The life of the Bishop of Meaux, a theologian and polemic familiarly
known to his countrymen as the oracle of their church, forms an
important part of the ecclesiastical history of the seventeenth century.
A short personal memoir of such a man can serve only to excite
curiosity, and in some measure to direct more extended inquiries.
Jacques-Benigne Bossuet, whose father and ancestors were honourably
distinguished in the profession of the law, was born at Dijon, September
27, 1627. He was placed in his childhood at the college of the Jesuits
in his native town; whence, at the age of fifteen, he was removed to the
college of Navarre in Paris. At both these places his progress as a
student was so rapid that he passed for a prodigy. It may be mentioned,
not more as a proof of precocious intellect than as characteristic of
the times, that soon after his removal to Paris, whither the fame of his
genius had preceded him, he was invited to exhibit his powers as a
preacher at the Hotel de Rambouillet in his sixteenth year. His
performance was received with great approbation.
In the year 1652 he was ordained priest, and, his talents having already
made him known, he soon after received preferment in the cathedral
church of Metz, of which he became successively canon, archdeacon, and
dean. It was here that he published his Refutation of the Catechism of
Paul Ferri, a protestant divine of high reputation. This was the first
of that series of controversial writings which contributed, more than
all his other works, to procure for him the high authority which he
enjoyed in the church. He came forward in the field of controversy at a
time when public attention was fixed on the subject, and when the
favourite object both with Church and State was the peaceable conversion
of the Protestants.
Richelieu in the preceding reign had crushed, by the vigour of his
administration, the political power of the Protestant party. He, in
common with many other statesmen, Catholic and Protestant, had conceived
a notion that uniformity of religious profession was necessary to the
tranquillity of the state. But, though unchecked in the prosecution of
his objects by any scruples of conscience or feelings of humanity, he
would have considered the employment of force, where persuasion could be
effectual, to be, in the language of a modern politician, not a crime
but a blunder. When therefore the army had done its work, he put in
action a scheme for reclaiming the Protestants by every species of
politic contrivance. The system commenced by him was continued by
others; and of all those who laboured in the cause, Bossuet was
indubitably the most able and the most distinguished.
His first effort, the Refutation of the Catechism, recommended him to
the notice of the Queen-Mother; and the favour which he now enjoyed at
court was further increased by the fame of his eloquence in the pulpit,
which he had frequent opportunities of displaying at Paris, whither he
was called from time to time by ecclesiastical business. He was summoned
to preach at the chapel of the Louvre before Louis XIV., who was pleased
to express, in a letter to Bossuet’s father, the great delight which he
received from the sermons of his son; for the versatile taste of the
great monarch enabled him in one hour to recreate himself with the wit
and beauty of his mistresses, and in the next to listen with
undiminished pleasure to the exhortations of a Christian pastor. But
Bossuet had still stronger claims on the gratitude of Louis by
converting to the Roman Catholic faith the celebrated Turenne. This
victory is said to have been achieved by his well-known Exposition,
written in the year 1668, and published in 1671.
So great was his influence at this time, that he was requested by the
Archbishop of Paris to interfere in one of those many disputes which the
Papal decrees against the tenets of Jansenius occasioned. The nuns of
Port-Royal, who were attached to the doctrine and discipline of the
Jansenists, were required to subscribe the celebrated Formulary, which
selected for condemnation five propositions said to be contained in a
certain huge work of Jansenius. Those excellent women modestly
submitted, that they were ready to accept any doctrine propounded by the
Church, and even to affix their names to the condemnation of the
obnoxious propositions; but that they could not assert that these
propositions were to be found in a book which they had never seen. In
this difficulty the assistance of Bossuet was requested, who, after
several conferences, wrote a long letter to the refractory nuns, highly
commended for its acute logic and sound divinity. Much of the logic and
divinity was probably thrown away upon the persons for whose use they
were intended; but there was one part of the letter sufficiently
intelligible. He congratulated them on their total exemption from all
obligation to examine, and from the task of self-guidance; and assured
them that it was their bounden duty, as well as their happy privilege,
to subscribe and assent to every thing which was placed before them by
authority. The nuns were not convinced. They escaped however for the
present; but in the end they paid dearly for their passive resistance to
the decision of Pope Alexander VII. on a matter of fact.
In the year 1669, Bossuet was promoted to the bishopric of Condom, which
he resigned the following year on being appointed to the important
office of Preceptor to the Dauphin.
