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one of the sermons which he preached before the monarch, he described, with infinite eloquence, the horrors of an adulterous life, its abomination in the eye of God, its scandal to man, and the public and private evils which attend it: but he managed his discourse with so much address, that he kept the king from suspecting that the thunder of the preacher was ultimately to fall upon him. In general, Bourdaloue spoke in a level tone of voice, and with his eyes almost shut. On this occasion, having wound up the attention of the monarch and the audience to the highest pitch, he paused. The audience expected something terrible, and seemed to fear the next word. The pause continued for some time; at length, the preacher, fixing his eyes directly on his royal hearer, and in a tone of voice equally expressive of horror and concern, said, in the words of the prophet, "Thou art the man!" then, leaving these words to their effect, he concluded with a mild and general prayer to heaven for the conversion of all sinners. A miserable courtier observed, in a whisper, to the mon arch, that the boldness of the preacher exceeded all bounds, and should be checked. "No, sir," replied the monarch, "the preacher has done his duty, let us "do ours." When the service was concluded, the monarch walked slowly from the church, and ordered Bourdaloue into his presence. He remarked to him, his general protection of religion, the kindness which he had ever shown to the Society of Jesus, his particular attention to Bourdaloue and his friends. He then reproached him with the strong language of the sermon; and asked him, what could be his motive for insulting him, thus publicly, before his subjects? Bourdaloue fell on his knees: "God," he assured the

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monarch, was his witness, that it was not his wish to “insult his majesty; but I am a minister of God," said Bourdaloue, " and must not disguise his truths. What "I said in my sermon is my morning and evening prayer :-May God, in his infinite mercy, grant me to see "the day, when the greatest of kings shall be the ho"liest."-The monarch was affected, and silently dismissed the preacher: but, from this time, the court began to observe that change which afterward, and at no distant period, led Lewis to a life of regularity and virtue.

Nothing is more affecting than the prayer, with which Massillon closed the last sermon which he made to Lewis the fifteenth, during his minority :

"Great God! the giver of good kings! of that great"est blessing, which you can bestow on nations!

"You still hold in your hands the august child whom you have destined for our monarch.-His age, his in"nocence, still leave him the work of your mercies."Great God! as yet,—there is time !-Form him for "the happiness of the nation, to whom you have re"served him!-Make him a king after your own heart! "Make him, O God! the father of your people; the protector of your church; the model of the morals of "his subjects: the pacifier, rather than the conqueror "of nations; the arbiter, rather than the terror of his "neighbours. May all Europe be more envious of our happiness, and delighted with our virtues, than jeal "ous of our conquests and our victories !"

Lessons of more pure or more useful morality were never offered from the pulpit to any monarch, than those which these sermons of Massillon exhibit. Surrounded as the monarch was, by all the blandishments of

a court, they must yet have produced some effect on his infant mind; and instilled into it some invaluable principles of duty and religion:-Unfortunately, the tempters were on the watch, and the lessons of Massillon were soon forgotten.

XXV.

BIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF FENELON.

WITH the name of Fénélon the most pleasing ideas are associated. To singular elevation, both of genius and sentiment, he united extreme modesty and simplicity. Unconquerably firm in all that he considered a duty, he displayed, both on great and ordinary occasions, a meekness which nothing could discompose.-In the midst of a voluptuous court he practised the virtues of an anchorite equally humble and elegant, severe to himself and indulgent to others, a mysterious holiness hangs on his character, and attracts our veneration; while his misfortunes shed over him a tinge of distress, which excites our tenderest sympathy.

"In one of his charitable walks," says cardinal Maury, "Fénélon met a peasant, still young, but plunged in the deepest affliction. He had recently lost a cow, the

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only support of his indigent family. Fénélon attempted "to comfort him, and, by giving him money to buy “another, alleviated his sorrow; still, he had lost his own cow, and the tear continued to fall. Pursuing his journey, Fénélon found the very cow, which was the object of so much affliction; and, like the good shepherd, he himself drove it back before him, in a dark "night, to the young man's cottage. This," says the

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cardinal Maury, "is perhaps the finest trait in Fénélon's "life: wo be to those, who read it without being af "fected. The virtues of Fénélon," continues the cardinal, “give his history something of the nature of romance; but his name will never die. The Fleminders "bless his memory, and call him the good archbishop."

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In all French literature, there is nothing finer than the writings of Bossuet and Fénélon, in the course of their controversy; particularly the "Relation du Quiétisme" of the former, and the "Archbishop's Reply." But they are little read: a lesson to authors never to waste their talents on transient topics.

In this sketch of the life of Fénélon, much is necessarily said on quietism. As quietism is an abuse of what is called, by Roman Catholic spiritualists, mystical theology, and without some notion of mystical theology, the nature of the errors of the quietists cannot be understood, the Reminiscent attempted to give a succinct view of it in that publication. It has since appeared in the Retrospective Review.

In considering the nature and operations of the intellectual powers, the Reminiscent has sometimes thought that the reciprocal action of the soul on the imagination, and of the imagination on the soul, without the intervention of the senses, has not been sufficiently considered; and that a philosophical perusal of some of the most eminent mystics would lead to useful observations on this very curious subject.

XXVI.

BIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF THE ABBOT DE RANCE-ST.

VINCENT OF PAUL HENRI MARIE DE BOUDON-AND THOMAS A KEMPIS.

1. IN the Abbot de Rancé, the reader will find an account of a holy monk,who revived, in the latter ages, the spirit, the devotion, and the practice of monastic discipline, when it was in its perfection and full vigour.

It has been frequently asserted, that the conversion of the abbot de Rancé was owing to the following romantic circumstance: A lady, it is said, of high rank, and great personal charms, attracted his affection: arriving at her house, late at night, he ran up a stair-case, which led to a room, in which she and her father usually sate at that hour after tapping at the door, and hearing no reply, he softly opened it, and beheld her corpse. This supposed adventure has been frequently used, to

"Point a moral and adorn a tale."

JOHNSON'S Vanity of human Wishes. But the Reminiscent believes he has shown, in his biographical account of the abbot, that there is great reason to suspect its truth.

Viewing the extreme austerities of the monks of La Trappe, one might conclude that they were the most miserable of human beings; but all who visited and dispassionately observed them, agreed, that their outward appearance led to a very different conclusion. It exhibited their habits of mortification and penance; but all had a look of serene piety and contentment, which charmed every beholder, and excited their veneration and love those, who examined them most critically, were most sensible of their happiness.

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