ever written. Previous to this, Boswell had
spent some time on the Continent, and,
driven by the peculiar form of hero-wor-
ship which was his overmastering impulse,
he visited Corsica and became intimate
with Pascal Paoli, the patriot who freed the island from the Genoese,
but was subsequently conquered by the French. In 1768 Boswell
published 'An Account of Corsica, Memoirs of Pascal Paoli, and a
Journal of a Tour to the Island. Of this Johnson said, "The history
is like other histories, but the journal is in a high degree delightful
and curious. " Gray said the journal was "a dialogue between a
green goose and a hero. "
JAMES BOSWELL

24
In 1793 Boswell was admitted a member of the famous "Literary
Club," and soon after persuaded Dr. Johnson to make a tour of the
Hebrides, a journey at that time presenting almost as many diffi-
culties as a trip to Labrador does now. His journal, a book quite
as entertaining as the 'Life,' was not published till 1786, two years
after Johnson's death. As stated before, Boswell's great book, the


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2228
JAMES BOSWELL
'Life,' was published in 1791. The author also published a number
of minor works which are not worth enumerating.
The position of James Boswell as a classic author is as well estab-
lished as it is unique. It depends entirely on the two books men-
tioned: The Life of Dr. Samuel Johnson' and the Journal of a
Tour to the Hebrides,' which may be considered as one, and indeed
were amalgamated into one in Croker's edition. Further, the inter-
est of these books depends more on the subject-matter than on the
style. No books are better known than these, and none are buried
deeper in oblivion than his other productions, with the possible ex-
ception of the Corsican journal. One is as obscure as the other is
immortal, though from the artistic standpoint they do not differ
greatly in literary merit. But it is not just to say that the value
of Boswell's Life of Johnson' depends entirely on the subject-
matter. It depends rather on a happy relation or co-ordination
between the subject and the author. In consequence, it is hardly
possible to consider Boswell as a writer without some reference to
Samuel Johnson. Not only is Johnson the central figure in the book,
but in a sense he is a joint author of it. About one-third of the
book is in Johnson's words, and this third is decidedly the best part.
Boswell's reputation as a great writer is unique in that it depends
upon greatness as an interviewer and reporter.
Macaulay says, "If Boswell had not been a great fool he never
would have been a great writer. " This is one of those paradoxical
statements to which Macaulay likes to give a glittering plausibility.
It is true that Boswell wrote a great book, and it is also true that in
some regards he was what we are accustomed to designate as a fool;
but to connect the two as cause and effect is like saying that man
was a great athlete because he was lame, or that Lord Byron had a
beautiful face because he had a club-foot, or that Demosthenes was
a great orator because he stammered. Men have been made by their
foibles, but in those cases weakness in some directions has been more
than compensated for by strength in others. Boswell lacked some of
the great literary powers, but he possessed others, and those that he
did possess happened to be precisely the ones necessary to the writer
of the life of Samuel Johnson. Boswell had no imagination, no
moral elevation, no decided wit or power of phrase, no deep insight,
no invention. But he had one power which lies behind all great
realistic literary work; and that is, observation. Johnson furnished
the power of phrase, in which he was as eminent as any Englishman
between Shakespeare and Charles Lamb. The higher powers are not
needed in a transcript of fact. Boswell possessed too an eye for
the externals which indicate character, and—a quality rare in the
eighteenth century - absolute accuracy. Sir Joshua Reynolds said.


## p. 2229 (#427) ###########################################

JAMES BOSWELL
2229
«< Every word of the 'Life' might be depended on as if it were given
on oath. "
It was this habit of painstaking accuracy, rather than good taste,
which led him to avoid the vice of rhetorical amplification. It also
prevented him from missing the point of a joke of which he was
unconscious. As a rule, his 'Johnsoniana' are better than those of
Sir John Hawkins or Mrs. Piozzi, because they are more literal. In
one or two instances an embellishment which improved a story was
rejected by him because it was not true. These powers — observa-
tion, scrupulous accuracy and industry, and enthusiastic admiration
of his hero-were all that he needed for the production of a great
book; for Dr. Johnson was so unaffected, so outspoken, and so enter-
taining a man, and every sentence he uttered was so characteristic,
that realism was a far better method for his biographer than analy-
sis. Perhaps it is always better when the subject is strongly marked.
That Dr. Johnson was a good subject is so evident that the mere
statement is sufficient. Mrs. Thrale-Piozzi's and even Sir John Haw-
kins's books are entertaining simply because they are about him.
The eighteenth-century man presents a number of excellent feat-
ures for literary portraiture, because he is a compound of formality
and explosiveness. The formal manners and dress and ponderous
courtesy of the eighteenth century, combined with an outspoken way
of calling things by their right names and a boyish petulance and
quickness of temper, make a contrast that is essentially humorous,
and more attractive than the philosophic and broad-minded temper
of earlier times or the reticence and indifference of our own day.
Dr. Johnson was a typical eighteenth-century man, and epitomized
these contrasts.