appeals with the wonderful delicacy of genius in saying of Condé: "When a favor was asked of him, it was he that appeared obliged." We feel at once that if this had not been true, it could not have been imagined as possible, and that it could have been possible only in a life of the highest order.

It is remarkable that France should have had as contemporaries three such orators as Bossuet, Fénelon, and Bourdaloue. It has been said in comparing them that Bourdaloue spoke to the understanding, Bossuet to the imagination, and Fénelon to the heart. If this were true, it would give the palm of highest effectiveness to Fénelon who, indeed, is still known to thousands of actual readers where Bossuet is known to hundreds. But to Bossuet the palm of art would remain, for it was only Bossuet who could have said of such a man as Condé, so as to make us think it of Condé himself and yet recognize the propriety of not having so sublime a compliment paid directly to any man, that his glory followed him everywhere, and that when all alone, he appeared as great and as worthy of respect as when he gave the word of command to vast armies.

Bossuet was born at Dijon, September 27th, 1627, of a respectable family of bourgeois rank. He was educated from his earliest years for the Church. He learned the art of expression from its greatest master, Homer, for whose poems and those of Virgil he developed a fondness in youth which he never lost. His love for Homer was exceeded only by that which made him so great a student of the Bible that Lamartine says he had it "transfused into him." A man of many books, it was to these three that he reverted always, and they made him great, as they have made so many others. It is strange that men as diverse as Bossuet and Samuel Houston, the one speaking in full canonicals to French nobles and court beauties; the other, in his hunting shirt, haranguing American frontiersmen, should have been governed by the same taste in literature, and should have been formed so largely on the same models.

In

Bossuet began to be celebrated as soon as he began to preach. his thirty-fifth year he appeared before Louis XIV., who immediately after the close of the sermon sent a messenger to congratulate the elder Bossuet " on having such a son." He became tutor to the Dauphin, and wrote for his use the 'Discourse on Universal History' and several other works of minor importance. His 'Exposition of Catholic Doctrine' was published about 1671, and his 'Defense of the Doctrine of the Clergy of France' was written some ten years later, though not published until 1735. His celebrated controversy with Fénelon is thought by some even of his admirers to have added less to his credit than to that of his great rival. He died at Paris, April 12th,

1704.

W. V. B.

A

FUNERAL ORATION OVER THE PRINCE OF CONDÉ

(Delivered before Louis XIV.)

T THE moment that I open my lips to celebrate the undying glory of Louis Bourbon, Prince of Condé, I find myself equally overwhelmed by the greatness of the subject, and, if permitted to avow it, by the uselessness of the task. What part of the habitable world has not heard of the victories of the Prince of Condé, and the wonders of his life? Everywhere they are rehearsed. The Frenchman, in extolling them, can give no information to the stranger. And although I may remind you of them to-day, yet, always anticipated by your thoughts, I shall have to suffer your secret reproach for falling so far below them. We feeble orators can add nothing to the glory of extraordinary souls. Well has the sage remarked that their actions alone praise them; all other praise languishes by the side of their great names. The simplicity of a faithful narrative alone can sustain the glory of the Prince of Condé. But expecting that history, which owes such a narrative to future ages, will make this appear, we must satisfy, as we can, the gratitude of the public, and the commands of the greatest of kings. What does the empire not owe to a prince who has honored the house of France, the whole French name, and, so to speak, mankind at large! Louis the Great himself has entered into these sentiments. After having mourned that great man, and given by his tears, in the presence of his whole court, the most glorious eulogy which he could receive, he gathers together in this illustrious temple whatever is most august in his kingdom, to render public acknowledgments to the memory of the Prince; and he desires that my feeble voice should animate all these mournful signs-all this funeral array. Let us then subdue our grief and make the effort.

But here a greater object, and one more worthy of the pulpit, presents itself to my thoughts. God it is who makes warriors and conquerors. "Thou," said David, "hast taught my hands to war, and my fingers to fight." If he inspires courage he gives no less other great qualities, natural and supernatural, both of the mind and heart. Everything comes from his powerful hand, from heaven he sends all generous sentiments, wise counsels, and good thoughts. But he would have us to distinguish between the

gifts which he abandons to his enemies and those which he reserves for his servants. What distinguishes his friends from all others is piety; until that gift of heaven is received, all others are not only useless, but aid the ruin of those whom they adorn. Without this inestimable gift of piety, what were the Prince of Condé, with all his great heart and lofty genius? No, my brethren, if piety had not consecrated his other virtues, neither these princes would have found any solace for their grief, nor that venerable prelate any confidence in his prayers, nor myself any support for the praises which are due to so great a man. Under the influence of such an example, let us lose sight of all human glory! Destroy the idol of the ambitious! Let it fall prostrate before these altars! On this occasion, group together—for we can do it with propriety- the highest qualities of an excellent nature, and to the glory of truth exhibit in a prince universally admired whatever constitutes the hero and carries the glory of the world to the loftiest eminence, valor, magnanimity, and natural goodness -qualities of the heart; vivacity and penetration, grandeur of thought, and sublimity of genius-qualities of the intellect; all would be nothing but an illusion, if piety were not added — piety, which indeed is the whole of man! This it is, messieurs, which you see in the life, eternally memorable, of the high and illustrious Prince Louis Bourbon, Prince of Condé, Prince of the blood!