History has told us nothing of the pupil, but that his capacity was
mean, and his disposition sordid. To him, however, the world is indebted
for the most celebrated of Bossuet’s performances. The Introduction to
Universal History was written expressly for his use; and this masterly
work may serve to confirm an opinion, entertained even by his friends,
that Bossuet was not peculiarly qualified for his situation. To compose
such a work for such a boy was worse than a waste of power.
Though devoted closely and conscientiously to the duties of his new
office, he was not altogether withdrawn from what might be called his
vocation, the prosecution of controversy. It was during the period of
his connexion with the Court, that his celebrated conference occurred
with the Protestant Claude. Mlle. de Duras, a niece of Turenne, had
conceived scruples respecting the soundness of her Protestant
principles, from the perusal of Bossuet’s ‘Exposition.’ She consulted M.
Claude, who promised to resolve her doubts in the presence of Bossuet
himself. The challenge was accepted, and the memorable conference was
the result. Both parties published an account of it; and their
statements, as might be expected without suspicion of dishonesty on
either side, did not entirely agree. The lady was content to follow the
example of her uncle.
Bossuet’s engagement with the Dauphin was concluded in the year 1681,
when he was rewarded with the bishopric of Meaux. In so short a memoir
of such a man, where only the most prominent occurrences of his life can
be noticed, there is danger lest the reader should regard him only in
the character of a controversialist, or in the proud station of
acknowledged leader of the Church. It is the more necessary, therefore,
in this place to observe, that, to the comparatively obscure but really
important duties of his diocese, he brought the same zeal and energy
which he displayed on a more conspicuous theatre; and that he could
readily exchange the pen of the polemic for that of the devout and
affectionate pastor.
Louis, however, was not disposed to leave the Bishop undisturbed in his
retirement. He was soon called forth to be the advocate of his temporal
against his spiritual master.
The Kings of France had long exercised certain powers in ecclesiastical
matters, which had rather been tolerated than sanctioned by the Popes.
Louis was determined not only to preserve, but considerably to extend,
what his predecessors had enjoyed. Hence a sharp altercation was carried
on for many years between him and the See of Rome. But, in 1682, in
consequence of a threatening brief issued by that haughty pontiff,
Innocent XII., he summoned, by the advice of his clergy, for the purpose
of settling the matters in debate, a general Assembly of the Church. Of
this famous Assembly Bossuet was deservedly regarded as the most
influential member. He opened the proceedings with a sermon, having
reference to the subjects which were to come under consideration. In
this discourse the reader may find, perhaps, some marks of that
embarrassment which he is supposed to have felt. He had the deepest
sense of the unbounded power and awful majesty of kings in general, and
the highest personal veneration for Louis in particular; but then, on
the other hand, the degree of allegiance which he owed to his spiritual
head it was almost impiety to define. So, after having illustrated, with
all the force of his eloquence, the inviolable dignity of the Church,
and fully established the supremacy of St. Peter, he carries up, as it
were in a parallel line, the loftiest panegyric on the monarchy and
monarchs of France.
The discourse was celebrated for its ability, and without doubt the
conflicting topics were managed with great skill. His difficulties did
not cease with the dismissal of the Assembly. The question of the
Régale, or the right of the King to the revenues of every vacant see,
and to collate to the simple benefices within its jurisdiction, was
settled not at all to the satisfaction of the Pope; and the declaration
of the Assembly, drawn up by Bossuet himself, was fiercely attacked by
the Transalpine divines. It was, of course, as vigorously defended by
its author, who was in consequence accused by all his enemies, and some
of his friends, of having forgotten his duty to the Pope in his
subserviency to the King.
Nothing wearied by his exertions in the royal cause, he had scarcely
left the Assembly, when he resumed his labours in defence of the Church
against heresy. Several smaller works, put forth from time to time,
seemed to be only a preparation for his great effort in the year 1688,
when he published his ‘History of the Variations in the Protestant
Churches.’ In this book he has made the most of what may be called the
staple argument of the Catholics against the Protestants.
The course of the narrative has now brought us beyond the period of the
memorable revocation of the Edict of Nantes; and it will naturally be
asked, in what light Bossuet regarded this act of folly and oppression.
