theless, it seems to me, that a man deceives himself greatly, if he imagine himself to be exempt from his ministerial functions, because he may have exercised their duties unsparingly on public occasions. Two seasonable words often do more good than twenty of those sermons where each one is at liberty to take nothing."

"Alas! yes! but it requires more faith and courage to say those two words face to face with one single sinner, than from the pulpit, to rebuke two or three thousand persons, ready to listen to everything, on condition of forgetting it all."

"It does, in truth, require courage; above all,"-M. de Fénélon hesitated.

"Above all when this sinner," he resumed, "is"

"A king,-you would say?"

"You have guessed; and particularly a king like ours, a kind of demigod.-Now Monsieur de Condom, you are going to think me very presuming; but it seems to me, that if I had the honor of being a priest, and of being permitted to approach his Majesty, I would not be silent in regard to the scandals of which we are witness."

"Is this a reproach, Monsieur de Fénélon ?"

"Do not force me to say yes. I must consider you as very thoroughly convinced of my esteem for you, to dare touch upon such a subject;. I who rebuked my nephew for having ventured to find blemishes in the talent of Father Bourdaloue, am much bolder to hint at any in your conduct.-Well, I must confess, at the sight of the irregularities which the king practises more and more openly, I have sometimes said to myself, 'Does Monsieur de Condom do his duty? Does he speak to the king? Has he tried-'I know very well, that you are not his confessor, but what matter? You will perhaps ask me why I have thought of you rather than so many others. Well, sir, if it is an injustice,

be proud of it; it is a proof that there is no one whom I consider as more capable than yourself of making the voice of religion sound authoritatively. But be sure that I am not the only one who has had this thought. Stay, here is a letter from Arnauld-"

"From Arnauld."

"From Arnauld, the first man in the French church,—after you. There is first a page of praises. You shall read it presently—"

"No."

"As you please. But this, you will read."

Bossuet took the letter.

"There is however a verumtamen, a but"-wrote the patriarch of Port Royal,—" of which I fear much, that Monsieur de Condom will have to give account to God. It is that he has not had the courage to say anything to the king."

"Would he have done it himself?" said Bossuet, much more affected than he wished to appear. "I admire those who-" He did not continue.

"Go on," said M. de Fénélon, coldly.

"I am wrong," resumed Bossuet, "I am wrong! I ask your pardon for it, I ask pardon of God," he added, sighing.

The marquis held out his hand to Bossuet. He grasped it. "Let me see; let me read this letter again. Give account to God! He is right. Ah! Monsieur de Fénélon! Do you think my conscience has never told me this?"

"And you have been able to keep silence !"

"Twenty times I have resolved to speak; twenty times my tongue has been powerless. All that I have been able to take upon me, has been from time to time to introduce subjects of conversation, which I hoped to be able to turn in this direction. But the king is ingenious. He is afraid of me. So long as I

confine myself to generalities, he listens, he answers, he says the most sensible things in the world; as soon as I seem to be approaching himself,-behold! he comes straight up to me, but in order to talk to me of something totally different. He compliments me upon my works; he thanks me for the care I devote to his son ;-how am I to go on !"

"It is difficult, truly; but-".

"But it is my duty, you are going to say. I know it; may God help me to remember it! Yes, I promise you; I will try; I will try again. And when you write to Monsieur Arnauld

"His majesty sends for Monsieur de Condom. His majesty awaits him."

One of the pages thus spoke; and he had not finished, when the king himself appeared at the end of the avenue.

Our two speakers looked at one another. And as Bossuet prepared to follow the page; "Au revoir, Monsieur de Condom," said the marquis; then in a low voice; "The king, there;-God above! and to-morrow I write to Monsieur Arnauld.”

CHAPTER IV.

THE KING AND THE PHILOSOPHERS. THE ORIGINAL GROUNDS OF BOSSUET'S HIGH REPUTATION.-CHANGE IN THIS RESPECT DURING THE SUCCEEDING CENTURY.

A MOMENT afterwards, the king and the prelate directed their steps towards the château, but without exchanging a word. The king had only answered Bossuet's salutation by a slight movement of his head, and then walked on before.

We shall soon rejoin them; let us first finish with our council.

The discussion had continued. As Bossuet had gone on with his conversation with M. de Fénélon,-the preeminence had in fact devolved upon the youngest of the remaining members. The Abbé de Fénélon conversed too well, not to be the first wherever Bossuet was not present.

There was a profound silence when the king appeared. They glanced at one another without a word. Not that they feared being overheard, for he was at the distance of twenty or thirty paces, and only remained, moreover, for a few moments;—but, besides the fact that his presence never failed to produce a certain impression even upon those who saw him daily,—it was very rarely that he was seen in this part of the park. That same admirable tact, which enabled him to converse well on so many subjects which he had not studied, prevented him from touching upon those to which he was decidedly a stranger. Accordingly, he liked our philosophers, but only at a distance; since this ave

nue had become their domain, he had never set his foot in it. This was well known, and some malicious wits commented upon it in whispers. "The king is afraid of the geniuses," they said, as Bussy did. But it might have been answered, that he was afraid of them, as a good general is afraid of the enemy. It is not cowardice but prudence to avoid an encounter, when one is not sure of having superior or at least equal forces. It requires much learning (esprit) to be afraid of genius (esprit)* as Louis XIV. was afraid of it. Moreover, there were not wanting bishops, whom the philosophers' avenue inspired with equal awe, and who would have found themselves quite as much out of place there as he. "What is the meaning of Nycticorax in domicilio?"the one day asked the Bishop of Orleans,-these words in one of the Psalms having caught his attention. "Sire," answered the learned prelate, "it was one of the kings of Israel, who was very fond of solitude." Imagine this man making comments on Isaiah !

When the Marquis de Fénélon rejoined the company, he said, “I brought misfortune with me, gentlemen. I commenced by interrupting your conversation, and now, you see your master is carried off from you. After all, I lose more by it than you do, for you will see him again, I shall not. And yet I should much like to hear you resume your conversation upon Isaiah." “Well, return to-morrow," said one.

"You permit me to do so? To-morrow then, I shall not fail." "Have you remarked," said the Abbé Fleury, "with what determination Monsieur de Condom avoids expressing his opinion of Father Bourdaloue? I have several times endeavored to lead him to speak upon the subject; he always expresses admiration,

* Esprit at that time designated learning, as well as wit in the strict acceptation of the word.

† The owl in his home-Vulgate. Psalı ci. 7.