God has revealed to us that he alone makes conquerors, that he alone causes them to subserve his designs. Who made Cyrus. but God, who, in the prophecies of Isaiah, named him two hundred years before his birth? "Thou hast not known me," said he to him, "but I have even called thee by thy name, and surnamed thee. I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron. I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me. I form the light and create darkness"; as if he had said, “I the Lord do everything, and from eternity know everything that I do." Who could have formed an Alexander but the same God who made him visible from afar to the prophet Daniel, and revealed by such vivid images his unconquerable ardor? "See," said he, "that conqueror, with what rapidity he advances from the west, as it were by bounds and without touching the earth." Resembling, in his bold movements and rapid march, certain vigorous and bounding animals, he advances, only by quick and impetuous attacks, and is arrested

neither by mountains nor precipices. Already the King of Persia falls into his power. At sight of him, he is "moved with anger-rushes upon him, stamps him under his feet; none can defend him from his attacks, or deliver him out of his hand." Listening only to these words of Daniel, whom do you expect to see under that image-Alexander or the Prince of Condé ? God had given him that indomitable valor for the salvation of France during the minority of a king of four years. But let that king, cherished of heaven, advance in life, everything will yield to his exploits. Equally superior to his friends and his enemies, he will hasten now to employ, now to surpass his most distinguished generals; and under the hand of God, who will ever befriend him, he will be acknowledged the firm bulwark of his kingdom. But God had chosen the Duke d'Enghien to defend him in his childhood. Thus, during the first years of his reign, the duke conceived a design which the most experienced veterans could not achieve; but victory justified it before Rocroy! True, the hostile army is the stronger. It is composed of those old bands of Valonnaise, Italians, and Spaniards, which never till then were broken. But how much could be counted on the courage which inspired our troops, the pressing necessity of the State, past advantages, and a prince of the blood who carried victory in his eyes! Don Francisco de Mellos steadily waits his approach; and, without the possibility of retreating, the two generals and their armies had chosen to shut themselves in by woods and marshes, in order to decide their quarrels like two warriors, in close combat. Then, what was seen? The young Prince appeared another man! Moved by so great an object, his mighty soul revealed itself entire; his courage increased with his peril, his sagacity with his ardor. During the night, which must be spent in presence of the enemy, like a vigilant general, he was the last to retire; yet never did he repose more peacefully. In the prospect of so great a day, and his first battle, he is tranquil; so much is he in his element; for well is it known that on the morrow, at the appointed time, he must awake from his profound slumber- another Alexander! See him, as he flies, either to victory or to death. As soon as he has conveyed from rank to rank the ardor which animates himself, he is seen, almost at the same time, attacking the right wing of the enemy; sustaining ours about to give way; now rallying the half-subdued Frenchman, now putting to flight the victorious Spaniard; carrying

terror everywhere, and confounding with his lightning glance those who had escaped his blows. But that formidable infantry of the Spanish army, whose heavy and wedged battalions, resembling so many towers,-towers which had succeeded in repairing their breaches, remained immovable in the midst of all others in disorder, and from all sides kept up a steady fire. Thrice the young conqueror attempted to break these intrepid warriors; thrice was he repulsed by the valorous Count de Fontaine, who was borne in his carriage, and, notwithstanding his infirmities, proved that the warrior spirit is master of the body which it animates. In vain does Bek, with his fresh cavalry, endeavor to rush through the wood to fall on our exhausted soldiers; the Prince has prevented him; the routed battalions demand quarter; but victory is more disastrous to the Duke d'Enghien than conflict itself. As he advances with an assured air to receive the parole of those brave men, they, ever on their guard, are seized with the fear of being surprised by a new attack; their terrible discharge renders our army furious; nothing is seen but carnage; blood maddens the soldier; until that great Prince, who could not slaughter those lions like timid sheep, calmed their excited courage, and joined to the pleasure of conquering that of pardoning his enemies. What then was the astonishment of those veteran troops and their brave officers when they saw that there was no safety but in the arms of the conqueror! With what wonder did they look upon that young Prince, whose victory had enhanced his lofty bearing, and whose clemency added to it a new charm! Ah, how willingly would he have saved the brave Duke de Fontaine! But he was found prostrate among thousands of the dead, of whom Spain yet feels the loss. She knew not that the Prince who had destroyed so many of her veteran regiments on the field of Rocroy would complete their subjugation on the plains of Lens. Thus the first victory was the pledge of many more. The Prince bends the knee, and on the battlefield renders back to the God of armies the glory which he had conferred. There they celebrated Rocroy delivered, the threatenings of a formidable army turned to shame, the regency established, France in repose, and a reign, destined to such prosperity, begun by an omen SO happy. The army commenced the thanksgiving: all France followed. The first achievement of the Duke d'Enghien was extolled to the skies. Such an event was enough to render illustrious any other life; but in his case, it was but the first step in his career.