Neither his disposition nor his judgment would lead him to approve the
atrocities perpetrated by the government; but, in a letter to the
Intendant of Languedoc, he labours to justify the use of pains and
penalties in enforcing religious conformity; that is, he justifies the
act of Louis XIV. In this matter he was not advanced beyond his times;
but, whatever may have been his theory of the lawfulness of persecution,
his conduct towards the Protestants was such as to obtain for him the
praise even of his opponents.
Hitherto we have seen Bossuet labouring incessantly to reconcile the
Huguenots of France to the established religion. But, about this time,
he took part in a more grand and comprehensive measure, sanctioned by
the Emperor, and some other sovereign princes of Germany, for the
reunion of the great body of the Lutherans throughout Europe with the
Roman Catholic Church. They engaged the Bishop of Neustadt to open a
communication with Molanus, a Protestant doctor of high reputation in
Hanover. With these negotiators were afterwards joined Leibnitz on the
part of the Protestants, and Bossuet on that of the Roman Catholics.
Between these two great men the correspondence was carried on for ten
years, in a spirit worthy of themselves and the cause in which they were
engaged; and it terminated, as probably they both expected that it would
terminate, in leaving the two Churches in the same state of separation
in which it found them.
It would have been well for the fame of Bossuet if the course of his
latter days had been marked only by this defeat,—if it had not been
signalized, when grey hairs had increased the veneration which his
genius and services had procured him, by an inglorious victory over a
weak woman, and a friend. The history of Madame Guyon, and the revival
of mysticism under the name of Quietism, principally by her means, will
more properly be found in a Life of Fenelon. The part which Bossuet took
in the proceedings respecting her must be here very briefly noticed. As
universal referee in matters of religion, he was called upon to examine
her doctrines, which began to excite the jealousy of the Church. His
conduct towards her, in the first instance, was mild and forbearing; but
either zeal or anger betrayed him at length into a cruel persecution of
this amiable visionary. Fenelon, who had partly adopted her views of
Christian perfection, and thoroughly admired her Christian character,
was required by Bossuet to surrender to him at once his opinions and his
feelings. Fenelon was willing to do much, but would not consent to
sacrifice his integrity to the offended pride of the irritated prelate.
He defended his opinions in print, and the points in debate were, by his
desire, referred to the Pope; and to him they should in common decency
have been left: but we are disgusted with a detail of miserable
intrigues, carried on in the council appointed by the Pope to examine
the matter, and of vehement remonstrances with which his holiness
himself was assailed, with the avowed object of extorting a reluctant
condemnation. The warmest friends of Bossuet do not attempt to defend
him on the plea that these things were done without his concurrence;
they insist only on his disinterested zeal for religion. But let it be
remembered, that this interference with Papal deliberation proceeded
from one who believed the Vicar of Christ to be solemnly deciding, with
the aid of the Holy Spirit, a point of faith for the benefit of the
whole Catholic Church. Bossuet triumphed; and from that moment sunk
perceptibly in the general esteem of his countrymen.
During the few remaining years of his life he maintained his wonted
activity, and in his last illness we find with pleasure that the Bible
was his companion, and that he could employ his intervals of repose from
severe suffering in composing a commentary on the 23d psalm. He died
April 12, 1704, in his 76th year.
The authority which Bossuet acquired was such, that he may be said not
only to have guided the Gallican Church during his life, but in some
measure to have left upon it the permanent impression of his own
character. Of this authority no adequate notion can be formed from the
preceding sketch. Few even of his works, which fill twenty volumes
quarto, have been noticed. It should, however, be mentioned that he was
employed by Louis XIV. in an attempt to overcome the religious scruples
of James II., whose conscience revolted from that exercise of the
prerogative in favour of the Protestant Church, which his restoration to
the throne would have required. The laboured and somewhat extraordinary
letter which Bossuet wrote on this occasion is dated May 22, 1693.
His countrymen claim for Bossuet an exalted place among historians,
orators, and theologians. The honours bestowed by them on his
‘Introduction to Universal History’ have been continued by more
impartial judges; and, even when unsupported by reference to the age in
which it was written, it stands forth on its own merits as a noble
effort of a comprehensive and penetrating mind. His Funeral Orations
come to us recommended by the judgment of Voltaire, who ascribes to
Bossuet alone, of all his contemporaries, the praise of real eloquence.
The English reader will often be rewarded by passages, which in
oratorical power have seldom been surpassed, and which may induce him to
forgive much that is cold, inflated, and unnatural. But the Orations
must be considered also as Christian discourses delivered by a minister
of the Gospel from a Christian pulpit. They were composed, for the most
part, to grace the obsequies of royal persons, and are, in fact,
dedicated to the honour and glory of kings and princes. A text from
Scripture is the peg on which is hung every thing which can minister to
human pride, and dignify the vanities of a court; and the effect is but
slightly impaired by well-turned phrases, proper to the occasion, on the
nothingness of earthly things. But the orator is not content with
general declamation, with prostrating himself before his magnificent
visions of ancient pedigrees;—he descends to the meanest personal
flattery of the living and the dead. When the Duchess of Orleans was
laid in her coffin, her friends might hope that her frailties would be
buried with her; but they could hardly expect that a Christian monitor
should hold her forth as an exquisite specimen of female excellence, the
glory of France, whom Heaven itself had rescued from her enemies to
present as a precious and inestimable gift to the French nation. But on
this occasion Bossuet was not yet perfect in his art, or the subject was
not sufficiently disgraceful to draw forth all his powers. When
afterwards called to speak over the dead body of the Queen, whose heart
had withered under the wrongs which a licentious husband, amidst
external respect, had heaped upon her, he finds it a fitting opportunity
to pronounce at the same time a panegyric on the King. He recounts the
victories won by the French arms, and ascribes them all to the prowess
of his hero. But Louis is not only the taker of cities, he is the
conqueror of himself; and the royal sensualist is praised for the
government of his passions, the despot for his clemency and justice, and
the grasping conqueror for his moderation.
The controversial writings of Bossuet deserve more regard than either
his History or his Orations, if the importance of a book is to be
measured by the extent and permanency of its effects. The Exposition of
the Doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, one of the shortest, but
perhaps the most notable, of his theological works, was published under
circumstances which gave occasion to a story of mysterious suppression
and alteration. But a more serious charge has been brought against the
author, of having deliberately misrepresented the doctrines of his
Church, in order to entrap the Protestants. So grave an accusation ought
not to be lightly entertained; and though suspicion is excited by
symptoms of disingenuous management in the controversy, to which the
publication gave birth; and though it appears to be demonstrable that
the Roman Catholic religion, as commonly professed, and that many of its
doctrines, as expressed or implied in some of its authorised
formularies, differ essentially from the picture which Bossuet has
drawn, yet it should at least be remembered that the book itself was
eventually, though tardily, sanctioned by the highest authority in the
Church. It is possible that Bossuet may by his Exposition have converted
many beside Turenne; but there can be no doubt that he has wrought an
extensive, though a less obvious, change within the bosom of his own
Church. The high authority of his name would give currency to his
opinions on any subject connected with religion; and many sincere Roman
Catholics, who had felt the objections urged against certain practices
and dogmas of their own Church, would rejoice to find, on the authority
of Bossuet, that they were not obliged to own them.
The charge of insincerity has been extended beyond the particular
instance to the general character of the Bishop; and it has been
asserted that he held, in secret, opinions inconsistent with those which
he publicly professed. This charge, which is destitute of all proof,
seems to have been the joint invention of over-zealous Protestants and
pretended philosophers.
Enough has been shown to justify us in supposing that he was not one of
those rare characters which can break loose from all the obstacles that
oppose themselves to the simple love and uncompromising search of truth.
Some men, like his illustrious countryman Du Pin, struggle to be free.
It should seem that Bossuet, if circumstances fettered him, would not be
conscious of his thraldom; that he would exert all the energies of his
powerful mind, not to escape from his prison, but to render it a tenable
fortress, or a commodious dwelling. It would be foolish and unjust to
infer from this that he would persevere through life in deliberately
maintaining what he had discovered to be false, on the most momentous of
all subjects.
A complete catalogue of his works may be found at the end of the Life of
Bossuet in the Biographie Universelle. The Life itself, which is
obviously written by a partial friend, contains much information in a
small compass. The affair of Quietism, and the contest between Bossuet
and Fenelon, are minutely detailed with great accuracy in the Life of
Fenelon by the Cardinal de Bausset, whose impartiality seems to have
been secured by the profound veneration which he entertained for each of
the combatants, though the impression left on the reader’s mind is not
favourable to the character of Bossuet.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: LORENZO DE MEDICI.]